A/N: Hey everyone, sorry I haven't been able to update this in a while; I've been super busy the past couple of weeks ever since I started going back to school.

And thanks to all of you for all the positive reviews, follows and favourites, it really means a lot to me knowing that so many people are enjoying my story!

Also, in case any of you didn't hear, Titanfall 2's multiplayer is working again! The matchmaking error has been fixed, the DDoSing is gone, and they're even adding limited-time gamemodes like they used to! So, if you ever wanted to play Titanfall 2's multiplayer, now is the time!

With that out of the way, please enjoy this next chapter!

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TORREN IV,

VELA SECTOR

The army-green and yellow Militia Crow gently touches down onto the rocky ground, kicking up some loose sand in the process. As the sand quickly settles once the engines power down, the cockpit canopy pops open, and the black-armoured Titan Pilot hops out and lands on the ground with a thud, as he feels a sharp increase in the temperature as the sand lightly speckling the ground beneath him crunches under his boots.

Sand. It just had to be fucking sand, didn't it? Daniel thought idly, as he brings up his Hemlok Burst Fire-Rifle equipped with an HCOG sight and quickly sweeps the area, making sure that there was nothing that required the rifle's immediate attention. Thankfully, there was nothing of the sort, and the Pilot relaxed. "BT, what's my distance from the Ark?"

"Scans indicate the Ark's energy signature is approximately one-point-two klicks from your current location. I have marked the fastest route on your HUD." The Vanguard informs matter-of-factly.

"Copy that, BT." Obsidian acknowledged, as a waypoint marker appears on his HUD in front of a crevice located within a nearby cliff face. Sand shifts under his boots as he begins walking forwards into the crevice, keeping his weapon raised all the while, feeling an arid draft as soon as he got inside.

After another minute or so of walking, the crevice led him onto a precarious path located on the inner wall of a ravine. Looking down below, he could see a small stream flowing at the bottom of the ravine, with a swarm of insect-like creatures scampering around down there. The Pilot continues onwards for a bit, until he spots a large gap in the path up ahead. Being experienced with his Jump Kit's capabilities, he speeds up into a full-on sprint towards the gap.

Before he plunged into the chasm below, he fired his Kit, propelling himself over the gap with relative ease, and lands on the other side with a moderate thud.

"Cooper, you must move quickly." BT speaks in his ear, "I am detecting multiple airborne contacts approximately ten klicks out from your location." He cautions.

"Great. Let's hope that's not Nefarious' bots checking out the Ark's energy signature. The last thing we need is Nefarious, or really anyone for that matter getting their hands on it and using it for who knows what." Cooper agrees, as he pushes himself into a light jog, knowing that the odds of someone else having also detected the Ark's energy signature was almost certain. He continues on the path through the ravine for a few more minutes, until the marker he was following led him to a somewhat narrow opening in the cliff face.

Turning sideways and shimmying through the opening, Daniel found it to be a fairly tight squeeze, as the spare magazines on his vest scrape against the wall slightly. Once he was out on the other side, he found himself walking through a passage that had several forking paths in an almost maze-like formation. Before he could ask BT where to go, as if the Vanguard was reading his mind, a marker suddenly appears on one of the paths to his right.

After walking down that path for a minute or so, it eventually intersected onto another winding path on the edge of a cliff. Daniel then laid his eyes on the massive canyon out beyond the cliff's edge, as well as some strange pincer-shaped objects on the horizon.

"Hey BT, what's up with those pincer-looking things?" Daniel asks his Titan.

"Structural analysis indicates those objects are in fact a form of satellite. Scans indicate they are currently dormant, possibly as a result of decommissioning." BT quickly reports.

As he turned to start walking down the path, Daniel tenses when he spots clear and fresh footprints in the sand, alerting him to the fact that he wasn't alone. As he continues following the path across the cliff, now much more cautiously, he eventually starts hearing the 'clank!' of something being repeatedly hit against something else somewhere ahead of him. As he slowly and cautiously approaches the source of the noise, he then heard voices.

"Why are we here minin' Raritanium; doesn't Pierre want us lookin' for the Fulcrum Star?" Daniel hears a masculine voice ask in an inquisitive tone.

"Yeah, and as far as he knows, we are." Another feminine voice says, as another 'clank!' was heard. "But I'm tellin' ye; that's just another one of his wild goose chases. We'll only be headin' back to the cove empty-handed. If we mine some Raritanium instead, then we'll at least be gettin' somethin' out of this, y'know?" She explains.

"Fair point." The first voice agrees. "Aye Hector, hand me a pickaxe would ye?" He asks, as someone else, presumably this 'Hector' person, grumbles and begins audibly rummaging through something.

Right as Daniel arrived at a bend in his path, he takes cover just behind the edge of the cliff face and slowly peeks his head around the corner. Then, he could see a pair of white and cyan robots he recognised to be Space Pirates, one of which was hitting a pickaxe against a shiny, blue and almost ice-like crystal formation jutting out of the wall.

On a small boat-like ship nearby, a third Pirate, Hector presumably, was rummaging through one of the many crates on board. Cooper observed that all three of the Pirates were moderately better armoured than the Pirates he'd fought at Zurkie's, having outfitted themselves with armour in the form of chest plates and pauldrons.

A few moments later, Hector produces a pickaxe from the crate and tosses it to his fellow Pirate, who then thanks him and returns to the crystal, the sound of clanking now increasing two-fold, as the flag atop the ship's flagpole that proudly displayed the Space Pirates' robotic skull-like insignia gently flaps around in the wind.

Maybe it was just a coincidence, but the fact that this 'Pierre' was here searching for a 'Fulcrum Star' right when the Ark had mysteriously reappeared, didn't sit right with Cooper. If it was actually the Ark that Pierre was looking for, Daniel knew he had to get to it before he did, and that the consequences could be potentially catastrophic if he didn't.

The Pilot brings up his Hemlok and aims the crosshairs at the head of the Pirate standing on the ship, seeing as he wasn't preoccupied with something and would likely react to the sound of gunfire the quickest. Daniel then squeezes the trigger, and the rifle quickly coughs three times in quick succession, the rounds finding their mark within the Pirate's head, killing him instantly. As the Pirate hit the deck and oil began to leak out of the new holes in his head, the other two Pirates were startled by the sudden attack, and both dropped their pickaxes in favour of their swords.

"Shite, it's the Commando!" The female Pirate suddenly exclaims, as she looks towards her ally's killer with pure malice, then proceeds to rush him down.

"What's he doin' here?!" The other asks nobody in particular, as he joined his remaining ally in rushing towards the Pilot, swords in the air.

In response, Daniel quickly flicks the fire selector above his Hemlok's pistol grip with his thumb, engaging his Hemlok's built-in CPU into changing the fire mode from the usual three round bursts, to five. He squeezes off two five-round bursts, the first one at the closest Pirate, and the second at the other Pirate following close behind. Subsequently, both Pirates face planted into the sand upon receiving a lethal dose of high-powered lead.

Shortly after which, bolts began to fly out of the Pirates' bodies towards Daniel, (Which admittedly startles him slightly) and were automatically deposited into his Holo-Manager, subsequently increasing his current balance by a couple hundred bolts.

Assuming the fighting was over, Daniel is caught off guard when he hears something rapidly approaching from behind him. He quickly turns around, but before he could raise his rifle to respond to the probable threat, he is slammed into the wall behind him and pinned to it. Mildly dazed with his rifle pinned to his chest, Cooper looked up to see that it was another Pirate, this time armed with a shield as well as a sword, and using said shield to pin the Commando to the wall.

