Chapter 2: Militia
23:45 PM (Japan Time), Friday November the 20th…
"… A! Report."
"All nominal."
"B! Report."
"All nominal".
"C! Report!"
"All nominal."
"Good. Remberer, I, Lieutenant D, am in charge! We have to ensure that this storage server is untouched!"
"YES, SIR!"
"Knock, knock."
"Heh."
"By all the…! Intruders!"
Four military Net Navis had been guarding the firewall of a data storage server (represented by an armored cylindrical building inside of the battlements the firewals) were when three figures walked towards them so they drew Mega Cannon Battle Chips.
"Rubbish. Be gone. Missile Barrage!"
"Meteor Rain!"
"Moon Rain!"
"Guwa~h!"
"Uwo~h!"
"Kya~h!"
"Nya~h!"
A barrage of 16 missiles colored metallic gray with two orange bands around the head rained down on the four Navis along with meteors and moon-shaped spheroids: the combined explosive power annihilated them and damaged the firewall behind them.
"Hah. Rubbish. No worthy foes for Supreme Net Navi Commander Kratins Boo of the Z – Militia!"
"True, sir!"
Kratins Boo was a Net Navi close to two meters tall.
His face looked like a man on his 30s or 40s: his right eye had been replaced by what looked like a black eye-patch with a reddish dot on the middle of it while his left eye's iris was blue in color: his facial expression denoted seriousness.
His head had an unconventional type of protection built around it: the forehead was a reddish square piece with three pale blue shapes drawn inside of it: they looked like sensors to scan: two purplish metallic pieces followed it plus two greenish devices attached to the sides of his head: his ear-pads had the Alphabet "Z" character painted black drawn on them and set against a blood red background: black hair came out from the rear.
His upper body was colored green on the torso and its sides yet the area slightly above the waist and directly beneath the torso was white in color: the armor looked thick and resistant.
His shoulders were a mix of white and green coloring: his arms lacked visible elbows like in most Net Navis and his forearms' armor was rather thick and strong: it combined purple on the elbow area, green as the predominant color and yellow rims around the wrists: his hands were also covered by "gloves" like other Net Navis.
His waist had a golden ring built around it and the armor below it and until the knees turned black in coloring.
The legs' armor had been built to be thick and strong: it started with two white pieces in the form of the Alphabet character "L" facing each other and constructed above the hips.
The inner side of the legs was unarmored while the outward side of the legs was where the green armor began at: the knees were colored red.
His ankles had a golden ring around them and the armor slightly below the knees was missing thus exposing the bare black-colored "skin" normally protected by it: the feet had a reddish soil and were colored white yet the green armor partly protected the front and back of them.
Kratins Boo formed a mantle colored blue with golden edges around his body: it included a metallic structure over the shoulders which also helped protect the rear of the head thanks to its half-cylinder form: the mantle covered this body all the way until the feet and agitated as if there a wind moving it.
He also carried a large metallic black gun which had a square muzzle and a laser targeting system: it looked heavy and Kratins Boo was using both hands to wield it: the whole thing looked as large as he was.
"Moonlight, Sunlight! Move!"
"Aye, aye!"
Moonlight, on the other hand, was a female Navi about a meter and eighty tall.
Her eyes' irises were purple as well and her facial constitution was that of a woman on her mid 20s.
Long smooth blackish hair came out from behind her helmet extending until the heels: her ear-pads had the same Alphabet "Z" character drawn into them like the one Kratins Boo had.
Her helmet was colored black with purple edges and had a purple-colored hexagram drawn into the forehead.
Her main body armor was colored purple with black edges and drawings of the moon phases' (except for the new moon which was drawn in black coloring inside of the chest emblem and set against a navy blue background) colored white.
Her arms had black armor with purple rings drawn next to the shoulder.
These rings were placed before and after the elbow and at the start of the forearm armor which included a white knife-carrying accessor: 3 knives were inserted there.
She carried a belt with two handguns stored on it plus several grenades and two pouches for storing stuff: the gekkou (moonlight) kanji was drawn on the center of it using white tint against a black background.
Her legs had white rings drawn on the hips, before and after the knees and on the ankle: she carried another two knife-carrying accessories there with three knives in each one: the boots were colored purple and had black soil.
"Sunlight. Deal the first blow, otouto."
"Roger, ane – ue!"
Sunlight's design was pretty similar to that of Moonlight's but his colors were orange and red instead of purple and black.
His face was shaped like a man on his mid 20s as well and his eyes' irises were a burning orange color.
