The ground shook with every step we took.
BOOM... BOOM... BOOM.
The Titan—now christened the Prometheus by Sarah—was on the move. Standing twenty stories tall, it waded through the Rust Sea like a giant crossing a shallow pond. Mountains of scrap metal that would have taken us hours to climb on foot were simply crushed beneath its hydraulic feet.
I sat in the Pilot's Chair, interfaced directly with the machine.
It was intoxicating.
I wasn't just controlling the mech. I was the mech. I felt the fusion reactor beating in my chest like a second heart. I felt cool air rushing through the intake vents on my shoulders. I felt the weight of the new rotary chain-gun mounted on my left arm—hungry and eager.
"Reactor output stable," ARES reported, his voice resonating in my head. "Terrain navigation optimal. Estimated time to Uplink Station: 6 hours."
"Keep us steady," I thought.
The command translated instantly to the servos. The Titan adjusted its gait, smoothing its stride.
Down in the mess hall, the rest of the team was preparing.
I watched them on the internal monitors.
Sarah was going over the holographic map of the Uplink Station. It was fortress built on top of the "Scrap Everest," the highest peak in Sector 0. The only approach was a winding service road called "The Coil."
"It's a bottleneck," Sarah explained to Maya and Glitch. "The road that spirals up the mountain. It lined with Automated turrets and drone hives. If we try to fly up, the anti-air batteries will shred us. So we have to walk."
"So we fight our way up?" Maya asked, cleaning her rifle. She looked different now. The fear that had haunted her eyes after the ambush was gone, replaced by cold focus. Her cybernetic arm hummed quietly as she worked.
"We siege our way up," Sarah corrected. "The Titan draws the fire. We clear the flanks."
They were becoming a family. A strange, broken family forged in war.
"Contact," ARES warned.
I snapped my attention back to the external sensors.
Ahead of us, emerging from the grey fog, was a pack of Scrap-Behemoths.
They were massive. It was Ferals—rogue machines that had merged together over decades, forming hulking monstrosities of tangled metal. They looked like gorillas made of buses and rebar. Three of them, each standing fifty feet tall.
They roared—a sound of twisting steel and grinding gears. And they charged towards the Titan.
"Hostiles detected," ARES reported. "Engaging."
"No," i said. "Let me handle this."
I wanted to test the new gun.
So i raised the Titan's left arm. The rotary chain-gun spun up.
WHIRRRRR.
"Targeting Alpha," i muttered.
The lead Behemoth leaped, raising a fist made from a cement mixer.
I pulled the trigger.
BRRRRRRT.
The sound was apocalyptic. Thirty-millimeter explosive rounds tore through the air at four thousand rounds per minute.
The stream of fire caught the Behemoth mid-air. It didn't just kill it—it erased it. The rounds chewed through scrap metal and detonated inside the chassis. The creature disintegrated in a cloud of fire and shrapnel before it hit the ground.
"Target eliminated," ARES noted.
The other two Behemoths skidded to a halt. They stared at the smoldering cloud that had been their pack leader. Then they looked up at the twenty-story Titan pointing a smoking gun barrel at them.
They turned and ran.
"It will be a waste of ammo to chase them," I said, lowering the arm. "Save it for the mountain."
We continued the march.
As we moved deeper into Sector 0, the landscape changed. Random junk piles gave way to organized debris. We passed the wreckage of ancient battleships, massive skeletal of cargo haulers, And the entire city blocks that had been dumped from upper atmosphere.
"Commander," ARES said. "External camera feed available on your left."
I glanced at the monitor. Glitch had climbed up to an observation port and was pressing his face against the glass.
"Look at that ship," he whispered over the comms. "Those markings... that's from the First Ascension War. That's history out there."
"History doesn't matter," I said. "Only the future."
Glitch fell silent.
We reached the base of Scrap Everest at midday.
It was a monument to humanity's excess. The mountain of junk rose five thousand feet into the sky, disappearing into toxic yellow clouds. At the very top, barely visible, i could see a faint light flashing—it was the Uplink Station, waiting for us.
The Coil road wound around it like a serpent strangling its prey.
"Deployment," I ordered.
The Titan knelt. Then the rear cargo ramp lowered with a hydraulic hiss.
Sarah, Maya, and Glitch drove out on the modified hover-skiff—a fast, agile vehicle we'd salvaged and armored. They would flank the Titan, clearing out smaller threats that the main guns couldn't hit.
"We're entering the kill zone," Sarah radioed. "Stay sharp, everyone."
"ARES," i said. "Shields up."
A blue hexagonal field shimmered into existence around the Titan's hull.
[SHIELD SYSTEM: ACTIVE]
I took the first step onto the mountain road.
WHOOSH.
Immediately, a missile streaked down from the mist above. It slammed into the shield and detonated in a flash of orange fire.
[SHIELD INTEGRITY: 98%]
"They're awake," I said, grinning.
Up the mountain, hundreds of red lights flickered on. Automated turrets unfolding from bunkers. Drone hives splitting open like metal flowers. They lined the road for miles—it was a gauntlet of steel and fire.
"All units," I commanded. "Push forward. Don't stop until we reach the sky."
The Titan roared. I engaged the leg servos, driving the machine up the incline.
BRRRRT.
I opened fire on the first bunker. The explosive rounds tore the turret apart.
Below me, I saw the hover-skiff weaving through wreckage. Maya was leaning out the side, firing her rifle at a swarm of flying drones. Sarah drove with one hand and throw EMP grenades with the other, frying electronics in cascading blue pulses.
Glitch whooped over the comms, lobbing explosives at a cluster of spider-bots trying to climb the Titan's legs.
It was a symphony of destruction.
[XP GAINED: +50... +50... +100... +75...]
"Level Twelve," I murmured, watching the numbers climb. "I'm going to hit Twenty before we reach the top."
[CURRENT LEVEL: 12]
[XP TO NEXT LEVEL: 850/1,200]
The march had begun.
And nothing on this mountain was going to stop us.