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~~Christmas Day Special - (page 9 of 24)~~

Knowing a thing or two of aerial combat now, Hector felt like his flight capabilities were significantly lacking. Sure, he'd managed to stabilize it since first coming up with the technique, but it was far too slow to be useful in a real fight. He'd certainly learned that lesson the hard way. Having to ping pong himself through the air in that battle at the border had not been ideal. If not for the Scarf enhancing his spatial awareness beyond normal means, that strategy would have been useless.

He needed to develop greater speed and control.

And seeing the mechanized armor of the Sunsmith in action again was making him think that perhaps he didn't need the little "hovering pod" that he was previously using to fly. Even if it was stable, it was obviously unwieldy and not very aerodynamic.

But if he could integrate his flying technique directly into his armor... that might open up a world of possibilities for him, Hector felt.

How to do it, though? He had an idea, but frankly, he wasn't entirely sure it was possible.

The basic principle of the hovering technique was to create a constantly-rematerializing "cradle" below a static iron platform for himself to stand on. The static component was key, since he couldn't very well stand on a platform that was constantly moving.

...But could he wear armor that was constantly moving? It wasn't like he would slide out of it while he was completely covered.

It might rip the flesh off his bones, though. If it was moving was enough to counter gravity, then that probably wouldn't tickle, he imagined.

He was tempted to give it a try, just to see how bad it would be. Maybe it would be surprisingly okay.

Ultimately, though, he decided against that. The more reasonable solution seemed to be in utilizing layers, just as the hovering technique normally did. A static inner armor with a gravity-countering outer armor.

With that idea in his head, he sat on a big hovering platform at the edge of the city and took a long, deep breath.

Oh, boy, these first attempts with experimental new techniques never went well, did they? And his whole body was going to be wrapped up in this one.