A/N: Hahahaha! I have no life because I wrote all of this in the span of one day.
You may find it really boring, because the first portion is just a lot of history and technical stuff, so if you want to skip it, I won't kill you for it.
I got plenty of nice reviews (and one not so nice) which makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside because you people are actually reading what I'm writing.
So yeah...keep reading, following, reviewing, and whatever else you guys do, because here's chapter 10.
Enjoy!
March 5th, 2:30pm, Auditorium in the Viceroy's Palace
I had to admit, Britannian's sure didn't do anything half-assed.
I was standing on stage behind a podium in a large auditorium that could seat thousands.
Current occupants of the auditorium?
Four...including myself.
I cleared my throat with a quiet cough before beginning.
"Good afternoon General, my lord, your highness" I said, nodding to each on in turn. "Today I'll be giving you a presentation on the differences between my world and yours.
"Please take this information and don't cause a riot because I'll be relating a lot of it to a failed Britannian exploit, which is Washington's Rebellion. And the fact that I'm doing all of this from memory.
"It started with Benjamin Franklin not being swayed by the British, and not betraying General Washington, which allowed them to expel the British from North American soil and eventually create the United States of America.
"Now then, your timeline is set to the Ascension Throne Britannia, whereas ours is fifty-five years later. So because it is March 5th, 2018 A.T.B, right now where I'm from, it's currently March 5th, 1963. Wow...didn't think I'd go back in time...
"But I digress, as I was talking with General Darlton the other day, I brought up the usage of nuclear weapons, or Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). I gave him a short rundown, but today I'm here to give you all a more comprehensive look into the weaponry we've used.
"Nuclear isn't all bad, considering that we've learned to use it as a way to generate power, but it doesn't come without its own dangers. I'll get into that in a moment, for now, we'll talk about nuclear power.
"The most common elements used in the nuclear chain reaction are Uranium-235 and Plutonium-239. These elements are placed in what we call fuel rods, and are inserted into a nuclear reactor to generate power.
"When one of the elements above absorbs a neutron, it undergoes a reaction which generates a little bit of heat. Multiply that by a whole lot, and you've got a whole lot of heat. We use water as a coolant in the reactors so they don't overheat and 'meltdown.'
"Control rods are rods inserted into the reactor, which are made up of elements that absorb neutrons, but will not react to them. They are basically the brakes of the nuclear chain reaction.
"Now then, when the cooling water is circulated through the core, it absorbs the heat from the nuclear reaction, turning to steam. It then goes though piping and spins a turbine to generate electricity, then returns to the condenser and back into water, to repeat the cycle all over again."
I paused to bring up a diagram I had made of a simple nuclear reactor to drive home what I had just said.
"As I was saying, nuclear power isn't without it's dangers. The worst happened in the Ukraine, at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, where a reactor exploded due to a failure of a test. Heat levels rose to unimaginable heights in the core, and exploded the reactor.
"With the explosion, came the fallout. Tiny particles of radiation that clung to anything and everything, carried thousands of kilometers by the wind. If you absorb enough radiation, you can, and most likely, will, die.
"But that's enough on the basics, onto what you're all here for. There are two types of nuclear devices. Fission bombs, and Fusion Bombs, also known as Thermonuclear Devices."
I paused to take a drink from the glass of water that had been graciously left on the stand for me, before continuing.
"A fission bomb uses two pieces of Uranium-235, which are kept apart, and a regular explosive. When the TNT explodes, it sends one piece of Uranium crashing into the other, causing a fission reaction and exploding violently."
I changed the slide to a drawing of an atomic bomb, and a mushroom cloud.
"These weapons were first developed and tested during the Second World War, in which America, Britain, Canada, Russia, and many other nations were at war with Germany, Italy, and Japan.
"They formed the Manhattan Project to research and build a nuclear device capable of ending a war in one fell swoop. Italy surrendered before they were built. Germany surrendered before they could be used, but Japan kept on fighting.
"American casualties on Okinawa and Iwo Jima were staggering. The Japs would never surrender, resorting to suicide charges known as the Banzai Charge, as well as Kamikaze attacks on US warships, crashing into them with planes filled with fuel and explosives.
"America was authorized to use nuclear weapons, and two bombs were dropped. One on the city of Hiroshima, and the other on Nagasaki. The results were horrifying in themselves.
"In the span of three days, 123,000 people had been wiped off the face of the earth. Double that number, and you have the total death count from burns, radiation sickness, cancer, and other injuries. Give or take a few thousand.
