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Akihiro grimaced as Misaki handed him the stiff finger of... what had his name been? Reggie? She had used that handy laser pistol to sever the digit without the need for surgical tools. The thought of dismembering the man in such a way absolutely disgusted Aki, so he was grateful to be able to avoid the act all together. With a finger from each mecha pilot, they both said their goodbyes to the escaped slaves and the hellhole that the holding facility had been.

Finally outside in the fresh air again, they went to claim their prizes. The massive Kuroma and sleek Serval remained untouched in their dormant, lifeless state as the pair approached. "You understand the plan? Any questions?" Akihiro asked superfluously. He regretted the words instantly, feeling as though it echoed the hesitation he was feeling.

"No, it seems pretty straight forward," she answered looking at him with curious eyes. "Are you worried?" The question almost sounded rhetorical as she climbed a ladder that ran up the backside of the Kuroma's left leg immediately after.

"Am I that transparent?" he asked pulling his cap off and running a hand through his hair in an effort to expend some nervous energy.

"Yes," Misaki said plainly as she hefted a huge pack of canned goods into the cockpit and climbed back down the ladder to face him.

"It's just... We don't know how many people they're going to have defending the place. It could be 5 or it could 100. I know it's asking a lot to put such a huge load on you in a single mecha, but I can't think of any other way to do this." He was still holding his hat in his hands and rolling it together as though it were a stress ball.

"It will be fine, Aki. I can handle it," she said with absolute confidence.

"Just like that, huh?" he laughed and placed his cap back on his head, adjusting it into place. "I don't believe I've ever had the honor of serving with someone as calm and collected as yourself, Misaki. It's a relief to share the burden instead of always having to carry it alone." He smiled as he took a step towards her and patted her shoulder like he would to a male troop. Akihiro wasn't sure how to act given the situation, but lingered beside her for a moment as though he might be able to figure it out eventually.

"The feeling is mutual, Commander," she said with a barely perceptible smile. "Now would you stop acting so awkward and kiss me?"

At hearing her words, he understood instantly what was bothering him at the periphery of his mind. With everything that had happened in the past day, it was easy to forget that they were now lovers. While many new couples got to spend their time together doing whatever they wished, he and Misaki were stuck in a life or death struggle with the odds against them. He wanted to enjoy being a man smitten, but felt forced to be a soldier until they could find some measure of safety.

Akihiro could see Misaki's eyes growing narrower as she stared a hole into him. He didn't hesitate any longer and pushed in closely to kiss her. Her lips were so soft, he felt as though he could get lost in them for hours.

Without provocation, anxiety began to rise in his chest as he considered the very possible death trap they were walking into. Aki had never had anything to lose before and fighting at his best had always been easy as a result. Now the uncertainty of losing her was creeping in and he wasn't sure how to deal with it.

A thought popped into his mind; it was a logical, yet brilliant idea. Just as he grasped this newfound wisdom, he grabbed onto Misaki and pushed her out to arm's length. She looked startled for a moment until only confusion remained.

Instead of being afraid to lose you, I'll fight to protect you with all that I have. Maybe one day he would tell her what was going on in his head that day, but for now it was enough to proclaim it to himself. Instead of some sappy profession of love and loss, he would treat this like any other battle.

“WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO!?” he shouted with a fiery look in his eye as he gripped her shoulders tightly.

Misaki's eyes grew wide, before turning fierce with a knowing excitement. “WE'RE GOING TO SLAUGHTER THEM!”

“HOW MANY ARE WE GOING TO KILL, RECRUIT!?” Aki asked in a booming voice, pounding his hand into her shoulder firmly as he continued to psych them both up.

“ALL OF THEM!” Misaki roared as the fighting spirit took a hold of her.

In unison, they pushed off against each other and cried out with a brutish grunt. Aki was pulsing with bold determination as he turned and climbed into the Serval. Without looking back, he already knew that Misaki was starting up her mecha just as he was.

Akihiro pressed a button to the right of the control stick and quickly placed the rigored index finger against the scanner. An affirmative tone played cheerily before a robotic voice asked, “Say passphrase to begin initialization.”

Akihiro felt a twinge of disgust in having to say such filthy words in order to start the mecha, but knew it would be well worth it to make the slaver scumbags pay.

“Slaving is easy money and they give the best head. Seven Eight Nine dash Zero,” Aki said with toneless revulsion.

“Identity confirmed,” the computer's voice accepted the loathsome passphrase. “Welcome aboard, Reginald S. Bermin.”

Now that Akihiro was in control of the Serval, he could channel the rage he felt towards the pilot against the rest of Reggie and Corin's pals. With the coordinates to the base and the codes for entry, he and Misaki would completely annihilate anyone that got in their way.

–

Akihiro could see a wide gate off in the distance as well as the jutting architecture of the surrounding spaceport. Zooming in with his display, it looked as though they had taken over the station and likely utilized all of the buildings for their operations. There were some civilians walking around as well as some armored vehicles, but no mecha were in sight.

