Shell

After the woman crash landed in the slums of Old Orion, Dynamos was sent into a panic. The higher-ups from the other sectors were worried about the intruder's intentions, so the officers in charge of the slums were scouring the place completely, leaving no stone unturned.

The north most side of the slums belonged to Dynamos, the buildings there serving as the police headquarters as well as being the security for the hovertrain that was the only method of transportation between sectors.

Two officers in their white and blue long coats stood on the edge of a port, watching the rails of the hovertrain stretch infinitely into the distance, over the sea. That was how Old Orion was constructed, with a massive artificial ocean surrounding each sector, making travel without the hovertrain immensely difficult. Anyone that tried to fly over it would run out of fuel or energy before they even made it halfway.

Soon, the train appeared in the distance, finally coming to them. One of the officers breathed out in relief, his bald head shining in the sunlight along with a gold badge on his chest that signified he was in charge of Dynamos in this sector.

"Finally, I was about to get a sunburn."

After a few minutes, the train finally arrived, pulling over on the port. As the door opened, the two officers felt themselves trembling under the aura of the person on the train. This was a Wizard, an above average one.

A man stepped off, his long coat purely white. He was tall and handsome, with neat clothes, platinum blonde hair and sharp yellow eyes. The two officers burst into a salute when the man turned to them.

"Greetings, Agent Victor!" The bald officer greeted him.

"I appreciate the warm welcome, Leader…?" Nodding, Victor replied.

"My name is Griggs, sir!"

"Leader Griggs." Victor shook Griggs' hand. "How is the situation? Have your people found anything about the intruder?"

The two began to walk towards the headquarters as the hovertrain hummed to life and sped off, back towards the other sectors.

"Unfortunately, we haven't found anything yet, sir. But my men are thoroughly searching the slums!"

"Yet the intruder hasn't been found?" Victor raised an eyebrow as they entered the Dynamos headquarters, ignoring the erratic officers moving all over the area. "Did none of the cameras pick up even a single clue?"

Griggs gulped.

"Um, you see sir, we don't actually have cameras or any surveillance equipment here in the slums. We weren't given the budget for it. All officers operate in patrol groups around the slums."

"Well that makes things harder…" Victor frowned. "Is there anywhere you haven't looked yet?"

"There's the wasteland sir, but it's full of monsters. Less than half of my officers are Wizards, and they aren't strong enough to face those creatures."

Victor sighed. No wonder the intruder hasn't been found yet, when the slums sector of Dynamos were this underequipped!

"In that case, give me 4 of your strongest Wizards and I'll search the wasteland myself. Aside from that, keep doing what you're doing, Griggs."

"Yes sir!"

Griggs was grateful that despite hailing from a better sector, he didn't look down on them or show disdain. He'd also heard of Victor's reputation and had complete faith in his ability.

After all, Victor was an Electric Wizard in the Enhanced Realm! The only Wizards he had in his police force were at the Fledgling and Mortal Realms, which were below Victor.

From what Griggs recalled of the Wizard Realms, there were the Fledgling, Mortal, Enhanced, Superior, Sky, and all the Realms above that, which Griggs didn't remember.

Well, Griggs put that thought aside. Right now, his top priority was to assist Agent Victor in any way he could!

******

[You have killed a Level 18 Pouncer]

Jamie was once again in the wasteland, focusing on leveling up. Now that Aiden was good for the week, he was free to do what he wanted.

It was unusually difficult to get to the border this time around, though. Dynamos cops were all over the streets, questioning people and investigating slums. They even came by the mechanic shop, but fortunately the mention of Honeycomb persuaded the officers to look somewhere else.

It wasn't too much of a problem, though. Jamie knew the slums. Avoiding cops was easy, even with a 2-3 meter tall mecha accompanying him. It was just some added difficulty.

"I'm too slow." Jamie sighed, seeing how he still hadn't leveled up yet. He hopped on Prime and flew into the air, looking into the distant wasteland. "I guess I'll go deeper."

And so Prime boosted off into the distance, Jamie holding on tight so as to not get blown off by the strong winds he was facing. He flew for nearly half an hour, only stopping when he started to see water.

"Huh? An Ocean?"

Making Prime land, Jamie stepped off his mecha, walking towards the edge where the land met the sea. Jamie turned around fully, seeing nothing but water in the distance as it circled the land. It was his first time seeing it, but he kinda liked the ocean.

"This is… pretty cool."

