The endless desert that encompasses most the planet, the Dunes of Sangria are a sparsely populated bad lands made up of lavender sands and dunes.

  Littered with the mechanical corpses of Eukaronic ships - it is a hub for scavengers based in Amarill town, and a source of Cyrilum - a unique fuel only found on Eukaron.

  Amongst the Dunes of Sangria, Vincent Sparks finds himself treading across the lavender bad land.

  “What a shithole.” He looked around. “That will be the last time I jump into a literal garbage compact ship."

  He continued walking. His ship had been destroyed after escaping from space bandits, resulting in him crashing down on Eukaron. Nobody really knew this planet, especially him. Being a former associate of a high body, he thought he knew this place.

  But it wasn’t on any high records, just like Testharia. Guess the galaxy’s vaster than people thought.

  In the sky, large lines of ships and transports hovered in a form of space traffic, floating buoys guiding them as to not get lost in the desert.

  They all pointed towards the same place – an amalgamation of skyscrapers, walls and ships barely visible in the distance. Hennafell City.

  Before Vincent was a large Mesa to his left, comprised of small settlements visible on the top. This suggested bandits or scavenger setting up camp.

  Ahead of him was a large canyon and a forcefield blocking unrestricted entrance.

  “Well now... I can still find a way to get off this rock.” Vincent said, smirking.

  Alternatively – to the east, the gleaming lights of Amarill shone like a spotlight. It wasn’t saying much, as any lights were scrapped from the crashed ships in the sand.

  He had the choice of going through the mesa or crossing the canyon to Hennafell or going to the town of Amarill.

  “Hm...” Vincent thought long and hard and eventually decided to turn east, making his decision to tread his way down to the town of Amarill.

  As Vincent begun walking, he could see something he would most likely have never seen since crashing on the planet. People. Humans. Life forms.

  They were dressed in baggy clothes that blended into the sand – a giveaway being carried scraps and heavy backpacks. These were some of the many scavengers who used the area around Amarill to provide for their families.

  In the city itself – ships could be slowly seen through the sun’s glare, leaving and entering the town. There was life – but more importantly to Vincent, there were ships.

  From small speeders to large corvettes, they had them all.

  Vincent smirked again, eyeing the ships. “Finally... Now we’re talking."

  As he edged ever closer, the abundance of crashed fighters and shuttles slowly began to dwindle. Anything that would be remotely close to the town being tapped and taken long ago. By now, all the crashed ships were picked clean or completely gone.

  Vincent approached closer to the town, slowly realizing where he was. In the backdrop of the town, he could see pink and purple smoke. Behind the walled town where it was visible, there was a large refinery covered in pipes and storage tanks.

  This was one of many in Eukaron, however it was the only one that seemed properly defended beyond a small militia.

  “Ah... I’m on Eukaron.” He picked a rock from the ground, looking at it.

  Eukaron, a world of purple and blues, was a desert world with over 80% its population within a 50km radius from it's Capital. The area around it being very dense and industrial.

  It holds a special fuel, Cyrilum, that is often heralded as the best in the galaxy. Its authoritarian government had recently faced a Civil War - making the area uninhabitable and is the reason a shield has been placed in Hennafell.

  Temperatures were surprisingly cold, however due to the incredible density of the capital region this was flipped on its head, as anywhere beyond Amarill averages 30 degrees Celsius.

  The relatively quiet desert would almost be instantly replaced as soon as he passed through the scrap walls of Amarill. Buildings were relatively small to Eukaron standards - only standing around three stories tall, covered in barricades and nails. Crime was incredibly common in the town, with gang violence being a major problem.

  “Huh. Must suck to live in.” He looked at the buildings, being mostly run down and disgusting from the outside.

  The town was incredibly crowded with market stalls and bunkhouses. Near the edges of the wall were a lot less claustrophobic – the rich typically living there. A large amount of bars was also near the rich areas, to attract customers.

  It was also easier to repair buildings without the risk of a stray wall crushing someone.

  In the east of the wall, a rundown bar with a ship park stood there, with two ships still remaining.

  “Bingo.” He snapped his fingers, making his way to the east wall. However, it would be difficult to get there.

  People were bumping into Vincent and into each other, and the constant yelling and the banging of metals were disorienting. However, eventually, the crowds faded away and the bar stood in front of Vincent.

