((Collab Post between [@Letter Bee], [@Metatrooper] and [@Senhara]))

[b][I]Flashback, Five Years Ago[/i][/b]

Daegu Base was once a bulwark of the struggle against Communism, an edifice of steel and concrete that carried a garrison of soldiers from the Pre-War US before the Apocalypse. Now, it was a stronghold of both Capitalism and Communism, as the Red-Star Ruling Corporation sought to control the human will. Cody Ang was stationed there in response to troubles in the 'eternally rebellious' Japanese Archipelago, and tasked with training the soon-to-be Slave-Pilots, most of them 'bred' from foriegn prisoners who have not been ransomed by their employers. Now, in the VR simulation room, Cody was faced with his newest pupil, a 15-year old boy named Alexander Sky who wanted to be a 'Comrade' as fast as possible. 

Cody stared down at the cadet, looking at him with a piercing gaze through his jet-black t-shaped visor. Just by looking at his eyes, he could tell that the boy was truly determined to become a pilot, although only time would tell if he could truly become one. He approached the boy, still encased in his red armored battle suit and asked him "You got a name?"

Alexander blinked and said, "Alexander Sky, Master; I come from the Gansu Provincial Breeding Camp, where I was bred from Volkov stock. I am property of the Corporation and thus the property of all Comrade-Pilots I am assigned to. Thus, you are permitted to use whatever teaching methods you wish as long as there is no permanent damage to my ability to fight." A gulp, "But, normal procedure in Red-Star, set by our superiors, would be to start with a spar with Virtual Reality versions of our NCs."

Cody paused for a moment, moving his hand to the bottom part of his helmet, where his chin would be, making a thinking gesture. "I see. So I assume that you have handled an NC before?"

Alexander's reply was, "I was given the necessary implants early in my development, Master, but I have only piloted Simulations; an NC Core has been alloted for me, though, with an NC Body to come with it."

Cody then remarked, "Very well, we shall begin the session immediately. I will be judging your performance after." He then interfaced with the TABRIS AI system through his helmet, before giving a command to load an existing virtual battlefield, along with the NCs of both Cody and Alexander.

TABRIS responds to Cody with a rather calm female voice, soothing almost. "Loading battlefield V5." She then talks to the both of them "Battlefield V5 is being loaded. Please begin linking to your NC VR Chair. As per protocol, sim pain receptors are set to be full realistic... Any sim variable changes should be input now."

Alexander sat down on the nearest VR Chair, where the implant sockets were almost identical to the ones in a proper NC. The implants on his spine and neck, exposed through holes in his suit, connected with said sockets while a VR helmet was lowered onto his head.

The scene then switched into a clear and grassy steppe field, where Alexander was now in his Mech-to-be, Phoenix Inferno. Phoenix Inferno was now facing Cody's own Mech, waiting for the signal to fight.

Cody sat on his own chair as his NC, which he nicknamed the Halberd began to materialize in a virtual form. The implant socket then found connecting itself to a socket on his helmet, giving him a slight tingle at the back of his head in the process.

As the room shifted into the appearance of a steppe field, the two NCs appeared as well with a considerable distance between them. Cody then switched to TABRIS' comm channel before speaking. "TABRIS, give me a live feed of trainee Sky's cockpit." 

The faux-AI responds, "Understood. Opening live feed." A little purple window displays on the HUD of Halbred, the internal area of it showing Alexander. On the top of the window the words "TABRIS CONTROLLED INTERFACE" is seen. She then promptly begins focusing on the sim with intent, no one knows who she is. She liked that, yet it was kind of sad.

Cody then activates the Halberd's weapons systems, before firing a warning shot from the mass driver cannons, right at Phoenix Inferno's feet. He would then arm the ripper missiles and prepare for Alexander's inevitable approach, curious to see how he will accomplish it.

Phoenix Inferno lifts itself high onto the air with a huge jump, a combination of anti-gravity systems and rockets carrying it to the skies. It then zig-zags downward, flying at Halberd at an angle, covering its own advance with blasts from the shoulder-mounted fusion cannons on the virtual model...

As the NC rises into the air, the Halberd unleashes a salvo of 8 ripper missiles and another 8 shortly after. The missiles lock on to Phoenix Inferno and start following it, surrounding the mech as they do so. Shots from the fusion cannons take some of the missiles out, but most of them managed to reach their target. While all of this was going on, the Halberd's arm mounted plasma cannons start tracking Inferno's position, while the missile launchers prepare another salvo.