"I've gotcha, ye dirty little scamp!" The Pirate snarls out, as he glared at the Pilot through the shield's viewport. On instinct, and with his exo-enhanced strength, Daniel frees his left hand and clenched it into a fist, activating his Phase Shift before the Pirate could do or say anything else. Instantly, the Pilot disappears with a flash, as he's pulled into the Void.

"What the?!" The Pirate says, as he looks around bewilderedly, before putting a hand to his face. "Oh, I need to lay off the grog..." He remarks. When Obsidian suddenly reappears behind him, the Pirate turns around just in time to receive Cooper's bracer blade to his neck, severing cables and other vital wiring in the process. The Pirate then drops to his knees, as his systems begin to slowly shut down.

"No, you don't." Daniel says coldly, as oil begins to leak out of the wound in the Pirate's neck, which then begins to steadily flow down his white-armoured chest. As he tries to raise his sword in a desperate attempt to at least take the Commando down with him, it only results in his already weak grip on the weapon faltering, and the sword clatters to the ground.

As the light left the Pirate's eyes and he went limp, Cooper quickly yanks the blade from his neck and shakes off some of the oil, before retracting it back into his bracer. Then, the Pirate slumped backwards onto the ground, dead.

I'm really starting to hate this galaxy. Daniel silently remarks to himself, thankful for his helmet display highlighting the weak point in the Pirate's neck in a bright red, as he turns the corner and slowly walks towards where the other Pirates were standing, making sure to pay extremely close attention to his surroundings as he carefully stepped around their lifeless bodies.

After that, Cooper stops as he walks past the blue crystal the Pirates had been mining. So, this stuff's Raritanium? He silently remarks, as he picks up a piece of loose crystal off the sandy ground and inspects it in his hand, recalling what Ms. Zurkon mentioned to him about Raritanium back at Zurkie's. Focus, Dan. He silently reprimands himself, as he deposits the ice-like crystal into his Holo-Manager and continues on towards his objective, ignoring the rest of the Raritanium and whatever the Pirates had on their ship.

As Daniel jogs down the path, it eventually leads him to a somewhat long and visibly-weathered metal tunnel that perforated through the cliffside. The interior was fairly dark, with the only light present within originating from both entrances. He's able to get about halfway through it, when another Pirate suddenly appears at the other end, prompting Daniel to quickly conceal himself behind a small wooden crate.

"Shiver me timbers, I'm bored. I need me some action..." The Pirate mutters, and after staring up the tunnel for a few moments, he then turns around and pulls a piece of paper out from a pouch on his side, and struggles to read it. "Darn it, me old eyes ain't what they used to be..." He remarks, as he raises the paper up closer to his face to get a better look.

And with no hostile reaction from the Pirate, as well as the Pirate being preoccupied with something else, Daniel creeps out from behind the crate and begins slowly sneaking up behind the Pirate with his rifle trained on him, should he turn around at an... unfavourable moment. Fortunately for Cooper, the Pirate remains entirely focused on the paper in his hands.

Once he was directly behind the unware Pirate, Cooper releases his Hemlok from his grasp, allowing it to hang against his side, and then draws his hammer. After twirling it in his hand to point the sharp pick forwards, Daniel promptly raises the weapon high into the air, before he swiftly buries the pick into the top of the Pirate's head with both hands, killing him instantly, and relatively quietly.

As Daniel drags the Pirate's body back into the tunnel and hides his lifeless body behind the crate that he himself was behind moments prior, he suddenly hears the low, distant rumble of a ship approaching. He quickly rips his hammer's pick from the Pirate's head and holsters it, then slowly exits the tunnel out through the other side, and crouches down behind a piece of jagged, rusty scrap metal sticking out of the ground.

Standing up ahead in a wide and relatively flat area that had several rock formations dotted around the place, were about a dozen or so Pirates, all of which were looking at something out of Cooper's view. As the Pilot peeked his head over his cover to get a better look at what was going on, a small Pirate ship with three Pirates on board suddenly arrives nearby, and hovers just beyond the edge of the cliff in front of the other Pirates.

"Watch it mateys, someone's after killin' four of our own further up the canyon!" The ship's captain informs the Pirates with a pointed finger, in the general direction of the Pirates that Cooper had encountered mining Raritanium earlier. "If ye see anyone strange, kill 'em!" He orders, as he swiftly drags his thumb across his neck for emphasis. He then grips the ship's wheel and flies off, leaving the other Pirates to themselves.

"I Bet'cha it was the Lombax; she's been pesterin' us fer weeks now." A nearby Pirate reckons to one of his nearby compatriots.

"'Course it was the damn Lombax! That bilge-rat's always followin' Pierre 'round like a hungry Antara Swarmer..." The Pirate next to him bitterly remarks.

The fuck is a 'Lombax'? Daniel silently questions. He snapped himself out of his brief stupor with a swift shake of his head, understanding that he has no time to dawdle.

Seeing a trio of Pirates grouped together in front of him in conversation, made Obsidian recognise the kind of opportunity he had. Allowing his rifle to freely hang from its mechanical arm against his side again, Daniel reaches down to his belt with his now free hand and pulls a frag grenade from it. Firmly gripping it in his right hand, he pulls the pin with his left, before hurling it towards the three Pirates and ducking back behind his cover.

The grenade soars through the air, before it lands on the ground near them with a small thud. The Pirates quickly look down at the source of the noise and just as they realised what they were looking at, the grenade detonated, subsequently accelerating the metal fragmentation outwards at a velocity of many thousands of feet per second. Needless to say, the Pirates' armour stood no chance at protecting them from the almost point-blank explosion, the fragmentation shredding through their bodies and blowing off limbs, as the explosion sends them flying.

"WE BE UNDER ATTACK! RALLY UP, MATEYS!" One of the nearby Pirates warns, as the other Pirates nearby swiftly drew their weapons in response to the sudden threat, with three sword-wielding Pirates quickly hurrying towards the positions of their fallen comrades, while the Pirate Corsairs armed with pistols instead opted to take cover behind rocks or scrap metal.

Cooper peeks back over his cover with his rifle in tow, and lines up the sights on the three Pirates, who were fortunately for him, too preoccupied with examining their comrades' mangled bodies to immediately notice his presence. Three well-aimed bursts later, and they promptly joined their crewmates in the afterlife. Unfortunately for Daniel, this action didn't go unnoticed.

"IT BE THE COMMANDO!" A Pirate called out. "Ye won't best us this time, scallywag!" He vows, as he and other Pirate Corsairs began firing on him.

In response, Cooper activates his Cloak and launches himself out of his cover with a boost from his Jump Kit, just as shots began peppering the scrap metal he was behind only a split-second prior. As he dashes to and gets behind a rock formation a decent bit away from his original cover, Daniel then quickly swaps the magazine on his Hemlok before he begins returning fire from his new position, deactivating his Cloak.

"What the— He was just over there!" A bewildered Pirate suddenly exclaims, as he and the other Pirates readjust their aim towards the Pilot's new position. As they both exchanged shots with each other, one by one, the Pirate's numbers slowly declined, whilst showing little progress in repelling Obsidian's attack.

One of the Pirates then procures a crudely-made bomb from a pouch on her belt, and tosses it up in the air in her hand for good luck, before she pressed a button on its top to arm it. "This'll sort ye out!" She yelled, as she then lobs the bomb towards the Commando. It then lands on top of the rock formation with a clink! and rolls off of it, landing right next to him.

