Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It had shining bright crimson armor as it flew through the sky with beauty and grace. The Skell had originally been given the name ADF#401, but its owner was against the idea. The amazing Lin Lee Koo had changed the name of her Skell to “Mondana”, based on her hair-clips. The Skell instinctively chose to protect its master.

They were flying through Primordia, Elma and caught glimpse of a powerful Cenicula. It noticed her instantly. Lin gasped. Elma didn’t stand a chance against such a powerful monster it’d crush her like a bug . . . ironically.

“Come on Tatsu!” Lin shouted at the onion. Mondana swooped in for the rescue. It intercepted what would have been a killing blow and began to blast the monster with everything it had.

“Tatsu scared!” Tatsu shouted as the Cenicula roared at the all-mighty Skell.

“Calm down Tatsu.” Lin growled at the walking potato. “Don’t worry, I’ve got this.”

Tatsu squealed in terror as the Skell clashed arms with the Cenicula. The monster leaped onto the Skell, tossing it back. Mondana then leaped high into the air, blasting it with various attacks. The Cenicula growled as it shot powerful balls of energy that Mondana barely dodged.

“Ugh, this thing’s tough all right.” Lin growled, focusing her ammo on the Cenicula’s legs. One leg snapped, causing the Cenicula to collapse, then another fell, toppling the enemy.

“Aw ya!” Lin shouted in the wake of her success. Mondana blasted full speed into the Cenicula, cracking the mighty creature’s shell.

The Cenicula roared in pain and fired randomly, but Lin wouldn’t let that stop her. Gracefully dodging the upcoming fire, Mondana’s lit on fire as it charged forwards and smashed the Cenicula, killing it easily.

“Linly punch!” Tatsu shouted. Cheering at his friend’s success.

Lin beamed as Elma thanked her for the help.

Back at the BLADE Barracks, Lin was vigorously cooking her delicious potato in celebration.

“Tatsu so proud of Linly.” Tatsu cheered.

“Good, good, now stay in the bowl.” Lin commanded. Tatsu abided. Needless to say, she, Cross, and Elma were going to have a delicious feast that night.

.;-;. .;-;. .;-;.

“Linly!” Tatsu shouted, looking at Lin’s fanfiction. “For last time Tatsu is not potato or onion!”

“Yes and Skells can’t exactly fly.” Elma stated. “And a Cenicula won’t go down that easily.”

“Ya I know.” Lin said, annoyed. “It’s just fanfiction, it’s not meant to be taken seriously.”

“It’s still a story that you want to make some sense.” Elma stated. “Also, why am I useless in that story?”

“It’s about the Skell, not the people.” Lin stated.

“Why am I absent?” Cross asked.

“Eh, I forgot to add you?” Lin said. Cross raised a brow but didn’t say anything else.

“Tatsu disapprove!” Tatsu suddenly declared.

“I’d like to see you do better.” Lin challenged. Tatsu smirked, already forming in his mind what he’d write.

Chapter Text

The great all-mighty Tatsu rode his glorious Skell through the sky. His sidekicks were carrying extra supplies. He was going to the Dunga Caravan to make his caravan the richest.

What was his Skell called? The Noponis of course? What else would you use to symbolize Nopon bestestness? Through the vast forest of Glow Tree Forest, his Noponis dashed, easily leaping over obsticals.

Upon arrival, the Nopon rejoiced upon seeing Tatsu return victorious.

“Wow Tatsu!” Lin praised. “You're so amazing! I'll never ever think of cooking you ever again.” Tatsu beamed in happiness.

“Tatsu knew Linly was good hom hom on inside!” Tatsu declared. “Linly just needed Tatsu as role model!”

Lin beamed, proud to say that she was friends with Tatsu.

.;-;. .;-;. .;-;.

“Tatsu!” Lin shouted. “That's not even about the Skell! That's just you being egotistic. Also, where are Cross and Elma?”

“Hom hom friends not important!” Tatsu said. Both Cross and Elma leered over Tatsu. “I mean, friends important, just not to Tatsu’s story.”

Elma shook her head slightly.

“Cross, it's your turn.” Lin said, smiling sweetly.

Chapter Text

It's a Skell. What am I supposed to say?

.;-;. .;-;. .;-;.

“CROSS!” Lin shouted in a rage. “That’s not even a story! That's just two sentences!”

“I'm sorry.” Cross apologized. “I didn't know what to write.”

“You made that very clear with this mess of a fanfic.” Lin seethed. “What's wrong with you?!”

“Sorry.” Cross said, “I’ll rewrite it. I promise.”

“Get going.” Lin ordered.

“Yes ma'am.” Cross whimpered.

.;-;. .;-;. .;-;.

The Skell clinked and rattled upon being boarded. It wasn't in the best shape after slipping out of battle with a particularly nasty pack of Grexes. The Alfa in particular was dangerous, nearly shutting the Skell down.

Cross needed to drive the Skell back to NLA for maintenance. While the Skell was useful, it wasn't invincible. He should have asked for Elma and Lin to help him, maybe then he wouldn't have been in this predicament.

Luckily the drive back to NLA wasn't that exciting.

The Skell creaked as it drove into the Administrative District. Vadham looked at it with a sigh of disapproval.

“Rook, this is the third time this week that you've returned to NLA with a beat up Skell.” Vadham stated with a scowl of disapproval. “What happened?”

“I was working on a mission, like you asked.” Cross stated. “It turns out that the leader was a tyrant.”

“A tyrant eh?” Vadham asked. “Well, I suppose I can't blame you for something like that, but where are your team mates?”

“I didn't want to bother them with this mission since it seemed simple enough.” Cross said honestly. “The events with the Alfa being a Tyrant was entirely unforeseen.”

Vadham shook his head in disappointment. “Look Cross, I know you're tough ‘n all, but ya don't need to do missions on your own. Like today, something on the battlefield went unexpected. Would it not have been easier if Elma, Lin, or even someone as random as Yelv were on the battlefield watching your back?”

“I suppose so.” Cross admitted. “I apologize. I'll remember that for later.”

Vadham sighed. “Good luck.”

.;-;. .;-;. .;-;.

“There, I'm done.” Cross finally shouted. “You happy? Cuz I'm not doing that again.”

“Yep.” Lin said. “See, now that wasn't so bad now was it? Now let me read it.”

Cross handed the paper over to Lin. After a minute of reading it, Lin frowned.

“At least you had a valid excuse to exclude us from the story.” Lin said. “But that wasn't really about the Skell on the second half and FYI, Skells are powerful enough to defeat a tyrant single handed.”

“I never said how powerful the tyrant is.” Cross stated. “It could have been level 60 for all you know.”

