Chapter 02

“There he is,” Frankie said, tapping her foot in irritation.

Though she smiled, I could sense her rage boiling just beneath the surface. Her smile didn’t seem like a friendly one. It came off much like a hyena baring its teeth.

“Yup,” I said, “Here I am.”

Frankie balled her hands into fists. I could tell she wanted to punch me square in the face. With Captain Silas on my heels, she just stuffed her hands into the pockets over her oversized overalls.

I ducked under the threshold and entered the FreeWheel. It was a large ship designed to accommodate a team our size. My commander Uzik stood beside Dani and Siam. They had been patiently awaiting my boarding. Nikola was preoccupied with data, standing away from the group.

“Gnath Fist,” Captain Silas said, “You will be briefed by your squad commander once your ship sets off. Travel will take approximately 1 week. Good luck Cyborg.”

Frankie was just finishing a small pep talk with Frye at the threshold. They said goodbye, and Frye and I shared a firm handshake before he backed out of the ship, and the door whirred closed.

It was Frankie, Dani, Uzik, Siam, Nikola, and I. Dani didn’t seem too fond of me, but it was Frankie that was going to give me headaches. She turned to me and by her glare, she wanted to lay into me first thing. I was lucky that Uzik interrupted her.

“Alright team,” Uzik said, “Let’s gather in the briefing hall.”

I followed suit across the ship to a room adjacent to the bridge. It was cozy inside with a simple low table set in the middle. Cushioned seating filled the perimeter. We took our seats. Uzik was the last to sit down. He set his Mech helmet within a large indented hole in the table. His helmet lit a sky blue within, then femtosecond lasers appeared above the table in mid-air, reproducing the data in his helmet visor for all to observe.

The laser showed us a massive ship, nearly the size of Mighty Edda. It was almost opposite in every way. It looked like one big tapered rectangle.

“This is a Solodon ship.”

“What?” Dani said, instantly on alert. Siam leaned forward, consternation clear on his face. Even Frankie seemed bewildered. Nikola was the only one without emotion. His eyes were ultra focused on the laser depiction of the ship.

“That’s right,” Uzik said. “There’s a problem.”

Our squad commander performed gestures over his left breast. We saw the effects of those gestures are more data was rendered through femtosecond laser depictions. A planet appeared before the ship.

“This is Miconia. They are a branch of humans who’ve contacted Mira’s Domain for conflict management.”

“This just gets better and better,” Dani said. “Miconia and Solodons have been enemies since the dawn of time.”

“Enemies isn’t the correct descriptor of their relationship,” Nikola said. “It is more accurate to say that they are often disputing. They’re relatively close neighbors in the Leaf Cloud galaxy. Their disputes are usually based on resource management, since the Leaf Cloud is rich in resources.”

“Our mission is to intercept this Solodon ship. It’s remained in orbit for six Miconian days now. What’s odd is that there has been zero activity, zero communication from the ship. Miconia is worried that the Solodons are flaunting an offensive disregard for orbiting sovereignty. Before Miconia calls this a show of aggression, we’ve been called in to cool some jets, so to speak.”

“Doesn’t sound so bad,” I said.

“Conflict resolution is extremely unlikely,” Uzik said without missing a beat. “That’s why Cymechs are involved.”

“There has been zero communication?” Nikola said.

“Zero,” Uzik said.

“What about Solodonia?” Frankie said. “They don’t have anything to say?”

“They’re just as confused as the rest of us. “Miconia and Solodonia currently have a cease fire over this one ship. If Solodonia sends in more ships to investigate an issue, Miconia will deploy defensive measures and the chances of war skyrocket. Solodonia knows this, and both parties have agreed for our intervention in good faith.”

“What else does Solodonia have to say about invading orbit sovereignty?” Siam said.

“That’s the problem,” Uzik said. “Their ship has strayed way off course. Either the commander has gone rogue, or…”

“Or what?” I said.

Uzik shrugged, and Nikola asked, “Do we have the ship’s original trajectory?”

Uzik performed more gestures and several planets appeared in the laser depictions. There appeared a green planet off to the wayside. Solodonia appeared as well, on the far end of the table. A pink dotted line moved from Solodonia to the green planet. Around three quarters of the way along that route, appeared another blue dotted line that veered towards where the ship now coasted in Miconia’s orbit.

“Interesting,” NIkola said. “The answer is an obvious NO, but I have to ask: was this authorized?”

“It was not authorized by Solodonia, and they suspect foul play. Without pointing fingers we can infer they suspect Miconia is trying to lure Solodonia into war.”

“Do they have a motive for war?” Siam said.

“The green planet is rich with Chlocelium. It’s a single celled organism that converts hard minerals to fuel. Miconia and Solodonia are in a race to harvest the season’s byproduct: fuel. The Chlocelium reached maturity last year, and the byproduct is ready for collection.”

“You mentioned that the Miconians are a branch of humans,” I said. “What about the Solodonians?”

“Are you familiar with saber tooth tigers?” Frankie said. “Just imagine if they evolved to walk on two legs and were always pissed off about something.”

“The plan,” Uzik said, “is to approach the ship diplomatically. Hopefully we can get to the bottom of this with words.”

Dani laughed and said, “unlikely.”

Uzik ignored Dani’s comment and briefed us on our approach. We were going to stay a moon’s distance from the ship. Uzik and Dani were going to suit up and approach the ship, seeking entrance if we receive zero communication. Then they hopefully enter and begin diplomatic mediation.

When our briefing was over, Nikola performed a wellness scan on me. Then Frankie wanted a word with me.

