Eon's rage boiled as Rat mowed down another survivor. Floods of them rushed out of the commercial district and were blindsided by their three manned carcade.

He almost wanted to curse the fools that left him hostage. With all of their numbers, they could have bum rushed Rat and Shark, seizing their weapons and vehicles. Instead, like sheep, they cowered from wolves. But then he realized, at least they had the courage to flee death, while he was driving towards it. He told himself that he was buying time, and at first, he truly believed that.

As if sensing his emotions, Giraffe spoke up. "For years Jax, tried to pull me under his wing, flattering me with gifts and credits," her voice could barely be heard over the screams of terror. "He became a regular of mine. I mean, how could he not, the business was too good to pass up. But eventually, I stopped answering his calls, ignoring the temptations."

"What brought you back?" Eon asked.

"An Artifact," Giraffe said.

The sarcophagus? Eon frowned. Why would she want a psionic Artifact? "Are you–"

"No," Giraffe said. "But Jax promised to turn me into one. He's discovered the key to awakening, and with his help, I can leave this world. Head further into Federation controlled space. Delve the Nexus Realms and start amassing my own fortune."

The stupidity nearly killed Eon, he had his own bouts of hubris in recent years, but never something so foolish.

"Idiot! I can't believe you dragged me into your delusion," Eon yelled. "The Guilds and Monarchies will kill you. Once your past is uncovered, you think they'd allow you to step foot near a Nexus Realm? Hell, they storm planets to claim attuned asteroids. Their monopoly is untouched for a reason."

Eon continued to scold Giraffe, letting off pent-up steam. Briefly, he wondered if karma was collecting its due. Psionics were rare on Typhon, but even she should have known that lone psionics were stamped out. Jax, regardless of his recognition in Estera, didn't have the sway to stop that. If Jax truly discovered a method, which Eon didn't believe for one second, the Guilds would trace him to the ends of the galaxy.

"I'm a minor freelancer at best, no one will know or care," Giraffe finally said. Besides, I'll have died in this chaos. And as for his method… Well, we'll have to see, won't we?"

Eon shook his head. "Out here you'd be ignored, but further in you'll be an anomaly, a threat. Without connections or a faction of your own, you'll be strung up and bled dry."

"And what the fuck do you know?!" Giraffe yelled, tired of the admonishment. She turned to glare back at him and swerved at the sudden movement.

Sensing weakness, a dozen of the desperate survivors charged forward. But they had miscalculated, believing Giraffe to have lost full control. In that instance, a wave of death rolled out. Eon never felt anything like it. It took a second for him to realize, a bolt of psionic lightning crashed into the mob. Gurgling screams and the smell of burnt flesh erupted. He could almost taste it on the tip of his tongue. Shark was no longer a crazed ruffian. He had become something far more deadly, a force of nature known as a Psionic Binder.

How the hell am I supposed to kill him now?! Eon thought, second guessing Jax's honesty and stealing a glance at Rat.

"This is a good thing," Giraffe said, sensing Eon's change. "We've all but won now."

Eon glimpsed renewed determination on her face. Only moments before, her eyes had mirrored his own. Like a caged animal, she had always wanted to escape the slums of Typhon, but Jax's offering of a leash wouldn't cut it. Now, with her own two hands, her expression read: she could finally break free.

Yet still, Eon wasn't so easily convinced. Her response caused him to stare daggers into her back. But if looks could kill, she didn't feel a thing. Briefly he considered actually killing her and making his own escape. However the tense feeling of sparks racing up and down his skin, stilled his hand.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't shake the sensation of Shark's lightning. It was an exhilarating and frightening thrill. As if he stood on the top of the world, balanced on the edge of the Sengoku Mountains, divided between heaven and earth, life and death. Reason urged him to wait for his chance to escape, while the presence of Shark loomed behind his back like a spectre, daring him to make any rash decisions.

