Chapter 13: A Little Tour

William kept up a pleasant conversation as he led the four Paladin pilots through the expansive base. He was occasionally stopped by some people, and had to greet them, but other than that, they made quick progress. The training area was not close to the base commander's office, but it was not far enough that they needed to use floater platforms. Instead, it would be better to walk so that the four new transfers could familiarize themselves more with the base.

Moses took in the areas of the base that they passed by earnestly. While he had seen a lot of high tech in his life, the Pluto base, Nagarka, did not skimp out on lining the base with very expensive and valuable technology, and it showed.

'Ah, what money can do.' He sighed internally, but still kept a straight face on the exterior.

Before long, the group of five arrived at a different wing of the base that was clearly biased towards exercises, training, and other recreational activities.

Moses looked into a gym room for a moment, seeing over half a dozen men working out. He nodded mutely before turning away to keep up with the others. There were over three more gyms that they passed by before coming to a stop at a blast door. There was no complicated process, and one only needed to use their access card to pass the blast door. Their access level must be at least a level 2, which meant that not everyone could come down this way.

"This wing is dedicated to our elite personnel. While lower level personnel can also come in here, they will need to tag along with someone with a level 2 clearance. This is just mostly to prevent accidents concerning newbies wandering into where they should not be and getting someone injured." William explained.

It was actually quite a small deal as it was not difficult to get up to level 2 clearance. Level three upwards was much more difficult, though.

The blast doors slid open with a low hiss, and the group walked past. There, they immediately feasted their eyes on something much more different. Lines of simulation pods were lined up on each side of the wall, and further down, there was another door that most likely led to a similar hall.

"The place we are heading to is a few halls down." William announced and started walking forward.

Moses followed while looking around. A couple of mech pilots who were just finishing a simulation run stepped out from their open pods with smiles on their faces.

"Nice fight." The nodded at each other and laughed.

'There is not much difference between here and earth' base, then.' Moses noted mentally and kept on walking.

The group drew a bit of attention as they passed by, as William was actually a high ranking personnel with level 4 clearance, but now he was acting as a tour guide for some unfamiliar figures. There were a few questions circulation around the pilots who saw them, but no one knew who they were. After all, their transfer had been on the down low. Only high ranking people knew of it, and most middle ranking people even knew that the four existed as of yet. There was no need to even mention the low ranking personnel.

The door ahead slid open, turning into a wider corridor with the right side of the wall being see through. Rows upon rows of simulation pods that were dedicated to mech pilots were lined up in abundance, but not only mech pilots were president.

Other personnel that hold important posts such as those who man the artillery guns of the warships can also come here in order to take some simulation runs. This helps them to keep their minds up to pace and practice their responses even when they are not on duty. It is a great help and is necessary to keep their responses sharp." William gave a small rundown, waving at the simulation pods.

"When you guys are done with your integration, you can come around here if you wish to polish your skills."

"Will these simulation pods be able to keep up?" Bethany asked dubiously. She had used the simulation pods aboard the frigate that had transported them to Pluto just as Moses had done, and she had not been able to exert her new strength to its fullest, as the simulation pods were geared with normal mech pilots in mind.

"Of course not. I did not mean these simulation pods, but the ones that you will soon see in the next area." William chuckled. This piqued everyone's attention now. They wanted to know what was in the next area and how it could keep up with their newfound strength.

When they finally arrived in the next area, they immediately noted how different it was at once. Just a dozen different simulation pods were present, but even then, the hall where the simulation pods were was very large. At the end of the hall, away from the pods, a massive, twelve meter tall mech stood. With just one look, they were all able to tell that it was no normal mech. It was a Paladin!

The massive war machine stood imposingly in the corner, its dark red and gold coating gleaming under the bright lighting of the hall. But it was not online at the moment.

Looking around, Moses was quickly able to spot that one of the dozen simulation pods was active at the moment. He recalled that the base commander said they would be meeting the only other Paladin that was present in Nagarka, and he guessed that this person was currently in the simulation pod.

"Manuel is still training. Tsk, he never rests." William shook his head and clicked his tongue. He walked over to the side where a control panel was present, and for a moment, Moses thought that he was going to forcibly disrupt the Paladin pilot's session, but his thoughts were wrong.

William's fingers flashed across the panel and a large, holographic image was immediately displayed.