Chapter 1

The air was hot and humid on a clear summer’s night. Slick cobblestone streets, still wet from that afternoon’s showers, glistened under the light of the angelic sword-pierced moon. Buildings made of stone and wood lined the road, rising upward and over the labyrinth of streets. There was only so much land to build within the city’s walls, so the people were creative with squeezing as much real estate as possible from the little they had to work with.

Those living in the city had long turned in for the night, save for the night owls and the occasional drunk stumbling from one pub to the next to keep their drunken stupor. They stayed within the tight alleys and dimly lit backroads out of sight. The city plaza was completely deserted and quiet.

That was until a large shadow exited from one of the hidden entrances to the back alleys. It walked out onto the plaza in a jerky motion, letting out an echoing THUD with every step.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

Anyone awake to hear the sound actively ignored it, knowing that whatever it was wasn’t worth the risk of investigating. It wasn’t that unusual for a ne'er-do-well to come out late at night and stir up trouble. As long as it stayed away from their residence, it was someone else’s problem. Their neighbor can be the one to report the local guard.

The large shadow made its way across the plaza, unbothered that it stood out in the quiet night. Perhaps it understood people’s reluctance to get involved and felt no need to hide.

The large shadow approached the entrance to a small, two-story, family-owned bakery. As it got closer, it extended its arms outward.

“Nnnngh…” it groaned from the depths of its robotic stomach.

The shadow was an old, large, muscular android that looked as if it had been pulled out of a trash heap. It wore dented, mismatched armor and tattered clothing with a pair of axes secured to its hip. Large chunks of its artificial skin were missing, exposing its inner circuitry. Its ragged brown hair hid the holes on the sides of its head from its missing antennas.

Long having been severed by the Heavenly Cloud Network, its soul had abandoned the body, most likely acquiring a new one by the church. Its corpse was left to rot as a soulless android; nothing more than a large, mechanical puppet. It could not decide or do things on its own, and its movement was limited, but it could take orders from someone else while running in maintenance mode.

And for one particular individual, that was all she needed.

In theory.

A pair of mouse ears popped out from behind the android’s muscular legs, followed by a head with large eyes. The small figure, barely three feet tall, hopped onto the android’s shoulder and proceeded to smack it in the back of the head.

“Geez Louise! Couldn’t ya try to be more inconspicuous?!” chastised the young-looking mouse beastwoman as she blew back loose strands of dark ruby hair out of her eyes. She wore a purple cloak that fell to the top of her knees, obfuscating her small frame. A pair of small metal guards were stitched to the shoulders.

The girl walked along the android’s extended arm and hopped down before the bakery’s door with a small squeak of her worn leather boots.

“I swear, I’d be better off if I came out here by myself. This thing’s a useless piece of junk after all.”

“Nnnngh,” the android responded with its never-changing expression.

The girl glared at the android, then sighed. “Okay, okay! I’m sorry! Didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I get it’s your first time ‘n all, but we can’t afford to mess up this job! So just… be quieter from hereon, okay?”

“Nnnngh,” the android responded with its never-changing expression.

The thieving mouse reached into one of her pigtails and pulled out a hairpin. She let out a soft, cheerful hum as she got to work picking the bakery’s door. After a minute or two of work, the lock clicked.

“Wala!” she whispered with a smug grin on her face. She looked up at the android for a reaction to her excellent work.

“Nnnngh,” the android responded with its never-changing expression.

The mouse pouted, disappointed by the lack of enthusiasm.

She quietly opened the door to the bakery and slipped inside with her android companion shortly after. Every step it took resulted in a thud, accompanied by squeaking from the floorboards.

“What did I just tell ya about needing to be stealthy! You're gonna wake everyone up!” chastised the girl in a loud whisper. “Walk! Softly!”

The android took another step, resulting in another thud and squeak.

“Ya know what? Just stay put and keep watch. I’ll let you know if I need help. Capeesh?”

“Nnnngh,” the android responded as it turned around and stared blankly outside.

The girl skittered quietly across the pitch-black bakery, being careful not to make a sound.

SMACK!

“Ack!” she squeaked as she ran face-first into a shelf, crushing her nose. “Tonight is not my night…”

She walked quietly through the store and into the kitchen. Stacks of baking equipment were neatly placed on the counters and shelves with a large brick oven flush against the back wall. A thin layer of flour dusted the entire room.

“Ho’kay, it should be around here somewhere… Ah ha! There it is!”

