The Stellar Chaser launched into space from the asteroid base, her thrusters spewing out jets of flames as they propelled her forward. As a humongous Dreadnaught, she not only possessed enough space for thousands of mechs, but also had enough space to serve as the mobile base of various other smaller starships. Fighters and Bombers were docked in a separate hangar bay from that of the mechs, with dozens of technician crawling all over them to make sure they were functioning well without any hiccups.
After the mandatory check-ups were done on each war machine, the ship in question would undock from the hangar bay, launching into space to take up its post.
Like that, over twenty minutes passed by. The only reason why the base had been alerted in advance was because of the buoys that they had deployed far away. The buoys had been able to detect the fluctuations that a ship passing by would give off, and had immediately sent back alarms to the base and all active ships.
Moses stood with folded arms as he watched a commander of one of the mech legions that would be deployed in battle pass instructions to his subordinates. The instructions that were being handed out would not apply the Paladins, but another set of instructions that would mesh well with this one would be passed to them. Moses still found it important to hear how the other mech pilots would fight. It had already been ingrained in his heart as a mech pilot.
(A/N: No more 'Paladin pilot'. The machine and its pilot will be known as 'Paladin' from now on.)
"Feeling tense?" Manuel walked over. He and the others had been preparing for the battle in their own way, and after rounding up, he had decided to come over after seeing the deep frown on Moses' face.
"A little." Moses shrugged. Manuel tilted his head, trying to say that he was all ears, and Moses sighed. "I used to be an ordinary mech pilot just some days ago. It's a bit jarring. I used to worry about my life while fighting against the small raid teams that the Xenon sent to attack us. Now, I'm a Paladin, fighting on the frontlines with power that is so much more than what I had access to not long ago. It just feels different." Moses held up is arms in front of him, looking at the calloused skin.
"Hmm, I understand how you feel. I used to be a mech captain before I became a Paladin as well." Manuel rubbed his chin with a thoughtful look on his face. He then patted Moses on the shoulder with a comforting smile. "You will get used to it. For now, put your all into this battle and don't get distracted. The Xenon are strong, there is no doubt about that. The ones you ran into on Mars or Earth were just their stragglers. You will come to know the true strength of the Xenon soon." He said with a deep tone before turning around and walking back to his war machine.
Moses watched Manuel's firm back as the older man departed. There was a certain sense of certainty and self esteem that hung around the man that made others feel that he was always in control of the situation.
Moses looked down at his hands again. He did not think that he lacked confidence. But that did not mean his confidence was on the level of someone like Manuel.
"He's strong. And he knows he is." He mumbled to himself and clenched his fists.
[Insecure?] Hex's voice slipped through his mind.
'No. Not at all.' Moses shook his head and turned to the massive war machine behind him. Hex stood in all his glory, his frame glistening under the bright lights that shone through the hangar bay.
[Good.]
Moses activated the antigravity function of his piloting suit and floated up to the open cockpit of his battle partner. He easily slid inside and kept the cockpit open before closing his eyes to think of the impending battle. His heart palpitated in his chest and his blood pulse spiked as he thought of the aliens that robbed him of all he had. If it weren't for Stewart, then he would truly be all alone.
[None of them shall escape our wrath.] Hex boomed. On the outside of the mech, light flashed across its surface. One would think that it was merely the passage of ordinary rays of light, but it was not. The power of a Paladin was much more than what most people thought.
A Paladin was a manifestation of a mech pilot's will in the first place. If one's will was too weak, then they could forget about becoming a Paladin. Of course, no Paladin would be ordinary...
Hex was the very manifestation of every ounce of Moses' hatred toward the Xenon, so of course, he shared that hatred that was deeply engrained within his metallic armor and components.
Moses remained in his thoughts while the other preparations went on. The Stellar Chaser gradually approached its designated position as it waited for the enemies to transition out of their jump. As of now, human were unable to directly attack starships that were in the middle of a jump, but every starship would have to switch from jump drives to the less powerful warp drives in order to travel closer to planets, as the gravity well around large astronomical bodies made it difficult to travel around them.
The exit point of the approaching enemies had already been calculated, so the humans were deploying all they could at that spot in order to launch an attack the moment the fleet transitions into real space.
"Alright, time to go over our own plan of action." Manuel spoke, his voice coming through the communication channel. Moses snapped open his eyes and the cockpit closed up. It was almost time. He listened as Manuel went over the plan that had been passed down to him, a fire burning in his heart as he thought of the impending battle.