Justice had arrived to avenge whatever scraps remained.

The plaza was alight with gunfire and tracers. Within the eye of the storm was the Arbiter.

Kazuki caught sight of the town hall, down the street. High pillars stretched high up, connecting to the various floating islands above it.

It had the elegance of Kasté and the practicality of the Republic baked into its architecture.

Even as plasma pellets shredded the air around him, Kazuki could only think of how many had suffered the pens in those halls.

The convoy of shuttles whizzed off just when the flak and fire became too thick to hold back.

Kazuki's fireteam took cover, with civilians running all around - fleeing away from the carnage. One just made it to Kazuki's cover before their head was shot off by a bolt. Claire gritted at the sight, sealing her helm-mask on.

"Dammit… Dammit! Arbiter, I can lead the evacuation efforts here! You think you can deal with the District hall?"

Kazuki nodded. 'Artillerist, Epsillon, you two are on me. Carnifex, lead counterattacks to protect evac efforts by Lazarus.'

Quinn and Amyé rushed over to Kazuki's side. Zymuel gave a thumbs-up from behind cover, some distance away.

Under the cover of fire, Kazuki popped smoke bombs, leaving clouds of smog to mask his advance. Charging forward, the three blasted their way through the Blood Contractor defences, piercing through burnt shuttles and cover into a nearby shopping mall.

Looking back, Amyé grunted before releasing a sniper bolt into a screaming Contractor, chasing after them.

"Idiot…" she muttered.

Kazuki placed a bolt in the door mechanisms, frying the system. Instantly, the steel security doors snapped shut.

No one to harry them anymore.

The trio turned around, seeing a sight of gore within the shopping mall. Blood contractors littered the plaza floors, though many more civilians and police were amongst the carcasses.

"They fought well. They bled well. And they died." Kazuki walked forward. He made sure not to tread on or disrespect the dead civilians or the police.

The Blood Contractors, however, were not given this liberty. If there were an afterlife, he'd ensure they went there headless.

Bullets rang out as the three marched forward. Their explosive bolts ruptured the cultist skulls.

"Nasty cunts," Quinn remarked.

"They're Blood Contractors," Kazuki answered. "What did you expect?"

"We heard rumours of them in the military, apparently my old CO wanted to transfer us to fight them… I think that was what led Lilly to…" He paused before sealing his mouth shut.

"Lead to what?" Amyé asked, treading lightly as she jumped up onto the second floor, scouting ahead before peering back and down at them.

Kazuki kept placing bolts into the dead Contractors he passed. Each step provided fewer and fewer, with a burnt-out barricade in front of them.

The defences had been breached, and none were spared.

Kazuki hoped the town hall would not see this fate.

Though it might already be too late, he thought.

"Nothing," Quinn snapped shut afterwards.

Amyé paused before nodding and walking onwards. Kazuki knew, but he wasn't going to say a word of it. The two mercenaries exchanged an understanding look.

Despite their upbringings, both understood the necessity of their own actions.

The trio kept up, exfiltrating onto a set of emergency stairs leading up to a series of apartments. From then on, they breached from blood-painted hall to hall, nearing the Town Hall.

Blasting through a wall, they entered a branch of the Linked-Star Banking Conglomerate… The whole bank was littered with the dead, looted too.

Quinn grunted. "The delivery service runs a bank too?"

"And a transportation enterprise," Kazuki added. "Linked-Star. They diversified into different fields long ago, they're old and strong… They'll make sure the Blood Contractors pay for this."

Amyé rolled her eyes. "Lose money, then?"

"Reputation. Pride." The correction was clear for Kazuki. To the Linked-Star Business Empire, the loss of one branch was nothing. The loss of pride was everything…

However, something irked him the wrong way. He looked back out to the Town Hall... The doors looked barricaded, but it was deathly silent.

"Think they got in?" Amyé asked, shivering at the possibility.

Kazuki shook his head. "Hope not. Expect worse," he answered.

Quinn grumbled. "Enough of that philosophy shit, just tell us, yes or no!"

They breached through the bank walls, fleeing into nearby apartments. Amyé got a good view of the central plaza outside the town hall… Flat, lacking cover. Awful… Amyé sat down on a sofa, aiming her sniper.

