“Esteemed members of the press. Listeners at home. My colleagues and competitors. Today, I stand before you, not as CEO of Mako Group, but as an aggrieved friend. Mere days ago, two members of the TransAm Republic assaulted a Mako Group Frame while she was risking her life to protect you, all of you, several kilometers below the surface of the ocean, fighting the Megafauna classified as Hexapod that had recently struck the surface. 

“She survived, and for that I am grateful. It is thanks to her bravery and skill that I had the pleasure of shaking her hand, and it is that same bravery and skill that allowed us to piece together the actions that led to her dispatching her two attackers. 

“The TransAm Republic has attempted to slander us, accuse us of attacking not only their agents but those of Cèilidhean as well. If we set aside the flattering but ridiculous assertion that our lone operative fought and killed not only four Frames but did so while fighting the Hexapod, then I would ask you… why? Why would someone do this? 

“The answer, of course, is that she didn’t. We have evidence that not only was our hardware tampered with, but also that the TransAm Republic agents struck first. As such, we have no choice but to dig our heels into the sand and draw a line. 

“We have not drawn first blood. We will be dispersing proof, knowing that Cèilidhean likely has similar footage of the events that transpired.

“I will speak frankly. It may have been financially reasonable to keep that footage to yourselves. We can pretend all day long that we are civilized, but a direct conflict between TransAm and Mako would likely benefit our competitors. 

“But not anymore. An outside force is attempting to drive us to war. So if there is to be a war, I stand before you today to tell you that it will be neither just nor profit driven. And I stand before you to tell you that, no matter who struck the first blow, Mako Group will strike the last.

“Thank you.”

“I don’t know how I feel about being described as hardware,” Epoc said, her feet on the table as she looked at the screen. “But man, I could watch this a thousand times.”

“Gay,” Hex said. 

“Yeagh,” Epoc said with a little chortle. “What are you going to do about it?” 

Hex was on the other side of the table, looking at her com, but she wasn’t the type to ignore a challenge. On the other hand… “Nothing,” Hexacorallia said. “Gay good. I like you that way. Speaking of which, we should go sparring again some time.”

“Oh?” Aaliya walked in from the kitchen with a bottle of water. “What happened during sparring? Or do you just want to get your ass beat again, Hex? Because I can arrange that. I think the bruises on your thighs might be fading.” She winked. Hexacorallia giggled a little gremlin giggle and crossed her legs. 

“No, but like, yes, but also no. The girl’s got a bulge, and it was right up against my—“

“Hex,” Epoc said, “I can put you in an arm bar again if you want.” 

“Please?”

She giggled, but didn’t hate remembering the end of that fight. Hex was a gremlin and a little fucker, but she had been a very good opponent to try to outsmart, and she did have a nice ass. It had been nice to push against it. Hell, it had been nice to fuck her, even if Hex had never known it was Epoc. That would stay her own little secret, unless her Handler suggested bringing it up. 

The table chimed. Winter’s face appeared both there and on the television screen, live instead of recorded this time. “Hounds,” she said. “Battle stations. We have incoming TransAm Frames. Selachi City perimeter. You’re moving out in five.”

“You’re gonna have to show me where the mean doggy touched you some other time,” Aaliya said. “On our way, Handler.” 

Practically jumping out of her seat, Epoc touched her earpiece. She hadn’t quite settled on an implant yet, but the earpiece had practically replaced her com, fitting snugly around the shell of her ear. Tapping it once, she called Antimony. 

“Hound,” her Handler said. “On your way.” Not a question. The earpiece had a location tracker in it. Safer that way. “The other Handlers are already cued in as well.” 

As the three of them jogged down the hallway on their way to the changing rooms, Epoc could tell the other two were getting their briefings. Aaliya from the living colossus that was Levi Mercer, and Hex from her own mysterious unnamed Handler. 

“What’ve we got, Handler?” she asked. “Are they going to try sending more tanks?”

“Negative,” Winter said. “We have eyes on nine incoming frames. All Beta class or smaller, but in those numbers the amount of damage they could do would be catastrophic. Thankfully, the city has invested in some proper artillery facing inland, so they won’t be able to HVP in from above.” 

The three of them hurried into the changing rooms, stripping off their clothes quickly. Epoc couldn’t help but sneak a look at the others. Aaliya was truly covered in scars and the Hexapod had given her some more. Her upper thigh now had what looked like a sharkbite in it, although the thing that had almost taken her leg off had been a sheet of metal. 

Hex was scarred too – there was a limit to the amount of sorties you could go on without earning some battle scars, but in two years she’d remained mostly unmarked, bar a few scratches here and there. The biggest one was a series of slashes across her back. Epoc would have to ask about those some time. 

“If you’re going to keep staring at my ass I’m going to have to start charging an entry fee.”

“Bitch,” Aaliya said as she walked over to her airlock, “she knows about your revolving door policy. You’re better off taking donations.”

“What do you say, Epoc?” Hexacorallia said with a wink, “feel like donating after the mission?”

“I’ve got a date already,” Epoc said with a smirk, “or I’d be tempted.”

“If you’re quite done,” Antimony said, “we have more information.”

Epoc, now fully naked, was stretching her elbows as she stepped into the airlock that would take her up to the Nexus Alpha’s cockpit. “Sorry, Handler. What’s up?”

“Targets have touched down ten clicks south of the city. They have advanced cloaking technology that’ll make them invisible to the city’s defenses. Your intercept location is a small town called Bossier.”

