To AgeofAdvent: Thank you for the review. Glad you liked the intro for the previous chapter... although the news that Zero was listening to were news from Legion's news channel, not Serpent's.
Note: Thanks to Lord Raa for helping me with the grammar of this chapter, my usual beta reader having been unavailable in the last few days.
Enjoy everyone!
Megaman ZX
Rookies
With the last of the enemies cut in pieces, the red Mega Man froze in his combat stance, eyes darting back and forth, trying to see if there were any other targets to attack. None of his scanners seemed to detect anything, his visor's display showing that indeed, he was done with this squad.
Girouette relaxed briefly, sheathing his Z-Saber. It was strange. After he and his original had defeated the initial group of Mavericks, a new one had arrived just as he had resumed his mission. Apparently, Ciel had told him to give priority to the other mission rather than to the protection of Vent and Aile. Personally, it confused him as the Chosen Ones are vital to Ciel's plans but then, he had not been programmed to question her and thus, he had complied immediately.
This did not really matter quite frankly. Still, the last few Galleon Mavericks had run away to that base in the distance when they had begun to suffer too many casualties. His memory bank was telling him that this was a Slither Inc. base for this district. He could see the Mavericks out there talking with the Slither Inc. employees. It probably meant that the Slither Inc. was in league with those Mavericks and had probably even launched that attack on purpose, probably to steal the Biometal and eliminate the Chosen Ones.
Girouette took on his battle stance again. It is his duty as the red Mega Man to eliminate Ciel's enemies. He does not care who or what the foe is, he shall not hesitate. If an enemy appears, he shall destroy it!
"For the last time, we will not let you in unless you have an authorization!"
The Galleon Hunter swore mentally, wishing for a second that he was like the Pantheons of old. Life must have been simple for them, being too stupid and simple in their programming to understand how dull and boring the life of a grunt was... especially when dealing with something like Legion's security forces.
Really, what were those Legion Galleons thinking? This was a Slither Inc. district base, private property! They have no right to waltz in and demand access like this! So what if they are under attack by a Maverick, they are Legion agents! After all, they constantly parrot that they can take on any enemy.
"I am not designed for extended arguments! As the leader of this Legion squad, I invoke my authority and demand that you let us in!"
The Slither Inc. guard shook his head again. "And I will repeat, once more, that as per the law, this is private property belonging to Slither Inc. and if you wish to enter, you need an official authorization! Contact the Serpent Inc. and fill the forms!"
But unfortunately, the Legion Galleon did not take no as an answer. "I am an agent of Legion! I represent the government! I represent the law!"
This was leading nowhere. The guard wished for a moment that he was a real, unique Reploid rather than a Galleon drone. An agent with an actual mind and true free will would probably be able to come up with a way to shut this idiot up but at the moment, the Galleon found that it had not been programmed to deal with such people and it caused it much grief.
About a second later, the Legion Galleon lost its head as a weird man with girly hair in a red armor jumped out of nowhere and cleaved it in two. For a moment, the Galleon thought that maybe it was the Red Demon but visual identification shown that it lacked the helmet required and had a few other design differences. A moment later, the man thrust his sword into the Galleon, solving its frustration problem forever.
Aile couldn't help but feel worried. When she had returned to the last place where she saw Giro, the entire area looked like a war zone, the bodies of the Galleons covering the ground. On one hand, it relieved her as Giro had obviously defeated the Mavericks but what had confused her was the state of the bodies. Giro used a Buster pistol, she knew that.
So why had the bodies been cleanly cut in pieces? A Buster pistol certainly did not cause such injuries!
She had followed the trail of bodies and grew a bit confused. She knew that Giro was brave but the number of Maverick corpses was really surprising. But what had outright shocked her was when she had walked in there.
This seemed to be the entrance to a military base of sorts and she could see the Slither Inc. logo on the gate but well, fact is, she could see it on what was left of the gate. The place was littered with debris and there were marks all over the walls, as if someone had struck into them with a blade repeatedly. Likewise, the various mechaniloids all around were cut into pieces of various sizes.
Still, maybe it will lead to Giro?
"Aile? Come in Aile."
The teen's eyes widened. Where had that come from? For a moment, she looked around frantically until she heard a mental sigh coming from Model X. A second later, she somehow knew that she had a communicator... somehow. Why did she have one? She didn't remember carrying one with her...
Still, she pressed a finger on her wrist and was amazed when indeed, she realized that she did have a communicator now.
"About the Mavericks that attacked us, something with the whole thing is bothering me." It was Prairie, she could recognize the voice. "There might be a clue in the ruins about what's causing the Maverick outbreaks. Could you check them out and see if you can find something?"
"Err... I guess so," she said, tentatively.
There was silence for a moment and then, Prairie spoke again. "Is everything alright?"
"Yes yes, it is. I'll see what I can do."
"Thank you. Prairie, out," and with that said, the transmission ended.
Aile blinked a few times before it jumped at her. She frowned, taking Model X out of her pocket. "Alright, since when do I have a communicator?"
"I took the liberty of giving you one when I established the biolink. I thought you'd find it convenient. I gave one to your friend as well," it answered as if it was normal.
Aile wasn't sure of it at all. Still, she guessed that having a communicator might be convenient to keep in touch with the customers.
"Just don't put stuff on me without telling me next time, okay?"
Another sigh from Model X. "Fine, I will tell you next time if I have to do something like this again."
With this cleared up, the teen put the Biometal into her pocket again. So, there might be a clue in the ruins about the Maverick attacks? For a moment, she wondered why Prairie would think that. Mavericks were immoral murderers. They didn't need a reason to attack people. Still, since she was a customer and she was there, she guessed she could do this for her.
But as she walked around, she began to realize that she did not know what to look for. What exactly could be a clue about the Maverick attacks? What kind of clue should she look for?
Again, Model X figured he might as well help. It was a mixed blessing, he guessed. On one hand, he finally had someone who would carry him around, allowing him to do things other than gather dust in a lab. On another hand, this Chosen One was a bit clueless to say the least. In a way, her innocence was fleeting and well, she did put her life at risk to help people despite not knowing anything about the ones she saved. Still, it didn't change the fact that the world was a harsh place and could prove hostile, especially to clueless people. Although she had asked not to help her too much and that he wished to honor that request, the truth was that without a hint, she'd probably wander the ruins until the authorities or the Guardians dragged her out.
"Aile?"
The teen was busy struggling with a door when the Biometal came to life. The stupid thing refused to open for some reason, as if jammed. Hearing Model X's voice, she took it out of her pocket.
"You're looking for a clue regarding the attacks, aren't you?"
"This is what Prairie asked me to, yes."
Model X glanced around him. The place was littered with bodies, the broken shapes of Galleons, Metools, and other mechaniloids covering the floor. Despite the advanced electronic brains that Reploids had, computer chips were still commonly used and even necessary. A Maverick's control chip would reveal, upon analysis, various facts such as its programmed orders if any, who had entered the orders, and other such bits of information.
"Try looking for a computer chip."
Aile blinked a few times. How would a computer chip help them? It wasn't like they needed to build or repair a computer of sorts! Still, that Model X thing had given her good advice for the moment being and well, it was better than just searching the area at random.
But where would she find a computer chip? She looked at the bodies and guessed that they were probably too smashed up for their control chips to be useable. But it's then that she had a flash of genius. If she can blow up a Maverick without damaging the head, then she'd be able to extract its computer chip intact!
The area was really smashed up she thought as she continued to go deeper into the base. What could have caused this kind of havoc? Galleons didn't have this kind of firepower!
She then stopped in her track. What seemed to be an old 20st century-styled two brown helmets with radio equipment on its side and with two big eyes and two shoes where the body wearing the helmet should be was walking toward one of the breaches in the wall, followed by a group of four Galleons. Aile clenched her fists. Mavericks, they have to be Mavericks!
The Metool and its cohorts stopped as they noticed what seemed to be a civilian standing in the middle of their base. This was a most unwelcome sight to say the least. Not only did they have to prepare for the blue Mega Man's arrival but they were also busy trying to fend off that crazy red Mega Man who was tearing the base apart. What kind of insanity was this? Was this 'pick on Giga Aspis and his employees' week? That was way too much for them to handle and when they phoned to HQ, they had not believed them!
