“Shut up.” Felicia slapped a hand onto his wrist and jerked him closer. “Stand there, and be silent. We’ll get you outfitted. We’ve already put the pod in your room. That’ll strip you of the armor and put it back on when you’re ready.
“The mark two isn’t completely done, but all that’s left is getting the heads-up display debugged. It has a couple graphical glitches, but that’s it.”
Felix grunted and did as instructed. There was no point arguing with them. He’d either end up ordering them to stop, and pissing them off on a whole new level, or letting them do as they wished.
The latter option was easier.
He did as they asked, letting them guide him along the process. They had him step into the heavy boots and greaves first. Judging by those alone, it looked like this suit would completely cover him from head to toe.
Around him, Ioana and her team were getting ready, arming themselves and making plans with Lily’s team.
The two groups were starting to work very well together. Training had definitely set the foundation for them, but nothing worked better than live firsthand experience.
“Chin up.” A male tech prodded Felix in the jaw. Lifting his chin, the tech pulled a helmet down over Felix’s head.
The helmet was depowered and dark, giving with him a view of absolute blackness.
Then the screen in front of his eyes popped on and flickered before stabilizing.
Amazingly enough, it was as if he were looking through holes in the helmet.
“Damn, that’s impressive.”
“Volume’s a little low. You’ll need to key that up. The helmet is tied into the electric impulses your brain puts out. So think about moving the volume up.
“As to the suit, my team thanks you. I’ll relay to them your appreciation of their efforts. I’ll be sure to remind you about this when budget time rolls around,” said Felicia.
Felix chuckled at that and mentally thought about turning up the volume as she’d suggested.
“Mr. White is a smart man, but he’s more built for outfitting a mass of people. My team and I are better at one-offs. Or stuff like your damned Wardens.
“We downloaded the footage from them, by the way, and will be going over it later for improvements.
“Anyways. Don’t get killed. We’re done here. Tell your princess to stop worrying.” Felicia waved a hand at him over her head and left.
As she went, she stopped next to Ioana.
The big warrior looked down at the Dwarf, then gave her a truly kind smile. Ioana and Felicia shared a quick kiss, then separated, both going their separate ways.
“Ha, good for them. They make a great couple,” Felix said. He’d been trying to keep his voice down, but apparently he’d pushed the volume up way too high.
Every head in the room turned to him, including Ioana and Felicia, at what to them had been a shout.
Ioana gave him a frozen wide-eyed gaze, while Felicia grinned at him.
“What?” Felix said, the helmet turning it into a shout.
Something slammed into his helmet, the servos in the neck whining under the impact.
“Lower the volume stupid,” Miu told him.
Felix mentally tried adjusting the volume again.
“How about now?” he said.
“Better. It’ll do.”
Felix shook his head in annoyance and looked around. It was strange. He knew he wasn’t looking at things, but at a display. Yet everything looked normal. As if he were simply looking through eyeholes.
Reaching up, he waved his fingers in front of the faceplate. Whipping them back and forth quickly, he saw no delay from action to visual relay.
“Huh. She outdid herself. A lot. Remind me to see what she wants as a reward.”
“You give rewards?”
Felix turned his head to find it was Victoria asking him the question.
“Why wouldn’t I? Best way to encourage people is with rewards. Only a fool thinks that the stick is the only way to motivate people. Luckily, I’m the owner of our experiment, so I don’t have to run anything through anyone.”
Turning back to the security hall, he saw the Wardens moving out.
They were lined up two by two, moving at a pace equivalent to an easy jog for a human.
“They’re impressive,” Victoria said softly.
“Yeah, they are. I told Felicia I want one for my own use, but with replaceable power units. She’s working on it.
“I imagine this suit was a prototype that came before the Warden. She probably just built it halfway and then left it.”
“You want a Warden?” asked the swordswoman.
“Of course. I mean, shit, what kid didn’t grow up saying they wanted a mech? Didn’t you?”
“Yeah. I guess you’re right.”
“I mean, what if we made a super lightweight one that was built around using an elongated sword?”
Victoria fell silent at that.
Felix started walking forward, taking up position behind the last team entering the security hall.
“Felix, n-no. Stop. You can’t. You said you’d stay back,” Miu said, her hands clamping around one of his arms. Her voice wasn’t as firm as it normally was.
“And I will stay back, just not back here. Come on, Miu. Between you, Victoria, and this suit, I’ll be fine.” Felix kept walking, the servos and powered limbs not even slowing down despite Miu’s immense strength.
“Damn it, Felix!” Miu cursed. Moving in front of him, the diminutive and deceptively deadly woman kept herself alert. “Fine, you’ll remain in the entryway and not a step beyond.
“Or I will finally join Lily in turning Andrea on you.”
Andrea made a chirping sound behind him. “Turning me on him how?”
That drew Felix up short. “I understand. I will obey,” he said automatically.
The Wardens split off into the lobby up ahead. The individual teams that Lily and Ioana had put together broke off to assist in clearing the room.
After a minute, Ioana held up her hand in the center of the room. “Clear. Move to the exterior and sweep.”
Intricate glowing runes filled the doorway leading to the outside. Flowing script swooped and circled endlessly as Lily called it forth into being.
As his people marched through the door, and the runes, blue glowing shields wrapped around them. The Wardens were too big to exit through the lobby door, so instead they took up defensive positions in the lobby.
Team after team filtered out the door till only Ioana and Lily remained of the assault group.
After a minute, Felix started to worry.
Then Ioana turned her head to one side, her hand pressing to her ear. Nodding her head, she looked to Lily, who held up her hands in an “I don’t know” gesture.
Ioana swiveled her head to Felix. “Nothing out there. There’s signs that the entire street was full of combatants, and the pawn shop across the street is a ruin, but that’s about it.”
Felix let out a breath and relaxed. “Good. This is over, then. Let’s see about purchasing all the buildings on this street and get it all locked down.
“Lily, please let me know how much money we’ll need and I’ll get that together. I’d like to do this quietly and without people realizing we own everything, if possible. Money isn’t an issue there either, so… yeah, just let me know how much we need.”
Felix nodded to Ioana.
“You’re on duty to make sure this area is a fortress. I don’t want this happening again. Our defenses held, but I don’t like it. Work with Felicia and her team to get it set up. Multiple fallback points, security bulkheads, traps, turrets, mines, whatever.
“And if we need something that we can’t provide, I’ll use points to get it done.”
Shaking his head, Felix turned back to the security hall and went back into his complex.
He needed to get out of his armor and get to the medical wing. There were injured and wounded people who would need to see him.
First, those Death Others and our guests.
“Andrea, I want to meet your Death Others. Let’s get me out of this suit and head there.