_LOG7_

_LOG7/File_name:REVERIE_…

The rain is beating down on Anda now. His eyes can barely open as gusts of wind blow the stinging rain in all sorts of directions. The lack of visibility makes it seem like the flashes of lightning are just within reach.

//render_complete:initiate_sequence_5//

We are with Anda now outside a hangar as he overlooks the massive runways populated with the rain-soaked steel-plated battalions of human-piloted mechs boarding Herculean Airships and all-terrain armoured carriers. The mechs double as precious cargo and first-line of defense for the automated transporters before they arrive at their designated stations.

Standard single-seat mechs stand at 3-metres tall on two legs during transportation. In battle its legs open to be a quadrupedal for added mobility on all terrain and counter the recoil from the various shoulder mounted artillery in each of the standard mech's classes. Its arms are designed for close quarters combat and actions such as holding shields for the lancers in the front line.

The Heavies are two-seater mechs that have one pilot commandeer its movements and the other personnel man the cannons and turrets. It stands at 5.5 metres tall in humanoid form and its heavy build is due to the fusion engine in both its legs. Heavies convert into fighter hovercrafts that zip around the battlefield to offer heavy artillery support and mass bombardment of the enemy lines.

Despite their opposition's larger numbers of highly mobile augmented soldiers, its guerilla warfare in urban and rural terrain are no match against heavily-mechanized conventional war tactics. Losses are immense on the Aug side as a Mech victory seem to inch closer marking the end of The Terminal War.

As the last transporter deports Anda heads into the hangar and its massive doors begin to close. The hangar is filled with columns of the army reserve's empty mechs in hibernation, neatly compartmentalized hunks of effective killing machines stand by for orders from the higher-ups.

Anda acknowledges his fellow engineers at their respective workstations who monitor statuses of the mechs in the battalions that were just outbound. Then Anda supervises the familiar senior mechanics from his Motojet days working on a lightweight prototype infiltration mech unit based off the MA-67B Anda designed. It can provide reconnaissance intel by maintaining pursuit of the retreating guerillas and convert into an exo-skeleton for its pilot to engage in battle when needed.

Anda then sits at his terminal to remotely update his senior officer on any technical developments of the deployed mechs. A familiar face appears on his monitor and Anda offers his salutations:

"Sergeant General Anda, sir. Warrant Officer Anda reporting in, sir. "

"Perks of being civilians in the army is we can drop the honorifics, kid. You alright over there?"

"Yeah, thanks dad. Storm's hitting pretty hard but everything's working like clockwork. You doing alright?"

"All peachy, thanks Rin. Well, that's the military for you. How's the prototype unit coming along?"

"We've done the tests and it's perfect. Just wanna keep it off record till we figure out how to fit it with protective armor without compromising its balance. How's it looking at Central?"

"Monitoring the catecholamines of the troops as we speak and morale is high. Thoughts of the war ending soon have got them in good spirits, I can see it on their faces."

"The age old debate of an A.I driven augmented race against the free will of man was never supposed to be settled with a war."

"God knows we tried. Many from either side still want to finish this war without any more losses. Even your mom is still adamant about doing envoy duty for a cease fire."

"Is she safe?"

"Yeah, she has bodyguards with her decked in the mech units you worked on."

"I can patch us in from here."

"She's meeting with Doctor Mase on neutral grounds."

"Even her company was against having their Augs weaponized for the sake of this war. Hard wiring neural augments for tactical warfare, reprogramming bionic limbs to optimize their hit-and-run tactics. 'Unethical' was the word she used—" Rin's words hang in the air as something catches his eye.

Sections of the giant monitors are going from green to red. The engineers are scampering about, troubleshooting what the cause in the loss of data coverage is. The mechanics have their jaws hanging by the unprecedented thing they're seeing on the monitors.

"I see it too, kid. Our techs are saying the storm's interfering the live feeds. Something doesn't feel right."

"We're not getting anything from the 147th to 151st Battalion. It's not comms. Playback their footage, dad. "

"Nothing, it just—. Oh my, the mechs are exploding in their carriers. We're losing Divisions! Show me the ground units…" Mr Anda says to someone off screen.

"Mom, can you hear me? Get away from the mechs, they're—."

"They've done it. They've dropped their Atomic bomb. Rin, Honey, I love you both very mu—", Mrs Anda words cut short by a huge bang before radio silence.

"Sweetie, are you safe?... Rin is your mother still on comms…?"

"We lost her dad, she got cut off. Dad, we just lost the entire 49th Corps—", a familiar booming voice over the hangars P.A system overlaps Rin's message, it's Mister Fathi.

"Rin, get out of there now. They've triggered the 'Rainmaker', stay away from the mechs…", Mr. Fathi continues over the one-way P.A system.

