The abandoned factory stirred without warning.
Red-black warning lights pulsed through the darkness.
And the "pile of scrap" directly in front of Steshia began to move.
"Wait—what?! No—is that thing actually alive?!"
At Steshia's cry, three unmanned units rose to their feet.
Their design was unlike anything the raiders had used before. Four-legged, compact—machines, but not Makinas.
"What on earth—! What a repulsive appearance! Arden is at least a million times more elegant!"
"Don't let your guard down—their movement patterns are abnormal!"
One of the units accelerated as though physics were merely a suggestion and closed the distance to Steshia's machine in an instant.
"Gah—! Would you stop darting around—!"
Steshia fought back, but the unit's calculated movements kept her pinned on the defensive, barely turning its slashing blades of light with her shield.
Grain reacted immediately.
"Steshia—don't push it! …Let's see what this thing can do!"
Schuelle raised the prototype Photon Rifle.
A high-pitched whine—precision instrument from a laboratory—and then a thick beam of light drove clean through the void.
The shot vaporized the torso of one unit with casual ease.
But—
Half its body gone, the unit did not stop. Sparking and crackling from the wound, it kept charging straight at Grain.
"You can't be serious—after a direct hit—?!"
Grain put a second shot into it at close range, calm and unhurried. Only then did the unit finally detonate.
"…Stubborn things. Very well—let's try this!"
Letaria pushed Arden to full acceleration.
She drove all output into the leg armor.
"Out of my way! Grovel before me!"
A thunderous crack.
Arden's full-weight kick drove into the second unit's joint assembly. The impact—amplified by Arden's acceleration, exceeding anything the unit itself could generate—buckled its armor and sent it spinning deep into the factory wall.
Letaria pivoted immediately toward Steshia.
The third unit was closing in. Letaria focused, right hand tightening.
"Photon Saber—!"
The blade of light sliced through the dark and cut the last unit cleanly in two before it could reach Steshia.
"Steshia-san—are you all right?!"
"L-Letaria-san! You saved me!"
A moment later, cascading explosions tore through the factory.
The dormant systems had been forced awake—and the structure could no longer bear the strain.
"The facility is coming apart! Both of you—full speed, get out!"
At Grain's order, all three machines threaded through the collapsing wreckage and burst into open space.
Behind them, the abandoned factory broke apart in silence—there was no sound in the vacuum—and scattered into dust among the stars.
◆◆◆
Three machines, clear of the danger zone.
Letaria let out a breath—and noticed that Grain's machine was carrying something.
"…Grain. What do you intend to do with that?"
Cradled in Schuelle's arms was the wreckage of the second unit—the one Letaria had kicked into the wall and disabled.
"…Call it a hunch. The way these things moved—it wasn't standard security behavior. There may be something worth understanding here."
Grain's voice carried an uncharacteristic weight.
◆◆◆
Back at Seldia's hangar.
The wreckage had been brought inside.
Milea stood over it, staring.
"…This is…"