The Ship with Red Wings
Two soldiers carrying duffle bags, stood on a bustling docking port, awaiting the arrival of the Alliance ship they had been assigned to.
“I’m still amazed that they managed to rebuild and improve most of Earth’s major cities in twenty years. You'd never know that they were destroyed five years before that with all these crowds,” the shorter of the two soldiers said, his shaggy, dark blonde hair nearly covering his eyes.
“And I’m still amazed that you couldn’t come in uniform or have your hair regulation length,” the second, taller soldier said, his chestnut hair cut short and even, keeping to the preferred length regulations that the UESA had set. The taller soldier sighed, his oldest friend standing beside him in a short sleeved, red buttoned shirt and jeans, before noticing his shoes were worn but at least clean.
"That regulation is more of a suggestion anyway, besides we aren't on duty yet," the shorter soldier said, smirking at his companion dressed in the grey and blue naval fatigues of the Alliance.
“This is the only ship that they could station us on, Dan, the least you could do is make a good first impression.”
He laughed, “Calm down, Mat. I will get in uniform... eventually... If they ever get here.”
Several hours passed, and just before Daniel turned towards the seating area, a crimson red ship, the bow in the shape of a dragon’s maw, came roaring out of the sky. Mathew looked at the approaching ship through the windows of the port, “Looks like the Red Dragon is here.”
Daniel looked up at the ship slowly docking and sighed, “this is the Kiryu? This piece of junk?”
“Yes, now shut it before someone hears you. Shit, stand at attention, they’re coming out!” Mathew dropped his bag beside his feet and pressed the heels of his boots together, his feet making a 'v' as his arms dropped to his sides.
Daniel rolled his eyes, “Yeah, yeah...”
The two stood before the doors, as they opened to a woman holding a tablet computer, her fingers swiping and typing on the touch screen. Daniel eyed her up and down, noticing her slate grey uniform had red along the seams, all the way down to the hem of the skirt just below her knees. The woman’s strawberry blonde hair was tied back above her neck, underneath her serviceman’s cap. She looked at Daniel and quickly stopped in her tracks, her thoughts racing as she stared at him and back to the dossier on her tablet, This can’t be Daniel Locke, can it? I mean he’s a hero of the Alliance and he made flight captain right out of the academy... this guy looks like he just went on vacation from his crappy part time job. I guess there is only one way to find out...
The woman took a deep breath and smiled, “I’m Petty Officer April Day... and fortunately I have the pleasure of giving you a small tour leading to the bridge.”
Daniel smirked, “It sounds more like you were ordered... unfortunately.”
April rolled her eyes, becoming slightly irritated, then turned towards Mathew, “You must be Flight Commander Mathew Noble. Am I correct?”
Mathew Noble nodded his head, “Yes, ma’am.”
He picked up his duffle bag of belongings and threw it over his shoulder. The Petty Officer then begrudgingly turned towards Daniel , “And that leaves you as Flight Captain Daniel Locke.”
He grinned, “You don’t sound very sure of who I am.”
Daniel dug around in his pocket and pulled out his ID card, placing it on her tablet so she could see it. She picked it up and looked at the card closely, still doubting his identity. After studying the card she sighed, speaking under her breath, “I don’t believe it... you actually are him.”
He smiled to himself, “What was that?”
Her eyes went a bit wide, realizing that he heard her, “Nothing! Now, are you ready to begin?”
Daniel chuckled as he picked up his bag and handed it to Mathew, “you won’t take this for me will you?”
Mathew scoffed, “Not a chance in hell.”
Daniel sighed and slung the bag over his shoulder as they followed the Petty Officer onto the ship.
“What exactly is the purpose of using such an outdated ship?”
Daniel’s question seemed to irritate their guide more, “you mean you don’t know anything about the ship you were assigned?!”
He shrugged, “Nope. And Mat wouldn’t tell me all the times I asked.”
“You only asked once.”
