Scrap-Heap Mech King

Orion Solari was classified from birth as unable to interface with a mech. Humanity abandoned him, modifieds looked down on him, and his own family treated him as an embarrassment. An insect swarm from outside the system advanced on human territory until civilization was reduced to its last stand. Orion climbed alone into a rusted, decommissioned mech that had already been taken out of service. He engaged the Hive Mother directly and killed it in a single strike. Those who had discarded him looked up and understood only then that the one they had thrown away was the only one who could save them.