Magnus ran through the broken streets gazing at the smog choked sky as he did, all around him skyscrapers covered the horizon inciting a stifling sense of oppression and gloom, Magnus cared for none of that as he ran all the way to the edges of the city.
He wore a look of joy and anticipation as he left the boundaries of the twisted metal cage that they had called home.
Outside, the air was thick with the stench of rust and fire, ground a brown and black lump that stretched endlessly in every direction, no trees or grass to be seen, that was a privilege only the wealthy and powerful deserved, Magnus did not care, after all this burnt land was all he ever knew and one cannot desire what one has never known, he continued running, wind rushing through his jet black hair, a joyful expression growing more prominent every second he got further from grime coated city.
Before long the iron fortress was reduced to a bright speck in the distance and its light no longer interfered with the sky allowing the stars to peek out from the void of the sky.
Finding a familiar earthen mound encircled by trash Magnus had collected over the years, atop the mound stood a small brick building, more of a misshapen shack than the hut it was created to resemble, Magnus made his way into his ramshackle brick fort and lay down on a sheet of rusted metal that looked as if it might have once been the roof of a shed.
Staring through the hole in the roof Magnus wore a content smile, his hazel eyes sparkling, the stars were beautiful, a dazzling tapestry of jewels scattered across the inky parchment that was the sky.
He watched as the stars fought in the sky, beams of radiance blasting towards one another, a star fell then another, they came crashing down onto the war torn earth, eventually all that remained in the sky were immobile stars and around the young boy lay countless ruined war machines and pools of a dark red viscous liquid.
His eyes opened.
Around him a thick green liquid pressed down on his skin, the warmth of his heartbeat fighting against the substances relentless cold, his eyes darted warily around the storage pod, an instinct ingrained into his scared flesh, sensing Magnus rising from the pod, a sleek mechanical arm thrust a jet black combat suit into his hand before retracting into the floor of the silvery metallic corridor.
As Magnus donned the combat attire he glanced at the hundreds of pods stretching down the corridor, there were too many to count but he knew without a second thought that there were exactly 500 pods, each of which once contained a fellow... Magnus paused that thought,
Trainee? Cadet? Lucian would probably call them involuntary research assistants, As for Magnus? they were test subjects, he felt no need to sugar coat it, the bomb placed in his spine was enough of a truth.
Walking out of the corridor Magnus entered a large spiral staircase going deeper into the facility, as he walked down his thoughts drifted to his home planet, it had been sometime since he dreamt of that ruined world but ruined as it was it represented a time he could live with hope, that was now more than he could ask for.
Entering into the bottom floor he saw the others had already arrived, standing around discussing what was to come.
Looking around Magnus's eyes narrowed before calling out, "Lucian uncloak before I gut punch you into a fracture"
With a quiet electric hum the air in front of him rippled as if it was made of water revealing another person wearing both a combat outfit and a rather confused yet amused expression "How did you figure it out? The new function works... unless Professor Clef is messing with me again"
"Lucian please, your the only person boring enough to pull something like this the minute you knew our suits had a cloaking function"
"Oh" Lucian blinked at Magnus's harsh tone before grinning "Magnus... I didn't realise you cared for me enough to notice, am I finally growing onto you my bestest friend?"
"Firstly" Magnus paused for a second "did you just say the word bestest? and also I've made it clear being partnered up for the fracture mission does not make us friends"
Before Lucian could respond an electronic voice blared from the ceiling, "Group Delta report to transfer bay 3" immediately all traces of amusement faded from both Lucian and Magnus, they both broke into a brisk walk towards their destination.
As they walked towards the transfer bay the surrounding survivors gave them small nods of encouragement and some a quick thumbs up.
Arriving in the transfer bay Magnus noticed the techies had already set up a strange warped metallic structure, wires and lights adorned the machine flashing with urgent intensity, Seeing Magnus and Lucian walk in one of the nearby researchers stepped towards them a clipboard in hand and ecstatic expression scrawled across his face.
"Good, you're here! we finally got the machine running again after the last failure!"
Calming himself, the researcher tore 2 pages from his clipboard and handed them to Magnus and Lucian before running off to continue recording what Magnus presumed to be dating about the metallic monstrosity.
As the mechanics and researchers tinkered, Magnus and Lucian were guided to a pod that looked similar to those drop-pods Federation Military forces used for rapid planet fall, in other words it looked like a premade tomb the accident was just waiting to happen.
Stepping inside the two iron coffins various mechanical arms clamped around them attaching various tools and equipment before retracting and allowing the iron pod to shut, enclosing Magnus and Lucian in complete darkness.
Behind the drop-pods the twisted mechanical monstrosity announced its birth with a loud electrical buzz and the sound of glass shattering however what shattered was far from something so easily breakable.
It was space itself, a fundamental force, and never had man made before something so beautiful yet repulsive in all its history.
It was a glorious sight, countless fractals of space forming a mesmerising web, the surrounding space seemed to pulse with unholy energy.
With a clunking sound the pods were released into the cracking and warping space vanishing as if swallowed by an invisible entity, following the pods disappearance the space it vanished into collapsed with a crackling boom reforming itself into nothingness once more.