Gideon walked into the Commander’s office feeling a good deal more confident than he felt the first time. He and his crew had not only cleared the basement, recovered the spare generator and provided the base with a means of defending itself, they’d actually gone out to fight against the enemy. They’d taken out three giants and turned the tide of battle.


    Then there were the weapon’s upgrades, the new skills they’d acquired and the fact that Gideon himself was close to leveling up and moving to Initiate status. This may not have been the Great Hunt, but he and his team were kicking ass and that felt damned good.


    “We have a problem,” Moynahan said, facing the table with a holographic map of the region laid out on it.


    Gideon frowned. “I thought we just solved your problem?”


    She looked up at him, eyes narrowed. “You solved a problem. One of many, I’m afraid. We’re low on supplies, repairs need to be made to most of the station, and there’s flooding in the southwest bunker if you can believe it. Oh, and this.”


    She waved her hands over the holographic display and a figure emerged at the center of the screen. It looked roughly humanoid in shape, but instead of being covered in black, chitinous armor like the rest of the Stalkers, this figure looked like it was clothed in smoke and ash.


    Dark crimson eyes peered out from beneath a hood, in a way that reminded Gideon of the figure he had met on the strange, black planetoid. He pointed at the figure.


    “I’ve seen him before!”


    The Commander’s eyes narrowed. “What?”


    He turned to Bullseye, lifting the turtle in his hand.


    “Gideon is correct, Commander,” Bullseye said turning to look at the holographic representation of the figure. “When we fought the first Strider, we encountered some kind of psionic field at its cortex. The creature latched onto Gideon and transported us both to another realm. It may have just been our consciousnesses, but we were standing on a dark sphere facing a creature that looked similar to this being, though without so much smoke.”


    Moynahan nodded. “And did it speak to you, this creature?”


    “Yeah,” Gideon replied. “It asked me if I spoke for humankind. Said I was the first one it had made contact with.”


    “What did you say?” Mia asked.


    He shrugged. “I said no. I’m not an ambassador or anything. I told it the truth. I’m a soldier. I mean, I wasn’t but I am now.”


    “Its response was less than comforting,” Bullseye added. “It advised that Gideon would die, though it did not seem to be a threat. More a simple statement of fact.”


    The Commander nodded slowly, biting her lower lip as she stared down at the figure. Well, it turns out this guy is some kind of leader with the Harrow and he’s taking a liking to this base and this rock. We’ve almost completely eliminated the enemy soldiers, but he arrived a few minutes ago on a single ship. He''s standing within range of our weapons but no matter what we throw at him, nothing hits. It’s like he’s a ghost.”


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    She tapped a button on her data pad and an audio message began to play, the voice a dry rasp that made the hair on the back of Gideon’s neck stand on end.


    Hear me now, Soulless!


    You have plundered our sowing fields without consequence while our backs were turned and there were other matters to attend to.


    But now the Harrow have returned from the long war to find our harvests being plundered by a lesser species we do not recognize.


    We have traveled across the stars, fresh from war, blood still thrumming in our ears, to tend to this matter and crush the Soulless pest as a warning to other lesser species that might seek to do likewise.


    Seven hours hence, I will strike against this meager settlement as the first sign of that which will befall the rest of your kind.


    “That was about twenty minutes ago,” Moynahan said, “and he hasn’t said a word or moved an inch since. We can’t hurt him, and he doesn’t seem to have brought any more troops with him.”


    “What of his warning?” Bullseye asked. “Do you think there is genuine cause for alarm.”


    The Commander nodded. “Considering this bastard’s credentials, I’d say we are well past alarm. The Collective were kind enough to send us a little of his resume.”


    Behold The Ashen Harrow the world ender, slayer of High Warden Althis, the ether-clad champion of Eltarnis Prime. Who defeated The Dread Colossus in single combat and slaughtered Archsage Veylin master of forbidden wards and summoner of vast armies.


    The Ashen Harrow, who broke the backs of the The Var’kai Brood and brought their leaders to heel beneath the Collective’s banner, who deconstructed The Sylith Order and claimed…


    “It goes on like that for quite a while,” Moynahan explained. “It’s all meaningless to us, of course, but I figure the intention is to make us cower in response.”


    She flicked through more information, coming to a different section of text.


    “They even included a list of his fighting skills, and I believe the seven-hour timeframe is intended to give us time to prepare. Apparently there are seven Harrow Lords in the Collective so they push the number seven wherever they can.”


    THE ASHEN HARROW


    Core Weapons: A pair of molten blades that contain a sharpened core of Black Ether and which drain vitality and ether with every successful strike.


    Special Abilities:


    Cinderstrike: Slams the ground, sending molten ether through cracks in the earth, igniting everything in its wake.


    Ashen Veil: Shrouds itself in thick, burning smoke, reducing visibility and suffocating enemies caught within while significantly reducing any damage taken by The Ashen Harrow.


    Eruption Surge: Unleashes a massive explosion within a large area surrounding The Ashen Harrow, doing fire and earth damage to any enemies caught within its reach.


    “So, there it is,” the Commander concluded. “We can take care of any Stalker stragglers and, with a little time, we’ll be able to repair this station and get everything back into working order. Maddox is even working on bolstering out defenses with technology we’ve acquired from the enemy so far.”


    She nodded toward Gideon.


    “But the fact is, this guy is something new and something we’re not capable of taking out. So, your new mission is to kill the bastard by any means possible. We’ll give you all the help we can spare, but ultimately this is going to be down to you.”


    NEW MISSION: Kill The Ashen Harrow


    Kill this Lord of the Collective by any means possible and protect the Lunar Station and every soul within it from certain annihilation.


    REWARD: 10 Enhancement Points


    Gideon nodded. “Do we have any more intel on this guy? Anything where we can actually see him fight?”


    The Commander shook her head. “I’ve got the techs working on getting as much as we can. We’ll send it to your HUDs if we find anything worthwhile. In the meantime, I’d suggest trying to get some shut eye and a little food in the next few hours. You’ll need to be back out there facing off against this bastard in around four and a half hours.”


    She turned to Red. “Mess hall is open, and I’ve instructed them to give you whatever you want.”


    The brawler slapped his belly. “Now that’s the first good news I’ve heard all day!”