GTU AV-1A Assault Armor



Striding the line between "personal armor" and "personal vehicle", the GTU AV-1A Assault Armor was the largest, strongest, and most advanced suit of powered armor available in the galaxy. Developed some time before the Clone Wars, GTU AV-1A was clearly intended for military use, and if the regulations on most worlds didn't limit the market, the cost certainly did. At 50,000 credits for the base model, a single GTU AV-1A Assault Armor was around the cost of a starfighter, and required a near-equivalent level of training to achieve proficiency. But though it may have come at a high cost that limited large-scale operations, it was hard to say the armor wasn't worth it.

At its core, the armor consisted of a central shell housing the user and much of the circuitry, including the six standard power packs that powered the armor for periods of up to 12 hours at a time. With an internal air supply and full sealing against outside forces, the suit could provide full life support as long as there was power, providing protection against most extreme environments such as deep space.

The GTU AV-1A's systems were quite formidable for a suit of armor. It possessed a capable sensor system able to operate fully in low- or no-light conditions, with visual amplification on par with that of a pair of electrobinoculars, and its power lamp could create a beam of light up to 100 meters long and 50 meters wide. The suit could link up to three of its mounted weapons to an onboard targeting computer for increased accuracy, while a built-in comlink allowed the suit's operator to communicate at a range of 100 kilometers with full encryption capabilities.

The shell itself was surrounded by a series of heavy armored plating that fully covered the operator's limbs and features, as well as the internal systems. The heavy plating provided for unrivaled protection in terms of personal armor, with the suit's powered servos augmenting the operator's strength by a factor of more than double. Unfortunately, when unpowered, the bulk of the suit became more of a liability to the user, slowing him or her down drastically.

In combat, the operator could take advantage of the suit's versatility to install up to three separate weapons on the built-in weapon mounts, each capable of supporting weapons as large as blaster cannons. When linked to the suit's targeting systems the operator could unleash an immense amount of firepower while absorbing a great deal of punishment in return.

Despite the armor's immense size, the powered servos allowed the operator to move as freely as if wearing conventional armor, with only some loss of speed. Like all of the GTU AV powered armor suits, the 1A Assault Armor was equipped with a repulsorlift that enabled it to fly as fast as a normal human could walk, with a flight ceiling of around one kilometer, though its agility was inferior to the lighter models. Thanks to a series of maneuvering thrusters, the suit maintained its flight capabilities in zero-g environments, allowing the operator to go nearly anywhere.

During combat situations, the suit monitored the operator's vital signs, and was capable of providing a one-shot dose of emergency medications in order to keep the operator alive. In truly dire situations, the suit's ejection system could be activated, blowing the suit apart and sending the operator flying off in a given direction. The suit could be salvaged afterwards, but usually at great expense.