Iron Within, Iron Without

[Popo]

With the way things are going in the galaxy, more and more factions are up-arming constantly. It's almost like an epidemic. Wars do mean profit, however, though I think it's time to branch out into a new area of production that Tenloss hasn't touched before.

This project I'm doing myself. I have labs and research teams that can do it, but... I could use a personal project for once. I've got a lab set up and plenty of resources. Top that off with all the time I could want and there's a good mix somewhere in there.

Powered armor. Rare in the galaxy, but many companies make it. It's less an issue of usefulness and more an issue of production. Many places, though, don't make them... right. At least, not practically. They're more focused on appearance and making sure that the aesthetics are top notch over function. Or they focus too little on both. If I had a credit for every top grade suit of powered armor, I might be able to buy a pack of chewing gum if it was on sale.

So, we start from scratch. We start with the bare bones of the armor itself. We forget the electronics and subsystems and roles and everything. We focus on the most important thing to start with and then build outwards. We start with the skeleton frame of the suit itself.

 

[Popo]

I rummaged through countless metals and stress tested a few, but the only one I could really find useful as the suit's bones and frame would be Quadanium steel. Mainly used in starship and starfighter production, the metal is very strong and highly durable. I remember stories of great space stations and mighty ships being made of the stuff when I was barely a Huttling and, if the test data I'm receiving is accurate, it'll work very nicely.

I'll build the frame from Quadanium steel and then test and retest. I'll stop at each stage and make sure everything functions and is durable. If I can make something tough enough to survive what's thrown at it, then I can start fiddling with the functions, but only then.

What I will do now, though, is reinforce the skeleton. I'll also make it adjustable within a certain range. Something simple and easy to do, but I can't make it something that can be quickly done in the field. They'll need special tools to adjust it, but that just means they'll need to take time to tailor it to the individual assigned to the thing.

Actually... forget that. I'll make it to be adjusted anywhere, but adjustments in the shop before use and with specialized tools make it easier and faster. It'll be able to be adjusted in the field and with basic and advanced tools, but I figure precision will be lost to an extent. That, plus time. Lots of time. Maybe less to adjust it to the assigned personnel and more to 'quickly' get another soldier in the field after combat losses. That should do it.

 

[Popo]

The joints are the weakest point of any skeleton. Any moving part, really. I can make the materials as hard as mandalorian iron or quantum crystalline, but if the joints aren't protected, the skeleton is compromised. Even then, the joints will remain a weak point of the whole. The goal is to make them as tough as possible, as maneuverable as possible, and as reliable as possible.

I think I've got it down this time.

Quadranium steel bones and joints are the key. I then reinforce the bones themselves with more quadranium and some titanium, then molecularly bond the two substances together for added strength. The joints are made primarily of quadranium steel, but with titanium added into the mix as well. These are molecularly bonded as well, but unlike the bones themselves that feature titanium rods bonded to the bones, the titanium here is... well, the best I can describe it is layered or maybe 'swirled' into the joints themselves.

Titanium coils are bonded into the quadranium joints in a coiled or looped manner, making the joint very hard to break or damage. It can be done, sure, but short of a direct hit from something like a Skocha, it should hold together. I have no idea what something like Force telekinesis would do, but I'm fairly certain even masters of the skill won't be pulling arms and legs off this armor without anything less than full concentration.

 

[Popo]

The best part is that while it renders the joints a little bulkier than I'd really like, but only a little, the skeleton is fully maneuverable. One of the testers I crammed in it complained of the weight (it's not powered yet, so I can understand that a heavily reinforced quadranium skeleton would be a bit weighty) but otherwise wasn't hindered in any way when moving around.

This is good. Very good. And just to cover my bases, I had the same tech shoot the skeleton with some Tenloss weapons. Disruptors tended to do the most damage, but didn't actually break anything in half. They mostly just pockmarked the bones and frame with some deep scars. Regular small arms didn't do much, blasters just scorched the metal. Even the RAB was used and it mainly did the same as the disruptor, albeit with less effect.

