Difference between revisions of "MAYEN"

Revision as of 00:36, 22 January 2021

Prologue

Ever since that day, I've been having the same recurring dream.

I walked down the same road. The sun shining bright.

"I want to become a hero."

I heard myself say, as my hands dripped with blood.

"One who saves everybody."

As I walked by numerous corpses, dismembered bodies, burnt to a crisp.

"One who descends from the skies"

I looked up, at the beautiful sun shining from the clouds. The clouds that were oh so elegant, majestic. I held my hand out to try to touch them, but I knew. I always knew.

Those things in the sky were not clouds.

I watched as hordes of Severens descended from the heavens, and from behind the clouds, was not a sun. But a large glowing eye. The eye of a giant Severen. The King. The ruler, and greatest of its kind.

"To wrap a crying maiden with my cape..." I muttered, staring at the armies of the Severens as they began to pillage the university campus that I stood at with their thunderous blasts of energy. Their destruction and reckoning on this world.

"To tell her that..."

My white shirt ripped off as it landed on the ground, turning red as I watched as the giant Severen's eye glowed brighter and brighter. My skin scalding from the heat as the beam disintegrated me.

"Everything is okay. I'm here now." I closed my eyes as everything turned bright.

Rinzler Thresh

"Operator! The mini-operator is awake!" I heard a voice boom across the ship as I rubbed my forehead.

This won't do. Ugh.

Another horrible dream, and drenched in sweat too. That'd be the third set of clothes I went through in a day. I trudged out of my bed and clicked the button as I watched it fold in on itself.

"Mini-operator, while such hygiene is irrelevant to a Dataform like me, I would advise some better care for your body."

Thanks Folock.

"I know. I don't need you telling me that, Folock. Also, stop calling me Mini-Operator. I'm not that short!"

A voice appeared from behind me.

"He's not wrong y'know."

I slipped on a shirt and smirked. "That's because you spent your whole life in space. Your whole body is stretched out. I'm still way more jacked than you...

"Captain Deka."

Deka's silvery eyes almost glowed from the shadows of the sliding door.

"Heh. I hope you still have your feistiness. Got a new mission from a Syndicate."

"We're doing it solo right? Like just you, Umbra, and I?"

Deka scratched his head. "Uhh..."

"Are you serious? I'm not going out there with them."

Deka sighed. "Shane, at some point, we're going to have to side with my brethren. You honestly can't be thinking we take on the Severens and save my mom with just us right?"

"Are you even listening to yourself?! Those same asshats renounced you! Hell, they have a god damn bounty on your head! Why are you still defending them?"

Deka regarded me. "Because at the end of the day, I am still a Valian. I will forever serve the Toron. That is why I operate my Lances. That is why I wield these weapons. That is why I fight."

I bit my lip as I slipped on my coat and my combat boots. I walked with Deka to the armoury to pick up my two Harkanon rifles and slung their compressed forms on my back.

"How's the new coat, by the way?" Deka asked.

"It's fine." I replied.

"It certainly makes you look like the Operator's Lances!" Folock chimed in.

"That's the last thing I want." I grumbled, imagining Yggdrasil getting its disgusting talons on my body again. The last time the ship's infestation system had touched me, it was to give me my Toron cybernetic implants. Yggdrasil has always been obsessed with me. And ever since it got a "taste" of my body, its obsession only got worse.

I went to the kitchen segment of the Lotuscraft to make some "space pb&j". Not that was a thing. I always keep forgetting, that we were in the future. In Deka's present. Ever since we had gained enough resources to rebuild the ship's time warp segment, I never got used to the shift. I mean who wouldn't? We're talking millennia into the future.

I still found it weird. You would think thousands of years into the future they would have some fine cuisine.

I stared at the two pieces of stale "bread" on the plate, along with the seasoned fish oil.

"You have fish oil, yes? Good for bones. Make you grow little boy!" The fisher at Cetus had told me.

That damn geezer. I'm not even a kid. In a few years I would be drinking age.

"Huh? Why're we teamed with him?!" A Helos Lance walked up to the two of us. We were deployed on the surface of Neptune to defend a cargo hold. Any time now those Toron-Corpo soldiers would be on our ass. Our job would be to protect it.

Normally, it would have been easy. I would just stay on the side with my Harkanon rifles and support Cap from afar. But it didn't seem like it would work this time, especially with the greater number of Valian guarding the cargo, they were definitely coming in full force. Just standing there would no longer be an option.

One of the other Valians glared at Cap.

"Doesn't matter. We do the mission get our rewards and book. Price is irrelevant anyway, considering he's using that piece of trash of a Lance. If he really is dumb enough to pull a fast one on us, my Slinger would just shoot him up in seconds."

I clenched my fist.

Calm yourself, Mayen. Umbra's voice emanated from his body.

I looked at Cap's Lance. Even though it was aiming at the surroundings with its gun, I knew he was speaking to me. I had developed the ability to communicate with Deka's Lances ever since the operation. But it seemed like only I was able to do so.

You're just going to take what those brats said about you?

Umbra was silent as Deka continued aiming.

The Valians, as mighty as they are, are still children. Surely you were like that at your age?

I grumbled as I set one of my rifles to sniper mode, aiming at one of the entrances. I was about to say something, but I kept it to myself. Umbra knew more about kids than I did. He had a son. I didn't want to go down that route, especially considering Umbra's tragic past. But still...

