The Desert Wraiths
By Zoram Selrof
Chapter 1: Hit and run
09:38 AM (Japan Time), Saturday February the 28th, 2009…
"… Man. Being destined to handling the Okinawa Army Base phone is no fun. Why don't they close this place and send us back home? It's rather pointless to stay here, I'd say. Nothing ever happens."
A recruit in charge of attending phone calls was sitting inside of the reception and was flipping through the pages of a gaming magazine, bored to death, while smoking a cigarette as well.
"Today's a Saturday so most of the guys are either on leave or playing in the barracks... They gotta be playing Poker again. Jeez. Why do I always get the short end of the stick?"
The phone rang, so the recruit tossed the magazine asides, placed the cigarette on the ashtray, and picked the phone up.
"Okinawa Army Base. What might I help you with?" The recruit asked while trying to sound polite.
"… You're about to be hit." A distorted voice replied in English.
"Excuse me?" The recruit frowned.
"… You're about to be hit." The voice announced again.
"Who might you be?" The recruit questioned.
A low chuckle could be heard on the other end of the line before it went dead: the recruit frowned and placed the receiver back on its place.
"Prank call, huh… They sure have guts to prank with us. Or maybe it's one of the pals in the barracks."
Explosions began to ring out nearby all of sudden.
"What?"
The recruit ran off his seat and looked out through a window to see laser shots bombarding the airfield strip and the jet fighter hangers.
"W-what in the…?" He cursed.
The perpetrators were some strange advanced-looking crafts.
These craft had a round metallic spheroid set at the center and two hexagon-like wings: the front of the spheroid had a "face" drawn into it instead of having a cockpit.
This face consisted in two reddish eyes, no nose, and a mouth filled with sharp shark-like teeth with three holes inside of its body: two of them were shooting out laser bolts.
The eyes moved around as if to scan the terrain.
The rear of the spheroid had the jet exhaust port.
They looked like slightly edited Star Wars rip-offs.
"W-what the heck are those things?" The recruit wondered aloud.
In less than five minutes, both the airfield and the hangers were a mess and totally unusable.
"No way!"
The crafts shot out towards the Pacific Ocean at a mad speed, soon vanishing into the horizon as quickly as they had appeared.
"You're not telling me that the phone call was an advance warning of this!" The recruit gasped.
"Pete~! You brought the jinx along!" Someone gasped.
"You moron! This has gotta be Choina's handiwork!"
"Are they really gonna provoke us into war?"
"I'm skeptical myself. Maybe they're those rumored hi-tech terrorists guys..."
"Call for High Command! ASAP!"
09:55 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Phew! This nightmare is over."
"Math, eh?"
Hikari Netto and Saito: were sitting side by side inside of their house's bedroom and working on institute homework.
Netto was by now fifteen years old and he was slightly over a meter and sixty five tall.
He wore his trademark bandana to keep his messy brown hair in place, along with his usual sleeveless orange vest over a white shirt.
He sported bluish jeans and his orange sneakers as well.
Saito looked about one or two inches taller than Netto.
His brown hair had a perfect symmetric shape to it and was neatly combed.
His eyes' irises kept on being the same green emerald color they'd always been.
He sported attire almost identical to Netto's with the only differences being his vest, which was colored sea blue, and his white sneakers.
"Math will always be my sworn foe no matter how many years pass."
"Bear it with, Netto – kun… If you don't then you'll never be able to course a scientific career…" Saito reminded him.
"I know that tune of yours, Saito – niisan… It's almost as old as any Shiisaa statue." Netto smirked at him.
"Oi! You wouldn't be trying to pick up a quarrel, would you?" Saito questioned.
"Teasing ya~." Netto grinned.
"Heh, heh, heh… Hikari – kun likes teasing you! Eh, Saito – kun?" An amused voice rang out from Saito's Link PET.
His Link PET was colored green and white to distinguish it from Netto's.
"Sure, Blood Shadow."
The hologram projector turned on and the Navi inside of the Link PET projected out of it.
Blood Shadow was about a meter and sixty in height or maybe closer to a meter and seventy: his main color of choice was red.
He sported black shades: a flock of messy reddish hair came out from behind the helmet given how it only covered the face and the front of the head: his ear-pads had two purple "V" letters drawn inside of them.
His armor had the purple letters "BS" engraved on the chest area while his legs were colored black and had two red stripes running down the legs' sides in a parallel manner.
