Moon
Prometheus Main Biosphere, Second Level

"BARNES!" I shouted.

He froze, and everyone around us went silent.

Barnes turned to face us, eyes flicking back and forth and taking our group in. Guards moved forwards, but he waved for them to stop.

"I hope you're bringing me them as prisoners, Legend?" He asked.

"Nope." Scar replied sharply.

I drew my axe, pointing it at him.

"We're here to kill you," I said, eyes flicking to his family behind him, "but they can go. We don't want to hurt them."

Barnes gave a cruel laugh. He motioned for the guards to come to him. He grabbed the commander, whispering something into his ear. The commander nodded, barking and order to his unit. They quickly escorted the family away.

Barnes cracked his neck.

"Finally. I haven't had a good fight since the Severnyy Civil War." He said as the Unbroken slowly circled him. He shrugged his Admiral's coat off, showing the casual tank top and, in effect, his tightly corded arms. A necklace of Severnyy teeth hung from his neck, alongside an old pair of dog tags, one Terran and one Severnyy. He slowly drew a double-handed sword like Zara's from his belt, spinning with the group and keeping his eyes locked with mine.

Zara lunged at him from behind with her new sword, and all hell broke loose.

He blocked Zara's blow without turning initially, spinning around behind her and knocking her to ground with a blow to the back of the head with the hilt of the sword. Karn shouted in anger, whipping his rapier from his belt and lunging.

Barnes casually swiped it away, disarming and kicking Karn back into a pond behind him in a single, fluid move.

B and Nafia came at him at the same time, Nafia quickly sliding on her knees around to his other side and slashing as B jumped forwards with his knife. Barnes slid to the side and smacked B's hand out of the way, accidentally getting slashed across the thigh by Nafia as he moved.

He hissed, backhanding her away with a heavy hand as Scar swung the butt of his rifle at the back of his head. Barnes twisted away, grabbing the broad side of the barrel and pulling it against his chest. Scar struggled to get ahold of his gun again, spinning around with him.

Seeing the opening I had been waiting for, I jumped forward as he and Scar came around again and cloths wired him with the handle of my axe.

He fell with a grunt, rolling away and jumping up as I brought the blade down and cracked the stone. I twisted, swinging again and narrowly missing.

Barnes suddenly shot closer to me, grabbing the handle of my axe and bringing his forearm down into my inner elbow. I dropped it, and he spun and brought his other elbow directly into my masked face with a nasty crack.

I stumbled back, vision fuzzy. The ground rushed up to meet me.

With a groan I rolled over, watching Barnes and Ivan circled each other through teary eyes.

"Ivan Strongwinter. I've wanted to fight you for years." Barnes said. I watched, confused, as Mowgli slipped into the bushes with a growl.

"You're a Hunter." Ivan said flatly.

Barnes pounded his chest with one fist, three times rapidly.

"Through and through. Your father was a worthy opponent. Worthy enough that I took his tag. Let's see if his son lives up to those standards." Barnes said.

With an enraged roar Ivan lunged, the attachment to his hammer kicking in.

The thing had almost little cruiser thrusters, blasting back blue flames as it threw him forwards.

Barnes was barely able to duck, sliding under Ivan and thrusting his sword up and into his upper chest. Ivan roared in pain, dropping the hammer and hitting the ground hard.

He didn't get up.

"...no." I mumbled.

Barnes flicked the blood from his sword and resheathed it, slowly spinning and taking the crew in.

"I had hoped you all would be more of a...challenge. Especially you two, Legend and Mr. Strongwinter." He said.

He turned on his heel, marching away.

I pulled myself up with my axe, limping over to Ivan. A broken shard of my mask fell off, opening up a gap in from of my mouth. I rolled him over with great effort, pressing my hands into the injury.

"Karn! Get out of the water, damn it!" I roared, voice cracking. A cold shiver had crept up my spine.

Karn was flailing around in the pond, but managed to claw his way over.

Karn saw the situation, face solidifying. He immediately knelt at Ivan's side.

"Pearl, keep pressure on it. Ivan, can you hear me?" Karn said.

"Loud... and clear." Ivan grunted.

"I don't think any vital organs were hit, but you're bleeding out." Karn reported, digging around in his bag for supplies.

Ivan made a weird sound that I thought was choking for a moment. But then I realized he was laughing.

"You need to work... on you bedside manners." Ivan chuckled.

The rest of the crew limped their way over, ignoring the forming crowd of whispering people.

"What now? Barnes knows we're coming." Nafia asked, slumping down with B. She rested her head on his shoulder, and he wrapped one arm around her shoulders.

"Medic! I'm a combat medic! Move your asses!" Someone yelled, pushing their way out of the crowd. He knelt next to Karn, pushing a strand of his own red hair out of the way.

"You're trained?" He asked Karn.

Karn snorted.

"Of course. Dealt with much worse than this out on the Outback during the war." He replied.

The Gigacorp medic brushed my hands away, putting pressure on it himself.

"Why are you helping us?" Zara questioned accusingly.

"I swore an oath to protect and assist anyone in need, and I intend to keep it. Antibacterial." He demanded the last part. Karn didn't hesitate.

Ivan turned his head to me.

"...go. Kill that jackass." He coughed.

"...but..." I trailed off, seeing his expression.

I nodded, standing and cracking my neck.

The crowd parted fearfully for me. I hesitated.

