Gabriel woke up to a blaring alarm. He wasn't even sure his watch had an alarm until that moment. He pressed every button until finally the alarm shut up.

Lately, Gabriel slept in past noon. He just wasn't motivated, his body always sluggish, his head in a fog. Oliath was angry the first couple of days, constantly berating Gabriel. After a week, Oliath had given up completely.

The campsite had been cleared out. Oliath was nowhere to be found. Gabriel explored the island, unable to track Oliath's footprints.

And just like that day in Grid 0047, a bomb dropped from the heavens. The powerful gust of wind had thrown Gabriel back.

Hovering above was the Impulse. Two ropes were deployed, which Asha and Odom used to rappel down.

"You again!" Gabriel said. "Who are you?!"

"We're the House of Knights!" Asha exclaimed.

Gabriel grew a javelin out of the ground as Asha rushed him with her katana. Odom backed her up with his firearm. The operatives were in sync, reading each other's movements, as if they were of one mind. In their last strategy planning, they had deduced that Gabriel could detect trajectories from long-range weaponry. Mid and close-range combat was their best option.

Along with their new strategy and Jyn utilizing the Impulse's Spader cannon, Gabriel was forced to take cover. A last act of desperation, he struck the ground as hard as possible. A tidal wave of rocks rose up, breaking the terrain.

*****E V*****

The sun's light was beginning to filter through the clouds.

In a ravine, Gabriel hid in a rocky crevice, trying to catch his breath. That shockwave attack nearly took the life out of him. He was scared. The House of Knights operatives were more organized, more dangerous than before.

No doubt, he presumed, they were the reason Oliath was missing. And today, something was different. He was upset, yet he couldn't muster his usual rage.

Footsteps echoed through the ravine. The pair of Asha and Odom was on the approach. Gabriel didn't understand how they found him so quickly, and he didn't understand how they so fearlessly attacked again.

Boasting that smile, Asha enjoyed clashing her sword with Gabriel's own stone version. "Don't make this too easy for me!" she said.

The Impulse was overhead once more. Gabriel caught sight of Jyn watching from the ramp. He presumed she was relaying information to the others. If he took her out, he could cripple their operations.

An earthquake disrupted the fight. Coming up from the rear was a stampede of exotic beasts, the bulls with wings, elephants with tusks of fire, and emaciated horses.

Asha got in Gabriel's way, locking blades. "You're not going anywhere!" she said.

Gabriel responded, "Are you crazy?! You'll die!"

Asha replied, "As long as I take you out!"

Gabriel grabbed onto one of the horses, escaping from his pursuers.

Not far behind were Odom and Asha, they, too, on their own horses. The more the horses galloped, the more their skin fell off, exposing muscle and metal bones.

As Gabriel passed an elephant, he grabbed a piece of the fiery tusk and molded two axes as big as him. With Odom and Asha on each side of him, he continued the duel.

With one mighty hurl, an ax tore through the Impulse's wing. The aircraft spun out of control, Gabriel just narrowly passing under as it crashed into the ravine.

*****E V*****

Jyn headed for the cockpit. "Solomon?!"

Solomon was strapped to his chair, rubbing his head to ease the pain. "I'm fine!" he said. "Find the others!"

Blinding dust filled the ravine. Carcasses had piled up. Any surviving beasts were injured and managed to limp away. Jyn found Asha getting up off the ground, grabbing her shoulder, and wincing in pain.

"How bad is it?" Jyn asked.

"I'll survive," Asha said.

Jyn journeyed through the sand cloud, following a faint sound. The closer she got, the louder Odom's grunts got.

"What are you waiting for, huh?" Odom said. "The smell is going to kill me way before I'm crushed!"

There, trapped under a bull was Odom and nearby was Gabriel's second ax. The fire had simmered, revealing ivory underneath. She used the ax as leverage, freeing Odom.

The trio of operatives regrouped. Jyn had a monitor in her hand; it was tracking Gabriel's watch.

"He's still on the island," Jyn said. "He couldn't have completely recovered just yet. I'll handle this alone."

"We had an agreement, remember?" Asha asked. "You wouldn't treat me like a kid."

"I'm not," Jyn said. "There's a second Eon Viant out there. If he attacks, I'm counting on you to protect the others."

"Oh, great," Odom said, sarcastically. "I haven't had a babysitter since I was seven!"

*****E V*****

Jyn found Gabriel limping through the forest. She gracefully stood high up on a tree branch, swords drawn.

"How many of you are there?!" Gabriel asked.

A fearless cavalier, Jyn dropped from above and relentlessly attacked him, every move calculated, every cut for a life he stole.

Wired prods ejected from the hilt of her swords, latching onto Gabriel. Volts of electricity rode up the cables, bringing the Eon Viant to his knees.

It was a new feature developed by the tech division at the House of Knights, and Jyn couldn't wait to use it.

"If I had it my way, I'd end your miserable life right now," Jyn said. "But he sees something in you. Don't be relieved yet. Just because I'm not going to kill you don't mean I won't make you suffer."

Gabriel wildly swung at her, and, instead, he uprooted a tree.

Jyn cranked up the power. Gabriel was consumed with violent electrical arcs. Smoke rose from his skin, his screams reached the ravine, his tears mocked by Jyn.

Jyn said, "Tears? I didn't know monsters cried."

Being paralyzed with pain made fighting back almost impossible. A thought in the back of his mind said it was a lost cause. Maybe this is how it should end, Gabriel thought.

The sword was overloaded and a device within exploded. Gabriel fell unconscious, planting his face in a puddle. The rippling ceased, and in the water's reflection, a fleet of helicopters was making a landing.

Commandos jumped out of the helicopters. They weren't wearing any uniforms Jyn recognized. They had her surrounded, rifles trained on her and her prisoner.