As Agent California was sleeping in his dorm, he first saw nothing but blackness. It was probably just the environment the "Mother of Invention" was in…or so he thought. His dreams soon turned to what used to be Pirth City. He thought that he was just remembering pained memories and that this was a reminder of what could happen due to his failures. But what happened next was something that even he did not expect.

Eventually he saw his dead mother, still alive before she died. He saw Allison. At first he loved hearing about his mother. How her work progressed, how happy she is. But then he realized that she was dead. This memory was only amplified with the burning of his home city. With the Covenant appearing to be unstoppable and invincible. He saw her burn herself to death. Unfortunately, what happened to her then angered him more than anything else.

A Hurugok. Engineers they're called by his race. This creature was experimenting on his mother, lacerating everything of her and not even taking the care to take her in a non-combat environment. The Hurugok even used her limbs to give to the brutes as trophies to play with. This was a disgrace for California, and he hated it for what it did. The Hurugok, all of its kind would be victim to California's rage. Yet even with this his focus was turned to some other event.

California and his father and sister were all sending off a good-bye to Allison for the day. This was the same day that she died but earlier in the morning. Leonard had been examining an experimental weapon when Allison told him to "Stop it. Put that thing down." Leonard had remained distracted for a little while longer, longer than Allison would have like. She continued to tell "Leonard, come on, stop it."

Eventually Leonard complied, and Allison let the three know that "You're going to make me late." They understood what was going on. So they continued their send-off. As Allison board the Pelican, she told them "I have to go." When Calvin asked if they should say good-bye in case they wouldn't see each other, she simply said, "Don't say good-bye. I hate good byes." This reassurance made him believe that they would meet again. She couldn't have been more wrong…

The image then switched over to more recent times. California saw everything that had happened recently. He saw his sister, himself, the Director and even…Agent Texas. Why he began to have visions of Tex, he didn't know. But he saw the two fighting, possibly to the death. Near the end of their 'dual' he saw Agent Texas gain the edge and almost kill Carolina. As she was about to do so, the reactor of the "Mother of Invention" malfunctioned and sent the ship crashing down on a planet. As it crashed it blacked and…

"DAMN!" Oh…it was just another one of those 'dreams' I've been having. Oh my god.

AN: That first part was like a prologue. This will make sense in the future but from this point the real chapter will begin.

Many Years Ago…

Chapter Ten:

Χειριστής Σπαθί των αστεριών (Cheiristís Spathí ton asterión)

(Day 2: Part 1)

Since I woke up from my nightmare, I decided to check my clock to see what time it was. 5:00 AM. Damn it. Not again. I really need to get some more sleep every night. This is the third time altogether I woke up this early. The first time was fine since I was headed to Wyoming and Maine, but this was something else. I wonder if I woke up any one else with that scream of mine. Probably did, I'd be lucky if I didn't. Although I suppose I could use the privacy for what I'm going to be doing for the day.

Since I was awake this early, I decided to head over to the training room to further practice my sword wielding and let out some steam. I know the training room is closed at this hour of the morning, but I think that I could pull 'rank' and be able to get in anyways. Yeah, yeah I know that sounds selfish but hey, I need this practice.

After I made my way to the training room I woke up FILSS and told her my 'activities' for the day. But first…"Halt, only emergency personal and staff members are allowed to patrol the 'Mother of Invention' during night hours, which range from 10:00 PM to 7:00 AM. I am going to have to ask you to return to your quarters or else I'll have to use deadly forc…"

"FILLS. It's me California. You know, AI handler apparently, brother of Carolina, etc. etc."

"Oh, well hello California. I did not expect you to already be 'out and about' as you humans put it. Being an AI handler actually does give you some 'leeway' as the director puts it, but he advises you not to abuse the privilege."

"How did he come to know this already? I had only planned to tell him after tomorrow."

"Since you already made your decision yesterday, I deemed it necessary to tell the director in order to sooner complete the objective assigned to you."

