A True Vagabond

A True Vagabond

The city slowly grew as the army approached. Overhead, the terraform flotilla’s loomed like clouds made of doom, gargantuan floating platforms that cities would sit on, these monstrous contraptions bellowed as they thundered into battle. Swarms of fighters, bombers, and gunships ejected from their hangers as their people cheered on balconies and platforms. Fog horns and speakers boomed war chants from the floating terraform platforms. The big cities guns fired at the flotillas, but the onboard energy fields evenly dispersed the beam energy.

On the ground, the trains roared and chugged, steaming toward their target. The swarm of the army sped past the armored trains, forming a sandstorm as wave after wave passed onward. Resistance was minimal, the city had withdrawn all their forces to the outlying trenches and bunker systems, which the Vagabonds would have to penetrate.

“Professor Zion, you wouldn’t happen to be holding out on any more tricks, would you?” Nameless asked from the passenger seat of the Vagabond buggy. Hera was driving, finally having stopped giving him crap for getting in after riding for so long. The wolf scout’s rode with their brothers in the armored trucks behind the command buggy.

“If you are referring to my rather remarkable handling of those ghastly chemicals, no I’m afraid not. It’s steel and grit from here on out, my boy!” Professor Zion radioed.

“How much help could he be anyway? Where going up against concrete bunkers,” Hera said as she drove.

“You’d be surprised,” Nameless sighed as he looked at his holographic map.

“We don’t have the numbers to take their lines, but if Julia raises enough hell, I think we can sneak into bunker A3, just behind the second trench line,” Nameless commed.

“Trench lines tend to have a lot of firepower, good buddy,” Aj radioed. “I don’t see a bunch of dirt bikes and buggies getting over the first one.”

“You got a better idea?” Nameless asked.

“Yeah, let me drop you in.”

Nameless looked at Hera, who actually looked shocked for once.

“He’s joking, right?” Carla asked nervously.

“Blow the top off the bunker and take the server bunker from the tunnel network,” Aj offered.

“There’s no way all the bunkers are connected like that,” Nameless said.

“We’re talking a lot of inches of cement I gotta bust through, too—under fire,” Hera said.

“Our acquired schematics indicate that several tunnels used for ammunition movement can be used to get into the server bunker,” Commander Mai radioed.

“You’re telling me they put the server bunkers right up on the front lines?” Nameless asked.

“No, it will be a long journey underground. But there are several tunnels that use motorized train carts if you would like to utilize those,” Mai said.

“Let me know where to pick you guys up,” Aj said grimly.

“Wait hold on, you guys aren’t actually going to do this?” Julia gasped over the net.

“The army can link up with us on the surface. Zion will get escorted to the Skyport; the rest is up to the fleet. The vial is staying on the buggy anyway,” Nameless sighed.

“There is one more thing,” Ardo said.

“What’s that, Guild actual?” Nameless asked.

“You will be too deep underground for our comms. Choose who goes with you very wisely,” Ardo said grimly.

Nameless ’s stomach dropped. Julia and Spider where out of the picture. And Aj was in the gunship. That just left Carla, Sammy, and Hera. Nameless did some quick, deep thinking, revisiting every memory he had with each vagabond. The only few suspects he could have for the traitor, was the three girls going underground with him. He had to guess who it was and keep them up on the surface.

“Sorry, guys, I forget which call signs you are, Sammy and Carla go with me. Shadow three, stay topside with the bunker, watch our asses,” Nameless radioed.

Hera slammed on the breaks, the following vehicles veering narrowly out of the way.

“What?” Hera gasped, her eyes filling with tears, her voice breaking.

“I need you and wolf company topside. I’ll have every enemy soldier in front of me, I need someone I can trust to watch my back. And watch that vial!” Nameless said firmly. He handed her a small, metal box.

“Why can’t Carla do it? Or Sammy!” Hera begged desperately. “Please don’t leave me in that bunker! I’m sorry, okay, I am so sorry for hitting Carla, that was my fault, please just let me come along!”

“This isn’t about the train! I need someone who can command the Wolves. Hera, if that bunker gets taken, they just gotta weld both sides of the tunnels shut and that’s it! Carla can’t shoot for shit, and Sammy is too nice.”

“Thanks,” both girls said with very different tones from the other.

“Do you trust me?” Nameless asked.

Hera nodded vigorously, wiping a tear.

“Good, cuz I trust you. Hold that bunker, for me?” Nameless asked as his gut clenched.

“The Wolves will make you proud. But I’m helping you get the professor to the skyport!” Hera seethed, fire in her eyes. Doubt filled Nameless, had he chosen correctly?

“You got it. Aj, come land near us. Guild actual, find more hover craft for the wolves?” Nameless asked.

“Four craft inbound, Shadow actual,” Ardo said immediately.

Nameless dismounted, as the other vagabonds did. Aj’s gunship came careening in, it’s bright silver hull and refilled armament bristling. Aj nodded grimly from the cockpit. Hera remained in the buggy as her wolves climbed in. As the vagabonds boarded the gunship, Nameless sat in the copilot seat. He watched Hera wave dishearteningly from the driver’s seat as they rose into the sky.

“Next stop, fort asshole,” Aj joked halfheartedly.

“We can do this, guys,” Carla nodded into her headset.

“Yeah, we can do this!” Sammy chimed happily.

As Aj turned toward the city, the four wolf hover craft staggered in a skein formation, creating an arrowhead of ships as they barreled forward. Overhead, fighters and bombers screamed overhead, dropping their ordinance unto the burning city. The sky became a deep brush of anti-aircraft fire, explosions and tracers sending aircraft hurtling to the ground.

The radio was staring to be a garbled mess of over lapping nets, voices screaming and ordering as explosions filled the night sky. Nameless could now see giant flood lights piercing the fog of war, cutting the night sky searching for aircraft to shoot down. Missiles and rockets shot out from silos, slamming into ships in orbit, a flotilla, and many aircraft.

Aj cursed as he maneuvered, evading falling debris.

“Hold on to your asses!” Aj shouted, diving the hover craft nearly vertically. The vagabonds either cheered or screamed as they swan dived toward the rapidly approaching ground. At the last possible second, Aj pulled up, leveling the aircraft. The formation was below radar, energy beam, and missile range.

Aj heaved on the stick, and the craft lurched forward, its engines roaring as machine gun fire and explosions filled the air around them. Up ahead, the trench lines where quickly approaching. Nameless could see masked faces looking from their positions, aiming their weapons.

“Almost there!” Aj groaned, fighting his controls.

One of the wolf hover craft exploded, burning bodies jumping from the craft as it pitched into the ground, erupting in a fireball. The army wasn’t far behind, but they were taking incredible damage. Nameless gripped the passenger handles with white knuckles, his body numb as his mind drowned in a wave of fear and adrenaline.

They passed the first trench line. A second wolf hover craft went down, its cabin missing from an explosion as its members were flung into the open air by force. The craft crashed into a machine gun position, the underground magazine catching fire and erupting. They pressed on, passing the second trench line. As they sailed over head, the first wave of the free army crashed into the trench line, Hera’s buggy following as breakneck speed along side her men.

Nameless looked out, and saw a stout cement structure, with a giant A3 painted on its side. It had multiple gun emplacements and turrets, all opening up and trying to kill them.

“Hold on tight, guys! Computer, broken arrow!” AJ roared.

“Confirm,” a female robotic voice said.

“Are you fucking kidding me? Broken godsdamn arrow!” Aj yelled.

“Unclear instructions, please repeat,” the robot said. Machine gun fire ripped into the hull, and one of the engines sparked and died, vomiting black smoke.

Nameless pressed the blue button.

“Broken arrow,” he said clearly.

“Acknowledged.”

Every flare, every gun, every rocket deployed. The gunship became a searing ball of fire as its ordinance smashed into the face of the bunker.

