10 Prologue: I've Been Waiting for this Day Forever

A live video feed was being displayed inside a gateway ship, narrated by Regius.

"Oracle: a giant fleet on an interplanetary voyage."

A view of the space fleet Oracle is seen, with the Mothership at its core.

"Its inception made deep-space travel possible, ushering in a new chapter in history."

A close-up of one of the docks. Gateway Ships are preparing to take flight into space.

"Now, our sphere of activity spans across multiple galaxies."

"Thus did Oracle form a force to explore the unknown planets it discovers along the way."

The Gateway Ships aim a collective beam at their intended planetary destinations.

"This force, ARKS, explores and surveys alien planets."

"ARKS is comprised of four species that belong to Oracle:"

The view changes to a pre-rendered display showing the four races of Oracle arranged in a circle.

"Humans--natural all-rounders, Newmans--photon manipulators, and CASTs--sturdy mechanical beings."

"Here in ARKS, each species covers for the others' shortcomings and works together."

The three races disappear and a planet is within sight.

"...Looks like we've arrived."

"We are approaching the planet Naverius."

"It's uncivilized, with aggressive wildlife. Whatever you do, stay sharp."

The ARKS Fleet that contained the rookies was entering the star system containing the planet in question.

"Good luck out there."

After the introduction, Regius then began to make his address on live-feed to the new ARKS recruits that were inside various gateships from the Bridge of the ARKS Ship. They were nearing the orbit of Naverius, and it was only a little before they arrived at its orbit. Josua and Afin, who were both inside a gateship, were preparing themselves to be deployed as they listened to Regius' address.

There were others aboard the gateway ship other than the two. Of course, compared to what was shown in the game, which was an oversimplification due to the engine's limitation in the previous reality, and also, the anime adaptation expanded better on this regard.

There was one instructor aboard the gateway ship, with several other recruits as part of the unit. Both Josua and Afin, along with the recruits, were a part of the unit that was called Oribe Unit. The leader was a Ranger, wearing the standard Ranger outfit.

To this day, Afin still had no idea he was going with someone that may be on equal to the current members of the Council of Six. Although, it should be mentioned that Afin does know the name of his 'partner/mate' that's along with him.

'And here comes the kicker...' Josua thought in the meantime.

To him, this was repeating history, but this time, he's actually there and not behind a screen. Instead of keyboard and mouse, he'd be fighting with his actual body, albeit enhanced by photons, and if necessary, aether, as well. With his slick Kaiserhaut: Shadow G outfit, and Cyber Glasses replacing his Square Glasses that was worn in the previous reality, his appearance pretty much looked the same like in the previous reality (except for the glasses part).

.....

As for his weapon, you ask? Let's rewind a little. This was a bit before he joined ARKS.

Well, after Regius relayed Josua's wish to Zig, he was then summoned by Zig to discuss on what weapon he wanted to be made.

"So, kid, I heard from Ol' Regius that you wanted me to make you a weapon." Zig folded his arms.

Zig was an accomplished CAST blacksmith, with the greatest of his creations possessing power that were equal to, if not the same, as Cosmogenic Arms, weapons used by the members of the Council of Six. This much was even admitted by Regius himself. However, ever since the reconstruction of ARKS forty years prior, Zig never found the right inspiration to make a weapon with such potential again.

"Sorry to tell ya, but I ain't got the fire to make weapons no more. Not since those days forty years ago." Zig said, sighing.

"Don't worry, I know." Josua shook his head.

"Hence, I wanted to show you these puppies for your inspiration." He said as he summoned his Avatar Arms.

He started with his Modular Twin Machine Gun (M-TMG) [1]. As the guns manifested in the palm of his hands, he could sense Zig getting excited, judging from the photons around him. The old man was already giddy after seeing such a bizarre thing happening in front of him.

"Ho! Can you tell me what this is, lad? What can it do?" Zig asked in excitement.

"Sure." Josua nodded as he began to explain the features of the weapon and what it can transform into.

After five minutes of explaining and Zig examining with great interest...

"I see... So that weapon is simply manifested through something called Aether, and that it reflects the user's heart and will..." Zig mumbled.

"Also, not to forget, I can manifest other weapons than this. I'm a bit... Special, in this case." Josua said as he de-summon guns and manifested something else.

He summoned the Dojigiri Yasutsuna, the level 80 weapon of FFXIV [2]. This was the base relic weapon for the Samurai class in that game, and of course, its appearance was based from the game (not the real-life weapon counterpart). Zig's "eyes" lit with interest, as he examined the weapon and demanded Josua to summon other weapons that he could summon. He also asked Josua to perform some moves so he could get a feel on what Josua's style should be like.

Overall, he spent three hours examining each weapon. He literally didn't left any nook and cranny of the weapons untouched and unseen. Zig then nodded in satisfaction.

