MAYEN

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. 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 millennia. I think from what the history books tell me, the best of the best Tora were Licitians."

Umbra inspected the stonework of the mansion gate.

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.

We rung 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."

Now what in the name of-

"Everywhere I go, I see you three buffoons everywhere!" Rinzler screamed at Deka's face.

"Why are you even here?!"

Deka scratched the back of his head nervously.

"I have an appointment with the Licita household."

"And you brought your weirdo spectre with you too? Why do you keep summoning it everywhere? What, you got no friends or something?"

I noticed Rinne wasn't around.

"We're just here for an appointment with Licita. We don't mean to intrude." Deka held out his hands, innocently.

I watched as a vein popped up on Rinzler's forehead.

"Whatever." He muttered, as he marched back to his house, which happened to be two houses away from the one we were going to enter.

"Just so you know" Rinzler called out as he opened the door to his house.

"Arsanios was raised a Licita. He doesn't take kindly to traitors. I would recommend you to not pry too hard."

I clenched my fist as Rinzler closed the door.

The maid led us inside as we sat down on a massive round table.

"This place hasn't changed since I last visited." Deka muttered under his breath.

I glanced at the numerous photos of various people.

Ciel Licita: General of the Tora

Kien Licita: The Toron Berserker

Lorelai Licita

Ciel Licita was the greatest warrior I had ever had the pleasure of fighting alongside. Umbra was also inspected the photos.

A great general, who's skill was unfathomable.

"General Ciel Licita. The grandmaster of Zennen Ful." A boy spoke from the corner of my vision.

I spun around in shock. This guy...

Silver hair, clipped short. Silver eyes. A bright face.

He looked just like...

Deka.

"Um, hello. I am Shane Mayen." I stuttered, before realizing I had just given my identity.

"I mean, I'm a spectre, and I was given a name. Because, I uh..."

"I know you are not a spectre." Arsanios said, as he beckoned me to the table.

I sat down as the maid brought Arsanios his tea.

"Thank you. Dismissed."

The maid bowed and left the room, as Arsanios placed the teacup on the table and crossed his hands.

"What business do you have with me, Price?"

Deka's face was deadpan serious. It was rare to see Cap like this. He was usually lighthearted and kind.

"Are you familiar with the legend of SHADOW?"

Arsanios narrowed his eyebrows. I didn't know why, but the air around us felt tense.

"Yes. I am one of the few that know of his lore. A story passed down amongst the generations of the Licita."

"Then are you familiar of a Licita who had joined the Severens?"

Arsanios clenched his hands. But his face remained welcoming. This guy... was dangerous.

"Now why would a noble do something so abhorrent?"

Deka nodded. "I see. Then let me ask this."

The Captain leaned in closer on the desk.

"Do you have any relatives that are still alive?"

Arsanios pursued his lips.

"Dekani Price. I am well aware that your bounty has been temporarily lifted."

Arsanios ran his finger on the table, leaving behind teal flames where his finger had traced. Void energy.

"But make no mistake. You are still a traitor to the Valians."

Licita looked up, and momentarily, his face was threatening.

A bead of sweat ran down my back, as Umbra tensed.

Deka raised his hands.

"I apologize, Lord Licita. I didn't mean to pry."

Arsanios relaxed in his seat.

"To answer your question, Price, I do not have any relatives that are still alive. My father, Kirin Licita, and my mother, Caterena Licita, were slaughtered in the Severen-Valian war."

Arsanios pointed at two pictures.

"I'm sorry." Deka said.

Arsanios got up from his seat.

"Why do you ask?"

Deka was quiet. There were no people who went by the name of Licita other than Arsanios who were still alive. Then why did SHADOW call me Licita? Maybe it was my first name? Not my surname?

"Shane, you were not born from this world. We found you... in a pod."

"Ack!" I yelped, clutching my head.

"Shane!" Deka shouted, as he ran to my side. Arsanios knelt down in front of me.

"A migraine? I will call Lexa right away."

Arsanios called the maid over as she helped me to my feet, putting a towel over my head.

Deka crossed his arms, as Arsanios regarded me.

"Tell me, Price. How did you meet this Terran?"

Deka paled.

"I... don't know what you are talking about."

Arsanios walked up to me. His eyes began to glow teal, as he suddenly burst into a shower of teal sparks.

"Umbra!" Deka shouted, as he resolved into the Lance. But before he could do anything, Arsanios closed in with his own Lance, wielding a giant pole arm. The blade poked at my neck.

"If this boy was truly a spectre, if I bring this pole arm to his neck, he will dissipate in smoke. No harm will befall him. Will you continue to keep this a secret from me?"

Deka drew Skiajati.

"Arsanios, you will let him go."

Licita glanced at Deka, and within the blink of an eye, a white mirage of his Lance body had appeared, knocking Deka's blade to the ground.

"Let us make this clear. You are in a noble's house. Yet despite that, you interrogated me, asking sensitive questions. Then you choose to lie to my face. I find that repulsive."

Arsanios' voice became dangerously calm.

"My Ash far surpasses your Umbra in skill. I have fought endless battles. I have made a name for myself in all factions, and Rathuum. Arsanios the Death Shadow."

The blade began to dig deeper into my neck. My heart was beating like crazy.

This guy was no joke. He had moved so fast, faster than any of us could react. Faster than Deka and Umbra.

And not to mention his Lance.

It disarmed Umbra so quickly.

So this was the power of a Licita.

"I... I am a human." I gasped.

Arsanios paused, before letting me go. Deka stood his ground.

"Dekani Price, is this human your assistant?"

"He is my First Mate."

Arsanios scoffed.

"You never cease to defile our name. A Valian only possesses companions. But in the end, it is to our strength that our enemies fall."

Well, after that awkward exchange, Deka and Umbra were given a tour of the house, like nothing had happened. But Arsanios took a particular interest in me. I guess that made sense. Considering I was probably the only First Mate to a Valian in history.

"Terran, are you familiar with the history of the Valian?"

"Uh, yeah. Deka talks about it once in a while."

"Then you must know about some famous Valian legends."

"Uh yeah. Haha."

Arsanios pointed at the photo of Ciel Licita.

"General Ciel Licita. They called him the Seventh Sense. All Valians possess the standard five senses. A sixth sense from the Void. But with Ciel..."

Arsanios waved his hand, creating a void projection of a man who was facing off against a larger opponent.

"It was almost like he had a seventh sense. To know his enemy. To be able to fight like he knew exactly what to do. At exactly when to do it. A Seventh Sense."

Arsanios swiped his hand again, causing the projection to change.

I saw Ciel tending and training a young boy.

"Ciel was the master of Zulach Ful. He taught him his own Tora style. And with that, Zulach taught his son. And these teachings were taught to his son. And so on, until they were passed down to Zennen Ful."

Arsanios smiled.

"Zennen Ful, known as the strongest Valian of all time. And my hero. My inspiration."

I looked at the photo of Ciel again. He must have been incredible.

"Those who mock Valians who wield only one Lance are rife with ignorance. Because the Valian Legend himself only wielded one Lance as well."

Arsanios gazed at his Lance.

"The Ash. The assassin. The most elusive of the Lances."

We continued walking, when suddenly, I noticed a plaque.

Gaja Licita - The First to Wield the Potential

Arsanios noticed me staring.

"Ah yes. The Licitian Potential. All members of the Licita bloodline possess it. The power to call upon the memories and traits of every Licita that preceded them. The power stems from the Grand Licitian Convergence."

My heart skipped a beat.

When I fought SHADOW.

It was like I had bypassed his Adaptation.

But...

What if I never bypassed it in the first place?

I was getting stronger and stronger.

As he became more and more durable.

My punches were getting more and more powerful.

"What... does it enhance?" I asked.

Arsanios raised an eyebrow.

"It depends on who's traits you manifest. The speed of Tricity Licita. The skill of Ciel Licita. The strength of Kien Licita."

The strength of Kien Licita.

