Eva sighed as she and her unit dashed eastwards towards the front line. Her mind was filled with thoughts about the synthetic cadets, and of terrorism itself.
People using violent means against each other wasn't anything new. Homicide. War. Genocide. Ethnic Cleansing. Terrorism.
In her old life, terrorism had been around for hundreds of years, if not thousands. The term itself appeared during the French Revolution, when François-Noël Babeuf first coined it. He used it as a derogatory term against the anti-royalist rebels (spoiler alert: they won). It existed in some form before then, and certainly existed for centuries after.
In fact, although it evolved over the years, the core of it always remained - terrorists were people who performed politically-charged violence against others.
Agh! Numbers! I initially had a pad open with chronological notes. But now I realize that I need to use a spreadsheet for battles like these.
Squadron Nightraven had done much the same to the other enemy drones around them, and shredded most of them to pieces without much of a fight. The other shield wings also made quick work of their enemies, although they didn't tear through them like Nightraven did. They used more brutal methods. Mantis' wing slammed shield-first into the drones and knocked them off-balance even further. Some were hit so hard that they were thrown back down to the ground. The cadets then pounded them relentlessly with their maces. This cracked their armor and warped their structure to a great degree. Some even made sure to knock the rifles out of their hands, before they crushed their arms into useless ribbons of metal. They didn't have the efficiency or precision that squadron Nightra
The dead and wounded were extracted from their mecha and immediately rushed off to the hospital back towards headquarters. The dead far outnumbered the wounded, but even the "lucky" few survivors were on the brink of death themselves. Some were missing portions of their torso, or even their entire lower half! Blood gushed from their open wounds as they screamed in agony. Terrible pain coursed through their bodies. The doctors and nurses scrambled to save the lives of their cadets. Everyone was given incredible amounts of painkillers to dull their senses as they were stitched back together. But they barely worked, and their screaming had not abated. Despite the doctors' best efforts, almost all of their patients had died. Their trauma was too great, physically and mentally. The pain and suffering that they went th
The two siblings sat in their mecha and were enraptured by the man on their comms displays. The man was older and looked to be in his 60s. He had short cropped grey hair, intense blue eyes, and a kind, fatherly smile. "Thank you both for the presents," he said. "I'll make sure to put them to good use." "I'm glad you approve, father," said the female. His face beamed at her, which filled her with warmth. But his expression turned solemn after a few moments. His voice was patient and calm, but carried a hint of worry in his tone. "Are… you both sure you wish to stay there? You're free to set the drones loose and come back home." His words tore through their hearts, and they couldn't help but wrench their faces slightly.
Sunflower's warning immediately got the cadets' attention, and everyone quickly swarmed towards the front. They forced themselves to remain calm and collected as they double-checked their weapons while they looked for cover. Not everyone was right up at the very front - their drones had taken those spots, so as to absorb the brunt of the enemy's first attack. There were some cadets up on the front line as well, but they kept to the sides and acted more like lookouts rather than direct combatants. Everyone else was staggered all over the streets behind reinforced cover, shield walls, and other fortifications. The melee wings were crouched low and hidden at the frontline flanks, Eva among them. They were itching for a fight, but needed to wait for the right time. Going out there right at the start would only lead t
"That's unit leader to you," she snapped back. Eva's electrolance was getting torn to shreds bit by bit by Darius' relentless attack. Its tip was basically gone, and much of its smooth metallic shaft was shredded down to its electrical skeleton. The exposed generator underneath flickered chaotically, and small arcs of electricity leapt out of it and into the air. Eva felt its charge slowly dwindling. "Why're you even after me?" she continued. "What do you care?" "Why?" he sneered, "'Coz you're the big fish! All the cadets revere you!" Eva scoffed at him. Being stronger or faster didn't mean his victory was assured. Grizz' arrogance was a symptom of his own self-inflicted men
Mia cried out in anguish when her brother was killed, but now she was all alone with no-one to comfort or console her. Her sobs echoed flatly within the confines of her core. She had already prepared herself for this moment, but it still struck her hard. Experiencing loss was nothing new to her. It was something she became familiar with the moment her Father came into her life. But Darius was different. She grew up next to him, and together they had played and laughed and bonded for pretty much all of their lives. They were together, even when Father was teaching them or preaching his manifesto. Their bond was strong, and his sudden absence left a gaping wound deep within her. As the chaos of battle ensued all around, th
During the last few cycles that remained of their time at the academy, the surviving cadets helped try to put the training yard back to the way it was before. With everyone pitching in, from the sergeants to Commander Riddell himself, things more or less got back to normal. At least, on the surface. They rounded up all of the drones and put them back into storage, though they tightened down their security and locked down their CPUs as extra added measures. They certainly didn't want this to happen again. All of the debris and wreckage were swept away, melted down, and reprinted. Much of their materials were used to repair the yard itself, though even they weren't nearly enough for everything. The two siblings had done bi
When Eva got back to Helios, the first thing she did was head back to her pad and changed into a new set of clothes. Well, technically they were the same design as her set of black, except this one had some grey highlights. It was plain, but stylish. She realized that she had coughed up 1,000 credits for a simple "reskin" and balked for a moment at the cost. It felt as though she had been robbed via microtransaction. Then she vowed to make more interesting choices next time, to make the cost worth it. Miko sent her a ping on her DI just as she had finished up, and they ended up meeting at a nearby arcade. Both of them had frequented arcades back in their old lives, and were very fond of them. Miko had gone to those