Metal Star 14 (Patreon)

First chapter not available to public! Epic is also underway for those patiently enduring this barrage.

“Dayes, this report is worthless!” his boss yelled, slamming down a piece of work Sunny had worked his soul into.

“I don’t…” he trailed off when the woman gave him an evil look.  Her office was soft creams and frames of nice-looking places, like a silk cocoon around a nasty bug in the centre.

“The prediction shares to be purchased fell through. Our rivals sniffed out a much better investment before we even had a file on it. Our shareholders are looking down on me like I’m the idiot who screwed this up,” she continued to berate him, and Sunny just looked down, unable to find the strength or will to argue that the report was delivered days ago.

It was her choice to go dining with some ‘potential’ clients and then take a weekend off to splurge cash on the newest young guy chasing an easy golden ticket.

But he couldn’t say this.

The words wouldn’t form, and the desire to defend himself was less than the urge to just flee.

After a few more minutes of being torn out and his pay being threatened, Sunny left his boss’ office, and the next victim of her wrath looked up with bleak eyes from where he sat on uncomfortable folding chairs for the staff lining the wall across from soft plush and inviting ones that were for customers only.

Sunny wished his co-worker luck, left the office building an hour later than he should have, and began the commute home.

Zel-Gara poured torrential rain down and wouldn’t likely let up for another few days, the city’s massive drain system gushing the rain back into the ocean below. The once mountain-like oil rig had long since changed into a place people actually lived, with segments added on and levels adjusted so that the lower levels were more exposed to the high waves, while the top had artificial lights that mimicked sunlight.

It was home, but some parts of the city were more home than others.

By the time he was home, he walked into the three-floor metal building that immediately dried his skin and let warm air cover him. The inside looked bright, the fake window projections showing a tranquil forest far away on another planet.

Zel-Gara was an ocean world, for the most part. The only forest here was the kelp kind.

He nodded to his sister-in-law and said hello to his niece.

His brother wasn’t home, which wasn’t odd.

Sunny might hate his job, but there was no way they could pay him enough to get into a pressurised suit and pilot submarine harvesters to collect the Zel-Kep for twelve hours a day.

Sunny didn’t like to think of the things that lived in the kelp.

Once he got in his room, his easy smile faded, and he let out a sigh, rubbing his face. Other voices filled the building, and he didn’t have the strength to face them after the day he had. The family's tribe-like way of living was apparently uncommon in the known system, but Sunny tried to imagine living in a home with no other voices to hear, and the idea was a little creepy, if he was honest.

He slid into his Titan Heart Pod and was bombarded with his usual circles going crazy, and the exhaustion in his veins was quickly replaced by excitement. The last week and a bit had been non-stop for the Histy community, and Sunny was loving it.

Checking the forums and chatrooms, he found that his more meek side melted away, allowing a side of him that was at home to come through. Firmer, but also kinder.

The noise made him think another maker had seen the Guarda models getting pushed out and produced a counter-model. But he was shocked to find that, once again, the excitement was centred on the Guarda section of the Titan list.

A new successor model had been uploaded to Titan Heart.

“So quickly?” he blinked, not sure it was a good thing.

Rapid successor models tended to be… lacklustre in many ways. Statistically better in a way no one actually could feel beyond the number on the specs were bigger or reduced where problems were.

Before he could get the details, his pod let him know he had mail, which was odd. Most of his friends were more voice chatters, with a few only talking in the virtual 3D lobbies. A pure text message was a bit of a rarity outside of work.

A lot of legal stuff demanded words be written down and stamped with so many methods that it would become pretty impossible to fake.

Sunny froze when he saw it was from GuardofHistory, the one who had been releasing the G-Comet and G-Sparrow, the successor models of the Guarda. He reached to open it, then froze when he remembered he had sent that request. He winced at his own eagerness, knowing what waited inside the email now.

A chastise or cold reply that GuardofHistory was already busy and didn’t take commissions from random nobodies. The fact a new model had been released meant he had likely been at work doing another project when Sunny had messaged him.

Gathering what effort he had left after today, he opened it and blinked at the first line and the fact that the email contained an attachment to an Access Pass.

‘Hope you like it. Feedback is appreciated, but no rush. -Guardo’

The Access Pass was automatically accepted on his behalf, with GMI affirming it was valid and legal.

Still in shock at being heard and responded to, he opened the link to what the Access Pass was for and stared at a blue Titan standing with high shoulder guards, armoured arms ending in flexible hands, and two powerful legs with vents running down the back. The Guarda’s original head and torso were clear, but now the same blue with a golden accent.

In one of its hands was a teardrop shield, with a blazing sun cradled by a faint steam cloud in the shape of a moon, or something similar.

The other held a matching gleaming white blade.

“The G-Gallant..” Sunny breathed, taking it all in, unable to process that his request had led to this, a proof of concept made into a real Titan.

One that he was given free access to. GuardofHistory had done Sunny a huge service. In circles like the Histys, the act of giving someone a free pass was more ceremonial than official, but it said, ‘I trust you to make this shine.

Sunny felt an odd sting in the corner of his eyes, and he shook his head furiously, making a mental note to dust the pod the next time he got out.

---

Honora had seen the news of the newest Titan coming out of the Guarda, but she didn’t really get a deeper look than the fact that it was a swordsman. 

