With the astounding success of the first Centurion armour, mass production of these uniforms had commenced, at Janus' request. The next day, they went and tested a Tier Two Centurion armour, their Tier system based on the same principle as the 'Star' ranking of Goku uniforms. Janus had been impressed at this armours ability to outperform the Tier One in every way possible. She requested more of them to be manufactured, though in fewer quantity.
The head scientist, Dr. Tynan, then put forth a Tier Three armour for them to trial the same afternoon. They spent two days searching for a candidate who might have been capable of wearing the uniform. For unknown reasons, it either ejected them or malfunctioned in such a way that it was hazardous to continue wearing. Janus was about to cease further testing, concerned that someone might end up being severely injured, or worse. Then, Jarret put forth a candidate of his own.
Gale was older than Jarret, grey hairs mingling with his short black hair and beard. Despite his age, his eyes were sharp as he examined the Tier Three Centurion armour.
"You want me to wear this?" Gale peered curiously at them both.
"I want to see if you can." Janus said deadpanned. He nodded, stone faced.
"Consider it done, ma'am."
He did not disappoint.
Janus watched him go through every trial with flying colours. He made the armour look incredibly easy to use, but more importantly, he could fully utilise the armours capabilities. Janus immediately requested a Tier Four Centurion armour be made, which Dr. Tynan argued fiercely that it would be near impossible to control, based on Ragyo's information. However, Janus eventually convinced the man to fulfil her request, and a day later the armour was being put through the trials.
Janus was disappointed that Ragyo and Dr. Tynan were, so far, correct. All candidates, including Gale, were unable to use the armour. She had been hopeful that she could succeed where Ragyo failed, to have someone strong enough to wield the equivalent of a Four-Star Goku uniform. She had all but given up as she watched the last candidate put the armour on to attempt the trials.
Similarly to those before her, the armour grew wild and overpowered her. Within seconds of putting on the armour, she grew into a hulking behemoth that lost all control. The room vented liquid nitrogen directly onto her, flash freezing the armour in place as the recovery teams extracted her. Janus sighed and put a hand over her forehead. It seemed that Tier Three would be the limit for the Centurion armour series.
She looked at a small display on the console before her. Each Tier of armour stood in order from left to right, holographic displays of what they looked like powered up. Each one was similar in appearance, although there were tell-tale signs that gave each one away. Dr. Tynan had failed to explain why the armours each had their own distinctive appearance, but did mention that it was helpful in identifying their troops with a quick glance. Janus couldn't disagree with this, and so accepted that the inconsistencies did have a benefit.
Tier One, designated 'Gladiator', was the baseline, and showed no defining features. Tier Two, displayed slightly thicker armour and the addition of a crest that adorned the top of the helmet. Finally, there was the Tier Three armour, which was twice the size of the others combined, and increased the wearer's height. It also abandoned the crest in favour of a cape, for whatever reason that the armour had decided was a good addition to have. Jarret had wittily named this armour 'Zealot' due to the extreme loyalty of those who could wear them.
A light cough caught her attention as she slowly looked behind her toward Jarret.
"Ma'am. If I may, I would like to try putting on the uniform myself." He spoke quietly.
Janus frowned. "I don't need someone else to risk their neck putting on that thing." She tilted her head in the direction of the still-frozen armour.
"I would still like to try. With your permission." Jarret insisted. Janus knew he didn't insist unless he was positively certain.
After a long moment, Janus sighed. "Very well. But the second something looks like it's going wrong, I'm freezing it and getting you out."
"Of course." Jarret smirked, making his way down into the testing room.
Jarret stood before the seemingly harmless uniform, while Janus watched with apprehension. Jarret took hold of the uniform and put it on, stepping onto the platform that was the safeguard for containing the armour if he were to lose control. As soon as he was ready, he nodded in affirmation to the scientists in the other room and began the transformation process.
The uniform bulged, metal-like pieces materialising out of thin air. Within seconds he was clad in a heavy looking suit of armour. He experimentally lifted his arms first, clenching his fists, waiting for the armour to do something beyond his control. He could feel all around him how the armour was almost attempting to burst out into something monstrous, but he remained steadfast.
"Is everything alright, Jarret?" Janus spoke through the intercom.
Jarret nodded, "Begin first trial."
There was a loud groaning sound, a hole in the wall opening up to reveal a large gun barrel. It took aim, and with a deafening *BOOM!* the gun fired. There was a follow up explosion, a show of flames and shrapnel erupting to one side of the room. The barrel had taken aim at Jarret, and as soon as it had shot, Jarret raised his arm and deflected the round away.
