> > > a r m o r

Antonia: "Hey Shadowschild, you are with Doc now, aren't you? Dating... or fucking... whatever you want to call it."
Shadowschild spun around on her bar stool: "Dating? No. Fucking? Sure. And he is a good one, isn't he?"
Antonia nodded: "Indeed he is."
Shadowschild: "I've been with him long enough to break some of his bad habits..."
Antonia grinned: "Actually, you might want to try to break him of cheating. He seemed very single last night. He seemed very lonely."
Shadowschild: "We know what our relationship is, and it isn't what you think."
Antonia: "I could care less. It's you I dislike, not him."
Shadowschild: "Then do something about it."
Antonia looked around the bar. "Shall we step outside then?"
Shadowschild gestured towards the door. "Be my guest."

Shadowschild stepped out of the Syndrome and finished wrapping her body in a layer of greenish, slimy biomechanical armor. Her footsteps squished as the armor settled and bonded with her skin.
Antonia followed, pulling on her MeshGirl helm and locking its strap into place under her jaw.
Outside, Antonia circled Shadowschild for a moment before approaching in a fighting stance and readying her fists.
Shadowschild flicked her wrists, and razor-sharp claws slid out from underneath her fingernails.
Antonia grunted as her punch glanced off Shadowschild's bio-armored chest. Shadowschild's claw scraped against the torso of Antonia's Meshgirl armor.

Yrs arrived from a street corner to the west, watched the stalemate, paused, and leaned against the side of the Syndrome's facade: "Oh my... what have we here?"
Shadowschild: "Hey, Yrs... look what I found. Wanna bite?"
Yrs, her duro axe a wicked, blurred curve of steel as she advanced on Antonia: "Indeed. I think I will. Enjoy the afterlife, cunt."
The first strike of Yrs's duro axe parted armor and bone. It was so horrifyingly brutal that Antonia's throat was split completely in half.

Shadowschild: "Nice shot."

--Syndrome securicam archives.

In the post-apocalyptic world, fashion fuses with warfare to create a dizzying array of armored clothing and protective outerwear. Brand names dominate the scene, and street hipness or cool factor plays as much of a role in selecting protection as the actual quality of the armor itself. Obselescent kevlar and monocrys outfits see widespread use with gangs and nomad scavengers, while the ultra-chic sport smart-weave bodysuits under their latest Beijing fashions. Gritty professionals and the mainstays of corporate armies look past appearances to balance strengths and weaknesses against mission threats.

Inspecting an armored outfit will reveal its basic class and type. With a little research and a careful eye, even the most uneducated street punk can match fashion with function and pick the right clothes for the threat.

Soft Armor

Even fashion clothing and stylish outerwear is designed to provide rudimentary protection in Cybersphere's urban hellzones, where the dangers of acid rain, radiation, and random violence are ever-present. Soft armors include common clothing, utilitarian jumpsuits, retro-chic denim combat jackets, and reinforced or padded outfits that focus on style and light weight more than protection. Their chemically treated fabrics provide little protection overall but are strongest against ballistic threats, while weakest against stabbings and other close-in melee attacks. Insulation against extreme thermal environments or electrical threats is minimal.

Encumberance	Light
Protection	Low
Strength	Ballistic
Weakness	Impaling
Insulation	Low
Concealability	High

Leather Armor

Synthetic materials simulate the look and feel of actual leather, producing a stylish alternative that provides good protection against blunt impacts but little defense against ballistic threats. Thermal protection and insulation is fair, making leather a fashionable and cheap choice for urbanites concerned about acid rain and the elements.

Encumberance	Medium
Protection	Low
Strength	Bludgeoning
Weakness	Ballistic
Insulation	Medium
Concealability	Medium

Monocrys Armor

Fashioned from specially aligned crystal fibers, monocrys armor became popular in the early years after Zero Day but is now mostly used as a cheap substitute for thinner and lighter mesh suits. Monocrys stands up well against ballistic threats, but most poorly against blunt impacts, which tend to shatter the crystal fiber layers. Overall protection and thermal insulation is moderately good, at the cost of increased bulk and mass.

