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“I can talk all I want. As long as the radio isn't active, they can't hear me.” Dante was in full body armor, Anima at his side, Sere's special rifle, and an SBR-040, her newest burst rifle. With five Angel Grenades on his belt and more ammunition than he could possible use, he was a one-man army. Given the fact that Zero Unit accompanied him on the hovercraft, nothing could stop them. Even the armor, which was made with nearly impenetrable material, was outfitted with the reflection shields. They were the closest things to Gods the enemy would ever see.

Dante wasn't interested in that. He was leading four other units to directly attack the communications grid while the bulk of the Bloody Legion forces were storming in from the coasts. Given that the Black Legion spies were quick to give up information, Liasteri concluded that the communications and Eastern Aerial Defensive Grid would be less protected. Even if they did relocate their forces to these locations, it would make them obvious targets. The Black Legion cornered itself in far too many ways.

“I can't let them do this. This isn't right. We aren't soldiers, we're mercenaries. They shouldn't have to slaughter the poor bastards that were unlucky enough to get stationed here.” Dante sighed deeply, “Besides, I have to do this. They don't need anything else on their conscience.”

Sere's boot rockets, or whatever complex name she game them, could give Dante a mile reach per burst at full speed, though his shields would be weakened a bit. All he had to do was wait until they got a little closer, then he could clear out the bunker himself and move on to the next objective. He looked around without moving his head, making sure not to give any tells. Dante was in the clear.

He looked down the path, “Close enough in a few seconds.” He stood up, “Time to be a monster.” With a kick, he was rocketing off towards the bunker. Another few kicks and it was in sight. Within seconds of leaving the hovercraft, a hailstorm of bullets flew around him. He held off for a bit, and burst into the front gates.

The enemy soldiers were horrified, and as soon as they saw the trademark sign of the Zero Unit across Dante's left visor, they panicked, “Damn amateurs, can't even stay calm under pressure.” Dante was a tornado of death, firing bullet after bullet at anything on two legs, taking their guns before they fell, and continuing, “The Black Legion was all talk and numbers, no talent anywhere.”

The last man dropped in the main entry and Dante began his sprint to the core, “The weight of a life is heavy, I can't let them get the chance to kill these bastards.” A few rounds here, a few rounds there, a handful of staircases and about twenty doors before he was in the main hub. It was all a blur, nothing he did was a challenge and it certainly didn't affect him at all. He had become a true monster, a death dealer, or whatever he was called now. A few more downed lab techs and it was done, “Communications hub under control, station some soldiers here to clean up and hold it. Moving to the next objective.”

“Dante! Where are you?! Your unit just called in a panic!”

“I'm moving to the next objective.” He left the same way he came in, ignoring the blood stains on the moldy concrete walls and the trails of bodies left in his wake. Radio communications were set on ignore, and the only thing that bothered him was the high humidity. The room with the computers and gadgets was the only one climate controlled, no doubt an issue of power scarcity. Medieval era planets aren't all that up to date on electricity.

The outside air wasn't much better, and the dark clouds rolling in from the north spoke of a storm brewing, “Gotta go faster. Can't get caught in that.” He burst off again, heading towards the main facility. The best part of this was that the entire anti-air grid was tied to this one facility. The mountains and rocky terrain to the west made it too difficult to dig while just before that is nothing but swampland.

Tactic-wise, the Black Legion was screwed from the get go. They wanted another base and plenty of resources which were an easy sell for capital, but then they went and pushed things too far. If they had taken over the planet themselves, not enlisted Zero Unit, none of this would have happened. Two large military nations would be at war and nobody would be any wiser. Instead, thousands upon thousands had to die for petty reasons that would make no difference a few years into the future. Whoever ended up in charge would be overtaken by someone, and that cycle would continue forever.

