Project A.R.M.S.

Since the early days of the colonies, stories about persons capable of superhuman feats were a staple in village gossip and saloon talk. Some of them credible, others just obviously exaggerated. That these stories were told by drunkards though was such that they never got much credibility.

Twenty three years ago, an eccentric scientist of the military department by the name of Hiroshi Matsumoto started to investigate and piece together evidences of these so-called superhumans after having witnessed one himself. It didn't take long for him to find one common denominator among all recorded superhumans, that all of them came from cities and villages close to reported locations of pools connected to the River of Light. After further investigations, Matsumoto found out another factor that all of the subjects possessed. All of them were born in those cities and villages, and not one case happened that he or she just moved and lived there.

Drafting a proposal, he submitted it to his superiors. At that time, radical changes were happening all around the country, and even the absurd project was approved. Backed by government funding, Project A.R.M.S was initiated. Research began on the methodologies needed for the experiments. Short for Applied Residual Magic Stimuli, the basic principle of A.R.M.S. was to expose babies while developing in the womb to magic in conditions similar to what the reported superhumans were supposedly exposed to.

After three years, the first batch of successful experimental subjects was born. Out of the forty original test subjects, only twenty three survived birthing. Initial tests did not show any significant changes among the subjects. After five years of observation, only one subject exhibited extraordinary abilities. Due to the cost of the whole project and the relatively low percentage of success, it was shelved. The kids were taken to foster homes and monitored, however.

Two years after the project was cancelled, the other test subjects began manifesting superhuman feats. Out of the twenty three, twelve others manifested abilities, with a total of thirteen. This caused a renewed interest in the project. The test subjects were recalled and given training and groomed for their intended purpose: super soldiers.

When war broke out and the Republic was forced to send military aid, all thirteen were dispatched, placed in different units to evaluate their performance. After the whole force was recalled, seven returned alive, two were dead, four were missing, presumed dead. Despite the turnout, the results showed significant increased performance.

From these results, further efforts to make new A.R.M.S. were put forward. This time, they sought for finding a way to be able to augment children already in their teens, or even existing trained soldiers to cut the cost and significantly shorten the time to develop them.

As of today, rumors say that the project is at the point of finalizing the last few steps to making this a reality. Others say that it has already been completed.