The initial propulsion from the boosters had been proven fatal to those within a city block. After the first accident during a skirmish in an insignificant town somewhere in North America, it became common practice to install twenty-five-meter blast shields to make roofless hangers. These would be scattered around densely populated areas, greatly decreasing these types of fatalities. This was just one of the many accommodations that had to be made for the full utilization of the Mechanized Anti Catastrophe systems, or MACs as they’re usually referred to. Of course, many organizations would implement MACs with little regard to such scruples. Collateral damage for most organizations, rather than causing political issues, would merely end up as financial offsets taken into consideration by the strictest accountants.

            Throughout history, the single most important aspect to any war was cost efficiency. The cost of killing and the cost of being killed dictated how leaders would wage their wars. The popularization of drone warfare is the most recent example. A well-designed drone equipped with hypersonic technology and laden with explosives could turn the most expensive aircraft carrier into a smoking, metallic hole in the middle of the ocean. They were the cheaper alternative in nearly every situation. A fleet of such drones is cheaper than a properly trained and equipped conventional battalion, but the drone’s killing potential is far higher. The adoption of drones as mainstays of any military became common sense.

            But the supremacy of drones and hypersonic missiles had recently been called into question.

            An unnamed and unknown organization planted their flag at a European nuclear energy facility. A force of a few hundred was equipped with everything ranging from armored vehicles to anti-air weaponry. They were very well outfitted by any military’s standard. The stars of their fighting force, however, were three MACs: the first of their kind. These three MACs were the vanguard of their defense. Losses were quick to mount as the European country threw conventional arms at the facility hoping to regain it and pacify this unknown enemy.

            A statue stands at the facility, a facility that was completely unharmed and is still fully operational, yet the statue’s plaque tells the story of one thousand three hundred and five of that country’s young men and women who were wiped from the planet. ‘Wiped’ being used quite literally as the corpses were unrecoverable. MACs, giant metal golems of war, used weapons you would expect on warships. These types of munitions used against flesh and blood resulted in a surprising lack of both when the smoke cleared.

            Once the threat was fully realized, thanks to these senseless deaths, it was decided to use hypersonic drone swarms to attack the unknown organization. The mistake of underestimating what they thought was merely a rag tag group of protestors had already cost them too high a price. Literally. The statue may bear the names of the fallen, but the government was more concerned with the books that tally up the assets lost.

            Once the swarm was launched, the world watched. Some in horror and some in hope as the MACs used their mobility, short and extreme boosts, heavy weapons capability, and piloting skills to make short work of what was, at the time, considered the gold standard for effective warfare. It was only later that the world would learn the price for such an incredible military asset. You can increase a machine’s capabilities, but at some point the human inside will limit it. So, the human’s capabilities were to be increased as well.

            It was said that those MACs seemingly danced through the barrage and with every dodge would somehow manage to land a counterattack before the drone passed them by. It was noted that the drones seemingly slowed down, or maybe dumbed down, as they neared these MACs. This was due to a side effect of the power system producing a field that scrambled electronics.

            After the attack, the organization retreated entirely intact. Although bounties remain and manhunts persist across the globe, there are some conspiracy theorists that suggest the near-immediate introduction of MACs into the world at large is more than enough evidence to realize the whole situation was nothing more than a marketing ploy.

            If so, it was quite the effective one.

            Now is a time when the history of yesterday is unimportant. With each new morning another page or chapter is added. With each passing moment, people continue to watch with that same horror or hope; when will the world change again?

            Now, to the city of Atlantis in the country of Atlantea. A country nestled in the southeast corner of North America. A country of moderate size and power slowly being cannibalized by its neighbors through backroom deals as often as through destructive warfare. A country where new chapters are sure to be written.

            A major player is Jace: the pilot of the MAC that is currently standing within that twenty-five-meter blast shield box. His MAC, one of two in the city of millions, is a rarer type. It’s a home-grown model that was developed strictly by and for Atlantea. The MAC models produced and piloted by countries themselves are far less impressive than what you can hire from MAC specific organizations, chiefly because of the more dangerous augmentations done on these organizations’ pilots. The countries of today are still unable to get away with such political scandals like warping and twisting young minds to their advantage at the cost of their lifespan.

            Jace had a few cerebral modifications and split fingers, doubling his digits to twenty, but nothing too invasive. The mental strain of his MAC model meant he would live until forty with no issues. Of course, depending on the pilot’s abilities, this number will vary wildly. The mental fortitude required to pilot a MAC is difficult to measure, no matter how many bodies have been produced and examined after brain-death.

            Jace’s MAC was designed for defensive purposes. A host of anti-missile weaponry was bolted and welded onto the twenty-meter behemoth. The main launcher mounted on its shoulder, when stowed in the upright position, added an extra ten meters to the total height. It made for a good place to hang flags and banners so the city could personify their metal-golem deities and protectors a bit better. Although the missiles were totally erratic at close range due to the generator’s interference, once they exited that field they would act normally again. Jace had never had to fight another MAC before, but in countries where those fights are common, he’d heard of missile salvos being used as very expensive shotgun-type weapons at close range. The effectiveness of such a maneuver was still debated.

            Jace saw a caution marker flash on one of the cockpit’s screens. A few seconds of vigorous button pressing and switch flipping seemed to bring him to his conclusion: there is work to be done here in Atlantis.

            Jace began requesting permission to disengage safeties on his machine. No government MAC would be operated without express permission of the politicians that would have to ready excuses for the collateral damage costs. While the bureaucrats bickered over the cost efficiency, Jace ran checks on his MAC’s thrusters. The legs, arm, shield arm, and body of the massive metal man were liberally coated in thrusters. A massive propellant tank hanging off the back of the unit helped to improve the initial speed of a boost, but the reactor housed in the core, behind the pilot seat in his model, was the real workhorse of the machine. With it operating, the machine could run for hours non-stop, and even then, it only took a few days of passive regeneration for the metal monster to be up and running again. Capable of everything from short and violent bursts to prolonged aerial capabilities.

            Truly, this leap in energy production has changed the world. From household needs to efficient genocide, this new power source has truly… truly changed the world.

            Jace saw a green check mark appear on one of the screens, signifying that the upper brass had given the OK for MAC use. His job would be quite a bit more difficult now that so many minutes had passed, but Jace was a half-decent pilot. The defense coordinator for the city, Guinevere, was also half-decent at her job.

            With these two combined, many things were impossible, but defending the city was usually within their power.

            “Jace, we’ve got the green light. Hope you’ve already prepped; we’re running out of time here.”

            “You do know that those messages get shot out to me as well, right? I’ve got a bright green checkmark here Guinevere, I can’t miss that.”

            “Oh? I just generally assume your brain is too fried to understand… well, anything really.”

            Jace continued flipping switches, though now with a bit of a strained look on his face, “Should I even bother asking why you assume I’m that stupid?”

            “No.”

            Jace sighed, though he was actually quite happy for the distraction. He hadn’t been in very many battles up to this point. Still green, as some would call him. He was halfway certain Guinevere was just trying to calm his nerves.

            The other half of him was pretty sure she was just trying to get under his skin.

            “Looks like we’ve got ninety seconds until contact Jace, go ahead and get airborne. Happy hunting.” Her voice came across as quite jovial given the circumstances.