His right forearm was covered by a device colored red coupled with a piece of it which was colored transparent red: a small indentation near the wrist had the same "BS" initials engraved there.
Where the hand would be, a large double-barreled shotgun emerged instead.
"Guess that!"
"Mwah, hah, hah! Don't forget 'bout the ol' fella in 'ere, either!" A heavy voice rang out from Netto's Link PET.
"How could we, Sigma?" Netto asked with a broad smile.
Netto's Link PET hologram projector engaged as well.
He was colored jet black and a red spheroid could be seen set on his chest area.
This spheroid seemed to be missing the armor over its mass.
His face had two red eyes and one shone brighter than the other: two horns, one of which was almost erased, were set on both sides of his head and added a "demonic" look to him.
Green data flows moved around his body and he held a massive black and green sword in his right hand which was easily over a meter tall.
Overall, he seemed to be tall and imposing.
"Mwah, hah, hah! Between both of us… There's no big bad buddy we can't beat to a pulp!"
"That's for sure."
"Don't get cocky. We still dunno where Twilight ran off to after Boss almost caught him in Melbourne a few weeks ago."
"Mwah, hah, hah… To Korriban! In the Millennium Falcon's secret cargo compartments…!"
"Huff." Saito rolled his eyes.
DING DONG!
The entrance bell rang.
"… Netto, Saito! Dears! Nelaus – kun has come over!" Haruka announced from downstairs.
"Nelaus? Let's go greet him." Netto looked lightened up.
Both ran downstairs and into the living room, where they found a guy sitting down in one sofa.
The guy was about their age and maybe some inches taller than either Netto or Saito.
He had neatly arranged blonde hair which ended at his neck's base and his eyes' irises were green emerald.
His facial features were rather smooth and suave, thus making him stand out somehow.
He carried a Link PET arm strap: his Link PET was colored golden and purple: its emblem was the Alphabet letter "I" colored purple.
"Hey! Nelaus Rainon! What's up?" Netto greeted with a handshake.
"Fine. I came to bring over some news."
"So… Mr. Shining Knight won't come out to greet his buddies?" Saito asked to someone else.
"Comin' ASAP!" A voice replied from inside of Nelaus' Link PET.
"Isaac's coming."
Isaac, Nelaus' Navi, was about a meter and eighty tall.
His face was young and looked like a guy on his teens: his eyes' irises were purple and they had a hint of amusement to them.
His helmet had a central ruby jewel over the forehead shaped like a cross having four triangle ends: eight lines radiated from the central of it and spread across its surface.
The helmet's main color was navy blue and it was also filled with small round and random green dots.
His ear-pads had a white edge and a reddish central body: the Alphabet "I" letter colored purple had been printed there.
His neck had a piece of armor shaped like the Alphabet "V" protecting its base before the start of the chest: it had a cyan edge which split it into two halves the insides of which were colored yellow.
His shoulders were slightly curved square pieces with brown edges, a central silver matrix and five bronze paws forming out of the southern edge which weren't even 5cm long.
His main body color was blue and a central thin purple line spread from the neck's base until his waist, being interrupted by his chest emblem which had the same design as that of his ear-pads.
Some small jade-colored pieces made of two triangles aiming in opposite directions fused at their base were set in columns along the sides of his upper body: none of them were taller than 2cm.
His waist had a belt with three converging rectangular stripes of white edges and black body.
These fused in a diamond having a gray body plus a repetition of his Navi emblem on its center.
His arms had purplish DNA imprints painted over their surface.
His forearm armor had a magenta matrix on them while his wrists were colored in a bronze color.
His hands were blue in color too and they had a circle with a white edge the insides of which depicted the Katana "I" colored purple: some "stars" were drawn at random over the background of the symbol.
His legs had some round dots set along their height which contained a drawing: the edge was brown, the core of it was purple and eight slightly curved lines painted red stretched from the core: the gaps between each one were colored blue.
The knees contained a circling bracelet colored mahogany and having those two fused triangles on the front colored golden.
The boots were colored purple and had an eight-pointed sapphire set on the inward side just below the ankle: eight thin indigo lines spread from each spook of the sapphire and across the boot.
Overall he was very cool and looked advanced.
"I have a knight – like name, after all."
"Well. I have big news: those guys have made a move." Nelaus turned serious.
"They have?"
"Let's sit down and talk it."
The three of them sat down in the sofa looking towards each other.
