With a snap of unbridled fury, the entire automated line and belts sprang into action. The soft humming of steam from the moving hydraulics and the metallic clicks of mechanical steel arms filled the room like a dramatic play about to reach its inciting incident.

  Across the ceiling, numerous interfaces lit up, and from their starry glow, codes, numbers, figures, and movements appeared. Now from the ground, a soft whirring sound became louder and louder, and with a thunderous echo throughout the room, followed by a deafening silence. With the right cue, the interface flashed vividly and, like a seasoned instructor, many signals were simultaneously sent out, scattering and splitting across spectrums of different magnitudes of orders.

  With a deep toll that reverberated through the entire room, followed by another and another, just like that, the orchestra of automations had started. From the pitter-pattering taps of newly sealed ammunition to the anvil-like clash of the large and intimidating interchangeable arrays fabricating towering designs of automated weapons and the buzzing of locks being shut tight.

  Across the conveyor belt with a steady rhythm, it moved throughout the entire room, gathering and offloading materials along the way. When all was done, it began to change pathways and reroute itself into the numerous tunnels across the Ironside and along the conveyor belts.

  From the compartments, a steady hand grabbed hold of the ammunition and sentries, and with a soft fizz, it firmly locked and placed them inside the compartment. Once done, it retracted and retreated back into its place, and the compartment closed with a soft buzz, followed by the soft metallic click of the locks.

  Within the compartment, a flash of light lit up, and with a confirmation from the system, it instantly opened and with the speed of a train, across the entire Ironside it pushed up, down, and towards the sides. Almost immediately, the Ironside was filled with sentries around its hull, their glowing red sensor eyes ever menacing.

  The sentry snapped into attention, and with a target locked, it fired its first shot, followed by the others. Throughout the darkened surroundings, where you couldn't tell what time of the day it was, as covered by the pitter-pattering of the black rain and its clouds, with no sign of the sun or the moon to be found, it was just darkness.

  With the darkness came the creatures of the dark, like moths to a flame, haunted by the nightmares, desperate for navigation and light, thus chasing it willingly.

  "How are we holding up?!" Altair's voice was hoarse as sweat slid down his forehead and into his cheeks, despite the controlled environment within the cockpit.

  "Hull integrity, one hundred percent." Vigil's voice cracked; nevertheless, he continued. "Shields, we are down to more or less twenty percent." He mumbled a rather unusual answer, a stark contrast from his past.

  Altair's irises were moving back and forth as his vision zoomed in across the numerous interfaces, and upon hearing Vigil's response, he felt his heart shatter, his chest tightening like being drowned in the deepest part of the Pacific.

  "Ugh..." He groaned. "Can you be more accurate?!"

  "That's a negative, Lieutenant!" Vigil's voice was zooming in and out of the communications interface. "Codes and systems throughout the entire Ironside seem a little bit jumbled right now... haha?" He tried to break the tension.

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  It failed miserably.

  "Oh, for heaven's sake?!" Altair growled, his hands trembling as he desperately moved through consoles and interfaces, sliding up and down, side to side, pressing buttons, and lastly maneuvering the Ironside from the controls at his sides. "Can't you pick a better time for that?"

  Vigil made a squeaking noise, as if embarrassed by the entire ordeal. "I-I apologize, Lieuten—" Vigil apologized but was cut off.

  "Stop!" Altair growled. "Take it easy, organize your thoughts, and focus on our problems in front of us." Altair said, his voice already cracking.

  "U-Understood!" Vigil stuttered but immediately picked himself back up, shifted through the data nodes, and evaluated them. Deep within him, along the horizons of his code and systems, new data nodes were being formed, rearranged, and then compartmentalized with great efficiency.

  "Efficiency... Efficiency... Just like the past you, Vigil." Vigil thought to himself. However, inside him, a throbbing sense filled his systems. "What's this?!" he stammered as he was reading through numerous collections of data. "What kind of data is this?" The throbbing sensation continued.

  "Energy shields are at four percent, Lieutenant!" Vigil said with a clear voice, now without an ounce of doubt, yet the beating sensation continued. "Hull damage is imminent!" He followed.

  Altair, with lightning-fast movements, swept through the entire console, and with a pivot of his attention, he turned to Vigil.

  "When the shields strike zero, reroute most of the power to the sensor arrays and use it to send a massive influx of sensory noise towards the outside!" He said with a decisive tone. "But don't forget to exclude the area below the Ironside." He followed and ended his command.

  "Understood, Lieutenant!" Vigil's voice crackled through the communications arrays inside the cockpit.

  Mira stood straight with Lyria and Brennan behind her back. She raised her bow, its light and soft metallic silver color bouncing off the red glows of the Ironside towards the abyss. With her bow in her left hand, she raised her right hand, straightened her back, and pulled the string.

  Soft whisperings echoed around her, and as she pulled the string, a soft translucent arrow appeared. The surrounding mana crystallized and, like a wave from the ocean, it spiraled and was sucked in towards the transparent arrow and slowly hardened further into a mold.

  With visible cracks, it shattered, and within it a silver arrow appeared. Mira narrowed her eyes, and from her irises a target was found. She swiftly adjusted her aim and released the arrow. A soft whistling sound traveled amid the fiery thunderclaps of the Ironside above them.

  Like a silver needle, it struck through the shadows like a faster-than-light battleship. Along its trail, a soft glowing silver light was left behind. An unfortunate Stygian who was dashing through the forest was struck by the silver arrow.

  The Stygian screamed in horror as its entire body was filled with a massive amount of mana until it finally broke. The Stygian's body cracked as silver light flowed out of its body, and like a silent chorus through the abyss, its body disappeared, dissipated, and was put to eternal rest.

  Mira fell down to her knees, breathing laboriously. Lyria, who was casting magic at her side, came rushing down to her. With both of her hands, she supported Mira along her left arm.

  "You've been doing it for minutes without end." Lyria said as her face contorted with concern. "Let Brennan and me take the lead momentarily." She said while also gasping for breath.

  Then suddenly, a terrible crack resounded throughout them. They all snapped toward the source of the sound. The soft hue of the barrier that was protecting them had a small crack, then without missing a heartbeat, it became larger and larger.

  Their hearts momentarily stopped as their anxiety rose through the skies. Fear they never knew they could feel came crawling through their throats. Adrenaline rushed forth as their minds refused to acknowledge what was about to happen.

  Then it shattered into a million pieces.

  "Vigil, now!" Altair screamed at the top of his lungs.