I own nothing. Enjoy!

Area-05: Scorching Sands

Ashe charged forward, gritting her teeth as she avoided a shot from a mobile turret. The Mechaniloid followed her closely as it tried to land a shot on its small target.

Dashing underneath it Ashe fired several shots into its joints, causing them to smoke and melt. Ending up behind it Ashe watched as it collapsed and exploded, she smiled before continuing.

She had been running through the desert for quite some time, quite surprised by the fact that the area seemed to be going on forever.

You know, they say that this area was the home of the Repliroid Resistance before they moved. I wonder if we could find the old base?

'I would think that the base would no longer exist, due to the fact that it was abandoned over 200 years ago.'

Ashe jumped over a Galleon Biker as it tried to ram her, she tried desperately to ignore the conversation that was going on in her head. Spinning through the air she quickly locked on to the Galleon and fired. The machine burst into flames as it collided with another Maverick, which then exploded.

Landing Ashe dashed to the side to avoid a bomb dropped by a chicken Mechaniloid, which Ashe proceeded to blow apart. Catching the falling Energy Capsule she crushed it and smiled at the recharging beeps.

Jumping again she latched onto a large metal pipe and flipped herself over it. Landing she began dashing, mainly avoiding any of the smaller Mechaniloids.

Wow Ashe, how did you get so acrobatic?

"Well, I grew up near a forest so my Mom always wanted me and her to play. We would often play before the sun rose to well after it set."

That sounds like a fun childhood.

'This was however before her parents were enlisted by The Arcadia.'

"I still played though, albeit more recklessly. That's one of the main reasons why I became a Hunter, it was so much fun."

Sliding under a low hanging pipe, Ashe let out a small laugh when she kicked a Disk Launcher off of its tripod. She destroyed the main launcher and continued on.

It is good to know that I have such an active human as my Chosen.

Ashe skidded to a halt, stopping before she slammed into a massive metal door that belonged to a gigantic factory that seemed to cut the area in half. The girl took a few steps back as she tried to see the top of the behemoth building.

"What is this?"

Ashe shaded her eyes from the sunlight poking over the building's roof as Totten began beeping. The Cyber-Elf pulling up all data on the building sitting, almost swallowed in sand, before them. It took her a few moments. buts she gathered her data and began reciting it.

'This used to be a Mechaniloid Manufacturing Plant that was used to create the main Weapon Systems and combat personnel of the Space station designated 'Ragnarok'. It was abandoned after the station's collapse and collision with the planet. It is stated that several High Class Mechaniloids from that era are still active. It is advised to all Archaeological Personnel to proceed with extreme caution when entering the facility.'

Is that all?

'No, but the rest of the information was deleted and sealed by the Arcadian Reformation Faction, this is just all of the information that I could access without hacking.'

Ashe gulped as looked up to the massive doors, the thought of having to deal with anything from that era both frightened and excited her at the same time. It could mean a fun time if she went along with this path.

"Totten, where is the signal of the Slipstream originating from?"

Several more beeps were emitted by the Hacker as she went over the data, she sighed when she got her answer.

'The current location of the Slipstream is in the center of the quarry the builders used to mine Ceratanium. We would have to traverse a small portion of the factory before we actually made it to the crash site, however most of our time will still be outside.'

Ashe nodded as she began walking towards the massive shutter. She slowly reached a hand towards a small control pad centered in the door, but she faltered when Totten again spoke up.

'I would advise we just go around, we have no idea what could be in there. You don't even have a way to open the door.'

Scoffing, Ashe ignored the Hacker and pressed her hand into the scanner portion of the panel. They stood there for several seconds, and nothing happened. She could just feel that Totten was about to start telling her that this was a waste of time.

Before the Cyber-Elf could open her mouth however, the panel began to glow with a faint red light. Ashe looked up to the little black screen as it lit up with an ominous looking W.

She then felt a jolt, which caused her to quickly yank her hand away from the panel. There were several beeps before an ancient sounding robotic voice spoke from the panel.

Coding Match: Subject No. 780-X-33

Code Verified...

Releasing Primary Locks...

Ashe held her hurt hand while staring confusedly at the door. What did it just say? Why in the world did it have a code verified at her touch?

Ooh, this is scary! Want to investigate?

Ashe didn't answer, she just kept looking at her shaking hand as several questions swam through her mind. Totten materialized and gave her a gentle nudge.

'Ashe? You okay?'

Ashe nodded as she clenched her fist. The massive door then began to creak as its ancient gears began pulling it apart. Looking up she glared as the gaping void of the factory opened to her, she then smiled.

"Yeah Totten, if I can open this door, then maybe we should go and investigate why."

Proceeding forward Ashe materialized her guns and entered the facility. Totten floated a little away from her, thinking of the look of fear that had adorned Ashe's face.

'Ashe if that was the only thing bothering you then I doubt that you would even continue forward.'

