Synched

“It is not enough to save a life, you must strive to enrich it”

Chapter 1: What’s Left

FINALLY! 17 years on this boring rock and the fight has finally come to our doorstep.

We were just alerted that the nearest Shodai world has fallen, which means the enemy must be hurtling towards this tiny rock we call home at this very moment. The Exoswarm may be a deadly, supposedly unstoppable force, but I’d rather spend my life being a fearless warrior hero than being stuck on this dump. I mean literally, it’s a junkworld.

People here don’t seem to mind being left to fend for our own without any assistance from Vikare, our homeworld. It’s like they’re proud to make their living off scrapping parts from old ships nobody wanted anymore. It might be enough for them, but I’ve got my sights set higher. Fighting this war gives me a chance to prove I’ve got so much more to offer than collecting clutter. Although ironically, I’m hoping this random junk I found during one of my scavenges might just be the key to beating this threat.

I don’t exactly know what it is, but one thing is for sure: it’s powerful. You scavenge for long enough, you can pretty much guess the value of something in one glance. This thing is definitely from Vikare, maybe some kind of energy source? There are strange markings inside the grooves, almost like code… not in any language I’ve ever seen. I’ve heard of the Capital having access to some kind of “otherworldly magic”, so it checks out that this is some serious top tier tech. Now if I could just remember where I left it…

Chapter 2: A Piece Of Us

I remember I hid the weird Vikare tech in one of my secret stashes around the East Shipyard. Something Mom and Dad taught me: “you keep your valuables in the house, you become a target.” Everyone knows the East is dried up, as pretty much anything of value there was stripped and sold long ago. Even though Mom and Dad got drafted as mechanics for the war long ago, I still follow their lead and hide anything I come across that might be extra valuable. The kind of thing that you hold on to instead of bringing it to Drikk’s shop to trade for food. The kind of thing might come in handy when the Exoswarm are about to destroy your world. You just never know, you know?

Crap, I have to hurry. The Exoswarm has breached our paltry planetary defenses and have started tearing through the junkyards. It’s not that I’m scared, it’s just that…okay, I’m scared. The Exoswarm is just as terrifying and unwavering as the war stories say they are. I thought I wanted to fight them, but I was so wrong. I’m hoping this Vikare hunk of junk is something I can use to either blow them all to hell or warp my way out of here. Either way, it’s the best shot I have at surviving. What would Mom and Dad do?

Wait… weird. The necklace they left me with is…moving? I know it sounds crazy, but it’s almost as if it’s pulling me, magnetically perhaps? Which doesn’t make any sense, since it’s not metal. It’s a simple brass chain with some kind of jewel on the end. I usually keep it locked up because you can’t trust these junkers, but as soon as the Exoswarm showed up, I grabbed it just in case it was necessary to evacuate off world. I didn’t expect it to drag me around like a dog on a leash! Mom and Dad always say it would point me in the right direction, but I didn’t think they meant literally. Where is it taking…wait! The lockbox!

Somehow the necklace is being attracted to the Vikare tech. Inside the lockbox I see it, just as shiny and new as the day I found it. The necklace is going crazy, I have no choice but to take it off and…woah! The jewel shot right into the tiny crevice in the Vikare machine. As it begins to vibrate, I wonder if this was a good idea…

Chapter 3: Together Forever

I CAN’T BELIEVE IT. Did that really happen? No, no way. I’m still in shock! I just took out an ENTIRE wave of those Exoswarm bastards single-handedly. Well, not exactly single handed. Somehow, the necklace activated the Vikare tech and the next thing I know, the thing transformed into some kind of mech! I’d never seen anything like it! Tall, sleek, and deadly looking, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit unnerved by it. That’s when it happened.

I thought I knew what the Exoswarm was like, but I had no idea. They ripped through the planet like it was made of paper, destroying everything in their path. I probably should have run or hid, but when I saw them up close, I heard a voice in my head that was not my own, it muttered one word: fight. Next thing I knew, the mech warrior sprung into action! It battled back against the Exoswarm almost by instinct, like it knew that this was a threat to be defeated. Not only that, but it almost seemed protective of me. I don’t know how to explain it, but it’s almost like we’re connected in some way. There’s a feeling of familiarity there, a sense of humanity. It was almost as if I was controlling it (him?) with my mind. Every action I thought, it would execute. Jump, kick, punch, dodge. Well…almost every action.

This mental link we have is instinctual and untrained. I tried a couple of more complex moves, and things got messy when the mech didn’t respond. While I was able to keep the Exoswarm at bay and prevent them from taking any more lives, our battle ended up destroying most of the structures in the area. The Exoswarm’s retreat is only temporary, so evacuations are ongoing. Even if I had defeated them all, Epsik-9 is no longer inhabitable. I feel awful about the collateral damage, but I know the only way to make it up to them is to get better at this. To train day and night with my new “friend” to ensure that the next time I need to protect my neighbors, they don’t just survive, but they thrive. It’s about time someone was looking out for them. The important thing is that these people are safe. And now, I can truly become the hero they need.