BANG!

An explosion erupted over the peaking mountains on the snowy planet of Ertax. As the orange flames were clouded by the dense black smoke, two projectiles flew out of the combustion. The projectiles then landed down on the roads of a city that stood near the mountains. As the dust settled from the random landing of the projectiles, one of them crawled out. It was the Spectral. Ryan emerged, clearing the debris that were stuck on his pauldrons. On the far side of the road where the other projectile was located, another figure crawled out. It was the Headhunter. Without any second wasted, Ryan propelled himself right at Vlad.

“Don’t let him get away. The data-drive is all we have on the faction that took Earth.”
As Ryan and Vlad traded punches and kicks, Ava was talking to him via comms through his helmet. In the room present with Ava were Athena and Kal. Ryan was in the upper hand in the fight. He was more skilled and efficient in hand combat than Vlad. Every punch and kick he threw didn’t miss and his attacks were precise. It was not long until Vlad was immensely overpowered. As the Headhunter fell to his knees, Ryan didn’t hesitate. He spared no time as he began repeatedly and mercilessly punching Vlad. His strength, combined with the boost from the Spectral armour, broke through Vlad’s protective helmet. What seemed like a capture turned into a near-murder scene.

“Ryan, that's enough.” Ava’s voice kept calling to Ryan but his ears were ringing. He kept on exerting brute force to Vlad.

“Ryan?” Ava kept on repeating his name. It had only been seconds yet Ryan’s punches kept getting more repetitive and stronger with every blow. “RYAN!”

As Ava screamed through the comms. Ryan’s lethal punches came to a stop as something exploded behind him, tossing him through the air. He flew uncontrollably before crashing onto a vehicle that was parked on the street. His visions blurred. It felt like something took control of him for a brief moment. The explosion pulled him into control as he began to observe the situation. The Headhunter was gone. There was no debris from the explosion. What appalled him was that as he turned his view up to the sky, there was a massive ship that was hovering above the city. It provoked the civilians to flee the scene entirely. Ryan’s view was disrupted yet again when a purple energy beam impacted his chest, knocking him down as it ripped through the armour platings. His body fell down onto the concrete road. He laid down, almost struggling to hold himself together. The beam was unlike anything he had ever felt before.

“Kal, get me the street view.” Ava ordered. As Kal toggled Ajay’s control systems over surveillance, it revealed Ryan lying down on the road. Right at the end of the street, there was a caped figure walking down. The figure slowly revealed himself as his purple visor glowed.

“Who the hell is that?” Kal asked. 

“I feel darkness.” Athena commented.

“He looks familiar…The Galactic Liberation Front propaganda. It’s the Supreme Leader.”

Monarch strolled down. His hands swayed, relaxed, as he approached Ryan. It was then that Ryan slowly lifted himself up partially, his elbows pushing his upper body up so that he could face the man.

“You might not recognise me, Lou. But…”

Monarch went onto his knees as he looked at Ryan.

“You have destroyed too many lives. The New Allegiance. The Vigilante Corps. Lou Corporations. The sickening thing about these…merry bands…was that they promised security and peace. Such lies…Such false hope.”

“What…” Ryan coughed as he forced out words. “The hell are you?”

“You think your ways save people?” He chuckled. “Heroes are pointless if the people they save don’t change. I am here to rebuild a new universe from the one you have corrupted.” Monarch slowly stood up. The shadow of the Ordinance covering the city. It slowly covered the entire city as the platings covering the cannon shafts of the ship opened. 

“You may survive, you may not. No matter the outcome, I warn you…and the people listening behind your ears.” He took a short pause to look around at the city. The people ran with fear and there they stood in the middle of the street. “The Allegiance is dead. Let your cause rot in the depths of hell. The Galactic Liberation Front is the new powerhouse of the universe. Should any of you resist, I will see to it that you are impaled through spears and banished to hover across the darkness of space.” A tractor beam shined down on Monarch. As Monarch slowly faded away in the cyan light, the cannons began raining fire. A massive surface bombardment would strike down onto the city. Towers collapsed. The city was engulfed in smoke before Ryan’s very eyes. He was trapped in the impending destruction. He was injured. His armour was limping for its very life. He looked around, the flames of explosions reflecting on the metal armour platings. He could not fathom such merciless slaughter that happened before his very eyes. The cries of death overwhelmed him to the extent that he did not initiate an escape. He felt like this was the end of the line…for him.

