Gunning it, TAC-047 accelerated ahead towards the clearing blue horizon. Monitors hummed an almost silent ring, their lights flickering as numerical calculations and operational readouts continuously updated in the pilot’s view.
She glanced up to a corner in her view, the clouds of distant gray metal robots moved and parted away, revealing a true path ahead. Floating twinkles, likely Group Gamma’s launched decoy buoys, drew the enemy away. She could hear them.
The pilot herself, disconnected and apart from Group Gamma’s chain of command, through several inches of titanium carbide steel, noticed the Electronic ring quite different from her own machine’s and monitors sounds.
Of course, only she could hear it, her manifested ability gave her the power to sense EM waves and that included those emanated by people. Not a lot of good for fighting stardepth creatures, but it has its uses, at times.
Here we go!
Manipulating her controls, she raised her craft’s speed, its humanoid visage soared in an upright stance. As she did, she rang up everyone onboard.
[Hold on tight everyone! Things are about to get crazy fast.]
[HUH?! You’re going faster!?]
Even with the warning, the passengers sounded as if they were going to shat themselves.
“Kyaaaaaaaaa!”
“Too Fast! Too Fast!”
“Oh my God, we’re going to die!”
Amanda, Stella and Richard all screamed. The TAC pilot couldn’t blame them, this was probably their first time ever riding on one of these mechs. Still, it was best that they didn’t make so much of a fuss.
[Calm it you sissies. The trainees are keeping cool better than you, and so are your two friends, right?]
Shisuki and Ikki both nodded. They couldn’t see the pilot but could respond with green indicators in their HUDs.
Keeping his grip, Ikki lowered his head further to touch the mech’s metal surface.
[I’ve done this before, but.. it is uncomfortable.] Ikki replied plainly to the pilot, as if it were a memory he’d rather not remember. [People like me who have low core energy have to rely more on brute strength.]
[Oh? But you’ve done this before?] The pilot asked him. [I thought you were a first year student, how in the world did you get to ride on one of these before coming here?]
[I believe I can answer that.] Said Shisuki, cutting in. [Did perhaps Itsuki let you ride on one of his?]
[Yeah, how did you know Big sis?] Asked Ikki.
[Because he let me ride on it too, he told me it would be a good experience. And it was, but I prefer this pilot’s flying over his.]
The pilot laughed. She knew what Shisuki was talking about. If Itsuki made those inhuman maneuvers in an augment suit, then she could only imagine what Ikki and Shisuki went through when he piloted a TAC. That guy was known for never letting up or pulling punches. Or, so the rumor went.
[Then this must feel like a breeze to you two.] The pilot jerked a control handle, getting it primed. [Let’s go faster then, the sooner we make it to the front, the better.]
[Wait!] Amanda cried out to the pilot. [Please! For the love of god don’t! I think I might hurl!]
[Yeah! Same here!] Stella groaned. Her tensed red face was going green. [I didn’t eat breakfast but something is coming up.]
Richard on the other hand was too shell shocked to even answer, though he agreed in his heart.
[You sure?] The pilot looked at her monitors in the cockpit, the trajectories of the current flight path was going to be long, which meant more apparent suffering for everyone. [If I increase our speed this will all be over sooner. Just enhance yourselves with all the core energy you got, when we land you can rest.]
Amanda thought it over and as she did the captain joined into the conversation.
[Ma’am, I believe it's the best action, but how about we put it to a vote?]
[I’m not sure that will be fair. You and all the trainees seem to be in agreement.]
It was true, the captain couldn’t deny that, so Amanda tried to come up with a resolution. But the pilot wasn’t for it.
[Ah! Whatever, you know what, just hold on! This is my TAC anyway, so listen up and shut up. Enhance yourselves now, I’ll give you 5 seconds, my engines are just about primed.]
[Are you kidding me?] Amanda heard the jets on the TAC’s back whirred even louder, she thought they would explode.
[Nope~]
The pilot wasn’t backing down and a count appeared in everyone’s HUDs. Amanda, Richard, and Stella frantically attempted to gather what core energy they had left to brace themselves. When the count finished, everyone hung onto the TAC as it was subjected to shockwaves from breaking the sound barrier.
