Now that she is satisfied with the preliminary results of the process, Counselor Dakós has requested that it be refined and performed on a small number of handpicked units, primarily drones under her care.

Save for a few easily-concealed feeding ports, an operative that has been enhanced in such a manner may not outwardly appear to be any different to the naked eye. When provided with a supply of compound #2556, or a sufficient amounts of red meat, however, the subject undergoes a formidible transformation. Bones elongate and strengthen, pain reflexes deaden, and muscle mass increases almost exponentially, resulting in a soldier capable of punching through steel as if it were tinfoil. While not bulletproof (yet), testing has shown that expanded units are exceptionally resiliant to blunt trauma; any ordinance unable to pierce their armor will similarly be unable to even break their stride. For the time being, uniforms on expandable personnel will be much stronger and durable than normal combat-wear, and cover all as much as possible. The creaking sounds often heard during operation are not, as one might expect, the straps and ballistic fibers of the uniform, but the skin of the subject itself, struggling to keep up with the incredible stress put upon it by the process. Current Empire Enhancements treatments have proven insufficient thus far, and may be interacting poorly with compound #2556 or its derivatives.

With fewer safeguards, and without having to worry about such bothersome concerns as 'comfort', 'long-term survival', or 'mental stability', the process has shown great promise when used on drones. This could pave the way towards more high-power roles being given to drones, especially when commands can be relayed by other units. The freedom to push further and harder has also taught the Science Directorate volumes about how much a Korps supersoldier can truly handle, in defiance of conventional wisdom. Expandable units will never replace their more permanently-enhanced kin, though they have proven far easier to deploy on their own.

Field research is underway, investigating the possibility of sneaking lone units deep into enemy installations, only to have them fully deploy and sow chaos from locations a normal supersoldier could never reach. At this stage, results have been passable at best, limited primarily by the need to carry large quantities of the compound in order to reach suitable sizes. As techniques improve, it may become possible to infiltrate mess halls, leaving the enemy wondering how the monster presently ripping apart their equipment and aerosolizing their crew managed to appear undetected in the middle of a fortified bunker.

Art: KrakenTango (original)