Through the smog, Kazuki could hear the clinks of armour around each corner of the alley. The Loyalists tried to pin him down, cutting more avenues of escape. All the while his ICAPAD guided him. But each twist and turn led to more escape vectors being cut off. With no way out, he chose down. Unsealing a nearby grate into the sewers, he descended.

They were, to put it simply, absolutely awful. His senses were hampered by pain and the awful stench as he slowly made his way through the decrepit sewage passageways. He'd be lucky if he didn't get some sort of infection. Even now, most of his wounds were... healing, to say the least. He rarely got sick. Infected either. He'll survive this... probably. Low screeches echoed across the walls. He paid them no attention, as he passed by glowing 'eggs' embedded into the walls.

Ghouls are the least of his concerns right now.

'Kazuki…' Eliza said, almost as if she was going to plead, 'Get out safe… alright?'

'I'll live.' stated Kazuki, continuing over the catwalks and around corners and intersections. 'Archius, keep the tracker on me.'

'Ah, sorry about that, chief!' Archius started. Kazuki paused for a moment, audibly sighing. 'Just kidding.'

Headaches stabbed back once again as he injected himself with the last batch of Halolazil. Dropping the empty injector onto the ground, he started into a light jog.

'Tch…' Sato grumbled, 'Don't worry, we're pinging your location.'

Chaos was still unrolling up above him, probably the ENFORCERs. Even if it was a fairly large incident, he knew that word of it would never reach the surface. To everyone nearby, this was simply everyday life.

As he rounded a corner, his brain spiked with pain. He twisted around to see Loyalists scouring across the sewers. "There he is!"

A bullet smacked into the reinforced concrete beside him. The jog turned into a full blown sprint, though his muscles and nerves slowly withered. Avoiding gunfire, he crashed around corners and delved deeper into a confusing layout of intersections.

Kazuki felt his legs slowly falter in strength. "Fuck…" His brain withered away at his tongue, trying to withstand the pain. He felt something dragging against him, his mind ramping into full gear as realisation after realisation set in. He really might not make it out of this.

The revelation only amplified his regrets… his guilt. Hands latched to his legs, hands of the dead, dragging him to his death.

But he withstood the scars nonetheless.

With only a knife and backup pistol, he kept running. The claustrophobic halls and grated walls strangled him… Pain seeped into him. His legs and arms ached underneath his armour. Shrapnel stung. The post-ANCHOR tension gave way as the lactic acid burned. Without the anchor support braces, he was lucky that his legs didn't immediately shatter.

He turned a corner, narrowly avoiding another patrol of Loyalists. He gripped the wall with his gloved hand. Steam showed that his exospine was nearly out of energy. The green hue from his nape was duller than ever. Despite that, he pushed onwards. He still has unfinished business, despite what the steam vapours leaving his mouth had to say.

A group of Loyalists were guarding a doorway… Three in total... Ugh, the Loyalists really didn't change from the fire team system. He can take them. He carefully aimed around the intersection, firing into the first one as Kazuki burst into a sprint. Dead, the two left crashed into action - firing at him. But even in his damaged state, he dove forward, shielding attacks as he ducked behind cover. As the two tried to push him back, he took both of them out with two simple bolts.

He coughed up a splatter of blood… Slowly, he hooked his uplink solely to Archius and Eliza. It was finally dawning on him that he might not be able to fulfil his contracts with her. 'Eliza, Archius, are you there?'

His speech was slurred as steam continued to exit his mouth. He pushed himself into a neighbouring maintenance shaft system as he continued down into a spiralling labyrinth of tunnels and cross-section. The air felt toxic; dust rose up with each step. Grime and dirt covered the corners, with outdated propaganda posters flickering on and off along the walls. The posters called for True Republicans to Rise against the Imperial Advance, promising prosperity and the end of death... There was holo-paint over most. 'PIGS' and 'LIARS' were the most common words.

His ICAPAD sputtered out.

'Arbiter, we hear you,' said Archius.

'Kaz! We're trying to pick you up, just keep going… Just don't give up, alright?' begged Eliza, 'Right? Promise me, promise me you'll get out of there.'

'I will.' said Kazuki - perhaps in a body bag.

He wasn't so sure. But to keep Eliza calm, he obliged in her promise. He slowed down as he felt vibrations in the air around him. The combination of all his senses finally gave him clarity as he slowly made his way in a direction his guts told him. A monotonous, dust-filled grit had replaced the stench of the sewers.

'Great…' Eliza said. He could feel her small smile behind the uplink. 'Then it's a contract.'

