Jac’s training began with morning physical training: a five kilometer run, followed by weight training and swordsmanship. The first day in the gym was spent going over the various machines and setting up the routine and determining where to start with weights. Swordsmanship began with full on sparring so Jac could see where the girls were at. He watched them duel so he could evaluate styles, weaknesses and what level they were at. Emily managed a disarm on Kiera that sent her sword into the air. Kiera caught it in her other hand and continued the duel. When they finished he stepped on the map looking at his sister with a wry grin.

“You can fight with both hands?” he asked.

Kiera nodded, “I’m ambidextrous, when father found out he had me learn with both hands.”

“In that case, how would you like to learn how to duel wield?” Jac asked with a grin.

“Sure?” Kiera replied.

The rest of the sword practice was Jac demonstrating how to fight with a weapon in each hand; Kiera immediately saw the benefits.

After they had breakfast they went to the racing track. Kiera was all grins when she saw the hanger and was almost bouncing when they pulled in and parked. Inside the hangar were frivolous mecha, all suited for racing. There was a Liger-Zero, the same kind that Pierson used, built to look like a female lion. The X13 Valiant was a humanoid mecha with feather shaped engines on its back that resembled wings. They could be deployed to increase maneuverability; the Valiants were also popular sword mechas and were the first to have arm mounted weaponry. There was a Blackjack that had its maneuvering thrusters on its arms and legs and designed to look like spikes, they were growing in popularity. Kiera audibly gasped when she saw the Glass Darner. It was the same model that Amelia Wilson flew. It looked like a fairy out of fantasy. Tall lithe with long oval wings that doubled as solar panels. The joints were seamless and it had no armor, just a titanium frame to keep it light.

“Jac, can I fly the darner!” Keira asked, pointing at it.

Her brother laughed, “After a year of ballet lessons.”

“What?” Kiera asked, “What does ballet have to do with piloting?”

“The darner, like many light weight mechas, requires a lot of precision to pilot and the more control and awareness you have of your body the better you can pilot. Ballet will help teach you that, and in the case of the darner your physical movements help to pilot her. Amy uses a special harness and actually stands up in several of her movements when piloting,” he explained. “But today we’re going to meet the crew and get you in a sim. You’re going to start with a Mercury, they’re the best for Rookie pilots. Knowing your crew is essential for being a great pilot, and you will be learning how to do maintenance on your own mecha so you can really appreciate what your crew does for you.”

The racetrack crew had been expecting both Kiera and Emily. A couple of them were surprised that Kiera wasn’t an Alteran like her brother and one of them guessed that one of them was adopted. Jac’s royal status was either unknown or the ment were pretending that they didn’t know who he ws. Kiera followed his lead and let him explain that they had the same father and different mothers. Kiera got along well with them and they let her sit in the cockpits of the various mecha they had before letting her and Emily use the sims.

Kiera and Emily attended classes in the afternoon at the local secondary school. The teachers introduced them as transfer students, let them say a little about themselves and then treated them like any other students. It was an amazing experience for Kiera who had only been educated by her stern, non-nonsense governess that glowered at Emily everytime the girl acted too familiar with Kiera. Here, that wasn’t a problem and they were just students like everyone else, her royal status kept secret. After classes they went to the shooting range; there would be some correlation between firing with a mecha’s weapons and using a normal weapon. Jac didn’t know much about the shoulder mounted or other weaponry; mecha pilots were just starting to see more common use when he finished his service.

After dinner they had freetime, which meant they did their homework, including the additional homework that Jac gave them, laps in the pool, and yoga. The first day Kiera went to be exhausted but happy. The training was intense but Jac wasn’ta cruel taskmaster, at least not on the first day. Kiera had a feeling that he was easing them into the training and things were going to continue to increase in intensity. She couldn’t wait.

-[]-

<<”It’s exactly like the simulators,”>> Perkins said over the comm, <<”You’re going to start her up, just like the sim and walk her out onto the track.”>>

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Okay!” Kiera said.

The Mercury Racing Mecha was the first model of racing mecha and what defined the sport. It had shoulder and leg mounted jets, a tough, durable frame, and was considered the easiest mecha to pilot. Every rookie racer had their first race in a Mercury; it was tradition that no team would break. It wasn’t pressure from the dead but a way to honor where the sport started.

The mecha started up, the screen in front of her lit up with information about the mecha, mostly its fuel levels, elevation, flight mode, positioning, and speed. Kiera pressed on the pedal and the mecha began to walk. Feeling it shake underneath her was better than the simulator; there was no substitute for the real thing. A dot appeared on her radar, the identifier showing as Sol. To the chagrin of the Governess, Elise had given Emily the same surname as Kiera. Most handmaidens took the surname of the planet they were born on. Only the first four royal children, the ones Amdeus had with Empress Rowan Astria, bore the Astrian Royal name. Everyone else was technically a bastard and given a different last name. There didn’t seem to be a rhyme or reason for it, at least none that Kiera could ever figure out.

