Hounds of Orion

Cameron’s body shook inside the cockpit as the Squire toppled over. He struggled to get up, but eventually he managed, using the mech’s sword as a crutch to pull its massive body upright.

“That was a cheap shot man.” He said, fighting hard to suppress the smile slowly creeping across his face.

“This was your idea kid.” Logan retorted, the distinct tinge of snark evident in his voice. “Not my fault you suck at the game.”

Cameron’s smirk fell as the spark of competition flashed through him. Without another word he pushed the sticks forward hard, activating the Squire’s boosters as he shot forward in a blink. Logan counted down in his head, calculating the distance before the squire would be on him. At the very last moment he shifted to the hard, watching as five tons of steel careened past him, rocketing towards the tree line.

“Damn it!” Cameron exclaimed, braking hard and turning to the right, carving a small channel into the soil as the Squire’s feet dug into the earth. He shot back out, leaping into the air as he zeroed in on Logan’s position. Again, he waited until the right moment, before simply leaping backwards just in time. He chuckled as watched Cameron’s mech bury itself into the muddy ground.

“Jeez, you really are bad at this.” He said, egging the prince on.

“Didn’t you say that your Crusader outpaced my Squire in damn near every way?”

“No… I said my Crusader outpaced your squire in every way. Not damn near. It’s just pure numbers kid. We can run around this field all day and you won’t be able to touch me if I don’t want you to.”

“Then why the hell are we doing this?” Cameron asked, watching as the Crusader shrugged, mimicking the movements of its operator. His eyes cut to the switchboard, trying to see if there was anything he could use to prove Logan a liar. After a moment he spied a switch which was emblazoned with what seemed to be a smoke cloud. A smile teased the corner of his mouth as he stared Logan down again, before rushing back in.

“You just don’t listen do you?” Logan replied with a sigh, counting down the distance in his head once again.

“What can I say? I don’t like being told I can’t do something.” Cameron’s smile was growing as he inched closer and closer to the Crusader’s location. Unbeknownst to Logan, Cameron counted down as well, waiting for his moment. He found it as he got within five meters of his target. Then, as he heard Logan’s booster prime for a dash, he flipped the switch.

Twin hatches flipped open on the Squire’s shoulders as six canisters propelled forward before burying themselves halfway into the dirt. As they did so, the canisters opened with a sharp hiss. Smoke billowed in thick plumes covering the field in a dense fog completely concealing both units.

“Interesting…” Logan said, straining his eyes, trying his damnedest to make out the definitive shape of the squire through the ever shifting smoke.

“I think you forgot something important though kid.”

“And what’s that Logan?” Cameron replied, gently shifting the momentum of the Squire to slowly make his way across the ground in a silent glide.

“You’ve blinded yourself too. We’re still in the same position, but I’ll hand it to you that you’ve increased our percentage for a head on collision a good amount.”

Cameron smirked, boosters softly flaring as he skirted around the perimeter of the cloud, marked by a distinct increase in visibility. “Hey… The game is I just have to touch you, we didn’t specify how hard that touch has to be.”

Logan furrowed his brow, scanning his surroundings. He knew he could trivialize this by having Vic conduct a heat signature scan, but he was determined to embrace and nurture Cameron’s tactical education, happy the prince was embracing his role, even if he didn’t know it. Besides, where was the fun in cheating in a game that was just for fun?

Then the first sword thrust cut through the heavy fog, inches from his head. His eyes widened in surprise as he dashed backward. The second attack, this one a long sweeping horizontal slash, followed up from the first in the blink of an eye. He gritted his teeth, feeling the g-forces pressing on his ribs as he hooked to the right, leading the blade as it completed its arc. Pretty soon, both units were dancing in and out of the fog, Cameron thrusting and slashing, as Logan dodged and evaded, watching the blade inch closer every second. Logan felt the sweat dripping from his brow, tasted the iron in the back of his throat as he sucked in air, heard his heart pounding in his ears as he danced around Cameron’s attacks. He couldn’t remember the last time he had this much fun.

It wasn’t meant to last though. It was a shame that the end came just as Cameron was about to hit his mark.

“There you are!” He shouted as he swung in a powerful downward arc. He only made it a quarter of the way through when he felt the Squire’s arm stop in an instant. Cameron struggled, grabbing the stick to free the arm from whatever kept it locked in place. When the smoke finally cleared, Cameron could see what had hindered his progress.

Standing off to the side, was the Crusader, its hand outstretched to catch Cameron’s holding his Squire by its wrist as Logan’s voice crackled out over the speakers. “Yeah, I cheated a little bit and engaged my Rail Drive to get an extra burst of speed. But in my defense… I hate losing.”

Cameron was dumbstruck. Was this the privilege of an A.R.M.S. pilot? Something that big should never move that fast, or silent. And yet here he was, bested by a giant blocky mech that defied the laws of science.

It was terrifying, when he stopped to consider the ramifications of this. Terrifying, and awesome. He felt a large grin creep onto face as Logan spoke up again.

“How you feeling kid?”

Cameron saw his hand shaking as he turned on his suits PA system. Whether that was nervousness or excitement, he wasn’t sure. What he was sure of however, was the emotion shooting through him at this very moment. So sure was he, that the first things out of his lips, were an answer more honest than he’d ever been.

“Alive, Logan. I feel alive.”