Ronin did a couple of stretches, cracked his neck, then entered the runway.

  “Your order sir,” the man from the delivery company said.

  The man next sent over a couple of documents, which Ronin signed, then entered the transport ship parked nearby.

  As the ship took off, Ronin glanced down at the packages in front of him:

  They ranged in size and were all wrapped in plastic. Most of them were just basic furniture. With him now moving into the factory on a more permanent basis, he figured he might as well make his new home more livable.

  He nudged his implant, connecting it to the factory’s drone interface, then ordered a few of the bots to come over. It was a trick he’d learned yesterday. Originally set to gather supplies and parts for spaceships, the bots could also function as excellent luggage carriers.

  Ronin watched as a half a ton heavy bot came over and extended its arm. It then used vacuum pressure to lift up one of the heavier looking objects, likely, his new bed.

  There was one thing these bots wouldn’t touch though. The Heromaker suit.

  Swiftly, he walked up to it, then tore apart the plastic wrapping, revealing the red and gold armor. He flipped open a panel and turned it on. Lights began showing along the suit's head, legs and arms as the armor came to life.

  [Ready to pair,] an electronic voice said.

  Ronin nudged his implant, then formed a connection with the suit.

  [Welcome new user. Please enter the mobile armor.]

  The Heromaker opened up, he stepped into it, and it closed in around him. Ronin felt as if his entire body was being enclosed in a gel-like, rubbery substance. He tried to move his hands, and the suit followed. There was a slight delay between his movements and the suits movements, and the suit felt a little robotic. Different from his academy uniform, this thing felt more like driving a vehicle. Not to mention the series of mechanical sounds it made.

  It must be due to the inbuilt gears and servos, Ronin thought.

  It made sense. The Heromaker weighed over a hundred kilos, it would be stranger if it didn't make noise. He switched on the sound dampening system, then began jogging back and forth along the runway.

  After getting himself accustomed to how the armor moved, he next did a couple of jumps, then activated the jetpack and boosters. About 30 minutes later, Ronin nodded to himself, satisfied. It was time to settle the debt. He accessed his Uninet, ordering down a shuttle.

  The inmate he’d killed for the breathing apparatus on Exodon, was named Klepp Tulsi. His only remaining family was a son and a wife. And from what Ronin could gather from the public database, the two now lived down in the slums of district 94. He couldn't do anything for the man himself, it was too late for that, but he could do something for his family.

  In short order, a ship came down and Ronin walked into it.

  “Take me to district 94,” he said as he paid the driver.

  Ronin sat down, feeling the seat groan under his heavy armor and the driver looked back at him strangely. Ronin tried to ignore the man and turned towards the window. He really had to repaint this suit soon. It looked ridiculous.

  As the shuttle exited the more elevated district 14, it passed a few of the valleys below. Outside the window, Ronin saw the same phenomena he'd seen yesterday. Some regions of the city had numerous guardsmen in yellow-black uniforms, whereas other regions had nothing. He was now heading towards one of the abandoned areas, and the further down the ship went, the less people he saw. Eventually, he couldn't see anyone outside anymore, be it guardsmen or citizens.

  “Do you really want me to land here?” The pilot asked.

  Ronin shook his head. “It doesn't matter, drive further in.”

  The ship entered a tightly packed area with more buildings than streets and the pilot turned to look at him:

  “You know there are no places to land here, right? Wait! what in the void are you doing!?”

  Ronin, now with his hand on the airlock, turned the handle, then manually opened the door. He looked back at the pilot, grinning:

  “No need to land. I've got it from here.”

  He jumped.

  Activating the jetpack, Ronin let himself fall in between two tightly stacked skyscrapers. The trick to jumping out of shuttles, was to never do it to the same company twice. That way, you never got blacklisted.

  As he landed, he glanced around the alleyway, noticing several tents and sheds along the walls on each side. These were the habitats of the people too poor to afford a real home. Ronin had almost ended up like one of these people himself after his parents died. Through sheer grit and hard work, he'd managed to keep his old apartment, but he'd been close to losing it on numerous occasions.

  He frowned. Most of the surrounding tents had collapsed, and the smell of death mixed in with the rot so common to the slums here. He also spotted several small footprints over the broken tents.

