It had been two days. I sat in the back of one of Matthias’ armored transports, trying to focus on the task at hand. A city-wide announcement had stated the purpose of the impromptu tournament and the time it would be held. Matthias confirmed that the majority of the city would be in attendance, which seemed impossible. By his account, there were nearly 5 million residents in the capital city. I had seen schematics of the venue, and it really was remarkable, dwarfing any of the major sporting venues on Earth.

  “5 minutes,” the driver announced from the front of the transport.

  I was alone in the vehicle. The squad had their own mission, and unfortunately, it didn’t include backup for me. I considered that this would be an ideal time for Matthias to take me out. He had proven to be resourceful, even trustworthy to this point, but I had a feeling that the moment our goals didn’t align, things could change.

  I took a minute to take stock of my armor and inventory. Matthias had provided me with some standard combat armor. It was nowhere near as useful as my own Havok Bringer armor, but who was I to look a gift horse in the mouth? The armor was the type used by most of the standard security forces on Boutelerien. Black from top to bottom with reinforced, lightweight armor plating. It provided marginal protection against an average foe, but I was sure it wouldn’t do much against any decent initiated enemy. As far as weapons, I had access to my Havok Blades of the Blood Nova. I also had been outfitted with a plasma pistol, and to my surprise, Brock had given me his own knife. I didn’t really see a use for it, but I couldn’t refuse the big fella’s gesture.

  “You all good, Andy?” C.J. chimed in over my comm. “I feel like shit just sitting up here doing nothing. Are you sure we can’t help?”

  I pulled on the lightweight bracers around my wrists, ensuring they were tightly secured. “Sorry, C.J.. Until this is over, it is safer for you guys to stay hidden. Once it’s over and we have secured the rest of the crew, we will need you guys to give us a ride, and I have to assume it is going to be a bumpy ingress if the Council has anything to say about it.”

  “I feel like we have barely gotten to talk over the last couple of days. What’s the plan? Do you have any backup, bro? I mean, isn’t that squad down there helping you?” Andy asked the questions one after the other.

  “They are busy. Matthias has tasked them with securing the seed. He says he had good intel that it was moved from the Council Library to the Arena. If everything goes our way, I’ll be able to take down Jax and secure the Seed.”

  C.J. sighed. “And if things don’t go well?”

  “Then there is nothing you guys would be able to do to change it, C.J.,” I grabbed one of the ceiling-mounted handholds and pulled myself up. “Look, C.J., you have the Bloodhound, Natasha, and my brother with you. Things will be bad if I lose here, but they will be worse if the Council has access to my armor and the ship. I need you to swear something, can you do that?”

  “Yeah, man. You know I can. What is it?” C.J. replied.

  “If things go south down here…”I trailed off.

  “Don’t even go there, Andy. You have gotten our asses out of one shitty situation after another since this all started. Now, granted, this won’t be easy, I get that, but I need you to get your fuckin head screwed on straight.”

  “C.J., listen. If things go south, I need you to swear that you won’t come for me. Take the Bloodhound back to Earth. Link up with Danae and continue this fight. Nobody else is coming to help humanity. We just can’t let this all be for nothing,” I wobbled back and forth as the transport came to an abrupt stop. “I’m about to walk in, Natasha should be able to hack into the feed so you guys can keep up to speed. I need to hear you say it, C.J.”

  “Damn you, Andy. Damn you for putting this on me… Fine, I swear it. I’ll do what I can to make sure Earth has a chance.”

  “Thanks, C.J.. I love you, brother,” my voice cracked as I said the words.

  “I love you, too, bro. Go kick some ass and get back to us with our friends. Bloodhound out.” My comm clicked softly, confirming I was alone again.

  The back doors of the transport swung open violently as several armed guards rushed into the back, grabbing me and placing restraints around my wrists and ankles. I didn’t struggle. After talking through the plan with Matthias and Kindo, I had assumed this would happen. There was no way they would let this happen on my terms. I was pulled out of the back of the transport and hit with a gust of cold, wet air. I took a deep breath and exhaled to see the steam from my mouth trail up into the night sky, illuminated by the multitude of giant augmented reality billboards lining the massive arena.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  I stood in place for a few seconds as the guards cleared the transport to leave the intake area. The arena was a sight to behold, standing nearly 5,000 feet tall. I knew the Burj Khalifa was about 2,700 feet tall, and from a quick glance, this arena had to be nearly twice as tall. I tried to get a reference for how big the diameter was, but from my close proximity, it was impossible to tell; it just seemed to go and go, covering what would have been 15 or 20 city blocks from Earth, if not more.

  “Move Human!” A large guard shoved me with the butt of his gun.

  I started walking forward into a tunnel that led down beneath the arena. Two guards stood silently guarding the entrance as I passed and headed down into the darkness. We walked for several minutes, the only light coming from the dimly lit orange safety lights that were spaced every few hundred feet or so.