"Jesus FILSS, not everything is an objective. The director was simply giving me some time to make a choice. And you know I don't like it when other people, or AI, speak for me when I'm not there. I prefer speaking for myself in situations concerning myself."

"Oh. I apologize, I was simply trying to aid you in helping you get ready for your future respon…"

"It's fine FILSS. It was going to happen anyways, and I don't think I could hide my decision from the director for very long."

"Of course California."

"FILSS, I'm in the training room. Do you think you could run some combat simulations so that I could practice my melee combat proficiency?"

"You know that training matches are not allowed in the training room unless the director authorizes it for a test, right?"

"FILSS, this isn't a test. This is just for practice."

"Oh, well then in this case, I most certainly can. Where would you like to begin with today's training?"

"Let's start out with three easy level Special Ops Elites. After I defeat them, increase the difficulty by one level."

"Certainly."

This seemed like a good place to start. Even on easy level, special ops elites are tricky to kill, thought not impossible. It took me about ten minutes until I could defeat them all, though I had to admit that FILSS made them a lot more agile and intelligent than I thought. Good, that's going to make me even more awesome.

They came again for the next half an hour, once on medium and then again on hard. By the time the hard level was activated, I had to dodge not just energy sword swipes but also grenades and plasma fire. It looked like FILLS not only made the simulation elites more agile and intelligent per round, but also add weapons as variables.

At this point FILSS asked if I'd like to take a break, but I wanted to keep going with the training. She then added two more elites to the match to go against me. Dear god I can't believe that I asked for th…actually scratch that, I can believe I asked for this. I tend to have a lot of crazy ideas whenever I'm in combat. Adding to the craziness, it took another hour and a half until I could get up to the medium level of special ops elites.

By the time they were this hard, they could shot dual plasma rifles at me, had all of their sword tricks, including a jump assassination, could throw two plasma grenades at a time, and on top of that, they were twice as strong, five times as intelligent, three times as agile, and four times as fast. I should have been exhausted by now, but sooo much adrenaline was pumping in me. I must have been really into this swordplay.

All this time, I had been keeping my balance, sticking to counters so that I would not be caught off guard. I kept my sword close to me so that I would loose it in case I dropped my sword when I extended my arm. These were energy swords, so it's easy and fast to draw them, but I still had to be quick. And watch my back a lot. My god, I'm surprised that I'm a natural at this. Then again, my sister's a natural at martial arts, so this makes a little bit more sense.

Now it's taken me a total of 2 hours and ten minutes since five in the morning to be able to defeat five medium level special ops elites. I was allowed to get hit five times during the training session before I was kicked out of the training room, and I got hit twice. I was so close to defeating the last elite before being able to move on to the hard ones when the elite cloaked and went so fast I couldn't even blink before he tagged me in the back. Damn it!

Well I defeated it soon afterwards. From here on out it took me 2 hours and 40 minutes, and two more tags until I got to the last round! Five Zealots, all of them with dual plasma rifles, four plasma grenades, dual energy swords. Just one of them could defeat at least one of the top five freelancers in the entire program. If could even defeat two before receiving my final tag, I'd call it one hell of an accomplishment. I couldn't possibly defeat all five of them

But then I remembered why I was here in the first place. It wasn't just to train, it was that I couldn't sleep. And I couldn't sleep because of…Texas. The thought of her just being on the same ship as I am, that she's just out to take away Carolina's place…god damn it all. Damn you Texas!

The thought of her just boiled my blood into complete rage. When I started thinking about her, I started just slashing and hacking at anything in my way. These elites were nothing compared to her. God damn it when I'm ready, I will beat them both. Carolina and Texas won't think themselves the best for long when I'm through with them. And then I realized I snapped and dropped my guard enough to get tagged the last time. Three Zealots were dissipated.

I was exhausted from the training simulations, and I must say that I think I did a great job. I wanted to assess what new skills I have learned and which ones I improved on, but I was close to passing out, so I couldn't make a good review. I need FILSS to…

"FILSS...ca…can you…"

"Agent California, you should take a moment to get some rest. I will send a request for some health food from the mess hall and fluids to help hydrate your body."

