Terragenic Powered Armors

Powered Armors and you
Initially created in the early decades of the 21st century, based off of preliminary research in the latter half of the 20th century, humanity has seen a need to increase the strength and resilience of its soldiers. Until relatively recently, humanity had reached, and fallen from the apex of its own self-modification to these ends, with some of the strongest having been born and died before the creation of the written word. For millennium, humanity had been gradually weakening physically, putting more emphasis on tool and armor usage than native hardiness. Concurrent with more modern augmentation techniques, however, the tool and armor usage reached a new renaissance, beginning in the decade prior to Terran Unification.

The first suits to be identified as such were little more than electromechanical armatures that a user strapped themselves into. Later refinements to this design allowed for increased overall coverage of body armor, no longer limited to a core trunk garment with limited coverage of major limbs, but often times encasing the wearer in a ballistically-suitable protective garment, often with a temperature regulation undersuit to prevent heat exhaustion in even the most extreme cold weather engagements.

At the very basic, a powered armor is simply a robotic frame that follows the user's movements, usually with a direct computer control to facilitate this, and a protective outer garment supported by the frame to minimize the weight applied against the operator's strength and endurance. More advanced designs often incorporate environmental control, increased trauma protection and mitigation, sensor and communication platforms, and even integrated weapon systems, in which case the suit is considered a weapons platform.

Most of these early suits were based off of Internal Combustion engines for powering the servos and hydraulics, though many lighter frames on the civilian market made use of indoor-only tethers, or relatively short-life batteries, which, when combined with the limited coverage of the frames, negated much of the need for environmental regulation.

The first modern-recognizable Powered Armor came from a North American firm, however, which saw the wearer encased in a complete hardshell ceramic garment, with soft voider panels at major joints, and even saw a minor increase in effective work force of the unit. This, combined with a helmet equipped with a filtration mask, networked visual enhancements, and even audio enhancements, saw the birth of Powered Armor Infantry as a viable, if expensive reality.

A flurry of military industrial complex activity saw this basic idea expanded upon, with some early examples having less resemblance to a fully-armored man--a sight not seen since the widespread adoption of gunpowder--and more resemblance to a large combat robot, with many larger designs even incorporating combat triage mechanisms in to their basic design. This was an era marked by a wide variation of design details, with multiple heavy suits equipped with integrated weapon systems, marking these larger machines as weapon platforms in military parlance.

The RS-E40
Truly the first fully realized suit, this machine featured primarily hydraulic actuation, environmental regulation, and combined softshell polymer and hardshell ceramic protection, in addition to a limited trauma suite that automatically applied tourniquet-like pressure at multiple different areas on the limbs and even core body. This was also the first combat suit to see full use of high density storage batteries. Unlike its early contemporaries in North America, the RS-E40 included upper extremity augmentation, though the helmet was still a separate piece worn by the wearer. Overall, the RS-E40 was not extremely strong, but it was adequate for what was needed at the time.

The LM-H1
Pre-dating the RS-E40 by almost a decade, this basic frame was one of the pioneer concepts that saw powered armors actually being fielded. Though it typically included upper arm and complete leg protection, in addition to the core body trunk's coverage, the LM-H1 lacked true upper extremity augmentation, instead using gyro-stabilized mounts in the few variations that made use of its strength to carry heavier weapons. The LM-H1 was also noted for its initial lack of environment regulation, and only saw trauma mitigation garments later in its service life. Similar to the later RS-E40, the LM-H1 was not noted for allowing its wearer to perform superhuman feats, but merely the ability to mount more coverage of armor, with limited provisions for weapon systems.

The CD-HAL
An Eastern design, which combined the compactness of the LM-H1, and the complete augmentation of the RS-E40, the CD-HAL actually pre-dated both Western designs, and was seen most often used in medical and police applications where actual lift capacity was a necessity. It was only during the Unification Wars that this frame was upgraded to mount any sort of combat protections, due to the neutralization of its creators' pacifist intentions. Similar to, yet departing from the RS-E40, the CD-HAL was battery-powered, though used electrical actuators, allowing for the suit itself to manipulate approximately 96 kilograms.

Other Early Powered Armors
A fair number of these featured shorter operational endurance, for the expediency of increased useful strength, ranging from the two hour-useful suits used by private interests, with incredibly devastating weapon systems mounted to their frames, to the eight-hour operative suits, which saw the wearer able to throw small, light cars across a two-lane street.

Latter-Day Powered Armors
Out of the Terran repertoire of today, only the Evocatii's own powered armors reflect the romantic notion of an incredibly powerful suit that is useful for the duration of battle. Terran Lorica suits however, though they're more lightly armored than the elite Draugr suits, often feature a holdover from pre-Unification days, with a gyro-servo mount on one side for the use of heavy weapon systems.

Hellenic suits, however, are generally along the lines of what pre-unification Terrans expected, though even today, these suits are often limited to a comparatively short endurance in operation, typically necessitating daily or multiple-daily recharges, refuelings, or servicing in general.