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 forty-eight 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 crescent-moon 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 Hoki was even less comforting, the many railway-like clasp levers of the cabin 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 at least 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 considerable time trying to find the comfiest way to sit in the chair.
It was something else she had never really put much thought into before now: The idea of comfort within a war machine like the Vijaiks. Thankfully, the small metal shell of the mech wasn't her only refuge. She 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 indent 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 floor space of the room was small; 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 wear a space suit permanently, and it was better air-conditioned than the Vijaiks would normally be. By being physically connected to the two mechs, they could share these amenities with them to some extent. In turn, the Neo-Vijaik's regularly small air supply could last comfortably for at least a week. 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 have 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 an extensive array of media she could watch or project onto the primary monitor, as well as books & publications she could read (many of which she had been meaning to get to for some time but had 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 beginning to strain from all the time spent staring at screens. At best, the food was 'fit for purpose', and communications with the ship were prohibited except under the strictest circumstances.
And so there she sat, staring at the main monitor that served as a window. Looking out on the vast expanse of nothing, on the blackness with no borders - Filled only by that distant, green moon looking shape of the Clover and the twinkling sparkles of probably dying, far-off stars.
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 rifle's 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 have 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 were 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.
Hoki shook her head in an attempt to take her mind off such things, but before long, she found herself dragged into that forlorn state once more while staring aimlessly out at space.
"Oi girl, how do I play cards on this blasted thing."
Hoki sighed, her line of thoughts fleeing her like the hazy daydream it was, as she turned to face one of the smaller monitors. Their mechs being physically connected meant they had an actual cable to allow for audio and visual communication. Further, even taking separate shifts, there were always some hours in the day when both she and Scarlet would be awake together for some time. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Scarlet's shift had begun and Hoki's would soon end.
"What do you mean 'cards'? This is a state-of-the-art machine, capable of--"
"--of the use of weapons o' mass destruction ya-da, ya-da. I know all that, but where's the cards function?" Scarlet waved a hand across the small square screen of her face as if to dismiss any further lectures from Hoki about the Neo's primary functions. She had deliberately used one of the smallest screens in the cockpit to display Scarlet's camera feed, making her cropped head look almost like some miniaturised version of the truly red-haired, verbose woman.
Small or not, however, her voice was as loud and brash as ever, "Look Scarlet, why would this machine be equipped with 'cards'?" Hoki added with a tone that suggested a general disinterest in the question.
"Why? Because I'm bored, that's why! Back in the war, my old--"
"--Your old Vijiak-Mk2 had every board game under the sun, a bedroom the size of a house and a swimming pool in the back for good measure," Hoki interjected dryly.
Scarlet's face visibly shrivelled for a moment as if to retort before changing to something of a wry smile; "Oh well, just thought I'd ask. I heard, after all, that you were the test pilot for the Neo. Guess you can't have been all that good if ya don't know where to find the cards. Those who cannot do, teach, eh?"
It was Hoki's turn to wince at this comment; she turned to face her own camera before, in a tone of indignation, replying, "Now look here, there were a dozen test pilots for this model. I was ever so slightly more focused on the combat side of things, or did you not prioritise that back in your day, Miss Scarlet? If you really want to play your damn cards, go to the monitor config 3B, assign packet 3O-s to auxiliary control board #002 and then press play. Although I doubt with your level of tech-literacy you'll ever get that fa--"
"Done!" Scarlet chirped across the comms.
"Yo-you what? Ahem, I mean to say, ah- Already?" Hoki floundered desperately, trying to hold back her own embarrassment.
"Hmm-m, what's that? Don't be mumbling, girly. All I did was follow your instructions. Easy enough once you know how we are pilot after all; what are a few coding inputs? Mind you, I hadn't thought of using the rifle input for playing a game. Seems you were holding out on me!" She said while laughing in response to Hoki's surprise.
Hoki glared into her camera at the cackling form of Scarlet. In the background, she could now hear the generic sounds of the computer-generated card game, bing and bong.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
"Now then, load it up on your screen, too, and we'll have a quick go before bed, eh?" Scarlet mused mostly to herself.
"I just don't get you," Hoki shot back, "I thought you hated computers. You're just pretending to be a tech-wiz all of a sudden to annoy me, is that it?"
Scarlet's face turned to one of disappointment; "There ain't nothing to get, woman - It's you who thinks I hate computers. Computers ‘is great - Just don't like fighting against them is all, makes you complacent."
"Then what about Una? You train her with the simulations!" Hoki spat.
