Chapter 2 #

Yuri caught up quickly, not wanting to be left behind. The two of them walked across the long steel platform toward the far left side of the massive industrial space. Yuri could see the engineers ahead carrying Hawthorne’s stretcher down the scaffold staircase. They were so high up, the boy felt a bit of vertigo and kept his hand on the railing.

The first mech they walked past was a bulky Ajax frame painted dark blue, with massive miniguns held in both hands. Boone dragged his hand along the mech’s body casually, as they walked by. It must have been his.

“So, you’re the one Dianna was talking to on comms? You took down that drone?” Boone asked, as they kept walking.

“Yep, that’s me.” Yuri replied.

“Well, good shot, kid.” The man said as they continued.

They next passed a salmon-colored mech, covered in holes from being shot with burning plasma. Swiss cheese came to mind. It was an ugly sight, the right arm was partially missing, but the core was mostly intact. Who did this machine belong to? It was smaller and lighter than Boone’s mech, but still a modern Ajax frame.

“We were struggling with that guy. He hacked my guns and shot up Kenshi. Absolutely shredded him.” Boone said as they left the salmon mech behind.

“I’m just glad I didn’t seriously hurt him, we’re all pretty close in this unit. So thanks again for stepping up. Can’t believe she took you up here, though. What was she thinking?” The older man asked.

“She said her hands were shaking too much. Otherwise she would have left me on Earth.” Yuri answered.

They had reached the top of the staircase. On the main floor below, the engineers were carrying Hawthorne off through a pair of double-wide automatic doors.

“Must have been a rough landing. In that case, let me formally introduce myself, I’m Staff Sergeant Jason Boone. Most folks just call me Boone.” He held out his hand and Yuri shook it.

“I’m Cadet Yuri Asimonov.”

“We’ll debrief later, but first I wanna get something straight. Anything you do or see up here, it’s all classified. So when you get back to your buddies on Earth, keep your mouth shut, ya hear?” Boone said.

“Yes sir!” Yuri replied.

“Good, let’s go get some food, you must be starving.” The older man said, starting down the staircase.

Yuri was more tired than he was hungry, having been awake for almost 24 hours straight and loaded with adrenaline. But he wanted to stick with Boone. Although initially gruff, the man was actually quite charming. He was in his early thirties, and had warm, older brother vibes. For an only child like Yuri, it was comforting having someone like him around.

They walked through the same doors Hawthorne had exited through, and into the living area of the ship, which was a series of bays connected by long manilla hallways with warm white lights overhead. Artificial gravity and the rubber-like floor ridges made everything feel slightly bouncy to Yuri, who was still used to Earth’s gravity.

Eventually, the two of them made it to a small food court. The room had clean white tables in the middle and vending machines, trays, and rehydrators along the back wall. There was a faint, vanilla scent in the air that Yuri would soon associate with the available meal pastes.

Boone grabbed a tray and Yuri followed his example. Together they chose their dehydrated meal paste flavors and placed them into the combo-cooker in the center. Yuri had only eaten space food once at the academy, as part of a demonstration, but he knew the basics of how it worked.

Water and fats were injected into the packaged flavor of your choosing before the combo cooker revitalized and arranged the food back into little nuggets of nutrition. Then, a seasoning spray doused the food to make it more appetizing.

It was advertised to be more delicious than real food, but that just meant the chemicals were more addictive. In order to avoid mass starvation decades prior, large corporations had tapped into the exact makeups of pleasurable flavors and even bodily sensations, all through the human tongue. Eating a specific meal could make you feel lighter, more agile, and even more confident. Turns out the window to the mind was through the gut biome.

These meal packs only struggled in one department. Texture. Various textures and food forms could be achieved, but variety was limited. Fresh, airy, yeasty bread was impossible to replicate, for example. Pizza crust was equally difficult. Soups were never quite as rich as their hand-made counterparts.

