Chapter 10: The Journey Begins
Groudon leaned against a rocky outcropping. The other guild members were setting up camp at a clearing just outside the Old Ruins. The moon shone brightly over the campsite. Querc, Breaker, Corphish and Sunflora were setting up tents while Chimecho, Kyogre and Loudred were gathering food. Bidoof had been assigned to gather firewood. Luckily, a clear stream ran through the camp so water was easy to come by.
Chatot and Wigglytuff were busy setting up the "command tent".
"Hey Groudon, mind helping us set up the tents?" Corphish asked. He was holding down a tent peg while Querc was using a rock to hammer it into the ground.
Groudon groaned; he was not interested in menial labor, he wanted to go explore. Not to mention he was in a bad mood from being forced to carry nearly all their supplies and he was quite tired. "Eat me," he said with a yawn.
"Hey, hey! That's no way to behave! Have some fun!" Corphish replied.
"Groudon! Everyone has to work and you are no exception!" Chatot scolded. "Get to work before I deny you dinner!"
Groudon groaned and got to his feet. He lumbered over to where Breaker was pounding a tent peg into the ground with a rock.
"Hey Groudon, can you hammer in the pegs at the other side of the tent?" Breaker asked.
Groudon said nothing but picked up the other tent spike and twisted it into the ground. He repeated the process with the other pegs.
By the time Groudon was finished setting up all the tents, Chimecho, Loudred and Kyogre had returned with baskets full of fruit and some clay pots filled with Combee honey.
"Excellent work!" Wigglytuff exclaimed. He grabbed a perfect apple from the basket and ate before their eyes.
"Erm, thanks Guildmaster," Kyogre said.
Groudon's stomach rumbled. "Hey how about dinner?" he asked. "I'm starving!"
"Yeah, I'm hungry too," Querc said.
"I could use a hot meal too," Breaker added.
"No problem!" Chimecho chirped. She looked around and noticed that Bidoof was nowhere to be seen. "Or it would be no problem if Bidoof had the firewood."
Everyone groaned. Bidoof usually found some way to screw things up and someone else would have to bail him out.
"Groudon! Kyogre! Sunflora! Go look for Bidoof!" Chatot ordered.
"Oh my gosh! I hope Bidoof is safe!" Sunflora exclaimed. She rooted in her treasure bag for a zinc scarf.
Groudon readjusted the somewhat dirty pecha scarf around his neck. Kyogre readjusted the blue silk and power band around her neck. Both were still damp since he had just washed them in the stream a few minutes ago.
Meanwhile, Bidoof was dangling upside down over a large pile of wood. Metallic drumbeats and chanting filled the air as his Mawile captors danced around the soon-to-be pyre. More Mawile were dancing around a large cauldron of what appeared to be molten metal. All of this was going on in front of a steel effigy that depicted Registeel crushing an Onix underfoot.
"Golly, I'm sorry for intruding but could you please let me go?" he pleaded.
The chief, a large Mawile with several intricate patterns and swirls etched on his steel skin and a headdress made of what appeared to be Skarmory feathers, glared at him. "No. You violate Mawile territory, you pay price!" he snapped in somewhat broken Common Poké.
"Golly, but I didn't mean to!"
"Silence!"
Bidoof gulped. There were no other guild members around. All he could do was resign himself to his fate.
In a forested trail a few miles away from the Mawile village, Groudon, Sunflora and Kyogre were looking for Bidoof. Luckily, Sunflora had a spare luminous orb to serve as a flashlight.
She gasped as she shone the luminous orb on something. "Oh my gosh! I hope he's okay," she said.
"What is it?" Kyogre asked.
Sunflora pointed to a treasure bag with her free hand.
Kyogre picked it up and looked at it. "It's Bidoof's treasure bag," she said.
"But no explorer ever leaves their treasure bag behind," Sunflora replied.
"You guys found anything? I want to go back and eat dinner!" Groudon said.
