Janus Mining Colony, Janus System, Northwest Fringe

The door to the control room opens. Domitia steps through, Ion Lance at the ready, with her maul crackling with energy. The space pirates she meets hesitate at first, clearly not expecting the arrival of a fully armored Bellator. She evaluates her foes, seeing they're still wearing void suits, red and black in color. One standing in the center of the room with a bone-white helmet is the first to react, spooling up his LMAR to fire on Domitia. The Bellator doesn't give him a chance; her Ion Lance impacts against his armor which shatters and bursts as he is sent flat against the opposite wall. She closes in on another, her maul crushing his void suit entirely, oxygen and blood bursting from the cracks and tears in the suit. Her lance vaporizes another's helmet, the body going limp and floating in the void. The last attempts a desperate escape but Domitia lands a savage shot through his back.

'Lance Heat: 48%'

Domitia regards the alert on her HUD, and begins the process of venting her lance as she fully explores the room. The room is a security office, with the symbols of the Argo Mining Collective graffitied over by the Three Falling Stars. She sees no signs of any of the former security officers, chalking that up to the pirates disposing of the bodies. She secures the door she came through, making sure to lock it, and then destroys the activation panel. It's an extreme measure, but she has no one to watch her back here.

"Made short work of them," The man on the radio says with a dry cough, "Now, look at the central panel, there should be a row of switches."

Domitia makes her way to that panel, seeing what the man describes. The switches have corresponding numbers on them, she guesses these are meant to open key airlocks or bulkheads in the complex.

"See one labeled, '3-H-9,'?" The voice says, "Flip it, that'll open the pathway for our civies to get out of here."

Domitia does just that, and with that flip comes an error message on the console screen: "ERROR: JAM DETECTED!"

"Looks like it's damaged. Maybe the pirates?" Domitia muses.

"Fuck, no it's--" A dry cough ending with something wet being spat out interrupts the voice, "--Probably our fault. Those doors fill with dust and other crud from the mine. Probably explains why this area is guarded so lightly."

"Where’s the door; if it's a jam I can clear it." Domitia offers.

"It ain't too far. You'll have to cut through processing. Here," A light flickers above a door to her right, "Through there. Make your way down the stairs and down the hall. Should get you there."

The Bellator follows the voice's direction. She goes through the door and down the stairs, finding a lack of blood or any signs of violence as she walks. It gives Domitia a bit of relief; after all, no bodies means no Vulture Drones, and no Vulture Drones means no eyes on her. The hall lacks any gravity, allowing her to sail down it with ease. As she falls she catches a glimpse out the windows. Though clearly meant for bosses to observe the fissure that was being worked on, Domitia finds a strange beauty in how the gases and dust from the dead plantoid inner mix with the blue light of the system's star. It creates great clouds of indigo edged with rusty red particles. Yet it's in those clouds that she sees movement. The silhouette of something large can be barely made out by how the clouds swirl in its wake.

"You see something?" The voice asks.

"Something in the mine." Domitia says, "You know if the Fallen Stars brought anything mechs."

"A few..." The voice coughs, "Fuck... might be a wolf at the door. Waiting for you to open it."

It made sense. If the pirates couldn't get in easily they probably wrote it off. However, it could very easily be a feint. Tactically it made sense; if you had rapid response forces that could exploit a breach it would be worthwhile. Mechs, especially in void combat, could achieve this easily.

"Could you take it?" The voice asks.

"Depends," Domitia answers.

"If you have help? Get the door--"

"It's not numbers I need." Domitia admits, "Shape of it... It looks like a Nihog."

"Ah." The voice takes a deep breath, coughing a bit more, "Fuck."

"That thing will kill me easily if I try and fight it head-on." Domitia speculates, "Even if I was in fully functional armor I'd be its prey."

"We didn't call them Bellator killers for nothing."

Domitia picks up on that. "We?"

The voice falls silent for a long while before finally saying, "Don't worry about it."

That did not alleviate Domitia's resurging mistrust, "Is there something I should know about?"

The voice coughs, and a sound like someone beating their chest can be heard, "Let's just say I've been on both sides of fights like this."

"You were a pirate." The Bellator concludes.

