Paladin Armour (X-02)

The X-02 versions of Paladin Armour are the most common kind of Paladin armour deployed by the Midnight, and this is mainly due to just how effective the suit is. Worn by the elite soldiers known as the Paladins, the suit protects it's wearer in a number of ways.

Paladin armour is powered by a hidden Elerium Core.

The suit is comprised mostly of the metal known as Barval, which provides the wearer with an already-adequate resistance to kinetic strikes such as melee attacks of bullets. The Barval is alloyed with slight traces of Laryxite, providing the suit with the capability to become resistant to energy-based attacks and heat sources such as that of a flamethrower.

The suit is a lot lighter than other models created by Exodus and the Solar Accord, but retains a similar shape. This allows for the installation of enhanced motors and electronic systems including an energy shield and propulsion jets, allowing Paladins to perform much stronger melee attacks much more quickly than their foes. Due to the extremely high difference in weight between Paladin suits and suits worn by their enemies, Paladins are rendered virtually immune to the fatal flaw that plagued their foes which included the neck snapping under the weight of the helmet if it is moved quickly in rapid succession as the result of a sudden impact, including a punch.

Paladin suits are equipped with an on-board AI which aids the wearer in combat scenarios and provides them with support tactically. The AI is considered lesser when compared to the sentient AI that serve aboard Midnight ships.

This armour is also equipped with an Energy Shield that renders the user extremely resistant to energy-based attacks while it is active, but it will collapse if it sustains too much damage. If the Paladin can avoid damage for a short while, the shield will recharge.

The Paladin suit weighs approximately 500 pounds, much less than the Spartan and Peacekeeper armour sets which can weigh up to 1,000 pounds each. This allows more Paladins to be transported on aerial vehicles, without the loss of strength or resilience.

The propulsion jets in the armour are located in the legs, arms and back to allow for greater mobility and stronger attacks, and even allow for low-capacity wallrunning. The armour worn by Combat Pilots also provides the user with wallrunning capabilities, but Paladin armour is about 5 times less effective, allowing for much shorter and slower wallruns.

The suit's AI is mentally linked to the user through a module that connects directly to the Psionic Implant located in the user's head. The link provides a stable Psionic stream that allows the suit to interpret the user's movements before they happen and move in sync with them for ease of use. Unlike Spartans or Peacekeepers, Paladins are not vulnerable to a loss in connection between them and the suit becoming fatal. While the other models will malfunction and act erratically if the connection is severed, Paladin suits are designed to enter a "standby" state if the Psionic link is lost and will immediately resume operations when the link is reestablished. This does mean the Paladin cannot move until the connection is restored, but this process only takes a second at most. That second is longer for Neural Links, and represents why Paladin armour far surpasses it's rivals.

Should the operator die, the suit will transmit a "Blue Code" which will confirm that soldier's death and cancel any medical aid assigned to the person in question.

In the event of an enemy attempting to wear the suit, multiple failsafes are in place. Firstly, the suit will scan for a Psionic link and if it does not discover one in the user, the suit will scan the user's body via BioScan in an attempt to learn their identity. If the person is unrecognised by the scan, the suit will completely lock up and display a counter on the visor accompanied by a beeping. When the timer reaches zero, the suit's arms will rapidly swing backwards, breaking the arms of the wearer completely, before raising the arms to the user's head and slowly turning it to the right, eventually snapping the intruder's neck in an agonising fashion. With the intruder dead, the suit then resumes the standby feature.

Should someone else attempt to utilise the suit and the suit is set to combat mode, the suit will bypass the slow and scary process of dealing with the intruder and instead detonate the Elerium Core driving it, causing an explosion that engulfs the enemy and any who dwell near. The suit is destroyed in the process.

Attempts to reverse-engineer the suit by enemies have all ended in failure due to yet another safety feature in place. Should the suit be tampered with, it will quickly and covertly scan the area around it via BioScan. Should it not recognise anyone nearby, the suit will then scan for Midnight drone signals. If the suit receives no drone responses, it will simply explode instantly via detonating it's Elerium Core. The suit will also be completely decimated by the blast, leaving nothing to reverse-engineer.

Paladin armour was still used by the Midnight during the ECW despite the Elerium Shortage that plagued the world, though Paladin suits found in the Equestrian Wasteland are all useless for anything bar the salvaging of the materials due to the 200 years of decay and lack of a fuel source. However, the X-01 Power Armour is still found and functional.

X-05 Royal Paladin armour is much more advanced than the X-02 and is actually integrated into the user's body, given only to the Royal Paladins.