The war between the Lishean Commonwealth and the Stellar Kingdom of Naraland had been raging for nearly five years. Mark had lost his home, his friends, and part of his sanity. This war was a costly affair, but for all the things that he lost, he resolved to keep fighting. Many would call this the sunk cost fallacy, but Mark did not care. He was determined to visit his losses tenfold on his enemy.
The recent battles had changed the course of the war. Attrition was now evident amongst the attacking forces of the kingdom. In just a few months, the Commonwealth had regained many star systems previously lost. At the moment, the L.A.F. and the kingdom contended for the second time over the Mestan system.
Mestan Prime was called the planet of ruins. Over time, many civilizations left their remains there. While there was very little in the form of resources, the technology and knowledge left behind enticed the stellar nations to battle for the planet. Mark thought this to be ridiculous; people were dying over a graveyard.
At the moment, Mark found himself in the mech deck of a space carrier, The Chekov's Revenge. He and his team were getting ready to launch an operation. The briefing was still on his mind. While the main force attacked the planet's key positions, Mark's team needed to infiltrate the enemy lines and secure a research facility.
A female voice broke his concentration. "Look at you, all broody and serious. Will it kill you to smile a little?"
Mark turns to look at Nivea. The woman was wearing a mechanic's uniform covered in grease and hydraulic fluid. She had been repairing mechs by hand; repair droids were in short supply. The lines in her face told him she had been working without rest for a long time.
Mark commented on her state. "You look like you can use a nap."
Nivea scoffed bitterly. "Well, if the guys from the supply team were not resting on their laurels, the repair team would not be in this situation."
Mark saw that his friend was in a bad mood. He hesitated to ask about her work, but the operation window was coming soon. "So... Are my mechs ready?"
The woman responded with a tired voice. "Yeah, they are. It took us a while, but we got your gear sorted. They are ready when you are."Nivea lets out a sigh. She was exhausted. "They'd better give us a bonus for all of the slave labor we are doing."
Mark lets out a rare smile. "It's not much in the way of rewards, but you can have this." He takes out a bag of chocolates from one of his pockets and tosses it towards his friend.
The woman catches the bag, and a smile draws on her face. "Where did you get these?" She quickly opens the bag and pops a piece of chocolate in her mouth. Nivea spoke while chewing on her candy. "I thought that we were out of chocolate."
Mark answered her question with a smug expression. "You know me, I got my ways."
Nivea tossed him a knowing glance. She knew his bad habits like the back of her grease-stained hands. "Tell me the truth, did you fleece the ship's officers playing cards again?"
Mark smiled once more. Their playful banter took the edge off a bit. After a few minutes of talking, he said goodbye to his friend and moved towards his mech. With the repairs done, he was ready to sortie.
Mark walked until he stood before his machine. Since he had a high neuronal capacity, the L.A.F. gave him an elite Mech. It was a model called the Harrison Advance. This mech was a rifleman model with an integrated sensor suite. The machine also boasted a cyberwarfare module mounted on the mech's back.
One of the benefits of having extension ports on a mech is the ability to add functions to the machine. These could range from external power sources to flight systems and even additional weapons. At the moment, Mark's mech was equipped for infiltration. The cyberwarfare module on the back of his mech was designed to hack its way into enemy systems and networks.
He climbed the scaffold and entered the cockpit. The man then closed the latch and ran the checks and procedures needed to start his machine. He then moved his mech to the drop ship. This ship will be the vessel that takes him and his team from The Chekov's Revenge to the operation's site.
There were five other mechs with him on the drop ship. These were the members of his fire team. As he entered the cargo hold of the dropship, he maneuvered his machine and docked at one of the drop bays in the middle of the space. Being the final mech of the team, the cargo hold doors closed, and a few minutes later, he could feel the ship launching into space.
A man's voice flared on his comm-channel. The person spoke with an annoyed tone. "It was about time, Warren. My hair was turning gray waiting for you."
A female voice speaks, admonishing the annoyed man. "Can it, Vera, it's not his fault that the mechanics team is lacking the tools they need. Blame that on the logistics people."
Vera scoffed, responding to the woman who admonished him. "Tanner is defending Warren again, no surprise there, what a brown-noser."
Tanner snaps backat Vera. "I'm not a brown-noser; you are just an idiot."
Another voice can be heard on the comm-channel. "If Vera and Tanner keep this up, the two are likely to end up getting married."
A female voice came next, and the person added a comment. "I see what you mean, these two already bicker like a married couple."
The comm-channel filled with the group's laughter. Only Vera and Tanner did not laugh; the light-hearted atmosphere disguised the anxiety in everyone's mind. It almost felt like they were a group of friends riding a bus somewhere. However, these light-hearted moments did not last. As soon as the dropship began to tremble, they all fell silent. Once they are through the planet's atmosphere, the operation will begin.
Mark began everyone's checks. One by one, the pilots of his fire team checked their comm-channels, cameras, and equipment. As the shaking subsided, the normal light went off, and a red light illuminated the drop bay. Thevoice of the pilot was heard. "Two minutes to drop point." The floor of the drop bay opened underneath the strapped mechs. Below, the surface of the planet rushed by as the dropship flew towards their destination.
Even though Mark had made over five dozen drop runs by now, he was still cautious. One never knows if everything will come out as planned. Each of the pilots prepared in their own way; some prayed, some meditated, and others hyped themselves up, cursing the enemies they would face. A buzzing sound announced that the drop point was 10 seconds away.