So, really, they didn't need to deal with civilians strolling inside of their base in the middle of an attack. The Metool stepped forward, trying to bring up enough courage and determination to sound like he was a good authority figure at the moment.
"What are you doing here girl? This is private property and we are in the middle of an attack! This area is not safe for civilians. Please leave!"
To Aile, it was obvious. Those Mavericks were threatening her! They say they're in the middle of an attack? Not if she can do something about that! She'll stop their attack on innocents right in its track!
The Metool rolled his eyes and all of the Galleons would have too if they had eyes as the girl took on a fighting stance. She had no weapons on her! What did she hope to achieve? Besides... why would she even want to fight them? They're being attacked and suddenly, she feel like fighting? Did she go Maverick or something? When she took out some kind of blue rock that seemed like a miniature face or something, the Metool became annoyed. Was she going to throw it at them? He sure didn't want to deal with civilians throwing rocks at him!
"Look girl, it is best if-"
"MEGAMERGE!"
The civilian begun to glow in a strange light, strands of data errupting from the weird rock and covering her. Before their eyes, the figure of the girl begun to hover as the data begun to gather, her body transforming as armor plates begun to form. The Metool took a step back, the whole squad feeling very nervous suddenly.
"Errr... is that normal boss?"
The Metool made a mental note to send a request to the Slither Inc. Humanoid Resources Management office later to fire the Galleon who said that stupidity.
The light seemed to explode and the hearts of the Slither Inc. employees sunk as they found themselves face to face with the blue Mega Man. He wondered for a moment what the Slither Inc. had done to the universe for it to pour down so much hatred upon it and its employees.
The girl, now covered in blue armor from head to toes, pointed a hand toward the group... only it was no longer a hand but an arm-mounted Buster. At this moment, survival instinct triumphed over bravery and the Metool ducked, covering its body under its helmet completely. It made a second mental note. This one was to send the Slither Inc. administration a complaint for misuse of mechaniloid drones. Their small unit is not designed for taking on Mega Man! That's a job for a higher-ranked officer's army, like Protectos's or Leganchor's!
Aile unleashed the energy gathered in her Buster, sending it hurtling straight toward the Metool. Although it was small, it reminded her of that event ten years ago and considering it was a Maverick, that made it a priority target in her mind. However, much to her frustration, the energy of the Buster shot shook the Metool's helmet but despite the metallic impact sound, most of the energy dispersed harmlessly on impact.
Aile gathered her remaining charge power and made a punch motion with her other arm, sending a second charged shot into the Metool. Again, the Metool was hit but suffered no damage, the helmet absorbing the shot without difficulty.
As the girl begun to gather energy again, the Galleons standing around the Metool felt their panic fading away, replaced with their determination to do their duty. As the girl unleashed a second salvo of Buster shots on the Metool, both shots doing absolutely nothing to the small robot, the Galleons' suspicions were confirmed. It was common knowledge that Metools' helmets were made of a special reactive armor that 'vented' energy into the ground when 'grounded', essentially making the Metools invincible to all but the most powerful of kinetic direct hits. As the girl wasted time attacking the Metool, the Galleon Hunters' left arm transformed, revealing their own Busters.
"Darn it! What's wrong with that Maverick?" Aile couldn't believe this. This transformation was filling her with such strength and that Buster was sending the biggest, meanest-looking Buster shots she had ever seen and yet, somehow, that stupid Metool was still standing!
At this moment, the Galleon Hunters aimed at the girl and fired, all together. The four Galleons all fired with the synchronization and precision expected of professionals, putting all three shots of their Busters' salvos squarely into the chest armor plate of the blue Mega Man. Thrown back by the combined strength, Aile lost her concentration and flinched visibly, letting out a frightened, shocked gasp as her entire body shook with pain.
Model X processed the information quickly and sent it into her brain, informing her that her body had taken damage but that the auto-repair systems of her new form had prevented bleeding and had repaired the ribs that had been broken by the impact. Aile wondered for a moment why she took so much damage and Model X sighed inside of her mind.
"Mega Man armor is extremely advanced reactive armor made of a special alloy. Make no mistake, it is very effective and reduce damage to your systems by more than 93 percents. However..." it said, putting a very strong emphasis on the word 'however'. "... you are by no mean invincible. Keep in mind that Galleons are equipped with real Busters, not the kind of popgun your friend carried. If I hadn't helped you, those shots would have vaporized your chest and sent flying all of its contents toward the nearest wall behind you. Try dodging please. I have no desire to see you killed."
Aile gritted her teeth, charging her Busters with as much energy as she could gather. She had fought off that huge snake thing, right? She wouldn't let a small Metool get in her way!
With all of the power she could gather, she shot two fully charged Buster shots in quick succession, aimed at the Metool. She had put all of her power into it, all of it.
... And yet, both shots just succeeded in shaking the helmet a bit and making metallic impact noises.
Again, the Galleons aimed as Aile stood there, not believing what she was seeing. As Aile looked to the others, she noticed too late that while she had wasted time attacking the Metool, they had taken aim and had shot a second salvo. A split second later, she recoiled as each of the four Galleons put a second salvo of three shots per Hunter in her chest again. Her entire body shook out of control, pain surging through her entire frame for a moment.
Again, Model X analyzed the damage and told her in detail about which organs and systems had failed. She didn't understand half of what he said and all that she really understood was that they had again damaged her, something that the infernal pain that she had felt before had told her before Model X had even said one word.
"Thanks for your help, captain obvious!" she spat, frustration creeping into her voice.
Despite her armor, she knew she couldn't take an endless number of shots like this. She had to do something about it. She took glances at the Galleons and saw them aiming for a third salvo. Couldn't they see she was trying to take out this Metool?
Why... why is she having so much difficulty taking out a Metool anyway?
She raised her Buster and pointed it at the Galleon closest to the Metool, the display in her vision indicated that her aim was locked.
This time, she fired only one charged shot, having gathered only half of the energy that the Buster could contain. Still, as the massive blue fireball slammed into the Galleon's chest, its armor, much cheaper and fragile than the one covering Aile, lasted only for a split second before the combined kinetic impact and energy surge ruptured it, the fireball passing straight through the unfortunate robot. The chest came apart, its arms sent spiraling to the ground, the head rolling backward. It shattered nicely upon hitting the ground.
This didn't prevent the remaining three Galleons from shooting, coldly ignoring or even not noticing their fallen comrade. They had not been programmed to act upon feelings of fear and with their two last salvos having hit home, they had a foolish hope that maybe, just maybe, they might win the encounter.
Aile saw the streams of yellow oval bullets fly from her opponents' Busters and saw that the end destination of those shots was her. For a moment, she panicked as she only had a second to dodge but Model X fed her information and in the rush of the moment, her instinct drove her to use the information.
Aile leaned forward and quickly dashed to the side, her entire frame sliding alongside the ground as the emergency acceleration systems in her boots activated. Her armor absorbed the stress from the acceleration and her internal systems guided her legs, allowing her to gracefully and instantly stop the manoeuvre once she was out of the targeted area, the Galleons' shots sailing past where she had been and hitting the wall behind where she had been.
With her having dodged the attack, she pointed her Buster straight at the Metool, firing single shots, watching as the yellow oval shots bounced off of its helmet doing no more effect than the charged shots. On one hand, it wasn't that surprising but it aggravated her greatly. How could that Metool soak up so much damage?
Again, she glanced up to the Galleons. They were, again, aiming at her. They just didn't give up, didn't they?
"Gah! How much more persistent can they get?" she muttered despite knowing that she was pretty much only talking to herself.
It was also then that she noticed the head of the Galleon she just destroyed, smashed in pieces. This... wouldn't do at all. Why had the head been blown up like this, anyway?
She decided to go with weaker shots, just spraying the two Galleons to the left of the Metool with uncharged shots. The purple mechaniloid drones flinched slightly as the bullets slammed into their bodies, absorbing the shots but after the full salvo hit them, they slowly lowered their Busters and collapsed, one forward, his head shattering as he fell forehead-first into a piece of debris. The other one fell to the side, his head cracking as he hit the ground.
Aile swore under her breath. She had never thought Galleons could be made of such cheap stuff.
