A force of several Gs fell on Itsuki. His whole body squeezed and every one of his muscles tensed all at once. For hellish minutes, he unflinchingly held onto the TAC’s exterior handles.
All the while, these crushing sensations increased several times over, as if folding upon each other, encumbering him with an unphysical weight that was attached so close, as if it was wrapped around his waist.
His tether that kept him secure during the Mechs take off strained, its diamond metallic carbide weave going taught. He gripped tight with his suit’s wrist actuators, a few more minutes of agonizing pressure pushed on his organs, drawing more air and blood away to his lower extremities.
Just as he thought he was going to pass out from the lack of blood to his brain, and his sight began to become as small as a pin hole, he thought, maybe this would be the end.
Yeah right!
He chuckled weakly. Then suddenly, his vision filled with white. The light brush of the clouds became an afterthought, an imaginative sensation his mind concocted to bide his time through this speedy take off.
The torturous sensations passed when sunlight hit the opaque gray visor of his helmet. He marveled as his black eyes shimmered inside the confines of his HUD. The sky! It was so blue, so dazzlingly blue!
Up here in the heavens, above the clouds and away from all the earthly ties that weighed him down, Itsuki was free.
Everytime he was up here, he could guess why Mana, that free spirited girl, had such a pension for taking solo flights in secret. Perhaps he’d join her on one in the future, though, it would go against school policy.
Already on many occasions did he have to unfortunately spoil Mana’s fun when her flights went overly out of control. But, he digressed and was getting off topic with his thoughts.
For now, he breathed in, filling his lungs with the unfiltered air through his helmet's ports. It was refreshing and crisp up here.
His comms then crackled and a girl’s voice came over his speakers.
[This is TAC-043, destination reached. Proceeding with Phase Two of Practical Training.]
Speaking into his helmet’s mic, Itsuki replied, toggling his local comms channels and making sure his suits systems were still in working order.
“Understood, This is Itsuki. I’m deploying with the grunts. All trainees, status report.”
“This is Group A from CDU Training Division, team leader Alpha 1. All 10 members accounted for.” A tall looking man waved, signaling Itsuki the all clear signal with his hand, holding his pointer and middle finger under his thumb.
“Yo, This is Group B from CAU Training Division, team leader Bravo 1. Same status over here.” Said a stout girl. Her hair was tied into a bun and she flashed Alpha 1 and Itsuki the familiar hand gesture as well.
“Confirmed.” Itsuki said to them both. “As of now, full tactical command is given to the individual. I open the floor for reorganization.”
“S-Sir?”
The trainees were surprised by his choice of action. Itsuki could see their shocked expressions since they didn’t wear a helmet like himself. In fact, he and these trainees didn’t share the same equipment even though they shared the same explorer class.
Instead of a full body suit with armor plates that covered him from head to toe, they had only a flight suit, ammo belt, armored vest, and the accompanying module jet propulsion units strapped and positioned just behind their shoulder blades.
When they looked at him, Itsuki was seen as the most experienced of them all and had expected him to command. They all knew he was an explorer and had heard of his history with Andromeda.
It was quite a long history and one that had a deep tie with the organizations they were involved with. Many times had the officers of the CDU and CAU told of the grunt who had lived the longest, an impressive feat for someone in such a dangerous field of work and a class with the highest casualty rate.
Going by how decisive Itsuki looked and responded, many of the trainees did not dare to question his words and quickly moved on. Of the group of trainees, their ages varied. Most of them were about 10 to 11, while a couple, a man and a woman, looked to be in their twenties.
“So? What’s the plan?” A young grunt asked. “Our objective is to provide support for the ongoing war games below. What the heck are we doing up here? WE should be down there, fighting!”
Many trainees agreed, they’d much prefer to have their feet on the ground. Staying up here in the sky seemed like a waste of time. Aerial combat was not what the CDU and CAU were known for, land battles were more their style.
Itsuki showed no reaction, letting them talk amongst themselves.
“Heh.” Another young grunt laughed, his face having a few more mature features than the first.
“What are you laughing at!? Don’t you think it’s weird we're deploying up here. What the heck is even the point?! We’ve rarely done air combat, so why send us to do this!”
“No, it’s just.” His fellow grunt stifled a laugh, getting it under control. “I asked the same thing a couple years back. Trust me, the answer is going to knock the wind out of you.”
“What? What in the world are you-”
“Cut the chatter!” Alpha 1 barked, interrupting and shutting them up. “We don’t have time.” He turned to Bravo 1 and she looked back, giving him a smile as if already knowing that he wanted to take command.
