Heirloom Public Safety Equipment

Author’s Note: This story was originally posted to
cohost on 5 May 2023, in response to a writing prompt by making_up_mech_pilots:
Mech Pilot who stole their first Mech off a farm, out of a barn, out
from under a sheet..

The Wright Dynamics 704 “Shrike” frame is a thing of beauty. Six legs
with adaptive joint attenuation, integrated self-refueling jump jets,
and a state-of-the-art ECM suite.

The mech before Technician First Class Erin Markova is not a Shrike.
It isn’t even a Wright Dynamics model. It is, by all accounts, a
modified wild-land firefighting vehicle. Like a Shrike, it has six legs,
but that’s about as far as the similarity goes. Judging by the rust and
the lack of sun damage, the thing’s been sitting in a shed longer than
Erin has been alive.

“What,” she asks the pilot of the offending mech, “is that, and why
is it in my maintenance bay.”

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