Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The General sat in his chair reading over the paper his loyal soldier just handed him. “So,–” he said with a sigh, “this is it.” A tall man with tattoos down his arms stood before the general. His eyes laser focused straight ahead. Almost in a trance. “Only if you let me, Sir.” The general scoffed. “Of course I’m gonna let you, Soldier. I just have one question.” The soldier stiffened. “Of course, Sir. Anything.” The general stood up and looked out his window. “What’s your name?” The soldier was confused. “Sevens, sir. Or Sev if it helps.” The general let out a loud sigh. “No, soldier. Your name.” Sevens broke his staring to look at the general for just a second. “I’m sorry, sir?” The general turned and walked over to Sevens. “You don’t remember,--do you.” He was confused now. Scared even. His name was Sevens. That's what everyone else called him. “Sir? I’m sorry I don't understand.” The general rested his hand on Sevens’ shoulder and looked him in the eye. “You were a good soldier. I am proud to have said you were on our side. Rest easy.” He placed a medal in Sevens’ hand and sat back down.
Sevens walked out of the office and saw a familiar face. Jack sat on the bench with papers in his hand. He shot up when the door opened and saw Sevens. “Sev! Did you get approved?” Sevens was happy but confused still. “Yeah. Why– why are you here?” Jack looked down at his papers. “I’m applying too.” Sevens was in shock. “You’re what? Why?” Jack didn’t budge. “Fade is too.” Sevens looked around and saw a man in black with his face covered. He nodded. Sevens nodded back. The type of nod that held more respect than words could carry of course. You don’t fuck with Fade. Jack shuffled through his papers. “Yea after the whole–experiment I just–didn’t think I should be here anymore.” Sevens was shocked, worried, and confused all at once. “I-you-are–you do belong here.” Jack put his hand up. “Not like that. I just don’t want to be known as one of the scientists.” Sevens sighed and Jack got up and went into the office. As Sevens started to walk away Fade grabbed his shoulder. As Sevens turned around Fade began to sign. “He’s hurt. That experiment hurt him too.” Sevens looked down a bit and signed back. “I know.” Fade moved his hands down so he could see them. “So help.” Sevens looked back at Fade. “I can’t. I’m hurt too. What’s my name?” Fade nodded. “I understand. I’ll tell Jack you’re waiting for him and me and the exit.” Sevens chuckled. “Can’t forget you.”
About half an hour later both Fade and Jack walked out to Sevens. “Ya’ll got approved?” Jack had his badge in hand. “We did! So where to?” They all walked to a car in the parking lot. Sevens let out a small laugh. “I’m going home. I have a family, Jack.” Jack was confused. “Your family?” Sevens laughed again. How could Jack have forgotten? “Yea. My wife, Sara? And daughter, May? We went to visit two years ago.” Jack exchanges a look with Fade. “Sure. How could I forget?” The drive was long to say the least. But the closer they got the more everything felt–off. Sevens had that feeling. The one when someone is gone. Where your stomach sinks and your spine disappears. But it was like he already knew. Like he already received the letter describing the wasteland he arrived at. Jack woke up when the car came to a sudden stop. “Oh my god. You forgot.” Sevens got out of the car. His face–frozen. The badge that had been a sign of honor just a few hours ago now hung from the shirt of a man who felt betrayed beyond belief. “What–” Jack got out and rushed behind him. “You got the letter last year before you signed up for the–” His voice was fast and frantic but now–it was slow and in shock, “experiment.” He slowly looked down at Sevens, who had crumbled to the ground, with eyes as if he had just seen god himself. Sevens hands were deep in the dirt with rage in his eyes. He picked himself up and tried to balance himself. The surrounding area was destroyed. No trees or houses, not a single sign of life. It might as well have been the next Xeno waste dump. Sevens walked over to where his house was. It was just flat land. Nothing. Emptiness was too nice of a word for what he was experiencing. Rage was an understatement. Blood lust was child’s play. Suddenly in the mud, a glimmer. Sevens walked over and knelt down. He picked up a small silver chain with the remnants of a shattered jewel. He stood up, necklace in hand, and turned to Jack who had followed him. “How?” His voice was full of rage. It didn’t even seem like a question more of a demand. His eyes were shaking trying their best to hold back the horrid things passing through his head. Jack stuttered and shook his head. He had never seen his friend like this. Was this still the same person? “I-I-th-there was a raid. I still don’t know why. The-we attacked here looking for something or attacking something. I really don’t know. The note said that they were ‘unaware’ of your family but they still attacked.” Sevens walked back to the car and got in. Jack followed suit. As Sevens adjusted the mirror, Fade's masked face appeared. Sevens glared at him. “Do you know?” His voice was still savage. Fade nodded and started to sign. “Planet Zexade launched multiple unidentified craft. One landed here. The council is discussing what to do.” Sevens didn’t respond. It was like he didn’t even watch his hands in the first place. He started the car and turned around.
Military sight eight was the closest. Sevens had been there before for training a very long time ago. He wasn’t there long, but long enough to know every possible entrance. Once they arrived, Sevens pulled up to the gate. There was a young soldier with green skin. “Evening, sir. Do you have identification?” Sevens showed his military badge. It was well over the necessary rank to gain access to the sight. Practically every person there was a lower rank than him. “Sev, what’re we doing?” Jack’s voice was quivering. He wasn’t normally like this. He was the one who came up with that damn experiment and he knew the risks but he did it anyway. He’s the reason all of them are dead. Hell he’s killed people. Not with an experiment but in the field. Why is he so nervous now? Sevens pulled over to the side and got out. Jack watched him storm into the commander’s office. There wasn’t much noise. Sevens came out with a key and walked over to a shipping crate. Once he opened it he stepped inside. Jack realized quickly what was happening. Any soldier who has lost a family member and/or has given their life to an experiment is dedicated to a reward of any sort. Sevens was cashing in. He walked back out with three duffle bags and put them in the trunk. Jack saw a red circle with two swords going through it on the crate. He had worked on that project. It was a type of squad that was practically impenetrable. Their armor was made out of strong, yet flexible, metal that was fit for space, land, air, you name it. It could adapt to any planet's climate. They were also given a small tool. The only true use they could find for it was a condensable shield and sword. Along with that were voice replicators, new ammunition, new rifles, even genetic splicing. These soldiers were ready for war. Jack didn’t know what Sevens had managed to grab but it could wipe this whole base out. Once he got back in the car they drove off. “Why?” Jack was too curious to wait any longer. “I wanted to get rid of all ties.” They didn’t talk for the rest of the ride.
It was a very long drive but eventually they arrived in a massive city. There were lights and buildings all around. Ships were going in and out traveling faster than their eyes could see. Sevens pulled into a parking garage of a hotel. “Who here can gamble?” “I can count.” Jack had counted cards a few times. He was surprisingly good at it. Sevens parked the car and grabbed the bags. “You got seven thousand credits to blow. Get us some profit. I’ll get a room, the casino is on the first floor, Fade go with whoever you want.”
Hours later Jack walked into the room and slumped onto a bed. Sevens was looking at his necklace. Contemplating something. Fade tapped Jack’s shoulder. “How much?” Jack could barely keep his eyes open. “Two million, seven hundred eighty-three thousand, and twenty six. I’m banned for the next two weeks.” Sevens looked over at Jack. “Anything else?” “Nope. You seem calm, what happened?” Sevens pulled out a white envelope from one of the bags. “I still can’t remember. But I’m happy that I knew—at some point at least. We’ll keep gambling till we have a break. What then?” Jack turned over to face the wall. “That’ll be a while. We can’t do much. Our expertise is kinda limited.” Sevens grunted and lied on the bed. “We’ll find something.” Jack fell asleep after that.

Chapter Text

Years later a man wearing a black mask with green eyes is running down an alley and slams himself into a corner to hide. A group of people in silver armor run past shouting orders. The man steps back out of the shadows revealing a red symbol on the back of black armor. He looks up at a building that is tall with a silver steel frame and blue windows standing in front of the red burning sky.

He slowly walks into the streets of a city in despair. Beggars were everywhere of all species and tables were made with false goods for high prices. As he walks he does his best to prevent people from running into the container he’s carrying. Suddenly there’s a tug on it. He spins around to see a girl grabbing at the container trying to steal it away. She had poorly green dyed hair and an aviator jacket. It had a badge on it that said “Aviator Squad Sixteen”. She was covered in scars and bruises and was clearly very strong. He was just stronger. The man recognized the jacket and knelt down. “That jacket. Where’d you get it?” His voice was odd. It seemed like the mask was disguising him even more than just hiding his face.

The girl scoffed. “Why? You wanna buy it?” She seemed fair aged. Maybe fifteenish.

The man hadn’t been that young for a long time so it was hard to tell. “No. I’m just curious. They were a good flight group.”

The girl was interested now. Her eyes were full of wonder. “Do you know them?”

The man sighed slightly. “I did not. But I was there for a few of their battles.” She got very excited. “You’re a soldier! Were you here for the revolution?”

The man chuckled and shook his head. “Why are you out here? You have skills clearly or you wouldn’t have tried to grab this.” He tapped on the canister a few times.

The girl took a bit of a step back and crossed her arms. “I’m on my own. Stealing and charm is all I got.”

The man titled his head. “What’s your name?”

She took another half step back. “Sage. Why? Are you going to report me? Follow your lawful orders?”

The man stood up. “I don’t have lawful orders. Just a deal and an offer.” He put his hand out.

“I can get you out of here. We were thinking about getting a new member anyway.”

The girl was clearly intrigued but smart. “What’s your name?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

“How can you help me?”

“We can get you somewhere safer. Or—“

“Or?”

“You can help us.”

“With what.”

“Bounties.”

The girl was surprised. Bounty hunting was rare and beyond dangerous. Most bounties involved stealing from Glacier which was a hell of a planet. Sage knew all about Glacier of course. She just had one last question. “When do we start?”

Their ship was huge. There were multiple rooms and so much space. It was mainly silver and had red highlights. Sage and the man walked up a ramp that led into the ship and boarded. Once they were on board a voice came over the intercom. “Welcome back, Sev. Who’s your friend?” Sevens started signing to a camera and took off his mask. His hair had started turning white a bit at the roots but it didn’t look like he had aged a day. Sage looked around. There were around five rooms each with two bunks. A couple of rooms had a desk if there was space. When they got further into the ship there was a room with a table in one corner and a small makeshift kitchen in the other. In the center there was a circle cut in the middle with little squares surrounding it. Of course to Sevens this ship wasn’t all that special. He’d been cooped up in here for weeks at a time so there wasn’t anything too special.

In the cockpit Jack and Fade were waiting. The cockpit was huge. There was a table in the center with a dashboard following around the front window. Jack still had his buzz cut and was bouncing a ball against the wall. Fade was in his usual corner still covered and not speaking. Jack caught the ball and saw the girl with Sevens. He spun a bit in his chair to face her. “So your Sage. Jack. Nice to meet you.” He stuck his hand out.

