The days before the operation pass quickly as we train for the upcoming mission. Our morning training is expanded, with Reese-Cato and her squad joining us. We continue to do mock raids, doing our best to get used to assaulting the base. As we do, I try to follow Reese-Cato’s advice, trying to adjust to using the Cleaver in combat. To accomplish that, in addition to the group training, I try to find whatever time I can to use the sims, pushing back my already early wake-up time so I can get more time practicing with it.
As I practice alongside Squad 3, I do my best to observe how they fight. Unlike our squad, where the three of us operate individually for the most part, Reese-Cato’s squad operates as a unit guided by her. Reese-Cato, fights from the back, picking out targets with her rifle as Lanzenträger and Philip-Arnold get into position. Once they are engaged with the enemy, she offers fire support to cover their backs and ensure the enemy doesn’t overwhelm them. While she does that, Philip-Arnold and Lanzenträger work together to down enemies, targeting the same targets to make sure they are eliminated before moving on to the next one.
Watching the three of them fight, I can’t help but think back over Reese-Cato’s explanation of her strategy. While we are able to spread out and wreak havoc across the base, by the end of each training session, our machines are torn up, and only once are we able to take out the heart of the base before them, much to Auclair-Stolz’s annoyance. However, Auclair-Stolz keeps to the divide and conquer mindset, focused on ensuring we understand our duties and are ready to execute them.
The day before the mission finally arrives, all of the pilots are called to the hall for a final briefing. Recalling the shame of my previous tardiness, I rush to the hall as soon as the call is given. As I walk in, I catch Lieutenant Blaustien taking a seat beside some other people who I figure to be his unit. Noticing my gaze, he gives me a wave before turning his attention forward. I quickly find Auclair-Stolz in the room and take a seat beside him, doing my best to make myself small in the seat to not disturb him.
After a few tense moments of waiting for the room to fill and earning a glare from Di’Lotta when he sits down on the opposite side of Auclair-Stolz, the Captain makes his way to the podium and clears his throat. In an instant, the quiet hum of noise dies down, leaving only the hum of the machine as accompaniment to the Captain’s voice.
“Everyone, the moment we have been awaiting has arrived. In a few hours, we will engage in an operation that will determine the fate of our movement. We have been given the honor and privilege of being one of the two spears of Operation Fear Eater.”
At that, a small cheer erupts through the crowd, originating from some of my former classmates.
“I too share your enthusiasm, but please hold it for the moment,” The Captain says, smiling as he motions for everyone to calm down. Once the room has settled, he points to a screen behind him displaying a visual that I remember from some of my classes: the twin moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos. The two misshapen masses of celestial stone bristle with man-made craters and openings, as well as a pair of towering fortresses.
“The goal of this operation is to disable and capture the twin orbital stations of Phobos and Deimos. These bases will be used as staging posts for troops and supplies for our invasion of Mars. Our forces were assigned to this mission as a bombardment could destroy facilities the Supreme Commander believed would be better to claim. As such, our plan calls for a precision strike on the defense outposts. Our goal is to destroy only the base’s defenses so we can capture the base intact.
“Now, our forces will be split into two parts for this mission. The main brunt of our forces will be engaged in a diversionary assault. We will be working alongside the forces of the Serpent Corps from the Technical Evaluation Unit, who will focus on Diemos, leaving us to handle Phobos. The aim of our main forces is to pull away as much of their air force as possible, allowing for a small strike team, composed of squads 3 and 4, to descend to Phobos and take out the defense outpost.”
As the Captain says that, he turns to look toward us for a second before motioning back to the screen. The screen shifts from an overview of both moons to a close-up of the surface of Phobos, focused on the towering structure that dominates the moon’s surface. Once more, the screen shifts, changing its focus to show an overhead view of a familiar sight. Comprised of a hexagon with towers at every bend of the massive walls and with small gates at the north and south. Within the walls stands a large rectangular concrete building, its roof bristling with a tangle of satellite dishes, sensors, and rocket launchers. Large circular concrete defensive towers were placed at each of the four corners of the central building, a solitary blocky building surrounded by four additional towers at each point.
“The target of your mission is this Martian Fortress. It follows the standard Martian design with 50-meter walls surrounding an operations center. Each of the walls has several artillery towers composed of anti-fighter flak cannons and several missile batteries. After the ship is engaged, squads 3 and 4 will launch and aim to land to the fortress’s west. From there, you will engage the fortress and any defensive elements left. Your main mission is to disable the operations center and defensive batteries, a mix of Martian Flak batteries and Missile sites stationed on the corners of the wall that should be familiar to you from simulated training. If you can disable that, your mission will be considered complete, and you are to pull out from the base, destroying any air assets you can.