"Haha, this is the first time I've seen something this interesting! But, if you got this amazing ability, why would you want me to make you a weapon?" Zig asked, tilting his head.

"It's... Complicated. Let's just say that I'd rather keep this ability under wraps as much as I can before a certain point in time." Josua shook his head and sighed.

"I see... You have your own circumstances, and I won't ask any further." Zig nodded in understanding.

"Still, thanks to what I've seen, you've given me enough inspiration to make a new arms! As my thanks, I might as well make you something equal to that of them Cosmogenic Arms!" Zig said with bubbling excitement.

'Here it comes!' Josua said in excitement.

"Come back in several days. I'll have your weapon ready. Believe me, this is the first time in forever since I felt like this. Ah, the inspiration! I CAN FEEL IT COURSING THROUGH ME ONCE MORE!" Zig said, visibly pumped.

A few days later, Zig called him to his workshop, which was located on Ship #128: Themis.

"Ah, you're here! Good. Now, take a look at this beautiful baby!" Zig said as he handed the weapon to Josua.

It was... An umbrella. By either some cosmic joke, or pure coincidence (or whatever), he got a weapon that was basically the Myriad Manifestation Umbrella, the weapon used by Ye Xiu's character, Lord Grim in Glory, from The King's Avatar [3].

"This baby right here, I call her Gurenbana [4]. After seeing how you fight, I've considered many things in what should I make for you. You don't seem to be at a Master level when it comes to one weapon, but you ARE proficient enough to be skillful at a lot of weapons." Zig said.

"But... Why... An umbrella?" Josua tilted his head in confusion, while on the inside his eyes were twitching.

He knew that this was some sick joke by giving him a weapon like this, not that he hates it or anything. 'Why not call me Ye Xiu while your at it?!' he screamed in the inside.

"I was trying to combine both offense and defense into a single package, considering the way you fight. Normally, you'd go for a Sword and Shield combination." Zig initially explained.

"But... Seeing how you handle those weapons you summoned, I think this should be the better compromise. It's unassuming, and it covers most of what you can do!" He then elaborated.

After a few minutes of silence, Josua sighed and accepted the fact in hand.

.....

Going back to the present...

Regius, via the live feed, began his speech to the rookies aboard their respective gateway ships.

"Greetings ARKS recruits, you have done well."

"You now stand poised to take your first steps into the vast frontier of space."

Others were standing in groups while watching the live feed of Regius' speech. Meanwhile, on the side, Afin was stretching his arms. He was prepping himself for the final certification exam alongside his "mate", Josua.

"If you're prepared to face the challenge of the unknown, enter your personal data." Regius then said on the feed.

This was the final confirmation of the participants for the final certification exam. Three months of arduous entry and basic training into ARKS, and this was the culmination of it all. This was to others though. However, for Josua, this was a cakewalk compared to the numerous operations he went along with Maria, and subsequently Sarah as well.

His comms showed the "form" in front of him, prompting for entry. Others aboard the ship began inputting their data on their respective "forms". After he inputted his data and he pressed confirm...

"Then, from all of us, welcome aboard." Regius said.

The gateway ship then departed from the ARKS Ship and went towards it's destination: the planet Naverius. Shortly after, the alarms on the gateway ship were blaring as they notified its passengers of the ship entering 'warp' to their destination of the planet Naverius.

The two then went down to the cabin hold, located under the gateway ship. They sat down on their seats, while some others were already there. The Humans and Newmans were seating next or across each other. Meanwhile, the CASTs were standing by on the wall.

"Yo, mate! So this is it, huh. We're finally gonna be deployed! Don't you feel nervous and excited at the same time?" Afin greeted.

"You're gonna do just fine, Afin. Believe me." Josua chuckled, fistbumping with Afin.

"So, Naverius, the planet we're going to... I wonder what kind of planet it is..." Afin retracted his hand, and wondered aloud.

This was his first time outside the ARKS ship, so it wasn't much of a surprise that he didn't know much.

"Hm? You don't know? Apparently, it's been discovered quite a while back." A male Human Hunter who was sitting opposite of Josua said to Afin.

"Really?"

"Yeah. They say there aren't any Falspawns there, so it was apparently perfect for training rookies." the man continued.

"That's a relief, ain't it, partner? It'll probably be easy for us!" Afin smiled.

"Hehe, if I were you, I'd be careful." A dark-skinned, red-haired female Newman who was sitting next to Afin said, smirking at his naivety (the seating goes like this: Josua ><Afin><Female Newman).

"Apparently, the sylvants are quite vicious. Though, seeing how skinny you are, you might die." she continued.

She had glanced over at Afin and Josua when she made that comment. Seeing that only Afin that looked a bit skinny, while Josua was bulk enough, she only made that jabbing comment at Afin.

"Ahaha... Hahaha..." Afin could only laughed nervously at her words.

