Arc 2 Chapter Header [https://i.imgur.com/ro1JiZG.jpg]
Front 7 - Under the Light of the Mechanical Moon
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7.1 - Deadlight Commences Part 1
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A thought struck Hoki as she sat in the quiet mundanity of her piloting chair, it was the sort of thing Kolme so often ranted about, usually unsolicited;
'Battles are a strange thing, in stories they always seem so very spontaneous. An alarm rings and all the soldiers and machines rush out to clash with one another - So, how come I've been sitting here for the better part of 48 hours with nothing to do?'
Per the 'operation details' Scarlet and Hoki had launched along with their field-cabin and set up on a small debris field, close enough to actually see the good ship Clover, with its semi-circular form and numerous spindled arms - But not so close as to be detectable as anything more than debris themselves by enemy sensor equipment. Aside from the Clover off in the distance, there wasn't much to look at. The cockpit of the regular Vijaik is no large affair. In front of Hoki was the primary monitor, surrounded by its myriad of smaller position-able screens - All displaying various readouts, while the largest gave her the aforementioned view of their query.
Around her was even less comforting, the many railway-like clasp levers that controlled ventilation, the two large handles to the sides of her chair for manoeuvring - And many keyboard-like control panels, which she had pushed back to give herself a little breathing room. The chair atleast was comfortable, not luxury by any measure and it didn't exactly feel soft but broad enough for Hoki to sit cross legged, or with her knees tucked under her chin, or any other such configuration - Put lightly she had spent a considerable amount of her time trying to find the comfiest way to sit in the chair.
It was itself something else she had never really put much thought into before now, the idea of comfort with-in a war machine like the Vijaiks. Thankfully the small metal shell of the mech wasn't her only refuge, indeed her and Scarlet took shifts between being on watch inside the machines and making use of the field-cabin's facilities. Said facilities were little better - But seemed downright lush by comparison to the stuffy recycled air and heating of the cockpit.
The grey rectangular block was affixed to the doorways of both Vijaiks, hanging in the space between them like a scruffy grey-shirt on a washing line.
Inside the cabin was something akin to a youth-hostile style of room: No gravity meant no beds, instead simplistic sleeping bags were strapped to the walls in the old fashioned way, chairs and tables of the flimsy sort that folded out from the walls - And all the kitchen equipment being an intendent to one side.
The 'Pioneer Toilet' was embedded in another wall, with a small amount of storage on the side opposite, for clothes and piloting gear. All told the actual floorspace of the room was not large, however Hoki still valued the space over solely having her cockpit.
Despite its lack of gravity, the space could store a reasonable amount of air - Meaning there was no need for them to permanently wear a space-suit, further it was better air conditioned then the Vijaiks and by being physically connected to the two mechs - Could share these amenities with them to some extent. In turn the Neo-Vijaik's regularly small air supply could be made to last comfortably for atleast a week.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
A must have for missions like their current one but...
Despite the relative comforts of her pilot's chair and the field-cabin, comforts she was well aware someone like her father would not of had during the invasion of Bhaile just a decade ago - Hoki couldn't help but feel the early onset of that feeling.
The first few hours had been fine, heck the entire first day had been, if anything enjoyable. Her handheld had a large array of media she could watch or project onto the main monitor, aswell as books & publications she could read (many of which she had been meaning to get to for some time but been unable to due to her duties). At first it was almost like a short vacation, sure one with the ever-looming threat of an extensional danger, but still a period of rest and relative peaceful relaxation.
And yet in just the space of two days she could already start to feel that niggling strain, a biting uneasiness to move around and do, - 'Something, anything.'
They couldn't exercise much without the proper gym equipment in a zero-gravity environment and before long Hoki found her eyes begin to strain from all the time spent staring at screens. The food was 'Fit for Purpose' at best and communications with the ship was prohibited except under the strictest circumstances.
And so there she sat, staring at the main monitor that served for a window. Looking out on the vast expanse of nothing, on the blackness with no borders - Filled only by that distant, almost crescent moon looking shape of the Clover and the twinkling sparkles of probably dying, far-off stars. Its stats displayed lazily on one screen before her;
Full Name; BM-Frontier-Class Repair-Vessel; Clover Manufacturer(s); Bailey Mechanics Production Type; Limited Run Production Window; Discontinued Crew Count: Varies wildly - Capacity for thousands Mech Carrying Capacity; Carries none of its own but capable of servicing dozens at once. Threat Ranking; n/a
Hoki's Viewscreen [https://i.imgur.com/Dwr9ybo.jpg]
And in all that blackness was her - Outside her machine bent on one leg against a large silver sheet of long discarded metal. In front of it was that all important high-powered rifle - Propped unmoving atop her shield as a makeshift stand.
On the back of her machine was its massive backpack with a maze of wires running between it and the rifles power conduits - As well as an additional smaller block attached beneath that, specifically to give the extra power needed for living out her extended stay away from the ship. If that was all it would of made for quite the strange image of a lonely sniper, forever sat prone ready for some unseen enemy to appear - Except for it.
One could almost ignore the rail protruding out from the sniper into the awkward grey box of the field-camp - But most certainly not what was on the other end. Where Hoki's cyan and green Neo-Vijaik was stationed as an ever ready watcher, Scarlet's crimson and emerald machine, with its single red-eyed headpiece and black, blocky plate-like torso armour - Stood to the far end of that same sheet of metal, looking outwards like some immortalised sentry.
The two mechs connected in that never-ending night-sky by nothing more than the grey column between their two cockpits and the field-cabin.
Joined together and yet so very alone.
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