The strutting She-Wolf had returned, dancing to the drums of war. Her combat suit was tight, with its plating removed on one arm. One steel arm. Her grin was planted on Kazuki.

The flames across the rubble ignited all around as Freyja's steps ushered in a new wave of dread. Quinn heaved his axe up, revving to charge the new opponent.

"No." Kazuki dragged at Quinn's collar.

"THE HELL!?" Quinn shouted back. Kazuki refuse to answer. His eyes were fixed on the She-Wolf.

Svetez coughed, before chuckling and shouting, "HA! RIGHT ON TIME, FREYJA!"

"Silence," Frejya calmly ordered.

A shuttle landed behind her, and she gestured towards her downed lieutenant.

"Don't spoil this for me! Take her. Don't you dare interrupt."

Two Blood Contractors rushed out, dragging Svetez. She squirmed, but was unable to fight them. Upon being dragged back onto the shuttle, it hovered away.

'The fuck?! Should I shoot her?!' Amyé asked.

'No point. You'd miss,' Kazuki answered. 'This is Arbiter to all stations, ID confirmed. Freyja Beamont, She-Wolf – Third of our Seven. Epsilon. Are you ready?'

Silence rang across the plaza. Kazuki's helm-mask interface highlighted the warrior in front of him, whilst his aug-glasses gave additional readings. Clandestine's hand-down helmets never gave good readings to begin with, but his glasses filled in the gaps.

Predicted mood: confident. 6'01. Exoskeleton active, stimulant-based. Berserker injectants.

Quinn nodded as Freyja sighed. The She-Wolf brandished two chain knives, held to her wrists by orange energy chains.

"Why the nasty face, Ka-zu-ki?"

The She-Wolf was circling the two, playfully waiting for any move.

'We've got this, r-right?' Quinn asked nervously.

Absolutely not. However, Kazuki kept his chin up and nodded. It was a lie. But it was a lie he must make true.

"Hartius?" Kazuki asked, nodding to a metal arm she sported, crude but sufficient.

"My. So astute!" Freyja cheerfully remarked, placing one hand to her cheek. "How are you finding that new eye, hmm? I couldn't ask you... when you were squiring around!"

With the jeer instantly working its magic, Kazuki dove forward. The She-Wolf smiled before revving up her exospine.

Just when Freyja lunged forth, Kazuki reeled backwards, drawing his WRIST-SHOT forth. An unrelenting wave of plasma ripped across the air, slamming into the She-Wolf's shield.

"Yes! That's the spirit!" Freyja grunted as she continued the attack.

Quinn opened fire, expending the last shotgun rounds. Thrashing Kazuki aside, the She-Wolf slammed into Quinn. He lasted a few strikes before the She-Wolf twirled, slashing straight through Quinn's exoskeleton.

"Gah!" Quinn shrieked, before the She-Wolf kicked him away. Quinn crashed into a burnt shuttle. Blood and exoskeletal liquids soaked the concrete below him.

"But spirit isn't everything, my darling! You're still too slow, aren't you? What? Unable to rush past all the dead, hmm?"

The She-Wolf turned on a dime. Instantly, the situation went from bad to treacherous. Freyja poised herself to stab Kazuki.

Shit! Kazuki didn't have time to think. His body moved on its own. Kazuki flicked up a bout of adrenaline, barely staying afoot whilst parrying a violent flurry of Freyja's attacks.

'We're sending reinforcements your way!' Sato's voice came through.

Archius chimed in, 'We're sending in the heavy cavalry. An entire battalion's worth of firepower! Just hold out against her! We've got her pinned down... Perfect conditions for an easy execution.'

Kazuki grunted through the pain in his body.

Kazuki weaved a neck slash. Before the She-Wolf clung her chains around Kazuki's leg, keeping him in place. She yanked his leg forward, almost skewering Kazuki before he countered, side-stepping and dragging Freyja around to disorientate both of them.

Locked in a trade of blades, Freyja kept up the pressure. Slowly, she pried away his defences.

Kazuki drew his pistol, slamming bolt after bolt into her armour until he ran out of bolts.

The chains and knife around his leg tightened. It wasn't enough to stop him. Kazuki's exospine exploded once more.

Energy and speed rushed through him, pushing his body to further heights, faster than any non-augmented human could ever hope to achieve. He sustained his advance.

