by Jessie Wolf
“Wait, you mean to tell me that you only have one AI, but it has a twin processor. How or better yet why did your grandfather come up with that idea?”
“Sir as I told you, you do not have the clearance to know that. As for how I know how to control an attack run the way I do is simple. Grandpa was a Death Dealer; he just gave me the same tactical down loads every other Death Dealer gets, with one minor difference. I got the Omega/assault class down load.”
“Let me guess you shared this with your sisters right?” when I nodded my head yes he just chuckled. “That explains so much about you and your sisters.” When I hear this I realize he has figured out way too much about me and my family. I just might have to remove him from being a threat. “Oh don’t worry, my Lady. I have a feeling that you and your family are all a top secret as far as how you came to be the way you are.” Time for a little more misdirection.
“Professor Recco, I truly hope that you mean that. Because the Emperor himself has placed the safety of his daughter in my family’s hands. You are an honorable man and I would like to call you my friend, but my first duty is to Him and his daughter.”
“Fear not, Lady Maiha, I understand your position all too well. Now that I know why you and your sisters are Death Dealers I shall never give up your secrets. For now though I believe that First Sergeant Bailey is coming down with your first run score.” He was pointing to the tower stairs where papa was descending.
“You’re right, I hope we beat the current holders for Top Shot.”
Chuckling Professor Recco just shook his head. “Lady Maiha, your family had a clean sweep of the course. The only thing that you missed was the air attack by the halos. Not that there was anything you could do against those except run for it. I have no doubt that you’ll have the new high score.”
We head back over to rejoin my family. Papa is just getting off the last step when I see his face. The smile he has is a mile wide, and tells me everything I need to know. “Well, ladies, it seems that we have a problem. Out of a possible score of eight hundred you scored seven sixty six. This places you at the top of the score board.”
It was mama who brought up the so called problem he mentioned. “So, dear what is the problem?”
I have a feeling that I know what it is. Papa’s words just confirm it. “While the range scoring is all automatic certain members of our House troops feel that the score has been tampered with. They feel that the Storm Dancers should run the course again, but this time in your APS’s.” When we hear this we all burst out laughing. Professor Recco has a look of total confusion at our reaction to the news.
“The reason we are laughing is that we are far more deadly with our AP Suits. When we climb into our cockpits no one can out shoot, out fight, or out maneuver us. For me it was all of the training I received from our grandfather, for my mama and sisters it was training from the Temple, and for Alice it is three years of training against one of the greatest APS pilots High Winds ever produced. During the rebellion all of us became multiple aces. So yes this next run is going to be fun.”
Before we can head over to where our APS’s are set up both Mr. Lenard and Doctor Brim walk over. “Congratulations ladies. That was a beautiful run. I must say that you put on a remarkable demonstration of team work. Never in all my years have I seen such a coordinated strike force.”
“Sir if you think that was something just head back over to the viewing stands. In a few minutes these ladies are going to cut loose with their other halves.” Papa is just bursting with pride for us. And can’t wait for us to truly get out there and cut loose with our APS. Then again so am I; after all I haven’t seen what my younger sisters can really do with their new seventy ton Sherman’s. The only practice they have had has been the familiarization runs.
“Come on Storm Dancers, time to show our guests what we can really do. Top are our APS’s over in the ready site?”
“They’re over there with their new mama and papa going over them with a fine tooth comb.” At my look of confusion on my face and those of my sisters papa and mama both start chuckling again. “Lady Maiha, your lady’s maid Nia has been spending all of her free time over at the family hangar with them. I swear that she cares for those AP Suits as if they were her own children, she is worse than Chief Donnelly at times.”
“I highly doubt that Top. No one can be worse than the Chief when it comes to the APS’s.” Alice puts in.
“Pussycat, I wouldn’t say that.” When Alice and my sisters’ look over at me I giggle. “After the conversation I had yesterday morning with the Chief, I would say that it is more than possible. Come on let’s go say hello to our other halves and really show our students and classmates what we can do.”
