[Log Start]

 

[Audio-playing]

 

359-HC; You understand why you’ve been summoned here today?

 

ZR-554X; Yes, Ma’am

 

359-HC; Good, that will save us the formalities. Put simply the OCNI needs you…

 

 

359-HC; She’s far too young! I do not condone this assignment!

 

 

359-HC; Order! Order! This is not up for debate. Miss Rebuille here has exceeded every trial she has been tested for. She is the right person for the task; if you have any complaints they should have been raised officially prior to this meeting, as you should be aware. {redacted} please continue.

 

359-HC; Thank you. As I was saying, we require your expertise. The war with the Affini Compact has identified weaknesses in our technological strength. If we are to prepare for an invasion we must do so now, while we still have the chance. Your portfolio and recent performance indicate you are the best person to assist the OCNI with this. As a result, you are to be assigned to the Spirit of Atlantis. Your primary designation will be the development and testing of the magnetic acceleration tri cannon, with your second designation to develop a working prototype on the mobile anti-personal battlesuits, the design of which you have already submitted to the board. Further designations may be assigned as the OCNI sees fit. Is this understood?

 

ZR-554X; Yes, Ma’am

 

359-HC; Good. Needless to say, the information on this project is highly confidential. Information regarding the project should be confined to designated OCNI channels. You are permitted to provide authorised progress reports to one Benjamin Ironhound, the Admiral of the Sol Defence Fleet and captain to the Spirit of Atlantis. Should you be found to break any of the rules outlined in the OCNI guidebook you will be marked for treason and executed. Do I make myself clear?

 

ZR-554X; Yes, Ma’am

 

359-HC; Miss Rebuille. You are hereby granted the role of {redacted}. Your reporting officers will be {redacted} and {redacted}. Your position puts you outside the chain of command in the Cosmic Navy, as indicated in your OCNI guidebook. You are to leave everything behind. Your lab will be prepared ahead of your arrival. In addition, you are granted access to information on the captured Quinoth vessel. If that is all.

 

ZR-554X; A moment, Ma’am

 

 

359-HC; Yes?

 

ZR-554X; I request Science Cadet Lucia Sharpe be assigned under my care. I have worked with her for many years and vouch for her skills.

 

359-HC; Is she critical to the completion of the designations assigned to you?

 

ZR-554X; Yes, Ma’am

 

359-HC; Very well. Let it be known a motion to test one Lucia Sharpe has been passed. Further details of this assignment will be reviewed pending the results of her tests. Committee dismissed.

 

[End of Log]

“Hey... Zeitha! Are you even listening to me?”

 

A hand waved in front of me, helping to hone my focus. I blinked once, twice, my mind slowly rousing to intelligent thought. My peripheral vision hadn’t quite recovered, leading me to miss the hand as it moved out of focus, not that it mattered, there was only one person that would visit me here.

 

I placed down the device I had been working on and stretched. “You know I dislike it when you enter unannounced C.”

 

“Oh, come on Zei. You’ve been held up in here for 3 days!” Lucia made a motion to turn the lab lights on before moving over to the corner I resided. “Zei you stink! When was the last time you had a shower?!”

 

“4 days ago, maybe 5? I’ve lost count, it’s not important.”

 

“The hell it isn’t.” A pair of arms positioned themselves around me in a rather weak grasp. Despite C’s best efforts, I wasn’t budging and after a few more tries my stubbornness was rewarded with a soft exhale of air and the cute noise C makes whenever she pouts.

 

My amusement quota had been satisfied. Believing to have won I turned my chair and was ambushed with a “boop” on the nose. In the second it took for my brain to reboot, my hands were encased in C’s, and my body, now on autopilot, was guided into a standing position.

 

My brain, in its infinite wisdom, decided to flare my natural fangs and softly growl in a manner that could not at all be considered scary. Rather expectedly C looked up at me and giggled. Her face was beautiful when she giggled…

 

“Shower time,” Lucia dictated, beginning to lightly pull me in the direction of the exit.

 

“Yes, yes.” I allowed myself to be guided outside and towards the showers. For now, the worries of the lab and the war could wait. I had a most unusual date, and a terrible odour to be rid of.

 

I left the showers in a much worse mood than the one I entered with. I stormed out of the showers half-naked, Lucia following close behind as the sound of laughter echoed over her hurried steps.

 

“This! This is exactly why I hate leaving the lab!” I screeched.

 

Lucia looked at me, a mixture of worry, anxiety and fear. It took a moment to realise my fists were balled up, my posture exhibiting clear hostility. I could see in her eyes that she wanted to make amends. I could also see the sparks of fear. I willed my body to calm and relax, my brain took this moment to go on auto-pilot.

 

“You do this every time C, every god-damn time! You take me to places I don’t want to go and expose me to those- those vultures!”

 

“I-I-I do-. You know... I’m sorry,” she stumbled in reply.

 

She moved in to console me, her hands shaking but somewhat resolved. They barely made it halfway before I involuntarily swiped them away, more forcefully than I should have.

 

Fuck! Apologise Zeitha. “Get the fuck away from me!” No! No! No! What was that!? “I don’t want to see you anywhere near me ever again!” Zeitha stop! You’re ruining everything! You’re going to lose the only friend you have left!

 

C attempted to speak; her mouth moved but no sound was formed. Her eyes were firmly glued to my feet and her body was quivering something fierce. We stood there for what felt like an eternity. Eventually, our silence was broken by the sound of the intercom.

 

“Zeitha Rebuille to the bridge, I repeat. Zeitha Rebuille to the bridge.”

