Bolts of golden and crimson energy filled the air as Dana Noel raced across the rain-soaked rooftops of Palmyra’s Military Exercise Zone. Although a swarm of airborne magitech drones assailed the energetic Norban from every angle, her impressive agility had allowed her to evade the majority of their fire. What few shots
should have found their mark had been deflected by the array of glowing stars that orbited the grinning Ars Magi in a protective screen. Indeed, their point defense beams, combined with the more powerful blasts from Shining Zenith, had already blown several of the drones out of the sky, with a new one seemingly plummeting to the ground in a shower of sparks and scorched metal with each passing second.
It was a test designed to push the sunny sharpshooter’s abilities, both magical and physical, to their limits, and while it was certainly a harrowing experience to run through this tailor-made gauntlet, after the mind-numbingly tedious
written test had pushed her
patience to the limit, Dana was only too happy to finally get to the
fun part. For the past few weeks, she and her teammates had been feverishly preparing for their Field Readiness Examinations, and while Dana was eager to improve her abilities and remedy her various deficiencies, she had dreaded the written tests with every fiber of her being. In addition, she soon realized that having Penny as a roommate was both a blessing and a curse in this regard, since the hyper-focused, no-nonsense Siscian refused to allow the carefree Norban to shirk her studies, and would even go so far as to hold impromptu quiz sessions when Dana would least expect them. Like in the middle of the night... To say that these were the most grueling weeks of her life would have been a massive understatement, but, at long last, she’d finished the various prelims, and, thanks in no small part to Penny’s rigorous efforts, even managed to pass the final written exam. Now, she could devote all her characteristic energy to the part that
really mattered- the final field exercise, in which Dana could show off the results of everything she’d learned in the weeks of training leading up to this point.
Despite her distaste for the dozen-plus page written tests, practical application was where she excelled. She knew her shortcomings better than anyone, and she had done her very best to overcome each weakness in turn, while simultaneously bolstering her strengths to even higher pinnacles. Here, leaping, dodging, and rolling her way through a veritable laser light show, her shimmering auric bolts dueling the drones’ malevolent blood-red beams, Dana Noel was in her element. However, as she dispatched the final done with a finishing flourish, the golden gunslinger was only too aware that this was merely the
first phase of her challenge, the one which accentuated her strengths. Now, she would have to prove that she could overcome her
weaknesses as well…
“Nice work, Dana!” her instructor,
Shelby Kwan, commended with an approving grin.
“You could give a clinic on how to take down aerial opponents attacking en mass.”“Thanks, Shel!” Dana replied in her typical exuberant manner.
“I’ve been training really hard, so I’m glad to see all that work paid off!”A veteran Ars Magi and Wing of Justice, no less, Shelby had initially seemed quite the imposing figure, but Dana had quickly discovered that the bearer of the Shimmering Silver Spinel Armgaus was actually a very laid-back sort, one who had even gone so far as to allow her boisterous pupil to call her by a friendly nickname. Of course, Dana knew she would be foolish to think Shelby’s relaxed demeanor in any way mitigated her staggering combat ability. Sharing Dana’s affinity for the Light elementum, the silver-haired Wing of Justice used her mystical abilities to augment a melee focused fighting style, often bending light around her to conceal her presence, at least until she was ready to strike. In addition, she employed a pair of energy blades as her gladius, weapons which, for all intents and purposes, might as well be called lightsabers. Unsurprisingly, Dana thought this was
incredibly cool, but also more than a little terrifying, especially since she had a sneaking suspicion that she’d have a chance to see the weapons in action firsthand…
“Okay, so, the next phase of your exam is to see how well you can compensate for your various weaknesses,” Shelby explained.
“In particular, your lack of any real close combat capabilities. As I’m sure you’ve already guessed, since drones are fairly useless as opponents in that regard, and Voids would be a little too dangerous, you’ll be facing the nearest equivalent- another Ars Magi. Namely, me.” she added, activating her energy blades, which glowed with a pale blue radiance.
“Ready to start?”Dana was about to reply, but before she could open her mouth, Shelby had vanished.
A hologram? But then…!The golden gunslinger barely had time to roll out of the way, before Shelby reappeared behind where she’d been standing split second earlier, the instructor’s twin lightsabers slicing apart a few of her stars that hadn’t moved fast enough.
Yikes… I was almost a goner there… Dana thought as she tried to calm her racing heart.
“Lesson one: don’t let your enemy set the pace,” Shelby told her pupil, who was even now backflipping her way across the rooftop in an effort to put as much distance between herself and her instructor as possible.
“You always need to seize the initiative. If an enemy seizes it first, make regaining it your top priority. I know most Voids aren’t really the talkative type,” she continued, while effortlessly batting away the various energy bolts Dana was firing at her.
“But you can never tell what kinds of powers high-classes of Voids might have. They could distract you with taunts, or disguise themselves completely. They could even pretend to be someone you know. Anything to get you to let your guard down.”Dana’s eyes widened as Shelby disappeared again.
“Feeling paranoid yet?” an amused voice whispered in her ear.
Dana had barely whirled around, when she felt a powerful kick being driven into her stomach. The Norban gasped in pain as the force of the blow sent her flying into an old air conditioning unit, which crumpled behind her.
Crap! Crap! Crap…! Dana swore as she clutched her aching stomach and struggled to stand on her shaking legs.
Even now, Shelby was racing toward her, leaping up to deliver a finishing blow. It took all of Dana’s rapidly dwindling strength to dodge to the side at the last moment, but when she tried to fire a shot at her instructor, the Wing of Justice delivered a swift strike to the Norban’s hand. Although the strength of Shelby’s energy blades had been significantly reduced for this exercise, they still hurt like hell. Crying out in pain, Dana dropped her gladius and fell backwards onto the rooftop.