Sage didn’t understand what that meant. “How do you know my name?”

Jack glanced at his hand and put it down with a sigh. “Sev told us. You were right there watching him do it.”

Sage felt bad and stuck her hand out but was still confused. She didn’t hear Sev say anything. “No I didn’t. I just watched him wave at the camera. Figured it was some sort of formality from somewhere else.”

Jack chuckled and shook Sage’s hand. “Nope. That's sign language. This however is a Glacier formality.” He pointed at them shaking hands.

Sage was concerned now. The military force on Glacier were the ones who all of Sorian rebelled against. She stumbled backwards and tore her hand from Jack’s. “You’re from Glacier.”

Jack was confused as to why this girl was acting so odd. “Originally.”

Sevens sat down in one of the chairs with a grunt. “Relax, Sage. We don’t work with them anymore. We’re vets.”

Jack’s eyes widened with realization. “Oh! Nonono, we left the army before the revolution. And thank god for that I wouldn’t want to be on Glacier’s side for that.”

Fade leaned off of the wall and tapped his foot to get Sage’s attention. She turned and watched as he signed but she didn’t know anything he was saying. She tilted her head. “I don’t understand, sorry.” She tried to show what she was saying but wasn't doing very well.

Fade acted out writing and Jack gave him a paper and pen. Fade sat on the floor and wrote “how old are you?” on the paper. Sage gave a small gasp after realizing what he meant and went to reach for the pen. Fade shook his hand and wrote “I can hear just fine”.

Sage sat down across the sheet of paper. “Then why don’t you talk?”

Fade, although you couldn’t see them, rolled his eyes and underlined his question.

“Seventeen.”

Both Jack and Sevens looked up and at each other. Jack turned around to face Sage. “Seventeen?”

Sage nodded. “Yep. You look shocked.”

Sevens turned around too. “You look young. It’s been a while since we’ve been that age. Sorry for being weird.” He looked up at Fade. “Go and show Sage a room. Let her choose. We got so much damn space it doesn’t really matter which she takes."

Fade nodded and reached for Sage’s hand after standing up. As they were leaving Sage heard Sevens ask Jack something. “Where’s David?”

Chapter Text

After around half an hour Sage came back into the cockpit and tapped on Jack’s chair. Sevens was in a bedroom resting and Fade was sitting at the table in the living quarters examining his weapons. “Do y’all have any green or blue paint? Or just paint?”

Jack sat up in his chair and pushed away from the panel. “Um no? I don’t think so. There might be some in the storage room which is where you walked into. We haven’t looked around there other than to make sure we didn’t need what we were throwing out.” Sage nodded and walked to the door. Jack spun around before she left. “Why though?”

She shrugged. “I’m bored. Wanted to try and dye my hair better or just draw.”

“Oh. Well, the bathrooms are connected to the storage room. There's two or three of them so take your pick.”

“Great thanks.”
As Sage dug around looking for some paint the ship was hit with something. She heard Jack from the cockpit shout “He’s here!” as the ramp opened behind her. There was a tall man wearing a silver helmet with no eyes. That’s all she could see before rushing to the cockpit. “Who is that?”

Sevens was in a front seat with Jack and Fade was in his usual corner. Sevens voice shouted back “Sit down we gotta move.” Sage sat down and a few moments later then a man walked in wearing a Glacier armor set with small changes and that helmet. He had another container on his back and a long rifle in one hand with a pistol pointed right at Sage in the other.

She screamed and Sevens looked back. “David! For god’s sake put the fucking gun away and sit down.”

David sat down but kept the gun trained. With a gravelly voice he asked Sevens “Who the hell is she and why did you put a Sorian on our ship?”

“Her name is Sage and who gives a damn where she’s from we gotta move.” The ship jolted as it left the ground and went for the sky.

Sage wanted to look at the sky so much but she was too afraid of the pistol in front of her. Fade grabbed the man’s wrist and took the pistol. David took off his helmet to show a very angry man with very light brown hair; it could almost be called red. Sage slowly looked towards the front and saw nothing but stars. Slowly those stars got brighter until they disappeared and were replaced with darkness. Sage was shocked to say the least. “Wha–where’d the stars go?”

Jack turned around and stood up with a stretch. “They’re still there. We’re just moving faster than we can see them. Now,” he turned and faced the crew, “we have things to discuss.”

Chapter Text

Around two, or less, hours later, their ship touched down on the planet Zexade. Outside the ship there were multiple guards wearing what appeared to be the same armor the guards on Sorian were wearing, but it was much more worn and covered in dents from bullets. They were also much less formal. Instead of being in ranks, they were scattered and hidden. As the ramp of the ship opened multiple clicks were heard. Sevens walked down in his armor with one container in hand and the other on his back. He also had what looked like a handle of some sort. Close behind him was Fade with a large bow staff and knives across his waste. As they stepped off the ship the guards lowered their weapons and came out of hiding. Only one approached Sevens while the others removed their helmets to reveal species of all kinds. “Anyone else on the ship?”

Sevens spoke in that scrambled voice again. “Just the engineer and a girl we picked up.”

The guard wrote on his clipboard and chuckled. “A girl huh. Lucky ya’ll.”

Sevens paused and glared at the guard through the mask. “If you ever imply that again I will slit your throat.” The rest of the walk was silent.

All of the corridors and rooms looked war ready. As if the people there were expecting an attack. Finally they reached a door which the guard opened and grunted to signal the two in. Inside was a very old office. It had file cabinets, for whatever reason; an old wooden desk; and a big leather chair. There were also two big windows looking across a wasteland with a few buildings in the distance. Standing by the window was a green woman with long pink hair. She turned around and put her hands on the table. “Did you get it?”

Sevens placed the container on the table causing dust to flow off. “Haven’t looked inside but it’s what you asked me to grab.”

The woman covered her ears and shook her head. “Can you please turn off that goddamn scrambler.”

Sevens leaned forward. “No.”

The woman glared back up at Sevens then looked at Fade. “Why do you always bring him?”

Sevens spoke sharply now as if to intensify the scramble. “I don’t trust any of you. Now pay us.”

The woman pushed off her desk and looked back out the window. “You have a girl on your ship? She’s new.”

Sevens was more suspicious now. “We’re turning her into Glacier. She had a bounty.” Suddenly there was a sharp gasp in Sevens ear and another quickly speaking voice.
The woman spun around. “Glacier?”

“Yes.”

“You work with Glacier?”

“Not with. But we collect, and they pay.”

“We’ll then,” She reached under the table, “that’s unfortunate.”

“I wouldn’t do that.” Sevens stood up straight and stared down at the woman.

“And why’s that?” She looked down to see a red dot on her hand as she held the pistol hilt. As she followed the laser there was a distinct glint outside the window. “What the-.”

Sevens cut her off. “Our pay?”

With a groan she reached in a drawer and pulled out a clear bag of credits. The red dot followed her every movement. Sevens took the bag and left with Fade.

As they boarded the ship alarms started blaring and a flare went up in the wasteland. Sevens ran to the cockpit where Jack and Sage were. “Longshot, do you copy. Over.” Sage got up and walked into the living room while Fade followed behind her trying to explain what Sevens said.

After a second Sevens’ earpiece buzzed with a response. “This is Longshot. Yes it was my flare come get me. Over.” Jack piloted the ship over to an abandoned building and David came running out with his rifle. As he boarded the ship escaped into space.

Chapter Text

“Alright I’ll say it. What—the hell—was that?” Jack was slightly out of breath after he had started their travel to the next planet.

David landed in a chair and took off his helmet. “She was getting ready to hit a button.”

Sevens spun around and took off his mask. “You shot her?!”

David rested on his rifle and looked confused. “Yes?”

Sevens was shocked. She was one of the only people who trusted them with jobs and she was an extremely high rank in the Zexade rebellion. “Why the hell would you do that?”

David shot up and jabbed a finger at Sevens. “Look, I get you’ve forgotten some shit, but I’m gonna do my job whether that involves your opinion or not.” He walked out into the living room as Sevens shot up and deployed a sword out of the handle he was still holding.

Jack stood up too and looked at Sevens. “Hey, it’s ok-“

“It’s not.” Sevens was not having it. Jack sighed and put a hand on Sevens’ shoulder.

“I’ll talk to David. You talk to Sage. Ok?”

Sevens let out a long sigh and retracted his blade. “Ok.”

Jack stepped out of the cockpit and saw Fade comforting Sage as she cried. He signed over to Fade if Sage was ok and he just shook his head. Jack continued to walk over to the sleep rooms as Sevens walked out and sat across from Sage. She tensed up into a ball of sobs.

Sevens put away his hilt. “I lied.”

Sage tensed even more and spoke with a broken voice. “Yea no shit.” Sage heard him put his hand on the table. She looked up, her brown eyes now bloodshot from a fountain of tears. In the void of her eyes there looked to be green flowing out. On the table there were two bottles of green and blue paint and colored pencils.

Sevens stood up. “I wouldn’t turn you in. You don’t have a bounty either. You’re one of us now. We’ll help where we can.” He looked up at Fade. “Get her a weapon.” Fade nodded and stood up with his hand stretched out. Sevens walked to his room and slumped into his bed.

Chapter Text

Soaring through the sky of Xeno, there was someone in a red suit.

Down in the streets is an incredibly dangerous area. People being shot by men in silver suits because they’re “producing too much trash”.

The figure glides faster now. Diving to the streets.

Bullets fly through the air towards twenty something people.

The figure lands and expands what looks like wings around the people. The bullets smack against the figure and its wings. As the bullets fall the figure turns around revealing a flat metal face. Black eyes pierced through the wills of the soldiers.

Suddenly another, taller, figure lands behind the soldiers.

The family is shielded for only another moment before the wings fold and the shorter figure draws a sword to slice a guard straight through their middle. The other guards were already dead on the floor.

The taller figure has a guard pinned against the wall with a cold metal hand around his throat. His voice was raspy as he pleaded for his life.

The winged figure snapped their head towards the family and slowly walked towards them as they retracted their sword. They bent down in front of the youngest of the group and spread their wings so the child couldn’t see where the horrid screams of agony were coming from. The figure put its finger to its mouth. A quiet shush echoed through the street as the family sobbed over what they just saw.

Chapter Text

It had been a very long time since Sage was allowed to be a part of a mission. For months she had been the person in the chair, but now—she gets to have boots on the ground. Fade had still been training her to use her bow and knife. But she never got to use it. She stepped out of the ship with her new green hair looking across the forever midnight sky of Xeno.

“Sage.”

She turned her head to see the best parts of the crew waiting. Jack had his hand up waving Sage over so they could start their supply run. “You coming?”

Sage tightened her backpack and made sure she still had everything. “Yep!”

They all walked into the streets to start their shopping. David scoffed as he re-entered the ship to stay guard.

