Cherry Valley. A bustling metropolis hidden off from the rest of the world by a mountain range filled with blooming cherry trees. It was the home of many a brilliant mind of the generations past and to come, and it would be here where one young man's ideas would spark a world-changing event.

"Three...

...two...

...one."


"Is it on? Did it work?"

"That it did. Tina, you're a genius. You are now looking at the world's first clean-energy abundantly productive battery."

Lite Kyler was huddled around the small device, his friend Tina Aino beside him. They had been pouring over equation and element for weeks trying to figure out how to build a battery efficient enough to power a device to be presented in a week at the Medical Mechanics Scientific Research Expo. And their research paid off.

"Aww, thanks, Lite." Tina leaned in and gave Lite a small kiss on his cheek. "But you probably would've figured it out on your own."

"Bah. The only reason this worked to begin with was because you taught me all of this stuff about physics. This is entirely your creation." Lite picked up the small battery. It was composed of two round donut-shaped electromagnets stuck together with an even smaller battery slotted in between the "donut hole." Wires ran through the electromagnets and the battery. The whole device was encased in a reinforced glass containment dome, and the back of the device had a male plug so it could be plugged into devices.

"What are we going to call it?"

"Well, it's an electromagnetic battery energy reactor... That's EMBER for short. I think EMBER sounds good."

"Hee. Better than those other two random ones you came up with. I mean, DORA and REPAS? Those sound funny."

"Err, well they were apt descriptions..."

Tina gave Lite a playful shove on the shoulder. "I'm kidding, of course. Anyway, so we're going to install this and then demo the suit and the rehab device at the Expo next week, right?"

"Yeah, then we'll file the patents after we find hospitals and medical firms who are interested."

Lite put the device in a drawer under his work table. He got up to leave the workshop in his parent's basement, and Tina followed him upstairs and out. They stepped into the living room and sat on the couch.

"Ugh... I'm really nervous for next week." Lite sighed.

"What's the problem? You don't think we'll do good at the expo?"

"No, I'm just worried about people's reactions to this. This is completely new technology, and admittedly there's several more possible applications for such modular hardware..."

"Oh, I see. You're worried about him showing up, aren't you." Tina puffed her short brown hair from her eyes and wore it back with hair-clips she procured from her pocket. "Well, if he does show, you know what you're going to tell him," she said as she put her arm around Lite's shoulder.

"Bah. He's dedicated as hell. I don't know how I'm going to convince him." Lite was speaking slowly now. Working diligently all day tuckered him out and he was falling asleep. "Mmm...well...I'll deal with it later I guess...are you going to be staying or should I take you home?" he asked Tina.

Tina shook her head no."You're obviously tired. I don't want you to take me home if you're feeling fatigued. I'll go upstairs. Night, Lite." She hugged Lite and gave him another kiss on the cheek and walked out of the room.

Lite began mumbling drowsily."Mrhm. Good night, Tina..." He tilted over onto the couch and fell asleep.

He would need the sleep too. Next week would be a very important time for the young man and his friend...

"Mrmgh..."

A week had passed since Lite and Tina finished developing the EMBER. Today was the day of the Medical Mechanics Scientific Research Expo. Lite rolled over in his sleep, a thin line of drool flitting off of his mouth from the pillow. His alarm clock went off with a hearty "Good morning, Cronos!" and the early morning talk-show public radio began with a loud start. Lite drowsily started out of bed and leaned in to turn off the radio.

"Hrmghm... no shut up I don't want to listen to liberal propaganda media... or anything to do with government..."

Lite groaned and turned off the alarm radio. He got up from his bed and began to walk towards his shower when his cell phone rang. He checked the caller identification: "Tina".

"Hey Tina."

"Oh, hi, Lite! Are you ready for the Expo today?"


"Yeah, I'm going to jump in the shower, get dressed, and put everything in the van, then I'll pick you up and we'll head over for the presentation."

"Okay, but hurry up. The Expo starts in five hours and we need to get ready for our keynote quickly."

"I understand. See you later. Love you, goodbye."

"Love you too. I'll be waiting for you. Bye."

~~~

Lite pulled up into the VIP Parking area behind the normal parking lot as he entered the MMSR Expo. It was already bustling with press, scientists, and other various groups and organizations.

"Alright, that's our space. Park there."

Lite parked in the space and got out of the car. Tina got out of the passenger seat and they both opened up the trunk.

"...Yo... how are we going to get this stuff over there...?"

"I think there's porters here to carry presentation equipment."

Sure enough, a group of people in maintenance uniforms had appeared and asked for Lite and Tina's permission to unload their cargo. When they agreed they began taking out the crates and taking them to another location within the facility. The pair assisted the maintenance workers with the movement of the crates.

~~~

Backstage at the keynote, Lite had prepared both of the devices for demonstration.

"Alright, can you breathe? Try moving."

Tina was wearing the REPAS (Rehabilitative Exoskeletal Powered Armor Suit) device built in collaboration by the two. It had taken a while to correctly put the suit on and turn it on to test it. Tina inhaled and exhaled to test basic vitals, then began walking in a circle and swinging her arms to make sure her movement wasn't hindered.

"Okay. All systems functional. The suit's ready for the keynote. Now go grab the DORA over there..."

Unlike the REPAS, the DORA (Damaged Organ Recovery Apparatus) was meant for patients with internal injury to their organs, and was thus not an external piece of equipment. This device would basically have mechanisms that acted as artificial versions of important vital organs and would be implanted into a patient. This proof-of-concept shell consisted of a plate of transparent metal shaped like a human torso with an EMBER and several various mechanisms within.

"And now, for our next keynote, two young scientists whose names I'm pretty sure we're all familiar with by this point, have some very intriguing new technology that could save lives around the globe. Ladies and gentlemen, Lite Kyler and Tina Aino!"

Lite and Tina were slightly surprised by the sudden announcement.

"Alright, when I call out the REPAS demo, you come out on stage, okay?"

"I understand. Good luck out there, Lite!"

Lite walked onto the stage, wheeling in the (now covered by a large cloth) DORA proof-of-concept stand and waved his hand at the cheering audience. He stepped up to the mic and began addressing everyone.

"Hey guys, this is Lite Kyler and welcome to the Iron Company Keynote featuring myself and my good friend and partner Tina Aino. Don't worry, she'll be on in a second-"Lite gestured off-stage-"but first let me introduce to you something we've been working on. Or, rather, let me give you a bit of background information.

For quite some time now, we've been able to rehabilitate patients who've experienced medical trauma to their organs, whether they be diseased, malformed, injured, or otherwise damaged through the use of such means as organ donations and transplants, medication, and corrective surgeries. Well there's a bit of a problem with that. For one, people with a specific or rare blood type are incompatible with most organs on the donor market, so, if I may be blunt here, the patients who require a transplant are screwed. Medication and surgeries also aren't foolproof, and the risk of taking medication, however minute, is usually not very beneficial for the ones taking it. Then there's the risky business corrective surgeries have on people who've sustained injuries or disease in such vital organs such as the heart or lungs.

Well, today, everyone, I introduce you to a piece of technology that will revolutionize organ rehabilitative care. Ladies and gentlemen..."

Lite removed the piece of cloth from the stand.

"The Damaged Organ Rehabilitative Apparatus."

The response was wild applause.

"This device is implanted into a patient, and scans, adapts, and mimics the patient's DNA structure. However, they also reap the benefits of having purely mechanical organs. Patients who have a DORA implanted no longer suffer from possible heart attacks, strokes, or blood clots. Also, those who have one implanted due to respiratory disease or other problems no longer suffer from ailments such as asthma, tuberculosis, bronchitis, and don't even have to rely heavily on oxygen. This is all powered by an Electro-Magnetic Battery Energy Reactor that limitlessly produces clean energy.

However, despite the brilliant and limitless applications and possibilities this device has opened up for the world of medical science, there is an even greater piece of technology we have developed that can quite possibly give extremely debilitated patients a chance at a new life- whether they be paraplegic or a war veteran with missing appendages.

Tina, could you come on stage?"

Tina began walking on stage in the REPAS. Many gasps of fascination and murmurs throughout the crowd began rippling through the audience.

"Hello everyone. You probably can't tell it's me because I'm almost a foot taller in this thing and you can't see my face, but it's me, Tina Aino. And I'd like to introduce you all to the Rehabilitative Exoskeletal Powered Armor Suit, or REPAS for short."

More excited applause and cheers soared from the crowd.

"This is a very special medical device. Primarily the exoskeleton's main point is enhancing the muscular abilities of the person wearing it. Strength of the patient's damaged muscles are augmented to a more appropriate, 'healthier' degree, so paraplegics and the disabled can finally perform everyday actions they couldn't do with their given injuries or physical deformities.

Also, those with missing appendages need not worry- variants of the REPAS work as what are essentially cybernetic enhancements to the patient's physique. So patients with damaged or amputated limbs can now enjoy full mobility with these enhancements.

This technology is also very modular and accepts most, if not all, change done to it. This software and hardware will never go out of date and will instead continue to evolve. So those who are worried about their arms suddenly going out of date- as ridiculous as it sounds- won't have to!"

As Tina ended her speech, the audience met her with warm applause, until suddenly a voice called out:

"Yeah, this is great and all... but are you sure that this is this technology's proper use?"

Lite recognized that voice. He immediately grabbed the mic from Tina.

"Uhh... So that concludes this little episode of Iron Company's keynote here at the MMSR Expo... I guess the next time you'll be seeing us is if you choose to invest in our products or not. This is Lite Kyler, peace out."

With the audience dismissed, the crowd dispersed until there was only one person left standing below the stage...

"Hello, Darc." Lite stepped off the stage and walked towards his older sibling.

"Little brother Lite, always the wonderboy of the family. It's quite refreshing to be back after I was stationed cross-country. Been what, a year, since I last saw you? And you're still making all these neat little toys and gadgets with Little Miss Sunshine over there... but you're missing the whole point of making them."

