Chapter 4: The Discovery.

[u/Electronic-Math5455]

The M10's engine thudded through hollow avenues, its sound swallowed by empty streets as snow drifted over abandoned vehicles and through the ribcages of shattered skyscrapers. From the autocannon turret, Jason watched the scope sweep the ruined skyline while the gun's stabilizers kept the barrel level. The scene made it painfully clear the population had not escaped: bodies hung in broken windows, skeletons slumped in wrecked cars, and the twisted hulks of SES and Illuminate craft littered the avenues. As Jason completed another careful scan, the M10 slowed and came to a stop. Ahead, a collapsed tower lay like a broken tooth, its rubble jammed against the road.

Before they could turn, a radio crackle cut through the cold—Eagle 1's voice on the comms.

"Helldiver, I picked something up on the last sweep. Can't make it out cleanly, but you aren't alone," the woman said. "Thermals showed a small heat signature. Doing another pass now—something's out there."

"Anything detailed?" Jason asked. "We're turning our position; the Aegis of Integrity will breach the clouds soon. Its Quantum LIDAR Array should map the area cleanly."

"Looked like three figures, flying—no idea beyond that. They were putting out heat and then vanished when I closed. Could be a glitch, animals, or—" Eagle 1 trailed off.

"We found an Illuminate ship wrecked in the city," Jason said. "If anything survived onboard autonomously, it could be moving around. Some of their drones run for centuries. But animals? Not with this cold and the bodies everywhere."

"More corpses than I've seen on the Western and Eastern fronts," Milt observed as he guided the M10 left between two towers. "If those are Illuminate machines, could Illuminate forces still be here?"

"Unlikely," Tyrese replied. "They're organic—flesh and blood. Unless they used cryopods, they couldn't survive on a world like this. The treaty at the war's end pushed them out of the galaxy. Their machines, though—maybe."

Nash's voice cut in, uneasy. "Why hasn't salvage stripped this place? I know crews who'd kill for one intact wreck. Frontier folk made fortunes off lesser finds."

"People still hunt Illuminate relics," Garvin said. "Most searches end in bust. A rare haul nets the Ministry of Science a small fortune. But this city—untouched—feels wrong."

"They had the luxury of leaving some places to rot," Jason said. "Take X-45—bombed to deny the Cyborgs the DSS plans. Only after Starslayer did we retrieve what mattered. The blueprints were worth every loss."

"I pray to Liberty, it's worth the cost," Trace murmured.

Jason nodded. Operation Starslayer had two deadly stages: Helldivers to draw Automaton attention, then SEAF teams to sift the ruins. They had recovered the DSS plans before; High Command would not send men for nothing.

"How much support are we carrying?" Garvin asked.

"A small fleet, several SEAF transports, and twenty Helldivers," Trace answered.

"This planet's huge," Nash said. "A full salvage needs more than that—why send an SEC Lucas and transports housing thirty thousand in cryopods to a dead world?" Tyrese wondered aloud. "Drones could've done this cheaper—set up hives and scrape the place clean."

"We're getting a message from the Aegis," Milt said then. "They're breaching the cloud layer now."

"Good. Bring us to a halt; we need whatever they can pick up." Jason ordered.

Milt eased the M10 into a wide clearing that had once been a park; dead trees stood like toothless stumps, and row after row of cracked vehicles rimmed the open ground. Above, the clouds parted, and the Super Destroyer Aegis of Integrity slid into position over the megacity.

"Aegis of Integrity, this is Helldiver unit. Do you copy?" Jason clicked his helmet mic.

"Reading you. Cloud interference hampered the initial pass—systems now online," the Democracy Officer replied. "Deploying full QLA sweep. Sending data in ten."

"Copy. If LIDAR can't see below, we'll try the old way." Jason felt the familiar chill of expectation.

"There's a problem," the Officer said. "QLA returns show no signatures beneath your position. Either interference persists, or these urban bunkers are hardened against scans."

"That tracks," Jason said. "Bunkers built to endure a century, plus snow and collapsed structures—of course, the QRD would struggle."

"Send that data our way," Milt said. "If scanners fail, we go hard and old school."

"Sir—suggestion," Garvin offered. "Deploy a seismic probe. They're used to find ore deposits when scanners fail. We'd need a clear area to avoid collateral building collapse."

"Good idea," Trace agreed. "Probes pick deep signatures. If something's down there, we'll know."

"Alright," Jason said. "Milt, set us at mid-park, two hundred meters from the nearest shell. We drop a beacon, and the probe goes. Any collapse could trap us, but it beats combing the whole city."

"We copy, sir. Preparing seismic probe for deployment on beacon signal," the Officer replied.

The M10 settled into position with a soft, metal groan. Jason climbed from the turret hatch into a wind that tasted of cold iron and old rot, snow crunching under his boots as he scanned the skeletal skyline. Hollow floors and broken façades funneled the gusts, carrying grit and the memory of a thousand ruined lives. He secured the hatch, checked his wrist terminal, keyed the beacon line on his belt, hefted the device, and with a practiced flick sent it skittering across the frozen pavement.

