Newel Space Colony [closed]

"I don't understand..." Reginald barked from behind the bright high-vector screen, analyzing the marketing data of the fuel cells and the background information of the company's owner. It just didn't add up, even the employees seemed to be clear of any suspicious criminal activity, so why did the trail lead to them? Were they so great of actors that they hid their involvement in the underground market of fuel cell exchange - or was there something else they didn't know? An unknown variable that they just couldn't see. The black man, well in his fourties, leaned back in his rocking chair, exhaling the cigarette smoke into the large dark room. The mix of black and grey hair covered his face in an overgrown beard and every strand told a measure of experience. Fiddling the cigarette he glanced over to the papers along his desk.

"If their fuel cells are selling three-times the usual credit sale, on a space colony of this make, why would these people, with no background, and with affiliation with the government, be making underground-"

"It is quite simple, actually," a dark voice spoke from beyond, one of the sofas in the office shifting for a moment. One of the other detectives on the case, a relatively new rookie, but one that seemed to be years ahead with his intuitive way of looking at things, "They obviously have ties with the government and there are likely agents like oursevles preventing them from capture."

"Then why make this information available to us? If they were that good they'd make it restricted wouldn't they?"

"It could be a trap."

Silence. Could they afford to let a possible transaction and lead go and lose the case forever? This was by far the biggest transaction they had made, it was enough to bring calamity to the colony - would they be able to bear that weight on their shoulders? Who would believe their plea if they called for assistance? Wise beyond his years, Junior drove his thin fingers through his slicked black hair before punctually shoving his glasses back up the bridge of his noes, indicating he had come to his own decision.

"Going is our only option. But if we're dealing with Red things gould get complicated."

The old man chuckled for a moment, stuffing the cigarette with the other tens and twenties in the ash tray.

"Say, you graduated top of your class didn't ya' kid?"

"I did."

"They say you beat up all three instructors and challenged Hiryu Kazakami to a fight as well, probably our most famous and most enigmatic agent yet. How did that go?"

"He never responded. Why exactly is this relevant?"

"Why do you think they paired the strongest old man in the force and the most promising rookie like yourself together?"

"Are you suggesting that this has been a trap from the beginning?"

Reginald rose from his chair, yawning and stretching in place. He wore a tuxedo with a brown overcoat overtop, and he seemed to have abit of weight on him, but the fluff wasn't without its strength behind it. "I wouldn't go that far, but we've had this case for over a year now, this investigation case atleast. They never told us why the suspected them, or gave us any evidence outside of a hunch."

"We may die tonight. Do you feel comfortable with that?"

"That's my line kid."

The old man walked around the desk and towards the center of the dark room devoid of any light aside from the lights of the metropolitan shining through the thin window. Reginald was clearly tired, yet Junior was quite the opposite. Standing just as Reginald approached he nodded in approval. It seemed they both had an understanding of just what was going to happen next and just what needed to happen. The old man reached out with his right hand and offered a quaint, sincere smile. Junior looked down to Reginald's hand, then back into his calm green eyes, his face remaining stalwart and unaffected by Reginald's gesture of reconciliation.

"I'll see you in heaven, Junior."

"Junior is dead."

Junior's hand suddenly tapped Reginald's chest - and the window behind Reginald exploded into shards of falling glass. Blood splattered across the entire room, exploding from Reginald's unhealthy - dismantled body. Junior didn't flinch, nor did he cower in disgust, instead he removed his glasses from his face and wiped them against any part of his tuxedo that wasn't completely smothered in Reginald's blood. Wiping the blood away, he sighed depressingly.

"I hate doing this...but it has to be done..."

The vectors on the screen of Reginald's computer began to defect, leaving only "THE GAMBLER" in bold black caps across the screen.

"Now to end this..."

"Is everything in place?" Junior muttered into the cheap plastic phone in his left hand, glancing out of the window of the high-class luxury Beasley-class rider. His soul, everything about Junior, it was all hidden behind his cold glasses and frigid demeanor. Just where were they headed? Not once did his facial expression exude anything outside of total apathy and lack of care in anything whatsoever - but anyone who knew "Junior" on a more personal level knew that his expression couldn't be further from the truth. In reality, he was an extremely passionate man, but one that was enigmatic and disguised by the enigma of his organization and rather punctual ability to draw attention away from himself.

