Introducing the man in black:
A mysterious black ship floats through space. It crosses great distance within the quiet of the void. The sharp black ship flies into a planet, with a purple atmosphere. The ship lands, and a man clad in a heavy black coat, and blacked out high-tech goggles walks out. He pulls out a device, and on it, an image of a man with a bounty appears. The bounty states the man is worth “10,000,000”
The bounty hunter exits the dock and starts taking a stroll through the city. He walks into a bar and slides the bounty to the bartender. The bartender ignores it until the hunter in black puts some cash on the table; metallic currency. The bartender reaches under the counter and starts writing on a sheet of note paper. He slides the note over the counter, swipes the currency, and goes back to his business. The hunter gets up, gives a thumbs up, takes the note, and leaves. As he exits the bar and the door closes, the man vanishes in a purple light.
We catch the hunter teleporting from location to location, briefly checking the note, then analyzing each scene from afar. On the fifth stop, the hunter checks the note and looks back up, seeming to acknowledge that he’s found what he’s looking for. The busy warehouse seems to be running floating boxes and machinery in and out of the complex. The hunter casually infiltrates the complex undetected, as if it is the easiest tasks ever. He toggles the buttons and dials on his goggles as he tries to overhear some conversations. He makes his way deeper in the complex and spots his target, inspecting tech and giving orders.
The man in black leans on some railings and watches as the target goes about his business. The targets eventually find himself alone as he walks to his office. His name is on the top of the door, Evan combu. The target walks In and takes a second before he notices a very large, ominous, grey skinned shadow of a man in his chair, feet kicked up, hands resting behind his head.
Before he can say anything, he stares confused before the hunter gives a cold smile, and suddenly, the two are falling 100th of meters in the sky. Evan eyes widen as he slowly processes this new turn of events. He then starts yelling as he descends rapidly. He screams at the intruder to know what the meaning of this is and what the hell is going on. The hunter, unbothered, decides to open his mouth. “To jumpstart my career.”
Evan looks confused, asking what the hell he means by that. However, the man refuses to elaborate, as he takes an upright position; this only annoys Evan combu. Insulted, readies himself for a fight, “You bastard,” he says angrily. Evan pulls back a fist. However, before he could do anything, the man disappeared.
Evan looks around when he’s suddenly spiked in the back by a diving kick. The kick sends the two crashing through some tall buildings. In a rubble filled alleyway, the man in black picks his target up by the back of the head and readies a punch. However, the palms of Evan start glowing orange hot, and a massive explosion topples the two buildings making up the alley.
Evan quickly speeds out of the way of the falling buildings and starts running down the street, pushing people out of the way. He takes out his phone and tries to call his men, but suddenly the man appears in the air, unharmed, lands an incredibly fast kick to the back of the man head, making Evan eat the pavement. The man lands casually, without taking his hands out his pockets, a sign of disrespect.
The target pulls his head from out the street and turns around to look at this menace. A crowd forms around the fight, and nearby law enforcement, known as the peacekeepers, start swarming in.
“Who the hell are you!!” Evan says with a mangled nose.
The man’s linear smile remains unnerving as he tilts his head up, “Call me, Obsidian.” The crowd starts taking out their phones and devices to record the scene. Evan is dumbfounded. He’s never heard of this *Obsidian*. Is he getting beaten up by some random. The peacekeepers raise their rifles.
“Stand down and do not resist,”
The armored soldiers say.
“Pheonix Order? Tch.” Obsidian says, as the creepy smile widens. He teleports in a little cylinder device into his hand. He presses a button, and the handle part pops off. He drops it, and Obsidian teleports both him and his target to another section of the city.
“Grenade!!!” The peacekeepers scream, being left with an unnecessary gift.
Upon the rooftops from afar, a large explosion is heard, but ignoring said explosion, Evan scrambles to get up and rushes at Obsidian. Evan runs in with an explosive punch. However, without flinching, Obsidian opens a portal, causing the explosion to go off behind the target. The two start a one-sided fight as Evan tries to fight back but gets completely outclassed.
Evan throws a series of blows, some glowing orange ready to explode. However, Obsidian skillfully diverts every blow sneaking in precise punches that leave Evan weak with every strike. Obsidian strikes the joint of Evans arm, disabling it. He then hits him with a nasty blow to the gut and starts wailing on him, with one arm and a series of spinning kicks and knees. Evan tries to defend, putting his guard up, but then the blows start coming from different angles. He watches Obsidian go for a punch, but then he’s hit in the back of the head.
Obsidian starts abusing his teleportation instantaneously, zipping around while beating the poor man senseless. He’s hit with one more blow to the gut before Obsidian roundhouse kicks him away. Evan weakly scrambles to get up. But as he looks up, Obsidian looks down on him.
“I get it now. You have a space warping blessing, and considering how talented you are, you are. you must be a Praw, but why would a Praw become a Hired gun! They’re practically royalty!”
Obsidian stares at Combu with that chilling smile.
“Gift.” Obsidian says
Evan eyes widen in fear, seemingly knowing what that means. “What did you say.” He says in horror
“It’s a gift, not a blessing. And *Praw* is just for documents.” Obsidian crouches down. “Though, I hope it doesn’t scare you, not yet at least, let me see more of that will survive.” Obsidian takes an ominous tone, sending shivers down Evan spine as he begins panicking for his life.
Evan starts trying to run away.
Obsidian’s smile fades a little
“Well, I suppose I don’t mind a chase. I suggest you run with everything you have!”
Evan looks back, and Obsidian has disappeared. Evan launches himself with his explosions to try and get away, but before he can get any solid distance, he’s instantly kicked down through some buildings. Evan tries to limp away, but Obsidian continues to torment his prey. Obsidian kicks out his legs and punts himself into a building. Evan is left in a pile of rubble, unable to get up. He knows there’s nothing he can do. If he has the gift of space, he’s not bound by anything; he’s practically the law of space itself.
Obsidian walks him down with that same chilling smile. Evan starts truly panicking, and he tries everything to move, struggling and struggling. Obsidian looks down upon his target with a cold smirk, then he pulls out a hand cannon from behind his coat.
