Chapter 1: Clive Mallory
*Thud *Thud *Thud heavy hitting resounded as a young man kicked the thin and messy-looking young man sitting on the floor, lips busted and with a bruised face the young man on the floor silently endured the torture.
" this bastard won't even grumble," said the young man kicking the other kid.
" come on, let's go, the guards will be here shortly," said the other young man who was standing on the side. he is the friend of the bully who kicks the young man on the floor.
" tsk," said the young man who was doing the kicking, as he reluctantly left the scene.
when the two young men left, the one on the floor stared at their back with hate and fury, but he currently felt weak and was about to pass out from the pain, although he didn't complain he still felt every kick.
a few seconds later he passed out and the guards wearing grey uniforms arrived at the scene and they picked him up.
...
feeling the comfort of the warm and soft bed Clive slowly opened his eyes, he saw a white ceiling as he waited for his vision to adjust to the light a sweet voice sounded beside him.
"This is the second time this week Clive, are you sure you do not want to tell me who did this to you? " the woman who spoke is wearing a white lab gown and is holding a tablet in her hand that contains the diagnosis she did to Clive while he is completely passed out from the beating, she is the school nurse she grew quite close to Clive since he is in her clinic almost every week.
" no, it's fine " Clive answered as he shook his head.
for him, it doesn't matter whether the school heads find who the culprit is, they will make an announcement about the issue and send a warning to all students. Still, the warning is nothing but empty words, and the academy higher-ups won't take the side of a kid from a fallen noble family.
...
Clive left the clinic since he still had classes to attend.
He is currently a student of the Space Federation Pilot Academy, which is the most prestigious Mech Piloting Academy in the Galaxy.
Humans have made great advancements in technology that they are now capable of space and intergalactic travels, and have left the old planet Earth and the old star system to look for other habitable planets and star systems to colonize and to monopolize new resources for further technological advancements.
The conquest didn't come without problems as they encountered alien life forms capable of blasting their spaceships to smithereens with their physical capabilities alone. and with that defeat, the humans developed a new, weapon since using bigger cannons and lasers would destroy the occupied planets, that weapon is a mechanical suit made from various strong metals and is equipped with capable systems that enable inhuman operation if the pilot is capable enough.
with the new mechanical suit equipped with various weapons, the humans soon dominated a part of the Milky Way galaxy, and thus triggered the age of new and more devastating Mech War.
...
after walking for a few minutes from the clinic, Clive arrived in front of a steel door, it automatically opened, and inside was the lecture hall for his class which is, Advanced Understanding of Mechanical Suit Anatomy.
" oh Mister Clive Mallory, I'm surprised you still bother to come to my class? " the professor said mockingly.
" good afternoon sir, I'm sorry I'm late, something came up " Clive gave a greeting and a lame excuse with a straight face.
" go to your seat," the Professor said in an annoyed tone.
" Hey, I heard you got beaten up by Ben again. " Lisa Belle said.
She is Clive's seatmate.
"Don't mind it, it's fine " Clive tried to shrug off the issue.
"Don't act like it's nothing, I heard something from John earlier " Lisa said, and it took Clives's interest.
"What did you hear," Clive said as he paid attention to class.
" well I didn't hear any details but it seems like they are plotting something big " Lisa Said in a concerted manner.
"I see, thanks for the heads up, " Clive said.
" no problem," Lisa said.
"Miss Belle, Mister Mallory, I would appreciate it if you two would stop talking," their professor said, and their classmates laughed.
" Okay now, where were we? Oh right, today I will be discussing the commander frame mech in detail"
"I know that you all have tackled the different mech frames in your first year here at the academy, and that is why today we will talk about one of the greatest inventions of humanity and one of our strategic weapons, the commander frame mech " Professor, introduced today's topic for their class.
Clive is now a second-year student, their first year is all about theories and history, and now that he is in the second year, they will start to have practical lessons and training, involving full-dive virtual reality simulations and an actual mech piloting class. but they still have to take other classes to be able to deepen their understanding of mechanical suits to improve their piloting skills.
...
The advanced understanding of mechanical suit anatomy class has ended and they have an hour of vacant time before their next class, which is a virtual reality simulation training.
came the time of their next class, Clive and the others changed their clothes from the standard blue uniform to a grey full-body pilot suit.
"Okay class today we will be having a sparring session, so now go to your assigned VR pods so we can begin " Their instructor didn't waste time and ordered them immediately.
the inside of the VR pod is similar to a mech cockpit to mimic the whole experience and to make it more realistic.
Clive got in his pod and he immediately made some control optimization to his liking, since other students change the controls every time they use the pod, so Clive has to change it back to his preference.
after some minor adjustments, they are instructed to choose what type of mech frame they want to use.
As always, Clive chose a Swordsman Frame Mech since he is most proficient in swordsmanship, as a son of a noble family he is taught relatively good swordsmanship by his family he also knows how to use other types of weapons, from melee to ranged but he prefers using swords.
after choosing what type of mech they were going to use, he put on the helmet his vision blurred and his surroundings changed from being inside the training facility of the academy to a grassy plain with boulders of different sizes.
Clive moved his arms as he started to wave the sword his swordsman mech was holding.
" hmmm, no discomfort or anything," Clive said, then a similar-looking mech appeared in front of him, but the other mech was holding a rifle.
" a rifleman frame huh " Clive said as a countdown appeared on his screen.
*5,4,3,2,1 fight!
After the countdown, Clive dashed towards his enemy.
the first rule in fighting against a rifleman frame mech is to close the distance especially if you are using a melee weapon, rifleman mechs are the kings of mid-range combat.
" hmmph! you think I will let you get close to me that easily? " Clive's opponent skillfully retreated as he fired at Clive.
Clive saw that his opponent was not shaken by his immediate action and even counterattacked, still, Clive expected this reaction.
Clive dodged the ballistic bullets of the rifle and he found a boulder to take cover.
there are different types of rifles a ballistic rifle and an energy-based rifle, ballistic packs a heavy punch while energy-based rifles have weaker damage, they are faster and easier to learn.
the bullets hit the boulder and it started to crumble, but Clive didn't panic instead he used the dust cloud when the big boulder exploded as a cover to make a frontal surprise attack, he made a downward slash that the opponent rifleman mech blocked with his rifle and it became a close combat fight, Clive released a flurry of slashes towards the rifleman mech, and the rifleman mech has no choice but to block and dodge the swift sword attacks, slowly the pilot of the rifleman mech gets overwhelmed by Clive and he eventually received a horizontal slash that cuts through his mechs neck, decapitating it.
Clive's screen went back to normal, he then removed his helmet to leave the pod.
"Good work, Clive " The Piloting instructor praised him.
" thank you, sir," Clive said with a smile.
"But you can produce the same result if your dash was three times faster, " the instructor said.
" I know sir, but the mech that we use in our simulation training is an old design and is made for training purposes, that is why I can't exceed the speed limit on the mech "
" hahaha you really know your stuff," the instructor said.
" but you also know that you are still not ready to pilot standard design mechs since it puts more strain on the pilot's body and mind, even if it is just inside the simulation since the simulation is designed to be as close to reality as possible" the instructor added.