  Ruddles, Ronin thought.

  He had to hurry. Moving up to a nearby shed, he knocked on the door. He might know the general area of where the Tulsi's lived, but as for the exact shed? He would have to ask around.

  “...”

  Knock, knock, knock

  Ronin knocked on the door, then waited. No response. He tried again:

  Knock, knock, knock

  “Is this the house of the Tulsis?” He asked.

  He'd gone from shed to shed asking for directions for over an hour, and it had eventually led him here. But why was no one answering?

  “I'm here because I knew a man named Klepp Tulsi,” Ronin sighed. “Well…I knew him as Inmate 1437.”

  Finally, a tiny voice spoke up from within the shed:

  “You know daddy, mister?”

  “Heh, I guess you could say that. Is it ok if I open the door?”

  There was a slight pause.

  “Only if you promise not to hurt my son!” An older female voice spoke with determination.

  “Alright, I promise.”

  Ronin slowly opened the door, then looked inside...

  What greeted him was a gaunt woman and a child so small he couldn't be more than 5 years old. They were terrified.

  The woman drew in a sharp breath as he entered, and the boy shook.

  “Don’t worry, I’m not here to hurt you,” Ronin said in an attempt to calm them. “I uhh, met your father on Exodon. I owe him a debt.”

  Ronin tried to smile, but it just felt wrong — considering what he'd done to their father.

  “Here, you must be hungry,” he said, taking out two of the bars of synthpaste he'd brought. He gave one to the child, and one to the mother.

  “Eat. You're Scrabby and Elsa, right?”

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  The tiny figure gave a hesitant nod, then began nibbling at the food. It didn't take long, however, before those small bites, became big bites and the bar disappeared into the child's mouth.

  Ronin scratched his chin awkwardly. “I have a bit of a medical condition, so if you’re scared, it might be because of that.”

  “What can I do for more food?” Scrabby said. “I’ll do anything! I don’t like it when mom's sad!”

  “Uh, so it's really that bad, huh? Tell you what. How about this? I’ll find you two a good place to live. I will pay for the first year, and by then, if you still need my help or if there's anyone bothering you, just call. I’m not planning to stay around forever though, so you will have to become self-sufficient.”

  Scrabby and Elsa looked spellbound.

  “Young sir…I mean no offense, but please stop teasing Scrabby, he is still young,” Elsa said.

  Ronin frowned. Of course they wouldn't believe him. If a random man had knocked on his door when he was younger, promising the stars, there was no way he'd believe that either.

  “Come with me, both of you,” he said, leaving no room for argument.

  “Mister pl—”

  “I don’t have time for this,” Ronin interrupted. “We’re going to your new home, now! I’m on the clock and I have a debt to pay. Spending hours down here trying to convince you is a waste of time, and frankly, I doubt you’d believe me even if I did. Come.”

  The mother and son, forced to gather their things in a hurry, left their home scared and flustered as Ronin led them down a number of alleyways. Scrabby had to jog just to keep pace and Elsa had to squint her eyes to see. With how starved the both of them were, they wouldn't be able to follow for long. Ronin paused for a moment, then cautiously scanned the street, listening for anything out of place.

  During the brief stop, Scrabby began to walk towards one of the tents, but Elsa stopped him.

  “Why?” The kid asked.

  Elsa simply shook her head.

  “Listen to your mother,” Ronin said. “You don’t want to see what's in there.”

  He then narrowed his eyes. Barely perceptible rumbles and squeaks began to emanate from under the street. Then, a series of DUNK, DUNK, DUNK sounds rang out, followed by the rings of rolling manholes.

  Shit.

  “To me!” Ronin shouted, then unfolded his arms. This was what he'd feared. Fortunately, he'd found the two of them before it was too late.

  Embracing the mother and son, he activated the suit's flight mode. Gears within the armor began to turn as servos worked and several of the metal plates along the armor gave way. Small boosters next appeared along the suit's arms and legs, and wings grew out from its back.

  “Sorry about this, but prepare yourselves, we’ll be taking a bit of a ride.”

  He bent down, then jumped as the jetpack activated and the boosters started firing.

