Renegades Book 1: Mavericks Ch 1
"Akira Miyamoto, due to your extraordinary skills at piloting an Emulator, you have been chosen to join an elite group of pilots known as Mavericks. Your test mission is scheduled for tomorrow at 18:00 in Hangar B. Failure to arrive will result in your immediate disqualification towards being an MWA pilot." said the recruiter from Base over the Personal Messenger. Akira Miyamoto, age 21, has been waiting to be accepted into the Mavericks ever since he joined the corps when he was 18. When he was piloting an Emulator, a two story mech that mimics human motion from inside, he was one of the best. At the he held the title of Top Notch Pilot for six months straight.
"Archive message." Akira said to the P.M. His P.M. was something not too impressive. It was a 24" monitor with a speaker built into the side. He built it himself out of spare computer parts and an old monitor he scrounged up in his attic.
"Message archived." the P.M. replied.
"I had better let my folks know." Akira thought out loud. "Open comm link to Sector 13. Parents."
"Opening communications link. Link established. Hailing Izumi and Daichi Miyamoto." the P.M. said.
"Mom? Dad? Can you hear me?" Akira asked.
"We hear you, hon. We're here. What is it, honey?" Izumi Miyamoto asked with concern.
"Is Dad there?" Akira inquired.
"He's here." Izumi responded.
"There is something I want to tell you guys." Akira said to his parents.
"What is it, my son?" Daichi Miyamoto inquired.
"I have good news. I have been accepted into Base. I'm gonna be a Maverick." Akira said with excitement.
"Son, why are you going through with this? You know we have always been against you joining the Mavericks. They're a bad bunch." Akira's father said with sincerity.
"Dad, I have always been wanting to become a Maverick ever since I joined the Armed Forces. Now is my chance to show what I can do. I'm to report to Hangar B at 18:00 hours to begin my test mission. Don't you guys worry. I am the best in my squadron. I will make it. After I am done with my test, I will call you guys. I love you." Akira said with compassion.
"Akira, be careful." Akira's mother said to her son.
"I will." Akira replied. Click. The transmission was terminated. He loved his parents dearly. They live in Asylum, one of the last standing cities on the edge of the former state of Virginia.
"Time to catch some Zs. Got to be ready for my test tomorrow night. Set alarm for 12:00 hours." Akira commanded the equipped bed.
"Alarm set." the bed responded.
"Good night, guys." Akira said as he fell asleep.
Next day...
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep went the alarm.
"Shut up." Akira said while half asleep. "Aw crap. I gotta get up. Got three hours to be there. I gotta get to Base. Computer, bring up recent unwatched messages." Akira said to the computer. He wanted to go through any messages that may have been left on the hard drive. As the P.M. brought up the unwatched messages, he rushed to get ready. He had to shower, put on his pilot's suit, a pair of gray coveralls with mounts for movement nodules, and to eat breakfast.
"Personal Messenger. Version 10.5.0. Recent Messages. 3 unwatched messages. First unwatched message." the P.M. said. He listened to the messages as he got ready.
"Hey, dude. Check it out. I have been chosen to join the Mavericks. I noticed your username was among the message list. Hope to see you there, man." his best friend, Ryou, said in the message. He and Ryou has been best friends ever since they joined the corps.
"Second unwatched message."
"How are you this morning? I have noticed you, too, have been chosen. See you there." R?d? said in his message. R?d? was Akira's comrade when they were piloting Emulators.
"Third unwatched message."
"Hello there. I noticed you have been accepted, as well. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Katashi Ishida. I have been part of Emulator squad A and have been a mechanic for the squad
for many years. I, too, have been accepted. I hope to see you there." Katashi said. Katashi, approximately age 20, was a former Reaper when he was piloting his Emulator. During their time piloting Emus, they got to choose if they would team up and form a squad or to do things solo. Akira, Ryou, and R?d? were the kinds of people that didn't need others. They were good enough to get by. Katashi on the other hand was someone who you didn't want to mess with. He was a very skilled pilot and he wasn't afraid to destroy entire cities. Akira looked forward to working with a former Reaper.
"End of messages." the computer said.
"Compose new. Reply to Katashi, Ryou, and R?d?." Akira said.
"New message" the P.M. said as it opened a new message window.
"Hey there. I got your message and I will see you there. Good luck." Akira said. "Send."
"Reply sent." the P.M. responded.
