Megaman Eternities:Book Two

Preface

Trigger peered out the small viewing port as the thundering roar of the Special Force Dropship Regiment echoed evocatively in his ears, reverberating from the ship's engine and against the splashing tides of the ocean below. The fire in his blood rose to a boil as he gazed out at the familiar island his past journeys had once brought him to, a place where he had come to know so many people, people who had once called him a friend and hero to their home, the home that now lied in ruins.

The soldiers that made up Commander Trigger's elite ground force unit fell silent as they watched their superior's pose stiffen, not that much ruckus was being made before, only now there was no whispering, no coughing or deep breathing, just silence. It was always unnerving for them to watch Trigger's mind sharpen before battle, like a butcher stroking a cleaver against a whetstone, filing off small slivers of metal until the blade was well suited for laceration.

They had seen this before, too many times. His body was preparing itself, shifting gears as they drew closer and closer to the target, the furnace burning hotter and hotter until the moment he would finally release it all, and the blazing inferno would engulf everything in his path. Whenever they saw this, however, terrifying as the sight was, it made them feel relieved at least that he was on their side.

The colossal pillars of black smoke could be seen rising from the crumbling city for miles on end. It had only taken twenty-one hours. That was all the time they needed. It only seemed to intensify Trigger's terrifying transformation into an instrument of unbridled fury.

From what the soldiers could see, the city was already a lost cause. No sense wasting their lives to take it back, most of them figured, and yet here they were, riding on a death boat, each carrying a handful of battle hardened soldiers, all who had been nothing more than ragtag diggers only years before.

"Sixty-seconds to drop, comin' in low and fast!" A voice blared out of the ships intercom. "Second Squad dropship, Third Squad dropship, move up! Get a hard landing on Commander Trigger's outward position! Maintain a suppressing fire on all outer resistance!"

As the radio continued blaring orders, Trigger turned to face his subordinates, his most prized and effective warriors whom he himself had trained personally, sharpening them all into disciplined tools of combat Truly, they were the Vanguard of what was left of humanity.

But, effective and experienced as they all were, in his mind he knew that this operation was going to be… different. He knew very well what was coming for all of them on this particular mission. He folded his arms and sighed, wondering how many of them would still be alive by the end of the day.

"Alright," Trigger said as he peered into the prying eyes of Squad Nine. "I don't think I have to remind you all what's at stake here, so here's how it's going to play out. Sharuke Elites congest the entire outer perimeter of the beachhead; we need to take care of them first before Tron can bring in the heavy artillery. After that, we'll push straight through the middle defenses until we reach the anti-air units. Everyone clear?"

"Yes sir!" the soldiers hollered.

"Ok then. This is it. It's time to take back Saul Kada."

1. Flight to Kattelox (Part I)

Three years earlier

"No! No! No! The left one! Pull the left one!" Tron screamed in my headset, nearly deafening me as her piercing voice sliced into my eardrum.

"I am pulling the left one!" I screamed back.

The mechanized exoskeleton Tron had built jerked violently back and forth as I wrenched around in the cockpit trying to rein the controls.

"Seriously Roll, all you have to do is turn left! Is it really that complicated!"

"Well it wouldn't have to be if you designed this thing a little more efficiently!"

"Okay, just stop! Stop! Let go of the lever!"

Without hesitation I immediately released the lever and accelerator pedal and the armor suit went inert. I sighed in relief and leaned my head back onto the seat as I waited for my head to stop spinning. This was quickly becoming much more trouble than it was worth.

"Roll…" I heard Tron sigh heavily through my earpiece, "are you pressing down on the far right pedal?"

"Well…yeah" I replied, looking down at my right foot that was rested on the accelerator. "That's how you make this thing go forward right?

I could hear Tron taking in deep breaths. This new breathing method for coping with the frustration I placed on her was new and experimental after she discovered loud, high pitched noises didn't work on me as well as it did on her servebots. She must have lost her paper bag since I couldn't hear the crinkling sounds.

"I mean… it is the far right one… right?" I said hesitantly.

