Hello everyone! It's been a while. a really long while! I'm finally ready to get back into the swing of things, and this is going to be a lengthy chapter. Spoilers for the story of Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition. Feedback is appreciated. Enjoy!

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Sirens split the air and awakened Fenn from her slumber. Her eyes flew open, hand grasping at the bow that never seemed to leave her side as she sprung to her feet. Her gaze trained towards the sky, widening at what she saw: black shapes, small like beetles because of the distance, zipping about Colony 9's anti-air batteries.

Mechon.

She glanced across the bridge. How long had she been asleep? How long had the mechon been attacking? Should she have noticed? She didn't know, and now was not the time to ponder those questions. Dunban needed to be alerted, as if he wasn't already.

Frantic footfalls hit the cobbles of the bridge as the archer sprinted across, but she could see by the gaping door that Dunban was already gone. He wouldn't leave the door open like that unless he was in a hurry as urgent as this, and, with a moment of realization at the sight of the open door, she knew that she had to hurry, too. Mechon all around her were landing, grasping at her, trying to seize her in their claws, but she evaded.

Fenn's rushing steps propelled her around a corner and under the swing of a towering mechon's blade. She knew exactly where she was headed, where he was headed. There was only one place Dunban would go during a Mechon attack, the stubborn fool. She slid between the legs of another looming machine with practiced ease, getting to her feet just in time to narrowly miss getting grabbed by hungry metal claws. She sprinted down the concrete bridge that connected the Commercial, Residential, and Military districts in the direction of the research laboratory. Vangarre barked orders at the soldiers as Fenn pushed past, and not for the first time was she glad to have been given free rein as Dunban and Dickson had been. Old Square-Stache's voice was hell on the ears.

Her instinct proved to be right, and she cursed under her breath at what she saw. Dunban was cornered with his back against the wall by no less than three robotic adversaries. He held no weapon. It seemed they got to him before he could reach the Monado. None of the scattering soldiers noticed; they were too busy carrying out Vangarre's orders to see one man in peril. The Mechon in the middle raised its mouth-claw, ready to strike, and Dunban turned his face away, not daring to look at his demise. The death blow he was expecting never came as a clang and a crash caused him to snap his head forward in shock. "Fenn?!"

"I knew--!" She grunted, using her bow to prop open the jaws as the Mechon pressed forwards and tried to close the deadly appendage. The steel bent and groaned, but did not buckle; a testament to Fenn's craftsmanship. Her arms trembled with the effort of bracing the attack. "I knew you'd head for the Monado--!" With a heave, Fenn thrust the mechon backwards. It staggered, off-balance, creating an opening for a split second. "Go, Dunban! Go get it!"

Dunban stared. "You're not trying to stop me?"

Fenn looked over her shoulder at him in exasperation. "You're the only one that can--" She ducked at a jab from a smooth blade, then popped up and shot an electric arrow at the trio of enemies in front of her. They froze, briefly. "--wield the damn thing! Go get it!!"

Dunban didn't need telling again. Using the opening his compatriot had created, he nimbly dodged between the hulking metal bodies and dashed down into the lab. The shock arrow was wearing off. Fenn leapt into a roll as more swipes were aimed in her direction, but was caught in the back by a blunt swing that sent her sprawling to the ground, knocking the breath from her lungs. She gasped for air, like a swimmer after a long dive, and stared into the soulless red eyes and gaping metal claw-maw that stomped towards her. Hands scrabbled for her bow, but found it scattered just too far out of reach.

Before she could cry out, a horn of glowing blue manifested itself in the Mechon's forehead. It shuddered, then collapsed, revealing a crackling Dunban, overflowing with Monado energy. He offered Fenn a hand, which she took gladly. The archer picked up her bow as Dunban's swipe enchanted the arrows, and she nocked a serrated one on the bowstring.

The pair brought down each and every foe with precise and synchronized skill. Fenn covered Dunban's blind spots with confidence as he protected her from closer threats. Their tandem efforts brought them away from the lab, into the Commercial District, protecting civilians as they evacuated the streets.