“Enough of that, I can't focus on the non-essential.” He had bursted near the secondary bunker, which was a bit more heavily fortified. Gattling lasers and snipers made it appear well fortified, but the concrete was still moldy and fire superiority meant nothing against technological superiority. Dante drew the wooden rifle and started firing round after round. The explosive rounds decimated the exterior, destroying entire sections and sending the soldiers on the upper levels flying. Dante landed, switched guns, and ran towards the bunker while maintaining a steady rate of fire.

It was amusing to him in a way, all of these weapons could easily conquer an undeveloped planet, and in most places, an army. Now, it was almost like a video game with upgraded armor. They couldn't do a damn thing to Dante no matter how many bullets hit him while he could dispatch them with a single round. Amusement should not be what he felt. He should feel awe at his immortality and horror at the bodies flying around him.

“Get it out of your head. You're a killer, just deal with it.” He breached the entry gate and tossed in a fragmentation grenade belt he stole from a soldier. The detonation killed most of the enemies, while the rest were entrenched deeper in. Still not an issue, only a bother. Dante marched through and methodically eliminated all opposition, ignoring the pleas and begging. They were just targets, nothing more, nothing less. Faceless targets. Not even people.

Dozens were hidden behind corners, at the bottom of stairwells, behind doorways, and every other nook and cranny they could find. It wasn't long, however, until they were all dead or begging for mercy. The last guard begged a bit harder, never even fired a shot, “Please! I beg of you! I don't want to be here! I want to go home!” He was on his knees.

Dante put his rifle to the young man's head, “You chose your side in this war.” He fired, waited for the body to collapse. The computer room was similar, but so much larger and more complex. Blinking lights and hundreds of screens filled whatever wasn't taken up by metal boxes and switches. Only a small walkway existed, “Liasteri, I got the grid. How're we gonna do this?”

“Dante? Holy shit... we're facing heavy resistance, can't get a foothold. Which also means that I can't get the techs up there to reprogram the interface.”

“How about my radio? If I wire it to a system, could your people hack in?”

“Maybe, I don't see... wait, no more radio silence!”

“Too late.” Dante sighed and contacted his unit, “You all be good, go home safe.” With that, he removed the component from his helmet and cracked open what appeared to be the main control panel. He beeped Liasteri twice and wired it to the motherboard, glad he took the time to learn about these things during space travel.

“They're coming you know.”

“I know.” Dante walked through the twisting bunker, taking well over ten minutes just to get outside. Just as expected, Fallen Sky sent a large number of ships, and with the Black Legion's help, a dominant force. With the grid up, that is, “Time to do this.” He reloaded the wood trimmed rifle, chose the armor piercing rounds for his SBR-040, and took a breath, “Never before seen... this would qualify.”

He kneeled low and removed the regulator from his boosters, looked up, and observed. Attack ships, small, fast, the most likely to get through the Bloody Legion blockade. Same models, engine components in the front, thrusters in the back. Not meant to take punishment, which meant that a large ship was still up there somewhere. Dante was satisfied, and with a stomp on the ground he flew up to meet his opponents.

A twirled a few miles up and he was able to fire off two rounds of the piercing ammunition, scoring direct hits on two engines. They were going down. The lighter ships adjusted to make Dante a target, after all these were the only units getting through. If there was opposition, the ground forces would certainly face defeat, “If only they knew.”

Bloody Legion ground ships were tearing through enemy ranks, that much was certain. All Dante had to do was stall. Knowing that radar was unreliable on the surface, the attack ships would have to open their front windows and expose the sturdy glass-type components. Great against small arms fire, but not to armor piercing rounds in quick succession. He boosted up again and opened fire with both rifles, dropping the attack ships like flies.

“War is always chaos. Nothing needs to make sense. You just keep killing until there isn't anyone left to kill.” Dante was finally running low on ammunition, “Alright, no more playing around.”

…...................................................

