Sy munched on the soft texture of the bread, appreciating the sensation as it lobbed down in his throat. Gulping a mouthful of water, he finished his food with a satisfied sigh as his stomach was filled with real food rather than the synthetic ones.
'I'd never eat Dirt Balls again!'
Punching the air, he reverted his attention back at the ancient computer. The design of the Gamma Welding Machine was complete after wresting all the available parts that the replicators could fabricate. He only needed to piece it up together.
Unfortunately, time had run out..
"Sy!" Niel hastily entered the room, his steps heavy. "The Mole's torso is good to go. We must assemble the mech today and make it function as a whole as soon as possible! Tomorrow, the food will run out. The limited time we have, we must make do."
Understanding the urgency, Sy abandoned the design and pursued the older man outside.
The torso was already lifted up, supported by several hoisting apparatuses in the assembly line. Most of the men working around it were from factories and deep space mining facilities. It was their first time putting together a mech. Nonetheless, they were skilled workers, achieving zero error as they placed the spherical torso - which weighed hundreds of tons - in the right angle for the installation of the other necessary parts.
As men and machine inserted and welded parts, Sy and Niel worked with the circuitry of The Mole. With the computer system untouched, they would have to rely on the wirings to crank up the additional features of the mech.
Several hours later, Sy came down and inspected the mech from a dozen of feet away. Niel was making modifications on the cockpit. It was too cramped for them both to work together. The older man had to make new levers and buttons in order for the pilot to manually activate the new functions or steer the huge machine.
The young Pioneer activated his Molecular Data Imaging Simulator and saw a few red spots on the welded parts. He had to intervene and do the work himself. The men gave way and carefully watched, trying to learn from him. By soloing the mech's limbs, the young man had already gained their utmost respect.
"Cool!" A figure in the audience mused as the huge drill head - hinged to a thick and flexible neck, was promptly lowered on top of the mech's torso.
Almost half a day had passed when Niel appeared out of the cockpit with a grinning face. He carefully climbed down and sprinted away to a good distance so he could appreciate the mech's image in silence. When The Mole was lowered and stood on its own feet - with spiralling claws, the mech specialist returned to his old self.
The audience who had been anxiously watching for days were still amazed, cheering and shouting. Although not as graceful as a humanoid mech which they were accustomed to, a mech was still a mech. They had come to view them as sacred machines since they were children.
"You're a legendary mechanic.." Niel praised, patting Sy's back. He proceeded to inspect The Mole while holding the screen of an old scanner.
Sy, on the other hand, had already fixed what his data imaging showed to be faulty. They only needed to pump the energy cells for the back up power of the mech.
Suddenly, before anyone noticed, a figure with a small frame - deftly climbed up and entered the mech's cockpit.
It was the teenager from Niel's tenants.
"Coool!"
Without bothering to close the cockpit, her hands expertly navigated the ancient interface, activating the mech's reactor with a button and then engaged its safety measures. As the computer system came alive, she triggered the Neuro-link.
"Whoooa! Whoa! "
"Arrrrrgh!"
"Nglrnglr!"
The men working around the mech undergone a series of panic, producing distinct sounds that portrayed their own personal fear, as the massive machine suddenly came alive without warning. They instinctively retreated when the drill almost as big as the trunk, began to vibrate.
Because of the commotion, they failed to see the young woman on the cockpit, activating all the functions she could distinguish. But when they did, one by one, they shouted their own warnings.
Familiar with the person, Niel hurriedly climbed up, shouting in alarm, "Ms. Runerie!"
"Ms. Runerie! We are not yet done with the mech! It's not safe! Please shutdown its engines and reactor."
"Hmpff!" The young woman showed a defiant face and proceeded to examine the other buttons she was not familiar with.
However, after a few more talks, Niel managed to bring her down without any damage caused.
"You gave us a fright, girl!" As the culprit finally stepped on the ground, some young men of the same age as her, were both impressed and terrified at the reckless young woman.
An individual who had missed the big commotion was standing at the center of the crowd with a big frown on her face. Mina pressed a fist on her curvaceous hip, fierce eyes scrutinizing the troublemaker.
Upon noticing the commanding figure at the center, the young woman straightened up her posture and saluted, "Laira Runerie of the Sixth Little Auxiliary Division!"
As soon as she heard this, Mina's anger melted away. She, herself, came from the Little Program - a pilot school for young women with Neuro-link affinity. Both achievements and troubles with irreparable damages she had permanently carved in that particular school causing her name to be popular within its vicinity.
"Runerie?" Mina recalled something, "Is Genevieve Runerie your big sister?
"Yes, ma'am!"
"Yes, sir!" Mina corrected. She glared at her brother's direction who instantly hid behind Sy. The Runerie was one of the richest families in the Union owning a big mining company that even the Empire of Durn relied on for exquisite minerals. Genevieve was a childhood rival, even an equal in stardom as they both became the youngest female ace pilots in the Union.
Why was her brother harbouring these high profiled people? First, she learned about Emma Losac.. now a Runerie. And then there's Sy who was from The Trinity Federation.
Mina stashed those thoughts away for another day and directed her focus on the troublemaker. If it was her squadron or unit, she would have inflicted severe punishment according to her judgement. However, she did not want to give Genevieve the determination to become even more competitive toward her just because she punished her sister.
After a brief and tactical thought, she dismissed the subject and instead turned her attention into the huge machine - deciding that the mech was sound after the little turmoil the Runerie had caused, and she should be out there scavenging for their needs.
A loud protest ensued. Although most did not approached Mina due to her fearsome reputation and quarrelsome attitude - she was still one of their pride. The Fanick family was already a prestigious family when it came to mechs. Although she was a woman, she appealed not only to the opposite gender, but also became an aspiring figure for young girls.
Ignoring the complaints, Mina entered the cockpit, prompting Sy and Niel to speed up their progress in filling up the energy cells.
Time had quickly passed as Mina quickly adapted her senses to the mech and asked for a take off. Some concerned men approached the woman, carrying some gears which she firmly refused.
Knowing his sister, Niel took his time making everything secure before climbing up when the green lights over the energy cells flickered into life. He explained in detail about The Mole. Its body would always slither behind the drill, and she would need to paddle with its clawed hands in case the friction of the sands slowed the mech down to a crawl. Furthermore, its propeller feet should also play a part, warning her to only use the rapidly rotating blades when the sands were easier to traverse as it consumed much energy when activated together with the drill head.
With a thumb up and a teasing smile to his sister, Niel climbed back down, commanding the men to relocate the mech to a certain place. If they used the exit points in the ceiling, like the steel doors, The Mole would have to fight its way up against the thousands of tons of sands that would, in turn, pour down into the facility.
Instead, they used a damage storage room, which once housed the highly valuable crystals used for making weapons. There was a gaping crack on its walls and Mina had to make the mech walk with its small legs toward it.
Niel lastly added in the comms that he had activated an old signal emitter that would act as a beacon and could potentially guide Mina back to the facility.
His sister immediately swung her gaze to the outdated scanner and found a pulse directly on her location. With that, she lowered the The Mole's head and inserted it into the crack. With a whizzing sound, the drill pulled the rest of the body into the sands. After a single stroke from its arms, the image of its propeller feet was the last thing the audience could see before the massive machine disappeared, leaving a smoke screen of dusts.