The Hunters

[thisDerius]

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826 A.S. - Omicron Space – Three Years After the Cambridge Escape

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Everyone knows they can’t stay on the run forever. Some days, fate tilts in your favor; others, it holds you by the throat and forces you to kneel. Tia Stormclaw had spent years outrunning fate, but today, her luck had run dry.

The Corsairs seemed like a good idea at first—a place to disappear, a faction ruthless enough to keep outsiders away, even the kind that chased her through the stars. But the moment she left Omicron Gamma’s orbit, reality caught up with her. They had been waiting. A lot of them.

Joker’s mercenaries had found her again.

Tia's ship, Blackout One, twisted through space, her fingers dancing over the controls with the precision of someone who had lived every second expecting to die. Plasma rounds and missile trails cut through the void, the fiery glow of her thrusters leaving a fading trail in the darkness. She outmaneuvered them, just like she always did—until she didn’t.

A well-placed torpedo grazed her port side, sending her ship into a violent spin. Systems flickered, alarms blared, and she cursed under her breath as she fought to regain control.

She didn’t have time.

With only one option left, Tia redirected Blackout One toward the nearest planetary body—Nauru. The barren wasteland of a world loomed ahead, its harsh desert landscapes stretching endlessly beneath her as gravity took hold.

The impact was brutal.

The ship slammed into the rocky ground, metal shrieking against the surface as it skidded across dunes and jagged terrain. Dust and fire trailed in its wake before everything finally stopped. Silence. Then pain.

Tia exhaled slowly, head resting against the cracked cockpit glass.

"Still breathing… for now."

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Omicron Delta – The Core Workshop

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John Derius Guerra stood beside her, arms crossed, studying the wreckage of Blackout One. He had been the one to drag her from the crash site, the one to tow her ship to The Core’s facility, and the one who—despite everything—still had her back.

“I can fix this up quickly if you want,” Derius said, glancing at her with that same calculating look he always had, “but that won’t stop Joker from trying to kill you again. And again. And again.”

Tia barely acknowledged the offer. Instead, she stared at the ship that had carried her through so much. It was done. This was where their journey ended.

“Hide it,” she said after a long pause. “Keep it somewhere safe. She’s yours now. For emergencies.”

Derius raised an eyebrow. “I hope she has a name. I’d be very disappointed if you were flying a nameless ship.”

“Blackout One,” she answered. “No real meaning behind it. Just felt right.”

He nodded, as if accepting an unspoken agreement between them. “There’s a transport heading to Gallia in four hours. I can get you aboard. You’ll be in Ile-de-France within a few days.” He turned to a star map, double-checking routes. “When you get there, look for Yousei. He’s somewhere in Orléanais. That’s as much as I can help you.”

Then, after a moment of hesitation, he reached for something on his workbench. A weapon—an Iridium Slug Magnum.

“I had this made for Z.,” Derius muttered, pressing the gun into her hand. “But somehow, it ended up with me. Now it’s yours.”

Tia turned the revolver over in her grip, feeling its weight, knowing it would become part of her in the coming days.

“Thanks,” she said, holstering it. Her voice was quieter now, lost in the weight of what was to come. “I’ll be back. But… if this goes the way I think it will, there’s a chance I won’t make it out this time.”

Derius scoffed, shaking his head. “We’ve survived worse, Kali.” He placed a hand on her shoulder, steady and reassuring. “When you’re done, I’ll be there to make sure those bastards don’t slip away.”

Tia nodded. There was nothing more to say.

She boarded the transport. Gallia awaited.

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Gallia – Orléanais – Civilian Shipyard

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Gallia was different. It always had been. The towering structures, the elegant designs, the air of regality—it all felt like another world, one she had never belonged to. Here, people didn’t look over their shoulders. Here, no one lived in fear of the shadows lurking behind them.

But Tia knew better.

Her search was short-lived. She didn’t find Yousei. He found her.

She recognized him instantly—the way he moved, the way his eyes never missed a detail. He was working at a small, unassuming shipyard, hands deep in a diagnostic panel. A quiet life. One he had built for himself, far from the chaos of Sirius.

