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 as hell. Meaning I was clearly going to go overboard with it. Of course, I didn't want to tell a sweet old lady that I was going to eat both of them.

"Young love! How adorable."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SLAP

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

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

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

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

To do what I am told.

Because the notion of being a hero...

Is completely fake.

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

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

"I'm so sorry, Rinzler."

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

"But..."

"But what?"

"Volco hasn't been fed for days."

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

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

I want to...

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

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

I want to save her.

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

I want to be a hero.

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

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

"Damn right." He grumbled.

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

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

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

I nodded.

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

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

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

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

The lights flickered.

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

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

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

"What do you mean?"

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

I drew Gram and readied myself.

"Is it SHADOW then?"

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

"Even SHADOW would give a transmission."

The lights flickered once more.

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

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

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

"Are you sure?" Deka said.

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

Deka pursed his lips.

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