HK-36
The Iron Lord Protector (Neutral Good)
Image Source: DeviantArt, a piece called The Witch King by artist Hodges-Art, link here
Intent: To cannibalize armor HK already owns and put them together into one dangerous suit for multiple occasions, perfect for his new bounty-hunting gig
Development Thread: I could do a thread where the suits are taken apart and then put together into one,
Based on Protectorate Defense Power Armor Heavy Variant (Rotors and shielding system)
Vanguard-class Armor Phrik Variant (Phrik plating, magnetic hardpoints, Echani Energy Shield Mk2, Leovi Jet Systems, Explorer's Datapad, and the HUD programming with Lightbringer Sensor Node)
VT-Vonduun Skerr Karamik (Vong Biot named "Vondy", VT-Shark Skin, Carbo-Plas)
VT-Grav Gloves (Miniature Repulse Generators, Dallorian Alloy, Plasteel, Asheran Armorweave)
Electro-Cestus (Cortosis-Weave Blades, Purified Cortosis Lining, Electroshocking Pad)
Asheran Armorweave (Loose dark robes)
CBRW-1 Flamer (Small flamethrower mounted within one of the vambraces)
Graphite Grappling Gun (Small grappling gun mounted within the other vambrace)
Manufacturer: Abregado-Rae Guild of Hammers (HK Specifically)
Model: HK's Bounty Hunting Armor
Affiliation: ARGH, and the droid himself
Modularity: None, it's already modded to hell
Production: Unique
Material: Durasteel and Bronzium (In the rotors), Vong Biot underlay, Shark Skin and Phrik armor plates, Asheran Armorweave used in the gauntlets and robes, Cortosis-Weave used in the claws and talons of the gauntlets, portions of the blades lined with Purified Cortosis, Echani Graphite used in the jet systems, and Gados Electrum used as conductor for the power and electronic systems
Classification: Multipurpose
Weight: 12 kg (Based on weight of Vanguard and Skerr Karamik, both of them weight 12 kg)
Quality: 8 (The rating for Vanguard is mostly 7 before the Phrik platings are introduced, Skerr Karamik is 8, its biot and shark skin make up most of this suit)
Special Features:
- VT-Grav Glove
- Vonduun Biot Underlay (Grants Force-resistance)
- Pockets
- Bandoleer
- Echani Energy Shield Mk2 Belt Unit
- Upper back and boot mounted jets, modified from the Leovis Wing Jet System
- Forearm mounted holographic datapad (Explorer Datapad)
- Vacuum proof(10min)
- Magnetic Attachment on outer thighs for personal weapons (sidearm, knife, lightsaber hilt)
- Magnetic Attachment on the back for larger ranged weapon
- HUD Programming can work with Lightbringer Sensor Node as well as a variety of vision types (Standard, IR, UV, Heat)
- Magnetic boots
- Radiation Detection Dosimeter
- Defense Power Armor Energy Shields, around 10-12 shots before energy cells start to drain to cope
- Defense Power Armor rotors provide enhanced strength, speed and stability. Increasing strength to about a carry capacity of 90kg, a speed increase of 10km/h, and the back rotors assist with lifting.
- Farraday cage built into the Power Armor skeleton
- Wrist-mounted Grappling Gun
- Wrist-mounted Flamethrower
- Lightsaber and Energy Resistant- Energy dispersal properties from the Phrik-Sharkskin plating, as well as the Armorweave draped over it
- Physical Resistant- Resistance to cuts and stabs from the Phrik-Sharkskin plating, as well as the Armorweave draped over it, this includes resistance to Vong weaponry like the Amphistaves granted by the Sharskin
- Force Resistant- The Biot-Underlay grants the wearer resistance to Force powers being used on them, rendering its user partially dead to the Force
- Versatile- due to the resistance to multiple types of attacks and presence of gadgets like jet systems or the grav gloves, the armor is not only a protective layer but a versatile tool, being useful in a variety of situations and against many types of foe
- Rotors- the rotor skeleton the armor sits on grants the user increased strength, speed, and stability
- Build-in Weaponry- because of build in weapons like the blades of the cestus of wrist-mounted flamethrower the wearer doesn't always need a weapon, the suit itself is a weapon
- Redundant Shielding- two different types of personal shield, the Echani MK 2 for slower moving projectiles and melee combat, and personal shielding from Omega Power Armor, for defense against energy attacks like blaster bolts.
