Type 4 Combat Suit

As the newest suit in use by the Empire of Daqin's Imperial Military, it hosts superior performance over its predecessors, relegating the older models to Auxiliary usage when it came into service. Built with the culmination of Daqinren knowledge and experience, the Type 4 Combat Suit is designed to provide full body protection as well as serve a wide range of uses besides. Its primary means of guarding the user consists of advanced, energized armor. The suit provides full environmental protection when used in conjunction with its assigned helmet, and its integrated sensor systems allow for quick location and targeting of hostiles. Following its introduction, numerous improvements were made, resulting in the modular 4B variant currently in use.

The suit's primary protection consists of energized armor plating and underlying layers of energized armor weave. Conventional energized armor systems rely on damage to the armor in order to create a complete electrical circuit, disrupting the attack with a powerful arc of charged plasma. The Imperial energized armor used in the Type 4 suit however, takes a drastically different approach and flaunts the Empire's advanced materials sciences. The poly-alloy materials used in its protective layers are drastically strengthened by the electrical currents running through it, dramatically increasing its overall strength against both physical and energy based attacks. Being balanced between protection and mobility, the reactive armor is present in both plate and ballistic weave forms. The plates themselves remain semi-flexible when charged, but will harden in milliseconds when struck by sufficiently high-velocity impacts while maintaining high tensile strength. Meanwhile, energy based attacks will ablate the poly-alloy, with its vaporized material producing a plasma arc to repel the attack. The woven fabric version of this exhibits similar properties, but overall is less durable. It is noted that a plate can stop roughly a burst of conventional assault rifle fire, and anywhere between one to three hits from common battle rifles used by designated marksmen.

Overall, its greatest advantage is the light weight and mobility provided for equivalent or superior protection in comparison to more conventional armor sets used by other nations.

As standard, the bodysuit comes with both visual and thermal camouflage systems. Advanced poly-pigmentation contained in the outer layers of the suit are synchronized with the sensor systems of the suit, allowing it to generate patterns that are optimal for the location it is in. Moving slowly, the suits become nearly invisible to the naked human eye, with the suit blending in with its environment as closely as possible. Meanwhile, faster speeds produce simpler, less detailed replications, eventually giving way to optimized camouflage patterns. Meanwhile, the thermal camouflage systems act in a similar manner, matching the environment as closely as possible in order to blend in and vanish. Heat is redirected into the soles of the feet in addition to a liquid cooled heatsink system. This grants the users a period of time where they're thermally cloaked. However, they still have to periodically dump thermal energy by force-air-cooling the heatsinks in the backpack.

In addition to the limited time it can be thermally cloaked, the suit is also vulnerable to UV scanning sensors at closer ranges due to the nature of ultraviolet radiation to begin with.

Integrated into the conformal, body hugging mini-pack of the suit and primary helmet, the communication systems of the suit primarily relies on both long and short wave radio. To supplement this however, laser emitters are present in the primary helmet and wrist, but also include a fiber optic relaying them to the finger tips for convenience. Meanwhile, micro-sensors are distributed across the entirety of the body, but are primarily focused on the main helmet. These provide not only a visual, but also multi-spectrum sensors, allowing the user to spot irregularities and concealed enemies. The most notable ones are the infrared and ultraviolet sensor systems, which may work in either active or passive modes, and enhance the night-vision abilities present.

Located on the back and between the shoulder blades as part of the conformal micro-pack assembly, a single B-550 battery cell provedes the necessary energy to power the Type 4 combat suit and all of its features. It measures just 40mm in diameter, and provides an operational time of 5 hours before recharge or change is needed. In addition to this, emergency batteries are scattered across the body of the suit. Two are located above and to the side of each knee, with an additional emergency battery above the sternum, but below the collar for ease of access. Combined, these emergency batteries can only power the suit's protection systems for another 10 minutes, but have enough power to keep the life support and communications systems online for a much longer period of time.

The underlying layer of the suit is an insular and protective body glove that protects the user from extreme temperatures as well as both biological and chemical hazards. This insular property also doubles to protect against secondary effects from energy weapons as well, dispersing and insulating the user from their heat. Fully sealed from the environment, the interior is pressurized to keep the environment out during a breach while the body glove itself provides compression to improve comfort and decrease the user's physical profile. The smart polymers of the body glove also give it additional properties that intelligent users can take advantage of, with the most well known being the wing-suit. When falling through the air, a user may hold their arms against their sides and their legs together as the body-glove flows out before throwing their limbs out, stretching the membrane and allowing them to glide to safety.

Unlike most suits, the Type 4 features two distinct helmets of its own. The primary helmet comes in the form of a detachable hard-collar that fits around the neck, sealing with the suit. When deployed, the smart-polymers engulf the head and harden, bringing up the armor plate segments along with it. As an added feature, the process simultaneously pulls back and tucks away the user's hair from their face. Due to its construction, the helmet provides full head and face protection while relaying environmental data to the user through either neural interface or the backup visual feed projectors and audio system. This backup display and HUD system is ideal for non-Daqinren users. In addition to the detachable primary helmet, the suit has an inbuilt emergency helmet meant to quickly deploy and preserve the user's life should they be blown into space or face depressurization. The transparent polymer bubble quickly engulfs the user's head, and stows their hair as best as possible, keeping it out of the face and eyes. This emergency helmet provides little to no protection however, and does not contain any sensors.