He coughed a little before changing the topic and turned towards Josua who was beside him.

"By the way, you never told me why you joined ARKS. Was it because you also looked up to them since you're young too, mate?" Afin asked.

"Hmm... It's complicated, but I won't say you're wrong that I do look up to ARKS. Only up to a certain degree though." Josua said after pondering for a little.

"Then, what about you? Why did you apply to join ARKS?" Josua then conversely asked Afin.

This wasn't to say that he didn't know why. It was only for the sake of conversation, though he played dumb so as to not seem weird.

"Me? I... Because I wanna see the real sky!" Afin said after pausing a little.

'This guy...' Josua sighed in his mind and left it at that.

As the two conversed, the alarms blared once more, notifying that they had exited the warp and were arriving at Naverius. The rookies then went back up to the gateway ship's lobby. As the ship approached the planet's atmosphere, the rookies were watching the view from the lobby.

Afin, as excited to see the view, immediately went to the window on the left side of the view.

"Wow! So this is Naverius!" He exclaimed.

Josua, on the other hand, only watch the planet's surface, with mixed feelings in him. He knew of what's about to happen, and it wasn't exactly a great feeling. As he watched the surface, he noticed some ripples, which was weird.

'Probably the camouflage for Ruins area.' He thought.

"Everyone, line up!" One of the instructors shouted.

The rookies turned around perfectly as they faced the instructor in question.

"We're now descending to the planet Naverius." He said.

"For you rookies, this is your first time descending to the surface. I won't hesitate to leave you behind if you can't keep up! Don't be arrogant, and proceed as if this is your final examination!" He continued

"All units, descend!" He ordered.

The rookies lined up towards the Telepool. As they began to jump in ones and twos, it was finally Josua and Afin's turn.

"For some reason, I'm a bit nervous to jump into that Telepool!" Afin said.

"Nah, don't worry. Think of it like you're jumping into a pool from a high place, that's all." Josua patted Afin's shoulder as he jumped before Afin.

"Wait for me!" Afin exclaimed as he jumped into the Telepool, following Josua.

.....

A.P.238/2/20/10:00

Streaks of light were seen dropping from the atmosphere and into the planet's surface. Operatives arrived on the surface as each light hits the location and dispersed, revealing them to be the contents of the lights. They arrived on one knee and fist down (in Deadpool's words: The Superhero Landing). Everyone, aside from Afin who landed on his back somehow, landed smoothly.

"Oi, oi. You're probably gonna be in for a rough time..." the instructor said.

The instructor and some other members were laughing at him for it.

"Oww..." Afin held the back of his head in pain.

"Man, did you really pass the exam with me?" Josua chuckled while offering his hand to Afin.

"Just shut it. Thanks." Afin sighed in shame, standing up with Josua's help.

The instructor, seeing the small incident resolved, got his Assault Rifle on hand. He turned around to the rookies behind him.

"Okay, you guys. From now on, we're heading to point Beta-1. On the way, if we run into any hostile sylvants, destroy them and execute the plan." He explained.

The so-called point Beta-1, in the game in the previous reality, was basically the location where both Afin and Josua (or you, the protag in the game) would encounter the Falspawn for the first time in the tutorial.

"Now... Get into formation!" The Ranger instructor ordered.

"Yessir!" They all replied as they formed into the planned formation.

Josua, Afin, the female Newman, the Ranger instructor, and a male Human Ranger rookie were on the lead, while the others were following closely behind them. They entered the forest. As they walked, they heard a roar of a sylvant that seemed to be close by. Afin was readying his weapon with nervousness, while the instructor was seeing the sylvant in question, which was seen drinking on a shallow pond.

It was an Udan, with a corrupted core that looked like its crushing its left eye. As it turned towards the operatives that was coming into its territorial range, it snarled at them viciously.

"I-it doesn't seem too friendly though..." Afin said nervously.

"It's a sylvant that's been made savage by the F-Factor. Now... What you'll do?" The instructor turned around and asked the recruits.

While Afin and the others were wondering, the female Newman stepped up to the plate.

"I'll go!" She said, as she had her Knuckles ready.

"For that kind, you just need one hit." she continued before she went towards the sylvant.

She leapt up acrobatically and landed on the pond. She dashed towards the Udan, and punched directly towards the corrupted core.

BAM!

The core exploded, and the Udan went down on its back. As the F-Factor began dispersing from its left eye, the female Newman looked smug at her first kill. The instructor clapped his hands, impressed by the rookie's action.

"Well done! More points for you." He said, before he turned towards the others.

"Now then, let's proceed forward!!" He waved before he began walking again.

As they walked a few steps forward, Josua was alerted by his photon senses.

"Hm?" He slowly drew out Gurenbana in its Katana mode and faced to his left.

"What's wrong mate?" Afin, who sensed that Josua was being cautious, turned around and asked.

