COLONY F-14,

UNCHARTED PLANET,

THE FRONTIER

It was yet another cold, dry morning in Colony F-14. Several homesteaders were milling about, each working in some way, whether it was processing animals for food, helping to maintain buildings or farming in the fields surrounding the colony.

A woman with mid-length blonde hair kneeled in one of these fields, alongside a young blonde boy. A brown-haired man with a short beard approached the woman and boy, who had an old rifle slung over his shoulder.

"How are you doing, kiddo?" The man asked the boy.

"I'm fine, thanks." The boy said, not even looking at his father.

"You look bored out of your mind."

"Mom won't let me play with my toys." The boy answered irritably with his arms crossed.

"Daniel, this is for your own good. You're going to need to know how to farm if you're going to be a farmer when you grow up!" His mother said, who had beautiful mid-length blonde hair. She was trying (and failing) to teach him how to correctly plant and care for crops.

"I don't wanna be a farmer, I wanna be a soldier and fight bad guys!" Daniel replied with a hand-gun gesture, "Bang, bang!" He exclaimed excitedly.

"You most certainly will not!"

"Aww, why not?!" Daniel asked dejectedly.

"Because I said so!"

The mother and son's back-and-forth was soon interrupted by a hearty laughter coming from the father, as he gave his son an offer he couldn't refuse:

"Tell you what, Son. If you learn how to farm off your mother, I'll teach you how to shoot a rifle."

Daniel let out a gasp at the prospect of shooting a real gun, and not just another one of his toys. "Okay!" He got down on his knees next to his mother, now eager to learn, much to his mother's relief.

"Thanks, David." Daniel's mother replied with a loving smile.

"No problem, Ellen."

At that moment, it seemed everything in Daniel's world couldn't be any more perfect. Absolutely nothing could go wrong...

...

"RUN DANIEL, RUN!"

Daniel ran from the sound of gunfire and screaming and into the colony as quickly he could. With tears rolling down his face, the memory of the gunshot, then his father collapsing, still fresh in his mind.

He suddenly felt himself being picked up and pulled behind a dumpster next to a building. He looked up to see his mother, with her beautiful blonde hair flowing down the sides of her face.

"Are you okay?! She asked, as she inspected her son for any injuries. She let out a sigh of relief once she saw that he was more-or-less okay.

She peeked around the dumpster and spotted a small group of armed bandits quickly advancing towards them. They had to move now, or stay and hope they wouldn't be seen. With the unlikeliness of the latter, she chose to do the former.

Ellen picked her son up yet again and run out from behind the dumpster, running as fast as she could up the road.

Gunfire sounded yet again, Daniel hearing his mother scream as he was suddenly dropped onto the ground hard. He checked behind him, and looked to see his mother, face down in the dirt.

"MOM!" He cried out, as he reached out to his mother. A hand suddenly grabbed him by the arm, before pulling him in the opposite direction.

He looked up towards the owner of the hand to see his older brother Samuel, with a rifle in his other hand, dragging him towards the perimeter wall.

"Go Dan, go!" He ordered.

"BUT MOM—"

"Just go, damn it!"

Daniel ran towards the wall as he was told, as his brother stopped to return fire on the approaching bandits. He picked off four of them, buying himself and his little brother some time to escape the others that would likely follow suit.

They both reached the perimeter wall, Samuel ushering Daniel through a water drain in the bottom of the wall. Daniel crawled through the drain, squeezing through a gap in the bars as he heard gunfire behind him. He only turned around when he heard a painful gasp, and the sound of something hitting the ground.

His eyes layed on his brother, blood pooling beneath him, his face looking towards him in the drain.

"Run..." Samuel rasps out, as he suddenly exhales, and doesn't take another breath. Daniel saw more bandits approaching the drain, he turned and finished crawling through it, eventually emerging through the other side.

He stood up and ran as fast as his legs could carry him, up the hill towards the dense forest bordering the colony on its northern side. Once he got into the forest, instinct told him to keep going, his sprint fuelled by adrenaline.

After running on and off for what seemed like hours to Daniel, he collapsed onto his knees. He panted and panted, struggling to catch his breath. His throat was parched and sore, the cold air burning his lungs. He looked behind him, he couldn't see his colony anymore as it was hidden behind trees.

He didn't know remotely where he was now; Mom, Dad and even Samuel had always told him to never go into the forest...

Mom...

Dad...

Samuel...

They were gone...gone.

Daniel suddenly fell the rest of the way to the ground and started bawling, as the realisation finally set in. His family was gone, and he'd never see them again.

——————————

Daniel gasped for breath as he woke up in a cold, shivering sweat. He sat up and franticly looked around to verify his surroundings, before putting a hand on his face, "Fucking hell, it's been a while since I dreamed about that."

Sniff, sniff.

Daniel's face grimaced, "Ugh, what is that smell?" He took another whiff, discovering the smell was originating from himself. One that likely went unnoticed from how tired he was the night before.

Damn, I need a wash. Daniel got up out of the bed and did some stretches to wake up his stiff muscles.

He noticed another door in his room. When he opened it, his eyes were met with a walk-in shower that when compared to the shower blocks he'd used as a Rifleman, seemed luxurious. After confirming that it still worked, surprisingly, he returned to his room to find something to replace his current attire.

After finding some standard-issue undergarments to wear, he began looking through a nearby wall closet anything to replace his torn and foul-smelling red jumpsuit. He found several discarded charcoal-grey jumpsuits, that were a similar make to his old red one.

He stacked up the undergarments on top of the folded jumpsuit and re-entered the attached bathroom, switched on the shower and began stripping himself of his clothing. The one-piece jumpsuit and undergarments fell away, revealing a large, brawny and scarred man, with a pair of dog tags around his neck.

Standing at a height of just over six feet, the sight of Daniel Cooper would make most people think twice about getting on his nerves. Anyone who did however, often ended up severely regretting their decision.

Daniel observed a particular scar on his right forearm, just below his elbow. It was obvious a bullet was responsible for its existence. Looking at it, one would think it was an older scar due to how faded it was. Though, in fact, this one had been acquired quite recently.

He retrieved a bottle of wash powder and stepped into the shower, letting himself melt under the stream of warm water.

——————————

MACALLAN'S CRASHSITE,

TYPHON

FOUR DAYS PRIOR

Sergeant Max Brown had a simple assignment for today; patrol MacAllan's crash site in search of any Militia survivors. If he found any, his orders were simple. Kill-on-sight. So far, he and his squad had found none. The same could not be said for his allies in other squads, having discovered several survivors who had tried to escape earlier on that morning. Since then, no survivors had been found.

He saw a Search Drone overlooking the area, scanning for any survivors. It began broadcasting a message from General Marder himself, "guaranteeing" any survivor's safety if they got rid of their weapons and surrendered.

He decided to check in on another squad's progress in searching through a cave, in search of more survivors. "Zeta-Seven, this is Sergeant Brown. Give me a sitrep, over." Max only heard static over the radio.

"Zeta-Seven do you copy? Come in—" Max suddenly felt his legs get knocked out from underneath him, as he landed on his back with a thud and a grunt. Before he could even process what happened, he felt the cold blade of a knife plunge into his neck, severing his jugular vein.

Max looked up, and was able to catch a glimpse of his attacker. A large man in a red jumpsuit and grey armour loomed over him, holding the knife firmly in his neck. He wore a green helmet with a distinct glowing blue "X" shaped visor, a Militia Pilot.

Max's vision turned dark as he succumbed to blood loss, the man in question yanked the knife from his neck and sheathed it onto his stomach. He didn't utter a word, instead, he turned to the weapons crate right next to him. He unslung a V-47 Flatline from his back and replaced it with a Longbow DMR from the crate.

After confirming the weapon was loaded, he kneeled down next to the cliff that had a decent drop just beyond it. Said drop would be no problem for Pilots like himself or Spectres, but if anyone else fell from that height, severe injuries or worse would be expected.

Below him further, were several munitions caches of the larger variety. They could be used as an emergency shelter and cover in the event of a firefight.