"Things are going as expected, though we do have a slight problem..." the man on the other side of the phone hesitated to say, in fear that Junior might recoil. As far as everyone involved with him knew, he was a man who was very precise and liked everything done down to the detail.

"And that is?"

"It seems that he brought a woman back with him, I'm getting thermal readings from the van, she's not an ordinary woman either."

"Who is she?"

"Based on our analysis it would appear that she is Elexis Fatima Laurent, married to Sky Aldridge Lauren. It seemed they all had plans of dinner or some form of gathering after the deal and-"

"Perfect." Junior interrupted them, lowering his head slightly to glance down at the darkness of the car. It seemed that more and more people insisted on getting involved and plunging themselves into a fate that they couldn't possibly escape. How many had died, been killed, and had their lives destroyed by his very hands? Was this truthfully the way to bring about the world that the silver-eyed scholar had foretold? It was hard to tell just what Junior was thinking, but it was obvious that he had planned for this situation ahead of time.

"Eh?"

"I'll take care of it. Proceed as planned. Activate FORCECOM level-three on the entire colony and let's end this once and for all."

"And the girl?"

"She will be yet another hopeless civilian caught in the crossfire...I cannot forestall her fate. Yet another sacrifice necessary for the future."

In the office where Sky and Red stood, there were many of Red's accomplices and bodyguards scattered throughout the facility and outside of the facility as well. Fortunately they hadn't been smart enough to search the van that Sky had emerged from and allowed him to run in, knowing that he was the one that Red typically did business with. However, if anyone else were to approach, they would likely be dead before they reached the warehouse. The Red Cell organization was one that operated under a certain pretext, they were a group of elite that had forged their business on certain principles that ensured their success. One of them was their willingness to be capable when engaged, that is, if such was necessary. Usually they remained so covert and hidden in the shadows that it wasn't necessary to do anything outside of a little "persuasion". Though on this occasion? They'd be forced to hold their own if they wanted to live. 

Though they'd learn the hard way, of course. Without a sound, two of the bodyguards hidden in the shadows around the gateway into the warehouse dropped like flies, soft thuds being the only indication that they were dead and gone. Another body guard a few meters away noticed the one closest to him suddenly collapse, but before he could report such, he fell too. Morale of the story? The darkness had become the enemy of those whom it may have once been an ally, and every body guard surrounding the facility died without a sound, collapsing and becoming nothing more than a memory to the one responsible. 

Elexis may have noticed it, or not, but the state of things would become apparent when she heard the sound of something grinding against her door. 

Meanwhile, it seemed as if the true mastermind and admin of the orchestration had arrived. The Beasley-class car suddenly cruised outside of the facility and stopped just next to the van where Elexis found herself, its light hum sounding for a moment only to stop - triggering the revelation of Junior. The car door opened and there he was, cropped black hair, black glasses, a black tuxedo and matching black dress-shoes. There was nothing out of the ordinary about him, yet there was a powerful ominous presence surrounding him that only those carefully aware could feel or see. 

She could likely see him, and he could see her before he had even arrived, but he didn't bother to actually address her. That was for the other two to handle. Instead, The Gambler proceeded into the facility, leaving the tall seven foot giant android and the silent and unseen murderer of the bodyguards there to secure Elexis. The android turned, its burning green eyes and plain robotic outcast burning into the vehicle, before reaching up and tapping the surface of the car. 

It made a gesture for her to get out. 

What would she do?

---

The bodyguards parted the way for The Gambler to enter, his features and his bio-signatures matching that of the dealer himself. He stopped just before the office, noticing the girl that was tied up and crying, Red the actual maker of the deal, and Sky himself. What a reunion, it was then that Sky would realize they had met before, that one fateful day at the circus when he asked Sky about the Fire "Ace" and had a friendly conversation about ideals and just how they felt about the world. It was around that time that Sky stated he just wanted to be happy and provide a life for his wife, his family, and the future generation of kids of their family. How selfish. The Gambler looked deep into Sky's eyes, before glancing to Red. 

"You are Red I presume?"

"Captain, we are five minutes from drop into Newel space."

