NAM Plan-R M1 High Mobility Power Armor – “Storm”

Proposals on the modification and upgrade of the ELEMENTAL 2 Series of Power Armors has steadily built up in one corner of NAM's office ever since their widespread implementation in the SAoN. Unfortunately for the Star Army, these suggestions were largely ignored except for a few life threatening fixes due to the prioritization of the production of new technologies as opposed to the needs of current ones. By the time the Kennewes Offensive had slowed down and time was available to review the E2 Series, the number of necessary changes to the Armors made it more practical to overhaul the suits entirely. As another new line of PAs are slated to replace the ELEMENT line altogether reflecting internal changes in the SAoN(Now called the SMDIoN), Plan-R (Refitting) will merely focus on streamlining and simplifying the E2 Series (With the results designated as Series R) with current and proven technology instead of cutting edge additions. Of the origial five E2 Power Armors, only the M1, M2 and M3 are to fall under Plan-R.

The iconic M1 has occupied a soft spot in the hearts of the development team, and unlike the other ELEMENTALs the AIR2 saw constant fine tuning and upgrades throughout the war (See: AIR2 Lancer). In fact, a few working AIR3 prototypes were already produced before NAM pulled the plug on Series 3. The lower-spec AIR-R was easily derived from this previous development and would be the first Plan-R unit to appear.

The Storm is designed to take advantage of vulnerable areas in enemy defenses. High mobility allows the M1 to quickly move into said vulnerability, a variety of short term high damage weapons to cause considerable distruction and short range combat capabilities to create disorder and chaos. This design doctrine also makes the M1 excellent for 1 on 1 combat, however it fares poorly when being actively engaged by multiple targets or being ambushed due to its poor battlefield endurance. Caution must be taken by the pilot to manage the suit's limited resources, but there will also be times where a a degree of recklessness may be required when pausing for even the sligthest moment will result in death. The M2 is best at short to medium ranged combat, near hard surfaces and in areas with a balance of cover and open spaces like suburban areas and rocky terrain but not open fields or closed coridoors.

Specialty training is required to control the AIR-R complex propulsion system, pilots must also be sufficiently built to withstand the forces and bruises that comes with handling the Storm in combat.

• Government: democratic_imperium_of_nepleslia
• Organization: Star Army of Nepleslia
• Type: Assault Power Armor
• Class: Na-M1-2R
• Designer: NAM Terratech Division
• Manufacturer: Nepleslian Arms and Munitions
• Production: Refitting of current AIR2s.
• Crew: 1 Nepleslian
• Maximum Capacity: 1 Nepleslian
• Appearance:

Starting from the head is a nerium masked helmet protected by a collar. A large almost triangular backpack rises above the head. A rounded breastplate protects the main body. Large rounded shoulders housing the sensors leads to the plated arms and a large gauntleted hand. Under the waist is a large skirt armor housing a large number of thrusters. Two rectangular cases on the sides houses the Storm's weapons. The AIR-R's legs are plated, but slimmer than their counterparts.

• Length: 1.8 Feet
• Width: 3.5 Feet (The additional 1 ft being the shoulder thursters)
• Height: 8 Feet
• Mass: 1.8 Tons
• Speeds: Sublight: .25c (Requires a short amount of time for acceleration)
• Speeds: Hyperspace: 1.0c CCD (With special Fast Boosters)
• Speeds: Hyperpulse: Nil
• Planetary: Mach 3.0 (Cruise Mode), 150 Km/h (Normal, Close to surfaces)
• Maintenance: After every mission, overhaul every YE.
• Lifespan: 5 Years

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

• Hull: 15
• Shields: 3 (Threshold 1)

These weapons are the default planetary loadout, they can be swapped.