“Whoa, yeah!” Aj yelled happily, pulling his stick back. The hover craft hovered over the top of the bunker and landed. The vagabonds jumped out, Carla swiftly deploying her charges while Sammy guided the remaining wolves unto the roof. Nameless waved Aj off. Aj acknowledged, veering away. As the gunships soared away, rockets sprang out from bunkers, swerving towards them.

Nameless watched in horror as a missile collided with Aj’s craft. The tail disappeared in a firestorm as the gunship tail spun to the ground. At the last possible second, a grey blur shot out from the craft. The Vagabonds atop the bunker cheered as Aj raced through the sky aboard his hover bike. Nameless again tried to wave Aj off, but the ace pilot hesitated.

In disbelief, Nameless watched Aj return, landing his bike near them and approach.

“The hell are you doing?” Nameless roared over the battle as Aj walked past him.

“You don’t trust them, so I’ll be the vagabond you do trust. I’m going,” Aj spat, eyeing Nameless down.

Nameless bit his lip, then shook his head. Aj smiled, and held his palm up, his old scar from their blood pack still showing after all these years.

“I hope I’m wrong,” Nameless sighed as he clasped Aj with his other scarred palm.

“You are. Let’s go, brother,” Aj winked.

The two gathered over to the charges, kneeling for cover as the other bunkers peppered them with machine gun fire.

“Any time now,” Nameless barked as Carla fumbled with the charges.

“Well maybe if Hera was here, we’d be in by now!” Carla spat as she worked.

Nameless sighed.

“There!” Carla roared.

The group took cover as far away as possible, as Carla clutched the detonator. “Fire in the hole!” she shrieked.

The thermite charges ignited, instantly vaporizing the cement as they burned deep into the bunker. Distant screams could be heard as the enemy inside was liquified.

“Let’s go,” Nameless ordered. He aimed into the hole with his beowulf, then jumped in.

Inside the bunker, a large pile of lava like molten metal had formed. Nameless jumped down on top of it, his boots sizzling on the drying magma. Nameless instantly cleared the bunker floor and charged down the stair well. The Wolves and Vagabonds followed. They cleared the bunker swiftly, taking out the defenders with rapid and brutal violence. Shot guns, grenades, even trench knives where used. Once cleared, they went into the very bottom, searching for the ammunitions tunnel.

As they found the passage door, Hera charged inside the bunker from the ground floor. Nameless could hear her shrill voice commanding her men, emplacing them as best she could. Now she just had to hold. Another thermite charge, and the passage door was open.

Inside was a long tunnel, with metal rail. Industrial lamps hung by the walls. There were no train carts, so they moved forward on foot. Nameless took the lead, his boots stomping and crunching the gravel as they pressed forward. They came to an intersection, and Nameless used the schematics on his display. They took a right, then later a left, zig zagging their way deep into enemy territory.

Everyone’s nerves were on edge, each person expecting an explosion, or an ambush. But there was none. It was quiet, too quiet. After what seemed like what was an hour of navigating the labyrinth of tunnels, they came to the passage doorway leading to the server bunker.

“You guys ready?” Nameless asked.

“Wait!” Carla called out, looking at her own display.

“What is it?”

“There’s a maintenance tunnel that leads to the control room!” Carla giggled happily. “I can sneak in there and open all the doors for you.”

“That’s not on my map,” Nameless said curiously.

“Here,” Carla said hurriedly, coming over to him. She zoomed in with her fingers, and sure enough, nearly buried in the map’s details, was a secret tunnel.

“Good eye!” Nameless said with wonder. “I’ll go with you.”

“Okay!” Carla beamed with joy.

“You got this?” Nameless asked Aj. He nodded, grinning.

“Don’t break a nail while we do all the work,” AJ smiled.

“Yeah, yeah, all right let’s do this,” Nameless said firmly.

Carla led the way as the comrades breached the door, flowing inside. Carla and Nameless walked down the length of the wall, coming to a small manhole like cover suspended in the wall. Carla taped a small charge to its hinges.

“I’d step back if I were you,” Carla giggled.

Nameless nodded, and the two got to a safe distance. Carla blew the hinges, and the cover clattered to the floor. She ran back to the open passageway, Nameless following.

“Want me to go first?” Carla asked cheerfully.

“Kinda excited for this, huh?”

“What? Everyone else gets a company or a role. I can’t be happy about crawling through a hole first? Lemme have one thing,” She teased as she climbed inside.

“Fair point,” Nameless shrugged.

The two entered the tunnel, crawling on all fours past vents. As they low crawled, gunfire and shouts rang out as Aj ripped through the underground defenses. They seemed to have caught the enemy off guard, as it was mostly stabbing noises and spatters of gun fire here and there. The two shortly passed them, heading deeper into the bunker.

“Up ahead,” Carla huffed, looking at her display. They came to a ventilation grate. She moved to the side, so Nameless could peer through. He saw a few officer-like men manning a panel, in a room with a sliding metal door.

“Perfect,” Nameless whispered.

“Your turn,” Carla whispered excitedly.

Nameless nodded, prepping his weapons. He kicked the vent out and exploded onto the ground with a thud. He heaved with pain, rising to his feet. The officers jumped startled, drawing their pistols. Nameless quickly ended them with his rifle, entering the command post. Carla climbed down from the vent.

Nameless quickly cleared the command post, checking the dead officers.

“Clear. Damn good find, Carla, but I don’t see any switches for the security.”

Tssk.

Nameless realized what had happened. He just really, really hoped he was wrong. He slowly turned around and saw that Carla had closed the door behind him, locking him inside. She was crying.

“Carla,” Nameless growled.

“I’m sorry. They have my family, I’m so sorry.” Carla gasped. “Once they take the vial from Hera, this is all over, I’ll come back and get you, I promise!”

Nameless wordlessly walked up to the metal door, staring at Carla from the glass window.

“Open this, now. You’re still a Vagabond, I’ll never speak of this,” Nameless promised.

“I’m sorry,” Carla sobbed. She ran away, down the hall.

“No, no, no, no, no!” Nameless roared, kicking the door with each word. He heaved on metal with all his might, but it wouldn’t budge. He stepped back and trying shooting the lock. But the bullets just bounced around the room as he ducked. Nameless pulled his knife out, activated it, and tried cutting through glass section. But the knife didn’t penetrate.

“Who the fuck makes a thermal proof door?” Nameless roared as he retreated into the room. The kind of people making a trap, he realized.

He looked around desperately when he realized the consoles where still on. He checked them, only to see it was just the camera feed from the bunker security. He could see his friends clearing each room. He could also see in the main chamber, Florence waiting with an army of Vectors. And an old man in a pitch-black suit, with red eyes. The old man stared right at the camera and smiled. It was Mr. Eyes, Nameless recognized him from the briefing when the council of Mars had been formed. So, this was the great dictator that held Mars in an iron grasp.

Nameless grabbed his radio. “Shadow two? Shadow two it’s a trap! Get out of here!”

Static.

“Fuck!” Nameless nearly wept, grabbing his hair with his hands as he watched his friends near the last door to the main chamber. He stumbled backwards, watching helplessly as Aj took point in the stack, Sammy pressing charges on the door. On the other screen, Carla could be seen running over to Florence.

“Is it done?” Florence asked.

Carla nodded as she stared at the ground.

“And the vial?” Mr. Eyes asked.

“It’s with Hera,” Carla sobbed.

“Are you sure, girl?” Mr. Eyes asked gently, like a father to a crying child.

Carla nodded.

“Very well, as I promised, you may now be reunited with family,” Mr. Eyes grinned.

Florence rapidly extended her claws, and swiped Carla’s throat. Carla gasped and gargled blood, clutching her throat as she collapsed onto the floor.

“NOOOOOOOOO!” Nameless screamed.

“Kill the rest of them, bring me my property. Do not fail me a second time,” Mr. Eyes yawned as he walked to the back of the chamber, to take a seat.

“It will be my pleasure,” Florence grinned. She looked up at the cameras. “I haven’t forgotten about you, Nameless! We have some unfinished business, once I’m done skinning your friends alive!”

