Chapter Two: Astra-X Awakens

Every movement left warped space behind them. They carried no solid weapons, but crescent blades of dark light extended from their forearms. One Bulwark was cut through the waist. The thirty-meter Federation mech came apart like paper. Its upper body crashed into a ruined residential block. The pilot's distress signal lasted half a second before dissolving into static. Leon's breath dropped. "Weapons." Astra-X answered, "Primary armament damaged at sixty-two percent. Starcore cannon offline. Gravity blade offline. Phase lance offline. Available systems: close-combat frame, left-arm pulse array, dorsal short-range jump." "Enough." Leon did not wait. Astra-X dove from the edge of the pit.