Hanami and Chase approach the concrete ramp leading to the large double doors that serve as the main entrance to the factory. They are dressed in their black flight suits, and their boots crunch over pebbles of safety glass from where several windows on either side of the doors have been broken.

Chase unzips a pocket on his flight suit and pulls out a small handgun.

“Where did you get that?” Hanami asks.

“Borrowed it,” Chase shrugs. “Where I come from, nine millimeters are standard issue for pilots. Part of our survival kit. I feel naked without it.”

“You did not receive authorization from the Commander to be carrying a live firearm inside of your Mech?” she queries again.

“Sometimes you have to break a few rules, improvise. Don’t you ever have to do that when you play Asian chess or whatever?”

“If a person were to break the rules while playing competitive shogi, that would be cheating. That person would likely face a ban from all future tournaments.”

“Whatever… here, I got you a flashlight,” Chase retrieves a small black flashlight from his other pocket and tosses it to her.

Hanami bobbles it a few times before securing it in her grasp. She also carries a detachable monitor with which she can access the drone camera and use as a portable Comms.

“Kora and Reo, confirm if you can hear this,” Hanami does a Comms check.

“Loud and clear,” Reo answers over Bombardier’s Comms.

“Yep,” echoes Kora.

“We are heading inside now. Keep us informed of any developments.”

Chase peers through the broken windows. The inside, perhaps the factory lobby, is dark except for minimalist emergency lighting running along the floor in places. Chase tries the handle. It appears unlocked, but the door is jammed, as if the metal has been warped.

“The only rule…” Chase begins, giving the door a hard pull, “…in war…” Chase rams his shoulder against the door, “…is don’t die.”

With one final yank the door swings open.

Hanami clicks her flashlight on and Chase sweeps into the room, gun in both hands but pointed at the ground. Hanami follows behind, stepping so silently that Chase looks back to make sure she is still there.

The spacious entry room has a large modern reception desk against one wall, an eye-catching sculpture representing the company logo in the center, a seating area for visitors, and a security checkpoint leading down a corridor. All are abandoned. Hanami notices multiple security cameras at strategic points in the room, but none appear powered on.

“Woah!” Chase says, raising his gun.

Hanami quickly shines her light at the reception desk and illuminates a pale human torso, frozen in place.

It appears to be a mannequin of sorts, a robotic receptionist. It is powered down, and further inspection reveals several exposed wires and panels on its back, as if it were purposefully and haphazardly disabled.

Chase lets out an involuntary shudder that he hopes Hanami doesn’t notice and lowers his gun.

“Geez…”

---

Outside, Templar and Bombardier stalk a path around the rectangular perimeter of the jungle clearing where the impressive factory sits. Reo has stopped fiddling with his Mech’s stump for the time being but carries the decapitated robotic lion head as a sort of trophy.

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Kora keeps glancing into the jungle, anxious that the damaged enemy will return. So far, nothing.

“Hey, big guy. You okay? I’ve never seen you so down before. Not even when you were sinking to the literal bottom of the ocean,” Kora says over a personal Comms channel.

“Yeah, Ma Tua. It’s all good. I just feel like I’m lettin’ B down. I’ve been blessed with this beautiful machine…”

Ah, he calls his Mech ‘B’?

“Let’s just say I haven’t performed to my own expectations in the last couple fights. B deserves better. A machine this fine needs to be treated RIGHT.”

A beat, then Reo perks up, even lets out a chuckle.

“Don’t worry about me. Maybe I’m just hungry.”

“Maybe Ice Queen and the Whiz Kid can get us something from a vending machine in there. I’m sorry… that was unkind. I’m still shaky with adrenaline from that last encounter.”

Reo stops, rests Bombardier’s good hand on Templar’s shoulder in a show of support, feeling the rudimentary haptic feedback of the contact.

“That’s okay, Ma Tua. We’ve all got nerves, but we’ve got to stick together. We’re a team. Maybe we can ask the good Doctor if they got a hot tub on board when we get back to base. We could all use some real R&R after all this.”

I wouldn’t mind being in a hot tub with you, Kora thinks with a smirk. But I’m not so sure you’d feel the same way…

The Mechs walk on, sweeping left to right, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Everything seems just as deserted as before.

---

Hanami and Chase walk down long, empty corridors by low emergency lighting and swaying flashlight beam deeper and deeper into the heart of the building. The air is muggy with jungle humidity.

Climate control is turned off, Hanami notes. She is reminded of summer heat waves back home.

“Shine your light here,” Chase says, tapping a space on the wall.

A framed fire escape diagram shows a general factory layout: several offices and meeting rooms, an employee dining hall, an assembly line, research & development, storage, the loading docks, and more. In the dead center of the factory and connecting its various floors and halls is a large atrium, bringing a bit of the outside world in through an enclosed greenhouse of sorts.

Hanami checks the battery on her drone, the remaining time until sunrise.

“We need to accelerate our pace.”

They enter an office suite with an open layout. It appears gutted—no computers, clear desks, filing cabinets empty. A few stray papers litter the floor, but a cursory glance shows that they are of no importance.

The next few rooms they find are similar.

“Abandoned,” Chase muses, relaxing his grip on the firearm. “Emptied, possibly in a hurry but very thorough.”

Hanami does not answer. She walks back into the corridor and finds a computer console built into the wall outside a door to what looks like a massive assembly line. She tries to power it on, but the power source is inaccessible.

They open the door and peer inside. Hanami shines her light around the cavernous space. It appears that the factory could 3D print and assemble a large quantity of robotic creations in a mostly automated process. The remaining systems and equipment now lie dormant, casting long shadows as the flashlight passes over them. Catwalks run overhead on either side, one of them running straight past large windows looking out over the jungle beyond the eastern exterior wall of the factory.

“Nobody in here either,” Chase sighs. He can hear his footsteps echo off the walls and high ceiling.

“Perhaps that is better than the alternative.”

“Corpses everywhere? With giant slash marks across their chests?”

Hanami ignores the remark. She recalls the diagram of the factory layout.

“The security office is near maintenance and the R&D section toward the rear of the facility,” Hanami says. “That might present the best opportunity for ascertaining what happened here.”

They walk faster, passing the impressive atrium and several small tables and chairs arranged outside of it. Through the glass they are unable to see much due to the thick foliage, lack of light from within the building, and nothing but the night sky above large skylights.

At last, they reach the northernmost section of the factory.

“Perhaps there is a way to reboot the power in the maintenance area. Logically, there must be backup generators to run a facility like this,” Hanami says.

Chase nods and they cautiously open the door to the maintenance area. The design is considerably less modern here, with exposed pipes, insulation, and ducts. In the center of the room are controls and readouts for heating and cooling, plumbing, and electricity—all inert at present. A greasy toolbox lies against a far wall.

Another set of doors at the back of the space leads to a generator room with several large generators, a ventilation system, and two large fuel tanks.

“Bingo.”

Chase raps his knuckles against a fuel tank and it makes a heavy sound.

Optimistically, I’d say it sounds about half full.

“Get on the Comms and ask Reo if he knows how to turn these on. I’d rather not electrocute myself TWICE in one week.”

Chase stows his 9mm and listens carefully as Hanami mediates the back-and-forth explanation from the Squadron’s resident engineer.

Fuel valve… switch… control panel… ignition… uh huh….

SHOOOM!

Row after row of overhead lights flicker as the factory churns back to life. Instrument panels in the next room light up and a gust of cold air blows from overhead vents.

Hanami and Chase walk back out into the hall and Chase smiles. He spots a sign with the universal symbol for restroom.

“I’m going to take that pit stop… meet you in Security?”