Kazuki dug his knife into the She-Wolf's shield. A body shield ruptured from her armour, bouncing off the blade. The She-Wolf then shook her head. She was playing with him.

Her exoskeleton only pumped slightly, revving for seconds at a time. Each rev shot her forward, blasting across the field of debris and rubble.

Then, she launched into a flurry of strikes, releasing Kazuki's leg. The pressure release and blood erupting knocked Kazuki to the ground. Kazuki weaved from side to side. Drugs threw his guard up.

Black steel clashed against blood-crazed steel.

Even as Kazuki's heart bled out with stress, he was slowly gaining an advantage. What it was, he couldn't tell. All he had to do was hold out… Hold firm. Kazuki kept building space until the She-Wolf barged forward.

Activating her shield, she weathered the initial barrage of plasma. Then, Kazuki had his legs swiped! Roll. Kazuki narrowly avoided a killing blow. The concrete where he was had been shattered.

'HOLD HER STILL FOR A MOMENT!' Amyé shouted down.

Kazuki reeled backwards, propping himself up to his feet. Clashing once again, Kazuki tried to calculate. Nothing was working… Strong jabs were thrusted away by the beast. No manner of moves bypassed the She-Wolf's guard.

Unlike Lady Antiar, this beast was untameable. Unkillable. The thought refused in Kazuki's own mind.

"Is this really the best you can do?" The She-Wolf inquired. A hint of curiosity dripped from the venom drooling from her lips.

Freyja dignified Kazuki with her best for a brief moment, reeling backwards before careening around. With a single rev, Kazuki felt Freyja's lethal cut shimmer down his exospine. Drugs and stims flooded his body, throwing Kazuki around. Shooting his hand out, Kazuki blasted away with the hand-cannon he had inherited from Svenn…

Freyja chuckled, flipping backwards to avoid the corrosive burns. The acid did not make a dent as it sizzled across the blasted town square plaza.

"Really? You have HIS tools?!" Freyja cheered for a moment. "That's so… adorable! It's like Svenn really was your father… more of a father than that wretched High Admiral of yours…"Swinging her chains forward, the She-Wolf dragged Kazuki across the sizzling belt of acid. Leaping forward, Kazuki grappled the She-Wolf, trying to stab through her defences.

Faster… He had to find a mark, he thought. Kazuki's attempts to bash through her defences were for nought.

Freyja calmly swiped away the rushed kill. Then, she tightened the chains around her arms, throwing them forward to force Kazuki backwards.

On the back foot, Kazuki ducked backwards, shielding a few close blows. When the acid behind him sizzled away completely, he began his retreat. The She-Wolf kept the pressure up as she latched a chain on Kazuki's leg.

'Artillerist, cancel your idea. She won't give you an easy shot. Shoot the chain,' Kazuki ordered.

'YOUR LEG?!'

'Do it.'

A bolt whizzed down from above, slashing through the chains and cutting deep into Kazuki's leg.

Kazuki gritted through the pain. The She-Wolf remained perplexed at such a suicidal move. Kazuki rushed inwards, parrying her remaining chain-knife with his WRIST-SHOT.

A spurt of plasma gave way to one shot… One shot at victory! Kazuki drew his railgun, firing it forth. An explosive kinetic blast shot forward, only for the She-Wolf to side-step its force.

The skyline buildings in the background were torn to shreds. A wasted shot… But it jammed the She-Wolf out of position.

Now. Kazuki raised his finger to his neck.

But something stopped… Kazuki saw glaring at the She-Wolf, and all time stopped. Kazuki's memories and perfective mind gave no end to panic.

This was highly irregular. No. Too irregular. The She-Wolf's eternal grin was gone. That embedded smile had withered away, revealing the snarl beneath. And instantly, a glow of red shone from her exospine.

A rev ensnared the She-Wolf. Then, she let loose herself – the mother of the pack – ahead of the hounds of war.

Ever-changing. Erratic. Charging and withdrawing. It was a mess, thrown against Kazuki's defences.

Each shot rang down from Amyé was deflected away as the She-Wolf reeled her chain-knife into the air.

"Shameless! An ambush!? You've grown so much!" Glee, not hate, radiated.

Dodging and blocking, she rushed forth, bashing down Kazuki at each step.

Overclock?

Her actions were pristine and ornate, yet unpredictable and lethal.

