Legends of the Halcyon Era – Noh Thyself

Previously, in Legends of the Halcyon Era…

After foiling a plot by Trevor Creed to resurrect an ancient force of destruction, the Diggers found themselves attacked by groups of robots who had brought down the Sky Shark and badly injured its pilot, Adam Powers.

Things got worse as the same force that attacked them wiped the town of Monroe off the map. While Adam and Janine remained behind, the rest of the crew ventured back to what was once their home to confront the force behind the attack and avenge those lives lost. Instead, an enemy from Black Steel’s past thoroughly dismantled the group and captured Celeste, blasting off with her to parts unknown.

The Dragon Knights soon arrived on the scene, and everyone regrouped back at their base, Fortress Dragon Nova. There, Nytetrayn and Steel forged new armor to combat the threat and began to mount a rescue for Celeste, who had been deposited into a tube for “extensive testing”. Venturing into the mountain fortress of their enemy, the Diggers encountered a pair of massive mechanical guardians before finding a machine who seemed to provide more questions than it did answers.

The elevator hummed as it rose. The display assured them they’d stopped on the top floor, but there was a lingering sense that the lair was far taller. The doors parted and revealed another short hallway, aged like the others before it, with a steel door identical to the one through which they’d first entered this ancient facility.

“It’s weird,” said Katrina. “All of these really old halls and rooms… I think they could be from our era. It’s as though the rest of this place was built around it, like some sort of amber trying to preserve the original contents.” She looked to Adam Powers and asked, “Is this sort of thing normal for your ‘digs’?”

“Not even remotely,” Adam replied. “Most ruins we find are more like labyrinths, and you’re lucky if you can discern a purpose behind them.”

“Yeah,” Fenix said. “Personally, I like this. The variety adds a certain je ne sais quoi the other ruins lack. It just makes me want to rip the copper wires out of the walls and make out like a bandit.”

Nytetrayn ignored the banter. He wasted no time heading for the next door, which opened like the previous ones. The others followed, and looked around briefly before making sure Nyte didn’t get too far ahead of them.

They found the next hallway to be more spacious than the one they’d just been in. The walls emanated their own light, much as they had in the outer portion of the facility.

At the end of the hallway was a fork, with one branch leading upwards to the left and downwards to the right. The left path had another set of double doors, with strange buttons lining a panel on the wall to the right of it.

Nyte went up to the buttons to see if he could figure out what to do next, but Steel casually pressed a few and opened the door. It slid open, revealing a green, shimmering wall. He then produced the green card he’d been given and pointed it at the wall, which seemed to meld together before the key reformed and the wall faded to reveal a large, circular elevator.

“Weirder and weirder,” said Adam. “What even is this place?”

“I don’t think I want to know,” Katrina said.

“Ground Zero, once we’re done,” Nyte added.

The group boarded, and found that it was clearly made for transporting larger loads than the earlier ones they’d been crammed into. Steel pressed the sole button which indicated “up”.

Soon, and noticeably faster than the older elevators, this one came to a halt at its destination, and the doors opened with a hiss. Before them stretched a large room, a deep black chamber with walls like crystal. They seemed more like vast pillars of darkness than architectural superstructure.

In the center of the room stood another tube, perched atop a mechanical dais.

As Nytetrayn approached the tube and tried to see what was inside, Fenix looked around and muttered “We’re all gonna die.”

The glass on the tube was obscured by something, almost like dew on a windshield on a damp morning. Nyte tried wiping some of it away, but was only partially successful. Inside was an unmoving figure, eyes shut peacefully, as if dead. Despite the imperfect visibility, the silhouette was enough to tell Nytetrayn what he needed to know.

“Not who we’re looking for, but looks kinda familiar. I wonder if we should get him out, though?”

