BiggerNate91: Honor Guard - A Joe Moraliste Origin Story

Instead of doing what Nate Clone did and writing my entire story before publishing it, I'll be working on it gradually as we did with some of the other ones.

Chapter 1 - A Noble Fighter
Perpetual night.

The planet Skallion did not orbit around a star, so its skies were always shaded with the black of night, with the dark blue tint of the atmosphere. The stars were always out, and often you could see the streaks of the galaxy painting the sky. It was truly a sight to behold.

At the top of a large hill, a little girl with dark blue skin and white hair looked up at the stars. She loved the sight of the night sky, and it seemed she could never tear herself away from it. She found the bright lights of Skallion's cities to be distracting, so she often went to the hill so she could see all the stars at once.

She smiled, the little gap in her teeth showing. She hoped that someday, she could travel to the stars and see them for real.

"Glow!"

She turned to see her mother coming up the hill.

"I told you it was bedtime ten minutes ago!"

Glow - short for Afterglow - pouted. "I wanna see the stars some more!"

Her mother picked her up. "You can see the stars tomorrow, they're always going to be there."

"I want to go there someday," Glow told her mother as they walked back.

"I know you do, Glow," her mother replied. "Maybe you will."

She then looked down at her pregnant body. "Maybe you and your brother will go together."

They walked in silence for a while. Then Glow looked back up at her mother. "Mommy?"

"Yes, Glow?"

"When is Daddy coming home?"

BiggerNate91 glared up at the beacon.

It was Zero Hour. BiggerNate's forces had the enemy on the line and were about to storm the moon base in front of them. The low gravity of Skallion's moon would weaken the enemy's defense, but it would also slow their assault. But it was now or never.

BiggerNate, or "Big" as he was known by his fellow Honor Guard, turned to his army. "We only have one shot at this. We have an opening, and we're going to take it. We're going to stop that beacon once and for all!"

He loaded his arm cannon that rested on his right arm. "FOR SKALLION!"

"FOR SKALLION!!!" The Honor Guard echoed loudly as they charged forward.

Immediately, the enemy battalion in front of them opened fire. The Honor Guard blocked the incoming shots by activating their force fields.

Heavy cannons began firing upon the Honor Guard, but they just kept on charging, intent on taking down the beacon that would mobilize all of the war drones that threatened to decimate the surface of Skallion.

Big leaped ahead of his fellow Honor Guard and opened fire. His arm cannon made a "PEW-PEW-PEW-PEW-PEW" sound as laser blasts tore through the enemy soldiers.

"Big, we've got Rippers inbound!" Big's friend, Mindvolt, shouted at him.

Big looked up to see the fighter squadron - dubbed "Rippers" by the Honor Guard - descending on the battlefield.

Big grimaced. "Keep giving them everything you've got. I'll take out the Rippers."

He activated his space helmet and flew away from the moon's surface toward the three-pronged fighter crafts approaching.

"Bring it on, mooks..."

A Ripper zoomed past him, which he promptly exploded with a direct hit to the engine. Another Ripper dove into a barrel roll straight toward him, but Big tore through the side of it with his wrist blades. It careened into the side of the moon base.

Two Rippers launched their proton torpedoes at the same time, which headed straight for the blue-skinned captain of the Honor Guard. He simply caught them in a zero-point energy field and threw them back to the fighter crafts that fired them. He turned his back and flew away as the Rippers exploded in a ball of flame behind him.

He looked down at the battlefield. Both armies had already been reduced to smaller numbers. Big tried not to think about his fallen Honor Guard friends and instead rocketed toward the base.

As hard as he could, Big smashed through the walls of the base and faced the security drones waiting for him. He quickly tore through them with his blades and continued on. He heard the Honor Guard behind him cheering for him.

Big stormed through the corridors of the base, making his way to the top of the beacon, determined to put a stop to it.

He wasn't going to let his nemesis destroy his people.

Especially not his little Glow.

Big blasted through the doors of the beacon's control room.

"DORIAN!!!" He shouted.

But it wasn't Dorian Domanex that was waiting for him...

"What the- Morgan?!"

The smooth face of Morgan Lancer, Dorian's second-in-command, turned around to face Big.

"Welcome, BiggerNate," Morgan sneered. "You really do not disappoint, do you."

"Where's Dorian?" Big asked, drawing his blades.

"He's not here," Morgan responded. "He's with someone else that's going to give Skallion a world of trouble."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Big growled.

"A pity you'll never know," Morgan grinned, as he lunged toward Big with a beam sword.

The two faced off, Big parrying Morgan's beam sword with his wrist blades. They slashed at each other repeatedly, tearing through the control room around them.

Big prepared to take a shot at Morgan, but before he could, Morgan kicked him in the chest and he stumbled backward. Morgan took out a restraint and threw it at him, pinning him to the wall.

