Phantasy Star: GRM's Secret Member

[A. Zerran]

Prologue:

"We ask ourselves a lot of questions...us humans. We ask why we created newmans, casts, or even beasts. We even ask how were the SEED created. Me...I only have one question to ask myself. What the hell am I doing in a different system in a different dimension?"

"It all started after the night I hit it off with my true love. But I can't remember the details. Just when that 'Reality Walker' was showing me some sort of 'greater destiny', 4 months later, here I am, fixing giant mechas and doing mercenary jobs from the oddest to the most dangerous. And I have only one to thank for all that."

"GRM. My name is Adam Zerran, a secret member of them. And this is my story."

-End prologue.

[A. Zerran]

Chapter 1: Suspicions

"If we didn't have God dammed mercenary contractors in the Gurhal System, then we'd be dead by now! Us Little Wing Mercs are more important then you AMF brasses can imagine! Even the independent mercs are still necessary!" -Kraz Muhler, protesting for the rights of all contracted or legal mercenaries in the Gurhal System during a session with the AMF about how mercenaries are beginning to lose their use some days after Emillia and company saved the system.

It was a cold Tuesday morning. 40 degrees Fahrenheit mixed with a foggy sky was an unusual climate for Parum, especially during the early spring time. Due to this weather, some of the early morning restaurants and shops in the city were closed. But despite this weather, the streets of Parum's capital city were bustling with people and vehicles trying to rush all over the place to get to their work places and jobs.

It was 8:43 AM, the 25th of March. There was a particular and most peculiar restaurant made for all three meals of the day that was still open in this weather, simply called Crazy Theds. A somewhat childish looking human male with an emerald green Braves Jacket and a pair of goggles on his forehead was sitting at a table near a window, reading a holo-paper and drinking coffee. Right when he finished drinking, he got a call.

He responded to it with, "Yo, this is Zerran." A much older voice with a thick German accent spoke on the other end. "Gutten morgen, Herr Zerran. I hear zat a new mercenary has come into existence in ze Gurhal System. He does odd jobs zat most mercenaries don't do on occasion. Is zis, perhaps, you, Herr Zerran?" The young human was a little surprised to hear that people started to know more about him. "...Yes, that's me, Mr. But who are you?" "I cannot reveal myself on zis form of communication, Herr Zerran. I'm going to have to meet you in person. Meet me at ze city's fountain square."

The young male sighed. "Alright, sir. I'll see you there soon then. But you better be ready to pay me. I don't come cheap." "Ja, ich danke Ihnen, Herr Zerran", the other responded. After ending the call, the young one got up from his seat, paid for the coffee at the front counter, and bought a sandwich to go. After leaving the building, he went to the parking lot, got into a hover bike registered to him, and drove to the fountain square.

20 minutes later, he arrived to the fountain. There was only one person there, it seemed. The young male parked nearby, and walked to the person. He was a tall human for his stature. The tall male had a handsomely groomed mustache and a black, detailed jacket with a hoodie. "Are you Herr Zerran?", asked the human. "Yeah, I'm Adam Zerran, Pilot-Hunter for Hire. So, who are you and what can I do for you?" The hooded one hesitated, then replied, "My name is Geram Swaztick. And I think my life may be in danger. So, I need your help."

"Hm", said Adam. "And what has this got to do with me? I'm a specialist mercenary. I don't exactly do protection jobs..." "Well...I can pay you 35,000 meseta for figuring out who is out to kill me, and an additional 120,000 if you bring zem to me. 200,000 if you kill zem." "Okay, that amount of money I can accept but....wait, someone's trying to kill you?! Who, Mr. Swaztick?!" "Zat I am unsure. But zere were several attempts at my life. Whoever zey are, zey are experts at what zey do. Unlike legally contracted mercenaries, zey use assassination tactics and out of the ordinary and illegal methods to kill. Obviously, zey're getting paid, zat much I know. But ze person who's trying to, on ze other hand, is something I am confused of myself. I do not even know why someone would want me dead...my guess is zat it is because I am one of ze big executives of Tenora Works, and zat someone wants access to all ze funds and weapon products of our company."