Encumberance	Medium
Protection	Medium
Strength	Ballistic
Weakness	Bludgeoning
Insulation	Medium
Concealability	Medium

Weave Armor

Armor "weaves" incorporate smart fibers, which expand or contract in response to deformation and dissapate impact energy across a large surface. Small, dense kinetic impacts - like stab points or bullets - result in a wide bruise instead of a gaping hole in the wearer's body. Overall protection is only fair, because the "weave" is coarse and the smart fibers are widely spaced to save money and manufacturing time. Insulation and thermal protection is very good, especially in the street-chic fullbody skinsuit designs.

Encumberance	Light
Protection	Medium
Strength	Ballistic
Weakness	Bludgeoning
Insulation	Medium
Concealability	High

Mesh Armor

A more advanced version of Weaves, the Mesh Armor class incorporates many more smart fibers across the garment's surface area, increasing protection with a minimal rise in weight and bulk. By far the most popular (and one of the most expensive) of armor types, Meshes see wide use as neck-to-ankle bodysuits worn under normal clothing.

Encumberance	Light
Protection	High
Strength	Ballistic
Weakness	Bludgeoning
Insulation	Medium
Concealability	High

Hard Armor

Hard armors include a variety of heavy composite plating, titanium shells, ceramics, and even advanced coats of lightweight mail links. The most popular versions incorporate heavy plating sewn into stylish jackets, greaves, gloves, and overcoats. In general, they tend to be bulky, heavy outfits, but overall protection is quite good with exceptional resistance to blunt impact and other close-in melee threats. Except in specially treated ballistic armor shells, defense against firearms is slightly weaker.

Encumberance	Heavy
Protection	High
Strength	Bludgeoning
Weakness	Ballistic
Insulation	Low
Concealability	Low

Kevlar Armor

An old stand-by from "old school" pre-war days, rigid kevlar provides ballistic protection in thin, reinforced cloth as well as bludgeoning protection in thick plates. Bulk, mass, and encumberance are fairly high, though lightweight kevlar versions exist with proportionally lower protection.

Encumberance	Medium
Protection	Medium
Strength	Ballistic
Weakness	Slashing
Insulation	Low
Concealability	Low

Environmental Armor

Acidic ecosystems, radiation zones, riot gas clouds, and the hard vacuum of space all require specialized protection. Environmental armor provides varying degrees of defense against extreme temperatures, energy discharges, or hostile atmospheres. Outfits range from simple gas-mask harnesses and radiation jumpsuits to advanced EVA combat armor developed for orbital combat operations. Most of these specially developed armors sacrifice physical protection for superior thermal insulation and energy absorption.

Encumberance	High
Protection	Medium
Strength	Slashing
Weakness	Ballistic
Insulation	High
Concealability	Low

Chameleon Armor

More formally known as "Therm-Optic Camouflage" and nicknamed "Chamsuit armor", these specially engineered suits of smart materials bend light around the wearer while adapting pigmentation to match background textures and coloring. The result is near-invisibility and exceptional stealth at the cost of physical protection. Most chamsuits are thin, skin-tight membranes that must be worn without any other clothing or armor. Their exotic light-bending qualities afford good insulation and defense against thermal extremes as a side effect.

Encumberance	Light
Protection	Low
Strength	Slashing
Weakness	Ballistic
Insulation	Medium
Concealability	High

Bio Armor

Made of cloned and grafted cells, bio armor is a slimy, clammy, semi-transparent bodysuit worn over the user that common street preception describes as, "creepy". Rare, expensive, and difficult to maintain, bio armors provide exceptionally good protection against most forms of physical attacks but are most susceptible to close-in stabs from edged weapons in melee. Thermal insulation and energy disappation is excellent because of carefully crafted genetic traits in the bio armor's "skin" and vascular system.

Encumberance	Medium
Protection	High
Strength	Bludgeoning
Weakness	Impaling
Insulation	High
Concealability	Low