~January 13th, 136 AH~

~Sector Gemini, Korak Valley~

Multiple groups of Hornets approaching. They’re fanning out to flank your position, Kingfisher.

“You see that, Kingfisher? We need to split up. I’ll take right, you go left. Don’t worry, I’ll keep my eyes on you.”

Before his first simulation exercises as a full Reiter, Zelen had imagined listening to two voices at once to be an impossible ordeal. In practice, however, he could pay ample attention to Amphibian on the radio while also registering everything Delta-Upsilon said. The communications from his Spiegel weren’t strictly auditory in nature, but were more like signals that had been packaged and channelled directly into his consciousness.

So, he readily understood the reasoning behind Amphibian’s move away from his side, and hastened to follow suit. As he thrust into the air above the southern bend in Korak Valley, the swarm of red dots on his radar manifested as Syntropy machines in his field of view.

He’d come equipped with [CLUSTER LAUNCHERS] on both shoulders for this exact scenario. He fired them off in a staggered sequence, letting the first cluster clear one patch of Hornets before aiming the second into an adjoining section.

This managed to clear out a large chunk of the wall of machines that had formed upon the sky. Zelen’s instincts then told him to turn the [GATLING] in his right arm onto the rest of the wall.

Are you sure that’s the optimal course of action, Kingfisher? Remember, this isn’t an extermination mission.

Delta-Upsilon was right, of course. Charlie Team’s objective was to destroy the generator that lay somewhere behind this wall of Hornets.

Zelen kicked, aiming his forward thrust into the gap, before the surrounding Hornets had a chance to close it. Bullets rained on him from all directions as he flew, but he spun in midair by sequentially activating a series of thrusters, allowing him to keep the damages to a minimum. He then burst through the gap and into open air.

AU at 80%, ER at 65. Objective 800 metres ahead, Kingfisher. Bearing zero-four-zero.

Zelen reflexively nodded his thanks, though he wasn’t sure if Delta-Upsilon could ‘sense’ his doing so. He was quickly learning to become rather dependent on his Spiegel—which he didn’t particularly mind.

A blue dot reappeared on his radar, indicating that Amphibian too had broken through.

“Good work, Kingfisher,” Captain Vasseur’s voice rumbled through the radio. “It looked for a moment like you might be slowing, but you got there in the end.”

“Thank you, si—Amphibian.” Another thing Zelen had to get used to was addressing his former Instructor by his callsign. “To be fair, I needed a little prodding from my—”

Watch out, Kingfisher! You’re within range of enemy fire.

Right on cue, several larger red dots appeared on the radar. Their locations corresponded to a hill that rose toward the plateau where the generator was situated.

Stationary cannon DF-12, designation ‘Iaculum’. Six of them by my count, Kingfisher, two more than was indicated by intel.

One thing Zelen had learned in proto-Reiter school: such was the speed and unpredictability of the Syntropic production line that the tactical situation on the ground could evolve dramatically within hours. Case in point: the six Iacula that currently lined the path of Charlie Team’s approach.

The barrels of the cannons swivelled freely, tracking the flight of the nearest Eidolon. Then the three closest to Zelen fired, all but simultaneously.

Zelen engaged lateral thrusters to dodge the first, then the second, before sustaining a direct hit from the third. It had come in too close, and there simply hadn’t been enough time to react. Inside the Nexa-Suit, he steeled himself against the impact, which felt like a hard shove to one side of his body.

AU down to 60%. Be careful!

“Kingfisher!” Captain Vasseur’s voice came through again, having taken on a distinct note of urgency. “Take evasive manoeuvres until you’re within range of the leftmost Iaculum. I’ll lead and draw enemy fire. Then you go in and take all the glory, just like we practiced.”

“Are you sure, Amphibian? There’re more of them than we anticipated!”

“Two things, greenhorn. Never question a direct order. And never underestimate me again!”

Zelen didn’t need telling twice. He swerved to avoid another volley of cannonballs and kept flying in the same direction, taking himself out of range of the Iacula’s tracking systems. Eventually, all six enemy units began to concentrate fire on Amphibian.

“Delta-Upsilon! You’ll let me know if Amphibian’s in trouble?”

I will, Kingfisher. Focus on your task.

Zelen nodded his thanks again. By now, he’d started to circle around and re-approach the leftmost Iaculum, but he flew low to the ground, minimizing the angles where he’d be exposed to enemy fire. It also meant he momentarily lost his own visual on the enemy unit, but as a full Reiter, he was no longer fighting alone.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Now, Kingfisher. [BLUNDERBUSS] in range.

Zelen popped back up into the air and squared himself toward the Iaculum. The barrel of the cannon swivelled again, twisting in a wide arc to capture Zelen’s newest position, but he already had his own armament pointed onto the enemy’s weak spot: the joint mechanism that connected the barrel to its base.

LA [BLUNDERBUSS] fired, brightening Zelen’s world with its expansive muzzle flash. At nearly the same instance, the Iaculum broke apart at its joint and erupted in flames.

Such was the advantage of [BLUNDERBUSS], a short-range weapon with high spread and low accuracy, but one that packed a devastating punch when it did land. It would’ve been nigh on impossible for Zelen to get close enough to one Iaculum unscathed, let alone six. He’d have to thank Captain Vasseur again when he got the chance…

One down, five to go. Amphibian is holding firm.

Indeed, as Zelen dipped low again to approach his second target, he caught a glimpse of Amphibian flying above and ahead of him, weaving and dancing through the air to confuse the enemy’s tracking systems. He seemed to be up to the task, to be sure, but even an experienced Reiter like Captain Vasseur couldn’t survive the barrage for long. Zelen needed to be accurate and fast.

