Stryker sat in the sand, tossing small pieces of twigs onto a small fire. A Zenobian forces issue machine gun was across his lap and one of their radios along with a pair of long range binoculars sat in the sand beside him.

He watched Ana sleep, the memory of that night playing through his mind like a film reel.


He placed his hands behind his head, laying back in the sand. "You old fool," he whispered, almost regretting having let her in that night, "Always gotta be the hero."


As he lay there, drawing upon his memories, a voice came over the radio. No ordinary voice, but a voice he knew without question. The smooth, slithering voice of Victor Chimera. Rumored to have been killed in action ten years ago. That soft, calculating, articulate tone couldn't be forgotten or mistaken for anyone else.

"Leo! Answer your goddamn radio! Do not engage him, Leo. Do you understand me? Do not engage. Follow him to Odessa and wait for Lyra. I warned you about this cowboy shit. We need him alive, not hacked to pieces clinging to life by a thread!"

Stryker picked up the binoculars, scanning around their position.

He couldn't see much of anything out there, and figured it had to be Edge. He was keeping his word to Ana, and they would meet up in Odessa, where Stryker would find out who he really was and why he was carrying around the name of a dead man.