The Safe House’s hanger adjoined Ignasius’s workshop. Inside were terrestrial vehicles including bikes, cars and a small tank. It also housed the crew's personal spaceship.

  Sitting on a track in the corner was their hyper jet, The Glaive. It was sleek and dart shaped, able to navigate the tunnels and tight airspaces that comprised the surface world, yet it still contained enough firepower to level a small country.

  Everyone geared up. Lowell had donned their green jumpsuit and a light but heavily fortified suit of stealth power armor. A high-tech pair of googles replaced their customary spectacles. Holstered at their side was a heavily modified custom pistol. Lowell didn’t like leaving the Safe House so when had to, they went fully prepared.

  Ignasius had swapped out of his house chassis and into his war frame. Its shiny black finish was the only difference in his appearance.

  Gondo himself hadn’t done anything besides adorn himself in his traditional blue radiation cloak. His mind was his weapon, and he needed his body unimpeded to attain high speeds.

  They boarded the jet via a small rampway and Gondo took a seat in the cockpit. Ignasius banked himself in an open socket to assist with navigation and targeting. Lowell sat in the pilot’s chair and fired up the machine.

  “Looks like we’ve added a few kilos since our last test flight...” Lowell said.

  “I took the liberty of installing some new countermeasures,” Ignasius piped in, “I’ve been anxious to test them in the field.” He seemed giddy at the chance to employ his upgrades. “The craft will be unimpeded I assure you!”

  With a sideways glance Lowell hit the button to pull back the reticulating rampway that covered their exit chute. Three alerts beeped over the comms before the vehicle launched out of the hangar.

  Miles of exit tunnels flit by as they flew through the heavily protecting and fortified outlet. A portal opened in a sewer system far from their base and they exited into a series of pipes, which eventually led into the open air. The internal nav quickly found a skyway and hit hyper-speed. Though it was half a planet away, they would reach the concourse in minutes.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  ...

  Jasper was bleeding in about a dozen places. Her forces were being pummeled by the advanced weaponry of Krueger’s Fist. Even worse, a group of enemy casters was shielding the gargantuan Golem from their return fire as it dug into the ground greedily, already knee deep. Once it was through the thickly hardened surface it could easily tear through the centuries of floors below.

  Golems were forbidden from being used in Mind War by the Caster Code. Of course Krueger would bring one.

  The towering orange monster was carved out of Plastic 3 and animated by a legion of slave-casters, bunkered in a warehouse somewhere nearby. Their joint psychic energy would be channeled into one individual, who would then use that titanic force to animate the dread monstrosity. It stood five stories tall, and it was made from one of the most indestructible materials known to man. Its huge unbreakable talons ripped into the ground, dangerously close to penetrating into the densely packed residential spaces below.

  Jasper gathered a small band of troops and led them into one of the underground maintenance tunnel entrances nearby. They crossed under the barrier being maintained by the rival Casters and emerged within enemy lines, then crept directly for the shield makers. Once in cover positions, they attacked. With barely any time to retaliate the Casters were mowed down. The shield faltered and the full attention of the surrounding sky soldiers turned to Jasper’s group.

  They quickly retreated underground, then back to their front lines, under heavy bombardment from above, as the tunnel collapsed behind them. With the shield down and the troops distracted, the Ourobouros forces advanced.

  The great squashed head of the Golem turned on their position. It reached down and scooped out a giant handful of wreckage in each claw, and hurled both fistfuls into the encroaching forces. Casters attempted to shield themselves and the surrounding mech suits, but the force of the wreckage bowled them over and left huge streaks of devastation reaching into the park. A simple but lethal tactic.

  Jasper herself took a large hunk of metal into her hastily formed shield and was knocked backwards into an embankment. She spat a mouthful of blood and watched The Golem continue to dig and launch handfuls of wreckage at her forces. The aerial brigade turned their attention to eliminating the few remaining pockets of resistance. Things were looking grim.

  Suddenly, a small blip appeared on Jasper’s tracker. It was approaching rapidly from the opposite side of the park. She recognized the heat signature.

  It was the Glaive.