Chapter 1: Beginning of the End
The wind rippled through the grass, carrying itself across the landscape in the bloodstained sky. It carried itself over to the foot of a woman, as she stood alone in front of the setting sun. Tears clouded her vision as she knelt down to face the grave in front of her. She reached out to the stone, as though in front of her faced the one she most missed.
How did this happen? How do you go from having everything to nothing in a blink of an eye. Life wasn't fair and she had to learn this the hard way.
Placing flowers down at the feet of the grave, she wiped her face clean and stood up. Staring off into the distance, her shoulders shaking, she remembered the events that had destroyed her past forever.
...
"Cover me!" Takeshi screamed, throwing the entire mass of the Assault Tiger onto the Battle Arachnid below him. With a sickening crunch, the mech shattered beneath him. Before Takeshi could take pride in his quick thinking, he raised his gun and fired it directly into the pilot of a Dark Panther. He glanced down, to see a swarm of the arachnoid skittering towards him, firing at him. With a swish of his arm, the buzz saw of his mech swung around, slicing his foes in half.
"A little busy over here!" Ryo shouted, swooping overhead, as the trees around him exploded, unleashing a wave of Storm Lashers, hot on his tail. With a quick thought, he pulled the controls of the airborne section of the Hybrid Rescue Tank and spun perfectly upside down, firing rapidly, closing in fast on the robots. His shots hit hard on the wings of two Storm Lashers, sending them crashing to the ground on top of a pack of Dark Panthers. Spinning ninety degrees, until he was flying sideways, he flew through the crowd of robots.
"Yeah, I've got some time to spare," Ha-Ya-To chuckled soaring through the maze of branches towards his green haired comrade. Raising his leg, the River Dragon swung up its foot, straight into the head of a Battle Arachnid pilot. A flurry of explosions scattered across the ground around him and he looked up to see a Storm Lasher breaking away from the cloud above to pray on him. With a mocking laugh, he zoomed upwards, fighting through gnarled and twisted branches. The roar of the engine behind him gave a perfect warning of what was behind. Fortunately, the River Dragon was small and could manoeuvre through the treetops with ease. The Storm Lasher on the other hand was struggling, choking smoke spewing out of damaged and punctured engines. Ha-Ya-To could hear the robotic pilot shouting needless orders, followed quickly by a metallic scream. Spinning around Ha-Ya-To turned just in time to see a strange plant like growth reach out to rip the battle mech from the sky into the darkness. Pausing for a moment Ha-Ya-To paused, horrified and muttering, "What the he-"
"Heads up!" Hikaru called, charging up his laser and firing into the sky behind his comrade. An explosion echoed in the sky and the flaming wing pieces of a mech stormed down to the Earth below. Quickly followed with the wreckage was another Storm Lasher, tearing down towards the duo. Spinning quickly, Hikaru flew down, the Chameleon Hunter speeding down to the ground like a hungry leopard. In the game of chicken between Hikaru and ground, the Chameleon Leopard gave in and before impact pulled up to avoid disaster. The chasing predator was less fortunate and crumpled against the ground, annihilating every part of it.
Reunited at the jungle floor, the group teamed together, the River Dragon, the Chameleon Hunter, the Assault Tiger and the Hybrid Rescue Tank. In front of them, stood the remaining ten or eleven robots.
Shrugging, Ha-Ya-To said, "I have to say, I'm disappointed. After what we've been facing recently, this was easy."
"Don't knock it," Hikaru muttered, "A quick battle means we're getting a quicker rescue under way."
"It's almost as though you don't enjoy the battle," Takeshi laughed.
"Speaking of which, I think it's time to move on from this one," Ryo pointed out.
In one swift motion, the group joined together, extending their arms and weapons as one, pointing directly at the crowd ahead. With one charge, the group fired, the bolts of energy combining together striking the ground at the mech's feet, engulfing them in fire. And then there was nothing.
"Well," Ha-Ya-To sighed, "that's that."
...
Sensei Keiken found that being trapped in a cage gave one plenty of time to think. And he hated every moment of it. His thoughts heavy, he sank into the world of his mind, the world that contained the darkness he had created for the world. The sins of his past surrounded him, threatening to consume him and from the darkness, two pairs of eyes, his children, looked out at him, piercing his heart like daggers. A scream echoed in the world around him, and the eyes were torn apart from each other, in the middle standing two glowing lights, a monster hiding in the shadows. They grew bigger, larger, more fearsome. And with them came a shining golden hide, teeth sharp claws and powerful limbs. It reached out and with a freezing cold grip clutched Keiken by the neck and pulled him forwards. The beast didn't breath, it just regarded him with the sick glare of a giant examining an insect. Slowly, its evil lips parted, revealing a black hole beneath, and words spewed out, empty and chilling, "You created me!"
A sharp impact brought Keiken back to world of man. Gently reaching up, he caressed his brow, feeling the sweat cover his face. It looked like he had collapsed during his nightmare, a few drops of blood patting the floor from his face. Looking up, he noticed the beast from his nightmare observing him, slowly studying every move he made and analysing it inside his hard drive of a brain.
"Pleasant dreams?" Meca One smirked, showing a not-so rare case of gloating, "you appear to have injured yourself. You shouldn't continue this, as we require your...intelligence for our mission."
"And if I refuse?" Keiken growled.
A smile appeared to grow on Meca One's robotic face, a lion having cornered its prey, "then we destroy everything you hold dear. I'm sure your maddened remains will spill some useful information we can use."
"You disgust me."
"Words," the robot growled, "you spout them with little regard to their true meaning. You claim I am a beast with no moral feelings, and yet you appear to forget it was you who created me. It was you who programmed me to think and feel and plan. And it was you who hid my true purpose from your comrades."
"How did you...?"
"No, remain silent my master," Meca One said dryly, "it's hard not to learn of these things. But you understand that now I have discovered exactly why you created me, I have a stranglehold over you. I can ruin everything for you with but a few words, and believe me, I am planning how to use your gift to my advantage. The sins of your past have caught up with you, and now I will use them for my own gain. The days of the human race are ending and now my immortal army prepare themselves for world domination."
To be continued...