Chapter 08 Between Survival and Sacrifice

The pilots jumped into action, each rushing to their assigned posts. Aria watched as drones lifted off, scanning for threats. The crackling of the comms filled her ears as Ewan turned back to her.

“I'm sorry for the new pilots panicking, had to grab a few new fellas. How are you holding up? Can you survive until we can get out of here? I mean… any injuries that are gonna keep you down?”

 “I don’t know,” she admitted, pain twisting her face.

 “It hurts everywhere. I was hit with the drug that came with the suit, and my mind is still hiccupping. I think a lot of bones are broken. The tactical suit feels tight all over my body, it’s like a vice holding me together.” She forced a nervous laugh, trying to lighten the mood. 

“I guess I like this suit. It lets me fight even if my body is broken. If not for it, I’d be lying on the ground, bleeding out.”

She grunted, trying to loosen her arm and back.

 “The suit’s too tight, feels like it’s holding me up. But, heh…” she let out another nervous laugh.

 “Guess I’ve gotta hand it to them - the suit works. I’d be dead if it didn’t do its job.”

Ewan took a step back, his gaze trailing over her form, the curve-hugging lines of the tactical suit looking nice. His lips quirked into a smirk, humor breaking through the tension.

 “Well, they definitely made it… form-fitting. Brings out all the right curves. Military style has definitely come a long way.”

Aria rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t help the smile that broke through the pain. 

“Yeah, I’ll bet the designers had a field day with this one.”

Ewan gave Aria a serious look, gesturing to the ground beside her. 

"You should lie down and get some rest. Mutants aren’t just gonna let us off easy. I’d bet good credits they’ll pop up eventually, and when they do, we’re moving out at the first sign. I'm not risking fighting more of them, we run low on everything. If not for overheated reactor cores of our tank mech I would be gone by now."

 He pulled a small case from his side pouch, flicking it open to reveal a set of syringes with a faint, pulsing blue glow inside. 

"Here, take these - active nanites. They won’t fix broken bones, but they’ll dull the pain and might patch up some internal damage.”

He smirked, pushing the syringes into her hand. 

“Just don’t go juicing yourself up with all of them at once. Take it slow - one at a time.”

 Ewan shifted his gaze toward the rest of the team, scanning the area.

 “I’m gonna go check our ammo and see what damage we’ve taken. Can’t afford to slack off while we’ve got the chance.” 

He nodded to a small metal crate nearby.

 “We set up a supplier box with some rations and meds. Take a look if you need anything.”

 "Thanks, Ewan. I owe you big.”

Ewan laughed and said, "What? Owe me? Pffff! With this, I haven't even begun to repay my debt to you from all the times you pulled my stupid ass out of a wringer! Relax and take it easy, get some rest and you don't need to thank me."

 She wasted no time injecting one of the nanite syringes, feeling the pain fade almost instantly as a calming warmth spread through her body. As Ewan moved off, she slumped against the cold armor plating of one of the tank mechs, the exhaustion overwhelming her. Her body gave in, and she collapsed, unconscious, slowly falling onto her side.

Hours passed, and Aria was woken by a steady, rhythmic vibration against her suit. She blinked, disoriented, as a faint glow on her wrist caught her attention. The AI core icon was blinking, and a robotic voice resonated in her helmet, softly repeating.

“Suit fully charged. All systems are operational. Auto repair complete. Tactical nanowire grappling hook functional. Repeat: Suit fully charged. All systems operational...”

She cleared the notification with a quick swipe, feeling her muscles hurt as she moved. Her vision was still blurry from sleep, Aria’s mind grappled with fragmented memories and half-formed thoughts as she looked around, expecting to see her squad close by. Her heart raced as her mind replayed scenes of horror and death from the countless battles she’d fought, images of comrades fallen, missions gone wrong, and her squad… her squad was gone.

Realizing she’d been covered with a blanket, she pushed herself up, letting it fall to the ground as she walked around the edge of the tank mech. Her breath hitched in surprise when her eyes fell upon a small camp set up around her, hastily but carefully constructed. Supplies were neatly stacked, a few lights illuminating the area, and the other pilots rested nearby. Ewan and the others had built it while she slept. 

Aria approached the group, catching snippets of Ewan’s conversation with his main team members, Kael, Reiss, and Mira, who huddled around a holographic display projected from Reiss’s wrist console. The projection showed the structural layout of Kael’s tank mech with a glaring red mark on one of the gyros, pulsing to indicate the damage.

Ewan leaned over the hologram, frowning.

 “Kael, that hit from the Valky messed up one of your primary gyros. It’s gonna throw off your balance, especially in rough terrain. Tank mech won't be steady and you can forget about aiming shots or fighting at all.”

Kael crossed his arms, frustrated. 

“I know, I felt it the second that thing struck. Valkys usually don’t aim like that. Felt almost like it knew where to hit.”

Mira nodded, inspecting the damage assessment. 

“The gyros are tough. For it to go down like that... either the Valky got lucky, or it’s learning to hit weak points. Either way, we’re in trouble if we don’t get this fixed. Another option would be simply to ditch the tank mech and give you a ride, we have space but it's such an easy fix. Well, it would be, if we could just pry open those damn covers to access the damn thing.”

Reiss tapped a few buttons on his console, enlarging the damaged section in the display.

 “We might be able to re-route some of the power to your auxiliary stabilizers. It won’t be perfect, but it could give you a temporary boost in mobility. Oh! No wait, that will fry the stabilizers, and with them gone, well, you can walk on foot. Unless you want to limp with your tank mech, all the way to the base.”

Ewan scratched his chin, deep in thought. 

“If we try that, you’ll be limited on turns and anything above normal speed. We are talking snail's pace. It’s a patch, not a fix. We don’t have enough time or the right equipment to repair it properly out here.”

Kael huffed, rubbing the back of his neck.

 “I’d rather be able to limp than be dead weight. I’ll take it.”

Just then, Aria stepped forward. 

“Is there any way I can help?”

 “We’re troubleshooting," Ewan said, "Kael’s mech took a solid hit to its gyro - he’ll be slow, which could put us all at risk if we get ambushed again. We were debating on what to do. We considering leaving the mech behind.”

 “Then just change it out. Quick fix, right?”

“Not exactly.” Ewan let out a frustrated sigh. 

“The locking mechanism on the access panel got bent and jammed during the impact. The handle is stuck, and there’s no room to get enough leverage to force it open. We tried crowbars but couldn’t budge it, and with the tank mech arms, we couldn't access it without tearing it apart. It’s wedged in tight.”