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The Anti-Personnel omni-directional mobility gear (対人立体機動装置 Taijin Rittai Kidō Sōchi?) is a set of equipment developed specifically to combat human opponents. The equipment itself is an adaptation of the traditional omni-directional mobility gear, allowing the operator the advantages of three-dimensional movement, but with the use of firearms instead of blades. It is virtually useless against Titans, but extremely effective against humans. It was secretly created by the Military Police's Anti-Personnel Control Squad specifically to combat the Scout Regiment.
Four years later, anti-personnel omni-directional mobility gear combined with Thunder Spears is currently standard issue for the soldiers of the Scout Regiment in combat against Marley. The combination of Thunder Spears and semiautomatic pistols enables the gear to be used for anti-infantry, anti-fortification, and anti-Titan warfare.[1]
Usage
While the basic principles for maneuvering in it are the same, the design is drastically different: the main components of the equipment are worn on the shoulders and upper back instead of the hips and the user uses the pistol-shaped grips which fire grappling hooks and high-powered projectiles.
The movement of the equipment is very similar to that of the omni-directional mobility gear. The user just has to aim their grapple hooks at an object, fire them and activate the gas mechanism to reel onto that position. Operators can also use their momentum to move not only in a rectilinear pattern but also doing other advanced maneuvers like navigating between objects.
Just like omni-directional mobility gear, it is less effective in open spaces where the wielder has almost no places where the hooks can be reeled. This fact added to the impossibility of killing Titans with shotguns makes the equipment specially suitable for man-hunting and urban warfare, quite useful for the Military Police as they focus their attention inside the Walls. However, it can be used in any place which has points to reel.
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Mikasa Ackermann wearing a conjunction of the AP-ODMG and the more traditional model of ODMG.
However, with the modifications made by the Scout Regiment four years later, the anti-personnel omni-directional mobility gear can be used in conjunction with the more traditional model of omni-directional mobility gear, allowing its user to switch between the pistols for engaging human opponents and the ultra-hard steel blades for engaging titan opponents, more commonly against that of the Nine Titans.[1]
Slight modifications have been made to the scabbards of the omni-directional mobility gear, to accomodate the conjunction of the anti-personnel omni-directional mobility gear, where they are worn at a vertical angle, rather than a horizontal angle, and henceforth have slits along the longer side of the scabbard to allow the user to still easily access their ultra-hard steel blades. Both systems use independant gas mechanisms to eject their respective grappling hooks.[1]
Mechanics
The Scout Regiment's anti-personnel omni-directional mobility gear.
Body of the Device - While in the ordinary omni-directional mobility gear the body of the device is located on the hips, in this model it is located on the upper back. It is attached to the user's body with harnesses on the torso and arms. The cables are stored in two independent winches and are fired from the operating device located in the user's arms, not the hip. The system includes spaulders and abbreviated vambraces, which contain guides that route the cables from the dorsal mounted spools to the hand-held launchers.
Compressed Gas Cylinder - The anti-personnel omni-directional mobility gear has, instead of two long, narrow tanks, one slightly wider cylinder which is strapped to the upper back, between the two cable reels. This cylinder stores all the energy used to both fire and retract the grapples, as well as from where the propellant gas is expelled.
Hand Controller - Unlike the omni-directional mobility gear, which separates the grapple launchers from the control interface, the anti-personnel maneuvering gear combines the two, along with a single shot firearm. The operating device is used to control all the functions of the equipment. It is attached at the hands and bears some similarities to gun's grip. It has the triggers and levers used to control the movement and a trigger that is used to fire the guns, which are shot from this part of the equipment. There is no need for aiming levers since the wearer can simply point the controller in the direction they wish to fire a grapple. When it is unused, the operating device is holstered on the hips.
Firearm cartridges mounted on Kenny's leg
Guns - Instead of blades, each operating device can accept a single-use cartridge, consisting of a barrel, and preloaded projectile and powder charge. Members of Kenny's Military Police unit have been observed firing their weapons with accuracy, while moving at high speed. Although they are virtually useless against Titans, these guns are extremely efficient against humans. The large caliber rounds have immense stopping power, as they can blow up a human head like a watermelon.[2] That large caliber does come at a cost. The massive round appears to have limited penetrating power, as seen when rounds were unable to penetrate a corpse.[3] Spent cartridges are simply discarded and a fresh cartridge is retrieved from a holster, typically on the user's thigh. The process is reminiscent of how members of the regular military discard and replace dull or broken swords.[2]
If the gun’s barrel is removed, anti-personnel ODM can also be used to fire sleep darts.[3]
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A view of the updated variant of the guns.
