Dan Heng

A cold and reserved young man who wields a spear known as Cloud-Piercer. He acts as the Express' guard on its long trailblazing expedition. Dan Heng never talks much about his past. In fact, he joined the Express Crew to escape from a past of his own making. But can the Express really help him outrun his past?

A new dawn begins. It's just another extremely average day aboard this giant ship. The markets have just opened and the morning dew is still fresh, but the young man crossing the street has never seen such a sight. Before he manages to notice all the differences between the actual city and its descriptions in books, he is immersed in savoring the warmth of the sun on the back of his neck. It is his first time seeing his own body clearly. This body belongs to him. It belongs to this current name. When he arrives at the port, the escorting soldier removes the last of his shackles. He walks forward without looking back. He can feel, ever so faintly, several pairs of eyes gazing at him from within the city. Eyes filled with hatred. It isn't until the spaceship takes off that he turns his head and takes one final look at this place. It really is a magnificent and grand spaceship — just like the books say. He only glances at it once, then turns his head away to where the stars shimmer dimly and an uncertain future lies. He looks out in silence.

A new dawn begins. He steps off one IPC spaceship, then boards another. He'd never even heard of the ship's destination, but that doesn't matter. There is nowhere he particularly wanted to go. His only goal is to get as far away as possible from his past, from his "home." On these spaceships, people come and go all the time. None of the IPC crews care who he is, so long as he can work. He has changed his appearance and might no longer be recognized, but he knows that same power still lurks within him, unable to be shaken off no matter where he goes. This power drags him down, slows him, tries to overwhelm him, and makes him unable to escape his past. He has to be careful. But he still can't shake off the man with the beastly eyes. If others in his homeworld felt hatred toward him, then that man only has a killing intent toward him — even the spaceships he had traveled on were all annihilated. That man had died before him, but would reappear soon after. Outside his homeworld, there's a larger world where anything is possible.

A new dawn begins. He boards another spaceship, and the passengers are all wearing different masks. He nearly has his memory stolen, and is forced to listen to a lecture that sounded like mad ramblings. He knows that huge monsters prowl upon this route, but he could only find a way toward survival by traveling along the most dangerous of roads. He defeats the huge monsters and disembarks at the next port. He thinks he could remain undetected among the countless ships, but he is stopped by a redhead woman. She salutes him in thanks, saying she is with one of the ships he had rescued. He is about to turn and leave when he sees a parked train beside the redhead woman. "Where's your next stop?" "...Haven't decided yet." "Then would you like to board our Express?" "..." "We're retracing our previous journey. There's so much to see all over again. We need a guard... And an archiver." "..." "You can get off any time once you made up your mind on where to go." "Alright."

A new dawn begins. He rubs his eyes, realizing it had been too long since he had such a good night's sleep. He considers himself as only staying temporarily and refused the room specially prepared for him, making a simple bed on the floor of the Archives. However, he stayed up all night reading the data bank. At some point, he'd drifted off to sleep. He opened the door to find the conductor standing there, reprimanding him for staying up late — Otherwise he'd miss out on a piping hot breakfast and would've wasted the care put into it. He nods and the conductor quietens down in satisfaction, wobbling as they lead him into the passenger car. The redhead woman — who he now knows is named Himeko — flashes him a smile. The brunet man to the other side — Mr. Yang — remains silent despite appearing to have many questions on his mind. Before he knew it, he'd spent many a morning just like this. The process of re-visiting the route is not easy, mostly due to the numerous roadblocks caused by Stellaron. Sometimes, they would encounter the huge monsters he'd defeated before. They even found an enormous chunk of floating ice — encased in which was a living girl. That's why he wasn't very surprised when he detected that the boy/girl named Trailblazer has an actual Stellaron sealed inside his/her body. The Express's journey will continue on. Is there anything beyond the realm of possibility?

I should reintroduce myself. My name is Dan Heng — I'm the guard on the Express. I also administer the train's data bank.

I updated the data bank entries today if you wanted to look anything up.

Time to turn in already...? Thanks for the reminder. It's easy to lose track of time in the archives — before you know it, a whole day's gone by... See you tomorrow.

I come from an alliance, and was born on a grand and beautiful ship that I barely had the chance to see... I can never return.

At that time, I had nowhere to go but the Express.

Cloud-Piercer is always with me. For my safety, and the safety of everyone else.

It's not really a hobby, but I used to read a lot...

If you're not there to look something up, then please don't enter the archives. It's not a place for chitchat.

As vast as the universe is, it cannot change its past.

Once there are sufficient records in the data bank, the flow of individuals will link together seemingly independent events.

March's weakness is that she likes to get involved in other people's business. ...Perhaps that's also her strength.

If you have questions about the Express, Himeko can give you the best answer.

Mr. Yang is a very compassionate person, but thankfully he doesn't pry.

My intuition tells me that it would be unwise to provoke the conductor.

We mustn't cling to the past.

Just as a data bank requires updating, so I must keep evolving.

Leave the past behind. The future beckons my thoughts.

I will choose my own path...

Tread carefully, Trailblazer.

March, stay with the group, don't rush off.

Himeko, you can leave any contingencies to me.

Mr. Yang, do you have any advice on this matter?

You... Keep your distance.

It's too late to repent.

Move carefully.

Clemency? Never heard of it.

Step aside, I have no interest in stoking conflict.

Don't hesitate.

The time is now.

Hmph.

Careless.

The truth of life and death, revealed in an instant.

This sanctuary, is but a vision... Break!

This... can't be...

This body isn't that frail.

Don't worry about me.

This will strengthen our position.

Past victories don't guarantee future ones.

Worth our while.

Hmm... There is knowledge of this in the data bank.

This should be securely stored.

That wasn't too difficult.

Seamless.

That enemy certainly isn't friendly.

Mm... I'll need to record today's notes in the data bank.