Chapter 3: Yome
A rage-filled expression colored the young Vanguard's face beneath her mask.
The Vanguard, Yome Kyun, was a Red Mornan who always gave her all in every task she undertook.
She didn't seem to understand the concept of moderation - always striving to be the best and surpass her peers.
That drive had made her the only Red Mornan in recent history to earn a Heart Shard before 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 with more care than other species, depending on where they lived.
But for those like Yome who joined the Renegades, it was a nearly insurmountable obstacle.
Only about half of Red Mornan recruits ever advanced beyond the rank of Sentry.
The remainder never progressed to Commander.
Only one exception had occurred in recent history - and it hadn't lasted long.
Yome had made a promise long ago that she was determined to keep, no matter what.
She had no intention of stopping low in the Renegade hierarchy.
That was why she had worked so hard when she reached the rank of Knight.
After two years of distinguished service, her Vanguard leader had recommended her for the Heart Shard process early.
Such recommendations were common for every species and usually not given much thought. But for some reason, hers was accepted.
That surprised her greatly.
Shortly after, she underwent the Heart Shard infusion.
As always, implanting a Heart Shard into a Renegade's heart was almost unbearable.
She endured it, fighting through the pain as best she could.
There was still a high chance the process could fail - as it had for over seventy percent of Renegades who underwent it.
Thankfully, her attunement with the Heart Shard was outstanding.
She even joined the one percent of Renegades who gained a unique ability immediately after the Heart Shard fusion was complete.
Not even the Red Mornan hailed as a genius prodigy and role model for Red Mornans everywhere had achieved that.
Afterward, she went on to complete increasingly dangerous missions with her new ability until she was promoted to Vanguard.
She selected her new team from her old friend group of fellow Red Mornans, whom she had bonded with as a Sentry.
After the necessary training, they were all promoted to Knights and allowed to join her.
Everything went relatively well for her and her team at the start. They were mostly sent on low-risk jobs that other Vanguard teams passed up.
Yome had expected this and was okay with it for the time being.
That was until recently, when her team was sent on more dangerous missions for several months straight.
She wasn't sure what caused such a sudden and drastic change in treatment.
It infuriated her greatly - considering her team was still too inexperienced for high level missions.
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 and the captain they were under.
Their last mission had been particularly vile.
They were ordered to eliminate a cult of Reincarnator worshipers - looking to join the Second chance group - who had somehow gotten their hands on renegade technology.
Caster, the team's designated pilot, had almost lost his life 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 part of the mission that affected her the most - was when they had been forced to kill teen members of the cult.
The teens had no intention of surrendering, and instead rushed at them with the same fanatical hatred as their elders.
She felt the guilt eating her up inside as she killed each of them herself, sparing her team of that burden - despite their protests.
She had thought that it would be their last mission for the foreseeable future.
She had even filed for a formal request for recovery time.
Unfortunately for her, she was wrong.
The orders for their next mission had arrived only one week later - today.
She considered this one the worst one yet.
Her team had been ordered to travel to Terytl-B - a planet that had just been wiped out by a Reincarnator a few hours earlier, according to the information she had received.
Yome had found that incredibly hard to believe at first. 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. And that his father was a Reincarnator.
That had shocked Yome quite a lot.
She had already had her doubts about the reports by this Renegade.
After all, he was a sentry claiming to have killed a full blooded Reincarnator.
That was simply impossible.
She was extremely worried that this was simply a trap created by the Reincarnator, Ronin, and the half-human.
She'd felt indignant.
Despite everything she had gone through to get to this point, there was a chance that her and her team would die today.
Yome 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 and medical personnel to get massacred in one fell swoop.
It seemed like a pointless endeavour, but that was something the Reincarnator Ronin was capable of according to his file.
The Renegades were indeed playing it smart by only sending one team.
She just wished it wasn't her team taking that bait.
Another thing she had discovered about this Half-human upon further research was that his father - a Reincarnator - had been personally imprisoned by the Emperor himself.
The ruler of the universe for the last 10,000 years.
To her knowledge, not even the deadliest Reincarnators in the universe had received this much attention from the Emperor before.
She was curious about what made this Reincarnator so different.
Arbus exhaled slowly before responding.
"Arbus, just Arbus."
He stared down the high tech gun the Vanguard still had pointed at him.
If he was a normal sentry, he would most likely be panicking somewhat.
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 questioned, her tone as cold as ice.
When her team had finally arrived at Terytl-B, their expressions had instantly changed to one of shock and horror.
They had found it hard to believe the amount of death they had witnessed every where they passed.
They could see the lifeless bodies of the Mornans, Remartas, aTers, and the myriads of other species that had once lived here - littering the terrain below.
Ronan had been thorough when massacring this planet. He had taken his time with the normal civilians, before moving to the Renegades stations across the planet. After that, he had arrived here last.
The sight of all the carnage had put Yome and her team into a mournful and furious mood.
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.
That was why she had so much disdain for Arbus.
He was a half-human who was possibly working with Ronin.
Arbus's eyes widened in shock.
Then, his expression fell.
"So.. it's true? He really massacred everyone." He muttered through clenched teeth.
The Renegade simply observed him for several moments.
Finally he let out a sigh as he looked at her again.
"Ronan.... the Reincarnator - who I've already killed."
"...And where is the corpse of Ronin now?" Yome asked from within the mask.
Arbus pointed over to a heap of bodies. "Right there."
Yome and the knights glanced over to where Arbus signaled - as one of the Knights moved to retrieve the body.
Yome ordered him to stop as she warped over to it herself, just in case.
She saw the mangled and bloody mess of a body draped in a hanfu - with its skull blown apart.
It was barely recognizable.
She scanned it thoroughly with the Aurnex device attached to her wrist.
It ran various tests on the corpse - making sure it wasn't a fake.
After a few minutes, everything had confirmed that this was indeed the body of a Reincarnator, and further more - the body of Ronin.
Yome straightened as she observed the state of the body again.
She couldn't help but take a deep breath.
It was hard for her to believe that a simple sentry had done this to a Reincarnator without a Heart-shard.
She turned her gaze back to Arbus a few seconds later - the disdain in them almost completely gone.
From the state of Ronin's body, it was easy for her to tell the amount of hatred his killer would have had for him.
She still hated the concept of a half-human being a Renegade - but she didn't think it would be right to treat him as if he was the perpetrator of this tragedy.
She'd already confirmed that what he'd reported was the truth.
Yome took out a secure comm device as she relayed everything she had learnt to the Captain overseeing the mission.
She typed in a series of additional confirmation codes, before other Vanguard ships were dispatched. They brought along countless medics and recovery teams to search for any possible survivors on the planet 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.
Yome knew that this event had been a defining incident that would resonate through the star system in the coming days.
"We've secured the last surviving Renegade, sir. What are our new orders?" she asked, watching Arbus from the corner of her eye.
The white Mornan captain in charge of the squad sighed somberly after hearing Yome's confirmation. "How vile..."
Then he focused on the comms again.
"Well done, Vanguard Yome. The other teams can take care of everything else. Since Ronin's death has been confirmed, I'll inform the commanders that they can return to their posts as well."
"...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." He said apologetically.
Yome gritted her teeth slightly as her fist tightened.
"..what are our next orders. Sir."
The Captain continued.
"We've received an official message from the Sentinel himself. Arbus, the half-human, is to be brought to him Immediately. He also personally asked for your sqaud to be the one to do it."
"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 just didn't understand why he had also asked for her team specifically.
Shortly after, they prepared to depart as Arbus was led into the Vanguard ship.