Chapter 6: Ghosts of Iron

After leaving history I could feel the excitement welling up within me. The next class I had was one of my all-time favorites. Entering the main atrium of the school once more I went into the western corridor toward the school's second gym. As I passed by a lot of the other students I did see Andrew talking to some guys from his Aerial Combat course and I saw some of Butch's cronies. The latter gave me the stink eye as I passed by but they wouldn't bother me all by themselves. I did hear something from a couple of students about a pair of transfer students from Earth. They were Human/Promethean hybrids like me. It certainly wasn't an uncommon thing since Humans and Prometheans were nearly identical in a lot of areas. I did try to imagine what they'd look like. Partially because I wanted to meet them the other part was my best friend's influence. I was interested in women but I wasn't going to take it as far as Andrew did.

Arriving at the end of the corridor I'd enter the men's locker room to the right. There were too many other students there but the ones that were done at least acknowledge my presence. Some hellos were exchanged and as I reached my locker the others quickly left. I had to take off everything except for my underwear for this course as I was changing into a pilot suit. Even though they felt elastic they were made of Nanite fiber which could allow one to survive hostile environments from most planets and could shrug off small arms fire. The cadet pilot suits weren't made with comfort in mind. Something I hoped to rectify when I get my Pilot registration. Grabbing the helmet in my locker I scurried off toward the Gym's secondary entrance. The portion of the building I was in began to shake a bit with the sounds of giant footsteps originating from behind the door. Entering the Gym I'd find many students of different races working on colossal robots in this deceptively large gym.

Ghosts were one of my favorite things about the 41st century. A large portion of the shows I watch had giant robots. It made too much sense considering I was found in the carcass of one. For the past four years, we've been designing our very own Ghosts. As I looked around the facility I could see a wide variety of suits with a pair made up of a Pilot and a Mechanic. The Ghosts were allowed to make were called Revenants. They were mainly mass-produced suits with small ether cores and more standardized weaponry. Though our class was allowed to customize our Revenants with a decently sized budget. There were close ranged variants with large swords or maces, and there were long ranged variants with beam weaponry. Honestly, it was almost like I'd died and gone to heaven.

"Even though we were once friends, a matter of greater honor compels me to face you in combat Roland!"

I spun around facing the person who suddenly spoke She was just a tad bit taller than I was. While it did startle me a little bit it kicked my nerd instincts into high gear. Placing a hand on my chest I began to recall the scene from episode 25 of the first season of Erratic Code.

"You could've joined me Seiri. If you reveal to me who told you of the power of Kings we could work together."

"Nothing that happens now is none of your concern! Your very existence is a mistake. Your blood will rust upon my blade. I'll take care of Victoria."

Pretending to be seething from that statement I raised my hand forming a finger gun right at her as she did the same. A round of applause erupted around us. It seemed our little show of theatre attracted a bit of an audience.

"Alright, that's enough you two. Time to get to work," Spoke the instructor.

"That was very cool So-So. I didn't think ya had it in ya to catch on that quick."

"Come on Talia, did you really believe that I would forget a line from Erratic Code? Especially one of the most famous ones spoken on the show."

"Well, it was between Erratic Code or Go Raiser. Honestly, I couldn't tell which one you might've watched."

I'm glad she hadn't chosen Go Raiser, I'm still behind a few seasons. Talia was always one to indulge in my hobbies, unlike Andrew and Clarke. We met several years ago on Prometheus as her family was an ambassador from her home world. She's one of the Tau, a mostly female race of amphibious humanoids. Other than the light-blue skin, her froglike features, and her icy blue eyes we nearly looked like identical twins. She'd been in her usual maintenance jumpsuit that had its sleeves tied around her waist to act as a belt of sorts. I'm sure she got yelled at about that today. Like me, she'd also been wearing a Chungdai shirt though it was sleeveless.

As we made our way toward our Revenant we caught up from the last two weeks. The class hasn't been the same since I got suspended. I never really thought of myself to be liked by people other than my friends. I guess our performance was something the class needed as everyone started working harder on their mechs.

At the end of the room, a large red Revenant stood by its lonesome. It wasn't too heavily armored but what it lacked in armor it made up in weaponry and speed. Seeing almost made me rush toward it. The most I did was touch the armored plating of its foot as I stared at it.

"I've been tuning Barghest for the past couple of weeks while you were gone. Mostly the weapon systems. Calibrating giant guns isn't so bad when you don't have a certain rabbit abusing them."

I did feel a little bad about but it wasn't something I couldn't help. "You gotta believe me when I tell you using the automated aim assist doesn't feel right. Free aiming the blaster is better."

My explanation only caused her to fold her arms. "The assist is there so you don't have to worry about aiming during combat. You know how many times I've had to fix Barghest because ya wanna look cool."

Another thing she was right about. I actually couldn't come up with anything else to say, which bummed me out a bit.