"But that's not all. There was the quest for the biggest bomb, which then resulted in the advent of Thermonuclear Weapons. They used fission to compress and ignite a secondary fusion reaction. This results in a much greater explosive power.
"They are commonly known as Hydrogen Bombs, or 'H-bombs' due to the fact that hydrogen is being fused into helium during the reaction, which creates tremendous heat and pressure. I've even heard that the heat in a fusion bomb is higher than the temperature at the sun's core.
"The Soviet Union, or USSR, at the time, now known as Russia, created a 50 megaton (50 million tons of TNT) bomb, known as the Tsar Bomba. It was initially supposed to be a 100 megaton yield, but scientists backed it down to 50.
"Still it would've been enough to 3rd degree burns 100 kilometers away, and the test demolished everything within 55km. That forced researchers to face the fact that they were playing with an unimaginable level of power.
"They then changed, and began development of Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles, or ICBM's as they're called. Nazi Germany started looking at them during the war, and the V-2 Rocket was the first real Ballistic Missile the world had ever seen. Being able to hit London from a maximum range of 320km.
"Again, they wanted bigger and better, which led all the way up to America building missiles capable of reaching beyond 13,000km away. These missiles had Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicles, or MIRV's, which enabled a single missile to hit several cities with amazing accuracy.
"It would only take one missile with six MIRV's to wipe out...say...Pendragon, San Diego, Dallas, New York, Washington, and Miami. That is the power that America, Russia, and a few other nations wielded in my time."
I looked at my watch and wiped the sweat off my forehead.
"Let's take a five minute break, and reconvene here so I can continue."
I chugged down the rest of the water in my glass and sought to refill it before we moved on. There was still much to talk about with the advent of space travel, the MAD Doctrine and the uses of fossil fuel as well as renewable energy sources.
"Jesus Christ" I thought, finding a water fountain to refill my glass "I never thought I'd be more nervous about giving a presentation than that time I did one for the RBC."
With my glass of water full once again, I returned to the podium to see the three occupants in a quiet conversation.
"Please keep all questions until the end. Pen and paper have been provided under your seats to write down any and all you may have" I stated, before leaning on the podium "Are we ready to proceed?"
They nodded, and I said "Very well, let's move on."
"Along with the advent of nuclear weaponry, came what's known as the MAD, or Mutually Assured Destruction Doctrine.
"This came into effect if a country had sufficient nuclear capabilities to completely wipe another country with nuclear abilities off the map.
"If say...Britannia and the EU possessed nuclear weaponry sufficient enough to destroy the other, and the EU launched a preemptive strike against Britannia, Britannia would retaliate with launching a strike against the EU of sufficient of greater power.
"Both countries would wipe each other off the face of the earth, therefore, the destruction would be mutual. That, was the only real thing keeping Russia and America at bay so they didn't annihilate the world during a period known as the Cold War, but I won't get into that.
"Onto something fully different, but I know you'll be interested in. In my time, America put men on the Moon. It began in 1957, again, between America and the USSR, with Russia launching the first ever satellite into space."
The looks on their faces were priceless, and if I had a camera, I'd certainly have snapped a photo.
"It continued, once again with the two nations neck in neck, until March, of 1965 where a Soviet performs the first spacewalk outside a spacecraft.
"Then, on July 20th, 1969, two men successfully landed, walked on, and then took off again, from the surface of the moon. The American people began to dream bigger. Going to Mars, and possibly even beyond that.
"However, we never landed men on mars while I was still there, and they probably won't for another fifteen or twenty years in my opinion.
"Looking over the schematics for the Float Prototypes that I snagged from Lloyd...er...Earl Asplund, it may be a viable way to launch satellites into orbit for things such as spying or Global Positioning.
"I've given you a very basic rundown of space travel, mostly because I never really paid much attention to it while I was back at home, but I think you get the gist of it all.
"Back to weaponry however. The only thing that you really have, that we don't, is Knightmares. We've got tanks, APC's, ships, subs, jets, jeeps, and the like, but ours run off fossil fuels mostly, and not Sakuradite.
"Now, fossil fuels were formed due to the compression of dead animals, mostly dinosaurs, through millions of years. They come in the form of oil and coal mostly. We called those Non-Renewable Resources, because once they were gone, that was it.
"Coal was used as power generation, and oil was refined into petrol, to be used in engines for cars, tanks, ships, etc. But we also used Renewable Resources.
