The city of Zephrax burned purple under the twin moons. Screams echoed through cracked towers. Mechs clashed in the distance, their silhouettes outlined by explosions. The air stank of ozone, oil, and blood. Through the smoke walked RAID-13 — calm, cloaked in a scorched pilot's jacket, dragging a jagged pulse-blade behind him like a leash.
Every step he took left echoes in the ruined streets. His eyes scanned the skyline, half-bored, half-hungry. He wasn't here to save anyone. He was here for one thing: closure.
A sniper scope locked onto him from above.
"Target acquired," whispered a voice. Female. Cold. Familiar.
On a tower ledge cloaked in refractor camo, stood Vera Skoll — ex-elite assassin of the Raven Syndicate… and RAID's former second-in-command. A ghost from his past, dressed in ghost-metal.
"Still walking like you own the multiverse," she muttered, activating her rifle's thermal sight. "Arrogant bastard."
RAID stopped mid-step.
"I know that breath," he said. "Didn't think betrayal had perfume."
A plasma round cracked the air.
RAID tilted his head an inch. The shot missed. Barely.
"Still can't shoot straight when you're angry, Vera."
She dropped from the tower, twin energy blades igniting mid-fall. "And you still talk too much."
Their blades clashed — his pulse-blade, jagged and brutal, versus her twin surgical lasers. Sparks flew. Buildings cracked. Thunder rolled from their strikes. A cataclysmic duel erupted amid Zephrax's collapsing skyline.
"You left us to die on Vortex Prime!" she screamed, driving him back with a furious combo.
"I left you because you were predictable," RAID countered, grinning. "And boring."
She struck again. Faster. More furious. He dodged, laughing.
"Tell me, Vera. How many upgrades did it take before you convinced yourself you could take me?"
"I don't need to beat you," she hissed. "Just hold you for extraction."
Above, Syndicate drop-ships tore through the clouds. Metal canisters launched down, slamming into the streets. From them, Ravager Units emerged — cybernetic brutes armed with thermal lances.
RAID glanced skyward. "You brought toys."
He slammed his blade into the pavement. "VANTH-OMEGA. On me."
The sky screamed.
From orbit, a blazing meteor dropped — no, a mech. Sovereign Red landed like divine judgment, crushing three Ravagers underfoot. The ground shook. Its twin eyes burned like suns. Missile pods opened like wings. It let out a howl — a sound somewhere between machine and monster.
RAID leapt into the cockpit, systems syncing instantly. HUD locked. Weapons armed.
"Let's dance."
Vera's squad moved in. Too slow.
Missiles tore through the air. Pulse cannons cut through buildings. Sovereign Red spun, cleaving through enemy lines. Ravagers exploded like fireworks.
In 19 seconds, the street was a graveyard.
RAID ejected from the cockpit, landing on the smoking chassis of a Syndicate crawler.
He pointed his blade at Vera.
"Run."
Vera didn't. She stepped forward, slowly, blades flickering.
"You think this ends with you standing tall?" she growled. "You think this war makes you god?"
RAID grinned. "No. Gods need worship. I just need witnesses."
A Syndicate gunship roared overhead. Vera threw a smoke grenade and vanished into the haze.
RAID didn't chase.
"She'll be back," he muttered. "Anger makes the best apprentices."
He looked to the stars, eyes narrowing at a faint ripple in the sky — something shifting far beyond the visible spectrum.
"Next."
Behind him, Sovereign Red hummed, recharging its cannons.
The war was just getting started.