A young man panicked as he tried to flip switches and pull levers in his cockpit. A blue hardsuit kept him snuggly plugged into the various wires and pipes that feed into the walls beside him. Occasionally flicking white locks of his messy hair out of the way, he frantically read the error messages crowding his display. He was worried but kept his cool enough to restore visual systems. His Takrsun was still standing somehow. He looked down towards his left hip, only to be met by a warning message and an empty scabbard.
"No... No, no, no, no, no, no." He spiralled into anxiety.
He piloted a medium-sized Tarksun, about 55 feet high. Painted a shining blue with splashes of white, bearing the symbol of the Vanguard. Covering it from head to feet were large plates pointed outwards, as if ruffled feathers on a bird. They twitched and shifted, giving the Tarksun a fluid, alive texture. Its head was a sleek bird-like helmet characterised by a set of oval, white eyes.
The man's eyes diverted from the warning message to a caramel-coloured symbol in the top right of this heads-up display. It took the shape of a vague bent oval, shifting ever so slightly as if a liquid stain.
He tried to get a hold of comms, only to be greeted with lost signals and static. "Analysis: Last 20 minutes." He pulled himself together enough to continue protocol. "What was that flash..." He whispered to himself.
"Analysis in progress, retreading visual sensors, Breaker detection and enviro-sensors." A monotone female voice echoed through the cockpit.
The man exhaled, relaxing just a little. He looked up, his Tarksun spinning up for movement as he did. Scanning around, he found himself where he'd been before the flash: patrolling a small town his team had been recharging at. It was a typical sunny day, with few clouds in the sky. The grass was green, and the buildings were standard issue, likely 3D printed on mass. It was a worker's town dedicated to creating Tark tech. It didn't take long for the man to reach the edge, finding himself looking out across a vast sea of caramel. The whole town had been ripped in half, with the other piece nowhere in sight. Not another soul in sight. All that could be seen were other out-of-place pieces, some even covered in snow. Puzzling since his current surroundings were quite tropical in comparison. He was stuck on the residential side, where a decent collection of apartment buildings and family homes created a quaint community for the town's workers.
He sat down at the edge, continuing to try and reach out to the rest of his squad.
"Analysis complete, audio and visual records corrupt. Last recorded entry to Breaker detection system indicates Tier 1 Violation Breaker activation." The voice caught the man off guard.
He sat in silence, unsure of what to make of the situation.
"Don't know if caramel was what I was expecting; thought it would look a bit prettier at least." A loud projection of a man's voice came from behind him.
The young man turned quickly, spotting a hulking monster of a Tarksun making its way down the street leading up to the edge. It was 80 feet tall, sporting a muscular-looking organic frame. Four arms, all of which were covered in oscillating thin, black metal sticks, resulting in a loud coat of hair that reached from each of their shoulders to their hands. Strips of grey cloth hid the majority of its chest and waist. Its feet were insect-like, creating increasingly louder tremors as it approached. The only thing more intimidating than its size was its head, a single maw with millions of teeth inside.
"Who are you? Do you know what the flash was?" The man sprung to his feet, reaching for his blade out of instinct only to grasp at nothing.
"Ha, no need for that stance, fella. No need to fight anymore. You got that caramel thing in your HUD as well, right?" Its voice was metallic, rough to the ear.
The man didn't reply.
"Thought so. Name's Earl, but everyone calls me Mouth." He continued to approach casually.
"Silccer." His Tarksun's voice was easier on the ear than Mouth's.
"Like the bird?"
"Like the bird. Now, what was that flash." He was trying hard to hide his nerves. His hands trembled as he clutched the control sticks that held his Tarksun in a battle-ready stance.
"Ritual Breaker. We're already caught in it. No point in fighting anymore."
"Anymore?" Silccer squinted.
"Yep, we were fighting just before the flash. Snapped your sword in half... Sorry about that by the way, no hard feelings." He got close to Silccer, only to pass him by and sit down at the edge of the island, letting his feet hang off the side.
"What are we caught in?" He turned, still cautious of the suspicious Tarksun.
"A Breaker. Big one. Notice how there's no people around? Tarksuns are harder to consume, so it takes a lot longer to absorb them. Probably why there are bits of environment left around us." His voice, despite rough, became more and more inviting.
