“What did you expect, to get lucky? just my soldiers? Maybe they would have left you with your lives, dropped you off at the nearest settlement.”

The man donned the same kind of uniform yet he was decorated with a various array of medals, it was worn but neatly cared for, a kind of forest green. His hair was a mixture of grey and brown, his eyes the colour of the ocean, and his features similar to that of an Asian human.

Twirling his pistol he placed the smoking gun back into his leather holster and looked around the room radiating a presence of confidence and anger.

“For two years I have searched for you, two years, I never forgot Ellis, I never forget” he said.

“And I don't expect you to, it was an accident, I didn't know” he muttered.

Ellis seemed to be pleading, fear showing in his brown eyes.

“I see you have made new friends, this robot here, he’s one I remember, seems he sacrificed his life to save you twice now… ironic."

"Don't touch him" Ellis cried.

"A routine patrol mission detected your ship seven hours ago, I recognized the signature immediately, how could I ever miss it, after all,

"How could I ever forget you?" Zin shouted.

"I don't know Zin" Ellis responded.

"I will have your ship repaired, good vessels and parts without registration by the collective are hard to come by these days, perhaps I will keep this one for myself, a trophy for the day I caught the great Ellis Tobago"

Zin pressed his blade against Ellis's cheek slowly drawing blood.

"The day I killed you" he smiled.

Zin backed away, muttering as he walked.

"To be honest, I was expecting more of a fight, a legendary battle to tell my disciples, but it seems the natives certainly had a hard time fighting you”

Soon about twelve soldiers filled the room, the same uniforms donning their apparel, their ranks ranging from Private to Colonel. They all carried machine guns and military-grade gear, they were heavily cautious meaning any surprise would not be unwarranted.

“It was an accident, I didn't mean to…” Ellis pleaded.

The man raised his hand and closed his fist causing Ellis to silence himself.

"Do not talk to me about accidents" he cried.

He walked over and slapped Ellis, causing the man to turn his head to the side. I cried out but was swiftly silenced by a rifle butt.

“We landed here twenty years ago, 100,000 strong, today we control about three million acres of wasteland and provide security and peace to over 67 settlements. Originally we were betrayed by the collective and we shared your goal Ellis, revenge, but soon we built a life, we brought peace, and we found purpose, I was happy. I was so happy Ellis"

"I didn't mean to, you know that, you're mad" Ellis shouted.

"Why did you have to ruin it?" Zin muttered

There was no response.

"Why?" he cried.

"You and your pigheaded scheme caused the death of thousands of innocents, why?, why? To do a task you knew impossible. You caused the rivers of the wasteland to run with blood for no reason at all. If you hadn’t fought back everyone could have been happy… now I have one goal, to torture you Ellis, to thrust a tantalizing agony upon you until I see your spirit break and mind crumble. When I'm finished, when you finally crawl upon your knees, tear-stained eyes begging me to kill you and send you to hell to free you from your suffering, then I will be happy, then I will know I have gotten revenge”

“It's madness, I didn't cause his death, it was the collective!” Ellis shouted.

He ignored his statement twirling a gun at his fingertips.

"It was you that sent him there Ellis, it was you!" he screamed.

Zin stepped in front spitting upon the ground.

“You are a lucky man Ellis, this was quite a crash, your ship took a beating, Your seatbelts may have saved your life, but it seems I will be able to capture the famous general without any resistance at all, an honourable death of course.” he smiled.

Then the soldiers moved forward, using the butt of his rifle once to whack Ellis in the face, while another soldier held a gun to his head so Ellis would not attempt a counterattack. Ellis now knocked out by the blow became completely limb.

They then moved onwards to Shaw but she was ready, she pulled out a small pistol hidden in a holster in her tattered clothing and attempted to fire at their leader however before she could get the barrel out of its sheath a soldier had already blasted the gun from her hand smoke rising from his own orange and black MInur Company Rifle, an impeccable shot, given the speed, proximity and fact it did not harm her.

“No funny business,” another soldier said before whacking her in the head with his rifle.

I then raised my knife to shield myself, blocking the blow from the soldiers. It seemed however it was too late, an enemy came from behind and stuck a sharp needle into my neck, gasping in pain the chemical, auilon would put me to sleep in a matter of a few milliseconds, I had no time to react with my hand desperately clawing at the wound. Soon darkness fell upon me and the world stood still.

When I awoke the murky draft of a prison cell wafted through the air. It was a solid steel structure, fine iron bars lined the windows and door. A torn-up mattress sat on a metal cot in the corner. I was alone, my head beating with pain.

