When I woke up the light of the sun was just barely coming over the horizon. I looked at my clock and saw it was just 6 am. “Another night with almost no sleep.” I thought when I stood up. “But I’m still not sleepy.” I decided to head to the nest. “Maybe they have coffee.” I showered and got dressed; I found a blue and black flight suit in the closet with a note from Chief saying to wear this. I opened my door and walked to the nest. After some looking around I found the coffee machine and made a full pot. I took a cup from a closet and poured it full. I then took a seat at a table near the wall wide window overseeing the AC garage. I sat there thinking for a minute when I heard someone coming from another corridor. A girl came walking down looking a bit sleepy. She was a bit older than me but not much. She had purple hair, very dark blue eyes and she wore a red and black flight suit. However she didn’t see me sitting in the corner when she walked towards the corner of the room that served as kitchen. I decided to say something now instead of later.

“Good morning.”

It had another effect than I anticipated. She had just taken a can of some kind of energy drink and it started flying through the air roughly towards me. I immediately jumped from my seat and caught the can in midair, but then landed hard on the floor. In the mean time she had turned around and looked at me like I was a ghost. I got up and said:

“You ok. I didn’t mean to scare you like that. I just thought you should know I was in here before I scared you, which I did anyway. So it kinda loses its point there.”

She gave me a faint smile and said: “No it’s ok. I’ve just been on high alert during my shift of night watch and nobody is usually up this early. Except Kira who just relieved me. Nice catch by the way.”

“Thanks, wait wasn’t Kira the one who cleared us last night?”

“Yep, that’s her. She runs night shifts often since she’s the only person here not qualified to pilot an AC, but she helps out anyway she can. Wait, you’re one of the new people who just arrived right.”

I simply nodded.

“Oh well great to meet you. I’m Dema. I pilot the AC Dementia over there.”

As she pointed to a purple light AC. Which was equipped with a heavy caliber rifle in the right hand and a long purple blade in the left. It had lightweight radar in the left side of the back and a multi lock missile launcher on the back.

“I’m Blaze, pleased to meet you.”

“He, since no one will wake up until like ten, would you like to spar?”

“I would, but all I have is a basic training AC with no rifle. I lost that when we were attacked on our way here.”

“You got attacked! Is everybody ok?”

“We were all fine. I just lost my rifle because I was out of bullets.”

“Oh, ok.”

“So then I tossed it at a high speed jet and knocked it out of the sky.”

“What?! Ok I gotta see this. When I meant spar I meant in a simulator. We both get the same type of basic AC. Well we can load our own AC’s but that wouldn’t be fair now would it. So you up for it?”

“Very well, where are the simulators?”

“Just follow me.”

Which I did after I put down the can of energy drink. She led me down a set of stairs towards another room which was filled with simulators. So we could all train together was her comment. We got into the two simulators closest to the entrance and fired them up. Inside it was just like the AC simulator I trained on a couple of times. Then it lit up and showed a desert landscape with an abandoned city in it. My simulated AC was the same as the test AC. A lightweight AC with a rifle, missile launcher and a blade. Then Dema’s voice came over the intercom while her AC appeared about two hundred meters before mine.

“Ok, let’s get started. Since you’re new you get the first move.”

“That’s not fair. Ladies first.”

“If you insist.”

At that she took off and started firing rifle rounds at me. I mostly avoided them by strafing to the right but she got some hits on my core. I then fired two missiles at her and the first she could avoid by quick boosting left, but the second one she didn’t expect and it hit her right arm. It blew her rifle out of hand and damaged her right shoulder joint. I then started shooting rifle rounds at her back and her missile launcher exploded. She fell out of the sky and landed hard on her legs. I also stopped boosting and we were in about the same position as before. I then tossed away my rifle and jettisoned my missile launcher with the remark. “We have to keep things fair, right. Besides by the look of your AC you prefer blade combat anyway.” She merely smiled and whispered “You ARE good.” She then overboosted towards me, blade ignited. At incredible speed she came at me but I managed to avoid her strike by boosting left and then made a slashing maneuver which managed to slice through her already weakened right shoulder joint. She then boosted away from me and between the buildings of the abandoned city. I boosted after her knowing a trap was probably waiting. And indeed I turned the corner and she came at me at full speed but I managed to block her strike. She then boosted away between the buildings again while I followed. I boosted for a while but didn’t see her. Then I heard the howl of an overboost coming at me. I immediately turned and on pure instinct I made my AC duck and simultaneously strike my blade forwards. When I dared to look again I saw it say “WINNER” on the screen. Looking it in replay I saw Dema charge at me and in merely a second my AC turned and slashed her right through the core while her blade chopped of my AC’s head.

The simulator the opened up and I climbed out. There I was greeted by a smiling Dema who kissed me on the cheek for winning, which caused me to blush. She just laught and congratulated me while we went upstairs. I looked at my watch and found it already was 7:30. When we got back to the nest we were greeted by six other people (six guys, including Chief, and Flame), mostly still in sleeping outfits, who were all watching the replay of the last bit of our battle. They just turned to us then back at the screen and then back to us. Chief was the first to speak again and said:

“That was some piloting, kid. Especially that last move.”

