Chapter 33 (YEAR 2052)

The Exodus looked like a giant red kettle.

Its big, bowl-shaped body and raised shoulders gave it an ornate look, accented by the gold decals that decorated its armour. The owner had put substance before style, certainly, but there was still plenty of style to spare on the body of the Exodus. A giant, stylish red kettle, then.

It's amazing what nonsense goes through your head when you're dodging missiles launched from said giant red kettle of death.

"Blast!" I growled, and slammed my hand onto the activation key. The odds were good enough.

I could feel my teeth vibrate as the back of the Prototype folded outward on itself, the jagged armour behind my cockpit peeling back like a gate to allow access to something new.

The Prototype's secret weapon.

Only, it wasn't a weapon. It was a crystalline pyramid of electronics and synthetic glass that poked out of the armour a few centimetres above the mech, shimmering in the midday sun. The quiet hum it made failed to convey the true power