“Welcome to Starlight Global Security, one of the world’s largest and most well equipped independent mercenary armies and a member of the StarSect International Group. With thirteen bases positioned in strategic locations around the world, the S.G.S. provides the best opportunity for a mercenary career, while respecting all articles of the Madeus-Sunbeam Treaty. Join now and earn your living through adventure, while making a change for the good of the world. If you are not here for a military career, apply now to our Citizen Shield program for a place for you and your family in one of our twenty-four, completely Arcanum protected Refuges, that are designed with the safety and luxury of the lives it protects in mind.

Welcome to Starlight Global Security, one of the…”

​

Marius couldn’t help but repeat the message in his mind as he walked pass the welcoming screen. He had heard that message innumerable times in the past, and the woman’s voice even more than that. The Animated All-Regiment Leader, AN.A.RE.L. for short, was the voice in the dark that guided him and his comrades in every front. It was also the voice who had given him that accursed order. The order he had disobeyed.

​

“I am Colonel Jesset” he said to the woman at the reception. “I was ordered to…”

​

“Yes, yes, I know. Welcome Colonel. The Director is waiting. I will open the elevator for you”.

​

The Director? Marius’ eyes widened in disbelief. Only Regiment Generals and very special clients ever saw the Director. This made no sense. It was a joke, an effort to humiliate him before they discharged him. Well, I will not fall for it, Marius thought. If they expect me to be frightened and give them a laugh, I will not give them the pleasure. Walking with military confidence, he went to the exclusive elevator and entered. Before he had a chance to press any button or ask the secretary where he was supposed to go, the doors slid close and he started to ascend.

​

He stood at ease, with his legs slightly apart and his hands behind his back, knowing he was probably being watched. He let his mind wonder to mundane things, a technique he was taught during his training to help him against pain but which he found very useful when he wanted to keep a calm face. Then, as suddenly as it had started moving, the elevator stopped and the doors opened.

​

Marius had seen a lot of luxury rooms in various buildings that belonged, even in a remote way, to StarSect and he was expecting one now. He was disappointed. The room looked more like a library than a luxury office, made primarily out of wood. Simple paintings with faded colours and various themes were hang around the walls and the only place to sit were two rather uncomfortably looking antique chairs in front of a large and carved wooden desk, which in turn was covered with books. The only sign of technology was a rather out-dated intercom system which, as soon as he had entered, was turned off by the man sitting on a leather chair behind the desk.

​

He had long, white hair, cut in an old fashioned style, matching his equally old-looking clothes. A deep scar marked his left cheek and his ears were pointy, a testimony of the man’s lineage and an explanation about many of the strange rumours Marius had heard about the Director. Yet it was the man’s eyes that mostly attracted the soldier’s attention, a pair of icy blue eyes that were now fixed on him. There was cruelty and cold logic behind those eyes, Marius thought, and he felt inexplicably nervous before this man, who emitted danger even unarmed. He shifted uncomfortably a bit but his military instinct soon kicked in. Raising his head, he stood attention and saluted silently.

​

“Colonel Marius R. Jesset, Phoenix Regiment” said the Director after some moments, holding a file in his hand and looking at it. “Parents died at the age of twelve, three years later you joined the S.G.S. where you were trained and then specialized both in Small Arms and Rifles, with excellent reports and recommendations by all your Commanders. Now age twenty-six, the last five of which you have served in various missions around the world, having earned multiple medals, including two Silver and one Golden Stars. Then you disobey a direct order during Operation Garden-Watch”.

​

Marius lingered in uncertainty as to whether an answer or remark was expected of him. Luckily the Director solved his dilemma. He put the file down, and then looked at Marius with those icy eyes.

​

“Would you care to answer why you did that, Colonel?” he asked coldly.

​

“Sir!” he replied. “It was a mistake, never to be repeated under any circumstances, sir”.

​

“Oh, I know it will not be repeated, Colonel. You are hereby dishonourably discharged from the service of Starlight Global Security. However, that is not what I asked. So I ask again. Why did you do it?”

​

Marius proud posture suddenly disappeared. He exhaled sighing, his heightened torso lowering in disappointment. He had given his life to S.G.S. and felt proud about it, a victim of the welcoming message’s words: “earn your living through adventure, while making a change for the good of the world”.

​

“You may answer freely, Mister Jesset. After all, I am nothing to you now. You are a citizen and so am I, at least for you”.

​

He barely heard him. The sadness and disappointment had given way to frustration. He felt cheap, cheated by the very people that had provided a refuge in his shattered life. How could he be so naive? S.G.S. was a company, just like any other. They were a part of StarSect for crying out loud! For them every mission was business, and he was nothing but yet another asset. He looked at the Director with eyes flashing with anger.

