My eyes struggled to look around. I can barely see anyone near me. But the screams…I hear them. I hear my comrade’s voice box torn by the pitch of their own voice. I tried to help but I was too late. I can feel my boots damp in their blood as I walk around. I must survive, live to fight another day. I followed my assumptions as I walked north. My eyes narrowed as I saw a figure from afar. Is that a trooper? Is that…no…It can’t be…Why here?
A dark figure slowly marched to the man’s position. He had a sword that looked like an african Konda blade but highly modified. He couldn’t identify the figure’s identity until…
Monarch’s visor glowed. The purple luminescent light that was within the visor of the helm cleared through the dense sandstorm. The Atomik Kontorola became more recognisable. He locked eyes with the man as he marched closer and closer. In an act of defense, the man would whip out his twin revolvers and begin raining fire on the Supreme Leader. It was futile.
Monarch would form a shield of energy to protect him from the gunfire. As he was within attack range, he would disarm the man of his weapons. In a swift strike, he sliced off the man’s right arm.
The man would fall, grabbing his right shoulder as he attempted to crawl away from Monarch.
“Bastard! You fucking cunt!” He weeped in pain as he accidentally stumbled into a hole.
Monarch’s shadow loomed over the hole as the sandstorm slowly started to fade away.
“What tragedy inspired you to do this?” His thick Australian accent came through.
“Betrayal breaks a man from within. Out comes a monster cold by heart, hungry for power and fuelled with rage. Only men who have undergone the same fate would see eye to eye with my vision.” Monarch would eject a beam of energy from his fingertips around the hole, burying the man alive.
He would then march away. Bodies of whom he had slaughtered would slowly reveal itself from the faded sandstorm. The dune fields would be gushed in blood. Monarch slowly walked away from the scene, taking one last look at his destruction and muttering the words,
“The tale of the legendary gunslinger ends here, Kal Rexington.”
~~
A light cruiser would enter Mbongu atmosphere. The cruiser seemed advanced . It did not have any faction markings. Nevertheless, it approached Mbongu’s capital as if it was a regular visitor. “Malevolence Cruiser 3, please slow your descent and provide the documents before entering Mbongu International Spaceport.” A transmission would be called to the cruiser.
“I will need hangar 14 to be closed off and accessible only to me.” A voice replied.
“Sir, I demand your documents before entry. It is a security protocol.”
“I actually own the building so please be quick to get ready.”
“If you’re Rigel Kry, then I’m Supreme Leader Monarch. Stop playing games, joker.”
“Very well then, access code D-17. Ajay Shrader sending the documents over.”
Another voice could be heard in the distance in the transmission.
“You idiot! That's Ajay Shrader. He owns the building.”
“No he doesn’t. Mr Kry does.”
“You don’t read the news. Kry Family Limited had majority of company shares bought by Shrader Corporations meaning technically, this spaceport and majority other buildings in the capital are owned by him. Now please, let the man in.”
“Oh…”
The cruiser made its quick land as the hangar doors slowly closed shut. The cruiser ramp lowered. Both Destoria and Ajay would walk down.
“Fancy tech. Doesn’t look like the ones back on Tessa.” Destoria commented on the computers and machines that were neatly arranged inside the hangar. They seemed more advanced.
“Those are next generation mission control units. Beside it are various weapon modifiers and a programmable matter chamber for repairs or formulating ammunition and attachments. The big black box beside that, however, is a completely functional mobile operations center. It can be carried by any cruiser and the operation capability is that of a capital ship.” He pointed around as he gave Destoria a little tour of the machines in the hangar.
“What are war machines like these doing in a random hangar on a random planet?” Destoria raised her brow as she pivoted to face Ajay.
“Well, I sell military arms to some private militaries in exchange for untraceable goods. Those goods go straight to Tessa unchecked at customs and are not liable to be halted by patrol ships. The only reason those arms are not used by us is because it is registered by the GLF.”
“You know, the Ajay I knew focused on making the most advanced prosthetics for the disabled while publicly mocking company rivals.” She smiled as she crossed her arms.
