I spent the night in VR training, mainly focusing on my close-range combat, and how to evade getting hit by another trash can. The Arbiter moved so fast I could barely dodge anything close range but I began to feel the rhythm of the program, Zero reminded me not to get used to a program that simulates the real thing, one mistake and I could easily die. I was able to defeat the simulation at least 4 out of 5 times now. Mainly relying on the advantage of stealth, long-range, and the element of surprise. While training we worked out our plan, but I was still nervous. I tried going to bed but my anxiety got the best of me; I spent an hour staring at the ceiling before I got back up and went into the gym and started my morning routine after I sat in meditation. The progress on my channels was moving slowly, but still making progress felt good. Now, marked the 7th day, that I began building my channels and when I finished today, I finally connected both my arms at the base of my spine creating a gate. It seemed that the more complex the area, the longer it took to fill the threads. I spent the entire night going back and forth from focusing on filling my channels and gathering aura. Now, I felt like the depths of my pond was twice as deep as when I first made it; it seemed to fill slower as well, probably taking more aura if it held more volume, I still didn't know how all this worked. Zero explained it in the way of the Uzal. Aura gathered and aura used would allow the wielder to strengthen their channels and hold more over time. So each time I emptied my reserves, I actually make more room for more. Sitting on a wide flack slate rock within my imagination, I was meditating within meditation. I found it centered me and allowed the pool to fill twice as fast. The rock I placed in the center of the pond, it was as soft as a cloud but as firm as the rock; I made it after. The sound of the waterfall didn't make a sound while I was on the rock, but the wind and ebb of the water splashing against the rock made it feel more real. "I'm sorry to break you out of your meditation, Leo, but I have set our plans into motion. It's time we left." Zero said, From an outsider's view, when Leo opened his eyes, the stray aura around him flared, his own aura had increased, but no one was around to bear witness. For not sleeping at all, I was brimming with energy, wolfing down breakfast, and got ready for the day. Grabbing the bag, I packed before bed, slinging the rifle over my shoulder and attaching the pistol to a mag holster at my hip. Lastly, going through a mental checklist, I had everything. The shuttle notified me it arrived. Placing the helmet on, I opened the gate revealing the red and white shuttle waiting. The door opened at my approach. Taking my seat, the rented shuttle automatically lifted off the ground and left through a passage in the dome meant for shuttles and drones, well hidden behind the forest surrounding the villas. The journey over the eastern sea would take 2 hours. I took the time to meditate and go over the plan a few more times with Zero. After an hour and a half, we finally flew over the gray sea, and rust-red sands took over the landscape for as far as the eye could see. The dunes were towering. Every once in a while herds of large animals would look towards our shuttle and flee deeper into the desert, which was sparsely dotted with small clumps of some sort of desert trees that looked more like bones with large fern-like appendages. This area held a large oasis from what Zero informed me. We landed about half a mile away from the oasis. I got prepared, first jamming a sensor into the sand that would scramble most electronics not shielded. I used my now empty pack filled with sand as rest for my rifle. I still only had one mag, even after 2 weeks of looking for more. Five rounds to take out a mechanized killing machine. I thought, just my luck. I pulled the last purchase over me, a tarp that would change to adapt to my surroundings making me almost completely invisible, paired with the jammer I felt confident in my ability to hide from any Arbiter. Waiting in position, looking over the desert towards the oasis. I kept as relaxed and still as possible to not be noticed. A herd of animals were grazing the nearby oasis, they looked like a cross between an antelope and pangolin, completely covered with scales from head to tail, two large pronged horns stuck from the top of its head flaring out, its back curved into a high arch, standing on thin but powerfully built long legs as it drank deep from the pond. I didn't know how big they were, hard to judge from this distance. The herd held around 20 and half of them were tiny babies with no horns. The male stood out with its larger size and set of extra horns. The adults all looked west and ran, pulling the rest of the herd away into safety. The earth quaked beneath me, even at over a mile away. A red and white shuttle landed, kicking up sand. A lone figure, it had to be the Arbiter. As it stepped off the shuttle, it was wearing a black cloak, making him stand out in the vast brown and red sand of the desert. He briefly looked around the oasis for a bit before leaning in the shade of the transport shuttle. "Now's our chance, like we practiced, go for center chest," Zero said. Only having to make minor adjustments, only a fraction of an inch to train my sights on the lazying Arbiter. Zero calculated all my wind, air pressure, altitude, humidity, temperature, and coriolis effect (whatever that was, something to do with the rotation of the planet), as well as angle into my HUD and scope automatically. The target was over half a mile away, but stories of old told of snipers shooting for double this distance without camera optics, and simple AIs to help. I disengaged the safety, placing my finger on the cool steel of the trigger, taking a slow breath, on my exhale, I squeezed the trigger, just like I had hundreds of times before in