Mera and Orb were teleported to a region of Rig known as the Pylon Desert. An ocean of red sand that blazed like fire in the sunlight. However, it was not unusually hotter than the habitable deserts of most planets. The reddish color of the soil simply played tricks on the minds of those who weren't used to it. The portal had dropped Mera and Orb a ways from Pylon City, but it was still within their range of sight. That wasn't the way Mera intended to go though.
As Mera scanned the desert, she wasn't exactly sure what to do. Gaia sent her there to do something, but had been extremely vague about what that something was. Mera had been told to follow her instincts, but the last time she did that she ended up ambushed by a small army of Cult of Ios soldiers and sucked into a portal to another dimension. Only time would tell if that should be considered a positive occurrence or a negative one.
"Do you see anything, Orb?" Mera asked.
The robot scanned the desert in all directions. Orb's ability to scan and analyze large distances of land quickly was impressive, but even a highly advanced artificial lifeform had their limits. The Pylon Desert was simply too vast for them to scan the whole thing from this one spot. Though they did the best they could, given the circumstances. Orb was never one to complain and would always try to meet Mera's requests to the best of their abilities.
"Scans inconclusive at this distance. I am picking up several lifeforms in multiple directions" the robot said.
Mera was not surprised by her mechanical companion's answer. She knew it wasn't going to be that easy. She only asked him to scan the desert in hopes of a miracle. She was acting on behalf of a goddess after all. In the distance, she saw a great structure. She wasn't quite sure what it was, but it looked to be a basin of stone. Clearly, it was quite large, as she could see it from such a great distance. She didn't know why, but something about it called to her. She raised her hand and pointed at the structure. Not just to show Orb but to make a declaration to herself. She would brave the unforgiving desert and make it to whatever it was she felt drawn to. It was not a hope. It was pact, with herself.
"Gaia said to follow my instincts, and they're telling me to go to there," Mera said.
"Very well," Orb replied.
Mera marched confidently into the sand-filled wasteland. Orb floated along close behind, taking no issue with the idea of Mera getting as far away from Pylon City as possible. It needed time to forget the Crimson Shadow, lest she be ambushed again. Mera had never travelled in the desert before. Honestly speaking, she'd never travelled anywhere before. Her short trip to Gaia's realm was the first time she'd ever left Pylon City. Now she was leaving her home with no idea about how long she'd be gone or if she'd ever return.
Though the Pylon Desert was habitable, it was not an easy existence. Water was scarce. Plants were sparse at best. Animals were limited to mostly smaller wildlife. If the heat did not get the best of you, starvation, dehydration, or exhaustion were next in line. There were tales of some wandering nomads in the desert, but Mera had never seen them first hand. She quickly realized that the journey to the stone structure would be much more difficult than she had first imagined.
Orb was an invaluable resource during their journey through the sand. The robot was able to guide Mera to hidden sources of water and the small bits of vegetation in the region. For the first time in her life, Mera had to really learn how to survive. Not from the threat of violence, but the elements themselves. When the heat was too high, she had to find places to hide. The tiny shadows of rock faces and small caves. On the other end of the spectrum, the nights were cold. The sand did not retain its blazing heat in the absence of light from Rig's closest star. She had to make fires in order to stay warm.
One of the worst things about the entire experience for her was the knowledge that she didn't have to be physically uncomfortable. Orb explained to her that her battle armor had the ability to regulate her body temperature. If the area was hot, her armor could cool her. If the area was cool, her armor could keep her warm. But this was always at the expense of her Ga energy. Activating her armor required Ga. Whether she was fighting or just walking around, if her armor was active, Ga was being expended. Gaia had increased the amount of Ga she could store by a great amount, but that didn't change the fact that it had its limits.
As the heat continued to wear her down, Mera wanted to use her armor to herself more and more. Nevertheless, she wouldn't allow succumb to her desires. She knew it was a waste of Ga energy. At any time, something could happen. She could be attacked or trapped by something and need her Ga to deal with the situation. To risk not having the necessary amount of energy because she wasted it in a situation that wasn't life or death was a risk she wasn't willing to take. She never wanted to end up in a scenario like the ambush in Pylon City again. She knew she couldn't rely of a goddess to rescue her every time things went wrong. So, she suffered through the heat with nothing more than the cloak Gaia had given her.
