Wirt's nose wrinkled in detestation. An elderly man dressed in faded uniform and shiny badges has a cigarette hanging from his lips. Purple smoke, pungent fumes revolting, swirl in the cramped office space. Bars of light hum casting dim light and heavy shadows. The unenthusiastic soldier overlooks Wirt's transfer papers. His mustache and long stubby nose jolted as he halfheartedly smiled. "Far from the farmlands aren't you?"
"Yes sir."
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He misses home. The blindingly cloudy white sky. The bountiful harvests, feasts, and festivals. Where vegetable gardens and endless forests stretch on either side of a dirt road, trodden by weathered boots and horse hooves. The ancient stone fences unlike dazzling autumn colors.
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It's been two years since he's left his home planet Hinterland and enrolled in the space program. Instead of exploration, Wirt focused on military training. Otherworldly monsters summoned by some unearthly being that eat planets and terrorize solar systems.
Hinterland is very poor. A colony of humans living on quality farming soil. Nothing special to tourists or travelers. So it was unexpected when space monsters landed and started a war. There was nothing to offer initially. Hinterland was a dingy colony far away from other stylish and rich planets. The blaring alarms never concluded however, as the planet was left practically unarmed, a small army with a few young and old farmers with hardly any certified military experience.
Obviously they lost and it was catastrophic.
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"Sure you can handle all the fancy tech at the station?"
Wirt's eyes narrowed angrily. His whole life he's worked with machinery. It wasn't the most up-to-date and very basic, but it was enough to impress his superiors at camp. Wirt was the only one among the others to rewire and fix their fancy exceptional tech when it broke down. It's all style over substance. Old tech is more reliable if one can spare the oil and some resourcefulness.
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This guy clearly doesn't know what he's talking about. Probably hasn't had a difficult or dangerous job on the front lines in years. And glancing at the patches on his arm, Wirt could tell he grew up extravagantly.
Greg, Wirt's brother, died when the Monsters had landed in Hinterland. But nobody with a higher rank will even consider what their friends have lost.
He's tired of being underestimated and overshadowed when's he's been through starvation, scary warfare, and searching through dead Monsters to bury friends and family. They'll never understand. No other human factions came to help. Hinterland, a farming center for the other colonies, was left to face the Monsters alone.
And this old man probably thinks it's funny. A poor farmer boy desperately climbing all the way up the ranks to be shipped off to his likely death fighting hordes of Monsters in space.
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"Clear to go. This'll send you to the main entrance." The soldier hit an old, crooked, rusty metal transporter tube. It looked like a cylinder copper coffin. Wirt folded his papers, deposited them in his uniform coat, and stepped into the teleporter. Rings of light float up and down as Wirt's body transformed into light particles, and then shot out to space in a beam to the space station.
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Each individual operates a giant ship. These mechs that are standard model and smaller are stationed at colonies but here are the unique and strongest mechs that any pilots fly. Three mechs make one team.
Wirt wonders what team he'd be assigned. He never really got along with the soldiers at camp. What if they hated him? These places can be ruthless, bloodthirsty, and insufferable if his training has taught him anything.
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A messenger ran up to him and presented a holographic screen. Wirt saluted the officer.
"Good news country boy. For you at least. The last solider perished in a fight so you're his replacement as leader of a new team."
"Yes sir." Wirt blinked. What experiences qualified him? Aren't there others who might've spent longer in camp?
The messenger directs him to his team's district.
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He stands at a metal door. Taking a deep breath, Wirt steps up to the DNA scanner. It recalls his fingerprint and eye data and the door opens. Inside is a really short, small, and shabby room. Timeworn yellow paint marks the walls. There's one toilet and bath, and one garage. Bunks are stacked into nooks. A small screen is on one wall and across from that are a tiny round window, a sofa, and a table. Guess all the money went to the mechs instead of comfort. Wirt didn't expect anything extraordinary but this is worse than a farmhouse.
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Thunderous noise bounces around the metal room. Wirt jumps. Drills, hammers, and lasers! He opens the garage door to find a girl repairing a small robot. She removed her goggles and grinned. "Hi! You must be-"
"Wirt."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Maru. An engineer." She put her equipment away and stands up to shake his hand. "You're our new leader right?"
