Legends of the Halcyon Era: The Story Thus Far

On December 17th, 2023, “Legends of the Halcyon Era” reached its landmark 50th episode, with it came the official introduction to the world of “Beyond 21XX,” which I hope will become a fan initiative that will help expand the world of Mega Man and carry on the legacy of the world of Mega Man X in a way never seen before.

To that end, in the coming months, I plan to expand on this scenario both within and outside the pages of “Legends of the Halcyon Era,” and I hope you’ll come along for the ride.

But 50 episodes is a lot, and I understand that not everyone has time to read all of that, even during vacation time. Fortunately, I’ve been writing the story with the idea that maybe some people will become interested later on. “Every comic book is somebody’s first,” as Stan Lee is quoted as saying, and I like to think that the same could apply for any episode of “Legends of the Halcyon Era.” With that in mind, I thought a brief summary of events might be handy for those who want to jump in to the current story arc.

Suffice to say, spoilers lie ahead. Even so, I like to think the character interactions are enough to make them worth the read, anyway… whenever you find the time, of course.

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In a world covered by endless water, on an speck of land out in the middle of nowhere known as Monroe Island, a pair of down-on-their-luck Diggers make their way to a ruin at the northmost point of the island. Inside, the duo of Nytetrayn and Fenix encounter a number of peculiar traps and Reaverbots on their way to claim what treasures might lie within. Over the course of their expedition, they meet a rival Digger named Black Steel, as well as the entrapped guardian of the ruin: a Bureaucratic Unit of the Ancients named Janine. After a battle which sees the Diggers (surprisingly) coming out victorious, she takes them to where the ruin’s large refractor lies in wait. However, it turns out to be booby-trapped, and the three find themselves running for their lives out of the ruin, where they first encounter another friendlier Digger by the name of Adam Powers. (“The Beginning“)

A few weeks later, after inviting Janine to stay with them and settling into a routine, Nytetrayn and Fenix are visited by a most unusual guest: an Air Pirate named Xenos Geist, whose strange Helpbots land his ship outside of their apartment and help themselves to their water so they can make breakfast. After an awkward introduction, Geist invites the lot to join him, which the trio readily accept, each side hoping to pull the other more towards their preferred way of making zenny. (“The Xenos Geist Travelling Restaurant Company“)

This takes them to a ruin Fenix picked up on from one of his “leads,” a little pocket of misery known as “The Devil’s Yard.” There, the quartet take on a number of challenges of the Lovecraftian variety, running into Steel and Adam again along the way, apparently having gotten the same tip. After exploring the various halls and tunnels of the ruins, discovering many treasures and secrets, they encounter the master of the dungeon: Sherman East, also known as “The Reanimator,” a nigh-demonic entity who claims to have been freed from a realm known as “Cyberspace,” who restores Janine’s memories as battle ensues to stop him from conquering the world. Three giant refractors are destroyed in the process, but Nytetrayn manages to salvage the last as they flee the self-destructing ruin. (“The Devil’s Yard Journey” Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10)

After successfully escaping The Devil’s Yard’s collapse, the group travel to a nearby hospital to recover from their battle with the Reanimator, where they meet a most strange young girl named Radi. While there, Nytetrayn gives up the remaining hard-won refractor from their battle for the benefit of a young woman who’s been in a coma, whose condition is treatable with sufficient power that the hospital otherwise lacks. (“Nurses, Nuts, and A Girl Named Radi“) They also visit with Fenix’s mother and learn a bit about his upbringing. (“Kade Comes Home“)

Following their stay, Xenos decides that digging isn’t for him and the arrangement isn’t working out, so he’ll be returning the lot to their previous home… albeit with one surprise new addition to their number. (“The Girl With No Name“) Xenos’ Helpbots end up crashing his ship on the beach of Monroe Island, leaving Nytetrayn to salvage what he can from the wreckage while Fenix and Janine negotiate a deal with the new landlord for their old apartment. Xenos hits the town with Fenix in an effort to hook him up (“Six on the Beach“), and they wind up in jail, with Nyte and the girls having to find a way to make bail. (“The Bartering & Bailing Circus“)

