Compact Nanohive

The nanohive is one of the most advanced pieces of battlefield technology to date, able to convert formatted matter from its limited internal stores and reorganize it into any kind of ammunition. When a soldier approaches, the nanohive receives an automated request from the Cortex Holographic Interface instructing swarms of self-replicating construction nanites to begin producing whatever type of ammunition that soldier requires.

The device itself is composed of three major parts: a composite carbon polymer shell, heavily shielded to prevent potentially disruptive ambient electronic interference; a low-level replicator assembly housing the initial seed swarm; and a C11 power core capable of producing class-one containment fields, confining the nanite swarm as it replicates to its maximum sustainable mass. There is, however, no central computer; each nanite is born with a complete set of instructions on how to create every known variety of ammunition round.