S1, 26 All For One... (FB) (April 26, 2015)

Corresponding text underneath each picture.

**24th February 2094**

Tank: “I didn’t *steal* anything!”

No matter what I said, the stall owner simply did not believe me. He was accusing me of stealing fruit from one of his crates, as he was one missing, but I honestly hadn’t taken anything! I wished that Jarred was here to back me up, but he was elsewhere, talking to one of his new ‘buddies’. He’d spent most of the past few days with his new found criminal friends. I wasn’t happy, but I couldn’t do anything about it.

The stall-owner jabbed a finger at me and grunted in his alien language, clearly angry.

Tank: “You can search me if you like, I don’t have your fruit!” I exclaimed but I only received a hard shove in return. I staggered back, tripped and fell onto my arse.

I was about to exclaim and tell him that I’d pay for the fruit anyway, even though I didn’t have it, when a familiar voice called out,

Jarred: “Hey! Leave him alone!”

Jarred strode over and pointed at the alien.

Jarred: “Is there a problem here?” he demanded and the alien looked rather worried for having created such a commotion. He still tried arguing though and gestured first towards his crate and then towards me.

Jarred: “My friend did not steal anything from you, is that understood?” he threatened and the alien, after a moment, conceded and simply walked back behind his stall.

Jarred offered me a hand and pulled me up.

Jarred: “You okay, pal?”

Tank: “I’m fine.” I muttered, slightly embarrassed.

Jarred: “We really need to teach you how to fight back.”

We started walking away from the scene.

Tank: “I honestly didn’t take anything though.”

Jarred: “I know.” Jarred replied with a smirk, tossing the missing fruit into the air and catching it again. “Come on. Let’s go train.”

**18th April 2095: Present Day**

**Qoter...**

It had been over a month since I had rescued Mr. Grey from his besieged office at the heart of Qoter’s capital city. More than a month since those crazies from another galaxy had begun to attack the planet.

In the time since, I had hidden out with Aril and Tracks in an abandoned apartment on the far side of the planet. When we had dropped Mr. Grey off at the nearby space port, this area of the planet was still untouched by the Collective’s attacks, but in the weeks since, it had become a literal warzone – just like the rest of the planet. Currently, the only area still under Imperial control was Regentis, the capital. But the Imperium were struggling to keep that control now and cracks were beginning to show.

The three of us had so far managed to avoid the fighting and kept hidden, but we knew that it wouldn’t last forever. Last week there had been a violent skirmish not far away. Clearly the residents of the planet weren’t going to give up their homes without a fight.

For the first time ever, I was thankful that the GI were around.

In our month in hiding, I had not been contacted by Mr. Grey a single time. We were still waiting for information from him regarding the whereabouts of Aril’s family and it had gotten to the point now where I was itching to go out and do something. Sitting in hiding was so boring! During the first week we’d been here, I had slipped out one day to scout the surrounding area and had gotten myself into a tight spot with some collective soldiers and Aurellians, but that was a story for another time.

Sitting here now was getting more and more dangerous by the day. I was beginning to wonder whether Mr. Grey had forgotten about his promise of information.

However, earlier this morning I had been in the middle of throwing stones at empty tins cans with Aril, when my holo-com bleeped. Tracks tossed it over to me from where I’d left it on a table and after turning off the local radio station, RFR, I’d been listening to, something I’d gotten into the habit of doing since my run in with the Collective a few weeks back, I activated it.

Mr. Grey: “Chain.”

Tank: “Mr. Grey…” I was going to ask if he had the information I had requested, but he cut me off.

Mr. Grey: “I’ve been monitoring your location. Live feed shows a group of Collective members heading your way. I don’t think they know you’re there. They’re not there for you.”

Tank: “Then what are they here for? Are they attacking?”

Mr. Grey: “Negative. They don’t appear to be soldiers like most of those attacking the rest of the planet.”

Tank: “So who are they?” I looked up at Tracks who was watching my conversation with the hologram.

Mr. Grey: “I have reliable intel that one of the group members is in fact a council member among the Collective. He’s known as Al’Shaar Vadier.”

Tank: “A councillor? What’s he doing here?”

Mr. Grey: “Presumably overseeing the war effort. There are four men, all on foot. They seem to be taking a tour of the area. But I really couldn’t tell you.”

Tank: “So why are you telling me? Is this just a warning to stay out of harm’s way? Because in case you hadn’t noticed, we’ve been living in a warzone for the past month! Waiting for you! Do you have the information I asked for?”

