Legends of the Halcyon Era: Of Blood and Blades

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Legends of the Halcyon Era

Of Blood and Blades

by

David Oxford/LBD “Nytetrayn”

*****

Eventually, the Sky Shark landed at their destination: Archie Island.

As the group disembarked the ship, each geared up with their respective armor and accouterments, save for Janine. Instead, she opted to wear a flowing black kimono for this excursion.

They found standing before them a ruin gate, similar to so many others. Some houses stood nearby, while a small city appeared further out on the horizon, but no one else seemed to be disturbing the ruin at the moment.

“Okies,” said Fenix. “What do you say, Cel? Wanna just head on in, or do you want a few pointers first?”

Celeste looked nervously at the ominous ruin entrance. “Um… I’ll… I’ll take the pointers… first…” she said. She seemed a little distracted, and more than a little on edge.

“Alll-rightie, then,” Fenix said, as he tossed her a small, lightweight black pistol.

Celeste fumbled, but managed to catch it.

“That there’s a BB gun. Not much power, only shoots tiny balls of soft metal, and useless in combat, but I’ll be able to tell if one of the suckers hits me. Now…”

As this was going on, Alpha-Red exited the ship and trundled up to Adam.

“What’s up, Alpha?” Adam asked, as he noticed the little Reaverbot’s approach.

“Preliminary scans have shown a larger underground complex than what was originally anticipated,” Alpha reported. “Also, it seems there are several larger power sources down there.”

“Multiple refractors?”

“Possibly. Though it may be large Reaverbots, and not refractors. Scans are not conclusive enough to indicate whether they are stationary or not.”

Adam nodded. “Keep us posted, then, Alpha. And make sure you get whatever you can off the feed from my shades.”

“Yes, sir,” said the Reaverbot, before clanking back into the ship.

Fenix pulled out a long, metallic wand, about the size and shape of a fencing foil, but when he flicked a switch, it crackled with blue electricity. “This is a ‘bitch stick.’ It doesn’t hurt much, a little stronger than static. But it makes ya’ back up real fast.”

Celeste looked even more worried, and started to sweat a little.

Nytetrayn was ready to protest, but held himself back. Fenix knew what he was doing, after all, but still.

Fenix unclasped his cloak, and tossed it aside, perhaps a little dramatically. “Now, let’s play a game. I’ll start off… oh, a hundred feet away, and try to get in and hit you. If you can shoot me before I get there, then you win.” With that, Fenix began his march off to the appointed distance.

“Uhhh…. Fenix,” Janine said, looking between the six-foot tall Digger and the five-foot tall rookie. “You don’t think that’s a little… extreme?”

“Jan,” Fenix said, turning his head to face her. “I use this thing on you, and you love it.”

Janine just blushed deeply.

“My point exactly.”

Celeste shook a bit, nervous. Janine still looked worried, too.

“Alright, Cel!” Fenix called out. “Ready?”

“Y-yeah…”

“Alright… ready… steady… GO!” And with that, Fenix rocketed forward.

Celeste’s look at panic gave way as she closed her eyes and tried firing a shot off at the approaching Digger.

Fenix zig-zagged to either side, and avoided the shot easily. “AIM!” he shouted, after covering about half of the distance in around two seconds. “You’ll never hit me with your eyes closed!”

Celeste opened one eye, and tried again. Fenix skipped to the side once more, and was now only a few yards away.

“Better, better! Try again!”

Celeste tried again, and Fenix cocked his head to the side to avoid the shot, then tapped the tip of the stick against her hand, which produced a sensation not unlike a good static shock.

“Aah!” Celeste yelled, jerking her hand back.

Fenix nodded and backed off, pacing back out another hundred feet.

“Not bad for your first try,” he said. “Remember to aim for center mass. Go for my stomach, not my head.”

“I… I thought I was,” Celeste said quietly to herself.

“Ready for another go?” Fenix asked, as he reached his mark.

Celeste nodded slowly.

Fenix shot forward, and weaved from side to side much faster this time, as his eyes glowed an intense, demonic red.

