The first chapter of the (not really) planned sequel is finally here! Tbh I almost dropped the idea when I got stuck at some point near the end, but after seeing how the prequels are pretty popular I decided to try and write it anyway. It's the first time after a few years that I start writing without a finished plot, so the ending of the story is still kinda blurry at this point. Well, I hope that's just temporary and...

All those rants aside, the only things I own here are the plot and the next gen Mega Men and anything else belongs to Capcom.

End of Era

Chapter 1 – Return of Mavericks

The sounds of explosion echoed throughout the flying airship, shaking the whole vehicle as the airship's commander stood anxiously while looking at the screen in front of her. The halls were filled with mechaniloids of many shapes and sizes, taken down slowly by the remaining Guardian members.

Another explosion shook the airship, prompting the commandant to hold on to her chair from the violent shaking, "Commander Prairie! The left side of the airship had suffered major damage from that explosion!"

"Try opening the connection to the land unit once more!" Prairie went back to her seat and began typing on the screen, "There are too many of them for us to handle at once. We need to connect to Aeolus and Atlas from the Guardian Base in the city… Oh dear…"

"The connection signal was jammed!" one of the operators reported, "It seems like there's something in the city that interrupted our communication signals!"

The door behind Prairie slid open, exposing the sounds of buster shots and metal clanging as two of the highest ranking Guardian members stepped in, "Prairie, can't you get through to those two already?"

"Please hold out a little longer, Vent, Aile," Prairie replied without turning her eyes away from the screen, "I'm trying to see if I can get through to them."

"Well," Aile let out another charged shot before Vent slammed the door shut, "Ashe is helping too, but we need more people to help. Besides, we have to protect this room too because Estelle and Oriel are in there."

Aile turned to Prairie's room as Vent opened the door, but froze in place before he stiffly turned to Aile, "Aile, I think we have a problem…"

Aile could read the horrified look on her husband's face before she rushed to his side, finding only the sleeping Oriel on the bed and the floor cluttered with stuffed toys, "Seriously, that little troublemaker…"

Vent turned to see that Prairie was still busy with the controls before turning back to Aile, "She must've snuck out while she was occupied. I can't actually blame her for that, though…"

"This isn't the time to choose whom to blame, Vent!" Aile yelled at him in frustration as she pointed at the door, "Our daughter is out there, right in the middle of the dangerous battle field!"

"I know that!" Vent yelled in reply, "Look, I'll go out there and find her. You just stay here and hold the fort for us, okay?"

Vent dashed out of the room before Aile could reply and her yells was met with the shutting door, "You're not the only one responsible for her, you know…"

"This is…!" Prairie's loud voice drew Aile's attention as she headed to her side, trying to look at what the commander was doing. Prairie rose from her seat and looked at the Guardian in front of her with a serious look, "Aile, we need to hurry. I saw two figures wearing cloaks heading for the Ciel System. This attack was a setup to draw people away from that room!"

"Okay, I'll go and stop them," as Aile was running out of the room, Prairie grabbed her arm, "Huh?"

"Take me with you. There's something I have to do there as well, so please don't stop me here," Aile watched as Prairie walked towards the door, completely unarmed, "Let's go."

Aile turned back to look at Prairie's room, "But what about Oriel? I can't let them hurt him!"

Prairie turned towards the operators, "Once we leave the control room, activate the level S security system. Get our finest members beside Vent and Aile to guard this room at all cost!"

"Understood!" the operators replied in unison before Aile and Prairie went through the door, heading straight towards the engine room.

Halfway towards the engine room, the two were surprised by a flying Galleon shooting a hole below them and flew closer. The distance was close enough for Aile to shoot him accurately in the head, until another one came from the hole and shot her buster off her hand. With her best weapon too far away to grab, her only choice of weapon left would be her saber.

A single swing was enough to split the first Galleon before she dashed quickly to slam her saber to knock the second Galleon back into the hole. The female Guardian didn't know that a small army of regular Galleons had gathered behind her and Prairie with their busters ready. She turned to them as she was checking on Prairie, only to realize that she had to think of a plan quickly before the shots harmed Prairie.

