The Iron Jackals charged us as if they’ve unanimously decided to close the distance.
Thirty armed men ran straight at us, boots pounding metal and steam hissing from broken pipes around us.
I raised my Aether Revolver.
"Everyone, remember the plan!"
Vexa ducked under a slashing blade.
"What plan?"
I fired.
Aether energy lashed out from the muzzle and struck the Jackal square in the chest, sending him flying and colliding with two others.
The System blinked the words over my vision.
[Hostile defeated.]
[Upgrade Energy acquired: +1.]
I grinned. "One."
Nyx punched a Jackal in the gut as he came at her, sending him sprawling over stacks of boxes.
"One what?"
"Nothing!"
She looked at me. "That’s becoming suspicious."
Another Jackal charged me from the left.
I turned and fired.
The Aether round struck his armor square in the chest and knocked him backward.
[Hostile defeated.]
[Upgrade Energy acquired: +1.]
"Two!" Vexa looked at me.
"Are you counting?"
"Yes!" I ducked behind the workbench as three Jackals opened fire.
Bullets chewed into the metal plating.
I peeked out and fired twice.
One shot flew past the charging Jackal’s head.
The second struck him in the rifle.
[Hostile defeated.]
[Upgrade Energy acquired: +1.]
"Three!"
A shadow loomed over me.
I looked up to see a Jackal perched on the workbench behind me.
He raised a massive hammer.
"Oh, come on."
I rolled aside as the weapon came down, smashing the bench to bits.
I fired upward, the Aether round striking the Jackal in the shoulder.
He staggered back, and Nyx appeared behind him, her crimson arm glowing.
She punched him square in the back.
The Jackal flew across the room.
[Hostile defeated.]
[Upgrade Energy acquired: +1.]
I stared at Nyx. "Four."
She looked at me. "Are you seriously counting your kills during a fight?"
"Not kills." I gestured at the Jackal on the floor.
"Upgrade Energy." She sighed.
"Of course."
Suddenly, there was an explosion.
I turned to see Cyra in the middle of a group of Jackals.
Blue Aether crackled over her like lightning, her silver curls floating around her head, her eyes burning with some deep intensity.
One of the Jackals raised his rifle, but she merely stared him down, and the weapon disassembled itself, the metal scraps drifting to the floor.
The man looked at his hands in horror.
"What did you do?" Cyra smiled.
"I asked it to stop." She raised her hand, and the air exploded outward, sending the Jackal flying.
I turned to Nyx. "Remind me never to annoy her."
Nyx laughed. "Good idea."
Brakk entered the fray next.
The giant armored man pushed through his own men, his mechanical arm bigger than my torso.
He slammed his fist into the ground, and a shockwave hurled me backward. Vexa landed on her back with a crash, and Nyx skidded across the floor.
I hit the ground hard, grabbing the edge of the Stormrunner Engine.
Brakk roared. "Enough! You thieves have no idea what you’re dealing with."
He charged at Nyx, who stepped to meet him.
Her Crimson Arm extended, locking the plates together.
"Neither do you." With a grunt, Brakk shoved forward, but Nyx slid backward several feet from the impact.
"Nyx!" I shouted.
"I’ve got him!" Brakk swung again, but Nyx caught his mechanical arm, the red power lines under her skin flaring.
Her expression changed, her lips tightening into a smile. "Your machine is outdated."
She twisted, and a sickening sound came from Brakk’s shoulder.
"You lie!" he roared, punching Nyx in the gut.
She flew back, landing on her hands and knees. Brakk staggered forward, and Nyx kicked him square in the chest, sending him flying into a support beam.
The building shuddered as he hit it.
I stared at Nyx.
The woman I had met yesterday had killed a man.
And I was the one who had made it happen.
Something warm twisted in my chest. Pride, maybe.
I didn’t know. I hadn’t made her what she was.
I had merely given her body a chance to become something greater.
Perhaps that was why the System had chosen me.
