Achilles Greenburn's Arc

Chapter 1 of 5

Achilles Greenburn started his morning the way he always did, walking the long stretch of the junkyard before the sun cleared the fence line. Rust and oil hung in the air. He checked the heavy repair bay first, then the storage sheds, marking each problem in his head. Somewhere out past the wrecked carriers, this place was going to become the biggest trading hub in the region. He just had to keep it standing long enough to get there. Near the back fence, a battered armored carrier sat half sunk in the dirt. He had marked it for scrap weeks ago. Today the ground beneath it looked wrong. He hooked a chain to the hull and dragged the wreck aside with the loader. Something curved and metal showed under the soil. He dug for an hour. A wide dish came up, panels bent, wires hanging from a circuit core that still held its shape. He wiped the grime away and saw the markings. This thing could talk to satellites. Every faction within a hundred miles would burn the yard to the ground to own it. He called Marcus on the radio and told him to come quick and bring no one else. Then he started clearing a slab near the heavy repair garage. By nightfall, cinder block walls would rise around the dish. The yard's future had just changed, and the gate was no longer the only thing he had to guard.