“Nooooo!!! Wait, no, please! 10,000,000, that’s nothing. I can pay you 100 million, no 500 mil. Please just leave me alone!!” Evan struggles more and more he can’t even defend himself from what’s next to come. Obsidian puts a boot to his chest, and the smile fades from his face.
“Unfortunate, I swore you had a strong look to you. It’s just another coward, weak, and worthless.”
A loud bang followed by audible gasps from the crowd that has quietly formed around.
The peacekeepers rush in swarming Obsidian. “We got a hostile individual, going in for detainment.”
“Ooooo, Fun.”
Obsidian says as he watches the PK’s rush at him.
Obsidian runs at the Pk’s and drop-kicks the lead man. Touching a hand to the ground, he spins around, kicking one in the face. Jumping off that guy's face, Obsidian knees another, grabs him but the head and through him into a crowd.
More swarms In, and Obsidian gives a wicked grin. The area is filled with heavy, intense pressure. Suddenly, his hands engulf with a purple flaming aura, and two blades manifest from this aura in Obsidian’s hands. In a blindingly fast move, every Peacekeeper is left dismembered.
Obsidian makes the blades vanish and quickly puts Combu in a body bag and vanishing from sight.
We catch Obsidian appearing on his ship. He puts the bag in a secret store hold underneath the floor of his ship.
He makes his way to the cockpit and starts up the ship. But before the engines are ready, he notices an alert on one of his monitors. A bunch of peacekeepers are rushing in the dock. He thinks to himself, “Shouldn’t have left that big of a mess.” So, with a frustrated sigh, he teleports the entirety of his ship outside of the planet's atmosphere. He blasts the engines.
Hours later, we cut to Obsidian arriving at his destination.
He checks in at the dock, and after he’s allowed passage, teleports inside the agency building.
“Ahh, good God!!” The receptionist jumps back, startled out his chair.
“I’m done.” Obsidian says impatiently.
The receptionist gets up and has the prize taking away. He has Obsidian sit down while everything is taken care of, and they fetch his pay.
While he waits, flicking through his phone, a woman in half black and half white business attire, using a cane, and smoking a cigar walks up to him.
“Wow, you’re back so quickly, I thought you’d have a hard time, but I guess not, newbie.” Says the lady.
“Hello, Zi,” Obsidian says
“Sheesh, show a little emotion.” Zi remarks at Obsidians cold tone.
“You know you’re supposed to meet me before coming here, right? You’re lucky I had some business here.” Zi says
“Why?” Obsidian retorts.
“Because I’m your reader and superior. You got to talk to me instead of sneaking off and doing your own thing. Speaking of which, well done. Oh, and another thing you didn’t have to kill your target, you could've got more if you turned him in warm. AND ANOTHER THING…” Zi rants on and on.
“Please shut up.” Obsidian gets sick of her prattle.
She, frowns, and sits down next to him, blowing out a black cloud. Obsidian looks at the cloud in disgust.
“So, how was your first mission.” Zi questions
“Disappointing.” Obsidian brushes off the question.
“Really!? Evan combu, top dog of the Cruel Ashes, the biggest criminal organization in Great Smolder. HE was disappointing, I heard he---”
“Please. Shut. Up.” Obsidian cuts her off before she begins dropping more exposition.
“Alright, fine, but I got to know how you did it on your first mission.” Zi asks curiously
Obsidian sighs. However, luck be on his side, his rewards are brought out, and his license was upgraded for his taking down of a high value target, bonus for being his first job. Obsidian checks and collects his payment, but before he teleports away, he snatches Zi’s cigar out of her mouth and throws to the ground and stomps it out. He then teleports away. Zi leans on the receptionist desk.
“I'm going to have my hands full with that one.” Zi sighs
The receptionist goes on break.
As Obsidian strolls back to his ship, seeming to enjoy his long walk, we see the reality of this universe. The enforcers of law, beatdown and abuse its citizens, it’s a world ruled by fear. The sick and homeless are dying like dogs on the streets, while towering building house the wealthy. It’s like this everywhere from what Obsidian could tell.
Obsidian passes a plaza where a strange ad plays on a massive screen.
Ballad of the Phoenix King: In ancient times, on worlds still young, there reigned two kings. The king of judgment and the king of the free. One king sought order, and one king sought complete freedom. The kings would go to war and, in the end, found coexist, both order and freedom. And from this unity, the Phoenix king was born. Believe in the king, as he is the embodiment of order and freedom.
Obsidian seems dismissive of the ad, like he knew it was a lie. There’s plenty of order and freedom if you’re strong. Obsidian reaches the port and watches as the poor and homeless try to pay their tithes and offerings to their rulers. Every time he overhears, *serve the eternal monarchy, all for the Phoenix king, obey the Phoenix order. *
Obsidian simply skips past check-in, teleporting to his ship. Releasing the restraints himself. It seems like he’s down these many times before. He’s teleports into his ship, and without a sound, he leaves the port in his silent ship. We get to see a glimpse of Obsidian’s ship as he walks around his ship, putting up his rewards. He gets comfortable and heads to his lounging area.
His ship interior is a nice pale white. The lounging area has a couch that wraps around in a half circle shape. It's cut off in the middle to make way for a back door. There is a round table in the center of the couch, a mini fridge, and a tv.
He starts coughing and coughs up some blood. He looks at his hand, and the blood is a deep purplish in color. He clinches his hand and heads to the bathroom, and he stands by the toilet as he summons a canister. He opens It, revealing a medicinal needle. He takes a breath and sticks himself with it, jittering a bit before calming down.
He tosses the syringe away in a bucket already filled with the same type of syringe.
“I will make that bastard pay. If it’s the last thing I do.”
High risk, high reward:
Time has passed on Obsidian’s ship, and he has plenty of time on his hands. He decides to browse the Gunner network to find a job to keep him busy. As he browses, he is immediately disappointed by the limited options, as he lets out a groan. Small assassinations, some escorts, and a few intel missions. None of them caught his attention. So, Obsidian gets the bright idea, to travel to a nearby library, a place for hired guns, and put his recon skills to good use.