“Ahem, if the Grex was level 60, then I think you'd be dead.” Lin stated matter-of-factly.

Elma then walked into the room.

“Hey Elma.” Lin called. “It's your turn.”

Chapter Text

Amle rode her Skell through Sylvalum, finally free after they found the Lifehold Core. Her Skell, Anaara, was traversing the lake within the continent. Behind her was Nil and Sorc. They were all incredibly powerful at this point, having defeated the Ganglion.

While Nil and Sorc were perfectly normal humans, Amle had only recently revealed herself, one of the few xenoforms on the White Whale.

She had blue skin and brilliant crystal hair. Her eyes were violet, as if made up of the cosmos.

Nil was with his younger brother, Ustat. While Nil and Ustat had argued a lot, they did in fact care for each other.

Ustat was known for preferring to fight on foot while Nil battled within his Skell, Lin. Lin was an incredibly powerful Skell, equipped with the most advanced weaponry built by the Ma-non. Multiple blasters and canons as well as a custom made light sword, similar to the almost ancient movies by the name of Star Wars.

Amle felt like those fairytales undermined the situation that humanity had been struggling for in the last half year.

“Misress Amle, enemy units approaching.” Anaara stated. “Prepare combat units.”

“Understood.” Amle stated. “Give it everything you've got, I’ll go on foot.”

“Understood.” Anaara responded. “Engaging the enemy.”

Amle nodded and landed on foot. She used a claymore in combat. They were up against a Cenicula. It raised its mighty feet and attempted to crush the group. Ustat and Sorc assisted with Amle on ground as Amaara and Lin ambushed the Cenicula as Skells.

Anaara leaped valiantly out of the way of the strikes of the Cenicula, the fight was going relatively well, that was until almost in slow motion, the Cenicula raised its feat to crush Amle, her eyes met sight of the foot as it came racing down.

At the last second the sound of metal cracking could be heard. Amle looked up. Anaara had intercepted the blow.

“Mistress Amle.” Anaara said, voice cracking as the Skell broke. “I a-am h-h-ap-py t-to be o-of ser-rv-vice.” With that, the Skell crashed. Amle couldn't believe her eyes.

“YOU MONSTER!” Amle shouted. “I’LL KILL YOU!”

.;-;. .;-;. .;-;.

“Wow Elma.” Lin said. Trying to think of what to say. “It's certainly different. Although I don't understand some of the extra details. What is Amle supposed to be?”

“I asked L what females of his race look like.” Elma stated.

“Amle’s name is yours spelled backwards.” Cross observed.

“Sorry, I wasn't particularly thinking about the names.” Elma said. “That's why the names are Ustat, Nil, and Sorc.”

“Eh, whatever.” Lin said. “Now who's next?”

The unfortunate soul to enter the room was Commander Vadham.

“Commander!” Lin shouted with pleasure. Vadham gave a look of fear, knowing about the Skell fan fiction that Lin was making everyone write.

Chapter Text

The engine churned as the beauty lifted to the ground. It was one of the newer models with a countless variety of sensors. The Skell even had an advanced AI. It was known as MOMO: Main Observer of Mira’s Outdoors. MOMO had a small frame and was generally delicate. However, that didn’t stop it from being impossible to catch and packing quite a punch. Of course, MOMO was no ordinary Skell. Not only was it one of the first Skells to reach the sky, but it was also controlled strictly by an artificial intelligence from the Lifehold Core. Its job was simple: learn as much about the DNA of the life on Mira.

The Skell was put into the hands on BLADE’s strongest team, team Elma. They were sent on a mission to examine and get rid of a few creatures known as Forest Apricas. They had the general appearance of a deer, except its body was made up of stone armor and its horns glows crimson in the beautiful night that occurred in Noctilum. They could often be found lingering in the Garden Spring.

MOMO flew full speed towards the mission at hand, not stopping. The data needed for Forest Apricas was urgent. The Forest Apricas had something in them that was needed to cure a plague that had begun to spread amongst the Ma-non.

Upon reaching the Garden Spring, MOMO quickly found a set of powerful Forest Apricas. They were peacefully sipping water from the springs. They were the target. MOMO only needed to kill one or two of them and then return to base.

MOMO floated towards one of the Forest Apricas and carefully prepared its gun, hoping to shoot it in one fell sweep. The cannon was almost ready when the Aprica turned around and noticed the Skell. Enraged, it charged at the mighty machine.

At the last second, MOMO shot. Causing the other Apricas to scatter. The Aprica was shot backwards. MOMO put up the gun and launched itself into the air, blasting the Aprica multiple times.

The creature roared in pain. In began shooting dark purple balls of plasma. MOMO easily dodged the attack. As MOMO landed, it switched to a golden set of ethereal bow and arrows. It's golden visor and pale pink paint shined.

The arrow was pointed directly between the Aprica’s eyes. As if in slow motion, the arrow of light was released, impaling the Aprica through the brain. The beast soon fell dead.

Silently, MOMO collected the needed materials and returned to BLADE HQ.

.;-;. .;-;. .;-;. .;-;.

Vadham examined his work in satisfaction. This wasn't the first time Lin had urged him to write Skell Fanfiction. Lin read his fanfic. She smiled.

“What type of name is MOMO?” Lin asked curiously.

“I dunno.” Vadham said. “I just thought giving a Skell a cute name would be ironic.”

“Lin roping you into this has certainly improved your ability to write about a fictional Skell.” Elma said.

“Lin just showed me yours and I decided to take that one step further.” Vadham said. “By the way, I got a good laugh out of your characters.”

“Thank you?” Elma said, unsure of how to respond. Vadham laughed.

“Let’s make Nagi write something next!” Vadham said smiling. “I’m curious how he’d respond to this.”

“Yeah!” Lin said, trying to imagine what Nagi would even write.

Chapter Text

It buckled and cracked, but the Skell was finally functional. This was the first Skell ever created on Earth. Before the Ganglion threat was quite here. It would take much effort to get this prototype into something more accessible to the public.

The plan was to have as many Skells protecting the White Whale along with other arks from Project Exodus as possible. The arks themselves were almost complete.

This prototype Skell was a simple model. The chief engineer, Vadham, would be testing it the next day.

If the test went well, Vadham and his top engineers would be working on simplifying the alien design.

Mr. and Mrs. Koo were taking final checks on this Skell. Even with the blueprints and the instructions on how this machine was supposed to work, no one quite knew how they were supposed to build this strange machine, much less put them into mass production.

“Are you sure that we can pull this off?” Vadham asked, looking at the xenoform that brought all the technology that made this possible.

“No, but we have no choice but to try.”

.;-;. .;-;. .;-;. .;-;.

