Tesla Comrade

**Key Features** |  » XF-7 powered battlesuit » Portable Arc-Cannon » EM field generator » Motor-assisted limbs » Rubber Shoes (In Motion)

## Tactical Analysis

* *I've got your charge right here*: Wielding heavy battlesuits that provide fierce firepower with their arc cannons capable of melting through tank armour, destroying lighter vehicles, hitting targets with a brief EMP effect that can allow a number of Comrades to stunlock an enemy vehicle and reducing men to ash, while deployable wrist and cannon electro-HF bayonets can provide for deadly melee hitting power. With their battlesuits, they can shrug off traditional anti-infantry weapons and still take cover from and avoid heavier weapons, leaving them with only mid-level weapons to truly fear, and like all battlesuits they can simply walk along the bottom of the ocean floor.
* *Oh damn, did we spring a leak?*: The Tesla Comrade remains very vulnerable to air attack, with helicopter gunships in particular being a problem. Similarly, autocannon equipped vehicles are very lethal, especially if they can outrange the Tesla comrade. Tesla weapons are also less effective against structures than enemy infantry and vehicles.
* *Halt right there Capitalist*: With the press of Alliance armour being an eternal threat, the Tesla Comrade has a trick up his sleeve; firing off an EMP pulse that will disable every vehicle and battlesuit nearby so long as it remains on; though this also disables the Tesla Comrade himself due to the power demands of the field.
* *Ever seen aluminum foil in a microwave?*: New Arc Guns are being tested that will allow the victims of an arc gun blast to explode into additional Tesla arcs, frying more enemies in one go.

## Background

The Comintern needed more than just missile, anti-tank gun, or rocket launcher or heaven forbid anti-tank rifle using infantry to deal with the waves of Alliance tanks. Something that could fully stop a tank in its tracks and devastate the vehicle beyond recovery was requested of the Comintern's scientists as the second world war raged. Noting the effectiveness of Tesla Coils; either in stationary or in vehicular form, against Alliance vehicles, the science teams quickly got to work on creating a man portable Tesla weapon. There was the issue of the Tesla weapon being both heavy and requiring significant insulation for the user's safety, which was both uncomfortable and even heavier.

So the teams allocated to the project quickly developed an exoskeleton based on those outfitted to artillery loaders and the medically infirm that would run on Tesla reactor technology and allow the user to move as if they were unencumbered by their gear while being safe from possible accidental discharges while an admittedly primitive by today's standards climate control system allowed the user to remain comfortable even in extreme heat or cold. These Shock Troopers, coincidentally emerged at the same time as Fuller's first "bright knights" who had a largely similar idea applied to the Alliance's spectrum weaponry.

Utilizing their arc guns and protected from most small arms fire by their body armor, these Shock Troopers could mission kill nearly any Alliance vehicle with a single good shot and quickly ensure that the targeted vehicle would be monstrously difficult to recover between its fried electronics and melted and burnt portions of the chassis. Quickly coming to be considered the most valuable infantry asset mass deployed to the Comintern's military, Shock Troopers were instrumental in helping the push back against the Alliance as they helped infantry formations destroy tanks without the need for bulky anti-tank guns or waiting for vehicular and air support and their ability to make most vehicles so destroyed so difficult to recover meant that they took a heavy toll on Alliance vehicular formations.

While Fuller preferred to feed more funds and resources into his increasingly bloated Blackwatch divisions instead of his Bright Knights, the Comintern doubled down on the training and equipping of more Shock troopers; eventually amassing entire Tesla assault divisions that could best be described as "guided thunderstorms" that could tear most opposition in their way to pieces. The (in)famous Allied "cursed 13th" armoured corps' defeat at Sedan in the Counter-invasion of the Alliance of Free States where the five thousand armoured fighting vehicles of the corps would lose a third of their number and be routed by the 9th Tesla assault division and its accompanying support.

The electrical surges of so much Tesla weaponry was detectable by radios for many kilometers and the mighty heavy tanks of the Allies were reduced to twisted hulks in breath-takingly short order. Vehicles struck by so much electrical fire would lock down with many important systems being rendered inoperable without restarting. Metal armour would be rent and shredded by the immensely powerful beams while crews would be electrocuted to death inside of their own vehicles and ammunition cooked off. And the infantry trying to down the Shock Troopers with their FN-FAIL assault rifles and Enfield Autoloaders found to their horror as many had before them that the Shock Troopers would simply shrug them off, forcing the personal attentions of IFVs.

Though the Counter-Invasion would eventually be driven back to the initial borders by spirited Allied counter-attacks until the armistice was at last signed in recognition of the futility of going further, the Shock Troopers had already made their mark. Their path through the world could be tracked by the piles of dust and the smoking wrecks they left behind, or by the cities and villages that no longer have to fear Fuller's rule thanks to their contributions to the war effort. However it was soon decided that they couldn't simply rest on their laurels and that more would have to be done to expand on the concept for the inevitable rematch with the Capitalist hordes.