Could it be?

But that would mean I was a Licita. But... I was... that made no sense. Arsanios himself said that he didn't have any relatives who were still alive.

"Lord Licita? Do you have any brothers?"

Arsanios scratched his chin.

"No. I was a single child I think. I..."

Arsanios suddenly paused. His eyes went wide.

"Why can't I remember?"

Mayen Ash

"Hey, Folock?"

"Yes, Mini-Operator?"

"Do you have access to the files of the Ash Lance?"

"I believe the Operator has piloted the Ash Lance once, but he never fully ranked it. So a lot of his abilities were never unlocked."

"Do you mind if you upload them to my sheathe?"

I spent the weekend out in the Cetus Plains, hunting down random Scrava ruffians who were harassing the environment with their pollution. Well, actually, I just wanted to kick someone's ass with my new abilities.

Ash had defeated Umbra.

And was famed for being an assassin.

Now I'm not saying that Ash was better than Umbra. Or if he was a stronger Lance. Or if he was cooler.

......

I closed my eyes, thinking about that ability Arsanios had used.

"Um..."

"Hey! Valian scum!" The Scrava began firing at me as I dodged behind a boulder.

"Folock, the hell is going on? Why can't I use that clone thingy?"

"The Operator never unlocked the Blade Storm ability."

Blade Storm. So that was what it was called.

"Well, what abilities do I currently have?"

"Teleportation."

I stared at the ground.

"Just teleportation?"

"Yes. The ability to instantly teleport to a target. Within range of course."

What the hell is this lame skill?!

I bolted to another boulder, concentrating, and my surroundings instantly blipped. Changing as I teleported to the new location.

That was cool, I guess.

I aimed my Harkanon rifle and fired a volley of bullets, taking down a squad of Scrava. One aerial flyer took to the air and attacked me with missiles, which I deflected with Gram.

I switched my rifle to anti-aircraft mode and fired, but the flyer was a lot more mobile than I thought.

I tried to deflect the bullets with my sword, but the more I deflected, the more sore my arm got. I guess that was to be expected. Dual wielding two twenty pound weapons in each arm for hours on end without break, for someone like me, that was pretty demanding. Even with cybernetics.

A missile landed at my feet and exploded.

"Aaah!" I yelped as I hit the ground.

I concentrated on the aerial flyer. There was a way to beat that thing.

I instantly teleported to its location as the Scrava freaked out.

"Ora!!!!" He screeched as he began veering the aerial all across the sky.

I took out my Hellfire Machine Pistol and aimed it at his head and fired.

"Sh- Shane! What happened to you?" Rinne had her hand over her mouth.

I had come back from the Plains covered in dirt, my coat had ripped.

"I uh. Fell." I muttered.

"You're injured." Rinne said, as she ran up to me and put her hand on my arm.

"Yeah, it was from falling-"

My eyes widened. Shit. I shouldn't have said that! My identity will be-

Rinne laughed. "I knew you weren't a spectre!"

"Ergh..."

Rinne's eyes glowed gold, as I felt my body supercharge. My wounds began to close.

"Wha- What did you do to me?"

"I healed you."

Rinne gave me a smile. "I'm not much of a fighter, but I can heal with my powers. It can't heal Lances, but sometimes my brother comes home cut or bruised and I heal him right away."

"Ah, I see."

The two of us walked down the village of Cetus, and across the building.

"How was your meeting with Lord Arsanios?"

"It went okay. I didn't get much information though. He seemed nice."

"I see."

We silently continued walking.

"I didn't see you when we were waiting outside." I noted.

Rinne was silent.

"Yes... things were a bit complicated at home."

"Complicated?"

Rinne noticed me staring and quickly put on a smile.

"Oh, family matters. Nothing too terrible."

"Well as long as you're fine-"

A breeze approached us, as I felt my long hair ripple. So did Rinne's, and that was when I saw it.

"Rinne, what's that on your face?"

"Huh? Shane?"

I instinctively reached over and held her hair. It was purple. A purple....

"Bruise?" I asked, shocked.

Rinne's eyes widened. "It is nothing, Shane. I simply injured-"

"Did Rinzler do that to you?"

"No, Shane you don't understand."

I knew all right. What she had said. She wanted to see me again, when we were at the bench in Luam. Rinzler's face had momentarily became disgusted.

"Say, where is Rinzler now?"

I marched all the way to Rinne's house.

The human brain works in amazing ways. It has a way of filtering everything out, while keeping the one thing you're focused on with maximum retention. With Rinne, I had completely filtered all her pleas to stop. I didn't care for being a hero. This wasn't the time to be thinking about that.

I knocked on the door.

"No one's home. Screw off." Rinzler responded.

"Rinne." I muttered.

"Y-Yes?"

"How much does this door cost?"

"Umm, I would say a few Gronkuls?"

"I'll pay for it later."

"Wait, what does that mean-"

I swung my fist and smashed it open, marching inside.

"Hey! The hell did you just do to my front door- oh my. If it isn't Deka's spectre."

"Rinzler you damn bastard..." I growled as I slammed the kid against the wall.

"What is the meaning of this?" Rinzler said, as he turned to Rinne.

"Shane, stop! Please."

"What kind of older brother hits his younger sister for hanging out? Are you stupid?!"

Rinzler grabbed my wrist and tried to pry it off, but the difference in our strength was obvious.

"You're no spectre." He said.

"No, I'm not. You don't deserve to have someone like Rinne!"

Rinzler smiled.

"What's so funny?!" I snarled.

Rinzler suddenly began to glow until he disappeared in a shower of golden sparks.

I turned around and noticed a blunt object flying my way as everything went black. I smashed into the side of a wall and was buried in debris.

"Shane!" Rinne cried out.

"Now, Shane? Was it?" Rinzler said, as he approached me in his Helos lance, which towered over me.

I struggled to my feet, drawing out my Gram Supra.

I charged forward, but Rinzler intercepted the slash and pushed me back.

"I'm not sure how you Terran pigs handle your matters. But here, we stay out of people's family issues. This does not concern you, nor should it."

I fell back, but managed to slip another strike as Rinzler's Arca hammer smashed into where I stood.

I swung around and swiped at Rinzler, but his Helos Lance blinded me with light as I stumbled. Another whack from his hammer sent me through another wall. I felt something warm and cold at the side of my head, as something ran down the side of my face. I stared at the drops of blood that had leaked from my head and stained the carpet.

"Stop! That's enough!" Rinne shouted, as she stood between us.

"I'll do anything you tell me to. Just stop hurting Shane!"

Rinzler put down his hammer.

"Anything? But dear sister, haven't you always been doing anything I wanted?"

A bead of sweat rolled down Rinne's face.

"I promise... I won't scream or cry. When..."

Rinzler moved closer to Rinne, causing her to flinch.

"No."

"Huh?"

"I love it when you scream."

I clenched my fists. This guy. This... scum.

Kien Licita: The Toron Berserker

Give me.

Your strength.

Kien.

I suddenly leapt at Rinzler with animalistic rage.

"What the-"

I slammed his Helos Lance to the ground, as I summoned my Harkanon Rifle and began firing at his face repeatedly in Anti-Aircraft Mode. The explosions shaking the entire mansion and sending Rinne backwards.

Rinzler grabbed the barrel to the gun before I could fire again, unleashing an explosion which sent me flying into the ceiling.

I hit the ground, feeling something inside me crack. Definitely a broken bone. My side exploded in pain.

"Little... Terran PIG."

Rinzler growled as he smashed his Arca Hammer into the side of my face, over and over again as I watched my blood stain the walls.

By the third strike, I had already anticipated where it was going to land.

I grabbed the hilt of his hammer and stopped it.

"You trash!" Rinzler growled.

I tightened my grip until the hilt bent and warped.

"Go die, you scum." I roared, drawing my other rifle and blasting Rinzler in the chest twice, then at his face.