When she was hungry, she had to learn how to track, hunt, and kill prey. No longer could she afford to be picky about what she ate. Birds, rodents, and reptiles all became fair game. She thought she knew what it was like to be hungry, having grown up an orphan trying to care for another orphan. There were days where she didn't get to eat. It was a hard life, but the meals they did manage to get were at least somewhat satisfying. Hunting small animals in the desert was an entirely different experience. The time and energy it took just catch something that would barely amount to a few bites was a different kind of hunger. She wasn't working to thrive. She just trying to survive.
Time in the desert is an odd thing. A few hours can feel like days and several days can feel like a few hours. The endless sand in all directions obscures any accurate sense of distance. After a few days, one loses track of how many times the sun has passed overhead without much changing. Were it not for Orb and their ability to keep perfect track of time and distance, Mera would have thought she had been walking across the sands for months. Really, she had only been traveling for about six days. That said, surviving six days in the Pylon Desert on foot certainly wasn't easy.
Orb was crucial to Mera's survival. Not only in his ability to guide her, but also in his ability to keep her company. Mera would have probably gone insane walking for six days in the desert alone. Orb was an amazing listener. They never complained, never got bored, and never felt too tired to continue on. The robot had lived for eons and had countless stories to tell. Mera had Orb teach her so many things about the past during their journey, just to keep her sane. They were also a great motivator for Mera to keep going. She wanted to quit so many times. Had she been with Adara, or any other Rigan, they probably would have felt the same, but not Orb. They never slept, never lost their way, and never tried to deviate from their goal. Only with Orb by her side could Mera ever hope to make it to the stone basin.
"Am I hallucinating?" Mera asked as she pointed at something in the distance.
"I'm picking up three lifeforms in that direction," Orb replied.
"Maybe Gaia sent us here to find them."
Mera rushed towards the unknown lifeforms without a second thought. She was ecstatic about the fact that she would get to hear someone else's voice. After all that time with just her and Orb, she didn't really care if the people she was about to encounter were friend or foe. She just wanted proof that she hadn't already died and passed on to the next plane of existence.
As she got closer to the group, she began to make out the shapes of two humanoid individuals and a massive third figure. This should have stopped her approach, but Mera was already dead set on meeting another person. By the time she realized who she had stumbled upon, it was already too late to turn back. For they had noticed her as well.
For reasons Mera never learned, three Cult of Ios soldiers were in the middle of the desert. Two of them were on foot. They were Sceptarians. Natives of the planet Sceptaris. A reptilian species that looked like human sized lizards and walked on two legs. Members of the species were perfect for places like Pylon Desert. Their reptilian features made it much easier for them to survive in such a warm climate. Both of the Sceptarians carried swords on their belts.
It wasn't the Sceptarians Mera was worried about so much as the third figure. He was a member of the Progeny, which meant he was in charge. The fact that he was Progeny wasn't the troubling part. That was quite normal, as they were the ones who started the Cult of Ios. Mera had already fought several of them during her time as the Crimson Shadow. They weren't particularly difficult foes, in normal circumstances. The problem was that these were far from normal circumstances.
This Progeny was piloting a Centurion. A mechanical exoskeleton that gave the user increased size, enhanced strength, and control over multiple projectile weapons. Mera had occasionally seen them in Pylon City, but she never imagined having to fight one. The very thought of trying to handle, or even just survive, such an encounter on her own was terrifying.
"What are you doing here?" the Centurion pilot asked.
Mera didn't really know what to say. Technically speaking, there was no reason a Rigan couldn't be in the Pylon Desert. Nevertheless, the situation was quite peculiar. Clearly, something was going on with these Cult soldiers, and they didn't want any witnesses to whatever they were doing. They may not have had grounds to arrest her, but there was nothing to stop them from murdering her and burying her body in the sand. Rigans disappeared all the time, since the Cult of Ios took over. It's not as if anyone would ever go looking for Mera anyway.
"Just passing through," Mera said nervously.
"Take care of her," the pilot commanded.
The two Sceptarians drew their swords and started towards Mera. It was clear that they had no qualms about killing an innocent girl. Luckily for Mera, she was ready for them. She crossed her arms and activated her armor. As tired and hungry as she was, she hadn't wasted any of her Ga during her long trek through the desert.
Immediately, she fired a decent sized Ga blast and took out one of the Sceptarians in a single attack. She tried to do the same with the other Sceptarian, but he was too agile to be bested by the same attack. He managed to dodge two more of her blasts before getting close enough to make use of his sword. Thankfully, Mera had been trained to deal with armed adversaries. She easily disarmed the Sceptarian; and knocked him unconscious.
