Rain hammered the shattered rooftops of Mini Milta as dawn broke through a blood-orange sky. The squad huddled in the wreckage of the control tower, bruised, coughing, and somehow still arguing.
"Next time," Roxy said, wringing out her soaked gloves, "we let someone else crash-land us onto the murder bird."
Boltan, who was chewing on an energy bar that looked more like compacted sand, nodded proudly. "You're welcome."
LagMan's visor flickered. "You're the reason my internal processor thinks it's a toaster."
"Breakfast included," Boltan said.
Chiku looked out toward the smoking horizon. "You guys seeing that? The hangars— they're glowing."
Indeed, a faint blue light pulsed across the ruined airfield, spreading like veins beneath the ground. The rubble hummed, resonating with some hidden frequency.
Roxy raised her scanner. "Energy signature's identical to SkyBeak's reactor. Whatever 'Phase Two' means, it's waking up under us."
Before anyone could respond, the ground cracked open. A metallic hand—three times the size of a truck—burst through, scattering debris. The team dove aside as an entire platform rose from below: a circular launch bay marked PROJECT TITANFALL.
Chiku whistled. "That doesn't sound friendly."
Boltan grinned, already drawing his sidearm. "Then we're in the right place."
From the pit rose a machine that dwarfed even SkyBeak—part mech, part creature, its core pulsing like a caged sun. The rain hissed against its armor as it activated, and a synthetic voice echoed through the storm.
"Initialization complete. Target acquisition: Team Boltan."
"Wait, it knows us?" Roxy said.
LagMan groaned. "Great. We're famous now."
The mech raised its cannon arm, charging energy. Boltan threw his empty energy-bar wrapper aside. "Team, new plan: don't die twice in one morning!"
They scattered as a beam vaporized the tower's remains. The battle for Mini Milta wasn't over—it had just gone underground.
Chapter 6 – Titanfall Protocol
Smoke choked the air. The mech's targeting lasers swept across the field, slicing through hangars like paper.
"LagMan, options!" Boltan yelled, diving behind a broken wing.
"Option A: run. Option B: run faster. Option C: I hack it and probably explode."
"C it is!"
LagMan sighed, glitched out of sight, and reappeared near the mech's leg port. "Keep it distracted!"
Roxy grabbed a fallen plasma rifle and began firing at the mech's head. "Hey, tin-can! You forgot to reboot your sarcasm module!"
Chiku boosted onto a nearby crane and tossed a smoke grenade onto the mech's sensors. "Smoke screen deployed! …I think."
The machine's voice boomed through the haze.
"Evasion detected. Activating countermeasure: seismic pulse."
The ground trembled. Cracks split across the runway as shockwaves rippled outward. Boltan was thrown clear, crashing into a wrecked jeep. His comms crackled.
"LagMan, status!"
"Almost in—its core's encrypted behind a quantum firewall made of angry math!"
"Translate that!"
"I'm working on it!"
Roxy sprinted to Boltan's side. "We need to buy him time."
Bolton looked around and spotted a pile of unstable jetpacks. "Time, huh? I can make time explode."
He rigged the packs together, strapping them to a half-destroyed fuel pod. "When I say ignite, you shoot that pod."
Roxy smirked. "You're insane."
"Exactly why it'll work."
As the mech raised its cannon again, Boltan sprinted forward—charging straight toward it. "HEY! PROJECT FAILURE! YOU FORGOT TO UNINSTALL ME!"
The machine locked onto him. Energy surged.At that precise instant, Roxy fired.
The blast chain-reacted—the jetpacks detonated, the fuel pod erupted, and a firestorm engulfed the mech's torso. Metal screamed as its armor melted, exposing its glowing core.
LagMan's voice cut in. "Core breach achieved! Redirecting its reactor to self-destruct in three—two—"
"Don't finish that sentence!" Chiku yelled, swinging down the crane's cable to grab the others. They leapt just as the mech imploded in a blinding flash.
The explosion flattened what remained of Mini Milta's airstrip. When the dust settled, the team lay scattered but alive.
LagMan coughed static. "Congratulations. We've officially destroyed the entire base."
Roxy looked around the smoking wasteland. "So… victory?"
Before Boltan could answer, his visor pinged. A new transmission appeared—encrypted, old military code.It read:
"PROJECT TITANFALL: PHASE THREE — ORBITAL ASCENT INITIATED."
A streak of light shot upward from the horizon—something colossal launching into the sky.
Boltan stared, stunned. "We just blew up its body," he said. "So what the hell's going to space?"
Roxy reloaded, eyes narrowing. "Whatever it is… it's our next mission."
And above the burning clouds, far beyond their reach, a new storm began to gather—silent, electric, and watching.