Sighing, Eon looked up into the dark sky, watching spaceships and cruisers descend. Some were alien in nature, designed from principles uncommon to most human societies. They were fortunately the least present. If he were to be abducted his choice would lie with a human crew. Not that he was prejudice. Eon himself was only ninety-four percent human. But the type of aliens that partook in raids weren't of the sophisticated kind. He'd be hard-pressed to find a crew of unari women looking to lock him in shackles.

Although that doesn't sound so bad—Eon's thoughts stopped as an alien cruiser sped towards their direction. His heart sunk, his butt clenched. He was about to throw Giraffe to the wolves when the cruiser continued on. "Oh, thank god," he panted.

They continued in silence as they rode unmolested for two miles. After Shark's display, there was a wide berth given by all who approached. Eon soon realized it was caused by one of Shark's psionic abilities. He then wondered if the man could conjure telekinetic armor of his own. It wouldn't be as potent, but the respective skills of Psionic Enforcers and Binders grew indistinguishable the more powerful they became.

If Enforcers were the warrior/tanks in the old school RPGs he often played, Binders were the mage/warriors, able to transmute Arc Energy. There wasn't an exact classification, but through A'steri's teaching, Eon had come to understand that the mystic abilities of psionics generally fell on either side of the coin.

There were techniques that both could master, granting quantifiable skills that increased in power with each use. Eon didn't fully understand the nature of Arc Energy, no one truly did. Some believed the energy source was a relic of the Gods. A power source left behind by the creators of the multiverse.

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"What are you thinking?" Giraffe asked.

"Hmm, I'm not sure. Maybe because of your uncanny resemblance to a tree, Shark's lightning will strike you first, giving me enough time to escape," Eon said.

"Oh no, has my dazzling stature offended your sense of masculinity?" Giraffe mocked.

Eon brushed the comment aside. "So I take it Jax is dead? They killed him for this Artifact?"

It took a few seconds for Giraffe to respond, but she nodded to confirm his suspicions were true.

"Jax had me accompany him to meet a Collector. He had gotten word of a unique Artifact and wanted to bind it before it was taken off-world. During the meeting, Shark and Rat broke in. They threatened—Vorn, Vorn was his name. But instead of giving them what they wanted, he killed himself, locking down his shop. I had to hack our way out, leaving behind a few defenses as an excuse to save my life. That made them believe that I couldn't open his vault. At that point Jax was useless, so Shark stabbed him, channeling energy through that blade of his."

No honor among thieves, Eon thought, staring at Giraffe's back. "Wait. When was he killed?"

"Today," Giraffe said. "A few hours ago."

Fuck me…

Eon's stomach dropped as he realized he was the one who had set everything in motion. His identity had remained a secret, no one knew he leaked the information about the sarcophagus. But through sheer dumb luck, he had been dragged down off his ivory tower. Saul had warned him about rising too fast, and now his hubris had destroyed an entire city. Perhaps the raid would have happened regardless, but it was him who had confirmed the location of the Artifact.

"Inside Vorn's vault lies the remnants of a psionic Emperor. A being that controls the power over death," Giraffe said in an animated tone.

"Sure it does," Eon said, hearing Jax's propaganda in her voice. More lies to get a netrunner to open the man's vault in case things didn't work out.

How she couldn't see through the lies was beyond him. The monarchs known as psionic Kings took great measures to stabilize their power. A so-called Emperor would be a psionic beacon, eroded by waves of tumultuous energy from within. Attempting to harness such power was simply suicide.

Psionic Kings held power over entire solar systems. Eon once read of a King who destroyed a host planet and its orbiting satellites after losing a bet. They were rare, virtually unheard of in Federation controlled space, unlike a psionic Prince, whose power lauded over planets.

No Prince would allow a King to manifest in their vicinity. Even certain Guilds dared not push their limit, remaining true to a delicate balance of power. But on the mere chance Jax wasn't lying, Eon imagined the galaxy would fracture. He couldn't comprehend the strength of a Prince, let alone an Emperor.