"It's fine ya dummy. I'll fix Barghest as many times as I possibly can. It's a shame I can't modify the thing." That was certainly something I could agree with. But it was off-limits for cadets to modify their Revenants beyond painting and weapon customization.

"Well, they aren't Eidolons. So there's no point in customizing them that much." That was probably something that I shouldn't have said. Her eyes lit up with excitement as she generated a small window with a video.

"Speaking of which check this out."

She pressed play on the video and hit the volume down button several times. There were explosions and the sounds of fighting going on in the background. Neo-Arcadian Soldiers seemingly retreat from something. The feed was coming from a soldier who was on the ground and he ended up tripping over something during the video. As he looked back, a large robot came into view. It was nothing like I'd ever seen. Despite its size, the design of the machine was incredibly sleek. It didn't have very many weapons, just a singular rifle. Its green eyes turned toward the soldier and aimed its weapon right at him. After a flash of light, the feed was cut.

"Yo, Talia. Where'd you get this?" I had to whisper considering if we both got caught with this video it was going to mean more than detention.

"Alright don't get mad at me. But I might've hacked into Neo Arcadia's secure military archive to get this."

This was certainly bad. I knew Talia was pretty capable with hardware and software. But getting arrested for stealing government property was on the high spectrum of "don't do this at all." I could only give her the most disapproving glare I could provide.

"I covered my tracks pretty good. I just wanted to get some information on the Red Beast that's all." I held my hand up before she could go on any further.

"How long ago was that footage taken?" Talia opened the window's settings and pulled up all of the file's information data. The feed was created just four days ago. Taking in a deep breath I assessed the situation as best as I could. The fact I'd seen the video and I didn't report her for it would make me an accomplice. Especially considering that this may be what that reporter was talking about this morning.

"Alright. I know you encrypted everything. But be sure no one can trace this back to you. We'd probably better do our regular tests for Barghest before the instructor comes." Talia nodded, she then quickly worked to store the file in her secure network before starting her work. Making her way to the terminal in front of Barghest she began to key in commands for the cockpit hatch to open. A small line with a handle and plate lowered down. Grabbing the handle I began to ascend upward toward the cockpit where I climbed in and sat down. It was a basic cockpit complete with two control yokes, pedals, and some buttons on the armrests for commands. Putting my helmet on as I sat down the hatch closed as Barghest began to boot up. After some switch flipping and button pressing, the core hummed loudly as the space began to fill up with images of everything outside.

"Do you read me Soran?" Talia spoke as the communication systems came online.

"Rodger, everything is all green on this end. Any problems on your end?"

"Come on So-So, you'd think I'd make any mistakes."

She was right, I guess it was a habit of mine to ask. "Start-up sequence completed. Revenant Barghest activating." Moving the control yokes the arms began to move. Although there were many complex movements in just moving the arms they were simplified thanks to today's tech. Motioning the yokes in circles, Barghest rolled its shoulders. The movements seemed so organic I thought I was looking at one of the Knight Frames or Chungdai from their respective shows. That's Talia for you.

"How's it feel So-So?"

Moving the yokes again, Barghest's palms opened and closed as I gripped the five buttons on them. "Feels pretty good so far. Good work." Rubbing the back of my neck I suddenly recalled the Mech in the file again. I had to know a little more about it so I ended up getting a bad idea. I pulled back and pushed forward as quickly as I could. Barghest reached to its side and drew its side arm just as quickly, aiming it right at the wall. There was no ammo in it but it was a clear violation of weapon safety. I could hear the instructor yelling a few insults and obscenities at me as I holstered the weapon. Barghest was just as fast as I remembered.

Talia and I powered down Barghest and we were both scolded by the instructor over weapon safety. Even though I was the one who did the stupid thing, if the pilot got in trouble the mechanic did as well. We were dismissed from class early rather than being given detention. Even though the latter was arguably worse for us Mech nerds it was better than allowing my Mother to know I did another stupid thing. Getting in trouble was par for the course at this point in my life but why bother wondering about it? Besides, there was at least a point to it all.

I'd changed back into my school uniform only to meet Talia awaiting me outside of the hall. She didn't seem too pleased by my sudden violation of safety but I was prepared to explain myself. "I know what you're thinking but I promise it was for a purpose. Did you think I'd just flash a gun in class without having an idea of what I was doing?"

Surprisingly she took a few seconds to figure out an answer to that question. "Under normal circumstances no. But I guess whatever you wanna talk about isn't normal."

"Well... yeah but let's talk on our way to the mess hall. That's the other reason I got us in trouble."

