Location: Terra Colony Andromeda
North Sector - Training Field Septa
Division 8 - Aerial Group Gamma
Approaching 2000 Meters Above Sea Level
Time: 1341
January 31, 2050
What a relief. Amanda sighed, the tension in her chest going away for a moment. Finding that Stella was alright, or somewhat managing after that explosion Itsuki caused, had done the trick in curing her anxiety. Seeing Stella fight with all she had was inspiring, she wasn’t one to back down underpressure, unlike herself. Watching from the video feed in her HUD, Amanda witnessed Stella mow down enemy after enemy, keeping pace with Itsuki. She didn’t try to keep up with what was happening with Itsuki’s, his view was so shaky that it made her eyes strain too hard. Even when he wasn’t around, he was annoying her in some way.
There was at least someone else who could take her mind off him. She smiled as Stella sent a wave of erupting fireballs into the enemy constructs. They scattered, those lucky enough to survive tumbled while the not so lucky ones splintered into charred wood across the ground. Stella truly had the firepower to back up her boldness, she was stronger, stronger than me, Amanda thought. And right now she hoped she’d have that kind of strength for the moments ahead. At present her group was in trouble, and were in a whole lot of it.
It had been a jaw dropping experience to emerge above the clouds, to fly so high without the use of a plane. The wide blue sky that was always overhead came into light and brought a new perspective to this stressful training exercise. Beautiful, was the first word she said, yet it was still dangerous and chaotic up here. She hadn’t noticed it from the ground, but a dogfight in the skies had been raging all this time.
Green allied icons filled her view, as well as red enemy icons that darted around in concert. Pairs and groups of them chased each other. The number of red icons had her group outmatched 5 to 1. In spite of that, her allies were like small angry swarms of bees vying for control, you didn’t want to mess with them. In the case of the enemy, they pushed back in overwhelming numbers, they were a frenzied school of aquatic robots who nipped back.
Amanda gripped tighter to the arms around her waist. She knew she was safely secured to the trainee and his propulsion unit by a harness. Still she couldn’t stop the unconscious reaction. The trainee must’ve felt her tense since he gave her a comforting squeeze on the wrist in return as the flashes of distant gunfire pounded away in the air. As they flew forward and passed a few ongoing skirmishes, the whirring of an alarm signaled in their ears.
Amanda’s attention turned towards an incoming swarm of robotic constructs ahead on the right. Her HUD put them at about 1 kilometer out, and closing fast. Her view zoomed and she got a better look. Modeled after aquatic animals such as sharks, mantrays, fish, or even whales, they swam through the air like a mismatched clutch of prey and predator. Some were the size of a person while others were as large as the animals they were based off of. The ones that looked like a whale had the students gawking. The trainees on the other hand did even bat an eye.
[This is Alpha 1 of Group Gamma.] Said the trainee partnered with Amanda. [As predicted, we have pursuing enemies on an intercept vector. Group Epsilon, cover us and flank the enemy. The rest of you, move it! Get the students to the rendezvous, On the Double!]
Amanda swallowed the held breath as her trainee partner accelerated, the cool air rushing past her cheeks. An intercepting force of trainees broke off in parallel. Amanda wished them luck. Aerial Groups Gamma, Beta, and Epsilon had originally been teams of 20. But for the sake of 00’s plan, their forces were bolstered to 40 a piece. Of the 120 of their new total, 50 of them carried a student each, the rest were on escort duty. By how densely packed the battlefield was getting with enemies, the last minute decision to increase their numbers was proving to be the right decision.
Group Epsilon worked to draw off a number of enemies. It was 40 of them versus hundreds, so they needed to be smart. Firing off flares, they attracted the enemy robots like moths to a flame. As they got tangled in, Group Gamma and Beta proceeded along the indicated route to the rendezvous. Over the channels Amanda could hear the battle heating up. Dozens of dogfights broke out as Group Epsilon scattered like sand in the wind.
They organized themselves into mobile flights. A trio of trainees had dozens of bots on their tail, shark-like in appearance, their menacing jaws clinked together in an intimidating manner. It was surreal to see a robot shark fly in the sky, and its figure struck a menacing cord in everyone. The trio of trainees nodded to each other and then two of them broke off. One went left and the second to the right. The remaining third let off a flare from his belt as he made a sharp left then an about face to stare down the sharks’ jaws. He shouldered his rifle, fired off a three round burst to take the bot in the lead, and then let gravity take over.
