The Recruitment: Rise of the Free Fleet (12 page)

I woke up as annoyed as I had been when I went to sleep. We filed into the armoury, a feeling of dread in the air, as we grabbed our Mechas checking them over and running start up tests before we got in them.

Taleel came into the armoury, Shrift looked unhappy to say the least, especially with the way the Sarenmenti stroked the pain implant’s remote.

“Win for me today, or I will be seeing how many repetitive bouts a human can take from the implant before they show the signs of heart failure.” He grinned smugly before leaving. Anger flaring within me, I wanted to do nothing more than crush his skull with my Mecha or rip off his limbs and beat him with them. We moved to the arena door, Shrift wished us luck and told us to not get his Mecha’s get beaten up to bad. I liked Shrift and the Kuruvians, they were a cross between geniuses and a pack of five years olds, determined to find out anything about everything.

As the door opened Wiry kicked out my knee sending me sprawling as he walked into the room. I found myself on the ground, my squad looking at me. I shook my head as I bashed the floor, using the momentum to throw myself up as I landed on my feet, the hydraulics and servos of my Mecha groaning with effort.

We were slow in getting to the arena. I was happy to see we weren’t the only ones having trouble as the other squad entered the room and had more than one person launch themselves into the roof or at their squad mates.

It reminded me of the kids when they were getting used to their bodies, except with tens of times the power, and a seeming inability to hurt themselves which turned it into a game instead of a chore.

Though with their having to learn their new bodies I doubted it would be long before they adjusted to using Mechas.

I half waddled into the centre of the room as the other leader did the same. Both of us grinning and panting as we got there.

“Fair fight?” I said coming forward now as most of my opening was quite cumbersome.

“According to Salchar’s rules?” The other leader said.

“What?” I asked as my brain caught up with what she’d said.

“Salchar’s rules, nothing that would cause undue harm on the opponent and to make the fight honourable.” The woman said, iron filling her voice, obviously thinking that I wouldn’t uphold the rules.

“Well yeah that is the basis of it.” I said shaking the woman’s hand, my brain still reeling.
 
I guess the ones we fought passed it on.
 
I thought.

“What do you mean by that?” She asked, her voice getting harder.

I popped my face plate so she could see me better. “I’m Salchar.” I said with an awkward grin as her face registering shock before she leaned in to study me, popping her own helmet as Blonde hair fell out.

“How do I know you’re not lying?”

“I don’t know?” I shrugged—well as much as the Mecha allowed me.

“Let me see your hair.”

I felt Rick move slightly, training and my own paranoia making it as if I had a sixth sense. Plus he was the most quiet in a mecha, which wasn’t saying much, but the guy was damned addicted to learning new things, and a mecha was pretty new.

I popped my helmet and turned my head, keeping them in view in case they tried anything as the woman studied my hair, then my face and repeated the process.

“Damn. Yeah you’re him alright.” She said as a grin spread across her face. She turned back to her squad.

“It looks like we’ll be beating Salchar and his own squad today.” A few whoops and excited noises rose up to greet her, but none of them the bloodthirsty cries that had been there when the first fights had started so long ago.

She turned back to me, popping her face plate as she grabbed and pumped my hand vigorously a grin plastered across her face.

“Well it’s good to finally meet you Salchar. Without your rule things would’ve gotten a lot worse.”” She said as she released eyes dark and unfocused as I cocked my head in question. She returned my gaze, sadness in her eyes.

“We had a few fights without it,you learn just how savage humans can be.” Her eyes turning cold with memories. It took effort to stop myself from flinching from her gaze.

“Thank you. Your rules helped us hold onto our humanity.” I met her gaze as I offered my hand once again. She grasped it as if it was a lifeline, and I could swear her eyes looked watery.

“You haven’t even told me your name.” I said with a smile as one appeared on her own face.

“I’m Deline, good to meet you Salchar.”

“And to meet you Deline. Let’s have a fair fight and see if we can learn how to fight better in these Mechas, so one day we can pay back the bastards that put us here.” I said as we shared a knowing looking.

“I’ll agree to that.” She said, a grim but determined look covering her face.

“Shall we then?” I asked as she nodded and I put on my helmet again. We stepped back gingerly in our Mechas as we slowly walked back to our squads.

She grinned as we got back to our squads, pulling her face plate down.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” I grinned as I started forward again on uneasy feet.

“Get ‘em.” I bellowed. This went with limited success; people forgot their new strength and launched themselves into the other squad, while others stepped into the ceiling putting too much power into their legs.

A few of us moved forward carefully, advancing slowly towards the other squad. Wincing as people crashed into armoured walls and other people. Shrift was right—it was like human bumper cars.

A suit rocketed into me from the side, throwing me off into a wall visor first. My visor spider webbed and my HUD down as I felt my attacker pummelling my shoulders, trying to disable them.

