“We have to try to dig our friend out. He’s still in the temple somewhere.”

“The third one is in there?”

“Third…?” Ricky caught on. This bounty hunter was after only the three brothers. “No, it’s just the two of us now.”

“Where’s the third one then? There was supposed to be three.”

“He…died.” Ricky replied and looked to Rocco in the now dim light for reinforcement.

“Yeah, our other brother died…from his wounds in Kallerish.”

The impartial mirrored helmet faced them for a long moment. It was impossible to discern the thoughts or feelings of the Titan within the armor and that made anyone dealing with the legendary Titan bounty hunter, Lupis, uncomfortable in the least.

“We can confirm that later. For now, come stand here.” The armored bounty hunter walked over and indicated a place near the mound of collapsed tunnel.

Ricky and Rocco walked across and stood in the spot as requested, though neither of them saw much point to it. There was no way out now that they could see, and it was anyone’s guess how long the air would last in the underground antechamber. Perhaps the power armor could survive for weeks or even months in the environment, Ricky knew that many could survive in the vacuum of space and likely had independent air supply. Some were even equipped with carbon air scrubbers that could recycle that air supply for long periods of time, perhaps even indefinitely. But while the armored bounty hunter may have the ability to survive their predicament, that did not change the fact that him and his brother would certainly run out of air sooner or later.

“So, you got a plan?” Ricky asked the figure skeptically.

“Yes. The plan is to stand there and wear those vests.”

Ricky looked down at the strange tunic he was now wearing, as did his brother, both feeling a little foolish under the circumstances.

“Okay then. Care to let us in on it?”

The armored figure remained facing the mound of collapsed dirt, as if he were waiting for something.

“Not particularly.” Came the reply from the mechanized speakers.

Ricky then stopped talking and stood silent, which Rocco had already been doing. But as soon as he fell silent, he heard a noise that took him awhile to figure out. It dawned on him eventually what the sound he was hearing vibrating that mound of soil was. It was some type of heavy machinery boring a hole through the dirt, reopening the tunnel, and by the sound of it, they were doing this with remarkable speed.

“Those tunics are linked to my armor platform.” The bounty hunter suddenly offered without turning to look at the pair of Procyon prisoners. “They will shield you from mechanical sensors.”

“So…” Rocco turned to Ricky then for clarification, fearing he would not receive it from their taciturn captor. “The plan is that when those Zenith bots break through here sooner or later…they won’t be able to see us?”

Rocco may have been confused, but with Ricky’s tactical mind, he began to piece out perhaps what the bounty hunter was thinking. And he marveled at the balls behind it all.

* * * *

Bingo’s one Titan rebellion did not last long or achieve what he had hoped for. He leaped down into the trench below and quickly shredded half a dozen Constructo 500 bots before moving further in and surprising two security units from behind. He may have been unarmed by standard Titan sensibilities, but his retractable bionic claws and the machine muscles that wielded them were more than capable of tearing through the metals used for drone production.

At that point he was standing at the trench opening leading directly out into the open area where the vehicles had stopped to unload their cargo, and the same place where the helicopters had landed and though their blades had since stopped rotating, were still waiting there. So far, he had not been noticed by the wider community of forces assembled in the courtyard to the temple, of which his bionic target systems counted nearly one hundred standing around. Bingo prepared himself to rush out and maybe die in a flurry of destruction.

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But a sudden explosion quickly caused the cyborg to pause just as his legs gathered power for a charging leap of fury. A rumble of bass like a mini earthquake that Bingo could feel vibrate his body as tons of dirt collapsed and caused a cloud of dust to rise into the air and obscure the area.

Bingo’s shoulders slumped in defeat as he realized now what had just happened. Instead of charging down to confront the trio as they were exploring the ruins, or perhaps try to apprehend them, it looked like they simply collapsed the tunnel altogether. He knew instinctively that there was no way anyone could have survived that. Though a moment ago, he had prepared himself for a glorious fight against insurmountable odds, the point of such a fight suddenly evaporated.

Reluctantly, Bingo turned to leave. He had worked himself up to the point to which it was actually difficult to do, but he saw no point in it now. He made his way back to their stolen vehicle, which still had about half a dozen MV1 battle drones guarding it.

Bingo snuck up on them with little effort. Being a relatively diminutive Titan did have its advantages at times, one of which was being underestimated and the other was typically not being seen until it was too late. The cyborg was able to surprise the ground and made short work of them. His speed and violence of action easily overwhelmed the sentries.