I was just stunned.

“What!? But how did you all know that we were battling. Dema here was the only one awake when I got down here and she said the rest usually doesn’t get up until ten.”

“You forgot me.” Said a voice over the intercom. “I had just relieved Dema and when I saw the simulators active and I wanted to tell the Chief. But I pushed the main intercom button accidentally and woke everybody, sorry about that. Good battle by the way.”

“Yea, that last move was awesome, so fast. By the way how did you know she was behind you?”

“I honestly think just dumb luck. I thought I heard an overboost but I just acted without thinking.”

“Then you’ve got some talent.”

“Thanks, I guess.”

“Well since everybody is awake now you might as well get dressed so we can eat. Be back here in half an hour. Then we can do the introductions and start breakfast.”

At this order everybody shouted “Yes, sir.” And went back to their quarters. Only me Dema, Ice and Chief were still in the room.

“A half an hour to get dressed?” I asked.

“You’re just lucky that they were already awake. It usually takes longer to wake them than to dress them.”

At this we both laughed as we walked towards the Chief.

“Well since you’re already awake I might as well show you the rest, this is our kitchen/meeting room. You’ve already seen the AC garage, the sim room and the living area. So all that remains is the tactical room, tac room for short, the rec room and my office. Which are both up those stairs then down the hall is the tac room and to the left is the rec room and to the right is my office. But I’m going to show you the design room.”

We followed the Chief to a room that was one floor under the sim room and all that was in there were four computer terminals and four chairs.

“This is where we design our AC’s. We share parts so we have lots of them in storage. You can make you’re design choices here and press enter when you’re done. The computer will then automatically start building your AC, which will be ready in about four to five hours. Dema will help you both further, I have some cooking to do. See you upstairs in 30 minutes.”

And with that he left me, Ice and Dema to design our AC’s. But that wasn’t hard for me since I already knew what I wanted. I just needed to make sure they had it. With Dema’s instructions I started searching the data base for parts when I realized just how many there were.

“You really have all these parts.”

“Yep, there in a storage chamber under the base.”

I must say at that point I was impressed. After about 20 minutes designing my AC I was down to the color scheme when Dema started talking, which I didn’t realize at first.

“Blaze.”

“Hmm.”

“He BLAZE!”

“Yes!”

“I was wondering. Why did you want to become an AC pilot anyway? I thought you were a mechanic and a good one.”

“Well, I found out I was quite good at piloting. Besides if I get an AC license I’ll still be able to work on them and pilot them. Making more money in the process. But my main reason was that I was drawn to it somehow, ever since I first piloted.”

“Again I thought you were a mechanic, when did you pilot.”

“Well as mechanics we do test the machines we repair and there was one time I was forced to pilot.”

“How was that?”

“Well I don’t really like to talk about it, but I’ve been a mechanic for six years. Since I was fourteen and Ice here has been stationed at my garage there for two years. The reason he was stationed there was because we needed the reinforcements after the attack.”

“I never knew about an attack.”

“It was deemed classified by the ravens nest, but it was the first of the Phantom attacks. They wanted to keep it a secret at first but when Phantom started attacking more bases that plan went out the window. But anyway, we were attacked by a large force of MT’s and an AC. At that time we had no other AC’s stationed there, so we were basically sitting ducks. We did however have five prototype MT’s we were developing for Mirage, which was probably what they were after in the first place. They almost matched AC’s in speed and agility but were very lightly armored, they couldn’t take more than a few rifle rounds, and there only weapon was a blade. But only four of them were ready to go, the fifth wasn’t tested yet. So the four of them went out and together with the other defense forces managed to destroy most of the enemy MT’s. Only three remained plus the AC, but all our defenses were now gone. They started moving towards the garage now and all we had to stop them were power tools and that prototype. It was decided that since I had shown the most aptitude at piloting from all the mechanics, I would pilot the MT to safety somewhere else while they stalled them. I went through a back door, but then they started attacking the defenseless garage. I got so mad that I attacked. They weren’t expecting that, so I easily dispatched the remaining MT’s with my superior speed. But then I was left with the AC, which was now prepared. We got in a battle and I managed to do some damage but I was still getting stomped. Then something happened, I don’t know what but that AC suddenly got slower. Like the pilot didn’t put any effort into it anymore. Then the roles were reversed, because of the MT’s unusual speed I was able to defeat the AC but it still managed to flee.

I still have no idea who that was and that feeling never really came back. The attackers were called phantoms because no one knew where they came from. The name stuck and every now and then some base gets attacked by Phantom but not often and never in such a force as the first time. They are all AI piloted MT’s now. No Phantom AC’s have been seen since then. Hell, we still don’t know what thereafter.”

“Wow, you actually managed to defeat an AC. Now I understand why you pilot so good. You’re a natural.”

“Maybe.”

“But how do you know so much about Phantom. I mean we know practically nothing, it’s all classified.”