Their low tackle had caused them to get one arm stuck underneath me, meaning their other fist was hitting the main plates under my shoulder. While they were limited in their reach, my elbows lined up with their helmet. I let a light jab go, just tapping my assailants helmet as they went to full power and ripped their trapped arm free and turned their attacks to my legs as I pushed from the wall and rolled away from my attacker. I tried to stand, my right knee and left ankle servos and hydraulics broken. Without my HUD I didn’t know what else kind of damage I had. My attacker was moving towards me, their armour somehow familiar. I tapped the ground signalling defeat as they continued coming. The attacker kicked my helmet viciously, causing me to go sprawling as I felt my neck lock up from the damage.

I heard the clicking and scraping noise of a helmet coming off behind me as I tried to turn to face my opponent, panic filling me as I knew how limited my movement and my sight were.

“Looks like you’ve finally found your place.” Wiry said as I looked around for aid—everyone was fighting in the middle of the room, whereas I’d never gotten there as I’d been assessing them again. There was just me and Wiry.

He stomped on my left hand and I could feel the bones cracking in my hand underneath the relatively weak armour. I screamed inside my helmet but no one could hear me.

“They’re going to find you in the middle of battle, having been viciously killed by the other team. They’ll be distraught of course…” I got up on my wrist and other hand
; I will not die on the ground.
 
I thought to myself as he kicked out my left elbow, stomping on my shoulder joint repeatedly before continuing.

“…and I’ll be there, saying that your own pessimistic ways got you killed. That it’s killed or be the killer, and then you know what?”

I pushed myself back onto my ass with my good hand so I could see him. There was a giddy grin on his face and his eyes shone.

“Then I’ll turn them against one another.” He took pleasure in the words I could tell.

“I’ll rip down your rules and make it so only the strongest win, then at the end of it; I and those loyal to me will rule the rest of the leftovers.”

“You think the others are going to let you?” I yelled.

He cupped his ear looking confused. “I can’t hear you quite.” He turned to me, a dark look in his eyes as a snarl rested on his face.

“Who cares what they think, or you. The PDF make the rules and they say the strongest win and rule.” His snarl turning hungry and sadistic.

“I’ll make sure no one hears you again.” He launched himself at me, rolling me over as he thrashed at my armour; he was beyond carefully destroying my Mecha. I could feel every punch kick and claw as I tried to get away. I kicked him with my good leg as he rolled and came back at me, without pause, grabbing my leg and throwing me on my face. I looked at the floor as I felt him laying into me again, panic setting in.

Repeated strikes hit my helmet denting it; I could feel the weak and rusted armour caving as I tried to avoid the hits.

“Fuck you Salchar.” Wiry hissed as I focused on my nerve ports imagining, and feeling as if I was throwing my right useless arm. I felt movement as I saw it move slightly. I braced myself for what I had to do to hit him.

I gritted my teeth as I swung the dual joint, I grunted in pain, my arm broken as my limp wrist connected with something. Wiry stopped hitting me and rolled off. I tried to get myself up.

Yet Wiry seemed to be lying on me. I stopped as I saw deep crimson lines drip down my visor.
 
Oh shit.
 
I thought,

I felt the ground shaking with Mechas coming close, then some hands picking me up.

With my one still good arm I pulled off my helmet with its enhanced strength., the sight before me making me want to throw up. Anger overcame shock as I threw a foot towards him, the servos useless in my leg.

“You fucking idiot! Why the fuck did you try to kill me you stupid sounvabitch! I yelled at the body. I turned on the now silent room, “that’s why you don’t try to kill your goddamn squad mates! Or take off your fucking helmet!” I yelled.

“Why did you kill him?” A woman demanded from the enemy squad my squad intermingled as they looked at me.

“He tried to cave my head in.” I said savagely, throwing my helmet at her. She turned it in her hands her eyes and those around her going wide at the damage. I turned so I was looking at them all as I talked.

“This is why we have rules people. So shit like this doesn’t happen.” I said, pointing to the corpse.

“I would like to amend the rules, if someone comes at you with the intent to kill you are allowed to do everything in your power to stop them. Up to and including deadly force. As we can see some people don’t obey the original fucking rules!” I wanted to hit and hurt something instead I stood there looking at the others, tears welling in my eyes.
 
He’d been fifteen years old.
 
I thought to myself wanting to curl into a ball and cry.
 
And he wanted to kill me.

“I agree that Salchar killed Wiry in self-defence. Wiry has been gunning for him since day one. I won’t say I like that another person’s dead but from the damage of the helmet and collar you can tell he wasn’t able to see what he was going to hit. It was self-defence.” Marleen said.

“I agree.” The other squad’s leader said. No one denied it after seeing my helmet.

“Self-defence is allowed, but there has to be cause. If someone attacks another and then claims self-defence they will not have meals for two days.” I looked to the other squad leader.

“Agree?”

“Yes.” She replied without hesitation.

“We automatically lose because of internal conflict.” I spat the last words in disgust as I grabbed the helmet spattered with blood like my fist. A voice told us to separate as the dividing wall cut the squads off from one another as the door to our armoury opened.