"You know the Okinawa Ameroupe Army Base, right?" Nelaus began.
"Yeah. They bring it up on the news from time to time."
"Deal is… Those flying crafts, the Bifrosts, have hit them in a hit and run raid. That was less than 1 hour ago."
"And…?" Saito asked.
"Huff. They let the airfield strip and the hangers in a wrecked state and it'll take them time to repair 'em. Apparently… One of them warned the guy in charge of the phone by saying "you're about to be hit"… One minute later… The attack had begun. The guy who picked the phone didn't have to report and he hadn't thought of it 'cause he believed it to be a prank call." Nelaus exposed.
"Do we have an estimate from where they came out from or where they flew back to?"
"Nope. They were only seen heading in the direction of Singapore."
"And this is the opening move for those guys? Not so much deal: compared to the past…"
"That's how it looks like. The bad part is… We don't know what name they're using and where they could be operating from." Isaac sighed.
"No wonder."
"What a bunch of assholes."
"Netto – kun!" Saito reprimanded.
"Sorry! I know I have to watch my manners in front of other people, but don't forget what they did to us, Saito – niisan!" Netto apologized before arguing.
"I know it. But we mustn't forget our manners."
"Don't worry. I don't like the likes of them, either."
"By the way… Does that person still stalk you, Isaac?" Blood Shadow asked him with a smirk.
"Not as much as before, but I feel like they're doing that. They tend to believe way too much in horoscopes." Isaac rolled his eyes.
"Mwah, hah, hah… They should invent a Horoscope Man!" Sigma laughed.
"Please…" Nelaus groaned and rolled his eyes.
"The newest banner 'round the banned banner!"
"That rhyme's pointless." Blood Shadow sighed.
"Oh?" Haruka looked interested.
"Ahem, Meha! "Beware of the waterfalls: they might hide caves and abodes behind them and there the Sacred Scrolls might be kept. Only pure ones may enter: impure ones shall be refused entry. Beware, oh foolish traveler." … So?"
"Sounds like an RPG rip-off. And I remember that The Legend of Zelda Mysterious Tree Fruit: Earth Chapter had a "Dungeon", the 4th one, hidden behind a waterfall." Netto fumed.
"You wouldn't have influenced him, right?" Saito questioned with some suspicion to his voice.
"Well… Maybe yeah maybe not… Maybe Arceus did."
"Arceus, huh. Number 493… We finally got to know about their existence 2 weeks ago on St. Valentine's and they're gonna be the protagonist PKMN of this summer's movie." Nelaus muttered.
"Arceus is unrelated, Sigma." Isaac grumbled.
"Heh! Level 4: Dancing Dragon Dungeon! Boss… Gohma! That crab and its helpers! The Crab Gang! Mwah, hah, hah! Gen V's bad guys will be the Crab Gang!"
"Please…" The other five groaned.
"Tee, heh, heh. He's funny." Haruka giggled.
"Don't give him credit, Mama! It gets WORSE!" Netto protested.
"Seriously!"
"Huff. Well. I think I'll be going to Densan City. I wanna buy a new flashlight. See you around, guys. And good luck surviving Sigma's meddling randomness." Nelaus announced as he stood up.
"Mwah, hah, hah! Beware of stalker girls!" Sigma laughed.
"Yeah. I get the message." Isaac rolled his eyes again.
Nelaus left the home and the twins turned serious again: they climbed back upstairs into their bedroom and sat on their chairs.
"They'll surely resort to real world attacks or either attacks in ill-defended Internet Cities." Saito guessed.
"Yeah. Looks like they want to start a new Cold War altogether…"
"Mwah, hah, hah… We should bring them a heater and thaw their ice!"
"Well… You know: that's not a bad idea."
"And along with the ice… They'll melt into water and evaporate… I get the joke." Netto grinned.
"Soon nothing but steam will be left of them." Saito grinned as well.
"Heh, heh, heh… Steam Man and Nam Maets hit us from the NEN flank using DK's mad hammer! Yo and behold!"
"Shadow Man. Sigma let you in again!"
"Oh young Manipular… Your fate is to become a prideful Warrior-Servant…"
"Where'd you dig that from, Shadow Man?"
"I heard Cosmo Man muttering it atop Silver Tower."
Shadow Man appeared from inside of Sigma's shadow and chuckled as he rose to ground level: Blood Shadow fumed and then seemed to frown under the shades.
"Huff. Cosmo Man, huh. And Cloud Man strikes back with another parody?"
