[IC] Eternal Galaxy: Shards of Starlight - Part I

[S121]

Nexion System
Planet: Nexus

John was quite surprised by what Starla had said. According to her, MJOLNIR armor still could not be replicated after 519 trillion years. John knew that Dr. Halsey was ahead of her time, but not by that much. John heard what Starla had said about the armor and wondered if there was a way to keep the original weight and shape.

"Is there a way to increase the weight and copy the exact shape and color of the original armor? It's just that I've found that the extra weight allows you to do more damage with each strike and has other advantages,... aaand I've grown kind of attached and accustomed to the old design.", John said to Starla in a calm tone as he received the arm brace and placed it onto his right arm.

"What exactly does this brace do?", John asked.

[Koishi]

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur

---

"So..what food does this ship have anyways?" Mima asked.

[Cucoo5]

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur

"Anything and Everything. The ship is designed to adapt to any culture." Nero pointed out. "You name it, we got it." He then looked at Mima with a questioning glance. "Say...though you'd want to get your memories as soon as possible, we should also figure out where you could stay to get some rest."

-----------------------

Nexion System
Planet: Nexus

"That brace is a part of you could say is like the skeleton of the armor. if it fits, the rest fits." She then walked over to the rest of the AETHER suit and pressed another button to begin simple copying the shape and color of the MJOLNIR Armor.
"Weight won't be an issue as it can be adjusted at will." She then turned back to John. "So, does that brace feel comfortable?"

[S121]

Nexion System
Planet: Nexus

"Yes.", John said to Starla as he moved it about.

John was curious by Starla saying that it was the skeleton of the armor. How did the armor work? What were its parameters? Were they less, equal, or greater.

"So, is the armor and undersuit made from nano-technology, or is it made of something else? What else is the armor capable of?", John asked Starla in a curious tone as he moved his arm inside of the brace, testing its flexibility.

[Cucoo5]

Nexion System
Planet: Nexus

"AETHER Armor is modular, hence the skeleton. Each section can be switched out for something else to fit a specific situation. If need be, the suit itself can be weaponized and can be integrated into other systems. In addition, there is a special 'mech suit' which uses the AETHER armor as the main system. The Mech Suit basically makes this powerful enough to survive in an aerial dogfight, and of course allows you to maneuver in it, however it hinders mobility on the ground and thus is used only for such occasions. You can attach special modular weapons and armor units and so on." She watched as the AETHER Armor made its final modifications to look identical to the MJOLNIR. "It's ready...now the final thing is that you can adjust the weight as need be. If you need it light, then you can make it lighter with just a thought. Heavy? Same way." She picked up the forearm piece of the armor and helped put it over the arm brace. "Oh and the little telepatch placed behind your ear will allow you to access and integrate your own mind into the armor's systems."

[S121]

Nexion System
Planet: Nexus

"Is there a way to integrate my neural uplink to the telepatch or the armor? It's one of the things that gives me my reaction time.", John said to Starla as he pointed at the small piece of metal sticking out of the base of his skull.

John then walked over to his old helmet and pulled Cortana's crystal data chip out of it. After the time it took, Cortana had collected all of the files from John's old MJOLNIR armor and stored it with her, allowing all the data to be stored inside of the new suit.

[Cucoo5]

Nexion System
Planet: Nexus

"That should have been transcribed over to the AETHER Armor during the procedure. The only difference should be how the systems operate in general, which should be an overall upgrade from the old suit, as things should be faster and stronger because of the materials. It's a sort of crystal-metal alloy, which makes it extremely resilient. Coupled with the Aura crystal core and the shields..." Starla pointed to a part of the back of the armor. "It should be able to survive in the fray of an all out firefight now, which before it couldn't do as effectively. Well...theoretically it should be able to handle that with the MJOLNIR Systems..."

[S121]

Nexion System
Planet: Nexus

"Wait, 'theoretically'?", John asked in slight confusion.

If this was all theoretical, then John was in trouble. John didn't like going into battle with a suit of armor that might work, he had to make sure that it worked properly for obvious reasons.

"Is it okay if you tell me what an Aurora Crystal core can do, and if you have a place to test the 'theoretical' capabilities of the suit?", John calmly asked Starla.

[Cucoo5]

Nexion System
Planet: Nexus

"Well, the AETHER Armor has been combat tested, just, of course, not with the MJOLNIR systems." She turned to the rest of the suit. "We know what the AETHER can handle, which is...in accordance to what little data their was on MJOLNIR, is equal to what the MJOLNIR could handle in the past in comparison to our current weapon technology. In short, the AETHER is to our weapons as MJOLNIR was to your weapons in the past. With the combination of the efficiency of AETHER and the resilience of MJOLNIR, this new AETHER should simply more capable than what it normally is. So your fight style would not change, though you can do a bit more with it. As for a place to test it...We would need to put you through a Strike Fighter training session. The Division of the Strike Fighters here is Alpha Division...but..." She looked about to make sure no one would hear her. "Lady Avonna has distanced herself from Alpha Division ever since Commander Regalis has taken command. The rest of the council still aligns itself with Alpha Division, but if the rumors are true...you might want to find Beta or Delta Division. Beta should be in Celestora System, and Delta is in Helios." She glanced about once more and then raised her voice slightly. "Anyway, let's get you into your new armor!"