"Computer, initiate security protocol Omega. After I leave, lockdown the house." Akira ordered the computer. After activating the security measures, Akira said his goodbyes and departed for Base. The base was located twenty minutes outside of Atlanta, the location of the first attack on Base thirty years ago.
"House secure." the computer said over the outdoor comm.
Looking back at his house, he couldn't help to feel that he may never see his home again, but he urged himself to continue on to Base so he can fulfill his dreams of becoming a Maverick. He had always wanted to be a Maverick, but he knew that becoming a Maverick would cost him almost everything. So without regrets, he sat down in his vintage 2450 Suzuki Hayaku sports car. It could go 0-60 in one second flat. It had a 300hp Quad drive ion engine, 6-speed automatic transmission, and a Kengo fiber chassis to withstand the massive amounts of power.
Five hours later and ten miles away from Base...
"Access the home P.M. Transmit clearance code 1004800." ordered Akira to the onboard computer in his car. He wanted to check to see how many messages he had back home after he left.
"Accessing Personal Messenger. You have one unwatched message. First unwatched message."
"Attention potential Maverick. Due the urgent need of more Mavericks, your test mission will not take place at Base, but in Concordia. Siege mechs have attacked the city. The city has taken critical damage to the infrastructure. You are to report Hangar Z for briefing. After you have been briefed, you will be ordered to enter a basic unit for testing and deployment. End message." the recruiter of Base said as Akira began to enter the perimeter. Concordia is the capital city of Vita. It is nestled where the former capital of Washington, D.C. used to be. It is forty miles wide and forty miles long. It was immense.
Over the loudspeaker and the wailing of the sirens, Akira could barely make out what he thought was, "All pilots report to Hangar Z for briefing and deployment." From what he heard, he knew he had to hurry.
After a few agonizing moments, he finally found the hangar and saw that he was not alone among the rookies. He saw the other three recruits. He noticed they were waiting for him so they could all enter the hangar.
"Hey guys. What's up?" Akira asked with a positive attitude despite having to go into battle so early.
"Oh, nothing. Just waiting for your sorry ass." R?d? said with an irritated tone.
"I'm sorry, man. Traffic getting here was a tad bit slow. The crowd was thick. I could hardly..." Akira said as he started to babble.
"Enough. I just want you to know that if you are ever late getting here again, you will be spending more time with your old unit. The emulator." R?d? said as he was pointing towards Akira's battered mech as it was getting repaired from its last mission.
"Alright. Well, at least we will be housed in..." Akira started to say as he was cut off by the shouting of the evaluator.
"ARE YOU GOING TO STAND THERE? OR ARE YOU GOING TO GET YOUR ASSES OVER HERE FOR YOUR DAMNED TEST?" the evaluator shouted as he was starting to walk towards the waiting group of recruits.
"Yes, sir. On our way, sir." Ryou said as he and the other recruits started running for the base of their entry level MWAs.
"Now, as you all know, the capital city of Concordia is under attack and is in need of our help. I know none of you have experience in piloting an MWA, so all I'll say is good luck. Now, when we enter the city, we will be entering from the southern end of the city in the housing district. Less units to deal with. Your objective is to work your way north to the industrial district. There lies an essential piece of machinery. You are to protect the reactor and to wipe out any and all enemy units in the immediate vicinity." the evaluator said as other pilots started to launch. The new recruits followed suit. They climbed the many stairs that lead to the back of the head. The head was waiting open for them. It was slid forward on tracks and under the head was the cockpit. The cockpit was a sight to see. It had one seat, but plenty of room. It also had a fairly basic control terminal. A view screen that showed what the mech saw through its eyes, and a keyboard that was a sheet of glass. Under the glass was the touch pad keys. It was a basic build to most, but it was more advanced and sophisticated compared to his Emulator.
"Alright, how do you work this thing? Think, Akira, think." Akira said to himself. "Ah, ha. Now I remember." He had remembered from his books that to activate an MWA, you had to touch the touch pad and let the keys come online. Afterwards, he had to input the command, Activate Unit normal mode. Upon activation, the mech started to raise itself from a slouched position to a more upright position. Then, Akira grabbed the control sticks that were beside him and moved them forward. As he moved the controls forward, the unit moved forward.
"One other thing, you four will be a squad. You four are responsible for creating a name. Good luck." the evaluator said to Katashi, Ryou, R?d?, and Akira.
"Come on guys, let's go." Akira said to the other recruits.
"What about a squad name?" Ryou asked with curiosity.
"We will talk about that afterwards. Right now we are needed." Akira said.