The heck! This is insane. Is this what explorers go through! Amanda hadn’t thought this was what she would learn about from the academy. It had been like this all month and especially so since this morning.
The ride in the dropship was horrible and terrifying with all those booming sounds followed by the rocking in her seat. Even after she mustered the will to jump from the dropship, the stress of commanding a team, fighting for her life, and taking a final stand, had all pressured her to almost no foreseeable end.
And this was supposed to be an optional training exercise, they hadn’t even begun the real part of today’s class.
Now this! She was in the middle of rocketing at a speed faster than sound while hanging off a mechanical flying robot with only a tether and her bare hands. Insanity was breaking and maybe the tether too. Granted, the tether was durable and she had immense strength, but still, this was a lot to ask for a young teenager such as her.
Even more so for the trainees, who looked to be between 10 and 20 years old. Winds began beating against the group as they hung on. It felt like hours went by, when Amanda squinted to open her eyes she saw on her HUDs clock it had only been a couple of seconds.
Dear God, I swear I’m never riding on these ever again. I’d rather run than fly.
[Huh? Well, isn’t this odd.] Hearing the pilot’s voice, Amanda chimed in since it sounded as if there was trouble. Her voice carried a rising tension.
[What is it? And if it's trouble, can we slow down please?]
[No nothing’s wrong, I got a private message from the lead commander at the front line. Apparently, he wants me to move to the vanguard. Hold on, I’m trying to figure out where to drop you off.]
A few exchanges went by, a couple of ‘yes’, ‘alright’, and ‘are you sure’ were heard. The pilot did her best affirming a ‘yes sir’ and returned to talking with her passengers.
[So, we have a..] She paused and there was a sort of uncertainty in her voice. [We have a situation with our landing point. I’ll be dropping you off but not exactly in the way you think.]
[What do you mean!] Stella shouted, not realizing that she didn’t need to talk over the sounds of the rushing wind in her ear for anyone to hear. [We’re landing right? What else could you mean by drop off?]
[I mean this.] Pulling up a video feed, the pilot shared the private message she received. It showed a group of trainees setting up what looked like a large air cushion alongside a few students.
[In a moment, I’ll remotely release all your tethers. When you're ready, let go of the handles and let gravity do the rest. With luck, you’ll land on the right spot or a student will catch you.]
[Wha-What?]
Everyone except the trainees fell silent, the wind in their ears being the only sound they could hear. It whispered of how unbelievable suicidal this plan was, that or it wasn’t the wind, and was more their conscious screaming at them.
[You have got to be kidding me!] Amanda shouted in outrage. She didn’t care if this was an order, she wouldn’t do it. [This is freaking suicide! You want me to drop from up here! At this speed?]
[Yup, and don’t be a baby kid. Explorers do this all the time and the calculations of your drop are already factored in, so just trust the math.]
[No way! No way! No way!] Stella adamantly refused and held tightly to the TAC’s exterior frame handles. [You said luck right, you said it! That isn’t assuring at all!]
[Yeah what she said! And what’s this about a student catching us! Can’t you land normally, please!]
Amanda begged that the pilot would throw her a line. For a second, the pilot thought about it. Perhaps she shouldn't be this heartless to these first years. The desperation in the students’ voices was real. She reached for the comms button, and at the last second, she pressed another button.
The trainees’ and students’ tether came loose. Amanda and Stella shrieked, and Richard bundled up like barnacle stuck to a ship.
[Kyaaa! No way! No way! No way!]
[Ahhhhhh! You son of a.. ahhhhhhhhhh!]
Amanda and Stella felt their hands slipping. Pushing strength into their fingers they held on, but not the trainees.
[Yahoo!]
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
[Last one down is a loser.]
[Hey! Wait up!]
[You all are insane!] Amanda screamed at them. [Insane! I say!]
[Huh? Wait! Ikki?] Stella felt a hand on her back grab her collar. [What are you..]
[Just trust me.] Ikki pressed his feet against the TAC and pushed off, bringing Stella with him, kicking and screaming.
[Ikki! Why!] Stella howled, clinging onto him as tears streamed from her eyes.
[Just hold on!] He said, and Stella buried herself in Ikki’s chest. His arms came around to hold her tight. It was by no means romantic, though Stella couldn’t help feeling embarrassed, terrified, and lovestruck at the same time.
