In the 2020s, the United States embarked on creating the perfect super-soldier. Dubbed "Project Nostrum," it was meant to create a "cure-all" for the world's ills: an army of super-soldiers that would cement America's place as the world's only superpower against the rising prominence of the European Union and Japan.
That all changed when the Noise were recognized as a world threat in 2030. Funds and manpower from Project Nostrum would be pulled and put into the Federal Institute of Sacrists (F.I.S.), a scientific institution meant to create relic-based weaponry. It was through these developments that the FG-Type Revolutionary Specialized Armor (later dubbed the "Symphogear") was created.
You are one of the fruits of the original Project Nostrum, Celia Nostrum. Out of all of the possible candidates, you alone were capable of activating relics with your voice unassisted. Once the F.I.S. discovered this, they immediately took an interest in you. You continued to work with various groups within the U.S. government your entire life, training as both a singer and a soldier while being subjected to various tests by the F.I.S. You eventually obtained your own Symphogear and were reassigned to the newly-created Supernatural Defense Forces (SDF), a branch of the U.S. Armed Forces specialized in dealing with supernatural threats like the Noise.
Now, you must prepare for the day. You don't want to keep your commanding officers waiting.
Still, you look in the mirror to make sure you have your uniform, your hair, and your smile are
just right. You feel it'd be disrespectful to have even a hair out of place.
Perfection.
Now that you've gotten the details out of the way, it's time to report to Oswald. You lock the door to your room and make your way down the corridors of the SDF base.
Bright, synthetic lights greet you as you enter into the main hall of SDF HQ. The white tiles and dark walls were barren and the place was almost obnoxiously clean. Still, it's not an environment that's out of the ordinary for you. You are a member of the military, after all. It's either this or some barracks on the front lines. Pomp and circumstance are for politicians.
You see a woman in an officer's uniform with short, brunette hair, blue-green eyes, and a toned build walk towards you. You recognize her.
"Good morning." Your commanding officer, Samantha Acampora, greets you curtly.
"Good morning, ma'am! SDF Special Agent Celia Nostrum, reporting for duty, ma'am!" You salute her out of habit.
"At ease, Agent Nostrum. I see you're all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Eager for this morning's testing?" She says with a knowing smile.
"Yes, commander," you reply with a smile of your own. "The day when I get to take to the field wearing the Symphogear is just around the corner. The anticipation's killing me."
"Well, given how powerful you are with that thing on, anticipation's 'bout the only thing that could kill you," Commander Acompora mused.
Commander Samantha Acampora was formerly a member of the U.S. Army who served with distinction in many battles around the globe. She was perhaps the only human being alive to have done the impossible and killed Noise without the use of any kind of supernatural ability. This distinction won her much acclaim among the higher ups, so when the SDF was formed, they named her its commander in spite of her still being in her twenties. Her skill and valor make her the ideal soldier in your view, and you are proud to have her as your commander.
"Don't forget to report to the Vice-Commander as usual though," she said. "I know it's exciting, but you still have protocol to follow." She turned and saw someone over your shoulder. "Ah, speak of the devil."
You turn around and see a thirty-something year-old man with a brown hair, a beard and mustache, and glasses in an officer's uniform. "Vice-Commander!" You say with a salute.
Oswald walks towards the two of you deliberately, his hands behind his back. "At ease, Celia. I know how excited you are to get started, so why don't you follow me? We'll do some of our basic exercises, then go see the doctor." He then nods at Commander Acampora, who turns around and begins walking to wherever she's needed.
You feel the corners of your mouth turn upwards, and you nod vigorously. Right, mundane exercises first. Badass, music-powered super-armor second.
Vice-Commander Oswald Curtis has been your handler for many years now. He's the closest thing you have to a father. You are happy on his behalf that he was promoted to Vice-Commander of the SDF. You feel he deserved it for all things he'd done for your sake. But even though he has a new leadership position, he hasn't really stopped acting as your handler. He still makes time in the morning to have you do drills and exercises. It's something you appreciate about him.
