Battleframe (The Mindwars Book 1)

  Selfia stretched up to give her husband a kiss on the cheek. “Acheron, sometimes you just say the most beautiful things.”

  Whizzbang raised an eyebrow as he watched the interplay between his two new friends. “You’re a couple?”

  Selfia replied, “We just got married a few weeks ago.”

  “Congratulations.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I imagine that you haven’t had time for a honeymoon?”

  Acheron brow furrowed, as he replied, “No we haven’t.”

  “I hate to say it but I don’t think you’re going to get one anytime soon. Sorry the Scourge spoiled your plans.”

  “So am I. I thought that I was going to be soaking in a hot tub about now,” Selfia grumbled.

  “Plenty of time for that later.”

  Selfia gave a resigned smile, “Given that scan I think you’re right. So what’s next?”

  Whizzbang glanced back down at his wrist-comp. “By now Colonel O’Brien at Freehold will have seen Research Ravine come back under Concord control and with any luck he’ll be sending some forces to secure the area.”

  “So how did the Scourge manage to break through without every alarm on the planet going off?” Selfia asked.

  “I’ve no idea Selfia. When I was in Freehold, the entire defence grid displayed the incorrect data unless I directly tapped into a scanning tower. Right now, I’m heading south into the middle of the Scourge controlled sectors.”

  “You’re planning on leaving then?” Selfia asked.

  “I’ve got to. My friend Bosk is somewhere south of here and knowing him he’ll be mixing it up with the Scourge and in a world of trouble,” Whizzbang said with a little chuckle, “On the way I thought that I may as well try and relieve the Scourge of a few sectors in the process.”

  Whizzbang ran his hand thoughtfully through his short grey hair and then asked, “So what are your current orders?”

  Selfia stared at the ground for a second before looking up to reply. “We’re actually all out. Our orders were to guard the Digger crews and then head south for our honeymoon.”

  Whizzbang nodded. “Since you’re out of orders, how would you like to join me for a little payback?”

  Selfia looked at Acheron with a questioning expression on her face that ended with Acheron nodding. “We’re both with you Whizz, so what’s next?”

  Whizzbang smiled with relief. He could really use their help in finding Bosk. “Thank you for your help. I think that our first task will be to free the outpost south of here so that additional launch points for a Concord counter offensive can be secured.”

  “I agree”, said Acheron, “but there’s only the three of us against all of them.”

  Whizzbang replied, “Acheron, I’m sure that there are others out there fighting just like us but they’ll be soloing it. If we stay together we’re that much stronger.” Whizzbang looked up the southern ravine wall and continued, “I just hope that Bosk and my other friends are still with us.”

  Selfia laid her hand on Whizzbang’s arm sympathetically and gave a gentle squeeze. “We all have friends out there Whizz. I’m sure that they’re all still fighting.”

  “I just hope that in all of this mess Bosk is OK. I haven’t seen him around for a few days and the last I heard he planned on doing some exploring in the hills to the south of here.”

  “Well, we’d better go and find him then,” Acheron said matter-of-factly.

  Pointing upwards Whizzbang said, “As we jump out of the ravine the outpost is just over a rise and up a little incline. The scans are saying that it’s crawling with Scourge. Are you both up for another fight?” Whizzbang asked.

  “Just show me the target,” Selfia replied as she swung her long bolt-action sniper rifle around and into its back harness.

  Acheron laughed. “I’ve never met a Scourge that could survive a bad case of tellurite poisoning.” With that, Acheron hoisted his light mini-gun out in front of him and mimicked firing at targets.

  Laughing along with his two new squad members Whizzbang answered in battlespeak by saying, “G2G?”

  Both Acheron and Selfia replied simultaneously “G2G!”

  Whizzbang said quietly under his breath, “Come on Bosk. Hang in there. The cavalry’s on its way!”

  Chapter 9

  Test Pilots

  “Just hold your arms in in front of you like this,” Professor Steinberg said as he held his arms directly in front of him.

