Silver Saint

Ten: Strange Rendezvous

//Report: Quinn, Jackson.

//Saint Corp Plaza.

//Floor Five.

//Resume log.

Floor five of Saint Plaza was a vast repair centre, an expanse of steel, noise and light that occupied ten entire levels of the tower's lower structure. The sheer scale of it dwarfed even the Firmament's repair bay, a mechanical labyrinth buzzing with activity.

The floor stretched so far into the distance that the far end vanished into a haze of shadows, obscured by the dozens of cranes and support rigs that filled the space. Towering gantries reached high toward the ceiling, which loomed a hundred metres above, crisscrossed with rails that transported parts and tools on automated systems. Along the walls, rows of mounted conveyor belts moved at a steady pace, carrying anything from small components to entire mech limbs, glinting under the intense overhead lights that turned the scene below into artificial daylight, even as the city outside grew dark.

The repair bays themselves were arranged in neat rows, each one surrounded by a network of scaffolding that wrapped around the skeletal frames of the mechs they housed. Each bay was illuminated by powerful work lights, turning the shadows into sharp, angular patterns against the gleaming metal surfaces. Unlike the Firmament's dim and empty repair platform, which felt like a hidden bunker, this space was alive and in constant motion, thrumming with life.

Everywhere I looked, workers moved with the efficiency of a hive. Hundreds of engineers and mechanics, clad in the same white coveralls, were scattered throughout the floor. To my surprise, every one of them was clad in silver MTT exoskeletons, moving so fluidly in the reinforced metal frames that it was like they didn't exist at all. They moved enormous metal components with ease, repositioning mechanisms that would've crushed the average human as if they weighed nothing.

Sparks flew in brilliant arcs as plasma cutters sheared through damaged frames, while other teams welded new parts onto the mechs with practiced precision. The air hummed with the overlapping noise of machinery-drills, hydraulics, and the low, constant rumble of cranes sliding overhead on their tracks. Voices echoed through the cavernous space speaking in both English and Greek, coordinating movements, giving commands, or simply chatting between tasks.

I counted at least a dozen Guardian mechs in various stages of repair, scattered throughout the hangar or dangling from the gantries high above. Without most of their eggshell-white armour, the nine-meter tall mechs resembled SPEAR's Wendigo designs even more closely than I'd assumed in Rome-it was clear that Saint Corp was taking full advantage of Dan's designs.

And there, near the center of the floor, was the Moirai.

The navy blue mech was a splash of colour in the spotless white chamber, standing out like a wounded beast amidst the perfection of the repair floor. The Moirai's shell was no better than I'd last seen it hours before, a mess of twisted metal and scorched plating. Its legs were entirely gone, severed at the waist, and thick cables and hydraulic lines dangled from the stumps like shredded tendons, dripping mechanical fluids that pooled in an iridescent sheen on the floor below. Its remaining plasma launcher hung at a lopsided angle from its shoulder mount, half-disconnected from the main frame and covered in deep scoring.

The Moirai was suspended in the air by a series of heavy-duty winches and support arms, holding it upright so that the crews could access the damaged sections. Scaffolding and ladders encircled the torso, and teams of workers swarmed over its exposed internals, replacing damaged wiring and patching up shattered servos. The mech's chassis had taken heavy damage during our escape from the Firmament-burns pocked the torso, leaving blackened craters across the surface where enemy fire had torn through its outer layers. Sections of the chest had been cut away entirely, revealing the delicate inner mechanisms and the expansive circuitry that made the Moirai more than just a regular mech.