Hostile environment suit

The hostile environment suit, otherwise known as a skinsuit or stealth suit, was the standard combat gear of terran ghosts and one of the most advanced pieces of technology ever conceived by humanity. A polymer, light-refracting nano-fiber suit worn with a helmet or headpiece, it covered the body, augmented the wearer's natural abilities, and enabled the cloaking that made the ghost the most feared covert operative in the Koprulu sector. Though it became inseparable from the ghost program, the suit had begun life as mining equipment.

Origins and the ghost suit#

The hostile environment suit was originally designed for miners working in high-temperature environments and on cold worlds, where its temperature-regulation system could also shield the wearer from heat-detection equipment. From those industrial roots it was adapted into the standard equipment of the ghost program.

The form-fitting ghost suit was interwoven with an advanced circuitry system that covered the entire body apart from the head, which was left uncovered because the circuitry could interfere with a ghost's psionic powers. Beyond an adjustable temperature setting, the suit was laced with a form of psi-sensitive artificial muscle fiber that augmented the wearer's natural strength, speed, and endurance, removing the need for bulky power armor, and it helped the ghost channel psionic energy. A time setting built into the suit's computer let a ghost check the time anywhere in the Koprulu sector, and light pulsed visibly across the surface of the suit.

The helmet doubled as a chemical-agent mask, and the suit provided nuclear, biological, and chemical shielding by absorbing dangerous elements and rendering them inert. It was built to withstand the cold vacuum of space and could survive decompression, while its mask allowed a ghost to breathe for a time in environments without oxygen. By 2502 the suit was engineered to degrade automatically upon the ghost's death, a feature absent from the 2491 versions. Most suits were black, blue, or gray, and could be fitted onto a ghost via servos in a manner similar to CMC armor.

Cloaking#

The suit's most famous function was its cloaking ability. Although older models lacked it, many ghost suits carried a personal cloaking device that rendered the wearer invisible. The device worked in concert with the suit itself: its outermost layer contained synthetic cells that, under psionic stimulus, refracted light to synergize with the device and make the user invisible to the naked eye. The duration of a cloak was limited by available energy, though this could be extended by installing a Moebius Reactor. In earlier suits the cloak shut down when the wearer died, a safeguard that later became redundant once newer models simply degraded the suit and its wearer on death to keep the technology from falling into enemy hands.

The stealth was reinforced by coolant systems woven into the suit's lining, which kept the user invisible to infrared sensors as well. Because adhesive substances could foul the cloak, the suit could vibrate to shake them off, and a wrist-mounted device let the ghost track the energy remaining in the cloaking module. By the Second Great War at least three new models had appeared: the Crius, worn by ghosts, and the Nyx, worn by spectres, both fitted with psi-augmenters that allowed cloaking to be held indefinitely while freeing the agent's psionic energy for other tasks. The Crius was of Dominion design and was regarded as the ultimate hostile environment suit, though its immense cost meant few were ever deployed.

Sensors, protection, and the spectre suit#

The suit's helmet or eyepiece, and in some cases the wearer's ocular implants, carried an extensive sensor package. A heads-up display could show a map in the corner of the field of view and offered a zoom function for greater sight range and target acquisition, while the visor enhanced vision and included an automated targeting system that calculated atmospheric pressure and wind shear. The suit could run passive and active scans, displayed on a wrist unit, which could identify a target's affiliation, warn the ghost of hazardous terrain such as fissures, analyze chemical substances, and detect living or moving targets. Alongside its full life support, the suit offered limited protection against small-arms fire.

Spectres were equipped with a similar but distinct suit. Their version was thicker and more tightly woven, granting a greater boost to strength and agility along with a more advanced heads-up display and visor, and carbon fiber formed part of its construction.