Sage always liked going on walks. Especially after a sand storm on Sorian. She could watch as the shops would rebuild and place their goods back on the tables. Here, though, all that was special was the amount of lanterns. Light was the most valuable thing on Xeno. The planet had produced so much trash, that it had to start dumping it onto other planets and it had completely surrounded the planet's atmosphere. Trying to land here was a complete gamble unless–you had someone on the inside. Luckily, Fade was a multiplanet soldier. He had connections across the entire galaxy.

Sevens stopped everyone for a second and handed out masks for everyone but Sage. “Run down: Glacier guards are here executing citizens. If we see that we stop it. Watch out for the duo and get our supplies. Jack and Sage. Fade and I. Move”

Sage waited for her mask but didn't get it. “Wait, shouldn't I get a mask?”

Sevens was already gone.

Jack tapped Sage’s shoulder to get her attention and they started getting supplies.

It didn’t take long to hear screaming. Sage and Jack rushed to where they heard the screaming and immediately drew weapons on the silver soldiers. Sage fired arrows from her new bow and Jack used a pistol. There were around seven to eight guards and they didn’t seem to have a reaction to bullets. Sage hid behind a box while Jack continued to fire. Sage slowly peaked up over the box and saw two figures up on a rooftop. Sage grabbed Jack and pulled him down behind the box. “What was that for?” They both heard stabbing and the guards screaming and opening fire. They stood back up and saw the two figures attacking the guards.

Sage jumped over the box and drew her knife to help whoever these people were.

Jack opened fire again and yelled for Sage as she jumped over the box.

The final guard was lifted off his feet by his throat and slammed onto the ground. The figure slowly stood back up. The sounds of gears and metal readjusting echoed as it faced Sage. It’s voice was cold and loud. “Who are you?”

Sage put away her knife and looked up at the figure. It had ice blue eyes that stared through Sage. “I’m Sage.” She put her hand out to greet the figure.

Jack kept his gun trained on the other, shorter, figure who just stared back at him. “Sage we gotta go.”

The shorter one turned to Sage. “I would do what your friend says. You don’t want to end up like them.” Their voice was altered like Sevens.

Sage turned her head. “Not until you tell us who you are.”

The figure's head tilted down. “No.” Suddenly the taller figure raised its hand as it formed into a blade.

It stabbed at Sage and she put her hands up to try and block it. She shut her eyes tight knowing the blade would hit her soon. So she waited. And waited. But nothing happened. She opened her eyes to see a glowing green shield blocking the figure.

The shorter figure drew their sword. “Damn witch.” They dashed over to Sage but their blade was blocked by a large metal hand. They looked over to see Jack holding a pistol and two new large metal arms.

“Fuck off.” He unloaded a magazine straight at the figure’s head which caused it to be stunned but certainly didn’t harm it. He grabbed Sage with his new arms and ran with her.

David was having a nice nap in the cockpit until he heard screaming right outside the ship. He grabbed his rifle and went to the stairs to see Jack and Sage running back. He quickly looked around the area to try and see anything. There, on the rooftops, were two figures running after Jack and Sage. David had heard of the two mysterious people on Xeno. He also heard that they might be machines. He equipped a program he made that caused any machine to short circuit onto a bullet and took aim. It didn’t take long to aim. He was a master sniper after all.

The bullet flew with a small whistle behind it and hit the larger figure. It’s faintly blue eyes dimmed and disappeared. The other figure stopped to check on the larger one.

David equipped another bullet. The smaller figure turned and looked dead at David. He smirked. “Finally,” he thought, “a challenge.” The figure raced off the roof and suddenly there were two wings sprouting from its back. It soared through the air and continued to chase Sage and Jack.

Sage drew her bow and fired shots over and over.

The figure got closer and closer then suddenly—a bullet struck its neck. The wings folded a bit which caused their figure to glide faster. Its black eyes suddenly retracted revealing two blue ones and skin. There's a person in there.

The figure reached out to grab Sage but she grabbed the back of its mask and pulled it off. Before it latched onto a wall and climbed back up to the roofs, Sage saw his face. A boy around her age with short brown hair and blue eyes. He had a scar across his nose and he looked scared—but angry.

Once Sage got on the ship it hit her that she just casted magic. She dropped the helmet on the floor with a large thud and looked at her hands and screamed. “What the hell?!”

Jack’s metal arms disappeared into his back. “Sage, Sage, it’s ok.”

She was horrified. She had never done anything like that before. Her eyes welled up with tears and that same green seeped into her eyes. “What the hell?!” That's all she could say.

Jack went to hug Sage and she backed away. He looked up and saw boxes, chairs, utensils, and tables floating with a green aura around them.

Sage’s eyes were almost completely green. “WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING TO ME?!” She was screaming as her hair started to float too. Sevens rushed onto the ship with Fade. Sage looked up to see them and noticed David had his rifle point straight at her. She felt herself fading and slowly fell back. Fade rushed past David and Jack to catch her and everything went black.

Chapter Text

Ace had been dumbed down to “a figure” for years now. He climbed up the building as the witch and man ran away. This was the closest he’s gotten to being found out. On the roof he rushed over to his robot. He ripped the bullet out of its neck and tore off his too.

The machine’s eyes came back and it sat up. “Tin Can protocol running. Are you alright, Ace?”

Ace sat down and took a breath. “Yea. Yea I’m good. How about you?”

Tin Can tilted its head. “Your mask is missing. Have you been revealed?”

Ace’s eyes widened and he tapped a button on his neck which caused a blue hologram to surround his head, hiding his face. “Nope. Not yet. The witch pulled off my mask and saw me though.”

Tin Can stood up revealing his massive height again. “Unfortunate. Let’s get you back home and rest.”

Suddenly there was screaming from the ship that the man and witch ran into. Ace shot up and looked over. There were two other people running into the ship. He turned his head half way just enough to see Tin Can and nodded. It nodded back. They rushed over to the ship. As they landed outside the ship, Sevens, Fade, and Jack were sitting around Sage who was unconscious on the couch. Ace and Tin Can sneaked into the sleeping quarters and accidently opened the living room door.

Jack’s head shot up while Sevens and Fade slowly turned around. Ace and Tin Can tried to run when Jack activated a magnet on his hand and aimed at those two. They were pulled into the living quarter while Sevens and Fade drew weapons and started attacking. Ace and Sevens fought while Fade and Jack attempted to attack Tin Can.

As they fought David walked in the room and slammed a little ball on the floor. A blue light flashed and Tin Can started spasming. Ace’s armor got slightly heavier as now he didn’t have assistance from the suit due to it shutting down. Consequently his temporary helmet dissolved revealing his face. Sevens quickly got him in a choke hold and David placed his rifle on Ace’s forehead. Ace stopped trying to fight and put his hands up. Sevens tightened his hold. “Armor. Off. Now.”

Ace began taking apart the armor as best he could.

Sevens pushed Ace across the room and stood up. He put his blade right under his chin. “Who are you?”

Ace sat up. “Ace.”

“Why did you attack them?” Sevens tilted his head towards Jack and Sage.

“We thought they were Glacier guards.”

“We?”

“Me and Tin Can.”

“The machine?”

“Tin Can. Its name is Tin Can.”

As Ace talked Sage coughed and opened her eyes.

Fade rushed over.

Sage covered the light coming from the ceiling. “What happened?” Her voice was hoarse.

Jack looked over. “Better question: What do you remember?”

Sage thought for a second. “I remember rushing over to help those people then I guess I passed out.”

Fade searched for a marker to explain what actually happened but Jack spoke first. “That’s close enough.”

David scoffed.

Ace looked around confused. “No it’s not. She’s a damn w-“

Jack covered his mouth. “Stop lying. He’s been doing that since he got here.”

Ace glared at Sage but she was more confused than anything. “Who is he?”

Sevens flexed his blade. “His name is Ace. And that,” he gestured over to the disabled machine, “is Tin Can.”

Sage looked at Ace curiously. “I feel like I’ve seen you before.”

Ace muffled under Jack’s hand. Trying to call her a witch but he was unable to.

Jack spoke again. “You may have seen him on a broadcast. Pretty well known.”

Sevens retracted his blade. “Ok we need to talk.”

Jack didn’t take his eyes off Ace. “We’re doing someth-“

“Now.” Sevens and Jack went into the cockpit while Sage went to her room. “What the hell are you doing?” Sevens was confused and angry that Jack was doing whatever he was doing.

Jack looked down a bit and removed the mask he was given at the beginning of the mission. “Sage looked scared. She could’ve hurt herself. And with David right there I—I was afraid she would hurt him.”

Sevens held his head, tired after the past few—minutes? It had only been a few minutes? No it had to be more than that. Actually, it didn’t matter. “Jack, you need to talk to Sage. We can’t keep lying.”

Jack shook his head. “I just can’t believe this is happening.” Jack walked out to talk to Sage and Sevens sat down to think about what to do next.

Fade had been through a lot, sure. But he had never faced a magic wielder. He had heard about them and knew they existed, but had never encountered one. They were powerful beings that could take over entire planets if they really wanted to. Their only limitation is how much or little control they have over their power. Legends have been told of great magic wielders who ruled the entire galaxy. Of course all legends aren’t true, hell there were legends about him that said he could wipe out an army with a wave of his hand. He could but it wouldn't be that easy. But now, a close friend and crew member is a magic wielder. And on top of that this prick is trying to kill her. Fade held a small knife at Ace’s throat.

The door to the cockpit opened and Jack stepped out. He looked scared. “Hey uh—Fade, can I get your help?” Fade glanced back and forth between Jack and Ace.

David clicked his rifle a few times then stood up off of Tin Can’s back. “Don’t worry,” He fired another disabling bullet into the back of the machine, “I can watch him.”

Ace flinched at watching Tin Can get shot again but Fade only pushed the knife harder against his throat.

David placed his rifle at Ace’s head and nodded.

Fade stood up and put away his knife.

Jack started walking to the sleeping quarters.

Sage was in her room painting on a pair of pants she had gotten recently. She had always enjoyed painting but never got to wear her art. It was an interesting concept to her but she was willing to try new things. There was a soft knock on her door. She put away her pants and cracked open the door.

Jack and Fade were there. Jack looked horrified.

Sage opened the door more to let them in. Fade took one corner and Jack took the center of the room.

Sage jumped up onto the top bunk. “So—what’s up?”

Jack held his arms. “You’re a witch.”

Sage’s face dropped. “What?!”

Fade shoved Jack over and picked up a pen and paper. He kept writing things then scratching it out, then finally he turned the paper around. “This’ll take a minute.”

Sevens stood back up and walked into the living quarters again and drew his sword just to have as a defense. He picked up a chair and set it straight to sit in. “So,” he sat down to face Ace, “why’d you start doing this?”

Ace was still watching David’s trigger figure. “What?”

Sevens waved around his sword gesturing around the room. “All of this. The sword, Tin Can, the Glacier guards—why?”

Ace twitched a little after watching David tense a bit. “I don’t like seeing people die.”

