Starkindler (MechaVerse Series Book 1)

by Jeremy Cunkle

  He recovered slowly, enough that he could look around at his surroundings, tears trickling unnoticed from his eyes. Sunlight weakly streamed in from holes that peppered the cockpit. Dust and debris choked the air, making the light hazy, the sun reflecting brightly off the floating particles, making the scene ethereal and dreamlike. Small electrical fires burned in several places. Mikkhael took what seemed an eternity to release the straps of the body harness, feeling the bruises covering his frame light up in pain as the pressure on them was removed, restoring blood circulation and sensation. He groped weakly for the chemical fire extinguisher underneath the seat, grasped it weakly, and then went about putting out the fires one by one before collapsing weakly back into the seat, panting as he held his battered sides in pain. Aurora was still trying to speak with him but he could not understand her, his mental faculties were returning slowly but steadily.

  Many of the displays were cracked or destroyed. They exhibited no signs of power except for the damage display. Mikkhael stared in disbelief, forcing his mind into obeisance as he read and reread the scrolling lines of text. The damage display showed black throughout the entire Mech, showing across the board system failures.

  Aurora’s voice finally reached him. “Emergency power only, it is only a matter of time before the PDF realize what happened. You need to move on foot to recover Eve and the others; I will try to restart the reactor in a few minutes. It could be completely destroyed. It is hard to say right now, I can hardly access anything outside of my own consciousness for the moment, and even that is severely limited.”

  Despite all of his best intentions, Mikkhael bowed his head, placed his face in his hands, and wept. The one thing he had dreaded more than anything else occurred. He should have died, becoming a martyr, a symbol for the rebels to rally around. Instead, Starkindler was likely crippled, without even the ability to self-destruct in its current state and take him with it. The PDF could recover the Mech armor and him, steal the advanced technologies and undo any chance for hope the rebels had. The limits of his humanity were overwhelming as the darkness of failure swept over him.

  Time passed, he was not sure how much of it he spent lost in self-pity, his mind told him it was likely less then it felt as a voice broke through his reverie. Aurora activated the mic imbedded next to his eardrum; her voice shaming him into action. “Mikkhael! Mikkhael are you okay?! Do something, dumbass, don’t just sit there!”

  He felt himself stand shakily, then walk to the hatch where he had to punch the manual door mechanism. The seal between the door and the unprotected atmosphere broke, requiring both hands to push the hatch free enough that he could fit through. He bent over; crawling like a wounded dog through the door, nearly missing the stirrup for his foot, relying on the weak gravity to lower him slowly to ground level as even the backup power for the winch had been drained. He landed heavily in the inches thick of dust covering the bottom of the canyon floor before slowly straightening himself, pride and adrenaline temporarily overcoming the pain.

  Four shocked faces visible through their helmets met his, relief, worry, and a mix of other emotions all showing on their faces behind their unpolarized helmets. They all talked at once, surrounding him, vying for his attention. Ulric, Eve’s squadron commander, was the one who initiated order, throwing his arms in the air barking, “Silence,” over the common frequency.

  Ulric clapped him on the shoulder familiarly, summarizing the situation up aptly. “You, son, look like shit.”

  Mikkhael grinned; the grin turned into a chuckle, which turned into raucous laughter, the overjoyed MARS pilots joining in. The laughter hurt, forcing him to place a hand to his tender ribs, and then bend over to relieve the pressure. The tension that built continuously over the last two days of fighting fell away as if physical weights removed themselves from his body. He had made it, and there were survivors, making it all worthwhile.

  Now, they needed to get out. He surveyed the motley troupe of survivors, their dust caked pilot suits doing nothing to disguise that they had not showered; the fact that they were even alive was still sinking in. Off in the distance, he noticed a clump of MARS units busted all to hell. Ulric knowingly followed his gaze, taking a moment to answer the unasked questions, unable to hide his bitterness.