training. The electronic firing pin slammed home, igniting the .50 caliber BMG, it flew straight and true, watching for impact through my HUD. The shock wave of the rifle sent a small wave of sand out from the cone. Then I saw it. The Arbiter placed his hand out and stopped the bullet but at some cost to himself. His arm was completely destroyed and continued destroying a part of its chest. It looked directly at me; I don't know how, but he knew exactly where I was. He bent low and pushed off the ground like an Olympic runner. The shuttle behind it was pushed back a few feet. Sand began shooting behind it in a wake of sand from his insane acceleration. I tried lining up my shots, even with Zero predictions he somehow moved around them with mere millimeters to spare. He crossed the halfway mark and rippling explosions were set off in an array around us. It was a fail-safe, Zero suggested, anti-personnel mines. A wave of sand rose, blasted into the air. Shooting out of the sand cloud was the Arbiter. He was moving so fast it looked like he was skating across the sand. The last round ejected out the rifle. Immoderately discarding it and getting up into a better position, reaching for my pistol at my hip. The arbiter was already on me. It dropped a black single-edged blade from his sleeve into his waiting hand. I had the pistol in my grip and disengaged the magnet. But I was too late, he slammed into me, driving the blade into my side, twisting the blade, and leaving it to continue another strike. Before the pain could register, he swiped at my face, leaving the blade embedded in me. Only dodging the swipe barely, he sheared off the visor of my armored helmet; my senses hit by the dry desert heat instantly, blinking away the sand particles flying around. "FOCUS," Zero shouted. The Arbiter never stopped moving. After the swipe, he went for my throat. I felt my feet leave the ground as I dangled from his single outstretched hands. He pulled me closer, peering at me. I smiled and pulled the trigger. BRRRRRRRRTTT...chk..chk.chk... Only letting off the trigger after the mag was empty. The orange glow of the four cameras in its face faded as we both dropped to the ground. Rolling over on my back gasping for air, I took in large ragged breaths of the dry desert air, wincing with every breath as I did, pretty sure some of my ribs were broken... again. Looking down, the dagger was still sticking out of me, blood was leaking out of the open wound. I grabbed my medical pack and ripped it off my hip. Grabbing the medical spray, I grabbed the handle and pulled the blade out, and sprayed the sealing foam inside. "We'll need to go back now to get that checked out, but you won't die, I ran a scan and the internal bleeding has stopped," Zero said. I got up and looked over the body of the Arbiter. "Now, what?" I said. My HUD lit up with a glowing square, "Remove the object from its back, right here, it's a tracking beacon." I pushed the body over. He weighed a lot. Detaching the beacon and smashed it with the butt of my rifle. "Now, we'll take the body back with us to the base, roll it up into the tarp," Rolling the remains into the tarp and packing up the rest of the gear and spent casings. There wasn't much I could do about the arm that exploded. It littered the desert sand for hundreds of yards around. Hiding our tracks as best as possible, I used the Arbiter's hood, which was only slightly damaged, to shade my face my exposed face. Getting comfortable in the shade, I waited for my ride. In another galaxy, far from the planet of Coquin, and it's domed city of Vestale, Thousands of Arbiter ships surrounded a large structure of white in the shape of an octahedron with a large Valik halo at its core, its many docking arms held Arbiter vessels. Within the large vessel, Cid woke up within a new host body, a major downgrade from his previous one. He looked over the video again of his death. He was relaxing in the shade when he heard a blast from a rifle, his enhanced sensors allowed him to pinpoint the location and trajectory. It was aimed dead center of his power core. Whoever baited him into the ambush knew more than about merits. Merits the whole reason, he even took the chance to meet the anonymous messenger. Merits are the currency the Arbiter's used to buy and sell. You don't earn merits unless you are serving the MIND, which I haven't in about 90 years. The MIND is the hive mind of the Arbiters, their sole purpose is to make sure the signal doesn't come back to the system and finish the job, though that's a story for another time. Most either opt to stay and serve the MIND or go into hibernation until the need arises. Some like myself go on what is called the pilgrimage, to see the other races, to live as the organics do. Most don't last long on their pilgrimage for two reasons, they can't cope with losing the MIND, and most flesh bags are either too scared to approach an Arbiter or vice versa. All the organics are chaotic, and all over the place with their emotions, I, on the other hand, love the meaty flesh bags, they are creative, funny, and most of all, not Arbiters. I served my time in the MIND and earned my merits and retired to the pilgrimage, this is the 3rd time I have died and to be frank, the most fun I've had in years. Rouge creator AI: Septimus prime - and Gaian accomplice Connors, Leo, has been spotted within sector E-8, on planet Coquin Reported to all treaty members Dispatching vessels to capture fugitives He continued the video. The round that he tried blocking was an anti-material weapon, easily destroying his arm and even part of his armored shoulder and chest with the concussive force behind the round. Immediately starting to running at his attacker, he almost laughed when he almost knocked over the stupid transport shuttle on his launch. Dodging some well-placed rounds that would take out any other non-Arbiter in a single direct hit, one even coming so close he would've