Mr. Grey didn’t answer straight away and I had a horrible feeling that I knew what was coming next.

Mr. Grey: “I do. But first I need you to do something for me.”

Tank: “*I saved your life!* Is that not enough?” I shouted. “I saved your life and all I asked in return was information on how I can help save a young boy’s life!”

Mr. Grey: “I know and I’m sorry Chain, I really am. But as you’re so close, I need you to do this for me. There may not be another opportunity like this.”

I clenched my jaw and looked around before replying.

Tank: “What do you want me to do this time?”

Mr. Grey: “I need you to spy on Vadier for me. Just follow them while they’re in the area. Use your datapad to record their conversations. Knowing what they know could change the tide in this battle!”

Tank: “Do I get a choice in this?” I asked, annoyed.

Mr. Grey: “We all have choices, Chain. But whether we have choices or not is irrelevant. - It’s the decisions we make that are important.”

Tank: “I’ll take that as a no.”

I got up and walked over to where my coat was in a heap on the table.

Mr. Grey: “Stay out of sight. Stay safe.”

And with that, the transmission had ended. I had put on my coat and hat, told Aril I would be back as soon as I could be, instructed Tracks to keep him safe and then left.

I now found myself sitting in the third story of a building which had been only partially damaged in the fighting. I was sat by a hope in the wall that offered me both cover and a good view of the surrounding area. I would know when the Collective men came by.

I had my sniper rifle resting on the edge of the hole and was scanning the ground for any signs of movement. I wasn’t going to engage, I knew that would be suicide. I was just using the scope to get a better look.

*THERE!*

Four men, all humans dressed in long cloaks of varying colours, entered my view along the street to my North. The three youngest looking all carried staffs of some description, while the fourth, a late middle-aged man who seemed to be giving out instructions, walked with his hands behind his back.

Tank: “What are you doing?” I muttered quietly to myself as I watched the four men walk slowly down the road towards me.”

The only sounds were the echoes of gunfire and explosions off in distant cities. Here, everything was quiet except for a breeze that was blowing favourably in my direction. As I watched the Collective men grow closer, I tightened the sight on my scope and at the same time, I began to pick up the odd word of their conversation here and there. Not enough to be able to work out what they were saying but the closer they got, the more I could hear.

I focussed in on the elder of the men, the one I assumed was the council member and concentrated as hard as I could trying to hear the conversation.

Just a few seconds later, once they reached the crossroads only several meters from the corner of my building, they stopped to have a discussion.

A handily-timed gust of wind blew their voices in my direction.

Vadier: “…bring the forces around.”

Man #1: “But then the Eastern flank would be weakened.”

Man #2: “But if the forces can push through at Princes…”

Man #1: “They’re not going to push through at Princes! That region is too well defended. We haven’t made any progress there in weeks. In fact, the Imperium have started regaining ground.”

Man #3: “It’s the same in my North quadrant. Some local gang with a cute name have started assisting the Imperials.”

I couldn’t make out what they were saying for a few seconds so I used the time to shift myself into a more comfortable position.

By the time the wind picked up again, the men seemed to have reached a decision.

Vadier: “…..the Spire.”

Man #2: “But what if it doesn’t work?”

Vadier: “Are you doubting the council’s capabilities?”

Man #2: “No my lord! Of course not!”

Vadier: “Good. Then prepare the men in your respective quadrants. I want the selected squads ready to move by the morning.”

The three men chorused “Yes sir!” and then all four of them proceeded along their route.

They were directly below me now.

Vadier: “Wait…” he said and raised a hand, stopping all of them.

Suddenly he looked up, but before I had a chance to react, I was flung through the air and found myself pinned against the wall. My sniper had fallen to the floor inside the hole so that it couldn’t be seen from below.

As I hung there, gasping for breath, at first, I thought the councillor had done this. That he had seen me and was keeping me pinned here by the neck with those powers that I had heard so much about. But the real culprit soon became apparent.

Walking towards me from across the room was a woman in battle robes. Her left hand was outstretched and in her right, she held a bow.

I gasped for air as I felt my neck tighten. I couldn’t believe this! Was this really how I was going to die?

The woman stopped just in front of me.

Woman: “What are you doing? Were you planning on assassinating that man?” she demanded, but even if I wanted to answer, I couldn’t have done with her choking me. She seemed to realise this and suddenly I dropped to ta heap on the floor, coughing for air. I looked up and found her bow aimed at me, a glowing green rod shimmering in place of an arrow.

