Bang!
C-ST’s right hand was already glowing with the build-up of another energy bolt.
The sudden crack of a rifle shot hit first—louder than everything else in the valley.
C-ST jerked as if yanked by an invisible hook and flew more than ten meters through the snow.
A moment later came the roar of engines, growing fast.
A Phantom fighter swept overhead, and behind it a small transport ship descended, landing not far away.
Bit jumped out before the transport had even fully settled. Behind him came Merc with an anti-materiel sniper rifle, then more than a dozen Avengers spilling into the valley like a tide.
“Hey! Wyatt!”
Bit ran straight to Wyatt’s ruined upper body. “It really is you, you bastard. My brother—oh, hell. You look like you crawled out of a grinder.”
Merc’s voice was steadier, but no less real. “Hello, Wyatt. I thought I’d never see you again.”
Bit let out a breath. “When Lord Blin’s message came through, nobody believed it. We almost got here too late. Good thing Merc can shoot.”
Wyatt raised his one working hand and signed shakily:
“Thank you. You saved me again.”
Bit’s expression tightened as he looked over Wyatt’s destroyed chassis—then glanced toward C-ST.
“You’ve been inside Phantom Forge’s nest,” he said. “How did a bioweapon turn you into this?”
***
C-ST sat up slowly.
The skin on her face had been torn open like cloth. Beneath it, metal skull structure gleamed in the cold light—something that made even hardened machines uncomfortable to look at.
With a casual motion, she ripped away the ruined flesh.
New skin immediately began to regrow, creeping over the exposed metal. It wouldn’t take long to look “normal” again.
Merc’s optics narrowed. His anti-materiel rifle could punch through tank armor.
It hadn’t blown her head apart.
“Careful,” Wyatt signed to Bit, forcing urgency into the motion. “She’s strong.”
Bit nodded once. “Don’t worry. We’ve got this.”
He signaled an Avenger, and they lifted Wyatt onto the transport ship.
Merc chambered another round—ka-chak—only for Bit to flick a hand, stopping him.
***
C-ST rose as if she’d never been injured.
She looked around—and realized she was surrounded.
Avengers stood on both sides with guns leveled at her. Behind her, Bit held a two-dimensional blade, cutting off the obvious retreat.
But what truly held her attention were the two boys standing in front of her.
Twelve or thirteen years old. Identical faces. Bare-skinned and naked, with fine scales visible when the light hit them right. Their expressions were blank, almost curious.
“Boys!” Bit shouted from behind C-ST. “Today’s lesson is live fire. We’re practicing how to bully a lone enemy. Use everything you’ve learned.”
For the first time, shock cracked C-ST’s composure.
“You partnered with Miller?” she said.
“Miller?” Ollie and Ofer exchanged a puzzled glance, clearly not recognizing the name.
“Move!” Bit barked.
The boys launched.
They were lightning—two arcs curving in from left and right. Their hands had been empty a moment ago, but as they closed, their forearms unfolded into blades. Two edges each, slashing in synchronized timing.
C-ST reacted instantly. Before they reached her, she slid two steps left, forcing their attacks out of sync.
She dodged Ollie’s slash and countered—both hands reshaping into knives. One cut horizontal. One cut in a spinning sweep.
Ollie ducked one, hopped back from the other.
Ofer’s thrust arrived a heartbeat later. C-ST rolled backward to avoid the stab, popped up at his flank, seized his wrist, and used an over-the-shoulder throw to hurl him toward Ollie.
Ollie retreated again and steadied Ofer mid-stumble. For a brief moment, the two boys lined up in a straight lane.
C-ST backed away fast. Her right arm rotated, revealing an energy cannon.
A white energy bolt shot toward them.
Ollie and Ofer split left and right to dodge—and in that opening, C-ST sprinted for the valley’s edge.
“She’s running!” Bit shouted. “Open fire!”
He chased, blade raised.
Avengers on both sides fired in unison. FBZ pulse rifles spat angry light. Rounds struck C-ST’s body, sparking, but barely slowed her.
Bang!
Merc’s anti-materiel rifle cut through the gunfire.
C-ST had reached an Avenger and grabbed him, yanking his body into her path like a shield.
The shot hit anyway.
The Avenger was blown in half at the waist.
The force also knocked C-ST off her feet.
Bit was almost on her, ready to bring the blade down—
But she fired an energy bolt at the transport ship.
Even now, she wanted Wyatt dead.
Bit swung his blade at the bolt and missed.
“Ollie! Ofer!” he shouted. “Protect the transport!”
The boys reached the bolt first. Their forearms crossed, morphing into a shield-like plate.
The bolt detonated.
The blast threw them seven or eight meters across the snow. Their arms and upper bodies were shredded into bloody pulp.
They didn’t seem to care.
They stood back up and charged again—already healing, flesh knitting itself whole.
C-ST fled.
Bit chased and slashed, but she dodged every cut as if she had eyes in the back of her head.
Bit ignited his flight engine and vaulted ahead, trying to block her escape route.
At the same moment, Merc’s second shot arrived.
It hit C-ST’s leg.
The impact flipped her twice in the snow.
When she rose again, she found herself boxed in—Bit at one point, Ollie and Ofer at the other two, a triangle of steel and intent.
Bit lifted his blade into a guard and snarled, “Accept it, Phantom Forge’s trash. If you get away today, I’ll self-destruct on the spot.”
He flicked an eye-signal to the boys.
Ollie and Ofer attacked from both sides again.
***
“Starling! Dorian! Linneya!”
Eisen kept tearing at broken ice, calling names into the empty valley.
No reply.
Finally he cleared enough to expose a window. He leaned in to look—
And heard the transport ship’s engines overhead.
He turned—
Ting.
Something struck his chest.
He looked down and saw a blue-glowing arrow embedded in his armor.
Before he could process it, the arrowhead flared with a burst of blue light.
His consciousness vanished.
As Eisen collapsed, the transport ship settled onto the valley floor. Little White and the Avengers moved in, fast and efficient.
Little White glanced at Eisen’s fallen body and muttered, “How is there a Nether here?”
Then she looked at the wreckage and started issuing orders.
Avengers ran toward the rear half of the plane. Little White led another team to the crushed cockpit. They cut into the sealed door and crawled inside.
***
“Hey. Wake up.”
In the dark, Linneya felt a hand patting her cheek, gentle and persistent. A soft voice called to her.
She murmured without thinking.
“Starling…”
Her eyes opened sluggishly.
The face above her was unfamiliar.
“Hey, kid,” Little White said, concern in her voice. “Are you human?”
“Who are you?” Linneya coughed and tried to sit up, panicked. “Where’s Starling?”
She realized she was outside now.
Not far away, on the stony bank, the people she knew were laid out in a grim line.
Eisen.
Big Blue.
Danser.
Minks.
Dorian.
Starling.
When Linneya’s gaze landed on Starling, her world tilted.
Tears flooded her eyes.
Starling’s eyes were closed. A jagged chunk of wreckage had speared into her back, nearly cutting her in two. Blood spread beneath her, soaking into the pale stones, staining the creekside white.
“Starling!” Linneya wailed.
Her legs buckled.
She dropped to her knees and sobbed until her chest hurt.