Entry 104. February 12th 2064. Life in this god-forsaken universe is getting worse. I never thought I'd miss the old days. I used to serve with pride and joy. Now, I just feel regret all over. The bad luck that swept all of us was…too much. I had to bury people I love over the years and I thought that was it. Everytime I pick up my helmet, I just remember dad’s words. “Being someone with a good heart is not enough. You need to inspire people to have a good heart too.” I can’t imagine what he would say if he was around. All those people I killed for what? The Allegiance to limp further to success? I used to have everything. A duty I actually enjoy, someone I can look into in the eyes and feel whole and just to be the hero dad wanted me to be. Everyday I wake up, I just hope that the next battle I fight will be my last. I need peace.

The words Ryan muttered into his recorder when he woke up kept coming back to him while his eyes glared into the mission documents of Mbongu when he was alone in the big room. He had just wrapped up a mission brief for both Ajay and Destoria to find their lost friend, Kal Rexington. Even with the sliver of hope that Kal would return, he still felt sad. Being a leader of a rebellious group that fights for hope couldn't heal the damage done to his spirit. Before he could stare into the pile of words in front of him, the sounds of the doors sliding on the metallic floor caught his attention. A woman entered the room. She was wearing tight leather garments with armour padding on her shoulders and knees. Hints of purple were mixed with the overall dark leather she was wearing. Her brown hair was tied back and her ponytail rested on a quiver that was attached to her back. Her heels clicked at every step she took closer to the roundtable. It was Ava Pentercost.

“Ryan, I need your help.” Ava asked as she rested her hands onto the roundtable.

Ryan crossed his hands as his eyebrows raised, showing his curiosity to her request.

“I have intel from one of the old Vigilante Corps divisions that hid on Earth. They run scans and hit missions on small data banks around the northern hemisphere. One of the files was a compilation of test subjects that were taken in by the GLF’s science division. One of them was…Ashe. Cerezera Ashe.”

“I thought she left Earth after her court case didn't work out.” Ryan replied.

“Ashe remained on Earth after she left the Allegiance and I think that she was kidnapped by the GLF to be experimented on like Destoria. We need to save her.”

Ryan sighed. His eyes lowered down to the table as he processed his thoughts. Nevertheless, his body language showed that he was heavily against rescuing her.

“I can't do this alone, Ryan.” Her facial expression changed. Ryan, however, remained silent. He still stood with his decision. Ava’s blood would boil.

She would slam her hand onto the table.

“HOW COULD YOU?! She fought with you on multiple occasions!”

Ryan’s eyes would lock with Ava’s.

“What do you want me to help you with? Break into god knows where she is with you and get her out? Kill as many people as possible so that we can save her? And then what? We ask her to join us and risk her life as a fugitive? Her fate is sealed to die even if she is with us.”

“You’re missing the point, Ryan. We’re supposed to give people hope! Be the one to save them and guide them on a path of goodness!”

“With what? I played hero long before you fired your first arrow, Ava. Don't forget who brought you into this lifestyle. I know when heroism dies. It already did…Long before we realised. Saving her won’t give people hope. It will just delay an inevitable curse.” Ryan rested his hands on his hip as he looked out the tinted window. His eyes glared into the green fields of Tessa.

“You know, the reason I wanted us to break up was because you pursued on a path I could not fathom you would embark on. I tried to help you. I thought that maybe us not seeing each other would make you realise that. I was wrong…” As Ava finished her sentence, Ryan’s head tilted down.

“I'm going, with or without you. My friend needs me. I may not have a super-suit or an android but I will save her.” She took out her domino eye mask, resting it on the roundtable as she made her leave. Ryan took heavy breaths as his eyes closed. He went into his deep thoughts, forcing his emotions to sink as he calmed himself. He walked to the other end of the room where he picked up Ava’s mask. He took a good look at it before a drop of water would drip from the mask onto Ryan’s hand. It was her tears. He closed his eyes and his eyebrows caved in yet again as a wave of emotions flooded his mind yet again. He couldn't fight it nor endure it. He felt numb. His eyes opened, damped with tears. The sadness overwhelmed him momentarily. In the end, he locked up the big room as he walked to his personal quarters.

