The rig jolted, and my entire body rumbled and shook as Athena, Titan Fourteen was rolled toward the launch doors. The rail system would catapult me in the direction I needed to go, and I would have to rely on my machine to hit the ground running.
“Here we go, Athena. Don’t let me down.”
“Of course not, Starfighter.” The female voice was the one I’d chosen in the fighting simulation. The simple, recognizable voice calmed me more than anything else could have. “All systems are optimal. Launch in ten, nine, eight…”
The voice of the artificial intelligence that operated my Titan, aka Athena’s voice, continued to count down as I settled into my seat and scanned all my readouts. This felt exactly like the game had. Same screens. Same joystick style controls and buttons. Same voice in my ear. “I can do this.”
“I’m right behind you, Lily. Wait for me,” Darius commanded.
When he’d said something similar in bed? Hot. My whole body had gone up in flames, and I’d come all over his cock, moaning his name as my fingernails dug into his back.
Now? Not so much. What the bloody hell did he think I was going to do? Hit the ground and run away from him? Hide? Battle everything on the planet by myself? Did he think I was suicidal or just stupid?
“…three, two, one, launch.” Athena’s voice confirmed what the heavy weight of my back against the Titan’s cockpit already told me. I was launching forward with at least five or six G’s of force shoving me into the seat and simultaneously trying to tear my cheeks off my face. I loved roller coasters, and this was one hell of a ride.
My screen filled with the planet’s horizon as I hurtled toward the ground. The target was just ahead, the two outermost defense cannons almost in range as my Titan hit the ground with a thud and I kept running.
With a flicker of my gaze I silenced outgoing comms. I could still hear everything that was going on with the rest of the teams, but I had a tendency to talk to myself when I played—fought—whatever, and I didn’t need Darius or any of the others listening to my babble.
“Athena, block outgoing comms unless I specifically address one of the other Titan’s by name.”
“Affirmative. Monitor and filter audio.”
“Thanks.”
“My pleasure, Starfighter Lily Wilson.”
“Just call me Lily.”
“Thank you for the honor. I shall address you as Lily.”
“Brilliant.”
“Of course, Lily. I am a Titan.”
Was I arguing with a machine? Not arguing really, but why did I feel like this artificial intelligence was being elitist? Could a machine feel superior to other machines? How much did Athena really understand? Was she just an advanced computer, like we had on Earth? Or was she actually conscious? Alive?
“Lily, slow down!” Darius’s command came through loud and clear. “You’ll be in range of those cannons before I can reach you.”
“No shit, Sherlock,” I muttered. But what was Darius going to do about it? Pretty soon, we were all going to be target practice for Queen Raya’s people.
“Sherlock is not a member of the Titan teams,” Athena clarified.
“No, he’s not.”
“Then why did you address him? To whom shall I relay the message?”
This did not happen in the training simulation. “I was talking to myself.”
Silence. Perfect.
As I approached the target zone, I analyzed the new data coming into my Titan. Three of the cannons had been moved to high ground since General Romulus had given us the mission briefing. Things had shifted, which meant the plan needed to change.
If we didn’t take out the cannons mounted on the cliff walls, they would be shooting fish in a barrel.
“Athena, share the new cannon placement data with the rest of the Titan teams as well as mission command.”
“Data transmitted.”