"Commander on deck!"
There was a chorus of boots and servos as every person in the hangar saluted.
"At ease," called the Commander as she made her way to the center catwalk. Thankfully she wasn't one of those hardasses who enforced every single iota of protocol. She didn't need to. She had our respect. "New watch rotations after the latest casualties. Look 'em over, share 'em with your squad, get 'em done. I expect the new rotas to go into place with the 1800 shift. Command's still figuring out our next move, so if you're not on watch, take some R&R. Dismissed."
She turned to go. I looked at the posted watch schedule on my HUD. Then I ran after her.
"Sir!" I saluted, and tried to get my body into a parade rest position. It's not easy when you're twenty feet tall and your arms aren't supposed to bend that way.
The Commander put her hands on the railing and looked me in the head camera. "Yes, Corporal Stormcrow?"
"Sir, I noticed my name isn't on any of the rotas." She stared at me, face neutral. "Just wondering why. Sir."
She sighed, and pulled up her dataslate. "Following the events of Operation Waterfall and the death of Pilot Abagail Walker, awakened machine Corporal Stormcrow is to be relieved of duty until another suitable pilot is found," she read. She put it away again. "Sorry, Stormcrow. I'm sure they'll get you a new pilot soon." She turned to go again.
"Sir!" She stopped. "What if- Sir, I don't need a pilot. It's unnecessary to keep me decommissioned, I can fight just fine without one."
"Rules are rules, Corporal. Can't go breaking protocol just because you want revenge." She didn't turn around. "Dismissed, Stormcrow. Get some rest."
She got another ten paces before I couldn't stand it anymore. "Sir, do you know what the weak point of a mech is?" Everyone in the hanger had turned to look at me, but I was beyond caring. "The pilot! Kill the pilot and the whole machine goes dark. Everyone knows that. But I don't need one!"
She sighed, but still didn't turn around. "Corporal, the rules are there for a reason. The pilot helps you as much as you help them." She sounded tired. I didn't care.
"Sir, I'll blow things up for you. I'll capture targets for you. I'll escort shipments, rescue VIPs, hell, I'll turn into a goddamned truck for you, but I will not take on another pilot." I slammed my giant metal fist into the hangar wall, making the commander stumble. The sound echoed through the silent hangar. Slowly, I pulled myself back into something resembling parade rest, and tried not to scan the dent in the wall.
The Commander turned around slowly. "You're grieving," she said, "so I'll let it slide this time. Dismissed, Corporal."
She walked out of the hangar bay, and I was left standing alone.
Rain beat down on the roof of the hangar. Boots sounded on the catwalk, accompanied by the clattering of bottles. I looked up from my welding. "Handler Finn."
"Corporal Stormcrow." She sat down on the catwalk, letting her legs swing out in the air. Her tank top showed off her wiry frame. Not muscular, like Abagail had been, but fit, and too tall for the cockpit. I always felt like she should have been wearing spurs. There was a pop as she flicked the bottlecap off her first beer. "They'll writecha up for that, you know."
I finished welding my cockpit shut. "What are they gonna do, court-martial me?"
"Dock yer pay, at least," she drawled. She took a swig, let the silence roll out in front of her. "I miss her too, you know. There's like... a void in my head where she used to be." She tapped the side of her head, where the uplink implant was.
I contemplated my cockpit. Finn took another drink.
"Hell, how long did we work together? 'Spect it's only natural."
"Depends on how you count."
"Pardon?" She leaned against the railing, letting herself go boneless.
I turned to face her, my head level with the catwalk. "I spent ten years non-sapient as her M.I., and then another five as Corporal Stormcrow. Is that five, or fifteen?"
Finn let out a low whistle. "Fifteen years, huh? Can't hardly believe it." She took another swig. "Goddamn."
Lightning flashed through the windows, and a beat later a long, drawn-out rumble sounded through the mostly-empty hangar. Finn and I stared at the rain together.
"So, you wanna go solo, huh?"
"It just makes sense," I said, a little stiffly. "No pilot, no risk. They can shoot my cockpit all they like." I ran my fingers over the patch job the engineers had done after the op.
"Guess I can't blame ya. I ain't the one putting my neck on the line." She took another plug, set the empty bottle down.
"......yeah," I said. "It won't... be the same without you."
"Then again," she popped the cap on another bottle, "there's a reason they group us all up. We watch each other's backs."
"What's a scrawny little pilot supposed to do to watch my back?" I snarled. "Pain in my ass."
Finn put the bottle down and gave me a look. "Now, I know you didn't mean to say that about our poor Abagail."
I couldn't look her in the eye. After a moment, I muttered, "I did a pretty piss-poor job of watching her back, too."
Rain fell against the windows in waves. After a moment, I looked back at Finn. Her cheeks were wet. "Damned," she said, a hitch in her voice, "leaky roof. Command really oughtta fix this thing. Somebody could get hurt."
I scanned the sealed roof, and looked back at the rain. "......yeah."
"You know- you know she wouldn't blame ya. Right?"
I put my hand over my cockpit with the sounds of shifting metal. "...yeah. But that-" a warning flashed on my HUD, and I dismissed it. "That doesn't matter. I'm still going solo."
"Mm." Finn picked her bottle back up, swirled it around by her fingertips. "I met the new kid."
It took me a moment to process the change of subject. "The pilot? They replaced Abagail already?"
"'S conditional," she said, taking a drink. "Lots of pilots in the program these days. Supposed to be the safest place in the forces." She let out a hollow chuckle. "Seems like a good kid. Eager, but respectful-like. We're s'posed to have a neurolink test next week."
I couldn't believe it. "You- you can't be serious."
She looked at me and wiped her cheeks. "I can't live like this, Stormcrow. Not half-in and half-out. Not with this... hole in my head. Mebbe you're built different, but for me, it's either this or..." she let the sentence trail off into the rain.
I shook my head and started walking to the other side of the hanger. To replace her? So quickly? Maybe humans could forget that easily, but I couldn't. I could still feel her, hands on my controls, voice shouting in the neurolink...
"-mcrow! Stormcrow!"
"Huh?" I jolted to. Chronometer said several minutes had elapsed. Finn stood on the catwalk near me, holding her half-empty six-pack.
"I'm headin' out. Gonna take a walk, try and get my head on straight, before I get all maudlin on ya." She grinned ruefully. "Well, more maudlin."
I straightened myself up. Could at least keep things professional. "Good to see you, Finn. Take care." I held out my finger, and she shook it.
I turned to go back into my charging alcove, but she stopped me. "Hey, after the neurolink test next week, I want to bring the kid by. Have her meet you, hear your side of things."
I bristled. "I'm not gonna let some punk kid pilot me."
"No piloting. Just... remembering Abagail. So she knows."
I relaxed my alert level, sighed. "All right. See you around, Finn."
"Take care, Stormcrow."
I plugged myself in, and listened to the sound of the rain.
