Thump.

Thump.

My arm beeped a warning. It wasn’t made for fighting. I swung again and felt the artificial pain receptors light up. I felt sweat drip down my forehead, and my right arm shut down.

Overheating.

“I don’t know if that’s the best way to break in a new arm, but it’ll certainly break something,” Faust cut in. I turned around to see them leaning against the wall of the training room. “Don’t know if you want to match Pyralis, by breaking an arm, but I’m fairly sure that’s not the best way to get ready for a fight.”

Shut up.

I let out a low growl, staring Faust in the eyes. “What would you suggest to get ready then, newbie?” I felt my teeth press against each other, as I thought about knocking them to the floor.

They stared back at me, giving a light shrug. “Not sure, just thought I’d finally return one of your requests, if you’re not too busy.” Faust tossed a packet through the air at me. I grumbled, tearing it open.

A copy of every single request I- no, not a copy. They had saved every single sparring request I had sent them, every little note I left under their bed, or hid in their in-progress mech. The paper felt old between my fingers, and flipping through, I saw the little torn napkins I had hidden in their pockets.

“Why the change of heart? Suddenly think you can beat me?” I put the papers down on the bench next to me. “Testing me?”

“There isn’t a chance in the world that I’d win a sparring match with you. I never accepted because I knew you’d beat me, and there was nothing to learn. We each grab our favorite trainee and fight in pairs. If you’ve still got steam to blow off after that, grab another trainee and we go again,” they replied in their monotone voice. “You’re being targeted for a reason, Commander. You’re the best pilot in the base, by a long shot. Presumably, they’ll be coming down full force, and every person we send out there is another resource you’ll need.”

Where was this sudden speech coming from? I had never really spoken to Faust, they always tended to give me the silent treatment. My arm beeped again, as I felt my right arm power back on. “You get in your prototype machine. It won’t be a fair fight otherwise. I’ll keep damage minimal, as long as you tap out the second I tell you to.”

Faust nodded in response. “Testing field 2 in an hour. See you there.”

===

I slid into a clean bodysuit. Fresh. I selected a trainee who I had kept an eye on the second her name popped up on the piloting training forms. Citrus. She had come in as a medic, and reminded me of a younger version of myself. Citrus shared my ideals for pacifism, fighting the war in order to save as many people as possible.

Citrus seemed hesitant at first to fight directly, but was eventually convinced after speaking with me. She had analyzed every fight that I had on record, as well as studied under me once her basic training had ended.

We headed to their mechs, getting comfortable inside of the cockpits. I breathed in the stiff air in the training machine, bringing back memories of my first weeks in the base. “Team Callisto ready.”

Deploying in 3. 2. 1.

Begin.

Large steel doors opened on both sides of the battlefield, I ran out as the match began. “Citrus, engage the other training mech, I’ll be drawing Faust away.”

Just like a mission. First, know your terrain. The training fields were difficult battlefields, with little cover, and rough terrain. The ground was too tough to kick up a cloud to cover movement, but too soft to get a decent foothold in.

Second, know your opponent. Last I had seen Faust’s mech, it was roughly half the size of the training mech I was in now. It was fast, and was a beautiful combination of parts from old civilian loaders. The cockpit was well armored, and sat in the heart of the machine. Six limbs, each pair having a different set of weapons, which Faust changed out regularly.

Third, prepare accordingly. Every training mech was the same, although the weaponry they could carry was up to the pilot. I had selected a simple arc-blade, durable and light. With Faust having such a small mech, I couldn’t afford to use a precise weapon, the arc-blade being good for wide swings and quick attacks.

I continued running towards the center of the field, spotting Faust scuttling behind their trainee. What was he doing? Their machine was a close-range fighter, and faster than the training machines.

“Citrus, hold back. Faust has something up their sleeve, they’re moving too slow. I’ll engage the trainer, try to gauge what he’s doing, and don’t get too close.” I shifted her attention towards the opposing training mech, which was running ahead of Faust. The practice machines were very slightly modified versions of the popular Imperial Model 1-RF. Slow, bulky, and typically used as cannon fodder. The limbs were poorly attached, and usually snapped off with regular use.

I wasn’t sure who Faust had selected as their partner, although they moved their mech with a surprising amount of grace. It was equipped with a set of scrap blasters, equipped to fire pretty much any metal pieces fed into it. I watched as the mech raised an arm to fire at me. Could they tell it was me in this one? Had Faust told them?