"Bingo." The voice says, "Want a prize?"

"Only the one I'm after." Domitia then presses the voice, "The coughing. Brass lung I take it."

There’s a chuckle that turns into another lung-hacking croak, "Correct. Tried swearing off the stuff... Never knew it took this much out of you."

"If you survive this you can get treatment."

"Survive? No. I ain't surviving this. Either I cough up what's left of my soul or I die trying to get these folks off this station." The voice utters with grim certainty. "Either one works for me at this point. Sick and tired of being sick and tired."

Domitia makes it to another set of doors, which open back up into the void. From there she sees a great metal gate, and rail lines running in between her and the gate. She looks up seeing 'Third Habitation Unit Gate Nine' written on the top of it. She also sees the build-up of dust and debris trapped in the gears of the main gate.

"Looks simple enough," Domitia says.

"The trick is to get the gate open before the train makes its pass." The voice says, "We got ten minutes before it'll be here. Less than that to get everyone loaded on board."

The plan begins to click with Domitia. Using the train to move them back towards the shuttles, allowing them to ferry the survivors off the station. It was brilliant, risky, but brilliant. The Bellator got to work clearing the dust out of the gears. She has to be clever when it comes to cleaning them, opting to use the boosters in her boots to jet the rust-colored dust back out into the void. As she does so she keeps an eye out for the fissure that yawns out behind her. Still that shape can be seen in the clouds, she can feel its eyes on her.

"It's waiting for the door to open," Domitia observes.

"Then we’ll have to fight it."

"No," Domitia utters.

"What?"

"Get the civilians out. That's your priority." Domitia looks back into the indigo-tinted abyss, "I feel Her Shadow." She barely whispers.

The Shadow is not one cast from light but from the past. Domitia can feel it, an eye watching her from inside her mind. It's her Legacy, those who have borne it before watching her, She is watching her. The compulsion is strong, and it guides her mind and her hand. She will die here, protecting those who cannot protect themselves. It's what She would do, it's what She expects Domitia to do right now.

So she shall.

"And what? Let you have all the glory?" The voice speaks with a wheezing chuckle.

"It is not your duty to do so," Domitia says dispassionately, the words not feeling entirely her own.

"Ain't yours either." The voice argues back, "You have your own life, sure of it."

"I'm..." 'Just another link in the Chain,' The words form in her head, but Domitia does not speak them.

She doesn't want to. Her Legacy stirs inside her, compliance must be met. Duty must be done. Yet Domitia thinks of Dell, her friend, her brother. She can't leave him, not yet. The Shadow of The First looms over her nonetheless, yet she does not buckle to it. She has a job to do.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"... Still need to finish this contract out. I need Flynt's head."

Domitia regrets saying that. The voice doesn't say anything in response. She fears for a moment that she tipped her hand. The gate suddenly shifts, Domitia jumps and lands back on the ground as she watches it lift.

"Well..." The voice starts, "You'll get your chance soon."

The door lifts from the other side, thanks to a pair of lifter mechs. They’ve seen combat, their yellow carapace bearing chips and burns from bullets and ion strikes. The ramshackle guns on their arms speak to brilliance born from desperation, such as the modified mining lasers with new focusers placed upon them to allow for longer ranges. As the doors fully open Domitia turns to see the mag rail pull into the station, sliding to a halt right in front of the gate.

Domitia turns back to the gate as void suit-wearing humanoids rush as quickly as they can to the train. Moving in zero-g can be difficult, especially for the young and old. Many of them are tethered to caregivers who keep them moving at a quick pace. Among them, miners in reinforced void suits jump up, stolen weapons and mining tools held at the ready, along with more mechs. One stands out among them, the only military mech among them. It's old, a Peacemaker, complete with a reinforced glass canopy. Its weapons are a pair of HMARs, the mag-engines humming with a promise of death. The pilot pulls back the canopy, his helm's protective grill concealing his face.

"Well, well, well, glad to see you showed up," The voice over the comm she has been hearing waves, "Introductions are in order now. Think we can get over the cloak and dagger shit."

Domitia hesitates before replying, "You can call me Domitia."

