Chapter 3: Trembling Hands.
"All units fall back! Lasglow-class battleship docking!"
It has been a month since I joined the Earthsavers. My current mission is to protect the space city of Eurasia at all costs, which means I had to work with the EPD virtually all the time. That being said, most of my work involves sorting out paperwork on petty crimes reported to the EPD, and doing maintenance for vehicles.
"Ugh, such a slog..."
"It's alright man. One day we'll be Frame pilots"
That's Copper Hiffensworth. He's my roommate and a close friend back in highschool. He enlisted in the Earthsavers a few months before me, but eventually moved in with me once he realized how good my mansion replica was. Right now he's about to survey the middle layer of the city to ensure the engines are working properly. My job today? To oversee the docking of this Lasglow-class battleship. We get shuttles and ships coming to the city everyday, but most of them arrive at the spaceport on the surface. This secret spaceport is only used for starfighter carriers and cargo ships, who are simply too large to dock in the spaceport.
"Docking complete!"
Lasglow is by far the Earthsavers' most advanced battleship, being able to carry 4 nuclear reactor and 16 high-performance solar panels, effectively creating a self-sustainable energy source. It is heading for the Earthsavers' HQ on the Moon, the Lunacis Caverna; however decided to stop at Eurasia for restocking on food and rations before making their way. The higher-ups also wanted to carry out some tests on the "secret weapon" on board the ship without alerting the Great War remnants.
That was when I heard Copper and some other Earthsavers scream as they come back from the surface.
"GIANT! A GIANT IS IN THE CITY!"
"All units, prepare for attack!" - captain K-12 ordered his troops as all personnel on board the Lasglow readied their weapons. I walked inside my house and grabbed a jetpack as well as my RT-77 Assault Rifle. This was the standard equipment for any Earthsavers personnel operating on the ground or in space cities. My team consisted of 12 members, all living within close proximities and thus we are able to understand one another clearly.
"This must be some kind of sick joke." -Clarke commented on the whole situation. We couldn't help but laugh.
As we approached the surface, we could sense the rumbling caused by the beast as it prowls through the city. Eventually when the elevator door opened, we realized that this was not a sick joke at all.
Two Mobile Armors, and one Dragon-class Giant, all inside the glass dome of Eurasia.
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"I'M OUT OF BULLETS! I NEED BACKUPS NOW!"
As my allies fell one by one to the immense firepower of the Mobile Armors, hope was wearing thin. The Giant was scorching the entire southwest part of the city with its fire breath, toppling buildings and even reinforcement vehicles.
"Where did these Mobile Armors come from? And why isn't the Giant attacking them?"
"Remnants! They still use older Mobile Armor technology! I don't know about the Giant!"
Suddenly, Elliot's voice echoed within my minds. What did he say? That I would become a key factor in the war? No. My comrades are dying. I am going to die. I am surrounded by nothing but burnt corpses, toppled buildings, blood, bones, and the putrid stench of rotten meat.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck! WHY THE HELL DID I ENLIST?"
But all hope was not lost. I retreated to the lower areas where the Lasglow resided. There was a secret weapon on board the ship.
"Let's see... Open the two hatches leading to the ship's storage... Password is 77867... There we go!"
The door to the ship's storage opens, revealing a massive machine covered with a tarp. I tried pushing the machine out, but to no avail. That was when the machine seemingly shook a little.
"Hm?"
The machine slowly rose up on its own, ejecting itself out of the many straps restricting it. A voice called out to me:
"April Hovermike."
"...Yes?"
"This city... is under attack. Hop into my cockpit."
The machine was speaking to me? Hiding my surprise, I did exactly what it told me to do, and once I was in the cockpit, the lights turned on, revealing its many intricate controls. The machine had three joysticks. The one on the left controls thruster speed. The one on the right controls movement. The one in the middle controls aiming. Macros are used for specific actions.
Undoubtedly, this was a mech.
I booted up the system, and the letters "FRAME" flashed on the monitors.
<MACHINE ID: EFU-067 VALKYRIE>
<MACHINE ID: EFUE-175 VALKYRIE FLYER>
<MACHINE STATUS: BOTH MACHINES ACTIVE>
<COMMENCING RECALIBRATION>
<UNIT NAME: EFU-067F VALKYRIE FLIGHT TYPE>
I placed my hands on the joysticks, and slammed on the pedals. The Frame jolts forward, almost hitting the ground had I not pulled the stick back.
"How do you even pilot this thing?"
