Chapter 3: Yome
Yome Kyun was a red Mornan who always gave her one hundred percent in any, and every task she undertook. She was someone who did not seem to understand the concept of moderation, always wanting to be the best, and surpass her peers.
That was why she had been the only Red Mornan in recent history, to earn a Heart shard before even becoming a Vanguard.
As a Red Mornan, being underestimated was practically unavoidable. This was simply how life worked for them, being the weakest members of the most prominent race in the universe.
For most civilian Reds, this treatment wasn't entirely negative. They were usually handled more gently than any other species. But for those like Yome who joined the Renegades, it was a constant obstacle. Only about half of the Red recruits ever advanced beyond the rank of Sentry, with the remainder never progressing to the stage of Commander.
Yome had made a promise that she had to keep no matter what. She did not have any intention of stopping so low in the rankings.
Which is why she had always tried her hardest to perform the best in every mission, when she finally reached the rank of a knight. After 2 years of distinguished service, she was recommended for the Heart Shard process early by her Vanguard leader. It took weeks of deliberation, but her recommendation was eventually accepted, to her surprise.
Like always, the process of implanting a Heart shard into a Renegade's Heart, was almost unbearable. The Renegade's willpower and mental strength would determine if the Surgery would be successful or not, as well as their attunement to the shard, at least in the earlier stages.
Thankfully and to her surprise, her attunement had simply been outstanding. She joined the one percent of Renegades that got their unique ability immediately after the Heart shard fusion was completed. The pain that had crippled countless others like her, merely fueled her determination.
She went on to complete increasingly dangerous missions with her new ability, until she was finally promoted to the rank of Vanguard.
She selected her team from her old friend group of fellow Red Mornans that she had bonded with while she was still a sentry. After the necessary training, they were all promoted to knights and allowed to join her.
Everything went well for her and her team at the start. That was, until she came to the realisation that her team was constantly getting sent on more dangerous missions than any she had experienced as a knight.
It felt like they were being used as cannon fodder by the Captain she was under, and that had infuriated her greatly. The pattern was too consistent to be coincidental.
It seemed like nothing had really changed despite her achievements. Red Mornans were still expendable renegades in the eyes of command, Sentry or not.
This forced her to give more than a hundred percent to make sure her team survived each and every mission. She was always the first to dive into danger if needed, taking on the deadliest threats herself rather than risking her comrades. Each mission felt harder and more deadlier than the last, which slowly made her despise the renegade administrative department.
Their last mission had been particularly vile. They were ordered to eliminate a cult of Reincarnator worshipers who had somehow gotten their hands on renegade technology.
Caster, the team's designated pilot and navigator, had almost died in that fight. A blast had caught him off guard, burning through his suit and leaving him with wounds that would take weeks to heal.
The worst part of the mission, was when she was forced to kill teens that were also members of the cult. The teens had no intention of surrendering, and instead rushed at them with the same fanatical hatred as their elders.
Each time she was forced to kill one of them, she felt the guilt eating her up inside. That was the moment she had truly understood what it meant to be a Renegade, and the suffering they had to go through to protect the universe.
She had thought that it would be their last mission for a while. She had even filed a formal request for recovery time.
Unfortunately for her, she was wrong.
The notification for their next mission had arrived only one week later.
Their latest mission was the worst one yet. Her team had been ordered to head over to Terytl-b, a planet that had just been wiped out by a Reincarnator a few hours ago, according to the information she had been sent.
Yome had found that incredibly hard to believe. She had never imagined a Reincarnator attacking this Star system again. Not even in her wildest dreams, due to the Sentinel stationed here now.
Their mission was to meet up with the lone survivor of the massacre. A Tarokian, at least partly. The documents also stated that this survivor was half HUMAN. which could only mean that they were related to a Reincarnator in some way. That connection alone had filled Yome with unease.
She had already had her doubts about the reports by this Renegade. He was a sentry claiming to have killed a full blooded Reincarnator. That was simply impossible. No sentry in recorded history had ever taken down a Reincarnator, no matter how weak they were.
She was extremely worried that this was simply a trap created by the Reincarnator, Ronin, and the half-human.
She gritted her teeth in indignation.
Despite everything she had gone through to get to this point, there was a chance that her and her team would die today.
She had come up with multiple possible theories for what could actually be happening. one of them was that this half human sentry had convinced Ronan to spare him since they were both human. He then made a deal with him and lied to the Renegades, so they would send in a battalion of Vanguard teams to get massacred in one fell swoop.