Nameless smashed the screen, his knuckles bleeding. He heaved with rage, his vision twisting. He slowed his breathing, time slowing. He closed his eyes and calmed himself. He knew what he had to do. No other choice now.

The bounty hunter reached into his pocket and pulled out the vial. He had given Hera a decoy, a fake empty box, thinking she had been the traitor. Now Hera was most likely a cold dead corpse, buried under the mountain of good men Nameless had sent in with her. Meanwhile the real traitor lay lifeless in a puddle of her own blood, as rage and guilt tore at him.

He gazed at the contents, it’s blue liquid gleaming in the light. As he looked at it, he realized there where several syringes worth of the stuff. This wasn’t just one dosage, it was multiple. Guess he had never really looked at it like a consumer before.

Once the lid was lifted, a pungent odor assaulted his nose. It was easily the most wretched, synthetic stench he had ever smelled. Nameless wretched, gagging as he held the vial. He calmed himself, inhaling and exhaling slowly. He put the vial to his lips, and kicked his head back, chugging the XM801.

It didn’t taste like anything really, almost went down like water as it entered his stomach. Frustration filled him, was this just water this whole time? He looked at the screens, at his friends about to die.

Suddenly the room disappeared. It was pure black. Nameless searched around frantically when light appeared. He felt himself flying forward, almost as if sucked in. With a pop, he was back in his own body, but it was different now, very different.

He was in a battle, but everything was either green, or on fire. Nameless nearly wept with joy, seeing grass for the first time.

“The fuck are you doing? Get that fucking gun up!” A voice called.

Nameless looked up, and saw he was just in front of a trench, with a machine gun on his back. He was wearing an odd uniform. He rushed into the trench, his hands nearly moving by themselves as they set the gun up. As he looked up, he realized he was defending the big city. But the sky was blue, there where trees. And ships. So many ships, of all kinds, shapes and sizes fighting in the sky. Down on the ground, two armies clashed. Nameless could see people dueling with fire and lightning.

Suddenly, the sky erupted, mushroom clouds blossoming. The men to his left and right screamed as fire engulfed them; Nameless’s vision blacking out again. Another light, again Nameless flew forward.

He was in a desert, wearing a marphat pattern uniform. He was walking down a destroyed street, surrounded by men in similar uniforms. They had an odd symbol stitched into their clothing. An eagle, a globe, and an anchor. They said rah and kill a lot. This experience felt like a week. A never-ending gauntlet of no sleep; barely any food as they cleared house, after house, after house. Nameless got to know them well, before a sniper killed him. Again darkness. Again, he flew forward.

This time he was in a green outfit, in a jungle. Odd, whirring flying machines, almost like hover crafts screamed overhead. Nameless was ducking fire, shooting men of Earth Asian descent. They were charging him, screaming with bayonets. Why?

He spent a day in that platoon, before losing his leg to a land mine. On the medevac back home, his vision darkened again. A new experience, a soldier in some kind of boat with men in green uniforms. Ramp goes down, carnage, now there’s bunkers shooting. Darkness. He was in the trenches, fixing a bayonet to his bolt action rifle, a whistle sounds. He climbs out the trenches, makes it to the enemy, and dies in hand-to-hand combat. Darkness.

He is now fighting in a long row with men firing single shot muskets, at men in red uniforms. A cannon ball cuts him in half. Darkness. He is now in armor, swinging a sword at another man. Darkness. He is a clutching a shield with men in red cloaks and silver armor. Naked men in blue paint are charging him. A spear impales him. Darkness. Each experience getting shorter, and more brutal. But this time, he stayed in the abys.

Nameless floated, his conscientious suspended in nothing as he waited for another light. There was no time, no space, no feeling, just nothing. Then a new light appeared. Something told Nameless it was his last. He was sucked in.

He was at the bridge of a ship. He was surrounded by people in silver cloaks and uniforms, their bodies adorned with odd jewelry and rank. Suddenly, Nameless jumped. There were creatures, talking, breathing, things. But most certainly not human. Wearing clothes and chattering.

“I love watching you see nonhumans for your first time,” a silky voice said.

Nameless turned and saw the woman from his dream. She was stunning, wearing silver battle armor. Her bright green eyes, sleek eyebrows, raven black hair, slender figure.

“My, it has been some time,” she said soothingly. “You don’t remember me, do you?”

“What is this?” Nameless gasped.

“A memory for you, my love, a simple conversation for me. I’m so glad we finally found you,” she said gently. “I have longed to see our plan come to fruition. Find me and return ourselves to our former glory.”

He backed away from her.

“Who are you?”

“Death,” She smiled. “One day, you will understand that name. But you must return to your body, they need you. We await you, Aryus.”

“What is that?” Nameless gasped.

“The name of your adjacent life to the current one you speak to me from, dear husband,” Death smiled. “Come back to me, my love, I look forward to seeing you again among the stars,”

The woman disappeared. A new light emerged. As Nameless hurtled back through the light, he saw his old Martian body. It was crumpled on the floor, vomit dripping from his agape face. His eyes bloodshot, his body twisted and quite dead looking. The soul came back to and nestled deep within his body.

Nameless gasped and vomited on his side, grasping the floor. He pushed himself upright. On a scale of one to ten, every sense he had was now set to ten thousand. He remembered everything. Every past life, every name he had, every war he had fought in, every country he had bled for. And he remembered her. A strange feeling began burning in his chest. A strong, passionate yearning for her. His past love.

“Mother fucker,” Nameless grunted. He wiped the vomit from his mouth, when he noticed small glimmers of gold energy where dancing around him. He went over to a blank screen, and gasped. His pupils where burning bright gold, his figure transformed. He watched in real time as his body ate his augmentations, burning them and scourging his body of any foreign object.

He could feel his back, and all damage grow back almost instantly. Nameless flexed and grinned. He snapped his fingers, and a small bolt of gold erupted, shooting out and burning a hole in the ceiling.

“Ho, ho, ho!” Nameless grinned. A thought crossed his mind.

He looked down and envisioned a weapon, the true weapon meant for him. One that truly was perfect for not his body, but his soul and all the experiences housed within. As his mind wandered, his hands recalled the most familiar form. A weapon he had wielded for life, after life, after life. He even used this kind of implement during the life he had known her. He envisioned it, and sparks flew and shot out from his hand.

It felt like when water runs off the body in the bath, but the water came from him. He gasped as a lance of gold energy formed. It’s body comprised of steel, with leather rounding the middle portion of the shaft that his palms dripped. The spearhead itself winged, and sharp as a razor. A lance of destruction, precision, and fury. He hefted it and giggled like a child, the lance feeling like he held static, yet warm and comfortable.

He looked at the door and walked over. He gently stabbed it with the very tip of his lance. The metal immediately folded and bent. Nameless grinned, and cut the door away with his lance, using his bare hands to peel the molten metal away like a can. He emerged into the hallway, his gold aura illuminating the darkness.

As the glowing bounty hunter advanced down the hallway, three vectors scurried into view, investigating the noise. They halted when they saw him. One of them hissed, extending their claws. Nameless could sense some warbled muttering and realized the vectors couldn’t speak to his mind like before. One of them charged him.

As the vector came into arms reach, Nameless effortlessly grabbed it by the face mask. It shrieked and clawed at him, its claws bending and melting as they contacted his skin. Nameless crushed it’s head like a grape and threw the limp vector aside. Excitement filled him. Onward he strolled, ever so slowly down the hallway. As he made it his way, he noticed the reflection in a rather shiny part of the wall. A new door, it would seem, so polished and clear, that he could see his own reflection.

What stared back was a golden eyed ghoul. A specter with a face that lack both blood and emotion, his pale skin outlined by his glowing gold aura. His eyes where pools of shining gold, emotionless, lacking the light of humanity. What stared back at him was a gold-plated killer, the epitome of lethality. Years upon years of death and pain and suffering, accumulated and refined, housed by the power of a god. He grinned, turning his head, and gazed as the remaining vectors.

