Mech Pilot who has something in their heart that is not in the world.
There is a hole in Vanessa's heart.
Not an actual hole, although given the shit she's endured and survived throughout her incredibly bloody career, you'd be forgiven for thinking it had to be one of those.
Who hasn't heard of Vanessa "Dragon" Bacha, after all?
The Sole Survivor of Parthax IX.
The Hero of Tenebrae Secundus.
The Scourge of the Gloriant Constellation.
No, the hole in Vanessa's heart is much more insidious, invisible to even the finest medical technology — and it's slowly been killing her for over a decade. Rotting her from the inside. And even though she's aware of it, there is nothing she can do to stop it.
It doesn't even have a specific shape. How could it? What shape does the absence of something have? Nothing, something that doesn't exist — can never exist — can't be quantified. Pinned down. Contained. Constrained.
And so, it keeps growing, day by day.
As her life with Boomboom would have, if not for that stray slug that cored her cockpit. Took away her heart. Removed her from the world. Removed them — the idea of them, the promise of them — forever.