“Got any ideas Alpha 1? I don’t want to take your momentum.”
“Oh, how kind.” Alpha 1 scoff sarcastically. Bravo 1 was truly too lighthearted in this situation, a trait Alpha 1 wished that the CAU grunts didn’t have. They were always laxed when away from a battle. In one, they were so battle crazed and battle hardened, truly, they were like savage spartans.
Ignoring the slightly crazed look from Bravo 1, Alpha 1 scanned the air space ahead with his motion sensors, getting a long range reading as reconnaissance. As the data came in, he shared it with both Group A and B.
Itsuki on the other hand was left to his own devices. He was a special case. His active explorer status made him more of a guest than a combatant. While the trainees knew he would provide support in this exercise, Bravo 1 and Alpha 1 guessed he was here to observe for a third party. Maybe for an ally of the Western Bloc?
Getting a ping on his radar, Alpha 1 began to formulate a plan.
“I’ve located multiple aerial targets 2 clicks southeast. We should recon and determine if it is a threat. We should then provide Aerial support as we monitor the communications channel. According to what I’m reading, we have airborne hostiles. Confirmed?” Alpha 1 asked over the comms and wanted to start a conversation.
He knew that time was of the essence, the ticking timer in the top right of his hud showed 55 minutes remaining.
Alpha 1 knew he would be wasting more time by opening this up for discussion, but team cohesion was necessary, so a discussion was in order.
As Alpha 1 conversed, Itsuki unlatched himself from the TAC. He hovered within a few meters, surveying the surroundings. It was truly a great and wide blue sky. Pretty and Peaceful would be how Itsuki summarized the sights.
He wished. He hoped that one day, the world would be like this, at peace. A childish thought, he knew that very well, but even with his outlook for his experienced age, Itsuki still yearned for that naive peace. For days where he didn’t have to hold a rifle in his hands anymore.
He clenched his weapon, he hated that he had to keep using these tools of death. Yet, as bitter as he felt, there was some sad joy he took from fighting in conflicts.
[Itsuki, This is Cyno, what is your status?]
That cheery voice suddenly broke him from his sombrous gloom. Switching his comms over to a private and encrypted channel, Itsuki answered, ensuring that no one else could hear.
“Itsuki here, I’m deployed with the trainees from the CDU and CAU. Has there been any change to Operation Hidden Assassin?”
“None, you are to proceed as intended.”
“I see.” Itsuki replied. He did not have any issue if something had changed, he had in fact bet on that happening as soon as Cyno contacted him. The man was always so cheery, yet Itsuki knew of the cunning and more steely side of his compatriot.
So just why was he calling him?
“Do you need something, Cyno?”
[Well, I wanted to ask if you could.. You know..]
Cyno’s voice edged with trepidation, as if unable to get to the point since he knew there was no hope of reaching it. That was clear enough for even Itsuki to guess on why.
“Is it about your robots?”
[Of course it is!] Cyno shouted, sounding as if someone had killed his dog. [I know I have to donate my old creations to the Practical Training Class, but please, can you go easy on them?]
“It's always the same with you isn’t it.” Itsuki said, upset. “I don’t hold back, ever.”
[Oh! Come on! At least don’t shoot them full of holes or blow them to bits! I’m fine if they are in large pieces, but if you could. So long as they’re in a half damaged condition then-.]
“Goodbye Cyno.” Itsuki interrupted him, and ignored any more of Cyno’s protesting, completely disconnecting from the private channel in a heartbeat.
Itsuki sighed, refocusing as the weight of his role came back to him. Cyno always knew how to change and control the mood, it’s what made him a good teacher.
“What the hell, at least contact me when I’m done with a job.” He grumbled. “Still need to keep my cover. Gotta stay focused.”
[Itsuki! We need you over here]
He rounded back to Alpha 1 who shouted over the local comms and dashed over, getting within arm’s reach.
“Yes! Alpha 1, what is it?”
[We’ve discussed our plan of action. We’ll be diving down to engage the enemy two clicks south of here. Will you be part taking in the exercise?]
“Will you be taking command?” Itsuki asked back.
Alpha 1 shot him an awkward look, showing a bit of hesitation. Itsuki could tell he had put him on the spot, but that was the point. Alpha 1 nodded and Itsuki returned the gesture. He then turned to the TAC and waved at the cockpit.
“This is where we’ll depart. I’ll see you later.”