The Renegades were indeed playing it smart by only sending one team. She just wished it wasn't her team taking that bait. Her instincts were screaming at her, that they were walking into a trap.
The most interesting thing she could find about this half human — upon further research, was his father. He was a Reincarnator, that had been personally imprisoned by the current Emperor himself, the ruler of the universe for the last 10,000 years. Not even the strongest Reincarnators in the universe had received this much attention from the Emperor before . She wondered what made this Reincarnator so different.
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Arbus exhaled slowly before responding.
"Arbus, just Arbus,"
He stared down the high tech gun the Vanguard still had pointed on him. If he was a normal sentry, this would have been a perfect time for him to panic. Thankfully he wasn't a normal sentry. Even if the Vanguard fired her weapon it wouldn't matter.
After all, he was extremely hard to kill.
"Sentry Arbus of Tarok, identification number N-0-A-1-S-23000000, who is responsible for the massacre of Terytl-b?" Yome asked despite already knowing the answer.
When her team had finally arrived at Terytl-b, their expressions had shifted to one of shock and horror.
They could not believe the amount of death they had witnessed in just one section of the planet. The lifeless bodies of the Mornans, Remartas, aTers, and the other species that once lived here, littered the terrain below. This wasn't even a drop in the bucket compared to the number of lives that had once thrived on this planet.
Ronan had been thorough when massacring this planet. He had taken his sweet time with the civilians, before finally deciding to deal with the Renegades stationed here.
The sight of all the carnage had put Yome and her team into a terrible mood. They naturally felt somber by the amount of innocent lives that had been lost so suddenly.
It had reminded them of why the entire universe despised humans. They were heartless creatures that believed other species lives had no value. They looked down on those living in this universe, treating them like animals to be played with and slaughtered on a whim.
Which was why she wasn't in the mood to take things easy with a half-human who was either working with Ronan, or not. Either way, it didn't really matter to her.
Arbus on the other hand, tried his best to keep his emotions in check. He had just killed a Reincarnator, something most Renegades never achieve in their lifetime. He knew how much of an achievement it was.
Despite that, he was being treated like he had been one of the perpetrators, and he did not appreciate it one bit.
He was used to treatment like this from his fellow Renegades, but for once, for some reason, he had thought this achievement would make things, at least slightly better.
He stared at Yome with a blank expression "Ronan, the Reincarnator, who I killed."
Yome remained silent for a moment.
"And where is the corpse of Ronin now?"
Arbus pointed over to a heap of bodies. "Right there."
One of the Knights moved to retrieve the body, but Yome signaled for them to hold as she teleported over herself. The body was mangled and bloody, it's skull blown apart, but it was still barely recognizable.
She signaled over to one of her Knights, Bridge, to get some equipment from their ship. They put the body through various tests and scans, trying to make sure it wasn't a fake. Finally they ran it through their database of known Reincarnators.
After about 30 minutes, everything had confirmed that this was indeed the body of a Reincarnator, and further more, the body of Ronin.
Yome took in the state of the body and couldn't help but take a deep breath. She still couldn't believe a mere Sentry was capable of doing this to a Reincarnator.
Her gaze shifted back to Arbus with less contempt than it had before.
From the state of Ronin's body, it was easy to tell the amount of hatred his killer would have had for him. Her thoughts on Arbus didn't change drastically, but she decided it wasn't fair to treat him with hostility after confirming everything.
If this was actually a trap, they would have already been killed.
Yome took out a secure comm device as she reported everything to the Captain overseeing the mission.
"All clear. The sentry's claims turned out to be true. Terytl-b... has been wiped out, and Ronin is dead"
She typed in a series of additional confirmation codes before other Vanguard ships were dispatched, bringing countless medics and recovery teams to search for any possible survivors and handle the bodies of the deceased.
The battalion was stationed near one of the planet's moons, which made it easier for them to arrive quickly.
"We've secured the last surviving Renegade, sir. What are our new orders?" she asked, watching Arbus from the corner of her eye.
"Good work, Vanguard Yome. The other teams can take care of the rest. Since Ronin's death has been confirmed, I'll inform the commanders that they can return to their posts. As for your squad..." There was a pause on the line. "I'm afraid your mission isn't quite over yet, as much as I'd like to give you the break you asked for. We've received an official message from the Sentinel himself to bring Arbus to him. That's your next mission."
Yome's eyes widened at the commander's words.
No one below the rank of a Commander had ever received a direct summon from a Sentinel. Although, given the circumstances, she could understand why this case was so different.
She signaled for her team to usher Arbus into the ship as they prepared for departure.