And he came through with reasonable aplomb. Two Iacula down. Then three, then four.

If Zelen could stop and take stock of himself then, he would’ve realized that all his fears had dissipated. There simply wasn’t any room for them, given that his entire being—body, mind, and his connection to the Nexus—focused on nothing but the task, nothing but the next enemy to take down, to make the sky safer for his friend and mentor.

With only two Iacula remaining, Amphibian broke formation and flew headlong toward the rightmost unit, but not before shouting into the radio, “You know what to do, Kingfisher!”

Zelen did, and he showed no hesitation as he destroyed his fifth Iaculum on the day.

Five Iacula down. And Amphibian has just taken down the sixth. Well done, Kingfisher. I’d say only the objective remains, but—

“How is Amphibian? Did he take hits?” In his concern for his team leader, Zelen interrupted his Spiegel.

He did, but he’s still in fighting shape. Give me one moment… Yes, Amphibian’s AU is at 35%.

Delta-Upsilon had reported all this matter-of-factly, but Zelen took the news with a twinge of guilt. 35% was cutting it rather close. If only he’d been quicker, more efficient…

But as Amphibian reconvened with Zelen and spoke into the radio, he showed no signs of his wear and tear, “That was clean, Kingfisher. Makes me think I might’ve done alright as your Instructor.”

“But I could’ve done better! Maybe then you wouldn’t have had to take so many hits.”

There was a pause, which made Zelen wonder if Amphibian was upset with him. But when the team leader came back onto the radio, it sounded as though he had just finished chuckling, “I don’t remember you being this eager when you were a proto-Reiter! Could’ve made my job easier back then too, you know.”

Zelen fell silent, now wondering about the same thing. He had been a rather indifferent student, concerned only with getting through the training program so he could see the back of his Instructors. Yet it seemed that something in him had shifted the moment he became at least partially responsible for the fate of humanity, the same way his bond with one of said Instructors had deepened.

“Never mind that, Kingfisher. Leave it for the debrief when we get back to base. We’ve broken through enemy defenses, but our mates are still waiting for us to deal with that generator.”

“Acknowledged, Amphibian. Following on your six.”

By now, the generator had already come into view. Unlike most Syntropy creations—with their distinct morphologies and numerous moving parts—the generator was disturbingly inscrutable in appearance: a giant obsidian cylinder that was half-buried in dirt, its surfaces so sleek and smooth as to provide no visual hints of its function.

The Reiters, however, knew that this cylinder generated the bulk of the shields around the drone factory. With it disabled—and before the Syntropy could source backup power—Alpha Team would have a window of opportunity to move in and secure the main objective.

As he followed Amphibian toward the generator, Zelen suddenly remembered his earlier interaction with his Spiegel.

“Delta-Upsilon? I think you were trying to tell me something before I cut you off?”

Yes, Kingfisher. I merely wanted to point out that we’ve already had several deviations from the tactical situation as outlined by intel. As such, I’d advise caution as you approach the generator.

“Noted,” Zelen said with another nod no one saw, “but if there are other defensive units, they would’ve shown up on the radar, right? Looks to me like we’re in the clear.”

I tend to agree, Kingfisher, and please feel free to dismiss my concerns at your discretion. I only hoped that you’d remain vigilant.

Zelen pondered these words as he flew, marvelling once again at how his own heart opened more and more toward this rather thoughtful AI that spoke to him through the Nexus. Every Reiter he’d gotten to know seemed in agreement that Spiegels were mere tools: useful, yes, but something to be kept at an arm’s length and never fully trusted. Surely, no Reiter had ever grown fond of his Spiegel, as Zelen felt himself in danger of doing now.

Snap out of it! He chided himself. I can’t be that different from everyone else!

Presently, Amphibian had begun his descent onto ground level, and Zelen quickly followed. The two of them now flew in direct alignment with the cylinder that was the generator, and Amphibian raised his right arm to activate his [GATLING].

Suddenly, the ground beside the generator exploded, and not from either Eidolon’s attack.

The crumbling earth spat out a shadow of metal and malice, which then shot toward Amphibian at impossible speed.

Before Zelen could react, the gunfire from Amphibian’s [GATLING] was swallowed up by the shadow, before the entire Eidolon streaked across the air, with the shadow tightly wrapped around its frame. With an impact that sent more rocks and dirt flying, Amphibian crashed into the nearest hillside, where his entire metallic body cratered into the earth.

Only then, with the momentary pause in movement, could Zelen visualize the threat. The shadow wasn’t a shadow at all; it was unmistakably Syntropy, yet unlike any machine he’d ever seen, real or simulated.

The unidentifiable Syntropy had a roughly circular central chassis, from which no less than eight spindly and multi-jointed limbs grew in a radial pattern. Several of these limbs wrapped themselves around Amphibian and held him in place, while two others rose high into the air. The ends of these free limbs morphed into something jagged and murderous, before they both came down on the captured Eidolon with force.

“NO!”

Zelen screamed. He didn’t understand what he was seeing, only that it was the worst thing imaginable.

A small explosion erupted where the Syntropy’s sharpened limbs made contact with Amphibian, then the Eidolon went limp. Black smoke rose from the central chassis that housed its Reiter.

Amphibian’s AU has been depleted. A familiar voice, infuriatingly calm, streamed from the Nexus and penetrated the blankness that filled Zelen’s mind. The pilot’s vital signals have terminated. Amphibian is dead, Kingfisher. How will you proceed?