~

The Ordinance crept out of the surface of Ertax. The smoke of the levelled city emerged out like a mushroom cloud visible from outer space. Monarch sat in his chambers, his helm removed and the darkness of the aura that emitted inside in the chambers fogged up the dome glass walls. He sat alone, the darkness covering his face, as he composed himself. Seeing the head operators for the first time…in unison…provoked him. The eerie silence combined by his temperament nearly broke him until…

“This is not about peacekeeping…” A voice called to him in the shadows. “This was never about ensuring security and justice…You liar.” As Monarch turned to the source of the voice, his face, covered in darkness, stared eerily at the person. His purple glowing eyes connected with the orange luminescent glow of the other. It was Destoria. Her appearance was unusual and odd.

“You’re doing this because you want to hurt us..” Destoria walked to the centre of the chamber. “This is revenge.”

Monarch stood up upon her last words. He quickly equipped his helm as he walked to her.

He halted right in front of her, looming down on her. He kept his silence for a brief moment. The room grew darker by the second to the extent that his throne faded into the dark aura.

“Yes…and I will lie…” He took a step closer. “And lie..” He took another. “And lie…” And another. “Until each and every one of you perish by my hand.” His hand grabbed her throat. The sharp end of his fingertips sank into her throat as blood began oozing out slowly. “I will not stop until I hear all of you scream in agony and die in the most brutal way one could fathom.” She fell to her knees as she grew weaker. Her life slowly drained away as her eyes were forcefully locked on Monarch’s visor. “All of you will feel my retribution. I was weaker then…but the boundaries of power mean nothing to me now because I…am…Monarch.”

 He slowly released his grip, causing her to fall. He felt…unease. His body felt cold yet he was infuriated with anger. He took a moment to compose himself. Then the room grew brighter. The glow of the sun that hovered near Ertax pushed through the dark aura. Light entered the room and when Monarch looked to Destoria, she was gone. There was no blood. He was alone. It was…a premonition. The dark aura faded into two spherical red orbs that hovered across the room before fading in the glowing light of the sun. He felt at ease and determined. He had a drive to fuel him. The start of the end of the Allegiance begins…

~

Footsteps cluttered together as the Admiral stood relaxed near a wall. Monarch remained at the centre. The Tariol operators slowly entered the room in an orderly fashion. Ashe entered first, in her new armour. Omega breeze walked in as he stood near the Admiral. The footsteps grew louder as Ravage, alive from his combat, cleared the doorway from the vines that loomed at the top as he stood at the other corner. Edenia followed behind him with a new prosthetic. The room grew eerily silent as the Headhunter walked in. He seemed like a dead man, having survived a headshot by Kal Rexington. They gathered together, coincidentally the perfect rivals of the Head Operators. Some lost, some broken and some fuelled with rage. The perfect tools for destruction for Monarch. The Tariol Operators made their stance respectively as they waited to hear their Supreme Leader.

The Supreme Leader’s stance, overstepping the destroyed logo of the Allegiance seemed heroic, yet tyrannical. It was something that felt personal to him because of the unusual silence displayed by him while everyone waited for him to speak. The vibe he gave off was something even the Admiral had not noticed over his years of service.

“There was a time. 5 years go, I warned the bulwark of the New Allegiance, Ryan Lou, to cease their operations. This happened on Ertax. Clearly, he chose not to and decided to snuff us out.” He turned back, slowly. His visor glowed as he revealed to everyone in the room, his Kontorola sword resting on a destroyed logo sculpture. “Little did they know, we have power. We know that they rest on the blue planet of Tessa. We know that they will do anything to save a head operator and we know they are outmatched in a devised strategy that includes me. This test, that I have conducted, exceeded expectations. They have shown their card. Now, we draw ours.”

As Monarch slowly stepped down the inclined floor, the Tariol Operators armed themselves. Each of them equipping their signature weapons of choice and arming themselves with their abilities. Monarch panned his view from left to right, before stopping at Admiral Eclion. His view stopped as he casually commanded the Admiral a new directive.

“Initiate Operation Knightfall.”

End.