The Pilot looked through the rifle's scope straight across from him, at a large prefabricated structure that had likely been erected earlier that morning. Judging from the large dish on the roof, it was a communications hub for the IMC, labelled with a big white "54" on both ends.

Another IMC Grunt came out of the entrance on the left-hand side, a perfect target. He lined up the sights, exhaled and squeezed the trigger slowly, until the tension in the trigger gave way. He felt the recoil and heard the echoing crack of his weapon discharging.

He saw the Grunt's head arch back from the shot, as he collapsed to the floor. Several more Grunts emerged from the windows on the right. He began firing on them in quick succession, managing to take down two more.

Due to the high zoom on the rifle's scope, the Pilot failed to notice a Grunt underneath the structure, behind some IMC Drone storage pods. Before he knew it, he had taken a bullet to his right arm. The Pilot let out a painful gasp as he dropped the rifle and backwards away from the cliff-edge.

He immediately heard the dead Grunt's radio activate behind him, from another soldier alerting nearby IMC forces of his presence. "Ten-Thirteen, Hostile Pilot sighted! Bow of the MacAllan!"

His training kicked in and he began checking himself for injuries. The bullet went straight through his right forearm with a clean entry wound, a nasty exit wound and moderate bleeding. He clamped his left hand onto the wound in an attempt to stem said bleeding.

Apart from his arm, nothing else was hit, thankfully. There was still a big problem; beyond the elbow, he couldn't move his right arm anymore. He could still move his fingers, but the muscle only twitched when he tried to move the rest of his arm.

"Pilot, are you alright?"

The Pilot in question was thankful for the monotone voice, belonging to a Vanguard called BT-7274. Captain Lastimosa's Titan. "BT I'm hit, I'm bleeding bad and my arm won't move!" He informed, he could see tiny little hexagons on the edges of his vision, he wasn't sure what they were.

"Take a deep breath, Pilot. The Nanites in your system will begin repairing the damage momentarily." Almost immediately after the Titan said that, he witnessed the wound on his arm slowly sealing itself shut, until only a scar and some blood was all that was left behind.

"What the hell?" The Pilot was mildly disturbed at what he saw. He had never seen or even heard of anything like it. Maybe that's the reason Pilots are so tough. He thought to himself.

After retrieving his rifle and clearing the area of any remaining threats, he decided to ask the Titan more about these "Nanites". "BT, what are Nanites?"

"Nanites are a class of nanomachine that specialise in injury repair. Once a Pilot has acquired Nanites, any injuries they sustain will be mended rapidly, allowing them to recover and return to battle quickly." The Vanguard explained.

"Do they eventually die off? Will I need more at some point?"

"No. Mark-Four Nanites naturally reproduce in the human body, removing the requirement of future infusions."

The Pilot remembered Captain Lastimosa injecting him with something, that paralyzed him and numbed the pain caused by the shockwave from that IMC Titan almost landing him.

"Huh, good to know." The Pilot remained on course on his objective of finding a second Titan battery for BT, continuing through an opening in the James MacAllan's bow.

——————————

THE CARTER BRAXTON,

UNKNOWN WORLD

OFFICER ADAM'S QUARTERS

The Titan Pilot emerged from the shower, now thoroughly cleaned. He dried himself off with a nearby towel and decided to take a look at his face in the mirror above the sink. It was completely intact, Daniel surmised that it was made out of a shock-absorbent glass, or a very reflective metal.

He stared into the mirror, a man looking to be in his late twenties, with blonde hair and brown eyes stared back. He had some stubble growing on his face and a clean scar on his left jawline, that was obvious from the lack of facial hair growing on it. He acquired that scar a few years ago, from he was ambushed by an enemy Rifleman.

The Rifleman had managed to get a lucky slash on his jaw, only missing his neck by what Daniel thought to be sheer luck. However, Daniel being a fairly large and strong man came in handy at that moment, allowing him to overpower and kill the grunt with some effort.

Daniel put on the clothes that were folded up on the floor and exited the attached bathroom, wearing the aforementioned charcoal jumpsuit. Now feeling and certainly smelling much cleaner, Daniel's stomach reminded him with a rumble that getting some food was definitely in order.

Since he was in an Officer's quarters, he knew it was unlikely he would find any proper MREs to heat up with some water. Nutrient bars on the other hand, were far more likely. He searched through the drawers on the desk, he found a deck of playing cards, a small grey canvas satchel and a circular key.

He wasn't sure what the key was for, he assumed that it might be important, so he stowed it away in his pocket for the time being.

Daniel decided to look through the satchel. He found the inner pockets were filled with what he was looking for. He had eaten nutrient bars before, most kinds didn't have much flavour, but they did do a good job at holding off hunger.

He sat himself down on what was now essentially his bed. He was able to help himself to two bars before he was interrupted by flashing, coming from his helmet's visor.

Daniel was unsure what it meant, maybe this was a warning of some kind? With only one way to suss out any potential problems, he put it on; his vision briefly going dark before the room was visible again.

"Cooper, I was able to integrate my AI functions with the Braxton's systems. While you were asleep, I ran an environment scan." The Vanguard explained via the helmet's built-in radio.

"These scans confirm this is a world not present in the Frontier, the plateau we are situated on is one of the only places on the planet in which human survival is considered possible."

"So, we got really lucky in where we ended up." Daniel surmised. "Is there anything else I should know – were you able to contact the Militia?" He asked hopefully.

What BT said next put the Pilot in a foul mood, only because it meant even more work had to be done: "No. I am unable to access the Braxton's communications system. Scans indicate it has sustained damage due to the crash landing."

"I presume you need me to go and fix whatever the problem is?" Daniel asked with a sigh. Great, more work.

"Yes, I have located the fastest route to the Braxton's communications system. Marking your HUD."

"Alright. In the meantime, see what the Braxton's long-range scanners pick up." Daniel ordered the Vanguard as he stood up to equip the rest of his worn and battle-scarred gear, alongside his newly acquired satchel. He would help himself to a few more nutrient bars on his way there, he thought.

"Copy that, Pilot."

Cooper left his quarters and proceeded to the communications array at the front of the ship. After he grabbed a repair kit on his way there, he observed the Braxton's interior becoming noticeably more and more damaged. Eventually, he noticed sparks coming from certain parts of the walls.

He had to crawl through a vent in order to get past a door that couldn't be opened due to the damaged control panel.

Eventually, Daniel emerged from a vent in the floor and found himself in the Braxton's communications room. The entire room was scorched black, likely from a fire caused by the crash; sparks were flying out of various exposed cables coming out of every surface.

There was a massive cylindrical machine at the back of the room that continued into the wall behind it. Daniel assumed that it was important, but he would be lying if he told you he knew where to start. Fortunately for him, he knew someone who might. "Hey BT, how do I go about fixing this thing?"

"Use your helmet display to provide me with a better view of the central communications system. I will assess the damage and guide you from there."BT explained.

"Ok, on it."

The aforementioned cylindrical machine was highlighted on Daniel's HUD. He stood closer to the behemoth of a machine, said machine taking up almost his entire view.

"Pilot, the central communications system is displaying moderate damage, however, there is potential it could be repaired." BT reported. With a bit of luck, the problem would be a simple fix, Daniel thought.

"The most likely cause is damage to the Central Processing Module. You will need to remove it from the Central Communications System to assess the damage."

Daniel did as BT guided him, he got to work on removing a panel from the side of the machine with the help of his repair kit. Upon prying it off, smoke quickly plumed out of the machine. Thankfully, his helmet's respirator protected him from any of the smoke's harmful effects.

When the smoke dissipated, it revealed damaged circuitry and wires. Daniel spotted a black and yellow striped handle attached to a triangular shaped part, and after a bit of tugging, he removed it from the machine. He didn't need to inspect the Central Processing Module for long, to know that there was no chance they could fix it.

"Yeah, there's definitely no fixing this BT." Daniel relayed to the Vanguard, as he placed the damaged module onto the ground. "Does the Braxton have replacement parts on board for the communications system?"

"Negative, scans do not detect functioning modules nearby."

"In that case, what do we do?" Daniel said as he stowed the model onto a clip on his back. Being unable to repair or replace the module, Daniel was at a loss for what they were supposed to do.