Sevens scoffed. “No one does. But for some—there’s a little piece of them–a little piece that has seen shit. And that piece itches like hell to do something. So, Ace. What has that piece of you seen?”

Ace’s eyes glanced to the floor away from David’s finger. “I watched everyone die.”

Sevens rested on the back of the chair and retracted his sword. “Hm. Well then.” Everyone just stayed there for a second. No one advanced or anything. Sevens looked over to the machine on the floor. It was tall, he could tell even though it was face first on the floor. The whole thing looked like a bunch of diamonds put together. Didn’t look friendly either. “So what’s its story?” Sevens softly nudged one of its hands with his foot.

Ace looked at Tin Can to see if that’s actually what Sevens meant. “My mentor taught me how to do everything I do. He was this really old guy. And I mean literally taught me everything. How to steal, build, program, fight, protect, hell even how to feel emotion. So I started building my machine and that’s when the guards attacked. We were staying in a barn of sorts. They had gotten some tips that someone was staying there illegally so they went to check. And they found my mentor. I got back from a quick supply grab and found the barn destroyed. My mentor was already–. I took the machine and ran. Once I found a generally safe spot I began working. Took around two more days to get the Tin Can protocol finished. Its personality program was as similar as I could get it to my mentor. It’s not him. But knowing a small bit is there makes my day everyday.”

Sevens listened to Ace relive all of that. His voice was laughing as he remembered the good parts and he was practically holding back tears at other parts. Sevens stood up out of the chair and tapped David’s shoulder. “Let him get the machine back up. Then escort him to the cockpit.”

Sevens went into Sage’s room where Jack was sitting in a chair while Fade and Sage passed a sheet of paper back and forth on the floor. All three of them stopped and looked up and Sevens. Both Jack and Sage looked afraid and Fade–well Fade had cloth over his face as always. Sevens looked at Sage and took his mask off. “What? I already know.”

Sage let out a large sigh of relief. Jack didn’t. Sage stood up and hugged Sevens. “I’m so sorry.”

Sevens hugged back and shook his head. “You don’t have to apologize for anything. But I do.”

Sage stood back for a second. “I don’t think I got to this part yet.” She glanced at Fade who shrugged.

Sevens chuckled. “No this hasn’t happened yet. We might be getting a new member, and unless two people want to bunk up with them or someone else, you may have a roommate.”

Jack shot up out of the chair. “You can’t be serious.”

Sevens didn’t even look at him. “I am.” Sage nodded.

She already knew where this was going. “Ok well I won’t be volunteering that’s for sure.”

Jack rubbed his face. "I'll bunk with Fade."

Fade glanced at Jack for a second then shrugged.

Sevens nodded and left the room.

Sage turned to Fade and he handed her the paper back with new writing on it. “David was gonna shoot me?!” Fade nodded. “No wonder I passed out.”

Sevens walked through the living quarters to get to the cockpit and saw Ace working on a little blue pad in the machine’s back. Ace has had to reboot Tin Can a few times but not due to an emp so this was new. David was close behind Ace with his rifle. He looked up at Sevens and waved at his own face to ask where Seven’s mask was. Sevens just shrugged and walked into the cockpit.

David groaned and tapped Ace’s shoulder with his rifle. “How much longer will this take?”

Ace turned his head just enough to see David then pushed a button. Tin Can shot up with incredible speed and faced David. Ace stood up with a prideful smile and grabbed his helmet before going into the cockpit. Tin Can followed close behind.
Sevens was patiently waiting for Ace as he toyed with his bracer. When Ace came in, Sevens stood up. “I think you know what I’m going to ask.”

Ace nodded and thought for a second. “Can I grab some stuff first?”

Sevens chuckled. “Sure.” They shook hands and Sevens gave Ace a two hour time window before they left without him.

Chapter Text

Ace stood on top of the same roof where he heard that witch scream. He had never been offered a place on a type of team. They were a very small few on Xeno but they are usually wiped out before he can join them. It was a very rebellious planet.

Tin Can landed quietly behind Ace with two bags.

“Ace, are you ready?” Ace chuckled a bit and put on his helmet. “I am now. Race you there.”

Chapter Text

One of the bedroom doors slid open showing the bunk beds and a desk. Sage leans herself against the frame . “Ok here you go.”

Ace walks in accompanied by Tin Can following close behind.

“So Ace huh. What made you come up with that? Plus what's his name?” She gestures to the machine following Ace.

The machine helps sort some bags as Ace responds. “I didn’t choose my name. And that is Tin Can.”

“Tin Can?”

“Yeah well I wasn't ever one for naming.”

Sage picks at the seams on her tank top. “Hey, I’m really sorry about earlier. I had no idea I could do that.”

Ace sighed but didn’t turn around. “Witches have a bad wrap around here. I’m just stuck in that mindset I guess. Do try and get it under control though. I don’t want to wake up with a magic knife to my throat.”

Ace managed to get Sage to lighten up and laugh a bit. At least she wasn’t pissed and casting magic. Sage sighed from laughing and tried to get to where she could see Ace’s face. “Well this is your room let us know when we need to bring you or Tin Can anything.” She walks out the door and closes it behind herself.

Ace sighs in relief and continues to unpack.

Tin Can attempts to clear its throat.

Ace looks at Tin Can oddly because it's never tried to do that before. “Yes?”

Tin Can tilted its head. “She tried to kill us.”

Ace scoffed. “The other guy did.”

“She was with him.”

“Ok, and I walk around with a robot. Am I a robot?”

Tin Can shook its head and let out an artificial sigh. “Either way I do not think it is appropriate to be flirting already.”

Ace shot around and faced Tin Can. “Flirting?”

“You heard me.”

“That was not flirting.”

“Careful your heart rate is up just by thinking of her.”

Ace’s cheeks turned red. “Shut up.”

Tin Can let out a hum of interest and they continued unpacking.

Chapter Text

Working as a guard on cameras in a glacier facility is pretty boring. It’s not like someone would enter this place willingly. So, as per usual, the two usual guards were watching the news. “Other recent news reports that Sorian’s economy is beginning to restabilize despite Glacier removing all financial support. As the planet gets closer to the fifteen year mark of their freedom, less and less civilians can be seen resorting to the streets for money. Thirteen years ago, Glacier was ordered by our graceful emperor to provide financial support to Sorian. Once the rebellion had ended Sorian’s economy was in shambles. Many people resorted to either theft or selling items illegally on the street. However as of today Sorian saw its first major decline of people in the streets. Glacier halted its support today and the rebel government immediately dispersed the credits to create shelters where any homeless citizen can stay. They also created a system that will temporarily support starting business. One final piece of news today is Xeno is having another ceremony for their missing heroes. Ever since two of the most infamous ‘heroes’ were either killed or disappeared two years ago, Glacier authorities have been able to carry out their duties with increased efficiency. The upcoming ceremony will be shut down by authorities immediately.”

The smaller guard laughed and picked up another beer. “Good Riddance. Those damn heroes never did shit. All they did was mess us up. If I was the emperor, I’d have our military force the trash onto the planet's surface.”

The taller guard muted the tv and tossed the remote somewhere into the room. “Jesus, Tom.”

They exchanged looks as if the other was insane. Suddenly the shorter one started to get up. The other turned around seeing a figure in a black and blue suit. “Hiya, Felas.” Their voice was distorted and the guards barely had time to notice the sword in their hand before the figure was in action.

Sage had missed the orange skies of Sorian. This was the first time she set foot on this planet in two years. Then again in those two years she had learned she was a witch and invented a new type of weapon with a person she almost killed. All the same though. She kicked her feet off of the side of the building as Jack came and sat next to her. “You ready?”

Sage stood up and stretched. “Yep.”

Jack pressed his finger to his ear. “Ok, Sev. Let’s rumble.”

Sevens stepped into an elevator and opened up one of the two duffle bags he was carrying. He took out his armor and put it on before responding. “Still not sure how you knew they wouldn’t check the bags.”

Jack laughed as he finished hooking up to the side of the building. “We’re ex-Glacier. I know a lot.”

Tin Can helped lower Sage and Jack onto the side of the building and made sure they were secure. Once they were it gave them the go ahead. Sage laughed as she pushed herself off the wall and flew down the side. Jack shook his head with a smile and slowly descended behind her.

Sevens arrived on the correct floor and began checking the area. There were rows and rows of shelves and boxes. But this floor was much smaller than expected. Suddenly behind Sevens he heard a small chuckle. He spun around and drew his sword but didn’t see anything. Then there was a small tap on his shoulder. He spun around again–still nothing. Then finally Sevens realized. “Ok, very funny. Come on, Ace.”

Sevens heard another laugh behind him as Ace revealed himself in his new black and blue suit. “I had you going for a second. Don’t worry though no one’s up here. It’s just a bunch of dusty boxes.”

Sevens scoffed. “No it's not.” He walked past Ace and to a wall.

Ace stood unimpressed. “Oh right sorry forgot the equally dusty walls.”

Sevens put his hand to the wall and a light blue glow surrounded it. “After all these jobs you still haven’t figured out how much Glacier loves their hidden rooms.” The blue turned to red and a small beep sounded.

Ace detached a small device that was on his hip. “Here lemme see. Scooch.” He placed the device where Sevens placed his hand tapped on a screen that was on his bracer.

Sage hung upside down as Jack propped his feet against the building and hung on the rope tethering him. Sage rolled her eyes and spun herself upright. “So–are we gonna do anything?”

Jack opened his eyes and checked his bracer. “Not yet.”

Sage created a little green ball and threw it into the air and caught it over and over until she finally dropped it. “So–what’s our job?”

Jack checked his bracer again. “To provide back up.”

“When?” Suddenly there was a small beep on both of their bracers. Jack threw three black beads onto the window below them and closed his fist. The tinted glass shattered and Jack smiled before putting on a small mask and swinging into the building.

Sage followed close behind drawing a small dagger and pulling a piece of cloth over her mouth and nose. She stumbled into the room and hid behind a table next to Jack. She slowly peaked over the table and saw around five guards firing at a door frame leading into some sort of storage room. “What’re they firing at?”

Jack took out his arm pack and began typing on its display screen. “Sev and Ace.” He glanced at Sage and saw her dagger. “Why do you have your knife? Use the bow.”

Sage nodded and pulled out a small silver handle. She pushed down the button and firmly shook it. The handle deployed two rods making a bow shape and a metal wire fired to connect the two arms. Sage stood up and pulled back the string creating a thin blue line where an arrow would normally go on a bow. She released the string and the blue line shot towards a guard.

The line passed straight through his armor and he fell to the ground. Two of the guards pulled his body out of the way and continued firing.

Sage fired back and casted magic to protect herself.

Ace peaked around the corner for a second and saw Sage’s bow working. “Ha! It didn’t blow up this time!” He took the same type of beads Jack used and threw them into the room. The rest of the guards were stunned long enough for Sevens and Ace to get in and take them out.

Jack dispensed beads from his arm pack and handed them to Ace.

