The winner of the vicious inter-company competition was the Ares – 3 hardsuit, by Opell Industries.

(More pictures of the diorama later on.)

The suit was exactly what the Alliance had in mind. With three minutes of self-contained atmosphere and the modularity to be customized for nearly any military specialty, the suit quickly became a favorite with servicemen.

A cleverly designed magnetic holster on the back of the suit allowed for easy storage of weaponry, while a large radio transmitter guaranteed constant contact with friendly (in-system) ships.

The suit could also fit humanoid aliens, with minimal modification. (Helmets were overlooked though, for some reason…)

In fact, the Ares – 3 was so popular that civilian maintenance models were soon released. The modularity that made the Ares so perfect for the military was soon admired by shipwrights and construction crews throughout the Alliance.

Bleh. That was more backstory than I’m used to… Anyway, I also made a diorama for each of the hardsuit permutations.

This one, is, rather obviously, a humble maintenance corridor.

Looks like something's leaking...

I don’t know why this picture turned out reddish, but it was my only shot of the hardsuit through the windows, so I'm keeping it.

And now onto the science facility corridor. If I had posted this separately, I would have called it, “Storming the Breach.”

The semi-developed backstory is that a science vessel has been taken over by very nasty hostile alien monsters of unknown origin. I know, the most original story of all time, isn't it?

Moody shot of the door…

Which does, indeed, open, to reveal blackness beyond.

”I’m not afraid of the dark. I’m afraid of the aliens in the dark!”

-Anonymous

Anyway, thanks for your time!