I have been walking alone in this wasteland for many months. There is death and desolation as far as the eye can see. When the raiders hit they took all they could and torched the rest. For them there will be no forgiveness in death. Their hands are forever stained by that which they have done.
I survived. Somehow. Myself and a few others, we made it through that initial attack. We worked together… for a while. Eventually they began to fade and slowly, one by one, they left me. Now I am alone. I have no purpose, no reason to be here. I have no place to go, and no one to go to. My only goal is to survive.
The raiders…. They came with their guns and their ships and they took all that I had away. I still see them flying by every now and then, scouting most like, but I'm stranded down here on the surface and they’re safe from me when they stay so far above. With a heavy heart I'm making my way towards the nearest settlement I know of but I'm worried. I fear that when I arrive nothing but rubble and death will greet me. It has happened before and each time I find nothing it grows harder to rise each morning.
Winter is coming soon. Food is already scarce but with the onset of the ice and snow I fear it will grow worse. This land is picked clean, my only hope is to move on and hope someplace was left unspoiled.
Occasionally I'll find strangers; other survivors like me. I do my best to trust them, to ease their burdens and share what little I have, but more often than not they turn on me at their first chance. It wearies me but still each time I try. When I hesitate and wonder whether it is wise for me to talk to the strangers I ask myself a simple question. If we don't try to help others how are we still people? How are we any different from animals?
Besides, even though I know I shouldn't trust most folks these days it's so nice to have someone to talk to.
A few nights ago I saw snow falling. Always in the past we have staved off the worst of the winter with our technology. Between our heating systems, hydroponics and weather drones we have always easily dealt with the elements and stockpiled food. But now those drones have been shot down, the hydroponics labs are barren and we have no fuel to run the heating systems which once kept entire towns warm. This is the first time in living memory that myself and the other survivors will have to live through the winter without those modern conveniences. I fear for us all.
A small part of me is awaiting the oncoming winter with great anticipation; I have never before seen the "untethered" storm and I have always wanted to see it with my own eyes. The old footage we saw in school never really showed us what it was like. Now I'll get that chance. That's the silver lining I guess. Although I'm not sure if I should even call it that.
Since the raiders came... Everything is so screwed up. I try so hard to put the past aside and just accept things for how they are now. I struggle with it though; it's so hard to stop feeling this longing for how things used to be. Even though we were alone here on this foreign world we had still felt invincible because of the technology that supported us. Now that all that power is gone we are proven to be helpless. Perhaps I fool myself in believing that some of us will survive this winter on our own. Maybe this will be the last written record from a member of the colony of the second habitable moon of Naris.
Still no matter the eventually outcome I never intend to stop fighting. Just as I will hold on to the belief that I can trust the other survivors; they can't all have lost their humanity yet. Surely some can still be trusted.
Reavers: Hijacked
Sellsword cursed softly as he came running around the corner of the command post, his reaver's heavily armoured legs crashing through the thin undergrowth. He got Renegade and his reaver in sight just in time to see Freya, who was standing atop the metal construct, pull the unconscious pilot free of the control mechanisms and launch him clear of the Reaver. The safety sensors built into the arena activated some force shields to soften Renegade’s landing and move him to safety.
Without hesitation Freya dropped down into the Reaver and within seconds she brought it to life. She had already worked around the security systems which prevented users other than its designated pilot, in this case Renegade, to operate its systems. Sellsword only had a short time to act before she got it under her complete control. Another pilot in there might not have worried him so much but this was Freya in that reaver. He had never before seen a pilot as adept at hijacking reavers as Freya was.
"Vengeance we have a problem," Sellsword said into the comm, "Renegade is down, repeat Renegade is down. Freya has control of his reaver, I am moving to engage."
"Understood," came the response, "Raptor and I are moving to your position with all possible speed. Elder do you have line of sight?"
"Not at the moment sir, but I'm working my way higher."
"Very well. Assist if you can."
"Yes sir," Elder confirmed, "I'll do what I can do."
"Good luck Sellsword. Take her down, or at very least keep her busy until we arrive."
"Of course Vengeance," Sellsword replied with more bravado than he felt, "This time we have her."
The comm crackled and fell silent.
Sellsword opened fire on Freya's reaver even as he began the adjustments to his reaver's power distribution. He zeroed the power going into the engines used for stealth and lowered the power used by the mobility engines. The extra power he divided between the armour shields encasing the reaver and his weapons systems. With the increased power available to his weapons he was able to activate the mid-power cannon mounted on his mech's shoulder. As it charged he continued to advance on Freya's reaver.
