Deadlight Survival Guide

In an effort to reduce casualties while individuals are considered “temporary non-citizens” (ie: outside the wall, so they won’t be counted as a statistic), a few of us vets pooled together our experience to create this guide you’re reading now. And that’s all this is. A guide. Let it guide your actions, but hold nothing to absolutes. No knowledge will protect you out there.
Deadlights are smokey, sleep paralysis demons come to life. The labcoats can argue whether they’re evil or just mindless, but it hardly matters. They’ll kill you just the same. They move fast, they kill fast, and as long as they can sense you, no terrain or distance will deter them. If you’re heading out into the desert, my advice is simply to not do that. If you’re a hired gun, quit as soon as you can afford it. Delver? Let whatever’s out there erode in the dunes. Nothing is worth it. Not for today, and not for tomorrow either. But if you’ve read this far, you’re clearly beyond common sense.

They can’t see you

Surprising to some, but as true as we can figure. If you’re outside of their detection range, they won’t know you’re there. Camouflage is pointless so if you were ever wondering, there you go. Dress for defense, dress for the climate, but don’t bother trying to blend in. On the other hand, while Deadlights typically have a “front” and “back”, they don’t have to be facing you to realize you’re there. You can’t sneak up on them, so distance is always your best defense.

They can’t hear you

Without ears, Deadlights can’t hear anything. They’ll know you’re there after the first shot, but only because they can feel the Anima in the air being displaced. It’s also why those Raven charges work sometimes, if you can land one on them. The massive displacement of Anima confuses their senses, but its no decoy. And it won’t last long. They won’t be holding still either. Generally, Ravens are more trouble than their worth. What you really want are some Rooktek burners; that gives them something else to feed on for a few precious seconds. But those are propriety, so good luck with that.
All this to say, never be afraid to communicate. If you’re screaming loud enough for them to feel the vibrations in the air, you’re already too close.

Fallback, but don’t bother retreating

If you’re detected and a more advantageous position is nearby, go for it, if you think its worth it. Especially if a crowd of em is around but only one noticed you so far. The high ground can make a difference in the long run.
Fleeing on foot is a waste of energy. They’ll outrun you. Yes, even if you scatter. The pamphlet calls the smallest ones “mud hopper-sized” specifically because they jump. But they’re more like fleas. We’ve seen them clear a distance of 200 feet in one leap. And the bigger they are, the faster they can close in.

No heroic sacrifices

You might think you’re doing your group a favor, buying them time. But if you’ve ever seen a Deadlight “feed”, you’ll know better. Nothing can prepare you for just how quickly they’ll finish someone off and be on to the next. It’s not minutes. It’s not even a few dozen seconds. Longest any of us have seen was roughly 7 seconds for one especially large man. Average is closer to 4-5. And after they finish with you, each remaining victim will be chased down by a now larger, faster Deadlight.

If you’re willing to come out here, you’d better be willing to stand and fight together. Because once one goes down, your odds of survival just dove.

Avoid the water

Let’s say you’re fortunate enough to have an Armored Personnel Carrier. And let’s say you’re being chased by a Deadlight that’s faster than your APC. You’re near the coast and Deadlights don’t like water, right?

Deadlights look stupid tripping over the waves, I’ll grant you that. But only up until you realize they aren’t stopping, and are barely even slowed. Short of an amphibious vehicle, which you’re not driving (RT proprietary), hiding in the ocean is a death sentence. They float on water so they can’t dive, but they’ll wait you out.

Know your fireteam

This is more for the civilians, but knowing what your escort can do is vital. And if you’re an idiot, this is a general breakdown of expectations for you and your team. But don’t read this and think you’re ready. Go to the training site. Run drills. Ask questions. There are veterans there every day of the week doing the same thing. You should be too.