“This is what he wrote?” Lin asked. After Nagi was finished writing Skell Fanfiction under Vadham’s request, he had swiftly left to resume his previous business.

“So are Skells xenotech or something?” Cross asked.

“Actually yes.” Elma stated. “Much of the technology that made Project Exodus possible didn’t originate from Earth.”

“I wonder who the xenoform was that Nagi was referring to.” Lin said. There was a period of silence.

“They were aboard the White Whale.” Elma stated. “That much I do know.”

“Who do you think we should have write the next thing?” Lin asked.

“Tatsu know!” Tatsu declared. “Mamapon!”

Chapter Text

Big human machine drive across Night Glow Forest. Koko and littlepon await for big machine to arrive with fish to feed ravaging littlepon.

“Mamapon!” Chu asked. “When big machine return to Dunga Caravan? Chu hungry! He so hungry Chu could even eat Orluga!”

“What Mamapon say about making up big beasties?” Koko scolded.

“Sorry Mamapon.” Chu apologized. “Chu just so hungry.”

“Big human machine come back soon.” Koko reassured him. Koko waddle to Koko new friend: Oka. Oka visit caravan for night in exchange for moneys. Oka have many littlepon, Oka have fifteen mouths plus own to feed.

Oka beautiful pink Nopon with dress made of pretty flowers. Oka arrive with littlepon, saying that Oka’s caravan was bashed by Dinobeast. Koko would give Dinobeast piece of mind if Dinobeast weren’t so big and powerful and impossible to reach.

“Koko, when big Hom Hom machine return?” Oka asked. “Oka’s littlepon are very hungry.”

“Koko not know.” Koko stated. “Koko know big machine always return with plenty to eat, so Koko not worried.”

“Koko, Oka wonder about Koko’s littlepon.” Oka said. “Oka hear that Nopon join Hom Hom city. Oka’s littlepon do same?”

“Tatsu do.” Koko said. “Tatsu have reliable friends that protect him, but Koko wonder what Tatsu do for friends.”

“Oka think Tatsu represent Nopon in friend’s friendship.” Oka said. Koko nod in agreement. Oka right, humans scary big and strong. Koko worried about human friend with black hair and grey eyes.

“Oka right, Tatsu probably OK.” Koko agreed.

“Oka hear of rumor of Nopon group that go after Sword of Legendaryness.” Oka said after long quiet. “Koko hear rumor too?”

“Koko has.” Koko said. “But Koko know Sword of Legendaryness just old Nopon legend, not real item.”

“Oka believe it real.” Oka said.

“Legendary sword with magic symbol sound too impossible.” Koko argue. “Koko want to see friend make magic symbol sword.”

“That why Sword of Legendaryness is legendary.” Oka argue back. “If anyone make Sword of Legendaryness, Sword of Legendaryness less legendary.”

Before conversation continue, big vroom sound interrupt and unload fish to feed littlepon, Oka, and Koko.

“Yippee! Food!” Littlepon shouted. Group rush to eat fish from big human machine. Koko smile when littlepon remember to leave extra for Koko and Oka.

.;-;. .;-;. .;-;. .;-;.

“We apologize for bothering you over this.” Elma said, addressing the pink Nopon. Koko smiled.

“No problem.” Koko said. “Koko enjoy writing story about big machine that friends ride.”

Lin eagerly read of the piece of Fanfiction. Her expression dropped upon realizing that it wasn’t even about a Skell. The Skell was just left to the background. Koko noticed this disappointment.

“Friends not like Koko’s story?” Koko questioned.

“Sorry.” Lin said apologetically. “I was just expecting something more centered on the Skell.”

“Oh, Koko’s bad.” Koko said. “Koko rewrite if friend want.”

“It’s OK.” Elma said. “I’m sure you’ve got better things to do and we’ve interrupted your schedule enough as it is.”

“Koko hear friends making everyone write about big machines.” Koko said. “Koko want to suggest that friends make big smelly Prone write.”

“What?!” Lin asked, eyes wide. Koko laughed.

“Koko just messing with friends.” Koko said. “But Koko curious who friends want to write story next.”

“Hm.” Lin said, thinking for a minute. “How about L? I’m sure he’d be interested.”

“Why not?” Elma replied.

L had no idea what he was in for.

Chapter Text

The beauty clicked a churned. We marveled at its wonder. The Skell activated.

How did we get a hold of such machine? We’d be glad to tell you were it not a trade secret. We would be dishonoring the title were we to simply tell you.

The Skell lifted off the ground. We flew it up to the sky. Above NLA, we spotted our little shop.

Another most majestic Skell lifted by us.

“L here you are.” The Skell projected, it was Elma. “We were assigned a mission from BLADE HQ. You’re needed for it.”

We nodded and headed back to the BLADE barracks. Vadham was waiting for us.

“I see you’ve returned.” Vadham said. “Let’s make this quick.” A screen turned on, showing a creature that we most recognized. It sent a chill on our spine. It was a Telethia. Specifically the Telethia Endbringer. It was said to be the Ruler of Fates and Mira’s guardian. “We found this thing in Noctilum. Any insight?”

“Ah yes, the Telethia.” We said. “It is perhaps the most ferocious creature on Mira. No one has ever beat it in combat.”

“I see.” Elma stated, thinking about the newly acquired information. “Whatever it was, that thing saved us.”

“That seems like quite the nice gesture.” We commented. “I don’t see the issue.”

“If something that powerful gets anywhere near NLA, we’re all in danger.” A voice said as Maurice entered the frame. “From Elma’s report, that thing could easily kill everyone if we permit it to live.”

“I fail to see your problem.” We said. “The Telethia rarely leaves its habitat if ever. We are most certainly surprised that it helped you.”

“If we were to hypothetically attack such a creature, what would you recommend us doing?” Maurice asked.

“Hypothetically, you wouldn’t.” We stated. “The Telethia are undefeated. Their very wings can alter ether itself. They are rumored to be able to ready minds. Attacking one would only result in a quick death.”

Maurice frowned, dissatisfied with our answer.

“Thank you, L.” Elma stated. “I know you’re busy, you can head back to whatever activity you were currently working on.”

We nodded and left on our merry way.

Time passed as we began to think about the Telethia. We wondered what Maurice planned to do with the mighty creature. We began to draw conclusions.

Were they planning on attacking such a majestic creature that would only mind its own business? After an amount of heavy thinking, we decided to go observe the mighty creature.

We flied across Primordia and Noctilum until we observed the Telethia in its natural habitat. It was flying over much area. We looked up at the majestic creature. It gave a loud roar in its glory.

The Telethia noticed the Skell observing it. It flew over to examine the machine, doubtlessly noticing our awe.

