26Chapter 2: The Man Called Cayde
Accessing File: The Utroms
The Utroms are a peaceful technologically advanced species hailing from the planet Magonia. Physically, an Utrom is a small light creature with an average height of 30cm. Members of this species are hairless and generally pink, although they can also be found in yellow, orange, purple, and red hues. Strangely, they resemble a Human brain. They have eyes, a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth, and a number of tentacles to move upon and manipulate with, although they lack any noticeable nose.
The Utroms seem to possess a level of psionic abilities as the Utrom High Council, the main governing body of Utrom society, are capable of linking their minds together when they deliver judgement on criminals. And Brain-Navigators, a trio of starship pilots, are mind linked together to better navigate Utrom starships and to give advice to Utrom captains.
Over the many years of their technological civilization, the Utroms have grown to dislike walking and now prefer to utilize Human-shaped exosuits or hover pads to move. It is unknown why they would utilize a humanoid exosuit unless this is only used around humanoids, or perhaps they see the Human form as a perfect adaptation. Given their effective lack of appendages, much less opposable digits, it is unknown how the species became so technologically advanced.
Unless injured or diseased, Utroms have long lifespans, lasting centuries or even millennia in accordance with Earth years.
Fifty thousand years ago they were once in a state of civil war when a faction of Utroms believed that their kind so bring order to the universe through conquest. This event was the first known recorded instance of conflict in Utrom history, and it ended with the peaceful Utroms banishing their warlike cousins to Dimension X where to evolved to have much longer tentacles to move around and renamed themselves the Kraang.
Today the Utroms serve as part of the United Stellar Alliance but prefer to serve as engineers, pilots, diplomats, and advisors and not any military roles to keep with their peaceful nature. Any combat they do take makes use of stun weapons and non-lethal martial arts techniques. Some of their accomplishments today include creating a transmat device to send galactic citizens across planets, brokering an armistice with the Cabal Empress Caiatl, helping Eliksni society rebuild after Misraaks, Kell of Light overthrew his people's corrupt leaders, and brokering a peace treaty between the Gaia Union and the Triceraton Republic.
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Accessing File: Cayde-6
Born Cayde Reynolds on the planet D'Hoonnib Cayde had enlisted in the Gaia Union's military at the age of 18. Years later he would be discharged for being "creatively reckless" and would then find work as a bounty hunter. During this time he got married and had a son, records of their names are unknown and only the nicknames he gave them "Queen" and "Ace" have been discovered.
Cayde is known for making bets, most of which he loses, and ends up with a large debt that he has to pay off.
During his bounty hunter profession, he came across the Eliksni mercenary Taniks, the Scarred who would kill several of Cayde's friends. Cayde would eventually go to Earth and learn how to use Aura and Semblance giving him the power he would need to take out Taniks. But because Taniks was more machine than Eliksni his crew would find a way to resurrect him every time he died.
Cayde would eventually get in an accident on Earth and end up an Exo. During the first few weeks as an Exo he lost some of his memories and spent time remembering them.
Last November he was hired by Anastasia Bray to help her investigate a secret Clovis Bray facility located on the Jovian moon of Europa. It was here Ana's fireteam discovered rogue Eliksni making use of a dark power from another universe and had begun to search for the Spiral Gem of Creation. Cayde and the members of Ana's fireteam would gain the dark power Stasis and use it for good. In the final battle against the House of Salvation Eliksni Cayde would confront Taniks, the Scarred one last time and kill the mercenary for good.
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Xxx
Sidayom System,
Planet D'Hoonnib,
Peblak City,
Earlier…
"Well, that was fun." Said Cayde-6 to himself as he walks out of a building on his home planet.
To his right side he sees delegates from the Gaia Union guarded by human soldiers in brown uniforms and to his left he sees the Triceraton Republic delegates and their bodyguards. The Triceratons are a race of 6'3ft aliens that resemble an anthropomorphic triceratops. For over a century the Triceratons were an enemy of the Gaia Union but after their previous leader Zanramon was overthrown by the Triceraton warrior known as Traximus he restored the Republic to its code of honor and returned power to its senate.