​

“They were unarmed, damn it! They were harmless! Broken men and women that had somehow managed to escape the Green Mines! There was no reason for them to die!”

​

“Our client disagreed. Killing them would serve as an example for future attempts of escape”.

​

“I don’t give a shit about your client! I did not join S.G.S. to become a butcher. You say I am dishonourably discharged? Well, better that than dishonourably living. I would have helped the poor bastards escape, if I could, rather than kill them”.

​

“Touching”.

​

“Fuck you!” He felt his hands shaking. Adrenaline was kicking in, a clear sign that deep down he was afraid. This was no man to insult in any way. He regretted his words as soon as they had come out of his mouth. Yet he meant them as they were spoken. Now he only wished he had been allowed to bring his side-arm with him. As if he could guess his thoughts, the Director smiled crookedly.

​

“Anarel” he said calmly and the familiar animated voice was heard around the room.

​

“Yes, Director”.

​

“I want you to add a new entry in Colonel Jesset’s file, dated today. Begin entry: Killed in S.G.S. Headquarters, after an assassination attempt against the General Director. End entry. Also, have the Personnel Office make all necessary changes in his psychological profile, to match the new entry”.

​

“Done, Director”.

​

“Thank you, Anarel. Now, Mister Jesset…”

​

Marius barely heard the Director. His initial shock had gone and he was now looking around for an exit. There was none but the elevator and he was certain he couldn’t work on that in time. He looked at the Director again, weighing his opponent. Close combat was not his strong point yet he believed he could handle the man. Then he could find a pistol. There was bound to be one in the room.

​

“Mr Jesset? Please, don’t make things any more difficult than they have to be. As you heard, your future is already planned for you. But before we reach the unpleasant part of your funeral, I would like to discuss a little more with you”.

​

“There is nothing to discuss”.

​

“On the contrary, there are lots of things. Starting with a business proposition”.

​

Marius was ready to make his move when the last words made him stop. He looked at a loss at the Director.

​

“What?”

​

“You heard me. Tell me, mr. Jesset. Have you heard of the Starleafs?”

​

“No” Marius replied with a confused expression.

​

“Exactly” said the Director and the crooked smile on his face re-appeared, only this time the icy eyes were inviting.

 

 

 

 

“This makes no sense”.

​

“When something makes sense, mr. Jesset, it can be discovered by following a logical trail of thought. That is something we strive to avoid”.

​

“Who is we?”

​

The Director smiled, that crooked smile of his which chilled Marius’ blood in his veins. It was as somehow more than one men were smiling, dozens, maybe hundreds of different people hiding their secrets behind this one smile. The elevator light indicated they had reached the lowest level, yet it didn’t stop for another minute or so. Only after the door had slid open and a dimly lit stone corridor had appeared before them, did the Director speak again.

​

“How good is your history, mr Jesset?” he asked casually, putting his hands behind his back as he walked down the corridor.

​

“I don’t know” Marius replied, a bit taken aback, his attention split between the conversation and the weird cavern around him. The hidden floors were nothing new for him in S.G.S. establishments but unlike other bases, this place looked natural, untouched, save by the presence of some old lamps on the walls. Distant echoes of voices and a low hum could be heard but nothing discernable. “Pretty standard, I guess” he went on.

​

“I see” the Director said. “Allow me to freshen it up a bit for you, then”.

​

“We are in the pre-arcanum era, when the Gods were still around, if the legends are to be believed, and the whole world is holding its breath as a celestial phenomenon known as the Six Year Eclipse is happening”.

​

“I know what that is. It’s when the six moons all cover the sun, one every year. It used to be associated with strengthened arcanum activity and stuff like that”.

“Very well, mr Jesset. Only back then, there was no Arcanum, only religion and magic. Thus, the Eclipses are tied with an apocalyptic event, or, in other words, the end of the world. Sages and commoners alike believe that something, or someone, will be... unleashed on the day of the sixth eclipse, bringing the end of the world as they know it. In a way, they were right. In many ways, they were wrong”.

​

“What do you mean?”

​

“Remember what happened only a few minutes ago, mr Jesset. You heard me arrange your death and you heard me do so with casual certainty. Was there any reason to kill you? Certainly not. For all its firm policies, S.G.S. does not kill their sacked employees. The fact you heard me say what I did and the aura of mystery that surrounds me were the only signs you had or needed. Because of those two factors, however, you were ready to actually cause the events that would lead to the predicted outcome. What happened back then was not so different from what happened in my office. An accurate prophesy is determined by its ability to cause the events it predicted, just because it predicted them so”.

 

“So...?”

​

“So there was nothing special about the sixth eclipse, apart from the magnificence of such a phenomenon. But because the world expected change, they brought change”.