Chapter 2

A singular ship slowly descended into a terrain of islands floating on shallow sea water in a tropical-esque climate. The glow of planets that surround the skies this tropical planet, Silawan, became the glow of light Ryan needed for his team.

The ship’s ramp let out a burst of gas before lowering, revealing Ryan armed in his Spectral suit. His visor within the helmet began scanning for the direction of their heading.

“Listen well, you step out of line and your suit gets deactivated and your scythe gets blown to pieces.” He toggled his holographic screen emitted from his gauntlet as he spoke.

His words blended with loud footsteps as Aiden made his way out of the ship, fully armed with his Ravage exosuit. Ashe made her way down, comfortably adapting herself to her weapon.

“What’s the target?” The dark sound of a muffled artificial voice under sheets of metal from Ravage’s mouth called to Ryan.

“Straight ahead, we’ll make our way to the enemy’s outpost and begin our raid.” He pointed out what seems like a jungle without end.

“No stealth?” Ashe asked, curious about Ryan's irregular strategy.

“They’re watching us as we speak, that’s how we even landed on Silawan. To maintain their secrecy, they don’t engage travellers that enter Silawan’s atmosphere. They simply watch.” Ryan gave a small glance out to the abundance of clouds that hovered not far from them. 

After his response, they made no further move. The trio sank their feet into the sand floors and stood idle, waiting for Ryan’s command.

“On my go.” Ryan gently slid his feet closer to each other. Ravage’s posture lowered, his face tilting forward as he prepared for a charge. Ashe slid down her scythe as she grabbed it with both her hands.

“Run without stopping until you see a platform with crawling soldiers.” His heat seeking visor input showed him exactly where their enemies were. 

“And…” He slowly turned enough to where he could peek his eyes to the corner of his sight, where the clouds were. He waited for what he assumed was a transmission beep that reports visual information at a delayed interval.

The waves crashing into the island shore slowed down. The wind stopped howling as the surrounding became calm. The receptor drone within the clouds finally…beeped.

“Go.” Ryan calmly said, dashing off into the sky as he went into flight.

Ashe used her scythe to launch herself up on Ravage’s back. With the hydraulics mounted in the exosuit’s legs, Ravage leaped forward, over the body of water in front of him to the island with the jungle. His land impact caused a sand crater to form. He crawled out in a monstrous way, clawing through the dense trees that stood before him as he charged in. Ashe used her sleeves to cover her face as she hid behind Ravage’s back.

In the sky, Ryan soared through. Flaps on the armour above his back opened, revealing missiles. As his charge slowed, he fired missiles to destabilise counter attack forces. Ravage’s loud charge was overpowered by the symphonic explosions of vehicles and Anti Aircraft defences in the base. The subtle cue made Ravage activate his motion lenses. With the lenses activated, he saw silhouettes of troops evading aerial bombardment. Alas, they attacked.

Ravage launched himself in, using his hands as weapons in crushing and tearing the troops to pieces. With the two finally entering the base perimeter, Ashe began making easy work of the ground troopers, dismantling them with swift strokes of her scythe and counter-manoeuvres with her short ranged teleportation abilities for an attack.

As Ravage and Ashe handled ground forces, Ryan had just arrived at the scene. He turned to the temple-esque headquarters, shaped like a pyramid with obsidian bricks for its infrastructure. He fired his gauntlet’s plasma beams, now configured to handle long range attacks, to a focused point to make entry through. With a simple dive, he’d break in.

Landing on his feet with plasma blades emitted from his gauntlets, Ryan stood to begin destroying troopers within. To his amazement, he was greeted with a man. Being cautious, he went straight to the point.

“The Galactic Law of the New Allegiance permits no illegal activity on planet reserves protected by sector governments. Seize your operation!” He went into his fighting stance. His left blade pointed forward as his right blade was positioned closer to his face.

Slowly, the man gave a slight turn. He stroked his white hair back as he adjusted his medieval-esque tunic.

“What operation do you assume this to be?” He simply asked. His tone seemed unimpressed by Ryan’s aggressive stance. Ryan gave no response.

“This is beyond your understanding, Head Operator.” The man gently rested his hand on a structure before him, marked with irregular symbols.

“One more move, that’s my patience with you.” Ryan gave a stern warning for him to surrender.

Immediately, the man threw a blade. Ryan formed a shield as he collided both his blades to cover his helmet. Expecting the blade to burn through, he was pushed from his stance. The blade perfectly carved through the gap between Ryan’s blades, locking his arms in a position as the blade continued forward, hovering in air as if an invincible force was pushing it. The razor sharp end of the blade glowed a red hue, as if it was charged with energy. It was, indeed, another energy wielder.

“Your efforts angered the highest order of chaos.” The man continued, turning to face Ryan.

