The Grand Offensive (Slash's POV)

## **The End is Near...**

Corpus's demise is no longer imagination; it has transcended into reality. As a member of the faction's deadliest strike forces, the assassin operative Slash didn't believe he'd live to see the end. Yet here he was, rushing towards the Council chamber alongside his lifelong partner Ranger.

Stronghold forces were boarding the *Silence of Nexus*, and it was up to them and a few surviving NOVA commandos to stop them.

### **Mission Briefing**

DEFCON-I, **Boarding Eminent**

06 : 00 December 1st, NE14

NOVA Operative **Slash**

**The Ghost's Hand**

*"Attention, attention. Boarding by enemy forces imminent. Brace for impact and repel intruding units immediately."*

The ship's intercom woke Slash harshly up from his meditation. Shooting himself up, he saw his chamber was bathed in the red emergency lights.

Groaning, he arose from a seated position within his levitation chamber and let himself down onto the cold floor. Immediately robot arms from the ceiling attached his signature white armor onto his body. The process was lithe and automatic; it ended with a metallic ping on his akimbo katanas clicking into the sheaths on his back.

"Wake up sleepyhead, we got visitors knocking." a young but husky voice came from his earpiece.

The voice on the other end was none other than his lifelong partner-in-crime Ranger. The seasoned renegade was Corpus's most feared warrior.

"*Va te faire enculer mon ami*, what is it." Slash growled.

Before Ranger could answer, the ninja's HUD finally booted up. Immediately a computer-generated picture was presented to him. At once Slash knew how grave the situation was.

The *Silence of Nexus*, one of Corpus's flagships and the NOVA Council's mobile base, and her few remaining escort destroyers were besieged by a massive Tri-Empire and Stronghold fleet. Slash stared in disbelief as a gigantic Stronghold battleship opened fire on the escort armada with its plasma battery. Fiery blue particles arced high up above the *Silence of Nexus* before coming down, incinerating five Corpus destroyers in the way.

"Slash man, just shut up and get your ass-"

A deafening boom violently rocked the room and knocked the French ninja onto his behind.

"Shit, repulsor shields have just been broken through and 4 of 5 ion engines critically damaged. We're a dead target now." spoke Ranger. Unsurprisingly, he maintained his calm and sarcastic composure.

"*Mon ami*, I'm not going down without a fight."

"Oh really? Because I just figured you'd walk out there with a white flag. Isn't that what all French people have been doing for all of this-"

Insulted, Slash abruptly shut off his earpiece. He picked himself up and went into the smoke-choked corridor. As he rushed towards the combat zone past emergency personnel, wounded crew members and debris, Slash wondered if the beginning of the end had finally arrived.

His earpiece once again crackled life, but a different voice came through. This one was panicked.

"NOVA Operative 2, can you read? Slash!"

It was Specs, one of Corpus' most brilliant technicians.

"*Ici*," replied Slash calmly.

"An enemy insurrection pod is about to insert at an intrusion point two levels down from you. I'm sending Momentum and Theta Red to assist."

Slash scowled.

"Can't you send anyone else? *Où est* Ranger?"

"We need your partner in the air, maybe we could spare... Hayne?"

Queasy memories of being injected with various concoctions flooded Slash's head. He swore that indigo-armored scientist was ten different types of demented, and Hayne would counter by saying "eleven" or "banana" or some random, made-up number. Hayne also had a nasty obsession with testing his chemical weapons on Slash himself. But, he was preferable to two annoying women who were most likely angsty over their boyfriend's recent deaths.

"Send him," Slash replied. Specs acknowledged his request before going offline.

Immediately, his HUD displayed the predicted entry point. Slash took off for the nearest stairwell.

*CRASH!*

What could only be the insurrection pod ramming itself into the flagship induced an ear-splitting screech of metal punching through metal and a thunderous shockwave that threw Slash off balance.

Seconds later, a volley of gunfire erupted from below Slash.

"*We're being breached!*" Someone cried over the radio, "*Send reinforcements to Level 2 aggghhh-*"

Growling, Slash flipped a metallic Frisbee-like gadget out of his combat pack and slammed it onto the ground.

As the gadget began to vibrate on the ground with increasing intensity, Slash stopped to admire his katanas. His prized weapons since the inception of his illustrious military career looked like they came straight out of a Samurai movie. The two identical Japanese swords had 70cm-long blades, gleaming dangerously, crafted from an intricate diamond-reinforced alloy of jewel steel and kyanite. Yet even with the material upgrades, how can a sword at best cope with decades of weapon advancements?

Simple, Slash's katanas were anything but ordinary. Pulsating in an invisible halo around each blade was highly-ionized gas held in place by a magnetic field. The gas burned in excess of 2500 degrees Celsius and produced a noxious fume that disoriented enemies in close proximity. In layman's term, the French ninja was not to be fucked with.

And very soon, the intruders would know all too well.

"We're being breached! Send reinforcements to Level 2 arggghhh-"

The security guard who tried to radio for support fell to the floor, his innards completely vaporized by a plasma shotgun blast.

The Stronghold operator wielding the shotgun, an imposing figure clad in latticed black body armor, laughed underneath his juggernaut helmet. Laser bolts bounced harmlessly off him as he pumped his weapon, aimed and shot again. The plasma blast connected with another security guard who was blown off her feet and down the corridor in a spinning ball of cauterized flesh.

He shot again. The heads of two security guards shooting wildly with their flimsy laser handguns from behind their deployed shields exploded in unison.

He shot yet again.

The last security guard crumpled to the ground in a bloody heap.

"Clear!" announced the Stronghold operator.

Silence.

Suddenly, his body tensed. The plasma shotgun fell from his hands and clattered onto the floor. He could feel the energy and adrenaline built up from the two-hour flight in the insurrection pod pouring out of his body. He fell to his knees, and weakly looked down.

A blade was sticking out of his chest. And then, like the half dozen security guards he slaughtered seconds earlier, the Stronghold operator was dead.

Slash calmly pulled his katana out from the back of the last intruder and sheathed it.

"Area clear, *mes amies*."

*To be continued ...*