Kazuki answered Quinn, "Do you wish to see a mass grave in there?"

Quinn didn't answer the question.

Amyé nodded, fixing her arm-bracings and flicking on a glass lens over her helm-mask eye covers. "Don't cha worry 'bout me, I'll keep you guys covered good."

Ignoring the people slain and the first responders skewered, Quinn and Kazuki made it down to the plaza. This… was definitely a trap, Kazuki thought. Just then, from across the street, a figure exited a nearby building, spitting out a kebab before waving at them.

Insignia and armour? Blood Contractor.

'Artillerist... Get visuals on that person, see if anyone is backing them up. Switch between thermals and interferences. Check for cloaks.'

Amyé replied instantly: 'We're all good here! It's just her... can't you just use some of that juice of yours to flush out their trap?'

'Stored for emergencies,' Kazuki replied.

If Amyé couldn't scan for something, it was going to be a good trap. These Blood Contractors loved their ambushes. Twice they've tried to cloak and ambush them, twice they have failed to take Kazuki's head.

Kazuki's senses tingled slightly. 'Apartment building across the plaza. Tenth floor. Fluricara Champagne advert, three rooms east. Check that,' Kazuki ordered.

'Fuck me, that's specific!' Amyé responded. Kazuki could see Amyé's thermal laser point to that location. 'Anything you want?'

'Keep yourself trained there,' Kazuki ordered.

"Who approaches the Contract-Breaker?!" he shouted to the approaching woman, geared head to toe with thick, slim but shoddy Contractor gear.

"Svetez Aya!" she returned. "Contract-Breaker! We hate to ask, but are you actually this short?!"

We? So it was a trap. Quinn flanked Kazuki, stepping away to create distance.

"You're Blood Contractor, aren't you!?" Quinn questioned her.

She nodded. "Yeah! Blood Contract Cultist! Please, don't see us as crazed lunatics, after all… we're all the same, aren't we?"

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For a Blood Contractor, she's surprisingly not suicidal. "Why have you approached us?" Kazuki asked, ignoring her question, because… Kazuki knew it to be somewhat true.

Svetez took out a knife and a pistol before extending her arm out. A Flamethrower WRIST-SHOT clung to her forearm, pointed at Kazuki. She made a motion as if cutting Kazuki up into pieces with the knife.

'Artillerist, don't tell me you still got shit?' Quinn asked.

'Nope! Not a damn thing! Wait... wait... just stall. Stall! I think I got a reading for something... Just making sure it isn't a civvie...' Amyé replied.

Quinn rolled his eyes behind his card-deck painted helm-mask. They wouldn't hear the end of it if Amyé accidentally shot some random kid hiding in their room, especially from Claire.

Knowing Claire, Kazuki thought, she'd blame herself for the debacle. Even if it was just one drop of blood into a reservoir.

Claire blamed herself for failing to protect Eliza... even though she was half a country away. Kazuki wouldn't be surprised if Claire had a younger sister… or even a daughter for fuck's sake.

"Well then, you came a long way to die," Kazuki said. Pulling out his own dagger. It was a custom-made Trasian blade, half art–half weapon.

Quinn heaved his Shot-Axe onto his shoulder.

"Let us see!" Svetez shouted, reeling forward across the plaza as gunfire erupted.

Kazuki and Quinn opened fire, but as they did, Kaz felt a distinct… beep.

His gaze shifted away from Svetez, towards the rubble around the street and plaza around them. Svetez was rushing forward, from cover to cover… But just as Quinn nearly vaulted to give chase, Kazuki dragged him back. He threw the two of them behind a steel bench.

As Kazuki did, he caught several blinking red lights, hidden amongst the rubble across the plaza. A terrible eruption shook the ground, throwing munitions into the air as airburst smoke and steel littered the air.

'ARBITER?!' Amyé shouted. 'FUCK, TURNING TO THERMAL.'

"Airbursts!" Quinn jived. "The IUN will be having stern words with them!"

Under the constant litany of shrapnel and explosions, Quinn laughed. Kazuki shook his head. "Stay focused!" he shouted. "Or I'll tell Vallé!"

