Violent beams of light crisscrossed the void — a silence that should have reigned, shattered.
Far from Seldia's residential sector, in a nameless stretch of space drifting with rock and debris, killing intent clashed in every direction.
"Yahoo! Get 'em, boys! Take everything they've got!"
Crude laughter crackled over open comm channels as a pack of battered, patchwork Makinas — Raiders — came swarming in. Against them stood the men and women of Seldia's Vigilance Corps. But amid the chaos, one unit moved unlike any other.
Deep violet armor. Gold trim that gleamed with an almost noble radiance.
The Makina known as Arden wove between incoming fire at speeds that left its opponents stunned, a single breath's width from every shot.
"...What is that dreadful noise? It's offensive to the ears!"
In the cockpit, Letaria Adeniam furrowed her brow in distaste.
Her outfit was less a pilot's suit and more a gown. She fought in Trace Mode — a system that channeled every movement of her body directly into the machine. The G-forces were savage, hammering her from every angle. Letaria met them head-on, sheer willpower her only answer.
"Tch — isn't that the 'cosplay girl'...?"
"Oh, do be quiet!"
Her cry rang out, and Arden's leg thrusters ignited. A lunge that seemed to defy physical mass. Before the Raider could react, Arden's steel leg drove straight into his hull.
The shockwave rippled through the void. The enemy Makina spun out of control, tumbling end over end until it vanished into the debris field.
"Hmph. Who do they think they're dealing with? Those without manners need to be taught a lesson."
Riding the momentum, Letaria pressed into what remained of the formation.
Raiders closed from both sides. But she could see it — their aim, their trajectories, the desperation flickering beneath every movement. Her magic laid bare the path of every incoming strike.
"There!"
Arden spun like a top. A backhand crushed the camera-eye of the unit to her right. She seized the unit on her left by the torso and hurled it into the nearest rock formation.
A matter of minutes.
Every last Raider had gone silent.
"Goodness... how utterly barbaric. People like that are a blight on good taste."
Relief and admiration crackled through the comm lines.
"...Same as ever, Lady Letaria. I'd hate to be on the wrong side of you."
"Amazing as always — the Mad Lady strikes again!"
A familiar man's wry voice, and a girl's bright, unguarded cheer.
Letaria sniffed, tightened her grip on the controls, and declared what had to be declared.
"Ohoho! Naturally! Riffraff like this are hardly worth the effort of sweeping out. You should all be grateful — every last one of you!"
Her laugh rang out through the vastness.
As the Corps exchanged banter over the comms, Arden turned for home.
But in the quiet of her cockpit, Letaria let her gaze drift to the palm of her hand.
If this had been the old me —
She never would have imagined a life like this.
...And yet.
Strangely enough, she didn't mind it.
Victory claimed by her own strength, in a world she'd been cast into. And strange, odd people to laugh with along the way.
"Now then — home we go. I'm famished."
A violet streak cut across the shimmering sea of stars.
The light of a new world's protagonist, burning bright.