“Excuse me, Lady Maiha, before you mount up. Could you give our students a quick tour of your AP Suits?” I didn’t see him come up, but Mr. Lenard had a valid request.
“Please gentlemen, bring them over and we’ll introduce them to our Suits.” I can’t help but to smile as I watch my younger sisters start to smile. This is something that they so want to do. Once again I am reminded of just how young they really are. It was like they all have a new pony and wanted to show it off like any young girl would. “It will be a true pleasure for us to show our Armored Power Suits to our fellow students. That and to let them know that they too can become pilots of these powerful machines.”
“Thank you, Lady Maiha. You know in all my years as an educator I have never had students or teachers make such an impact on those around them. You my Lady are a force of nature that is not to be denied.” The pride Mr. Lenard was showing me and my family is something I was not expecting. “In a matter of days you have managed to not only bring to light the short comings of certain staff members, change to thinking of more than one staff member and student, but now you’re showing our students that they have true choices in how they want to live their lives.”
Giggling behind me Nanase just has to put in her two cents. “That’s our Maiha. Just like her name says, she is as beautiful as she is deadly. Not even the rocks of ignorance can stand against her for forever.”
“Knock it off, sister dear, or you can try running the range on your own.” I tell her with a smile. I know that she is just ribbing me. “Sir, if we’re going to show them our APS’s then it needs to be quick. We still have a training run to get in this morning, and I still want to take them over to the Temple and Fiddlers Green today before heading back to the school.”
“About that, Lady Maiha, might it be possible to return tomorrow instead. I feel that our students might better be served by spending more than a few hours with the people of the Temple.” His request was not lost on me or everyone else.
“Of course, sir, it will be our pleasure to host our students for another night. Now if you’ll gather our students over in the prep area, I and my family will give them a lesson in the care and feeding of Armor Power Suits.” I smile as I give him a small bow of respect before turning to my family. “Ok, little sisters, time to show off your ponies.” My joke is not lost those around me as my sisters give me a strange look. “Come on we need to make sure your new APS’s are ready to rump and stump.”
With a giggling mass following me we head over to the prep staging area. As I rounded the control building I got my first look at Vicky’s new paint job, along with the rest of my family’s APS’s. Each one now supported a color scheme that matched our Temple robes. For mama’s High Lander it was the black and white of a Reverend Mother, for my sisters Sherman’s all three of them supported the gray with white of a novice, both Alice’s Panther and my Mountain lion were painted in the blue and gold of Temple Guardians. I have a feeling that this will most likely be their normal paint scheme. It shows more than just our standings as a unit, but also as members of the Temple. These new paint schemes are a representation of who we are. I can feel the hand of a certain maid in all of this.
And like magic she steps around from the backside of Puss-In-Boots. “I don’t care wha
t you think is the problem, Puss gave your sorry ass a complete readout show full systems integration. So just get over yourself. I am sick and tired of you men trying to tell my girls what’s wrong with them. If I hear one more complaint soldier I can have your ass reassigned by close of business. Do I make myself clear on this?”
Yup, suspicions confirmed. Nia has taken to our family APS’s as if they are her children. Oh boy I feel sorry for the techs that have to deal with her. “Um… Nia is there a problem with Puss-In-Boots?”
Turning to look over at me, Nia blushes clear down to her chest. “Sorry about that, my Lady. I was just explaining to the young man here that he needs to listen to what my, I mean your APS’s tell them.” I watched as she rubs her hand lovingly on Puss’s leg as she was a small child. “Don’t worry Puss. If it’s the last thing I do, I’ll get these morons to listen to you and the rest.”
Alice steps forward with a small smile playing at the corners of her mouth. “We won’t get in your way Mama Nia. I just want to know if our girls are ready to play?” Nia blushed at being called ‘Mama Nia’, but it was an apt description for her now. Especially when it comes to our family APS’s. I have a very distinct feeling that anyone who didn’t obey her wishes when it came to them would pay Holy Hell for it.
