Chapter Text
The sun is setting in a walled city, a firefight is being held by military tanks and mechs against crudely made teal Techincals. Bullet barrages and heavy shells fly across the streets.
WE DID EVERYTHING WE COULD TO SAVE HER...
PLEASE....
DON'T BLAME YOUSELF...
A powersuit tries to get close to a burning wreckage, but another powersuit gets in his way. The fire increases in intensity as screams in the distance grow louder and louder
EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE OK...
PROMISE ME THAT WE'LL ALWAYS BE THERE FOR EACHOTHER...
A light mech is running away in a roadway towards a monumental gate closing. Barely makes it through as it disappears in the distance.
PROMISE ME...
YOU WILL MAKE HER PAY.
Welcome to WHITE SPACE
You've been serving the Great Leader for as long as you remember.
White.
Flat white concrete plains extending as far as the eye can see, the white sky and the ground blend indistinguishable from each other. There was no sun, no clouds and no wind to give a sense of direction, but in the distance, a few small figures could bee seen, dots and sticks that created a new horizon to walk to.
Serving as the center of the white world rested a black and white teenager wearing his black and white military uniform in an extended blanket:
Private First Class Sunny Suzuki.
He didn't mind sleeping with no pillows or pajamas, he was comfortable like the many statues found in the Sintra Necropolis. On his right there was a notebook and a bandage box; the notebook had sketches and mole tactics scrabbled all over the place, while the bandages covered his past and future sorrows away. On his left there was a district gate computer, an imposing machine 4 feet tall and wide as a Tank.
Behind the sleeping Private there was a giant white metal door with no room behind or walls on its sides, and a small black lightbulb that extended from an imposible ceiling, way beyond any human or enhanced view range.
In front of him was his trusty, black and white M-841 Mongoose powersuit: "Sonhador" or in the modern tongue, "Dreamer", a powersuit originally made for construction work refitted for military purposes. It had a single checkered strip as a "belt" and the cyclope-like camera that helped the driver to see was completely white.
*THUD*
*THUD*
Something fell from the white sky, 2 metalic thuds loud as thunder were heard roaring across the world. Barely enough to disturb Sunny.
He woke up, covering his eyes from the pure white ceiling above him, he didn't yawned or wiped his eyes despite his sleepy state, he quickly stood up from the blanket and inmediately opened the cockpit of his "Sonhador". Sunny got inside his powersuit and plugged the cable into his Cranial Jack, turned on a switch close to the hud and the connection was stablished, the feedback buzz felt reinvigorating and erased his sleepiness away. Now online and ready, he searched for the source of the thuds.
The land was still the flat white concrete streching for miles and miles away, but now there were new residents: Pitch black dismembered forearms with hands slithering like snakes in the water, they were looking for something to latch on. Sunny did mind the black hands, the walking speed of his powersuit was not enough to leave them behind, so he had to maneuver and push it to its limits. The sound of servos moving back and forth, the constant movement of the pistons and the fast loud stomps of the powersuit echoed through the land, the black hands kept pursuing Sunny, some were squashed by him while others no longer cared and stopped their pursuit, they would be looking for easier preys.
It didn't take him long to find the culprits of the deafening thuds, Sunny's eyes grew slightly when he saw them: the 84mm rifle 'Donkey' and the 4MW laser 'Temblor'.
The 'Donkey' was an Short Fuse Implosion Rifle capable of destroying anything in a short distance, leaving a crater of destruction in front of the user. The 'Temblor' on the other hand was a dreaded acoustic laser, capable of turning to dust the most fortified bunkers and other concrete structures. The Dreamer touched the weapons with both arms and like a clockwork mechanism, they attached themselves to the powersuit, Donkey on the right arm and Temblor on the left.
With his weapons now equipped, he sprinted to the gates terminal to see if there was something new. Sunny didn't struggled this time to evade the black hands, he would obliterate them from existence with the 'Donkey', leaving behind craters without debris nor organic matter. When he arrived at the place where his personal belongings and the gate was, the black hands stopped 5 meters away from the white blanket and then returned to their hunting grounds, annoyed but anxious for the next time.
Sunny turned off the switch from his Mongoose and disconnected the cable from his cranial jacket, leaving his powersuit behind so he could operate correctly the huge computer. He booted it up and seconds later the machine began to work. Clicks, ticks and more weird sounds emanated from it. Sunny saw his poker face reflected on the black screen of the terminal, he paid more attention to what it would appear on the screen than to his own face. After a few minutes of waiting, the screen lit up, showing the menu of the things available:
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| Synchnet. Offline |
| Journal. Not Available |
| Hanged man. Not Available |
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Odd, it was understandable that the Synchnet was unusuable right now, but both the hanged man and journal no being available was weird, considering that both were offline programs. Sunny sighed and then turned off the computer. He went inside his Mongoose and once again stablished connection to it. With nothing else to do besides looking at the impossible ceiling, he walked towards the door to go outside.