It was at this moment that she learnt that stopping paying attention during a fight was rather hazardous to one's health as the last remaining Galleon hit Aile in the side with yet another salvo of Buster shots. The teen almost lost her footing, trying to get ahold of herself as her body shook with pain.
Aile began to feel slightly dizzy, Model X analyzing the damage.
"Damage is getting critical, chest body armor has failed, auto-repair systems are beginning to be over-taxed. You're letting them hit you too much! Aile, that is your name right?"
Aile tried to reply but found herself violently coughing. Her eyes widened as she saw the blood splatter on the ground... her own. She brought her free hand to her mouth and realized that she was bleeding. It was also at this moment that she realized that her body was starting to hurt all over from the constant hits she was receiving.
"I have lent you my power. Use it, dispatch that last Galleon before it can inflict any more damage on you!"
Model X couldn't believe that he had to tell her that. She really had no battle experience and it was showing. He had the feeling things would be very complicated...
Aile and the Galleon pointed their Busters at each other and fired simultaneously. Both streams of bullets struck home, Aile recoiling as she cried out in pain, the level of adrenaline in her body no longer sufficient to mask the damage she was receiving. The Galleon, it, did not have any reaction. It simply fell over, the Buster shots having perforated it quite nicely.
As Aile regained her footing, her Buster returned to the shape of a hand and she quickly gripped her free arm, massaging it in a vain attempt to make the pain that was racking her body go away. Model X was by now displaying countless system failures in her vision, informing her of the various broken bones, shattered organs, and internal bleeding all inside her body as well as the gaping holes in her chest armor plate.
"I'm... I'm not feeling too good..." she whispered to herself, definitely feeling dizzy. Having absorbed over thirty direct impacts from military grade Buster cannons had taken a toll upon the girl.
Guess he'd have to explain it to her...
"Aile, search the bodies of the Galleons you just destroyed." he said inside of her mind.
She blinked a few times. Search their bodies, why?
"Most mechaniloids and other Reploids use special Ciel System crystals to power their systems. It is likely that some of them might have shards left on them. You can absorb them in your body to boost your auto-repair systems' performance and repair the damage to your body."
Although Model X reading her thoughts was starting to really grate on her, what it was saying was of a much greater interest to her.
"Grabbing Ciel System cell shards will heal me?"
"Yes. They look like green capsules with a red glow withing. Simply grab them and I'll do the rest."
This sounded immensely weird but if it made that pain in her body go away and stopped her bleeding, she would try it. As she approached one of the less damaged fallen Galleons, Aile found herself a bit disgusted. It was all creepy, having to search the body of a dead robot like this... but she did it anyway, bending down. Within the holes, she could see it, the crystal glowing within. Did she really have to do this? Well... it was only a Maverick, a soulless machine... she guessed.
She jammed her hand through the bullet hole, making a grimace as she felt her hand plunge into the gooey red liquid inside. The fact that it was an imitation of a living thing's guts didn't make it any more pleasant. She then pulled with all of her strength, pulling out a large capsule straight out.
She looked at the blood-soaked capsule, glowing red silently. It was incredible how durable those things were, she figured. She had blasted the thing with Buster shots and the capsule had been left intact...
Suddenly, the capsule closed and seemed to wrap around her frame. Her eyes widened as it seemed to spread over her body before disappearing, absorbed by her armor somehow. A second passed and her gaze clarified, her feeling of dizziness going away, the salty taste in her mouth stopping.
"See?" said Model X. "If you ever find yourself damaged when using my power, you can use red capsules to heal yourself. The Ciel System is a universal energy producing and storing system so do not worry about incompatibilities."
Aile smiled. She guessed that it all had an advantage... although now that she thought about it, it was something she'd rather avoid in the future. She shook her head a bit, trying to get the blood off it, looking around her... and noticing the Metool, still ducking under his helmet.
Hatred deformed her face for a moment, frustration now adding to her anger.
"You stupid Maverick piece of scrap metal!" she yelled, giving it a mighty kick!
As her foot slammed into the helmet, there was a loud metallic impact that echoed inside of her entire frame, making her shake a bit, her systems telling her that she had just crushed her toes in the process. Aile's eyes widened slowly, her mouth opening wide.
"GEEEEEYAAAAOOOOW!" she screamed, beginning to hop on one foot, holding on the one she had used to kick the Metool.
Inside of the command room, everyone was silent. Prairie was currently sitting in the command chair, eyes locked upon the main screen as it displayed Aile's progress. At first, there had been a mix of curiosity, excitement, and focus among the various Guardians as they waited to see a Chosen One in action. After all, Girouette's own antics were displayed on another set of screens and he was quite impressive to say the least, destroying Mavericks left and right with a level of speed and efficiency no other agent among the Guardians could hope to equal. So, most logically, Aile will prove just as impressive, right?
The Guardians stared at each other as the transporter girl engaged a small group of Mavericks. They talked for a bit and then, she transformed. Despite their professionalism, the various Guardians exchanged glances. That was also going to be the first test...
The girl began to fire Buster shots on the Metool, which just ducked and took it with no problem. That wasn't a surprise and they expected the girl to switch targets. Except... she didn't. The various Guardians flinched as the transporter got hit by a barrage of gunfire; this had to hurt.
Prairie s expression slowly begun to sink as the transporter kept firing at the Metool uselessly while the Galleons kept using her as target pratice, the girl so obsessed that she seemed not to notice that she was being shot at.
Prairie s face begun to turn pale as the battle continued. Was Sis truly putting all of her hope in people like this girl? This... this was...
After what seemed to be forever, the transporter finally managed to notice that she was being fired at and dispatched the Galleons, although not before soaking yet more Buster shots. Prairie had a brought a hand to her cheek, trying to keep herself from shaking her head in disbelief.
And then, the blue Mega Man did the worst, dumbest thing she could have done. She kicked the Metool and then hopped around, howling in pain, like in a scene right out of a cartoon.
But Prairie was not laughing. It was thoroughly humiliating. People had given their lives to protect the Chosen Ones, to make sure the Biometal would be safe... and now this? Prairie could barely keep herself from crying in shame and disappointment, a few tears trickling by her cheeks despite her best efforts. It was a total, sick joke.
She hid her face in her hands, hoping no one had seen that. The laughs of the various Guardians had been a roar of laughter when the Chosen One had kicked the Metool but the laughter had quickly turned sour as the awful realizations sunk in. Suddenly, the entire command room was filled with grim, awkward silence, only the constant noise of the computers audible.
"Well, at least she can take some damage?" said one Guardian, smiling awkwardly.
Prairie's finger hovered over the button on her console that would give out the order to abort the mission. Had the Biometal been an elaborate prank by Sis? What was that about? Could those two truly change the world?
Her hand shook for a moment and she looked to Aile, recovering from the pain and slowly getting a hold of herself.
"Ooow... hopefully, no one saw that." said the transporter before walking away, deciding to forget about that stupid Metool for the moment being.
Prairie continued to watch as Aile resumed on her mission. She slowly withdrew her hand from the console. Maybe... maybe that had only been a mishap. After all, even Giro could do mistakes at times. Maybe... it had only been a tiny mistake...
Aile was starting to feel that this whole thing was starting to really not be worth it. At first, she had been somewhat thrilled at how she had been able to finally shoot at those Mavericks. It had been gratifying, finally destroying those who had terrorized the country for so long and caused the raid that made her an orphan. But now that she had spent about a hour facing Mavericks that shot back at her, the thrill was definitely gone.
Was this what the Legion security forces faced every day? In a way, it was no wonder they produced Galleons instead of taking recruits among the civilian population, with actual unique soldiers being a rarity.
She was also starting to get sick of trying to get an intact control chip. She had found a few weird mechaniloids on the way, some kind of bell-shaped robots with a shield covering most of the front and with a hose, spraying the various compromised walls with water. She had quickly destroyed these, only to find out that once again, she had destroyed the control chips by mistake.
She seemed about to give up on finding a darn micro chip when she found a Metool in front of her, its helmet a few feet farther. The electronic brain was cut in two but looking closely, she noticed that the control chip was intact. She bent down and reluctantly plunged a hand within. She shivered as the gooey-like electronics covered her arm before extracting a large, gold computer chip out of the artificial brain.