  It was a square building with purple walls and black supports. A small fence was to the right in which outside tables and bikes were parked. On the left, the ships landed on white-painted scrap to be shaped like landing pads.

  Vincent Sparks thought about something else. He was on the galactical wanted list. He was one of the most wanted criminals in the galaxy. If anybody got their hands on Vincent and turned him in, they were rewarded with a handsome price.

  Judging Amarill was often a safe-haven for criminals – little to no authority besides a few guards on the walls were there to attempt to collect him.

  “Heh. Takes the weight off my back.” He kept shoving people as he made his way to the bar.

  Outside the bar, he could see two men arguing. Notably, they were the first people he'd seen without thick face coverings.

  People on Eukaron had a plum-like skin with elf-like ears, however what separated them from the north region being - obviously their skin, but also that their ears had a 'double point'. Their sclera's were a deep black and their pupils a glowing magenta, a side-effect from evolution on the world.

  One was morbidly obese, wearing a sleeveless jacket and trousers. They had a gun that looked as if made out of bent pipes and dials stuck in one of his trousers belt-loops. The other was skinny, wearing a black poncho with goggles and boots - something only described as a metal stick holstered on their back.

  As he walked past, he heard the obese man yell something in Eukaronic and the sound of a gun cocking. However, before a gunshot - the obese man would scream and drop on the floor.

  The skinny man's stick vibrated so fast that it was as if a pure rod of purple lightning. The idea behind the weapon was that it vibrated so hard that it formed a magnetic force, allowing it to separate atoms and essentially cut through anything. The downside was that it was a very limited effect - making it useless if the first strike didn't kill.

  Meanwhile - before Vincent, he had two ships he could take. One was small with no markings while the other was around the size of a shuttle and had strange gang symbols painted onto it. Staring at the one with the gang signs, he shook his head. “No... fuck no.”

  Then, he looked at the smaller ship. It was covered with bullet holes and subpar repairs. It would most likely fall apart if he tried to go off world with it – essentially forcing him to go to a bigger city to get a better one.

  Given the recent lockdown for civilians on Eukaron, many ship-owners were forced to sell parts of their ship in the inflating currency. It also, obviously meant, that they were barred from leaving off-world - so why bother repair anything to make it possible?

  The lockdown was caused by a recent civil war on the planet – the rebellion behind it still being around and under active siege in the Amethyst Mesa.

  “Tsk...” He tapped the ship with one finger, finishing it for good. It instantly began to crumble down into ashes. This was the power of his Soul. Destruction.

  The ashes blew away into purple sparks before completely disappearing. Because of this action, he was left with the ship filled with gang symbols. Hopping into it, he smirked.

  “Heh. It’s time I properly send a message to every faction body out there once I figure this out.”

  Almost instantly he heard alien yelling behind him, the owner of the ship seeing from the window of the bar. Running out - they yelled to a few members of the gang in the bike park.

  "Ugh." He'd reach into his pockets and throw a single Plutonian currency at the owner. Though he assumed the currency had no value on Eukaron. "Thanks!" He quickly fired up the engines on the console, taking lift off.

  The few of the gang members crowd the owner and looked at the coin. It was in decent condition and not rusted beyond recognition, a gang member tried to grab it, his sand slapped away by the owner.

  The one who tried to grab it got mad, yelling at them before another tried to take the coin again. The owner pulled it away again, now yelling too. For a few minutes they argued over who would get the shiny metal before the owner had enough and pulled out his pistol, a shootout beginning outside.

  Amarill was almost entirely made of scrap. Anything that wasn't rusty or even on-world could be sold for a high profit by con artists.

  A few of the patrons in the bar would see a few of the dead bodies. Seeing potential money and things to sell - they would join in. The poverty in Amarill was incredibly high, meaning any money could mean life or death.

  After around a minute, the entire bar and a few citizens inside had gotten into a straight brawl and shootout - guards and militia failing to stop it and instead simply closing off the east side of the town.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  While Vincent Sparks exited the atmosphere of Eukaron.

  = = =

  Uprising of Kytron, a group that does the messy work for Dark Intrinium. Initially made to honour Lord Kytron, it soon became an underground group that takes on all kinds of dirty jobs and illegal requests, such as assassination, extortion, etc.