To counteract this lacking, FTA crews also received a ration of thin hardtack crackers and peanut butter and strawberry jam. It was old school, but it worked.

Meal paste was the modern answer to an essential logistics question: How do you feed lots of people for long periods of time, who are millions of miles away from Earth? As humanity had reached a universal population of 2 trillion across FTA-controlled space, and with limited food production options outside of Earth, meals needed to be optimized.

“These are the best, and I like to mix a little extra peanut butter into mine. Just don’t tell Hawthorne.” The Sergeant said, taking the last pad thai meal paste in the row.

He chose the noodle texture on the combo-cooker screen, and waited while Yuri picked up a steak and eggs paste and selected the default granual texture. A thought crossed the cadet’s mind that he was taking food out of another soldier’s mouth.

They ate quickly in the small kitchen, but took their time with the hardtack crackers. Boone had an endless array of questions for the younger man, both professional and personal.

Who was his favorite pop star, which of his teachers could he beat-up in a fight, did he have a girlfriend, how many girlfriends did he have? Actually, most of the questions were completely unprofessional. And that was fine with Yuri.

The boy hadn’t made many close friends in the academy after three years, and had mostly given up. For some reason, he especially couldn’t relate to the wealthy westerners in his current training unit. Boone, though American, was nothing like them. It was nice to feel like someone was genuinely interested in what he had to say, and could carry the conversation along. When he mentioned he still hadn’t chosen a mech specialty, Boone reacted with excitement.

“I totally get it. You know you want to be a pilot, but you don’t know how to fight. I was in the same boat in my third year. It’s tough to choose when you’re on the bottom of the totem pole. They don’t let kids see all the opportunities, or play with all the equipment. That can be really difficult.” Boone said.

A mech specialization determined what type of combat unit a pilot would be. The main specializations were generalized into four groups: melee, ranged, support and tech, though sub-specialties centered on specific equipment loadouts were common.

“I knew I was heavy weapons as soon as I saw a minigun. That was in my last year at the academy. Give it time, and it will be obvious. If Kenshi was here, he’d tell you how the universe is working through you, and you have a role in a much larger play, and all this other new-age hoopla. Don’t bother with that. Trust your instincts.” The sergeant said, leaning back in his chair.

Talk soon turned to a moment-by-moment retelling of the last 10 hours, lying on the beach, rescuing Chief Hawthorne, leaving Earth, the firefight in space, and finally getting towed in. Boone was fascinated by it, every detail, and seemed to push Yuri to remember things he easily would have otherwise forgotten. When it was all told, Boone grinned and leaned forward.

“Well kid, that’s an amazing story. You’re probably exhausted after all that, and me talking your ear off. Let me take you to your quarters, so you can get some rest.” They left the trays where they were, and took a short stroll through the manila hallways of the ship.

They took a corner off the main hallway and wound up in a long gray room with three doors on one wall. Each door had a large, round manual release wheel, and a small, shielded window at eye-level. Above each door, was a backlit nameplate reading Cell 1, Cell 2, and Cell 3. Boone had taken Yuri to the brig, it seemed.

“Hey, I know this looks kinda bad, but we’re running low on free bunks at the moment.” Boone said, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck.

He cranked the wheel counter-clockwise and after four or five turns the door opened with a pressurized hiss. At least the cell inside looked clean, as the lights flickered on.

“It’s alright I guess. I’m not in trouble, am I?” Yuri asked.

“No, far from it!” Boone laughed. “But I’m gonna have to keep this door sealed for a while. Door controls and security protocols and all. Can’t have a cadet wandering around a secure vessel, right? You get it.”

“That makes sense.” The cadet replied. He was so tired, he would have slept on the floor if the sergeant wasn’t around.

“Great, I’ll be back for you in a few hours. Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to knock!” The older man laughed again and leaned against the wall by the door.

He watched Yuri enter the cell, and shut the door behind him. The room was small and sparse. It had a single overhead light, a toilet-shower stall, and a cot that unfolded from the wall with a clean pillow and blanket.