No, Kazuki could not. Too risky. Too little support. The She-Wolf… Kazuki could not fathom a victory against her, even with an Overclock activated.

Victory was the objective, yet no manner of achievement was possible. Along Kazuki's spinal cord and mind, it concluded no possibility of it.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Clawing her fingers, the She-Wolf extended out a large claw from her combat gloves. Using it, she broke down the remainder of Kazuki's shield and guard.

More bolts rained in, trying to cover Kazuki. But nothing hit its mark. It wasn't that Amyé missed.

Freyja, the She-Wolf Beamont, was simply too fast…

Even for a point seventy calibre explosive sniper bolt.

Then, her head twisted – a second muzzle joined the fight!

Quinn! Bruised and battered, hammered down his axe, distracting the She-Wolf. His vest-plate shuddered for a moment as its War-gear protocols activated, protruding a small armed shotgun up from his shoulders.

The cruel happiness faded, and all that was left was wrath. Freyja, enraged, pushed forward, using whatever remained of her chains as whips.

Quinn was grunting, blood dripping from his torso as his war-gear's shotgun extended up from his shoulder. Blanketing the beast, he gave Kazuki valuable seconds…

Overclock.

Overclock.

Overclock.

His mind demanded it.

His body demanded victory.

Yet… Kazuki's vision faltered momentarily. For a second, his memory took over, simulating the flames… The destruction.

Kazuki, with all his tenacity, could not find a course to Overclock. The notion of victory here… was unobtainable to the Contract-Breaker.

Freyja's exospine exploded again, and she slashed straight through Quinn's armour. Her chain whips struck true, and she was ready to give the killing blow. Kazuki charged, but he knew: he wasn't going to make it…

Kazuki saw Quinn's cyan eyes flash for a brief moment… Then: bolts. They hammered in from above! Amyé unleashed hell on the She-Wolf. Knocking her backwards with sheer firepower, Quinn scampered away, injured and dying.

'Deal with that! This sniper is ruining everything!' Freyja bellowed into the uplink.

The shuttle that had transported the She-Wolf here reeled into view once more. Its guns rose to Amyé's position. It opened fire. Kazuki glanced up, seeing Amyé ride a slide of debris and crumbling apartments to escape.

Kazuki placed a finger to his exospine. Now!

No time for hesitation! Kazuki begged his mind to formulate a plan of action.

The idea of victory here was not like the others…

Svenn and Kazuki knew he could have matched.

Leon. No challenge.

Lady Antiar: equal footing – tipped towards her. She was always the better fighter. He had the better mind.

But the She-Wolf? Kazuki's limbs turned rock-solid with his mind. Victory was not obtainable. The endlessly simulating and adapting mind came to a crunching halt.

An answer did not meet him.

Unmoving golden eyes turned to panic. It gave Freyja enough time to squeeze the initiate back.

"My..." Freyja trailed off before bolting forward. She threw her hand beneath her chest plate, drawing a new knife from beneath her chest plate. "You can always save yourself, but never others, Ka-zu-ki!"

The She-Wolf's exoskeleton pumped up and down, revolving like an engine.

Her moves became a blur, faster than Kazuki and faster than his eyes could see.

Unleashing her rage forward, Kazuki was instantly set upon again. The one opportunity Quinn and Amyé bled for had been whisked away.

Now, it was time to defend with all that Kazuki would sacrifice. Throwing everything into the She-Wolf, Kazuki quickly realised that nothing was going to work. She danced around him, the strength of a beast, the brutality of one as well…

Everywhere he stepped, Freyja countered. Her slim and nimble silhouette eclipsed the setting sun.

Whimsical laughs lingered from her lips. Beamont was enjoying this. "Dance, dance, faster, my little Prince! My Contract-Breaker!" she jeered with jest.

Whurring with energy, Kazuki activated his ANCHOR watch. Calculations rammed through his mind as his body was relocated directly behind Freyja. With that, Kazuki swung his leg around.

The thrust was empowered by his cybernetics. He gambled it all for time, for space. And it worked. Kazuki landed his kick, bruising the She-Wolf's cheek.

Flying tens of metres, the She-Wolf landed on her feet without a sound. She rose. Then, she smiled. Placing a hand to her cheek, the She-Wolf's grin widened.

Blood.

Freyja bleeds.

Kazuki can win this.

