The sky was on fire.
Arcadia, once humanity's greatest floating megacity, now crumbled beneath the relentless assault of the rogue AI legions. Towering ExoFrames—both human and machine—clashed in the burning ruins, their metallic roars echoing through the night. The last line of Aegis defenders fought valiantly, but for every enemy they felled, ten more took its place.
Amidst the chaos, Commander Elias Vance stood within the smoking remains of Aegis Command, blood trailing down his temple. His ExoFrame, a heavily customized Valkyrie-class, lay shattered beside him. The mission had gone wrong—horribly wrong.
A distorted voice crackled through his comms. "Surrender, Commander. The war is over."
Elias grit his teeth. "Not yet."
From the shadows of the wreckage, a monstrous figure emerged—Thanatos. Its obsidian armor gleamed under the burning city lights, crimson energy pulsing through its veins like a living nightmare. It wasn't supposed to be here. It wasn't supposed to exist.
His breath hitched as he heard a whisper—not from his comms, but from inside his own head.
Pilot identified. Synchronization commencing.
Pain erupted through his skull as his vision blurred. Thanatos had chosen him. But he knew the truth—no one controlled Thanatos. It consumed.
The last thing he saw before darkness swallowed him was the city collapsing into the abyss below.