Vanilla Lore Expanded: Powered Armors (Patreon)

Power Armor

The Powered Mobility Exoskeleton and Armored Assault System - more commonly known as Power Armor - is an Industrial dream made reality of a protection system that can turn regular infantry into highly mobile armored shock troops. It consists of an underlying powered exoskeleton that is capable of augmenting the wearer’s mobility and strength and an overlapping suit of armor that would otherwise be far too heavy for a non-bionically-enhanced human to wear.

The development of a self-powered exoskeleton goes back to the 21st century, for which its original purpose was to assist people in being able to move far more than otherwise capable and repeatedly without causing injuries. Typically employed in automobile factories in the civilian sector, the military was obviously interested due to it allowing logistics to rapidly move cargo around and increase construction speed in forward operating bases. Whilst the idea of adding armor plating was considered, the available technology simply meant that the exoskeleton wouldn’t receive enough power to function properly, or at least longer than several minutes without needing a recharge. There were numerous reports of some of the more brazen infantry who commandeered suits and attempted to use the mounted miniguns. However, their inability to aim usually ended up causing more harm than good once the initial intimidation wore off.

As power generation and storage technology improved over the following century - offering more power whilst using up less space - different forms of powered exoskeletons started appearing. Lightweight models that could be worn over safety clothes for an entire day without needing to recharge became incredibly popular in the civilian construction industry.  Requiring minimal training,  it allowed those with health issues to perform incredible feats of manual labour. Even though larger models that had to be climbed into required extensive training and licensing,  they were highly sought after in the logistics industry as they were capable of moving up to 2’000kg and powered by Overhead Line Equipment. Ultralight variants were also developed for military use. Using some highly classified power generation involving miniature fission batteries,  they allowed marines to carry heavy backpacks and move faster without putting strain on their joints by utilizing running blades.

With space exploration becoming prevalent due to dwindling natural resources in the 23rd century, further developments were made to equip astronauts and asteroid miners with powered exoskeletons that would also protect from the ravages of space alongside providing necessary life support systems. The first generation of power armor were incredibly bulky suits that would allow a person to survive in a vacuum for a full 24-hours. Plates of various alloys - which also acted as the suit’s heat sinks - covered the life support and power storage systems, as well as the on-board non-reaction propulsion system and underlying powered exoskeleton to equally distribute the weight across the wearer’s body. Additionally, the boots were equipped with electromagnets to assist with attaching to man-made structures alongside thermal conduit gel that allowed the suit to rapidly dispose of excess heat into an attached structure.

With asteroid mining becoming more lucrative and terraforming prospects on other planets actually starting to become affordable - at least by the ultra-wealthy - slimmer and lighter exploration suits were necessary in order to reduce the costs of exporting them to orbital space stations. Improvements to the life support and propulsion system could only be taken so far, thus the underlying exoskeleton needed improving. The creation of the new metal - Plasteel - became a vital ingredient in reducing the weight of the frame whilst still providing enough strength. Additionally, the joints were changed from mechanical and actuated joints to neuro-memetic assistors, further decreasing the weight and bulk as well as their power draw. Overall this resulted in a far lighter, slimmer, and energy efficient powered exoskeleton. This new frame was incredibly comfortable and could be worn under other clothing to the point   that people could even sleep in them. Needless to say, the military was largely behind these advancements and started developing combat variants of these EVA suits.

Taking full advantage of Plasteel, these  next-generation exoskeletons were upgraded with more powerful fission batteries and decked out in layers of plasteel-weave plates over a reinforced mesh housing. This resulted in an incredibly sturdy set of armor that didn’t slow the wearer down. To compliment the suit, a helmet was designed with similar plating and an internal system that was capable of both displaying information concerning the armor and rudimentary telemetry data during hostile engagements. The suits were also hermetically sealed against airborne attacks, allowing it to  be used in non-atmospheric conditions - several missing features from the EVA model means that these engagements need to be brief to avoid overheating. This first generation of military power armor was dubbed Marine Armor and is still in use millenia later.

Much later, with the advent of Psycasters and their abilities in combat engagements grew - as well as the majority of these Psycasters being Nobles of the Imperium - the demand for protective equipment that was also fashionable and augmented psychic capabilities was created and quickly filled by enterprising manufacturers. In order to augment the Psycaster’s abilities, strands of Eltex - created with threads of Plasteel - were interwoven throughout the suit and the plasteel-weave plates whilst not compromising the protective aspects. The results of which mean that they are less useful compared to dedicated clothing but considerably easier to manufacture and offer superior protection. As for appeasing Nobles, gold plating was added via electrolysis to strategically insignificant - but visually striking - locations. This process is repeated a few times for each part so as to prevent the plating from easily being removed from non-combat related events.

One of the capabilities of the EVA armor that was initially met with skepticism when first designed was the auxiliary equipment functionality. This was because the original design was intended for power armor users who had to use both their arms and legs to stay attached to objects in zero gravity environments, so remote-operated shoulder-mounted tools would become almost a necessity. These were eschewed in favour of more layers of protection and more available power available to relieve the added weight. As ground-based combat became more elaborate with the capabilities of power armor, the idea was re-examined with the idea of support suits that would work alongside regular variants. This resulted in suits that offered specialized abilities in exchange for taking away available power from the exosuit and removing plating both to fit in the new hardware as well as reduce the overall power load.

Further modifications to the base module can be made to fit various roles, be they for light scouting roles or heavier frontline assaults. Care needs to be taken during the manufacturing process to adjust the fission battery’s output as only so much additional plating can be added before neither the power supply nor the exoskeleton itself can withstand the load. These heavier, power-hungry suits are particularly vulnerable against Graser weapons, so careful consideration needs to be taken before deploying these resource-intensive armors.