Three weeks ago, the Doomseye, a powerful weapon capable of destroying an entire fleet, designed and built by the Space pirates, was destroyed in a large scale battle within the Bermuda system. With the weapon's destruction, the Space pirate forces were devastated and disoriented, leaving them open to attack from the Galactic Federation. Although much of the pirate forces have been destroyed, several remnants and splinter cells continue to linger within the galaxy. Regardless, a new era of peace has been brought upon the galaxy, as the Federation decides to launch several probes to the outer reaches of space, to discover new worlds. Meanwhile, aboard the G.F.S Aegis, are the very heroes responsible for the destruction of the Doomseye, Prime Squadron. Today, Prime Squadron has been ordered to attend a special training excercise, featuring testing of new equipment and technology for their mechanized combat suits, constructed thanks to Operation Golem. Hopefully this training will be enough to prepare them for what is to come..
Aboard The G.F.S Aegis, Sector 3, Crew Quarters.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
"Time is, 6:00 AM, Standard Federation Time."
Beep.
Beep.
Be-
The beeping quickly stopped as soon as it started, the sound of a button clicking, and a clock resetting its alarm. Slowly, the hand responsible for pressing the 'Off' button of the alarm pulled back, as its owner slowly rose from the sheets of their bunk bed, scratching their well trimmed and smooth mustache as they yawned and stretched their arms outward, before speaking in a heavy British accent.
"Ahhhhhh... Mornin mates, it's that day again!" The mustachioed man shouted with enthusiasm as he looked to the window at the left end of the room, illuminating everything in a light glow as the Aegis drifted by the cold icy planet of Excelcion, Atlas's personal favorite planet, at least when compared to Bion and Talvania. He then looked to the bunk bed across from him, their occupants still fast asleep, and then focusing on the bed below him, seeing his broad shouldered and bearded compatriot snoring like a polar bear, completely un-affected by the alarm or the light coming from the window. "Ivan, it's time to get your lazy buttox up and ready!"
The burly beared man slowly opened his eyes and let out a low growl in irritation, as he scratched his beard and stretched out his arms, grumbling something under his breath. "I see no point for awakening early. We have plenty of time, comrade Atlas."
The British man chuckled to himself, as he spoke back down to his friend. "Ivan, you do not need to call me by my codename off duty, my real name is Mortimer, you know this. The reason I call you Ivan is because that's your actual name." Atlas said further chuckling as he then fully stood up and quickly climbed down from his top bunk bed, touching his feet down to the ground as he stretched out more. Ivan simply grunted as he slowly sat up from his bunk, popping his shoulder and rolling his neck a bit before standing, stretching out a bit more.
Meanwhile, in the bunk across them, another alarm was going off next to the bottom bed, before being quickly silenced by a hand extending from the bottom bed, as the hand then grasped a pair of glasses, and slid them over the face of a well shaved man with a ginger comb over. "Excellent, my alarm clock has actually properly awakened me at the time I set." The eager soldier then quickly looked to the bunk above them, as they smiled. "Hey, Nigel, not to disturb your beauty sleep, but it's time to get your sorry aussie ass up and adam." A low grunt of acknowledgement sounded out from the top bunk, before a voice with a heavy Australian accent spoke.
"Aye, I hear ya Roger, comin on down." And with that, the australian sat up, a big smile on his face, or at least there would be if it weren't for the giant mustache obscuring most of his mouth. As he stretched out, he quickly hopped down from his bunk, not even bothering to climb down, simply landing on the ground with a light thud against the steel flooring, lightly scratching his bushy mustache. "So mates, what's the special occasion? Why we wakin' up bright eyed and fuzzy tailed?" As Nigel popped his back a couple times, his British friend spoke up.
"Well, news from high command says were finally get the MK. 2 mecha suits, mates!" And with that announcement, a couple seconds later, all four of the men erupted out in a burst of cheer and enthusiasm, as Ivan rejoiced.
"Finally, I shall no longer suffer from uncomfortable seating within cockpit."
Nigel just rubbed his hands together as he laughed with a manic tone. "Oh ho ho ho ho... I wonder what destruction the new mech's are capable of... How many missiles can they fit?"
Roger simply chuckled as he adjusted his glasses, as he recalled looking over the files that research and development had 'lent' to their squadron, inspecting the details on new systems, upgraded weapons, improved power efficiency and advanced energy shielding. To say he was impressed by the new designs would be an understatement, but he did not want to spoil the surprise for his friends and squadmates. "I ain't gonna say anything, but I'll say this, the designs are quite impressive. I am looking forward to this exercise."