Yuri took off his clothes, laid down on the cot and waited to fall asleep. He noticed his skin still felt crusty from the ocean. Oh yeah, he had been swimming a few hours ago. And now he was in space. Crazy.

The room noticed him resting, and slowly dimmed the lights. The boy didn’t dream at all. It had been the kind of marathon day that wipes out a person. He slept for most of the night like a rock.

However, at one point during his sleep, he woke up to a sort of tapping noise. He sat up in his bed, glanced across the room and saw nothing. He shrugged to himself and layed back down on the cot.

The tapping happened again, but that was the last time. He chalked it up to some nearby mechanical quirk. Hopefully it wouldn’t be like this all night. Rolling over, he waited for the lights to turn back off and fell back asleep.

It would take a few more hours for him to learn what had made the noise. When he awoke, he found a scrap of paper pushed through a panel gap in the wall, at the foot of his fold-up bed.

He pulled it out, certain that it hadn’t been there before. On it, written in black marker, was a comms-link address.

21:21:43:1000:10267

Yuri was confused. The comms-link number was one he didn’t recognize. Usually FTA numbers began with 01 through 11, but not this one. Strange. How did it get here? Someone must have pushed it through the wall. But next to him was another cell, right? So another prisoner pushed this through? Strange.

He decided to show the note to Boone, and took a shower. While the lovely hot water poured onto him, he mulled over the note. It must have been another prisoner, trying to communicate with him. That means the prisoner must have found some kind of gap between their cells.

As Yuri stepped out of the shower, he glared at the crack where he’d pulled the note from. Suddenly he didn’t feel as safe anymore, and he quickly pulled out his clothes from the auto-laundry. They felt soft and comfortable now.

It took another hour, but finally there was a knock. Moments later the door opened.

“Good morning cadet! Wanna get some breakfast?” Boone was holding a coffee mug and smiling.

“Sure, but first–” Yuri said, digging into his pocket to produce the scrap. He gave it to Boone, who looked blankly at the paper.

“What’s this? Is that a comms-link number?” The sergeant asked, quietly.

“I think so. It was wedged in through a crack in the wall panel. The prisoner in cell 2 must have pushed it into my cell. Who’s in that cell?” Yuri asked.

“Next to yours? Oh … well actually, I can’t tell you. Need-to-know information and all that.” Boone dodged.

“Oh. Right.” Yuri said, disappointedly. He thought Boone would have been more worried about a potential security breach.

Boone glanced at the boy and sized him up quickly.

“Thanks for this. I’ll look into it.” the sergeant said, tucking the slip into his chest zip pocket. He wasn’t wearing the pilot’s gray spacesuit anymore, but a dark blue vest and slacks and dark, pleather shoes. Very clean, as if they’d never been worn outside the ship.

The two men walked silently down the corridor back to the meal bay. The others had finished and cleared out. crumbs and wrappers were strewn around the seating areas. Yuri got steak and eggs, and Boone took Yogurt Granola. They ate quickly at the small table before Boone spoke up again.

“Hey kid, I’ve gotta come clean. There was nobody in the cell next to yours. I pushed that note into your room last night.” Boone admitted, grinning slightly, like it was a prank.

“What?” Yuri couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

All this time, he’d been worried for nothing. He felt like an idiot, for a moment, until his shame sparked into anger.

“Why? Is this some kind of joke?” Yuri had some classmates at the academy who would pull this sort of thing. They’d say something very hurtful, then play it off like it was just a joke and it was your fault for being offended. Yuri’s hands were clenching the table’s edge tightly and his tone had changed.

Boone cocked his head to the left sightly and studied the boy. Then he looked back down and ate another bite, before replying.

“No kid, I just wanted to see what you’d do. I guess it was kind of like a test. I wanted to see if you’d call the number.” he replied, bored and uninterested, like they were discussing the weather. Yuri felt undercut.