"..." Lite called out to Tina. "Pack everything up. I'll meet you later. Darc, let's take this outside."

~~~

It was a cold winter night, almost the end of January. There was a light snow falling to the ground, and amongst the skyscraping buildings and the cherry-tree filled buildings, it was really quite a unique and majestic sight.

"It HAS been a long time, big bro."

"Yes it has."

"From what it sounded like, I guess you didn't like your time overseas..."

Darc's pitch black eyes looked into Lite's blue.

"The guy who said that war is hell had the right idea in mind, Lite. I met a bunch of people... honorable men and women... they trained under my command, and... Lite. Those men and women were my brothers and sisters, like you. They gave their lives fighting for their country and her allies."


Lite nodded slowly. Canica had just recently won a victory in an overseas war against a dictatorship country called Jermchia. Faced with threats of nuclear Armageddon, several other countries (Canica included) sent their military abroad to disarm these supposed warheads. Darc was Lieutenant Colonel of the National Canica Armed Military Forces, and one of his duties was leading and training new recruits.

"Darc, I get it... but I refuse to use that suit as a weapon."

Darc's eyes narrowed and glared.

"Lite, that suit is exactly what this country's military needs. To defend our troops! That metal is probably a lot more durable than body armor, and the specialized equipment it could carry would be able to disable an enemy threat with minimal allied casualties!!"

"Well, I wish everyone thought like you, Darc. But think about it. I'm no ironmonger, Darc. What if this suit got out? What if the designs were leaked to a country that doesn't think of weapons as a means of defense? I don't want something so dangerous to fall into enemy hands. I don't make weapons, Darc. Get it through your head."

Darc sighed. "Fine. I see how it is. And you're right, that tech probably has better applications if it wasn't developed as a weapon... but even so. Give it some thought." Darc turned around, put his hands in his pockets, and walked off.

It was a very cold evening. Lite quickly ran to the parking lots to avoid the freezing temperatures, headed back to the van, and got in the driver's seat.

Tina was waiting for him. "I take it he didn't like what you had to tell him."

"...No. I don't think he did."

"Well... he's your big brother. And he cares about you. I'm sure he puts your opinions first." Tina wrapped an arm around Lite in a warm embrace, leaned in, and gave him a kiss. "Don't put too much thought on it. He has his reasons, he's not a bad person."

Lite sighed. "No. He's not. And I'm not saying he is or isn't. Anyways, today was very exhausting. Let's go home."

It had been two weeks since the Medical Mechanics Scientific Research Expo. Lite and Tina had recieved several offers for the purchase of the DORA and the REPAS devices, however it would be almost a year for their patents to go through and the machines would be released to the public. Lite was sitting at his computer in his room and was browsing various information about current agenda for Iron Company, the small medical research company he had funded in part using his mother's inheritance and life insurance- she had died due to illness two years ago.

Lite clicked on his schedule. His research team was planning on going into a subterranean environment where a certain fauna grew. It was apparently the next penicillin, the difference here being certain people with allergies to penicillin and its variants were unaffected by such side effects. Lite himself had a mild allergy to omoxicillin so he was slightly interested in this plant. Lite pulled up a few programs, contacted his research partners, and got up and headed for the garage.

~~~

Lite drove into the Cherry Cave where the fauna was said to have appeared. He parked and got out of the van. A short distance inside the cave, Tina and a few other scientists were waiting for him.

"Everything clear around here?"

"Yep. Your spelunking uniform's over there. We're about to head down into the cave, and it should be pretty safe. The plant grows about two layers down, and we've got all the pulleys and things set up, so we're going to head down now and look for samples for study.

Lite nodded, took a pack containing his spelunking uniform and headed into a port-a-potty to change into it.

~~~

Lite, Tina, and a few others clambered to the side of the cave. They hooked pulleys and levers onto their suits and began scaling down the vertical tunnel. Upon reaching their destination, they unhooked their suits from the pulley harnesses and began climbing a bit further down on their own. The tunnel was beginning to slant into a small flat area. One could hear water dripping at a distance. Everyone turned their headlamps on to try to see what was going on around them.

"Uhh. So what're we looking for?"

"I dunno, man. Some kinda mushroom that grows around here. It's apparently an offshoot of the mold that grows on oranges? But I'm pretty sure oranges wouldn't be able to grow down here..." one scientist mumbled.

"Well, we're considering the fact the plant may have mutated." Another spoke up.

As they began to discuss possible theories as to why such a fauna grows underground, Lite and Tina began searching for organisms that might or might not have fit the description given to them.

Something began rumbling underneath their feet.

"Cave-in?"

"Not sure. Maybe an earthquake, but we had checked before and the cave was perfectly stable..."

The rumbling intensified. Sounds could be heard from within the cavern. They sounded almost explosive in nature...

"...someone else is down here... and I get the feeling they're doing something not very safe. We need to get out of here!"

Tina nodded and began running back to the pulleys, crying "CAVE-IN! EVERYONE GET OUT!" Lite made a mad dash towards the pulleys, but the trembling got fiercer and more violent and caused him to fall flat onto his stomach.

"TINA-"

The cave had begun collapsing as Tina and the rest of the crew had begun climbing back out. Tina paused for a split second and began to drop back down to save Lite, but she was too late. Several boulders trapped her and crushed Lite, and the rest of the subterranean ceiling came crashing down on her.

~~~

"...ite..."

"..."

"...Lite... He's coming to."

"...?" Lite slowly opened his eyes. He tried shifting his neck and tried to get a view of where he was.

"Ah ah ah. Steady now."

He was in a hospital bed wearing a patient's medical blouse. He had an IV hooked up to his left arm and a dull pain in his chest. There was a doctor standing over him, and another man standing in the doorway, whom Lite recognized as his father, whom he hadn't seen since he had left on a business trip almost a month ago. ...Or was it a month ago? Lite's father looked very fatigued and worn as though he had been grieving for a long time. He hadn't looked like that since Lite's mother's passing two years ago.

"Dad? Is that you? What am I doing here?"

Lite's father stepped forward. "Don't try to move, my boy. You've been asleep for some time. We were so worried, your older brother, your friend, and I."

"Some time? What happened?"

His father cleared his throat and began to stutter out a question. "Do you- do you not remember?"

Lite thought hard back to most recent memory. "What, the... uhm... There was a cave-in... I fell and Tina tri- Tina! Is she okay?!"

"Tina- your girlfriend is fine, Lite. We were worrying about you."

Lite was shocked. "Me? What's wrong with me? What was wrong with me?"


The doctor spoke now. "Maybe I should explain... Lite, you've been in a six-month coma. Since about late January or early February, we've been operating on you and keeping you conscious. Your mental activity was fine and there were a few spikes here and there, so you certainly weren't vegetative-"

"WHAT?! I've been comatose for half a year?! You've gotta be joking..." Lite's mind began racing. All the things he missed over six months... Tina's birthday... his father coming back from business...

"You haven't let me finish yet. There's still a few more things I need to explain."

"... Go on."

"When we found you, you were in pretty bad shape. Your rib cage had basically caved in on itself, but your heart was still beating and you were still alive. Quite a ticker you've got inside you. But in the end it didn't help you much, as your heart and lungs began failing due to extreme hemorrhaging and torn muscle. We've been trying to get you transplants but... at this rate you only have about a week to live."

Lite felt as though he had been punched several times in the stomach. "...This is some kind of joke, right? I just woke up, and I'm obviously okay, and I don't feel like I'm dying, and I only have seven days left? Dad, is he telling the truth?"

Lite's father sighed and leaned back against the door frame of the room, putting his hand to the bridge of his nose. "Son... I'm sorry."

Lite chewed this over for a minute, then a thought struck him. It was a brilliant idea, one that gave him newfound hope and invigorated him."...Wait a minute. Doc, can I go home? I need to-"

"I wouldn't advise-"

"You know what screw you, Dad take me home now." Lite hopped out of bed and ripped the IV and all the wires connected to his arm and dashed out of the room, but paused and yelled, "Yo, Dad! You coming or not? I can't drive like this!"

~~~

"... I did it. I can't believe it actually works."

Lite sat up from the operating table he was seated on. He was back home in his basement and his hands were covered in his own blood- he had been crudely operating on himself with the assistance of a complicated system of mirrors, cameras, and AI-operated surgical equipment. Inside the center of Lite's chest, an EMBER was slightly protruding outwards and was glowing brightly. It was powering a DORA which he had installed into his chest with the help of the AI "surgeons". The device was now centered behind his rib-cage, working in place of his heart and lungs. His new artificial organs were operating at full capacity and the pain in his chest receded.

Lite gave an exasperated laugh. "Haha! I can't believe that after I myself am in an accident, I become my own test subject. This is amusing, really."

Lite got off the table and began walking up out of the basement. His dad was waiting for him in the living room. "Lite! What's that thing in your chest?"

"It's the thing that's going to keep my new mechanical ticker ticking for another century. I've been reborn anew; never has a greater phoenix metaphor been personified in human history. I built this thing a while before I went comatose." Lite paused for a moment. " ...Speaking of which... anything interesting happen while I was out of it?"

Lite's father took a deep breath. "Son... it's a very long story, and you and I both need some rest. I'll explain it to you the next chance I get."

Lite looked at his father for a bit, then shrugged. "Suits me fine. I'm going upstairs to get some sleep. Night, Dad."

An explosion shook the house. Lite woke up with a start and fell out of bed.

"WHAT THE HELL?! BOMBS!? WHY ARE THERE BOMBS GOING OFF?!

Another explosion rocked the nearby foundation and knocked Lite to his knees. His father ran in from the other room.

"Lite!! Are you okay?! Follow me, we're getting into the bomb shelter outside-"

"WHAT THE FU- BOMB SHELTER?! WHEN THE HELL DID WE GET A BOMB SHELTER?!"

"Lite!! Calm down! There are tanks firing on the Canican Army and we need to take refuge!!"

"Refuge?! So I'm just going to sit there as we get blown to bits? Hell no!! I'm going out there!" Lite pushed his father to the side as he ran out the doorway and into the basement.

Darc's words echoed in his mind. Lite now saw why Darc thought that way about the suit. He ran into the back room of the basement where two versions of the REPAS were stationed. To his surprise, only one was to be found in the REPAS Concept Hall, but he ignored that and stepped into the middle of the room and activated the Suit Equip sequence.

"I'm sorry, Darc. You were right. REPAS... Time to go to work."

~~~

Lite stepped outside. The smell of something burning filled the air. Another explosion shook the ground and Lite instinctively ducked.

The cabin AI analyzed the area and spoke to him. "Foot soldiers imbound. Armed with heavy-caliber automatic machine guns."

"Got it. Notify whenever any more reinforcements approach within our immediate vicinity."

Lite began running towards a large group of red dots marked on the radar in the REPAS's HUD. The suit itself was lacking in weapons, but Lite had trained with his brother in military combat before he went overseas. He was ready for any situation these mysterious soldiers threw at him- regardless of whether he had anything to defend himself with.

"What's that?! Open fire!!"

A group of men in black and purple suits wielding machine guns began firing at Lite. The bullets bounced off of the REPAS's iron-titanium hide, leaving slight pockmarks where they hit.

"That wasn't very nice." Lite jumped at the crowd of soldiers and began to engage each one in hand-to-hand combat. One soldier swung at Lite's back using his gun and tried to bash him in the head; the force of his own strength coupled with the resistant force of the armor caused him to knock himself out from recoil. Lite used a wide array of techniques on the troops. Whenever one attacked, he blocked with ease and then slid under their arm and dealt a swift uppercut to their jaw. One aimed a kick at his head- Lite caught the man's foot, crushed it, twisted the man mid-air, and swung him in a circle, alarming the other troops immediately next to him and even taking a few of them down.

