Directorate Officer
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To provide a basic armor for animals in Lucerne Personal Defense's line-up
- Image Source: here modified by yours truly
- Canon Link: N/A
- Permissions: N/A
- Primary Source: N/A
- Manufacturer: Lucerne Personal Defense
- Affiliation: Directorate, Silver Jedi Concord, Lucerne Personal Defense Customers
- Market Status: Closed-Market
- Model: Aryx-series Light Beast Armor
- Modularity: can be tailored to fit a wide variety of animal species; various aesthetics; dorsal modular hardpoint
- Production: Mass-Produced
- Material: layered Defensa textile body panels, spun-plast panels and webbing with agrinium fasteners, duraplast armor plates, power pack, typical battle armor components
- Classification: Light Beast Armor
- Weight: Light
- Resistances:
- Energy (And other Blaster type weapons): Very High
- Kinetic: High
- Lightsabers: Average
- EMP/Ion: Average
- Radiation: Very Low
- Sonic: Very Low
- Elemental: Average
- Environmental: Average
- Composite Construction: Aryx is primarily composed of a layered Defensa fabric panels, which is lightweight, flexible, and provides protection from a variety of common threats. A number of spun-plast panels overlay areas of the body prone to rubbing from and chaffing from carrying equipment as well as providing additional padding and protection from some kinetic threats. But for serious protection, Aryx uses thin duraplast armor plates on the head, torso, upper arms, and lower legs for most animals. These armor panels can be repositioned via straps to better fit the beast for a more natural fit to improve agility.
- SC-1 Hardened Comlink: Sewn into each armor is a comlink, which allows the owner to communicate audially with the animal in case they get separated. Depending on the animal's and handler's intelligence, it might even allow for two-way communication. This comlink also functions as a tracking device, allowing handlers to monitor and quickly find their animals if needed.
- Modular Dorsal Mount: The top of Aryx on most animals has a modular mounting hardpoint that allows Aryx to be easily customized on the fly to hold a number of small, personal-scale systems that might benefit the handler or animal including saddles, sensor packs, energy shield generators, weapons, and handful of other devices.
- Electric Defense Grid: Aryx is a number of metal studs located throughout the armor - these aren't present merely for looks, but are rather the exterior projection stubs of the armor's electric defense grid, which can shock or electrocute any of those unwise enough to touch the animal or armor. This can be triggered remotely by the handler on an as needed basis, or it can simply be set "on" or "off" at all times (assuming Aryx still has enough power).
- Modular Load-Bearing System: Aryx has straps and attachment points throughout its harness, allowing owners to attach pouches, bags, holsters, medpacs, and anything that can normally be added an organic's webbing gear.
- Resistant (Energy): Aryx was designed primarily to protect against the most common threat on most battlefields: blasters and related energy weapons. To that end, its Defensa textile base is exceptionally resistant to blasters, while the additional duraplast plating additional protection for key body parts.
- Resistant (Kinetic): Aryx's Defensa base and Duraplast plates provide the user with good kinetic protection. Spun-plast impregnation and burthan thread provides some protection from glancing hits of physical weapons while the duraplast plates can withstand some good direct hits from even some high velocity weapons. Unlike many armors, Aryx's use of thermal gel pockets in the Defensa textile makes such hits easier to endure on the wearer: when struck, this gel, stiffens up and absorb kinetic energy upon impact before spreading its energy across the rest of the connected cloth.
- Resistant (Lightsabers): Reinforced duraplast plates have been known to be resistant against lightsabers, which provides good protection for key body parts. In addition, the use of armorweave within the body panels provides some protection from light or glancing strikes from these weapons.
WEAKNESSES
- Low Sonic Resistance: Aryx's base material, Defensa textile, provides very little protection against sonic weapons due to its lightweight construction and frequent fluid pockets (through which sound transmits through easier than many solid materials of similar depth).
