The jet rattled in the turbulent weather, the ambient red lights of the passenger bay flickering with each dip in altitude. The Darkpathe - a Syntech stealth craft designed to infiltrate hostile territory or traverse areas affected by The Cataclysm - allowed for unprecedented air-to-ground drops and extractions without the usual risk of detection.

Shan Li sat strapped into one of six pods lining the back section of the aircraft, the other pods occupied by Syntech soldiers. In its neutral state, the pods remained open, allowing the passengers to move about and converse. Comfort was not a focal point as The Darkpathe had only one purpose and it performed with the utmost efficiency.

A crackling static filled the chamber, followed by the smooth voice of the pilot. "All clear of the outer jet streams. We've officially entered the Blackout Zone. ETA minus ten minutes." The announcement, and its static, ended with an audible click.

The Blackout Zone, a massive region of southeast Asia, named as such as a result of a failed experiment in which a compound was released into the atmosphere to combat rising global temperatures. The goal had been to generate additional cloud cover to cycle through the jet streams, but many aspects of the planet had changed following The Cataclysm, and without the proper testing, the compound had plunged Indonesia and its neighbors into perpetual darkness beneath a swirling vortex of black clouds.

Shan Li despised the Blackout Zone and its conniving governments, especially MALMAL, a rival of Syntech's. They sought to undermine Syntech's expansion with militarized efforts, and although this rivalry had caused many deaths on both sides, their ethics were at the heart of Shan's loathing. They cared little for humanity as a whole, and would do anything to gain the advantage.

"Oh man, are you guys ready for this? I sure am," said a young soldier in the pod across from her. He was a part of the special forces unit accompanying Shan on her mission, apparently top of his class.

"What did I say about talking," Shan Li said flatly.

"Uh, 'No talking unless it's about the mission or I'll end you,' I believe were your exact words," he said.

"C'mon, Rew. DEITY Shan ain't lying when she says she'll shut you up for good. I've seen it done 'fore with m'own eyes." Sergeant Hayman shot her an affectionate glance, but she wasn't amused. She'd worked with the man before and he was extremely efficient in the field, however, he did seem to stare a little too much.

"But it is about the mission, technically," Rew said, his eyes darting back and forth between them. The boy's eyes screamed inexperience. It reminded Shan of the days when she was a mentor.

"Sorry, Shan. The kid's got a pro'lem with his mouth. I ne'er figured out how to shut 'em up." Shan closed her eyes, wondering when they'd all just seal their traps.

"Well, at any rate, I'm excited to finally test Claudette out in the field. She's got this spitfire feature which simply kills the competition," he said, caressing the stocky submachine gun in his lap.

"Still not about the mis- Wait, did you just say your weapon's name was Claudette?" Shan asked, scrunching one side of her face in curious bewilderment.

"Sure did. I'd like to think she's a fine catch. That if you treat her nice enough, respect her 'n all that, then she'll have your back. But if you get on her bad side... spitfire," Rew said, whispering the last word.

Shan rolled her eyes. What on Earth had Syntech been thinking sending this kid to accompany her on this so-called "high-priority mission"? She was a veteran DEITY, known to carry out her objectives with expert efficiency, without the need for babbling recruits ruining her concentration. She could imagine Mayundar and Unity snickering in one of their governmental meetings, scheming about how else to drive her completely mad.

"What about you, DEITY Shan? What is that thing on your wrist?" the young man asked.

Shan shook her head. More questions. When did they ever end? "Nothing that concerns you, I assure you."

The familiar static crackled overhead. "One minute until deployment. Sensors are picking up a large number of hostile, mobile forces. Drop point is one mile out. You have twelve hours until extraction, if you miss the pickup, you're on your own."

A heavily guarded outpost this far from the MALMAL capitol? Something really strange was going on out here. Maybe they were right to send her. Even if her methods were a bit unorthodox, she'd always seen a mission finished, one way or another.

"Thirty seconds," the pilot said, breaking Shan out of her deep thought. She'd absently reached up to touch her face, realizing the young man was watching her curiously. She removed her hand, waiting for him to ask like the simpleton that he was, but no question came.