I stress tested the skeleton after the testing and found that while the damage done by the disruptor and RAB caused the armor to redline the stress levels on the limbs affected at certain times and levels, the overall loss of durability was maybe 30-40% effectiveness. Not great, but far more than I was hoping. The skeleton will do, I think.

The repairs were easy enough to do as well. Bones that weren't integrally compromised were touched up with a bit of molten quadranium where damage deformed a bit of metal or were left alone when the metal was only scuffed or scorched. Pockmarked bones that were heavily damaged were tested with the damage repaired and, when still not at 100% durability, were removed and replaced.

The benefits of replaceable parts, I guess.

So, now, I have a fully functioning quadranium skeleton with excellent durability and high damage resistance to build off of. With minimal scuffing and scorching, even.

Granted, I have no idea what lightsabers will do to this thing, but I think that's the least of my worries at this point.

 

[Popo]

Wiring wiring wiring wiring wiring. I absolutely hate wiring. I get it. Electricity needs conduits to do things and get where it needs to go, but couldn't it be a bit easier? It's bad enough that I hate wiring things up, but with Hutt-sized hands the work is just that much harder. I could leave it to a droid, but... they don't problem solve too well in most cases.

Anyways, the frame is bulking out a bit. I've spent the last few days running wires and attaching servos to the quadranium bones. So far, so good. I thought about cutting a bit of cost and minimizing the actual amount of wiring used, but I don't think that would be a good idea. I figure that could overload the circuitry or fry something important in the end. Plus, with a bit of extra wiring and such, I can make the suit's electronics a bit more redundant.

So, essentially... I just made my job that much harder in order to make this thing that much better. I swear one of these days I'll palm this sort of stuff on one of my labs somewhere and take a vacation one day. Maybe. In the meantime, I have that much more wiring to do and I get to figure out just where to put it all.

On the plus side, it's pretty easy to anchor. I took a week or so and placed titanium supports and struts around the frame to 'flesh out' the skeleton. The bones will take the majority of the support and stress of the suit, the titanium is mainly to act as a sort of... placeholder for the things coming after. They're more for things to bolt on to like sensors, equipment, and armor plates.

 

[Popo]

Actually, now that I've written that out, I'm not sure if titanium is going to hold up well if I bolt the armor plating straight to it... Well, at least I'm only a quarter of the way done.

So... I'll just undo all the wiring, then, and replace the titanium struts for more quadranium. Actually, screw it. May as well use that quadranium/titanium thing I did on the long bones. What's the worse that could happen? This thing gets more expensive?

I'll say this, though. I specifically picked electronic wiring and servos that are EMP hardened. That should reduce the damage of high grade EMPs and ion weaponry and nullify the damage of low grade weapons of similar design. I'll just have to remember to do the same for the rest of the electronics on the suit, too.

Now... where the hell did I put that spanner wrench? Nevermind, I should probably get this wiring off, first. At least I used titanium wire. That should be easy to cut... Ah, bugger. I should probably replace that, too. Maybe a sort of... titanium/quadranium cable? That should do it, I think.

I'm not going to make many of these things in the end, but I think I'll still end up with a good profit. Maybe I can advertise them as hand-made?

 

[Popo]

Always loved that little saying with that one holoshow. Big, muscle bound human being... a big muscle bound human with a funny accent. I tried doing the same accent one day and it just... It was silly.

Anyways, as much fun as I'm having naming these journals, let's move on to the meat of the matter. The frame is done, the reinforced electrical systems are finally done, and now I can get the actual servos started.

It's a bit of a... big job.

Everything needs a servo, it seems. Joints, mainly, but then the joints need to anchor somewhere. It's getting a bit bulky, but I might be able to... shift some things around. The steel frame is able to take some high tolerances for stress, which is great. The suit is able to lift around one metric tonne with it's arms, though I think if I make a heavier suit I can push that up drastically.