The Centurion pilot was furious, but also surprised. He couldn't believe that a teenage girl had bested both of his subordinates so easily. However, he was not afraid. For he knew what a Centurion was capable of. He stared down Mera, letting her know that he would not go down as easily as the fallen Sceptarians.
"My turn," the pilot said.
Mera raised the stolen sword in a defensive stance. She didn't expect the fight to be easy, but she was confident that she could win. Funny enough, the pilot felt the same way.
The Centurion raised its arms and put them together to form a bowl shape facing outwards with its metal hands. A ball of green light began to form in the center of the bowl. Mera wasn't exactly sure what was happening, but it was clear that the pilot was preparing an attack. She steadied herself, prepared to take on whatever the mech might throw at her.
After a few seconds of charging, the Centurion fired a huge blast of green energy directly at Mera. Rather than try to dodge, she decided to take the blast head on and attempt to block or deflect it with the sword. From afar, this may have looked like an act of arrogance. With her speed and awareness of the coming attack, given the distance between her and the Centurion, she could have easily dodged the blast. She had instead chosen to take a calculated risk in an attempt to gage the power of the mech's attack. This is the how Orb had trained her. Information was everything on the battlefield. Weak or strong, just about any battle could be turned in one's favor with enough data and strategic thinking.
Mera needed to know just how strong that blast was. She assumed that it was one of the pilot's stronger attacks. It took time to charge and left the Centurion vulnerable for a short time. Unlike her GA blasts, the mech's attack was a beam rather than a single ball of energy. The beam wasn't too long, but it meant that Mera would have to avoid the attack's path both vertically and horizontally. She could try to jump over it, but that would mean remaining in the air for a greater amount of time to cover the distance. If this attack could be blocked instead of avoided, it would give Mera a clear advantage in the fight. Choosing to take the first one directly could potentially be lethal, but the information provided by learning the extent of the attack's capabilities early on would be invaluable.
Mera stood firm as she held the sword directly in front of her. The green blast met the blade and exploded on impact. The sword shattered in Mera's hand's as the explosion threw her back several feet. Luckily for her, she managed to keep her balance and landed upright, still holding the hilt of the now broken weapon. The blade had quite possibly saved her life, as she would not have been able to take the impact of that blast and the proceeding explosion head on. It was a miracle that the shards of the sword hadn't hit her as it exploded. Even with her improved armor, the Centurion's charged shot was just too powerful. The silver lining was that now she knew that. The blast might not have connected directly with her upgraded battle suit, but it was clear to her that it was too strong to handle. Now she knew how to approach a second attack of this nature.
The pilot laughed at the sight of the broken sword in Mera's hand. The superiority of his weapon to hers was clear. But he was not arrogant enough to take her lightly. The fact of the matter was that she had survived a blast from his Centurion head on. He too understood the importance of information on the battlefield. The truth was that the charged blast was the second strongest attack in his arsenal. This both impressed and worried him. An attack of that caliber should have finished such a seemingly vulnerable adversary off outright. That it hadn't was a cause for alarm. However, Mera didn't know that yet, and the pilot didn't plan on giving her the chance to find out.
The Centurion charged another blast. Given the farther distance between the mech and Mera compared to the first blast, dodging it would not be difficult for her. Now she knew that dodging was the correct maneuver to deal with this attack, and would make use of this knowledge immediately.
The mech fired the blast. Mera easily strafed to the side of it. The blast missed completely and fired off into the desert. This opportunity was not an instance of luck, but a calculated scenario. While the pilot was charging his blast, Mera had been preparing one of her own. As soon as she dodged to the side of the attack, Mera unleashed a rather large Ga blast at the Centurion's right leg. She could have fired directly at the pilot, but she didn't want to risk harming him, if it could be avoided. Her plan was to disable her adversary by taking out the mech's leg. That way it would lose its mobility and the pilot could be easily dealt with non-lethally.
Her aim was flawless. Sure to be a direct hit that even the pilot feared as he saw it coming. It was clear to him that he had been outsmarted by a worthy opponent. As the large ball of red energy neared, he braced for the impact, praying to Ios that the damage wouldn't be bad enough to take him out the fight. To Mera's surprise and disappointment, her blast had no effect on the mech's leg. It had landed perfectly, making direct contact just below the knee joint, as she had planned. Yet it didn't even leave a scratch.
The pilot laughed in relief as he realized what had happened. Or what hadn't happened, to be more accurate. The look on Mera's face told him everything. She had played her trump card and failed. The victory was now his for the taking.
