The effects were immediate. A trickle of mercs started to converge on his location, the shuttles blared their lights onto him. With heavy gunfire, he fought back. He ducked behind cover, throwing grenades to dismantle any organised assault. He was fast, durable, well trained…

But compared to these people, he lacked experience. He’s only been in the game for a few years, but these people have been in it for at least a decade. Time was all he needed to buy with his blood, not victory.

‘Of course… leave the suicidal things to Arbiter.’ Sato sighed.

Kazuki fired back at the mercs from cover. Attracting them to him, he glanced back at the others.

They were fleeing in the chaos, hiding from cover to cover as they fought off the sporadic leftovers that tried to stop them from reuniting. If everything went well, they’ll rendezvous with the other teams, all he needs to do is what he does best: kill.

His head twisted away as a blast from the cannons shredded the cover around him, flying off before Kazuki could blast it with his railgun.

‘DAMMIT. DEAL WITH THE CONTRACT-BREAKER!’ shouted Tifta over public channels, fully appreciating the threat he posed.

Good, Kazuki thought. He slowly stood up, feeling his exoskeleton gear up as he reclocked steam out from his mouth. His golden eyes awoke from slumber. The mercs continued to pour fire at him, and he burst forth. He ANCHORed onto onto one of them. Throwing them aside, Kazuki deflected gunfire with his shield. The merc’s body slammed through a steel bar, impaling them.

Shock and awe was everything, and he had the speed to match even the greatest of what they could throw. But in prolonged combat, he’ll be whittled down. And as trained, he turned his body into a weapon: a tool of death.

‘More converging on your location, Arbiter.’ reported Eliza, ‘Try to split them up.’

‘Understood.’

Bursting with another round of energy, he threw himself into gunfire, his armour and shield deflecting rounds as he gunned down those furthest from him. Those closest were given more brutal treatments. He ducked down into one of the lower platforms, with even more mercs converging on top of the debris. They fired down at him from all sides.

‘Arbiter, you’re one crazy son of a bitch! They’re on you, alright!?’ shouted Archius.

Rushing forward, he grabbed onto one of the mercs, crushing their windpipe in one go. He ignited an electro-bomb, attaching it to their body as he reloaded his railgun. He hid behind it, letting the corpse be riddled with bolts. Stray bolts smacked off his armour and unarmoured joints; he ignored the pain from the impacts, with more stims replacing the trailing blood he left behind. Twisting around, he kicked the body as he fired his railgun at the one behind him - before ducking away.

He looked down at his arsenal… Compared to what the others have, his was miniscule. Hartius had a rocket system; Freyja had teleporting blades; Kyria had a nuclear-powered shotgun. And all he has is the leftovers. Holstering his railgun, he kicked himself backwards, sprawling the air in front of him with Svenn’s old blaster, the caustic smell from the corrosion rung under the respirator.

‘Come on, Arbiter! Just a little longer,’ Eliza worryingly stated; despite her best intentions, it seems emotions do bleed into work. But this time it got no remarks from Lilly.

More arose to meet him in combat; more came directly into his crosshairs. Those touched by it all fell, writhing in agony, or were killed instantly. He drew his half-blade, a shortened odachi, slicing through one behind him as he ducked behind cover. By now his armour was riddled with bullet marks and plasma scorches.

But a hostile shuttle rushed by overhead, it splattered down a hail of fire through the blizzard. Force multipliers, he’ll have to deal with them. His shield started to break down as he stood up, blocking the bolts and plasma as he took out his railgun, bearing the brunt as he flicked the break-action open.

‘ARBITER! THOSE SHUTTLES! ARCHIUS! Take them down!’ shouted Lilly.

‘KARL! Get here now!’ Sato shouted, directing Lilly’s anger at Karl, the escape pilot leading the convoy of the next shuttles.

‘Oi, oi, I’m getting some doughnuts, just wait a minute, alright?’ said Karl, trying to calm things over on the uplink with a joke.

‘KARL.’ Kazuki uttered one word, sliding through a destroyed shuttle behind him to buy his shield reprieve from the shuttle’s rotary bombardment.

