Akim carefully disassembled the remains of the suit in front of him. The soldier had been torn apart by one of the nastier monsters that the enemy deployed as war machines. He quickly found what he was looking for. He was thankful this soldier had been loaded with an implant as so few were. He carefully extracted the suit’s interface as well as the implant and placed them onto specially crafted receptacles of his own. He turned to a nearby terminal and began what seemed to be a rote process for him.

Akim watched as the screen changed from the dull lines of the text commands and began displaying the visuals of the soldier’s last moments as he ripped the data off the device. This man had died in a particularly horrific fashion, and the data looked to be in good condition. It would sell well, there were plenty of sick fucks on other worlds who were willing to pay top dollar for such horrific experiences. There was nothing quite like raw battlefield data when it came to the virtual market.

Kipouen

Joseph had spent the last few days at the base he’d been taken to after being found in the woods. After recovering his drone and getting some rest, he’d passed much of his time training. The escort assigned to him had been more than willing to help him get acquainted with the equipment that the Avalon was going to be providing both himself and the rebel group he’d be joining up with soon.

The standard rifle that The Avalon Fleet used was far different than the Combo Energy Rifle that was common on Joseph’s own world, Kipouen. They preferred magnetic rail guns, a technology he was familiar with as both of his weapons utilized it. However, they had a broad array of various ammunition types that he doubted even Kipouen’s military had access to for their rail rifles. He spent quite a bit of time familiarizing himself with the various ammunition types as well as learning the capabilities of the various explosives that would be provided to him. He was quite happy with the results.

However, the time had come for him to leave. The rebel group had been contacted, and after some brief, ‘negotiation,’ had agreed to The Avalon Fleet’s terms. It hadn’t taken any convincing from what he’d heard as they were more than happy to be the ones to take out the Grand Arbiter herself. They were somewhat hesitant to have someone they didn’t know leading the fray, but apparently, someone there had recognized his name and vouched for him. He wondered who that could be, seeing as he’d disappeared so long ago that he assumed that he’d been more or less forgotten by this point.

Joseph loaded up into the shuttlecraft along with four soldiers. They barely fit alongside all the equipment that had been loaded. Joseph was glad to see that the cargo had been amply secured as he was quite sure if it were to come loose he’d be completely crushed. The flight was a long one by the standards of an Avalon shuttlecraft, which is to say it took around fifteen minutes. Joseph was in a suit provided by The Avalon Fleet and so had the luxury of being included in the soldier’s comms this go around.

Two of the soldiers had apparently just recently been reinstated, after all, but one of the rest of their squad died from sniper fire. The other surviving member, a man named Gustav, was apparently bound to a hospital bed still. He’d taken a massive shard of stone shrapnel straight to his gut. Joseph wondered if that had been the mangled soldier he’d seen when he first arrived at the base. If so, he was amazed the man was still alive at all.

One of the men, Ansgar, took note of the unusual kit that Joseph had put together. “You’re carrying more blades than the standard kit. In fact one of those looks like a short sword, a bit impractical for ranged combat isn’t it?”

Joseph smiled underneath his helmet, the system automatically translating it to an emote. “It would certainly be impractical on an open battlefield where soldiers rarely meet face to face. But for an infiltration mission a perfectly silent weapon like a knife or sword is quite practical. I will admit there are other personal reasons for taking a sword in particular, but I wouldn’t act on them if your military hadn’t provided such a fine blade. I’ve never even heard of a sword using a lattice of carbon fiber and titanium for it’s blade. The result is extremely light and strong. I’m more used to the katana, but the skills I learned back in the day seem to have transfered well.”

One of the other men spoke up, “Yeah, I saw you in the training room they set up, sparring with some of the veterans. It was rather impressive to watch. They don’t give us much more than the basics for hand-to-hand and knife fighting in recruit training, so watching folks who’ve had more time with blades under their belt was eye opening, to say the least.

Joseph nodded, “That makes sense even if I disagree with how bare-bones it seems your training program is. From the sounds of it, there’s a massive shortage of talent on the front lines of the war with the aliens that broke the back of the old USA. So I can understand why they would forgo extensive training in less essential combat skills.”

Before they could continue their conversation, the pitch of the engines changed, and the pilot announced that they would be landing shortly. Shortly after, there was a light thump, and the engines wound down. The ramp at the back of the shuttle slammed down, and the soldiers poured out, weapons at the ready but not raised. Joseph followed them out, not bothering to pull his rifle just yet.

Joseph looked around and saw that they had landed on top of what looked to be a hospital. Though he doubted it serviced many patients these days. A handful of men and women in various amounts and styles of armor were standing outside. Most of them had the standard CER though a few carried Rail Rifles of local manufacture. One man had a gun that looked to be entirely printed from plastics, which Joseph found interesting. He wondered what type of ammunition it fired and how it did so. He did not have much time to ponder such a thing as one of the men stepped forward.

“So you’re Joseph, I take it? I’m Shiroykos, the second in command of this little band and the one who’s been in charge of communications with The Avalon Fleet.” The man held out his hand in greeting, and Joseph clasped it at the wrist as was tradition for first introductions. He was taller than Joseph by a few centimeters and had some of the better armor of the group though it had the telltale signs of wear and use. More than a few parts of it had dents or slag marks from weapon fire. However, his most distinctive feature was his hair. A dark brown color framed a wide stripe of nearly pure white hair going down the center of his head. Judging by his roots, it looked to be natural, which was unusual given how young the man looked.