"Groudon! We're looking for a fellow guild member!" Kyogre snapped. In truth, she was starting to like Bidoof; he was like a less perverted Groudon, dense and lovable.
Groudon said nothing but headed over to the treasure bag. "See if there's anything inside," he said. Maybe if he's dead we can divvy up his stuff among us. He thought.
Sunflora carefully emptied out the bag onto the leaf litter and shone her luminous orb over the contents. An apple, some dried fruit in a paper bag, an escape orb and an oran berry were the only things present. "Oh my gosh! Everything metallic is gone!" she exclaimed.
"Are you sure? I mean we don't carry much metallic things," Kyogre said, telekinetically nudging the escape orb.
Sunflora shook her head. "Bidoof carries a few hundred Poké and a bundle of thirty iron thorns as an emergency weapon," she replied.
"We'd better look for him then," Kyogre said. She then replaced all the contents of the bag and tossed the bag to Groudon, who obediently put it over his shoulder in addition to his and Kyogre's own bag that he was carrying.
Suddenly, the faint sound of chanting and metallic drums reached their ears. "Uh oh," Kyogre said. "Do you think they ate Bidoof?" She recalled seeing some movies that depicted savage natives cooking and eating explorers.
"Oh my gosh! We have to save him from becoming dinner!" Sunflora shouted.
She then dashed down the trail, Kyogre and Groudon followed her.
The ceremony was now in full swing. The pyre underneath Bidoof had been lit and the Mawile prostrated themselves in front of the steel statue which was now adorned with flowers and Skarmory feathers. Some other Mawile were engaged in a sword dance with ceremonial swords forged from Skarmory feathers.
"To the Titan of Iron, we offer you this sacrifice!" the chief cried in Mawilese, bowing down in front of the statue.
"Hey look, I respect your religion but could you please let me go?" Bidoof pleaded. The flames were starting to lick his fur and he was starting to sweat.
His pleadings went unheard in the massive frenzy.
Suddenly, Sunflora burst into the ceremony. Several of the Mawile glared at her for interrupting the ceremony and five Mawile warriors leveled steel tipped spears at her.
"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry for interrupting but-"
"Silence!" the chief snarled, switching from Mawilese to Common Poké. "You interrupt Mawile ceremony! You pay price!" He then turned to the Mawile warriors. "Kill her!" he ordered in Mawilese.
The warriors prepared to spear Sunflora when Groudon and Kyogre entered the village.
Unlike before, the Mawile warriors placed their spears down and prostrated themselves at Groudon's feet.
"Lady Kyogre! Lord Groudon! I…I did not expect your presence. Please, make yourselves comfortable!" the chief said in Mawilese.
Sunflora stared at the scene in astonishment. She, of course, did not understand what the chief had said. But Groudon and Kyogre understood the chief thanks to their inherent psychic translation ability. Granted to their ears it sounded like accented Common Poké.
Groudon scratched his head in bewilderment. Luckily, Kyogre was there to cover for him. "Return the Bidoof and the Sunflora to us!" she demanded. Her psychic translator worked both ways; not only could she understand any foreign language, she could speak it fluently.
"At once Lady Kyogre!" the chief replied.
Two warriors removed the nearly roasted Bidoof from the pyre, untied him and handed him over to Groudon. The other warriors surrendered Sunflora and a clay pot containing what appeared to be dried meat to Kyogre.
The Mawile all bowed before Kyogre, Groudon, Bidoof and Sunflora left.
The group was now on the same trail that they had followed to the Mawile village. They had stopped for a moment to gather some firewood but they were now making good progress back to camp.
"Golly, what was that all about?" Bidoof asked, coughing out some smoke. His fur had been charred black but he was otherwise unhurt. His treasure bag had been filled with firewood but his money and iron thorns were gone.
"The Mawile in this area are very territorial, anyone who enters their territory is immediately killed, if they are lucky," Kyogre replied.
Bidoof gulped. He did not need Kyogre to explain what happened to the unlucky ones. He experienced it.