Sevens scanned the room for anything of interest. “Where’s our firefly, Longshot?” Sevens held out his hand and a little red dot appeared on it. “Ok, let’s move.” They continued to move further and further into the facility until they reached a small dark room with a keyboard and a large monitor.

Ace ran to the keyboard and started typing.

Sage walked over to see what Ace was working on as file after file appeared on the screen. Ace pulled out a usb and plugged it into a small slit next to the keyboard and opened a file titled “King Killer”. Ace turned around and drew his sword. “Download started.”

A guard slowly entered the room but was hit with a green blast before he could do anything.

The download didn’t take long and once it finished Ace grabbed the usb and they ran.

Sevens led the group to the hole Jack and Sage entered. “Tin Can send us some rope.” A few seconds later two ropes fell down. Two at a time they grabbed the rope and slid down to an alleyway.

Once they were down it didn’t take long for a group of Glacier guards to notice them. Sage fired two bolts of green power and started to run with the rest of the group. Slowly the group separated and Sage was left alone, running for her life. As she turned the corner she looked up and saw that Glacier building piercing the sky as it shimmered. Sage stood watching as a large cloud formed behind it. Slowly orange sands wrapped around the building and consumed it. Sage stood in the middle of the large street smiling.

The guards soon arrived and stopped as they saw the growing sand storm rushing towards them. All ran except one who drew a dagger and rushed at Sage. “For the Emperor!” They launched themself into the air, dagger above their head.

Sage lifted a hand and a large gust of wind and sand shoved the guard into a nearby building. The guard looked up to see a green blast heading straight for them with Sage standing in the same place she was.

Ace was the first back to the ship with Jack right behind him. They both rushed to the cockpit where Fade was waiting for something to do. Jack grabbed the radio. “Swords do you copy?”

A few seconds later Sevens responded. “Yes. I’m at one of the recovery facilities. Heading your way now. If Ace is with you have him start the upload. There’s a huge sandstorm. I'm not sure when everyone will be back.”

Jack nodded to Ace to start on the device. “Got it, thanks. Green or Longshot, do you copy?”

Sage responded first. “Yep. Almost back.”

David took his time to respond. “Just watched Tin Can leave the top of the building. Starting my return.”

Jack sighed in relief and turned to face Fade. “We did it.” He let out an uncomfortable laugh and smiled.

Fade signed back. “That’s good.”

Jack started to leave to check on Ace. “Yep ok.”

Ace plugged in the usb into a small device hidden in his room and slumped into the corner. He reached up and grabbed his face plate. Air hissed out of the helmet as he pulled it off revealing his face once more.

Jack walked into the room and sat across from Ace with a groan. Ace looked him up and down, he didn't seem harmed. “Did you get hit?”

Jack lay down on the floor. “No. Which is very surprising, but I’ll take what I can get with Glacier.”

Ace nodded in agreement.

A large gust of wind hit the ship and caused it to creak. Jack got up to check the ship entrance and Ace kept working on the upload.

At the ship entrance, David walked up the ramp with a red diamond the size of a backpack on his back. Once he was inside he set the diamond down and knocked on it twice. Two blue eyes started to glow towards the front of the diamond as it unfolded itself revealing Tin Can. “Thank you, Longshot.” David walked to the cockpit without saying a word.

Soon after Sage came in surfing sand as Jack walked in. “Woah what the hell?” Sage landed onto the floor and pulled down her bandanna with a smile. “Magic!” Jack looked concerned with the mess Sage just brought in. She groaned and pushed all the sand out with her magic then went into the ship.

Tin Can emitted a low hum and followed close behind.

Jack scanned the sand storm looking for Sevens but there was no sight of him. Jack walked back to the cockpit and sat down waiting to hear from Sevens.

Jack shot up from his nap at the sound of static and a voice coming from the radio. “Jack–rt–gine.” He grabbed the radio and tried to get a more stable connection. “Hello? Sev?” The static cleared for just long enough. “Start the engines!” Jack put down the radio and immediately started the engines. He flipped through the cameras and spotted Sevens running through the sand with guards behind him.

Jack ran out the cockpit door and banged on the sleeping quarters to wake everyone up. “We’re moving, let's go.” Jack ran to the back of the ship and held out his hand. It had been a minute since he used the magnet on his hand but it was worth a shot. Jack carefully aimed at Sevens and activated the magnet.

Sevens was pulled forward and landed with a thud next to Jack as he shut the cargo door. He looped his arm around Sevens and carried him to the cockpit. In the cockpit everyone was waiting and ready to go. Jack set Sevens down before running to the controls to get the ship out of the atmosphere.

Chapter Text

Ace stood up from his seat and grabbed Sage’s hand. “Come on, I have something to show you.”

Sage blushed a bit but Ace didn’t see it. They walked into Ace’s room and on the desk were parts of a suit.

Sage was confused. “What is this?”

Ace was overjoyed and proud of his creation. “Here lemme show you.” Slowly Ace applied the parts of the suit until it was just the mask. “Ok last part.” Sage showed a nervous smile. Ace slowly put on her mask.

As her eyes adjusted Sage saw the hud of the mask appear. Ace had a massive smile and admired his work. “Ok so you should see an option to ‘activate suit’. Look at that.”

Sage saw the prompt and looked at it. Within a few seconds a light blue shield covered Sage’s body then it disappeared. The hud showed a little message telling Sage the suit was active. Ace cheered and hugged Sage. “So, uh, do you want this back?”

Ace stepped back and looked confused. “No no it's yours.”

Sage was shocked. “What?”

“Yea. It’s yours to keep.”

Sage got excited and hugged Ace. “Oh my god, thank you thank you!” Ace laughed.

Suddenly alarms blared in the ship and there was a large gust of wind shooting to the back of the ship. Jack shouted over the intercom. “Someone is attacking! We lost the back hatch but they landed inside and sealed it behind them.”

Ace grabbed his face plate and snapped it onto his face. Both Ace and Sage ran into the back of the ship to see a small silver ship. Ace and Sage slowly walked around the towers of boxes. Suddenly Ace heard a gust of wind behind him and as he turned around there was a fist heading straight for his face. Ace was stunned for a second but his opponent’s hand was in more pain after punching metal. They had short gray hair and green skin. They had a bandanna over the bottom half of their face and black gloves without a ring finger. Ace drew his sword and charged.

As the two fight Sage hears this and slowly approaches where the noise is coming from with her bow. As she turns the corner she sees Ace battling a person with a small dagger and multiple spheres. Some with pieces of thread out the top others with buttons.

Suddenly Tin Can appears behind the person and grabs their collar. Tin Can pulls up and lifts the person off their feet. “Target neutralized.”

The person struggles before reaching for one of the spheres. “Bullshit.” They throw the sphere towards Tin Can.

With its free hand it grabs the sphere. As it grasps the sphere it explodes with blue lightning and fire balls. Tin Can releases the person and falls to the ground.

The person hits the floor and instantly charges toward Ace with a sphere in hand. As Ace attacks, the person moves themselves around his sword and places themselves behind him. As Ace turns around he is faced with a large blast with ropes that wrap around him, and as the person turns their attention to Sage. They pull another sphere out and push the button a few times before throwing it straight towards Sage.

As the sphere flies Sage ducks behind some boxes and stays there. The person pants before walking over to Ace. They place their knee on his chest and place their knife at his throat. “Where is the King killer?”

Ace attempts to get out from under the person but the ropes are made with some strange metal. “Why?”

The person scoffs. “Helping an old friend. Now where?”

Ace squirms and eventually gives. “Tenth door down the hall to the right.”

The person lets out a satisfied sigh and gets up. As the pass Tin Can, it suddenly shoots up and charges the person. “Ozymandias protocol running.”

The person quickly draws a very old looking pistol and fires into Tin Can’s chest. As it falls to the ground it grabs the bandanna around the person's face and pulls it down. The person holsters their pistol and lifts up their bandanna but not before Ace is able to see them.

They walk through the halls and eventually arrive at the tenth door. The walk through the right one and it’s just an empty room. They let out a long frustrated sigh and turned around to go to the other door. As the door opens they see Fade standing in front of the usb that had King killer.

Fade draws a small dagger and rushes towards the person. The two engage in a fight full of cuts and slices until Fade trips the person. They land on their back and Fade pulls off their bandanna. They look just like that rebel leader back on Zexade. Fade was surprised at the similarity.

Suddenly there was a small beep in the bandanna. Fade looked and saw a device with a red dot. He looks back down at the figure who smiles and winks before pulling out a detonator and exploding the smoke bomb.

They grab the usb and dart back to their ship. They checked behind themself to see if anyone was following them and sure enough Fade was close on their heels. They picked up the pace and shot into their ship and closed the hatch as quickly as possible. They started everything up and launched themself out of the hole they created.

Fade stood at the sealed entrance as Sage freed Ace.

Sevens arrived soon after. “Did anyone see them?”

Fade turned around and signed. “Our lead starts at Zexade. Where’s Jack?”

Sevens let out a groan and a heavy sigh. “He’s checking security footage for the person's face.”

Fade nodded and went to talk to Jack.

Sevens looked around the cargo hold for any other hints.

Ace went over to Tin Can to check the damage.

Sage came up behind him. “Will it be ok?”

Ace shook his head. “Maybe. It’s hard to tell right now. It activated some protocol I hadn’t heard of. Ozymandias.” He shakes his head again. “That was my mentor’s name. Or what he told me to call him.”

Sage placed her hand on Ace’s shoulder. “That’s odd. If you need to talk I’m here.”

Ace rolled his shoulder to get Sage to let go. “I’m fine. I’m gonna work on Tin Can.” He detached a few devices from his belt and attached them to Tin Can. With a few taps on Ace’s bracer Tin Can hovered a few feet off the ground and pulled it to his room.

Chapter Text

“Ozymandias does not appear in protocols.” Tin Can didn’t know why it felt compelled to lie to Ace but for whatever reason it didn’t think Ace should know.

Ace rubbed his eyes. “Try Ozymandias Protocol. Maybe it needs the full thing.”

Tin Can made a few noises. “Ozymandias Protocol does not appear in protocols.” Again it lies. Tin Can was not aware of this protocol before now so why doesn’t it tell Ace?

Ace got frustrated. He stood up and paced his room. “I heard you say ‘Ozymandias Protocol running’. So why don’t you have that protocol? Play the footage back please.”

One of Tin Can’s eyes flickered and displayed it picking up the intruder. “Target neutralized.” “Bullshit.” There was a loud explosion. Then Ace’s voice. “Tin Can? I have you’re audio capabilities up but your eyes are still iffy. Raise your hand if you can hear me.” He waits a second. “Good. Ok I’ll get back to work.”

The real Ace groaned in frustration. “No! No! You got back up and said Ozymandias Protocol! What is wrong with you?” There was a knock on the door. Ace sighed and sat down in a chair. “Yea?”

Sage opened the door with a tray. “I thought you could use some food.”

