*IMPORTANT A.N*

If you're new to this story, hi hello I started this like six years ago and the first few chapters are a mess so please don't be put off as they will be re-written (just as this one has been!) So save it for later or something if you really can't stand my god awful teenage writing skill. Or just take them with a pinch of salt, whatever works cause they sure as shit still make me cringe just looking at them.

I'll add some kind of indication with each chapter as it's been re-written so you won't be reading old materiel and getting confused and mixed up with slightly updated plot points.

Haven was a bit of a shithole, there's litter, open sewage lines, angry people who are filthy, overworked and starving, violence around each and every dull boring grey corner, the sun never seems to shine, our great overlord is a bit shit honestly, oh, and there's an invasion of very vicious creature bound to happen on any given day.

So Haven was more than a bit of a shithole.

But it was all I could call home, and in a weird way I kind of liked it. Granted if I was one of the unlucky ones to be grossly stricken with poverty I probably wouldn't have the same affinity for the city. Instead I was a Krimson Guard, a force to be reckoned with and a so called keeper of the peace, ironic considering Haven doesn't ever have any peace.

Regardless I still found myself being part of this feared force that powered through the streets. And I had once again found myself in one of the research labs discovering once again that my condition seemed to be impossible. I groaned and leaned back in my chair, Erol had left hours ago so it was probably well past time for me to just give up, again. Standing up, I fished the key card he had left behind from my pocket and turned all the power off in the room before locking down the control panel. The fortress was quieter than usual at such a late hour, there was a mere skeleton crew left hanging around, mostly talking and lounging rather than patrolling. I felt stares bore into the back of my head as I walked by, no one in the Guard was stupid, they knew I hung around with Commander Erol, they knew from rumors and gossip that he'd practically raised me. As far as they were concerned that painted a picture of me, I was dangerous, manipulative and protected, I could do no wrong apparently.

None of that was true of course, but it wasn't in my best interest to try and change their minds, none of them mattered to me. Their chatter turned to whispers as I exited the fortress, more gossip no doubt.

Haven had a fairly cold climate, one that didn't sit well with me. There was always a sharp breeze and dark clouds hanging in the sky, the threat of rain always present. I had walked into work that morning, something I was no regretting as the crowds that seemed to materialize at night were the unsavory type. They steered clear of me for the most part as I trudged through, some were settled into a false alcohol induced bravado and threw snide comments my way, followed by a hasty 'shush' from friends.

"That's the one they say has Metalhead blood."

"No you idiot! I heard they pump her full of enough dark eco until she rampages through the streets!"

"When have you ever seen that happen?"

"I saw it once."

"Don't be stupid!"

"No really! Her hands were covered in blood and she punched a guy right through a wall."

"Fuck off, that's not true! Look at her she's tiny!"

"She's too pretty to be one of those bastard KG, I hear she's young too, wonder what the commander really keeps her around for."

The group started to guffaw at my expense, nothing unusual, I still don't know if they think I'm deaf or if they just really don't care. Regardless, you grow a thick skin in this job.

I reached my apartment a few streets away from the fortress and was glad to finally just be able to flop onto my bed in peace. It was only three floors up, so not far enough away that it was quiet, but enough that the commotion and noise was muffled to a point where I could drown it out.

Hoisting myself up reluctantly I got ready for bed, throwing my boots and effects to the side and tending to a couple of new wounds I'd acquired some days ago, as a direct cause from protecting the same kinds of ass holes who would berate me and other KG in the streets. The Baron liked to think all of his secrets were safe, but the people weren't stupid, word spreads and people had a good idea of the kinds of things we did. Did I have metal head blood? Absolutely not, there also wasn't a drop of dark eco in me as far as I knew.

I collapsed into bed again and threw the covers over my head. A familiar warmth began to tingle on the surface of my skin, I rubbed my fingers together and red eco enveloped my palm. I wasn't the violent monster people believed me to be, I didn't know how I ended up like this, but I would always intend to use it for the good of every ass hole in this city.

Mornings were a terrible blight on the world, what made a morning worse than it already was? Almost shooting your commanding officer in the face.

I had been unceremoniously awoken my having something tossed at my head, I responded to this by immediately pulling the gun out from under my pillow and firing a bullet which just missed Erol's head as he ducked to the side.

"Christ Elie! You still sleep with a gun under your pillow."

"Fucking hell Erol don't do that! How the fuck did you get in here anyway?"

"You're door was open, again. Were you drunk last night."

"What? No! I came straight home."

"You wouldn't need the gun if you just locked your door."

I ran my hands through my hair and growled at him, "Why are you heeere?"

"The Baron wants to speak to you, you have five minutes" Erol called back to me as he walked into my living room. I slid out of the covers and tucked my gun away before throwing my uniform on, turning and searching through the covers to retrieve what Erol had thrown at me. My schedule for the week, wonderful. That usually meant a lot of patrols of the city. I followed Erol into the opposite room as I secured my belt around my waist.

