Antioch Pattern Power Armor

The Antioch is a type of Power Armor developed independently by the Novaean Mechanicum on Novaea Cantis. It is a complete redesign from the ground up and uses different materials and manufacturing techniques which, along with its highly modular assembly, make it both very versatile and easy to repair. It entered production for use by the Legionnaires of the Obsidian Wyrms in the later days of the Imperial Compliance and found its way in limited numbers in the armories of friendly Legions, but it is no longer produced by the 41st Millenium, making surviving suits precious relics.

## History

The origins of the Antioch pattern Power Armor can be traced back to the constant and heated rivalry between Novaea Cantis and Mars. Or, more precisely, the relationship in which Novaeans saw the priesthood of Mars as infuriatingly obtuse hypocrites with an over-inflated sense of their own worth, while Mars say Novaeans as blasphemous upstarts unworthy of even their notice. The irony as of their respective founding dates was lost on only one of the two parties involved.

After the Armistice in the wake of the Subjugation of the Corusco Cluster, the sector which had been under total and unquestioned Novaean control became De Facto occupied by the Astartes of the Second Legion. The two factions co-existed tensely after years of brutal and ferocious warfare, but, and partially thanks to the help of the Primarch Elias Dammerung in negotiating a mutually beneficial armistice, this tension rapidly began to ease over time as both sides realized the other were highly rational and willing to cooperate in good faith. Before long, Novaeans and Legionnaires of the IInd became staunch allies, but this new relationship came with a number of complications, and Power Armor was one of then. Novaeans did not use Power Armor and had no up-to-date designs to manufacture them, forcing them to produce Martian marks to ensure the Legion's continuity. This was deemed an unacceptable state of affairs.

The Novaean Mechanicum thus set to create their own design of Power Armor, and endeavored to do so without copying Mars' designs. To do so, they had to start from the ground up, and they decided to make use of the suits created during the Age of Strife by the Techno-Barbarians of Corusco Parva. These suits were crude by the standards of the Legions, but they had been manufactured by humans with limited means and technology and had a few innovative aspects, such as the use of Coruscoan Compression Alloys, stellar diamond doping and a heavy water enrichment unit. By building upon this basic framework and adding several layers of refinement and improvements, the Novaeans were eventually able to create the Antioch Pattern.

The task was not an easy one, because the objectives that were being set forward were ambitious, and Mars periodically updated its designs with new Marks that forced Novaeans to revise their requirements upwards. The new suit was to offer at least equivalent or better protection to the then-current Marks, while having smoother operation and easier manufacture. Because of these ambitious requirements, the constantly evolving goal post, and reports and new discoveries from the Compliance's frontlines, the design and testing period lasted for a considerable amount of time, with the first prototypes only being deemed acceptable for field testing during the second half of the Compliance. Several periods of data gathering and revisions succeeded one another, and it wasn't until the later days that the Antioch would finally see adoption with the Wyrms.

All of this wait and delays was not for naught, and the Antioch founds itself equal to the MkIV Maximus pattern of Martian Power Armor in terms of protection, but with the ease of maintenance and repair that would later be characteristic of the unofficial MkV Heresy pattern. It also managed to accomplish this with relatively basic raw materials without the need for Adamantium and high-grade Ceramite, which were relatively rare and for which demand far outstripped supply. This was not without its cost however, as Antioch pattern armor components could only be made with the proprietary Grav-forging methods of compressing metals and carbides under stellar levels of pressure and heat. In other words, they could be very easily maintained with Coruscoan equipment and technicians, but almost impossible without.

When the Inter-Legionary Wars broke out, the Antioch was in the process of becoming the new standard set of Power Armor among the Second Legion, though deployment only reached about 25~30% at the outbreak of hostilities. Throughout the conflict, heavy battlefield attrition of the older Marks of Martian Power Armor considerably expedited the process, especially due to the ease of construction and repair of the Antioch and the logistical realities on the ground. By the time of the Siege of Terra, the vast majority of legionnaires of the Wyrms were outfitted with Antiochs and had access to several sets of their modular components.

## Design

### Core Construction

The basic building block of the Antioch pattern Power Armor are Compression Alloys including Iridium (For overall durability and corrosion resistance), Boron (For shielding against Neutrons) and lead (For workability and Gamma shielding). These alloy plates alone are virtually invulnerable to conventional weapons as well as capable of shielding the wearer from extreme amounts of radiation. They are augmented with a Graphite-based ceramic matrix reinforced by carbon fibers, which play the same role as Ceramite in Martian armor. Both layers are mounted to a relatively thin alloy backing which serves as the canvas of the modular construction and features a limited degree of self-sealing ability to keep the suit airtight from relatively minor penetrating impacts. The general shape is reminiscent of the Mk.III's bulged plates rather than later monobloc construction.