(1): NAM Heavy Penetrating Assault Rifle HPAR:01a: NAM Heavy Penetrating Assault Rifle

• Location: Handheld, or stored in skirt container
• Purpose: Anti-Armor
• Secondary Purpose: Anti-Personnel
• Damage: Tier 7 or Tier 8, Light Anti-Mecha or Medium Anti-Mecha (: Staff needs to determine which)
• Range: 2,000 meters in atmosphere, theoretically unlimited in space
• Muzzle Velocity: 4000 m/s
• Rate of Fire: 3 shot-burst or fully automatic
• Payload: Drum magazine holds 700 rounds

(1): NAM Anti-Armor Vibro Broadsword ABV-01R: The ABV is more of a last ditch weapon only to be used when the pilot has run out of ammunition but still has the intention to cause damage and harm towards targets incapable of retalitating. This foldable two handed broadsword maximizes damage from its large cutting Nermium coated cutting edge, while monomolecular and vibro enhancements makes cutting a swath through parked Demons like a hot knife through butter.

• Location: Held in hand or stored in skirt container
• Purpose: Melee
• Damage: (GM's discretion in new DR system)
• Range: Melee
• Rate of Fire: As fast as you can swing
• Payload: Unlimited

These weapons are always present on the armor.

Weapon Case (Storm): The AIR-R has two rectangular cases attached to the sides of the waist and hydraulically connected to the tights. These cases serves three purposes. Firstly it can store and deploy the Storm's two main weapons (The RAPTOR Carbine/MBR and Broadsword), 8 grenades and extra magazines through a front opening compartment made easy with the use of extendable waldo arms. This is necessary the Storm has to securely store its weapons as they may fall off during high speed combat. Secondly on the outer sides of these cases are the Rapid Missile Launchers, as attaching these on the skirt armor directly is unwise as the armor plates are designed to fall off when they take enough damage. Third and lastly, the cases provides an attachment point for the side vernier thrusters.

(1): NAM Forearm Mass Driver FMD-03R: The FMD is a twin barreled mass driver attached to the AIR-R's forearm. This incarnation of the traditional main AIR weapon replaces the flimsy autoloader with a more reliable (But manual) top break mechanism. This weapon is capable of accelerating a variety of soda-can shaped charges to supersonic speeds. The charges come in WHITE (Tungsten), RED (High Explosives), BLUE (EMP Burst), GREEN (Antimatter) and YELLOW (Subspace Pulse). The FMD provides good short term damage in conjunction with the RAPTOR's continuous fire, both weapons may be fired simultaneously.

• Location: Attached to right forearm
• Purpose: General infantry use
• Damage: 3 ADR (RED, BLUE to shields), 4 ADR (WHITE), 4 ADR (GREEN)
• Range: 7 KM, 5m AoE for RED, BLUE and GREEN
• Rate of Fire: 2 per 10 seconds, Varies on individual dexterity
• Payload: 2 in chamber, 10 in container.

(4): NAM Rapid Missile Launcher RML-01Rs: These are small missile racks mounted on the skirt armor of the Storm. Their sole purpose is to store Extended Dart and Arrows safely and to fire them en-masse when the time comes. Armored flaps achieves the first purpose and a Metal-Stormish launching system does the second. Both mini-missiles are quick to lock but their weak damage potentials and rudimentary homing systems only makes firing them like a swarm of angry bees practical. Arrows are conventional HE warheads dealing medium explosive damage while DARTs are chaff filled explosives aimed at fuddling sensors and disorientating opponents. Storm is capable of carrying four such racks in the skirt armor.

(Stats are in total of all 4 racks)

• Location: Outer calves.
• Purpose: Mid/Close range support.
• Damage: 2 ADR (ARROWs), 1 ADR (DARTs)
• Range: 7 KM in atmosphere
• Rate of Fire: 40 in 3 seconds
• Payload: 60

(1): NAM Push Pull Guard PPG-03R: The PPG is a weaponized version of the P/P propulsion system. Located under an elongated Nerimium coated shield on the left forearm, the PPG can be used to push or pull any object it is pointed towards. Charged up however, the PPG can release a tight wave of force that can easily knock down an opposing Power Armor up to 10 meters away, or kill at point blank through blunt trauma.