Aile jumped, plunging a hand into her pocket to reach for the Biometal as her communicator came to life suddenly, startling her.
"A computer chip... It must be a part that fell off one of the Mavericks. If you bring it back to HQ, we can analyze it. It might give us the lead we need. If you find anything else, bring that back too."
Thankfully, it was only Prairie. Still, the teen sighed. She wasn't sure she'd get used to the idea of having that thing on her. And anyway, how did Prairie guess she found that computer chip? That made no sense...
After putting the computer chip in her pocket, she made it to the back of the base. It was a great clearing, like an airstrip with the markings on the ground showing that it was obviously meant for a large vehicle. For some reason, there was nothing there though. Still, Giro had to be here somewhere because that this was the far end of the base.
At this moment, a rumbling noise begun to rise, progressively becoming louder until the noise was so loud that she could barely hear her own thoughts. She also noticed it was getting darker somehow. It was then that she realized that this wasn't clouds covering the sun but rather, it was the shadow of a mechaniloid.
Looking upward, she saw the frame of the mechaniloid. It was absolutely massive and shaped like a ray, its metallic frame covered with the gaudy pink color scheme that the Slither Inc. seemed so fond of. She instantly recognized the vessel; it was a Rayfly, an automated cargo plane used for the transport of large quantities of equipment too heavy to be transported via transerver. Although it wasn't designed for combat, the fact that it was hovering there instead of beginning its landing sequence indicated that it was probably not there to deliver supplies.
Then, suddenly, the underside of the vehicle opened and she saw three massive cylinders drop down, crashing into the ground, making a deafening noise as they landed. She could recognize the massive objects with a huge red glass eye on the central cylinder. Those were heavy automated turrets!
She knew that those things packed a punch, could be deployed insanely quickly, and were extremely durable so the temptation to panic was high. Fortunately, she was getting used to the idea of having that Biometal with her and decided to call upon its power. As the light engulfed her, the Biometal's data strands covering her, she saw the cylinders open up, large gun batteries coming out.
As the light faded, the teen covered in blue armor, she pointed her Buster at the battery, gathering energy within. At this moment, a quick flash of her embarrassing encounter with the Metool caused her to pause for a moment. It was a good thing as it allowed her to notice the batteries firing. Remembering the strange boost of speed that she had felt before, she called upon the unknown systems in her body again, dashing out of the way. The batteries' cannons belched large, black cannonballs that exploded violently just where she had stood not long ago.
As she finished charging up, she remembered that assignment back when she had, with Giro and Vent, to ferry some of those turrets to Legion security forces in a base outside the city. Apparently, those heavy turrets were covered in a plating not unlike the one used for Metool helmets, making them highly resistant to most weaponry. However, she had been told be very careful when carrying the optical part, the one with the red eye. Because of the plating, the turrets needed one of their compartments to have an external optical sensor to it, one made of alloy that wasn't as resistant as the main plating. Furthermore, due to the nature of its systems, the optical compartment was highly explosive and destroying it also destroy the other parts of the turret.
It meant that she had to aim for the eye! She pointed her Buster at the central cylinder, the one with the eye on it, and unloaded her Buster's content before channelling the remaining energy into the other arm. It prove to be blatant overkill as the first fireball ploughed straight through the cylinder and emerged on the other side, the second shot passing through the gaping hole where the turret's systems used to be. A second later, the turret compartment malfunctioned, exploding violently and reducing the bottom cylinder to scrap. The one above was set on fire and sent flying upward like a fountain of debris.
But barely had she destroyed the turret that the Rayfly cargo plane had flew to another location, to the left of Aile, and repeated the process it had done earlier, releasing another set of turret compartments. Aile turned to face the deployed turret, following the noise, and begun to charge power in her Buster. The turret fired like the other one but once again, she found that her dashing systems were giving her the speed she needed to evade. She didn't know if her armor would withstand those cannonballs and she had no intention of finding out.
Unfortunately, she heard the crashing noise behind her indicating that the Rayfly, instead of waiting, had went on to place another turret while she was charging up.
"You got to be kidding me!" she said, upset as she turned to face the second turret, already aiming at her. "That's hardly fair!"
As the shots came flying toward her, she saw the first cannonball, coming from a lower angle, flying toward her and jumped over it. It flew past her and exploded behind her harmlessly. A more experienced soldier would have figured that the second cannonball, being fired from a high angle, was incorrectly aimed and would not hit Aile given she stood still. But Aile was not an experienced soldier and dashed to the side even though she didn't need to.
She then prepared herself, aiming at the turret... and immediately felt pain as her entire frame was slammed from behind, sending her face-first into the ground, her body engulfed by the explosion. She had ignored the first turret and it had cost her. Thankfully, the armor had absorbed most of the power and Model X quickly dispersed the heat wave, preventing her from catching on fire. Considering it was a mundane explosion and not the kind of incendiary attack that a proper elemental weapon would unleash, it wasn't an especially complex task to accomplish.
Despite the pain, Aile was quite aware that she was the target of two heavy turrets and that this stupid Rayfly would probably be releasing a third one. She sprung up on her feet, glancing at both turrets. She got a bad feeling for a moment, like an urge to be somewhere else, anywhere else than she currently was and dashed to the right, trying to put herself in such a position that she'd be able to see both turrets at the same time.
This proved to be a smart move as a second after she begun to move, the Rayfly released a third turret, the large cylinders landing right on the spot where she had been a bit earlier.
"Stupid thing!" she cursed, seeing the odds decrease in her favor by the second. "Dirty trick after dirty trick! Typical of Mavericks."
If only she could destroy those things faster! As it stood, for every one of these she destroyed, the Rayfly deployed two!
After that particular thought, Aile had the awkward feeling that she missing on a certain detail. As all three turrets opened fire on her, she reacted as fast as she could, jumping out of the way, directing all of the energy she had charged in her Buster toward the turret on the right. Again, eye-covered part was reduced to scrap instantly by the first shot and exploded, sending debris flying all over. Some of which splashed all over the Rayfly above, making it shake a bit for a moment.
It was then that she got an idea.
Once again, the Rayfly repeated its repetitive strategy, moving to a new spot and deploying yet more of its heavy turret parts. Again, Aile gathered power for her Buster, preparing to blow them up while she watched for the turrets' fire and kept moving as to not get hit again. But when her Buster was filled with energy, she decided to do things a bit differently. Instead of firing all of the energy into a single turret, she fired with her Buster at the turret the Rayfly had just placed and then spun to face the turret that had hit her earlier, discharging the remaining power in her other arm and punching toward it, sending the second shot hurtling toward it. Both turrets exploded very nicely, sending fiery shrapnel flying all over the place.
The Rayfly lurched as the turrets' debris hit it, making big dents into its wings, the underside armor, the cargo bay doors, and its stabilizers. The truth was that the Rayfly, despite its size, was not designed for combat and its armor wasn't designed to resist the kind of stress it was subjected to.
The teen felt her confidence rising as only one of the turrets remained, the Rayfly deploying one next to it just as she observed this fact. Oh well, she was now destroying them faster than the mechaniloid plane could deploy them.
Again, the heavy turrets fired at Aile, who once again used her dash systems to dodge out of the way. Heavy automated turrets were very lethal weapons but the truth was that their massive artillery cannons were designed to take out large armored targets from a greater distance; their targeting was just not precise enough to track a small fast-moving target like a Mega Man.
Likewise, the turrets were designed in such a way that their armor would protect them from heavy fire while the fragile optical sensor parts would be hidden behind cover. In the open like this, faced with a Mega Man wielding a heavy arm-mounted X-Buster class Buster weapon, the turrets were woefully inadequate and Aile effortlessly destroyed the two remaining turrets with her charged shots.
Again, the turrets burst into flaming debris, the remains slamming into the Rayfly, which was flying way too low to be safe from the shrapnel. As a cargo plane designed for simple civilian duties, its targeting wasn't sufficient to deploy the turrets from a greater height, putting it at risk from both anti-air fire and shrapnel from the turrets' destruction. Furthermore, its armor was just plain too thin and those last bits of debris tore into the right wing of the mechaniloid, making a huge gap in it and setting the circuitry inside on fire. The stabilizers struggled as the entire robotic plane was subjected to damage way beyond its tolerance.