"People here just call me Boss." He says, clearing his throat, "We ain't got much time--"

"Before we do that," Domitia interrupts, "Where's my man."

"You'll get your man." Boss says sternly, "Work ain't done yet. Show some patience."

Something stirs in Domitia. The voice, despite being ragged, broken, and laden with static, sounds familiar. Not to mention the mech he's piloting; Peacemakers are military-grade, requiring augments just to pilot them. That points to him having some sort of military background. If what he said was true, him being a pirate makes even more sense.

Domitia catches one of the mechs motioning to Boss, who nods. "Right, we're running out of time. Get on, now!"

The Bellator leaps onto the train, taking a position on top of a car. Boss lands his mech next to Domitia.

"Switch to frequency tango-1-2-8 now."

Domitia does so, the chatter of other mech pilots filling her ears.

"--That a real Bellator?"

"Fuck me it looks like one. Even got the Lance--"

"Can it." Boss cuts the small talk off with a whooping cough, "Listen up." He begins as the train starts to accelerate. "We're in the shit now. Fallen Stars know we're on here and are moving in. Do you want off this rock? You keep those bastards off this train."

"Roger that."

"Yeah roger."

"Got it bossman."

"Hodges, you stay back. Rik and Kal, roll with me if we see something. Boosters on yours will keep pace with me."

"Aye boss,"

"Got it."

"Yep."

Domitia then spies the shape moving out of the gloom, the beast hiding within it suddenly lights up. A great red eye at its center, its baleful glare directed towards Domitia.

"Eyes on," Domitia says as she checks her weapons.

'Ion Lance cooling.'

"My lance is still cooling," Domitia calls out.

"Hang back." Boss orders. "You're no good to us against that thing without your ion."

"Shit, she’s got a lance?"

"Dibs on it if she bites it."

"Can it Rik, you vulture!"

Speaking of.

"Fuck! Ahead!" A third voice warns.

Domitia turns, looking to the front of the train, seeing a thick cloud of Vulture drones emerge from the tunnel.

"Countermeasures! Bellator, make sure none of those fuckers get into the car! They'll rip the civies to shreds!"

Domitia complies, tactically and rationally it was the right call on this. Her Legacy is silent throughout, as Domitia wonders what her ancestors would think of her siding with a pirate to save civilians. Disgust? Admiration? Cold indifference? She puts those thoughts aside. Protecting those who cannot protect themselves matters more.

She dashes forward, reaching the frontline just in time. The vulture drones have already come into contact with determined resistance. Miners fight with mining lasers and plasma cutters, hewing tendrils and blasting drones that get too close. One miner has his weapon stripped from him by a vulture drone, but before it lands another spinning tendril upon him, Domitia's maul smashes the drone aside. She covers the miner's retreat, priming and tossing a grenade into the coming horde. The blast sends them colliding into one another, giving good, dense targets for the miners to target. Domitia works to keep the drones off her allies, weaving between firing positions using hand cannon, grenades, and maul to keep the Vulture Drones back.

"Fuck! I see it now!"

"What the fuck is that?!"

"It's a goddamn Nihog!"

Domitia focuses on the horde in front of her, and smashes aside dozens of vulture drones at a time. The Bellator feels the Legacy begin to take hold again, this time putting Domitia into a trance, all focus is put upon the fight that's directly in front of her. It's similar to the ones her ancestors have been in - battling the Ravenor Hordes, holding the line against the Ever Hungry Void. Every blow. Every swing. Every kill. It all flows together like a poem. It all flows together like the endless slaughter her kind were made to face.

"Fuck! Fuck Rik's gone!"

"That Nihog will eat us alive!"

The flow is broken, and the cries of the other Mechs catch Domitia's attention. The Nihog's attack has fully commenced, and she needs help. The swarm of vultures has begun to dissipate, yet they are still a threat to the miners in the numbers they're in.

"Bellator! Do not move from your spot!" Boss' voice shouts, fighting through a cough to speak, "Do not let those vultures pass!"

She grits her teeth and gets back to work, smashing aside the vultures, the guns of the miners helping her with the task of vanquishing the swarm of scavenger drones.

"We need them off this train!" Boss says, "Our stop is soon!"

