Mantle-Mail Armour

Project Aegis - Mantle-Mail

A catch-all term for a type of advanced armour, ranging from Halo’s Mjolnir MK4 to Anthem’s flight-capable javelin suits. These are often military owned, but corporations or private individuals also are known to own them. For prospect buyers or sponsors, they do not simply own individual suits, but rather companies of suits, which is a corps of 99 suits each.

Each suit has a callsign, a 2-number and 4 letter unique identifier assigned to every DUSC verified suit. The numeral digits are assigned by the Company’s commander when the suit is manufactured, and the four letters are picked by the first operator to wear the suit. A callsign is assigned to the suit and not the wearer, so the callsign gets passed down as operators come and go. An example would be [Atlas Company 21-BLJK]

For all companies registered with the DUSC, all operators are trialled and assessed based on experience, performance, and medical scans. An operator’s IPG (Individual Pilot Grade) is added to that of every other operator in their company to produce the company's CMod. This modifier, ideally, is as high as possible. 1.0 is rare, some people consider this to be a ‘perfect score,’ and anything above 1.0 is considered an elite company. Often, most companies average between 0.5 and 0.8. A company’s CMod is used to determine its M3S. A standard 99-member company with a CMod of 0.83 has an M3S Score of 82.2 (rounded up to nearest 0.1, from 82.17).

While call signs are for the suit, the M3S score is for the operator. M3S stands for ‘manned mantle-mail suits,’ usually expressed as (X) M3S, where (X) is the amount of suits and operators assigned and trained to wear each suit after multiplying CMod. This functions similarly to the concept of horsepower, but for tactical firepower instead.

History

Mantle-mail armour was accredited to inventors and smiths from Atlas’ Academy of Knighthood following the energy crisis, originally under the name 'Project Aegis.' The mantle-mail suits were originally designed for deep-space exploration but were used instead to boost the power of the military’s infantry.

Since entering the Empyrean Era, mantle-mail armour has improved considerably in terms of design. However, in the last few hundred years, costs have been cut significantly, making modern suits weaker, less hardy, made of worse materials and more likely to fail. As such, older suits of armour are prized, the golden era being from about the year 3600, four hundred years before current day.

(Depicted is a Hounder, a non-flight capable light-weight suit of mantle-mail armour, wielding a hard-light sword.)

The Lines

Conquestor (PROJ. KING’S GUARD)

Conquestors, sometimes called Connies, are the basic line of flight-capable mantlemail suits, suitable for all terrain within-atmosphere (though sunless/cold climates will need to find alternative power sources to their inbuilt solar-oriented rejuvenation system (SORS or SOR system)). They have air compression and purification systems to comprise oxygen reserves and are resistant to extreme temperatures and radiation, thus making them suitable for short term space exploration (three days of independent life support). On the back of a conquestor are one of two sets of thrusters: the rhom boosters. They sport digitigrade legs which house the achilles boosters, as well as giving them tremendous shock absorption for long falls or high speeds.

Conquesters cannot exit or enter the atmosphere safely and need the support of a star ship to carry them, as they are more so armour than vehicles. They require maintenance often and are not suggested for more than 7 days of constant intensive use, recommended at only 2 days of such conditions. 7 days will permanently destroy the suit most likely, but will keep you alive in life or death emergencies. They have light-construct weaponry in the form of crossbows, longbows and all manner of martial weapons. These can be installed by use of chips placed into the back of the helmet with a capacity for two chips (and therefore two weapon presets) per suit.

(Displayed are the conquester's signature digitigrade legs, which is shared amongst all flight capable suits.)

Line Forger (PROJ. BULWARK)

Sometimes called Liners, Line Forgers are a line of mantlemail suits that are closer to mechs in some respects than suits of armour. They pilot the same as any other mantle, a suit that moves as you do, though they are incredibly bulky and large.

They boast hydraulics in every joint, fingers as well, affording them incredible strength. They are capable of flight but are slower in general and have more powerful thrusters to compensate, often overheating faster, being slower and less manoeuvrable. Any amount of dexterity is out of the question while piloting this suit.

(The incredible mass of the line forger means that often, to move them, they are simply piloted from one cargo bay to another, rather than using machinary to heft them.)

Dawnmaker (PROJ. STAR DIVER)

Dawnmakers are a very rare line of mantlemail suits based on the Conquester line. They're designed to break atmosphere without assistance, and in the process make enough light to appear like dawn is breaking on the horizon. They are pointed in shape and aerodynamic.

(The aerodynamic design of the dawnmaker give it a striking silhouette that has become iconic amongst mercenaries, military and enthusiasts.)

Grounder (PROJ. WEALD WANDER)

Grounders are Mantle-Mail suits incapable of flight, coming in two varieties. The first variety are Hare Grounders (Hounders), which sit about the same as a conquester in size and bulk, though without the digitigrade legs of their flight-capable counterparts and therefore the advanced shock absorption. They boast four chip slots for hard-light weaponry presets.

The secondary variety are Bear Grounders (Bounders), which are functionally non-flight-capable line forgers. They also have four chip slots as opposed to two, and reduced capability for shock absorption, and are often used as work horses in communities for construction, agriculture and in ship forges.

Because there is no need to make these suits capable of flight, they're often built with heavier and sturdier materials, though still suffer the quality crisis that all suits do in the modern day compared to a few centuries ago.

(The destinct hard-light weaponry that mantle-mail suits are famous for, displayed on a hounder unit.)

(A design mockup of a bounder, notably missing the digitigrade legs of its flight-capable counterpart.)

(An example of a hounder suited for arid climates, with a thinner than standard visor, extended brim to block direct sun, and a weathered sage colour as to blend in with brushland.)

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse