Date Unknown

Time Unknown

Ruined Streets

Ren shut his eyes after the purple dog he slashed blew up to protect his eyes from flying scrap. "Heh, this isn't much of a challenge to me." He said to himself as he engaged another, cutting a deep gash in its face.

"Don't get cocky kid!" One of the soldiers voices on his comm said. "There are way worse things than Eaters and Hornets out there. Watch yourselves! We're counting on both of you."

"Yeah yeah…" He sighed as he propped the Eater up and stabbed it with his Saber and then flung it off the blade into another. The explosion of the stabbed Eater caused the other to explode as well. "Cool, two-for-one!" He grinned with satisfaction. The girl hardly looked his way as she gunned down Hornets with her Cannon. One by one they fell to her, and little by little she was starting to remember how to fight. Before long, the area was clear of Armaments.

"Easy peasy." Ren sighed as he put away the Saber for now and dusted himself off. He walked over to the girl who was scanning the area for more hostiles. "Are you okay Rock?" he asked.

She stopped and nodded at him. "Mhm."

"Alright, great work so far you two. The objective is a couple more clicks due north." The soldier that removed his helmet said.

"Roger that Rothcal." Ren replied. "Let's make like trees and get the leaf outta here!"

The girl tilted her head in confusion.

"…Means Let's Go, just so you know."

"I see." She walked on ahead while Ren mentally face-palmed himself as he walked beside her.

A few minutes earlier…

The swarm of Armaments rushed by the squad as they hid in an old alleyway, the metallic clanking and inhuman screeches slowly dissipating as they passed.

"Alright, looks like we gave them the slip." Phobos whispered. "Now would be a good time to introduce everyone. We may not get a chance later on. My name is Phobos."

One by one, each of the soldiers gave their names.

"My name is Xiomin Lee. You can call me Xiomin or Lee. Either is fine."

"Dogayev. Alexei Dogayev."

"I'm Bob…or Robert…Uh, but don't call me Bobby!"

"Lars Johansen. It's nice to meet both of you."

"Yo yo yo! I'm DJ Dully! And I ain't no bully!

Finally, the soldier with his helmet off spoke. "I'm Rothcall Shepard. I'll look after you two when you're not in battle."

Ren nodded. "My name's Ren. Ren Vortex!" He turned to the girl with a friendly smile. "And you are?"

The girl remained silent and closed her eyes. After a second or two she replied. "I…don't remember…"

Ren raised his eyebrow. "You've forgotten who you are?"

She nodded.

"Her real name is unknown." Rothcall spoke up. "However, she does have a codename. I think it was…"

Suddenly, the girl slowly spoke up. "…Black….Rock…..Shooter. I think that's my name…"

"Ah yes! That was it. Black Rock Shooter or BRS for short."

"Huh…that sounds kind of familiar somehow." Ren hummed as he put his hand on his chin.

"Never mind that." Phobos interrupted. "Now that we know who everyone is, it's time to move out. We need to get to the Cisco Portal north of our current position."

Rothcall shivered a little bit. "It's not going to be easy. Most of the routes are blocked off, and the only route through is swarmed with enemies. The Commander said that there was also one Generator in the area too…"

Phobos scoffed. "We have the girl now, right?"

"But usually it took ten missiles just to destroy one Generator."

"But she's way stronger than ten missiles right?"

Rothcall scratched his head. "That's what her paperwork says anyway."

"Let's see what she can do." Xioming said.

"Yeah!" Bob joined in. She can do it! She'll definitely do it!" He looked back at BRS with a nervous glance. "…Right?"

"I don't know…" She replied.

'"I don't know until I try.' Is what you meant to say, correct?" The Commander's voice reached through the comm.

"In any case, we need to act. First we need to clear the area to secure an escape route." Phobos looked to BRS. "You will take point and clear any hostiles you see, got that?" She nodded. "The rest of you lot will take positions in the rear. Don't attract any unwanted attention and let the girl handle the Armaments. If all goes well, we'll all make it out of here in one piece."

