Like most of the other human colonies, Utopia received a fast number of multi-purpose vehicles designed to make the terraforming and construction work easier. The early successes of the Hardhat utility walker on Terra Nova led to other designs being shipped in great numbers to the colonies. The local Utopian variant was slightly smaller, with the operator activating most of the machine’s functions with his own limbs. Like the Terranovans and the Capricians before them, the Utopians later adapted these machines to more war-like purposes.
The Constable-class APES (Augmented Power Environmental Suit) is one such typical combat armor. Standing roughly 3.5-meter tall, it provides the pilot within with basic radar and motion detectors, along with a military scrambled communication suite. A sealed cockpit with integral scrubbers provides a hundred hours of radiation protection. Though it is not very fast on its feet (a consequence of the rather crude piloting interface), a pair of liquid-fuel jump jets housed in the backpack help the machine move faster than any unassisted human (or GREL for that matter). Armament is composed of a hypervelocity autocannon in an assault rifle-type set-up, with underslung grenade launcher for anti-personnel work. Each suit carries one spare clip for the gun, some grenades hanging on the thighs (for heavier targets) and a vibroknife.
APES were an early development of the Utopian warfare laboratories, and as such were widely copied by every faction. Though the Constable was originally developed by Steelgate scientists, all current nations can field designs that are similar both in looks and overall combat abilities. They are deployed across as the frontiers as patrol and rapid response units (when coupled with transport VTOLs, of course) or as “bodyguards” for the Command Tanks that are used to control the larger drone forces.
