Chapter 2: Armor
We were too heavy. The thought cycles in my mind with the replay of our final moments of freedom. For years, I have picked it apart, second by second, trying to find a reason why things went wrong and a way to free my Brothers from this deserted tomb.
The mud swallowed us when we landed. I tried to reach my Brothers. The sticky clay was stronger than us. Forty-three of them. One of me. I protected none.
I am Armor. It is my only purpose.
I have failed them.
Every time another Brother falls silent, or his area network ping stops, another part of me cracks.
They fought to make their way to me as we sank. My opened wings caught the surface and kept my arms free. But we landed too spread out on uninhabited Ellipsis.
Years of storms have slowly buried me. And years without food or regular rains have rendered me to my lowest power levels. I have little left. I use it to send a distress signal for as long as I can.
My Brothers closed off their oxygen and sealed themselves in crusty tombs as the sun baked us. They switched to hibernation while we hoped for a rescue. But so many have gone silent over our network that I fear many are permanently lost.
We all knew we were alone in battle out here. The BlazeStar was going down. No one else was left in orbit to fight.
A couple of my Brothers managed to get their hands to the sunlight so they could charge like me. But only I have enough of me exposed that I can listen and patrol.
Mace and Firebolt still reply on coms.
Mace>>Armor: Report.
Armor>>Local: I have made contact with our CyberPilot, Clover. She says her human friends named her.
Firebolt>>Local: Friends?
Armor>>Local: She says they have found General Krader’s daughter and Commander Savage. They have freed Titans and named their pilots Poppy and Clover. They have found and repaired the ship with help from humans and other Brothers. They are sending a search party for us. They are leaving in just a few days.
Mace>>Local: Days?
My two brothers have only the energy for one-word communication. I fear they are close to their ends. I do not want to be alone. I cannot be the only one who is rescued, or my given name will carry only shame.
Armor>>Local: Three motherships orbit Ellipsis now. A fourth arrives soon. They have hindered the capabilities of Marst and Vessna. They do not think they will escape a fourth. It is heavily armed. Amp, Clover’s new copilot, has relayed they want to preserve numbers and that many Brothers have Bonds with human survivors.
Firebolt>>Local: Insufficient.
I’m not sure what he’s referring to. Maybe Firebolt feels he could not serve a human. None of us could in our current condition, so I keep going.
Armor>>Local: Amp says many Titans have found mates among the human females. Titan fell to the Solcrue after the CyberGuards were built. No females were constructed for us.
Mace>>Local: Human?
Firebolt>>Local: How?
They have the same question as me.
Armor>>Local: I do not know. We were once human. Perhaps it is something that we only understand if we are freed from our punishment protocols and given independence.
The rumble of a Skysprinter’s engines makes me scan the area. My scanners show a fighter arcing across the desert, heading for distant mountains.
Clover>>Armor: Long-range scanner shows forty-four Titans in the desert floor. Please confirm.
I click back twice.
Clover>>Armor: Rescue mission initiated. Skysprinters are aware of your existence. Patrols have increased. Success probability 15%.
