Name: Luna Fennec
Rank: B
HP:400/400
MP:400/400
Luna had recently received something of a curious nature, for the purpose of research and reverse engineering. It was a set of power armor that some of the enemies of the Rune Knights were using. Her task was a simple one, to wind what flaws she could with this mechanical wonder that could make the user nigh invincible, and increase their stamina as well. However, increased stamina was actually part of the suit's weaknesses. It could give the user something of a complex, make them think that they truly were invincible. The key issue with this was one of hubris.
After all, increased stamina meant that they still had limits, limits which could be overcome. If one ran out of magical energy, they would still succumb to the after-effects of such. Luna wrote this down as she continued to look into the suit itself. However, simply looking into the suit might not be enough. She also made a note of factoring in the sheer size of the thing, hinting that if one were to be led into too small of a corridor, there may be maneuverability issues.
With these two things in mind, she had the suit brought to a testing facility on the base, and asked one of her subordinates to use it against her. As they donned the armor, Luna noted another small detail, which was that it seemed to have a lot of small mechanical parts in the back, and that it was likely weak to attacks from behind. She instructed the young Rune Knight to come after her as if they were trying to kill her, as she would be less likely to get sufficient results if they did not. She was always willing to put herself at great personal risk, if it was for Science, the Rune Knights, or someone she cared about, and she cared greatly about the Rune Knights as an organization. The private that she had entrusted with this task, however, seemed reluctant to do as was asked.
She sighed as she called a halt to the test, and approached.
"Listen, I know very well what I'm doing. I'm doing this so that one of you won't have to, so either attack me, or let the next person step up to that plate." She wasn't that surprised when the private climbed out of the armor. Private Connors, or Connie as she liked to be called, had always been one of the softer engineers, and Luna had only herself to blame for placing her in such a situation.
"Ma'am, I'm sorry, but I just can't follow that order." She had somehow managed to look angry and sad at the same time, and it hurt Luna to see her like that.
"I understand, Connie. This isn't your fault. You have a good head on your shoulders, and a good heart."
"I won't force you to do this. However, I do need you to understand that this is a very important test that can help our cause. If we can figure out how this works, not only can we make our own improved version of it, we can also use our results to allow the others to practically deconstruct it in the field." She hugged the private for the briefest of moments before releasing her.
"You may return to the barracks if you so choose, but I'd prefer if you could stay and take notes on what happens during this test."
Connie had calmed herself a bit as another private stepped up to the armor. Private Samantha Corduroy, or Corey, stepped into the mechanical suit, and didn't hesitate when Luna gave the order to attack, somehow getting past the defenses of her superior, and punching her squarely in the jaw, which sent Luna flying back towards the wall. The armor itself definitely increased the physical attributes of the wearer, but Luna wasn't letting that stop her. She barely avoided Corey's foot, when she tried to stomp on her head. She was definitely trying, and Luna would have to give her some sort of reward for that later, but for now she needed to stay focused.
A moment's hesitation could get her killed in a situation like this.
"Great, this is great, but let's change up the pace a bit." She placed her hands on the ground, causing a wall of ice crystals to form in front of her, before she gained more ground. She could hear the private punching the ice wall, could hear the clang of the metal fists hitting the ice, and could hear the crystals cracking and buckling. However, if she knew one thing about this particular subordinate, it was that she didn't always think things through.
As Corey pounded her way through the ice, she failed to notice the direction that the tops of the crystals were leaning. However, as soon as she noticed this, she simply punched harder, and somehow got through before they fell. Luna was somewhat taken aback, but she had a plan ready for this eventuality, as she thrust an empty palm toward the private from a distance. Before either could blink, strong bars of ice would form around the unit, and close in on it as a floor and ceiling formed as well, creating a cage. Luna was certain that this would hold the girl, but unfortunately she was wrong, as the bars in her direction were shattered quite easily.
"Well, this is problematic." Luna had to think a bit more quickly, which meant suiting up herself, and using a combination of weapons. Those of course were the whip that she wore on her hip, and a spear that she could make multiples of. As a matter of fact, an idea happened to strike her as soon as she remembered that her spear was created by a spell in her arsenal. She ran around Corey as quickly as she could, tossing spears in her direction before using her whip.