He boosts off in his ship and an hour later arrives at his location, docking and walking to the library. He walks in and sees a calm environment. There is an actual reading area, which is probably for public use, but there’s also a bar area. Obsidian heads to a computer, where two guys are chatting on a lounge nearby.
Pager 1: “Yeah, that’s pretty lame. Ay, what’s that job you were assigned. The one by the books gave you.”
Pager 2: “Oh, that one, uuuuhhh---It’s some kind of demo job. Some eternal order re-purposing factory needs to get destroyed.”
Pager 1: “You think you can handle that.”
Pager 2: “pfft, please, all I got to do is find the biggest battery and strap a bomb to it. Although I doubt, they have anyone that can hang with me.”
The duo has a hearty laugh. Obsidian thinks that would be a much better mission than anything the computer could offer. Obsidian waits for pager 2 to leave. Then he follows him out. Obsidian stalks the man for a few meters without him noticing before teleporting them both to an unpopulated area. He keeps walking before noticing the scenery has changed. He looks around before noticing the man behind him. The man in black has a strange smile. He slowly reaches for the shotgun attached to his backpack
“Did you do this?” The page hunter asks
“I’ve got a proposition for you.” Obsidian says, not breaking eye contact, to the point it’s creepy.
“Hmmm --- ahh!” Suddenly, Obsidian teleports right in the man's face spooking him.
The man jumps back and pulls his shotgun.
“I get your job, and you get to live. Also, I will give you a portion of the pay. Out of courtesy.” Obsidian strikes an unfair deal.
“Hell no, who do you think you are! Actually, who are you!!” The pager says offended.
“Obsidian, I will give you 40%, and I get to do all the hard work. Doesn’t that sound good.” Obsidian lays out the deal
“Who do you think you are, arrogant bastard. I should put you in the ground.” The pager gets hostile.
“You don’t want to try. How about 30/70? Honestly, I don’t need the money.” Obsidian gives him one more chance.
The man blinks as he lulls over the deal. He lowers his shotgun to his hip and thinks, making sure to keep his guard up.
“This job comes from the Books, the top brass. If I give it to you, you will get us both in big trouble. Although I was gonna put a squad together so if you wan—” The pager tries to understand Obsidian mind.
“I'm getting all the credit.” Obsidian interrupts.
“Huh --- wha --- you, you’re ridiculous! I just met you and I already hate you.” The pager gestures his astonishment with his hands.
“Deal or no deal, I'm done talking.” Obsidian says, his weird smile fading away.
“God****, you’re a piece of work, fine but I need to at least be there.”
“I think I'm gonna kill you.” Obsidian says, slowly losing patience
“Why---You’re insane! Fine, I swear if I get thrown in the pit, I'm coming for you. Also, I want 20/80.” The pager pushes his luck.
“Deal.” Obsidian says quickly
“Well, alright then, deal.”
The two shake hands.
We cut to Obsidian flying off in his ship, the pager he struck a deal with watching him take off. The pager gave Obsidian the commission details and his information so Obsidian can contact him after it’s over. Obsidian charts the course in his ships console, and he boosts off to the Shattered Nebula. Once he’s out of orbit. The watching pager makes a call.
“Hello, this is Dominick, I’ve got something.”
We cut to Obsidian flying his ship. He reads the details from the mission. Simply, he needs to: confirm with the Revoltor commander on Ivan-IV and destroy the re-purposing factory in the clack district. Simple enough.
As he crosses sector borders, he charts his autopilot for Ivan-IV, where his targets and soon to be clients are located. After a while of zooming through space, he enters an asteroid field. numerous fields like this one plague the Shattered Nebula, it’s filled with ship, and space debris alike, remnants from an old war. Obsidian passes through a gigantic xeno warship carcass, a massive ship that looked formidable in naval combat, now just more wreckage for the trash fields. He flies through the massive hole in the middle of the warship.
A beeping Is heard on Obsidians console.
Suddenly, a giant space fairing mech appears right in front of Obsidian’s ship. The mech raises its big rifle and fires plasma beams at Obsidians ship. Shocked but not unprepared, Obsidian teleports his entire ship out of the way, giving him some room.
“What the hells, a G.K.A.M.U doing out here.” Obsidian curses
The two crafts engage in a rapid dog fight, as the mech remains of Obsidian’s tail.
Obsidian darts around the debris field trying to shake the mech. Obsidian spins his ship around and fires his ships guns at the mech. However, he darts away into the debris field.
Obsidian gets sick of the games, and he summons a helmet, taking off his goggles. We only see the back of his head when he puts the helmet on. He puts his ship on auto pilot, as he then teleports outside. Using the KAMU is hiding in the field. Obsidian summons a massive plasma cannon. He lets it charge, clicks, and shifts into firing mode, revealing a giant barrel.
Obsidian aims it forward, but the Kamu is not in his line of sight. The KAMU itself swings around trying to attack from behind. The cannons at full charge and fires a massive beam into space. The Kamu uses this as a chance to fire, but suddenly, a portal opens behind it, and the beam blasts a hole through its back, killing the pilot instantly, leaving nothing left of the waist.
That’s not it, as several other portals redirect the beam and strike the mech a few more times before its explodes and left completely unrecognizable space junk. The beam dissipates, and the cannon clicks back into its neutral state and is sent back to where it came. Obsidian goes back into his ship and cruises to his destination.
Ivan-IV:
As Obsidian flies into the pitch-black skies of Ivan-IV, he notices three blips on his radar. He’s groans in frustration, but this time, he's ready. He reaches below his console and pulls out a wide hard drive. He opens his console, showing intricate wires and technology. He pulls out the old drive and puts in the new one.
Switching perspectives, we cut to blue and purple G-KAMU, flying alongside two fighters.
Left jet: “Whossss our target.”
violet Kamu: “Not sure, but it has an Empyrean signature. Treat it as hostile.”
Both jets: “Yes, sir.”
Right jet: “Wait, the signature changed. It’s a hired gun. Who is this guy.”
