Darkstar vs. Redstone Arc

The Darkstar vs. Redstone Arc follows the events of Team Darkstar during the Merrow Rivenlight Arc. Amana Cross continues the war against the New Militia, as the team battles Calliope's Forces without John "Jason" Crypt and Samuel Mason.

Amana discovers that Calliope has contracted a mysterious mercenary, known as "Redstone", who's tactical assaults against the members of Darkstar are preventing the team from carrying out their mission objectives. Tactician against tactician, Amana must step up and lead Darkstar against a cunning opponent that may be too smart for her to handle.

Plot

Militia Hijack Operation

Lazarus, Amana, Junon, and Reya launch a hijack mission to extract intel on The New Militia. The squad battles through Militia forces as they reach each terminal, with Junon infiltrating the security. Ferris watches over the squad through his stone seekers.

Reya is uneasy and Amana asks her what's wrong. Reya asks Amana if Darkstar is going to be okay without their two strongest members. Amana reassures Reya that strength is not the only thing that can help win a battle. Sometimes, strength bows down to intelligence. Junon manages to infiltrate the second last terminal. Ferris informs the team that the last terminal is found northwest of the research wing in the Capita building. The team heads to the objective, with Lazarus concealing the team with a modified Radiant Sanctuary spell.

The last terminal is guarded by a squad of mages. Lazarus determines the mages to be mid tier, probably able to access 40-45% of their soul link power. Reya defeats the squad with a force explosion, knocking the squad unconscious. Junon goes to work at the terminal, while the team provides her cover. Amana encourages the team they are doing well, but is doubtful. Lazarus notices Amana's expression and asks her if she is alright. Amana tells Lazarus that when she was with Jason, it was as if she could accomplish anything. Whenever something goes wrong, Jason was always by her side to clean up the mess. In a way, Jason was like her pillar as much as she was for him. With Jason gone, Amana started to doubt about her plans. Added with the possibility that something might happen to Jason while he is away, Amana explains that she is under a lot of pressure. Lazarus tells Amana that he has known Jason for a long time. When he was in Team Trinity along with Jason, he never knew what he was doing. Reckless and overconfident, Jason was a lot like Sam during his mage academy years. Amana is surprised. Lazarus sees her expression and laughs. He tells her that it doesn't matter, fail or succeed, results are results. What matters is what to do with those results. This was a common mantra within Team Trinity, and was what kept the squad going. Amana asks Lazarus if he still loves Ariandal, which Lazarus confirms. Despite all the things she has done, Lazarus believes Calliope is still in there, and is determined to save her. Amana nods, and the two watches Junon typing on the keyboard, using a bunch of gizmos to hack the terminal.

Reya comments that this mission seems unusually easy, given that their previous missions have always taken much longer and required more firepower. Amana tells the squad to be vigilant when suddenly Lazarus collapses. Amana catches the mage, and notices that he is shot in the back, and legs. Lazarus is still alive, but is incapacitated. A voice appears in the ceiling. Amana looks up and sees a figure standing on the steel beams.

The man, donning a mask, decorated like a skull and revealing only one eye, the other, styled like a sunken eye socket. The man is well equipped, with a bulletproof nano weave vest, sleeveless jacket, and kevlar padding. Slung on his shoulder appears to be a sniper rifle, shotgun, and assault rifle. Attached to his leg is a pistol, and a combat knife. Slung across his chest are multiple magazines and around his waist pockets, probably specialized grenades. The man introduces himself as Redstone, and announces he is hired to take care of Darkstar. The man, puts away the silencer that defeated Lazarus and tells the team that he has defeated their healer. Amana asks how long he has been waiting there, and Redstone tells her that he has been waiting for them the entire operation. Reya prepares a sonic blast at the man, but Amana tells her to yield, sensing that this man is extremely dangerous, well trained, and is aware of their abilities. Amana tells Junon to keep hacking. Amana tries to buy time, and asks Redstone why he let them steal most of the intel, which Redstone responds that it's "more fun that way". Redstone fires a shot at Junon, which Amana blocks with her fox tail. Suddenly, the bullet expands, and Amana realizes the bullet is a taser, and is electrified. Reya engages Redstone with several blasts of sound, but Redstone evades the blast and hides back into the shadows. Reya blasts the vicinity with a force cascade, but Redstone is nowhere to be found.

