Beam
Beam (later known by her Remnant name, Banzab) is a major protagonist and tragic figure in The Metalwood Saga. Introduced as the deadliest killgirl in Her Majesty's Navy and the lover of Phoenix (Megan), Beam's journey is defined by fierce loyalty, profound trauma, and devastating losses.
A highly skilled fallfoiler and swordswoman, Beam survives the brutal depths of the Under only to be thrust into a planetary war. Though she eventually rises to become the Warlord of the human settlement Lusvunub on Earth (Mar), her life is continually haunted by the people she could not save, culminating in her tragic death during the final war against The Twins.
Appearance and Personality
During her time in the Under, Beam is a nineteen-year-old girl described as slim, well-defined, and undeniably beautiful. She has short-cropped dirty blonde hair that she frequently pulls back into a ponytail. Her eyes are a striking feature: while Phoenix initially describes them as "the gray of cement, the gray of the Under," during moments of intense emotion, Phoenix sees them as "perfect, crystalline blue." As a killgirl, she wears a standard, skintight black synthsuit and carries a pinblade and steelstring at her waist.
Five years later, as Warlord Banzab of Lusvunub, the harshness of surface life drastically alters her appearance. She looks haggard, dirty, and sunburnt, with long jata hair (dreadlocks) that hangs nearly to her waist. She abandons the synthsuit for functional Remnant clothing bound tightly with thin straps of leather.
Personality-wise, Beam is a force of nature. She is sharp-edged, calm under fire, and highly calculating. Unlike Phoenix, who is driven by tempestuous emotion and anxiety, Beam projects an aura of absolute control. She is a pragmatic survivor who accepts that the Under is a "kill or be killed" environment. However, beneath her hardened exterior lies a deeply vulnerable young woman who loves fiercely. She struggles to articulate her feelings, often masking her guilt and sorrow behind a stoic, defensive wall.
Biography
Top Killgirl and the Whiproom
Beam grew up in the sky city of Newfris, surviving the brutal Under by becoming the top assassin (killgirl) for Queen, the ruthless leader of Her Majesty’s Navy. Beam thrived in the dark, finding a sense of belonging in the Crew and falling deeply in love with her partner, Phoenix.
Their lives unraveled during a botched assassination contract in the Cothellon whiproom. When Beam's steelstring clip failed during a "rafterrun," she plummeted to the floor and was nearly murdered by a mob of enraged men. To save her, Phoenix unleashed uncontrollable forcefinder magic, destroying the entire room. Because of the catastrophe, Queen demoted Phoenix to the trashboys, putting a severe strain on their relationship.
Mind Control and the Fall of Queen
Unknown to Beam, Queen was secretly a mindmaster. Queen used her dark poplar magic to manipulate Beam, forcing her to pull away from Phoenix and even engage in a drug-fueled physical relationship with Queen herself.
During a massive topside riot, Queen's control over Beam reached its terrifying climax. Queen forced a mind-controlled Beam to attack Phoenix with the intent to kill. The two women engaged in a brutal mid-air sword fight while flying inside Phoenix's firebubble. Despite the overwhelming mindmaster magic, Phoenix refused to strike a lethal blow against the woman she loved. When Phoenix kissed her, the sheer force of Phoenix's love and fear briefly pierced the fog in Beam's mind. Moments later, Beam broke free of the spell entirely and drove her pinblade through Queen's neck, killing the tyrant and saving Phoenix.
Earth, Death, and Resurrection
Following Queen's death, Beam, Phoenix, and Phoenix's young son Rylan escaped through a magical gate, arriving on the surface of Earth. They were immediately captured by the Remnant forces of Gulthurub, led by Zel and Segena.
Shortly after their arrival, Gulthurub was attacked by a squad of Eldrim archers. Unaccustomed to ranged weaponry, Beam was shot in the chest by an elven arrow, followed by several more. She bled out and almost died on the forest floor. Desperate and grieving, Phoenix unleashed a massive burst of "lifebubble" magic—a green forcefield fueled by pure joy—which miraculously healed Beam's fatal wounds and pulled her back from the brink of death.