"Well, I doubt it would be good for us to dilly dally and waste time, mates! Let us suit up!" The squad mates all nodded to each other, as they walked to their lockers mounted on the wall next to the exit door of their quarters, as they each gazed upon their armor and helmets, color coded for each squad member.
Mortimer having Light Blue armor, as he slowly slid into it, putting his legs in the pants over his off-duty uniform, then fully zipping the suit up over his whole body as he stuck his arms through the arm holes, and securely fastened the armor plating and vesting to his chest, shoulders, knees, elbows, and ankles, before finally doing slipping his helmet onto his bed, his face disappearing behind it's brightly illuminated visor, as the rest of the squadron did the same, with Ivan slipping on a helmet with a Bright Red visor, Roger securely tightening his Light Green helmet to his face, and Nigel rapidly shoving his head inside his Bright Yellow helmet, smiling behind his mustache.
On the back of each of their suits was their national flags, with Mortimer's being the flag of Great Britain, Ivan's being the flag of the Soviet union, Roger's being the American Stars and Stripes, and finally Nigel wearing the flag of Australia.
As they all slipped on their helmets, their H.U.D's all collectively activated, each illuminated by their visors as a monotone robotic voice spoke to all of them.
[Re-Establishing Squad Holographic.Utility.Display Synchronization...]
A loading bar appeared on each of their visor's, slowly progressing through synchronization as the percentage counted up, Ivan and Nigel both groaning from frustration, knowing how long this process would take, before the bar reached 100% and was filled.
[Synchronization Complete. Vitals Synchronized. Displaying Squadron Vital Signs.]
Slowly, each of their H.U.D's began to display data on their fellow squadmates vital signs, including heart rate, neural activity, pain stimulation, and mental stress, all running at standard levels, except for Nigel, who was slightly at a higher stress level due to his irritation with the time it took for this sync-up.
[Suit Systems Synchronized. Displaying Squadron Suit Systems.]
Each squad member had both the entire teams system readouts on their H.U.D, displaying oxygen levels, suit integrity, power levels, all slowly rising to 100% for each squad member.
[Map Synchronization Complete. Displaying Mini map.]
Each helmet then had a small mini-map appear in the bottom left corner of their H.U.D, showing the layout of the Aegis, specifically Sector 3.
[All Systems Synchronized.]
Ivan and Nigel both let out sighs of relief, finally glad the long and tedious boot up process was over, Mortimer chuckiling to himself while Roger just shook his head in disappointment. "There's no need for you to just rush on out, we need to wait until we are properly-" A notification popping up on each of the squad's H.U.D's caught them off guard.
[Incoming Call From: General Alex Miles.]
Immediately every squad member shut their mouths and straightened their posture at hearing the notification, before their visors displayed a holographic screen, showing the General looking right at each of them through their visors, his face completely obscured by his visor, as he spoke in a stern tone. "Prime Squadron, good to see you are all awake. Report to the Training deck in Sector 2 at once, soldiers." And as the call ended, Nigel turned to Roger, a smug smile obscured by his yellow visor.
"And there would be ya invitation, mate." As Ivan and Mortimer snickered at the expense of their Squad mate, Roger just whacked Nigel upside the head, and then everyone just burst out laughing.
"Yep, yep It is... Ya asshole."
"Back at ya, wanker. Now, lets go get our new suits!" Nigel said enthusiastically, being the first out of the door. Mortimer was slightly surprised, as Ivan chuckled.
"And I thought you were the enthusiastic and happy thinking one, Mortimer."
"So did I, mate, but aye, can't be the only one being happy." Mortimer said, Ivan chuckling as they both exited their quarters, heading for the Training deck.
G.F.S Aegis, Sector 2, Training Deck.
Standing at attention, all four members of Prime Squadron stood side by side, all of them facing their greatest possessions. Their mech's, as they stood towering over the pilots, each one's colors matching its pilot, and having their own decorations.
Mortimer's mech had blue lights covering its exterior, with its visor being pure blue, and having 'God save the queen' written on the front plate, with the British flag on both shoulder, and a picture of Big Ben. Not even the federation has an answer, she is just somehow immortal and still living, instilling fear and dread into her enemies.
Ivan's mech had Bright Red lights on its exterior, and the words 'Za Rodinu' written boldly in red and gold font on its front chest plate. When translated, it means 'For The Motherland'. The suit also not only had the flag of Russia on both shoulders, but the hammer and sickle above his writing, as Ivan had accepted and embraced his soviet ancestry.