The sound of the water was soothing. Of course, Jamie knew this wasn't real water. Old Orion may have once been a part of Old Earth, but it didn't have any of the actual environments from it aside from earth. He was poor, not dumb.

It was just an artificial ocean, as real as anything on Old Orion. Looking at the sky, Jamie saw a slight glimmer behind which the stars lay.

"If I jump in the water, can I swim?"

Jamie feared that the water was only a few meters deep, and below that was nothing but outer space. What if he jumped in, only to fall through and be ejected from Old Orion? He shuddered and took a step back.

"Well, monster hunting time - oh dear."

Jamie was suddenly sent off-balance as the ground shuddered, reminding Jamie of a certain giant insect. Confirming his suspicions, three, no four - wait, FIVE giant centipedes burst out of the ground, rising into the sky.

"You have GOT to be joking!"

All 5 centipedes were gigantic, much, much larger than the Killipede. Not only that, but their carapaces were darker and sharp horns covered every inch of their bodies. Jamie bolted towards Prime as the monsters began to descend on him.

"What is it with this wasteland and these giant insect motherfu-"

Jamie was interrupted as the sky was suddenly devoured by a bright, pulsing blue light, showcasing the power held in that energy. When the light faded, the five giant insect monsters were all missing their heads and a considerable chunk of their long bodies, green goo spilling out of the stumps.

The bodies crashed on the ground loudly enough to cover the area in dust and make Jamie's ears ring. Making his way over to Prime, Jamie was still on guard as the dust cleared and his ears returned to normal.

"Well, you guys found me. Look, I'm not a hostile or an invader, just let me explain myself."

Turning towards the voice, Jamie saw a woman with orange hair and orange eyes standing on a large mecha partly submerged in the ground, the long indent in the earth behind it signifying that it crash landed.

He noticed that her right side was covered in bandages, and her red and orange mecha was spitting out sparks and some smoke every few seconds. From what Jamie could tell, the entire top half of the mecha was round and bulbous, and he could see that it was currently open, showing the Pilot's seat and console inside. On the very top of the mecha a long, rectangular gun was attached, probably what she shot the giant insects with.

The lower half of the mecha had 3 curved legs that were thick but became thinner and pointer halfway, though a single leg was as large as Prime. If anything, the mecha somewhat resembled an octopus.

"Uh, what are you talking about?"

Jamie tilted his head. In return, the woman raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, you know the ruckus yesterday? That was me. Aren't you law enforcement?"

"Ohh, I don't talk to cops." Jamie made an x with his arms.

"That's great!" She sighed in relief. "So you're a mercenary or a part of some group. What's your unit?"

Jamie was confused. He had no clue what she was asking.

"...Poverty?"

"What?"

Jamie raised his hands.

"Lady, I don't know what you think I am, but it definitely isn't true."

"You're not a merc or anything? But you have a mecha."

"So do you!"

"I'm from the UHF." She frowned. "That's why I offered to explain myself if you were a cop. If you're just some guy, why do you have a mecha?"

"I found it." Jamie crossed his arms and tried to make himself taller, but it barely made a difference, seeing as she stood on top of her mecha. "Why are YOU watching out for the cops?"

Holding his gaze, the woman eventually sighed and sat down. "Look, don't rat me out okay?"

And she began explaining.

"I'm a licensed mercenary from the United Humanity Federation. I was with my team out in space until we encountered some pirates with really good tech. I got hit badly, lost control of my mecha, and ended up breaking and entering into the nearest landmark for a safe crash, which is here."

"So you're the reason Dynamos was looking for something." Jamie nodded. "If you're part of the UHF, why are you hiding from the police? They're owned by them."

"I have to get back to the battlefield as soon as possible." A dark look appeared on her face.

"Getting into custody now would mean explaining myself and having to go through multiple clearance checks. I don't have time for that. I didn't have time to properly enter your colony either when I crashed, since I was badly hurt."

She patted her bandaged side before immediately regretting it, grimacing.

"When I got shot out of the fight, the pirates had captured one of my friends. I need to go back and check on the rest so we can rescue him." She looked down at her damaged mecha. "But I'm not going anywhere until my mecha recharges enough to activate its repair function. I'll be here for another day or two at this point."

"Hmm, maybe I can help with that." Jamie and Prime stepped closer to inspect the damaged mecha. "It just needs energy, right?"

"Yeah, it does. Can you really help with that?" Her expression turned hopeful.

"I sure can. What's your name?" Jamie smiled as he got a brilliant idea, extending his hand to her. "Mine's Jamie."

She accepted the handshake, smiling back.

"I'm Shell."