Hard Mercy Maneuver Thruster Belt

Hard Mercy is a ring of cold-gas bottles, blunt nozzles, and a control box worn low on the hips. It does not make zero-gravity movement graceful. It makes mistakes recoverable. Thumb paddles fire short bursts for translation and rotation; mechanical guards stop a panicked hand from emptying the tank in one squeeze. The belt clips to a suit harness at four points so thrust moves the wearer instead of peeling equipment away. Exhaust stains the nozzles pale blue. Refilling from ship nitrogen is straightforward, though careless crews introduce oil that freezes the valves later. First-time users pinwheel. Experienced users pinwheel with less shouting and generally miss the expensive antenna.