After the morning briefing, Aimsley really wanted to test her new bracer. The promise of being able to perform magic without the need of a titan or even a specialized room was so intoxicating. She sighed. She had things to do before her patrol today, one of which involved going to see her new titan. So, it was with mixed emotions, mostly positive ones, that she entered the area the place the crew were calling the “Chop Shop.”

  While the rest of the complex was a converted manor, this was a new, purpose-built building. Four stories tall, fully enclosed, with blank walls, and massive double doors on both ends, it looked for all the world like an over-grown garden shed. Going in through a small door, she was greeted with organized chaos as engineers were working on rigs in various states of repair. Tools clanging, shouts, and the whirring of machinery filled the space as she made her way to stairs that would take her to the scaffolding. Here, she could traverse safely without the risk of being trampled by an over-caffeinated and over-worked engineer. She paused at top of stairs and looked into the bay where a rig sat, ready for deployment.

  In many ways, the rigs looked like titans, albeit at only half their size. They looked like suits of articulated armor with a large tank on the back for the void condensate that allowed even non-mages to pilot them. Though, “wear” would probably be a better term than “pilot” in this case. In a titan, the pilot sat in a armored vat of conductor fluid that allowed the mage to control the hulking machines. With a rig, one’s own arms and legs protruded into the arms and legs of the rig, essentially making it powered armor. They were often armed with a void pistol or void rifle that operated with the same condensate. It allowed for one particular spell, usually an energy beam, to be used over and over.

  All without needing a mage.

  Even as a titan mage, she respected rigs. One may be weaker and less versatile than a titan, but you rarely, if ever, only faced one rig. She began walking as she thought of the tactics she had studied at the Arcane Index. A titan was powerful, but expensive and required a specialized operator. Rigs, however, were relatively inexpensive and can be crewed by anyone with the right training. They were the embodiment of quantity over quality. One or two may pose no real threat to her, but ten? Fifteen? To say nothing of rigs that had a quad backing them up.

  She reached a divider in the building and took a breath. She was a titan mage. She had trained to fight since she was young. She was also a void mage, able to command all five magics. In her titan, she’d be near unstoppable. Plus, her company would be on her side.

  She opened a door in the divider and stood, taking in the view. This area was much less busy. Many of the bays were dark, some because their stations weren’t needed, others because they were empty. And there in the back, in its scaffolding and seemingly watching over everything like some forgotten god, was her titan.

  At two stories, Silent Joker was a typical size for a titan. Despite that, when colored in the black and silver livery, it seemed to fade into the background. You could only tell it was there by the mask that served as the face. It looked liked someone had tried to mix a theater mask and a helmet together. It had no mouth or nose, but the eyes lifted in the middle as if it were smiling. Two small horns sprouted from either side of the forehead.

  This wasn’t the first time she had seen Silent Joker, but Aimsley was still in awe every time she saw it. Though it wasn’t powered, she could swear it was looking at her, sizing her up just as she was doing. Time seemed to slow and the world fell away, as the two stared at one another, almost as a test of wills.

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  “Aims!”

  The voice broke her from the contest and she shook her head. Turning to the voice, she saw who had called her, and smiled. Below her on the concrete pad that served as the floor of the building, a young, petite woman was jumping up and down and waving at her without a care at the scandalized looks some of the other engineers were giving her. As Aimsley moved to her, she looked over one of her oldest friends. Clad in an oil and grease-stained jumpsuit that had once been the same color of light gray the Arcane Index used, Jaime Renain stood out amongst the black and silver. Her brown hair was tied back in bun and held in place with a net, allowing anyone to see her round face, button nose, and green eyes. She was, in a word, adorable, and had caught the eye of many boys and girls during her classes. Not that she was able to date or even enjoy some time with any of them. For all of her devouring of romance novels, cooing over her friends’ successes in love, and being an all-round connoisseur of all things that can happen between two, three or more people, Jaime had one major flaw.

  She was heartbreakingly oblivious to her own looks.

  Her foot had just touched the concrete when Jaime collided into her with a bone-breaking hug. Short as she was, around a head and a half shorter than Aimsley, Jaime’s frame hid the raw power she had honed from maneuvering parts bigger than her, bashing out dings and dents, and forcing nuts and bolts to move, all while screaming profanities that made even battle-hardened mercenaries blush.

  Aimsley tapped her on the back in the approximation of returning the hug and Jamie let her go.

  “Look! Look!” she said, gesturing to Silent Joker. “It’s real! It’s really real!” She was bouncing up and down so much, she was making Aimsley feel dizzy. Jaime pulled on her friend’s hand. “Come on! Let’s get you in it! Chief Engineer Braeger wanted to run some tests before your mission.” She clasped her hands to her cheeks and began squealing. “Oh my gosh! It’s happening! You’re a real titan pilot!” Aimsley tried to placate her friend by putting her hands out palms down in the universal “calm down” gesture, but all that did was bring out her void bracer. Like a cat chasing a mouse, Jaime’s head snapped to it. She reached out and grabber the arm that wore it. Another squeal, this one somehow even louder, pierced the air.

  “A void bracer! You got a void bracer! Wow! Oh wow!” She began moving it this way in that, as though her life depended on whether she could replicate it later. “Wow!” she gushed, twisting the arm to get a look under the wrist, causing Aimsley to wince. “Four catalysts! Look! They’re so cool! There’s a slot for a fifth here? RIGHT! Psy! Oh my gosh, can you imagine if you can use psychic magic? No reading my mind, though!” Her tirade would have continued had another voiced boomed out.

  “Junior Engineer Renain!” it called, pulling the attention of everyone in the area. A tall man in overalls similar to Jaime’s was striding to them. His red hair was wild, blooming out like a mane on a lion. His corded muscle was apparent even through the coveralls, and he was glaring down Jaime with bright amber eyes. For her part, her mechanic friend put her head down in shame.

  “Chief Engineer?” she asked tentatively. “I’m sorry, I was just so excited to see Aims-,”

  “That you wanted to twist her arm off before she could even get into the cockpit?” he interrupted her. Stern as it was, Aimsley heard some amusement in that voice. “I’m glad you and your friend are back together,” he said, his tone more conversational. “But we’re on the clock.” He turned to Aimsley, and stuck out his hand. “Chief Engineer Callus Braegar.” She shook it and gave a meaningful look to Jaime. It took her a second but then she spoke.

  “Oh, right! Chief Breagar this is Titan Mage Aimsley Sunderling,” she said, then put her hand to her mouth and said in a stage whisper, “She goes by Aims.” An eye roll and a deadpan look conveyed that no, she did not go by “Aims” and if anyone other that Jaime tried, they would be used for experiments on how to achieve orbit without the aid of a vehicle. He let out a chuckle and shook his head.

  “Right. Well, welcome to my hanger, Aimsley,” he said, gesturing to Silent Joker. “Let’s go meet your other co-worker.”