‘HEY! I WAS JOKING!’

Kazuki rushed out of cover, getting too close to a group of mercs to warrant the use of the shuttle’s battlements. He sliced through, but as the shuttle waddled to the side to get a better angle - he found an opening. An armoured fuel tank.

His mind entered into a state of frenzy as he pushed forward. Slicing forward, he moved from cover to cover, blood dripping as more fell. Kazuki activated his WRIST-SHOT, creating a smog of plasma to hide his figure within the storm and fog.

Drugs were injected into him, diluting his bloodstream. He had to move faster; with his muzzle primed to the perfect angle on the shuttle.

He braced. And he fired.

The shuttle’s fuel tank exploded. Its engines cried out in a loud cacophony, crashing down. The blizzard masked its explosion. Debris and fragments of steel shot upwards, heat and an overcharged reactor sent anyone nearby into dust. Dozens of mercs fell in a pool of their own blood as they all collapsed. Many were dismembered. The screams soon followed, and under the cover of the chaos, Kazuki slipped away.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

∗ ∗ ∗

Rocking back and forth, Eliza felt somewhat calmed by small sways of her hover-chair. She continued to coordinate their forces, watching from orbit with the drones. She was originally just supposed to be an analyst, and here she was: coordinating and helping run an anti smuggler operation.

She was in over her head, Eliza thought, but she must continue and persist. She promised Deltastring and Lilly of her commitment, and what would she be if she cannot persist any further? ‘Lazarus, watch out! Ti your flank!’

‘Roger that,’ replied Claire, moving from one side of a long barricade to the other.

The remaining agents were hiding away, trying to hold out as shuttles bore down against them. They held a line of debris, barely usable as cover, but makeshift emplacements nonetheless.

A massive force of mercs were converging on them, yet for each AGENT fell, a dozen of those mercs were taken with them, showing the full might of the AGENCY… But still, each bullet felt stung. And Eliza held strong.

Though her heart was beating with stress, she kept calm - at least she tried. She refused to look at Kazuki’s monitor, she felt she had assured herself enough of his safety. And she needed to keep to her promise, even if it kills her on the inside. She took a swig of coffee from her cup, drawing her eyes towards the monitor in front of her. But as she pried her eyes away from looking at Kazuki, her hands shook, shaking as if they demanded what she always wanted to know…

Everything was going to plan, she reminded herself, just trying to get her mind to calm down; no number of simulations can ever wash away the reality of combat. The shuttles shouldn’t be a problem after Karl’s reinforcements arrive. Sato, however, did not share her calm attitude. She was sweating slightly, filling Eliza’s stomach with butterflies at the sight.

‘Where in Iris’s sake are the fucking shuttles?!’ Sato asked, crossing her arms. Archius meanwhile? He looked stoic, calm, and presentable…

“I’ll need to ask him how he does it…” Eliza muttered to herself, closing her eyes for a moment.

‘HERE! The cavalry’s arrived, oorah!’ said Karl, his shuttles coming into view from the monitoring drones, scanning downwards as plasma beams smacked into the merc’s shuttles, shooting them out of the sky.

The reinforcing shuttles bore down at the mercs, as any out of cover were slaughtered. Eliza watched as their blood became visible on the thermal and visual rays. But despite the gruesome sight, she felt nothing, trying to pry her mind from thinking of the realities of the battleground - forcing herself to think of each strobe and square as just a faceless fighter. Then, she undid her own thinking, battering her own hypocrisy as her mind argued with itself.

The shuttles landed, opening their doors as a litany of gunfire consumed the debris field.

‘Arbiter,’ Eliza turned to face Kazuki’s monitor, seeing him fighting against a dozen mercs. Just looking at it gave her anxiety. But she gritted through the stress. ‘Rendezvous with the others, the shuttles have arrived!’

‘Got it. Karl, can you create a path for me?’ asked Kazuki, calmly displacing an approaching merc with nothing but lead and scorches. Blood continued to splatter, and not a single whelp from her.

‘Already on it, boss.’ Karl ignited upwards as his shuttles started to bombard the remaining mercenaries. A path of mangled corpses was cleared for Kazuki, a literal red carpet.

