The outskirts of Sector 9 bordered a toxic industrial wasteland where the Federation dumped its highly volatile tech waste. It was a dangerous, restricted zone, but Asher frequently traveled there to scavenge high-grade mechanical parts to feed his [Assimilation] skill.
As he walked through a graveyard of rusted starship hulls, a sudden, blinding flash of light lit up the stormy sky.
Boom!
The thunderous sound of a military-grade plasma explosion echoed through the wreckage, followed by the high-pitched whine of a Silver-frame exo-suit's thrusters pushing past its limits.
Asher melted into the shadow of a rusted hull, his crimson eyes narrowing as he watched the scene unfold.
A single female military cadet was sprinting through the rain, her white-and-silver officer-in-training uniform covered in mud and deep crimson blood. Her long dark hair was matted against her face, and her Silver-frame armor was dangerously overclocked, venting thick white steam from its exhaust ports.
This was Lucy. She was a prodigy, a high-resonance military cadet who should have been destined for the elite officer corps.
But right now, she was running for her life from her own people.
Three high-spec Federation Hunter-Seeker mechsâdeadly, unmanned drone units used by military high command for black-ops executionsâhovered closely behind her, their automated heavy turrets locking onto her signature.
"Target identified: Cadet Lucy," a cold, synthesized mechanical voice boomed from the leading drone. "Authorization: Commander Briggs. Code: Treason. Elimination protocol initiated."
"Briggs... you cowardly bastard!" Lucy screamed, her voice cracking with a mixture of raw betrayal and exhaustion.
She spun around, drawing a high-frequency plasma saber and slicing through the first drone's weapon mount in a brilliant display of combat mastery. But she was already at her limit. Her armorâs power core was flashing red. Her high superior, Commander Briggs, had intentionally sent her into a trap, framed her for treason, and ordered her execution to cover up a corrupted military supply scandal she had accidentally uncovered. He had left her here to die in the waste where no one would ever find the body.
The remaining two drones opened fire simultaneously.
A barrage of heavy kinetic rounds tore through her energy shield, shattering her exo-suit's leg actuators. Lucy collapsed into the toxic mud, her plasma blade slipping from her fingers. She looked up, panting heavily, as the twin barrels of the execution drones whined, charging up a lethal dual-plasma blast to vaporize her.
She closed her eyes, biting her lip in bitter frustration. She was going to die a traitor's death, abandoned and forgotten.
The drones fired.
But the lethal blue plasma beams never hit her.
A sudden, terrifying wave of absolute darkness swept over the graveyard, swallowing the neon light of the rain. From the pitch-black shadows directly in front of Lucy, a tall, cloaked figure materialized out of thin air.
Asher stood there, his back to her. He raised a single, bare hand. Crackling currents of dark violet-blue plasma erupted from his palm, forming a dense, swirling vortex of energy that completely caught and absorbed the oncoming dual-plasma blast.
The execution drones whirred frantically, their sensors glitching out as they tried to calculate the massive energy readings coming from a person with no registered genetic resonance.
Asher turned his head slightly, his eyes glowing a predatory, blinding crimson through the dark hood of his cloak. Lucy gasped, her heart stopping for a second as she stared at the terrifying savior who had just dropped from the shadows.
"Who... who are you?" she whispered weakly.
Asher didn't look back at her. Sparks of superheated plasma danced along his knuckles as he flexed his claws.