- Frankenstein- The armor is a heavily modified suit consisting of scraps from other cannibalized armors put together, it's unique, there is no suit like it out there because there hasn't been a cooperation like this between armor-manufacturers before. On the downside, this makes repairing it a huge pain in the ass because a pretty much whole new suit of armor needs to be bought, then taken apart all over again to provide repair parts. Of course, some components are easy to replace, for example Shark Skin could just be bough, Leovi Wing system can be replaced, same with the Echani MK 2 shields, but the old Protectorate Power Armors are not made again, not to mention to fix the Phrik plates one would have to go mining for Phrik. As such when the armor receives serious enough damage that cause one component to be in need of replacement, a development thread is necessary to continue using it to its full capabilities. It's also a real pain in the ass to put it on, because of the multiple layers at least one other person is needed to successfully put the biot over the rotor rig and then arrange the plates.
- Draining- because some of the systems use the same energy sources, for example both of the personal shield systems and the rotor frame run on the same powerpack, and the jet and flamethrower systems use the same fuel capsule storage, as such this suit has about twice as high energy requirements than the original suits did if multiple systems using the same energy source are being used. In other words, its user needs to constantly balance which systems are being used if they don't want to be replacing powerpacks and fuel capsules every few minutes.
- Multiple Energy Sources- another downside of so many different bells and whistles being jammed into one suit is that it requires multiple different energy sources to run, for example the user has to have handy both fuel capsules and batteries and remember to replace them before combat. The user also needs to remember to feed the biot under-armor, as it is a living creature, which is pretty weird.
- Limited Ionic/Electromagnetic Resistance- the biggest downside of this suit is that none of the armors that went into making it were designed with droids in mind. None of them were made with any specific resistance or security to weapons that dealt ionic, electromagnetic, or electric damage, in fact the opposite, the suit is in a way vulnerable to it, a big portion of it, the Asheran Armorweave robes draped over the body of the suit, is a superconductor. While the droid who made this suit did build a Farraday cage into the rotor frame on which the whole suit sits to protect the user beneath it from ionic and electric damage, the whole thing is still susceptible to electromagnetic impulses, not to mention that the biot underlay is not protected by cage, should any electricity get past the outer armored plates and strike the biot, it would cause it pain. While the biot can withstand some energy, extreme pain and damage can cause it either to die or loose grip on the plates, which would cause the suit to fall apart.
- Entrapment- should the rotor skeleton run out of energy or become disabled, it stops aiding in the user's movements, in fact it fights against them, causing the wearer to lose speed significantly. It doesn't get to the point where one just can't move and is trapped within the suit, but it certainly feels much heavier and restrictive than it is.
- Limited Flexibility- due to the rotor skeleton, the wearer loses some of their range of motion, making their movements a bit more stiff. It's nothing too noticeable to an average being and the user would still be able to function and fight as normal with the suit, but the hyper-dexterous being like some droids would certainly notice the difference of not just being to flip and cartwheel all over the place. Still this is not as bad as what the Omega Power Armor put on its user, due to its thick, heavy plates being replaced with the much lighter and smaller Phrik-Sharkskin ones.
- Inheritance- This armor also inherits most weaknesses from the armor suits that went into making it, although some, for example the loss of flexibility within the Heavy Omega Power Armor as mentioned before, are not as bad as in the original suits.
Description: Two things became quickly evident to HK when he was awakened by Siobhan Kerrigan from his self-indulged stasis: The world sure did made nice advancements in armor technology, and he was due for a makeover. Even before the droid entombed himself he preferred to wear an old Omega Power Armor, no other suit offered him the protection of a personal deflector shield to block energy weaponry along with the rotor systems to enhance his already great strength and speed. So when he received a Vanguard-class Armor Suit with phrik plating from Kerrigan, and bought a bunch of gadgets along with the Vonduun Skerr Karamik from Vanir Tech, the droid decided to finally do something about it and put together a suit that he would be happy to wear.
