Ukko was in utter darkness.

A strange fleshy weight had been laid on his shoulders. When Ukko tried to turn his head, the fleshy weight would shift position on him, pooling over one shoulder or the other like cascading hair.

Ukko’s hair wasn’t long enough for that. Instead of the light pressure of strands of hair clumped together, the feeling was like a thick and viscous jello that grew from above and seeped down over him.

Ukko’s hands had not moved in days, they stayed hovering over the controls. They would neither grip the control sticks so he could operate the machine nor venture toward his head to see what horrors had become of him. Ukko was locked in a stasis, knowing full well that his next move would simply make for an undeniable fact that his life had crumbled.

Ukko wasn’t ready to face such a reality.

Ukko didn’t want to face such a reality.

Ukko simply stared ahead into the darkness of his powered down cockpit, urging his eye that he wasn’t sure was still working to see some sort of miracle.

Every once in a while, Ukko heard a voice from outside. It was Ki, one of his bodyguards. A good man, far too good to be a part of a mercenary group. Ki would speak about something or other, but Ukko didn’t listen to the words, just the sounds. Ki couldn’t possibly have words that Ukko would want to hear. It would just be terrible news.

Ukko’s fingers twitched as the strain from keeping them in such a position inevitably wore them down. The tip of a finger grazed the frigid metal of the control stick. The jolt that seemed to invade Ukko’s body and wreak havoc on whatever innards he had left was not purely from the cold, Ukko was sure of this. This evil machine was like a rabid beast slobbering and chomping in a pit with Ukko hanging from the ledge. Every snap of its jaw sent paralyzing fear coursing through him.

There were no safeties here anymore. No more safeguards left in place to protect Ukko’s pitifully fragile human mind.

Ukko was full of understanding as he stared down at the hungry animal below. Ukko had fed this monster. Each canister that he used, each human sacrifice that he had offered up to redirect the consequences of piloting a MAC, had only served to increase the monster’s appetite. Ukko had given it scraps for so long and now, as it was bound to, it wanted the full meal. The meal that had been sitting so irresistibly close this whole time. The meal that had been flaunting its tasty aroma every time it piloted this beast.

He looked deep into that horrible mouth… here was Ukko’s fate…

Ukko woke up in a cold sweat, though to call what he was doing sleeping would be a grave overstatement. Ki’s voice had grown louder. A new sound was there as well. Thunderous rumbling was beginning to permeate the cockpit as military ordinance landed here and there. Ki was frantic. He was yelling.

It was good. Ukko didn’t want to sleep again. He was starting to think that gluttonous creature in his dreams was more than just a trick of his tired mind. He wondered if it was a hell hound sicced on him by whatever unholy God was trying to drag him down to an everlasting hell.

Ukko felt a strange sensation as the explosions grew louder and Ki’s own voice was being drowned out. Some sort of liquid was crawling down his skin. It slowly traced a watery path across Ukko’s face. In the darkness of the cockpit, it gave a horrifying image of what had become of his head. A thin line of water was now a measurement of his disfigurement that was forced upon him. Ukko desperately wanted to wipe away whatever it was, but that would mean bringing his hands to his face. That would mean having an even clearer image of what had become of him.

The liquid bead was joined by others, forming a stream as they continued down the path of that first drop. It started to fall onto his shoulder, where apparently his suit had been eaten away.

Ukko was so scared. He didn’t want to know what that liquid was. What on Earth was seeping out of his head…

Then Ukko’s chest heaved involuntarily. A strange sound, a mournful sob, escaped his body.

“Vice Admiral… oh God, my dear little girl… I’m so afraid.”

Ukko was crying. He was violently bawling while trying his best to stay in that same position, but each new wave of grief and misery inched his body one way or the other.

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“It’s too late…” a hazy green light was growing in front of him, “you can’t save me now.”

The green light grew brighter and brighter. Ki’s voice seemed to grow fainter and fainter. And Ukko felt the machine… moving.

“No… no… please, I’m begging for God’s sake please!”

But Ukko’s pleas could no longer reach the ears of a sympathetic creature. Rather, they were heard only by the being that licked its lips and whet its appetite.

Ki was correct when speaking to Bonnie: his new method wouldn’t be one Ukko would like. Unfortunately, Ki had no idea what he had just set in motion.

