Chapter 171

　　"It`s over. We`ll need to be careful from now on and retreat after killing a Monarch. Is everyone alright?" Kal asked, turning to look at his companions. They were unmoving, simply standing as they were when the shield failed with arms raised to protect themselves.

　　"Katherine? Are you alright?" Kal asked cautiously. Atlas was still unharmed, although its armour would likely break into pieces at the next blow like the one this Monarch had delivered. The Titan`s metal surface was pitted and scarred from the black liquid, giving it an aged and decrepit appearance.

　　"No. No. No. No. NO!" Katherine screamed from the cockpit of Hyperion. The graceful and lithe Titan was heavily pockmarked from the spray of black liquid. Its thin armour hadn`t protected it as well as the others, and whatever shielding it possessed collapsed on contact after it was exposed.

　　The Hyperion relied on speed and agility to protect itself, and with the loss of its mobility, it had been nearly helpless against the foreign substance.

　　"Katherine, calm down! What is it?" Kal asked while rushing to her side. His HUD was filled with the image of the young woman. She was clutching at her helmet, trying desperately to claw it away from her head as she franticly screamed over their communication channel.

　　"Yellow eyes, staring at me from the darkness!" Katherine hissed, and Kal felt a chill run down his spine. Could the liquid be affecting the Neural Link? His was fine, but Kal had completely mastered the Atlas, unlike Katherine, who was still unsure and uneasy Piloting the Titan.

　　Could their proficiency and comfort with the Titan have some effect on whatever was causing this?

　　"It`s alright, Katherine. Hyperion is under your control. Disengage the Neural Link, and I`ll bring you back to the Pyramid. It will be-" In the dim cockpit of Atlas, Kal could see something lurking from the corner of his eye.

　　Spinning around, Kal ignored everything else, searching for the threat inside Atlas.

　　The green-eyed beast that Kal had learned represented his doubts and fears of the Titan was back. Only this time, it was a foreign presence, an alien intruder. The green eyes were set in a face similar to a Monarch.

　　Kal immediately recognized the threat. A foreign entity interfering with his Neural Link moments after the strange attack by the Monarch could only mean a single thing. The Vore were attempting to hijack or destroy his link to Atlas!

　　"The black liquid. It`s more than just a physical attack! It`s a way for them to attack our minds as well!?" Kal hissed. He wanted to warn the others, but he felt the connection between him and Atlas slip from his control.

　　He had returned to a time when Atlas didn`t obey him, and he had to fight it for control. The black liquid was empowering the Titan to slip the bonds of control somehow. Whether it was affecting the systems or Kal himself, he didn`t know.

　　But it didn`t matter. Kal found himself once again in a life-and-death battle against Atlas for supremacy.

　　Outside, Atlas collapsed onto the ground. Clawing and scratching at the ground, it was acting like a wild beast. Beside him, the other Titans were behaving even more erratically.

　　Hyperion was crouched at a distance from the others, watching everything around it warily while clawing at its own head. It was mimicking the behaviour of its Pilot.

　　Sovereign was striking the ground with its sceptre, the metal twisting more with each blow. Luminous was the worst. Inside the cockpit, Iris was weeping black tears from her eyes as she laughed with insanity.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author`s consent. Report any sightings.

　　Luminous had less armour than even Hyperion, and without Atlas to block her as it had done for Katherine, she had been sprayed with more of the black liquid than anyone else. Whatever was infecting the Titan`s systems had overwhelmed its Pilot in moments, corrupting her with a similar infection as it had done the Envoys.

　　Even the vaccine the Emperor had introduced to their genetics was powerless against this new variant.

　　Taking to the air, Luminous shot toward the battlelines, where she began scattering her crystal orbs between the humans and the Vore. In her insanity, she would purge the Sphere of all filth!

　　The infection was augmenting the worst of her behaviours. Iris was cold and haughty, looking down on everyone around her, even when she was at her best. The infection was amplifying those traits, causing her to view everyone as vermin and filth.

　　She unleashed the Titan`s energies, burning away mobile suits and Vore soldiers before moving on to another cluster. The battlelines, already crumbling for the Vore assault, collapsed wherever Luminous visited.

　　But the Vore were equally disadvantaged, as Iris ignored her personal well-being to deliver destruction upon them. She pushed past her limits, causing harm to both herself and Luminous while doing so. The reactor deep within the Titan began to stutter and fail from Iris` abuse of its systems.

　　Kal was unaware of any of this. He could feel the black liquid creeping through Atlas. It was spreading from the sections of damaged armour and the right arm of the Titan he had used to shield himself and Hyperion.

　　Like a virus, it began to creep its way toward the cockpit. All the while, the assault on his mind continued from its corruptive influence. The Vore had developed a new way to deliver their Psychic Virus to the immune humans and their Titans by using the black liquid as a carrier.

　　The Vore`s adaptability was truly a miraculous and terrible thing. In only a few hours, they had completely changed the delivery system of their Psychic Virus. And the Titans would be its first victims.

　　"No!" Kal growled. He had suffered under Atlas before and wouldn`t allow it to happen again. While he shunted its assault on his mind away, he focused on the foreign presence invading the Titan`s systems. He could only think of one way to remove its influence quickly.

　　Using the little control he maintained on the Titan, he dug into the brittle and broken pieces of armour that were first corrupted. Ripping them off, he hurled an armour segment away. He needed to dig out whatever parts the liquid touched and hope it would stop or slow down the infection rate.

　　Again and again, he tore at the Titan`s body. Its clawed fingertips gouged out chunks of pitted metal that carried the taint. With each piece he removed, Kal could feel the burden on his mind ease. Finally, he slashed down with his left hand, severing Atlas` right arm at the elbow.

　　The infection was still there, its presence pushed into the back of his mind. He doubted Atlas would ever fully be cleared of it, but he only needed the Titan to survive a few more minutes for their escape. His mind clear, he rushed toward Hyperion.

　　Its body was much worse. Most of its frame was covered in large pits, and Kal could see severe corruption. The glowing yellow lines of energy that typically ran the length of its structure and limbs were quickly darkening into a sickly brownish colour.

　　Katherine`s screams were reaching new levels of intensity, and Kal didn`t know if there was anything left of the Titan to save.

　　"Stay with me, Katherine." Kal whispered.

　　The young woman was too far gone even to attempt to reason with her or ask her to disconnect from the Titan. He didn`t even know if she could. Hyperion may have already had too tight of a hold on her, and unlike Atlas, he doubted anything could be salvaged from it.

　　Kal was left with no choice. He would need to rip her out of Hyperion.

　　Kal plunged Atlas` remaining clawed hand into the back of Hyperion. The fatigued metal collapsed under the Titan`s strength, and the area was filled with the screeching sound of tearing metal. Katherine`s screams of agony grew louder as if she could feel what was happening to Hyperion.

　　Ruthlessly, Kal seized the hard exterior of the cockpit and pulled it free of the frame. Dangling wires and shards of metal emerged from the cylinder that housed the cockpit. With a sharp yank, he tore them off. Katherine`s cries ceased as soon as she was severed from the infected Titan.

　　Hyperion collapsed onto the ground, staining it with black liquid that ran like blood through its connections and wires.

　　"Kal?" Katherine asked weakly. It felt like she was emerging from a nightmare. The horrible visions of death and destruction that Hyperion had shown her were gone, and in its place was the oppressive darkness of the cockpit.

　　With her connection to the Titan broken, she was relying on her bodysuit`s commlink to ferry her words to Kal.

　　"I`m here. I got you, you`re safe." Kal reassured her.

　　Tucking the cockpit under the stub of his severed arm, Kal turned to Sovereign.