Redstone appears on the other side of the building, and Amana is astounded by his speed. Redstone takes out his pistol and fires several planned gunshots, disabling Reya's legs. Reya collapses in pain, but is healed by Lazarus, who manages to regain consciousness, his wounds healed. Redstone is impressed with Lazarus's healing, and jumps on the ground, facing the team. Amana tells Junon to keep hacking, and swipes at the floor, creating a smoke screen. Suddenly, a projectile is launched at the feet of Darkstar, a flash bang. Redstone emerges, and knocks out Amana and Junon with superior hand to hand combat. Lazarus attempts to send a barrage of blades at Redstone, but the mercenary evades all the projectiles. Lazarus looks down and sees a cocked shotgun aimed at his chest. Redstone fires his weapon, sending Lazarus flying into the terminal, destroying it before Junon had finished gathering the intel. Redstone leaves the defeated squad with the intel.

Lazarus manages to heal from his injuries and takes the squad back to Wheeler's Gym.

Militia Hijack Operation Aftermath

Ferris asks the team what happened. Reya tells Darkstar that they were ambushed by a mercenary named Redstone. Lazarus is sent to the infirmary, where it was revealed that the shotgun shells that pierced his body contained traces of negation magic, which was keeping him from healing. Amana curses and realizes that Redstone is aware of all their abilities, and had planned his equipment properly. The team turns to Amana, and Amana tells them to continue their missions, but upon encountering Redstone, they are advised to fall back as the full extent of Redstone's abilities are unknown.

Dennis smirks and jokes that Redstone is basically Tob but better. Tob and Dennis fight, with Junon and Trill attempting to break it up while Amana goes to the planning room. Reya visits Amana if she can help with planning the next few missions. Amana agrees.

Amana rationalizes that if Redstone carries equipment that can counter individual members of the team, there can only be so much equipment that he can carry. Amana deduces that Redstone prefers working alone, and has a hint of hubris as he let Darkstar gain intel, only to steal it back, rather than defeating Darkstar from the very start. Meaning, it's unlikely for Redstone to distribute his equipment amongst a squad. If Amana begins sending more members of the team out per mission, they may have a chance at completing the objective without Redstone botching it. The trade-off would be a more thinned out influence of the resistance, as less missions would be completed in a time period, but as of now, it's better than failing all of the missions that is planned.

Darkstar goes on more missions, this time as a whole squad. Redstone does not reappear, as Amana predicts. However, the people of Croft have begun to notice the decrease in frequency of resistance actions, and begins to lose hope. Amana realizes this is what Redstone wanted. Amana decides to prioritize missions that require less time to complete, and reduces party size to restore the frequency. However, Redstone reappears, and ambushes Darkstar members despite the mission length.

Realizing that Redstone has become a threat on the resistance movement, Lazarus advises Amana that Redstone's elimination is the only solution.

Redstone Elimination

Amana tasks Trill and Tob to destroy a harvester machine that Lazarus believes is supplying the Capita power from imprisoned mages. The two manage to plant the explosives but are pinned down by Redstone's gunfire. Amana gives Reya the signal, and Reya sends a stealthed sound blast at Redstone, launching him out of the building and into an open field. Dennis launches a massive force cascade that sends Redstone flying. Amana tells the team to unload on a disoriented Redstone.

Redstone fires a cascade of arrows at the team, and incapacitates everybody. Amana is shocked that Redstone is also skilled with a crossbow. Redstone tells her that he anticipated that she would come up with an ambush of the sorts, but was not sure how she would be able to pull it off. The smoke clears, revealing that Redstone used a holo-shield to block a majority of the attacks, which disintegrated. Amana manages to recover with her healing factor, but her entire team is defeated. Redstone compliments on her strategy, telling her that she is correct in that he needed to carry a bunch of equipment to take on the entire team. But what she did not consider was that he did not need to equip weapons to take on each and every member, as a single tranquilizer dart would be enough on each member.

Amana summons her tail, and Redstone laughs, asking her if she is really a match for someone who's trained to eliminate practically any mage in Croft. Amana rushes forward and delivers several tail swipes and Redstone, who easily fends her off. Redstone tells her that this is unlike a tactician, and asks her what happened to strength bowing before intelligence. Redstone calls Amana an idiot, but at least she is cute enough to be entertainment. Amana cringes at the comment, and attempts to swipe at Redstone's knees, who had already predicted her movement. Redstone trips the half infernal and traps her in a chokehold, asking her what she plans to do now. Amana is quiet, and Redstone laughs. Redstone taunts the leader of Darkstar, telling her that he is superior to her team in every single way, shape and form. All by himself.

