Kwandezi stared at the Banisher Captain, Zaire. The man was clad in the pinnacle of VDC military engineering—a charcoal-gray Banisher Aegis Suit so sleek and seamless it looked less like armor and more like polished skin. The polarized visor hid his eyes, but the stillness of his stance, the near-zero kinetic energy he emitted, spoke of lethal control. Kwandezi's mind screamed with a terrifying, fractured familiarity.
The Banisher Captain was the embodiment of the system that killed his mother, yet a cold, strange pain—a ghost of warmth—clutched at Kwandezi's consciousness, instantly suppressed by the Void Host. The familiar scent of your weakness, Host. Dispose of it.
"I will surrender the briefcase to Captain Akanni, only," Aisha repeated, her voice steady but tightly wound. She moved slightly, placing her body more fully between Zaire and Kwandezi. She knew the tension had peaked. One wrong move, one tremor of Molecular Transmutation, and the Banisher's elimination protocol would initiate.
Zaire's head tilted slightly, a calculated, clinical movement. "Captain Akanni's priorities are dictated by the Banisher High Council, Operative Aisha. You are obstructing the recovery of sensitive evidence from a documented traitor. I advise you to yield." As he spoke, the twin Void Blades running along his forearms activated, humming into existence as focused, obsidian lines of energy. They were beautifully crafted and terrifyingly lethal.
Kwandezi didn't wait for Aisha's answer. He drew his own twin shortswords—blades that were crude and chipped compared to Zaire's manufactured precision, but imbued with years of battle and the raw, chaotic power of the Void Host.
"Thorne wasn't the traitor," Kwandezi said, his voice a low, gravelly whisper that cut through the hangar's silence. "He was the executioner for a corrupt family. You are the corruption."
The two Banisher guards flanking Zaire immediately raised their Plasma Rifles. Aisha didn't move her feet, but her hand snapped to the holstered Plasma Pistol. She was trapped: defend Kwandezi and start a civil war, or allow the elite to take the evidence.
"Protocol Delta-Six, Operative," Zaire ordered, his voice sharp and cold. "The asset is exhibiting hostile intent. Disarm the asset."
Zaire's movements were shockingly fluid for a man in heavy armor. He didn't rush. He became a blur of controlled motion, closing the distance between them in a single, devastating step. He didn't attack Kwandezi; he attacked the point of leverage: the briefcase.
Zaire's left Void Blade was aimed at the precise spot on the metallic table where the case rested. He intended to slice through the table and claim the evidence before Kwandezi could react.
Kwandezi intercepted. His speed, born of both his martial training and the Host's instant kinetic reflex, was just fast enough. He parried Zaire's blade with his right shortsword.
The collision was a brutal, deafening shriek of Void-tempered steel against Void-tempered steel. The sound was so sharp it physically hurt the eardrums, and the resulting energy surge forced Aisha and the two guards to stagger back. The two blades weren't just clashing; they were canceling out each other's power frequency, momentarily stabilizing the area around the strike.
Zaire was utterly unfazed. He twisted his wrist, using the repelling force of the parry to slingshot his second blade toward Kwandezi's head. Kwandezi countered with his left shortsword, deflecting the blow upward.
"Your form is erratic, Asset," Zaire stated, his voice a calm, clinical assessment of Kwandezi's technique. "You rely too much on brute force and not enough on discipline. Your stance is flawed."
Kwandezi's internal mind roared. He recognizes the style. He knows the Banisher forms! But his conscious mind could not recall the man. He answered with action, not words.
He focused the Molecular Transmutation power into his right sword, not as a pulse, but as an edge-frequency vibrator. The steel blade began to hum violently, and Kwandezi aimed a devastating thrust at Zaire's chest plate.
Kwandezi was attempting to destabilize the atomic lattice of the Banisher Aegis Suit on impact.
Zaire didn't dodge. He seemed to anticipate the move. Just before the sword made contact, the Void Blades on his arms flared, emitting a focused dampening field—a highly refined counter-frequency that instantly negated Kwandezi's destabilizing energy.
The attack struck the chest plate with a clang that echoed throughout the vast hangar, but the power was inert. The blade merely scraped the heavy charcoal armor, leaving a shallow, meaningless scratch.
"Unstable power is easily countered by refined discipline," Zaire noted, kicking out with his armored boot and sending a massive surge of kinetic force into Kwandezi's ribs.