"Calculating...Cooper, proceed to the Titan Bay, the Braxton's scanners have detected something that may be of our interest."Cooper thought what BT said was reallyenigmatic, which was unusual, as the Titan would usually be straight to the point.

Arriving at the Titan Bay, he immediately noticed the black and grey war machine hoisted up in a Titan Rack. "How are you doing, BT?"

"All systems functioning normally. Power at full capacity." The Vanguard replied as he stepped down and off of the Titan Rack and approached his Pilot.

The Titan stopped and kneeled down, before projecting what looked to Daniel like a 3-D map of the surrounding star system. In the centre of the map, was the parent star, with the planet they were on highlighted in blue off to the side.

The map zoomed in on a large asteroid field, highlighting a particular asteroid. "Pilot, the Braxton has detected an artificial structure within a planetary debris field, on the other side of the system."

Wait a damn minute. An artificial structure, in unknown space, presumably very far from the Frontier, could only mean one thing in Daniel's mind:

"Wait. You're saying that you might have just found aliens, BT?"

"Scans indicate multiple unknown life-signatures in its vicinity, their probability of sentience is ninety-three percent." That chance was way too high for Daniel's tastes.

"What about the other seven percent?"

"There is a seven percent chance the Braxton's scanners have malfunctioned and provided a false report."

It was the likelihood of them having new neighbours that gave Daniel an idea. Some would consider it a really stupid and risky idea at that, but with them being unable to fix the Central Processing Module and subsequently unable to send out a distress signal, he thought — knew it was a risk worth taking.

———————————

"Pilot, I highly advise against this course of action." The Vanguard recommended as he followed his Pilot into the Braxton's aircraft hanger. Said Pilot carried his unused repair kit, while approaching a Militia Crow that was still in its rack.

"BT, you said that we're not going to be able to fix the communications system without replacement parts and that we don't have any spare, nor can we make any." Daniel responded as began inspecting the Crow for damage. "Maybe, those aliens will have the technology to fix it no problem! All I can do, to have any chance for us making it back alive, is for me to travel to that asteroid and see if I can get one of them to fix it!"

Implying they don't immediately kill me on sight. He admitted to himself. He looked back up at the Titan watching him closely, "Now come here and help me get this ship working, BT."

Thankfully, the Crow only had minimal damage, making it a breeze to fix. Prior to Daniel enlisting as a Rifleman, he took a few classes on flying ships, so he knew the basics like how to take off and land. The same could not be said for advanced flying techniques and aerial combat, both of which he was hoping he wouldn't need to do.

With the Crow now repaired, all he had to do now was prepare himself for the expedition ahead. He went back to the armoury and took a look at all the weapons on display.

He inspected an R-201 Carbine, fitted with an HCOG optic. Good rate of fire, decent accuracy out to long ranges. He thought. He picked it off the rack and set it down onto a nearby bench.

He spotted a Charge Rifle in the Anti-Titan section. Excellent range, great against armour. Onto the bench it went. He helped himself to a belt of Fire and Gravity Stars, to aid him whether he needed to fight, or escape quickly.

He was about to take his weapons and leave, as his eyes glanced over a familiar armour case against the wall. He remembered the key in his pocket and thought: Fuck it, might as well give it a try.

Daniel fished the key out of his pocket, inserted it into the lock and turned it. To his surprise, the case unlocked. He opened the reinforced display case, revealing the black armour in all of its glory.

Daniel stripped himself of Lastimosa's gear and got to work donning the equipment of what obviously belonged to a high-ranking veteran Pilot. The gunmetal-grey exoskeleton went on first, running along his arms and legs before returning to his back, all while remaining fairly streamlined.

Each piece of black metal armour was adorned with a distinct tiger-orange stripe. On closer inspection of the individual pieces, they all had a subtle honeycomb pattern on the surface.

The armoured vest was comprised of several metal plates and was surprisingly light for how it looked, providing a substantial amount of protection to its new (and hopefully temporary) owner.

It sported the orange SRS insignia dead-centre on the chest, a rig on the stomach and sides for carrying ammo, as well as a sheath for his Data Knife under his right arm and a holster for his Smart Pistol on his right hip. It had a metal loop sticking out the left side. Daniel had seen Pilots running around with combat axes and whatnot, and assumed that's what it was for.

It had a protective collar at the top of the vest to protect his neck on all sides. On the very bottom, was a flap to protect his groin that he was oh so thankful for. The armour on his legs were rounded and streamlined, the orange paint on the kneepads were scratched, presumably from use.

Two pauldrons went on his shoulders and curled around his biceps just above his elbow pads, both of which bore the green and orange skull insignia of the Marauder Corps. Two bracers went on each of his forearms, the left one was equipped with a built-in retractable blade that could be deployed almost instantly for a lethal strike.

In terms of equipment, the armour included a new cloaking module to replace the old one that the IMC confiscated from him when he was captured. When he tested it, he found it lasted significantly longer than Lastimosa's. It also had a Grapple integrated into the right bracer and a Phase Shift on his left glove.

Speaking of the gloves, they were made almost entirely out of metal, and had the exoskeleton integrated into them. Daniel also found out the hard way that they had retractable claws on the tips of each of the fingers, and boy were they sharp!

Next, the Jump Kit. It didn't look like anything special, and Daniel wasn't an expert on Pilots gear by any means. Though he knew that most of, if not all Jump Kits, despite their cosmetic differences, functioned more-or-less the same. He connected it to a harness on the back of his armoured vest.

Finally, the helmet. It was black and grey, had an orange stripe going up each side of the helmet and a radio antenna on the left side. It looked like a modified or improved version of Lastimosa's helmet design, sporting an upward crescent shaped visor, with a short line on each side of the respirator's nose, much like his mentor's.

Daniel put it on, his vision going dark. Once the display came online, it revealed the armoury just how it was moments prior. The armour was exceptionally high-grade and offered great protection, with the only gaps being around his joints to facilitate movement. Even then, the potential vulnerability was negligible.

The exoskeleton must have powered on; any weight Daniel felt from the armour vanished. His vitals were displayed on the right side of the HUD, indicating body temperature, heart rate, and even a big 'O2' bar that indicated the helmet had its own built-in oxygen supply. It indicated it would last an impressive time of about an hour. In any case, he hoped he'd never need to use it.

Out of respect for the late Titan Pilot, he decided to keep Lastimosa's scarf. He wrapped it loosely around his neck, letting the grey cloth rest over the top of his armoured vest.

He packed Lastimosa's old, battle-worn gear into the display case. If it weren't for Lastimosa and his Pilot training, he figured he wouldn't have stood a chance on Typhon. Daniel would never forget the Pilot Captain, or anything he gave or did for him.

Before he could turn to arm himself and leave, his helmet display highlighted a storage cabinet up against a wall. He found it didn't require a key, as it opened without issue. Inside, were various weapons intended for close combat. Machetes, combat axes and knives were the most common tools found.

Something in particular caught his eye, however. The object in question seemed to be a straight-handled climbing axe with a large square hammer head on the opposite side. Daniel picked up the tool by its rubber grip, even with his enhanced strength thanks to his exoskeleton, he could feel it had some heft. He holstered it in the loop on his left side, where it could be easily and quickly retrieved.

He stocked the pouches on his vest with as many magazines as they could hold, as with the exoskeleton he no longer had to worry about over encumbering himself. He returned to the two rifles on the bench, neither of which had slings, making him think: Alright, now I need to get slings for these.

He raised the carbine into the air while he was searching for anywhere that could potentially have what he's looking for. Before he knew it, he was startled by a grey mechanical arm that had latched onto the rifle's receiver from behind him.

He instinctively turned around and threw a punch at his sudden attacker, only for his fist to connect with nothing. He let go of the rifle and got into a defensive stance, scanning the room around him. After confirming there was no threat, he went to pick up his rifle, believing he was starting to lose his mind.

He looked around him and couldn't for the life of him find his gun. "For fucks sake!" He shouted and threw his hands up in the air in anger. When he did, he felt movement on his back and found the Carbine's grip back in his right hand. The grey mechanical arm then clamped onto the rifle's shoulder stock from underneath his right arm.

