Greg

Mecha Skirmish 4

Added 2025-06-27 22:27:48 +0000 UTC

Oops, forgot to post this. Here's the ending to the Neakli & Xica story. The end is a bit abrupt but that's how my first drafts always are. I'll balance the pacing when I rewrite.

Somchai just dropped the bomb on Xica, that there aren't really mechs!

Mecha Skirmish 1
Mecha Skirmish 2
Mecha Skirmish 3

———

“Pfft,” huffed Xica, “of course, there is.”

She looked around at the other three, but they held their ears low and avoided her eyes.

When the silence stretched, Neakli finally looked back. “It’s just a game, Xica. It’s all make-believe for fun.”

“Well, the game is make-believe, obviously,” said the little creature, some worry invading her voice, “but consider the settings: the stadium at Coosatec, the ice caves of Ridell II, the volcanic rim of Androgens… I’ve looked them up. Every map was the scene of a famous battle between the krakun and the lio mechanized infantry!”

Neakli winced. “Those were battles with the lio infantry, Xica, just the regular infantry—tanks and foot soldiers, no mechs.”

Rolanz raised her palms as she explained, “Mechs don’t exist. Well, I’m sure someone’s tried building one—the idea is cool as hell—but they’re just impractical. Anything a giant bipedal robot could do would be done better by a tank or a ship or a plane or a spacecraft.”

“But… But…” whispered the mysa, her eyes filling with tears.

Neakli saw the way she trembled, the way she shook as her life plans fell to pieces around her. She was stuck here just like all her people were. There was no greater glory she could attain.

The geroo reached out with a comforting paw, but Xica turned and scampered away down a ladder and into one of the apartments inside the building.

“Idiot,” huffed Somchai. The three remaining friends turned and glared at him, but he only shrugged. “What?”

Without thinking, Neakli shoved at his chest, nearly knocking him from his paws, then she gestured to the others. “C’mon.” When the lio started to follow as well, she pointed a finger of warning right in his face. “Not you.”

# # #

“Still not answering?” asked Tota, eyes down and his arms hanging loose over the edge of Neakli’s bed.

“Her strand is still on do-not-disturb,” grumped the geroo. “I’m sure she’ll talk to us again when she’s ready.”

“Yeah,” sighed Rolanz. She rested her chin on her knees. “Maybe we could bake her a cake.”

“That won’t fix anything,” groaned Neakli.

“Of course, it won’t. Nothing will,” said the geordian. “But everyone likes cake. It’s hard to be sad while you’re eating cake.”

Tota nodded. “That’s true.”

A silence hung over the three for a while before Neakli jumped up. She rifled through her closet, tossing old computer accessories this way and that before she turned about holding a pair of AR goggles. A cautious smile lifted her ears. “Hey Tota, could you write us an app?”

The coosa sat up on the edge of the bed. “That does what?”

“Nothing big,” said Neakli, grinning now, “just lights up some buttons on my goggles when you press matching buttons on my strand. Forward, back, left, right … maybe run?”

He nodded. “That’s it? Yeah, that’s simple.”

“Okay, do that.” She turned to Rolanz. “What about cardboard? Could you find us some big sheets of cardboard?”

The geordian nodded. “Sure. At work, we break down all the boxes and keep them in a huge stack. We don’t bother recycling them until it hits the ceiling.”

Neakli grinned wide. “Grab some and meet us behind my house in an hour. I need to find some strapping tape and red paint.”

# # #

Xica peeked around the corner before stepping into the alley. “Guys? You back here? Sorry I’ve been incommunicado, but it’s been a rough couple days, y’know?”

She spotted Tota and Rolanz first. They were kneeling on scraps of cardboard, busily painting other scraps red. A fair bit of the paint stained both their coats.

“Is that…? Don’t tell me you guys made a…” She squinted at the figure between them. Though she suspected it was supposed to be a life-sized UtiliJack mech—well, life-sized if the lio pilot were scaled down to mysa height, at least—it bore only the vaguest similarity to one. It didn’t have any of the UtiliJacks cannons nor missile launchers. Her vision swam at the thoughtful gesture, and she sniffled. “That was really nice of you guys, but you didn’t have to.”

The cardboard mech turned slowly about until it faced the mysa. Underneath all the haphazardly placed sheets of cardboard stood Neakli. Much of her fur was stained red too, and some paint had slopped on the AR goggles she wore. “Well, it’s our first try at making a mech out of cardboard.”

“It’s a lot harder than we expected!” laughed Tota.

“Yeah, and more fragile,” added Rolanz.

“That’s true. It probably won’t survive its maiden voyage,” said Neakli with a grin, “but it’ll be a ride you never forget. The UtiliJack is the fastest mech there is.”

“Pfft,” huffed the mysa. “Everyone knows the bounder is way faster over short sprints—”

“Not this UtiliJack!” laughed the geroo, flexing her massive leg muscles. She turned her strand toward Xica. “Forward, back, left, right… The controls are pretty straight-forward, but you better hold tight when you hit the run button!”

Xica’s eyes opened wide. She waved her arms wide. “No. No. No! I really appreciate all the effort you guys put into this just to cheer me up. I do! But I can barely stay on your shoulder when it’s not covered in cardboard. I certainly couldn’t keep a hold of your strand if you were trying to run!”

Neakli grinned wider. “Trust me, the pilot seat on this mech was designed for use even at top speed.” She turned the strand back around and slid it into her pouch.

Xica eyes opened wide and her ears heated in a blush. After a moment of stammering, she managed, “I-i-isn’t that … rather personal?”

The geroo offered an outstretched and cardboard-covered paw. With a smile, she said, “Not for my best friend.”