Violet Kamu: “It could be our merc, but stay on guard. If he doesn’t pick up our comms, he dies.”
The three flyers boost off to meet Obsidian’s ship.
Back with Obsidian, the three flyers come into view. Obsidian decides to hold his trigger finger. He takes a breath, and the three fly right past him. Obsidian relieves, but that’s short-lived, and the flyers come back around to hang beside Obsidian, leaving him cursing.
“Halt, what purpose do you have flying these skies.” Says the mecha pilot
Obsidian drops his head on his console. He raises a hand to his console patches through the communication.
“I'm here for the client Amir Caldor. There’s a factory in need of annihilation.”
Obsidian states in annoyance.
A brief pause
“Are you Dominick Flay.” The Kamu pilot asks
Obsidian thinks if he should lie to make things easier, but he really wants all the credit.
“Dominick couldn’t make it; he sent me in his place.” Obsidian replies, honestly
“That doesn’t make sense. Pull over so we can see your identification.” The Kamu flies in front of Obsidian’s ship
Obsidian groans
they land in a secluded ruin.
The Kamu pilot stays in his mech, and the jet pilot exit their fighters.
A pair of reptilian twins, one has a crystal arm. They inspect Obsidian’s credentials.
“Why would our hunter ssssend you? You only have a chapter 10 license.” The crystalline arm of the first twin blinds Obsidian, as the man hisses his words.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“I know, I only recently joined the agency, but I got a job from him anyway, that should say something.” Obsidian reasons.
The second twin speaks “So, you’re inexperienced. How did we know you didn’t kill our merc for his job, I’ve heard it’s not uncommon amongst you page hunters.”
Obsidian rolls his head.
“You’re just going to trust that I didn’t. Patch me in with your commander, and once he confirms me for the commission, I’ll get the job done.”
The twins look at each other
“We do not know if you ssspeak the truth, but we’ll give you one chance. One moment.” Says the crystal twin
Soon after a moment, one of the twins brings out a communicator.
“Here’s the commander, make it quick.” He hands Obsidian the communicator
“Is this the C-10 hunter, I was told of. I’ll give you 10 seconds to explain why I shouldn’t get rid of you and find someone else I can trust.” A smooth voice is heard on the other side.
“Amir Caldor. Give me 15 minutes, and I’ll have the factory in flames. I don’t want to meet you in person, I only need your word.” Obsidian cuts to the point.
“I see, I'm aware that chapters don’t equal one's strength. And you were apparently endorsed by our original client. However, I don’t trust inexperienced men with big jobs.” Amir doubts
“I'm more than experienced.” Obsidian says sternly
“Obsidian Praw, huh. Alright, you sound confident, I’ll humor you. You do this in under 15 minutes, and I’ll make sure to remember you.” Amir metaphorically shakes hands on this bet.
Obsidian smirks.
We shift to a new perspective.
A young man and a newly enlisted warrior, a pilot in training, or that’s what he dreams to be. In reality, he’s a worker in a factory, not yet ready to be a real warrior. His name is Prima.
The day seems all too normal, moving around parts, disassembling Kamu mechs and xeno warships, and he can only dream about bigger things. We get to see him interact with fellow workers. They all know each other and are friendly with one another. Except for Prima.
He struggles to carry a heavy large box, arms shaking, and legs stumbling with each step. Suddenly, he gets maliciously pushed to the ground by a co – worker spilling the contents of the box. The Empyrean worker is much larger than he is, an imposing figure.
“You’re moving to slow, pick all that trash up weakling.” Says the cruel man
“I would’ve been just fine if you didn’t push me to the ground.” Prima retorts angrily
“Don’t speak pest, pick that shit up.” Barks the peer
Prima glares at his peer before picking up the contents of the box. Once he’s done, the co-worker yanks up the box and moves quickly.
“Asshole.” Prima mutters
After a hard day's shift, he heads to the lunch hall. He sits alone. No one wants to talk to the abnormality. At least the food is good. However, he’s not alone for long, as a friend sits next to him.
“Hey, Domino.” Prima greets his friend
“Yo, what’s up.” Domino returns the greeting
P: “Nothing much, just enjoying lunch.”
D: “Right, anyway, I discovered something about the Kamu.”
P: “Oh? What *fascinating information* do you have today.”
D: “A few of them have a personal AI built in, which is why most Kamu pilots are so efficient in flying.”
P: “pfft, duh, the UXR used AI for everything. It’s the only way they could keep up.”
D: “True, but some are really advanced. We caught one trying to hide itself. Before we caught it and removed it, it’s like it was afraid, which is cool!”
P: “I guess, but when I become a pilot, I won’t need an AI.”
D: “Sure, buddy.”
Just then, a trey comes flying in like a buzzsaw, aimed directly at Prima. Prima can’t react in time, but domino reaches over and catches the tray.
D: “The hell was that for!”
A group of tall Empyrean workers are chackling from the middle of the hall.
“It was just a test. Your Loverboy over there should’ve easily caught that.” The group lets out an obnoxious laugh.
D: “he’s not my. You’re going to pay for that!”
P: “Domino back down, look at your hand.”
Domino’s hand is bleeding, but he doesn’t care. He then jumps over the table and tries to start a fight, but Prima holds him back.
A bit of a skirmish happens, but it’s ultimately broken up.
We shift perspectives
“You ever wonder why we’re here.”
Two lookout guards stand on top of a large wall.
Guard 2: “I don’t know, man, I wonder so too. Was it our God’s plan for us to be here, in this ruined land filled with war, or simply coincidence of the life he has given to us. I don’t know, but I think about all the time.”
There is a brief pause
Guard 1: “What? I was talking about why we’re stationed in the middle of nowhere, re-purposing useless junk. What about God.”
Guard 2: “Oh, well, I don’t know, I just.”
Guard 1: “Want to talk about it.”
Guard 2: “No, I'm good, just--- hey, what’s that over there.”
Guard 1: “Is that a joke? There’s nothing – is that a guy.”
Guard 2 picks up his communicator
Guard 2: “This is lookout south. We got an unidentified target, only about a few meters away, over.”