The last inhabitant darted out from cover as the Monado sang in the air, cleaving a mechon straight down the middle. Fenn breathed a sigh of relief, wiping her brow. "And not a moment too--" A deafening crash drowned out all other sound as the concrete top of a Defense Force tower crumpled onto the bridge.

"Dunban, look!"

There, being assaulted by droves of metal death, were Shulk and Reyn. Reyn was pinned, Shulk's swings did nothing to the impenetrable armor, and Fenn and Dunban shared only the briefest of nods as they charged into battle. Arrow after arrow struck mechon down, while Dunban's brutal war cry juxtaposed his graceful footwork as he and the Monado participated in a deadly dance that spelled the doom for every mechanical creature for miles.

The chain explosion that followed was enough to put an enormous grin on Fenn's face as Dunban's final flying leap brought him flipping through the air to land cat-like on his feet as the remnants of his handiwork rained around him in pieces.

"The Monado!" Shulk breathed, hope lighting in his eyes.

"Sorry we kept you waiting," Dunban panted in response, smiling over his shoulder at the two boys he had just saved.

"Dunban! Fenn!"

Shulk and Reyn jogged over. Reyn was grinning, full of fierce inspiration and hope now that the mechon-crushing blade had made a comeback.

"So this is why you weren't at home. I thought so!" Shulk intoned teasingly.

Fenn clapped Dunban on the shoulder. "Good thing I came to that conclusion first or you'd have been toast, eh Dunban?"

Dunban chuckled, holding the Monado at the ready as the group turned to face the sound of marching, clanking footsteps. A second wave of mechon were making their way down the bridge.

"Yeah! This is what I've been waiting to see!" Reyn said gleefully.

"Ready you three?" Dunban asked, gaining a nod in response from each.

It was the work of a few minutes to take out the impending machines. Fenn was impressed to see how easily Reyn and Shulk flowed with the rhythm she and Dunban had cultivated from years on the battlefield together. Blind spots were covered from every angle as the Monado-enchanted weapons laid their adversaries low. As the four Homs decimated the last of the mechanical menaces, Fenn turned sparkling blue eyes to see Reyn grinning like a school boy.

"Nice one, Dunban! You didn't waste any time on them Mechon!" His praise was met with a soft smile from the older man, but a raised eyebrow from Fenn.

"Oh, and I suppose you think I was just standing here?" She teased. Reyn looked abashed, but Fenn gave him a wink that put him at ease.

"Shulk, where's Fiora?" The smile fled from Dunban's face as he voiced his concerns for his little sister. Fenn's grin dropped too, suddenly all business at the mention of the young woman.

"The Residential District. We said we'd meet her there," Shulk replied.

All four of them turned to glance at the large stone debris that blocked the path from the Military District to their destination. "Looks like we'll have to take the long way round," Reyn muttered.

"All right. Then we'll cut through the Commercial District," Dunban supplied.

"We don't have a moment to lose," Fenn sheathed her bow for ease of running. "Come on, you lot."

Shulk nodded, tensing. "Yes. Lead the way."

They wove through empty stalls and between the legs of Mechon, not fighting but charging with purpose down the desolate streets. Blades and claws and turrets made to stop them in their tracks but still they pressed on, emerging under the archway by Dunban's house on the outskirts of the Commercial District. Dunban was leading the charge, Fenn was covering the rear, Shulk and Reyn had taken up station in the middle.

A familiar electrical crackling split the air as Dunban's muscular frame surged with unwanted energy. The Monado was rebelling again, and this time with a vengeance. The warrior stumbled to his knees, crying out in pain as his body rejected the sword, and the sword his body. The red blade skidded away, just in front of the hero, panting on his hands and knees.

"Dunban!" Reyn cried out. Both he and Fenn rushed to the side of their fearless leader who was shaking from the effort of keeping himself upright as the last remnants of coiling electricity crawled across his torso. "You can't take anymore of the Monado!"

