A row of pigeons takes flight, bleating their outrage as what they thought was a building shifts beneath their feathers.

Broken glass rattles a mile off, and the Murkata soldiers nearest to the mech instinctively step back as the Assault Unit groans to its full height. There’s a brief shimmer in the air around the mech as the Unit’s Deflector Shield auto-tests its functionality, and the smell of ozone hits every face within a thousand feet.

Inside the Unit, Lanis is nearly overwhelmed by a swelling feeling of immense power unlike anything she’s ever felt, even within the Demeter. Here, she is in control. She turns her head to the right within the pilot-pod: outside, the Unit’s head, a nerve-center array of armored optics, turns with her. She stares, not at the pod’s HUD, but at the outside world, impossibly vivid, switching between targeting optics and thermal imaging.

Seized by a sudden violent notion, she hefts the Unit’s Grav-maul and flexes her right fist, curling the Unit’s Hex-sized hand tighter along the weapon’s towering shaft. She feels a rippling sensation down her arm, and a query from the Unit’s internal admin:

Engage Weapon?

Her right eye twitches as a mad run of thoughts seize her: Where’s the corrupted Unit? I want to see what this can do to it. I want to pound it deeper into the ground, until it's paste. Or maybe that apartment building over there? Anything that can be fucking crushed.

WHOA whoa whoa, Ether says, appearing beside her and gently guiding Lanis’ arm downward, as if she’s talking a lover out of a pistol-gripped crime of passion. Lanis’ hand stops tightening, and then is slowly peeled loose; the Unit’s weapon ignition system, a hair’s breadth from feeding its immense power into the Grav-maul, fractionally relaxes along with her.

Lanis takes a deep, rattling breath, her eyes wide.

“Good God,” she says hoarsely, her body suddenly trembling, as if seized by a chill. “What just came over me?”

Well, this Unit was powered down right after the pilot and AI were killed, Ether says, her tone clinical. She keeps one hand on Lanis’ still-trembling arm as she dives deeper into the mech's combat log.

There may be... echoes. Residual trauma in the system and the like. Fascinating stuff, in a way. Normally Fleet would decommission a Unit for months after something like this.

Lanis shudders, seized by the sudden, immensely unpleasant thought of being stuck inside this machine with the ghost of its previous pilot. A coffin, more like.

No, nothing that dramatic, Ether chides her, reading her thoughts. At least, I think... Lanis feels Ether shift her attention again, scanning each subsystem like an entomologist lifting rocks at night, shining her lamplight in the hunt for some scuttling trace of madness.

Right, there are definitely some, shall we say, cobwebs, in the Unit’s internal admin systems, but I think what you just felt should be the worst of it, Ether says after several long seconds of silence.

That sounds reassuring, Lanis warily responds. But, true to Ether’s words, her body seems to settle, sinking deeper and more naturally into the two-thousand-ton glove now wrapped around her. It’s as if her sensorium had momentarily exploded into a kaleidoscope of a million refracted pieces, each one filled with rage, and Ether has helped push them back together.

One at a time, systems checks and onboarding, Ether says. Lanis nods within the odd confines of the pilot pod.

Keep it together, keep it together… she thinks, licking her dry HUD-cast lips and moving them in prayer.

She feels a subtle release of pressure along her back—no, she vaguely reminds herself, it’s the Assault Unit’s back—as the temporary scaffolding along the command pod’s insertion hole is lifted away.

She realizes that, while she’s been clinging to her sanity, Ether has been speaking calmly to the assembled Murkata and Fleet assets, gamely reassuring them that nothing disastrous has occurred during their integration with the Unit.

“Lanis? What’s your status?” Admiral Ren chirps, her voice tight with tension.

Lanis swallows, quickly deciding that she’s never going to mention how close she just came to losing control.

“It’s a little, uh, overwhelming, but I’m ready for phase two,” Lanis says, subvocalizing the words in her mind.

There’s a slight pause, and Lanis imagines the Admiral is deciding whether to press Lanis on what exactly “a little overwhelming” means.

Just working out the kinks, Admiral, Ether says, relaying a somewhat cherry-picked stream of integration data to the Fleet mobile command center.

