Being a pilot wasn't as easy as it seemed; still Samuel, Hector and all other pilots had to push through hell to become the champions the whole world needed and admired; so when captain Virna came to wake them up, they steeled their resolve, took their clothes off and walked out their rooms covered with only towels. The elevator took them to the underground facility once again; after seeing the cockpit once more; it felt more like coffin than the control room of a machine. The moment came, and the two young pilots doubted on their feet in front of the open metal box.
"Get in there pilots!" ordered the captain.
The two men legs trembled, still they took a step forward, and the black fabric inside the exoskeleton covered their bodies as they felt the familiar sting of the microscopic needles pass through their skin. Samuel trembled as he heard the ominous count from the technician.
"Activation in three, two, one"
"Oh God!" Samuel yelled as the pain spread through his whole body. Then the sweet release of the painkillers came in.
"Pilots, start with today training session" the captain ordered.
The two men obeyed and started to move the giant robots limbs, turn the torsos and adjust their line of sight. The session was longer than the previous day; the two men came out the cockpit in similar condition as before, crying like babies. They went back to the barracks and spend the rest of the time resting for the afternoon.
One week later the hell was still as bad as the first day, the so promised tolerance to the pain didn't really came. Once the exoskeletons activated the two pilots received new orders.
"Prepare for the real deal" announced the captain.
"Real deal?" asked Samuel.
"We are gonna free the exoskeletons from the restraining system now, which means the Exos receptors will activate too, the load of information you guys will receive will increase, also your communication system will fully activate. You know what that means don't you?"
"Yeah, I will feel the exoskeleton parts as if they were mine"
"Yeah, but also means more pain, the painkillers will numb your body from the pain, but also your mind, so for the first days we will have to give you stimulants, get ready"
"Yes ma'am"
The moment came, Samuel screamed his lungs out as all systems went on line. The communications connected all the pilots in the base, the screams spread through all channels.
"Can you shut up!" yelled Vin.
As Samuel consciousness started to fade the stimulants kicked in.
"How are you feeling pilots?" asked the captain.
"Still in pain Ma'am, but wow, I feel invincible!" Yelled Hector.
Samuel moved his hands and looked down to see his giant hands moving as he opened and closed the robotic fingers.
"Wow, I can feel them move"
"Good, it means everything working properly, how is the pain?" asked one of the technicians.
"I could use some more painkillers"
"Denied!" answered the captain. "Now, start walking towards the launch bay"
The two gray giant robots stumbled a few times as they walked towards a huge platform.
"Damn this is uncomfortable" complained Hector.
"Of course, you are re learning to walk in a body way bigger than your won, you will get used to it" Jim stated.
The two gray robots made it to the platform, the captain's exoskeleton moved to her own platform and the three mechanical monsters rose up from the ground. The two young men walked around a practice field, it was just a marked road in an open field. In the distance a group of three gray exoskeletons ran, jumped, even flew around while shooting practice target. The two young men gritted their teeth and accelerated their march.
"Calm the hell down pilots; the faster you move, the more pain, and if you lose you balance and crash one of those exoskeletons, you will be in huge trouble. It will not only be painful, you might damage the machine; they might be practice exoskeletons, but they cost a fortune" the captain warned them as if she read their mind.
The two young men reigned in their enthusiasm and focused on completing their training under the hawk like watch of captain Virna.
"Oh please no, don't touch me!" screamed Samuel after he came out of the cockpit and someone tried to help him. He walked slowly, like if the floor was full of broken glass.
Hector was in the same situation.
"Hey, now you guys are really in on the fun" Said Vincent while hitting Samuel in the back with his open hand.
Samuel screamed in agony as the other pilots laughed.
"Very funny Vincent. How about I cut your painkillers ten percent"
"Oh! Come on cap, it was just a joke"
"Cap?" captain Virna was on a bad mood now.
An uncomfortable silence was made, Vincent swallowed in silence while looking at the captain get close to him.
"Lets make it twenty percent. Do you have anything else to say, pilot?"
"No Ma'am, twenty percent sounds... sounds good, yeah, twenty percent, yeah" there was tears in Vincent eyes.
"I am glad you like it. Now, everyone get to the showers, except you two" the captain signaled Samuel and Hector.
"Wait until the effect of the stimulants wears off"
A few hours later, Samuel and Hector trembled in the sofa as more of the side effects of the stimulants kicked in.
Days passed and turned into weeks and months. Then the day came when Vin, Jim and Nancy became full fledged pilots. Now Samuel and Hector were the veterans in the base, they saw the three new pilots get the star added to their uniform insignia in front of a formation of soldiers.
"Too bad you guys can't come to the party" said Nancy giving her junior pilots a hug.
"Well, we will have our own party one day" said Hector.
"I am sure you guys will" affirmed Jim.
"Come on! Time to party!" yelled Vincent as he boarded the military jeep.
There was a graduation party for the new pilots in the nearby town. The government made a huge celebration and invited family and friends of the new pilots; some famous people were supposed to attend, everyone tried to make the pilots look good in order to attract more volunteers. Mean while Samuel and Hector went back to the barracks. That was the last time they saw their seniors in base. Next day they went back to their routine training session, as the pain kicked in the two young pilots complained.
"Captain, what is going on? Something is wrong with our painkillers, I can't focus" Hector was the first to say something about it.
"Same here" Samuel seconded.
"Nothing is wrong, you are the big boys now, you don't need crutch anymore. From now on you guys will try to achieve the same results without using stimulants, now stop complaining and get to work"
The two men started moving their machines through the practice field, their coordination was bad, their aim terrible, even their walking was staggering a bit. After the training was over, captain Virna confronted them.
"That, was pathetic, you guys couldn't even walk properly, you better get used to do your job without those drugs"
"But captain, thats impossible, the pain makes it hard to focus and the targets moves too fast" complained Samuel.
"Every pilot that graduated from this base managed to do it. And you think that is fast? Thats nothing, once you see one of those Roid-tencts, everything else will look weak, slow and small. Moreover, Francis bring up my stats" the captain called for one of the technicians.
The man brought over an old fashioned touch screen
"Now, this is the captain average use of painkillers" the technician showed them the screen, the bars graph was easy to understand.
"This is yours guys"
The two man usage of painkillers was substantially higher. The captain was barely using twenty five percent of what the the two men combined were using.
"This is the basics; you have to gain tolerance to pain under training conditions. All pilots must get to this degree of self control and resistance. Stress, information overload and pain is much greater in combat, thats where you really will need the painkillers. The good news is you guys are improving, the Scholar systems have been programmed to reduce the painkillers slowly, not the same can be said for the stimulants, keep that in mind. Now go get a shower" the captain send them away.
The two young pilots covered themselves in towels and walked towards the barracks. Days passed by, as the two men went through the grueling training. Their state was not good, anorexia was making their bodies weaker, they started losing their will to fight, to live, and their sanity started to deteriorate.
"Remember what you are fighting for!" yelled the captain as the performance of both pilots diminished. "Tomorrow we won't train, get ready to go home. You got three days to visit your family"