"I must--!" Dunban countered, voice strained with agony. "I don't have a choice--!" He reached his hand out for the hilt, only managing to stretch ever so slightly with trembling fingers before his body heaved and he coughed, spitting up blood. He would have collapsed fully to the ground, would have tried to reach again, if Fenn hadn't been there to support and restrain him. Her arm rested against his back while the other pushed against his shoulder, keeping him from moving towards the weapon that was quickly sapping his life. Reyn knelt beside her, mirroring her posture and position.

"No! Dunban, stop! You'll die if you keep using it!" The archer's voice was urgent; she was echoing her statements from a year ago. They went unheeded then at Sword Valley, and it cost Dunban the use of his arm. Would they go ignored now? Would this cost him his life?

"Fenn, please, I have to--!" Dunban pleaded, but he was cut off.

"They're right. You can't go on like this."

Three confused heads turned to see the blonde-haired boy step forward.

"Shulk--!" Dunban wheezed, looking into his eyes.

Shulk stared ahead as the bridge began to swarm with more Mechon from the grassy fields beyond the formerly safe concrete of Colony 9. "Dunban."

There was a full explanation in that word. An encoded message that Fenn didn't have the mental space to decrypt, but Dunban seemed to understand immediately. His eyes widened.

Before anyone could say anything else, the boy had dashed in front, at the precipice of where the bridge met the cobblestones. Reyn reached out a hand as if to stop him.

"This time," Shulk declared, picking up the Monado and activating it in one fluid movement. "It's my turn!"

"Shulk, no! It'll kill you!"

There was irony, Fenn thought at his statement. When Dunban's life was on the line, he couldn't care less, but anyone else…

Any words Fenn could have said were swiftly hooked away from her mouth as the same crackling energy that once plagued Dunban's body rocketed across Shulk's lithe limbs. A furious yell escaped the inventor's lips, and he charged.

A blast of energy came straight for him from the stygian barrel of a Mechon's turret, but to Fenn's immense surprise and substantial awe, Shulk moved out of the way, turning his dodge into a leap that brought the glowing blade down upon the offending robot.

"What the--?!" Dunban couldn't get the words out.

"Stars above..." Fenn breathed.

Reyn just gawked.

A spindly, bipedal machine swung curved blades at the determined lad, but they were met with empty air as Shulk ducked and weaved underneath the slashes. It was as if the Monado was an extension of his arm, of his body, of his mind. It seemed to hum in the air as two more slashes put his attacker out of commission.

"Wow! Shulk's pretty awesome!" Reyn exalted.

"How can this be…?" Dunban stared in wonderment. "Shulk's using the Monado!"

Fenn tried to speak, but found very little air through the shock she was feeling. "That's… that's impossible!" she managed finally.

There was no more time to flounder for mental purchase. More Mechon dropped from the sky, encircling Shulk and blocking the path between him and the three bewildered Homs.

"Shulk! More company!" Reyn warned, suddenly looking fearful.

"Fenn! Reyn!" Dunban struggled to his feet, picking up Shulk's discarded metal sword.

Fenn nodded, while Reyn's eyes turned steely. "Right," they said in unison.

Dunban moved with speed he should not have possessed as an approaching Mechon drone threatened Shulk from behind. There was a clang, the machine staggered back, and Shulk looked over his shoulder in surprise. "Reyn! Dunban! Fenn!"

He broke the lock holding him in place with his opponent. The shield of Reyn's weapon bashed against more metal as Fenn's electrified arrows stunned incoming adversaries to prevent them from coming closer. "I got your back!" Reyn grunted.

"Shulk! Do you feel alright?" Dunban wheezed breathlessly.

"I'm okay…" The Monado-wielding boy looked at Dunban with a mixture of fear and determination. "But there was something strange…"

"Strange?" Fenn's skid brought her closer to the pair of swordsmen. Soon, Reyn joined her. "Strange how?" The archer nocked another arrow and loosed it.