The day went on, and at the end tens of thousands lay dead. Dante's quick assault on the grid allowed the Bloody Legion to mop up ground resistance and prepare for the aerial defense. With Dante's radio, Liasteri's best were able to hack in remotely and reprogram the grid, which meant a quick defeat of any ship that wasn't marked as a Bloody Legion vessel. This would no doubt have ramifications that would echo throughout the galaxy, and Liasteri would be the new face of justice.

An issue arose, and that was that Dante disappeared that day without a trace. The only detail of his survival was that Angel hadn't collapsed into a pile of inactive nanobots. Ratchet and Victoria screamed for hours at Liasteri, but even that rabbit couldn't figure out where he went, or even if he was still on the planet. All they could agree on was that if he was captured, they would hear a ransom of some sort.

The Albatross wasn't lost without its captain, though some minor damages from the fighting made it a bit riskier for an all-out search. Repairs needed to be made first, and a restock was in order. Following the chain of command, Titus was technically in charge, but he stepped out of that role. It was a group effort that kept Zero Unit united, with their strengths and weaknesses constantly clashing. They wouldn't be alone in their search, not for long anyway.

Melissa and Barnabia put out feelers the moment they heard, while Zed and Blakovich pledged their ships to Zero Unit, effectively becoming a part of the growing fleet. Dorset did the same, but he first needed to make sure that their base of operations was secure. In effect, the four ship fleet could be considered and independent company, but Dante had already made a pact with Liasteri to become part of her new order, albeit an independent part. Dante's disappearance was kept relatively secret, with various media sources either censoring reports or passing it off as a rumor.

Fallen Sky parted ways with the crumbling Black Legion, though their part in the war made them liable for recompense for the fallen. Emptying their coffers further, Fallen Sky became a mere shadow of what it used to be, only barely clinging to sovereignty. Marie and the Goddess were still the leaders, but most of their soldiers deserted after the battle, reducing them to just another mercenary company. Worries that powerful enemies would take advantage of the drop in power, they pled for Liasteri to give them some sort of protection. It cost them dearly, and they lost half of their fleet in doing so.

Isa was in hiding, in a way. With the Black Legion and Fallen Sky out of the equation, she resumed her activities. Stealing from the corrupt, occasionally donating it to the needy, and creating an ironclad treaty with the lamia. She had raised another army from nowhere, but didn't feel the need to brag about it. She kept in touch with a few friends, and in time would even invite them over for a visit. Enemies too, though she wouldn't mention the lamia habit of kidnapping and killing men.

The former DMC had been completely abolished within a week of the battle and their home planet felt the strain. A weak economy was caused by merchants and businesses leaving, simply because there wasn't any government money coming in. A lack of jobs followed, then poverty, and in a few years time, a bloody revolution would grip the planet.

But that was all to come. The reality was that a void had been filled and three major powers were collapsing. The road was long, but there was always an ending.

…....................................................

“How long do you think we'll be here?” Silence filled the wooden home, “Yeah, I thought as much.”

A human was living on a largely ignored planet. The various countries couldn't agree on a name, so all you could do was say the coordinates and country in communications. However, due to the face that the country had advanced far into the industrial era and was using resources at an optimal rate, no power wanted to invade or made a deal. Who would want to make a bargain with a divided world? Still, the human's appearance didn't bother the mixed world, filled with all sorts of races and species. He was living in relative peace since they had adopted the credit system of currency. Freshly shaven but long hair, he was considered handsome by most standards.

A knock on his door prompted him to stand up and answer, “Can I help you?”

A neighbor, petite doe but already a mature in the mind. A kind person, she took care of children when parents got sick and spent her off hours tending to the injured at a local clinic. Blake only knew that she made a few credits here and there for her help, real licenses were far too expensive “Mr. Blake, would you mind helping me? The movers left already and I'm afraid I can't move it myself.”

“Alright, let's go.” He shut and locked the door behind him, “Shouldn't be too hard.” A cardboard box was set just in front of her house, tall and fragile. The houses in this neighborhood were separated by a few feet, and personal yards were small. Blake clapped his hands together and tilted the box. He couldn't lift it, but sliding it through the front door wasn't too difficult. It took him a minute to get it into the kitchen, “There, you're all set.”