“It is time for him to lay waste to this pathetic band of terran savages.” He’d take out another blade from his back sachet, nearly identical to the first. He’d slowly approach Ryan, who hasn’t moved an inch from his pinned position.

“Monarch is dead. You have no master.” His voice struggled, using immense strength to resist the sinking weight of the blade on him.

“I do not serve the Supreme Leader. I serve the Emperor.” The man walked around Ryan, speaking to him without posing much of a threat. The whistling sound of the man’s blade cutting air as he twirled it around in his hand made Ryan turn to his direction.

“There is no Emperor.” Ryan replied sharply.

“Then you are mistaken.” He’d point his blade toward him.

“When the Admiral of the Liberation Front told me of the danger the Head Operators pose to his majesty’s throne, I was concerned. Never had an opponent threaten his glory in centuries.” The man finally came to a stop, being where he stood before.

“Now I see…a small man facing the universe.” 

“Fair odds.” Ryan smirked.

Annoyed by his arrogance, he’d retreat back his blade that pinned Ryan down. Swiftly, Ryan dived closer for a bombardment of attacks, all of which the man was able to swiftly manoeuvre past. Seeing the man’s predictability, Ryan began attacking without proper form. His attacks, though undoubtedly random, landed blows at the man, forcing him to utilise his blades for defence.

The dance carried on with favour on Ryan. Cornering the man, it forced him to use his energy abilities. He’d project waves of energy, concentrated and released with a slash of his blades towards Ryan. As it went closer to him, it grew. It forced Ryan off his feet and into flight as he tried to swiftly dodge the wave emissions. As the waves collided with the walls behind them, it combusted upon impact, revealing the outside of the base.

The blast caught the attention of Ravage and Ashe, who had cleared the base ground defence.

“Who’s Ryan facing?” Ashe asked.

“The combustion of energy…” Ravage’s helmet retracted, revealing Aiden covered in sweat.

“Someone like Monarch, I reckon.” He said so in a fearful tone, having traumatic memories of his sparring sessions with the former Supreme Leader. Without hesitation, he’d slowly approach the blast area.

“You’re helping?” Ashe asked, in shock at his sudden act of kindness. Ravage turned to Ashe, seeing her confused face.

“If he can’t win, how can we?” She raised her tone, seeming fearful of whoever Ryan’s opponent was.

“He dies, so do we. He saved us.” His helmet locked in place. Its piercing red eyes glowed in the forest’s darkness amidst the flames of destruction they laid before. 

“Return the favour.” He said so while launching himself directly into the blast area. Even with such hatred in his heart, he still had honour. Hesitantly after close to exploding out of anger, Ashe joined in.

Ryan dived in after the man released the wave attacks, attempting to deprive him of his weapons. However, his passive attack was returned with a charged attack of his weapon, blasting Ryan back.

The attack hit his head as Ryan came tumbling down to the ground. He was concussed as he tried to get back on his feet. His ears rang with loud thumping sounds colliding with the ringing sound of metal clashing on itself. As he raised his head up, he felt hands locking his head. In response, he tried to pull the hands away. The man had Ryan locked in his knees, trying to push his blades closer to his throat. Ryan’s strength depleted with his mind resisting the urge to pass out. With the blade drawing closer to his throat, he was on the brink of death.

“Wea-“

A charged punch sent the man flying to the structure, denting the irregular marks on it. However, the blast sent Ryan back to the ground. He turned slightly to see his saviour, only to be towered by a large shadow that glowed red above him.

Ravage slammed his fists repeatedly to his chest, calling out the man to stand to his feet.

As the man recovered from the blast, he’d dust off his tunic and adjusted his arm.

“What manner of beast are you?” The man asked, aroused to see a hulking metal exosuit staring him down.

“I am the Ravaging Beast.” He’d begin running towards the man, going on his hands as he acted like a monster, charging to his prey. Before the man could even raise his blades up, his sight of seeing a metallic monster charging towards him changed to a silhouette of a planet with clouds around him.

All he felt was a gentle grab of a hand on his forearm. As he turned, he’d see a woman holding a scythe while sinking her heels down to his abdomen.

“Be seeing you.” Ashe blipped out of the way, having teleported the man to the sky. Immediately after, he’d fall.

Ashe then blipped back to the ground, slamming the blade end of her scythe into the ground.

“Where is he?” Ravage asked, turning to Ashe just as he recovered from his charge. Without a word, she pointed up.

As Ravage turned to the ceiling, the man came flying through the roof of the base, crashing into the ground. He was left motionless as he struggled to breathe. He couldn’t process the sudden attacks, nor predict it at a pace where he could intervene. One moment, he was in control. The next, he lost.

Ravage marched to the man, slamming his feet down to his chest as he pinned him down.

“Who are you…” Ravage asked.