Tam was sure to tell the residents of the ruins of Zakria that it wasn't safe there. That the long-abandoned "City of the Future" was built out of a flame retardant that, surprise surprise, caused cancer. Not that they listened. They'd lived there for months or years, and some random lady in a two-story suit of mechanized armor comes in and tells them to leave? Though, some did nod silently nod their heads, and looked like they might actually consider moving. But there's only so much you can do in these situations.

She was on a tight schedule, but she was glad she took the time to tell them about it. As they say, a Knight does what's Right.

Back to the task at hand. The burnt footprints she'd followed here were had disappeared when she got into downtown. Hmm.

Her fingers danced on the haptic switches of the left control panel. It was a routine at this point. Utility > Drones > Orders > Presets > Recon/Report. A few buzzing recon drones darted into the sky, their feeds transmitted to Tam's monitors.

Okay, Princess. Where did you take my friend?

There was only a few places a fire giant could live without causing a forest fire every other day. Bodies of water, which they hate. Mountains and deserts, which are too far away from where Bastian was kidnapped. Which of course leaves the only city in existence made of super-asbestos. How fun.

Tam anxiously checked the air filter status on her armor. Still in the green. No, now its yellow. Fantastic.

Clock's ticking, Tam. She scanned the drone feeds. The buildings were smooth and shiny, like pearls. But there were few windows. Some of them had purposely concave roofs which pooled with old rainwater. It was clear whoever designed this place wasn't very--

There.

They were settled in a ring of skyscrapers, but from above, they stuck out like a sore thumb. She must have been forty feet tall, clad in a ballgown of sheet metal. Her skin glowed with the light of hot coal. She was starting a fire over a huge spit roast made out of old scaffold. Not too far away from her was Bastian, who was wrapped in anchor chain, his wings tied up with rope. Tam couldn't tell if he was breathing or not.

Oh. You're fucked now.

Unlike drones, weapon systems had no menus. Just flip a switch that says Shoulder Mounted Artillery. With the drone as your observer, let the computer do the calculations for you. Load a slug round. Aim for the head. Fire.

Do you know what the wail of a fire giant sounds like? Most would say it's absolutely terrifying, a courage-shattering battle cry that meant it was your queue to confess whatever you need to confess to your fellows, and to do it quickly. For Tam, it was a hell of a good start.

The Princess emerged from between two of the towers, her skin glowing so luminously now that the external cameras on Tam's mech adjusted for brightness automatically. Tam drew her broadsword. The fire giant inhaled, and spat out a ball of fire.

Yawn. What do you take me for? She flipped Missile Intercept. The other shoulder mounted weapon was packed with heat-seekers. Easy-peasy.

Tam watched as the missile flew straight threw the fireball.

Of course. It's fire, which means-

And the flame washed over her suit of armor.

Every subsystem was crying out with alerts. High Temperature, Coolant Error, System Error, Weapons Malfunction, Weapons Malfunction (1). Shit.

Tam ran behind a nearby apartment complex and opened all the vents, then activated a system reboot. She needed to cool her armor, but that while that happened, she was a sitting duck.

The monitors switched off, and Tam sat in the darkness, waiting. She listened as the Princess slowly marched towards her. Even through two-inches of armored steel. The central monitor turned on, the blue logo of the computer's BIOS flashing before switching to a startup-systems check.

MechOS... Online. Mobility System... Online. The footsteps got louder.

Network Module... Offline. External Cameras... Online. Welcome Back.

The monitors flickered to life just as a bright-orange leg emerged from around the corner. Tam immediately swung her broadsword--a twelve-foot long custom blade with titanium edges. It landed, and just as the giant wailed again, she ran.

She was weaving between the city blocks, some collapsed, others still intact. The Princess was spitting fireballs again, but it seemed she didn't have the best aim for moving targets. Still, she was faster, and Tam was trying to think of something.

How can I kill it without getting stomped and melted?

She grabbed her rifle, a 50 cal. gun built for mech use, and fired a few tentative shots. They pierced the sheet metal gown, and the giant recoiled somewhat, then wailed again. That was starting to get on Tam's nerves. She squeezed the trigger, letting the full mag unload, when the gun itself exploded.

Barrel was warped from the fireball, she thought, discarding it and running once more. That meant the artillery cannon was ruined, too. Network module was offline, so she couldn't get her drones to give her a birds-eye of her pursuer. Birds-eye...

Could that work? Worth a shot. The building she remembered from the drone feed was not easy to miss. She veered left.

It was an indoor stadium, probably for soccer or football, or some other ancient sport. It's inner field turned to a dirt patch, where Tam now stood. That might of been from a lack of maintenance. Or the asbestos in the air. What it also had was a concave roof. Tam held a piece of debris in front of her, which absorbed the fireball quite well as the giant broke through the building's wall.

But Tam was mainly focused on reprogramming the heat-seekers. HeatFollow = false. Setpath(y = 4.671^2). The giant must been emanating heat at this point, because the mech lit up with warnings again. Now the reactor was overheating. Tam began to sweat. It felt like being in an oven. This was it, do or die.

There, code's done. She wouldn't have time to debug the code even if she wasn't currently melting, so she saved the file and fired.

The heat-seeker curved upward. Both Tam and the Princess watched as the tiny missile zipped directly into the ceiling. It detonated with a small pop--interceptors don't need a heavy payload--but it was enough. A cascade of water rained down on the fire giant. It's skin turned a smoldering gray, and it cried out again, this time in pain. Tam watched as the temperature readings ticked to a reasonable (though still pretty hot) level.

She dropped her debris-shield, drew her sword, and thrust it directly into the giant's heart.

It froze. Then, like a used cigar, it collapsed into a pile of ash and sheet metal.

Tam breathed a sigh of relief. Then she began to laugh. And laugh some more. She was alive,and now--

She noticed that the reactor was still unstable.

Tam sighed again, but it was more of a groan. "Fucking fantastic".

She initiated a system shut-down. She'd have to go on foot from here. Under her seat was a survival kit with a gas mask. But it's filters were slightly melted. The over-heated reactor was under the cockpit.

"Well." She inhaled through the nose, then laughed again. The laughing helped. "What's a little cancer, right?". She opened the cockpit and dismounted, being sure to grab her backpack of dragon-grade medical supplies while she was at it. Time for a stroll through town.

The air had a disconcerting sweetness to it, and Tam knew that was probably the super-asbestos in the air. But Bastian needed her, and if that meant an hour's exposure to carcinogens, then so be it. He'd do the same for her.

Armored or not, a Knight does what's Right.