He started by taking apart his old Protectorate Power armor, removing the plates and separating the personal shielding system from it until all that was left were the rotors in a bare skeleton. He used bronzium and Gados Electrite then to create a Farraday cage within the skeleton, pretty much a must for any droid worth his oil in HK's opinion, and to strengthen the rotor skeleton so it would not collapse on itself or under the weight of the plates.
Then he took the Biot Underlay Vonduun Skerr Karamik and molded the creature like clay until it covered him without interfering with the rotors. This was the first layer of the armor, the under-armor, providing moderate resistance to energy and kinetic weapons, but very valuable resistance to the Force. The trick with Skerr Karamik, and sole reason why droid included it in the suit, is that it nearly renders the beings clad in it dead to the Force, which means finally the droid would have protection against such Force powers as telekinesis.
Next came the actual armor layer, first he attached an armored utility belt from the Vanguard armor, reinforced by Phrik and with the Echani MK 2 shield build-in, the machine attached to it the Protectorate Shield System as well, connecting them to the same power source. While that seemed to be a bad idea and the two shield systems running at the same time would just drain the battery twice as fast, Echani shields blocked mainly slow moving projectiles and melee strikes, and they activated automatically, while the Protectorate shields blocked energy attacks like blaster bolts, so the droid figured he could just juggle those to use them efficiently. He took the Phrik plates he got with the Vanguard armor suit from Sio and covered them in the Shark Skin from the plates that came with Vonduun Skerr Karamik. It may seem like a bit of an overkill, considering Phrik's reputation, but the droid was not sure whether Phrik was resistant against Amphistaves, and he knew for a fact, from Venir's advertisements, that Shark Skin could not only resist Vong weapons, it could also trap an Amphistaff in its scales. At least that's how the droid understood it. He covered the plates in the nutrient paste Skerr Karamik liked so much and coaxed the biot into sucking onto the plates, arranging the modified Phrik plates in their layout from the Vanguard armor, attaching at this point the Leovi jet systems as well and the bandoliers and pouches the suit came with, making sure the propulsion was protected but not interfering with the Skerr Karamik.
What he was left with was basically a heavily modified Vanguard-class Phrik suit with Skerr Karamik under-armor and a Protectorate rotor rig and energy shield build into it. An unholy marriage of Vong shaping and modern technology. It could also fly.
The next step in the project were the gauntlets, for this HK took the Vanguard armor Phrik-plated gauntlets, a pair of Electro-Cestus his own company made, and a pair of Grav Gloves from VT. Taking the Phrik plating from the Vanguard gauntlets, he coated it in Shark Skin like before. He then took apart the Electro-Cestus, separating the Cortosis claws and talons, as well as the electro-shocking lining. This time he used the Grav Gloves as foundation, first attaching the systems for retracting Cortosis claws onto their vambraces and talons on the fingertips, then sewing in the electro-shocking padding on the palm, balancing it with the miniature repulse generators to make sure the two systems would not interfere with each other outside of sharing the same energy source in the bracer part of the gauntlets. Next he added the Phrik-Shark Skin plating over the gauntlets, armoring them up, making sure the blades could move enough for the wrist-mounted claws to expand and retract, and then he mounted a small flamethrower his company made, CBRW-1 Flamer, on the top of the vambrace on one gauntlet, and then a small grappling gun, also made by his company, on the other gauntlet.
This gave greater offensive capability to Grav Gloves, equipping them with electro-shocking padding to stun at a touch, as well as multiple blades, woven with Cortosis to resist strikes from a lightsaber in combat, and lined with purified Cortosis at about 4/5 of their length to disable a lightsaber's plasma blade at mere touch, which sounded better in theory, because of how fragile the purified Cortosis was, the linings would fall off all the time at mere physical damage and had to be replaced pretty much after every battle.
He then took the Vanguard helmet, slapped some Shark-skin onto it, and used Dallorian Alloys and Carbo-plas he had left over from the whole system to create a dangerous-looking metallic design over the featureless and concealing helmet.
