Beskar'gam for Hyperion [Mandal Hypernautics/Invite]

[Anija Betna]

Keldabe, Mandalore
Mandal Hypernautics Labs

Schematics lay scattered over the worktable as Anija Ordo leaned forward to read the message ANNE had helpfully displayed via the holoprojector built into Anija's gauntlet. Her forehead drew together in a faint frown. This wasn't the first message she'd gotten out of the blue. And it was yet another from the comm frequency of one [member="Captain Larraq"].

That alone had her concerned. He'd been missing for weeks now. And yet, she would occasionally get messages from his comm frequency giving her detailed instructions or schematics which she was to build. This was another of those occasions. This time, it was to improve an already existing design. The Advanced Hyperion Combat Armor had been around for some time now, and Larraq felt it was time to take it to the next level.

On that, Anija agreed. As she looked over the files he'd sent along with the message, and read his instructions, she could see here and there where improvements could be made. The main thing that was detailed was that the new version was to be made into functional beskar'gam - beskar plating instead of durasteel. And only 12 copies were to be made - intended for Hyperion Security and Mandalorian special forces elements.

[member="Ashin Varanin"]

 

[Anija Betna]

Her first task was to mod the armorweave covering the bodysuit. The armorweave covering on the Advanced Combat armor was made from Durasteel. The armorweave on the Hyperion Beskar'gam was to be made from beskar. Hands on armor construction was not something she personally had a lot of experience in. Not yet any way. Even for her own, she'd relied on the skills of [member="Ordo"] and [member="Arrbi Betna"]. This time around, she hoped to be able to most of the work herself - using what she'd learned.

She knew the properties of the beskar as opposed to the durasteel. The beskar had a higher melting point, but it became stronger as it was worked and folded. It was common practice to mix the beskar with another metal such as durasteel or alum inorder to produce a lighter alloy which still possessed the strength inherent in the beskar itself. KNowing this, she began manipulating the hologram and making notations around the edge of the armorweave hologram which now floated beside the main hologram of the beskar'gam.

 

[Anija Betna]

Anija continued working for quite some time, fine-tuning the design of the of the bodysuit, including the photoreactive fibers and circuitry that was embedded into the fabric. These were designed to enhance the suit's ability to visually bled with it's surroundings, while they also served as projectors for the ray shilds which helped tp protect the wearer.

According to Larraq's schematics and notes, it all looked solid, but even she was cautious. The power draw for this... plus the rest of the armor seemed enormous. Shaking her head at the numbers, she ran them again. As crazy as they seemed, it just might work. To the rest of the bodysuit, covering the outer surface at various locations, she added anchor points for the beskar plates themselves. There were quite a few of these, and each one was to be coated in a reflec polymer coating to help absorb heat to confuse sensors.

Frowning slightly, Anija moved her finger along the lines of holographic text as she read Larraq's notes. ANNE had kept them displayed, which Anija was grateful for. The next major component that Anija could see was the Camouflage Harness. Personally, she thought that bit of tech was pretty neat. reading the specs more closely, she grinned. The Harness had a multitude of sensors and miniature holocams mounted on it. These sensors would sample readings of the wearer's surroundings and project them onto the suit itself, making it appear as if the wearer is simply part of their surroundings.

The sound-dampening belt was an interesting bit of tech as well. It was intended to help muffle or redirect the sounds made by the wearer of the beskar'gam, to within three meters. It would not completely eliminate sound, however. It seemed it would be most useful to help dampen the sound of the wearer walking over an uneven surface such as gravel or stopping to swap to a fresh power pack.

A grin tugged at her lips as she continued to read through the notes. When she reached the last item, she nodded in satisfaction. This was perhaps the most important component of the active camouflage system. She knew Larraq had already had this produced, but she knew she could probably refine it a little. If only to tweak the sensor algorithms. Technology, after all, was only as good as it's programming.

 

[Anija Betna]

Next, Anija turned her attention to the Power Pack. It was a rather impressive design, though her eyes narrowed as she read what Larraq had to say about it. While it could provide up to 30 days of continuous use. There were some caveats to this however. One section in particular jumped out at her:

"The wearer of the Hyperion Beskar'gam may not activate the Combat Shielding and Active Camouflage at the same time, as the two systems interfere with each other. On the whole, while on passive setting, the armor and helmet are fully operational for 30 days of continuous use. At maximum standard power draw, switching between Combat Shielding and Active Camouflage as needed, a fully equipped suit can expect an operational window of between 40 and 60 hours, depending on combat conditions. Heavy combat can reduce this operational window to as low as 140 minutes of continuous fighting. And even though the system can power itself for a total of 60 hours of use without requiring a new power source, after 12 hours of continuous use, the system does tend to overheat and will require a minimum of 1 hour of inactivity from the Shield System and Active Camouflage System to avoid sustaining internal damage as the delicate electronics overload.