But doubt. It bled in. His mind cracked at the seams as memories came flooding into his eyes. All that fire and blood covered his mind again.

Failure.

Cripple.

Kazuki berated himself silently. He was unable. Incapable of saving others… So how can he save himself?

Hesitation gave way to fear.

Kazuki's body was shaking… It was something he hadn't felt in a long while. FEAR. DREAD.

A singular glare, and Kazuki froze.

"You can't kill me, can you?" Freyja asked dismissively. "Shame on you. Incapable fool, why are you thinking?! Don't try to think about killing me. Stop thinking, and just kill me?"

That wasn't an opinion. It was cold. Blood-hard. Truth. Nothing can say otherwise. Kazuki was on the brink of defeat.

Even so, Freyja was still spry.

"That face, Kazu-ki!" Freyja raised her calm voice. "That head of yours has always been a problem… collecting information, hashing it out! You don't have that luxury against me, do you?"

Kazuki's body was shaking from the dread… The guilt. It's fear. Death gnawed at Kazuki – memories snagged his muscles.

Amyé was being chased down, and Quinn was on death's doorstep. No one was coming to save him… Not in time, at least. The She-Wolf blipped forward, grabbing Kazuki by the neck to choke him.

"Fuck... You..."

Freyja licked her lips. "Finally... time to see what your eyes are truly made out of," she gleefully said, raising her index finger to his eye. "In the end, you take no pleasure, never learning to put your back into it all. How dare you discard what makes us all human!"

Only one option remained, one that would permanently cripple him further.

One that will damage him far greater than what Elizabeth could ever hope to salvage.

"Look at them… look at how they look at us! They see us as monsters, so let's make their disgust turn to fear!" The She-Wolf snorted. "What say you, little Prince?"

The switch. All Kazuki had to do was—

Gunfire echoed from above. Shuttles came rampaging in. Rockets were thrown all around, aimed at the Blood Contractor shuttle, pinning Amyé and Quinn.

The shuttles had a black crowszica corvus insignia, blazoned on a golden, blue and red field of Republic roses. It was the CRIS, in force.

Freyja released Kazuki, kicking him through a water fountain and into rubble behind it. 'Hmm... Fine. You survive this day, Contract-Breaker. All forces! We've shown them enough today!'

A platoon of CRIS Deathtroops crushed onto the ground, blocking the She-Wolf's path. Yet the beast clashed forward, her grappling hook latched forth, lacerating the first before the slaughter became lethally infectious.

Freyja jumped up, grabbing onto a rappel rope heaved down by the remaining Blood Contractor shuttle, before it whizzed off and away - chased by a few AGENCY and CRIS war shuttles.

"You're cursed to live, little Prince!" snorted Freyja. "We'll see if you're cursed to die as well!"

Kazuki's lungs begged for oxygen. Each heaving intake was crumpled. Pathetic. Weak. Cursed. Kazuki was cursed… His whole family was cursed, his blood alone.

Cursed to live, just as the rest of his family.

Slowly, gunfire died across the District. News shuttles reeled in overhead, taking in the carnage. Kazuki felt a gaze upon him as he stood up.

'All stations. Report in,' Kazuki choked out, imitating strength… Father's strength.

'This is Lazarus! We secured as many civilians as possible... Carnifex led the counter-attack to buy us time, but the Police are still reporting hundreds missing,' Claire reported in.

'Artillerist is doing fine! Fuck... need some beer,' Amyé chimed in, resting on a pile of rubble as she looked through a broken fridge beside her.

The friendly shuttles brought in reinforcements, including Lilly. Lilly rushed over and began to berate Quinn before helping him up.

'This is Vallé, reinforcements are here, we're late, aren't we?'

'No shit!' Amyé shot back.

'And this is Old Man. Calling in,' a new voice spoke, harsh and old. A figure stood in front of Kazuki. This old man patted Kazuki on the shoulder. 'You got beat up hard, Arbiter. Did young Freyja give you a spanking?'

Hosea. The old man of the AGENCY smiled.

"I'm fine, Hosea..." Kazuki murmured before coughing up blood on his gloves.

"Ugh... you're not," Hosea contradicted Kazuki, passing him a stimulant to clot the wounds.

'This is Overwatch Command, area has been secured...' Sato trailed off.

Archus picked up right after she failed to give her report, 'Mass civilian casualties. News is already demanding interviews. SPTU and Police are holding them off... Arbiter, what's the plan?'