A disconnected voice spoke over the intercoms linked to the bridge. The voice was female, yet oddly robotic; producing a ghostly reverb and not coming from any particular source. The Captain nodded in response to the programmed female a.i., looking into deep space as they passed through what could be best described as pitch darkness. The ship rattled and shook, groaning and shifting under the huge pressure the jump drives produced while in slip-space. Although it was normal, no one felt any easier knowing that one errant mistake could quite literally disintegrate the ship, though that was quite unlikely due to the long history and advancements of mankind in the ways of space travel. The ship itself was a mottled grey in colour, roughly 2800 meters in length and powered by several clusters of ion burst engines; designed for long travel. Blazed into the side of the ship it read "E.C.S. Seraphim". The ship itself had a long and glorious history in Endrosi lore. It was first fielded in the historic 1'st Colony Wars, the wars which saw Endrosi Corps rise to power and establish the unified Endrosi Government that has now spanned several generations and many light years. The ship has been since retrofitted to fit modern standards, but is well known as being one of Endrosi's oldest and heaviest cruisers. With armour thick enough to bear the brunt of ancient artillery and explosive based weapons she may be slow, but definitely not one to trifle with. When people refer to ships "Not being built the way they used too" this is what they refer to. The large ship housed a minimum of 2,500 crew, with a maximum of over 10,000. Two squadrons of intercept craft designed for both atmospheric and space combat also resided on the ship, due to the fact it was simply to large to enter most atmospheres safely.

"Security teams report to Hanger Bay for immediate dust-off. They'll be expecting us...Make sure things don't get out of hand."

The captain spoke, leaning against the railing that overlooked the bridge and the large windows that lead into the dark nothing. Moments passed, the sounds of the bridge and communications going in and out were the norm. The rattling of the ship began to slow to a hum as the slip-space engines began to spool down and the disconnected voice came over the coms in the bridge once more. The voice this time addressing everyone within the bridge as a whole.

"All hands, prepare for Slip-Space drop. Repeat. All hands, prepare for slip-space drop...5...4...3...2...1...Drop"

The ship lurched heavily as the slip-space bubble collapsed and the ship came from sudden acceleration to now subspace acceleration. The Captain braced himself against the railing, his face stoic and unmoving. He'd done this a million times before and intended to do it a million times still. Once clear the crew in the bridge began chatting, doing diagnostic checks and routine maintenance to ensure that they didn't accidentally leave half their ship on the other side of the bubble. It was important to run these checks due to the stress slip-stream puts on a ship, never mind the sudden drop from moving at light years worth of speed to suddenly nothing. The Captain walked back to his chair a few meters back and gathered his long coat. The shoulders were decorated in crimson red and held his awards and decorum over his years in the Endrosi Navy. He threw the coat around himself and swept his hand through his slightly long greying hair and let out a sigh. He looked towards his second officer and nodded his head slightly, speaking.

"Inform the Newel Government we'll be landing at Port Zulu 6 and we expect them to pick us up upon arrival...Position the Seraphim into firing position with the colony."

The second officer hesitated slightly as the Captain walked out the door, combing his thick beard with a small ebony comb. The Captain had a long and prestigious career, and those who worked with him knew him well. He was the type to get the job done, even if he had to prove a point more extreme than the rest. Endrosi technically controlled the station and it's Government, although in some cases they're hands off and the Government gets cozy, forgetting who ensures their prosperity. The second officer nodded and turned from his post below the railing to the main window, watching as they fast approached the colony. There was an eerie silence on the bridge and finally, he spoke.

"Open coms with the Presidents office, set the Seraphim into firing position on the opposite end of the colony. Do not load the round until my orders. Go to Battle Level one for this one..."

The interior lighting of the ship in the bridge and elsewhere shifted from white to a crimson red. Signifying the change in awareness level. All non-essential crew were to remain in their quarters and essential crew were to report to their battle stations post haste. The Bridge opened comms up and the President of the Newel Space Colony answered, looking slightly annoyed he was being bothered. The President was an elderly man, pudgy and slightly revolting. The furrow in his brow dictated his annoyance, but once he saw the 2nd officer and the Endrosi symbol emblazoned into the back of the bridge an immediate smile came to his face.

"Ah! You must be the envoy that the Endrosi Corps have sent! We at Newel welcome you! What can I do for you?"

The 2nd Officer spoke up, his tone loud, professional and to the point. He didn't want to waste time talking to this man anymore than he had too. They didn't realize what ship had even dropped out yet, let alone that they were setting up for a firing position. It'd probably be a couple minutes at least.