Picking up ATLAS, she brushed off several flecks of dirt that had smudged its glossy coating. The pneumatic hammer - a weapon she'd created upon her becoming a DEITY - was one of a kind, a device capable of reducing buildings to rubble. It was the only weapon she needed. That and the Injections.

"Oh man, that weapon looks so cool! I can't wait to see that bad boy in act-" Rew was cut off as the pod doors closed around each of them like a protective shell.

Thank Sanctuary, she thought, reveling in the peace and quiet of her own pod.

The pilot began the ten-second countdown to launch. Shan Li closed her eyes, listening to his voice and waiting for the gravitational lurch that would pull her stomach up into her throat. At the count of zero it came, but not in the way she'd been expecting.

***

Shan Li was engulfed in a whirlwind of noise, a wild cacophony ripping and tearing at her eardrums. She fell, pieces of metal and debris all around her, rocketing in a downward spiral toward the murky, blue-toned Earth. She twisted to see a massive ball of flames arching overhead: Darkpathe.

Her pod had been completely destroyed, yet she somehow remained unscathed. The others, however, she wasn't so sure. They could all be dead in their pods; their fried corpses plummeting to the ground in the very things that had been designed to keep them alive. But she couldn't dwell on it. If she wanted to survive this, she'd have to forget about them for now.

She flipped, angling her body against the wind in such a way it gave her control over her descent. The landscape below stretched out in a menacing black mass, much like the ocean on a dark night. Lights flashed in the distance. Small at first, then uncomfortably large as they zipped by, nearly colliding with her small frame. Anti-air rounds. They blasted past her in a sporadic flurry. They weren't terribly accurate, but they'd obviously tracked her fall, it would only take one lucky round to cut her in half. She couldn't risk waiting any longer.

Shan tucked ATLAS into the harness on her back, securing it tightly. She regarded the dispenser on her wrist, its unfamiliar features hard to make out in the darkness. Each Injection had a designated symbol on the device's screen, if she could only make out the one she needed... there!

She selected the symbol for Stein. The capsule ejected from an opening on the palm side of her wrist, placing it directly into her hand. A blazing round barreled past her on the right, so close its heat lingered on her side. Without a second thought, she injected Stein into her bicep, above the cloth and armor stretching up her forearm.

The nanomites entered her bloodstream and scattered throughout her body in a blink of an eye. She felt a surge of power as Stein attached to the carbon inside her, allowing her to effectively bend it to her will.

The ground approached at blinding speed, giving her only moments to react. Shan willed the carbon out of her body, the tiny molecules excreting from every pore to become a solid, rock-like shell. She slammed into the ground with a massive thud, dirt and sand billowing up in a massive torrent. The dust cloud lingered for several long moments causing the turret fire to stop. All was silent, save for the remaining sections of Darkpathe impacting the Earth in the distance.

Shan Li sat crouched in the crater she'd formed, the carbon slowly returning inside her as Stein's effect wore off. The Injection's abilities were incredible, however, only temporary.

Standing, she could see over the lip of her crater. There were two turret placements in the distance, their large metallic frames like buses on an empty street. Soldiers in armor scurried about like crazed ants attempting to rebuild their demolished home. They huddled beneath the stilted turrets, as if it would protect them from her wrath.

She looked up at the amalgamous black clouds swirling above. They were odd, to say the least, whirling slowly like a never-ending cyclone. She felt sorry for the poor soldiers that had perished on the Darkpathe, but the mission wasn't over. There was no stopping now.

Injecting Infrarød, her vision warped, and as her brain adjusted to its new sensory ability, she was able to distinguish varying levels of heat by the colors radiating from the landscape. After many years of practice, Shan was exceptional at reading these tonal heat radiations, particularly the bright red produced by that of living bodies. She counted ten soldiers in all. Not even a challenge by Shan's standards.

She forcibly blinked Infrarød away and pulled ATLAS from her back. The weapon felt solid in her hands. For years she'd honed her skills and techniques solely around the art of using this pneumatic hammer. It was an extension of own her might and prowess.

