Prologue: Near Decade in the Making

A shockwave echoed throughout the bastion… Jessica stood by the window, cherishing a small holo-locket in one hand as she watched the battle unfold outside. Explosions crashed around the factories of her fortress-world, innumerable warships up above in low orbit fought broadsides against each other whilst missiles flicked off the building's shields. 

Reinforcements were at least two star-sectors away. She turned to face the guards in the room. Clambered in heavy vest-plate armour, the guards wielded large guns. They were taking point towards the sealed vault door as gunshots rained throughout the facility. She straightened her suit, fixing her beige hair.

Her eyes sparkled a low turquoise as the gunshots died down outside. The guards readied themselves, with a dozen reports coming in from the uplink device attached to Jessica's earlobe.

'Director Louis, the Contract-Breakers have taken the lower facility.' said a harsh, raspy voice.

It's been ten years since the incident… Maybe all of this was just karma finally catching up to her. If her fate is this, she'll die knowing that the others will have it worse, but all the same, someone in the galaxy will take her place, it's just the way the industry works. Mercenaries will fight. And this galaxy will burn - as it always had. From the Intergalactic Crisis to the Shadow Wars, the galaxy will remain in turmoil.

Jessica didn't respond, simply cutting off the signal as she sighed. She slowly walked to her desk in the decorated office and picked up a Vesarian steel dagger, before tucking it neatly within her right sleeve. 

Jessica remained still as the blast-door's mechanisms slowly unwinded. Another explosion rocked the building's foundations, smoke seeped under the vault door. The guards' exospines glistened with a red hue as the door slowly creaked open. Smoke engulfed the entrance. The three guards all pointed their weapons down range.

A silhouette appeared in the smoke. Jessica could feel the heart rates of the guards rise on her contact lens' monitor. With just a single movement from the figure, the numbers exploded. Paradoxically, she saw no beat from the figure. 

A moment of silence filled the air as one of the guards cried out, voice cracking, "OPEN FIRE!"

Pressing down on the triggers of their chainguns, explosive rounds whizzed across the room. Jessica stood firm as the figure charged forward, a white deflector shield activating on their forearm as they emerged from the smoke. 

They were clad in armour similar to the guards', lowering their profile to make it harder to hit him.

Explosions rattled as their shield took a beating from the three guards' assault. But with each ejected casing, he was rushing ever closer. Until, contact was made. Jessica watched as they sent a railgun bolt straight into the head of the first guard, only a metre away from him. They fell onto the ground, dead.

Despite everything, she felt calm and maintained her smile. The second guard tried to grapple the figure only to be kicked away, slamming against the wall as the third guard grappled with them. The figure easily shoved them back as they placed two explosive rounds straight into the guard's chest. The exit wound left blood and organs strained over the fine Cauthira carpet. Yet as the figures' head gleaned over towards her, it stopped for a moment.

The final guard staggered up, raising their weapon up against him. With all their strength, they pulled on their trigger and a string of rounds smacked into the back of the figure's helm-mask. For a moment, Jessica was shocked as the figure staggered ever-so-slightly. The last guard then realised they were out of bolts as they tried to pull out their pistol. But the moment passed, with a white flash of light consuming their position, the figure's ANCHOR watch lighting up. 

A green hue of cybernetic energy exited their body as the figure apparated directly in front of the final guard. An arming dagger ejected out from their right sleeve as they injected it directly into the guard's neck. A splatter of cybernetic juice squeezed out with the splattering of blood. The guard was pinned against the wall, slowly dying.

"You should have just knocked, Kazu," said Jessica, turning to face them as she backed up towards the window, twisting away from the hundreds of war-vessels wrestling above them. She slowly placed her arms behind her.

A cold, indifferent voice came from the armoured figure as they unsealed their helmet, adorned and painted with pale leviathan teeth markings, "Say that name again and I'll rip your tongue out." It sounded harsh, yet its banality merely told her that her fate was sealed.

Jessica let off a light laugh as her eyes glanced towards him, her lips curling, "You know, Kazuki, this war you started isn't over."

"It is," stated Kazuki, his blank voice with a lifeless fire in his eyes as blood streaked down his forehead. 

