《Holding the Line: The Mercenary Companies》


 ArmCore Securities

    CHAPTER 1


    Another explosion filled Manny¡¯s HUD. The computer automatically compensated as not to blind the pilot. Manny checked the quickly scrolling reports and found what he expected. The missile did about as much damage as the last one. The outermost plating of his combat mech probably had lost a bit of paint. He was pleased that the intel provided was actually right this time. The last contract they had, he almost shat a cow when he nearly ate a penetrator missile. His mech might be as agile as a sloth but it was stuffed full with countermeasures. He was a veritable walking fortress when it comes down to it.


    ¡°Spider-Actual, the V.I. agreed with intel assessment. They¡¯ve haven¡¯t shown anything out of what was expected. Recommend to proceed with operation.¡± Manny reported.


    ¡°Understood, Castle. On your signal.¡± Came the reply.


    Manny grabbed the water squeeze bottle nestled beside his armrest. He had been walking escort for more than a damn week and he didn¡¯t know if he was relieved or aggravated that the attack took this long.


    Manny toggled a couple of switches and watched the readouts from his HUD. The delivery truck and its escorts were making good time towards their appointed positions. From the outside, it looked like the truck was fleeing at best possible speed towards the nearby rock formation to use as cover. The bandits were not a smart bunch. They¡¯ve always raided the convoy at the same stretch of land once every four delivery runs. The company finally had enough of them called Eden military for some professional help to do some pest control since their own efforts have proven ineffective.


    Manny¡¯s mech, the Rolling Rekong, was slowly walking backward, presenting its well-armored front towards the approaching rabbits while keeping them busy with return fire. Rabbits are the causal designation for light mechs designed for scouting missions. They¡¯re fast, agile, and could operate at an astonishingly long period of time before needing to refuel. Their main drawback is they¡¯re lightly armed and armored. Perfect for flash raids, like this one.


    Another salvo of eight screamer missiles streaked in the air, making for the ponderous mech. Manny¡¯s CM suite dealt with oncoming threats with little difficulty. So much so that the pilot had to reprogram a new control profile for his CM suite. It wouldn¡¯t do for him to shoot down every missile. The bandits would get suspicious.


    Manny¡¯s role in the operation in to be bait to draw the bandits out from hiding. The Rekong, to the unpracticed eye, looks about the same as a dock mech. Big, powerful things used to load, unload, and repair ships in dockyards. The Rekong is even pumping out the same energy signature. Dockyard mechs make for horrible combat equipment. They¡¯re too slow even compared to the last three generations of combat mechs and have manual controls. It¡¯s like installing a gun on a construction dozer. Sure, it¡¯s tough and could take punishment but it would be totally outclassed by almost anything designed for combat.


    Hence the confidence of the bandits.


    Three rabbits were harassing the Rekong, dashing it and out while launching those poor excuses of a missile. It¡¯s a miracle none blew up as soon as they were fired. Manny has heard about these missiles cobbled together in a warehouse somewhere, sold at a bargain by the dozens. Based on their energy signatures, he¡¯d never want to even approach one. He¡¯d always be wondering if some sloppy engineer slapped a bad control module on it, allowing for an undetected arming of the thing.


    Manny¡¯s communications console lit up on his antiquated pilot board as the lead bandit wanted to talk with him. Manny entertained the idea of ignoring the call but it would break his cover. He took a moment to comport himself then used a little bit of water and splashed it on his face, he made sure that it looked like he was sweating his balls off. When he was content with his look, Manny let the call through. A smiling man with a mechanical left eye stared back at him.


    ¡°Give it up, boy. You got nothing left. Shut down your mech and get your ass out of it and in front on your knees and we might just let you go home.¡± The man arrogantly said. Manny could make out some of the interior since the internal camera was set a little bit farther than normal. The bandit¡¯s pilot carriage was a mess. There were wrappers and food stains everywhere. There was also some sort of artwork at the back that looked like somebody got lazy and just threw paint on the backplate and called it art. The man himself was a piece of work too. He was well-built and looked menacing with his glowing mechanical left eye. He was wearing just a leather vest, his copious chest hair drawing attention.


    ¡°How can I be sure you¡¯re not just going to kill me? ¡° Manny replied in a terrified voice. He was also hyperventilating, his hands working furiously at flipping switches here and there. Internally, Manny was proud how well his acting has gotten. He even had the nervous eye twitch down.


    ¡°You don¡¯t. Shut down-¡± The man was starting to work himself up to anger when he was suddenly interrupted.


    ¡°Jedda, something¡¯s happening. There are weird power signals coming from the left¡­ Hey! What are those!?¡± The other speaker was suddenly cut off when one of the rabbits on the far left of the mech that was talking to Manny suddenly developed a serious case of crateristis. A bright plume of whitish yellow signaled the destruction of the unprepared bandit. A third of the body of the mech was blown off. The mech stumbled a bit before it crashed on its side, leaking coolant gel all over the place. The video of the man Manny was talking to cut out as the bandits scrambled about, trying to organize themselves. The other rabbits that were watching me getting pummeled started panicking, running around trying to look for something to shoot. Manny thought that it was a lost cause.


    Appearing over the top of the small rise in the land to the left of Manny¡¯s ¡®beleaguered¡¯ mech came the government response team.


    The ambush team was comprised of twelve Azzara-class multi-platform assault mechs. The Kreiger mechs are upright combat mechs with bipedal digitgrade legs. They are versatile machines that could operate at speed and extreme weather conditions. The Kreiger has a human-like torso and a faux head that functions as an extra sensor unit. There were some discussions before that the head unit was actually placed there to give prospective enemies a target to hit. The sensor in the head unit actually in a secondary viewer camera and an attached signal booster.


    The Kreiger has four hardpoints on its body. One on the shoulder, which is interchangeable between both shoulders, a large hardpoint on the upper back allowing for a reticulating heavy weapon, and two smaller hardpoint on each side on the mech¡¯s upper arm.


    Eden military operational standards require that the mech be equipped with a standard Palmer rifle, a slow-firing 15.4cm shoulder cannon that uses close proximity shredding shells, a pair of retractable, gimbaled laser turrets for the small hardpoints and a variable heavy weapon that is rarely issued since installing a heavy weapon on the back hardpoint of the mech would greatly slow it down. If they need a bigger gun, Eden navy would rather escort the mechs with atmospheric firepower.


    The Kreiger has carved its reputation in the battlefield with its terrifying efficiency. The combat unit stands at 7.4 meters and is protected with tallanium alloy, a reflective metal that allows for both flexibility and hardness. The sleek, angular torso that protects the power plant and the pilot carriage is heavily protected by not only by the armor but also with a shield matrix that draws upon its powerful, albeit, small dark matter power plant.


    Controlling this marvel of military innovation is one of the most advanced virtual intelligence cores. These V.I. cores have the same learning capability of an A.I. unit but without the dangers of it going completely rouge as its learning algorithm is severely regulated by a strict guide program. Even if a Kreiger is disabled or destroyed in the battlefield, as long as the V.I. core survives, the unit will retain everything it has learned and be able to improve itself when it comes back on the field in a new mech.


    All of these technologies were being employed on the bandits. The ambush force split up into two fire teams. The leading units stomped on the pedal and were running in a leapfrog fashion towards the now scrambling rabbits. The other fire team took the high ground. They fired their jump jets and were sailing over the running Kreigers on an oblique angle and were raining fire down on the bandits. It was really overkill, if Manny¡¯s opinion was asked for.


    Now that deception was no longer needed, Manny killed his masking profile and removed the throttle he temporarily placed on his power regulator. His twin fusion power plants hummed to full functionality and his cabin was set softly aglow as multiple screens lit up. He had to turn them off earlier to avoid questions about why he had an advance countermeasure platform GUI lighting up his face.


    Rolling Rekong, energized by the free flowing energy, was now moving a lot more fluidly. The exhaust vents that Manny had intentionally left open to simulate a damaged and venting mech closed up. Rekong stood tall as hidden ports on both side of his shoulders slid open and twin laser turrets popped out. The twin barrel laser cannons were of the conventional variety but Manny didn¡¯t need to have better firepower to deal with rabbits. His targeting interface pinged as it designated targeting priorities. In a span of two seconds, the mech was striding forward, pumping out laser fire on the confused bandits. The bandit leader that was talking to him earlier was completely unprepared when Rekong suddenly was no longer a helpless construction mech and became a bonafide threat. Manny was well aware of his mech¡¯s slowness and has developed numerous strategies to counter this liability whenever he actually went on the offensive.


    The Rekong¡¯s turrets found its mark on the bandit leader¡¯s legs. The laser cannons fired in alternating sequence, smashing through the weak shields of the rabbit. The lasers were able to melt an articulation joint, locking up the rabbit¡¯s ability to move quickly. The bandit mech fired back with a salvo of missiles but the Rekong¡¯s CM suite swatted them out of the sky like nothing. Manny continued pouring laser fire on the hobbled machine while taking a quick glance on what¡¯s happening around him.


    The Kreigers decimated the scout mechs. For the few that tried to make a quick getaway, they were summarily destroyed by the long-ranged shoulder cannons. The Kreigers don¡¯t have a missile platform but a pod could easily be installed. The operation leader snorted when the idea was presented to him. Apparently, these bandits didn¡¯t even rate a few missiles.


    The wrecks of the bandit rabbits lay strewened all over the ground. This particular group has been harassing the locals for quite some time and the officials have finally run out of patience. Manny¡¯s systems were showing only three destroyed mechs with life signs. The Kreigers were in no hurry to check on the bandit pilots¡¯ welfare.