Celeste tried shooting much more rapidly at Fenix, letting shots go all over the place in his general direction. Janine let out a yelp, as one shot hit her in the chest. Celeste stopped shooting, and looked aghast. “Sorry, Janine!”

Fenix took the opportunity to jab at her chest, though relatively slowly. “Don’t pay attention to her, look at me!”

Celeste was zapped, and let out an unpleasant shriek again, but this time accidentally pulled the trigger and shot Fenix down low. Fortunately, his heavily-reinforced codpiece meant that it resulted in little more than a grunt as the shot clanged off.

“Heh, better,” he said, before he started to rub the back of his helmet. “Sorry, didn’t mean to hit you quite right there…”

“Alright, I think we’d better get going,” Adam said. “I’m sure Cel will pick up more by watching us than by being shocked with a cattle prod.”

Celeste looked a little disappointed in herself, but also a little relieved by Adam’s suggestion.

“A cattle prod would leave her on the ground, twitching,” Fenix argued.

“Well, whatever.”

“And if she can hit me, then we know she can hit a Reaverbot. The darn things don’t have nearly as good reflexes,” he said, as he clapped her on the shoulder. “You’re gonna be just fine.”

Adam rolled his eyes behind his ever-present shades.

Meanwhile, Celeste looked down forlornly, but started to look around nervously, like something was there.

Janine walked over and gave Celeste a hug around the shoulders. “Don’t worry, kiddo, I’ll keep an eye on you.”

“Not bad for a first-timer, though,” Adam said, as he headed for the ruin entrance. “Let’s get moving then.”

Fenix playfully swatted Jan across her backside with the stick, and received a yelp and a dirty look in return before following Adam. The others followed as well, with Celeste trailing behind a bit, with Janine there to hug her reassuringly.

The large elevator inside the gate was able to easily fit everyone, and carried the group down to a large hall. At the back end of the hall, there appeared to be a T-shaped intersection.

Nytetrayn stepped off the elevator and took in his surroundings. “Ah, it’s good to be back in business!”

“I’ll take point,” Adam said. “Alpha is scanning the ruins for us and Spotting, so it’d probably be best if I go first,” he added, as he moved forward into the room and looked around, before waiting at the intersection for the others while confirming the feed worked with Alpha.

Janine moved along, while Fenix pulled out his beam sabers and scanned the area.

And Celeste remained on the elevator. She leaned against the back, shaking, and grasped the railing while holding her head.

Janine noticed they were one short, and turned back to her. “Cel? Come on, let’s go.”

“…I… I can’t…”

“What? Are you okay?”

“I… yes… no… I dunno…” she said, as she started to breathe heavily. She looked up, a mix of panic and terror written on her face. “I just… I don’t know… Do… do you guys feel that?”

“Feel what?”

“…I… I don’t know… just… something…”

As Adam returned to the group, Fenix turned to Nytetrayn. “Maybe you should take her back up.”

The younger Digger nodded, and went with Celeste up the elevator to the surface.

Janine looked shaken. “What was wrong with her?”

“Probably claustrophobic,” said Fenix.

“Alpha,” said Adam through his communicator. “Cel’s coming back up. Keep an eye on her for us, would you? Something weird’s going on…”

“Yes, sir.”

Nytetrayn helped her out of the gate, and sat her down by the outer wall before kneeling down next to her, a look of worry spread across his face. “Think you’ll be okay here?” he asked, as he started to put a hand on her shoulder, but stopped himself.

“Y-yeah…” she said. “I think so…”

Alpha-Red exited the ship.

As Nyte began to stand, she grabbed him by the arm. “Just… be careful. I think something is down there,” she said. “Something… big…”

“Adam has informed me that you are not feeling well, Miss Celeste.”

She nodded, and looked a little embarrassed.

“Would you like to come back into the ship and watch the monitors with me?”

“I’ll be okay,” she said. “Just… I just need a few minutes…”

“Alfred, keep an eye on her for m – us, will you?” Nyte said, as he headed back to the entrance.

“Yes, Mister Nytetrayn.”

Nytetrayn looked back to Celeste one last time to make sure she was okay, took a deep breath, and went back down the elevator.