  Both Whizzbang and Bosk mimicked the professor and held their arms forward.

  Soon after their interview with Colonel Greerson and Captain Eldrich, the four of them had boarded the fast frigate Aurora. The Captain then laid in a course for a large, arid moon with a breathable atmosphere several systems away from the training academy. Fast frigates were completely devoid of armaments so that they could pour all of their energy into speed. The Aurora had legs to burn and it was not long before they arrived at their destination.

  Blue Sky had excavated an entire side of a large crater and had built the most well hidden research facility in the Concord. The enormous main hanger easily housed the frigate as well as all the analytical and measurement systems that Blue Sky would require for their research.

  “Good,” the professor said absently as he peered over the rim of his spectacles at a monitor. His ink stained lab coat looked like it had not seen a cleaning unit in years. Mumbling to himself, he reached for one of a number of pens sticking out of his chest pocket. Pulling the lid off with his teeth, he looked around for a scrap of paper, gave up, and then jotted a series of numbers on his sleeve.

  Altavia Creatlin had been the professor’s research assistant for a number of years and she stepped forward to offer a notepad. Steinberg distractedly accepted the paper while he flicked a long stray lock of grey hair out of his eyes.

  Bosk leaned towards Whizzbang and whispered, “What do you think of her?”

  “Who?”

  “Give me a break Whizz, you’re not blind!”

  “Oh, you mean Altavia?”

  Bosk was getting a little frustrated that his best friend was not reacting. “She’s got curves you could die for.”

  The edges of Whizzbang’s mouth turned upwards in a smile. He loved teasing Bosk and over the years had become somewhat of an expert. Still holding his hands out in front of him, he let his eyes enjoy the scenery that Bosk was whispering about. “She’s got the looks alright.”

  “Have you seen her eyes?”

  “Yeah, I’ve never seen eyes like hers before. Have you?”

  “Nope.”

  “They’re the most vivid blue I’ve seen in all my life.”

  Altavia’s long dark lustrous hair cascaded forward as she glanced down at the equations the professor was jotting down. “Professor, I think that the sigma needs to be tied to the inverse relationship with the alpha tellurite channel.”

  Professor Steinberg halted his scribbling and suddenly his eyes widened as he said excitedly, “Your right! It all fits together now. I’ve always said that the two of us make an excellent team Altavia.” He shoved the pen between his teeth and busily began tapping on the keyboard in front of him while reading numbers from his calculations.

  Altavia gave a little laugh that sounded like summer birds in full song. “Yes, professor. We’ve always made a great team.”

  Whizzbang turned to Bosk, “Out of your league.”

  “And yours.”

  As if she knew that they were discussing her, Altavia looked across at the two young men with a strange expression of satisfaction on her face. They both wilted under her gaze and became intensely interested in everything but her.

  Professor Steinberg shuffled over to them and pulled back his lab coat sleeve to reveal a wrist-comp. “Are you both ready?” Removing his glasses, the professor started polishing the lenses on the edge of his coat, which made them even dirtier. Altavia relieved the professor of his glasses and then gave them a clean with a polishing cloth that seemed to
materialize in her hand. She handed them back to the professor with a smile.

  “Ahh, that’s better. Thank you for that. I can read my wrist-comp now.”

  Bosk whispered, “Do you know what we’re ready for?”

  “No idea.”

  For the past three days, the two of them stood exactly where they presently were while the professor adjusted the host of machines surrounding them. The only difference today was that he had asked them to hold out their arms.

  “Enough chattering you two.” Holding his finger poised over a single blinking light on his wrist-comp the professor said dramatically, “Five, four, three, two, and one.” With a flourish, he then plunged his finger down on the miniature screen.

  Nothing happened.

  Professor Steinberg inspected his wrist-comp and hit the blinking light on the display a few more times. “I was sure that everything was in place.”

  “Be patient professor. It should be starting any second now,” Altavia said soothingly.