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
[Heh, Don’t keep me waiting Itsuki, you don’t want to disappoint a girl like me by keeping her waiting, right? If you’re late, you might miss your special present~.]
The trainees’ faces cringed in discomfort. Hearing such enticing words from who they knew was an upstanding veteran of the CAU was both world breaking and demoralizing. The young age of the pilot was also a point of concern, but only Itsuki knew the situation behind that veiled secret.
A woman’s age should never be shared, unless they give it to you willingly.
Itsuki cracked a grin and gave a short wayward salute, flashing her two fingers up near his forehead. As he did, the trainees disembarked, their reel lines going undone and spooling up into one of their exo frame’s modular compartments.
A single pulse from their propulsion units propelled them forward. Then, they turned their heads down and towards the direction of the enemy. The TAC parted ways as well, heading off to do its own part in this wargame exercise.
Following the trainees, Itsuki took up a position in the middle of the formation. It seemed that in their discussion, Group B had decided to take the rear while Group A took the front.
Itsuki was told to provide fire support with Group B and he thought his allocation here was the right choice Alpha 1 had given, smart, he thought. It showed that Alpha 1 did his homework, but Itsuki wondered if he was ready.
Either way, Itsuki had no issue since his position allowed a certain amount of mobility. Something he was fond of having.
The cloud bed rushed past them all, and in a matter of seconds, they broke from the belly of the gray skies of the wargames and descended to the lower skies above the earth.
Heavy flak caked their entrance, their ears boomed and their insides reverberated. Some of the pudgier fellows felt a bit of themselves jiggle a bit.
Comedic. They thought, but only for a second.
The sound of gunfire was bursting in the air and it smelled of the astringent burning of black powder and smoke. These were training rounds and everyone here was an explorer, so their core energy protected them, so long as they kept focused.
Their HUD then filled and pinged with identified friendlies and foes on the tactical map, all marked with respective green and red dots. On one side to the north, a scattered grouping of green dots were advancing in a sporadic formation. The usual sight for a bunch of CDU and CAU trainees.
Facing them to the south was an organized line of small readings and numerous large groups of red dots. By their estimations, the trainees were outnumbered in this section of the war games by a big 4 to 1 difference.
[Contact!] Alpha 1 shouted over comms. [Detecting multiple signals, estimated to be between 10 to 50. ETA, 3 minutes!]
[Can’t you get a better read?] Bravo 2 complained. [What’s with the wide range of bogies?]
[The readings are on top of each other, the sensor can’t pick them up in detail. Something’s interfering with the sensor’s range finder.]
Bravo 1 clicked her tongue over the comms and it grated on Alpha 1’s nerves, but he had to shake it off. This was combat, and while it was just practice, their training today was to be the practical application of everything they had been learning from Andromeda.
They couldn’t mess up on the first step! Racking the bolt on his core assault rifle, Alpha 1 commanded as he affixed his combat knife to the gun’s under barrel.
[Engaging Contacts. Group A, ready close combat equipment! We’re going in deep!]
“Roger!”
Group A prepared and immediately dashed ahead, while Group B followed close behind. Coming into view at their 12 o'clock, Group A saw the flying forms of what looked like hammerhead sharks. Their oceanic blue scaled plates of reinforced Titanium refracted the dull gray of the clouds above.
Their bodies wiggled as if they were swimming through the air, it was eerie how animal-like they could move, as if they were flitting predator’s of the deep, ready to pounce.
“Huh, so Cyno brought out the H-types.” Itsuki mumbled. “Makes sense that he called me, those things are hard to repair. Well, nothing I can do now.” He shrugged and shouldered his rifle.
Without any hesitation, Group B salvoed a volley of automatic fire. 300 meters separated them and Group A was still getting into position. Covering them was the best option, though, not the most effective with how Group A consisted of CDU forces, who were woefully under trained in close combat.
A blunder on Alpha 1’s part, but was it his hubris or his pride that was the mistake?
With high pitched rings, the bullets bounced off the segmented bodies of the H-type Hammerhead robots. They swerved their metallic black eyes at Group B.
Their black pearl-like eyes, their sensory armatures, rustled their interior workings with an influx of data and analyzed the proper response.
Spreading his segmented body, the hammerheads curled themselves forward like a cooked shrimp, and revealed a hint of what laid under the hood. Their mechanisms hissed and the internals moved, revealing a set of ports across its spinal bow.
Bravo 1 raised her brow in surprise and rushed to shout over the comms.
[Alpha 1! Eva-]
She was too late. Streaking mini rockets launched from the hammerheads’ open ports. An uncountable number of them raced towards Group A.