Before he went in, he prayed for protection. The door opened by itself, the blinding light coming from it didn't stopped him from going inside.
SQUADMATES ROOM
The squadmates room was a surprising dichotomy of joy and monotony; gray concrete walls, clean and smooth as glass, colorful guns scattered around and minifigures of mechs and tanks depicting a scene from The Troubles, the beds were in disarray, but they looked so comfy and soft it would put to sleep even the most paranoid NCOs. There was even a giant yellow cat watching over them with curious eyes in one of the walls. In the center of the room were two teenagers and two young men sitting in a circle playing a game of poker, all with purple hair and wearing a well-made olive gray uniform with yellow accents, one of the signature features of the Novo Exercito do Povo.
The oldest in the room was Henry Martinez, a slim, handsome young man with a charismatic smile capable of persuading even the most cold-hearted of the favelas. The second was Costello Perene, a short technician whose most prominent features were the lack of a right ear and a well-defined chin. The female teenager was Aubergine Williams, a tomboy with pulled back hair in a yellow headband. And finally the other teenager was Kelsey Martinez, an athletic daredevil almost as tall as his brother Henry.
"Sunny!"
Kelsey waived his hand at the black and white powersuit, he stood up quickly and went to formally greet Sunny, but he slipped on a card and collided with Aubergine. Henry chuckled at his younger brother's stumbling.
"Watch your step idiot!" Kelsey landed above Aubergine, but she pushed him to her left and was the first to stand up.
"Hey, I was careful but you got in the way." He stood up quickly as he could and dusted off his uniform annoyed.
"Yes yes, as if you could not surround us."
"Well sorryyyyyy for being nice to Sunny." Kelsey replied even more annoyed
"OH, and now I'm the asshole." They were now face to face, Aubergine rolled up her sleeves while Kel cracked his knuckles. The day hadn't even started and they were at each other's throat, but Costello stepped in and slapped both heads. Kelsey and Aubergine got a hold of themselves, Henry sighed and began cleaning the mess in the room.
"Hmph, I know you guys love eachother so much you fight like a couple, so why not after patrol duty you go to a Texas 7 for a date night?" Costello forced a group hug on the 2, but Aubergine managed to get out by slightly pushing them both aside.
"By the Saints, another great joke from the greatest comedian of all Novo Solo." Aubergine rolled her eyes at Costello's poor attempt at sarcasm.
"Aren't you guys forgetting something?" Henry finished cleaning the room in record time and was now side by side with Sunny, who stood in front of them watching the whole scene unfold like an unmovable statue.
"Shoot! S-sorry Sunny." Kel and the others apologized and approached to greet him.
The mechanisms that locked the weapons in Sunny's arms moved and made them point upwards, putting them on Safe Mode. Then, he extended his arms wide open as much as he could and group-hugged all his friend with care in a single move, not a sinlge bone or muscle was cracked or torn apart, only the well-heated metal surrounding them warmed their clothes.
"Thanks Sunny."
"Sooo warm..." Costello and Kelsey thanked him.
Sunny released his squadmates from his comforting hug, finally letting them catch the purified air of the room.
"Now that we are on good terms now." Henry moved forwards to the door leading to the outside. "Everyone back at hangar must be waiting us. Let's go."
"After you Sunny" Costello added, presenting him the door that leaded to the outside.
Sunny moved to the exit and others followed him. Before they departed, everyone except for Sunny, prayed for the Saints protection.
OUTPOST OF SECTOR 28
Warm. The outside of the dorms was warm and welcoming, the air was fresh as the first flowers of spring, the buildings were white and pastel green, the sky was a blue-magenta canvas filled with whimsical constellations of food, furniture, weapons and mammals. Despite the amazing views up above or the cheerful nature that the base had, they paled in comparison to the breathtaking marvels of Solo Nobre: The imposing perimeter walls and the orbital guns.
One was the Great Leader's protecting pressence that encompased Solo Nobre, while the other was his spear against the evil threats that loomed in the galaxy.
In front of the friends there was a huge hangar, it had an open roof to let the sunlight wash the vehicles and personnel alike, the air breezes that flowed inside refreshed the tired and encouraged the fastest to continue their work. The personnel were diverse, ranging from humans, anthropomorphic dinosaurs from Earth, all the way to civilized Nobrean wildlife and sprout moles of the underworld. Every single one of them were wearing the olive drab uniform of the NEP. But among the personnel inside, located at one of the maintenance bays where squads parked their vehicles, 2 people stood out: a young woman with long, silky purple hair was cleaning her antigravity vehicle alongside a blonde teenager who was also cleaning his powersuit.