"My Ga doesn't work?" Mera said in a defeated tone.
"It's not strong enough to penetrate that armored plating," Orb replied. "I suggest we retreat."
The Centurion began charging another blast.
"You're not going anywhere," the pilot threatened. "Now you will see what happens when you challenge the Cult of Ios."
"Run, Mera," Orb said.
Mera scanned the area, hoping to discover something that might help her in this situation. Her Ga was too weak to damage the mech, meaning she couldn't stop her enemy from afar. Nevertheless, there was no way her punches and kicks would be able to penetrate that armor either. Her only option was to get close enough for a direct attack on the pilot himself, as his head and chest were partially exposed. This would be nearly impossible while trying to avoid the Centurion's blasts. Not to mention that at close range it could still punch and kick with enhanced strength and extended range. She thought about trying to fire Ga blasts directly at the pilot, but at this distance he would see them coming and could easily use the mech's arms to block them with no risk to himself or the Centurion.
Fighting simply wasn't a viable option for Mera. Sadly, running wasn't much better. She could try to escape, but that would mean turning her back on the mech. This would leave her extremely vulnerable to being shot in the back. Not to mention that she assumed the pilot would chase after her. In that exoskeleton, he would be able to run faster, farther, and for a longer period than Mera, with considerably less effort. There was also the prospect of him calling in backup. If Cult of Ios reinforcements showed up, Mera would have no chance. She was better off fighting to the death than trying to run.
"My only option is to fight. Trying to escape would only end in failure," Mera replied to Orb.
"Your only option is to die," the pilot said.
The Centurion aimed his hands towards Mera, very clearly telegraphing the coming attack. Mera remained steadfast, ready to dodge another blast. She had done it once flawlessly; and she knew she could do it again. The pilot cracked an evil smile. Given the distance between them, Mera didn't even notice. Without warning, a small mechanical arm holding a rifle extended out from the Centurion's shoulder. It immediately locked on to Mera's current position and began firing.
Surprised by the rifle fire, Mera instinctually jumped out of the way. Rather than strafe to either side like with the first blast, she jumped into the air. With her Ga battle armor enhanced strength and reflexes, she flew pretty high into the air. It was not the highest she could jump, but it was more than enough airtime to leave her vulnerable. Exactly as the pilot had planned.
"Gotcha," the pilot said.
The Centurion's blast was charged and ready to fire. The pilot adjusted his aim to the spot where Mera would eventually land. He had set the perfect snare, and Mera was rapidly falling into it like an animal caught in a trapping pit. She looked on in horror as she realized what had happened. There was no way to change her course of direction in so little time. And she would never be able to survive a direct hit from the mech's charged blast. This was it for Mera. Her quest ended before it had even really gotten started.
"Gaia, save me!" Mera screamed.
"The only true god is Ios!" the pilot growled.
The mech fired a massive green blast, even larger than the previous one, just as Mera was about to land. There was absolutely nothing she could do to avoid being hit by it. If the impact didn't kill her outright, the proceeding explosion surely would.
Suddenly, a cloaked figure zoomed from out of nowhere directly towards Mera. Their speed was unnaturally fast. Not impossible to track, but noticeably faster than someone running on sand should be capable of. They stopped in front of where Mera was about to land, right before the blast was about to make impact. In a flash, the hooded figure drew a purple sword of light and deflected the green blast of energy out towards the sky. Her sword technique was flawless, perfectly maneuvering the blade to deflect the entire length of the blast without setting off the explosion.
Still in awe of what she had just witnessed, Mera landed safely behind this unknown figure who had come to her aid. The speed of her movement was so fast that it caused the hood to fall off her head. Before Mera, stood a tall, slender figure in metal boots, black pants, and a brown cloak. Her purple hair was tied back in a ponytail, but glowed brightly in the desert sunlight. A warrior the likes of which Mera had never seen before.
There was something about this person that Mera couldn't quite put into words. Being in her presence felt strange. Like when she stood before Gaia. But this person was no goddess. Or at least they didn't seem to be. Their clothes were worn, clearly from a life of struggling to survive. Their demeanor was coarse, like that of someone who had suffered much in their lifetime. If this person was a goddess, she was entirely different from the Goddess of Life.
The pilot too stood by in shock at having seen his enhanced attack deflected so easily. The blast hadn't even exploded on impact with the sword, as had always been the case in the past. By all rights, what he had just witnessed shouldn't have even been possible. What he had felt towards Mera before this moment was adversarial respect. What he felt towards this new enemy was fear, plain and simple.
