Chapter 12

Jack stared at the towering Exo as it stalked through the forest. Its core engines gave out a low rumble and Jack could feel it vibrate in his chest. For a second he forgot to breathe with his lizard brain taking over and insisting that he play dead. Exo’s always managed to awaken a primal fear in people, filling them with dread and awe.

Jack swallowed hard. “Well, that is a problem.”

“Understatement of the century,” muttered Tanner.

Jack turned away from the Exo and turned to Soja, trying to reorient himself. Compartmentalization was key. He filed away the colossal problem in front of him and focused on his friend.

“How you doing bud? You scared us for a bit there?”

The plump boy grinned feebly as he clung to the tree trunk as though he was afraid that he would fall off. He still looked sickly but some color had returned to his face.

“I’m okay. Just sore and tired.” His stomach rumbled in response, craving nutrition after his mana burnout.

“And hungry. I could eat.

Tanner rolled his eyes. “You should go on a diet. Lugging you around is bad for my back.”

Soja scowled and gave Tanner the finger. Jack breathed in deeply and felt about his mana channels for his dwindling mana. He just had one more boost left in him after that he would be in the same state as Soja. “I’m nearly out of gas.

“I’m out as well,” said Tanner.

Both boys turned towards Soja but they didn’t even bother asking. Soja would not be casting any spells in his current state.

“Alright,” said Jack. “No mana and we got to take on an Exo, any ideas?”

Tanner shook his head as he stared intently at the Exo in the distance. “An Exo, a goddamn Exo. Can’t we catch a break?”

“Maybe we should ask it politely to give way?” Jack wondered out loud.

“Haha, very funny.” Tanner fished about in his coat and brought out a pair of binoculars. “Have a look.”

Jack took the offered binoculars with a frown on his face. “Where did you get these?”

“Took it from someone who didn’t need it anymore,” Tanner said somberly.

Jack remembered the bodies he had seen on the way here and felt a stab in his chest. “Yeah, I saw some on my way here too.”

They were all hanging on by a thread at this point and there is no telling when the string will snap. Letting out a breath he brought the binoculars to his face. The Exo came into focus and Jack saw the behemoth closely for the first time. The giant was truly a work of art. Gears, bolts, and pneumatic piston, all coming together to form something utterly sublime. Its engines rumbled in a low dangerous hum and Jack could feel its hidden strength. The sheer power of the thing was astounding. It casually brushed off trees as it made its way through the forest. Jack swallowed. How the hell were they supposed to beat this thing?

“I don’t know what to do here.” Tanner's voice drifted to his ears. “I’m racking my brain here but coming up with nothing.”

The lumbering giant moved through the forest with slow pondering steps with its head looking down scanning the forest for something.

“It’s going to be fine,” said Soja. Lowering the binoculars, Jack looked at his plump friend. Soja gave him a thumbs up. “I’m sure you will think of something and get us out of here.”

Jack gave the fat boy a small smile, touched by his trust. The worry in his heart eased a bit and he felt a jolt of confidence. “Just give me a few minutes and I’ll have this thing sorted.”

Raising the binoculars to his face, Jack adjusted the zoom as he focused on the Exo and started looking at its defensive plating.

“Even the strongest of foes always has a weakness. You just have to find it.” He muttered under his breath.

The plates were worn out with scars and burns running across its surface. The damaged areas shimmered in the low light as the Exo moved about the forest still intently scanning its surroundings.

“Well, it has definitely seen some combat.”

“But nothing that gives us an edge. It will be hard to get past its shell,” said Tanner.

The vivid red paint had been chipped in several areas which gave the machine a wild mien, making it look even more dangerous. Shifting his gaze Jack noticed the lettering on its metal shoulders. C.S.O.

“Specialist Operations?” Jack felt his heart skip a beat.

“Yeah,” said Tanner. “Why do you think I’m shitting my pants here.”

“Are you even sure that he isn’t on our side?”