"Correct, Manipular. Let za rock hit za roll!"
"Huff. When Count Elec hears that he'll get VERY annoyed." Saito sighed.
"Sure, Hikari Saito… Tell Rock Man he falls into the "Manipular" category too… And now… One! Two! Three! Ninja escape! Puff! Heh, heh, heh!"
09:55 AM (Japan Time)…
"…. Grftx! Give me back my money, you…!"
"Enzan – sama… Do behave yourself."
Ijuuin Enzan was kicking and punching a coffee vending machine inside of the Net Police HQ.
"This damned machine swallowed MY coins and the "cancel" button isn't working properly! I don't have patience for these idiocies: so I've resorted to "kick-punch-blow-spitting"!"
Blues, projecting with the Link PET's holographic projector, looked rather uneasy with a sweat drop on the right side of his forehead and looking rather perplexed.
"The coffee vending machine chases you everywhere! Eh, Enzan?" Laika of Sharo joked as he walked towards Enzan.
"Leave me alone, Laika! This is my battle!" Enzan shot back.
The machine suddenly seemed to vibrate: a face looking rather angry popped out of nowhere: it seemed to be made of red fire and its eyes were blank: it roared.
"YIKES!"
The face suddenly vanished and Enzan heard some hardly muffled laughter close by.
"Who the…?"
He turned to the right to spot a guy.
This guy could be about a meter and seventy-five in height but his age was around his early 20s.
He had messy silver hair which spread slightly backwards and formed some spikes: his eyes' irises were blue.
His clothes consisted on a navy blue overcoat which had a central silver button about the waist.
His coat then opened to expose his legs although it covered the rear of them.
He wore a black shirt beneath the overcoat plus black fingerless gloves on his hands: he also sported black jeans and sneakers.
The right shoulder contained blackish armor with an orange-colored edge and a silver button right over it which seemed to help it be gripped to the shoulder: three circles were then drawn on his right sleeve before a triangular piece of armor expanded over the hand: its main body was black too and it had orange edges.
His PET was colored silver and brown and had an emblem: it was a perfect golden-colored cross which was drawn inside of a silver circle having a brownish edge.
"Charles! I hate these jokes of yours!" Enzan growled.
"Oh? And why don't you say anything when I use them every time I go to Maha Ichiban's, then?" Charles asked with a broad smile and sounding amused.
"Grftx! I hate double - edged questions!"
"That's funny to hear." A voice commented from inside of Charles' Link PET.
A Navi projected from the Charles' Link PET.
His body suit was colored in a deep brown color and he appealed as being about a meter and eighty tall in height.
His eyes' irises were chestnut brown and his face seemed to be shaped after a man on his early 20s: he currently displayed some annoyance which they didn't bother to conceal.
His helmet's color was red and so were his boots and forearms: the helmet had the kanji for "seigi" or "justice" written in a golden coloring vertically across his forehead's height.
The Navi seemed to wear a vest over his chest armor colored silver.
This vest had bronze edges: it also had the Alphabet character "D" colored golden set on each side of its body.
His arms contained four thin brownish stripes running down the north, south, west and east side of them until they drew four circles around the wrist: his forearms had extra armor over it colored in a grayish color plus a small red dome inside of each palm.
The legs' length had been designed to include a network of patterns interconnected by some nodes which were reminiscent of human nerves: the boots' front edge was shaped like a triangle and so was the heel: they apparently served as close-quarters combat weapons.
"Swords are double – edged. Right, Davis?"
"That's why."
"I don't see Blackdesu around, though… Is he late?" Laika commented.
"Sorry! I got stuck in a bottleneck!" Someone called out.
A fourth person joined the fray.
He looked around a bit younger than Charles by one or two years and shorter by about 4 to 5 centimeters.
He had unkempt reddish hair and brown eye irises which currently depicted seriousness.
He sported a golden-colored sleeveless vest which was open and he had a black t-shirt underneath it: he also wore blue jeans with a modern-looking double-row belt.
He had an arm strap for a Link PET on his right arm: the Link PET was colored in camouflage colors.
Its emblem was a skull colored black and with blue eyes set against a silver background.
"Why! It's the Knight of the Round Table. Or, rather… My successor! The Cyber Snatcher Ryuuto. Analog Snatcher Leo says he'll be promoted soon enough. By the command of Mr. Commanding No-One. Heh, heh, heh."
"That joke's running old! Charles!"