Changing the weight load to different areas does affect the maximum weight lift, though. The arms lifting alone can pull up one metric tonne. If you combine all the servos and put all the weight above the suit, you're looking at two tonnes of weight held. Getting it there would be a problem, but once its there, the suit can hold up two metric tonnes.

 

[Popo]

The suit's hands aren't done just yet, but I'm planning on setting up smaller, but still powerful micro servos on the gauntlets. That way the suit can crush, rip, tear, and grab on to things with what I hope is enough to destroy durasteel. Maybe I can put a power field into the things.... Anyways.

The servos themselves are electrically reinforced and just as resistant to ion and EMP damage as the rest of the electrical system. They're also slated to be able to lift far more than they're currently set to, but that's a safety measure on my end. If I set it to full, the servos would burn out too fast to be useful. That, and I've made sure the servo power is within the safety rating of the armor itself.

I mean, you could theoretically disable the safeties once I hook the things up to the main control computers I plan on installing, but that would be a bad idea for most things. You could warp or break the frame and make the armor completely useless or lethal to use, not to mention having the replace the parts affected if you survive.

Which brings me to the next point. Replacement parts. So far, I've done my best to make sure that everything can be replaced if and when needed and either in parts or as a whole. The frame is a bit hard to replace parts on, mainly because its, you know, the frame, but it's doable. You just have to strip the outer parts off for the most part to unbolt the sections you need to replace, but you can do it, just with some time and effort.

Anyways, the servos look good and are functioning at one hundred percent capacity. So far, I'm happy with the work. Now for the rest of it...

 

[Popo]

Crushgaunts are nice. Crushgaunts are useful. Crushgaunts are Mandalorian.

Mine are better.

Crushgaunts enhance the strength of the user, multiplying the force applied by a certain degree. The problem is they only work with the hands, not the arms and not the wrists. Just the fingers, palms, and grip. Sure, it works well if you need to do something with your hands alone, like strangling someone in armor or maybe crushing a lock or pulverizing your opponent's weapon, but if you need to open up a jar of pickles? You're hosed. You could crush the pickle jar, but you're not going to open it with the things which means you're not getting that pickle you want. Why? No power augmentation to the wrists. Means you're only getting enhanced grip strength, not enhanced strength.

That said, if you're a mando who can't open a pickle jar, you've got bigger problems than that, but still. The things are useful, but only finitely. With the designs I have for this powered armor, you can open even the biggest pickle jar if you had to. Or a bulkhead. Or a blast door. Pretty much anything, really.

The trick is the micro servos I've installed. They have an insanely high power yield and strength for their size. The frame on the hands is thinner than the rest of the suit, but it still has the same levels of stress resistance. The servos themselves actually allow the gauntlets to give huge amounts of augmented strength while maintaining a certain level of manual dexterity.

 

[Popo]

You're not going to be picking up paperclips with these gauntlets, but a pickle jar? Someone skilled enough and well trained in this suit could probably open one up if they're very, very careful. The gauntlets themselves really have to be oversized, though. Almost twice the size of a human hand. This is because a human hand has to go in the thing and there needs to be enough room for the micro servos and the undersuit to go around it.

The end result is... I'll either need to make weapons compatible for the suit or put some integrated weapons into the thing. Not sure which. Guess I'll have to figure that part out soon.

Anyways, the end result is fairly simple. The gauntlets are strong enough to aid the wearer to rip apart whatever they need to whether it be a door, a wall, a hatchway, enemy soldiers, and even vehicles, but are dexterous enough to be functional in many ways. They won't let the wearer use weapons not designed for the size of the armor's gauntlets, but that shouldn't be an issue. At least, it's not an issue right now. Later it may be, but I'll deal with that later.

End result is a set of gauntlets capable of doing what I want them to do, when I want them to do it, and as easily as I need it done.