“Well I didn’t. I just gave it to you. So what does that mean?” Yuri said as he mimed sliding the note across the table.

“It means you might be telling the truth about your story, about being an unlucky cadet from Earth.” Boone said with a menacing smile and dead eyes.

There was a violence in those eyes that smothered Yuri’s temper. It was almost like saying remember whose boat you’re riding on, without saying it. It was a withering glare.

Yuri’s tone changed without him really noticing. He didn’t want to be threatened by the sergeant. But he still had questions.

“What if I had called the number? What would that mean?” Yuri asked.

“It’s just my burner phone.” Boone replied, brushing it off.

“But what does that mean for your test? What if I had called it? Would that make me a spy or something? How can you tell?” Yuri said, clenching his fists. Boone’s test felt so arbitrary.

“Who said anything about being a spy? Truth is, it may not have meant anything.” The older man replied, leaning back in his chair, relaxed.

“Maybe you’re just naturally curious? That’s not a bad trait. However, with my line of work, nothing is ever obvious. You have to piece things together.” The sergeant said, twirling his spoon in the yogurt.

“Now, I know a little bit more about you. How you react to things. What kind of person you are.” Boone said.

“And all it cost me was a piece of paper.”

Yuri was starting to realize he couldn’t trust Boone as much as he first thought. The man was too precisely imprecise, as if his errors were planned. How much of this was just an act?

“Look, don’t take it so hard, Yuri, you passed. Eat up. We need to get to the briefing.” The sergeant said.

“Briefing?” Yuri asked.

…

After they had finished eating, Yuri followed Boone through the door and down the ramp. At the end of the ramp was another door, which slid open automatically for them. They entered a wide, dark room with an oval wooden table, nearly encircled by a continuous observation window open to the blackness of space. When the door shut out the hallway light behind them, Yuri could barely see the furniture.

It was a meeting chamber, dimly lit by orange accent lights under each seat of the table. The only other lights came from control panels on the walls and the distant stars outside the window. It was a beautiful and calming space.

There were two others sitting in the darkness of the chamber chatting softly. Yuri didn’t recognize either of their voices. They had quieted when the pair walked in. Boone took a seat and the boy sat next to him, at the end of the table, and one of the strangers spoke up.

“Well this is a surprise. You must be the cadet? Yuri Asimonov, right?” His voice was warm and deep. It was soothing to hear him speak. He was on the older side of 40, at least and his skin was dark, especially in the low light.

“Yes sir.” Yuri replied.

“Welcome aboard. I’m Captain Arlo Octavian, acting shipmaster for the 51st. This is Staff Sergeant Kenshi Nakamura.”

Yuri’s eyes continued to adjust to the low light, and he could tell Kenshi was staring at him.

“I read your file,” Nakamura said. He sounded more gruff, with a subtle Japanese accent. “3 years in Carinna Academy so far. Training to be a mech pilot. Born and raised in Kiev. No reported attitude problems. Quiet. Qualified marksman. Lower scores in navigation, leadership, and strength evaluations–”

It was a little embarrassing for Yuri to have his test scores read out loud in front of these professionals.

“–but at least you’re a decent shot with that training mech.” Kenshi said, resting the bright tablet on the table.

“That’s high praise coming from him.” Boone said, cracking a joke to break the tension.

“Just doing my best.” Yuri replied, almost short of breath. Why did he feel so suddenly nervous? It felt like his first interviews for the academy.

“With introductions out of the way, let’s get started.” Cpt. Octavian interrupted.

“Chief Hawthorne is still unconscious. Doctor Azulay doesn’t want to wake her up yet until she’s passed all the nanites out of her system. In the meantime, we’ve been following the Gecko II mech and its presumed Zard pilot from a distance. He’s finally stopped near the Mining Colony Rocco-2.” Octavian said.

“Asteroid miners?” Boone asked.