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The two other vectors looked at each other and scampered away down the hallway. Shouting and noises rang out from the chamber as no doubt Florence received the report. Nameless knew they could hear him; he heard their heartbeats accelerate. He beat the butte of his lance on the ground, the metallic clanging sounding out as he walked to the chamber. He could smell it, the raw, actual fear and confusion they were exuding. Only Mr. Eyes didn’t seemed scared, yet. Nameless emerged from the hallway.

Every set of eyes fell on him, just as the vagabonds breached. The Vagabonds piled in, slowing down when they saw the trap, then fully stopped when they saw him.

“Okay so, some good news and some bad news everyone!” Nameless called out cheerfully. “Bad news is: the vial is gone. I drank it. My bad. Good news, though! Now I get to rip each and every single one of you a new asshole.”

“Oh shit,” Aj said softly, the color fading from his face.

“Kill him!” Florence shrieked.

A mob of vectors charged forward.

Nameless grasped the lance with both hands, wringing his hands with glee, cracking his neck.

“Let’s dance,” Nameless grinned.

The glowing warrior bounded into the swarm of vectors. He swung his lance, melting the demons. As he swiped, he pulled out the Beowulf, letting the gun fire blindly from the hip, laughing like a lunatic. The vectors died rapidly, those who managed to live trying to flee. He impaled a vector, the shining golden spear melting the dark creature. Nameless grabbed a vector by its foot and ripped it in half as he laughed.

No more vectors, Nameless turned to Florence, and Mr. Eyes. Both stood there like a man who had just been noticed by a bull.

With taunting outstretched arms, Nameless walked ever so slowly toward his enemies.

“C’mon, where’s the threats?” Nameless asked, tilting his head, imitating Florence. “You were talking that good shit a second ago!”

“Fuck you!” Florence snarled, assuming true form.

“We must attack together!” Mr. Eyes warned, his synthetic eyes popping and calculating as red energy danced around him.

“Oh, please do,” Nameless chortled.

The three flew at each other, Mr. Eyes flooding the room with blood red fire, Florence swiping wildly. The fire licked Nameless, and slowly began burning him. He stumbled, shocked. Okay, maybe stop being a cocky bastard now, he thought.

Florence came down on him. He grabbed his lance, cocked it, and threw it as hard as possible towards her torso. She was impaled with the lance, and flung across the chamber. She shrieked and fell. Florence tried to get back up but stumbled. Her wounds refusing to heal as she bled and cursed in the corner. With a flick of his wrist, the lance sailed back into Nameless’s hand. He twirled the spear and squared off with Mr. Eyes. Mr. Eyes slowly backed up, forming two swords made of red energy.

“You know this is what they want, you’re nothing more than a pawn!” Mr. Eyes trembled.

“Shut up,” Nameless groaned.

Mr. Eyes shot a flood of fire and red at Nameless. He blocked with his lance, the spear dividing the energy. The two were locked in a stalemate, neither being able to overpower the other. Suddenly gunfire pelted Mr. Eyes, his energy field deflecting the fire. Both turned to see the vagabonds and Wolves frantically shooting at Eyes.

Taking advantage, Nameless ducked the beam, letting it slam into Florence. She shrieked a blood curdling scream as the fire melted her augments and body. Nameless sprinted low, expertly aiming the spear. Just as he had done before on Mars, Europe, Asia, Greece, he sent the lance plunging deep into his enemy’s chest. Mr. Eyes spat blood as he looked down at the lance. He cackled.

“You fool,” he sputtered, his eyes fading and fluttering. “You have no idea what you have unleashed.”

“I’ll take my chances. Mars is ours now,” Nameless whispered in Mr. Eye’s ear.

Mr. Eyes looked at him, and chuckled. “There is … always … a price. We all must exchange a part of ourselves for…. cough… power. The cosmos will have its pound of flesh.”

The old man fell limp, dead. Nameless pulled the lance from the melting man’s chest. As he stomped on Mr. Eye’s head, multiple gunshots rang out. Nameless whirled around and saw that Aj had finished off Florence. He then turned and pointed the gun at Nameless.

“I thought you said you said you couldn’t kill Florence, that she was kin,” Nameless said gently, his lance dissipating as his pupils oddly went back to green and grey. The implants where gone, but the grey pupil color remained for some reason.

“Better killed by kin then whatever the fuck you are!” Aj trembled. The rifle shook violently.

Nameless held his hands up.

“I’m still me, buddy.”

“Yeah, then what the fuck was all that?” Aj shouted, spittle flying from his mouth, his pupils dilated.

“Space wizardry?” Nameless shrugged.

“You telling me you drank some, bullshit, and now you can do magic?” Aj sputtered.

Nameless sighed.

A motion caught his eye, and Nameless saw that the Professor had walked into the chamber. His face was pale, his eyes glistening.

“May, may I see it?” Zion asked softly.

Nameless sighed and thought of his energy. At first, gold sparks just sputtered from his body, but as he pushed mentally harder, eventually the power returned. He materialized the lance and twirled it for the professor.

“My dear boy,” Zion said quietly, clasping his mouth with a trembling hand.

“The fuck are you doing down here? You were miles away!” Aj gasped. “The fuck is going on here?!”

“Zion is a space wizard, too.” Nameless giggled.

“Aye yo, what the fuck!” Aj screamed.

Nameless let the energy go, returning to normal. He clapped his hands. “Okay so as king, I have some new rules,” Nameless smiled.

The entire room held their breath.

“I’m just kidding, get me the fuck off Mars,” Nameless laughed.

“That may spark an intergalactic incident. Hell, interdimensional probably,” Zion sputtered as he rubbed his forehead in disbelief.

“Then we don’t tell them,” Nameless shrugged.

“And what the hell do I tell my superiors happened to the vial!” Zion gasped.

“That I drank it. I’m just a Nameless nobody to everyone else.”

“You drank the entire thing?” Zion shrieked, buckling to his knees.

“Yeah,” Nameless chuckled. “Why, you should have told me you wanted some, that shit was nasty.”

Zion nearly wept as he exhaled. “Why? Why must you punish me like this?” Zion begged the ceiling. “First off, you should be very, very dead! No human, no, no anything can survive such a large amount of XM801!”

“Surprise!” Nameless chortled.

“What do we tell the Vagabonds?” Aj asked in disbelief, lowering his gun.

“I’ll tell them the truth,” Nameless said seriously, then looked at the professor. “About both of us.”

Zion nodded slowly as he rose.

“So how about those lessons now, old man?” Nameless asked cheerfully.

Zion huffed and laughed hard. “Remember those levels you keep attaching to wizards?”

“Yeah, lemme guess, I’m like level twenty now,” Nameless said happily.

“Try ten hundred,” Zion sighed as he walked away.

“Huh?” Nameless asked.

“C’mon, time to explain this to the fleet. Thank god you’re on our side at least, doubt we’d survive losing the vial otherwise.”

“I need a fucking drink,” Aj sighed.

As Zion left, Nameless went and stood by Carla’s body. Guilt and sorrow filled him. Nameless knelt and took his jacket off. He gently closed Carla’s eyes and laid his jacket over her body. Aj towered over him.

“Was she?” AJ gasped softly.

Nameless shook his head. “No. I was wrong, there were no traitors.”

He stood and looked Aj in the eye. Aj’s lip trembled, his eyes searching Nameless’s. They had known each other since they were little, each knew exactly when the other was lying.

“She was a true Vagabond?” Aj asked softly.

“To the very end. Florence separated us and killed her to get to me. She’s with her family now,” Nameless said firmly.

“Then that is how we will remember her. Whatever else there was, it stays in this tomb,” Aj nodded grimly. He knelt, and gently picked Carla’s body up. He cradled her like a small child, a tear running down his cheek. Nameless wiped the tears from his own eyes, and lead the way out of the chamber as the wolves began hacking away at the servers.

