Oracle came up behind one of the armored Bounty Hunters and wrapped and arm around their neck, placing the tip of the combat blade under their chin where the armor didn't protect them.

She felt the Hunter tense under her, and Oracle in turn readied herself for a fight.

"We're friendly." Called the leader, the one with Mirage's pistol aimed at his visor.

"We're Echo One. Mirage, I'm Sentinel." He said.

Sentinel's voice was calm, his body relaxed even though there was a pistol aimed at his head. Oracle knew that he was ready to fight at a moment's notice, but you would have never known it by the way Sentinel handled the situation.

Mirage hesitated for a moment before he lowered his pistol and holstered it.

"One can never be too careful." He said, beckoning Sentinel to follow him.

Oracle let go of the Bounty Hunter she was holding the knife to and followed the group.

"You can sleep on the cots we have lauded out." Said Mirage, beckoning the lead Hunter to follow him to their camp.

"We will talk in the morning."

Sentinel nodded and took his spot at his own cot as they entered their small camp. Sliding his helmet off he laid down with his back to Oracle. The others settled down as quietly as possible.

Phoenix rolled over and rubbed her eyes, looking at the new arrivals.

"What the hell?" She muttered.

"Who are you?"

"Get some rest, Phoenix." Said Mirage.

"We'll talk in the morning."

She grumbled something and turned back over. Oracle watched as her breathing turned to a slow steady rhythm as she fell back asleep.

"Now it's your turn." Said Mirage, settling himself on his own cot.

Oracle sighed.

"Fine." She said, laying down on her cot.

She stared for a couple minutes at her helmet, the stars reflected as smeared lines on its smooth black surface. The song her mother used to sing to her came back, the same one she had heard when she was taking care of Bastian.

It echoed in her mind, and faded away as she drifted off to sleep, her eyes closing to memories of stars.

She woke up to the sound of people softly talking. Oracle woke fully and stretched, retrieving her helmet from off the ground.

"Is everyone up?" Asked Mirage, handing Oracle an MRE.

"Yeah." Answered Wendigo, one of the other team members.

Oracle admired her silvery blue armor and then turned her attention to Sentinel. He sat silent, not speaking a word. His steal gray armor was dotted with bullet holes, the paint scuffed and chipped.

Tally marks were scattered across the armor, showing, Oracle guessed, how many men he had killed. Sentinel was older than Mirage, his military haircut not as uniform as it should be because of how much he wore his helmet.

Oracle could tell that he had seen many things, that he had fought in the war. His steely blue eyes held the memories, the pain.

"Who is she?" He asked, pointing the combat blade he held in his hand at Oracle.

"A new arrival. She defected a couple days ago." He said.

"How can we trust her?" He asked, his deep voice suspicious.

"I've known her for awhile, I know she can be trusted." He said.

Sentinel went back to sharpening his blade, seemingly satisfied with his answer. She knew that he would be watching her, though.

"What is our next move?" Asked Nightstalker, shifting his gaze to Mirage.

"The Underground." Said Mirage.

"The civilization under Maklava that's run by crime lords and drug dealers and contains the most vile scum in the galaxy." Said Mirage.

"Why there?" Coyote asked.

"What's there that we should risk our lives for?"

Mirage looked up at the assembled team.

"Basilisk, the leader of the Rogues." Said Mirage.

Oracle looked up sharply, locking eyes with Mirage.

"Are you telling me that you're a small army?" She asked, disbelieving.

Mirage nodded.

"Much like Necron we have underground bases in every city, but unlike Necron we also have hideouts in small remote towns and the in the middle of the forests that blanket this planet. Basilisk runs the whole operation from the Underground, communicating with our units via messengers and radios."

"So we have the ability to take down Necron?" She asked.

"If it comes to war, yes. But we still hold out hope that war won't be our only option. This planet has seen to much death and destruction already." Said Mirage.