[Incoming! Evasive action!] Alpha 1 ordered and Group A scattered like dandelions blowing in the wind. The missiles were easy enough to dodge and Group B moved in to provide cover, firing upon the missiles to shoot them down.
But, there were just too many. They swarmed and homed in like heat seekers.
[Grah!]
A young trainee cried out as one of the missiles exploded and propelled a net that wrapped him up. A shock ran through the netting’s circuit like weave, stunning the trainee in his tracks and shutting off his propulsion unit.
He fell from the sky. Reacting, Alpha 1 reached out as he flew to catch him. Just as he was about to grab the trainee’s hand, a blue blur whipped by, scooping up the trainee. He was only a second too late, but still, he was late.
Its distinct blue fin and body made it easy for Alpha 1 to guess what had gotten to the trainee first. He gritted his teeth in frustration, understanding that his choices and actions were not enough.
If this was real life, that kid, that grunt, would have lost his life. Alpha 1 glared at one of the departing hammerhead robots, its maw carrying the trainee away to safety as its pearl white metal teeth pulled the kid trapped in the netting along.
If only I was better. I let him die. If this keeps up then we’ll-
[SNAP OUT OF IT, YOU IDIOT!]
Bravo 1 shouted a deafening cry and Alpha 1’s shoulders jolted. He was about to lash out at her breach in the agreed order of command. He was doing his-
Suddenly, his motion sensor blared and turning to directional warning, Alpha 1 froze. In his absentminded thoughts, he had let his anger get the better of him. It was a mistake that now costed him.
His back opened up for an attack, a hammerhead quickly neared and opened its maw. He flinched and dashed away as fast as he could, pushing the propulsion unit to its max output.
But it wasn’t enough. A net launched from the hammerhead’s sharp mouth full of metallic white teeth, and flew to ensnare him.
[Tch! I was careless.]
“Then it’s a good thing I’m here!”
Cutting in yet again, Bravo 1 quipped. A hail of focused gun fire reduced the aquatic looking metallic creature to a sparking and a sputtering heap of blue metal mass. The attacking hammerhead and its fired net never got the chance to touch Alpha 1.
[Looks like closing in with the guns worked.] Bravo 2 said. [We can scrap them with close range fire. All units, get in close, stay in twos and don’t get bogged down.]
[Understood!]
Group B rushed into the fray. With their rifles raised, they assailed the sharks in groups in pairs.
After an accurate count, the battle was against 30 enemy robots, so with a little under 20 trainees, they couldn’t risk a one on one fight.
Except, that wasn’t the case for Itsuki. He dashed in alone, and got in dangerously close to a pair of hammerheads.
Their 3 meter long bodies were heavy and could slam him around if he was forced to take a hit. The two hammerheads swiped their wide heads at him, but Itsuki stalled his propulsion in time, slipping under with his momentum and slashed as the undercarriage of the robots with his knife.
Not falling behind, a combined volley at Bravo 1’s order downed the partially damaged bots. Alpha 1 watched as his command was wrenched from him by Bravo 1. In the heat of battle, the adrenaline had narrowed his hindsight.
He was good at organization and strategic planning, and he thought that would make him a great leader. He was confident since Bravo 1 didn’t have any complaints earlier, she didn’t even bat an eye in his direction as they were discussing a plan of action.
But now, as Bravo 1 led two other trainees, who then downed hammerhead after hammerhead, Alpha 1 couldn’t help but tense in anger at himself.
He knew he shouldn’t lash out. His mind had calmed down, so he restrained himself, but that didn’t mean he liked it. Racking the bolt on his core assault rifle once again, Alpha 1 glared at the enemy.
“I can do this!” He mumbled and focused all his frustration into the fight.
From his position, he was getting left behind. His thrusters heating up, Alpha 1 blasted his way forward, sniping the hammerheads weak spots in between their armor from a distance.
He preferred this option of attack, it was safer and he could think easier from a strategic vantage point. But he thought that a leader needed to fight in the front, not cower behind his allies as they took the hits.
Nevertheless, here he was, falling to his preferred style of combat, rather than what he should be doing. Leading the charge.
The trainee grunts scattered and some began using themselves as decoys. Drawn away from the herd, the hammerheads followed after a few rounds knocked them around. At a distance, the grunts' bullets couldn’t penetrate their thick armor.
Their bullets were of a 7.26 chitin caliber, and while it could pierce tank armor, their inventor, Professor Cyno, was considered a hero for a reason.