Perplexed, Daniel released the gun and saw the arm suspend it at his side. He raised the gun into the air again, watching the arm this time. It released the stock, retreated under and around his arm, then clamped back onto the receiver. Like before, he let go of the rifle and watch the arm pull it over his shoulder and secure the rifle on his back.

He repeated the action with the Charge Rifle in his left hand, the same thing happening again. "I guess I don't need the slings, then." Daniel mused.

He picked up a duffle bag from the floor, double checked that he had everything he needed from the armoury, before returning to BT in the hanger. He saw the Crow in the main landing platform, ready to depart.

"Pilot, I have transferred some of my AI functions to the ship's computer. It will allow me to pilot the ship personally when necessary, and ensure communications will remain intact when out of range."

"Good idea BT, is the ship good to go?"

"Affirmative. All systems functional, fuel capacity at eighty-seven percent." The Titan confirmed.

He began running a checklist to ensure he had everything he needed. "Ok, nutrient bars, check. Water canteen, check. Processing Module, check. Have I got everything, BT?"

"Affirmative. Ready for your departure, Pilot.

The door on Daniel's side of the crow slid open and closed behind him when he entered the space-craft. He removed his long arms and placed the guns and the module into the duffle bag, then underneath the troop seats.

He went up front and got himself strapped into the main pilot's seat, as he heard a loud rumbling and looked up to see the large aircraft hanger doors in the Braxton's ceiling sliding open, presumably BT's doing.

"Weather patterns are at suitable conditions for surface-to-space travel." BT informed via a speaker on the cockpit's control panel. Daniel powered on the engines of the craft, gripped the flight stick on his right and took off through the opening in VTOL mode, as BT took it from there.

Cooper witnessed the label "VTOL" on one of the screens turn off, indicating that the ship was now in standard take-off and landing mode. The ship accelerated across the planet's stark landscape, before continuing up through the thick, dark clouds. Daniel couldn't help but be a little nervous about his current situation.

"Engaging boosters."

The ship accelerated even faster, causing Daniel to tightly grip the handle bars on either side of his seat. "Reaching exit velocity." BT informed as the clouds began to dissipate, as a yellow sky emerged from beyond them. It too began to disappear as the ship gained altitude, before the vast emptiness of space was revealed.

"Warming: Detecting orbiting debris."

The Crow quickly dodged to the sides to avoid said debris, some of which had very familiar structures on them.

"Cooper, this debris field contains structures we encountered on Typhon, as well as natural rock not detected on this planet."

"Damn." Needless to say, this was a big discovery. Both of them had vastly underestimated the side-effects of the Ark's overloading and subsequent detonation. That left the question: What else did the Ark do?

His ship turned and appeared to follow the planet's rotation for a moment, giving Daniel a great view of the planet he was on only minutes earlier. He couldn't see the surface due to the planet's thick atmosphere, which was more than likely caused by high volcanic activity. He could see several storms brewing within the planet's dark clouds.

"Coordinates locked: Engaging Jump Drive in T-minus, five seconds."

After those five seconds passed, the planet in view became heavily distorted, before Daniel's vision turned completely white.

——————————

PLANETARY DEBRIS FIELD,

UNKNOWN STAR SYSTEM

When Daniel's vision returned, he witnessed a mass of asteroids scattered around the surrounding area. His eyes caught something big in the distance. He disengaged BT's control, as he could take it from there no problem.

"Transferring control to Pilot."

He passed by some kind of animated sign mounted to a small asteroid. It was big, jade green in colour and depicted what appeared to be some kind of robot with cartoonish blasters behind it. There were letters projected next to it in an unknown language, in the same colour.

Behind the sign in the distance, was what he could make out to be several platforms. Some had ships on them Daniel didn't look like any design he'd seen before. Up above them, was a giant statue of the robot he saw on the sign, with similar features and something round underneath it.

"What is this place?" Daniel asked nobody in particular.

"Unknown, scans detect large amounts of refined combustible fluid stored within the structure. It is possibly a refuelling station."

As he came in closer, avoiding some more asteroids in the process, he reengaged the Crow's VTOL mode. The ship slowed down and gave him finer control over it. Over a lack of options on where to land, he touched down on a platform that he didn't notice was labelled with a big white "3" in the centre.

Once Daniel was sure he had landed safely, he shut off the ship's engines and began observing the area around him. Up a ramp in front of him was another platform with another spacecraft on it, with a pair of red lizard things with long heads stood next to it. Neither of them had breathing masks, so Daniel assumed there must be an artificial atmosphere here.

Daniel had finally started to realise how stupid of an idea this was. There was absolutely no way he would be able to communicate what he needed to these things. Still, he hadn't been attacked (Yet) and he was here now, so he might as well try.

"Pilot, are you alright?"

"Yeah uh, I'm fine, BT. Why do you ask?"

"Your heartrate is exceeding one-hundred-fifty beats per minute. I recommend you take a moment to reduce it."

Daniel noticed the heartrate monitor on his helmet display; it was at one hundred and fifty-seven beats per minute. He got to work getting his breathing under control. Taking a deep breath through his nose, he held it for three seconds, then exhaled through his mouth. He repeated this several more times until his heartrate was down to a more normal level.

He looked up to see the red things on the platform ahead of him looking in his direction. They didn't look too strong, if they decided to get violent, Daniel was confident he could fend them off.

He unstrapped himself from his seat and went back into the troop bay to retrieve his weapons. Once they were secured on his back, he exited through the side door on the right, stepping onto the platform.

He looked back at the door to watch it slide shut on its own. His helmets oxygen supply wasn't being used, so that's a plus. He walked up the ramp with a gait that radiated confidence, and was ready to draw his Smart Pistol at a moments notice.

"That's a nice ship you've got there, mister."

Before Daniel could even comprehend what just happened, he replied on instinct: "Thanks. Say, do you know where I would be able to get a Central Processing Module fixed around here?"

"I'm afraid I don't." One red alien replied. "You could ask around in Zurkie's" The other said, as it pointed with its three-fingered hand to the giant statue of the robot at the top of the long ramp. "You might find someone who could help you there."

"Got it, thanks."

Daniel continued to the ramp leading to the statue. To anyone watching, the Titan Pilot looked completely calm on the outside. On the inside, however, was a completely different story.

Did they just speak perfect fucking English!?

The implications for this were massive. Why did they speak the same language? Is it because the English language is actually their language? If so, why did humans know it? Did aliens visit—"

"I ain't seen a Commando around here in years!"

Daniel looked at the source of the thick southern accent, and saw a large jade and cyan robot, hovering via a small thruster on its underside. It featured two antennae on either side of its head, alongside gold protrusions around its "neck" you could say, that looked vaguely like a necklace.

"Uh, hello." Daniel said plainly. "Who are you?"

"I'm Ms. Zurkon, I sell weapons and ammo! Here, come take a look at my stock! The robot now known as Ms. Zurkon said, as she hovered behind him and ushered Daniel against his will into her little stall and listing her stock. "I got Burst Pistol's, Shatterbomb Gloves, and even the new Enforcer!"

"I'm also the main supplier for the resistance!" She whispered with one of her thin, two fingered hands up to her face.

"Resistance?"

Ms. Zurkon quirked an eyebrow at that question, "You must not be from around these parts, the resistance fights against the Nefarious Empire!"

"Yeah uh, I just got here recently, I don't know what either of those are."

She briefly looked at him with disappointment before continuing, "Sweetheart, no wonder you're carryin' around your weapons like that! You don't have a Holo-Manager!"

"A Holo-what?"

"A Holo-Manager! It stores compatible weapons when you're not using 'em! Here, I got a few spares in the back. Just one second..." Ms. Zurkon elaborated as she turned around and started rooting around in crates at the back of her stall, tossing around junk like it was nobody's business as Cooper watched idly by.

She fished out a small, thin square object out of a box, before returning to the Pilot and handing it to him. Before Daniel could say anything, the object vanished from his right hand with a flash.

"What in the — where did it go?" He said as he looked around on the ground, thinking he'd dropped it.

"There you go, sugar! You're now fitted with your very own Holo-Manager! She informed the "Commando".

