In the Bowels of the Beast

¹I brush my long black hair behind my ear, as the Commander drags me away from Lieutenant Aster with little effort. The big man smells awful, but I keep my mouth shut. I think,

'this guy isn't gonna give me anything else on why or how my family died for the Federation! He thinks - because I'm only sixteen, I can't handle it...'

I plant my foot down on the sidewalk, before he can toss me into the hovercraft seat, as he opened the door. I peer into his dark gray eyes with my ocean blue ones, as he turns to look at me. My voice is full of emotion, as I yell with quite the attitude.

"What's it gonna take for you to let me in on the secrets, huh? Do I gotta sign up - right here, Commander?"

His gruff voice rattles me, as he answers, "You're smarter than you let on - but just joining the draft early won't get you what you want, sweetie..."

'

He

is

a

smart

man

,' my thought continues, '

he

made

me

take

the

entry

exam

before

he

allowed

me

to

visit

Lieutenant

Aster

.

He

wanted

me

to

do

this

.' I pull my arm from his hand and sneer at him full of disgust. I grit my teeth and spit on the floor, forcing out the question through slightly parted lips.

"What do I gotta do to get my answers, Commander?"

"You'll have to go Career, and I know you're not gonna give up your life like that. You're young, you look like the kind of girl that wants to become a citizen and have a family someday..."

My mouth drops open and I stare at him stupidified. '

I'll

be

required

to

give

up

my

ovaries

to

go

career

,

plus

work

for

them

until I

die

...' my thought trails off. With furrowed brows, I look him in the eye and firmly nod, as I speak without a care.

"Frack it! Fine, sign me up - but I want my answers, Commander!"

I notice he immediately looks pleased by his results and stood straight, as he replies with cheer, "Good, good. You tested extremely well, we noticed you would make a fine mecha pilot and we've had better results with cadets that are young. Scientists say its because you adapt to the out of body experience faster. We reserve mecha for career soldiers so it's a rare opportunity to shine, young lady - or should I say Sargeant Stevenson?"

Batting my lashes, he pulls me into the seat and climbs in next to me, before he orders the driver, "to the hospital, now!"

My mind goes blank on the short ride down the active streets of the Battleship's city. When he grabs me again and begins to drag me out of the hovercraft, I go stumbling in a trance after him. He takes me to the desk and produces a tiny, disk-shaped holo-console from his pocket, as he speaks to the attendant.

"Need a career mecha pilot package for our young lady here," he turns to me and holds out the device projecting a holographic contract, as he continues, "Okay - sign the dotted line, dear..."

My head shakes and I hesitate to lift my thumb to the square at the bottom. I think, '

If

I

don't

do

this

,

I'll

never

know

how

my

family

died

-

not

really

...' I am still in a daze and sweat forms on my brow, as I press my thumb to the document.

"Good," he looked back to the attendant and firmly ordered him, "Take her in for surgery right away - we'll use her in the fight ahead, once she has completed basic..."

The Commander begins to walk away from me and the attendant grabs my arm to drag me away. I look back and forth for a second, as everything sinks in, '

oh

,

crap

-

what

did

I

do

?

' I hear him speak under his breath, as the attendant drags me off.

"I gotta feelin' we're gonna need all the help we can get on this one..."

Dragging me down the hall, the attendant takes me into a small room with a cot and gestures for me to sit down. My haze continues, as I sit on the paper sheet on top of a bed mat. He turns back to me with a shot and pricks my shoulder with it, injecting the cold liquid into my veins quickly.

My head turns to look at him, as I weakly ask, "Wait - what?"

The room spins, and I feel myself drop to the bed behind me. Darkness comes in from all sides of my vision slowly, as I shake my head and try to move my numbing arms. I think, '

oh

,

no

...

well

,

what

did

I

think

would

happen

,' before nothingness arrives.

When my eyes slowly open, the back of my neck and my abdomen feel like they are on fire. I notice a nurse nearby looking at a holo-console in her hand, she looks up at me behind small round glasses and smiles. I speak weakly.

"It's over - I'm a Sargeant and a mecha pilot?"

She nods to me and tilts her head, before she speaks, "You're really young for a career package - we don't get many like you. Your brain took to the surgery well, you've only been out a couple hours. You should be able to walk soon, but we're gonna run a test on you first."

My mind wonders, as she speaks, '

my

Goddess

-

what

have

I

done

.

Well

,

might

as

well

make

the

best

of

it

...' Her finishing statement sends me into shock again, but I weakly nod. My response is mumbled.

"Okay, let's do it..."

She grabs my arm and helps me, as I try to sit up on the bed. The woman is kind to me, as she gently helps me into a tall cylinder chamber against the wall nearby my portable hospital bed. She looks at me with those green eyes and speaks to me, as I look back from the chamber.

"Alright, just breathe it in. Okay, hun?"

Watching her press a key to close me inside, I put my hands on the glass with widened eyes, as orange liquid begins to fill the chamber around me. I start to panic and hold my breath, as the chamber quickly fills. My lungs burn and I feel myself dying, before I open my mouth and let the liquid in, as I float.

Darkness comes and my vision turns to a digital environment. I look at my hands and see armored robotic appendages before me. Taking in my surroundings, I notice that the virtual space resembles a hangar with large weapon racks against the walls and other macha, as I turn around and grab a large rifle from a rack behind me. A computer voice talks to me.

"Good, now go and do some target practice."

I turn around and begin to walk out of the hangar, noting the loud footsteps of my simulated mecha. Once out of the hangar, I see some targets and raise the rifle. A ridicule appears in my vision, and I experiment by shooting a few of the targets back and forth. The assisted aim helps me greatly and it is not difficult to hit what I aim for.

The computer spoke again, "Good, now for a moving target."

A mecha runs out from behind a building and begins shooting at me in stride. I hear the clanks of plasma hitting my machine and instinctively begin to dash in the same direction as my opponent, as I raise the gun and squeeze the trigger. My plasma bolts fire rapidly at the enemy and many connect, as I focus on a leg and it breaks off after I hit it for a while.

That stupid computer again, "Okay, that's it for your test run."

My eyes shoot open again to see panic on the nurse's face, as she opens the chamber with a key and the liquid rushes out around me onto her. She catches me falling and holds me for a minute, until I stand on my own. The woman still holds my arm, as she speaks in panic.

"We're under attack!"

Shaking my head and looking at her, I ask, "what do you mean?"

"Five huge alien cruisers just rammed into the side..."

She stops mid-sentence and turns to look, as I hear five loud crashing sounds in the distance. My eyes widen and I begin to panic, as I feel the ground beneath me begin to shake violently and tilt. Long blonde hair goes into my face, as she falls into the chamber on top of me with a squeel. Weightless is what I feel, before a sudden jolt and sharp pain in my back - darkness comes again.²

¹

Entree point from "Defeat at Han'Daischu Prime" Act II

²Entree point from "A Prologue Part One ~ Diary of a Drunken Space Pirate" Ch. 20

This is not the end - Next Act ->