“For this mission, you will have a loadout focused on destroying the defenses of the base. To that end, your primary armaments will be the Foudre Anti-Fortification Disposable Rocket Launchers and the Tempête Bazooka. Your aim with the Foudre will be to eliminate the two elevators on either side of the base. Once those elevators are destroyed, the enemy will be unable to launch their air assets. From there, you are to target the central operations tower and disable the defensive batteries to ensure an easy transfer of control.
“As for the rest of you,” the Captain says, changing the screen to an illustration of the ship. “I will be leading us in the diversionary attack. Our goal is to force Phobos to divert its air assets over to us. We will close within to be outside of their anti-ship defenses. From there, we will engage in Astral Gear combat. For this engagement, focus on holding the Martian forces. Our aim is to pull as much of the enemy forces as possible, but we also need to make sure they don’t take out the ship. Remember to keep an eye on your surroundings and trust your training. However, do remember that there is a difference between the sims and live combat.
“Launch time is 1200. Rest well and be ready for tomorrow. You are all dismissed.”
At the command, the crew begins to disperse the other squads gathering together while Auclair-Stolz and Di’Lotta head off somewhere. I consider following them for a moment, curious to see if they might be discussing anything important, but I quickly shake the thought from my head.
If it were something that I needed to hear, I would have been called over. Probably better off making sure everything is in order with the Astral Gear.
As that thought, I carefully make my way through the crowd, doing my best to make sure I don’t bump into anyone. As I make it to the door, I notice a flash of movement out of the corner of my eyes. Glancing toward it, I see Lieutenant Blaustien waving me over to where he is standing, alongside two men and a single woman.
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“Yes sir?” I ask, approaching him, feeling the watchful eyes of the men and woman beside him. The only similarity between the two men is that they are clearly men. To the Lieutenant’s left is a short man with dark hair and an elaborate-looking tattoo interrupted by a scar over his right eye, and to his right is a man who is about half a head taller than me with light blonde hair and a clean-shaven face. Between them and standing directly next to the Lieutenant is a woman around my height with sky-blue hair framing a stern-looking face.
“I just wanted to wish you luck since your squad is going to be part of the special strike force,” he says with a smile before pointing over to the others with a thumb. “Since you are here, I hope you don’t mind if I introduce my squad to you?”
“As the boss said, good luck, kid,” the woman beside Lieutenant Blaustien says, stepping forward with a slight smile that melts away the impression of sternness. “The battlefield can be a rough place.”
“Pretty sure he knows that, Nora,” the tattooed man says, rolling his eyes at his companions’ words. “After all, he’s one of the few who actually did something of value during that skirmish we had.”
“I mean, doesn’t hurt to give a bit of warning, Gideon,” the woman replies, sticking her tongue out. “Can’t have too many blessings out there. Need all the luck you can get if you want to survive.”
“Quit bickering, you two,” the blonde sighs in a nasally voice before turning his focus on you. “Good luck kid. As I’m sure you can figure, this mission will be a bit different from just shooting down some fighters. But if you keep your head on a swivel and fly like you did during that last battle, I’m sure you will manage to make it out more than fine. Oh, the name’s Roland, by the way, since we were supposed to introduce ourselves.”
“Uh….Thank you,” I reply, my eyes flickering between them. “Nice to meet you all.”
“Don’t mind Nora and Gideon, they’ve always bickered like that since I’ve had the pleasure of knowing them,” The Lieutenant chuckles, shaking his head. “But as they said, we just wanted to give you a bit of luck. And if you happen to need any support as your squad is pulling out feel free to contact us. After all, that is our main use.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I say, offering a deep nod of my head. “Was there anything else?”
“Not really. Just wanted to wish you luck before you headed out, and since I was here with my squad, I kinda had to introduce them as well.”
“Ah, well, thank you. But I was planning on running over to Mechbay to see if I can check on my machine’s status. I want to make sure that there isn’t anything that I am missing before I head out tomorrow.”
“Ah, smart thinking kid,” Nora says with a smile. “The machines they got us riding are fickle things. The damage can add up quickly and cause issues in places you might never have thought of. Always a good idea to make sure you know what’s going on in your machine.”
“As she said, it’s a good habit to get into. Especially since, given the way the Captain was talking, I don’t think we will be having much time for rest or repairs after this operation,” the Lieutenant says with a sigh before shaking his head. “Anyway, don’t let us keep you then. Again, good luck.”