On instinct, Daniel quickly activates his Phase Shift with a clench of his fist and vanishes from this realm, just before the bomb exploded and blew the rock formation to pieces. The Pilot then runs out into the open, as he reappears with a flash and quickly draws his RE-45 Autopistol from its newly-equipped thigh holster, and fires off a spray at the startled Pirates, forcing them back behind their cover. He then slides behind another rock formation, which happened to be significantly closer to where they were holed up, and quickly reloaded his pistol.

One of the Pirates growls fiercely, "Why won't ye just die already!?" She angrily roared, as the other three remaining Pirates continue peppering the rock formation Obsidian was behind with their pistols, blowing off chunks of it in the process. As she pauses to reload her own pistol, she looks around at all of her deceased comrades, and suddenly realises that they were losing this fight.

She frantically pulls her communicator out from her pouch. "Pierre, we need backup!" She calls into it, "The Commando's here, and he's kickin' our arses!"

"Quoi?!" The First Mate replies, somewhat taken-aback, before he composes himself and continues. "Erm, do not fret! Reinforcements will arrive momentarily, as will I!" Pierre informs confidently, as the channel then turns to static, and she then resumes firing at Obsidian's position alongside her crewmates.

Instead of leaning out to return fire, Daniel waits until he gets the visual and audible confirmation from his Cloak's HUD indicator that it had finished recharging. He then produces another grenade from his belt and held it tightly as he pulled the pin, thus preventing the lever from immediately flying off and starting the detonation process.

With a flick of his left wrist, his Cloak activates and the Pilot vanishes again, as he jumps up on top of the rock formation. Then, with the help of his Jump Kit, Daniel leaps over the Pirates and drops the primed grenade right on top of them, then quickly takes cover behind a large rock upon landing somewhere behind them.

The female Pirate was notably more observant than the others, as she notices the grenade seemingly dropping out of thin air, and quickly dives out of the way. The same unfortunately could not be said for the other three Pirates, as they continued focusing their fire on the rock formation, not realising that the Commando was no longer behind it.

As the grenade exploded and killed the three oblivious Pirates, the last remaining Pirate was able to dive out of the way just in time to not suffer the same fate, but was not left completely unharmed, as she takes some fragmentation to her back, and one of her legs was completely blown off. As she hits the ground with a loud metallic thud and let out a pained groan, she then looked forward and spotted her pistol only a few feet in front of her.

The Pirate struggles, as she slowly and painfully crawls towards her fallen weapon. As she was about to lay her hand on the pistol's grip, it's suddenly knocked far out of her reach by an invisible force. Then, a pair of dark, armour-clad legs suddenly appear in front of her with a shimmer. She looks up, and to her horror, sees the muzzle end of a rifle pointed right in her face, and behind it, the blue, crescent-shaped visor of Obsidian's helmet glaring back at her.

In that moment, she feels only one thing: Complete and absolute terror. She puts up one of her hands in an attempt to surrender, but before she could croak out a desperate plea to spare her life, Obsidian promptly finishes her off with a three-round burst to her head, and her body goes limp and slumps face-down into the sandy ground.

"Warning Pilot, detecting multiple airborne contacts en-route to your location. Exercise caution." BT's monotonous voice abruptly warns Daniel through his helmet radio.

"Solid copy, BT!" The Pilot quickly responds. Great, here comes the cavalry. Daniel remarks to himself, silently hoping that this wasn't going to become the norm for him.

A few moments afterwards, three more Pirate ships appear up ahead, in an area that had several elevated rock slabs on the other side of a small chasm, with both areas being connected by an old, sketchy-looking rope bridge. The ships carried all different manners of Pirates, from ones armed with swords and shields, some with pistols, with one ship carrying a swarm of Cutlassies. As the ships slowly lower to the ground and the Pirates on board begin disembarking, Daniel runs ahead and slides into cover behind a large rock then quickly double checks his ammo.

While the Pirates swiftly spread themselves out and took cover behind whatever was available, a fourth Pirate ship suddenly appears and slows until it was hovering above hem. Daniel noticed that it only had two Pirates on board: One at the front behind the wheel, while the other was at the rear, hanging off the side of the ship's flagpole.

"Ahh, so you must be this 'Obsidian' I have heard so much about!" A loud, amplified remark suddenly emanates from the ship, grabbing Daniel's attention.

As he peeks his head out and looks up towards the ship, he uses his helmet display's built-in magnification function to get a better look at the two Pirates on board. The one behind the ship's wheel looked no different than the other Pirate's he'd encountered so far, leaning against the wheel with a bored, disinterested look on his face, like he didn't want to be there.

The other, who hung off the side of the ship's flagpole, looking down on Cooper with the help of a spyglass, looked notably different than the rest of the Pirates, as he wore a cyan vest and a black Pirate hat that had a blue crescent emblem on the front, with a blue and white feather sticking out on top. The Pirate also had a particular facial feature that stood out to Daniel: A huge, jutting underbite.

"And who the fuck are you supposed to be? Wait, let me guess; is it Captain Underbite?" Cooper mocks in reply.

"Oh, so sassy! And ferocious, too, from the looks of it!" Pierre remarks, as he puts his spyglass away and gestures to the deceased Pirates scattered around the Commando. "You remind me of another certain someone I often encounter..." He muses, as he then jumps down off the flag pole and leans a foot against the small railing on the edge of his ship's deck.

"But no, I am no captain. I am Pierre Le Fer; First Matey to Captain Blackwater, and Pirate Extraordinaire!" Pierre proudly exclaims as he throws his arms into the air, before lowering them and putting his fists on his sides. "And you, must be here for the Fulcrum Star as well, no? He presumes with a pointed finger.

"And what if I am? Are you gonna come down here and fight me for it yourself?" Cooper challenges. He doesn't fail to notice how the First Mate had just put himself right out in the open.

"Under normal circumstances, I would accept an offer of a duel..." Pierre admits, "But alas, you have yet to prove you are a worthy opponent!" He boastfully declares.

"Oh, is that so? Well, in that case, here's your proof!" Daniel shouts, as he brings his rifle up and lines up the sights on Pierre's head as quickly as he could, then squeezes off a three-round burst.

Before Pierre could react, two of the rounds narrowly whizz past his head, while the third just barely misses its intended target and instead hitting his hat and blows it straight off his head. Almost immediately after which, Pierre lets out a deafening squawk through his loudspeaker, before he subsequently falls backwards onto the deck and out of the Commando's sight.

After a briefly checking himself any injuries, Pierre quickly sits up once he discovers that he was fortunately completely unharmed, much to the relief of the other Pirate on board, who quickly runs over to him upon witnessing what he feared was the death of his First Mate. As Pierre then reaches over and picks up his fallen hat, he immediately notices a small hole on the brim that wasn't there previously. A furious scowl then burns across his face, as he realises what the Commando had just done. He then stands up and promptly affixed his slightly damaged hat back onto his head.

"First Matey, are ye alright?!" A concerned Pirate calls out from the ground beneath the ship.

"Pierre, should we attack?!" Another asks.

Pierre doesn't respond. Instead, he retrieves his nearby loudspeaker from the ship's deck, while also making sure he remains behind the edge of the deck, out of Obsidian's view.