Suddenly, the train drops, sparks flanking the cars as it begins to grind to a sudden halt. Domitia registers that the train is stopping just as a miner slips past her and into the swarm of Vultures. The Bellator presses into it, seeking to save the man, but before she can reach him his suit is already open, the blades and claws of the drones ripping and tearing him apart. The Shadow returns, and a dark truth comes over her - leave him, use his sacrifice to buy more time for the rest. It irks her, but Domitia knows that it's the right thing to do.

'Ion Lance Ready'

She pulls back, firing into the swarm that envelopes the miner with her lance. The ion beams slag many of the drones while others turn and flee.

Domitia looks around, seeing that almost half the miners she had been fighting beside are gone now, their remains left as floating clouds of gore and cybernetics where they had once been.

The comm grabs her attention before she can even contemplate a way to honor them.

"They got us trapped in here!" Boss spats, "Can anyone get the damn train up and running?!"

"They shut down the power to the rail," A new voice joins the call, this time sounding like a young woman, "We're not going anywhere if we don't get the power back online."

"Sam," Boss' voice hitches, as if he didn't expect to hear that voice, "Sam, I told you to stick with your brother."

"He's fine," Sam snaps back, "Listen I'm looking over the network, they got us good."

"Where's the Nihog?" Domitia asks.

"It's hanging back now... I'm all that's left," Boss admits. "Don't know why."

"Dom you-" Domitia begins to hear something over the second comm, "-We need-" She pins Dell's voice.

"Dell?! You there?" Domitia switches channels, trying to get a better lock.

"Mostly," Dell's voice is laden with static, "Listen. We're short on time. They got a bead on me and I don't know how much longer I can keep them off. You got our man?"

"Not yet," Domitia says.

"What do you fucking mean?!" Dell's frustration can be felt through the static, "What the hell is even going on?"

"Civilians were still onboard, linked up with the remaining miners. Was escorting them off station, in exchange, they'd give us Flynt."

"Okay, I get wanting to help people," Dell does his best to hold back his anger, but it still comes through, "But why the fuck would they help us? Did you tell them Flynt was on here?!"

Domitia feels a slight bit of frustration, "May've slipped."

Dell grumbles, "Well fuck. I'd say pray but I ain't wanting Void Mama getting involved here." He admits. "Then what's the hold--"

There is a sudden bout of static, and Dell is disconnected.

'WARNING - UNAUTHORIZED CONNECTION' Her HUD displays.

"Sejanus." A voice says over the comm, it's cool and clear, calling Domitia by the name of her Legacy, "Been a long time."

The identity of the voice comes to mind, a memory from her Legacy.

"Sassia," It's the Necromancer.

"I heard a Bellator was poking around, didn't realize it'd be you," Sassia chuckles, "Or at least most of you. What iteration are you?"

"My name is Domitia."

"Your skin suit is Domitia," Sassia retorts, "Ain't this a blast from the past. Guess it was a blast for you too?"

Domitia feels a sharp pain in her chest, a phantom wound from a time long past. Visions of boarding an old colony ship turned moving fortress. Hordes of cybernetic monsters. The echoing laughter of a madman.

"Wouldn't have ever thought I'd see you this far from home. Guess the whole Unity War soared things."

"Called just to taunt me?" Domitia asks. "If this is some sort of scare tactic I'm not impressed."

"Oh no, I'm calling to make an offer." The Necromaner says, "See you and I are after the same thing. Flynt. Give me him and I'll let you live. Shit, I'll even let those civilians leave."

Domitia feels pressure on the temples of her head, "You know where he is."

"Why do you think I let off with the Nihog?" The Necromancer chuckles, "Y'all are tough as nails and in a good enough position that'll mean I'll have to throw more at ya. I'm already running low on Vultures. So how about this, you give me Flynt, and you, and the civies walk."

"Still haven't told me who he is or where he is?"

"Who do you think he is?"

It was such an obvious conclusion, now that Domitia thought about it. The one person left in a mech, who also admitted to being a pirate.

"I just want his brain. That's all. You get me that, I'll let you have the rest of him. Cash in your bounty. You got ten minutes to come back towards the mine with his body. I'll let you think about it."