"Th…thanks FILS…"

Five minutes later…

As I woke up from my unconsciousness, I noticed a familiar doctor standing over me with a mobile computer screen representing FILSS. They had with them some food and drinks. Thank god, that's what I needed for the moment.

"Agent California, here's some fruits and juice to help you gain some energy and nutrition."

"Thanks Dr. Harvey."

"Lord, you must have had some insane idea to go through some intense training without waiting to get some breakfast digested in your stomach."

"I must agree with Dr. Harvey, California. But to be fair Doctor, he was psychologically restless and was unable to focus on his personal health."

"I could tell. Look, just make sure you don't jeopardize your health again. You'll be needed back on the field sooner than you think."

"Sooner than I think? The director said that I won't be attending as many missions as I did due to my new profession."

"Key words being 'as many.' You'll still be on the more important missions, unlike those other freelancers spread throughout the galaxy."

"How did you know?"

"When FILSS told the director, the counsellor leaked this information to every single freelancer that was aboard the ship. Every other freelancer is still in the dark of what's happening."

"I see. Is that all?"

"Other than me telling you to be concerned about your health, yes. Now if you excuse me, I must attend to Wyoming and Maine."

"Of course doctor."

After he left, FILSS and I went over what I learned in the training room and new abilities I picked up. "FILSS, analyse all previously learned sword skills and new abilities."

"I would be happy to assist. Yesterday you learned basic energy sword melee techniques, deflection of plasma fire, assassination methods, throw and retrieval of sword from 50 ft., material cutting, and as a result had a 75% success of defeating an Elite Zealot in Energy Sword melee combat."

"And how about today?"

"Today, you learned how to wield two energy swords at once, jump striking, disarmament, counter-strike, throw and retrieval of sword at 75 ft., connecting two swords at once at the base of the hilts, dodging, counter-assassination, and as a result of today's training session you have increased your chances of defeating an Elite Zealot by 10%."

"Hot damn FILSS. How does that compare to insurrectionists?"

"Against standard troopers, you would be able to dodge enemy bullets due to your substantial increase in agility and deflect human bullets easily to the weakness of metal against an Energy Sword. By rapidly twirling your blades you also demoralize the enemy through flashing yet effective techniques."

"What about the high-ranks ones?"

"You will easily defeat the insurrectionists dubbed 'the sleeveless soldier' due to his use of C.Q.C. as his primary fighting technique and is rather lacking in agility. 'Girlie' has skills similar to Carolina, so she will be a bit more difficult to defeat. But you should be able to manage."

'Thanks."

"There has also been reports of chain-gunners, so you will not be able to get close enough to them in order to use you're swords effectively. I would also like to note that their Snipers will also shoot you down before you could reach them with your sword."

"Thank you FILSS. Look, I have some things I need to take care of by myself. I'm going to meet with the other freelancers for a while and then let them know what's going on. It's time."

"I understand Agent California. And I have taken the liberty of recording all of your activities into your journal to the best of my knowledge."

"It would appear that I have much to thank you for FILSS. Can you continue recording my 'activities' in my journal? Something tells me that I'll be very busy once I start my new responsibilities."

"I most certainly can. And Cal?"

"Yeah?"

"Good luck with your…responsibilities."

"I…yeah. See you later."

It looks like now I've got a lot of things I need to do before I can meet with the director, although I suppose that was a given. Now…who shall my spies be?

AN: Hi guys, I just wanted to say it's good writing again after a week. I've been busy dealing with work, so I haven't been able to write as much as I'd like.

In case you guys don't understand Greek, the chapter title is a literal translation for "Sword Handler of the Stars." I used Google translate so it's not entirely correct, only word-by-word.

But yeah I think this story is going to work out pretty well. If you guys are wondering if he's too Gary-Stu or not (Meaning to perfect) I can understand. But don't worry. Everything will make sense. In the meantime, read, review, comment, anything you'd like would make me happy.