Blank Reflection-
By Archangel
[Chapter Three]
EPO Headquarters
Secondary Briefing Room
August 29, 3085
7:30 am
The
garble that was going on in the auditorium started to get to Merian. He turned
to see that the auditorium doors were shut and guarded by two men.
// Great… we can't get out of here until Mrs.
Klein says we can! //
He looked around and leaned back in his chair.
"This'll take a while." Merian said, looking at
Sean. Sean only smiled and nodded as he looked upon the stage, which Anna
walked back onto. She flipped through a couple of papers that she had and
looked towards us.
"Are there any questions?" said Anna, who was
squinting her eyes.
"When will we be sent home?" asked Tara, who was
fidgeting in her seat.
"I don't think any of you will be sent home
soon," The appalled look upon all of the pilot's faces seemed to bring a slight
smirk to her face as she went on to answer the question. "All former
information that you have with the public and other criteria has been deleted,
and all who know you think you have died this morning."
// What the hell? //
Merian stood up.
"Why can't we go home in the period of two
months? Isn't there some kind of… break?"
"You're being used to fight a war, Merian." Anna
responded, her eyes flashing to the paper and back. "When are we going to
'fight' this war?"
"You have to be trained first." She looked at
Amy, who had a raised hand.
// She looks calm, that's really weird… //
"When does the training commence?" Amy asked, her
eyes filled with determination.
"This afternoon at 1200 hours." She looked toward
the door, as all eyes floated back. A man in a classy business suit walked down
the aisle. Anna looked toward the man, and she seemed to notice him
immediately.
"Mr. Syn, we've been expecting you." She smiled
and looked toward the young man, who looked like he was in his early forties.
He stepped up to the podium, and he coughed.
"Ladies and Gentlemen," said Thall Syn. He had
short brown hair that was put into a crew cut.
"I am Thall Syn, a main sponsor of the EPO. I
provide this organization with most of its money, and the money I put into this
has pulled this group from a small rebel faction to a world power." He took a
breath and he seemed like he looked at a couple of papers.
// Looks like a prepared speech… //
"These Votals are multi million dollar… how do
you say, 'prototypes.' They are still under construction and they have been
'molded' to your personality and so on." He looked down the paper. Since
training will start immediately, you will all have to go through strict and
hard training. It will not be easy; some of you may be sent home and given a
new identity since most of you have been 'proclaimed dead.'" He looked around
the auditorium, looking for someone.
"Mrs. Klein, are you here?" She stood up and
walked up to the podium. Taking his place, she grabbed the microphone and
paused to think.
"You all have free to wander the base. Please meet here again in two hours."
She stepped off the podium and her and Mr. Syn walked out of the auditorium.
"Hm… you'd think that they have a thing for each
other." Merian looked toward Sean, who burst out laughing.
"Let's go wander, man!" Merian ran out with Sean
following him.
Walking through the main lobby, he saw many
diplomats sitting there as well as going to other parts of the installation.
Looking through the giant window near the entrance, the immense mural of space
took filled the entire window.
"Let's go this way," said Sean as he turned down
a corridor. Both striding at the same speed, they came upon a wide door that
said, 'Keep Closed.'
"Wonder what's in here," said Merian as he put
his hand upon the clammy metal. Looking to the right side of the garage-sized
door, there was a small keypad. Both of the young men stood next to the keypad.
"Hey, I've seen this before…" Merian looked at
the keypad, and started pressing buttons. All of a sudden, the door opened to
reveal a number of giant pods that were parallel to each other, on opposite
sides of the room. The rest of the large 'garage' was bleak and looked
abandoned, along with a small sized command room at the back. The two pilots
walked into the immense room, staring at the small pods.
"What the hell are these things?" Merian saw the
pod open up to reveal a sea of wires and a helmet.
// What?! //
Suddenly, a voice came from behind them.
Desperately, Merian and Sean jumped behind a pod, hoping the men who were
passing wouldn't see.
"Military police?" Merian whispered into Sean's
ear. The other two men were in khakis and short blue shirts, who had an armband
that said 'MP' on their right arms.
"Yeah. Thought so," Sean turned around, placing
his back against the pod.
"Sir, the door to the training room is open." The
two policemen looked to the keypad to see that it had been hacked into. They
pulled out guns, and stormed into the room.
"Who's in here?" said an officer that passed a
couple of pods.
"Put your hands up!" The officer pointed their
guns at them, and they grabbed them and attempted. placed handcuffs upon their
wrists. Their hands were behind their backs.
"What the hell, we're officers here!" said
Merian, who was trying to resist.
"Sean, you still take it?" Merian asked, with a
smirk on his face. Confused, Sean thought for about two seconds, and then he
grasped the question. He nodded, and suddenly, they jumped over their wrists,
so that their arms were forward and they could move easily. Moving quickly,
Merian tripped the guard that restrained him, and Sean checked his guard into a
nearby pod. Merian looked at his watch.