"Mr. President, this is the E.C.S. Seraphim requesting...No, demanding that you lower the stations defences. Our security team and envoy are on route to Port Zulu 6, your security detail will meet them there and escort them to parliament. Failure to do so will result in the termination of your defence forces in our immediate vicinity."

The President seemed a bit startled, his eyes widening as soon as he heard the name "Seraphim." It was one of Endrosi's premier cruisers and it had the firepower to do exactly as the 2nd Officer said. The station defences at best were good for stopping small craft, but couldn't hope to take on a capital cruiser such as the Seraphim. After his surprise, annoyance chimed in and he spoke, his brow furrowing and tone growing angry.

"Listen here boy, who are you to threaten our colony? That's a little ex-"

The 2nd Officer cut in, his eyes piercing through to the President, stopping his words in his track. His words were that of warning, and promise.

"Please think carefully Mr. President. We have enough firepower on this ship to easily blow through your defences and even more-so to break your pathetic little colony in two. It would be unfortunate if your colony were to decompress suddenly as the result of an in-colony accident don't you think?"

The 2nd Officer played to the Presidents sensibilities. The Endrosi Corps could dispose of the colony and report it as an accidental decompression and no one would bat an eye. The President sighed and waved it off, cutting the coms. Moments later another Officer turned from her post and gave the confirmation that the defence stations for the colony were being shut down. The large cruiser could now pass through unhindered. From the perspective of the small orbiting cannons the soldiers would observe a massive hulking piece of steel pass by their large bay windows. The size of the Seraphim would block out any sun provided and the ship itself would give off such a large wake that the colony defences would shutter and groan under the weight of such a massive ship entering the inner ring of the colony.

Elsewhere the 40th Internal Security Division (ISD) would be readying their equipment in the bay within their Havok Heavy Gunship. The ISD's differed from the typical Endrosi teams in that they were designed for high-profile security for envoys, important political figures and the high ranking members of the Endrosi elite. The ISD's were hand picked from the best of the Endrosi ESF division, while still human their suits offer them many augmentations and advantages to the common soldier. They were excellent hand to hand fighters, trained in neutralizing and capturing threats and protecting VIP's. ISD's around the galaxy are also utilized for capturing high profile criminals. Depending on the environment they operated in they appeared differently. Their common kit they would use within a metropolis or urban setting like Newel however would be a suit of grey plate armour, layered and angled to divert and mitigate damage from both ballistic and energy based weapons. Their helmets and suits were environmentally contained, meaning they could survive in the worst conditions possible, and in space for a short period. Internal upgrades gave them a HUD within their wide visor that identified, marked and tracked targets in both normal, IR and NV modes. Their armaments also depended on their operational environment. In this case they utilized pulse carbines that discharged pulses of electricity over a mid range. The rifles were intended to be non-lethal and as such were designed much like a modern taser. Albeit more painful and direct. Multiple shots would result in death, but one would simply render the target unconscious. Two members of the team would carry twelve gauge pulse shotguns designed to actively kill. The rounds fired were a charged ferrous slug that would actually explode on contact, one could imagine being on the receiving end of that wouldn't be altogether too fun. The 1IC of the unit, Commander Donnelly checked his unit over once quickly, adjusting packs and ensuring his people were ready. He donned his helmet and stood at the bay door of the Havok. He grabbed onto the handle just below the door and spoke, his voice being amplified by the internal coms of the helmet.

"All right guys, listen up...We'll be escorting the Captain to the Parliament to meet with the Newel President, Johnson-Higgs. The Captain is acting envoy for the Endrosi Corps today so it's our duty to ensure he makes it there safely and makes it out safely. The Havok, call-sign "Harbinger" will be on station to provide Overwatch on Parliament and CAS if needed. For this mission we will be referring to the Captain as Call-Sign "Saviour". No funny business or goofing off today...Reports came down the wire that there's some funky business going down in that Colony; and their security forces are unable to pinpoint what. If we can avoid killing, lets do that. Newel is a sensitive colony that provides a lot of food for the rim colonies and the last thing we need to do is start a war with a bunch of pissed off farmers. Understood?"

