When we left the elevator, I followed Boreas as he led me through the seventh floor.

"Guys...I'll be there in ten minutes," Alannah notified us, "I understand you both have been hauling ass, but I need you to be on the roof the instant I show up. I've already had to avoid several UTF drop ships, so I can only guess how lovely the situation is on your front."

"Oh, things are just fuckin' dandy!" Boreas snapped, "Cylus and I were about to be overwhelmed by a bunch of bucket heads, so your boyfriend told me to crack open every single cell block in this hellhole to buy us some time."

"Hey, that actually wasn't a bad idea," she mused.

"You're not gonna say anything about-?"

"Shut your trap, Octavius!" Alannah snapped.

A half-hearted chuckle escaped me. "Don't worry Ali. We'll be there."

"...Good."

And with that, we continued scrambling through the hallway.

"There should be a flight of stairs somewhere!" Boreas fumed, studying the holo-map that hovered above his wrist. "Um, um, peg me in the ass and call me daddy...."

"What?" I demanded.

"Nothing! I found the stairs! Keep up with me, you dunce!" he snapped, "If I were you, I'd try to hide the multiple bullet holes in your chest from your girlfriend before she tears you apart."

"She'll understand in the end."

"Did you guys come to some silent agreement behind my back or something?"

"Yes."

"Okay, fuck me then."

Boreas took a right at a cross-intersection, only to quickly stumble backward and drag me away when a bloody brawl came into view. Guards and prisoners were beating the ever-living shit out each other, but I didn't stick around to see who would win. I'd rather make sure we got out of here in one piece...

Boreas quickly led me down to the end of the hallway, where a steel door could be seen. forcing it open, I gazed up a flight of stairs and felt my knees go weak. So close...

Wasting no time, we scrambled up the flight and opened another door to be faced with a flat rooftop. I immediately noticed it was nighttime, and I frowned when I realized just how poor the light quality was.

"Hey, we made it before Alannah was meant to show up!" Boreas chortled, only to sigh when we caught sight of a UTF ship sitting on the rooftop. "Fuck me in the ass..."

Right at that moment, Haydn Mayfield emerged from his ship. "I was just about to fly over to the capital building and explain to my superiors why I shouldn't kill you. Now, however, I think you've given me a damn fine reason to change my mind. You've made me look like a fool, Mortifer. Don't think you can get away Scott-free without me having anything to say about it. In other words, you're dead fucking meat."

With a click, my empty clip fell to the ground and I had another loaded into my gun in a flash. "The same can be said for you, Mayfield. There's still a bounty on your head, and I'm not one to disappoint."

The bastard had the gall to laugh at me. "Oh, that? My colleague Clara put that bounty on my head. We used it as a lure, and you fell for it! I have no more uses for your services now."

I shrugged and aimed for his kneecap. "I don't discriminate. Now, shut the fuck up. The grim reaper's waiting."

With a loud bang, Haydn Mayfield roared in fury when I shot his thigh. Closing the distance between us, I drew my knife and made to slit his throat. However, the Military General still had some fight left in him: After he pushed himself back to his feet, he drilled me in the stomach and shot me multiple times in the chest at point-blank range. Unfortunately for him, I've been through worse.

I tried to drive my knife into his carotid artery, but he grabbed my wrist. Apparently, he forgot I still had a gun. Peppering his torso with lead, Mayfield stumbled back toward his ship and started to visibly panic.

"G-Guards!" he roared. "Deal with this bounty hunter filth at once!"

I shot his knee out before he could get any further, and I watched impassively as he fell. I noticed two dark-armored soldiers had exited Mayfield's ship, so I focused my attention on them. Unlike the idiots downstairs, they were actually smart enough to take cover instead of trying to outright shoot me. That still didn't stop me: All I had to do was hunt them down and put several bullets into the backs of their helmets. They put up quite the fight, but they were dead all the same.

After his henchmen were taken care of, I focused my attention on my quarry. The bastard was crawling away from me at a slow pace, which made my job easier, Stalking over to him, I slammed my knife into his back and slashed downward. the only protection Mayfield had on was an immaculate dark blue uniform, so my blade cut through him like putty.

Haydn Mayfield loosed a jagged gasp, and he looked up at me with pure malice in his pale blue eyes. "Damn...You."

