XSWAT has four basic uniforms. Each one is detailed below.
OFFICE
The office (or desk) uniform is worn by officers with dedicated office duties (such as administrators, dispatchers, human resources, and so on) or those who are currently unable to go on patrol (such as individuals on administrative leave or recuperating from injuries and wounds). It consists of a long-sleeved shirt, belt, trousers (skirt if the women want), and shoes or low ankle-high boots. The belt has a holster for a sidearm (required for all officers, as supernatural intrusions can happy any where at any time) and for a clip the databand/PDA. The shirt doesn't have a tie (unless it is required for semiformal functions, in which case a clip-on is used), and comes with undershirt, badge/ID card, and shoulder patches. Colors are white shirt, dark blue and/or black trousers with yellow piping down the leg, and black shoes and/or boots.
(Note: this is your basic police uniform design.)
PATROL
The patrol uniform is the everyday uniform worn by all patrol officers. It is designed to be both functional, protective, and have a certain aesthetic value. The Angelus Police Department has made off-the-record comments dismissing the uniform as “gaudy,” although they may have been thinking of the dress uniform (see). Director Jamadigni Renuka has allowed certain design changes since taking charge of XSWAT, including the removal of some excessively ceremonial features in order the make the uniform more streamlined and practical.
The patrol uniform (working from the inside out and top down) consists of a tear and puncture-resistant DEF 3 skinsuit. This suit seals down the front of the torso and at the wrist and ankle. It is chemical and acid resistant, and helps protect the officer from Entity ichor, toxic wastes, skin-absorbed liquids and gases, and other noxious gunk. Over this goes a long-sleeved shirt, which fastens at the waist with a combination belt/strap. A tie is not worn with the patrol uniform, while individual officers can choose between trousers, a skirt, or the skin suit as lower-body wear. Knee-high white synth-leather boots over the feet and lower legs. Attached to this is a DEF 6 rigid armored plate over the shin and with several articulated plates over the ankle and foot. If the officers wishes, he can add armored DEF 6 vambraces, along with white gloves. The gloves are designed to seal with the skinsuit, preventing fluids from entering from the wrist area.
Over all of this is worn a knee-length long-sleeved jacket of DEF 5 carbon-fiber nanotubes. The jacket is dark blue with black lining and gold trim. There is a high-collared “mantle” attached to the shoulders and upper-chest, offering DEF 6 to those locations. A white belt helps secure the jacket. It is used to carry all the items a patrol officer might need—side arm (maser, slug thrower, or both), spare magazines, binders, flashlight, PDA, stunstick, and so on.
Rank tabs are worn on the collar of the jacket, along with a basic short-range communicator. A databand is built into the cuff.
(Note: this design mixes elements of the State Alchemist uniforms from Full Metal Alchemist, the Silent Möbius movie and TV series uniforms, and the A.D. Police uniforms from Bubblegum Crisis 2040.)
SPECIAL OPS
The special ops, or combat, uniform is worn when XSWAT needs to engage in open combat. It starts with the skin suit, boots, vambraces, and gloves from the patrol uniform. To this is a heavy-duty overshirt/light jacket, trousers with two sets of bellows pockets, with DEF 9 (or 10) clamshell armor over that. A basic ALICE/MOLLE tactical web is then used to carry the standard XSWAT gear, as well as smoke grenades, additional ammunition, rope, combat knife, and so on.
(Note: this mixes elements of the Tank Police from Dominion with the A.D. Police from the original Bubblegum Crisis.)
DRESS
The dress uniform is worn on formal occasions, such as awards ceremonies, Orientation Day, funerals, and the like. It sometimes used when XSWAT is called on to act as bodyguards for visiting notables. It combines elements of the office and patrol uniforms. Detractors state the dress uniform is overdone and ostentatious and a waste of funds. Director Renuka has said (privately) that she likes the uniform, seeing it as way of honoring former Director Cadbury’s devotion to the ideas of Joshua Abraham Norton (a.k.a. “Emperor” Norton).
The dress uniform consists of a white long-sleeved dress shirt, clip-on tie, white gloves, black or dark blue trousers with gold piping, white boots, and a high-collared ankle-length lightly armored (DEF 3) jacket complete with epaulettes, gold braid, specialty insignia (esper, magic, clade, cyborg, and so on), gold trim, and medals (if any).
(Note: this design borrows from a dress uniform seen for Silent Möbius, as well as older police dress uniforms and Marine “dress blues.” It’s meant to be stylish and, well, dressy.)
CLOAK
In inclement weather and for certain dress occasions, a long cloak is worn over either the patrol of dress uniform. Made from the same armored fabric as the patrol jacket, it rests on the shoulders and fastens with a thick strap across the base of the neck. While not as durable as the Patrol Jacket (i.e. it has a DEF of 3-4), the cloak has been treated to resist acidic rains (common in some parts of Angelus), chemical sprays, and other corrosive liquids.
HEADGEAR
Unlike the Angelus Police Department, XSWAT has no formal form of headgear or hat. There are helmets designed to go with the special operations armor, but few officers use them. The typical reason given is the helmet ends up being too restrictive with regard to the ability to see and hear. In addition, many mages feel heavy armored helmets interfere with their ability to sense mystic forces (or so they claim), while espers tend prefer the "freedom" offered by not wearing one (they also claim that not wearing a helmet helps their self- confidence in their own abilities). When pressed, Director Renuka has stated: "It's their choice." She's also pointed out that few XSWAT officers have been killed due to taking a bullet (or other projectile) to the face and/or head, and that in most gunfights the assailants are lucky to even wound one another, much less target specific body parts
Final Note: Not everyone will have all four of these uniforms. Certainly dedicated paper pushers might only have the office uniform and may need to request the dress coat for specific occasions. Personal modifications to the uniform are possible, and some special cases might be able to get away with not wearing it at all (see Nami from Silent Möbius). Researchers might wear a labcoat over the office uniform, while mechanics and the like would have one-piece DEF 2-3 jumpsuits.