“That was pretty sloppy,” Shelby chided as she strode closer.
“If I was a Void, you’d be missing a hand right now. I gotta say,” she added with a disappointed frown.
“I was expecting better from you, Dana.”Stopping in front of the fallen girl, Shelby raised one of her energy blades for a final strike. However, before she could bring it crashing down, Dana opened a clenched fist, from which emerged a blinding flash. When it faded, the Norban was gone.
“Well done…” Shelby noted with an approving smirk.
“Maybe there’s hope for you yet.”…
…
…
In a darkened alleyway, tucked between two bulky dumpsters, a battered and bruised Dana Noel tried to compose herself. Her small body still shuddered with each ragged breath, but the irrepressible Norban knew that whatever momentary reprieve she had found would be short-lived. Shelby was bound to find her again soon enough, and when that happened, Dana needed to be ready, or else everything she’d accomplished thus far would have been for nothing.
Come on, Dana, she told herself, hugging her knees close to her chest as rain dripped off the brim of her hat.
Get it together! You can do this! The golden gunslinger was intimately familiar with the fact that her ability to engage foes in melee was utterly laughable compared to that of her teammates, but she had devoted countless long hours, and more than one sleepless night, to finding ways of overcoming this deficiency. Thus far, however, those efforts hadn’t amounted to very much…
But that changes now… A moment later, the sound of approaching footsteps caught her attention.
“So, hide and seek, huh?” the amused voice of Shelby Kwan called out.
“Y’know, that was actually an impressive little trick you pulled back on the rooftop,” she added.
“Keep that up, and you might even have a shot at beating me!”Okay, this is it… Taking a deep breath, Dana grit her teeth and prepared for round two.
Although she had recovered her gladius before making her escape and the pain in her hand had subsided to a dull ache, the young Ars Magi was doubtful that she’d be able to hit a target of Shelby’s agility and defensive prowess, even in an ambush situation. Thus, she would focus on a different target, a roughly cylindrical piece of machinery attached to one of the alley walls. Dana had no idea what function it might have served, but, with luck, it would now play the role of obstruction and distraction. Snapping off two quick shots to free her target from the wall, Dana didn’t waste time watching its impact on the ground below. Instead, she darted out of the alley, vaulting over a wrecked car, before coming to a stop in the center of the street. Turning to face the alley she’d just emerged from, the golden gunslinger dropped to one knee and, holding her gladius with both hands, took careful aim with Shining Zenith.
She was just quick enough to observe the blur of motion that was Shelby Kwan leap out of the alley. Behind her, the mangled form of the cylindrical piece of machinery, which Dana had hoped would at least slow the Wing of Justice down, still glowed molten red from where the veteran Ars Magi had sliced her way through it. Dana fired shot after shot as her foe barreled towards her with all the force of a runaway bullet train.
That’s it… Just a little closer… Dana thought as her golden eyes narrowed with fierce intensity.
I’m done running away… As fast as Shelby batted Dana’s auric bolts right back at her, the sharpshooter conjured an array of glowing stars to absorb them, until the Wing of Justice finally came within striking range. Leaping above her target, Shelby prepared to bring both her energy blades down with stupendous force, but Dana was ready for this. In the blink of an eye, her myriad stars had coalesced into a single brilliant barrier.
I’m gonna end this right now!For the briefest moment, Shelby hung suspended in midair as her blades crashed against the star-shaped shield, before a blinding blast of auric energy shot forth, the starburst’s stunning power sending the Wing of Justice flying across the street to impact against the side of a building with a loud crash. All was quiet for several seconds, until Dana slowly rose to her feet and cautiously walked over to where Shelby lay atop a pile of rubble.
“How was that?” the sunny sharpshooter asked with one of her trademark grins, while pointing her gladius at the center of the Wing of Justice’s head.
“Not bad,” a weary-sounding Shelby replied with a chuckle.
“Not bad at all…” she added as Dana offered a hand to help the veteran Ars Magi to her feet.
“Thanks!” Dana replied, fully back to her cheerful self, despite her clear exhaustion.
“Ya really had me on the ropes for a bit there,” she explained.
“I was startin’ to get scared that I might not be able to beat ya, but then I realized I had to stop worrying and just let my heart light my way!”“Guardian Gunslinger Alexis…” Shelby noted with a grin.
“Yeah!” Dana replied, her eyes gleaming with delight.
“Are you a fan of her’s too?!” she asked eagerly.
“You better believe it!” the Wing of Justice confirmed.
“I’ve watched every episode and movie at least three times,” she added.
“Alexis was a big inspiration for me growing up, but I’ve always had a special appreciation for her partner, Izumi. Her skill with dual wielding was what led to my desire to master fighting with twin blades myself.”“Really?! That’s awesome!” Dana gushed.
“Ever since I was a little kid, I wanted to be just like Alexis! Although, I guess that’s pretty obvious with my fighting style and all…” she added sheepishly.
“After we get cleaned up and the debriefings are all finished, what do you say we hang out for a bit and watch some of our favorite episodes?” Shelby inquired.
“Snacks and pizza are my treat.”“That sounds great!” Dana cheered, her exhaustion seemingly swept away by a flood of exuberance.
“Thanks so much!”“You earned it,” Shelby replied warmly as she put an arm around her pupil's shoulder.
“Come on, let’s get out of here.”As the pair departed, the clouds above them began to disperse, allowing shafts of warm sunlight to reveal the prismatic glory of a rainbow. It was a sight that promised a bright and hopeful future for not only Dana Noel, but with luck, the entirety of Team Radiant Storm, and the world they had all vowed to defend.
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