Directorate Officer
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To provide power armor to equal the playing field for characters facing the Bryn'adul
- Image Source: HALO armor pieces mis-mashed together through "Vanity" application and then modified by your's truly
- Canon Link: N/A
- Permissions: N/A
- Primary Source: N/A
- Manufacturer: Lucerne Personal Defense
- Affiliation: Directorate, Silver Jedi, Jedi Order, Alliance, Closed-Market
- Model: Gundark II Power Armor
- Modularity: Yes
- Production: Mass-Produced
- Material: Duraplast-Plasteel-Laminasteel-composite armor plates, layered armorweave-Insulfiber fabric base-suit, ceraglass faceplate, Mediscan, capacitor overcharger, miscellaneous power suit components Phrik-condensed-matter composite laminated exoskeleton frame, Insulfiber padding, Laminasteel farraday cage-duraplast covered internal compartments for servos and electronics, atmosphere processor, servomotors, various electronics and other power armor components
- Classification: Multipurpose Power Armor
- Weight: Heavy
- Resistances:
- Energy: Very High
- Kinetic: High
- Lightsabers: Very Low
- EMP/Ion: High
- Elemental: Average
- Sonic: Low
- Composite Construction: Gundark II uses a set of composite plates that integrally attached to its Uller series exoskeleton. Each plate is constructed using a standardized process designed to maximize the effectiveness of each individual material within the armor. Each plate consists of a laminasteel lattice which holds several duraplast inserts which may be hollowed out to allow circuitry and wiring to run through. This unit is this placed in mold into which molten plasteel is poured under intense pressure to form the remaining bulk of this plate. The laminasteel wire frame essentially works like miniaturized slat armor, making it useful against against small explosive projectiles, melee weapons, and slugs. Additionally, it can also act as a farraday cage for components integrated into the armor plate itself. However, most of the EMP/Ion protection afforded by the armor is the results of the duraplast inserts, which provide most of the overall protection afforded by the armor. The outer covering of plasteel provides additional resistance to the armor, especially to heat based weapons such as blaster rifles or Bryn'adul spikers. A thick pane of ceraglass is used for the faceplate, giving the user good visibility in case the suit is electronically disabled and the HUD is inactivated while still providing reasonable protection against many battlefield threats. The bodyglove uses a blend of armorweave and insulfiber to provide a base layer to help reduce damage that penetrates through the plates and to insulate the wearer from the environment, providing the user with some elemental protection. Joints and other common areas of high impact have insulfiber padding to make the suit relatively comfortable to operate in.
- Loth-Wolf series Combat Scanner: This system provides Gundark II with its standard package of HUD, sensors, and basic power suit command and control systems as described in that submission. An open sensor slot in the Loth-Wolf has been plugged in with a small Mediscan unit, allowing users to evaluate the medical status of nearby allies, civilians, and enemies. Loth-Wolf automatically incorporates firing vectors and controls for the armor's built-in gauntlet weapons into the HUD's display, and it can be configured to provide tracking and firing information for many hand-held weapons as well.
- Uller series Exoskeleton: This is the suit's base power-armor chassis. Based on preliminary experience with the experimental EX-1 "Juggernaut" Power Armor, it too features augmented and larger servo-motors to give the user an impressive amount of strength. However, in order to conserve energy, not all of this strength is typically activated all the time, and it uses a modified capacitor overcharger to bring the suit's full power up to typical Baedurin levels for short periods of time (less than 1 hour). As with other armors using this exoskeleton, it is surprisingly comfortable and easy to move around in, and absorbs shocks well when subjected to physical attacks or collisions.
- Asclepius Bio-support Dispenser: This internal device provides basic physiological monitoring, emergency topical bacta/kolto administration, and can also inject users with a variety of emergency or performance enhancing drugs.
- Bia series Portable Fusion Generator: Mounted on the suit's back, this generator provides the suit with a constant source of power to the power armor, as long as it has fuel. Because of the energy conservation protocols of the suit (not constantly using full power to the servos unless needed), this is typically around 12 hours, comparable to the old AV-1A Assault Power Armor. The redundant restart energy pathways built into this reactor allow the Power Armor to "sputter" along when faced with Ion, EMP, and other tech-dampening threats.