"Wait, you're an exec of Tenora Works?", Adam asked Geram, surprised even more. "Ja, Herr Zerran, I am. To be more exact, I am ze only one who has access to our weapons funds and data transactions, other than our shopkeepers who have access to only a limited amount." "Well...", Adam said, "That's some serious shit. I could see why someone would try to kill you." "Really? All just for our funds and weapons? Now that I think about it, Tenora Works doesn't have much weapons of interest for criminals...despite ze fact zat most of our mass produced weaker ones are popular among rogues. But in any case, can you do it?" "...I'll do it. You're in good hands, Mr. Swaztick. Should you need my help, call me." "Danke, Herr Zerran. Good luck."

Adam left the square, and rode off, focusing on his first 'serious' mercenary job ever.

[A. Zerran]

Chapter 2: Professional or just damn lucky?

"Revenge is never sweet. It will only bring more grief to the person who exacts it." -Ethan Waber in a conference with the AMF on terrorism.

It was around midday, 2:45 PM. Adam had just began to further investigate upon the mysterious assassin who had several attempts at one of the top executive business men in Tenora Works, Geram Swaztick. Five hours ago, he found several clues as to who the assassin might be by checking out the exterior of Mr. Swaztick's home, as well the surrounding rooftops within 2 blocks.

"This is just strange", he talked to himself as he was sipping a can of ginger soda in his hangar bay, studying evidence that lead him practically nowhere. "This assassin knew how to cover their tracks pretty well...to a fault. They left some obvious clues, but these are just small stuff that can't implicate anything. Are they a professional...or are they just lucky?" He then sighed. "Ah, whatever. I'm not a detective, so I may as well just try to ask for help."

He then opened up his laptop and checked when the next available space flight would be for Clad 6. It was finally time to visit the place that he heard a lot of good things about. After examining ticket prices, the young mercenary picked the most affordable type of seating placement, which determined his total for the flight. "Huh...this is going to bring my funds down quite a bit. Even though there's no rent to pay, all the tools and materials I need, plus the food, are expensive. Is this really worth it?" He thought to himself for a bit, realizing the earliest flight would leave at 3:25 PM at this day.

"I'll do it. I have to, anyway. This is all necessary for my work." He bought the ticket, packed all the things he needed, and left his hangar bay. Upon arriving at the official Parum Space Port, and parking at the garage, he heard something. It sounded like footsteps. Is someone following me, he thought. He hid behind a car, and prepped his wand rather than his handgun.

When he peeked to the left, he saw no one. On the right, there was nothing either. He shrugged, then walked to the exit, but carefully. Suddenly there was a sniper shot that apparently missed him by nearly an inch. "Woah! Shit! What was that?!", yelled Adam, now running to the exit. He got into the elevator, barely avoiding another shot. "Oh my kami! This guy is either out of focus or just toying with me!", he yelled again, his body trembling. "Either way, I thought I was toast there! Jeez! Why is someone trying to kill me all of a sudden?!" He eventually calmed down as the elevator reached the ground floor, and put away his wand as he peeked out of the elevator.

The coast seemed clear, but even so, he cautiously walked out, turning on his line shield in the process. After getting inside the port, he walked straight up to the check in counter. Surprisingly, the line was short today. When it was his turn, the man at the counter asked, "Hello, welcome to Parum's Official Space Port. Do you have your ticket?" Adam looked up at him. "Oh, you're quite young to travel alone, aren't you?" The pilot sighed and showed the man his ticket and his ID. The man was shocked. "Oh...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to judge you by your size." "No it's okay, sir. I get that all the time. And no, I have no baggage to store. All I have on me is what I'm taking with me", the pilot replied. "Also, please ask the port's security to allow me to pass without checking my bags. I'm a mercenary trained and licensed by GRM", he said that as he took out his mercenary license.

"You are, Mr. Zerran? Very well, I will let them know. Enjoy your flight, sir." The pilot nodded, then went straight to the security check. As he walked there, he noticed a suspicious looking man with extremely pale skin and goggles on his head. He had on him a case that is used to carry guitars. But this man didn't look like a guitar player. It appeared as though he was angrily searching for someone. At that, the young pilot walked more quickly. As he approached the check, he showed both his ID and mercenary license. "Ah, yes. You. The guy at the counter told us that a merc called Adam Zerran was coming", said the guard. He particularly had a deep voice as he spoke. "Go right ahead. We don't need to check your bags." "Thanks. Also, there's somebody following me and possibly trying to kill me. Look for a guy with super pale skin and a guitar bag, as well as goggles on his hair and he has brown eyes." The guard nodded.

