Blank Reflection-

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!