Ke-M2-1H "Mindy" Power Armor

A descendant of the Mindy family, the Mindy Ke-M2-1H is a Star Army of Yamatai team fire support power armor designed by Ketsurui Fleet Yards in YE 29 to complement the Mindy 2. Its key features include two rapid-fire heavy beam cannons mounted on its backpack area, and two small anti-missile turrets mounted on its shoulders. It also boasts a superior communications and ECM suite than previous Mindy models, a response to growing competition from Nepleslian armors.

This armor type is rare and it must be specially ordered from the fleet depot at Nataria or from Gemini Star Fortress. Only one per armor team is recommended.

Artwork by Newton Ewell.

The Mindy armor is just slightly larger than the average Yamataian, allowing it to fit in almost any place conventional infantry soldier might. The armor's small size allows for starship to store large numbers of them without the need for special storage areas (although most Star Army of Yamatai ships have dedicated power armor storage and maintenance areas anyway).

• Height: 175cm (68.9 inches) with a 160cm (5' 3“) NH-29 or NH-33 inside. May vary +/- 15cm.
• Width: 62cm (20.41 inches)
• Mass: 115kg (253.53 lbs)

The given height does not include the rapid fire heavy cannons.

The Mindy 1H uses a Combined Field System for its primary means of propulsion, allowing it to travel at speeds up to ten times the speed of light. In an atmosphere, the Mindy can travel Mach 1.7 at Earth sea level. Through use of their Combined Field System, Mindy armors are able to ignore gravity and inertial forces; they can hover, instantly stop or shift direction, and even increase and decrease their weight; they can walk up walls, on ceilings, across water, and in midair. The Mindy can also operate underwater.

• FTL Speed: 10c
• Aux Engines: .375c

The Mindy 1H is designed specifically for the NH-29; pilots must be between 145cm (4' 9”) and 170cm (5' 6“) and be able to use the SPINE interface system. The Mindy's insides are composed of muscular flesh that is warm, soft, slimy, stretchy, and wrinkly; it includes a sophisticated Hemosynthetics (bloodborne iron-based femtomachine) system that can repair damage to the muscular system as well as the pilot. The flesh primarily provides augmented strength and shock absorption.

To enter the Mindy armor, a neko first takes off any clothing she is wearing, followed by removing the armor's helmet; the armor will recognize its operator and open its torso, revealing its fleshy interior. The chest and abdomen armor splits open along the armor's centerline. The pilot would then back into her armor, putting each foot in. The armor automatically creates a suction that will engulf the pilot's legs and pull her inside. Once the pilot is in position, the armor will close around her and she may retrieve her helmet and put it on. The Mindy can be operated without its helmet, but the pilot will not be able to use most sensor and communication devices without it on.

Piloting the Mindy 1H is done through SPINE. All military-created NH-29 or Type 33 Nekovalkyrja can instinctively operate the Mindy armor; it is natural to them. Mindy piloting is also part of standard Star Army Training for Nekovalkyrja. Basic operation of the Mindy armor is simple, and is augmented by the armor's on-board computer, which will help out when (and only when) it is needed or requested.

Humans and other species that don't have the SPINE system cannot use this armor.

The fleshy core of the Mindy houses the life support systems, which include the hemosynthetics system, a rebreather system, an oxygen supply, and a nutrient-enriched (sterile) water supply. The Mindy can support a pilot for up to 15 days before replenishment is needed, or up to 10 years in stasis. If needed, the Mindy can filter outside air to replenish its supply (not usually done until absolutely necessary, though).

The Mindy's interior includes a catheter organ that wriggles its way into the pilot's urethra and bladder, keeping the pilots from having to exit the suit to urinate. Pilots receive oxygen through the skin. The interior flesh will also massage the pilot's body from time to time to encourage blood flow and provide increased comfort, or to provide pleasurable stimulation.

