Year 2120, Unknown Island.
Blood sweat and tears had gone into this moment. The clouds began to draw closer and closer as the final stage was in progress. Henry Terrah couldn't look back for a moment and see the chaos that had unravelled over the past two hours. A smile slowly showed up on his face which was hidden by the helmet he wore. It was a proud moment for him. To come this far with the little casualties of his team mates meant the world to him. He didn't feel real. This moment didn't feel real. But he had to keep going.
The engines settled for a moment as Henry and his co pilot tried to relax after the rush of momentum. Henry tried hard not to use the rest of the fuel. Even with special advancements to aid for longevity in expositions he didn't realise how far he had to travel before entering. Going through this test once was enough to realise that he needed twenty times the amount of fuel to even reach the second island let alone fight in between. His team mates agreed that he could step out of a battle to preserve energy. He had used nearly 23 percent of the fuel for the battle previously which now left him at 17 percent.
Henry allowed Fredrick with his IAC Mark II to step forward for defence. Izzy and Samuel were the weakest link especially when it came to final battles. Henry had nerves about them, but he somehow had trust that they had learnt from their mistakes. The co pilot, Isaiah, decided to join Henry in the cockpit. Isaiah had agreed on the choice to change from striking mode to sentry mode. It was a huge weight off of Henry's shoulder to constantly fight and also be cautious of the fuel while doing so. Isaiah was an easy partner to work with and Henry always chose him to work with.
"I think one of the thrusts for the left leg is down. We might have difficulty with trying to reach the end point, unless we change into flight mode." Isaiah had reported to Henry. This was problematic. The end point was 23 kilometres from where they were and the area wasn't fully safe for transit. As Henry gazed upon Isaiah's words he started to feel disheartened and tried to think of solutions. They had a little under 5 minutes to prepare for battle with the opposition. Everyone was in position. Izzy was on the right, Samuel on the left, Cameron and Jess were both in the air, centre position.
"We'll use emergency fuel if it comes to it," Henry replied, "we can take a power break the moment the heat of the battle wears down. We then switch it back on to continue and hopefully get to the endpoint," He sighed "But it's not a guarantee that it'll make the full trip. Which I Am worried about." Henry got up quickly to enter the left entry door for the sentry gun. "We'll just have to see what happens, and hope the others can understand."
Isaiah walked to his side to use the sentry. He was also as nervous as Henry but didn't show it in his face.
Bizzybody was the name of this mech, it was a v3 rework of the Jorgan III. Isaiah chose the name. It then knelt down slowly to initiate sentry mode. Once on the ground the leg thrusters were shut off and power generators were on power saving mode for now.
Izzy turned on Comms to talk to the boys.
"What's up guys, no movement?"
"Power saving mode, we're only on 17% and we're saving it for end point entry." Henry replied "We'll still be here for sentry support whenever you need us."
"So you're not an active support?" Izzy blindly spoke.
"Did you not hear what I said?"
"Okay then." Izzy left with attitude as she turned off her Comms. There was a moment of silence that the boys had longed for unexpectedly. It was very relaxing and very tranquil. Peace on the battlefield was not something that they would experience much often but they were grateful for this odd break. Not having to hear the engine of the Bizzybody hum in their ear every moment reminded them of the world outside of this battle. How lucky they were to live in a place that didn't have much war and turmoil every waking moment was a privilege that only some could have.
Henry thought for a moment about the future and what that held for him and his brother. Was all this the payoff of everything? Was this the result of everything he wanted? He couldn't answer that. He was so young but also so bright he yet he couldn't help himself but project visions of the future In Front of him. He knew that he was more than what he was.
Bzzz-
Comms were being alerted suddenly. Henry dialled in.
"Hello? What's going on down there?" Henry asked, needing quick responses. Patience wasn't needed for the battlefield.
As the Bizzybody sat on top of a rock formation, it looked down at the battlefield waiting for the right moment to strike.
"Low battery." Replied Samuel.
