Extreme Duty Environmental Suit (EDE)
The Extreme Duty Environmental Suite, or EDE, is an exoskeleton-type suit designed to allow humans to explore extremely hostile environments.
Some pilots affectionately refer to the EDE as an "Eddie".
The standard EDE stands five meters tall, looks vaguely humanoid, and requires two people to operate: the pilot, who is responsible for maneuvering the suit; and the co-pilot, who is in charge of shields, built-in weapons, and other functions.
The pilot compartment is almost more like a set of clothes, than a cockpit. The pilot slides into the compartment, which closes around him, and feedback is sent to the suit from a variety of pressure response and neuro-sensors. The pilot operates the EDE by moving as normal, and the suit then duplicates the movements. Feedback is sent to the pilot via a holographic interface, thus not impeding the pilots field of vision, and providing data on objects by overlaying information on top of them.
The co-pilot sits in a more traditional cockpit located above the pilot's compartment.
The EDE is equipped with thrusters, anti-grav units, a full sensor setup in the head, and a side-arm grade blaster and cutting laser in the left arm.
For battles in environments too hostile for humans, and too confining for a fighter, a variety of add-on equipment is available.
The most common accessory used is the FORMAT cannon. The FORMAT cannon is a rifle-shaped, starship-grade plasma cannon that also has a barrel-mounted micro-torpedo launcher. The torpedo launcher holds four micro-antimatter torpedoes (Thus the acronym.)
