The constant desert breeze blew through the city consisting of hot air and all form of particles carried throughout the deserts, mostly sand. Temperature seemed to rise from this natural occurrence.
Sy was outside his apartment, sitting on a chair while watching the scenery below.
'Mech Guilds, huh?'
Over the the years, these guilds had grown from a dozen of enthusiastic young men, hoping to craft a few mechs, into powerful organizations to the extent of rivalling independent factions. There was only a tiny amount of details he heard from Genevieve about how they operate in factions, as she was more inclined to flirting with him than giving out more information.
As such, he retreated down to his apartment with the three girls in tow, more interested in following him than hanging out with Laira. Since then, they stood behind him, watching every move he took.
"If you want a role model, go watch Genevieve. I'm a man and not suitable." Sy adviced, pondering the very words he said.
'Is a man not suitable? They might grow up thinking that they are men? Or, perhaps, they would still be girls inside and will only take my good values?'
"We are committing to mind everything about you." A whisper like voice answered. Vii had finally spoken for the first time.
A pleased look appeared on Sy's face, glancing at the black haired girl.
Vi narrowed her eyes at his silly face.
"This calls for a celebration! I should cook us some meat and vegetable soup." Sy said with a toothy grin. The three girls like soup. They also ate a lot, and almost anything. It was a good sign since they'll grow up to be big, at 7 feet. He would only be 2 inches taller than them when they become adults.
"Hmph!" Vii turned away, obviously annoyed. She reminded, "You are watching something important."
Sy was already standing when he heard it. He slumped back down to his chair, and peered down. On the vast courtyard, the industrial ship was flanked by two light mechs, while an armored military truck was parked a few meters from it.
Above, a flying mech circled, surveying everything that was transpiring below.
Flint and his crew were gathered in a circle surrounded by heavily armed men. They already surrendered their identifications, but the rough treatment of the mercenaries did not ease. The soldiers were intimidating them, although, careful enough not to leave any kind of bruises.
This discomforted Sy. If one of Flint's men was unnerved by the bullies, he might reveal the mech facility they had masterfully obscured from view - from either man or machine.
Thankfully, they were all tough. Unyielding from the foreigners. Their eyes defiant and cold.
Some mercenaries entered the industrial ship, fully equipped with scanners to sweep the entire interior of the vessel.
A super soldier amongst the mercenaries caught Sy's attention. Back in the Federation, he would call them 'Gentle Soldiers' as they don't really want anything to do with being physical on any type of criminal, due to the fact that they could easily injure them with their enhanced strength, unless they had no other choice.
He was once chased by an enforcer in a power suit, a much advance version than the one below, back in a federal planet when he was still a naughty kid still learning the ropes. A time when the Federation had not yet hammered in him the proper ways to act as individual.
The only thing the enforcer could do was block his path. Initially, he would find a way to go around it, but when that pattern repeated itself, he instantly adapted and just went over or under the power suit, as it did not even try to grab him.
He received an incessant scolding from the power suit enforcer, when he was finally caught by other lightly equipped enforcers, for being such a pain and a smart ass. Eventually, that enforcer saw the potential in him, and wanted to enroll him to a potentate academy of young boys, with a future to join the police forces. However, he would get escorted into the Young Pioneers' Academy in Tri Prime after a month, when a homebase Pioneer noticed in the school's database that he was not in the right place.
From there, he learned that Sera Verdin was a Pioneer. His peers had always talked about one thing, going out into the void in the future, which excited him to the core. Soon, he would follow Sera's footsteps, along with his weird fellows, whose activities were somehow alien to him.
One time, the whole batch designed an anti-gravity balloon which carried all of them into outer space. The entire academy teachers almost died from heart attack, as the thought of losing over 50 young Pioneers overwhelmed them.
Soon, a distinct force of starships, even criminals, answered the distress call of finding the missing children. Fifty interdictors hyper-warped into Tri Prime in high alert, as a faction wide calamity was declared.
Half a day had passed since the search, and none could be found.
The truth was, Sy and his peers had already made re-entry after having some snacks they prepared beforehand, celebrating their success in space. They were only testing the newly engineered fabric counteracting the attraction force of a celestial body. With a shielding module, the descent was still not pleasant, but they safety made it. They also predicted the trajectory of their descent, and was stranded at sea, while wearing makeshift void suits. Thankfully, they also prepared some supplies and could leisurely stay afloat for a month.
These kids were too proud to contact for help. When they were finally rescued, they were also too smart to get scolded. Many Pioneers from the Institution were called in to give them the needed wisdom. It took a Pioneer to chastise another Pioneer, they say.
Those were some good memories. Sy began to wonder how those guys were faring right now.
He was snapped out from his reminiscence when Nasena tapped a finger on his forearm, showing her tablet.
Sy took the device and read the content.
["Yet the thought has many times occured to me, how many and how great are the benefits, which accrue to states through history, which transmits to future generation the memory of those who have gone before, and resists the steady effort of time to bury events in oblivion."
- Procopius ]
Sy gently patted the head of the dark-gold haired girl, asking with a smile, "You like history, Nasena?"
The girl only nodded, snatching the tablet from his grasp before he could explore the notes she created. With a pleading eyes, she also uttered her first words with a melodic voice, "I want more history content in my lessons."
"Me too!" The other two girls approached hastily, not wanting to get left behind.
"I will. I will." Sy assured, patting the other two's head, "Right after Flint and his men are release from detainment."
-----
Pyr Prime,
Mina tightly held the emblem on her chest. She had gone to High Admiral Killian in the High Command, requesting for an independent mission to liberate Logria, using a small transport. Many volunteers stepped forward to join her, but the man firmly refused her, stating that provoking the AO Guild was not a strategic move, as it would involve the citizens in Logria being caught in the crossfire. Furthermore, losing a high ranking officer like her in a futile battle would be a huge blow to the morale of the Union's armed forces.
She rode a cab across the city, bypassing a few overpass. Overhead were a series of magnetic railroads, trains whistled above, seemingly flying in the air.
After a few minutes, she was dropped on a shipment area with a few distribution facilities in the background. She was standing before a huge storage facility, able to accommodate a few mechs inside.
Niel had contacted her an hour ago that he was out of the Research Center, and the GT was running away from the Union, in order to escape an inevitable defeat from the hands of the AO Guild. He said that before he was released, he had to do the director a favor first.
Scouting her surroundings, Mina explored the complex, eyes warily darting in every direction. When she was sure that no threat was around, she secretly went inside the storage facility.
"Niel!" She exclaimed, seeing her brother standing beside one of his colleague.
Upon closer inspection, the two were agape staring further inside the facility, eyes blank, as if unable to express the emotion they were currently exuding. She followed their line of sight, and her expression matched the duo in front of her.
There, under a dim light, constantly flashing from a defective source, a black mech stood. Its armor was in tatter, but not from a recent battle. It was just poorly assembled, or perhaps, its complex design was just too much for the assembler.
Mina could tell, the mech was far too different than any she had ever seen. Somehow, she felt familiar with it. As if she was being reminded of someone. She instinctively reached to the emblem hanging on her chest.