“Correct. However, their last FTA contract was revoked 6 months ago. Now they’re under some mining union.” Arlo replied dismissively.

“That fits the timeline. Maybe he’s leaving the same way he came in.” Kenshi posited.

“Agreed. We’re only a few hours behind him now; we’ve been following slowly since the last skirmish. No need to waste our FTL fuel. But we do need a plan before we arrive at the colony.” Arlo said.

“Without Hawthorne, we could be walking into a trap. That hacker crashed her mech pretty fast. Without a tech specialist, we’re going to be sitting ducks. We need an edge.” Kenshi replied.

“What if we take the kid? At least that way, if it is a trap, hopefully he draws the hacker’s attention long enough for us to rush him.” Boone offered. Yuri’s eyes opened wide. A second combat mission? Are you serious?

“Not this again.” Nakamura said, waving his hand as if the idea itself had egregious body odor.

“Kenshi, he’s already flown one combat mission.” Boone countered.

“Stop bringing this up. It’s unethical. He’d be little more than a human shield. Arlo, back me up on this.” Kenshi said.

“I think it’s unethical AND unwise. But this is your unit, not mine. This is a 51st Intel problem.” The captain replied.

“He’s not actually in that much danger, provided that Zard mech hasn’t re-equipped with something deadlier. If Yuri gets hacked and locked out, big deal, we’ll pick him up afterwards. You’ve got to admit, he’d make a great distraction.” Boone vouched again.

“That cargo we picked up from him was deadly enough, wouldn’t you say?” Kenshi said, before Arlo interrupted and talked over him, saying:

“What if he gets caught in your line of fire, Boone? Kenshi is lucky to be alive.” Arlo asked, sounding skeptical.

“That’s a good point. Maybe I could borrow one of Kenshi’s knives. Then I can rush the Zard too, while Yuri provides overwatch. That way, we get the best chance of reaching him before he hacks all three of us.”

“That’s still not a good plan.” Kenshi said.

“True, but sometimes, you need a bad plan to make a better plan later.” Boone looked as if he’d just said something profound. Yuri couldn’t tell if he was convincing anyone but himself.

“What do you say, kid? Wanna give us a hand?” Boone asked him point-blank.

What did Yuri want? He had enough sleep. He had helped Officer Hawthorne rescue her team. No one was in any mortal peril at the moment, except maybe this hacker, who had tried to kill all of them, after all.

The thought of going back into space was enticing. So was the thought of deploying with a couple of hardened pros. You can’t buy that kind of experience.

In the end, that’s what sold the cadet. The promise of learning from the best.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’d like to help you guys.” He finally answered.

“Wait a second, Yuri,” interrupted Kenshi. “Think about what he’s really asking you. There’s no guarantee you survive this. Out there, you could die. Or get stranded alone forever in space. You could be captured. Tortured. You’re not even out of the academy yet.”

“Always Mr. Positive, Kenshi.” Boone said quietly, running his finger through his hair.

“Okay, smooth-talker. You know it’s wrong.” Kenshi replied.

“I’ve been training for the last three years to be a combat mech pilot. I understood the risks when I signed on. I want to help you guys.” Yuri said, more sure than ever.

“Fine. This is a mistake, but I’ve said my piece. This is your op, Boone. Tell us what we’re doing.” Kenshi said, leaning back in his chair.

“Great! Love the enthusiasm! Okay, Arlo drops us 5000 meters out, then evacs to await our call. We sprint to his last known location. Yuri, you lead. As soon as you make contact, peel off and start shooting. If your mech gets hacked, try to retreat, so he doesn’t control you into firing on us.” Boone began.

“While Yuri fires on the hacker, Kenshi and I will rush him. If Yuri doesn’t roast him, we’ll cut him open and take him prisoner, like normal. Questions?” The American asked.

“What if he has more friends nearby?” Kenshi asked.