### Development and capabilities

Following the second world war there was enormous interest in refining and improving on the formula for success seen with the Shock Troopers and the Tesla divisions. Councils formed out of veteran soldiers, scientists, engineers, and industrial professionals came together to discuss what to do with the next generation of infantry scale Tesla technology. The consensus eventually came to improving on the suit to allow for more and better Tesla technology to be carried and for improved armor to be fitted onto the chassis; in parallel to what was being decided over in the Alliance. With improved power sources and improved armor plating, the new generations of Shock Troopers would soon find themselves on the fields; rechristened Tesla Comrades to indicate their helpfulness to their comrades on the battlefield.

The crude power suits of the second world war gave way to increasingly sophisticated designs as the designers continually sought to improve it over the years. Powered with a potent Tesla reactor and high grade motors and with fuel cells to provide electricity to the powerful arc cannon rigged into the suit to ensure the minimisation of down time for the weapon. It also allows them to make use of their hands freely as they please, even to the point of being able to do finger paintings while fully armoured. Also fitted to the suit are electro-HF bayonets projectible from the cannon and the wrists to cut through enemies at close range.

With the suit being almost fully articulated, the wearer can move with superior agility to what they could unarmored and can easily make sprints of up to seventy kilometers per hour (though this will tire out the user as their legs still need to move). Offering protection from nearly all melee weapons and allowing the user to electrify their fists and apply power to their limb's servomotors a Tesla comrade is capable of crushing most opponents in melee with ease; devastating even tanks and making pulp out of most infantry. Within the pattern of armour that would see service thirty years later with the commencement of the third world war, a user could be expected to deadlift up to thirty tonnes.

With the limb armour being considered entirely ablative and numerous safety systems inside the suits to protect the wielder and if needed eject the users if the suit suffers critical damage and the user would be safer outside; the casualty rates for Tesla Comrades kept on dropping continuously throughout Cold War proxy conflicts as they were kept safer and safer from virtually any potential harm to them. On board medical systems can even treat and do simple medical procedures to keep the user alive and in fighting condition, ensuring the user's viability as a battlefield combatant.

The suit is notable for its ability to operate in extreme conditions. They are fully capable of underwater operations, and they are fully capable as RBC suits. The suit is also fully grounded and electromagnetically hardened, allowing it to use its weapon safely. The present model of XF-7 Tesla Armour is incredibly temperature resistant and photo ops in volcanically active regions or metal foundries are all the proof one needs of their ability to keep the user safe even in extreme heat. Cold is similarly not a problem, with arctic training having shown highly satisfactory preformance in that environment. Even in space, the users are able to function essentially as normal, with some micro-thrusters and magnetic boots offering vacuum movement.

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 and makes use of small cameras around the helmet to provide extra vision on request. This allows the users of the suits tremendous all around vision, which is augmented by a comprehensive and informative HUD that keeps the user up to date on the condition of their suit, their own bodily health, enemies who might be nearby with a "minimap" (which also features their objectives), and other relevant information to help the Tesla comrade preform as best as possible on the battlefield. Even better, the armour like all current COFFIN generation battlesuits also integrates with the user's neural systems, allowing for faster responses and reflexes.

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 by generating an electromagnetic pulse that could fry enemy systems and halt an entire tank advance, though it would also require the suit to stop moving in order to remain stable.

### Post War Operational History

While the Tesla Comrades were amphibious, it was not until part way through the war that the Comintern figured out a way to get them to be able to shoot under the water; making use of a number of quirks in esoterical fields of physics to allow their troopers to fire off their weapons beneath the waves unimpeded. Towards the end of the war, the Comintern also began to develop improved Arc guns that would cause targets sufficiently incinerated by the Electric fields to explode in a burst of electrical energy that would seek out new targets to damage, and if they were in sufficiently poor enough shape they too would also "electrically combust" and spread the field out further though the energy would diminish with each target so destroyed. This allowed Tesla Comrade formations lucky enough to test out the new guns to eliminate large numbers of enemy units all at once and reports from engagements with "silver machines" has shown that the Arc Gun is almost absurdly effective against such enemies. They also of course deal more damage, but the effectiveness against numerically superior targets such as the Atomic Chinese is undeniable.

However as the weapon is still being tested for bugs and has not yet been okayed for all out mass production, the process to acquire this new mark of Arc gun is one that only distinguished Tesla Comrade units can expect to go through and have their requisition orders be approved. With any luck, they will soon be the standard arc guns for all Tesla Comrades and thus show more enemies of the workers that the power once thought to be the domain of the Gods is now a tool of the proleteriat to be used either to help themselves or to banish those who would seek to tear away from them the gains of their revolution.

Alliance, Epsilon, and Axis attempts at sabotaging production to prevent them from becoming mass produced have so far largely been a failure and new Arc guns are showing up in the hands of Tesla suit operators in regions as remote as Western Africa, Western Asia, and alongside the Cyberbolivaran Federation.