I have oft wondered about what the first war with the mechon was like, and the sort of adventures and battles Dunban, Dickson and Mumkhar were involved in, culminating as shown in the game's opening scene at the famous Battle of Sword Valley.

To this end I have decided to write a story dedicated to the mostly undocumented events that take place about a year before Xenoblade begins. I am going to interspace the events of the past with Dunban actually relating his experiences to the characters throughout the events of the game. Yay flashbacks!

I hope you enjoy and I apologise in advance for the rather dull prologue. It is, mostly, lifted dialogue-wise from a scene with Shulk and Dunban just after the mechon attack that SPOILERS leaves Fiora dead. Hope you stick with it till I get onto some nice war and destruction.

Dunban had heard the door to his home open a little while ago now and wondered if whoever had entered had decided to leave after all when he heard the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs of his humble abode. Taking a quick glance he saw that it was Shulk, his face was one of sorrow and hesitation.

Turning back to look out of the window, Dunban continued to gaze out over the idyllic landscape his little sister had loved and ultimately died to protect. It almost seemed unfair that it should continue to exist without her.

"Uh…"

Shulk's pitiful attempt to start a conversation brought Dunban back to the present and reminded him that Shulk was far too young to be attempting to console him in such a way.

"Time was I thought he'd be the one consoling Fiora over my death," he reminisced sadly.

The fact was, Shulk had never been exposed to the horrors of war and death like Dunban had. As a person who had lived through more loss and pain than most, Dunban felt a sort of duty to reach out to the grief stricken teenager.

"Shulk. How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine. But… you…"

"I will shed no tears."

"Huh?"

"A year ago, I felt the same sense of deep loss that I do now."

"The Battle of Sword Valley."

"After that battle, many of my friends did not make it home." Dunban's thoughts turned to Mumkhar and his other close friends who had given their lives during the course of that terrible war.

"While I was being brought here on that stretcher, they were all I thought about. But I decided I would not cry."

He remembered well that decision. It had been among the hardest he'd ever had to stick to.

"Everyone who died in that war had something they wanted to protect. Family, friends, loved ones, their home… So they fought to protect them. And we won."

It always filled Dunban with a sense of pride to remember what the men had fought for and it was this knowledge that made everything they had struggled through worthwhile.

"No matter how painful, no matter how hard, it's nothing to be sad about…"

Dunban turned to look at Shulk whose downcast expression indicated his shock at what Dunban was saying.

"Dunban!" Shulk exclaimed, the first word he had uttered in a while.

"Shulk, Fiora would tell you the same thing."

At the mention of her name Shulk's head shot up and Dunban saw the sadness that clouded his eyes. He wondered if his own eyes gave away the extent of the loss he was feeling.

"She wanted to protect us. Or rather, she wanted to protect you. And you're alive now. So I will not cry."

Shulk seemed to finally accept this and nodded, "Ok" he uttered quietly.

"Remember the gift of life that Fiora gave you, and treasure it."

Dunban turned back to gaze out the window as the orange light of dusk continued to fall over the landscape. Shulk spoke up again and his words did not surprise Dunban in the slightest.

"I… I can't say I understand. But I hope to, some day."

Dunban sympathised greatly with these words as they echoed perfectly his own thoughts.

"That is all I ask." He spoke comfortingly, "Believe me, I am always just trying to understand."

Shulk turned to go but Dunban called him back.

"Shulk, if you intend to set out to pursue that mechon then perhaps it would serve you well to listen to my own journey. You probably don't realise yet just how much such an undertaking will demand of you; my own journey demanded the use of my right arm. I want you to go into this with both eyes open, especially now you are wielding the Monado."

Dunban could not help but notice Shulk's eyes home in on Dunban's virtually paralysed right arm.

"Fiora would never forgive me if I sent you out into the world unprepared. So I shall tell you about what happened one year ago from my point of view."

Shulk looked taken aback, "You mean the Battle of Sword Valley?"

Dunban nodded, "Yes, that final battle, but also the many others that I had to fight to get there."

Shulk's expression was now one of bewilderment. "You never talk to anyone about what happened during the war. Everything I know about your involvement comes from other people who look to you as a hero. I just assumed you wanted to forget it all or were too modest to take the credit for it."

Dunban sighed, "I'll never forget it Shulk, and to do so would be a disservice to those who died in the war. The memories are too vivid to forget anyway. Sometimes it's like I'm living it all over again. No, I just don't like to fan the hero worship that surrounds me. Every person who fought gave his all in that conflict; it seems unfair I should be given more credit than anyone else."

Dunban's expression darkened as he remembered the far less savoury reasons for his silence. "In addition, version I'm about to tell you will have a different take on events compared to how others have recorded them or chosen to remember them. To shatter people's faith in what occurred would be unforgivable, especially as it was only a year ago."

There was silence before Shulk spoke again. "Have you ever spoken about the war with anyone?"

"Yes, with Dickson and a couple of other veterans it always comes up in conversation, as you'd expect it would. I also told Fiora."

"You did? She never once mentioned it."

"Oh you know how insistent she is… was. I decided to tell her everything after I recovered from my injuries. As her brother I owed her that at least. My one condition was she never told anyone else; until I was ready to."

"Are you ready now?"

"Yes, I shall tell you how my journey started. I'll save the rest for when you return."

"You don't know if I'll succeed at all."

"I wouldn't be telling you this at all if I thought you couldn't do it."

A few moments later Dunban and Shulk were seated at the large wooden table that dominated the modest kitchen. Fiora had always complained that it got in the way of her cooking, Dunban mused to himself. Turning his attention back to Shulk, who was gazing at Dunban expectantly, Dunban decided to begin.

"The story does not start with me, but with Dickson. I shall begin three months after the first contact with the mechon had occurred at Valak Mountain which, led to the destruction of Colony 1. We in the Defence Force had just received word that our enemy had made it through the Gaur Plains and was massing on the other side of Tephra Cave. Preparations to defend against an inevitable attack stepped up, as I'm sure you remember given how much sleep you must have lost."

And as Dunban began to speak, the past flickered into life once more.