"Mari, Basil!" Kelsey shouted while Henry waived his hand at the pair with a soft smile as he and the others went to salute their friends.
"Kelsey!" The young woman cheerily replied as she stopped cleaning her vehicle, Basil also stopped and ran towards Sunny and hugged him, feeling the cozy warm metal cheer up his day.
"Sergeant Mari."
"Corporal Henry" Mari and Henry saluted eachother professionally, meeting their gaze with a smile only lovers did. Moments later Kelsey and the others except for Sunny showed their respect to the young woman.
When the others finished saluting the sergeant, Sunny got out of his powersuit to greet his dear sister, he closed his right eye while Mari close her left eye, got side by side and then pressed their face cheeks together to form a face; An almost perfect simmetry could be achieved if Sunny let his hair grow more or if Mari cut hers.
"What are they doing?" Costello asked confused by the strange and impractical greeting the siblings did.
"Thats how Androsians greet eachother." Henry cheerily answered.
"Wait a second." Costello approached to the siblings with increasing curiosity. "You guys never told me you were from Andros. How on the Seven Hells you arrived here?"
"Well..." Mari and Sunny stopped doing their greeting, Sunny cocooned himself in his powersuit again while the old sibling took a deep breath. "We fleed from our home planet when the Spacers sieged it. The spaceship we took dumped us in a shady spaceport and we had no choice but to take a leap of faith" She rested on the left 'flap' of her antigravity vehicle and extended her legs. "And funnily enough, Solo Nobre welcomed us." Mari smiled as she gestured her arms presenting herself and her brother.
"Damn, must've been rough." Both Kelsey and Henry nodded in agreement with Costello.
"No need to be bummed about it" Mari smiled as she got up from the flap of her Agrav, now walking towards Henry. "So, what's cooking good lookin'" The old sibling leaned on Henry's left shoulder, her teasing smirk made the young man blush as he tried to mantain his composure.
"N-nothing Mari, just me wondering what we will do today"
"You and I?"
"N-no, I m-mean." Henry's face blushed even more to the point it ressembled a pale tomato, his brother and Costello giggled at his now failed attempts to remain professional. "Just what we as squad leaders will do? Drills, scout patrol or, may the Saints allow it, nothing."
"You are so funny." Mari giggled, still wearing the teaseful smirk on her face. "Never change that."
"Sunny, may I ask you a question" Aubergine asked, she and Basil stood in front of the black and white powersuit, it leaned forward to physically convey his yes. "Aren't you sicked to death of being inside that damned piece of shit 24/7?"
Sunny leaned side to side to express his confident no.
"H-hey! T-that was rude Aubrey!" Basil was annoyed at her. "whats wrong with you today?"
"Nothing man, I was just wondering." Aubrey dismissed him without guilt. On the other hand, Sunny took no offense, he calmed down Basil with a gentle, controlled pat on the shoulder.
"Thanks Sunny"
"See? No need to squeak like a rat." Aubrey also patted Basil's shoulder, difference being that it almost knocked him over.
"Private Aubergine, what did we say about your attitude." Just behind Aubrey, Henry stood with his arms crossed, looking down at her with a serene look, voice clear and cosistent.
"By Martims beard! When did you get here?" Aubrey shivered and turned quickly to salute his superior.
"I let it go once today and You know very well you can't act like that among your peers." The firmness of his voice pushed away the blushing Henry from just moments ago, like if someone turned on a switch on his back.
"I-it wasn't my intention..." She tried to explain herself, but Henry cut her off. "Enough. Pay it with a 100 push-ups, now."
Aubrey didn't complain and started doing the push-ups in front of him.
Henry kept his serene look on Aubrey, he didn't paid attention to the few people who stopped their work for a few seconds to see the reprimand, Basil and Sunny looked at eachother and let the situation cool down by its own.
"Serves her right... AUCH!" Kelsey looked at his big brother proud, but Costello pulled his right ear. "Donkey talking about ears. Don't act like you are Etim's most pious disciple, do I have to remind you that time you ran over 2 fellow privates AND spilled Orange Joe on the Captain's uniform AND you put the blame on me"
"H-hey, I am sorry for that."
"You got lucky because your brother intervined! I had to be in mortar position for a whole hour and a half."
Both privates were annoyed at eachother and readying up to throw punches, but Mari cheerily chimed in.