Users are advised against adapting the Power Pack to a suit of armor and to a weapon at the same time. While the power pack is more than capable of providing power to both sources, it tents to result in a drastic drop in expected combat operation time for both the weapon and the armor. In active combat, while taking sustained fire and firing in return, an effective minimum of 45 minutes of extended fighting can be obtained so long as the wearer limits him or herself to a maximum of 650 shots from a standard blaster rifle."

She found this interesting, and it made sense to her engineer's mind. Modifying the power pack to both a weapon and the armor at the same time, would drastically reduce the operational time - and overall effectiveness of the unit. And, using it in that way would definitely make it more prone to fail. She frowned slightly, and pulled up the schematic for the power pack. She knew she couldn't program it to power both at the same time, but she could refine it to make it's power draw more efficient. For several minutes, she studied the schematic, tapping it here and there to add notes and calculations at various points. When she was satisfied, she sat back and rubbed at her eyes.

 

[Anija Betna]

She completely lost track of time as she intently studied and manipulated the hologram which ANNE projected from her left gauntlet. By that point, it was late into the afternoon and her behot sat cold and forgotten at her elbow. Finally, she sat back and blinked before rubbing at her forehead with her right hand. Her eyes burned. She needed a break. Frowning, she drained the remains of the behot from her mug and set it down with a grimace. She'd have to make more later.

For now though, she had other concerns. Rising from the table she made her way over towards the forge which rested in the back of the workshop. There were lockers located nearby which were securely bolted to the walls. These held a decent amount of beskar - nbot enough for any large scale production, but there was more than enough for what she needed. Pulling out several large chunks of the beskar, she set them on the forge's worktable.

Then, she leaned against it in thought. She would need to fabricate the armorweave bodysuit and electronics first. The armor weave could be made by one of the fabrication machines which Mandal Hypernautics maintained. Frowning, she fiddled with the controls on her gauntlet for a moment. It was then that ANNE spoke up, her voice almost like a whisper in Anija's ear. She still wasn't used to that.

You know, Anija... if you interfaced me with the fabrication machine, I could make sure the specs are transferred successfully. Just make sure the proper materials are loaded into the machine..

Anija chuckled then. "Sometimes, I forget everything you can do, ANNE.." she said, shaking her head slightly. After a few moments of gathering the materials, Anija gave ANNE the go ahead. plugged a data cable into the fabrication machine's control console and let ANNE do the rest. On her HUD, a stream of data passed by in the upper left corner, too quickly for Anija to read. But from her holoprojector in her left gauntlet, ANNE displayed the fabrication for Anija as it progressed.

 

[Anija Betna]

By this time, it was quite late. Rays of light from the setting sun came through the windows and cast long bright streaks across the floor and worktables. With assistance and guidance from Anija, ANNE helped to make sure the fabrication of the beskar armorweave bodysuit went as smoothly as possible. And now, the finished prototype lay on one of the worktables as Anija finished assembling the wiring and electronics that would be installed behind the beskar plates and inside the helmet and gauntlets.

It wasn't an easy task, and Anija found herself getting frustrated several times. But, ANNE made sure the schematics were always there for her to refer to. She'd only made minor changes to how the wiring was laid out, but between that and the programming updates to the installed computer and power pack, she felt it would work well and efficiently. To complete assembly on the wiring and various electronics took several more hours. And when she was done, Anija sat back and swore softly. "I hope... that's all I need to do for that. I can't see straight..."

"I tried to tell you.." ANNE said quietly. "You should rest. You'll think more clearly after you do.."

Sighing, Anija nodded. She'd brought in a cot just for this purpose. Larraq had said the Beskar'gam needed to be completed as quickly as possible. Maybe she had taken that a bit too literally...

 

[Anija Betna]

And rest she did. Anija barely remembered stumbling to a cot in the corner of the lab and falling onto it. When she finally did wake, it was already mid-morning. Slowly, she sat up and rubbed the sleepsand from her eyes. She'd slept hard, but she'd needed it. It took her a few moments to remember where she was, and as she sat there getting her bearings, ANNE spoke up, her voice coming from Anija's helmet speakers. Her helmet rested on the floor next to the fabrication machine. I was beginning to wonder when you'd wake up. But, then I decided to occupy myself by watching more episodes of Real Fondorian Housewives.... Oh, and the armorweave is finished, as are the electronics. I made sure the fabrication machine made them according to specs.

