Earthfall

With a final motion of his fingers, all thrusters ignited as the swarm began its descent toward Earth, setting course for Germund.

As the bots entered the atmosphere, the heat from friction intensified, causing the swarm to glow in an ominous red hue. Jack watched helplessly as the shielding on the outermost layer depleted, the searing heat melting through their hulls and destroying the first line of his protective barrier.

"Come on!" He growled through gritted teeth, pressing forward like a daredevil maniac.

One by one, the layers fell. The second line shredded away, then the third, leaving only 20 bots out of the original 50. Jack's eyes darted to the altitude meter — he was still far from the ground. Fear and nervous tension clawed at him as he swallowed hard, the rising heat in the cockpit making sweat bead on his furrowed brow and dampening his silver hair.

Soon the fourth layer disintegrated, leaving behind a glowing meteor shower streaking across the sky.

"Screw it! Let's go!" He shouted, a war cry to trick his mind into believing he would make it.

The cockpit grew unbearably hot, the temperature gauge creeping higher — 35 degrees Celsius… then 36.

Suddenly, his shields failed, and the engine stalled. Jack stared at the HUD in desperation, silently begging it to work. A doubt flickered in his mind — had he miscalculated? The deafening alarms and flashing warnings offered no solace in the background.

But then, he looked up. The harsh noises seemed to fade as his sight port revealed a serene blue sky above a shimmering ocean embracing a sandy beach. Geometric markings on his map confirmed his location — he had reached the southern part of Germund.

"Hahahahaha! Woohoo!" A maniacal laugh erupted from his parched throat. He'd never felt terror like this before. His trembling hands slowly began to steady, and the crushing weight on his shoulders lifted, if only briefly.

His relief was short-lived. Out of nowhere, a giant steel mobile suit rippled into view.

"Now?! You've got to be kidding me!" He groaned, grinding his teeth as his radar began to ping furiously.

An Armatus mobile suit tore across the shoreline at high speed, its thrusters churning up waves as it glided over the sea.

Jack squinted at the HUD, enhancing the image to get a better look at the approaching foe.

"Huh?! It's missing an arm… and ionised blades…" He muttered, his eyes darting to the bot status report. Only two remained — his piloted one and another survived the re-entry.

"It's two against one," He concluded grimly, scanning the radar on his HUD.

Wasting no time, Jack directed a puny bot to move in the opposite direction while his piloted one surged ahead.

"Please work! Please work! Please work!" Jack roared, his desperation echoing in the confined cockpit.

"Stop right there!" The one-armed Armatus boomed as it closed in, its plasma cannon aimed directly at Jack, hesitating between recognising him as friend or foe. This Armatus appeared to have narrowly escaped the light of punishment that had obliterated most of its fleet.

When Jack didn't respond, the Armatus fired several plasma rounds. He barrel-rolled, narrowly dodging the deadly shots.

Meanwhile, the remaining puny bot manoeuvred beneath the Armatus and tightly clamped onto its right arm.

"Huh?!" The knight inside the Armatus gasped, puzzled by the sudden move.

[Self-Destruct!]

[Self-Destruct!]

[Self-Destruct!]

"What the hell?!" The knight screamed, pure bewilderment etched in his voice. He violently twisted and spun the Armatus, attempting to fling the bot off using centrifugal force.

[10! 9! 8!]

Jack's muffled voice came through the attached bot's speakers, further selling the illusion of an imminent self-destruction.

Panic overtook the knight. The hatch door on the Armatus torso suddenly flew open, and a man leapt out. His personal thruster boosted him towards the ground, where he rolled clumsily before scrambling for the cover of nearby treelines.

"Hahahaha! Idiot!" Jack cackled, manoeuvring his bot to hover near the now-unoccupied Armatus. As he closed the gap, he opened his own hatch, wind rushing in and whipping around him. His legs trembled beneath him, but he knew what he had to do.

Swallowing hard, his heart pounding in his chest, Jack shouted, "YOLO!" and leapt. His stomach churned as he hung briefly in the air before the clang of his boots locking onto the Armatus's metal hatch rang out sharply.

Wind gusts buffeted him, nearly toppling him over.

"Whoa! Whoa!" Jack yelped, flailing his arms wildly to regain balance. After a few tense moments, he crouched on all fours atop the Armatus's entry hatch and scrambled to dive inside.

Settling into the pilot's seat, Jack quickly slid his hands into the glove controllers.

"Quickly! Quickly!" He muttered, his eyes darting to the horizon in case enemies returned. His mind raced as he issued commands.

"Override protocol implementing!" His commanding voice barked, meticulously taking control of the enemy suit. The system was surprisingly easy to hijack — after all, the Armatus was designed for superior personnel, not against hacking attempts.

"Now, reroute full authority to me and disable location trackers. We're going rogue!" He instructed coolly, his hands moving deftly within the gloves, inputting commands one after another.

At last, the Armatus suit's head tilted upwards in response.

"Connect its protocol to the two P.N.I bots!" He ordered, his newfound euphoria making him grin like an idiot.

[Protocol Completed]

[Access Granted]

With the hijacked one-armed mobile suit and the two remaining puny bots in tow, Jack drove them toward the shore at full speed. His red eyes locked onto the horizon, steeling himself for the chaos and destruction ahead, as his resolve to find his family burned brighter than ever.

***

Somewhere in the southern city of Germund, a once-beautiful, European-like city, the remnants of war hung heavily in the air.

The skyline, once a testament to vibrant life, now lay in ruins. Buildings, designed with charming European elegance, had crumbled into heaps of rubble. Flames and thick plumes of smoke rose from the wreckage, filling the streets with the acrid scent of destruction. Cars were abandoned, some charred to husks. Ashes floated in the air, a grim reminder of the chaos that had engulfed every corner of the town. The pavement was littered with the withered corpses of the fallen, their thin limbs and ashen, dry skin telling tales of lives lost too soon — the sacrificial lambs for the light of punishment.

In the midst of it all, a burning hulk of an Armatus mobile suit had crash-landed into a two-story house, its mechanical legs severed, and sparks flying from exposed wires. The house, built in the traditional Bauernhaus (Germany-like) style, had its sturdy frame twisted by the explosion. The steep roof, typical of the region's architecture, was half-collapsed, and ivy that had once decorated the outer walls now clung desperately to the charred remnants. The front door hung off its hinges, and shattered windows reflected the destruction outside. Sirens and distant explosions rang out, carrying the echo of the devastation.

"Don't worry, guys! I'm your trusty Olympian mage!" A cheerful Wildren called out, her voice cutting through the heavy silence as she led a small group of war-torn survivors through the wreckage along a narrow street. Despite the grim surroundings, her expression remained calm and reassuring. She exuded an unshakable confidence that steadied the group behind her. Some survivors had makeshift bandages around their limbs, others sported broken arms or bruises. All of them were grimy, their clothes torn and faces coated with the dust and ash from the destruction.

Their destination was a safety bunker and also a refugee camp near the police station, a few kilometres from there. Though the path ahead was fraught with danger, the promise of refuge offered a glimmer of hope in the midst of the chaos.