"So Groudon," Sunflora asked, "why did the Mawile allow you to enter without attacking you and Kyogre?"
"We are considered to be divine entities – emissaries of Registeel – by some of the more primitive Pokémon," Groudon replied.
Kyogre scowled. She thought the Mawile's effigy of Registeel was in bad taste. "Registeel wouldn't be too pleased to find out how the Mawile depicted him," she said.
The group remained silent as they headed down the dark trail.
"For Legends, Groudon and Kyogre sure are incompetent," Loudred said. He was eating some oran berries with the Combee honey. Wigglytuff was entertaining the guild members with a dance act involving a perfect apple.
"Hey, hey, do you have anything nice to say about those two?" Corphish asked.
Loudred scowled but said nothing.
Soon, the deep footsteps of Groudon echoed through the campsite as he, Kyogre, Sunflora and Bidoof entered. They passed by Querc, who was leaning against his tent and stuffing himself with some Combee honey.
"You're late," Chatot replied. He had volunteered to do sentry duty.
"We have a very good reason," Kyogre said.
Chatot rolled his eyes; the two Legendaries were masters of making excuses. "Tell me about it," he said sarcastically.
"We nearly ended up with roast Bidoof."
The entire guild turned their heads towards the group. Had the two Legends done something as outrageous as set fire to a guild member? The silence was stifling.
"A group of Mawile nearly cooked Bidoof and they tried to kill Sunflora," Kyogre replied.
"Oh my gosh! It was so scary. Eek! Those spears!" Sunflora added.
The guild members began talking amongst themselves. Savage Mawile who eat outsiders?
"So how do we keep ourselves from ending up as dinner for those savages?" Breaker asked. He shuddered; being cooked into a soup was not how he wanted to die.
"They will not attack us as Kyogre and myself are considered divinities," Groudon said
The group breathed a near visible sigh of relief.
"At least those two are good for something," Loudred muttered.
"Loudred! You will treat all members of the guild with respect!" Chatot scolded.
"I think we could all use a hot meal and some sleep," Chimecho said.
"Agreed," Kyogre said. Her stomach growled. She hovered over to the "dining table"– really a large flat rock with a log rolled up against it to serve as a seat – in the middle of the campsite. She noticed that only the "command tent" had a design reminiscent of Wigglytuff's head; the other tents looked like olive green yurts.
"So Ky," Querc said, sitting next to her, "how did the Mawile treat you?"
"Do not call me 'Ky'," Kyogre said with a yawn.
"Okay, Kyogre, how did the Mawile treat you?"
"Pretty good, considering Groudon and myself are considered divinities among them."
Breaker was the next to arrive at the table. He was holding the clay pot that Kyogre had received as an offering and eating its contents. "This is really good stuff but what is it?" he asked.
Kyogre telekinetically took the pot from him and peered in it. "Dried meat. And knowing the Mawile, I'd wager it was the last explorer who encountered them," she replied.
Breaker suddenly looked very ill. "Excuse me," he said, bolting from the table with a hand over his mouth. He ran behind the nearest tree and proceeded to vomit.
"I think I just lost my appetite," Loudred said. He had arrived just after Kyogre explained what was in the pot.
"Same here," Corphish replied. He was sitting next to Breaker.
Kyogre excused herself and took the pot of meat with her. She quickly dug a small hole and buried it. She felt disgusted at the fact that Breaker had eaten the remains of an explorer without knowing it.
Chimecho telekinetically carried the treasure bag full of firewood to the "kitchen" which consisted of a circular pit surrounded by stones; a rock stacked with pots, cutlery, pans and dishes; another rock that was used as a cutting board and several baskets of fruits and assorted vegetables on the ground.
She prepared the fire pit by tossing some dried leaves as tinder and carefully stacking up the pieces of wood. She was thankful that her telekinetic powers were as precise, if not more precise than a pair of hands. She then telekinetically scraped a silver spike and an iron spike together, throwing off showers of sparks that eventually ignited the tinder and eventually the campfire. She then placed a metal slab over the campfire, placed a pot that was filled with Combee honey and water on it and waited for the mixture to start boiling.