"They're here." Josua said, squinting his eyes towards the sense of danger that was blaring to him.

"Hey, hey. There are no more enemies, you know? Are you chickening out or something?" The Hunter asked sarcastically.

"If I were you, I'd ready myself. They're almost here." Josua replied with a stern tone.

"Ah..." Afin looked baffled.

"What are you doing? Don't dawdle!" The instructor, who looked back, yelled at them.

"Y-yessir..." Afin stunted his reply.

But before they could walk further, a dark red light was shining to their left.

"Shit.. They're here. READY YOURSELVES!" Josua yelled before he went into his FFXIV stance, which was a part of what he calls the "Musosai-style", which comprises of Samurai moves, skills and stances from FFXIV in the previous reality.

A dark red sphere spawned in the sky, before abruptly disappearing after a Falspawn went through it. It was a Dagan [5]. It would've been fine if it was just one. But the whole unit was surrounded.

"W-What is it?!" One of the rookies yelled.

"Emergency Notice from the Control Team! Code F has been declared on Planet Naverius!" The operator said on the comm.

Afin, who opened his comm and heard what just been said, look shocked.

"Spatial Corruption has been confirmed!" The operator further said.

"Eh? EH??" Afin looked around in terror.

"It's Falspawns! They're here! Get into battle formation!" The instructor yelled as he readied his AR.

"EVERYONE, CALM DOWN AND READY YOURSELVES!" Josua shouted as more and more Dagans spawned around them.

'Hissatsu: Shoten!' He unleashed his attack.

DASH! SHING!!!

One Dagan that was a few steps away from him was cut into two halves as he, who appeared behind it, swung his blade to clean it. He turned around, sheathed his blade, and activated the AR mode.

The handle arced as a trigger came out near the top of the handle's grip. The umbrella's end tip opened itself and became the barrel. The canopy would function as the AR's body. The rib and the tip that would be at the bottom of the gun would function as sort of a release and/or magazine lever (after pulling the rib and tip in question, the gun would be automatically reloaded and cocked, no actual magazine needed).

"ERADICATE THEM!!" The instructor yelled once more as he fired at the Dagans.

"Why are they here!? I thought they said there weren't any Falspawns here!?" Afin yelled in fear as he fired his AR.

"AAAAAAAARRGGHH!" A male Human Gunner yelled in terror as he fired his Twin Machine Gun towards the Dagan, but failed to properly aim at it.

Meanwhile, the male Human Hunter who was next to him slashed at the Dagan, but was unable to cut through the Falspawn's body with his Gunblade .

"Afin! Just keep firing! It's pointless to complain now!" Josua yelled at the young man while he unleashed Diffusion Shot at several Dagans within his sight.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

The rookies that were in danger because of those Dagans were saved. Especially, the Gunner and Hunter Humans that were in danger. The instructor looked over at Josua with surprise, seeing that this supposed rookie was fighting like a proper ARKS operative would: with a calm demeanor and precision. He nodded inside his head, while turning his attention to Afin.

"Don't let your guard down! You, rookie over there! Don't let the enemy gather forces! Go round from the south" He told them.

While he said that, a Dagan spawned behind him. As he was about to be stabbed with its "beak", a shot rang through and decapitated the Dagan, saving the instructor in the progress. Afin sighed in relief as he then looked towards the source of the shot. It was, yet again with no surprise to anyone, Josua.

"Listen up!" Josua yelled as he unleashed another Diffusion Shot towards more Dagans and killed them.

"Hunters and Fighters! Keep the Falspawns off our Rangers and Gunners! You guys are the tanks! Your job is to be the damn vanguard! So act like it, and stop being a goddamn pussy!" He said.

"Rangers and Gunners! Fight the Falspawns at distance, NOT close combat! You guys are too much of an easy target for these guys to kill at this point!" He continued as he fired another shot and killed a Dagan that was approaching from behind him.

"Instructor! Please use a Telepipe and begin evacuation, NOW! These rookies can't handle them at this point!" He turned towards the instructor who was dazed and yelled at the man.

"O-oh! Got it!" The instructor said as he pulled out a Telepipe and deployed it.

"Everyone! Get over here right now! We're evacuating from this place!" The instructor yelled as he fired his AR towards some Dagans and killed them.

"Don't die, big guy! I'll be buying you a meal after this!" The female Newman said before she stepped into the Telepipe and was teleported back to the gateway ship.

"Yeah! You saved our asses!" The male Human Hunter said before he went into the Telepipe.

One by one, the rookies retreated through the Telepipe. Some were close enough to be able to get to safety. Others were not so fortunate enough, as they were killed by the Dagans in one fell swoop.

Words that basically had the same meaning were said by the rookies who managed to reach the Telepipe. Until it was only Josua, Afin and the instructor left.

"What are you two doing!? Get over here and evacuate as well!" the instructor shouted.