The helmet had a red pentagram on the forehead and some reddish hair came out from behind it and extended until the shoulders.
His main armor had drawings of the Sun and the different eclipse phases: a total eclipse was drawn upon his chest emblem against a black background.
His arms were colored in orange color with red rings on the same spots Moonlight had: next to the start of the shoulder, before and after the elbows and on the start of the forearm armor which was colored yellow and had a knife-carrying accessory as well like Moonlight had.
He sported a belt with two handguns, the grenades and the pouches colored orange and red on his waist and the taiyoukou (sunlight) kanji painted orange against a yellow background.
His legs' design was identical to that of Moonlight as well given how he too carried the knife-carrying accessories.
His boots were orange with yellow soils.
"Sun Meteors!"
"Moon Meteors!"
"Missile Barrage!"
Two vortexes opened above Sunlight and Moonlight: the same explosive spheroids from before rained down and concentrated on one spot of the firewall while Kratins Boo shot a continuos large celuan laser along with the 16 missiles at the firewall: the combined firepowered blew a large gap open and they rushed towards the server.
"Anyone would dismiss this as being a private server given the low security detail but we know better." Kratins Boo announced with a smug smile on his face.
"Yes, sir!" Both agents saluted.
"Step back." He ordered.
Both did as ordered while Kratins Boo switched his gun for a cybernetic version of the RPG – 7 rocket launcher: he shot a rocket towards the armored door, and, since it had a bunker-piercing-head, blew the door up-
"Let's rush in: they'll soon send more security detail and we must be out before they come in." Kratins Boo ordered.
The group of three rushed in and stopped several columns containing data which they ignored: the deepest part of the server had a large spheroid with multiple cables attached to it.
"Let's begin!"
They ripped one cable and Kratins Boo touched the spheroid: a holographic screen popped out which displayed a download bar that immediately reached the 100% mark.
"We've installed our secret takeover program. We can sell the password to any Reverse Market dealer and make a fortune out of it. Let's pretend we didn't have enough time to copy the whole backup server."
23:52 PM (Japan Time)…
"… How is it?"
"… They only managed to copy 5% of the database. The rest is intact. They must've realized it was bigger than they expected it to be. However, the method they made their way in reveals that they were aware that this wasn't a private server."
A platoon of military Navis with golden armor and armed with Mega Cannons was patrolling the area around the assaulted server while a commanding officer escorted a technician who was analyzing the extent of the infiltration into the system.
"Hum! We'll have to look at the directory tree to know what they stole and the clearance levels they had. Call in the repair team and increase security to Red Mode." The commanding officer ordered.
"Yes, sir!" Various Navis saluted.
"Technician! Continue analyzing and try to find out the exact names of the stolen files, their worth and classification."
"Roger, sir."
"Sir! Security footage from the outside perimeter cameras… Like we though, sir! The Z – Militia, sir!"
"Damn them. We should be glad they miscalculated the size of the server and they didn't want to be caught and engage in prolonged battle with us Elite Troop. We need to report to Colonel." The commanding officer cursed aloud.
"How many attacks have there been already, anyway? 25~30?" One Navi wondered.
"Yeah, that's what the press said…" Another confirmed.
"What a bunch of persistant jerks!" A third cursed.
The commanding officer cursed under his breath and punched a wall out of frustration…
22:58 PM (Taiwan Time)…
"… General. We're back."
"How'd it go?"
"Perfect."
"Good! Another success. Heh, heh, heh."
The three Navis logged inside of a system decorated with the same Alphabet "Z" symbol which was Kratins Boo's emblem.
"True, General Sentou."
A communications window had opened and was displaying the face of a man on his forties, with a black moustache and hair: his eyes' irises wre brown and he had an evil grin on his face.
He seemed to be wearing a military uniform colored teal brown plus a cap to cover his head.
"How was it like?" He questioned.
"Perfectly. They don't realize our subtleness." Kratins Boo reported while saluting.
"Excellent. I've located a pro dealer: he won't ask anything. Go see him ASAP before they try to scan too deep into their own stuff and find out the takeover program." General Sentou ordered.
"Roger, sir!"
"Let's keep on! The more money we gather, the closer we'll get to restore our grip on the Z – Nation!"
"Roger, sir!"
"For glory!"
"For glory~!"
They laughed aloud in an evil tone of voice and looked pretty confident of their own skills…
0:07 AM (Japan Time), Saturday November the 11th…
"… What? Those three jerks broke into one of the Pentagon's backup servers?"
