ORIGIN

A Noble Vandetta/The Motions

     "So, can you tell me a little about where you come from?" the woman asked Ato, adjusting her glasses. "I come from Volcrimese territory occupied by the children of war; born amidst a chaos I'm guessing you've only seen a glimpse of in your life," Ato said. "Okay, next question," the lady continued. "Are you affiliated with any criminal bands or street gangs on your little moon?" "The Wolfpack is my literal family - a subdivision of a prevailing band called Shinobi Nobles. I'm sure you've heard of them, right?" Ato said. "Sure! She replied, sarcastically. "But who's their leader?" she added. "I never seen him in person. He's like a myth. That's all I'm gonna say. Anything further will be the death of me." "Okay...well, does the Darksiders or the name Shellshock ring a bell?" Yeah, I've heard of the Darksiders. I think they're a bunch of honor-sapped mercenaries who run territory on Constantina," Ato said to the lady. The lady had been analyzing his vital signs on a polygraph on the other side of her desk. But she noticed that they were completely calm. That meant one of two things, or even both - Either he was being truthful or his memory had lapsed. But all the lady knew was that he wasn't giving her any of the information her superiors told her they needed, which struck her nervous. "What about a Star Brigade ship called the Lancer?" she asked him. "Nope. It's kinda hard for someone my age to obtain a license for a heaven streaker, even illegally,"  Ato replied. She looked at his vital signs again and they were still calm. So, as if there weren't enough of them in the room, she was going to have to bring out the big guns, with a more tactical approach; maybe even an aggressive one. That's when she was contacted directly by Baino Helzer on her wrist gadget. This was rare, especially since Baino and his fleet were always working overtime with the Darksiders; giving them more and more leverage over the law. The day he advanced to Arch Commander, he had given Shellshock full digital access to the interactive blueprints to Zynnis. Who knows what anarchy they were conniving this time?

    But, right before Dr. Holland could even address the call, Baino told her to schedule Ato for deportation as soon as possible. Sensing some anxiety in his voice, she was very puzzled at the order he had given her. Nevertheless, without any question, she did what she was told to do.

    But little did she know, Baino's starship had just been attacked and seized by the "dragonwing" - a warship of the Shinobi Nobles - after an ambush near a small planet called Nebulis. Evidently, Ezrith told Shimoto and his men where Baino's star fleet could be found. The dragonwing's surprise attack ultimately resulted in Baino Helzer's demise after a space battle, which had spread amid a space station near the planet. During the battle, only four Shinobi Nobles had been injured, but Just about every Brigade agent under Baino's command was killed, except for a few who had gotten away in escape pods and fled to the nearest Brigade outpost.

    When Shellshock got the news about the ambush himself, he had little concerns. He already had the lancer, plus many other Brigade agents in his pocket. But he also got word that the Shinobi Nobles were coming for his head, too. But Shellshock had too many resources for war to be overly worried. Plus, his master, WarFace, was built for war of every sort.

The Motions

Ezrith was back on Chronesius pacing around his apartment drunk, swinging around his Ray Colts. He was harboring both crankiness and a restless nervousness, even a touch of paranoia. He was mad about the small amount of money he got for his bounty and the fact that a tool like Baino reached arch-commander status without earning it. He was also salty about how he allowed himself to be played by some Volcrim honey-trapper. But, hoping it wasn't the lingering effects of the truth serum, he still found himself being attracted to her. But besides all of that, he had been thinking about his mother. If he had known that she was still alive all that time, he would have left Plumorita to search for her a long time ago, maybe even instead of joining the laughable Star Brigade.  

    Evading sleep, or even any type of rest, Ezrith had been waiting for his uncle Max to contact him again. Finally, he did. And he told Ezrith what happened to Baino and his fleet. Ezrith kept going on about how he endeavored to make himself arch-commander of his fleet one day. To Max, he sounded so much like his father that it scared him. Ezrith said that he planned to reform the Plumoritan sect of the Brigade. He told Max he was welcome to join him in his efforts. Jokingly, Ezrith even offered him a job in advance. Not knowing that he was joking, Max said he would think about the offer. After that, in code, Max gave Ezrith the coordinates to where his mother could be found, which was in the Euvorix solar system.          

    About a month and a half later, Shimoto found out that Akira was pregnant with Ezrith's child. Because of this, she was disgraced. The Shinobi Nobles didn't believe in forming alliances with outsiders by any means. But Ezrith had led them to Baino's fleet, and, what happened between him and Akira wasn't Ezrith's fault. It was theirs for setting someone like Ezrith up with her. She was the Shinobi Nobles' prettiest weapon. But she was too much of a dreamer to be used in the way she had been. She had too many aspirations for real success. She wanted to see the many wonders of the galaxy she had only been told about.

    Sometime later, the news of Akira's banishment from Volcrim somehow got back to Ezrith in full detail. By this time, news of a new space cowboy had been ringing around Plumorita among wanted outlaws. Even some Brigade arch commanders started to speak of Ezrith, especially when they found out that he was the son of Kengi Helix. 

    Akira was forced to chop her left hand off and was banished from the Shinobi Noble's territory on Volcrim. They dragged her and threw her into a ship filled with others who were being banished. Among them were all whom the Laughing Shadow determined to be too weak or unfit to join his band. The unpiloted ship was to aimlessly drift away from Volcrim with no destination. When the ship powered up and was launched into space,  Akira teared up while holding her stomach. 

    So when Ezrith got the news of this through the cadets, he had a million-and-one emotions going through his mind at once. He felt embarrassed. He was afraid, not only for the safety of the unborn child Akira carried, but also for her, and himself as well. But he was strangely excited to be a father, though. But he was angry with himself for letting alcohol and his fleshly desires get the best of him in the first place, although he couldn't remember any of it. He also had a heavy feeling of responsibility weighing on him, but even more reason to spend the rest of his existence trying to bring order to the galaxy. He felt like he knew what his father felt like when he left their planet to fight for peace throughout the stars. That's when Ezrith knew he had to find Akira. After all, she did save his life. But he felt torn about what to do first - Find Akira or find his mother and the truth about his ancestry and many of the other things Max had disclosed to him.