Story

## Prologue

In the year 2200, at the turn of the 23rd century, scientists at NAZA detected a spatial anomaly within the Sun. A strange black center was slowly expanding within the sun. Over the next few years, as the strange black spec grew to a sizable blob, people around the world began to die from acute radiation sickness due to exposure to the sun for extended periods of time. As the anomaly continued to grow, it soon got to the point where humans could not be exposed to the sun for longer than 5 to 10 minutes without receiving severe radiation burns and dying within minutes.

A group of enigmatic scientists claiming to be part of NAZA came forward, as the last remnants of humanity had retreated to underground bunkers built at the recommendation of NAZA scientists and worldwide governments. These 5 scientists, nameless, calling themselves The Legion, revealed their strange qualities - their resistance to the Black Sun's radiation, and their immortality. Working together with the architects and engineers of what remained of human society, they formed together and built massive cities, protected from the radiation by forcefields, powered by the very radiation that had threatened to wipe out all life on Earth. This now harness-able energy, dubbed Vanta Energy, was being used to power technology beyond the wildest dreams of science fiction. Through the Sonnenrad Coalition, a treaty agreement between The Legion and the three cities dotting the ravaged planet, peace was achieved, and humanity lived on.

Humanity continued to prosper within the three cities of Archon, Vallas, and Seru, each providing a crucial need to the others through many trade agreements that proved bountiful for all involved parties. Vallas, the scientifically advanced utopian society, exporting technology and research. Seru, the rural medieval city, exporting agriculture and food. And Archon, the militaristic city, home of the Archon Academy and creator of the Hunters, mech suits operated by trained Pilots and used to explore the battered remains of the Earth and clear out the irradiated monsters that roam it's surface.

## Chapter 1

Gale, a headstrong and confident man, lives in the city of Vallas, a utopian supercity with vast technology and scientific resources. It has finally come time - Archon Academy is open to new applications. He hears the same desperate request from his mother - to not meet the same fate as his father, who disappeared while piloting a Hunter just before Gale's birth. It's a conversation he has had time and time again - but his conviction has never changed. He meets once again with his childhood friend, Tyra, as they both send their applications in to the Academy, hoping they will be accepted. Tyra, the happy go lucky and energetic girl, has her own reasons for attending the Academy. To follow wherever Gale goes, for one - but also because she doesn't find herself very good at anything else, something she hides from Gale under the guise of "well, it sounds like fun!"

Meanwhile, in the city of Archon, we meet another character. Sera, an orphaned girl in the throes of poverty, with a knack for engineering and tinkering. She has practiced all her life, building incredible machines while living in the scrapyards with other impoverished kids. Her endeavors, as always, get her into deep trouble as she builds her own Hunter, which gets picked up by a large magnet, scooping up trash for disposal. Just as she is about to be thrown into the grinder, she is found by the crane operator, who calls the authorities and has her arrested for trespassing. At the police station, during her interrogation, she holds nothing but resentment for the police. Just then, a surprise visitor. Someone she did not know had been watching the whole ordeal from afar, the principal of the school and leader of Archon, Commander Albon, personally greets her. He expresses his interest in her abilities to engineer and pilot the makeshift mech, and invites her personally to attend Archon Academy. She agrees, but under one condition - she can build her own Hunter. Reluctantly agreeing, Sera is enrolled for the coming year.

Next, we meet Marc, the French-descended noble son of an army General and renowned Pilot. A courageous and stuck-up noble, sheltered by his family, Marc is eager to follow in his father's footsteps, determined to crush all opposition that stands in his way. Though he expresses his desires to his father, he reminds him that he may need to work as a team sometimes to achieve his goals. Dismissive, Marc disagrees, and, eager to let Marc learn his own lessons for once, his father simply allows him to apply, to which he is quickly accepted due to his status.