ACE Suit
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The Advanced Combat Enhancement Suits, or ACES were developed by the United States military as part of an elite soldier enhancement program in 1986. The suits were designed to be light weight, as well as versatile to accept many on the fly combat upgrades to allow the soldiers to adapt to combat situations quickly. The suits production was terminated in 1990 and many of the ACES were removed from combat duty to be replaced with the newer technology, but a handful of the suits were still utilized by various branches of the Military, as well as being the benchmark for many enhancement suits that would be developed in the future.
Formerly, the largest user base of the ACE Suits is Millennium City's Meta-S.W.A.T./S.I.R.T. division of MCPD, the team sporting well over thirty of the remaining units in existence. With the suspension of the Meta-S.W.A.T. program, Seth McIlroy bought up the remaining suits and components, keeping them for use of the Freelancer Industries. Since the purchase, Freelancer Industries has gone through several variations on the original design, the most current mass production model is the Mark VII with the Mark VIII as a Freelancer team exclusive and the Mark IX in prototype.
Contents
ACE Suit Versions
Mark I - IV
The base armored sheath was capable of turning aside most small arms fire, while the slim outer carapace can protect vital areas from much larger rounds of munitions. The entire spine of the suit is a reinforced power supply allowing the suit to power the body sheathes synthetic muscle fibers as well as the numerous weapons and accessories that can be adapted to the suit's hard points. The synthetic muscle fibers of the suit were capable of increasing the user's strength and speed to that of near superhuman levels as it can double a person's natural abilities in those areas. Each suit also contains a Internal Robotic Medical System (IRMS) which automatically administers treatment to any injuries the user may receive in the line of duty, this includes both the injection of painkillers.
Very little changed between the first 4 versions of the ACE Suits, the traditional ACE Suit known by most is the Mark III which saw use by the MCPD Meta-S.W.A.T. Division. During the return of the Bloodmoon in October of 2009, the Mark IV was rolled out after a novice member of Meta-S.W.A.T. managed total three Mark III's in a week. The Mark IV features heavier armor.
Mark V
The Mark V was rolled out during the various battles with the psychic super villain 'Superior'. The newest addition to the suits was to the armored sheath under the thicker armor. 'PSYweave' technology was placed within the armored sheath which added a psionic static field around the suit making the user less vulnerable to psychic intrusion.
Mark VI
The Mark VI was the first ACE Armor used by the Freelancers after the discontinuation of the Meta-S.W.A.T. unit, it was also the first ACE Suit to be considered Power Armor as Seth "Keio" McIlroy had increased the power supply and used to to increase the strength and speed augmentations. This is also some of the heaviest of the ACE Suit Marks.
Mark VII
The suits also for a time took advantage of the prototype 'Impact Protection Forcefield System' developed by Kara McIlroy which was designed to deflect energy based weaponry and attacks. The IPFS was later replaced by the 'Impact and Energy Deflection Plasma Barrier System' codenamed the Aegis-α (Aegis Alpha) which used the suit's sensors to activate the system if it sensed any immediate danger (sudden impact from something, bullets being fired, etc). The system also protects the head of the user when a helmet is not on. The IRMS was also upgraded to administer injections of medical nanites into the user's body if the user is injured. Also new to the Mark VII is that each suit also comes equipped with a pair of THINGs (Thermal Imaging, Night Vision Goggles) which in addition to their in-name functions contain a video communication system, internet access, SATNAV, and access to both SCRI and the Freelancer Team Database. Each suit also has an independent air system that can be activated in case of airborne chemicals and gases, submergence in liquid, or exposure to a vacuum. The system contains enough air to maintain the user for approximately 3 hours.
The last addition was a return to the customization of the old Meta-S.W.A.T. ACES and the introduction to specialized model types.
Model Types:
Freelancer Industries has also developed more specialized versions of the ACES which appear as different model types each member is allowed to select from if they want. These model types are:
- Command Variant - This model includes a direct neural link to SCRI, the Freelancer Team Database, as well as a connection to all ACES within a mile of the command model. In addition to that it also contains a telepathic enhancer.
- Shield Variant - The model contains much heavier armor than any of the other ACES turning the user into a walking tank, the synthetic fibers are also geared more towards strength and less for speed.
- Ranger Variant - The model has lighter armor than a typical Mark VII allowing for greater maneuverability, the synthetic fibers are geared more towards speed than strength. In addition to this the variant contains an array of sensors to aid the user in aiming ranged weapons.
- Striker Variant - This model is designed to aid users who specialize in close quarter combat, it has a variable gearing for the synthetic fibers allowing for 'on the fly' changes to the strength to speed ratios.
- Medic Variant - This model has slightly more armor than a typical ACE Suit and in addition contains multiple subsystems to monitor the health of all ACES within a mile of this variant. It also comes stock with two SCRI Medical Drones to aid the user.
Mark VIII
The Mark VIII ACE Suit went through quite a few improvements from its predecessor. The first is the graphene based armors which are lighter and stronger than the previous ACE Suit armor plates. The main benefit of this graphene base is that it can be applied to the entire suit and not just the armor plating (synthetic muscle fibers, joint areas, etc) which makes the suit 50 fold safer for the user than the Mark VII.
This version also has an oversized power supply to handle the new energy based weaponry and defenses of the VIII. The PEN System which adapts to metahuman physiology and can increase the strength of the user's powers can also transform into handgun like forms called Gunbusters, arm cannon's similar to Megaman called the Buster Cannon, and two PEN Systems can combine into the Super Guncannon. Likewise two ACE users can combine both pairs of their PENS together to form the Ultimate Guncannon.
Also using the new power supply is the Aegis-Δ (Aegis Delta) barriers, unlike the Aegis Alpha System, the Delta is a continuous near invisible shield that surrounds the Mark VIII with a second shield protecting the head of the user. All in all the Mark VIII is virtually indestructible by conventional means.
Mark IX
The Mark IX streamlines the VIII and adds magictech into the construction resulting in a lighter, easier to move in suit that is more magically protective than any other version of the ACES, however the suit has a smaller power supply resulting in weaker defensive barriers as the majority of the power goes to maintaining the 'barrier helmet'. While the Mark VIII had a defensive 'bubble' around it the Mark IX has the Aegis-ε (Aegis Epsilon) barrier system that is closer to the armor akin to an invisible skin over the suit. As the barriers are just above the armor they can still deflect most energy based weapons and/or attacks though large impacts and heavier munitions are to be avoided.
The PEN/TASIR systems of the Mark IX are weaker than that of the VIII thanks to the smaller power supply, this manifests as a limited, one-shot with the Super Guncannon form and the inability to charge the Buster Cannons for a more powerful blast. To make up for this they have been augmented to store the Konton-Ken, a pair of collapsible heater blades.
The Mark IX can also be summoned at will thanks to the ACElet (ACE + Bracelt).
Variants on the Mark IX:
- Zero Suit - If needed the user can eject the armor from the suit resulting in what has been nick named the 'Zero Suit'.
- Centurion Heavy Armor - An additional module that SCRI can launch from orbit. The armor is the first to be designed by SCRI herself and adds extra armor and power supplies to help augment the Mark IX, the increased armor of course slows the user down.
Image Gallery
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Stock Mark III ACE Suit
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Stock Mark VII ACE Suits
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The personally customized Mark VIII & IX of Kara McIlroy
Stock Mark III ACE Suit
Stock Mark VII ACE Suits
The personally customized Mark VIII & IX of Kara McIlroy
