Ronin soars over the ocean on autopilot as Ranger, Bombardier, and Templar follow. Behind them, a massive orange fireball engulfs the island, obscuring it from view.

“What was that? Looks like an atomic bomb went off!” Kora shouts over the Comms.

“Not far off,” Reo says. His voice is staticky over his damaged Comms.

“Was all that from the Fusion Core?”

“Icarus might ------ two Cores, not sure. Doesn’t it make ------ all warm inside to know you’re sittin’ on ------ miniature nuke?”

“Bugger…”

“Actually ------ not sure they’re nuclear ----- still tryin’ to work that one out,” Reo muses. “Nobody’ll ----- a shred of Icarus or ------ hostile vehicles either.”

“You’re cutting out,” Kora says. “Every few words we can’t hear you.”

“----- ---------- --------”

Reo’s Comms don’t seem to be working at all now.

They fly at high speed. The smoldering remains of the island and the approaching vessels are long gone. It will be a long flight back to the Floating Fortress. As usual, they fly low to help avoid detection.

On high alert, Hanami scans the surroundings for any signs of hostile forces as they fly. Boats, submersibles—anything.

What shot Icarus out of the sky? How did those vehicles get on the island, and how did they get the pilot off? she wonders.

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Suddenly, up ahead on their programmed return route, she notices something out of place on the surface of the ocean.

“Heads up. Something strange ahead. Possible hostile ordinance,” Hanami says. On her sensors she tags a series of ominous objects floating like large buoys.

“Acknowledged,” Kora says. “Rerouting flight to avoid.”

Templar swerves, moving away from the rapidly approaching patch.

Hanami flies to a higher altitude, away from the surface of the water.

It looks like a field of naval mines, but not like any type of mine I recognize from my studies, Hanami thinks.

Bombardier has not adjusted course.

“Reo, do you copy?” Hanami asks over the Comms. “Possible hostile ordinance ahead.”

There is no answer.

“I repeat. Reo, do you copy?”

Can he hear me at all? Hanami wonders.

Bombardier flies forward over the floating minefield.

Suddenly—SHOOOOM!

A floating black naval mine launches something straight up into the air as Bombardier approaches.

SHOOOM! SHOOOOM! SHOOOOM!

A chain reaction occurs as nearby mines also send small devices rocketing upward. A blinding blast of white light covers the surface of the ocean, enveloping Bombardier. Then, the Mech plunges into the ocean and disappears from view.

“Reo! REO!” Kora yells into the Comms.

Ranger stops, hovering in the air away from the site of the blast. Templar also stops, scanning the surface desperately. Ronin, carrying its unconscious passenger, maintains its autopilot course and is soon out of sight.

“Hanami, what happened?” Kora asks, frantic.

“Those were EMP blasts. They shut down all the electronics in Bombardier. He is sinking.”

“Reo? Reo? Can you hear me? REO!” Kora calls again and again.

There is no response.

Beneath the waves, the cockpit of Bombardier is dark. No lights on the instrument panels, no readings of any kind on the screens. The Impact Hammer slips from Bombardier’s immobile hands and sinks down, down, down.

Reo flicks switches, pounds buttons—nothing is responding. Beads of perspiration start to form on his forehead.

I could try to open the cockpit and swim for it. No, it’s sinkin’ too fast. This Mech is about as buoyant as an anvil, his mind races. The Core is still workin’, I know that. But all the systems that connect to the engine are dead.

A shoal of fish dart away as the metal giant rapidly descends.