The Tragedy of Stromboli
Beam fought alongside the Eldrim and the Remnant to stop Magona (Cariel) from activating a catastrophic volcano on the island of Stromboli. During the climax of the battle, Phoenix sacrificed her own life to reverse the volcano's eruption, dying permanently to save the world.
The loss of Phoenix completely shattered Beam. Consumed by grief, Beam could not bear to look at ten-year-old Rylan, as the boy's face was a constant reminder of the woman she loved. In a moment of profound weakness and heartbreak, Beam abandoned her surrogate son to the harshness of the Under and fled into the wilderness of Earth to start a new life alone.
Warlord Banzab
Over the next five years, Beam integrated into the Remnant society, adopting the name Banzab. Her ruthless combat skills and tactical mind allowed her to quickly rise through the ranks until she became the Warlord of Lusvunub.
During this era, she fell in love with a human woman named Lalban. Tragically, Lalban could not cope with the brutal, unforgiving lifestyle of the Remnant and committed suicide by hanging herself. Beam was devastated, discovering the body while it was still warm. In the agonizing moments following Lalban's death, Beam witnessed a ghostly Soul Tree briefly materialize over the body—a manifestation of Lalban's trapped soul.
The Final War and Death
When Magona summoned the Lusvunub army to Valaralda to fight the Anubis Twins, Beam led her warriors through the gates. To her utter shock, she was reunited with Phoenix, who had successfully resurrected from the dimension of Ambarhal. Though Beam tearfully apologized for abandoning Rylan and confessed she still loved Phoenix, the romantic spark between them had died; Phoenix could not forgive Beam for leaving her son to the wolves. As a peace offering, Beam gifted Phoenix a custom-made "fireblade"—a pinblade infused with dark ash.
During the apocalyptic battle against the Twin Nelenor, the ghostly Soul Tree containing Lalban's spirit suddenly materialized in the sky. When the Tree violently exploded into shards of volatile red magic, a jagged piece of soul energy struck Beam squarely in the chest, tearing her soul apart.
She fell to the ground, lifeless. Phoenix frantically attempted to revive her using soulsoothing magic, but the damage to Beam's soul was absolute. Beam died on the battlefield, leaving Phoenix and Rylan to mourn the fierce killgirl who had fought so hard to protect them.
Powers and Abilities
- Fallfoiler (Dark Maple): Beam was a highly capable fallfoiler. By burning darkprime maple, she could manipulate vertical gravity, allowing her to lift heavy objects, launch enemies hundreds of feet into the air, or arrest her own momentum to survive massive drops.
- Master Swordswoman: Queen considered Beam the greatest swordswoman in the Under. Wielding a pinblade, she was incredibly fast, lethal, and precise in close-quarters combat.
- Rafterrunning: Beam was an expert at utilizing a steelstring—a hooked cable worn at the waist—to swing seamlessly through the steel rafters of the Under. By combining her steelstring momentum with her fallfoiling magic, she could achieve pseudo-flight and cross massive distances in seconds.
- Tactical Leadership: Without the use of magic, Beam successfully commanded the hardened, brutal warriors of the Remnant, proving her strategic brilliance and natural authority as Warlord.
Key Relationships
- Phoenix (Megan): The great love of Beam's life. Their relationship was intensely passionate but complicated by the harsh realities of their environment. Beam was Phoenix's anchor, but Phoenix's death ultimately broke Beam. Though they reunited before Beam's final death, their romantic relationship was irreparably fractured by Beam's abandonment of Rylan.
- Rylan: Phoenix's son. Beam helped raise him and affectionately viewed him as her own, constantly promising to protect him. However, her unresolved trauma over Phoenix's death caused her to abandon him when he was ten, a decision that deeply scarred them both.
- Queen: Her manipulative Crew boss. Queen recognized Beam's potential and elevated her, but also abused her power by mind-controlling Beam to secure her loyalty and affection. Beam ultimately killed Queen to break her tyrannical hold.
- Lalban: Beam's lover in Lusvunub. Lalban's tragic suicide added another layer of immense guilt to Beam's conscience, and the resulting Soul Tree ironically became the instrument of Beam's own death.
- Keleb: Her loyal human second-in-command during her time as Warlord of Lusvunub.