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Chapter 34 (YEAR 2052)
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Games of Invictus Chapter 35 (YEAR 2052)
Report: Quinn The interior of Dropship 13. Russian airspace. The rough metal tread of the hangar bay floor dug into my knees as I landed, gasping for breath. You never notice how suffocating it is inside a mech until you're outside once again. I stood shakily, slick with sweat, and laughed, raising my arms and enjoying the cool air on my skin. Below me hung the Prototype. The mech's once-smooth armour was scuffed and chipped, pitted with dents from bullets and other projectiles. One plasma cannon hung from the mech's side, its long, bulbous frame scratched and bent. The launcher on the opposite side of the mech, however, was much worse for wear. A twisted hunk of metal hung limp, emitting an occasional spark as power ran uselessly through the crippled unit. Lucas wouldn't be pleased. The interior of Dropship 13 was a dim, vast space filled with mechs that hung down from mechanical arms like sleeping bats. Reddish-brown metal grates lined the walls as well as the floor, doubling a
Games of Invictus Chapter 36 (YEAR 2052)
Report: Quinn Just off the coast of Nova Scotia. Canada. Prototype tactical launch platform. Designation: "The Firmament" Despite its stark exterior, the Firmament's interior was nothing short of beautiful. The interior of the half-kilometre-tall station was hollow, occupied by platforms of varying sizes ringing its interior circumference. Railings, elevators and bridges snaked throughout at random, connecting each ring of platforms like the arteries of some massive being. A glass dome built into the base's top allowed sunlight to shine on the higher platforms, while the lower levels were illuminated by a network of LED lights. At the base's bottom sat the beating heart of the Firmament, an enormous hexagonal shape strung up with an uncountable number of wires. The nuclear reactor core hummed within its insulated prison, generating enough energy to power the entire facility for the foreseeable future. The core sat on the very lowest platform in the entire base, held just above t
Games of Invictus Chapter 37 (YEAR 2052)
"Two weeks," Dan insisted. "You're out of your mind!" I shot back. "The Prowler came back in one piece. That is not worth two weeks of running errands for you." "Mostly in one piece," Lucas interjected. "Sixteen days," Dan added. "That's longer than two weeks!" I snapped. "This is a terrible negotiation!" "It's not a negotiation," Dan replied, "it's a hostage situation." "It doesn't matter if Dan tells her," Lucas interjected. "Mallet probably knows already." "Three weeks," Dan continued. "Three and I won't tell her." The elevator drifted to a stop, mechanical brakes locking it firmly in place. The moment the elevator doors slid open I was greeted by a thunderous howl. "Jackson Quinn, get the hell in here!" "Something wicked this way comes," Dan hissed. "See you after General Mallet decides how to tan your hide," Lucas chuckled. "The deal is off!" I insisted. "No deal!" Two pairs of rough hands pushed me out of the elevator and the doors sealed behind me. The Stonewood twi
Games of Invictus Chapter 38 (YEAR 2052)
"Wait," Lucas grinned, "exactly how many demotions did you get?" My face burned as I plopped down on my cot with a huff. The metal bed frame groaned in protest, echoing my sigh. Lucas grinned and took a seat in the bunk opposite mine. I leaned backwards into my pillow and let out another deep sigh. "Let's just say I won't have clearance to the bridge for a while," I replied. "It's still better than being discharged, so I suppose there's that." Despite being so large, sleeping arrangements on the Firmament were tight. The bunks occupied a single floor at the very top of the tower, as close to the dome as possible. In a large, near-windowless structure such as this sunlight was a commodity-keeping us close to the sky kept morals up. If anything, the provided pyjamas were comfortable-two-piece, grey linen sleepwear that was warmer than it looked. Rooms of two double bunks were standard unless you were ranked as a commanding officer or higher. Lucas and I had been assigned together be
Games of Invictus Chapter 39 (YEAR 2052)
"Alright, listen up pilots!" Mallet was in her element, standing at the front of the crowded briefing room. To call it a briefing room was generous. The open-air auditorium was, in fact, merely a ramshackle collection of chairs and tables pulled together in the corner of one of the dropship landing platforms. My seat was close to the platform's railing. I could see the Firmament's uppermost dome high above and could almost make out the bulky shape of the reactor core far below. The morning was muggy and smelled of ocean salt and oil. Sixteen dropships of various sizes occupied the space directly behind us. Crews bustled about the space, loading mechs and making final preparations. The mechanical din was only overwhelmed by the din of thirty mech pilots chattering nervously. "Grayson, shut up," Mallet snapped. A specific, loud voice quickly stopped talking and the rest of the room soon followed suit. General Marissa Mallet swung her hawk-like gaze to the front of the platform, w
Games of Invictus Chapter 40 (YEAR 2052)
Warm sunlight filtered through the dome overhead, flooding the platform with golden beams of light. The briefing was long over and the Firmament was filled with the sounds of pilots preparing for battle. However, no matter the noise, nothing was as loud as Taewi Park. "You think she isn't telling us something?" Taewi exclaimed, loud enough for a few pilots to turn their heads. Dan glared at him. "I don't know what I think," I hissed, "but I know that you need to keep your voice down!" "Why," Taewi laughed, "afraid Hurricane Mallet will give you more demotions?" Dan, Lucas, Taewi and I weaved through scores of pilots and technicians all hurriedly preparing for battle. I'd informed them of my concerns surrounding Mallet shortly after the briefing had concluded. "Okay," Dan sighed, "Lucas and I are going to go get ready. I'll warm up the dropship for you." He clapped me on the shoulder and the two of them left, Lucas chuckling quietly about Taewi's hurricane comment. I stopped wa
Games of Invictus Chapter 41 (YEAR 2052)
"To answer your first inevitable question, I lost it about seven years ago flying a dropship prototype," Martin stated. His voice took on a bored tone as he wiggled the fingers of his prosthetic. He had clearly shared this information many times before. Martin's left arm gestured toward his temple. His head turned, just slightly, to the left, and I could see something I hadn't noticed before. A small patch of Martin's blonde crew cut had been shaved bald, clearing space for an IRON chip. The chip itself was clearly modified-spliced apart to serve a new purpose-and was mounted far from its usual location on the back of the neck. "You control your arm with an IRON chip?" I inquired. "That's amazing! I thought they could only tap into the cerebellum." At this Martin's smile returned. He pulled down his sleeve with a steady motion and nodded at me. "With a little work," he corrected, "the IRON chip can be so much more than a weapon. It just needs the right owner." A loud electronic c
Games of Invictus Chapter 42 (YEAR 2052)
Report: Quinn The irradiated remains of Moscow. Russia. A radioactive "exclusion zone". Neutral territory, until now. My teeth rattled and ash floated up around my mech as I touched down in what was left of Moscow. The exclusion zone was a battlefield, with Chinese-Canadian mechs dropping in every possible location. We had the enemy surrounded and outnumbered, but not outgunned. As Martin had revealed to us hours ago, our squadron had been tasked with capturing the city center. This wouldn't be easy, as the center of the exclusion zone was dominated by a massive crater. The impact zone was vast, easily four-hundred meters deep by two-thousand in diameter. Despite its size, the crater's jagged rim would provide only sparse cover against incoming fire. Worst of all? We didn't know where the enemy was hiding. Intelligence had determined that there were at least thirty of Axion's massive Legion mechs scattered throughout the smoke. We didn't know where in the city they were, but th
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