  They began to fly, and as they rose up, men stared at them from within the windows they passed. Ronin caught a glimpse of a family eating together, a couple fighting and a group of people doing drugs. There may not be anyone outside, but people still stayed here in their buildings. There was no way anyone could afford to evacuate this far down in the city.

  He angled the suit's flight trajectory, landing on one of the sturdier looking overhangs. The metal below them groaned as they touched down, but it held.

  “You two will have to excuse me for a moment,” Ronin said as he released them. “I have a bit of a ruddle problem to deal with.” He flashed a grin, then jumped down.

  “...”

  BOOM!

  Ronin's power armor landed back onto the concrete as the cacophony of squeaks grew louder. With the number of tents they'd broken into, the ruddles must had been eating like kings here down in the slums.

  Well, not today, Ronin thought. Today, I'm the one who'll be eating.

  It had been a long time since he'd had a proper fight, and he'd become restless. These ruddles were a good chance to let loose. There was also the fact that it was probably his fault these vermin were out in the first place.

  Ronin shook his head. No, this is the government's fault. This is Specter's and Argus's fault.

  The veiny animals burst out from the surrounding manholes, and he activated the third and final form of the Heromaker.

  [Combat Mode Activated]

  Gears turned, the faceguard lowered, and various support functions began turning on. Boosters emerged along his arms and legs, not for flight this time, but for momentum. The air he breathed became filtered and the armor expanded a little to cushion against impact damage.

  A grin tugged at Ronin's lips. He felt the suit's power. Time for a real test.

  More and more ruddles emerged around him and the initial dozen or so, became hundreds, then thousands. Ronin moved, storming into the forming wall of flesh.

  Squelch!

  The sound of crushed meat rang out as he smashed into the ruddles. He crushed many, but their numbers slowed his momentum. And as the suit slowed down to a crawl, the cretins began climbing over it, blocking his vision. He was about to get drowned by these things, but he wasn't done yet. Reaching out, he grabbed one of the ruddles, slamming it against his knee.

  Bad idea.

  His momentary drop in stability, gave the horde the room it needed in order to topple him over. He crashed onto his back and the swarm of rodents clawed their way over him, biting and scratching as they did. Ronin checked his internal display, then let out a breath in relief. The suit held up.

  Good thing I brought the Heromaker.

  He tried to rise up, but the sheer weight of all of the ruddles on top of him, was simply too much. His arms barely got a few centimeters off the ground before they got pushed down again.

  Hmm, if sheer mechanical strength is not enough… Then what about this?

  Acting upon the idea, he activated both the jetpack and the two boosters in his arms at the same time.

  VHOOM!

  He began sliding backwards across the street. He tried lifting his back while angling his arms towards the ground, letting the boosters lift him. It worked! Not by much, but his previously horizontal position began rising. He couldn't see where he was going, but judging by the sounds the ruddles made as he crashed into them, he was moving faster.

  BOOM!

  He slammed into a wall. Fortunately, there were ruddles there to cushion the impact. Now able to fully angle his arms towards the ground, he kicked off the wall, flying upwards. He broke through the swarm, then looked down. The animals were everywhere.

  How can anyone be living in sheds here and expect to survive this? The whole street is flooded!

  This was an enclosed alley, not the open rooftops of the abandoned parts of the city. It was almost as if these narrow alleyways were funneling the swarm, concentrating it into something denser, something more dangerous. Ronin had seen the rinky-dink shed the Tulsies lived in. Just how had they survived up until now?

  It doesn't matter, he thought.

  What mattered now was doing pest control. The horde, likely over a meter in height, covered every inch of the alley. His fists would not be enough.

  But I have more than fists... An idea began forming in Ronin's head...

  He was about 5 meters above the ground now. If he turned off the jet pack... Force equals mass times acceleration, and I have plenty of both.

  Ronin began to fall.

  Squelch!

  Loud shrieks of dying ruddles rang out as Ronin and the 160 kg heavy power armor crashed onto the horde. He activated the jetpack again, flying up whilst burning vermin along the way. This time he flew higher.

  Squelch!