A laser shot was fired from over Aile's shoulder and bounced around while hitting the small Galleon army until none was left, "Does becoming a parent affects your unbeatable shooting skill?"

"Ashe!" Aile was glad to see her hunter friend, despite her remark about her shooting skill, "And no, that was because I had to deal with all of them at once while protecting Prairie."

"Yeah, I noticed," Ashe approached the two and picked up Aile's buster on the way, "Here you go."

"Thanks," Aile took her buster back before turning to Prairie, "I can handle the things here on my own for now, so I suggest you let Ashe to escort you back to the control room."

Prairie shook her head, "I can't. I have to go to the engine room."

"Are you sure? I mean, Aile can take care of whatever it is that you want to do there while I take you back to safety," Ashe noticed that Prairie was looking at her with a pained look, "I-Is there anything wrong with me?"

"Prairie," Aile spoke up sternly as the two turned to her, "Is there something you haven't been telling us? About the attack or about the cloaked people here?"

"Wait, did you say cloaked people?" Ashe asked as she realized something, "I think I saw two of them standing in front of the engine room when I passed by."

"We have to hurry there," Prairie spoke up, "I have the feeling that this attack is just a distraction for them so they can get access to steal the Ciel System."

"If that thing powers this whole airship then it being taken is the same as our doom," Ashe casually replied, "Come on, let's go already!"

Aile and Prairie nodded as the three of them headed towards the engine room, blasting off any mavericks in their way. As they made it to the last hallway, the floor had already been stained by the reploid blood of the fallen Guardian members. A small cloaked figure stood in front of the door with their back turned to them.

"It's… him…" Prairie whispered, but it was loud enough for Ashe to hear her.

"Didn't you say that there are two of them?" Ashe's question met silence from Prairie as she turned to Aile, "Hey, did you see the other…" Ashe noticed that her Guardian friend wasn't listening to her at all, "What is it?"

"He sees us and he's got a buster ready beneath that cloak," Aile cautiously held her buster higher, aiming for the cloaked figure's head.

Ashe did the same as she watched the figure raising his buster as well, but noticed that his aim wasn't at them. Her eyes followed where the buster was aiming for and it landed near a pile of rubble and metal, which confused her until she noticed that the rubble was moving. When realization hit her, Aile had already dashed towards him as the shot was released.

"ESTELLE!" Aile called out to the little brunette hiding in the pile as the shot was about to hit her, but Aile had arrived sooner and shielded her daughter with her body. The shot connected with her shoulder and went a bit through her armor.

"Aile!" Prairie called out as she tried running towards the injured Guardian.

"Prairie, that's too dangerous!" Ashe ran after Prairie as well, not noticing the shadow following them closely behind.

"M-Mommy…?" the surprised Estelle looked at her mother, who was looking pained, "Are you okay, Mommy?"

"Don't worry, Mommy will be okay," Aile wrapped her good arm around Estelle, pulling her close as she sighed in relief, "Thank goodness you're okay…"

"Can I get some medicine for you, Mommy?" Estelle asked innocently, getting a small smile from Aile as she shook her head.

"It's okay, it can't wait for a few minutes," Aile let her daughter go and pushed her away gently, "Go and hide somewhere, okay? Once Mommy and Ashe beat the bad guys, we'll go and find Daddy together."

Aile watched closely as Estelle jumped over the piles of metal before hiding in one of them, but surprised when she saw Ashe thrown to the ground in front of her. Using her other hand to hold the buster, Aile pointed at the place where she assumed Ashe was thrown from but only found Prairie standing in front a tall but blurry black figure.

When she looked closely, the figure wasn't actually as tall as she thought they would be. A black saber-like object was standing above Prairie's head, which had Aile's attention as it slowly moved to the side. As if on cue, Prairie turned to see the thing which had drawn Aile's attention behind her but she didn't get the chance to see who the figure was.

Aile and Ashe were both too far away and shocked to react quickly as the saber went through the commander's body, splitting her in half. Realizing what they had witnessed yet too shocked to move, the two called out the name of the fallen comrade they had been closest to as tears fell from their eyes and the sound of her metallic body hitting the metal-based floor.

"PRAIRIE!"