[Wild Goose]

Well, here goes. The most protective Barrier Jacket seen in OC - short of TK's Ranger Barrier Jackets, anyway.

...or a Full Armor Danmaku Jacket...

Spoiler for Type-ODST Assault Barrier Jacket:

Spoiler for Background:

The Barrier Jacket is the simplest and final defense of a mage, servicing two purposes: it acts as a last-ditch defense against magical attack by generating Barriers and Fields, and also serves to preserve the mage's modesty. However, it has several weaknesses.

While providing decent protection against collision impact, Barrier Jackets are less capable in protecting against penetration and slashing damage - this is due to the fact that most Barrier Jackets are made of thin cloth, as the mana is being shunted into the barrier, as as few mages face threats from gun users. This SOP came into place after Midchilda's final war and the shift to magical combat, where mages realised that other mages would be bigger threats to them, not gun users, and accordingly adjusted their barrier jackets to focus on magical protection.

The TSAB was thus in for a rude shock in the Erusian War, where then-Gunnery Sergeant A. J. Ivanovich earned his nickname of "Mage Hunter of North Point" by racking up an impressive tally of kills: mages sniped with his 14.5mm sniper rifle.

When Erick von Long formed the Order in the wake of the nuking of Sotoa, he wanted a Barrier Jacket design for his mages that would not only protect against magical threats, but would also provide decent protection from conventional weapons. After talking it over, Erick, the XO, and Ivanovich also decided that the Barrier Jacket would have to be thicker and tougher than standard TSAB barrier jackets, simply because the Erusian mages they had to work with weren't as used to magic as Mid-childans, and were much slower at casting barriers and shields compared to their TSAB counterparts. At first, it was suggested to make a thicker TSAB standard-issue jacket, but Erick nixed the idea due to the need for plausible deniablity in OFM operations.

It was his Sergeant Major, A. J. Ivanovich, who suggested the idea of the Assault Barrier Jacket - a Barrier Jacket based off the armored combat bodysuits used by Erusian special forces units. Known as the Assault Barrier Jacket, since it would be used by the OFM's Assault Platoon, it would essentially be a fusion of standard barrier jacket and special forces bodysuit. Erick gave the go-ahead, Ivanovich went scrounging, O'Neil talked to some people, and within a few weeks a rough prototype was ready. Testing commenced, and the prototype was found to be well suited for the intended purposes Erick had in mind for the Assault Platoon. After some more fine-tuning and tweaking, the Assault Barrier Jacket was ready for deployment, and issued to the Assault Platoon. In the past 21 years it's been in use, it's undergone periodic updating, one major design revision, and remains by far one of the most-protective barrier jackets in existence.

As the mages intended to use this Barrier Jacket are for the most part B-ranked, it thus is tuned to provide higher latent protection against magical attack, being amply protected against conventional weapons. The fabric of the Assault BJ is also thicker than standard BJs, providing better heat retention in cold climates, though it does become fairly hot in normal, hot or temperate climates. Temperature control is what the Assault BJ's field is for, although Ivanovich has eloquently stated that if an Assault guy cannot take the heat, he should Golf Tango Foxtro Oscar.

The last component of the Assault BJ is the helmet, which is optional. The helmet contains a communications and HUD package to provide higher situational awareness, as well as a digital navigation system. The blue visor helps to shade the eyes and hide the identity of the user - a key consideration in black operations - and, like the helmet, is capable of protecting the wearer from limited rifle fire. That said, several members of the Assault Company (notable Lt. Franz Jaeger and Sgt. Major Ivanovich) typically dispense with the helmet.

Though it flies in the faces of TSAB tradition and everything mages stand for, no current member of the OFM's Assault Company - except for the Master Chief - will trade in his Assault BJ. It works, it's a lifesaver...

And most importantly, it's badass.

Spoiler for Design:

Assault Company mages on training excercise, circa mid MC070s. Note the BR55HB carried by the squad leader.