"Sorry, sir! But it seems like they're not letting us leave! Just leave first!" Josua said as he shot and killed a few more Dagans.

"Listen to him, sir! He knows what he's doing!" Afin supported Josua's words.

"Kuh... Dammit! Fine, I'll go on ahead! I'll ask Control to send pickup to you! Just don't die!" The instructor said as he went into the Telepipe, successfully teleported away before it was destroyed by a Dagan that was nearby.

"C'mon, Afin! Let's leave!" Josua said to Afin.

"R-right!" Afin stuttered a reply before following Josua along.

.....

Meanwhile, on the Bridge aboard the ARKS Ship...

"Falspawn appearance on planet Naverius has been confirmed. It's now an area with critical Photon coefficient due to space-time corruption." Brigitta, an operator on the Bridge reported.

Regius, who was overlooking everything, from the deployment of the rookies to the reports of various situations ongoing on the planet's surface, "frowned".

"Why Naverius...? There..." He pondered in confusion.

"Oribe's Unit engaged them in combat, but they were able to evacuate before they suffered critical defeat! They've lost around 5 personnel before they managed to evacuate! Currently, two are confirmed to be still on the planet surface!" Melitta interrupted Regius' ponder with this report.

"Have a rescue team head there immediately." He said before he left the bridge.

'Oribe... Wasn't Josua a part of them? Don't die on me now, kid.' He thought as he walked away.

.....

A.P.238/2/20/10:30

As Josua and Afin went through the forest, they encountered several sylvants and managed to slay them without much trouble. This helped in giving Afin more experience, allowing him to slowly get used to the mood during combat. Him facing Falspawn suddenly like that wasn't exactly great for his psyche, but with this, he could calm himself down slowly and readjust his mindset.

When they reached an open area, suddenly, a Rockbear [6] was in front of them. The comm of them both were open, and Hilda, an operator on the Bridge was on the video feed.

"Emergency Code: Duel has been declared in your local area! Your objective now is to defeat that Rockbear! Utilize the skills you've honed to suppress it." She said.

"Read the enemy's movements, and strike its weak point. You'll see an opening after it performs a large attack. Aim for it." She explained.

"W-We're going to fight that huge thing all of a sudden!?" Afin exclaimed in shock.

The size of the Rockbear was at least several times larger than the Dagans they had faced earlier. For reference, the Dagans were at least as tall as they, Josua and Afin, were.

"Mate! I'll provide backup! You take the lead!" Afin said as he stepped back a little before readying his AR.

"There are a number of ways you can use your weapon. Find what works best for you." Hilda said once more.

"The Rockbear's weak point is its head. Watch its movements closely and attack its head after it performs a large attack!" She pressed on that point once more before closing comms.

"We just need to dodge its attacks, then we can hit it when its down. So keep dodging mate!" Afin said before both him and Josua went into combat with the giant beast.

Josua activated Gurenbana's Sword mode. The umbrella's canopy flattened itself, along with the ribs and tips of the umbrella to become the blade of a Sword. This transformation took almost no time as the Rockbear roared at the two before it charged.

Josua and Afin dodged out of the way as the giant sylvant charged at their previous position. it only hit a giant stone in the process, causing it to stagger. Afin turned towards the Rockbear, and fired barrages of bullet at it using Steady Shot and explosive shots with Grenade Round. The rifle fire and explosive barrage resounded throughout the forest.

Josua, in the meantime, closed in towards the giant sylvant, and placed himself directly under the sylvant's head. He charged and then unleashed Rising Edge at the second stage, allowing him to slash in spiral upwards towards the sylvant's head. As he was in the air, he used Nova Strike at the second stage as well. After that, he used Blaze Parry and unleashed six fast strikes with it, not giving time for the sylvant to recover.

"ROAAAARRR!!!!" The Rockbear roared with rage, its color slightly changed upon the rage.

But before it was able to jump into the air and slam either of the operatives into the ground, Josua had unleashed Cross Cut. While there was some delay, as in 5 seconds to unleash the PA, it was still enough to critically damage the Rockbear with each slash.

SLASH! With an enlarged blade aura coating the sword. From the right to the left. And then...

SLASH! From the left to the right. And it ended with...

SLASH! From the top to bottom. The blade aura cut through without mercy, as it delivered the fatal blow to the Rockbear.

Josua then landed back on the ground, and dropped on one knee. It still wasn't easy. It felt like he was using a bloody Buster Sword when he used Cross Cut. Afin who had stored back his AR, went to Josua.

"You okay, mate?" Afin asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just need a breather..." Josua said, readjusting his breath.

He just got back on his feet when his comm (and Afin's as well) rang and opened. It was Hilda again on the feed.

"The results are superb. The way I see it, you should have no problem being an ARKS operative." She said with a smile.

"All right, time to make for the Transfer Point so you can come back. Head toward the next area." she continued before she ended comms.