The Telethia stared at us for a length of time, examining every bit of us. After a while it flew away. We stood there for a while.

The silence was eventually interrupted by the sound of static. It was our com device. Vadham was on it.

“L, were the bloody hell are you?!” Vadham demanded. “There’s a Telethia approaching the city full speed, we need every BLADE. It’s going to attack.”

Our eyes widened as we raced towards the city.

“We’ll be back soon.” We said. “We’re in Noctilum.”

“Noctilum?!” Vadham shouted. “What the bloody hell were you doing there?”

“We wanted to observe the Telethia.” We explained. “It stared at us for a while and then left.”

“You have got to be kidding me.” Vadham groaned, face-palming. “Well, get back to HQ ASAP.”

We nodded, pushing our Skell to go faster and faster, going above and beyond max speed.

By the time we made it back to the city, we saw the Telethia looking at it on a perch. The Millesaurs were looking at the all-mighty ruler of fates, heads bent down before its very presence.

The Telethia roared, knowing full well that the BLADEs were too scared to attack, for if they did, it would utterly annihilate their Skells and then destroy them in the process.

We stared in awe at the majestic creature as it watched us all from above.

Hours passed on by us as the Telethia watched NLA.

Many hours later it left us. A trail of ether streamed from its presence. The Telethia’s time on that perch had left behind a heavily concentrated cloak from where it had stayed.

Our moral was to never anger such the powerful creature on Mira.

.;-;. .;-;. .;-;. .;-;.

Lin looked at the fanfiction and frowned. L was smiling.

“Do we like it?” L asked.

“Sorry.” Lin apologized, putting on an apologetic grin. “It’s just that I was expecting that it would be more about the Skell than this ‘Telethia’. What is a Telethia anyway?”

“A Telethia is Mira’s protector and guardian.” L explained. “There is only one known Telethia on Mira, the Telethia Endbringer.”

“From your description, it sounds powerful.” Elma said.

“Indeed, the Telethia is the most powerful creature on Mira.” L explained. “They says that Telethia were once common, but one day a powerful Nopon with a group of legendary creatures wielding the Sword of Legendaryness caused the Telethia to nearly go extinct.”

“What were they called?” Lin asked.

“We don’t know.” L answered. “The story’s been lost at time.”

“I see.” Elma said. “That’s certainly interesting.” She turned her attention to Cross. “Rook, who do you think should go next?”

Cross thought for a moment before making a choice.

“HB.”

Chapter Text

“Seriously?” HB demanded. “I have better things to do with my time than mess around with foolish stories created by a little girl’s fantasies.”

“I’m in the room you know.” Lin said.

“It’ll only take a couple minutes and you don’t have any urgent missions to attend to.” Elma pointed out. HB glared at her. His emerald eyes narrowed at her cyan. “We’re not letting you go until you write something.”

“I’ll report you to the higher-ups for holding me hostage.” HB threatened.

“Nagi and Vadham have already written an article of Skell Fanfiction.” Cross informed him. HB’s mouth dropped.

“Well, I suppose that’s not impossible.” HB considered. “Given how immature they are, I don’t think that would be too out of character.”

Elma glared at the BLADE. She looked like she wanted to say something, but she held her tongue, if only to avoid swearing in front of Lin. Luckily, Lin spoke for her.

“Look, I don’t care who you think you are, but you will not disrespect Commander Vadham and Secretary Nagi.” Lin growled. “Unlike you, they earned their titles.”

“That’s not how you should-” HB started, but Cross interrupted him.

“Hold it.” Cross said. “We’re not letting you out until you write something. If you want to be useful, you’ll be quick.”

“Hmph.”

“Do we have a deal?” Elma asked harshly.

“I get the impression that you’re to childish to listen to reason.” HB muttered.

“Deal?” Elma repeated.

“Fine, I’ll play your time-waster.” HB said, thoroughly annoyed.

.;-;. .;-;. .;-;. .;-;.

Skells are an expensive piece of machinery. No one knows where Project Exodus got their designs from. It’s even more suspicious that the Ganglion share such technology.

Where did we get Ganglion weaponry from? Did we negotiate with them or what? It’s hard to tell. It is no secret that the EPC officials are keeping many secrets from us. Is the war with the Ganglion even real? What’s going on behind our backs?

Skells are the link to this mystery.

Perhaps we aren’t negotiating with the Ganglion, but instead there is some xenoforms supplying Skells to both sides. Are we humans reduced to working with such creatures?

Are we really this desperate?

Are we really this lost?

.;-;. .;-;. .;-;. .;-;.

“REALLY?!” Lin shouted at the green-eyed man. “WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU?! DO YOU SERIOUSLY THINK WE’RE WORKING WITH THE GANGLION?!”

“You cannot deny that it is strange that both we humans and the Ganglion have Skells despite the fact that we had no way to access such technology.”

“Look, you’re right, we got the Skells from an external source, but I can assure you that that source was not the Ganglion, nor were they working with the Ganglion in any way, shape, or form.” Elma stated. “I’d suggest you avoid angering more people than you already have.”

HB growled, glaring at the snowy-haired woman.

“Fine, then where did you get the Skells from exactly?” HB demanded. “I feel like you smug idiots leading us shouldn’t be holding information from the general public.”

“I see you’re trouble, but do you really think that we’d be sending people blindly into battle against a nonexistent threat?” Elma asked darkly. “Do you think that we’d allow countless people to die from a war that was never even real?” The last part was said in such a dark tone, that it scared everyone in the room. “How horrible do you think humanity can get?”

HB blinked in surprise.

“Well, I filled my role, I should get going.” He said, leaving the room. “See you.”

Elma glared at where he left off.

“That was not worth it.” Elma declared.

“Maybe we should take a break for a while.” Lin suggested, walking up to the counter. “Hmm, what should I whip up today?”

Chapter Text

Recently after receiving a Skell. I’ve been busy. With Cross and Elma by my side, we’ve ridden all across Primordia, then Noctilum, then Oblivia. We’ve looked at almost every nook and cranny, very little was inaccessible. We’ve fought enemies, we’ve fled from enemies. We’ve observed powerful creatures, we’ve run away from powerful creatures.

It’s one thing to write and to fanaticize about owning and riding my own Skell. It’s another thing entirely to be in the front seat steering one. When I’m riding my Skell - Despotic Arsene (don’t question it, I thought it sounded powerful). Cross had decided to call his Skell Endbringer while Elma picked the name Mikumari.

Knowing how amazing it is to ride a Skell on the ground, I’ve been working even harder on the Flight Module. I want to know how it feels to fly. I’ve been able to get to work quicker; driving Despotic Arsene to work. Elma at fist disapproved of this plan, arguing that Skells are military weaponry and shouldn’t be used for such a casual usage. After enough insistence, she gave up.