"Y-Yes."
Maru's eyes gleamed happily, recognizing his patches. "Another engineer huh? That's awesome! There're pretty rare."
"Oh uh," Wirt bashfully rubbed his neck. Maru outranked him for machinery restoration. "It's not much. I worked on a farm so you get used to dangerous repairs."
She laughed. "Don't underrepresent yourself! It takes hard work and brains to even understand machines. My home is farmland too. It's called Stardew Valley. We're a lot alike aren't we?" Maru flexed her muscles. "But I'm studying to be a scientist."
"Really? That's cool!"
"Thanks, Wirt. C'mon. Want to see the mechs?" Maru removed her gloves and walked down the corridor that leads to the space station's main garage.
"I wanted to see the mechs since I got here."
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"They're old and run-down. These mechs are-"
"From the first war."
"Yes! Historic isn't it?! Stardew Valley had only one mech but it isn't as complex as the three here."
Wirt shared an identical smile with Maru. At least somebody was happy in this morbid space station. He hadn't seen a sincere smile in years.
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Mournfully the wounded giants loomed over them. Relics of a bloodthirsty war. Monsters had shredded them apart ferociously. Wirt wonders how many pilots have died abruptly, violently, while fighting Monsters. It must have been so heartbreaking and scary in that moment.
The mechs' damages foretell of bitter brawls. Their wires and sophisticated machinery are gutted and their armor scratched open by fearful strength. Some limbs are absent. Just like the dead scattered across the fields back home…
"Wirt? You okay?"
He jumped, startled. Wirt can't hide melancholy from his smile. "I'm fine."
Maru's eyes despondently fell to the tile floor. "Sorry. I forget that many people lost loved ones. When mechs are called, that's usually a sign that many have already died. My passion for engineering can be theatrical sometimes."
"No," he shook his head. "You're passion for machines will make us the best team here. A group is nothing out in space without smarts."
Maru sweetly chuckled. "Thanks Wirt! I'll do my best!"
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"Are you two Maru and Wirt?" A wolf man nonchalantly asked. Wirt heard of these aliens. He's never seen one before and is shocked by how tall he is.
The wolf man blinked and his nose twitched. "You guys are small."
"And you, tall!" Maru exclaimed.
He lowered on his feet and stuck out a clawed hand. "I'm Legoshi. A tracker."
"I'm Wirt, pilot and gunner."
"Maru, an engineer!"
Legoshi is meek for a wolf man. He carried himself nonchalantly, nonaggressive. But his fangs, claws, and eyes are unmistakably vicious.
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A week later Maru repaired the mechs. She spent hours modifying them to her friends' strengths.
Maru's mech is uncomplicated. Back in Stardew Valley she had made a small robot that eventually left to explore the world. This mech is the next model and almost identical. Square-shaped and it wields a large shield.
Legoshi's looks like a metal wolf. Sleek and dangerous. The most agile out of the three.
Wirt is steampunk. Maru intertwined old tech with new and updated it overall. Steam pours out from its mouth like breath. It looks like an infamous beast, a legend in Hinterland. Firearms are disguised as sharp horns and a longsword is equipped.
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"It'll be our first real mission together," Maru said. "I'm…scared. The monsters we've fought during training aren't as strong as the ones in space."
"We have to try. Colonies are counting on us. And I believe in you, Maru. You work harder than anybody at the space station."
"I won't let my friends face those Monsters alone. I'll make sure you guys get back safe." Legoshi vowed.
Maru nodded. This is why she joined the military in the first place. To explore space and save others. "If you two are gonna fight Monsters then I will too."
Everyone got into their mechs, checked their weaponry, defenses, and agility. Wirt grinned, suddenly feeling heroic. "Let's go kick some ass!"
"And save some planets!"
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"I can't get a reading on the map." The mechs had been flying for hours through pace.
Legoshi's helmet taps into his wolf instincts. Wires and cables replicate that power to the mech. His ears swivel and he swings his head side to side. A faint droning sound. A scream. No –it's a war cry.