She watched as he avoided all gunfire, slamming down as beams cut through the mercs. Yet as those around him fell, he rushed upwards. A few lucky shots flicked off him. She felt like calling out to him, but held her tongue, he was used to this… and so must she. He powered through, rushing through the chaos. As the barricade came into view, he vaulted over it, landing on the other side with Edain and Claire ready to greet him.

‘I’m fine!’ He pushed them away, using both hands as Claire tugged off, whilst Edain persisted.

Edain activated his lenses, taking out his pharm-assist. ‘We have to—’

‘Get off me.’ Kazuki’s demands were met with immediate compliance as Edain pulled away, joining back into the fight. ‘Exfiltrate, now.’

Kazuki readied himself as more and more operatives boarded the shuttles, firing back and suppressing the mercs with mounted turrets. Now they were the ones with the force multipliers, Eliza thought. Everything was going exactly as planned. The mercenaries were being cut down and her allies were escaping. But even so, her eyes were fixated on Kazuki. His survival meant everything to her. Because subconsciously, she needs him.

He was the only one that could do it. He had the expertise, the skill, the connections and the reputation to see their investigation through. He was the only one, she thought… The only one that cares enough to help her… But still, she couldn’t admit it to herself, her pride was still too strong. But her confidence? It was in shambles… After what happened before, what other choice does she have?

And as the final operatives filled the shuttles, they started to depart. She felt her heart calm. Yet at the same moment, a string of rocketeers and mercenaries poured forward through the snowstorm, wading through the wreckage and flaming debris.

She heaved a sigh of relief… but as she closed her eyes, sound filled her uplink.

The violent crash of an explosion rocked the lead shuttle. And as voices cried out, the only word she ever heard through it all was a name: Kazuki. Her eyes ripped open as she looked directly at the monitors. She pressed closer to it as thermal imagery showed one figure fall. One heat signature fell…

‘SHIT! Arbiter’s fallen! Halt the convoy!’ Sato ordered them back, a fusillade of rockets roaring from the surface.

‘NO TIME!’ said Lilly, ‘Those missile-locks will chew us down if we stay!’ Half a dozen shuttles appeared within the mist, firing their payload on the escort convoy.

‘Arbiter… do you hear me?!’ Eliza asked, begging almost. No response, her heart sank with agony. WHY DIDN’T SHE SEE THEM? IF SHE HAD JUST SAID… THAT THERE WERE ROCKETEERS…

She continued to eat herself out, cursing to herself.

Archius slowly glanced at her across the command deck, from one monitor to another. She met his gaze, wondering if he was disappointed in her… If she had looked in a mirror, she’d have seen a broken mess.

But, Archius simply sighed. He gave her a comforting look, nodding at her. Eliza understood the situation, the needs of the group outweighed one man. But still… She can’t leave him to die…

‘Retreat. Exfiltrate. Get the hell out of there, Arbiter will live.’ ordered Archius, sounding calm despite the situation. ‘I know him, it’ll take more than that to fuck him over.’

‘HOW THE FUCK DO YOU KNOW?!’ shouted Sato.

‘Tifta respects Kazuki,’ said Archius, coldly, with little room for empathy. ‘The two were friends, he won’t kill Kazuki.’

That’s… right. Kazuki always lives. He must! He’s probably been through something like this before, has he not?! But as the thoughts raced through her mind, the survey drones started to move, speeding up to join the convoy as the shuttles sped off, into the storm. The crack of explosions and gunfire faded, leaving herself to her thoughts… They continued to eat her out, to eat at her failures. She felt the brooch weigh once again, attached to her jacket.

He… can’t die. Not now. Not after everything that they have bled for and fought for, Kazuki must live. That was the one conclusion Eliza pushed forward. No matter how irrational it was, she had to believe in it. She placed her mind and soul on that assumption.

And for her sake, Synthia sprouted up, patting Eliza on the cheek…

He must live, the thought of death must be thrown away. At all costs, she must remain steadfast. She continued to repeat the thought to herself, but it didn’t change anything.