    A directed shot from the Rekong destroyed the missile racks on the bandit leader¡¯s rabbit. The heavily damaged scout mech was having trouble keeping itself upright and, based on the power readings, his power plant must have been damaged. The leader was trying to open a communication channel to him but this time he ignored it.


    He was able to finish the job and focus his fire on the pilot carriage when the ambush team leader signaled him.


    ¡°Ceasefire! Castle, ceasefire. We need him alive.¡± Came the clear voice of Lieutenant Benoit. Manny was disappointed that he wasn¡¯t going to be able to finish the bandit but immediately stopped firing.


    ¡°Good work, Castle. Bandits are neutralized and the area is secure. Get over that rise over there and provide overwatch.¡± The lieutenant ordered.


    ¡°Roger. Moving.¡± Rekong started jogging towards the hill the ambush team hid behind from. It took him a bit of time to get there since the Rekong moves at sixty kilometers per hour at maximum speed. It¡¯s not much but Manny has always considered it to be good enough for his needs. Together with his fusion power plants, the Rekong would always be at a tactical disadvantage. The mech was just too slow to be a real threat to most combat models. What it does have is an advantage at the strategic level. The dual fusion power plants that power his mech allows for an extremely long operational time. The Rekong could operate at full capacity for a staggering twenty-two days. The commercial drives were regulated by an advance power distributer and by the core V.I. It allows the power plants to work at peak efficiency without stressing them unduly. The commercial drives are also hardy and easy to fix. Manny might not be able to win against a combat model mech in a dash but he would smoke their asses in a marathon.


    The hill¡¯s gradient was forgiving so Manny didn¡¯t have to disengage the autodrive function he just activated. The mech¡¯s long and heavy strides were deceptively brisk, reinforcing the image of a construction mech trudging along.


    While the Rekong was busy getting into position, Manny opened a small compartment under his seat. He pulled out a small box and opened it up. Inside were a bright yellow thermos and a wrapped tuna sandwich. Using his exceptional engineering skills, Manny has bolted on a fold down table on his pilot chair early on his ownership of the heavily modified construction mech. He flipped it down and locked it in front of him. He gingerly placed his sandwich on the small table. He opened the thermos and the delicious scent of mushroom soup wafted from the container. Manny took a deep breath and a smile grew on his face. He has been waiting for this part the entire day. He placed the cap of the thermos on the recess of the table he specifically made for it and carefully poured out the thick soup in it. He recapped the thermos with its internal cap then replaced it on the box. He took a moment to gaze appreciatively at his prepared meal then dug in. A groan of pleasure escaped from his mouth as he took a sip of the still-steaming mushroom soup.


    ¡°Damn! That¡¯s some good soup.¡± Manny exclaimed. He normally doesn¡¯t talk much when he¡¯s around others but turns into a chatterbox when alone. That¡¯s one great thing that he appreciates about piloting a mech. He could speak to himself as much as he wants and nobody will be there to judge him.


    Once Rekong was in position, Manny deployed two drones to act as his early warning system. The two ¡®eyeballs¡¯ were of the latest iteration of the model and comes with a camouflage function. The chassis of the floating sphere could bend light until it looks like the background it was covering. It would be extremely difficult to spot one if you don¡¯t know where it actually is. They were unbelievably expensive but Manny thought them as necessary expenditure. Nothing¡¯s worse than getting surprised.


    Manny slowly chewed his food while he watched his main screen. An APC arrived at the battleground, disgorging Eden troopers. The soldiers methodically pried open every rabbit that still has its pilot carriage whole. The three scout mechs that still had active life signs were the first to be broken into. A corpsman worked on the injured bandits who collectively were missing all appendages. The bandit leader that Manny disabled was uninjured. Manny finished off his sandwich as he saw the man being led away by two suited soldiers.


    The cleanup operations took about two hours to complete. The Eden troopers were able to retrieve a couple of undamaged memory cores and were optimistic about being able to pull something from it.


    Manny had one of the eyeballs take a stationary position above him while the other slowly patrolled the area while camouflaged. Manny spent the boring guard duty playing video games. The third expansion of Colonizer Eight has just been released and this was the first time he was able to mess around with it. After an hour playing it, Manny concluded that the DLC was worth the price.


    ¡°Castle, Spider-Actual. How¡¯s it looking over there?¡± came on the speakers. Manny paused his game and opened a channel.


    ¡°Spider-Actual, Castle. Area secure. Eyeballs deployed and on patrol. Nothing else to report.¡± Manny replied in an even voice.


    ¡°Acknowledge, Castle. This wouldn¡¯t take much longer. We¡¯re just doing one more sweep for intelligence then we¡¯re going home.¡±


    ¡°Roger.¡± Manny then cut the channel. He pondered a bit about his current contractual employment with the Eden government. This was his third time working with the Eden troopers and was impressed with their efficiency and professionalism. With the contracts he regularly accepts, Manny usually works with undertrained and poorly equipped militia. It was even a wonder that a powerful government would look for outside support for such a basic operation. They obviously have the money to equip a modern army so Manny couldn¡¯t think of any reason why they had a contract out for a baitman. He shrugged and just let it be. The government pays well and they¡¯re honest, well, as honest as a government could be perceived to be. That was enough for Manny.


    He unpaused his game then went back to building virtual granaries.


    ***


    The truck rolled to a stop in the mech hangar. Manny hitched a ride on the empty cargo truck on the way back to the Eden military outpost. The Rekong is too slow to keep up with the Kreigers and the other wheeled vehicles. The driver was a nice enough sort and had no problems with him jumping on his flatbed.


    Once the driver gave his okay, Manny released the Rekong from the restraining locks and slowly stepped off the truck. He thanked the driver then slowly made his way to his assigned mech bay. His was a bit to the back where the oversized racks were installed. He had to turn around and back the Rekong until he was properly situated in his bay. Manny waited until he got positive confirmation of hard lock before shutting down his Mech. He was in no hurry so he let the fusion plants go through its shutdown protocol at its own pace. He does have a combat and emergency shutdown option but that puts stress on his plants unduly. No need for that now. While the shutdown was going on, Manny ran a quick diagnostics, just to reassure himself that nothing was damaged.


    "Computer, how are the results looking?" Manny asked.


    "Results show that the Rekong''s CM suite was able to predict missile trajectories at ninety-seven percent accuracy. Point defense was able to engage and negate all directed threats to the Rekong at twenty-three percent computation allocation. That is allowing for a five percent reserve. CM reserves have also shown improvement. Due to better tracking, only nine percent of the Rekong''s CM reserves have been deployed." The monotone voice of the Rekong''s V.I. core rattled out.


    "Only nine percent? What did we use then?" Manny was surprised how much they saved but he thought about it again and realized that those crappy missiles the bandits used probably had very basic onboard guiding systems.


    "Six heat flares and one reflector." The heat flares are used to confuse heat-seeking missiles while the reflector is a canister that contains small, reflective metal foils, about three centimeters squared that breaks open and disperses in the air when deployed. Its function is twofold. First, it weakens laser fire. It refracts a little of the laser''s energy each time one is hit. Second, it also masks the mech''s signature. The second function of the reflector is more of an unintended result, according to the manufacturer. It seems that the foils also mess up conventional targeting sensors.


    "That''s good. Please collate the data and forward the results to Bert."


    "Acknowledge."


    The shutdown took about two minutes. Once the mech was completely powered down, Manny got out of his chair then collected his small bag and lunch box. He then pulled down on a lever that lowered a cable in front of him. He shoved his foot on the shoe slot and grabbed onto a handle. He hit the pilot release button, opening an access port below him. The cable spooled down with him hanging on until Manny''s feet made contact on the floor. He released himself from the cable and it retracted itself within the pilot carriage. The access port also slid close. A lot of people call this version of exiting a mech as ''shitting out.'' Cute.


    As Manny was stretching his back after a long period of sitting down, two men approached him. He noticed that a military jeep parked not far from his mech while he was analyzing his combat results.


    The two men were known to him. Both of them are Eden officers. The blonde haired, blue-eyed, tall soldier with confident strides on the left is Lieutenant Jean-Francois Benoit. He was the leader of the ambush Manny just participated in. The LT is a young man, about mid-twenties if Manny was to guess and always seems to have an excess of energy. His sinewy musculature was typical of mech pilots. It was deemed unsuitable for a mech pilot to have overly-developed muscles due to difficulties with first generation mechs. Those ancient mechs have very cramp pilot carriages and are completely mechanical in controls. The arm and leg sleeve controls could be expanded only so much. The bias continued even now with the recent iteration of the mech models that had done away with the issue.


    The other man beside the lieutenant was about a decade older and is the outpost commander. He was thicker than the mech pilot but he was large because he was built like an armory. His angular jaw and tired looking face are at odds with his large, soup bowl-like hands and bulging muscles. He''s eyes might look soft and caring but that could change at any moment. He''s a newly-minted major and from what Manny has gathered, also a very competent one. It was a little strange that a man of his talents is running a small military outpost in the middle of nowhere. Manny surmised that it was probably a stroke of luck or really good forethought that he was the boss man after to the recent bandit problem.


    "Great job out there, Mr. Rosario. The bandits have unexpectedly provided us some intelligence on a different interest of ours. Well done!" The major said as he shook his hand as soon as the officers were standing in front of him. His hand engulfed Manny¡¯s like he was shaking the hands of a child. Manny was always thankful that the major never felt the need to prove himself and always gave a firm, yet gentle, handshake.


