Xenoblade Chronicles

Chapter 1 - 1 Year Later

~One Year Later~
One year ago, Dunban had made his mark as a Homs hero through the battle at Sword Valley, now more commonly known as 'The Battle of Sword Valley.' After the Mechon's crushing defeat at the hands of Dunban and the Monado, life continued as it should have without the mechanical beasts. However, the battle was not without side effects. Colony Nine and Colony Six were the only Homs colonies left on Bionis after the war. The others were utterly wiped out, the the survivors fled to the only colonies left. Dunban was now bedridden, as he was unable to move his left arm. It had been paralyzed by using the Monado, but he had suffered a fate far lighter than what it could have been. Most who wielded the red blade just as long as he had were killed by the amount of power it released, but it seemed the Bionis had blessed Dunban for his bravery. Whatever the reason, it was unknown and people couldn't have been more grateful to Dunban. Life resumed as normal, for all the peoples of Bionis, but what they didn't know was how short-lasting that peace would be. The sounds of metal shifting filled the quiet clearing as Shulk made his way through Mechon scrap, his exact purposes for doing so were currently unknown, but he usually took as much pieces of metal as he could home with him, that way he could sell the useless things, and keep the rest to make into some sort of weapon for the Defense Force. "A Mechon M71!" Shulk exclaimed as he spotted the machine, rusting and completely deactivated. "It's optical system would be perfect for aligning one of the anti-air batteries back in the colony!" He picked up the piece of metal, and then reluctantly cast it aside, disappointed. "No good. It's broken…The joint section was buckled. It's completely useless!" Shulk stretched out the word 'useless' and backed up, stretching, flopping down onto the grass, staring up at the sky. A bug crossed his vision, and he followed it's path to a nearby flower as it landed on it, suckling the honey. Shulk smiled slightly, before spotting something in the distance. He sat up, and stared at it for a moment, before gasping. "Is that…" He felt delight envelop him again as he leapt to his feet and rushed over to the Mechon. "An M69!" He cried, reaching it and examining the dark blue and golden metal covering it. "It's armor would be perfect for making a shield!" He took hold of it, and tugged with all his might, grunting slightly. "If I could just get it off, I should be able to-whoa!" He fell backwards as the M69 suddenly began shifting, and Shulk experienced a momentary second of panic, thinking the machine wasn't really deactivated after all. "Shulk!" Shulk glanced up as his name was called, and spotted a familiar red-haired man racing towards him, a driver held in his hand. He slammed the shield of it into the M69 and blasted it into another scrap pile. "Reyn!" Shulk was relieved to see his childhood friend once more, and felt his panic ebb away as he realized that the M69 was only a Colony Krabble, which were fairly common. They were just about waist-high, with six legs and a vicious pair of pincers. "It's not a Mechon," He told Reyn, trying to keep the relief out of his voice. "It's just a Krabble. It was using the Mechon armour as a shell." He drew the sword he always kept with him, just in case, while Reyn stood with his driver at the ready. "I'll lure it and topple it," Reyn said. "Then, when it's down, I'll leave the finishing blow to you!" Shulk nodded as Reyn leapt at the Krabble, and swiped at it's feet with his driver. It fell to the ground with a thump and Shulk circled behind, raising his sword and leaping into the air, before coming down with a vicious slice to the back. The Krabble screamed and fell over, dead. "Thanks for the help, Reyn," Shulk said and his friend nodded at him, a bright smile on his face. Reyn was just about a head taller than Shulk, with dark flame red hair and wore the standard Defense Force uniform, while Shulk was much shorter with blonde hair so pale, it was almost white at times. "That was a close one." "Man, what're you doin' wandering off by yourself?" Reyn scolded. "Stay where I can keep an eye on you. It's pretty dangerous outside of the colony. There are all kinds of monsters." "Yeah," Shulk couldn't help but agree. "But thanks to you, we got it's shell. Everyone in the colony's sure to be really happy." "I'm more worried about you then that shell," Reyn folded his arms, still scowling through his green eyes, before clicking his tongue and sighing in defeat. "Ah, whatever. Knowing what you're like, you'll make a decent weapon out of it. This scrap driver's excellent." He indicated the driver slung over his back, which Shulk had made for Reyn as a token of their friendship. Reyn had called it 'scrap driver,' because it was made up of all sorts of various Mechon and scrap parts Shulk had found around the Colony. "I just learned by watching Dickson make weapons," Shulk said. "It