“If we spot any other mechs, we’ll retreat immediately. The Niobrara can cover us and we can regroup with a different loadout. If we get ambushed, we’ll just have to fight our way out anyways. Kenshi, bring a FOG grenade so we have some cover.” Boone replied.

“Tssk. Okay.” The other sergeant sounded unconvinced.

“What if we can’t find him?” Yuri asked.

“His mech should be easy to spot, but he could be hiding nearby, either in the asteroid field or in the colony itself.” Boone answered.

“If he’s hiding in the asteroids, it would be much better for us. We can hunt him down together. If he’s in the colony, it’s tricky. We’ll need to coordinate with them to get an embargo while we search for him. How many workers are in that colony? Nakamura finished.

“At least 7000, mostly humans.” Arlo replied.

“Finding him in the colony could take weeks. Let’s hope he sets that trap for us instead.” Boone said.

“Any further questions? No? Okay, Yuri, come with me and we’ll get you suited up. No more flying without PLS, young man!”

Boone laughed, but no one else did.

…

Yuri stood next to Boone, looking up at his modified training Ajax that had carried him so far from home. The engineers had mounted a Laz Carbine, Laz Knife, and a welding tool to Yuri’s mech, as well as applying new sealant and re-equipping the emergency supplies. Boone told him the welding tool and repair program could be used to auto-repair their mechs if needed. Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that.

The engineering bay was well-lit with a light, greenish hue. There were few shadows, except in the crevices of the three mechs. From down on the bottom floor, by the equipment lockers for the pilots, the stairway and scaffold walkway looked so high up.

Yuri’s new personal life support (PLS) suit was pretty uncomfortable. But it would keep him alive if his air seal broke, which was all that mattered. Not having one on his first op had been incredibly risky. The suit was gray, with oxygen and fluid tubes running like veins under the surface. It was just like Boone’s and Kenshi’s, and it fit him like a glove.

On his back, there was an empty slot for a nanite pen. On his hip, there was an empty pistol holster. His gloves actually zipped into the sleeves, and once the whole suit was on, the remaining slack was suctioned out by turning a small switch on the chest, that would send an electric pulse throughout the smart fabric to constrict it just a bit.

He was issued a special pair of sealed boots too. Just like the gloves, those also zipped into the gray PLS suit. A small blue and green flag patch adorned his shoulder, the flag of the FTA. It was a pair of blue and green rings on a black background.

Yuri was about to follow Kenshi up the stairs, when Boone put his hand on his shoulder and stopped him.

“Hang on kid, we’re going this way.” Boone pointed at a small bench between the first and second mech bays.

“You ever ride a seat elevator before?” He asked Yuri.

Yuri shook his head no. It looked like a small bench seat hooked up to a vertical track, almost like a rollercoaster line. He followed Boone up to it and watched how the man strapped himself in, before hitting the up button on the wall beside him. A moment later, the sergeant shot into the air, accompanied by the loud ratcheting noise of chains and gears taking up slack.

Above on the scaffold walkwalk, the bench seat stopped and Boone stepped off. After a few weightless moments, the chair began slowly ratcheting down towards the caded. On an impulse, the boy tapped the down button, and the bench seat came rocketing back down. Yuri strapped himself in, same as Boone, gripped his helmet, and pressed the up button.

“Pretty fun, huh? Way better than taking the stairs.” Boone said. He’d been waiting for the boy.

“It was pretty fun. We don’t have those back at the academy. Everything’s a rope-lift back there.” Yuri said, climbing off.

The two of them walked towards the open cockpit of Yuri’s mech. Since he’d been gone, the engineers must have worked overtime to get this machine upgraded. Several additional, lime green plates had been added to the steel chassis. The cockpit had been properly sealed. Whatever wounds his machine had taken from the Zard had also been repaired. Every large fastener, rusty from seawater, had also been swapped out.

“You ready for this? You can still back out.” Boone asked the young man.

“I’m ready.” Yuri said quietly, looking at his mech.” His guts were twisted in knots, but the nervousness would pass, he hoped.

