The Stellar-Vulture dropped into Earth's atmosphere over the ruins of New York.
It didn't look like the city they'd left. The "Shift" had turned the skyscrapers into jagged obsidian towers wrapped in glowing blue vines. But something was different now. The sky wasn't blue or purple—it was a bruised, hungry grey.
"Look at the streets," Sully whispered, her Star-Seeker eyes zooming in.
Down below, people weren't hiding in the "System-Shelters" anymore. They were fighting. But they weren't using the System's swords and shields. A teenager in the middle of Times Square was screaming, his arms turning into jagged black blades, shredding a Tier-5 System Sentinel.
"The 'Hunger' is hitting them hard," Vance growled, his golden armor pressurized as the airlock opened. "They don't have the Manual, Sarge. They don't have the control. They're just... eating everything."
"Then we give them the Manual," Doc said, jumping out of the ship with her emerald wings flared. "Or we put them down."