Space.

A vast, explorable area worthy of the name No Man's Land.

It's a beautiful thing, yet it's also devastating.

For no one knows what's out there.

But I know.

I witnessed it Firsthand.

<10 years ago... • Earth>

"Slow down would ya?" I said, struggling in a sword fight with Recon. He disarmed me, as I fell in the ground, and pointed his cardboard sword at my neck. "Jubilant. I win! Haha!" He said confidently. Recon wasn't like most Glitch, he was quite the bragger, and had a huge ego. "Proud. This proves that swords are better than guns! Ha ha ha!" He laughed. "Then I'd like to see you win against me in a gunfight!" I crossed my arms, and pouted.

Back then, It was a golden age for me.

Recon was always challenging me and his older brother, Zero, to a sword fight, being the competitive Glitch he was.

But he was still a good friend. We grew up together, mainly because Recon's family were members of the Protectorate, as well as my dad, Recca.

So, that made us students automatically.

As time passed, we grew older, and we were close to graduating.

"You'll finally be a protector, Lil' Cobalt!" My dad said.

And it was true! I would finally be a protector!

Until today.

<Present Day... • Earth>

"Wake up, Cobalt." I heard my S.A.I.L. A.I. Say. "SHADDAP." I groaned, rolling over. "You wouldn't want to sleep in, today is the graduation ceremony." It said, causing me to wake up instantly, and get out of bed. "Crap crap crap craaaap!!!" I said, putting my hair in a ponytail. I grabbed my protectorate uniform, and put it on, then headed out the door. "Oversleep much?" Recon was waiting for me outside my door. "Get off my case, ya bucket o' bolts." I said, lightly punching his shoulder. "Amused. Alright then, Glowstick." He replied with another snarky remark. We started to head to the auditorium. I looked around and saw a red avian girl chatting away with Mami, the info-desk lady. I never really talked to her much. "Curious. Zoning out already?" Recon poked me, whilst laughing. "Huh? What?-- N-no! I don't zone out, ya know." I sighed, crossing my arms. "Sarcastic. Suuuuure..." He said. "Amazed. It seems like only yesterday we were playing with cardboard swords. Now we get the real deal." He said. "Yeah." I shrugged. "Guns are better." I coughed. "..." He gave me a slight glare. "Irritated. Don't even." He said. "Running a little late, aren't you? Recon? Cobalt?" One of the supervisors said, as we walked into the auditorium, and sat down. "My fellow protectors... For over 5000 years we have had this association. Today in the name of peace, we welcome our newest compatriots, and present them with our greatest tool... The matter manipulator.---" A loud explosion was heard, and all of a sudden tentacles bursted from the ground, grabbing the Grand Protector, and killing her. "Watch it!" Recon tackled me out of the way of a tentacle, and we both got up and ran, as fast as we could, towards the shuttle pad. "Concerned. What caused this?!" Recon said, growling, as he held my hand. "..." I was terrified. 'What happened to dad? Or Zero? Are they okay? Will we be okay?' Countless questions flew through my brain as I panicked. We heard another loud crash, and all of a sudden Recon was lying on the ground, with a hole through his chest. "Recon!" I shouted, falling to my knees, and lifting him up. "G-get out... Of here..." He said, his voice glitching out due to the damage. Various wires were torn, sparking as if looking for their opposite end. "I said... G-go!" He said. "I don't wanna leave you here!" I said, crying. "Agitated. Don't worry. Just go already!" He said, as he hugged me, then pushed me away. "Go to the shuttle pad, and escape here." He said. I nodded, and ran. I swore I heard him say something as I ran.

"Thank you..."

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Hehe.

I'm hoping you guys are enjoying the story XD

I put a lot of thought into this story, so yeh.

I'll see you all in the next chapter!~