It still hadn't accepted her as its cadet, and so she still didn't have control, however the shields had been activated on it so he'd have to punch through that before he could disable the reaver. If those shields were still operational how had Freya got into the reaver? As if sensing his thoughts Freya paused her efforts to give him a smile and wave before she continued to work on the reaver.
The pulse rifle attached to his reaver's arm whirred for a moment as it charged and then slammed another wave of energy into Freya's reaver. It was largely ineffective against the mech’s shields. That was the nature of the pulse rifle, more effective against the cadets on foot than against a shielded reaver. Sellsword cursed his lack of foresight even though he knew there was no way he could have predicted this course of events. Still next time he'd know better and bring along a main weapon more suited for combat vs both reavers and cadets. For now to do some real damage and take her down he'd need his reaver's shoulder cannon, it was much better suited to breaking down force shields.
Just on time a display at the side of his console began to flash slowly, it indicated that his shoulder cannon had warmed up and was now operational. He brought it online and focused the beam it emitted on Freya's shields. The visual fluctuations in the armour's light patterns betrayed the strain the beam had on the shields. His scans confirmed that the shields were depleting rapidly.
Motion off to the side pulled his attention from Freya. He boosted backwards out of the way as a large shocker landed where he had been and detonated in the foliage. Grass and bushes withered from the energy given off by the device. The shockers had a low area of effect but had he been caught in the detonation a shocker that size it would have greatly reduced his shields if not knocked them out altogether. He would have been immobilized and incapacitated, for a short time anyways. The disruption wasn’t permanent.
He hadn't been aware that they had been issued to the defenders because of their instability and the weight of the things. A shocker large enough to do damage to a reaver would weigh thirty kilos or more. However that could be how Freya had incapacitated Renegade.
"They had a catapult Sellsword," crackled Elder over the comm, "Its operators are now down. You are clear to continue."
"Understood," he replied as he moved up once more. Once within range he unleashed his shoulder cannon on Freya's reaver, but the shocker’s distraction had already given Freya the time she needed. The reaver began to move as Freya did a quick check of the calibration and brought weapons online. His scans showed her shield strength increasing as she managed her power and tapped into those reserves. Sellsword adjusted the mobile shield on his arm and continued to wear away at her shields. Her engines flared and she flashed backwards out of his range. She was ready for him now.
A pair of blips on his display showed enormous power spikes nearby. Freya must have held a couple of heavy cannons in reserve and had kept them offline so their energy signatures wouldn't give away the position of her command post. Now that he knew they were nearby he visually scanned the forest in the general directions of the energy spikes. One of them was nearby and visible through the trees but he could see the flickering grey heavy shields already protecting it from his weapons. He was running out of time.
A Fruitless Path
"Princess," he said in greeting as he entered the sitting room. His back was straight and stiff, his tone reserved, "You summoned me?"
The man smoothly went down on one knee and knelt before her, head bowed and hand on the hilt of his blade. It was a pose worth of any throne room. However this was no great hall of rulers.
Princess Rithastu rose from her chair and slipped across the room to the kneeling man. She placed a hand on his shoulder, gently caressing the old scar along the side of his neck as her hand fell into place.
"Please rise Falnor, you don't have to do this with me."
He remained in place, unmoving and silent. His expression remained blank.
"It used to be different between us."
He said nothing. Things had been different once. She could remember the way he had laughed when he had joined her here. The way he'd looked at her and the way he had spoken to her then were so different from how he saw her now. He'd loved her; part of her had loved him as well. But that was a love that could never be acknowledged. Still part of her wished that it could work out.
"I... Wish for us to go back. Back to how things were before," she continued on in spite of his silence.
"Do you?" he asked, finally raising his gaze from the floor to meet her own.
"Of course,"
"That seems to be a fruitless path to walk," Pain flashed in his eyes, "You made a choice before. You should remain steadfast with that decision, just as I have accepted and come to terms with your choice."
It wasn't that simple. Why couldn't he see it wasn't that simple? She couldn't just act for herself, besides she knew she wasn't yet ready. She still had options to explore.
"So far as I can tell I don't really exist. I never have," he murmured, his voice was so soft she had to lean closer to hear him, "Not to you anyways."
She didn't know what to say, she wasn't sure what she could say.
"Unless there is something you would ask of me Milady..."
When she remained silent he rose smoothly, gave her a straight-backed bow and retreated towards the door.
She watched him leave, longing to speak but having nothing to say.
All this time spent chasing a dream. All for naught.
That thought echoed in his head every time he saw her. The best he could do for the princess and himself was to let go of that fantasy. This way he could at least limit their pain.