"What you did today was unacceptable."

After the incident in Eurasia, I found myself taken away from my mansion, and placed in an interrogation room on the primary Earthsavers headquarter, the Lunacis Caverna. The name of the base is pretty much self-explanatory, a cavern placed within Lunacis, or a fancy name of the Moon. As for the reason I'm here, apparently piloting the Valkyrie was illegal.

"I'm sorry Commander. I would never do it again."

"I haven't stopped talking."

Elliot threw his cold blue gaze at me, as if I'm some kind of criminal. So this was where his "Blue-eyed Terror" moniker came from. I startled though, as he's never looked at anyone with that kind of aggressive emotion.

"I'm really sorry."

"April. Even though it was unacceptable by our standards... You acted quickly."

"I- honestly, I don't know how I managed to pilot that thing..."

"You... don't know?"

"Yeah. I was struggling to read the manual but then I get a sharp pain in my head. After that everything just... made sense?"

"Amplified perception."

"Huh?"

"That means you're an amplifier. They have the ability to amplify their perception in dire situations. Almost like ultimate adaptibility."

"What's an amplifier?"

"Evolved humans. This means that you either were born in space or had some alterations to your genes before birth."

"What?"

"I don't make the rules. Earthsavers is secretly an amplifier-run organization. The world fears our powers."

"I was born in Canada. I was raised in the Alps. There's no way I am an amplifier."

"Yet you are. Being a Frame pilot means you are an amplifier. Normal humans simply can't handle the pressure of piloting them."

I was speechless. Me? Evolved humans? What is all this?

"I know this is hard to believe, April. But your fate is set in stone now. You must pilot the Frame."

"I-I can't. I haven't even enjoyed my li-"

Elliot slapped me across the face.

"The world is in danger and you only care about your comfort? What a waste of an amplifier."

"Wait... I'm not ready..."

"Go. If you desire comfort that much then go. Leave the Earthsavers, and risk being assassinated by the Remnants."

"..."

"There's no way for you to turn back. The enemy saw you pilot that Frame. Intel will reach their leaders in no time."

"But why THAT Frame? Isn't it the newest one? Can't I just get some older Mobile Armors?"

"What's wrong with new Frames?"

"It's just... I'm a new recruit. I don't want people to judge me."

"The Frame chose you. No one in the history of our organization has ever been given that privilege. People had to win Frames."

So that's it. I guess I'm a Frame pilot now. But what about my teammates? Do they go with me? Or do they just stay there and do their usual jobs?

"What about my friends?"

"I'm looking through their files. Copper will be joining you soon. He has the potential."

________________________________________________________________________________

After that incident in Eurasia, I got moved to a dormitory back on Earth, where other pilots are training for their first ever flights. Most of the pilots here train for Power Borer piloting, yet I was put here because I am young and inexperienced. I was sorting out my stuff when I bumped into a person who would become a close friend much later. His name, was Edmund Morris.

"I'm sorry. Frame pilot?" - he asked, slightly annoyed that I had made a mess.

"How'd you know?"

"Heard the Frame chose you. You're pretty famous." - a smirk slowly formed on his pale face as he said that.

"Oh. Mind you if you could show me around the place?"

"Sure."

The dormitory was a relatively small building off the outskirts of Berlin, Germany. It was surrounded by lush scenery, with the occasional concrete buildings sticking out like a sore thumb.

"That one's the academy. We'll be spending most of our time there." - Edmund continued speaking in a monotonous voice.

I took a good look at my new acquaintance. He looks much less presentable than the folks at Eurasia. His hair was messy, his eyes sunken in almost as if he's been sleepy all the time. His skin was unnervingly pale, his eyes a weirdly yellow color. He always had his backpack on, and whenever we stopped to sit for a while, he just pulled out his laptop and typed something.

"What's that?"

"I'm reprogramming my Power Borer. I can't stand the standard controls so I'm reconfiguring it to suit my preferences."

"It's OS-operated?"

"Yeah. Same framework as a space shuttle. If you know how to pilot one you can pilot the other."

"I didn't know the Earthsavers had other mecha lineups."

"They have these bad boys for quite a while now. You never piloted one?"

"Yeah. Only one I've ever piloted was a Frame. The Valkyrie to be exact."

"Must be lucky to be a Frame pilot."

"What does that even mean?"