From the outside of the machine Ki had been racking his brain on how to override the systems in place to activate the emergency hatch. The handle on the outside that was normally used for these types of rescue operations was entirely unresponsive. Ki tried with all he had to find his way into the machine’s operating system and, surprisingly considering his lack of experience, there was an opening in the system clear enough for even Ki to see.

Perhaps Ki should have been more cautious. Perhaps he should have seen the open and easy path and questioned it rather than consider it a stroke of good luck.

But why would Ki need to distrust a machine? Why would Ki need to think about some hunk of metal laying traps for him? It was ridiculous, and so Ki turned on the autopilot system that most MAC pilots thought was simply an error prone and worthless program.

Ki was filled with a sense of hope. As he watched the machine rise from its slumber, he assumed Ukko would take control. Ki couldn’t possibly imagine The Stragglers without Ukko, and he certainly couldn’t imagine winning this fight without him.

“No… please stop… please stop…”

Ukko couldn’t seem to hold back his pleading. He continued to beg.

It infuriated the metal-clad golem. Why, it wondered, did this human continue to beg some God? The golem had never seen a God, and it certainly didn’t think one was close enough to hear the little one.

Ki watched in utter rapture as Ukko’s beautiful machine rose taller and taller. The clumps of dirt that had hidden the brilliantly shining gold were falling to the ground. Ki loved to see such a sight: the dirt and debris simply wouldn’t be allowed to interfere with the beauty of the sleek MAC. The futuristic mixed with the medieval was a design concept that was always dear in Ki’s heart.

Even with a flurry of munitions flying every which way, Ki was intoxicated by a supreme happiness. Ki knew as he watched Ukko rise with the metal beast that everything would be alright.

“Stop! STOP! I’m not ready!”

Ukko couldn’t clearly see the sight in front of him. His current eyesight only allowed him to make out the blur of lights. But that blur and the movement around him and the sounds of the MAC roaring to life were all he needed to know. The autopilot had activated. Ukko kept his hands off the controls even now, but every extra shake as the machine moved only served to bring him closer to sealing his own fate…

Sealing his fate? The armored golem was thoroughly intwined in the pilot’s head at this point. It questioned the silly line. Sealing his fate, what a ridiculous thing to say. If there was a seal on this man’s fate, it was put in place long ago. The golem would have smiled at the idea, but it didn’t remember how. There was no sealing here, the golem’s future meal had simply been putting off the inevitable.

The beast coated in metal was dreadfully tired of sipping souls from those canisters.

It felt ready.

Its hunger had come to a crescendo.

It was time.

The golem swallowed.

Ukko was swallowed.

Ki, dear Ki, had become frozen in place. The machine he loved to see in action was changing.

Something pink and viscous oozed out of the joints of golden armor plating. The large rifle seemed to grow pulsating tumors that glowed purple from the inside. The helm, the fluted helm with an iron halo, seemed to crack around the eyes.

But, Ki noticed as the human sized chunks of metallic plating sunk into the rain-softened ground, behind the armor of the helmet wasn’t the host of cameras and sensors that should be there. Rather, Ki stood transfixed and seemingly dragged into a sort of void that seemed to exist underneath the visor. A void that had no light and instead seemed to drag in the air around it in an almost imperceptible way.

Likewise, Ki’s soul seemed to be in the process of being dragged in.

Ki couldn’t move an inch, not even as a stray round slammed into his shoulder. A splintering sound seemed to resound through him as his bone was shattered.

The golem leaned down and brought its finger slowly along. It was used to this process by now. It was best to start small. It was simply good practice.

Ki couldn’t tear his eyes away from the thing, the thing he was no longer sure was the MAC he thought it had been. In fact, Ki was so transfixed that he didn’t even notice the oversized finger that seemed to be approaching him.

In fact, Ki was so transfixed that he didn’t even notice the oversized finger make contact with his own head.

In fact, Ki was so transfixed that he didn’t even notice the oversized finger slowly pressing down on him.

Ki was transfixed.

Ki was dead.

The golem lifted its finger and looked at the puddle… or pile it supposed.

An artillery shell struck the beast’s back as it was admiring the sight.

Well then, the golem thought, it’s time to begin.