"Yes sir!"

Phobos quickly snuck a peek out around the corner. "The coast looks clear. PSS, tally ho!"

BRS tilted her head.

"Tally ho is like, "Charge" or Move out" or something along those lines." Rothcall explained. "The original meaning was different, but who really cares now?"

Phobos face-palmed. "Damn…just get moving already."

The soldiers got into position near the rear flank as ordered while BRS moved up to the front. Ren casually followed after her.

"Hey kid!" Bob called on his comm device. "Where do you think you're going!?"

"I'm joining the party up front. You ladies can have fun there in the back. I'm not missing any of the action thank you very much. Besides, I think I can help her. No, I WANT to help her. So I will. It's as simple as that."

"This isn't a game kid! You're going to get killed if you go out there!" Rothcall pleaded.

"Let him go Shepard." Phobos said.

"What!?"

"If the kid wants to fight, let him fight. As much as I don't like it either, it's ultimately up to him. Besides, didn't you notice? Something is peculiar about him. He's no ordinary lad. Let's see what he can do as well."

Rothcall sighed in defeat. "All right. But kid…Ren…be careful out there. If there's anything you can't handle, let us handle it. Don't take any chances."

"No worries Roth. I'm good." He jogged up to BRS. "Hope you don't mind if I tag along with you, Rock."

The girl tilted her head. "…Rock?"

Ren nodded. "Going to have to call you something, don't I? At least until we know what your real name is anyway. Besides, I don't want to call you BRS all the time."

She thought for a second. "…Rock..."

"Do you want me to call you something else? Just say the word."

She shook her head. "No. Rock is okay with me."

Ren smiled. "Alright then Rock! Pleased to meet you! Now, let's get this done together!"

"Ok."

And with that, the two charged forward.

Back to the present...

"Hold up a second you two!" Rothcall said as the two of them approached a big purple pillar. The pillar was sprouting out Eaters and Hornets in regular intervals.

"So," Ren said. "This is the objective?"

"Yep. That's our Generator all right. Damn, look at that thing. It's spawning Armaments like crazy!"

"Yup. It's non-stop. Move in whenever you're ready." Phobos ordered.

"Alright, alright." Rothcall spoke to the front team. "That's the generator. Think you two can take it out?"

"…I won't know until I try." Rock replied.

"You're more reserved than you look."

"It'll be no problem if it's the two of us. These guys don't stand a ghost of a chance." Ren said.

"And you're pretty confident."

Rock was silent for a few seconds.

"What's wrong Rock?" Rothcall asked.

"…ho…?"

"Oh yeah that!" He smiled on his end. "Come on kids, tally ho!"

"Alright then." Ren turned to Rock. "I'll handle the small fry while you take out the Generator? You have the firepower and I have the speed, so I'd say that's the best course of action."

"Sounds good." Rock nodded.

"Great. Then here we go!" Ren dashed off into the heart of the Armaments and whistled. "Hey trash cans! You missed a guy! Right here!" The Armaments surrounded the teen in seconds. "Perfect. Now let's rock!" He leapt up in the air and kicked a hornet sending it flying towards three more before landing on top of an Eater. He put his shoe on its back and winded up for a golf swing. At the last second, his Saber came to his hands and teed off the Eaters head, its body slumping into a heap. Several hornets shot at him, but their bullets either missed or were deflected as he threw his Saber at the swarm. The Saber sheared off many of their wings and wholly destroyed several more before finally sinking edge first into another Eater. Ren ran up to it and flipped in the air grasping his weapon before driving the rest of it right through the Eater, destroying it. "Man, these things' frames and defenses are so brittle. Makes it easier to cut through em all! I'm starting to wonder just how an army of these wiped out almost all of civilization on this world."

