With a sudden roar and flare of blinding light, Allepexxis’ inner body was instantly covered with flame that poured out from under its armor.
“That’s it!” Behlen yelled. “Now go!”
Paress slammed the sticks forward and Allepexxis screamed into the air. Paress noticed out of the corner of his eye that the tactical outline of the dragon had changed. The large engine pods on its back and on its legs were wide open, blue flame blasting out. In contrast, the flames that spat out from under the Machine’s armor were a furious red with streaks of yellow, all swirling in a tempest.
Even with the dampers on, Paress could certainly feel a stronger tug than before, but he didn’t tell Casten to change it. He relished it. No sooner had he focused on the clouds ahead of him that he punched through them and they disappeared behind him. In mere moments, the blue sky began to darken and as he looked to his side, he could see the curvature of the planet below. He kept going, and as the sky grew blacker and he could start to see stars, he could even make out the forms of starships flying back and forth, all duly noted by Allepexxis’ targeting computer. It’d be so easy to keep going. To just fly out into space. Who knew it could ever be so easy?
“Paress!” Behlen shouted. “Paress, can you hear me?”
“Oh! Uh, yes sir! Sorry sir!”
“Throttle back! You’re going into orbit!”
“Yes sir!” Paress pulled the sticks back and saw the image of Allepexxis in his tactical display change again.
The engines all closed up, replaced by reverse thrusters and, he noticed, the fully deployed wings. Even here where the air was so thin, the massive wingspan of Allepexxis was still enough to act as an airbrake. A moment later, the red flames spat and died, returning the dragon to its normal black appearance. After reversing back down a ways, Paress disengaged the reverse thrusters and repulsors and hovered, high in the sky over the ground below.
“Well, that was certainly something to see,” Behlen said. “Here take a look from our cameras.” A window appeared on Paress camera showing an exterior view of Allepexxis, flame shooting out, roaring into the sky.
“Wow, that is cool…” Paress murmured.
“Let’s also not forget what Casten did by keeping you synched. For it being his first time, he kept you and the Machine pretty well perfectly-aligned. He’ll have to update it here and there as your levels grow, but I’d say today’s synch should keep you going for a while.”
“Thanks, man,” Paress told a smiling Casten.
“No problem, it was awesome to watch,” Casten said. “Sometime I want to come along.”
“Yeah, you bet.”
“And I’ve just been told that unofficially, you’ve set the record for fastest time to space by a Hyper Battle Machine,” Behlen said. “We need to make sure of some stuff and since it wasn’t recorded officially. But I have no doubt that when we do it officially, you’ll be even faster.”
“Awesome!” Paress and Casten said at once.
“Yes, not a bad first at all,” Behlen said contentedly. “Come on back to the base, Paress. You can land closer to the command center than where you took off from, of course. I think it’s safe to say, you’ve got your Machine under control.”
“Yes sir!”
Chapter Twelve
After Paress had landed, there was some time spent going over various items from the day’s events. Behlen and Jil spent most of the time comparing readouts from the instruments in the control tower with Paress’ own experiences and Casten’s input. All of this was then cross-referenced with the stack of handwritten journals Behlen kept opening and looking through. Paress had the distinct impression those journals belonged to the Old Man.
“It’s almost like they discovered some kind of alien vehicle and are trying to figure out how it works,” Paress said in a low voice to Casten during a break. “You wouldn’t think they were working on something actually built here.”
“I keep wondering how much farther along we’d be if Professor Locke was here to work on his own creation,” Casten said. “All the stuff we’re doing with Dr. Behlen and he’s kinda in the dark…” Paress nodded in agreement.
A couple hours later, Behlen suddenly said they were done for the day. He was expected at a very important meeting with a colleague and had to wrap things up. Thinking back to the conversation that he eavesdropped on earlier, Paress knew that Behlen was talking about meeting up with his wife. He looked at Casten and winked as Casten grinned knowingly.