Upon entering the room, he would be greeted by his room’s security systems. He waved them off, setting Ava’s mask beside a computer panel as he laid down on his couch. Right at the corner of the living room, stood the Spectral suit. It was made by his father before he passed on and gave the control of Lou Industries to his son, Ryan. An exo-suit that was armed with various medium to long range firearms that used plasma as its ammunition. Moreover, it had rocket thrusters attached to its back and boots. What made the suit extremely deadly was its gauntlets. Inclusive of the firearms aforementioned earlier, it had plasma insulators. Taking the programmable matter chip from Ajay’s company, Ryan formed insulators that shoot out plasma to form any melee weapon he thinks of. It ranges from a wrist blade to brass knuckles made entirely of pure energy. It can cut through almost anything. All that weaponry collecting dust at the corner of Ryan’s room.

Ryan kept flickering his view towards the suit, the mask and eventually towards a pistol that he kept holstered underneath his coffee table. He was tempted. What does he have to lose? A broken man who was strained too much. His vision blurred as he lost control of himself. Everytime he blinked, he found himself in a different situation. However, he blinked one last time as he felt a cold metallic barrel squeezing tightly against the right side of his head. He could barely open his eyes. His breathing got sharper by the second as his finger moved closer to the trigger. “Dad, I’m sorry.”

Beep

Before he could pull the trigger, a notification stole his attention. It was a voice text from Athena. She was sent to recover an old Allegiance archives file that was located in an abandoned outpost in the deeper sections of the galaxy. Ryan placed his gun down slowly as he reached for the keyboard. He pressed the spacebar as he rubbed his eyes with his other hand.

“Ryan. It’s Athena. I found the outpost and the archives inside. Encountered some patrols but they didn’t catch wind of me. I’m on my way back and I managed to look through some of the files and uh, I never thought you were the one for speeches. It was in the year 1 folder alongside something about the black spear. I'll send it here since it's small and humorous. See you then. Athena logging off.” Ryan looked to the screen as her voice transitioned to an old clip.

The clip opened up to a news broadcast of an invasion somewhere on Earth in the middle east. It showed people running in fear. In the sea of terrified people, a man in an exo-suit stood on top of a fallen tower. “Hear me! Listen! Stop! All of you!” The crowd slowly halted as they stood at attention to the man.

“I know what you are feeling right now. Istanbul is becoming the starting point of an alien invasion. Those demons that flew down from the sky are purging your homes. Who wouldn’t run away with fear? I would. But I will defend this city. Turkey will not be the start of the end of the world. I stand with my allies against these demons. I urge you all to help me. You aren’t skilled in combat and you are filled with fear, and that’s okay. With your support, we will pull through this! Even if the odds are against us, I believe that the world will remember this day that we, as united as we all are, are the front that will save the world. Don’t think about fighting to see the next day, think about fighting for the future of your loved ones. Think about them with every breath you draw and every action you take today! I promise you, they will live!” The cyan blue shell of the helm looked directly at the broadcast camera. Ryan looked to himself through the screen. Immediately, his tears dried up. His vision narrowed as he found hope in himself again. He knew what he had to do. No matter the cost inflicted on him nor the blood he shed from his own hands, he must be the hero the galaxy once saw him as.

As the footage was kept on loop, Ryan armed himself. First the chestpiece, then the pants, followed by the boots and his belt, and finally he wore his gauntlets. The buttons he clicked on his gauntlets and his belt were the same buttons he clicked in his mind. All of it for…change. He looked at the computer screen of the footage one last time before he made his leave.

~~

A small ship was loaded with crates. Ava had her hand cuffed on her hips as she overviewed this. Her eyes glared into the fiery engines that ignited at the wing of the ship. As the crewmen finished up inside the ship, she made her way. However, Ryan walked past her at a faster pace and boarded the ship. Her eyes widened as she saw him filled with energy and tenacity. She would immediately follow him up the ramp and into the ship. She leaned on a wall as she watched Ryan set up the mobile operations centre.

“Why are you staring at me like that?” Ryan asked without breaking his vision from the screens.

“Finally doing something about it, huh?” She smirked as she commented.

“Always have. You’re just seeing it for the first time, Ava. Now.” He finished setting up. He would walk towards her as both their eyes locked each other. Ryan would hover her mask in front of them both.

“Can I?” He asked politely. Slowly, she would nod. Ryan would gently put on the mask for her. Ava would open her eyes as the mask was put on. Ava would then place her hands on the rims of his helmet.

“Can I?” She asked politely. Slowly, he would nod. Ava would then slide her hands to the edge of the rim, pressing the small buttons. Ryan would open her eyes as the photon protective face shield formed. “Shall we?”

Ava would walk past him and straight to the cockpit. Ryan would slowly look up as the ramp raised up. The objective had been determined. The target identified and the location marked. The extraction mission lies in the hands of the Ghost and the Archer.