Lupus lay atop Frain’s lap, listening to the birds' calls in the background. Occasionally, grunts and panting echoed through the forest — just two middle-aged men wrestling in their futuristic knight armours. Nearby, the Armatus suits were parked near a treeline, kneeling down with their palms open in the form of stairs.

  Jack had never received a proper crash course on the suit, so he had no real idea how to use the personal thruster or the built-in plasma cannon on the gauntlet.

  “See? The safety pin is here. You twist the gauntlet and fire,” Rhok lectured softly, demonstrating as he spoke.

  Their faint chuckles carried through the crisp air.

  Rhok had been eagerly sharing every tip and trick about the suit’s functionality. It was quite the eye-opener for Jack, who found himself admiring the engineers and scientists who had poured their intellect into creating these knights — the deadliest warriors known to mankind.

  If only they hadn’t built Armatus knights to wage wars against other humans, but instead to conquer the solar system or protect the weak…

  Aurelia stretched her body, groaning as her joints popped. Then, she turned to her guardian.

  “How about we practise too?” she asked, stars sparking in her eyes.

  “No. Last time, you nearly roasted me to death,” Friederich replied, his eyes remaining shut, arms crossed, and legs tucked beneath his knees.

  “Bleh!” Aurelia stuck her tongue out in a playful taunt.

  Friederich knew better and ignored her provocation.

  A gust of wind carried the earthy moisture through the air, filling their lungs with fresh, crisp oxygen.

  Then, Lupus’s ring vibrated, causing her eyes to flutter open. One of her ears flopped down as she stared at the Stellius ring on her finger.

  “Who’s calling now?” she muttered, pondering.

  A hologram beamed up in the air, revealing Petra Hoffmann, her expression solemn.

  “Lupus! Are you still near the dam?” Petra asked, urgency laced in her voice.

  Lupus yawned, her mouth opening wide.

  “Mother? Yes, I’m near it. W~What’s wrong?” she stumbled a little, seeing Petra’s agitation.

  “Please go there now! We have a situation at the construction site. A large fracture has been found on the dam wall—”

  “What?!” Lupus exclaimed, shock jolting through her body as a chill ran down her spine.

  Everyone turned at her distressed outburst, including the sparring men.

  “Jackie! Mister Rhok!” Lupus bellowed, coning her hands around her mouth.

  The men jogged over to join the group.

  Petra swept her gaze across their faces and gave a sharp nod.

  “As you may know that the dam had received some damage from the last battle and I have commissioned a contractor to repair it. The chief engineer overseeing the maintenance just gave me a sit-rep. A large crack has been found, and it’s propagating. The inspection team has already gone down to assess the damage, along with other work crews.” Her words were hurried but clear.

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  Jack glanced at Lupus. Her face had gone pale with fear — he had never seen her like this before.

  “Magistrate Petra, we’ll head there with the Armatus right now!” he declared.

  The white-haired man exchanged a knowing look with Rhok.

  Without another word, the two sprinted to their Armatus.

  The steel giants soon arrived, landing softly to pick up their passengers.

  “If the dam breaks, what will happen to Hasenwald?” Aurelia asked Petra, concern evident in her voice.

  “With the current water level, the town will experience the worst flash flooding in history. Not only that, but infrastructure and electricity will be completely devastated,” Petra replied.

  Aurelia nodded twice before hopping onto Rhok’s massive arm. Friederich helped her up and kneeled beside her, gripping her tightly.

  “Hang tight, kiddo!” Rhok rasped, motioning.

  She scowled at the Armatus’s head — where his face would be — then gave him the silent treatment.

  The wind howled, brushing against her hair like red ribbons fluttering in the air.

  Her eyes shifted toward the other Armatus flying alongside them. Unlike her and the others, Frain and Lupus stood elegantly atop Jack’s Armatus shoulder armour, their gaze fixed on the grand concrete wall stretching between two mountain ridges in the distance.

  Rhok ascended above the treetop along with Jack.

  “Umm… Hang tight, Princess. Guardian,” he said, this time more mindful of his choice of words.

  “Let’s roll out!” Jack’s voice crackled through the comm.

  Engines roared to life, and the two Armatus accelerated through the air.

  The wind resistance stung Aurelia’s eyes.

  “Ugh!” She made a cross with her fingers. “Phoros!” she chanted.

  An arc barrier engulfed her, nullifying the wind entirely. A smirk tugged at her lips.

  Friederich rolled his eyes but offered no rebuttal.

  “One too many times… if she was going to listen, she would have by now,” he mused.

  ***

  Jack’s cockpit rattled gently as he focused on the map.

  “Everyone connected through comms?” he asked.

  They all responded in turn.

  “Arriving in 50 klicks!” Jack bellowed through the main comm.

  Flying past the forest, his sharp eyes caught a glimpse of strange pillars in a clearing to the east.

  “Huh? When did they put those odd structures in the forest? No matter, let’s focus on the task at hand,” he thought to himself.

  As they closed in, the dam loomed larger. The 100-metre-tall wall stretched nearly a kilometre, spanning from one mountain to another. It arched slightly, embracing the colossal body of water now filled to the brim.

  "By the look of it, if the width is roughly 200 metres, then..." Jack calculated, estimating the triangular surface.

  “It could amount to over 10 gigalitres!” he exclaimed in shock.

  No Armatus could withstand that kind of crushing pressure.

  “Magistrate, even with two Armatus, I don’t think we can hold back the dam if it collapses,” he reasoned, forcing his voice to remain steady.

  Petra’s sharp response cut through.

  “Jack, I’m not asking you to use the Armatus to push against the wall. I have another plan in place. A Renaissance Lunarius mage is heading your way as we speak. Some say he was the greatest architect of all time.”

  There was a tinge of hope in her voice.

  “Then we better hope he knows how to fix the dam in an hour or less,” Rhok interjected dryly.

  “Don’t worry, I have a Plan B,” Petra replied flatly.

  Hovering over the massive structure, Jack scanned the area. The debris from previous battles had long been cleared out, leaving behind only scorched marks and craters atop the wall.

  On the exposed side of the dam, he spotted new additions — scaffolding erected for cement repairs and reinforcement. Work crews and cement bots moved in orderly haste, injecting fast-curing cement to stabilise the structure.

  Atop the wall, a strange, furry figure dashed forward, wielding a long crane in his hand. Another man, clad in armour similar to an Armatus knight, followed closely behind.

  Suddenly, the ground trembled, followed by a massive boom.