Behlen sent the boys on their way back to the dorm as he stayed behind to get some last minute work done with Jil before he departed himself. Coming back up the turbolift and going through Behlen’s office alone, the temptation to look around through all the stuff was overwhelming.
Paress felt like that with enough looking, there was probably information on anything he could think to ask in the vast rows of bookshelves. There was also the chance to look through the writings of the enigmatic Ferdinand Locke. But after some worried words and looks from Casten and the sneaking suspicion something was watching them, Paress eventually relented and left the office with a grateful Casten following.
Walking through the gates and past the Dread Phantoms was nowhere near as scary now. There was still some level of discomfort, but Paress was proud that both he and Casten could make it through without their stride slowing too much and with eyes open. Paress glanced at the otherworldly guards as he passed by. They remained completely still, looking straight ahead impassively. Paress made a slight wave, wondering if he’d get something in return, but nothing. The Dread Phantoms remained true to their word, standing at the ready for any would-be trespassers and nothing more.
As they neared the dorms and they came into close proximity with more people, Paress was glad to see that he and Casten had apparently gained full acceptance as Space Knight Academy cadets. Plenty of people made eye contact and smiled and acted like he was just another student, which suited him fine.
The day before had brought happy attention by the students who were surprised and shocked that he’d managed to activate Allepexxis— well, at least until the would-be bullies showed up. But today made him feel more comfortable and gave him a sense of belonging.
“Hey Paress! Casten!” A group of older guys and girls waved the two boys over to the table they were sitting at in the promenade. As they approached, the older kids moved over and made space for Paress and Casten to sit. Paress realized that the guy who called them over was the same person who greeted them on the night of their arrival— the only person who greeted them.
“My name’s Gynden,” he said and went around the table introducing his friends. They were mostly third-year and a couple fourth-years. Gynden himself was one of the fourth years. “So what’s it like already having a Hyper Battle Machine? Hell, I’ve been here four years, working my ass off with training Machines and still no assignment.”
“Some guys’ve got it and some don’t,” Eiklain, a cute redhead with pigtails said, her bright green eyes glinting with tiny cubes.
“Some Companion you are,” Gynden said with a laugh. He turned to Paress, “This goofball— the second she heard about you firing up #25, she went and made that sign on your door with the Space Knight title.”
“Don’t forget the heart!” Eiklain said.
“Of course, how can I forget?” Gynden rolled his eyes. “You’re lucky you’ve got another guy as a Companion,” he said, giving a friendly nod to Casten. “They gave me this damn girl and now she has me wrapped around her finger. And the bad thing is, I can never really break up with her because I’m stuck with her. My Companion. Ugh.”
Eiklain got up and started rubbing Gynden’s back. “But who would give you these awesome back rubs? You’d die without me.”
Gynden got a look of immense pleasure as the Companion’s fingers dug in. “Yeah, you’re probably right…”
Paress thought that having a female Companion to love didn’t seem so bad just then. But it did bring up a
good point… what was it like to fall in love and then out of love with your Companion? What if the Companion still loved you? For that matter, what if the Companion fell in love with another? It would always have to be incomplete because a Companion’s first duty was to the Space Knight with no exceptions; it was in their core basic programming. But Companions also had souls. What happened when the needs of the heart and soul collided with the most basic aspect of a Companion’s existence? Maybe Gynden was only half-right— perhaps Paress and Casten were both lucky.
“Never mind those two old farts,” an Elf guy named Heiral said. “#25. What’s it like? We really don’t know all that much about it. Pretty much just gossip and a few pictures. I know it’s big and in the form of a dragon, but that’s it.”
“Well, uh, that’s kinda it,” Paress said. “He’s pretty huge. Well, not really huge so much as long. I think without the tail and if he didn’t have the long dragon neck, he wouldn’t be so big. Not that I’ve seen many Hyper Battle Machines, but based on what I’ve read, Allepexxis’ actual body isn’t that much bigger than some other Machines. I think he’s actually even smaller compared to some.”