Rinzler held out his hands as balls of light surrounded me and exploded. I coughed out blood as I fell to my knees. Everything was hurting and stung. It took me a little while to realize those bombs had given me severe burns to my body. My coat, charred and singed, disintegrated into ash as I fell to my knees.

"Enough!" Rinne screamed, putting distance between us.

"Please, just stop. Both of you, just stop!" She began to cry.

I got to my feet, and trudged forward, putting my hands on her shoulders.

That day my parents had died. It had been because of my selfish wish to become a hero.

But if being a hero meant being selfish.

Then I guess I was the most selfish of them all.

"I will protect you, Rinne. With everything I have."

Rinne stared at me.

"Because I'm a selfish bastard. But even a selfish bastard has to be better than whatever your older brother is."

I gently pulled Rinne to the side as I continued approaching Rinzler Thresh. Gram Supra in one hand, My Harkanon Rifle in the other.

"For a Terran, you sure are hard headed." Rinzler commented, switching to his Sawgun.

I didn't have time for a conversation. I rushed forward, as I used Ash's Teleport to get behind him.

"Wha-"

"Rinne Thresh, is no longer yours. You don't-"

I swung Gram, as I smashed Rinzler in the side, causing numerous circuitry and electronics to bust up from within his Lance.

"YOU DON'T DESERVE HER." I yelled, as I launched Gram right through Rinzler's Lance, but not before Rinzler had already pulled the trigger to his Sawgun. Numerous blades came flying my way as I instinctively tried to shield myself. My body exploded in more pain as the blades cut into my body.

One blade had gotten through, and I watched in shock as it came flying at my face, cutting my left eye.

I fell backwards, and so did Rinzler, who resolved out of his Lance and fell flat on his ass.

"So... that's why. That's why you're able to move the way you do." He muttered, glaring at me.

"Why you're able to wield our weapons despite not being in a Lance. You learned the Way of the Valian."

Rinne stood in front of us, trembling.

"Please stop. Please."

How many times was she going to repeat that?

"Rinne, tend to me. Right now." Rinzler grumbled.

"To know that the traitor Price had not only renounced his kind, stolen from our Clan. But also committed the biggest taboo. Defiling the teachings of our Great Mother Lena by giving it to YOU."

I wheezed, as I put my hand over my left eye. I was badly injured, and blood began to leak from out of my hand, spilling on the ground. I hoped I wasn't blind in one eye.

"Rinne, what the hell is taking so long? Get your ass over here this instant, you slut."

Rinne hesitated, staring at my busted up eye.

"Rinne, you don't have to live with this bastard. You could... you could..."

"Shane, I have nowhere to go." She muttered.

"That's not true. You can live with us." I began hearing myself say. What was I even saying? Was there even space for Rinne on the Lotuscraft? Also what would Cap think just bringing a random Valian girl on board the ship?! Hell, what would Folock think?!

Rinzler scoffed. "Living with a Fake Valian. Funny. Get the hell out of my house."

Rinne clenched her fist.

"Rinne, are you serious? Look at this boy. He's the very definition of Valian Taboo. If you choose him, you will forever live your life under scrutiny. You will no longer be considered a Thresh. Do you hear me? You won't have my security as a Thresh anymore!"

Rinne looked at her brother.

"I... never had any security. Not once."

Rinne walked up to me and put her arms around me as I felt a golden glow engulf my body. It felt warm. Like a blanket.

"Shane, I'm so sorry." Rinne muttered.

SHADE

A computer is capable of performing many tasks at a time. Even the most complex problems can be solved with computers. Whether it's solving a system or modelling it, computers never hesitate to get the job done. Skillfully. Flawlessly.

At least that was what I believed.

Until I met Folock.

"Um, Mini-Operator? Who is this?"

Rinne and I were standing together at the entrance of the Lotuscraft. Deka was nowhere to be found, and Umbra was meditating in the Captain's personal quarters. I think. It was that or he was playing one man Komi again. Weird old man that one was.

"This is Rinne Thresh. She's going to be staying with us for a while."

"Hello." Rinne held out her hand.

Folock was silent for a few seconds.

"You brought another Valian to the ship?! Why didn't you tell me beforehand! We must commence preparations for our new guest!"

"Wait, what? Folock?!"

The sounds of rumbling appeared all over the orbiter as I heard Folock's voice emanate from other rooms.

"A new guest! Calm down Folock. Calm down. We must not give a terrible first impression, otherwise the Operator will be most displeased!"

Rinne giggled. "Your Ship Dataform is such a sweetheart."

"Why? What's your ship data form like?"

Rinne put her hand on her chin.

"It's all business with Serces. Since Rinzler only sees her as an AI for missions. Nowhere to this extent. Folock seems... wholesome!"

I walked with Rinne and showed her around.

"There's a lot of segments in this craft that I didn't know existed!" She said.

"Yeah."

That was true. A normal orbiter would have a Landing Craft segment. A segment for the Infestation System. A Transference room. And maybe a personal quarters. That's it. But with the Lotuscraft, Deka had upgraded it so much. Integrating the Clan Railjack into it, the whole ship had even more segments than normal.

A personal quarters for me, for Deka, and for Umbra.

A bathroom (mostly for me because apparently I'm the only one who eats)

A kitchen (see point two)

A game room (which contains a grand total of one game. Komi. You can never guess who that is for.)

We stopped at the kitchen.

"Yeah. So this is where I cook my meals."

I quickly swiped the Ignis that I had used to cook last night's dinner off the table and threw the flamethrower in the Armory before Rinne could see.

"It's like Rinzler's house. But smaller." Rinne said.

"Yeah. Captain really outdid himself with this place. Without him, I'd still be in a rut."

Rinne smiled. "You really respect Dekani Price."

"Of course. I'm proud to be his first mate."

"Oh hey, Shane. I was just trying out this cool recipe from a cookbook from your old place. This is cake, right?" Deka walked in, alongside Umbra. They were both wearing aprons, and they paused upon seeing Rinne, who stared at the two.

Dammit you two! Why is Umbra even cooking?! He can't even eat!

Actually, I can. When I was still a Tora, Isaah would always enjoy the meals I make.

I glanced at Rinne from within my fingers. She let loose a kind laugh.

"You must be Dekani Price, and Umbra, it is a pleasure to meet you two."

Deka set down the giant charcoal brick of a cake on the counter.

"Rinne Thresh, right? I see you've gotten acquainted with... oh."

"Captain, I told her that I was a Terran. I'm sorry. I should have kept it a secret."

Deka chuckled. "It's okay. Secret was bound to be leaked anyway. So Rinne, how long are you going to stay here?"

"She will be a permanent resident on the Lotuscraft, Operator!" Folock's voice chimed in from the speakers of the kitchen.

"Folock!" I gasped.

"I have already made arrangements for Miss Thresh. An extra room. And an extra bathroom, because you know how girls are!"

"Folock... please shut up..." I muttered.

"And since it was the young Mini-Operator that brought her home, we can only guess what that means! A separate room for the two of them to get intima-"

"FOLOCK!!!" I screamed.

We took our Orbiter to the planet Maraxus. A faraway planet home to the Valian Council, the elite of the elite Valians to discuss what we learned from SHADE. Since our encounter with SHADE was top secret, only the highest ranked Valians could band together and address it.

The trip was long, and I closed myself off to my room to reminisce.

Sitting in my bed, looking out the window, I watched the stars and space. From far away, it seemed almost like the stars weren't moving. But I knew we were flying at ultrasonic speeds. Something I wouldn't ever imagine myself doing, maybe a few years back. Back in college.

College.

* * *

"Hey, Troy, did you figure out that one question?" I asked.

"Dude, I'm completely behind on all my classes."

A surge of excitement welled inside me. Yeah. I find joy in my friend's suffering. I'm messed up. But there was a reason. With that joy, I immediately took it with a grain of salt.

"Even so, you're still gonna beat me in the class though." I responded.

"You're always so lucky. I hate you."