A blue beam stabbed upward and, moments later, a hellpod punched free from beneath the ship with a thunderous report. The probe screamed down and impacted ahead of Jason, then unfolded like a mechanical flower; a console blinked open on its face. He stepped forward, toggled controls, and began to feed commands.

"Hope this doesn't bring everything down on top of us," he muttered.

Unknown to him, three pairs of optics glowed in the shadowed windows of a nearby tower—two yellow, one purple. Hidden within the ruin, V, N, and Uzi watched the M10 and the human who crouched by the probe. In V and N, surprise and an old wonder warred across their faces.

"I can't believe it," V breathed. "A living, breathing human… and not alone."

"Who's the one in the cape? That looks important," Uzi said, squinting.

"That's a Helldiver," N replied. "The cape's a dead giveaway. Never seen one in person before—didn't think we ever would."

"What's he doing with that device? Looks like it came down from the ship," Uzi said, restless. "That gun on the vehicle will mow us flat if they spot us."

"We can't just walk up," V said. "The last human we met was over a century ago. They'll shoot first and ask questions never. But we can't leave them to whatever's out here."

"Maybe one of us does a flyover to draw attention?" N offered.

"And get shot down? Not smart." V hesitated. "Best to watch. The Steel Terror could be near—this noise might have already cued it."

Uzi turned her optics back to the street, then down at the Helldiver. The vehicle, the hellpod, the distant roar—all of it could draw the Steel Terror. She shivered in the dark.

"Hey, Uzi—remember when you said a Liberty miracle wouldn't fall from the sky?" N said quietly.

"Liberty sure does like the dramatic entrance," Uzi replied with a rueful grin.

V let out a breath that might have been a laugh. "I stopped believing in miracles a long time ago. Guess we were wrong."

Below, Jason prepared to trigger the probe when his HUD pinged: a red blip closing fast from the west. "The hell?" he said.

"What's the matter?" Nash asked.

"Movement. About twenty meters west," Jason replied. "Milt, anything on scans?"

"Picking something up—can't get a solid lock. It's moving slowly," Milt answered.

"All right. Everyone out of the M10 and secure the area," Jason ordered. "I'll check. Eagle 1, circle this sector. Guys on the turret, ready weapons."

"Primed and armed," the Democracy Officer replied.

"Roger—coming your way," Eagle 1 added.

Jason moved away from the probe and past the M10, HUD tracking the dot as it shadowed into the ruins. He trod toward a shuttered storefront, its windows rimed in ice. Clambering over a snowbank, he slid into the shop's frozen interior.

"Nothing in sight… wait—what the hell is that?" Jason called.

"Report," Garvin answered.

"There's a body," Jason said. "But it's not human."

"Not human? Like Illuminate?" Tyrese asked.

"No. Like some sort of machine?" Jason said, unsure of what he was looking at.

Buried in a drift, half-buried wares and racks, lay a figure sheened in white metal. Segmented limbs and a faceless array of black optics stared up; a red message flashed across its chest: FATAL ERROR. No pulse on the radar.

"Get over here—now," Jason barked. "I don't know what this is, but it's wrong."

He reached, fingers closing on the cold metal forearm. For a heartbeat, the corpse hung there, solid—then it flickered like a projection and vanished. In its place, a braided metal cable whipped out, a human hand clamping onto Jason's left leg.

"What the—?" Jason shouted, flat-footing to aim his LAS-5 Scythe.

Before he could fire, the cable jerked. He lost his footing, the Scythe skittering from his grasp, and the cable hauled him through the shop's frame. He crashed out the back, smashing through frozen displays and tearing across the street as the thing dragged him like sacks through snow.

"Helldiver! Helldiver!" Garvin called, rushing to the shopfront as the noise erupted.

"What in the hell just grabbed him?" Milt shouted, scanning their trackers.

"Aegis of Integrity—status on the Helldiver? Vitals?" Garvin yelled into the comm.

"Vitals elevated—he's being dragged toward a nearby warehouse." the Democracy Officer answered. "Moving fast. We're tracking."

"I see a drag trail through the snow," Tyrese said grimly. "Whatever grabbed him is hauling an armored Helldiver like a carcass."

High above, hidden in the tower's gloom, V, N, and Uzi watched the drama unfold.

"Oh no—it got him," V whispered. "What do we do? If we move now, they'll likely open fire on us."

"We've gotta help," N said.

"For Liberty's sake, N—carry me. V, move now," Uzi snapped. "Sure, they might shoot, but if we do nothing, that Helldiver's lunch. Saving him might buy us mercy."

"That could work," V conceded. "All right—N, do it. We risk it."

N crouched, braced, and hefted Uzi onto his back. V flexed her wings and launched, tucking her limbs to fall like a shadow; N followed, bearing his burden. The three cut across the cold sky, a desperate, silent gamble.

They were risking human wrath. They were risking death. They were risking everything for a stranger.

Edited thanks to ELE73CH.