"We should have kept using armor-weave vests, at least they weren't dangerous to the user." - Senior Designer Wiken, Head Of Protectives
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: A standard armor piece for Ephraim Labors.
- Image Source: (X)
- Canon Link: N/A
- Permissions: N/A
- Primary Source: N/A
- Manufacturer: Ephraim Arms
- Affiliation: Ephraim Arms, Ephraim Labors
- Market Status: Closed-Market
- Model: EL-CUS-5 Combat Armor
- Modularity: Minor modularity; detachable visor, knee, and elbow guards. Internal breathing apparatus.
- Production: Mass-Produced
- Material: Durasteel, Magnetic Armor Fixtures, Duraplast
- Classification: Combat Armor
- Weight: Average
- Resistances:
- Energy: Very High
- Kinetic: High
- Lightsabers: High
- Acidic: Low
- Ion: None
SPECIAL FEATURES
: Mag-Plates:
The armor pieces attach to an undersuit via magnetic under plates. These magnetic plates operate through a small electronic pulse on the opposite of a plate.
: Adaptable Visor:
Includes an adaptable visor, which can be changed to suit individual soldiers for different jobs, i.e. marksmen, heavy gunmen, and medics. Visor modes feed useful data for soldiers, such as ammunition count, distance from the target, and so. These different modes offer different benefits for each user, yet subtract in other ways depending on the mode.
STRENGTHS
- Energy Resistance - The CUS-5 is highly resistant to energy-based weapons, such as blasters.
- Kinetic Resistance - While not as protective against kinetic weapons, like slugthrowers, it can still be quite good against them.
- Lightsaber Resistance - While direct hits would most certainly cleave straight through this armor, glancing hits, light swings, ETC. would cause a lot less damage than with other armors.
- Ion Malfunctions - Has virtually no resistance to ion-based weapons, with the blast from one offering a plethora of problems, ranging from visor distortion to armor pieces becoming loose.
- Mag-Interference - Due to most of the armor plates being connected via magnetic force, if any interference were to come about, it could practically strip a soldier of protection and possibly harm them.
DESCRIPTION
The CUS-5 is the first armor item created by Ephraim Labors, more specifically, Ephraim Arms. A fairly standard, but quite protective suit of combat armor used both in sell and by the PMC side of Ephraim Labors. The armor does host some fairly interesting features, such as its use of mag-tech plates. It also includes different visor display modes, for different soldier roles. The marksman module features range-finding programs, alongside a plethora of shot statistical data. On the other hand, the medical module can feed medical statistics while administrating to a wounded ally.
The CUS-5 is classified as layered plate armor, with a layer of durasteel alloy on top and duraplast below it. This serves to make the armor more durable and protective as damage is sustained. This layered form is highly effective against energy weapons, as they typically can't even punch through the durasteel. While one might think that slugthrowers would be useless against the armor, it's the opposite. While the CUS-5 is still perfectly able to handle scatter guns, and low-powered slugs, high-powered ones such as coilguns and railguns, can shoot straight through the armor while similarly powered blasters disperse too much energy on contact.
While lightsabers will definitely cut through the armor, it's more resistant to light swings and such. This, like the energy resistance, is caused by the layered armor. There were original plans to give the armor a phrik coating, making it far more protective against lightsabers. This idea was scrapped due to budget constraints. Ultimately it came to either having full coverage or phrik coating with massive gaps in the armor. Those chose the former, of course. This did lead to the design being altered though, with central parts of the body, like the head and chest, getting much thicker plates. During testing, it was noted that most purposeful attacks would cut through, particularly thrusts. Swings and light jabs showed less effect, still damaging the armor but not piercing through.
On the downside, there are two fatal flaws with the CUS-5. The first is its response to ion weaponry. In testing, when shot by an ion blast, the visor of the helmet would malfunction severely, and in most cases caused vision distortion. Another effect of the ion blast was how it made the mag-plates behave, interfering with the electronic pulse of the under plates, causing bits and pieces of the armor to fall off and leaving the user exposed. It's undiscovered as to why this The second flaw has to do with the mag-plates themselves. When a tester was exposed to a high-powered magnetic pulse, the armor didn't detach as expected but ripped the man limb from limb. Despite the morbidity of the situation, it exposed a flaw in the design. The plates were designed to hold tight to the user, even when faced with a massive pulling force.
To quote Senior Designer, Wiken. "We've made mistakes in testing before, but this is the worst one yet. Today I saw a man get torn apart, things like that stick. Mostly, I think this goes to show our over-reliance on mag-tech, and we should make the switch to gas-powered weapons sometime soon. Because obviously, their use is bleeding over into different divisions."
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