"Yeah. It'd seem they didn't have enough time to drain all of it, though, since they didn't expect it to be so big."
"When did that happen, Red Sword?"
"Not even 15 minutes ago, Forte…"
"Che."
"Grrr…"
Forte, along with "Gospel Jr.", a version of the "Gospel" monster of lesser size and mass, was speaking with the Net Navi named Red Sword in a corner of the Reverse Internet.
"It's obvious that we Hunters' Guild will have to mobilize in order to track the culprits… And see if we can stand their ground against them this time around…"
"Let's hope so… Last time they almost pulverized you guys because you didn't account for their power output."
Red Sword had a wild flock of silver hair which came out from behind the helmet and covered all of his body's back.
His helmet's main color was blood red as well, yet the inner edges surrounding his thick red shades had a tint of purple to them: a purple band formed on the forehead and circled the whole diameter of it: two valley-shaped cavities had been inserted into the sides of it and they ended in golden circles: a "fin" sprouted from the top of the helmet thus giving it a menacing-like look.
His main "skin" color was black, yet his upper torso had red blood armor built over it: there were two black shapes drawn over the shoulders having a golden rim and a thin black line spread from the base of the neck to the lower edge of the armor.
An emblem with a black edge was set on the chest: it consisted of white and black halves split by a thunderbolt-shaped line: white was golden and silver was right.
The forearms were colored blood red and had two purple-colored parallel formations which originated at the sides of the emblem atop each hand's palm: they spread over the edge of the forearm while forming a pyramid-like shape.
His right forearm currently held a purple-colored Long Sword with a customized hilt.
The central body of the forearm was now colored metallic gray and had two purple circles colored yellow inside: a purplish-colored blade emerged around a cone-shaped purple-colored formation: the blade looked sharp and menacing for some reason or another.
His boots began slightly below the knee and had purple-colored diamond-like shapes which extended as high as the knee: they were colored blood red as well: the soils were colored purple, too.
"I know. Later."
"Later."
"Grrr…"
Red Sword dashed away while Forte brought the right hand to his forehead as if trying to concentrate.
"What lovely news. And everytime I try to face them I end up being pawned and beaten up: their teamwork and their long-range attacks hurt like hell. I dunno how many times I've had to be repaired at the Science Labs already but I'm not the only one: even Zero has trouble with those jerks! I need to improve my battle strategy or else I'll end up in a pinch one of these days… Fuck." He groaned.
"Grrr! Grawl! Grrr!"
Forte cursed under his breath while "Gospel Jr." swept his tail around the area as if wanting a fight…
08:08 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Enzan -sama?"
"Huh? Ah… Huh…"
Ijuuin Enzan woke up and looked around of his Vice President's office at IPC Home Office: his eyes had bags on them and it was obvious that he hadn't slept a lot as of late.
Blues was projecting with the Link PET's holographic projector and looked concerned.
"Enzan – sama. This is the third consecutive night in which you have slept in the office. Doesn't Enzan – sama have an apartment?" Blues reported while sounding concerned.
"I have it! But I just can't take work off my head no matter what." Enzan replied, yawning.
The Link PET suddenly rang to signal an incoming call.
"You're not gonna tell me it's the old man." Enzan cursed.
"I cannot be sure. The number is unknown." Blues reported.
"… Patch it through. I'll try to watch my tongue." Enzan gulped and looked nervous.
"Roger."
Enzan looked at the screen and was surprised to find it black.
"Huh… Hello?" He asked in a polite manner.
"May I recall your attention to the fact that you've forgotten to bring HN with you to Ms. Lucy's club and train him tonight?" The male voice announced.
Enzan turned deep red and looked totally baffled as he began to sweat, even.
"E-eh… T-that's… hum…" He uttered.
"Who the hell are you lowlife?" Blues hissed: he was obviously pissed off at someone having told something so rude to his master.
"May I recall your attention to the fact that you've forgotten to catch the Gapcom spy who is running away with IPC's latest invention schematics while laughing at your back?"
"What!" Blues uttered.
He rushed out of the Link PET and checked around: there was no – one and no – one noticed anything being out of place.
"What in the…"
Blues returned to the Link PET to find that the call had been interrupted and Enzan was looking at the ground: the red color of his face seemed to have grown in intensity, too.
"Enzan – sama! Please compose yourself! This is a trap by the competency to humiliate you!" Blues requested.
"Huh… I dunno who Ms. Lucy is, but "HN" is Hikari Netto…"
"But he is your rival, is that not right, sir?"
