Base Kairo
Kaya stood in front of a massive screen, equipped in advanced mechanical armor next to a male scientist. The room was full of people sitting behind tables with screens in front of them.
The screen showed a man moving at superhuman speed, tearing through hordes of monsters while dual-wielding red katanas in a barren wasteland.
He appeared to be wearing armor similar to Kaya's, though it was barely visible due to his sheer speed. A countdown on the screen finally hit zero, and the man stopped moving. The screen changed to a document about him.
[Elite Lieutenant Klyde Kagashi
Male
Age: 21
Ranked: #1
Assigned Suit: Progen Model-Assassin
Suit Synergy: 100%
Kill Count: 187]
"At this rate, Klyde might be taken to the main base," said the scientist. "He's by far the strongest and most skilled with the prototype combat suits. Once we can set the overdrive module as the main module, all three of you can say goodbye to your mechs."
"That's the Battle Demon for you," said a woman typing on her keyboard.
"Y'all glaze Klyde too much."
"Glaze?" Both of them looked at Kaya.
"Never mind."
"It's always a new word with you. Where do you even find these?" The woman went back to typing.
With a loud creaking sound, the massive iron doors at the back slowly opened. Metallic bootsteps echoed along the hallway as Klyde made his way toward them. His presence alone made the room immediately go quiet.
The armor Klyde wore was primarily black with red accents. It was heavily reinforced around the chest, shoulders, forearms, and shins. Sleek red katanas rested in sheaths attached to both his thighs, and a long, bulky railgun was mounted beneath his left forearm.
"Well, look who finally finished. You did better than expected, buddy."
Klyde stopped next to him, and Kaya immediately placed his hand on his shoulder.
"Thanks," Klyde said, his voice low and emotionless.
"Uhm, Klyde, sir? Your performance with the suit has been documented and will be transferred to you shortly. W-we'll need a full report tomorrow on the suit's performance for the week to send back to the lab."
"I'll begin work on my report as soon as I reach my quarters," Klyde responded, his tone more formal.
"Oh, I just got a message from the colonel… he's requesting you and Kaya meet him at the upper office."
"Understood. We'll be there immediately."
"What does he want exactly?" Kaya sighed.
Kaya let go of Klyde as they both left the room.
"Ay, Klyde, what do you think Katsuya wants this time?" Kaya asked.
"Most likely a mission," Klyde answered.
"Of course… Well, these prototype suits are good and all, but I want to go back to piloting mechs. These things can't take down a mech on their own."
"By 'these,' you're referring to your own suit, correct?"
"Okay, not even Hikari could pull off whatever the hell you were doing in there, you bum. I swear, you're never gonna lose that title, Sir 'Battle Demon.'"
The two entered a large cafeteria hall full of troops loudly gossiping and doing whatever they could to entertain themselves.
The second they spotted Klyde, they immediately stood up properly and went quiet as if he were a commander.
"See what I mean?" Kaya crossed his arms, continuing to walk. "And I will remind you the training footage is gonna be shared across all of Freebird."
They walked through the cafeteria and entered a hallway that led to an elevator. The elevator reached the highest floor, and they both stepped out.
The door ahead opened as they approached. Inside, the colonel sat behind a table reading through files.
The colonel was a blue-haired man wearing a navy-blue jacket with two medals pinned beneath his overcoat, which had red accents. He wore a peaked cap matching the same color scheme.
"Greetings, Colonel," Klyde said, saluting.
"Sup, Chief," Kaya replied in a careless tone.
"As expected from my least competent soldier."
"Yeah, I'm still not calling you Colonel, buddy."
"Well, I called you here for a mission."
"Of course you did," Kaya huffed as he removed his helmet, revealing his dark skin and short black dreadlocks. "What is it exactly?"
"Central HQ has sent orders… We're going to the B-5 research center."
"B-5? Which base is that?" Kaya asked.
"It's our neighboring base. The one that was recently attacked," Klyde answered. "And I assume we're being sent there because it's understaffed and we're the closest."
"Close, but not quite. Not like one of my other soldiers would get that close," the colonel said, glaring at Kaya with a smirk.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Kaya crossed his arms.
"We all know you're as dense as a brick, Kaya," one of the female scientists said as she approached the table.
"Lizzie," as indicated by the name badge on her lab coat, had short blonde hair and wore glasses. She held a tablet against her stomach.
"Meanie…" Kaya pouted.
"Aww. Little baby can't handle a bit of teasing?" Lizzie giggled.
The colonel cleared his throat. "Could you two not do this here? Anyway, since you two work the best with the prototype suits, you'll be the first to use the new complete basic models. Both you and your squads will receive them. These won't be specialized models like the ones you're using. Those will have to wait."
"I almost forgot we're their lab rats. They should just send those pesky top dogs," Kaya said.
"Well, most of those bases have already been sent to Russia and North Korea, so that cannot happen."
"We'll also be deployed to Russia soon, so it's important we get the finished models so we can operate our mechs at the same time," Klyde added.
Suddenly, the lights in the room began flashing red. All movement ceased.
«Warning. Warning. Unknown object approaching base at high velocity.»
"H-huh?" Lizzie held out her tablet, rapidly tapping on the screen. Her eyes widened as she stopped.