had to wipe the sweat off his brow if he had one. "Frack, I hate snipers, I do admit this one gave me a run for my money though." Cid said, continued watching explosions going off blowing geysers of brown-red sand high, "Oh yeah, the explosives under the sand, I didn't expect those but I was moving too quickly to get caught up in the impact points, if they were shaped charges, maybe. Finally, I reached the sniper, driving my favorite knife into his kidney, even more, surprised when he dodged my famous decapitation swing, only taking off his... shit, that's Leo, Connors, just realizing. He was the one who escaped 60 years ago in a warp jump from that ship. He's the reason this war started between the Ghul and well everyone else. My return must have synced with MIND on death, giving them his identity through the broken visor. Feeling violated for a second before shrugging it off. "I guess I'm going to go have even more fun in the future," Cid said out loud to no one. He would have a wide smile on his face if he had a face to smile with. Paying for his new body with his remaining merits, he requested a drop off on Coquin. Sitting in the shade of the shuttle the Arbiter used, all my belonging I owned neatly piled next to me, as well as the Arbiter's body wrapped up in the tarp. In the sky, I heard the hum before it appeared before me. Landing 5 meters away was the sleek scout ship, its white hall becoming visible against the blue sky. Loading up the body and gear quickly. The dry heat of the desert was getting to me, the suit no longer protecting me from the elements. I asked Zero what the temperature was, and he said, "It's better you don't know, you should just meditate." and left it at that. Sitting the last two cases down, the shuttle's door closed, and I felt the refreshing coolness of the ship. It began ascending as soon as the doors shut. Stripping out of my gear, I finally got a look at my wounds, many scrapes on my face from the swipe, and indeed, I had two bruised ribs, thankfully not broken. The worst damage was to my kidney. Zero said it wasn't currently life-threatening as long as I didn't reopen the wound. Zero kept me on mild pain killers until I get fixed up. We left the atmosphere, and the wall light up showing a ship in the distance, "What is this?" I ask. "Company, it looks like," Zero said. Three Gaian battleships, they looked similar to the one's back home but more updated, different weapons, and even had energy shielding. They were followed by two larger ships, that looked completely different from the Gaians, both looked more organic, It was wide and flat on the front but its length was long, large thruster arrays surrounded the ship on all sides. "That's an Uzal carrier, how did they get here so fast," Zero said. Off in the distance I saw something that looked like a large ring shimmer, it was hard to see but it was close to the sun. "What's that?" I ask and pointed at the object. "Oh, I didn't think anyone would get them running again, I just assumed the Gaian and Uzal here just traveled here using stasis, but that changes things." Zero trailed off. "What is it?" I asked. The image zoomed in even closer, showing the large ring. It mirrored space, but it shimmered almost like a force field was over it like plastic wrap. "That is a warp gate, they're old Valik tech, they are what the Valik used to travel space before they learned how to manipulate space and fold it. I thought them lost to time, they predate the halo's after all. I'll have to do more research when we get back," Zero said. "We will be pass be in position to do our first jump shortly, I'll find a suitable spot to hide from their sensors." While we flew through the system, I started looking over the Arbiter corpse. He held many trinkets in his pockets, and almost a dozen knives hidden on his body. "We are re-" in the distance, the Arbiter armada flashed into existence right next to Coquin. Thousands of small ships and drones flew out of the massive white Arbiter ships. "They've arrived, later than I would have imagined." "We are jumping now." With that, we flashed into deep space. In the distance, I could see the beginning of the crimson nebula form. "That's odd, there is something in the distance," Zero said. The projection zoomed in on the floating object. It was a Gaian vessel, or at least it was, only half of the ship was there slowly floating in space. "Should we check it out?" I asked. "We can, but are you going to be fine, you're the one with the hole in your side," Zero said. "I'll be fine." We came close, matching the speed. It was of Gaian design. The side had the "Solomon Industries" logo. "There are no life signs, the damage is from a long time ago, it must have drifted here for some time to be this far from any habitable space," Zero said. "I wish I could go in," I said. "Place your armor and helmet on the ground." Zero instructed. Placing them on the ground, both got pulled into the ship's haul and a few seconds later they reemerged. The armor had a patch of white over the hole the knife made. A white metal replacement completely replaced the visor of the helmet. "There you go, all fixed," Zero said. Putting on my gear like a skilled veteran, placing the helmet on very last, hearing the familiar audio cue that it sealed, and the suit was fully pressurized. The visor became completely transparent. "Not as good as the real thing, but it will get the job done," Zero said. Hearing the ship dock to the derelict, the door to the shuttle opened, scared that everything would be sucked out, I braced myself, but there was now a small airlock protecting the ship, separating the two. "Fancy Valik liquid ship," I said. Hearing Zero snort after my comment. The airlock sealed, and the outer door opened, revealing we were tethered to the wreck. "Time to do some exploring," I said, as I jumped out of the airlock, immediately turning on my mag boots before landing on the deck of the shattered ship.