Cutting his propulsion pack’s power off, he fell like a rock. The Shark bots were in hot pursuit like seagulls gunning for a lake's surface full of fish. The trainee fired again as he fell, it was easy pickings. The shark type bots would’ve usually countered with some kind of ranged weapon attached to their fins. Since this was a training exercise, they opted to tackle or subdue the trainees and students with other more roundabout means. At best they’d be injured with a bruise or be knocked out. But, that was little comfort as their numbers kept coming. Eventually the trainee would no doubt be overrun, he knew that, yet continued to fire in full confidence that he’d win.
[Now!] The trainee shouted as he powered up his propulsion pack. He raced to put distance between himself and the swarm. A second later two booms scattered the dozens of clumped up bots on his tail. The other two trainees who had peeled off earlier, had circled back with rifle grenades at the ready. They popped off another salvo, further scattering and frenzying the swarm of shark bots.
More and more encounters like these played out, a cacophonous clutter of struggle. Chase and be chased, intercept and delay, bait and switch. Amanda was in awe. Such precise teamwork and daring maneuvers were spectacles she’d only dream of or saw in recordings, now they were happening right in front of her and she had such an up close view.
They can do all that! And they are around my age? She almost couldn’t believe it, though she’d been thinking that a lot lately today.
The leader of Epsilon Group broke from an engagement, ending it as the last round left his rifle. He made for the clouds for cover, reloading as he let the white mist around hide him away. [S1.. This is Epsilon 1.] The leader said, eyeing the remaining swarms of enemies around. [Targeting data sent.] He waited until a response came, then nodded.
Amanda couldn’t see it, but all of a sudden Group Epsilon fell back from their engagements, putting distance with Group Beta and Gamma. The bots of course followed, their attention locked on them like the keen animals they were based off of. As if timed, anti air support had arrived.
Emerging from the gray clouds below, droves of whistling missiles bounded up on trails of sparkling fire. Impacting after hammering a hole into an unlucky few bots, they flashed in the midst of the regrouping schools of robotic constructs. The outer casings of the missiles fell away, revealing rows upon rows of packed cluster munitions. Like a wave dying as it broke against a rock, the enemy formation fell apart as innumerable echoing pops riddled them raw. Their dented and scrapped remains flew away as flaking cinders.
Alpha 1, seeing a chance to progress deeper towards the marked rendezvous point without any resistance, ordered everyone to move ahead. The rest of Group Beta and Gamma followed. The students felt as G’s of acceleration slammed into them. With eyes narrowed to keep the wind out, Amanda spotted a distant speck dead ahead.
[Not good.] Alpha 1 grimaced, veering off course of the intended route with the rest of Group Gamma and Beta filling out behind him. He checked his map, realizing Group Epsilon would be tied up for a few. [Come in S1.. Come in.. We have new enemy contacts not with original plans on radar.. Requesting support.]
Alpha 1 paused for an answer, except none came. That was odd.
[Looks like comms are being jammed up here.] Said another trainee over the line, [You think something’s happened on the ground?]
[I don’t know, they might just be caught up in their own kind of trouble, and if they were getting jammed then we’d get an update from a messenger.] Alpha 1 double checked his HUD, trying to recalculate a better route through the battle up here. Going around the pockets of enemy patrols was an option, except time was a concern. He wanted to send his targeting data to S1 or to Division 8’s ground team to get support, but he wouldn’t know if his request would go through.
The timer in the corner of their view was counting down, and how much was left told him that the plan so far wasn’t going well. They had to make it to the rendezvous point before it was too late, and cutting it close was an understatement. If not the enemy explorers would be able to recover and the later phases of the attack plan would go up in smoke. The count had a little over 5 minutes remaining, so he couldn’t risk getting bogged down in a dogfight with the students in tow, the fight would drag out for too long and losing any of them would decrease the rate of the plan’s success. Taking at least a few seconds, he breathed a sigh as he waited for S1 to respond, again nothing came, so the decision was his.