"If you keep following Barnes, he's going to get every single one of you killed. He already destroyed Therllyria, and set Earth against itself, all because he wants power." I said, raising my voice. They fell silent, listening. "There's a planet down there. It's called Hermitcraft, and it's my home. I grew up there. It's a beautiful place. At least it was, until Gigacorp came. If any of you want to live, find a way to get there. You'll be welcomed by my people with open, eager arms. Every single person there has an important part to play, and it will never be underestimated. You won't be forced to spill you and your family's blood for a flag that drains you of everything you have. When you get there, tell them Moon sent you." I said.

The entire crowd was silent. With a nod I turned on my heel, resting my axe on my shoulder. A half-ring of guards had taken up a defensive stance, but even they looked uneasy.

Scar followed after me, ripping the Gigacorp seal from his rifle and throwing it at the stunned captain.

"Take that as my note of resignation from the post of Legend." He said. The name rippled uneasily through the ranks of the guards.

I walked up to the captain, pulling my mask off.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"C-Colton McFee." He stammered.

"Why did you join the Gigacorp security force, Colton?" I asked kindly.

"I signed up because I didn't have a choice. My kids are starving back on Jupiter's moons." He  suddenly teared up. "I only have two months left on my contract, man. Now I don't even know if I can go home."

His first sergeant, who was almost identical to him, put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I was drafted. They didn't even explain why. They threatened my family if I didn't comply. My only son is three years old, and my wife is stuck in a wheelchair. They put a gun to both of their heads when I tried to tell them I couldn't afford to leave them behind." The first sergeant said, much to the shock of their platoon.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"First Sergeant Ryan Meyers, ma'am."

"Where is your family now?"

"Republic of Texas, ma'am."

I craned my head back to the crew.

"B, I need you to get in contact with Command down on Hermitcraft. See what they can do to get the families of First Sergeant Meyers and Captain Colton McFee in Texas and Jupiter Colonies to safety." I yelled back. B nodded as I turned back.

"Captain, First Sergeant, our people do their best to get you and your mens families to safety." I promised. Meyers let out a small sigh of relief.

"Thank you." He said, slipping back into the stance of a soldier.

"Men! Let them through! Form defensive ranks!" McFee barked.

The platoon immediately parted to the sides, raising their weapons and looking into the bushes.

McFee pulled an earpiece from his navy blue and orange Kevlar vest, handing it to me.

"A lot more people, both military and civilian, aren't as happy with Barnes as you think. Most are just too scared to make the first move against him. We'll keep in touch, ma'am. We'll have our inside men take the bridge and get your people the backup they need." He promised me as I slipped the earpiece on.

I gave him a warm, genuine smile.

"Thank you, captain." I said.

"Colton. And it's the least I can do." He corrected, motioning one of his men forwards.

"Where's Barnes?" He asked.

The guy tuned up his earpiece, listening for a moment.

"Waiting for the next train to the bridge. ETA is two minutes." He reported. McFee nodded, turning back to me.

"The train is just down the street. Me and my squad will be right behind you." He said, in full combat mode now.

I nodded, grateful for the backup.

Then I ran as fast as I could.

. . .

Barnes and his personal guard heard I was me just as they were stepping onto the train.

Barnes yelled something down the track, swinging himself on board. Half his guards joined him, and the rest took up a defensive ring around the entrance.

I ducked into the bushes before they could see me, running alongside the train as it sped up.

I jumped forwards, grabbing ahold of one of the bars. The force of the train ripped me off my feet and almost ripped my arm out of its socket.

I swung my legs up and caught my foot under a bar, throwing a quick glance over my shoulder. McFee and his team had done the same back at the back end of the train, quickly rushing in.

I hauled myself up to the roof just as we shot by the station. One guard saw me out of the corner of his eye, spinning and firing at me with a shout.

"Bye!" I called back cheerfully, watching as the rest of the rebel platoon burst into the station and fired on the guards.

I turned my attention back to the train. I was only two cars ahead of the engine.

"Moon, this is McFee. Did you make it to the train?" The voice came from my earpiece.

"Yes. I'm on the roof, only a few cars from the engine." I confirmed.

"Good. We're about to jump to the next car and start pushing to Barnes. I need you to duck back to the engine and take Barnes out from behind while he's distracted. Can you do that?" He said.

"On my way now. Any update from the bridge?" I asked, running for the engine.

"They took it with almost no resistance. The only casualty is the captain of the ship. We've also ordered riots down in the prison and engine sectors. Our rebel guards joined them. The civilians are also rioting in town as well. We're almost in complete control of the Prometheus." McFee said.

"Good." I said, jumping down onto the side walkway of the engine.

I kicked the door down, and the engineers backed away calmly with their hands in the air.

"Miss Moon?" One asked. I nodded.

"Engine, do not stop at the bridge, I repeat, do NOT stop at the bridge! Insurgents have taken it! Get us to the end of the line!" A voice barked.

"Can not do, sir. Captains orders." The other engineer replied over the radio. He turned it down to block out the angry shouting.

"Captain McFee, the engine is secure. Do we stop at the bridge?" I asked.

Gunfire over the radio answered me.

"Keep going past it! The bridge is at the edge of a massive gap between here and the secondary biosphere. The only thing in it is the track. Nowhere to run. Stop in the middle of it, and we'll throw Barne's off of it if we have to!" McFee responded.

I relayed the orders to the engineers, ducking out of the engine and pushing the door to the first car open.

And there Barnes was.

With half his guard.

Six disrupter assault rifles were immediately aimed directly at me.