"You shot my hat! How dare you!" Pierre furiously roars into his loudspeaker. "Pirate Mateys, I believe you all know what this implies...?" The First Mate hints. Upon hearing this, the other Pirates' eyes instantly widen in anticipation, realising that Pierre was referring to Article Twelve of the Pirate Code:

"If an outsider damages a Pirate's prized hat, they shall pay for it with their blood!" The Pirates recite in tune, as they then cheer and holler in excitement.

"Precisely! Mateys, ATTACK! Show that fool what happens to those who trifle with us Pirates!" Pierre commands his crew. In response, the Pirates let out battle cries and the Corsairs begin firing upon Obsidian, while the sword Pirates and the Cutlassies wisely chose to remain in cover, and wait until they had an opportunity to close the gap and swarm the Commando.

After exchanging fire for about half a minute or so, one of the Pirates threw another bomb at Daniel in an attempt to flush him out. In response, he Phase Shifted and then launched himself out of the blast radius with his Jump Kit towards another rock about twenty feet from his original cover, successfully dodging the crude explosive.

Whilst that was happening, Pierre flinches slightly when his communicator suddenly goes off inside his pouch, due to him still being somewhat uneasy after almost having his life ended by the Commando.

Pierre then retrieves the device in question, "First Matey, I think we've found the Fulcrum star!" A Pirate on the other end informs.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Secure it for transport on the Command Ship, I will return shortly." Pierre replies curtly.

"Aye aye, First Matey!" The Pirate fervently responds, as Pierre pockets his communicator and raises his loudspeaker again.

"Well, it has been fun, Obsidian! I bid you adieu!" Pierre smugly calls out to the Commando battling the Pirates below with a laugh, as his ship then swiftly accelerates away from the battle.

"Cooper, I am detecting the Ark is currently being relocated; Pierre's ship is headed towards its location. You must reach its location asap, and secure it by any means necessary." BT informs his Pilot.

"I hear ya, BT!" Daniel acknowledges, as he dodges a shot from a Pirate, and promptly returned the favour with a burst from his Hemlok. Even though he'd already made a dent in the number of Pirates firing at him, there were still way too many of them left on the other side of the bridge to deal with in a reasonable amount of time. If he chose to whittle them down one-by-one, he would be practically forfeiting the Ark.

"Scans indicate an opening leading to an extensive ravine network approximately fifty metres from your current location. I will lead you directly to the Ark's location from there." The Vanguard suddenly indicated.

A new waypoint marker then appears on Daniel's HUD, in front of a passage just beyond the Pirates, which presumably led to the ravine network BT informed him of. As the Commando squeezes off another burst and took down another one of the many Pirates shooting at him, he realises that he needs a way to get past them. With a clench of his fist, the Titan Pilot activated his Phase Shift, and promptly vanished. He then darts out of his cover, jumping over a piece of scrap metal in the process, and continues his sprint towards the chasm separating him and the Pirates.

After Daniel reappeared with a flash, he hurls his two remaining frag grenades at the Corsairs firing upon him, forcing them to briefly cease their fire to dodge the explosions. Some weren't fast enough to escape the blast radius in time, and were promptly blown to bits.

"Don't let him get 'cross the bridge!" One of the Pirates barks, as the remaining Corsairs quickly resume firing on the Commando, as a pair of Cutlassies quickly hover over to said bridge and slice the pair of frayed ropes holding it up, causing it to plummet into the chasm below, successfully preventing the Commando from crossing to the other side... Or so they thought.

After dodging a few of the Pirates shots with a swift Jump Kit-aided side-step and sending back a few shots of his own, Daniel reaches the edge of the chasm and leaps across to the other side without skipping a beat.

"He's got a bloody jetpack!" A Pirate notices.

"It won't save him! CHARRRRGE!" Another sword-wielding Pirate cries, as all the Sword Pirates and Cutlassies quickly rush out of their cover to swarm and overwhelm the Commando. But, before any of them could get close enough to attack, their target suddenly shimmered and vanished before their eyes without a trace. Every Pirate present then stop in their tracks, very confused on what just happened.

"What the— He just disappeared!" A baffled sword-wielding Pirate says bewilderedly, as he looks around for any sign of the Commando.

"We can see that, ye fool!" A disgruntled Corsair replies. "Look around, and watch your backs! He's gotta be 'round here somewhere..."

As the Pirates began searching the surrounding area, they weren't observant enough to notice a set of footprints in the sand, quickly making their way towards the passage behind them.

As Cooper ran into the passage and his Cloak subsequently ran out, he relaxes slightly upon confirming that there were no Pirates on his tail. He continues down through the passage, until the path he was on suddenly ceases upon reaching the opening to a narrow ravine. With no conventional means of traversing it, this would be where most men's journeys would come to an abrupt end. But Daniel wasn't like most men: He was a Pilot, and problems such as this one, were never an issue for Pilots.

With the help of his Jump Kit, Daniel jumps onto the ravine wall and begins wallrunning along it, leaping across to the other side when he feels his kit's thrusters begin to stall. As he wallruns from side to side through the ravine network, following the waypoints given to him by BT, he suddenly heard a thunderous roar coming from the engines of a (presumably) massive ship somewhere above. As he turns a corner into another intersecting chasm, he spots the massive ship in question slowly flying about thirty metres above him.

"Pilot, the Ark is on board that ship." BT informs, as an indicator marked 'ARK' subsequently appeared on Daniel's HUD. Judging from where it was located on the ship itself, Daniel surmised that that it was likely inside the ship.

"Copy that!" Daniel responds, as he quickly picks up the pace on his wallrunning. Once he was underneath the flying ship, he began quickly jumping back and forth between the two walls within the ravine, steadily getting higher and higher as a result. Once he found himself leaping over the ravine's peak, he quickly raises his right arm and fires his Grapple up towards the ship. The Grapple flew upwards and latched onto a metal railing on the edge of the ship's deck, and began reeling him upwards with a sharp tug.

As he was reeled up to the aft part of the ship, Cooper dodged the exhaust coming out of the ship's engines with a boost from his Jump Kit, swinging him outwards from the ship slightly, as he eventually reaches the railing and grabs ahold of it with his other hand. He quickly climbs over and onto the wooden deck, then took cover behind a nearby crate stack undetected.

He carefully leans out from behind the crates, allowing him to see that the ship's upper level was divided into three separate decks, with multiple Pirates spread out across them. Most of them were in the middle of undertaking various tasks; like maintaining the old, rusty cannons located on either side of the ship, or bringing crates from the various crate stacks down to the ship's lower levels, such as the stack Daniel was currently hiding behind, as he quickly ducks back behind it when a Pirate suddenly approached and removed a crate from the stack, before carrying it over to a nearby staircase and disappearing below the deck.

Waiting until he has an opportunity to do so unnoticed, the Pilot quickly and quietly follows the Pirate down the same staircase into the ship's lower deck. The Pirate ahead of him then turns and continues down another set of stairs down towards the ship's lower decks, where the muffled sounds of more Pirates could be heard originating from. Daniel instead continues forwards, towards the Ark's HUD marker straight ahead of him, which leads him to a pair of closed wooden doors with slatted windows that obscured the other side.

Getting up close and peering through the slats, Daniel could see into an extravagant living quarters, where Pierre and two other Pirates stood around a metal crate on the floor.

Pierre then kneels down and releases the clasp holding the crate shut and promptly raises the lid, and subsequently, a familiar and almost blinding blue light to emanate outwards and completely flood the room, prompting the Pirates to flinch and shield their eyes with their hands. Some of the light pours out through the slatted windows and into the hallway as well, as Daniel's helmet display automatically dims to account for the sudden increase in luminosity.