More of the first two emotions came to bear.
[Hmph!] Shisuki glared down at them and jumped herself, darting down to keep an eye on them.
In less than a second, the only people left who held onto the TAC next to each other were the Captain, Richard, and Amanda.
[Ma’am.] The Captain tapped Amanda on the back and she glanced to see him hanging on with one hand. It was precarious. [We have to jump.] He said. [If we don’t then we’ll miss the drop off area.]
[Are you serious! Not you too!] Amanda said in disbelief. Today was continuing to possibly be the worst day of her life. [How am I supposed to do that!] She said, terrified. [I’ll become a pancake if I jump now! I don’t even know if I can land without a parachute. I had to when I jumped from the drop ship.]
[Suit yourself.] The pilot said. [I’ve got orders to storm the enemy's front line, so if you wanna stay, go ahead and be my meat shield. You have 10 seconds.]
Punching a button, a missile fired and rocketed off behind the TAC. Amanda had no idea what it was for, but that wasn’t the current issue at hand. The TAC’s whole frame shook violently, making the prospect of staying onboard less enticing.
It was a hard choice to make. Amanda looked down and saw the green scenery racing by. With only moments left, she faltered but the Captain didn’t let her, nor did he let Richard.
He grabbed Amanda and then Richard as he kicked off the TAC’s hull. The three huddled into a tight hug.
[Hold tight! And focus your energy!] The Captain commanded. [Think soft landings! It should pad out the impact!]
[Oh! MY! GOD!] Amanda’s fingers slipped away from the handle and she went careening off with Richard and the Captain. The G forces lessened and the tightness in Amanda’s guts noticeably lifted.
She could breathe easier. It only lasted for a second though. The ground was coming in fast and she began to gasp. They had dropped at an altitude of a few thousand feet. Amanda could hear Richard hyperventilating, and she was probably doing the same.
The Captain held them close, using his own paltry core energy he had as a grunt to shield the three of them. Amanda tried to do the same. She only ended up losing her focus, her core energy wasn’t moving the way she wanted it.
The energy was like flowing water or air she’d redirect and mold to what wanted it to do. To make it turn into ice, she needs a clear picture and sound mind to always conjure it so quickly.
It took weeks of practice for her to conjure it normally, and weeks for it to become useful in real combat. Distractions got in the way and right now her own panic was interfering.
[Brace!] The Captain shouted and hugged Amanda and Richard closer. They hugged back, hoping they’d get out of this alive.
Everything went dark as Amanda closed her eyes. She was too scared, too stressed, too.. Too.. helpless.
Then a thunk hit her, and then a thud made her twinge in pain, and finally a voice called out.
[Good to see you made it. Amanda right? You can open your eyes now.] The voice was sneering at her. [Man, talk about pathetic. Can’t believe you’re B rank.]
Amanda had heard that voice before. Abrasive like Itsuki’s yet with a prideful and wild tone behind each word. She peeled open her eye lids, slowly, and the scary visage of Chisuke’s face met hers.
She’d shriek if she wasn’t so glad to be alive. Going by how he was holding the three of them, Chisuke had somehow helped with their landing. How? Amanda didn’t want to know, or cared for that matter.
She leaned her back against the enormous cushion under her, with the heaviest sigh today.
The cushion was massive, like the size of a small house. Well it had to be since it was literally breaking the fall for people dropping out of the sky and without a parachute at that. Chisuke went to move off of them but stopped as Amanda held his arm.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but can I get a hug?” Amanda timidly asked, red faced from relief than embarrassment of her request.
Chisuke gawked, his mouth open. He actually blushed.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Amanda whimpered and cried into Chisuke’s chest. Richard did as well. The captain, admiring the scene, shot Chisuke a smug look.
Chisuke would have clocked the guy in the head if not for the 2 other idiots giggling in the corner of his eyes.
“Wow! Talk about a lucky pervert.” Gen said.
“You think he’s into her?” Osamu asked. “I think he has a chance now, but the competition is fierce for a girl that pretty.”
“Yeah, Amanda’s worshiped by everyone in the dorms, she’s the savior from the dorm’s devil.”
“You mean Itsuki?”
“Who else would I mean?”