Nearby, a monitor had a bit of text in red lettering that caught Adam’s eye. As he took a look, it said:

“Project N.E.O.S. – Black Steel”

Just as Adam read the text, realization hit Nyte as he looked at the form in the tube, then back at Steel. “Waitasec…”

As he looked at Steel, he saw the Digger staring on in horror as memories began to flood back.

“It… it…” Steel stammered.

“It makes sense now, does it not?” asked a voice not of their group.

The group turned and backed away slightly as a red three-dimensional light construct phased into being next to the tube. Her face was beautiful but cold, like a mannequin’s. Her hair was pale, and she wore a dark dress printed with a sinister-looking pattern.

“Who are you?” Nytetrayn asked.

“I am LENEIS, facility administrator. I am an artificial intelligence construct who acts as the caretaker and chief developer of this compound.”

“In other words, you’re the guy in charge?”

“Of this facility, yes. But I also serve another, one who is waiting for you… if you can make it there.”

“Where is Celeste?!” Nyte demanded.

“Celeste is well,” LENEIS replied. “She has proven quite resistant, I must say.”

Not letting his eyes lose sight of LENEIS, Nyte allowed himself a small breath of relief as the AI construct continued.

“We cannot discern her origins or purpose. It is more the pity that she did not choose to go through with the memory restoration process on Avion.”

“Avion?” Nyte said, as he got progressively more agitated. “How do you know about that?! And where is she?!”

“How do I know?” she asked him.

“Did I stutter?”

“Your friend there,” she said as she raised a hand to gesture toward a sweating Steel, who Janine stood in front of protectively. “His implants have recorded everything since his ‘reunion’ with you in The Devil’s Yard.”

After a moment’s pause to let that sink in, Nytetrayn angrily asked “Where the hell do you get off, huh? What makes you think you have the right to do this crap?!”

“Think?” LENEIS replied. “I am doing as programmed, I assure you. My construct does not allow for independent thought outside of my one purpose.”

“And that is?” Adam asked her.

“To develop the perfect weapon, of course.”

“Why?” asked Adam.

“Because that is what I was programmed to do,” LENEIS said. “It was the reason for my creation by Master Sigma.”

The air became completely still at the mention of Sigma’s name.

After a moment’s silence, Katrina said “Alright, now I’ve got a vested interest in this.”

“Wait, you didn’t before?” Adam asked.

“Sigma?” Nyte said. “He’s… dead. Gone. He’s got to be.”

“Of course,” LENEIS said. “My current master has had to assume control in his absence.”

“And who is your current master?” Katrina asked. “Tell me!”

“So insistent, are you? Very well, I offer you this: If you manage to make it to the top, you will learn all that you desire.”

Nytetrayn wasn’t about to let her go that easily. “Where is Celeste? Is she there?”

“She is. Have that be your incentive, Nytetrayn. Son of Black Draco.”

Nytetrayn activated his Nyte Saber. “Then I hope you made travel plans, because by the time I’m done, you won’t know the top of this place from the bottom.”

Katrina narrowed her eyes and told LENEIS “I am going to enjoy slowly burning your AI core out one microchip at a time, you bitch,” much to Adam’s surprise.

“Wait!” Steel shouted. “I need to know everything. I need to be certain… Am I really…?”

“Just a copy. Not even the same one who met these two all that time ago,” she said, as she gestured to Nytetrayn and Fenix.

“But… my memories of them… of my mother…”

LENEIS let out a dramatic sigh. “Let me make this clear so that we may move on: Your mother was our original sample, a human grown in a tube from random samples. Her body was infused with our nanites, and she was sent out into the world of humans to test her resilience.”

“During her life, she birthed you. Your father died of sickness when you were but a child, too young to remember. Years later, you witnessed her death at the hands of N.O.H. She was able to carry you to safety and you were only allowed to escape because N.O.H. was ordered to leave you unharmed, so that we might see how a specimen who was born of a specimen would handle itself in the world of man.”

“We were pleased to see that the nanites continued to function within you, actually strengthening over time. We followed your progress through life, and the experiment was deemed a success.”

