The Hephaestus Training Base was buried deep within Ganymede"s ice crust. Less a military base and more a colossal, steel labyrinth reeking of sweat, engine grease, and testosterone, it was the cradle where the Stellar Marines forged their mech pilots. From day one, David"s training felt like being thrown into a high-speed centrifuge. The schedule was brutal. First came neural-link acclimation training. It was the most inhuman part. Strapped into a mock cockpit, his head bristling with sensors, David was forced to synchronize his brain with the Gladiator mech"s aggressive neural interface. The first time it connected, it felt like an ice pick had been driven into his temples, the cockpit"s noise flooding directly into his eardrums. His vision swam with distorted data streams and warning sy