His ability for academic research and weapons development were vital in the initial explorer program, which also served to produce technological marvels that fought in the war.
Quality was something Cyno always put into his creations, that, and a lot of love, care, and attention. But nothing was perfectly infallible.
As the hammerheads were drawn away into smaller packs of 3 or 4, smaller teams of 2 closed in from behind. Using their allies as bait, the smaller teams closed in from above, below, or even behind.
Itsuki followed suit, boosting his suit’s thrusters as he zipped by hammerhead after hammerhead, firing a burst of bullets at point blank range into their metallic underbellies. As the airborne skirmish continued for a few minutes, and while they were outnumbered by a small margin, the grunts got out of the fight with only a few casualties and a couple of bruises.
Regrouping, Alpha 1 took stock of their situation. Of the original 21 total participants of this group, 7 were captured by the hammerhead and 10 were injured. Only 14 members remained.
His heart dropped as he took the final count. If I had handled the situation better, if only I did things differently. WHY! Why can’t I become stronger!
He cursed his fate, his role as a lowly grunt and he was sure everyone else here did as well, even Itsuki.
As Alpha 1 was opening his mouth to speak, he gaped as Bravo 1 came up to him and smacked him hard in the face.
“OW! What the heck are you doing!” He shouted. “Are you insane!”
“Maybe.” She said, shrugging. “But at least I’m not the one with my head in the clouds.”
“What! What are you-”
“Your eyes.” She interrupted him. “You get this look whenever you overthink things. Wake up IDIOT! This is combat!”
“I know!” Alpha 1 shouted back. “Look.” He sighed. “I’m doing my best, but this training isn’t easy. I’ve only got a year of experience. So don’t!”
He got smacked again and Alpha 1 almost lost his balance. Bravo 1 lent him her shoulder and glared daggers at him as he shook the stars from his eyes.
“I don’t give a damn about you doing your best. What I’m more concerned about is that we’re following a guy who's thinking too much rather than talking.”
“Hmph! If you wanna lead, then be my guest.”
“OH Hell no! I’m not doing that!”
“But you just-”
“Shut up idiot! We all agreed you’d lead. So don’t chicken out now.”
“But I..” Alpha 1’s voice went weak. It was their first battle and they were this damaged. At this rate, they’d failed today’s training or to reach even a single one of their objectives. He looked around and saw the looks everyone was giving him.
He expected them to be full of disappointment..but.
“Why.” He whispered. “Why are you all looking at me?” Alpha 1 could Itsuki in the corner of his view, standing guard and glancing his black visor in his direction, as if asking what to do next.
“See.” Bravo 1 tapped him in the gut. “Even the hotshot over there is giving you his trust. So shouldn’t you answer it back?”
The answer to that was obvious and Alpha 1 was infuriated by this girl’s tone. She was making him sound like an idiot and he wanted to pound her in the face.
“FINE!” He shouted and rounded on Bravo 1, giving her a look as if she wanted to tear into her.
She grinned back, a bestial look in her wide smile and fang like canines.
Looks like we’re getting somewhere. Itsuki thought.
He observed as both Alpha 1 and Bravo 1 conversed, and quite loudly at that. They were polar opposites to each other, but it seemed like opposites attract.
Itsuki’s current role in the Practical Training Course was to expedite situations where teamwork and individual growth could flourish. That meant being distant or letting other people take the reins.
He was worried that this batch of trainees didn’t have what it takes. Besides Bravo 1 and Alpha 1, the others in the group were just kids. To his own guess, they were likely orphans or strays who found themselves in Andromeda and subsequently enrolled in the CDU or CAU as a means to feed themselves.
As saddening as those kids’ stories were, Itsuki was numb to it. He had seen it so many times, and while he wished it wasn’t like this, who was he to think he could save everyone. He also knew that these kids would be in better hands with the CDU and CAU, rather than other dark places he knew of.
“I hope I don’t have to kill them.” Itsuki mumbled in his helmet, not letting any of his words escape to anyone else.
[TAC UNIT 043 - ASTRAY TYPE]
Description: TAC-043 is a close range fighter that has high maneuverability and high altitude capabilities. Not every TAC is one in the same, and are highly customized to the pilot’s preferences. (A Commonality amongst all Andromeda Pilots.)
image [https://i.postimg.cc/4NgTwNxS/23.png]
Note: The metallic frame of the TAC have built-in hand holds that allow for grunts to climb on and secure themselves as passengers. They are mainly found in the leg unit.