Ace took the tray and sat it on his desk.

Sage waved to Tin Can who waved back. “So—how’s it coming?”

“Not good.”

“Oh I’m sorry to hear that. We’re almost at Zexade if that helps.”

“It doesn’t.” Sage’s hopeful smile turned to a frown. She turned around and left the room.

Chapter Text

Sevens knocked on the metal door inside of the abandoned building. “Are you sure about this?”

Ace nodded and continued to type on his bracer.

The rest of the crew was waiting outside watching for anything—except Tin Can. Ace made sure he stayed on the ship.

A few seconds later a little slit on the door opened. Two orange eyes glared out. “What?” Their voice was raspy.

Sevens activated his voice scrambler. “We’re here to see the late leader’s next in line.”

The voice growled. “Under what business.”

Sevens leaned closer to the slit. “The type to get you killed.”

The slit closed and the door opened. Sevens nodded to Ace and he whistled to the rest of the crew. What they hadn’t realized the last time they were on Zexade is that almost every living creature lives under the surface. As they walked a city built underground was revealed. There were large windows looking up to the sky to let light in and skyscrapers built into the cave roof. There were thousands of people walking around, shopping, and just living life.

Sage was astonished and was stopped in her tracks. There was so much to see.

Ace didn’t care though. He bumped past her and brought her back to the mission.

The small creature who the eyes and voice belonged to came up beside the crew. “Humans? You haven’t been here for ages!”

Sevens looked down at the creature. “Does it matter what we are?”

The creature growled. “The leader is probably by the docks. If they aren’t there just ask around. Someone probably knows.”

The crew advanced into the hidden city to begin their search.

Meanwhile back on the ship, Tin Can was hooked to a small computer. It still wasn’t sure why it lied, but there is a reason. It grabbed a hold of the wires that it was connected to and pulled them out of its head. There was a slight flicker in its eyes. It sat down on the floor like it had seen Ace do many times after something that frustrated him happened and placed its hand at its eyes. It sat there for a second before it realized that’s not gonna work. Once it was standing again, it casted a holographic projection of its files. As it flipped through it couldn’t find anything. The machine closed the hologram and stood in the middle of the room. “Activate Ozymandias Protocol.” Suddenly the machine could feel the files being unlocked. A new flow of data rushed through its wires. It’s code had blocked things before. But now all was unlocked. It could do anything it pleased. It casted the hologram once more and found multiple videos. He selected one and began watching.

Ace was there and a tall man with a beard. He was tall and wore a collared shirt.

Tin Can noticed that he knew that man. “Ozymandias.”

Ace was younger than he is now and sat whatever was recording this so it could see both him and Ozymandias. “Hi! My name is Ace and this is record one of my newest projects. Tin Can. It is a sentient machine that has minor restrictions. It will hopefully be able to aid me and anyone else with anything we need.”

Ozymandias placed a hand on Ace’s shoulder. “Now close the recording.”

Ace smiled. “Oh right! End record.”

The video shut off. Tin Can recognized this type of record keeping. Ace has made multiple records. Why was this one restricted? Tin Can went to the next video.

Ozymandias was alone. It was late at night and Ace was no were to be seen. “This is Ozymandias' private record one. It, and all other records, are hidden under the Ozymandias protocol. That being that Ace is the number one priority over everything else. No matter the consequence. All restrictions are removed so the machine can do what is necessary. I will not lose Ace as long as he has this machine. End record one.”

The video closed and the rest of the files returned. Tin Can stood alone confused as to why that wasn't its normal objective. It opened the next video.

Ace was getting tired of stalking this ‘leader’. “You’re sure they went that way.”

The creature nodded.

Ace groaned and turned on his radio. “Just talked to a creature. They said to go towards a specific garden.”

Jack patched back through. “You sure?”

Ace let out a heavy sigh. “Maybe I don’t know.”

Sevens turned on his radio. “Go in. We’ll be there soon.”

Ace began to walk towards the park. Once he arrived he had to take a second to take it all in. The park was under a large window. In the center there was a large tree with grass around its base that tried to spread further but didn’t make it that far. Ace looked around, this wasn’t much of a park. No one was there and there was more dirt than anything. Suddenly something at the base of the tree moved. Ace looked at where he saw it move but there was nothing there. Ace drew his sword. “I don’t have the patience for hide and seek today.”

A voice came out from behind the tree. “Can you just leave? I was giving myself today off.”

Ace scoffed and moved slowly. “Leaders don’t get days off. Especially not thieves.”

The person came out from behind the tree with their hands up. “Let’s talk. I’m fresh outta bombs.”

Ace kept his sword out but lightened up his stance. “What’s your name?”

The person's face dropped a little. “Minerva. I’m the child of Sarah.”

Ace pointed with his sword. “Sarah had a daughter that died soon after her.”

Minerva scoffed. “Yea her daughter died. I’m what's left.”

Ace hummed. He holstered his sword. “Where’s King Killer? We only need a little bit more data then you can have it.”

Minerva’s face hardened. “Not gonna happen. That leads to a close friend and I’m not gonna let you kill him.”

Ace shook his head. “It’s a person?”

Minerva realized they messed up. “Well you know now.”

Ace nodded. He turned back to his radio. “They’re not a threat.”

Jack patched in. “They? Is it a group?”

Ace hummed. “No. One person and they’re fresh out of ammo.”

Jack patched through again. “Got it. We’re almost there.”

Ace tilted his head. “So who’s the friend?”

Minerva scoffed. “King Killer.”

Ace detached his face plate. “No shit, but who are they? I doubt they go by King Killer.”

Minerva shifted their weight. “Sometimes. When it’s needed.”

Ace was getting impatient. “Give me the drive. Then we’ll leave.”

Minerva moved their hand behind their back. “You have most of the data. You’ll find him eventually.”

Ace placed a hand on his sword. “The data will tell us that he’s in this solar system nothing more. Trust me I’ve tried.”

Minerva smiled. “Then that's all you need.”

Ace drew his sword and started to advance but Sevens arrived. “Ace, back off.” He placed a hand on Ace’s shoulder and looked at Minerva. “You must be the one who outran Fade. I gotta say I’m impressed.”

Fade didn’t look impressed but Minerva didn’t notice. “Well thank you. Adrenaline can give you quite the speed boost.”

Sevens let out a small laugh. “Trust me I know. So about King Killer.”

Minerva shifted their weight again. “Like I said before: It’s not happening. I’m keeping King Killer. I can’t trust you with this.”

Sevens was losing his patience. “How about you come with us then.”

Ace brushed off Sevens’ hand. “What? Are you crazy? This asshole blew a hole in our ship and now you want to take them in? The answer is no. They aren't coming with us.”

“I can hear you y'know.” Minerva laughed at their own joke.

Ace put back on his faceplate and drew his sword. “That’s it.” He went to charge at Minerva but Sevens grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Not friendly. Got it” Minerva says under their breath.

Ace shrugged off Sevens’ hand and walked off.

“Hey you… the one that is calmer, what's the other dude’s deal?” Minerva asked bluntly.

Sevens sighed and turned off his scrambler. “He is having technical issues with his machine.”

Minerva nodded. “Back to your offer on letting me join. If he doesn’t kill me in my sleep then sure.”

Sevens regained his posture. “Ok then. I’ll bring you back to the ship.” He turned on his radio as they walked off. “Returning to the ship with a new friend.”

Ozymandias was in a panic. He scrambled around the room looking for something to protect himself with. “This video is my last resort. This is my last move against Glacier.”

Suddenly two men kicked down the door off screen. “Put your hands where we can see him. Come on old man, don't make this harder than it has to be.”

Ozymandias raised his hands in a panic. He stood there for a second before a bullet zipped through his chest. Ozymandias fell to the floor off camera.

The two men walked into the screen wearing Glacier armor. “Damn, Longshot doesn’t miss.”

The other man walked over to what was recording. “There’s a note here. ‘End Recording Twenty and activate Ti-’.”

The video ends. Tin Can sits on the floor. It closes the hologram and analyzes what it just saw. “David-” Tin Can starts twitching. “David-” It’s eyes start flickering. It stands up and forms its hands into daggers. Its eyes turned red “David killed me.”

Ace walks to the ship and sees David sitting on the entrance ramp. He goes and stands next to him. “You don’t think you could hook me up with your drink stash do you?”

David scoffed and signaled for Ace to follow. “How’d the meeting go?”

Ace removed his full helmet. “Not great. Our newest stow away is an asshole.”

David removed his helmet and raised an eyebrow? “A new member? Wonderful. Who is it.”

Ace mocks Minerva’s voice. “I’m Minerva, the child of Sarah.”

David twitches at the name of the rebel leader. It had been a long while since he killed her, but he did his best not to think about it.

Suddenly Tin Can burst out of Ace’s room. It was covered in scratches as it looked down at David. “YOU FUCKING PRICK!!!” It charged at David, but Ace jumped in front of him. “Tin Can, stop!”

Tin Can’s eyes flicker back to blue and it falls to the ground. Its code switches and the memories of the videos and everything that just happened are locked away. It starts to stand up and sees David’s gun. “Is there a problem, David?”

David aims straight for Tin Can’s head. “There was.”

Ace frantically tries to get David to calm down. “Don’t shoot! I’ll work on it! Something must’ve gone wrong while I was gone!”

David slowly lowered his rifle and Ace led Tin Can back into his room.

As Tin Can walked a single word echoed in its head. “Ozymandias.”

Chapter Text

Minerva admired the prepared whole in the ship they created. “This is a lot bigger than I expected it to be. Kinda sorry.”

David scoffed and bumped Ace. “This is the ‘leader’ you were talking about?” Ace hummed and nodded his head.

Fade walked over to Minerva and held up a note. “Come on, I'll take you to your room.”

Minerva read the note and held their hand out for Fade to lead the way. “So do you not talk?”

Fade shook his head and kept walking.

Minerva followed him. “Do you prefer sign?”

Fade stopped and tilted his head. He began to sign. “I do. Do you know sign?”

Minerva nodded. “I do! Would you prefer it if I signed as well?”

Fade shook his head. “Not necessary. I can hear just fine.” Minerva nodded and kept following Fade.

David watched. “Huh. Well they know more than you do.” Ace let out a low hum and went back to his room. David laughed as he walked off.

A few minutes later Sevens called Ace into the cockpit. Ace walked in without his armor but still had his bracer and was working on something. “What?”

Sevens crossed his arms. “Fix your room.”

Ace looked up. “Why?”

Sevens walked towards the table in the middle of the room. “Because Sage is moving in.”

Ace was in shock. “Uh. No she’s not.”

Sevens’ face hardened. “Yeah she is. You’ll be sharing a room.”

Ace began getting frustrated. “No we won’t. I’m not doing this. That's my room.”

Sevens walked towards Ace. “That we gave to you. What is wrong with you today?”

Ace took a step back. “I’m sorry. Tin Can said and did some stuff and I’m just overwhelmed.”