    "We in ArmCore Securities always endeavor to provide our best service to our clients." Manny replied automatically. He has delivered that line so much that he could say it without batting an eye and still injects sincerity to it because it is essentially true.


    "And the Eden military appreciates that. There are not a lot of outfits, hell even individual contractors, that would be willing to take ''bait'' contracts."


    "Our company has extensive experience in operating on such contracts and found ourselves excelling in them. It would not be wrong to say that this is our particular niche." Another practiced response. Manny made sure that his face was appropriately serious and his hands were doing the proper gestures that Malia had trained him to do whenever he was using his canned responses.


    "Personally, that''s a relief. Ambush operations are not something new to us but it¡¯s refreshing to work with professional civilian contractors. Right, lieutenant?" The major asked as he swung his head towards the attentive and fidgety officer.


    "Oh, yes sir. As you know, this is the third time we have worked with the Rekong and the men have been extremely curious if the Rekong had ever been truly damaged before. That mech has a serious shielding matrix configuration on it that we''ve never seen before." The lieutenant said.


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    "Well, Mr. Rosario?" The major seemed to be curious too. It was to be expected. Even combat models would be hesitant of taking multiple missile salvos no matter how poorly they are made. Of course, Manny had no plans in sharing his company''s secret.


    "The Rekong is a product of the combined efforts of multiple outstanding personnel. Using commercially available components, ArmCore research division has developed a proprietary system that allows to harmoniously combine said components to direct them to work as one organic unit enabling the mech to have unprecedented functionality that has rarely been observed from a commercial mech." Manny smoothly delivered. He has achieved, what a lot of people close to him call ''companese,'' such a level of PR speech fluency that no matter how droll or scripted whatever he was saying, it really sounded like he was being very truthful and sincere. Speech tone, facial and body gestures, even the less known and frequently dismissed personal aura projection, all of these things have been perfected by Manny to a degree that his default conversational mode comes out like he was a natural born public communicator. The people that really know him find it weird how perfect he actually is when talking with clients or acquaintances. Those who are at the receiving end of such skill don''t feel like they''re talking to human resources or the PR manager. They really believe that they''re talking to a polite and passionate man who endeavors to keep formality at all times.


    Manny''s a hit during company conferences.


    ***


    What others didn¡¯t know is that the man actually finds it awkward speaking to strangers. As a child, he was always the overweight kid in the background, playing by himself. He could never have a normal conversation due to the anxiety of saying something that could be misconstrued and invariably, he normally did. Manny got more withdrawn as he got older as people treated him as the weirdo. It got to a point that it was only his family that he would converse with.


    It got harder once he hit his teens. Like teens everywhere in the universe, they could be savage to those different. He was constantly teased and bullied by his peers about his weight, strange obsessions, and general weirdness. Manny became very introverted that he could no longer function socially. It was ironic that in this time of great progress and technological achievement, mental health care was still as backward as it was before.


    One thing that was constant in Manny¡¯s life that was able to give him happiness was his obsession with mechs. The first time he saw one was when his father brought him to a military parade that was happening near their city. His six years old eyes were huge with awe as he saw a Galacta Heavy Industries¡¯ Piranha M2 Combat Mech painted gun metal gray striding behind a convoy of tanks. It was marching in lock step with two other mechs of the same make, Stavo rifles nestled in the crook of their massive mechanical arms. Young Manny was made speechless, more so than normal, by the powerful machines of war. Since then, Manny devoted his time to learning everything and anything about these mechanical wonders.


    Unbeknownst to his parents, Manny made a solemn promise that when he gets older, he would be a pilot of one.


    As the years go by and Manny started university, He has taken all the engineering and science classes that he could possibly enroll in. He was not really a smart guy so he struggled with the extra science classes he had taken. He did okay in terms of grades but his above than average education numbers didn¡¯t inspire greatness. What Manny excelled at was bringing a machine¡¯s potential to its utmost. He could take a device or machine and tinker with it until you could barely recognize it from the original. Some people would comment that some of his work is almost over engineered. Manny didn¡¯t mind. His creations did what he wanted them to do and they do it well.


    It was how he was able to buy his first and only mech.


    Manny worked for one of the biggest mining firms in the alliance. Right after he graduated, he was able to find an opening for a maintainer for Asteroid Ventures Inc. His job was primarily to check and maintain emergency pods of the company¡¯s shuttles. Manny worked with a group of older men who were on their way out to retirement and they have taken a liking to the quiet young man. He worked hard and listened well to the ramblings of the codgers. They regaled him with work stories and the problems they have encountered in their professional life. Manny had thought that those emergency pods could be made a lot better so using what he learned from the older mechanics, he upgraded the pods here and there. He didn¡¯t do anything to dramatically change the pods but he made them hardier. Wires were protected with thermal armored sleeves, Oxygen recyclers had been installed with an extra failsafe, Joints and articulation points were protected by covers, a small deployable solar array was installed to give the emergency communicator a boost and longer longevity, and other small improvements. The pods still looked the same but it was a different story on the inside.


    All of the improvements Manny had installed when he was messing around with them finally were tested. One of the shuttles was carrying some investors and venture capitalists on a promo run when they were surprised by pirates. The shuttle was carrying people that represented a quarter of the wealth of the local system. The pirates were planning on holding them for ransom but something went wrong. A missile was fired at the unarmed shuttle. The shuttle tried to evade but it was not a fighter and does not have any form of countermeasures. The pilot was able to roll the ship and present its somewhat hardened front but the shuttle was still not like its armored cousins that serve as mules for the military. The missile destroyed the cockpit, killing both pilot and co-pilot. The remaining crew member alive was the cargo master who was acting as the steward for the flight. He was retired navy so instead of being paralyzed by the sudden attack, he was galvanized into action. He hustled the passengers to the escape pods and was able to effect an ejection right before the ship completely broke apart.


    Fighting broke out among the pirates as they tried to figure out if somebody was betraying them. It was never confirmed what actually was the cause of the erring missile launch but it was agreed upon that no matter how macabre it sounds, it saved the passengers from being kidnapped.


    The pirates went at each other with a vengeance. Pirate alliances are tentative most of the times so it was not surprising that they were quick to turn against each other.


    Missiles and laser fire filled the space around the shuttle. The aging and decrepit fighters that the pirates were using were shot down easily. Not to mention that none of them were exceptionally skilled at operating such machines. There is a reason why they jumped an unarmed shuttle.


    Explosions and stray laser fire rocked the escape pods. No missile was directly aimed at them but the two escape pods found themselves within a blast zone of an exploding fighter.


    In the end of the brief battle, three heavily damaged fighters have emerged victorious. They were too damaged to haul the escape pods since their plan was to disable the shuttle and board it. Their own shuttle that was carrying their boarding crew was one of the first ships to be destroyed in the skirmish. The pirates had a short discussion and decided that their lives were more important than the promise of a future pay out. They got into formation and disappeared in the black, leaving the escape pods drifting in space among the debris of broken fighters.


    It took almost two weeks before they were rescued. The administrator of the mining colony that they were supposed to visit was getting nervous about their non-appearance. The inspection had been delayed for more than a week and she and her staff have been getting more and more unsettled by it. She decided to send a messenger drone back to company headquarters to ask what the hell is taking so long. The drone was using the same flight plan as the expected shuttle so, after two days, it arrived at the battle space. It picked up on the distress signal of the escape pods and immediately reprioritized its task list. This is standard in all autonomous equipment in alliance space. The drone made a brief stop to ping an acknowledgement of distress and to leave a message for the occupants that it would deliver help. The drone continued on its way but this time, government programming had it burn its reserved fuel to expedite transition. It arrived at Eden prime in record time, completely stressing its drive. It fired a priority message back to Asteroid Ventures then to the Eden navy.


    The government scrambled a rescue party and immediately made for the battle zone. A number of passengers who were on the destroyed shuttle were prominent members of Eden prime and ardent supporters of the military. Some of the newer tech that had developed by the R&D division was because of their financial backing. Eden navy sent a support frigate with a light carrier as escort to rescue sixteen people.


    Suffice to say that the rescue was successful, the pirates were hunted down and captured, and the new mining colony approved for increase funding.


    During the investigation of the raid, the government investigators were impressed by the escape pods. The pods were damaged but their integrity held. According to forensics, the improvements Manny made on the pods allowed them to survive past what they were designed for. The recipients of such improvements were understandably grateful for the unapproved modifications and asked around for who made them. Manny was called in by his manager for a meeting and was surprised when he found himself getting a handshake from the very grateful company CEO. His daughter was the one leading the promo run and he has almost given her up as dead when he heard about how long they have been floating in the pods. Manny¡¯s modifications kept the scrubbers from failing and the solar array fed it enough juice to keep it running.


    The company awarded him a mind-boggling amount of credits but that was not the end of it. The senior maintenance workers secretly filed his modifications as a sample for a basis of a new safety standardization guideline. The company has pushed for it to be tested and it was approved, at least for Eden space. The mercantile union paid him a lump sum for the new safety upgrade guidelines. Manny has become richer than he had ever imagined. The amount of money he earned was enough for him and any prospective family he might start for a luxurious existence until the end of their lives and then some.


    All of the credits were almost gone by the end of four years.


    Manny had a plan. That plan started when he was six years old and now he could finally achieve it. He quit his job and applied for basic and advance mech training. He was able to get his license in three months. He then strolled into the nearest Eden military recruitment office after earning his mech license and signed for a three-year service enlistment. His previous work experience and current mech license assured him a chance for a spot for combat mech school.