There's a moment of delay, and then Admiral Ren answers, “Ok,” clearly not believing them, but also seeing no other option.

Better a half-deranged pilot than no pilot at all, am I right? Lanis thinks,

Look, you put me back together, and I put you back together; that’s how it works now, Ether says, scoffing. She makes a shushing gesture before Lanis can mount a response, and Admiral Ren continues:

“Patching in the Fleet mag-lev pilots for phase two. Good luck, commander.”

Lanis feels a slight buzzing in her head, and then the voice of a Fleet pilot comes online, his voice brisk with competence.

“Commander, this is heavy mag-lev pilot Harkin. We’re here to take you to the staging area. You just sit back and idle the power core. Inserting lift cables,” the man says, words that are echoed back and confirmed by three other sets of voices.

Lanis feels a tugging sensation at her shoulders as adamantine cables coil through the Unit’s lift-points, each set of cables running up to one of the four Fleet heavy mag-levs that hover above the Unit. These are vehicles whose entire existence is built around carrying massive weight to and from the orbital docks. A fully constructed Insertion Unit is an unusual, but not unprecedented, amount of cargo for the five-hundred odd miles to Fleet Academy.

The tension in the cables slowly builds, groaning with incredible pressure.

Well, at least you didn’t get the impulse to swing that hammer while we were airborne, Ether muses.

Please don’t give me any ideas, Lanis responds, closing her eyes and chewing on her lip as the Assault Unit departs from the ground.

---

They’re thirty miles out from Murkata’s staging when the first skycraft scream overhead, followed a minute later by dull booms that echo outward from their destination.

Lanis and Ether have spent the past several hours running through every functional check they can, creeping along the power flows of the Unit like two adventurers exploring some ancient, inscrutable temple. Nothing will replace being on the ground and actually powering up the Grav-maul, but at least Lanis feels more comfortable in her own adamite skin, even if it is floating along several thousand feet in the air.

For the last few minutes though, the internal systems have been mostly ignored. Instead, it’s what’s occurring outside that’s taking their attention.

Murkata’s plan was to continuously probe the Academy grounds in an attempt to wear down the enemy’s readiness, forcing them to respond to multiple small intrusions as Murkata’s larger forces were mustered for the breakthrough attack. However, if Kaisho’s readiness has been degraded, it’s come at a horrible cost. Each probing attack has immediately withdrawn when met by one of the Kaisho Deterrent-class Suits or Insertion Units, but it’s never been quick enough to avoid casualties, and Lanis has to wonder if the tactic, like baiting a bear with one's fingers, is sound.

It’s allowing us to muster at least, Ether thinks, trying to turn Lanis’ attention away from yet another string of Murkata battle-code that ends in wet grunts and static. And it's allowing the Murkata jamming suits to get closer. A visual pops up on Lanis feeding: a six-legged Murkata Suit, almost indistinguishable from the trees behind it due to its active camouflage, slowly creeping forward, its body bristling with jamming tech.

I just hope there’s enough left of Murkata to follow through the breach, Lanis thinks, wincing.

As if responding to her thought, a series of pings flash through her command-pod, each pulling along a string of battle-code:

Murkata Suit Aegis One, establishing battle-link, the code says, shifting through several layers of the Fleet Unit’s decryption before resolving itself as a man’s deep voice.

Lanis feels a subtle shift as a new tactical awareness blooms within her mind, as if a chessboard with newly moving pieces has overlaid their carefully curated maps. Lanis peers at a strategic overview of the topography, and watches as a cluster of green dots drifts toward their convergence point some ten miles away from the outer perimeter of the Kaisho lines.

All other Suits, confirm battle-comm link, the voice says, and Lanis hears and sees a patter of code-speak from Murkata’s fifteen hundred ton mechs, each with a distinct voice:

Aegis Two, reading. Aegis, Three reading. Aegis Four, reading. Aegis Five, reading. Aegis six reading.

Planetary Rapid Response Batallion 3, reading linkage, another voice chimes in.

Ah, the follow-on group, Ether notes, bringing up a rotating image of the cream of Planetary Admin’s security forces, white five-ton security suits with near-Fleet equivalent tech. They’re the ones who will hopefully do the extracting, along with what remains of Murkata’s corporate security reserves.

