Log 1 - Project H.E.N.G.E.R.
"My friends," cried Doctor Richard Swift, arms spread wide to the crowd, "at long last, we have discovered a technology that shall bring an end to this war! We have found a way to save the lives of millions, human and monster alike! We have found a way to create intelligent beings that are capable of doing battle for us that will never turn against us! We have found a way to do the impossible: breathe life into nonliving metal!"
Whispers and murmurs spread throughout the gathered crowd in a soft, rippling roar. Doctor Swift smiled -- a slow, reassuring smile -- and waited for his audience to calm before continuing.
"My fellow Ageans, do not fear this technology. While great, it is perfectly tame when carefully programmed by the many scientists of Promiass Labs. Only we are capable of understanding the technology, let alone producing it. You are all in good hands. The best news of all is that the enemy is guaranteed to never use our technology against us: the Tochikan religion strictly forbids use of machinery to create life!"
A cheer exploded from the audience. Swift nodded, smiling broadly and encouraging the support for the project he was working so hard to promote. As the crowd began to shout out words of thanks and praise, the doctor bowed respectfully, waved, and made his way back into the cool, quiet lobby of the Promiass Labratory Building.
Once inside and away from prying eyes, he took a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed the sweat from his forehead.
---
"Sir, the AI program in the Melcarba units is faulty. We need at least another week to correct the problem before we can allow them to be sent out."
The engineer shook his head calmly, not moving as he stared critically out over the production lines. Row after row of slow-moving belts filled the massive room on the other side of the glass, each belt lined on the sides with technicians immersed in their work. Every few feet along the belts sat a human-sized, human-shaped jumble of metal parts, half-assembled and occasionally blinking emerald, mechanical eyes at one another. A few heads rotated around curiously, though most of the robots stayed still as they were worked on.
"Sir?" the head programmer asked blankly. The engineer motioned for him to come stand beside him.
"You see all those Hengers down there?" the engineer asked. The programmer nodded, nose wrinkled in confusion. "Every last one will be done by the end of the day, and I want Melcarba units in their places by tomorrow morning. AI doesn't matter; we're getting slaughtered out there. The stronger they are, the better."
"S-sir, you don't understand," the programmer stuttered, giving his superior a horrified look. "The program for recognizing Tochikans has a bug in it; the monster will attack anything it sees, even if it's an ally! It doesn't care what it goes after!"
"These machines don't care about anything," the engineer replied coolly. "Unless you've been programming emotions into them?"
"N-no, sir..."
"Good. Then I see no problem. The Hengers don't care who's giving them orders and still follow them; the Melcarbas will be fine as well. Now go give the program disk to all technicians."
"Y-yessir."
---
"Begin."
A panel in the wall on the far side of the room slid open, metal groaning as it dragged across metal. The Tiger in the room winced, pinning its long ears back against its mane against the agonizing noise. Another low groan sounded from within the heavy darkness that the panel had revealed, although this one made the Tiger lower itself closer to the ground, back away, and bare its fangs, snarling as a twin emerald glows flickered to life in the darkness.
A metal claw, massive, stepped out from the shadows, carrying with it the first Techno Dragon to come to life.
Panicking, the Tiger howled, lightning crackling across its fur before leaping across the room and striking the half Dragon, half Henger monster full force. It shook its massive bronze head as if clearing sleep before rearing it back and opening its maw wide. A blinding light, redder than blood, shone from the back of its throat.
The observing scientists all shielded their eyes from the resulting blast, pausing only to take note of the destruction before scribbling the findings down.
---
Galloping frantically, a Hare Hound tore across the searing sands of the Goat region, his tongue lolled out the side of his mouth from a combination of being winded and being so damn hot. The sand was sticking to the sensitive pads on his feet, which felt raw from taking so much abuse over the past few days. A Tiger could only run so far. He slowed to a trot, finally reaching the packed, damp sand where the tide was slowly making its way to low point. A wave rolled in, striking his ankles and swirling around them, cooling his burning paws. He heaved a sigh of relief and would have jumped right in were it not for his duty.
Off to his left, another Tiger, half Gali by the looks of her, was lying on the cooler sands and chuckling at him. He chose to ignore her and held his head high, dark brown ears held straight back in a sort of Tiger salute.
"Inoru-san?" he called to the human wading fairly close to the shore. The man pushed pale blonde hair out of equally pale green eyes, looking around for who had called him. The Hare Hound cleared his throat and tried again. "Doctor Inoru, am I correct?"
"That would be me," the man said, sloshing through the saltwater and making his way over to the brown Tiger, who sighed with relief.
"Message for you, sir. It's in the capsule attached to my collar."
"Thank you." Inoru kneeled down and carefully untied the small, wooden capsule from the monster's neck. He opened it, reading quickly through the short message before giving the monster a sharp look. "Is this true?"
"Yessir, seen 'em myself. No machinery in them. They smell real; not anything like the things Agea fights with. They've got souls, too."
"Yes." Inoru let out a slow sigh, shaggy blonde hair falling into his face again. He pushed it aside, shaking his head. A wooden monster, mocking the technological weapons of the enemy country and working in quite the same way... "I think I can see the problem here."
---
Author's Notes: All right, I swear the name of the Doctor was me just picking random first and last names out of a hat. And then I went and searched to see if it was a real person, and it was, so my apologies to the real Richard Swift. Dr. Swift won't be appearing past here, though, so no worries, right? XD;;
Yeah, so this entire fic is semi-AU. Only semi, though, because I've taken extensive notes on all the stuff I've found on this war -- in ALL the Monster Rancher games, so it's all of them in one (and not the anime -- sorry dudes). However, it's hard to tell which countries actually have which areas, since the games' continuity wobbles all over creation, so I'm taking a little free rein. :) Rest assured that there's probably a plothole somewhere that this whole thing will fit in! (And I swear this is the biggest chunk of AN crap you'll see in the entire fic. I promise.)
Guide to the Monsters of Log 1:
Melcarba Beaklon/Henger
Hare Hound Tiger/Hare
Techno Dragon Dragon/Henger
Disclaimer goes down here! I don't own Monster Rancher even though I wish I did! Tecmo has rights to all monsters and whatnot in here! Characters are all mine, however!