Hyper Intelligence Technologies, or HITmarks, are artificial magitech constructs of various levels of sophistication, used throughout history by the Order of Reason and the Technocracy as semi-disposable front-line shock troops. The earliest versions were magickally-animated statues and Golems, and modern versions are cyborg warriors composed of sophisticated robotic machinery and organic technology fused into killing machines of sublime complexity and lethal capability.
Version History[]
Mark I: The very earliest iteration, with famous examples including Talos the Bronze Giant and the Terracotta Army of the First Emperor of China.
Mark II: Late Medieval and Renaissance clockwork men and animated suits of armor, as well as the last of the classical Golems.
Mark III: Victorian-age Steam-powered robots that resembled the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz, controlled by clockwork computers with punch card programming interface.
Mark IV: 1950's robots with electronic circuitry and laser-beam eyes.
Mark V: 1980's robotic endoskeletons covered in artificial flesh supplied by the Progenitors. Almost indistinguishable from normal humans at first glance, excellent at infiltration and assassination missions. Used in large numbers during Gehenna to supplement the Tech Infantry. Updated models included Damien Richter and were still in use two centuries later.
A small Hitmark VII
Mark VI: The endoskeleton covered with flesh of the Mark V was turned inside-out, wrapping a robotic exoskelton around a living and awakened soldier to produce the Tech Infantry trooper in his power armor. Frequently left out of the sequence as not a "true" Hitmark. Introduced during Gehenna, still in use today.
Mark VII:Antigravity propulsion was combined with advanced AI and plasma weaponry to create a hoverdrone designed to fly into Bug Tunnels and fight them there. Not particularly successful, and withdrawn from service by 2150.
Mark VIII: A lightweight endoskeleton was covered by a nanobot soup similar to that employed in Nanotech Armor to create an assassin and infiltration drone capable of limited shapeshifting. Rumored to exist, not publicly seen as yet.
Behind the Scenes[]
These of course come from the Mage: The Ascension role-playing game, although we've dropped the T2-style liquid metal robots and pushed an equivalent technology back to much later in the timeline.