"Just now… It was as if I could see into the future!"

Forgetting for a moment their current situation, the three Homs stared at Shulk, blinking.

"Is this another power of the Monado…?" he wondered aloud.

"See into the future? What're you sayin'?" Reyn finally voiced the question on everyone's mind.

"Are you certain, Shulk?" Dunban demanded, coming back to reality and planting his feet in the starting position for all trained Homs swordsmen. Shulk looked over his shoulder, mimicking him.

"Yes." It was a statement made with finality and certainty. There was no trembling of doubt in that one single word. In that moment, Fenn suspected that Shulk was telling the truth, but she had no time to contemplate that now.

"I see…" The voice of the older male was soft. "I remember Dickson saying the Monado had a hidden power… could this be it?"

"What?"

"BOYS!" Fenn's warning call came sharply, interrupting the moment of quiet. Mechon lunged from all directions, and each Homs sprung outwards at her cry, pushing them back with their respective weapons. "This really isn't the time--!"

"Fenn's right!" Dunban yelled, slashing upwards and knocking a Mechon off balance. "Don't think about it now, just believe what the Monado showed you and fight!"

"Got it!" The blade of light crackled in its new master's hands, seeming to glow brighter with the fire of Shulk's spirit. His movements were liquid lightning through a sea of darkened metal, leaving a glowing contrail in his wake as the Monado crushed, cleaved, and impaled every Mechon he faced. A sweep of the sword enchanted the other weapons, and now the sword was joined by another. Arrows impaled vital parts needed for the Mechon to function, and metal dented, buckled, and crumpled with the force of Reyn's blunt blows. It almost looked effortless on Shulk's part.

Finally, the bridge had been cleared. "Let's go!" Shulk urged, turning to run into the Residential District with the other three close behind. Fenn scooped up some deflected arrows from the ground and stuck them back into her quiver as she ran. Her arrow supply wasn't endless, after all, and she much preferred the use of her bow over the use of her single shortsword.

They had almost made it when their process was halted by a huge hulking metal… thing coming to land in their paths. "Whoah!!" Shulk skidded to a stop, piling up Reyn behind him. Fenn and Dunban stopped a little more gracefully, drawing their weapons.

"It's massive!" Reyn exclaimed with horror.

It was bigger and more intricate than any Mechon Fenn had ever seen. Red pulsating lights flowed along seams in the metal, and as her eyes travelled along the length of the body, she felt her blood run cold. This mechanical monster had wicked, slender claws in place of fingers. They shone menacingly in the light of the fires that raged within the colony.

"That Mechon! It has a face!" Dunban noticed, and Fenn, whose eyes had remained fixated on the blades, finally moved up to the head of the machine. Where most Mechon could be considered to have eyes of some sort, they couldn't be said to possess anything resembling facial features; This one had them. A skeletal metal mask was welded to the head. Four red eyes sat sunken deep into the white material and were stationed above a mouth that looked like someone had tried to loosely sew it shut with cables. The mouth gaped past these metal threads in a horrifying mockery of a smile, while the lower jaw had an elongated chin that looked sharp enough to impale someone. Crimson lights flowed and warped between the eyes.

"That don't mean nothin'!" Reyn stated with confidence, spreading his feet and bending his knees to prepare for a lunge.

"That's right," Shulk echoed his comerade's bravado. "Not when we have the Monado!" The blade in question sparked to life as he drew it in anticipation of the fight. The only way to Fiora was through this faced Mechon, so that is what they would do.

Both Fenn and Dunban shared a look. Something was off, but soon they readied themselves as well. Shulk charged without warning, swinging his blade. Where there should have been the effortless slicing of the ancient sword through Mechon armor, there was only the sound of an electrical shortage, a zapping and fizzing, and Shulk's momentum was thrown into reverse as it bounced off the chassis of this new threat. The huge metal claws took a swipe at him, but Fenn pulled him back by the collar just in time to avoid him getting sliced in two.