Kiera continued forward and stepped out onto the track. Her grin only grew wider, she was piloting a mecha on a racetrack. The first races were on oval race tracks and the pilots competed to see who could complete fifty laps first. She kept walking on the track, getting the feel for the mecha. She loved the feeling of it bouncing beneath her, seeing the various displays show her speed.

<<”Go ahead, KSol, run with her!”>> Perkins said.

She pressed the pedal down, increasing the speed. It was great, she rounded the corner going faster, the Mercury handled as great as it did in the simulator she ran before being able to get into the real thing. This was what she wanted, no longer a spectator but a pilot! She sprinted down the track and turned the next corner, remembering to slow down so she didn’t go slamming into the wall.

<<”Keep an eye on your speed, Kiera! Oh, and watch that fuel gauge, you don’t want to run out while you’re out there. Do you know where you are on the track, positioning is important! Know where everyone else on the track is as well, you can use your radar for that! But don’t take your eyes off the track, you don’t want to run into anything!”>> Perkins said over the comms.

It was hard to look everywhere at once. The fuel gauge was on the far left of her screen, the speed and engine temperature were on the far right, and she had to keep track of both as well as the distance between her and Emily, which was on the far upper right of her screen. On top of all that she had to keep an eye on the track and her position on it, which was on the upper left. There was so much information to keep track of! Trying to do it all she tripped as she crossed over the starting line. The mecha bounced on the track. She heard a scream over her comms and felt her mecha shake as Emily crashed into her.

<<”Kiera! Are you okay!?”>> Perkins asked, it sounded like he was trying to hold back laughter, <<”What happened?”>>

“I don’t know!” Kiera exclaimed, “I was trying to look at everything you were telling me, and I crossed the starting line and the next thing I knew I was on the ground and Emily had crashed on top of me!

<<”You didn’t release your mag sensor?”>> Perkins asked.

“Release my what?” Kiera looked around the screen for some indicator that there was a mag sensor engaged. She didn’t see anything on the status screen or the controls, “I don’t see a mag sensor to release…”

Laughter came from the comms, <<”Yeah, you have to release your sensor or the track will trip you! You can try to step over it if you can see it!”>>

Kiera frowned and looked again for something that said mag sensor. She’d never heard of it and none of the sim racing she had done required her to release a magnetic sensor. It didn't make sense, “Okay where is it?” Emily climbed off of her and Kiera stood up, more confused than ever.

<<”It’s between your legs,”>> Perkins said, <<”The lever with the red button. You need to press the button and pull that back.”>>

Kiera frowned and looked at the lever, that was the emergency eject wasn’t it? “Hey, are you sure? I thought that’s where the eject was.”

<<”That’s the mag release,”>> Perkins snickered, <<”This is your first time in that mecha, we wouldn’t steer you wrong.”>>

Kiera crossed her arms, it didn’t make any sense. She knew it was the ejection lever…wasn’t it? This was her first time in a mecha, maybe this model was different then in the sim? Her Kierastinct said something was wrong, and she’d learned to trust it. They were laughing too much, falling over wasn’t that funny.

“Okay,” Kiera said, grabbing the lever. She braced for ejection and pulled the lever.

The top of the mecha was blown off and she was launched into the air, laughter roared in her comms as she cleared the mecha. Behind her Emily screamed. She knew something was wrong! Their parachutes deployed and drifted them to the ground where the laughing ground crew was waiting.

“You guys suck,” Kiera said, “I told you it was the ejector!”

The crew roared in laughter as Kiera unhooked her harness and went to check on Emily. She was looking even angrier than Kiera and marched over to Harrison, “I knew it! I knew it and you swore that it wasn’t!”

“What’s going on?” Jac asked, “Seriously guys? The Mag release prank.” He shook his head, “And you didn’t give them the helmets? I step away for one call…”

“Sorry boss, but if we can’t haze the rookies a bit then some of the fun out of this job just goes away,” Perkins said, “I’m surprised Audrey kept you on the phone for so long!”

“These guys think we’re dumb,” Kiera said, crossing her arms and walking up to Emily.

“Hazing, it’s so juvenile,” Emily scowled.

“Remember those cookies you made last year with the euclidean chocolate?” Kiera asked.

“More hazing, I swear the bakers were just as—” Emily paused, and grinned, “Yes. Yes I do.”