"These were things like solar power, geothermal energy, tidal energy, wind power, and hydro dams. Basically if it didn't run out, we could use it to produce power.
"Last I saw, we were starting to demolish coal power plants and make the switch to renewable sources, but then...I was brought here.
"Now then...are there any questions before we move on to other WMD's?"
"Yes" Lord Guilford said, looking at his notebook. "Where is the largest concentration of Uranium located?"
"The largest concentrations are located in Australia, with Kazakhstan in second, followed by Canada, or Area 2 as you know it" I stated, looking down at my notes.
"How long would it take to develop a nuclear device?" General Darlton asked me.
"Unknown. It depends on how well your scientists are versed in nuclear theory and how desperate they are for a weapon of unimaginable destruction. It took the Americans 3 years to develop the first nuclear bomb, so it could take at least that.
"Now then, if that's all, I'll continue."
I cleared my throat, moving onto another slide.
"WMD's are in a special group. They're any weapon with Chemical, Biological, Radiological, or Nuclear (CBRN) properties about them that can cause significant harm to human life in a very short period of time.
"This includes weaponized biological plagues (Smallpox, Anthrax, etc.), chemical weapons (gasses and liquids which will be touched on), and radiological weapons, which are not true nuclear weapons, but nuclear weapons are also classed as WMD's.
"Now, biological is basically anything using germs, cells, or pathogens to spread a disease that can kill. The Black Plague was basically a biological weapon, but it wasn't developed and spread by humans.
"Bioterrorism was a growing concern, due to the 2001 attacks which happened in September. The targets were U.S. Senators. Basically what happened was, terrorists put a few spores of Anthrax onto letters.
"The letters were then mailed and as a result 22 people were infected and five were killed. It may not sound like much, but imagine if they sent out a hundred letters, or even a thousand. Those numbers would've been far greater.
"Biological weapons are no joke. They're designed to kill crops, poison water, infect people, and collapse economies. It was a growing concern in my time, but it wasn't at the forefront.
"Radiological weapons, as I said, are not true nuclear weapons. They rely on a conventional explosive to spread the nuclear material contained within the package, rather than a fission or fusion reaction.
"The aptly named 'Dirty Bomb' was the most commonly used. They would take spent nuclear fuel, put it inside a container, add a timer and some TNT, and leave it in a populated area to explode and kill people with the fallout caused.
"Researchers have been arguing as to whether they were actually WMD's or not, but as a personal opinion, I would think that they are.
"There were no instances in which Dirty Bomb's were detonated to cause civilian casualties, but the threat was still there. Any questions before I proceed onto chemical weapons?"
The small crowd was silent as I took another drink and changed to a different slide.
"Chemical weapons were first developed in the First World War, and the market only grew. There are four types of weapon. Blister Agents, Nerve Agents, Blood Agents, and Choking Agents.
"Blister agents, are designed to cause painful water blisters due to severe chemical burns on the body. They also cause severe skin, eye, and mucosal pain and irritation. Mustard gas and Lewisite are a few examples.
"Nerve agents affect the central nervous system of the body, where they disrupt the nerves between the brain and vital organs. This causes severe spasms, among other things, until ultimately leading to death due to asphyxiation.
"There are many kinds of nerve agents. Tabun, Sarin, and the deadliest, VX."
I pulled a coin out of my pocket and threw it into the crowd, with Princess Cornelia catching it.
"Flip it over...see the Emperor?" I asked, and she nodded.
"See the Emperor's eye?"
"What's the point of this?" she asked, looking up at me.
"The point is, a droplet of VX, the size of the Emperor's eye on that coin, is enough to kill a person. The United States produced 4,400 tons of VX. That's enough to kill the world several times over. 30 micrograms is enough to kill a person. I've done the math. A stockpile that large, if everyone was given the minimum dosage, would kill 13 trillion people.
"Maybe more. And that was only the United States! Other countries produced the agent as well! They stopped production, thank god, but the stockpile is still there."
Again I paused to wipe my forehead, changing the slide.
"Blood agents are absorbed into the blood, as the name states, and can be potentially lethal. There are several non-lethal, such as pepper spray, and sleeping gas, which are designed to incapacitate, but things like Hydrogen Cyanide, and Cyanogen are very lethal.
"Lastly, choking agents are designed to incapacitate breathing by causing a buildup of fluid in the lungs. Basically, the receiver drowns in his own fluid, and suffocates. Common gasses that cause this are Chlorine and Phosgene."