She telekinetically levitated some Combee honey into her mouth. The fruity sweetness overwhelmed her. The Combee and Vespiqueen village in this area was famed for its honey but it was nearly impossible to acquire unless one directly purchases it from the village.
She then tossed in some freshly washed oran berries. Tonight was going to be a good dinner.
Meanwhile, Palkia, Lugia and James were on the road leading to small port town of Surf Point. Luckily, James's apartment was on the outskirts of Lilycove City. It was now early afternoon and the scent of the sea permeated the air. A small sign pointed to a wooden bridge over the dunes. The sign read "Beach Access".
Lugia looked at the sign. "Hey, James, Palkia," he said. "I'm going to go for a quick swim."
"Okay, we'll have lunch ready when you come back," James replied.
Just as Lugia flapped his wings and soared into the sky, James led the group over to picnic area that also had a designated battle area which was about the size of a football field.
"So what have you got for lunch?" Palkia asked.
"Rice balls, some pre-packed vegan chili, some pasta with tomato sauce," James replied.
Palkia sat down on the picnic table and took off his messenger bag as James got out the rice balls.
As Lugia soared over the beach, he literally became the center of attention. Every sunbather and swimmer stopped to behold the silver Legendary soaring above them.
Lugia closed his eyes and drank in the warm sun as he thought about what the future might bring. The black winglets on his back folded down and he entered a steep dive, crashing into the water like a meteor.
He swam through briny deep of the ocean. Granted, he was fairly far from the beach but still visible. His eyes opened and emitted a gentle blue light that let him see in the murky water. He passed by two surprised scuba divers who appeared to be busy searching for treasure.
Meanwhile, James had finished preparing lunch. It was just rice balls. James's pokémon were out as well.
"So James, what do you plan to do when you get to Altomare?" Palkia asked, shoving half a rice ball down his throat.
"Well, you said you knew some people there, right?" James replied, taking a bite of his rice ball.
Palkia nodded.
At this point, Wukong went up to Palkia. "Hey, Palkia, how's about a battle?" he asked.
"Can you wait until I'm done eating first?" Palkia asked, taking another rice ball.
Wukong shrugged and took a rice ball. He sniffed it then took a bite of it. "Hey, James, these are pretty good," he said.
Quartzon came up to the group at this point. "Hey! Let me have one!" she chirped.
James broke a rice ball in half and handed the half to Quartzon who eagerly devoured it.
At this point, Lugia, dripping wet from his swim, landed near them.
"Enjoy your swim?" James asked.
"Yep," Lugia replied. He took a rice ball and started eating it. He took off his drenched messenger bag and placed it in the sun to dry.
James realized he had a somewhat awkward question to ask the two Legends. "Erm, Palkia, Lugia, I have a bit of a difficult question to ask," he said.
Palkia ate his third rice ball. "Go on," he replied.
"Well… if we get challenged to a friendly battle, I want to be able to add it to my win record and if you or Lugia battle, it will not count."
Palkia nodded. He knew where this was going. "So you want us to be registered to you as 'your' pokémon?" he asked.
James nodded. "Look, you and Lugia don't have to do this if you don't want," he blurted out.
"Why not? It's a fair trade, you're risking your life and your job to help us and all we have to do is get registered to you as 'your' pokémon,"
James then turned to Lugia. "Lugia, is this fine with you?" he asked. He inwardly sighed as he realized that he got the bad part of the bargain.
"What?" Lugia asked. He was stuffing himself on rice balls.
Palkia sighed; Lugia was easily distracted by food. "James asked if you want to be registered as 'his' pokémon," he said.
"Why not?"
"Okay," James said, pulling out his Pokédex and scanning Lugia and Palkia. A list of their attacks showed up. "On a side note, this means that I will issue commands in battle. Will you listen to them?"