"Power Borers are expendable. Our lives are meant to be sacrificed. Frames are very expensive, so we have to protect them with our very being."

I stay silent at that remark. Human lives are small, that is an undeniable truth. Yet, each human being should be able to think for themselves, not selflessly sacrifice to get a marginally higher chance of winning a losing battle. Seeing Edmund like this, it's understandable how he doesn't care about his looks anymore. He's fixed on being killed.

We strolled alongside the campus in silence for a while, admiring the sheer ingenuity of the Earthsavers engineers. Other than mechas, the engineers pitched many creations both for everyday use and military use. There's the SS-25/PAV , the upgraded version of the SS-17 that is much smaller and used for personal solo trips, the mass-produced SMCA mechs, the most used of which were the SMCA-075 Power Borers.

"Why don't they make more SMCA units?" - I asked Edmund.

"There are plans for the SMCA-076, but since the Frame Extension units were so successful, they ditched the idea and made extension units for the 075 instead."

We walked pass a huge mecha, almost as big as a Frame itself. Yet, it looked run-down and old, unlike the mecha I piloted a few days ago.

"That's an SMCA unit." - Edmund suddenly broke the silence.

"Wait what? It's so big..."

"Yeah. SMCA-275 Metalhead. UN-commissioned Combat Armor. They wanted to show off their monetary powers so they asked us to make that one. It's never seen actual combat. Probably never will."

"Can that thing actually run?"

"It can. In fact I piloted it on a test flight once. It's OS-operated like every other SMCA units, but it feels much more natural. A big rocket to its face would probably destroy it, though. It's not a Frame."

"What does SMCA even stand for?"

"Specialized Mobile Combat Armors. They're nowhere near as powerful as a Frame, but compared to the normal Mobile Combat Armors and the Stationary Combat Armors, they are much much stronger. Normal MCAs are too fragile. They only serve as replacement for tanks, really, but one shot to their fuel supply and they catch on fire. SCAs are durable, but, well, they're stationary, so they don't do much."

"So Frames are a form of Combat Armor then."

"No. Frames are something else. They got AIONs installed on them. You know, that Amplified Intelligence Operating Network that links the human mind to the machine's controls. That technically makes Frames an extension of yourself, not mere armors."

"Wait, so I've been piloting them wrong the entire time? I only grabbed onto the joysticks."

"Did you get used to their UIs? Normally Earthsavers need to 'win' these things over."

"No. The Frame asked me to pilot it."

"There you have it. You are already linked."

We strolled alongside one another, talking about the future of humanity, as the day drew to a close.

________________________________________________________________________________

Within an undisclosed destination, Admiral George Van Stufon calls up a meeting.

"I have summon you here, fellow Remnants of the Great America, to inform you on an upcoming operation."

The audience clapped. In front of Van Stufon, was 5 other members of the Remnants' leadership council. Their faces were shrouded under their large robes, masking their reactions to Stufon's remarks.

"Operation Nightfall was unfortunately a failure. Even with our most powerful Combat Armor, the RCA-272 Asbestos supporting Drognar the Terror, we were defeated by an unknown FRAME unit, possibly the 'Hangman'."

"I'm telling you, Admiral, using Giants will NOT be effective!" - a robed man slammed onto the table and stood up aggressively.

"Sir Andrew Williams, please calm down. While I do acknowledge using Giants to fight the Earthsavers would be a lost cause, our engineers have discovered a new source of energy within these beasts that we could use for our machines." - Stufon stopped and unveiled the blueprints for a seemingly massive Combat Armor - "the Blaze, energy that flows within these primordial beasts. Introducing - the first EVER Combat Giant, Drognar the Resentful!"

"Stufon... did you turn Drognar's corpse into a Combat Armor?"

"Precisely. Using his heart, we can achieve powers never seen before. The Earthsavers' Frames will crumble at our feet!"

Stufon then led the men down a dark hallway, into a hangar where destroyed Asbestos units are thrown away. At the center, a massive machine was being built, with a hollow core where the deceased Drognar's heart was placed. The machine resembled a metal dragon, complete with wings and 4 thrusters on its wings and back.

"Drognar the Resentful. Wake up." - Stufon called upon the metallic monstrosity, and the machine's eyes sprung open.

________________________________________________________________________________

FINALS IS OVER LET'S GOOOOOOOOO