i049
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"Burn in righteous fire!"
Ascension hadn't changed much for Mary. That was odd to say, but it was the truth. Her breast burned with fire, her mind was sharper, and she was a better pilot. The job was still the same. Burn the enemy and provide moral support. She did have a new church, and the mental bandwidth to think of it while doing this.
Lasers flowed out like the wrath of god. Her beautiful mech wiped the enemy from her sight and sensors within seconds. The Shining Maiden had been remade and reborn, fit for an expert. Across her armor prayers had been carefully etched by the faithful. Each one was a hope for living another day. She would not disappoint.
Such was her firepower that the sandman could not approach at all. A sphere of sand had formed around her, and not a spec of matter could get past a line. Jeanne's approach to upgrading the mech had been relatively simple. She'd simply made it better at its job. Why change something the pilot was used to? For that matter, experts who used artillery were considered a special sort of horror to deal with. The king of the battlefield was still artillery, just in expert form.
Mary alone could outright annihilate a sandman given proper setup. Against a group she'd falter, but she was not the only one to ascend. She was in the odd position of having brother and sister of the same faith, with the same purpose, with the same mechs. This was unheard of in times of peace and only came about in wars when there was a unified front and mindset, like her nation had in this crisis.
The front was on fire and the Sandmen burned and died until there was nothing but void. Mary shifted to look for more and found herself confused. This had felt too fast. The lack of enemy was almost disorientating and rather unusual.
"Did they flee?" Mary asked over the channel.
"No Venerable Mary, there are none left. The MTA has finally made their move and the fronts are reporting that the Sandmen are consolidating."
Mary stared at the empty space and frowned. After a moment she shrugged mentally. The larger view was beyond her. All she knew was that there was nothing more in front of her. She shifted to standby mode.
"Namaste Venerable." A nearby mech floated in after a few minutes and Mary's eyes narrowed.
"You are one of the experts from the Temples." She noted coolly.
"Venerable Huang is pleased to meet a fellow expert." The man answered serenely.
Now that she was focusing on other things she did recall that they had been doing a joint defense. The front had been large enough that she hadn't had to care that much and had put it at the back of her mind. Mary was still unsure why the other expert was approaching her now though. The makeup of his mech was strange enough to make her curious too. Why that model?
"Huang, that is a modified Last Prayer?" The woman indulged her curiousity.
"Indeed. That is why I approached. I see you have taken up the talented man's mechs as well." The mech gestured to her own.
"It's not unusual in our either of our areas I believe. You have had similar ascensions using this model." The woman saw no trouble admitting that. "The model we all use has resulted in some unusual patterns to my understanding.
"The ones ascending in them have usually been exclusively trained in specific mechs as showpieces yes. Would you believe it has actually become a minor issue? There are too many artillery mechs now." Huang gave a small polite chuckle. "I may switch out after this, but I find the Prayer oddly fitting myself and will likely get something similar."
"You look like they stripped out even more parts." Mary said bluntly after some examination.
"Attachments are the root of suffering, if one is to reach nirvana one must learn to be without. I find the bare minimum freeing in a way. It has resulted in a counterintuitive performance increase. Fear not the man that has a thousand techniques, but the one that has practiced one a thousand times." The modified Last Prayer crossed its legs and floated serenely. "I wonder if the designer thought of the symbolism behind these mechs, and if so how much? The Last Prayer feels like a distinct statement."
"I believe he likes theme more than anything else. His other mechs lack religious overtures." Mary said after some thought.
"Yet, did you read the documentation on the Heart Crystal? Did you not feel it after ascension?" Haung asked intently.
Mary paused. Not from any desire to lie or anything, but at the fact he'd openly asked that. Her brothers and sisters in ascension had all quietly kept their Hearts. It felt private in a way and they'd never discussed it openly.
"My crystal feels hot to the touch though it lacks heat." Mary admitted slowly.
Huang had his mech nod. "I believe he has touched on an immutable truth and harnessed a small glimmer of it in the crystals. It is a fragment of self, and I wonder what it will become if we nurture it or pass it onward?"
