"Sly… about Yuki." The wolfkin threw her paw off with a shrug.

"Yuki…" He hissed through his teeth, "She would always hit me, mock me, tease me... She was also always there to ensure that I was well fed, that I had someone to speak with, to ensure that I was clean… She saved me more times than I can count, trusted in all my schemes, even when they backfired…" Sly swallowed nervously. "You know, it’s funny. I always wanted to tell her how I really felt about her. But I was a joke of a male. Surely she would have laughed at me…" Sly looked down for a moment before continuing:

"I promised myself that one day I would grow up and become a real man... And then we were supposed to be happy together, at least in my dreams. And now that I have finally moved on to my goal, she is no longer here," The paws of Sly trembled in anger. "And Blaguna was the one who took my dream away from me. She took her from me. I know that we are at war, and Yuki would smack me for taking revenge on her behalf… I could forgive everything, but she dared to make Yuki suffer," Sly looked into Aranea's eyes, "I will show her just how terrible technology can really be," He stopped, looking around, seeing all the people who were working hard on making weapons and gear, and his expression softened. "No. We will show her. After all, the power of the state is in its unity. Alone I am a weak, stupid fool. Together, we are the storm. I just hope Yuki would be proud of the kind of person I am now," He wiped something from his eyes and gestured to Aranea, "Enough of my ramblings. Time for you to see what you can do now."

He tried to leave, but Aranea grabbed him by the arm.

"Sly," She whispered to him, "Tell Yuki how you feel about her."

"She is…" The male stopped, not able to finish the sentence, "It’s too late now anyway." He finally said.

"I know. I know that there is no chance of her being with us anymore. And yet, please say it to her. You can wait until you are alone. You can go to shamans. But say it out loud, don’t keep it to yourself. It will eat you, it will become poison that will burrow its way into your mind. Trust me, I know."

Sly had smiled sadly and moved away from her embrace. He only nodded, leading her to massive gates in the floor. A remote was placed on a nearby metal bean, and Sly pressed a button on it. Gates moved, revealing a large room inside. Sly beckoned to Aranea, and she jumped down.

The wolf hag landed on the metal floor, and the doors closed above her, taking away the single light source in the room. Night vision turned on, revealing that there were several obstacle courses in the room. Thick metal plates were rising up from the floor, allowing for cover. Broken bots were scattered on the floor, and traces of gunfire could still be seen on metal plates.

"Aranea? Can you hear me?" Sly's voice in her helmet inquired, "Can you see your surroundings?"

"Loud and clear. Yes, the night vision works."

"Good. Let’s run some basic tests first. Do you see the metal tower ahead of you? Jump over it, then tear off the metal pillar behind it with your left arm, if you can."

"Jump?" Aranea looked critically at the tall structure. It was at least four meters high. She usually needed to take a small run to jump over something like this. She ducked low, feeling pressure on her muscles. And then she jumped up, aiming to fly over the tower. The force behind her jump surprised even her, she nearly crashed into the metal ceiling. At the last moment, she had to press her right hand to the room's ceiling over her head in order to direct her body to land behind the structure.

She felt no pressure in her legs as she finished her seven-meter fall. Previously, there was some minor strain in her legs, now the armor carefully took away all pressure. A metal pillar, thick as the waist of a normie, was coming from the ground, the base of the metal pole was welded to the floor. Aranea reached out with her left hand, grabbing the metal object and feeling her fingers dig deep into it. The pillar was made of a solid piece of metal with a tougher core inside. Aranea grabbed it and pulled. She expected that her muscles would struggle, yet with a loud sound, the base of the metal pole came away from the floor, leaving a torn mark on the floor.

"No structural damage in the artificial muscles of the armor, no sudden energy spikes, no danger of explosion…" Sly started talking to himself.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

"Wait, the armor could have exploded?!"

"Um, yeah. I was the one who assembled it, under supervision, of course, but I am well aware of my limits. For the time being, at least," Shyly, the trainee responded, "This armor already exploded in our faces when I disobeyed doctor Till's orders and tried to assemble it in my own way."

"Oh Sly. I really want to smack you sometimes, you know?"

"Well, here is something to help you work on your anger," With a hissing sound, the metal on the floor slid to the sides, and a machine came from the floor. It was a large, hunched bot painted in orange, its arms were spread wide. Each fist of the machine was bigger than the body of Aranea. Shoulders were rising over the large square body, the black camera in the middle of the body was looking at the wolf hag. Massive legs made the first step.