    His speech and socialization problems actually served him well in the military. The structured life of being a soldier also afforded him the ability to at least speak with confidence. ¡®Yes sir¡¯ ¡®No sir¡¯ ¡®At your command, sir¡¯ were all learned responses and were expected from every recruit. Manny has become notorious as the perennial solider, never breaking from military lingo and behavior. His teammates liked and trusted him enough to do his part but he was never really one of the guys you call on for drinks.


    Manny was able to graduate with good marks, not top of the class but still well over what is expected for mech pilots. He was assigned to a mechanized infantry division and he piloted a Piranha M2 for the rest of his term. He was involved in two separate combat engagements and was able to acquit himself well.


    Once his term of service was up, Manny got his honorable discharge and spent a month resting and researching. Once he was convinced that he had all the necessary training and funds for his penultimate goal, he went searching for his very own mech. ArmCore Securities was filed and approved on the very same day Manny came home with a Galacta Heavy Industries¡¯ Atlas dock mech. It has been used to service ships for a mining firm that went bankrupt and was mothballed by the bank. Manny also purchased enough hardware to outfit a mechanized company.


    His largest purchase was a midsized tramp freighter. It was an obsolete spaceship but still in good working condition. He had it modified to be used as his company¡¯s transport ship. It didn¡¯t have any weaponry but that could be changed in the future. What he did insist on was installing a military-grade shield matrix. It almost cost as much as the ship but it made the Benevolent a tough nut to crack.


    Manny had kept in contact with his former co-workers and they were the first people he called when he started actively recruiting. Most people scoff at having aged workers, deeming them more of a liability rather than an asset but Manny has learned otherwise. Modern medicine has made it possible for people to live until a hundred and fifty years old and still be functional until a hundred thirty. All of his previous colleagues were over a hundred and were unhappily retired. These guys were tinkerers and that don¡¯t pay much. Manny didn¡¯t need them for their combat ability, even if some of them were vets, but he needed them to keep his small, fledgling company working in good shape.


    The old guys were incredulous that he was calling them then were intrigued by his proposal. That intrigue turned to excitement then Manny almost couldn¡¯t transport them fast enough so they could start working on the Benevolent. One of the old guys recommended his granddaughter when he heard that Manny was looking for an administrator and again, it has proven to be a good recommendation. Malia Suarez has become an indispensable part of the company. She probably single-handedly kept the company in good health and standing.


    Through networking and smart decision making, Manny was able to recruit a good core of officers. His ground troops are lead by a retired Martian colonel. He¡¯s a tough old man that demands much from his men and more from himself. The Benevolent is captained by a former System Defense Force officer who decided that she wanted to go back into space but didn¡¯t necessary wanted to be in the thick of things again. Hauling troops around sounded perfect for her.


    Once his company has the necessary equipment and personnel, Manny was finally able to get the company off the ground, literally. He was able to secure a contract from his previous employer, Asteroid Venture Inc., to work as security for one of their facilities on one of the farm planets they have major stakes in. The local military was unreliable at best and completely hostile at worst. They needed to have a security force they could trust until they could finish evacuating their equipment and people.


    Other than core world planets, very few governments have access to combat mechs. Even having one on the field could be a great equalizer, not matter the model. Manny¡¯s Atlas mech is big, looks intimidating, and could offer a good fight. It was perfect for static security since it was slow and it could dish out a lot of firepower.


    That was the start and eventual rise of ArmCore Securities. They have made a name for themselves for being good at what they do. The company primarily take small contracts, since it was small itself, and focused on defensive operations. Baitman contracts were a result of a previous decision that Manny made when contracts started drying up. The company was losing money and was in danger of going under so Manny, in a fit of desperation, took a high-paying contract to act as bait for a mercenary company on a search and destroy operation.


    Royal Eagle is considered as the top mercenary company out in space. They¡¯re the ones governments call to do planetary assaults or large scale battles but even large companies like Royal Eagle still balk at the idea of letting their own mechs get shot up. Manny took their offer to act as bait and did brilliantly. Of course, his own people railed and screamed at his decision in taking the contract but it was a moot point. He already signed the document and was already partially paid. Royal Eagle was impressed enough with Manny¡¯s performance that since that fateful operation, they would regularly offer ArmCore smaller contracts that they couldn¡¯t fulfill themselves. Their relationship got to a point wherein Royal Eagle was paying ArmCore for a long term contract to season their greener personnel. Royal Eagle would send new recruits to Manny¡¯s company to get experience working in the field without the danger of getting killed in their very first engagement. Royal Eagle contracts are too dangerous for the untested so it worked out well for both companies.


    The years working as the company head of ArmCore Securities have also worked wonders for his social life. Manny has now a company to use an instrument for conversation. Though he speaks ¡®companese,¡¯ he now able to hold his own in conversations. Previously, Malia had to do all the talking for him but now he could do speeches and answer queries from people directly. He was also happier in life. He has achieved his dream of piloting a mech and is able to do that full time. He was not rich, the money he has saved from the reward he got was all gone, but he was not poor either. The company does well enough to pay for itself and to make a tidy profit. His people were happy because of his ¡®people first¡¯ policy and they were compensated well for their hard work.


    ArmCore was not a large company but it has a bright future ahead of it.


    ***


    ¡°In other words, you can¡¯t tell me.¡± The major said. He was not offended and there was a small smile on his weathered face. The lieutenant laughed but quickly stifled himself. Manny just smiled at the major.


    ¡°Anyway, great job again, Mr. Rosario. The mech bay is at your disposal until tomorrow. We would get into contact with you again if we have another job for your company.¡± The major said.


    ¡°ArmCore Securities is grateful for your patronage. We would be happy to work with the Eden government at any time.¡± Manny replied. He stuck out his hand for a firm handshake and the major¡¯s paws engulfed his. Both officers made their goodbyes and got back to their jeep. The lieutenant invited Manny to meet the troops and Manny promised to make an appearance later. It was always a good idea to meet the people you work with.


    After watching the Eden officers drive away, Manny looked back to his mech and stared in appreciation. No matter how many times he stared at his mech, he¡¯s still blown away by the fact that it was his.


    The Atlas mech is an industrial model that was popular in the construction industry. It is a fully modular design that has multiple parts options that are available in the market. It stands nine meters on a humanoid frame. The arms and legs could be swapped out easily and the torso could be modified for different operational necessities.


    The Rolling Rekong is different as it has been heavily tuned for combat. For one thing, its power plants cannot be swapped out. The process in which makes them work in sync together also makes them permanent parts. The shield domes on the shoulders of the mech are also something you would not find on a construction model. Almost all of the innards of the pilot carriage had been stripped out and swapped with a combination of older tech and new innovations. The central processing memory core is a code four military computer. Manny had to pay almost the same amount as how much the mech was for it but it was worth it. The central V.I. suite ran circles around the latest commercial ones. He had to make some sacrifices, though. His antiquated controller board was truly old. The old board that came with the mech was incompatible so they had to sell it. The board they installed had physical switches and toggles. They work well but they definitely belong in a museum.


    The Rekong is protected by laminated plasteel. There is also an inner layer of thinner duraplate armor that sandwiches impact gel between it and the outer armor. This makes for a very heavy machine but the Atlas mech was made for heavy loads.


    There were some niggling problems left that were inconveniences such as higher operating temperatures when in combat, some bad piping installations that needed to be redesigned, and a coolant leak that they couldn¡¯t seem to find where it was coming from.


    Manny didn¡¯t notice that while he was talking to the Eden officers, Bert was already giving the mech the once over. He had his pad out and was checking some readings from the cable he plugged in an open panel. Manny decided to get the lowdown from the man personally so he climbed the nearby ladder to talk to the mechanic.


    ¡°Hello, Bert. How¡¯s the Rekong doing?¡± Manny asked when he reached the head mechanic. Bert looked up from his tablet. Norbert Chance was one of the old men that formed Manny to what he is today. He¡¯s one of the special people that Manny feels comfortable enough to be able to speak normally with.


    ¡°Our boy right here is doin¡¯ just fine. He¡¯s a strong guy, he is. Still trying to find that blasted leak, though. I¡¯ll be damned on why it even has one. We went through the Rekong over and over and still couldn¡¯t find the damned thing. Don¡¯t you worry, we¡¯ll get that sorted out soon enough.¡± Bert said reassuringly.


    Norbert, or Bert as he liked to be addressed, is one hundred and four years old. He¡¯s from New Florida but hasn¡¯t been back to his home planet for almost fifty years. He¡¯s a tall man, about two meters in height but his protruding gut makes him look bigger. His full head of salt and pepper hair and thick beard tend to hide his wrinkly, yet kind face. His soft blue eyes always have a spark of mischief in them and he¡¯s proven that you can never be too old to get into trouble.


    ¡°I never doubted it. We did well out there, didn¡¯t we? We got the full contract fee without any damage at all.¡±


    ¡°You bet your pants we did well. We did amazing! You did amazing. We were watching you through the cams and I tell you, if this mercenary thing doesn¡¯t pan out, you have a future as an actor.¡± Bert said. He had a goofy grin in his face.