The unit nodded, standing and listening to their Commander as the Captain walked to the bottom of the Havok's loading ramp. Immediately the 1IC turned and saluted, the rest of the unit followed suit and the Captain simply nodded, acknowledging the salute and continuing into the pilots sealed off area of the Havok. The 1IC and the rest of the ISD seated themselves as the Havok's doors began to close. Upon doing so the Havok engaged it's subspace ion engines, generating enough lift to slowly bring the large craft upwards into a floating state. The thick hanger doors began to open slightly, the fields that separated vacuum from the interior of the hanger fizzled slightly with excitement and the Havok began to move through it, the field moved around the edges and shape of the craft as it passed through into vacuum. The constant humming within the Havok was soft and the vibrations felt not too different from being on a boat as they began to descend into the colony. The ISD's sat in uncomfortable silence as they began the short five minute trip to the colony. As they began their descent the shrinking shape of the Seraphim could be seen in the distance. At nearly a kilometre long though one would get the feeling that a whole city block would be in the sky if they looked up from the ground in the Colony. As the Havok passed through the atmospheric generators for the colony it became a bit dark, and then night seemed to descend slowly. The colony was regulating time through artificial atmospheric change, mimicking a planet so that the residents would sleep and wake at a common time. Port Zulu 6 came into view, it's dim lights flashing as the Havok approached the landing pad. There an envoy of cars and security staff waited for the Captain to make his appearance. The Havok circled once, the pilots and gunner checking for hostiles and as they began to land the bay doors opened, wind whipped in every which direction; causing the less than well armed Newel Security Forces to cringe slightly. From the back of the Havok, as it landed the ISD piled out. They formed a defensive perimeter, guns fixed forward; assuming the worst. From behind them the captain emerged, his coat whipping around haphazardly with the heavy winds caused by the Havoks Engines. There to greet him was a young man, an aide to the President who shook his hand and bowed low. From beneath his thick framed glasses he spoke, yelling against the sound of the Havok.

"Pleased to meet you sir! My name is Aidan, I'm President Higgs personal security. We'll escort you to the Parliament from here!"

The Captain nodded and began to walk towards the armoured vehicle that they had brought. Once aboard and away the ISD all piled back into the Havok, which took off immediately; following the convoy in close proximity.

SOME TIME LATER...

The ISD waited outside of the grand Parliamentary offices in the capital, they watched the corridors and entrances steadily alongside Newel Security Forces as the talks between President Higgs and the Captain underwent behind the closed doors. Inside the President sat as his desk, not all too pleased at how much Endrosi was disturbing the peace. First the Seraphim sat outside the colony with their armaments trained on them; and now they've got an elite unit escorting someone to the capital. It almost seemed like an invasion, not a talk on peaceful terms. The President knew that the Endrosi were typically heavy handed and that this was their way of scaring them. Although, the Endrosi typically followed through with promises. The two sat together in silence, before the Captain finally broke the silence; stroking his beard and speaking calmly.

"Mr. President, the Endrosi Corps are quite worried about what is happening here. Our shipments of Fuel cells haven't been arriving and we've heard some disturbing rumours that you've got some issues that your security teams cannot deal with."

The Captain got up from his chair and walked across the room, finding a model of the Colony floating on a cabinet with anti-gravity generators beneath it. He spun the model slightly, letting the ring shaped colony spin on an invisible axis and then turned back to the President, who looked a little angry. The Captain stopped the colony promptly with his right index finger and continued.

"This is bad for business Higgs. You were put into power by Endrosi to ensure that the colony would remain reliable. This colony is our foothold in this space and quite frankly your 'Government' is letting it slip. I'm afraid that our security forces will be taking over for a little, and command of the Capital passed into Endrosi care until this little problem can be dealt with.

The President stood up quickly, his belly bounced as he did so and he moved around the desk; shaking with anger. He gripped his cane hard, his knuckles whitening and hand shaking from the force and he pursed his lips together, forming a scowl reminiscent of an angry boar or pig.

"You can't just take over! There's laws and rules against that! The people will raise up, they'll revolt!"

The Captain smiled knowingly and walked over to the President, putting a hand upon his shoulder and grinning as if he'd just won the lottery.

"No they won't...And you'll ensure they don't. That is unless you're okay with the colony having an unfortunate accident. I hear that atmospheric decompression is a pretty common things in Colonies like this. All it takes is one small asteroid to get through your defences...And boom, your atmosphere is gone and your people dead."