Rock circled around to the right flank and whipped her cannon at the Generator. She fired as many shots as she could before she over heated, but the structure still stood albeit a little less stable. 'It's tough.' She thought. Then, at that moment, she began to remember a Skill she knew in the past. "Maybe that'll work." She pointed her cannon at the Generator, but did not fire. Instead, she let energy condense and build up inside the cannon until she could see it brimming out of the barrel.

"Rock….HA!" She fired and a massive blast loosed itself free from the cannon and tore straight through the Generator, showering the street with scrap and debris.

"…Mission Complete." She said.

"That was cool!" Ren piped up as he finished off the last of the Eaters and Hornets. He jogged over to Rock who slung her cannon back over her shoulder.

The rest of the PSS moved up behind them.

"Wow." Rothcall said breathlessly. "I guess getting revenge for seven billion people may not be such a crazy dream after all…"

Ren rubbed his nose and smiled while Rock only stood quietly.

Suddenly, an earth shaking vibration was felt to everyone's 9'o clock. A huge hulking red Armament was bee lining toward them with murderous intent. "Don't relax just yet. We're not done here." Phobos said.

"Heh, we can't let these kids upstage us! C'mon Lars, back me up yo!" Dully said as he moved t engage the Armament. Lars followed on his six without a word.

"This is going to be tough, but you can handle it, both of you. Good luck." Phobos said to Ren and Rock as he watched from afar with Rothcall.

"All right! Finally something interesting! Okay Rock! Tally ho!" He charged towards the Armament but soon stopped when he realized he was the only one moving. "Huh? Rock?"

"Oi! What's wrong!?" Phobos yelled to Rock. She returned his yell with more silence.

"Hey Rock! Our pals need us up here! Let's go!" Ren called to her. More silence.

"Are you ignoring us?" Rothcall yelled. "Are you not going to help!?" Still more silence.

Lars just barely managed to shove Dully out of the way of a fatal energy blast from the Armament. "Is she broken!?"

"Damn dude! That's just rude, y'know!?" Dully agreed as he and Lars fired at the Armament.

'Crap…' Ren thought. 'What's going on with Rock? If we don't do something quick, Dully and Lars…' He sprinted back to Rock and shook her a little.

"What?" She responded.

"What?" Ren echoed. "What do you mean what!? Our allies out there are in danger and you're just standing there watching them get slaughtered? What's YOUR problem!?"

"There are no enemies in range."

"WHAT!? What do you call that big red guy over there then!?" He pointed to the Armament. He was getting noticeably anxious and angry, something that he never showed unless it meant life or death.

"It didn't attack me, so it can't be an enemy."

"Are you serious!?" Both Rothcall and Phobos shouted over the comm.

Ren was, much to many people's amazement due to his quick and carefree attitude, a very patient young man when it counted the most. He was durable and flexible, rolling with the punches and flow even when he didn't like them, and always respected his friends and their views. However…two men were about to die because of Rock's jarred and confused logic. He felt his anxiety and frustration reach his breaking point, and he did something he'd never thought he'd do in his entire life.

He hit a girl.

Rock slowly turned to face Ren, her eyes wide in surprise and her right cheek flaring a sore red. "Why-?"

"Let me teach you something real quick Rock…when someone or something attacks your friends, he's an enemy. You don't stand by and let them pay the price, you defend them with everything you have and then some. You fight to the very end until either you die, or your enemy dies. THAT is what you do, and THAT is what we WILL DO RIGHT NOW. Got that?" he didn't wait for an answer as he suddenly took her free hand and leaded her towards the Armament. "Lars, Dully! Get back! We'll handle this!"

"Roger that, kid. Dully, let's move. We're not doing any good here."

"Aw man…roger that."

Ren walked faster now that he knew Lars and Dully were out of harm's way, fast enough that Rock was beginning to stumble a little bit as they walked up to the Armament. He then turned her around so that she looked straight into his eyes.

"Anyone who attacks them," He pointed to the PSS. "And us," He tapped his chest then hers. "They're our enemies. Got it?"

Rock looked at the PSS, then back at Ren. "…Yes."