Again, I looked at my watch. I'd been at this for an hour, and decided to call a break.
"Take ten guys. Next up is the final Q&A period in which I'll answer all those burning questions I know you've got."
Again, I downed the glass of water and went back to the fountain to fill it up again.
Was it warm in here? Or was it just me?
I tugged at the collar of my uniform to alleviate a little of the heat as I made my way back to the podium.
The three of them looked like good little students, pen and notebook in hand, trying to figure out which questions they wanted answers to first.
"Now then" I said, walking to the center of the stage and facing outwards "Who has a question?"
Three hands instantly shot up, and again I was reminded of school.
"Well, Princess Cornelia didn't ask any last time, so she gets to ask the first question" I stated, clasping my hands behind my back.
"By rough estimation, how long would it take to construct a satellite and launch it into a steady orbit?"
"That's a tough one" I said. "Again, it's unknown because I don't know how advanced you are into the float technology. It could take a few months, or a few years depending on factors such as how many scientists are working and how much they know about it."
"Would a bomb made of liquid Sakuradite be classed as a WMD?" Guilford asked, to which I nodded.
"It would. The chemical properties seem to be on par with a fusion reaction, but without the fallout, which is a major killer" I stated.
The questions continued flowing, and some of them, I didn't have an answer to, so I just said "I have no idea" and left it at that.
4:30pm, Lecture just finished
"Excellent work my boy" Darlton said, clasping my shoulder.
"Thanks Sir. I was certainly more thorough than I thought I'd be. And you all asked a lot more questions than I expected" I replied as we walked out the doors.
"You can't fault us for being curious" the large man stated with a chuckle.
"No, I really can't. I guess this is a 'more you know' situation in my books" I said with a smile.
"That it is son, that it is" the General replied, leading me to the dining room where the table was being set for dinner, which was still a half hour off.
"Something up Sir?" I asked as we continued out to the balcony overlooking the settlement.
The older man sighed as he looked over the settlement.
"We've been dropped down from readiness level 5 to 3. That basically means we're not authorized to perform any attacks against the Black Knights without solid evidence that they're involved.
"Right now, we're trying to find the rest of the JLF, but they've disappeared off the map. Let's just hope that we can before they get away somewhere else."
"That would be quite good General" I said, before pausing "Sir, would I be able to head over to the Special Corps to perform a few more drills for Lloyd in his simulators? I think he said something about doing that yesterday when I talked with him."
Darlton paused in thought, before saying "I don't see why not. Request a driver and a car after dinner. Is there anyone you want to accompany you?"
"Well, if it wouldn't be too much trouble...could you see if Lord Guilford is free?" I asked, leaning on the rail.
"Consider it done Andrew" he replied, as we both looked over the beauty of the settlement.
After dinner, en route to TTI
"General Darlton has informed me that you're quite skilled in the art of Knightmare combat" Guilford said, as we took the off-ramp leading towards TTI.
"I guess so" I replied, shrugging "I mean...Lloyd said I averaged around 87% in every frame he tested me on...whatever that means, and I was able to contribute to saving the Viceroy during Narita with the Lancelot."
"That's rather impressive" Guilford said as the car stopped and we got out. "What's our purpose for being here this evening?"
"Oh, well, Lloyd just wanted to put me through a few more drills in his simulators to figure some stuff out I guess" I replied as we walked through the doors and into the building.
Like usual, Cecile was waiting by the front desk to take us to the labs where the simulators were kept.
When we finally walked in the room, both Lloyd and Suzaku were present.
"Ah and there he is. My rising star" Lloyd said, looking at me. "Are you ready for another run in the simulators?"
"Of course I am Lloyd. You called me for this, remember?" I said, taking off my tunic and hanging it on one of the coat hooks on the wall.
"Yes, yes" the scientist tutted "Today, I'll be putting you in the Lancelot simulator to see how you do in that."
"Wasn't I already in that one?" I asked, rolling up my sleeves.
"No. We put you through Glasgow, Sutherland, and Gloucester, with results at 85%, 87%, and 90% respectively" he stated going over to the computer and typing "Now, I want to see if you can manage a seventh gen frame."
"Alright Lloyd, let's do this then" I affirmed, nodding to him and Cecile.
"Eager as always I see. Well your chariot awaits, all it needs is the pilot" Lloyd said, opening the door, and closing it behind me.
I prepared myself for what was to come.
Thirty minutes later
"Astounding!" I heard Lloyd say as I was buttoning up my tunic.
