I awoke as the early morning sun rose warm and alert, "ugh what time us it?" i asked myself as i pulled myself up. I climbed out of bed and lit a cigarette, I heard the wind's gentle breeze outside of the lighthouse which I called my home along with my sister and kids we helped making an orphanage, I walked upstairs to the top floor and pushed open the doors allowing the cool jurnovan air to strike me, as I took a drag from the cigarette I leant against the wall taking in the view of the island I lived upon. I walked back and changed into my normal gear, a pair of boots, combat pants a long sleeved shirt and a short sleeved jacket. Suddenly I heard meteors falling, shit remnants, I punched in the code to my armoury and drew a broadsword before jumping off the side of the lighthouse, I quickly warped to the ground and readied for a fight. Since I was young I had these powers but I never knew what to do with them, well apart from take care of the kids in the orphanage which the lighthouse doubled as "scarlet we've got remnants " I called out to my twin sister "gotcha Nero" she called as she appeared in front of me with her combat staff ready. Our planet Jurnov got meteor showers but when they happened they were trouble and they were becoming more common meaning more trouble. As the storm raged on i ran over to the lighthouse and hit the generator switch which created an energy field around the island. "The kids are safe" i told scarlet and wouldn't you know it i jinxed myself as a meteor hurtles its way through the barrier landing in front of me. The crystalline rock started moving and eventually a creature burst out of it lunging at me with skeletal claws which i severed with a quick slash of my sword. The creature fell to the ground before solidifying into the valuable crystal. As i sensed that everyone ran down from their rooms into the hangar i noticed a massive meteor smash into the lighthouse. "Nero the hangar now" scarlett told me to which i nodded and ran down into the hovercraft hanger where the kids we took care of stood there terrified
"Nero are we gonna be ok?" one of the kids asked scared "yeah come on jump in the hovercraft scarlet will get you to safety" i told them as scarlett arrived. In what seemed like an instant scarlett had set off for the mainland. I walked back up to the island where there were a lot of the creatures roamed, as i appeared they instantly focused their gaze on me and lunged at me only to get struck down by my blade. As i hacked and slashed through the creatures i noticed my strength draining from me. This was realised when a large creature burst through the lighthouse sending me flying into a rock face "shit " i muttered as pain shot up my back and the ringing of shattered steel in my ears, my sword had shattered. The remnant looked down upon me.
"You are a broken man" the remnant told me in it's demonic/ dead voice, under my arm wrap i felt my tattoos burning running up my entire right arm. "I can tell you are in distress" it mocked me as i struggled to my feet "i will end your pain" it told me as it raised a large tallon to strike, as it hurtled towards me something awoke within me and a surge of power went through me, i grabbed the talon with my hand stopping it. "What do you want with us?" i asked as wings of light materialised. "your power, it belongs to us" it told me as if jealous or greedy. "You'll have to take it from my cold dead hands" i replied as a blast of energy erupted from my hands eradicating the talon as if it was nothing. "Oh i will" the remnant told me. Suddenly an influx of information surged through my mind, the creature before me was a high priest, a harvester of the power. Remnants were a power hungry diabolical race, they had wiped out at least 10 systems they felt no pain, no remorse and cared little for others, they were self serving and a plague. I used this power to call down a rain of light based energy which pierced the remnant over and over. It didn't die but still looked upon me with it's putrid green eye. As this happened a spear of light appeared in my hand, i threw it at the eye which shattered as soon as it hit. It fell to the floor crystallising as it hit the ground.
As the remnant died the wings dissipated and i all i saw was darkness as i fell unconscious.
I awoke to see the island ruined and the lighthouse gone, i fished through the rubble to find any gear i could to no avail. I activated my wrist comm which lit up and showed the news. The headline was "remnant attack orphanage" and it mentioned that scarlett had gotten the kids to safety while i was mentioned dead. Shit this wasn't good, i was presumed dead, the island was ruined and apparently the vortex forces took care of the threat, i looked to see no vortex personnel or vehicles. I made my way down to the hangar where i put in a code, the roof opened up and released my personal craft , a sleek hovercraft/ speeder. I climbed in to be greeted by my ai athena
"Sir i thought you were dead" she told me as a holographic woman appeared in the HUD "i'm alive as ever athena let's go" i told her as i powered up my craft and sped off out of the cave across the open water. As i drove i noticed something wrong with the engines. "Sir critical engine failure" athena told me as i started to slow down. I was soon towed to the local garage
"Nero my man" the mechanic greeted me as he saw my craft "hey jimmy" i replied as i hopped out and walked over to various items lined across the wall "need an upgrade?" jimmy asked as he gestured to my craft. "Yeah engines are shot" i replied "alright ill get on it, check back tomorrow and itll be done" jimmy told me as magnetic hooks attached to my craft lifting it above the water. I heard another hovercraft pulling up to the garage and as it parked scarlett hopped out "nero you're ok thank etro" she told me as she hugged me "im not dead, etro has a sick sense of humor" i joked "well she hasnt pulled you to the void yet" my sister replied with a smile. As we both got into the hovercraft scarlett looked at me worried "the island?" she asked "ruined" i replied in shame "i shouldn't have let them take over" i replied "its not you're fault" scarlet told me trying to console me. As we departed i took a seat in the cockpit "shall i drive?" i asked "yea why not" my sister replied before we took off.