And when they started to enter peace negotiations with the Gaia Union many had been shocked by this as no one ever thought the Triceratons would enter this sort of negotiation. And with the Utrom's mediating this exchange they hired Cayde to help in maintaining security for the peace talks and the mercenary wasn't exactly one for giving up on an easy job to make some quick money.
'Just never thought I'd ever come back to my home planet.' Cayde thought to himself.
When his old commanding officer General Blanque discharged him, Cayde made very little trips to D'Hoonnib and then decided to never come back to the planet entirely after he became an Exo. He remembered how despite the Sidayom System being part of the Gaia Union General Blanque made sure that robots or 'toids as some would call them here had no rights in this system. Though that law was changed after a professor named Zayton Honeycutt, nicknamed the Fugitoid, was able to escape the system and seek asylum with the Utroms.
Professor Honeycutt was originally a scientist who General Blanque kept trying to pressure into making a transmat device for the Gaia Union, but he learned that Blanque had intended to use it as a weapon against the enemies of the Union. Honeycutt refused but one day when Honeycutt had just donned a prototype of a mentawave helmet, a brain wave amplifier, (used to give the wearer telepathic and telekinesis mental powers), for a test, an accident occurred when he caught the thought waves of his worker robot SAL who was caught outside in a tangle of cables. As Honeycutt wanted to help him, an electrical storm broke; lightning struck Honeycutt and SAL and caused the helmet to short circuit, so Honeycutt's personality and intellect were transferred into the body of his android companion SAL. This event turned Honeycutt into the Fugitoid. General Blanque had been watching the entire series of events and was very pleased at what occurred. As robots had no rights in the Sidayom System Blanque could force the Fugitoid to make the transmat device.
Once the Fugitoid was on the Utrom homeworld of Magonia he shared with them the information he had on Blanque and that information was presented to both the United Stellar Alliance and the Gaia Union. Both galactic powers were quick to act in the arrest of General Blanque and synthetics were given full rights within the Sidayom system.
'Man, if Blanque were here he would probably die of a heart attack.' Cayde thought to himself. Having served in the former general's army Cayde knew firsthand about Blanque's hatred for the Triceratons and the idea of a peace agreement with them would have been too much for him to bear.
"Thank you again for accepting this job Mr. Reynolds." Said an Utrom operating an exoskeleton that walked up to Cayde. This Utrom was Captain Mortu.
"What can I say Mortu? I maybe a mercenary but I'm the kind of mercenary who like to give peace a chance." Cayde replied nonchalantly.
"Nevertheless, your help was much appreciated." Mortu said in response. "I've had the taydens sent to your account until we meet again Mr. Reynolds."
After saying his farewell to the Utrom Captain Cayde made his way to the spaceport and entered his personal jumpship.
"Alright now were too." Cayde says to himself as he pulls up his star chart.
As a galactic mercenary Cayde was constantly keeping himself on the move always looking for the next adventure to embark on. He could go anywhere in the galaxy; Balubia, Akiridion-5, Malurok, anywhere really. The hardest part of traveling when you have nowhere to keep you grounded was trying to figure out the best place to go next.
PING!
PING!
PING!
Cayde looks at his ship's monitor showing that he was receiving an incoming transmission from an unknown individual.
"Sounds like I'm being hired for a new job." Cayde says to himself as begins typing in a command to his ship to answer the call. "Or it's someone else I owe money to; it better not be those idiot Vreedle Brothers."
The ship's monitor turns on to reveal a redheaded human woman with green eyes and a mixed skin color.
"Hello, you have reached Cayde-6." Cayde said in suave and carefree voice to the unknown woman. "And who might you be little lady?"
"Mister Reynolds my name is Kiva Andru." The woman identified as Kiva Andru replied. "I need you for a job and I can't exactly pay you."
"So how are you going to pay me?" Cayde asked in response. While he may take on jobs and some goodwill work, he needed an income to help him get by in the galaxy.
"What if I were to say that you helping me would help save the Earth in the 31st century." Kiva said as the Exo's eyes widened at what she said.
The woman known as Kiva smirks knowing that she now has Cayde's undivided attention.