- Ferrazid Particle Distortion Shield: As the suit is built particularly to face the Bryn'adul in direct combat, it sports the Ferrazid Particle Distortion Shield, which was purposefully engineered to help the user to better withstand some common types of attacks preferred by the Bryn'adul. While Ferrazid does provide some typical shield protection, it is unusual in that it is also designed to break up physical attacks and push them away or in other directions through the use of layered particle shields and an omnidirectional pressor field.
- LPD-38 QuietNeedle Dartcaster(Right Gauntlet): The power armor incorporates a 6-shot QuietNeedle Dartcaster built into the armor's right gauntlet. This is primarily a back-up weapon chosen because its only electricity usage is its trigger through the suit's HUD. It does have a back-up, manual trigger which is a spring-powered press button on the gauntlet in case the suit does not have electricity. Darts typically used with this weapon contain FEX-Ex, a potent neurotoxin, and Banthazolate, a powerful hallucinogen.
- LPD-40 IceJet Miniaturized CryoBan Projector (Left Gauntlet): The suit's left gauntlet holds a miniaturized CryoBan projector which is also covered in the suit's normal armor plating. This weapon does have an electrical trigger that rigs it to the Loth-Wolf HUD for easy use, but it also typically retains the original ring trigger slipped over one's fingers as a back-up in case the electrical systems are disabled.
- Utility Belt: Gundark II comes with a streamlined utility belt with compartments made out of the same armor plating as the rest of the suit. While heavily inspired by the classic stormtrooper belt, it contains fewer items in terms of types and quanitities in order to cut down on bulk. Each belt contains the following equipment: a spool of high tension wire, one grappling hook, 2 power packs, two ion flares (for illumination or emergency signaling), a combat de-ionizer, a GLiS Emergency Medpac, and two ration packs.
- Dump Pouches: The Power Armor comes with a pair of armorweave pouches on outer aspect of each thigh to store miscellaneous items, such as personal weapons, ammunition, additional power packs or medpacs, and other small equipment not integrated into the armor. This commonly includes several LPD-39 Coldblast Grenades.
- Basic Environmental Protection: Like many common battle armors such as stormtrooper armor, Gundark II provides limited protection from hostile environments. Each suit is vacuum proof and provides some insulation through the use of the base insulfiber-armorweave body glove. Gundark II armor also incorporates air filtering through an atmosphere processor in addition to a 60 minute atmosphere supply, allowing troopers to operate for a limited time in hazardous atmospheres or in a complete lack of breathable atmosphere.
- Impressive Strength:While not as consistently powerful as its prototype version, the EX-1 "Juggernaut", the Gundark II does consistently provide enhanced strength to its user, and can even take its strength temporary up to Baedurin levels for periods of time.
- Energy Resilience: The Gundark II's composite plate construction provides the suit with good energy protection from weapons like blasters, or specifically in this suit's case, heat from Spikers and other common Bryn'adul weapons. This is largely due to a combination of the duraplast inserts and plasteel's good heat resistance.
- Kinetic Resilience: The Gundark II's composite plate protection provides it with good protection from kinetic threats due to its lattice of laminasteel and duraplast inserts.
- Ion/EMP Resilience: The Gundark II's composite plate protection provides it with protection from ionic threats to its system by running electronics through the lattice of laminasteel, which acts as a farraday cage, and duraplast inserts, which provides some protection against direct ion attacks. The Bia series Portable Power Generator has its own resistance via its principles of operation which allow it to provide relatively consistent power in EMP prone areas.
- Toolkit: The Gundark II contains a noticeable number of supplemental pieces of equipment on it or in it, providing the user with small advantages and capabilities that the average battle armor may not have.
- Weak Points (inner thighs): The Gundark II's has very limited protection at its inner thighs in order to cut down on weight and enable better movement in case the suit loses power. This area is only covered by several layers of armorweave and insulfiber. While this is often enough to provide some protection from shrapnel or grazing hits, most direct hits by most weapons will pierce through this layer.
- Obvious Target: The Gundark II's raw strength and armor comes at a noticeable increase in size. Perhaps more glaringly, the Bia series Power Generator that powers it produces a lot of heat and energy, making it a trivial matter to pick up on infrared and dedicated sensor scans.
- Weak Lightsaber Resistance (Very Low): Being engineered specifically to fight the Bryn'adul, no thought was given to engineering any sort of protection against lightsabers. None of the actual armor plating is designed to withstand saber, and a saber will cut through it like soft butter. However, the suit does have some limited resistance to lightsaber strikes thanks to its phrik exoskeleton and some armorweave material in the body suit.