After recovering from being suddenly blinded, Pierre reaches into the crate and carefully scoops the source of the blinding light out of it: The Ark, which Daniel notices that it appears to be much smaller in comparison to when he'd last seen it on Typhon, to the point where Pierre was able to easily hold it within his right hand.

Any questions Daniel had as to why that was the case, would have to go unanswered for now, as Pierre frowns upon noticing something about the brightly-glowing orb's appearance. The First Mate carries the Ark towards a nearby desk where an open book sat on top. After looking back and forth between the Ark and the book's pages for a few moments, one of the other Pirates in the room speaks up.

"First Matey, is something wrong?"

Pierre doesn't immediately respond, and instead starts flicking through the book's pages for a few moments before he hums in thought. "This is quite strange; it looks nothing like the depictions of the Fulcrum Star in the manuscript..." Pierre mumbles to himself.

"But it is the Fulcrum Star, right?" The other Pirate asks.

"Perhaps not. The manuscript doesn't contain any information describing something like this..." Pierre admits, as he closes the book and turns around to face the other two Pirates. "If you're not the Fulcrum Star... Then just what are you?" He mumbles, as he stares deep into the Ark.

"I hope that means it's worth somethin'. I could use me some new boots; these ones have more holes in 'em than Blargian cheese!" A Pirate remarks with a laugh, as she raises her foot to show one of the heavily-worn boots in question. The other Pirate in the room chuckles mildly, as his gaze wanders towards the door to Pierre's quarters.

"OI! Who's that outside?!" The Pirate suddenly shouts, as both Pierre and the other Pirate quickly look to the door in confusion, and immediately notice a blue visor glaring back at them through the slatted window.

Realising that he's been noticed, Daniel backs up from the door slightly and draws his Smart Pistol from its holster, as the Pirate from the other side orders him to show himself. With pleasure. He silently remarks, as he then plants an exo-enhanced kick directly between the two doors, causing them to both fly open with a loud snap, revealing his

Pierre gasps upon seeing the Commando, and then quickly runs around and hides behind the other side of the desk in response. "HOW DID HE GET HERE?! KILL HIM, KILL HIM NOW!" He furiously orders his two Pirates with a pointed finger, who both quickly draw their swords.

As the closest Pirate swings his sword at the Commando in a wide sweep, Obsidian simply ducks under it, before he immediately fires a pair of guided rounds straight into the Pirate's face, causing him to instantly drop to the floor, dead. The second Pirate is just barely able to raise her sword for a swing of her own, before she too meets the same fate.

Daniel vigorously marches over to the desk, then reaches over it and grabs a cowering Pierre by the neck with his free hand before the Pirate has a chance to say anything. He then violently drags him over it and onto the floor with his exo-enhanced strength, knocking over everything on top the desk and causing Pierre to let out a panicked yelp. Then, pressing the muzzle of the Smart Pistol right into Pierre's right eye, he squeezes the trigger and fires the weapon, sending an unguided round straight into it.

The round must not have hit anything vital, as Pierre immediately screams in agonising pain. "MERDE! MY EYE, MY EYE!" He howls, as he promptly releases the Ark from his grasp and clasps both his hands over his right eye. Upon seeing the Ark, Cooper releases Pierre from his grip, and quickly reclaims it from the floor with his now-free hand.

As Daniel feels the Ark's strange chill seep into his hand, he quickly informs BT that he's secured the Ark, as he suddenly hears the sound of multiple heavy footsteps rapidly approaching. Several Pirates suddenly appear in the hallway outside the room, likely having heard the commotion and came to investigate it.

"WE'VE BEEN BOARDED MATEYS, ALL HANDS ON DECK!" One of the Pirates shouts, subsequently alerting the ship's entire crew to his presence, as the Corsairs draw their pistols and aim them at the Commando.

"He's got Pierre!" A stunned Pirate notices, as their First Mate writhes around on the floor in agony. "Give up, ye've got nowhere to go!" She growls.

Daniel slowly holsters his Smart Pistol. "Okay, okay, you've got me." He says, faking a defeated tone, as he then passes the Ark from his left hand to his right, and puts his left hand up, feigning a surrender.

"Ye'll be walkin' the plank straight into the mouth of a Kraken fer that!" Another Pirate remarks, the others nodding and grunting in agreement, as a pair of Pirates then enter the room and cautiously approach the Commando to apprehend him.

A smile creeps onto Cooper's face behind his crescent-shaped visor, as he clenches his left fist. Immediately, his Phase Shift activates, and the Pirates, including the ship he was in, instantly vanishes as Daniel immediately begins falling, his Jump Kit automatically activating to slow and control his descent.

As Daniel passes the Ark back to his left hand, he points his right arm upwards in preparation to Grapple onto the ship when it reappears. The colour then quickly returns to his vision, as did the Pirates' ship, but before he could fire his Grapple, the Ark suddenly begins quickly emitting pulsing waves of energy in all directions, and starts becoming brighter in brighter in the Pilot's hand. The light show happening in his hand diverted Daniel's attention from the Pirates' ship long enough for it to fly out of his Grapple's range.

As he continues falling, a sudden gust of wind blows the Commando off balance slightly, and without thinking, he fires his Grapple at a rusty metal beam attached to a piece of old scaffolding that hung over the ravine's edge. The Grapple latches onto the beam, and after feeling a tug on his right arm, for a moment it seems that it might support his weight long enough for his Jump Kit to correct his balance...

Until it doesn't.

The beam breaks away from the rest of the scaffolding with a loud metallic snap, sending the broken beam along with Daniel plummeting down the ravine.

Daniel was able to vaguely make out BT warning him that the Ark was beginning to overload in his ear, before the Ark's bright luminosity suddenly increased, blinding him, as another pulse knocked him hopelessly further off-balance. The only thing Daniel could remember before he blacked out, was a cold, numbing sensation in his left hand.

————————————————————

NEFARIOUS TOWER,

CORSON V

Within top floors of Nefarious Tower, the tallest building in the known universe, the tyrannical Emperor that the tower and the city was named after layed back in his chair facing the wall of monitors behind his desk, with one leg crossed over the other. His Assistant hovered beside him, nervously fiddling with her three-fingered hands.

Each of the outer monitors currently displayed a clear video of each of the Rebels, including a white and blue-furred Lombax battling some Laser Troopers with an Enforcer, a pink-skinned Agorian wielding an Agorian Warhammer and slamming it into the dome of a Nefarious Slugger, and a brown-furred Cazar duel-wielding a pair of Combustors and firing them at a horde of Troopers filtering through the loading yard's main security gate. When a Blitztrooper suddenly appears and spins up its guns, that particular video feed abruptly ends when a stray shot from its barrage of fire unintentionally destroys the camera.

Alongside those three Rebels was a video of a green Rilgarian sneaking past some Troopers, as he suddenly shimmers and transforms into a standard worker bot, then quickly enters the factory. The feed then changes to a video of that same bot sneaking past the factory guards, by blending in with the other worker bots. The middle monitor then changes to display an image of a destroyed Juggernaut displaying major damage, with oil and acid leaking out of where its head once was.

"Assistant, do tell me: Why did the Troopers not manage to kill or even simply capture a single Rebel?" Nefarious asks in an eerily calm tone. "Why is my warship factory not completely intact, but instead, nothing but smouldering concrete and metal?!" The Emperor suddenly roars in pure fury at his Assistant, his orange eyes shrinking and becoming tiny pinpoints, as she quickly shrinks at his outburst.

