Iron Prince: A Progression Sci-Fi Epic (Warformed: Stormweaver Book 1)

by Bryce O'Connor

  CRACK!

  Rama jumped as the pad he’d been holding during the call shattered, crushed as he failed to check his strength in his anger. Broken glass spilled from his fingers, and he stepped quickly away from the mess, imbibing in a rare expletive as he did.

  “Son of a bitch!”

  Fortunately for his reputation, the only other soul in the room wasn’t about to run off whispering about the slip up.

  “Technically she’s the actual bitch, colonel, rather than any related male offspring.”

  He half-turned to glare at his chief assistant, who was standing at the ready with a stylus over her own pad. Maddison’s blonde hair was tied back into a ponytail behind her head, today, and she sported a carefully crafted expression of disinterest as she watched him, waiting for his word.

  “I’m cursing the command, not General Abel. That would be insubordination.”

  “And what command was that?” Maddison asked innocently, tactfully sticking a toe into the game.

  “The most egomaniacal backpedaling I’ve ever witnessed from the construct that is our proud military,” he growled in answer, bending down to start picking up what pieces of the glass he could. “Get me Dyrk Reese. He’ll love this.”

  Maddison hesitated, the mask falling into a look of sudden concern, giving up on the facade. “The major? Rama, what’s going on?”

  “Chief Assistant Kent, I am in no mood to be anything other than your direct superior, at the moment!” Rama thundered from where he was crouched behind the desk, looking around to level her with a warning glare. “Get me Dyrk Reese. Now!”

  The woman—unaccustomed to being addressing in such a manner—flinched, expression changing once again into one of sudden alarm. To her credit, she only nodded briefly before hurrying for the door of the room.

  By the time she reached it, Rama was already regretting his outburst.

  “Maddison. Wait.”

  She paused, just about to reach for the handle. Standing up with his fistful of broken glass, Rama faced her with a frown.

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have lost my temper. If you can get me the major, you have leave to sit in on the conversation. You should know anyway, on the chance I get calls when some parent or preparatory school starts worrying whether our tournament systems aren’t up to snuff.”

  Though this surely could have done nothing for her confusion, the unease in Maddison’s pretty features lessened. Her nod this time was more meaningful, conveying just as much that he was forgiven as it did her understanding of the situation.

  Then she was gone, the door swinging open behind her in her hurry.

  Dropping the shards onto the clean surface of his desk, Rama pulled his chair out to collapse into it, groaning in frustration as he did. Resting his elbows on the wood before him, he was glad for the momentary solitude as he tugged his cap off to toss it unceremoniously onto one of the couches that took up the other side of the room. Feeling a headache coming on, he started to rub at his temples, closing his eyes against the building throb of anger and disbelief behind them.

  “Aria is going to have my head…” he muttered to no one but the silence.

  CHAPTER 48

  “It is in the nature of man to betray. Our very system of governance is based on the concept. Seeing to the many too often requires turning one’s back on the few. Addressing the greater good so frequently involves the casting aside of lesser needs, and those in said need. There is no real choice in it.

  Betrayal, in the end, is more often than not a body’s greatest tool of survival…”

  - Dr. Everett Weaver, Ph.D.

  23rd century philosopher, Mars

  Aria—to her later chagrin—missed the one warning that might have prepared her for the disaster that would become the Tuesday of the sixth week of the Intra-School Tournament. More accurately, rather, while she did see the message which might have braced her for the day, she had no way of deciphering it in the moment.

  Aria woke up, as she always did, at 0600, a good half hour earlier than any of her roommates, who she’d never managed to pull out of their quiet shells of jealousy and intimidation. Groggy from the alarm and intent on getting the morning going, she started the coffee, brushed her teeth, and was washing her hair in the shower when she finally noticed the blinking notification in the corner of her frame. A little heat warmed Aria’s cheeks, seeing it. The only person who typically sent her any correspondences overnight was Rei, and usually even then normally to gush about some fascinating topic he’d stumbled across while studying for class, or else sharing a clip of an SCT fight—typically involving a Phalanx—that she might find interesting. Still, it was getting to the point where Aria could no longer deny that she didn’t look at least a little bit forward to these more and more frequent morning hellos, so she allowed herself a measure of disappointment when she saw that it wasn’t from Rei, but rather from Maddie.

  Still, the message had been sent close to midnight the previous evening, which had Aria concerned enough to open it even as she started rinsing the conditioner from her hair.

  He didn’t have a choice.

  Frowning, she reread the sentence, then again before being sure she was completely at a loss as to what the woman might have meant. Was it a mix-up? Maybe a message meant for someone else? If it was intended for her, Aria couldn’t make heads or tails of it, and finishing with her hair she started to craft a reply expressing just that.

  Before she could finish her request for clarification, though, another message pinged her NOED, and this time it was from Rei.

  Headed to East Center before breakfast. Catcher and I want to warm up a bit for our matches this afternoon. Viv’s coming, too. You in?

  Feeling a little jump in her chest at the invite—a feeling Aria was amazed hadn’t faded even after months of spending all her free time with the trio—she typed out a quick response with her left hand as she shut the shower off with a swipe at the wall commands to her right.

