Page 2 of Craze

Amp>>Local: Most of them, A-firm.

Titan chatter quiets. A deep rooted anger ignites in me. Tension spreads through us so thick I worry it might shatter our delicate chambers.

The stars become visible as Hyperion slips away. It makes sense that if we were captured, humans likely were too.But the females? Why did it have to be them? Most were not in battle.

Amp>>Local: Cara, the one who broke us out, is now my mate. She and her rebels sacrificed a lot to take this chance on us. Let us return the favor to our Creators.

Drillbit>>Local: Just tell us what you need. I’ll punch us a path to the supplies—or some holes in Solcrue ships. Just give me the command!

Amp’s words get a mix of battle cries and questions over our network. I can hear their conversations in my mind as clearly as the crash of another cell against mine.

I block it all out.

A mate? And human?The notion that human females might accept us stirs a hunger in me that I struggle to tamp down. Few Titans are female. Even fewer survived the wars. We all hoped for mates, but knew we would not all get one when we lost the war after the Creators’ facilities were destroyed on Titan.

Boomer>>Local: She’s a half-breed—human and the enemy! How can we trust her?

Poppy>>Local: Holy shit, can you boys all shut up about mates for five fucking minutes? We aren’t free of Hyperion yet!

Savage>>Local: Diesel says she is Mother Besha’s daughter, a Creator’s daughter! You’d be wise to mind her if we make it out of here! Now focus, soldiers.

An array of double clicks fills my headspace. I join my brothers in confirming my compliance.

I do not falter. Nor do Redline—who’s always sprinting and easily distracted—or Chaos—who is three titans in one. They’re the Brothers who have the closest skill sets to mine. Hibernation doesn’t work on us. So we have to lead when the others succumb to the cells’ programming.

Redline>>Local: Emergency Rescue programs! Start them before your body shuts down!

Chaos>>Local: We’re either landing or crashing. Either way, pull up Evasion programs in case they’re on our asses when we’re through the portal.

Craze>>Local: Set Burst Power to initiate upon waking. There’s no telling what’s on the other side of the portal. We need to be ready.

I initiate the ER program, and wager most of my Brothers have already done the same. But it’s been a long time since we were last in the heat of battle. It’s good to have the reminders. We all have a bit of rust to shake off.

Emergency Rescue:program loading—

Evasion: Ready.

I’ve been in evasion mode since I heard the first blast from Poppy’s ship as she blew holes in the plant so we could escape. And I’m always in Burst Power mode.

I stand in my chamber like the others, ultromotor racing in my chest as I scan my Brothers looking for a close friend. Cobra was on my sorting team but has vanished in the mayhem of fragmenting metal walls and flying debris. I’m wedged among four on the outside of our massive cluster, beneath the majority of the group.

Craze>>Cobra: Status.

When he doesn’t respond, I reach out to the others.

Craze>>Local: Can anyone see Cobra? Did we leave him behind?

Cobra>>Craze: Loaded. By Holo, Thruster, Fury, and Shifter.

I look up and see Holo peering down at us, eyes bright as they record everything. I send a double-click back in confirmation, relieved my friend is with us.

Macabre squirms, drawing my attention to him. He's an inky stealth unit like Menace and Morbid and glares red daggers at me even though he’s getting woozy. I can see it in his posture. He won’t speak. His harrowing stare says enough. Stealth models never cope well with hibernation.

Beside him is Axe, who has steadied himself in the chamber and fights the tug of sleep. I hear his indirect thoughts over the local network.I can’t fucking move or I’m going to shatter my cell! Every part of me is designed to break shit like this!

Axe’s edgy body tenses. He slaps himself in the face, trying to stay awake.

RamBash is banging around in his chamber to Axe’s other side. It’s a physics thing with him. He gets bouncing off things and momentum makes it hard to stop. He blurs, stops himself, and brace his hands to either side of his cell. He grimaces.Hibernation reverberation is the worst. It’s giving me a headache. I want out!

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