The plan was quite simple: Should the Rebels somehow repel the sudden horde of Troopers arriving at the main gate, a Juggernaut would be quietly deployed to ambush and quickly overwhelm them, then capture or kill as many of them as possible. Or, at the very least, force the rebels to completely abandon their sabotage mission altogether. But instead, none of these things happened, and the Rebels were able to completely destroy the factory and somehow kill the Juggernaut, with absolutely no casualties to boot!

"I'm very sorry your greatness, but there was an... unexpected development." Nefarious' Assistant says somewhat nervously, as she then produces a tablet and taps away at it in her grasp.

The large middle monitor then very briefly turns to static, before it returns with a hazy image of a distant, well-armoured, Markazian-like figure standing atop a shipping container, wielding a strange, unknown weapon. Even though the quality of the image was lacking, Nefarious could easily make out the blue glow of the figure's crescent-shaped visor permeating through the haze.

"It appears the Resistance has recruited a new member into their annoying little cause." She states with a scoff, as she crosses her arms. "A Markazian, it seems."

"Do we have any better pictures of this individual?" The Emperor asks somewhat irritably, now having calmed down from his prior outburst, as he leans his head against his hand on his chair's armrest.

"No sir, any other camera angles we may have had of the Markazian were unintentionally destroyed by the Juggernaut not long after it was deployed." She explains. "We were unfortunately unable to extract any footage from the Juggernaut's data drive due to heavy acid damage."

The Emperor growls, as he swiftly uncrosses his legs and slams a foot down onto the floor in anger, before sitting up straight in his chair. "He's lucky they killed him, because if they didn't, I would've had him sent straight into a smelting pit for his folly!" Nefarious angrily responds.

"If you would like, I can have that arranged with his remains, your majesty?" The Assistant offers somewhat eagerly.

"Yes, you do that, Assistant." He grumbles, as the Assistant taps away on her tablet, forwarding the Emperor's orders to the Troopers. Nefarious returns his gaze to the large monitor displaying the likely perpetrator behind the Resistance's recent success. "Who are you?" He seemingly asks the figure on the monitor with a gesture, as if he was expecting a reply.

"Shall I attempt to learn more about this new rebel? I can go and ask around in that traitor's pub in the Scarstu Debris Field, if you wish?" The Assistant suddenly offers, looking up from her tablet. Her ability to do such a thing without being recognised was thanks to the fact that hardly anyone, bar the Resistance, knew who she was. The fact that she didn't sport the typical Nefarious colours of white and orange, definitely assisted her there.

"No need, I suspect we'll be seeing more from our mysterious new friend very soon." Nefarious says with a wave of his hand, as he then chuckles ominously, with the Assistant soon joining in.

Daniel's eyes shoot open, and he lets out a groan when he finds himself staring up into the sky from the bottom of a relatively thin ravine. He didn't remember how he got here. He didn't even remember what planet he was on. He notices how groggy he feels, as if he had just woken up from a deep sleep a flashing, yellow indicator on suddenly appears on his HUD that says: 'WARNING: INTERNAL TEMPERATURE LOW.' Looking to his body temperature readout on his HUD, sure enough, his body temperature was slowly but steadily falling.

It was then that Daniel notices how his whole body felt numb, and was violently shivering from how cold he was. Was being at the bottom of the ravine insulating him from the planet's (which he then remembered as Torren IV) scorching heat above? Maybe. But that didn't take from the fact that he was freezing, and needed to find a way to warm up. As he sat up, he could immediately tell that the source of the cold wasn't due to anything in his vicinity, like being partially submerged in heat-sapping water for example, and that it was instead emanating from an icy, throbbing sensation in his left hand.

When Cooper raises his left hand to inspect his shivering palm, there didn't appear to be anything wrong with it at first glance. When he shakily rotates his wrist to inspect the other side, he discovers the apparent source of the numbing cold:

The Phase Shift that once rested on the back of Daniel's glove, was now replaced with a similarly circular device that looked almost completely different to a Phase Shift. Where the thick copper coil making up the majority of the Phase Shift's mass once was, a shiny, silver in colour, but also unusually unreflective metallic ring now took its place, glowing a familiar blue on its top.

Daniel then recalls the Ark overloading in his hand, and the strange, otherworldly chill he felt from it, after he recovered it from the Pirates. Before he had time to dwell on that thought, he suddenly feels himself becoming more and more drowsy, as the flashing yellow marker on his HUD then turned red:

WARNING: INTERNAL TEMPERATURE CRITICAL. HYPOTHERMIA IMMINENT.

Daniel tries to pick himself up from the sandy ground, but his legs suddenly give way, and he quickly finds himself laying on his back staring up at the empty sky again. As the cold continues emanating from the device on his left hand, Daniel tries to sit up again, only to find that he can't, due to a sudden stiffness gripping his muscles. He desperately tries to raise his arms, to no avail, only barely able to twitch his fingers.

Daniel's breathing quickens as he begins to panic. Why was this happening? Did it have anything to do with the device on his left hand? Of course it did, he knew that already... Didn't he...?

Shivering, weakness, confusion. Yep, I'm freezing to death.

In a sudden bout of clarity, Daniel remembers that the cold was coming from the device on his hand, and that he needed to figure out how to shut it off, now. Fighting against the almost corpse-like stiffness in his left hand, he eventually manages to clench it, as if he was activating his Phase Shift, in a desperate attempt to deactivate the device. If this didn't work, there would be nothing else he could do, but accept his fate.

Fortunately, and immediately, the cold throb emanating from his left hand ceases, as Daniel feels the warmth from Torren IV's scorching heat embrace him, as he watches his HUD indicate that his life signs were now stabilising. He lets out a sigh of relief, and after a few moments, he eventually finds the strength to roll onto his side, as he hears a familiar Vanguard's monotonous voice speak to him through his helmet radio.

"Cooper, be advised, I have just detected a severe time distortion in your area." BT informs blankly, "Exercise extreme caution."

"'Time distortion'?" Daniel asks in confusion, as he slowly picks himself up off the sandy ground. "What are you talking about—"

"FIND THAT BASTARD, AND BRING ME HIS HEAD!" Pierre's accented voice echo through an amplifier, from somewhere above the ravine. When Daniel looks back to his glove, he finds that whatever was on his hand, had completely vanished.

Before Daniel could linger on any thoughts he might have, BT speaks again. "Warning: Pirates inbound." The Vanguard warns, as Daniel then hears and sees a multitude of Pirate ships of varying shapes and sized fly over his ravine.

One of them flies and stops just above the ravine, and shines a spotlight down into it at the other end. The spotlight slowly travels down the ravine towards Daniel's position, who in response, calmly flicks his wrist to activate his Cloak. Even if the light were to shine directly on him, as long as he his Cloak was active, it would be as if he wasn't there at all.

It was only after a few seconds that Daniel realises that flicking his wrist did nothing. A window suddenly appears on his HUD, stating: 'CLOAK OFFLINE'. Before he can turn to leap onto the ravine wall to escape, another window appears: 'JUMPKIT OFFLINE. REINITIALISING... 20%'.

"You're fucking shitting me." Daniel remarks, as he flicks his wrist again and again, in hopes of jump-starting his Cloak, to no avail. "Damn it, not now!" The Commando frustratedly remarks, as he freezes when the spotlight suddenly shines over him, and a multitude of roars are heard above on the ship.