He was in the Crawler, it could only do so much while fighting. Isaiah spotted 5 different mechanics moving towards the Crawler nearby a large group of rocks. The smoke had made it difficult for Samuel to see where attacks were coming from.
"Samuel, five targets on you. Any support?" Isaiah spoke.
Samuel didn't reply. Henry turned on the engine and decided to intervene. He knew he was in a good spot to attack at the right moment.
Isaiah also spotted two air runners flying towards the Bizzybody. It was strange that they weren't detected until now but Isaiah chose to work on taking them down while Henry chose to help out Samuel from below.
Isaiah had good aim, he rarely ever missed a shot when it came to using the sentry but the air runners that they were going against were a lot faster and smarter. They were moving in such an unorganised pattern which made it difficult for anyone to try and predict their next move. Not only that but they were at a height that most mechs couldn't reach and also a large size like that made them even intimidating.
The access system recognised that the mech that they were using was an Archived Jorgan V. There was a lot wrong with their current situation. Isaiah hoped that the archived Jorgan had technical difficulties while in the air. There were reports that there were struggles with the Jorgan IV when released, especially when airborne. It is most likely that air support was promptly fixed and improved in the Jorgan V.
Henry finished taking out the last mechanic that was on Samuel but he quickly moved on to help on taking out the air runners. The sentries could only do so much. They could potentially opt on the use of a light stream burst but it would expend too much energy in a short amount of time and the Jorgan III needed to cool down for up to 5 minutes. They couldn't afford to do that especially in the heat of the moment. Maybe in the endgame where it was dire but they hoped that the prospect of that happening was miniscule.
The air runners started attacking Izzy high out of the sentry area while there were also mechanics who were much larger than her mech crowding her.
Samuel took the initiative to go airborne and try to distract the air runners so that Izzy could deal with the ground mechanics on her own. This was one the weak spots that Izzy couldn't handle. And having two air runners was also difficult for her.
Henry knew that Izzy would often get overwhelmed by this moment so he focused his efforts on taking out the ground mechanics instead. Some were using spider crawlers to manoeuvre fast and still attack effectively some others were using Jumpers to attack on a higher ground. Alexis II spider crawlers were equipped with a higher grade of leg extensions which made it a difficulty for Izzy to land a good shot on them or even do any damage.
Henry took out a small fleet of spider crawlers on the way to Izzy. He started getting a headache after turning on the Bizzybody for even 5 minutes. It was grating but he had to keep going.
In the air Jess dispersed from attacking a large fleet of air runners from the west side of the battle field. The centre was empty so Jess changed her efforts onto the west but it became overwhelming especially for her. Cameron tried to help Samuel to take out the Jorgan mechs in the air.
–bzzz!
"Argh!"
Samuel was out. He came crashing down onto the smoke filled battlefield. His mech couldn't take it anymore and burst into flames. Henry grinned at the sight and quickly moved into the main cockpit.
"We're changing into striking mode!" Isaiah ran back into the cockpit to join Henry ready for ignition. They both sat down and pulled up the lever to activate the legs. Henry noticed that the percentage was now at 13 percent.
'Did we spend so much fuel?' he thought to himself.
"What is your plan?" Isaiah straightforwardly asked.
Henry was blank for a moment and decided to respond.
"Our fuel is already depleting and the likelihood of this making it to the end point is a pipe dream. We might as well just use the rest now and see what we have left." Henry didn't like to say it, but he was eager to get into the action. There was no point in finishing the mission. Isaiah wasn't on board but he followed through with Henry's orders. It was a big risk and he was right that this machinery wasn't gonna make it get to the end point even with energy fuel.
Isaiah jumped off his seat to go back downstairs to the waist control room. Henry began coordinating forward ready to jump from down the rock formation. It was a big leap down but they were almost certain that the Bizzybody could take a little damage. There were already scratches and broken parts of the Bizzybodys armour but not fully torn apart so they were still protected.
A moment just after moving a little forward in distance, a heavy hit from the side of the mech burst into right arm. Warning signals from the right arms vessel were alerting the boys. The shockwave disrupted the balance of the mech making it harder to control. Another alarm went off and it for the left leg thrusters. The thrusters started to deactivate as they were ready to leap downward.