The two only shrugged, being that they were on the way to find some cover first before they go towards the transfer point once more.

.....

A.P.238/2/20/11:00

It was raining. Both Josua and Afin managed to reach safety in form of a cave. The two overlooked the misty forest that's being drenched with rainfall. Josua was drinking from a pouch of monomate, while Afin was sitting on the ground, exhausted.

"Here. Drink something." Josua said to Afin, throwing the Newman a fresh pouch of monomate that he took out from his inventory. He still had 8 at this point, alongside a full stock of 10 dimate and trimate respectively.

"It was way too close. It's like that time. Although this time we've managed to save some..." Afin said, pausing a little.

"People were still dying... Nothing's changed from 10 years ago..." He continued, before he looked at Josua in sigh.

"You saw the Falspawn too at the time, didn't you? I was a kid, so I was too scared and couldn't do anything... That's why I worked hard and joined ARKS, and yet..." He elaborated gloomily.

"Didn't you say it was because you wanted to see the sky?" Josua asked, playing dumb once more.

"I'm looking for something that I lost ten years ago..." Afin said.

"I see... 10 years ago, huh..." Josua pretended to ponder.

"Truth is... This wasn't my first rodeo with Falspawns." Josua began to explain.

"Huh? Didn't you say you were on Ship 2, right? Where were you at the time...?" Afin asked in confusion.

"To be precise, it's not exactly ten years ago. Rather, it's been... I don't know, five years ago, I guess? I can't remember exactly when. I wasn't there during the attack on Ship 74 where you said you came from, you see." Josua tried to elaborate, but he decided against it.

'Not yet... It's not time yet for him...' He judged after some thought.

"But that's a story for another time. For now, we need to get back to the transfer point." He changed the topic.

"Yeah, you're right... Huh!?" Afin replied, before he noticed the incoming Falspawn transfer.

"Shit, it's an El Arda [7]!" Josua yelled, readying Gurenbana on his hands as the Falspawn came into view.

It looked like a giant wasp of some sorts. Its glowing weak point on the belly, while two smaller ones were above it and in line. The thunder roared as the Falspawn looked upon the two recruits.

.....

A.P.238/2/20/11:15

In the rain, a female Force Newman was running downhill, marching through the rainfall. A male Human Hunter, seemingly her partner, was running beside her.

"Hurry up! It's a damn Code F, you know!?" He yelled.

"I know, alright!?" She replied in frustration.

The Hunter's comm was being actively displayed in front of him as he and the female Force continued to ran.

"Zeno, a training unit is currently in combat with Falspawn. Please head over to rescue them." The operator on the other end of the video call said.

"Isn't it Oribe's Unit that landed? What happened to him?" Zeno asked,

"He managed to evacuate, but two members of his unit are still planet-side!" She answered.

Both Zeno and Echo, the female Force Newman, looked in shock. Both of them looked at each other before nodding.

"Send me their coordinates immediately!!" He said, before he and Echo jumped from the cliff in front of them downwards.

.....

A.P.238/2/20/11:30

Josua and Afin were on the run after the El Arda spawned at the entrance of the cave they were taking cover in. After that, a dozen Dagan spawned nearby as they began to run away from them. Afin was too focused on running, still not capable of gunning & running. Meanwhile, Josua had already switched his Gurenbana to its Rifle mode.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Three shots were fired and killed three Dagans while they continued to run away through the rain. When they reached an open field, Josua turned around and unleashed Diffusion Shot, which killed an equal amount of Dagans to the shots fired. Afin, in the meantime, also began firing again at the Falspawn.

"Darn it, darn it!!" Afin screamed as he fired at the incoming Dagans, before it was almost upon him and he had to dodge to safety.

Before he could properly avoid, however, the El Arda swooped in and managed to grab him. It brought him up into the air. Afin could only kick and scream, as his AR was dropped when he was swooped by the Falspawn.

"Afin!" Josua gnashed his teeth as he had just killed another Dagan in front of him.

But before the El Arda could make way with its prize, its small core on the chest was shot out of nowhere. It perished into particles, and the unlucky Afin fell from the air onto the ground on his back. Before Josua managed to fire his Gurenbana, however, the Dagans that were closing in on the crash-landed Afin were killed by more shots.

As Josua looked to the source of the shots, it was to his no surprise: Zeno. He was sniping from high ground with his Gunblade in Gun mode. He retracted the Gunblade and held it on his shoulder with a smug on his face.

"Man, that was almost TOO dead on. Good thing I prepared for the worst." He said with a smile.

"Ah, Mr. Zeno!" Afin exclaimed.

"Ah, it's him. No wonder, I guess." Josua shrugged.

Technically speaking, by his class year, Josua was Zeno's senior back in the ARKS Cadet Academy, even if only for a year or less. But in ARKS itself, Zeno is Josua's senior, since he joined ARKS earlier than Josua did. However, the field experience between the two were similar enough to be negligible, with the only tangible difference being Josua's knowledge of the future, stemming from his previous timeline.