“How about piloting?” Heiral asked.
“Oh, well, yeah, that was kind of weird getting him started up the first time, and some stuff happened so I don’t remember all of it,” Paress didn’t want to explain why he didn’t remember all of it, “but once that got out of the way and I could just fly around and stuff, it was really cool.”
There were already nods and quiet exclamations around the table when Casten added, “Paress also unofficially broke the Hyper Battle Machine record in time to reach the edge of inner orbit.” That elicited even more gasps of excitement.
“How fast?” a creature that made Paress think of a giant jellyfish asked as it floated up to the table.
“Roughly 65 seconds,” Casten said.
“No shit?” a burly ork named Kol asked. “Fuckin’ crazy.” There were murmurs of agreement from around the table.
Seeing Kol, Paress couldn’t help but think about what he’d overheard about the group of orks with Jil… and then the Academy commandant. But he doubted any of them were students like Kol.
“It was all Allepexxis,” Paress said. “I just held on for dear life.”
“Nah, don’t let him fool you,” Casten said. “I got the initial synch going and then Paress really settled into it and got the Machine under control. So much heat and flame was pouring out from the power output, Allepexiss looked like he was on fire and then boom, blast off, and away he went. A minute later and we’re calling him back because he’s heading into space.”
All eyes turned to Paress and he smiled sheepishly. “Yeah, I guess that pretty much is how it happened. It was cool.”
“Right on!” Gynden said and the group cheered. As he looked around, Paress saw that many more people had drifted up to the table. They all smiled at him warmly with a couple claps on the back to him and Casten.
“And remember guys, these two are only twelve!” Heiral said. “Puts our eternal student into perspective, right?” He punched Gynden’s arm with a laugh and Gynden rolled his eyes.
Paress leaned over to Casten. “What does he mean?”
“You got me,” Casten said.
Noticing the two boys’ confusion, Gynden said, “The Blessing hits us all in different ways. Mostly at puberty, so that gives some fluctuation as to when people get it. In my case, the Blessing came long after puberty, when I was sixteen. I’m 20 now.”
“And still haven’t graduated,” Hieral said before a quick backhand from Gynden sent him tumbling backward laughing. “Good things come to those who wait, jackass.”
It occurred to Paress that Gynden’s age was likely why he was friendly to Paress and Casten from the start. He was already a bit of an odd case amongst the other cadets, and being an adult, was likely above all the usual bullshit with ignoring the new kid.
“Well, I kinda wish I was older,” Paress said. “This is all a lot to get used to… I’m still worried about being away from my family…”
“I hear ya,” Gynden said. “But for what it’s worth, the Academy’s your family now. We’re all here for you.”
Paress looked around to see smiles and nods. “We didn’t know if you were the real deal when you first showed up. But you showed us and now we got ya, little brother,” Kol the ork said. “No worries.”
Paress could feel tears stinging his eyes and he quickly wiped them away. He was grateful nobody noticed— or at least pretended not to notice.
“So were the controls pretty much the usual?” A Mundee girl with four arms near the back of the group asked in an attempt to keep the mood light.
“Yeah, Dr. Behlen said it was the Standardized Mecha Piloting Profile,” Paress said. “I had to use my telekinesis to fine tune the controls, but the basic stuff was all with the sticks and pedals.”
“Heh, good. Once they get a Machine fine-tuned to all my arms, I should be set,” the Mundee said.
“Huh, anybody know when the Standardized thing started?” Paress asked.
“Sometime around the beginning,” Hieral said. “They tried some different ideas. In one of them the pilot wore a Motion-Mimic suit that locked into the cockpit on a big arm and then the Machine would mimic the pilot’s movements. So right away, something so simple as scratching an itch turned into an entire mecha movement.