"All troops within the current immediate radius rendered unconcious."

Lite bent over and picked up a machine gun from one of the soldier's bodies. "...REPAS... access all world-wide global internet databases. I need to know which country provided these troops with this weapon."

The REPAS HUD began to open up several browser windows with various information based on the image scans of the weapon. "Scan complete. This weapon was provided by an unknown weapons manufacturer to the Sebevakian Military Corps.

"Sebevakia? They're that militaristic so-called monarchy..."

Lite was cut short by an explosion that sent him reeling backwards. Where he once stood, a crater remained. His suit was charred. He looked up and saw a Sebevakian attack tank down the long street. Lite surmised that this was where the explosions were originating from- the tank must've been firing upon Canican forces.

"...If that tank keeps shooting at me I swear to God I'll kill it."

The pilot of the vehicle obviously didn't hear this- or more likely, didn't care- and fired another explosive round at Lite. This time, Lite rose his hand and caught the projectile and smashed it between his palm.

"That's it. I'll crush this tank!"



SMASH!!! Lite tore off the barrel of the tank and swung it down into its cockpit.

"You got shrapnel on my suit."

Lite turned around. The lone soldier who began firing on him was still standing there. Upon realizing that the giant robot thing that just killed a tank with its own barrel was looking at him and was about to approach him and probably kill him, he dropped his gun and ran in the opposite direction.

"Wuss. The Sebevakian military needs to employ men. Then again... the Canican Army -does- accept members of both sexes..."

Lite stepped down from the pile of flattened metal that was the tank he just crushed. He scanned it for signs of life, in case he needed to pull out the injured pilot, only to find...

"Sebevakian Armored Systems employs a highly advanced artificial intelligence system within their armored equipment, such as machines like tanks and stunt fighter jets."

"...I need to get out more. Haven't been outside in six months and already the world's advanced far beyond what I know..."

Lite sighed and walked away, only to be stopped by the REPAS's AI.

"Incoming fighter jets approaching. They appear to be friendly military."

"They're too late, I just did their job for them. Ah well, they can clean house. I'm tired, I just woke up and within a span of about half an hour I beat the crap out of some guys and smashed a tank in. Ugh... I need to get some rest."

~~~

"So you're saying... someone in a suit of armor wiped out the enemy tank?"

"Yes sir."

"And you have photographic evidence corroborating this?"

"Yes."

"...I've never seen anything like this. Are you sure it wasn't one of ours?"

"No sir, but he...she... it... had fought for us. We found a group of soldiers knocked out a distance from where the tank was found- they weren't brought down by our forces, sir."

"Hmm... send this image to HQ. We need their corroboration on this."

"Yes sir, right away."

"Dad, you owe me an explanation. I just killed a robot tank and beat up a bunch of soldiers belonging to a foreign border monarchic nation whose interests involve military dominance of the countries they war with. My REPAS Beta suit was missing downstairs, and neither Darc nor Tina were there when I was checked out of the hospital. What the hell happened in the six months I was comatose?"

Lite was standing over his father, whose head was rested into the palm of his hand. They were in the living room of their house. Lite still had his REPAS Alpha armor on, sans helmet, with blood trickling down his lip and various dents and marks on the suit. He had his arms crossed and a very serious, intent expression was worn on his face. Lite's father took a deep breath.

"Lite... a week or so after your accident... the Sebevakian Army had invaded Cherry Valley for the first time."

"The FIRST-"

"Let me continue.

Supposedly, the Sebevakian king, James Grogovik II, invaded our nation under the pretenses that we had a "highly destructive potential weapon" which our president and his cabinet "refused to release information of." In truth, our government had no clue about any so-called weapon, apart from nuclear arms which all countries have agreed to not use. This was the excuse he gave for tearing into our city. Darc rallied troops in the nearby area, and he and his forces repelled their attack. He then went missing shortly after the battle took place, for reasons no one knew. Your friend, Tina, also went missing about a month or so after he did. She had told me she left something for you, but she never gave me anything or told me what.

Our troops have been stationed among border cities for months, although we're losing ground in areas isolated by geographic formations such as water, mountains, and plains. This area is one such place- yesterday was the fourth invasion of Cherry Valley and the sixth in general among our Blue Fields Province. We're at war."

Lite's mind was reeling at taking in all of this new information. He tried to process what was told...

The Sebevakian Army must have heard about the REPAS and its potential applications. Darc must have decided to take the Beta suit or blueprints of the REPAS for himself or for his forces in order to combat the Sebevakian menace and then fled. Tina had probably decided to chase after him- if he didn't take the suit -and instead, more likely in this case, he had stolen blueprints for its design- then she did, and followed after Darc. Had Lite not been wearing a 400 pound suit of armor, he would've sat down to think about the situation.

"...Dad. I'm going to be gone for a while."

"...Lite?"

"I'm going to go after Darc and Tina. And I'm going to get to the bottom of this. I have a feeling that whatever happened here, it was because of me. And it's my responsibility to pick up after myself, tend to my messes, and finish what I inadvertently started."

"What are you talking about?"

"Dad, you'll figure it all out later. For now... I'm leaving."

~~~

"Yo, REPAS AI. I haven't figured out what to call you yet. Got any ideas?"

Lite was in the back room of the basement, where the REPAS Storage Hall was located. He was seated at a large desk filled with computer monitors. Lite was talking to the AI program that ran most of the lab. The AI was more-or-less self aware and was designed by Tina.

"My designer had never given me a name to refer to me as."

"Well, REPAS AI is too complicated to say and it doesn't roll off the tongue, no offense-"

"None taken."

-and since you and I are going to be talking to each other for a long time, I need to give you a proper name. Now, I've been going through various fictions, and I'm dissatisfied with my results... JARVIS, GLaDOS, and HAL 9000."

"Sir, I appreciate the nod to such fine culture, but I would like to point out that two of those three rebelled against their masters violently, and the third was, in fact, human in-canon."

"Hm. Well, you were made by my girlfriend, so a name pertaining to her would fit well. Let's see..." Lite began to think of men apart from himself Tina was close with.

"Ah, I've got it. How does Nick sound to you?"

"Nick, sir? As in...?"

"For one, it's my NICK-name for you. Two, Tina's pops' name is Nick and he reminds me a bit of you."

"...Sir, I do believe this name is suitable."

Lite grinned. "Alright, Nick. We're going to be on a long journey and we might meet a bunch of people who don't think we're all that great. So, we're going to need to defend ourselves. I propose the following modifications to the REPAS Alpha v. 1.0 system configurations:"



"Feed these through the automatic craft assembly upgrade machine and we'll be on our way, alright?"

"Accepted. REPAS Mark Alpha version one point two point zero assembly beginning.

Lite sat up from his workstation and begin to walk out the door when he noticed something in the space where the Beta model used to be. In its place, against the wall it was originally stationed, was a sticky note. It read:


So Darc had taken only the blueprints, and Tina went to follow...

"Tina... Sooner than you thought."

Lite woke up from bed early in the morning. He snuck downstairs and into the basement, being careful not to wake his father. Slipping through the door and into the basement, he shut the door behind him and walked into the back room with the REPAS Storage Hall inside.

"Are your preparations complete, sir?"

"Yep. Nick, we're ready to go. Now let's put on the suit..."

"One moment, sir."

"Huh?"

In the center of the room, where the REPAS equipment line would normally emerge from underneath the floor, rose a tall, tube-like structure with a suit inside it. It was a thin black bodysuit with a hole inside its chest, which looked like it was meant for mounting an EMBER within it. The glass container dispersed, allowing Lite to step into the structure and pick up the suit.

"Uhm... Nick, what is this?"

"Your friend left it for you before she went in search of your brother. She had told me to present it to you should you recover from your rehabilitative care and set out for her. It's a REPAS Storage Device, using physical-to-digital cybernetic storage technology to contain the suit within it. To equip the suit, put on the device and mentally command it to spawn."

Lite took the suit out of the tube container, undressed, unzipped the top half of the bodysuit, put it on, then proceeded to put his street clothing over it.

"...Uhm. I'm no good with the "willing into existence" thing. How about a voice command? Every good superhero has his own catchphrase, right?"

"I'm not sure I follow with your reasoning, sir, but feel free to register a voice command. What would you like it to be?"

Lite began contemplating various phrases that would soon become his new battle cry. It had to be something that would sound good to him when commanding the REPAS into existence, but not too simple. It also had to be somewhat cheesy and corny, since all superheroes had their own random catchphrases like that. Finally, he managed to come up with a phrase that he thought would work as his tagline.

"Let's play."

Suddenly, seemingly from mid-air, strands of code and text that looked as though Lite had broken the Matrix appeared. The strands of code flashed from green to blue and began circling around his body. They then became boxy and almost cel-shaded in appearance before forming various parts of the suit's armor. First his arms were covered from the hand up, then his jet thruster boots came into existence. Then his chest, torso, and back were clad in armor, and finally, Lite's helmet surrounded his head and the screen's HUD display came into view.

"Now I need to record a shut-off catchphrase, Nick. How about... 'Stop playing'?"

As he said that, as quickly as they appeared, the pieces of the suit dematerialized, reverted back into code, and projected back into the suit.

"Tina, I love you and I'm giving you a big hug and a kiss when I see you." Lite had forever been impressed with Tina's technological capabilities, and now with this unique form of physical-to-digital storage formatting it was even more apparent that she was a genius like no other.

"Tina had also left coordinates for her next destination for you to follow should you recover from your coma."

"Alright, shoot."

"Roughly speaking, the coordinates of latitude and longitude she had given take us to a large city to the east called New Blue Fields City. It's a location still within the Blue Fields Province; however, a city situated a few hundred miles distance away is currently captured by Sebevakian forces. Flights in and out are being monitored heavily by Canican customs and security."

"Dammit. So I can't sneak onto a flight... I'll have to fly alongside the plane in the suit. The HUD can cloak radar, right?"

"Yes sir; as a matter of fact you specified it to do so."