"As long as you don't issue something idiotic or suicidal, we'll obey like pretty much any trained pokémon," Lugia replied. He then grinned. "On a side note, can we issue you 'battle commands' when we're in a 'serious' battle? I.E with kidnappers or thugs," he added.
James shrugged. "Why not? Your probably have more experience in 'serious battles' than I do," he replied.
At this point, a young man dressed in a safari hat and short sleeved shirt and shorts approached the group. "Hey, wanna battle?" he asked.
James grinned. "Sure!" he replied. "Challenger picks the format."
"All right! Time to rock!" Wukong said, cracking his knuckles. He and the other pokémon were watching from the picnic table. Lugia was still eating.
"Don't be so hasty," Ferrum replied. He was done eating a Pidgey he had killed moments before.
"Oh, come on when was the last time you battled?"
"Like you've done any battling yourself?
"Wukong, Ferrum, knock it off!" James scolded.
The young man suddenly spoke. "One-on-one battle, challenger goes first," he said.
James nodded. "Fair enough," he replied.
He then stood at the red side of the rectangular arena. Four shield generators in the form of metal poles at the edge of the rectangle protected the trainers and any spectators from injury due to stray attacks.
The young man stood opposite on the blue side. He tossed a poké ball onto the field, where it opened to reveal a Gallade.
James smirked. "A Gallade," he said. He then decided who to use. Wukong was out as he would probably be caught off guard by the Psychic-type of the Gallade. Quartzon was not experienced enough. That left Ferrum and the two Legendaries.
"Hey, you going to battle or forfeit?" the young man shouted.
"I'm waiting," the Gallade said testily, crossing his arms.
"Ferrum! You're up!" James barked.
Ferrum flew from his perch atop a nearby tree and into the arena. "Finally, a battle," he said.
"This is a one-on-one battle between James and an unknown male trainer," Lugia announced. His portable music player and speakers had been set up at his feet.
"The name's Thomas!" the young man shouted.
Lugia facepalmed. "This is a one-on-one battle between James and Thomas!" he announced. "Let the battle begin!"
He then turned on the music player and speaker and almost immediately Lachrimae by Audiomachine started blasting out over the arena.
"You can't do that!" Thomas shouted.
"No rule saying that music is forbidden in battles!" Lugia countered.
"Fine. Gallade! Use projectile Psycho Cut!"
Gallade's arms glowed green for a moment, then a green crescent energy blade shot at Ferrum, who shot into the sky, easily dodging it. Another Psycho Cut flew his way.
"Ferrum! Dodge and counter with a Steel Wing!" James yelled over the frantic choir of the battle music.
Ferrum did an aerial back flip and the green energy blade shot harmlessly into the sky. His wings shimmered and hardened into two razor-edged scimitars. He flew at Gallade, intending to cut him in half. But Gallade was ready; he leapt into the air behind Ferrum and tossed several Psycho Cut attacks at him.
Ferrum cried out in pain as he was struck by the psionic blades and crashed to the ground. "So, you intend to exploit my lack of ranged attacks?" he asked.
Gallade landed in front of him with his right elbow blade glowing green. "First rule of combat, exploit your enemy's weaknesses," he said.
Ferrum smirked as he flapped his wings, sending two white crescents crashing into Gallade and knocking him backwards. "Second rule of combat, never get complacent with your foe," he replied. He then shot into the sky, avoiding a jumping slash from Gallade's elbow blades.
"Nice Air Cutter!" James shouted. "Try it again! And charge with a Steel Wing!"
At this point, the "battle music" switched to Immediate Music's O Destina. Ferrum flapped his wings and sent a flurry of white crescents at Gallade.
"Gallade! Counter with your projectile Psycho Cut and attack with a melee Psycho Cut!" Thomas shouted.