"Basilisk can link us up with one of our units. Once that happens we can, if war has been decided, move into Hyperion and direct other units to do the same in different cities."

"How do you know that she'll listen to you?" Asked Oracle.

Mirage paused for a second before speaking.

"You know how I told you how I have contacts in Maklava?" He asked.

Oracle nodded.

"She's one of them, because I used to work for her. When I first defected I was sent to Maklava to work directly with Basilisk. She thought that I was skilled enough to do so, and so did her various Captains. I worked with her for a year and a half before returning to Hyperion with my team, Team Echo."

He stopped here, shifting his position on his cot.

"I earned my respect from the others as I took out Necron targets and learned how to lead a team. Other drug lords wanted my services because of how well I performed, and payed handsomely for it, but I stuck to what I knew was right."

"Because of my armor's ability I became known as Phantom. The people of the Underground called me that. I was well known there, even feared by some. They knew that I always completed my mission, no matter what it was."

"Basilisk said that I could have earned a higher rank than Squad Leader, become a Captain, an Advisor, maybe even the next General. But I wanted to go back to Hyperion to protect it. I wanted to be on the ground fighting, leading a team."

Mirage stood up, looking at them all.

"We need to leave soon." Was all he said before turning and heading towards Crimson Shadows.

Oracle got up and followed him.

"So what you're telling me is you spent a year and a half here before returning to Hyperion?" Oracle asked.

"You took out targets in Maklava, and was a well known Bounty Hunter?"

Mirage nodded.

"You never told me that you were famous." Said Oracle.

Mirage cracked a smile as he boarded Crimson Shadows. Bastian was taking stock of the weapons they had, and the others were making checks on equipment.

"It's a good haul," he said, looking up at him.

"There are some older but reliable Battle Rifles in here, some newer ones, three assault rifles, a Nightstalker Sniper Rifle, two S-29 pistols and a crate full of smoke, stun and frag grenades."

"The sniper rifle is Desertfox's." Said Oracle.

"Everything else is free to be used."

"Good." Said Mirage.

"We may need them."

A few minutes later Mirage emerged from the ship and asked how Sentinel's mission had gone.

"The third night out in the forest we found one of Necron's forces moving weapons to their Hyperion base, but we couldn't attack, there were too many of them. We reported it to the base and Saldatherin, the mining town to the East of Maklava." He said.

"We were seen and chased through the forest, but we fought them off pretty easily, escaped back into the forest. We watched the convoy from a distance, and then got your call."

"It was an uneventful mission." Sentinel finished.

"Just glad that none of you got hurt." Said Mirage.

"Moonshine is worse for wear. That's another reason why we need to get to The Underground." Said Mirage.

"They can treat her gunshot wound in the hospital wing."

"It's thirteen twenty-six." Said Sentinel.

"We should head out no later than fourteen hundred," he said.

"The Underground is a dangerous place when the sun starts to go down."

Mirage nodded.

"That we should."

"Alright!" He called to everyone.

As one they all turned to him.

"Board the ship, we need to leave now." He said.

"We want to get to Basilisk before nightfall, or we are all going to be in danger." He said.

They began to pack up the camp, stacking cots in the bay and making sure that everyone's gear was accounted for. Once that was done, Oracle entered the belly of Crimson Shadows and entered the cockpit.

She settled into the seat in front of the familiar controls of the ship.

"Ready for another adventure?" She asked the ship.

As if in response the ship hummed to life as it came out of low power mode, the lights in the cockpit brightening.

"I knew you would say yes." She told it, gently patting the side of the console I front of her.

"Everyone on?" She yelled down to the others.

"Yeah!" Nightshade called back.

Oracle turned back to the controls and carefully maneuvered the ship out of the shell of the Starscather Battleship and out into open air.

Here we come Maklava. She thought.

I hope you're ready.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So what did you think? Some new characters, and more of Mirage's backstory. What do you think of his backstory? What do you think will happen next? Let me know in the comments!

~~Nightfury107