Hanami and Kora, and Chase and Reo, respectively, are led through two different security checkpoints and into decontamination showers. Their old clothes are discarded, possibly incinerated. Their scant belongings are combed through by soldiers.
The girls find themselves alone in a women’s locker room, steam from the shower stalls trailing in behind. Kora wraps herself in a towel and studies the names on the lockers. Hanami notes Kora’s intricately patterned sleeve tattoo but does not comment.
“Hanami, over here,” Kora calls. “This one’s yours.”
Hanami nods and walks over to the locker.
“That’s a pretty name,” Kora says. “Ha-na-mi. Do your friends ever call you Hana for short? Maybe Hana-chan?”
Hanami freezes.
“No...” she answers at last. “Classmates at the academy call me Hanami-san, sometimes.”
“I’m just glad there’s another girl here. Most of my experience with military has been a real sausage party. And since you’re a bit younger than me we could be like sisters. I could call you Hana-chan if you like!” Kora beams.
“No.”
“I see...” Kora sputters. “Well, let me find my locker. Ah, here it is.”
Kora opens the locker and sees a custom-fitting black flight suit and other garments. She tosses her towel onto a nearby bench and begins pulling on underwear, squeezing into the flight suit.
Hanami opens her locker as well and finds it much the same. She drops her towel, modestly covering her small breasts with one arm as she pulls out the clothing items one by one with her free hand.
Soon, both girls are zipped up and ready. They exit the locker room just about the same time Reo and Chase step out of theirs.
“Hey, ladies!” Chase calls. “Looking sharp!”
“You two don’t scrub up too bad yourselves, ay?” Kora fires back with a laugh.
“I’m just surprised they found a uniform that fits me,” Reo remarks appreciatively, tugging at the chest and sleeves of the flight suit.
Sheesh, no need to rub it in, Chase thinks. As if I don’t feel inadequate enough after watching you step butt naked out of the shower.
Doctor Yi is waiting for them, her own translucent tablet in hand. She nudges up her glasses.
“All of you are dressed. Good. Everything of yours that passed security is being moved into your crew quarters.”
“ALMOST everything!” Reo corrects, hoisting up his giant wrench.
“What the... did you have that with you in the shower?” Doctor Yi asks incredulously.
“I don’t go anywhere without my lucky wrench if I can help it.”
---
Doctor Yi leads the pilots down the corridor, through multiple pairs of keycard-accessible double doors, and onto an open platform overlooking an enormous interior hangar.
Bisected by a retractable elevated walkway, the hangar is fitted on either side with row after row of enormous bays. Several bays are empty, but most contain massive humanoid shaped machines surrounded by steel scaffolding, affixed with countless cables and wires.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Doctor Yi announces proudly, “meet the Mechs!”
She flips a switch, and the platform starts to descend to the ground floor. The pilots stand agape, soaking in the incredible sights, except for Hanami who remains expressionless.
Maintenance crews hurry about the cavernous space, running diagnostics. Sparks from welding torches flash and mechanical assembly arms work on the skeletons of half-finished mech chassis. The scale of these machines is even more awe-inspiring from the bottom looking up.
Doctor Yi leads the pilots into the very center of the hangar where a raised circular platform surrounded by a series of screens and control panels monitors each Mech.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“This is it, the heart and soul of Operation Aegis Drift. We have a dedicated team of military engineers, roboticists, mathematicians, munitions experts, neurophysicists—the best and brightest from every relevant discipline.”
Commander Carver steps into the Control Circle and rejoins the group, interrupting the Doctor.
“But the only people you need to know are myself, Doctor Yi who serves as our Chief Scientist, and our Head of Intelligence who you will meet later,” he says.
“Commander,” Hanami speaks, surprising the group. “We were chosen for this operation, trained, assessed, run through simulators. But why have we been activated now? With the Formosa Island Crisis underway, Occam’s razor dictates that there must be a connection between these two events.”
The Commander wishes he had a cigar. But of course, no smoking allowed in the Mech Hangar.
“That is confidential. What you need to know is that we are trying to avoid escalation. We are not here to START a World War but prevent one.”
Doctor Yi nods in agreement, tapping a light pen against her tablet for emphasis.
“The world has never seen Mechs used in combat. Countries have experimented with remote and AI-assisted war machines, but no one has achieved what we have in this program.”
Just then a cold, clear voice issues from the shadows beneath some nearby scaffolding.
