Maybe, a mech

A silence fell over Asbestos when the Overseer delivered his message one hour later. I'll give the Overseer credit for being upfront. Most politicians would sugarcoat their message with half-truths and over-exaggerations. Overseer Pasu didn't. He spoke plainly about Nova's disappearance, the approaching danger, and Asbestos' last-ditch effort. He ended his thirty-minute speech by appealing to everybody to help, as Cymmand outlined earlier.

Asbestos came to life before the speech had stopped. I had never seen the queue at the tram station as long as I did then. I expected some protests. The increase in security personnel suggested the Overseer did as well, but none started. Most people seemed to put petty grievances aside after seeing their home shrink to a quarter of its size.

The Overseer's one-hour delay wasn't for nothing. He used the time to make arrangements in preparation for the announcement. Several assembly points awaited the arrivals at Raifin. Each advertised their function via large holographic signs above their heads where a group leader corralled their crowd via an amplified voice. I smiled to myself. The arrangements had Cymmand's hand all over it. I really hoped she would be able to sleep sometime soon.

Sitting at home wouldn't do me well, so I stood outside the tram station and wondered where I could fall in. The number of groups where I could help was limited. The food-hunting groups were bursting at the seams and would be better suited to those who didn't have the technical expertise for the others. My decision wasn't too hard in the end. Only so many people had hands-on experience with the mechs.

That is how I found myself bouncing over the planetoid two hours later.

I suspected the number of volunteers to investigate the mechs would have the fewest number, and I had been right. Thirty-three people had stepped forward. We were split into five groups and assigned to an engineer each. I caught some nervous glances between the engineers, and one stepped away to make a call. My leader gave me a large smile when he noticed me during the roll call. The second one came from Cheeseburger.

"You okay there, Vega?" He asked as he bounced beside me.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"You know, it would be better if you could take my mind off things instead of making me think about it."

"Right, right. Gotta keep an eye out for you. That pantry shook you up real good."

"Not the thought I want to revisit." I blew out a breath. "Where's Hardline? I expected him to be here."

"Oh, he joined the scavengers, all right. Runs in his blood. They'll move out once we determine which mechs are working."

"Thought so. I can't see him crawling around Raifin for food."

"Yup." Cheeseburger chuckled to himself.

"Hmm? You seem quite cheery."

"Just thinking of our previous scavenge. I told you the high-school food would be handy."

"Ugh." I pulled a face. "I'm not looking forward to eating that."

"We'll talk again once the belly starts rumbling."

"I didn't say I wouldn't eat it. Just that I'm not looking forward to it."

"Right, right."

I sighed. Not because Cheeseburger was being overfriendly but because I was being unfairly snippy with him. Neither the approaching calamity nor the trip down memory lane as we approached the mech was his fault.

The mech's fallen figure came into view thirty minutes ago. My mood dampened with every step. Alya and Eae's loss had been a particularly painful event. Alya had been a good friend before the war started. She would often join Cymmand and me in various activities.

"Were you part of it?" Cheeseburger asked.

"Hmm?"

"The fight." He gestured towards the mech. "When she fell."

"Oh. Yeah, I was fighting beside the ridge over there."

Cheeseburger nodded. "How did she die?"

"An ambush. While the recent attacks were some of the demon's fiercest, the one where Alya fell was the largest army we faced. We were sixteen Angels, but we didn't know much about the demons back then. They had attacked Asbestos from the north, east, and south at the same time. Each army was about forty strong and led by a class four demon. We were confident in our odds. We split into three groups to engage the demons. Two Angels stayed back to keep an eye on Asbestos and make sure there weren't any stragglers. Alya was one of these.

"The fight was difficult but not impossible. We were beating the demons but we weren't as experienced in dealing with their magical abilities. That is why the ambush was so devastating. A class five decloaked west from Asbestos with fifteen demons beside it. Alya was the first to spot them. Wielding a sword, she fired several missiles while flying closer to engage the demon. She neglected to notice the demon had a tail. It struck forward when she came into reach and punched a hole through Eae's head. The loss of pressure ejected her from the mech where the demon killed her."

"Painful way to go," Cheeseburger said.

I nodded. "We never found Alya's body. Some suspect she lies buried somewhere in Asbestos. Others think she's drifting among the stars. We'll never know."

"Why didn't Command retrieve the mech?"

"Logistics and sentimental reasons. The fallen mechs are treated as a memorial. That's why I'm loathe to disturb them."

"A pity the demons have driven us to this point."

"Indeed." I sighed. The conversation with Cheeseburger brought me closer to the mech than I thought. Time and solar radiation had started to bleach the armor. Even so, Eae retained much of her glory. Other than the hole in her head, what damage I could see was limited to cosmetic scratches.

A movement to my right caught my eye, and I stopped when the group leader raised his fist. I think his name was Bootes. "Alright, listen up! Our goal is to see if Eae's personality core is intact and notify the scavengers. We have two hours to get this sorted out, so we can't afford to dawdle."

"Where do you want us to start?" A male voice asked from within the group.

"Power. Eae's main reactor will be offline, but the emergency reserves should have kept the personality core running. We can pack up if that's offline." I nodded to myself. It requires both weeks and a pilot to train a mech's AI from scratch. "Start there. I need three teams of two." He held up the same amount of fingers. "The first team will investigate the energy reserves. See if there is power inside the mech. I've uploaded the points of interest to your displays. Start there."

"I'll do it!" Cheeseburger stuck up his hand. I saw one rising from the crowd. I itched to tease him about wanting to crawl duct but withheld my comment. Cheeseburger was a born scavenger. There was no need to make fun of it.

"Good. The second team is responsible for the personality core. I have a scanner here to run some diagnostics. Somebody needs to scan the core while the other helps. Trust me, it's a two-man job. Any takers?" Two other hands shot up. "Tom and John, got it. That leaves Safu and Vega. You're on weaponry. Go through Eae's frame and take note of anything that looks like it might deal some damage. The missiles are the first prize. The more you get, the happier Command will be."

"Will do." Safu said.

"Vega?"

"It's all right by me, but if you don't mind, I'd like to check out the cockpit too," I said. "I'm in my pilot suit, so maybe I can interface with her. That might give us a better reading of how Eae's condition."

"Fine by me. Help Safu until Cheeseburger has given the go-ahead for the emergency power."

"Makes sense. I wouldn't be able to do anything without it."

"Good. Alright, people, we have less than two hours. Let's get to it!"