The war machine settled, its colossal weight pressing the tessellated floor down another degree. Its armored shell, a matte black that swallowed light, seemed to drink the remaining cyan illumination, leaving a cavern of angry crimson. Three red optic sensors, each the size of an entire shuttle, locked onto Huan Jue and Orynix. The booming voice, now augmented, reverberated not just through the sanctum, but across the entire Veloxis Nexus. A small notification icon, bright gold and demanding, appeared at the corner of Huan Jue's vision. It read: *Live Broadcast Initiated. Trillions tuning in.* “Citizens of the Veloxis Nexus,” the intruder’s synthesized voice boomed, rattling the very data streams that composed the Aegis Pavilion. “Witness the reclamation. This imposter, this ‘Janitor’—Huan Jue, or Zynar, as he now calls himself—has stolen the VIP Key to the Prince’s Vault. He has defied the organization, humiliated its operatives, and now, he will face the ultimate deletion.” Orynix, still bracing against the shockwave that threw Tavros like a discarded data-packet, stepped forward with bared teeth. “Don’t you dare touch him!” He slammed his palm onto his arm-rest. “Activating emergency protocols! Backup unit, deploy!” From the gash above, where the siege craft had punched through, a sleek, azure frame dropped with silent speed. It was Orynix’s personal combat avatar, an agile bespoke construct bristling with sonic cannons. It planted its steel heels between Huan Jue and the towering behemoth, optics locking onto the intruder. “Hold,” Huan Jue said, his voice a low hum beneath the intruder's blaring speakers. He reached out, a thin finger tapping the blue machine's shin plate. The vast mecha powered down, its weapons retracting, its azure glow softening to a mere idle pulse. Orynix gaped. “Hold? My rig is fully armed, grandmaster! It can buy time while we find a way out!” “Sit down, Orynix,” Huan Jue commanded, not raising his voice, but infusing it with an unassailable authority that made the younger pilot instinctively pause. “Cross your legs. Observe. You’re always so eager to rush into things. You might learn a thing or two about proper footwork.” Orynix stared, open-mouthed, at his machine, then at Huan Jue’s irritated scowl, then back at the iron colossus. The cobalt frame folded its hydraulics and dropped into a cross-legged seat behind Huan Jue, head tilted like an apprentice awaiting lecture. “Oh, honored construct! Great Sovereign!” Tavros’s voice, a pathetic whine, cut through the tense atmosphere. The network technician, his avatar flickering at the edges, crawled on hands and knees toward the titan's immense foot. “I-I did my part! I tracked him! I infiltrated the Aegis Pavilion! The imposter is cornered, as you commanded! Surely, my reward… my elevated status within the organization…?” The siege engine paused its dramatic broadcast. Its crimson optics swiveled slowly, fixing on the groveling figure of Tavros. A low, rumbling chuckle emanated from its internal speakers, a sound like grinding tectonic plates. “Ah, the technician,” the synthesized bass rasped, flat and cold. “Your utility was… momentary. We have no further need of loose threads, nor those who fail repeatedly.” Before Tavros could shift his weight, a focused beam of concussive force erupted from the iron palm. It wasn’t a deletion cannon, but it struck Tavros’s avatar with the force of a meteor. His virtual body exploded into a shower of fractured data shards, his terrified scream cut short, his presence in the Nexus utterly erased. The shards dissolved into the crimson-lit air, leaving no trace. Orynix flinched, teeth snapping shut. Huan Jue, however, merely sighed. He ran a hand through his sparse, dark hair. With his hands clasped behind his back, he took a step towards the titanic war construct, his posture entirely unhurried, as if contemplating a particularly stubborn stain on the floor. “Honestly,” Huan Jue’s voice, though quiet, was perfectly audible in the sudden silence that had fallen over the live broadcast. “The youth these days. So noisy. Such a fuss. And always stomping around.” He looked up at the Dreadnought, his expression one of profound weariness. “Can’t a man just have his tea in peace?” The leviathan's optics flared into a blinding crimson. It extended one massive arm, its hand a block of black composite armor the size of a small starship. With a deafening shriek of displaced virtual air, it brought the colossal fist down, aiming to flatten Huan Jue into the tiled floor. Huan Jue watched the incoming blow without a trace of concern. The force of it compressed the air around him, generating a localized sonic boom. Just before impact, he tilted his head slightly. “You call that a punch? Let this old man show you.”