Directorate Officer
Intent: To create a standard armor for Lucerne Personal Defense's product line
Image Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/438538082440466512/
Canon Link: N/A
Restricted Missions: N/A
Primary Source: blast armor, electromesh armor
Manufacturer: Lucerne Personal Defense
Model: Massiff Blast Armor
Affiliation: Galactic Alliance, Silver Jedi, Directorate, Closed-Market
Modularity: can be easily worn with many other clothing items.
Production: Mass-Produced
Material: Duraplast, armorweave, spun-plast, thermal gel, duracord fibers, micrels, 2 energy sinks
Classification: General Purpose Medium Armor
Weight: Light
Resistances:
- Kinetic: High
-Lightsabers: Low (Average when energy field activated)
-Environmental: Average
-Sonic: Low
-EMP/Ion: None
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Composite construction: The core concept of Massiff armor is fairly typical for blast armor, using spun-plast tubules containing thermal gel to provide good general protection against common threats on the battlefield. Unlike traditional blast armor, Massiff armor is not uniform in its thickness or composition. There are some areas, such as the insides of the arms and the rear legs, which are only covered in thin layers of armorweave. While this provides very limited protection in those areas, the savings in weight when then used to provide thin, duraplast plates to the chest and some parts of the extremities for increased protection.
- Energy Field: Like Nagai Electromesh Armor, Massiff is designed to temporarily generate an energy field that makes it more capable of absorbing energy weapons fire. It does through a combination of microcels, mostly concentrated behind the duraplast chest plate, and embedded duracord fibers that transverses the rest of the armor. Excess power gathered during this period is shunted off to belt mounted energy sinks. Because the armor is an insulator, this means that the system can only used for short periods of time(~15 seconds) before it needs time to cool down (~1 minute).
Rectractable Armorweave balaclava: Massiff Blast Armor incorporates a thin armorweave balaclava at the base of the neck which can be stored in the compartment there, or rolled up to protect parts of the head or neck as needed. It is fairly thin, however, and is typically used in conjunction with other headwear (if worn).
Basic: While somewhat counterintuitive, keeping the Massiff armor exceptionally simple in special features and light in construction has a number of small benefits that collectively are noticeable. This includes relatively light weight, comfort, good dexterity, and the ability to wear other clothing over or under it. This last trait allows Massiff armor to easily be worn under some civilian clothing for undercover operations or to be worn in conjunction with environmental clothing (no stacking of whole battle-oriented armor suits).
Energy Field: By mimicking nagai electromesh fiber armor in concept, Massiff armor is capable of temporarily generating an energy field that can partially absorb incoming energy from weapons like blasters or lightsabers. This is typically active for about fifteen seconds before it requires a full minute to dissipate the gathered energy through the energy sinks.
Significant Gaps: Massiff has a large number of gaps and entire areas in its design that are only covered in light armorweave that is generally easily penetrated by direct attacks with most handheld weapons.
Vulnerable to Ion Weapons: This suit does not provide any protection against ion or EMP attacks. Perhaps more importantly, its sole special feature, the energy field, is easily damaged or disabled by using such attacks.
Massiff Blast Armor is designed to provide the everyday, rank and field soldier with relatively good protection against common weapons. At its core, Massiff is a new take an older idea: blast armor. Unlike traditional blast armors, Massiff selectively reinforced likely target and hit areas with high-impact duraplast plates and compensated for this by removing traditional blast armor protection from areas thought to be less likely to be hit. This makes wearers more likely to survive high-powered hits in certain areas, but conversely makes them more vulnerable to wounds in other areas, especially from skilled and informed opponents. To partially compensate for this and its relatively light build, Lucerne Personal Defense incorporated energy field technology derived from Nagai electromesh armor. This allows the wearer to temporarily boost their defense against energy weapons.
Unlike many other armors, the Massiff does not have any other notable features. This initially seems like a strange choice when even the most basic competitors have at least an integrated comlink. However, by keeping it basic, Lucerne Personal Defense has also garnered a number of unusual advantages. It is noticeably light weight, which allows its users to not only carry more or move around easier, but also makes it more comfortable to wear, especially for long periods of time. It's relatively thin nature also lends itself to be easily adapted for a couple of particular uses. Law enforcement agencies and intelligence organizations have found that is not terribly hard to wear certain street clothes over the armor without attracting attention, making it useful for covert or undercover operation. Scouts and soldiers stationed on worlds with unusual climates have also found the armor to be easily adapted to work in coexistence with environmental gear, whether its a thinsuit underneath the armor or a camouflage poncho worn over it. Most soldiers find the integrated bacalava to be underwhelming in terms of protection, and its not unusual to see users wear different helmets or specialized headgear on top of the thin hood.
Despite its basic nature, Lucerne Personal Defense believes that it will be relative success on the marketplace between its relatively low price and adaptability. While it does not provide the comprehensive armor protection found on many suits, the light weight afforded by the armor will likely make it more popular with soldiers stationed in wilderness areas, resistance fighters, and others who prioritize increased mobility over static defense.