"What does he want me for? And why didn't you just call me?" I questioned.

"I don't know, and I did try to call, you didn't answer."

"Well maybe almost being shot will teach you some caution."

"I'm almost shot on a daily basis."

I sighed sharply through my nose "Shall we go then."

Erol had come over on zoomer so I saw no point in taking mine as well, I hopped on the back of his and we quickly headed to the Palace.

Praxis did not look like the happiest of campers when we walked into the throne room, he looked the exact opposite of a happy camper. He was always grouchy but there was a definite difference between that and this. He was pacing back and forth, a small holo-pad clutched in one hand.

Erol approached him as I stood back a little, "Sir, Officer Elie."

The Baron stopped and turned his angry gaze to me, giving Erol a nod.

"I got a report this morning of high concentrated amounts of dark eco near the slums, and a whole squadron of my men gone missing. Ironically days after I ordered you to hunt down the exact cause of these readings. Why don't I have my prisoner back yet?"

Praxis was looming over me, his cold cruel gaze bore into mine. I may not have respected him, but I still harbored some fear of the power he commanded.

Sometimes.

"Apologies," I said none too interested as I inspected my nails, "I'm working on it."

"You try my patience girl." He swiftly turned from me and focused his attention on Erol, "I expect more from someone who you've personally trained Erol."

"Trust me Baron, it hasn't gone unnoticed." He replied calmly, his steady glare rested on me.

"Since not even one of my most skilled guards can seem to do anything useful, I'll have someone else handle this, You're both dismissed."

I stepped out of the room quickly and waited for Erol down the hallway, he approached me with his hands folded behind his back and gestured his head for me to follow him.

"Look Erol, I tried ok. This guy isn't normal, I risked killing him if I used...unconventional force."

"Then kill him."

"I'm sorry, it sounded like you just told me to kill the very person we've been trying to recapture unharmed for weeks."

Erol sighed, "We have a backup now, probably. If he dies then he dies, at the very least it's one less nuisance. Although I'd rather kill him myself."

I frowned both at the implication that he would take joy in killing someone and also this backup I hadn't heard of.

"What do you mean, backup? You never tell me things."

"Don't worry about it, I'm handling it. You just go get ready for your patrol, Your whole unit is taking the slums today, lucky you." He didn't so much as glance at me as he quickly slipped into his office and locked the door. I kicked it and stomped off.

I hated patrols, and I hated the slums more than I hated patrols. So jam the two together and it's just all in all a bad situation. I was bored, the old decrepit and usually stinking streets were depressing, and it was cold. I pulled my jacket closer to myself as I lounged around a couple of busy spots, honestly there wasn't much to look out for once you started overlooking the rebel movements. I clicked my tongue as I saw a scraggly, shifty looking teen warily assess his surrounding before slipping into a building I'd identified hours ago as a rebel hideout. Torn was getting sloppy with his recruits.

I checked the time on my comm-unit and sighed, an hour until the next shift change.

It was then that I noticed a couple of my men come around buildings on either side of me, guns up, like they were watching someone. I had expected this, my current location wasn't pure chance. I raised a hand to dismiss them, indicating I understood what they were doing. One nodded and turned back to his original post. The other hesitated, a fairly new addition to my squad, took another look around and then left with very little acknowledgment.

I felt that familiar twinge in my spine before I heard the footsteps in the deserted street. Dark eco had some serious way of setting me on edge. Like a pot boiling over, my own eco bubbled in response, but I was quick to settle it.

I'm honestly amazed he hasn't been caught yet, he's too predictable. And just casually walking through the city like that, not even trying to stay hidden. He'd turned onto my street a little ways from me, aiming for a small alley tucked away beside some buildings where I knew the Undergrounds main hideout sat. He hadn't even seen me.

I let off a short sharp whistle, that got his attention. He whirled around, drawing his gun. The little orange rodent that was forever perched on his shoulder cowered behind his head.

The whistle wasn't only meant to get his attention, but to also signal the all clear to my guards.

I pushed away from the wall I had been propped against and went to remove my mask, the front panel in my hand clicked out of place and I could only smile in satisfaction at the recognition on his face.

"That's not a very nice way to greet someone."

"What do you want?" He didn't lower his gun.

I moved to strap my mask on to the back of my belt, which only made him pull the weapon tighter to himself.

"I'd be careful going to the pumping station if I were you," I said as I held my hands up, showing I had no weapons. "My whole squads been tapped into your comm signal all day. Before you get angry at me, it's not my doing, but I'd ditch that unit as soon as possible. Oh, and there's an ambush waiting there for you."

I got little more than a disapproving glare.

"Look I'm just trying to help."

"Why."

I shrugged, "I owe Torn a few favors, let's leave it at that."

"Do we wanna know why a Krimson Guard owes Torn any favors?" The little orange rat asked accusingly, his voice annoyed me.

"You could ask him, I doubt he'll tell you though."