Henry held on tight to the controls trying not to slip off and hit a wall.
"Argh! Are you okay Isaiah?!" Henry shouted trying to move the mech forward ready for descent. Henry waited but no response. That was very odd. Henry tried to keep everything under control. Sweat was making it very difficult to hold onto the joystick.
As they somehow made it to the edge of the rock formation the mech began to tilt to the left forcing them to fall without any way of properly landing.
The fall wasn't graceful. Tumbling against the rocks and mounds towards the ground in such a large machinery was more just a headache and some injuries, it could most likely end up in death. Upon crashing hard into the surface alarms started to sound louder than ever. Henry was no longer in his seat due to the belt being broken off from the command control seat. As the Bizzybody faced the ground Henry tried to crawl around but seemed that he couldn't do so.
With his bare arms through his torn uniform he somehow made it to the controls. He struggled to find a grip around the access system joystick. His laboured breathing made it difficult to focus on anything, especially the buttons below. He tried to get the mech up but with the left leg thrusters not working, it was a never ending failure. The lower body was starting to deactivate
Isaiah was most likely out of the battle and Henry's health bar was slowly decreasing in the corner. He started to panic but then slowly stopped and stayed there while everything came to an end.
"Fucksake! What even happened?" Henry tried to reposition himself to get into a more comfortable position but it wasn't working, nothing was working. "Ah, the leg thrusters…" Henry reminded himself.
"Arg—--..." Comms from Cameron.
"Hel—Help!..." Comms from Izzy.
It was dark, he could feel that everything around him was fading into black. But what could a boy do in such a situation? There was no longer a green health bar in the corner of the screen. Only flashing red. He wanted to scream for help, as loud as he could, but it would've been worthless…
And in just a few seconds of nothing happening, something showed up in bright red colours.
"ｌｅｖｅｌ ｆａｉｌｅｄ"
'How many more attempts until I get to the end? I was too hasty… I should've pulled back.' Henry couldn't help but wallow in his own failure. Right after that message showed up a new message appeared on screen.
"Ｒｅｍｏｖｅ ＩＶＲ Ｈｅａｄｓｅｔ Ａｎｄ Ｇｅａｒ Ｎｏｗ．"
Henry did what was told. He squinted his eyes quickly just after seeing the blinding light coming through the large assembly hall windows from above that let in the sky. Everything was painfully bright to the point where he wanted to wear his IVR helmet to shield from the rays of light.
He then found himself lying on the floor in a square box with glass walls around him while also wearing his matted track suit which was integrated for virtual wearing.
Henry felt relief that everything wasn't real. That moment wasn't real but it did happen. And someday it might happen sooner than expected in reality. So he needed to train harder, think smarter and know how to become better. But that'll take time and effort, both things he didn't like.
After getting up and stretching around, he soon forgot about the battle as all the real visual stimuli around him were being taken in. He looked to his right and observed for a moment the boy in the next cubicle. It was Isaiah. He was sitting in his box laying down with his arms behind his head looking up to the ceiling. Henry squinted to see his expression and he noticed that his face was red and teary.
Henry proceeded to walk out of his cubicle and enter Isaiah's. Isaiah didn't look up to him, only the ceiling above. Henry stood there for a moment and tried to think of anything useful he could say in the moment. He knew what to say to himself. But not to other people. He was too logical for emotional moments. That's what people disliked about Henry.
"Sorry bud. I'll make this up to you soon" Henry was surely sincere with his words, "I'm really sorry about everything." Henry spoke so softly as he looked down at Isaiah with sorrowful eyes. He then took the response of silent tears and sobbing from Isaiah to then leave the cubicle.
Henry walked past a couple of glass rooms, though empty he remembered where his classmates once were. Alison, Trevor, Kylie, Phoebe, Dennis, Tyler and many more. Everyone must've gone home by now. Upon making his way to the exit, he looked back one last time at the empty cubicles and while there was silence he still could hear the low hum of Isaiah's despair.