  The alien energy in his mind, reduced with every jump. The feeling was euphoric! But it was not enough. He could still go higher! Activating the jet pack again, he rose up, not stopping until he was at least 12 meters above ground.

  Again!

  He dropped down, however, as he began speeding up, he realized he’d maybe out done himself a little this time. Crap! I got too cocky!

  BOOM!

  He slammed into the ground and the power armor groaned. Ronin's knees buckled as sharp pain followed, but he managed to keep standing. Still, 12 meters was too high. The implant aided interface also lit up in yellow, but he didn't have time to check.

  At least I know the armor's limits now, he thought.

  He flew up above the horde again, dialing down the height he dropped from to below 10 meters. He dropped down again, then one more time, then one more time after that. He kept doing it, and as the pile of ruddle guts below grew, he noticed his drops losing effectiveness.

  Hmm, seems I'm going to need harder ground. My landings are lacking a certain kind of oomph now.

  He moved his landing spot, making sure to not build up too big of a pile from now on. With drop after drop, he began moving down the alleyway as the minutes passed. There was a strange kind of rhythm to the movement — once he got used to it. Ronin slowly became lost in the trance of the repeated flying and falling. The ruddles couldn’t break through his armor anyways. He wasn't really in any danger.

  Up and down, up and down, up and—

  BEEP, BEEP

  Ronin checked the interface. The suit only had 10% of its battery power left. He could still do a few drops and…wait, he still had a debt to pay. Those two were still waiting from him up on the overhang. If he used up all his battery power, the mother and son would end up having to stay there for hours.

  Shit, I got lost in the battle. I guess I'll have to do this the hard way then.

  Ronin crashed into the horde, and the veiny rodents swarmed him, covering his vision. As he stood there, the suit once again struggled to hold back the flood, and he was almost toppled over:

  Oh no you don't. Not again! Ronin took a step back, then lowered his center of gravity. There… You can do it Heromaker... It's like riding a wave buddy…riding a wave…

  He somewhat managed to keep his balance. Now for the ruddles. He reached out, then began to grab them as the suit's servos worked to crush the vermin to a pulp. It didn't seem to make much of a difference. Nevertheless, as time passed, the swarm thinned and the ruddles moved on...

  Ronin, now covered in blood and guts, checked the time: 50 minutes. He also only had 5% of the suit's battery power left.

  Good thing I didn’t buy the Black Hawk.

  The Heromaker's one-hour battery life had been more than needed. If he was going to keep doing things like this from now on, if anything, it lacked battery power.

  He looked over at the biological destruction he'd left behind. There had to be over a thousand dead ruddles here. He did a casual inspection of his suit, noticing he had more than just blood on him.

  I've got to be drenched in poison by now. Probably got parasites on me as well.

  Ruddles tended to do that.

  Ronin found himself some scraps of cloth, then began wiping off the poison. He looked over the suit's interface: The yellow lights he'd seen earlier, showed minor damages to the Heromaker's lower gears and servos — probably a result from that 12-meters drop he'd done. But besides that? The armor was fine… Well, the paint was scratched, especially the codpiece. The ruddles had seemed quite obsessed with that thing.

  He shivered a little at the thought of what would have happened if he hadn't been armored.

  “Now… onto the Tulsies,” he mumbled, waving up at the pair. Surprisingly, Scrabby waved back.

  He flew up to the overhang and Scrabby’s face lit up in excitement. “Mister, that was incredible! Are you a hero!?”

  Ronin popped up the faceguard, then looked down at the kid. Scrabby's eyes were sparkling like they had stars in them. “Hmpf, heroes don’t exist kid. Listen, there’s a range of reasons as to why I jumped down there to fight those animals, but none of those reasons has anything to do with being a hero.”

  The light in the kid's eyes dimmed, and Ronin hesitated.

  “But if your good to your mother, who knows? In the future, I might just buy you a suit like this too! You can be a hero to your mother. What do you think about that?”

  “Really!?” Scrabby exclaimed, his tiny hands balling up in excitement.

  “Sure!” Ronin said. “And... eh, well.” He glanced over at Elsa. “I'm sorry about just dragging you out of your home earlier. As I've said, I've got a bit of a medical condition. Now, what do you two say about us getting out of here?”