In the ship I'd been gifted by the townsfolk, I kick back at the pilot's seat, waiting to exit FTL. The pilot, -her name is Renna- sits, chained to a pipe in the back of the ship with the pair of handcuffs from earlier. 

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"Every time you say that, the prospect of seeing how fast you fly out of the airlock gets a little brighter."

Silence.

"PILOT, MY CHASSIS DOES NOT POSSESS SUFFICIENT SPACE TO MANUEVER IN CASE O-O-OF ATTACK"

"ZK, for the last fucking time, you're not a Northstar. You're no good for space combat."

I turn to Renna. "I need to get him repaired."

"So we're not there yet?"

"Time to see if you exceed mach 2." I get up and start walking toward Renna.

"Jeezus, I'll shut up."

"Good dog."

"I'm not a- humph."

I chuckle, but nearly fall to the ground because of the sudden lurch produced by leaving FTL. Renna laughs. I shoot her a look and her grin turns quickly to a scowl. 

"Good news for you, we're there yet."

The radio crackles. "Unidentified aircraft, please identify yourself. Scans are showing Grade-4 weaponry in your cargo hold."

"That's right. And a thousand units if you let me through."

"Uhh..."

"Two thousand if you're really struggling with your morals."

"Make the transfer. I'm Jocorey Martin-441"

"Done."

"God, what am I turnin-"

The radio cuts out.

"Good job. I coulda done it by wearing a low cut top, but good job, Jokes."

"Thanks. I mean, shut up."

...

I land the ship on top of my building, and prepare to beat the holy shit out of Kevin. I unchain Renna. 

"What's to say  I won't take your weapon and kill you?"

"Go ahead and try."

"Hmm."

I open the door to my apartment, to find it trashed. Everything is worse than before. The TV has a bullet hole in it, playing the news on the half that still works. My room is torn apart. I realize that there's no reason a weapon would've been discharged. I call Kev. No answer.

"Get a taxi," I tell Renna, "And go to the address I send you on this phone." I toss her a cheap phone I keep for exactly this sort of situation.

"Uhh, okay, boss."

I get back up to the ship and pull on my armor. I grab my Pike, autopistol and assault rifle. I engage cloak and run across the rooftops to Kev's. Looking through the skylight, I see a figure clad in a cloak and what I believe to be Grapple-class Pilot armor. He's going to town on Kevin. There's not a lot of blood on the floor, but Kevin is cut all to hell. They know what they're doing. I press my Pike up to the reinforced glass, and fire. It weakens the glass enough for my next kick to shatter it, and for me to come flying into the room. I land a few feet behind the figure. I aim my weapon, and prepare to fire, but I feel the gentle pressure of a handgun's muzzle pressing into the back of my helmet. They pluck off the Blink module. I drop my weapon and raise my hands. 

"Okay, I suppose I have to listen to you."

The cloaked figure turns around. They remove their helmet, and before me stands...

Commander Sarah Briggs.

She's well into her sixties now, but she'll still do whatever it takes to see the IMC laid low. And I was her best instrument for that purpose.

"Hi, Joker. Or Jacob. Whichever you prefer."

I respond through gritted teeth. "You know damn well, commander. "

"Okay, then, Joker."

"What happened to being the 'good guys', Sarah?"

"Good people have to do bad things sometimes."

"That's how you rationalize torturing a petty criminal in his own home?"

"I- I- I'm no- not pett-"

"Kev, shut the hell up."

Sarah looks up from Kevin. "So, I figure you wanna know why I did this, huh?"

"What do you want?"

"Two things. I want our tech back, and I want you to work for us again."

The horrors of war flash before my eyes. My best friend crushed under a Titan's foot. A house collapsing on top of a peaceful family of farmers. "No. That won't ever happen."

I activate my jump kit and cloak, angling myself backward. I land on top of a foot soldier and break his neck. The next wisens up to the fact that I'm cloaked and fires at me, hitting me once. I slow down, but I still get to him and take his weapon, A P2011. He'd fired two rounds, meaning I'd have ten rounds left. Two go into him, and the next two go into the third Grunt. Then, I fire the rest of the magazine into Sarah. She doesn't move. She doesn't flinch. Then I toss the pistol at her and she glitches. She's a hologram. Fuck. Guess she wasn't really hurting Kev, though, so that's good. I pick up my Blink module and call the police. Kev's got friends in high places. He'll be alright.