Iron Within, Iron Without

[Popo]

Anyways, the suit is also radiation shielded and insulated, keeping the wearer warm in the cold and cold in the warm when coupled with the suit's systems. The suit's collar locks into the collar of the actual armor and, when the helmet is donned, the meeting of the three form a perfect seal.

This means that, in order to use the armor, you have to wear the suit. It's both a protection system and a safety system. As the suit is shielded and the collar forms a seal with the armor to separate the body and the wearer's head, any internal breach of the reactor that does not injure the soldier or breach the undersuit will irradiate the outside of the undersuit and the inside of the armor, but leaves the physical body of the soldier untouched.

It's the best I can do for safety at the moment. At least in regards to internal radiation.

The suit itself also helps regulate G-forces on the wearer while in the armor itself by contracting under high g, forcing blood to the wearer's brain. It won't prevent internal injury or physical damage, but it'll keep the soldier conscious long enough to prevent slamming into something or losing full control of the suit.

All in all, the suit functions admirably. I had the tester put the thing on and while he did complain about feeling uncomfortable wearing the skintight suit, when in the prototype armor, he stated that the armor was no longer uncomfortable. Nothing pinched, nothing poked, and when placed in very hot and very cold rooms, he expressed that inside the armor, the temperature never deviated from a comfortable level.

 

[Popo]

I'm not quite ready to attempt atmospheric reentry levels of heat and stress just yet, but I've no doubt that this armor could potentially handle them quite well. That said, so far, such a concept does open up new avenues of uses for this armor and the potentials of its capabilities on the field.

For now, I'm content with the undersuit as it stands, though I did add one more component that occurred to me at the last second.

I placed an auxiliary commlink into the collar of the undersuit. This will allow soldiers to communicate when outside of the suit with their COs and squad leaders in emergency situations. It will also allow the soldier to possess a backup, reserve comm unit should the suit comms fail for any reason.

With that in mind, and the work put into it so far, I feel I'm now ready to move on to the more complex systems of the armor itself. I recently created the mock up of the helmet design to install the HUD systems and electronics into. With luck, the task will be simple and quick, though I think I may have to program the on-board computer from scratch and then streamline it afterwards.

... Speaking of, where did I put that helmet mockup? ... R9! You put that down right this instant! That is not a toy OR a power conduit!

 

[Popo]

They need only a crown of iron, of steel, made for war and the Hell it spreads upon the galaxy.

The mock up of the helmet is sound and fits the electronics well enough that I've begun work on the real thing. The helmet will be plated in phrik, but the internals is where things truly begin. I took a page from previous designs I've created and the new materials I'm using in this design to create the final helmet design.

The helmet's frame is, like the rest of the armor, quadranium steel reinforced with titanium. This provides the helmet with a solid, high durability 'skeleton' that will protect the helmet from being crushed and smashed apart short of maybe getting chewed on by a Gorag or something similar. Between this and the outer armor plating I've filled the helmet around the computer systems with thermal gel, much like the Champio armor I've made. This will not only protect the helmet from extreme heat, but it will also protect the wearer from high energy kinetic impacts. Inside the frame, the helmet is heavily padded and features an anti-spalling liner to protect the wearer from shrapnel caused by said heavy kinetic impacts and concussive force.

The suit's systems were simple to install and are mostly placed between the armor plating and quadranium steel frame inside the thermal gel layer. This keeps them from potentially harming the soldier wearing the helmet during impacts or jolts.

 

[Popo]

The helmet features a wide array of vision modes, such as thermal, infrared, and night vision, just to name a few. A Head's Up Display, or HUD, is featured and has an installed pineal eye sensor and an internal overlay display allowing the user to see 360 degrees around them. A built in rangefinder and targeter array allow the user to target, mark, and track up to fifty targets at a time and the HUD also features a built in motion tracker, normally used to aid in aiming or target detection, can be synced to the targeter and rangefinder to track a target behind cover, though only for a few moments and with various degrees of accuracy based on parameters such as terrain, vision mode, and visibility of targets. The helmet also features an encrypted, internal commlink and a broadband antennae concealed within the helmet itself. There is also a battle computer built into the suit that allows the user to control weapons or vehicles synced with the helmet, something that will be released at a later date by Tenloss. We just don't have the actual vehicles or weapons read yet, though the integrated weapons in the armor itself can by synced. This allows the wearer to fire the weapons through verbal commands and through HUD controls.

The last bit of technology placed in the helmet is a holorecorder and audiorecorder. The audiorecorder records both external and internal sound separately which, combined with the holorecorder, allows commanders and officers to review the mission and their soldiers' actions in detail, making for a faster and simpler after action report.

 

[Popo]

As always with modern Tenloss products, the helmet features the on-board oxygen recycler and an integrated four hour air supply as well as an identification chip with the primary user's personal identification data.

Externally, the helmet features a small number of infrared lights that are directed in the line of sight of the user as well as the direction of the weapon. This was installed to aid the user in areas where there is zero ambient light and where full spectrum light would draw immediate attention. The helmet also features externally mounted comms and audio receptors, allowing the wearer to communicate with the world outside the suit with relative ease. Lastly, the suit also features an externally mounted, variable power light. This allows the user to illuminate areas and items either when there is little to no risk of detection or when coordinating with troops and individuals lacking night vision or the means to illuminate the item or location themselves.

Now, I think I know the main thought you're thinking at this point. The primary weakness of all helmets of all armor types. The visor and the throat, right?

Notice throughout the entire entry I never once mentioned a visor, a view port, or anything similar? That's because the suit has no visor or vision port. Everything the soldier sees within the armor is seen through scores and scores of micro-cameras. These cameras produce a 2D image that condenses the 360 degree vision into a 160 degree 'bar' or 'strip' designed to mimic a vision slit.

 

[Popo]

It requires more training and a great deal of adjustment to use, but it is possible and it is highly effective. It also prevents a natural weak point normally seen in most armor types and, with the EMP and ion hardening featured in the helmet, there is little chance of the cameras shorting out or failing.

Now, the throat and neck. Those are the easiest parts.

First and foremost, the armor will feature a full, wrap-around phrik gorget in the design. This protects the throat and neck from being directly attacked and damaged in melee combat and from stray or deliberate rounds in a firefight. The neck and throat are also padded inside the armor and feature a layer of thermal gel as well. On top of this is a flexible, thick layer of phrik impregnated and environmentally sealed fabric. All together, the user has little to no worries over sudden decapitation by lightsaber or bladed weapon in general.

All in all, the helmet completes the job very well. Fully functional and highly useful in many, many ways, the design compliments the armor as a whole entirely. From here, we're almost to the finish line. All that's left is a few more primary systems and a few design features. Once those are done, I can install the phrik plating and begin full production.

With luck, the rest of the design process will go smoothly and without problems...