The group settles back into some sense of normal life as Xenos readies for his departure. (“Monday Morning Blues“) As Celeste tries to make the best of her situation, we see more of how she gets on with the people in town, as well as her new roommates. (“Muffin Doin’“) Jan tries to get Celeste to share a bath with her as Fenix reveals to Nyte that he has the bathroom wired for video, and Adam rejoins the group. (“Not-So-Direct to Video“) The group goes to Orton’s Ornery Burger Round-up for food, which is cut short when Adam spills the beans to Celeste about what went down back at the apartment, causing her to feel betrayed and storm off. As this goes on, Radi wages war to free her bovine buddies from the clutches of the restaurant’s proprietor. (“Radi vs. Orton’s Ornery Burger Round-Up“)

High jinks ensue when Fenix brings home a Reaverbot snake that spits refractors, which he names “Plissken”. Christmas preparations get underway — that is, once Nyte explains the concept to Janine. Plus, he and Celeste get ideas for certain gifts. (“Fenix’s New Pet“) When the big day comes, the gang get together and exchange presents. Also, Steel returns… in more ways than one. (“A Weird-Ass Christmas Story – Black Steel Bounces Back“)

Nytetrayn and Janine have a discussion, where he learns that Janine has eyes for a certain someone: Celeste. (“The Secret Confessions of the Reaverbot Queen“) Before setting out on the group’s next dig, Janine takes a little time to explore the nearby mountain area, where she runs into trouble — and a more chivalrous Black Steel, who comes to her aid and begins to form a bond with her. (“Black Steel Whipped“)

The group joins Adam about his airship, the Sky Shark, and sets off to new adventure! Along the way, they decide to get Celeste fitted for her first dig. (“Celeste’s Preparations“) After getting Celeste equipped, Fenix attempts some brief training outside of the ruin on Archie Island. However, when it comes time to explore the ruin, Celeste can’t do it. Inside, a mysterious being tells Janine her memories have been tampered with, and promises to restore them if she passes a series of tests. Meanwhile, above ground, Celeste begins to wander around, and has an unusual streak of luck finding random, out-of-the-way refractors. (“Of Blood and Blades“) MegaMan Blade explains his current occupation of Adam’s body, and the group meet a new Digger named Tom Morrow. (“Tom and Blade Join the Parade“)

The group make their way down level by level until they encounter Annihilator model MegaMan Magnus, an old colleague/friend of Janine and Blade’s whose programming is to stop them from proceeding. Nevertheless, they make it past him and on to the administrator’s level. (“To Kill a Stranger“) The administrator, MegaMan Rom, reveals himself and prepares to restore Blade and Janine’s memories — at the cost of her remaining in the facility. Fortunately, a compromise is reached that allows her to leave, so long as she checks in periodically. (“Thanks for the Memories“) The group gets past Magnus, who will be reprogrammed to allow Janine unfettered access. On the way home, they discover Celeste has a sense for detecting refractors, but are soon attacked by the Nemesis, airship of the Air Pirate known as Trevor Creed — Fenix’s father. Fortunately, thanks to some fancy flying from Adam, they escape largely unscathed. (“Celeste’s Gift“)

It becomes clear that boundaries need to be established to Janine, particularly where Celeste is concerned, and preparations are underway for the group’s next dig. (“Business as Unusual“) Tom resurfaces, and the ruin they’re in coincidentally responds to him “wishing” for things out loud. Afterwards, Xenos starts to make his move — until he realizes who he’s decided to ambush, Janine in particular. (“Genie in a Ruin“) Tom starts renting the apartment next to the group, but it turns out the space has other occupants. (“New Neighbor“)

While Adam recovers from their last excursion, Fenix, Nyte, Jan, and Celeste opt to check out a local ruin when they run into trouble in the form of Creed, who smacks down the first three and takes the latter into the ruin. Nyte’s rage reveals there’s something more to him than meets the eye as he and the others give chase. And Xenos pops up at an inopportune time. (“A Turn For The Worst: Daddy’s Home“) The guys pursue Creed through the ruin, while Jan comforts Celeste after her encounter with Creed and the things he said to her. In their pursuit, they instead run into a revived East, who plans to use a refractor sword known as the Armaggedon Shard to exact his revenge. The battle does lasting damage to Nyte’s right arm, and none other than Creed arrives to save the lot and turn the tide. But once East is dealt with, it’s back to business before Creed makes his escape. Afterwards, Fenix leaves to resume his original mission. (“A Turn For The Worst, Part 2: Farewell for a Friend“)

In “Legends of the Halcyon Era – Flashback,” we turn back the clock to before Nytetrayn and Fenix met Janine.

