Swing…!
“Hah…”
SWIPE!“Willow…!”
TWIRL… SMACK!“OWWWW…”Alphi fell back and huffed sharply as she was put into the dirt by a strong blow. She rubbed where she had been struck, and then looked up at Willow from under the shadow of the taller bot’s belly. The Loretracker firmly planted her simple bo staff and smirked quietly down at her ward…
“You’ve come a long way in your training, dear Alphi, since you were born. But remember, princess; there is always more to learn… no matter how much you train, no matter how much information you absorb… The only way to prepare for the future is to be light on your feet…”
She reached her hand out and helped the smaller bot back to a stand… Alphi dusted her cape quickly and picked up her own staff, taking a firm stance…
“Then I won’t be caught flat-foot again…”
Willow’s smirk turned to a wider grin, her eyes glinting with mirth as she blocked the sudden blow that Alphi gave. In truth, the taller bot was thrilled at the progress Alphi seemed to be making. She expected nothing less than the first newborn…“Firstborn…” she muttered to herself, twirling the staff to block another blow from Alphi. The princess was focusing incredibly hard on trying to get past her teacher’s defence and land a definitive strike, and she was trying harder than she might otherwise have been, given that she had a stern pair of eyes judging her motions…
Magna stood, arms folded and eyes lazily tracing the action. She seemed unimpressed… but below the surface, her thoughts were anything but...
Of course, it was expected from this little Forgeborn… She had been outperforming everyone’s expectations, and now she’d come for a weapon… It had put the General sisters on edge, especially after their recent, disturbing revelation…
...Seri Vex… She doubtless knew. She had an odd way of gleaning information that she otherwise shouldn’t have… But besides her, none knew that a hoard of Scrappers were amassing in the desert wastes, so far away… yet not far away to assuage the droning paranoia…
But there was no betrayal here. Just a young Elite choosing her destined tool of justice. By her skill with the staff, it would likely be a blessing to have her blade on their side…
Still, Magna made sure her expression was flat. No use letting the young Forgemother know that the decision was already made up… Besides, watching the Rangers spar was quite enjoyable…
“YAAH!”
Alphi leapt high and aimed a blow at Willow’s centre of mass, but the lanky Ranger had already darted back. She punished Alphi’s flashiness by sweeping her legs as soon as she landed…“Now now… Do you think that just because you can move in such a way that you’ve earned the right to be a show-bot? No no no… The General Sisters have trained long and hard to ensure that they can dance among the flames of battle with grace and elegance. A dive like that, unprepared, simply has no place in a serious fight… Not for one such as you…”“Hrrrrggghhhh…”
This was a bit of a new feeling to the Princess… It reminded her of laying the egg that was safely tucked on her back; the moment it emerged and she realized everyone was staring at her…
...embarrassment… That’s what it was. Humiliation? Maybe not that far… But she had been taught since birth that her potential was vast… Coddled and pampered, it seemed. Here was a far more bitter taste of upset and frustration…
She pushed herself up to a stand and snatched her staff again...
Willow twirled hers, knowing full well that the little bot was bothered. Yet, she continued on… Not for her own pride, of course, but to test the princess, as she was meant to do.
A Halberd… It was a bit of an odd choice, but Alphi had meditated long and hard about it, cradling her egg and staring at the case she had retrieved from her mother’s secret study room…
...somehow, it seemed to be the best idea. Reach, and a good mix of lethality, and non. Besides, Willow had been training her with staves anyway… This was simply one step forward from it…
The Loretracker blocked the strikes aimed at her… She had to focus, as even untrained as she was, Alphi was still incredibly fast and strong when she wanted to be. But then, Willow herself had always trained with the best anyway…
...the idle parts of her mind drifted to memories… After finding Forgemother Gaia’s secrets, it was inevitable that Willow looked back on her time with the mighty Forgeborn…
She was obsessed… From the moment she laid eyes on the huddled fuzzballs that would spark this revolution… The notes that Gaia left indicated that her mind shifted heavily…
‘I had found them in the depths, mired in a pool of what I thought was liquid mercury. But it is a living metal, just as much as these creatures are living… The first example of complex life we’ve ever found on a planet, and it is destined to die…
I can see that they’re sick. I’m hoping the swollen one is okay… She’s been breathing very hard. The others won’t leave her side…
...the image is striking to me. This metal… These beasts. All of it, striving for any way to survive that they can… The sacrifice...
...there is a cave at the back… And still a day or so before the Scientists manage to get to this place. I feel compelled to explore as much as I can… Perhaps there is something worth finding down there...’
Swing…!“Ack…”Swipe…!
“Zochosa…!!!”
Twirl… THUNK.