“If you require anything, I shall be on the bridge,” Alpha said, as he handed Celeste a small object. “Use this comm link to talk to me if you require anything.”

Celeste nodded. “Th-thanks.”

Alpha headed back into the ship, but not before taking one more look at Cel.

Back in the ruin, Nytetrayn rejoined the others.

“She alright?” Fenix asked.

“I… think so,” Nyte said, with a little uncertainty in his voice. “She said she thought something… big, was down here…”

“Probably scared Fenix’ll zap her in the boobs again,” Janine said.

Fenix developed an eye twitch.

“Alpha, you there?” Adam said, touching an earpiece.

“Yes, sir.”

“Make sure Celeste stays up there until she’s feeling well.”

“Of course, sir,” he said, as he looked out at the young woman. She was still sitting against the wall of the ruin gate, her knees up in front of her and looking depressed.

“Alright, let’s get moving,” Adam told the others. “If Cel starts feeling better, he’ll let me know. I think he has a spare comm link, so he should be able to guide her to us if she decides to come down later.”

“Maybe someone should stay with her…?” Fenix suggested.

Janine elbowed Fenix in the ribs. “What, worried?”

Fenix grunted and went silent.

“Alpha is keeping an eye on her,” Adam said, as he took point and moved back to the intersection once again. “Right or left, people?”

“Right, say I,” Janine answered.

“We should try left,” Fenix said. “I got a good feeling about left.”

“Right is good,” said Nytetrayn.”

“Right it is,” Adam said.

“Aww, we never get to do what I wanna do,” Fenix pouted.

Adam started down the right-hand pathway, and the others followed. The hall went straight for a bit, then turned 90 degrees and headed up for quite some distance.

“Seems to be pretty clear so far,” he said.

“Oddly clear,” Fenix added.

The hall ended in a smaller round room, with doors that led left, right, and continued on straight ahead.

“Which way?” asked Adam.

“Too bad we don’t have communicators, we could split up,” Nytetrayn pointed out.

“True,” Adam said.

“Straight on,” said Janine.

“Well, straight it is, then,” said the shade-sporting Digger.

The door led into a huge square room. There were three small alcoves set into the far end, and each contained a treasure chest that could just barely be made out from the doorway.

“Oooh, treasure,” Janine said, as she rubbed her hands together.

“Works for me,” said Nyte, “but you’d think it’d be guarded, or something.”

Adam kept his new Beam Machine Gun up as he slowly moved into the room. Suddenly, a huge, brown Hanmuru Doll Reaverbot rose up from a door hidden in the floor.

“…THERE we go!” Nyte said excitedly, as he opened fire with his Nyte-Buster into its face.

The Hanmuru Doll let out a mechanized roar of pain as Nyte’s shots impacted it. One of its arms lashed out and struck at the Diggers. Nyte leaped up and over the arm, while Janine floated clear and Fenix jabbed at it with his blades. It let out another pained howl, as it whirled around to strike Fenix.

The masked Digger only got to say, “FUUUUUU-” before getting smashed by the massive Reaverbot’s giant arm.

Adam rolled out of the way of the smashing arm, and opened fire on it with his Beam Machine Gun. Meanwhile, Nyte made a landing on one arm, and ran up it as he converted his Buster to Saber mode, and performed a somersault slash past the Hanmuru Doll’s head.

It shrieked in pain as Adam’s blasts tore into it, but fell silent and motionless as Nyte’s attack gave it a splitting headache it wouldn’t soon forget. It slouched as it deactivated.

“Damn, too late,” a disappointed Janine said, as she let the energy blades she’d formed with each hand dissipate.

“Heh, that was a cinch!” Nyte said. “Too bad, though. Maybe since we know Alfred, we could have gotten some sort of ‘friends and family’ discount? Or whatever it is Reaverbots have.”

“Jeebus, this thing is huge,” Adam said, as he walked around the Reaverbot’s corpse.

Nyte turned to regard Fenix, who was still just kind of lying there. “Hey Feeny, you okay?”

“Yash, je’s fine, ah am,” he said in a warbly voice. “Who’s Fenix?”