"Aranea, let’s start with dodging. Do not attack it! Try to evade the fists of this loader bot. It is only slightly faster than a human, and the first strike will be from the left...

"Sly," The halfbreed stopped him eagerly, "Be silent."

The loader bot hit with its backhand. Aranea waited until the last possible moment to dodge, feeling air move on her tongue as the massive hand moved in front of her. The hand slammed into the metal tower, leaving a dent in the structure. Again and again, the bot cast its massive fists, leaving dents in the floor and in nearby structures, causing the metal floor to shake. Sly finally asked Aranea to stop and switch to thermal vision, asking her to test this mode. The overheated machine was like an enormous spot in the darkness. And yet the wolf hag managed to make out the hands of the machine, dodging them with the same ease. Finally, she grew bored and jumped on top of the machine before leaping away, cursing. The damn thing was too hot.

"All basic tests are done," Sly said after he turned off the bot, and asked Aranea to open and close her mouth several times. The wolfkin let out a long sigh, both in fear and anticipation., "Well then. Time for the main event." Light flashed in the room, illuminating the surroundings. A metal box crashed from the ceiling, rows of metal plates, each as thick as a human, rose before it. Fourteen armored plates in total rose up from the floor. Sly directed Aranea to stand before the plates, ten meters away from the first plate. The floor's metal slid away once more, and a strange rifle began to rise. Its barrel was short and large, with three metal spikes extending forward from the barrel's edges. The rifle itself was slender, and the trigger was unusually inverted. Aranea took the weapon in her arms and followed the instructions, removing the rifle from the safety mode.

"Now aim at the metal plates and listen. Do you remember how fast the shots were fired from the silver rifles? Those were just simple steel projectiles moving at Mach seventeen. When compared to this rail gun, they are but child's toys. Inside this weapon is a built-in shield generator that becomes active once you pull the trigger. It was made to lessen the recoil of the weapon. This weapon speeds up small energy particles, turning them into a tiny plasma ball. It can’t compare in speed with a laser, but it doesn't need to. The purpose of this weapon is to break through everything. Moving at Mach thirty, whatever this projectile hits, it will tear through. Take care when firing this thing, it is not meant for rapid fire. Never, ever try to use this weapon without your armor. Even though recoil is lessened by the shield, it will—and I mean it—break your arms if you use it without support from your armor. Now, without further ado… fire it." Sly spoke with excitement and trembling in his voice.

Aranea took aim at the middle of the metal plate and pressed the trigger of the rail gun. She failed to see the projectile, all she saw was that the metal plates before her were suddenly torn asunder, leaving only their bases somehow still stuck in the floor. The large metal box was pierced, a fist-sized hole was in it, and the rest of the metal structure had cracks on it. The wall behind the metal box, the wall that was meant to withstand all experimental weapons, had a large, human-sized crack on it.

And then the sound hit Aranea. For brief moments, the booming sound of an artillery projectile seemingly consumed every other sound in the world. Right after came the recoil. The wolf hag actually felt pain in her hands when the weapon's handle pushed her back a few inches.

"By the Spirits." Aranea whispered, looking at the weapon in her paws and hastily putting safety mode on. If this thing accidentally shoots. If she misfires… No. She shook her head, forcing her fears away. She must master this weapon to keep her pack safe.

"Total ammo count is thirty rounds. After that, you need to change the energy cell. If the shield is disabled, or discharged, the weapon won’t allow you to fire it. Shield uses a separate energy cell, one that can last up to a month. The rate of fire depends on the user, but do not use it rashly! I recommend one shot every thirty seconds, no more. You can seriously damage your own muscles otherwise. Lastly, since this is an energy weapon," The bloodthirst crept into Sly's voice, "Even Nokto won’t be able to stop it with her power. You can end this monster with this."

"Enough of these childish games." The voice of Till Ingo boomed through the basement, and lights flashed in the room to the south. Till's dark shadow was visible in this room, which was located directly under the ceiling. "Trainee, you're coddling the test subject too much. She can endure so much more. Now, let us push you a bit more, shall we miss Aranea? Of course, if you want to, we can stop here, but I would rather gather data on your melee performance if you feel up to the challenge. Bots won’t hold back, broken bones and piercing injuries might happen."