Imperial Legacy

"So… this is the inner layer of Zone 4," Nathan said, reaching the fourth main area of the giant spaceship, after a day and a half of walking, and slaughtering the Beta-1 that had taken a portion of the spaceship as their nest.

He saw that a majority of the spaceship's personnel, thousands upon thousands of crew members were slaughtered as well, and yet, it definitely couldn't have been from the Beta-1's, nor any of the Xenobeasts, as they would either be too weak or too large to do something like this.

"…Something is off. Something was off about how I awoke as well. How could a Royal Knight Model get so injured by some mere Beta-1s?" Nathan asked himself.

"Hm…"

"GGAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" An ear-wrenching scream pierced the quiet atmosphere of Zone 4, and soon after, Nathan saw something in front of him, a crew member of the spaceship, running away from something, something horrifyingly large.

This crew member had the Upgraded [[Mechahuman Model]], which was what most of the human population was equipped with. This model was well-balanced, mostly covered with artificial skin, and even though they weren't suited much for fights, they were still capable of fighting off a few Beta-1s. And, the Upgraded Mechahuman Model was an even better version of this, so what could he be running from?

"Ah… I see…" Nathan said, stepping back as he glimpsed its appearance, "It's a Space Sea Lord Youngling."

Space Sea Lords were unlike Xenobeasts, they were an alien species native to outer space, much like the Leviathans, Asteroid Worms and the Dragons, and they looked quite similar to Orcas if only they were more monstrous, had giant tendrils hanging from every orifice of their body that they used to move around, pale green skin, and a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth.

"Shit… then there must be a whole school of them nearby. Luckily, they don't stick with their parents for long." Nathan said, before charging at the beast.

"GAAHHH!! WHAT THE HELL?!!" The crew member yelled, tripping over his own feet in surprise.

Nathan caught the beast by surprise, stabbing it in the eye with his plasma blade. It roared, squirming around, before slamming Nathan into the ground and opening its mouth wide to consume him whole.

But, with reflexes deserving of a Mecha Knight, he cut through its side as a distraction and flipped himself back upright, before roundhouse-kicking the Space Sea Lord Youngling into the wall.

Its tendrils grabbed a hold of him, just as he began punching it further into the wall, creating a large indent and breaking its bones.

Soon, it stopped moving entirely.

"…This is bad." Nathan groaned, "My internal systems aren't working. I thought if I just fought a dangerous enemy, it would start working again, but still…"

"Or maybe it is a problem to do with my neural interface…"

The internal systems of all cyborg models assisted greatly in the advancement of humanity and effortlessly aided in the development of the worlds under the [[Imperial Alliance of Human Worlds]]. But, for cyborg models meant for battle, their internal systems were more important to them than almost any weapon.

"Ha… I guess I'll just have to find out after I know of my current location." Nathan said, before turning to the crew member behind him, who was dazed and in shock before Nathan helped him up.

"A… a… a Mecha Knight?! Finally, we're saved!" The crew member rejoiced, tears of joy flowing down his face.

His appearance was quite young and handsome, younger than Nathan's, but that rarely mattered in terms of age now, as you wouldn't be able to tell someone's age from how they looked anyway. He was black-haired and also had brown, friendly eyes.

"Who are you?" Nathan asked, standing tall over him.

"I'm a lead researcher, from Zone 2!" He replied, "I was one of the ones in charge of researching the Psychic Stone you knights brought back from the battle!"

"Oh, and by the way, my name's Aston!"

"…My name is Nathan." Nathan replied, "Do you know what happened, before all… this?"

Aston rubbed his chin.

"I do remember… a [[Void Hunter]] coming along, but she left soon afterwards. And then someone got chosen to become a Mecha Knight after accumulating enough credits… wait… that person was you!"

Nathan's eyes widened.

"Really?"

"Yeah, don't you remember? You did us a great favour, and you even managed to subdue the Juvenile Space Sea Lord that was incoming, alone too!" Aston said, "But then, a [[Serpentine Planetoid]] appeared, and then, things went completely haywire."

"…Let me guess, they took the Psychic Stone, and since Psychic Stones are high in [[Aether Energy]], that attracted the Space Sea Lord Younglings here too?"

Aston nodded.

"Aether Energy is so important to us since it's the only source of energy available to us that can fuel multiple planets at once. I won't just let such beasts take them."

Nathan sighed.

"Then, if we don't bring that Psychic Stone with us, I'm sure it's likely we'll get…"

"Executed? Absolutely. But, it's gonna be hard, since only half of the security force remains, and you're only the second Mecha Knight we've found. The third guy is still nowhere to be seen."

Nathan balled his hand into a fist and punched the wall.

"…What a damning situation. I guess I have no choice but to go ahead and join you guys."

Aston grinned.

"Wise choice, sir!"

Nathan stared at him for a moment, before his vision began to blur, and an irritating sound echoed constantly in his mind.

"Urgh… what the…" Nathan muttered while Aston watched in surprise.

And then, his internal systems, or at least, a part of them, came back online.

[W-welcome back s-sir!]

The internal systems communicated with him in the form of AI and spoke only within his mind. Though, at the moment, it seemed a bit bizarre.

"Who… who are you?" Nathan whispered.

[I-I am Zoom! Your inner assistant! Though, I-I'm not able to work properly, because your internal systems are not online, nor are they properly adjusted to your new body yet.]

"My… oh, my internal systems! Good…" Nathan said, before shaking his head. He could feel his body adjusting, shifting and becoming easier to control, and now he felt like a true Mecha Knight, although he hadn't fully recovered his internal systems yet.

"Sir?" Aston murmured, "I have a place I need to head to urgently, would you mind coming with me before we head to the place where the others are?"

Nathan nodded. Following Aston's lead, they headed further into Zone 4, while Nathan decimated the Beta-1s that came their way.

And then, they finally made their way into Zone 4's cafeteria, where one of the Beta-1 Nests remained.