Alexander had never been in a Power Armor before. His father was rather protective in that regard. Many Imperial Nobles preferred to put their children, boys and girls alike, through rigorous military training before they even become adults. A few of them even had their children personally execute prisoners on death rolls as a rite to adulthood.
Supposedly, this could toughen them up, which essentially meant this could teach them to see human lives as nothing more than numbers and throw armies to their death if necessary.
Count Wolf wasn’t quite a believer in that ideology. He thought both Alexander and Amelia should have a chance to enjoy their childhood. Learning to fight and kill could wait. Alas, that didn't go too well…
Thankfully, as the overlord of this entire facility, Alexander had more than enough help. A few men of the Knight Company joined Alexander and helped him put the Power Armor on.
Indominated Power Armors were interesting. They could be put on manually, but it took quite a while. Specialized machines have been designed to assist with the rapid deployment of Knights, although these machineries only made things a little faster. That was why back in Wolf Den, most of the Wolf Guards weren’t in Power Armors. They never had the time to put them on.
Either way, with the help of the other Knights, Alexander was finally able to put the Power Armor on. With a single silent nod to thank the other Knights for their assistance, he made his way back to the shooting range. The other Knights exchanged a gaze, but instead of leaving, they followed Alexander.
This was Alexander’s first experience with Power Armors, and he had to admit it was...weird. Despite his young age, Alexander was tall enough to fit nicely into the metal suit. A giant ammo pack was attached to his back, which was in turn connected to a Gauss Machine Gun that was attached to the side of the Power Armor during non-combat cases. The insides of the armor were filled with sensors that allowed the armor to mimic the actions of its wearers. In other words, if Alexander wanted to lift his arm, he didn't need to move the chunk of alloy with his physical strength. The armor could tell what he wanted and respond accordingly.
Alexander’s own face was covered by a helmet, which provided protection to his head while offering him sight of the outside world. There were projections on the inside of the helmet that acted as a visual interface to the statistics of the armor such as the amount of ammunition, energy, and oxygen left.
The helmet, along with a lot of other functions of the Power Armor, could be controlled by voice command. Some personal armors were coded to only recognize the voice of specific individuals, but there was no such restriction with this particular set of armor.
“Open helmet.” Alexander instructed, and the helmet of the Power Armor snapped open. A breath of relatively fresh air hit Alexander’s face, and the young man couldn’t help but agree that he enjoyed it. The armor definitely offered quite the protection, but the metallic smell inside was a bit unbearable.
The Power Armors of most military commanders or Imperial Nobles had the luxury of being equipped with air filtering systems and other mechanics to make the wearers as comfortable as possible. Then again, their Power Armors were also more for show than for use. The ordinary Indominated Power Armors didn't have the same settings.
Either way, Alexander supposed it was time to do what he planned. To test the impact of the Essence of Agony on Power Armors.
He glanced at the Knights and issued a warning. “Stay back.” They might be Disciples of Agony, but even Disciples could be driven mad or even killed if too much pain was applied to them, the same way that human beings could die from eating too much.
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The Knights nodded in obedience and backed off.
Alexander started exerting the Essence of Agony he had at his disposal into the Power Armor he was wearing. As soon as he started the process, he realized that his powers were exhausted quicker than with the rifle and the knife. It also took much longer, as he quickly came to realize. Still, the Lord of Agony pushed on, knowing he had more than enough energy to spend.
Slowly, the Knights on the side watched in a mixture of surprise and horror as the metallic surface of the Indominated Power Armor started to twist and turn in unnatural ways. Platings that were once clean and flat became rugged and scarred. Red markings came into existence, covering more and more of the armor as the transformation progressed. The red ammo tank lit up like it was on fire, and some of the Knights could swear they heard distinct sounds of screaming. The Gauss Machine Gun evolved as well, undergoing similar mutations as the Assaulter Gauss Rifle.
One of the Knights in front of Alexander watched in sheer terror as a red form started to take place on the retractable helmet covering Alexander’s face. It started off as a mere dot, as if someone placed a drop of red paint on the helmet. Within seconds, that dot grew into an odd shape that occupied half the helmet. The Knight quickly turned away. Just looking at the form made him hurt.
Alexander didn't know all the changes that were made to the external aesthetics of the Power Armor. All he knew was that the moment the mutation was complete, he felt like he had become one with his Indominated Power Armor. He no longer needed the sensors to move the armor or to use the voice commands to give orders. He was the armor. The metallic shells were simply an extension of his body.
No longer needing to use words, Alexander opened the helmet with a single thought. He could see that the Knights around him were biting their lips in agony. It was clear that the Power Armor was giving off the same painful radiation that the rifle did. Now that he thought about it, he could feel it as well. An excruciating sensation that was both painful and satisfying. If an ordinary human was in a Power Armor like this, they would be driven mad in minutes.
“Leave me.” He gave the Knights an order, and the Knights quickly and gratefully departed.
Alexander stood there for a few seconds, feeling the pain circulating across his body. The same pain also fed back to him, resulting in an interesting cycle. When he finally got used to the agony that came along with the mutated armor, he tested out a few moves in the Power Armor.
Alexander wasn’t too sure how fast or agile normal Knights were, but the one thing he was sure was that they definitely weren’t as fast as him in the mutated armor. He and the armor moved and struck as one, which allowed him to do some rather challenging moves. Alexander had to admit he had quite the fun doing tactical rolls on the ground while clad in metal. It was just quite a satisfying experience. Honestly, it was the most fun Alexander has had in a while.
Finally, as his funtime came to an end, Alexander started going through what all these experiments meant for his cause as a whole.
Since these weapons were created by adding the Essence of Agony to standard weapons, Alexander simply decided to call them Possessed Weapons. In general, Possessed Weapons were much better at their jobs than their ordinary counterparts. They came with an aura of agony, which could affect everyone within a certain proximity, including the users of the weapons and their allies. Possessed Blades and Possessed Ammunition also had a decent corrosive effect on contact.
In addition, Possessed Weapons could form a type of connection with their users, essentially becoming one with the operators. This was especially helpful with Possessed Power Armors, allowing their users to do highly challenging moves in the huge chunk of metal easily.
As of now, none of the Disciples or Apostles of Agony had enough Essence of Agony, or pain tolerance, for that matter, to use the Possessed Weapons. Nonetheless, Alexander was confident that it would just be a matter of time before some of them reach the right stage.
At that point, these possessed warriors would be a force to be reckoned with. Alexander was confident they could easily stand up against some of the most elite Imperial units, and perhaps even defeat them.
Unfortunately, he wouldn’t be able to bring any of these Power Armors off the island. Perhaps he would be able to acquire and possess weapons and Power Armors in Valoria?
Alexander sighed. Perhaps. Or perhaps he would be spotted and terminated the moment he arrived at the mainland. Who knew? At his will, different pieces of the Possessed Armor disconnected and fell apart, saving him a lot of trouble.