Over the next hour, Aileen transferred from the ship to the station, where she waited for a shuttle to take her to the ground with the cargo she’d brought with her. The shuttle made its way directly to Olympus Mon, which would be her home in the future. After the shuttle entered the hangar and landed, Aileen exited the shuttle and stepped into the Sentinel Fortress.
Adrian watched as his newest student exited the shuttle and noticed him waiting for her. She started walking towards him, and Adrian took the time to study her. She was about as tall as he was, at around 180 cm tall. Her black hair was tied back in a ponytail, and she wore a dark red overcoat. She looked fit, more so than a person that wasn’t training, but that was to be expected; she was from Warpath, after all. There weren’t really unfit people in the Empire, at least as far as Nel and Humans were concerned. The mix of their food and the genetic alterations that gave them immortality made it extremely hard for anyone to actually gain unnecessary weight, unless they were actively trying. But those who were training had a more ‘fit’ look.
“Lord Sentinel,” Aileen said stiffly, using his official title.
“There is no need for formalities here, you can call me Adrian. Welcome to Mars,” he said warmly.
She smiled before responding. “Thank you… Adrian.”
“Well, first things first, let’s show you around the base…” Adrian started, and then he felt a telepathic link reach out to Aileen. Realizing what it was, Adrian made no outward reaction as two voices spoke.
“You’re finally here!” Clara sent out.
“Oh, she really is!” Meifeng sent immediately after.
Adrian saw Aileen startle, her head turning around looking to see who it was that spoke, but there wasn’t anyone near them. Adrian kept his face straight, pretending not to hear anything. He had done the same thing to Clara and Meifeng when the two of them had first received their psionics.
“Are you alright?” Adrian asked, tilting his head to the side in an inquisitive move.
“Uh…” she started slowly, “I think that I might be a bit tired.”
“She does look a bit pale,” Mei sent.
Aileen turned her head to the side, looking in the direction where Clara and Mei stood, but her eyes passed over them as the two were too far away and were facing the opposite direction.
“Yes, but that is nothing that a few trainings at our pace won’t fix,” Clara added.
Adrian noticed Aileen getting more and more agitated, so he interfered. “Alright,” Adrian sent, “you had your fun.”
Aileen turned to look at him and he grinned. “Sorry about that, they were just having a bit of fun. I did it to them when they first got their psionics, and they have been itching to try it on someone else.”
Open-mouthed, Aileen stared at him, and then Adrian gestured with his head towards Clara and Mei, who were waving at her. She turned to look back at Adrian. “That… that was telepathy?” she asked.
Adrian’s grin widened. “Yes,” he sent, and saw her study his unmoving mouth.
“Come,” he said, guiding her gently towards the entrance proper into the facilities, “let me show you your new home.”
Adrian, Clara, and Meifeng stood in the practice room, three crates standing in front of them. He had left a slightly overwhelmed Aileen alone in her quarters to get accustomed and settled into her new home.
“What are those?” Clara pointed at the crates.
Adrian winked at her. “Gifts from Warpath.” He approached one with his name on it and opened it. Inside were several items surrounded with foam, but in the corner of the crate was a small datachip. Adrian took it out and accessed it with his implant, downloading the instructions for the crate’s contents. He put the instructions on his HUD, and read them at an incredible rate by increasing his brain’s processing power consciously.
Then, once he’d finished, he reached into the crate and took out two black cloth-like gloves. They felt light in his hand, the material strange, at the same time flexible but also tough. He knew already that it was extremely strong Kevlar-like material. He put them on over his hands that now held a few more aspects—diplomacy and xenology, as those were now required for Sentinels. He wiggled his fingers and felt the gloves mold themselves to his hands until they fitted him perfectly. He pulled energy and accessed one of the psionics he had mastered, and his palms started radiating heat. He kept at it for a few seconds, and then checked the gloves, seeing that they let the heat through without a problem. He took off his coat, and then reached down and took out a larger silver-colored torso piece.
“Here.” He gave it to Clara. “Help me with this.”
She held it above his head and he put it on over his skin-suit. The piece had a solid plate across his over his upper torso. It fit awkwardly; it was too big for him. Then he took out the two leg pieces that were boots with shin bracers. He put them on and clicked them closed around his lower legs. He turned towards Meifeng and Clara, who had been looking at him in fascination.
“And what is that supposed to be?” Meifeng asked.
Adrian winked again. “Just watch,” he said, and made contact with the suit’s computer, turning it on with his imp.
The three round lights on the chest piece turned on, shining a faint bluish light. The torso piece started contracting and molding itself to his build. Then, once that was finished, Adrian turned to look at Clara and Meifeng. “Now for the battle mode,” he said, spreading his arms, and the second transformation began. Small black plates started spreading from the chest and leg pieces across his arms and legs, moving in a cascading wave of overlapping pieces until they covered every part of his body save for his face. Towards the end, the pieces on his shoulders and neck started spreading across his head, encasing it too in armor, until the helmet portion looked like a blank faceplate with a short crest at the back of the head. The area over the face was smooth, but the rest around the head was covered in the same scale-like plates. A new HUD appeared in front of him, but Adrian cleared it with his imp; he didn’t want to tinker with that part of the suit just now.
The suit was silver and black in color. The hard plates across his chest, shoulders, and back were silver, as were the lower parts of his legs. The hexagonal scale-like plates that covered the rest of his body were black. On his chest, the three glowing blue lights were arranged as the points of an upside down triangle.
After the transformation finished, Adrian lowered his arms and started moving, seeing how the suit felt. He had almost full range of movement; he couldn’t put his hands quite all the way down, as the thicker solid plate that surrounded his chest got in the way. The entire suit was of moderate weight, and wasn’t fully powered. It had power for functions other than movement, but Adrian would need to use his own strength to move. That wasn’t a problem for him, though.
He looked at his hands and saw that the plates went only up to his wrists and over the top of his hand, leaving the bottom side of his fingers and the palm covered only with the gloves. The gloves had been joined with the suit, and he was now completely sealed inside the suit. The gloves, on the other hand, had been made according to the specifications from the sphere, and were specially made to allow him to use psionics through them—most importantly his kinetic blast ability, as the majority of other abilities he could use even in full armor. The scales would be able to do something similar for other psionics.