Unlike the standard TSAB barrier jacket, which resembles a rather fantasy-ish design for random cannon fodder, the Assault Barrier Jacket is essentially a magically-enhanced copy of the NAVSPECWAR bodysuit. Visually the jacket is a full-body suit in a mottled black & gray urban camoflage pattern, chosen as the OFM would primarily operate at night in urban theaters. The torso is covered by black body armor - magically strengthened and magically-lightened copies of the body armor worn with NAVSPECWAR bodysuits - and arm, elbow, and shin pads are also worn, providing extra protection (though these pads are primarily intended for protecting against scrapes and bumps, not bullets, they can tank a few pistol caliber rounds). On the biceps are mounted colored metal plates, which are either white or red; squad members use white plates, while squad leaders use red plates. Black fabric covers can be used to cover the colored plates if required.

The Assault BJ protects very well against pistol rounds - tanking even .50cal Magnum pistol rounds - and most small arms fire. It can withstand several bursts of 7.62mm rifle fire and .50cal MG rounds, but sustained heavy weapons fire will defeat the Assault BJ. Assault Company members have reported surviving grenade detonations at point blank range, but are encouraged to take cover rather than standing in the open and tanking.

Spoiler for Assault BJ Ver. 1:

The first version of the Assault BJ.

The original version of the Assault BJ was a rather simple design, essentially a black and gray urban pattern camo bodysuit with a black body armor vest, shin guards and a helmet. It was chosen rather than a more elaborate design in adherence to the KISS principle: Keep It Simple, Stupid. As such it's little more than a basic TSAB barrier jacket with urban camo and body armor that covers the upper torso. The helmet contains a simple compass and HUD, and holds the radio communications gear, as well as protecting the user from sun glare and from identification. The armor, being fairly light, can protect the user from small arms fire and explosions, but not so well in case of the latter. A disadvantage with using this barrier jacket - to those used to Mid-style jackets, anyway - is that it's heavy compared to a standard Mid-Childan jacket, weighing 11 pounds. (It should be noted that this weight is considered absurdly light by the military forces of NAW 97.)

After MC0066, the 1st version of the Assault BJ was scrapped and a revised replacement was fielded, which visually resembles the armored bodysuits of the elite Orbital Drop Shock Trooper Marines, hence the nickname "ODST Jacket." This jacket sports several improvements over the Ver 1 Assault BJ, more focused on enhancing the strengths of the Assault BJ. The ODST jacket sports stronger armor as well as more armor placement, the fields are also tuned to help cool the mage down (because it can get very hot, wearing a full bodysuit with armor and no ventilation), along with a redesigned helmet navigation and communication system; all of this comes at a weight penalty - the jacket alone weights 16 lbs. With full combat gear, an Assault Company mage will be carrying anything from 40 to 55 lbs of gear. The relative lesser weight of the armor (compared to similar types of conventional body armore) allows for more weapons, ammo and water to be carried by the wearer.

Spoiler for Defenses:

The ODST Jacket's defences consist of two parts: the magical defenses and the physical defenses. The magical defenses are the jacket's barrier and field, which are tuned to provide higher magical protection compared with other barrier jackets, and provide lesser impact penetration and blunt force protection. The physical defenses are the armor plates of the ODST jacket, which protect against bullets, blunt force trauma, and stabbing.

The ODST Jacket is thus in these respects superior to a standard TSAB Barrier Jacket, providing good protection against magical attack and excellent protection against conventional weapons, as well as looking cool. There are a number of disadvantages to this jacket, however. Being heavier than the standard TSAB jacket means that the wearer has to be physically fit. Also, the weight of the jacket is an issue in air combat, due to the fact that since it makes the wearer heavier (due to carrying loads of stuff), users are less manuverable in aerial combat (this is less of an issue, however, given that the Assault Company are for the most part incapable of flight). Lastly, the final reason this jacket will not see mass-deployment is simply because it looks far too dangerous and scary, which is at odds with the image of the friendly mage here to help that the TSAB tries to project.

Or as the Sergeant Major puts it, "Those Mid pussies can't take the badass."

Lieutenant Jaeger doesn't care. All he cares about is that it'll keep him alive with he accidentally shoots himself with a grenade launcher. Again.