Meanwhile, Echo had just finally reached Zeno's sniping spot, after climbing for a while.

"Zeno?" She called, gasping for air, before she noticed that he had already dropped down from the cliff and went to the two rookies.

"Geez!" She pouted before finished her climb and dropped down from the spot to reach where Zeno and the others were.

"Seems like you're not hurt." Zeno said after observing the two rookies for any wounds on them.

"Y-yes! My name is Afin. This is my partner, Josua..." Afin introduced himself, before he introduced Josua as well.

Zeno had a strange look on his face when he heard Josua's name.

"Huh? You over there..."He then approached Josua to take a closer look at him.

"I feel like I've seen you somewhere before... Where was that?" He continued as he examined Josua further, wracking his own memories to recall.

'No shit Sherlock! I was your damn senior for a year!' Josua yelled in his mind while keeping a poker face on him.

"Hmm... Hmm... Gah! Well, never mind. Hahahaha!" He laughed before Echo came from behind him.

"Geez, Zeno! Don't leave me behind! Be a little more considerate to your allies, won't you?" Echo lectured him, pouting with both her hands on her hips.

"Oops, my bad. Lemme introduce you: This is Echo." He introduced Echo to them.

"Huh?! Couldn't you've done a better job of introducing me?!" She was mad with the lackluster way of him introducing her to the two.

.....

A.P.238/2/20/11:45

Atop a high ground, while below it, some Naverian Rappies (Nav Rappies) stood up after lying down on the ground lazily as it heard the conversation happening on the high ground...

"...We were surrounded in an instant... And other than us, everyone else, thankfully, managed to evacuate." Josua explained what had transpired.

Zeno, Josua, Echo, and Afin were sitting on the rock. Zeno and Echo were listening to the two's account on what had transpired before their arrival. While Josua and Afin were drinking another pouch of monomate respectively (this time, Afin's drinking from his own stock, allowing Josua to keep his monomate high enough).

"I see... You're pretty lucky. Those things back there--Falspawn--they're pretty much ARKS enemy number one. That's about all I can tell you." Zeno nodded after listening to Josua's explanation.

"We're pretty fresh out of training and barely started learning what's what in ARKS, so..." Afin drooped with a gloomy face.

"Don't sweat the details, kid. Let the higher-ups worry about it, or get stuck figuring it out for yourself. You're actually kind of lucky you had to face the hard truth about life in ARKS right away. Keeps you from holding onto any illusions, at least." Zeno said without any hesitation.

"Hey, Zeno! Be a little more gentler with your words! These kids just got thrust into the middle of a battlefield. They must be shocked!" Echo scolded the man. He was really insensitive towards these kind of thing.

"Well, sitting around dwelling on it won't change the fact we're at war with the Falspawn. The sooner you rip off that bandage, the longer you can survive." Zeno retorted. He had seen a lot of rookies not making it during their maiden deployment.

"Aw, c'mon. Don't scare them! You both made it back in one piece, right? Certification mission completed! That's cause to celebrate!" Echo said to Zeno before turning towards the two.

"Uh, yeah..." Afin responded, sighing after counting his luck. It really could've been much worse, with both him and Josua being the only survivor of the entire unit during the battle earlier.

"Atta boy, Afin. Even if nothing makes sense, long as you have the willpower to grit your teeth and nod, you'll do just fine. That pain, that frustration you feel? Never forget it. And never give up. If you can handle that, you'll manage." Zeno imparted his wise words to the two.

Echo, who observed from the side, upon hearing Zeno's words, had a strange look on her face. This insensitive man is no way in hell be able to spout out those wise words unless he heard it from someone else.

"Zeno's got a way with words, doesn't he?... Until you realize he stole them all wholesale from someone else." She said, destroying Zeno's credibility of those words coming from him.

"Hey, don't tell them that! My master's words are my words, so it's fine." Zeno retorted.

"Nice saying, did you come up with it yourself? And besides, you always do whatever you want, never giving a thought to all my hard work..." Echo pouted, while retorting Zeno again.

"Yeah? Is it my fault you're always late?" Zeno retorted, again.

This became a back and forth argument between the two. Meanwhile, Josua and Afin were amused by the comical argument between the two.

.....

A.P.238/2/20/12:00

"Anyways, now that the surrounding area is secured, they're sending in a Telepipe now, so let's go back!" Echo said, standing up after she finished bantering with Zeno for fifteen minutes straight without stopping.

Zeno sighed while he stood up, cleaning his back from dirt. Josua and Afin followed suit. The Telepipe portal soon appeared near them, and they went into the portal. And in no time, they're back at the gateway ship.

