Helplessly suspended in an endless void, Marcus stared at the half-man, half-monster that was the stranger who commanded crows.

  The stranger's voice quieted. "I hear one of my field commanders met an untimely fate. One must imagine my surprise upon learning of how."

  Marcus writhed; his limbs leaden. Despite his squirming, he was locked in place by an invisible force.

  "But of what use is a man bested in such a foolhardy fashion? I can think of none." The stranger continued. As he spoke, his form rippled, compressing against a barrier between Marcus and himself. "But you. Resourceful, capable. A specimen worthy of attention."

  Marcus couldn't turn his head, but a slow drip caused ripples throughout the void around him. Not long after the first drop, the rhythmic pace of the liquid falling began to hiss, burn whatever it landed upon behind him.

  "Let us dispense with the trivialities that come with human interaction. It suits neither of us." The stranger continued, the corners of his mouth stretched beyond the height of his cheeks as his smile widened. "Join me. This machine is yours, a gift from me to you. There will be much more that comes along with standing by my side. And all the power that entails."

  Three sharp chirps pierced the nothingness, the tone that rang out inside the Firestorm's cockpit when there was an incoming message.

  "Unstable meta-energy conditions detected." Fenicks's calm, measured voice spoke from behind Marcus. "Deploying ES-field stabilizer."

  He was able to slowly regain movement of his arms, like pulling them from a vat of molasses. Then Marcus regained control of his legs in the same sluggish fashion.

  The stranger howled after his over-wide smile melted into a stretched wide-mouthed scream. With wild abandon, his elongated form snapped back like a whip and crashed into the invisible barrier between Marcus and him over and over again.

  "You are in shock." Fenicks's voice mellowly spoke over the thunderous crashing from the stranger. "Allow some time to recover before operating heavy machinery."

  The stranger's stretched form smashed into the invisible barrier, and a fissure of light spread from the point of impact, spanning infinitely in two directions from below and to Marcus's left and leading above and to the right.

  The stranger let out a cry. "You'll regret turning me down. Your brothers will butcher you and your petty little band."

  Marcus tried to back away, but something solid but invisible stopped him.

  "Warning: primary battery below ten percent, switching to emergency power source." Fenicks said. "Unstable ES-energy conditions persist. Continuing field stabilization."

  The stranger's tendril-like form wound up, spiraling high.

  "Emergency power source warning: secondary battery at fifty percent." Fenicks spoke.

  Marcus planted his feet and took a deep breath. If he couldn't retreat, he wasn't going down without a fight. He took up a fighting stance and readied to strike out with his fists as the stranger continued to wind his spindly body.

  The stranger swept his head under the spiral he created from himself and hurtled toward Marcus.

  Gritting his teeth and growling, Marcus struck out, aiming to hit the stranger square on the head, which was barreling straight toward Marcus.

  "Emergency power source warning: secondary battery at twenty five percent." Fenicks said.

  At the same time, both Marcus's fist and the stranger smashed into the invisible barrier, and it exploded, eradicating the darkness with blinding white light and a high-pitched whine. Marcus was thrown back and he smacked into whatever was just behind him.

  "ES-field returning to nominal state." Fenicks spoke over the ear-piercing scream of the exploding wall. "Shutting down stabilizer. Emergency battery at eleven percent. Initiating deep hibernation."

  The bright light faded from Marcus's sight and screech in his ears eased.

  "You already hit that one, it's fine." Simon called out. "Were there any other armor plates you needed to check?"

  Marcus found himself hanging from two struts, one beneath each arm. His feet dangled over the gap between two armor segments, the depths of the torso beneath him. His chest ached, and he struggled to catch his breath.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  Sweating, he stretched his leg toward a strut below. Upon placing the ball of his foot on the support, he tried to stand but his leg buckled. Marcus twisted, throwing himself over a longer support beam, catching himself from tumbling into the depths. "I think we're good." He hollered with what breath he could catch.

  "Alright, I'ma go help Layne and Ekke with refueling then." Simon called out.

  Marcus groaned and swiped with his legs to find footing. He lowered himself with both arms after his foot scraped another support structure. Carefully, Marcus squirmed out from between the hull and armor plating, then climbed down the ladder attached to the upright’s leg.

  Back on solid ground after descending, his legs buckled under him and he collapsed into a pile of cold sweat and confusion.

  After a long break, he finally recovered from the ordeal and sat up. Marcus stared at the Firestorm and began to wonder if he'd made a terrible mistake in recovering the upright.

  "Everything's good to go." Layne marched over from beyond the Firestorm’s feet. He squinted and sized up Marcus still sitting on the ground. "You alright?"

