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“How many are there?” Locke asked, his body cocooned safely within the massive bulk of Titan Chimera. The war machine towered over two stories tall, a humanoid frame of crimson armor plates over black joints and artificial muscles. Gold filigree—faded from wear and tear from who-knew-how-many battles—highlighted a few edges, accentuating its sturdy, powerful build.

Locke walked the titan up to the square opening in the floor, where diffused light from the sunrise spilled into the airship’s long central hangar bay. He clenched a gargantuan fist around a support rafter running the length of the ceiling and peered down.

Morning mist shrouded the base of Mount Driver, and thick pine forests climbed its craggy slopes, thinning out into bare rock and snow near the mountain’s peak.

Except for a glint of blue and silver moving along the forest’s edge.

A large glint. Moving fast for something so big.

“Ember?” he asked.

“Hold it,” she radioed from Titan Long Shot. “I’m not in position yet. Almost there.”

“Take your time,” he sighed. Or he’d intended to, but his voice cracked at the end. Jitters ate at his nerves, and butterflies fluttered in the pit of his stomach. Fighting monsters in a titan was one thing, but this? This was on a whole different scale of crazy.

Why did I agree to this? Locke thought. Why did I suggest this?!

“In position,” Ember reported. The glint settled atop an outthrust of stone on the mountain, almost like a ship’s bow.

“And?” Locke asked.

“Yeah, I see them. Right where we thought they’d be.”

“How many?”

“One titan, which we expected … plus two heavy weapon quads. Big ones, too. Maybe thirty tons each.”

“And how many titties?” he asked.

The radio fell silent for long, agonized seconds. He could almost feel Ember rolling her eyes at him.

“For the last time, Locke, the ‘small titans’ are not titties! They’re called rigs!”

“Oh, I know that,” he countered, gazing once more at the drop. “But consider the world from my perspective, just for a moment. I’m nervous, and I’ve been nervous since I agreed to this plan.”

“It’s your plan!”

“That’s beside the point. What is the point is I made a lame little joke back then in an attempt to make myself feel better. And you know the response I got? None of you laughed at my joke. So guess what? I’m calling them titties until I start feeling better.”

“Oh, good grief.”

“Remember, I’m about to leap from this airship in a seventeen-ton coffin, and the only thing preventing me from going crunch at the end is an upgrade we’ve never tested!”

“You’re not that high up,” Ember jabbed.

“Oh, you think so? Alyssa, how high up are we?”

“Just a hair under six thousand feet,” she radioed from the airship’s bridge.

“Right. Over a mile up, then. And not only that, but I’m dropping in next to some bad people who want us dead.”

“Try not to land right on top of them, would you?” Ember warned. “You’ll block my shots.”

“I’ll try.”

“Hey, Ember,” Alyssa cut in. “Back to Locke’s question, before he went off on this weird tangent. How many rigs do you see?”

“Ten to fifteen. Hard to be exact. Some of them are obscured by the trees, and the quads will probably have some extra rigs I can’t see from here.”

“That’s a whole lot of titties,” Alyssa quipped.

“Uhh,” Ember groaned. “Not you, too.”

“That make you feel any better, Locke?” Alyssa asked.

“Marginally.”

“Well, shake it out of your system. You’re a titan mage now. You charge in where others fear to tread. Don’t ever forget that.”

“I know. And I won’t let you down. I promise.”

“You’ve got this. I know you do.”

“Thanks.”

“Now brace yourself. Here comes the turn.”

The airship banked to the left, and Locke shifted one of Titan Chimera’s feet outward for better balance. He raised an arm, and through the titan’s eyes he studied the catalyst built into the underside of its forearm. The crystalline rod ran from the machine’s wrist down to its elbow, appearing clear in its inert state.

Locke channeled a simple matter-based spell through the catalyst. Titan Chimera’s void furnace roared alive, burning a steady stream of liquefied void condensate and releasing the powerful essence sealed within. Hot air and black smoke belched out of two louvers, one at each of the titan’s shoulders, and the crystalline catalyst darkened to the same hue.

Silvery swiftmetal poured out of a port below the wrist and spun itself into the wireframe of a great shield, while one of the many gauges in his console wiggled downward. More swiftmetal spooled outward, filling in the shield until it formed a solid, reassuring wall.

Locke let the base of the shield thump down against the deck. The magical construct was as solid as wrought iron.

