While the construction of the Calixian Infantryman's Portable Communications Transcription Device varies greatly from planet to planet, its function is vital. Every soldier of the Astra Militarum tithed from a world within the Calixis Sector is expected to have a rudimentary understanding of its operating procedures so that he or she may communicate when Vox-operators are not available.
Typically a gripped cylinder with a reservoir of staining liquid, the device has also been manufactured successfully on primitive worlds such as Iocanthos using soft breaking metal or fissionable residue encased in a stain resistant substance, usually milled on site.
When a staining liquid is used, it can be manufactured from a variety of substances found throughout the Calixis Sector including, but not limited to, flora/fauna compression, animal excretion harvesting, or synthetic means.
This source can often affect the hue of the staining liquid. The "por-com," as many Scintillan regiments have come to call it, is typically issued with locally-rendered Calixian Infantryman's Portable Communications Notation Devices. These can be harvested from fauna rendering processes or created synthetically.
A master-crafted Calixian Infantryman's Portable Communications Transcription Device functions even in locations without gravity and has multiple reservoirs that hold different pigments of staining liquid.
Sources[]
- Only War: Core Rulebook (RPG), pg. 200