  Not many bodies in the Milky Way know about this group as they like to keep themselves under wraps. Truly, they operate in the shadows.

  The base was located on a remote planet called Mavkodus. It is owned by the governmental palace on Veyronia, which Dark Intrinium proper was headquartered in.

  A remote planet with nothing but nature and exempt of all known intelligent life forms.

  As such, the only ones who knew of this base were those who have a high enough clearance level within Dark Intrinium itself, or those that are members of the Uprising of Kytron.

  On this day, it was just another ordinary day for the UoK. Most of the Followers were soaking in the free time in the courtyard, where the sky was open above them.

  The sun was shining brightly, and there were a couple of clouds out in the atmosphere.

  For the past two months, they had been doing a lot of missions. Most were done with ease, and they were paid handsomely for their efforts. However, that also meant that the work had been cut off significantly as there was not much left for them to do.

  However, that didn't mean that they weren't able to do anything. They were still able to train and spar with each other. And, they were allowed to roam the base freely.

  "Testharia's real hassle. They really know how to test my damn patience..."

  Aria Fujimara let loose of her formal-stiff shoulders now that she's in a place she could call 'home'.

  She had come back from a meeting with the Great Kamisword of Testharia, in which she failed to persaude Sachiel Eria to place outposts around the planet and rather had only soldiers deployed, which were accompanied by Testharian Mobilizers.

  "I'm sure they'll exploit this, hold our soldiers captive, and turn them against us when Lord Veyron conquers Testharia."

  She looked around to see if any of the other Followers were present, and indeed there was.

  The person called Jasper Emerson would walk outside the main building, having noticed a ship landing in the hangar from a window in the med bay.

  As he approached the female Follower, he made sure to make some noise to not startle her. He waved before making his presence fully known.

  "Oh- hey, Jasper." Aria waved back.

  "How was Testharia?"

  He asked with a notable eagerness. He was asked to be sent on the mission but was heavily rejected due to having an outburst before. Jasper was known as a rowdy mad scientist, who always had a lot of energy.

  But he could be serious when he wanted to be.

  "Yeah... a bummer to say the least." Aria rubbed the back of her neck.

  "They didn't want to set up outposts like I suggested. Instead, they wanted to place soldiers with Mobilizers..."

  "That's a letdown."

  "Yup. The Great Kamisword is difficult to persuade so I had to result to different tactics and even then, I got half of the fucking work done." She said with an agitated expression, but it soon faded away as she shook her head and sighed.

  "At least you're back here so you don't hafta put up with him! Unless you're sent to get that other half done." Jasper chuckled.

  Aria shook her head and then looked up at the sky. The star of the system Mavkodus was in was such a bright star, that it's classified as a A0V main sequence star.

  This meant that the Mavkodus star was 324 times more luminous than Earth's Sun. Even though the base was on the dark side of the planet, it was still very bright, even at 18 AU’s away.

  It was beautiful.

  Aria closed her eyes and smiled as she felt the warmth of the star wash over her. She had grown to love this planet and the star it revolves around.

  Upon hearing that Jasper pointed out that she probably was sent to do that second part, she chuckled and replied:

  "I hope not. Testharia has a bad vibe that I can't seem to shake off."

  Aria then switched her gaze towards another person, who seemed like a misfit out of all the Followers. That 'misfit' was named Heios Kroos, the Fourth Follower.

  He was fixing a gadget that he had on him, seemingly frustrated with something. Aria couldn't tell what he was doing, but she knew that it was something that dealt with his gadgets.

  He turned his head at Aria for a split second, having a sour look like always.

  "Hey, Heios. Didn't notice you there." Aria waved with a smile. She was like the good big sister of the group. Always looking after them and making sure that they don't die, which is especially difficult for the battle loving silent guy.

  But would you really call him battle loving if all his life revolved around battle and survival?

  People from Venus were heavily known as being survivors, as the planet was hailed as the most dangerous place in the entire galaxy for a century now.

  You'd think that Heios Kroos is some kind of batshit crazy person who loved fighting and killing, but he was just someone that needed to kill and survive to stop his suffer in the gutter.

  Heios went back to what he was doing, clearly not interested in any kind of small talk.

  Jasper turned towards Heios and clearly pointed out his usual silence, trying to tickle a reaction out of him.