Adam eventually made it to the ship after a few minutes of walking. He sat down at his assigned seat, exhausted and thirsty. At 3:45 PM, he arrived at Clad 6. He then went straight to Little Wing. Apparently, there was some people visiting at the time, along with Kraz just sitting on his chair and ogling at girls in bikinis...again. "Allo! Welcome to Little Wing! What can I do for you?", asked Chelsea, who surprised the young pilot. "Oh...um...well...", he struggled to speak, blushing slightly from Chelsea's appearance. "I'm here to see Kraz Muhler, Chelsea. In case you don't remember me, I'm that independent specialist mercenary and I need help with something", he said, quite shyly.

The receptionist cast gave him a big smile. "...Hm, give me some time to access my memory records. And...you have a red face, little one. What is wrong? Is it the way I look? Magnifique, no?" "I...I have no time for this trifle crap. Please, this is important. Ignore my blushes." "Oh, I'm sorry. Very well, I shall tell him. Monsieur Boss! We have someone who wishes to see you!" "Hm...right...give me a moment..." Adam was apparently depressed, but he pounded Kraz's desk to get his attention. "I need to see you now, Kraz!" Kraz lost his focus off of his ogling, and turned his attention to the young pilot-hunter after turning off the picture slideshow. "Hey, who the hell do you think you are? You can't just pound my stuff like that and expect me to be nice-" He interrupted himself. "...You...I think I've seen you before. Tell me, what's your name, kid?"

"Adam Zerran. The last time we met was when I was exploring around Little Wing 4 days ago. I remember we met and chatted for quite a bit. I also remember taking a French lesson with your friend, Chelsea, there." "Ohhhh! You! Yes, I remember! Welcome back to Little Wing, friend. What can I do you for, Mr. Zerran?", Kraz asked. "Well, for starters, a Tenora Works exec is in danger. And today, somebody tried to kill me. I think I saw him later on, but I don't know where he is now. I have evidence that shows there was an assassin who was trying to kill the aforementioned Tenora Works guy, but it's a bit of a false trail. So, I was wondering if you could give me some advice...and some protection for a time."

Kraz thought it over. "Hm. That sounds serious. You think the guy who tried to kill you is the same guy who tried to kill the exec?" "I'm not really sure, Kraz. But this guy is either a professional or just full of luck", said the pilot-hunter, trying to contain himself from having a nervous breakdown. "Well", said Kraz, "You can stay here for a while if you'd like, but I was thinking of my own plan for you, now that I've assessed the situation." "And what's that, Kraz?", Adam asked, curious as to what the beast was thinking. "Well it goes like this: Why not you temporarily join the Little Wing mercs as a cover so that we can watch over you while you're staying here? That also means someone will have to stay with you."

"Wow. That's perfect! You're a genius, man! But...who will stay with me?" Kraz smiled upon hearing that. "Well, first of all, thanks. Now secondly, I think the best person who should stay with you is Chelsea. She's taken care of people like a nurse before, and she has so many care-taking genre licenses that she's more than qualified." The pilot-hunter's face turned red. "But...Kraz. Her? She's kind of...uh..." "What's the matter, kid? You got some problem with nice looks?" Adam shook his head, trying to relax. "No, Kraz. I think she looks great, but-" "Good! It's settled then. You're part of the Little Wing mercs and you're temporarily living with Chelsea", Kraz interrupted him.

Adam just shook his head and shrugged. He thanked Kraz, and then walked up to Chelsea. "Ma'am, Kraz just told me that I'm under protection from Little Wing, and I'm temporarily part of the mercs. I'll have to live here, so he told me that I'm staying with you." Chelsea put on an even bigger smile. "Oh, but who wouldn't want to be with such an adorable little one such as you, oiu?"
Adam smirked, and then spoke some French he learned from her. "Mademoiselle, c'est un honneur d'être avec vous." Chelsea was suddenly surprised. "Oh! You! I remember you! I gave French lessons 4 days ago when you visited. Le jeune M. Zerran, vous êtes un vrai gentleman." Adam laughed. "Ahah...I couldn't understand half of what you said, but thanks, I guess."