Threat Level Zero: A Tale of Ascension

*Five Years Ago*

"Stay with us, Gavyn! We're almost out of this shithole!"

A group of five teenagers, variously between the ages of 17 and 18, were in a clearing deep in a forest on Narro, a few hundred feet away from a small, dirt-covered mound of a bunker with a doorway. Visible in the doorway were bleach-white walls and bright lights, along with a staircase leading down into the depths of the earth.

To the left of the bunker, a couple of dozen feet away, was a steel bulkhead warped and cracked, thrown off the hinges of the bunker's doorway. If one looked hard enough, one would find a mangled "A", with a circle around each point.

Scattered around the clearing were several armored bodies with various laser guns and knives. Each one had the same "A" symbol on their shoulder pads. One of the teenagers, Maya, was currently trying to resuscitate the only unarmored corpse, Gavyn, with tears streaming down her cheeks.

"It won't do much, those bastards blew a hole clean through him," said Fate, who placed a hand on Maya's shoulder. "Let's go. He wouldn't want us to die here too." Wiping the tears off her cheek with a hand, Maya nodded and stood up.

"Wait," said the third teenager, Tom, when they moved to the edge of the clearing. Turning back, he grabbed a few grenades off of each of the corpses strewn about, pulled all the pins at once using his TK, and chucked them at the entrance to the bunker.

"Alright, let's go," he said, turning and running as fast as he could. The other four followed suit. About five seconds later, they heard a massive BOOM, sealing the fate of whoever was left inside.

*Present*

In a dark office, behind an expensive mahogany desk and in front of a wall covered in every square inch with bookshelves fit to burst, the well-dressed Assistant Manager of Bulgar III's Third Quarter Mining Division sat with his hands clasped together on the desk, leaning back in his extravagant leather chair.

"And uh, how much will this cost me again?" The Assistant Manager, Steve, asked. Across from him, sitting in a decidedly less nice chair, was the assassin Fate garbed in his Styx Tactical Armor.

To unsettle the other man, he had taken to tossing a knife into the air and catching it repeatedly halfway through the meeting. Catching said knife now and sliding it into its sheath, he gave Steve a threatening look.

"2500 Shills, since I won't have to pay for fuel. You pay in advance," he said.

Steve reached out a hand, which Fate promptly shook. The former then pressed the button on his Ex Ear twice, extending the interface. A short time later, he pressed the button twice more, retracting the interface, and nodded to Fate.

After Fate did the same, quickly checking the Styx bank account for the agreed-upon amount, he stood up. Steve did the same, and they both walked to the door. As he was showing Fate out, Steve asked "How long will it take?"

"It'll be done by the end of the night," Fate replied.

"Excellent."

Their business concluded, Fate walked out of the office, going through several hallways to reach the outside. Immediately upon exiting, he was assaulted by the extraordinarily loud sounds of Excar-Corp's massive machines drilling mile-wide holes into the ground. He mentally switched on his Prodigy power, walking through the hordes of miners, technicians, and faculty completely ignored.

'It's a nice day out,' he thought. Crossing the wide area between the auxiliary buildings, he entered the one directly across from the building he just left. After another labyrinth of hallways, he found the office of the Manager of Bulgar III's Third Quarter Mining Division, indicated by the golden-plated placard with the same lengthy title printed upon it, along with the name "Nathial" at the top.

Opening the door revealed a layout much the same as the Assistant Manager's office, only everything from the window on the left wall to the screws in the chairs and bookshelves was visibly pricier and snazzier. Sitting in a chair much like the Assistant Manager's (but noticeably nicer) was Nathial, the Manager of this Quarter.

From his Scirnock leather shoes to his slicked-back hair, he very much looked like a successful businessman. Looking up from the computer interface on his desk filled with graphs and charts, he asked "yes, can I help you?"

After a quick glance at the room, Fate went to the gold-plated Orga mdl 5 hunting rifle with silver patterns and took it off its opulent rack. He then knelt and pointed the gun at Nathial, who watched on with detached indifference, before promptly pulling the trigger.

A laser beam roughly as thick as a forearm shot out of the back of Nathial's head and burned itself halfway through three books on the bookshelf, the remains of which caught fire a few seconds later. Fate threw the gun to the side. With that done, he stepped back and examined his work, fire alarms starting to sound.

Satisfied, Fate proceeded to exit the room, passing the shocked staff member who came into the room to suppress the fire. Fate navigated back through the many hallways and to the throng of people outside, sirens blaring and people shouting the whole while.

He then walked three miles East, where his ship was hidden behind a hill. As he started up his Shadow Jumper's engine, he heard the distinct sound of Police VTOL Copter sirens.

Snorting in amusement, he flipped on the Shadow Jumper's cloaking device and proceeded to take off, leaving the chaos of the Third Quarter Mining Division's headquarters behind for the peace of space.