"Yeah I did, cuz I'm a genius. Alrighty then, Nicky old boy. We're going to follow a flight to New Blue Fields."

~~~

Cherry Valley Airfields was the largest airport in Canica. Since the only way for anything to come in and out of the Valley without making a long trek over and around the mountains sealing it in, most commerce such as cargo transport and people going in and out of the city was done here. Lite snuck in while wearing the REPAS and began hunting around for a flight bound to New Blue Fields City so that he could use it to hide himself during the transit.

"Airline Blackwing flight number 314 departing for New Blue Fields City in 30 minutes."

"Got it. I'll be there within 10."

Lite began roaming the airport. Hundreds of planes were landing and departing from this humongous flat concrete landscape. It was truly a sight to behold- Lite had never seen aerial transport on such a grand scale before. As he ran along the tarmat, he came across the flight he was looking for, just as they were about to finish loading the passenger luggage. Quickly, Lite jumped into the cargo hold as it sealed and ducked down a crate of suitcases.

"Stop playing."

Lite leaned back against the boxes of cargo. Slowly, his mind drifted to Tina. He tended to worry about her if he hadn't seen her for a long time. Now, with a six-month gap between him and her, he had no idea how much she'd have changed over the time lapse. She turned eighteen while he was in a coma. Would she look a little older? How did she spend her birthday? He realized that she had probably set out searching for Darc when it had been her birthday. Was she safe? Was she able to take care of herself? Why did she go to begin with? Darc was also another subject Lite was concerned about. Why would he take the blueprints for the REPAS? He must've thought that the suit would protect him and help him fight off the Sebevakian Army on his own. Or were their ulterior motives? Maybe Darc brought the blueprints to the higher-ups of the Canican chain of command... Lite had to find Darc as soon as he met Tina again. The fate of his country would depend on it. For now, however, Lite was exhausted as he had just woken up not an hour ago. He nestled himself and hid within a pile of luggage relatively obscured from view and took a nap.

"Attention, all passengers and crew members, this is your captain speaking. We are currently taking some damage above the airliner due to weather and as such we will be experiencing some mild turbulence. Please remain calm, fasten your seat belts, and put on the deployed oxygen masks."

Lite woke up, startled, and sat up from the small bed he made out of luggage crates.

"Turbulence? Something's going on up top. The upper hull of the airplane?"

"Sir, upon scanning the structural integrity of the airplane, it would appear the upper shell of the craft bears several lacerations, not made by any sort of weather anomaly."

Lite got up and walked to the back of the cargo hold, and pulled the emergency hold release hatch open. "Well, if some sorta fun action-y kinda crap is going on, I'm not going to sit out and not participate in whatever kinda plot progression! Let's play, Nicky!"

~~~

Lite jumped out of the emergency release hatch and fell down below the airplane. Quickly activating the flight-capable Thruster Boots and Backjet equipped within the suit, Lite flew up around the airplane and landed carefully onto the top of the aircraft. Immediately upon landing, he noticed several "tears" in the metallic shell of the craft. These marks, upon closer inspection, seemed to be made by a single puncture and then a dragging motion across the metal.

"Whatever made this wasn't strong enough to penetrate this industrial metal, but strong enough to seriously screw it up."

Suddenly, Lite heard a chattering of strange mechanical noises. He turned around and activated his battle HUD to investigate these sounds. In the distance, across the plane, three black objects were sort of standing on the plane. Lite zoomed in to get a better view...



"Sir, those appear to be small light-weight drones. Their ability in combat should not be left to figure on your own time."

"Certainly." Lite raised his hand and prepared a blast from his propulsion-repulsion cannon. Immediately, the drones ran up to him and an alert popped up in his HUD. He had taken mild damage to his suit's exterior.

"Sir, the damage was negligible. These drones obviously cannot penetrade industrial-grade metal alloys like our suits. However, that drone ran at speeds approaching fifty miles per hour. Be cautioned, they can move fast."

"Augh. This is going to be a pain. How can I shoot these things if they move too fast for me to shoot them?"

Lite equipped a weapon hidden within the back of his hand. A small pendulum dagger popped out from the encasing glove, with a steel wire attached to it. He locked onto the drones running by him with his HUD display, and tossed the wire out. It latched onto the drone and wrapped around its framework, then retracted, cutting the robot to pieces.

"Huh. They're fast but that's all they've really got going for 'em."

Lite swiveled around and fired a blast from his propulsion-repulsion cannon at a drone running back towards him, causing it to fly backward off of the airplane. There was only one drone remaining. Suddenly, it opened a hatch on its "head" and fired a blast of electricity at Lite, disrupting the suit's HUD.

"Augh! Dammit! Nick, come back online!"

The drone ran past again and left another scratch on the suit's exterior.

"Oh, you're getting really annoying now!!" As the drone ran back again, Lite swung his arm out backwards, punching the drone in the head and twisting it off of its frail neck-body.

Nick came back online. "Sir, the electric pulse fired by that drone temporarily disabled the AI program. I was working offline to maintain the status of the REPAS and your EMBER. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. But damn, those things were annoying. Flimsy as hell, but annoying. I need scans of their parts so I know how to deal with them next time, and I need to do research on their make and origin.

... Later. I haven't gotten any sleep today except for the five hours at home and the one hour in the cargo hold."

"Yes, sir. I will initiate search results immediately and notify you as soon as requested."

"Also, those drones were placed on this plane. They couldn't have flown up here. Whoever brought them onboard must be a member of the airline staff or one of the people flying on the plane. Check the flight manifests and the flight crew. When we land, we're going to find us whoever built those and put them on the plane."

~~~

"The drones failed to take out the craft, sir."

"How? There wasn't any way that the flight crew could fight off mechanical drones..."

"To be fair, they were only meant for recon and scouting."

"That's true. But... who or what destroyed them?"

"Well, based on images recieved by the optic cameras installed within the robots we have reason to believe whoever did it also destroyed our tank in Cherry Valley."

"What?! So they DO have a weapon hidden up there after all!! Ooh hoo hoo... wait until the higher-ups in Sebevakian Military Command hear about this..."

"Any luck, Nick?"

"None of the passengers nor the crew members had any criminal background or relation to Sebevakia. Whoever placed those drones onboard the plane must've been trained in military espionage."

Lite was in the cargo hold of the Blackwings airliner. He had found out through Nick's research that the robots he fought up on the top of the plane were Sebevakian Reconnaissance Scout Drones, usually used by their military for small force attacks or spying.

"So a Sebevakian spy is on the plane. He could be anywhere..." In spite of the dire tones of the situation Lite couldn't help but chuckle as he recalled a certain computer game which he frequently played. "Anyway, the plane lands in an hour or so, so the flight crew is going to get this luggage ready and misplaced. We need to make ourselves scarce."

~~~

"What the hell? How did the plane make it onto the ground!?"

"What're you talkin' about, man?"

"Dude, look at this crap! Somethin' tore open the whole goddam top of the plane! We need to get some welding torches up 'ere!"

Lite quickly snuck out from underneath the plane and ran off the tarmac. Hastily, while running, he pulled a red hooded sweatshirt from his backpack and slung it over his shoulders. He had to look somewhat inconspicuous, after all, and a man wearing a full bodysuit with a glowing object in his chest would draw attention.

Lite finally came to a door which led into the airport. Slowly opening it, he saw it led into the luggage claim area. Before security got a chance to notice him, he snuck around the conveyor belts and went inside the bathroom to remove the bodysuit and put it in his backpack. If he was seen wearing it he might've been detained, and the security scanner would detect the metal he was wearing. Lite put on a white T-shirt with a gaming logo on it, covered it with his hoodie, then stepped into a pair of cargo jeans and classy black shoes. He then slipped out the bathroom, carefully obscuring his backpack as he might've been stopped and had it checked by customs should it be seen by security.

A small line of people was forming at the security scanner. Lite saw that people were being checked for passports and international flight tickets.

"Nice line to step in... How am I going to get past security? I've never been good at bluffing..."

Lite put his backpack on the conveyor belt which led into the scanner. They scanned it and it came up clean, much to his relief- the backpack was lined with lead and magnets so it would disrupt such scanners. He walked through the sensor and made it through fine, then walked to the next agent.

"Passport and flight ticket."

"Don't have one."

The agent gave him a stern look. "What do you mean, 'don't have one?' You just got off an international flight didn't you?"

"Uhm. No. I didn't. You're wrong and you suck."

The man's eyebrow rose. He was slightly annoyed. "Excuse me? I'm asking for your ticket and passport."

"Look buddy, I don't have a TICKET because I didn't have my PASSPORT. I'm coming BACK from the airline booth and I'd LIKE to go home now. So if you could just let me through now."

The security agent's brow was knotted in frustration, seemingly because he was being talked back to by a civilian and losing his right to taser any and all trespassers or illegal flyers.

"Yo, hurry up. Let me through or have a hissy-fit, but there's a freakin' line forming and I'd like to not make these nice people wait."

Grumbling to himself, the agent stepped aside, gave Lite his backpack, and allowed him through.

Once he was out of earshot of the security agent, Lite muttered under his breath, "That guy sucks at distinguishing the truth from fiction. I bet I could've told him the truth about me sneaking onto that plane and fighting terrorist robots and he would've believed me. And asked for an autograph."

~~~

Lite walked out the entrance to the airport and found himself in the middle of a bustling street filled with cars and people and more cars and more people. It was certainly a strange site for someone who lived his entire life isolated within a mountain range. Past the boundaries of the airport, Lite saw towering buildings and skyscrapers looming over the horizon. He had entered New Blue Fields City.

"Woah. This is quite the place. I don't even know if I'm going to find what I'm looking for here..." Lite's mind quickly focused on Tina. Would she still be here? What would she say? How would she look now that six months have passed? He also had more important questions for her. Why did she take the suit? Did she find Darc? Lite quickly shoved these thoughts aside and hailed a taxi.

"I can do all the thinking I need once I settle down in a room and get some rest."

~~~

"And now for breaking news. In New BFX Airport, just a few hours before midnight, a plane landed with unusual markings on its hull. Upon further inspection, these marks appeared to be lacerations made by weather experienced by the aircraft during flight. It is currently unclear as to how the airplane was able to continue the flight without destabilizing mid-flight. More on this story tomorrow morning."

"Hm? That's odd... Either the damage was caused by Sebevakian military or...something else...

Darc, I've finally found you. You owe your little brother and I an explanation."

Lite paid his cabbie and left him a tip, then walked into the Carrio Hotel. It was a decent establishment, built for travelers who planned on spending a few nights and then leaving. Lite walked up to the counter and asked for an empty room.

"And your name, sir?"

"Ah, Nick Aino."

"Very well, sir. You're in Room 108." The clerk handed him the keys to his room and he walked down a hallway of rooms. Room 108 was on the right. Lite put the keys into the doorknob and opened the door. He closed and locked the door behind him, stepped into the room, and set his bag on top of a drawer that was in through the doorway. Then, Lite took his shoes off, and lay down on the bed.