Gallade launched a flurry of green crescent blades at the incoming swarm of Air Cutter attacks. The two attacks collided and exploded with a sound similar to that of gunshots. He leapt into the air with both elbow blades extended and glowing green. His arms were raised over his head in preparation to slam his elbows into Ferrum.
Ferrum, meanwhile, was charging towards Gallade at high speed with both wings hardened into steel. His entire body shuddered as his steely wings collided with Gallade's elbow blades. The shock of the impact forced him to move backwards and lose some altitude but thanks to Ferrum's greater speed, Gallade got the worst of it. He was thrown back several feet and nearly collided with the invisible barrier.
Gallade's entire body ached but he refused to give up. He pushed himself to his feet and extended his elbow blades. "I congratulate you. Your Air Cutter caught me off guard," he said.
"Gallade! Let's take it up! Try your Psi Sword!" Thomas shouted over the thundering bass and driving choir of O Destina.
Gallade made a motion of drawing a sword from an invisible sheath around his waist. Almost immediately, a glowing green energy blade flared to life in his right hand. This was the Psi Sword attack – the third and arguably coolest manifestation of Psycho Cut.
Ferrum's jaw dropped; he had never seen a Pokémon wield any sort of weapon, let alone a sword of psychic energy. "But…" he trailed off.
Gallade chuckled. "What? It's not for nothing that we Gallade are known as masters of swordsmanship," he replied.
Ferrum charged at Gallade with a Steel Wing. Almost instantly, Gallade pivoted and used his sword to deflect the attack. He retaliated with a lunging thrust at Ferrum's chest.
Ferrum quickly dipped down, using his steely wings to guard against the fierce lunge. He used his other wing to slash at Gallade who quickly leapt to the side and took a swing at Ferrum's head.
He quickly ducked under the strike, the glowing blade grazing the steel crest on his head. He noticed that Gallade had left an opening for him to strike with a Slash attack. As he prepared to strike, Gallade dodged the slash and drove the sword into Ferrum's side.
Ferrum cried out in pain as he fell to the ground. Even though there was no physical injury, he lay on the ground, unconscious.
Lugia turned off his music player just as Requiem Rave by Immediate Music was about to start. "Aww, my unofficial theme was next," he muttered. He then cleared his throat. "Ferrum is unable to battle, Gallade is the winner!" he shouted.
Ferrum soon regained consciousness. As soon as he did so, Gallade "sheathed" his sword and helped Ferrum to his feet. "Ferrum, your battling skills are admirable. I have never had such a thrilling duel with a Flying-type. Good luck to you in further battles and may Arceus be with you," he said with a bow. He then walked over to Thomas, who recalled him.
Ferrum staggered over to James. "Can someone hand me a potion or something?" he asked.
Palkia fished out a potion from his messenger bag and sprayed it on Ferrum. "Damn, Ferrum, you're pretty good," he said.
"Thanks, but still, I think the Psycho Sword attack caught me off guard. I mean, when was the last time you saw a pokémon wielding any sort of weapon?"
Palkia chuckled. "Well, I once saw a Pikachu and a Meowth engaged in a sword fight. It was a totally legit battle too," he said.
"Where?" James asked.
Lugia then landed next to James. "Battle Frontier. They have some really, really, really weird battle themes there. Everything from a dungeon crawler theme where you explore a giant pyramid and battle other trainers and 'wild pokémon' to the infamous 'reverse pokémon battle'," he replied.
Thomas then approached the group. "Well, I'd say you've got a pretty good team," he said, looking over the group. "But you do realize that having a pokémon referee a pokémon battle is strictly against league rules?"
"This isn't a league sanctioned battle and you didn't raise any objections to it so I assumed it was okay. And besides, you won!" James countered.
Thomas said nothing but walked away in a huff.
Palkia was busy packing up their supplies. "Let's get moving or we'll miss the ferry," he said.
"Lugia, you can fly right?" Palkia asked as he stuffed the music player back into Lugia's bag.
Lugia nodded. "I can but I can't carry you, Palkia," he said.
