Chapter 5

Peace and Energy

“Good luck,” Frankie said. “Try not to be so slow, okay?”

None of the simulation mechs were giving out signals, so SIGINT was useless. IMINT bracketed them all. With a quick sweep, IMINT informed me there were currently forty enemies. Since IMINT had 2/5 spec points, scanning was automatic. The problem was that I had to mentally sift through all the information, and sometimes it went by too fast. I had to refocus and recall IMINT brackets to get the information I missed. It took me a few precious seconds to determine which of the simulated mechs were closer to the FreeWheel. They were flying in fast, and several had just advanced to a distance of four hundred and fifty meters from the ship. I had IMINT lock on those targets in order, before engaging my mech jets and flying forward.

I could instantly tell I was at least five times faster than the enemies. When I reached the first one, I simply burst right through the image and it fizzled out of existence. On request, IMINT brackets locked onto the nearest of the fastest traveling red mechs. I flew after that one and blasted through the simulation.

Then SIGINT activated. Since it was at 5/5, existing in the Third Intelligence, I was able to pay attention to the signals Orion and I were receiving, while continuing with my training.

“FreeWheel team,” Uzik said. “Everyone listening?”

We all sounded off, I blasted through another simulated red mech, and Uzik continued.

“Captain Silas will join us momentarily. I want all of you listening in on our conversation. I’m locking the signal, so you won’t be able to communicate with me or Captain Silas.”

The speed with which I flew through space was remarkable. I used mana to cushion myself against the sudden lurch whenever I launched forward. After the twelfth enemy mech, I was starting to get a better grip on fuel use, speed, and stabilizing my flight and movements. I’d missed my enemies twice already, and having to catch up gave the simulated mechs a fifty meter advancement.

“This is Captain Silas,” the Captain said. “All present?”

“Yes, Captain,” Uzik said.

“This mission is a peace process. I will manage talks and negotiations with state actors Miconia and Solodon. Make no mistake, Cymechs. This is an armed conflict. Both Solodon and Miconia are armed and we are preemptively drafting a cease fire agreement. Once we get that CFA signed, we’ll have a limited time to accomplish our mission.”

I burst through another red mech and the simulation fizzled around me. My experience points were rapidly increasing, and I was nearing level 11. I turned my shoulder down, reversed my jets, then turned one hundred and eighty degrees to rush to my next target.

“Solodon and Miconia have thus far balanced their split share of harvesting Chlocelium from CHX44,” Captain Silas continued. “Each state has different objectives and strategies in this conflict. What they have in common, however, is their concern over future energy securities. The unresponsive Solodon ship invading Miconia’s orbital sovereignty is a minor incident which has a chance to spread into both border and energy conflict like wildfire.”

I did it. As soon as I burst upon the twenty-second red mech, I leveled up and acquired a spec point. There was still one spec point I hadn’t used yet, so now I had two to allocate.

[Congratulations brother,] Orion said. [Any idea where you’ll allocate your spec points?]

[Not sure yet. I’m going to continue focusing on my training. Then I’ll see if you’ve got any advice.]

“The first stage of this mission is the peace process,” continued Captain Silas. “The second phase of this mission is to guide each state through the energy security transition process. There are no red-lines yet. I have no doubt there will be red-lines. I’m meeting with both states at a later time to continue talks. In the meantime, we need to provide security to both states. The CFA will help with that. I mentioned a moment ago that each state had different objectives. After solving the unresponsive Solodon ship, here is another objective, directed by Miconia. Both states have a fifty percent stake on the harvesting of Chlocelium from CHX44. Miconia wants to change that to a sixty percent over forty percent share, in their favor.”

“Sounds like a punitive objective,” Uzik said.

“Yes. Challenging their share on CHX44 will emphasize energy security conflict. This information has not yet been shared with Solodon. I’m hoping our diplomats can cool some hot heads and talk down Miconia from changing the existing CHX44 energy security agreement.”

“Dani and I are approaching the Solodon ship,” Uzik said. “We’ll take a look around and report back on our return.”

“Good luck FreeWheel team,” Captain Silas said. The signal ended.

I burst through the thirty-second red mech and Frankie called the simulation to a halt.

“Alright Cyborg,” she said. “Return to me.”

I followed IMINT’s brackets that prompted me to swing around and duck below the FreeWheel. Frankie looked pissed. Her and her mech floated with arms crossed. She glared at me as I approached.

“Five enemy mechs reached the FreeWheel,” she said. “You’ve failed. Do you know why?”

“Damn. I didn’t even see them.”

“You made a common mistake Mr. Cyborg. Instead of considering the speed of enemy mechs, you focused on their distance. By the fifteenth enemy you tagged, a quarter of them had doubled their speed. You need to consider a number of things when engaging in battle.”

“I understand.”

“Do you? C’mon. Once more from the top.”

“Wait,” I said. “Just a second.”

[Pipper,] I thought.

[Yes Cymech?] Pipper said.

[I’d like to allocate a spec point to IMINT, please.]

[Spec point allocated to Image Intelligence. IMINT is now at 3/5. IMINT has reached the merge stage. Orion now manages IMINT data for you. I advise waiting until you are in a safe and secure place to allocate another spec point to IMINT. IMINT 4/5 is the Compartmentalize Initiation phase and can cause debilitating discomfort and possible pain to the user.]

[Brother,] Orion said. [I’m familiarizing myself with IMINT. What a fantastic intelligence!]

[Sounds good Pipper,] I said. [I’ll take your guidance. Orion, IMINT saved us in our last mission. Remember?]

“Everything alright there, Cyborg?” Frankie said. “You’re staring at me.”

While talking with Pipper and Orion, I hadn’t realized I’d been staring at her. I saw her freckles clearly, we were so close. She regarded me candidly. A blush crept onto her cheeks.

“Hey buddy,” she said, “second simulation begins now!”

She rushed at me and took me by surprise. She raised her mech's hands up and pushed me backwards, knocking my hover off balance. I felt the impact ring throughout my mech. IMINT brackets came up purple with the words 800 DAMAGE / ABSORBED, in red letters. Orion’s armor rating appeared at 7,400/8,000 and the numbers quickly flew back up to 8,000.

I flipped over a few times before I managed to stabilize my mech. When I got my bearings, IMINT informed me there were fifty simulated red mechs approaching the FreeWheel.

[Alright Brother!] Orion said. [I’ll take control of IMINT. You just follow the targets I give you.]

[Sounds good,] I said and rushed off to tag the first enemy mechs.

Within the hour, Frankie had me go through several more simulations. Each one varied from the previous. They started to appear in different orbital spaces and that’s where I had the most trouble. I would chase one, then become disoriented as I searched for the next target.

“Alright,” Frankie said. “Let’s take a break for a bit. Let’s get something in our bellies, then we’ll do some deprivation offset-5.1 training.”

“Offset-5.1 training?” I said.

“It’s basic training for soldiers and Cymechs. It teaches you how to orient your position in space. Kind of genius actually. You’ll be suspended in gravity with your eyes closed, then you’ll use a key reference and 5.1 surround sound to orient yourself in relation to your key reference. It uses 5.1 sound configuration, with two other 5.1 configurations. The second one is rotated at a ninety degree angle on a horizontal axis. The third one is rotated ninety degrees on a vertical axis, then ninety degrees once more on a horizontal axis.”

“I’m having a hard time picturing it.”

“Doesn’t matter. You’ll figure it out. I’ll do it with you. Never hurts to do repetitive training after all.”

“Are you sure you want to do it with me? It might be like ‘pulling teeth’—your words, not mine.”

Frankie scoffed before flying off back to the FreeWheel.