When studying some of the more violent moments in the (poorly named) Three Galaxies, a staggering amount of the atrocities were committed by individuals using ‘Osiris’ munitions. Of particular note was the massacre at Erkalon. It began with disgruntled children with no combat experience who had gotten their hands on Osiris weaponry. The incursion was so successful that rebellion spread and consumed the entire node in warfare.

Osiris munitions: Easy to use. Readily available. Deadly.

-Excerpt from Erodotos’ compendium

Chapter 1 - Haloke

Haloke Shanendoah crouched in the thick grass of the Ashland plains. The plantlife out here grew thick and freely, and she wasn’t left wanting for hiding spots. A week ago, she had crossed a frozen glacier so large that she had thought it might curve halfway across the planet. She was proved wrong. The planet ‘Tefnut’ seemed to be as varied as it was extreme. In the distance, an old volcano spewed ash for kilometres. Thickets as tall as skyscrapers stubbornly continued to thrive ever upwards.

She climbed a nearby tree. An orange fox the size of a bulldog skittered away from her in surprise. Haloke was in good shape, but even she was winded before she reached its peak. She took a moment to catch her breath, gazing at the sight of her prize.

Smoke rose from a smaller, secondary caldera. But unlike the main volcano's ashy eruption, this was controlled. Man-made. A burst of excitement rose within her, which she quickly pushed back down. She’d been on the hunt for sixteen years. Sixteen years of running into one dead-end after another.

Calm. Focused. Cold as steel. That was how she would win.

Through jungle as dense as this, it would take half a day to reach her quarry. Night would fall by then. That suited her just fine. When going up against bad odds, shadows were an ally.

*

Ash covered the roof of the forest, hiding the dense ecosystem and the hunter within. Haloke had cut open a calabash and was chewing on the juicy vegetable. It was tough and tasteless. But it filled up her stomach nonetheless. She’d need the energy for tonight.

She was almost within range and was examining the fortification before making her move. A road cut through the Ashland and led to a large metal door. They had cut a tunnel through to the interior of the mountain. Although she was expecting strong defences and she never backed down from a challenge, she was taken aback by the size of the operation.

Good. Strong defences meant they had something to hide.

There was a trample of leaves behind her.

Haloke froze. Only the sound of wind blowing ash through the canopy. From this height, in her tree, a fall could kill her. But a possible death by fall was preferable to having her back to an enemy.

She jumped, twisting to face her foe as a roar rang through the night. The four-legged creature was large and she cursed herself for having been caught by surprise. She pulled an object from her belt as the teal-and-white striped feline sprang off its perch after her, shedding ash into the wind.

No choice. She flung the grenade into its chest as she fell into a large petal-leaf to break her fall. It slowed her down but threw her trajectory off. She bounced off of a branch, then another before colliding hard with a tree trunk. The ground was still far away and she fell once more, hearing the explosion just before she hit the ground. A red flare of pain shot through her arm. Chunks of unknowable debris crashed around her.

She was bruised, but nothing was broken or pierced. She waited for the thud of the cat’s corpse but it never came. Instead, a siren blared from the volcano.

“Fuck,” she said, getting up and taking off towards the gate. She should have abandoned the mission, but the fire inside her was lit. The inferno refused any notion of reason or common sense. The blaze had kept her alive through more than one scrap, and tonight wouldn’t be the night she let it burn her. She refused to let it.

There were two automatic machine guns on either side of the door, but no other defences that she could see. Her Hachiman rail-gun could slice through the turrets easily, but she only had one shot. She heard a growl behind her as the thunder of a sprinting beast shook the ground at her feet.

She resisted the urge to look back as she kept pace along the dirt road. She closed her eyes and listened. The beast was gaining quickly. She didn’t have a lot of time. She ran, waiting, growing increasingly desperate. The feline snarled in her ear, and then she heard it- the whir of machine guns spinning up.

She leapt to her left and rolled into the thick foliage as the cannons tore the ground she had just been standing on. The sound of gunfire was almost drowned out the deafening roar of the beast. She kept going, not daring to look and keeping to the bush as she approached the gate.

The guns were focused on the perceived larger threat as she hit the wall at a sprint. She used the momentum to throw herself upwards, drawing the rail gun from her back in one motion. In two large steps, she was at height with the guns. She twisted her frame to bring the gun to bear. She pulled the trigger and the shot flung her backwards. Two distinct metallic clangs told her her aim was true. She hit the ground with a roll as sparks rained from the machine guns and silence once again filled the night.

She walked back towards the road, slowing to catch her breath. An angry purr confirmed her dread. The feline was hurt, but alive. Dark blood soaked its once pale pelt. Forks of electricity shot through its fur, causing it to stand on end. It pranced about, sizing up Haloke as it drew from its mysterious well of power. Haloke stood defiant at the gate. The voltaic cat was aglow with its stored charge, a bright angel of death. And then it charged.

The cat was too stupid to see the concussive charge Haloke had placed on the ground. The blast stunned the beast and sent it sprawling towards the gate. Haloke had already moved as the cat reached a blinding level of power. It hit the gate with the force of a truck as it spent its charge, the explosion bright enough to light up the jungle for a kilometre around.

Haloke lost her bearings. She was in the air, but couldn’t tell which way was up or down. Her head hit the ground before she found it.