While most cosms view armor as a means of isolating the wearer from their environment - and in the case of powered armors, allowing the wearer to impose their will on their environment with even greater force - in the Star Sphere, armors become an environment unto themselves. From the simple Temp Suits to the symbiotic Kinetic armor or EndExoSkels, BioTech armors, by design, do not try to merely hide their wearer from their environment, but rather envelop them in their own ecosystem. The Ta'al Khrys, a wonder of BioTechnology in itself, is the paragon of this holistic design methodology.
At first glance, the Ta'al Khrys resembles the articulated plates of the arthropodal EndExoSkels, though it is translucent, where most Skels are opaque. (Where the Skels chitin often evokes a fear/loathing response that many species have for arthropods, the delicate clarity of the Ta'al Khrys is often described as "spun sugar" or "fairy castle".) But the outer shell of the Ta'al Khrys is not a dead chitinous secretion, but rather a living colony of nano-organisms, similar in habit to the reef-forming corals of Core Earth. Like coral, these nano-organisms leave behind a hard shell of their own, in specific patterns, as the colony expands outward. Or in this case, inward!
The colony that forms the outer shell of the Ta'al Khrys actually grows on the inside of the shell. The various layers are put down in an increasingly complex fractal pattern that allows the colony to increase in size - theoretically without limit - without filling up the hollow interior in any appreciable manner. (The living nature of the inner layer allows the Ta'al Khrys to "heal" from most punctures in a short time, as well as seal the wearer in upon activation.) This fractal design also has an added use. It absorbs and diffuses all forms of energy - including kinetic and even psionic - that pass through it, further increasing the already impressive resistance of the nano-shell structure. While the fractals also absorb sound and light, strains of genetically tailored microbes living on the interior of the shell gather the diffused energies and redirect them through a composite neural net, granting the wearer a full spectrum view of the outside world without exposing them to the dangers of excess light, noise, or radiation. But this is only the begining of the wonderous ecosystem that forms the heart of the Ta'al Khrys.
Like the Skels, the Ta'al Khrys contains a means of amplifying the wearer's motions, to help in moving the bulky shell and also increase the wearer's applicable strength. But where the Skels use muscle tissue derrived from the same animal as their chitinous outer layer, the power of the Ta'al Khrys comes from a cousin of the unicellular creature used to form Kinetic armor. This species, rather than diffuse kinetic forces for protection, amplifies even the smallest force nearly a hundredfold, allowing the wearer to move about freely as well as lift huge weights. The creature, which forms a second skin throughout the Ta'al Khrys, also focuses the minute ammounts of kinetic energy which come through the outer shell allowing the wearer some sense of resistance and even touch. Unlike many other Power Armors, the Ta'al Khrys wearer is capable of very fine manipulation, able to handle delicate objects without harming them, and even distinguish most textures!
Like much BioTech, the inner layer is symbiotic with the wearer, as are the shell-creating coral-forms, living off of the waste products generated by the wearer. In addition, both photosynthetic and chemosynthetic bacteria colonies inhabit the Ta'al Khrys, providing oxygen for the wearer as well as other waste products for the other life forms. The Ta'al Khrys is a completely closed and perfectly balanced system, allowing the wearer to survive with no food or water and only a minimum of solar exposure for as long as they choose.
If there is any flaw with the Ta'al Khrys it is that, while the wearer remains fully - if not moreso - aware of the outside environment, that environment is somewhat isolated from the user. While most forms of energy can be transmitted by the fractal shell into the Ta'al Khrys, the reverse is not as simple. The kinetic insulating layer allows a full range of motion and touch, and a phosphorescent lichen imbeded in the shell can provide a source of illumination if needed, sound is not as easily transmitted, perhaps due to the kinetic layer itself. Early versions of the Ta'al Khrys contained a psionically active life form which would synergistically enhance the wearers natural Telepathic abilities to the point that they could transmit thought out of the fractal shell. But with the rise of the Comaghaz, and the discovery that the virus could use that Telepathic link as a psychic "vector" to infect the wearer, this feature was bred out. Modern versions utilize a colony of psi-sentive, photo-emitting bacteria in the faceplate to form pictograms, and on occasion full words, to supplement the sign language taught to most Ta'al Khrys wearers.
Game Notes:
The Ta'al Khrys provides a flat "TOU" 30 resistance to all forms of physical and psychic attack. Only Magical attacks based on non-physical means, or with a teleportational mechanism, effect the user at their normal resitance levels. It grants the wearer STR+10, up to a theoretical maximum of 30, or any value inbetween that and 0, at the wearer's discretion. The wearer can last indefinitely without food or water, and requires only a few minutes of full sunlight a day, or the equivalent of the solar radiation at the orbit of Jupiter for a full day, to function without penalties. Without it, the armor is considered Fatiguing. In the frigid darkness of extra-solar space, the wearer can last up to three months, if no activity is undertaken, and full medical attention is available upon the opening of the suit. And as with most "paragons of design", a reality check is involved. While the only truly Tech feature of the Ta'al Khrys is the fractal nature of the shell - like most armor, it emmulates the best available at the new Tech axiom - it is the delicate interplay of 6+ different species, and millions if not trillions of individuals, not including the wearer, that causes the most trouble. When acting at a Social axiom of less than 26, the internal ecosystem of the Ta'al Khrys begins to unravel. The armor is considered fatiguing, and begins to take one "wound" per day while disconnected. Also, many wearers find the experience of breathing a biological soup rather than air disconcerting when disconnected, and often shatter the armor - TOU 12 from the inside - in their attempts to get out. Additionally, a "recalibration period" equal to the time spent disconnected is neccessary, during which the armor remains fatiguing, and the other systems fail to work on a roll of 1-4. A similar recalibration period of at least 24 hours is required each time someone new puts on the Ta'al Khrys, which must then be repeated even if a previous wearer returns to it.