The floor was smooth marble, with names and vandalism of former captives etched into the rock. In front of me was a wall of iron bars and a slide-operated door, it seemed to work on a biometric scanner, crude but hackable. The entire room ranked of a collective holding cell, however from the look of the various bullet holes sprawled across the walls it was quite possible the compound had been seized. I peered through the cell’s steel-plated door to see two guards dressed in green military fatigues, they were both humanoid but of different species, one identifiable from the water world of Aquir, the other Numeration. In their grasp, they held onto semi-automatic energy rifles with the ability to both stun and kill enemies.

They wore night-vision, computer-guided titanium-plated helmets and bore battle-scarred rubber energy-proof vests. A high arsenal for guards who would have been easily replaced by simple mele-wielding conscripts in any other jail. I scanned the area to notice a secondary tiny vent in the wall connecting to the cell beside me. Bending down I peered through the grate to see Ellis slumped against a wall. I whispered a few words, the letters springing from my dehydrated mouth.

“Ellis Are you alright?”

He shifted positions, getting up to wrinkle the cloak and makeshift armour he had been wearing, his gear had been stripped from him and binds placed on his hands.

“I'm a bit shaken up, but I think I will be fine..” he grunted.

“Who was that? the man?” I asked whispering so the guards would not hear.

“His name is General Arthur Zin,... and one to be feared. He worked for the collective"

"What's he doing here then?" I muttered.

He was part of a hired Intersolar mercenary force named The Legion, they were honourable soldiers, and peacekeepers but turned their moral cheek when money was involved.

Collective soldiers were spread thin in those days, their enemies in high numbers and people in dismay, they would often hire armies like Zin's to send them in for survey missions, or clean up when politics held their hands back.

It was a simple contract, to quell the rebellion on Xiona, any means necessary, and their pockets would be lined with quand. Zin saw the assignment as easy credits, and with the law on their side, it wouldn't be a perilous occupation. The problem was politics was involved, some admired the tactical mind of Numer the Colonies leader, he was a popular fellow among the collective youth and an advocate for a reformed democracy having been the son of a senator from a political dynasty. Among other things, he was a brilliant and charismatic leader able to convince hundreds of thousands to pledge absolute loyalty to his cause. Due to squabbling in the senate, there was a sudden change of orders, arrest and bring Numer back for trial instead of execution. Unfortunately, the signal stations were being repaired at the time and in response, a highspeed messenger vessel was prepared, halfway through the journey it passed a small colony under attack by pirates and had to slow down its voyage to aid the citizens. By the time it reached the battlefield Nemur had been killed. His final act was a suicide bomb saving the lives of 10,000 of his troops and crippling Zin’s command.

The public was furious, someone had to be blamed or it would splatter the golden mirage of justice. The Legion Corporation faced a lawsuit and threw, not the courier, but Zin under the bus, as a result, he was sent with 350,000 of his most loyal troops to a re-assignment in the pathogen wars. Assignment to the pathogen wars meant one thing, and one thing only death. The battles were plagued with atrocities and horrors enough to drive a sane man mad within the first few hours on the barren rock.

The Pathogen was no civilization nor a disease, it was a race of aliens, one who served under a hive mind, they were animals who harboured in mineral samples eventually popping out of the rock to wreak Havok upon colonists and citizens. The problem was their world was rich, seeping with gold, silver every precious metal imaginable. Their skin was rocky and tough, their minds savage and unruly, any form of communication was met with a quick and brutal death. An entire system had been placed under quarantine due to the spread of these creatures all under the control of a singular superintelligent hive mind. Eventually, technology was invented to scan the holds of ships for Pathogen embryos and skillfully eradicate them yet it still was uncontrollably rampant in three colonies.

Citizens were getting massacred, entire platoons, vanishing and those who lived to tell the tale were never the same again. Not only did they re-assign Zin to fight an illogical, harrowing enemy which had lacerated entire armies, but they also sent him to clear out and recapture Qoin-5, once a world of 4 million colonists, it had plummeted down to 757,000 with around 2,000,000 missing or killed in action.

Legions far stronger had been decimated when faced with such a task. Even though the money and experience would make their careers, it was clear the company intended to rid Zin and all of his followers of its ranks forever. Loaded onto a fleet with 300,000 troops, they left for Quoin, however, the soldiers knew what awaited them, they knew that horrid death would soon rip upon their ranks, the toxic wasteland of mud, slime and blood they would trudge and if they were lucky a few tortured souls would survive to tell the harrowing tales.

