The Earth Federation was established at the turn of the century. When the old governments of earth couldn’t handle the prospect of peace, it was only to be expected that the old would pave the path for the new. Arthur surveyed the fighting crew of the ship. They were mostly rookies, children with barely any actual combat experience. It was like talking to walking coffins.

The one he had been the most interested in is Shay Kisaragi, the newest addition to the ship. His skill in piloting the Federation’s latest Armored Suit had convinced the Federation officials at the Las Vegas Base to conscript him into the Aegis’ ranks. May Sachs had vouched for his natural piloting ability, but it was still strange. The X-Gain may be cutting edge, but it would take some time to properly operate it.

He didn’t have much time to dwell on that thought. The Aegis had been advancing onto a Bardone Mining Base and their newest set of orders were to liberate it from the enemy’s control. The base had been seen shipping out vast quantities of ore, and they were no doubt being used to help fuel the war effort against the Federation.

Reaching over to the built-in phone on the chair’s armrest, he contacted the hanger. “Get the fighters all readied on the double. I want the X-Gain on standby until further notice.” The Bridge crew snuck several glances at Arthur, who looked as if he hasn’t had enough sleep in the last few days.

“Do you think our fighter will be enough?” Melissa asked, her hands on the wheel. Arthur didn’t know what to say in response, so he followed his gut instinct.

“We have the latest Next-Generation Fighters.” His answer must have satisfied her, because she simply nodded.

The Aegis’ arms had a built-in launch catapult that would allow for rapid deployments in the earth’s atmosphere. It used a magnetic locking system to propel objects forward at incredible speeds, allowing them to launch without worry of being instantly shot down the moment they left the arms.

Kent smiled as his fighter is the first to enter the catapult system. He could see the standby lights on his dashboard and wished he had Lily to see him take off. She deserved someone better than that drop-out Shay, and he was going to prove it on the battlefield. Jimmy’s fighter loaded in from behind him, and Sgt. Rodriguez and Stein’s fighters were in the other arm.

“This is Kent Arthurs, launching!” Pressing on the pedals, the fighter’s engines ignited, and the launchpads on the fighter’s feet zipped forward with a flash of electricity. His body slammed against the back of his seat as the g force rose sharply. Within seconds he was out of the arm and in the skies.

The Bardone Mining Base detected the Aegis and its fighters the moment they entered the perimeter. A wail rose from the siren and the base’s airstrip became a chaotic mess of deployments. They launched with Slackjaws, fighters that were shaped like an arrow and had wings that protruded out from the sides like a sore thumb. They were the main fighters used by Bardone on earth and resembled many of the old earth jet fighter designs from before the Federation had formed.

“Bogies are incoming!” Melissa yelled. The multi-monitors on the Bridge had picked them up.

“Get our AA Guns up and running! Disperse the Takan Particles! Don’t let them near the ship!” Arthur scanned the horizon, switching from one monitor to the next to keep track of the ongoing situation. He was waiting to see if the base had any Armored Suits. If they did, he would have to send out the X-Gain. “Wait what is that!?” On one of the monitors, Arthur saw something move. It was a faint line, but when he focused, the line started to zip, then zag across the sky. “Magnify the image on Monitor 3!” The screen zooming in by 4 times, and what Arthur saw made his stomach drop. “Goddamn it! Send out the X-Gain! Now! Send it out!”

With a loud roar, the X-Gain streaked out of the Aegis’ arm, equipped with a shield and the Beam Rifle. Shay wrestled with the controls as the added weight threw off the X-Gain’s balancer.

“I’ve found you!” Char’s red Armored Suit made a bee line towards the X-Gain. She had no need for a shield and much less for subtlety. She had been humiliated by the white AS’ interference and she was going to make sure it never happened again. She was The Red Lighting and she was going to prove she owned up to that name. Alongside her, she had a fresh new squad of Vyran II’s. Ready to engage in combat.

A pricking sensation in Shay’s mind caused him to raise the Beam Rifle. Taking out the Targeting Monitor, he followed that sensation closely. He could see six Armored Suits and he knew what he had to do.

“Remember, the white AS has a powerful long-range weapon! Don’t just fly in a straight line!” Anton shouted over the radio. His advice came on deaf ears. A Beam Rifle shot pierced through one the of Armored Suits, melting through the reactor. Anton’s eyes grew wide as he screamed to spread out.