“Over, we’ll intercept.”
Guard 1: “Should we try talking to it.”
Guard: 2 “Probably not. Wait. He stopped.”
The mysterious man in black has reached about a point away from the main gate.
Guard 1: Wait, he’s raising his hand!”
Just then, two massive portals open, and from it, two massive tanks roll out. The man then messes with his fore-arm, and the tanks turn towards the gate.
Guard 2: “Oh shit.”
Then, the tanks unleash a barrage onto the wall, bursting the gate open.
The man walks into the base with his tanks. Warriors storm out the factory to combat the man. What ensues is a big battle. The man stands on top of one of his tanks, summons two massive rifles, and starts raining rounds on the warriors.
From inside the alarms blare red. In the barracks, Domino runs out to help drive away the attacker. As Domino leaves, Prima feels like this is his moment, to finally prove he’s not weak. So, he sneaks out.
Back in the front yard, the man has started engaging in excessive hand to hand combat. None of the warriors can keep up as he vanishes in and out of reality. The warriors are horrified as he blows holes through them with his punches alone, kicking off heads and slamming unwitting fools into the ground.
The man messes with his gauntlets, and his tanks begin blowing up, all the machinery in the front yards, and the dismantled parts of the vehicles there. He starts to progress into the base, where the warriors make their stand.
Back with Prima, he follows Domino in secret and watches as he and some fellow warriors make a blockade. Prima sees there are two warlords and assumes that there is no way the attacker makes it any further. But he was sorely mistaken. The man reaches their post and almost instantly tears through the entire blockade. Prima watches as the man in black pulls out a black twin bladed weapon from nowhere and begins cutting everyone down.
Domino uses a special ability to hold the man in place, and he does get hit by one of the warlords. But the man just cracks a terrifying smile and turns the warlord into bloody cubes with a touch. Domino foolishly runs in screaming and guns blazing, just for the man to teleport a sword up off the ground, stab him through the chest, and pin him to the wall.
The man walks off, and you can see the sick satisfaction on his face. Prima presses against the wall, almost sinking into, and the man turns to Prima but just walks off. Prima sneaks up to Domino and pulls him down, removing the sword from his chest. Domino struggles to breathe, choking on his own blood.
“Don’t worry, I’ll get you some help, just hang on.” Prima says fearfully
“uggh. Hu, run, plea—se.” Domino breathes his last.
Prima feels a deep sorrow and then a violent rage. He lays Domino down. Prima takes off Domino’s bandana and wears it. He picks up the sword that takes his life and runs at the man in black. He raises the blade for a swing, but the man just shoots Prima in the side with his hand cannon, barely acknowledging him. The man gets ready to put one between the eyes, but a group of warriors show up in the nick of time, giving the man a proper distraction.
Unfortunately for Prima, that doesn’t save him from getting kicked in the head and knock completely out.
Prima wakes up, everything is red, his side is on fire, and his head is ringing. He struggles to stand, and he tries to hold his side. Suddenly, an explosion goes off and knocks him to the ground. He starts limping away, his side burning. Another explosion goes off, and the hallway catches fire. Prima starts running with all his might, he pushes the pain out of his head, as explosions go off left and right. He runs, runs, runs, and runs, and runs until he reaches the massive front door of the factory. He runs and runs until an explosion pushes him outside, and he watches as the entire factory goes up in flames.
He shields his head on the ground, and when it seems like he’ll be okay, he looks up and is horrified. What he sees is a battlefield littered with ice, fire, pillars of rock and metal, blessings of warriors, and a pile of bodies. Looking past, you can see two devastator warships, completely destroyed and engulfed in flames; they’ve been split in half. Over it all, he sees the man in black lifting up a body, impaled on his twin blade. And that body is his father, war chief Gaban.
We enter a flashback of how Prima enlisted.
Prima: “Dad, please, I'm an adult now. Let me join the order.” Prima begs his father, who’s working at the moment, to join the eternal monarchy
Prima: “I want to be able to make a difference.”
WC Gaban: “For the last time; you are not ready. No matter how much I’ve seen you train, you’re not getting stronger. You’ll get yourself killed, boy.”
P: “You don’t know that; I could really make a change. I want to make people feel safe.”
WC Gaban: “That’s impossible if you can’t even protect yourself, and besides, no one has ever heard of an Empyrean who can’t use spirit. You’ll be a laughingstock. This is for your own good."
Prima looks at the floor, mad his father won’t see his way. But then he gets an idea.
P: “Let me become a pilot.”
G: “what that’s even worse. You can’t control the skies.”
P: “nor the battlefield, if I become a pilot, then it becomes a matter of sheer skill, and not strength. I will dedicate myself to studying all forms of aviation. So please, dad, let me join.”
Gaban finally looks up from his paperwork and leans back in his chair. His son stands at attention. Gaban can’t help but feel a little bit of pride. His son is so disciplined, he feels like his boy truly has potential, but he can’t help but fear for his safety.
G: “Fine. I’ll enlist you in the core, but I want you to become top of your class. If I see one low grade, you’re out.”
Prima’s face lights up
P: “Thank you. Thank you so much, I promise I’ll make you proud.”
We cut back to the present, everything went wrong, and everyone was right. He was too weak. He couldn’t protect anyone.
Prima struggles to stand up. The man flings his father body off his blade and begins walking away.
“HHHEEEEYYY!!! DON’T YOU JUST WALK AWAY!!!” Prima screams out, trying to get his attention.
The man stops. He turns around, looking confused. Did he miss one? He takes a good look. He realizes it’s just the guy who didn’t have any spiritual presence whatsoever. The one he ignored.
Prima stands up firm, breathing heavy. He grits his teeth.
P: “You, you killed everyone. Some of them were my friends.” Prima holds his head and touches the bandana. “You killed my best friend! You killed my father!!” Prima begins to boil over.
The man gives a dismissive look, smacking his teeth, annoyed he has to hear this. Just then, the man changes expression. He seems intrigued by something.
P: “I. I will avenge everyone. I will shoulder their rage. I will not let you leave.”
