It was hot outside. Really hot. The sun beat down on Jax’s exposed scalp and that of his neck that wasn’t already metal. The metal was arguably more hot than his skin though as when Archam lightly touched the exposed augment he quickly flinched away from the sizzling alloy. The robot was also having a hard time as Jax could hear the fan trying its hardest to prevent various systems from over heating. Archam let everyone know he was having the hardest time by never letting a second go by without mentioning the heat and his desire for shade. When they eventually did reach that desired shade, the heat never really went away. “How could one single planet even be this hot!” Archam said, wafting his hand “I mean, how does Pantheon even deem this planet habitable.”

  “Fun fact: Kepler 10B was never designated as habitable. As the terraformation efforts were abandoned after Ragnarok and were never restarted.”

  “Explains a lot… anyways, how far are we from this scrap yard, base, thing?”

  "Approximately 30 minutes of walking from here.”

  “30 minuets!?” Archam dramatically said throwing his arms in the air.

  “Maybe you shouldn’t have already put on that jump suit.” Jax chimed in

  “I thought it would be more breathable. I can’t imagine working on this thing!”

  “I think those short shorts you previously had on were probably more breathable than a full body jump suit meant to stop burning shrapnel.”

  “The only thing burning is me!”

  “It appears our 5 minute break has transpired. If we wish to stay within our window. I suggest we continue.” The robot said standing up from the makeshift shelter they and many others were huddled up in. Archam let out a loud groan before dragging himself from the floor and joining the rest. The town they walked through was one of many smaller settlements on the habitable side of the planet. The architecture remained relatively consistent throughout the planetside. A combination of desaturated sandstone, bleached by the sun, and rusty shacks made with large sheets and tied together with wire. The combination made the whole area almost hard to look at. The bright sun made the sandy floor a bright white and the orange rust was so old it looked painted on with neon paint. The smell was also bitter. The brimstone making a return from the Corvus ship, this time mixed with a smoky sensation of cigarettes and ash.

  “Urgh… how come you’re not burning up weapons? Either you got nerves of steel or are really good at hiding it.” Archam said as the two walked side by side. Archam swaying dramatically with his hands tucked behind his head.

  “A combination of the two…” Jax replied.

  “What the hell do you mean; “combination”?”

  “I mean, I got nerves of steel and I'm used to it.” Jax said with a stern tone

  “Huh, killer combo, where’d you get that?”

  “Alphonse.”

  “Holy shit you’re from that hell hole? Jesus Christ, no wonder you’re a total buzzkill anyone from that place would have a bitter taste for the world.”

  “I’d do you some good…” Jax said to himself, shifting his gaze away.

  “What was it like there anyways. I heard that there were massive monsters that lived in the sand and snatched people up and ate them.”

  “You could say that…”

  “Wow! That's crazy. Real alien Fauna!”

  “They weren’t aliens…”

  “What?”

  “I said that they weren’t aliens. We just had massive sand sifter machines that had a tendency of picking up poor schmucks that got curious.”

  “Oh…”

  Jax let out a sigh, and sped his walking speed slightly to catch up with the robot, and away from Archam. “Hey, got a couple questions.”

  “Of course! I am here for all operatives.”

  “What do you know about a guy named Conrad?”

  “Are you referring to our operative operating in our gamma sector?”

  “I guess.”

  “Then yes. Is there a specific question you had in mind?”

  “Yeah. How'd he actually join your whole program?”

  “Very good question. Conrad has been a part of Corvus for more than 5 years. He joined after he attacked one of our fire teams while sided with a stray mercenary group. After his contract was over we hired him for his exceptional skill and augmentation.”

  “Augmentation, what do you know about that?”

  “Sadly that information is private. It is my understanding that you have talked to mister Rinestone so i would implore you to ask him in person for personal details.”

  “Ok… fine.”

  The group continued to walk through the town, taking brief stops here and there before they had left the town for the most part and ended up in the large industrial sector of kepler 10B. Sandstone houses were phased out for the most part. Replaced with large industrial buildings and Iron havisters. In the distance the large gate separating this sector and the scrap yard came into view. Jax had changed into his jump suit and the three of them began their final preparations. “Alright, that should… do it!” Archam said, taking a step back from the robot that was now hard wired into a large computer with an antenna. Sticking up out of it. “Can you hear me?” Archam asked, his voice doubling up in his head via his neural implants. “Arh, yeah…”

  “Can you talk to me via your implants as well?”

  Jax focused his thoughts and in his head said “Go fuck youreself”

  “Rude… but it's working. This should allow me to talk to you when you’re jacked in. understand.”

  “Yeah, I got it.”

