Iron Empire

Fifty-Two: Go Down Swinging

To my utter frustration, I couldn't sleep. I sat on my bunk in my near-dark quarters, still fully dressed.

The twin bunks across from me were empty tonight. Dan had dedicated himself to preparing every mech we had for battle, including the Spartan. He had his work cut out for him.

Lucas was supposedly busy preparing Dropship 13 for battle, but I suspected that he was, in fact, busy geeking out over the sleek Korean dropships that now resided in the Firmament's hangars.

The bunk above me had been empty since Yamantau. Its owner had been a spy.

Taewi's intentions hadn't been malicious, but it made me wonder what else was being kept from me. It seemed that every time I answered a question, or thought I knew the side I was fighting for, something new tested my loyalty.

It didn't matter now. Taewi had been my friend, no matter his intentions, and I missed him fiercely.

I glanced around my quarters. I couldn't stay here, locked in with my thoughts. I had to go somewhere.

***

The moon above my head shone softly, white light filtering down through the Firmament's dome. I stood at the edge of the hole in the centre of the living quarters, staring down past the mezzanine towards the lower hangars.

The hangar bay paralleled the glow of the hallways, garish light shining down on the mechs below. Sparks from spot welders bounced off the floor below me as engineering crews worked long into the night. It had to be past midnight, but the hangar floor was lit up like a manufacturing plant.

I stared at the dropships below, watching mechs roll past on mounted rails, carried who-knows-where. Every single one was to be tuned up for tomorrow's battle.

A familiar mech caught my eye.

One of the mechs the men below were working on was the Spartan. In the hours since my conversation with Dan, my Spartan had been moved up a few levels for more general repairs.

I could see the mech's frame, still half-exposed, was in the process of being fitted with a new set of brilliant blue armour. There was nothing anyone could do about its lack of a command capsule with this amount of time, but a fresh coat of paint, a tune-up and some actual weapons went a long way to making it a force to be reckoned with.

"I thought I might find you here!"

I nearly jumped out of my skin, making a noise I wouldn't exactly classify as brave.

"Blast it," I paused as I searched for the newcomer's face, "Laura!"

Laura Lehman raised her hands in a defensive motion.

"Tense?"

She joined me at the railing, overlooking the Spartan's maintenance.

"You have no idea." I chuckled nervously. "But what about you? You must be worried sick!"

Laura shrugged her shoulders, short white hair catching the light.

"I try not to be. War is war. People die." She leaned in closer to me. "What worries me is when war is not necessary—when it's being waged simply out of greed or pride." She stared at me now and I got the feeling she was assessing something about me. Sizing me up in some way. "What we're doing," Laura continued, "this fight to stop Axion, is necessary. We're saving human lives from fighting an unnecessary war."

I nodded. This was true. But where was she going with it?

Laura broke away from my gaze, staring down at the Spartan below.