When Corey caught the weapon, her armor began to freeze. Unfortunately, she couldn't simply release the weapon, as the hand holding it was the first thing to go. She panicked and tried to free herself, flinging Luna around in her attempts, but there wasn't much left that she could do, as Luna held on tight to the grip of her whip. The armor had frozen completely inside the space of one minute, and Luna commended Corey as she stood up.
"That was a good effort, Private Corduroy. I actually thought you meant to kill me there, for a second, and you very nearly succeeded."
"Personally, I think you've earned something for yourself. Meet me at my office later, and I'll see that you get something for your efforts." She couldn't tell if Corey could hear her through the ice, as some of the technicians hauled the armor away to thaw it out so that the hapless private could be recovered. When all was said and done, Luna compared her notes with Connie. There were apparently several things wrong with the armor, the worst of which was an issue with temperature regulation.
Corey was lucky that the techs pulled her out when they did, as she could easily have frozen to death had they not. She had shown up ant Luna's office as she was directed, and Connie had been offered the opportunity to stay as well. Luna was found musing over the details the next day. She had seen the two off, and hadn't eaten anything as she pondered the possibilities of how to improve upon the flaws that she had found in the armor, most of which were mechanical. After some time, she came to the conclusion that the best thing to do would be to have someone engrave each part with runes to prevent freezing and overheating, and to make certain that the small parts in the back fitted together more cohesively, to prevent the vulnerability of being attacked from behind.
Once she had figured out the specifications of both the armor, and her improvements, she brought her designs to a team of mechanical specialists, and had them design a prototype. They worked with some other members that were attuned to using runes, and managed to pull it off, sending it back to Luna. She was impressed by it, and made a note to reveal it to the Field Marshall, the Director, or both, once she had the opportunity. For the time being, however, she took her notes back to the one who had tasked her with figuring out the weak points of the armor. They seemed quite understanding as she explained her methods, and were thrilled to know that the armor had so many mechanical issues, because those were something that anyone could exploit so long as they had the knowledge of them, and a means to do so.
They did however ask for Luna's assistance in taking down those using said armor, which was a request that she couldn't help but accept. She was happy to get out of the lab once in a while, it provided her with a much needed refresher on reality every so often. She was joined by her best people in this endeavor, and would be sure that each and every one of them returned to the base in Era in the same way that they had left. After all, they were her responsibility, and she didn't want anything bad happening to them. She was almost motherly with her subordinates, in some regards.
She let them make mistakes, but preferred that they not get hurt in doing so. She had a habit of treating them like children at times, but only because she cared about them. It didn't take long once everyone knew what they were doing. They recovered the rest of the power armor intact, mostly, and what wasn't could easily be repaired and reassembled in the lab. Or rather, they had recovered that which had been used in the raid on the Rune Knight base. The Rune Knights that Luna had worked with were confident in her research, and promised to deliver any other units they found.
With this, Luna set plans in motion to refurbish each suit that came into the lab, and have them marked with the Rune Knights guild symbol, before being stored next to, but not with, the prototype. Luna had made a good number of improvements on the armor with the help of her unit, or rather, with the help of the Engineering Corps, and she took pride not only in this accomplishment, but in the fact that everyone had worked together so well in following her orders. She wasn't sure, when she was first promoted, if she had what it took to lead, but those under her supervision seemed to trust and respect her, and save for those that put Luna at great personal risk, they seemed to follow her orders well enough. She was overjoyed upon this realization, and could barely contain herself when she considered further advancement possibilities. She felt that something like this deserved some sort of celebration, so she called a restaurant that she personally knew was cleared to deliver on base, and ordered twenty of everything, in order to set up a little something for those who had helped in this effort.
It hadn't been easy, but they had gotten the job done. She only had one thing left to do, as she raised a glass, and tapped it with a fork, just outside her office.
"Private Corduroy, would you please join me on the landing?" Corey was a little surprised, but did as she was asked, nervously climbing the stairs, and facing everyone as she stood next to Luna.
"This should be quick." Luna said as she removed the Private ranks from Corey's uniform, and undid the lapels in order to place Sergeant ranks on them.
"Congratulations, Sergeant Corduroy, you've earned this." She hugged her new sergeant before the two of them descended the staircase together. Luna was certain that she had made the right decision as she pondered the big reveal of the Power Armor that the Engineering Corps had worked on.
Word Count: 2,029/2,000