Sky Laurent felt slight relief as his sister and wife escaped the office but he knew with them gone it had to end here. While it seemed that Red was convinced The Gambler and Sky were to blame for the deal to fail in his heart he knew he had failed his family. Many years were wasted on the criminal organization Red Cell and if Sky had been patient enough he would have had the chance to be successful in life. Sky's Datatian hearing made the words the Gambler mouthed clear. Ces’t la vie. Sky thought to himself as he fired his last shot at Red ending the existence of Red Cell. The pulsing waves that permeated from The Gambler forced Sky to lose his lunch fortunately for Red he didn't have to suffer the same symptoms.

Red fired both his pistols at the same time, grazing Sky’s jawline revealing his jawbone as it cut through his flesh, and firing at The Gambler’s face only to break the left temple and hinge of his glasses revealing his face. The massive android behind The Gambler caught the stray bullet with his metal hand out of curiosity unaffected of what transpired just seconds ago. The Crime Lord fell to his knees after Sky’s bullet pierced through his neck causing blood to spray in waves from the pulses in the area against the metal wall of the office. There was a smile on his face, in the back of his mind it did not matter if he missed, because only the strongest would be able to escape and he knew Sky was not one of them. The keys that were on Red’s fingers conveniently slid across the floor and at The Gambler’s feet as if it were fate.

Flames continued to burn only this time the temperature was increasing as the aluminum walls began to melt in the Laboratory revealing wooden framing within the walls igniting over half of the building on fire. It was unfortunate to have a fire blazing through the Lab right after Rain Laurent had hacked into the sprinkler system for a recent lab experiment to prevent them from going off unless it reached a ridiculous temperature. That temperature was finally met and in order to protect a catastrophic accident that would severely damage the property the sprinkler system activated across the ceiling of the Laboratory. A distinctive bell began to sound off alerting neighboring farmers that there was a fire, the system would also alert the authorities to respond to the fire that continued relentlessly despite the water that attempted to succumb the flames.

Rain Laurent recognized the mechanisms by their sound coming from the mysterious red haired woman that stopped her and Elexis’ tracks through the Lab right before the bell rang making it difficult to determine the sounds she just heard. The waves came and just like Sky lost his lunch so did Rain as she threw up against the metal wall closest to her. Elexis Laurent was unaffected by the waves but it made her feel a little weak at her ankles for just a moment before she regained her composure. It was clear to the mysterious woman who had to be her first target though it would have been easier to take out the weaker nuisance.

Elexis examined the newcomer who appeared to be younger in age bearing the same expression as The Gambler like some kind of death stare as her red hair became wet from the sprinklers. There was a 20 foot distance to clear in order to close the gap between the two formidable women. With the grace of an acrobat Elexis cartwheeled her wall down the aisle releasing blue flames from her throat creating a wheel of fire in rapid succession in an attempt to confuse her enemy with an illusion of fire hiding her dragonian form as she approached.

"You are a killer now. How does it feel?" The Gambler mused, pushing the bridge of his black glasses back onto the bridge of his nose. As Red's blood oozed from his body in what was hardly a tragedy for either of them, some measure of security forces began to secure the perimeter of the surrounding area around them. They had carefully armed themselves, and from The Gambler's mysterious perception they were well-aware of who they were dealing with. It seemed that word of his travels spread quicker than he could have ever imagined. To think that they had come all this way just to deal with this world's problems was unrealistic, it was what the man sought to exploit that summoned them outside. They even made an effort to silence the media for some time, but did they think this would end as they liked?

It was situations like these that The Gambler lived for. Reaching over to snatch the keys from the ground, he tossed them back to Red's deceased carcass and nodded in approval of his silent demands. It seemed there was still unfinished business to take care of.

The Gambler slowly, but carefully, drew closer to Sky with eyes devoid of emotion. The fire alarms had stopped whining long ago, but their downpour stuck The Gambler's drenched tuxedo to his skin, and the chaos of flames raging through the building didn't bother calming its flaring attitude. Some would say it was unnatural for a fire once mundane to become the end of everything in sight, setting everything they knew into a terrifying blaze. Horror was painted on a Sky's visage even if he dared to deny it; The Gambler was by far the most insidious man he had ever met. From the day they had spoken to each other to that very moment he approached Sky slowly, there had been something wrong about his demeanor. Of course he hadn't bothered to listen to his intuition, but even if he had, would he be able to distance himself from what was inevitable? The passage of time seemed to wind down just as the E.C.S Seraphim's personal A.I began to talk, and before Sky knew it the world had completely ground to a halt.

