Xenoblade Chronicles

Chapter 2- One Year Later

Colony 9. A peaceful colony, located down on the Bionis' foot, and one of the last ones left after the mechon invasions in recent years. There wasn't a lot unique about it for a Homs colony, being split between three districts: residential, commercial, and military. Because it was geographically the furthest away from Mechonis, Colony 9 was a fairly peaceful place to live, due to its lack of military emphasis compared to other colonies. It was also the only colony that actually connected to the vast ocean surrounding the titans.

While most kids in the colony would spend their time playing around or working, Shulk found that his time was much better spent doing what he considered a mix of the two: looting around in the scrap yard. Shulk was 18 years old, but only acted about half that when it came to looting scrap. He had pale skin and very light blonde hair, and was a brains-over-brawn kind of guy. He loved engineering and figuring out how things worked, and he wore a bright red vest with a long-sleeved black shirt under it. His shorts were a similar red and black pattern, but had metal guards under them that ran down to his shins. It was apparently some kind of ether-resistant armor from some far-away place on Bionis, as Dickson had told him when giving it to him, but Shulk just wore it because it was comfortable.

Shulk was effectively Dickson's lab assistant of sorts, and although the researcher was currently out of town, Shulk was still trying to find impressive things to show him when he got back. After all, since Shulk's parents had been dead for well over a decade and he had no memory of them, Dickson was the best candidate he had for a father figure of sorts.

So there he was, rummaging through piles of dark blue and yellow metal, looking for any parts he could use. Because metal debris fell from above Colony 9, and the anti-air batteries were able to shoot them apart to prevent damage to the colony, metal scraps would often end up in this little clearing a short distance away, which Shulk decided to call the scrap yard. He had found a few useful parts so far, such as a claw from an M56 and a body piece from an M32, but they weren't useful for his current project, so he would probably sell them. As he pried a circular piece from a random mechon, examining it, he sighed as he realized it was broken. "The joint section... It's buckled," he said to himself. Throwing it back in the scrap pile, he stretched his back, saying "it's completely useless!," before lazily falling on his back, staring up at the sky. After a moment, he heard buzzing to his left, turning his head to see a dragonfly perched on a flower not far away. He stared at it for a moment, thinking about how the bug lived, where it went, and what other secrets it could hold. He couldn't help but admit he had a lazy side; there was a fun quality to just watching clouds pass as he thought about how the world around him works. However, as he adjusted his vision to see further, his train of thought came to a screeching halt as his eyes grew as wide as his smile. "An M69!," he shouted, standing up and sprinting towards the metal scrap. As he stopped in front of it, he asked "how did you get here?," noticing that it definitely wasn't there a few minutes ago. He reasoned that it was probably deeper in the pile, and it became uncovered as he tossed away the scraps covering it. Grunting, he pulled as hard as he could on the metal, saying "if I could just... get it off... Whoa!," as the scraps started moving by themselves.

Panicking, Shulk backed up, afraid that the mechon had come back to life. Suddenly, he heard "Shulk!," watching as his friend Reyn charged up and rammed the large metal scrap with his weapon, sending it flying into a wall. Reyn, the man who had come to Shulk's aid, had fiery red hair, and was much taller and more muscular than his blonde friend. He wore a standard Colony 9 military uniform, consisting of thick black pants and a tight chest plate laced with orange, though he didn't wear the helmet when he was off duty, like now.

"Wait, Reyn! It's not a mechon, it's just a krabble," said Shulk, pulling out his sword as he felt his panic ebb away. "It's using the mechon armor as a shell," he continued as the hermit crab-like creature emerged from its metal shell, flexing its huge claw as it stared at the two. "Alright, I'll lure it away and knock it off its feet. Then, you finish it!," said Reyn, moving away from Shulk and grabbing the monster's attention. As it swung its claw at Reyn, he parried with his heavy driver, pushing the krabble and forcing it on its back. As it fell backwards, body exposed, Shulk brought his sword straight down on it, killing the monster quickly.