Armors can still function without their limbs so long as their cores and engines are intact, although this would mean loss of limbs for the pilot.

Mindy 1H armors have a new armor package that differs from previous Mindy models:

• A new abdomen design spreads more open, allowing pilots to suit up faster.
• Around the neck is an added armored collar, providing defense against throat shots.
• New antennae are fitted on either side of the collar.
• The helmet has new antennae and an additional sensor dome on its crown.
• Large blades have been added on the knees.
• Some larger armor plates were replaced with smaller ones for cheaper replacement costs.

Although NH-29 generally have only three fingers, the Mindy 1H's hands have four; this allows it to support NH-29H (human style) pilots.

The Mindy 1H is impoved primarily in the areas of firepower and electronic countermeasures; it features new heavy cannons and a more powerful aether generator system to operate them.

The Mindy 1H has an outer armor composed of Fullerite-coated Zesuaium plates, which are layered over a mesh of chain mail and a titanium alloy chassis layer. The Mindy's armor is immune to small arms fire, provides excellent resistance to mounted weapons, good resistance to light starship weaponry, and poor resistance to heavy starship weaponry such as main guns and anti-matter; it is most armored on the torso, shoulders, abdomen, and thighs. This armor also shields the interior from heat and radiation, protecting the pilot from the rigors of space travel and atmospheric reentry. As with all armors, it protectiveness can be bypassed through the use of excessive kinetic force such as that of a large railgun or being “glomped” by an obese fanboy.

See Damage Rating (Version 3) for an explanation of the damage system.

• Body: 10 SP (Mecha scale)

The Mindy 1H uses the Armor Integrated Electronics System (AIES), which includes sensors, communications, and computing systems rolled into a standardized package. The system runs a special power-armor-oriented flavor of the Kessaku Military Operating System created by Kessaku Systems for use within the PANTHEON network. Through networking, the Mindy's sensor input is augmented by that of nearby friendly forces.

Its sensors include:

• Three imaging arrays (1 forward, two side) with nightvision and thermal viewing
• Aether Wave Tracking (an exceptional feature of this particular power armor)
• Ultra Wide Band RADAR

The armor can communicate via:

• Voice, via microphone and loudspeaker
• Conventional Radio
• Subspace Radio (FTL)
• Laser Beam (using forearm cannon's range-finder)

The Mindy 1H also features a state-of-the art jamming array not found on any other Mindy model, capable of blocking both conventional and subspace FTL communications, as well as blotting out sensors by dispensing a cloud of charged particles.

The Mindy 1H packs a large amount of firepower for its size, even for a Mindy armor. Its primary weapons are its large rapid-fire beam cannons, which can deliver a constant barrage of powerful blasts.

Mindy 1H armors are equipped with:

• 1 Ke-M2-W2910 Forearm Pulse Cannon, Tier 5 Medium Anti-Armor¹⁾ or Stun (scalar)
• 2 Ke-M2-W2911 Rapid Fire Heavy Beam Cannons, Tier 8 (Medium Anti-Mecha) each
• 2 Ke-M2-W2912 Defensive Turrets, Tier 3, Heavy Anti-Personnel
• 2 Knee Blades
• 2 Thigh Hardpoints (See: Mindy 2 Leg Hardpoints)
• 1 Dorsal Hardpoint (See: Mindy 2 Dorsal Hardpoint)
• Small water-resistant ”butt pack“ for carrying uniforms and rations.
• Optional Handheld Weapons (See: Mindy 2 Optional Handheld Weapons)

The beam cannons are stored in an upright position; when needed, the beams quickly swing backwards and around so that they swing up beneath the armor's armpits, facing forward at about waist level. A handgrip pops up from each cannon. The beam cannons fire quite rapidly and are very powerful; they draw power directly from the power armor's upsized aether tap. Hardly anything can stand up to them for more than a moment (comparable to the Aether Gatling Rifle).

This article was written by Wes.

Artwork by Newton Ewell.