Hauling the dishonorable bastard to his feet, I walked him over to the side of the building. I spotted an elaborate emblem with Mayfield's name on it glittering on the right breast of his uniform, so I decided to pluck it off and stuff it into my pocket. You won't need that anymore.

With a mighty push, I sent him falling to his demise. "Rust in vrede, you monster."

A few moments later, my...ship appeared. The back hatch was opened, and the landing ramp extended to allow us to board. Unfortunately, I felt myself begin to succumb to my injuries.

"Damn it Cylus!" Boreas hissed, looping my arm around his shoulders, "Why must you be a bullet magnet?"

"That...is an excellent question," I murmured.

We scrambled up the ramp right as a group of soldiers emerged on the rooftop. Bullets pinged off the side of my ship, but we were inside the cargo hold and leaving before the ramp had fully managed to retract back into the Ravager.

Boreas sat me on a crate and hurried to fetch a medkit. I had lost count of how many times I had been shot...Which was a very, very bad thing.

"How's Cylus doing, Boreas?" I heard Alannah shout, "I'd check on him in a heartbeat, but I'm kind of piloting his ship right now."

"He's...um, doing," Boreas responded, hurrying back to me with a medkit in his hands. He removed my chest plate, tossed it off to the side, and stared at the blood-stained jumpsuit underneath, "Oh for fuck's sake!"

"What's wrong?" Ali demanded.

"Nothing, nothing!" he assured her, only to hiss: "You son of a bitch. How many times were you fucking shot?"

"Is...that a trick question?" I hissed, cringing in pain.

He groaned. "I swear, most people would be dead right about now."

"Good thing...I'm not most people."

"Shut your piehole and let me heal you."

I sat in place and zoned out while my partner worked on stabilizing me. In all honesty, a part of me was unsure if this was actually happening. What if this was just a dream? Some sort of sick, twisted fantasy where I actually managed to get away? What if I wake up and find myself back in my cell? Or worse, what if I find myself back in the interrogation room with Mayfield...?

That one thought kept me from falling asleep.

"Boreas?"

"Yo."

"Is this...actually happening?"

"Is what happening?"

I gestured around weakly, only to almost fall off the crate I had been set down on. "All...of this: did you manage to bust me out of jail? Did Alannah...pick us up?"

His features were clouded with worry as he responded. "Yeah, yeah all of that did happen. Why do you ask?"

Struggling a little, I took my helmet off and threw it to the side. "Slap me."

"What?"

"Slap me. I need to be assured this is real and not some dream."

Hesitantly, my partner slapped me square on the cheek. The resounding sting that was felt put my frayed mind at ease. Now that adrenaline wasn't pumping through my veins, I started asking questions I really didn't want answered right now. If all of this is real and I haven't finally gone insane, what does this mean for Boreas and his family, or for Alannah? Hell, I'm sure we're all wanted criminals now. I did just kill the military general of the United Terran Federation, so I doubt that'll bode well for anyone...

Apparently Boreas had tried to tell me something else since I felt him lightly slap my face several times in a row.

"Hey bitchboy, come back to me before I shit bricks," I heard him say, "Please don't tell me you're dying due to blood loss. Alannah will cut my dick off if that happens..."

"I'm fine, I'm fine," I assured him, waving aside his fears as if they were nothing.

"You're...fine? Bro, You looked like you were about to go loony on me!" Boreas snapped, "Just what did Mayfield do to you?"

My face fell, and I shook my head. "...Not now. I spent a week in that cesspit, but I probably won't forget it for the rest of my life."

"Shit...So...about that therapist..."

"Save it, Boreas," I snapped, only to huff out a sigh, "So...Tell me about this friend of yours...You and Alannah have both mentioned him, so who is he."

"His name's Jackson, but he likes to be called Jack," he began with a fond grin on his face, "Much like me, our boy Jack was a hellraiser back then: he'd usually show up to work piss drunk, but he'd still manage to get his work done on time."

"What does he do now? You mentioned something about a...Liberated vessel."

"Ah yes, about that: Jackson's a member of the Silver Foxes."

I cocked an eyebrow, suddenly aware of the fact that my body was a few putters away from shutting down. "Silver...Foxes? Wasn't that...A Bounty Hunter's guild...?"

I felt myself lurch forward, only to be caught by my friend.

"Shit! Ali, Cylus just fell! I think he's about to black out!"

"S-Sorry..." I slurred out.

The last thing I saw was Boreas struggling to keep me from hitting the ground before everything went black.