Chapter 2

The beast tide hit us like a tsunami.

Sienna charged the Daybreak straight into the swarm. I pushed the sensor net to its limit, tracking every threat and guiding her clear of attacks she couldn't see coming.

The neural link was already taking its toll. My vision blurred under the strain.

I tasted blood and forced myself to swallow it.

"30 degrees left. Three high-tier scythe-shells."

Sienna swung the light blade with deadly precision and sliced through all three.

Then Ryan screamed in terror over the open channel, "Sienna! Help! My control stick is jammed!"

I checked the radar. Ryan's mecha stood alone at the edge of the battlefield, with two low-tier beasts closing in.

All he had to do was engage the emergency thruster, and he'd be clear.

"Ryan, don't be scared! I'm coming!" Panic filled Sienna's voice.

"Sienna! There's an S-class queen right in front of us! If you leave, I'll have to pilot alone. The neural load will destroy my nervous system!" I shouted as pain tore through my head. "The beasts near Ryan are only low-tier. He can handle them himself!"

But Sienna didn't stop. Her eyes reddened as she ripped off her pilot harness.

"Kane, you know he's an orphan! He gets nightmares just from the simulations! He hasn't been through the things you have. He can't handle this!"

She threw open the hatch and looked back at me, her eyes pleading.

"Kane, you're a genius. You're mentally strong. You'll find a way to survive without me, won't you? If I don't go, Ryan will be scared to death! Do this for me. Just hold on a little longer. I'll calm him down and come right back!"

I stared at the pilot's seat she'd just abandoned in disbelief.

"You're strong. You can hold on! Ryan will die!" The wind drowned out her voice.

She leaped across to Ryan's mecha, took the controls, and quickly piloted it out of danger.

Meanwhile, the Daybreak, now without its pilot, was left directly beneath the queen's fangs.

I looked at the swarm rushing toward me and laughed bitterly.

There was only one thing I could do. I forced the primary controls online. Without the serum, the full neural load sent pain tearing through me, ten thousand times worse than before.

Blood poured from my nose and ears.

I tightened my grip on the control stick and launched the Daybreak into the air.

The light blade blazed white. Alone, I charged straight at the S-class queen.

The fight lasted a full ten minutes.

Even afterward, I couldn't remember how I'd managed to cut off the queen's head.

The massive beast crashed to the ground. A moment later, the Daybreak also lost power and slammed down.

The cockpit alarm shrieked.

I collapsed against the seat, covered in blood. I couldn't even move a finger.

I had no idea how long I lay there before someone forced the hatch open.

It was Sienna.

She froze the moment she saw me drenched in blood.

"Kane... what happened to you?" She rushed over, frantically trying to stop the bleeding.

"Don't do this to me! We're getting married! I can't lose you!" She cried until her voice turned hoarse.

I looked at her, too weak even to manage a smile.

Then, as she held me and sobbed, Ryan said weakly over the comm, "Sienna... my head is spinning. Am I dying?"

Sienna stiffened.

She looked from my blood-soaked body to Ryan's mecha in the distance.

"Ryan is too weak. He needs treatment now." She bit her lip and avoided my eyes.

I just looked at her.

"I'll take him to the hospital first! I'll send a medical team for you!"

She jumped to her feet and rushed out of the cockpit without another look back.

I heard her mecha's thrusters roar to life. Then I closed my eyes.

That was the second time.

Eventually, rescue sirens wailed in the distance. Someone lifted me out of the cockpit.

It was Eve.

"Kane, you're an absolute idiot."

I managed a faint smile. Then everything went black.