“It was quite a coincidence that you would encounter N.O.H. on the day you returned to visit your mother’s grave. Our data showed that you would arrive at 7pm every year. That year, you arrived early. 6:07pm, to be precise. As a result, you observed our attempt to retrieve the original sample for necessary studies. It was unfortunate that we had to exhume her from her grave.”

Nytetrayn narrowed his eyes, while Steel’s seemed to widen the more he heard.

LENEIS continued. “You – or should I be saying Steel? Forgive me, I keep referring to you as though you are the original. It must be aggravating, no?”

“The original Steel fought in a rage that day, seeking vengeance. But even aided by the nanites, you were no match. When the original was promptly killed by N.O.H., we had him brought here. From his preserved DNA, we were able to create you.”

“With his DNA came unexpected developments: His memories. We thought this to our advantage, as we could then send him back out into the world to ‘continue where he left off’, in a manner of speaking.”

“Wait,” said Katrina. “That doesn’t make any sense, DNA doesn’t contain memories.”

“Yes, Katrina, that is correct. As stated, the developments were unexpected. However, our initial assumption proved incorrect. We had overlooked the fact the nanites attached to the samples carried some limited memory themselves. They shared pieces of his thoughts through a bonding process we have yet to name. Awkward, to be sure.”

“So that means they must have rewritten their memories to his brain,” Katrina said. “That would explain it…”

LENEIS nodded to Katrina. “Yes, but they had their faults.”

“Let me guess: They were too small to store everything, right?”

“Correct. The attempts to restore his memories affected him, resulting in a crazed version of Steel, prone to ridiculous ideas and whims. Unsure of who he even was at times, such as you witnessed in The Devil’s Yard.”

“That was kind of funny,” Fenix said. Nyte punched him in the arm. “Well, it was.”

“His nanites eventually resumed their usual function,” LENEIS continued. “You will recall the exact time on Monroe Island, as he was drinking tea. Or was it coffee? I find it difficult to discern between human beverages.”

“But there you have it. Your history, N.E.O.S. II. Your actual past.”

Nyte looked to Steel, then to the tube, and asked “So, why keep this body? And what is this ‘N.O.H.’?”

LENEIS smiled in an irritatingly knowing way. “The Nanotech Operational Henchman – or ‘Noh’ – is our successful experiment in evolving the ancient Devil tech of old with nanite-controlled liquid metal into a mimetic material, thus creating a superior, multi-functional servant.”

“As for the body? We restored it. And I must say, this is the perfect time to test the enhancements. I had hoped such a day would come.”

“Enhance… you’d better not be doing anything like that to Celeste!” Nyte said.

“There is an elevator on the other side of this room. If you manage to survive, N.O.H. will be waiting. As will your answers, Nytetrayn.”

Nytetrayn rushed to where LENEIS stood just as she flickered and faded out. He growled, then shouted “I hope you know your days are numbered, you piece of slag!!!”
“One way or the other,” he added, more quietly, as he turned to the others. “Come on, guys, let’s get moving.”

Nytetrayn saw the others backing away and readying themselves.

“This thing behind me… it’s moving, isn’t it?”

“It is,” Adam said.

Nyte’s head drooped.

The tube opened, and Black Steel stepped out. As he settled to the ground, armor formed across his body, as if out of thin air. It looked identical to what he wore as a Digger. He stood tall and stretched to his fullest, his eyes widening as he screamed with new life.

“Relax, guys,” said Fenix. “I already took him once, he isn’t that tough.”

Meanwhile, Nytetrayn had turned and backed away, and now looked to Steel. “Uh, Steel?”

Steel didn’t respond, didn’t move. He only stared ahead blankly, as if in a trance. Janine kept herself between the two Steels.

Nyte continued. “Since that’s sorta… you, there… what do we do?”

Black Steel regarded Nytetrayn.