To obtain such strength, one would have to venture into the Outer Rim, where there stood countless opportunities for growth. In the dark expanses of the Rim, many factions had formed, claiming territories to mark as their own. But there was no overarching government. No rule of law, besides power and what you could claim for yourself.

"You know, I didn't expect you to be so somber, this is our ticket out of here. Philosopher would understand," Giraffe said.

"And where is he?" Eon asked.

"Couldn't find him," Giraffe shrugged.

"Does that even warrant a response?" Eon said.

"I suppose not, but like I said, I needed a way to survive. Once we get to the vault, I'll get Shark to send Rat off and have him turn off the arc reactor."

"The what?" Eon frowned.

"It's a power source I made up," Giraffe said. "It "powers" the arc field that keeps the Artifacts intact."

Eon's sense of disbelief did nothing to curve Giraffe's confidence.

"He'll leave," she continued, "because he's desperate. At least Shark will force him to, and with him gone, the two of us should be able to catch Shark by surprise."

Eon practically face-palmed. "That sounds like a plan from someone who spent their entire life online."

"What?" Giraffe said as they turned down a back alley. Eon's voice was drowned out by Rat's honking and jeering.

"Anyone else included in this mad scheme of yours? You can't possibly think this will work," Eon said.

"Besides you? Only L0rdx1337xKing and Philosopher. Philosopher I couldn't find in time. And Lord… well, they killed him. Judging by his name, I bet you could tell he was a bit of an odd one."

Eon's sigh was as heavy as a lead weight. Exactly what God did I cross to end up in this situation?

"We're here," Giraffe whispered. "Don't fuck this up." Her motorcycle slowed until Rat came to a full stop at the end of an alley decorated by bullet holes and shattered glass that littered the ground. A stench of death clogged the air with the ever-burning smell and screams from around the city adding to the mixture.

Rat got off his bike and took the lead, followed by Giraffe and Eon. Shark trailed behind them, scanning the area for any sudden movements. They marched towards a gated shop with a broken sign. Only one of the letters pulsed blue, spelling out the name, 'House of Blades.'

"Clear!" Shark yelled.

As they approached the shop the gates lifted, but unexpectedly, Rat walked off to the side, opening a secret entrance to the vault.

Following behind Giraffe, Eon looked towards the shop's empty windows. Weapons were no longer on display, but that didn't mean he couldn't grab a shard of glass. Reaching down–

"Don't even try it," Shark said to Eon.

Their eyes locked for a long time. Shark's face grew smug, his hand reached for his sword, when a cruiser appeared out of thin air. Its hatch lowered as a camouflage covering continued to fade. Out walked a humanoid figure dawned in sleek body armor. Besides its face, its entire body was covered in a thin black suit, matching the cuirass, boots and gauntlets.

Light blue markings sparkled on the figure's sickly green skin, tracing through a set of parted dark eyes that resembled a goat. Eon didn't know what species stood over them, but he had seen similar markings on that fateful night. They were surgical enhancements that eased the process of absorbing Arc Energy.

Eon looked back at Shark, who caught his eye and scowled, then turned to face the newcomers. Because of the distance he kept while on look out, Shark was the furthest away from the group, making him the closest to the alien craft.

Without warning, Shark thrust his katana in the air, unable to conjure psionic lightning on his own, and blasted the energy forward. A translucent wall tinged with an outline of blue formed, blocking the attack, sending sparks crashing down.

Eon grabbed a glass shard, cutting his sleeves to wrap a handle. When he looked up, he noticed the first alien was gone. It had vanished. In its spot stood a more robust figure, an Enforcer.

The psionic shields collapsed, reforming into a translucent hammer as Eon heard Rat's scream begin, and then abruptly cut off. He turned to see a gauntleted hand tighten around Rat's throat.

Taking a step back, Eon paused, there was no point in running…

How could he possibly escape the reach of a void walker?