- Alek and his two instructors go to the stables, which is apparently where one keeps one's giant war machines.
- Alek sees a Cyklop Stormwalker with two Spandau machine guns, which is bigger than any walker he's ever piloted.
- Klopp assures Alek that he will help pilot, and that Alek's father wants him ready to handle any walker in the House Guard—war is coming, after all.
- Volger gives Alek a hard time about being too scared, which goads Alek into the walker.
- Two other men are already in the walker, which carries a crew of five; Alek takes the controls as Klopp guides him through his paces.
- Oh, and they don't turn the lights on because they're pretending to be stealthy. Pretending. Right. This is starting to sound a bit suspicious.
- Now Alek finally catches on: This isn't a nighttime lesson; no one's pretending. This trip is for real.
- Alek's first instinct is that the men might be traitors who are kidnapping him. Alas, no. As Alek struggles with them, the men knock him out using chemicals on a rag. Old school but effective.
- The last thing Alek hears is Volger's voice telling him that his parents have been murdered in Sarajevo.