  Finally we came to a stop in front of a large metal door that swung open as we approached. I raised my hands, protecting my eyes from the bright light that flooded out and temporarily blinded me. I couldn’t see him, but I knew the voice as soon as he spoke.

  “Cap! It’s real good to see ya!” Jax stepped forward and caught me with a left hook that buckled my knees.

  “Umph,” I was caught under the arms by my two escorts as Jax cackled with laughter.

  “Damn, you really came? I gotta be honest, I didn’t think you had it in you to be honest. I mean, to be fair, I have seen you do some crazy shit, but to come in here alone, without your fancy shmancy armor? Well, you surprised the hell outta me.”

  I shook my head, trying to clear the fog from Jax’s punch, and struggled to get my legs back under me.

  “Did he have anyone with him?” Jax asked the guard on my left.

  “No, sir. Just the driver, but we checked the transport and cleared him to leave after. We monitored the vehicle until it was safely out of effective range of the Arena.”

  “Damn, you keep surprising me, Cap.” Jax turned and motioned to my escorts to drag me into the brightly lit room. Once the door closed behind us, the guards released me, and I slumped to my knees.

  “See, I had it on good authority that you were running with some local guys, even managed to get ol’ Red back.” Jax grabbed a chair from the side of the room and put it in front of me, sitting on it in reverse style with his chin resting on his hands.

  I looked up, finally able to see, and immediately identified him.

  Jax Gonzales

  Level 56 : Interstellar Sniper

  Crew Member of Ship: Bloodhound

  Level 56. I knew he would have gained some levels but nearly 30 levels, how was he able to do that so fast? I mentally highlighted the Crew tab in my interface, scrolled down to his name, and removed him from the crew. Jax frowned as the notification no doubt scrolled across his own interface.

  “Looks like you got some of your tricks back. We figured that would be the case since you were able to get Red. No problem, though,” Jax stood up, kicking the chair away and moved his head side to side, stretching his neck. He jab stepped to the left before catching me with a knee to the temple, causing me to nearly black out as I fell to the ground. I took a deep breath and squeezed my eyes tightly shut, partly in preparation for another blow, partly to try and clear my head.

  Jax knelt down and grabbed my hair, lifting my face so he could see me as he squatted. “Let me tell you something, Andrew, you piece of shit. I never wanted to be part of your crew full of worthless fucking nobodies. I was there for my brother; I was there for Claire. You were the rock in my fucking shoe that I just had to deal with,” Jax shoved me away and stood up, turning his back to me. “A better deal came along. I get to keep my brother safe, shit better than that, we will be living like kings once this is done.”

  I finally cleared my head enough to struggle to my feet as he walked to the other side of the room. “It didn’t have to be this way, Jax. They will never let you and Matty live in peace. They’ve lost too much,” I motioned to him and back at myself. “WE have taken too much. Their pride and disregard for our people will not let them leave you alive, you gotta know that.”

  Jax turned and smiled. “I don’t have to accept shit. I’m sure you saw my level. Honestly, it was quite the treat to see that I had passed you. Level 50? or P50, whatever the fuck that means. After all the time you spent in the tower, you’re only level 50? Karis sent me too, you know? I spent a few days there after I couldn’t farm the Chaff anymore. Don’t get me wrong, they helped a ton but couldn’t even crack level 40 with what they were bringing me in the end.

  “Karis? Who is Karis? Is that your backer?” I looked up sharply.

  “You’ll meet him real soon. He put this whole shindig on. I wanted to kill you and be done with it, but he says it’s necessary to gain the favor of the people. Also, something about getting access to a power seed, whatever that is. Long story short he doesn’t like you. Can’t say I blame him,” Jax walked toward me slowly. “You know what it is? Why I hate you?”

  “Can’t say I do, Jax. The feeling wasn’t mutual; I thought we were in this together.”

  “Together? You have nearly killed every one of the people who follow you. You make rash decisions, you have no military training, but you call yourself a captain? You just happen to get a serious weapon and mysterious class, and all of a sudden, you’re a hero? I say bullshit. You’re a loser. You were a loser before the drop, you were a loser after the drop, and you’re still,” Jax pushed a finger into my chest emphasizing each word, “A…pathetic…loser.”

  I shook my head and looked down before spitting blood that had pooled in my mouth. “Yeah, I have lost my fair share of fights during all of this, and you’re right, I got power that I didn’t deserve. You wanna know the difference between me and you, though, Jax?”

  Jax smiled, “Enlighten me.”

  I looked up, smiling, blood covering my teeth. “I know what I am. I know who needs me to fight this battle, and I know the consequences of failure. Most of all, though, I know I’m gonna have a real shitty day.”

  “Ha!” Jax laughed. “We can agree on that. The day is gonna be really bad because I will make sure it’s your last.” He turned to walk out a side door.

  “No, Jax. That isn’t why it’s gonna be bad.”

  Jax stopped and asked, “Why is it gonna be bad, then?”

  I stood tall and spoke coldly, “because I am gonna have to look your brother in the eye and tell him I cut your fucking heart out.”