The final touch to the suit were loose dark robes with a hood tailored by the droid out of couple of bolts of Asheran Armorweave he bought from VT, mostly for intimidation, to hide weaponry on himself during bounty hunts, and for that cool flowing robe-y look he liked so much. Although the Armorweave did provide additional protection from both physical and energy weapons, it was also a super-conductor, making it probably a huge design flaw in draping it over the whole suit. Electricity was one sort of damage the suit could not negate on its own, sure the deflector shield could absorb electricity, but those did not last long especially against that type of an attack. The armor plates, in all their Phrik and Shark Skin glory, were not properly insulated from the rest of the suit, and the Biote Underarmor, on which the whole suit hinged on, was directly connected to them, literally sucking on them. This means that electric strikes to inner plates directly connected to the biote, unlike big outer plates like pauldrons, backplate, or chest plate, which hinged on other plates rather than just the biote itself, could affect and damage the biote. Should the biote be disabled or killed, Skerr Karamik would release the plates it held together and they would simply slide or fall right off, leaving only the inner rotor skeleton rig and its Farraday cage on the user.
Speaking of the rotor rig, although it did grant the user great speed and additional strength, basically allowing them to charge into battle and throw people around, it did limit their flexibility. One could still function and fight normally with the rig on them, but beings like HK would realize that they could not use their flexibility and dexterity to its full potential with the rig limiting their degrees of motion. Thankfully, both the Vonduun Skerr Karamik and the Vanguard-class Armor were designed with more dexterous users in mind who preferred lighter armor, as such the problem of loss of motion wasn't as much of an issue as with the old Protectorate Power Armor, which were titanic when compared to contemporary suits.
The biggest drawback, however, of this suit, is that there is only one like it in the whole Galaxy, at least for a while. This means that should it be damaged to the point where it needs to be repaired or completely reforged, for example if the Vong Biot would die, one would need to buy either multiple components from multiple sources to do so, save the armored plates from the old suit, go out mining for Phrik, or simply buy three new suits to make a new one. This would be quite difficult as the Defense Power Armor were rare even before the Protectorate collapsed and probably discontinued, Phrik variants of Vanguard-class are limited in their production, with only maybe 5 left at the time this suit is made, and VT will probably keep selling theirs so that's no problem at least. A big factor, also, is how much of a pain in the ass this armor is to be put on, HK himself needs help from his 4 honor guard copies to suit up into it, first he needs to step into the rotor rig, then the biot needs to be applied over it in a way that does not interfere with the rotors or other systems like the jet propulsion, then the armored plates and other systems need to be added onto the biot by being coated in nutried paste and letting the biot suck in on them, and finally then come the gauntlets, the helmet, and the black armormesh robes over them.
In summary, this is a very potent suit of armor, full of various resistances to energy and physical weapons, as well as the Force, many tricks like the jet propulsion, flamethrowers, grav gloves, grappling hooks, but with a weakness those who know about could easily exploit, leading to the whole suit unraveling. If broken or damaged, a development thread would be necessary to use this suit again, including mining operation for more Phrik unless the previous armored plates are saved. Still, it should be a terrible and unique presence both during bounty hunts and on the battlefield.
Primary Source: Protectorate Defense Power Armor Heavy Variant (Rotors and shielding system)
Vanguard-class Armor Phrik Variant (Phrik plating, magnetic hardpoints, Echani Energy Shield Mk2, Leovi Jet Systems, Explorer's Datapad, and the HUD programming with Lightbringer Sensor Node)
VT-Vonduun Skerr Karamik (Vong Biot named "Vondy", VT-Shark Skin, Carbo-Plas)
VT-Grav Gloves (Miniature Repulse Generators, Dallorian Alloy, Plasteel, Asheran Armorweave)
Electro-Cestus (Cortosis-Weave Blades, Purified Cortosis Lining, Electroshocking Pad)
Asheran Armorweave (Loose dark robes)
CBRW-1 Flamer (Small flamethrower mounted within one of the vambraces)
Graphite Grappling Gun (Small grappling gun mounted within the other vambrace)