Afin, once aboard the ship, dropped onto the ground. His legs felt weak, and finally felt safe after getting away from that place. Josua only shrugged his shoulders at the sight of this. He's only like this because he's still a newbie.

On the journey back to the ARKS Ship, Zeno and Echo bantered once more against each other. To Josua, this was basically a lovers quarrel, even if those two haven't realized it themselves. Afin, in the meantime, was still laying on the ground, feeling bliss after the chaos, despite already away from it for sometime by now. Before long, they're almost back at the ARKS Ship.

"Stuff it, Zeno! Look, we're finally arriving at the ARKS Ship!" Echo halted her banter with Zeno, before turning towards Josua and Afin (who had normalized at this point) that were chuckling at their banters for the last thirty minutes.

"Quit standing there snickering and help with the preparations, rookie!" She yelled at the two, causing Afin to scramble while Josua shook his head and went on with the flow.

"You can return to the ARKS Ship by accessing the Teleporter in the back." She pointed at the teleporter behind her, which was located on the opposite of the Telepool.

"Time to head back!" She smiled as the gateway ship then docked at the ARKS Ship, marking the end of the hectic certification exam, and the first day of the two ARKS rookies.

.....

A.P.238/2/20

The party has finally made it back to the ARKS Lobby. It is now time for them to disband and say their farewells.

"Well, now that we're all back in one piece, maybe it's time to take a load off in the lobby." Zeno said, stretching his arms.

"Hold it right there, mister! The report comes first!" Echo retorted. Far too often, he'd leave the desk job to her. It's time for him to pick up the slack!

"Yeah, yeah. Like I don't know that. Such a pain..." He sighed. He was too lazy to deal with it! He then turned towards the other two, Josua and Afin.

"Well, rookies, I guess you're on your own now. Can't play babysitter forever." He said to them.

"Still, maybe it was fate that brought us together like this. If you ever need anything, don't be a stranger. Be seein' you." He continued.

"Good luck out there." She wished them.

Echo and Zeno depart together, leaving Afin and Josua alone. The two stared at each other for a while before Afin broke the ice.

"What a couple of hurricanes. Or maybe the hurricane's all that stuff we just went through. Either way, I'm bushed." Afin said, being more relaxed than earlier.

"This looks like the lobby for us ARKS operatives. There should be plenty of shops here, plus some places when you're keen on taking a break every once in a while..." He looked around for a little.

"In any case, I'm going to walk around a bit and take a breather." he said, stretching his shoulders now.

"Sure. Just be sure to take a bit more time, okay? You're still too winded from the earlier." Josua patted Afin's shoulder.

"I'm gonna need some time to decompress and process what just happened. Take it easy, mate." Afin nodded, then bade farewell to Josua and left.

Josua was now alone in the lobby. He sighed, feeling mentally tired with all the things that had happened. It went differently, as in it was a mix of the anime and the game. But with his intervention, the Oribe Unit that was supposed to be wiped out, managed to survive thanks to him. Well, most of them. As he found a seat near the the boarding area, he saw a notification on his supposed PSO2 HUD, which had been awhile since he got them.

'You can now invite Afin as your Partner.' It said.

He then opened the chatbox, which was on the bottom left of the HUD, which could be pulled into his view. Technically speaking, to other ARKS operatives (aside from players from Earth), he'd be like pulling up his comm. He could see the many dialogues that had passed and the notifications on things like loot, money, or even obtaining partner cards or adding friends to the friends list, etc.

He also noticed this:

'You can now invite Zeno and Echo as your Partner(s).' It said.

With that being said, he minimized the chatbox once more.

"I guess I should go back, huh..." He murmured, before opening the quick menu and selected Personal Quarters.

He was soon teleported from his seat and arrived back in his PQ. There, Sarah, who had just came back a while earlier, greeted him.

"Welcome back, Josua-nii." She greeted with a smile.

"Yeah. I'm back." Josua smiled softly as he sat down on the sofa and tilted his head upwards.

It was truly a hectic day.

Episode 1, Chapter 0: I've Been Waiting for this Day Forever END.

Note:

1. Aforementioned and there's a link in Chapter 7 of Volume 1.

2. https://eu.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/playguide/db/item/51801444af4/

3. https://the-kings-avatar.fandom.com/wiki/Myriad_Manifestation_Umbrella

4. Gurenbana, lit. translates to Crimson Flower, or Vermilion Flower.

5. Image for reference: https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/phantasystar/images/8/87/Pso2id_dagan.png/revision/latest/top-crop/width/220/height/220?cb=20200323020432

6. Image for reference: https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tdyn0X6hv7U/T6ShJoq6Z3I/AAAAAAAACx4/yDQTBb7PlaU/s1600/Phantasy_Star_Online_2_Boss_01_Rockbear.jpg

7. https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/phantasystar/images/c/c9/Pso2id_el_ahda.png/revision/latest?cb=20200323020607