Late 80's-early 90's Scifi, (red?) powered suit, portals, innocent fluffy creatures..

[Big_Thumper]

Hey all -

First post, hoping someone else here as read the same book and has a better memory than I've got....

I believe it was a series of stories (paperback at the time I *think* I remember reading them, in the late 80's to early 90's centered around one man (ex-soldier, mercenary type) that had retained a suit of powered armor / exoskeleton, which for some reason I remember as being red in color.

The protagonist sought to stay out of conflicts but was constantly drawn back in - one situation that sticks in mind had him as a ranger-type shepard over a peaceful race of innocent furry creatures. Of course, non-peaceful aliens attacked and he was forced to don the powered suit again and escape through a convenient energy vortex / portal.

No recollection of author's first/last, publisher, or more exact dates / content. I do hope I've not muddled it up too badly - anyone have any ideas?

Thanks for the help!

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Re: Late 80's-early 90's Scifi, (red?) powered suit, portals, innocent fluffy creatur

The shepherd over innocent furry creatures part could be the Hoka books by Gordon R. Dickson and Poul Anderson, which were about a planet of teddy-bear-like creatures whose knowledge of Earth came solely from fictional entertainment. They were assigned an Ambassador Plenipotentiary from Earth whose job was to keep an eye on them, and they dragged him through all kinds of adventures based on movies and books.

He didn't have any powered armor, though, so this is just a guess in case you may have more than one book mixed up in your memories. It's been known to happen.