Woman: “Last chance…”

Tank: “Wait! Wait, I… no!” I stammered. “No, I wasn’t going to kill him!”

Woman: “You had the chance. Why didn’t you?”

Tank: “I was instructed just to listen and get information. No killing.”

Woman: “What did you hear?”

Tank: “Uh….” I quickly tried to make sense of what they’d been saying. “Um, something about repositioning troops and trouble in the Northern quadrant.”

The woman didn’t react at all, not even a change in her expression.

Tank: “That’s all I know! I swear!”

The woman stood still for a few moments and I held my breath.

Then in one quick move, the green rod simply vanished and she lowered her bow.

Woman: “Okay.”

Tank: “Okay?” I was rather confused to say the least.

Woman: “You want information from this man?”

Tank: “Uh, yes?”

Woman: “Well so do I. Do you know who he is?”

Tank: “Um, he’s a member of the Collective Council isn’t he?”

Why on earth was this woman who was clearly a member of the Collective herself, seemingly interested in my plans to get information from him? Why hadn’t she just killed me?

Woman: “Indeed. His name is Al’Shaar Vadier and he is a key member of my father’s council.”

Tank: “Whoa, wait… your father’s council?”

This situation was getting stranger by the second.

I stood, picking up my hat, which had fallen off when I was rammed against the wall, and placed it back on my head.

Woman: “Yes, my father’s.” she repeated irritably.

Tank: “Who the hell are you?” I asked bluntly.

Woman: “My name is Eris. My father is Archmage Silas Arathon, leader of the Collective.”

Tank: “Oh… s\*\*t.” I muttered, but she seemed either to not hear or take any notice.

Eris: “You want information from Vadier, well so do I.”

Tank: “Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. This is way too strange.” I stopped her. “Are you the one who was ‘shot from the sky’?” I asked, remembering back to the message that had been projected into everybody’s minds.

Eris: “I am.”

Tank: “So this whole war is over you?”

Eris: “Believe me, I do not know why my father is waging war on your galaxy. This is not the way it should be. We have travelled from galaxy to galaxy for many, many years, but never in my lifetime have we waged a war like this. Only the history books have seen battles like these. I do not know what has come over my father.”

Tank: “But if you are his daughter, can’t you just ask him to stop?”

Eris: “No, it is not as simple as that.”

Tank: “Well why are you after information from this Vadier guy? Can’t you just ask him?”

Eris: “No, he would not give me the information I need. He would not divulge my father’s secrets to me.”

I didn’t say anything for a moment.

Tank: “Why haven’t you killed me?”

Eris thought momentarily and smirked slightly.

Eris: “Because it sounds like you might be useful to me.”

Tank: “Oh really? And how might that be?”

Eris: “You need information from Vadier. I need information from Vadier.” She stated. “How much did you *actually* find out about their plans?”

Tank: “Uh… not much.” I told truthfully.

Eris: “And is whomever you work for going to be pleased with that result?”

Nope. I thought. Mr. Grey and presumably The Brain were not going to be impressed in the slightest. I could see where she was going with this and had to admit that she had a point.

Tank: “No.”

Eris: “Then help me capture him. Help me take Vadier hostage so that I can get the information we both need from him.”

Tank: “And how exactly are you planning on doing that? He’s one of the Collective’s councillors! He’s not going to be easy to capture!” I pointed out.

Eris: “And might I remind you that I am the daughter of the Archmage. If it comes to it, I am more powerful that I look.”

I thought about it for a few seconds. What she was offering made sense. It was a good plan. As long as she didn’t at any point just decide that she didn’t need me.

Tank: “If you’re so powerful, why do you need me?”

Eris: “Back up is always good.” She smiled slightly.

Hmm… This was risky, but there again, so was everything that I did.

Tank: “Okay. You’ve got yourself a deal.”

Eris: “Good. Then pick up your weapon and let’s move.”

She turned around and began walking away. I rubbed my neck where it still felt sore from where she had pinned me to the wall, then bent over, picked up my sniper and as I did so, glanced outside. Vadier and the other men were nowhere to be seen. They’d heard and seen nothing.

I turned and headed after Eris.

N.B. Eris created by Iris AD.

As this is a Cross-Over event, here is the link to the next part of the story, made by Iris AD.

Ep #26.5

As my series is going to be jumping around though time, I will include a date on each episode and add it to the timeline at the end of each episode so that you can follow it.

TIMELINE