Janine prodded him with her toe.

“Ack! Okay! Easy, there!” he said as he got up and brushed himself off.

Nyte just rolled his eyes, then went over and checked one of the chests, while Adam and Janine checked the other two. The chests contained refractor shards, some sort of gauntlet, and a book with mysterious writing, respectively.

“Can you read this?” Adam asked Janine, as she looked at the journal.

“Hmm…” she said, looking over one of the pages. “Haven’t gotten laid in six months… getting tired…. goodbye, cruel world…”

Fenix raised an eyebrow.

“Poor guy,” Janine said.

“…I’ve gone longer without that,” Adam said.

Janine’s expression turned to one of pure pity. “Oh, you poor thing!” she said, as she suddenly pulled him in for a very close hug. “Don’t worry, I can fix that!” she said cheerfully.

Fenix died laughing.

“Uh… sure,” Adam said, sweating a little. “Um… I’ll take a raincheck on that for now, though… kinda in the middle of a ruin, you know…”

“Never stopped her before,” Nyte said.

“Ah, right,” Janine said, as she let him go and patted him on the butt. “Later, then!”

Fenix was having trouble breathing. “Oh God, the look on his face… hehehehehehehe…!”

“So, anyway,” Nyte said, as he decided to press onward.

The others followed, and at the intersection, Adam asked, “Well, let’s see, right or left?”

Janine was dragging Fenix along, and said “Left!” Nyte echoed the decision.

“Right it is,” Adam said, and then headed left, much to the others’ confusion as they collectively shrugged and followed.

Another long hallway stretched out before them, albeit wider and lined with Horokkos. These common Reaverbots would lie in wait in spots on the wall and emerge when Diggers came near, and tried to ram them or propel bombs from their undersides as they came near.

“Perfect!” said Adam, as he laid down a veritable wall of energy in front of him with his Beam Machine Gun when the Reaverbots emerged. The bots were gone in a matter of seconds.

Fenix and Nytetrayn blinked, as they lowered their respective, unfired Gatling weapons, completely upstaged.

“Well,” said Adam, as he blew on the warm barrels of his gun. “So far, so good.”

Nyte and Fenix gave small sighs as they gathered up the refractor shards left behind by the obliterated Reaverbots, with Adam nabbing a few as he moved on.

At the end of the hall stood a door, which Adam proceeded through, with the rest following. It led to a large, round room, where a big, yellow cylinder sat in the middle. The door closed behind them, and a voice rang out from all directions.

“Why have you come here, Reaverbot Queen?”

Nyte raised an eyebrow. “I thought that was just a nickname?”

“Um… to make a quick buck?” Janine replied.

“‘Buck’… this unit does not understand,” said the voice.

“Buck,” Nytetrayn reiterated. “Dollar, Zenny, dinnero, moolah, currency.”

“Why have you brought the sword with you?”

“Sword…? What sword?” Janine asked.

Adam drew his sword from his back and looked at it. The runes seemed to be glowing slightly.

“This sword?” he asked.

“The sword which was left on Terra and sealed away by Sherman East,” said the voice. “Its power was unrivaled in its day. Surely, you remember it…”

“Wow, small world,” said Nyte. He looked at Fenix, “Why can’t we get normal ruins anymore?”

Fenix shrugged.

Meanwhile, Janine stared at the blade, and her eyes widened. “I… I don’t… I don’t remember it. But… I thought my memory came back. Why…?”

After a pause, the voice responded. “I see you have had your memory files tampered with. While some coincide with the back-ups in this facility and in Eden, others have been altered or corrupted. Your form and model number have been confirmed as belonging to the Reaverbot Queen, Janine. However, as a precautionary measure, I shall now test you to be sure. If you can survive and reach the data vaults in floor 6, this unit will restore your memory fully.

It continued, “As a bureaucratic model, you should have the capability to do this. Only a program malfunction planted by East would cause you to fail. If he has caused you to become an errant unit, your program will be terminated.”

“That’s a bit extreme, isn’t it?” Nytetrayn asked.

“Let the trials begin!”