She had been running late for a scheduled match and loaded into her G-Sparrow, only to be put on a team with PatternBomb, who was in the G-Comet. The red Titan stood across from her on a high fortification set above a city. 

Pat had been piloting the G-Comet nearly as much as she worked the G-Sparrow. The more she used it, the more she found the role appealing. Sniffing out the enemy, getting in to disrupt plans, and getting back to report the numbers and models to give her team the advantage was an intense feeling she was still chasing.

Pat’s desire was much simpler.

He wanted things to go boom, and the G-Comet was very good at doing it. The third member of their team was still loading in, but Honora took off, moving down a ramp towards the city proper.

The mission was the usual three-versus-three, with the team whose last Titan stood being the winner. Honora would know in a few seconds if it was another G-Sparrow when it caught up with her; another G-Sparrow would be a pain.   Not just because it made Honora feel like a copy, but having another non-offensive Titan would put extra pressure on Pat to be the one to put down the enemy Titans, unless one of them got lucky with their shots.

Honora didn’t want to depend on luck if she could help it.

She sharply turned into a cross section of roads when a building came crashing down in front of her, the dust lifting up, and her forward momentum was briefly halted as a wide-range broadcast sounded out.

“When I heard the high and mighty Maiden-With-Honour was going to sign up for this round of fights, I just knew what trash heap she’d be piloting,” a voice that sounded far too pleased with itself.

A Titan stepped out, looking slender with a coiled metal whip in one hand and a sword in the other. A mix of grey and black, the thin Titan looked lightly armoured, but the arms had visible dexterity, joints and parts moving with well-designed grace. The Titan itself gave off the appearance of a skeleton, concave pieces of armour doubling as shallow sunken skin, the torso protected by bands of metal that curled like ribcages.

The head was a macabre grin of a skull and red eyes.

Honora grimaced at the sight, recognising the Titan and the pilot.

The Grudgebearer Mk3 loomed closer as another building topped to her right and left, boxing her in. 

The hunter and trap Titan was one of the worst matchups for Honora and her G-Sparrow. The whip had a magnetic clamping feature, and once the Grudgebearer had someone locked down, the thrust sword it wielded would end a fight quickly.

The advantage Honora had in being able to outrun the Grudgebearer was gone as the city collapsed around her, forming dead ends. 

Honora had been played.

“Do you think about me that much, Vraust?” Honora asked, raising her Cleaver Combat Knife to show she wasn’t toothless. Before she could get a response, two objects shot into the air, covering the immediate air around them in garish, cloying pink smoke that made her sensors flicker badly, the shapes becoming less defined. In the smoke, it wasn’t so bad, but for Pat, who should be covering her, he wouldn’t be able to accurately tell a building from a Titan.

His Thunderclap Cannons were good, but he didn’t have unlimited ammo.

“Dame Vraust to you, Honorless,” the pilot in the Grudgebearer finally responded, her voice crackling thanks to the interference smoke.

Honora rolled her eyes. The woman across from her was also a hardcore Histy, but unlike most, she tended to enjoy the brutal victories and hard stances, even taking the name of Trachn Vraust, the Iron Gavel.

Not a very nice guy who won a lot of battles and got excused for a lot of things because of it.

That only showed the kind of person Vraust was.

“I looked into your previous matches. Piloting that garbage and riding off the power of the slightly less garbage G-Comet. All I had to do was wait for you to speed up, cut off your escape, and block the Comet from doing what it does best. I bet your friend won’t fire until he has a clear shot, and you can get away. Touching really,” Vraust continued, her whip uncoiling as on either side, two Zuma models appeared, showing who had been cutting down the building for Vraust.

“Smart,” Honora admitted, not quite capable of denying the effectiveness of the plan, “but it won’t work really,” she added, and the three Titans paused as if wary of sudden landmines.

“I told PatternBomb to fire on my last location if there was no sign of me,” she lied without a hitch to her voice.

“What-, no, you’re lying,” Vraust decided, like she had considered all options in a single second.

“We only need our team to be the last one standing,” Honora pushed, hoping to confuse them just enough to create an opening. If she could dash through, losing a limb or most of her armour, she’d be in the clear.

“No chance!” one of the Zume swordsmen decided and charged, his long sword drawn.

“No, you idiot! If her communication line goes completely dead, then the G-Comet will know!” Vraust yelled, turning with outrage.

Honora raised her knife, feeling boxed in and wondering if she was in over her head. The collapsed, smoking building to her right suddenly exploded outward as a figure crashed through it, a shield raised with a flash of blue and gold. There was a swing of white, the digital sun gleaming off the edge of the blade as it cut deep into the limb of the Zuma, cleaving it off in a shower of sparks and exposed muscle weave.

“Three against one… isn’t very nice,” the pilot said, standing before Honora.

Honora only had one critique.

“You’re going to need a cape if you’re going to be acting like a hero,” she grunted, pulling back to provide cover. The strange new Guarda model turned its head at her, its squat head similar to the base model's, looking more…. Impressive for some reason Honora couldn’t put her finger on.

“I’m no hero,” he explained before standing with his sword raised and shield placed in the way of the other team and Honora.

“I’m a gallant knight.”