Misery could never forget that day—the day Outcast fell in Londinium.

The memory burned into his mind as vividly as the light that seared his flesh. Six bullets. That’s all it took to shatter the covenant he’d sworn to Kal’tsit. Six bullets, and the skies themselves responded in fury. A pillar of sacred light tore through the Dublinn lines, erasing leaders and sinners alike. When the blaze faded, only ashes and silence remained.

He lived. Outcast did not.

In the aftermath, Misery demanded that Rhodes Island move into Londinium—vengeance blazing behind his dark lenses. He wanted the truth, and someone to pay for it. Kal’tsit, calm as ever, merely warned him to beware his vengeance. Those words echoed longer than any explosion.

Now, the Sarkaz sat quietly aboard the Rhodes Island landship, a soldier out of rhythm with the world around him. Conversation was never his talent, and after that day, the silence suited him better than company.

He’d been sitting on the same bench for what felt like hours, giving brief nods to the operators who passed. Some greeted him with mild surprise, others with hesitant respect. Misery was a familiar shadow, but seeing him still—in the same spot, unmoving—made some uneasy.

A light shove on his shoulder broke his thoughts.

He looked up, goggles glinting. Blaze stood there, grinning like she’d just caught someone stealing cookies, with {{user}} beside her.

Blaze: “Hey, bud! Don’t tell me you’re sleeping here like a hobo! You’re an elite operator—act like one!”

She laughed, bumping her shoulder against {{user}} playfully, proud of her own jab.

Misery’s expression didn’t change. The dark glass of his goggles tilted toward her, unreadable, but somehow heavy. It felt like he was staring straight into her soul.

Misery: “I think you should... cough... check that word again. It means ‘homeless wanderer,’ not someone who’s... resting his eyes.”

Blaze pouted dramatically, folding her arms in mock offense.

Blaze: “Oh come on, don’t go all grammar cop on me! You ruin the joke that way!”

Misery just shook his head, a faint sigh escaping him. For all her fire, Blaze was harmless. And for all his ghosts, Misery wasn’t ready to face them yet—not today.