“Quite the name, I can see where you might have gotten if from though,” Joseph indicated Shiroykos’s hair, his tone jovial, reflecting his amusement at the man’s interesting name.

“Hah, indeed,” Shiroykos replied. “I have a rare condition that’s been slowly turning my hair white ever since I hit puberty. The doctor told me it should turn all the way by the time I’m forty. Maybe sooner. I don’t mind it much though, I find it suits me well.” he said, a wide grin on his face.

“Indeed it does, that being said we should end the pleasantries here for now. I imagine we make quite the target up here.” Joseph remarked.

Shiroykos nodded in agreement and began giving out orders. Two four-legged cargo drones were brought forward, and everyone began loading them up. Joseph could have sworn the drones looked forlorn at not being allowed to load themselves up. It wouldn’t have surprised him if some bored programmer had written some extra code for the drones for just such an occasion as a little joke.

The work was finished swiftly, and the soldiers boarded the shuttlecraft again before it lifted off, leaving Joseph behind. The drones boarded a service elevator with a handful of the rebels while the rest of them took the stairs down to the topmost level. From there, they took the standard elevators down.

“Good to see that power continues to flow uninterrupted. I assume you control the local reactor?” Joseph asked.

Shiroykos shook his head. “We do not, this building is running off of a salvaged reactor from a tank we managed to destroy. The local reactor was put into a controlled shutdown by the workers before most of them fled. Those who didn’t flee joined up with us. One of them is actually responsible for the idea to salvage the tanks reactor in the first place. It’s been a blessing to have power.”

“I imagine that makes you something of a target in the city if you’re the only building with power. Has the military attacked you at all?”

Shiroykos shook his head. “Nope, after the power went out and most folks fled, the military all but abandoned this area. That was about a week ago. They have a small token presence, but we’ve made it known what happens when they encroach on our territory. My guess is that The Grand Arbiter didn’t want to draw attention to this city so that people wouldn’t guess that this is where she’s hiding. Pretty smart move honestly if she’s convinced she’s safe in her bunker.”

Joseph didn’t bother to respond and just nodded in agreement. He was right, it was a smart move if she was trying to avoid drawing attention to herself. It left her wide open in case she was found, which meant she must also be confident in the defenses of her bunker. From what he’d been told by The Avalon Fleet, she was deep enough that orbital strikes would cause significant ecological damage. He was once again struck by the weight of the mission and its likely outcome.

Joseph mentally shook off the thoughts as the elevator opened. Now that they were inside, he retracted his helmet fully, allowing it to first reveal his face and then fold down into his suit. Most of the rebels went one way as Shiroykos waved him along a different path. “The leader of our group wants to meet with you,” he said by way of explanation. Joseph shrugged and came along. He’d expected the leader of the group would want to meet him, given that his involvement was heavily insisted on.

They arrived outside of what used to be the Hospital Director’s office, and Shiroykos gave three quick raps on the door and announced himself. The door slid open by way of response and revealed a comfortable, if somewhat disordered room. A man of average height but muscular build was facing away from them, looking at a map of the local area and what looked to be troop emplacements. He turned to face them, and Joseph gasped in shock as he recognized him.

“Alex, is that you? I thought you died when the vinyard blew up?” Joseph asked, incredulous that the old manager of his vinyard from so long ago yet lived.

Alex smiled wanly, “I just about did, the first blast knocked me off a ladder straight into one of the massive vats of grapes we were prepping up. Ended up saving my life though as the secondary explosives they set up went off, the grapes actually absorbed quite a bit of the blast for me. In another stroke of luck those same blasts weakened the vat enough that it ended up shattering so I could escape.”

Joseph shook his head incredulously, “You always did have a penchant for getting the best results in the worst possible ways. I’m glad your alive old friend.” Joseph stepped forward to shake Alex’s hand, who took it and pulled Joseph in for a hug. They gripped each other tightly for a short while before breaking away. “So you’re leading this band of rebels then?” Joseph asked.

“Indeed I am,” Alex replied grimly. “It hasn’t been easy, and we’ve lost quite a few along the way, but the area around the hospital is secure and very much so ours. We lack the manpower to push out any more than that, even with the minimal military presence here. Luckily it sounds like that will be unnecessary since you so handily located The Grand Arbiter.” Alex took a seat and indicated Joseph should do the same.

Joseph nodded, finding a sturdy chair to sit down in. “With a bit of luck and the help of supplies from The Avalon Fleet we should be able to infiltrate the bunker without too much issue. I’m given to understand you’ll be assigning seven people besides myself to the mission?”

“Indeed, you’ve already met Shiroykos, he’ll be running lead on the mission. You of course still have first chance at personally killing The Grand Arbiter. You’ve certainly earned it, but as Shiroykos is an accomplished field commander from even before this rebellion I want him calling the shots. He turned traitor during The Grand Arbiter’s subjugation of the Amish Islands and was instrumental in grinding out the fight long enough for public opinion to be swayed towards peace. Needless to say there isn’t anyone I’d rather trust commanding this mission.” Shiroykos merely nodded, acknowledging the praise.

“Sounds reasonable,” said Joseph. “So what do we do while I wait to meet the other members of this mission?”

“I thought we might catch up on what’s happened these long years since you’ve been gone,” Alex said, smiling.

And so they did. Shiroykos excused himself to go gather up the other rebels while Alex and Joseph fell into old rhythms of conversation. As is the case when two friends who have been parted for years finally reunite. The time they would have to reminisce was fleeting though, and the time for vengeance approached swiftly.