• Location: Left forearm
• Purpose: Melee, utility
• Damage: (GM's discretion)
• Range: Melee or 10m
• Rate of Fire: 5 sec recharge time
• Payload: Unlimited

(1): NAM Twin Scalar Array TSA-01R: Replacing laser on the previous E1 and E2 series suits, the new scalar based CWIS system is much better at intercepting incoming ordnance due to its ability to detonate explosives and fry electronics. However its ability to harm most Power Armors is negligible as most PAs are largely immune to low intensity scalar beams.

• Location: Top of shoulders
• Purpose: Point defense
• Damage: 1 ADR
• Range: 5 KM in atmosphere
• Rate of Fire: Continuous
• Payload: Unlimited

These replace an existing weapon system or can be carried along as it is.

(1): NAM Medium Beam Rifle MBR-03R The MBR is nothing more than a renamed, standardized and mass produced LBR-00p with a shorter (3ft) barrel length. The MBR excites antimatter into positrons and fires that at high sub-light speeds, making it ideal for space combat. This weapon comes with a folding stock and an internal Antimatter store. Power is supplied by a direct cable from the PA's forearm with a socket unique to NAM suits, preventing enemies from immediately using captured MBRs.

• Location: Held in both hands or strapped to the legs
• Purpose: General infantry use
• Damage: 4 ADR
• Range: Unusable in Atmosphere.
• Rate of Fire: 1 per second
• Payload: 30 in positronic battery pack.

Extra equipment that is usually carried with the armor, but is not mandatory or necessary.

New Fast Booster NFB-01R: 'New' meaning made from scratch, as the 'Old' ones were modified from captured DD Fast Boosters. NFBs consists of two large Ion Thrusters and a small shield generator attached behind the waist of the Storm like a wheelbarrow. The NFB assist in entering Cruise Mode for Plan-R suits. The pair of Ion Thrusters provides the raw continuous output while the shield generator helps in creating the aerodynamic shell. The NFB hinders movement due to its large size, but can be easily disconnected from the suit when combat begins. Some limited space-use NFBs comes with a simple 1.0c CCD generator to allow the Storm to traverse around a solar system easily.

Durandium on a Carbon Nanotube frame Following the previous ELEMENT models, the Storm uses the same Durandium plates over a synthetic Carbon Nanotube frame. It uses both curved and flat armor. The stronger but harder to repair curved plates are over vulnerable areas like the chest, head, shoulders and lower legs. The arms and skirt armor is protected by flat type plating. Replacement and repairs of the flat type is easily performed on the field while the curved type armor can at best only be patched up. Weapons grade radiation is marginally accounted for by a layer of anti-radiation gel under the armor plates and all around the pilot's cavity. Self-regenerating fuses under the frame prevents EMP weapons from doing permament damage, but the electronics of the suit will be shut down from 5 to 30 seconds depending on the magnitude of the EMP attack. The M1 has the highest armor rating of the Plan-R suits.

The layout of the frame and armor is designed to accomodate a 'top break' feature between the front and back halves of the Power Armor to allow the user to slide into the Pilot's Cavity. Another feature called the 'full break' splits the entire cavity open, useful for mantainence purposes but more often than not damage suffered will cause the frame to deform and jam the full break mechanisim. The skirt armor is segmented, allowing the Storm to kneel, kick and walk but cannot run or sit.

Ultra Compact Fusion Generator (Storm) + Capacitor Battery UCF-4RSc: The Storm uses a small UCF for powering basic systems and a Capacitor Battery for use in combat, this combination makes up a large portion of the Storm's oversized backpack. The nature of the M1's role requires large amounts of energy discharged sporadically which the UCF with its constant output cannot do. With the Capacitor Battery it can participate in combat for thirty minutes for every hour and a half downtime with a maximum operation time of two hours. The charging process can be sped up with any power port or assistance from a Typhoon. Without refueling, the M1's UCF can only operate for a maximum of three days. It may be a consolation that the above values are cautious pessimistic estimates and the AIR-R could be pushed a little further.