Effectively, the Rayfly's crash was imminent, the plane already slowly beginning to lose altitude, circuitry within exploding already.
Girouette had heard the sounds of a battle taking place behind him but frankly, he couldn't care less. He had scaled the wall at the limits of the Slither Inc. base airstrip and was now investigating a compound just outside. A bunch of Galleons had tried to halt him but a quick Z-Saber swordplay had quickly put an end to their resistance.
It was then that his communicator came to life.
"Giro! Giro, please come in!" it was Prairie. Although her calls didn't have top priority like Ciel, they were still at a high priority and he answered quickly.
"This is Giro. What is your command?"
"Aile has engaged a huge Rayfly mechaniloid in the base where you're located! Please, help her!"
Giro's eyes widened for a second. What was Aile doing in the middle of a battlefield? Why hadn't she got to safety? Ciel had told him to resume his mission and not to intervene so he had assumed that they were safe so why had this happened? Still, there was no time for questions. Ciel's orders were clear. Protection of the Chosen Ones took priority on everything else and although Ciel had told him to resume his mission, he guessed that his orders to protect Aile and Vent had not been cancelled. So... he would obey Prairie's command and lend assistance.
"I'll lend a hand."
He ended the transmission quickly and turned his back to the compound, not caring about the few last Mavericks he hadn't killed yet. They were a low priority target now especially that none of them had sufficient tracking capability to land a hit on him given that he moved at full speed.
The blonde-haired Mega Man dashed as fast as he could, using his emergency acceleration systems to send himself toward the target zone as fast as he could. Prairie's command had been vague but the explosions and gunfire noise made it easy for him to guess where the enemy was.
Giro calculated the time as he dashed. He had progressed quite far and it was taking him a while to get there. Considering that Aile had no weapons and was an unaugmented Humanoid, her chances of survival in the face of an enemy were low. For a moment, he wondered how much of a threat level a Rayfly plane could be. Last he knew, those mechaniloids were soft, slow civilian machines with no built-in weapons. Still, Prairie had said that she had engaged one and according to Ciel, Prairie was relatively trustworthy, clearance level two more exactly.
As he made it to the wall, he quickly jumped into it and kicked into it, quickly scaling it. Once on top, he looked forward to see the airstrip. As Prairie had told him, there was indeed a Rayfly mechaniloid. Its systems were obviously failing, its entire frame showing clear signs of heavy battle damage. He could also see a strange blue Mega Man. This made no sense as only Aile and Vent were suitable biomatches for Model X and unless they had failed, Model X would still be in their hands or the Guardians'. Considering Prairie's call for help, they had obviously not failed else, they'd be dead.
The situation was clearly confusing but Giro had not been programmed to question orders so he assumed that this blue Mega Man must be somehow Aile.
The mechaniloid was clearly about to crash, exploding all over. It was obvious that rescuing Aile was not needed but Prairie had ordered him to rescue her and Ciel had ordered him to protect her and Vent so he guessed that he had to do it anyway. So he did.
Charging all of his power into the Z-Saber, Giro jumped and then unleashed all of his power on the way down, plunging the blade of the sword into the dying mechaniloid. The violent impact was blatantly too much for the poor Rayfly, which couldn't even maintain its altitude anymore, and the mechaniloid plane was sent flying, looking for a moment like a giant flying pink barrel, before slamming straight into the nearest hangar. The plane now grounded and damaged beyond repair, Giro judged that it was now out of commission meaning that his mission was now accomplished.
"So this is the Chosen One for Model X?" said Model Z inside of Giro's mind.
It had been a security measure. In case Girouette would be killed in action or have his Biometal somehow stolen, Ciel had decided to input knowledge of the Chosen Ones' identity inside of the blonde haired Reploid only, leaving Model Z in the dark. Well, it seemed that this had been revealed to it. And now that he looked at Aile, he could clearly see the traits. Most people might have trouble recognizing a transformed person but Girouette was himself designed to be compatible with Biometals and as such, could easily notice the traits of the original person underneath the fusion.
Guess that meant that his mission to keep the Biometal a secret from the two was now a failure and by extension, so was the mission to keep them from learning that he was anything but a normal Reploid. Thus, it was okay to reply to Model Z's comment aloud.
"Yes, she's very special to me."
He glanced around briefly. Apart from a very startled Aile, it seemed that the entire area was silent. Not surprising considering he had cleaned it a moment earlier. Since he guessed Aile would be more comfortable if he assumed the form she knew him as, Girouette quickly separated from Model Z.
For a moment, Girouette just stood there. Although he seemed confident, he wasn't anymore sure than Aile of what to think or say of the situation. Still, since the mission was a failure, he guessed it was no use keeping secrets anymore.
"Aile, it looks like you've been chosen by the Biometal too."
When he thought about it, it was kind of stating the obvious but he figured that it didn't matter. At least, seeing him talk in the form she knew did allow her to calm down. She quickly transformed back into her normal form, confirming that she was indeed Aile, and stepped forward.
"Giro! Just what is Biometal? I don't understand what's going on!"
Giro glanced at the form of Model Z, floating by his side. She wasn't cleared for the whole truth, not until he contacted Ciel and got an update on his mission regarding the Chosen Ones. Still, he guessed he was allowed to reveal a few things right now. After all, keeping secrets is kind of useless now.
"This is my partner, Biometal Model Z." he said, gesturing to Model Z. "I'm sorry I kept this a secret from you, but I'm a member of the Guardians. You and me are both Chosen Ones. We can transform with the power of the Biometal. I was given an order to protect you from the people who are after the power inside you."
Aile blinked a few times, as if she didn t understand the information he gave her. This confused him as he thought he had been clear.
"I'm a Chosen One?" she repeated.
Guess he'll take a different approach. And while he's at it, he guessed it's okay to proceed with the mission objectives ahead of schedule.
"I didn't want to hide it from you. I was planning on telling you everything once we safely delivered the Biometal." It was a blatant lie but it would probably help her take it in. Time to proceed. "Aile. Will you join me and the other Guardians? The Biometal is the key to understanding why the Maverick outbreaks are occurring."
This was another blatant lie, Girouette, like Zero and mistress Ciel, knew perfectly what caused them. It was because of the Biometal Model W. Still, it was a pretty decent lie he just made up... he hope.
"This is all so much for me to take in. I just don't know Giro..."
How is he supposed to act, considering that last reaction? And what of Vent? Do he knows? Should he be told if he doesn't? Did Ciel know? There were too many unknowns and he hated this.
"I don't want to force you to do anything against your will. It's your decision. I'm going to use the transerver and go back to Guardian HQ. I'll be waiting there for your decision. Please don't take too long."
As he walked past Aile, heading out of the base the same way he came in, he couldn't help but sigh in relief once he came out of sight of her. That had been a most stressful encounter and one that will probably cause complications. Fortunately, Ciel will clear everything up and set new mission objectives for him once he contacted her at Guardian HQ.
Aile watched Giro walk away in silence. Once he was out of sight and out of hearing range, she shook her head, unsure what to do. She barely noticed it as her communicator came to life.
"It sounds like you managed to meet up with Giro. That's a relief. Oh, be sure to file a mission report once you get back to any transerver. This will act as a confirmation to HQ that the mission has been completed."
The teen didn't say anything, not even noticing that Prairie had called her. She was too busy with her own thoughts and the implications that this last meeting had...
"Was Giro with me all those years just because he was ordered to protect the Chosen One? I feel so confused..."
She looked at the horizon for a moment, not sure if she really wanted to know the truth. Then, she finally remembered that Vent was out there, too. In fact... how was he doing? She hoped that he had done better than her, with his own mission.
Giga Aspis was totally silent as he looked at the screens from his own command room. Not one building outside his bunker was intact, most of his employees were dead, most of them reduced to nothing but splatters of blood and burning heaps of metal all over the place, Legion agents had been killed on his property, and the plan upon which he had put all of his hope had failed miserably, his expensive Rayfly cargo plane now nothing but a burning wreckage stuck in the eastern wall of the base's hangar.
All around him, his fellow employees were staring at the display in complete silence...