The General fought for two weeks on the hostile planet, he struggled through obstacles with valour, earning deep respect from those who followed him for they knew he was born to lead, a man who truly cared and spoke words straight from his valiant heart, he inspired every hardened soldier to do their best and installed an unseen loyalty and admiration from his troops.

He did far better than expected, he rescued two hundred thousand colonists, saved twelve settlements conquered the bleek, placid corpse-strewn wasteland and brought honour back to his name, but his command still pushed for more, desperate to make a mockery of his success, they sent him on a full-scale attack, a suicide mission, one that pointed to death for not only his army but left all the residents of the planet open to a complete bloodthirsty invasion.

Refusing the rash orders he evacuated the world, gathering as many ships as possible and taking control of several vast space stations located nearby. With 200,000 loyal troops left he stood his ground against the collective, soon charged with heresy and treason when the collective fleet finally subdued his small armada. His actions of saving Quoin's citizens from apparent death saved his life, but his disobedience did not come without punishment. Zin along with 100,000 of his followers was exiled to the garbage planet.

They were dropped in hovercrafts, scattered across the lands to dispute the formation of an army. Eventually, the soldiers despite the gruelling efforts of those in control of this planet flocked to one banner, under the command of their leader.

Through blood, pain and hardship he fought, dominating the bandits and villainous scum which populated the planet he brought order and he brought civility. He lacerated the Bandit Captian Viion, set up a string of command and relay outposts, trekked up the tallest mountains and through the harshest of wasteland fighting maniacally for every single inch of ground. Starting out dropped three leagues away from his own soldiers he showed resilience and command which deems high respect. It was many years ago when we first met, we were friends, both from armies and peoples who had abandoned us, and cast us aside, however after a brief time-fighting we went separate paths. I lead a small resistance against Collective soldiers, protecting Kilomino and ensuring security for its people.

During this battle we attacked a Collective Garrison, inside was Zin’s brother, the garrison was completely destroyed and the brother who was just inside to sign formal documentation on farming was obliterated to pieces by the explosives we planted.

The destruction of the garrison and re-enforcement of Kilomino’s shields put an end to the worries of liberty for millions however it resulted in thousands of innocents dead. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, that's the hollow phrase I told myself to sleep for many months.”

“So his concerns are valid?” I questioned.

“Yes, entirely and with the death of a loved one fueling his rage I have no doubt he will stop at nothing to give me great pain” he replied.

The two guards noticed our conversation and one shouted.

“Hey! Quiet in there!”

We both sat silent for a moment pondering our situation.

“If we are to save Kestle, we need to get you, me, Sparky and Shaw out of this cell. These may be better than your average tin-can but I know with your knowledge and my experience we can make quick work of this,” he added.

“Any idea where we are?”

“His ships are slow however the main city of his control is Santolomino, a settlement quite close to Ionus-Major, he has likely taken us to some secure bunker in his territory but we were in the depths of the forest so I would guess not far from the beaten trail and a slow distance from our journey,” Ellis replied.

“Let’s see about escape, I recognize that control panel” I muttered.

“A smart man would have kept you sedated” the general smirked.

I cast my eye upon the hand scanner in the corner of the room, simple make, simple design, advanced modifications, requires a small number of tools to hack. Sadly since the collective held their prisoners captive, direct knowledge of hacking is limited, in the beginning, they had many problems (a mass breakout) with prisoners on the orbiter which resulted in the proposition of disposal on the garbage planet and cryogenics.

My thought process was interrupted by the cry of a guard. He shoved a tray of food through a slot in the door, the steamy mixture of porridge caused my mouth to water as I soon devoured the meal. Although it was simple stew, porridge, bread and water my hunger modified the taste for the better. When I was done I slid the tray back through the slot and thanked the guard, a move that caused them to look at me with concern.

Now with some energy gained, I racked my brain for any knowledge on biometric repairs, it was possible I would be able to work my way backwards, study the device and use its interworkings to lay down the foundations for an attack. At my disposal I had limited instruments, the bedframe of my cot was old, but not very rusted, with a few thrusts I could wedge a piece of metal large enough to use as a screwdriver.

The handcuffs which bound my limbs were battery operated, a powerful enough slam could break them however with the guards watching and my health in account it would be unwise. I was about to smash open the biometric scanner and take out the guards in hand-to-hand combat when the prison doors hissed open to have three more soldiers walk in.