Socket soldier

Socket soldier
A socket soldier is readied for battle in Battle 33
Statistics
Type	Heavy infantry cyborg body
Creator	Barjack
Users	Barjack, Yolg
Debut	Battle 33

A socket soldier was a type of heavy infantry cyborg body that was developed and deployed by the Barjack.

Design

A socket soldier kill switch is activated

It is suggested that anyone can be converted into a socket soldier, as their heads were mounted on large, lightbulb-like sockets. When not deployed, the heads hung in storage. An adrenalizer was injected into a port on the backs of the necks before the soldiers were literally screwed into armoured bodies. A helmet equipped with flashlights on each side of the head was then fitted. Appearing anxious and frightened at the prospect of combat, the adrenalizer and attachment to their cyborg bodies made the socket soldiers more aggressive and eager to fight. They were armed with M-16 assault rifles, grenades, and combat knives. In case of mutiny, all socket soldier bodies were equipped with a kill switch that could be detonated, severely damaging the head and destroying the soldier body.

History

A line of Socket soldiers inside a Barjack tank

Colonel Bozzle deployed socket soldiers when he fought Alita at the Boiling Metal Battalion base, where she single-handedly wiped out a platoon of them led by Knucklehead. He later sabotaged them by replacing the adrenalizer with cleaning detergent before he kidnapped Alita to fight a duel against her. Yolg was turned into a socket soldier by Bozzle and sent to kill Alita and Figure Four, but turned on Bozzle, sustaining fatal injuries when his explosive charge was detonated. Socket soldiers were later present when the Heng was brought to bear on Tiphares, and appeared at the Barjack revival meeting at Farm 3 on August 15, ES 591.

Other appearances

In Gunnm: Martian Memory, socket soldiers appear as enemy characters after the story shifts to the Badlands. They are white and armed with assault rifles.