TASH Armor

"TASH" is an initialism "Tactical Assault Suit Hermetic," the armor worn by Raiders of the Planetary Union Fleet.

TASH is considered "heavy infantry," utilized for boarding actions and for repelling boarders. It is bulkier and offers more defensive capability than LASH armor (Light Assault Suit Hermetic).

Nomenclature

• Rig: a general term for a single suit of TASH armor.
• Rig room: the area on a warship where TASH armor is stored, maintained, and repaired.
• Full forty: The 40 rigs provided to a platoon. A platoon consists of twenty-five riflemen, including the Commanding Officer (CO), Platoon Executive Officer (PXO) and the platoon sergeant, along with three crawler pilots, three co-pilots, three engineer-gunners, a tech crew master chief, and two technicians. There are three spare suits for every fully-equipped platoon.
• Micromuscle: the artificial muscle that reacts to a TASH-wearer's actions, providing increased strength and speed.
• "Magic goop" (MG): Slang term for the viscous gel that flows inside of a TASH rig.
  • MG conducts analog electrical signals to micromuscle, eliminating any need for wires.
  • MG hardens upon impact, dispersing kinetic energy from bullets or shrapnel.
  • MG instantly seals punctures in armor, stopping minor bleeding and protecting the wearer against the vacuum of space.
• "The Big Two-Seventy": Slang term for the negative 270 degrees Celsius of space. TASH suits insulate wearers against this cold, and against temperatures as high as 500 degrees Celsius (briefly, such heat protection is not persistent).

Versions

• V10
• V11
• V12
• V13
• V14: First seen in

Thrusters

TASH armor has thrusters in the upper back plate. When extended, they form an X shape. At the end of each arm is a fist-sized chemthruster.

Thruster manipulation

A raider can use subtle foot movements to interact with the thrusters.

• Triple heel-click: Extend thrusters from their housing into the X shape, or retract the thrusters into their housing
• Double heel-click: Reverses thruster direction. Used for managing deceleration
• Moving the foot in a direction has the effect of initiating thrusters to move in the opposite direction.
  • Moving left foot down and to the left sends the raider up and to the right
• Moving the right foot down slightly has the effect of accelleration