New Terra: The First Wave (Volume 1 of the New Terra Trilogy)

Chapter V- Training Day

Avi landed the Bird in front of the IGP. He opened the door and walked out. "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen.. Ready to go?" He asked, showing off the new Bird.
"You really seem to like the new Bird, Avi," Queen Radcliffe said, smiling.
"Well, I'd hate to tell my daughter I got a new one, but... This is a sexy aircraft."
Jerrybot and Angus walked out and waved. "Who are these two?" Jerrybot asked.
"Oh! Boys, this is Lafayette and Fink," Queen Radcliffe introduced. "They'll be fighting with us from now on. Lafayette, Fink, this is Avi, Jerrybot and Angus. Play nice."
"The more the merrier, right?" Avi asked.
"I guess," Lafayette agreed.
"Alright, jump in," Avi told the others. He started up the Bird as the seven others climbed aboard.
Jane climbed into the co-pilot's seat. "Hi," she greeted.
"Do you know how to fly?" Avi asked.
"No," she whispered. "Fink is just really starting to scare me."
"Ring around the rosey! Pockets full of posey!" Fink started singing.
"Yeah, you can stay up here," Avi told Jane. "New Terra, coming up!" He yelled to the others.
---
Avi landed the Bird in front of the castle. The eight climbed out and made their way towards it.
"Damn..." Lafayette muttered, staring at the castle in awe.
"Is there a dragon in there?" Fink asked. "I wanna kill a dragon."
"You think you can stand, Honey?" Mai asked, holding her hand out to Queen Radcliffe.
Queen Radcliffe took Mai's hand and pulled herself up. Mai caught Queen Radcliffe as she stumbled. She held Queen Radcliffe's hand as she began walking.
"I got it," Queen Radcliffe told Mai.
"You sure?" She asked.
"Yes."
Mai let go of Queen Radcliffe's hand as she began walking by herself. "There we go," Mai cheered on. "Keep going!"
"I'm not a baby, Mai. I know how to walk."
"But you haven't walked in seven months."
"At least I'm doing it now." Queen Radcliffe led the group to her castle.
"So when do we start?" Lafayette asked.
"Jerrybot, Angus, and I will be creating signature weapons," Mai said. "First, we need to see your strength, stamina, stuff like that. We have a training section in the soldiers' barracks that you'll be using. Then we'll create and distribute weapons based on your skills."
"Do we get to fight each other now?" Fink asked. "I wanna hurt someone."
"We'll give you a training dummy," Mai offered. "Will that work?"
"I guess."
"Alright, ladies and gentlemen. Let's see you all train."
---
Mai watched on as her five human colleagues trained. "You two can stay with me," she told Jerrybot and Angus. "I already know how you fight."
"Okay." Jerrybot said. "It's not like I wanted to show off to the others! I used sarcasm just now!"
"I am sorry that the dummies Fink is using are getting beat up. They cannot help it that they're so dumb."
"Dummies aren't living," Mai said. "They don't feel pain. Their sole purpose is for people to train. Dummies actually save lives in a way."
"They do?" Angus started cheering. "Go dummies!"
"I'm in a team full of idiots," Mai whispered to herself.
---
Queen Radcliffe repeatedly rammed her fists into the punching bag before her. She quickly wiped the sweat off her forehead before continuing.
"How're you doing?" Mai asked, walking up behind Queen Radcliffe.
"Better than usual." Queen Radcliffe continued as Mai watched on.
"Watch your swing," Mai told Queen Radcliffe. "A punch like that could break your hand."
Queen Radcliffe changed her style and pace.
"Change again. With that sort of punch, someone could have easily grabbed you and put you in an armlock."
Queen Radcliffe sighed and changed once more. "Getting better," Mai told her. "Keep at it."
---
Avi sat down and held his head in his hands. "I really hope you're not finished yet," Mai told him as she walked over to him.
Avi pointed over at a mat covered in barbells. "I've been lifting those. I just deadlifted two hundred pounds."
"Don't hurt yourself, Avi. You're skinny as a twig."
"I know. Angus will do the heavy lifting for us, so I don't think I should go past two hundred fifty."
Mai nodded. "Keep it up," she said. Mai patted Avi on the shoulder as she walked away.
---
"What the hell, Jane?"
Mai went over to Jane, who wrote number after number down on a chalkboard.
"You told us that we were training, so I decided to train my mind."
"Where'd you get a chalkboard and chalk?" Mai asked.
"They were against one of the walls." Jane continued writing down numbers.
"What're you even writing down?"
"Code. This is Jerrybot's conscience. I took his A.I. chip out the other day and scanned its code. Now I am writing it down from memory."
"...Okay." Jane ignored Mai as she walked away.
---
Fink lied on the ground, looking up at the ceiling. He stuck his feet in the air and kicked them.
"Fink, you're supposed to be training," Mai told him. "The Brii are a powerful race."
"I know." Fink flexed his arms and roared like a tiger. "I'm ready for them."
