"He has to be out here!" Dakota yelled into the headset as he flew over the Plaguelands. His, and the other two ships zoomed through the apocalyptic sky. "Dakota, we have made seven passes! Michael would have signaled us by now! We have to tell the Vanguard about the warlock and the SIVA!" There was no reply for a moment. Blake looked out through his cockpit window to Kourtney, who shared a look at him too. "...Okay..." Dakota finally said before his starfighter banked to the left and set course for the Last City. The three ships flipped around, but anti-aircraft cannons shot at them! "I'm hit! I'm hit!" Blake cried. SIVA nanites began swarming their ships, consuming the metal! The three ships, now trailing smoke, dove into the snow in the region known as Archon's Keep. Nanite swarms surrounded the three Guardians. Blake punched out the glass of his ship and climbed through the opening, he jumped away as the SIVA began eating the metal. Dakota and Kourtney followed him. "Get to the tower!" Dakota yelled as he gunned down swarms. The Guardians backed up the hill and into the building. Once they were inside the lobby, the SIVA swarms formed together and blocked all the exits. "Uh, oh..." Blake mumbled. "Welcome to my Citadel,Guardians," the Technomancer's voice filled the lobby. "After you fled, I believed you would run and tell your Iron Lord of my presence. Rather, you stayed and, once again, violate my borders. I leave you in the care of my enforcer..." Two titans, and several drones climbed out of the abyss of the Citadel pit. Nanites blocked the hole after the titans reached the surface. Sif formed a hammer from SIVA wiring as the handle, and black core plating as the head. She swung at Blake time and time again, but he kept jumping back. Blake drew out his sidearm and fired repeatedly at the her helmet, but the bullets kept pinging off the angled plating. Sif backed Blake against the wall, so he threw a punch, but Sif caught his fist. She twisted his arm backwards, causing Blake to cringe and strain under his helmet. Sif picked up Blake and threw him into the ceiling, then against the far wall. Blake strained and held his gut as he lay on against the wall. "Okay... that hurt," he said as he pushed himself up. Dakota swung his sword, slicing the wires that stretched from Sif's back. The titan spazzed out then sprawled across the ground. The other titan punched Dakota away. Two arms on the titan's back picked up Sif while the other two started to fuse wires back into place. Dakota shot at the two titans, but a regenerating shield of nanites formed around them. Kourtney activated Arc Blade as several drones gathered around her. She spun on one foot, causing a shockwave of Arc energy that destroyed many drones around her. She ran over to Dakota and Blake, and cut through many more of the drones. "Kourtney!" Dakota yelled as he helped Blake up onto his feet. "I found a way out!" He backed into a hallway as hundreds and hundreds of nanites began to fill the air. They started building up on Kourtney's armor as she continued to fight the swarms. "KOURTNEY!!" Dakota yelled again. She broke away from what she was doing and followed the titan and warlock. The SIVA infected titan put down Sif after he repaired her. Michael looked at the hallway opening the Guardians ran into, than began weaving a nanomite wall to keep them out. His backpack was a tiny SIVA replicator, and his arms dispensed the nanites, like a spider makes webbing. They also shot nanites as a weapon if needed. A red flash of nanites lit up the room. The Technomancer teleported in, arms behind her back, and inspected the aftermath of the battle. Her black boots crunched the broken SIVA cores that littered the floor. "Three Guardians, Sif. Three. And they nearly destroyed one of you... I do not need your failure as a warrior to become a hindrance of my plans. If you cannot lead my armies, then I will remove your augmentations and make you a drone, IF I MUST!!" "Forgive me, my Lord," Sif said as she knelt down before the warlock. "We pushed them out of your Citadel. Shall we pursue them?..." Sif kept her head down. Vanessa walked around and inspected her newest creation. The titan, who once was Michael, stood motionless, like the mindless drone he was, as she looked at him. "They nearly destroyed you, Sif. He saved you. He isn't even fully functional like you, yet, without him, you'd have failed!" The Technomancer turned back to Sif, "Rise. We must make our final preparations for our attack on the City!" As the Technomancer walked away, she was surrounded by nanites that teleported her away. Sif began to breathe again, taking in many deep breaths. She turned to the titan. Without emotion, he looked to her. She snarled at him, then made her descent into the inner workings of the Citadel.