“Thank you,” I reply, turning from him and slipping into the hall. Thanks to the small delay, the halls are a bit more clear, allowing me to make it over to the mech bay without any delay. However, as soon as I enter the bay, I am blasted by the sound of the bay operating at full capacity. People roaring orders across the bay, the sound of parts being welded, and the whir of screws and drills assault my ears.
“HEY, WHAT ARE YOU…oh, it’s you,” Nasreen says, looking over at me sharply. “You hear to check on your machine?”
“Yes, if that would be ok.”
“All right, follow me. And make sure you stick to me. I refuse to be responsible for you getting hit by something since you decided to wander in on us during rush hour,” she sighs before she strides off.
I follow after her, keeping right behind her as she makes her way over to my squad’s Janissaries. As I get over to the Janissaries, the machine is as imposing as ever, though it has changed a bit since I last had the chance to get a good look at it. The red and gold paint of the armor is chipped in some places, and in others, I can see scorch marks. However, the biggest change is a pair of additions to the machine. At the machine’s waist, I can see four clamps, two on each side. On the forearms, there are the M1-Missile Pods, which, with their odd pentagonal design, look like the shields of an ancient warrior.
“Well, you are lucky that your machine isn’t one of the ones that needed a lot of work done, mainly a bit of cosmetic work and some touch-ups on the armor. That being the case, you shouldn’t have any issues with heading out for the operation tomorrow.”
As she says that, she scrunches up her face a bit before sighing.
“Actually, you might want to check your thrust as you head out tomorrow. Oh, and use up the missile pods as soon as possible.”
“Why? Is something wrong?”
“Eh, not exactly more, just a bit of advice from the technical side of things. The Missile Pod system is finicky, to say the least. Since they aren’t part of the machine proper and are designed to be purged, their weight might impact your aim and flight speed a bit, especially with the fact that you are going to be carrying four of the handhelds. Which is what the waist clamps were for, if you were wondering.”
“So you suggest using them quickly and purging them?”
“Yeah. They shouldn’t be an issue if you quickly purge the system. Though I’m not a pilot, don’t take my advice as gospel.”
“No, thank you. I’ll keep that in mind as I head out tomorrow,” I say, offering her a slight bow.
“I’m just trying to make sure you and that thing come back in one piece, ‘Specially since….” she catches whatever she was about to say and shakes her head before offering a tired smile. “Well, you got enough on your plate without my worries on it.”
“Would it be fine if I go and run over the controls for a bit? I want to make sure i am ready to take off tomorrow.”
“Yeah, just make sure you are mindful of the repair work going on. I also can’t promise you too much time in there with all of this going on. “
“Thank you. I’ll make sure to be quick and careful.”
With her clearance granted, I quickly rushed over to the scaffold ladder, making my way up to the walkway and back into the cockpit of the Jannissary. As soon as I hear the hiss of the hatch sealing, a strange choking sensation squeezes my throat. I take two slow breaths before placing my hands on the controls, allowing the countless hours in the sims to do their work as I run through my start-up checks. As the machine roars to life, silencing the faint hum of the mech bay, I run over my machine vitals, checking pressure and fuel before doing my system checks.
After finishing up with my systems, I carefully power my machine down, returning to the darkness.
You know you could die tomorrow.
The thought flashes through my mind, freezing my hand above the hatch release.
You don’t belong here at all. Someone with your skills the enemy will definitely notice and take out quickly. After all, you’ll be easy pickings out there all alone. You’ll die, either gunned down by a jet or one of the towers, and you’ll just prove them all right. The idiot who didn’t know any better became nothing but space dust without even sending a check back home.
The roar of the mech bay frees me from my thoughts, and I quickly rush out of the cockpit, forcing down the bile, trying to rise up my throat. As quickly as I can, I rush to the bathroom, releasing the meager contents of my stomach into a toilet before washing up. Throwing myself a cold shower, I try to silence my mind. However, as I enter my bed, shivering, they return, claiming my dreams.
A Janissary flies throughout the fortress, doing its best to evade Martian fire. One of its legs blown off by by Martian fire, and the other on its last legs with the rest of the machine not far behind it. The machine raises its arms, unleashing a full salvo from both missile pods, the pilot desperate to cling to life. However, it is futile as a missile salvo strikes a direct hit on the body of the machine. In a blinding flash, the life of machine and pilot ends, leaving only a shattered metal coffin to fall to the moon’s surface.