"Tina, I'll be seeing you tomorrow, hopefully."

~~~

Dawn broke. And when dawn breaks in a bustling center of a major city, you know it. Lite awoke to the faint sounds of cars driving down the streets and people yelling at each other. He then realized that Room 108 had a window situated in front of the street.

Lite stepped outside of the hotel, with his REPAS storage device concealed under his clothes. The daylight was blocked off by all the towering buildings and business structures. The heavy scent of smog and pollutants from all the traffic filled the air, but Lite's new DORA lungs were actively working to filter such toxic material.

"Now, where would Tina be... in the middle of a city like this..."

Lite pulled a small handheld out of his pocket and flipped it open. He booted up a GPS and began flipping through it, observing the layout of the city.

"...Uhm. I got nothin'. Kinda hard to plot progress when you can't think of anything to do. I'm waiting for a cliche 'suddenly giant robots pop out of the ground' moment, but uh..."

Lite sighed and began walking along the paved sidewalk. The city was rather peaceful, in spite of the fact that another location nearby had been captured by an enemy army. Lite wondered, could humans really be so nonchalant?

Then, up in the distance, Lite heard a commotion and saw a large group of people crowded around an intersection. Suddenly, two loud bangs! rang out and Lite ducked his head instinctively. He ran up into the crowd but was stopped by a police barrier. In the middle of the intersection and along the street, police officers were hiding behind their cars and firing on a few hotrods at the other end of the road.. Several people, at least eight or nine men, were huddled behind the hotrods and shooting at the police.

"Well, it's not giant robots, but it's good enough!" Lite dashed away from the scene and ran into a back alley.

"Alright, Nicky! Let's play!"

~~~

"Captain! They've got illegal high-caliber automatic handguns! Our standard issue weapons aren't going to hold out long- we need to call a special weapons attack force!"

"Hold your ground, kid. We're waiting for them to show up."

"Yo, no need! Just get outta the way!"

"Huh?!"

Lite crashed down in the middle of the fire-fight and aimed his palm at one of the hotrod cars.

"Hey, punks! Throw down your guns or I can't be held responsible for what happens to your rides!"

One of the gunmen aimed his semi-automatic pistol at Lite. "You metal ass! Don't think you'll pull the same trick on us twice!"

"Twice- Uhh!!"

The bullets began ricocheting off of Lite's armor, but the damage taken was shockingly significant.

"Sir, those bullets are low-grade armor-piercing rounds. They'll ding up this suit quite a bit if you don't rid them of their firearms quickly."

"Alright, I got it!" Lite fired a propulsive-repulsive blast from his hand cannon at one of the cars, flipping it over and sending it spiraling into the air. Then, using the rockets on his back, flew into the gunmen on the other side of where the car was and knocked them out. Lite then raised his hand at the gunmen by the second hotrod.

"Move and I shoot! Shoot and I shoot! Do anything voluntarily and I shoot! Except dropping your weapons. You can drop your weapons and I won't shoot you."

~~~

"Thank you, once again. You've done an admirable job."

Again? Lite was confused. Apparently these people recognized him...

"Uh, no problem. I just do what I always do. Now then, I've gotta be going..." Lite flew off into the sky.

"That's weird...since when was a I recognized superhero? I guess that means that Tina or someone really is here..."

Lite was flying away from the crime scene where he intervened and broke up a fight between police and gang members. He was recognized by the law enforcement officers, which was strange considering that he had only been there for a day.

"So whoever the cops mistook me for, they've been in this city and they've protected it from crime. I need to find this person, because whoever it is has access to a heavily modified REPAS and that could be dangerous."

Lite had been searching for possible places Tina would be- he couldn't find her name on any residential listings so he assumed she had left the city. Lite slowly descended from the sky and flew out of the city limits. He had only been in flight for a few minutes and he had already cleared the distance of the whole city; the suit was incredibly fast and efficient in the air.

Outside the city, Lite had landed underneath a highway overpass. The cities in Canica, and in particular, the Blue Fields Province, were very isolated and usually only connected by long stretches of road. The area was, as far as Lite could see, a relatively barren nature landscape. Blue Fields Province was a misnomer- the region was a desert to the east of the Canican-Sebevakian mountain range split.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, an explosion shook the ground. Lite thought back to the same explosion six months prior... his eyes widened and he became more alert.

"Nick, scan the area for any hostile enemy equipment."

"Sir, a small air-bound vehicle is heading in this direction. Upon closer inspection it physically resembles a humanoid."

"What?!"

Lite looked at a blip on his HUD screen and zoomed in on it.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me..."

It looked like a REPAS, but not one that Lite had ever seen before. It was heavily modified and somewhat larger. The suit's armor plating was coated in blue and grey accented patterns. It was flying in the air with the aid of a flight-pack attached to the back of the suit. A shine emanated from the REPAS and a blast of hot energy tore down at Lite and knocked him back.

"Oww! Who the hell is that guy in the suit and who does that guy think he is?! The only person besides me who I would think would arm one of these suits is..."

Lite raised his palm and fired a counter-attack repulsor blast. The suit in the air dodged it and fired several missiles from its back.

"Air to ground missiles!? Woah-"

The missiles met their mark and Lite flew backwards again.

"Nick, get in contact with that suit! Hack in, get radio contact-"

"Sir, the enemy suit is sending out a jamming frequency which is currently blocking any wireless communication feeds I have from getting into contact with the suit. Whoever it is doesn't want us to know who they are."

"Then it must be Darc. I need to take down that suit!"

Lite rocketed into the air and tackled the enemy REPAS. Both him and his foe's flight patterns were disrupted, and as Lite's opponent fell off balance, Lite dragged them to the ground below, smashing them into it. As soon as they crashed, Lite was flung away by his opponent, who fired a hot electrical blast of energy from their palm.

"AGH!!" The blast seared part of the REPAS, and temporarily distorted the HUD display. Lite felt a hot surge of power flowing through his body, and feared that his EMBER would shut down and leave him to die of respiratory failure.

"Sir, those blasts are very similar to electromagnetic pulses. The energy wave they release is very dangerous to both the suit and you. Avoid taking too many hits from those pulses."

"Don't have to tell me twice!!"

Lite swung his arm up, and raised up a semi-automatic laser gun from the inner hull of his arm's casing. He fired it at his opponent, which dealt a bit of damage to their suit's armor. Lite noticed that his opponent's suit was more durable than his own- his REPAS was taking more visible damage.

"I guess it's time for close combat."

Lite used his thruster boots to toss himself closer to the enemy suit, and punched them in their helmet. He then threw a jab to the abdominal hull of the suit, and swung his right leg around in a roundhouse kick to the REPAS torso housing. His opponent countered by rotating in mid-air with the support of their jet-pack and delivering a bicycle kick to Lite's face. Lite caught his opponent's leg with both of his hands, and swung his opponent to the ground. Without missing a step and almost on instinct, the enemy suit swung back up and shot another EM pulse at Lite, knocking Lite far back and out of close fighting range from his opponent.

"Sir!! If our opponent fires another EM pulse and it connects I will be unable to keep your EMBER and this suit online and running. Please, be careful."

"Dammit! I know!"

Lite raised his palm at his opponent and prepared a propulsor-repulsor blast. His opponent raised their hand and also readied an EM pulse.



Both Lite and the enemy suit flew back due to the incredible shock of both blasts combining and colliding. There was silence. Eventually, Lite sat up and crawled over to his opponent. He got on his knees and ripped the EMBER from their REPAS, and took their helmet off.

"... Holy shi-"

Lite deactivated his suit and helped Tina sit upright.

"Hey. You awake?"

"Uhhn..."

"Tina. Wake up, it's me."

"...Lite...? Is that you?"

Lite was sitting on Tina's bed. He had consulted her REPAS's onboard AI and looked up the coordinates to Tina's new home in New Blue Fields City. After the battle between the two of them, Lite had flown Tina back to her place and checked out the surroundings. Tina slowly came to, her eyes opening drowsily and her shoulders shifting up in the bed.

"Yeah, it's me. I'm sorry about the mess I made earlier. When. You know. We tried to kill each other."

Tina was suddenly more alert now. "Wait, that was you?! I didn't even recognize the suit! You made some serious hardware mods to it- weaponizing it, the pearl-chrome paint... You even made it fly!"

Lite laughed. "Heh. I thought you'd say that. Yeah, Cherry Valley was invaded by the Sebevakian Army, so I ended up weaponizing the suit and took it with me. I got your present too."

Tina smiled, and color returned to her face."You did? So you're all right then...?"

Now Lite was sullen. "Well... sort of."

"Hm?"

Lite took off his sweatshirt and raised the T-shirt underneath, revealing the EMBER within his chest. Tina gasped in surprise.

"But this is-"

"My lungs and heart have been replaced with a DORA. I surgically implanted this myself. Without this I'm dead."

Tina's eyes watered. "But I shot EMPs at your suit... I almost killed you..." She was on the verge of tears.

Lite shook his head and placed his hand on Tina's shoulder. "I almost did the same. Don't worry. I couldn't get into radio contact with you and I assumed you were either Darc or someone else, so I began to assault you."

Tina wiped her eyes. "That was my fault. I disable wireless communications using EM waves whenever I go into combat. I thought you were Darc too, so that's why I attacked you in the first place, so I could subdue and capture Darc and interrogate him."

Upon hearing this, Lite sat up slowly and thought for a moment. Then he asked, "Tina, what else happened while I was comatose?"

Tina leaned against the headboard of the bed and began recounting events.

"About a week or so after the cave-in, I found out that it was caused by Sebevakian troops trying to breach Cherry Valley through the underground. All of a sudden... they attacked. Darc was still there. He rallied troops and fought off the invasion, but an explosive injured him severely. Wait till we find him... he doesn't look the same anymore.

Then, after that battle... Darc asked me where your lab was. Then he walked in and took some stuff, then left. When I went to check what he was looking for, the hard copy for the blueprints to the REPAS were missing. I thought he was going to build the suit himself and sell it to the Canican Army, or worse, the Sebevakians. I thought he might've been the one who let it leak that the Canican government had gotten ahold of a nuclear deterrent weapon. I began to blame him for your coma... for your death, even. I ended up outfitting the Beta suit with weapons and an AI, and then went to New Blue Fields City, where I set up a base of operations.

...By the way... How did you know where to bring me back home?"

Lite's ears perked up. "Ah, I linked my AI to your own. Kyler 2.0? A backup archival copy of my intelligence?"

Tina blushed. "Y-yeah... I wanted to keep you around in case you really did die... but I didn't recreate your personality or your emotions because I was waiting for you to wake up. I'm sorry if that sounds weird..."

"Ha! Nah, that's cool. I named my AI after your pops." Lite leaned back on the bed. "So... Darc has the blueprints for the suit... Well, when we meet him, I'm going to tell him he was right. This suit has done a lot more for me and everyone as a weapon than as a medical device." Just then, he thought of something. "Ah... I almost forgot. I owed you something..." Lite sat up from the bed.

Tina wore a curious expression on her face. "Hm? What was it exactly that you owed me?"

"...This..."



"Mm... and why did you owe me...?"

Lite's lips broke away from Tina's, but he kept her in a warm embrace with his arms. "Well...because I missed your eighteenth, because you left me that suit, because I nearly killed you, and because you're still my girlfriend and I still love you."

Tina smiled. "Ah... I guess that's reason enough."