Through the doors into the main site he saw an empty lobby with rooms that led to empty classrooms. Most students would have been here but the test took over 12 hours and it was now 7 pm. The sun was still alive and well but it was so empty and so quiet. A large highschool indeed.
It felt like trespassing but Henry went about his own way and into the class 1-C where he found Mrs Moretta chatting it up with Mr Farrell. They both noticed Henry by the door way, 'Must've been a funny conversation they were having until I showed up' Henry thought to himself.
Still smiling, Mrs Moretta, her blonde hair and glassy eyes along with her black dress that she rarely ever wore sat behind her desk looking at Henry and asking about the test.
"It was okay I suppose"
The adults kept smiling, sharing a knowing smile towards each other then back to Henry.
"Well I'll be heading off now," Mr Ferrell, bald with a loose red tie, dashed away through the door with whatever he had planned. The focus was now back on Henry.
"Okay so what will be happening- take a seat," Mrs Moretta commanded him, " the test results will be coming in late November I think I can't remember if it's either November or January but around winter time you'll definitely have them in your inbox if not contact the school so we can check where they are."
"Alright."
"Yeah, so you'll be going into college in September then into MAU in September 2121, correct?"
"Yup I suppose so." Henry replied distastefully. Mechanical And Aerospace University wasn't something that was desirable. He wanted to create mechs alone without any need for educational systems around him constantly.
"Well that's good news, why do you look upset?" Mrs Moretta asked abruptly.
"The test, I don't think I did well in it."
"Don't put yourself down Henry, you're a great pilot and a great student I'm sure you did well. Mrs Moretta encouraged, "At Least you tried your best." She smiled at him softly.
Henry somewhat smiled back but springed back into a frown.
"Okay now we need to discuss the homework for the beginning entry of next year's studies starting in September." Mrs Moretta announced to Henry while he still sat lost in his thoughts staring at something non existent. "Eyes up, I want to go home too, so stay with me please." She instructed him.
Henry sighed and adjusted himself upright to listen to Mrs Morettas words.
"The homework will show up in your inbox later today but i'll give you more details about it now." Mrs Moretta began, "The school of technology and aerospace wants you to create a ship, mech or glider for them. The requirements is that it has to be a 7 star grade creation. I've looked at your previous creations which have been around the 4 star grade area which is concerning. So you have three months to make a 7 star mech and send it away to SoTA before September 23rd to enter back into this school and then transition into MAU."
"That is literally impossible." Henry replied back. "How on Earth am I going to make a 7 star mech when I can't even scratch the surface of a 5 star mech?"
"Not my problem, there's over 200,000 applicants for MAU and if you don't get in, someone else will. So think fast." Mrs Moretta was stern when she said that. Henry needed to get into MAU, there wasn't much of another option or to live in the outlands of Phoran and work with materials to make barely any money.
Mechanics and Aerospace University sat in the heart of Lianos with nearly 1.3M people who currently study there. The majority of them come from out of the city, usually from Lillyos up north, or Kerte down south, or from the Otreantic Islands which lacked education of technology. But the best performers were non-locals, and Henry would have to go against people who would put their blood sweat and tears into getting into MAU. MAU was the top school in the world and he needed to join his brother someday.
Henry heard footsteps coming around the corner, he got nervous that it could be Isaiah and he had to talk to him about what happened. Izzy and Cameron entered through the door. Cameron's ginger hair glistened as the sunlight shone bright through the window, he sat down nearby Henry and gave him a quick nod. Izzy, who had black silk hair with dangerous tangerine eyes with a tan complexion, sat far in the corner of the class away from the boys.
"Isabel, could you do me a favour and sit somewhere closer so that I don't have to shout."
Izzy didn't say a word but somehow you could feel her attitude and patience coming to an end. She sat in a different seat one row closer. She was still far away, but Mrs Moretta decided not to try any further.
"That's fine." Mrs Moretta began talking about the homework assignment with the two and what they should prepare for. Henry spent this time thinking where and how the fuck is he going to make a 7 star mech within three months in time for submission. This doesn't make sense.