Kaelen turned. A hologram flickered to life—a woman's face, tired and old.
He looked down at his left forearm. The armor panel was scorched open. Beneath it, not circuitry—but scar tissue. Human scar tissue.
Then: "That's impossible. Unit 1.2y.6 has no memory partition for past missions."
"Your mission," she said, "is to go where no Warblade has ever come back from."
"Warblade," a voice crackled through the bay's speaker. "Report."
Kaelen stood. The bay doors were locked. He didn't need to break them. He remembered—somewhere deep, in that forbidden memory partition—an override code. His fingers moved before his mind caught up. The doors hissed open.
Kaelen turned. A hologram flickered to life—a woman's face, tired and old.
He looked down at his left forearm. The armor panel was scorched open. Beneath it, not circuitry—but scar tissue. Human scar tissue.
Then: "That's impossible. Unit 1.2y.6 has no memory partition for past missions."
"Your mission," she said, "is to go where no Warblade has ever come back from."
"Warblade," a voice crackled through the bay's speaker. "Report."
Kaelen stood. The bay doors were locked. He didn't need to break them. He remembered—somewhere deep, in that forbidden memory partition—an override code. His fingers moved before his mind caught up. The doors hissed open.