"Here they come." The Helos Valian said, as I readied my weapon, but before I could pull the trigger, the enemies were instantly dead.

"Easy." The Slinger Valian said, as she gunned down everything in her sight. Within seconds, everybody was dead. I didn't even get to fire a single round. I stood up and leapt to another region of the defence target, near the snowy hills, pinpointing a crewman. I brought one of my rifles up and set it to automatic mode, but just like before, a flash of light blinded me. By the time my sight returned, the crewman was dead.

The Helos Valian turned to me.

"I'm not letting some spectre steal my kills." He said, coldly, as he glanced at Price, who was zipping across the battlefield as Umbra. He was managing to get some kills as well, but it might as well have been for nothing, because the Slinger was killing everything in seconds.

"Look at that guy. Relying on spectres and still being out damaged. Pathetic."

The Slinger smirked.

"I don't even want to begin to see what the status report for this mission is going to look like." I muttered from within my combat mask.

"Damage Contribution Status Report: Vitri Eragon - 83%, Rinzler Thresh - 15%, Dekani Price - 2%" Folock said, happily in my HUD.

"Literally no one asked for that!" I growled.

"Mini operator, I advise you to fight harder, otherwise your progress to the mission will become too insignificant!"

"My name isn't even listed in the report- wait. Why isn't it listed?!"

"I believe it is because you're considered only a spectre." Deka responded.

A SPECTRE?!

Was I seriously that insignificant?!

"Hey, chin up, Shane. At least we have a good cover story. What would the Valians think if they saw you as my first mate? Then that would mean everybody would want one."

"I... guess." I muttered, as I continued firing my rifles, blasting enemies from a distance that I could pinpoint that were not in Eragon's field of view.

"But come to think of it, most of us probably wouldn't care less for that either. A spectre doesn't really do much additional damage anyway."

"I thought you were supposed to make me feel better!" I snapped.

Deka laughed. I zipped into the air as I closed in on a Moa. I took out my Gram Supra and slashed down as hard as I could, slicing the robot in half. I brought my other arm up, still wielding one of my Harkanon rifles and peppered a group of crewmen as they fell on their backs.

From the corner of my eye, I noticed Thresh had already cleared an entire squad of crewmen before Deka could reach it. I heard the Valian scoff as Deka turned to the other way.

How could Cap be okay with this? These assholes were looking at him with disdain knowing full well that Deka hadn't fully recovered from the time warp. But Cap was still doing his mission anyway. I bit back my negative thoughts. I was Deka's first mate. I had to do my part of the mission.

We continued hacking and slashing until we got to Wave 5. We finished all we needed and collected enough resources.

"Let's extract." Deka said.

Thresh holstered his Ignis. "Of course you would want that."

I clenched my fist as I stepped forward, but Deka held out his hand.

"Thank you for your time." He said, as he bowed.

Eragon scoffed. "Leech."

Thresh walked forward and pushed Deka.

"Hey!" I shouted.

Deka said nothing, as he resolved out of Umbra and looked Thresh right through his Helos Lance.

"Let's not resort to violence. We are fellow Valian."

Thresh resolved out of Helos and walked up to Deka, facing him.

"You're not one of us. Even before you decided to loot the VGA dojo, you were never one of us. You were always a joke. While we all were able to fight off the Scrava, you couldn't even hit a single mark with your gun. Can you imagine it? A Valian who didn't know how to fight?"

Deka turned and walked to the spot for his Landing Craft. Umbra beckoned me as I followed him, attempting to ignore Thresh's insults.

"And you know what is funny? After all this time for you to practice and fight, you're still running around with a damn Excal. Umbra of all Lances. It's almost like you think he's special! You're delusional, we all have that Lance. He's just a copy of the original."

Umbra stopped.

Oh no.

Deka turned around. "Take those words back."

Thresh grinned. "Or what? You're going to kick my ass with an Excal? Your Lance isn't even min-maxed. Literally any Lance is better than that trashy metal puppet."

I gripped my rifle. But Folock appeared in my HUD.

"No, mini-operator. Don't fight him. You cannot win against a fully trained Valian at your current level."

"But-"

Deka walked back to the Landing Craft, resolving into Umbra.

"We're leaving."

"Well, it looks like we've made a solid dent on this component. We'll pick up after the weekend." Deka said, as he looked at the Foundry.

"What are you going to do?" I asked Deka as we walked back to our respective rooms.

"Fishing."

"Ehhh?" I asked.

Deka chuckled. "Hey, it's not my idea. Umbra likes fishing. It was that or all three of us play Komi."

"Fish away!" I quickly replied, as I packed up my things.

I walked to the Landing Craft after Deka and Umbra deployed to Cetus.

"What destination would you like to go to?" Folock asked.

"Luam."

Rinne Thresh

"Two popsicles please."

"Oh my. Buying one for a date, perhaps?" The old lady asked from behind the counter.

"Uh. Yeah. Sure." I mumbled.

Obviously it wasn't for a date. Ever since I discovered this stand, it had become my go-to place for a nice treat. One of the few that offered popsicles that didn't taste weird as hell. Meaning I was clearly going to go overboard with it. Of course, I didn't want to tell a sweet old lady that I was going to eat both of them.

