Tesla Trooper

**Key Features** | »XF-5 powered battlesuit»Built-in portable Arc Gun (x2)»EM field generator»Motor-assisted limbs»Insufficiently-sized viewport

*"Like a Christmas tree!"*

- Tesla Trooper

## Tactical Analysis

* **Resistance is Futile**: Tesla Troopers wear heavy Tesla Battlesuits which make them deadly and robust opponents. Though their Arc Guns require a brief charge up, the resulting blast of electricity can rattle and heavily damage a tank, slag a light vehicle, or fry multiple infantry with arcing lightning. And their pressure-sealed battlesuit, with its own batteries and air supply, is perfectly capable of moving along the sea bed of its own power. Though the danger of using a Tesla coil while submerged makes them incapable of harming anyone underwater, a surprise attack on the beach by these tough suits is hard to follow up.

* **Stop and Go**: By activating their EM fields, Tesla Troopers can stop enemy vehicles in their tracks, leaving them at the mercy of other Soviet forces, though the suit itself shuts down while the ability is active.

* **Tough as Nuts**: As a battlesuit, Tesla Troopers are the worst nightmare of traditional anti-infantry armour protection. They are armoured enough to shrug off fire from small arms, but small and flexible enough to take cover and avoid damage from heavier weapons. They are only really threatened by mid-level weapons such as grenade launchers and autocannons.

* **Pop goes the pigs**: Thank to post-war experimentation and testing of the superconducting alloy used in the cores of Tesla Reactors. Newer arc guns are being tested by Tesla Troopers. With tests showing the greater surge of electricity overloading the target until they explode, to disastrous effects for anyone around the target. Though with how easily the alloy can overwhelm the suits insulation and fry the user only experienced Tesla Troopers are equipped.

## WWIII Operational History

During the later stages of the Second World War, increasingly refined Tesla Technology was deployed in man-portable form in special "Shock Trooper" squads. The bulky packs and forked projectors were still too heavy for all-day use; shock troopers were issued special powered exoskeletons normally used by artillery crews to lift heavy shells, and forced to rely on stationary or vehicle-based generators for frequent recharges of both their weapon and exoskeleton. To make up for their reduced mobility and reaction times, many shock troopers were also issued crude steel body armour that proved effective against the submachine guns popular with Allied troops at the time.

This would allow a Shock Trooper to get into position and ready a blast from his Arc Gun, which was powerful enough to mission-kill any vehicle in Allied service. As a result, during combat Shock Troopers were considered the most dangerous infantry assets in Soviet service, and many Allied advances were arrested by the presence of these infantry; most Allied commanders would rather wait for the Shock Troopers batteries to run down than to face them directly. Fortunately for the Allies, Shock Troopers were very expensive to field, and Stalin had little patience for them, preferring to allocate resources to his bloated Black Guard divisions as the war dragged on.

 File:TeslaTrooperArt.jpg  After Stalin's death, a series of meetings were set up for tactical experts, Shock Trooper veterans, scientists and engineers to attempt to optimize the Shock Trooper concept for the reformed Red Army. After a series of talks and concepts for the miniaturization of Tesla weapons, a veteran instead proposed scaling up the exoskeleton rather than scaling down the technology, a solution with wide appeal. By increasing the carrying capacity of the exoskeleton, a more robust power source could be carried, which would actually increase rather than decrease combat time and allow for more powerful Tesla weapons, not to mention the inclusion of a great deal more armour.

The eventual result was the world's first practical powered combat suit, a hunched, heavily armoured device powered by a heavily modified high performance motorcycle engine and a Tesla reactor. Capable of twenty four hours of combat operations, the armour also had a separate set of batteries for its Arc Guns, which can be swapped in the field with the assistance of a unarmoured soldier. Rather than having the soldier's feet or arms be separate portions of the suit, there are a pair of articulated robotic feet with mechanical toes (which help protect the occupant from land mines) and directly integrated guns on fully mechanical arms, controlled by the occupant's arms from inside the torso. This reduces overall mechanical complexity and increases the armour protection in these areas; the lower legs and arms can be considered entirely ablative, and indeed both are separated by armour plates from the wearer.

The suit is notable for its ability to operate in extreme conditions. They need only basic modifications to wade underwater, though this is not done in combat situations as the snorkel system required to fuel the gas engine is unwieldy at best, and they are fully capable as RBC suits. The suit is also fully grounded and electromagnetically hardened, allowing it to use its weapon safely. There are several concessions made to allow this, however, most notably highly reduced visibility. The suit has no articulated "head", instead having a simple armoured viewport on the front of the head bubble. To make up for this, the suit has a 360 degree internal sound system tuned to filter out the noise of the suit's operation, to give the wearer a full audio tapestry of the battle around it.

The suit is also equipped with a low powered EM field that acts as a sort of directional metal detector; metal objects that are moving within a certain distance set off a directional alarm, giving the operator a chance to react as well as contributing to the balance system. During tests, it was found that pumping greater amounts of power into the EM field could be used to disrupt nearby electronics, though it would also require the suit to stop moving in order to remain stable.

## Post-War Operational History

Though supposedly the pride of the Soviet infantry, the Tesla Trooper turned out to be worse than useless on many fronts. The motorcycle engines powering the whole thing were simply not strong enough for a combat situation, as the Union found out after they moved the suit out of trials and into service. The legs moved too slowly to keep up with anything at all, and worse yet, the Union's enemies quickly learned to run them over and crush their generators onto the ground, leaving the hapless trooper lying in an unpowered suit. As a final insult, the arms moved so sluggishly the target often left range before the Trooper could even lift up his Arc Guns!

Due to these drawbacks, Tesla Troopers were usually used by commanders as nothing more than chargers for Tesla Coils, a far cry from their purpose. After the war, The Union recalled all suits and modified them so the batteries of the Arc Gun also ran through the suit's systems. This dramatically reduced the amount of time a Tesla Trooper could operate from 24 hours to 8, but most battles didn't last a fraction of that, and Tesla Troopers weren't supposed to be sentries, anyways. Though the whole suit has benefited it, including the ability to carry more armour, one of the most dramatic advantages is that the Tesla Trooper's leg actuators are so strong that they can keep a Tesla Trooper upright even when strongly pushed, meaning any tank that tries to push them over will be pushed back! Whether the Tesla Trooper can regain its early reputation, however, still remains to be seen.

Another unexpected benefit of eliminating the reliance on the internal combustion engine is that Tesla Troopers no longer need air to operate, allowing them to stomp along the sea floor without consequence. A necessity as their new upgrade now meant that they would take up even more space in transports like the Bullfrog, and some like the Dump Truck can't even handle their weight.

## Just the Stats

 **Armour Type** | Battlesuit

 **Kill Reward** | 6000

 **DPS** | 30