Just then, Prima starts to emit a red and black aura. The flames of his spirit begin to spark. “Today is the day you die!!!”
Prima then explodes, his spirit filling the entire yard. In a torrent of energy, a giant figure takes up the scene behind him, copying his movements.
The man smiles widely.
“Already? He can use that technique.” The man makes passing comments.
He makes his blade vanish in his purple aura and ushers Prima forward. Prima rushes forward, and both him and the spirit land a blow to the sternum on the man, sending him sliding back. It was like punching a metal wall, not a bend, was felt around his fist. All he did was push him back, but that doesn’t matter.
The figure becomes the aura around Prima, who rushes in a blind rage, throwing a flurry of blows. Fast punches and jumping kicks. The man weaves and redirects Prima’s attacks, grabbing his limbs and tossing him around. On one of Prima’s blind rushes, the man hits Prima in the gut and kicks him away. Prima rebounds off the ground and runs in.
The two repeat this song and dance for a while. As the man beats Prima down, he notices something interesting. Prima is adapting. He’s learning how to fight. His power is rising.
Prima realizes he’s being toyed with, no matter what he throws out, he gets countered, but he won’t give up. He must press forward. He must win.
Prima starts getting faster and faster, and his blows start carrying weight despite not connecting. Prima starts switching up his style. He remembers the feeling of the spiritual figure. He tries to use it once more. Extra arms made of his spirit erupt from his shoulders, every punch followed immediately by another.
The man looks pleased. Prima darts back, staying close to the ground. Prima focuses deeply. The man notices the change but decides to let things play out.
Suddenly, prima splits his physical body and his spiritual body, effectively making two of himself.
The smiles widen even more, and he starts applauding
“You’re a prodigy! All that potential condensed into one infinitely dense point; I can tell…” The man's smile becomes devilish, “…you’re going to do great things.”
Prima grimaces furiously. Both he and his spiritual body rush at the man in black. The two versions of Prima fight with fluidity, but not completely in sync. Controlling two bodies at once is strenuous and requires immense focus, something prima does have. The man seems to be giving Prima some wiggle room to figure out this new difficult technique, not punishing obvious mistakes and making passive comments.
At some point, the man starts getting a bit bored. Prima’s growth is incredible, but it’s starting to slow down, and Prima’s fatigue is getting the better of him. The man finally decides to stop playing with his new toy and starts beating the lights out of Prima. He lays down a sequence of rapid punches and knees. However, Prima doesn’t give up, he tries covering himself in his spiritual body to protect himself.
However, the man breaks through that almost instantly, and Prima endures a powerful barrage. The man punches Prima away, leaving him motionless on the ground. For a second, the fight looks over, and the man starts walking away. But Prima gets up. The man looks annoyed.
Prima stands on his feet. He takes a deep breath. He rushes in one last time, determined to win this fight.
The man takes his hands out of his pockets and throws a punch. It looks like Prima is about to get hit in the face. But he dodges at the last second and lands a punch on his enemy. He feels a surge of confidence and darts back.
He rushes one more time, and he aims straight for the head. He throws a punch with all his might.
When Prima wakes up, he’s dazed. Everything hurts. He’s coughing up blood, he feels a ringing in his ears, and he can’t see out of one eye, like it’s not there. He can vaguely see a man with brown skin and silky hair. He’s doing some weird motion with his hands, and a vague figure is over Prima.
Suddenly, Prima feels amazing. His vision clears, the ringing stops, and his body doesn’t hurt. He jolts up.
“Oh hey... It worked.” The man who seemed to have healed prima has an unsure look on his face, like he didn’t know his could do that.
“What happened.” Prima asks
“I don’t know… but we should go.” The silky haired man stumbles
“Ok.” Prima to still be in a state shock.
“That’s a nasty scar. How’d you get it.”
Prima puts a hand onto his missing eyes and feels a large scar down his face.
We shift back to Obsidian’s perspective.
He appears in a forest. He pulls out a device and calls his client. “I'm done. That makes 14 minutes and 31 seconds.” Obsidian proclaims his success.
“Nicely done. I'm impressed, never judge a book by its cover and all that. I’ll show up personally to congratulate you.” Amir Caldor answers in a jubilant tone.
30 minutes later; Amir and a few of his men show up in an armored vehicle, specifically the lizard twins and another familar soldier.
“Hey there! Hope you didn’t wait too long.” Amir steps out of the vehicle.
Obsidian gets up from the rock he is sitting on.
“You will give me full credit. Correct.” Obsidian lists off his what he would get in return.
“Of course, in fact, you can get a little extra pay for doing such a good job. You and I should stay in contact; the Revoltors need strong allies.” Amir requests
Obsidian takes a second
“Fine, as long as it improves my reputation.” Obsidian accepts.
The two shake hands.
Cut to Obsidian waking into his ship and taking off. The URs watch Obsidian leave.
“I have a feeling I hit the jackpot. The chief commanders going to enjoy this.” Amir and his men return to their base.
A while passes, and Obsidian takes time to rest after a successful job. After he takes his medication, he returns to the lounge and watches a show on his laptop while drinking a soda. After a bit, he gets a call from the cockpit of his ship. He teleports to his captain's chair and sees it’s from Zi. He accepts the call.
“The Books need an audience, Obsidian.” Zi says in a serious tone.
“Great, this speeds thing up.” Obsidian says proudly
“NOT Great! You weren’t supposed to take a mission that was assigned from the books, especially if someone was already assigned to it.” Zi is quite livid.
“From now on, you answer to me, you want a job, I’ll give you a job.” Zi sounds like she’s disciplining a child.
“Fine.” Obsidian doesn’t bother to argue.
“I’ll send you the coordinates. Do not be late.” Zi hangs up.
“This worked out better than I expected. However, this could have consequences. If the Books are mad at me, then I can’t let them know what I found.” Obsidian thinks to himself about what he discovered below the factory.
We flash back to Obsidian’s assault from his perspective.