"Young love! How adorable."

I paid for the popsicles and walked down the streets of Luam.

Cities aren't uncommon in the Star System. Maybe not for Valians, since they spend most of their time on missions or doing bounties. Deka is one of the very few Valian, if not the only Valian who takes weekends off. But it was never for his own benefit. During these weekends, he would spend time with Umbra doing things he likes, for instance, fishing, Komi, sightseeing, walks. As a first mate, Deka wanted me to also enjoy some freedom once in a while. It was one of the many things I admired about Captain Price.

I watched as a bunch of couples and children explored the streets. There wasn't much to do, but it was okay. Sometimes it was nice to just take in the scenery. The beautiful campus. The...

"I finally understand... I finally know why you did it, my dear boy..."

I clutched my head. No. No more memories. Not now, when I'm relaxing.

I sat on a bench and stared at the ocean. Mood ruined. Thanks PTSD.

I always resented my life back at uni. I never liked it. I saw it as something I couldn't escape from. Because that was what I was forced to do, to survive in society, I had to force myself to become something I didn't like, otherwise I would be unemployed. That was how it was. There was nothing I could do, though. I was just born into it.

I finished my first popsicle and moved onto my second one.

SLAP

I looked up. In front of me were two people. A guy and a girl. They both had flowing brown hair, almost identical, but I could tell right away they were completely different. The boy looked menacing, his face was just pure scum, while the girl looked timid. She had her head down, and the left side of her face was reddened.

It took me a total of five seconds to realize that he had slapped her.

Now under normal circumstances, this might be the part where you would expect me to stand up and say something. Stand up to her for the way she was treated. But sorry to disappoint. I was not going to do something that naive. I've served as Deka's First Mate long enough to know that the wisest choice is to stay out of other people's drama. It might sound selfish and wrong, but there are always multiple sides to a story. What I'm looking at could be completely different from what it seems to be. What if the girl was expected to comply and had a loved one hostage by the guy? If I intervened, the guy might lose it and kill the hostage. Things like this must always be considered before taking action.

Hence why I will always stick to the things I am assigned.

To do what I am told.

Because the notion of being a hero...

Is completely fake.

I got up from the bench and walked away, as I could hear the faint echoes of their conversation.

"Rinne, you had one job. Isn't it bad enough that I have a useless Valian who can't fight for a sister? Now you got to mess this up too? You shouldn't have been born."

"I'm so sorry, Rinzler."

"Go and return it. Return all of it."

"But..."

"But what?"

"Volco hasn't been fed for days."

"Why the hell do I care about that Alphon mutt? All it was worth was one mission. I have no use for it. And I'm certainly not going to waste money on it."

Rinzler? I stopped walked. I slowly turned around and caught a glimpse of the guy's face. That same face that had mocked my Captain. Who mocked Uncle Umbra. Then I glanced at the girl, who I presumed to be Rinne. She looked like she was about to cry.

I want to...

I clenched my fist. Stop. Stop it. After everything that had happened to Mom and Dad. You still have such dreams?

I watched my body instinctively turn around, moving against my will.

I want to save her.

"No. No you don't." I hissed, trying to stop myself. But the more I tried to convince myself...

I want to be a hero.

I took a step, and another step. Stop. Stop this, Shane. Stop. STOP.

"I'll return it, big brother. I promise." Rinne yelped as she ran off to a stall. Rinzler crossing his arms.

"Damn right." He grumbled.

I stopped moving. I should have felt relieved. I didn't need to step in. I wouldn't have gotten involved, but for some reason, I still felt horrible.

And so the rest of the weekend ended, and I along with the Lotuscraft crew continued with our mission to collect resources.

"Keep the enemy busy while another Valian raids the ship for supplies, that's our mission." Deka told me, as he resolved into Umbra.

I nodded.

Deka and I charged the Scrava as we fought off the enemy with a barrage of slashing, hacking, and shooting. The usual. A lot of these missions tended to be repetitive, but even so, I found a small thrill in it. Every enemy I took down was more experience on my part.

"At this rate, we should be able to get that one component we need to finish the segment." I commented.

"And after that, it'll just be getting resources. I think I can use Abaddon for that." Deka replied.

Of course, the moment we said that, luck happened to screw us over.

The lights flickered.

"Captain? Is it an enemy syndicate?" I asked.

Deka was silent, as we huddled together and shot enemies down left and right.

"That's... strange. I'm not getting any messages in my transmissions."

"What do you mean?"

Deka looked at me. "Usually, when things like this happen, an enemy syndicate would send me a transmission. But this time is different."

I drew Gram and readied myself.

"Is it SHADOW then?"

Deka resolved out of Umbra and held out his amp. He gritted his teeth.

"Even SHADOW would give a transmission."

The lights flickered once more.

From the corner of my eye, I saw something. A figure. A dark and ominous figure.

"Captain! It's SHADOW! He's here!" I exclaimed.

Deka and Umbra rushed to my side, but suddenly, the figure disappeared.

"Are you sure?" Deka said.

"I... I coulda sworn it." I replied. Hey now. What the hell is this? Deka didn't mention anything about an enemy like this before.

Deka pursed his lips.

"Lights flickering but no transmission. This isn't good. This is unlike anything I've encountered before."

We slowly moved back to the main room, but suddenly, we were greeted with a surprise.

