Once again, the pair of men walk through the halls towards their destination in an uneasy silence. This silence is a good thing, it allows 603 some time to think and process what he was told, to think about the conversation he had with the General.

The Republic had not fallen to foreign invaders, 603 remembers the General saying, it had fallen to her own children, in a UEF backed coup.

It made sense, even though the Republic was crippled by the war, it wouldn't fall to invaders. That wasn't the thing that angered 603 the most however, what angered him was the fact that once the coup was over, the traitors had willingly gave the continent to the UEF, as if they didn't even want it.

Because of that, the soldiers loyal to the Republic were forced out their homes and away from their loved ones by THEIR own countrymen. Out of the hundreds of thousands of men and women who fought for the Republic, a little more than 40,000 remained, all now a part of a fleet leaving their homeland behind and now are heading to previously owned Sino lands.

It made sense, thought 603, they had gotten all they wanted from the raid on the Aleutian Islands, destroyed everything they couldn't take, there was no need to go back, it would lead to certain defeat.

According to the General, the raid was to get a hold of the inner workings of the secretive TES program. 603 himself was a bonus, an additional pawn in this great game, the UEF was unlikely to have even known of his existence, as he was the only successful Emperor class TES. With the destruction of the laboratory and the theft of information, it was even more unlikely.

Now, they were going to make their way to the Sino lands, or what's left of it, to meet up with insurrectionist forces there in order plot their next move.

"Hey, Mon-," Clyde started, "er, 603, I'm going to make my way to my bunk to get something for the Armorer."

"Alright," 603 responded.

"Yeah, if you, uh, head down that way and take your first right," Clyde said while pointing down the hallway, "you'll reach a stairwell, meet me there."

Clyde began running to his bunk, nearly tripping after clipping his foot while doing so.

603 sighed and began following the directions he was given. When he reached the stairwell, a man was walking up. The man was short, but had a bulky body and an even bulkier beard.

"Who're you and what're you doin' standin' about doin' nothin'?!" The Small Man shouted.

"I was on my way to meet the Armorer," 603 said, not bothered by the man's shouts, "my escort told me to wait here until he returned."

"Speak of the devil," 603 resumed, "here he comes now."

As 603 was saying that, Clyde was bolting down the hallway, his running footsteps echoing in the hallway. In his arms was a piece of metal, similar to his left pauldron.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The Small Man's eyes light up upon seeing the metal.

"Ahaha, Clyde, my boy," the Small Man shouted cheerfully, "you really got me some more of that metal!"

The Small Man took the metal out of Clyde's hands and began going down the stairwell, faster than 603 thought was possible for him.

"I take it that's the Armorer," 603 asked Clyde.

"Yeah," Clyde affirmed, "let's go after him, get your measurements and whatnot."

"He seemed excited to receive that metal," 603 observed, "I take it that's the same metal that you used for your pauldron?"

Clyde nodded, "I think he is trying to find the UEF's forging method or something like that. He managed to make this for me," Clyde said, tapping his left pauldron.

603 grunted in response and continued down the stairwell, down to the Forge. After walking down several flights of stairs, they made it to the depths of the ship, and reached the Forge.

The inside the Forge was a mess, with all the pieces of metal and unfinished armor covering the surfaces of tables and many pieces on the floor, it looked like the aftermath of terrible storm.

Upon entering the room, the two men were hit by a wall of heat, as though they entered an oven. They continued forth through the heat and pieces of metal until they saw the eccentric Armorer. Around the Armorer were several men, all crowding around him. They were all watching the Armorer put the large piece of metal into a forge, trying to smelt the metal.

"MORE HEAT!" The Armorer shouted.

The men surrounding him began to move. Some had open hatches and flaps while others had began working the bellows. The ensuing heat had began to make 603 sweat, but the men and the Armorer did not stop.

After more shouting and some hammering, both the flames and heat died off. The Armorer gave one last shout and the men got to rest. The glowing piece of metal shaped by hammer blows was dunked into a pool of water, steam immediately rising.

After a pause, the Armorer pulled the metal out, the once glowing armor now shiny and reflective. The Armorer looked at it from all angles, occasionally scowling, but overall he seemed satisfied by it. He began to make his way to where 603 and Clyde stood.

"Here you go, my boy," the Armorer said to Clyde, handing him the newly forged armor, "thanks for your help."

"Yeah, no problem," Clyde replied while replacing a piece of his dented armor with the new piece he just recieved.

603 never really noticed before, but the armor Clyde was wearing didn't match the designs of the armor the soldiers from earlier were wearing. Rather than the one piece front plate they wore, Clyde wore a multi piece front plate, each strapped together with a series of buckles and straps.

The Armorer must've caught 603 staring and proudly told him of his design.

"Clyde's armor was designed and built by me!" The Armorer told 603, pride rising in his voice, "it was based upon the UEF design, but I modified it to disperse the impacts from their weapons."

"Now, what brings you down here today, lad," the Armorer asked, looking at 603.

Clyde answered for him, "He needs to get outfitted, we were hoping you could do something about it."

The armorer looked 603 up and down before looking back at his forge.

"It'll take me a while to make armor tailored for him, so just take one of the single piece adjustable ones for now," the Armorer announced, nodding his head towards a table.

603 made his way to the table and looked at the armor on it. It was of a very simple design, front plate and a back plate with a very generous amount of nylon straps to easily adjust for the frame of the one wearing it.

As 603 was putting it on, he could've sworn he heard a chuckle out of Clyde.

Suddenly the ship rocked and groaned as though hit by something. The once silent helmet that Clyde was wearing immediately became filled with chatter.

"What? Repeat," Clyde shouted into his radio, "copy, telling him now."

Clyde turned to 603, handing him a weapon.

"Throw that shit on and head topside," Clyde told 603, "the UEF have found us."