"And I really don't like flying on the back of a pokémon," James added. He recalled Quartzon, Ferrum and Wukong.
As soon as they were done packing up they headed towards the ferry terminal at the border of Surf Point.
Meanwhile, Zero was cruising above Sootopolis City at 45,000 feet in the Megarig. He was sitting in the flight deck having a glass of soda while Infi was busy scanning for the Legendaries. The ship's powerful sensor suite and total lack of armor or armament – save for an energy net capture system – hinted at its past as Professor Newton Graceland's research vessel. The "Origin Fighter" hanging underneath the ship was originally a reconnaissance vehicle; it still served that purpose but it now carried weaponry – just a single energy discharge cannon – along with a small shield generator.
"Infi, have you detected any Legendaries?" Zero asked.
"Negative," Infi replied.
Zero sighed and looked out the window. Outside was his squadron of Magnemite and Magneton. A Magnezone "commander" headed each wing – five in all. The low hum of the Megarig's antigravity pods was very soothing to him and he started to get drowsy. He leaned the pilot's chair back and prepared to fall asleep when Cyrus's voice came on through the speaker system.
"Zero! Have you found the Legendaries yet?" Cyrus demanded via the speaker.
Zero shot out of his seat. "No, Cyrus. I am currently-" he glanced at the radar screen "-above western Sootopolis City," he said.
"Set course for Altomare! The city's treasure is needed for-"
"Zero, I have detected two Legendaries at the edge of sensor range," Infi said.
"Direction," Zero ordered.
"The northwest."
"Zero, dispatch some grunts to keep an eye on the two Legendaries. Head to Altomare. Cyrus out." The radio connection then ended with a click.
"Yes sir," Zero said. "Infi, divert all power from shields and energy net to engines and set course for Altomare."
"As you wish," Infi replied. Almost immediately, the indicator bars for the power feed to the shields and energy net dropped from roughly half to nearly empty and the bar that showed the power feed to the engines shot up from half to nearly full. Even though the airspeed indicator showed that the Megarig was gradually accelerating from 65 miles per hour to about 100 miles per hour, he could barely feel anything.
He then radioed the grunts that were aboard his ship. Unlike the Hikokyu II, which could carry and support hundreds of grunts, the Megarig could carry and support five grunts at most.
He leaned back in the chair and dozed off – it was flight of at least three hours from Sootopolis City to Altomare and he hadn't gotten much sleep.
Inside a small locker room on the Megarig, a trio of grunts were suiting up and preparing to head out on the recon mission.
"I don't see why Zero can't do this himself," a grunt grumbled, struggling to get a secure fit on the oxygen mask and helmet.
"Do you know how to pilot this ship?" another grunt shot back as he struggled to don the heated suit that would protect them from the frigid air miles above the earth.
A few minutes later, the Team Galactic grunts were fully decked out in their oxygen masks (dangling around their necks), heated suit, heated gloves and a helmet with a tinted visor. A small emergency oxygen tank dangled from their waists. Their masks were already hooked up to the tank so they would not have to waste precious seconds hooking up the tank. The grunts also carried pistols in hip holsters and wore what appeared to be mountaineering harnesses.
As they walked from locker room to the tiny hangar, they noticed that several hover skiffs were lined up. Each skiff was hooked up to two lines snaking from the wall.
"All right, let's get this show on the road," a female – not that one would know thanks to the heated suit and face concealing helmets – grunt said.
The grunts opened the hangar doors and disconnected the skiffs from their recharging and oxygen supply lines. After donning their oxygen masks, connecting the masks to the skiff's oxygen supply and plugging the outlet for the heated suits into the skiff, they strapped themselves in. The restraints were very simple; a mountaineering harness attached to a hard point on the skiff.
After that was achieved, the grunts started up the skiffs' antigravity engines, filling the hangar with a dull buzz that gradually became a steady roar.
One by one, the skiffs sped out into the cold, thin air above the seemingly infinite sea of clouds in search of the two Legends.