“Come on, ” she said. “To the habitation. Let’s get you suited.”

The habitation was much smaller than Mighty Eddas’, and only meant to house ten Mechs.

[There I am,] Orion thought. [I’m looking forward to seeing what this new suit can do.”]

I think we were equally excited.

The habitation bay was 2 stories tall and at the rear of the ship. It had the possibility of housing ten medium Mechs. There were five habitations for a squad, and an extra five for rescue missions.

Uzik’s Mech was the first one I saw. It was painted white with overlapping angles of grey over every piece. The torso was blocky. The legs were raptor like but inverted. Jet turbines circled the Mech’s wrists. The Mech itself was designed with angles that stretched backward, as though the metal had been pulled back from tremendous speeds. The last thing I noticed were square compartments all over the Mech.

Dani’s Mech was next. It was sleek and matte black from head to toe. The Mech was the most humanoid and also the slimmest. The head piece was exactly like Dani’s personal helmet. It was a singular black orb. Two holsters crisscrossed on the torso and support ten swords each at the Mech’s back. The Swords were arranged in two rows that formed an X. The detail of the suit was undefined from the monochrome paint.

Then there was Siam’s yellow Mech. The details were all gold. It had the same inverted raptor legs as Uzik’s. Instead of a helmet, the head was a simple long box that was clear. This Mech was the most boxy of them all. Each shoulder had laser machine gun-like weapons on turrets. The center of the gut had the same weapon. The barrel supports with dozens of holes were detailed gold.

Each of those Mech’s were a full two stories. Across from theirs musth have been Nikola’s and Frankie’s. Frankie’s was a single story tall and various shades of rust. It was the paint that made it look like rust. Some panels had been sealed but without paint. My guess was that Frankie loved the natural look of the metals as they were. It almost looked like it came from a junkyard, but transformed into a thing of beauty under talented hands.

There were greased chains connected to every single panel on both arms, otherwise, the Mech was simple with rounded corners.

Nikola’s Mech was last, only a bit taller than Frankie’s. His Mech was a ghostly white with triplets of red bands that were painted vertically. His Mech also wore long robes that fell to the ankles of the Mech.

At last there was mine. Mine was only a bit bigger than myself, and it was the smallest Mech here.

“Working with you has been like pulling teeth,” she said. “Get in. Suit up.”

It was time to re-enter the Cymech world. The first thing I wanted to do was refresh myself on my stats and organize things a bit better.

[Pipper?] I said, though I knew my Vox was already listening in on my thoughts.

[Yes Cymech, you’d like to re-organize your stats?] Pipper said.

[Yes, can you collapse Mods, Wear, Speed, TDP/s, Stamina, Strength, Perception, Charisma, and Name, please?]

[Command executed Cymech.]

[Stats,] I said.

Class

Cymech

Cyborg 01%

Level: 10

XP: [162,795/ 162,805]

Health: 403/403

Mana: 400/400

Regeneration: 30/hr

Specification

Spec points: 02

IMINT (2/5)

SIGINT (5/5)

Clone (2/5)

Self Improve (0/5)

Orion

Armor: 8,000/8,000

Plasma: 1200/1200

[It’s good to be back, brother,] Orion said.

[Last time I only had 1 plasma, why is there suddenly 1200?]

[My plasma works like your mana. Instead of powering mana circuits, I power plasma circuits.]

“Hey mister,” Frankie said. “Are you gonna get in or what? I don’t have all day, you know.”

“How much mana does it cost to power the suit?” I said.

“There are 50 mana circuits in Orion, so 50 mana.”

I focused on spending point after point into the Mech suit until the glow of sky blue began to emanate between gaps in joints, and from the void in the helmet.

[I’m going to show you all the ways you can operate the suit,] Orion said. [Are you ready?]

[Go for it,] I thought.

My brain received an influx of rushing information. It felt as though I were being guided through a 4 dimensional owners manual of the suit from beginning to end in a matter of 3 seconds. My human eyelid fluttered from the flood of data.

When it was over, I took a moment to reorient myself.

Orion’s Mech suit stood before me in bone white. Every component was chiseled with curving angles that lent a muscular tone to the suit. The helmet’s visor extended almost in a three hundred and sixty degree perspective, locking into a back plate.

With my Cyborg eye, I could see through Orion’s Mech suit into a cavity in its chest wher my Mech Core resided. I could see it in beautiful crisp detail. Particles of garnet ether twirled in a suspension of dark nether. Circlets of white metallic bands rotated around the Core. That was Orion. If the Mech Core was destroyed, Orion would no longer exist. I had to protect it at all costs. Not because it was my duty and obligation, since your Mech Core was with you for life, but because I felt as though it were a second heart of mine.

I used my Cyborg eye to change my view. One second I was seeing the same thing as my human eye. The next second after, My vision had switched to what Orion’s Mech suit saw. From that perspective I saw a stranger standing beside Frankie, who looked bored out of her mind. The stranger was Jack, not Gnath—not me. Though I’d seen myself in mirrors everyday, it was unnerving to see the unreflected version of my stranger self.

[Don’t forget, brother,] Orion said. [You know who you are. Never forget that.]

With that, I returned my Cyborg vision to my own sight. Then I used that connection of mana to open every compartment of Orion at once. The suit came apart in a hundred ways.

“Holy…” Frankie said.

I turned around and floated Orion to me. Every part encased me with a dozen mechanical clicks and whirring, until the helmet was the last to close over my head, securing me comfortably in the suit.

Felt good to be back.