    ¡°Actors don¡¯t get to pilot mechs. Anyway, did you notice those rabbits? I¡¯m kinda surprised that they did so badly. Aren¡¯t they supposed to be good detectors?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, we talked about that. Those Shun Mei scout mechs come equipped with an advanced heat and motion sensor that should have detected those Kreigers well before they made contact. Farid guessed that they bought, or most probably stole, these after some government outfit decided to offload them. Those were SK models. Second generation. Pretty old considering what most governments have stomping around. Whoever owned those things before probably gutted them of everything valuable before putting them up for sale.¡± Bert explained. He detached the cable from the access port it was connected to then started pressing some buttons on the exposed control panel. He then closed the cover and locked it down.


    ¡°I wish we had a couple of those. Scouting for problems would be a lot easier.¡± Manny mused. It was one of the limitations of his company. His entire Mech force is comprised of the Rolling Rekong. They are at the cusp of having enough funding to buy another one but that was after three years of saving their profits. Manny didn¡¯t want to borrow money from a bank since it only takes one bad operation to put them in the red. He also wanted to build up his nest egg and improve the current equipment of his ground troops before spending for something that was not needed at the moment.


    The majority of their contracts required ground pounders. They work garrison detail or security work for NGOs or company properties. Manny has been very careful in ensuring that the contracts they sign were something within the scope of their skills and equipment. It pays well enough and it was a lot safer than what most merc companies do.


    For contracts that require the presence of the Rolling Rekong, Manny has two Kopis multi-function fighters and four Shiva battleline tanks that could act as support. The Shiva tanks in particular are very useful when extra firepower is needed. They have a saturation firing mode that could lay down a very thick layer of artillery fire. It¡¯s a shame that they¡¯re not rated for vacuum work. Those upgrades are expensive.


    ¡°Pft, we could do much better than those rabbits. We¡¯ll be buying another mech soon, right? Don¡¯t waste your money with those. If you want a scout unit, give me some funding and I¡¯ll make turn those eyeballs of yours into all-seeing ones.¡± Bert always hated scout mechs. He always argued that they are too thinly armored and shielded to be of use in the field. It also can¡¯t carry any kinetic weaponry so it¡¯s stuck with using laser turrets. ¡®A sensor drone could do the same work as they do at a tenth of the price.¡¯ is was he always says. Gunter, our armorer, also agrees with the sentiment.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to buy one. I¡¯m just saying that if somebody wants to give me one, I¡¯m not going to say no.¡±


    ¡°Good man. If you want a mech to work in tandem with you, you can¡¯t go wrong with getting a Minotaur or one of those Kreigers but those things cost a hell lot of money.¡± Bert grimaced when he mentioned how expensive the Kreigers are. They are a feat of modern-day engineering but it also comes with an astronomical price. The Minotaur is widely considered as the best bang for the buck for a frontline unit. It¡¯s tough, powerful, and parts are widely available. It¡¯s a combat model for the budget conscious. It¡¯s slower than the Kreiger and doesn¡¯t have a neural jack but it is still a tremendous battle machine. Manny was already half decided in buying one.


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind. Let¡¯s revisit that idea when we have our officer¡¯s meeting. I want to hear what the others are going to say.¡±


    ¡°I know for a fact the colonel is chomping at the bit to get one. That old warhorse is going to fight you tooth and nail to for it.¡± Bert said with confidence.


    ¡°¡®old warhorse?¡¯ You¡¯re older than him. Way older.¡± Manny looked at Bert with a raised eyebrow.


    ¡°Boy, age has got nothing to do with it. That man was born old. I¡¯m almost thirty years older than that ornery fart but he looks like he has been piloting mechs since they¡¯ve been somebody¡¯s doodles on paper.¡± Bert humorously replied. He¡¯s right, too. Colonel Jabari Okonjo had served in the Martian military back in the old solar system. Manny never really pried why with his sixty years of service, he had never been promoted past colonel. What Manny did know is that the colonel was unexpectedly fiercely loyal to him and the company. Malia said that it was because he has always backed the colonel, no matter how bad the situation had seemed. She did a bit of digging and found out that nepotism and cronyism have been the plague of the Martian military. Manny was the first one to really support the decision making of the colonel. Manny felt that the man was extremely capable and knowledgeable of the job he has been given and was completely confident that if the colonel needed help, he would have said so.


    ¡°Well, I still want to hear his thoughts. He¡¯ll be the one piloting it, anyway.¡± Manny was still of two minds about that. He was not so sure it was a good idea to have his commander running around in a mech, putting himself in danger. It was hard to argue the point since he, the president and CEO of ArmCore, plays baitman whenever they¡¯re low in cash.


    ¡°He¡¯ll have no problems letting you hear them. Long and loud. C¡¯mon, let¡¯s get something to eat.¡± Bert put away his tablet then slapped Manny on the back. A meal wouldn¡¯t go amiss. The sandwich and soup were a long time ago.


    Both of them descended from the walkway and took the parked utility cart. Bert drove them to their assigned room on the other end of the hangar. They wanted to get one closer to the Rekong but the facility has none available. The small outpost was not exactly mech-friendly. The mech hangar was a reconfigured atmospheric plane hangar. It lacks many, many things.


    They reached their assigned room and Bert parked the cart. When they entered, Malia was already setting up one of the tables for lunch. She was unpacking a food crate that she brought down from the shuttle.


    ¡°Great job, Manny. I wish you would stop taking these bait jobs. We¡¯re doing fine. We¡¯re in the black and will continue to stay that way.¡± Malia complained. She always gets nervous anytime there was a call for baitman work.


    Malia Suarez is a twenty-eight year old former secretary. She¡¯s a tall woman with flowing chestnut hair. Her heart-shaped face and small, button nose complement her smokey eyes. She¡¯s a fit woman who keeps herself healthy with regular exercise and her long legs make her a natural runner. Her small breasts and firm buttocks did nothing to detract from her beauty, rather, it enhanced it. Her brown skin is also aglow with health.


    ¡°I promise not to overdo it. We¡¯ve built a good rapport with the Eden government and it would have been a shame to say no to their offer. It was an easy op with solid intelligence. Besides, I don¡¯t want to wait another six months before we get our new mech. Bait contracts pay extremely well.¡± Manny reasoned. He sat at the head of the table and waited with muted excitement for his plate. Malia likes to cook and she made his favorite, pesto al pasta. She even had one of those oldie parmesan shakers.


    ¡°The Rekong is tough. Those shitty missiles wouldn¡¯t even dent it even if they did hit. Those things were pathetic. No wonder they were going after cargo trucks. A half-decent battleline tank would mop the floor with them.¡± Bert answered in defense of Manny. He was always careful in supporting Manny in any decision he makes and argues with him privately when he doesn¡¯t.


    ¡°You are not helping. All I¡¯m saying is that as the CEO, you shouldn¡¯t even be out there, getting shot at.¡± Malia pointed out.


    ¡°While I agree with Malia in the general sense, I don¡¯t see any harm in what Manny is doing. We only have one mech and he¡¯s the pilot. We are always careful in scrutinizing the opposition before we decide if we want any part of them.¡± Farid added. He was in the room, going over some intelligence reports.


    Farid El-Amin is also one of Manny¡¯s mentors. He worked as a computer specialist when he was still in Asteroid Ventures Inc. and was in charge of repairing the shuttle computers. Prior to that, he worked as police detective before an injury forced him to retire. The lower part of his back was shattered after he fell from a catwalk after a police raid went wrong. One of the criminals that they were arresting was able to throw a plasma grenade and it destroyed the support struts. It collapsed the catwalk, dropping the detective on the ground. He was almost made into hamburger.


    The hospital had to rebuild almost sixty percent of his body but they were no able to completely fix him. Though strong now, his lower back makes it difficult for him to lift a lot of weight over his head. It also pains him to walk long distances.


    Farid decided to retire from the force and take up work as a computer specialist. It was a hobby of his and he loves building computers.


    Manny hired him as an intelligence officer. The man was great at teasing out information from both people and the net. His old contacts helped him expand his network and hewas able to build an extensive intelligence network. Farid is enjoying his current job and feels that he is doing something important again.


    ¡°Ugh. You guys are the worst. Here, let¡¯s just eat.¡± Malia said, snorting in disgust. The room chuckled and focused on stuffing their faces. Manny always feels warm when Malia voices her concern for his safety. There was not a lot of people that used to care for him before.


    ¡°So, contract¡¯s done. What are we doing now?¡± Bert asked with a full mouth of pasta.


    ¡°We have a few contract offers that we¡¯ll be going over during our regular meeting tomorrow and a little bit of shopping too.¡±


    ¡°We have enough!? That¡¯s good! I have a few suggestions for the new mech¡­¡± Farid was getting up to pull out some files but Manny waved him down.


    ¡°We can do that tomorrow. I have to meet the Eden pilots later then we can boost back to the Benevolent. Please pack everything up and be ready for a late afternoon launch. I think our people deserve so R&R. We¡¯ll make for Merkatuan.¡± Manny ordered.


    ¡°Hot damn! Never been there before. They got some serious hardware over there. Might be good to do some browsing.¡± Bert exclaimed, slapping his knee.


    ¡°I need new shoes. The boys would love the place. I remember reading how it has the best beer in the sector.¡± Malia commented.


    Merkatuan is a trade world, a couple of jumps from Arno three, the small farming world owned by Eden where they are now. Merkatuan offers everything and anything under the sun. Food, entertainment, shopping, and even work. There is a saying that goes ¡®everything flows through Merkatuan.¡¯


    Manny¡¯s interest in the world is not just its great entertainment value, it also has a wide selection of mech brokers who he could talk to. He¡¯ll be taking the colonel when he buys the new mech for the company. As much as possible, Manny is aiming for a slightly-used one. Preferably, one that hasn¡¯t more than a year of service in its record.