The Petty Officer sighed, “you have been assigned to the UESAS Explorer Class Battle Frigate Kiryu, or as many call her: The Alliance’s Red Dragon. She was retrofitted with one of the newest test engines from Wolfe Industries. The Kiryu was pulled into active duty as a wartime vessel due to the powerful weapon in her bow: The Dragon's Breath. It is the only weapon of its kind and utilizes Black Hole Engine technology. Anything else you would like to know about it you'd have to ask the Chief Mechanic or The Captain. I only know the gist of how it works."
“Explorer class battle frigate? I’ve never heard of that type of ship. And the gist? So you can tell me how it works?”
April Day gritted her teeth, “It was originally an exploration vessel but was reconstituted and restructured into a battle frigate. The first of its kind. The weapon from my understanding takes the full force of the Black Hole Energy and launches it as a beam from the cannon inside the maw of the ship,” She tapped her tablet with her finger and motioned toward the entrance, “now then please follow me, I have several things to show you before we reach the bridge.”
They both nodded and followed her as she guided them through the ship, soon arriving at several windows overlooking a hangar.
“If you look to the left you’ll see our Mobile Armoured Platform hangar. Our pilots and mechanical crew are the best in the All-” she stopped as a fight began to break out below between a blonde woman in a pale blue technician's jumpsuit and a man in a green and black pilot suit, both being held back by several crew and pilots.
“Um... let’s move on, I’m sure they are all very busy.”
Daniel pointed down at the hangar, “Ignoring the shenanigans down there, what kind of Mobile Armour is that?”
She looked at the dirty white MAP Daniel was pointing at, “that?”
He nodded, “yeah, I’ve never seen one like it before.”
She sighed, the only thing seeming to catch his interest was their crappy backup MAP they had found in a junkyard, “it seems to be a very old prototype, we found it in a junkyard after one of our head mechanics won it in a card game.”
“A card game, huh?”
He couldn’t stop focusing on its peculiar design, it almost looks like a human in armor. Its head was shaped like a helmet, a plate covered where a mouth would have been. The armor over its forearms was blue, as well as its shins and the lower half of its feet, yellow vents were on its chest followed by blue over the cockpit hatch.
“Um Flight Captain Locke? We’re going now, please keep up.”
Daniel sighed and followed her, his thoughts still on the mysterious Mobile Armour as if it were calling to him.
Their guide led them through the ship, passing through several hallways and up a flight of stairs.
“Wait... there are elevators... so why are we going up these stupid stairs?”
She smiled, “because we are on deck E, the bridge is on deck A. I wanted to show you more of the ship this way.”
Daniel sighed bored to death, “that’s a lot more walking than necessary... Can we at least see the engine room?”
Mathew nudged his shoulder, “it isn’t that bad, not everything has to involve Mobile Armour or engines, you five year old.”
He sighed again, looking down, “...but those are more interesting...”
“Ple-” April was cut off by an alarm.
“All hands prepare for battle! Enemy forces have followed us to port! Launch all MAPs!”
“If you two would please follow me, we will take the quickest route to the bridge,” April turned towards the two soldiers, “wait! Where’d Flight Captain Locke go?!”
Mathew shrugged in response to her question.
“Oh great... I’m going to get reprimanded by the XO again...”
“Is Zero ready?! We have to launch now!” The blonde mechanic shouted to her crew member.
“But we have to load your spare ammo packs since you used it all in the last battle!”
She turned to curse and a man in civilian clothing raced past her, quickly climbing into the cockpit of the strange Mobile Armour.
“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?! Get that guy out of my MAP!”
He smiled and winked at the blonde mechanic as he closed the hatch.
“Alright! Let’s turn you on!” Daniel pressed a red button next to a computer screen and the lights flashed on, followed by the screen. On the screen several rows of words and numbers appeared, reading:
[System: Booting....
Unit: ZERO
Program: Z3R0
Code: 0
Protocol: None
Core: Green
Memory: None
Pilot: None
POCK: Yes
ZERO Launch]
“Well then, I guess that means go!”
He gripped the horizontal control levers and pressed his feet against the pedals. The MAP’s eyes glowed green as it stood up, grabbing a rifle that rested on the wall beside it.
“Full ammo, fantastic!”
