CHAPTER 1: Awakening

Year: 15 cycles after the Age of Rust

Location: Unknown

War. Carnage. Chunks of broken armor, circuit strips and dislodged opticals, strewn all over. Explosions disrupting already damaged sonic receptors. Plasma fire burning the skies overhead, painting a blazing, brilliant picture of death. Unknown screams. Friends and foe.

What is this? Wha.....

He awakens in panic, two menacing proton blasters clenched in his hands, their mechanical purrs indicating full charge, quivering with unbridled destructive energy. They are aimed at the ceiling above him. Nothing in particular. He is sprawled on the ground. Safe. Relaxes, looks around. Deactivates the blasters. Then wonders how he knew how to work them.

A nightmare. That was all there is to it. Where am I? What is this place?

He cannot remember anything. Slowly, he drags himself up to survey his surroundings. He is in what looks like a.....shuttle ship. Or what remains of it anyway. Nothing works. The controls are all fizzled out. Everything is offline. This whole thing is a junk. Crash-landing? How long have I been here?

There are no other bodies around the wreckage. Just him. Where did everyone go?

And then it hits him. The biggest riddle of all in this sea of wrecked riddles: WHO AM I?

He cannot recall. This is impossible! All his mechanical functions check out. He flexes his joints. Sheaths of armor move on neurological command, powered by intricate internal gears. His limbs fold at impossible angles. Armor upon armor, whirring parts and bits clicking into place in nanoseconds.

He is a vehicle. Powered. Robust. Engines revving. It just feels....natural.

Can I change back?

In a flash, the mechanical permutations repeat themselves. Backwards. He is standing upright again. Arms and legs free. Amazing!

He is here for something. What is it? No clarity comes in the fog of confusion. Just an...urge. To hunt. Hunt what? And then a chunk of digital information manifests itself in his central neuro-processor core. A download out of nowhere, streaking into his sentient consciousness. His inner optics call up a digital display:

Code name: Heavy Metal

Mission: Search and Destroy

Target: Sky Snake

A blip echoes on his right fore-arm, indicating a physical display unit built into the armor. He taps it and a mini holographic display projects itself. The projection is fuzzy, badly illuminated, interrupted by static. But one can make out its shape – an aerial vehicle. Assault-type. Is it a shapeshifter like himself? Apparently so. A second image projects. This time, an upright figure not unlike himself, but with different designs and aesthetics. Obviously the second form of the aerial vehicle.

“Hmmmph.” Heavy Metal grunts, then growls “I look better.”

He dials down the display, then heaves the twin cannons on his shoulders. “Well then. Let's find us some answers,” muttering to himself, he staggers out of the ship wreckage, surveying the barren planet he seems to be marooned on.

If this....Sky Snake is the only other being here. Then he shall be hunted down.