“Uh, hiya,” the young Digger offered. In lieu of a response, Black Steel’s form trembled and then suddenly disappeared.

“What the…?” Nyte wondered aloud. “Guess he had somewhere else to be.”

Just as suddenly, Black Steel reappeared behind Nytetrayn and drove his fist hard into the exposed portion of his back, sending Nytetrayn down forward onto his face.

“MUST. KILL” Black Steel declared.

“Guess he never did quite forget that whole kangaroo thing,” Nytetrayn said as he removed his face from the ground.

Adam stood his ground and watched Black Steel carefully.

“Guess there’s no sense keeping up appearances,” Katrina said, as she dropped her Terran camouflage to reveal her true Phoeline Reploid form, though she still wasn’t sure what to do beyond that.

Fenix took the less conflicted and cautious approach as he converted his Gatling arm and opened fire on Black Steel. Upon identifying his next target, Black Steel darted at the masked Digger with unfathomable speed – clearly one of the “enhancements” LENEIS had spoken of –
dodging the projectiles until he was able to grab the gun and shove it up and away from his vicinity. As he held the arm upwards, he kicked Fenix in the ribs and sent him bouncing across the metal floor.

MegaMan Magnus swiped at the back of Black Steel’s head with his claws, but his attack was ducked. Black Steel spun with his rocket launcher flipping up onto his shoulder and opening fire, blasting the Annihilator Unit aside.

Katrina decided to take advantage of the distraction and darted down from above with a flying side kick at Steel’s back, but he spun around again to catch the kick with his armored forearm. As she sat there stunned, he raised his arm cannon and blasted her backward.

Nytetrayn shot at the arm cannon with a blast from his own Nyte Buster, jarring the weapon and earning Black Steel’s attention once again as he phased out.

“Oh no y’don’t,” Nyte said as he converted his arm cannon to Nyte Saber mode.

Black Steel phased back in before Nyte with a missile ready for him, but the young Digger anticipated the move and met it by spinning like a whirlwind with the blade outstretched just before his foe reappeared. The attack caught Black Steel and severed his armor, opening a deep wound that spilled much blood.

Black Steel slid back, growling “KILL… ALL… TARGETS…”

Nyte stopped his spinning and faced Black Steel with a smirk before dashing in with a punch for his opened wound, which was already being repaired by his nanites. Black Steel let loose the missile he’d readied, but Nyte lucked out as his dash carried him beneath the missile’s trajectory.

Nytetrayn passed by Black Steel while delivering his blow, which stunned him long enough for a hail of gunfire and energy blasts from Fenix and Magnus, with Katrina joining in with her own burst of flame. Adam rushed in after the wave of firepower with his massive blade, swinging it almost too quickly to see.

Black Steel found himself peppered by the blasts from Fenix and Magnus, while Katrina’s flame melted some of the armor from his body, and Adam’s sword cut deep, spilling more blood..

He slowly rose back to his feet, a bloodied, battered, and charred mess. But even then, his face visibly healed before their eyes as he approached again.

Nytetrayn turned to face Black Steel again, and used his AAS to make his fist begin to glow with a golden energy as he used his other hand to point behind Steel…

“Steel! Horny kangaroo Reaverbots!!!”

Black Steel’s eyes instantly widened as he turned to regard the direction Nytetrayn had pointed towards, his arm cannon raised. As he saw nothing before him, his expression dropped as he started to wince in knowing, yet regretful, resignation.

Nytetrayn let loose with his other hand, and delivered a fierce energized punch right to Black Steel’s noggin, which sent the former Digger flying across the room, where he slammed against the cold wall and bounced off, flopping limply down to the ground.

The young Digger shook his right hand out. “Same old Steel… we get him?”

Black Steel began to stand once again, slowly.

“…crap.”

“If he’s enhanced over the version of Steel we know, we could be here all night,” Adam said. “Back on Avion, Katrina and SunFlame mopped the floor with him and he still walked away under his own power!”