really isn't that hard." "Course Dunban's weapon still beats them all," Reyn pointed out, and Shulk nodded in agreement. "The Monado," He said, deep in thought. "I hope I can figure out the secret of it's power one day." He sighed. The Monado was an ancient sword they said was wielded by the Bionis when it fought Mechonis. Anyone could activate it, but the only problem was controlling the sword. It seemed as though it's actions were not of your own will, and eventually the Monado would take control of you and send waves of it's own power into your body. It would send multiple waves at once if you survived the first, and eventually one would get so powerful that it would roast you from the inside out. "I'm sure you will Shulk," Reyn assured the blonde. "Anyways, we'd better get back to the colony. If I'm late for drills again, old square-tache is going to kill me." "Square-tache?" Shulk repeated, slightly amused. "Oh! You mean Colonel Vangarre. He's pretty scary." "Tell me about it…" "Sorry to make you come all the way out here during your break," Shulk apologized, suddenly feeling guilty. "Don't worry about it," Reyn said. "Let's get back." "Yeah," Shulk nodded, and followed Reyn from the clearing. The two walked in an uncomfortable silence. Usually Reyn was ranting about the Colonel, or telling Shulk about something he and the rest of his Defense Force friends did on their day off. Today, Reyn didn't seem to have anything to talk about. On the contrary, his face was screwed up with worry as he quickened his pace. "Hey, man, come on," Reyn called, when he realized Shulk was falling behind. "I don't want to be late, but I don't want to lose you either!" "Sorry!" Shulk jogged over to him, and the two approached the Colony at a rapid pace. Colony Nine was relatively big for it's size. While Colony Six was smaller and more military-based, Colony Nine tended to land right in between that and peaceful commerce. It was stretched over a vast lake on the Bionis' calf, with three anti-air batteries placed strategically around the colony, which were mostly used to shoot falling debris out of the air, which happened pretty often. "Here we are," Reyn said, stopping at the end of the bridge that connected the colony to the rest of the world. "I'd better stop by at HQ. You heading off to the Weapons Development Lab?" "Yeah," Shulk nodded. "When I've sold any parts I can't use." "Alright, see you later," Reyn said, clapping Shulk on the back. "If you need me, I'll be doing drills in the Military District!" He waved, and jogged off. Colony Nine was split into three different districts: the Commercial District, the Military District, and the Residential Commercial District was usually where everything was bought and sold, the Military District was where the Defense Force soldiers were trained, and where the Weapons Development Lab was. The third and final district, the Residential District, housed all the citizens of Colony Nine, if they didn't chose to live by the entrance to the Colony or somewhere in the Commercial District. Shulk headed off, his bag jingling with all the extra parts he wasn't able to use. He glanced around the Commercial District with a smile. The shops were bustling with customers, the bright and cheery talk as people checked out some Ether Lights, or purchased food and water for tonights dinner, or perhaps tomorrow's breakfast. Shulk walked forwards, selling his parts to those he knew would find some sort of use to them, and headed off for the Weapons Development Lab. As Shulk crossed the bridge to enter the Military District, he spotted a mobile artillery crashed into a nearby house in the residential district. Luckily, the house appeared to be fine, but the artillery was obviously broken, the ether cylinder cracked, the green substance that was inside it pooled on the cement. As Shulk continued on his way, he heard someone shouting at someone else. He glanced over to the right, seeing a man with a mustache that stuck straight up and was wearing a defense force colonel uniform, screaming at two cowering Defense Force soldiers. "You idiots! What the hell are you playing at?!" Uh oh… Shulk thought worriedly. The Colonel's going to explode… "Crashing the mobile artillery into a house?!" Colonel Vangarre screamed at the top of his voice. "How long have you been in the Defense Force?!" "S-Sorry sir," One of the Defense Force soldiers apologized hurriedly. "It's just that we were trying to go as fast as we could like you ordered…" "But it's impossible to get back to the Military District in only forty seconds!" The second butted in. "I don't want any excuses!" Vangarre roared, failing his arms about as he ranted. "Champions don't whine, they win!" "Yes sir…" The first hung his head out of shame. "Your a disgrace to the uniform!" Vangarre growled, still punching the air out of fury. "Are you forgetting the shame you brought on this force during joint maneuvers with Colony Six?! Stick your back into it, maggots! Move it!" "Yes sir!" The