  Marcus blinked and then looked around. "Uh, yeah, just got the wind knocked out of me while checking the armor plates."

  Layne's eyebrows bounced. "Well, we're fueled up and I put some supplies in the cockpit for the trip."

  What Fenicks said while Marcus was in the darkness raced through his mind. "I have to go check the batteries."

  Layne tilted his head. "Why? It hasn't moved for at least a day."

  Marcus struggled to his feet. "I just need to see if the system will hold out while parked."

  Layne bobbed his head back and forth. "It's not like we haven't been working on this thing for months. We both know it will."

  "I get it. I just need to check, to be sure." Marcus walked over to the ladder mounted on the leg and placed his foot on the first rung.

  Layne sighed and shook his head. "The guys want you to give it a once-over before they pack everything up."

  "I will." Marcus called out over his shoulder.

  Layne grumbled. "You're not the only one nervous about this whole ordeal. At least settle everyone else down before you set off on whatever you're onto."

  Before his foot hit the second rung, Marcus paused, and he stared into the armor plating on the Firestorm's leg. What Layne was trying to say was so blatantly obvious. He retreated down the one rung and stepped back onto firm ground. "You're right."

  Layne motioned toward the far side of the upright with his whole hand while starting to walk in that direction. Marcus obliged and followed.

  On the opposite side of the Firestorm, the jump box line was still attached to the fuel tank connector between the smokestacks and the rear armor plating. Marcus walked over to the control panel on the side of the box and started looking at measurements. Fuel looked good. Pressure looked good. Seals looked good. Reserves looked good. Nothing was out of place.

  A sudden sense of calm washed over Marcus. Despite the sudden, violent change in who was calling the shots, it didn't disrupt operations. This is what he would have expected when the barbarians were in charge and it put him at ease that he got the same, if not better treatment. "Looks good to me, wrap it up and move it in place to get us started in the morning."

  Simon and Ekkehard nodded at Marcus, then to each other.

  "Good idea." Ekkehard said as he stepped around the wagon toward the control panel.

  Marcus turned his attention to Layne, who gave him a reassuring nod before jumping into action along with the other three mechanics.

  "Now see here." Simon started speaking to the former child soldier. "Don't stand on the ground when disconnecting this thing or it'll turn you into charcoal."

  Marcus returned to the leg ladder and ascended into the cockpit. The interior was dark, the only light was what reflected in from the open hatch.

  "Fenicks." Marcus called out, standing beside the gunner's seat.

  A lone monitor in front of the pilot's chair ignited.

  "Warning: Unable to initiate full startup procedure. Primary battery is below five percent. Emergency battery is low." Fenicks replied.

  Marcus pulled a wrench out of a front pocket on his overalls and stepped up to the pilot's seat. "You're not on emergency power; we keep the real secondary power source disconnected." He kneeled and reached for a kick panel beneath the pilot's controls. Feeling around for the four bolts keeping it shut, one on each corner, he pulled the bolts off.

  Then he lowered the panel and reached in, feeling around for a hard throw switch near the top of the underside. His finger found cold metal and he pushed hard. With a solid snap, the battery connected. "There, now you're actually on emergency power."

  "Preparing to initiate startup procedure." Fenicks said.

  "No, just stay like that, I have a question." Marcus bolted the panel closed and then sat in the pilot's seat.

  "Understood. Please state your query." Fenicks responded.

  Marcus gently rapped the wrench on the console. "That place, that... whatever or wherever it was." His tapping grew faster. "Were you in hibernation this whole time?"

  "No. According to audit logs, I exited hibernation a short time ago and engaged active defenses." Fenicks spoke plainly. "Unfortunately, due to reactor extinction, onboard battery charge was consumed which significantly diminished effectiveness."

  Marcus swallowed hard. "What was that... thing?"

  "According to Myrmidon Arminius, his intelligence suggests there are two threats that could potentially engage us at any time." Fenicks spoke.

  Marcus recoiled. "You heard what he said?"

  "I have 360 degrees of active and passive battle zone analysis. Yes, even when hibernating I can hear, and quite a far distance." Fenicks replied.

  Marcus grumbled.

  "Continuing, Myrmidon Arminius's intelligence is incomplete. There is one threat, large, which is currently not engaged in any manner. This is at a medium distance."

  "The dragon." Marcus quipped.

  "A force of size undetermined is currently passively searching for us due west of our position. Analysis indicates they have not identified an attack vector yet."

  "The mercenaries." Marcus spoke out loud.

  "But a third has actively begun its search and one such probe has already found us. No, not looking for us but looking for you in particular." Fenicks said.