"Sir, without a Rayfly mechaniloid plane, we will not be able to get supplies and new personnel to the base for repairs and maintenance. Rayfly mechaniloids are not cheap and neither were the automated turrets it carried. The losses in personel and equipment from the Mega Men's attacks are also massive. I am afraid that our funds will not be sufficient to fix all of this. Shall I petition the central administration for an increase in funding?"
Giga Aspis as well as every single Slither Inc. employee in the room turned to stare at the accountant. The civilian model Reploid's face turned bright red and he quickly stared down.
The snake Pseudoroid stuck his fittingly snake-like tongue out, analyzing the condition of the air inside of his bunker, trying to overload his electronic brain with useless information in an effort to muster the strength necessary not to lose his composure and cry. Considering the scale of this disaster, if he lost it, what's left of his personel's morale might reach a negative value.
Still, he had put all of his hopes in that scheme, hoping to cover his mistake with the Mavericks by showing everyone that he could do something right for once. But now, not only did he not have any Biometal but he had got almost all of his personel, including many unique, non mass-produced Reploids that had once been his friends, killed. And with Legion agents having been killed on his property, Legion would now open an official investigation on Slither Inc., staining the entire organization's reputation. And all of it... was his fault.
"I'm... I'm... I'm so going to be fired." he whispered to himself.
There was no hope, no way he can keep his job. He'll be lucky if Serpent doesn't personally kick him out of the Slither Inc. building, physically, while screaming at him.
"So... what are we going to do boss?" there was a note of despair in the voice of the Galleon who asked him that. Giga Aspis couldn't help but notice that the same despair and shame was on every face.
"I... I will report to headquarters."
He cannot hide a disaster like this, he just can't. For a moment, Giga Aspis considered pinning the blame on one of his employees but it was a stupid thing to try and besides, this was his base. The responsibility was his.
Using the tip of his tail as a makeshift hand, he connected the computer's interface to his systems and contacted headquarters to report, bracing himself for the worst.
For a brief moment, he wondered what kind of job opportunities a giant snake-shaped Pseudoroid could hope for...
The way to Innerpeace wasn't very long from the transerver room and besides, Vent had taken this path quite a few times in the past while doing various assignments. The city was a most welcome sight after the chaos he had faced outside, what not with the Mavericks and the whole Biometal business. In a way, he was a bit upset that Aile got to search for the boss while he was going to have to pass some sort of test but then, he guessed that it was best for Aile to do that.
The boss was a father figure to the both of them but while he had taken a distance from him, deciding to take his professional ties with him more seriously, Aile still saw him the same way as before. In a way, it was maybe a bit immature of her but then, he guessed it was her choice. She could be weird at times.
It didn't take long for him to find some kind of tall person wearing a silly green suit and wearing a gaudy pink visor. As this was the same outfit as the other Guardians had worn, he guessed that this must be the person he needed to talk to.
He didn't need to say a word. As he approached the person, he simply turned to him.
"You're going to undertake the trial for permission to enter HQ right?"
Vent nodded. "Yes, I am."
The Guardian smirked in a weird way. This made Vent a bit suspicious but really, he didn't care. He guessed that the trial would probably be some kind of test, filling forms, or maybe a scan of his specifications to determine if he was fit for the job.
"There are four Guardians hidden like me throughout town. If you can find all of us, you pass the test. Let the trial begin! Good luck!"
For a moment, the teen was convinced that this was some kind of joke, especially considering the sarcastic tone the Guardian had. He crossed his arms, seriously expecting the Guardian to tell him he was kidding and then tell him the real instructions. As an awkward silence set in, Vent got the weird feeling that he was not going to like this at all.
"Err... good luck!" repeated the Guardian, more seriously and a bit embarrassed.
That was it, really? Some dumb game of hide and seek in Innerpeace? Vent was tempted to point out that Innerpeace is a seriously huge city and that he had no idea where to look but then, he wasn't the one who had made up that test. Guess all he got to do is find weird people in green suits with silly pink visors. Well at least it shouldn't prove too hard...
As Vent begun to make his way downtown, he couldn't help but notice that apart from the usual crowds of people and the cars that zoomed about, there were also weird bouncy robot things wandering about. Those were simple defense drones, small turrets mounted on pogo-sticks with a single green eye. Vent also knew that they were Slither Inc. patrols and his gaze hardened.
Who was Serpent kidding with his fancy patrols? His security forces had been late ten years ago, leaving his mom to die. And now, while he had been attacked by that freaky snake Maverick and its cohorts, the Slither Inc. security forces were bouncing about aimlessly, watching over a random street no one cares about. For all he care, they might as well not patrol anywhere considering how useless and incompetent they were, letting Mavericks rampage freely like that.
Walking by, he couldn't help but notice something weird. There was a large apartment building to his right, all of white metal like pretty much everything else in the city. But what was drawing his attention was that the access point to the ground level hangar of the building was sealed off. Those are never sealed up usually.
He approached the large door and putting one hand on it, he was surprised as it automatically opened. What was that about?
Inside, he found some kind of woman, a Guardian by the looks of it, in the back of the hangar. She was fiddling with some kind of micro-computer, obviously annoyed but as the teen approached, she glanced at him, smiled, and put the computer into a pocket of her outfit.
"Hoho! I should ve known I'd get spotted in this hiding place. You aren't gonna catch my comrades so easily though." she said, wagging her finger at him and speaking to him as if he was some kind of kid. He instantly hated her. "They're in places that require more than just strolling on in. Look around different places, you never know what you might find. I'm heading back to HQ. Good luck with the rest of the trial!"
"Hey! Could you at least tell me how many of you I need to fi-" Vent barely finished his question that the Guardian teleported away, having not listened to what he had said.
Rolling his eyes, Vent made his way outside again. What had he got himself into?
He continued to walk, looking around as he did. Being a transporter, he had to travel quite a bit and in a way, it always amazed him how clean and neatly ordered Innerpeace was compared to cities outside. Or well, at least, this part of the city was. It was all white, the roads, buildings, and walkways all of clean, smooth white metal. It was all very neat and there were trees and bushes put everywhere, both helping the place feels more natural while enforcing the order. Innerpeace was one of the most ecologically friendly cities in the world apparently, with lots of parks and trees and what not. In fact, this was why Slither Inc. had chosen to give their headquarters the shape of a giant flower.
Even from here, the humongous structure could be seen. He stopped to look at it for a moment.
It was a massive tower, taller than any other building and easily dwarfing even the other skyscrapers. The six gigantic blades connected to its top floors made it look like an oversized flower, the larger base enforcing this feeling. The whole building was yellow in color, the top floors and blades taking on a pink color. Supposedly, the point was that the building was to look like a giant flower, fitting with Innerpeace and its ecological stance but to Vent, the building was just an ugly, oversized showcase of Serpent's ego.
The teen sighed and focused back on the task at hand. It was then that he passed by another building and once again noticed the weird, suspicious door. Again, it opened on its own as he approached it and looking inside, he couldn't help but notice how empty it was, like last time. Only, this time, instead of having the Guardian right in his line of sight, he noticed a gigantic box that reached all the way to the ceiling.
The whole thing was suspicious and approaching it, he noticed it was put on some support machinery. The gap was much larger than needed and was suspicious by its sheer size, more than big enough for him to crawl through easily. To him, this was more than mere transporter laziness, especially considering the box's sheer size.
As he ducked and looked underneath the box, he saw a pair of boots that confirmed what he thought. Still, that was ridiculous. Why was this box placed here? Who would hide in such a place?
Still, the box was conveniently large enough to block the entire passage, both horizontally and vertically, so the only way through was by crawling through. So Vent got on his stomach and quickly began to crawl his way through, feeling perfectly silly in the process. He wondered why the Guardians thought of it as a trial. In fact, how is this qualifying as a mission, again?
Emerging on the other side of the box, he saw that the Guardian was fiddling with a computer not unlike the first one had been. This one too was annoyed and frustrated somehow. Vent had the feeling he was missing a detail. And again, like last time, the Guardian's expression softened upon seeing him for some reason.
"Oh, looks like you found me! You should be careful of the security patrols. As long as they're giving you the green light, you're safe from attack. But if you're caught with a weapon they will open fire, no questions asked!"