  "Oh come on, Heios! You could've at the very least said hello or something!"

  Aria chuckled at Jasper's attempt and shook her head. "That's our Heios, alright. Doesn't say much but gets the work done splendidly. I don't know what I'd do without him."

  "Think that's a record for the longest time he's interacted with us outside of a mission, no?" Jasper said, clearly being sarcastic about it.

  "Be easy on him, will you? He's not the greatest at socializing and he's clearly very busy with something. Let's not pester him about it." She smiled, still keeping her friendly attitude.

  "Well, when you put it like that, it makes me sound like an ass." Jasper chuckled and put his hands in his pockets.

  "He should get a life though."

  He looked back at Heios and was met with an immediate death stare, to which he backed away slowly.

  "Yeah... I think you're right. He's definitely busy..."

  Aria let out a little chuckle and continued to bask in the warm sunlight of the star above them.

  Heios wasn't always quiet. He was verbal during missions whenever needed, however he always resorted to violence should anything not go like he wanted it to. He was also known to have a very foul mouth when it came to profanity. Is this what people from Venus are like?

  What even is Venus? Aria didn't know much about the planet other than the fact that it is the deadliest place in the galaxy. But why was it so deadly? What did it hold that made it so dangerous? She didn't know, nor did she want to find out.

  What she did know is that people from Venus are incredible fighters. If you were to ever meet a person from Venus, you would better pray that they're on your side.

  Heios Kroos is just a prime example of that.

  Maybe Venus is the spitting image of 'survival of the fittest'?. Noteworthy that Venus isn't controlled by any main body, so no one oversees anything. It's all free will in Venus.

  Jasper put his hands in his pocket, turning back to Aria. "Hehe... W-well... Now that you're back, you should get something to eat and enjoy the downtime. I see you losing some weight."

  He joked around with her.

  "I'll be in my lab like the usual. I'm still working on that one project... that darned... fuckin'... thing."

  Aria turned back at Jasper with her arms crossed. "Involves carcasses again? Or is it something new?" She asked curiously.

  "Why do you keep implying that all I work on is shitty corpses!?" He said in a very exaggerated tone. "Yes, my lab does smell absolutely foul but that's because my fucking dog shits on the floor every damn day! The damn thing even ripped off one of my tools!"

  Aria tried to hide her laughter, but she ended up chuckling anyway. "Ah, sorry. It's just that every time I see you, you're always working with dead bodies and such."

  Jasper sighed, clearly not having a good time with Aria poking fun at his expense. "... Ugh..."

  "Anyways, is my brother here?" Aria asked.

  The Grand Follower - Avu Fujimara, who also happens to be Aria's older brother, had just gone off-world to take care of diplomatic relations between Veyronia's Chief Council and Nuvaria's Queen Palace roundtable.

  Jasper shook his head. "Nope, left a few hours ago to the North Region. You wanted to see him?"

  Aria thought, putting the palm of her hand against her chin. "It had something to do with my discussion with the Great Kamisword, not to mention him in general since he has direct contact with Lord Veyron at all times. Anyways, I'm going inside."

  Jasper nodded, "Good! Long flights are taxing on people, specifically when they are malnourished or starving! Don't want you taking the brunt of Lord Veyron's verbal lashes if you passed out during a meeting."

  He waved before heading back the way he came.

  Aria looked at Jasper and nodded. "Thanks for the heads-up." She then went inside the main building and headed straight for the cafeteria.

  The cafeteria in the lounge was quite small for a base this size but it worked well enough for the amount of people that resided in it. They didn't need anything bigger.

  Aria went towards one of the benches and sat down, getting comfortable and taking out her lunch. It was a sushi wrap made of Karmian Tuna, a type of fish native to the planet Karmia. Karmia was a very hot planet, so the fish had to grow thicker skin in order to survive the harsh climate.

  Next to the sushi wrap was a large bowl of salad and Nahmiklok, a special kind of gourmet meat from Ambrecia. It was served in a small cube-shaped container, which held a single cube of Nahmiklok. The meat itself is so soft, that it practically melts in your mouth. It was so incredibly delicious.

  She started eating her food, humming in content as she savored each bite.

  As she was eating, she noticed Heios pulling the door of the lounge harshly, making a squeaking noise as the door closed. He took his seat in the opposite side of the bench.