"Wanna challenged the Sheriff?" A voice with a heavy Texas accent challenged from inside of Martin's Link PET.
"Oho! The Sheriff is gonna reward us with his Colts' melody today…"
Martin's Navi projected from inside of his Link PET.
He wore a Mexican-style hat over his brown dust – colored helmet which also had some random blue and black dots scattered around it: his eyes' irises were brown.
His main body was colored navy blue and he had an open blackish vest over the torso: he exhibited a Sheriff's star on the right side of his torso which glowed.
His shoulders were anatomically correct and they had brass plating.
The arms' length and the elbows were colored brown too and his forearms were green with two orange circling bands on them: his wrists had metallic bracelets on them.
He sported a black leather belt with two Colt revolvers on it along with bullets on his waist.
His legs were also colored brown but he had jeans over them which ended at the start of his boots.
The boots were colored black: they had blue and brown dots across them.
"Here's the good ol' Sheriff Lander! Whom do I have to throw into the brig tonight, hmmm?" The Navi, Lander, asked with a broad smile and looking ready to draw out his Colt revolvers.
"Those guys need to." A deep voice announced.
A sheet imitating the color of the wall came out, revealing Dark Miyabi, who looked in a very good mood.
"Ninja trick #17: always bend with your surroundings." Miyabi quoted with a slight hint of amusement.
"I'd say something else: you must always be two steps ahead of your foes." Shadow Man added as he projected with Miyabi's Link PET.
"Good. All of us are here. Let's go meet Commissioner Kifune and talk about the news."
"When the meeting is over… I'll have this gangster hand me back my money." Enzan grumbled as he directed a death glare at the coffee vending machine.
"Enzan – sama… It was only 100 credits! You only put two coins of 50!"
"I'm so gonna rewrite your stiffness one of these days. Whoever programmed you sure was an imbecile when he added this rigidness to you. And I'm sure it was the old man."
"May I remind you, Enzan – sama, that you had no complains over it back when the N1 Grand Prix, on October, 2004."
"Whatever! It pisses me off!" Enzan growled.
"So! Cyber Snatcher! Are you gonna "snatch" these guys? Rooted Dungeon: Akuomentasu. Snake's Remains: Dodongo. Fang Burrow: Gamos. Dancing Dragon Dungeon: Gohma. Unicorn Cave: Degudoga. Ancient Ruins: Tesuchitato. Adventurer's Grave: Guriohku. Sword N Shield Dungeon: Medarock." Charles began to list to Martin.
"Jeez. You had to start playing The Legend of Zelda Mysterious Fruit: Earth Chapter again… Who was the villain? I've forgotten."
"Oho. You'll need a Hyper Ball for this guy: Gorgon. Marquis di Gorgonzola." He grinned.
"Jeez. You're making a pun with a Tintin comic there!"
"There and over there~… Cyber Snatcher Ryuuto: go Snatch 'em all!"
"GHRJKZHLTH!" He growled something undecipherable.
"That melody is like a Purin's melody to me~…"
"JEEZ! Behave already, Charles! Really! What's gotten into you?"
10:18 AM (Japan Time)…
DING DONG!
"… What timing, really…"
"Suspicious, even."
Nelaus, who'd been writing down the things he wanted to buy, looked up from the paper and rolled his eyes.
"You needn't tell me twice." He muttered back.
He walked towards the lobby and checked through the peep hole before unlocking the door.
"'Morning, Nelaus – ku~n!" A jovial voice greeted.
"Good morning, Tamashita Aura – chan." Nelaus calmly greeted back.
Tamashita was a girl around fifteen years old and roughly a few inches shorter than Nelaus.
She had orange curly hair and blue eyes.
Today she sported a brown leather jacket coupled with a knee-long skirt, and brown leather boots.
She also carried her arm strap for her Link PET and a handbag: her Link PET's emblem was a stylized "F" letter colored white and black and set against a blue background which was decorated with snow drops.
"Hello, Felicia – chan." Isaac greeted.
"Here's my shining knight!" Felicia giggled.
Felicia seemed to be around her Operator's height at a first glance.
Her helmet was colored olive green and it had a sapphire set into its forehead which glowed differently depending on the light's angle: the helmet included a cobalt blue matrix over its surface.
Her eyes were cobalt blue as well and two twin tails of blondish hair came out from behind her head.
Her bodysuit's main color was cobalt blue instead and her emblem was the same one as in the PET.