Lanis takes a deep breath, turning her Unit’s head. Focusing her optics, she can just see a string of Murkata heavy mag-levs bringing the other Suits in on a converging course along the horizon.

“Fleet Unit One, confirming battle-link,” she says with more confidence than she feels.

Did I imagine it, or did my voice almost break just there? Lanis thinks. Ether pats her back reassuringly, ignoring the question.

Pleased to have you along, commander, Aegis One responds, and Lanis imagines a smile in the man’s voice.

Rendezvous in three. We have our battle plans. We have our forces in place. May fortune—

The man’s brief speech is interrupted by a blaring alarm.

Incoming, Ether says, and Lanis feels the Unit tilt slightly as the mag-levs overhead take on a ponderously evasive maneuver.

A voice crackles in the pilot pod:

“Pilot, we’re having incoming fire; still roughly twenty miles from the rendezvous point. The Murkata ground support is providing point defense, but they’re running into a—”

The transmission suddenly cuts off, and Lanis simultaneously feels one side of the mech drop down toward the earth. She watches as one of the mag-levs begins to spin out of control, fire spilling from one of its four massive thruster-turbines. An ejection pod screams into the air, and the adamantine tether is released, falling in a spiraling curve to the ground.

Aegis 2, we are receiving fire. Commencing emergency landing, a woman’s voice interjects, cutting through Lanis’ own emergency. She hears other voices urgently chime in, relaying status updates, but the battle-speak appears to be glitching slightly, as if running into interference. Shit.

There’s a whining roar as the other three mag-levs above Lanis attempt to re-calibrate their load, but Lanis feels the Unit begin to slowly spin.

Mag-lev descent is not recoverable, Ether says, doing the math as fast as Lanis can absorb it. Our insertion thrusters still have plenty for a landing though. Recommend release.

“Un-tether me!” Lanis yells to the remaining three pilots.

She switches to the Aegis battle-comm:

“Fleet Unit, one our mag-levs has been hit. Will resume on foot,” she says. No one answers.

There’s a moment of hesitation, and then the remaining tether cables are released, the mag-levs whipping upward with an explosion of air. Lanis' stomach rises into her throat as the Unit begins to fall the short few thousand feet to the ground. Ether executes a series of commands, and Lanis feels her stomach reverse course as the Unit’s thrusters fire with a shuddering roar, slowing the mech’s descent to a crawl.

With a monumental thud, Lanis lands, both knees crouched, a plume of dirt spilling upward like a mushroom cloud from the landing.

What’s the status of the other Aegis Suits? Lanis thinks. She feels Ether searching along the Murkata code-channels, calibrating and re-calibrating. Ether grimaces and shakes her head.

Static. Looks like Kaisho or the Fleet Units are jamming the code channels, Ether says.

Lanis inwardly groans as the Assault Unit slowly rises. She wonders if a cluster of Murkata’s jamming suits have just been obliterated, or if there’s something more nefarious afoot.

All of our systems look ok though, Ether says, scanning through the stream of landing data before turning to Lanis. So, I guess we’re walking the rest of the way?

Lanis scoffs. If by walking, you mean running, then yes, she says.

She supposes it’s only fitting that her first steps in the Unit will be a sprint.

They’re still eighteen miles off from the planned rendezvous point with the other Murkata assets, and are now running blind, but Lanis feels another small echo. A tug at the edge of her unconscious pulls her lips upward in a snarl as the Unit’s power core flares and its deflector shields come fully online.

Drone systems online. Bulwark shield online. We’ll leave the Grav-maul for later and concentrate power on movement for now, shall we? Ether says, tentatively restraining the weapons ignition system.

Lanis nods, her body beginning to move within the viscous confines of the command-pod. She takes a step, as if swimming, and then another, and the Assault Unit does the same, the massive mech’s cadence slowly increasing along with the deep-throated whine of its power core. After only a few second the Suit is running, its massive feet casually cleaving roadways in two as it reaches its cruising speed of nearly two hundred miles an hour of thruster-assisted strides.

She runs, a metal leviathan with a ghost in its core, into war.