The guy with the radio is Communications. They’re the lifeline to the folks back home, and to the other active deployments out in the desert. Like everyone else, Comms will pack token rations and medical supplies. Not much, but the expectation is always to return before nightfall. Once viability drops, things get dire, and any delvers will be safe beneath the sand (at least safe from Deadlights). Due to the weight of their radio, Comms typically only carry an automatic rifle or a shotgun. For this reason, civilians shouldn’t be relying on Comms for protection in an engagement. Being forced to choose between a weapon with less stopping power or less range isn’t viable. Both are bad options.
Carrying an especially long gun with a thin profile marks them as a Sniper.
The RT-ADLS “Polyp Gun” is their weapon of choice and they can prevent a situation from escalating with a single round. Snipers are the only ones that can fire from far enough away that Deadlights will only be headed toward the shot, rather than toward your group. Old guard might still be carrying around a technically inferior Anti-Materiel Rifle, but if your Sniper has used one since they were standard and are still alive- best leave well enough alone.
Specialists will have a High Explosive Guiding System. HEGS fire and direct laser-guided explosives, and are your only real defense against multiple hostiles.
If an engagement starts, and you survived it, they’re typically the one that ended it. Flex gear can vary, but Specialists will usually have a pocket shotgun with a flechette round chambered. Sounds underwhelming compared to a guided rocket, but those things shred just as well as an ADLS, albeit at much shorter range. These explosive experts are also the most likely to carry spare grenades, frag knives, and all sorts of other things you don’t want to be around.
Your best friend is the person with the very large gun and a lot of bullets. Gunners don’t score as many kills, but they land a lot of shots. Their job is to slow Deadlights down with a hail of gunfire. And it works well enough that Deadlights won’t directly charge a Gunner. But with body augmentations, the size of their weapon can go up. Way up. As can the cost of their services. However, Gunners are also the only ones with a consistent risk of winding up in the red after a sortie, if things got particularly active. They’re usually the last one standing, if it comes to it.
And that’s the standard 4-member deployment. Comms handles coordination with other fireteams and dispatch. Sniper pops polyps before the thing they’re attached to can respond. In the event of an engagement, Comms and the Gunner slow down the target while the Specialist and Sniper ready to hit them with ordinance. And that all sounds nice on paper, which means its time for “the statistic”.
25% of all engagements with a single fireteam against even the smallest Deadlight results in a casualty. Flip two coins. If you got tails twice, somebody is down. It could be you. It could be the whole group. That’s why most planned engagements are comprised of 2 fireteams.
There’s no explaining in writing the speed with which Deadlights bound from point to point. Once they get going, they only stop when they’re on top of somebody. And by then, its usually too late. The very act of being too close to one is enough to cause large, painful rashes to form as that inky membrane of theirs radiates outward. When they catch you with thier claws, there is no collision. They will rend through your flesh and bones like paper.
It is especially odd then, when those weirdos with a sword or spear shows up thinking they’re going to have enough time to ninja wizard their way out of a problem. Save that flashy magikinetic crap for those lunitic delvers. If you insist on being out here, at least pick up a gun.

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Deadlight Grade Classification

While the variety of shapes are too great to categorize, Rooktek has created a size-based classification system for Deadlights. Classes range from C to S in ascending order by the volume they roughly occupy.

Class C

The “mud hopper” tier.
Due to the sweeping nature of Leodora’s dunes, these are no less a threat to operations than any other size. One, or even a few, could be right over the next dune. If lucky enough to be seen while in a transport, the safest option is to just turn around and return to base. This is why you always negotiate a portion of the payment up front.
Locating one unawares that you can’t safely circumvent (which Comms will know from radioed reports) usually results in requesting a secondary fireteam to squad up with (or your fireteam backing up another). Reinforcement fees are typically a standard rate by Grade.
Everyone sets up. Snipers coordinate tandom shots. Failure results in Specialists readying their shots while Gunners and Comms work to pin the target down (by aiming at where they’re trajected to land). Specialists fire and guide their rocket toward the target one at a time, with the backup Specialist only firing first in an emergency. If all else fails, Specialists draw their sidearm and Snipers prepare to make, what will probably be, a final shot without airburst (at close quarters, there isn’t enough time for the flechette to prime and disperse). Then everyone unloads and prays, but its usually not necessary. With that much firepower, things rarely progress that far. The problem isn’t in execution, it’s the frequency of unexpected engagements.
Pack up. Call in. Withdraw.