Tia approached carefully, hands in her pockets, observing the man she once knew.

“How long has it been, Tia?” Yousei didn’t even turn to look at her, as if he had expected this moment all along. “Five years?” He exhaled sharply, finally glancing in her direction. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“No Blackguard here,” he continued, irritation creeping into his voice. “No war, no contracts, nothing to hunt. The Gauls watch their borders too closely for that. You shouldn’t be here.”

Tia let out a dry chuckle, shifting her weight slightly. “Yeah. Five years.” She met his gaze. “And I’m not here to hunt. I just need to lay low for a few days. The heat’s too high—I need to disappear until things cool down.”

Yousei sighed, rubbing his temple. “So you’re looking for refuge.”

Tia didn’t respond.

“Fine,” he relented, shaking his head. “But you’re not just going to sit around doing nothing. You work, you stay. I don’t need some ghost loitering around my yard. Do a good job, and I’ll find you a way back to Sirius.”

Without waiting for an answer, he gestured for her to follow, leading her deeper into the shipyard.

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Two Months Later – The Departure

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Tia had expected to stay a few days. Somehow, it became two months.

Fixing ships, working with her hands, surrounded by civilians instead of killers—it was different. The sound of welding torches, the smell of coolant, the hum of engines coming back to life—it almost felt normal. Almost.

But normal was an illusion.

Every day, she told herself it was time to leave. Every night, she lay awake, staring at the ceiling, thinking about everything she still had to do. The war inside her never truly stopped. And the longer she stayed, the more restless she became.

She wasn’t meant for this.

Yousei had seen it. From the moment she arrived, he knew she wasn’t going to stay. And now, as she stood in his office, fully geared, he simply leaned back against his desk, arms crossed, watching her.

“So this is it,” he said. It wasn’t a question.

Tia nodded.

“Transport leaves in an hour. Takes you as far as New Paris. From there, you’ll have to find your own way back to Sirius.”

“I already did.”

Yousei raised an eyebrow.

“Smugglers running out of Languedoc into the Taus. They’re moving cargo to Baffin and then onward to Liberty. I can get as far as Coronado with them.” She adjusted the strap on her bag. “After that, I pick up an old contact in Cortez. Get my hands on a ship, something that won’t stand out, and start pulling the strings I need.”

Yousei exhaled through his nose, pushing off the desk. “And after that?”

Tia’s expression darkened.

“I rebuild my network.”

Joker’s mercenaries had been everywhere. Organized, relentless, always a step ahead. It wasn’t just a hunt anymore—it was a war. And this time, she wasn’t going in blind.

“The Blackguard is gone, but its ghosts are still around. I find them, put together what’s left, and turn them into something new.” Her grip on the Magnum tightened. “I find out who funds Joker, where his mercs get their contracts, who arms them, who shields them. I dig deep, cut every supply line, burn every safe house, leave nothing behind.”

Yousei studied her carefully. “You’re not just hunting them anymore.”

Tia shook her head. “No. I’m erasing them.”

A heavy silence filled the room. He had seen that look before—the quiet, deadly certainty in her eyes.

“You know how this ends, don’t you?” Yousei finally said.

Tia’s lips twitched into something that wasn’t quite a smile. “Yeah. I do.”

She turned to leave, but before she could step out, Yousei spoke again.

“Wait.”

She paused.

He reached into his drawer, pulling out something small and placing it on the desk. A data chip.

“Encrypted flight routes. If you need to disappear, these will get you into places no one will follow.” He hesitated. “Just in case.”

Tia stared at it for a moment before picking it up and sliding it into her pocket.

“Thanks.” she murmured.

Then she was gone.

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En Route to Sirius – The Final Hunt Begins

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As the transport lifted off, Gallia shrank behind her, disappearing into the void.

This was it. The last stretch. No more running.

Joker had spent years hunting her. Now it was his turn to be the prey.

And this time, she wouldn’t stop until the entire goddamn operation was nothing but ashes.