Many things changed after that first break for the two young Cadets. Their classes were no longer with the rest of the First Years, instead they had a comprehensive new course called advanced Piloting that was scheduled to take their entire day. No separate training, or classes, just that one single item on their schedule.

It was very similar to the changeover between second and third year schedules. During the third year, Aspiring Mechanics started using basic robotics, ground crew started learning organization, staffing and mission launch procedures, while potential pilots got a control systems course.

This upgrade for him and Nico was a drastic change from the planned curriculum Max found online, which called for two years of fundamentals like reading and history before such courses started. Perhaps this is what Major Payne meant by being moved to the advanced classes?

The most obvious change in his surroundings though, stood right by the gates in front of the school. An enormous Citadel pattern Phalanx Class Mecha. This behemoth is so heavily armed it takes two pilots to operate at full capacity. One to move it and run the arm weapons, in this case an articulated hand holding a huge shield and a mighty triple barreled Ion bombardment battery.

The second pilot is entirely on weapons and sensors. The array of four independently targeted anti aircraft batteries atop its torso armor, the six chest mounted laser cannons and the two shoulder mounted twin barreled 15cm anti armor guns.

On this venerable machine, those are the only solid projectile weapons, the four anti aircraft batteries had been switched to energy pulse style quad guns at some point in its history._.

From his time playing illicitly obtained simulators, Max knew that this setup, particularly the Ion bombardment battery on the right arm would draw so much power from the Thorium reactor that the whole machine would slow down at high rates of fire, even when the pilot was rapidly cycling the weapon one barrel at a time instead of firing all three at once.

It was glorious, recently repaired and polished to a gleaming black, the name plate reading ‘Shining Darkness’ and a banner hanging from its hips detailing the over fifty campaigns it had survived. Just how old was this war machine? How many times was it repaired from devastating damage?

The first time they saw it in the courtyard, the two Cadets stood staring for a long while, simply looking over the magnificent work of human ingenuity. The presence of such a storied giant Mecha wasn’t something they could fully appreciate with just a cursory glance.

With the Phalanx Class Mecha of course came a pilot, rumor saying he came alone, the previous second pilot having passed away. In this age, humans could live hundreds of years with modern medical treatment, dying of old age was unheard of for a Mecha pilot.

“Cadet Nico, Cadet Max, you will have advanced piloting with General Tennant. He preferred to sleep in his Mecha, so report to him there.” Major Payne informs the duo.

That’s not quite what Max was hoping to hear, the students that had seen the General reported him to be an ill tempered old man covered in scars and tattoos. Having years of advanced piloting classes with him didn’t sound fun at all.

Major Payne had often taught the main piloting course, when she was overseeing older Cadets and she was regarded as an excellent teacher. Strict, but with a sense of humor. Having her class would be a much more enjoyable option.

Upon reporting to the giant Mecha for their first lesson the two found nobody in sight. No teacher, no students, nobody at all. Nico tried to access the Mecha, but was locked out by its security systems. Max had a little better luck though, as he could sense the pilot inside. He just didn’t know what to do about it, as the man seemed to be sleeping or blocked from his Innate Talent.

Max noticed the direction of Nico’s attention as she looked up at the cockpit, and did the same. “How do we greet him, and where is everyone else?” he whispers.

“General Tennant, Sir. Cadets Nico and Max reporting for duty, Sir.” Nico yells up at the Mecha in the most professional voice she can muster.

A side hatch on the torso opens when she calls out and a grizzled old soldier steps out, grabbing a wire cable from a winch inside the door and descending down to ground level using the hook.

The thought of descending from such a height, simply standing on a hook attached to a winch line makes Max feel a bit queasy, but he’s sure he would get over it eventually. After all, the General doesn’t seem the least bit concerned by the action, and he’s likely done it hundreds of times.

“So, you’re it are you?” The General asks.

It what? “Presumably so, General?” Cadet Max asks uncertainly. “We were under the impression this was the advanced piloting course.”

“It is, Cadet. You two are the only pair that have been identified as possible candidates for a future Phalanx Class appointment on this planet right now. So you are the entire advanced piloting class.”

Identified as a potential Phalanx Class team? Phalanx Class Mecha are legends on the battlefield. A single unit like the Shining Darkness can defend a city from a conventional army. Or take it from them. To most Mecha battalions, they are the most senior command element, their General, spiritual leader and strongest ally in battle, all in one massive machine. That is exactly what Dave meant when he told Max to become the sort of leader soldiers could look up to.

[To see more than one appear on each side of a battle is to see the end of your world] a local proverb says about the Phalanx Class Mecha, referring to an ancient battle that rendered a nearby planet uninhabitable for centuries. Ten Heavy Mecha Regiments faced off on a single world, the aftermath of their battle leaving the ground scorched and skies crackling with ionized energy.

“So, one day, if we survive that long, we might be piloting something almost as Glorious as the Shining Darkness?” Max asks in awe.

“Not just almost as glorious. If you survive training and your first few tours with the required commendations you will be taking over the Shining Darkness herself.” General Tennant smiles, looking fondly up at his Mecha.

“I’m an old man, and the Emperor tasked me with finding her successors. Ten generations of my family have fought inside Shining Darkness, each doing her proud. One legendary warrior showed so much promise he even moved past her and into the Titan Class ‘Glory of Sol’, even you young Cadets should know that name.” General Tennant laughs.

Of course they did. The Glory of Sol singlehandedly took the Kepler Core star cluster and held it against four hostile armies so the Kepler Kingdom could be founded. There’s not a child in this world, or the entire kingdom for that matter, that doesn’t know the name.

While a Phalanx Class Mecha could hold a city, a Titan Class Mecha, with their interstellar travel capability and unfathomable firepower could hold a small empire. Even the glorious fleets of the interstellar Navy couldn’t stop them. A handful of them could hold an entire segment of the galaxy.

But the mental power and skill required to so much as power it up was beyond even most S Class operators. The Titan Class machines were said to work on a dedicated Neural link, making the operator’s mind part of the Mecha’s AI. Not just any mind could handle that.

“Wait, that means the Shining Darkness predates the Kingdom” Max gasps, just now realizing how much time is needed for fifty interstellar war campaigns to be finished.

“Suitably awed, not too prideful, I like it. Now to test your skills. Follow me to the simulators for the first lesson in advanced piloting.”