"HE'S HERE! GIVE HIM A BROADSIDE, MATEYS!" A hatted Pirate, likely an officer of sorts, orders the crew, drawing his sword and raising it into the air, while the Pirates manning the trio of cannons on the side of the ship line them up on the Commando, as Daniel's Jump Kit's initialisation progress jumps from twenty percent, to sixty percent.

"Oh, give me a fucking break..." Cooper dismally grumbles, as he gets into a low, prepared stance, with his knees and elbows bent slightly, getting himself prepared to dodge without the assistance of his Jump Kit.

REINITIALISING... 80%.

"Steady... Aim... FIRE IN THE HOLE!" The Pirate officer calls out, swiftly swinging his sword downwards, as the trio of cannons subsequently erupt in sequence and fire a bombardment of cannonballs at the Commando.

REINITIALISING... 100%. JUMPKIT ONLINE.

Even with the aid of his newly-reactivated Jump Kit, Daniel only barely jumps out of the way in time to dodge the three cannonballs hurled at him by the ship's cannons, which subsequently kick up lots of sand and leave moderately sized craters in the ground in their wake.

"Miss!" The officer says, "Reload and fire again!" He orders the cannon crew, as they proceed to do just that.

Seeing an opening, Daniel turns and leaps onto the ravine wall and starts wallrunning away from the Pirate ship above him.

"He's runnin'! Get after him!" The officer commands, as the ship turns and starts pursuing the Pilot.

"BT, my Cloak's offline and my Phase Shift's gone! I need an exit!" Daniel informs, "And what the hell was that thing on my hand, and where did it go?!" He asks frantically, as he quickly leaps to the opposite wall to dodge a lone cannonball fired at him.

"I will explain later. Continue evading the Pirates until your Cloak comes back online. I will bring the ship to your position when you have successfully eluded them; we cannot risk it being destroyed." The Vanguard-Class Titan responds in his ear.

"Got it!" Cooper replies, as he narrowly dodges another

cannonball that slams into the ravine wall where he was a split-second prior, breaking off a big chunk of rock and causing it to plummet to the bottom of the ravine with a loud crash. Daniel knew that BT was right: They simply couldn't risk the ship getting shot down, not when he was actively being attacked. If that happened, then he would be as good as dead.

As Daniel continues evading his pursuers through the ravine for a minute or so, dodging their shots all the while, (The aim on some of which were very poor, he notices) a stray cannonball suddenly slams into the ravine wall just ahead of him, and knocks him off of it. Before he can fall to his doom, he quickly fires his Grapple to the other wall and manages to successfully recover, as he then continues wallrunning on the other side.

Eventually, the relatively thin ravine Daniel was parkouring through ends, and leads him into a much wider intersecting ravine that leaves him far more vulnerable to the Pirates than before. His overall speed begins faltering, from needing to jump at a far straighter angle to reach the opposite wall. As the Pirate ship chasing him starts flying above the middle of the ravine, both cannon crews on either side then take turns firing upon him whenever he leaps over to their side.

"Warning: Additional Pirates inbound." BT warns, as two more Pirate ships quickly appear from different directions overhead, and join the other in raining cannon fire down on the wallrunning Commando.

"Ye can't run forever, it be only a matter of time!" A Pirate atop one of the ships called out to him.

Daniel knew the Pirate was right; even though their shots were currently uncoordinated, it was only a matter of time until he would meet his end. But with his Cloak still offline, and his Phase Shift seemingly no more, what else could he do?

"BT, I could really use an idea right now!" Cooper asks, as a cannonball strikes the wall above him and sends shrapnel-like rock fragments straight into him, making him flinch, though he was thankfully protected from it by his armour. After a slight delay, BT responds.

"Calculating..."

"Cease fire! Reload and await my command!" The first ship's officer orders, as all three ships promptly cease their assault on the Titan Pilot. The officer then draws his sword and raises it into the air, similar to before.

"Steady...!"

"Cooper, I may have a solution. Clench your left hand."

"Aim...!"

Daniel knew from many past experiences to always trust the Vanguard's advice, and to be honest, he was desperate for any kind of solution right now, no matter how unusual it might sound. Daniel then clenches his left hand into a fist.

Almost instantaneously, the shiny metal ring from before materialises onto the back of his glove, and he feels a familiar and otherworldly chill begin flowing through his body, causing him to suck in a sharp breath. What the ring was, or what its activation had done, Daniel had no idea.

As Daniel leaps across to the other side of the chasm to dodge the inevitable barrage of cannonfire, after a few seconds he notices that it... Never comes?

As he risks a peak over his shoulder at the three Pirate ships, he sees all of them... flying at a snail's pace?

The Pilot then immediately anchors himself to the wall with his Grapple to get a better look at the ships, and sure enough, all three of the Pirates' ships were moving so slowly, they might as well not be moving at all. A few seconds later, as Daniel feels himself getting colder and colder, the Pirate officer very slowly swings his sword downwards, and after a lengthy delay, each of the cannons erupt into a symphony of fire and smoke.

As the cannons begin peppering the ravine wall in an extremely slow sequence, Daniel sees a group of dragon-like creatures flying slowly far overhead, flapping their wings far too slowly for it to be possible for them to maintain their flight, as he notices the 'LOW INTERNAL TEMPERATURE' warning appear on his HUD again. Now that he knew how to shut the thing off, Daniel clenches his fist again, and everything around him, including the Pirates and the creatures flying above him, resume moving at a normal speed.

As the barrage of cannonfire quickly resumes and subsequently finishes, the Pirates on the opposite side of the ship visibly recoil in shock. "WHAT IN ZONI'S NAME— How'd he move so fast?!" One such Pirate exclaims, pointing a finger at the Commando hanging from the ravine wall, as the rest of the crew manning the cannons turn around to look, and the three ships slow to a halt.

"Pilot, I have marked your HUD with coordinates for exfiltration." BT informs, as a waypoint indicator appears on Daniel's HUD, leading somewhere further down the chasm.

"How hard can it be to shoot a single man?! The officer angrily exclaims, "Prepare to fire again, and do not miss this time!" He orders, pointing the tip of his sword towards Obsidian, as the Pirates quickly man the available cannons facing towards the Commando's new position.

"Steady... Ah ta' hell with it, just blast him!" The officer shouts with some impatience, as the cannons subsequently fire a massive volley of cannonballs towards Obsidian.

Without thinking, Daniel clenches his fist again, and subsequently, he feels the distinct chill emanating from his left hand return, as the cannonballs headed towards him subsequently slow to a crawl, now appearing almost as if they were suspended in mid-air.

In the moment, Daniel ignores this, and he quickly retracts his Grapple and resumes wallrunning down the ravine, avoiding their line of fire with ease. As the Pilot wallruns around a bend and breaks line of sight with the Pirates, a new waypoint marker appears on his HUD, leading him further down the ravine.

What Daniel didn't know, was that from the Pirate's perspective, everything didn't slow down, like it appeared to him. Instead, the Commando the Pirates were firing upon instantly accelerates to an almost blinding speed, becoming a dark blur and quickly whizzing down the ravine and disappearing around a bend all within a fraction of a second, leaving the Pirates completely dumbfounded.

"What the hell?! Where'd he go?!" A Pirate manning one of the ship's many cannons exclaims, as he lets go of his cannon's grips and rubs both of his eyes. The other Pirates on his side of the ship were in a similarly confused state, unsure of whether or not what they all saw was simply a figment of one's imagination, a hallucination resulting from an overindulgence in grog, or proof that Obsidian possessed magical powers.