MEC Type C MEC-03C When critical damage is registered, or at the pilot's discretion for not immediately (But eventually) fatal injuries, the MEC automatically beheads and flash cyrofreezes the pilot's head and then rocket-launches itself away from the Power Armor and potential danger. The advantage this system has over CC is that there is negligible mental damage, cybernetics in the head and memories up to the point of death is retained. The disadvantage being that the Head Jar may fall into enemy hands before it can be recovered by friendly forces. Best if while dying to angle the top of your head towards the closest group of friendly forces to increase the chances of recovery. The SMoDIN pays the public 5,000 DA for the recovery of any activated MECs used by its forces.

Life Support Systems LSS-03R All Plan-R suits carry the same life support system. Through an oxygen supply and scrubbers, there is enough air for the pilot to last a day, though it can replenish the supply of oxygen if it is present in the atmosphere. There is no mask, air is simply ventilated into the Power Armor's helmet. There is no catherer, but there is a hose that can attach to the catheters of common flight suits to drain the urine outside the PA. The pilot is held in place by automatic straps in a hard cushioned environment. There is also an auto-drug dispenser near the shoulders and an extending straw supplying an isotonic sports drink for the pilot to suck on if needed.

Push/pull System PPS-03R This system is a combined Tractor and Repulsion field to both push and pull the Storm into moving. While jerky and only usable up to 10 meters near large masses (The floor, walls, boulders and other Power Armor) it provides the Storm with exceptional maneuverability and speed. Powered by four Push/pull (P/p) rods attached to the waist and shoulders and combined with the PPT, it allows the Storm to accelerate very quickly in any direction almost instantaneously. In hard statistics, a combined PPS/PPT system gives a maxspeed of 150 KM/H in 6 seconds with a high initial value of 60 KM/H in 1.4 seconds.

Pulsed Plasma Thrusters (Storm) PPT-01RSc Pulsed Plasma Thrusters have the advantage of using solid propellants instead of compressed gas for easier fuel storage and higher outputs at the expense of lower efficiency. Arcs of electric currents are created near rods of solid state hydrocarbons to create quick and repeatable bursts of impulse. A single large thruster in the backpack, two medium sized ones on the sides of the skirt armor, many smaller ones on the sides of the shoulders and integrated in the skirt puts it in second place in terms of thruster output, even then, most of these are arranged just to keep the Storm off the ground while the P/p system pulls it along. Not taking into account P/p, the Storm can accelerate moderately in one direction or quickly sidestepping once every 3 seconds. Unlike the M2, it can only enter Cruise Mode with the help of a Fast Booster. Non-Cruise Mode, Non-P/p maxspeed of 80 KM/H in 10 seconds.

Cruise Mode Cruise Mode allows the PA to traverse large distances or between key points in a battlefield. The startup of Cruise Mode involves three steps. Firstly a majority of generator power is shunted to the thrusters, preventing the suit from doing energy intensive actions (Ie: Shield Charging). Secondly the thrusters re-configure themselves for constant sustainable output and begins venting plasma. And lastly the shields are elongated to be more aerodynamic. The whole ordeal lasts 15 seconds and the thrust from the next 5 seconds should only be enough to lift the armor off the ground, only afterwards does the Storm begin to accelerate at a frightful pace. Only through Cruise Mode could the Storm be able to reach its maximum speed of 500 KM/H (Which it does in 20 seconds). However, be warned that while in Cruise Mode the PA becomes easily detected and if attacked energy intensive actions cannot be done. Note that Storm cannot enter Cruise Mode without the help of a Fast Booster.