The city slowly grew as the army approached. Overhead, the terraform flotilla’s loomed like clouds made of doom, gargantuan floating platforms that cities would sit on, these monstrous contraptions bellowed as they thundered into battle. Swarms of fighters, bombers, and gunships ejected from their hangers as their people cheered on balconies and platforms. Fog horns and speakers boomed war chants from the floating terraform platforms. The big cities guns fired at the flotillas, but the onboard energy fields evenly dispersed the beam energy.

On the ground, the trains roared and chugged, steaming toward their target. The swarm of the army sped past the armored trains, forming a sandstorm as wave after wave passed onward. Resistance was minimal, the city had withdrawn all their forces to the outlying trenches and bunker systems, which the Vagabonds would have to penetrate.

“Professor Zion, you wouldn’t happen to be holding out on any more tricks, would you?” Nameless asked from the passenger seat of the Vagabond buggy. Hera was driving, finally having stopped giving him crap for getting in after riding for so long. The wolf scout’s rode with their brothers in the armored trucks behind the command buggy.

“If you are referring to my rather remarkable handling of those ghastly chemicals, no I’m afraid not. It’s steel and grit from here on out, my boy!” Professor Zion radioed.

“How much help could he be anyway? Where going up against concrete bunkers,” Hera said as she drove.

“You’d be surprised,” Nameless sighed as he looked at his holographic map.

“We don’t have the numbers to take their lines, but if Julia raises enough hell, I think we can sneak into bunker A3, just behind the second trench line,” Nameless commed.

“Trench lines tend to have a lot of firepower, good buddy,” Aj radioed. “I don’t see a bunch of dirt bikes and buggies getting over the first one.”

“You got a better idea?” Nameless asked.

“Yeah, let me drop you in.”

Nameless looked at Hera, who actually looked shocked for once.

“He’s joking, right?” Carla asked nervously.

“Blow the top off the bunker and take the server bunker from the tunnel network,” Aj offered.

“There’s no way all the bunkers are connected like that,” Nameless said.

“We’re talking a lot of inches of cement I gotta bust through, too—under fire,” Hera said.

“Our acquired schematics indicate that several tunnels used for ammunition movement can be used to get into the server bunker,” Commander Mai radioed.

“You’re telling me they put the server bunkers right up on the front lines?” Nameless asked.

“No, it will be a long journey underground. But there are several tunnels that use motorized train carts if you would like to utilize those,” Mai said.

“Let me know where to pick you guys up,” Aj said grimly.

“Wait hold on, you guys aren’t actually going to do this?” Julia gasped over the net.

“The army can link up with us on the surface. Zion will get escorted to the Skyport; the rest is up to the fleet. The vial is staying on the buggy anyway,” Nameless sighed.

“There is one more thing,” Ardo said.

“What’s that, Guild actual?” Nameless asked.

“You will be too deep underground for our comms. Choose who goes with you very wisely,” Ardo said grimly.

Nameless ’s stomach dropped. Julia and Spider where out of the picture. And Aj was in the gunship. That just left Carla, Sammy, and Hera. Nameless did some quick, deep thinking, revisiting every memory he had with each vagabond. The only few suspects he could have for the traitor, was the three girls going underground with him. He had to guess who it was and keep them up on the surface.

“Sorry, guys, I forget which call signs you are, Sammy and Carla go with me. Shadow three, stay topside with the bunker, watch our asses,” Nameless radioed.

Hera slammed on the breaks, the following vehicles veering narrowly out of the way.

“What?” Hera gasped, her eyes filling with tears, her voice breaking.

“I need you and wolf company topside. I’ll have every enemy soldier in front of me, I need someone I can trust to watch my back. And watch that vial!” Nameless said firmly. He handed her a small, metal box.

“Why can’t Carla do it? Or Sammy!” Hera begged desperately. “Please don’t leave me in that bunker! I’m sorry, okay, I am so sorry for hitting Carla, that was my fault, please just let me come along!”

“This isn’t about the train! I need someone who can command the Wolves. Hera, if that bunker gets taken, they just gotta weld both sides of the tunnels shut and that’s it! Carla can’t shoot for shit, and Sammy is too nice.”

“Thanks,” both girls said with very different tones from the other.

“Do you trust me?” Nameless asked.

Hera nodded vigorously, wiping a tear.

“Good, cuz I trust you. Hold that bunker, for me?” Nameless asked as his gut clenched.

“The Wolves will make you proud. But I’m helping you get the professor to the skyport!” Hera seethed, fire in her eyes. Doubt filled Nameless, had he chosen correctly?

“You got it. Aj, come land near us. Guild actual, find more hover craft for the wolves?” Nameless asked.

“Four craft inbound, Shadow actual,” Ardo said immediately.

Nameless dismounted, as the other vagabonds did. Aj’s gunship came careening in, it’s bright silver hull and refilled armament bristling. Aj nodded grimly from the cockpit. Hera remained in the buggy as her wolves climbed in. As the vagabonds boarded the gunship, Nameless sat in the copilot seat. He watched Hera wave dishearteningly from the driver’s seat as they rose into the sky.

“Next stop, fort asshole,” Aj joked halfheartedly.

“We can do this, guys,” Carla nodded into her headset.

“Yeah, we can do this!” Sammy chimed happily.

As Aj turned toward the city, the four wolf hover craft staggered in a skein formation, creating an arrowhead of ships as they barreled forward. Overhead, fighters and bombers screamed overhead, dropping their ordinance unto the burning city. The sky became a deep brush of anti-aircraft fire, explosions and tracers sending aircraft hurtling to the ground.

The radio was staring to be a garbled mess of over lapping nets, voices screaming and ordering as explosions filled the night sky. Nameless could now see giant flood lights piercing the fog of war, cutting the night sky searching for aircraft to shoot down. Missiles and rockets shot out from silos, slamming into ships in orbit, a flotilla, and many aircraft.

Aj cursed as he maneuvered, evading falling debris.

“Hold on to your asses!” Aj shouted, diving the hover craft nearly vertically. The vagabonds either cheered or screamed as they swan dived toward the rapidly approaching ground. At the last possible second, Aj pulled up, leveling the aircraft. The formation was below radar, energy beam, and missile range.

Aj heaved on the stick, and the craft lurched forward, its engines roaring as machine gun fire and explosions filled the air around them. Up ahead, the trench lines where quickly approaching. Nameless could see masked faces looking from their positions, aiming their weapons.

“Almost there!” Aj groaned, fighting his controls.

One of the wolf hover craft exploded, burning bodies jumping from the craft as it pitched into the ground, erupting in a fireball. The army wasn’t far behind, but they were taking incredible damage. Nameless gripped the passenger handles with white knuckles, his body numb as his mind drowned in a wave of fear and adrenaline.

They passed the first trench line. A second wolf hover craft went down, its cabin missing from an explosion as its members were flung into the open air by force. The craft crashed into a machine gun position, the underground magazine catching fire and erupting. They pressed on, passing the second trench line. As they sailed over head, the first wave of the free army crashed into the trench line, Hera’s buggy following as breakneck speed along side her men.

Nameless looked out, and saw a stout cement structure, with a giant A3 painted on its side. It had multiple gun emplacements and turrets, all opening up and trying to kill them.

“Hold on tight, guys! Computer, broken arrow!” AJ roared.

“Confirm,” a female robotic voice said.

“Are you fucking kidding me? Broken godsdamn arrow!” Aj yelled.

“Unclear instructions, please repeat,” the robot said. Machine gun fire ripped into the hull, and one of the engines sparked and died, vomiting black smoke.

Nameless pressed the blue button.

“Broken arrow,” he said clearly.

“Acknowledged.”

Every flare, every gun, every rocket deployed. The gunship became a searing ball of fire as its ordinance smashed into the face of the bunker.