  “Perfect. Bucket bolts?”

  “I’m sorry but that is not m-”

  “Yeah yeah. When I sent you the signal I taught you. Unplug yourself and haul like ass to the vehicle with the computer in hand.”

  “Understood.”

  “Alright, come on weapon, let's go.”

  Jax let out a sigh and waved the robot goodbye and followed Archam towards the main gate. The smell of oil and rust became stronger and stronger as they approached. Its tall fence stitches up high into the sky, with two towers flanking a checkpoint. Behind the gate were the first signs of hostels. Two chunky Argonauts holding firearms, they had flat, bunker-like heads and extra mesh, anti drone fibre optic cable held up by steel scaffold over the largest plates. An intimidating sight from the ground by the gate was a small metal structure with a young man inside, wearing the same jump suits as Jax and Archam, resting his head on his hand. The two walked towards the gate, taped their cards to the receiver and an error sound. The young man perched up at the sound, cocked his head to see the two more clearly and asked “Hey, uh. Having some trouble with your cards?”

  “Oh, uh no fine sir. We are simply… shit… everything’s fine!” Archam then dove behind Jax, snatching his card from his hand, via the radio system Archam says “Weapon, cover me. Something went wrong. Gimme one minute."

  Jax tries to protest but as he sees the inquisitorial look on the young man’s face deepen he says “What my uh… colleague said. Everything is just fine. We’re new here and our ID cards must have…um… malfunctioned!”

  “Ah, it's fine. Give me here for me to check and open the gate.” Jax, remembering the modifications; replies

  “It's fine. It's fine. Just give us…uh….”

  “Fifteen seconds" Archam says

  “Ok… what is your colleague doing there then?” The young man says, beginning to sit up in his chair.

  “He’s just… texting a friend. You know, asking what's wrong. Maybe there’s some gunk on the cards.”

  There was a short pause before the man replied. He got up from his chair, reaching for the door of his building. “I’m going to have to do an inspection of your cards.” he opens the door and starts to walk towards the two. “Archam, hurry up!” Jax radios Archam

  “Almost…” he replies. Jax walks forward, trying to block the young man’s path. But he brushes past him. And as he is about to grip Archam a beep chimes from the card reader. Archam swings around. Key cards stuffed in his pocket. “See sir. There is absolutely nothing you need to see. Everything’s tip top. We’ll be on our way now!” He then gestures to Jax to get over there all while plastering a very exaggerated grin on his face. Jax jogs over and the two cross the gate. Leaving the young man slightly bewildered as he watches the two stroll inside. Behind the gate is a stretch of large buildings, piles of scrap, workers dashing around the layout with carts of metal and guard machines observing their every move. “Ok… so where to now?” Jax asks

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  “An admin building. They should have some kind of computer there that I can get into.”

  “How about that one?” Jax asks, pointing to the largest buildings. A tall tower with various antennae on top.

  “Safe bet weapon. Let's go.”

  The two then set their path to the building. Around them the hiss of machinery and industry buzzing around them. Massive machines pressing and breaking down scrap, cars with crates of metal zooming through the floor plan. Towards the back was a large warehouse with massive vehicles docked inside. Four legged machines with large wheels on the end to traverse the rough landscape. One of which was already wheeled out with some kind of large machine underneath a massive tarp. Jax studied the form and knew that was his target.

  Entering through the employee room, the admin building was about as boring as an elevator. The wall’s and floor’s were all the same off white with grey appliances and cables running up them, reminding Jax of the factory back on Alphonse. “You, I need your eyes while I worm my way into the admin building. Just leave, all the high level thinking work to me. Hover around the main entrance and radio me if someone gets a little too close to comfort. If you can’t stop em, use that lovely charm of yours you so clearly displayed last time” Archam said, patting Jax on the back before walking off, Jax in pursuit. The two walked through the facility, past offices and suspicious workers who don’t seem to be paid enough to care before reaching an upper level of the building, using their ID cards they entered a large room with rows of servers and computers. Archam gave the room a quick survey before dropping the large duffel bag from his shoulders and handing Jax a sign posted up against the wall. “I know this may be hard for you but I believe your cognitive function may be able to contain this incredibly hard task-” Jax snatched the sign, reading "maintenance in progress”, and replied “yeah, i got the memo.” Before walking out the building and posting up the sign. Over the radio, Archam said “Alright, just hold on while I swap out the ID tags. Try to put those crosshair-burned eyes to use, wouldn’t want someone getting the wrong idea.”

  “Yeah yeah. Radio me when you’re done.” Jax took a look, up and down, the barren hall way, letting out a long sigh. He stood there for a short while, trying to keep himself busy by staring blankly into a wall. But not before long he cracked, calling the robot over the radio.