... Know what? I should test the pickle jar thing. I'll be right back. I think I have a jar of pickles somewhere...

 

[Popo]

The hands were too large to use anything and to make specific weapons as a standard issue would be too costly. Not to mention any actual weapons held would have to be able to survive the great strength of the gauntlets and servos. No, a handheld weapon would be rather pointless as a standard issue item.

Instead, I'll have to revert to integrated weapons. I took a page from bounty hunters I've hired in the past and seen in action and from a weapon design currently in existence upon a ship I won at auction once.

Throughout the galaxy, when confronted at close ranges by large numbers of foes, I've noticed that mercenaries and hunters alike revert to flame weapons in such situations. I did a bit of research and found that the use of such weapons is well founded.

It seems that all creatures fear fire to some extent. It's almost... primal in its purity. Some religious texts throughout the galaxy refer to it, legends all over include it, and at the back of the sentient mind it seems the ancient fear of fire and flames is all too clearly present. It is both a tool and a weapon.

I intend to use it.

 

[Popo]

The left gauntlet was the arm of choice for the flamethrower. Primarily because most sentients with two arms tend to be right handed or ambidextrous. That leaves the primary hand or limb free for using the primary weapon, leaving the left hand free for the secondary weapon.

The flamethrower features a twin nozzle design and the entire weapon and fuel source are integrated into the arm itself. There's no backpack fuel source to aim for, no exposed hoses or tanks to strike at. In fact, the system itself runs on solid fuel which is rapidly converted and projected from the arm itself. The pilot light is also internalized with a new and unique starting system.

Rather than an open flame which could give away the position of a wearer, the pilot light is instead a pair of micropanels inside the nozzles. When the weapon is fired, the fuel is shot forwards down the "barrels" and out of the nozzles. As the fuel passes between the micropanels, a high powered electrical charge is triggered and 'arced' across the inside of the nozzles. This ignites the projected fuel and allows the weapon to function as designed.

The flamethrower itself has enough fuel for a solid engagement and is simple to refill when needed at a supply depot. Just open the forearm housing, pop out the empty fuel container, and place a new one inside. Sure, you could theoretically carry spare fuel blocks out into the field, but with the other equipment, this will be too bulky.

The flamethrower has a rough, effective range of forty meters, but can easily reach out fifty or sixty meters, though the effectiveness is far less. The weapon's ammunition is good for a solid engagement if fired in bursts of flame, but when needed can give off a solid minute of fire before the ammunition is completely used up.

 

[Popo]

The right hand and forearm are the primary weapon of the armor. Some time ago I acquired a ship from Mandal Hypernautics in an auction. Aboard the ship was a unique weapon system the company designed for an anti-starfighter role. I took that concept and the concept of the far, far larger, anti-capital ship hypervelocity cannon I made a while back and scaled it all down.

The result was a miniaturized chaingun mounted into the forearm of the suit. It worked, it functioned, and the rate of fire was amazing. There was one problem, however.

It was bulky.

I had to have room for the cylinder of barrels, for the ammunition feeds, for the moving parts, the electric motor, and all the other necessary things for such a weapon. In the end, I scrapped the chaingun concept and instead opted to keep the same methodology, but with a different application.

I scaled up the ammunition a tiny bit and went with a dual barreled option. Twin barrels, side-by-side, mounted into the forearm. The weapon uses five millimeter caliber ammunition and is accelerated down the barrel by magnetic acceleration coils built into the weapon barrel. Since even railguns and mass drivers have recoil despite what the holoshows depict, I included a recoil suppression system into the forearm. The result is... Frankly, it terrifies me.

I've made starships capable of glassing cities and tanks capable of unimaginable destruction. I've made firearms designed to shred living tissue like paper and weapons that can turn a sentient into a red mist before they can even register their own death.

I fired this weapon at inch thick starship-grade durasteel and watched as the majority of the rounds punched through the metal like it was paper.