“My babies are ready to show the world what they can do. Why Typhoon, Tempest, and Monsoon are more than ready. They have been wanting to show off ever since they got their upgrades.” The upgrades Nia had so casually referred to was their installment in brand new APS units. Their originals were destroyed during the final battle of the rebellion. Thankfully the Nakatoma family can afford the expense. The coast of three virgin M4-A9 Sherman’s was not cheap. However it was worth it for my family, at least to me it is.
Before we could say more, the Headmaster arrived with the others and our students. Almost as one the girls started to ask questions of Alice, me, and my sisters. I am once again surprised when one of the Heathers comes up to me. “Excuse me, Lady Maiha, but do you and the Lady Alison, really pilot the two cats?”
The fact that the young girls knew how to describe both mine and Alice’s APS’s as cats said more than her words. Dee De once again gives me the girl’s name. “Yes, Carmen, we do. May I ask how you know so much about Armor Power Suits?”
She actually blushes before she answers, as APS recognition is not a subject at JES. “My father is a senior design engineer for Springfield Arms and Manufacturers. He kind of taught me how to recognize the different models and configurations.” When she tells me her father is a senior design engineer for S.A.M. I knew exactly who he was. Michael Sandiego, CEO for S.A.M.s’ Research and Development department. They were the only true competition I had in the R and D field for weapons.
“Would you like to meet Victory Maiden? She is the Mountain Lion and my personal APS unit.”
“Then you truly do pilot one of the most demanding Suits out there.” the smile that comes to her face is as if I had just told her that there really are such things as Fairies, and magic. “My dad told me that only a man can handle those beasts.”
“Oh Carmen, that is one of the biggest lies out there. Did you know that almost every pilot of a Mountain Lion that has made ace or higher is a woman. Please don’t let closed minded fools keep you from reaching for your dreams. If you want to be an APS pilot then graduate and go to school to be one. I will tell you now that it is a hard life, but also a rewarding one.”
“My father would never let me do that. I have to marry some big wigs, in his company, son. I just don’t see what is the use of learning more than I have to?” Carmen’s very blunt confessions at being in an arranged marriage, made me think of how many more were in the same situation.
“Carmen, how many of the other students are under arranged marriage contracts?”
My question takes the poor girl by surprise. The reason I know this is she gives me an honest answer. Arranged marriage contracts are the norm on some planets, but they are outlawed on the rest, this includes Hades. I made sure of that a few weeks ago. “Well, I only know of the ones in the Heathers for sure, but I would say that close to half of the students at JES have a contract waiting for when they graduate.”
“Thank you for being honest with me. Don’t worry I won’t say anything to anyone else. However I will tell you this. You and all the other girls who go to school here on Hades and in over ninety percent of the Empire don’t have to abide by those contracts. As long as you do not return to your home planet those contracts are just pieces of unenforceable paper. You do have choices. It is up to you girls to decide how you want to live your lives. That is all I have to say, other than think about it.” She gave me a strange look as if she never realized that she truly did have a choice in her life was a foreign concept to her. “Now let me introduce you to my Vicky.” Looking up at APS I call out. “Say hello, Vicky.”
“Hello, Vicky.” Of course she has to be a smart ass. I should have known better. I just face palm and shake my head.
Carmen, and a few other girls who had joined us at Vicky’s feet, just giggled. “Bad, Vicky. Bad.” The giggling just gets more pronounced. “You just had to do it, didn’t you?”
“Hay, don’t blame me. You’re the one who set it up. I just had to go for it.”
“You know Vicky, one of the reasons why they hang smart asses on certain planets?”
“Then it is a good thing that Hades isn’t one of them.” (Giggle)
“UGH! No respect, I get no respect.” Turning to the girls around me. “This ladies, is a prime example why some pilots don’t remove the restrictions on their AP Suit AIs. Even though it gives them far more capabilities, they just don’t know how to put up with them being smart asses.”