“Once you open Pandora’s box, you can’t close it again. When Mech warfare is unleashed, the world will never be the same. That is why this ‘operation’ as the Commander calls it, or this ‘program’ as the Doctor calls it, must remain absolutely secret.”
All turn to look at a tall, slender woman in a charcoal suit, gloves, and dark glasses step forward into the light at the perimeter of the Control Circle.
“Ah,” the Commander says, indicating the new arrival. “This is Winter, our Head of Intelligence. Nice of you to join us.”
Winter bows, then lapses into silence.
“Just remember, we are the GOOD GUYS,” says the Commander. “Now Doctor Yi will brief you on the Mechs.”
Doctor Yi activates several control panels and massive holographic displays appear in two semi-circles around the team. Mech schematics of blue light shimmer in the air. The Doctor uses her light pen to highlight different elements of the display.
“Mechs are game changers,” she shares. “The mobility, strength, and versatility of a single Mech makes them the most strategic tool—”
“Weapon,” the Commander interjects.
“—in A-PAC's toolbelt.”
“Arsenal,” the Commander interjects again.
Doctor Yi sighs, then continues.
“Some of us believe Mechs have the potential to benefit humanity far beyond military application, but I digress. Each Mech is engineered to be operated by a single human pilot. We have several models assembled and more in production. We are at the bleeding edge of technology. We are making new discoveries all the time, refining our methods. Real time data of your use of these Mechs in the field will allow us to improve their structure and performance. Think of it as a sort of self-reinforcing feedback loop.”
The display changes, showing schematics of a smaller, medium, and larger Mech side by side. Reo soaks in every detail. He feels like a kid in a candy store.
“There are three primary frames: Light, Medium, and Heavy. Each frame falls into separate weight categories, which influences encumbrance (how heavy the load a Mech can carry) and the energy required to power the thing. We use Fusion Cores. The Fusion Core is the single most important part of the Mech. If a Core is damaged, the Mech is useless. Ah... that is, the single most important part besides the PILOT, of course.”
Doctor Yi gives a nervous giggle, then continues.
“Your Light Mechs are between 20 to 40 tons, Medium Mechs are 40 to 60, and Heavy Mechs are 60 to 80. All the Mechs we currently have in production are bipedal, although theoretically we could design Mechs that were tripodal, quadrupedal, etc. Each Mech has a designation, class, model, frame, and chassis type. More importantly, if you remember from your training, are the Big Five. Who can tell me what the Big Five are?”
Reo raises his hand.
“Shields, Armor, Engine, Mobility, Cooling.”
“That’s exactly right.” Another flick of the tablet and the display zooms in on an exploded schematic of the different interlocking Mech parts. “The engine, which harnesses the Fusion Core, powers everything. It dies, the Mech dies. The Shields are powered by the Core and can protect against energy weapons and slow the velocity of ranged ballistic weapons. Beneath the Shield is the Armor, the actual physical defensive structure that protects the pilot. If the armor goes, YOU die. Hull Point integrity is paramount.
“Mobility refers to how fast your Mech can fly, how easy it is to maneuver, what type of terrain it can maneuver in, and so forth. And Cooling, well... depending on the type and number of Fusion Cores powering your Mech, it determines how many systems you can operate simultaneously and cooldown periods for your Armaments.”
This time Chase raises a hand.
“Yeah, about those Armaments...”
“I was just getting to that. The Big Five are what you need to know to effectively operate your Mech. In addition, there are the Communications System, the Targeting / Tracking System, and any additional Modules or Upgrades. But the Armaments are what you will need for defense or, if it should come to it, offense.”
A new display appears showing a mind-numbing quantity of interchangeable weapons systems. Cannons, guns, missiles, lasers, etc. A veritable smorgasbord of destruction.
Chase lets out an appreciative whistle.
“Armaments come in a few varieties. Melee, Ranged (Ballistic), Ranged (Energy), and Missiles are your basic categories, but there are others. Ballistic weapons have finite ammunition. Missiles have VERY finite ammunition. Energy weapons are limitless, but they drain the Core. If you are trying to fly, boost shields to max, and use multiple energy weapons at the same time you are going to really tax the Core, which is why the Cooling Systems are so important.”
Commander Carver impatiently checks his watch. He looks at Winter then back to the pilots.
“Enough lecturing,” he says. “Time to assign Mechs.”