Taking it into stride

[Lucullus Lacar]

The sound of boots on cold steel rang out across the frigate's empty hangar. A pair of technicians glanced up from the documents they had assembled as their captain descended a set of stairs into the vast room.

The Takyon, lacking any specialised R&D zone, used it's hangar as an area for research and constructing new components. Preliminary testing was carried out here for new products that Crown Consortium would develop under the direct supervision of Lucullus Lacar, before designs and prototypes reached factories for general production and refining of tech.

The technicians at current were working on designs to complete the suite of augmentations that would be the flag product for Crown; augmentations to enhance and make easier regular individual movements. The supporting shoulder attachment was already complete but their next project was slightly larger - an all encompassing leg attachment which, through electrically powered servos, assisted leg movement of the operator.

Intended use was to enable personnel to have easier movement capabilities. This category involved those with spinal and or leg injuries that impeded their movement, or individuals in industry that regular needed to perform heavy lifting tasks. Another added bonus was for any operator that needed to carry gear over long distances, or simply for those who trekked long distance and would benefit from the added power.

 

[Lucullus Lacar]

Currently, the extent of the technicians' work included a plethora of design documents, and a mock-up model of a human leg consisting of the entire leg section starting at the upper thigh, containing one joint for the knee.
The model was the first display test of what they had been working on for the exoskeletal attachment; the leg had one strap around the ankle, with a set of sensors placed front and back with a telescopic piston attached to each sensor. Identical straps were also set at the top of the leg around the upper thigh, with the same sensors and piston and cables connected each piston array to its twin.

The theory was, at least, that the sensors would detect relative movements of the muscles beneath them (although in this faked model, that would be difficult, so the sensors were also designed to detect general movements in the cables) and have the pistons react accordingly - if the leg were to be bent, the cables on the front of the leg would extend to allow for the motion, while the cables behind would retract, giving a little extra tug to the operator to reduce stress on the muscles by supplying a secondary synthetic muscle, essentially.

As Lacar approached the workstation, a technician helped up the demonstration leg, offering it out to the Captain. Lucullus grasped the thigh and the ankle in one hand each, positioning it so nothing would interfere with the cables, and he could easily bend the leg. Wordlessly, he applied some force to it slowly - the leg was stiff at first, but the attached battery pack still resting on the table whined with a slight electric hum and the pistons began to compress, cables stretching and retracting. The Hapan nodded, progress was good but the delay was too long, the power too weak, and more extensive cabling and sensor arrays would be necessary to accomodate the full range of muscles actually found under a leg.
For now however, he approved - the leg had been stiff at first as he applied pressure but the effects of the cables pushing and pulling as necessary certainly made it far easier.

 

[Armand Temi]

Perla found out through the Primeval network that Captain Lacar from Crown Consortium could possibly help her with some armor designs for Xana, her battle rancor. Although she knew there were specific forges on Dathomir that specialized in this type of armor, the witch initiate had been exiled from her home planet five years ago. Everytime she stepped onto the planet's soil, she risked being hunted down and killed by the Great Canyon Clan for all sorts of reasons - murder, destroying property, unsanctioned use of black magic - the list went on and on.

She walked into the Tachyon's hangar to meet the Captain and his engineers. It appeared they were in the middle of testing out a suit of armor with electric cables. The armor design was interesting - perhaps the cables were to enhance strength or movement, she thought. While she was looking for something tougher for Xana, she wouldn't mind a suit of armor like that for herself. Perla wore soft soled boots and as a witch was quite stealthy anyway, so they would not hear her until she was right behind.

[member="Lucullus Lacar"]

 

[Lucullus Lacar]

Lacar handed the leg model back over to the technicians, satisfied with preliminary work.

"We needn't worry ourselves with every minor muscle and tendon in the leg, the focus will be on the major working muscles - Example; the sensors attached to the top of the thigh will react to the contraction - or inverse - of the quadriceps femoris which should in turn relax the anterior cable while tightening the posterior. We'll need to thread the rear cable through straps around the leg to keep it from arching away from the operator and getting caught on anything.
"Run off of that example and if you need to be reminded about which muscle operates during which exertion, just bend your legs a bit - you'll figure it out."

He left them to it; they were quite capable technicians so long as they were given an ushering in the right direction. He turned away from their workstation as one of them actually did begin lifting his leg and bending it, turning it this way and that way. As he turned, he came face to face with the Dathomir witch.

The pilot arced a brow, his pupils dilating as he sized her up - whether this was due to the sudden change in lighting in the direction he faced, or for another reason, was unclear. He opened his mouth to speak, pausing for a moment with his mouth open, before eventually uttering.

"What are you doing aboard my ship? And more importantly, how can I help?"

[member="Perla Pirjo"]

 

[Armand Temi]

Perla smiled back at Lacar and answered, "I've heard you're not just a pilot, but you can also design armor." She pulled out a crude piece of flimsiplast with child-like scrawl on it, most likely her own.
"I am interested in some armor pieces for Xana my battle-mount. But I see you are designing something more flexible, it appears. For Xana I would need a head piece that could ward against heavy artillery. Something very durable."

She stuck out her hand in greeting and said, "My name is Perla and I'm an agent of The Bleeding Sun." The Dathomir witch then inspected the pilot's designs and said, "These are very interesting. What does it do?"

[member="Lucullus Lacar"]

 

[Lucullus Lacar]

Lucullus nodded while he inspected the drawing - no real display of his opinion. He handed the sheet back to Perla, her designs already memorised.

"Artillery resistant? A head-mounted piece of armour might be able to ward against explosive damage and concussive, but I'm not sure I have access to materials that can deflect sheer force of both the projectile and the resultant explosive - I'll look into it however, of course.
"Right now my armaments are looking into enhancing movement abilities rather than stopping power; I favour agility and manoeuvrability over pure force, but the armour that you're requesting might be a break into a new market for me."

He firmly grasped her outstretched hand; a strong believer in first impressions, he believed a lot could be conveyed of a person simply through their grip - strength, authority, their own opinion of themself, was all found in how they conducted a handshake.

"Bleeding Sun? Primeval agents above my paygrade. Interesting." The pilot ran two fingers along the sketch of a leg intertwined with pistons and cabling and sensors, glancing at it briefly before meeting her eye again. "A simple attachment for an operator's legs that gives a power assist to regular movements by detecting said movements and causing relevant cables to retract or expand as necessary. Similar to a previous development which supports upper arms, except this one is more reactant, and features electronics."

[member="Perla Pirjo"]