Gaiaterra: Elysea's Conflict/Valkyrie Combat Suit

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The Valkyrie Combat Suit is the offensive-oriented Venom packs more than one weapon to keep its power, ranging from a canister gun to tear infantry apart, a rapid-firing grenade launcher to quickly wipe out most ground targets, and anti-tank missile launchers to make short work of enemy vehicles. Voiced by Lauren Landa

Tactical analysis

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Overview
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History
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Fielded relatively late in the war, the Venom is a prototype powered armor that significantly increases the strength, speed, and durability of its human operator, something that could match the Coalition's Astarte, Aquila's WOLF soldiers, Alliance's Hoplite, Empire's Terracotta and ADI's ZONE series. Originally designed as a revolutionary hazardous environment suit for ASA astronauts in preparation for a future Andoran colony on one of the Moons, the military model was significantly enlarged in order to accommodate heavy composite armor hardened against EMP as well as an assortment of heavy weapons.

For added mobility, the suit comes equipped with a set of boosters that are strong enough to provide aerodynamic lift within atmospheric conditions, allowing the operator closes a considerable distance with a rocket-assisted jump. The few Voshkod survivors that lived to tell their stories described the Venom as an unstoppable juggernaut, a machine of sheer terror that even surpassed the Shock Troopers and Scion Troopers due to its imposing, inhuman physique and overwhelming firepower. As a result, Voshkod propagandists have spread slanderous rumors which painted the Venoms as soulless cyborgs, biomechanical abominations who had been subjected to genetic manipulations and forced limb amputations by sinister Andoran scientists in an effort to create the ultimate killer. Contrary to these baseless claims, the Venom suits are operated by healthy, fully conscious human volunteers. Whilst many of the Venom's internal workings remain a well-preserved secret, it is speculated that the operator resides in an internal suspension pod while controlling the machine through a sophisticated neural interface, allowing the mechanical limbs of the suit can be manipulated through natural brain impulses as if they were part of the operator's own body.

Similar albeit noticeably less refined versions of this technology are already used as a modern alternative to wheelchairs and limb prostheses around the world whilst some of the Nordic Andoran states even sponsor these medical exoskeletons as part of their elaborate healthcare systems.

Due to the technical complexity of the suit and the shortage of advanced materials, it is expected that the total number of operators does not exceed the mark of a hundred. The men and women inside the suits are exclusively recruited from the cream of Andora's large special forces community, including the Midgar 1er RPIMa and Calpheon's famous GROM.

The Valkyrie is formed from CQC (close-quarters combat) assault specialists whose suits are equipped with shoulder-mounted anti-tank missiles and a heavy assault weapon that combines a 10-gauge (20mm) smooth-bore cannon typically firing canister rounds with a 40mm grenade launcher and reinforced armor, though their jetpack use is now limited to powerful jumps that send shockwaves upon landing. Often charging with the mechanized division to punch a hole through the enemy defenses.

Short story
Somewhere in Galbadia

2008 V.C.

"This godforsaken place is colder than Mor Dhona," complained Godbert Taverner as he shoved another block of chopped wood into the oven of the small cabin. He and his comrades - Corporal Solvarr Striker and the Privates Agnes Carpenter and Eddval Longblade - had been tasked to guard this section of the forest which housed a large Voshkod radar installation. The facility was of vital importance, for it was part of the elaborate anti-aircraft defense network that had been set up on the Andoran peninsula in order to protect the motherland against strategic bombing attacks from Andoran carrier groups stationed in the (insert) Sea.

Solvarr Striker nudged Godbert's shoulder. "Stop whining, Godbert. I'm sure the others will be back soon, hopefully with some stew and vodka from the barracks."

"Seriously, screw this place!" Eddval Longblade interjected with an air of frustrated boredom as he flipped through the pages of an adult magazine. "I joined the Army because I wanted to fight! Not sit in some backwater cabin with cold stew and cheap vodka!"