He could hear minimal chatter from the guard team over the comms. Aki had already warned Misaki against using any of the mecha's available channels for their own dialogue. Instead they would not communicate at all and simply listen in. There was just no telling what frequencies they were using and who might be able to overhear them.

The guard station seemed to be empty and Aki couldn't help but wonder how these slavers had made it so far with such lax security. Their guard is probably down now that they've conquered the area. Still.. Why aren't they worried about the Legion retaliating?

A quick glance at his radar showed that Misaki was following closely and would be approaching the gate right behind him. Going back to the standard view, he casually neared the looming checkpoint.

At the base of the massive wire gate, he waited for someone to acknowledge his presence. Nobody was at the guard station though and considering Corin had said there was a simple entry code, he worried that he might throw up some red flags if he kept dawdling. It was a spoken code, but he wasn't sure who he was supposed to speak it to without a guard present.

Suddenly a mechanical sounding voice chimed in over his speakers causing him to jump up slightly in his seat. “Welcome. I have scanned your mecha and see that you are... Reginald.. S... Bermin. Please state the passcode for entry.”

Akihiro couldn't help but sigh relief as the opportunity to say the code presented itself. “Iron Badgers Dig,” he said slowly in case the machine might have trouble interpreting his speech.

“Passcode accepted. Thank you.... Reginald... S... Bermin,” the monotone voice trilled on. “Enjoy your stay at.... Iron... Badger... Port.”

He hadn't dealt much with such ancient AI systems, but he had certainly heard a lot about them. Most companies had stopped using such verification methods centuries ago because they rarely worked and had a tendency to drive their customers crazy. It was cheap technology though and likely the Iron Badgers, or whoever the hell they were, thought it was worth the trouble to utilize.

The large white gate lurched upwards slightly, before sliding to the right as it opened the way forward. Aki was suddenly aware that the loud footsteps of the Kuroma had stopped and realized Misaki must be waiting to his rear to proceed. The radar confirmed it with a shiny white ping directly on his tail. The way through was finally opened as the gate shuddered to a halt. It's now or never.

Akihiro stepped slowly into the plaza, trying his best to gauge the whereabouts of his target. He stopped beside a fountain momentarily to catch his bearings as Misaki walked past him in the Kuroma. The few people that were walking around kept a wide berth from the humongous mecha, seeming to be used to such spectacles.

There was a thin and long building used for passengers to board shuttles off to his right as well as an expansive docking area for larger craft to land. Each docking space had built in platforms surrounding it for easy departure of clients as well as easy access to the road below for heavy equipment to load goods. Currently one massive ship was parked in a central area with a smattering of smaller dropships surrounding it.

While the rest of spaceport didn't hold his interest much, there were several administrative buildings ahead of him that looked promising. As Aki stomped to the side of the road into an area where several utility vehicles were parked, he heard static hiss over the comms.

“HEYYYA CORIN!!” A voice yelled into the cockpit like thunder. “Head over to the docks and help us load this summabitch!” The man belched loudly and Aki sneered with disgust at the vulgar man. “We barely got any mecha left for the heavy lifting! Get that there K'roma over here and help a brother out!”

A stone formed in Akihiro's throat as he attempted to swallow, but couldn't seem to manage. He wasn't expecting someone who actually knew Corin to try and speak to them. He had anticipated more time to look around before running into such a major hitch. What made it even worse was that he was talking to Misaki, a woman with a light airy tone that could never in a million years hope to impersonate a guy with such a deep voice.

He had to act fast. Opening the radio line up, he spoke with his best Corin impression. Forcing his voice down as low as it could go, he slurred with a terrible accent, “Hold yer horses. I'll get there when I'm damned ready!” He wheezed loudly, trying to imitate the way an overworked obese man might sound before closing the comm again.

It didn't take long before the voice of Corin's friend piped up again laughing hysterically. “Don't ever change you ol' bastard. I saved some cold ones for ya! But don't take too long or I'ma drink 'em all!”

With a spark of static the speakers went quiet and Aki breathed another momentous sigh at having made it through the initial challenge. He knew it would only be a matter of time before they got caught, but he had managed to buy them some more time.

With a big gulp, he backed the Serval up against a large trailer to disguise his exit in case anyone was looking for Reggie as well. He disengaged the piloting software and turned the engine offline.

In order to better fit in, he had taken some extra clothing from the locker rooms in the underground facility. With some faded cargo pants, a t-shirt, and a jean jacket, nobody would ever recognize him as part of the Legion. He kept his hunting knife and a new 45 caliber pistol he had picked up from one of the guards.

Aki pulled back the slide to verify that there was a bullet in the chamber and stowed the pistol at his waist. He just had to find one person within a limited amount of time before shit went sour. Not too hard, right? Armed and ready to go, he released the hatch and climbed down the spine of the Serval.