“But the real problem came in under some fairly basic maneuvers like jumping. If the pilot was inside the Machine and he jumped, there’s a weird kind of disconnect with what’s going when the pilot crouches and then jumps, followed by the Machine. Even with the Machine tuned to do the move at the same moment as the pilot, there was still this oddness of jumping inside of something else that was also jumping. Dampers can take care of some of it, but the pilot would often get disoriented as to where the ‘floor’ was.”
“And don’t even think of doing something like a roll,” a blue-haired girl said. “By the time the move was completed, the pilot had no idea which side was up or down and would often get sick, since the whole time he’s rolling, the entire cockpit’s also rolling. His physical body comes out of the roll, but then he has to make sure of what the Machine’s position is too. A lot of Machines were falling on their asses at that time.”
“Right,” Hieral said. “And what about something easy like swinging a sword? The Standardized controls now have it set so that basic slashes are set to go off as fast as possible when the trigger’s pulled. A perfect slash every time with no pilot fatigue. Now imagine that you have to repeatedly slash your entire arm around in the pilot suit.
“First, that gets super tiresome in a long battle, and second, I can pull a trigger a whole lot faster than someone who has to wave his entire arm around. And I can do it more often too because pulling the trigger takes a lot less effort. Of course, different sword moves are performed by using button combos on your sticks like in a video game. Again, much faster and with less pilot fatigue than having to act out every damn thing. Hell, even simple stuff like flying could gte really confusing in a Mo-Mimic system.
“I mean, think about that, how do you let the Machine know stuff like going up or down or sideways or whatever, while flying if you’re stuck in a suit? Do you run in mid air and that tells the Machine you want to fly forward? Jump to go up? But how do you determine how far up you actually want to go if your jump is bringing you down? Again, it’s all so overcomplicated and tiring compared to just pushing two sticks forward.”
“There are some vids out there,” Gynden said, “from back in the early days. The Academy put some Machines with the Motion-Mimic suit system up against Machines with the Standardized system. The Machines with the Standardized system ran rings around the Mo-Mimic guys. The in-cockpit vids are pretty funny. You’re seeing people flailing their bodies around like a bunch of angry mimes or something, getting out of breath, throwing up from getting constantly disoriented. Meanwhile the pilots in the normal cock
pits are relaxed and calmly destroying their opponents with a few throws of the sticks and some trigger pulls. There was talk of trying to jack the pilots’ brains directly into the Machines to take care of some of the issues, but that opened up a huge can of worms and they abandoned the idea.”
“Yeah, I think I can see how the mimic thing would be hard,” Paress said. He imagined the part where he quickly flew up to the edge of space and wondered how weird that would have been if he’d been standing in a Mo-Mimic suit instead of strapped safely in his seat.
“Now, the one thing mimic rigs have over cockpits with sticks is fine control gestures and things like that,” Gynden said. “Wearing a suit that precisely mimics your body movements is extremely useful if you want to do something like build a house, or perform rescues. Those are things where you don’t have to worry about getting thrown around inside a Mo-Mimic cockpit during combat because you’re doing jobs where the robot you’re inside isn’t going to be doing any crazy maneuvers like rolling around or dodging. Building a house or rescuing someone from a burning building is much more complex and precise than swinging a sword or shooting a gun.
“So while pulling a trigger is a better way of doing those things in a robot built for combat, the system is too clunky for doing very careful, precise work. So yeah, for those jobs, the Mo-Mimic system is the gold standard. Check out a medical rescue mecha sometime. They always have two crew members: a pilot in a normal cockpit who takes care of the basic movement and a Mo-Mimic operator to do the precise stuff like helping the wounded.”
Paress remembered seeing some medical mecha at the starliner crash, but never thought about how they were actually controlled.
“Alright, alright, enough!” Eiklan said. “I can go to class if I wanna hear about this kinda stuff. Lets get outta here. I think it’s time we get Paress and Casten over to Neon Tron’s and away from the campus for a while.”
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