Chapter 1.2 AG

The crowd of children were cheering loudly in the distance still euphoric after the rousing speech they had just heard. Their loud voices were carried by the wind into the distance towards the patrolling armed personnel that were keeping watch over the protected zone. The patrol was about two hundred feet from the central stage where the kids were gathered around. They made their rounds silently without making any noise. Their boots crunched softly in the grass as they went about their route. There were children from several VVIPs present which made the guard even more strict. Even members of the armored guard were called in to keep the peace.

“Check, Bravo company. This is Beacon.”

Four armored giants were looking off into the distance, watching the children carefully. They were all part of the armored guard. Each of them had a different colored armor, Red, Green, Yellow, and Black. Covered head to toe in Durosteel armor they looked like humanoid metal giants towering over the normal armed personal patrolling the region. In their power-armor, all of them stood above two meters.

The largest of them had armor the color of blood dipped in crimson tar. The red mech towered over the rest of the group. The pilot seemed to be at the peak of human physicality and the power armor could barely keep his beefy chest contained within its frame. His chest plate had an emblem of a roaring bear head embossed on it. Standing about 2.5 meters tall, he was a head taller than the rest of the armored soldiers.

The large red metal man raised his gauntleted hand towards his visor and spoke in a gruff voice.

“This is Red Bear, Bravo company. Site clear, over.”

The coms crackled again.

“Roger that Bravo company. Over and out.”

The green mech stirred beside him and a feminine voice spoke over the coms. “Jumpy, aren’t they?”

The mech’s angular appearance and slight increase in the thickness of plating around the hips and chest was the only indication that the pilot was female. The mech looked like a precisely cut, green gemstone. An emblem of a soaring eagle was embossed on the green mech’s chest plate.

Red bear let out a tired sigh. “Can you blame them, May? The situation in Central has been… problematic.”

He sounded tired when he spoke. “I’m already past my retirement age. The craziness that is going on is a young kid’s game.”

Despite his size, Red Bear was slightly stooped over like it was only the power armor that was holding him upright. Nearing the end of his career he was just about ready to leave it all behind and enjoy one long happy retirement.

The coms crackled once again. “Bravo company. This is Beacon.”

Red Bear placed a finger on the side of his visor again.

“Red bear, Bravo company. What’s the situation?”

“Patrol one is unresponsive to our hails. Red bear, please confirm from your end.”

Red Bear paused for a bit at the surprising piece of news.

“Roger that Beacon. Switching you to line one.”

“Confirmed.”

Red Bear walked off as he gave his orders. The rest of the armored guard heard his trailing voice. Three pairs of eyes watched him leave.

“Team Alpha, Bravo, Charlie do another sweep on zone A21.”

The woman in the green mech watched Red Bear’s retreating back, lost in thought.

“Problematic? That’s an understatement.” a nasally voice interrupted her musings. “Five terror attacks in three days. The Krähen have been ramping up their attacks.” The black mech opened his visor and a pale looking man in his thirties came into view. He raised his fist to his eye level and started examining his face in the glossy reflection on his metal forearm. He was good looking, save for his broken nose which gave him a valiant appearance. Despite his good looks, his nasally voice and his overwhelming smugness wouldn’t leave anyone with a good impression.

“And judging by our recent case of bad luck, I wouldn't be surprised if they hit here…”

“That’s enough out of you Black Tongue.” The woman hissed. “It’s because of you that we are stuck in this babysitting gig.”

Black Tongue looked offended. “That’s hardly my fault, is it? Is it?” He looked around for supporters but he found none. Frowning he looked towards the mech in yellow. “Hey Lighthouse back me up!”

Lighthouse who had been as still as a statue, finally moved. He looked like someone had snapped awake from a dream.

“I’ve got to patrol.” He left without a word, leaving Black Tongue hanging.

The woman snorted. “There goes your only supporter.”

Black Tongue was about to argue back but May glared at him through her visor and made a zipping motion on top of her face plate.

“Stop talking. I don’t want any more bad luck from you.”

Black Tongue rolled his eyes. “It’s not like you mind the baby-sitting, right?”

He watched May staring off into the distance. The crowd ahead were splintering into smaller groups. One by one all of them started walking towards their location as they made their way towards their exam site. The third and final task was about to begin.

“Little babies. They keep getting younger every day,” said May shaking her head.

“May.” Black Tongue said warningly.

“This is wrong,” May continued shaking her head.

“All hail Britannia.” Black Tongue spoke as though he was using a warding charm. “Careful now Aunt May, your lack of faith is showing.”

“Stop calling me that.”

Black Tongue shrugged and went back to staring at his reflection. He adjusted his hair with his metal-covered hands showing his exceptional control over his power-armor. His metal fingers ran across his hair as he shaped it to his liking. A single wrong move and he could end up headless. May was still looking at the kids in the distance when her view was blocked by a giant red mech. Red Bear was back and he was still on his coms.

“Reconfirm the last message.” There was a pause as he listened to the response from the patrol teams. His metal hands were pressed to his ears as he switched the lines.

“Lighthouse.” Red Bear hailed the yellow mech. “Send one of your fliers to zone A21. It appears that we need to teach these amateurs how to do their jobs.”

“Roger that,” Lighthouse responded. “Deploying.”

Seeing a break in the conversation, Black Tongue chimed in. “Old Bear, Aunt May is suffering from a sudden case of morality.”

“My call sign is Mayflower,” May said heatedly.

“Aunt May suits you better. And what’s wrong with Aunt May? Everyone needs an Aunt May.”

“I’m literally the youngest one here.”

“Not the way you look.”

“You-”

“Alright! that’s enough.” Red Bear growled. “Both of you are worse than my brats at home.”

Black Tongue stuck out his tongue. “That reminds me. How is the old missus?”

