As soon as the warning came through for the attack on Maryland, Darryl "Dazza" Harris had slammed down his godawful beer and was up and running. He'd been reassigned to the Irondome from Shark Island Base four months ago, after the successful deployments of Armored Kelly and Five Eighth to the Australian eastern coasts. Experienced pilots were always needed in a learning environment, and while Dazza's role wasn't necessarily to provide training he was essential as a standby for when things got too hairy for the rookies.
He sprinted through the corridors of the Irondome and into the locker room, where he stripped down and pulled on the special suit needed to pilot Blitz Juggernaut. Dazza had pushed hard for an interface that didn't require the suit but the very few cooler heads from his homeland had prevailed. Still, he was growing fond of it, feeling it fitted him just as well as one of his many flannos. The nice little Australian flag painted over the breast inspired a little bit of patriotic fervor every time he saw it.
Finally, he put on his helmet with the large clear visor and made his way to the hangar at a brisk run. Techs were standing by, ready to assist him in getting into the control pod. The pod was a funny thing that was inserted into the center of the Vanguard, full of machinery that connected to the suit and essentially translated every movement he made to that of Blitz Juggernaut. It was certainly better than the old two-sticks-and-pedals design he had originally used!
The techs got him into the pod with minimal hassle. It was a well practiced drill, now, much helped by many of his techs being from the first Blitz Juggernaut crew from Australia. The pod was sealed, and now the fun part began. The inside of the pod was illuminated with a dull glow, but Dazza couldn't see it. The viewport on his helmet had gone opaque. Were he a claustrophobic man, now would be the time to panic. But Dazza was not. Instead, frozen in place, blinded to the outside world, he chuckled a bit. He always looked forward to what came next.
He felt the pod being moved. The hydraulics surrounding it were placing it inside Blitz Juggernaut right now. There were a few clunking sounds, ones that were music to Dazza's ears. Three clunks. Pause. Two. The sound of an engine whirring up. He'd memorized them. Another clunk. The engine was getting louder.
Then his helmet burst into life.
The display on the inside of Dazza's helmet abruptly showed a new sight, one of him looking directly towards men working in a control room. His ears heard a quiet chime and the engine sound lessened, overtaken by input from his radio and auditory sensors. The elegant machinery holding his body in place dragged him into an upright position, then eased off the pressure. He could move again.
"Lieutenant Harris, commence system check," was the radio buzz in his ear.
"Leftenant Harris, commencin' system check," Dazza responded.
He moved his head left, right, up and down. As he did so, his view changed to take in the world around him. He was standing in a cavernous hangar, far too large for ordinary humans. He saw figures moving along walkways, inside the control room, but not around the ground. He raised his left and right hands, and observed the blue with red trim mechanical arms enter his field of vision. So far so good. Just for kicks, he wiggled his fingers and witnessed the Vanguard match his movements. Then, for even further kicks, he extended both his middle fingers and noted with a chuckle that his Vanguard did also.
"Lieutenant Harris, please do not deviate from the check procedure," was the immediate buzz in his ears.
"Just testin', mate. Don't get ya knickers in a twist," Dazza jibed back.
The system check went for a few more minutes as Dazza got used to being inside, no, sorry, BEING Blitz Juggernaut. It was always a bit alien for the first couple of minutes, but you soon got used to it.
"System check complete. Good hunting, Blitz Juggernaut."
Dazza grinned, the act completely invisible under his helmet. "I'll bring back a big fish dinner for ya, mate," he responded. As though the giant mech were human, he turned and started walking towards the huge hangar doors. At the same time, with a quick voice command he dialed in the comm for the rookie trainer.
"Ledger, y'there?" he commed to the man. "Deployin' now. I'll be on standby in case you and y'rooks need me. Good huntin', mate."