Quinn snickered away as the dust started to settle. 'Artillerist. Status repo—"

"BEHIND YOU!" Amyé cut in.

Kazuki twisted around, shoving Quinn away whilst simultaneously throwing his dagger into a parry.

He felt steel crash through the smog, as wind blew the smoke up to the air, revealing Svetez... Short, burgundy-haired woman with sharp teeth... Her face was vicious. Kazuki threw his pistol arm forward, sending a string of bolts to the side.

Svetez shielded the blows, rushing to the left, placing their wrist out and igniting a ball of flame out to Kazuki. Using his shield, Quinn rushed forward, guarding Kazuki. The heat was slowly permeating through his plasma shield.

"You fool! You ran into a two versus one!" Quinn shouted.

Kazuki rushed around Quinn's shield, bashing into Svetez as he sent her barreling away.

"Correction: TWO AGAINST TWO!"

Kazuki's ears whistled with a noise. A bolt hammered down from the apartments above. Kazuki weaved backwards, missing a kill shot on Svetez to avoid a bolt to his cranium.

Quinn rushed to Kazuki, blocking the next string. The force of the explosive sniper bolts ruptured and overloaded Quinn's shield. The force flicked him backwards, before he ducked behind a small hot-dog stand for cover.

'AMYÉ!' Quinn shouted, flaunting a disregard for codenames. 'THERE'S A SNIPER!'

Kazuki continued to rush down Svetez. Each time he narrowed towards a killing blow, the sniper wards him away. Kazuki was forced into cover. He hid behind a tree. Splinters stabbed and flicked off his armour.

'DAMMIT, DAMMIT!!' Amyé started to swear a thousand times over on the Uplink. 'I'LL HANDLE THE FUCKER! YOU JUST DEAL WITH HER, ALRIGHT?!' A sniper duel soon ensued, as bolts whizzed through the air, above the smog.

Svetez peered back at the building she came from, behind a water fountain installation. "Hmm... Sloppy..." she said, then shrugged. 'Marco! You'd better not miss next time!'

Forcing herself over the water fountain, Svetez emerged from the sprouts – charging Kazuki.

Kazuki instantly let loose, bouncing bolts off her shield.

"No manners this generation!" Svetez angrily remarked. "I was just passing a message to my brother!" As Svetez neared, Kazuki careened out from behind the tree, slamming into Svetez.

Svetez danced around that as well, using her flames at close range - nearly cooking Kazuki alive against his shield.

Bleeding adrenaline all over his body, Kazuki ignited his exospine to life. A blue hue hung in the air with Kazuki's charge, slamming his shield into her flamethrower as heat and flames erupted between the two.

Kazuki kept the pressure, making sure not to give Svetez any chance to reignite her flames.

In the struggle, Kazuki blasted into her armour with his pistol. Pings signalled his bolts grazed past battle plates.

Then, a sniper bolt slammed through Kazuki's armour. It met his flesh, grinding down between his vest-plate and steel organs.

Forced on the back foot, Kazuki ducked through a small line of trees, using them to hide his figure as Svetez recovered from the grapple.

Too risky, too much at stake.

Svetez had a bright face on, smiling as the dance of bolts and weaves continued.

Then, as Svetez neared, she tried to lash out against his back, only for Kazuki to ignite his golden eyes, kicking her away. SHIT! She knows his weak spot?!

In the chaos of the fight, Kazuki struck gold with each consecutive ignition of his eyes. Slowly, he read her.

Picking apart everything, he realised she was slow. Amateurishly slow swings compared to Freyja Beamont. She was more like a beast than an indomitable warrior. Kazuki's mind clicked with the clock. Within a mere moment, countered. Flushing forth, Kazuki cranked his exospine, speeding up to weave the flames.

The sniper duel up above was churning out entire sections of each building, rubble and debris flocking to the ground, with bolts whizzing by over Kaz's head.

All that Kaz needed was one final push. He primed his exospine for another boost of energy. But through the smog, Kazuki heard footsteps behind Svetez. Reinforcements?

No. A cyan-eyed and haired individual flung himself forward. Quinn had awaited the perfect moment, slamming their Shot-axe into Svetez's exoskeleton.