 “I’m getting better at this,” he declared privately with a smile.

“We’re almost on top of them,” Alyssa radioed in. “You ready to jump?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Watch it,” Ember warned. “That unexpected turn must have grabbed their attention. Those two quads are swinging their guns your way.”

“Time to go!” Locke let go of the rafter, took one heavy step forward, and let the titan’s bulk tilt over the side. His stomach slammed up into his throat, and Titan Chimera plummeted toward the forest below, wind howling past him, armor plates rattling in the turbulence. Seventeen tons may have granted the machine a degree of stubborn inertia, but a brick still flew like a brick.

 Warm morning sunlight kissed the titan’s armor as Locke channeled a gravity-based spell into the catalysts in each leg. Crystalline rods built into the titan’s calves glowed a faint purple, and smoke of the same color plumed out of the titan’s louvers in long, pale streamers.

His descent slowed and stabilized.

“Whew!” Locke exclaimed. “That’s one less worry.”

The twin gravity catalysts weren’t powerful enough for true flight, but he could use them to fall in a controlled manner.

Which was all he needed.

“Good luck!” Alyssa called out. High above, the long, glinting shape of the airship banked away from the battle.

“Luck?” Locke scoffed. “Who needs luck when you can use mag—”

A beam of blinding yellow light shot up from the ground and blared past him with an aura of crackling magical lightning.

“Never mind!” He raised his shield, but the act obstructed his view of the oncoming ground. “Damn. Didn’t think this through, did I?” he mumbled to himself and channeled a matter spell.

Swiftmetal parted to form a narrow viewing slit near the top of the shield.

“There. That’s bet—”

A second beam speared into the shield. Silvery metal turned cherry red around the impact, and the force sent the titan spinning.

“Yikes!” He channeled bursts of gravity thrust, righted the titan, and stabilized the shield with both hands. “Ember, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m being shot at!”

“Is this a surprise?”

“Isn’t this the part where you start shooting at them?”

“Hold it. I don’t want to waste my opening shot.”

Another beam scythed past him, its nimbus crackling against the edge of his shield.

“Would you fire sooner if I said pretty please?”

“No need. Aaaand … gotcha!”

Titan Long Shot channeled its own magic into a red lance of lethal energy. The beam pierced through the superstructure atop one of the enemy quads, rupturing its furnace. Superheated void essence screamed through the widening cracks like enraged, escaping steam, and lightning forked through the air. Mages and engineers in black livery scurried away from the four-legged weapon platform moments before its furnace blew in a cataclysm of unfocused energy magic.

The blast ripped the entire superstructure off its turret mooring and flung it three stories into the air before it fell back down and crumpled against the ground next to the quad.

“That’s one!” Ember called out triumphantly.

The second quad swiveled its cannon toward Titan Long Shot and fired, but the crew clearly didn’t have a fix on her position, and the beam bored a ragged line across the stony mountainside.

A scattering of shots from void rifles tinked and plinked against Locke’s shield, and he channeled one final burst of gravity magic before Titan Chimera stomped feetfirst into a narrow clearing. He stumbled forward, grabbed the thick trunk of an ancient pine, and planted his feet. The titan’s forward movement plowed two grooves through the damp soil and nearly uprooted the tree before it came to a stop.

“Made it!” Locke said, then chuckled with the joy of still being alive.

“Three rigs heading toward you,” Ember reported. “North by northwest.”

“I see them.”

Locke faced the approaching weapons he thought of as “little titans.” These black-armored rigs stood twelve feet tall, less than half the height of his own Titan Chimera. They were too small to come with furnaces of their own, and instead received power from tanks of compressed void essence attached to their backs, which made them resemble deep sea divers to his eyes.

Locke channeled through his matter catalyst, and the shield reformed into a massive hammer with a long, sturdy shaft. He gripped the weapon with both hands and charged the trio of rigs with long, thunderous strides.

The rigs opened fire, and bolts of energy chipped at Locke’s armor. He closed the distance and swung the hammer in a wide overhand arc. The hammer slammed into the lead rig’s head, flattened it, then imploded the top half of its torso. It teetered forward, arms outstretched, groping the air before Locke kicked it over. The rig thunked to the ground on its back, its legs and arms thrashing in vain.

The other two rigs paused, perhaps now regretting their bold charge against this titan.

“Who’s next?” Locke asked with a wide grin.