"Everybody's, dead?" Deka asked.

The entire room was strewn with Scrava bodies. Normally, you would think this was unsurprising. Most Valian who were high ranked could do something like that, but this was different. The Scrava we were meant to fight were more heavily armoured variants. Even a Slinger Lance wouldn't be able to kill this many enemies at once. And even if they did, we would have heard their gunshots. A Saryn could wipe them out too, but these bodies didn't have any indicator that they were poisoned.

They are slash marks. Umbra said. The Tora confirmed it himself.

"Slash marks?" I asked.

Folock appeared in my HUD. "Operator, something is wrong. There isn't a Lance in my database that can achieve this many kills with a bladed weapon."

Deka looked uneasy. "Could this have something to do with that figure Shane had seen?"

The mission had gone successful, at least on our end. Unfortunately, the Valian who had done the ship raid wasn't too thrilled. And you wouldn't guess who that was.

"YOU AGAIN?!" Thresh walked up to Deka and grabbed him by the collar. I rushed forward, but Umbra held me back.

Mayen, we must not reveal your identity.

Deka, Umbra and I were in Cetus today, shortly after the mission to do some fish exchanging for standing. We also worked double duty to walk Flippy the Lupine (Deka's dog). But of course, the day had to be ruined by this jack knob.

Rinzler glared at us.

"What happened to keeping the enemy busy? I was assaulted by SHADOW! Why didn't you defeat him?"

Deka looked confused. "But... SHADOW didn't attack us."

Rinzler's face became more and more malicious. "Bullshit. The lights flickered for you guys. How did you let SHADOW escape? Any capable Valian should be able to beat that stupid stalker."

Deka scratched his chin. "There was no transmission. And he didn't show up to fight. This isn't SHADOW's style."

Rinzler took a deep breath and approached Deka. "Look here. I don't need you of all people to lecture me how that Severen trash operates. But because of you, I missed out on getting loot. AND you made me look embarrassing in front of Rinne."

I peeked from Rinzler's side and noticed Rinne standing from behind, her hands in clasped in front of her and her eyes empty.

"Hello." She muttered.

Deka sighed, and spoke into our coms.

"Guys, Thresh and I are going to take a while. Don't worry. A fight won't break out. We need to talk about whatever that thing that showed up was, Valian to Valian. Umbra, walk Flippy. Shane, I guess do whatever."

I glanced at Rinzler one more time. There was no way that thing was SHADOW. It couldn't have been. If it really was SHADOW, that vengeance obsessed freak would have leapt at Deka without any hesitation. But whatever I saw, was more elusive.

I walked to the market to pick up some stuff for dinner. I didn't really need to buy much. Umbra doesn't eat (obviously). Yggdrasil prefers eating me (not in a weird way). Flippy relied on DNA stabilizers, and for some reason Deka is sustained by the Void (???). Meaning I was the only person in the crew who needed to eat.

I looked at the two pieces of Mawfish in my hand. Which one was better? They were similarly priced, but one looked different from the other. One was rounder, and the other was flatter.

"What kind of dish are you thinking about making?" A timid voice appeared from my side.

"EEP!" I yelped, nearly dropping the fish.

"Hey! You drop, you pay boy!" The shopkeeper shouted at me.

I turned around. It was Rinne, she was looking at the fish in my hands.

"Oh, uh I was just going to steam them and eat them."

Rinne leaned in closer. Her hair smelled like lavender. Not like it mattered. Irrelevant information calls for irrelevant responses.

"Mini-operator, it appears your body temperature is rising." Folock warned.

"The flat cut benefits from a marinade. The rounder one could be grilled. It depends on what you like though."

"Uhh"

Rinne glanced up and realized our faces were only like two inches away from each other. She quickly scurried away.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to invade your personal space."

Grilling and marinade. I don't think I've heard of those terms in ages. But then it hit me.

"Aren't you a Valian? I thought Valians don't eat because of the Void and stuff."

Rinne tilted her head. "Is that what you perceive us as?"

"Uh..."

Rinne smiled. "You are quiet aware, for a spectre. That is, if you are one."

My eyes widened. "I, um... errr..." Classic Shane, freezing up in front of girls. Even after everything I went through with Deka and Umbra during those days in my time, fighting the Severens and returning back to his time period. Some things never change.

"How are you able to tell?"

Rinne wiggled her fingers. "I'm not much of a fighter, despite being a Valian, but I can sense things in the Void. Like it speaks to me. From afar, I thought you were a spectre, but then why would a spectre go running errands in Cetus?" She giggled.

I paid for the round piece and put it in a bag. I did feel like eating something grilled. I'm sure Captain Price wouldn't mind me borrowing his Ignis to cook dinner...

"So I guess you know how to cook then?"

Rinne nodded. "Yes. I cook for my older brother."

Judging from the way those two interacted, I was guessing he wasn't exactly a caring type to his younger sister. But I did my best to hide my thoughts.

"So... I'm guessing you're not on missions a lot."

Rinne sat down on the bench next to me. "I accompany my brother at times. But I don't fight, I don't own a Lance. Usually, Rinzler sends me into the chutes of spy missions to disarm traps."

This guy sends his little sister into those dirty caverns to do the dirty work for him. The more I heard about this Rinzler guy the more of a scumbag he appeared to be.