We see from his perspective as he summons his tanks and blows down the gate. We watch him gun down, man, after man. He fights through powerful combatants that are no match for him. Obsidian’s mind effortlessly calculates and clocks every enemy fighting style, strength, and ability he notes as blessings. A unilaw ice blessing pierced through the chest. A Translaw wolf blessing, hole through the head. A paralaw blessing that inverts a person's senses, useless, he’s dealt with quickly. He breaks into the main complex and destroys everything in his path. Cutting down man after man, he reaches a blockade and runs through everyone.
Suddenly, he’s frozen in place. The boy with a bandana has an unnatural paralaw blessing, a psychic restraint. One of the stronger soldiers, potentially a high-ranking officer, uses white tendrils to try and impale Obsidian. But it’s useless, Obsidian protects himself with a spiritual Translucent chest plate. Obsidian frees himself by simply overpowering the blessings’ effect and immediately teleports in front of the warrior.
He uses a favorite technique of his spacial separator, and in a grid like pattern, splits the man apart. The psychic younger man runs in blasting his rifle, but a wall of solid space stops his bullets. Obsidian scoffs and teleports a sword on the ground into his hand and impels the boy on the wall, amused by the boys’ recklessness. Obsidian walks away but notices another presence. However, he doesn’t sense the boy because of his spiritual presence. The presence doesn’t have any spirit. He can only sense the boy because Obsidian can feel the space, he takes up through his spatial awareness technique.
Obsidian ignores the boy, and it can’t waste too much time. It’s been 2 minutes already. He walks off, planning on planting bombs in the generator room. But the boy charges at him sword in hand and wearing a bandana.
Obsidian really wants to ignore the boy, but he simply can’t let him run at him, so he shoots casually. Obsidian goes to finish the boy off, but he starts getting shot at. A smile crawls on his face. As he can sense some strong warriors in this group, he thoughtlessly kicks the boy and runs in.
Obsidian dispatches the admittedly strong group and keeps moving. He cuts through a few barracks, the café, and enters the main complex, taking and elevator, but phasing through the bottom to save time. He swings through an opening and into a clean gray. As we enter the factory, ships and mechs are hung up by metal cables, with ground assault vehicles at the bottom. The place is massive, and the bottom floor is deep below. He ran across the high up walkway, and before a group of workers noticed him, he slipped into the heart of the floor. He runs through at a blinding pace, instantly cutting down those in his way, until he reaches the generator room. He is met with massive pylons surging with power. The run seems well run workers there to ensure things go right. Obsidian summons four giant explosive devices and locks them down around the main pylons without being detected.
He teleports out, and before he exits, the building picks up something strange. Movement, below the lowest possible floor. Obsidian decides to investigate, sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong. A few teleports and portals later, Obsidian enters a mining area deep in the planet. The walks are mixed with metal and stone, and there are workers mining some crystals. Obsidian takes note that the workers are xeno's, many different species.
“Profane workers?” Obsidian uses a unique term for the non-Empyreans.
Obsidian notes that the crystals they are mining are not random. Those are soul crystals. Obsidian is confused about why they would need to mine soul-crystals, a very powerful energy source. Obsidian decides to wonder the mines a bit. He remains undetected, each step inaudible, especially amongst the drill and machinery. The xeno workers are being watched over by Empyrean warriors. He finds a control room. He opens a small portal on the closed metal door and peeks in. It’s filled with officers and warriors.
Obsidian wants to know what’s happening, so one by one, he teleports in and snatches up each of the personnel and assassinates them. After they’re all gone and their bodies hidden, he enters the room and begins, hijacking the main computer, the biggest and most important looking one. He summons a data strip and starts running through the information. He must crack through several security systems, which wasn’t difficult for him, but he runs into one annoying firewall.
After he gets past that, he gets to the real heart of the data. Apparently, some projects ordered by the king require tons and tons of these god crystals. Obsidian doesn’t see any value in the data and just downloads the rest and teleports outside. With 7 minutes to spare, he runs into two devastator warships, blocking his exit and an army of warriors. Obsidian smirks and rushes in.
We cut back to the present. Obsidian fiddles with the data-stick before putting away.
Obsidian receives the coordinates, and his ship boosts off.
We quickly shift back to the only survivor of Ivan – IV’s re-purposing factory, Prima.
“State your name.” We find ourselves within an interrogation room. Three men holding data pads request information from our survivor.
“Prima Brytus.”
“Prima, you are the lone survivor of a Unified Revoltor assault, on Ivan-IV re-purposing factory; 12x9f---”
“It wasn’t Revoltors.” Prima interrupts.
The investigator pauses.
“Would you like to repeat that.” The investigator requests.
“It wasn’t revoltors. It was a hired gun.” Prima corrects the report.
“I see. However, thar is not important. Do not speak unless spoken to.” The investigator warns
“But how is that important, it's the truth.” Prima sounds appalled.
“Prima Brytus. Do not speak unless you answer a question. We have no need for your opinion.”
P: “how is it an opinion, it's a fact. thousands of workers and warriors slain by one man, they’re family should know what happened.”
Investigator: “It seems you do not understand. The public will not know it was the act of a lone hired gun. That wouldn’t elicit a favorable reaction. The hired guns are a necessary part of the monarchy’s control. If the people’s opinions became negative towards the Hired guns, it would look bad on the monarchy. Information is what the order makes it.”
Prima sits in shock, the people are being lied to, and what other things s monarchy hiding. Prima can’t argue with the monarchy itself, so he resigns himself to questioning.
“What was it like, during the assault.”
Prima sits there, angry, confused, and scared. But he answers regardless.
“Like a hell, blacker than the void, came to swallow us whole.”
We shift perspectives back to Obsidian. He arrived at the Hired Guns Library of Judgment and entered the two massive doors.
When he enters, he’s met with a large scenery of dark blue and brass columns and brown walls. There’s a decent number of people moving in and out, with some interesting characters in the crowd.
Zi walks up to him. She is not amused. She ushers Obsidian to walk with her.
They walk until they get to a grandiose looking lift, where a mysterious flaming skeleton dinosaurs looking guy waits. He sports full black attire and a very unfriendly look.
“We will see the books now. You will show them the utmost respect.” The man says in a deep, gravely tone.