He froze. His muscles contracted as his brain started to melt with overflowing emotions. Emotions? Kazuki had to double-check with himself to be sure. For the first time, he felt something sting at his very being. A searing pain came to his artificial heart as his brain sent panic signals all across his body.

His breathing increased. But with a single notion, all his thoughts came crashing down upon him as he heard the movement of a blade through air behind him. Calm broke; his aug-glasses flared up with detections.

Kazuki's body moved once more as he twisted around. He raised his own dagger just in time to parry an attack. Pain seared. Their unmarked steel combat knife struck his Black Blade. An armoured individual pressed against him, black hair, dark eyes. He was forced into the retreat. Adrenaline was slowly fading. Yet their attacks continued, each parry and block was forceful and frantic as he used up any strength left in him.

Throwing his chest backwards, he narrowly avoided a jab as the Loyalist raised a gun to him, firing point blank before Kazuki could activate his shield. The shot sent a shockwave into him as he was sent backwards, the shot penetrating into his arm. Blood splattered outwards.

"Who… are you…" Kazuki's eyes quickly locked onto his target.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

He fired his pistol sporadically. A white blur emerged from their forearm, a shield blocked the bullets, as they charged at Kazuki. His emergency WRIST-SHOT activated as he held his left arm outwards, a nanobot construct formed out from his wrist. Twisting his wrist and slide, he sent a blast of plasma into their armour - stopping them in their tracks - knocked back as Kazuki lunged in for a killing blow.

In response, the Loyalist twisted upwards, grappling with Kazuki as he tried to stasis-lock him. The two struggled, Kazuki kicked at his leg, before firing another WRIST-SHOT at them, this time knocking them into the wall.

As he aimed to finish his opponent, more figures approached from behind, firing away. Pain seethes through his unarmoured joints. He started to run, ignoring his pain. He ignored it all, and ran. At an intersection, he turned left to see a group of Loyalists chasing down towards him. With no choice, he ignited another thermobaric grenade and lobbed it towards them. He turned right. Heat filled the tunnels; vibrations shook the maintenance shaft.

He kept running, twisting and turning to avoid patrols as his body was on the brink of death. The steam's heat started to rise in temperature; he tried to fight back with a healing inhaler. His mechanical lungs didn't help.

Even if he survives, the damage would be irreparable. But as he turned, he was met with a dead end. A sheer drop from a large pipe into a massive waste tunnel leading down to the depths of underpolis Anagora. Large numbers lined the walls of the hyper-tunnel lane, with abodes and apartments dug into the very foundation and walls of each pillar and surface. It was a makeshift cliffside village in the heart of the under city.

Drones and vehicles passed up and down as the blaring neon adverts stung his eyes, violently stabbing at the monotonous circuit-walls. His medinetics and exospine started to fail as he turned around. This was it.

And right behind him, was another Loyalist. White hair. One of his father's veterans? With but a single move, the Loyalist rushed forward. Kazuki was barely able to avoid the first attack as he lunged into another attack, firing his pistol as the Loyalist sliced his barrel in two. Sparks of orange came off their knife as Kazuki went in for a jab.

The man laughed. "Let's… do this!"

With a swipe, he was able to parry away Kazuki's attack with his own blade, before gripping onto Kazuki's wrist, slowly squeezing. The pain continued as his body was shutting down.

His body heat regulation system started to malfunction. He felt cold… and warm. Using all his might, he grabbed onto his WRIST-SHOT and fired a peppershot at point-blank range, smashing into the individual's mask and armour. They flung back.

The man slowly staggered back up as Kazuki swayed. They took out a corrosive hand-blaster from their holster, firing a blast of acid that collided into Kazuki's armour with a thud, aiming faster than Kazuki could react.

He was sent backwards, reeling in pain as the acid scorched his armour and the skin underneath. His old burn marks ached once again, resonating. He stood on the edge of the large pipe, drenched in blood, dust and neutralising acid. He exhaled another batch of steam as the man took off his dented mask. And a face that Kazuki remembers emerged.

There was no mistaken in who the man was. Svenn Janstein. Brother of James Janstein; one of his mentors. His unnatural white hair glistened in the low hues as his eyes twitched. He looked older, and more frail.

How was he here? He watched Freyja Beamont, third of the seven mercs, drop a flaming building on top of him. No… this… couldn't be him. Kazuki silently deliberated for a moment, he looked exactly like Svenn… But how? The war is over. He's dead. HE KNOWS THIS FOR A FACT. BUT HOW? How?! Kazuki's mind raced, but found no answer. Codename Afterlife… Svenn Janstein. He ignored the signs…

"Long time… no see… Kazu." said Svenn, Loyalists slowly catching up to them. The black-haired one stepped forward.