The woman paused and connected to the crystal. The documentation had been helpfully stored inside it and it was very easy to review this way. Like flipping through a mental book. There were vague mentions of psionics and how it retained the spirit of the mech. Putting his thoughts into context in that way brought up interesting thoughts. What was the Heart Crystal? Some inner instinct made her certain it was important, but why?
"In this case all I can have is faith that it will work out." Mary concluded after a moment. "You have given me much to think on though and I believe this conversation does need to be had with my fellows."
"Indeed, but I'm afraid I must add more. With the war winding down I have heard rumors on the wind. The Friday Coalition is attempting to force experts to aid them. Have you heard of it?" The expert asked seriously.
Mary froze. "They would dare?" She asked incredulously. "They would try to strip our people of their protection?!"
"There will be bribes involved, and we will likely have our mechs upgraded to Second Rate as part of that bribe, but they are needful enough that they will likely manage it." Huang reasoned out. "Yet even in that need I fear that we would be considered lesser. Your master is likely the only one that could prevent this."
"Master Jeanne could. She would probably not. She dislikes getting involved despite her status and as foul as the idea is, it will likely make too much sense to everyone." Mary's thoughts raced. "I can see the reasoning now. The witches have mauled the Fridays, and no one wants them to succeed. We are new and lack the ability to resist politically. As new experts we haven't established ourselves in our homes as reputable soldiers. It'd be easy to loan us out and if we were lost, well it'd be worth it in some eyes."
She might have been a PR piece, but Mary knew church politics, and they were brutal. Now that her thoughts were going down the path she saw it as inevitable. The difference between Second and Third Rate was enough that they wouldn't be able to resist. Enough bribes and pressure and any nation would fold.
"Your conclusions are likely similar to mine." The expert said as she finished thinking.
"Another war right after our initial one and the best we can do is sell ourselves high." Mary muttered. "You have a reason to bring this all up though I assume."
"We shall be allies in the near future, but I would request that my Heart Crystal be returned should I fall." Huang said as he pressed his mechs hands together in a small prayer. "I would do the same."
That was something she barely had to think about agreeing to. "That will be done. I will speak to my brothers and sisters to have them do the same."
Last wishes and testimonies weren't sacred to her people, but they were close.
Ascension hadn't changed much for Mary. That was odd to say, but it was the truth. Her breast burned with fire, her mind was sharper, and she was a better pilot. The job was still the same. Burn the enemy and provide moral support. She did have a new church, and the mental bandwidth to think of it while doing this.
Lasers flowed out like the wrath of god. Her beautiful mech wiped the enemy from her sight and sensors within seconds. The Shining Maiden had been remade and reborn, fit for an expert. Across her armor prayers had been carefully etched by the faithful. Each one was a hope for living another day. She would not disappoint.
Such was her firepower that the sandman could not approach at all. A sphere of sand had formed around her, and not a spec of matter could get past a line. Jeanne's approach to upgrading the mech had been relatively simple. She'd simply made it better at its job. Why change something the pilot was used to? For that matter, experts who used artillery were considered a special sort of horror to deal with. The king of the battlefield was still artillery, just in expert form.
Mary alone could outright annihilate a sandman given proper setup. Against a group she'd falter, but she was not the only one to ascend. She was in the odd position of having brother and sister of the same faith, with the same purpose, with the same mechs. This was unheard of in times of peace and only came about in wars when there was a unified front and mindset, like her nation had in this crisis.
The front was on fire and the Sandmen burned and died until there was nothing but void. Mary shifted to look for more and found herself confused. This had felt too fast. The lack of enemy was almost disorientating and rather unusual.
"Did they flee?" Mary asked over the channel.
"No Venerable Mary, there are none left. The MTA has finally made their move and the fronts are reporting that the Sandmen are consolidating."
Mary stared at the empty space and frowned. After a moment she shrugged mentally. The larger view was beyond her. All she knew was that there was nothing more in front of her. She shifted to standby mode.
"Namaste Venerable." A nearby mech floated in after a few minutes and Mary's eyes narrowed.
"You are one of the experts from the Temples." She noted coolly.
"Venerable Huang is pleased to meet a fellow expert." The man answered serenely.
