Symbiotic Armor Duel: Shatter Her Shel

Federation's finest soldier hides her face in symbiotic armor; he commands star systems' beasts, not his heart. In a duel he shatters her armor, forcing out 'I love you'—then drops him with an anesthetic dart. Loving the enemy is treason: memory wiped, Rose gone. A year on he returns, peeling armor after armor, each verified by an unfakeable pulse. Yet every woman says: I am Rose. Who is she?