Rain drums the Burnt Egg as the rear spine alarm on the Ash Bringer stops sounding broken. It starts counting.
Naira Versta Nai
A data-burst. Not a fault.
The cockpit display blooms with a tight, repeating code stream, each pulse matching the flashes outside. The mech is being pinged from somewhere in the storm.
Marcus Black eye
There. That is the leash. I told you it was not a random glitch.
Marcus keeps his sniper trained on the roofline, but he does not fire. Instead, he shifts one step to cover the blind angle near the door, taking the exposed side of the shop.
Broken Leg
Remote override. They can steer her machine if they stay on that channel.
The rear spine indicator flips from amber to hostile red. Outside, the thin targeting line skates back across the roof seam, searching for a lock.
Marcus Black eye
I am here because I did not miss twice. If they take your cockpit, they take the shop. I stop that first.
✓ Quest Accepted
Sever the remote override signal
“using a old very old fail safe i cut off all channels but broken legs it was drom when broken leg taught me how stuff worked and well was so hard coded in the system that it was near impossible to stop from going off "activating angry bee broken leg"”
SUCCESS (Legendary Mechanics, rolled -1)
Naira trips the old fail safe, and the Ash Bringer answers with a clean internal lock. The hostile code stream on the cockpit glass fractures at once, then drops away from every channel except Broken Leg's maintenance link.
Naira Versta Nai
Only his line stays open.
The rear-spine alarm stutters, then falls silent. Outside, the red targeting line loses its purchase and skates off the roof seam into the rain.
Broken Leg
That was the Angry Bee. Old, ugly, and still mean. Good choice.
Marcus shifts his rifle a fraction lower, still watching the perimeter, but the pressure in the cockpit eases as the mech stops broadcasting itself to the storm.
Marcus Black eye
The leash is cut. Keep it that way, and I can hold the door.
Broken Leg leans over the maintenance hatch, already listening to the clean private channel and waiting for Naira's next order.
Quest Complete
Sever the remote override signal