“Hnn,” Nyte grunted.

“Oh, yay,” said Janine.

“Okay,” said Nyte, “so I wonder how we…”

Before he could finish, the yellow cylinder in the center of the room suddenly sprouted legs, spiked arms, and a pointed head. It lashed out at the Diggers by diving straight at them.

“A Garudoriten!” shouted Janine, as she leaped back.

The others rolled out of the way. “Hmph, I’m not impressed,” said Fenix, as he loaded a cartridge into his plasma caster. Adam returned fire with his weapon, and Nytetrayn decided to join in, with various panels and barrels telescoping and expanding around his arm to form his Gatling Buster.

He and Fenix opened fire at the Garudoriten, with Fenix’s shot hitting its face, which made it recoil.

“Hit him in the face!” Adam shouted, as the others once again dodged its jumping attack.

“Geez!” Fenix shouted, as he narrowly avoided having the Reaverbot land on him.

Janine flew up to the top of the room, and rained energy blasts down on its head, while Adam, Fenix, and Nytetrayn continued their assault from down low. It wasn’t long before it fell to the sustained fire of the Diggers, exploding into a shower of refractor shards.

“Well, that was easy,” said Fenix, as the group gathered up what refractor shards they could.

“Well done,” said the voice from before.

“Geee…. thaaaaaanks…” said Janine.

“Continue exploring this facility, and you will surely pass the tests set in front of you.”

“Yippee,” Janine said.

“I shall say adieu until your next test.”

She grabbed Fenix and Adam. “You two are going to have some serious work cut out for you to calm me down after all this.”

Both Diggers looked a little weirded out by the prospect.

Meanwhile, Nytetrayn investigated the treasure chest that had since appeared where the Reaverbot once stood. Inside, he found an odd, round disk that was about an inch thick, with a strange port on one side. At a glance, it appeared to be some type of beam generator.

“Strange,” he said, before he held it up for the others to see. “Anyone have any idea what this is for?”

Nyte turned to Adam, who looked at it and shook his head. He then looked at Janine, who said, “Hmmm… nope.” He was just about to look to Fenix, but then thought better of it. “I’ll just tuck this away, then.”

“So, moving right along,” Nyte said, as they headed for the next door. “Yeah, I’m a wanderer… a wanderer…” he sang quietly as they walked along.

The last door on this side of the T led to a large room, which had three large Reaverbots stomping around – Arukoitan, which were basically Reaverbot heads with legs, armed with flamethrowers. As soon as they saw the Diggers, they advanced on them.

Nyte leaped to the center of their formation, which drew their attention. “Hi, guys!”

As the trio moved to attack him, Nyte leaped straight up and switched to his Nyte-Saber, before spinning in a circular motion on the way back down, knocking the lot down.

Fenix quickly shook off his bewilderment at his partner’s plan of attack, and used one of his own sabers to stab one of the Arukoitan through the head. Adam likewise blew the head off his chosen Arukoitan with his Beam Machine Gun fire.

Not wanting her to feel left out, Nyte grabbed the last one, and tossed it skyward in Janine’s direction. “Hey, Janine! Heads up!”

Janine blew it apart with a ball of energy.

Nyte dusted off his hands.“That was good, but not great.” He looked around, and saw no refractor shards before them. However, he did spot a chest at the end of the room.

After doing his usual inspection for traps, Nyte opened the chest, and found a strange item. It looked like a gauntlet with a wheel and chain, with a pointed hook at the end. “Hm, I wonder what this does?” he said, as he put it on.

“Bondage gear,” said Fenix.

“…right,” said Nytetrayn. “I’ll try it out later.”

“Don’t scare Cel with it too much the first time you use it. Give her time to adjust.”

Janine chuckled.

“…or sooner,” Nyte said, as he pointed it at Fenix and fired. The chain sprang out and wrapped around Fenix, then promptly yanked him over next to Nyte, who proceeded to thwip Fenix in the helmet. “That works.”

“Oh my God! Nyte, I had no idea you felt that way!” Fenix shouted in a mock flattered voice..