"Tomorrow's free day I will not make sandwiches for you if you do not calm down." Kelsey and Costello inmediately stopped after hearing the soft warning.
"Sorry ma'am."
Suddenly, the speakers inside the hangar turned on.
"Attention active personnel. We have confirmed reports of corvid presence in district 2, 1st and 2nd squadron, go and suppress the separatists." The monotonous order echoed through the hangar.
"1st Squadron, on your vehicles now!" Mari ordered swiftly as she sprinted and climbed up into the cockpit of her antigravity vehicle.
Basil alongside 2 other more squadmates ran towards their powersuits while Sunny just waited for them to finish getting ready. Henry and the others did the same.
The 1st squadron were comprised by Sergeant Mari Suzuki, Specialist Mijares Santiago, Private First Class Sunny, Private Basil Fey and Private Cris Maxwell.
From highest to lowest in rank, their vehicles were:
The 'Buckler', a well protected Antigravity vehicle that resembled a horizontally elongated 3-point star, it was armed with a 12mm railgun and a 27mm Anti-aicraft gun.
Next was the 'Pellinore', a relatively bulky powersuit equipped with a shield attached in the left arm, carrying in his right shoulder a 76mm HE cannon and a 8mm machine gun.
The remaining vehicles were Mongoose powersuits, the same as the one Sunny was using, difference being that they had an urban color scheme and their weapons were dual 8mm machine guns.
As for the 2nd Squadron:
Corporal Henry piloted his trustworthy 'Touro', fondly nicknamed: 'Hero', a 2 legged heavy Mech renowned for his reliabilty and combat legacy, armed with a powerful 105mm cannon and a 6mw kinetic laser.
Private First class Technician Costello piloted a 'Marlowe', a specialized ligt scout Mech armed with a single 12mm railgun, the same railgun Mari used.
Next was Aubergine, her Mech was the awfully named 'Vorwerkhuhn' or for brevity 'Fork', another small, nimble scout mech having the same legs as the Marlowe but sporting a different chassis, its weapons were dual 37mm cannons.
And last but not least was Private Kelsey, his vehicle was the same as Aubrey's and also having the same armament.
"1st and 2nd squad, this is Picnic, we will use channel 43 as our squad net. Over." All but Sunny replied affirmatively.
The agrav began levitating 5 meters above the ground as the Touro's mighty engine started. Both Mari and Henry checked on their interfaces the status of their vehicles and the ammo available, they were all good. The powersuit cuartet and light mech trio prepared their weapons, checking the ammo feed and their hardshield status.
"Systems ready in all respects Henry." Kelsey announced confident.
"Lets show 'em what we are made off!" Aubrey and Kelsey were the first to move to the gates that led to District 2. Henry, Costello and the powersuits followed them after, but Picnic and Sunny didn't move, they stood in front of the hangar.
"Picnic here, we will catch up you with. Over."
"Roger." Henry and 1st squad replied and moved on.
Now alone, the agrav and the powersuit looked at one another. It didn't mattered if the reinforced steel that protected them from danger blocked their faces, the siblings knew how their faces look like; They were happy to be together.
"May our feet find soil."
An old saying of good luck and care.
DISTRICT 2
Aubrey and Kelsey were waiting in front of the painfully slow district gate, the rumble of gears were deafening as they shook the dust of the walls and the gate itself. Thankfully, the audio filters helped to ease the noise.
"This is the sixth time of the week this shit happens. Are there no engineers in this damned side of the city?" Aubrey grunted.
"Most of the people with degrees in things are working in the mines, soooooo..." Kelsey replied.
"Not a fucking chance in our lifetime then."
5 minutes passed on and the rest of the 1st and 2nd squad arrived, just in time as the gates were completely open.
"This is Picnic, all powersuit units take the lead." Mari's orders were heard and followed.
Sunny moved forwards and became the tip of the formation, behind him in each side were Basil and Cris watching the right and left flank respectively, Mijares was in between the 2. Aubrey and Kel were in safe distance behind the powersuit spearhead with no risk of accidental stomping. Mari, Henry and Costello were the heavy tail of the formation, Mari's agrav was behind the Touro at its eye level while costello covered their backs.
District 2 was a residential neighbourhood mainly reserved for the administrative personnel. When compared to The Deads or any other district located in the outer city, it was far better; The streets were not infested by rats or moles, air quality was acceptable and most surprising of all: a few recreational areas for everyone.
"Citizens, curfew will take effect inmediately for your safety. Mixed mechanised units are in operation." The loudspeakers of the Buckler echoed through the main avenue, the civilians that walked through the streets complied the orders and retreated to the safety of their homes. The powersuits methodically observed their surroundings, they were alert and their weapons ready for a confrontation. The light Mechs on the other hand checked the non-combatant population complied with the orders.
