Antumbra - A Lost Cause

Baby Steps - Chapter Thirty Six

Arva had never seen so many people on the base before, the main hangar filled with technicians as she, Boomer and Kyodai ran morning laps. Every time they passed she caught a peek at what they were doing, and three of the four Argonauts had crews all over them, Antumbra included. The halberd from its back had been removed, and sections of its armour were opened, exposing its mechanical innards. Perhaps due to the humanoid shape of the Argonauts she couldn't help but liken it to surgery, and Arva wondered what they were doing, poking around inside of it. She felt an odd protective urge at the sight of strangers invading her suit like that.

"Looks like we'll be practicing formations," Boomer observed, shouting over his shoulder so Arva could hear, "we'll finally get to see for ourselves what you're made of."

"Formations?" Arva asked as she panted, unsure of what that meant. She tried to imagine what 'formations' Argonauts would be capable of, "like... making a pyramid?"

"Flying formations," Kyodai said, "we're going to see how well you and your rig handle in the air."

"Flying?" Arva said with surprise. She didn't know Antumbra could fly, or any Argonaut until she remembered seeing one fly by the window of the hospital. It had used some sort of craft that was roughly saucer-shaped, and sure enough she saw identical vehicles being moved from the second hangar and onto the tarmac. Suddenly Arva was interested, and couldn't help but smile at the idea.

"Don't get too excited," Boomer mentioned, "it's just a few laps around the rim, nothing dramatic." Arva couldn't help herself. She'd been wanting to pilot Antumbra again, deep down, despite all doing that entailed. Especially in the company of experienced pilots without the threat of combat, she felt she had less to fear. Arva had even asked the Lieutenant a few days prior if they'd be training in Argonauts any time soon, to which she flatly replied no and made Arva do pushups for talking out of turn. Apparently things must have changed.

"Break's over, children," Constance shouted as the three concluded their sixth lap, and Arva finally broke pace, slouching in exhaustion as she wiped the sweat from her forehead. She still wasn't in shape enough to complete the full set of laps, but each day that passed she inched closer. The three stopped to rehydrate before making their way to the Lieutenant, then stood themselves in a neat line, arms behind their backs.

"Are we really going to fly?" Arva whispered to Boomer, "is it hard?"

"Depends on if you're going up or down," Boomer replied as the Lieutenant approached.

"Today's the day, boys and girl," Constance ignored his comment, "as I'm sure you've guessed, we're running flight drills today. You and your machines are about to enjoy some quality time together. Proceed to hangar one and get geared up."

"Sir!" The three said in unison as they snapped a salute. They made their way to the hangar, Arva making sure not to outpace the others. Not difficult given her exhaustion, but she didn't know what kind of procedure to follow, and decided she could easily just do what the others did. As they approached the open doors Arva got a better look at Antumbra. It was still knelt down, its eyes darkened as always, and the technicians were just closing up the access panels on the arms and legs as gantries that had extended from the walls retracted. She hadn't noticed the hangar was designed to hold Argonauts like it was, and watching the machines move was fascinating. Amusingly they were affixed into the hangar the same way she had been hooked into Antumbra itself, with the back and limbs being gripped by mechanical arms. The technicians all started to depart, leaving the three alone with their machines. No one spoke to them or gave Arva in particular a second glance, which didn't surprise her. Boomer and Kyodai approached a rack with body suits on it, and took one each. The last one was sized for Arva, so she naturally assumed it was hers. She took off her boots and stepped into the one-piece outfit. It fit reasonably well, but she couldn't reach the zipper on the back, struggling fruitlessly until she noticed Kyodai and Boomer helping each other.