Dr Elune looked up from their desk, groaning before they spot Hope waltzing on in, "Oh, hello Hope. Here to watch me practice my many intervies to come?"

Hope shook her head, giggling as she sat down opposite the doctor, "Not a chance. Thought you could do with a break though... If that is alright, Alex?"

The little projection of an Alex-face nodded, "Certainly... But the doctor will need to come back for another half hour of practive tonight."

Grimacing as they clanced over, Dr Elune leant back with a sigh, "Sounds like a deal. So, what does my study break entail?"

Hope grinned, "A few exciting developements. Since me and Laura have had little to do as you prepare for your adoring public, we have been loving the free access to the armoury. She tinkers with some modificaitons, I test 'em, we hope nothing explodes... Except sometimes the test dummies."

Dr Elune smiled faintly, "Sometimes? Not all the time?"

As Hope laughed, Alex giggled before shutting off the projector, letting the two of them talk, "Not quite. We have been perticularly interested in a shield... Pretty sturdy, and produces a field around it."

"You know force fields have been debunked, right?"

"... Mostly. This one puts those back on the table." Smirking, Hope looked up to the sensors, "Alex, be a dear and fetch me the file labeled 'Shield Montage?'"

"Right away." In the middle of the room, a flat projection flickered to life, playing a recording. A medieval styled tower shield stood at the end of the room, with Hope and Laura excitedly standing in front of the camera.

"So, we have permission to fire guns at a neat shield. Greg assures us it will not break... We wanna make a little dent."

Laura grinned, "We will fail... One way or another."

Hope nudged her, walking over to a bench with an array of weapons. "Turn it on, already."

The frame skipped, and Laura was off-screen, with the shield... Humming. Vibrating subtly in place. "First test... Balistic pistol, standard army issue." Hope raised the gun, tok a shot, and whistled as the bullet pinged off the surface with a slight bang. "The shield sure is loud... Pass me those heavy-duty ear protectors."

The frame skipped again, showing Hope with said ear protectors on, giving the thumbs up as she couldn't hear a thing. She then raised an automatic rifle, yelling, "Fully automaic balistic, here we go!" Letting loose, Hope began emptying thr clip, jumping slightly as she felt the floor rumble, the camera shaking as a barrage of small thunderclaps resounded through the room, the bullets falling down just short of the device.

The next scene showed Hope holding up a grenade launcher with a manic smile, "Greg said this bunker was designed for this, yeah? Lets see the shield stand up against a specially designed frag-napalm explosive combo, fired at high velocity." Laura could ba heard running from the room, Hope lowering special defensive shutters as she slotted the gun through a small opening, leveling it at the shield. The view swapped to a second camera, positioned inside the room.

Hope pulled the trigger, the camera getting a glimpse of firey mayhem before it blacked out, the view returning to Hope's side, showing her launched back from the gun with an off, groaning against the wall as Laura rushed in. "You okay?"

"Yeah... That wasn't the gun. Tried it before... It had kick, but not nearly that much!" Lowering the shutter, Hope gasped at the scene before them.

The walls and floor leading up to the shield smoldered with molten fragments of schrapnel from the grenade, prompting the safety drones to enter with fire extinguishers. Closer to the shield, though... Large chunks of rubble had been blasted out from the surfaces, a swathe of destuction radiating outward from the impact zone.

And in the middle of it all, a cone of perfectly untouched peace, with the shield standing without so much as a speck of napalm on it.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

The video flickered off, Hope practically bouncing in her seat with excitement as Dr Elune gaped, "I know, right? We had one more gun to try, short of moving to a tank or warhead... And even that gun wasn't allowed, since it would level the bunker, and the house along with it."

Dr Elune swallowed, finding their voice, "I'm... Happy you are excited. You mean to say there is something more descturctive than that in here?"

Hope nodded, "Greg has arranged a special range for me next week, to try it out. Calls it the PEWPEW, experimental gun that was too impractical."

"... The what?"

"Yes, the name is stupid. I read the specs, though..." Hopw shivered, and the doctor couldn't tell if it was from excitement or fear, "That thing could rip through the spire, if you aimed it right."

"Wh- The spire is a country. We are talking a human wieldable gun."

Hope nodded silently, grinning, "Takes eletrical input for ammunition, and a decently long charge up time... And will drain enough to power said spire for the time it charges, too."

Dr Elune blanched, "And Greg can block that thing, let alone power it?"

"Well... We are going to use ten percent output. Not nearly as bad. And, looking at the shield, it will actually negate most of the destructive force, as it is a pretty linear shot. We just need to account for the whiplash..."

"... Space shooting range?"

"Yup." Hope giggled, "He is aranging everything. Anywho, the important part: Laura thinks she can figure out a weaker version of this shield, and work her way up. Imagine coating our shuttle in those."

"... We could survive anything." As a grin slowly spread over Dr Elune's face, they chuckled, "And, the drawbacks?"

"Oh, a few. the Shield uses power too... Not as gready as the PEWPEW, but still impractical for now. We have Alex, though."

Nodding, the doctor agreed, "Micro precision on operating the shield, and we can manufacture more efficient ones as we go on... Better power production too... Fair enough."

Nodding, Hope leant back with a sigh, "Tested some other guns on the shield, too. Nothing too exciting to show. In other words, I have been having the time of my life~"

"Until you run out of guns."

Hope smirked, "Like I said... Laura has been making modifications, and some prototypes of her own are in the works. I have plenty. Most of them will stay in the armoury... We aren't going to war, after all."

Dr Elune smiled weakly, "We hope. And we would try negotiations, over military superiority."

Hope nodded, "Speaking of... Francis has secured some private chats with a few local lawbakers. He will be subtle... But we are starting on our main purpose here, as you are nice and distracting."

The doctor laughed, "Ah, yes. I forget sometimes, we are here to fight beaurocrats and lawyers. Then comes public opinion... Then we will see what we have left, and reveal Alex openly."

Hope shrugged, "Yup. Here's hoping it goes even smoother than planned..."

"That won't be hard. We planned for an uphill battle, with several losses against the government and public."

Rolling her eyes, Hope got up, "Well, that is a problem for the rest of you lot. I'm just happy testing this stuff out~ And, well..."

"... Knowing we have a plan C, if running isn't an option?"

"... Yeah." Walking to the door, Hope sighed, "I honestly don't know what I will do if it comes to that. I don't want a death sentance... But I'm not sure I will go to war for you two."

Dr Elune waved a hand gently, "There will always be another way. No wars are going to be fought here... You have fun, and go enjoy the armoury."

Hope smiled faintly, before beckoning with a finger, "Hey now... You are still on break. You are coming with me."

"... Sounds good to me."