Troy laughed. "Dude, I had a job interview. So I didn't have time to catch up."

My heart stopped. He had a job interview already? That quick in the semester?

I stopped walking, as Troy glanced behind me.

"Shane? You okay?"

I laughed it off. "Yeah, I'm fine."

That was a lie.

I was definitely not fine.

Everything in my world, in this world. It was like it hated me.

Why was everybody better off than me? Doing better than me?

Was it not enough that I was below average in all my classes? The least I could have done was get a job before Troy.

But I guess that's what happens when you try to mess with this world.

It messes with you back.

"Shane, you shouldn't compare yourself to others." My online therapist told me.

It was so easy for her to say.

That bastard Troy...

I hated him so much.

But he was also kind to me.

He was the only friend I had.

But he was born for this world, while I was not.

I wanted to be a hero. I always wanted that. But it was never for any noble reason. It was because I wanted something to stand out with.

Because if I don't become a hero, what am I?

A failure?

A loser?

I was always last place.

Because this world hated me.

I remembered all those times I looked at my grade on the board. And it would always be near the bottom. Despite how much effort I put in.

Troy was always above average. Even when he would do the silliest things. Like forgetting crucial details. Forgetting his pencil case. Forgetting when an assignment was due.

He somehow pulled through.

While I was the complete opposite.

It got to the point where I was happy whenever he failed. Whenever something terrible happened to him. I loved it. I loved to see him suffer.

Because I couldn't stand seeing him do better than me.

It seemed like he was always better than me no matter what. No matter what I did.

When I started hitting the gym, I was extremely skinny. I was lifting puny weights. Then after eight months of hard work, I finally benched a plate. It was incredible. I felt like I was finally able to pull ahead of Troy. For the first time, I felt like I was better than Troy at something.

Until one day, he told me that he visited the gym for a few weeks. Four months to be exact.

And the one thing I was terrified of happened.

He benched one plate.

He achieved what I achieved with all my hard work in half the time.

"Hey!" A girl called out to me.

I felt my heart beat faster. Like a rush had filled me with some feeling of giddiness. Yeah. That's right. Guys have that feeling too sometimes. At least, I do. Not just girls. I turned around and saw my crush, Lily, was waving me over. I think that day would be the major turning point.

Because on that day, I realized that Lily didn't call out to me.

She called out to Troy.

The following days consisted of me being incredibly distant and hostile to Troy. Of course, Troy didn't know what the hell was going on with me. How could he. I kept to myself and my feelings. No matter what it was. Lifting. Grades. Work. Careers. Money. Girls.

It was like I was some kind of mistake born into this world, and it was trying to make me quit.

My grades slipped like crazy. It was always barely below average. And that was with all my effort put in. But now, with myself seemingly doing the bare minimum, my grades dropped.

From the 60's.

To the 50's.

To the 30's.

"Damn you Troy. I loved her first." I muttered, as I picked up a string and played with it. It was a string that Lily had given me, that day we sat together in class. She had a piece of string that was loose in her jacket, and she ripped it off, playfully putting it on my head.

I kept that string ever since. It probably was super creepy, but it was really important to me.

I picked up a lighter and began to burn it. Replaying that memory of Troy and Lily holding hands in front of me as I was left all alone.

Suddenly, the flame raced upwards faster than I anticipated, and my hand began to hurt. Really bad.

"Ouch!" I squeaked, as I dropped the thread and stomped on it, putting out the flame. The whole room smelled of smoke, as I inspected my hand.

The next few weeks, I experimented with a bunch of things.

From burning myself.

To piercing myself with a safety pin.

For some reason, I felt some degree of solace from it.

It started with a lighter, then moved to pins. Then moved to little box cutters. To full on knives.

And I kept it all hidden under my bed, away from Troy or anyone. I started to wear long sleeve shirts, even in hot weather, as I couldn't tell anyone about this.

One day, I visited a weapons shop. Where they sold combat knives. It was then I discovered the power of firearms.

I looked at the numerous weapons in the store. There were so many. Their names too. They were so cool.

After buying the knife and doing my business, I began to look up some firearms on the internet. Watching tutorials online. Then watching anime series where the protagonists would wield these guns. They were so cool. So heroic. And so badass.

If I owned a gun, I would have power.

"No." I closed the window.

"I can hurt myself just fine. But I can never bring it on myself to do that. Killing is wrong. So very wrong."

That night, I cleared my browser history, and threw all the knives, pins, sharp objects, and things I used to hurt myself into the garbage. I stared at the tissues that were in the bin that were stained with my blood.

"I'm messed up. I'm so messed up." I gritted my teeth as a tear ran down my cheek. I took the bin in the middle of the night and burnt the tissues up.

And thus, I got over my self harm phase. It was almost eye awakening.

Even if I try to escape from this world, my own innate cowardice couldn't even let me do that. Just as much as the world wanted to punish me for being born. It wouldn't let me leave.

I wanted this world to burn to the ground.

But by some unforeseen circumstances. As long as it wasn't my fault....

I could begin my life anew in a new world. Where I could be in control, with my power.

I could become the hero I so desperately wanted to be.

* * *

A knock startled me.

"Hey, Shane. We're approaching Maraxus."

"Yeah! I'll be right there."

I put on my gloves, extending them further up my hand so it covered my scars on my wrist.

I would say Maraxus was beautiful. I mean, the top ranking Valian gathered there. But this place was completely barren. Borderline inhospitable.

"Rinne, stay in the Lotuscraft" Deka instructed.

Rinne nodded, as Deka, Umbra, and I left the Orbiter via. Landing Craft and arrived to the meeting room.

This place was like a palace. Gold trim and white pillars elegantly arcing everywhere. This was the classic refined Toron architecture that made up almost all our Lances and Supra weapons.

"Welcome, I am Seneka Eran, MR30 Valian of the Odin Alliance" A boy bowed.

Deka and Umbra bowed as well, with Umbra putting his hand on my head and pushing me to the ground as well.

Remember Mayen. These children, although young, are among the greatest of the Valian. Do not underestimate them. They outrank even the Operator.

Great to know a bunch of brats could potential cut off my head if they wanted to.

I sat next to Umbra and Deka, as we were in a gigantic round table in a moderately well lit room.

The Valian all around me looked so refined, and dangerous. Their eyes were critical, like they had already figured out like twenty two ways of taking me down upon first glance.

The seats all were named after the Valian. Their MR (Mastery Rank), their Clan affiliation.

As for the seats we were in, it said:

Guest

I tried to keep my eye from twitching in annoyance.

A young girl, probably the same age as Deka, sat next to us. Deka nodded at her. But I instinctively had my hand over my weapon.

The plaque on her seat read the following:

Quorra Lavine, MR30, Valian Gladiator Alliance Alpha (Leader), Council Rank: 8

Quorra Lavine was the girl who pretty much destroyed all of Deka's Lances. Captain Price used to own over fifteen of them. After his encounter with this elitist bitch, his arsenal was reduced to only four Lances: Umbra, Abaddon, Ran, and Monolith.

Of course, there wasn't much for me to do or say about it. Because Quorra was so easily able to defeat Captain Price. If I ever tried my hand with her, she'd probably kill me in two seconds.

More and more Valian took their seats. Only one seat remained.

Zennen Ful, MR45, No Clan (Unaffiliated), Council Rank: 1

Council Rank 1.

The greatest and strongest Valian in existence. No wonder Arsanios looked up to him.

"Hey." Quorra said, as she scooted closer to me.

I tried to hide my annoyance.

"Hello." I responded.

"A little bird told me that you met Arsanios Licita."

I looked at her.

"How did you-"

Quorra tapped her temple.

"The Void speaks to those who are blessed with its power."

"Okay." I responded, shifting in my seat and focusing back on Zennen's vacant spot.

"Did Arsanios go on and on about Zennen?"

"Why do you ask?"