"Your results aren't on par with Warrant Officer Kururugi, but they're very impressive still. A 92% rating" Cecile said, smiling at me.
"That's good...right?" I asked, smoothing the arms on my uniform.
"Very good Captain. That just means that if Suzaku is ever incapacitated, we have someone else to call onto should we need a backup pilot for the Lancelot" Lloyd stated, grinning widely.
"Alright then Lloyd. Any more tasks for tonight?" I asked, and he shook his head. "Okay then...I'll see you all later."
Guilford and I walked back through the university to the waiting car, and I asked him something I'd wanted to for awhile.
"Lord Guilford, I was wondering if you could teach me something" I said, after we'd gotten back into the car and began moving down the highway.
"What would that be Captain?"
"Well, because I'm a member of the Royal Guard, I would like to be taught self-defense, and hand to hand combat...if it's not too much trouble" I stated, looking over at the man.
"Have you had any previous training?" he asked me, to which I shook my head. "This is going to be fun for you then."
"So you agree to train me, my lord?" I asked.
"That I do Captain. That I do" he replied, lightly punching my arm.
March 22nd, Tokyo Harbor
"The JLF is attempting to flee the country on that tanker out there filled with liquid Sakuradite. We'll need to watch our fire so as we don't explode it, but we also need to eliminate all JFL personnel except for General Katase" General Darlton stated. "We begin the operation in four hours. Dismissed."
Currently, I was standing at my assigned position in the warehouse, a quartet of Knightmares behind me.
All of them were Gloucesters, and one of them was mine for this operation.
When Darlton told me that, I was sorta like a kid on Christmas getting the toy he always wanted.
Except that this was a giant, shiny robot, with a giant, shiny lance.
The plan was that the Royal Marines (RM) would blow a hole in one of the unused drydocks that was currently full of water, and board the tanker to take General Katase, and the last remnants of the JLF into custody.
If everything worked out properly, none of the Gloucester's would even need to be used for the fight...but you know...when I'm involved, things never work out properly.
"You're up here playing with the big boys now Dixon" I heard Guilford say as I put my uniform in the storage box in the cockpit of my Gloucester.
"Trust me, I know. Although, we really shouldn't need either you, the General, the Viceroy, or me if things pan out properly" I stated, closing the door to the cockpit block.
"Since when does that ever happen?" he said flatly, before lashing out with a leg sweep.
I jumped the leg and countered with a one-two punch combo, both of which were blocked.
"Just keeping you on your toes Andrew" Guilford said, nodding to me "You've come a long way since we started. You're nearly on par with a Royal Knight in hand to hand and self defense."
"I've had you for a teacher Gil" I replied, punching the older man lightly in the arm, causing us both to laugh.
Guilford had become a very good friend of mine in this world, and we got along really well, which I sorta found hard to believe.
Darlton was a father figure.
Euphemia was a younger sister.
Lloyd was the crazy uncle.
Cecile was the aunt that couldn't cook (SHE REALLY CAN'T!)
Suzaku was a cool cousin.
And Cornelia...well...the jury is still out on that one.
Tonight, was going to be a long night.
Four hours later
"It's time" Darlton said, turning slightly to Princess Cornelia.
"Commence with the operation!" she shouted, throwing her left arm forward.
We stood by as the Royal Marine Knightmares splashed into the water, thrusters churning the calm surface into a roiling state before the water gained its equilibrium back.
The Lancelot and supporting Sutherlands squealed off with the smell of burning rubber from the landspinners to a jetty overlooking the JLF tanker.
A massive explosion and huge column of water caused me to look up in surprise as the torpedoes smashed into the concrete wall holding the water in the closed drydock.
The path was now clear for the marines to make their assault on the tanker.
The supporting Knightmares were in position, and just as JLF members ran to the bow of the ship, the marines breached the water.
The Sutherlands began supporting fire, knocking off the resistance members one by one, but I could see that Suzaku wasn't firing his weapon.
"I'll need to ask him why later" I thought, just as a call came through the radio.
"We surrender! Cease fire! This is the Japan Liberation Front, I repeat, we surrender!"
"A surrender over an open channel? Probably a feint" Guilford said, and he was proven right.
The massive propellers of the ship began to spin, churning the water behind the ship into a foaming wake as the tanker began to move forward.
"Correct it seems" I muttered, watching on.
Six slash harkens shot forth and latched onto the deck of the ship, pulling three RM Knightmares out of the water and onto the deck.