"That's different. The Rookie needs all the experience she can get. Another few years, and it'll be just as useless for her as it is for me. Don't mean it ain't of use right now. Adapting to the situation is soldiering 101," Scarlet said flatly.
Hoki simply threw up her hands in response, "You're impossible. Do you know how unreaso--"
"You feeling alright, girl. Nerves getting you down?"
Hoki recoiled defensively at this interjection.
"You just want to rile me up, don't you? Do you find this fun or something? Tch, I should disable this feed right now and be done with it."
For her part, Scarlet sat back into her chair, hands raised in foe-surrender, the entirety of her face now more appropriately filling Hoki's monitor screen; "Calm yourself, would'ya, I meant it proper. Nothing wrong with being a little nervous".
"Oh ya? Well then, what about you, Miss Ace pilot?"
Scarlet rolled her eyes at this comment, "Is that really what I sound like to you, girl? Personally speaking I've never understood people who hate 'The calm before the storm'. To me, it's always been when I feel most at ease, ya know? If anything, I struggle to be relaxed at any other time but ones like this," she finished in another fit of ruckus laughter that seemed to bounce along with the periodic static of the communication line.
Hoki found herself once again taken aback rather than making any sort of retort. The words came from her mouth before she knew it; "...That's what father used to say--"
Scarlet frowned as Hoki stopped mid-sentence, "Go on, girl. Your father used ta' what?"
Hoki mused on it a moment longer before giving in to Scarlet's question; "There… there were a lot of my father's men who couldn't talk after, well, The War. The worst ones would seldom spoke at all, not cause they couldn't exactly but… They would make Sabban look chatty to put it lightly. Still they would turn up once a week to go drinking with dad and the rest, ya know. But, what you said - About liking the calm before battle, I used to hear them say it sometimes - I mean, some of them could talk about the fighting with pride, but the one thing they all had in common was talk about the time before battle. You just reminded me of that, is all..." Hoki finished.
Scarlet grinned again but differently, in what Hoki realised might actually have been a sincere smile for once; "There are some things all soldiers have - The battlefield one of them. There's a' type of magic to it, if you get my meaning. Out here, we are all the same. Gender, race, rank, don't matter - You can be the wealthiest Bhailien officer or the poorest Abhailen footman - Out here a single shot and you're dead. Makes things more simple, animalistic even.
It shouldn't be that much of a surprise me and your da' share things in common. Then again, I'm not sure how much else there'd be," she finished with a slightly more rueful laugh.
Hoki frowned at the last part of this comment, "And why's that? You think him less of a soldier than you just for being on the winning side, that it?"
Scarlet laughed again, more enthusiastically this time; "Like heck I do. Are you even listening to me, girl? Your old man had his fair share of crap, I know that much, and just being away from the battlefield doesn't mean he and his men haven't been fighting another type of battle," she pointed above her eyepatch to her temples as she said this remark, "different experiences is all I meant. You ever been to Remembrance girl, on a diplomatic mission with your 'pops' or somethin'?"
Hoki shook her head, but hearing mention of Abhaile's second continent, she could guess what Scarlet was getting at - She had seen the photos and videos of the place. Abhaile only had two 'habitable' landmasses - The rest of the planet being near untenable for living and of those two, it had for the longest time been believed the 'Isles-of-Remembrance' were also on the uninhabitable list. And yet in the war's final days, after the King of Abhaile had perished and the fleets been scattered, their revolution against The States Union shattered - A beacon had gone out. A message claiming that the moment had been prepared for - A base rallying point for the retreating forces of the Abhailen Revolution, situated in the one place no one would expect - Remembrance.
"Your dad and his mates got to go home ya know? ‘Houkai, The Great Hero of The East' - But we didn't get that. We ran away to Remembrance, and ran is the right word. Most of us never got to 'stop' fighting. I've known men who'd have killed at the chance to really stop and grieve. Usually that pain killed them if they did try ever stopping.
The place is a wasteland; water is rationed lest it literally run out. The atmosphere is weak, and we get what? A half-dozen hours of sunlight at the best a' times," Scarlet said while laying back further into her chair, "You should see the landscapes sometime; the port they built there in secret couldn't hold but a handful of ships - Yet hundreds came. Warships, supply vessels - Even dinky little lifeboats. Well, most of 'em were forced to just crash-land once they ran out of resources or manpower. It's this whole county of wrecks, one massive graveyard of warships wherever you look - Everywhere. Most of them gutted now, of course, to make new ones or fix the ones that did manage to land upright - But the shells are still there--"
Hoki felt a faraway look seemed to capture Scarlet's eye now - Not of the space outside of them but of a place only she could see. A look of remorse or maybe excitement, Hoki wasn't sure which, if either.
