The Extreme North Ice Fields had become a vast crimson ocean. The Blood Clan had been wiped from existence. Steam curled from the Shatterstar mech, which stood silent before the colossal portal.
[Energy recovering... Estimated time: five minutes, forty-three seconds.]
Ethan kept his eyes on the display, watching the energy gauge climb. The last onslaught had drained Shatterstar's reserves, drawn directly from a star. Now, it only needed time to refill. That was the beauty of infinite energy—no matter how much was consumed, it would always return, given a moment's pause.
Nearly six minutes later, the bar reached full.
"Shields online," Ethan commanded. The mech stirred, its massive form rising to stride through the shimmering red membrane of the portal.
A low hum filled the cockpit. Light and shadow warped, space bending in every direction. Then, in a blink, Ethan emerged into a world he had never seen before.