On top of a tall shelf brushing up against the ceiling sat a small safe. The girl carefully scaled the shelf, making sure not to accidentally knock things over as she climbed. At the top, she studied the safe.

“A dial combination lock, huh? No biggie,” she thought to herself as she placed a large ear up against the safe. She then began to slowly turn the dial, listening for clicks.

It took several minutes of trying before the door to the safe popped open.

“Bingo!” she shouted with joy.

She opened the safe’s door to collect her prize.

“Wha?”

All that was inside the safe was a tiny slip of paper with an indecipherable code written hastily on it with a pencil.

“What’re these cryptic runes supposed to mean?” she said as she held the paper close to her face; her eyes squinted intently.

“It says ‘nice try,’” said a voice coming from the darkness.

The girl jumped in surprise, slamming her head into the ceiling. She then crashed onto the floor with a large thud, bringing down with her half of the shelf. Metal pans and rolling pins banged and clanked against one another as they fell on top of her. She laid under the pile, dazed and confused.

“Whoa! Hey! Are you alright!” the voice called out, sounding sincerely concerned by the thieving mouse’s safety.

It took a moment for the girl to snap back to reality. She hopped to her feet, only to step on a rolling pin and fall backwards into the pile of pans.

“Ah! Hold on! Let me get the light,” the voice said.

A single incandescent light bulb flickered on, illuminating the kitchen with a warm glow.

Standing next to the light switch was a female elf, clad in a black leotard. Large, scratched-up red and silver pauldrons hung off her shoulders, matching her chest plate. A long dark blue cape with a blood red underside hung around her neck like a scarf, draping down to the floor where its base was tattered and frayed. Black stockings clung to her legs with a pair of brown cloth boots. A sword, which the mouse girl initially mistook for a massive slab of metal with a pole jutting out of its base, clung to the elf’s back via a magnet.

While unquestionably an elf, there were strange qualities to her unlike any elf the mouse had ever seen. For one, her scar-riddled skin was much darker than that of your typical fair-skinned elf. Her long hair was solid black instead of the golden blonde or light brown hair. But what stood out the most were her bright purple eyes. A trademark of daemons.

She was incredibly suspicious. Dangerous, even, what with the giant sword on her back. And for there to be such a suspicious person hiding amongst the shadows so late at night, there was only one conclusion.

“You must be a thief, too!” the mouse girl declared. “No, worse! You’re a bandit! And you’re ransacking this bakery! Aren’t you!”

That claim seemed to do psychological damage to the elf as she stammered backward. Her jaw hung open, exposing her daemon-like fangs. “M-me?! A bandit?! Do I really come across as a bandit?!”

The mouse girl nodded.

The elf dropped to her knees and moped; her long ears drooping with sorrow. “Is that seriously people’s first impression of me? A bandit? Me?”

The mouse stood in confusion at the bewildering sight. She then looked down at the paper from the safe, still clutched in her tiny hands.

“H-hey! What’s this all about?!” the mouse shouted, pointing at the paper.

The elf immediately got back to her feet with a smile as if she hadn’t just had an existential crisis. “Oh, that? I already removed the contents of the safe because I knew you were on your way, Sylvie of the Sylvie Gang!” she said, holding up a small envelope.

Sylvie’s eyes widened. “How did you know–”

Reina continued as she stuffed the envelope inside a pouch on her belt. “You were hired by Giuliani Jr. to retrieve the contents of the safe and deliver them to him in person, correct? Even going so far as to give him a discount because you’re desperate for work after a series of botched jobs dragged your reputation through the mud.”

Sylvie was aghast. “How does she know all that?” she thought to herself. “Wait a second. The only person who would know that is Giuliani Jr. Then that must mean…”

“You were hired by Giuliani Jr., too?! Weren’t you?!” Sylvie shouted, pointing a finger at the elf.

The elf crooked her head. “Huh?”

But before the elf could say anything else, the mouse went off on a tangent.

“GRAAAAH! I KNEW IT! The moment he hired us I knew that he didn’t think we could pull off the job! He went behind our backs and hired someone else to make us look like a bunch of fools! I bet he was gonna stiff us, too! That good for nothin’ dwarf!”

The elf watched in confusion as the mouse paced in circles, continuing her rant with tears forming in the corner of her eyes.

“Sure, we may have messed up a few times, and sure, we haven’t been able to get work recently because of it. But that doesn’t mean you can take advantage of us for some sick joke! I may be a crook, but crooks got feelings, too, ya know! Dammit!”