“Look to the right through that set of trees over there,” said Tanner pointing. Jack adjusted his viewfinder until he saw a small pocket in the dense forest. It was like a window to the outside world and through it, Jack saw the very thing that they had been searching for all this while. Torrents of water fell from the unseen sky and gathered into a pool below. The waterfall cascaded down the rocky outcrops and there was a spray of white where it met the lake.

“Is that?”

“Yeah, the waterfall,” said Tanner. “But that’s not what I’m talking about. Look closely, right underneath the fall.”

Jack adjusted the zoom and he saw a metallic shape of an Exo, hidden in the white mist at the bottom of the waterfall. This one was painted a dull grey and its hull was littered with battle damage. It had its top hatch swung open and the machine looked dead. The pilot must have fled.

Looking closely at the Exo Jack noticed the familiar acronym on its right shoulder, C.S.O.

“I saw the red one rip that other Exo to shreds. The damn thing never stood a chance.”

“S.O against S.O?” Jack whistled.

“Well one of them is fake.”

“Impersonating law enforcement and Reavers sniffing about. I knew there was something wrong with the test.” Jack turned his attention back to the red Exo. “So, which one is which? Who is the faker?”

The Exo which had been slowly moving through the forest suddenly lurched to a stop. Jack quickly adjusted the focus and spotted a few unconscious students on the forest floor right beside the metal giant’s feet. The sight reminded him of the gruesome scene that he had seen a few minutes earlier.

He felt Tanner’s hand on his shoulder. “Are they students?”

“Yeah.”

The tall boy’s eyes were sharp. Even without the binoculars, he could make out the distant forms of the people lying curled up on the forest floor.

“What the hell is it looking for?”

“Nobles,” Jack answered slowly. “You normies are practically worthless.”

“You normies?”

“I mean we are not worth much.”

The red Exo bodily lifted one of the students up from the ground and began scanning his face.

“Shit!”

Jack swallowed hard. At this point, there was no way to tell whether they were alive or not. He looked on with bated breath, his previous question still plaguing his mind. Who was real and who was fake?

The scanning stopped. The Exo casually tossed the kid behind him and the boy flew ten feet into the air and crashed into a tree behind him. Sliding down the tree, the boy finally came to a rest and laid unmoving on the forest floor.

Jack lowered the binoculars. “Well, that answers it.”

“Fudge.” Tanner cursed.

“What happened?” came a feeble voice from Soja.

Jack considered the problem. “By the looks of it, the Reavers had gotten hold of a few Exos and they’re running roughshod over the exam.”

A grim silence descended on the group. There was a sinking feeling in Jack’s stomach. Tanner looked despondent and had his head in his hands.

“What do we do?” asked Soja breathing heavily. He forced himself upright, pushing off the tree trunk that he had been clinging to.

Jack bit his lip. Military-grade weapons, that was what they were going against. Just how many missiles did that thing hold? No matter how much he racked his head he couldn't think of a way of beating an Exo in combat. Even in their best condition, they would barely last ten minutes.

“I’ll distract it.” Soja’s clear voice broke Jack out of his reverie. He looked at his short friend in surprise. Soja was actually volunteering? The fat boy was shaking as he got up but he had a determined look on his face.

Looking at the little dough ball, Jack came to a sudden realization. ‘The idiot,’ he sighed.

A suicide mission, that was what he was proposing. He was probably feeling guilty for holding them back. Which was stupid considering that he was in this state because he had run himself dry trying to save him. He shouldn’t be blaming himself.

“Sit back down.” Tanner snapped. “The Exo will tear you to shreds. It should be me since I’m the fastest.”

“How long can you delay it, then?” asked Jack.

Tanner remained silent.

“Yeah.” Jack sighed. “Even you would get caught, eventually. This is not an enemy that we can face at our current level.”

“We could try rushing uphill,” said Soja hopefully.

“No.” rejected Tanner. “It will have a clear view of us climbing the outcrop.”

“It’s basically a cliff,” Jack muttered, rubbing his temples.