Amana gasps for air and asks Redstone why he's working with Calliope, after everything she has done to the people of Croft. Redstone tells her that her motives are none of his concern, as she gave him a chance to get back at everyone. To eliminate the people, any kind of person, is the only thing he needs. Born to be unlucky, he was never given a chance. Everybody had it better than him. It was as if he was denied a good destiny no matter how much he tried, no one gave him a chance. It was always someone else, who got the better end of the stick. So when he finally used brute force to achieve his dream to be a perfect soldier, he stole the serum that created the super soldiers in his universe, then proceeded to assassinate every person he found. If he was not allowed to be great, no one was allowed to. When Calliope contracted him to the Champions Universe to kill those who try to keep people like him down, he could not pass up the opportunity. Calliope gave him the Corruption, making him even stronger. Since then, Redstone was regarded as the perfect soldier, trained to kill, defeat, and eliminate.

Amana realizes this man was just like Sam, someone who desired greatness but was cursed, despite everything, he never gave up. But this man was also nothing like Sam. Sam did his best to retain his humanity, and be the best person he could be without giving up himself. Redstone was the opposite. He gave up his humanity, the greatest thing of all.

Amana yells at Lazarus, and Lazarus suddenly appears, the clones of Darkstar dissipating from the spell. Redstone's eyes go wide as several sigils appear and weakens his grip. Junon punches Redstone in the face and grabs Amana. The sigils of ebon weakness continue draining Redstone as Trill and Tob emerge from the building, having been rescued by Dennis and Reya.

Tob asks if Redstone is good with a gun, and Trill asks if Redstone is good with the bow. Redstone, enraged by the fact that he was outsmarted by Amana, draws his guns, and begins firing at Tob and Trill, who retaliate with their own gunshots and arrows. While initially laced with negation magic, the sigils reduced their effect. Tob and Trill overwhelm Redstone.

Amana walks up to a defeated Redstone and tells him she understands how he feels. She knows a boy who was just the same, cursed yet seeking greatness. Despite that, he managed to overcome his weaknesses while also keeping his centre. Redstone yells at Amana, reaffirming his desire to destroy her resistance. Suddenly, a familiar celestial glow emits from above, and a huge armoured angel lands before Redstone, sending the members of Darkstar flying backward. Amana swipes at the celestial, but before she can make a move, Calliope Ariandal emerges from the construct and strikes Amana, who manages to block it in time. Amana cries in pain as her forearm snaps. Darkstar rushes to her aid. Calliope regards the leader of Darkstar, who glares at the mage. Lazarus suddenly appears and tries to talk to Calliope, but she silences him with a swipe from the celestial's wing, sending him unconscious. Calliope leaves with Redstone in tow, clearly disappointed in Redstone's performance, promising to make him pay for all the time she has wasted on him. Amana watches as Calliope soars into the sky, and more Militia solders flood the courtyard. Reya, Dennis, and Tob attempt to hold off the forces, but Trill tells them there's too many. He grabs Lazarus and tells everyone to return to the hideout.

Redstone Elimination Aftermath

Amana sits on the sofa, examining her forearm, which now contains scarring from Calliope's attack. Lazarus sits next to Amana and asks how she is feeling. Amana is upset with herself that she let Calliope get away with Redstone. Lazarus asks why she is worried about the man who had quite literally sent her teammates into the infirmary, and Amana responds that Redstone reminded her a lot of Sam, and at the end of the day, he was just a kid who wanted to realize his dreams. If she had done more, maybe she could have convinced Redstone to join Darkstar or have a better life rather than living a path full of hatred. Lazarus stops Amana, and tells her that Jason is starting to rub off on her personality. Amana did her best, and at the end of the day, it is what it is, she can't just keep shouldering all of the responsibilities herself just because she is the leader.

Amana turns to Lazarus and confesses that she misses Jason and feels like without him she is unable to carry out anything properly. With Jason training in the formation, she hasn't been able to call him for days. If Jason had been with her, they would have been able to defeat Redstone together from the very start, and the impact of the resistance would have never wavered. Lazarus tells Amana that he will do his best as second in command to keep the morale high for the team and the people of Croft, but he can only do that if Amana stays strong. Jason would have wanted her to stay strong too.

Amana wipes her tears and repositions herself. She thanks Lazarus for the pep talk. Lazarus smiles and tells her that the old Amana is back, strong and resilient. Lazarus asks Amana if she wants anything, and Amana asks Lazarus to tell her about the Jason in the Mage Academy. Lazarus laughs.