“I am not a smart ass, you’re just jealous of my total awesomeness.” Leave it to Vicky to get the last word in on our little by play. Thankfully it was just the thing to loosen up the girls and gets them to start asking questions. Surprisingly over half the questions were asked of Vicky. However I have to call a halt to their questions and ask for them to return to the viewing area. We still had another training run to make.
Thankfully even though more than a few were disappointed at not being able to ask more questions, they quickly became excited about seeing our APS’s in action. As I climb into Vicky’s cockpit I feel my excitement grow. In my past there has only been one other APS and I detonated its self-destruct to keep it out of the enemy’s hands. Not since the Grim Reaper have I had any connection to an APS that is until Victory Maiden.
“Welcome back, Maiha.”
“Thank you, Vicky. Are you ready to show off?”
(GIGGLE) “In more ways than one!” (GIGGLE)
Hearing a multi-ton war machine giggle like a school girl would unsettle most pilots, but not me. I just know that it is Vicky being herself. I smile as the connection cables snap into place on my arms and legs. Reaching up I pull my helmet down from its storage rack and place in on my head. I feel my connection to Vicky go online as her individual systems power up. First the life support, followed by the main power plant, then her gyro stabilizer, and finally her weapons and targeting systems.
“All systems are green to go, Maiha.”
“Thank you Vicky. Please establish an uplink with the rest of the Storm Dancers.”
(GIGGLE) “It is already in place, Maiha. Shall I open it up?” (GIGGLE)
“Ok, I’ll ask why you already have a link in place later. Besides from the sounds of the giggle I might not want to know the answer, but open the link please.”
A small icon flashes in the upper right corner of my HUD display.
“Link is now open to the rest of the lance as well as one for the tower. As for why we already have the link, we like to gossip about the techs,” (GIGGLE)
“Ok Storm Dancers we played around on the first run and pounded the grunts into the dust. Now let’s swing back and strafe the survivors. I want to leave no doubt in the minds of our House Military that we have earned
the right to call ourselves the Command Lance and APS pilots.”
“Storm Dancers, this is Mountain Mistress, once before we set the bar for our House Military. A few weeks ago one unit moved the bar a little higher. This morning we retook the top spot, but some feel that we cheated or that our score was manipulated by an unbiased judge. This time we leave no doubt as to our abilities on the battlefield. Leave nothing but dust and ash. Over”
“Tempest Maiden on the move.”
“Typhoon Maiden right behind you sis.”
“Monsoon Maiden stepping out.”
“Wave Dancer ready to dance.”
“Koneko Mistress is ready to play.”
“Time to regain our honor, Mountain Mistress, out”
I could tell that mama is pissed about us being accused of cheating by the Land Warrior unit. I don’t know who their commander is, but I have a feeling that if he was on the range he would have an ‘accident’. As we step up to the firing line I hear a cheer go up from over in the viewing area. I key up my link to let the tower know we are ready and to give my family one last giggle before we hit the range.
“Tower one, this is Wave Dancer, the Storm Dancers are locked, cocked and ready to rock. Tell the Land Warrior morons it’s all over but the crying and they’re buying. Over”
Papa is still laughing as he keys up the link for his end. “Storm Dancers, you are cleared to commence your run in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five...”
At five Vicky snaps up a targeting overlay on my HUD. At four she pours power to her four main weapons. At three I receive a ready report from my family. At two I feel Vicky start to squat for takeoff.
“ONE! GO! GO! GO! The range is hot!” as papa hollers out one, my family surges forward as a single unit. My three sisters flow out and around mama, me and Alice to act as scouts. Mama moves into the center between me and Alice. Meanwhile my little sisters are already tearing up the infantry section of the course. Mama reins them in by reminding them that the three of us do not have their speed. Alice and I move into supporting positions further out on the flanks.