THE TITAN LEAD

CHAPTER 1: SAILING IN A SEA OF STARS

7 Years Later. 419 Interstellar Era. Orbit over Plentaxian Delta, Andronian Space Sector.

You shield your eyes to the brilliant display of light which would have looked beautiful, if it was not coming from the auto-firing canon of the Imperial Ships. You swiftly manoeuvre your way out of the deadly plasma shot intended for you, with the quick firing of the thrusters attached to your armature's legs. You then decrease your momentum, steady yourself, and make short work of the firing canon by projecting three powerful energy bursts towards it using the AX-12 Energy Rifle of your 20 Feet armature.

"We have breached the enemy's line of defense, but this battle is now going nowhere." Says Mhysa 4 over the interconnected comm. lines as she now comes to a standstill and floats in space close to you. "You okay?"

"I've been better." You reply in an exhausted tone.

"Mhysa 3 and 5 are gone. I have lost contact with our commander Mhysa 1. Mhysa 2 and 4, us, are the only ones remaining."

You halfheartedly listen to Mhysa 4, as you see the RDC battle ships and the armatures of other squadrons retreating, their rear shields protecting them from the incoming fire. The Imperials struck the planet Plentaxian Delta swiftly and mercilessly. It was an unwelcomed surprise as both the sides had come to a stalemate and no one had expected the Imperials to regroup with reinforcements in such a short period of time. The RDC barely had time to set up a line of defense, forget about coming up with a frontal assault.

You are tired. Exhausted and drained from having to fight continuously for 3 weeks now, with only a few hours of sleep and other necessary needs in between. Your body is running on the painful amounts of adrenaline and armature Pilot cocktail you had to take in to keep your senses sharp and keep yourself going on in battle. But even those enhancers are finally racking up a toll on your body.

"Teeril! Are you listening to me?!? We have to get out of here! Now! This battle is lost!"

"Wha-What?" is the only thing you can mumble back, with Mhysa 4's high pitched shrieking on your private channel forcing you to come back to reality. You see her flailing her giant robotic arms, as if testing out whether you are alive within the cockpit of your armature and trying to get your attention.

"Just, give me a moment." You then switch off the comm. line, to make sure your ears are alive and well, as you can only imagine the curses Mhysa 4 might be spewing at you.

You open up your holographic control panel within the cockpit of your armature, and check the condition of your war machine. Plasma Dual Wielding Sabres – Offline. Auto-Directed Flash Canons – Offline. Energy Rifle – Online. Shields are at 20% integrity. You also notice that your heat sink is malfunctioning, and that you'd better return and dock your armature unless you'd want to float in space like a ticking time bomb. Wait. A Time Bomb.

You look at Mhysa 4. Then you look at the three Imperial Warships looming at a distance menacingly. It is at that moment that a genius plan of self sacrifice or a stupid plan of self annihilation strikes you. You re-establish communication with Mhysa 4.

"Hey Edre-"

"FREAKING ABOUT TIME YOU SHOWED BACK UP! A MOMENT LATER AND I WOULD HAVE LEFT WITHOUT YOU!"

"Do you still have the shield disruptors?"

"Why are you inter-"

"I said, do you still have the shield disruptors?"

"Yes. The short range ones. Never got a chance to use them."

"Good. Hand them to me." You demand them in an assertive tone.