The army's infantry had cordoned off the large empty plains in front of Citi. It wasn't because there were tonnages of equipment to be moved, no. The only machinery there were Reggie and half a dozen giant-sized power lines running from the city power grid overland to the mech. Over the mountains, the rust clouds had darkened with the approaching Exodus swarm. Scouts had already confirmed the creature's approach along with sightings of a giant bird of light that seemingly disappeared. Shou charted the latter information as delirium due to their impending demise.

Shou sat in Reggie's cockpit, the neural network connected to his brain. The AC and vents were running on low to prevent the power cells from heating up too much before the battle and Shou was beginning to sweat a little in the warmth. Reggie had angled the pod so he could lie against the wall slightly to try to rest.

Friend Shou, you do not have to stay.

“Nonsense,” Shou replied out loud, his eyes closed. “I have a bio-cell, you have a bio-cell. Two is better than one.”

If the cells overheat, it will cause a large explosion. You will die.

“If Exodus gets to us, we'll die anyway.”

Friend Shou, I highly sugg-

“Don't worry about it,” he insisted.

But-

“I go where you go.” Shou sighed, his eyes still closed. He wanted to see if he could have one last nap before it started, but it seemed that wasn't going to happen.

I apologise for bothering your sleep, friend Shou.

He forgot Reggie could read his mind while connected. “It's not a problem. I enjoy talking to you. Besides, it's not exactly comfortable enough to sleep in here anyway.”

I downloaded a story yesterday. Would you like me to share it with you?

“That would be nice.”

Reggie did not read to him. It was more as if it shared the idea of the story. It was a slice-of-life tale about a young boy falling in love with a girl on his way to school in another town. The girl was homeless and lived by the roadside in an abandoned car. He began bringing her fuel cells every week to keep the car running so she could continue having a home. As Reggie shared the story, Shou could not help but wonder if this was how mechs think. Did the A.I simply traverse in information? Are they able to enjoy the emotional aspects of being alive? If not, was it something they could learn? Then he remembered Reggie had shown many times that it worried for him. Perhaps that was enough to prove its empathy. There was so much to learn about the species. A new method of intelligent life, of understanding the world.

“Shou!”

His eyes flit opened at the call. He got to his feet, holding onto the side of the pod for support. After unplugging from Reggie, he pulled up his hood as the aeronium glass released the inside to the outside world. Leaning out, he looked down at Reggie's feet to find Miu with Luce, the latter using two of Shou's spare crutches to walk.

“Reggie?” He asked. “Can you bring me down?”

The Titan acquiesced and brought its arm around to carry Shou to the ground.

“Thanks, buddy!” he exclaimed as he stepped off onto the ground.

All four of them - along with the dozens of engineers - were standing next to the giant crystech pulse repulsor. The size of an entire bus, the only thing taller than it within distance were Reggie and the buildings far south on the edges of Citi. Two giant power lines at the height of a person were connected to the back of Reggie's legs. The remaining four were hooked up to the repulsor. They would channel whatever electricity was left from the grid to power the weapon, and Reggie and Shou's bio-cell were the go-between of that energy while the Titan the turret that aimed

To Miu and Luce, Shou said, “What are you two doing here? It's dangerous.”

Luce stated, “It's going to be dangerous everywhere. We just wanted to make sure you're sure about this.”

“You're sounding like Reggie.”

“It's right,” Miu agreed. “There's still time to run.”

“Well, I'm not going anywhere. Reggie wants to save people, and I do too.”

Miu nodded. “Just wanted to confirm that. If you're staying, so are we. I'm with you every step of the way.”

“Huh.” Shou noted.

“What?”

“So this is how Reggie felt. Damn. Well, now I gotta apologies for saying the same thing to it. Sucks to have people you love tell you their willingness to die with you.”

Miu laughed and hugged him. “I love you too. See you in a bit.” Without another word, she parted from him and headed back towards the outfield headquarters set-up by the army, leaving Luce with Shou.