After using Skells for so long, their importance hasn’t dwindled, but I think I’ve calmed down a bit. Elma told me that Cross was thinking about exploring Sylvalum sometime in the near future, maybe even Cauldros if things go well. I’ve never been to either. In all honesty, before meeting Cross, I barely left NLA, much less explored anywhere far from its boarders.

I’ve been trying to think about what that alien Skell was. It has no indications of its weapons, how dangerous it is, or even what’s powering it. I’ve studied it for countless hours on end and I still can’t find anything about it. Ugh, it’s so frustrating at times. Don’t get me wrong, I’m fascinated about the Skell, but it is infinitely tedious picking apart the piece of a puzzle with no indication of where to even start.

Don’t get me wrong, I have a few theories. Elma and Cross even had some speculation on the topic. I think that the Skell is an automated weapon that the Ganglion were developing. However, Elma pointed out that if the Ganglion were doing that, what would it be doing in the middle of Noctilum? Elma’s theory was that the Skell wasn’t so much a weapon as it may have been a religious artifact since the Skell has no clear way to be used. It could have been lost. Elma has a point, but I don’t understand how such an important item could be lost. Cross thinks that the Skell was merely a decoy and something that the Ganglion were using to grab our attention off of the more important stuff. As of now, we’re all at a loss of what that alien mech was.

Anyway, it feels good to get my thoughts out.

-Lin

.;-;. .;-;. .;-;. .;-;.

Lin finished her work. After much time, she had decided that she finally wanted to continue her game of fanfiction. It was true that she had explored much of Primordia, Noctilum, and Oblivia and she was itching to explore Sylvalum and Cauldros when the time came, but at the same time, she was concerned. From what they gathered, the Lifehold wasn’t in any of those three continents.  Luckily that was about 60% of Mira surveyed.

“Lin is everything alright?” Elma questioned as she walked into the room. “Usually you’re working on the Skell Flight Module if you’re not working here.”

Lin turned to meet the snowy-haired female. Elma had a warm smile planted on her face.

“Yeah, it’s all good!” Lin said returning the smile. Elma saw right through it though.

“Lin, what’s bothering you?” Elma asked.

“Am I really that transparent?” Lin asked. Elma nodded. “Alright, I’m excited to explore Sylvalum and Cauldros when we get to it, but I’m just worried about the Lifehold Core. What if it’s not there?”

“Then we’ll continue to search for it.” Elma answered simply. “The scientists in NLA are using every bit of data that we collected to determine where the Lifehold might have landed. We just need to continue to plant more probes.”

“And what if that isn’t enough?” Lin challenged. That’s what was worrying her. “We’ve spent so much time planting data probes, but even then, we haven’t gotten any closer to where the Lifehold is.”

“The scientists at BLADE can determine where it isn’t, which makes finding the Lifehold Core more known in that sense.” Elma stated. “We’ll search every inch of this planet or die trying in order to find the Lifehold Core.”

“But what if we don’t make it in time?” Lin worried. “Then we’ll all die. Then what?”

“Lin, if you mope around like that, we won’t get any closer to finding the Lifehold Core.” Elma said. “Even if we’re not the ones that find the Lifehold Core, then we’ll still be contributing. Everyone is well aware of the fact that the Lifehold Core might run out of power, but that won’t stop us from trying.”

“I hope you’re right.” Lin said. Elma gave a soft smile.

“What are you writing?” Elma asked.

“I just wanted to get my mind off of everything.” Lin said.

“Skell fanfiction?” Elma asked.

“Yep.” Lin responded, smiling. “I wanted to get back to writing this stuff.”

Elma smiled. “I guess you’re going to have someone else write some as well?”

Lin smiled.

“Who do you want to force into writing this stuff with?” Elma asked.

“I think that Alexa would probably enjoy this.” Lin said, remembering the girl that Cross had introduced to her. Alexa was absolutely fascinated by Skells. Lin had seen her around the Industrial District a few times, but she didn’t really know the girl.

“You’re right, she probably would.” Elma said.

Chapter Text

Skells are sooooo coooool! Imagine using them for daily life. Testing them must be the best career EVER!

I walked down the street. Why wasn't I driving my Skell?

I WAS THE SKELL! Driving all the way through Sylvalum, absolutely DESTROYING everything in my path. Those giant robot-things were nothing compared to my SKELL POWER. Then I encountered this FREAKING MASSIVE worm thing that attacked me. I beat it, no sweat. When I was done, I went on to wreck EVERYTHING in Cauldros. It was so EASY since I am a Skell. It makes me wonder why not EVERYONE LIKE A CERTAIN SOMEONE ISN’T ALLOWED TO USE A SKELL YET.

.;-;. .;-;. .;-;. .;-;.

Alexa scratched it out. This fanfiction was no good. It was complete trash. She casted the paper off to the side and decided to rewrite her fanfiction.

.;-;. .;-;. .;-;. .;-;.

I leaned into my trusty Skell. It was powerful enough to get me through Sylvalum without a scratch. I was worried there when the Skell began to malfunction.

“Fiora.” I named the Skell. The name sounded sleek and made the Skell seem powerful. Fiora had white plating, I installed a custom engine, giving Fiora a slick appearance, as if it were wearing a skirt. I couldn’t deny that Fiora was one sexy Skell (do not question my logic). Fiora’s thick plating and graceful appearance made me tempted to do something that I would not have otherwise considered. No one was looking. No one would know.

I climbed up Fiora, reaching her face and began kissing her; the Skell of my dreams. The sensors got quickly covered in my lipstick - I’d have to wash it later, but right now it was just me and my Skell, making out . . . it’s not creepy!

I heard steel doors opened. In a moment of panic, I fell off of Fiora. A loud crash could be heard.

“Ow.” I said. The person that came in came rushing over to me. It was Lin, my Skell fanaticizing partner, although that name worked better before she got a Skell . . . not relevant.

Lin ran over to me.

“Oh my god! Are you alright?!” Lin shouted. I got up. Lin gave me a look of relief. “What were you doing?”

“I was just checking on my Skell.” I informed her. Lin smiled, choosing not to pry further into the embarrassing situation.

.;-;. .;-;. .;-;. .;-;.

Alexa smiled as she passed the piece of fanfiction for Elma, Lin, and Cross to examine (the complete one of course!). Lin chuckled lightly at Alexa’s idea to have someone kissing a Skell.

“It’s certainly unique among the collection of Skell fanfiction we’ve gotten so far.” Elma said.

“I heard from HB that you guys were doing that.” Alexa said. “I asked him what he wrote about, but he didn’t answer me! So what DID he write about?”