"Who are you?" the pilot asked.
"You won't be around long enough for it to matter," the warrior said.
Sword in hand, she ran towards the Centurion at a breakneck speed, still completely unfazed by the sand. Trying his best to read her approach, the pilot attempted to swat her down with the mech's hulking, metallic left arm. To Mera, it looked as if the swordswoman had passed right through the Centurion, like a ghost. She appeared behind it with her sword in hand, facing the open desert.
Suddenly, the mech's left arm fell to the ground. It had been severed just below the shoulder. The cut was clean and at an impossible angle compared to what Mera believed she had seen. The warrior would have had to jump in order to make that cut, but it appeared as if she had never left the ground. Furious, the pilot wheeled around, still trying to fight with the Centurion's one good arm. He raised the mech's hand and fired several smaller, faster green blasts from its right arm.
"I'm not done yet," the pilot yelled.
The warrior turned around to meet her attacker. With one hand, she used her sword to deflect each of the blasts. Her movement was immaculate, as if practiced a thousand times. After the barrage of failed attacks ended, she lowered her sword to her side as if placing it into a sheath that didn't exist.
"Neither am I," the warrior said.
The pilot had already lost the fight. For within himself he was already defeated. Any confidence he still carried had evaporated with the deflection of each of those smaller blasts. The fear on his face was unmistakable, but it was the defeat in his heart that pained him the most. He closed his eyes one last time. The outcome was inevitable and he had already accepted it.
"Hyper slash!" the warrior yelled.
Like a bolt of purple lighting, she drew her sword and flashed forward through the Centurion. She stopped right in front of Mera, not even taking the time to turn around and see her foe off. Suddenly, countless cuts appeared all over the Centurion and its pilot. He screamed one final time. Then the mech exploded into dust.
The swordswoman's blade disappeared, leaving only the hilt in her hand. She put it on her belt and then looked down at Mera, still sitting on the floor after her brush with death.
"Are you alright?" she said with a smile.
Mera looked up at the figure. She didn't appear to be much older, but her ability and demeanor made her seem ancient compared to Mera. Who was this person, and why had they saved her? On one hand, Mera was thankful. Her life had nearly come to an end before it had even really begun. She was only alive now because of this heroic stranger. On the other hand, Mera was terrified. Whoever this person was, they wielded more power than Mera could even comprehend.
"Yes. Thank you for saving me," Mera uttered nervously.
"Think nothing of it," the warrior replied.
She bent down and helped Mera to her feet. She wasn't much taller than Mera, but her presence was still quite intimidating by comparison. She had an aura about her that felt strong. Not threatening, but still quite dangerous.
"Who are you?" Mera asked.
A sad expression formed on the warrior's face as she looked away from Mera's gaze.
"I don't know who I am. But you can call me Nia," she replied.
"Well, Nia, I know who you are," Mera said with a smile.
Nia looked back at Mera with a surprised expression on her face.
"You do?" Nia asked.
"You're a hero," Mera replied.
Nia smiled at the kind words. Like Mera, she had traveled alone for some time. Mera asked why she had saved her, but the truth was that she just happened to be passing by. Nia had lost her memory and didn't know anything about her past. She said that something had drawn her to the desert. A feeling that she couldn't quite explain. So she followed it hoping to discover something about her past. By some miracle, it had led her here at exactly the right moment to help a fellow Rigan in need.
"So you're a Rigan too?" Mera asked.
"No idea. I woke up one morning with no memories and was on planet Rig, so I just assumed I was from here. Couldn't tell you anything about my life before that day," Nia replied.
Mera felt sorry for Nia. She thought she knew what it was like to lose everything, but she couldn't imagine also losing the memories of everything she held dear. That seemed worse in many ways; because she wouldn't even be able to appreciate the things she had lost. She couldn't begin to sympathize. She had no idea what Nia was feeling or what she had lost. However, she could be a new friend to Nia. So, she decided to do that.
"Where are you going?" Nia asked.
"Honestly, I don't really know. I too am being drawn to something. That structure in the distance. I don't know what's there, but I feel like it's where I'm supposed to go," Mera said.
"Up until this moment, it felt like I was being pulled towards something. For whatever reason, that feeling is gone now. Maybe I was meant to find you."
"I don't know what lies ahead. But if you want to join me and Orb, we'd welcome the company."
"I think I'd like that. Thank you."
Mera, Orb, and Nia continued on together towards the great stone structure hidden away in the sands of the Pylon Desert.