The explosive round did some damage to him as he wiped the blood away. His jet-black fringe and bangs lightly covered his face, the burn marks earned a decade ago were still visible, stretching from his right cheek to below his neck. His golden eyes coldly glared at her. 

In front of Jessica was the epitome of malice, justice incarnate - ready to strike her down.

"Not our war… the war, in due time, you'll apprehend what your actions have truly entertained." she maintained a smile and gleefully nodded at Kazuki. "Do you think your organisation can achieve as many lucrative contracts as Clandestine?"

"That's not relevant," said Kazuki. The two knew full well the power of a single deal. Contracts, they were known as. The foundations of the industry held to a level kin to sacred, were the basis of every deal from the lowest of criminal activities to the highest of aristocratic-republican intrigues. Or was it plutocrats… 

Steam vented out from his exoskeleton and mouth as his artificial lungs went into overdrive. 

Gear mechanisms relocked themselves, letting ventilated steam out his exospine, hidden beneath Kazuki's armour. It pumped life into him. Each step let of a small mechanical crunch from his leg braces,

"Thousands of your men are dead. Surrender and I might order Felix to let the rest live. Clandestine is over, Jessica." Kazuki said calmly. But his voice bled with disgust.

"Just because you're in a higher echelon of the seven than him doesn't mean he will be entirely obliged to your orders…" Her smile slowly widened, "And I wasn't talking about that…"

He placed his damaged helm-mask on his belt. Though he wore his intentions on his sleeves, those eyes spoke confusion to her. He started all of this over one person. Jessica would've loved to meet who Kazuki did all this for.

But she didn't blame Kazuki for killing Matt Oris-Tessie. Everyone in both the lineage and upstart aristocracy knew he was far from savoury. Maybe a younger version of herself would've killed him too, maybe she would have allied with Kazuki's father and brought the Tyrant-Killer down on another tyrant… But she's three decades too late for that.

"I wasn't the one who authorised the attack if you were wondering."

"Then who did?" asked Kazuki, raising his pistol at her as he pulled back the receiver with his thumb, "Who else would kill billions… for profit margins?"

"That's for you to uncover. I have no intention of making life easy for you… after all, you're my successor," said Jessica. She then playfully comments, "The plot thickens."

"And I have no intention of going down the path you walk. At least I have the gall to look the people I kill in the eyes." snapped Kazuki. Jessica looked at Kazuki. He wasn't taking in what she said after all, shocking for someone of his memory. She guessed that he just wanted this to be over. But after he pulls the trigger, the training wheels are off. 

"Plus, that wasn't the only reason…" said Kazuki.

She decided to give him one piece of parting advice as she slowly moved her right arm. "Interesting. Though do make sure to look everywhere, who knows where your enemies lie, I'm sure your future will be… fruitful. But like all fruits, yours will wither away, eventually."

"I don't need to look further. After all, you know."

Jessica's face lit up with a small measure of shock. He doesn't know? But he was there? He was face-to-face with them… Perhaps someone else messed with his mind, other than herself. Such a shame that she won't be there to see who.

"You're a different monster than the rest of us… Maybe you'll be different." Jessica shook her head. "You have my resources, my mercenaries; but you won't have my knowledge, Contract-Breaker."

The knife slid down her sleeve as she gripped it, and threw it at the muzzle pointed at her.

∗ ∗ ∗

Kazuki pulled down on the trigger. An explosive burst met the flick of the knife. 

It crashed directly back towards her. 

Her skull was pierced as the knife dug into her brain. Dead. Jessica Kiki-Louis, High Director of Clandestine is dead. Kazuki looked at her corpse. It folded, and collapsed, onto the floor. Blood seeped from the wound - eyes wide open.

He scoffed silently, raising his pistol. Aiming at the damaged brain, he sent another shot into her. He turned and walked away. His finger pressed down on his ICAPAD, attached to the underside of his left forearm. The uplink on his ear activated.

The war outside and across the galaxy still writhed, a chaos of an untold magnitude. The thousands of warships in the Cantari system alone paid tribute to the wars of old. His sparkless voice spoke to all, 'The director is dead. Surrender. You have no one to fight for… but me.'

Kazuki finished his declaration, he looked towards the near-dead guard. Blood rushed out from them as Kazuki stood over them. Grabbing the knife, he pulled it out. Its squeeze turned into a red spurt…