Quorra laughed. "Oh dear, he is such a fanboy. So cute. Zennen Ful, the greatest Valian. Council Rank number 1. You know Valians are only at most able to get to a MR of 30 right?"

"So?"

"Yes, doesn't it seem strange that he is a MR45?"

I turned to her, and realized her face was so close to mine that I could smell her breath. It was minty.

I yelped.

"Something the matter, Shane?" Deka asked.

Quorra slid back in her position and crossed her legs, like a princess.

That teasing bitch!

Another Valian sat in a seat a few down from Zennen's. The other Valians began to shuffle around, getting ready. It was about to start.

"By the way..." Quorra whispered to me.

Was she ever going to shut up?!

"Arsanios probably didn't tell you this, but he's also a huuuuuge fan of me too! Why do you think he always wields a pole arm in battle?"

I glanced at the Lance behind her. It was a Siren Lance. Capable of incredible crowd control. Strapped on his back, was a pole arm that resembled Licita's.

"You-"

"Shush! The meeting is starting!"

I clenched my fist.

The Valian who was presenting held up a finger, and a massive red hologram appeared above the giant table. It was SHADE. Exactly like the dark figure in Deka's COMS unit.

"The Severen's greatest soldier. The SHADE. He was last spotted in a Survival Void Mission involving mid-tier Valian Dekani Price. The entire squad was slaughtered, except him."

All eyes turned to Deka.

The Valian continued. "Personally, I don't know why the Severen's greatest soldier would spare the Toron's worst Valian..."

Some laughter and chuckles rippled in the assembly.

Stupid brats! I was once again reminded that these people were all teenagers. 16 at most.

"But there is no denying it. From the feed that Deka's vision camera captured. His technique, his skill, his speed."

The same footage I had witnessed played out.

"A mix of Severen and Valian fighting styles. This is no doubt the technique of SHADE."

The display flickered back to the spinning model of SHADE in all his ominous glory.

"It appears he is once again on the move. I suggest we keep this information in closed doors. We cannot have a panic amongst our ranks, whilst the Severens are still on to us."

Several nods in the assembly.

"High alert on missions. We will need to tell our brethren of this, but how can we ensure SHADE does not take any more Valian? Certainly engaging him is not a good idea." One Valian said.

"Seconded." Another said.

A Valian who had occupied the Council Rank 3 seat leaned forward.

"The only Valian who has survived a one on one against SHADE was our greatest. Zennen Ful. But I cannot say the same for the rest of us. Miss Lavine can attest to that."

Quorra's face temporarily flashed in annoyance. But she put on a big smile.

"Yes, you are correct. The day SHADE had infiltrated my Alliance, even with the full power of our Orbiter cannons, and alongside two of my precious comrades, we were no match for him. It took the full force of the hundreds of Valian to drive him back, and even so, it was almost as if he did it voluntarily. Like he was bored of me."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

Quorra Lavine, the girl who basically kicked Cap's ass. Despite luring her into his Lotuscraft. With the full power of his Lances. Everything.

Couldn't even put up a fight against SHADE.

The fact that Deka had been face to face with that guy suddenly felt a hundred times more horrifying.

"If I may..." A Valian put her hand up, as she looked at Deka.

"I wish to hear from Price. I want to know why he was spared by the Great Valian Killer. Why him. His teammates are undoubtedly more decent Valian than he is. Yet SHADE killed them. Now one could reason that it would be plausible for the slaughter of the stronger Valians. But why keep one alive? For what purpose?"

Deka was silent.

That was true. I couldn't remember exactly what had happened. Deka never mentioned any of it. Because Umbra and I were attacked by SHADOW, and Folock had been glitched out.

Deka took a breath.

"When I watched my comrades fall, I thought I was going to die."

"I think 'assumed' would be a better word in your case." A Valian said from within the ranks.

More snickers.

"But then SHADE, for some reason, stopped. Like he, just looked at me."

The room went silent.

Deka continued.

"I was basically out of my Lance, it was destroyed beyond repair. And in my Operator form. SHADE could have easily killed me, but he just stood there looking at me. Almost like he was... reminiscing."

"Reminiscing?" The head Valian who was running the meeting said.

"Yes. I couldn't see his face, since it was covered by his helm. But it was almost like he was remembering something. That was what I felt."

"Feel this. Feel that." A Valian got up from his seat. The plaque behind him read:

Ledger Koma, MR30, Odin Alliance Gamma (Head Officer), Council Rank: 14

"This was what made you the worst, borderline weakest Valian. You didn't feel it. You imagined it up. Look around you, Price. We are at WAR. There is no time for your impulses and your emotions."

Koma waved his hands.

"We want you to give every single detail out. Leave your touchy feeling bullshit to yourself. Lena isn't here with us anymore to put up with your baby-like tendencies."

It took everything I had to avoid punching every Valian in that place in the face. Even Umbra was impressed.

"Hey, Cap?"

"Yes, Shane?"

"Are you okay?"

Deka smiled and put his arm around me. It definitely felt weird. Since I was technically older than him.

"I'm a-okay, Shane. I appreciate you asking though."

We continued walking. In the end, I wasn't able to bring up the fact that SHADOW had called me "Licita" to these guys. Not like it helped. They were too busy making fun of my Captain. These stupid kids. On their high horse thinking they were sooo much better.

It made me sick to my stomach. Their elitist mindset. They almost didn't care about what Deka had been through, what we had been through in our time travel adventure.

They just cared about winning. And winning elegantly.

"What did you think about Quorra Lavine?" Deka asked.

I spat out my drink.

"Wha?!"

"I overheard your conversation with her. I was wondering what your thoughts of her were."

"I think she's a crude bitch." I responded.

Deka laughed.

Prisoner

"Well, I guess it's time to go back home." I muttered.

"You don't seem too happy about that, Mini-Operator!" Folock chimed in, gleefully.

No shit.

"Where are we going?" Rinne asked.

Deka flipped a couple switches on the control panel as we all went to our rooms.

"We're going to the past. To fight the Severens. We have the firepower we need to tackle some of the harder missions now."

Rinne was frozen.

"The... past?"

Flying so high in the sky over my old home planet didn't feel too great. I mean, sure, the view was amazing. But the memories... not so much.

"Shane, I didn't know you were time displaced." Rinne said, as she joined me up on the roof of the Lotuscraft.

"Yeah. We had to keep it a secret. For obvious reasons."

"So that was why Deka had left us."

We watched as the ship descended, as we watched the mountains come into view.

"Earth looks so different compared to ours. Not as much greenery. It kind of looks like a medieval Corpo."

"Pollution and industrialization. All that jazz." I replied.

Deka approached me, resolved as Umbra.

"Seems like fate has brought us to that place again."

I watched as our surroundings became clear as day.

Numerous buildings. For each department.

Good old campus.

"Shane, if this is too uncomfortable for you, Umbra and I can take point-"

"No." I held out my hand, glaring at the buildings.

"You'll stick out like a sore thumb. Especially with Umbra around. I'm going in."

I tapped my arm sheathe, as everybody turned compact, hidden within my coat.

"I'll contact you guys if anything comes up."

I leapt from the edge of the Lotuscraft as I soared to the ground, hitting terminal velocity.

"Folock, deploy ICARUS."

"Acknowledged."

The disc in my back began to spawn several hexagonal projections as the Archwing was summoned, adapted to my smaller body frame. I slowed down as I soared above, hitting the ground from behind a tree.

Since the Severens had invaded, the place was no longer a place of learning. More like surviving.

I walked past the destroyed buildings. Remembering. The screaming of everybody. The looks of horror on their faces when the Severens had invaded.

I remembered distinctively. A boy and a girl. The girl was confessing her love to the boy, and the boy confessing his love for her. It was straight out of a drama or a manga. A wholesome heartfelt moment.

But then a giant chunk of debris had fallen from the sky.

And crushed the girl.

I took deep breaths, keeping my PTSD in check.

There it was.

A crew ship. With a bunch of Severens inside. Their eight appendages. I remembered.

