"Black Flame? Famed hero?" I asked curiously as my brain whirred into action and scoured my memory bank for "Black Flame".

I got the answer to my own question just as Grand Elder Shella opened her mouth to explain to me patiently.

"Black Flame was a powerful white mecha pilot back in World War 3 when our Federation was at war with both the Empire and the USAA. He was a mercenary serving the Empire at that time.

The Empire was pressing us from the West while the USAA crossed the Pacific Ocean to attack us from the East. As you know, the greatest hero of the war was Russel Whitefrost who created miracle after miracle as he conducted our defensive war from the Capital. He was the only reason why we lasted that long.

However, he wasn't the only hero of the war. There were many others who rose to the occasion during the critical moments which could have broken the war much earlier without their contribution.historical

Tes's grandfather, Tang Hu, was one such hero. He and his Heavy Mecha Squadron, fought and delayed the Black Flame Battalion's advance by three full days, giving our retreating troops much needed time to make it to safety.

On the third and final day, Black Flame himself had to fight Tang Hu in order to finally smite him down and break through to continue his assault.

Tang Hu died a hero's death, and his mecha which was nearly destroyed, was captured by the Empire.

We got it back after the war was over. It was repaired, upgraded, and gifted to me for exceptional merits rendered."

I nodded. It was more or less all the information I had as well, except for one crucial piece of information which Grand Elder Shella missed or intentionally skipped.

Tang Hu's body was never found.

The general assumption was that the Black Flame had captured it alongside the White Phoenix.

But the Empire denied ever receiving Tang Hu's body or any report of its men ever receiving his body. As a world power, the Empire had absolutely no reason to lie about a single unknown soldier's body.

And so the mystery remained unsolved for those in the know.

The stink of it was, Tang Hu didn't die and had instead defected to the Empire. But no one knew for sure, and all talk of Tang Hu died down after the Federation declared him one of 108 National Heroes of WW3.

"Your grandfather sounds like a great man, Tes." I told Tes with obvious admiration in my voice.

"He was." Tes replied fiercely and glared at Grand Elder Shella, as if daring her to mention anything about him defecting and betraying the Federation. She must be pretty shaken up when she found out about the possibility of her vaunted grandfather defecting.

Grand Elder Shella merely smiled and pulled up the long voluminous sleeves a little bit to reveal her slender and perfect right arm to Tes.

I caught a glimpse of a beautiful phoenix tattooed or carved into her flesh before she replaced her sleeve.

I had no idea then the significance of that tattoo.

"I forgot to mention that I picked the White Phoenix out of a hundred other White Mechas the government offered me. And paid for its repair and upgrade myself." Grand Elder Shella said softly to Tes. "Tang Hu and his battle with the Black Flame left a powerful and lasting impression on me. I hope to be worthy of this mecha one day."

Tes stared at Grand Elder Shella in shock, the beginnings of a serious case of hero worship already forming within her eyes.

Grand Elder Shella chuckled lightly and glanced at me. "This shall be our little secret, alright?"

"Of course." I quickly agreed.

"Acknowledged!" Tes replied as well.

"Good, because we're here. Come along now, I have a lot of things to do today, no thanks to your little record-breaking spree, Justin." Grand Elder Shella swept out of the little room and out into a ridiculously massive hangar that housed hundreds, if not thousands of mechas.

The little compartment we were in had lowered itself to the ground at some point, and allowed us to exit it directly.

We quickly followed Grand Elder Shella rapidly into a large and luxurious lift and felt it move at high speed. And if my senses were right, it didn't move vertically up.

A few seconds later, the lift door opened up to a large auditorium that could easily sit ten thousand people.

"Make yourself comfortable, Tes. Your schoolmates should be here soon. There are food, drinks and the toilet is right there. Press the help button found on every seat if you need anything. Goodbye." Grand Elder Shella told Tes as she gently pushed her out of the lift.

The lift door began to close even before Grand Elder Shella had retracted her hand.

"SEE YOU LATER TES!" I managed to shout right before the lift door closed once more and left the still confused Tes alone in the auditorium.

Hum. The lift shot out at a noticeably higher speed and then stabilized itself.

I turned to Grand Elder Shella and opened my mouth to ask her why we were in such a hurry, when the lift suddenly stopped once more and opened up to a beautiful and large courtyard.

"I was right." I thought to myself. "The lift didn't move vertically up. We're actually on the ground floor!"

"Come along now." Grand Elder Shella rapidly brought me across the courtyard and into an astoundingly magnificent garden that looked like it was ripped straight out of a fairytale book and brought shamelessly to life.

The first thing that struck me was how peaceful and how beautiful everything was. There was a small waterfall on the far left that fed a stream that winded across the whole garden and ended in a perfect looking lake with an island gazebo in the middle. A fancy and ancient looking bridge connected the gazebo to the rest of the garden.

The second thing that struck me was the fact that there were two powerful figures engaged in extremely high speed combat on the gazebo!

Like, literally ON the gazebo. They were fighting on the roof!

"Thank goodness we made it on time. They are still here." Grand Elder Shella smiled in relief.