Willow stumbled back, hit her head against a low hanging tree branch, and then fell to a knee. She held the sore spot on her skull and sighed shakily…
“Too fast for you yet again, my dear Willow…”
The ornate example of Forgeborn technology stood above her, leaning idly against the tree Willow had fallen under. Her aura was that of the forest around her; soft and beautiful, and doubtless deadly if you turned your back…
“...You know that a mere Elite like me cannot measure up to the power of a Forgemother… Even your own design…”Willow stood, careful not to stick her head in the branches she’d already whacked herself with. Forgemother Gaia tilted her head, a whimsical grin gleaming in her eyes…
“...tsk, insulted by my own Elite… Over my craft! This will not stand!”Gaia suddenly had the taller bot pinned against the tree…
“Apologize, or find yourself fed to the waiting maw of Allma herself…”
Willow squirmed lightly, then sighed heavily and shook her head…
“It is simply what must be…! Imagine if our creations could outlive us… If the barely conscious Dummies could rebel and attack… There would be no order. And obviously… none could compete with the Grand Forgemother’s skill in design…”
Gaia nodded idly, though she didn’t relax her grip. She merely stared, their bodies pressed together, waiting...
“...Zochosa… Are you going to release me?”
“I’ve marked the conditions of your release, my dear. Apologize for insulting my work…”
“Insulting? You’ve built a mighty warrior, but…”
“Ahah…” Gaia set her finger suddenly on Willow’s faceplate, to shush her. Then she roved it down along her body… Along the curves she had so lovingly formed… The contours and features she had envisioned, revised, and perfected…
“...a work of art is not merely its efficacy… We are advanced beings, of course, and advanced enough to appreciate beauty… Even flaws can add to the splendour, in ways that perfection cannot…”
“...M… Ah… Forgemother…?”
“Shh…” she muttered, as she inspected, her eyes glimmering with admiration… “This… is what I CHOSE to create… This is what I have made. I won’t hear admonishments, nor cynicism… In my eyes… You are perfect…”
“…”
Willow’s gaze locked on Zochosa’s… The forest and its greenery fell away, replaced entirely in her mind by its keeper… The elegant and unique view of the world she held… It was a view that Willow grasped for, much as the Forgemothers themselves must have grasped for Allma’s view…
She could lose herself for days in this embrace…
...thump!
“OW…”
Willow winced as the Forgemother knocked her down again with a flick of her finger. The Loretracker huffed gently and stared after her companion as she sauntered away…
“So start acting like you are. Limitations are approximately 63.55 percent in the mind, dear…”
Willow nodded, but remained sat heavily there, her arms draped on her knees…
...and her eyes unable to leave the Forgemother for even a moment…
WHAM.
===
Loretracker willow stumbled back and fell to her knees with a sharp wheeze. Her staff was dropped aside, and she rocked gently there for a moment…
“...ow…”
Alphi stood across from her, shaking lightly with excitement…
“Haha! I landed a blow… I did it… A good one right on he-… Oh.”
Alphi dropped her weapon, letting it clatter against Willow’s, as she quickly stepped forward and put her hands on the Loretracker’s tummy…
“I-I apologize, I didn’t mean… It… It was simply a vulnerable… I…!”
Willow breathed for a few more seconds… Her processor was running hot enough that a bit of steam was hissing from her head, and her faceplate had gained a subtle red hue…
“...I-I will be okay… Pahhh… Alphi, compose yourself… Do not panic… It would take… far more than that to damage Forgemother Gaia’s design…”
Alphi tapped her fingers together nervously, as Willow knelt there for a few more moments, arms draped across her middle. Magna stepped up, a few Solider Dummies having emerged from the woods to report something to her…
“...She is approved. We will transmit the blueprints to you at our convenience.” Magna said, stiffly… “Do not tarnish our reputation by misusing this gift…”
“You… needn’t worry…” chuckled Willow, as she stood with Alphi’s help… She stretched and winced, then turned to the Soldier Elite...
“She is a clever little bot, and not inclined towards trouble…”
“...as of yet, anyway. She’s still young…”
Magna turned and glanced over her shoulder one more time before walking into the woods… The Dummies eyed Alphi warily before following her quickly…
“...did you see?”
Alphi looked up shakily at Willow’s voice. The Loretracker was speaking very quietly, so that only Alphi could hear, even if the frequency was spied upon…
“...She had an arm repaired. And perhaps a whole section of leg replaced… And her weapon… it was chipped. Damaged…”
“...eh…?”
“...what do you think it means, Alphi…? That a bot like her was injured…”
Alphi frowned and leaned against Willow. The taller bot crouched and picked up her ward, setting her daintily in her arms, as she was getting comfortable in doing…
The Princess pondered, transferring her egg pod to her front so she could cradle it. Surely, Soldiers must spar all the time, hm? And quite viciously too, far more than Willow and Alphi had in this test… That could account for all of it.
...then again… No Soldier would show up to a meeting like this with a weapon in poor display. The Soldiers treated their weapons like extensions of themselves… symbols of pride and strength. No… She hadn’t merely sparred. She had fought someone… or something.
Something strong enough to damage a combat Elite like her… Enough to set even the Dummies on edge…
“...It means… nothing good, that’s for certain, Loretracker…”
Willow nodded slowly… then turned and retreated quietly into the woods, her expression far more troubled than it had been before...