Shield integrity rose to forty percent, but went back down to thirty-five percent as the Giant Stygian's blade arm struck again. The Ironside rocked, and Altair's harness bit into his shoulder, which made his muscles ache even more as he was barely able to hold on to his seat.

  Behind them, slightly below the Ironside, Mira's group huddled about fifteen meters back. As a single Giant Stygian was already fighting the Ironside, four more were closing just a few hundred meters back from the first one.

  "Lieutenant, our shields will not hold at this rate, the faster we regenerate the shields the faster we lose units of energy. By the time we finish the resonance and dissonance weapons, we will only have about thirty seconds left to fight." Vigil warned, his voice stammering from time to time.

  "Time until the new weapons are ready?" Altair asked, his voice filled with caution.

  "We have sixty-five seconds until weapon completion," Vigil answered, then continued, "Once that is done, we will have thirty seconds left of fighting ability if we sustain our current power consumption."

  There was not enough time.

  In a moment of desperation, he shifted his eyes all around the console, and a flickering red light caught his eye. He focused, with a loud beating heart and a trembling hand. He could barely read the inscription from all the stress.

  "Fortress Mode"

  Then suddenly he remembered what it was for. Deep within his mind, despite all the battle happening in front, he was calmly analyzing the information he had gathered.

  "Lieutenant." An old man donning the United Earth Defense Force general's uniform called. "We have implemented a new fighting mode in the newest generation of the mechanized Ironside."

  Altair, who had been watching the memory from the side, simply stood by, trying to make out the man's facial features, as if trying to remember someone that had been from a distant nebula ages ago. Yet, he didn't remember, but only darkness beyond the general's face.

  "A-am I forgetting people?!" he muttered with a grief-stricken face, where tears were about to come out at any point in time.

  Yet, as he began to spiral in a sprawling labyrinth of thoughts, a distant echo kept calling him back. Curious, he focused and focused on the echo.

  "Lie—!"

  "Lieutenant!" Vigil screamed at the top of the speakers.

  Altair snapped awake. He glanced from left to right as if trying to find something that wasn't there.

  "Lieutenant, you lost focus for a second." Vigil digitally breathed in and out. "You've been staring at that button for two whole seconds!" He continued.

  With a moment of realization, he now knew what the button was.

  "Vigil, you remember the manual for the Ironside right?" Altair asked in a decisive manner.

  "Y-yes? What kind of question even is that, Lieutenant?" Vigil mumbled as he reoriented the firing mechanism to defend against the Giant Stygian in front of them.

  Altair smiled, "Well, I just remembered a function that hadn't been used since when we were on Terra." He paused, then he continued with an even bigger smirk. "Vigil, cancel the close quarter combat and prepare to engage in Fortress Mode!" He beckoned toward Vigil.

  Vigil whirred into action, as if he was shocked by the decision. "B-But Lieutenant, it would take a long time for us to burrow deep within the ground!" Vigil bellowed.

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  Altair simply smiled, "Too late." He hovered his right hand and pulled the lever. "Also, once we burrow deep into the ground, prepare for close quarter combat again. We will really need it right now."

  Vigil grunted at the massive risk they had just taken, but he trusted Altair nevertheless.

  The lever clicked into place, and for one moment nothing happened, but then in a massive turn of events, the Ironside shuddered in its place, its six rear legs locked into position, their tips aimed downward. Their servos screamed as they began to rotate in a violent but stable manner, they did not step but rather were drilling. The earth beneath the Ironside crackled with numerous thunderclaps like the skies itself.

  Above the Ironside the pitter-pattering of the black rain continued relentlessly. Behind the Ironside, Mira and her party looked in awe at the turn of events. A while ago they were under the Ironside, now they were behind it, nevertheless the black rain didn't care. So in a bid to protect themselves they slipped under the dark of the night and found a hiding spot under the trees, which Lyria quickly cast a spell to block out the black rain and sound.

  The legs of the Ironside bit into the soil with ravenous hunger. Chunks of earth erupted around each anchor point as they corkscrewed deeper and deeper into the ground. Four meters, and then seven. The Ironside's hull tilted slightly as its weight continuously shifted and compensated.

  Through the remaining camera, Altair watched the Giant Stygians pause for exactly three seconds, they seemed confused by the strange behavior.

  But then they understood that the prey was now immobilized.

  With unbridled fury they charged, and the first Giant Stygian bashed with even more force.

  In a desperate defense, the sentries swiveled and tracked, to which after they opened fire. Tracers cut through the first Giant Stygian. It staggered, but it didn't stop, behind it four more closed in. Nevertheless, the drilling continued, which was now ten meters deep, now twelve.

  "Lieutenant, shields at critical!" Vigil bellowed.

  The frontmost Giant Stygian lunged, its blade arm struck the Ironside's flank, which the shields responded with a brilliant spark of blue, which flickered for a moment, then died.

  "Shield integrity is now at zero!" Vigil warned.

  "Our hull is now exposed!" Vigil's voice pitched higher than before. "They're comi—" He was cut off as another impact struck the Ironside. However, there was no radiant blue, but rather the screaming of metal.

  Yet, the rear legs kept drilling, which was now fifteen meters deep. The grinding intensified even more as they hit something hard, which was bedrock.

  A second and a third Giant Stygian reached them. Both of them drove both of their fists into the right side. The Ironside rocked but held its position, now anchored by the drilling legs, which made Altair bite his tongue accidentally, with copper taste leaking into his mouth.

  "Vigil, tell me the progress now, we can't hold that long!" Altair screamed with a terrifyingly loud beating heart and intense breathing.

  Six metallic echoes reverberated through the ground, which were perfectly synchronized. The rear legs had hit bedrock and locked with their magnetic clamps which engaged with a sound like slamming vault doors.

  The front legs, still bearing the weight of most of the Ironside, suddenly went slack. But it didn't last as they rose with brilliant force off the ground.

  "Anchor complete, Lieutenant!" Vigil said, as relief flooded his voice. "Fortress mode is stable."

  The drilling stopped. The forest went quiet except the pitter-patter of the black rain and the approaching Giant Stygians.

  Altair with a proud face watched the front legs lift, freed from their burden and purpose now refurbished as weapons of war.

  The plating along the front legs slid aside with extreme mechanical precision. While beneath were no longer simple locomotion joints, but rather weapon mounts, hydraulic rams, and even articulated assemblies that gleamed matte black over the radiant red eyes of the Ironside.

  The left leg's tip split into three prongs and from its center a pneumatic pile driver, which was almost three meters long.

  The right leg rose and from it was a rotating assembly of blades that could be switched at a moment's notice. However for the meantime it spun with a rising whine.

  "Weapons deploying, Lieutenant!" Vigil announced. "Targeting systems are now online, are we authorized to engage, Lieutenant?" Vigil asked for confirmation.

  The nearest Giant Stygian lunged for the cockpit with the other two beside it and another two about to arrive.

  "Engage!" Altair said, sweat dripping down from his forehead, despite the controlled environment inside the cockpit.

  The pile driver snapped forward, its sound compressed into a single thunderclap.

  The Nightmare's torso simply ceased, but it was still alive as it fell to the ground, still actively responding to the environment.

  "Persistent pest!" Vigil said in frustration.

  "It managed to move its heart which is its core." Altair watched the event unfold. "Nevertheless, it's time to counterattack! Vigil!" Altair ordered.

  "Affirmative, Lieutenant!" Vigil responded in a high-pitched voice.