As quickly as he was able to scrap them, Bingo knew that there was still a good chance that the now destroyed robots were able to relay a distress signal for reinforcements and didn’t have much time before they would arrive, seeing as there were so many just a few hundred yards away at the dig site.

The daring cyborg decided to swiftly get behind the wheel and floor the accelerator pedal. There was essentially no chance that some of those forces at least would soon be chasing him, but he wanted to see how far back to the ship he could make it before they would catch him. The hefty, armored security vehicle’s tires spun and left a cloud of dust in its wake as it shot down the unpaved desert road.

* * * *

Sabre Khan opened his eyes. The glass dome that encompassed his body was lifting with a pneumatic hiss. The remnants of the torture that he had undergone was still ringing in his memory like a bad dream. Every molecule in his body was tingling, his senses seemed dulled yet more alive than ever at the same time. The feeling of the nanomachinery eating away his being on an atomic level and systematically replacing it had been an indescribable fire, like he was burning alive from the inside out and even then, the sensation haunted his consciousness.

The pirate lord rose from the glass tank and pulled himself out. He found that despite his intentions, his body was not quite used to its new status. He was desperate for answers and looked up at the gathering of his crewmen and the facilities Titan workers, who all seemed to be staring at him in breathless anticipation.

“Did it work?” Sabre asked. His voice was raw and sore coming out. He felt as though he was dehydrated, like he hadn’t drunk anything for weeks.

“You tell us Mr. Khan.” One of the Titan scientists remarked drily.

“According to the readouts, everything should have gone through perfectly.” Another Titan, a weasel by species, wearing a pair of glasses looked up at him nervously. “We monitored the procedure closely.”

“Yeah, we made sure they didn’t do anything funny while you were under.” A large member of his crew, that went by the relatively uncreative moniker Redblade, stepped forward and crossed his big arms across his wide chest. Redblade was a Badger Mustelid, and his two fellow Mustelid companions, both Ferrets, stood on either side of him.

The Weasel scientist avoided eye contact with the large Redblade, who looked like a classic goon from a holovid.

“So, we did as you asked. Will you let us live?”

The Weasel had good reason to be worried, in fact it was probably on all of the Titan workers’ minds at that time. They knew that this was the notorious pirate Sabre Khan, and he had written his reputation of terror across the galaxy in a legacy of blood. He was not known for his benevolence or his mercy, and now he was more powerful than ever.

Sabre regarded the trembling scientist for a moment and flexed his fingers into a tight fist. He didn’t feel much different. Had these Zenith scientists tried to pull a fast one on the pirate lord? There was only one way to find out for sure…

Sabre Khan thrust his fist into the tiny Weasel scientists’ chest unexpectedly. To the pirate’s delight, the punch did more than he had expected. Thinking only to punch the scientist, his fist reacted more quickly than he could have anticipated, with a force and velocity that staggered his senses. His fist and forearm plunged right through the other Titan as though he had been made of flimsy paper.

The action happened so fast that it took a moment for the explosion of gore that erupted to catch up and splatter across the back wall. The scientist managed a short blood curdling scream before he died. Sabre then turned to his most trusted bodyguards that had been allowed into the room with him for this. A cheer went up among their ranks as they celebrated their leader’s now confirmed new godly status.

“Whether you live or die now depends on what happens next.” Sabre announced to the now terrified and cowering Zenith employees. He looked meaningfully at his most loyal and trusted bodyguard, Redblade and smiled a crooked, toothy smile. “Because I’m going to need a few trusted Second Mates to help me on the next leg of my adventure.”

“Boss?” Redblade looked confused.

“Get in!” Sabre gestured to the tank that he had just emerged from.

The second most violent Titan in the room smiled wickedly from the doorway. Sabre knew he would have to be diplomatic about what came next. He would have to allow Crazy Tooth to ascend like him, or risk the captain of his second ship’s disloyalty down the road. But he had as much trust in Redblade and his friends’ loyalty as he did in Crazy Tooth’s eventual mutiny. He would house more ascended Titans on his ship, ones that were fiercely loyal to him than Crazy Tooth, and thus, deter his disloyalty perhaps indefinitely.

“You’re my Second.” Sabre pointed to Crazy Tooth. “And I’m granting you this honor to serve me better.”

“Thanks Boss.” Crazy Tooth did his best to remain humble, and for all he knew, perhaps the other Titan really was as grateful as he appeared.