I remembered how I had frantically fired those two assault rifles from the dead soldiers who were trying to protect me. To no avail. Eight appendages, deflecting the bullets flawlessly.

"A stray!" A Severen hissed, as a group of Severens descended from above.

I put my hands in the air, as one of them struck me in the midsection, tying me up.

"Take it to the rest."

The Severens sure knew how to treat their prisoners well. One of the Severen humanoids threw me into a cage within one of the classrooms, locking me up with six other guys.

Two of them had already gone insane, curled up with their knees to their chin, their eyes wide.

Another was standing in the corner, his face buried in the two walls.

The remaining three sat huddled together, eating their rations.

"Another one..." one of the men muttered, as I sat in the corner.

I needed to find a way to infiltrate these bastards. Once I done that, I had to figure out a way to evacuate them all. Once the hostages were free, we could blow up the Severen plant that was extracting resources from the planet in this area. Then the mission would be complete.

I knew coming back here was inevitable. It still didn't feel great.

"Hey. New guy." One of the men said to me.

I looked up.

"You're not getting any rations. Not until Charles is dead." The man pointed at one of the two men cowering in the corner.

This was messed up beyond comprehension.

I nodded.

I spent the night inspecting the holding cell. As I expected, the door was sealed with Severen technology. There was no getting out, unless I used my Toron weapons. But that would alert them instantly, and potentially kill all the hostages.

I wanted to save them all.

That night, a Severen came to our cell to deliver rations. A humanoid, but she looked female.

Now. Let me make one thing clear. I am not a sexist. I do what I need to do to complete the mission. So upon seeing her, I banked this as my opportunity.

With this, there would be a gamble. We'll have to see.

The Severen approached us and handed us a tray of... stuff. I'm guessing it was our rations. The guys in our cell rushed to it like dogs, as I eyed the Severen.

"Hey. You." I said, attempting to give off a chad vibe.

The Severen glanced at me.

"Yeah. Hot stuff." I said, awkwardly. If I was to be honest, I have never once flirted with a female before. In fact, I've never had a proper conversation with a girl before (except for Rinne). The truth was, I was actually a shy shut in who never spoke to anybody. So this was by far the hardest thing to ever do.

"I have something to tell you." I said, attempting to keep myself from throwing up from the cringe I was spitting.

The Severen walked up to me, and looked down at me with a look of contempt.

I never felt so inferior in my life!!!

Was this how talking with women always was?!

"You have some nerve to speak to me like that, human."

I cleared my throat. "Well, my life is shit anyway. It doesn't get any worse. Come on. I know you're busy with work, you know. Killing humans and all that. Why not have some fun with me before you leave?"

The Severen walked closer to me as I began to sweat.

Shit. Well. I knew this plan had a lot of holes. I guess I was a lot more awkward with women than I thought.

"You are afraid." The Severen hissed, as she brought her face close to my neck.

"Sweat. I love it when my prey is scared..."

The Severen put her hand on her chest, and suddenly I noticed a light had turned off.

"I love shy boys. Just this once, I'm going to use you all for myself. Little slave."

Good news.

I figured out that the Severens had communications devices on them that needed to be turned on. Meaning if I was going to knock one out to escape, I had to disable their coms unit first. Since this Severen had willingly turned it off, in an attempt to go off the grid, it seemed like turning off their devices seemed a normal thing around here. More to my advantage.

The bad news.

It turned out the Severen I was trying to flirt with was a complete dominatrix.

Luckily for me, the Severen had noticed one of her colleagues round the corner. She quickly pushed me into the cell and switched back on her coms unit before leaving.

"Holy shit." I gasped for air. My heart was beating at a trillion beats a minute. That was terrifying.

I slumped on my back that night. Everybody had went to sleep. Well the sane ones anyway.

"Folock." I whispered.

"Yes, Mini-Operator?"

"Scan the routine patterns of the guards. Process time of guard density vulnerability."

"Processing now. Would you like me to hand communications to Miss Thresh?"

"What? No. Just do the computation!"

"But I'm sure you will miss your dearest-"

"Folock! Just do the computations you stupid AI!"

"Such a terrible tongue! Thank goodness the Operator is still kind. You should learn more from him!"

"Hey. You up?" I heard a voice say.

"Yeah." Another responded.

I sat in the corner as I watched the two converse through the bangs that covered most of my face. I hadn't combed my hair since my imprisonment, but this was fine. It matched the vibe from these guys. Meaning it would help me fit in.

"I wonder if she's still alive."

"It's going to be okay. We're in this together. We can only pray."

"I miss her so much." The guy whispered.

"Do you remember, was it you or her who confessed."

"It was her. She was so cute. Blushing all over. She was going to give me a love letter but she tripped and fell. Started to cry too."

"She sounds like a keeper. She's alive, it's fate for you two to be together."

She was most definitely dead.

"Her hairpin fell out, one time. You know? I've kept it all this time. She thought she lost it and cried. Such a crybaby."

The other guy laughed.

"You still have it?"

"Yeah."

I heard rustling of fabric as I presumed the guy had fished for it out.

"It looks really cute. Haha."

"That day the Severens came... she was so frightened. When we got separated... I haven't been able to fall asleep since. I'm terrified for her, man."

I would be too. "Kawaii" girls like her wouldn't last long in this world. This brutal world.

Cute girls. The very fabric that made up every single story you could find in mainstream Japan media. Every time girls were depicted in anime or manga, it was never "hot", or "beautiful". It was "cute". I always stopped to wonder how the rest of the world thought of that. The over generalization and stereotyping of that type of personality to women.

I remembered how much of a degenerate I used to be. I would always watch anime after class, read manga on my spare time. Wondering if Japanese girls were like those depicted in those silly cartoons.

Back then it was so simple, but it was also miserable.

I listened.

Clang

Good.

I got up and walked up to the two who were speaking.

"Do you want to see your girlfriend again?" I asked.

The guy stared at me.

"What are you talking about?"

I turned to everybody else, who had woken up, in shock at what I had just said.

"I'm saying I'm getting the hell out of here. You all are."

One of the prisoners glared at me.

"This isn't funny, newbie."

I turned to my side, as I watched the same Severen guard who almost did it with me come by. Just as I expected.

"It seems you need to be taught another lesson." She licked her lips as she turned off her coms unit.

I figured.

She wanted to torture me with her sick and twisted desires. But the first time, it was interrupted. So she waited for a time when no other guards were around.

I stood in place as the Severen opened the cell door and yanked me in her embrace. Licking my neck as I sifted through my pocket. Taking out my Hellfire Machine Pistol, with a silencer at the end.

"Hey, lady." I said, coldly.

"Shush, I want to savour this. Show me some more fear."

"Your job is finished. But don't worry."

I fired the gun at her midsection as the Severen's eyes went wide, stumbling backwards as blood spilled from her stomach.

"Wha... what did you-"

I aimed the gun at her throat and fired again, cutting off her voice, as the Severen fell to the ground. I walked up to her and aimed the gun to her face.

"Once I'm done, you're going to be seeing all of your comrades." I hissed, my face dangerously calm.

"In hell that is."

The Severen began to choke until I fired two more rounds that pierced her skull. The Severen's legs and arms began to flail as six more appendages burst from her body, returning to its original Severen form, and disintegrating.

I turned to the others, as I ripped the hand off of the Severen's body.

"Show me where the rest of you are."

"Folock: Rescue Objective Trace"

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my Toron mask, placing it on my face as my vision became illuminated with the full HUD of Folock's interfaces. The mini map lit up with all the proxies to rescue. As well as the Severens. I went through each place in a timed and coordinated manner, dispatching Severens and releasing prisoners.

"I can't believe I get to see Rena again." The guy said.

"My boyfriend, he has to be alive..." Another woman muttered.

I wouldn't get my hopes up. But I truly hoped they were alive.

We finally got to the last wing, when suddenly, Folock's voice lit up in my mask.