<SYSTEM HELP>
<TO START PILOTING, PLEASE FOLLOW THE ONSCREEN CONTROLS>
"I have to save the city! No time for-"
Just then - a painful sensation hit my head, as if someone electrocuted my brain. After the pain wore off, the controls suddenly felt a lot less complex. I grabbed the joysticks again, and this time I successfully launched off.
"April Hovermike, EFU-067 Valkyrie, taking off!"
I placed the Frame on the big industrial elevator, and finally reached the surface level.
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"The EFU-067? But how? Who's piloting the Frame?"
A million questions are surrounding the survivors' thoughts, as the winged Frame slams into the Dragon Giant, pinning it to the ground while dismembering the enemy Mobile Armor. The Frame was blindingly fast, quickly evading beam attacks from enemy Mobile Armors and most importantly, dealing heavy damage on the Giant. The Frame has two arm-mounted retractable daggers used for close combat. On its back, the EFUE-175 Valkyrie Flyer contains two additional beam sabers and a 120mm submachine gun used to shoot down enemy airplanes and older Mobile Armor outer shell. Apart from being a portable weapon rack, the Flyer is also an additional set of thrusters, meant to increase the Valkyrie's mobility.
"I'll turn you all into Swiss cheese!" - April screamed, as he pulled out the machine gun and peltered the enemies with bullets. Enemy troops fell one by one, and soon the only one left standing was the Dragon-class Giant.
The Valkyrie slowly unsheathed one of its sabers and hold it with two hands. Its gaze locked on the beast, the color of its LED eyes turn from light blue to bright red, indicating that it is now in high-energy mode. The red mech thrusted forward at full speed, aiming straight at the beast's torso. The fleshy monstrosity retaliated, spewing fire breath directly at the machine, forcing it to move out of the way. Flesh and steel battled for a few minutes more, the monster throwing lethal balls of fire while the Valkyrie dodges the barrage thanks to its superior mobility. In a split second, the monster was thrown off balance, and the Valkyrie, taking advantage of this situation, quickly took off, before descending down with a bright beam of energy in its hands. The ultra-hot plasma melted through the beast's brain, frying it and instantly killing the monster.
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"What just happened? Where did all that energy come from?" - I wondered to myself.
I had killed the beast. One swift saber slash and its brain became mush. Yet I was... perplexed. Where did all that energy come from? Why was I able to operate this machine? A million questions were spiraling within my head.
"Well-done, nameless Earthsaver."
That was a voice I had never heard. I looked at the monitors and saw a man, clad in all black armor just like a mini-Frame, staring right at me whilst hovering in the air. He wore a terrifying smile, almost as if he was playing with me.
"What do you want?"
"Fight me!"
As he said, he lifted his right arm, and suddenly the entire Frame shook uncontrollably. He was clearly controlling the Frame, but how?
"Leave the kid alone. Fight me instead, Ezra."
That was commander Elliot. What is he doing here? Why is he in a battle?
The commander arrived on the battlefield clad in blue and gold armor, reminiscent of his commander cloak he wore when he was giving out orders. He wielded a singular beam sword, similar to that of a Frame, just way smaller and emitted less energy.
"I wasn't expecting your here, Ellie. It's a pleasant surprise." - Ezra cackled, just like how he did when he first spotted here.
"Leave. Now. You are not welcome here."
"Why? I was an Earthsaver too!"
"Tch... TRAITOR!"
The commander was furious, he drew his beam saber and charged towards the man in armor.
"ELLIOT! WITNESS THE POWER OF A TRUE OVERLORD!"
The man did the same thing, moving his right arm forwards, only for it to get chopped off by the commander's blade.
"AGH! YOU CUT MY ARM OFF! YOU CUT OFF THE ARM OF THE OVERLORD!"
"You are not the only Overlord, Ezra."
The commander then raises his arm, before seemingly pulling Ezra towards him with thin air. Ezra resisted, as if he was trying to break free from the commander's grip.
"Bastard... you dare steal my powers from me?" - Ezra screams as he struggles to break free from his constraints.
"Too bad."
With a swift motion, the commander twisted his arm, breaking Ezra's neck and kills him. Ezra's bloodied corpse fell from a great height and exploded into a pile of pulp. Having committed murder, the commander only gazed at my Frame for a second, before leaving for his starfighter and zooms away.
"Overlord...? What even is that?" - I questioned myself, as the rest of my squad gathered around my Frame.
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"Sir, Ezra is killed. The Earthsavers have an Overlord. And it seems they have a lot of amplifiers as well. One of them killed Dracuk."
The hooded servant bowed to his master as he speaks. The master was unfazed, only telling his servants to get back to work.
"So it's true. Their commander is the original Overlord."
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