TAEDUS Gumbinnen Sems full color

As promised here is the full color posting of Gumbinnen Sems.

I posted the line art version of Gumbinnen a week ago and it can be seen here: [link]

Additionally relevant and noteworthy the recent Vulne Pro blog post covering Gumbinnen's development history (with examples of original Gumbee art from the 90s) as a design and, actually, the very first sendai: [link] If you're following the TKP work the blog is worth a look or follow.

This color version was actually completed at the time but I didn't want to bunch up the posts and wanted them to be separate presentations.

The concept of the taedai is pretty straight forward, they are the forward shield to the human partner in law enforcement and military applications. They are the forward investigations, the scout, the protector/body guard to their human user. A "use system" is the symbiotic neural bond between the human and taedus and often this bond is sent up in a way that benefits the human user more. In Gumbinnen and Heath's case it's a bond of mutual respect and Heath's relationship with Gumbee is more like a close friend.

Gumbinnen's partner Heath Wuthering: [link]

With the colors we get a better sense of the varied materials and surfaces on Gumms (the bakelite textured mustard parts far more apparent in color now). It's clear he's a product of the late 4th gen to 5th generation of FOIL development so he falls somewhere in early 5th gen and R&D actually having begun in the late 4th gen period. Gumbinnen Sems is really Oshen's masterpiece taedus design and his record of service with Heath proves it. Both Gumbinnen and Heath have had a rather prestigious and storied career with the I.P.I.O. (Inter-bloc Private Investigations Organization).

Gumbinnen is a top of the line Myrmidon Phoenix combat Taedus use system. He has 360 degree full visual awareness with several neural streams managing the visual data so it's not simply a confused and jumbled mess. You can see some of his additional "eyes" on his shoulder armor and the center of the torso belly section. His head also has eyes in the rear not visible. Additionally there are optics built into the sensor/interface bars located on the shoulders. These sensor bars can interface with Omnisense terminals accessing data from the Omni-network, they can break into locks and systems (kinda like a hack but not in the cyberpunk sense), and they have additional senses of smell, touch, taste, etc. These devices can be swapped out with other specialized gear.

Also unseen on the illustration Gumbinnen has two additional sub arms built into his back capable of being armed. Being a 5th gen design the various circular "caps" on the limbs are covers for connection ports he can add additional gear and weapons. the shoulder has on of these ports, in the center, with the cap off. The bar hanging from the right rear calf is an additional sensor and there's only the one equipped as pictured. Again this kind of gear can be swapped out and customized to fit the situations at hand. The extra "toes" on the back of the writs are precisely that, additional climbing gear and hand to hand weaponry. The toes have built in lighters (taser like shocking weapons) to stun other sendai if need be. Gumbinnen is shielded from lighter attacks which is another indication of how high end he really is.

Due to his wide design (this would apply to Gedai Ya'eel as well) some doors and tight spaces can be problematic for Gumbinnen to physically explore himself (standards on doors etc. do exist but Indus is so old it's impossible for everything to comply) but this is't as much of an issue as it may seem. In situations a taedus can't proceed they will always send smaller drones that are just as capable in dealing with threats. Indus always presents frustrating problems to those in law enforcement anyway so they try to find clever solutions whenever possible. As noted in the postings regarding Wallriders those in Policer work hate the damn things. This is another important reason those in law enforcement work on Indus need taedus partners, they can get to locations of crime ahead of their human partners and many do fly. Being a high end custom model Gumbinnen does, indeed, have a facsimile of an Icar drive built in, so he's capable of flight. You can see intakes for his thrusters on his torso and in the thigh armor housings.

Gumbinnen Sems and his use partner Heath Wuthering are major characters in Badan Song so we'll be seeing more of them in the future. more to come...

Digital inks and color in Photoshop CS3