Mark spoke on the channel. "Everyone Ready!?" His team confirmed their state one by one. With each positive response, the machine they were piloting was released into a free fall. Once they cleared the area of the dropship, the thrusters embedded on the drop harness flared, slowing down their descent. Two or three meters above ground, the drop harness ejected, and the mechs fell to the ground, ready to fight.
They observed their surroundings. As the briefing stated, this area was quiet. The L.A.F. main force had already started the engagement, and most of the enemy's attention was focused there. Mark and the others began to move towards the research facility a few kilometers away.
They reached the area around their target without incident. Most of the defences surrounding the research facility were automated. Only four mechs were present on the perimeter. Mark painted the mechs using his sensor suite, and with the cyberwarfare module, he disabled the alarms.
His team aimed and eliminated the four mechs at a distance. Their next volley was directed towards the automated turrets and missile launchers. Avoiding the minefield, they entered the facility's area. Looking inside, the fireteam saw very little. Some of them even feared that the kingdom's army had already moved the target.
Mark scanned the place with his sensor suite and found nothing. However, before he could give the order to retreat, the cyberwarfare module detected a hidden system. He examined the data, and he found a hidden elevator. The facility had an underground section that appeared to be shielded from the sensors.
Mark used the module once again to hack the elevator. The A.I. embedded in the component quickly activated the device. Mark decided to leave two members outside to guard the entrance while four mechs rode down the industrial-sized lift.
As they entered the elevator, they realized the research facility was much larger than they thought. The elevator went down a few hundred meters into a large underground space. It was an artificial cave system. The massive cavern contained hundreds of structures. These buildings did not look man-made; they were the remains of an ancient civilization. Suddenly, Mark's sensor suite caught heat signatures inside. The kingdom's forces were hiding in the ancient city.
Mark ordered his teammates to form a perimeter around the elevator. 15 enemy signatures were priming up for a fight. He then instructed the A.I. in the hacking module to access the site's computer systems and begin extracting data from the ruins. Meanwhile, Mark's remaining team used discarded equipment and rubble to block all the paths leading towards the elevator. In a few seconds, only one entrance remained accessible. They would funnel the enemy mechs to negate their numbers and advantage.
Laser fire surged from the open path to the ruin. The kingdom's mechs had arrived at the bottleneck. As planned, the enemy had trouble entering the elevator area. To solve this, they grabbed a piece of debris from the ruin and carried it before them, turning it into a makeshift shield. They advanced through the narrow corridor with confidence.
This action, however, worked against them; one of Mark's subordinates fired a grenade that arched over the debris and landed between the two mechs carrying the heavy object. An explosion damaged the two machines, but the weight of the object crushed their legs, rendering them useless and pinning them in place.
Mark and another of his subordinates moved forward and used the debris as cover. A few shots disabled what was left of the two mechs that carried the rock. With the new vantage point, Mark took advantage of the chokehole tightening. He was able to paint the mechs near the chokehold.
Back at the elevator, another of Mark's subordinates activated his backpack module, releasing a hail of small missiles. Each is the size of a pool cue, but the chemical mixture inside makes it highly explosive. Three machines fell to the explosive barrage.
Mark noticed the mechs were failing too quickly. He speculated that these machines must have been damaged. Since they were in poor condition, they were left behind to guard the facilities. The ones in good condition were sent to the main battle. The man smiled, for the first time in a long time; Lady Luck smiled at him.
The engagement lasted a few minutes. The elite machines of the fireteam dealt with the kingdom forces without suffering any casualties. The lower attrition rate of the L.A.F., plus Nivea's regular maintenance, helped them achieve a flawless victory.
With the enemy out of the way, they began exploring the site. There were computers and data caches scattered throughout the underground city. Mark and his team were forced to check one by one. Suddenly, the cyberwarfare module detects an unhackable device.
The device was inside a sturdy-looking building. Mark was forced to get down from his mech to check the area. Inside, the building was full of depictions of humanoid-looking aliens. The pictures seemed to tell a story, but Mark had little interest in deciphering its meaning. There were many terminals inside the building. His eyes were drawn to one in particular. The machine looked to be some sort of scanner. Inside, suspended by a gravity field, he saw a cylindrical object. The thing was pale blue and had writing in an unknown language all over its surface.
Mark was drawn to the device; he slowly closed the distance. The man was cautious of hidden traps. Reaching the scanner, he extends his hand, touching the device slightly with his index finger. The thing felt smooth and warm to the touch.
Wishing to get a better feel, Mark removes his glove and touches the blue cylinder. The object starts to vibrate. A blue mist started to emanate while the cylinder slowly disintegrated. The man could only watch in horror as the blue mist entered his body through his nose. Soon after, Mark falls to the ground unconscious.
Mark wakes in a drowsy state. Focusing on his surroundings, he found himself in the sickbay of the Chekov's Revenge. At the moment, he was placed in a quarantine enclosure. As he slowly stands, a doctor in a hazmat suit greets him and starts checking his condition.
Back in the cabin, Steve, Alex, and Livia listen to the story Mark is telling. An expression of disbelief hangs from their faces. The young man knew that this would happen; it was a very common reaction. If they were in the real world, he could do the same thing he did to convince Jack. Yet, in the virtual world, he could only convince them with words.