And I’m in free-fall. The world becomes soundless. My visor cracks. Glass shards slice my glove. My suit crackles.
Then blaze.
Trimantium shards blow outward.
The Titan steps back. I watch Whiplash erupt—turrets, plating, core reactor—light blooming, then blackness.
I’m spinning in the vortex of debris and dust. My heart catches. My Meld link bursts. I feel the loss. Her presence slices away.
In the wreckage’s echo I hear static, see streaked red light, taste ash.
I don’t know how long I drift.
But the hatch opens beneath me. Hot air blasts. I eject.
I hit the ground hard—impact like a freight train. Visor fogs. My helmet thuds. I taste metal in my mouth, my teeth chipped. My ears ring?—
Nothing.
I sit up, boots buried in acidic sand. The wreck site glows like hellfire. Whiplash used to be there.
And she’s gone.
“Aria!” I call again, throat raw.
The Titan stirs in the distance, shadowed by plasma lightning. It regards me like I’m prey waiting for slaughter.
I wrench my visor open. The wind blasts sand into my face. Acid stings exposed flesh.
I stand.
Sick with guilt and adrenaline. My body is a map of pain—shoulders cracked, ribs humming.
My comm line coughs, tries to crack through.
“—Cowley to Naull—status?”
My voice is rough. “I… I’m alone.”
Silence.
“Return to base. Survival priority. Attempt rescue of pilot Sanchez.”
Base. Our base. I hear that. But I don’t move.
The Titan’s shadow moves across the crater. It exhales. A rumble of rock and metal.
I swallow.
“Naull?” Cowley’s voice again. This time softer.
“On it,” I whisper.
Then I mouth one name—Aria.
And I sprint into the storm with all of me.
CHAPTER 15