You walk alongside Oswald at a brisk but leisurely pace towards the gym area. For the first time in a long time, your heart is filled with hope for the future.
Your morning routine goes by quickly. It was difficult to keep a steady rhythm throughout most of the exercises though, especially the weight-lifting. Not because it was difficult, but because the thought of fulfilling your life's dream filled you with agitation and excitement. Still, you manage to complete your exercises, and, after showering and adjusting your hair, you report to the SDF's laboratory.
The SDF's laboratory, while nowhere near as impressive as what they have at the F.I.S., is vast. Tables and large computers lined the room. White lab coats from around the world were invested in various projects, from robotics to chemical tests. In spite of the people roaming around and chatter, there was a sort of ordered chaos to this place that you didn't find in the sterile and inhuman labs at the F.I.S.
On the far left-hand side of the room, you see a man with white hair, silver-rimmed glasses, and a white lab overcoat with unique violet trimmings working. He is the man you are looking for. When he sees you walk towards him, he turns to you and smiles. "Ah, Agent Nostrum. How's my little superhero?" He says teasingly.
Your back goes ramrod straight. "Ready for testing, Dr. Ver sir." You say, trying to keep the smile off of your face. You don't want to appear too excitable or else the Doctor will start making fun of you.
"Right, right. Hold up." He turns around to finish checking the device in his hands. Though it looked like an old-fashioned blackberry phone, it was actually miniaturized super-computer the doctor had made himself. He was currently analyzing something on it. Though the text was tiny, and you didn't understand the technical language, it appeared to be some sort of procedural test of some sort. The Symphogear perhaps?
After half a minute of him reading something on his device, he put it in his coat pocket. "Ah, yes. Agent, are you ready for testing?"
You resist the urge to sigh and say "yes, sir!" The exasperation leaks into your voice somewhat though.
Doctor John Wayne Vercingtorix (or Dr. Ver for short) was the Head Scientist of the SDF. He was originally a fellow from the Federal Institute of Sacrists, an organization dedicated to researching all things supernatural on behalf of the United States. After inventing the Symphogear armor a few years back, he became interested in you, the candidate chosen from a young age to wield it. He's known you almost as long as Oswald has, but you'd rather think of him as an odd uncle than as a father. Genius though he may be, he was absent-minded, egotistical, and pretty eccentric. Still, out of all of the F.I.S. researchers you've worked with, he was the only one who treated you like a human being rather than something to be studied under a microscope.
"Doctor," you hear the Commander say. She and Vice-Commander Oswald walk through the door you just came through towards you and Dr. Ver. "Now that we're here, we should start testing."
He smiles and says "After today, we'll have considered Agent Nostrum's basic training complete, and the next stage of testing will begin." He then walks smoothly towards another part of the room where a red pendant was suspended in midair by a strange magnetic device.
When he hands you the pendant, you put both hands on it and hold it close to your chest. This is the final test. The crystallization of your hope, your duty, and your destiny is now in your hands.
"Go on and sing for us, Agent Nostrum." The Doctor says.
Oswald raises an eyebrow. "Here? Is that safe?" He asks with concern.
But Dr. Ver waves him off. "It won't be like last time. I fixed the transformation barrier. It won't harm anyone around her unless she wills it." He then turns to you and says "Now, Agent, if you would."
Taking a deep breath, you begin to sing aloud.
[X] "Faios Nehushtan nashash tron."
+ In a flash of light and sound, your body is covered in a violet-colored skintight outfit. Bronze armor plates form to cover your chest, shoulders, arms, and feet. A set-up that looks like a combination of headphones and a mask with dark-tinted visors forms around your head. Finally, the shoulder pads let out some brighter-purple spikes, completing your transformation.
+ A fragment of
the Nehushtan Armor was discovered by American forces stationed in the Middle East many years ago. The Symphogear created from it is neither particularly strong nor fast as far as Symphogear go, but it has some nice special abilities like flight and regenerative armor and is stronger and faster than a normal human at least.
[X] "Prostast ash Aeigis tron."