The force slammed Kwandezi against the wall of the dropship bay. Even the Void Host registered the pain. Kwandezi tasted blood, the force exceeding the tolerance of his specialized combat mesh.
Aisha recognized the danger instantly. Zaire wasn't just fighting—he was analyzing and suppressing Kwandezi's specific power signature. If this continued, Kwandezi would be pinned and contained.
"Code 17-A! Chapter Captain engaging Asset at Sub-Optimal Energy Levels!" Aisha screamed into her comms, broadcasting to the entire Banisher command network. Her voice was sharp, leveraging VDC protocols to inject confusion into Zaire's controlled scenario. "Requesting immediate command override from Captain Akanni!"
The move was a desperate gamble. The Banisher guards, startled by the unauthorized broadcast, paused their attack protocols.
Zaire, however, didn't flinch. He ignored the tactical disturbance, closing on Kwandezi, twin blades poised for a containment strike. "Smart, Operative. But irrelevant. The Banisher Chapter will deal with the political fallout. I will deal with the instability now."
He aimed his twin blades not to kill, but to sever Kwandezi's arms at the shoulder joints, neutralizing the source of the Molecular Transmutation.
Kwandezi knew he couldn't win this fight through swordsmanship or brute force. The Void Host took control, sensing the imminent threat to its vessel.
Kwandezi ceased fighting the armor. He focused his will on the ground beneath Zaire's feet.
"Integrate!"
With a raw, focused surge of power, Kwandezi violently transmuted the molecular structure of the concrete floor directly under Zaire. He didn't turn it to dust; he reversed the polarity of its mass, transforming the dense, load-bearing concrete and rebar into a localized, unstable liquid mercury pit.
Zaire, caught mid-strike, suddenly lost his footing. The liquid metal gave way, and the heavy Banisher Aegis Suit plunged into the sudden, viscous hole, disrupting his balance and his kinetic regulators.
Kwandezi didn't hesitate. He launched himself from the wall, twin swords aimed, not at Zaire, but at the two flanking guards who were still reeling from the sudden floor collapse.
Kwandezi was a whirlwind of dark energy and lethal steel. He didn't kill the guards. He used the chaos to disable and disarm.
Kwandezi used the pommel of his right sword to strike the sensor cluster on the guard's helmet, instantly blinding him. He then used his power to transmute the ammunition clip in the guard's Plasma Rifle into harmless inert plastic. While the second Guard, Kwandezi used a quick, brutal side-kick to the back of the knee joint, buckling the armor. He then used his left shortsword to slice the kinetic regulator wires on the back of the guard's Aegis Suit, neutralizing his mobility.
The entire sequence lasted less than five seconds. The two guards were neutralized, crippled, but alive. Kwandezi wouldn't waste energy on execution unless it was necessary for his purpose.
Zaire roared, the sound distorted by the liquid mercury. He managed to fire his Void Blades in two massive, explosive energy sweeps, which Kwandezi only barely managed to dodge. Zaire began to stabilize, leveraging his Banisher Scion power to solidify the mercury around him.
Suddenly, a voice cut through the comms. It was Captain Akanni.
"Chapter Captain Zaire! Stand down! Protocol Override: The asset is required for immediate strategic analysis. Do not engage. Do not neutralize."
Akanni's direct intervention, utilizing his rank and knowledge of Kwandezi's asset value, instantly halted the engagement. Zaire froze, the liquid metal hardening around his boots.
Kwandezi stood over the crippled guards, breathing hard, his purple eyes blazing in the dim light of the hangar. He was spent, bruised, and bleeding, but he had fought the Banisher elite and lived.
Zaire slowly climbed out of the solidified mercury pit, his movements stiff and precise, his focus locked entirely on Kwandezi.
"This is not over, Asset Kwandezi," Zaire stated, his voice regaining its cold, lethal calm. He was addressing a threat, not a brother. "Your power is too chaotic for the VDC. Your continued existence is a risk to the protocols."
Zaire's gaze lingered on Kwandezi for a fraction of a second too long before he turned to Aisha.
"The asset is now under Banisher quarantine. You are his chaperone. Bring him to the Sub-Level 3 Observation Wing. The Council will decide his fate."
Aisha grabbed Kwandezi's arm, her grip tight and urgent, pulling him away from the looming danger. She knew Zaire had been seconds away from neutralizing them both.
"Come on, Host," she whispered, her voice laced with fear and adrenaline. "You just survived your first family reunion. Now we have to survive the rest of the family."