Picnic and Hero used their advanced scanners to detect incoming threat, the only pings present were the members of the 2 squadrons. It didn't ease the tension.
"Hero, this is Picnic, I'll launch a radar beacon to extend my scanner range. Over." Announced Mari as her vehicle prepared the launcher.
"Understood."
Mari checked her map quickly, she traced the expected trajectory and after doing the required calculations, she saw that moving forward would add momentum to the beacon, so she did. The buckler moved forwards to the left and the beacon was propelled beyond 2 city blocks. Once activated, Mari checked the scanner for new info.
"Nothing on radar. All units, keep moving." Her composure hid her worries.
The agrav returned to the safety of the heavy mech and moved alongside her comrades.
The avenue was lonely but loud due to the constant stompings of the mechs and powersuits. The wind blew in their direction as it carried the leaves of a nearby square.
"Something is wrong, aren't corvids supposed to be attacking us right now?" Cris asked in the squad, worried due to the drowning tranquility in the district.
"Exactly, Corvids are suicidal freaks." Replied Mijares.
"Hopefully we will be fighting infantry sized units." Basil added.
"Don't be naive Basil, if so, why would command send legs?" Mijares again.
"You are right, There must be a reason why... Wait. Did you guys heard that?" Basil stopped moving abruptly "That whistle..."
"ALL UNITS, ARTILLERY FIRE IN OUR POSITION, DISPERSE!" Mari shouted in the squad net as she and the mech units moved to the square nearby.
The powersuits went behind a building as a volley of projectiles roared across the district, the shots landed almost perfectly and the debris produced by the artillery was so violent and fast it hit the mech units and flickered their hardshields, but a loud pop accompanied by the overwhelming smell of burnt ozone made Costello shiver in fear: His hardshields were dead.
"Out of juice!" Costello hid his fear and took cover behind Hero.
"Aubrey, Kelsey, cover our back now, Picnic support me." Henry's orders were followed, the light mechs moved quickly behind the heavy mech as the antigravity vehicle hovered by its side.
"5 pings coming in our 9." Mari warned.
Both commanders took a defensive stance in one of the entrances of the square, the Touro kneeled and the buckler was a few meters away from touching the ground. Their fingers were ready to unleash the seven hells on the approaching enemies.
The buildings where the powersuit units took cover were on the other side of the avenue, the quartet reorganized and now Mijares was the head.
"Cris and Basil, smoke up the avenue, we will support the legs and Sunny, leave it useless."
Sunny nodded and prepared his Temblor as his squadmates launched the smoke grenades. After the curtain was deployed, they advanced towards the square, Sunny was behind desintegrating the asphalt with his acustic laser, creating potholes large enough to disrupt the advance of any wheeled or tracked vehicle.
As they walked through the avenue Sunny saw something worrying in the square, past the heavy mech and the agrav, one of the 2 light mechs stood like a stuatue with its hatch open and someone was using a spray can on its chassis. He couldn't believe it, his stomach felt sore and empty and his eyes were on the verge of tears.
It was Aubrey. Her long flowing hair waved in the wind like a wildfire, her headband was the same sick teal as the spray paint. Her eyes were filled with sheer disgust and hatred. She noticed the powersuits approaching and went inside her mech as fast as she could. The machine was brought back to life again and aimed its dual 37mm cannons at Mari.
Sunny tried to warn everyone, but the words never came out, they were stuck in his throat. The Sonhador stop responding to his commands and the inner screams of help grew in volume. The inminent maelstrom of bullets was approaching as another artillery barrage was coming.
And the world turned black.
WHITE SPACE was still the same blank land, but the black hands roaming in the distance were nowhere to be seen and the white door was missing. Only Sunny inside his powersuit and his personal belongings remained. The blanket was covered with concrete dust, the notebook was a mangle of paper and leather and the bandage box had all of its bandages tainted with coagulated blood.
The black light bulb that extended from miles and miles from the sky was still there, Sunny looked at it for minutes to see if something new would happen, it did not.
There was nothing else to do in the white world, the notebook was unusable, the bandages were also unusable and the black hands were gone. Except, there was one thing he could do: he aimed the 'donkey' at himself.
He didn't closed his eyes when he saw the pitch black darkness inside the short barrel, not even the white light of the world could let him see a glimpse of the round.
There was no hesitation, no delay and no remorse to what he was going to do.
Sunny pulled the trigger.
*BOOM*
Nothing but a crater was left behind, no blood, no debris, no Sonhador, no Sunny.