A fourth was just coming out of the water when the unthinkable happened.
A purple ball began expanding under the ship, growing larger and larger, lifting the ship out of the water with a great cacophony of noise.
The entire tanker, marines and all, disappeared in this bright ball, as water exploded outwards like a tsunami.
The wind flow in the warehouse was incredible, blasting Princess Cornelia's cape backwards in the draft.
"I don't fucking believe it" I shouted "They blew the liquid Sakuradite in a suicide measure. Looks like I was right about it being a WMD."
I watched a Sutherland get blown away by the force of the blast, and the rest of the Knightmares were barely hanging on to the jetty as it was.
Another column of water shot to the sky as the last air bubbles were expelled out of the tanker and it disappeared below the surface of the harbor.
A streak of missiles shot forth and obliterated a Sutherland as a boat crashed onto the jetty a few hundred feet to the side of us.
"Mount up now and form a defensive line now! On the double!" General Darlton shouted, already riding the wire up to the cockpit of his Knightmare.
I ran over to mine just as the ship retracted two forward panels and the top panel, revealing eight Knightmares, including the red frame from Narita.
"Oh shit! Knightmares!" I screamed, causing everyone to scatter to their own frames.
I had my pre-checks already done, so all I needed to do was flip the main power switch, and the Gloucester came alive in my hands.
I watched as the command Burai, once again I figured it was Zero, begin to charge Princess Cornelia's Knightmare.
"Not this time bud. Now, it's time for payback" I shouted, as I dropped the lance into a horizontal position and charged at Zero.
I succeeded in a glancing blow to his frame, knocking him off course as Cornelia finished powering up her Knightmare.
And then, I was face to face with the red Knightmare.
I had talked to Lloyd about the Radiant Wave Surger, and knew that it was deadly powerful, and that I needed to avoid it at all costs, but I wasn't going to let it through to the Viceroy.
"So you wanna dance you little terrorist?" I shouted over the speakers "Shame, because I wanna polka."
Honestly...it sounded better in my head.
They charged at me, the silver claw outstretched to make contact with my frame, but I quickly jumped over it and stabbed my lance downwards, causing the pilot to jerk the frame violently, but I still managed to damage the left arm.
I landed behind it and fired my slash harkens, succeeding in knocking out one of the landspinners, just as the Lancelot flew overhead and kicked Zero's Knightmare in the face.
The red unit rushed up to attempt to aid the masked man, but I cut it off.
"If you want to get to him, you're going to need to go through me!" I taunted.
"No problem!" the pilot shouted back, and to my surprise, it was a female voice.
I blocked the claw with my lance, and used all the power I could coax out of the machine to push back.
The hydraulics wined with overuse as the oil was pressurized above normal limits. The steel frame groaned as it underwent more stress than it was rated for.
I was damn glad I had Lloyd make a couple of adjustments to this thing before I took it into battle.
Then the frame jumped over me with lightning speed, and I looked, recognizing the white unit it was heading towards.
"Suzaku! Behind you!" I shouted over the radio, to which he turned and fired at the woman, causing her to activate the surger and cause an explosion.
They jumped onto a stack of containers and continued dueling as I looked at my Heads Up Display (HUD) and noticed my hydraulic levels were draining slowly.
"Dammit, must've broken a seal somewhere" I said, before calling out on the radio "This is Dixon. I've blown a hydraulic line and am leaking fluid. Request immediate support."
At once, Darlton was beside me and said "Yeah, you're spraying from your left arm forward actuator. Jettison it to save what little oil you've got left."
I did as he said, and my levels stabilized at around 40%, to which I sighed in relief.
"Orders General?" I asked.
"The Black Knights are pulling out. All available units are to protect the Viceroy. Dixon, take your frame to the maintenance hangar we commandeered. I'll meet you there."
"Right away General" I said, moving towards warehouse four, which was out maintenance bay.
The controls were sluggish and clunky, like that of the Glasgow I tried in the simulator.
"Well this sucks" I said to myself, opening the cockpit and riding the wire to the ground.
I filled out the paperwork for a work order to be put through on the Knightmare so it could be repaired, and not even twenty minutes later, Darlton showed up.
"Good work out there Dixon" he said, after I saluted him "You're showing that I didn't waste my time teaching you how to pilot a Knightmare."
"Of course Sir. I do my best" I replied, looking up at my battered frame.
"That's what I like to hear" he stated, clasping me on the shoulder as we walked out into the darkness of the night.