A Mech's Life

Chapter 1: The Great Find

Sonjo Kyuwa opened his eyes at the crack of dawn and stretched, quickly dressing himself before exiting his tent. While most days he would drag his feet to get out of bed, today was different and he would finally get to go do what he wanted most. 

Being old enough to work for some time now, Sonjo had been helping around the camp for a bit and now the day where he was trusted enough to go out alone came at last. He didn't dislike living this way but it was a harder life than those living in the city, a much more interesting one however.

The work he had to do today did not feel like work to him and he actually looked forward to it. Sonjo had always been interested by the ancient relics of the past, which made him excited to finally go out on salvage duty. 

Although it preceded his birth, his grandfather had piloted one of the ancient weapons of old for a few years. He heard many stories when he was younger about the intense fights that his grandfather was involved in and how these fighters always fought honourably.

After hundreds of years, it was now a rather arduous task to find proper salvage but it still remained a highly profitable venture since the ancients had troves of technology and their cities spanned the world. Much of their creations were destroyed during the apocalypse but serving as a testament to their creator's ingenuity and quality of their craft, working technology can still be found all these years later.

Sonjo often dreamed about finding a literal hoard of technology and owning his very own sentinel but the reality of things was much different. His tribe hadn't had any major finds in quite some months now and were ready to leave this area to look try their fortune elsewhere.

He was determined to try and find some good salvage to help out his tribe. When funds got low, rationing was in effect and everyone had to work much harder. Double shifts weren't unheard of.

As he prepared his gear for the trip, a hand laid itself on his shoulder.

"Sonjo, don't forget to take your dagger. Never know what you might stumble upon."

He turned around and looked at the elder, a man in his late sixties.

"I won't elder Ruthford. I've also got my artifact."

He tapped his front right pocket, where a cylinder shaped object resided.

The elder smiled and nodded. Crossing his arms, he turned to look at the forest.

"I don't want to put any extra pressure on you but we really need something today. We're really down to our last reserves and if this week doesn't pan out, we'll be moving on with the strict minimum. We'll have to go into town to sell the extras we can do without; such as that artifact of yours. Everyone must contribute."

The elder seemed grim with his statement and Sonjo understood the gravity of the situation.

Packing only very lightly; some dried meat, his backpack, a map, a water pouch and his weapon, Sonjo set out towards the forest. Looking at a rough hand drawn map which detailed the already explored areas around their camp, so that they didn't keep searching the same area, Sonjo chose to go east.

A small worn path led out of the camp and unto a larger road. Calling it a road might be a stretch but out here in the wilderness it was as good as it got. Packed dirt with vegetation teeming on all sides made up the western corridor, which was the name of this road that went from the western side of the Valnir Technocracy towards the Shaket Dominion.

Sonjo's tribe hold no allegiances towards any kingdom and simply roam wherever they will. They do tend to avoid the August Domain since they resent technology and actively work to try and destroy the last vestiges of it that they can find.