He asked, “And why are you here?”

“To say thank you. Not just for saving my life either.” She crutched over to Reggie's left leg and leaned against it, clutching her abdomen where her bullet wound was. “I don't know what you said or did to Corlyle, but words are spreading amongst the military and his government that he might not be fit to lead. If we survive this, he might get a vote of no confidence.”

“Well, it's not his first rodeo. He's gone through worse and have been reelected before.”

“Yeah,” Luce admitted. “But never under these circumstances. Both countries are weakened now and if a pacifist steps up, we might be able to end this war diplomatically. There's a real shot here.”

Shou laughed. “Well, if you run, I'll be the first to vote for you, that is if they reinstate my rights to vote. You're pretty much the most famous deserter and pacifist in the country now.”

Luce chuckled. “Funny. But we both know that's not going to happen.”

“Hey, from what I hear from Adelle and Josh, you're a pretty natural leader. I'd give it a shot.”

Her eyes then glazed over and her facial expression froze as if she was giving the notion a thought. After a long moment of silence, he thought she might slap him for the outrageous suggestions but instead she sighed and shook her head. Her attention snapped back to him. “Well, I'll leave you and Reggie to it. Good luck.”

Shou nodded affirmatively to her as the Titan Ranger turned and limped away. With one final sigh, he waved up to Reggie to bring him into the cockpit. The engineers around him were starting to separate and leave the field of battle as another look north showed the swarm lowering its altitude towards the city. It was time.

The further Adelle got from Ampyre, the thinner the white line of magic light attached to the bird Vayngue became. The summon itself began dimming, using up its energy to keep up its acceleration. They had been cutting through the rusty air at high speed for an hour, her protected from the sheering wind by the long neck of the magical creature though her hair and clothes still fluttered uncontrollably in the gale. The Exodus swarm was within reach less than a kilometre away, carrying the chunks of earth and landmasses in the air. It was definitely nowhere near as fast as Vayngue and they simply had to maintain the speed.

Vaguer flapped its powerful wings suddenly and lurched forward, picking up a large burst of speed. Its hard light body flickered for a moment becoming almost translucent. Adelle looked back to see the line of energy fluttering, breaking, then disappeared into air. This was it, the summoned creature's final velocity.

It began diving down at an angle, increasing its speed with gravity. Slowly, Adelle got to her feet, balancing precariously against the wind and acceleration. She would need to teleport at the height of their acceleration and use the forward momentum and teleportation range to shoot herself towards Exodus.

Without warning, the giant bird vanished in a puff of firefly light, scattering around Adelle as a field of dandelion caught in the wind. She looked up through the glow to Exodus and picked out the largest landmass and forced herself to teleport through the long-distance, an experience she did not enjoy. At distant range, teleportation felt like her chest was being dragged along by a tensioned rope and her stomached had to sprint to catch up.

But in a split second, she reappeared - not even on the edge of the chunk of earth - but dead in the centre. At first, she landed cleanly, but the difference in speed caused her to roll forward. The wind caught flag on her body and suddenly she was blown back, skidding across the dirt while Exodus moved forward.

She pulled out her axe, swapped to its pick side and slammed the weapon into the ground. The steel dragged a line into the dirt as she slowed, dust and grains of earth pelting her face. Eventually though, she stopped, kneeling precariously on the oddly angled plane.

A glint caught her attention and she looked around her to notice hand-sized crystals embedded and glowing within the ground. No, not just those. Around her, floating in the air and following the speed of Exodus were thousands - perhaps hundreds of thousands - of the swarm crystal, simply levitating like lanterns let to fly. They were the true “swarm” of Exodus that carried stones to throw and rip through cities. Adelle had to be careful. If she was spotted by the Pyrerai, the crystals could easily congregate on her and cut her mercilessly down.

Not an arrow shot away in front was the silver sphere that was the main body of Exodus. She needed to get near enough to find the opening for her to teleport into. She grit her teeth and vanished from her spot.