+ In a flash of light and sound, your body is covered in a green-colored skintight outfit. Camouflage green and gunmetal grey armor covers the entire chest and stomach. Then, giant gauntlets form on your arms, each with pearl-colored gems in the center, and giant metal boots cover your feet. Finally, headphones form around your head, completing the transformation.
+
Aegis, a piece of the shield used by the Greek gods, was found in Egypt. According to the researchers who found it, it was brought over by Alexander the Great and protected the Ptolemaic Kingdom until it was lost during the Roman conquest in 30 BC. The Symphogear created from it is very strong and has the ability to form nigh-impenetrable barriers.
[X] "Taheetees Hermes tron."
- In a flash of light and sound, your body is covered in an indigo-colored skintight outfit. Black and dark blue armor cover your chest, and feather-like shoulder pads jut out from either side of your body. Lithe blue slippers with white wings on the sides of them go onto your feet, and white and blue gauntlets with red gems in the center of them appear on your hands. Then come your headphones, which have wing-like engravings on them. Finally, a brilliant white cape with indigo on the inside of it comes out of your back, completing the transformation.
-
The Sword of Hermes was a complete relic found in Greece but was destroyed by unknown means in a conflict in the region. The United States then received fragments of it from the European Union as part of some bargain you aren't privy to. The Symphogear created from it is very fast and agile.
"Bravo, bravo." Dr. Ver claps, his eyes getting somewhat misty. "Ah, to see my greatest creation come to life like that… simply marvelous!" Oswald similarly beams at you, pride in his eyes.
The Commander, however, maintains her demeanor and says "Agent Nostrum, you know where the danger room is. Head on over there and await further instructions from the Doctor and myself."
"Yes ma'am!" You salute and head over to the next room a few doors down. Clad in the "Valkyrie's Armor," your movement speed is faster and you feel much lighter. You zoom down the halls until you arrive in the danger room: a wide, open area the size of a football field filled with various rocks, trees, and the like. Everything in here is synthetic, a makeshift recreation of some mountainous region. It's designed to help you practice fighting in terrain that allows for a lot of corners people can duck behind. You've been in this room enough times to know that there were probably automated turrets and drones behind every corner, waiting to jump out and shoot at you.
Above on the other side of the room, you see a reflective glass panel where the Commander, Oswald, and Dr. Ver would be observing me, along with all of the bridge bunnies in charge of making sure nothing is out of the ordinary.
"Alright, we're going to be testing some of the combat systems of the Symphogear first," the Doctor's voice in through your headphones. "Summon your Armed Gear."
Your Armed Gear? Right, the weapon of your Symphogear. Your Armed Gear is, by default…
[X] A short-ranged weapon.
+ For Nehushtan, a pair of sharp, violet claws that extend from your outfit's gloves.
+ For Aegis, a circular green shield that you project from your gauntlets.
+ For Hermes, a small, blue and silver sickle.
[X] A mid-ranged weapon.
+ For Nehushtan, a violet chain whip that glows brilliantly.
+ For Aegis, a thin, pole-like lance that is black and grey.
+ For Hermes, a great, silvery broadsword.
[X] A long-ranged weapon.
+ For Nehushtan, shoulder cannons that shoot giant purple spikes.
+ For Aegis, guns mounted on your gauntlets.
+ For Hermes, magical staff shaped like a caduceus that shoots lasers.
After you summon your Armed Gear, you hear one of the bridge bunnies say "Armed Gear system is green. Noise Canceller system is green. Gear Burst system is green. Synch rates are normal. Phonic Gain is increasing at a steady pace."
"Alright," The Doctor began. "Your goal is to destroy all hostile forces in the area without getting hit. You may begin."
Immediately, several androids come out from the synthetic woods. Each has sharp blades coated in a red substance. While you know that those things are mostly harmless to you, the red substances on those blades will stain your body, which will deduct points from this test. If you want to prove yourself worthy of going into the field, you need to pass this test with flying colors and not get any of
those colors on you.
"Hyaaa!" With a battle cry, you charge at the androids.