"The other AGENTs have escaped, Afterlife," said Marshall. "We've sustained acceptable casualties."

"Footnotes on a page of blood, Marshall. Burn our men with honour; but… let the AGENTs rot. All of them…" Svenn kept his twitching eyes trained on Kazuki.

"If you say so, sir," said Marshall. "But are you sure this is the right option?"

Svenn trailed off, "Yes…"

"Svenn," said Kazuki, wiping away blood from his cheek. He taught him many survival tactics. If there was anyone outside the seven that could match him, it'd be him… He can't win this. No: He must win this. But it's Svenn, how the fuck can he beat him?!

"Enjoying that Contract of yours… Contract-Breaker?" Svenn's voice was filled with an untapped sense of rage. Primordial, even. Only if Svenn knew of what James would have wanted… "Your moves are just as predictable, no matter how complex you make them…"

Kazuki remained still. His armoured vest-plates fizzled with corrosion as Svenn continued onwards, slowly stepping towards him.

"You stole that… from us. All of us… burnt it all to the ground… we had peace… status quo - you took it. And burnt what we built to the ground. And for what?" Svenn pointed the muzzle at Kazuki. His eyes tingled.

"For justice." lied Kazuki. It was a blatant lie. He wasn't just like his father. All he cared for was vengeance, it just happens that they coincide.

Svenn cracked up. Now that he thinks about it, Kazuki never uncovered Svenn's Contractor Specialisation. The BCA labels contractors by their expertise, something to help with employment. But he never knew Svenn's. He wasn't a juggernaut, that was for sure. He wasn't a marksman, nor a sapper. He was an enigma.

If he had to deal with anyone that could even fight a tenth as good as a member of the seven, he'd prefer to know their specialisation beforehand. But Svenn? He had no idea.

"You killed James. You killed them all. I knew them all. Those directors had dreams…"

"Like what?" snapped Kazuki, "Jessica would enslave Anagora given the chance. Wu, that coward, fled the moment he could, with an army to back him. Such noble dreams."

His mind was going numb as he felt his voice slowly slip away with each passing word. His systems were finally crumbling as he felt blood drip out from the gaps between his exospine and skin, previous reinforcements failing. He placed one finger on his exospine, at the switch for his overclock… he might have to do it. It'll probably kill him, but he'll have to gamble with his life - not the first time as well.

"Silence… Fourth of the seven, what a joke… I'll burn it all to the ground." His eyes stared blindly at Kazuki as his uplink lit up. "What was that woman you were with? You killed Matt for her, didn't you? After I'm done with you… maybe we'll go pay her a nice visit…"

"Over my dead body."

"That is to the point, Kazu…" said Svenn. "You burnt it all down for us… now we return the favour."

'Test of faith, Kaz! Go take a plunge for us,' said Archius.

He could do it… Kill Svenn, kill them all. But he might come out the other side less of a human than before. What the fuck should he do? His exospine might not survive; and that was enough to answer his question. He can't take them, not without sacrifice.

He took one glance out into the endless abyss below and the bright light above. Turning back, he uttered one word, "Try."

With that, he let his balance fail, leaning backwards. He closed his eyes. His body went into freefall. For a moment, he felt all his stresses evaporate as the responsibility of all his contracts were wiped away. The grave was cleaned of blood. But a jab stuck at him as Kazuki forced his eyes open.

"Pull up! Ya fool!" shouted Quinn. He had one arm on Kazuki as he was leaning over the edge of the shuttle door, his other gripping onto the shuttle. A few more operatives helped him, tugging on backwards. Bullets whizzed down at the shuttle as Amyé fired back up. Lilly and Claire joined in, each holding one of Quinn's legs as Kazuki pulled himself up.

"You lived!" shouted Karl, as Kazuki was brought into the shuttle interior. Quinn closed the doors as it started to speed away. "Good… your daddy would've had me skinned if you died."

Kazuki lay flat on the shuttle floor - staring up at the red, interior lights. Svenn was alive. He's a Loyalist… He mulled over it as his body slowly died. Claire immediately started operating on his medinetics, injecting stimulant after stimulant to keep him alive - to prolong his mission. The answer was clear… revenge. He can't die. He can't die now. If there's a threat to his first contract, he must eliminate it.

"Svenn…" Kazuki muttered under his breath. "Why are you alive…"