Jarret could feel as the armour constantly moved of its own accord, attempting to inhibit his movement. Regardless, he managed to overpower it and force it to his will. He ordered for the next few rounds of tests to commence. Janus watched with amazement as Jarret blazed through every single test faster than any other Centurion had done so far.
The armour was starting to conform to his will, and in doing so it offered him minor assistance. He could only assume, but it seemed that the Tier Four armour had a consciousness, as weak as it was, that allowed it to think and make decisions. This led him to theorise that the Tier Three uniforms and below were all somewhat similar, each with a form of awareness, but with limited capability to resist their wearer. At least, if the person was skilled enough to wear the uniform in the first place.
As the last test finished, Jarret could tell that the uniform was less reluctant to provide him support. Experimentally, he relaxed, waiting to see how his armour would react. There was no response, and Jarret wondered mentally if the armour had been tamed, or willingly allowed itself to be worn by him.
"Mr. Galda. Is everything alright?" Dr. Tynan called through.
"Everything is fine, Doctor." Jarret nodded appreciatively.
Of course he would be the one that can do the impossible. Janus couldn't help but think to herself.
She noted that Jarret's armour had deviated from the trend they had been seeing in the Centurion armours thus far. Each time the armour had advanced, the plating got thicker and increased the height of the wearer. Furthermore, Enforcer's had an ornamental crest, while Zealots adorned capes. Jarret's armour had the appearance of an Enforcer's while lacking a crest like a Gladiator's. The only thing that was symbolically unique was the fact that so far every visor was pitch black, but Jarret's was a bright gold.
She couldn't tell why or how, but she had immediately thought of a name for the man in his shining new armour.
Champion. She thought. My Champion.
Her thoughts were disturbed when the lights in the observatory and testing rooms went out. After a few moments, the emergency lighting turned on and alarms began blaring. The communications in the room exploded with excited voices.
"Ma'am, there's been a blackout. There are intruders in the lobby." A female voice called through.
Janus narrowed her eyes, a blackout meant they couldn't lock the building down effectively, and majority of the security systems relied on power. The back-up generators could only supply power to the emergency lights, warning tones and communications. Her first conclusion to draw was that this was an expertly planned attack, and that they most likely knew what they wanted and how to get it.
"I'm sending my Centurions to deal with it. Standby." Janus replied crisply.
Once the communicator shut off, she opened up a line to the frequency that let her speak to all the available Centurions on duty.
"This is Janus. Whoever can get to the secure storage rooms, hide the cargo inside them. Underneath the keypads there is a hidden panel, remove it and push the button that you see. Make sure to replace the panel afterwards, then stay put and watch for intruders. Intercept and detain them."
"Understood, ma'am!" They replied.
"Ma'am, I've got eyes on the intruders." Another voice spoke in a hushed tone through to her.
"Show me." Janus turned to the console in front of her and put aside the images of all the armour types.
An image melded onto the console, she could tell that this was coming from the reception desk. Janus frowned when she saw a bunch of teenagers all standing about in the lobby. They looked of varying ages, but were barely adults. One of the girls spoke, but was drowned out by the alarms. They then made off out of sight. She had no way of monitoring them besides having someone follow them around, but she assumed they were headed for the Life Fiber stores.
It was not paranoia then that had driven Janus to take the extra step in securing the Life Fibers safety, simply precaution. The rooms she had placed them in had an interchangeable replacement that would make the room appear empty if someone were to walk in. This function worked by using a metal container to replace the room in the first place, which could be easily lifted into an empty space in the ceiling, removing all contents and leaving the place barren.
"Centurions. Swap all ammunition from live to stun. I want the intruders captured or repelled." Janus advised them all, receiving a confirmatory response.
"Shall I help repel the attackers?" Jarret called to her.
This wasn't something that she could dissuade him from doing. "Very well. If you think they need it."
"Mr. Galda, Sir, the power is out and the doors won't open. It's a safety feature. That room is completely sealed and there is no way out." Dr. Tynan called through to him.
"Then I'll make myself an exit." Jarret shrugged, walking up to one of the walls.
"I can assure you that would be pointless. My calculations predict that a Tier Four Centurion would need a little over eight hours to break through those walls."
"Then I hope you were timing, Doctor." Janus said with a smirk.
"Why is that, ma'am?"
"Because he's already out."