Combined Shield System CPS-04 The CPS is a combination energy, replusion and distortion field. Repulsion and distortion serves to blunt energy and kenetic based damage or to outright block Scalar based attacks. Damage that gets through will weaken the energy shield. As this shield weakens it will not be able to fully absorb incoming attacks and some may get through to deal armor damage. Not made for sustained firefights, the Storm's CPS is the weakest of the Plan-R suits, and can only absorb a minimal amount of PA-based damage before succumbing. An upside however is that due to its small endurance, regenerating the shield bubble is a breeze and only takes under 10 seconds to perform provided no additional damage is taken.

Subspace Lense Sensors SLS-01R All Plan-R suits carry the same sensor system in the same location. Inbuilt into both shoulders, the SLS has two operating modes. In passive mode, the SLS receives sensory data in a wide spectrum and through low key LADAR/RADAR. However this is limited to line-of-sight and those outside the LoS are in low resolution. In active mode the Subspace Lenses locks onto a target, furiously emitting high intensity Subspace pulses that return a high resolution scan on the target, the drawback being that the Plan-R suit becomes instantly detected. The SLS system is also responsible for communications, which it does through Radio, Laser and Subspace.

Neuro/Peizo Controller NPC-01R: Most physical actions on Plan-R suits are controlled by pressure sensitive pads in the inner wall of the pilot's cavity that amplifies the physical actions of the pilot. A small headband worn by the pilot reads neural data that performs complex actions like the cycling of targets and the activation of subsystems. If both systems are damaged for some reason, the PA will still respond to voice commands to the best of the suit AI's ability.

Motion/Locomotive Systems (Storm) MLS-01RSc All Plan-R suits are made to move via medium density nanomuscles and hydraulics with different emphasis on either. The Storm uses mostly hydraulics which provides it with a lot of brute strength, which is over fine motor functions afforded by nanomuscles which makes the PA quite stiff. However because of this the M1 can easily control the recoil of the RAPTOR Carbine and wield the Broadsword. The M1 can carry a weight of up to 1.2 tons in each arm.

Element Display Visor EDV-03R This is a clear glass visor that is attached to the inside of the Power Armor's head, though it can be disconnected and used like an Emery's Uno Sunglasses. It provides a clear high resolution screen that acts as the pilot's Heads Up Display showing visual, sensory and tactical data. Note that there are no physical windows for the pilot to see out of the suit short of half opening the pilot's cavity.

Combat Savtech Computer CSC-03R All Plan-R suits use the same computer AI for sorting battle data received from the SLS of all squad machines. Thanks to the detailed data from the SLS sensor system, the Savtech can perform high accuracy shots by automatically manipulating the arms. All the pilot has to do is point the gun at the enemy and the Savtech will fine tune the aim. The CSC also performs auto-evasions for the pilot provided the shot is fired from a SLS focused target.

Mass Mesher Device MMD-03R It is easier to hide behind something than to completely disappear. The MMD is actually a reverse engineered and refined version of the NRM's Dark Demon C-1 Cloaking device. Should the Power Armor be near an object four times its size, it becomes radar/sensor invisible. Four or more Power Armors equipped with his device and flying in a formation will still appear on radar, but their numbers cannot be determined. Firing a weapon or performing energy intensive actions cancels this.

Noisemaker Device NOD-03R The NAM “Noisemaker” excels at jamming passive sensors by constantly emitting random signals of all types and frequencies. This affects any non-subspace system within 25 meters of the suit, but any sensor system beyond this range will detect the easily Power Armor. Best activated only when necessary.

1. There were a number of specially made AIR-Rs proportioned to yorna gynoids to test new features without the potential loss of life. Primary differences are smaller proprtions, the lack of a RAPTOR Carbine (Being unable to fit into the similarly downsized weapon racks), only two P/p rods (Performance is unaffected as the AIR-RX is of a smaller mass), no MEC and about 10 less DARTs.