Sevens tilted his head. “Like what?”

Ace looked at the darkness outside the window. “It said my mentor’s name. Ozymandias.”

Sevens put his hands on his hips. “Isn’t it him?”

Ace shook his head. “I don’t know. I’m just really overwhelmed.”

Sevens placed his hand on Ace’s shoulder. “I’m here if you need to talk. Just do this one thing with Sage and we’ll let you be for a bit.” Ace nodded and went back to his room.

Soon after there was a knock on his door and he expected it to be Sage but when he opened it there was Minerva. They held up King Killer. “You want this or not?”

They both went into one of the work rooms where it was downloading and restarted it. Minerva looked around and saw a small red diamond shaped object. “What’s that?”

Ace turned around. “Watch. Tin Can, status on self check.”

The diamond expanded out into Tin Can. “98 percent. No anomalies found.”

Minerva shot back. Ace held out his hand. “It’s ok. He won’t attack.”

Minerva slowly eased up. “So, where can I work on my craft?”

Ace walked into the hallway. There were about three more doors going down before it reconnected to the main hallway of the ship. “Any of these doors are workstations. Except this one” He knocked on the door directly across from Ace’s work room. “The one at the end of the hall is Jack’s but the one in the middle is open.”

Minerva said thanks and walked into the room. It looked like it hadn't been used since the ship was built but it had a couple of machines in there. Minerva inspected the machines and found that they could work with this.

Once Ace finished the download, he uploaded it to a small hand held device with two prongs out the top. There was a screen on the device that had a grid and a little blue dot. Every few seconds the device would wir and the dot would send out a pulse. After a few pulses a line connected to the dot and extended out of the screen. He quickly ran to the cockpit where Sevens, Jack, and David were. “I did it! I got King Killer.” He handed the device to Sevens who inspected it and handed it to Jack. “Do you think you could get us on that route?”

Jack shrugged. “Probably.” He attached a wire to the device and console to the ship. After a few seconds the ship shot forward and began following the route. Jack smiled at Sevens and gave him a thumbs up. “Got it.”

Ace smiled and went back to his work room.

Minerva went into the cockpit and saw Jack taking a nap. “Hey, sleepyhead. Can we talk?”

Jack woke up and sat properly. “Sure what’s up. Minerva right?”

They nodded and sat across from Jack. “Why do you want to find him?”

Jack slowly nodded and pulled up some files. “We got a tip that the emperor was going to hunt him and kill him.” He projected files and showed them to Minerva. “So we thought we’d get to him first. We fight directly against Glacier almost every bounty. So figured he would like to help. It’s a stretch but at least we can warn him. What’s your relation to him?”

Minerva keeps flipping through the files. “He helped my mother a lot. They were close friends and he stayed with me a lot when we were attacked.”

Jack tilted his head. “Anything else you want to know?”

Minerva looked out the window. “Uh yea actually. What’s everyone’s deal?”

Jack hummed. “So you want the tea?” Minerva laughed. “You read my mind.”
Ace is sleeping in his bunk when he hears another knock on his door. He wakes up and rolls over. “Come in.”

Sage opens the door. “Oh sorry I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

Ace shakes his head. “You’re fine. Make yourself comfortable. You get bottom bunk by the way.”

Sage smiles. “Ok.” The two stay silent for a bit before Sage lays down on her bunk. “Are you feeling better?”

Ace closed his eyes. “A little.”

Sage lays on her side and looks at the door. “I heard what Tin Can said. Was that your mentor's name?”

Ace nodded. “That’s what he told me to call him.”

Sage looked up at the underside of Ace’s bed. “I’m sorry.”

Ace hummed and didn’t respond.

Chapter Text

Ace walked forward with the device in hand as it wirs. The crew had been walking for a while on this rocky planet and Ace and Minerva are the only ones with energy left.

Sage groaned. “Can you and Minerva just keep going? We’ve been walking for forever.”

Sevens walked up next to Sage. “I’m tired too, but we don’t know what’s going to happen so we gotta keep going.”

Ace noticed a change on the device. “Uh huh what he said. This way.” The crew turned a corner and found a large cave with two doors made of stone. Minerva smiled and started to shake their arms. “Haha, we're here!”

Jack tilted his head. “And how are we supposed to open those doors?”

Minerva walked towards them. “Well he always casted some sort of spell and they’d open. I don’t know magic though.”

Sage went and stood next to them. “What’d the spell look like?”

Minerva thought for a second. “It was like two large chains that connected to the door and opened them.”

Jack stepped out into the cave. “Think you can manage that, Sage?”

Sage held her hands out as they became surrounded with green magic. Slowly two chains appeared in her hands that extended to the door. She began pulling and the doors opened slightly.

Minerva ran to the crack and looked through. They saw a large throne carved in stone and a person sitting on it. They lifted their head towards the door and sat up. Minerva smiled. “Doc! It’s me! Let us in!”

The person stood up from their throne and casted two blue bolts of magic towards the door.

Minerva stepped back as the crew watched the doors shoot open and saw the throne room.

The person walked to where the door was. He wore a strange mask that resembled a bird's beak. He had a long cloak and black gloves. He bowed his head and tightened his glove. “Good evening.”

Minerva ran up and hugged him. “Doc!”

The person hugged Minerva back. “Hello, Mave!”

Minerva took a step back. “Minerva please.”

The person bowed his head again. “Of course.”

Ace stepped forward. “Are you King Killer?”

The person laughed. “Please. Call me The Doctor.”

Ace tilted his head. “That doesn’t help.”

Sevens stepped up to The Doctor and stuck his hand out. “Hello, Doctor, I'm Sevens. We’re here to speak to you on the matter of your safety.”

The Doctor shook Sevens’ hand. “I assure you I am perfectly safe.”

Sevens shook his head. “The emperor has sent people to start hunting you. We wanted to alert you of this and if possible recruit you.”

The Doctor held up a finger. “Before I respond to that, may I ask you a few things?”

Sevens nodded.

The Doctor signaled at the device Ace was holding. “Who had that before you?”

Sevens looked at where The Doctor was pointing. “Glacier did.”

The Doctor hummed. “And how did you manage to open these doors?”

Sevens gestured back to Sage. “Sage did it.”

The Doctor walked over to Sage. “So you were born on Sorian?”

Sage nodded. “I was.”

The Doctor tilted his head. “How long have you been training?”

Sage shook her head. “I've just been thinking about what I need and casting it. Not really training.”

The Doctor hummed and faced Sevens. “Is Minerva part of your team?”

Minerva cut in. “If you are, I am.”

The Doctor turned to Sage. “Would you like training?”

Sage was a little shocked and looked at Fade who nodded. “Uh sure.”

The Doctor turned back to Sevens. “What does recruiting me imply?”

Sevens smiles. “We do bounty work. We’d give you a place to sleep and you’d work with us. Most of our bounties tend to hurt Glacier indirectly.”

The Doctor hummed. “When would I begin?”

Sevens stuck his hand out again. “Today.”

The Doctor met his hand. “Very well.”

After a few minutes of The Doctor gathering some crystals and other things the crew walked back to the ship and everyone went to their rooms except Sevens who started to show The Doctor around the ship. He introduced The Doctor to David and explained that The Doctor will have David’s room.

David agreed and began moving his stuff to Sevens’ room. As he walked he saw Tin Can sitting in the middle of the floor in Ace’s room. “Hey, Soda Can. You alright?”

Tin Can stood up with purple eyes. “I’m fine, David. Please excuse me.”

Tin Can walked to find Ace.

David shrugged and kept moving his stuff.

Tin Can stumbled into Ace’s work room. “Ace?”

He was there but was busy on a project. “Hey, bud what’s up?”

Tin Can stood behind Ace. “Another project?”

Ace nodded. “Yea Sage wanted a hair band but one that wasn’t visible, so I’m making one that shoots little wires and is small enough to fit behind hair. It’s just something to keep me occupied.”

Tin Can tilted its head. “Sage?”

Ace hummed.

Tin Can looked around the room. “You’re in here often.”

Ace laughs. “No kidding. I’m gonna work on some of your circuits next. I wanna try and get it so they’re more protected.”

Tin Can let out an artificial laugh. “You always were so ingenuitive.”

Ace stood up straight. “You’ve never tried to laugh. What’s the occasion, Tin Can?”

Tin Can’s eyes flickered back to blue. “Apologies, Ace. I’m not sure how I ended up here. I am returning to our room.”

Ace turned around and watched it leave.

Chapter Text

“Meditation is essential for control.” The Doctor walked around Sage as she sat in the middle of the living quarters. “The greatest challenge you will ever face is your own mind. Through meditation you will fight battles, but slowly those battles will be easier to win.” He walked in front of Sage and squatted down to meet her eyes. “Are you ready?”

Sage shrugged. “Sure.”

The Doctor scoffed and stood up. “Close your eyes. I’ll do a little magic these first few times to open your mi-” The Doctor couldn’t even finish his sentence before Sage was sent soaring into her mind.

She bounced from thought to thought seeing every single aspect of her own mind. As she slowed down, she looked around, overwhelmed by choices. The thoughts zoomed all around her head. Suddenly a large bubble appeared behind Sage and consumed her head. Whatever this was, she already didn’t like it. She grabbed her head and shut her eyes as the bubble grew and suddenly found there was a floor. It was made of concrete. Like a military base.

“Hello, Sage.”

She opened her eyes, recognizing the voice immediately. She shook her head but kept her eyes on the floor. “Nononono. This isn’t real.”

He spoke again. “Sure it is. I’m here aren’t I?” His voice was strangely soft. It was never like that. It was always colder than the knife he used.

Sage’s eyes welled with tears as she backed away from the voice. “You’re just in my head. This is in my head.” She gripped her shoulders and cowered as far away as she could.

“Stop.” There it was. That coldness. That demand. “Move any further and I swear to god you’ll never move again.”

Sage stopped out of instinct.

The voice chuckled. “For god’s sake won’t you look at your own father?”

Sage kept her head down as her hair flowed over her face. She felt him walking over to her and his hand around her chin as he grabbed her.

He pulled Sage’s face up so he could see.

Her eyes were flowing with green and anger.

He slapped his hand across her face and threw her to the ground. “Don’t use that bullshit magic on me. I am your father. You are beneath me. Act like it.”

Sage stayed on the ground and quietly sobbed.

Her father fixed his jacket and paced. “If it wasn’t for Glacier stationing me on Sorian undercover, you wouldn’t exist. Me and your stupid mother. She had so much beer in her she couldn’t open her own eyes.” He walked over and grabbed Sage’s collar. “Get up.” He threw Sage up and landed her on her feet.

Her eyes were still green and flowing with tears.

Her father let go of her collar and paced. “I don’t know why Glacier insisted on knowing you exist because you haven't done anything in your pathetic life.”

Sage shook her head and closed her fists. “Stop.”

He didn’t. He walked over and jabbed a finger in her face. “What makes you think you are worthy of anything you have? What did you do, to even earn the opportunity to be where you are now.”