“Whoa, whoa! Calm down!” The elf knelt down and put her hand on the crying mouse girl’s shoulder. “You got the wrong idea! Giuliani Jr. didn’t hire me behind your back because he lacked faith in you.”

Sylvie looked up. “He didn’t?”

The elf shook her head. “I’m Reina. Reina Leyline. And I’m a dragoon.”

“A dragoon?” Sylvie asked, looking up at Reina.

Dragoons: swords for hire who pilot DRAGON-type spacecrafts, which were relic spacecrafts left over from the Second Starward Era, shaped like the mythical beast of legend. Instead of a rocket propulsion system found in other starships, it used its wings to fly, manipulating the dark aether that fills outer space.

Dragoons came in all shapes and sizes with varying levels of lawlessness they were willing to partake in to accomplish a job. Some were considered heroes, while others were no better than thieves, and some even merciless killers. But at the end of the day, they were all the same: outlaws.

“Yup,” Reina continued. “I was hired by Giuliani Sr. and his wife to prevent Giuliani Jr. from stealing the contents of the safe. So you see, Giuliani Jr. still has faith in you!”

Sylvie wiped the tears from her eyes. “You really think so?”

Reina nodded and stood up. “I know what it’s like to feel discouraged. Thinking nobody has faith or trust in you. What you’ve got to remember is you’ve gotta have faith in yourself! Be your biggest cheerleader! It doesn’t matter how many times you stumble as long as you remember to stand up and keep marching towards your dreams! What’s your dream?”

“My dream?” Sylvie asked.

“Yeah! What is it that you want most?”

Sylvie hesitated for a moment, then answered with a blush. “Well, actually, my dream is to create the biggest crime syndicate in the galaxy.”

“You will!” Reina shouted.

Sylvie flinched, not expecting Reina to shout.

“As long as you believe in yourself, you will create the biggest crime syndicate in the galaxy!”

Sylvie hesitantly nodded.

“What are you gonna do?” Reina asked.

“I’m gonna create the biggest crime syndicate in the galaxy!” Sylvie said.

“Louder!” Reina shouted.

“I’m gonna create the biggest crime syndicate in the galaxy!” Sylvia shouted again.

“Even louder!”

Sylvie closed her eyes and threw her fists high into the air. “I’M GONNA CREATE THE BIGGEST CRIME SYNDICATE IN THE GALAXY AND NOBODY IS GONNA STOP ME!!!”

“That’s right!” Reina cheered! “You got this, Sylvie! Never let go of that feeling. Carry it until the day your dream comes true.”

Sylvie ran up and wrapped her arms around Reina. “Thank you, Reina!”

Reina couldn’t help but smile and hugged Sylvia back.

“In all honesty, I’ve been feeling pretty depressed recently and thought about giving up. But after tonight, I know that as long as I keep trying, my dreams will come true!”

“That’s the spirit! But even after I said all that, it’s a shame that you’ll have to go back to Giuliani Jr. and tell him you weren’t able to complete the job.”

“Yeah, what a shame! But there’s always next time!”

Sylvie walked toward the door to exit the kitchen, waving goodbye with an envelope in hand. “Thanks again, Reina Leyline!”

“You’re wel… come…”

Reina reached into her pouch to check for the envelope, but it wasn’t there.

“Hey, wait a–!”

“Big guy! It’s showtime!” she shouted, followed by her whistling with her two fingers.

The wall next to Reina exploded as Sylvie’s android partner burst into the room, brandishing an axe in each hand. It swung at Reina before the debris could hit the ground.

“Yikes!” Reina cried, narrowly jumping out of the way.

Sylvie laughed. “Thanks for helping turn my luck around! I’ll be sure to think of ya when I make my dreams come true!” She turned to the android. “Keep her busy for me while I deliver the goods, okay?” With a wink and a flick of her middle finger, Sylvie scurried off.

“Hey, wait!” Reina yelled.

She tried to give chase, but the android took another swipe.

CLANG!

Reina blocked the attack with her sword, only for the android to strike with its other axe.

Its attacks were relentless, never leaving an opening for Reina to return a strike.

“Heh, you’re pretty decent despite being a mindless golem,” Reina said as she danced around the room, dodging the swings.

There was no response from the android.

Reina continued to dodge and deflect her opponent’s attacks with ease due to her innate elvish ability to read body movements. This made elves some of the best close combat fighters in the galaxy, as they could deduce what their opponent was going to do before they realized it. This talent made some believe elves could perceive the future.