Roger's mech, light green in lighting, was also surprisingly well decorated, with the american flag on both shoulder plates, and 'God Bless America' engraved on the chest plate, and the portrait of George Washington above the engraving.
Finally, Nigel looked upon his bright yellow armor, where instead of an engraving, he marks on his mech's chestplate, numbering in the hundreds, indicating his amount of kills, with the Australian flag on both shoulders, and a necklace of grenade pins and crocodile teeth around the mech's neck. Yeah, Nigel was the most eccentric decorator.
As they all marveled at their battle suits, they noticed the damage sustained over their many weeks of fighting the pirates, and they reminisced about every single battle scar and blast burns across the armor plating, scratch marks from the fight with the Sawken, plasma and acid burns from the battles on Talvania, scorched armor from the lava of Bion, frozen joints from the freezing temperatures of Excelcion, and the hand on Ivan's mech was distinctly missing a finger, while Nigel's mech had a large chunk bitten off of it's right shoulder, thanks to the wild beasts of Excelcion. As they were busy reminiscing, a new notification appeared.
[Incoming Call From: General Alex Miles.]
The squadron quickly stood at attention, readying themselves, as the general appeared on their visors and spoke.
"Prime Squadron, I have to say, I am proud to have been your commander over the past few weeks... You have done much. Now, I truly believe you are worthy of a reward..."
Suddenly, a holographic sphere surrounded the mech's, obscuring them as sounds of welding, sparks, and clanging could be heard, the squadron watching on in confusion and excitement, before Alex Miles continued speaking.
"I present to you..."
And just as suddenly as the holographic sphere appeared, it vanished, revealing their mech's, illuminated in a bright new light... The very first thing they noticed were the new additions to the mech's battle wounds having vanished, the armor being completely repainted, a shimmering silver in the bright light. Knight's in shining mechanized armor. The Federation symbol on the armor shining brighter than ever, except for Ivan's armor, cause he replaced it with a red hammer and sickle, and even then, it was a pretty damn good looking hammer and sickle. The mech's also appeared to be a LOT taller than before, easily towering over the squadron.
"The Mark Two Mechanized Combat Suit! Complete with brand new hyper dense yet flexible and light alloy, including a variety of extremely durable metals, capable of withstanding the most extreme temperatures, the most powerful forces and blasts, and allowing you to get up without even a scratch and move just as fast, if not faster than the old model. With the new advanced energy shield cells built in, capable of powering a protective energy barrier around the suit, and protecting against all types of damage. Additional upgrades include increased hover booster power, allowing you to hover longer, and farther than ever before, as well as new and improved magnetic locks, allowing you to stick to any surface with ease, and resist even the strongest gravitational forces."
The four squadron members looked on absolute amazement and excitement in their eyes, as Mortimer cheered out.
"Jolly good! Now we are certain to send those space pirate back to where they belong!" Ivan nodded in agreement.
"Indeed, we shall kill them like watermelon! Ha ha, horosho!" Cue Roger and Nigel looking at Ivan in confusion.
"Heck does horosho mean, ya dang commie?"
"It means good, ya capitalist pig."
"Ah come on, ya know I don't mean it." Roger said giving Ivan a little kick in the shoulder, as he chuckled, before full on knocking Roger to the ground, as Nigel and Mortimer burst out laughing.
"However, Prime squadron, you not even seen the best part... To see the greatest of the upgrades, you will have to embark into your mech's and enter the testing ground."
Nigel could be heard audibly giggling like a little school girl after hearing this, as he made a mad dash for his mech, his compatriots following suit, as they all got positioned behind their mech's, and Nigel was already in the process of entering, as the back of the mech suit opened up, the hatch lowering down and producing a short ladder, as Nigel grasped the ladder and slowly climbed inside, finally sitting down into position, as the hatch closed behind him, and his cockpit became illuminated with yellow holo displays, while the rest of his team did the same, each one being met with their respective color of display. As they all entered their mech's, their helmets chimed.
[Commencing Squadron Synchronization With Mech Systems.
[Squadron Synchronization Complete. Displaying Squadron System Data.
Slowly, each of the squad members found their mech's H.U.D to display the status of each of their squad mates, including armor and shield integrity, power levels, and other systems and readings displayed on their H.U.D, as Mortimer chimed in over the radio.
"Well then, mates.... Shall we get to it?" Nigel slowly raised his blaster, priming it as the energy whirred through the gun.
"With pleasure..."
Author's Note
Fun fact, this is how the Mark 2 mech's appear in this story. 
Yeah, pretty big.