[Alright then, Everyone, The enemy must be jamming us, that or there’s so much comm traffic that S1 can’t reply. Either way, we need to move.] He sent firing orders to the members of his groups who had their hands free while waving over those who were carrying the students to get closer to the center of their formation. [We’re pushing through on our original route, our escorts will draw any enemy we encounter off while we get closer to our target, so everyone hold tight and don’t lose your lunch.]
A dry chuckle passed between them all. In light of that, they were taking this seriously, and Amanda was too. In light of the fearless features on her face, she needed to gulp. After a blink she hardened her face to form a mask of calm. Inside, Amanda was screaming again at how insane of a plan this was. The only thing keeping her from falling to her death were the trainee holding her and a harness around her waist. In the face of robotic flying sharks and the other dangerous hazards of an air battle, a good grip and some harness wasn’t all too comforting. Albeit, the harness was technically a nanofibrous carbon composite material with a high resilience to tension and torsion, but she digressed.
Focusing on the bright she, she watched as part of their escorting trainees flew ahead. She at least had back up, and friends at her side. Alpha 1 pulled on his side of the waist harness and patted Amanda on the back to reassure her. She sighed, and he chuckled at her expense.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
[First time?] Alpha 1 asked, to which he got a silent nod from Amanda. Not willing to intrude, he left it at that. Amanda was grateful that he could read her mood.
***
A minute later, the next engagement began.
[Enemy contact!]
[Keep them off the Students!]
[Roger! Firing Grenades! Watch for the small ones!]
[New Contacts at three o’clock. I’m going in! Deploying Flares!]
The air lit with red floating embers and the flashes of trailing gun fire. Amanda winced as a nearby bot exploded from a hail of bullets. Her heart then suddenly leapt when Alpha 1 made a drastic strafe to the left to avoid an incoming bot. As he passed it, he gunned it with his sidearm.
As it exploded, he clicked his tongue in annoyance. [Dang, that was close. Group Epsilon, could use your help, did you finish off the stragglers?]
[Yeah..] Replied Epsilon 1, his voice a mix of excitement and fear. [We’re coming around to support you, and we’ve got some help too.]
Another bot came dangerously close to ramming into Alpha 1 again, he pulled up and looped in the air to get at it from above. Two precise rounds from his pistol finished it off as he leveled out to check on his allies on his tail. To his relief, they were all accounted for, except Group Epsilon was not where he was expecting.
[Well it's good to hear you got more back up.] Alpha 1 grumbled, [But where are you? You should be behind us.]
[We’re dead ahead.] Epsilon 1 said hurriedly, [Get ready, we’re about to come into view, and we’re going in hot.]
Alpha 1 rolled his eyes, he wondered just what they had been going but every group had their own tactics in doing their part. [Don’t we ever.] He mumbled, then changed to a more serious tone as he addressed everyone else. [Look sharp, looks like this ride is about to get a lot rougher.]
Amanda saw what he meant. In a brief lull as they broke from the first wave of enemy bots, the distant specks she had seen a ways off were coming into view.
[Holy crap.] Were the only words she had to say.
There were just so many. The enemy contacts in her HUD kept ticking up and the amount of red on the radar was beyond concerning. Nevertheless the small escort ahead of Alpha 1 moved in on their propulsion packs, meeting the much larger enemy force head on. Again the sound of gunfire and the booming echoes of destroyed bots filled everyone’s ears. It was like a storm, a storm of combat unlike anything Amanda had ever pictured.
Alpha 1 worried they had driven their offense too deep, it would take time to get out of this. As he issued orders to evade, the timer in his HUD suddenly flickered. That got his attention, as well as Amanda’s. It recalculated, going from 2 minutes to a little over 4 minutes remaining. Something must’ve changed in the overall situation, or there had been an update in the plan. In any case, this meant they had additional time and it was a sight for their literal sore eyes.
[This is Group Epsilon, Engaging!] The first glimpse of Epsilon 1 flew into view 300 meters ahead. Other human silhouettes rose from the cloud bank alongside him. They mixed in with the bots, though they were moving oddly slower.
A salvo of their rifle grenades popped smoke in the enemy formations, then the next produced a number of fiery black plumes. They tore a straight path up, getting higher and higher. Again their speed wasn’t as impressive. The reason for why showed itself as they positioned themselves above the next enemy wave.
