//Secondary Report: Blackwell, Darius

//Rome.

//Inside an Axion factory.

//Designation: Capitoline Facility.

//Begin log.

"This news was announced on the network a few hours ago," Cassius pressed. "Director Blackwell, where have you been? Why are you wearing civilian clothes?"

I felt my heart skip a beat. To my dismay, the Administrator was clearly more astute than he seemed. As I feigned another smile, my mind raced. Did Cassius already know about my capture following the loss of Project Themis?

I tried to keep my gaze away from the nearby loading cart. I'd seen Jackson duck behind the detached railgun when we had first entered, and assumed that Amani was behind it, too. Whatever happened, I knew that he had to keep Knight's attention away from my newfound allies.

The irony of this situation certainly did not escape me.

"I was aware of Olsson's disloyalty, but the betrayal of Greene is news to me," I remarked, feigning a haughty tone. "I will deal with each in turn, but I wanted my arrival here to be a surprise in case you yourself had any traitorous intentions."

A flicker of confusion crossed Cassius's face, but was replaced with a beaming grin.

"Of course not, Director," he rebuffed, "I am loyal to the true leader of Axion Industries, after all."

Every fiber of my being wanted to cut and run, telling me I had been found out, that Cassius was moments away from betraying me.

I mentally scolded myself. I had been too focused on hunting down SPEAR to see my own company rotting beneath my feet. Now it was gone, a shell of what I had created. My formerly organized army was now controlled by selfish barbarians—each no doubt under the guidance of the traitorous consultant known as Hesiod.

Andros Oakley had already tried and failed to kill me—was Cassius Knight next?

Without any other options, I followed Cassius's lead as we continued walking along the factory floor. While I anticipated a trap of some kind, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Cassius's intentions were true—we marched up to the base of an unfinished Erebus mech. The Erebus was covered in metal scaffolding, but it was clear to me that its half-built frame had been vastly modified.

To my surprise, Cassius' smile was genuine. His reasons for bringing me down onto the factory floor were honest. The man was still loyal to me!

For a brief moment, it occured to me that I had a chance to return to my old life. Two of my greatest enemies were hiding not twenty metres away from me, trapped deep in a factory that I owned. I could claim not to know them—that it was Cassius' fault that two random rioters had managed to slip inside. The Capitoline Facility was more than large enough for me to rebuild Axion's army, to crusade across Europe and dethrone or destroy my traitorous subordinates.

Then I remembered the anger in Andros' eyes as I left him behind in Arizona. The hate in his voice as he smashed through the Firmament, trying to take my life. I remembered Yamantau, the crushing feeling in my chest after I had taken those lives with my own two hands, and the madness that had almost consumed me afterwards.

I would not make the same mistakes again, even if my only desire was to save my own selfish skin.

So I said nothing to Cassius, and followed him away from where my new allies were hiding.

"So," Knight began, "everyone loves the design for the Erebus you provided us. We've already improved on the insurgents' Prowler, making the Erebus stronger and faster than its predecessor, with greater radiation shielding. But I believe we can do better."

Cassius pulled a small tablet from the pocket of his suit jacket and tapped a button. The unfinished Erebus began to hum, and an instant later its lower right leg vanished into thin air.

"Ta-da!" Cassius beamed. "I've always wondered why nobody has attempted to reuse the dropship's retro-reflective technology. Now that the function has been miniaturized, I present to you the world's first fully functional stealth mech!"

I wasn't listening any longer. Behind Cassius I could see a reflection in the polished metal struts of the scaffolding. As I watched, Jackson Quinn slowly, carefully snuck out from his hiding place behind the railgun, creeping toward a nearby workstation. Tucked beneath his arm was the power converter we needed—a metal box of snaking wires that was far more essential than its plain appearance suggested.

However, Jackson's interest was not on escaping with the part. Instead he crept toward the closest workstation.

I tried to contain my shock. What was he doing?

"—utterly undetectable, both visually and electronically," Cassius continued. "Well, we haven't actually tested that part yet because we've only got the camouflage on one leg working, but I'm confident that it soon will be, so—"

Jackson's hand found the tablet mounted atop the workstation. Ever so carefully, he felt around the outside, hand stopping on the wire that connected the computer to the Titan above.

I couldn't help it. My mouth dropped open. Cassius looked at me strangely, unsure of the reason for my reaction.

Jackson picked up the tablet.

He wouldn't. There was no way that he would—

Quinn gently quietly pulled the cord from its socket, disconnecting the computer from its mech. He turned and began creeping toward the stairs, silently sneaking away.