“Very pregnant.”

Black Tongue shuddered. “That’s number five, isn’t it? I can already see your meager savings dipping when the little tyke comes.”

“You shut your black mouth.” Red Bear growled.

Black tongue stood up straighter and made a zipping motion on his lips.

Red Bear straightened his back as he looked at his two troublesome subordinates. “May, Black tongue. What is our mission?”

Black Tongue shrugged. “Eliminate terrorists?”

May frowned as she gave the answer. “Protect the candidates.”

“Both wrong.” Red Bear shook his head. “It’s to avoid the school or the great families any kind of embarrassment. You remember the Tindell incident, don’t you?”

Black Tongue chuckled and May nodded.

“There is one thing the nobles hate and that is the commoners to see them as mortal. Fileable and flawed. For weakness breeds ambition and ambition leads to rebellion. This is where we come in. We quell the masses and ensure order.”

Red Bear looked at May and spoke in a lowered tone. “May, there some things that can be said and others that are better left unsaid. Don’t let anyone from the ministry hear you. We will do our job and nothing else.”

“Fine!” May threw her hands up in exasperation. The servos in her power armor hummed at the speed of her movement.

“It will be fine, Aunt May” Black Tongue snickered.

“Mayflower!” said May annoyed. Black Tongue ignored her and had gone back to fixing his hair. May clicked her tongue in annoyance.

“It’s nearly time.” Red Bear said wearily. The kids were coming in like a wave. There were two hundred of the little bastards and all of them were excited and raring to go. Few of the more enthusiastic ones were sprinting ahead in order to get a leg up on the competition.

“You remember when we were about their age?” asked May softly.

“I remember being a big dumb idiot,” said Black Tongue.

May snorted as though to say that nothing much has changed. Black Tongue had a frown on his face at the veiled insult but he didn’t comment on it. He jerked his head towards the running kids.

“Look at those happy fools. The brats have no idea what they are in for,” he said with a wry smile.

May looked at Red Bear. “They are about Reiner’s age aren’t they.”

The big man stiffened at the mention of his son. “Just focus on the mission.” The old man grunted.

The kids were rushing by their position now. Few of them stared at their power-armor in awe but none of them stopped to have a look. They wanted to get to their exam site as soon as possible and were ready to grab any advantage they could. This was the case for most of the kids but there were always exceptions.

“Is that power-armor?” A shout came from within the crowd. The armored guard saw three kids weaving in and out of the crowd as they made their way towards them.

The kid in front was dressed smartly in a vest and dress shirt. The clothes were slightly too large for him but his cocky attitude made it look like he was wearing a three-piece suit instead of the hand me downs he had.

Behind him was a boy who would perfectly fit the description of tall, dark and handsome. His slightly feminine features made him look very approachable and his smile was warm and inviting. A dark long cloak billowed behind him as he ran. Beside him was a short, pudgy boy with nervous darting eyes. The kid was the most normal looking in the bunch, dressed in a simple shirt and pants, but he had the nervous energy of someone expecting news from a funeral home.

The kid leading the group stopped in front of Black Tongue who was the only one with his face exposed.

“Hey! I’m Jacob Mercury.” He said quickly. “And this is Tanner and Soja.”

Black Tongue nodded, grinning as he looked down at the three kids. He knew what they were here for. The kids were looking at his power-armor in awe.

“That’s so cool!” Tanner grinned.

Black Tongue being the most self-absorbed one in the group immediately perked up at the praise.

“You like what you see, kid?” He flexed his bicep like a bodybuilder with his metallic form on full display.

The kids nodded happily. Even the short nervous one had an excited look on his face.

“Really cool big bro,” said Soja.

Black Tongue visibly inflated at being called big brother. He was about to court more self-praise but sadly he was interrupted.

Red Bear turned to the kids and spoke in a low gruff voice. “You three better get moving. The exam is not going to wait for you.”

“Right.” Jack nodded. “We need to get to Gate 18.”

“Its that way.” Black Tongue said good-naturedly pointing towards the direction of the gate. He even used his HUD interface on his power-armor to locate the gate for them.

Jack gave him a thumbs up and the group began slowly jogging away to their location. The kid’s voices drifted behind them as they went.

“Just you wait, Tanner. I’m going to get a power-armor.”

“Sure, you are Jack. Sure, you are.”

“You don’t believe me?”

“I believe a lot of things. I also believe that I’m having the runs.”

“Upset stomach? I don’t feel that hot myself.”

“Just shut up and run, you too. We have only ten minutes to reach the exam site.”

The armored guard watched the three kids start running in full sprint and very soon the trio disappeared into the crowd.

Red Bear turned towards his two subordinates. “I want an easy clean mission. It’s just looking after a bunch of brats but let’s not get complacent into thinking this is a vacation.”

Black Tongue and May nodded.

“You got it, boss.”

The coms came to life again and Red Bear reached for his visor again.

“Lighthouse. What’s the stat on the scan?”

There was a pause after which Lighthouse answered.

“I found the patrol, Sir.”

“And?”

“And… They are all incapacitated, Sir. Knocked out with their gear missing. I think we are looking at a possible breach.”

There was stunned silence at the revelation.

“And there goes our vacation.” Black Tongue sighed.

Red Bear cursed. “Lighthouse. You stay put; we are on our way. I’ll alert the base.”

Black Tongue snapped his helmet back on his head while Red Bear was barking orders into his coms. May, likewise was preparing for battle as she checked her gear.

“I’m ready.” Black Tongue declared as he looked expectantly towards Red Bear.

The older man nodded. “Let’s move.”

May and Black Tongue nodded. The three mechs disappeared with a roar of its engines and raced into the dark night. It looked like the exam this time would have questions out of the normal syllabus, and getting the answers wrong might prove fatal.