The Freedom Survivor is a massive vessel, unrivaled by any other ship of her type in all the world. However, as impressive as she is, you still find yourself running into faces which dare to become familiar despite your best efforts to remain detatched. These moments are snapshots, individual enconters which carry little meaning without context, though you’re finding that this memorable scrapbook is starting to tell a story of its own.  

Raidou Tenjin had lived by one rule for as long as he could remember; the strong survive while the weak perish. Yet, despite all his power, the clan had chosen to cower in fear of his strength, forsaking his claim to the title of 17th leader of the Mugen Tenshin, thus sealing their eventual fate.

A battle-weary veteran seeks a quiet life alongside his beautiful wife and two children, but when his world is shattered by devastating news, an old friend offers him an impossible choice, risking everything he ever wanted in order to try and save them.

Forsaken not for who she is, but for what she symbolized, Tenjin no Ayane spends her days yearning for a home she’ll never have. However, home isn’t limited to stong buildings with warm beds, and can be discovered in those hearts which offer their love, even when nothing is expected in return.

Within Dworku Monastery’s stygian halls, twin acolytes Rachel and Alma tread destiny’s harrowing path, their entwined hearts burdened by knowledge of the sacrificial Awakening Ritual. Amidst arcane rites and whispered vows, they cling to their hierophant’s promise: One doesn’t pay more than one owes. Still, some give all. Fueled by both passion and fear, Rachel vows to shield her tender-hearted sister from fate’s cruel grip, ready to embrace the ultimate sacrifice to ensure Alma’s safety, but in a world where hope flickers like a dying candle, is her courageous resolve enough to defy their Lord’s fiendish will?

War is hell, or so they say, but even in the harshest desert heat of southern Turkey, Colonel Lauren Bardakci finds her sweet oasis in the arms of an indomitable NATO fighter, Leon Veardi. That is, until one fateful afternoon the devil comes knocking to collect his dues.

Late night movies and softball team pizza parties shared alongside loving parents and deferential little brother fill Victoria Wallace’s dreams. Dreams are fragile things, illusions of perfection that shatter when touched by reality’s thorns, a truth she’s come to know all too well.

His soul stipped barren by muderous ravagers, Jack Wallace becomes a withered husk at the tragic age of ten. When all the heroes are dead and only villains remain, he can’t back down or turn away. The end comes for us all, but some deserve express deliveries more than others.

As a young girl, Fang Leifang’s view of the world’s magnificence was limited to history books and adventurous tales spun from her family’s lips. Ambition swells heavy in hearts which yearn for excitement, but when given the oppotunity to shine an ugly truth stains her perception, causing her to question everything she’s ever been told.

Valerie Cox doesn’t question her duties or complain of her burdens, suffering under their impossible weight on shoulders too young to carry them. Despite being the linchpin of so many lives, her own secrets threaten to become her heaviest millstone to bear, but could she ever share the yoke with another? The cost seems too high…

Across the world his work carried him, his accomplishments key to unlocking innumerable scientific breakthoughs. Yet, when faced with the mounting costs of IBR’s Aetherius program, Sonny Delos Santos must choose between remaining loyal to friends and colleagues, or pursuing absolution for his research’s grave hubris.

Where many see coincidence and luck, Pedro can’t shake the feeling that his life’s recent turmoil is a symptom of deeper, nefarious intention. Surrounded by friends and allies vying for his trust, he looks toward the city’s darkest corners to uncover the truth. Yet, when one looks to snakes and wolves for perspective in deception’s den, it’s of little surprise when one ends up with a little blood on their hands.

Despite her family’s wealth and the countless opportunities that accompany it, Helena Douglas pines for the chance at exploring another path. Yet when given the chance to shine her brightest, a painful truth presents itself: the Douglas name is a gilded cage from which no one escapes unscathed.

When the world can only see Bass Armstrong’s daughter, despite her best efforts to blaze her own trail, Tina resolves to make a mark on the world so deep it can be seen from orbit. Though her quest feels genuine, in the middle of the night she lies awake wondering if she’ll ever crawl out from under her father’s shadow.

Excellence is earned, not given. This inexorable truth permeates Lisa Hamilton’s every memory, spanning a lifetime of hard-fought victories and bitter losses, but when one chases the horizon, they should expect no rest. Some say the road to hell is paved with good intentions, but how can one be expected to recognize it when the path to Heaven is paved with the same stones?

“Starving Artist” is a stereotype Romina Pereira struggles to avoid falling into while studying abroad in Hong Kong, but when desperate times force her into the city’s dark underbelly, she discovers new purpose within the darkness. However, the lines separating honor from disgrace are a razor’s edge which often leaves behind bloody scars no matter which side one falls on.

Hitomi Buchfink was raised on stories of her father’s exploits and her mother’s culture, left longing for an outside world she had never seen. So, when the first Dead or Alive World Combat Championship was announced, it was no surprise that her desire to compete in that arena consumed her future plans, but as the saying goes, the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.

Mistakes are expensive and dire consequences have an unspeakable weight, but no one told them it was a burden they couldn’t share with another. Does the grim past have to condemn an entire future, or is there another way? In this unlikely oasis, redemption is found where it’s least expected; in the arms of exiles.

The tragedy of self-awareness mimics a broken mirror. Innocence and imagination become twisted broken shards, a shattering that defies mending in the wake of truth’s hammer. When confronted by this awakening a young woman faces a harrowing choice: Struggle pretending she’s still the same, or seek absolution through new self-discovery.

We bury our dead, shed our tears, and scrape together the pieces of our lives that remain after the wake. For some, time grants closure marked by a polished stone on an empty grave, but for others, another question lingers in the back of their hearts: What will happen when the ghosts finally come home?

While the world remained cracked, he worked himself to the bone attempting to mend its fractures; fractures that he himself had created. However, great opportunities often have the most inopportune timing, and when the devil comes knocking with a clean slate in his hands, Jack must choose between his future… or hers.