An instant later, the hangar was filled with the ungodly robotic din of a vocal protocol.

"Workstation zero-four-two has lost connection to the diagnostic system," it boomed. "Please check the signal line and retry the current diagnostics operation."

Cassius turned, shock plastered on his face.

"Who—"

Jackson froze like a deer in the headlights, tablet in one hand and power converter in the other.

"I was just checking the, uh," he attempted. "The diagnostics system didn't seem to be..." There was a long silence. "Yeah, I've got nothing. This one's on me."

Cassius turned towards me, outrage flashing in his green eyes.

"The hell?" he snarled. "You're robbing me? Blackwell, is this your doing?"

He dropped into a low combat stance, ready for a fight. I glanced at Jackson and at Amani, who had emerged from behind the railgun.

I raised my hands in a gesture of surrender, walking towards Cassius, but then thought better of it. I extended my arm, pointing aggressively at my furious former subordinate.

"How dare you," I snarled. "Accusing me of stealing from the company I control? Those are my assistants, you paranoid fool!"

A brief flash of worry crossed Cassius's angry expression, giving me the time I needed to subtly close the distance between us.

"I—I'm sorry, I didn't know," Knight stammered. However, I quickly saw the fear vanish from his expression, replaced with suspicion. "Wait, but if they're your assistants, why were they hiding from me?"

I stared at Jackson.

Jackson stared back at me.

Amani stared at Jackson.

Cassius stared at us all.

Then I pulled my left fist back and slugged Cassius square in the stomach.

Poor, unfortunate Cassius Knight let out a hiss as he dropped forward, winded, and I rolled him over my knee, sending him tumbling to the floor in silent agony. The irony of my situation hit me yet again. It was the same move I'd used on Jackson during the Siege of Yamantau.

I turned toward Jackson, trying to contain my anger.

"You could've waited until Cassius and I had left the room, Quinn."

Jackson gestured wildly with his hands.

"I didn't know it would do that! The computers on the Firmament never did that!"

Amani simply sighed aloud. "Guys," she shouted, "Cassius probably wasn't the only one that heard that error message! We need to go!"

A door hissed open above me, and the sound of footsteps rang through the hangar.

Jackson glanced up, then sighed.

"Oh, sure. Now they have patrols."

Amani was right. We had to leave or risk losing everything.

"Take the tablet and the converter!" I shouted. "Head to the surface the moment the soldiers clear the stairway. I'll distract them!"

Jackson frowned.

"What do you mean—"

I ignored the rest of his question as I took off running, purposely crashing into a workbench and knocking a set of wrenches to the floor in a metallic cacophony. A soldier shouted, and the thunderous sound of gunfire echoed nearby.

Panic flashed through my mind. Why was I doing this? My goal was to save my own skin, not risk it for Quinn and his allies, of all people! I could have had safety with Axion once again, but I had chosen otherwise.

Why was the moral choice always the most dangerous one?

More gunfire echoed through the hangar. I glanced back to see the wild beams of flashlights bouncing off the dim hangar walls. The facility's guards were coming.

I slid to a stop behind some scaffolding and tapped my comm headset.

"Jackson? Amani? Are you out?"

The headset crackled, and I could hear labored breathing.

"Close," Jackson called, "They passed us by to try and catch you. We're almost out!"

A bullet struck something behind me, and the sharp ring of a ricochet caused me to jump. I could hear more labored breathing, but this time it wasn't from my comms.

"Why?" Cassius wheezed. His voice was full of pain and anger. "Why would you do that? I'm loyal, dammit! You're supposed to be the best of us!"

The sound of multiple pairs of footsteps echoed through the room, and I tried my best to slow my breathing. Why was I doing this?

"You can't hide forever!" Cassius called. "I've sent some of my people after your friends, so they won't escape either. Now it's just you and me."

I heard the cold metallic click of a rifle, and felt sweat begin to bead on the back of my neck. The sound was close. Too close. I had to move, before they—

Wait.

I glanced up and nearly laughed aloud. Olive green armor, speckled with chipped paint. Trails of wires running across the floor. A single autocannon mounted to its armour. Above me, crouched like a roosting bird, was another of Cassius' prototype Erebus.

I didn't have a moment to lose.

My hand slid across the mech's olive-green armor, feeling the indents for a handle. I hoped desperately that the half-finished mech had already been outfitted with a test capsule—the temporary capsule didn't have the ability to eject, but at least I'd have the bare minimum controls needed to pilot the Erebus to freedom.