Her shoulders were anatomically correct and had ruby plating over them while her arms and elbow were colored in a mix of blue and white decorated with emerald square dots.
Her forearms were colored orange and had eight thin pink circles circling along their length.
Her legs used a mix of blue and yellow and contained diamond-shaped brown dots scattered at random.
The boots had been painted using orange color and had zigzag patterns which vertically spanned the height of them.
"Did I bother you?" Tamashita asked Nelaus.
"Not really… I was going to the city and run some errands."
"Why don't we go together? I've already done the Math homework and nothing else to do."
"Sure! Why not?" Nelaus smiled at the suggestion.
He pocketed the list on his right jeans' pocket and picked up a grayish raincoat and a brown hat with a black stripe on it.
"You do love this raincoat, eh?" She teased.
"It seems to reflect part of my former affiliation." Nelaus shrugged.
"Have you heard the news, Isaac – ku~n?" Felicia asked Isaac.
"Do you mean the news about the Okinawa…?"
"No! I don't mean that! Woody Allen's new film: it's gonna be a very interesting one!" Felicia giggled in excitement.
"Guess so…" Isaac scratched the back of his helmet.
A film is more important than the attack at the Army Base? Talk about odd: guess she didn't hear the news.
Nelaus exited his home and locked it down before he pocketed the keys on his raincoat's left pocket.
"I'm sure today will be a very nice day!"
"You read that in the daily horoscope?"
"Of course!"
"You should be called Ms. Horoscope, then." Nelaus smirked.
"Oi! That wasn't fair, Nelaus – kun!" She complained.
"Sorry."
"You like teasing me, huh? Don't worry! I don't plan to change the type of relationship we have."
"As long as we…. Keep it like this… There should no problem."
"Maybe we should go play at a "D" one day~?"
"D? Disco? You mean dance in a disco? As long as you don't buy any weird things and don't try to drink alcohol…"
"No, not a disco~… What's the name for the Legend of Zelda levels?"
"Huh… Temples? Dark Temple, Forest Temple… At least in Time's Ocarina… I think that they're named like that in Twilight Princess too as well…"
"Huff. What do you need to open doors and navigate?"
"Map. Keys. Compass. Boss Room's Key."
"… You really can't remember the word? Or are you beating around the bush, Nelaus – kun?"
"Aura – chan! Drop it NOW!" Felicia whispered with some annoyance.
"It'd better if you did, Tamashita – san." Isaac advised.
"Huff! You boys lack any sense of thrill nowadays: well, whatever! Heh!"
"I still dunno what the whole talk was about. Let's just chat."
09:40 AM (Singapore Time)…
"… Be gone."
"You girls should behave."
A Navi was facing a group of Navis.
These Navis had armor colored blood red and helmets made of gold with silvery edges: they had a clearly female appearance.
All of them had red eye irises which displayed no emotion and golden hair fell down from behind their helmets.
They all had a single emblem: the initials "W.R." painted gold and set against a sea blue background.
"I'm Omega."
Omega was about one meter and eighty tall.
He wore a red vest over his mainly black body and red armor over his forearms and boots: two golden circlets were set around his forearms and on his boots as well.
A blue jewel shaped like an inverted triangle was set on the forehead of his helmet which was emitting a cross-shaped flash.
His eyes' irises were blue and they displayed calm and concentration while long blond hair came out from behind him and reached all the way to the floor.
He was fighting the Navis inside of one Internet City Coliseum which looked rather wrecked as if there had been a battle in there.
The sky was filled with evening-like clouds and there was a patch of light shining up there.
"You don't know that it's a bully's act to pick up fights with weaker ones?"
"Be gone."
"Wrong. You girls are the ones who will be gone before you know it!"
The Navi jumped twice into the air and drew a gun-like weapon: he charged it up and shot a ball of fire at the floor.
"This!"
It broke up into smaller ones which hit the underside of the horses thus triggering a nervous reaction: the warriors had to focus on keeping their horses controlled and got distracted, which proved fatal.
"Gotcha."
The Navi had a drawn a green pyramid-shaped sword and had dashed towards the female warriors at a mad speed while leaving a trail of "afterimages" on his wake.
"Slow."
He began a set of combos with the saber: he moved up, down, right, left and spread fin-shaped energy waves across the ground.
"Not yet."
He performed a rising jumping diagonal move: he then jumped down and electrocuted the ground before he charged up energy and unleashed it against his opponents.
