A history lesson.

"There's no honourable way to kill,
no gentle way to destroy.
There is nothing good in war.
Except its ending."

Something he had been drilled ever since his enrolment in the local school. A bygone quote from a bygone war, passed down from some 200 years ago. Back then, it was just a quote, another worthless piece of textbook jargon, something to memorise, recite, and forget about.

Now, sitting in the cold, metal insides of a Type RT 2 Revenant, the words echoed around his mind, serving a cruel reminder of the blissful life he had taken for granted before.

The comms in his cockpit suddenly flared to life, shaking Kuro out of his thoughts.

“First unit, Deploy!”

The ground crews voice crackled through the radio.

From across the garage, Kuro watched as the first revenant stepped forward.

It moved with a mechanical rhythm, each fall of the armoured leg generating shockwaves which spread through the concrete floor. Each step was accompanied by a symphony of whirring, pistons and gears. If not for the active suspension within the cockpit of each revenant, it would have appeared like a mini earthquake was occurring within the Type RT 2.

“Second unit, Deploy!”

Kuro quickly ran through the diagnostics before the ground crews called out his unit. His skilful fingers danced across the console, green lines of status reports along with a 3d diagram of his Revenant popped up on the front monitor.

“Power levels... satisfactory”

Kuro muttered to himself, 

“All systems go!”

He cracked his knuckled in preparation to manoeuvre his machine before finally, the ground crew called again.

“Sixth unit, Deploy!”

Kuros heart gave a slight jolt. 6 had been his lucky number, it also represented the number of months he had been serving in this squad. He grimaced, having flashbacks of the day they forcefully removed him from his house.

He wasn’t sure why he even bothered keeping track, it wasn’t as if he would be leaving any time soon. The contract he had signed essentially said, you either come and fight for us until you die, or risk starvation, homelessness and the constant threat of physical and verbal abuse on the streets.

Kuro didn’t find it difficult to operate the Revenant. Despite the minuscule training he was given before being sent to the frontlines, his extensive knowledge and fascination with the workings of the machine meant he was an extremely quick learner. His hours pouring over the manuscripts of the Revenant had made him an exceptional pilot, even at his tender age.

Skilfully, Kuro manipulated the joysticks either side of his arm rest and orientated the machine to face the garage exit. He then lightly pressed on the pedals to move it outside of the garage with minimum strain on the machine. 

The revenant moved as if it was an extension of his own body. The massive hydraulic pistons in the legs generated a satisfying whir that reverberated throughout the cockpit. Each step was paired with a little jolt which could be felt even through the suspension within his seat.

One by one, the Revenants lumbered outside the garage until 12 in total stood tall in the courtyard, the morning rain creating countless droplets that pinged off the armour of his machine. The sky was grey and it didn't look like the rain was going to stop soon.

The commander wasn't going to be attending this sortie. He never did. Kuro wasn't sure if it was a combination of his over inflated ego, or his conservative belief in how the members of squadron were easily replaceable. He'd likely be lazing back at the camp, smoking a cigarette whilst he berated Kuros sister to peel potatoes faster. 

From behind, a large machine slowly marched to face the Lined up revenants. A crude "12" was sported on the right arm, as well as a faded white star that was on the right chest. This was their squadron leader, and he would be the one to lead them on the battlefield.

Saito Ren, a tall, fair-haired conscript. Although Kuro didn’t socialise with the other members of the squadron much, he held a deep-rooted respect for Ren. Despite being only 2 years older than Kuro, he had excellent leadership skills, even more so than the field commander. Not only did he keep the squadrons spirits high, but also managed to perfectly position us in such a way as to guarantee victory.

“So, how did everyone sleep last night?”

Rens bright voice crackled through the radio. This was one of his go to mood lighteners.

“Yeah, it was alright I guess.”

“I woke up 3 times. SOMEONE was snoring the whole time! Haha”

“Couldn’t sleep a wink… The rain is so annoying.”

“It took me 2 hours to fall asleep, I swear the commanders’ snores are a danger to our location!”

“hahahahaha”

A cacophony of replies and laughter echoed through Kuros ears. The sounds of other girls and boys his age. Children who all had their innocence robbed of them the minute they were forcibly conscripted by the empire. Involuntarily made to fight in horrendous conditions.

Kuro grimaced, but still replied.

“I slept well thanks, and you?”

“Slept like a log”

He followed this with a hearty laugh, knowing he was making 90% of the squadron jealous.

Kuro smirked a little. but quickly resumed his grim look as Ren gave a little speech.

"Listen up guys. Out in the battlefield, the enemy wont care about your age, your weakness, how tired you are. Although we won't get into combat today, don't let your guard down, give it your all and lets all arrive back safely!"

With that, he turned his machine around and turned on the auto pilot; a preprogrammed route uploaded by the commander popped up on the bottom left of the screen. The rest of the Squadron followed suit, nobody bothering to look at such a routine journey. Kuro settled down and decided to catch some shut eye.

He awoke to a sudden jolt, as if the revenant had stopped suddenly. The time indicated he had fallen asleep for about 20 minutes.