    Manny took a nap after his late lunch then went to meet the pilots. They were a rowdy bunch, young and confident pilots and all with neural jack interfaces. It takes a special kind of person to get one of those.


    Unlike how they normally treat civilian pilots, Manny was treated with respect. Anybody willing to get shot at for them deserves respect, even if they were paid to do so. Manny went around, shaking everybody¡¯s hand and thanking them for keeping him safe. He talked about how ArmCore really appreciates their professionalism and hope to work with them again in the future.


    The lieutenant invited Manny for a drink later but Manny had to decline, stating that they were one a tight schedule and had other contracts to keep.


    By the time he returned, the company shuttle was loaded and was waiting for Manny. Bert had remotely loaded the Rekongon the external rack and everybody was relaxing by the shuttle pad. Manny hustled as the others moved to get on the shuttle when they saw him.


    Manny watched as the small outpost got smaller as they blasted off into space. He wondered if he would ever see those pilots again.

 Surprise Attack

    Manny stared at his screen then sighed. It was always the same. He doesn¡¯t understand why he keeps on doing it.


    ¡°You¡¯ll get there. We don¡¯t need it at the moment. We¡¯re doing just fine.¡± Malia said, looking over when she heard the despondent man. She got up from her chair and started massaging his shoulders. She felt bad that the man was taking so many burdens upon himself. It¡¯s also why he has such a loyal following. ArmCore probably has the lowest turnover rate among mercenaries and that¡¯s saying something. When you have alife expectancy of fewer than five years, it pays to get out of the business early.


    ¡°I know. It¡¯s just that it would bring us more respect if we have an office here. Everybody who is anybody has an office downtown. I get that we don¡¯t need it but it doesn¡¯t stop me from wanting one.¡± Manny replied. All successful mercenary outfits have a permanent office in an established world. Merkatuan is a popular world to setup shop since it¡¯s a trade world. Royal Eagle, PKL Armaments, the Pan Galactic Arms Corp., all of the biggest companies has a business address you can visit and gawk at. Granted, you don¡¯t NEED to have one but it¡¯s a matter of presentation. People expect a respectable merc company to have an office where they could walk in and do business. Nobody wants to acknowledge that most, if not all, of the business transactions happen via UniNet while the merc representative is floating around in a spaceship somewhere.


    Manny wants to open a small office to increase his social stocks. There are some clients in his business that solely checks outfits that have a physical office. Manny wants a slice of that extravagant pie. These clients are normally nobles or corporate moguls.


    ¡°Let¡¯s just keep doing what we¡¯re doing and will get there. Eventually. Enough of that, it¡¯s nearly time for our date with the colonel. He¡¯s pretty excited about his new toy.¡± Malia smiled as she reminded Manny of his mech shopping trip.


    ¡°I bet he is. That man has been frustrated that he had to stay back and let our people do the fighting. He¡¯s just not fit enough to go pounding ground with the rest of the troopers.


    I¡¯m still not convinced that he should be piloting our new mech but dammit, he¡¯s even more qualified than I am to go tromping around inside one.¡± Colonel Okonjo was a former MSOG pilot. He was used to handling the best of the best of what the universe has to offer in combat mechs. A Minotaur, the model that we have eventually decided to buy during our regular meeting, is a piece of cake for the experienced military man. He could probably pilot it asleep.


    ¡°Pot calling a kettle black.¡± Is all what Malia said. She handed Manny his cap and crossed the room to check herself out in a mirror. She was wearing some kind of suit that Manny though looks like a cross between a casual and formal one. She was also wearing one of her calf-killing six-inch stiletto shoes. Manny can¡¯t understand why she insists on wearing one of those things.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go get the colonel and buy us a new mech. I have to say, I¡¯m excited too.¡± Manny honestly admitted. It would be great to finally be able to take missions without having to worry that he was the only mech unit in the field.


    Manny and Malia stepped out of their rented office space. They planned to stay for a couple of weeks in Merkatuan to catch up with paperwork and to give the troops enough time to let off stress. They¡¯ve been at it for two years, one contract after another with only a week to ten days of rest between missions. They¡¯re now in a financial position that they could afford to take an extended vacation.


    Manny squinted as he fumbled for his glasses. It was bright and sunny outside. It was early yet in the day that the heat wasn¡¯t stinging his skin yet. Merkatuan is a desert world initially slated for further development. Plans for complete terraforming fell through when the funds for the colonizing company dried up. A civil war broke out in Njord, forcing the company to take their business elsewhere, defaulting on their properties in theworld.


    The colonizers had to restructure their plans and decided that they would minimally develop the world. It was within the scope of their funding and equipment so Merkatuan turned out to be like western Asia of Earth. Dry, hot, and unforgiving but very much habitable. They had to limit the development of the world so there were no other cities other than Merkatuan, so named after the world itself.


    The colonizers did well in making do with what they had. The turned the desert world into a galactic trading hub, with people coming far and wide to peruse the wares available for sale on its free-trade markets. The local government has developed some areas around the planet for mining and built some biodomes to grow food.


    The local military force is also an odd one. They are very reminiscent of the foreign legions. Anybody can presumably walk into a recruitment office and leave their old life behind. As long as you are not wanted by any government during the time of your joining, you will be accepted. Assuming, of course, that you pass the medical exam. The Merkatuan Defense Force puts more importance on a person¡¯s mental strength, rather than their overall fitness. They believe that fitness could be achieved through their harsh, almost barbaric training regime but the mental aspect of their work is what they cannot prepare the initiate for. The MDF is one of the fiercest and most loyal military forces in the thousand worlds¡¯ alliance. They are not as large as homeworld guards but they are damn hard to take down. Retired or resigned officers of the MDF have no problems looking for good paying work, if they so choose.


    Malia was already walking down the sidewalk purposefully that Manny had to hurry to catch up. He could not understand how she could walk so fast in those heels. The skyscrapers were partially blocking the sun so it was not uncomfortable to be out and about.


    ¡°What are planning to do while the colonel and I are out looking for a mech?¡± Manny asked when he drew beside his assistant.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be looking for some new shoes later but I have to visit a couple of people that messaged me. We¡¯re getting popular. I might finagle a good, easy contract for us to do while we¡¯re here.¡±


    ¡°Just to remind you but the Benevolent is dry docked for a refit. That huge spinal cannon is a bitch to install. They¡¯re already halfway done installing the main turrets and would be done in a couple of days. Say, two to three more days to calibrate the turrets to make sure they work right so we¡¯re looking at the Benevolent being out of commission for twelve days.¡±


    It¡¯s one of the three things that company was preparing for ever since they got the ship. They always had to be careful when traveling among the stars because they were essentially an unarmed, though heavily-shielded, transport ship. The captain argued that they have been lucky and they can¡¯t always count on their contracts always providing escort. They¡¯ve stuck to using the commercial space lanes but that also locked them out of lucrative contracts. The Benevolent did have point-defense guns but being defensive doesn¡¯t win fights.


    The Benevolent was being installed with a spine-mounted dark matter cannon. The merchant hull of the ship had been reinforced earlier on when they first modified it for merc transport. The cannon will run through the entire length of the ship with only the firing barrel being retractable. Being that it is a spine-mounted weapon, the main gun can only be fired when the ship¡¯s bow is facing the enemy. That would take some clever maneuvering from its commander but Captain Adelina Iliev is confident she could make use of the powerful weapon. It¡¯s not a popular design feature for a main gun. It only has a ten-degree firing arc and it doesn¡¯t have guidance control since it¡¯s a dark energy weapon not to mention its very slow firing cycle. It has a dedicated dark matter generator that needs about ten seconds to fully charge up. That is a lot of time to wait when you are in a fight. The captain said that it is better used to open or end an engagement. The other guy would be pretty skittish in getting in a protracted fight if he doesn¡¯t have shields or is heavily damaged. It makes up for its limitations by being one hell of a destructive weapon. It doesn¡¯t matter if your ship is shielded like a planetary defense platform. If you get hit, it¡¯ll smash through your shield matrix. It would only take two or three well-placed shots to bring down a battle cruiser.


    The ship was also being installed with four quad-barrel heavy turrets and two missile racks that will act as the ship¡¯s primary fighting weapons. The turrets were cheap as it was sold to them by Royal Eagle when one of their destroyers was heavily damaged after one of their operations. They decided that it was too heavily damaged to repair and would cost them less to just buy a new one. They stripped all the salvageable parts and sold those they didn¡¯t need. ArmCore was one of the few companies they called first before putting up parts up for sale. Manny was thankful that his cultivation of friendship with the mercenary juggernaut has borne fruit.


    The missile racks were the only thing they bought straight from a respected vendor. It was a late addition to their armament plan which was again suggested by the captain. The modifications made on the former freighter were pushed as much as it could possibly go without degrading structural integrity. The missile racks were not planned for like the turrets. The captain convinced Manny that rather than having internal launch tubes, they would attach the racks on retractable hardpoints. They could house it within the ship and deploy them when necessary. It would be reloaded through an ammunition elevator and automatically fed by using a simple loading lever. It¡¯s a somewhat inelegant solution but it would give the ship a longer maximum range not to mention a kinetic weapon that can be deployed in case of power outage.


    The entire cost of arming the ship and supplying it with the necessary computer upgrades and training modules totaled to almost everything they earned from contracts last year. Manny paid for the refitting as soon as he can before he changed his mind. He knows that it was a worthwhile investment but the money he paid for it represented the busiest year they had.