"Good. Now let's finish this guy off. I'll get its attention, you keep firing at it. Simple plan. Let's do this." With that he let go of her and ran towards the Armament. It raised one of its legs in an attempt to crush him, but he dodged to the side and began hopping up onto it. Rock followed and fired several shots at it, each shot exploding on the Armament on contact. As she cooled down a little, she decided to start aiming better as to not hit Ren by mistake. With this in mind she fired more shots downrange. Ren stood on top of the mechanized beast's back and started hacking away at it, sparks and metal flying everywhere as he did. "Eventually, we'll hit something important..!" He thought as he razed its back with Saber slashes. The Armament howled as it tried to shake Ren off but was stopped quickly by more cannon fire. Ren jumped onto its head and saw the head was less resistant to his attacks than the rest of the body. He jammed his Saber in and cut a hole into the Armament, finding the core that controlled optics. "Hope you won't need this big guy!" He cried as he cut the core in half. It roared in synthetic pain as it rampaged, thrashing and thundering towards Rock. 'It's time to end this.' She thought. She readied her Skill, her Charge Shot, and aimed it at the beast. "Fire!" The shot ripped through the external plating of the Armament, but didn't stop it completely. She charged up for another attack. "Fire!" This shot found its mark. It blasted through the Armament and it ceased to move, clumsily falling dead with a mighty crash, catapulting Ren off. He flipped in the air several times before landing with a skid.

"Holy Jesus…" Bob uttered.

Rock walked back to her position near the destroyed Generator. Phobos looked steamed and chased after her with Rothcall trying to calm him down. Ren just stood there, bewildered and shocked by what he did earlier. Now that the beast was destroyed, he immediately felt bad about hitting Rock. The situation was urgent yes, but maybe there was another way he could have handled it. He slowly trudged back as soon as Phobos backed off Rock and saw Lars walking up to her. He managed to catch the beginning of their conversation.

"Thanks for pulling me and Dully out of there. We'd both be dead if it wasn't for you and the other kid."

Rock reached and touched a red line across his armor. "You're hurt..?"

"Just a scratch is all. I'm not going to die from it. I'll be fine."

"I see…" Rock looked down at the ground.

"Oh! I almost forgot about these…" Lars gave her a stuffed polar bear doll and an odd blue gem cut in the shape of a star.

Rock looked over each with a dreamy face. "I recognize these…"

"You should. I found them in your trailer when we found you. Are they important to you?"

Rock closed her eyes and looked as if she was straining to remember. "….I don't know."

Ren's heart sank at those words and immediately felt worse. "Maybe…that's because of me…y'know…just a few minutes ago." He sighed and hung his head low. "….."

Rock put a hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong, Ren-kun?"

Ren looked up when she said his name. "…I…I'm sorry Rock. For hitting you, I mean. I meant every word I said, but, there wasn't any good reason to hit you at all. I'm sorry…"

"…It's ok." She replied to his and Lars's amazement.

"..Ah…well, I still feel pretty awful about it. So let me make you a promise."

"A promise?"

"Yeah. Something that you tell someone that you'll do, and you never go back on it no matter what." Ren nodded. "I promise that I'll never do anything like that to you ever again, and I'll always be there to help you and back you up. Because you and me…I think we make a pretty good team, don't you think?"

At those words a small smile crossed Rock's face, and she nodded.

Ren felt a huge burden lift from his shoulders as he smiled back at her with a big goofy grin and a slight blush.

"Hey, you kids done dating over there?" Phobos cut in over the comm. "It's only a few clicks to our base, so move it!"

Lars shook his head. "Alright. Well, anyway, just hold onto them for a while. My grandfather taught me that even the littlest of things become more important over time."

"Okay. I'll hold onto them." She replied with a nod.

"Well, we better get moving." Lars went up ahead.

"So, what are we waiting for?" Ren asked. "Let's go….partner!"

Rock smiled a little.

"Ok."