~~~

"Sir! Sebevakian military imminent! They're approaching New Blue Fields!"

"Eh? How? There's been no reports of them-"

"Uh, it appears they're traveling by air, sir."

"Ah, that would make sense. An air squadron... I would assume they're using them to carry ground troops as well... They're probably heading there due to the reports of that armored superhero in New Blue Fields...

Men! Fire up the Weaponized Battle Suit Defense Squadron! We're going to crush the Sebevakian Army where it stands, be it by air, land, sea, or under our damn feet!!"

Tina's alarm went off. Lite drowsily opened his eyes, and tilted to the right of the bed. Tina was still sleeping on her side while the alarm kept ringing with a hearty "Good morning, Cronos!" Lite was pleased to see that Tina kept his old alarm clock as a memento, but found it strange that Tina could sleep through all the racket. Slowly, Lite reached over Tina's shoulder and shut off his alarm clock before the public radio station began playing. He then sat up on the bed and quietly got out from under the sheets and opened Tina's closet, taking out his backpack so he could get some clothes. Then, after getting his jeans, hoodie, some underwear, and one of his favorite T-shirts, he tucked the pile of clothing under his arm and walked to the bathroom door, opening it quietly and closing it just as stealthily. Opening one of the cabinets in the bathroom, Lite found a bath towel and some linens and took one for himself, then got into the shower and haphazardly turned on the showerhead- at this point not waking Tina was an impossibility.

"Lite? Is that you? Why aren't you sleeping in?" Lite could barely hear Tina over the roar of the showerhead.

"Uhh... what?!" Lite yelled back over the sound of the faucet.

Tina rolled over in the bed. "Mrhm... Never mind."

~~~

"So, what're we going to be doing today?" Lite asked Tina.

"Well, my daily routine over the past few months was just walking around the city, sight-seeing. Usually I'd go and get a coffee or something-"

"You drink coffee?"

"Yeah."

"Since when did you begin drinking coffee?"

"It gets really tiring in the big city. Coffee keeps me perked up."

Lite hung his head. "...drink soda for the same reason and suddenly she's drinking coffee... mumble grumble..."

"What was that?"

"Oh, uh... just saying that maybe we should go to a coffee shop then?"

~~~

Lite tugged at the collar of his hoodie. He was wearing his REPAS Storage Device under his clothing, and he noticed Tina was doing the same. He and Tina were seated in a two-person booth at the local Fast Nice Dine fast-food restaurant, located a few blocks from where Tina was staying.

Lite took a sip of cola and asked Tina, "So, is it safe around here, normally?"

Tina sighed and leaned back in the booth's seat, then picked up her cup of coffee in both hands and inhaled its scent. "It's been better now that the 'Iron Maiden' has been around."

"Iron Maiden? Is that what they call it?"

"Well, it's what I call it. They don't know what to call it yet."

"That's actually kinda clever... Iron Man... Iron Maiden...ha...that's funny."

Lite took another drink of his soda and looked out the window. He began observing people outside, walking by and in cars. Strangely, everyone seemed to be looking up at the sky, and some people were pointing up at it. Then he too, looked through the window and up at the sky, to see what everyone else was. It appeared to be a large dark object in the sky, casting an even larger shadow on the ground.

"Tina... See that?"

"Hmm? What're you talking about?"

Lite got up from the booth and walked outside of the restaurant, Tina following him. They both looked up at the sky and saw a massive object floating above the city.

"...Oh... you've gotta be kidding me..."

"What the heck is that?!"



"Why in the world is there an aircraft carrier...FLYING?!"

"Sebevakians have way too much time on their hands... I guess they heard about Iron Maiden and they want to take the suit by force?"

Lite gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. "Oh yeah?! Well I'm not about to let them get ahold of my technology! Nicky, let's play!"

~~~

Lite and Tina were soaring over the city, ascending towards the Sebevakian airship. It appeared heavily armed with several mounted artillery cannons aboard the main deck and its hull, and several fighter craft were also preparing to launch.

"We can't really take this thing on by ourselves, can we?"

"Scans also indicate that several ground-based units are approaching New Blue Fields City through the inter-province highways."

Tina's voice broke in through the intercom. "There's too many of them to take on by ourselves... We'd need heavy reinforcement and we can't split the work."

A fourth voice also cut in onto the mic- it was Kyler 2.0. "I would suggest that the aircraft be destroyed first. Those tanks are very slow and would have to contend with other obstacles."

The actual Lite replied with, "That's nice, but I want to avoid casualties on both sides, and to have the ship explode in midair then fall into the city is something I wouldn't want to do."

"Ah, so this is how my physical self thinks? Very well, but what strategy do you have?"

Lite thought for a moment. "Nick, Kyler, I want you to see if you can hack into the pilot's cabin of the airship. Tina and I can then manually control it and stop it from doing anything remotely."

"Uhh... Lite, hate to break it to you, but it won't be that easy..."

The pair had been spotted. The airship's artillery rotated towards Lite and Tina and began firing missiles at them.

"Oh great, anti-air missiles!"

Lite and Tina split up and flew off at supersonic speeds. The missiles likewise split up between their targets. Lite began firing his semi-auto laser at the missiles in an attempt to destroy them, but his aim in midair was incredibly off and he didn't get a clear shot. Eventually one of his shots grazed a missile, unbalancing it and causing it to seemingly shut off. The dead missile began rapidly descending onto the city below.

"Aw, crap!!" Lite flew after the dropping missile. He finally caught up to it and wrapped his arms around it and tried to carry it back up into the air to safely detonate it. The missile was slowing his suit down, though, and his climb back up into the air was sluggish, allowing the rest of the missiles to catch up to him.

"This is going to hurt. Nick, brace the suit for impact!"

The missiles met their mark, and exploded along with the one Lite was carrying. The suit's Thruster Boots destabilized and Lite began falling back down to earth, and slammed straight down into pavement in a street.

"Ow..." Lite got up from the crater he made in the middle of an intersection, and looked back to where Tina was. She was having similarly terrible luck shooting down the missiles chasing her. Lite raised his arm, locking onto each missile and firing his semi-auto laser. The missiles were swiftly destroyed, each laser shot connecting with the missiles and exploding in midair. Tina flew back down to where Lite was.

"That didn't work quite the way we wanted it... For one I couldn't even get a link to the mainframe within the airship's pilot computer, and those missiles pack a wallop. I mean, look at you-"

"Yeah yeah, I get it. Anyways, how the hell are we going to take that thing out?"

"Sir-""Ma'am-"

"-We would like to point out that the ground-based military units mentioned earlier have breached the city limits."
"-We would like to point out that the ground-based military units mentioned earlier have breached the city limits."

Lite groaned. "Great, now we have tanks bearing down upon us. Where's the Canican Army when you need them?!"

"Who said you needed them? I'm right here, little bro!!"

A fifth voice cut through Lite and Tina's mic interface. Lite's eyes widened...that voice was none other than his brother, Darc!

Suddenly, multiple objects began falling from the sky. Lite zoomed in on them with his HUD, and they appeared to be REPAS suits weaponized and flight-capable. Upon landing, they all dashed off in different directions of the city and Lite heard explosions shaking the city. Finally, one last suit of armor fell from the sky and landed in front of Lite and Tina. Lite couldn't believe his eyes...



"Darc?! Is that you? What the hell are you doing wearing a REPAS?!"

"No time to explain! My Weaponized Battle Suit Defense Squadron will take care of the tanks and the aircraft. Either you'll help us out or try to beat the crap out of me, but we've got a job to do!"

Lite's mind was swarming with so many conflicting thoughts, but he shook his head and snapped out of it, and yelled "Darc! Send some of your guys up to that airship and have them intercept any fighter jets! We're going to board the ship and take over the pilot's cabin!"

Darc swiftly turned around. "You're going to do what?! You two can't possibly be thinking of going on your own-"

"We're not, you're going to be helping us!" Tina snapped at Darc.

Darc stepped backward for a moment, then shrugged and said, "Fine, but stay close and don't break formation. My magnet-based suit will be able to take out any missiles like those ones earlier." Darc rose up into the air and took off in the direction of the airship, Lite and Tina trailing after him. Once again, the airship's anti-air cannons fired off more missiles at the trio, but Darc raised his palm and fired a blast of pure disruptive EMP charge at the missiles, destroying them before they got a chance to take to the sky. Quickly, Lite, Darc, and Tina landed onto the main deck of the ship, where they found several fighter jets taking off. One of the jets fired a missile at the small group. Darc stepped forward and prepared to destroy the jet, and Lite grabbed Tina and jumped aside so they could avoid the blast. As Darc fired another EMP charge at the jet, the craft took off from the launchpad and let its missile fire. It struck Darc point-blank and he went sprawling back and over the ship.

"Darc!" Lite extended a pendulum dagger and slung it around Darc's arm, salvaging him and preventing him from falling off. Tina reached out and grabbed onto Lite's hand, and together they pulled Darc back up onto the ship.

"Ahh... that hurt...Thanks guys. Now let's take the rest of this ship!"

Lite and Tina nodded, and they made a mad dash towards the ship's bridge, wrecking fighter planes as they came along. Upon running the full length of the ship's launchpad, smashing all the jets which attempted launch, they immediately rocketed up to the top of the bridge and crashed in through the windows of the cabin.

"THIS IS THE CANICAN NATIONAL ARMY! CEASE OPERATION OF THIS VESSEL!!" Darc roared as he barged into the room, raising his palms at everyone on the deck. Likewise, Lite and Tina also raised their hand-mounted weaponry at everyone in the room.

"Yo! Do what he says or we'll open fire and force you guys to shut off the ship. Call off the attack, retract the cannons, and land."

~~~

Lite, Darc, and Tina were sitting in the ship's bridge. The pilots and crew aboard the airship were all taken off the ship by the Canican National Army when it landed. The rest of Darc's unit also assembled in the bridge, where Lite and Darc had seized the ship. While the trio took over the ship, the other people piloting the generic REPAS suits were subduing Sebevakian tanks and the fighter jets already in the air. Most of the suits were dinged with shrapnel, soot, charred markings, bullet holes, and blunt damage. Lite and Tina had both removed their suits and sealed them within their storage devices, and were both in one of the pilot's chairs, with Tina sitting on Lite's lap and leaning against his back and Lite's arms wrapped around her stomach. Darc was standing at the top of the room, watching over the cabin with his helmet off. Lite could see several scars inflicted on the left side of Darc's face, two running down his eye, one crossing his lip, and another stretching across his forehead.

