The bang of a heavy metal door dragged Ryke unwillingly from a deep, dreamless sleep. A twinge of pain stirred behind his eyes and he sucked in a sharp breath, waiting for it to subside – a lovely calling card from the beer and shiner he'd drunk the night before. He cleared his throat, feeling a residual sandy dryness and grimacing. After a moment the headache subsided enough that he felt like he could actually open his eyes.

Light from the portholes in the barracks roof speared down into the barrel-like room and judging from the angle it was still early in the morning. He had a couple of hours yet until he needed to report for duty. With a heavy sigh he lowered his head back against the pillow. Other pilots were already up and moving a low hum of conversation trickling through the spaces between the rows of beds.

Alongside him on his bunk Ivy stirred with a moan of protest. She lay with her back to him, bare shoulders just visible above them hem of the lightweight sleep cover, her brown hair lying in a dishevelled mass on the pillow, for once free of the confines of the headband she always wore.

"Mmm...time is it?" she murmured, not opening her eyes.

"Early." Ryke planted a gentle kiss on her shoulder, his left hand resting on her hip beneath the cover. "Go back to sleep."

He slid his arm around across her waist, feeling the smoothness of her skin beneath his fingers and the warmth of her body. Shifting slightly, he hugged her to him.

Ivy let out a contented sigh, lacing the fingers of one hand through his and pulling his arm tight against her chest as she shuffled back, pressing to his chest as she tucked her body tightly up against him. Ryke smiled, leaning forward and pressing his lips to the top of her head, breathing in deep the scent of her hair.

The pair fell back into a doze as the low bustle of the dawn shift unfolded around them, none of the pilots so much as glancing in their direction. Ryke wasn't the only one sharing a bunk after last night. The regulations imposed on the pilots were fairly loose – it seemed commanding officers didn't want to compound the day-in, day-out threat of constant death with a heavily curtailed social life. People in the Hunter-Killer Corp knew that any one of them might not come back on any given day. Not being allowed to blow off steam under that kind of pressure was a recipe for disaster.

After a little while Ivy moved beneath the blankets, turning over to face him. He eased his head back and found her looking at him with an impish smile.

"Morning, Hunter-Killer," she whispered, a delicate finger of one hand tracing circles on his chest. She pressed her lips against his, letting out low purr as she relaxed into him. His arms folded around her, pulling her close as they kissed before she tucked her head beneath his chin. Ryke let his mind go blank, savouring the moment of calm in the hectic storm that was life in the Hunter-Killers.

An instant later that moment was blown apart.

With shocking suddenness, the thunder of the Stamm Basin alarm went ripping through the barracks like a shockwave, blasting from big speakers that lined the ceiling. The thick, high-pitched pulsing reignited his headache and a babble of surprised voices swelled in the air. Ryke jolted and nearly fell out off the bunk. He was spared the indignity as Ivy's grip on him snapped tight, every muscle in her body clenching instinctively at the sudden eruption of noise. For a few seconds they lay there, clamped together as though they'd been electrocuted.

Then they looked at each other. This was no ordinary alarm. The rib-shaking wail that tore through the building indicated an emergency of emergencies – an all out panic button by any other name. Something big was coming, and the alarm called all off-duty personnel to their battle stations, no questions asked.

"Drown me."

"Shit."

In a flailing scramble of limbs Ryke disentangled himself, tumbling off the top bunk and landing awkwardly on leg and almost toppling over. On the opposite side Ivy slithered from under the covers, hitting the ground and struggling into her overalls with a curse. He snatched up his link skin that hung on a peg from the side of the bunk and wrestled himself into it, glancing around to locate his squad mates in the chaos that had engulfed the barracks.

Officers bellowed orders, some of them yanking the slower moving pilots straight out of their bunks without ceremony. All around him people threw on their link-skins, voices charged with tension, crackling in the air.

"This is not good," Ivy declared as she darted around the bunk, sweeping her hair back with her head band as she moved. "I... I've got to-,"

"It's okay – so do I." Ryke leaned forward and planted a swift kiss on her lips before jerking his head towards the door. "Go, I'll catch up with you later."

"Stay safe." Ivy flashed him a fleeting smile and then she was off, darting between the assembling pilots in a mad, hopping dash. The Hunter-Killers paid her no attention, only concerned with locating their comrades in the melee. He turned away from her, refocusing on the task at hand. The Hunter-Killers were needed, and needed now.

"HK-Rupture!" Ryke hollered above the noise, hoisting himself up onto the side of his bunk and raising a fist to make himself visible. "On my lead!"

It took a few seconds but he spotted the pink-flash of Amelia's hair as the Goliath pilot came sliding through the barracks with Brigg close behind. Hot on their heels the rookie pilots Koral, Calhan and Kim scrambled, talking animatedly. From the right he spotted Preese twisting and dodging his way forward as the group converged on him. They gathered in a loose circle and his brow furrowed in annoyance.

"Thaye and Marylee?"

"Mess hall," Brigg answered quickly. "They headed out early to grab some breakfast. Probably already on their way to the hangar now."

"I guess the rest of us'll have to go without," Ryke grunted. "All of you on me, double time."

No-one so much as blinked as he dropped down from his perch and set off through the barracks, snaking around squads that were still assembling until they spilled out of the door and onto the main concourse.