"Mr. Fathi?" Rin asks in vain, dazed as he looks at his mechanics pulling him towards the prototype.

"Get out of here, kid. The world's not gonna need old dogs like us anymore", the mechanic says as he straps in the discombobulated Rin into the exo-skeleton.

"...if you here me, Rin. I don't have much time. I'll be sentenced for treason doing this. I hope you make it…", Mr Fathi's voice continues echoing in the hangar.

The engineers open the hangar door from their workstation and begin sprinting for their lives towards the slow -moving doors. The mechanics engage the fusion engine, give Rin a sorrowful smile and push him in the direction of the hangar doors. Rin starts moving his legs and the actuators hiss and hum to move the exo-skeleton. Rin then presses a button on the console his hand is strapped into and the unit begins to take form of a stripped down Motojet as its fusion engine starts to roar.

Without his ear buds the sound from the fusion engine hones Rin's eyes on the small gap between the hangar door. With no time to apply his eyedrops, he starts to feel time moving excruciatingly slow. He rolls the throttle back and the roars turn into a deafening sound. Rin takes a glimpse at his side view mirror for a final look of the mechanics and in an instant … BOOM!

Mushrooms of fire and projectiles form on either side of the hangar. As time crawls achingly, the balls of flame engulf the workstations where he was a few moments ago and a blinding flash begins to illuminate. Rin focuses his eyes on the hangar doors again and he catches the tear drenched faces of the engineers who don't seem to be moving. The flames form a canopy of heat as Rin grits his teeth with determination to make it out alive.

A tunnel of fire is around Rin now as the Motojet propels forward closer and closer to the exit until a huge armor plate hurls through his waist and catapults him forward. His left shoulder catches the door on the way out, ripping his arm completely off. The inertia of the explosions, projectile and Motojet launches Rin into a violent roll on the tarmac ripping his dangling legs clean off.

Rin is now only a fraction of what he was before, snapping in and out of consciousness as the rest of the mech-filled hangars begin to explode creating a ring of fire around the huge runway. Raging infernos sweep through the barracks of unsuspecting soldiers whose screams of agony linger in the air.

Rin writhes in pain on the tarmac as he desperately gasps for air with his collapsed lungs. As the remaining light in his eyes fades, an inbound Harrier jet approaches the area. Thinking it could be his father, Rin holds on just a little longer so he can have a last look at him before letting go. The Harrier jet begins descending and its cargo bay ramp opens as it gets lower to the ground.

It's Eo at the edge of the ramp with a medical team behind him. Eo's face has shock written all over upon seeing Rin's charred skin, exposed innards and torn limbs among the wreckage. As soon as the Harrier jet touches down the taps and thudding legs race toward Rin in hopes to keep him alive as he begins to lose consciousness.

We return the adult Anda at the base of the mountain with a blank gaze on his face.

"Are my parents still alive?"

"Sorry, sir. Your father died naturally a few years later aged 49, anyone without augmentations post-war didn't live long under the stresses of the artificial ozone layer. Your mother's remains were never found from the wreckage within the neutral zone. She was presumed dead at the age of 47 during The Terminal War."

"Can you do me a favour and just skip that part this one time."

"Understood, sir."

Anda looks up and he focuses his attention on an avalanche along a rocky ridge line far above him. He begins to make his way to the bottom of the mountain now.

"Thank you. How bout Eo and Mr Fathi ?"

"Alive, sir. Most of the augmented survived the world's collapse after the war."

"Why aren't they with me out there?"

"Well, sir. Eo now is a Zenith of the Eastern Quadrant, but once he gets word you've accessed this simulation, it's likely he'll jet to your location. As for Mr Fathi, he's still serving his sentence for treason during the war, sir.  He's held in the Nero District of a fully submerged super-prison mecca: the Aquaneo City of the Northern Quadrant."

"Hmm. We're at the bottom of the mountain, what now…" Anda diverts his attention to a curious path just to his side.

A crevice at the bottom of the mountain leads to a long corridor going into the mountain. Anda approaches the opening and the darkness is illuminated by artificial lights that run along the walls. He could make out heavy iron blast doors at the end. As the light reaches the door, a soft beep is heard and the door's mechanism clanks and thuds, unlocking the door.

"Is that part of the simulation too ?"

"Yes, sir. I believe it's where your Post-Aug records are, including your highly-secure offline memories. It's unbreachable to anyone, even myself, sir."

"Why would I have such a thing?"

"I speculate it holds the data from moments such as in the sub-basement where you lock out all recordings of data to gain tactical advantage. It's a highly offensible crime and it seems the server is kept off-world, another huge offense, sir."

"In that case, get me out of here. I'm done with the simulation."

"Understood sir. Severing connection and re-engaging neural controls."

_LOG7/File_name:REVERIE_…END