"Then... was it true? That Rinzler was attacked by SHADOW?"

Rinne wrung her hands.

"While you and Price were distracting the enemy, me and my brother were trying to extract intel from a Scarva facility. SHADOW normally comes out of hiding if the Valian who was fending off the enemy was unable to defeat him. Big brother wasn't geared for combat, so when he appeared, he nearly died."

"And you saved him?"

Rinne paused. "All I did was blast him with Void energy. That was all it was."

I could tell she was trying to make it sound like she didn't save him. I mean, I guess it made sense. Someone of his ego would be shattered if word got out his lil sis saved his ass.

So it was SHADOW that appeared. But why was he acting differently this time? Could it be that he knew we were time displaced? But even then, why would that be enough for that revenge hungry weirdo to avoid fighting us?

I looked at Rinne. She had a kind smile but it was so obvious that she was faking it. Her eyes were empty and hollow. I wanted to help her.

"Shane?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you mind me asking..."

Rinne shifted in her seat and adjusted herself to look me in the eye.

"What exactly are you?"

A bead of sweat rolled down the side of my face. If I straight up told her I was a time displaced Terran who became a Valian assistant, word would break out.

Before I could answer, an annoying voice peeked from behind us.

"Rinne, we're leaving." Rinzler said as he grabbed her wrist and yanked her out of the bench.

Rinne bowed her head. "Okay." She gave me a faint smile, which looked laced in disappointment, almost like she wanted our conversation to keep going. At least, that was what it looked like. Who knew what she was thinking, or what anybody was thinking for that matter. Jumping to conclusions is stupid.

I got up to meet Deka. What the hell was I even thinking? Why was I making conclusions like this off of a girl I literally just met?

"I'll... see you Shane!" Rinne said, quietly, as her older brother dragged her to their Landing Craft.

Deka crossed his arms as I walked up to him.

"Any luck?" I asked, but Deka's face was dead serious. This wasn't good.

"Yes. But after talking with Thresh and contacting other Valians, it seems we were right on the money. The thing we encountered was not SHADOW."

Deka looked at me, and it was almost like I knew something bad was coming. Something deep in my gut.

"That thing we encountered was SHADE. The Great Valian Killer."

Assassinate

"SHADE? But he's a myth!" I exclaimed.

Deka sat in front of the table, scrolling through his codex and retrieving a holographic model of the Valian Killer.

To say he was threatening looking was an understatement. 185 cm of ominous darkness. There were many theories as to what he was. A corrupted Valian who defected to the Severen side. A Lance puppet. A Void spectre. No one really knew what he was or who he was. So as what legend would say.

But one thing was clear. This guy was by far the most dangerous person in the Severen side. It was said that once he set his sights on a Valian, that was it. That Valian was not seeing the light of day. The reason being, that this guy was so powerful, the default response upon encountering him was to extract as fast as possible.

The thing with SHADE, according to the minstrels and the stories about him, was that his motives were unknown. Sometimes he would spare the Valian, sometimes he would go all out and slaughter them. The Valian Gladiator Alliance was apparently the home for over a thousand Valian. There's only a few hundred now.

Despite all that, many people didn't acknowledge his existence. And the reason why was because unlike SHADOW, SHADE literally never shows up. No one has encountered him in the past few years. About a 3% chance according to Valian Brean Orsei, that the SHADOW shows up to take on the Valians. The probability of SHADE showing up isn't even a tenth of that.

But to know that we had run into SHADE himself and not only that, but to have been spared, that's a really bold claim.

"I know what you're thinking. The chances that we ran into a ghost makes more sense given we don't even know if SHADE exists. Who knows, he probably was a story made up by some Valian who had too much time on his hands. But the SHADE angle still exists. Thresh already alerted the various Valian Clans of a potential sighting. Right now, whatever happened in that mission is strictly confidential."

Deka put his hand on the table and gave me a stern expression.

"As your Captain, that is an order. Understand?"

I nodded.

With that, Captain Price dismissed us.

"Shane... I've always wanted to tell you all this time..."

Rinne's blush made her face so red. My heart was about to pop out of my chest.

"All those times you helped me, and saved me. You set me free. That time we spent together under that tree..."

Rinne leaned in closer.

"I love you, Shane May-"

Sleep well?

Umbra's voice woke me up. I jolted out of my bed and hit my head against the frame.

"Ah! No! What are you talking about? I wasn't dreaming."

If Umbra's helmet didn't replace his face, I would have seen him smirk.

Were you dreaming about that Valian's younger sister?

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about." I grumbled as I got dressed.

Dammit! This won't do! Why was I dreaming about Rinne? This is wrong, this is so wrong. Fantasizing about girls?! What's gotten into me? I have to do something about that, but it will have to wait, because we have a mission.

Umbra followed me as I headed to Folock's operating systems. Damn that Lance. I sometimes forgot he was sentient when not being piloted by Deka. And it wasn't just that. I shared a telepathic connection with all the Lance's that Deka had resolved into. Meaning it was entirely plausible that Umbra had seen my dreaaaaaammmm????

"AAAAH!!!" I screamed as I banged my head against the wall. Umbra laughed in my head.

I didn't mean to peek into your dreams. Your feelings were so strong that they entered my mind. There is nothing to be embarrassed of, Mayen. I myself, have been through this route.