Interacting with and commanding the suit is a natural, intuitive process for any Daqinese that wears it, as the neural interface meant to connect with the base of their tail and spine links it directly to their mind. This makes it an extension of their own body, with its sensor data feeding into their brains and interpreted like an expansion of their physical senses. In order to allow for non-Daqinese citizens to use the suit however, much slower, non-connecting neural scanners are present in the helmet. This, used in conjunction with holographic controls and heads-up-displays, allow for control of the suit should the direct neural interface not be functional, or the individual not capable of using it. In addition to these usability features, the suit contains various management and assistance software which aids in navigation, team-monitoring, targeting and various military technical manuals.

The Zero-G Maneuver System, or ZMS, is a propellant based propulsion device used for locomotion in environments lacking gravity. By taking minuscule amounts of atmosphere from the suit's reserve and accelerating it out at ultra-high velocity, the user can move and maneuver themselves through space. Due to the high efficiency of the system, the air used is typically not missed unless over long periods of time without resupply. Additionally, the micro-nozzle system has the propellant particles dispersing shortly after imparting momentum to the user to prevent air-cutting of objects or other personnel as a safety measure.

The combat suit features a series of holographic projectors built into both hands and forearms, as well as the exterior of the helmet. Not only does this allow for a more 'manual' interface should the neural link be disrupted or if the individual is not Daqinren, it also serves as an additional communication tool. Maps and various images can be projected over the user's hand and forearm to share information and so forth. Meanwhile, the projectors neatly integrated into the helmet's exterior allow for the presentation of the user's head and face to facilitate communication with other individuals when fear and intimidation are not desired.

As a modular combat suit, the Type 4B receives a wide variety of upgrades and improvements to choose from and is backed by constant technical support. However, it can only have one non-standard, energy intensive module active at a time, but can be upgraded to use more.

By default, the combat suit does not augment the user's strength, however, the inclusion of the poly-muscle layer can multiply an individual's physical capability several times over. The higher the increase in strength however, the higher the energy drain, and the more large and bulky the layer becomes, expanding in volume as it exerts itself. Its electro-active polymer is woven and patterned to simulate a second muscular system, and as a result, its high activity state makes the user appear as though their own body had suddenly increased in muscular volume and density. At maximum capacity, the module prevents the usage of another additional module entirely on a standard suit, while its lower states will most often reduce the efficiency of other optional modules instead.

Thin to the point of being unnoticeable, the nano regeneration layer not only assists in sealing the bodysuit during the event of a breach, but also actively makes repairs, while healing the user's most critical injuries first. Composed of a special nanite colony directly under the user's control, the layer can act to preserve the user's life in the event of the most catastrophic injuries. Meanwhile, with enough time, material and energy, it may fully regenerate the user, growing into and merging with their body until the task is complete. The nanite colony synergizes well with the poly-muscular layer, and is a favorite combination among special forces for its ability to keep warriors functioning on the field even in the event of horrific injury. The rate at which it either repairs suit material or regenerates the user is dependent on the energy available however, with activity such as rapid repair of damaged or ruptured deep arteries or severe suit breaches negatively affecting other non-standard modules or disabling them outright.

The standard B-550 battery cell can be replaced by B-626 series battery cells for increased operational time in the field. These grant the Type 4 combat suit a total of 20 hours of operational time, but comes at a substantially increased cost over the standard issue carbon based battery cell due to the higher inclusion of rare earth metals and other costly elements. Though mass produced, only a small handful of factories are typically assigned to their production, further limiting their availability. For this reason, the B-626 battery cell is usually allotted to special forces and troops that specifically require these long-lasting energy sources. These charge quickly and are fully reusable, much like the standard cells. Save for their designation being etched into the case, there are very few if any other indications as to the battery cell being an enhanced model.

Almost exclusively used by Dog Forms, the heavy combat over-armor is composed of alternating layers of ballistic polymer and Fēichuán Héjīn (飛船合金) in order to disrupt directed energy pulses and deflect or abrade projectiles. The protection it provides is substantial, but is centralized over key locations on the body. Additionally, the armor adds substantial weight despite being energized armor as well. It is composed of as few pieces as possible however, and provides significant protection from crushing as well. As tradeoff to the superior protection however, these require an additional pair of battery cells to maintain equivalent operational time in comparison to the standard setup.

Originally designed for emergencies, the reentry module consists of a hyper-capacitor and field booster that can be easily worn on the front or back of the user to allow them to safely perform an atmospheric reentry at high velocities. Overcharging the shields and expanding it into a bubble, the field insulates the individual from thermal radiation that results from the massive friction against the air. Due to its design however, it is a one-time-use, though creative individuals have been known to repurpose it in the field. The standard version is very much detectable when descending through the atmosphere like many other objects, however, special-forces versions exist that slow the descent and reduce the signature in exchange for taking longer to make planet-fall. Such units come with additional stealth features, making their arrival very difficult to detect.

Capable of countering stealth systems or being used for scientific and medical purposes, the advanced sensors system is centered in the helmet and is swapped out in place of the standard system. It is capable of performing intense, in-depth scans despite its small and compact nature, and comes with incredible definition, sensitivity and range. This makes it an item of choice for sharpshooters, medical, science and engineering personnel alike, as it can not only analyze various substances and assess injuries, but also detect things hidden by lesser stealth system and even evaluate structural integrity of ships or buildings for engineers. Its active scan draws significant power however, and can be easily detected. In comparison however, its passive-scan 'listens' for any notable emissions.

Replacements for the standard mono-cell backpack module come in both binary and trinary arrangements, each accepting two or three cells accordingly to boost operational times. Though these are generally superior to the standard models, they come with moderately increased bulk, which may or may not suit the individual's mission needs. Regardless, it is a fairly common upgrade that is relatively cheap and easy to produce that is commonly found amongst imperial warriors of all sorts.