[S121]

Nexion System
Planet: Nexus

John nodded to Starla and followed her to the new armor. Once he was at the armor station, John put Cortana's crystal data chip on a nearby table and waited to be equipped with the new AETHER armor.

John wanted to know that he was going to be getting the best training, so John asked Starla one more question as he stood on the platform.

"So which division has better training? Beta, or Delta?", John asked Starla, not having to worry about anyone hearing him.

If worst came to worst, Cortana was ready to remove any traces of John's question from any video recordings.

[Cucoo5]

Nexion System
Planet: Nexus

"Beta follows the traditional Strike Fighter Guidelines, which has been deemed effective for any combat situation here in the galaxy. Delta on the other hand..."
She paused and initiated the robotic arms to begin placing the remainder of the 'skeleton' first then activated the armor to become energy and form on the skeleton, which it did. "Commander Sullivan follows the guidelines but he has added another training section which tests the person's capabilities in brutal and very specific situations. Most don't pass those tests." She then turned to John now wearing the AETHER Armor adapted to look exactly like MJOLNIR. "How does it feel?"

[Koishi]

Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur

---

"A place to rest? Never thought about that." Mima put a finger to her chin.

"And you could possibly get a room for me?" Mima asked.

[S121]

Nexion System
Planet: Nexus

John shifted and rolled his shoulders as the HUD came online. He then slightly moved his arms around, then opened and closed his hands, trying to get a feel for the armor.

Once he got a full feel for it, he then turned to Starla and nodded.

"It feels good to me.", John said as he walked over to Cortana's crystal data chip and inserted it into his helmet.

"Wow. It's a lot roomier here than in the MJOLNIR armor. Not only that, but if I'm correct, this armor uses pure energy to work. The time it takes for the armor to react to your movements and thoughts are going to be faster by 20%. The core is a little bit different though. Instead of a Fusion/Plasma Reactor, this suit uses an Aurora energy crystal. It can put out more power, but if it ever runs out, your suit will no longer work. I'll see if I can tweak the charging process, but but it might take me a while. The architecture of the armor's inner workings are similar to MJOLNIR's, but the differences could take some time getting used to. I'll get on that as soon as I finish unpacking...", Cortana said to John as she began to install all of John's old suit's data to the new one.

John walked around, but his movements seemed slightly erratic and overdone, due to the decreased time it took for the suit to react to John.

"This will take getting used to... How do I get to Delta Division?", John asked Starla as he stopped and stood within normal speaking distance of her.

[Cucoo5]

Nexion System
Planet: Nexus

"Right...uhm...first, just remember, the armor is equipped with a sort of Aura Lens which converts the raw energy into a form of energy that bears an attribute. In this case it can make the armor lighter or heavier. Also there is a limiter installed so that the Aura crystal can not be overdrawn on power. The crystal will recharge itself as long as there is a small amount of energy left. The suit is also designed with an experiment Energy Syphon, which allows it to take energy into it from the outside and overcharge the suit. However, do this only when the Aura crystal is almost depleted, otherwise it will destroy the core module. It's a form of Nova Engine, which has been only successfully created in the Blade Series of fighters...only three stable Nova Engines exist. Typically, Nova Engines have a 90% chance of...well...going super nova. The suit uses a improvised version which shouldn't be able to as long as the crystal is depleted, but not dead. Also when attempting to overcharge the suit, you want to output as much energy as possible in order to "vent" the energy."

"Now, Delta Division should be in Helios System. The fastest way to travel anywhere in the Galaxy is via the Warp Gates built at every major planet in the Galaxy. Nexus has one and you could go to Duon's Warp Gate which puts you in sector 12 of Helios system."

--------------
Helios System
Delta Division Flagship | Excalibur

Kiara nodded. "We'll be able to get you through the system in seventy two hours, easy."
"Right. So in the mean time...uhm..." Nero then leaned over to Kiara. "She could stay at your place, right?"
"Uhm...no, my living quarters is too small for two. Can't your study be divided into separate rooms?"
"...maybe..."
"Ok! So, Mima, we'll set up a place in the meantime in Nero's study. We'll just set up some walls and a nice door..." Kiara then whispered to Mima, "...the door will have a manual lock so that you won't have to worry bout him."
"Tch! I Still have ears! And why does it have to be MY STUDY! Geez!" Nero then grumbled to himself as he stormed ahead into the mess hall. "Darn girls...dividin' up my study like they own it...every time...EVERY TIME!"

[S121]

Nexion System
Planet: Nexus

John was silent after hearing that if the suit was too badly abused, that it would cause a supernova and kill him and everyone in a star system. To John, it seemed like an obscene amount of power for a suit of power armor, but maybe he would need that power in the future.

"Thank you for everything you've done. I'll try not to abuse the suit and blow myself up.", John jokingly said to Starla.