    At least Captain Iliev is as happy as a plum. She hated the fact that we had to be escorted everywhere. She¡¯s now hedging for our own fighter wing. She¡¯s been talking about converting one of the cavernous storage bays into a fighter hanger for at least twelve X42-Kodana multi-purpose fighter craft. That will definitely be in the future. Manny doubted that when all the shopping is over, they would have anything left to buy even one fighter craft without dipping in their operational budget for the next year. Bad practice, that.


    ¡°I remember. I¡¯m that one that had to talk to the dry dock master. By the way, why do they call it a dry dock? It¡¯s not like we¡¯re sailing on water anymore.¡± Malia asked. Manny was startled by the question and not a little bit surprised now that he was thinking about it.


    ¡°I think that''s a leftover from before space travel became common. It does the same thing as what its beached originator has done sans the water. Maybe they got lazy and didn¡¯t want to call it something else.¡± Manny shrugged as they continue walking down the sidewalk. There were a lot of people moving up and down the sidewalk, a constant wave of humanity about their business. It was a work day.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t take much imagination to call it a space dock, you know. There¡¯s the colonel. Let¡¯s hurry up before he makes a child cry.¡± Malia indicated towards a bench in front of a liquor store. The tall military man was sitting on the bench, chewing on something while glowering at the mass of people passing in front of him. Quite a few people shied away from him and elected to give him as much space as he needs. His scarred, weather-aged face along with his constant scowl doesn¡¯t inspire conversation.


    ¡°I told you to stop saying that. He¡¯s a nice enough fellow. He¡¯s a little intimidating, I give you that but he has always been very careful about the people around him.¡± Manny said, mildly reproaching his assistant.


    ¡°¡®a little intimidating?¡¯ sure, he¡¯s a ¡®little¡¯ intimidating as much as an elephant is a ¡®little¡¯ large. If looks could kill, that man would have committed genocide." Malia replied, undeterred.


    "He''s a loyal and integral member of our company. His looks don''t make him less than an asset."


    "So you do agree that he''s one scary man. Ha! made you admit." Malia said with a triumphant look on her face. Manny didn''t deign to reply to her outburst and just continued walking. The colonel has spotted them when a break in the crowd gave him sightline. He took a big bite of something then crumpled the wrapper in his hand. He tossed it in the recycling bin beside him as he watched Manny and Malia free themselves from the humanity on the sidewalk.


    "Sir. Malia." Colonel Okonjo greeted. He nodded to both of them with his usual unflappable self.


    "Colonel. Is everything in order?" Manny asked, his face changing into his public mask. Though they work closely together and Manny would consider the colonel as one of the few people he would have in his inner circle, it was hard for him the break his programming in dealing with military officers after his stint in the army. It doesn''t matter that the colonel is retired and has been for quite some time. He still exudesauthority and an almost overpowering presence.


    The colonel also seems to be content with their association. He refuses to address Manny with anything less that respect he would give to a superior officer. He explained that it was to establish discipline in the troops. They cannot see him being chums with their boss, even if they were a mercenary force. He has a deep respect for his unusual employer and never would have guessed that he would find the authority he was looking for outside of Martian military. The pay is way better too.


    "The few that are on duty have reported nothing unusual while I have a couple of people looking after those who are on leave. Predictably, our people are busy getting drunk, laid, and poor. I assure you that no establishment would be damaged this time."Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    The men and women of ArmCore Securities are some of the toughest infantry in the mercenary world. It was all due to the colonel. He has brought with him his training as a Martian Special Operations Group operative and made our people go through his special blend of training. They had a lot of prospective hires quit the outfit due to its demanding training that Manny had talked about it with the colonel. The former MSOG asked for patience and the time to build up the company''s numbers. Manny gave in to his request for additional time and funding and the colonel didn''t disappoint. He was able to produce some of the finest people Manny had worked with. Of course, the colonel was never satisfied with their performance and always had some kind of training program running.


    All that special training also made his people some of the hardest partiers. Manny could count the times that he had to bail out his people from jail or had to pay for damages to an establishment due to a fight or just general rowdiness. He doesn''t really mind though he keeps that to himself. The colonel is not shy in tearing somebody a new asshole when they fuck up.


    "Very good, colonel. The company is always grateful for your dedication to excellence. It is time for us to increase our operational ability. Are you ready to evaluate our new hardware?" The colonel grinned savagely.


    "Yes, sir. I''m am looking forward to this." Manny turned to Malia, giving her an inquiring look.


    "I''ll go with you guys partway. My meeting is on the other side of the city." She explained. Malia was going over some documents on her tablet and was also patting down some creases on her suit.


    Manny called for a car and it didn''t take long before a rental stopped by the curb, in front of them. They piled inside then the car whisked them through the busy streets of Merkatuan. Malia was totally focused on her tablet while Manny and the colonel discussed their recent purchases for the company. They went over their timeline, checking what are to be purchased for their next update cycle. Majority of their planned upgrades are going to focus on the ground pounders. Their combat armor is sufficient for the tasks they take but the colonel wanted to get a number of powered exo-armor. Those suits would allow a trooper to effectively carry and deploy crew weapons with ease. The thicker armor will also stop most modern small arms. A few load out options for their two fighters and one more Shiva tank are slated for the next year. Manny has to ensure that they have a constant flow of contracts if he has to have any hope of fulfilling their inventory demands.


    ***


    The Minotaur ran almost at top speed before it suddenly stopped, Its mechanical feet digging deeply in the soil. It then broke left, skipping sideways, avoiding the markers planted on the ground.


    Manny and the two sales representatives watch as the colonel put the Minotaur in its paces. So far, the mech was performing exceptionally well, getting good marks in both mobility and dexterity.


    Manny had talked with the sales representative a couple of days ago to set up the field test. They were ecstatic with his interest in purchasing the mech and had readily agreed to it. It made Manny a bit uncomfortable and not a little bit suspicious about how quickly they agreed to a product review. Normally, it would take a week or so to set one up and a few more people should have accompanied them during the test. They would normally have a mech engineer to answer anything related to the inner workings of the machine and a merc pilot to talk to them about the possible arming of the unit.


    Manny and Malia did some digging and found out that Burke & Wellington, the company they were buying the mech from, had acquired the mech from a merc company that went broke. They tried selling it but the bigger mercenary outfits in Merkatuan were interested in buying mech units in bulk. Cheaper that way. There were a few inquiries from smaller companies like ArmCore but they didn''t have the credits for it. Sadly, most of these smaller merc outfits are run by younger men and women with fire in their blood and are interested in firepower, not spreadsheets. Manny''s persistence in following a well thought out economic plan made him different from his peers.


    "Your pilot is very good. I''ve never seen somebody handle a Minotaur like that and I''ve seen a lot." One of the sales representatives commented. They were watching the colonel from a viewing platform a few hundred meters from the fast-moving combat mech.


    "ArmCore provides exceptional training to its people and is proud of the expertise they are able to put on the field." Manny replied. Both representatives nodded as they watch the colonel tested the mech''s strength by pulling and pushing derelict construction vehicles scattered around the field for the very thing.


    "I assume that he had military training?" The shorter representative asked.


    "Pardon me but I cannot comment on the specifics of our employee''s background." Manny said. There are a lot of merc companies that flaunt their military background but Manny found it to their advantage not to publish theirs. He posted some of their most difficult missions on their UniNet site with accompanying pictures and mission profiles. It prevents prospective clients from offering them unreasonable mission contracts or disregarding them out of their former military affiliation.


    "Ah. I understand. How silly of me to ask." The representative answered back with an embarrassed smile. His partner was giving him a dirty look. It was kind of a faux pas to ask about somebody''s background in the merc world. If you are really interested, a lot of a person''s information could be gleaned from the UniNet. A lot of people become mercenaries because they wanted to leave their past. You generally only ask when it is critical to the mission at hand.


    The trio ignored the social slip and focused on the well-performing mech. Manny asked a few questions that the representatives readily answered. They stopped their conversation when the colonel had communicated that he was done with the testing.


    The Minotaur walked towards the platform at a more sedate pace then deactivated. A mech crew spilled out of the hanger just underneath the viewing platform to secure the mech. The pilot carriage opened up and the colonel climbed down using the handholds on the back and legs of the Minotaur. He was sweating but Manny could see the man''s white teeth from his smile.


    Manny and the representatives took the elevator down to meet with the colonel to get his verdict. Manny is the one paying but he would go by the colonel''s decision. His company commander knows his fighting machines well. Probably better than Manny.


    "The mech is in good condition. Very good condition. In fact, I would like to ask how have you come to own a barely-used Minotaur? I doubt that this unit has seen real combat. For god''s sakes, it still has the warning stickers on its pilot board."


    "The former owners of the unit didn''t plan their acquisition well. They bought the unit brand new from the manufacturer but it left them in debt. They were confident that they would get a lucrative contract and, well, let''s just say that they have overestimated their value."


    "Well, I''m not complaining. Sir, I believe we have a deal here. The unit needs to have its dark matter power plant rebalanced, it''s throwing out too much energy, causing it to pump out a bigger signal profile but its mechanically sound. Once we get its accompanying palmer rifle, I''d say we''re good to go." The colonel said with confidence. The representatives were smiling along while he was making his assessment then was suddenly confused by the last part of his speech.