"Fink, stop screwing around and put some damn work in."
"And why aren't you working out, whatever your name is?"
"Mai."
"And why aren't you working out, Mai?"
"Because I'm building weapons."
Fink sat up and stared at Mai. "What kind of weapons?" He asked.
"Depends on how people fight like or are built like." Mai sat down across from Fink. "For instance, Angus is a huge android. So, because of his size, he'll have a pretty big weapon: himself. Meanwhile, someone as small as Jane will get something smaller."
"What do I get?" Fink asked.
"You'll just have to wait and see."
"Aw, that's no fun!" Fink stuck his tongue out like a small child.
"You'll know by tomorrow," Mai promised.
"Yay! I can't wait!" Fink started clapping.
Mai smiled and stood up. "See you around, Fink."
---
Five wooden poles circled around Lafayette. She spun in circles, hitting each pole a different way.
Mai watched on as Lafayette showed off her fighting style. Lafayette was breathing heavily and drenched in sweat, but she kept going nonetheless.
Lafayette made one last punch on one of the poles before looking up at Mai. "Sup?" She greeted.
"That was martial arts right there, wasn't it?" Mai asked.
"Wing Chun."
"I used to practice Wing Chun back when I was a kid."
Lafayette held her hands out. "Care to spar?" She asked.
"I'm a little rusty... but eh. What the hell?" Mai joined Lafayette in the middle of the poles.
---
Lafayette and Mai lied down together, trying to catch their breaths. Lafayette laughed to herself. "I just found my equal," she thought aloud.
"I started remembering techniques as we went along."
"I could tell."
Mai got up and offered Lafayette a hand. Lafayette took Mai's hand and pulled herself up.
"I'd love to chat and all, but I've got work to do," Mai told Lafayette.
"What work?"
"I have to create weapons. Now that I know everyone's strengths, the weapons I create will maximize their damage potential."
"English, please," Lafayette asked.
"I'm gonna give everyone weapons that work best for them."
Lafayette smiled. "That's better," she told Mai. "Get to it, then."
---
Mai pulled a cart into the throne room of the castle. "Gather around, children," she called.
The others walked up to Mai. Queen Radcliffe leaned forward on her throne. "I'm gonna stay up here, if that's alright. What've you got?"
Mai leaned into the cart. "Avi, you're up first." Mai pulled out a shotgun and flipped it around. "I call this the Harbinger. It's a double barreled shotgun capable of shooting normal, incendiary, corrosive, electrical, and explosive ammo."
Avi took the Harbinger from Mai and whistled. "Hello, baby," he muttered. "I'd like to get to know you..."
"Lafayette?" Mai called. She pulled a katana out of the cart. Lafayette sprinted up to Mai and swiftly took the katana from her.
"I love it," Lafayette whispered. "I don't need any details."
"Jerrybot and Angus," Mai called. "I created a thin titanium coating for you two, so that you can take a lot more damage. And Jerrybot, I created these for you."
Mai pulled metal gloves out of the cart. "Flip the switch on these, and an electrical charge will circulate around them. You punch a dude, he'll get shocked."
"Those look heavy!" Jerrybot said. "Oh, wait. I'm a robot! I can lift those easily!"
Mai put the gloves onto Jerrybot. "Now, onto the next one: Fink." Mai pulled a flamethrower out of  the cart.
"A flamethrower?" Fink asked in disbelief. "You trust me with that?"
"Yes."
"Aww..." Fink started blushing as Mai have him the flamethrower.  "The flames will look so pretty!"
"Jane, I got you this." Mai pulled a backpack out of the cart.
"A backpack. Gee. Thanks."
Mai unzipped the backpack and pulled out a grenade. A nervous expression quickly grew on Jane's face.
"Because of how smart you are, I thought I'd give you different types of explosives," Mai said. "Frags, flashbangs, C4s, Semtex, smoke, you've got them all and more. You can use them to your advantage based on the situation."
Mai put the backpack on Jane and winked at her. "Don't worry, you won't have to use explosives unless absolutely necessary."
Jane's worried expression slowly faded away. "Good. Now, for myself." Mai pulled out an assault rifle. "I call it the Devil's Due. A flick of the switch on the side will change my rifle from semi-auto, full auto, and burst fire. And finally, Queen Radcliffe's weapons."
Mai laid the Devil's Due on the ground before taking two pistols out of the cart. "I call these two York and Paris. This one, York, is your classic semi-auto pistol. Paris, here, is a full-auto pistol. Use them to your liking."
Mai tossed the pistols to Queen Radcliffe, who caught and inspected them. "Everyone happy?" Mai asked.
"We're happy," Queen Radcliffe said, smiling.
"Alright. Call out the next order, Honey."
"I need to call my army," Queen Radcliffe told the others. "We split into four groups and attack the Primal Terror. And I want no civilian casualties. Ladies and gentlemen, we end the Primal Terror's life tonight."