  “Who was in charge here?” Whizzbang thought to himself. Just then, he felt a tingling in the tips of his fingers that slowly began to spread up his arms. “What’s happening?”

  Beside him, Bosk started squirming until Altavia said, “Stay still, everything will be fine.”

  Slowly but surely a weave of material began forming over every inch of their bodies. It hardened into back and chest armour even as a helmet formed around their heads. Servos, metallic braces and joint hinges magically materialized into a full exoskeleton over a perfect black mesh of cloth that was tougher than even plasteel.

  Professor Steinberg stepped back to better survey his handiwork. “And so it is born.”

  Altavia replied, “The nanite battleframe is at long last a reality.”

  From behind his sealed helmet Bosk’s muffled voice said, “How do you get this frapping thing off?”

  Over the next several weeks, Whizzbang and Bosk had become more and more accustomed to “accepting” the battleframe as it grew around them from tellurite energy being manipulated by microscopic machines. Standing in the centre of another machine the battleframe could be reconstituted into the tellurite energy and vanish from around them.

  One morning while they were waiting for another battleframe Bosk asked Whizzbang, “Aren’t you getting a little bored with all this standing around?”

  “More than a little. I want to see what these battleframes can really do.”

  Whizzbang looked around for the professor and Altavia and saw them both staring intently at a monitor behind a large console. “Professor Steinberg,” he called.

  The professor’s startled face appeared from behind the monitor. “What is it young man?”

  “Are we going to do something with these new battleframes?”

  Altavia smiled sweetly at him and said, “You seem very eager Whizz. We were just checking the last of the permutations before generating a fully functional battleframe.”

  Bosk loved hearing Altavia’s voice. He wished he could hear it all day long. “Just take your time. We’ll just keep on standing here until we’re needed.”

  Whizzbang looked in astonishment at his friend. “Out of your league Bosk.”

  “I can only hope.”

  “There’s hope and a fool’s hope. That girl has more brains in her little pinkie then everything sitting on top of your shoulders. In fact, the way that she sometimes looks at us scares me a little.”

  Bosk sighed. “I know what you mean but she’s just so perfect!”

  “Do you want me to pull rank on you?”

  “Because you’re a day older than me?”

  “Yes!”

  “You can try it Whizz but we’re not kids anymore.”

  They bantered back and forth for the next few minutes to pass the time, just like when they were little kids. The friendship that had developed between them since they first met when Gasp rescued them was stronger than ever.

  Altavia cleared her throat to get their attention. Disappointingly, they had somehow missed the spectacle of her catwalk like grace as she walked from her desk to stand directly in front of them. “Privates this time is going to be it. We’ve completed programming a fully functional battleframe. If you two are finished your discussion then we’d like to get started.”

  Both Whizzbang and Bosk looked a little abashed as they said, “Yes maa’m!”

  Just like with the previous times a battleframe began to grow around each of them. This time the exoskeleton servos were operational and the boots came equipped with jump jets for short duration flight.

  Whizzbang began to relax as the last of the external components were finished being built by the billions of machines. Suddenly he felt a needle jab into his inner thigh and probes began pushing their way into every nook and cranny of his body.

  “Ouch! What the?”

  Beside him, Bosk gave a little yelp as the needle struck home and the various probes pushed their way into position.

  Whizzbang looked up at Altavia accusingly, “You knew that was going to happen didn’t you.”

  Altavia smiled back at him. “I may have but it’s necessary for the battleframe to know the health of the pilot.”

  “Why’s that?”

  Altavia walked over to Whizzbang and Bosk while Professor Steinberg continued monitoring the readouts on the monitors. “In the event of a pilot being near death, there’s a teleportation unit built into the battleframe that will instantly transport them out of battle and back to the nearest Concord base. The probes are designed to measure the state of the pilot’s health.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yes, I’m always serious when it comes to battleframe technology Whizzbang.”

  “So what’s the downside?”

  “I’ve heard that teleportation can be excruciating and may leave the pilot psychologically distressed?”