"Mini-Operator, the cells have been unlocked."

"No way!" One of the prisoners gasped.

From within the hiding spot, was another group of escapees. And leading them, was...

"Troy! I knew you would pull through man!" Several prisoners from my side ran to his, as they cheered him on.

"Hell yeah. We're not going down without a fight!" Troy said, as he led everybody to the evacuation route.

But I wasn't glad. Oh no. It was quite the opposite. My hand clenched into a fist as I felt myself shaking.

Why.

I watched as numerous prisoners clapped Troy on the back.

Why him.

Why.

What kind of sick joke was this.

Every time I stepped foot in this god damn hellhole.

Something like this always happens.

This world spits at me.

But I can't escape it.

"Mini-Operator? We should follow the one known as Troy to the evacuation route. Then we can blow up the plant."

"Folock, can I just do it alone? Without following him?"

"Negative. This is the only way."

Of course it was.

I followed Troy and dispatched Severens with my machine pistols. But one had managed to slip my attention.

"Terran!" It snarled, as I whipped around and aimed my gun at its face, but not before hearing a

BANG

I stared at the Severen corpse as it flew away. Turning slowly, I noticed Troy had killed it with his shotgun.

"Sorry, man. Didn't mean to startle you. Come on, this way."

We finally reached the evacuation spot, as the prisoners all jumbled into numerous vans.

"I'm so grateful to you, Troy." A prisoner said, shaking his hand.

"If it wasn't for you and your scary sidekick, I wouldn't have been able to see my wife again."

Troy laughed.

"Don't worry about it. This isn't the end for us yet. There's still hope in the resistance!"

The man smiled.

Scary sidekick?!

Troy approached me and put a hand on his hip.

"Those are some crazy alien guns you have there. I take it you're from where those Severens were from?"

I couldn't answer. I was still in complete shock.

I was wielding Toron weaponry. Thousands of years more advanced than the guns in this age. I should have been the one leading the squad, and killing them off.

But in the end, Troy had normal guns, was the one who led the escape group. And killed all the Severens that threatened them.

Like always.

It always has been like this.

"Umm, well. I'm going to go to the van. Come with us."

I shook my head.

"Sorry?"

I turned my back, as I went back to the University campus. There was still one job to do.

"Hey, where are you going?" Troy asked.

"Yo, kid. Do you have a screw loose? You're going back? Come on. Just do what Troy says. There isn't time for your-"

I spun around and aimed my gun at the prisoner's face. Everybody gasped.

"My mission does not concern you, Terrans." I spat the last word. For a second, I almost couldn't recognize myself.

"I am going to destroy this plant. This is my business alone. I have no patience for mere insects like you to interfere."

Troy stepped forward, his expression grim.

"If you're going to destroy the plant, so will I."

In the end, Troy tagged along, much to my dismay. We infiltrated the plant and destroyed the core cells. The evacuation group had already left.

"So, I guess there's no going back now!" Troy laughed.

I said nothing, as I tapped my mask.

"Folock, let Cap know the job is complete. Send in the Landing Craft."

"Mini-Operator, that might be an issue."

"What? What's wrong?"

Folock paused, before continuing.

"Because we're currently under attack. By Lena."

Queen Lena

"What are you doing?" Troy asked.

"Shut up!" I growled, as I rolled up my right sleeve, tapping my sheathe module and transforming into my full battle attire. Toron Armoured Cloak. Twin Harkanon Heavy Duty Battle Rifles. Twin Hellfire Machine Pistols. And Gram Supra.

"Folock, deploy ICARUS."

"Negative. ICARUS is currently in use by the Operator."

"Then tell me where the Lotuscraft is-"

My command was interrupted, by a massive explosion in the sky, as I watched the Lotuscraft descend from the clouds and ram into a building. In the sky, were two figures. I took out my rifle and scoped in, making out Umbra using the Archwing, battling a larger Severen than the ones I had encountered. A beautiful feminine face in the centre, segmented limbs into eight equal partitions. Queen Lena of the Severens.

"What's going on? Who are you? Who are they?!" Troy asked.

This guy was really annoying. I bolted to the nearest building of the struggle, and tapped on my Arm Sheathe.

"Lance Upload Protocol: TESLA"

My sheathe began to glow, as I felt power surging through my body, blue electricity arcing from myself as I felt my speed increase exponentially.

I knelt on the ground and exploded into the air, latching onto the concrete with my fingers, smashing in and digging my fingers in. I ripped chunks out as I hurled myself into the air, up the building for higher ground.

"Captain! Mayen here. Heavy Artillery on Standby!"

"Shane! It's great to have you here!" Deka replied. I smiled. Even in this hell hole, there was still someone who relied on me. That made me happy.

I pulled out my rifles from behind my back and readied them, switching to anti-aircraft mode.

"Give me an opening, Cap! I'll blow her away!"

"On it!"

Deka swung his sword at Lena, sending her back. I focused, and pulled the trigger, firing two massive rounds in her direction. The force was so much that I skidded backwards. Thank goodness for my training at the gym. I wouldn't have been able to handle the recoil like that.

An explosion lit up, but I gritted my teeth. It was a miss.

"I missed! Look out, Cap!"

Deka tried to intercept, Lena's strike, but it was too much, and I watched as the Severen sent the Valian shooting into the ground.

"Captain!" I shouted. I leapt from the building and landed on the ground.

"Lance Upload Protocol: TESLA Superspeed"

I blasted forward, running at top pace to where Deka had landed.

I rushed forward and intercepted Lena before she could deal a killing blow on my Captain with Gram.

"You Severen Scum! How could you do this to your own son?!" I seethed.

"You were the Terran that was saved by Dekani Price." Lena remarked.

I found myself sinking deeper into the ground. This was bad. Lena was too strong.

"You didn't answer my question!"

"Do I need to?"

My eyes widened as an appendage came flying my way. I leapt back, but not before it had scraped my stomach. My midsection burst into pain.

There was no time to inspect the wound, as I blocked another appendage with Gram, then weaved out of the way.

Fighting Lena felt like fighting eight swordsman at once. Like I had to work at 8 times the effort.

I spun sideways, as I pulled out my Machine Pistol and sprayed bullets at Lena's face. Lena scowled for the first few shots, but after I had emptied the clip, they bounced off harmlessly.

I slid back, deflecting Lena's powerful strike with the flat edge of Gram and returning with a combination of bullets from my Harkanon set to full auto mode. The ground became littered with empty bullet casings as they hit the ground with a shower of "ping"'s.

Lena began to adapt to my bullets again, but Deka stood up and blasted her with Void energy, neutralizing her defences, as the two of us engaged her once more.

But even with the two of us, we were not enough, and I found myself completely outmatched by the Severen Queen. I ended up keeping my distance while Cap took her on head to head basically alone.

I watched as Lena flew into the air and spun, delivering a massive barrage of lasers. Deka bullet jumped out of the way as I held out my hand, generating a holographic shield. But the shield began to crack, as the shockwave sent me flying backwards, landing on my back.

I turned to my side as I watched Lena strike Umbra, sending him to the ground too. Numerous energy bands wrapped around his neck as Deka began to struggle, being lifted into the air.

"How are you-"

"Ballard was useful. His cells are more than enough to control your Lance, Valian."

Deka continued to struggle, but Umbra was practically frozen.

I got to my feet, but fell to one knee. My left leg was hurting really bad.

"Lena... why would you do this? Why are you doing this to these people?" Deka asked.

Lena regarded her adopted son.

"Why. Why was I forced to abandon my kind? Why did I leave my brother. Why did I leave my mother, Queen Luna, to succumb to her illness? Why did I betray my father, Gargantua, to lead you, the devils of the Toron, the devils of the Void?"

Deka resolved out of Umbra, as he stood to face his mother.

"You know the answer, Mom. You were tasked to kill us. But you couldn't. We lost our mother that day. And we gained a new one. YOU. You wanted children. Since coming to the Star System, you wanted kids to guide. To nurture. We needed our parents. But they were taken from us."