Svetez was sent reeling forward, and Quinn didn't relent. Under plasma and fire, the two advanced against her.

'SHIT! MARCO! MARCO!!!!!!!!!!!' Stray bolts came down from above, giving Amyé an opening to blast away freely.

Svetez readied herself to fight to the end against Kazuki... Her attention was not on Quinn.

With that, Kazuki's eye caught the glint of the hostile sniper. Instantly, a white light erupted from Kazuki's position.

Quinn can have her.

Kazuki's mind translated a thousand mathematical calculations into reality. The ANCHOR watch twisted on. It crashed Kazuki into the building, directly beside the sniper.

'Artillerist! Cover Quinn,' ordered Kazuki, slamming his knife directly into the sniper's leg.

Marco, the hostile sniper, shot back frantically. They screamed as they tried to crawl away. Bolts whizzed into Kazuki's armour, bouncing off.

Getting close, Kazuki sliced his sniper in two before stomping on his other leg. Marco bellowed out in pain, just as Kazuki placed a bolt in his chest. Blood ruptured out, but the contractor was still fighting. Reaching his exoskeleton, the sniper unlocked his overclock…

What a shame, Kazuki thought, as Marco crashed forward. Suicidal intent brought them closer. Grenades ignited, erupting in smoke across the apartments as Kazuki grabbed them, pushing them into the wall.

Blasting away at their stomach and intestines, a mix of blood and exoskeletal fluid ruptured onto the walls behind them.

Then, Kazuki ended it. With one clean slice, he beheaded Marco Aya.

The body stopped. Then it limped. Then it fell.

Kazuki peered out across the plaza and beyond... The Sub-District was quieter, with the echoes of gunfire in the distant rattling him awake. Crime had surfaced from the belly of Anagora… Kazuki caused his, he thought.

His existence alone invited the She-Wolf's cubs.

The weight of lives forced itself onto Kazuki's shoulder. Kazuki tried to swallow it all in. He clenched his fist, feeling the anguish. But he couldn't. So many had died because of him. For him, Kazuki released the pain, letting it strangle him slowly.

Dragging his half-sword out, Kazuki clung to Marco's hair.

The black heat and sharpness of Kazuki's sword allowed him to embed it into the outside wall, using it to steadily slide down the building.

'Artillerist. Epsilon. Status report.'

'Doing fine...' Amyé reported, heaving for air. 'Thank fuck you took his head, he nearly zeroed me in a few times.'

The smoke and smog gently rested a few feet off the ground. Svetez was crawling away from Quinn, who was whistling away to an old Narisan tune.

'Thought I'd save her for you, Arbiter?' suggested Quinn. "I'm nearly all out of bullets."

'You're too kind,' Kazuki remarked. He prepared the head taking. "We'll call in a resupply." Kazuki himself was practically out of bullets, too.

Then, a rumble came to his mind... A sensation he hasn't felt before... since...

Images of flames spread like wildfire across Kazuki's brain. It was here. A shuttle flew by overhead... unmarked, hovering in front of the District Hall.

'That's friendly... right?' Quinn asked.

Svetez rolled over and laughed maniacally. "You're not the only one with cavalry!"

A singular figure fell from the shuttle, dancing elegantly onto the surface...

Reinforced cuirass and vest-plate. Scales and chains made up her armoured skirt, clacking with each step forth.

It was an armoured lady. A female mercenary. No. The female mercenary. Dressed to impress and kill, this lady had a face unreadable to Kazuki.

A calm smile was embedded in her face, masking her intent and thoughts.

Though there wouldn't be a point in dissecting that.

Kazuki knew why she was here. Everyone did.

Eyes piercing through the air.

The woman who caused so much destruction to Kazuki's comrades placed a hand to her chest, mocking the little Prince with a dutiful hailing salute.

All teenagers are the same age as Kazuki. Eden Initiates, those he had trained beside, the same as Nihara, Václavos and the late Cyrus.

All dead.

All sliced up.

All for nothing.

Third of the Seven Mercenaries. Designation She-Wolf; Freyja Beamont has stepped forth – she who burnt so much of what Kazuki thought he'd known to ashes and cinder.

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