"A mech is approaching the base at Mach 5."
Katsuya pressed a button on his table.
"Everyone evacuate the command level! All combat units to the secondary deployment center! This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a dri—"
A loud thud cut him off as the roof above them shook violently.
"The mech has landed. I suspect more will follow after this one," Klyde said, remaining calm despite the situation.
"Klyde, let's go already!" Kaya shouted as he ran toward the exit.
Above them, the mech, a sleek humanoid model towering at 8.5 meters tall, white with pink accents, stood in the barren wasteland.
The mech got on its knees and slammed its hand onto the ground. Metal rods detached from its forearm, digging into the soil. Electricity surged out of its hand, followed by a rising hum. The ground under the hand erupted, exposing a metal seal.
Klyde stopped in his tracks after hearing the explosion and looked back at Lizzie and Katsuya, who were catching up.
"Klyde! C'mon!" Kaya yelled at him.
"Go. I'll carry the others."
Klyde leaped toward the two.
Then suddenly, a white metallic fist burst through the ceiling, crushing the colonel and Lizzie beneath it. The machine tore through the structure as it retracted its arm, leaving a spreading pool of blood on the floor.
Kaya froze at the sound. Slowly, he turned to see Klyde wide-eyed, staring down at the blood as it seeped toward his foot.
Klyde stood motionless, his breath caught in his throat.
"K-Klyde… calm down, okay…" Kaya raised a hand but pulled it back when he noticed it trembling.
"Combat Mode Synchronize… Set model to… Overdrive."
Red lights beneath the plating of Klyde's suit ignited as gas vented from its joints. Then, in an instant, he dashed toward the opening and launched himself upward at lightning speed.
"Klyde!" Kaya yelled as he watched him rocket off. "Shit…" Kaya lifted his helmet over his head, stopping to look at where the two were crushed. "I need to get to my mech, otherwise the base is cooked."
He put on his helmet and ran down the hallway.
***
Klyde landed on the wasteland, looking around. He saw the mech walking toward a different part of the base, its head locked toward the ground.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" he roared as he landed.
He aimed his rail cannon at the mech's head and started charging it. The mech stopped in its tracks and turned to face him.
Klyde fired.
A beam of blue energy roared out of the cannon. The mech moved to dodge the blast, but it tore through one of its shoulders, breaking off its arm.
The mech then fired a barrage of missiles.
Klyde unsheathed his katana and zoomed toward the mech, easily dodging all of the missiles.
He leaped into the air. The thrusters on his backpack ignited, thrusting him upward over the mech. He then flew downward, sword raised high.
The mech raised its arm over its head, and Klyde landed on the forearm, swinging his blade and digging deep into the circuitry.
Using his sword's handle, he then swung himself toward its chest, but a force field blocked him and threw him back to the floor.
The mech launched another barrage of missiles.
Klyde, still collapsed on the ground, saw the missiles coming. He immediately leaped out of the missiles range and they all erupted on the group. Apon landing he started circling it, charging his rail cannon.
'Damn thing has a force field protecting the cotpit. If you're gonna stay under that shield then I'll tear apart the rest of you!'
Klyde thrusted himself forwards, landing on mech's knee plate then fired the cannon before leaping off. With a loud thud the mech collapsed on to the floor, kicking up a dust cloud.
"The suit's running low on power now. Deactivate Module Overdrive."
Klyde approached the mech as tears started to down his face. He leaped onto the mech and walked up to it's back. A back container then shot out from the back, rocketing into the air.
"Don't think you can escape. Combat Mode Synchroni—" he cut himself off as heard a strange hum coming from the mech.
"Shit! Activate Module D-5! I repeat, activat module D-5." Klyde yelled at the suit but it only responded with "insufficient power."
He then ran and leaped off the mech but it set off a large explosion, encompassing most of the battlefield and catching Klyde in it.
***
Klyde slowly opened his eyes.
He found himself floating in a white void. His armor was gone. His red hair, crimson eyes, and the scars across his muscular body were fully exposed.
A white humanoid figure appeared before him.
"You must be the unfortunate human. Klyde, was it?"
"Where am I…? W-what happened?"
"You, along with everyone else, died."
Klyde's eyes widened. He clutched his head as memories flooded back. The battle. Katsuya and Lizzie's deaths. His failure. Then he thought back to Kaya, the person he had spent the most time with.
"I… died… I failed them!" A tear ran down his cheek. "They… they meant everything to me. The only people who accepted me. And I FAILED THEM!"
Klyde clutched his head as more tears ran down his face.
"All I could do was watch them die! I couldn't even avenge them! I was too weak! I don't deserve to live…"
The figure sighed.
"I hate your type. So pathetically dependent on your friends. That's just a liability. Well, I didn't bring you here without purpose. I suppose I can let you keep your friends."
"Keep… them?" Klyde looked up at him.
"I'm going to send you to a different world called Aridia. And there you have one mission. Conquer the island of Erina. Succeed, and I'll revive your friends in that world for you. Fail by any means… let's just say you'll wish you were dead. Oh, and you will be stripped of any ability gained through biological modification."
Klyde thought to himself for a moment.
"I have nothing else in my world. So if it'll bring them back… however long it takes—"
"I'll do it."