“You have to get him all at once,” Steel – their Steel – said.

“Huh?” Nyte asked, more surprised by Steel’s sudden return from La-La Land than by the suggestion itself.

“Nanites regenerate us,” Steel continued, “but they can’t reconstruct us entirely.” He held up one finger. “One shot, all at once.”

“Man, I wish I had a refractor right about now,” Nytetrayn said. “Oh well.”

He took aim with his Nyte Buster, while Magnus charged up a ball of energy between his hands and Fenix racked a grenade into his launcher. Adam held his sword aloft as it charged with energy, and Katrina held her hands up to prepare a concentrated Fire Beam.

“MUST… KILL… MUST…” Black Steel mindlessly intoned.

Finally, Janine took aim with her BFG. “I’m sorry, my love…”

“…now,” said Steel.

Janine fired, Nytetrayn opened up with a barrage of Buster shots, Fenix launched his grenade, Magnus let loose a beam of throbbing red beam of energy, Adam swung his sword down with enough force to hurl a blade of pure energy, and Katrina unleashed her large stream of flame.

Without making any move to get out of the way, Black Steel watched on as oblivion raced to embrace him. He blinked, and with a weak smile, said “I’m… sorry.”

After witnessing the final moment, Nytetrayn exclaimed “Well, dammit!” and let out a sigh. “This is off to a lousy start.”

“Great,” said Fenix. “I’m going to be having nightmares about this for months, and I can’t even bang Janine to take my mind off them now.”

“So… I’m dead now,” Steel said, almost trancelike.

Janine held him close. “No, you’re not. You’re still here. That was just a ghost…” He didn’t return the hug.

Nytetrayn had gone to inspect the corpse, such as it was, and only finding a few scraps of armor, gathered them for Steel.

As they processed what had just transpired, Nytetrayn spoke up. “Hey, uh, Katrina?”

Katrina snapped to attention upon hearing her name. “Hmm?”

“Does this count as violating the first law?”

“I… I’m not sure, Nyte. The first law didn’t really talk much about homicidal maniac clones.”

Their pondering was then interrupted by the sound of clapping, and the group’s attention snapped to the source, as LENEIS stood before them once again. Fenix tried to shoot her in the face, but she only laughed as the shot flew through her holographic form.

“And so, he performed nicely!” LENEIS said. “Excellent! And kudos to you all for killing your companion, too!”

“You’ll pay for that,” Katrina said.

“I look forward to your attempt, more than you realize. But! For providing me with such an excellent test, I will reveal to you another piece of my master’s plans – as per his orders, of course.”

LENEIS snapped her fingers, and the walls began to shift, slowly descending into the floor. On either side of the chamber were now uncovered, transparent walls which showed what lay beyond them.

The group saw row after row of Black Steels, numbering in the hundreds, perhaps even thousands. And from what they could tell, each was garbed in the same black armor plating the original had worn as they slumbered, standing with their eyes closed, looking ready to awaken at any moment.

Steel dropped to his knees as LENEIS smiled. “A majestic army, is it not?” she asked.

“You… you monsters…” Katrina sputtered.

“That’s putting it kindly,” said Magnus.

LENEIS winked at the group as she prepared to depart. “The elevator awaits, and so does Noh,” she said as she once again faded from view.

New to Legends of the Halcyon Era? Looking to catch up, or just re-familiarize yourself? Then check out the Character Profiles page!

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, Bluesky @LBDNytetrayn, and @themmnetwork on both, 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, and on Mega Man Legends Station!

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

Thanks for reading!

LBD "Nytetrayn"

David Oxford, or “LBD ‘Nytetrayn’,” as he is sometimes also known, is a freelance writer of many varied interests who resides in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. If you’re interested in hiring him, please drop him a line at david.oxford (at) nyteworks.net.

For a full list of places to find him online, click here.