The Unseen War

Chapter 10

Earth Year 3010, September 20th

Thirty-One Months after the Attack

It had been nearly a month since Mitsu and I had arrived in Qronia. We had enjoyed our time but I knew that things could change quickly. Qhuten had allowed us to stay in the guest rooms for the foreseeable future. He had been working many days trying to figure out why the Voidstorm Guardian wouldn't start up. He asked me many times if I knew what Qhil had set up that would keep the AV Generator from being activated but I knew less than he did. Because of the lack of knowledge he couldn't disconnect the Central Pod or the AV Generator. Qhuten had disconnected and disassembled every piece that he could without affecting the Central Pod or the AV Generator. Replacing nearly every piece that wasn't custom made by Qhil.

No matter what he did, it just wouldn't start.

Mitsu was the only one who didn't seem to mind. He had started taking lessons from Otath and I honestly had expected him to cling to Otath more than me, but he had surprised me. Every moment of his free time he spent by my side. At first I thought he might want to pilot a Guardian but after a month, he hadn't shown any interest in that at all.

Qhuten was getting more and more frustrated, we still hadn't received word from Qhil or the Regored ship he had been on. That alongside the problems of getting the Voidstorm Guardian to start were definitely weighing on his mind.

In the end Mitsu was the one who figured out the problem. We had just sat down to eat dinner and he stumbled on the answer. "What could happen if me or McMillan were to try to start it up?"

"What would happen?" Otath corrected. "Well, that would depend on if someone had piloted it before. It has to be genetically bonded to the pilot for a couple reasons. But this Guardian has not been started before, so it has not been bonded."

"Could it be bonded before it was built?" Mitsu asked.

We all turned towards Qhuten expectantly. "I suppose so, if you were to bond someone to the controls before it was constructed. Yes you could. But the only reason to do that..."

"The only reason you would do that is because you thought you were going into a trap with the strongest weapon in the OtherWorlds." I said finishing his thought for him. Everything suddenly clicked into place. Qhil had me testing out control sticks even before he finished the Voidstorm Guardian. He had bonded me to it before he even finished the AV Generator. He had given it to me without me even realizing it.

"Good heavens!" Otath exclaimed. "You don't mean to say..."

"I'm already bonded to the Voidstorm Guardian..." I finished in shock.

. . .

I suited up and was soon standing in front of the Central Pod. Qhuten had the Voidstorm Guardian moved here after Otath hadn't been able to start it up. It was set up in a special room in the laboratory. Qhuten, Mitsu, and Otath were in a different room that had a viewing panel. I was concerned, but I was also excited. If the Voidstorm Guardian started up with me as the pilot, we would be testing the AV Generator shortly after. I climbed into the Central Pod as the pit in my stomach returned. The Central Pod closed around me and the small red light on the control stick shined.

"Whenever you're ready." Qhuten said through the radio.

I grabbed the control sticks and could feel the Guardian come to life around me. The sensors and screens lit up and I could see the lab through them. The platform rolled away while I ran through the startup checklist. Soon enough we were ready to go.

"On my mark, activate the AV Generator. Let's see what my brother managed to accomplish." I was worried it still might not work, but there was nothing that could be done about it now. Even still, everything that could go wrong went through my head.