"--Who knows which of us was the better soldier. I rec'on I'd of given him a pretty good run when he only had his tanks, but later in the war, I doubt my old un-serviced Mk2'd done much against the legendary 'Ground-Type-Casnel', even with its 'swimming pool in the back' was it you said? Then again, a Casnels only as good as its pilot, Mh-hmm."
Hoki fell quiet momentarily, unsure how to take this more earnest turn in the conversation. As for Scarlet, she looked up with a start as though realising she had said more than intended, though not with a face of embarrassment. Hoki wasn't sure Scarlet had ever been embarrassed by much of anything.
"Ah-ha, now you want to know the real differences between your dad and me, then there's the tea for a start or the fact the average Abhaile soldier in the war got paid fifty per cent less than the TSU troops did, even for a skilled test pilot like me'self."
'Test pilot, I'd heard that was just a rumour,' Hoki contemplated before absentmindedly asking the less inspired question, "The tea?"
"Hmm, ya, the tea. You know that crap old man-Nilas drinks? I'll tell you this: that'd have been good enough for an Abhailen officer back in the war. We used to get so little that we were forced to water it down. First thing master taught me and my pals was that only idiots water down tea - Better to draw straws and have only one or two proper cups a week than to waste good leaves on flavoured water."
Hoki suddenly felt compelled to ask a whole manner of questions; this was the first time she had ever witnessed Scarlet open up. 'Test Pilot, Master, Pals' - But again, a different question was the one to cross past her pursed lips; "Don't you ever want to quit? You must have wanted other things when you were younger. You're not that old, are you?"
Scarlet raised her eyebrow, then laughed, "Ha, who knows anymore?"
"You don't know your own age?!"
Hoki asked in complete disbelief. The older woman simply shrugged at her camera feed.
"T'was a long time ago I became a soldier girl, back when I still had two working names, legs and eyes even, ha-ha-ha-ha! You fight for long enough, and you start not remembering the past."
"Bu-but you can't always have been a soldier!" Hoki tried, exacerbated at the woman's history.
"No, I suppose that much is true. Must have been your age or thereabout when they recruited me, ‘bout three years before the war? I was a truck driver before that. That's why they wanted me."
"What in Sun's name did they want a truck driver for? No, wait. A lorry-cabby, you?”
Scarlet eyed the camera this time with a glare of disappointment; "Not a hulking great thing with six wheels you idiot, more like a shuttle. Abhaile ain't got the gravity you're used to. We also didn't have a navy - So shuttle drivers, rocket engineers, and anyone with a shred of knowledge was hired. Shouldn't you know all that, Miss history major?"
Hoki's face reddened severely, realising the naivety of her own comment, in turn causing Scarlet to start off laughing once more; "Me quit eh? I guess it has never really been an option; there's always been more to fight against. Anyways, where would you have me go? TSU-s have occupied most of Abhaile for a decade, not that you can much blame 'em after all we did - But you know as well as I that they still hunt down anyone related to the old King's forces, dumb enough to leave the safety of Remembrance and IAFS. I could go be a pirate again, but raiding supply lines is only fun for so long," she finished with a mischievous wink that made Hoki frown in response, "Most of us have never really been home. We returned to Abhaile, sure but, well, I don't even know if I still have a home, like a house or an address, I mean. And besides that..."
"Besides what?"
"Ah, sure, it's nothing really, but I guess I do have that much in common with your father, too. It wouldn't - And don't you dare speak a word of this to anyone else you hear - It wouldn't feel right to leave the world like it is. To let the next generation inherit a place so much worse than the one I woke up to, however, many years ago it was," Scarlet finished hastily, almost spitting the words out like they might harm her to do so, though again, there was no reddening of her checks to indicate embarrassment.
Hoki sat silently for a moment, thinking about what Scarlet said. She had expected another ridiculous argument, not this.
'Maybe there really is a magic to be found on the edge of a battlefield to-be?'
In the end, they didn't play cards, and Hoki began to unseal the cockpit hatch in order to head to bed, one comment most prevalent of all on her mind; 'Her reason for fighting is almost exactly the same as father.'
As she pressed the last couple of dials and switches to set her machine to low power mode, Scarlet's voice perked up once more, just as she reached to disable the small screen from earlier on, "Ah, well. Goodnight... Hoki" - The transmission cut immediately thereafter, leaving only a tiny unconscious smile and flush of the checks on Hoki's face.
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