  “After we left Olympus, it didn’t take long to realize something was nine kinds of wrong. We went to turn around and then everything went to shit faster than a woman catching you cheatin’.” He made the motion of spitting, not following through because of his helmet. “Before we could do anything, a bunch of good kids just trying to prove they had what it took were already dead. Lafleur here, Tao and I followed Eve, trying to keep her and the rest of her squad alive, knowing that even if we lived the Commander would surely put us six feet under for this fiasco, when it dawned on us that the PDF were cats playing with their food before the kill, herding us somewhere. With our communications jammed, surrounded, and dropping like flies, things got pretty dark for a spell.

  ‘‘A squad of HellCats ghosted in and out of existence, more on every side, picking anyone off who did anything they didn’t like. That was when Eve figured things out and headed for cover deeper in the Valles Marineris with us in tow. We caught ‘em by surprise which is why a few of us are still alive, they sure as hell weren’t expecting us to move farther from the Mountain, almost made it, too. Would’a, if not for all the damage they’d done up to that point. Zarl was with us right until the lip of the canyon, and that’s when they caught up. He turned to hold ‘em off, buy us time. They managed to shoot the legs off Eve’s unit, so had no choice, carried her a bit farther down the way but that was the farthest we could get. Tao’s a real badass, his unit is busted all to hell and somehow he kept it moving until we got here, it’s not going any further though.

  “We’ve been down here since, sleeping in a pair of emergency tents next to our Mechs, waiting for them to come down and finish us off, but nothing ever happened. The waiting sucked the most honestly. Knowing they are up there, all around us, able to come down whenever they want and there’s nothing we could do about it. It ate us alive, that waiting. Wasn’t making any sense until you showed up; now it’s easy enough to put the pieces together I suppose. I’m sorry kid, I really am.”

  They turned as one, following Ulrics gaze to look at Starkindler, the sun showing high above them, silhouetting the giant Mech. It stood proudly, rooted into the rock where the force from the exploding ordinance had forcefully embedded the Mech armor into the side of the canyon, bent, but not broken. Thick black smoke trailed lazily from areas where the strongest armor in the galaxy had been ripped away in great chunks. The proud machine glowed white, radiating heat, serving as a giant heat sink for the critically overloaded reactor. Without the active camouflage, an untrained eye could see great swathes of exposed armor where the foam coating completely burned away; leaving scarred discolored splotches of metallic skin exposed.

  “Will she fly again?” Ulric stood with arms crossed, doubtfully looking the Mech over with a practiced eye.

  “Aurora, how long until you attempt to restart the reactor?” Mikkhael asked through the helmet, not wanting the other pilots to hear what he assumed was bad news.

  Aurora understood his intention, replying privately through the helmet. “The radiation leaking from the reactor is becoming significant, and would already be a lethal dose if you did not have the protection of your suit. The reactor core is damaged, the core containment opened as an emergency measure when the reactor critically overloaded and the only way to close the protective containment is with power. If the reactor fails to restart, it will explode and no one within miles will ever have anything to worry about again.” Her dry attempt at dark humor went uncommented on so she continued. “I have to try to start the reactor and close the shielding soon, or the radiation will soon overwhelm even the protection your suits offer. The way this canyon sits will shape the explosion so that there are no survivors. For psychological reasons if not logical ones,
why don’t you go inspect the rebel pilot’s MARS units?”

  Mikkhael felt a shiver run down his spine. He could almost imagine her self-representation pixelating into a grin as she described to him yet another way he was about to die. He turned to the surviving rebels, “I’m glad the rest of you are alright, I would like to inspect your MARS units in person before we head out. We do not have a lot of time before the PDF make their next move.” He started shuffling awkwardly down the canyon before anyone could protest. He did not look back for fear of giving away his worry.

  Ulric, Eve, and the other two pilots caught up with him, eagerly explaining the sequence of events from the time they realized the entire thing had been set up as a trap by the PDF, which by then had been too late. They told their side of the story, how out of eleven MARS units that left Mount Olympus nearly three days ago, only four still remained. After being ambushed by the HellCats, the survivors collectively retreated; however, not before attempting to rescue a pair of their brethren forced to go to ground after their units were crippled.