“Whoa, yeah!” Aj yelled happily, pulling his stick back. The hover craft hovered over the top of the bunker and landed. The vagabonds jumped out, Carla swiftly deploying her charges while Sammy guided the remaining wolves unto the roof. Nameless waved Aj off. Aj acknowledged, veering away. As the gunships soared away, rockets sprang out from bunkers, swerving towards them.

Nameless watched in horror as a missile collided with Aj’s craft. The tail disappeared in a firestorm as the gunship tail spun to the ground. At the last possible second, a grey blur shot out from the craft. The Vagabonds atop the bunker cheered as Aj raced through the sky aboard his hover bike. Nameless again tried to wave Aj off, but the ace pilot hesitated.

In disbelief, Nameless watched Aj return, landing his bike near them and approach.

“The hell are you doing?” Nameless roared over the battle as Aj walked past him.

“You don’t trust them, so I’ll be the vagabond you do trust. I’m going,” Aj spat, eyeing Nameless down.

Nameless bit his lip, then shook his head. Aj smiled, and held his palm up, his old scar from their blood pack still showing after all these years.

“I hope I’m wrong,” Nameless sighed as he clasped Aj with his other scarred palm.

“You are. Let’s go, brother,” Aj winked.

The two gathered over to the charges, kneeling for cover as the other bunkers peppered them with machine gun fire.

“Any time now,” Nameless barked as Carla fumbled with the charges.

“Well maybe if Hera was here, we’d be in by now!” Carla spat as she worked.

Nameless sighed.

“There!” Carla roared.

The group took cover as far away as possible, as Carla clutched the detonator. “Fire in the hole!” she shrieked.

The thermite charges ignited, instantly vaporizing the cement as they burned deep into the bunker. Distant screams could be heard as the enemy inside was liquified.

“Let’s go,” Nameless ordered. He aimed into the hole with his beowulf, then jumped in.

Inside the bunker, a large pile of lava like molten metal had formed. Nameless jumped down on top of it, his boots sizzling on the drying magma. Nameless instantly cleared the bunker floor and charged down the stair well. The Wolves and Vagabonds followed. They cleared the bunker swiftly, taking out the defenders with rapid and brutal violence. Shot guns, grenades, even trench knives where used. Once cleared, they went into the very bottom, searching for the ammunitions tunnel.

As they found the passage door, Hera charged inside the bunker from the ground floor. Nameless could hear her shrill voice commanding her men, emplacing them as best she could. Now she just had to hold. Another thermite charge, and the passage door was open.

Inside was a long tunnel, with metal rail. Industrial lamps hung by the walls. There were no train carts, so they moved forward on foot. Nameless took the lead, his boots stomping and crunching the gravel as they pressed forward. They came to an intersection, and Nameless used the schematics on his display. They took a right, then later a left, zig zagging their way deep into enemy territory.

Everyone’s nerves were on edge, each person expecting an explosion, or an ambush. But there was none. It was quiet, too quiet. After what seemed like what was an hour of navigating the labyrinth of tunnels, they came to the passage doorway leading to the server bunker.

“You guys ready?” Nameless asked.

“Wait!” Carla called out, looking at her own display.

“What is it?”

“There’s a maintenance tunnel that leads to the control room!” Carla giggled happily. “I can sneak in there and open all the doors for you.”

“That’s not on my map,” Nameless said curiously.

“Here,” Carla said hurriedly, coming over to him. She zoomed in with her fingers, and sure enough, nearly buried in the map’s details, was a secret tunnel.

“Good eye!” Nameless said with wonder. “I’ll go with you.”

“Okay!” Carla beamed with joy.

“You got this?” Nameless asked Aj. He nodded, grinning.

“Don’t break a nail while we do all the work,” AJ smiled.

“Yeah, yeah, all right let’s do this,” Nameless said firmly.

Carla led the way as the comrades breached the door, flowing inside. Carla and Nameless walked down the length of the wall, coming to a small manhole like cover suspended in the wall. Carla taped a small charge to its hinges.

“I’d step back if I were you,” Carla giggled.

Nameless nodded, and the two got to a safe distance. Carla blew the hinges, and the cover clattered to the floor. She ran back to the open passageway, Nameless following.

“Want me to go first?” Carla asked cheerfully.

“Kinda excited for this, huh?”

“What? Everyone else gets a company or a role. I can’t be happy about crawling through a hole first? Lemme have one thing,” She teased as she climbed inside.

“Fair point,” Nameless shrugged.

The two entered the tunnel, crawling on all fours past vents. As they low crawled, gunfire and shouts rang out as Aj ripped through the underground defenses. They seemed to have caught the enemy off guard, as it was mostly stabbing noises and spatters of gun fire here and there. The two shortly passed them, heading deeper into the bunker.

“Up ahead,” Carla huffed, looking at her display. They came to a ventilation grate. She moved to the side, so Nameless could peer through. He saw a few officer-like men manning a panel, in a room with a sliding metal door.

“Perfect,” Nameless whispered.

“Your turn,” Carla whispered excitedly.

Nameless nodded, prepping his weapons. He kicked the vent out and exploded onto the ground with a thud. He heaved with pain, rising to his feet. The officers jumped startled, drawing their pistols. Nameless quickly ended them with his rifle, entering the command post. Carla climbed down from the vent.

Nameless quickly cleared the command post, checking the dead officers.

“Clear. Damn good find, Carla, but I don’t see any switches for the security.”

Tssk.

Nameless realized what had happened. He just really, really hoped he was wrong. He slowly turned around and saw that Carla had closed the door behind him, locking him inside. She was crying.

“Carla,” Nameless growled.

“I’m sorry. They have my family, I’m so sorry.” Carla gasped. “Once they take the vial from Hera, this is all over, I’ll come back and get you, I promise!”

Nameless wordlessly walked up to the metal door, staring at Carla from the glass window.

“Open this, now. You’re still a Vagabond, I’ll never speak of this,” Nameless promised.

“I’m sorry,” Carla sobbed. She ran away, down the hall.

“No, no, no, no, no!” Nameless roared, kicking the door with each word. He heaved on metal with all his might, but it wouldn’t budge. He stepped back and trying shooting the lock. But the bullets just bounced around the room as he ducked. Nameless pulled his knife out, activated it, and tried cutting through glass section. But the knife didn’t penetrate.

“Who the fuck makes a thermal proof door?” Nameless roared as he retreated into the room. The kind of people making a trap, he realized.

He looked around desperately when he realized the consoles where still on. He checked them, only to see it was just the camera feed from the bunker security. He could see his friends clearing each room. He could also see in the main chamber, Florence waiting with an army of Vectors. And an old man in a pitch-black suit, with red eyes. The old man stared right at the camera and smiled. It was Mr. Eyes, Nameless recognized him from the briefing when the council of Mars had been formed. So, this was the great dictator that held Mars in an iron grasp.

Nameless grabbed his radio. “Shadow two? Shadow two it’s a trap! Get out of here!”

Static.

“Fuck!” Nameless nearly wept, grabbing his hair with his hands as he watched his friends near the last door to the main chamber. He stumbled backwards, watching helplessly as Aj took point in the stack, Sammy pressing charges on the door. On the other screen, Carla could be seen running over to Florence.

“Is it done?” Florence asked.

Carla nodded as she stared at the ground.

“And the vial?” Mr. Eyes asked.

“It’s with Hera,” Carla sobbed.

“Are you sure, girl?” Mr. Eyes asked gently, like a father to a crying child.

Carla nodded.

“Very well, as I promised, you may now be reunited with family,” Mr. Eyes grinned.

Florence rapidly extended her claws, and swiped Carla’s throat. Carla gasped and gargled blood, clutching her throat as she collapsed onto the floor.

“NOOOOOOOOO!” Nameless screamed.

“Kill the rest of them, bring me my property. Do not fail me a second time,” Mr. Eyes yawned as he walked to the back of the chamber, to take a seat.

“It will be my pleasure,” Florence grinned. She looked up at the cameras. “I haven’t forgotten about you, Nameless! We have some unfinished business, once I’m done skinning your friends alive!”