"You should be glad that we're this far away from the action," Agnes replied. "This war is going to be over soon. I don't even care who wins as long as I can go home and see my wife and kids again." Like the rest of his unit - and 75% of the wartime Lunafreya-era Voshkod Army - Agnes had been conscripted into service. Suddenly, a loud blast outside interrupted the banality of their conversation. Eager as usual, Eddval jumped up and peeked out of the window. "I see an orange glow in the forest not too far from here. Come on, let's have a look! Maybe the SAM boys took out an Eurofighter; a little pilot hunt should be a nice distraction for once!"

The soldiers rushed out of the cabin with their weapons at the ready. "Get in line, five-meter spread," Corporal Solvarr Striker ordered as he disengaged the safety of his AK-74. Slowly, the unit moved into the woods, the snow creaking loudly with every step they made. As they approached the orange light, they were shocked to discover the burning wreckage of a GAZ Volk patrol car. Inside it, they found the mangled corpses of their comrades Esheanne and Thedarn whose lower halves had become indistinguishable from the jagged mass of deformed metal. "Hey, look at this," Eddval remarked as he inspected the Volk's burning front section. The engine block was completely ruined, reduced to broken scrap metal by a massive kinetic projectile that had shattered the cylinders and obliterated the camshaft before blasting through the cabin and out the rear end, leaving a hole the size of a man's fist. Whatever had hit this vehicle had utterly demolished its engine and disintegrated the occupants.

"Agnes, you see anything on the infrared?" Solvarr asked.

"No, it's all cold out here," Agnes replied as he flipped the goggles back up on his helmet.

Suddenly a faint, almost inaudible beep came from between the trees a few meters into the darkness. "Stop, quiet! Everyone quiet," the Corporal hissed. They all went still and fell silent, training all their senses on the forest around them. For a moment, the only things they saw or heard were the misty between the trees and the occasional hoot of an owl. Then the Corporal noticed a small red dot that danced over the snowy ground toward them before coming to rest on Godbert's left leg. "Ambush! Take cover!" he yelled, but before he had finished the sentence a loud blast pierced the night air and Godbert was blasted backward with his gut torn open by an explosive canister round.

"Open fire!" Solvarr exclaimed and Godbart's screams of pain were drowned out by a hail of aimless gunfire that ripped through the entire forest, cutting down several trees and kicking up large clouds of snow. Agnes opened up with her PKP machine gun until the 250-round ammunition box ran dry. The soldiers kept firing for over half a minute, burning through magazine after magazine before they stopped. The dense forest immediately around them had been turned into a clearing and the stingy mist of burned gunpowder irritated their eyes. "Whatever it was, it better be dead now," Solvarr grumbled as he signaled Agnes to take point and scout forward. Suddenly, a large mechanical hand reached out of the darkness behind the Corporal and gripped his head, crushing both his neck and jaw with seemingly no effort. Agnes and Eddval turned around and flinched at the sight of a dark, metallic figure that towered above them. Eddval swung about with the RPG and fired a high-explosive anti-tank round directly at the hulking monstrosity which promptly raised its weapon and obliterated him with a 40mm grenade aimed at his center mass.

Agnes dropped the machine gun in panic and fell to her knees before this seemingly invincible beast that glared at him through the thin, cyan visor of its featureless, inhuman face. "Please! I surrender!" She winced with his empty hands raised high above his head. "Don't kill me! I have a family! Please!" Agnes plead in whatever bits of English she'd picked up at school. After a brief moment of terrifying silence, the machine turned around and stomped off into the night.

Inside the metal shell, Lieutenant Quistis Trepe reported to the rest of her unit. "This is Valkyrie Four, I've linked up with Viking Two and met some minor resistance at the insertion point; took out a small group of sentries and let one of them live to tell the tale. We're making our way to the target now, ETA five minutes."

Ten minutes later, the vital radar installation had disappeared from the grid. It would be the first among several across all of Galbadia during the following nights...