The First Test

The acrid tang of ozone and burnt metal clung to Salvage Bay 7, a cavernous hangar that felt less like a maintenance facility and more like a mausoleum for fallen titans. Rusting gantries crisscrossed the vaulted ceiling, and the skeletal remains of combat frames lay scattered, picked clean by the academy’s relentless reclamation protocols. Amidst this silent testament to failure, Kael stood, his shoulders tight, his gaze locked on the diagnostic readouts flickering across the main console. Every digit felt like a judgment.

His only hope, a salvaged combat frame designated ‘Vanguard,’ occupied the central bay. It was a relic, a Block-3 model that most cadets wouldn’t even bother with, its chassis scarred and its primary reactor housing cracked. Yet, to Kael, a low-ranked prodigy scraping by on ambition and sheer mechanical intuition, the Vanguard was a lifeline. He’d won it in the last salvage lottery, a desperate gamble that had cost him every credit and nearly earned him a disciplinary review. The academy’s system had deemed it scrap; Kael saw a ghost of potential.

Rank Overseer Valerius, a man whose...