The ground was chaos—cracked stone, glowing ash, and ruptured metal from Akron's righteous impact—but above it all, Aquila and Neil stood firm, their mecha forms gleaming in the stormlight, staring down the blur that was Hermes, one of Intra's most elusive monsters.
Aquila's mecha was lean and aerodynamic, midnight-blue plating lined with bronze feathers across her shoulders, chest, and lower back. Her arms were wrapped in adaptive fiberweave, and from her back sprouted two massive wings—the ones of the Peregrine Falcon. Sharp, narrow, and thrumming with kinetic energy, they shimmered with directional control arrays, ready to push her beyond the speed of sound in a straight line. Her visor glowed orange, scanning every twitch Hermes made.