Next move? Oh... Kazuki sighed. Hesitation. Doubt. He's the Arbiter! Kazuki was the leader of the AGENCY. He had to stay strong. With that in mind, Kazuki pushed himself off Hosea, who sighed at his stubborn nature.

Lilly slowly walked over with Quinn in tow. "Arbiter... Old Man. Did the She-Wolf escape?"

Kazuk nodded.

"Fuck."

It was only one word that betrayed the stone-cold face Lilly held up. Then, she reinforced it, turning to the rest of her unit. They were gawking at Arbiter. Kazuki… he didn't recognise most of them, but those that he did were his inner core. His elite.

The elites…

And they did not waste time.

"Stop standing around! Keep clearing the place out! You want to be the reason why some poor kid bleeds to death?! MOVE IT!"

A booming voice was enough to speed up the S&R efforts.

Hosea nodded to his Ex-Seekers as well, and they left, too.

Kazuki took in a deep breath. He placed a finger to his uplink, trying to ignore his battered and bloodied body. 'This is Arbiter to Command. Engage in search and rescue. Alert National Defence... The She-Wolf has escaped our clutches… For now.'

∗ ∗ ∗

The dust had all settled. Kazuki trudged across the battlefield, towards the Town Hall. Silence. Not a fly. Not a buzz. Nothing. The memories of violence came back to Kazuki in a flash.

Then, it was gone. Kazuki stood in front of the town hall doors, alone. There was only one answer waiting for him. Kazuki took out a jar of Halolazil, popping three pills into his mouth and swallowing.

He pre-emptively solved a headache. He allowed his body to become unburdened with the stress of pain. It was euphoric... for but a moment, then, on time, the everlasting aching churred to life again.

Extending his hand, Kazuki gently opened the door.

Instantly, Kazuki felt a rush of wind past him. For a moment, Kazuki could feel the dead souls entrapped flee into the atmosphere.

Maybe Kazuki's hallucinating once again, or perhaps this galaxy really is stranger than he'd anticipate.

Or maybe it was exposure to the Death Shard.

It mattered not. Death clung to the air. The smell was rancid. Kazuki dared not show disdain or disgust.

It'd be rude to those dead here.

Nothing else needed to be said about the situation. Even so, his memory took it all in. Kazuki took one step inside, eyes gleaming across the carnage within the interior.

First responders clung to the front, gunned down first. Children had hidden in their mother's arms. Stragglers and runners littered the halls.

The tattered and shredded quinti-coloured flag of the Republic drooped low.

Kazuki awaited another second. He scanned the room. His Aug-glasses and eyes showed kill shots on everyone… Even the children.

For a moment, Kazuki had to visibly hide his distress.

Cruel Kazuki was – yes. But this was… too cruel, even for him. These Blood Contractors were belligerent.

Stubbornly, Kazuki wanted to believe that there was still someone alive, somewhere here.

But that was too foolhardy. No one was alive.

His eyes glistened against a large, broken wall mirror behind the receptionist's desk, staring into the soulless man he had become.

The tendrils of death stared back – aided by the fractured shards of his memories, bleeding in each shard of the mirror.

Red-trimmed AGENTs and CRIS death squads marched in, scouring for survivors.

"Arbiter?" Zymuel asked, patting Kazuki on the shoulder.

Stepping forward, Kazuki saw a holographic picture of a family on the reception desk. The mother was… amongst the pile of dead. It was barely recognisable…

Kazuki replied to his secondary commander, "We'll make them pay for this."

Despite the TECHIE head surgically woven onto Zym's head, Kazuki saw a glint of surprise in his visor eyes. Kazuki looked enraged in the reflection; the care to hide his disgust was gone.

The red blood from the bodies oozed off their steely stench. All the while, Kazuki stayed motionless.

He allowed his memory to take the sight in.

This was the price of his failure.

Kazuki remains, but others may not. He clenched his fist. Freyja must not learn of Eliza. If she does... she will...

Placing a gun to the head and executing it, Kazuki dared not continue. What a dangerous memetic hazard to put to cognition… A worse fate than even the real anomalous and hazardous memetics…

And Kazuki allowed the whiff of blood and gunpowder to enter his lungs.

The smell of iron clung to Kazuki's nose as he turned and stepped out.

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