Three days had passed on the rooftop. Roan and Irene stood fully repaired, while Zhon made his final adjustments to Ravine's mainframe.

  "Phew, all done. You should be good to go now, Rav," Zhon said, stepping back to admire his work. "But going forward, if you use override mode again, please refrain from going beyond seventy percent power, or else this might just happen again."

  Ravine rotated her shoulders in circular motions, testing the repairs. "I can finally move again. Thanks a lot, Zhon. I don't know what we'd do without you!"

  Zhon scratched the back of his head. "Well, I've got a couple of ideas, hahaha..."

  "Looks like we're all good to go," Irene announced. "According to the system, the mechs should be here any minute now." She approached the group. "Before we go, let me reiterate the plan."

  They all nodded in unison.

  She began pacing across the rooftop. "Team A will be composed of Ravine and Roan. You two already have experience working together and possess abilities that complement each other well on the battlefield. Team B will be made up of Aria, Zhon, and me. Once the mechs arrive, the exact route will be transferred to you as always. Any questions?"

  "Yeah," Roan said. "Let's say one of the mechs malfunctions or is destroyed as we get there. What should we do?"

  Irene crossed her arms. "Well, the person inside won't have to worry about such a thing."

  "How so?" Ravine asked.

  Irene gazed into the distance at the bright sun and clear blue sky. "The sheer instability of the connection between the mech and its user will fry them instantly."

  "Nothing like our captain to cheer us up before the mission, huh?" Zhon said with a light chuckle. His tone became more serious. "Although she is right. Such things can happen, but they're fairly rare. According to our archives, it only happened to one member of Squadron 7 and two from Squadron 9."

  Suddenly, loud whooshing sounds filled the air. Four giant mechs descended from the sky—three were dark metallic grey with red streaks, and one was white with golden accents.

  Zhon's excitement was palpable. "With this, I present to you the Ashborn frames!"

  Roan put his hands on his hips. "You're really into this stuff, huh?"

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  "You think?" Zhon beamed.

  The mechs hovered near the edge of the rooftop, their seats exposed for boarding. Zhon gestured enthusiastically. "Look how marvellous they are! Rapid-fire weapons on the arms, heavy weaponry, missile launchers on the shoulders, laser melee weapons... Of course I'm excited! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"

  "Well, at least one of us is excited," Roan said with a teasing tone. He looked at Ravine. "Come on, we should get in before he starts going on a day-long talk about why this is the best day of his life."

  Ravine gave a faint smile. "As long as he isn't gloomy, it looks like he's back to his old self finally."

  She watched Zhon for a moment before heading to her mech. As she settled into the seat, she felt a strange sensation as her core connected to the machine. Once the connection was established, the system announced: "WELCOME, RAVINE! ALL SYSTEMS ARE OPERATIONAL! AWAITING CAPTAIN'S APPROVAL FOR DEPARTURE! AUTOMATIC PILOTING ACTIVATED! WEAPONS CURRENTLY DISABLED."

  So this is what it feels like to be in a mech, she thought. It's kind of like how I felt in that pod.

  Zhon picked up Aria's drone. "I guess you're coming with me then, huh?"

  Aria's voice crackled through the speaker. "Yeah, what a joy. I'm stuck with the most talkative member of the team. I am so lucky."

  Zhon laughed. "To make up for it, I'll make sure you see as much of the scenery as possible."

  A robotic scoff emerged from the drone. "That's the least you could do. Come on, let's go before we're left behind."

  "Yeah, let's go." Zhon plugged her into the back of the mech where the core battery was located. "Here you'll have as much energy as you need and the best view possible while being safe. Not bad, eh?"

  The drone nodded. "Yeah... thank you, Zhon!"

  He sat in the seat and connected to the mech like the others. The seat reclined as the mech sealed shut.

  Irene's face appeared on all their system screens. "Now that we're all ready—once we pass the Mediterranean Sea, we'll enter manual mode, which means you'll be responsible for your mechs, not the system. Got it?"

  "YES, MA'AM!" they all responded.

  "Also, be careful around the Mediterranean. There are many creatures there, some more sneaky than others. Unless I say to engage, do not instigate combat, we can avoid risking an unnecessary loss."

  They all nodded again.

  "In that case, soldiers, we have about four to five hours of flight. But if we take into account possible obstacles like slight malfunctions, enemy attacks, and such, we have up to half a day ahead of us."

  The mechs' engines whirred louder. "System, activate flight mode for all mechs. We're going now."

  "UNDERSTOOD! INITIATING FLIGHT MODE! PLEASE STAY STILL IN YOUR SEATS!"

  With mechanical precision, the mechs transformed from robotic humanoids into sleek jets. After several seconds, the system announced: "FLIGHT MODE ACTIVATED FOR ALL SQUADRON MEMBERS."

  The four mechs levitated above the rooftop, and soon all they could see was a landscape of clouds beneath them and the bright sun above.

  "Not bad, huh, Aria?" Zhon said. "I told you it would be worth it."

  "Woahhhh," Aria breathed. "I want to send this to Mother Phoenix. She must miss seeing these."

  The four jets arranged themselves in a diamond formation with Irene at the front. As the engines revved again, Roan said, "Well then, here we go, yeah?"

  Ravine simply nodded.

  In a flash of speed, they were off to the Sahara Desert.