"And like that I forgive you," Talia said as she began skipping down the hallway. On the way to the mess hall, we talked about the file Talia obtained. Ever since she'd seen it she managed to trace every single Eidolon in the Prime System. Unlike Revenants, which could be mass-produced and anyone with a basic Mech piloting license can use. Eidolons were much more sophisticated. Only 40 were ever created and the Prime Council made it illegal to manufacture even more. To put it in perspective, a single novice Eidolon pilot could still take out a platoon of Revenants with minimal effort. Which made Talia worry about the entire thing all the more concerning.

"It kinda reminds me of the Red Beast," Talia said. "It seemed way more advanced than anything we have now. Then there's that strange rifle."

"There shouldn't be another type like the Red Beast running around," I blurted out. A clear mistake as my amphibian friend nearly tripped herself up to face me.

"You know something about the Red Beast!? Tell me everything you know about it!"

The Red Beast was an obvious landmine to step on. Talia has always been interested in the tale of the Legendary Eidolon known as the Red Beast. A Machine that brought an end to the Prime Economic War by claiming victory for Photosystems Inc. It's the entire reason why the manufacture of Eidolons was banned. This little spiel was the same thing I told her every time, and every time she'd get mad and pout about it for a few minutes. I did feel a bit bad every time I told her this but it was a necessity.

As we arrived at the Mess Hall Talia bolted toward the invertebrate section and filled a bowl full of different insects from various planets. While it was always good to get some chow, I honestly found the diets of other races strange. Even though I've seen Fafnar eat large carcasses and Prometheans consume more fish than the monsters on Tau IV I was always the weird one when it came to food. I grabbed myself a few slices of pizza and some breadsticks along with a sports drink. Figuring I'd need the energy since I used a bunch this morning. Finding a table Talia and I sat down and enjoyed our meal.

I guess I'd been looking at her bowl pretty hard because Talia picked up a Vargit. It was a large cricket from Zoltan, the Fafnar homeworld. "Wanna try?" At first, I wanted to object but this was an opportunity to test something. I took the Vargit and popped it right into my mouth. The crunching sound it made was certainly repulsing but it was oddly delicious. I did get some disgusted glances from some of the other Promethean and Human students but everyone else seemed unbothered or approved.

Amid lunch, a low whirring noise grew louder and it only stopped when it was next to me. "Do you mind if I join you two for lunch?" I didn't have to look at the one who asked. I already knew who it was.

"S-sure... It's no issue," I answered. As much as I wanted to just bolt out of the mess hall It'd probably be futile. At some point, I'd have to talk to Shiranui again. She'd already pulled up next to me and placed her tray down. She didn't have much on her tray, just a small ham sandwich, and some fries. Her just being there was enough to make my heart race. I couldn't tell whether it was because she was pretty or because of how guilty I felt over her injuries. Something small hit me in my head, it'd been a piece of Vargit. Talia nodded in Shiranui's direction while shooting daggers at me. I tried to find the words to say but nothing would come up.

"Congratulations on your return to school," Shiranui said. "I wanted to tell you at the elevator this morning but it didn't seem to be the right time."

"U-Uh... Thanks, Shiranui-san. I'm glad you're doing better too."

"There's no need for formalities. You can just call me Satomi."

"Are you sure? Even despite what happened."

She was silent for a moment. Until two weeks ago we barely knew each other. Then while trying to defend her from Butch's bullying I ended up losing control and burned her legs. With how many Peacekeepers were there and the rock-solid punch I got from Shiranui's Father. I was sure if there could've been something between us, I'd blown it.

"I wanted to talk to you about that," she said. "Clear the air sort of. My Father apologizes for hitting you. I'd told him how you tried to defend me."

It was a relief to hear that at least. Being punched by an adult Fafnar is worse than what most can imagine. "Well, it was deserved. If I'd just stayed calm you wouldn't have gotten burned as badly as you did."

Shiranui placed her hands on her lap. It was surprising she didn't wince in pain. It showed how far we came in the field of medicine. "While that probably is true... I still want you to know that I don't blame you. It may take some time for me to be able to get the augmentation surgery. But I don't want you to think your help went unappreciated."

"I still need to make up for it in some kind of way," I blurted out. "Even though I was trying to help I ended up hurting you worse than that smooth-brained moron did."

Silence again befell our table, that is until Talia seemed to get fed up with the conversation. She stood up and scarfed down the rest of her lunch. "Look I get you kinda hate yourself for what happened but Satomi If I'm allowed to call her that." She looked to Satomi before continuing and Satomi gave her a quick nod. "Satomi went out of her way to talk to you first. So make it up to her by telling her she's welcome for the quick save and be her friend."

The other students began to watch as the three of us stared at each other. Talia made a scene that put me on the spot to just listen rather than oppose her. I could hear some of the other students shouting "Yeah just be friends" and "Stop being so stubborn." If I didn't know any better I'd have thought there was a conspiracy going on.

"Fine... If it's ok to call you Satomi. Then you can call me Soran I guess. Um... I guess I can start by asking if you've seen any good anime lately?"