"I'd finish you off right now," Morgan gloated. "But I figured it would be a lot better if you were alive to see this."

"He then pulled a lever on the main console. Big's eyes widened as the beacon began to glow brighter.

"It's over, BiggerNate," Morgan laughed.

Just then, a Ripper came out of nowhere and plowed right into the beacon. It exploded in a fiery ball of flame, sending Big and Morgan tumbling through the air.

Big landed on the top of the moon base, the impact knocking him out despite the low gravity.

Morgan, meanwhile, plummeted into the inferno surrounding what was left of the beacon.

When Big came to, he was on the ground a distance from the base. The Honor Guard was standing behind him.

They had their eyes closed and their heads down, a solemn look on their faces.

Big didn't know what was going on until he scanned the faces of what was left of his squad.

He didn't see Mindvolt.

Big turned around, horrified, as he realized who the suicide pilot of the Ripper was.

Chapter 2 - Homecoming
The shuttle rocketed toward planet Skallion.

The remaining soldiers of the Honor Guard sat in silence, all of them exhausted from the skirmish on the moon.

Big stared out his window. He was still trying to comprehend the fact that his friend was gone. Memories of his childhood with Mindvolt flashed through his mind, the two of them drawing graphic novels, discussing movies, playing video games...

He snapped out of it as his wrist communicator beeped. The shuttle had come into range of communication with Skallion. He glanced to see who was calling. It was his wife, Celeste.

Big sighed, and answered the call. "Hello?"

"Hi, Daddy!"

Big's face lit up to hear his daughter Afterglow's voice on the other end. "Hey, Glow! I thought it was going to be Mommy!"

Glow giggled. "Did you win, Daddy?"

"Yes, I did, Glow!" Big said, happy that he could talk to his daughter again.

"Are you coming home?"

"In a few days," Big said. "Tell Mommy that I'll see you and her then, okay?"

"Okay, I will!" Glow replied. "Bye-bye!"

The communicator went silent. Big looked out the window of the shuttle again, this time with a happy smile on his face.

A large crowd of Skallee citizens eagerly waited outside of the Skallion air base,ready to greet the Honor Guard of their return. Among them were Celeste and Afterglow.

Glow looked up to the night sky to see the shuttle break through the cloud layer. "Look, Mommy! There's Daddy!"

Hearing Glow, the crowd cheered upon seeing the shuttle, thrilled to see their Honor Guard returning.

The shuttle touched down on the landing pad, and the Honor Guard soldiers came out to see the crowd. One by one, every soldier reunited with their friends and family.

Big was the last to emerge. As his squadmates went to their loved ones, he made his way to his wife and daughter. They embraced happily.

"I was so worried..." Celeste said as she hugged her husband tight.

"I know," Big told her. "It was a close one this time..."

He then lifted Glow up in the air. "Hey there, Glowworm!"

Glow giggled as her father spun her around. "Wheeee!"

Big smiled as he set her down. "I just need to talk with Mommy for a bit, why don't you go see your friends?"

"Okay!" Glow said, and went to find her friends, who were in the crowd with their parents.

Celeste turned to Big. "Everything did go okay, right?"

Big paused, the sad look returning to his face.

"Big?" Celeste said, concerned.

Big looked back up. "I lost Mindvolt..."

"Oh..." Celeste said as she and Big embraced again. "I'm so sorry..."

"He..." Big started. "He sacrificed himself... we may not have won if he did what he did."

"Well, at least he went out fighting," Celeste said.

"I know... I just always feel like everyone's putting their life before mine," Big told her. "I've lost a lot of squadmates, you know."

"You're the captain of the Honor Guard," Celeste said. "You're more important than them."

"That's not true!" Big replied. "Everyone is important in our line of work!"

Celeste put a hand on Big's cheek. "You know what I meant."

Big sighed, and put his hand on Celeste's shoulder. "Yeah, yeah..."

He then looked down at his wife's pregnant body. "Have you been all right?"

"Of course," Celeste responded. "I can feel the baby tapping all the time."

"How has Glow been?" Big asked.

Celeste smiled. "Oh, he usual chipper self. She's been waiting for you to get back all this time."

"I bet she has," Big sighed. "It's not easy having a Daddy who has to go away all the time."

He looked up to the stars. "Someday, though, I will take her to the stars. Just like she always wants."

"You're so sweet," Celeste told him.

Just then, one of Big's squadmates approached the couple.

"Captain, your presence has been requested at the Grand Castle."

Big turned to face him. "What's going on?"

"His Majesty wishes to speak with you."

Big pulled away from Celeste. "I will take flight at once. Thank you, Lieutenant."

He turned back to Celeste. "I love you, tell Glow I'll be back soon!"

Celeste waved as Big left.