"Time passes by if you're having fun, doesn't
it?" said Merian, with a wide grin on his face. As they ran past, a regiment of
Military police ran behind them, and an audience was watching as the two young
men dashed past.
"On the right! On the right!" screamed Sean, as a
hallway came up to the right of them. They dashed into the hallway.
"Here's the auditorium! Get in!" They both ran
into the auditorium where the rest of the pilots had been waiting. Anna looked
up to see them run in, followed by a large number of police.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Anna stood up,
enraged. Sean and Merian attempted to hide the handcuffs behind their back to
no success. Merian coughed, and one of the policemen walked up to address the
general.
"We caught these young men trespassing in the
training room."
"There's no problem, I was planning to take them
there anyway."
// WHAAAAT?! //
The other four pilots stood up, as the officer
released the handcuffs from Merian and Sean. Smiling, they walked out of the
auditorium, following Anna and the others.
EPO Headquarters
Training Room 1
August 29, 3085
12:45 pm
Walking
up to the room that Sean and Merian were just running from, Anna walked into
the large training room to see two military policemen who were knocked out. One
was lying on the floor, and the second was leaned up against a pod.
"You guys did this?" Anna walked up to the former
'fugitives.' Merian smiled, and Sean broke out laughing.
"Yeah." Merian looked toward those knocked out.
"Take them out of here." Merian's eyes widened as
the police came out and took the knocked out officers to the medical quarters.
He took a breath of relief as his tension relieved. Merian looked toward Anna,
and he asked her,
"What are these pods for?"
"Training simulators." She looked into the pod.
"Everyone, please listen." She pulled the helmet out of the training pod, and
she held it up. "Make sure you put this on firmly before you go into the pod.
After placing the helmet on, go inside it, and wait for me to come around. The
pilots separated, walking off to one pod.
// This sounds like fun, doesn't it… //
Picking up the helmet, he placed it on, and sat
inside. The helmet surrounded hi s head, and the facemask was a wide piece of
Plexiglas. When he got into the pod, the helmet came to life. A voice came on,
and it started up.
"Welcome to the New Votal Trainee Program, also
known as the NVTP." The voice paused. Suddenly, a tap on the shoulder caused
him to panic. He turned to see Anna shut the door on his pod, as a screen
showed up in front of him and the helmet. "This will show you the basics of
maneuvering Votals and the like. In basic, there are two ways of controlling
Votals. There is the first convenient way which is through advanced
telepathically connecting to the human brain by wearing the helmet. In
emergency, if the body suit is damaged, the pilot may be able to pilot the
Votal manually, through the use of two handle sticks. But in long-range
maneuvers, in example moving from an assault on one base back to home base, the
manual system will be used. In combat, like hand to hand combat, the
telepathical controlling method will be used to control the Votal like an
'exoskeleton.'" The machine paused. "In order to begin training, you will be
plotted against each other in a computer Votal battle. After practicing a
number of times, you will be able to set handicaps, and also do missions linked
together." It paused again. "Battle beginning in five… four… three… two… one.
Begin." Suddenly, an eye view appeared.
"Looks like I'm in space." Suddenly, the voice
continued again.
"In mind control of the Votal, think of walking
forward to move forward. Think stepping back to move backward. To turn left and
right, think of turning to the left or right. Since this is the first
simulation, you will be using hand to hand weapons. To move the hands, think of
moving your hands, and the same goes with your legs, though it may not really
matter in battle." Pausing, he heard Anna's voice.
"You'll all battle until the last one survives,
so begin." Merian took this to advantage. "You can activate your weapons that
you have, which are only two beam sabers. To activate them, say: 'Activate beam
saber.'" Merian began automatically. Suddenly, from the darkness of space, he
saw five other beam sabers light up.
"Let's rock!" Merian said to himself as he
charged toward one light. As they collided, sparks showered down every time
that they struck. Out of nowhere, a ravaging blow shook Merian's pod.
"Shit…" Like second nature, he blurted out,
"Systems check." The system responded quickly.
"Minimal damage to the right side." Suddenly, he
flew off to avenge the hit that scratched his paint.
*Meanwhile, in the control room:
"Woow…"
said a man who was sitting at a computer. "Whoever's in pod number 001 and 005
are flying like experts. They look better than our fully trained pilots." Anna
stood back, watching the whole simulation on a big screen. She smirked. "I knew
this would be a good thing…" Also in the room were a number of monitors that
kept track of the pilot's vital stats.
"Ms. Klein, the pilots that are still dueling
have increased tension, their blood pressure has raised."
Sparks
flew as Merian dueled with an unknown pilot.