“Good, looks like we’re 15 minutes out from the drop point. We’ll want minimal comms on the approach, so remember, you’re taking point. The coords are in your nav bar already. Go fast, hit hard, and be distracting. If you kill the guy before we reach him, that’s an acceptable outcome too. But if possible, let us take him alive.” Boone said.

“Understood.” Yuri replied.

“Okay, let’s get locked in.” Boone ended his pep-talk and walked over to his own mech.

Inside the training cockpit, The engineers had replaced many of the outdated controls with newer refurb equipment. The joysticks were new. The throttle handle was new. The keyboard sounded delightfully tacky. The monitor was widescreen, and translucent when powered off. It was a lot of equipment to swap right before a mission. Hopefully they’d tested it all thoroughly.

As the cadet was admiring the new workstation, one of the engineers entered and spoke up.

“Hiya new guy, how do you like your upgrades?” He seemed friendly enough.

The engineer was latino, in his forties, had sparse black stubble on his cheeks, and wore a backwards trucker-cap, hiding his short black hair. His engineer jumpsuit was only half-on, with the sleeves tied around his waist. He wore a simple black t-shirt with faint oil stains, and boots that were similar to Yuri’s cadet boots.

“It looks like you guys have put a lot of work into this. Thank you.” Yuri replied.

“Don’t mention it. A lot of the guys haven’t worked on a Gen 1 in years. It was fun to try and remember how to put them back together again. But we weren’t expecting all the corrosion!” He said, unscrewing a side access panel and jacking in his handheld diagnostic sensor.

“Do they have you cadets doing drills in the water now?”

“Heh, not exactly.” Yuri said, dodging the question.

“Say, hope you don’t mind me asking, but how old are you anyways?” The engineer said without looking up from his sensor.

“Eighteen.” Yuri answered.

“No kidding, my nephew is a year younger. You’re in the Carinna Academy, right? Maybe he’ll be a grade 1 next year! I’m Diego by the way.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Yuri.”

“Yuri? That’s a Russian name right?” Diego said, unplugging his tool and replacing the panel.

“I’m from the Ukraine, actually.”

“Well, your English is very good. Almost as good as your mech is now!” The older man said with a chuckle, and screwed the panel back closed.

“See you around, Yuri from Ukraine. Don’t die out there!” Diego said, before leaving.

Yuri sat down at the controls, turned on the OS, and spoke through an open channel.

“This is Yuri, I’m ready for the drop.”

“Gotcha, two minutes out.” Boone replied.

The cadet tried to control his breathing. He was nervous, and didn’t know what to expect. Last time, everything had happened so quickly. He didn’t have time to overthink anything. The last two hours had passed achingly-slow. It was hard to know what he was feeling. Was he scared? Excited? Maybe some combination.

“Bays clear, depressurizing.” A voice came through the speakers. It was that engineer again, Diego. Then he read their names off as he ejected their mechs.

“Launching Nakamura.”

“Launching Boone.”

“Launching Asimonov.”

Suddenly the ship fell away, as the training Ajax was jettisoned into space. Yuri popped the thrusters and rose a little too high, while Boone and Kenshi drifted farther down. Yuri adjusted his viewfinder and flew down lower, following them. The two intel team members waited patiently for him to descend.

He did so gingerly, tapping his thrust thumb button on the joy stick and dropping ever so slightly. Eventually, he was lined with his companions. The Niobrara continued to distance itself from the party, moving 400 meters away in front of them.

Yuri checked his navbar. Since he was supposed to lead, he’d need to get them started in the right direction. The nav bar, like a compass, gave him the correct heading, and so he took off, slowly.

Boone and Kenshi kept pace easily. They probably wondered why he was taking it so slow. The trouble was, Yuri couldn’t tell if he was going fast or slow in space. It was pitch black except for the stars, and his only reference was the dropping Au number on his nav bar.

