Home

Eight years as a Mech handler had taken its toll on Vedenar. Multiple days spent in isolation training to become the soldier he was today. Thousands of hours dedicated to Mech training, all of that done for the sake of serving his country. So as a reward he would spend the next 12 weeks taking time off to relax.

It was true he was an orphan and so he lacked blood relatives. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t related to the kids at the orphanage. It was finally time to go and see the faces that raised him.

He was glad that his friends – Beth and Mont – had agreed to join him. The three grew up with one another but with everything taking place in the years before, they wanted to keep working as that was easier than facing their pain. It wasn’t because the group didn’t want to take a few days off, but rather in relaxation they risked making peace with their trauma. But no, Ved knew that if they let it brew up it would only make the inevitable confrontation worst and so despite protest the group were headed back home.

Looking at Beth’s had always him brough peace and maybe he can finally end this weird relationship with her and truly make it official.

He sat in the transportation carriage’s lounge room with Beth across of from the tabe. The two of them were discussing what they will do when they arrive. She was going on how the city had fully adopted an arcology system and that the whole place would seem different from when they were kids. Their conversation was interrupted as Mont walked into the room holding holding 3 trays of food.

The short haired man mumbled something through a piece of bread in his mouth and sat the trays on the table.

“Thanks, Mont. I didn’t realize I was this hungry” he told his friend. Mont handed them a plate each and the group dug into their dinner. After finishing his food Mont, ever the fast eater, asked

“When are you two getting married?” Which caused Ved to choke on his drink and Beth spit out her water. WHAT?

“Don’t give me this look. Ved, Islam doesn’t allow relationships and Beth you’re practically his unofficial wife. I mean the two of you are always together.” He was sitting next to Ved casually leaning on the chair acting as if this was an everyday conversation.

Ved couldn’t form words and when he tried to speak, his voice shrunk as he forced down the food stuck in his throat. After taking a sip of water, he said

“I don’t know” except he did, he knew for a long time but couldn’t make false promises to the woman he loved.

“Most likely in the coming weeks,” Beth surprisingly said and turned smiling meeting his eyes.

“What about Islam? Does it even allow marriage between a Christian and a Muslim?”

“It does,” Ved answered, “To be perfectly honest, I haven’t looked at the specific details yet. But I know for a fact that we can get married. I will have to ask a sheikh for specification once we arrive.”

Mont thoughtfully nodded and continued sipping on his cup of water.

“What about you and Hera?” Beth asked. Mont kept a quiet for a second then replied

“I can’t. I loved Fera so much, but I can’t move on, at least not for now. She will have to wait or find a man who won’t waste her time.”

“But-”

“We are still young, 24 years old is not ancient by any means so I have plenty of time before I start thinking of relationships again, let alone marriage.” He appeared to have ended the conversation, so Ved did not engage in the topic. Instead, the conversation shifted to a nostalgic talk of the past few years.

A while later Ved sat in the lounge by himself; his friends had gone to sleep. The room was quiet and dark, lit by single light above his table. The night sky shifted from a nearby window and Ved got up from his chair leaving his tablet and looked outside. He could spot a few villages, which meant that they were not away from the city.

The environment outside slowly warped as his mind shifted into a different place. He was inside of a Mech’s cockpit. For some reason he could feel his head was aching from the side but that slowly disappeared. The arm tubes felt comfortable as his hands slide in them, whilst his legs were secured into the Pelvis Cradle. He was soaring on a land nearby the army’s Hanger.

His Mech boosted itself into the air before slowly slamming on the ground as it continued sliding with a speed of 300 MPH. It was a surreal feeling, despite being shieled from the outside, he could feel the air blowing against his face as he became one with the wind. The exhaustion that usually came with the Mechs was non-existent so he continued blasting through the place.

Unfortunately, he was approaching his destination as the enemy Mechs were reflected on his screen. The building behind them was the place his squad were supposed to reach, and he quickly checked his comms confirming their plan.

He quickly got a rear-view image of Beth trailing behind with her assistant Mech and a few seconds later she overtook him as their plan commenced. He shifted the extra camera to the right where he saw Hera and Mont, as she overtook Mont mirroring Beth.

He hated engaging in combat but for some reason he always came out as the sole victor in battle. So unfortunately, whilst he couldn’t stand confrontation, his country demanded it from him, and he was never going to shy away from duty.

Suddenly Beth’s mech exploded and he couldn’t believe his eyes. Shortly after Mont and Hera followed. He shouted for his fallen comrades and ripped his hand out of its tube attempting to reach for his friends and was then on his Bed with Mont by his side on his tablet.

He scanned the room and deduced that he may have fallen unconscious.

“We’ve been through a lot,” whispered Mont as he got up, “But that’s what this holiday is for, right?” Ved absently nodded and felt pain the side of his head noting that he must have fell on it. A few minutes later he began to feel a bit of a vibration from the carriage indicating that they were landing.

****

Ved was overwhelmed by the amount of people that showed up for their arrival. He thought maybe a dozen or so people would be here but instead, 50 individuals celebrated his return. Hera had picked up them up from the dock station; she had arrived a week before them as she needed to attend a relative’s birthday. The group were now in the orphanage which was in a three-story apartment in one of the city’s many residential buildings.

Ms Hama was beaming with a warm smile. Every time she saw him, she reached in for a hug. The woman was like a mother to him, so he didn’t mind the physical touch. Mont was sitting across the living room with Hera and the two were entertaining the little kids that lived here. Sheikh Mohammed entered the place and Ved could not help himself from embracing the man in a heartwarming hug.

Mohammed had practically raised Ved and the two shared more than a standard relationship. The entire day was extremely emotional for him, he hadn’t anticipated that he had such strong passion for these people, but he did, and it was the best thing ever.

A while, everyone was put to their bed and the rest of the guest left. Ved finished his evening prayer and went to grab his laptop. He wanted to check his messages because despite the rule for ‘no working’ he wasn’t going to let people wait 3 months before they got a response from him.

As he checked his notifications, a name he hadn’t seen in a few years popped up with a large emphasis on the Sender and Subject.

President Fedzick’s Official OfficeSUBJECT: URGENT