 

[Popo]

The recoil was barely felt, the accuracy was near pinpoint. The ammunition is small and easily fed into the twin barrels and the rate of fire is... terrifying. The weapon fires at around 1,500 to 1,900 rounds per minute with the two barrels and with proper maintenance and Tenloss ammunition, features a very low jam rate.

Maintenance in the field is simple and quick. Any jams are easily dealt with by opening the casing and clearing the 'tube' or chamber if the ammunition has somehow stopped feeding. While the ammunition is in pellet form for the rails inside the barrels, there is not failure to load in zero or low g environments as the integrated magazine features a sort of 'press' to push the ammunition towards the feeding system. Reloading is simple, easy, and quick. Open the casing, remove the 'clip', replace with a new 'clip', and close the casing. Once done, the ammunition automatically feeds into the weapon and the user can begin firing immediately. New clips are easily carried, but honestly if the user is careful with ammunition, the one clip should be sufficient for an engagement. Standard clip size is 10,000 rounds of ammunition.

I have given those who wear my armor the power of fire in one hand and the power of thunder and lightning in the other.

 

[Popo]

Power. It's the key to anything that moves without the muscles of a sentient. Vehicles use it. Blasters use it. Starships use it.

We take it for granted, really. You spend a lifetime surrounded with technology and machines and you become jaded. Those from primitive cultures see it as magic. They attribute the workings of something as simple as a food processor to the divine graces of one or more deities or, perhaps, the mood of the spirit within such a thing.

The Mandalorians and other such races see technology as a weapon or a tool, but know well enough how to fight and survive and live without such things. I've seen their homes and learned much from their culture when I was a youth, long ago. While a family from Coruscant might panic and degrade with the loss of technology after too long, a Mandalorian clan often sees no change in their lifestyles. Perhaps they may not be able to travel to the local trade centers more than once every few weeks as opposed to the once a week they used to visit, but otherwise they are unfazed; unencumbered by the lack of machines and power and technology.

At my age now, I wouldn't be surprised if they could conquer the galaxy with nothing but sticks and stones and beskar breastplates.

 

[Popo]

We take energy for granted, but rely upon it for our needs. We don't realize how much we rely on such things, but the economy does. If a company makes a food processor, does it plug into the wall? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Does it run on a fuel cell, albeit a small one? It will run out eventually and require a replacement. Where do you buy a replacement power cell? From the store, often made by the same company that made the food processor.

In the field, you can't go to the store. You can't rely on the resupply of more fuel cells to power your equipment, which is why power armor is so rare. The few suits you find either run off integrated fuel cells that need replacing later or feature an integrated battery that needs to be recharged.

If you're placed in the field for weeks on end, constantly fighting, constantly using your armor and equipment, you can't afford time to go and charge up your armor and your supply of fuel cells will eventually run out. This is unacceptable for my design.

I considered fusion or power crystals or other forms of long term power generation, but discarded all of them. They became too complex or eventually required replacing. Sure, a power crystal might last a week or two and is easily replaced, but when you're trapped behind the lines for months, a crystal with a two week power supply may as well be useless. Indeed, bringing extra crystals can extend that time, but for each spare power supply brought, that much less ammunition, medical equipment, or maintenance supplies can be taken.

So, I once again pulled from the Mandalorian culture I know so well.

 

[Popo]

Nuclear fission is crude, primitive, and wasteful. But it's also reliable, simple, and long lasting. The rods need replacing, this is true, but this occurs over a great deal of time. My best guess tells me that it will take perhaps two to four years before the fuel source requires replacement.

I have to make the power plant small enough to be portable and compact enough to be carried on the suit. This was the easy part, if I'm honest.

The fission power plant is encased in a small casing that is roughly the size of a standard suitcase. The casing is heavily shielded against radiation and will be plated in heavy armor, just in case. Around and below the casing the soldier can mount equipment or jump jets, something I will cover later on in my notes.