Nytetrayn awakens in a dark and mysterious place. With little information to guide him, he sets out to get free of his confines and start figuring out his place in this world he finds before him. In the process, he also develops a severe distrust, if not fear, of teleportation. (“Nyte’s Dawn“) Now free and on the surface, Nytetrayn sets out to try his hand at this “digging” thing, whereupon he meets another Digger who goes by the name of Fenix. (“When Nyte Met Feeny“) After cashing in their findings, the duo go shopping for armor, weapons, and other luxuries. (“The Domestication of Nytetrayn“) Nyte learns a valuable lesson about scaring people and Fenix helps the mayor with her “paperwork” to expedite their Digger licenses for Lovecraft Island. (“Travels & Tribulations, Part 1“) They venture to a ruin, leading to Fenix’s arm getting damaged and replaced. (“Travels & Tribulations, Part 2“) Fenix and Nyte move on to Monroe Island, where they decide to set up shop — but only for the time being. (“Travels & Tribulations, Part 3“)

Life goes on, albeit without Fenix, as Tom meets Radi and Nytetrayn begins work on a robotic companion. Meanwhile, Celeste discovers their apartment has been bugged, resulting in the group discovering something disturbing about their landlord. (“Dick’s Dastardly Deeds“) After a sleepless night for Nytetrayn, Celeste, Janine, and Tom decide to go out and do something on their own while Nyte stays in and sleeps. They visit a ruin and get in over their heads when they’re rescued by the fabled Red Phantom. (“The Red Phantom“)

A carnival is coming to the island, and Celeste and Nyte decide to go. Over the course of the evening, they finally admit their feelings for each other. (“First Date“) Meanwhile, Janine decides to leave them to it and hang out with Tom for a bit as they go for a bite to eat, and run into Steel. Unfortunately, their conversation takes a bit of a turn, leaving Janine unsure of herself. (“Janine’s Modesty“)

Confusion reigns as Janine faces a crisis of confidence after her encounter with Tom and Steel. No sooner than that’s settled, Adam picks up a transmission indicating that MegaMan Magnus is in trouble. When they arrive, they encounter Trevor Creed, who thinks they summoned him, before Sherman East reveals himself as the culprit. Battle ensues on multiple fronts, with Creed partnering with East and Magnus, Steel revealing his intentions towards Janine, and Creed letting on that he may know something about Celeste’s past, or at least how to find out more. Rebuffed by her, Creed turns on East and finishes the demonic Reaverbot off himself, at least for now, while the others escape with Magnus in tow. (“Clash of Titans“)

SPOILERS

At this point, we’ve caught up to the current “Legends of the Halcyon Era – Revelations” story arc. Continue reading only if you want to skip the first two parts and get right up to the 50th episode, “The Legacy of Avion,” which is where the backstory for “Beyond 21XX” is presented.

Nytetrayn finishes up his other two GunRobos, and takes them out for a test run in a nearby ruin when tragedy strikes: Trevor Creed is lying in wait, ready for revenge, and literally beats Nytetrayn within an inch of his life before the others arrive and chase him off. Also: Steel and Janine’s relationship deepens. They take Nytetrayn to the local medical facility, where they can’t do anything more than stabilize his condition. A day later, two strangers arrive, interested in transferring the patient to another location — and are willing to do it by force, if necessary. (“Nytefall“) After reaching an understanding, the group help the two strangers, calling themselves MoonRazor and SunFlame, back to their HQ, where Nytetrayn is fixed up before they go to meet the commander. (“The Two Strangers“)

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And there you have it! A brief summary of every episode leading up to the big 50th episode!

Now, read on, if you’d like to know some of my personal favorites of what we’ve seen thus far.

Some episodes I’m particularly fond of include:

• “The Girl With No Name” – To me, the cast just feels incomplete without Celeste there, so the first time she appears has to make the list, and along with “Six on the Beach” and “The Bartering & Bailing Circus“, this arc makes a nice, fun, and hopefully funny little trilogy.

  Here’s a fun little tidbit: I would have introduced her sooner, but we were caught up in “The Devil’s Yard Journey”, which lasted from the end of April to the start of December, so I had quite a wait ahead of me! And I had an entirely different role for her in mind, too.

• “Muffin Doin’” – I’ve been asked who my favorite character here is, and while I don’t like to pick favorites, it would probably be dishonest to not say Celeste. And as I mentioned in the notes for this one, this was the first wholly-original piece (read: not based on any preexisting logs or earlier prose I’d written) in 20 years. I was a bit nervous about doing it, honestly!

