“Roger that,” Eric said, pulling the harness frame shut over him. “Stay on orbit over the city. I’ll call for pickup soon.”

“You’ve got it.”

“Captain . . .” One of his squad tapped on the cockpit of the EXO mech. “You don’t want us down there?”

“Not for this,” Eric said as he activated the mech, the pneumatic systems hissing as they pressurized. “I can handle one jackass, even if he is a ranger.”

The men laughed, patting the machine as Eric hoisted himself on the winch centered in the frame of the Cherokee and opened the hatch below. The city appeared below them as the men cleared the road and nodded. Eric saluted with the machine’s arms, then hit the release switch and dropped away.

“We ain’t seen any of those flying overhead before,” Swenson snorted, eyeing up the military craft as it circled.

“No wonder. That’s old school, sir. Didn’t know we had any in that good of a shape,” a Guardsman offered, sounding genuinely impressed. “I signed up ’cause I wanted to fly a Cherokee into the action, just like the in movies. They were mostly phased out for the new Deltas by the time I got in though.”

Swenson nodded. “I flew in a few in the early days of the war, before they fancied them up with all that antigravity bullshit.”

“Counter-mass, sir.”

“Like hell. It’s goddamn antigravity, son,” Swenson said. “Call a mule a mule.”

“Yes sir.”

“They’re about to do a drop,” another man said, nodding to the belly of the craft. “We due any supplies?”

“Not that we were told. The whole damn radio band is quiet since last night,” a young woman said as she walked over with a computer in hand.

“Well, someone sure as hell is delivering something.” Swenson waved a hand as he walked over to the space where a window was supposed to be.

What happened next made him take a step back involuntarily as a hulking machine dropped out of the belly of the Cherokee and slammed into the soft ground of Reunion Park with enough force to dig a crater and throw dirt all around.

“Whoa!”

“Holy shit . . .”

Swenson scowled, taking a step forward and looking closer, spotting the machine as it rose to its feet and began to stalk out of the park in the direction of his headquarters.

“Get everyone up! We’ve got something incoming. I don’t know what it is, but let’s be ready for it,” he ordered, sending two of the Guardsmen scrambling to raise the alarm. When they were gone he glanced back to where the woman, Wendy, was staring. “You ever see anything like this?”

“Only in the comic books, Ranger Swenson.”

I swear, this thing is going to make me motion sick, Eric snarled mentally as he stalked the machine forward.