It’s been 3 days since Crazy died… I missed the little guy.

  I sprung out of bed as my alarm woke me up. Can’t wait to get out of this shit hole of a town. How long do they expect us to wait here? I don’t think anyone knows nor cares about this nuclear core.

  I jumped in the shower with the water on hot, steaming up the bathroom. It felt good. I quickly got out and put my gear on. Mech suit, which was just a brown beat-up flight suit, and my belt that had my blaster on it.

  I heard a knock at the door and I already knew it was Lexi.

  She was getting close to me… a little bit too close. Where I’m starting to build some sort of emotions for her, and I didn’t want that.

  I mean, I was going to betray them all sooner than later.

  She walked into my room, handing me a cup of coffee again.

  “You ready?” she asked.

  I smiled. “Oh, you know it!” I yelled with a smile.

  She smiled back. “Smart ass.”

  “Ha, yeah,” I sighed.

  As we walked toward the hangar she asked me how I was doing about Crazy. She was with me when I buried him.

  “Eh, I’m doing okay. Miss him, but I’m sure time will heal.”

  “Yeah,” she said, smiling. “I ah… don’t let it get to your head but… I got you something.”

  “You got me something?” I asked.

  “Yeah.” She pulled a thin backpack from her back and opened it. When she did, some bird bedding puffed out of it.

  She reached in and pulled out a small yellow chicken.

  “I’m not sure if it’s a boy or girl…” she said.

  My heart melted.

  “That’s a girl, I think,” I said as I grabbed it from her and held it like a baby.

  It was chirping.

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  “Jees, Lexi… I don’t know what to say. Thanks!”

  “Yeah, they have a butcher farm here and I bought it from him. No big deal. Ha, you saved its life. BUT I got something to tell you.”

  “What?”

  “This is not a chicken. It’s a baby duck… It looks like one because it’s yellow and fluffy.”

  “Oh shoot. The man didn’t speak English. I thought it was.”

  “HAHAH,” I laughed. “It’s okay. I’ll treat her or him just like Crazy. Think I’ll need to clip the wings on ducks so they don’t fly away. I’ll do research.”

  She smiled. “The bird’s all yours.”

  “Thanks again, Lexi… uh, means a lot.”

  “Don’t get mushy.”

  I zip-lined up to my mech and set the bird down in the cockpit where I’d normally put Crazy.

  “Guess I’ll need to name you…”

  The duck kept quacking.

  “Ha, guess I’ll name you Chatter.”

  The Old Man jumped on comms.

  “Okay squad, move out.”

  We marched back into our same spots and stood watch.

  I rested my eyes and it seemed the duck went to sleep right away.

  As I was resting my eyes, I felt a tremor and a small thump… then again… and again.

  It was soft, but I could feel it.

  That… that has to be a mech walking.

  I looked at my radar and everyone was still, not moving at all. Then I saw a weak ping coming closer toward the town.

  Frank jumped on comms.

  “You all seeing this?”

  Carl then came on. “Group up on the north side of town. That’s where the ping is going.”

  Couldn’t be enemy, right? Just one unit…

  We all moved in front of town and waited as it came closer.

  Our mech’s night vision was clear, and what we saw was one mech that had a cloth poncho covering it up. It even had a hood over its head, but I could still see the mech’s visor and face.

  Wait… that… that looks like my mech…

  “Is that Unit-2? Master Sergeant’s? My trainer? Had to be. He was the last test pilot.”

  The mech paused and the steam was slowly coming out of him like he was building up power.

  “Run! You all need to run now!” I yelled on the comms.

  “That mech is like mine and it seems like he can control its power range. If the pilot feels outnumbered, the mech will start taking control if the pilot can’t handle it and go into a powerful berserk mode. Your mechs have a low chance fighting him when he’s like that!”

  The Old Man came on the comms.

  “We fight as one! Stay together!”

  “Please,” I said. “Fall back. Let me handle this. You saw what my mech can do. That was me controlling it. I don’t know who this pilot is. He might not be able to.”

  “Boss, what do you want us to do?” Frank asked.

  “Old Man, I think we should do what he says,” Tamala said.

  “No. We attack at once. He can’t stop us all. You are outnumbered. Stand down,” Carl ordered over the comms as he raised his rifle.

  The mech didn’t move, but the steam was building up.

  He took his poncho off, tossing it in the air, and grabbed his long katana sword.

  Same as mine.

  Before it hit the ground, he jetted at Carl.

  We all started shooting but it was too late. His sword was already in his chest, coming out of his back.

  “Carl!” Lexi yelled as he pulled the sword out of him.

  Carl’s mech fell down like a rag doll.

  Then he pointed his sword at me.

  “I wasn’t expected to meet you here… traitor.”

  That voice…

  It was Master Sergeant.

  I pulled my sword out.

  “Light, power up boosters to level 1. Don’t overdo it, but try to match his speed. If not, raise it.”

  “Copy. Powering.”

  My mech started to steam up as well and my core started to hum.

  “Guys, fall back. I got this,” I said over the comms softly.

  And that’s what they did.

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