- Low Radiation Resistance: None of the materials used in Aryx provide much protection from radiation weapons, in large part due to its thin, flexible Defensa layers. Perhaps even worse, the microbes embedded in the weave are living things, and radiation (aside from heat from weapons like blaster bolts) consequently can quickly kill them. This not only can lessen Defensa's protection against energy weapons, but the debris from their destruction can rapidly become enmeshed with other debris or frayed fabric strands, leading to reduced flexibility that cannot be repaired without replacing sections of fabric.
Animals have long been present in warfare, even though their presence has often waned with rise of technology such as vehicles and battle droids. Yet despite the march of technology, there are still those that prefer their animal alternatives, whether it is of out mere tradition or actual pragmaticism. In those cases, Lucerne Personal Defense provides owners and handlers an additional means of protecting their animal companions in the form of its Aryx-series Light Beast Armor. Largely made out of durable Defensa textile reinforced with duraplast plates, Aryx adds a substantial degree of survivability from most common weapons such as blasters and slugthrowers not unlike laminate battle armor worn by many bipedal organics. Yet surprisingly, this lightweight armor also adds a couple of features designed to add more abilities to the beast wearing it.
One of the most basic of these is a sewn in comlink, which can allow the handler to communicate with the beast over great distances, and perhaps more frequently, acts as a tracker to allow the handler to know just exactly where the animal is. The second of these is the unusual inclusion of an electric defense grid sometimes found on droids. This device can shock or electrocute those who come into contact with the armor, which depending on the situation can be used defensively or offensively by the beast. But perhaps the most innovative of the Aryx's features is a dorsal modular hardpoint, which harkens back to the consortium's focus on flexibility, that can allow a number of small auxiliary systems to be installed and carried by the animal in just a matter of moments by the end user.
Shield Generator: This module contains either a Myntor Personal Shield or a Ferrazid Particle Distortion Shield along with an additional power pack that allows for several hours of continuous operation. Just like the versions worn by humans and most other organics, these shield systems provide additional protection to the wearer from many common weapons and environmental effects.
Individual Field Disruptor: This module contains a Droch-series Individual Field Disruptor, which can allow the wearer to penetrate through energy fences and other various energy field defenses. This uncommon module is often used by owners engaged in infiltration activities, allowing animals to help cross enemy lines or into enemy facilities with them. It can also act as a powerful though very time limited melee weapon, giving its wearer another offensive edge.
Whistling Bird: This module contains several dozen LPD-70 Fireshrike-class Whistling Birds, which can provide an unexpected, short-range punch to the animal. This weapon system is not triggered by the animal, but rather can fired remotely by the owner, typically through a battle armor data systems link or simple remote control.
Sensor Jammer: This module contains a small sensor jammer and its power supply. This is typically used to create local confusion among enemies, as it has an effective operating radius of a hundred meters, and usually prevents exactly locating the wearer via sensors, even if almost ensures that some nearby sensor will detect its relatively presence. It is often used in areas where there are many enemy automated weapon systems or combat droids which are heavily reliant on sensors for detecting and targeting their foes.
Sensor Pack: This module contains an EnhanceScan General Purpose Scanner combined with an autorecord feature. This allows animals to effectively act as forward scouts, conducting recon and survey for their owners, particularly in dangerous areas where animals might be more disposable or areas under heavy electronic surveillance that could more readily detect most sentient life or droids.
Ion Field Generator: This module contains a small ion field generator and a chemical battery power source. This effectively produces a EMP field with an effective radius of several dozens of meters. This can make these armored animals force-multipliers against more technologically advanced foes.
Saddle: This module provides a saddle, which dependent on the size of the animal, can provide a proper mounting surface for one or several riders, along with the appropriate riding tack to help control the animal.
While the overall market for animal armor is smaller than it is for most personal armors, there are few modern animal armors on the market and Aryx has few competitors in this niche market. Because of that, Lucerne Personal Defense expects small but steady sales to a variety of smaller organizations, such as local police forces and some more exotic, Outer Rim locales where animals are more abundant, cheaper, and reliable than high tech droids and vehicles.