"No… Roll. That's the power brake. Press down on the right pedal of the two that are located under your left foot to go forward. But first, pull back on the left control lever. The one with the yellow handle."

"Oh. Ok." I said, ruffling my forehead in embarrassment. "I can do that."

Gently, I pulled back on the lever and the mech smoothly began to turn left.

"Alright!" I said excitedly. "I think I've got it!"

"Congrats." Tron said sarcastically. "You turned left. Would you like a certificate?"

I sighed, feeling the confidence and pride of my little achievement being swept away by Tron's snide comment.

"Give me a break. It's only my first time piloting this thing and I'm not used to your design. It's a little overly complicated. Maybe I should just stick with flying the Flutt-"

"First of all!" Tron immediately cut in, apparently abandoning her breathing methods. "It's not overly complicated! You're just a lousy pilot! And secondly, we don't have a lot of time! We'll be arriving at Kattelox in less than an hour so you'd better get used to the controls fast! Megaman told me to teach you how to pilot this thing and by golly you're gonna learn! I'm not gonna let you trash my best machine just because you can't turn left!"

I nodded in defeat as her words hit me one by one. She was absolutely right. There wasn't much time left at all. Not just for training me to use the Gustaff, but for Kattelox as well. They were running out of time.

Reaverbots were attacking en masse; completely overwhelming the entire island and every second that passed by brought the city closer and closer to total destruction. The local forces from the island and some from nearby islands were desperately holding them back as best they could, keeping them from invading the unscathed sections of the city, but it was obvious that they wouldn't last much longer.

Megaman was going to stop it. I knew he would. He had to, and we were going to help him; I was going to help him. Not just as a spotter, but as someone who could actually do something. And as painful as it was for both of us, Tron was going to help me.

"Now…" She said coolly, trying to collect herself. "Would you like to learn how to turn right?"

-

I wiped the beads of sweat off my forehead with my arm as I walked toward the entrance door of the Eclipse's cockpit. I wasn't sure whether the sweat was a product of the heavily heated interior of the Gustaff, the sheer anxiety of what was to come, or perhaps a combination of the two. I felt a chilly breeze brush past me as the door slid open, compliments of the cockpit's climate control Yuna was using to pump out arctic winds.

The ship was flying at a rapid speed, but from how well the engines functioned, coupled with Yuna's precise piloting, one wouldn't be able to tell whether the ship was even moving. I looked over at the pilot's seat to see Megaman sitting at the controls. He turned to look at me as I walked inside.

"Hey." He said calmly.

"Hi." I smiled weakly back at him.

He raised an eyebrow as he examined my facial features. He was reading me like a book; a book entitled: The Worthlessness of Roll

He stretched his lips into an awkward smile.

"Dare I ask how it went with Tron?"

"I think it went just fine." I said, forcing myself to stretch the truth a bit.

It was going fine for a while, at least from what I thought, until I somehow managed to confuse the weapons lock button with the timed self-destruct button, a feature I couldn't understand why Tron had installed in the first place. Regardless, she was now in the hanger bay busy un-installing it, least I make the same mistake again.

"Glad to hear it went well." He replied, apparently letting the obvious lie slide for this one time.

"Are we close?" I asked, my voice suddenly becoming more solemn.

"We have ten more minutes till we reach Kattelox." Yuna's disembodied voice said over the intercom. The Gesellschaft and Flutter are still an hour out, trailing behind us as fast as they can move."

"Wow. Ten minutes? Really?"

That was faster than I ever expected. But then again, the Eclipse was the fastest, most powerful airship in the sky. With Yuna's upgrades from Elysium, not to mention her transferring her data files into the ship and effectively embodying it, the Eclipse was unmatched in speed.

"I'd suggest you two head to the drop bay. I'm warning you now that this isn't going to be pretty."

"Understood Yuna." Megaman nodded. "Roll, are you ready?"

He stood up and looked over at me.

"I'm ready," I said as confidently as possible, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in my gut, the sickening feeling of my impending doom.