Right. I totally forgot that this guy had a wife. I mean, he had a son, so that would make sense. But at this point, I was so flustered that I just didn't feel like discussing this with a retired war veteran.

"I'm going to be using Ran for this. You guys sit tight." Deka said, as he loaded up into the Landing Craft.

"What? No! It's not safe with the other Valians. Let us come. You still have a bounty on your head." I replied, but Deka waved me off.

"The bounty is on hold, until we figure out how to stop the Severen's efforts. Right now we need to gather components and resources to build our weapons. And that means going to the Void. The other Lances are strong but lack survivability. Only Ran can handle this."

Deka gave me a thumbs up, which was weird, because he was resolved into Ran, who was female. I didn't know if Cap was giving me a thumbs up or a kiss since both seemed equally convincing.

I watched as Deka and three other Valians entered the mission. I was able to see everything from Folock's systems. I watched as Deka buffed his teammates with Ran's shields as the team fluidly dispatched Corrupted left and right.

"So coordinated..." I muttered.

Yes. One of the strengths of the Valian. Even if they do not wish it, in numbers they are almost unstoppable. That is the nature of the Toron Lances. Umbra responded, standing next to me.

"That's my Operator for you! Remember to let the Operator know when the next life support capsule is coming." Folock chimed in.

I concentrated on the flow of data Folock was providing me. Technically, it was Folock who should have been checking for life support, but for whatever reason, he decided to make me in charge of that. Who knew Dataforms could be lazy. The good news was this job wasn't as demanding as I thought it to be.

Toron Lances. Those things were the real deal. I heard from Deka that the Lances they operated used to be warriors who were converted by the Infestation. The way he explained it sounded so messed up, but Deka had a calm demeanour. It was almost scary.

But Umbra was right. The nature of the way these Lances were designed, it was designed in a way that they could operate both in teams and on their own. As long as the Valian knew how to set up the load out correctly.

I watched as one Valian, who was using an Ash Lance, leapt into the air, delivering several clones to cut into their enemies. I wondered if Deka owned an Ash Lance. That would be so cool to upload it into my Sheathe.

"Hey Captain, Life Support Incoming."

I marked the location on the mini-map. I also pinpointed the location of the Corrupted leader as well. There was really no point for this Corrupted leader to show up every time, knowing full well he was going to get assaulted by the Valians. But he kept showing up anyway. I guess they took Corruption cognitively too.

I watched as the Valian squad went to the marker for the leader's location when suddenly, the marker disappeared.

"Huh?" I asked.

Deka stopped in his tracks.

"He's dead?"

The other Valians looked just as confused.

"That doesn't make sense. We were all in here together. He didn't drop anything either, what gives?"

Suddenly, the lights flickered from Deka's vision cam. Part of me wanted to hear a transmission, but to my shock, no transmission came out.

"There's no transmission." Deka said.

My eyes widened. "Captain, extract, get out of there!"

Deka gripped his shotgun.

"No. We stay."

You're choosing now to be diligent?!

Umbra glanced at me.

Mayen, it's the same as before. Dekani must leave this zone.

"Folock, send in a Landing Craft for Cap, now!"

Folock was silent for a few seconds. When he finally spoke, well, "speaking" for lack of a better word, I could only sit in complete horror as Folock's glitched out voice responded to me.

"Ჭ۟֡昊񩩠􈲰񄃴灯򛤼ϖ􎊍񣙟󒨨j͔鐨񮹦#д򽳞h餱싨ﹶ}>Y𙯩"

"Oi!! What's going on?!" I exclaimed, as I went back to the cam.

"Captain, what do you see, what's going on in there?"

The camera stabilized, as I watched Deka bend down to tend to one of his Valian comrades.

"She's dead." Deka said, as he slowly looked up. I could only watch in utter terror. Everything Deka was seeing, I was seeing too.

A dark figure. Just like in the Codex.

"What is that?" One Valian said.

"You shoot, Max and I will melee it."

The two Valians engaged the dark figure, but in a flash of red light, the two Valians froze midair.

The dark figure's face was completely concealed, but his white hair, his long white hair fluttered in the wind. Grace and speed. I couldn't even register his movements. One of the Valians was a tank, and he had severed them in two halves instantly.

The Valians crumpled to the ground, as I watched the dark figure approach Deka.

"Umbra, we're going down there."

You shall not. Not until the Valian known as Dekani Price has too paid with his death.

I reeled back just in time before narrowly dodging a giant slash that destroyed the whole console. I fell to the ground and scurried back as another dark figure, similar to the one in the coms, menacingly approached me.

"How did you get into the Orbiter?!"

The figure regarded me, readjusting its great sword.

I was curious, why my comrade took an interest to you. But now I see why.

I held out my hand and summoned a Harkanon Rifle, setting it to auto as I blasted SHADOW with bullets, emptying an entire clip. But SHADOW deflected the bullets off of his great sword.

You may not be a Valian, but you serve one. Those who are in league with the Void Devils shall perish.

SHADOW closed in and swiped with his sword, knocking my rifle out of my hands. The Severen raised his sword again, but this time I deflected it with my arm sheathe. The two of us clashed as I slowly skidded backwards.