Stamm Basin seethed like a kicked ant hive. Rychter's twin-suns beat down on the furious activity that engulfed the base and Ryke took a second to wrap his head around the sheer pandemonium that had taken hold. Everywhere he looked he saw running figures and trundling ammo and equipment haulers, a chorus of voices mingling with the deep growl of engines and the continuing blare of the base alarms. The smell of fuel and hot metal filled the scorched air.

Scout Cadre skiffs hurtled by in long columns, disappearing from view through the base's immense main gate. Between those columns he spotted the first squadrons of Hunter-Killers lumbering from the main hangar.

"C'mon!" he barked sharply, breaking into a run and following the straggled line of other Hunter-Killer pilots who raced across the main concourse to get to their war machines. The others pelted along behind him and a couple of minutes later they burst into the hangar.

More chaos greeted them as a veritable hoard of engineers scrambled frantically to prep the human vehicles for battle. Tram carriages zipped back and forth at dangerous speeds, ferrying the work crews all over the gigantic grid. After spending a fruitless instant trying to locate Ivy amidst the churning flow of activity, Ryke reluctantly forced her out of his mind. Still moving at a run, he led HK-Rupture through the mad scramble from memory, twisting and turning until they reached the Hunter-Killer bay.

Rank upon rank of the battle mechs were being eased from their cradles, technicians running through frantic checks with pilots before waving them through. Ryke sprinted towards the line of cradles holding the dormant machines of HK-Rupture, all ten of them already open and primed. A tremor of relief shot through him as he saw the mechs piloted by Thaye and Marylee were already in the process of being powered up – the pair had beaten them here.

He didn't need to give orders as the rest of the squad dispersed, instead momentarily focusing on himself as he clambered up the ladder and virtually threw himself into the Hunter-Killer's pilot station.

Locking his body into place he ran through the start up sequences as fast as humanly possible. A haggard-looking male technician seemed to materialise in front of him, data slate in hand, checking over the readings. He gave Ryke a swift thumbs-up and the Hunter-Killer's armoured front slammed shut around him.

Ryke checked over the diagnostics, forcing himself not to rush through this step of the process. Going out into battle with a fault in his machine could easily be a death sentence. He ran through the armour integrity, the air filtration systems, the HUD display and the physical feedback loops, then made sure the Hunter-Killer's magazines were fully loaded.

He saw nothing untoward in his checks – the members of the Engineering Cadre were as well drilled as any other branch of Brekka's military and even the franticness of this deployment seemed to have done nothing to dampen their efficiency. Nodding to himself, Ryke opened his comm.

"HK-Rupture this is Lockjaw," he said brusquely. "All units, sound-off!"

It took a few seconds – just long enough to worry him – before the acknowledgements came filtering through.

"Deadbolt – loud and clear."

"Trident – systems go!"

"Havoc – loud and clear."

"Avalanche – solid copy."

"Princess – standing by."

"Haze – solid copy."

"Haunter – loud and clear."

"Gutz – sounding off."

"Whisper – standing by."

He nodded again, burning the new call signs of the trio of rookie pilots into his head. They'd earned their wings at Alldeep and now had their own monikers to show for it.

"Everyone run your full pre-deployment checks," he continued. "And by the River, do it properly. I'm not losing anyone to a busted gyro today."

Another barrage of responses filtered through his earpiece as his squad mates made their understanding clear. No matter the urgency, there were some things you simply couldn't half-ass. He waited, rechecking his own readings over and over until he received full clear signals from all of his pilots. Taking a breath, he switched his comm to external for the attending technician.

"HK-Rupture ready to roll," he told the man. "All pre-checks clear and in the green."

"Copy that," the man said, raising a hand of acknowledgement to the head of Ryke's Hunter-Killer. "Standby – linking you to the Forge for deployment orders."

"Copy." Ryke exhaled hard through his teeth, now finding himself with a moment to stop and think. What in the Everflowing River had put the entire base on an emergency alert? He could only assume it was something to do with the Scraegans, but what?

He tried not to let his thoughts wander too far. He would find out soon enough when he received his orders. Instead he leaned his head against the impact cushion and closed his eyes, focussing on his breathing. One way or another, it was safe to assume they were heading into combat. A clear mind could mean the difference between life and death.

"Forge CC-12A to HK-Rupture," a familiar voice sounded in Ryke's ear and his eyes snapped open.

"HK-Rupture, reading you loud and clear," he paused for an instant before continuing. "That you, Kelso?"

"It's me. No time to chat, little brother – we have a situation on our hands."

Ryke nodded. Brother or not, they needed discipline now. "Understood. HK-Rupture is ready to deploy. Orders?"

"Deploy to the southwest and link up with HK-Bandit – Lieutenant Axinar's detail," Kelso told him crisply. "Take up defensive positions inside the firing arcs of the wall guns. Engineering Cadre sappers are being deployed to reinforce the trenchworks outside the city. You're to engage enemy units and keep the sappers secure while they work."

"Copy that," Ryke replied. "What kind of opposition are we expecting?"

"I hope your people had a good breakfast, Ryke," Kelso said, his voice heavy with unease. "Because there is a Scraegan army on its way to Brekka."