 

Fuck. This isn’t how today was supposed to play out. I just needed to apologise. If I could do that before I left maybe I could make amends? Good, I had a plan. Deep breath in. Hold. Out. I’ve got this. Before I opened my eyes the sensation in my body was already leaving, the vision in my peripherals falling out of focus and my head emptying of thoughts. I tried to speak; tried to get- it was no use. Lucia had already started walking back towards the showers, I wanted to reach out and call for her, but my body wasn’t responding. I’d like to say I screamed internally, but the last thing I remember was walking towards my container in stoic silence. When I came to, I was on the bridge.

 

I became very aware of multiple eyes baring into me. The captain of the ship, and admiral of this fleet, one Benjamin Ironhound, was tapping his fingers impatiently. Unsure as to what was expected of me my head tilted to the side and I blinked repeatedly, trying to piece together what I had missed.

 

“I take it you’re expecting a reply or something?” I asked innocently.

 

Ironhound sighed audibly. He turned to his second in command, handed him a datapad and proceeded to walk past me without meeting my eye. “Zeitha, come.”

 

Well, fuck you too… I followed close behind.

 

“I have received news that your suits-“

 

“Mobile Anti-Personal Battlesuits,” I interrupted, more than a little pleased with myself.

 

“Yes, those.” His disdain was palpable. “Regardless. I have received news that after your demonstration today we can start shipping them out to the rest of the fleet.”

 

“Took you long enough. I’ve been sitting on that order for 3 days.”

 

“And you didn’t tell me?”

 

“Above my paygrade.” I threw my hands up in mock hopelessness.

 

We rounded a corner and two rookies transporting a box of supplies placed it down, snapped to attention and saluted. Ironhound returned the salute. I waved.

 

“Do you not get fed up having to adhere to those ridiculous customs?”

 

“It’s called respect Zeitha. You could learn a thing or two in that field.”

 

“But Sir, I do have respect, how could you say something so mean?” I joked, accompanied by my best attempt at puppy eyes.

 

“You’re a real pain in the ass you know that?”

 

“Takes one to know one.”

 

We walked the remainder of the trip in silence. Considering how our interactions normally went, today was looking pretty good.

 

The door accompanying the testing chamber slid open. Inside was more than 20 officers of various ranks, all of whom were here for my live demonstration.

 

“Gentl- Oh put your hands down!” They did. “Right. You’re here for one thing, and that's a live demonstration of the suit, including its tactical advantages and weaknesses. I’ve even thrown in a little tip that you’ll find most useful.” A few eyebrows went up at that.

 

I moved close to the demo pilot and signalled for him to get ready. As the suit was being prepared, I turned to face my audience.

 

“Before we begin, you need to know what you’re dealing with. This,” I pointed towards the now manned suit. “Is a Mobile Anti-Personal Battle Suit or MABS. As you can see it acts as an extension for the pilot within. Note how the pilot is still visible, and therefore susceptible to gunfire.” I waited for the chuckles to die down before continuing. “Due to its size, you will struggle to fit this thing in smaller corridors and should plan your defences accordingly. The suit is also sluggish, but more on that later.” I looked up at the pilot and indicated for him to spin. “As you can see, the MABS is operated by the two central control pads within arms reach of the pilot. The left is responsible for the suit’s motor functions, and the right for the weaponry. Your pilots should have already been debriefed on how these work and virtual testing should have taken place.”

 

I indicated for the pilot to stop and activate his chainsaw, which he demonstrated for a few seconds before turning it back off. “The MABS’ chainsaw spins at 16,000 revolutions per minute, and the blades are made out of military-grade steel. If you’re unlucky to find yourself on the end of one of these, well, I hope it’s clean and quick. The right arm is equipped with a flechette launcher that fires atomically sharp, superheated shrapnel at a rate of 2,000 feet per second. It has close-range effectiveness of 100m, or long-range effectiveness of 300m, which you can set at the controls. It takes 5 seconds to reload between each burst.”

 

Another demonstration later and I was happy I still had the audience’s attention; some were even looking impressed. “Finally at the top of the MABS are two 12.7mm barrels that alternate fire, fed from a chamber located on the back. That’s the weaponry out of the way, are there any questions?” One officer put his hand up to grab my attention but I ignored him and continued. “Great. In that case, we can move to manoeuvrability. As I have highlighted, this thing is sluggish. Because of its weight, it doesn’t move much faster than the average human walking pace, but it makes up for this with small turbo thrusters. Activated by the pilot, with limited uses, the machine is capable of moving 50 meters in half a second. The thrusters can propel you forward or backwards only. Right! That’s the boring stuff out of the way.” I stretched my arms, slow and exaggerated, giving them time to finish their notes.

 

“In terms of tactics, you will want to place these ahead of your troops. It excels at locking down tight corridors and should be used as a mobile defence platform. In the case, the enemy gets too close, you can use your thrusters to quickly reposition. If this fails, the chainsaw should buy you some time. If the enemy is using projectile weaponry you will need to be more careful with their placement, avoiding long corridors in favour of tight corners. Unless the corridor is extremely wide, it's advised you have no more than 2 suits assigned to one location. The combat effectiveness of each suit is decreased by 40% with the addition of another nearby, and upwards of 70% with the addition of two or more. That concludes today’s demonstration. Our beloved admiral will take any further questions.”

 

Ironhound looked up at me as if to protest before a barrage of questions were thrown his way. I took this opportunity to escape past the exit, but not before giving him a well-timed wink.