  Originally there had been seven pilots altogether that entered the canyon after the ambush. When five of them attempted to leave to rescue the grounded pilots, ignoring the advice of Ulric and Eve who remained behind, three of them were instantly wiped out. Lafleur and Tao retreated to the false sense of safety the canyon provided them; fully understanding then that the smooth cut rock walls were now their prison, that they were being used as bait and would be kept alive so long as they remained in place.

  Left with nothing to do except replay the events that occurred over the last few days, the rebels used their spare time carefully re-creating events as accurately as possible. Eve’s unit seemed to be the focus from the start of the battle, and there was clear evidence of someone having leaked information, which meant the existence of a spy back within the mountain. The HellCats had singled her out; knowing exactly which unit was hers before even engaging, and then picked off her pair of escorts. Then, her unit had been carefully destroyed in such a way that still left her alive.

  Without any way to escape their prison, the survivors stayed busy, working on what maintenance they could perform, but Mech armor and MARS units alike required dedicated repair facilities and field maintenance would not compensate for the sheer amount of damage the surviving units sustained. They were a sad collection, in nearly as bad of shape as Starkindler, gathered where they fell around a bend several hundred yards down the canyon.

  Ulric and the others took their time pointing out details, explaining events. Mikkhael tried to pay attention, but found his attention wandering, only to return when he looked at Eve. She was the reason he had been woken up from his much-needed rest, and she was the reason Commander Ulric personally asked him to leave Mount Olympus and achieve the impossible. The chances of him reaching her and especially finding her alive had been infinitesimally unlikely. That any of them were even alive was a miracle.

  Aware of how instrumental her role was in the way everything played out, Eve remained quiet, as a much a sign of how upset she was as anything. She did not shirk and run away, but the weight of the consequences of her decisions was a physical burden upon her diminutive shoulders. Her dust-red atmospheric suit was dirty but otherwise indiscriminately described her as a MARS unit pilot, nothing more. Her diminutive size was the only telling detail that set her apart from the other rebels.

  Mikkhael was about to try speaking with her when Aurora whispered into his private com again. “Keep your fingers crossed; at least you will not know what happened if this fails.”

  He instinctively braced. Ulric and the other pilots noticed. They stopped talking, unconsciously mimicking his example.

  A rumble that was more felt then heard forced the ground to tremble. Small rocks rained down the canyon’s sides. The ground around them seemed to shift in nervous anticipation. A high-pitched whirring echoed around them, followed by Starkindler seeming to give voice to its agony as a high pitch scream of metal on metal starting roughly forced them to their knees with its screeching intensity. A wave of red dust swept past them, temporarily blinding them, choking the air.

  Rhythmic vibrations rumbled throughout the canyon, giving it a pulse as Aurora walked Starkindler over to stand in front of the rebel pilots, bringing the right arm that screeched from the effort up into an off kilter salute. “Reporting for duty, Sir.”

  Aurora switched from the external mic to the private one inside Mikkhael’s helmet as the rebels regained their feet, cheering. “Mikkhael, the entire time Starkindler sat idle down here, the surrounding area became increasingly exposed to the radiation from the exposed reactor core, which is likely the only reason why the PDF have not come to finish you off yet. Regardless of the consequences we must attempt to leave, remaining here for another hour will likely give all of you a lethal dose of radiation poisoning, you especially have the least amount of time left and I have no way to monitor your health anymore. I did not expect to be able to safely restart the reactor, so I chose to omit the reference, but now the situation has changed. Movement is life.”

  “It will never stop until it ends, will it?” Mikkhael groaned rhetorically, allowing himself a moment of self-pity.

  “This is the path you chose by coming here to Mars. I will let you tell them.” Aurora said brusquely.

  Mikkhael hesitated. “Aurora, is it safe for me to pilot Starkindler?”