Quickly, Kuro stole a glance at the virtual map which was in the bottom left of his front display. It displayed their projected route along with little blue dots representing his squad mate’s revenants.

But something was off.

His face dropped.

The map showed they still had around 60% of the route left. They should have been well past the halfway point by now. Kuro gripped his controls a bit tighter and breathed deeply. System glitches can occur right?

He quickly tapped the comms link and addressed the commander back at the base, careful not to show a hint of panic.

“Sir, the map is reading… incorrectly?”

He stammered and cursed himself for it.

“Are you sure this is the correct route?”

There was a moment of static before the commander’s gruff voice burst through the radio.

“Keep moving, soldier. The map is correct. We had to alter the direction due to blockages in your original path.”

With that, the commander cut the comm. As if angry that a child would dare question his instructions.

Not a second later, one of his squad mates, a meek boy whom he didn’t even know the name of piped in through the radio.

“Hey… guys. D-don’t we look a bit like sitting ducks around here?”

Kuro glanced at his monitors. Indeed, their squadron had stumbled into a destroyed village, tall oak trees flanking their behind, while it was razed houses for about a mile ahead. There was a small hill to the right, covered by a large bush. 

Ren had stopped his revenant at the front of the column of machines, causing the rest of the squad to follow suit. In Kuros case, his machines automatic collision avoidance system had halted the legs for him, causing the jolt which harshly awoke him earlier.

His pulse quickened. The village was quiet. Too quiet. Rows of bombed-out structures, fractured earth, and crumbling walls bordered their path like ominous sentinels, a testament to the horrific destruction of combat. The looming silence only broken by a monotone whirring of the revenants idling.

"Guys, it seems the boss gave us some extra work to do today."

 Ren chuckled, desperate to maintain a positive attitude among the clearly anxious squad.

"Well, no time to wait around, lets conti-"

Just then, Kuro caught a shine in the corner of his monitor, barely noticeable unless you were staring directly at it. It was coming from the bush.

His eye widened.

“GET DOW-!”

It was too late. A 35mm KT4 sniper rifle fired a sabot round straight into the revenant in front of him. The armor-piercing projectile punched clean through the machine's torso, leaving a gaping, smoking hole as it staggered and slumped forward, crashing into the ground. A delayed explosion rocked the surroundings as the remaining fuel ignited.

Kuro barely had time to register the loss of his comrade before 10s of red beeping dots appeared on his map display, fast approaching their location.

An ambush.

“CONTACT! CONTACT BEARING 179!”

Rens usual calm and collected demeanour had been replaced by one of panic, his shaking voice clearly caught off guard by this sudden attack. 

“ASSUME DEFENSIVE POSITION 5!”

The fear was contagious, you could barely hear his order over the layers of voices shouting, everyone scrambling to follow his instructions. Shots rang out as the panicked squad fired covering fire at the bush, bullets kicking up massive clods of dirt and dust.

*BANG*

The sniper had fired another sabot round, this time taking out the machine behind kuro. Bright, yellow sparks flew out the revenant as the bullet passed through the armour like butter.  Dark grey smoke billowed out the hollow cavity left by the bullet; he knew there was no saving the pilot as the revenant stumbled backwards and ungracefully fell in the mud.

Kuro instinctively ducked his revenant, firing some shots from his machines service rifle, a massive second-generation weapon capable of firing 10 shots per second of 20mm armour piercing and tracer rounds. 

He managed to hit the rebel sniper, ripping the bush apart to shreds and generating a large shower of sparks as the bullet ricocheted off the tough homogenous armour. Almost immediately, the revenant turned tail and retreated allowing Kuro to dive for some shelter within the village.

From behind some burnt houses, he managed to find some cover, tightly hugging the blackened wall to prevent being seen. The sound of explosives, rifles, and desperate screams for help from his dying squad mates blared through his open radio. His cockpit was lit up red with alarms.

Kuro’s eyes were wide in horror, his face was as pale as milk. His fingers trembled as they hovered over the controls of his machine. Sweat dripped down his brow, falling onto the buttons on his console, his rapid, deep breaths causing condensation to form on the monitor in front of him. 

He had never been in such an intense firefight before, but he knew somewhere out there, his squad mates were fighting for their lives. 

He couldn't sit here and wait. 

If he wanted to act, he would have to now.

"Kuro! Where are you? We're being decimated out here."

Rens voice seemed forcefully calm, as if he was trying to not instil more panic within him.

"listen, we have to regroup now! Meet at sector 5D. I'll draw their fire!"

He paused and as if like an afterthought he added,

"and if i don't make it, it was a pleasure serving with you. See you soon."

"Ren - NO!" Kuro screamed down the radio, almost on the verge of tears. He could see on the map that the amount of rebels had increased almost 2 fold; there was almost no chance Ren would make it out alive.

He gritted his teeth, desperate to hold back tears as he gripped the controls. Jaw set, he activated the thrusters located on the legs of his Revenant, igniting a fiery torrent of blue flames which propelled his machine forward, over the cover of the house.

His mind flashed back to another quote he had tirelessly memorised from his childhood.

"A leader is the man who has the ability to get other people to do what they don't want to do, and like it."

and he thought about how true it really was.