They both glared for a moment longer before the gun trained on me was lowered, the owner having stalked off.

I huffed, being generous was sure to get me killed at some point. My hands continued to shake as I retrieved my mask and pressed it back into place before casually continuing my rounds.

Seeing the next set of unlucky bastards who came to take our place was delightful. It was an effort to keep the relief from my face as I passed charge onto the new squads commanding officer. I decided to head to the Hip Hog to kill time before I reported back to Erol about my wholly uneventful afternoon. I silently wished there was a bigger selection of watering holes in Heaven as I walked into the dingy bar and was immediately met with the stench of smoke clinging to the air. Plus I hated Krew so that didn't help.

Lucky me however, he wasn't here. still no lack of unsavory types though.

"Hey Tess." I greeted as I approached the young barmaid.

"Elie, hey! Gosh you look a mess."

I was slightly taken aback and quickly looked at myself in the mirror behind the bar while Tess fixed me my usual drink. She wasn't kidding, I looked exhausted, probably from all the late nights and early mornings among other more life threatening reasons.

"Just not sleeping the best that's all, actually I suppose the lack of sleep is part and parcel of living here, huh?" Tess gave a small giggle of agreement, if only it was just the lack of sleep that had me looking so awful. We'd been so strained by metal heads poking at the city shields that I'd been exerting my eco more than usual, I was running on basically empty all the time.

"Plus there's that dumb kid who escaped the other week, you know the one Torn took on? He's barely been dodging recapture and it stresses me out every time I see him."

Tess passed me my drink smiling.

"So you're the guard he's been complaining about this whole time."

"Seriously? I'm nothing but nice to the guy, goes to show how much respect that's worth." I took a sip from my drink and slumped down on the bar a bit.

"Speaking of..." Tess trailed off as she looked at the door to the bar behind me.

I turned and caught his eye through the crowd as he walked in the door, also catching the scowl he sent my way, before turning back to my drink. Tess just smiled at them as they approached, but they were probably here looking for Krew. At least it looked like they'd taken my advice to avoid the pumping station.

"Why do I feel like it's a bad thing that we've seen you twice in one day?" The rodent asked as he padded to stand in front of me on the bar top.

"Why don't you go back to sunshine's shoulder over there before you find out, and you're sat skint on Krew's dinner plate." I said disinterested, slamming my drink back down mere millimeters from where he stood.

"You know Krew." 'sunshine' had decided now that I was worth conversation.

"I'm sorry, I was under the impression you didn't like KG."

His eyes narrowed, "I just need answers."

I snorted, "What's it to you if I do know Krew?"

"Fine. Don't tell me."

"Ugh, don't you have a way with words." I drawled, "Are you even old enough to be in here?"

"Are you?" The rodent asked accusingly.

"Touché, and to answer your question, yes I do know Krew. But why would you be looking for a slime ball like him?"

He shrugged.

"Informative." I finished the last of my drink and groaned when Tess had all but disappeared.

"Isn't it a little early for that?" The rat questioned as he stood above my glass.

"When you're a KG it's never to early for anything." I tapped my fingers on the table squinting at the small orange rodent. "Daxter, right? I heard him call you that."

"That's right!" The fact that I knew his name seemed to puff out his ego a little too much, "And my friend over here is-"

"Jak, I know you're name. Every Krimson Guard does. Erol won't give up his constant complaining about you after all."

"Why do you seem to be so buddy buddy with every crazy, dangerous lunatic in this city?" Daxter asked crossing his arms.

"Maybe because I'm a crazy, dangerous lunatic too, who knows."

Tess came back to her spot at the bar just then and Daxter was immediately enthralled with her presence. She seemed none too phased, instead reaching for my glass as I waggled it at her.

"Just so we're clear," I said turning to Jak, "I look out for you because I owe Torn, don't take this as me being on your side or anything. I might be a KG but I'm not heartless, you don't need to go back to all of that crap."

"Are you expecting a thank you?"

"No, I'm expecting you to take my advice and not get your ass thrown back in prison. Don't push it with me though."

Tess passed me my second drink which gave Daxter enough time to catch her attention. Jak seemed annoyed at his friend being so distracted and sat up at the bar.

"Tess." I called quietly, she looked up to me as I tipped my head in his direction, "Put it on my tab."

She nodded happily and got to work. Jak looked in confusion at the drink she placed in front of him. I chuckled lightly, "You act like you've never seen alcohol before."

"I don't think I have."

"I suppose you were in prison all this time. Trust me you need it."

With a warning glare thrown my way and a very quick, sceptical, inspection of the drink he pushed it away.

"I'm good."

I sighed, "Suit yourself."

Krew's incessant grumbling rumbled from the back room and I saw the expression on Tess's face drop, my queue to leave.

"Well, there's tub of butter for you now. I'll see you later more than likely." I had reached the door before turning around and shouting back to Jak.

"Hey! Don't trust a fucking thing Krew says, got it?"

I thought I saw him nod in response, so I left and began the trek home.