Deka stepped forward and put his hand on his chest.

"Even if many of us deny it, we want you to come home. I speak on behalf of my kind. We need you back. Whatever the Severens did to you, we can fix it."

Lena descended from the sky. I couldn't move. My leg was too busted up.

"No. Mini-Operator. The Operator must do this." Folock said, through my cracked up mask. My vision was messed up. Part HUD, part actual reality. Half of my face was exposed to the atmosphere as I glared at Lena.

Lena regarded Deka. Towering over him. He was completely defenceless. Umbra was restrained. I was incapacitated. Folock's main body, the Lotuscraft was halfway jammed in the god damn Chemistry building.

Whatever happened next, was completely out of my control.

"The Void. It is a powerful force. So powerful, that it even expands to the realm of reason. A convincing story. To get me to leave. To protect its demons. To protect you."

Deka's eyes widened as Lena raised her arm, which began to hum with power.

"We will save you, Mom. Whatever it takes."

"No... NO!!!" I roared, summoning anything I had, but I was far too injured.

Suddenly, a flash of light appeared from the corner of my vision.

"That's a bit harsh, isn't it, Mom?" A girl's voice appeared.

"Wha- What??" I muttered.

I watched as a Hannibal Lance approached Lena, pulling Deka back.

Deka sighed.

"I guess it didn't work, did it, Lavine?"

Quorra resolved out of her Lance and eyed Lena. The Severen Queen tilted her head.

"I know Dekani has always been a problem child. Never had the guts to kill. A bit weird. You know even after you left, he's still been the same way? Going against our code of honour? Teaching that Terran over there everything you taught us?"

Lena lowered her appendages, as Quorra continued.

"But even if he is incompetent, always breaking the rules. A bit weird in the head. And a petty thief. He's still right. We don't know what's going on. But we know that the Lena who nurtured us is still inside you. This is clearly the work of your bastard brother, Nero."

"Quorra Lavine." Lena said, as she began to approach the young Valian.

"You were always talented. A born leader. But your words, for once, will not work in your favour."

Quorra smiled, as she dissolved into purple sparks, resolving into her Hannibal Lance.

"Fine by me. Unlike Deka and Shane here, I can handle you just fine, being properly trained in The Way of the Valian. And to tell the truth, while part of us want you back, another part of us see you as a means to be eliminated. After all, the Severens are our enemy."

Quorra cocked her shotgun, aiming it at the Queen.

"We were taught this way, weren't we? If living includes feeling pain, then I guess that's just a mutual thing we have to compromise."

Lena began to hum with power, as she fired a volley of lasers at Quorra, who activated her Iron Skin and tanked it all.

Several shotgun blasts erupted from the smoke, damaging Lena as part of her hide shattered.

Lena ascended, and fired a massive beam in our direction, but Umbra and Deka had managed to escape. An arm grabbed me from behind as I whirled around in surprise.

"Come on!" Troy shouted at me, dragging me out of the way before I became a crisp.

I watched as Quorra took on Lena, blasting her with his shotgun shells, swapping to her sidearm and blasting her with her pistol, then switching to her pole arm.

I was in awe, as Quorra fought off the Severen Queen. Her mastery of the pole arm was elegant. Beautiful. Flawless.

I remembered what she had said. That she had inspired Arsanios. I now saw why. Of all the Valian I had encountered, Quorra wielded that weapon the best.

Lena slashed down with all eight of her appendages, but Quorra spun her pole arm with incredibly agility. It didn't matter if it was eight swordsman. Nine swordsman. A hundred swordsman. There was no breaching Quorra's defences. Her technique was so refined to the smallest detail, that it had completely negated the issue I had when I fought Lena.

"Hey, you're injured-"

I turned around until I was face to face with Troy. Troy's eyes were wide, as he was speechless.

"Sh- Shane?"

I regarded my old roommate from what seemed like ages ago. But I didn't say anything. Because there was just so much to say.

I forced myself to my feet.

"Shane, your leg is busted."

I ignored him as I limped to Deka.

"Captain, what do we do?"

Deka resolved into Umbra and drew his assault rifle.

"We help Quorra."

"If you're helping her, so will I!" Troy announced.

"No." I replied, turning to him.

"But-"

"I said NO." I snapped.

Deka put his hand on my shoulder.

"Shane, we need all the help we can get. Give him one of your rifles."

I glared at Cap, but softened. I reluctantly gave Troy the weapon. Just as I expected, he miraculously was able to wield it.

"Wow, you're able to handle its weight." Deka commented.

Troy smirked. "I've been working out."

"Hey, Shane. Let's kick some ass. Together. Just like the old days!"

I pushed his hand away and got to my feet.

"Now Shane..." Deka said.

I aimed my rifle right at Lena's head, as Quorra kept her distracted.

Queen Lena.

Captain Price may love you.

But I will always hate you.

For everything you did to the people here in this world.

For everything you did to my parents.

Tim and Dana Mayen.

I fired, as the bullet knocked Lena backwards, giving Quorra and Deka a chance to strike, but Lena flew into the air.

"Archwing mode, Price." Quorra said, as she deployed her own ICARUS, zooming into the air. Price followed suit.

"Folock, how's the jam coming along?"

"Coming your way, Mini-Operator."

I ran forward, with Troy in tow. I got to the edge of a falling cliff as I leapt off of it.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Troy screamed.

I free fell, and landed on the top of the Lotuscraft, as the entire ship flew upwards to meet Troy. I glared at him. This may be the first time in my entire life where I felt above him.

"Get on. Or I'll ditch you here." I grumbled.

We flew after the two Valians. I walked to the edge of the ship.

"Gimme my rifle back." I said.

I mounted my two rifles along two large modules.

"Compounding Harkanon Rifles for Ultra Heavy Artillery Integration." Folock informed me.

I readied myself as I hoisted my two ginormous guns from their shelves.

"Harkanon Rifles at Ultra Anti-Aircraft Configuration, Active, Mini-Operator."

I smiled sinisterly.

Time to light her up.

Folock navigated the ship to where Deka and Quorra were fighting Lena. We were so far up in the sky that I was starting to shiver. My cloak was not enough for the cold.

"Shane, I'm heading inside." Troy shouted.

Do what you want.

I watched as Quorra flew in, slashing at Lena, but Lena zipped out of the way, while Deka fired his Arch Mini-gun at her, which was disintegrated by another Severen Beam.

Find an opening.

Find it.

There!

"Deka! Quorra! Out of the way!" I shouted.

"Folock, full power!"

"CUT HER DOWN - I mean go for it!"

I pressed the triggers to my weapons as I let loose a massive barrage of powerful exploding shells. My arms rattled from the impact, as it took everything I had to resist the recoil and maintain the stability of my targeting reticule.

Lena held out her appendages as the full power of the Lotuscraft was channeled into my guns.

More... MORE.

Lena began to descend from the sheer impact of the shells. Her armour starting to crack and buckle, despite her adaptation to the damage at this rate.

Folock followed her as we flew down. Quorra and Deka spiralling us and delivering bullet volleys with their own mini-guns and adding to the assault.

We flew downwards, as all around me, was a simple chaos. Bullets, wind, shells. Everything was a frenzy, but within a split second, I made eye contact with Lena, as she glared at me with critical eyes. I returned the glare with a violent frenzy.

Interesting. I had my suspicions. But perhaps another Ciel exists on their side too.

I hesitated.

"What?"

Suddenly, everything jolted, as the Lotuscraft attempted to stabilize its descend, but smashed onto the ground. Deka and Quorra hit the ground and resolved out of their Lances.

As for me, I elegantly got jettisoned out of my position and smashed face-first into the dirt before Lena. Who had recovered.

Lena levitated to me, as I got to my feet. My leg was still busted up, but I forced myself to stand, somehow.

I reached behind my back and drew my Gram Supra, levelling the blade to Lena's face.