U.N.E.

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

Alexander settled into his flight chair and strapped himself in, making sure the belts were tight enough so they almost cut off his circulation. The hum of the computer systems turning on and the blinking red and green lights as they cycled through each onboard system flashed in his vision, both on his monitor and his HUD. The actions he performed now he had done more than a million times, but he hadn't felt this kind of tense excitement since his very first time. It was like being born all over again and he had a hard time from keeping his hands from shaking.

After so very long he was going back into combat, and he couldn't be happier. Well saying he was happy wasn't exactly the truth, he was focused and ready above anything else. The morning on the small island nation had dawned hot and bright, but it didn't really matter because soon he would be cruising through the clouds over the Atlantic Ocean on his way towards the front lines in France.

"Initialization complete, all systems are green and you have permission to leave the hangar, Captain Woods," a slightly familiar voice called out through his communications system. Both Rupert and Kimberly had already left for the Carrier hours earlier so all start up preparations and command prompts were coming from another member of the Aegis project; not that it really bothered Alexander. Once he was up in the air and on his way he would have full command.

"Roger. Clear the immediate area and open the hangar doors. I am moving out," he announced and through his HUD he was able to see multiple people scurry away from the massive and heavy legs of the Aegis and the far hangar doors slide open as the electric motor kicked into life.

Making one last check to make sure no one was under him he pushed down on the forward pedal and synchronized the leg movements all at once, lurching forward slowly as the ground shook as each foot fell. He breached the bubble of bright sunlight as he stepped outside and the surrounding area came into view with sharp clarity. The tropical trees swayed slightly in the breeze and colorful birds flew back and forth, their beautiful songs coming through the Aegis's external sound system, filling his cockpit with life for a moment before he shut the sound out.

This was the first place the Aegis had ever been outside a protective hangar and it had only happened a few days ago on the first outdoors trail. It had only lasted less than half an hour and Alexander had been disappointed with it; it was like even though the machine was his he wasn't allowed to do what he wanted to with it. But not anymore. His request for combat trails had been heard and accepted so he was finally going to get his chance to see what this machine was truly capable of. It was one thing to look at projections and weapon readouts and another to see it in real life.

"Where are the others?" he asked as he checked his GPS map and radar, not seeing the other members of the X-04 project appearing on them. They should have been there already and he couldn't leave without them, sadly.

"Waiting for your slow ass!" an annoyed and feminine voice called out over the channel and four live video feeds from the other Mech's appeared on his screen. It had been Sarah who spoke and it was easy to tell that she was annoyed about something, but Alexander wouldn't let it bother him.

"Where are you?" he asked, hoping to deal with someone more amiable.

"Ten miles off shore at the moment," Angela Baker answered and her voice, although cool and collected, still had a hint of nervous apprehension in it. "We were told that this was the first time you would be firing up the cruising engines on the Aegis and that we should give you some space."

"You know, just in case you blow up and take us with you," Michelle laughed, removing her helmet so Alexander could see her beautiful face instead of a blank reflective mask.