"It wasn't supposed to end this way, we both know that." The Gambler sighed, removing a cigarette from his pocket. The only two seemingly unaffected by the mystical phenomena having frozen time itself being The Gambler and Sky, the young man placed the cigarette between his lips calmly took a crouch about five feet from Sky where he had been throwing up. The overbearing presence of his weight and the power of his mind that had forced Sky to belch and fall into a semi-state of confusion, disappeared entirely. They were left as perfectly normal human being (if you could call either of them that) resting outside of the flow of time.

"You see, there was a time that I gave you a choice. We spoke for a long time. You made your decision when you walked away and refused to change your lifestyle. Now you, and everyone in your family has to die or suffer as a result of your ignorance. I would tell you my name is The Gambler, but whether you hear my true name or not hardly matters. Even if by some miracle any of your family and friends ever survive, they'll never catch me. I am the shadow that disappears when the light shines and nothing but lies remain. Whatever lead anyone chooses to follow, it won't lead back to me, because I am The Gambler, and my job is to exorcise your kind even if that means taking honorable sacrifices along the way...understand?"

An earful definitely, but Sky's only choice was to listen or die. If he even dared to make a move inbetween the halt of time and the end of The Gambler's courtesy speech, he'd end him without thinking twice. And it was then that time's influence took hold of them once more and Sif began broadcasting some announcement aimed at everyone in the burning building. The Gambler only looked at Sky and rose, his hands stuffing themselves into their pockets. A trademark golden watch could be seen on his left wrist, one that glimmered in the scarlet flames boisterous light.

"Are you ready to go?" The Gambler asked respectfully, obviously not ready to take no for an answer.

And neither would Violet, who stood toe to toe with two weaklings who didn't quite have the power to deal with her attitude or professional handiwork. If The Gambler and Sky were at the front of the facility, Violet and her two playmates were at the back, just before the exit. And what kind of comrade would she be if she just let them go? Discarding her overcoat to reveal her detailed power armor running electrical circuits underneath fortified ceranium-alloy plating, the Odin-exoskeleton hummed quietly just as Elexis finally reached her. While most figured they'd clash in a battle between iron and fist, will and death, there was no such climatic finish. Instead? Elexis would stop only to turn back and see Rain Laurent, who was held up by her neck in a powerful grip that was easily triple of what any human hand could produce. The moment Elexis made a move she could break it, or she could force Elexis to watch the torture, either way as formidable as Elexis was unless she tapped into something none of them expected she'd find that keeping up with Violet by any basis of speed would be utterly impossible.

But why?

Then Sif finished his statement.

"Shit..." Violet groaned, glancing into the eyes of Rain. Rain could kick, struggle, groan, spit, or complain all she liked but in the end when it seemed like Violet was going to break her neck, she broke the silence and kissed her firmly on her lips.

And just like Sky, the other two would likely be just as confused. And with a lack of reply to Endorsi it was only a matter of time before the doors came falling down and they seized anyone and anything that could be a suspect to what was happening here.

Yet would it really be that easy?

A phantom of mystery that had been busy watching and preparing, linked to the A.I of The Tesser and prepared something that was going to change the game in a matter of moments. All of the madness aside, the games were over, and any hope of a satisfying outcome had long since slipped out from beneath them.

"Please...we surrender.”

As soon as she opened her mouth she would have been met with a single electrically charged pacification round to the stomach, coming from the FTL of the I.S.D. himself. He dared not remove his helmet for the smoke and debris was not only blinding, but choking as well. The round itself would have knocked Elexis clean out, it acted much like a conventional taser but the voltage instead of being delivered linearly was delivered all at once. The bolt used would knock the wind from her and potentially bruise her internally, but was otherwise harmless. The FTL held the shotgun within his hands, racking it once more and pointing it at Rain, motioning for her to get on her knees with her hands on her head. The I.S.D. quickly moved in to the crater, the sound of their boots hitting dirt and sliding down the side would fill the air as they ran down, grabbing Elexis and tying her hands behind her back; carrying her from the crater. The other troops had taken a position at Rain, one troop kicking her squarely in the back as she kneeled down, making her effectively eat dirt. Followed by two other troops forcibly grabbing her hands, pushing them awkwardly behind her back and strapping them together, dragging her as well. None of it was gentle, all of it violent; with lots of screaming, yelling and obscenities being yelled at the sisters.

