Phase 1: The Beginning

In the year of the future, the era of Anno Futurus (A.F.), the universe was split into 10 territories.

10 "planets", independent yet interdependent.

Erra, Isli, Helluw, Mavayu, Ducan, Zakab, Tahale, Vale, Yuva…and last but not least, the one planet once known as Earth, now Gaia.

The universe was no longer as it used to be in the A.D.s, now that humans had transformed it to their likings, as they had to the landscapes of Gaia millions of years ago.

A.F. 960, and the curtains parted.

x x x

Errian (Erra) outer space.

Two titanic, robotic humanoid Mechas, one gold and the other silver, roamed through the pitch darkness, occasionally lit by one or two stray stars.

Assault Units (A.U.) they were called. Capricorn and Scorpio; these two being customized units.

In the cockpit of the silver unit, Scorpio A.U.

x x x

A blonde girl sighed softly, her alabaster skin ghostly in the pale mechanical light that flooded the small compartment, as she gingerly fingered the controls.

Within moments, a screen gradually faded into view, partially blocking the initial scene of her A.U.'s surroundings displayed in front of her.

Within the screen was shown the interior of the golden unit's cockpit.

The pilot of said unit was a boy, with features strikingly similar to that of this girl. Through the transparent face-shield of his helmet, one could see much of his unruly fringe.

Prince of Erra, Kelar Rupika Josa.

"Phoebe CIII?" His voice rang aloud in the constricted area within the cockpit, seemingly resonating from everywhere.

She appeared not to have heard him.

"Phoebe CIII?"

"Yes, I'm listening."

"Great. I don't have to resort to my normal way of addressing you." His flat tone made it hard to guess if he meant that as sarcasm or compliment. She simply shrugged it off.

The blonde girl was no other than Kelar's twin sister, Princess of Erra, Asuna Saiveinne Josa, codename Phoebe CIII.

"Look, if you're going to ask me whether we're at the right place, then don't, because I can assure you that we are. Seriously, you are the one who inherited mother's bad direction sense, not me. Don't even try to deny it." Asuna could hardly help herself from teasing her brother's direction sense, or the lack thereof.

"I know. My navigation system tells me we're at the right place too…I'm just wondering if you know why the both of us are up here and all alone?" Should they not be the well-sheltered ones, kept as away from all possible forms of potential danger as humanely possible, especially seeing that they had no other siblings?

"Because this is a very safe territory, well within the Errian space, and the person we are welcoming is our cousin? Really, he's late! He is so going to…" Asuna trailed off, lost in the fantasy of her threats.

"Phoebe, is it just going to be L…I mean, Raine 103? I remember there's going to be two units?"

"Neither do I know what the other unit is about, but probably just an escort…"

x x x

So engrossed were the twins in their conversation, they overlooked the danger lurking nearby.

That was, only until the Capricorn A.U.—that's the golden unit—rang red alert.

"Argh!" Kelar had just managed to activate his unit's laser shield in time to save himself from being evaporated by the super-heated beam aimed at him.

Scorpio A.U., being the more fortunate one, had slightly more time to react, allowing Asuna to activate its "Wings", increasing the unit's maneuverability and speed.

"Bro! Watch out!"

This time Capricorn A.U. had only narrowly dodged another beam fired overhead.

"Whew! That was close."

x x x

Now they had a clearer view of the attacking unit. A pastel-green and scarlet A.U. Definitely not of any planets they were familiar with. Asuna evaded another beam with her laser shield.

"You managed to contact him?" She heard her brother's voice over the "screen". No longer that clear, but still audible.

"Nope. Not replying." She had already sent out several signals, enquiring on the unit's identity. Yet none got any reply. "Oh, why are we so unlucky? This is, after all, our first flight alone!"

"Phoebe, cover me while I activate Capricorn's "Wings"!" Kelar literally screamed this out in a most unmanly fashion.

"Phoebe CIII here. Got you, Phoebus!" His codename was Phoebus CXV.

"Capricorn, let's go! Phoebe, I'll keep the front busy, try and get to its back!"

"Gotit. Arh! This one is a heavily-armed unit." Once again, Asuna scarcely managed to save her own skin.

"I know. It's really fast. Man is this guy strong! He's taking on both of us and winning!"

Asuna could not bother to rebut her brother's assumption of the other pilot's gender. They could barely keep up with this unit!

x x x

Then, just as suddenly as this unit had approached them, another beam blasted into the trio's combat.

"Not another unit!" Between pants, Kelar groaned aloud.

"Don't worry, they're on our side."

"Yo! Phoebus CXV, Phoebe CIII, having fun?" This signal came from a cobalt-blue unit, it's pilot being a very…um…brown male teen.

"You people alright?" This was from the accompanying unit hued in copper, its magenta-eyed pilot easily recognized by the twins.

"Raine 103!" With the arrival of aid, relief washed over Asuna.

"Death Saint! What brings you here?" Kelar too, finally found the time to breathe.

A/N: Chapter 1 revised as of 23 May 2011. Formatting revised as of 26 May 2011. Since most feedback I received pointed to this new formatting being better than the old one, I'll be using this format for all subsequent revisions +new chapters!
Personally it's quite vexing to update this chapter everytime I've made progress with revisions, so from now on, I'll be updating on such progress via my profile page, so please be kind enough to visit there for progress of my chapter revisions! Thanks in advance!
Meanwhile…

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