As we arrived at the mainland we carefully docked "locking clamps engaged" i remarked as i turned off the engines. As we got out i looked around to see the hangar where countless crafts had docked and were stored. I walked outside leaving scarlet to handle the craft. I set my goal for the armoury a popular weapon store in the main city. As i walked in i was greeted by 2 vortex personnel who barred my path.
"Where do ya think yer goin boy" one asked "i dont have time for this" i replied trying to be polite "oh you make time" it told me as it scanned me through its helmet "says who" i asked, this guy was starting to piss me off "me" he replied as he shoved me back and raised his fist to fight. He swung at me which missed hitting the wall and causing crack to form due to the armour they wore. I retaliated with a swift uppercut making contact with his chin sending him skyward before delivering a swift mid air kick to his chest sending him flying out of the shop. The commotion died down quickly and i tossed the shopkeep the credits needed to repair the damage before buying ammo As the shopkeeper handed me the rounds he allso hand me the a crate i saw a note on it "reserved for nero andronicus" which i took off before slinging the large crate onto my back and walking out.
"New gear?" a young woman asked "hey angel" i replied as she offered me a smoke which i accepted. Angel or angela was a childhood friend of mine as we grew up together in the same orphanage. As i took a drag i dropped the crate to the floor i leant against the wall. "So i heard about the attack the kids ok?" she asked me "yeah they are fine, they are in honourhall" i replied "the best one in the world eh?" angel asked with a grin "yeah" i jokingly replied "angela" scarlett greeted sarcastically "andronicus" angel replied. These two didn't get along whatsoever.
An hour later we were at the bar having a drink "those vortex soldiers gave you some trouble?" scarlett asked "yeah nothing i couldn't handle "nero you're bleeding" angel told me as she noticed a cut on my cheek "ill be fine" i replied, she quickly pulled out an antiseptic wipe and put it to my cut "ah shit that stings" muttered as pain shot through my face "one of them must have got a lucky shot" i added.
An hour later we were back at the island where i looked through the damage "this place is a mess" scarlett remarked as she pulled bits of rubble away "there goes my music" i replied as i dropped the case to the ground, i heard the metal make contact with the stone and as soon as it was down i undid the lock which allowed the crate to slide open, i quickly attached the cased gunblade to my belt and looked around the crate, inside was a railgun, dual pistols some other weapons all with corresponding ammo and holsters. I looked through the sights of the railgun and saw that the sight was modular. I loaded the mag and pulled back the charging handle "ooh shiny" angel chimed in as she ogled my new gear. The rifle felt light enough but had a decent amount of heft to it. I walked over to the ruins of the lighthouse and threw a large piece of rubble to one side. Underneath i saw a small hatch which i opened. I slowly climbed in and down the ladder which lined the wall. My feet made contact with the floor, the room was dark and cold the smell of metal filled the air. "Athena this on the map?" i asked my ai "no sir, however i did find notes from your parents on the armoury" athena told me as i tried to find a lightswitch.
My hand came across a small lever which i pulled restoring power to the room. As it lit up i noticed the room was clean and shiny, modern and sleek. I looked around as my eyes got used to the bright light
"welcome back lady raven and to you sir crim" a voice announced through the room as scarlett climbed down "wait what?" I asked scarlet "it thinks we are mom and dad" she replied "we are the children of raven and crim" i called out "correction noted, welcome master nero and lady scarlett" the ai corrected itself. A holographic knight appeared before us in grey armour. It stood tall and mighty. "Greetings i am aeternus"it greeted us "master nero and lady scarlett i have been programmed to manage the armory for you in this kind of emergency" aeternus told us "so you are the weapon keeper?" scarlett asked "more or less" it replied "sir im going to need you to store your weapons for scanning" it added as a drawer opened, i put my weapons in and it closed before opening allowing me to take them back. I slung the railgun on my back however there was a sword handle in with the rest of the gear as well as a set of what seemed to be gauntlets which I slid on, the sleek gauntlets locked to my arms and activated, as I examined the gauntlets they seemed to be made from a sleek white material.
The next day I awoke from the ruins of the lighthouse, the top half was completely gone but the bottom few rooms where more or less intact, I looked around to see if anyone was there only to see angel asleep on the makeshift bed which had been made