Nameless smashed the screen, his knuckles bleeding. He heaved with rage, his vision twisting. He slowed his breathing, time slowing. He closed his eyes and calmed himself. He knew what he had to do. No other choice now.

The bounty hunter reached into his pocket and pulled out the vial. He had given Hera a decoy, a fake empty box, thinking she had been the traitor. Now Hera was most likely a cold dead corpse, buried under the mountain of good men Nameless had sent in with her. Meanwhile the real traitor lay lifeless in a puddle of her own blood, as rage and guilt tore at him.

He gazed at the contents, it’s blue liquid gleaming in the light. As he looked at it, he realized there where several syringes worth of the stuff. This wasn’t just one dosage, it was multiple. Guess he had never really looked at it like a consumer before.

Once the lid was lifted, a pungent odor assaulted his nose. It was easily the most wretched, synthetic stench he had ever smelled. Nameless wretched, gagging as he held the vial. He calmed himself, inhaling and exhaling slowly. He put the vial to his lips, and kicked his head back, chugging the XM801.

It didn’t taste like anything really, almost went down like water as it entered his stomach. Frustration filled him, was this just water this whole time? He looked at the screens, at his friends about to die.

Suddenly the room disappeared. It was pure black. Nameless searched around frantically when light appeared. He felt himself flying forward, almost as if sucked in. With a pop, he was back in his own body, but it was different now, very different.

He was in a battle, but everything was either green, or on fire. Nameless nearly wept with joy, seeing grass for the first time.

“The fuck are you doing? Get that fucking gun up!” A voice called.

Nameless looked up, and saw he was just in front of a trench, with a machine gun on his back. He was wearing an odd uniform. He rushed into the trench, his hands nearly moving by themselves as they set the gun up. As he looked up, he realized he was defending the big city. But the sky was blue, there where trees. And ships. So many ships, of all kinds, shapes and sizes fighting in the sky. Down on the ground, two armies clashed. Nameless could see people dueling with fire and lightning.

Suddenly, the sky erupted, mushroom clouds blossoming. The men to his left and right screamed as fire engulfed them; Nameless’s vision blacking out again. Another light, again Nameless flew forward.

He was in a desert, wearing a marphat pattern uniform. He was walking down a destroyed street, surrounded by men in similar uniforms. They had an odd symbol stitched into their clothing. An eagle, a globe, and an anchor. They said rah and kill a lot. This experience felt like a week. A never-ending gauntlet of no sleep; barely any food as they cleared house, after house, after house. Nameless got to know them well, before a sniper killed him. Again darkness. Again, he flew forward.

This time he was in a green outfit, in a jungle. Odd, whirring flying machines, almost like hover crafts screamed overhead. Nameless was ducking fire, shooting men of Earth Asian descent. They were charging him, screaming with bayonets. Why?

He spent a day in that platoon, before losing his leg to a land mine. On the medevac back home, his vision darkened again. A new experience, a soldier in some kind of boat with men in green uniforms. Ramp goes down, carnage, now there’s bunkers shooting. Darkness. He was in the trenches, fixing a bayonet to his bolt action rifle, a whistle sounds. He climbs out the trenches, makes it to the enemy, and dies in hand-to-hand combat. Darkness.

He is now fighting in a long row with men firing single shot muskets, at men in red uniforms. A cannon ball cuts him in half. Darkness. He is now in armor, swinging a sword at another man. Darkness. He is a clutching a shield with men in red cloaks and silver armor. Naked men in blue paint are charging him. A spear impales him. Darkness. Each experience getting shorter, and more brutal. But this time, he stayed in the abys.

Nameless floated, his conscientious suspended in nothing as he waited for another light. There was no time, no space, no feeling, just nothing. Then a new light appeared. Something told Nameless it was his last. He was sucked in.

He was at the bridge of a ship. He was surrounded by people in silver cloaks and uniforms, their bodies adorned with odd jewelry and rank. Suddenly, Nameless jumped. There were creatures, talking, breathing, things. But most certainly not human. Wearing clothes and chattering.

“I love watching you see nonhumans for your first time,” a silky voice said.

Nameless turned and saw the woman from his dream. She was stunning, wearing silver battle armor. Her bright green eyes, sleek eyebrows, raven black hair, slender figure.

“My, it has been some time,” she said soothingly. “You don’t remember me, do you?”

“What is this?” Nameless gasped.

“A memory for you, my love, a simple conversation for me. I’m so glad we finally found you,” she said gently. “I have longed to see our plan come to fruition. Find me and return ourselves to our former glory.”

He backed away from her.

“Who are you?”

“Death,” She smiled. “One day, you will understand that name. But you must return to your body, they need you. We await you, Aryus.”

“What is that?” Nameless gasped.

“The name of your adjacent life to the current one you speak to me from, dear husband,” Death smiled. “Come back to me, my love, I look forward to seeing you again among the stars,”

The woman disappeared. A new light emerged. As Nameless hurtled back through the light, he saw his old Martian body. It was crumpled on the floor, vomit dripping from his agape face. His eyes bloodshot, his body twisted and quite dead looking. The soul came back to and nestled deep within his body.

Nameless gasped and vomited on his side, grasping the floor. He pushed himself upright. On a scale of one to ten, every sense he had was now set to ten thousand. He remembered everything. Every past life, every name he had, every war he had fought in, every country he had bled for. And he remembered her. A strange feeling began burning in his chest. A strong, passionate yearning for her. His past love.

“Mother fucker,” Nameless grunted. He wiped the vomit from his mouth, when he noticed small glimmers of gold energy where dancing around him. He went over to a blank screen, and gasped. His pupils where burning bright gold, his figure transformed. He watched in real time as his body ate his augmentations, burning them and scourging his body of any foreign object.

He could feel his back, and all damage grow back almost instantly. Nameless flexed and grinned. He snapped his fingers, and a small bolt of gold erupted, shooting out and burning a hole in the ceiling.

“Ho, ho, ho!” Nameless grinned. A thought crossed his mind.

He looked down and envisioned a weapon, the true weapon meant for him. One that truly was perfect for not his body, but his soul and all the experiences housed within. As his mind wandered, his hands recalled the most familiar form. A weapon he had wielded for life, after life, after life. He even used this kind of implement during the life he had known her. He envisioned it, and sparks flew and shot out from his hand.

It felt like when water runs off the body in the bath, but the water came from him. He gasped as a lance of gold energy formed. It’s body comprised of steel, with leather rounding the middle portion of the shaft that his palms dripped. The spearhead itself winged, and sharp as a razor. A lance of destruction, precision, and fury. He hefted it and giggled like a child, the lance feeling like he held static, yet warm and comfortable.

He looked at the door and walked over. He gently stabbed it with the very tip of his lance. The metal immediately folded and bent. Nameless grinned, and cut the door away with his lance, using his bare hands to peel the molten metal away like a can. He emerged into the hallway, his gold aura illuminating the darkness.

As the glowing bounty hunter advanced down the hallway, three vectors scurried into view, investigating the noise. They halted when they saw him. One of them hissed, extending their claws. Nameless could sense some warbled muttering and realized the vectors couldn’t speak to his mind like before. One of them charged him.

As the vector came into arms reach, Nameless effortlessly grabbed it by the face mask. It shrieked and clawed at him, its claws bending and melting as they contacted his skin. Nameless crushed it’s head like a grape and threw the limp vector aside. Excitement filled him. Onward he strolled, ever so slowly down the hallway. As he made it his way, he noticed the reflection in a rather shiny part of the wall. A new door, it would seem, so polished and clear, that he could see his own reflection.

What stared back was a golden eyed ghoul. A specter with a face that lack both blood and emotion, his pale skin outlined by his glowing gold aura. His eyes where pools of shining gold, emotionless, lacking the light of humanity. What stared back at him was a gold-plated killer, the epitome of lethality. Years upon years of death and pain and suffering, accumulated and refined, housed by the power of a god. He grinned, turning his head, and gazed as the remaining vectors.