two said simultaneously, their positions immediately stiffening up as they saluted. "Get the artillery back to the military district, double time!" Vangarre ordered. "Then I want a million press-ups from both of you! And you better not stop until your biceps explode!" "Colonel, we can't move the artillery," The second Defense Force soldier said nervously. "What?" Vangarre started stomping his foot on the ground. "You'd better give a damn good reason why." "Sir!" The second Defence Force soldier said. "The impact of the crash damaged the ether conduction cable! The ether fuel proceeded to leak out, and now the cylinder is empty!" "Well change the cylinder then! Can't you even do something as simple as that?!" "The auxiliary cylinders have all been used up!" The first soldier whimpered. "It'll be three days until more come in, Sir." "I told you to keep a stock of fuel in reserve!" "Sorry sir…" "You're nothing but slackers!" Vangarre proceeded to grab the nearest soldier-which happened to be the first- and punched him right in the face. Shulk winced, and looked away. "Same old colonel," He said, shaking his head. "At this rate, the men will all be dead before they see any action." He turned away from where Vangarre was beating the crap out of the poor men, and headed into the Weapons Development Lab. He walked down the ramp, and glanced around. In the center of the room, an incredibly special piece of equipment held the Monado, while around him, precious pieces of machinery sat around, humming gently. In the left corner sat a desk, and on that desk, reading through Shulk's notes was- "Dickson!" "Alright Shulk?" The old man said with a wide grin. "How are you?" "When did you get back to Colony Nine?" Shulk asked curiously. "Just now," Dickson waved Shulk's notes. "I see you've been busy! Looks like your Monado research has been going well. I made the right choice leaving you in charge." He leapt off of the desk and made his way across the room to Shulk. The blonde laughed and scratched the back of his head. "Your research notes really helped," He said as Dickson walked up to the mechanism holding the Monado, and leaned on it, clasping his hands in front of it as he eyed the sword and then Shulk's notes. "So, you can activate it now then?" "Well, anyone can activate it," Shulk said. "The problem is...controlling it." "Yeah," Dickson agreed, a shadow crossing his face. "For everyone except him." Shulk nodded in agreement, knowing the very man Dickson was talking about. "Yes. If anyone other then Dunban were able to control the Monado…" He stared at the sword. "We could surpass any military force in the world!" "You think so?" Dickson spared a glance at Shulk before returning his eyes to the notes. There was a moment of silence, until Dickson spoke once more. "What are these 'hidden functions' you mention?" "It's still only conjecture, but it's starting to look like the Monado might be something far more significant than just a weapon for defeating Mechon," Shulk explained, putting his pointer finger in a 'U' shape on his chin and resting his thumb underneath. "I see," Dickson said slowly. "And the evidence to support your theory?" "It's the symbol that appears in the center when it's activated," Shulk indicated the circle near the hilt of the sword. "What I know is, the central piece is made from multilayered glass. The symbol appears on the top layer and each layer is constructed differently." "So it's possible that other symbols could appear on different layers?" "Which means…" "The Monado might conceal even more power. Am I right?" Shulk nodded, and reached out to touch the blade. "If we could just unlock the Monado's power…" Shulk thought back to the day after Dunban had vaporized all the Mechon at the Battle of Sword Valley. There were people shouting and running everywhere, as Hover Transports came in with injured people. Dunban was being carried on a stretcher, and was drifting in an out of consciousness, but he was alive, and that was what mattered. Despite all his strength being spent, he beckoned Shulk over. "It was the Monado...it was...controlling me," Dunban had said. "Even so...it saved us...It saved our future...Next...It will be up to you." "Well, I'd better get the supplies delivered to the Defense Force," Dickson said, jarring Shulk from his thoughts. "I'll drop 'round the HQ and see how they're getting on." "Okay then," Shulk nodded. "I'll see you later." There was a moment as Dickson stood with his back turned to Shulk, before he released an exasperated sigh, and turned to look at the blonde. "Shulk," He said sternly. "You're spending too much time in the lab. Either that or rummaging through for junk in the scrap yard. It ain't healthy for a kid your age! That's why you're always looking so pasty. You should get out, get some fresh air once in a while." He smiled and turned around, waving. "Alright, I'm off." He chuckled slightly as he departed from the room. It was a while before Shulk followed him from the laboratory.