Vent rolled his eyes. Why was he being told this? This was blatantly stating the obvious! Of course, if you go Maverick and starting firing a weapon in the city you're expected to be shot at! That's common sense! But now that he thought about it... why telling him that, more exactly? Do they think that if he got a weapon he'll start shooting people randomly?
"Anyway, I'm heading back to HQ. Good luck with the trial!"
Vent stepped forward, noticing the Guardian about to teleport. "Hey! Wait! How many Guardians am I supposed to-"
Again, he was ignored and the Guardian teleported away. Finding himself in an empty room, the teen was beginning to feel like he was being mocked. First of all, those two hiding places had been very stupid. Second of all, what was the purpose of this trial? How was it testing his abilities? Finally, looking back at the box, he realized that the only way out was by crawling underneath the thing again.
As Vent crawled underneath the box, he couldn't help but find himself wishing he could teleport. This way, he wouldn't have to crawl under stupid boxes like this!
As he made it out of that hangar, he brushed his clothes a bit with his hands, still a bit peeved about what he had been forced to do. He continued on his way, wondering if the next Guardian would be, most unsurprisingly, hiding in yet another abandoned hangar with a suspicious door that isn't meant to be there.
This also made Vent wonder for a moment why no one was checking those doors out. But then, Slither Inc. security agents are incompetent and he knew it was definitely their style to ignore the blatantly obvious like this. After all, it took them a bloody long time to respond to that accident, ten years ago.
As he continued on his way, he thought briefly of Aile and wondered how she was doing. And also, what was the Biometal, more exactly? He knew that it had somehow established a 'biolink' with him and her, whatever that meant, and had somehow merged with her, covering her in blue armor and giving her the most powerful Buster he had ever seen outside of TV reports and documentaries. Why did the Guardians want that thing? Why would people be after that thing? Did boss know about it?
His thoughts were interrupted as he passed by yet another of those weird doors. Vent was beginning to think that the trial wasn't really one. After all, it wasn't as if those doors weren't making obvious where each Guardian was hiding. He just hoped he wouldn't have to find many more of those Guardians.
Considering the giant box in the last room, Vent half expected an obstacle course when he opened the door but what he found left him unsure what to say or think for a good while.
The Guardian was there, alright but he was sitting in the corner of the hangar, in a foetal position, shaking. There was a pair of Metools, Slither Inc. employees judging by their 20st century military helmets and the emblems on said helmets, currently investigating a nearby wall.
Vent hated the Slither Inc. but he hated their Metools more than anything else. He just despised them and he couldn't help it. The Slither Inc. often used Metools as their primary 'thinking' drone agents in the city instead of Galleons for the simple and very logical reason that most people found Metools somehow endearing. Vent couldn't understand why anyone would find Metools anything but grotesque. They were basically a walking helmet with two goggly eyes, two clown-like feet, and a shotgun cannon instead of a mouth. Not really his definition of endearing. Not that he liked the Galleons anymore, mind you. Just more souless mass-produced Pseudoroid junk, if someone ask him.
One of the two Metools glanced away from the wall and noticed the teen standing in the hangar. Cursing itself for failing to notice him walking in, the small robot still figured that this civilian could help them. He slowly made his way toward the Humanoid and adjusted its helmet.
"Hmmm... hi citizen! Could you lend us a hand?" he said before glancing toward the Guardian in the back, making his best equivalent of a hand gesture. "We are currently investigating a crime scene but this Guardian over there won't leave and refuse to speak with us. Could you tell it to be on its way if it doesn't have any business here?"
The Metool glanced back to the boy and couldn't help but wonder why the civilian was staring at him with such a hostile look on his face. The Metool couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed. Civilians and their paranoia of armed people... It was truly disturbing how quick they are to judge people nowadays. If you're not a squishy hairless ape with no strings attached, you're automatically suspicious. Okay, so the countryside is filled with Mavericks but the Metool kind of expected civilians to be a bit more grateful for Slither Inc.'s protection. Praise on the news, glare and hate on the streets. Well, could be worse he figured. Legion didn't hire Metools at all after all.
Vent was tempted to say something snarky at the piece of scrap with a helmet but decided that he had better things to do than interrupt its 'investigation'. Yeah right, Slither Inc. security forces wouldn't be able to catch a Maverick if it presented itself at the door of their headquarters while carrying a giant neon sign with 'I AM A MAVERICK' written on it in capital letters.
The transporter walked past the Metools and stared down at the Guardian, shaking like crazy. To Vent, he had all the professionalism of a terrified child and considering the weirdoes he had encountered so far, he was beginning to wonder if those Guardians guys were kind of an elaborate joke. If two Metools scared these guys, what could they possibly do if they ran into a real Maverick force?
He rolled his eyes and decided to brush aside his worries for now. He bent down a bit and tapped on the Guardian's shoulder. He kind of sprung up like a wind-up toy.
"Yikes!"
Vent was really not sure why the Guardian panicked like that but at least, he seemed to calm down after a short while.
"Oh! You finally found me."
Oh no, not this again! Vent decided to take the initiative and ask questions before he'd teleport away.
"Yeah, yeah. By the way, why were you hiding like this?"
The Guardian suddenly frowned and became thankful that his visor and outfit hid his face turning red from the embarrassment.
"Well... I was afraid of running into the security forces and getting hurt. That's why I've been hiding here." he then sighed in relief before continuing. "I thought they would find me for sure, you know. Now I can finally head back to HQ and get out of this nasty place."
Vent was about to ask him why he thought the Slither Inc. employees would hurt him, especially considering that they had made it sound earlier like they were a legal security force as well as tell him that the Slither Inc. employees already knew he was there anyway but then, like the others, the weirdo teleported away before Vent could pronounce even one word.
Was this some kind of joke? If so, it wasn't funny. Vent walked out of the hangar, the Metools saying something to him as he left. He didn't care and didn't listen. What he did know that it this annoying, pointless hide and seek was starting to take forever. Was Aile done yet? Where is the boss?
Continuing his way downtown, Vent walked through the main plaza of the city and stopped for a moment. The place was a large clearing in the urban setting, a massive ancient-styled fountain in the middle of it, old 21st century-style benches surrounding the area near the fountain. Sitting on a bench nearby, he couldn't help but notice that the number of bouncy weird Slither Inc. drones patrolling the place was unusually high. Why were they patrolling the area like this? Had they heard about the Maverick attack or something? And what were those two Metools investigating anyway?
This also made him think. The Guardians were some kind of security force or something, right? Then why did they have mostly people as their agents? All of their agents had been Reploids so far, he could guess it from the fact that they were people and had the mandatory triangular red marking on their foreheads. It was one of the laws enforced by Legion. All Reploids had a triangular red marking to differentiate them from humans and Humanoids. It came with one's registration in the Legion databases alongside with the activation of the mortality protocol.
Why would all those Reploids risk their lives like this when grunt work in security forces was usually performed by mass-produced, soulless Pseudoroids? Being blatantly inhuman, Pseudoroids were soulless, unlike Reploids. In fact, many of them, such as the Galleons, were even mass produced the old way, in factories. Why would Reploids risk their lives when drones could be used?
On another hand, Vent already knew the answer very well and it was the same reason he had went along when Aile had helped Prairie. If he just stood by and let things happen by themselves, he would regret it all his life. He knew all too well that if he just stood by and expected others, like Serpent and his incompetent minions, to fix things, it just wasn't going to happen. In a flash of hindsight, he gained a bit of respect for those Guardians guys... although really, he still thought that those people he ran into stunk of unprofessionalism. If the boss saw him work like those guys, he would have recycled him through basic training so fast that his head would still be spinning.
Figuring that his break was completed, Vent got up and continued his journey through Innerpeace. Beyond the main plaza, he noticed he was getting closer to the main highway. Apart from small cars for local transportation, highways between cities or even between sectors had been rendered obsolete thanks to transervers. Transport of supplies and other objects too large to be put in transervers was now ferried via the use of mass produced cargo plane mechaniloids. And for what the mechaniloids couldn't do, there were always transporters. Still, a few large-sized highways still existed and apparently, a lot of people still used them.