Silccer hesitated, but since he was showing no signs of hostility, the absurdity of the situation made him decide to sit down next to him. A video and comms line came through from Mouth. Silccer accepted.
Greeting him at the other side was a surprisingly clear video feed to a messy cockpit, filled with souvenirs, pins of tattoo parlours, and a pair of hanging dice. Sitting amongst the mess was an older man, well-built, with a warm smile on his face. He wore what looked to be completely ordinary worker's clothes, no hardsuit in sight.
"Hey!" He croaked out. "Bit young to be in the Vanguard don't ya think?"
Silccer recoiled, not realising he'd also accepted to share his own video feed. "I'm 23. The age of entry is 21."
"You look like you're 12." Mouth chuckled to himself. "What made ya join?"
Silccer was completely disarmed, unsure of why he was going along with the casual conversation the enemy was giving out. Yet it wasn't entirely unwelcome. "I thought it would make me...-" He was cut off before he could finish. More of his scanning equipment and comms started to reboot, showing function signs. And when they did, they revealed a third Tarksun signature. "Someone else is here. They're approaching us."
"Let em, could use the company." Mouth cracked a beer open.
Silccer looked back towards where the map showed the Tarksun approaching.
"Anyway, you were saying."
"Right, yeah... I joined because my dad said it was a good idea. That I was good with Tarks tech, so I should try to make sure I use my knowledge for the good of humanity. No better way to do so other than joining the Vanguard."
"What? You were gonna say something completely different before! Cmon, fella. What's the real reason?" He roared over the link with a massive smile on his face as if they'd been friends for years.
Silccer thought about telling him the real reason. But before he could, the Tarksun on his map rounded a corner and fully came into line of sight. It was a medium-sized one, and once zoomed in, it seemed to have dreadlock-style hair reaching to the ground.
Ira approached the pair sitting at the island's edge, only to stop shy of them by 120 feet.
"Ah! Come join us! We're just talking ab-" Mouth's Tarksun spoke without turning to look at her.
"Shut up! You, Vanguard, take me to the Empress!" She pointed at Silccer.
Mouth flinched before slowly turning to look at the new arrival. "Hey, no need for the attitude, alright? You got the caramel thing in your HUD?"
Ira's Tarksun shifted its head. "You're one of the ones that did that flash, right?"
"I mean not persona-"
"Good, I'll put you down first then. Sit pretty, Vanguard; I'll handle you after I'm done." Ira took a more crouched-down, animalistic position.
"Look, that thing in your HUD is going to get to you anyway. There's no point in this skirmish lady..." Mouth still wasn't getting up.
"What thing in my HUD?" Ira physically looked around in her cockpit.
"Should look like a coffee splash." Mouth took a sip of his beer, enjoying the view of the floating islands off in the distance.
Ira chuckled, "that's how you know you've been caught in it if you're in a Tarksun? Guessing all the civilians are gone since they didn't have Tarksuns protecting them?"
"Yep."
"Bad news, bud, I ain't caught in it." Ira barked out like a dog, taunting Mouth to engage her.
"You are. You're in the Breaker, just keep looking." He didn't budge. A red Tarksun head rolled next to him from Ira, ripped clean off. He vaguely recognised it.
"Now that I think about it, when I checked his cockpit, he had one. Have you caught your own men in your own attack? What a shit Breaker." Ira laughed.
"You really don't have the mark?" Mouth turned to look at her.
Visages of a yellow '1#' flashed across her dreadlocks like lighting. "Rule 1: Ranged attacks are cowardly; one must fight me up close and personal," Ira shouted out as if to a crowd. "That Breaker must have an origin point, which means I must've been far enough for it to count as a ranged Breaker! I'm actually not caught in it! HAHAHAHA!" Ira laughed cartoonishly, to the point of looking insane.
Mouth stood up. "Whether you're bluffing or not remains to be seen, but if what you're saying is true, then you may actually be a threat to us."
Silccer got up as well, backing away from Mouth.
"Got you sweating, huh? What happened? Where's the chill vibes? Aren't we just gonna have a talk?" She screamed through laughter, slamming her feet off the ground.
"You're insane..." Mouth readied himself for a brawl.
"Stick with me Vanguard, afterall, you wouldn't want to side with the mass murderer, would you?" She grinned.
Trapped between two lunatics, Silccer hesitated.