The power source is a constant, steady flow of power capable of powering what I estimate is roughly one city block of a city such as Coruscant. This means that the suit will have more than enough power for all systems with enough to spare in the event the user needs to go beyond the safety measures installed in the armor itself.

The downside is that the power source can be dangerous, but such is the way of all such things. It won't explode, but penetrating hits can cause radiation leaks that will affect the outside world beyond the suit until patched, effectively stranding the soldier inside their own armor. Internal damage works in the reverse, shunting radiation into the armor and containing it, but effectively killing the soldier inside.

 

[Popo]

As a precaution, I have shielded the armor itself from radiation as heavily as I can. The armor won't be able to survive the most hostile radiation zones in the galaxy, but a few minutes after a nuclear blast? That it can handle well enough.

I've also included radiation detection equipment for inside the suit and outside the suit. I'll also have to come up with safety protocols for power plant breaches in the event one occurs. External breaches are pretty simple, I figure. Include a lead patch to cover the breach and weld it in place. That will keep the radiation levels low enough that the soldier can be extracted safely with little danger to the soldier or those around.

Internal punctures are... trickier. Granted, if something punctures the internal wall of the power plant, radiation poisoning is the least of the wearer's worries, but I suppose protocols should be included if only for a placebo effect. I might go over that later on. Possibly emergency rescue protocols?

Anyways, the power source is complete and ready to go. I'll have to run a few more tests but for the most part, it should be solid. Thankfully, short of maybe an orbital kinetic strike with a direct hit, these things won't go off like fission bombs. I suppose that's something to put up on the achievement list.

Now, I just have to move on to the other things for this project. With luck, I should be done in... maybe a few weeks. At worst, another month or two.

 

[Popo]

So, in continuation with the concept of an attempt to protect the soldier from an internal radiation leak, not much comes to mind. Therefore, I have to figure out what to do about that because, otherwise, people will distrust it.

Actually, I might be able to kill two womprats with one blaster bolt, here.

One of the testers was unhappy with the prototype armor in one, specific way: it pinched. He couldn't wear a usual bodysuit or flightsuit underneath the armor which meant he had to get into it in his skivvies. He complained that parts of the suit pinched here and there when moving and that there wasn't much to alleviate the problem once you were inside. Long and short, the thing is uncomfortable.

If I take the concept of the power plant from being breached without injuring the soldier and the need for making the suit more comfortable, then I might have a direction to go with.

Mandalorians wear a type of undersuit below their armor, though many are comfortable with specially made flightsuits or jumpsuits. If we take that concept, we have one problem: they're designed to be a bit baggy.

This allows increased movement while maximizing comfort and air flow. It also allows the addition of extra pockets and such. This suit... can't be baggy. I can make the suit as tailored as I like, and I have, with the addition of adjustable padding and thick lining, but there's only so much that can do.

 

[Popo]

The alternative was to use a bunch of fabrics that I don't remember the name of and put them together. The result is a skin tight, breathable, and fully functioning undersuit capable of fitting inside the armor and allowing a full range of movement. It comes in Men's and Women's sizes and styles, though the 'styles' are only changes in body type and what support is where. They're durable and even feature built in microsystems to monitor the vital signs of the wearer. These are picked up by the suit and can be viewed by squad, platoon, and company commanders or higher. That way, officers can determine the health and condition of their troops 'at a glance' to gauge their troops.

The suit has some areas where pockets and holsters can be attached to the suit itself. Some sections have increased padding like the shoulders and shins, but for the most part the suit is simply an undersuit.

It does, however, feature a small amount of Phrik in the suit. I had some techs in my company take some of the phrik pulled from Roche and had them create thin, flexible fibers from the material. I took the fibers and had them woven into the undersuit itself. I don't think the suit will stand up to repeated blows from a lightsaber, but if one manages to somehow get through a damaged section of the armor itself, or the soldier is caught outside the armor, it'll keep them alive that much longer.