The two other vectors looked at each other and scampered away down the hallway. Shouting and noises rang out from the chamber as no doubt Florence received the report. Nameless knew they could hear him; he heard their heartbeats accelerate. He beat the butte of his lance on the ground, the metallic clanging sounding out as he walked to the chamber. He could smell it, the raw, actual fear and confusion they were exuding. Only Mr. Eyes didn’t seemed scared, yet. Nameless emerged from the hallway.

Every set of eyes fell on him, just as the vagabonds breached. The Vagabonds piled in, slowing down when they saw the trap, then fully stopped when they saw him.

“Okay so, some good news and some bad news everyone!” Nameless called out cheerfully. “Bad news is: the vial is gone. I drank it. My bad. Good news, though! Now I get to rip each and every single one of you a new asshole.”

“Oh shit,” Aj said softly, the color fading from his face.

“Kill him!” Florence shrieked.

A mob of vectors charged forward.

Nameless grasped the lance with both hands, wringing his hands with glee, cracking his neck.

“Let’s dance,” Nameless grinned.

The glowing warrior bounded into the swarm of vectors. He swung his lance, melting the demons. As he swiped, he pulled out the Beowulf, letting the gun fire blindly from the hip, laughing like a lunatic. The vectors died rapidly, those who managed to live trying to flee. He impaled a vector, the shining golden spear melting the dark creature. Nameless grabbed a vector by its foot and ripped it in half as he laughed.

No more vectors, Nameless turned to Florence, and Mr. Eyes. Both stood there like a man who had just been noticed by a bull.

With taunting outstretched arms, Nameless walked ever so slowly toward his enemies.

“C’mon, where’s the threats?” Nameless asked, tilting his head, imitating Florence. “You were talking that good shit a second ago!”

“Fuck you!” Florence snarled, assuming true form.

“We must attack together!” Mr. Eyes warned, his synthetic eyes popping and calculating as red energy danced around him.

“Oh, please do,” Nameless chortled.

The three flew at each other, Mr. Eyes flooding the room with blood red fire, Florence swiping wildly. The fire licked Nameless, and slowly began burning him. He stumbled, shocked. Okay, maybe stop being a cocky bastard now, he thought.

Florence came down on him. He grabbed his lance, cocked it, and threw it as hard as possible towards her torso. She was impaled with the lance, and flung across the chamber. She shrieked and fell. Florence tried to get back up but stumbled. Her wounds refusing to heal as she bled and cursed in the corner. With a flick of his wrist, the lance sailed back into Nameless’s hand. He twirled the spear and squared off with Mr. Eyes. Mr. Eyes slowly backed up, forming two swords made of red energy.

“You know this is what they want, you’re nothing more than a pawn!” Mr. Eyes trembled.

“Shut up,” Nameless groaned.

Mr. Eyes shot a flood of fire and red at Nameless. He blocked with his lance, the spear dividing the energy. The two were locked in a stalemate, neither being able to overpower the other. Suddenly gunfire pelted Mr. Eyes, his energy field deflecting the fire. Both turned to see the vagabonds and Wolves frantically shooting at Eyes.

Taking advantage, Nameless ducked the beam, letting it slam into Florence. She shrieked a blood curdling scream as the fire melted her augments and body. Nameless sprinted low, expertly aiming the spear. Just as he had done before on Mars, Europe, Asia, Greece, he sent the lance plunging deep into his enemy’s chest. Mr. Eyes spat blood as he looked down at the lance. He cackled.

“You fool,” he sputtered, his eyes fading and fluttering. “You have no idea what you have unleashed.”

“I’ll take my chances. Mars is ours now,” Nameless whispered in Mr. Eye’s ear.

Mr. Eyes looked at him, and chuckled. “There is … always … a price. We all must exchange a part of ourselves for…. cough… power. The cosmos will have its pound of flesh.”

The old man fell limp, dead. Nameless pulled the lance from the melting man’s chest. As he stomped on Mr. Eye’s head, multiple gunshots rang out. Nameless whirled around and saw that Aj had finished off Florence. He then turned and pointed the gun at Nameless.

“I thought you said you said you couldn’t kill Florence, that she was kin,” Nameless said gently, his lance dissipating as his pupils oddly went back to green and grey. The implants where gone, but the grey pupil color remained for some reason.

“Better killed by kin then whatever the fuck you are!” Aj trembled. The rifle shook violently.

Nameless held his hands up.

“I’m still me, buddy.”

“Yeah, then what the fuck was all that?” Aj shouted, spittle flying from his mouth, his pupils dilated.

“Space wizardry?” Nameless shrugged.

“You telling me you drank some, bullshit, and now you can do magic?” Aj sputtered.

Nameless sighed.

A motion caught his eye, and Nameless saw that the Professor had walked into the chamber. His face was pale, his eyes glistening.

“May, may I see it?” Zion asked softly.

Nameless sighed and thought of his energy. At first, gold sparks just sputtered from his body, but as he pushed mentally harder, eventually the power returned. He materialized the lance and twirled it for the professor.

“My dear boy,” Zion said quietly, clasping his mouth with a trembling hand.

“The fuck are you doing down here? You were miles away!” Aj gasped. “The fuck is going on here?!”

“Zion is a space wizard, too.” Nameless giggled.

“Aye yo, what the fuck!” Aj screamed.

Nameless let the energy go, returning to normal. He clapped his hands. “Okay so as king, I have some new rules,” Nameless smiled.

The entire room held their breath.

“I’m just kidding, get me the fuck off Mars,” Nameless laughed.

“That may spark an intergalactic incident. Hell, interdimensional probably,” Zion sputtered as he rubbed his forehead in disbelief.

“Then we don’t tell them,” Nameless shrugged.

“And what the hell do I tell my superiors happened to the vial!” Zion gasped.

“That I drank it. I’m just a Nameless nobody to everyone else.”

“You drank the entire thing?” Zion shrieked, buckling to his knees.

“Yeah,” Nameless chuckled. “Why, you should have told me you wanted some, that shit was nasty.”

Zion nearly wept as he exhaled. “Why? Why must you punish me like this?” Zion begged the ceiling. “First off, you should be very, very dead! No human, no, no anything can survive such a large amount of XM801!”

“Surprise!” Nameless chortled.

“What do we tell the Vagabonds?” Aj asked in disbelief, lowering his gun.

“I’ll tell them the truth,” Nameless said seriously, then looked at the professor. “About both of us.”

Zion nodded slowly as he rose.

“So how about those lessons now, old man?” Nameless asked cheerfully.

Zion huffed and laughed hard. “Remember those levels you keep attaching to wizards?”

“Yeah, lemme guess, I’m like level twenty now,” Nameless said happily.

“Try ten hundred,” Zion sighed as he walked away.

“Huh?” Nameless asked.

“C’mon, time to explain this to the fleet. Thank god you’re on our side at least, doubt we’d survive losing the vial otherwise.”

“I need a fucking drink,” Aj sighed.

As Zion left, Nameless went and stood by Carla’s body. Guilt and sorrow filled him. Nameless knelt and took his jacket off. He gently closed Carla’s eyes and laid his jacket over her body. Aj towered over him.

“Was she?” AJ gasped softly.

Nameless shook his head. “No. I was wrong, there were no traitors.”

He stood and looked Aj in the eye. Aj’s lip trembled, his eyes searching Nameless’s. They had known each other since they were little, each knew exactly when the other was lying.

“She was a true Vagabond?” Aj asked softly.

“To the very end. Florence separated us and killed her to get to me. She’s with her family now,” Nameless said firmly.

“Then that is how we will remember her. Whatever else there was, it stays in this tomb,” Aj nodded grimly. He knelt, and gently picked Carla’s body up. He cradled her like a small child, a tear running down his cheek. Nameless wiped the tears from his own eyes, and lead the way out of the chamber as the wolves began hacking away at the servers.