"Had enough?"
The horses had been deleted and the female warrior Navis were barely standing up, filled with several wounds which were leaking data.
"For the sake of our Masters… We cast aside our flesh and return to the Valhalla in spirit!" The three of them chanted.
"Shit."
He quickly jumped away as the three Navis began to emit white bursts of light from their bodies: they blew up thus causing a brutal crater to fill the area where they'd been fighting at: nothing salvageable remained.
"Lovely."
"Weather system: control regained. Switching to default mode…"
"About damned time..." Omega grumbled.
The clouds had dispersed and the Internet City returned to its normal blue sky setting.
"Boss. We had no luck. They have self – destruct programs on them, too."
"Espèce de savages…! They keep on being the cowardly and sneaky type…! I'm so going to blow them up and make mincemeat outta 'em one of these days…!" An obviously angry voice replied.
"Boss. A stress attack won't do you any good."
"Grftx! You're right, Omega… First they hit the Okinawa Army Base and now they send their Valkyries to mess around with the Singapore Internet City… What a morning!" The man grumbled.
"Yeah. What should I do?" The Navi named Omega requested.
"Come back to the HQ for the time being… I guess we'll have to make shifts."
"That's what I've always insisted on."
"I know, Omega, I know… First Twilight dupes me. And now it turns out these guys are going to give me trouble even if Twilight hadn't planned any of this."
"Omega. The Court of Norway has sentenced you to… crave!" A voice boomed out of nowhere.
"Cosmo Man. I know it's you lowlife. Show you holographic hide."
"Darkloid" Cosmo Man appeared in the form of a 3D image and he was rubbing his chin with the right hand as he smirked at Omega.
"So, Warrior – Servant. Are you going to Erde – Tyrene and try to open up the Cryptum?" He taunted.
"Tell Twilight to stop spoiling the next Halo game and go hack Arceus outta Nintendo's servers to see what kind of a "God" the guy is."
"Hmpf. You'll regret those words, Warrior – Servant! Hah, hah, hah…"
10:51 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Hmpf… These guys can't realize I'm monitoring them to begin with: what a bunch of naïve fools!"
A tall and imposing figure shrouded in the obscurity was looking at a holographic screen displaying the conversation between Cosmo Man and Omega.
"… Yo and behold! Fortencho, Lord of Admirals, will rise!"
"Stop – spoiling – me." Omega hissed.
"Looking forward to next Thursday, Warrior – Servant?"
"Huff. I know Biohazard 5's coming out but I don't mind that now."
"No. You're more concerned about the Mistress ruling over the little mouse which slipped away."
"Come on. Tamashita isn't a sadist. They're the usual girl. Now go to that Erde-something place and find whatever you're looking for."
"Hum! Star Wars: Legacy 33… Fight Another Day: Part 2 came out 3 days ago and things seem to be heating up. Heat Man must be involved."
"Heat Man stopped existing 4 years ago already."
"Heh, heh, heh… Crave the pain!"
"Crave your grave."
"Hah. How foolish! Wasting their time with mere chit-chat… Is that all there is the "Neo Gospel Darkloids"? Hah." The figure muttered.
"OH YEAH! LET ZA AGEMO HIT ZA AHPLA!"
"Cloud Man's here too?"
"Maybe he's hijacking the speakers of a Metro Line station."
"Fuck. I'm off and next time I'll bring you a mirror to see your own hide!"
"Come back anytime, stranger. My chain-saw's waiting for you. Heh, heh."
11:02 AM (Japan Time)…
"… You useless rusty and outdated machine…! Give me back my 100 Credits!"
"Enzan – sama…"
Enzan had come out of the meeting and was "battling" the coffee vending machine again.
"Give them back! Give them back! GIVE THEM BACK!" Enzan yelled while raising his voice's volume.
"We should call a technician, Enzan – sama."
"And he'll pick all of the coins in the machine to hand them to the company which built this thing, then! I won't let anyone steal 100 Credits off me!"
"Enzan – sama. Your salary is very high as IPC's Vice – President. 100 Credits should not matter that much."
"Forget about that stuff! My own pride is at stake there!" Enzan quickly shot back.
"Enzan – sama… Why can't you be reasonable?" Blues asked with obvious exasperation on his voice.
"I don't need to!"
Something suddenly hit with a lot of strength the coin slot and left it crushed: there was a noticeable sound of coins falling into the compartment where the change coins were returned.