Walking around, he noticed that this part of the city had a lot less buildings and a lot more cars lying around. Must be a sector of the city filled with people who liked that old technology. It reminded him briefly of how he, Aile, and the boss used motorbikes to get around. Now that he thought about it, why did the boss insist on using those?
As he got deeper in the sector, Vent couldn't help but notice the lack of a suspicious hangar with a suspicious door. Despite how dumb that trial was, Vent found himself wishing that the next Guardian or Guardians, if that's the case, wouldn't be hidden better. Frankly, he had been walking for at least an hour and it was starting to grate on his nerves.
He stopped, leaning against an old abandoned apartment building's wall. What kind of hint was he looking for? Those other Guardians had their silly suspicious doors, how would he know if there was a Guardian in this zone, if any? It would have helped if he had been given sufficient information but mostly, he had been told to go and each Guardian had left as soon as he had found them. Likewise, what was it with them fiddling with micro-computers and why were they all annoyed? Something was bothering them and he wasn't sure what.
It was then that he wondered about something. Every building in this zone was new but this one in particular was ruined quite a bit. Not unstable and someone would probably repair it or something but still...
A suspicion entered his mind and he ducked, looking through a large hole at the base of the wall. He rolled his eyes and sighed, noticing the boots of a Guardian. They really wanted him to crawl through holes, didn't they?
He looked around, making sure no one would see that, before crawling through the opening. Emerging on the other side, he found himself under the basement of the building. Normally, since this was a place no one was meant to go, he would have expected it to be dark with maybe animals around and the floor being made of dirt but he was surprised to find the insides being a well-lit makeshift hideout of sorts. Now that he was seeing him fully, that new Guardian was a lot bigger than the others and seemed a bit more intimidating. Like the first two, he had a micro-computer in hand but unlike the first two, seemed confused, scratching his head.
"I can't believe Prairie want us to fi-" he muttered to himself before glancing toward Vent, noticing him. He blinked a few times and then, smiled widely.
He approached the teen, Vent suddenly finding that this new weirdo was a lot bigger up close. Somehow, Vent's look on his face amused the Guardian.
"Grahaha! Great job findin' me boy! I wish we had more of your kind in the Guardians."
Vent raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms. "Really?"
The Guardian nodded. "Yep. Too many greenhorn recruits in the organization, if ya ask me. I know ya have work to do, bein' a transporter an' all. So I'll be headin' back. See ya later boy!"
The Guardian saluted him and quickly teleported before Vent could say anything else. He was about to comment aloud about how annoying this was all becoming when a feminine voice came out of seemingly nowhere, badly starting him.
"It looks like you found them all. Head to area at the coordinates I'm sending you at the moment and get the certification for passing the test. That will conclude your trial."
"What the-" went Vent. "Prairie?"
He then looked at his wrist. His eyes widened as he saw a communicator on it. That wasn't there before.
"What is it, Vent? Is there a problem?"
"Since when do I have a communicator?" he asked. Somehow, he had a communicator and somehow, he was in contact with Prairie. This was crazy! Since when did he have one to begin with?
"Well... it appears that the Biometal gave one to both you and your friend back at the forest."
Vent blinked a few times. So, if he understood well, that Model X thing had been able to merge only with Aile but somehow had been able to give both of them communicators? Kind of a stretch, if someone asked him. Still, the fact that Aile had been transformed and that he had a communicator on his wrist kinda made it difficult to deny. Didn't change the fact that he suddenly felt ripped off, wondering why Model X hadn't given both of them an armor.
"Anyway as I said, you will be able to get your certification at the next area."
The transmission ended, leaving Vent quite confused about the situation. This was growing crazier by the minute. Oh well, at least that stupid mission was now completed. Vent crawled back out of the building through the same hole he used to get in, hoping not to have to do that again. He had his share of crawling into places for a good while, that was for sure!
The walk to the target area was thankfully short, on a street near where he had found the last Guardian. Still, once again, Vent found himself confused. This part of the city was the commercial one and more exactly, looking around, he saw that all the nearby stores were selling toys and various games. Why would he need to get there?
It was then that he saw a Guardian, the same one who had given him the mission description, near a stuffed animal store. He had the same annoyed expression as all the others but instead of a micro-computer, he was carrying a stuffed animal. Unlike the others, his expression did not soften when he saw Vent approach him.
"It's you again. Well, you passed the test. Here, take this."
He put the stuffed animal in Vent's hands, making him one very confused transporter. He looked at the Guardian, wondering if he wanted him to carry it while he searched for the certification... but as it became obvious he was done, the realization sunk in and Vent's eyes widened.
"A... stuffed animal? Th-this is my certification!"
"And you better take care of it!" spat the Guardian, interrupting him mid-complaint. "It's one of Prairie's most prized possessions. Anyway, this concludes your trial. There s a transerver nearby. Don't forget to file a mission report!"
As the Guardian walked, obviously glad to be done with it, Vent stood there for a moment, not sure what to think. He had the feeling that the universe had just played a big prank on him.
In an area far from Innerpeace, hidden from all, Ciel was staring at the display on the screen. The small bunker from which she had overseen Zero's mission was a spectacle far removed from the extremely elaborate command room back in the Resistance bases from the past and was more akin to the spartan equipment she had back during the last days of the Resistance, in the trailer. Still, this bunker was a temporary HQ. Both for safety purposes and due to investigating the Model W-related activities around the whole world, she and Zero constantly changed the place from which they operated.
The transerver alarm echoed for a few seconds and quickly enough, Zero materialized in the middle of the room. As he noticed his surroundings and saw Ciel's warm smile, he quickly broke his fighting stance, relaxing.
"Welcome back, Zero."
The red Reploid smiled before stepping off the transerver pad and picking up a nearby chair. He dragged it near Ciel's and sat down, looking at the main screen. On it were displayed the progress of both Giro and the Guardians. They both watched in silence for a moment. Although Ciel seemed optimistic and happy as usual, Zero couldn't help but feel a bit ashamed. Aile and Vent weren't ready. This shouldn't have happened.
"Ciel, I..."
"I watched the whole thing. Don't blame yourself." she glanced at him, her smile warm and kind. "Besides, considering how some of our past situations degenerated, I think that things have went well. It's unfortunate but I know you did your best."
Ciel was right but still, it didn't keep Zero from feeling frustrated. Although it was kind of obvious that he couldn't do everything, it was still frustrating when things didn't go his way. But then, he guessed that it was right. Things could have indeed gone worse than this.
And instantly, both Ciel and Zero cursed themselves for tempting fate as Giro dashed toward the Slither Inc. base to attack it.
"What is he doing?" Zero almost shouted, springing up from his chair.
"I can't tell him to abort, Prairie is on the line and will hear us!" said Ciel in a plaintive, panicked way. "Why isn't she telling him to back down?"
Zero slowly sat down and slumped into his chair, facepalming as his copy proceeded to gut a Slither Inc. base on the display screen. That... was going to cause complications. But then, as if things couldn't get worse, they saw Aile get on the scene. Both were speechless as Aile joined the disaster, fighting her way through Slither Inc. forces. Not only that but she also spent all of her time not transformed when she wasn't fighting, meaning that the Slither Inc. now had plenty of visual records on who had attacked them.
But while Zero watched that debacle, Ciel turned to the other displays, wondering why Prairie wasn't stopping this... and then, her face turned a color not unlike Zero's armor as she saw Vent's mission.
"Oh no... She didn't!"
Zero's attention instantly turned to the woman next to him. Ciel being angry was not common at all, especially not her getting angry enough for her face to turn a funny color like this.
Ciel brought her chair closer to the keyboard and tapped a key, trying to contact Prairie. After a few seconds, she tapped the key again. Then, seeing no response, began hammering on it angrily.
"What's going on?" asked Zero.
"She's using Vent to fetch herself a new stuffed animal for her collection! And preventing us from contacting Giro in the process! What is she thinking? Doesn't she realize that Aile's and Giro's safety are more important?"
For the second time, the crimson Reploid felt like facepalming. They really, really, REALLY should stop tempting fate. Every single time they did it, it exploded in their faces. He got this weird feeling that the debriefing will be extremely unpleasant and take forever to go through.
Zero wondered for a moment why he bothered getting up this morning.
(TO BE CONTINUED)