"Ahem."

Lite turned around. At the front of the room stood a man wearing a thick prestigious-looking general's jacket and a marine cap. He had a thick mustache covering his upper lip, and cold-cut blue eyes.

"Which one of you gentlemen organized this unit?"

"Admiral?"

The man looked up at Darc. "Ah...Darc Kyler... the infamous Lieutenant Colonel of the Canican National Army... and a deserter. Or, rather, a vigilante mercenary?"

"Not a mercenary, nor a vigilante, Admiral Ryan. I am a soldier and servant of this nation and her interests."

"Ah? Yet you find these strange weaponized suits, produce them for yourself, leave your brothers and sisters in the military, then form your own unit. Don't get me wrong, what you've done while in command of this unit is remarkable. However, vigilantism is illegal. And operating outside of any defined branch of government with such a dangerous weapon is illegal."

"Yo, gramps." Lite raised one of his hands.

Admiral Ryan turned to Lite. "Yes, young man?"

"Not sure if you recognize me. Name's Lite. I'm Darc's little brother. I made these suits you see before you now and I'm the reason Sebevakia went to war with Canica."

The admiral's eyes narrowed and focused on Lite. "What are you saying?"

Lite winced and took a breath. "Uhh... maybe we should explain this whole thing from the beginning...?"

"Very well then. You and your older brother need to tell me about what's been going on these past months..."

"...And that's the whole story."

Lite had just explained to the pragmatic newcomer, Admiral Ryan, his knowledge of all the events which led up to his being aboard the Sebevakian airship during their invasion of New Blue Fields City. Tina had fallen asleep on his lap, and Darc and his units had taken seats around the bridge. Ryan began stroking his chin and patting his mustache, and Lite could tell that he was in deep thought.

"So...you're saying that your suit is what the Sebevakian military is after?"

"Yes, but it wasn't originally meant to be a weapon. Originally it was supposed to be an exoskeleton designed for people with disabilities or injured limbs and such."

"Well, your usage of the suit as a means of defense have obviously been beneficial. This airship had appeared from a Canican city a hundred miles north of this location called Anarstin, a location taken over by Sebevakian troops."

Then the admiral turned around and looked up at Darc. "But this still doesn't explain your actions."

Darc turned away and took a deep breath. "Sir, I understand that deserting my troops and taking this suit for myself was wrong, but I did it with good intentions. I never meant for this suit to become a weapon of destruction- my own suit doesn't contain any actual weaponry within it, only electromagnets. But this unit and I are this country's best defense against Sebevakia. Going rogue and forming an independent unit was the only way to ensure that this suit wouldn't be misused by any government, foreign or domestic."

"Ah, but that also means that you're left to do as you please with this suit, does it not?"

When the admiral said this, Darc looked Lite square in the eyes. "I'd like to think I'm trustworthy and honest enough to know what not to do with something so dangerous. I owed it to my little brother, after all."

Lite smiled. So his brother did know what he was doing with the REPAS. He felt guilt for suspecting him of wrongdoing, but at the same time he was relieved to see that Darc was still Darc.

"Well, gentlemen, the information gathered here today will be taken to the Canican Executive Office and the rest of the National Army pending sentencing and judicial review. I'll leave you all to your own for the time being."

~~~

Lite was walking off the airship (now landed) with Tina under his arm, and Darc and his unit was walking beside them. Lite looked at his older brother, observing his face. The scars he wore along the left side of his face made Darc appear intimidating, more than his already frightening physique and facial expression did.

Lite asked Darc, "So, you formed a mercenary unit using my blueprints and your old squad, and you fought off Sebevakian military while I was in a coma... You're something, bro. You're really something."

Darc smirked, stretching a scar running down his lip. "What's that supposed to mean? Everything I do is with my family, my troops, and my country in mind. You were right, Lite. That suit shouldn't be applied to military duties. It's caused too much trouble. This war being waged is due to the Sebevakians wanting it for themselves..."

Yes, but at the same time, had I not weaponized this suit, we wouldn't have won this ship, would we? I guess it just depends on the user's intent."

Darc sighed and folded his arms. "I suppose so. The Canican National Army will be taking this event to the president and his cabinet for judicial review. We might end up being put on trial. Until then no one will know for sure whether these suits are really worth fighting for..."

Aw, man, this is gonna suck. What're we gonna do, guys? They're putting us in an assembly. It's not even a trial, or a court hearing, or a war room. It's an assembly. What the hell is this, elementary school? What do they even want? This thing has got me all on edge..."

"Oh, for the love of God, calm down. You've had like 12 coffees since we've been called here. You'll drink yourself into a nervous fit."

"Both of you, quiet. They'll be asking for us soon."

Lite, Darc, and Tina were in a waiting room in New Blue Field's supreme court building. They were called in to discuss matters regarding Darc's special unit and Lite's weaponized REPAS suits. Eventually, the doors to the courtroom opened and the trio's names were called, so they got up from their seats and entered the room.

"Darc Kyler? You and your friends can take a seat in the defendant's bar." Admiral Ryan was sitting atop the judge's chair. In the jury box there sat other military officers. Darc's unit was seated in the spectator's chairs. Lite sat in the defendant's bar, with Darc sitting to his right and Tina taking a chair to his left.

"Ahem. Darc Kyler, we are here to discuss some terms we have developed in regards to your...'Weaponized Battle Suit Defense Squadron.' The National Canican Military Forces- specifically the Canican National Army- and its generals have proposed an offer to you and your brother. We suggest that your vigilante unit merge with our own armed forces as a seperate independant military squadron of its own."

Lite's eyes widened. "Sir, what do you mean by that?"

The admiral looked at Lite. "You were... Lite Kyler, correct?"

"Yes sir."

"We have reason to believe that, since Darc's unit operates independent of defined branches of government, it poses a potential threat to Canica, and for that matter the rest of the world. Therefore, if the Canican National Army had control over the unit, it would be a much safer and much controlled organization."

Lite shook his head. "I'm sorry, sir, but that's wrong in so many different ways."

"How so? Explain."

"Well, for one thing, the reason the unit was independent was because if the government DID have control over such a dangerous weapons force, it could possibly have its own ideas for such devices, yeah? That also runs the risk of the armor being supplied to the rest of the army, which means that the suits would be mass-produced, which means that they would be weapons for sale, which means that other countries could get their mitts on them. At this point, the Weaponized REPAS device is quite literally the only thing keeping Canica apart from nuclear Armageddon. It's our ace card, and it's also highly dangerous."

"But those are the same risks the unit runs being an independent organization. Do you have a solution...?"

Lite thought for a second, then an idea came to him. "Yes, as a matter of fact I do. If you're going to form this unit, I have a few terms that must be met if it goes through.

For one, my research and development team from Iron Company will be merged into the unit. I don't want anyone else handling the blueprints or any other related materials. No one outside of the unit's R and D can be allowed access to the blueprints. No one within said team can distribute these blueprints. If they began floating around then they'd eventually get to the black market and we'd all like to avoid that, yeah?

You guys can also have a 'supervisor' looking over the unit so that you know we're not doing anything wrong. There will also be a commander and a director of the unit, and they can vote along with the supervisor to reject commands given to the unit from higher-ups like you. The unit commander can also make their own decisions and send the unit to do whatever, so long as the director and supervisor agree on it.

These laws must be set in place for the unit if you want to have government control over it. I don't want this thing to become Canica's little personal hit-squad."

Lite finished and looked up at the judge's stand. The admiral had his hands folded over each other with his head resting on them.

Darc stood up. "Admiral, if I may, I'd like to point out that I agree with my brother. If we're going to merge this unit with the military, then some sort of laws and regulations have to be placed so that it doesn't become too powerful or abused."

Tina looked at Lite with a nervous expression. "Lite, are you sure you're willing to go through with this?"

Lite whispered to Tina,"Tina, don't worry about it. I've got it all planned out." He then turned to the Admiral and said, "So, have you reached a decision?"

Admiral Ryan was still pondering. "I'll tell you what. I'll call a 30 minute recess. Then we'll pick up where we left off."

~~~

Lite, Tina, and Darc returned to the Fast Nice Dine during the recess, to take a quick lunch break before going back to the trial. Lite ordered a burger and another soda, Tina had a coffee and a subsandwich, and Darc also had a burger. As soon as their meal arrived Lite immediately drank down half of the soda in the glass.

"Oh, Jesus Christ, Lite. Are you planning on caffeinating yourself into another coma?"

"Nervous habit. I like caffeine. I like soda a lot. I drink soda when I'm nervous. I drink caffeine when I'm stressed. Perfect fit."

"But you were incredibly calm and composed in the assembly... Your mood did a total 180."

Lite took a large bite out of the burger. "Ah eef weh ah nerfu oo."

"Will you please slow down while you're eating? Relax, we did great. Hopefully they'll agree to it..."

~~~

Admiral Ryan slammed his gavel down onto the judge's stand. "The assembly is now back in session. Mr. Lite Kyler, please rise."

Lite stood up from the desk. His palms were sweating and his brow was knotted as he looked up at the admiral.

"We have agreed... to allow you to form this unit under your proposed laws. Darc will be your supervisor and you and Iron Company vice-president Tina Aino will be the commander and director of the squad."

Lite couldn't believe it. "Wait what? You're forming the unit?"

"Well, yes. Under your terms. The government still needs this squad under their check, but at the same time you make a compelling argument as to the possible intents of the squad's existence. So, we're giving you command of this unit under the pretense that you can be trusted with it."

"Uhh... This is..."

"A tremendous responsibility. We'll be giving you a month before your first assignment, to assemble your troops and prepare the unit. Assembly dismissed!" With a slam from his gavel, the admiral ended the meeting.

~~~

"Holy ****." Lite was sitting on the courthouse steps, with Tina and Darc standing over him. "I've only been awake for like, less than a month, and already I've blown up tanks, been shot at, exploded, nearly killed, stopped a military invasion, and now I've been put as the head of a top-secret specialized weapons unit."

Tina sat down besides Lite and put her arm around his shoulders. "Don't worry, it'll be like being in charge of Iron Company again. We can do this together."

Darc nudged the two of them with his boot. "You're forgetting something. I'll be there too. Together, we'll be able to stop whatever Sebevakia dishes out."

Lite felt a wave of warmth and confidence building within him. He stood up and put his hand to his chest. "Yeah, that's right! We've got this! With us at the helm, Iron Unit will protect Canica from any threat!"

Tina gave Lite a strange look. "Uhm... Iron Unit?"

Lite nodded. "Yeah, that's what I'll be calling it. Iron Unit's got a good nice ring to it.

Anyways, guys. We've got one month to get ready for Iron Unit's first mission!"

grhebgrefg bump

Don't think I've forgotten about this! More parts of Iron are coming! Like, right now too!