Her opponent, being an android, especially a mindless severed android disconnected from the Heavenly Cloud Network, resulted in the most telegraphed attacks she ever had the privilege of coming across. But what the android lacked in skill was easily made up for with its insane speed and endless energy. The android would never get tired, nor flinch from pain. If allowed, it would attack until the heat death of the universe.

That was something Reina didn’t have time for. She needed to wrap things up and get the envelope back before Giuliani Jr. got his greedy hands on it.

Reina studied the android’s movements, learning its repetitive attack pattern. It wasn’t long before she noticed a brief moment she could take advantage of and flee from the fight.

CLANG!

CLANG!

SWISH!

She positioned herself close to the hole in the wall.

CLANG!

CLANG!

SWISH!

She waited for the perfect moment.

CLANG!

CLANG!

SWISH!

“NOW!”

Reina stepped to leap through the hole and escape.

SLIP!

“AAHH!”

Her foot stepped on a fallen rolling pin, causing her to crash backward onto the floor. She slammed her head into the bottom of a cabinet.

“Ow, ow, ow,” she cried, grabbing her head in pain.

The android stepped atop Reina, holding both axes in the air.

Reina was defenseless. Her sword fell just out of reach, so she couldn’t block the attack. The android’s legs were on either side of her, preventing her from being able to roll to the side and evade.

“Nnngh,” it mumbled as it swung its arms down.

SKRRCH!

The axes crashed into a wall of neon purple light, sending sparks flying in all directions.

Reina had managed to get her hands before her and chanted in daemon tongue to produce a dark aether shield in the nick of time. If she had been half a second slower, she would have become chopped liver.

“Whew,” she sighed, thanking whichever parent she inherited her daemon genes from.

Growing up, she never liked the fact that she was half-elf and half-daemon, as the other kids harassed her constantly because of it. But as an adult, she appreciated it. Especially when it came to her line of work.

Though she prevented getting axed in the face, she was still stuck underneath the android, who quickly began wailing its axes against her shield, filling the room with glowing purple sparks.

“Uh oh,” Reina thought, wondering if all she managed to do was delay the inevitable.

The shield began to crack under the wailing of her opponent. She’d try to repair it, but the android would immediately strike again and crack the shield further. Repairing and holding the shield was rapidly draining the dark aether from Reina’s body. She started to sweat as her arms grew weak. A burning sensation surged through her veins. If she used up all her dark aether, she would quickly pass out and be unable to wake up without exposure to more.

Of course, if she passed out there, her low dark aether levels would be the least of her concerns.

She studied the android’s predictable pattern, found a brief moment for her to take action, and then let the shield dissipate. Quickly, she chanted a different spell. A small, glowing lance the size of a knife appeared before her and fired directly into the skull of the android. It wasn’t powerful enough to pierce the android as Reina didn’t want to exert any more dark aether than she had to, but it was enough to send it stumbling backward.

Free from the android, Reina raised her legs and kicked up to her feet. She picked up her sword as the android steadied itself, preparing to resume its attack once again.

Before it could retaliate, Reina swung her massive blade. It sliced through the air in a smooth, clean motion.

The android halted. Its head fell from its shoulders, crashing into the ground with a loud thud!

“Whew!” she said, wiping the sweat from her brow with a smile. She returned her sword to the magnetic latch hidden beneath her tattered cape. “That was a good fight! I knew you Holy Knight androids aren’t to be messed with, but I didn’t know you could be formidable without a soul, too!”

Though the android’s head was separated from its body, it was far from dead. But for now, it was harmless as it dropped its axes and began feeling the floor for its groaning head.

“I’ll come back and help ya if you’re still struggling to find your noggin. Later,” Reina said, climbing through the hole in the wall and dashing out of the bakery.

Outside, Reina looked around, unsure of which way to go. Numerous roads and alleyways branched off from the plaza, giving Sylvie numerous avenues to escape.

“Dammit,” Reina cursed.

Not wanting to run off blindly, Reina tapped the earring on her right ear.

“Bo! Come in!” she shouted.

“Ow!” responded a high-pitched cutesy voice that sounded as if it belonged to a young girl. “You don’t need to yell so loudly!”

“Sorry,” Reina apologized, lowering her voice. “Can you connect to the church’s CCTV and find a young, female mouse beastman with ruby pigtails and a purple cloak?”

“What?!” Bo responded. “I-I can’t do that! The church’s CCTV isn’t