A loud squeal outside of the house drew a gasp from Yami, “What was that?” Doors slamming and loud murmuring could be heard, then a knock on the front door.

“I'll check it out.” He walked over and opened the door just a hair, “Can we help you?”

Reports were that some crime boss or another was in the area, sending out thugs to collect “protection” money. Basic mafia crime boss nonsense, nothing out of the ordinary. Usually they only hit up the richer houses, but now they were in a working class neighborhood. Black suits, matching hats, and semi-automatic machine guns, blocky and large. Probably heavy and hard to aim as well. Spray and pray at best.

“I'm here for the missus. She owes us some money, and we ain't leavin' without it.” The three thugs by the car flashed their pistols hidden under their suit coats, “So move, we'll get your money next.”

Blake sighed, “I've been here for four months and haven't had to deal with this bullshit, and now? I'm still not in the mood. Bet you can't even fire one of those things and hit a person. So leave before things get messy.”

“Mr. Blake!” Yami shout-whispered, “Don't be a hero! I have some money tucked away.”

Blake threw open the door and shoved the thug off of the doorstep, “They way I see it, you four came to the wrong neighborhood.” He kneeled over the thug that was still reeling after his skull hit concrete, “Because I don't tolerate this shit. Get. Lost.”

The other three aimed their weapons, two pistols and one machine gun. Blake pulled out a large handgun of his own and pointed it at the downed thug, “What the hell?!”

“This is Anima. She's going to blow your brains all over the streets before you can hit me. Since you punks are going to come back regardless, let me tell you some things.” He removed the hair covering his left eye, revealing nothing but a patch, “I live there. Come at me with everything you've got and you'll still lose.” Police sirens filled the air, “See you soon, assholes.” He hid Anima as the police rolled up. Mafia thugs only fought the helpless, not the law. They surrendered quickly. The police got the reports from Blake and Yami before leaving the area.

“Mr. Blake... that was terrifying.”

“Yami, how short are you on credits?”

She blushed, “I'm getting by, little by little. I certainly won't take a loan, no sir!” She put her hands on her hips and made an angry face, but her trembling body told Blake what she herself didn't want him to know.

Blake sighed, “I can probably make you a rich woman.”

“How? I ain't takin' no loan!”

Blake sat down on a wooden chair, patched with cloth and rusted nails, “My name isn't Blake, but if you tell the right person about me, the finders fee would be enough to get you out of this neighborhood. Not quite a criminal, though the reward for a handful of groups would be more.”

“What are you saying? You're delirious! Come, I'll get you a lemon drink!”

“No, just listen.” Blake set Anima on a small table currently occupied by a lamp, “My real name... is Dante, former Captain of the Albatross, Commander of Zero Unit, hero of countless wars and villain to as much. Give me a piece of paper, I can give you instructions. Do with them what you will.”

“Mr... Blake?”

“They've been looking for me for a long time, Yami. You're a good woman. I don't mind going back to hell to get you out of this dump.”

Yami shook her head and walked into the kitchen with a pep in her step, “No, delirious I say! You need some sugar and sour lemon!”

Blake stood up, “Not a joke.” He found a scrap of paper and wrote some information, names and contact frequencies, “If you do contact them, tell them 'Anima says hello' and they'll believe you.” He left the house.

Yami couldn't help but be curious and afraid. If this man was really named Dante, then the legends from galaxy traders meant that he was The Beast. But he was always kind to her and the other neighbors, even going so far as to help them with trivial tasks. It couldn't be. But then again, contacting these people would help her out.

Another thought hit her, one that made the contact list seem a little brighter, “What if... I went with him? I mean, I could be there until they pay me, or to figure out if it's true. Maybe start a good life?”

Yes, she had to call. A trip to the town square was in order, certainly a trader would have access to a device that would allow such a thing.