“I’ve been to Bossier,” Epoc said with a little smile, “they have good burgers.” 

“Well, not anymore,” Winter said, popping that bubble coldly. “The town’s been evacuated. Now, as for your terrain, Bossier was an experiment in short-term highrise prefab housing and architecture. A failed one.” Epoc remembered it was weird how small the town was for how tall the town’s center was. Like someone had exported a single square mile of a metropolis. “So, you’ll have a lot of cover, but that also means they’ll be able to sneak up on you.”

“I’m trained for urban warfare, Handler,” Epoc said with a smile as the door in front of her hissed open. “But I appreciate the concern.”

“Don’t get cheeky with me, pilot,” Winter said. “You know what happens.”

“I forgor. Remind me?”

“Get in your cockpit and I’ll tell you.”

Epoc stepped into Nexus Alpha. The adjustments she’d had Diana make were perfect. The space was smaller now – she didn’t need as much space as there had originally been – but it was also more efficient. One, there was a mini fridge now. Two… that meant the external  changes were ready. She sat down in the chair and let it close around her, though not up past her waist. Reaching over, she grabbed a beer out of the mini fridge and closed the latch. 

“Epoc Mako, fired and ready.” She typed some things into the systems on her chair. “How are we looking out there?”

“You are green for go, Nexus Alpha,” the engineer on duty said. Diana was out. Sad. Oh well, no time like the present to make new friends. Epoc grinned her teeth bare as she turned all the systems on, including the external cameras. A hundred feet below her was a tiny figure.

She zoomed in. Cute. “Who’s that down there?” she asked. “You better get out of the way or tell me your name so I can tell people who I stepped on.”

“Miranda Mako!” the woman said. “Diana told me you had a mouth on you. Be careful with Nexus this time, will you? There’s a lot of us in her.”

“There’s a lot more of me,” Epoc mumbled to herself as the chair closed its systems around her crotch, already starting to spike her arousal. “And a lot more of her is about to be in me.” She turned the coms back on. “Good to meet you, Miranda. Drinks are on me if I bring her back scuffed.”

“I’ll hold you to that, pilot!” the woman said, and stepped away. 

Epoc took a sip of her beer, put it in a special slot next to her chair where it was immediately covered and sealed and then tapped her coms. “This is Epoc Mako speaking, welcome aboard Air Nexus. Skies appear to be clear with a chance of gunfire. Thank you for flying with us today.”

“If I’d known you were like this,” Winter said, “I have to ask myself if I’d hired you.”

“Of course you would have,” Epoc said as the Frame’s platform wheeled out of the hangar. “I’m much too cute for you to say no to. My brain has the sexiest holes in it.”

“You’re the worst,” Winter said, and then, to Epoc’s shock, she giggled. Antimony giggled? Who told her that was okay? What the fuck?! Something fluttered in Epoc’s underbelly. “Alright, are you ready for activation?”

“Ready, Handler,” Epoc said, pressing a button. The chair enveloped her, going from a simple command chair with leg coverings to a blocky humanoid shape that, if there was someone else in the cockpit, likely looked a little strange. The visor closed over her eyes. The impossibly flexible metal rippled as it sealed around her body. It held her weight as she leaned forward and she grabbed the controls. One of the changes she’d made was the controls. Yes, haptics for fingerwork were well and good, but there were a few ways in which Epoc was a classicalist. For the best controls, you needed to have your hands holding on to something. Something that could turn with a satisfying ‘chunk’, with clicky buttons. She revved the engine unnecessarily. “Hit me.”

“You’re a diva,” her Handler said. “Activation Phrase Aleph. Authorization code: Who’s a Good Girl?”

There was zero, none, zip, no reason for Epoc’s Handler to name the activation phrase or say the words “Authorization code.” It was all superfluous. Just the phrase was enough. But Handler Winter was a dweeb. She was a dork. And none of that mattered, because the phrase worked all the same. 

Sure, Epoc had the kind of brain damage that could make people feel guilty for wishing her a happy new year, but with the presence of the Activation Phrases, she could live a pretty normal life. The important thing was getting the right people to use the right phrases at the right time. And this one, Aleph, was the mildest one. 

Immediately her whole body tingled. Her Handler helped. The flexible material of the chair ran invisible hands over her skin, like a woman embracing her from behind. 

Winter’s hand rested on her abdomen, like it had the first time they’d met, and Epoc bit her lip remembering the moment. And the phrase made her all the more willing to replay it in her head. It made her more eager to do anything. She could feel something, something more encompassing than a hand wrap around her already leaking cock. Like a mouth. Whose, she wondered.

“Who’s a good girl, Epoc?” her handler whispered in her ear. Hands squeezed her breasts, and Epoc’s hips buckled, pushing deeper into the artificial throat. 

“I am, Handler,” Epoc said. 

“Whose good girl are you, Epoc?” What felt like hands gently pried her backside open. The tip of a plug was placed against her ass. 

“Yours, Handler,” Epoc whispered. 

“Prove it.” 

The plug was slipped into her with zero fanfare. There was something slightly perverse about the ease with which it was done. How good it felt. She squeezed down on it gently and felt it push a little deeper in response. 

“Yes, Handler.”

“Go out there,” Winter said. “And give them hell.”

“Yes, Handler,” Epoc said, gritted her teeth, then tightened her grip on the handles of her Frame, and started walking.

Elamimax

We're back baybeeeeee! It might be a little bit after this because I gotta focus on commission work but I wanted to capitalize on the trending :)