"Look Ms. Zurkon, I don't have any money to pay you for this—"

"Oh, don't worry about it! It's on the house. Besides, if you need to make some quick Bolts, be sure to fight a round or two in my son's Battleplex!

"Ok, thanks! I'll have a look into your son's Battleplex." Daniel replied as he turned to exit Ms. Zurkon's stall.

"You're very welcome honey, and remember to leave your weapons with the bouncer!"

Cooper continued up the ramp until he reached the giant statue of what he assumed was Zurkie. He was able to overlook all of the landing platforms, his ship looking tiny in comparison to some of the others.

The Pilot looked towards the entrance emphasized by flashing lights and observed a rounded room inside, one that he assumed was an elevator. Around the entrance, were several posters each of various images. He inspected an orange one, and saw an image of the skull of something that if you asked him, looked rather feline.

Getting back to more important matters, Daniel stepped inside the assumed elevator and searched for the button to activate it. Finding none, he was confused on how the elevator was supposed to be activated.

Before he could react, a door on the elevator slammed shut, sealing the Pilot inside. The floor in the elevator started glowing, until his vision turned completely white.

After a few seconds, his vision returned to normal, and the door opened. It revealed a large hallway with a giant glass window on the right-side.

"What the hell was that?"

"Cooper, the room you are located in appears to be a short-range transportation device. This area appears to be located within a large cloaking field."

A fucking teleporter AND a cloaking field big enough to hide a whole building!? This just keeps getting better and better. Daniel thought to himself.

Daniel proceeded into the hallway and looked outside the window to see several asteroids in the vicinity, the background rippling like a lake that had something big dropped into it. That must be the cloaking field BT mentioned.

He continued onwards, stepping over various cables and other bits of junk. He walked past several more aliens that didn't pay him much, if any attention. One of them had a giant eyeball for a head.

He walked around a bend, before coming to the end of the hallway. The arch doorway had four laser beams going horizontal across it, with a sign on either side depicting a gun of some kind, crossed out with a red "X".

Walking through the beams, Daniel expected an alarm or something to be triggered. Despite his expectations, nothing happened.

"Welcome to Zurkie's Gastropub and Battleplex, where we slaughter hunger and thirst with a smile!" A small robot with two large eyes and an antenna on top of its head, said to the Pilot from the other side of a desk.

"I'm also going to need you to hand over any guns, sharp or pointy objects you have on you."

Daniel reluctantly handed over his weapons to the robot, the mechanical arms folding up neatly on his back. "Now, I assume I shouldn't need to worry about any of my kit going missing?"

"Of course not, sir! Your weapons will be stored securely until you're ready to either leave, or fight in the Battleplex." The robot assured as it pointed out one of the cases behind it.

"Good to hear."

The Pilot began walking towards the door to his right, thinking about how easy it would be to sneak a pistol into here, as the bouncer failed to notice any weaponry not in plain view. He still had his Grapple, Cloak, Phase Shift and alongside his Jump Kit, he would be able to escape fairly easily should this whole thing go south.

The door opened once he got close enough, revealing the interior of the gastropub. It was a large, round open room with a segmented glass dome for the ceiling. There were several heads of various creatures hung up on the walls, with lights hanging down from the support beams above. There was some funky music playing, adding to the atmosphere.

There were several patrons of all shapes and sizes milling about and chatting to each other, some sat at tables both inside and outside of the various booths. There was a massive window taking up the far wall, several patrons stood in front of it looking out at something.

Daniel had to admit; this looked like a nice little establishment. No-one had seemed to notice him, those who did didn't pay him any attention for long. They quickly went back to whatever they were doing; ignoring him like another face in the crowd.

One thing was still to be decided: Who should he talk to for help? He didn't want to talk to just anyone, lest he talk to the wrong person. Daniel decided to walk around and get a feel of the place; maybe then he would find someone who could help him.

He walked over to the massive window at the back of the pub, getting a look at what everybody was looking at. He witnessed several drones repairing a massive platform with bullet holes, scorch marks and craters scattered across it.

"The next round in the Slaughterplex will be starting shortly!" Said a one-eyed flying robot very enthusiastically. "This one will be the once-per-week Horde Survival round! So, we need somebody strong enough to take up the CHALLENGE! The grand prize is a whopping FIVE-THOUSAND BOLTS!"

Fucking hell, that certainly sounds like a lot of money. The Pilot thought. Maybe if I win that money, I can pay someone to fix the module for me!

Daniel noticed that a lot of people looked at the bot apprehensively, while said bot looked around frantically, like it was looking for someone in particular to sign up.

Come on, Rivet! Where are you!? Zurkon Jr thought worriedly, Rivet was supposed to be at the pub fifteen minutes ago! Usually she'd be there on the dot every week, but today for whatever reason, she wasn't.

Daniel knew that this was another big risk he was taking, but being a Pilot was about taking risks, and he wasn't returningemptyhanded. He approached the hovering robot before stating:

"Well, if no-one else is going to, I'll sign up."

Zurkon Jr turned to face the Pilot at an incredible speed, before letting out an audible gasp at the sight of him.

"Ohoho, aCOMMANDO!" Zurkon Jr exclaimed maybe a little too excitedly.

Daniel was a little disturbed at the bot's excitement. Nonetheless, he continued, "Is there a problem with me being a 'Commando'?" He asked innocently.

"Oh no, no, no! there's absolutely no problem, Commando! Now tell me, what's your title?

Daniel blinked. "My title?"

"Yeah! What do you call yourself to let everyone around you know that you mean business?"

Daniel thought for a moment before answering, "Where I'm from, people call me 'Pilot'." He said confidently.

"BAH! That's boring!"

"But it's—"

"Be quiet! I need to think of a good title for you..." Zurkon Jr said as he flew off and began flying back and forth.

He needs a name that'll make the crowd think he's a champion! Zurkon Jr thought, trying to think of a name for the newcomer. What do I call him? His armour's pitch black, kind of like...Zurkon Jr's mind flashed back to when he briefly studied geology in his spare time. He gasped as he realised he had a perfect title, and returned to the "Commando".

"I've got the PERFECT title for you, now stand here and wait!" He ordered as he pointed a finger to the floor in front of some kind of computer. Daniel did as he was told without saying a word. Zurkon Jr selected something and then typed an unknown word onto the screen, as the floor underneath the Pilot began to glow.

Daniel realised he was on another teleporter, as it lit up and engulfed him in light. As the light went away, he could see he was now in the centre of the arena. A drone approached him with a box filled with his weapons. He retrieved them, before preparing himself for what would come next.

There were several floating stands filled with spectators. Daniel could hear several nearby spectators talking amongst themselves about the newcomer.

"Is that a Commando?"

"I think it is! I haven't seen one since the day Corson fell!"

"I KNEW the emperor didn't kill them off!"

The crowd continued conversing amongst themselves as more and more spectators noticed him standing at the centre of the arena.

"Today, I have a special treat for you my FIENDS! We have another round of Horde Survival!" The crowd cheered at that, whatever it meant. "However, instead of the FIEND favourite, WE HAVE A NEW CONTESTANT!" The crowd cheering again as Cooper flicked off the safety on his Carbine.

The platform began shifting underneath him, as the bare platform transformed into a much more complicated one.

The large platform split into four smaller ones in the corners, with a smaller one in the middle of the arena. The gaps between them revealed an orange electric field below the arena, several bridges rising up from the abyss to connect them all together.

"This COMMANDO, has journeyed from far beyond the galaxy, in search of someone who can best him in a battle to the DEATH!" Zurkon Jr introduced.

"Introducing...OBSIDIAN!"

If he thought the crowd was cheering before, it was nothing compared to how they were cheering now.

"Today, Obsidian will be battling the thieving, treacherous SPACE PIRATES!"

Several floating rectangular pods rose up from underneath the arena, allowing the pirates to step onto the platforms across from the Pilot. Daniel could see they stood about eight to ten feet tall on average, some of which had what looked like metal skulls for their heads. Other than that, they didn't look like they had much in terms of armour.