Amanda’s eyes widened as a person was dropped from one of Group Epsilon’s numbers. For a moment she thought to tell Alpha 1 to send someone to catch them, but the figure who fell angled themself to land feet first onto one of the much larger enemy bots. Without pause, the person stabbed his sword cleanly along the shark bot's spine. With a metallic rip, it split cleanly in half. The man then jumped to land on another bot nearby. Soon, more people fell from Group Epsilon’s grasp, landing much the same as the first and started downing the enemies in the way.
A kind of mid air close quarters brawl had started. Swordsmen jumped from bot to bot, slicing, slamming, piercing, they fought as if they were on the ground, none of them affected by the fear of falling to their death. A few others let off a mixed color of core energy infused bolts, saturating the air in power. Using the larger bots as footholds or their own methods of aerial maneuvers, the new arrivals were making a dent in the enemy numbers. One after another, the bots fell, either gutted, mechanically flayed up close, or turned to a drifting black heap.
Calling this aerial combat sounded wrong, none of them could fly. Amanda though had been taught otherwise and had seen this before. The hyper realistic video recorded simulations she watched during class showed a similar encounter like this. It was dangerous, though necessary since Star Depth monsters could fly. But she, again, hadn’t thought to see this kind of stunt in person. She thought it would be years before she saw this. You’d need good balance, a keen judgment, and a reckless amount of bravery to fight like they did. She surmised that they were likely upper class students and veteran trainees from the vanguard. Except that didn’t explain how they had the balls to do this.
Just how the heck can they do all this without batting an eye? It’d take only one mistake for them to fall and they’d be a meat pancake on the ground. As Amanda asked herself that, she heard Alpha 1 speak to someone.
[Alpha 1 to Epsilon 4, what’s your situation? Are you unable to unlatch your passenger?]
One of Group Epsilon’s personnel was trailing behind the others of his group and was nearing closer to Alpha 1.
[N.. No.. Nothing like that..] Epsilon 4 replied, sounding a bit fed up. [My student is just being a bit.. Huh? Wait! Hey! Don’t touch that or you’ll..]
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!” A shrill cry from a girl echoed across the sky.
Amanda recognized who it was, and her heart dropped to her stomach. “Stella!”
For a moment she reached for the release lever on her waist. A split second of hesitation slowed her. Fear had overtaken, but before she could push past it someone else beat her to it.
“Hold on Stella!” Ikki shouted, diving head first through the air. Angling himself, he got closer to Stella, then reached his arm out. His fingers drifted closer against the violent tumbling of the rushing wind on his skin. “Hold on!” He shouted again, trying to get her attention. “Stella! Look at me! Look! At! Me!”
Even with his words, Stella flailed in a panic. Only when Ikki grasped her arm did she stop and blink the tears from her eyes. Immediately realizing who had grabbed her, Stella wrapped her arms around Ikki’s back and buried her face in his chest. Ikki smiled down at her, then realized as he looked up and saw the departing figures of the rest of the group. The trainee who’d been carrying him was currently occupied and wasn’t able to keep up with his rather brash actions. Ikki had thought he’d follow, though he regretted not just asking him for his help.
I should’ve thought this through better.
A couple dozen bots, noticing his stunt, flapped their metallic fins in chase. Ikki again reprimanded himself and braced for a fight. Materializing his core weapon, his black katana, in hand, he tried to think of how he’d get through this, not to mention the landing. Just as the bots moved away from the main swarm, one of the new arrivals with Group Epsilon jumped down. He slashed at a charging bot with his thin blade as he fell, then slid the blade away into the rectangular sheath on his left to withdraw a whip from his right. He waved it in his left wrist and it came undone, coiling in the air around him. Ikki recognized who it was and how this person’s eyes narrowed into a familiar honed focus.
The guy flicked his wrist, sending the whip careening into the sides of two bots in one motion. He reoriented mid air, then slammed feet flat on one of the bots back. A metal growl rumbled from it, it shook itself to be rid of him. He obliged and flipped off it as he gouged a hole into its side with his bare fist. Making his way from bot to bot on the way down, his movements blurred into a silver streak stretching down from between the clouds. Ikki put away his core weapon and held up a hand as the other held on to Stella.