"Rival? Well… Used to be, yeah, but now that we barely see each other… Yet… Something feels different… Lately, I can't help but get obsessed with his carefree manner… His voice… His face… His eyes…!"
"Enzan – sama…?"
"… What am I saying…? Sorry, Blues. I'm behaving like an idiot and I know that… I now get what the caller meant, but… I'm not that type of person to force someone into it. I want to… talk it with him. I think it's about time to… settle this stupid hostility… And… try to find the caller."
"Roger, Enzan – sama."
Enzan sighed and unlocked a drawer to take out a close-up of Netto's face: he stared at it for a while and formed a weak smile.
I'm silly, I know. But… Maybe… One day…
08:12 AM (Japan Time)…
"… YAY! YAY! YAY!"
"What "yay, yay, yay", ya?"
"YAY! IT RHYMES!"
"Oh yeah?"
"YAY! I CAN TELL MY COMPANIONS THAT I MET SAURON – SAMA~! YAY, YAY, YAY~!"
"Oh! Come on…"
"That's…!"
Blues stepped into a Cyber World only to find the "Eye of Mordor" floating in the air and looking at a Program – kun: he gasped.
"… I've told ya that I'm Mr. Universe and not Sauron of Mordor. I'm a copycat when it comes to avatars so go see Peter Jackson at New Zealand."
"NO! I BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE SAURON – SAMA LOOKING FOR THE ONE RING!" The Program – kun replied.
Why do they have to always talk like that? I dunno who thought it'd be practical to make their programming wholly in katakana…Blues wondered while looking somewhat annoyed, too.
"YAY! ARAGORN - SAMA TO THE RESCUE!" The Program – kun announced while jumping off the ground.
"Aragorn…? Hey! Blues. My good old pal. It's been a while!"
"Who the hell are you lowlife?"
"Forgotten me? Sigaano Nogaano."
"The hacker!"
"Yours truly."
"YAY, YAY, YAY!"
"Oh come on. Shut up!"
The "Eye" looked at the Program – kun and he suddenly turned into stone: he stopped moving.
"Sorry. I woke up moddy this morning. The Dow Jones went down and the assests of a company I'd been invested in lost value. This bloody economical crisis…" He sighed.
"I find it ironic that a Net Navi who acts alone could be interested in such petty stuff."
"Well. Given how aibou has done it, I thought I might try to copy him but guess I'm a rookie. Luckily I bought a very little portion so that my losses are not that big. Guess I'm gonna quit. I prefer Window Vista's Mahjong Titans to that chaotic thing with no rules and no logic." He mumbled as if being slightly annoyed.
"So you're back." Blues muttered.
"A gentleman is always loyal to his word."
"Where were you until now?"
"Dunno. Maybe I was playing Pocket Monsters Platinum?" He teased while sounding amused.
"Hmpf."
"Ah! I'll treat you to something."
"What?"
"My real name, of course." He further teased.
"Tell it."
"Tabuu."
"Taboo?" Blues frowned.
"… Huff. Write taboo in Katakana. And read it as a Japanese word."
"Hum. Then… If I write it down in Katakana and pronounce it… Ta – bu – u… Tabuu. So. You lowlife's real name is Tabuu." Blues calmly told him.
"Bravo." There was some sarcastic clapping.
"And I know you're just using the hologram to move around the Cyber World and that you're in the real world."
"Maybe you prefer this other one?"
The "Eye" vanished to be replaced by a character wearing purple clothes, a ca and a cape while having pallid white skin: he didn't appeal to being even a meter and fifty tall.
"Meet Sorcerer Gufuu of the Legend of Zelda: Mysterious Hat if you may, Blues – dono." He bowed.
"Hmpf."
"I see you brought Anduril along. Or should we name it the Four Sword in this case?" He joked.
"Stop screwing me!" Blues growled.
"My, my. What would your master think if he heard you using such rude language? Should you not defend your pride, samurai?"
"I ain't a samurai, never was, never will be."
"I ain't a hero, never was, never will be. Old Snake's words in MGS4: Guns of Patriots, sick of everyone naming him a "hero"…" He countered with a broad grin.
Blues growled and tried to cut Gufuu yet his sword did no effect given how he was a hologram to begin with: he made an exasperated sigh and shrugged his shoulders.
"Too violent for my taste. But let's see what your friends think. I'm going back. Farewell, Aragorn – dono!"
Blues slapped his face in defeat as the hologram vanished and an evil-like giggle rang out…