Daniel instinctively scanned the arena for an advantageous position, preferably one where he could reduce the potential sides he'd need to defend. He retreated to one of the corner platforms by propelling himself across the gap with his Jump Kit, then taking cover behind a metal barrier.

"Argh! blast that Commando to bits!" Shouted one pirate armed with a huge cutlass.

"Aye aye!" another shouted in reply, as a group armed with guns took cover on their platform and began firing what looked to be spiky balls upon the "Commando". Daniel took aim and fired his Carbine in short, controlled bursts to take down a few on the other side of the bridge in front of him. He hit his mark, the bullets penetrating metal and hitting fragile circuitry, taking them down.

One after another, any pirate on the opposite platform to the Pilot was gunned down by him, causing the spectators to cheer him on. The pirates returned fire, some missing and others hitting the barrier in front of the Commando, breaking off metal plating in the process.

He heard movement to his right and saw more pirates, armed with swords crossing the bridge. Daniel quickly drew his Charge Rifle and charged up a shot, the end of the Anti-Titan energy rifle brightly glowing orange as it fired. The orange laser hit the pirate dead-centre, burning a hole through his chest and hitting some pirates behind him.

"Watch it, he's got a Collider!" A pirate warned.

"Which, you can buy from my Momma, if you want one!" Zurkon Jr exclaimed to the crowd as they cheered at the display.

He returned to focusing on the ones across from him, spotting more sword-wielding pirates rushing him. Daniel quickly swapped back to his Carbine and took down three more before his gun was empty. He dumped the mag and slammed another into the Carbine quickly, racking the charging handle as he looked up and realised he was about to be overrun from both sides.

Both groups of pirates rapidly approached the Commando, intent on ending his brief assault against the Space Pirates. Daniel backed into the corner of the platform. From the perspective of the crowd watching, it looked like he wasn't able to do anything up and was waiting for the pirates to end him.

"Looks like Obsidian's surrounded! What will he do to get himself out of this!? Hopefully something EXPLOSIVE!"

Right before a pirate's sword connected with Obsidian's head, he clenched his left fist and a bright flash appeared and disappeared almost instantly. Nothing else happened, other than that Obsidian was now nowhere to be seen.

"What the – he was just here!" One pirate shouted, as she and the others scanned the arena for any sign of the Commando.

One pirate started laughing, "Looks like we were too much for the Commando to handle!" The others joined in on the laughing. She was about to ask Zurkon Jr about the prize money, before something hit the ground in between all of them, and the area suddenly became scorching hot. Hot enough in fact, that one pirate close enough to the source started to melt.

"AAAGGHHH I'M BURNIN', I'M BURNIN'!!!" Said pirate screamed in agony, right before he collapsed, dead, the rest diving away from whatever just exploded.

Suddenly, gunshots rang out and a fellow pirate's head right next to her exploded, then another, before the pirates were able to spot the source of the gunfire, that being Obsidian, on the opposite side of the arena behind the barriers.

"How'd he get there!?" Asked one very confused pirate.

"Who cares!? Blast him!"

The pirates returned to firing on Obsidian's new position, forcing him to duck behind a barrier. The ones with swords rushing to get to him.

"Send in the Cutlassies!" One pirate shouted. Another pod appeared behind the bridge on the Pilot's right side, where at least a dozen floating one-eyed bots with long blades for arms emerged.

Daniel responded by retrieving a navy-blue throwing star from his belt, and throwing it into the middle of the group of bots he now knew were "Cutlassies". The star hit the ground and began to glow a deep blue. It rose up into the air, the Cutlassies being helplessly swept up by it.

He emptied a mag into the glowing swirl of metal, and then ducked back down behind the barrier. After a few seconds of the robots swirling around the Gravity Star, it exploded. The blast sent the Cutlassies outwards, now effectively shrapnel, into everything in its radius.

The pirates, being made almost entirely out of metal, were barely harmed by the unintentional bomb. The same could not be said about their optics, as pirates left and right were both partially and completely blinded.

"MY EYES!"

"I CAN'T SEE!"

Needless to say, the "Fiends" as Zurkon Jr likes to call them, showed their awe by cheering. Zurkon Jr himself was also very impressed, even asking Obsidian where he could get a few of those for himself.

"It's not over yet, Commando!" Daniel looked back over at the far platform to see more pirates being dropped off by another pod, ready to take aim at him.

He let his rifle hang at his side, before pulling an orange and another navy-blue throwing star from his belt. He threw both in quick succession into the pod behind the newly-arrived pirates, both hitting the inner wall right next to each other.

The result was the pirates being pulled back into the pod by the Gravity Star, then getting melted alive by the Fire Star. Screams of agony were heard flooding out of now orange-and-blue glowing pod. When the Gravity Star finally exploded after what felt like an eternity to some, nothing but red-hot metal was spewed out of it.

The crowd began cheering wildly at the spectacle, some now standing up to cheer Obsidian on.

The crowd's going crazy for this guy! Zurkon Jr thought, he might've just struck the jackpot! He decided to take a look at the leader board, to see where this potential champion in-the-making stacked up against the other fighters.

The sight of the leader board gave him a shock; Obsidian was only two-thousand points away from first-place! Zurkon Jr was simultaneously dreading and excited for what the Lombax would do if her record was broken.

Obsidian's attention returned to the group of partially and completely blinded pirates. He decided that since the pirates were now vulnerable, now would be a good time to get in close. He holstered Carbine and retrieved his hammer.

"It looks like Obsidian's about to bring the PAIN!" Zurkon Jr commentated as the spectators cheered in agreement.

The first two pirates in front of him on the bridge were completely blind, basically free kills at this point. He bashed one in the head, sending them off the arena. The other was crawling around, desperately trying to regain their bearings. The Commando kicked that one off the arena, both pirates exploding spectacularly upon hitting the energy field.

Two more pirates that were only partially blinded, stood up with swords in their hands and rushed towards Cooper. He responded by side-stepping the blade of the first one, grabbing the sword by the handle and using it to block an attack from the other pirate.

When the blades connected, the attacking pirate was dazed by the surprising amount of strength Obsidian had, giving him plenty of time to deal with the pirate whose sword he was still holding onto.

Daniel used his enhanced strength to wrench the sword out of the pirate's hands, then quickly punched the pirate in the face to stun him. Thankfully, the metal on his gloves meant that he barely felt anything on his end. The pirate however, was a different story. The pirate received a fair dent in his cheek, and staggered from the hit.

He hooked his climbing axe around the pirate's thin and exposed spine, before dragging and throwing him off the bridge and into the laser field below.

The last pirate recovered from the guard and declared, "You're finished, you little scamp!" The pirate ran at him again with his sword raised into the air, ready to end the Commando. The Pilot charged and leaped at the pirate, his Jump Kit propelling him into the robot.

He hit the pirate hard, hard enough to knock the pirate's sword out of his hand and send the both of them flying over a barrier and onto the platform closest to the pub's window.

Not relenting in his attack, Obsidian used what he already had in his hand: His hammer. He held the pirate down with his other hand, then proceeded to strike the pirate in the head until his face resembled a metal pancake, the spectators cheering him on.

He stood up off of the pirate expecting Zurkon Jr to announce his victory, but his eyes caught movement within the smoke that was coming out of the pod across the bridge from him. Miraculously, a pair of pirates emerged from the pod, badly burnt and missing some parts.

"Ye...you're not going to get away with this..." The front-most pirate limped outwards, stepping over the mangled bodies of her deceased comrades.

The other pirate continued, "When our Captain hears of this, you're—" The pirate was cut off by four quick gunshots, then both surviving pirates dropped dead, their heads spitting out sparks where the shots hit.

Daniel twirled his Smart Pistol in his hand as he holstered it. "Obsidian has triumphed against the Space Pirates!" The spectators cheered at the announcement.

BEEP, BEEP!

"Wait a sec, what's this?" Zurkon Jr continued as he inspected a tablet in his hand. A large leader board came into view above and behind some of the spectator stands, with an unknown word, presumably a name highlighted at the very top.

The highlighted name had the number 14,000 to the right of it, with the name below sitting at 12,500.

"OBSIDIAN IS THE NEW SLAUGHTERPLEX CHAMPION!"