  Meet you downstairs.

  She got dressed in record time, almost forgetting all about the coffee waiting for her in the kitchen as she rushed out the door still pulling her jacket on. Her suite was on the second floor of the dorm, so she made for the stairs rather than the elevator, not bothering with the actual steps in favor of vaulting over the railing straight down the twin flights to drop easily to the ground-level landing.

  By the time she joined up with the others—Rei and Viv bantering on one of the lobby couches while Catcher stifled a yawn in a seat beside them—the cryptic message which had brought Aria pause in the shower was utterly forgotten.

  They didn’t stay long in East Center, not wanting to risk missing breakfast before an early 0730 talk by a visiting lecturer in the Combat Theory building. Rei and Catcher didn’t even bother changing into their combat suits, content with going through the motions half-speed in their shirts and slacks to limber up for the day. They were both all smiles while they sparred, leaving the girls to hang out chatting by the door, but instead of taking Viv up on an offer to call their own Devices, Aria asked rather if they could just observe the boys, claiming they might have some last-minute feedback to give since Rei was matched with Ashley Renton—a Duelist—and Catcher had been paired with Adam Jax—a Lancer from their own class. The truth of the matter, though, was that she simply wanted to watch the two have their fun, wanted to take in the laughs and grins and shouts of encouragement, right along with the taunts and jibes.

  It felt good, sometimes, to remind herself that she’d found something so far removed from the rigid world her mother would have preferred she confine herself to…

  Breakfast was a simple affair of eggs and toast in their favorite section of the mess hall, along the south wall among the pines of the arboretum. Most of the conversation revolved around Rei and Catcher’s matches that afternoon, though Aria did have to duck a question or two from Viv regarding who she was planning to pick for her Sectionals team, avoidin
g giving any answers only by insisting she hadn’t been elected as a squad-leader yet, so it wasn’t worth thinking on anytime soon. From there, they split with Catcher, wishing him good luck since he was scheduled for one of the earliest fights of the afternoon, and likely wouldn’t be able to meet them for lunch if he was going to make it to the Arena on time.

  Together, Aria, Rei, and Viv trekked their way across the shaded grounds of the brightening dawn to the Combat Theory Department, where the first half of the morning was spent with them privy to an astoundingly listless lecture on water-based combat zones delivered by a visiting ISCM Colonel who looked and sounded like he might have done better to have retired some 2 or 3 decades prior. Aria did her best to pay attention for the first half hour or so, even volunteering the only question in the class when the brief opportunity came to interrupt the man’s dreary monologue, but her desk-mates proved bad influences on her in the end. Viv—two seats to her left—had given up 5 minutes in and was now absently doodling what looked like battling stick figures on her pad, while Rei had been studying up on Kastro Vademe from the moment they’d sat down a little higher in the auditorium than usual so as not to get caught. He’d already explained to her about Christopher Lennon’s directive from the Friday before, so she let him be, only allowing herself a little envy that he was probably still going to get better exam grades despite having zoned out of literally every lecture since Saturday morning.

  After Combat Theory, it was time for Tactical Studies, which mercifully passed a good deal faster when Sarah Takeshi had several of them selecting a recorded SCT fight they’d used before for personal review, involving the whole class in an open discussion on the involved Users’ Devices, Abilities, and skills. Even Rei put his pad down now and again to watch with interest as some A- or S-Ranked fight got picked apart, and called out more than one answer when the captain asked follow-up questions after each examination. By the time the period ended, the three of them had ample topics to discuss on their way back to the mess hall, with Viv taking the lead almost the moment they were out the door of the room.

  “Gah!” she groaned as soon as they were beyond Takeshi’s earshot. “I get that it’s just a matter of time, but can’t I just fast forward to when Gemela has evolved into a full suit? Did you see how some of those guys moved?!”

  “I’m definitely a little jealous,” Aria had to admit over her shoulder, walking just ahead through the milling of the packed halls while she led them towards the stairs. “Hippolyta’s got her tricks, but that speed you Duelists end up with… It’s incredible.”

  “You could lean more into agility training,” Rei offered from the rear. “Quicksliver was a Phalanx with a high Speed spec, wasn’t he?”

  “Yeah, but he was also a sword-wielding variant.” It was Viv who answered for Aria as they reached the steps and started heading down. “Spear-users would have a harder time taking advantage of moving that fast, if they want to maintain their reach.”

  Rei’s laugh echoed against the walls of the stairwell.

  “What?!” Viv demanded as they took the turn in the steps. “What’s so funny?!”

  “He’s laughing because you’ve turned into the right-little SCT enthusiast, Viv,” Aria explained, glad she didn’t have to hide her own smile, facing forward with a hand on the railing as she was. “You’re starting to pull Rei and Catcher-level factoids out of nowhere.”

  “Oh…” Viv said, catching on. Then Aria could tell she’d turned on her best friend as she continued. “You shut up! There’s no winning! Either you’re making fun of me for not caring enough about the tournaments, or you’re teasing me for knowing too much about them!”