Chisuke glared at Osamu but it didn’t stop Osamu from saying what was on his mind. “Itsuki is going to kill you if you do anything indecent in the dorms. You know that right?”
Chisuke wished he could throw himself at them, but Amanda and Richard were balling their eyes out in his arms. He couldn’t bring himself to toss his underclassman away, though he did contemplate tossing them at the two idiots, who were supposed to be his impromptu teammates.
He would do such a thing, if Amanda and Richard didn’t look so damn helpless and weak.
[Osamu! Gen! When I get out of this! I’m ripping you two a new one.] He shouted as many threats he could make, and while Gen and Osamu knew he wouldn’t follow through right now, they also knew he’d become the biggest pain in the ass for a while, a long while.
Yet, that was a deal they would still take since mortifying Chisuke was as valuable as gold to them. Entertainment.. was scarce. The two idiots grinned and laid into Chisuke, making full use of his predicament to get some much needed elbowed nudging and ribbing in.
***[Front Line Forward Position - Temporary Outpost Beta]***
Pressing past the flap of a tent, S1 walked into the shaded confines of the heart and soul of his current frontline group’s chain of command. Lined across either side of the brown camo canvas tent were lit data screens and monitors, attending personnel operated handheld terminals.
Information, data, and orders were issued and received here. Approaching the center of the tent, trainees who were unoccupied or had enough leeway to be noticed, saluted.
A curt, SIR, was said as everyone stood to attention.
“At ease.” S1 said, holding a hand up. He then placed his hands on the cool metal surface of a command display table set in the center of the tent. While S1 preferred the metal confines of his tank, the several inches of titanium steel as cover and the cannon as his reliable door knocker, times were changing.
“Give me a sitrep. How are Divisions 2 through 5 faring at the front? And when are we able to establish long range comms, we need that temporary array set up.”
“Soon.”
A familiar face answered, a man, who swept up the data visor up and away from his eyes. One eye was a normal dark brown, but the other had a discolored metallic silver in his iris’s hue. A telling sign of cybernetic or genetic augmentation.
S1 knew it was the prior and gave a smile to his tank’s communication’s officer, who returned the gesture with a stout smile with an upturned cheek and a wink.
“Sir, Division 2 through 5 have moved into position a mile ahead at our left flank. The initial waves from the constructs have been abated but we’re detecting 300,000 appearing 3 miles ahead of the divisions.”
“300,000!” S1 clasped a hand over his chin. Just how did so many go unnoticed? He reviewed, Radar picked up 500,000 only an hour ago, and they should’ve been dealt with by now. It’s only been half an hour, but.. At this pace, we’ll run out of steam again.
“Okay.” He sighed. “Move Division 6 to support and send in another one of our explorer assets.”
“Roger, who should we send?”
“Let’s go with one of the corebinders the academy hired, if they run into any unusual opposition they can hold out, they’re like the tanks of explorers.”
“Yes sir, but.. Unusual opposition? What do you mean?” His officer asked.
“Don’t worry about it, just a hunch. Now get to it.”
“Sir! Yes Sir!”
S1 hunched himself over the table, letting his eyes scan every moving signal on the holo map, both friend and foe. Hah, looks like it's working so far. But.. 5 miles.. We’re spread thin.
In the quicken momentum of this shift war games exercise, he had devised a rapid but slap shot strategy. By his deductions of the enemy force’s movement, with a main contingent of the enemies aerial robots circumventing the forward group’s position in favor of belaying their rescue and scavenging efforts, coupled with the full frontal assault, this war game exercise was moving into the end game.
With that thought in mind he had split the 8,000 personnel of his forces into 8 divisions numbering 1,000 each. Taking the lead, S1 had Division 1 be the head of the chain of command, consisting mostly of support staff, a small contingent of mobile mechanized infantry, and a large part of the armor and artillery assets.
He’d be directing the other divisions, ensuring smooth action and counteraction. Division 2 through 5 were the assault group, tasked with meeting the enemy head on and they were doing what they were intended to do.
Tapping the command display table, S1 brought up the casualty count and remaining munitions. It was worrying for the 4 divisions of grouping friendlies. Rapidly, the divisions were moving in and out of combat, draining both men and supplies at a pace unsustainable to eliminate all enemies. The crude and hasty chatter on the comms told of disorder and insubordination on the students' parts.
