Prologue

Sweat poured down his temples, soaking the inner collar of his under-armor and causing his helmet visor to fog over. Eyes darting left and right anxiously, fingers gripping the rifle in a death hold. A whole team of Blue Suns down in a matter of minutes. He'd watched his comrades fall like dominoes across the base floor, their blood splattering the walls like grotesque paint. Blues, greens and reds peppered the crates around him, all but signaling to the mysterious invader his location.

A sharp hissing zing shot overhead and he stifled a terrified gasp. He couldn't remember shaking this badly ever since his first mission. A small job, cargo freighter run by human colonists stupid enough to settle around the Terminus. There had been little to no opposition, no fallen teammates, nothing like this.

Things had been quiet until a mere fifteen minutes ago. He and the other Blue Suns had been securing a drop site to await a ship loaded with illegal goods when the infiltrator fired their first shot. The scariest part was that the attacker had already been among them.

Female Blue Suns weren't unheard of, but they very rarely went on off-world missions, preferring to stick close to home bases to ensure the safety of the bosses. This one had come out of nowhere, lost in the blue and white flashes of the others as they sped for cover. He couldn't even remember seeing her when they'd arrived. She'd just...materialized! Her accuracy was eerie, exploding the helmets of the people closest to him before sprinting away. Further shots, more people on the ground in pain, as he ran for dear life. Now he was the only one left and he knew she was hunting him. He could feel her skulking in the shadows, behind the high walls surrounding the docking bay, maybe even on the ceiling above him. The thought made him shiver uncontrollably and he covered his head with his arms to suppress the panicked cry that bounced off the interior of his helmet.

Thud.

He looked up slowly, eyes meeting the bloodstained ridges of a combat boot. His gaze travelled upward, eventually landing on the masked face of the assassin. Her pistol was resting at her side almost casually, as if she was debating killing him. "Please..." he whispered, templing his hands in supplication towards her. "I don't know what you want...I can't tell you anything!"

The woman's head tilted slightly to the left, but she said nothing. Her fingers flexed around her pistol. She continued to stare down at him through the blue-tinted ports that concealed her eyes. "I'm not going to kill you," she announced suddenly, her voice hollow through the commlink. "You're going to deliver a message for me instead."

"Anything!" he promised desperately, rising to his knees.

"The message is this: He's coming back. There will be a reclamation of what is rightfully his and no one, not even the strongest of your bosses, will stop him."

He processed the words without really hearing them. "Who...who is 'he'?" he asked quietly. She shook her head at him, then backed off the crate she'd been standing on. With a backwards glance, she pointed her pistol at him, but didn't fire. It was a reminder: Deliver the message and you will live.

For now.