“Yeah.” Tanner turned towards Jack. “We will be slower too since we have to carry Soja.”

“I’ll distract it and…” Soja began again.

“You shut up about that!” Tanner frowned. “I should be the one doing that.”

“The one doing that.” Jack raised a hand interrupting both of them. “Will probably die.”

The three boys looked at each other with grim faces. This exam was their ticket to a better life and they were pretty confident about making it through, but who knew that they would be thrown such a curveball at the very last moment.

Right now, none of them had the right answers. All paths seemed to be leading to a dead end.

“F*ck!” Jack stared past the trees up the hilltop. They were so close to their goal. The destination was right there in front of them, just a few hundred feet ahead.

“This is hopeless,” Tanner muttered.

“There has to be a way.” Jack shook his head.

“What way?” asked Tanner, checking his watch. “We have twenty minutes. Whatever we are doing, we better do it fast.”

Jack racked his head for ideas but he couldn’t come up with anything. The situation did seem hopeless.

“Would camping at the base of the fall be enough?” asked Soja. “We did come this far.”

Jack shook his head. “This is Eaton. Anything less than perfection is unacceptable. They said the summit and that's where we have to be.”

“This is a goddamn Exo,” said Tanner. “You are right, Jack. I can’t outrun an Exo missile... I don't know if I can beat this thing.”

Taking in a deep breath, Jack raised his hand reaching out towards the summit. His fingers were splayed out as though he was trying to grab onto something. “Somewhere up there is everything that we have been looking for.”

“Jack…”

Jack stared off into the distance. “Get accepted into Eaton. Force my way back into house Briton. Redeem my family name. Riches and glory await.”

“A dream.” Soja murmured.

The dazed look on Jack’s face faded. “It's not a dream if I make it real.”

Tanner stirred beside him. “I can't afford to die Jack. Dying costs money.”

“Tanner, this is our one chance to win it all. If we walk away from this we might be alive but four to five years down the line there always be that one nagging thought in our heads. What if we had gone for it back then? What if we had won? A chance of a lifetime that is what we are giving up, and we would end up regretting this day for the rest of our lives.”

Tanner looked uphill past the trees and the waterfall, his eyes dazed over as he saw the dream that Jack had envisioned.

“Everything we want is just up that hill.”

Tanner looked contemplative. “What about the Exo? A well timed missile is enough to end us and there is no getting past that fact. It's a pipe dream to think that it wouldn’t start firing the moment that it sees us.”

Jack's eyes shrank to pinpricks when he heard that. “Tanner hypothetically speaking... how long can you outrun an Exo with no missiles?”

Tanner frowned. “Ten minutes? Give or take.”

“Right.” A manic grin spread across Jack’s face. “As for me, I think I’ll last about five.”

“I know that look, what are you thinking Jack?”

“Told you he would think of something.” Soja laughed.

Jack’s silver eyes gleamed in the dark. “You ready guys?”

He held his arm out in front of him. Soja clasped his hand and smiled. “Ready.”

Tanner followed suit. “You got a plan?”

“Yes, We are going to target the Exo’s one weakness.”

“It has a weakness?”

“Oh yes! A big one.”

The two huddled closer as Jack whispered his plan. Their eyes got wider and wider as he went on. Soja nervously wiped the sweat off his forehead and glanced at Tanner who looked deep in thought.

“It's risky,” said Tanner.

“Risky doesn’t even begin to describe it.” Soja looked at his two friends. “Are the both of you gonna go through with that?”

“It's a gamble,” Jack nodded. “But it's the only way.”

“How confident are you on this working?” asked Tanner.

“Fifty.”

“Half, huh?” Tanner sighed, looking up. His expression hardened after a few moments. He met Jack’s eyes. “Let’s do it.”

Jack squeezed Tanner’s shoulder reassuringly. This was it, do or die. He looked at the red Exo in the distance and for the first time considered praying. They needed to march through the gates of hell before they could reach heaven. May the Warrior protect them all.