S1 wished he had a better setup to take direct command, all of this, every piece of equipment in the command tent was scourged up and set up in a rushed fashion. There was a limit on what they had so he couldn’t bitch about what he didn’t have.
But thank goodness they had enough hands, if not, this would’ve taken hours to get ready. Still, he smiled at this outcome. If not for this slapdash set up, responding to the enemy would be impossible with the current situation of the enemy's EM wave jamming.
It made long range communications almost impossible without the right hardware. Communication was now hit or miss if what you said went through, and S1 wasn’t trusting of who might be listening in.
“Sir, Report from TAC-047.” Said an officer. “She’s dropped the survivors off and has engaged the enemy. For now, she says she’ll help to hold the left flank.”
S1 nodded to another of his officers. “Good, have her at the outer reach of the battle line. Tell her to try and shorten it. We now have 2 of the 4 TACs. What’s the status of the other 2?”
“Unknown sir, radar last picked them up 20 miles due north but also detected enemy air forces heading their way. Should we investigate?”
“No, we’re stretched as it is. Declare them missing and..”
A sudden alarm ran across the nearby monitors.
“Sir, incoming projectile at our northeast bearing, trajectory calculation shows it heading right for the outskirts of the command tent. And.. huh?” The reporting officer sounded confused. “What the heck?”
“What?” S1 barked. “Spit it out!”
“Uh.. Yes Sir, Apparently, TAC-047 launched the projectile.”
“Excuse me? You better be joking because that isn’t funny.”
“No sir, no joke here. I’m receiving a data burst with an accompanying.. Message?”
“Well, put it on screen.”
“I can’t sir, it’s encoded and the encryption key is nothing I’ve experienced from my training, I’m not sure I’m rated to crack it.”
“Fine.” S1 swiped in his HUD. “Send me the landing location of this projectile. If it's from TAC-047, it might be a resupply.”
The officer acknowledged with a nod. Receiving the landing data, S1 took a jeep and headed out. It was less than half a click from the command tent’s position and in a couple minutes on wheels, he found what he was looking for.
Impaled into the ground was a tubular missile, the thing looked like it was by no means meant to be any kind of ordinance since it didn’t explode on impact, nor did any of S1’s sensors pick up on any dangers. Instead, his HUD registered it as a Storage Capsule.
“Hah, so.. It is a supply drop, but..” S1 looked at the thing. It was a meter tall and likely didn’t have the storage space to even hold a few tank shells. Recognizing the opening mechanism, S1 held his hand against the face of the Capsule.
A beep came from it and a compartment hissed open. Reaching inside, he felt and clasped a metallic ring that was porcelain white and a USB. How archaic. He thought.
USBs had become obsolete with the recent advances in technology. Nowadays, everything was digital or stored in crystalized digital cartridges which were sophisticated terminals that could easily connect to the wireless web.
That thought hit S1 and when he recognized what the metallic ring was as his HUD filled with a listed manifest of familiar equipment designations and other jargon only a Grunt would know, he smiled in great excitement.
“Clever. Very clever.” S1 grinned as what he read was both a devious plan and likely the greatest chance for him to turn this battle around. Commanding wasn’t easy without a concise plan or enough intel, but now, he had the best intel at his fingertips.
That, and an assortment of assets.
[Command Post, this is S1 here. I’ve located the projectile, nothing to report, I’m returning to base.]
[We read you sir, what did you find?]
[Just some junk, I’ll show you when I get back. For now, send out our 3 remaining explorers to the left flank.]
[Sir. Are you sure?] The officer on the other side of comms was skeptical of this choice of action. It was akin to throwing most of the cards they had on the table. [Isn’t it premature to send out the hired explorers, what if we lose them?]
[Trust me, those guys will be fine, their professionals and they’ll work as much as they;re ordered and paid to do. Now send the order.]
[Understood.]
[Oh! And another thing..] As S1 hopped into the passenger seat of the jeep and signaled the driver, he palmed the USB in his other hand. [Get an old computer set up for me, you can rip one out of the tanks, doesn’t matter which model, just rig up a USB port. Also, get me in contact with Division 8. I have supplies to redistribute.]
He clasped the USB and smiled. This is going to be one heck of a battle.