  “Hey.”

  “Hello, Jax. Is there something wrong?”

  “Nah, I'm just… bored, I guess.”

  “Ah, I understand. To preserve resources however I will now cut the channel-”

  “Wait! I actually have… an important…question?”

  “Ah, I understand. Please ask, I am here for all operatives.”

  “Aries. I have some questions about Aries. I was locked in the Vanguard sphere of influence for a while and only recently have I heard of these Aries guys spreading across the gamma sector.”

  “Well Aries is a large conglomerate of PMC groups that have unified under a larger syndicate run by the trade barons in the sector. Functionally they are the same as a loose band of PMC’s that operate under a single body that directs them. Only recently have they merged their larger groups into a single military fighting force that reports to their syndicate run high command.”

  “Right, and this Argonaut they're buying. Why do they want it? I get it might be important since it was found in the ati-sector and stuff in there dates back to early Orion tech. But still why do they want it?”

  “Aries has long expressed their desire for total domination of the gamma sector for a long time. They have done this by staying ahead of their competitors in the field of Argonaut technology. They have yet to reach total domination but their newer machines are definitely much better, especially alongside their older chassis that are still fielded in guard.”

  “So this thing we’re jacking is gonna be their new prototype or something.”

  “That is very likely.”

  “Hmm, if they were just going to reverse engineer it then why refurbish it as well?”

  “Sadly I am not sure.”

  “Yeah… alright thanks bot.”

  “Sadly that is not my service number it is 18-”

  “You know what. Eighteen. I’m just gonna do that, sick and tired of this name game we're playing.”

  “Eighteen… is close enough to my service number to be passible.”

  “Great…”

  “Hey guess who pulled the old switcheroo on these fools!” Archam said over the radio

  “I doubt it was you but I guess I’ll have to accept it.” Jax replied, looking over his shoulder to the door of the maintenance room.

  “Ouch you wound me” The door then opens with a slow shift with Archam on the other side, handing Jax his ID tag again. “Lets move quickly, while i was digging around i found a NEC watch dog. I put it to sleep for now but that's the pissy thing about those guys. They always adapt…”

  The two found themselves outside the vehicle. So far everything was going to plan. It didn’t help that there were still Argonauts patrolling the area as if they knew about Jax and Archam’s plan. Archam was leaning against one of the arms of the vehicle, picking his nose and flicking the snot on the ground. Jax meanwhile was anxiously surveying the area. The sun had started to set with the second slowly peaking its way up, a strange sight for sure. The entire complex was bathed in orange light reminiscent of sunset and sunrise, at the same time. “Do you reckon they know we're not supposed to be here?” Archam asked, rolling something between his fingers. “Like they know we're here to steal this thing and are just waiting until we board to surprise blast us.”

  “Maybe they will if someone catches you talking about it.” Jax replied.

  “You think? I reckon these shit shoveling bastards are as dumb as bricks.” Archam said, flicking the snot from his fingers. “Speak for yourself…” Jax murmured to himself. “Time?”

  “We leave in 5 minutes, weapon. I suggest you saddle up while you still can.”

  “Fine.” Jax said, walking towards the back of the vehicle. slinking under the tight tarp. Underneath the light diffused into an even more orange glow, only darkened by the amount of light breaking through the tarp. However the rest of the light fell to the way side as there it was. While Jax could only make out its rough shape due to most of it being covered. But what he could see certainly gave him a chill. It was kneeling, he thought, one arm posted up on the upright knee and its body hunched down to an extreme degree. The lingering arm was facing him and it was strangely long. The forearm was so elongated that to rest the arm it bent back to a wild degree. The entire machine was painted in a stark white with segments between the white armor and exposed understructure being a mat black. The understructure itself was also a strange mess of cables and wires that gave it a muscle like texture. Jax ran his hand over the white panel, feeling its texture, a cold steel with small imperfections that guided his fingers. He moved behind it, where the bent over back was on full display. The white armor continued but with much more black giving the impression that it had a spine of sorts. The whole thing was sleek, sterile. The thing Jax usually would despise but with this machine, the proportions, the muscle like understructure, it all felt strangely coherent. He walked closer inspecting the spine for any kind of hatch or entrance. Eventually he found a small lip in the back area. I clambered up the resting leg and felt around for some kind of release. His fingers wormed inside the lip of the armor before hitting a switch or button of sorts. “Huh, no security….” He chuckled to himself. The hatch hissed, opening slightly ajar before collapsing downward to reveal a chair that jutted out of the cockpit. It was a very fitting chair to the rest of the chassis, weird. The whole thing was padded with this grey fabric with the chair itself being shaped to perfectly fit a human body giving it a long and organic shape. Jax hesitated slightly before climbing in. When he settled the chair slid back into the cockpit and the hatch closed behind him. In an instant Jax was plunged into darkness, a strange sensation for sure but strangely comforting, a comfort made better by the chair. “Weapon….hey? Hello? Hey!”