  She could not lie, but that did not mean she had to tell the whole truth. “The cockpit is shielded, as you know; enough armor is intact to allow continued use for a short time to be safe. I was able to close the reactor’s shield when Starkindler restarted.”

  He picked up on her avoiding directly answering his question. It was an answer in and of itself. Mikkhael turned to the pilots, addressing Ulric as Eve appeared too shell-shocked to lead her remaining command. “The two damaged MARS units could probably become flightworthy if I use Starkindler’s plasma blade to remove their mangled legs. It will be difficult to pilot them, but the goal is to get far enough away and eject anyways. I will lead; Ulrics less damaged MARS unit will follow right behind me. We will ensure there is window of time for the damaged units to escape. Because Eve’s unit was destroyed, she will ride with me. Good luck. I will see everyone on the other side.”

  The group split up, the veteran fighters moving efficiently once receiving commands. They did not stop to question his authority, there was no right or wrong in the current situation. Aurora had been right, however; if they had any prayer of making it out of this alive, movement was life. Mikkhael took Eve’s hand awkwardly in his and together they rode the winch up to Starkindler’s cockpit.

  All three of the MARS units were able to start up as Ulric expected them to, although even the best pair were barely in better condition than Starkindler. They assembled into their positions, knowing they had no hope in a fight, but to remain where they were was also certain death.

  Mikkhael hesitated at the controls, the light of the sun beginning to fade as Phobos, the larger of the two moons, colluded with the omnipresent dust and the growing storm to obscure the last dying rays of sunlight. Eve moved to the cockpit, taking position behind the pilot’s seat, the only area with enough room for her to stand. She tentatively placed a hand on his shoulder, sensing his hesitation. “Movement is life. We all know what we face when we leave the canyon. We also know you wouldn’t be telling us to leave if staying was an option. I just wish it had been anyone but you to come save us. You are the best hope this planet has had in decades, and it’s my fault you’re here.” Her grip tightened on his shoulders barely noticeable through the thick pilot suit. “I’m glad though, that when this ends that I am next to you.”

  She finished with a sad smile that Mikkhael caught as he stole one last glance at her; the unexpectedness of her comforting words catching him off guard. His throat was tight, leaving him unable to reply. Ulric signaled the other’s readiness, serving as a needed distraction. “Aurora, can you see what’s up there?
Anything would help.”

  She replied from her hologram, apparently showing off for Eve. “All of the external antennae’s were destroyed. I am entirely blind. The sensors seem to be able to pick up incredible amounts of active radar lacing the nearby area, but it is hard to tell what it means, so much is damaged. We have no weapons either. All of the electro magnets overheated, the barrels have all warped. The afterburners were completely destroyed; main engines can produce output at about half of maximum power. There are also no energy shields. To top everything off, the reactor is … sensitive. A direct hit may critically overload it.”

  The report was worse than Mikkhael wanted to hear. He did not ask about the hull integrity, the fact that she skipped it entirely and that he could see the hazy sky through holes in the cockpit told him enough. He had been able to reconnect life support to the Mech armor or he would have run out of oxygen by now. Only two of the displays that covered most of the cockpit interior still worked, he was amazed they functioned at all. “We can use the plasma blade, right?”

  Her hologram paused momentarily, shocking him, as she obviously had to check for the answer. The damage to her logic stacks had to be as significant as to the rest of Starkindler itself for her to have that kind of lag. “The electro magnets in the arm are destroyed, but the reactor has more than plenty of output with all of the other damage we have incurred. I can route the extra output in a steady supply along the arm; although without the magnets I cannot ensure a stable flow. You can probably use the plasma blade for several consecutive minutes before it critically overloads. It is the only option available.”

  Mikkhael looked over his shoulder at Eve. Her shoulders and eyes were set. She nodded resolutely. He turned back to the destroyed HUD, manually activating the plasma blade, and then began to cut away the legs of the two severely damaged MARS units. They would be harder to pilot with only the torso and arms remaining, but their smaller mass would allow their damaged engines a better chance to get their units as far from the canyon as possible.