Phoenix Inferno, covered in an orange cloak of energy, bursts through the cloud of smoke from the ripper missile launchers, barely singed due to the force-field. It dives at Halberd, then unleashes its own missile volley, releasing missiles loaded with electrified nets that stretched up to several square meters; enough to catch an NC. Most of them would be obliterated by the plasma cannons should they fire now, but at least three or four would land on their target.

As for Alexander and his mech, they would be gone from frontal view.

Blasts from the Halberd's plasma cannons obliterated most of the missiles, but around three manage to make it past the fire. It then releases a single salvo of ripper missiles once again, eliminating the rest of Inferno's missiles, with the remaining four rippers crashing into random areas due to a lack of a target. The mech's sensors would then scramble to quickly locate Alexander's position, as the mass driver cannons and plasma cannons move into firing positions.

Alexander was in the most obvious position; behind Halberd's back. He now dashes towards the mecha, hoping to make melee contact with it before it turned around.

The sensors manage to pick up Alexander's location as he's dashing towards Cody. "Clever." he says, right before activating the rocket boosters of the Halberd and suddenly boosts away backwards, colliding with Alexander. He hopes to stun him or knock him down to buy enough time to get his weapons ready.

It somewhat worked; Alexander was caught off-guard, but recovered quickly from the pain than expected. Turning on his Fusion cannons once more, he shoots streams of superheated gas at Halberd as it presumably turned around, impacting the opposing Mech's own energy shields!

As the Halberd turned around, it was greeted by a barrage of fire from Phoenix Inferno. In the process, its shields were heavily damaged and were rapidly being depleted, but at the same time, it opened Alexander to attack. While he was still getting fired upon, Cody in turn activated all of the Halberd's weapons, which were trained onto Alexander's position, blasts from the plasma cannons would be fired at his mech, while the missile launchers fired salvo after salvo of ripper missiles. The mass driver cannons on the other hand could not fire as the target was too close, but as soon as he moved away, he would regret it.

The forcefield holds for a few moments, but Phoenix Inferno is is soon wrecked by the volley of plasma and missiles, with Alexander screaming in agony in his cockpit/virtual reality helmet. It was time for the battle to be terminated.

A few seconds after Alexander started screaming, Cody terminated the simulation. The grassy steppe slowly faded back to the pure white of the VR room, while both NCs started dematerializing. Cody quickly unplugged the socket interfacing with his helmet and rushed over to check on Alexander.

The boy was breathing hard, crying as the VR chair detached his implants from his sockets. At Cody's approach, he shrinks away, saying, "I'm sorry, Master; don't hurt me! Please don't hurt me!"

Cody grabbed the boy's hand and helped him up, putting his hand on his shoulder in the process. He saw the fear in the boy's eyes, knowing full well what Red-star did and would do to this boy if word got out that he failed. Cody then said, "There's no need to apologize, you performed excellently." He paused for a moment before speaking again, "Don't consider this a failure, I believe you have the potential to become an amazing pilot." 

Alexander quiets down, his breathing relaxing. He then says to Cody, "You're kind, Master; you're really kind to a Slave like me." Facing him, the young man then asks, more firmly than he had formerly exhibited, "What's the catch?"

"There is no catch." Cody said. "I was just taught that you should treat people like people." He thought about the report that he would give to his superiors later on, he could only hope that they were content with his description of Alexander's performance. He then spoke again. "Now, you should go get some rest. I can escort you to your quarters if you want."

The boy smiled at this, then, with mild shaking, looked Cody in the eyes, "Thank you, Master." Looking side to side, he then made a request, "Master... I really hope I am not taking advantage of your kindness, but Slave-Pilots are rarely given sweets; pastries and such. Can you... Have I... Have I earned some?"

He kept gazing at Cody, his eyes wide and slightly teary.

Cody stared back at his eyes, and stayed silent for a few seconds before an audible chuckle could be heard. "I do believe a reward is in order for your efforts today." He then starts walking towards the exit as he motions for Alexander to follow. "Come on, I'll take you to the mess hall." he says.

And with that, a friendship was forged.

TABRIS took note of what happened. She's curious [i]"Cody's nice, too nice... Alexander though, I don't think he'll stand up... That pain that caused him to scream out, I don't think he'll get used to it."[/i] She ponders the events that just occured, taking a personal interest to Cody and Alexander.