  “Arg! Hey don’t shout in my head you bastard!”

  “Well you weren’t responding” Archam continued. “Anyways, we're going on the move. I hope you're strapped into your steel play thing.”

  “Yeah, I’m in. It's.. weird to say the least. Certainly looks like something from the Anti-sector…”

  “Glad to hear you two are alike, anyways. Keep your limbs in the ride at all times and we’ll arrive at our destination shortly.” The channel then went dark, and Jax was left in the cockpit. The soft rumble of the engine was barely audible through the layers of steel but it at least indicated that they were on the move. A comforting fact. Without anything else to do Jax just lay there. It was quite safe for the soft ambiance but ambiance was inescapable in his life, the dark void reminded him of the voids he’d find himself in when he slept. Still awake and conscious but in an infinite void of emptiness. His hands felt around the cockpit, learning the space through touch. The walls were the same cold steel as the rest of the armor, small buttons and other surface details dotted the inside and in front of him, roughly 6 inches from his face was a screen, he guessed. The glassy texture giving it away. Suddenly the vehicle began to jerk, sway. Barely audible outside was the sound of commotion. “Hey, what's going on?” Jax complained

  “Nothing to worry about!” Archam hurriedly said. A loud bang was heard followed by the sound of impact just ahead. “Archam! What the hell is going on!”

  “Just stay, shit!” Then another bang was heard, this one seemingly impacting the vehicle more closely. “Archam!”

  “Dammit! Alright so you know when I said the N.E.C would wake up.”

  “Yeah…”

  “Well not only did it wake up faster i think but it woke up fast enough to formulate a plan and to ambush us because as I turned a corner, bam! There was an Argonaut.”

  “What the fuck!?”

  “Yeah, I know, suboptimal, but the robot has an extract ready so it's easy peasy-” Then another bang rang out, this time Jax could feel the impact of some kind of projectile piercing through tarp and directly hitting the Argonaut he was in. “Jesus! Archam can you shake them, halt their advance, anything?”

  “N-no I think i can, this thing is slow as balls and it's not before long that they encircle us!”

  “You fucking moron! Why didn’t you like… disable the N.E.C permanently or something.”

  “Doing that would take a super computer! All I had was a laptop throwing packages at things till it went to bed!”

  “Wow, nice, sounds really high-tech!”

  “I bet you couldn’t hack a stage 03 terminal if you tried!”

  “Oh yeah!? Not only did I hack something more advanced than that, I did it like… 5 days ago!”

  “You fucking liar!”

  “Eat my ass!”

  “Eat MINE!” Then another impact connected with the vehicle, causing it to tip of balance before getting back on 4 wheels. “Listen weapon, I did my job, you do yours!” Another impact hit, by now Jax could the pursuing Argonauts thrusters propel them across the floor. More hurriedly Jax started to feel around for any “on switch” or other interface. His fingers eventually landed on a series of buttons just under the glossy screen. The faint sound of machinery whirring was followed by the screen slowly powering on. Bathing the room in a soft green-ish glow. The text on the screen read “Test unit 01” The light emanating from the screen lit up the cockpit, revealing various ports and wires emerging from the head of the cockpit and the chair. Like muscle memory Jax threw off his poncho and began to wire himself up. The compatibility with his implants was uncanny, like every wire fit perfectly into his mutilated body. Two puzzle pieces finally becoming one. The screen showed a schematic of his body, each import slowly completing until large text replayed the words "Input complete, Begin C.T.F?” As Jax attached the final cables to his spine, The Chaos outside was ramping up but Jax felt a certain fear. The strangeness of this machine was undeniable but where he was now, there wasn’t much other choice. His heart was thumping in his throat, his hand hovered above the button. It was shaking so bad he almost pressed several times. He didn’t want to, or at least a part of him was hesitant. Fear of what this machine could do, not just to the outside world, but to him. Despite this, right now, he has one job. The one thing he could do to make a difference, the one thing. With one final breath he pressed the button sitting back in the chair. The screen flashing the text "Beginning. C.T.F. Welcome; Grave walker.” As the final text closed from the screen and he felt the touch fade from his body. Around him small blue sparks appeared. Floating around the cockpit and illuminating the dark interior. With a weak hand he tried to reach out. His hand was shaking. But before he could touch it, his vision all but faded away.