Nyte rolled his eyes as he released Fenix from the chain. “Shut up, before I use this thing to see what you had for breakfast, if you catch my drift…”

Janine hugged Fenix, who sobbed into her cleavage, while Nytetrayn stowed the item away.

“Ahem,” said Adam. “As I was saying, maybe we should go and check out that other half of the T, eh?”

“Good idea,” Fenix said, suddenly fine.

Adam led the way back, while Nyte whistled an adventurous tune along the way.

Back at the “T” intersection, the other half was much like the first, only its hall ended with a single door. On the other side lay a room filled with a variety of smaller Reaverbots.

Nytetrayn immediately opened fire with his Gatling-Buster.

“Okay, since I ruined your fun last time, you guys can kill them all this time,” Adam said.

“…say what now?” Nyte shouted over the Gatling-Buster fire.

“Never mind,” Adam said, as he chucked a plasma grenade into the midst of the Reaverbots, taking a few more out.

Soon, the group had cleared the Reaverbots out, and a door could be seen on the other side of the room. Through it lay an elevator, much like the one the Diggers initially rode in on.

“Yay, another elevator ride!” Fenix said, as he pranced over to the lift.

“Easily entertained, aint’chya?” Adam asked as he followed.

“…I’m gonna pretend I didn’t just see that,” Nyte said, as he made his way over.

Janine quietly followed, her eyes widened in horror at what she’d just witnessed.

“Just what’ve you been doing to him, anyway?” Nyte asked.

“Maybe I haven’t been giving him enough attention…”

Nyte patted her on the shoulder. “Work on that, won’t you?”

“Okay…”

The elevator took the group down another level, and opened into a large room with another Hanmuru Doll, though this one sported a different color, blue, which likely indicated some sort of different capabilities. It rumbled towards the Diggers, smashing its arms into the ground along the way.

Nytetrayn opened fire at its face with his Nyte-Buster, while Fenix did the same with his Gatling Arm, and Janine let loose with a stream of flaming power. The Hanmuru Doll recoiled and covered its face to deflect some of the attacks, and backed off before it revealed its eye and unleashed a laser beam.

“Hmm,” Nyte said, as he pulled out his latest acquisition, and fired the grappling hook at the ceiling above the Reaverbot while Fenix and Janine leaped aside. Nyte was instantly pulled up, and once there, he converted his Buster to Nyte-Saber mode, and stabbed downward as he dropped from above.

Unfortunately, the Reaverbot was ready, and reached up to smack Nyte down before his energy blade could connect. Nytetrayn let out a loud “oof!” from the impact, and hit the ground with a roll. “Okay, new plan…” the Digger muttered to himself.

“That wasn’t very nice,” Fenix said, as the Hanmuru Doll prepared to smash Nytetrayn with its arms. He darted over and grabbed Nyte, pulling him out of its reach while Janine flew up and shot at its head, forcing it to recoil back and cover its face once again.

“Ugh, thanks,” Nyte said. “I owe you one…”

“Dun’ worry about it, you already owe me.”

Adam rushed forward, and fired at the Reaverbot’s feet. The Hanmuru Doll continued to back away, before it opened up its laser at Adam. “GAAH!” he shouted, as he was knocked ass over teakettle, and landed a few yards away, where he lay still.

“Adam!” Janine shouted, as she zipped over to the fallen Digger.

“Damn!” Nyte shouted, before he tried firing his Nyte-Buster at the base of the Reaverbot’s arms.

As he was doing that, Fenix pulled out his rocket-propelled grenade launcher, settled it on his shoulder, and fired. The explosion enveloped the large Reaverbot, and when the smoke cleared, its head armor was missing. Seemingly enraged, the Hanmuru Doll began to rush at Fenix, swinging its arm mightily at the Digger.

“Oh, no you don’t!” Nyte said, as he fired his grappling hook at the arm that was about to swing at Fenix, and held it back from its attack. “Fenix! Give it another shot!”

The Hanmuru Doll stopped, and looked at the younger Digger before it jerked hard with that arm, trying to pull him off his feet. Nytetrayn kept his footing, though he was pulled forward a bit.

