As if in answer, the lid popped open with a hiss, and Hunt threw an arm in front of Bryce as it slid aside. Smoke from dry ice billowed out, and Cormac cleared it away with a brush of his hand.
Pippa said, “Well, Umbra Mortis? I await your insights.”
“I’d mind how you speak to him, Pippa,” Cormac warned her, voice sharp with authority.
Pippa faced Bryce, though. “And you’re Cormac’s bride, yes?” No kindness, no warmth filled her tone.
Bryce flashed the female a smile. “You can have the job if you want it so badly.”
Pippa bristled, but Cormac gestured Hunt forward as the last of the smoke cleared.
Hunt surveyed the suit in the box and swore. “The Asteri designed this?” he asked. Pippa nodded, lips pursed tight. “For Vanir to pilot?” he pushed.
Another nod. Pippa said, “I don’t see how it can possess more power than ours, though. It’s smaller than our models.” The quicksilver-bright suit would stand about seven feet high.
“You know what you’re looking at?” Ruhn asked Hunt, scratching his head.
“It’s like a robot,” Bryce said, peering into the box.
“It’s not,” Hunt said. He rocked back on his heels, mind racing. “I heard rumors about this kind of thing being made, but I always thought it was a long shot.”
“What is it?” Pippa demanded.
“Impatient, are we?” Hunt mocked. But he tapped a finger on the suit. “This metal has the same makeup as gorsian stones.” He nodded to Bryce. “Like what they did with the synth—they were seeking ways to weaponize the gorsian stones.”
“We already have them in our bullets,” Pippa said smugly.
He ground out, “I know you do.” He had a scar on his stomach from one.
Perhaps that threat alone was what had kept Tharion from making his move. The mer had a clear shot toward Pippa. But could he run faster than she could draw her gun? Hunt and Bryce could help him, but … Hunt really didn’t want to outright attack an Ophion leader. Let Tharion and the River Queen deal with that shit.
Pippa shifted a few inches out of Tharion’s range once more.
Hunt went on, “This metal … The Asteri have been researching a way to make the gorsian ore absorb magic, not suppress it.”
Ruhn said, “Seems like ordinary titanium to me.”
“Look closer,” Hunt said. “There are slight purple veins in it. That’s the gorsian stone. I’d know it anywhere.”
“So what can it do?” Bryce asked.
“If I’m right,” Hunt said hoarsely, “it can draw the firstlight from the ground. From all the pipes of it crisscrossing the land. These suits would draw up the firstlight and turn it into weapons. Brimstone missiles, made right there on the spot. The suit would never run out of ammo, never run out of battery life. Simply find the underground power lines, and it’d be charged up and ready to kill. That’s why they’re smaller—because they don’t need all the extra tech and room for the arsenal that the human suits require. A Vanir warrior could climb inside and essentially wear it like an exoskeleton—like armor.”
Silence.
Pippa said, voice full of awe, “Do you know what this would mean for the cause?”
Bryce said dryly, “It means a Hel of a lot more people would die.”
“Not if it’s in our hands,” Pippa said. That light in her eyes—Hunt had seen it before, in the face of Philip Briggs.
Pippa went on, more to herself than to any of them, “We’d at last have a source of magic to unleash on them. Make them understand how we suffer.” She let out a delighted laugh.
Cormac stiffened. So did Tharion.
But Hunt said, “This is a prototype. There might be some kinks to work out.”
“We have excellent engineers,” Pippa said firmly.
Hunt pushed, “This is a death machine.”
“And what is a gun?” Pippa snapped. “Or a sword?” She sneered at the lightning zapping at his fingertips. “What is your magic, angel, but an instrument of death?” Her eyes blazed again. “This suit is simply a variation on a theme.”
Ruhn said to Hunt, “So what’s your take on it? Can Ophion use it?”
“No one should fucking use it,” Hunt growled. “On either side.” He said to Cormac, “And if you’re smart, you’ll tell Command to track down the scientists behind this and destroy them and their plans. The bloodshed on both sides will become monstrous if you’re all using these things.”