"Sif, we've secured two VIP's. Any eyes on inside yet?"

The FTL looked towards the building, where the other I.S.D. team was waiting to breach in. He awaited the AI's response and ushered the two sisters and the remainder of the I.S.D. team to the Havoc, which was starting it's descent by the team. As the gunship began to descend the ion engines hummed loudly, whipping up further debris and dust; causing the soldiers to cringe a tad. Over the coms the A.I. crackled in, her tone changing slightly.

"...I've detected a spatial anomaly within the lab...Source unknown...Recommending immediate dust-off and termination of AO..."

Both the acting Commander and FTl nodded in agreement, speaking their respective agreements into the comms and then ordered their teams back into the Havoc, the six Lazarus mecha attached themselves to the external hooks outside of the Havoc and as the Havoc pulled away, leaving only the two large mobile suits behind. The mobile suits backed away from the building, giving a clearing of up to one hundred metres and suddenly began to open fire with all armaments. The dust off and immediate firing took only moments. Under intense 30mm auto cannon and gauss fire the building would be reduced to rubble within mere moments. The Mobile Suits continued firing, all weapons focused on the lab until all that remained was a smouldering wreckage, several craters and pockmarks of what used to be a building, reduced to nothing. 

"Fire a broadside salvo for safety Sif, lets get those suits home and pick up Saviour...We're done here..."

The Mobile Suits activated their thrusters, slowly lifting from the ground before engaging their main ion drives, scorching the ground beneath them and taking off towards the orbiting Seraphim. As they did so the Seraphim launched one final broadside barrage, aimed directly on whatever was left of the miserable excuse for a ruin. The end result would be one very large, exacting crater. Surely nothing would survive...However, the Gambler was a tricky one...Someone not yet wholly known to Endrosi, but the Corps were not one to take chances. Their prerogative is simple. If it is an unknown is must either be known, or eliminated. In this case, Sif found it wise to eliminate the unknown source...However, whether or not that would fan out for the better is a different story. 

...Aboard the Seraphim, several hours later...

//Welcome back aboard Commander, We've achieved an 85% success rate on today's mission...Endrosi High Command is pleased.

The Commander, now back aboard the Seraphim simply peered out his window as the Seraphim began to exit Newel space. He looked upon the colony, orbiting the long since dead mining planet it used to call home. The Commander couldn't shake the feeling that they were all just bottom feeders, during their brief stay there they managed to ensure a puppet government got put in place. More Endrosi forces would be arriving there soon, mostly to squash any thoughts of rebellion. Also to kick up production of agricultural products though. Newel was a key foothold in Endrosi space in that it provided a lot of outer rim colonies and planets with food and raw materials mined from the planet to be used in ship building and weapons manufacturing. The Commander brought his whisky glass to his lips and took a slight sip, his brow furrowing at Sif's welcome to him. 

"We should have achieved 100% Sif. I read the report though, any guess on what those anomalies were?"

//Negative Commander. We're still missing one VIP, facial recognition scans came back negative and there are no mentions in any known Endrosi database. Scans after termination of the AO yielded no positive results for organic matter."

"Sif, are you suggesting the anomaly came from this man? Not from the lab?"

The Commander placed his glass down upon his desk gently, the ice within the glass shifted slightly; clinking and settling as he approached the window; standing next to it. Sif materialized within the room, the holo emitters that existed throughout the ship flickered slightly and her form took place. She was a petite woman, robes of black fell around her figure and her face was monotone, fair white with raven black hair gathered in a bun. Her features were very plain, no makeup. By human standards she certainly did look delicate. She approached the Commander, standing next to him and pulling up a dossier on their two prisoners; Rain and Elexis.

//We found no traces of any technology in the lab that could have created this anomaly Commander...Surveillance suggests it may have been our missing VIP. I've scoured R&D databases and found no tech related to what I've observed...Perhaps though our guests have more information..."

The Commander smiled and nodded towards Sif, with one swipe of his right hand the window became slightly opaque and a star-map came up; showing their current course to the Lunar Penal Colony. He crossed his arms and then looked at the coordinates; smiling.

"Sif, please inform Lunar Command we'll be arriving with guests shortly...If anyone can figure anything out, it's the team there...Prep them to receive our guests."