With the updated variant, used by the Scout Regiment, the guns are now reminiscent of pistols, that can fire multiple rounds before needing to be reloaded, to better combat the standard-issue bolt action rifles of the Marleyan military. These pistols, similar to their predecessor, are virtually useless in combat against Titans, but are even more efficient against humans than their predecessor, with greater range, accuracy, and ease of handling in comparison to the shotgun-like single use barrel mechanisms before them. These pistols are reloaded with ten round clips inserted through the top into an internal magazine. Pouches containing these clips are attached to the straps and belt of the uniform, allowing each soldier to carry several bullets for use in combat.[1] In addition, the Scout Regiment have adapted the gear to be capable of equipping and launching Thunder Spears. Normally one spear is attached to each arm, but with additional modifications and training, up to four can be attached.
Training
The actual training of the users is unknown, but it is believed that it is similar to training for omni-directional mobility gear. The greatest difference may be that they are not trained to fight Titans, but instead they are trained to fight against people and shoot their guns while moving at great speed. Kenny Ackermann supervised the soldiers' training while training himself in the use of the device.
During the four years between Wall Maria's reclaimation and Eren's infiltration in Marley, Paradis received new technology courtesy of the Anti-Marleyan Volunteers, which was later used during the Raid on Liberio. Throughout this period of time, it is believed the Survey Corps trained extensively to master the gear, although the exact details are unknown.
Story
Royal Government arc
Kenny's squad pursues Levi
They are first used when Levi and his squad tries to sneak Eren Jaeger and Historia Reiss through Trost District. He, Abel, and Nifa are then ambushed by a highly skilled squad from the Military Police Regiment, that are using the new anti-personnel gear inside the city. The squad succeeds in killing three of the Scout Regiment soldiers[2] as well as kidnapping Eren and Historia.[3]
After the Special Operations Squad escaped the attack, the anti-personnel omni-directional mobility gear was used again in a cave under the Reiss Chapel, keeping Eren and Historia away from the Special Operations Squad. The Special Operations Squad had to use complicated tricks, like explosives barrels and signal flares, as a way to protect themselves against the numerical superiority of the Anti-Personnel Control Squad.[4]
Marley arc
The Scout Regiment engage Porco Galliard, in his Jaw Titan form.
Some time afterward, anti-personnel omni-directional mobility gear was repurposed for the Scout Regiment's upcoming fight against Marley. During the Liberio festival after the Marley Mid-East War, this new equipment modified with semi-automatic pistols and Thunder Spears made its debut when the Scout Regiment launched a surprise attack against the Marleyan military. At this time, Mikasa Ackermann used the new equipment modified with eight Thunder Spears to take down the War Hammer Titan. She, Sasha Braus and Levi Ackermann were also wearing the traditional variant of omni-directional mobility gear; enabling them to switch and engage Porco Galliard in close combat with blades.[1]
Trivia
- Although the anti-personnel omni-directional mobility gear grants superiority against humans on foot or equal maneuverability/mobility with the Scout Regiment using traditional omni-directional mobility gear due to it is enormous range, Armin has detected flaws in the design. Due to the fact that both the barrels and the hooks are launched from the hands, a user cannot attack enemies approaching from behind.
- Another flaw is that while the guns may have incredible stopping power, if the two shots are fired, the wielder has to reload instantly. In contrast, the original omni-directional mobility gear's blades are reusable until they begin to dull and break. This flaw was mitigated when the original guns were replaced with semiautomatic pistols.
- It is unknown if the rounds of the original equipment were shot by using regular gunpowder or compressed gas.
- In a desperate situation, the hooks can also be used as a weapon because they are launched at enough speed to pierce human flesh. This tactic can be used to fling them into solid obstructions or off tall buildings.[1]
- The pistols present in the Scout Regiment's improved anti-personnel omni-directional mobility gear design bear strong resemblance to the German Mauser C96, which was the first truly successful self-loading pistol.[1]