He pressed forward on the left and right pedals, making the junky MAP run forward out of the hangar. He pressed the right pedal down and the MAP leaped forward. Putting pressure on the right side of the left pedal the thrusters on the bottom of the feet blasted on, propelling him further towards the battle. He could hear the calls for retreat on the radio as well as the Kiryu preparing to fire its AA guns in defense of the civilians in the port. The radio crackled, “Nina! We’re calling for a retreat! The Kiryu will hold them off while we board. I repeat: We are in retreat! The enemy is using a new type of Mobile Armoured Platform we have yet to encounter, and they are devastating our forces. All forces withdraw to the Kiryu.”
Daniel turned the control levers down, as if he were revving a motorcycle, and the thrusters on his back blasted on, sending him flying past the retreating Alliance Mobile Armours.
“Nina! What are you doing?! Turn on your visual transmitter! Don’t be a hero! Nina?!”
Daniel ignored the transmissions and flew behind two Aquarian Mobile Armours that were caught off guard by the charging MAP. He targeted their backs, just below their thruster packs and fired his rifle, both shots hit their marks and the AMAs’ systems shut down, causing them to crash to the ground.
“Yes! Two down... twelve more to go!”
On the bridge of the Kiryu the blonde mechanic stormed inside.
“Oh! Miss Vale! Shouldn’t you be in the hangar? We are calling for a retreat,” The red headed captain exclaimed.
"Captain Shepard, there's a problem," The angry Nina Vale turned away and grabbed the headset away from the communications specialist sitting at her station, “Listen here you Mobile Armour stealing bastard! You had better return my MAP this minute or I will personall-”
She was cut off by the Communications Specialist snatching her headset back, “what are you so pissed about Nina?”
“Look Teri! Look at the battlefield! What do you see?!”
The communications specialist looked at the enlarged image on a screen, “isn’t that your MAP?”
“Yes! Some jackass ran up and took it out there!” Nina extended her hand at the MAP.
“What?!” Captain Myra Shepard was shocked by this revelation, "Teri, please notify the MAP squad and apprehend the thief."
She spoke into the headset, “Attention MAP Assault Team, we have a hijacked Mobile Armour Platform that is charging into the combat zone. I repeat: retrieve it and bring in the pilot.”
“What?! You want me to retrieve it?! Look at the battlefield! Their new models aren’t a match for whoever it is!”
A white haired man, with a mustache as thick as his short hair, turned towards the captain, “Miss Captain, how shall you proceed?”
She sighed, her finger and thumb rubbing the bridge of her nose, “Assault Team, re-engage the enemy and give that thief back up.”
“Aye, Aye ma’am,” the Assault Team leader responded, “You heard the Captain. Re-engage the enemy Mobile Armours.”
“Eight bullets... what kind of worthless crap is this?!” Daniel dropped the rifle and picked up a plasma axe off of one of the Aquarian Mobile Armours.
“Halt, human trash. You have killed enough of my men,” The voice rang out of Daniel’s radio.
“I see the commander isn’t afraid to talk to me. I think you should retrieve your men and retreat, I have won this battle.”
The enemy commander became agitated, “it’s over when I kill all of you human pieces of filth!”
The enemy commander’s MAP hovered above him, “this human city will also be destroyed, to make way for the glorious Empire of Aquaria!”
His MAP was slightly different from his men’s, a gold streak running down its chest, as well as two fins on both forearms and shins. Daniel sighed, “You are a pain in the ass!”
His thrusters blasted on as he flew at the commander, the axe he had picked up connected with the commander’s plasma sword. The sparks of the colliding plasma flows splashed out. Three more AMAs flew towards them, increasing their numbers to seven, clashed with the Kiryu’s MAP Assault Team. The Aquarian commander barked into the radio channel, “It seems you humans are like insects, popping up from nowhere!”
“Attention MAP thief, we are giving you aid until we arrest you after the battle. Is that understood?”
Daniel groaned, “understo-”
A rocket flew towards the two clashing Mobile Armours. With quick thinking, Daniel pushed the enemy away, taking the rocket head on.
The ensuing explosion sent Daniel flying into several run down buildings, his Mobile Armour’s right arm and leg completely blown off, as was his left shoulder pauldron, and half of its head. His cockpit went dark as he lost consciousness.
