Prologue

32 Years Ago.

A cold dark wind blew through the street, its chill was intensified by the pouring the cold rain on his skin. A flash of light streaked across the sky above him, it was followed by a deep ominous crackling thunder. The light had briefly illuminated the dimly lit street. On either side of him stood tall dark buildings covered with glass. In front of him stood ten heavily armed soldiers facing his way. The soldiers consisted of seven humans, two Croctilians and a Deathwalker.

Croctilians were a humanoid race that originated from the fifth planet of the Zulu 12 system of the Omega Zulu galaxy. Croctilian adults usually stood between six and eight feet tall, they were bipedal and had an awe-inspiring physique. Thick scales covered their bodies, making it difficult to penetrate their hide with regular projectile or bladed weapons. They had elongated snouts with razor sharp teeth that had developed through their evolution on a hostile planet, where most of their diet consisted of animals with hardened scales and thick hides. One of the most striking features of a Croctilian was their long thick tail that extend from their waist to the ground, at the ends of their tail were several sharp barbs. The number of barbs on their tails was suggestive of their combat prowess and standing in Croctilian society. They were a proud race that valued strength and combat prowess above all, to fight and die in battle was the highest honour they could receive. All these reasons and their ability to breathe both underwater and on land made them formidable warriors that few could face in battle and live to tell the tale.

Deathwalkers were also a humanoid race, however they originated from the second planet of the Darkness system of the Sigma Delta galaxy. Their home world was a hot planet with temperatures regularly exceeding 80 degrees Celsius, conversely, they were a cold and cruel people. To deal with the heat they held a far smaller physique in comparison to both the Croctilians and Humans. Their adults would grow to a height of up to six feet tall and were even more slender than the humans. They were bipedal and had skin that ranged between a sickly grey to a pitch-black colour. The slender frame allowed for silent and effortless movement in most situations and an impressive level of agility and athleticism. These attributes coupled with their higher intelligence made them the perfect assassins, for which they were intergalactically renowned.

Each of the soldiers showed the brands of many battles fought and won on the flesh. They must be veterans he thought to himself. Further examination of their tactical armour confirmed his thought. In the middle of their chest plates were two crossing lightning bolts and a human skull above them. This was the insignia of the top tier Gamma Company of the Intergalactic Federation. Gamma Company was famous throughout the federation for their selection process and the missions they were assigned for. You could not apply for Gamma Company, you had to be selected by the commanders based on your battle records. Only the very best had ever selected, most of the soldiers had been the sole survivors of catastrophic ambushes or fought through prolonged engagements with negligible odds of victory. Only the soldiers who had walked through the fires of hell and emerged burnt and scarred but unbroken were worthy of donning the Gamma Company insignia. Gamma Company specialised in operations that no other company except the fanatical Alpha Company could handle and operations with zero chance of survival or victory. The ten members of Delta 8 had been through many dangerous missions together but this one was by far the most dangerous. They had been briefed on the dangers of this one man standing in front of them and had opted to be deployed with their most powerful energy weapons and rail guns in case their mission went south. Although, they would not be enough to stop him.

The Gamma Company squad leader stood in the middle of the line of soldiers, he had a large diagonal scar across his neck from a rail gun wound he had sustained in battle supressing a rising insurgence. He was a proud military man and wore the scar as a badge of honour to his dedication to the federation. He stared down the sole man across the street and shouted.

"Ekasala!"

"What brings Gamma Company all the way out here? I hope you didn't come all this way for little old me" Ekasala replied with palpable sarcasm.

"We've come to negotiate your surrender"

"And just why the fuck would I do that?"

"We've captured fiver members of Ravana and moved them to five different galaxies, if you don't surrender then we'll execute them all simultaneously."

Surely this is a bluff Ekasala thought. There's no way that they would all be caught, especially without me knowing or them sending out a distress signal. His surprise must have shown through to his face because the Gamma Company leader smiled wryly.

"You seem to understand your predicament. Not even you can be in five places at once. So, what is it going to be? Their lives or your surrender"

Ekasala presses on the receiver in his left ear and spoke lowly so that no one else could hear him.

"Jack, I am hearing this right? Have five members been taken?"

"Yes sir, it appears there was an assault on their ship during a dark space jump"

Well that explains the lack of a distress signal then, without the proper equipment no signals could leave dark space.

"Who was taken?"

"It looks like Jen, Alex, Tim, Scott and...…."

"And?"

"And Lara. I'm sorry sir."

"FUCK!"

Not Lara, anyone but Lara. He had fallen in love with her over the years and had promised her that he would always be there for her and to protect her. He had promised her he would do would whatever it takes.

"Ok, I'll surrender. But I have two conditions" Ekasala called out to the Gamma Company leader.

His request, made one of the human members of Gamma Company next to the Deathwalker and three to the left of the leader grow visibly agitated.

"Conditions!?! You don't get any last requests scum!" Spat the agitated soldier.

Ekasala snapped his fingers and the soldier went limp, hitting the ground in a crumpled heap. The Deathwalker and human on either side of the collapsed soldier dared not break their focus on Ekasala. They saw what happened out of the side of their eyes and didn't need to investigate further, they knew he was dead. They had been warned of the silent instant death that Ekasala was capable of, yet they were still unprepared for what had happened. Nothing could prepare them so seeing their comrade die so quickly, easily and quietly, they were Gamma Company, they were the ones to inflict death. During their briefing before deployment they had been informed of all the information the federation had on Ekasala. He was the most dangerous being in the federation and he had abilities far beyond the normal realm. There was so much mythology around this man, that no one knew where the fiction stopped, and the fact started. It had been said that he had wiped out an entire planet with a powerful swing of his legendary sword Nobunaga, some people said that he could travel between galaxies faster than the fastest spaceship's dark space jumps and some people just thought he was a god. They knew that no one had ever crossed him and survived, after what they had just witnessed it was easy to believe.

"As I was saying, I have two conditions"

"I can't approve your conditions personally, but I will pass them on to my superiors" replied the leader.

"Firstly, I want an hour to set my affairs in order. Secondly, I want the five you have captured to be released."

The squad leader pressed on the receiver in his left ear and relayed Ekasala's requests to his superiors.

"You can't be serious!" shouted Jack through Ekasala's receiver.

"I'm sorry Jack, but I promised her I would protect her whatever the cost. This is something I have to do." With that Ekasala took out his receiver and left it dangling on his neck.

"Your requests have been approved. You have one hour." called out the squad leader.

"And the five?"

"They will be released as soon as you are taken into to custody"

"I want your word as a Gamma Company leader that they will be released"

"I, Captain Kaleb the squad leader of Gamma Company's Delta 8 squad, give you my word that they will be released as per our deal."

"Good. Kaleb, if you betray me, I'll kill everyone you've ever loved."

With that warning Ekasala phased out of existence.

One hour later, Ekasala phased back into the middle of the street where he had been standing before like he had never left. The rain had stopped, and the sun was breaking through the clouds, bringing a sense of warmth to the once cold street. The change in weather brought a smile to his face. At least the weather is getting better for my last day he thought. He walked across the street to Captain Kaleb and extended his hands out to him, with the smile still on his face.

"I'm here to surrender. Remember the consequences of breaking your promise."

Kaleb nodded an acknowledgement and placed a pair of glowing energy shackles on Ekasala's wrists. Ekasala took one last look around and whispered to no one.

"I'm sorry everyone, take care"

With that the nine surviving members of Delta 8 squad, the one deceased and Ekasala phased out of the street.