Taking in a deep breath, she leaped from the crater. She could make out far off yells of panic and confusion. The kind she enjoyed to hear from her enemies on the battlefield. Shan sprinted toward the turret on the left as it was closer. MALMAL soldiers scrambled beneath the machine's great frame, attempting to implement defensive measures of some kind.

The turret began to swivel on its mounts, the metal giving off a grinding screech that pained Shan's ears. Her eyes widened as the cannon's large barrel came to a rest in her direction.

It fired. The screaming shell narrowly missed, sending a pillar of sand exploding into the sky behind her. The other turret moved to fire on her as well, the soldiers beneath it grabbing guns of their own. She'd need to take them both out, and fast. Finding the symbol for Øke, she pressed it, the capsule sliding out into her palm. As the second turret fired, she injected herself, the augmentation abilities of Øke enhancing her muscle reaction speed, allowing her to dodge side to side with unparalleled agility. The soldiers also attempted to drop her with machine gun fire, but her newfound speed made it nearly impossible to hit her.

Shan neared the turret on the left, and it adjusted to fire on her one last time. She pressed a switch on the haft of ATLAS, transforming it into its secondary form. The head of the weapon hissed as it unlocked and opened up, exposing the pressure plates that would add a significant amount of damage to each impact.

Leaping, she swung the hammer, its pressure-plated head compressing, then discharging the stored kinetic energy absorbed from the hit. The resulting devastation was catastrophic. Metal and machine parts exploded everywhere as the domed turret caved in on itself and was heaved from its mounts.

Screams resonated from below as the hunk of crushed metal collapsed on top of them. Shan rode it to the ground in a triumphant stance, ATLAS raised in one hand. Suddenly, a bullet ripped through her lifted arm, causing her to grind her teeth in pain. She whipped her head around to see the soldiers underneath the second turret aiming at her with their pathetic, government-issued rifles.

The kinetic energy produced by the impact had filled ATLAS's reserve energy. It was capable of absorbing such strikes in order to amplify later attacks at her command, even allowing her to fire a compressed ball of energy like a cannon. In fact, this moment was a perfect opportunity to implement such an offensive attack.

Powering up the hammer, it vibrated with a low hum, a soft glow escaping from its inner workings. More soldiers fired on her position, but they failed to hit her at this distance, bullets ricocheting off the crumpled metal frame at her feet.

This was what drove her. The destruction, chaos, and mayhem caused by her actions. It was thrilling for her to know that she could actually make a difference in the world. Even if that difference left a charred path in her wake.

Shan Li lifted ATLAS, the pommel aimed directly at the opposing turret and the soldiers hiding underneath it like cowards. The rounded end of the haft jolted open, and she fired, the blast of invisible energy surging forward like a bullet.

It pierced the turret's frame as a knife would butter, knocking it free from its support beams. Something sparked on the inside and a high-pitched whine escaped the gaping hole in its side. The soldiers below looked up in horrified shock, their hopes of survival collapsing alongside their weapon. Their moment of despair was brief, however, as the turret erupted in a fiery explosion which engulfed them all.

Shan was knocked back slightly from the blast, its bright flames blinding her momentarily. As her eyes adjusted to the new light of the fire, she inspected her injury. The bullet wound wasn't severe, as it had gone through cleanly, but the bleeding would become a problem.

She hopped down from the wrecked turret and walked over to a deceased soldier in order to find a bandage of some kind. The enemy wore large, silver armor and a helmet equipped with odd goggles in the eye sockets. Shan removed the helmet to find a boy's face looking back at her with unseeing eyes. He was barely an adult. What are you doing out here? What in Sanctuary's name are you protecting?

A sudden rustle came from behind. She spun, raising ATLAS, preparing to strike. To her surprise, it was the young soldier named Rew, coming in for a soft landing by parachute. As the fabric of the chute fell behind him in a neat display, he unclipped the harness from his upper body, letting it fall to the ground.

"So... what did I miss?" he said, looking at the demolished surroundings. "Is the fighting over already?"