More attempts with the same result lead an increasingly frustrated Shulk to attempt more and more reckless swings while Reyn, Fenn, and Dunban all did their best to damage or dent the foe. It was to no avail.

"The Monado! It's not working!" Shulk's exclamation was accompanied by the metal faced Mechon waving a single index claw. It was… taunting them?! Fenn was more than thrown off her rhythm, now. She was terrified down to her very boots. This enemy possessed an intelligence unlike any machine she had ever seen.

"Oi! What d'you mean?!" Reyn said incredulously.

"How can that be?" Dunban muttered. "The Monado should cut through Mechon with ease!"

"That light…" Shulk observed softly, almost whispering to himself. The veins of red illumination flowed over the arms and body and face of their foe. "Other Mechon don't have that… Could that be why the Monado has no effect…?"

The young inventor was so caught up in his curiosity that he didn't notice the large left hand raising, spreading, claws prepared to knock him down or slice him in two. "Shulk! Reyn! Get down!" Dunban's flying tackle knocked Shulk to the ground, while Fenn, who had also noticed, put all of her weight and momentum into bringing Reyn away from the sweeping deadly blades. They now glowed with an indigo aura and Fenn breathed heavily, getting to her feet. "Stay back, the three of you!" Dunban stood as well while Fenn ogled at him with incredulity. "I'll take it from here!"

"No!" Fenn moved forward to stop him. It would be the death of her brother-in-arms if he continued to fight. Already his footwork that he so prided himself on was becoming sluggish and slow, and there was less force behind his swings. She couldn't allow that to happen. Not on her watch.

"Dunban, stop! You can't take any more--!" Reyn tried to halt his movements as well, but all three Homs were sent sprawling to the ground as a blow from the claws caught them all in the torso and sent them sprawling. Purple worms of electricity coiled about Fenn's frame as bone-crunching, mind-numbing pain rocketed across her body. She struggled for breath, for movement, and looked to the side as Shulk's body was thrown across the cobbles, the same purple glow enveloping him as well.

As Fenn willed her uncooperative body to move, an explosion ripped through the air. There was a crash and the groaning of metal, and Fenn managed to roll over onto her stomach. The faced Mechon had been thrown to the ground. The cause of his now-prone figure was behind him. "Everyone! Get away right now!"

Fiora had found the mobile artillery and was piloting it with daring expertise.

"Fiora!" Fenn heard Dunban wheeze.

The vehicle slammed into a Mechon soldier on its charged assault towards the towering monster. A small part of Fenn felt pride; the rest of her felt creeping dread raise the hairs on the back of her neck. She couldn't say why.

Shulk apparently shared her feelings. "Fiora! Get back!" He cried with urgency, and Fenn watched him struggle to rise.

"...we will save Colony 9!" The rapid-fire plasma cannon booted up and launched an assault of deadly missiles into the clawed Mechon, but they were useless against its thick hide. A blue ball of energy shot from the cannon on its back, disabling the first plasma gun and causing Fenn to gasp.

Fiora only looked shaken, but pressed her attack. The other gun fired now, missiles this time, but to the same lack of impact as her first attempt.

"Fiora!" Shulk yelled, desperation hugging his tone tightly like a vice. "Get out of here! Run!"

But Fiora either could not hear, or was not willing to listen: "You want more?!"

The faced Mechon lowered the large cannon on its back and began to charge it, but the mobile artillery was faster. The turret of its own cannon slammed into the bone-white face of Fiora's target, now point-blank to the metal.

Another explosion sent the artillery flying backwards into the ground. The billowing clouds of black smoke cleared, and with it, hope that the blast had damaged anything. The Mechon stood tall, unaffected save for a blackened, marred lump of metal on the left side of its face. It began a thudding march towards Fiora.