“Some accusation stuff.” Cross said offhandedly. “Although he kind of had a bit of a point. It is strange that both humans and Ganglion have access to Skell technology.”

“Probably part of his big plan to join the BLADE higher-ups or something.” Alexa stated offhandedly. She knew HB well enough to know his general plans and how determined he was to achieve said goal.

“Spot on.” Elma said.

“So, what other types of fanfictions were there?” Alexa asked. “I want to read all the interesting ones.”

“L’s fanfiction stood out to me.” Elma said. “Even if it wasn’t entirely about Skells, Elma didn’t really mind all that much.

“I feel that Secretary Nagi did a much better job at conveying what HB had to say.” Lin said. “Although Vadham also had a nice fanfiction.”

“I liked Elma’s.” Cross stated. “It was interesting. I still don’t get why there was a random xenoform in there.”

“Great!” Alexa said enthusiastically. “Just send a copy to my com device and I’ll read them. Make sure to send any other interesting fanfictions that you come across.”

“Will do.” Lin said, watching Alexa leave. “Who’s next?”

“How about Irina?” Cross suggested.

Chapter Text

Irina frowned at the paper, she didn’t want to disrespect Lin, but she honestly had no idea what to write. She honestly wasn’t the most creative person on Mira. She’d make sure that Gwin wouldn’t get out of this when she was finished.

As much as Irina wanted to write something like “I don’t know what to write”, she heard from Cross that Lin wouldn’t accept no as a response. Irina frankly didn’t see the appeal in Skells. Yes, they were 20ft tall weapons, but at the same time, Skells weren’t so big compared to some of the indigenes that she’d seen around Mira, the Millesaurs were a great example of that. Same applied to the giant dragon that Elma described on Noctilum.

Her pencil stayed on her paper as she stared at it. Hours must have passed. Apparently Commander Nagi was capable of writing a piece of Skell Fanfiction.

.;-;. .;-;. .;-;. .;-;.

Once upon a time.

.;-;. .;-;. .;-;. .;-;.

Irina scratched it out. She knew “once upon a time” wasn’t going to satisfy anybody. She scratched it out. This was so frustrating! How was Lin able to do it so well? As if it wasn’t established, Irina wasn’t really that much of a writer. She just wanted to get this over with.

“Hello.”

Irina snapped around instantly. It was Elma. The snowy-haired woman walked over to her.

“I see that you’re struggling with writing the Skell Fanfiction.” Elma observed, giving an amused smile.

“You could say that again.” Irina deadpanned. “Any ideas?”

Elma seemed to think about it for a minute.

“Have you considered writing about a Skell going up against a particularly powerful enemy?” Elma suggested.

“Nope.” Irina said. “I’ll get on that. Can you send an image to that dragon thing from Noctilum?”

“Of course.” Elma responded. “One moment.”

Elma then typed some things on her com device. Irina got the message. The image was only a mere glimpse of what the creature looked like, but Irina figured it would have to do.

“Thanks, cornel.” Irina said.

“No problem.” Elma replied. “Is there anything else you need?”

“No.”

Elma nodded and left for the missions’ board and looked over it.

.;-;. .;-;. .;-;. .;-;.

Once upon a time

I drove my Skell through Noctilum, when I was suddenly attacked by a massive indigene. It was massive. It looked like a dragon. BLADE identified it as the Telethia Endbringer.

I sat on guard at the boarders of NLA. Trees were growing, flowers were blooming, and a giant dragon was flying straight at NLA.

It had massive wings stretching across the sky itself, caressing the heavens. Its green body was accompanied by its golden sparks of light that accompanied it through the air.

Next to my Skell was Gwin’s. It had a bronze covering with golden outlines. Mine was more indigo with bits of white scattered around it.

I reported to Commander Vadham that a giant bird thing was flying towards the city.

“Then what are you waiting for? Shoot it!” He shouted back. “We can’t have something like that this close to the city!”

“What about that overpowered monkey?” I questioned, thinking of the Simius right outside of the city. It was known to have slain many BLADEs that dared fight it.

“No one can stop that!” Vadham argued. “Now what are you waiting for? Fire!”

“Yes sir!” I said. I nodded at Gwin as we flew towards the dragon Telethia.

We flew our Skells towards the drag Telethia. This wouldn’t end well, that much I knew.

The Telethia screeched as it charged at us. Gwin and I managed to dodge the attack.

 The creature attempted to grab us again, we once again dodged up. I fired a round of bullets at the massive dragon. The Telethia was knocked back slightly.

Gwin shot another round of bullets from beneath the Telethia, hitting its belly. The Telethia responded by trying to incinerate Gwin’s Skell. Luckily Gwin made a narrow escape of the all-engulfing flames.

“Ah!” Gwin shouted in surprise.

“Gwin, stay focused!” I shouted at him. “Dana and Marcus will be here soon.”

“OK.” Gwin replied shakily.

The Telethia slashed at me, I quickly shoved myself to the right, dodging the claw. I used the opportunity to bind the Telethia with the Skell. The Telethia screamed in surprise.

“Nailed it!” I shouted. “Now cripple them!”

“On it.” Gwin said as he rapidly attacked the Telethia with everything he had.

It wasn’t long before the rest of our team got here.

“Dana, work on distracting the Telethia. Marcus, you and Gwin try to get rid of some of its limbs. I’ll assist Dana.”

“Got it.” Marcus said, aiming for the Telethia’s right wing. Gwin followed suit. The Telethia turned to attack the two when Dana sent a stream of bullets through the creature’s eye, she was brutal like that.

The Telethia growled as it charged towards her. I used the opportunity to shoot it in the jaw. The Telethia’s attention snapped to me, allowing Dana to charge in and tear out the Telethia’s jaw with her Skell, then she blasted a series of bullets as its tongue fell from its body to the ground.

A loud ripping noise could be heard as the Telethia’s wing snapped off. The Telethia and the broken wing crashed to the ground.

We flew after it, only to be relieved when all that remained of the vicious creature was its corpse.

“Good to know that was taken care of.” Marcus commented. “Vadham got us all worked up about this flying threat.”

“Luckily the Outfitters might find something interesting about this thing.” Dana commented. “These things can’t be common, so we might have some valuable resources on our hand.”

“Assuming that it’s useful.” I reminded her.

Dana nodded.

We then returned to NLA without much of a word to say.

.;-;. .;-;. .;-;. .;-;.

Lin looked over the fanfiction.

“We’ve sure been hearing a lot about the Telethia Endbringer recently.” Lin commented.

“Why wouldn’t we?” Elma questioned. “I’ve never seen something that powerful.”

“True.” Lin said considering everything.