The spectators erupted into applause and began chanting "Obsidian! Obsidian!"

Zurkon Jr handed the Commando a small disk that disappeared just like the Holo-Manager when he held it. A new indicator appeared on his HUD, containing an image of a bolt and the number zero next to it that quickly climbed to five thousand.

A lot of people in the pub were paying attention to Obsidian's fight, including a certain Rilgarian. "Holy shit." Phantom uttered quietly from his table next to the Battleplex window. From witnessing what the Commando did and how he fought, Phantom knew two things:

• Obsidian would be an invaluable individual to have in the resistance.

• Rivet was not going to be happy about her record being broken.

Phantom knew that he had to try and convince the guy to either join, or at the very least help the resistance. He observed him returning to the gastropub to the cheers of some of the patrons, this was his opportunity.

Phantom called out the Commando with a wave, "Yo, Obsidian!" Obsidian turned his head towards the Novalian, revealing the blue glowing visor of his helmet. "Those were some sweet moves you pulled against those pirates, where did you learn to fight like that?" Phantom asked as Obsidian approached his table.

"Who are you?" The Commando inquired through a filtered voice.

"Oh, where are my manners? I'm Phantom, the resistance could really use a man with your skill." This guy's definitely new around here, if he wasn't, we would've known about him sooner.

"Resistance? That's the second time I've heard of that, and how they're fighting a 'Nefarious Empire'." The black-armoured man responded, as he took a seat at Phantom's table by the window. Phantom noticed how the man sat in a way that would make it near-impossible for someone to sneak up on him.

"Tell me, Phantom, what is this 'resistance'?" The Commando inquired, placing both of his five-finger hands on the table. A feature that did not go unnoticed by Phantom.

"The resistance came together shortly after the emperor came to power about six years ago. Since then, we've been doing everything we can to rid Polaris of his tyranny."

"Sounds like quite a noble cause."

"You bet!" Phantom agreed. "Would you be willing to help us free the Polaris Galaxy?"

Obsidian paused for a moment. "Well Phantom, I need a Central Processing Module repaired. If you can get fixed for me, then I'll consider helping your resistance."

Ok, he wants something in exchange. I can work with this. Phantom thought.

"Alright, tell you what Obsidian, me and some of the other rebels are planning to raid a warship factory in Nefarious City in a few hours. If you help the others cause a distraction while I sneak in and blow the place up, I can have one of my rebel friends fix up that module for you, no problem." Phantom bartered.

"What kind of distraction are we talking about?"

"A pretty simple one, actually. Get the attention of the guards in any way you see fit, and keep 'em occupied while I do my thing." Phantom explained as he raised his gloved hand across the table towards Obsidian. "Deal?"

The Commando remained silent, seeming to mull over the offer. He suddenly reached over and grasped the Rilgarian's three-fingered hand in a firm shake, "You've got yourself a deal, Phantom."

Great, I have him on board! Phantom thought, as he released his hand from Obsidian's firm grasp.

He remembered what he always gave every new recruit: A communicator and a mapping chip. He reached into one of the several pouches on his belt, before producing the orange communicator and a small thin square object.

"Now, we'll need a way to contact each other, so here's a communicator and a mapping chip, to help you find your way around."

"Alright, thanks." Obsidian replied as he stowed both items into the satchel on his left side. "Now, before I leave, tell me the specifics: What're we going up against, what range will we be engaging them?

"Robots. They're called Troopers, they average out at about fifteen feet tall. There's several different kinds, but most crumble under sustained blaster fire." Phantom informed as he handed over a small data-pad to the Commando that contained several photos of the aforementioned Troopers.

Cooper flicked through the data-pad, observing several white and black robots with massive orange domes for heads, and tentacle-like legs. Some wore what seemed to be boxing helmets on their heads, and had giant wrecking balls at the end of their arms.

"Those Sluggers like to get up close and personal, so it's a good idea to keep your distance from 'em."

He handed the data-pad back to Phantom, as he stood up and away from the table. "Alright, I'll see you in the city, Phantom." Obsidian said as he walked away from the table towards the exit.

"I'll send you the exact time and place in an hour or so!" Phantom called out to the departing Commando, to which he responded with a thumbs up.

After the Commando had left, two massive and familiar people approached Phantom's table.

"So, who was that, Phantom?" The pink-skinned, shirtless Agorian asked him.

"That, Quantum, MoyDoy." Phantom looked to both rebels, "Might just be our newest recruit."

——————————

ZURKIE'S GASTROPUB,

SCARSTU DEBRIS FIELD,

ARIES SECTOR

Zurkie's Gastropub. The resistance's favourite establishment. The reason, was because of the owner's not-so-secret distaste for the emperor. This led to the pub becoming a safe haven for rebels, pirates and anyone else who shared the sentiment — which was pretty much everyone.

It was Rivet's favourite, due to Zurkie's having a built-in battle arena for her to help her blow off steam and make some cash, and because Zurkie made the some of the best drinks and grub she'd ever had. Just thinking about that smoked Puffoid was making her mouth water. It was still right behind Mort's Grunthor meatloaf, nobody would ever beat that.

Rivet landed her Royal Starship onto the corner platform she always used, one that had effectively become hers ever since she started coming to Zurkie's. The reason for her presence today, was because Phantom wanted to talk about some kind of EMP.

She knew that Phantom didn't like to call meetings unless it was serious, and in her books, an EMP powerful enough to knock out all the electronics from the Mort's factory, to the Troopers in Nefarious City, was definitely serious.

Killing the engine and shutting off her ship, the canopy opened and the ship's seats were lowered towards the ground for Rivet to get down.

After ensuring that her hard-earned ship was secured, she proceeded down towards the ramp that led to the teleporter that Zurkie used as the entrance for his pub. She knew that the reason for this, is if Nefarious' forces, or anyone for that matter, were to attack his pub, he could shut it off, hiding away the rest of the pub in the cloaking field it was surrounded by.

She walked past some guy decked out in black armour that had orange stripes running down his arms and legs. He was inspecting an orange object in his hand. Other than that, she didn't pay him much attention, the same as everybody else who she didn't know here.

Up at the top of the first ramp, the Lombax spotted the friendly face of Ms. Zurkon, the resistance's weapons dealer. She was the only dealer left in the galaxy who would be willing to sell her wares to the rebels.

"Hi, Ms. Zurkon!" The Lombax greeted the jade synthenoid.

"Hey, honey! How's my favourite customer?"

"I'm doing great, thanks! You got any new blasters for me? She asked with a shrug.

"Oh, why I certainly do! I think you'll like this one!" Ms. Zurkon said as she projected an image of a large, orange blaster.

"This one's the Enforcer! A double-barrelled plasma cannon with double the power, and double the fun!" She explained, "Pull the trigger halfway to fire one barrel, or if you're feeling confident, pull it all they way to blast 'em with both barrels!"

"Ooohh! How much is that beauty going for?"

"One-thousand two hundred and fifty bolts, sugar!"

"That sounds good to me, I'll take it!" Rivet exclaimed.

"It's all yours, honey! Take care now!"

Pleased with her new blaster, Rivet proceeded towards the entrance of the gastropub. Stepping into the teleporter like she had done so many times before, a bright light enveloped her as she appeared on the other side.

She stepped into the weapons confiscation room, her many weapons being automatically and stored into the many weapons cases present, including her trusty hammer. Thankfully, the bouncer was already well-used to Rivet's army's worth of guns.

After entering the main pub, Rivet doesn't see anything out of the usual. She scanned the same table by the Battleplex window that her and the other rebels would always sit at. Spotting several familiar faces, alongside a Rilgarian waving her over, she joined the other rebels at the table.

"Why is it that you're always the last person to show up for a meeting, Rivet?" the large shirtless Agorian asked her.

"Hey, it's not my fault that a Grunthor decided to plonk its ass on my ship!" Everyone at the table, bar the white Lombax, laughed at the explanation. "Can we just talk about what we're here for?" She groaned.

"Yeah, Phantom. That EMP you were telling us about?" Clatchky asked.

"Yeah, the EMP. But before we get to that, I want to talk about plan B for taking down that warship factory."