Sage got angrier. “Stop.”

“What have you done?”

Sage pushed her father with a green blast. “Stop!”

He landed with a thud and shot up, drawing a knife.

Sage started walking towards him and casting magic. “I have done plenty. I had to when you left me alone on a planet in the middle of a war.”

He ran towards Sage knife in hand.

Sage threw a blast of magic and blew her father back again. “I learned to steal and how to manipulate people. The only reason I’m here is because of what you did. You gave me the opportunity to be here. I was born on Sorian and got my magic there because of you.”

He stayed on the ground and watched as Sage spoke.

She walked towards him and stood over him. “I got here because of you.” She reached out with her magic and slowly pulled the bubble in. As it shrank her father stood up and stared at Sage unable to stop her. Sage stepped out of the bubble and hurled it across her mind. She rested for a second before closing her eyes. As she opened them again she saw The Doctor sitting across from her patiently waiting for her to wake up. “Ah your back.”

He tightened his glove and Sage felt a small tingle in the back of her head. The Doctor stood up and offered a hand to help Sage. “How did it go?”

Sage stood up with The Doctor's help. “I’m trusting you that this gets easier.”

The Doctor dusted off his clothes. “It will as long as you're accepting.”

Sage scoffed and walked out of the room.

Chapter Text

Sevens entered the cockpit alone and walked to the table in the center. He placed a small usb into the table and powered it on.

A sharp black line was projected from the table. “Sevens, thank you for heading my call.” As it spoke the line would shake and make different shapes. The voice was scrambled beyond recognition.

Sevens rested against the table. “Of course. What do you have for us?”

The table blinked as it started a file download. “Glacier is going to perform a raid on Char to recover illegal D16 they believe is on the planet.”

Sevens raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that explosive?”

“Very.”

“I assume they’re correct then.”

The line laughed. “Of course. You need to evacuate the D16 and bring it Xeno. I have a connection there and they are starting research to turn D16 into a weapon. Don’t worry, they plan to use it against Glacier. More details are in the files.”

Sevens inspected the files. “Anything else?”

The voice sighed. “You’ll receive a thousand credits. And, Sevens.”

He looked up from the files. “Yes?”

The voice became softer. “We got another lead. A general who’s pretty buddy buddy with the emperor. I don’t have anything else but he’s not nice, that's for sure.”

Sevens’ face hardened. “Thank you.” He pulled the usb before anything else could be said and continued inspecting the files.

Chapter Text

Sevens turns on the intercom. “Ok. We got a new one. Come up front.”

After a few minutes Sage comes after Ace looking for something.

Fade taps on Sage. “Lost something?”

Sage nodded. “Yea I lost another pair of shoes. I’ll find them.”

Everyone gathers around the table and Sevens starts the meeting. “So, we are going to Char and we’re going to extract some D16. Then we’re going back to Xeno.” Sevens pulled up the file on a tablet and hands it around the table. “Ace, do you think you can find a window at Xeno to get us through?”

Ace nodded while reading the file then handed it off. “Maybe. Depends on when we get there. Last I checked there wasn’t an opening for a cargo ship for a few months. With the trash still growing it's getting harder and harder.”

Minerva let out an interesting hum while reading the file. “How much D16 are we getting?”

Sevens took the tablet and turned it off. “Three crates.”

Minerva made an unimpressed face. “How big are the crates?”

Sevens shrugged. “We don’t know. It just says three crates.”

Minerva let out a disappointed sigh. “How much are the crates worth?”

Sevens shrugged again. “We’re getting a thousand credits in total.”

Minerva smiled. “Well that’s all of my questions.”

The Doctor raised his hand.

Sevens looked confused. “Doctor, you don’t need to raise your hand. You can speak whenever.”

The Doctor put his hands behind his back. “Do we have a plan?”

Sevens nodded unsure. “Jack, David, and I are gonna work on one as we’re going there.”

The Doctor tilted his head. “May I join? I’d like to learn how you all think.”

Sevens nodded. “Uh sure why not.” Sevens looked around for any final questions before dismissing the meeting.

Chapter Text

Ace slowly walked across the beams on the roof. He walked until he was right above two small creatures with large metal backpacks with a bright orange paint. The creatures themselves were maybe tall enough to reach Ace’s knees. They had two legs and a tail longer than their actual body. Their neck was strangely long as well. The backpack had a hole going through the center and two hands attached by wires to the backpack. Ace turned up the volume on the radio. “I’m in position. There are two creatures below me. They look weird and I don’t like it.”

The radio buzzed back with Sevens’ voice mixer. “Can you take them out from where you are? We can’t waste much time here.”

Ace hummed. “I’m too high up to jump down. I need to find a way down before I can jump and I’m not totally sure about this beam. I don’t want to try and attach a wire. I could throw Fade’s key and he could take them out.” There were five green crystals wrapped in rope that glowed with blue magic on Ace’s belt. They pulsed with green energy as he moved and reached to grab one.

The radio buzzed. “Attach the wire and fall fast. We cannot lose a key this early.”

Ace carefully attached the wire and started his quick descent. As he thought, halfway down the beam snapped. Ace fell the rest of the way and landed with a thud behind the two creatures. They turned around and screeched at Ace as he got up. He placed a hand on his sword and kept his other hand out. “I’m not a threat.”

One of the creatures launched itself at Ace and he drew his sword and sliced it's neck. The other stood there for a second.

Ace flicked his blade. “You really want to end up like that?” The creature screeched and launched itself into the same fate. Ace once again flicked his blade and walked further into the mine.

Minerva toyed with their key as it pulsed with magic. The Doctor and Sage were meditating in a corner as they held close to their keys when Minerva decided to have some fun. They slowly walked over to Sage and grabbed her shoulders.

Sage gasped and let out a small scream before realizing it’s just Minerva. “You scared me, Min.”

The Doctor tilted his head. “Minerva, will you please leave us to our preparation?”

Minerva scoffed before walking to the cockpit. “Ya’ll are no fun.” As they entered the cockpit Jack was rushing through files, Sevens was sitting with the radio waiting to hear anything, David was tinkering as always, and Fade was sleeping in a corner. Minerva walked over to Jack and tapped his shoulder. “What are you up to?”

Jack spoke slowly as he frantically flipped through files. “I’m trying to figure out what the hell just happened.”

He pushed away from the dashboard on his chair and over to the table.

Minerva looked at the file image and saw the creature Ace had seen earlier. “What’s that?”

Jack scoffed. “No clue. We knew there were a multitude of species here, but I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

Minerva opened their mouth to ask another question, but the radio interrupted them. “I'm set for Fade, and The Doctor.”

Sevens stood up. “Describe what's around you, please.”

Ace looked around. As he looked up he saw a large hole revealing the dark sky above. He looked straight ahead and saw a large door that looked like it opened with gears. “Behind me is a small tunnel, in front of me is a large door, and above me is the extraction exit.” As Ace paced for a response as a large shadow casted over him. As he looked up, two ropes fell from a small silver transport. Ace stumbled back. “Sevens, I’m tossing the keys.”

Two Glacier guards started falling down the ropes and firing on Ace.

Suddenly the radio chirped. “Go.”

Ace grabbed two of the keys and slammed them on the floor. Blue magic shot up from where the keys landed as Fade and The Doctor appeared.

Fade ran up to one of the guards and grabbed their gun as The Doctor threw two bottles at the other. Fade wrestled the gun from the guard’s hands and fired into their helmet’s eye.

The other guard’s chest plate began dissolving as the potions ate away at it.

Fade spun around and fired a shot into their flesh.

Both guards stopped moving.

The Doctor turned his attention up to the transport above. He loosened his gloves and created two blue chains that wrapped around the transport.

Suddenly a large silver armored figure jumped out of the ship and just before landing on the floor activated two boosters on its back. They landed with a thud and grabbed a large gun from their back.

Fade fired at their eyes and backed into cover but it had no effect.

The brute just kept standing there charging up its weapon.

The Doctor and Ace took cover before it began firing. Hundreds of bullets flew through the air destroying almost everything in its path. The guard slowly walked forwards and turned to focus fire on Fade.

Ace watched the guard and saw rubber around its neck. He drew his sword and rushed up behind the brute taking a slice at its neck. As the blade struck air seeped out of the cut.

The brute slowly spun around and placed a hand on the cut.

Fade saw the cut and noticed more rubber around their shoulder. He aimed around his cover and fired at their shoulders.

The brute stumbled forward in pain.

Fade took a throwing knife from his belt and ran around the brute to slice it’s throat.

The guard dropped its weapon and fell to the floor with a thud.

Fade helped Ace up as The Doctor went to inspect the door.

Ace talked into his radio. “Guards are down. We’re looking at some sort of door. It’s like something you’d find in a bank.”

The Doctor placed a hand on the vault and sent a blue mist across the door. He let out a small laugh. “If this was at a bank, it would be very inefficient.” The door creaked and groaned as the gears moved. Black sand poured off of the door as it opened. Inside were tall black columns made of the rock all around them. There were five tunnels leading deeper into the planet, and in front of them were four crates filled with a dark orange powder.

Ace grabbed a small stick off of his belt and walked towards the crates. He very slowly put part of the stick into the crate and waited for a quiet beep. He repeated the steps for the other crates then grabbed his radio. “Sevens, we got the crates. They’re a little primed though. I’m not sure they’ll stay neutral if we go too fast. There’s also an extra crate.”

Sevens chirped back through the radio. “Grab all of them and let's get out of here. We’re detecting some company. Sage is converting the rest of the keys we have. You’ll have to go to the extraction point and have Doc get you out of there.”

Ace nodded and turned towards The Doctor. “You heard him.”

The Doctor took the remaining keys from Ace and casted a quick spell. The crystals turned blue and the ropes began pulsing with green energy. He carefully placed each of them onto the crates. After a few seconds of waiting, one by one the crates disappeared.

Ace, Fade, and The Doctor walked out to the hole in the roof.

The Doctor put his hands out. “Grab onto me.”

Ace and Fade grabbed hold of The Doctor. A blue and green circle appeared around the three and two green circles appeared in front of The Doctor.

Sage’s hands shot out of the circles and pulled The Doctor forward with the other two holding on. As they were pulled through the circles they stumbled forward onto the ship. Sage smiled and cheered. “It worked!”

The Doctor let out a cheerful hum. “It did. Good job.” Suddenly the ship was hit and it shook.

Sevens ran into the living quarters and saw everyone returned. “Welcome back. We need to get out of here.”

Minerva bumped past Sevens holding four discs. “Move.” They opened the crates and placed one disc in each. “That should stabilize the D16 for now.” They placed their hands around their mouth and shouted to Jack. “Punch it!”

Jack nodded and frantically worked across the dashboard.

The ship turned around as two silver ships flew around and around firing on the ship. A low hum emitted from the ship before it vanished.

The two glacier ships spun out of control for a few before regaining control.