At that, Anija groaned and pushed to her feet. "Glad you were able to ...entertain yourself, ANNE." She paused, and perked up slightly when ANNE mentioned that. Scrubbing her face with her hands, she shuffled over to the small kitchenette and proceeded to brew a fresh pot of behot - after dumping out the remaining liquid from the previous day. of course. She then rummaged around in the chiller unit for something to eat, settling on some grilled nerf sausages and eggs. She fixed these quickly and wandered over to check out the results from the fabrication machine. In all honesty, they looked amazing. The base schematics she'd started with had been solid, all she'd really done was to refine them.

 

[Arrbi Betna]

Betna walked into the room and set a bag of baked goods on the counter along with a tray holding two large cups of caf. He picked his around the equipment in the room until he came up behind [member="Anija Ordo"] where she was staring at the fabrication machine.

Arrbi slipped his arms around her waist from behind and pulled her into a hug. He wore his armor, as he usually did, but left his helmet on his belt.

"Working overnight, I see," he said playfully. "I was wondering where you were when you didn't come home last night. Figured you'd be late, but not this late, cyar'ika."

 

[Anija Betna]

She had sensed [member="Arrbi Betna"] enter, but hadn't paid it much attention. He had every right to be here as much as she did. She continued leaning over the fabrication machine as she studied the newly made bodyglove and wiring. When he snaked an arm around her waist, she releaxed against him for a moment. "Cuy... Lek.... I got rather.... absorbed in what I was doing..." She turned towards him then and kissed him lightly. "But don't worry, ANNE gave me a lecture already..." She eyed her helmet rather pointedly where it rested on the floor next to the fabrication machine; an data cable connecting it to the machine itself.

She hugged him tightly for a moment and stifled a yawn as she leaned on his shoulder. "It's... rather involved. Sure, Larraq gave me a good solid base to work from, but besides my 'gam, I've never really built much from scratch like this." She scrubbed at her eyes again and peered curiously at the bag he'd set on the table, as there were some pleasant aromas coming from it.

 

[Arrbi Betna]

"Yeah, building from scratch is difficult," Betna said with a nod after returning the kiss. "But once you get the rhythm down and the idea more or less solidified, you're good to go for the most part."

He glanced over the suit and the parameters set into the machine for a moment. It was a good suit from what he could see. A little more complex than his armor, even with the Specter system, but still a good piece of work.

"Have you had anyone try it on yet?" he asked, not knowing what he was most likely in for.

[member="Anija Ordo"]

 

[Anija Betna]

[member="Arrbi Betna"]

"Well... no." She admitted after a moment. "I wanted to get the plates made and placed, and the electronics wired before I did that, but maybe I'm betting ahead of myself." She frowned, and reached up to trace his cheek for a moment. "I do need to see if it'll fit, though. It should adjust to fit either of us." With that, she reached over and picked up the armorweave bodyglove from where it lay and passed it to him. She knew it wasn't completed yet. As he took it in his arms, she set about sorting the wiring and connecting the leads where she could. There were ports along the outside, and mounting points for the plates once they were finished. The majority of the wiring had been incorporated to the bodysuit itself, which minimized exposed wiring. With that done, she then moved over to the storage cabinets and began gathering the materials needed to fabricate the rest of the soft part and the frame for the powerpack, harness and belt. The beskar they would still have to hand forge. She wasn't comfortable leaving such things to a machine.

 

[Arrbi Betna]

He took the armorweave and set it on the workbench for the moment.

"Time to play lab rat then," he said with a grin.

Betna began pulling off his armor, plate by plate, until his was clad only in his armorweave jumpsuit. He hesitated for a moment, but realized it was only the two of them and that she'd seen him in far less at this point. With a shrug, he stripped down to his skivvies and started pulling on the new armorweave. After a few minutes, he had the suit on and stood there looking faintly self conscious.

"So," he said after a moment, twisting and turning to show her the fit. For a moment, he thought he felt a something metal and hard prod him in the buttock, but shrugged it off as his imagination. "How do I look?"

[member="Anija Ordo"]

 

[Anija Betna]

She frowned for a moment, bringing her left hand to her chin thoughtfully as she studied the form of [member="Arrbi Betna"] in an almost clinical fashion. The armorweave bodyglove was well made, and it seemed to have adjusted to fit him well. She chewed her lip thoughtfully for a moment as she took a couple steps to circle him. "Does it pinch or chafe anywhere?" she asked after a moment. There was a high probability would. But maybe it hadn't.

The wiring and other electronic parts were ready and waiting. "It looks pretty easy to move in, though it will get heavy once we add the wiring and the plates.." She also didn't mention the fact he might get mildly electrocuted once she began connecting the electronics. Beskar was, after all... and excellent conductor of electric current.

