The silence that followed the ambush was heavier than the noise of the battle.
The Steel Gorge was gone. In its place lay a smoking crater filled with twisted metal, shattered concrete, and the burning husks of the Iron Legion's vanguard. The rain started again, hissing as it struck the hot armor of the destroyed Siege Tanks.
I slid down the debris pile, my boots was sinking into the mud. And Smoke rose from my armor. My energy reserves hovered at thirty percent—which was drained by the massive railgun strike I had coordinated.
"Clear," ARES reported through my wrist-comp. "No active life signs detected in the kill zone."
"We did it," Glitch whispered, poking his head out of the sewer pipe. He stared at the devastation with wide eyes. "We actually beat them."
"We didn't beat them," I corrected, walking toward the wreckage of the Centurion Walker. "We survived them. There's a difference."
I reached the fallen mech. It was lying on its back, Its cockpit crushed by the railgun's impact. And the pilot was gone—vaporized. But the machine itself was a treasure trove.
"Maya, front and center," I ordered.
Maya climbed down from her sniper nest. She was shaking. She gripped the Enforcer rifle so hard that her knuckles were white. She stared at the bodies of the infantry soldiers scattered in the mud.
"I killed them," she whispered. "They were people. Not droids."
"They were Legion," Sarah said, stepping beside her and placing a hand on her shoulder. "They had their empathy deleted years ago. If they had reached the base, they would have burned us alive without blinking."
Maya nodded slowly, swallowing hard. "I know. It just..." She looked away. "It smells like meat."
I gave her a moment. Then i said, "We need to Focus on the mission. We need to salvage this before the Corp sends a recovery team."
I climbed onto the chest of the fallen Centurion.
[Skill: Network Sense]
The mech was dead, but its systems still hummed with residual charge.
[LOOT DETECTED]
1x Heavy Flamethrower (Damaged)
1x Rotary Chain-Gun (Functional)
1x Centurion Power Core (Critical Condition)
"Glitch, bring the drones!" I shouted. "I want that chain-gun mounted on the Titan's left shoulder. Strip the armor plating too—we can use it to reinforce our hull."
"On it!" Glitch yelled back, scrambled out of his hole.
I knelt beside the Power Core. Green fluid leaked from a crack in its casing.
[Skill: Energy Siphon]
I placed my hand on the leak.
DRAIN.
Military-grade power rushed into me—it was thick, potent, and refined. It filled my reserves instantly, washing away the fatigue like cold water on a hot day.
[XP GAINED: +300]
I stood up, fully charged.
"Sarah," I called out. "Search the command tank. I want their comms logs. I want to know exactly what Malachi knows about us."
[THREE HOURS LATER: In the Titan — Fabrication Bay]
The mood inside the Titan was electric.
The Fabrication Bay was roaring with noise. ARES was at work. The nanites were stripping the scavenged metal and feeding it into the 3D printers.
I stood on the catwalk, watching as a robotic arm welded the Centurion's massive rotary chain-gun onto a new turret mount.
"Status," I said.
"Repairs at sixty percent," ARES replied. The Spartan Avatar appeared beside me. "The additional armor from the tanks has increased our hull integrity by fifteen percent. I have also integrated the Legion's encryption keys into my sensors. We can now monitor their radio traffic."
"And the railgun?"
"Recoil dampers are damaged," ARES admitted. "I cannot fire the main gun again for 12 hours without risking structural collapse. Right now we are vulnerable to orbital strikes."
"Then we have to stay hidden," i said. "Keep the camouflage field active."
Sarah walked onto the deck, holding a datapad she had recovered from the wreckage. With a grim on her face.
"You need to see this." She said.
She handed me the pad. It was a recording from the Legion Commander—captured just before our ambush.
[AUDIO LOG — PLAYING...]
"Command, this is Vanguard Leader. We are approaching the anomaly in Sector 0. Sensors indicate a Class-5 energy spike. It matches the signature of the 'Devourer' subject."
"Copy, Vanguard. Eliminate the subject. Secure the asset know as 'Maya.' Malachi wants her back intact. If she resists... initiate Protocol: Wipe."
[END LOG]
I looked at Sarah.
"Protocol Wipe?"
"I means memory wipe," Sarah said. Her voice trembled with rage. "He wants to wipe her mind clean. And turn her into a blank slate. A doll."
I crushed the datapad in my hand. The Plastic cracked and shattered.
"He's not getting her," i said.
"There's more." Sarah said. "The cruiser that escaped—it wasn't just retreating. It was painting a target."
She pulled up a holographic map of Sector 0. A red circle was blinking over a specific location about twenty miles north
The marker hovered over a structure at the peak of a massive scrap mountain.
The Orbital Uplink Station.
"That station controls the satellite defense grid for this entire hemisphere," Sarah explained. "If Malachi realigns those satellites, he can drop a Rod from God—a kinetic tungsten strike—directly on our heads. He won't need an army. He'll just snipe us from space."
"How long?"
"Realignment takes about 24 hours." Sarah said. "We have one day before the sky falls."
I looked at the map. The Uplink Station was a fortress built on the highest mountain of scrap in the sector.
"We can't survive an orbital strike," Glitch said, joining us on the catwalk. "The Titan's shields won't stop a kinetic rod moving at Mach 10. Nothing will."
"Then we don't let him fire," I said.
I looked at the chain-gun being welded onto the Titan's shoulder. I looked down at Maya, who sat below us, cleaning her rifle with grim determination.
"We have to take that uplink station," I said.
"Elias." Glitch's voice dropped. "That station is automated. It's defended by war-drones. Tens of thousands of them. It's a suicide run."
"If we stay here, we die." I turned to face him. "If we attack, we might die. I prefer the odds where I get to shoot back."
I turned to ARES.
"Can the Titan move?"
"Locomotion systems at 85%," ARES replied. "I can walk. But I cannot run."
"Walking is fine," i said.
I stepped up to the railing and raised my voice.
"Listen up!"
The team stopped working. And every head turned toward me.
"We won the battle," I called out, my voice echoing through the bay. "But the war is just starting. Malachi wants to drop a hammer on us from orbit. He thinks we're just scavengers hiding in a hole."
I pointed north.
"Tomorrow, we march on the Uplink Station. We're going to hack his satellites. We're going to turn his own guns against him. And we're going to blind the Corporation permanently."
Maya rose to her feet. She racked the slide of her rifle with a sharp click.
"I'm in." She said
"Me too." Glitch grinned, hoisting a satchel of explosives.
Sarah nodded. "For the throne."
I turned back to the window, gazing out at the darkening sky.
"ARES," i said softly. "Prepare the Titan for travel."
"Destination, Commander?"
"The top of the world," i said.
My wrist-comp beeped.
[NEW QUEST: CLIMB THE MOUNTAIN]
Objective: Capture the Orbital Uplink Station
Time Limit: 24 hours
Reward: Satellite Control Codes
I smiled.
"Let's go steal the sky."