  “Nah,” Rei assured her as they made the ground floor and started for the Department doors. “Well… Okay, yeah. But it won’t last forever. Only long enough to make up for all the times you’ve made fun of me for fanboying.”

  “And how much longer is that gonna be?”

  “By my count? You’re about six weeks into a four-year sentence.”

  It was Aria’s turn to laugh at that, Viv cursing at Rei as the entrance to the building hissed open ahead, allowing them to step out into a pleasant fall day. The dim morning had turned into a bright afternoon, with even a nice breeze complimenting the warmth of the sun set almost directly overhead, its light gleaming in a fractured halo against the ring of the city buildings all around them in the distance. Astra’s vegetation—designed like all terraforming organisms to be a little heartier than their genetic parents on Earth—had only just started to change color despite the lateness of the season, and so it was between hedges and under hanging trees detailed in red and orange that the three of them passed as they made their way to lunch, enjoying the shadows that played across the path while they walked and talked. The day was so pleasant that the student body as a whole seemed livelier, with people calling out to each other and friends laughing together while they moved this way and that across the campus. At one point as they approached the mess, Aria let Rei and Viv go at it on the topic of Brawler versus Duelist dexterity, turning her face up and pushing her cap back to let the sun shine on her cheeks for a little bit.

  It was the reason she didn’t see Catcher until Viv called out to him in surprise.

  “Hey! What are you doing here?”

  Aria looked down from the sky, surprised to indeed find the Saber waiting for them, seated on a bench not far from the hall entrance. He looked a bit annoyed, hands thrust into his pockets and a small frown tugging at his lips, but brightened when he caught sight of them.

  “Hey!” he echoed, pushing himself to his feet as they reached him. “Sorry, I would have messaged you guys, but I only just heard on my way to the Arena. Apparently a couple people got injured training yesterday evening and had to be hospitalized. Forced Reese to move some matches around.”

  “Oh,” Aria breathed, concerned. An injury that couldn’t be dealt with overnight? It must have been bad. “Any idea who?”

  “None.” Catcher shook his head. “My fight against Jax got shoved back, though.”

  “That’s weird. I don’t have anything about a time change…”

  Aria, Viv, and Catcher looked at Rei, who’d pulled up his NOED and was reading what was likely his message log with a furrowed brow.

  “Maybe you got lucky?” Catcher offered, stepping a little closer to them to let a chatting trio of second year girls slip by behind him. “Or maybe I’m just one of the few who got pushed?”

  “Maybe,” Rei shrugged, closing his neuro-optic and indicating that they should follow the group as they headed into the mess hall. “When’s your new estimated time?”

  “1645.”

  “Nice!” Viv exclaimed, looping an arm around Catcher’s neck to jerk him close and starting to lead the way inside. “That’s right before Rei’s! Aria and I are gonna be able to cheer you both on!”

  Her enthusiasm appeared to do away with the mild irritation the Saber looked to have been holding onto at the change, because he finally grinned.

  “Already thought of that. I’ve made you guys signs to hold. ‘I love you, Catcher!’, and stuff like that.”

  “Gross.” Viv made a face, shoving him away again as Aria and Rei both snorted.

  All together again—and with a squad-based training session of the combined class-blocks after lunch—no one was in a rush to eat. It transpired that Catcher, too, had suffered the emaciating lecture in Combat Theory, and—after they’d traded a few good jokes about the visiting Colonel and the possibility of his birth before humanity had even left the Earth—the Saber could do nothing but groan with jealousy when he heard what they’d gotten to do in Tactical Studies.

  “1-C doesn’t have Takeshi until tomorrow,” he grumbled, handing the remains of his salad off to a passing service bot. “On the other hand, at least I have something to look forward to. The Device Evolution lecture Alphonse is gonna treat you guys to in the morning is only slightly less dry than usual.” />
  Aria was the only one who managed to suppress a sigh, with Rei and Aria both slumping back in their chairs at the news.

  “I get it’s important to study, but whole classes on CAD progress can be hard to swallow between lectures on fight theory and actual combat training,” Viv grumbled at the ceiling.

  “Weren’t you the one who was just saying you couldn’t wait for Gemela to evolve?” Rei sniggered. “Might be useful to understand the basics before you end up in a full suit of—owe!”

  Viv had smacked him in the arm without so much as looking down, earning another laugh from the table.

  After lunch it was off to the squad-training, and following a second pleasant walk under the autumn sun they arrived within earshot of the Arena in time to hear the sound of Hadish Barnes—the apparent announcer of the day—shouting at the top of his lungs with excitement. Exchanging a quick look, the four of them started running, happily risking an earful by any potentially passing staffer if it meant the possibility of catching a glimpse of whatever had the chief of campus security so riled up. Reaching the mouth of the stadium, they took the steps four and five at a time, attaining the top and rushing to the railing of the walkway just in time for Major Barnes to shout again.

  “OH, and that’s how you use the environment, cadets! Ranjha might have survived the kick, but she’s falling now! She hits! Into the water with her! And Benaly is coming down after her without a moment to lose!”