“It’s a freaking dragon.” Irina argued. “Who wouldn’t want to write about something like that? And I bet that Maurice is concerned about that thing too.”

“Luckily that thing can’t be reached with our current Skells.” Elma commented. “Otherwise, I get the sneaking suspicion that we’d be getting more missions to hunt it down.”

“How hard can it be?” Cross asked. “I bet I could take it.”

Elma shook her head.

“You saw it absolutely destroy those tainted.” Elma told him. “We were barely able to take out the small group that went after us.”

“More specifically, after Tatsu.” Lin commented, still not entirely over Tatsu attracting all of those tainted. “I guess the tainted at least have good taste.”

Irina laughed at this.

“You keep talking about cooking the poor potato. When are you actually going to get around to it?” Irina joked. Lin laughed at the comment. Cross gave her a hungry look, causing Lin to laugh harder.

“Who’s next?” Lin asked.

“I think that I’d like to make sure that Gwin goes through with this.” Irina said. Lin smiled.

Chapter Text

Dana read over the Skell fanfiction that Irina and Gwin had collectively created. She frowned.

“I don’t see myself as that violent.” Dana told him gruffly.

“Sorry for offending you.” Irina apologized.

“What? Didn’t get enough show of your aggressive attitude?” Marcus joked.

“Shut up.” Dana said, punching Marcus lightly on the shoulder.

“Hey!” Marcus said with a joking expression on his face. “Irina and Gwin kinda have a point.”

“OK, give me some paper and pencil.” Dana ordered. “Time to shoot this idiot out of the sky.”

Marcus gave a light laugh.

.;-;. .;-;. .;-;. .;-;.

A horde of Ganglion charged at NLA, they were heavily armed, prepared to strike. Multiple beams of plasm were fired haphazardly at our boarders. There was no escape. It was them or us.

The Ma-non had since fled the now unsafe walls of our great city. Those cowards! Couldn’t have hurt to have brought a few humans with them! Not everyone in NLA was a combatant like they probably think.

Leading this massive army of Ganglion was Goetia, in her silver-armored Skell. Every BLADE heard about her ever since Commander Elma’s team had a particularly unlucky encounter with her in the middle of Noctilum - the bastard set a piece of the Lifehold on fire for God sake! Then Commander Elma had distinguished that the Ganglion were one of the forces that destroyed Earth based on the Skell that this wretched creature was piloting.

The Skells defending the perimeter of NLA were all activated, they were all given advanced AI controls; we needed as many ground troops as possible. There was only one exception: our team - Irina, Gwin, Marcus, and me.

We flew our Skells into combat, thanks to Lin’s technical skills, that was possible. Commander Elma and her team were protecting the Administrative District, we were in charge of the Residential District. It was particularly important due to all of the noncombatants trapped there.

Rain drizzled out of the sky. Bad day for rain really. The Ganglion had the clear upper hand - if the break into the Administrative District we lose, if they break into the Residential District we lose, if too many people die we lose, and so on. It didn’t help that the Ganglion troops expanded beyond what the bare eye could see.

Marcus was the first one out onto the field. I swiftly followed. I could hear Irina and Gwin following behind us. This was going to be no easy situation. Countless bullets immediately were fired at us. We couldn’t dodge them.

“Quickly, to the sky!” Irina ordered, hoping to give distance between us and our enemies. We’d fire from above, using gravity to ensure our bullets reached our targets.

We flew up, further and further. Getting away from some of the bullets.

“Look out! Missiles!” Marcus shouted as a barrage of missiles was fired towards the group. I launched myself out of the way, shooting the missiles before they hit me. I looked over to find that Irina and Gwin managed to do the same.

BOOM

My eyes shot towards the source of the explosion, it was Marcus.

“DAMMIT!” Irina shouted, full of filled with rage.

“No.” I whimpered. “Marcus.”

“Well, well, well.” A menacing voice said from the pilot of a Skell, it was Goetia, the murderer herself. “The missile certainly did their job. Too bad they left me to eradicate the rest of you human scum.”

“You killed Marcus.” Irina seethed. “You murdered one of my friends. For what?”

“Oh, you don’t get it do you?” Goetia mocked. “Doesn’t matter. You’ll soon be burning with him in hell.”

It was a relief that the Ganglion didn’t know about the Lifehold Core. It was a good thing that Marcus could still be brought back . . . eventually.

Irina rushed at Goetia, knocking her Skell to the ground. Hundreds of bullets must’ve come from her Skell in the place that Goetia landed from Irina alone.

I watched in awe as Irina tore apart the monstrous wretched hideous atrocious creature to bits.

Knowing that their leader was now dead to a single human, struck fear into the remaining Ganglion. There was panic amongst their troops.

“STAY FOCUSED!” A voice shouted in the chaos. “WE HAVE ONE GOAL AND ONE GOAL ONLY! DO NOT LOSE FOCUS OR I’LL KILL YOU MYSELF!”

From the sky appeared a massive machine. It could hardly be called a Skell. My eyes widened. This thing looked as if it could touch NLA and destroy it without even having to do anything.

As it advanced towards the city, it crushed out the wildlife in its way, snuffing out the lives of unstoppable indigenes that would be nigh unstoppable to us.

“Holy Crap.” Gwin said, eyes widened at the sight of the monstrosity.

.;-;. .;-;. .;-;. .;-;.

“Ah, you had to kill me off?” Marcus demanded. “Come on. I wouldn’t go down that easily. It’s gonna take more than just a few missiles to get me.

Dana laughed.

“I’m fairly sure a torrent of missiles will stop you if I’m the one in charge of the plot of this work of fiction.” Dana teased. “After all, I’m fairly sure that I’m the evil one here.”

It was Marcus’s turn to laugh.

“Fine you got me.” Marcus said. “Now give me the paper and pencil so I can write after that cliffhanger you left me on.”

“Oh come on, you’ll just screw it all up.” Dana argued. “You’re not a very good writer.”

“Hey, I’m not that bad.” Marcus argued. “I mean, I learned to write and stuff.”

“Sorry to break it to ya, but creative writing and informative essays are entirely different.”

“Come on, Dana, please.” Marcus begged, pulling out puppy eyes. Dana laughed at the display.

“Fine, but if you screw it up, I’ll make sure you’re the one picking through Millesaurs poop next time we go out.

“Yeah, yeah, got it.” Marcus said, grabbing the pencil from Dana.

Chapter Text

The Skell landed on NLA. It made a loud thudding sound upon impact. People screamed at its might.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHH”

“RUN AWAY!”

“OH NO!”

It was chaotic. People died. Everyone was sad.

“Holy crap!” Irina shouted.

“Oh no!” Gwin growled. “We’re all going to die!”

