Training

Anna's eyes opened and she pulled a few levers before pressing more buttons. The engine started to warm up and machines began whirring. The cockpit closed and the monitors lit up. Her HUD showed up on the display. She was moving almost as fast as the machines to start up the massive hunk of metal.

With everything online, she took the controls and took three steps forward, enough to remove the mech from the hangar. She then made the mech salute. She could hear cheers coming from the intercom that she hadn't activated so Wolf must have done it for her. The people that were watching from different parts of the rig were impressed with the new design and size of the latest model.

"Good job." A screen popped up with the image of the grumpy-looking Captain. "Now get on the cargo elevator. You're gonna get some practice."

Anna obeyed and walked the mech over to the freight elevator that they first arrived on. One of the humanoid mechs came along and a cargo arm dropped off several large boxes of equipment. The lift started going up. Seeing the rig from up high like this felt like it really was a small hometown yet, so packed with life. Not just life but some of the smartest minds the world had to offer. It was a true sight to behold as people waved.

They reached the top and the humanoid mech started moving some of the equipment onto other platforms to clear out the main platform. There was more ice in the ocean than before. Icebergs were almost surrounding them.

"Not that we don't have a way to deal with them, but those are your targets. Wolf needs to calibrate the weapons and this would be a more efficient way to do it than potentially waste more of our resources." The grumpy Captain said over the comm channel.

Another screen popped up with a familiar face on it. Wrench, the mech pilot.

"Hey there, Anna. Long time no see." He teased. "We're gonna start with the handgun, It's lighter and more durable with a crack aim. The only drawback is the kick. Get used to that and it can be as deadly as any other weapon."

Anna just nodded as her mech reached for the gun. It was obvious that it was designed for her mech because it was slightly too large for Wrench's mech to hold with one hand. Anna held up the gun and pointed it at a nearby iceberg. Wolf had placed a target on it within the HUD. She pulled the trigger and the large caliber flew over the target to the right. Wolf put up some text on the screen.

[Calibrating, One moment...]

The words disappeared and the target came back. She fired again. This time it was a direct hit.

"Good job! Only the second shot to figure it all out, huh?" Wrench commented.

"I know how to shoot a gun. It's just wolf doing the calibrating." Anna replied.

"That so?" He scoffed. "How about a competition? One free of computerized aim assist?" He challenged. As he did so, his mech pulled a handgun out of a compartment that exposed itself on his right thigh. He then started to spin it around like some cowboy in an old western movie.

"You know," Anna grinned. "It's the targets hit that count, not the clowning around before."

The rest of the afternoon was spent calibrating weapons and then competing in target practice. Aside from the first shot of four different guns, every bullet Anna shot was a bullseye. Wrench only won a single round of target practice. (He used the aim assist on that round, Shh.)

As the sky got darker and the sun got lower over the horizon, a switch in activity was in order. Hand-to-hand combat. While Wolf could overpower Wrench and his computer every time, when it came to just the humans at the controls, Wrench won three out of four times.

"Come on! That can't be the best you've got! Hah!" Wrench teased.

Anna got her mech up and charged at Wrench. He dodged and tripped her.

"Tell you what, I won't even count that one as a loss. We can just say that it doesn't count if you go down in under ten seconds." Wrench boasted. Anna was getting irritated at him. She almost charged him again but Wolf stopped her.

"M-m-my M-Moon... W-W-Wer-erew-W-Werewol-olf Prot-ot-ot-ocol..."

Wolf struggled with his words but Anna knew what he said.

"Go ahead. Activate Werewolf protocol." She shouted.

Text showed up in the middle of Anna's screen.

[Full Moon recognized. Initiating Werewolf Protocol]

As the parts of the mech began to shift, rotate and move, Anna had the mech take a stance with the right arm and leg in front. She could see the back of the mech's right hand in the lower right of her hud. Some of the armor began to rotate around the wrist and parts slid against themselves, breaking the original square shapes and forming more triangular-shaped spikes. The back of the hand slid forward, and the fingers elongated into claws.

Finally, some metal began screeching against metal as the howl of the wolf pack slowly revealed the true form of the stolen enemy robot, redesigned by a rogue A.I. and humans.

Wrench felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up when the howling pierced his mech as if the open radio channel was irrelevant.

He had seen this form before when it fought the enemy. But, with the new revision and the dying orange sunset behind it, the backlit shadow in front of him was far more intimidating than before. It stood taller, lankier, and had more sharp angles that inferred danger from even the slightest touch.

To top it all off, Wrench felt a shiver go up his spine when the seven red eyes lit up.

Then it was gone. The world felt as if gravity had disappeared in that very instant. Only when the world looked as if it were above him rather than below him is when gravity turned back on with added force. His mech slammed into the open deck.

"Tell you what. I won't count that, because it took less than ten seconds." Anna said through the communications channel.

Wrench's mech was upside down in the middle of the platform with Wolf's clawed right foot resting on the helpless behemoth.

"It seems you-you are adept at using some of the new sys-systems already." Wolf spoke in the cockpit.

"Wolf! You sound a lot better!" Anna was genuinely happy to hear him speak more fluidly.

"Yes, my Moon. This was o-one of the upgrades I spo-oke of. It's not completely g-gone but I am better."