  Heios sat down at the opposite end of the table, sighing as he did so. He wasn't having a good day. It seemed as if everything he was doing was going wrong. He was fixing his gadgets, but nothing seemed to be going right. He had a feeling that he was about to throw up any second.

  He took out a meal that consisted of only fruits and vegetables. He wasn't too fond of meat or anything related to it. Of course, his unfixed gadget was placed on the table as well. He decided to just have a look at it after he got his food.

  Aria looked at Heios again as she was eating. She opened her mouth to say something but decided against it, thinking that it would make him feel worse than he already does. So, instead, she simply smiled and went back to eating her food. She picked up the TV remote on the small table and turned the TV on.

  Even the Uprising of Kytron used the basic galactic news channel to keep tabs on the state of things in the galaxy. Who knows, maybe that's what their next mission is going to be.

  [TV]: "In light of the recent terrorist attacks on Dankasho and Tristate City, a majority of N.G.O.'s have begun to offer humanitarian aid and construction support to the Testharia, turning the once-bustling Rias Square into a hub that your injured Testharian can go to for assistance or shelter. The perpetrator of the Dankasho incident is believed to be the same terrorist behind the Progen City incident."

  The reporter continued on with the report, but Aria had zoned out, having finished eating her food. She had a serious expression on her face, deep in thought.

  Heios was now looking at the TV, clearly not liking what he saw. "Dumb fucking idiots..." He said quietly as he rubbed his face. He sighed before taking a bite from one of his fruits. He looked down at his gadget and took it in his hands, trying to fix it again.

  [TV]: "White Eye has been under fire by the galaxy's most wanted! Reports are coming in that White Eye has recently been threatened, directly at the councilmembers of the White Eye. There has been many reports of their supply ships being destroyed at very specific locations."

  The reporter informed mid-way through until showing a footage - the same footage shown in White Eye's meeting room. Aria just scoffed. "Those lame guys?" She asked with a chuckle.

  Heios was getting increasingly frustrated, seemingly failing to fix his gadget. With a loud groan, he threw the gadget against the wall, instantly breaking it. "FUCK!" He yelled, leaning back on the bench and rubbing his face.

  Aria was startled by the sudden outburst, turning to look at Heios in worry. "What was that?" She asked, clearly confused.

  Heios was still leaning back, breathing heavily as he stared at the ceiling. He put his hands on his face, letting out a long sigh. "It's whatever... just a piece of shitty equipment."

  Aria decided to continue watching the news, but she still kept an eye on Heios. "If you say so." She said.

  The TV continued on with its broadcast, now showing the person in question.

  [TV]: "According to this footage. The suspect at hand is without no doubt, no other than the galaxy's most wanted, Vincent Sparks."

  Aria quickly turned off the TV. She stood there, fazed for a couple of seconds. No word came out of her and no limb moved. She simply stared at the blank TV screen, frozen like a statue.

  And then, she stood up, her fork landing on the ground. She had a very dark aura around her, which made the room feel even colder than it already was. Her eyes were filled with hatred and rage. She gritted her teeth.

  "Is this... a fucking joke?"

  Jasper walked in, looking over at Aria. It wasn't visible due to his mask but his eyes had a hint of concern. He approached her but Heios was also angry, which prompted him to stay where he was.

  "You disappear after 5 years... and then you come back and smile!? SMILE AT WHAT, HUH!?" She summoned her Signature Weapon: Enk-X, and slashed the TV in half. "You didn't care about us! You nearly left us all to die and now you have the gall to show your smile and smile, you fucking bastard!"

  Jasper asked hesitantly. "He's been gone for so long... why would he come back now?"

  "How the hell am I supposed to know!? He's going to regret showing his face again!" Aria was furious, the rage inside her could barely be contained. "If I ever see him, I'm going to-"

  Just then, the entire base was filled with a noticeably loud and booming voice. A voice that was none other than Lord Veyron's.

  "To the High Table Room."

  Jasper stood up straight, nodding before leaving. He was worried about what was going to happen, but he knew that he couldn't say anything to Aria or else he'd be next on her list. He quickly left the cafeteria, closing the door behind him.

  Heios grabbed his plate and threw it in the trash can, clearly annoyed as well. He left the room, slamming the door behind him.