The three enter the elevator, and the flame head enters a unique code that makes an interesting chime, and the elevator descends.
“Who’s this.” Obsidian whispers.
Zi leans over.
“Spectra Hail, chapter 1 page hunter, he’s the Book’s messenger.” Zi answers.
“So, he’s, their lapdog.” Obsidian thinks to himself.
The elevator takes some time, and Obsidian finds himself transfixed on the sway of the skeletal tail. Then, a loud thud signals they reach their floor. The lift door opens, and the walk down a brass hallway. Until they reach two massive doors. A floating ball-shaped droid comes down from the ceiling and scans Hail. The two massive doors open slowly, and they enter a massive dimly lit courtroom. Theirs a massive podium in the back of the court, the pitch black. Suddenly, a series of dim lights makes loud mechanical noises when activated, revealing panels that hide the higher up. Then the last light reveals a giant shadowy figure whose silhouette seems to have his feet propped up.
Obsidian is a little taken aback. The seemingly main guy seems a little unprofessional, and he seems to be a giant. That species of xeno is incredibly rare. Only two planets are known to have them. Also, Dominick there, sitting in the jury, stands casually, smoking a cigarette. Obsidian and Dominick meet gazes, but then a man gets everyone's attention.
“The books will now have this audience.” A man begins this meeting.
“Obsidian Praw, rank of chapter 10, you are being tried, for your disrespect of our system. You have taken a mission 7 ranks above your own, a mission such as that is restricted to your likes, what say you.” One of the top brasses finishes their monolog.
Obsidian stares, with a puzzled face, trying to figure out which one said all that. Their silhouettes don’t really move. He really wants to teleport up there but decides to stay professional.
“I believe someone of my caliber is far surpassed the simple rankings you all set in place. I completed that sortie in under 15 minutes, 10 spent picking fights I didn’t need to.” Obsidian defends himself.
“Oh, he thinks he’s a tough guy. Well, here what we say is that you have that license, so you follow our rules.” A different more rural voice speaks his piece.
“He should be stripped of his license. He’s had it for one week and already proven to be an unruly menace.” A more bloated sounding voice speak their piece.
“I thought as a hired gun I’d be able to have as much freedom as I wanted. If that’s not the case, I’ll be happy to do things my own way.” The way Obsidian speaks makes his words sound like a threat.
“Why you---” the bloated voice is cut off by a gesture from the shadowy giant.
“Obsidian, I hereby grant you the rank of chapter 5. Your license will be changed, and you will get the freedom you seek.” A mysterious androgynous voice comes from the giant.
A collective gasp Is heard from the top brass and Zi.
“That is absurd." This must be a mistake.” “Why would you take his side, sir?” A collective complaint is heard.
“Spectra, escort Obsidian and his reader. My verdict is set.” The figure waves spectra away.
He bows and guides the two. Dominick exits the stands and follows them onto the elevator
Obsidian glares at the figure. Who is this guy, and why would he let him off so easy.
Obsidian slowly turns as he walks away.
On the elevator.
“I can’t believe he let you go, and he rewarded your recklessness! This is ridiculous, I’ve never seen something like this, and I’ve been a page hunter for as long as I can remember! What the hell does he see in you.” Zi rants angrily, confused and shocked.
“I don’t trust that guy. They call him Black-Book Freddy, right? I need to watch that guy.” Obsidian glares forward.
“Why do you say that.” Zi asks, confused
Obsidian looks at Spectra, who’s burning a hole into Obsidian with his side glare.
“Don’t worry about it.” Obsidian keeps his thoughts to himself
“Ay, I got a bone to pick with you.” Says Dominick patiently, waiting for his turn to speak.
“I know you told the books about me.” Says Obsidian
“Huh, shit, how – I mean… nooo.” Dominick stumbles on his words.
“I don’t particularly care now, but if I leaving you alone becomes a mistake, I will kill you.” Obsidian warns
“Obsidian, stop speaking with this man.” Zi jumps into the conversation.
“What! Come on, YanYan. You still don’t forgive me.” Dominick says, defending his dignity.
“Don’t call me that, you con-man, I hoped I’d never see your face again.” Zi pulls him by the tie.
“Oh, come on, I keep trying to apologize, but you won’t listen.”
“And I never will.”
Obsidian tunes out their argument as Spectra’s glare remains fixed until the lift finally stops. Spectra guides them out into the main lobby, where he ushers them to leave.
“I need to keep going up. That Freddy has information I want.” Obsidian says sternly
“Yeah, whatever, from now on, I pick your missions. Meet me in Great Smolder in the ninth. I’ll give you a selection, but you only pick from my selection, got it.” Zi puts a finger in Obsidian’s face
“Fine.” He sounds defeated.
Obsidian turns to Dominick. He teleported a case of cash into his hands. “Here.” he says.
“Oh yeah, I got demoted cause if you.” Dominick says, annoyed as he takes the case.
“Not my problem.” Obsidian starts walking away.
“It is too your problem! Hey! Don’t walk away from me. You got to fix this.” Dominick yells but gets ignored.
Obsidian returns to his ship, and on his way through the city, he passes a mysterious man taller than him and sporting a western attire, with a coat over his shoulders. The sound of his spurs is the only thing Obsidian can hear. He fails to make out his face as the top half is pitch black covered in shadow.
Obsidian glares at the guy as he walks past Obsidian. He feels familiar, really familiar.
Obsidian decides to teleport to his ship instead of walking and takes off into void once more.
From deep in Phoenix Order-controlled space, a mysterious man in all white armor, contrasted with the black and gold coat over his shoulders sits in a war chiefs chair.
“Sir Poltergeist Zero, we got a report that a spacial gift user decimated a re-purposing factory in the Shattered Nebula.” A warrior brings a report.
“We believe he could be a serious threat to the eternal monarchy.” The warrior finishes
We see his front; he sports an intimidating helmet; it design looks like crying. He sits hunched over in his chair, resting a very long sword in it sheathe on his left shoulder.
He breathes heavily, with a hint of anger.
“We shall pursue.”
“Yes, sir.”