“If only Marcus was here to save us.” Dana said.

Suddenly, without warning, the ground broke in two and a massive yellow Nopon burst out of the ground and destroyed the Ganglion non-Skell.

The team flew quickly towards the Ganglion weapon. It turned to see us. It was mad.

“RAURR!” It shouted, then Irina shot it in the face.

“RAURR RAWR RAURR!” It insisted.

“Got any smarter words?!” Gwin demanded. “This is for Marcus!”

Gwin fired off way more bullets than Irina did. Then Dana shot missiles at it, breaking off some of the armor.

“NOOOOOOO!” It shouted. “I KILL YOU!”

“Shut up!” Irina shouted back. “You killed Marcus helped kill Marcus!”

“HAHAHAHA!” The alien shouted back to her. “DIE TINY HUMAN!”

“This thing have an off button?” Gwin asked.

“OF COURSE I DO!” It boomed. “WHAT MASSIVE ROBOT DOESN’T HAVE AN OFF BUTTON?”

“Good to know.” Dana muttered, looking for cracks to shoot at.

Eventually after enough shooting, Dana hit the self-destruct button.

The machine blew up.

Everyone was happy. The Ganglion ran away. Then there was a party to celebrate our success.

.;-;. .;-;. .;-;. .;-;.

“MARCUS!” Dana shouted. “What the hell did I just read?!”

“The epic conclusion to our group’s series of Skell Fanfiction.” Marcus answered proudly. Dana’s face fell flat, she frowned at her teammate.

“I have to agree with Dana on this one.” Gwin said.

“You’re a crack shot, but your writing skills are crap.” Irina agreed. Looking at Marcus intensely.

“Guess that means you’ll be picking up Dino shit!” Dana practically sang. “Come on, let’s find the vilest piece of dung out there.”

“But - I!” Marcus tried to protest, but Dana had a death-grip on his ear.

“I’m not missing this for the world.” Gwin said cheerfully, following the group. “I hear there are some particularly nasty Millesaurs in Noctilum.”

Marcus gagged as he was dragged out of NLA.

Chapter Text

June 21, 2054 A.D. 

Charmaine and Chenshi leaned ravinously against the gates, watching Doug and a few other people test the new prototype Skells. According to the higher-ups in the ECP, they were very basic compared to the gear that our enemies had, but we'd have to make due. The   

"Woah." Chenshi gasped, staring at the newly finished Amdusias Skell. It had a pink and purple paint job and was holding a staff. A man named Rick was testing it. I glance at Charmaine, she was watching the testing for the Inferno Skell.  

"Dad?" Chenshi spoke. I turned to meet her stare. She had short black hair and grey eyes. She was wearing small shorts and a tiny white shirt, it would only be a couple months before she'd turn six. "Who's that?" 

Chenshi pointed at a woman near the testing hanger. She stood out from the people around her. Besides being much taller than the surrounding people, one thing was obvious: she wasn't human. 

"I don't know." I answered. "I've never seen her before." 

"Maybe she's one of those bad aliens people keep talking about." Charmaine said. Her voice made me wonder if the alien threat meant nothing more than a fairytale to my older daughter. Unlike Chenshi and I, Charmaine had golden hair that she kept neatly tied into a ponytail. Her eyes were black, just like my own.  

"I don't think so." I answered. "You see that man next to her?" Charmaine nodded. "That's Secretary Nagi. You see the man next to him? That's Blitzkrieg Christoph, he's one of the Coalition Military's top soldiers. I suppose if anything goes haywire, they've got it covered." 

I turned to look at the massive figure behind the building. That was the White Whale. That was what all of my efforts for the last few years to getting my family onto that ship.  

"No fair, why do you get the day off?" I turned to the familiar voice. It was Doug.  

"Different shifts, I suppose." I answered. Doug smiled, noticing my two daughters.  

"And who are these two?" He questioned, squatting to get eye-level with the two girls. 

"These are my daughters: Charmaine and Chenshi." I answer.  

"You never told me you had kids." Doug remarked. I shrugged. I never saw the point in bringing up such personal matters.  "Wait, aren't you 29? How old are they?" 

"Charmaine is seven and Chenshi is five." Lao answered simply. Doug nodded. He opened his mouth to say something, but he immediately digressed.  

"Dad, who is this?" Charmaine questioned. 

"He's a friend of mine." I answered simply. "He tests Skell prototypes." 

"In other words, I'm the first one to try out the latest Skell models." Doug simplified. Charmaine's eyes widened in awe, I couldn't help but chuckle.  

"When I grow up, I want to be just like you." Charmaine declared. Both Doug and I laughed out loud at that statement. "What's so funny?" 

"Nothing." I replied. Charmaine's face began to grow red. 

"Don't worry sport, I'm sure you'll get there someday." Doug said. He turned to Lao. "So, why are you here on your day off?" 

"The girls wanted to see the Skells." I answered. Doug scoffed. 

"Did anyone ever tell you that you're kinda soft for a war veteran?" 

"I've heard that a few times." I turned to look at Charmaine and Chenshi. The two had taken interest in fantasizing with each other on what it would be like to pilot a Skell.  

"You know, they might not get picked for Project Exodus." Doug stated, his expression unreadable. I looked down. 

"...I know." I looked at Doug directly in the eyes. "But I won't let that happen." 

"I know." 

.;-;. .;-;. .;-;. .;-;. 

Lao paused, looking at the paper. When Lin asked him if he could write some Skell fanfiction for her to add to a collection that she and her team were building, how could he say no? When she asked, the first thing he thought about was Chenshi and her fascination with Skells. Then he'd think of Charmaine. The pain of losing them was still too much for him to handle. He read through the paper again, trying harder to remember that moment, back before Earth was destroyed, before Charmaine and Chenshi were left on Earth to die.  

Knock. Knock. Knock. 

"Who is it?" Lao called. 

"It's Elma." 

"Come in, the door's open." 

The door creaked open. Lao turned to greet the silver-haired woman. He was still unsure of how to treat her. On one hand, she acted kind and showed genuine concern for everyone, but on the other hand, it was because of people with power such as her that his family was dead. 

"Are you alright?" Elma questioned, giving Lao a concerned look. Lao put on a fake grin, it was nothing new; he'd be doing that a while. Elma watched him for a couple moments before speaking up again. "Lin asked me to get you." 

"For what?" Lao questioned, sliding his paper behind him. Elma smirked. 

"It's a surprise. Lin's waiting for us back at the Barracks." 

"Then we wouldn't want to keep her waiting." Lao replied, grabbing his writing. "Lin asked me to write about Skells, so I thought this would do." 

"What did you write about?" 

"Just a memory."