[A little help, Itsuki?] Ikki asked cheekily, already knowing the person on the other side of the conversation would tacitly reply.
Itsuki only snorted as he flicked his whip out. It extended to reach the distance between them, the length of it flickering silver for a second before coiling around Ikki’s arm. Ikki felt a hard tug as Itsuki hefted the whip’s handle. He and Stella were thrown back up, gaining altitude as the sight of Group Gamma came closer. Ikki sensed the immense momentum behind the whip, how Itsuki’s core energy imbuement permeated the weapon in a lethal pressure. It was refined and potent. This was unlike any of the tricks Itsuki had used in their previous spars. Ikki, watching as Itsuki fell further below, wondered just how many surprises he had.
Amanda, having watched all this, felt a weight of exasperation falling on her as she sighed. Again, relief washed over her, though the exasperation persisted.
[Show off!] She loudly grumbled at Itsuki. No reply came, Itsuki just retracted his whip back as he eyed for his own way back up. Luckily, or not so luckily depending on how one thought about it, an obscene number of shark type and whale type bots made a break at him. He pulled out the thin blade from its sheath, then picked his targets for his whip. He’d need to swing himself back up.
***
Stella felt as the sudden shifting of momentum finally stopped. Her eyes had been closed the entire way up with Epsilon 1. She had volunteered to help the aerial team, but not even the training she had in her homeland had prepared her for an aerial fight without a parachute. It all happened so fast. She just hoped it’d be over soon. Finally opening her eyes, she found Ikki holding her. She then noticed who he was holding onto with his other hand.
“Wh-where am I?” She asked, to which Ikki chuckled. Instead of him answering, the person whose leg he was holding spoke.
[Oh come on!] Mana flapped her wings in irritation, exerting herself as she continued to talk. [Don’t tell me.. You’re shell shocked already, the plan isn’t even fully done yet. I know that today’s been long, but pull it together.] She heaved a breath. [And damn are you two heavy, it’s a good thing I’m a corebinder, or else we’d be falling if I wasn’t so strong.]
[Will you be alright?] Asked Dahlia, who was riding on Mana’s back. [If you want, I can try to heal you and..]
[Nah.. I’ll be fine.] Mana assured as she increased her pace forward, [Worry about yourself for now, you're exhausted from healing everyone earlier, so save your energy.]
Dahlia ducked her head bashfully, nodding, though she wasn’t embarrassed, proud was more like it. Mana flapped her white feathered wings on her waist again, getting used to the weight of her new passengers and making sure she could compensate. As one of the rare few who could fly on their own, she had some leeway when it came to the number of passengers she could take. Having more would take its toll on her core energy, so it was a good thing they were coming up on the rendezvous soon.
[Okay, this should do.] Mana said, [Let’s catch up with the rest or we’ll be left behind.]
Stella held on tighter to Ikki, then realized she was being too clingy and that her.. Ahem.. Breasts.. Were pressing somewhat too seductively. She let up on her grip but Ikki didn’t let her. His hand held her waist firmly, and Stella was overly concerned with how close his hands were to her butt. She blushed red, unsure if she should frown or smile at his forwardness. This was bold of him, and well.. She found this to be.. Exciting.
[So what happened?] Ikki asked all of a sudden, [Did something happen with the fight on the ground?]
Stella pouted, the mood was somewhat ruined. She wished he’d think about her, self centered as it was. The mood had been right in her opinion, except in hindsight, a training exercise might not be so romantic. [I don’t want to talk about it.] She muttered.
[Uh.. Stella? Are you sure? It sounds like..]
[I said I don’t want to talk about it.] Stella said again, this time more to the point as she softly jabbed Ikki in the side.
[I.. Uh? Ouch.. Ugh.. Okay.. Okay..] Grimacing in slight pain, he acquiesced.
Overhearing, he heard Stella begin to mumble, and swore he heard her cursing at Itsuki. Now what did that guy do now? He could already guess. Being close with Itsuki, Ikki knew he was still the unsociable fellow he always was. During serious moments, like today’s training exercise or in the heat of battle, he took things to an inflexible extent in the field. He’d sometimes rub harshly on those around him.