  Bosk rolled his eyes. “You mean a vegetable.”

  “That may be an exaggeration but it could be possible.”

  “So what you’re saying is don’t get near death or you could be alive but a bit of zombie with no brain.”

  Altavia laughed musically. “Bosk, you’re always so dramatic. It really depends upon the individual but tests have proven that the more mentally adept a person is the less they are impacted by an eport.”

  Whizzbang interrupted, “So what’s with the needles?”

  Professor Steinberg stepped into the conversation. “They’re to administer the Evkon 316 pain blockers and nanomeds.”

  “Can you dumb it down a little professor?”

  The professor ran his fingers through his thinning grey hair in concentration. “What both you pilots need to appreciate is three things. First of all, the battleframe nanites will affect repairs on the frame if it receives any damage. Secondly, Evkon 316 is the best pain blocker that the Concord has ever developed and will allow the pilot to continue to function even though his body might be under enormous duress. Thirdly, if a pilot is hurt then the nanomeds will flood into the bloodstream via the needle and heal the wound at the cellular level.”

  Bosk looked incredulous. “You’ve got to be frapping me?”

  Altavia turned to Bosk, her blue eyes seemed to shine in the light of the surrounding machinery. “No he’s not. Due to the shortage of veterans the battleframe has been designed to keep the pilot alive at all costs.”

  “Well, I’m all for that. How about you Whizz?”

  Whizzbang replied absently, “Sure Bosk. So professor, this is a fully operational battleframe?” he asked as he surveyed the readouts from a number of the different systems.

  “Yes, Private it is.”

  “Do you mind?”

  Altavia gave Whizzbang one of her stunningly gorgeous smiles. “Be my guest pilot.”

  Whizzbang leapt into the air on servo-assisted legs and before letting gravity take hold he kicked in his jump jets. Rather than flames, an invisible force thrust him higher into the air and rocketing towards the hanger roof. Easing
back on the throttle, he stopped shooting upwards and maintained a constant height.

  “Hey, wait for me Whizz,” Bosk excitedly said over the local comnet built into the battleframe. Looking down, Whizzbang watched as Bosk performed the same manoeuvre and settled, hovering on his jump jets next to him.

  As he looked up at the two pilots, the professor asked Altavia, “Do you think that they’ll remember that the jump jets are only for short duration flight?”

  “I’m sure that they’ll remember soon.”

  “That was my thoughts exactly.”

  Whizzbang could not help himself, he started laughing with the exhilaration and power of his battleframe. “What do you think Bosk?”

  Before Bosk could speak Whizzbang’s jump jets began to splutter. Like a rock, he plummeted to the floor. At the last minute, his jump jets kicked back in and he safely landed next to the two researchers.

  Through his battleframes earpiece he heard Bosk exclaim, “What the frap?” Looking up, Whizzbang watched as his friend headed rapidly towards the floor and then like his own battleframe Bosk’s jump jets kicked in and let him land safely.

  Altavia shook her head from side to side, as she walked back to a monitor. “Remember, the jump jets are for short duration flight…”

  Professor Steinberg completed her sentence as he joined his assistant, “…and they need at least three seconds to fully recharge between burns.”

  Whizzbang looked at the two researchers retreating to the comfort of their analysis equipment. Calling after them he said, “So what else can they do?”

  The professor tore his glance away from the monitor that he was staring at, “Why don’t you go and find out?”

  Whizzbang looked at Bosk and they both shrugged their shoulders. After being couped up for so long it seemed odd being told that they could do whatever they liked.

  Over by the professor, Altavia picked up a comset and said in her silky smooth voice, “Let me take you both through the basics.”

  Through the glass faceplate of his battleframe, Whizzbang watched as Bosk settled in to listen to Altavia’s sweet voice. He signalled his friend to look at him and promptly rolled his eyes. Bosk blushed, found the battleframe to battleframe comms switch and said, “What hope does a guy have listening to a trainer like her?”