The Eternal Sunset of the Knightless Mind
Skuld was vibrating on her feet, restless with excitement. The time had finally arrived, the grand celebration about to commence. Conscription day had been celebrated her for as long as the town had existed, serving first the old empire, and then the light of the glimmering Federation. The latter had abolished the conscription, but the town would not so easily abolish it's legacy. And so, every spring, in the midst of March, the youths would gather and sign up for the future military careers. It was a grand spectacle, and if many of them signed up for the reserves or local PDF, then everyone knew not to complain.
Skuld however, was not looking for such an easy assignment. She wanted to be in the fight proper, liberating people as the Glimmering Federation had liberated her home, writing the same legends which she grew up hearing every day. Some of her friends had chosen similar careers, joining up with the SAG's or the Navy, or in the case of one hopeless romantic, trying to become a fighter jock. But not her. She had a higher aim. Her grandfather had told her the stories his grandfather had told him, of the great god machines, the awesome power of the walkers that could turn the tide of the battle, and the sheer fortitude of the pilots who lashed their minds to those systems. She'd been enamored, and even if all she'd seen of them was a blurry, yellowed pict snipped from an old propaganda leaflet, she still knew what she wanted to do.
And so she trained, to meet the rigorous standards. She learned, to understand the angles of fire, to do in her head the mathematics that would guide missile and claw, that would direct tonnes of steel and tear the enemy asunder. She put the strength of her mind against machine, even if the local mechanicus was mystified why a laywoman showed such interest in dealing with machines even they considered to obstinate and worthless to fix. And 6 months ago, she wrote to the capital, to the fortress of The Order of the Blazing Sun, to request that they send their representative to the festival, so that she might show her merit.
And they came. They came.
A heavy cargo shuttle had flown over the town 2 days ago, setting down in a nearby field. Since then, she'd been watching the knights, setting up their gear. Part of her, (a foolish part, she chided herself) had hoped they'd bring a knight, but of course those god machines had better things to do than judge the merit of simple applicants like her. Instead, they had brough a weird and complex apparat, and had been spending all day and knight setting it up. A Training Throne, to test the recruits of their worthiness. And in just a few minutes, she might sit upon it, and prove her worth.
Those last minutes were agone. One by one, the names of children were announced, and one by one, men and woman would stand up, pledge their oaths, and walk onwards to the assembled recruiters. But then, absolution. She stood up, walked as fast she dignifiedly could, to the stand. She delivered the oath, pitch perfect, with not a vowel of second wasted. And then, she was a child no longer, and she was off. Leaving the baffled mayor behind, she jogged (dignified, but fast), towards the recruiters, bullied her way through the signup lines of the militia and the SDF, past the navy booth -they had, she was suprised to notice, actually send a Thule- , and then into the depths of the camp. The knights, late arrivers, were all the way back. It was quiet here, with only a handful of conscientious objectors to be seen, signing up for engineering, or Mil Ind positions.
"Ah, Miss Skuld, I presume", the kind voice of an old man behind her derailed her train of thought. "I was informed that you would seek to join our order." He continued.
"Walk with me, and we can get you sorted". They entered the big tent, and saw the throne within. "Normally, we would request that recruits come to our fortress for the proceedings, but it's rare for us to see one so dedicated, and the weather's lovely out here this time of the year".
"Now, the doctor has send us your physicals and test results, so we can skip that part of the test. Hasn't been used in decades really, what with malnutrition being going, and everyone learning his letters. What matters is right here" He tapped his head.
"Whether you can connect with the engine, to maintain stability of mind. That is the skill all knights should have. Now sit down, and we'll have you rigged up in a minute."
Connecting the training pilot engine did not take long, the old knight being efficient in his work, and having access to a wide array of connectors and convertors to attach the machines crude old dataport to the transcranial datalink beneath her temple.
"There. We'd have to get you fitted for something more fitting later, but for now, this'll do." he finished. "Now, you just relax, and I'll turn the machine on. Focus on the square in front of you, and try to maintain your sense of self. Remember, you are flesh, not metal."
And then, with the push of a button and the whine of electric capacitors, the machine activated, and she fell. She fell into the darkness, feeling her arms turned into claws, her legs pumping into the mud to try and free herself from the march in which she'd been trapped. She felt the sting of lasers hitting her frame, her ears filled with the rattling of bullets upon her hull, and out of every eye upon her body she saw the green of orks, as they crawled on top of her. She lashed out, a claw tearing Orks asunder, but the sudden action just made her sink further. A blast of a cannon gave a moment of respite, but before she could think on how to start righting herself, the Orks were flowing in again. She started to panic, to fear, but then the words of the Old Knight came to her again. She was flesh, not metal. She was more than the machine. And she got it. With a simple, mental command, she confirmed it. She took a moment to direct the final databurst, the last goodbye of a god engine, and then the link cut out, the engines fired, and her pilot pod shot away from the wreckage.
"Excellent job, my girl", the old knight congratulated. "You made a great connection, reassured the old machine quite well. Remind me of myself in my prime, you do. Now, I figure you want to tell your parents, and I have to get this whole show back onto the road, so I'll see you tomorrow. We depart at 9, if the weathers favorable and the port's not too busy".
Before he could walk into the tent, Skuld interjected "Just a moment, sir, of your time please."
She had heard rumors of the Order, fears that even those worthy might never pilot or see an engine, due to their great rarity, and so she had to ask.
"Do we have an engine on this planet? I would love to serve the other, even if I never pilot one, but I so long love to see one." The priest look, so mixture of compassion and pity on his face.
"My dear girl, didn't you know?" He removed part of the covering of the throne, revealing a shattered hull panel beneath, and half a handprint. "You've already piloted an engine."
"This here is all that remains of Shimmer of the Exalted Sword, after her fall against the Orks 90 years ago. They haven't made new engines, let alone new parts in centuries. The factory line has been lost to the years, we don't even know where to get the machines to make the parts. All we do, all anyone in this order does, is to connect to the machines, let them dream of the battles past, and how they could have saved the pilots they lost. "