Lazarus Reminisces

Lazarus spends the night telling Amana about how he and his classmates encountered Jason during the Entrance Exams. At the time, he was just another ordinary candidate, until he revealed his power. Soul Linked with some crazy demon monster, Jason cleared his objectives with seemingly destructive power. When it was time for Jason to showcase his skills in a one on one, Jason's use of Sentry was horrifying to watch. He caused his opponent to piss himself. Amana laughs.

Lazarus continues the story. After Lazarus was accepted into the Academy, he decides to introduce himself to Jason. Jason was surprisingly friendly, and the two became friends. However, one day, Jason was caught telling Lazarus his main reason for joining the Militia. He didn't care about the war or the infernals, but he just wanted friends and money. This made him very unpopular, and thus he was thrown into the loser circle. Since Lazarus only was able to draw out 15% of The Goatman's power, he was also thrown into the loser circle for being the bottom of the class. During this time, Jason and Lazarus became study buddies. Jason was notoriously known for not thinking before he acted, and often blurted out things that came to mind. This often led to Jason landing in trouble and Lazarus having to bail him out. Amana smirks, remarking how that aspect of Jason never changed. Lazarus believes her.

At some point, they met Calliope and formed Team Trinity. But Jason wanted to name the team "Ninja Squad" as the use of three man teams reminded him of a cartoon he used to watch. Amana busts out laughing but apologizes for interrupting Lazarus' story.

Over time, the team begins to do more missions and exams together. One day, Jason and Lazarus decided to throw Calliope a birthday party, but they were unable to find a gift. They eventually manage to invite Calliope's father, Marcus, who was not infected by the Corruption at the time, to join. Jason decides to summon a Shadow Specter to pose as Marcus in the office. However, he used up too much mana and resorted to mana potions, which gave him upset stomach. He ended up vomiting all over the floor, ruining a kiss between Lazarus and Calliope.

Amana can't believe that Jason used to be so goofy, and cautiously asks Lazarus what caused him to change. Lazarus expression darkens and reveals that Jason's transformation was caused in part by a fight with a rivalling team. There was already some bad blood between the two, and when the team cheated in the one on one, Jason became so enraged that Sentry's powers took over his body. This caused him to become feral, and Calliope and Lazarus being forced to intervene. Calliope was sent into a coma, and the fight was discovered by the instructors of the academy, leading to Lazarus' expulsion.

Amana is silent and continues listening. According to rumours around the school, Jason became increasingly violent and resentful, as he was forced into another team, who was already accustomed to working together. Jason found himself working alone most of the time despite many of the tasks being a team effort. Segregating himself from everybody else, he became even more bitter, and focused on becoming strong enough to do group missions himself. At the end of the day, the main cause for his transformation was the belief that he could build the closest family ever, but have it ripped away from his arms. Calliope's coma and Lazarus' expulsion sealed the deal. Amana thinks back on the many times where Jason wanted to deal with the enemy himself, rarely enjoying teamwork. Amana had bickered with Jason about that all the time, and Jason would always respond with a controlled aggression. Now she knew why.

Eventually, from first hand accounts of other mage survivors, Lazarus discovered that Calliope became infected with the Corruption, and thought Jason had betrayed her. The two got in a fight, causing Calliope to surpass 100% of her soul link, becoming the powerful mage she is today. This did not end well with Jason, and Jason ended up being severely injured. It was only then did the Corruption enter his body as he fell into the dimensional tear into Amana's world.

Amana stares at her jacket, the jacket Jason had given her, and suddenly has the urge to give him a hug, but she remembers that Jason is still out there with Sam, training with Merrow, doing everything he can to stop Mogul and Ariandal. Lazarus apologizes for ruining the mood, but Amana tells him it is okay, and that she is grateful that he told her more about her boyfriend. Lazarus puts his hand on her shoulder and tells her that as long as she is with him, his dream of having a family will never die. Lazarus goes to his room as Amana cleans off her jacket of dust.

Moving Onward

With Redstone no longer a threat, Amana continues her planning on fighting The New Militia, with Lazarus and Reya assisting her. Trill, Ferris, Tob, Dennis, and Junon continue supporting Amana, and training to become strong enough to benefit the resistance. Junon has begun learning archery from Trill, and Ferris has started to develop new Earth spells under the tutelage of Lazarus.

Amana dons the iconic aviator jacket that Jason had given her. Promising to stay alive for his sake, Amana leads her squad to the next mission.