What Shay had done was shot the nuclear reactor inside the Vyran II. In normal circumstances, the reactor would never explode unless it was overloaded or damaged to the point that it would set off a chain reaction of system failures that the safeguards wouldn’t be able to control.

The radiation meter in the Aegis bridge suddenly went off, warning of a minor radiation surge in the area. “Where is that coming from!?” Arthur screamed.

“Its slightly to the northeast! Its one of the Armored Suits!”

The nuclear reactor’s explosion isn’t on the scale of an ordinary nuclear bomb. Takan particles had eliminated the creation of harmful radiation, instead producing something vaguely like it, allowing for radiation meters to pick it up. The blast radius is several meters around causing an influx of strong winds. During the confusion, Shay had picked off most of the enemy, leaving Anton to fall back as support.

“I’ve got you!” Char got in close, opening fire with her machine gun. Instead of a clean hit from Shay being distracted, the white AS suddenly dodged, its side Vernier’s allowing it to strafe to the side. “What!?” Then the X-Gain opened fire. Shay screamed in terror as he realized he had to engage an enemy Armored Suit in close quarters. The memory of when he first piloted the X-gain resurfaced.

Char dodged the shot, leaning to the right. Pushing the control sticks forward, she raised her arms and started firing again. The machine gun’s bullets impacted the X-Gain’s armor. The heavy feedback of force shook the cockpit, causing Shay to wail in terror as he twisted the control sticks all the way back. “No damage!? What a monster!” Throwing away the machine gun, Char produced a heat sword. “Let’s see how you like this!” Using the thrusters as support, Char leapt into the air, and brought the heat sword down in a vertical manner.

Shay’s brain couldn’t keep up. It was all he could from closing his eyes and hoping the end wouldn’t come. He blocked with the shield, a loud hissing sound as the heat sword’s blade attempted to melt through. “HYAAA!” Bringing the Beam Rifle forward, Shay pressed the trigger, hoping that he’d get a clean point blank shot off. “Nothing!?” The energy meter in the cockpit blinked gray, and he realized that he only had eight shots. He missed some when he took down the other Vyran II’s.

“That is your first and last mistake!” With her free hand, Char punched the X-Gain’s head as hard as the motors in the arm could. If she could just take out the main camera she’d be able to drive the heat sword through the belly of the suit, taking out the cockpit. The main monitor filled with static momentarily as the force of the punch spread through.

With a hiss, the left Beam Saber on the X-Gain’s backpack unlocked. Dropping the rifle, Shay grabbed it and swung downwards. The hot plasma cut clean through the outstretched arm of Char’s machine, causing her to yell in frustration. Before Shay could follow up, a high-powered rifle shot struck the upper chest area of the X-Gain. A prickling sensation caused him to boost backwards, raising the shield and firing off the Vulcans. One of the shots managed to hit Char’s main camera, causing her to switch to the backup cameras.

“Damn! This Federation machine is just too much! Anton, cover my retreat!” Char didn’t know the true capability of the white AS, but now she knew that it was dangerous. If just one machine could give her, an Ace this much trouble, imagine if it was mass-produced?

Shay retreated, unable to fight against the long-range sniping. His hands shook as he realized that he had survived to fight another day. The four fighter squad returned back to the Aegis, with Kent making celebratory noises over the communication lines. Their bombing run had leveled much of the base, and the enemy Slackjaws were unable to handle the fighters.

Arthur heaved a sigh of relief. They had survived a battle. It wasn’t just any battle. They had survived against the Red Lightning. Monitor 3 showed the X-Gain, standing, as if triumphantly as the sun struck its shiny metal frame. Was there something special about the kid after all? Or was it the machine itself? He didn’t know the answer, but he knew the ship was in good hands.

On June 14, 0018, two days after the Nevada Bardone Mining Base was taken, the Earth Federation would acknowledge the existence of a top-secret Military squad they called The AEGIS that was responsible.

Char stood in her room at the Clarant, brushing her long blonde hair with a towel wrapped around her body as she watched the Federation Prime Minister give a speech. Behind him, General Hawthorne and General Maximus Algo stood at attention as the speech went on to explain the new-found hope that the Federation had.

“X-Gain. Next time, you won’t have it so easy. I’ll show you what happens when you defy Bardone and get in the way of my mission.”