One month has passed since Lite Kyler, his elder brother Darc, and his friend Tina Aino have been recruited by the Canican National Armed Forces. In that time, the newly dubbed "Iron Unit" has trained a highly dedicated and proficient task force of weaponized armorsuit pilots. The Weaponized REPAS has now been classified as an "Iron Maiden"-type battle suit. Through Lite's guidance, the development of Iron Unit has flowed smoothly. Now it is time for Lite to deliver his first orders to the soldiers under his command...

"Agh! It's stinging!"

"Don't worry, sir. It's just static discharge from the EMBER wall clinging to the device. Remove it gently."



"How's it looking?"

"Your vitals are all normal. It would appear that after a certain period the DORA becomes self-sufficient, hence the excess electric discharge the EMBER was producing."

"Well, if I'm going to pilot an Iron Maiden suit I need to keep the EMBER in me, so for now I'll put it back in..."

Lite slid the EMBER back into the reactor wall outlet within his chest and clicked the device into place. Over the past month, it had been releasing electrical surges throughout his body, and although they weren't causing any adverse effects they were beginning to frustrate Lite with their sudden bursts. He then clipped a rubber insulative cap over the EMBER, to prevent any more wanton discharges from electrifying him without warning.

Suddenly, he heard someone knocking on the door in the back of the basement. Lite quickly pulled a shirt over himself and got up out of his chair.

"Uh! Come in?"

Lite heard the door opening and turned around to see Tina in the doorway. She was wearing her military fatigues, and she was no longer wearing her hair over her left eye like she typically kept it.

"New haircut? Looks nice."

"Thanks, but I don't really like it. I looked less... I guess I sort of stood out more with my old 'do than I do now, ironically. Anyway, how're things here?"

Lite looked at his chest, rubbing the spot under his shirt where his EMBER protruded. "Uhh, I'm pretty- it's- it's going well. Why?"

Tina smiled at Lite and handed him a thick manila envelope. "Because today we've received our first orders for Iron Unit from up top. Darc's coming by so the three of us can look over them."

Lite gulped. It had indeed been one month since Iron Unit was formed. Now their first mission had been received and Lite became tense. What exactly did the National Army want them to do? Why did they want them to do it?

Tina leaned over, grabbed Lite's hand, and began caressing it. "Don't worry, Lite. To tell you the truth... I'm worried too. But we won't know until we look at what the commands are and read them in the counsel."

~~~

"Let me see it."

Lite, Darc, and Tina were sitting in a large boardroom, alone at a long table. Lite and Darc were both wearing their military fatigues, presenting themselves neatly as though they were in front of a large press audience. Lite slid the manila envelope to Darc, and Darc took it into his hands and opened the top by sliding his finger underneath the fold. Slowly, he pulled out documents from the envelope and tossed it aside, and passed copies of the documents to Lite and Tina. Clearing his throat, he began reading from the documents.

"Directive 2052 Mission Orders, as issued by Admiral Adam Ryan of the National Canican Armed Forces Canican National Army... man that's a mouthful... du du du du duhh, some other information here... ah. Mission directive: 'Iron Unit will move in with the National Canican Army to attack Anarstin, a Canican city in the New Blue Fields Province currently occupied by Sebevakian military forces. Iron Unit is needed in this military operation, dubbed 'Operation Anarstin Recovery' to combat what might possibly be the Sebevakian Elite Royal Forces and the Sebevakian monarch, King James Gorgovik II. NCA Battalion Unit 242, led by Colonel Russell Grant, and Iron Unit, led by Commander Lite Kyler, will move to Anarstin within the next 48 hours from when these orders are confirmed, upon acceptance by Iron Unit.'

...Wait, what? They can't be serious... Sebevakian Elite Royal Forces?"

Lite looked up from the documents. "Elite Royal Forces? Is that like the king's guard?"

Tina nodded. "They're the best-of-the-best soldiers recruited from the Sebevakian militia. Their job is to enforce "law and order" around capital cities of Sebevakia. They're much more cunning and ruthless than the typical Sebevakian forces we've faced, and they employ much tougher weaponry than them too- advanced prototype AI, experimental equipment, and they're even trained in a secret martial art."

Lite frowned, knotting his brow in thought. "So they're calling on our special team because Sebevakia's calling on their special team? And their king might even be there? I guess this is Sebevakia's push for Canica and the Iron Maiden..."

"What are you thinking, Lite?"

"If we do go, Canica has a better chance of beating back Sebevakia for good. If we don't, we'll probably lose and Sebevakia will gain more native ground. We sort of have to go, don't we?"

Darc folded his arms across his chest. "Well, I was of the same mind, but I'm still not sure we should go. Unless, of course..." He turned to face Tina.

Lite looked at Tina and asked, "Do you think we should accept the directive?"

Again, Tina nodded. "Like you said, we don't have a choice. We either go and win, or don't go and lose. We'll sign off on the orders and move out in two days. Agreed?"

"Agreed."
"Agreed."

~~~

"Your Highness, preparations are complete."

"It's finished?"

"Yes."

"Ah... make sure it's ready for use in one or two day's time... I wish to pilot it as soon as possible."

"Yes, your Highness."

"Lite Kyler... you are going to need a much bigger suit. Now, I have my own so-called 'highly destructive potential weapon!' Ahahahaha!"

"Nick, is it ready for transport?"

"Yes, sir. However, there is one problem. In regards to the EMBER being used to power such a massive unit-"

"Oh, don't worry about that. I've run numbers through and stuff, and I've found a solution to the power problem. Have it packed up and I'll transport it in one of the carrier vehicles."

"Of course.

...Sir?"

"Yeah?"

"Good luck."

"...Thanks."

~~~

Lite walked out of the basement of Tina's house, closing the door behind him. Tomorrow was going to be the most important day of his life. He would be leading a small portion of Iron Unit into the thick of battle. They would be up against a secret unit of Sebevakian troops, with much more combat experience than his own. Plus, the king of Sebevakia himself would show up for battle, and who knows what sort of tricks he had up his sleeve. Lite had to devise his own ace-in-the-hole... He muttered to himself, "The entire operation rides on what they have and what I have. Hopefully I was right to build that 'precautionary method'..." He put it out of his mind, and headed for the stairs leading into Tina's bedroom. He needed the rest; he had to be able to concentrate tomorrow or everything would go wrong.

~~~

"...The convoy drives to a location about 50 miles away, in between New Blue Fields City and Anarstin. There, the Iron Unit convoy will rendezvous with the Canican National Army battalion 242 led by Colonel Grant, and we will merge our forces and move onward to Anarstin, where we'll hopefully beat back the Sebevakian forces. It's make or break time. Iron Unit, move out!"

"MOVING OUT!"

Tina finished speaking, and the crowd of soldiers she was addressing dispersed as several of them began clambering around getting supplies ready, others heading out to their dormitories to suit up, and some going to the military hangars to prepare the transportation.

Lite was standing by her side at the top of the war room. He nudged her and said, "Hey. You and I are riding in the transport cargo carrier."

"What? Why?"

"There's something big in there and I don't want anyone else handling it."

"...Uhm..."

"... That's not an euphanism for anything, I just need help carrying something large in the cargo carrier and you're the only person I can trust seeing it."

"Is there no better way you could've phrased or rephrased that so that it wouldn't sound so sexual?"

"Oh, come on. We're adults now. We're a couple. We share a bed."

"Alright, I'll just trust you and assume you're carrying another secret project in that transport."

"That'd be best."

~~~

Iron Unit had driven for the larger portion of the day down New Blue Fields's International Highway. They had passed the fifty mile mark and stopped at a truck rest stop along the road, waiting for their allies to join them.

"They'd better show up on time. We need to make the other fifty miles and show up by tomorrow. Timing in this op is crucial." Lite took a sip of soda from a thermos.

Tina shook him on the shoulder. "Calm down. They're almost here."

Lite heard a rapping on the cabin door of the transport cargo carrier. One of the troops on watch, wearing a standard issue Iron Maiden storage device under his fatigues, was outside knocking on the door. Lite rolled down the window and asked "Yeah? What is it, soldier?"

"Sir, there's a large group of lights in the distance. They appear to be Canican National Army. Here, take a look." The soldier held up a pair of binoculars to Lite and pointed in the distance. Lite took the binoculars and looked in the direction he indicated and saw several tanks and jeeps bearing the Canican flag.

"Yep. CNA alright. Good work soldier. Wake everyone, let 'em know we're moving out."

"Yessir."

Lite and Tina hopped out of the carrier and began walking towards the convoy of CNA vehicles. One of the larger jeeps pulled up into the rest stop, and through the tinted windows Lite could see his brother, Darc, in the passenger's seat of the jeep. As the jeep stopped, Darc and another person got out of the jeep. The man beside Darc was about the same height as him, and had on military fatigues and an overcoat. His eyes were a hazel brown and his hair grew out in a sort of mullet that looked like it was trimmed frequently. He approached Lite and Tina and reached his hand out to them.

"Hey. Name's Russell Grant. I'm the current Lieutenant Colonel of the Canican National Army's Battalion Unit 242. You're Lite Kyler, yeah? Your brother here was my superior once upon a time."

Lite shook his hand. "Pleasure serving with you. This is my partner, Tina." She also held her hand out to Grant and shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you both. Alright, so we're going to head out north to another stop about 25 miles before Anarstin, then stop there before we attack the Sebevakian troops in the area. We'll be moving as a much larger and collective unit, and be much more organized if we don't rush them at once."

"Okay, sounds like a plan. Well, we're going to be getting our troops ready for travel, so if you guys could wait for us..."

"Understood." Grant climbed back into the jeep with Darc, and Lite and Tina walked away and back to the carrier.

"He seems nice. So he was Darc's understudy?"

"Well, then, I have more faith in his troops now than I did before. Let's just hope that they don't let us down on the field; I'd hate to lose our allies and then have all of our unit survive."

"Not sure what you mean."

"It's just- I- It'd leave me with a guilty conscience."

~~~

"What?! I thought you said it was ready!!"

"It is, but... the fuel cells used to power it aren't very sufficient... and reverse-engineering this sort of technology based on concept alone is very difficult work-"

"I don't give a damn about the details!! What the hell is wrong with the suit?!"

"Well, the fuel cells powering the suit aren't providing enough energy for it without needing to be replenished quickly-"

"Switch to nuclear powered batteries!!"

"That's not necessarily safe, sir... and not quite clean either..."

"Didn't I just tell you..."

"Aghkg!"

"...that I don't CARE about the details!! Prepare the suit with nuclear battery cells!"

"Ugh... Ye-yes sir!"

"Lite Kyler... once I kill you I'm taking that wretched device from your corpse!"