    "Um, excuse me Mr. Okonjo. The unit is sold as is. We do have an upgrade option if you want to purchase it along with its weaponry." The taller representative explained. The colonel smiled an ugly smile.


    "Ah, my friends. It seems like we have a lot to talk about." The colonel said in a sing-song manner. Manny almost felt bad for the reps. The colonel is an amazing negotiator. He had to personally negotiate for equipping his people when he was still in the Martian army. Corruption forced him to haggle for everything since his funds were always missing a few zeros.


    Manny could practically imagine that the ''Martian Shark'' hunting for a bite as they walked towards a meeting room.


    ***


    Dominic stared at his console, willing it to give him a different result. A few breaths later, a red light blinked on. Dominic cursed loudly then stabbed at the ''cut connection'' command to stop the power feed. He wanted to pull his hair out but that wouldn''t do anything. Just make him bald. He sat back then closed his eyes to massage his temples. He felt a headache building up and wanted to just get up and get some rest but he can''t. Not until they fix this. He opened a communication with Engineering.


    "Jie, still nothing." He could hear the man cursing in Mandarin on the other end.


    "Still just that one red light?"


    "Yeah."


    "Godammit. Alright, give me a second. Suzy wants to try something." The assistant engineer cut the connection. Dominic, grateful for the reprieve in working on the faulty power connection, split his screen to check the power draw of the other turrets. The dock workers did a good enough job installing them but they haven''t configured the turrets with the proper energy distributor. It was trying to draw more energy that what the ship was feeding it. The programming of the turret computer was set for a bigger and more powerful warship that the Benevolent was not. They had fixed the programming side of the issue but the physical end of it was still giving Dominic a literal headache. Jie suspects that the sudden power draw is generating too much heat and was tripping the failsafe of the turret. Dominic has no idea how they''re going to fix that. The other three had some hiccups but were working perfectly now. It was just the forward starboard turret that was being difficult. They have to get this fixed today because they''ll be having their shakedown cruise tomorrow. They also had clearance to do some live fire exercises on a nearby debris field to calibrate their targeting systems. They can''t do that if they can''t get this problem licked.


    Dominic loaded a simulation of the turrets. He had them fire on a simulated target, keeping an eye on the rate of fire, timing, and power draw. He spent the next hour adjusting the parameters to the captain''s preference then loaded the simulation again. It took some fiddling around the get it right but he was able to get the exact specifications that the captain outlined. He saved the settings then forwarded the report to the XO.


    Dominic''s console beeped again so he opened his communicator to Jie. He''d been calling back once in a while, trying different methods to get the problematic turret to work. They were still unsuccessful in that regard.


    "Try it now." Jie said.


    "Alright. I''m getting tired on this thing." Dominic complained.


    "Hey! you''re not to the one who had to crawl through a duct, okay." Jie replied with a little bit of heat his voice.


    "You right, calm down, geez. Okay, activating turret." Dominic watched the console, almost resigned to having to stay on his workstation the entire day but then a green light appeared on his console. Crossing his fingers, Dominic switched on the turret''s capacitor banks. Again, the light stayed green. He grinned then did a little arm pump in celebration.


    "Jie, It''s working! Finally! Whatever you did, it got the turret working on the right power load." Dominic informed the aggravated assistant engineer.


    "You can thank Suzy for that. You owe her dinner. She''s the one that came up with a solution."


    "We just had dinner together the other day! Man, she always orders the expensive stuff. It''s not like I''m made out of credits, you know."


    "I heard you. You''re talking me to Pierre''s just for that." Suzy''s contralto voice broke in the channel. Dominic grimaced but decided that silence is what is called for the moment.


    "Now that''s fixed, I''m going for a drink. I''ve been at it for twelve hours. Don''t call me." Jie''s tired voice informed Dominic.


    "Get me a bottle of whiskey, will you? I''m stuck here until the calibrations are done."


    "will do."


    Dominic cut the communication and took the opportunity to stretch. His new station doesn''t come with a very comfortable seat. The tactical console has just been installed a couple of days ago and he was still trying to get a familiar feel around it. He did have his hot keys set up so there''s that.


    "Hey Farah, You got any plans later?" Dominic asked the woman working on the other side of the bridge.


    "Nope. Why?"


    "We''re catching a game later. The Merkatuan Sand Surfers will be taking on the Holmer Jacks. You wanna come?"


    "Sure, why not. I''ve not seen a rugby game for a while. That should be fun." Farah replied, still messing around in her workstation.


    "Yeah. Those Sand Surfers are going to get theirs. I don''t think-"


    Dominic never got to finish his prediction when he was suddenly thrown off his feet. It took a couple of moments before his world stop spinning and he could make sense that he was on his back. Dominic tried sitting up but a sudden blinding pain shot up his left arm. He looked over to see his forearm jutting at an unnatural angle. Dominic looked away before he makes himself throw up.


    "-minic! Dominic! I need you!" Farah''s voice finally pierced his thoughts and made him focus on his surroundings. He could see the communications specialist strap herself in her seat. She was looking at Dominic with wild eyes.


    "What the hell happened?" Dominic yelled as he gingerly picked himself up off the deck. He tried to keep his left arm from getting jostled as he sat on his station.


    "I dunno! The dock beside us just exploded. Jesus, look at that, that freighter just broke in half. Was that an accident? I don''t remem-"


    Another explosion rocked the ship, this time weaker that the one that threw Dominic to the deck. A dry dock doesn''t explode like that. Yes, there are some chemicals that could cause an explosion but nothing to that magnitude. He looked at the forward viewing screen and could see the second explosion carved a big chunk out of the navy station. A feeling of dread momentarily made Dominic forget about the pain in his arm as his right hand worked his console. He triggered the sensor array thenwaited as his board was populated. His face turned white as he tried to contemplate the impossibility of what he was seeing.


    "Report!"


    The XO bust through the bridge hatch, panting heavily. He was working in the CIC when the ship bucked. He immediately made for the bridge as soon as he was on his feet.


    "Multiple unknown contacts coming around from behind N¨®tt. They''re too far out for the computer to resolve how many they are." Dominic answered, his attention snapping back into focus.


    The XO sat heavily on the captain''s chair and buckled himself in. Good thing too because the navy station took another hit, destroying its upper decks. This time, the Benevolent''s sensors got something.


    "Some kind of missile hit the station. The computer doesn''t know what it is but it''s slow and packs an insane amount of energy. Initial data coming it suggests that it''s a variation of a fusion bomb." Dominic added.


    "We have to get out of here. Ms. Lamont, get drydock on the line and have us released." The klaxons started blaring throughout the ship as the XO had put the ship on general quarters. He then unbuckled himself then took a couple of large steps and sat on the helm station. He started feeding the thrusters with power but it was sluggish. He cursed then opened a channel to Engineering.


    "Engineering." The XO could hear banging and running feet on the line. He was expecting Mr. Suarez, the chief engineer but somebody else answered.


    "We need power, now!"


    "We''re activating the power nodes now, sir." came the harried reply.


    "Sir, I can''t get through dry dock control. I think the last hit took out their communications." Farah reported. She was about to turn back when she got a new communication.


    "Just a moment, sir. Navy just signaled to clear the area. They''re engaging the hostiles."


    "On screen." The XO ordered.


    The forward viewing screen switched from the station towards the approaching unknown ships. A number of navy ships were able to get themselves sorted in a surprisingly short amount of time and were meeting the aggressors. He couldn''t see all of the attacking ships but they were more than enough to overwhelm the sad numbers of navy patrol boats and the few frigates and destroyers that survived the onslaught on the station. The navy ships were rallying around a battleship that was being escorted by two missile cruisers. They were still outside engagement range of the navy but it wouldn''t take long.


    The XO ripped his eyes from watching the imminent battle to check his console. They finally had minimum power but they were still locked in dry dock. At that moment, the bridge hatch slid open as two more people came charging in. One was the helmsman and the other was a trooper in combat armor. The XO got up from the station he was manning and retook the captain''s chair. The sweating helmsman slid in his chair and his fingers flew over his control keys.


    "Secure the bridge." The XO ordered the trooper. The man acknowledged then hit the locking mechanism of the hatch. It would take some doing to get through that now.


    "Helm, get us out of here."


    "Sir, we''re still locked in." The man informed but he was already feeding power to the thrusters.


    "I know. Break us out. Tactical, how''s our weapons?" The man shifted his attention towards the pained officer.


    "The turrets are all operational. The main cannon and the missile launchers have passed initial inspection but sir, we''ve yet to try any live fire. Our targeting software also hasn''t been calibrated yet. We were supposed to do that tomorrow."


    "That is not an option for the moment. Just get it working." The ship heaved as the pilot powered the Benevolent, tearing off the station clamps.


    "Shields up." The XO promptly ordered.


    "Shields, aye."


    "Heading, sir?" The helm asked when the ship was at a respectable distance from the dry dock.


    "Over Merkatuan city. Our people are still down there. Let''s get them back."


    It was only then that Dominic remembered that they were on skeleton crew. Most of the company were still down in Merkatuan, partying it up. Dominic looked at his screen and could see that the battle has started and it was not going well for the system defense force. The hostiles were using some type of x-ray energy weapon that was making short work of the Merkatuan ships. They were also saturating the ships with kinetic rounds. From what the computer has analyzed, they were dumb rounds. They were probably shot from a rail gun. Aside from the fusion missiles, they haven''t used any other kind in the engagement, which is unusual.


    Dominic stared at the data coming in and guessed that it would be a short fight. He prayed that it would give them enough time to get their people off the planet.