A spray of hot metal flew at me, which I tried my best to block with my blade. Some pieces struck the non-dominant arm of my mech, which blew off at the small impact. Not the greatest start. I didn’t give them time to reload as I charged forward, swinging my arc-blade toward the mech’s leg.

Seemingly catching them off guard, I sliced clean through the joint, as my opponent collapsed to the floor. The machine went still as it hit the earth. Not a great pilot, but they ended up doing some damage to me, which would give Faust an advantage. I turned to see Faust and Citrus trading blows.

Citrus spoke over our comms, panicked, “Th-They’re faster than when I last sparred with them! They get around slower, but attacks feel like they’re ra-” She was cut off by a blade on Faust’s front leg slashing through the head of her machine. Lasted longer than expected against a proper machine, I thought.

“Six limbs to three doesn’t feel very fair, now does it, Faust?” I chuckled into my comms. They had a good chance of taking me down here.

Should have double-checked if your opponent was down, before looking, Commander.

I looked at my display, seeing a hand grasping my mech’s left leg. They were playing dead. Damn, maybe a better pilot than I first thought. Faust launched at me as I was distracted, landing behind me as I fought to move. Well played.

But not enough.

With my mech’s remaining right arm, I slashed off my trapped leg, pivoting around on the other. I followed up with a quick slash at Faust, breaking off the plasma cutters that were about to attack my rear. My last leg collapsed under the weight of my machine, as I fell backward.

My blade flew out of my hand as I launched it toward the downed training machine next to me, slamming into its head. Quickly, I rolled over and grabbed one of its scrap blasters, seeing Faust recovering from my attack. I pointed the scrap blaster at the little mech.

“Tap out, Faust.”

As you say, Commander. Good match.

Close match. If Faust had brought any ranged weaponry, I likely would have lost this fight. I saw their remaining limbs were armed with drills and thrusters, explaining the leap towards me earlier. The drills would have let them anchor onto my back, leaving the front limbs free to cut my head off.

“Good match, Faust. I think I’m thoroughly exhausted.” I wasn’t lying, I felt my whole body breathe a sigh of relief as the match concluded.

===

The four of us sat in a lounge. The trainee Faust selected had been Quill, which had surprised me. I hadn’t thought of her as a very good pilot, but she played that situation perfectly.

“Thoughts on Citrus?” I asked Faust. I hadn’t managed to catch their entire scuffle, not quite sure if she was fit to go into the field.

They thought for a moment, before responding to Citrus, “You’re a decent fighter, although I’m not confident in your ability to follow through. I understand you are a pacifist like our Commander, but you pull your punches too much. Callisto is confident in her ability to neutralize enemies non-lethally, while you seem afraid to hurt your enemy. If you had fought with a little more effort, you likely could have disabled at least a few of my limbs,” they said matter-of-factly.

Citrus nodded in response. “Apologies, I was not prepared to deal any serious damage to you, especially as you were not truly an enemy. I understand that… mistakes occur during combat. I am willing to accept this, and will be fighting to my fullest in the field.”

She was afraid to hurt Faust, which made sense. There wasn’t any time to test her resolve any further, so the promise would have to do. “Alright, Citrus. Head over to mechanic Krill and tell him I sent you. Work with him on getting something put together for you quickly, use anything you want in Salvage.”

The girl quickly stood, bowing before running off. She seemed excited to start, which filled me with a bit of pride.

“And your opinion on Quill, Commander?” Faust quickly moved on once Citrus had left. They seemed to agree with my decision to let her pilot.

I wasn’t quite sure whether Quill would be an asset in the upcoming fight. The trick that they had used wouldn’t have worked well on any other enemy than me. Imperials would typically err on the side of caution, blasting a downed enemy rather than letting themselves be trapped. If anything, a downed mech on the field would be a detriment to any fight. I hadn’t gotten much opportunity to judge their combat ability either.

“I’ll have to leave that to you. Faust. I didn’t get a good gauge of their combat prowess, and the trick I presume was your plan.” I really couldn’t decide, although I trusted Faust’s judgment enough to leave the matter to them.

Faust nodded in response, “In that case, I’ll speak with Quill in private. I hope the rest of your day goes well, Commander.” They got up, nodding towards Quill, who quickly followed.

I made a mental note to recommend Faust be considered for a promotion, given their propensity for strategy. I decided to make my way towards the medical bay to check up on Pyralis before retiring back to my room.