Janine rose into the air again, her eyes blazing as she unleashed a barrage of tiny energy blasts at the Reaverbot’s head. It tried to shield itself from the myriad blasts, but between Nyte’s effort and the damaged armor, she was able to inflict severe damage and it began to smoke. However, it wasn’t ready to throw in the towel just yet.

Fenix fired off another grenade, and it found its mark. The now-headless Hanmuru Doll ceased moving.

“…I think we got it,” Nytetrayn said.

“NO!” said Fenix. “We must shoot it more! Many times!”

Suddenly, the Reaverbot took one final swing at Nytetrayn, who leaped up and landed on its arm as it slumped over, defeated.

Irked by the last-ditch effort, Nyte simply said, “Punk.”

“It’s evil!” Fenix said.

“Persistent, at least.”

Janine knelt by Adam, and discovered blood on her hand as she checked his head.

“Aw, hell,” said Fenix.

“That ain’t good,” added Nyte.

***

Up above, Celeste sighed. She had been sitting outside of the ruin, depressed that she’d let everyone down. All the while, she had this sort of nagging feeling deep inside, tugging at her brain. Eventually, she finally decided to walk around a little bit, and see if that would help her current state.

“Alpha,” she said through the communicator, “I’m just going to take a walk for a bit, clear my head.”

“Very good, Miss Celeste,” the voice replied. “I will be here if you need anything. Please do be careful out there.”

“I will, Alpha,” she said. “Thanks.”

After a little while, she passed by some bushes. She stopped for a moment, and after momentarily resisting the urge, she finally gave in and rustled around in them a bit.

Following a few minutes of digging through the foliage, she got back to her feet, a refractor in hand.

Celeste sighed. “Must be my lucky day,” she said to herself sardonically.

She continued her walk, and kept happening across more refractors and shards…

***

Back in the ruin, Janine knelt and had Adam’s head cradled in her lap. “You okay, kiddo? Wake up… I’ve got your head lying on my thighs.”

Adam remained unresponsive.

Janine’s eyes widened in disbelief. “That wakes everyone up!”

“Try your cleavage,” Nyte suggested.

Just as Janine was about to gently plop Adam’s head against her chest, he suddenly snapped up to his feet, highly alert. He reached up automatically, almost robotically, and drew his sword, which was now glowing. The others also noticed that red eyes were glowing from behind his shades, too.

“Adam,” said Nyte, with a wary look on his face. “You okay…?”

“This isn’t good,” said Janine.

“Not necessarily,” Fenix countered. “My eyes glow like that all the time.” After a moment’s thought, he added, “Okay, so maybe it isn’t good.”

Adam turned his head slowly to regard Nytetrayn. In a deeper, almost echoey voice, he said, “I am not the one you call Adam Powers.”

“Hoo-boy,” Nyte said. “Does this have anything to do with that stupid sword?”

“I am the spirit inside the sword, one who was trapped within it. Call me… Blade. MegaMan Blade.”

Fenix was speechless, while Janine looked surprised.

Nytetrayn, on the other hand, got a strange look in his eyes upon hearing the name, and his face transformed from one of casual dismissiveness to steel-eyed intensity as he faced the newcomer head-on.

To be continued…

—–

Legends of the Halcyon Era is a work of fan fiction set in the world of Mega Man Legends. It is largely adapted from a series of freeform RPG sessions, combining ideas from several contributors, and further fleshed out here in a prose format.

David Oxford, also known as LBD “Nytetrayn,” is a lifelong Mega Man fan who, along with his wife Nadia, has co-written the Mega Man Robot Master Field Guide and Mega Man X Maverick Hunter’s Field Guide from UDON Entertainment, and runs The Mega Man Network (themmnetwork dot com). You can also find him on Twitter @LBD_Nytetrayn and @themmnetwork, and on Twitch and YouTube under the name “Nyteworks.”

You can also find Legends of the Halcyon Era as it updates at Archive of Our Own.

Character designs by LBD “Nytetrayn” and Victor Campan. Character art by Victor Campan. Logos by Tabby Ramsey. Arrangement by LBD “Nytetrayn”.

Thanks for reading!