The group stared in horror as the giant claws picked up the mobile artillery-- with Fiora still inside --by the barrel of its cannon and swung it into a building as Fiora screamed. The useless treads came crashing to the ground as the girl gasped in panic and pain.

"Fiora!" Shulk tried again, arms shaking as the purple electricity bound his muscles and refused to let him rise. He grunted with the effort as the Mechon's blades twitched before lining up together. The metal arm was brought back, claws angled forward and down, and Fenn's eyes widened in horror as Shulk cried out. He saw it too. "NO!"

The blades plunged downward. Fiora's scream ended halfway, abruptly, and the hulking metal weapon was picked up with the blades like a kebab. Dunban gasped. Fenn felt dizzy. Maybe he had missed--

A familiar, slender arm dangled from the wreckage. Limp. Lifeless. A spear dropped into the archer's soul as the Mechon almost disdainfully tossed the scrap behind him. Shulk was on his knees now, fighting the paralysis with a renewed desperate strength. There was a clank as he used the Monado for support. He pulled himself to his feet with breaths ripping at his chest from the effort of movement as the hated claws, once gleaming menacingly silver, dripped vermillion. Fenn felt bile rise in her throat. Soldier Mechon pounced on the scrap metal and began to tear into it.

Shulk had broken whatever enchantment plagued the rest of them. The Monado sparked to life with a vengeance. "I'll…. I'LL KILL YOU!" The furious roar seemed to be ripped from the very depths of an anguished spirit, plagued by hellish, soul-tearing grief. It was made all the more terrible when you remembered who was behind it.: normally gentle, never purposefully violent without cause, but now wracked with mind rending anger and despair, Shulk raised the Monado over his head and charged.

None of the others could move, but whether it was out of shock, grief, or the paralyzing effects of the blades, Fenn could not say. She watched as Shulk's brutal swings did nothing to dent the armor. The bloodstained blades swiped at him and he blocked, legs shaking with the effort of keeping himself upright, but he pushed back and rolled, grabbing onto the faced Mechon's arm and scrambling up it nimbly. He leapt, Monado cutting through the air like a symphony to his savage cry of "DIE!"

The blade pierced the weakened part of the white mask, impaling all the way through the head. The machine thrashed, trying to swing Shulk off of it. The Monado slid out and Shulk was sent careening through the air, landing in a heap on the street. Reyn had been struggling to stand and finally did so, running over to his best friend. "Shulk!" He flipped his shield open, standing over the boy protectively. Fenn finally got to her feet, the indigo glow gone. Dunban did the same.

The metal murderer turned, then began to move forward, as if to end Shulk and Reyn there, but stopped abruptly. It raised its head, hearing some silent siren call, then turned and stared at Dunban, who staggered to remain upright, and then at Fenn, swaying on her feet with exhaustion. No other offensive actions were taken as the jets on its back flamed into life and it curled up, rising from the ground as a rocket.

"GET BACK HERE!" Reyn's voice was choked with tears.

A second gut-wrenching scream seemed to be hooked from Shulk's lungs and drawn out with the retreat of the Faced Mechon like a parasite from his throat. The echoes died away, leaving only a ringing silence that stifled the very air. The other Mechon had left as well.

Reyn and Shulk both stared at the spot in the sky where it had disappeared, panting heavily. "Shulk…" Fenn croaked finally. "Reyn… we…" she struggled to find words. "We need to go… We have to go…" she felt the empty drain of grief encircle her like a snake. Telling them to go. Did she have the strength to follow through? She had to.

Dunban's gentle voice sounded right by her ear. "I'll take care of them. Both of them. You go make sure everyone else made it out alright." His hand rested tenderly on her shoulder as he walked forward until he could not keep it there any longer. "I'll get them and myself to the medical ward." Fenn nodded blankly, turning to follow the orders given. She paused, looking over her shoulder at Dunban as he knelt down beside Shulk and began to urge him upwards. Her eyes set in determination: She was given a task to follow through. There would be time to grieve later.

For now, people needed her help. She turned to go.