"Huh? What the…? Ah!"
Enzan spotted two 50 credits coins inside of the compartment: he quickly picked them up and smiled.
"So… Are you gonna say "thanks" or are you gonna pretend I wasn't here?"
"Who…?"
Enzan turned around to spot Charles with a broad smile on his face: he'd used that weird protection over his right arm and hand to crush the slot and force the stuck coins into the compartment: given how it was made of a ductile steel-like material, this was easy for him to do.
"Huh… Thanks. I owe you one." Enzan admitted.
"Is it that hard to ask for a little help? If Netto had been on your spot, he'd politely asked someone to help him instead of resorting to banging the machine." Charles told Enzan with a smile as he used a handkerchief to shake dust off the hand protection.
"Okay, I learnt the lesson."
"That's why I suggested…" Blues began.
"No! I won't ask help out of a technician! He'll steal off my salary!"
Blues sighed in defeat and seemed to roll his eyes under his black shades while slapping his face.
"Ijuuin - kun sure can be stubborn from time to time! Eh, Blues?"
"You said it. I thought that by now Netto would've taught him something: but he keeps on being rather self-centered."
"Heh, heh. heh! Maybe he needs a cold shower?"
"Why not… It would cool him off a lot… He seems to be honoring the "Flame" Kanji in his name." Blues seemed to like the idea.
"What are you two gossiping? I was discussing the Singapore stuff with Charles." Enzan questioned.
"Nothing, Enzan – sama." Blues bowed.
"I'll be going to oversee some stuff at IPC. See ya later."
"And beware of flying pizzas!"
"Jeez. Charles. Stop bringing up Sigma's randomness."
"Did ya call for Analog Snatcher Leo, Dave~? Hal's waiting for ya in Titan!"
12:13 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Blast those guys a thousand times!"
BANG!
A man banged a metallic rectangular table placed inside of a cubical metallic room.
The room was square in shape and was illuminated by fluorescent tubes: it only had one armored entry/exit door.
The only furniture was some wooden chairs and a metallic table with an integrated keyboard, mouse, USB ports and a CD tray on it.
A holographic projector was placed on the middle of the table's surface.
"Shit!"
The man pacing around the table looked on his mid – twenties, had messy jet black hair and red eye irises.
He wore a grayish armor made of several plates joined together of an unknown material and two swords sheaths were attached to his black belt.
His arms and legs were also covered in plating and he had boots and gloves of the same material.
His chest had a round plate like a Navi's emblem with the Alphabet letter "V" drawn there in a purplish color.
A purple ragged, stained and torn cape hung from the back of the shoulders and reached all the way to the floor.
Omega was standing to the right of the door and leaning against the wall: he looked rather used to this kind of situations.
"… Grftx! Did Zero report anything?"
"Yeah. An email which was sent from an Internet Café in Singapore to the Commander of the Okinawa Army Base… It simply read: "Gotcha!" … And it was signed with their group's name… Rather fitting for those rascals, anyway."
"Guess it is. What's the name?"
"…"The Desert Wraiths"… That's what was in the email's signature: hence why it's fitting." Omega replied.
"Hmpf. I guess the name means this: they can appear and vanish like real wraiths… We'll have to keep our eyes sharp since they're gonna be hard to deal with." The man grumbled.
"That's obvious, Boss. Well, I'll go rest for a while."
"Do as you like… I'll go ring Dr. Spimer."
"And please don't overdo it"
"I know…"
"I was just reminding you, Boss."
"Yeah. You're dismissed…"
Omega came out while the man sat down on a chair next to the table and kept on grumbling: there was a chuckle and the hologram of Freeze Man formed there.
"Surprise."
"Shit. You found a way in despite the firewalls and all? Ah! Dragon! The jerk: I told him to update the security systems on his PC but he's forgotten all about that: you waited to catch his MAC address when he browsed and rode along his connection to then jump into the Wi-Fi and from there to this Cyber World!"
"Bravo, Meitantei Vadous. My Master, Twilight – sama, challenges you to try to figure out where those pale imitators are at… And to try to catch them, too… Heh, heh, heh… Glory to "Neo Gospel"!"
Freeze Man's hologram vanished and alarms rang out: Freeze man's chuckle echoed before the alarms died.
"Fuck. Lovely way to start this new deal 3 weeks after the other…!"
Desert Wraiths! HUH? Come at me if you've got the DAMNED GUTS! Hah!