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"Over here!" Legoshi's mech sharply sprints to the left and flies towards a collection of abandoned colonies. Ruins of humanity's very first, experimental space cities. A Monster is crawling over the deserted, lifeless planets. It looks like a giant beetle. Depthless eyes darker than death. Pointed thorns guard its skeletal head. The Monster effortlessly chews on planets and their burning core like pastry and chocolate filling. Its armor glints purple while the rest of its body is see-through.
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"What level Monster is it?" Wirt asked.
Maru checked her screens. "A class C Monster." The engineer insightfully noticed weaknesses. "The abdomen and suture are where you should hit!"
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The beetle Monster screamed. Its wings unfolded, indistinguishable from thin discs of metal. An eerie hum rings in the soldiers' ears as the Monster flies at its enemies, horn aiming right at them.
Legoshi encounters it, the mech's teeth burying into and tearing its side.
Maru shouted, "Wirt! Legoshi! If you guys can immobilize it I can shoot it!"
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Thrashing angrily the beetle waved its wings. The thin yet formidable wings mimicked humming blades and sliced Legoshi's mech. He loses his grip and is hurled far away.
We've got to destroy the wings first! Wirt's mech can hardly track the Monster –its speed is extraordinary!
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Unsheathing his sword Wirt lunges at the Monster. He narrowly dodges magic spells casted by the beetle and shoots missiles. Many plink as they hit the sturdy armor but some crack the purple shell. The mech dives and crashes into tarsus and claws. Swinging his sword Wirt parries the durable limbs, his mech's arm quaking. Sparks rain like popping fireworks. Wirt shouts and stabs the Monster through its wings.
Winding, the beetle thrashed around to escape. Jets at full power, Wirt counterbalances it. Legoshi scratches and pries half of the armor aside, stunning it.
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Latching onto the Monster, the two keep it frozen in place. "Maru, now!"
Drawing a gun, Maru charged a catastrophic laser. She fired and the Monster melted like acid to metal. Scorched chunks bobbed in space. For payback the Monster dislodged its opponents and stabbed Wirt's mech with a horn.
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"No, Wirt!"
Internal damage is obvious. Pieces of his mech puke out into the far-reaching stars. Wirt's breathing is panicked as the deafening alarms scream and red lights flash. Steam hisses as he cuts himself free with a knife. The horn is centimeters from his head and neck. The exit is barricaded by crushed metal, surrounding the beetle's horn.
"Legoshi? Maru?"
Nothing. Communications are destroyed. Wirt quickly assembles his space suit and drags along emergency tools to try and escape the mech. He cursed. His helmet glass is cracked. His air tanks are good but with a bad helmet he only has a short time to get to his friends' mechs.
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"He might be injured! I'll rescue Wirt!" Legoshi exited his machine and his jet pack flung him towards Wirt's mech. With a grappling hook and his wolf strength, Legoshi effortlessly extracted the warped metal.
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Astute hearing leads Legoshi through the claustrophobic corridors. In this space suit his nose is useless. A lanky tall wolf, he has to stumble and float to search for his friend. Doors are barricaded by debris. "Wirt?"
No response. Swinging a blade he made a shortcut.
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He finds his captain suspended, floating in the main room. Legoshi carried him and flew out of the mech, wary of the emergency sirens.
"Maru! Help me get Wirt to the medical bay!"
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Maru cried. Legoshi slumped over despondently. Wirt lay on a metal table as a robot doctor shuffled back and forth, observing its patient. Twirling arms carefully sewed up a long scar and gave him an adrenaline shot.
Wirt sat up, gasping for air. He doesn't acknowledge his friends, his mind in enduring dread, thinking he was still stranded in the mech.
"You're okay!" Maru hugged him. "We though you died!"
"Where am I? Is the Monster dead?"
Legoshi smiled. "You're in the medical bay and yes, it is."
"All I remember is running out of air and trying to escape the mech." Wirt's eyes gleam thankfully. "You guys saved me."
The wolf man stood up. "We'll have the station pick up the mech for repairs. Give them some good news."
Maru nodded. "We saved some colonies that were in the path of the Monster."
Wirt smiled. Although he's in pain, Wirt's happy that his friends and the colonies are safe. He, Legoshi, and Maru can be the most renowned team in space. Though they're outcasts in the army, he knows that one day they'll outshine the other soldiers.