Now that she was focusing on other things she did recall that they had been doing a joint defense. The front had been large enough that she hadn't had to care that much and had put it at the back of her mind. Mary was still unsure why the other expert was approaching her now though. The makeup of his mech was strange enough to make her curious too. Why that model?
"Huang, that is a modified Last Prayer?" The woman indulged her curiousity.
"Indeed. That is why I approached. I see you have taken up the talented man's mechs as well." The mech gestured to her own.
"It's not unusual in our either of our areas I believe. You have had similar ascensions using this model." The woman saw no trouble admitting that. "The model we all use has resulted in some unusual patterns to my understanding.
"The ones ascending in them have usually been exclusively trained in specific mechs as showpieces yes. Would you believe it has actually become a minor issue? There are too many artillery mechs now." Huang gave a small polite chuckle. "I may switch out after this, but I find the Prayer oddly fitting myself and will likely get something similar."
"You look like they stripped out even more parts." Mary said bluntly after some examination.
"Attachments are the root of suffering, if one is to reach nirvana one must learn to be without. I find the bare minimum freeing in a way. It has resulted in a counterintuitive performance increase. Fear not the man that has a thousand techniques, but the one that has practiced one a thousand times." The modified Last Prayer crossed its legs and floated serenely. "I wonder if the designer thought of the symbolism behind these mechs, and if so how much? The Last Prayer feels like a distinct statement."
"I believe he likes theme more than anything else. His other mechs lack religious overtures." Mary said after some thought.
"Yet, did you read the documentation on the Heart Crystal? Did you not feel it after ascension?" Haung asked intently.
Mary paused. Not from any desire to lie or anything, but at the fact he'd openly asked that. Her brothers and sisters in ascension had all quietly kept their Hearts. It felt private in a way and they'd never discussed it openly.
"My crystal feels hot to the touch though it lacks heat." Mary admitted slowly.
Huang had his mech nod. "I believe he has touched on an immutable truth and harnessed a small glimmer of it in the crystals. It is a fragment of self, and I wonder what it will become if we nurture it or pass it onward?"
The woman paused and connected to the crystal. The documentation had been helpfully stored inside it and it was very easy to review this way. Like flipping through a mental book. There were vague mentions of psionics and how it retained the spirit of the mech. Putting his thoughts into context in that way brought up interesting thoughts. What was the Heart Crystal? Some inner instinct made her certain it was important, but why?
"In this case all I can have is faith that it will work out." Mary concluded after a moment. "You have given me much to think on though and I believe this conversation does need to be had with my fellows."
"Indeed, but I'm afraid I must add more. With the war winding down I have heard rumors on the wind. The Friday Coalition is attempting to force experts to aid them. Have you heard of it?" The expert asked seriously.
Mary froze. "They would dare?" She asked incredulously. "They would try to strip our people of their protection?!"
"There will be bribes involved, and we will likely have our mechs upgraded to Second Rate as part of that bribe, but they are needful enough that they will likely manage it." Huang reasoned out. "Yet even in that need I fear that we would be considered lesser. Your master is likely the only one that could prevent this."
"Master Jeanne could. She would probably not. She dislikes getting involved despite her status and as foul as the idea is, it will likely make too much sense to everyone." Mary's thoughts raced. "I can see the reasoning now. The witches have mauled the Fridays, and no one wants them to succeed. We are new and lack the ability to resist politically. As new experts we haven't established ourselves in our homes as reputable soldiers. It'd be easy to loan us out and if we were lost, well it'd be worth it in some eyes."
She might have been a PR piece, but Mary knew church politics, and they were brutal. Now that her thoughts were going down the path she saw it as inevitable. The difference between Second and Third Rate was enough that they wouldn't be able to resist. Enough bribes and pressure and any nation would fold.
"Your conclusions are likely similar to mine." The expert said as she finished thinking.
"Another war right after our initial one and the best we can do is sell ourselves high." Mary muttered. "You have a reason to bring this all up though I assume."
"We shall be allies in the near future, but I would request that my Heart Crystal be returned should I fall." Huang said as he pressed his mechs hands together in a small prayer. "I would do the same."
That was something she barely had to think about agreeing to. "That will be done. I will speak to my brothers and sisters to have them do the same."
Last wishes and testimonies weren't sacred to her people, but they were close.