Cromwell Chassis

The Cromwell Chassis

Man: James 'Cyborg' Westerland was a brash young soldier in the commando corps of the Republic of the Great Lakes where he served as part of an urban warfare and recon team. He had the typical midwestern appearance, and would have been relatively unremarkable save for having volunteered for medical experimentation after being severely injured. After being caught in an explosion in a tank versus power armor battle, Westerland lost one of his legs, his left arm, and suffered severe injury to his chest and abdomen.

Machine: Cromwell Cybernetics Series 3

After the success of the CyberCops program in Delta City, Westerland underwent a dramatic cybernetic upgrade. His left arm and leg were replaced with cybernetic limbs, run of the mill upgrades. The real challenge came when the engineers and doctors replaced almost half of his ribcage with a 'cyber torso'. This armor and upgrade studded shell protected Westerland's organs, and provided a strong and stable anchor for his artificial arm and leg. This differed from the civilian grade armor and technology used in the CyberCop program. As a military contractor, Cromwell Cybernetics used aerospace grade materials manufacturing the new components. This in and of itself was not a new development. The Eurasian Alliance had already broken ground with their Besmert Zhelezo or 'Black Knight' cybernetic upgrade. Contrary to the BZ-1, the Cromwell 3 was more than just amputation and upgrade, it was designed from the ground up, piece by piece, to protect the life of the soldier it was attached to.

Westerland was left unbalanced by the initial operation, and was not able to return to active duty. The new limbs and torso worked fine, but he was left unable to run or maintain strenuous levels of activity. His organic arm and leg were unable to keep up with his artificial parts, and he struggled with personal hygiene and relationships. He opted to undergo a second round of surgeries. The second round removed his remaining leg and replaced it with a matched limb. The cyber torso was extended to cover his entire torso and abdomen and he retained his right arm. This gave him the strength and stability to go back to performing military duties. The hygiene matters were handled through a series of waste gates and collection systems, negated the need for him to clean more than his arm, face, and hair.

Moment: The Second Battle of Cleveland

The City of Cleveland was left a ruin after the first battle over it between the Commonwealth of New England and the Republic of the Great Lakes. The second battle was a violent run and gun operation that has been historically compared to Stalingrad in World War II. Westerland picked up the rather unimaginative call sign Cyborg during his tour of duty through the city. Westerland led a team of cyborg commandos through the city as guerrillas fighting the Commonwealth occupiers. He wore a distinctive helmet and custom made assymetrical lorica segmentata and carried a heavy pulse rifle with a progressive bayonette. His left arm concealed a high pressure flamethrower (hold-out, 3 shots, 30 meter range) and a LRAD (Long Range Acoustic Device) that was used to break up communications and disrupt infantry formations.

Westerland and his commandos were successful in destroying several key logistic centers, communications relays, and raiding the Commonwealth's main armor pool where they destroyed several vehicles and wounded or killed a number of key personnel. Cyborg was awarded a number of medals for honor and duty, and had over 113 children from his pre-surgery sperm collections.

The Cromwell Chassis

A Cromwell Chassis is the name given to a cyborg pattern upgrade that replaces the legs and reinforces the torso of the person wearing it. It is an invasive upgrade, as the torso becomes an armor shell with organs inside of it, and cannot be removed. The men and women who end up in these upgrades over time eventually become not much more than a collection of organs and viscera inside a robot body that grew around them over time. They are in contrast to 'brains in jars' type cyborgs like the Stears-Cusick as they retain most if not all of their internal organs and still carry out normal aspects of life such as eating, and usually do not subsist on nutrient solutions or pastes.

It isn't uncommon for these uncommon cyborgs to be referred to as Bucket Brigadiers or Waste Bin Warriors due to the typical shape of the armored torso, or the way that said soldiers are thrown into battles with little regard for their personal safety.