Cayde tried to wrap his head around that comment she said. Save the Earth in the 31st century? While he may have encountered a time traveler before there was no way that he was that lucky to meet a second time traveler.
"And how am I supposed to help you save the Earth's future?" Cayde asked skeptically. Before accepting this job, he might as well see what it was that this Kiva woman was asking him to help her with.
"In the 31st century the forces of Earth have been decimated by the Glorft." Kiva explained to the Exo. "They'll become a powerful empire bent on galactic domination with Earth as one of their prime targets. I originally tried to time travel to 3035 to the Battle of the Last Stand in order to pilot a new mech of incredible power to defeat the Glorft. However, their Warmaster launched an attack on us right when I was making the jump to the past. And said attack caused me and the mech to overshoot and end up here in the 21st century with some of the 31st century Glorft."
"And how exactly did you manage to get my contact information?" Cayde asked the time traveler.
"You're actually helping the Earth Coalition in my time and apparently you've been using the same contact information for a thousand years." Kiva explained.
'Exos technically don't age.' Cayde thought to himself before asking. "This all sounds interesting and while I am willing to do charity work how can I be sure that you aren't just making this up? For all I know you might be working for someone that I might have crossed in the past."
"You really don't believe me?"
"How about this, let's have a bet." Cayde said in response to Kiva's question. "If you can tell me something about me that no one else knows then I'll believe you and help you with whatever it is your trying to do to save the future."
"Ok. I know why you call your revolver the Ace of Spades and why you haven't been able to remember the names of your wife and son." Kiva answered causing Cayde-6 to flinch a little. "Before you became an Exo they died in an accident, and you haven't told anyone else about it. After that you built your hand cannon and used the nickname you gave your son for it. Even after their deaths you kept writing letters to them were you only called them by the nicknames you gave them and kept the letters close to you. And after you became an Exo, you forgot their real names with only the nicknames to go by on for them."
There was a brief period of silence between the future woman and the Exo. Cayde looked at Kiva on the monitor knowing everything she just said was correct. No one else but himself could have known this information. If his future self was indeed helping the future people of Earth out, then perhaps the one thousand years of living with this sort of thing must have finally got to him and he just decided to tell someone at last.
"Alright looks like you just won the bet." Cayde said calmly. "So how am I supposed to help you save the future?"
"In my time the Glorft hired a group of Eliksni mercenaries called the Kell's Scourge to help ransack the worlds of the Earth Coalition." Kiva explained. "They'll be formed in five hundred years by an Eliksni called Siviks, Lost to None."
"Spider's brother?" Cayde questioned. "Makes sense that guy pretty much hates everything that he doesn't agree with."
"I've recently come across information that shows he is heading to a planet called Karava." Kiva said to the Exo Huntsmen. "If we can take him out now then Kell's Scourge will have never existed. Though this will only be a small change to history and not change the outcome of the war, but it will lessen our losses."
Cayde thinks about the situation for a moment. Siviks has always been a thug and a general pain in everyone's collective ass in the universe. Even his own brother has found him to be very impudent and shortsighted. So, it would be in everyone's best interest if this Eliksni were to just die for their sake and the sake of the future.
"Alright kid I'll take you up on the job." Cayde said to Kiva.
Xxx
New Jersey City, State of New Jersey,
Goat's Junkyard
"Thank you, I'll see you on Karava Cayde." Kiva responded before turning off the transmission.
"COOP!" Kiva called out to the pilot of Megas getting his and Jamie's attention. "Get Megas ready we've got a mission to another planet."
"Really? Nice!" Coop exclaimed in excitement.
"We'll only need the Megas 01 unit." Kiva explained as she approached him and Jamie. "Where we're going will only acquire a single mech and if we're lucky we may not need it."
"Hopefully I'll get to smash something." Coop said in response.
"So why are we going to another planet this?" Jamie asked.
"I'll tell you all on the way but what we're doing this time may help the people of my time." Kiva said as she looked up at Megas. After everything they'd been through, she could only hope things would actually go smoothly for once.
She didn't realize just how wrong she was going to be.