- Low Sonic Resistance: Gundark II has somewhat limited protection against sonic weapons. While the helmet does provide sonic protection for the user's ears through its HUD system, the rest of the suit was not designed with sonic weapons in mind. The armor plates and condensed matter composite in the exoskeleton provide some protection against these weapons, but this more coincidental rather than intentional.
- Heavy: The Gundark II's comprehensive set of systems provides its user with the strength, durability, and perception needed to face the Bryn'adul on an equal level, but that comes at the cost of weight. While the design eschewed the molecularly bonded beskar on the prototype "Juggernaut" and further reduced weight by eliminating armor plating at the thighs, the Gundark II is still heavier than the average battle armor. If the suit is deactivated or otherwise damaged and does not have power, it is noticeably more burdensome to move and operate in. Additionally, the suit's weight also means that there are some lightly built structures and certain terrains that the user simply cannot walk on for either fear of falling through or getting trapped in.
Gundark II Power Armor is Lucerne Personal Defense's second entry into the general power armor market after the company's minimalist Gundark Power Armor. The latest iteration of this armor is significantly more advanced, thanks to the company's investment in developing its own power armor components - the Gundark II is the first production suit to incorporate the Loth-Wolf HUD, Uller series Exoskeleton, the Bia series Portable Fusion Generator, or the Asclepius Bio-Support Dispenser. This significant increase in base abilities makes the Gundark II much more comparable to the more advanced power armors on the market, though like its predecessor, it has more of a focus on team combat than many of its contemporaries. The company's original intent was to slowly roll it out for field testing and then limited deployment among more elite troops.
The Bryn'adul's policies of systematic genocide changed all that.
Even as the power armor was entering prototype stage, it became clear that more action would be needed to halt the menace. A divergent design in the family, the EX-1 Juggernaut, was rushed into the hands of a handful of individuals known to be fighting the alien menace. As that occurred, company engineers took multiple lessons from that power armor as well as the experience of those who had faced the Bryn'adul in battle to further refine the Gundark II into a machine that could match the shock troopers of the Bryn'adul, the Baedurin, on equal terms.
Experience from the Juggernaut showed that it was possible to obtain equal strength with the alien brutes, though the resulting system was exceptionally heavy. In order to decrease weight and power drain, Lucerne Personal Defense came up with a boostable servo-motor, capable of temporarily bringing up the suit's baseline physical power (which is comparable to most standard power armors) to the exceptional power of those alien troops through the use of an overcharge capacitor. Other modifications to the base design included installing information about the Bryn'adul into the Loth-Wolf HUD by default, adding a CryoBan sprayer gauntlet, and a Ferrazid Particle Distortion Shield.
The resulting suit levels the playing field for the baseline humanoid when fighting the Baedurin and other Bryn'adul. The user can have the same strength as a Baedurin and much of the durability through its armor plating and specialized shield system. While the suit cannot remake a user's biology to match a Baedurin's, it can revitalize and enhance it through bacta sprays and carefully considered injectable drug use. The Bryn'adul's enhanced sense are largely matched by the HUD's sensors, allowing users to fight Bryn'adul in the dark on equal terms. The Bryn'adul tendency to shut down all opponent's technology in a fight has been matched by providing ion/EMP resistance into the armor, along with a self-restarting fusion generator and combat deionizer, allowing users to "sputter" along and continue to fight with some amount of efficacy. In situations where it does not have any power, the suit provides a pair of gauntlet based weapons that are unaffected by tech-dampening through principles of design. Despite these features intended to level the playing field, there are still some differences in capabilities between the average Baedurin and users wearing the Gundark II. The average Baedurin is still larger and heavier than the user in the Gundark, and with that has greater physical reach and muscular endurance. The flipside to those issues is that the smaller humanoid in the armor is typically more maneuverable and more agile than their alien counterpart.
Since its refinement, the Gundark II has been a priority manufacture item for Lucerne Personal Defense, receiving the same production priority as the company's CryoBan weaponry. Several Lucerne Labs's Hephaestus-class Factory Ships have been moved to the south eastern border of the Silver Jedi's sphere of influence, where their sole job is produce Gundark II Power Armor for nearby forces staging to fight the marauding Bryn'adul. Most suits are being routed to the Silver Jedi, Antarian Rangers, the Jedi Order, and others engaged in fighting the Bryn'adul. A handful have been kept in Directorate hands for field testing in other environments and to serve as test beds for other possible technological improvements to the design.
