Wearing Power Armor to a Magic School Art: Just Another Day at the IAS

Hey everyone!

So, I’ve been waiting for the right time to release this artwork since it includes not just Emma, but Captain Li and Dr. Mekis as well! :D 

However, now that the latest chapter has properly introduced (or at least has properly included) the likes of both Mekis and Li, I think it’s about time I get this piece out there! :D 

Right then! Where do I start with this? I’ll try not to be wordy haha, so let me just quickly summarize the microcosm of their dynamics in a single go.

Both Captain Li and Emma have a sort of goober to goober communication system going on here. Emma, having chosen the LREF ever since her JRTOC years, has more or less been predisposed to such silliness; which is sort of a given when you consider the role the LREF has to play in the grander GUN military apparatus. The Long Patrols, Outbound Flights, and even support work for the expeditionary operations generally attracts a certain sort of personality, which makes silly interactions such as these all too common in between bouts of serious training, lessons, assessments, and studying. Lots… and lots and lots of studying, the likes of which would give even the Exo-Atmospheric Forces (EAF) a run for their money. 

Behind them is the ever-grumpy Dr. Ivo Mekis! While having something of a long term camaraderie with Li — both having gone to college together and staying in touch with one another ever since — he couldn’t be any more different from the LREF Captain haha. With a mind focused almost entirely on work and pure academics along with an apathy for academic and office politics, he’s a proper old-school scientist through and through; with an alma mater that’d make even the most eccentric and intense of GUN academics cry. 

Together, the three form the backbone of the Pilot II mission. With Ivo having been the one responsible for much of the armor’s development, mana-resistent R&D, as well as the portal and Quintessence studies itself! Li having been Emma’s primary mentor, instructor, LREF liaison and representative, as well as acting as the go-between for the IAS and LREF given their unique but as-of-yet unformalized relation courtesy of the IAS’ unique charter. And finally, Emma, for being the titular Pilot II haha.

Their dynamics during Emma’s year of training at the IAS — as well as her fast-tracked LREF Ranger candidacy assessments — were as legendary as they were a headache to all those involved during that fever-pitched year of preparation. 

Here, you can see both Emma and Calico wearing the recognizable undersuit layer meant for anything and everything from typical combat armor, to partially powered power armor, and of course, the titular fully powered power armor platforms such as the case with Emma’s E-ARRS! :D Behind them, is Dr. Ivo Mekis in the typical attire you’d usually find most people in applied sciences or fields involving research wearing! :D I’m going to need to get a proper commission for the civil service uniforms done a little while later, along with their variants in the sciences and academia!  But yeah! That’s about it! 

I seemed to have gone a bit overboard with the explanations and details again haha, but that comes with the territory of these posts it seems XD 

I just have so much I want to share about the setting, the worldbuilding, and the character dynamics and personalities that I just can’t stop yapping about it. XD

But yeah! I hope you like the artwork and my little ramble as well as Captain Calico Li and Dr. Ivo Mekis so far! :D 

I promise that Li has more of a goober side to him as seen in the artwork, it’s just that we’ve seen him in a disproportionately ‘locked in’ mode in the story as of this point.

I really love this art piece to bits it really captures all three of their dynamics and relationships well in a single image and gosh, it's incredible! The artist did an incredible job on this! :D

Artist Reference: runneiio from tumblr