He tried to kick up the thrust. The Au’s dropped faster, but Boone and Kenshi kept up. Yuri pushed faster still, and eventually pulled away. He was supposed to be out in front. He wouldn’t be much of a distraction if they were all stacked up together.

They flew past small rocks and debris, rushing towards a group of larger asteroids. They were close now. The nav bar icon pulsed three times before it disappeared.

Yuri hit his back burners and tried to stop. He wanted to stall, so he could search the asteroids nearby, but he carried too much forward momentum. He had to over-correct and was sent drifting backwards. After righting himself, he scanned the asteroid fields, and found nothing.

No trace of the Zard’s mech. Kenshi and Boone were nowhere to be found either.

They must be holding back, until I find him. Yuri thought.

Slowly, the cadet drifted through the larger asteroids, looking for any heat signature, any glint of artificial light. He found nothing, and drifted onwards through the asteroid fields.

His listening equipment would have caught any message or cabin noise, but he heard nothing, and so, there was no clear path through the asteroids. Nothing had been disturbed. Yuri was skeptical that the Zard mech was even here at all.

Yuri pressed on through the asteroids, careful to dodge the bigger rocks. He couldn’t avoid everything, however, and there would be random crunches and dings as rocks smashed against the mech body.

Then he saw it.

Pinned to the underside of a large, stable asteroid, the enemy Gecko II sat motionless in shadow. Yuri immediately pointed his carbine at it. He almost pulled the trigger, but he stopped himself. He had caught it by surprise, it seemed, something incredibly rare in mech combat, because mechs are so hard to hide.

Yuri wanted a clear shot, but noticed through the passing debris that the enemy wasn’t moving at all. He switched to thermal imaging and found no trace of heat. It appeared to be shut down. Was the pilot even inside?

Yuri steadied his aim at the enemy Zard. His instincts told him to wait. Boone and Kenshi would eventually come looking for him. If he fired now, he might kill the pilot, or warn him of his impending capture. The longer Yuri could delay firing, the better. So he waited.

It didn’t take long. Boone and Kenshi spotted him and crept up quietly. They saw his weapon pointed at the large asteroid, and followed his gaze. When Kenshi saw the stationary, ice-cold enemy mech, he spoke over comms:

“Good find. It looks empty.”

“He left his mech here?” Boone asked.

“Looks like it.” Kenshi replied.

“What do we do now?” Yuri asked.

“Well, we could det his mech and search the asteroids for him. Or we could set a trap here and hope comes back.” Boone said.

“I don’t think he’s coming back. He’s been running, I think he’ll keep running until he feels safe. He wouldn’t leave his mech if he felt safe.” Kenshi said.

“Especially not a newer model like this one.” Yuri chimed in. It felt good to contribute to the conversation.

“Where do you think he went?” Boone asked the group.

“I would have gone for the mining colony. Harder for us to spot him with thermals. Easier for him to get smuggled out. He must be working with someone, who gave him a ride.” Kenshi replied.

“Alright. Well, we need a new plan. That lizard is long gone by now. I’d like to steal this prototype, but that’s not our main objective.” Boone said, sounding conflicted.

“We can’t just leave it here. We should destroy it, but that could blow our cover.” Boone finished.

“I could stay behind. Then just send me a transmitter message when you’re ready for me to blow it.” Yuri said.

“Not a bad idea, kid! Kenshi, you and I can search for the Zard while Yuri waits here. We can park our mechs outside the colony and he can cover our escape later too, if needed.” Boone said.

“It’s a good enough plan.” Nakamura replied.

“Whoa whoa whoa! Easy fella, was that a compliment?” Boone said, raising his voice.

“Wait here for us Yuri, you can reach us or the Niobrara via comms link message.” Kenshi said, ignoring his partner.

The two older, more experienced pilots drifted off towards 30x 100z. Yuri turned to watch them fly off, and suddenly felt very alone. Maybe he should have kept his mouth shut.