“Times are hard. I’m just desperate to make sure those fascist monkeys lose. Anyways, shall we?” He made wayThe stretch where the ambush occurred was covered with bodies that were nearly sunken in the sand. The two crossed the graveyard, searching for clues as to what happened. Cee-G would grab one of the hands that were protruding out. To the android’s surprise, only the left hand and the upper body of this carcass remained. It examined the uniform before making a conclusion. “Ms Roxx, this is field division 77.” “The division assigned under Kal.” The android panned slightly to the sky before its eyes changed colour from orange to green. The voice box would change, almost like a transmission from the controller. “Des. I will need you to step back as I run Cee-G for a 3 dimensional replication of the scene based on body trajectory and thermal energy that surprisingly reeks in this place.” As Destoria took a few steps back from the bodies, Cee-G hovered up into the sky as he projected a holographic image of the entire scenario. Two skilled individuals made clean work for the soldiers. One of them wielded a sword. The other, guns. The one who wielded the sword was a Tariol Operator by the name of Edenia Hardy. Former olympic swordswoman of Earth turned criminal. She was enlisted into the ranks of a Tariol Operator after the massive breakout of the Nexus Stronghold that was a prison for criminals of The New Allegiance. Though she was a human and did not possess any abilities, she had her left arm replaced with a prosthetic made by Shrader Corporations. Even though it made her human again, she was prompted an upgrade by engineers of the Galactic Liberation Front and it became her wielding arm. She was able to pull out her sword in an instant and behead someone before they could even birth a thought. On top of her supreme swordsmanship, her sword of choice was a sabre made with the same alloy used for Monarch’s Atomik Kontorola. The marksman that accompanied her in the bloodbath was Vladimir Uri, famously known as Headhunter. Equipping over 10 firearms, numerous forms of throwables and a targeting visor, he became the Liberation Front’s most skilled marksman. His father was one of the few that was chosen for the Russian special branch expansion to other corners of the galaxy. The unit merged with an extra terrestrial terrorist group and his father found his mother. After his parents were executed for desertion, Vlad joined the Galactic Liberation Front and sharpened his marksmanship before he was handpicked by the Supreme Leader for an ‘upgrade’. The two cleared the field before a sandstorm formed. It was then that Monarch entered via a transportation beam from space. to a control unit that was beside them. The two walked up to the control unit. They would begin their search for Kal as Ajay configured the panel to analyse Kal’s objective locations to then cross reference with his initial mission. Destoria waited patiently because she had no idea how to operate anything like the mission a few feet in front of her. Ajay is the man behind the screen. The voice in their ears. The other head operators lead in battle while he directs from above. An overwatch of sorts. Eventually, they would be able to ping towards a possible last location of Kal. Though it seems irregular, it looked like a location where one would be ambushed. Trapped in the middle of orange sand dunes. “I’ll go take a look.” Destoria would pull out her kunai chains that were neatly twirled on her belt. As she said that, footsteps could be heard from the light cruiser. As she turned around, a cybernetic figure walked down from the ramp. “Des, that is Cee-G. An android I designed from the untraceable goods to help aid in battle. Whatever he does, take it as if I did it.” The android would walk towards Destoria, offering a handshake. “Greetings Ms Roxx, I am Cee-G unit 1. Mr Shrader’s first android unit.” “Ajay wouldn’t offer to shake hands. He would flip people off.” Destoria looked at the robotic hand before looking back up to Cee-G’s eyes. “Advice noted. The digitus medius finger will be used for greeting someone.” Destoria chuckled as she turned to Ajay. “Shall we?” ~~ The two would be walking through the desert. Destoria struggled to walk at a steady pace as she swayed her hands left and right to fight the soft ground. Cee-G was hovering with his rocket boots. The thruster would disperse the sand below its feet around as it formed a singular path beside the trail of footprints left by Destoria. “We should be nearing the calculated last location of Mr Rexington.” As the two walked up the dune cliff, they would be in shock.
![Arc 2: The Gunslinger [1]](https://us-a.tapas.io/sa/75/3f2dbf69-6a38-42ae-ab49-a3a2f7bbb609.png)
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