Class B

The “human-sized” tier. This is unfortunately the grade that is most likely to wipe out a whole fireteam.
They’re still small enough that tracking their movement in the sand is tricky and a large enough dune can conceal them entirely. Worse yet, at this size Deadlights can usually outpace a standard desert transport. Communication with Dispatch, predicting movements to minimize the odds of an encounter, and a planned escape route are vital. But sometimes a “B” will hang around your destination and timetables demand its removal. This is where APCs come in.
Armored Personnel Carriers, while roughly the same size as a typical desert transport, are designed to be driven in an engagement.
More bottom heavy, APCs get better traction and are able to take high speed turns safely. They have a more powerful engine, plating thick enough to take at least a grazing blow from a Deadlight, and come equip with a mounted turret (Heavy Machine Guns are the standard).
Engagement isn’t treated too differently than a C Grade, at first. A full squad of 2 fireteams will take position from within the confines of the APC. Make sure everyone is hooked to the safety bars, with Snipers attached closest to the cabin. Comms 1 will be driving while Comms 2 mans the rooftop turret. From there, Snipers synchronize fire. Comms 1 will begin to bring the APC to speed (remain calm, don’t slam on the gas or your tires will dig everyone’s grave). Snipers will relocate to assist Comms 2 with loading, cooling, jamming, and signaling. Specialists alternate HEGS.
Gunners 1, 2 and Comms 2 will be staggering fire at 2/3rds intervals, with Gunner 1 beginning for 1/3 and Gunner 2 for 2/3rd. When Gunner 1 stops, Comms 2 begins. Gunner 2 off, Gunner 1 on, Comms 2 off, Gunner 2 on. Cycle as necessary. In the event of an emergency, Comms 2 will sustain fire until both Gunners are back online. Ideally, 2 machine guns will be firing at all times, but always at least 1.
If a B Grade isn’t under suppressive fire at all times, there’s no guarantee it won’t be able to catch up, or launch an attack from afar by extending a limb.

Class A

The “car-sized” tier. Famously, one Bannon Lark (yes, of the Larks) once took down an “A” with a single Anti-Materiel round And while none of us are discrediting Bannon’s account, Joanne has seen an A Grade take a HEGS to the proverbial “face” and still not be finished yet. Which is to say, do not expect Deadlights of this size to go down in one hit of anything short of artillery fire. It can happen (allegedly), but it should never be the expectation.
Planned operations for taking down an A Grade are almost universally Rooktek military exclusive. There are no civilians or mercenaries involved and how it all goes down is a company secret. So what little cumulative information we have can’t even be disclosed, beyond it involves armor (helicopters, artillery, that sort of thing).
Again, allegedly a single one-in-a-million shot from an AM can take one down. But anything short of heavy military intervention has casualty rates too high for even a special operation.

Class S

The “building-sized” tier. This is it. For whatever reason, they don’t seem to get any bigger than this. On a clear day, on the roof of the highest buildings in Rookland, you can sometimes catch a glimpse of them wandering in the distance. A little black speck on the horizon that’s moving entirely too fast if you think about it.
You’ve also probably seen the footage; Rooktek loves to air it, if nothing else to showcase their military capabilities. Broadside battleship cannons, air strikes, missiles- they really did a number on that thing. Only for dozens and dozens of “Cs” and “Bs” to pour out of the husk. Like maggots fleeing an exhausted corpse. One large but easily tracked problem for a hundred more urgent problems isn’t a good trade. And that’s why we don’t engage S Grade. Once was enough. By no metric is it ever worth the trouble.
But now and again there will be Rooktek operations to observe and study them. The labcoats say that Deadlights of that size have traits; that they can identify which one is which, They won’t share anything more specific, but supposedly they’ve even named them. Fascinating and frightening, in equal measure.
Authors and Contributors
Alicia Soto
Zhu Tengfei
Su Guiren
Zadia Lafeyette
Mao Xiuying
Sniper “Jo”