Or perhaps I was fooling myself. It hardly mattered.
Brakk rose to his feet, blood streaking down his masked face.
"You," he growled, his mechanical eye locking onto me. "You did this to her."
I looked at Nyx.
"Did I?" Then at him again.
"Yeah, I did."
Brakk charged, but I fired, the Aether round striking his chest plate.
He pulled up, growling.
I fired again, and he lifted his mechanical arm.
This time, the round exploded against his metal shoulder.
He advanced. "That will not do."
I took a step back, my heart hammering. My revolver clicked.
Empty. "Oh." Brakk raised his fist.
There was no more than a second, maybe two, before the System appeared before me.
[Emergency combat analysis.]
[Weak point detected.]
A red mark hovered over Brakk’s heart.
His Aether Core.
Understanding, I turned to Cyra. "His chest!" She looked at me, then his body, her eyes widening. "I see."
Blue light swirled around her fingers. "No!" Brakk shouted as he realized what we were doing.
Cyra fired a concentrated beam of Aether at his heart.
His armor exploded outward, revealing a glowing core.
That, too, split open, spilling light to the floor.
Brakk staggered backward, and I surged forward, Nyx at my side.
She punched the metal on his mechanical arm, and I grabbed at his side, trying to hold him steady.
Nyx fired again, her crimson fingers striking his ribs, and I shot him in the chest with my empty revolver. "Right."
Nyx laughed. "Idiot!" Brakk fell to his knees. The rest of the Jackals lowered their weapons. One by one, they dropped to the floor.
Then the System appeared.
[High-threat hostile defeated.]
[Upgrade Energy acquired: +5.]
I stared at it. "Five?"
The System blinked again.
"Total Upgrade Energy: 13." I frowned.
"Thirteen." Vexa looked at me.
"Why are you still counting?"
"Because I need twenty."
"For what?" I gestured at the Stormrunner Engine.
"That."
Her eyes went wide. "You’re actually planning to upgrade it?"
"Absolutely." She stared at me.
Then she smiled.
"Then we’ve got seven more to collect." I peered around the workshop, seeing several unconscious Jackals lying on the floor.
The System flashed over them.
[Potential Energy Acquisition: Low.]
I sighed. "Apparently unconscious people don’t count." Vexa raised her wrench.
"Then let’s find seven."
Before I could say anything, the lights in the factory snapped on.
The furnace roared to life, and a deep mechanical growl reverberated through the building.
The ceiling vibrated. "Emergency systems are online," Cyra said. Nyx frowned. "What does that mean?" Vexa’s mouth tightened into a grim line.
"It means the city knows we’re here." A siren began to wail outside.
Then another.
Then another.
I could see red lights flashing through the windows as the City Watch arrived.
Their cars pulled up, one after another, surrounding the factory.
I looked at my thirteen Upgrade Energy, then at the Stormrunner Engine.
We were seven points away from our goal. I turned to Vexa.
"How long will it take you to get this thing to the ship?" She smiled.
"If we get it to the ship?"
"Yes."
"Ten minutes." I looked at the doors.
"Then we have ten minutes to get seven Upgrade Energy."
Nyx turned her revolver over in her hands. "Or?" I smiled. "Or we steal it with thirteen."
The System blinked over my shoulder.
[Upgrade Energy: 13.]
[Stormrunner Engine Upgrade Cost: 20.]
[Insufficient Energy.]
I stared at the message, then at the approaching City Watch.
"Well." I gave a small smile as I looked at the doors.
"Seven points shouldn’t be that hard to come by."
Suddenly, the doors exploded inward.
City Watch officers tumbled through the opening, their guns gleaming.
At the front, a massive mechanical creature stood, its four legs pressing powerfully into the pavement.
A cannon on its chest hissed and spat blue fire.
Vexa looked up at the contraption. "Still think seven won’t be hard?" I looked at the cannon. "No."
I smiled. "I think we may be in for an exciting fight."
And fired.