I had to smile at that comment. “Hmm, I told you I’m a mechanic. It also means I’m good with computers, comes with repairing AC’s. Most of the information I got by hacking into the Ravens nest database. Highly illegal, but I never got caught.”

“That’s a big risk for some information.”

“Maybe, but after the first attack they told us almost nothing besides the official record. I just wanted to know more, before I got killed by another attack. But now I’m done with my AC.”

“Not yet. First you need to enter you’re AC’s name.”

“A name, ok. Horizon”

“Nice name. Suits the color scheme.”

“Thank you.”

“Ok, let me activate the construct then it will start building you’re AC. It will assemble the main body of your AC, which will take about 30 minutes. Then you can make your own adjustments if you want. When you’re done Ice you can do the same. We’re heading upstairs again.”

When we walked up stairs I thought about my AC. I had settled for medium weight biped AC, although it was closer to the light end of the spectrum. It had an overboost core, a mono eye head and lightweight but accurate arms. The best boosters they had and it was armed with a chain gun in the right arm and a MOONLIGHT blade in the left. A small but high power linear cannon on the left shoulder and a vertical missile launcher on the right. As an optional part it had shoulder mounted boosters. Horizon was then painted black with bright orange accents.

When we got back upstairs everybody was again watching the big TV on the wall. But this time it was showing the battle against the Phantom from the perspective of my AC. I was stunned; there was even a small box in the upper right corner displaying myself as I sat in the corner. Again everybody turned to me then back to the screen and then back at me again. However I did notice a girl standing a bit further away that I didn’t see earlier. She had grey eyes, like me, and blond hair tied in a knot behind her head. “And a great figure.” But what I recognized most of all was her stance and type of clothing, being a mechanic for years I just knew. She was also a mechanic and by the looks of it she was responsible for taking the data from my AC or at least knew something about it. I decided to walk up to her and said:

“Was that really necessary?”

She smiled a bit and said: “What?”

“Well the fact that somebody extracted my battle data from my AC without asking and then showed it to everybody. I’m not stupid. Being a mechanic for years, I know a mechanic when I see one and as far as I know you’re the only one here. Which leads me to the conclusion that you’re the one that extracted my battle data.”

The smile immediately faded and she started to pout a bit.

“I’m sorry, but after I saw that battle of yours and Raze told us about your exam and the attack. I just had to see the battle. Thus I went down and extracted the data while you were designing you’re new AC.”

I sighed and said: “It’s ok. I’m just not used to all the attention, I’m mostly a bit of a loner. But just ask next time, ok?”

“Deal. I’m Nadia by the way and before you came the only one besides Chief with a bit of mechanic experience. Now I want to see that last bit in replay. You actually tossed you’re rifle at the jet?”

“Pleased to meet you Nadia, I’m Blaze. And to answer your question: it wasn’t good for much else without bullets. Or should I have used it as a club.”

“Well there’s an idea.”

We both started laughing when Dema joined us again after she also watched the battle.

“Come on Chief is going to introduce you to the rest.”

We walked back the where the rest was and found they were standing in a straight line on one side of the room while Flame and Ice, who had now finished designing his AC, were standing with the Chief. I walked to them while Dema and Nadia walked to the others. Then Chief stepped forward and started talking.

“Very well, now everybody is here we can start with the introductions. You’ve already met the most of them, but I’ll still name them all. From left to right: that’s Dema, Nadia and Kira. The women of the team although Kira doesn’t have a piloting license yet but she is working on it, she is also my daughter.” So that was Kira, she was a lot younger than I thought. About 17 years old, she had the same brown hair as her father and the same brown eyes. But the look of them wasn’t warm like his. Hell, her look was on fire. She looked like she was getting ready to kill me. “And that is Raze, but you know him already, which only leaves Sile and the Crazy Twins: Ares and Hades.” Sile had short bleach white hair and red eyes which suggested he was an albino, but his skin wasn’t pail. Actually it was a bit tanned. But his eyes were the weirdest, not because they were red, but because they were so cold emotionless. Ares and Hades looked nothing like Sile but exactly the same as each other. Both black spiky hair and dark eyes and they both had the same devilish grin on their face. “Sile is the best pilot we’ve got. He ranked in the top ten last year at the arena competition. Then Ares and Hades, we call them the Crazy Twins because their a bit loony, so watch out for practical jokes. However on the battlefield they work together like clockwork. We think they can read each other’s minds, but they deny it. The next problem telling which is Ares and which is Hades, but we found the solution to that. The only difference we’ve been able to find is that Ares is right handed and Hades is left handed. That’s why their AC’s exactly mirror each other. And that’s about it. Now team this is Ice, Flame and by now you all know Blaze.” They all said hi except for the twins who just kept grinning and Sile who said nothing. “Now even if we don’t have a mission we practice every day. So meet back in the tac room at ten, then you’ll hear if we have a mission or not. Flame you still need to make you’re design. Head down stairs with Dema she will help you, you can go to if you want Ice. The rest can start eating or do whatever you like until ten then I expect you to be there for the briefing. Dismissed.”

And with that he turned and walked to his office.