 

[Arrbi Betna]

"It's a little tight around the chest and groin, but otherwise fine," he said with mild humor as he moved around some more. "No chafing or anything that I can feel. No pinching either. It's a little itchy, but I think that's just because I'm used to my old flightsuit."

[member="Anija Ordo"]

 

[Anija Betna]

Anija laughed lightly then and gripped his shoulder for a moment. "It's probably tight because, while it does adjust to fit each wearer, this one is generally designed for a smaller person." She leaned up to kiss him lightly for a moment. "it's also made from a moisture-wicking material as well." She frowned slightly for a moment and looked from him to the pile of electronics on the table. "You ready for me to start connecting the electronics, or should we fabricate the helmet and plates first so we can get those electronics settled first?"

[member="Arrbi Betna"]

 

[Arrbi Betna]

"Eh, go ahead and hook 'em up," Betna said after returning the kiss. "It'll be easier to fix the wiring without the plates in place. Plus, if I catch on fire or something, it'll be easier to put me out and get the suit off."

He said it in jest, but if this was anything like when his cousin made a new jetpack when they were kids, a flaming Betna was a very real possibility. Again.

He stood and stuck his arms out to his sides at that point. He figured she'd have to wire it all in and he knew there were access points all over the suit. She'd need access and he'd have to let her have that access. It was like going to the tailor's all over again, though this time there was a pretty good chance he'd be out of the suit afterwards. Definitely later that night, if he could convince her to not work overnight again, at least.

[member="Anija Ordo"]

 

[Anija Betna]

"Alright..." She shrugged slightly, and sorted through the wiring on the table next to him before she found the one she wanted. Her holographic schematic still floated above the emitter of her own gauntlet, and she muttered a few commands to ANNE. After a moment, the hologram expanded to show the area she was currently working on, with the wiring diagram labeled clearly, and carefully. Referring to it every few seconds, Anija carefully began connecting wires from what appeared to be a tangled mess. But, it really wasn't. She knew every wire and connector in that collection, and she continued to carefully connect them one by one. At least until she accidentally put one into the wrong port. Sparks of electricity arced from the connector port, and she swore softly, yanking it out and shaking her hand for a moment.

[member="Arrbi Betna"]

 

[Arrbi Betna]

Betna had to give himself credit. He didn't jump or flinch when sparks began flying from the suit he wore. He did, however, swear silently to himself to never try on another experimental suit without going to the bathroom first. His bladder was under control, but it wasn't happy.

"Okay, so, that wasn't the right port it seems," he said with a nervous laugh. "Any ideas on why it did that?"

Betna trusted Anija fully when it came to this sort of thing. He was, however, fully aware that sometimes chance and fate liked a cruel joke on his behalf from time to time. It was unfortunate, but after things like Manaan and the one Sith he managed to hit with a shotgun a while back before the Sith electrocuted him that time, he realized it was inevitable in some circumstances.

[member="Anija Ordo"]

 

[Anija Betna]

Laughing nervously, she made sure to ground this time before she checked the diagram again and then inserted the wire into the correct port this time. No sparks answered. "Yeah," she said softly. "I inserted the wire into the wrong port. Or inserted the wrong end. They are polarized. Should be alright now..." she said, offering [member="Arrbi Betna"] a smile for a moment. Shaking her head at herself, she continued connecting the wires and threading them through the channels in the suit. They would help power it, and also provide cooling and heating as necessary. "By the way..." she said after a moment, kissing him gently. "Vor'e for offering to help. I know it's probably not the most comfortable right now.."

 

[Arrbi Betna]

"No problem," Betna said with a lopsided grin. "Always glad to help out. Besides, the benefits and perks are totally worth it."

He was being cheeky, he knew that, but he was enjoying it. She'd always swat playfully at his playful jabs, but he knew she enjoyed them from time to time. If she didn't, he'd have a broken nose or would probably limping for a few days. At least, more than he usually did. She hadn't seen him limp yet. He only did it when he was exhausted, but he was careful about it anyways. The very random Ithorian healer that had suddenly appeared and healed him had only repaired the damage he'd sustained on Manaan. There was still scar tissue here and there, but he'd always been able to pass it off and play it down. Sadly, there were still times in the middle of the night where he'd wake up from nightmares. Sometimes he was pulling the rebar from his leg again. Others, the building was falling on top of him once more. In a few, he relived dropping flame-carpet warheads on unarmored Sith and their soldiers. He never could escape the nightmares. At least, not for long.

Betna mentally shook the rut he knew was ahead of his train of thought from his mind and focused on the task at hand. That always helped avoid the pitfalls in his head, so he figured it was time to get things moving.

"Okay, so, what next?" he asked as he patted the wiring on the suit.

[member="Anija Ordo"]