The Backpack is relatively minor, housing the various life support functions and the miniaturized fusion apparatus. Where it differs is in its backup power supply. Novaean field tests showed that solar-based ancillary system were too unreliable and inefficient, and these were removed. Instead, a miniaturized enrichment unit which cycles ordinary light water hydrogen through the reactor to produce deuterium to use as further reaction fuel. This allows the suit to have theoretically unlimited operational uptime in water rich environments.

The suit itself is actuated by ionic polymer composites, themselves triggered either by direct cranial input or by a sensor network which detects minute muscle tension in the wearer, allowing it to be used by high-ranking Imperial officials without the Black Carapace augment. Its onboard cogitator suite is also fitted with a threat predicting software that automatically warns of such things as thermal or EM buildups that can pre-empt attacks by high-power energy weapons, augmenting Astartes' already formidable reflexes and awareness.

The armor is well known for its modular assembly. Individual outer plates - but not the inner baselayer - can be replaced relatively quickly and easily by a Techmarine in battlefield conditions as long as they are not directly under fire, have some working space, and access to spare parts. This allows for both battlefield repairs and for the swapping in and out of the specialized protection modules that make the Antioch truly unique: Depending on battlefield circumstances, each suit may be equipped with plates optimized for defending against energy weapons, ballistic weapons, or melee weapons, considerably augmenting their resilience against the countered threat. They are also able to mount plates designed for infiltration, if needed.

### Modules

#### Triple-Carbide Plates

One of the most commonly deployed modules for Antioch suits of Power Armor are the Triple Carbide plates, which are essentially additional plates of graphite carbide ceramics, further reinforced with stellar diamonds. They are named as such because the product is made up of three different forms of elemental carbon in different phases. Their extreme heat resistance and refractiveness make them highly efficient in dispersing energy based weapons such as Las and Volkite shots, the former of which are ubiquitous among rebellious worlds. They are also virtually immune to flamers and provide a small degree of protection against even plasma. Unlike Ceramite, they are not ablative armor, but they still need to be replaced after enough use.

#### Conductive-Reactive Plates

Conductive-Reactive armor is an alternative to the micro-explosions of explosive-reactive armor commonly found on the pauldrons of Martian Power Armor. Rather than explosive charges, the plates are made up of three layers of highly conductive aluminum sandwiching two insulating layers of fibre-reinforced polymer and silicone rubber and connected to high-power capacitors inside the backpack. When the insulating layers are punctured, a connection is made between two layers of conductive aluminum and a strong electric current is released, vaporizing penetrators and prematurely detonating explosive charges. Conductive-Reactive armor has better repeat-hit performance than Explosive-Reactive and weighs less, though it is still liable to degrading with repeat hits. It is effective against Auto, Bolt and Missile weapons. For this reason, their use supplanted Triple-Carbide Plates as the most commonly deployed module after the outbreak of the Inter-Legionary Wars.

#### Impact-Absorbing Coating

Unlike the previous two types of plates, Impact-Absorbing coating is intended to stop melee weapons rather than ranged attacks. It is generally deployed when facing physically powerful Xenos or highly savage yet technologically advanced human civilizations. It also saw an increase in deployment during the Inter-Legionary Wars due to the prevalence of Chainswords among most legions. Rather than solid plates, the coating is made up of an extremely viscoelastic polymer which deforms to a semi-liquid, gooey state under high impact stresses. The coating is highly adhesive in its semi-liquid form and can easily cause small blades - and especially the links of chainblades - to get stuck and even break or overheat their motors. Impact-Absorbing Coating is not effective against Power Weapons however, as their energy fields sunder the polymer without being caught by it.

#### Hunter-Seeker Coating

The Final type of supplemental module for the Antioch Power Armor is the Hunter-Seeker coating. Developed from the Novaean stealth operatives of the same name, it is made up of an outer coating of Cameleoline-like material over a layer of thermal baffles, reducing the armor's visibility in both the visible light and thermal spectrum considerably. It is capable of effectively rendering an Astartes invisible as long as they stand still, despite their imposing frames, and allows far more discretion on the move. The fact that the Antioch is far quieter than the Mk.III Iron it somewhat resembles also helps. It is generally used for ambushes, infiltration, and other tactical operations where the advantage of surprise is considered more important than greater protection against one type of weapon groups.