I rolled out of the way and held out my hands, summoning my twin Hellfire Machine Pistols. I leapt to the side, sidestepping and strafing as I fired my weapons at SHADOW. The first few rounds managed to stagger him, but slowly, SHADOW began to develop immunity.

Damn Severen adaptation!

SHADOW knelt down, and before I could react, the Severen charged forward, slamming into me as I flew several meters into the side of the Lotuscraft control room. I crumpled to the ground, wheezing.

I needed my weapons. Judging from the way this creep was fought, he was not going to give me a chance to call a timeout to get my weapons. Even if I did, what use was there? They were all modded to deal Corrosive damage. SHADOW, being a Severen, could easily adapt to that damage.

Deka wasn't here to neutralize his defences.

SHADOW leapt into the air and slashed down, as I dodged. The Severen swung again as I continued evading, countering with shots from my Machine Pistols.

It is true. There exists a human who fights like a Valian. Who wields their weapons. You even move like them.

SHADOW zipped and darted across the room, throwing a grenade at my direction. I flipped backwards, using the momentum to spin in the air and fire a volley of bullets in an outward spiral. But by the time I landed on the ground, SHADOW had already anticipated where I would be, and zipped in, pinning me to the ground as the both of us skidded, crashing through the Orbiter's door and smashing into the Transference room.

Even so, it seems your limits as a Terran have shown. You can mimic the teachings of Queen Lena all you wish, but you will always just be close to the real thing.

I struggled to my feet, but SHADOW put his foot on my head, raising his sword.

I will slay you first, as per my comrade's request. Then I shall kill the Valian.

SHADOW looked at Deka's transcended body, which was housed in the Transference Pod.

"You... bastard!" I seethed.

SHADOW brought his blade down, but was suddenly intercepted by a glowing yellow exalted blade.

Tora Soldier. You dare interfere with my conquest?

Umbra knocked SHADOW away and put distance between us.

"Hey now, what took you so long, old man?!" I snapped.

SHADOW trapped me in the Armory. He took advantage of my Lance nature, likely the work of Ballard, my creator.

Umbra and SHADOW charged, blade against blade.

While having Umbra around made me feel better, it wasn't enough. Umbra's fight against SHADOW wasn't any better than my fight against him. We were both modded to deal the same Corrosive damage (thanks Scrava missions). Without Deka's void beam, there was no way we could neutralize his built up defences.

This fight would just be SHADOW wearing us both down until we were dead.

You seem to be mistaken. SHADOW taunted, as the two exchanged blows. SHADOW may have had better range with his great sword, but Umbra's sword was faster.

The two clashed again.

We may both be of the Excalibur class, but unlike you, I am not a rebranding of the default. I was created to kill your beloved Operator.

The Severen swiped upward and launched a weird disco laser ball. Umbra tried to dodge, but the ball chased after him, exploding on contact. Umbra hit the ground.

I got to my feet, and grabbed my Gram Supra from the busted armoury. I joined Umbra in the blade exchange.

Umbra and SHADOW clashed, with SHADOW pushing Umbra back, but I closed in, slashing with Gram and catching the Severen in the face as he reeled back. Umbra took full opportunity of this, and stomped on the ground, sending consecutive sword slashes at SHADOW's midsection.

SHADOW leapt in the air, but I summoned my Harkanon rifle in my other hand, set to anti-aircraft mode, as I launched a powerful explosive shell from the barrel, which exploded on contact with the Severen's chest. Umbra brandished his sword and rushed into the smoke as I set my rifle to auto, readying my own Gram great sword and charged too.

Even if SHADOW was wielding one weapon, it didn't seem to matter. Umbra and I were at a strict disadvantage. I watched as Umbra managed to slip a strike and cut at SHADOW's neck, but it was useless.

I watched as SHADOW sent Umbra hurtling backward, as he brought his blade up. I instinctively rushed forward to intercept the blade and caught it with both of my hands.

You truly are an interesting human. To know you lasted this long deserves praise.

I seethed as the blade continued to sink lower and lower until it began to pierce my chest.

"Aah. Gahhh!" I gasped from the pain.

I was gonna die. I mean, this was a perfect setup, you had to admit. SHADE intercepted Cap and his crew, while SHADOW took down Umbra and I.

I guess this was it.

That was as far as me being a Fake Hero was going to get me.

After all...

I was a fake...

At the end of the day.

I closed my eyes.

Hey now.

What am I doing?

Isn't this the point I think about the people important to me?

A girl I love?

Someone to love? Anyone?

Deka? Rinne? Umbra? Folock? Flippy?

Even Yggdrasil?

Mom? Dad?

I clenched my fists.

How come? Nothing is coming to mind.

Where's my generic protagonist flashback?

There is nothing going through my mind. But red.

I opened my eyes, gripping SHADOW's sword, clenching my teeth. Something inside me is coming out. Like a beast.

The potential, you have awakened.

I growled as I crushed the sword that had sprouted from my chest and broke it in half.

"Broken war..." I seethed, as I ripped the blade out of my body, and approached SHADOW, menacingly.

I glanced at the Machine Pistol on the ground and picked it up, aiming it at SHADOW's face and fired over and over again. But SHADOW shrugged it off.

I have developed immunity, this is foolish.

I continued shooting, walking forward, until I emptied the clip.

SHADOW brought his hands up and slammed me in the face with his fist, but I continued leaning forward.