I couldn't see the mech's hatch, but it was crouched down for maintenance, meaning it had to be somewhere nearby.

There!

I pulled the handle hard and immediately regretted it. The sound of groaning steel rang like a gunshot as a round section of the mech's armour swung open on its unlubricated hinges. Moments later a real gunshot rang out, too, striking the side of the mech.

"Son of a—" I half-crawled, half-pulled myself in, flopping ungracefully through the opening and sealing the hatch behind me.

My comms headset crackled.

"Did you say something, Darius?" Jackson asked.

I rolled onto my back, feeling my way around the Erebus' test capsule in total darkness.

"Nothing!" I blurted, trying to hide my panic. "Everything is fine and dandy!"

"Who says dandy anymore?" Amani barked. "Darius, what's going on over there?"

I was lucky the Erebus had been crouched down, otherwise the capsule's hatch would have been too high to reach. I flailed about uselessly, trying to orient myself in the dark, tight confines of the command capsule.

I heard a clamor outside, and the hatch shook. I'd sealed it from the inside, but the lock worked both ways. I had seconds, at most.

My arms grasped grooved plastic, and I pulled myself into the pilot's seat. I was in position, but where was the activation key?

The clamor outside grew louder. I could hear Cassius approaching from his labored gasps. I was surprised the man had recovered as quickly as he had.

"Oh, Darius," Cassius laughed, his voice muffled by the reinforced steel surrounding us. "Don't tell me you're hiding in there."

I felt my way around the cockpit, searching for the right switch. It was covered by a plastic cap, I knew that much.

"Fine," I growled, "I won't tell you."

I heard pounding.

"Open up, Blackwell," Cassius barked, "or I'll have my soldiers open it for you. They'll be much less merciful than me."

I had an idea.

"Be my guest," I shot back. "It's not like I have anything left to lose anyway."

I heard the hatch grind open behind me, and cold light flooded the capsule. It wasn't much, but it was enough to aim a gun by. I was sure that there was a soldier poised to enter the capsule, and the moment they had a line of sight on me I was a dead man.

Cassius laughed aloud, a manic, anxious titter that made me question my previous choice of Administrators.

"It's ironic, you know," Cassius snickered. "You try to escape a failed stealth mission by stealing a broken stealth mech. The signal deadener in that one doesn't even work yet!"

The light from the rifle was too dim to illuminate the entire capsule, but it would work for the purpose I had in mind.

"Hey Cassius," I called. "How fast can this thing go, again?"

Cassius's laugh stopped.

"What?"

I heard the soldier behind me grunt as he pulled himself halfway into the capsule. I caught a flash of the man's black body armour and saw his weapon—a fearsome grey machine gun with a slim tactical light mounted on the front.

"Hands up, Director Blackwell!"

The dull light from the rifle flashed across the Erebus' controls, and I saw what I was looking for for a brief moment.

Tucked beneath a small plastic cap on the left side of the control panel was the ignition switch.

I didn't want to do this to an employee, but I didn't have much of a choice.

"Goodbye," I announced.

In one swift motion I reached out and flipped the cap aside, striking the switch.

The soldier's scream was drowned out by the roar of the Erebus' reactor as it lurched upwards, flinging my unfortunate attacker out and away from my capsule as it did so, slamming him against the hangar wall like a discarded child's doll. The hatch slammed shut as the Erebus' bent body whipped forward, pulling the rest of the mech to its imposing full height.

With a flicker, the interior of the capsule burst to life, its internal screens flooding the sparse cockpit with the light.

I stared down at the soldiers below me, a seething Cassius in their midst. I could still hardly believe what I'd just done, and my own fear clashed with a disbelieving excitement.

I turned the Erebus toward the far end of the hangar and began my run, smashing past other half-assembled mechs. I was moments away from daylight—if I could make it to the hangar entrance, I was practically home free.

Something shook the ground behind me, and I turned, rotating the Erebus' upper body around as I ran.

Oh, no.

Behind me, one of the more complete Titans had jolted to life, and it turned to face me, surging away from its maintenance bay. Like my Erebus, the mech's brilliant white armour was nearly complete, and the mech had no issue tearing itself away from the scaffolding that surrounded it, stomping forward as the metal gantry collapsed to the floor in pieces. Worst of all, the Titan was also fully weaponized.

Around me, I could see Cassius' soldiers sprinting through the factory, heading towards other half-assembled mechs. I had seconds before my attackers would be able to blow me apart.

"Hey Jackson?" I called, "about that diversion I mentioned."

There was no denying it.

This was a major issue.