= Minerva Noa =
The
Minerva Noa (or simply “
Noa”) is, despite its first name, the product of technological fusion of three distinctive classes of machines: The
Minerva,
Infinite Stratos and the
Formula Frontal. To this end, the Noa can be said to be the sigma unit, a symbol of coexistence amongst various classes of present technology and thus, possessing features from all three lineages of units.
For start, the Noa deviates from the Minerva’s standard armor-mounting procedures. Incorporating digital storage and deployment technology from the
Infinite Stratos, the Noa is digitally stored inside a special bodysuit with glowing crystalline-like panels on various parts of the limbs and around the user’s neck. Each of the panels digitally stores a particular armor part of the Noa (
E.g. Glowing panels on the suit’s shoulders store the Noa’s pauldrons), granting the unit a variation of the IS’ Partial-Deployment capability.
Technology from the
Formula Frontal is represented with the Noa’s unique shield equipment, known as the
Lazurite. The Lazurite incorporates SA (Self-Assembly) equipment technology which allows it to store a pair of SA remote attack bits alongside the Noa’s primary melee weapon, the Susanoo, which also an SA weapon itself.
The Noa retains the
Minerva’s standard power supply system via multiple miniature particle turbines built into various parts of its armor.
For the core, the Noa’s central processing unit manifests itself in form of an upgraded incarnation of the Formula Frontal’s Iwaki Unit, known simply as
NExT Core, which resides within the upper chest portion of the user’s bodysuit. “
NExT Core” is initially made as a placeholder name but due the highly-experimental nature of the Noa, the name remains, representing
Next-generation Experimental Tessellation Core which also reflects its purpose to manage the complicated systems of the Noa.
The Noa sports limited but
potentially lethal weaponry to allow for decisive attacks:
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Susanoo, the Noa’s primary weapon, a huge single-edged sword. The blade is decorated with thin panels that emit blue light when active. The panels serve as a device that allows the user the manipulate particles when in use, particularly projecting a crescent wave of ionized particles when the sword is swung. Being an SA Weapon, the Susanoo is stored in parts within the Lazurite shield and assembles inside the shield itself before the user deploys it.
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Twin SA remote attack bits integrated into the Lazurite shield. Despite their primary function as remote weapons, the bits can also double as in-built beam guns inside the Lazurite shield.
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Stout Rifle. A long, slim dual-muzzle rifle that’s capable of rapidly switching between solid and ionized-particle beam ammunition for ranged combat. Its particle ammunition mode is capable of charging ion particle beams as well as sustained particle beam streams while the solid ammunition mode is capable of high-rate semi-automatic fire. The weapon is stored on a magnetic holster on the unit’s back when not in use.
The Stout Rifle’s handle is designed such that it will be held in a similar manner as a lance. Solid ammunition is magazine-fed with each magazine holding 30 rounds of high-velocity armor-piercing projectiles while particle ammunition is generated by in-built dedicated particle turbines. Due to a unique composition of ionized particles generated by the turbines, its charged particle beam is capable of causing a chain reaction upon impact which gradually vaporizes the target surface by dematerializing it into dissipating particles.
The Noa does not have a
Closed Form. However, it is still digitally-stored within the pilot’s bodysuit, negating the need of a dedicated Mounting Platform which has long been a standard shared by the predecessor Minerva units.
Other features:
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Advanced passive barrier system carried over from the Minerva but with the added capability to manipulate the form of the barrier itself. While the predecessor Minerva units can concentrate barrier power on the single point, they’re still limited to the shape of the standard geodesic sphere that encompasses the unit. The Noa has the ability to concentrate barrier power in the shape of a shield atop the Lazurite shield itself, allowing for much additional and greater defensive power.
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Atmospheric exit/re-entry feature. The Noa deploys layers of positron outside its protective barrier which disintegrates the air it comes into contact with, eliminating any forms of air resistance as the Noa paves its own way into outer space or initiating re-entry where it prevents the Noa from burning up due to atmospheric friction.
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Moonlight Dance. A particle-discharge system that involves the Noa expelling huge amounts of ions that allows the Athena to recover its power, through the electrostatic panels integrated into its own armor, at the expense of the Noa exhausting its own.
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Gosei Rave, informally-named combination attack pattern of the Noa and the Athena. The term is coined by Inami and Tsurugi, the respective pilots of the two units.