"Grrrrr...."

I grabbed SHADOW's hand and went low, launching punch after punch at his midsection.

Each punch, for some reason, dealing damage.

Against his adaptation, shouldn't he be immune to my impact damage by now?

Yet...

SHADOW leapt back, but I launched forward faster than he could react, and body slammed him through the other wall into Deka's personal quarters. Pinning the Severen on the ground, I continued punching him in the face until his helmet cracked.

I have been beaten. SHADOW said, in resignation.

I got up and watched as SHADOW began to drag himself into a dark portal. That was usually how it was. A Valian or group of Valians would beat SHADOW and he would escape. But... something in me said...

"No." I hissed, as I stepped on SHADOW's back.

What?

"You... are not going anywhere." I snarled as I picked up SHADOW by the head, summoning Gram to my hand.

If you do this, you will be going against the Valian way.

"I am no Valian." I said, sinisterly. "I don't belong here, after all."

I pressed Gram against SHADOW's throat, pushing harder and harder against his adaptation.

I see. SHADOW said, as I heard footsteps behind me. It was Umbra.

SHADOW lowered his head.

You were always a monster. A killer.

What the hell was this guy saying? Did I hit him in the head too hard?

A beast, even before joining us. You will raze your enemies to the ground... Licita.

"Licita? What? Who?" I asked, as strength began to leave my body. For some reason, the crazy boost and high I just had was starting to dissipate, as SHADOW pushed me out of my stranglehold and slowly disappeared in his escape portal.

"Hey, wait! What? Is that guy you were with SHADE? What are you planning on doing!" I shouted after SHADOW, but he simply put his finger to his mouth.

Some things must be kept secret. To avoid it.

"Avoid what?"

The Severen disappeared into the portal, escaping, but not before saying one last word.

CONTRADICTION.

Licita

"Folock, any word from Captain?" I asked, frantically.

"The Operator is safe. He has extracted. For some reason, the dark figure had let him go."

Umbra was silent as he watched the feed. No doubt taken aback at my violent outburst. I still had no idea what that was. It's usually some kind of trigger in a person that causes them to go berserk. But in my case... it just happened. There was nothing that made me feel angry. I was close to dying, and instead of being at peace, scared, concerned for my comrades... the only thing going on in my mind...

Was that I wanted to slaughter him.

I wanted to make him suffer.

I wanted to rip him apart.

And raze him to the ground.

"Captain!" I shouted as I rushed forward to greet Deka, who looked pretty traumatized.

"So... I guess the guy was SHADE after all. Haha."

"But Operator, the legend says SHADE never leaves his prey alive!"

You're calling our Captain prey?!

Deka sat down.

"Unless I wasn't his prey to begin with. I watched him sever Linxus and Easton in half with one slice of his sword. Hanah who was a Top Rank Valian was basically being toyed with by him. Those there never even had the chance to make a distress call to the other Valians."

Deka sighed as he adjusted himself. Umbra quickly went to gather a towel.

"Those three Valians were his prey. But I wasn't. He intended to keep me alive. I guess I was lucky enough that he set his sights on me."

"I'm just glad you're okay, Captain." I said, relieved. Deka laughed.

"Well it would certainly be a shame to leave such an amazing crew."

"Hey Captain?" I asked. I wanted to tell him. It was bothering me ever since he got back.

My name. Why did he call me that? What was the significance of that name?

"Yeah?"

"Ah... nothing. Haha. Get some rest."

"Shane, when you say it's nothing, it usually means you're hiding something."

I sighed.

"SHADOW, when he attacked us, we were able to fend him off despite neutralizing his defences."

"Yeah, I heard from Folock. You were an animal, Shane!"

"But... I did it with my bare hands."

"Heh?"

I held them up, inspecting them, almost like they weren't even mine.

"I was supposed to die. SHADOW had impaled me and was about to finish off Umbra and you in the Transference pod. But something inside me almost awakened. And before I knew it, I had him pinned down and punching his face over and over again in like a frenzy."

Deka's face became concerned. I continued.

"Then SHADOW called me something. He said that I was always a killer even before joining the Severens. And I don't know what he meant by that."

"Maybe you hit him in the head too hard?"

"I hope so. But he also called me by a different name."

I looked at Captain Price.

"He called me Licita."

"I think we're here." Deka said, inspecting the note.

This place is huge!

I stared up the ginormous "house" that belonged to the noble family. At the front, was the words engraved in a fancy font.

HOUSE OF LICITA

Deka glanced at me.

"The Licitians were a noble family line, serving the Toron for decades. I think from what the history books tell me, the best of the best Tora were Licitians."

The Operator is correct. The House of Licita was a prominent figure in the Toron Empire. As a Tora, I fought alongside many respectable comrades. Those with the surname of Licita never failed to amaze.

Umbra said.

We ran the doorbell. To the gate. Which was in another gate. Even the door had gates covering it.

Why were there so many gates?!

"Hello?" A voice buzzed in the coms.

"This is Dekani Price, MR18 Valian, the one who requested an appointment."

"We will be right there. Our master is currently away, but we can arrange something in the meantime."

"So who's the master?" I asked.

Deka was silent for a few minutes. His face looked sullen. But he noticed me staring and quickly switched on a smile.

"Ah, no need to worry about that. Let's just hang about for now."