OBT Forum

Emperor Class Heavy Infantry Armor (ECHIA)
StarDate 3/4

Designed and manufactured during the last 20 years of the Star League, ECHIA has come to be known as the standard against which all other armor is measured. This fighting suit is the finest enhanced armor ever built, and of course, the price of a functioning suit of ECHIA runs in excess of most medium 'mechs.

GS engineers and technicians designed these fighting suits to be next generation of armored fighting craft. The ECHIA came in three different designs including the Command, Recon, and Trooper models. Our illustration shows a Trooper model. This 1 ton fighting suit functions along the same lines as the Caterpillar F-11 cargo lift, with the exception of the auto gyros which enable the fighting suit to propel the user across the battlefield at speeds in excess of 30 kmph. (Note: Very few of these armored fighting suits exist. In fact, no Command suits are known to remain in working order and only 2 Recon suits are known to exist. Of the 2000 Trooper models built, about 10 remain, these being scattered among existing units.)

The armor on this Trooper has been recharged, giving it the full protection offered by the polished titanium armor covered by 1 em. reactive units. The Eugenics 2000 laser rifle is powered off the reactor mounted in the rear of the suit.

In addition to the laser, the Trooper model offers the occupant manual control of the reactive armor for use against direct infantry assaults. This means that the person wearing this armor can decide to blow off some of the covering reactive armor, which creates a storm of ceramic shrapnel.

And if it comes down to it, the operator can use almost anything as a weapon, either throwing the object or using it like a club. These objects can weigh up to 700 lb. If you grab hold of anything that weighs more than this, the suit becomes unstable.