"I'll get you for that paint scratch…" said
Merian. Countering the blow, more sparks flew as the pilot met the shot.
"Don't worry Merian, you're in good hands."
Merian's eyes widened and his tension grew.
"Oh, so do you want to continue this from our
childhoods?" The beam sabers met again as it illuminated the small area between
the Votals.
"I'll get you for messing up that video game…"
Merian smirked as he drew closer. Suddenly, the metal hand met the side of the
Votal as Sean's suit fell back.
"I am victorius!" Merian started to laugh as his
Votal flew up.
"Not yet…" Again, the beam weapons clashed over
and over for hours as the rest of the pilots were already out of the pods.
"They're
still clashing… it's surprising that they've lasted longer than the expert
pilots that we have." Alec stood next to Anna, watching the battle going on in
the simulation.
"Hmm… he's playing aggressive…"
Literally,
a river of sweat poured down Merian's face, as he couldn't stop to think. One
blink, one mistake, it would be all over. It was getting too real.
// Come on, you can win this… //
He blinked. He stopped thinking. He whited out.
Suddenly, he felt the pod jolt, and the screen flash blank. He hit his head
upon the back of the seat.
"Shit!" Taking off his helmet and getting out of
the pod, he saw Sean, who also looked sleep deprived.
Looking at his watch, he saw that over four hours
passed since they began the first simulation. Anna, followed by Alec, Mena,
Tara and Amy stepped out of the control room.
"Good job," said Anna, who had a look of relief
on her face. "You can all go back, because I will all call you one by one,
personally back here to see how far you can go against the simulation's
training levels, along with handicaps and difficulties." As everyone turned to
leave, she started to call names.
"Sean, and Merian, please come here." She looked
down at a paper. "I want to test you both individually against the hardest
computer level. You both look promising in hand to hand combat." They both
nodded in acknowledgement, and then they looked at each other.
"Who's going first?" said Merian.
"Whichever of you want to." Said Anna. Merian
stepped back.
"Go ahead." Sean shook his head.
"No, you first." Merian closed his eyes and he
stepped forward.
"All right, I'll do it."
"Good." She paused. "Get back into pod 001 and
you will be put up into a simulated mission." Again, Merian stepped into the
pod and put the helmet on again. The sweat felt uncomfortable on him as he
tried to wipe it off. Suddenly, Anna's voice came back onto the headset.
"Okay, you're going to be put up against a group
of Votals placed on Hard difficulty. Please try your hardest. But only, it's a
simulation." She cut the sentence off, and started the simulation immediately.
Once again, immersed into the deepness of space in what was only an
exoskeleton.
"They're coming up to your right. There are only
eight." She stopped, and then Merian just lived off simple reactions.
"Activate Beam sabers!" shouted Merian as both
sabers lit up. Charging toward the 'enemy,' he cut through two at the same time
with deadly accuracy and ended up slashing both of them in half.
// Be.. Aggressive… //
Turning around, he saw that all of them stayed in
formation, and that they had long range weapons.
"What's that?" asked Merian when he saw something
with smoke trailing behind it going straight at him. "Shit!" he moved out of
the way in time to dodge the missile.
"You'll pay…"
*Meanwhile:
Sean
watched with amazement as he saw Merian tear through two of the Votals like rag
dolls.
"I thought this was set on hard?" said Sean.
"It is…" Anna was also mesmerized as she saw
Merian beat the enemy with ease.
"General, his blood pressure is increasing; brain
activity increasing; tension increasing;"
"Thank you for telling me."
His
Votal moved with speed and agility as he locked sabers with one of the Votals.
Sadly and quickly, he took the second sword and ripped it to pieces, leaving
the debris behind. Thoughts were one thing; Actions are another. The quick
bright light of the explosions were only small flashes compared to Merian as he
tore through the other five Votals like tissue paper. Looking at the last one,
he felt pity;
// Aggressive… //
He flew at the Votal with frightening speed; and
demolished it completely, which was followed by an explosion. After finishing
the simulation, Merian stepped out and brushed his hair back.
"Whoa, that was scary man… where'd you learn to
pilot like that?" said Sean, who ran up to Merian.
"How did you learn to even pilot a Votal.?" Asked
Anna at the same time.
"I… I don't know…" Merian said, looking at the pod
that he was just in. He stretched, and looked around.
"Are we going to have any chance of engaging
anything soon?"
"I have no idea…." Anna looked at Sean. "You're
next, so strap in." Sean nodded and walked toward the pod 002. Before he got
in, Sean turned around.
"I'll see you soon, pilot 001!"
*Notes:
-I know that numbering my characters is
practically, exactly like Gundam Wing, but it will have no effect, as only a
name is. Don't ask, I just finished this at 1:55 in the morning and I am so,
very sleep deprived. I also was craving to write a battle scene, so I had to do
this now. Please read and review!