"What was plan B, again?" MoyDoy asked the Rilgarian.

"Plan B is for you, Rivet and Katzae to cause a distraction out front to get the Troopers out of the factory," Quantum explained, "So that Phantom can sneak in and blow the place up, with the bombs that we got from that smuggler for that purpose."

Rivet internally groaned at that first part. Specifically, Katzae. That Cazar, who had only been with them for a few months, was helping out with the "distraction". That wouldn't have been a problem, if he wasn't a mediocre fighter, and didn't need somebody's help every thirty seconds.

Another thing about him, was that Katzae had an incredibly obvious crush on her, much to her annoyance. She had tried to drop the hint that she wasn't interested several times, but unfortunately for her, he's yet to take that hint.

Phantom had found him here at Zurkie's one night, asking around on how to join the resistance. She couldn't blame Phantom for taking him on board, this was a resistance after all, and they needed all the help they could get.

"And, I found someone who's willing to help you three with that distraction." Phantom said proudly, as he leaned back and placed his hands behind his head.

"Don't tell me you found another Katzae." Rivet blurted out without thinking.

"Don't worry, Rivet. This guy's good." While Phantom didn't seem to share her dislike of Katzae, he at least understood it.

"Good in what way?" Rivet asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"He's amazing in a fight. I mean, you guys should have seen what he did to those pirates out in the arena!" Phantom exclaimed, as he suddenly pointed to a screen mounted on the wall above their table.

"Look! They're showing a replay from his match!" Said screen showed a man in black and orange armour, getting up close and personal with several Space Pirates.

Rivet recognised him as the black-armoured man she saw on her way in. Now actually paying attention to his appearance, she realised that he was a big guy. Nowhere near as large as MoyDoy or Quantum, but definitely much larger than herself. Though, Phantom might be a little bit taller.

"Is that a Commando?!" MoyDoy asked, shocked.

"Well, he must be, if he's tossing around those pirates like they're nothing!" Clatchky answered.

"Wait, what's his title!?" Both MoyDoy and Clatchky asked Phantom simultaneously.

"He calls himself 'Obsidian'." Phantom answered, a little disturbed at the enthusiasm from the both of them.

MoyDoy looked back up at the screen, now displaying Obsidian's name at the bottom of a still photo of him brandishing a green and orange pistol. "The last Commando I ever saw was Captain Moonblade, a few years before Nefarious took over." MoyDoy smiled pleasantly, "Nice to know they're still around."

"Phantom?" Rivet interrupted, "How do we know he's not working for the emperor? I know Nefarious hasn't hired anyone in a while, but that doesn't mean he's stopped doing it."

"His hands."

"His hands?"

"He had five fingers. Just like you."

"Five fingers? But wouldn't that mean...?" Quantum asked.

"Yeah. I can't confirm it, but I'm pretty sure he's a Markazian."

"But where's his tail, then?" Clatchky questioned.

"Male Markazians don't have tails, Clatch'." MoyDoy corrected.

"Oh, right."

"With that in mind, I'm pretty sure we all know how Markazians feel about the emperor." Phantom continued.

"No shit, he blew up their planet." Rivet added with a bit of anger in her tone. If Obsidian was here for revenge against the emperor, he would soon find out that would be much easier said than done.

"Anyway, we made a deal that in exchange for helping us with todays mission, I'll get his 'Central Processing Module' fixed for him."

"So, in other words, you want me to fix it for him?" Rivet presumed.

"I mean, of course. You know I'm no good at that stuff, Rivet."

"Alright, he tell you anything else?" MoyDoy asked.

"Not much. Although, it seemed like he didn't know much about the resistance or the empire."

"That makes me think he ain't from here. Bogon, maybe?"

"Maybe." Rivet agreed. "If he was from Polaris, we would—" Before Rivet could give her input, she was interrupted by the lights suddenly dimming, and all of the screens in the pub displaying a familiar red icon. An incredibly annoying tune played, one that always played whenever Nefarious was making a public broadcast.

The icon gave way to the white metal and orange glass head of Emperor Nefarious himself, sat in his chair within his office, with several monitors behind him, each displaying him in a different pose.

"Why hello! My loyal subjects, rebels, pirates and anybody who happens to be watching..." Nefarious began, "Who am I kidding? You have to watch my glorious message to the galaxy!" He laughed, perhaps a bit too long to be considered appropriate for what he said.

He abruptly stopped the laughter and looked back at the camera, "Anyway, you all know why I'm here today." He put his hand to the side of his head and leaned into the camera, as if trying to hear better, "What's that? You don't?" He removed his hand and leaned back into his chair, "Well, let me remind you!"

"Approximately eighteen hours ago, a large electro magnetic pulse was detected, temporarily disabling electronics in a *small* part of my beautiful city."

"You may be wondering: Who could have done such a thing? Well, I'm here to tell you that it was none other than the resistance!" The screen swapped to an image containing evil-looking caricatures of the rebels.

"This band of lowlifes have once again tried and failed to undermine my—our way of life!" The feed returned to the office, the emperor raising a fist into the air, as if he was standing triumphant in the face of adversity.

"My top scientists are tracking the source as we speak, BUT!" He placed a large sack with a large "N" on it with a line going down the middle onto the table, "I'm offering a reward of one-million Nefbucks to anybody with information regarding the source of this minor annoyance."

"Goodbye for now!" He added with a brief chuckle, before feed ended and the lights in the pub returned to their previous luminosity.

"Figuredhe'd blame it on us." Rivet continued.

"But he just admitted that even he doesn't know what caused it." Clatchky added.

"What if he's lying, though? Maybe he's just trying to cover up an experiment gone wrong?"

"I don't think so. If he really wanted to cover it up, why would he announce to the galaxy what happened?" Phantom questioned, "Would he not be better off keeping his mouth shut, or telling his "loyal subjects" in the city to not question it like he usually does when something doesn't go his way?"

The rest of the rebels sat at the table seemed to wordlessly agree with him.

"So even Nefarious has no clue what caused it. In any case, what do you think we should do, Phantom?" Quantum asked the Rilgarian who appeared deep in thought.

Phantom remained silent for a few moments, before throwing his hands out in front of him. "Nothing! We do nothing."

The other rebels blinked at Phantom's suggestion, each wearing a face that said: "What?"

"Look, we know basically nothing about what happened and what caused it, not to mention we lack the means to figure it out ourselves, so the best thing we can do is nothing. We carry on with the plan to take down the warship factory as normal."

"That means get ready, everyone! Meet Phantom in Nefarious city in four hours from now." Quantum ordered confidently, the other rebels bar himself and Phantom, leaving the table to go and prepare for the task ahead.

"You were kind of quiet back there, Quantum. Everything alright?" The Rilgarian asked the rebel leader.

"Yeah, just thinking about something."

"You've been doing that a lot recently. Anything on your mind?"

"I've been coming up with a plan that might give us a massive advantage against Nefarious."

"Well go on, spill it!"

"It's pretty risky, it would require us to—"

"WHAT!?"

The Captain and the Phantom both looked over to the source of the outburst, to see Rivet standing in front of the Battleplex's computer with a shocked look on her face and her mouth agape.

Clatchky approached the very disgruntled Lombax with a drink in his hand. "Is everything ok, Rivet?"

"HE BEAT MY FUCKING RECORD!"

Phantom inhaled sharply before he whispered to Quantum, "I knew she wouldn't take that well." They observed Rivet angrily signing up to the Battleplex, with Clatchky behind her attempting to calm her down, to no avail.

——————————

Firstly, I want to clarify something in this chapter:

Cooper's Nanites: I have a headcanon that Pilot's have tiny nanomachines in their bodies that heal them whenever they get hurt. Why? It's to explain why Pilots are so much tougher than Grunts and Spectres, despite only being regular humans with jet packs. As long as the wound isn't immediately fatal and they can take some time to recover, they'll come back more-or-less unharmed.

Secondly, I want to ask: How did I do in terms of writing with the Daniel vs Pirates fight? Is there anything I could improve on for later battles? If so, please let me know, whether it's through a comment, review or whatever floats your boat!

Thank you for reading!