"Ah, don't tell me ye's all lost him!" The ship's officer calls out. "We were right on top of him, how could ye's lose him?!" He roars furiously.

"I don't know, he just... disappeared!" The Pirate explains, as the ship speeds up again after the officer's order, with the other two ships following close behind.

"Well, maybe if ye weren't takin' so long to reload the bloody cannon, ye might've been able to land a shot!" Another Pirate on the other side of the ship's deck jabs at him.

"Don't be gettin' on my case! His aim was all over the place!" He retorts, as he angrily gestures to the Pirate on the cannon next to him, who wore a black beanie alongside an eyepatch over his left eye.

The Pirate in question then slowly and shakily turns around to face his compatriot, and points an accusing finger at him. "I'm drunk, *hic*, you don't have an excuse!" He slurs out, before he suddenly loses his footing and hits the ship's deck with a crash, and passes out cold.

As the Pirates continue bickering amongst each other, the trio of ships eventually fly past a small chasm intersecting the large ravine, that unbeknownst to them, contained the Commando they were chasing.

As Daniel hung from the wall with the aid of his Grapple, he let out a shivery sigh of relief, as he felt the heat of Torren IV begin gradually warming him back up. Raising of his left fist, Daniel looks at the ring-shaped device protruding out the back of it. "What the hell is this thing?" He asks nobody in particular, as he hears the engines belonging to a familiar dropship above him.

"Pilot, I am detecting a fleet of spacecraft entering Torren IV's atmosphere; likely Imperial forces. I recommend that you evacuate immediately." BT's monotonous voice warbles from the green and yellow Militia Crow's PA system, as the ship carefully lowers itself into the ravine and stops next to the Pilot hanging from the wall, before the side door slides open.

With a boost from his Jump Kit, Daniel effortlessly jumps from the wall and lands in the Crow with a small metallic thud. When he does this, he sees an indicator pop up on his HUD:

CLOAK ONLINE.

Daniel lets out a defeated sigh. Perfect fucking timing, as always. The Pilot silently remarks, as he walks up to the front of the Crow and gets himself seated in the Pilot's seat. "Get me off this goddamn planet, BT." Daniel wearily remarks to BT, the Vanguard issuing an acknowledgment, as the Crow's engines subsequently pick up again, and the Militia Dropship takes off into the sky, disappearing into the cosmos with a flash.

————————————————————

THE CARTER BRAXTON,

THARIA

Daniel sat on a small crate with a solemn expression on his face, his helmet sitting beside him, with the black and grey chassis of BT-7274 standing almost motionlessly nearby within the Braxton's spacecraft hanger. "So... you're saying that this thing can slow down time?" Daniel asks in a grave tone, raising his now gloveless left fist to reveal the glowing, alien device protruding out the back of it.

"While also protecting you from its effects, yes." The Vanguard's monotonous voice reverberates through the hanger, confirming Daniel's suspicion.

"I swear, I feel like I'm in a video game sometimes..." Daniel sighs, placing his palm over his face. "And what the hell happened to the Ark back there? Why was it so much smaller on Torren IV than on Typhon?"

"It seems that activating your Phase Shift close proximity to the Ark greatly destabilised it, and subsequently caused it to overload. As for the change in the Ark's mass, it is possible that the Ark overloading on Typhon caused it to separate into multiple fragments, instead of detonating like we previously believed." BT explains, as he then crouches down and projects a map of the Polaris Galaxy in front of Daniel, marked with several glowing orange dots marked: 'UNKNOWN ENERGY SIGNATURE'. Daniel sees that there was at least a few dozen of these dots marked as such located throughout the galaxy, as the Vanguard-Class Titan continued. "The Braxton's scanners are currently detecting multiple unexplained energy signatures throughout the galaxy. However, I am currently unable to confirm if any of which are derived from the Ark."

"Looks like only time will tell." Daniel reckons, as BT finishes the projection and stands up. "But that still doesn't explain why... this happened." The Pilot says, raising his left fist into the air again, showing off the metal ring protruding out the back of his hand. "Or what that freezing cold I felt was..." Daniel mutters, as he relaxes his fist, and watches in mild concern as the ring subsequently retreats back into his hand, and disappears.

"My analysis indicates that your Phase Shift was able to absorb a portion of the Ark's energy when it was overloading, the result of which significantly altering its molecular structure and producing the time-displacing device currently merged with your hand. It is bonded to you at an atomic level, and cannot be removed by any conventional means." The Titan explains.

"As for the cold sensation you observed while the device was active, this can likely be attributed to the radiation it produces as a by-product."

"...I sincerely hope this isn't the kind of radiation that'll make me start throwing up my own organs soon..."

"Other than the continuous fall of your body temperature while the device is active, I have not detected any other side-effects of this radiation on your person." BT reassures Daniel, who breathes a sigh of relief.

"Well, thank fuck for that... That's like... the second time in a week I've cheated death." Daniel remarks.

"I do not believe it is possible to cheat against something that does not possess a physical form, especially while in combat." BT states completely monotonously, prompting Daniel to let out an amused snort at the Titan's inability to understand certain phrases.

"It's a phrase, BT. It just means I survived a near-death situation." Daniel explains with an amused expression.

"Understood. I have added the phrase 'Cheat Death' to my vocabulary. Taking into account your explanation of the phrase, we have both 'cheated death' more than three-hundred times within the last one-hundred-and-sixty-eight standard hours."

Daniel stared at the Vanguard with a blank expression for a few seconds, before looking away. Had he really almost died that many times within the last week? It sure didn't feel that way. But when he thought over it, he realised that every little skirmish he had been in, even if it was with a lone Grunt or Pirate, technically had been a near-death situation. Or when he miscalculated a jump at the MacAllan's crash site, and only barely managed to grab hold of the ledge and prevent himself from falling into the rapids, was yet another time he'd cheated death. After a while, without him even realising it, they had all just... blended together. As concerning of a thought it was, it was almost as if he'd gotten used to it. After all, death was a subject Daniel had been very familiar with for many years now...

"Daniel, your vitals indicate you are now beginning to suffer from exhaustion." BT suddenly informs Cooper, who looks back up to meet the Vanguard's lone eye. "I recommend you return to your quarters and get some rest."

"Yeah, I think I've earned it." Daniel agrees with a low sigh, as he grabs his helmet and glove and stands up off the crate and begins walking towards Officer Adams' quarters, before suddenly turning around to face BT with his left fist raised, showing off the device on its back. "Hey — Now that I have this thing, 'cheating death' should be a breeze!" Daniel calls back to the Vanguard.

"Cooper, I must warn you: Third-parties may experience the device's effects differently than how you do. They may instead observe you briefly gaining incredible speed." BT cautions him, "If you must use it in any given situation, use it as sparingly as possible, in order to prevent yourself from developing hypothermia."

"Got it, bud. I'll see you tomorrow!" Daniel says with a thumbs-up.

"Farewell, Cooper." BT replies, mimicking the gesture.

With that, Daniel departs the Braxton's hanger, and continues onwards towards Officer Adams' quarters, to obtain some well earned rest.

————————————————————

A/N: Did anyone else wonder how and why Nefarious' Assistant knew about Zurkie's in the game? I think the only logical explanation would be that Nefarious already knew about Zurkie's prior to the game's events, so I decided that adding a little reference to that in this chapter would be fun. Maybe the reason why Nefarious always seems to have the edge over the Resistance is because they're often unknowingly discussing their plans in earshot of Nefarious' Assistant? Now that's a funny idea!