  It’s a light “day in the life of” type story I created to not only flesh out Celeste’s character a bit more a little sooner, but to also be a good jumping-on point for new readers, as I tried to give a brief regarding everyone and everything that happened up to that point. Unfortunately, I don’t know if the same approach would work as well now!

• “Radi vs. Orton’s Ornery Burger Round-Up” – Besides all the pure chaos in this episode inspired by a bit on The Simpsons, Celeste’s feeling of betrayal — and how it in turn hurts Nyte — still gets me.
• “Genie in a Ruin” – While I hadn’t driven any real stories myself up to this point, we would often take turns with what sorts of things would be in random ruins we’d visit. This one was a lot of fun to do as I found different ways to basically interpret the letter of all those “wishes,” while largely avoiding the spirit.
• “A Turn For The Worst: Daddy’s Home” – Ah, the face-to-face introduction of Fenix’s father, Trevor Creed. I wasn’t in charge of the RPG on this one, but I do rather like how one of the first glimpses of the truth behind Nytetrayn rises to the surface here when Celeste is taken, as well as his confession of his feeling for her, even if not to her.

  While I’d love to have custom, original cover art instead of reusing assets for every episode, this one felt significant enough that I knew I had to get something special made for the occasion that really drove home the intensity of the situation.

• “Nyte’s Dawn” – I really enjoyed the whole “Flashback” story arc and getting into the origins of Nytetrayn and how he and Fenix met, but “Nyte’s Dawn” stands out for being the first piece of prose I wrote for this, some 20 years or so ago. Since it was just me and my character, I decided that just writing it was a better way to go, until Nyte would be in a position to meet someone else.

  Fun Fact: This story arc originally played out in between “The Secret Confessions of the Reaverbot Queen” and “Black Steel Whipped,” but in changing things up for this version of the story, I thought that placing it after the tease that there was something more to Nytetrayn and Fenix leaving the group, as well as closer to the reveal of the secrets behind Nytetrayn’s origins, was a better place overall.

• “First Date” – My second, and until I started doing this, only other prose story I did for this. Naturally, I enjoyed finally taking Nytetrayn and Celeste’s relationship to the next level… even if that might only be the first level. As you might be able to tell, others in the group were really pushing for it from the word “go,” but I wanted to take my time and let things develop in a way I felt was more natural for the pair.
• “Nytefall” – This is it — “Revelations” is the first full story arc wherein I’m in control and running the setting. Sure, I’d do the odd ruin here or there, like the Genie one, or sometimes we’d take turns coming up with encounters, but this is my first time getting into the driver’s seat and taking full control for more than a session. And what’s the first thing I do?

  Why, have one of the other players’ characters absolutely wreck my character, of course! I really enjoyed having Celeste go ballistic on Creed afterward, too.

  Incidentally, did the description of the explosion sound kind of familiar? I hope so — it was a pretty big clue of what was to come.

  Another fun little tidbit: Other than the odd minor “NPC,” like Lance the Junk Shop clerk, my only real characters up to this point in the RPG were Nytetrayn and Celeste. So now I get to flex my characterization muscles a bit! (Rest assured, almost all the characters used in this version are mine, though.)

• “The Legacy of Avion” – I won’t say much about this one, except that it also brought “Beyond 21XX” to the world! My fellow players really enjoyed what I was doing here and in this arc, and I hope you will, too! So please check it out!

I hope that’s not too many, but 50 is a lot of episodes, so there was bound to be a good few. And there’s many more to come! Honestly, I’m a bit excited to get them out, but it’s going to take some time. There’s more to learn about Avion and “Beyond 21XX” in the weeks and months ahead, and I hope now that you’re caught up, you’ll join us for the journey!

If you’ve been reading, I’d love to know your favorite episodes, moments, or even just artwork from the series thus far!

Thanks for reading! And in case you haven’t heard, re-upping our hosting for the next few years took a big bite out of our bank account, so if you like what we’re doing here, would like to see us expand our breadth of content, and can kick in a few bucks to our Patreon or buy us an E Tank on Ko-fi, we’d greatly appreciate it!

Character designs by LBD “Nytetrayn” and Victor Campan. Character art and some original cover art by Victor Campan; other covers by LBD “Nytetrayn”. TMMN and Legends of the Halcyon Era logos by Tabby Ramsey. Beyond 21XX logo by EFEXTEX.