Area-05: Slipstream

Atlas didn't even flinch as a Raider opened fire on her. She simply reached forward and grabbed the man's face. Lifting the struggling man into the air she threw him into the wall.

She allowed herself a small, almost nonexistent, smile when she heard the man's neck break. Turning around she saw another Raider gunned down by one of her Galleons.

Stepping through the piles of bodies, making her way to the remains of the bridge, she was met with by a small red Galleon with burners for arms. It saluted and she growled.

"What do you have to report?"

The Galleon lifted one of its arms as a large data screen materialized from a node on its forearm. It was security feed from the main building of the factory, she squinted when she saw a blue and red armored person dash past the camera's field of view.

Atlas gritted her teeth, she knew by just that glimpse who it was that was making their way through the factory.

"So, it would seem that I was not given all of the information for this mission. I doubt that that crazy woman withheld this information by accident."

The Galleon closed the screen and waited for her to give it a command. Atlas looked at the bodies around her, carefully formulating a plan.

"Okay, I want you to clear these bodies. I will not have the Chosen unnerved during our upcoming battle. You will also need to drain the generators that are still functional. This will lock all of the doors, giving me some time to find and kill the remaining survivors of this ship."

The Galleon saluted and was about to run off give the command to the rest of the unit, but it was stopped by Atlas clearing her throat.

"Unleash the Desert Apis, even if it doesn't kill her, it will still give me more time to complete my mission."

The Galleon saluted her again and ran off, this left Atlas to mull over the realization that she wasn't told everything.

"So the witch thinks that she can get rid of me like this? How idiotic can one be. I am a soldier who will not fall that easily."

Snarling she materialized her Knuckle Busters and proceeded towards the bridge.

Area-05: Oil Fields

Ashe flinched as a door screeched open, it was not really helping her that every door's opening was echoed across the halls of the dead factory. Entering the door Ashe groaned when she found herself in another hallway. Straightening up she ignored Model A laughing at her misery.

'Now A, it is not polite to laugh at another's torment. By the way Ashe, take the door on your right.'

Turning Ashe opened the door, and after composing herself, proceeded into a large room. The room had a walkway, which Ashe was now standing on, that skirted the walls of the room. In the center of the room was a disk shaped platform that was held up by large pistons. Several old tools and machine parts were littering the platform's surface.

"What do you think they did here?"

'From what I could gather from schematics that are still available, this was the chamber where they crafted the Ragnarok Core. I highly doubt this, because the measurements of the Core make it too big to fit in this room.'

Ashe looked over everything she could see from her position, just knowing what the room was used for brought back nightmares she had following her hearing of the Ragnarok Core from old war stories. She shook herself as she looked to one of the other doors.

"Maybe that data was incorrect, I know that the Core wasn't as big as everyone thought it to be."

'I don't know why you think that, but anyway I had you come here because there is a shortcut into the Quarry from here, just go through the door on the right and it should eventually lead outside.'

Ashe nodded and began carefully making her way across the ancient walkways. Avoiding some loose paneling Ashe made it to the door. She was about to open it, but something on the door a few feet away from it caught her eye. It had a large W molded into its surface, and over top of that sat a messily painted Ohm.

'Ashe, what are you doing?'

Moving towards the door that was scarred by the fading Greek letter she reached her had towards its control panel. Pausing for a brief moment when she saw that it had a lock similar to the front shutter, she reluctantly reached towards the panel and placed her hand on it.

The W marking appeared again and vanished as the screen was replaced by a green screen. The door creaked open, and while rather reluctant, Ashe entered the room.

The air in the room was musty, so much so that Ashe had to activate her mouth guard to breathe properly. Model A activated a head light to illuminate the dark room, and suddenly Ashe wished she hadn't.

Sitting in the center of the room was a large throne chair, and resting in it was a gargantuan white Repliroid. Its possibly once pristine marble colored armor was cracked and rusted. It had one massive clawed gauntlet that hung limply off of the throne's arm.

The most disturbing thing to Ashe however, was the fact that the Repliroid's chest was open, and many cables were sticking out from the opening.

Taking a step back, Ashe bumped into the wall, she suddenly felt extremely afraid of the inactive machine.

"Totten, w-what is that thing?"

Totten let out a scared beep as she pulled up the information.

'That thing is classified as the 'Omega Pawn'. It was the armor that the Devilroid wore into battle to contain his massive power. It was supposedly destroyed along with the real Omega by the Repliroid Zero.'

Then what is it doing here!?

'Perhaps one of the scientists who worked here may have wanted to rebuild it, I am sure by the look of it that this Model was created to be mass produced.'

The three simply stared at the machine for several more minutes in complete silence before Ashe hurriedly exited the room. She backed away from the door as it locked back down.

"Curious, how bad would it be to just leave that there?"

'Considering that people today do not posses the ability to complete that monster, or even build a proper power source for it. It should be fine. I mean it seems that you are the only one who can open the door at the moment. Now, why don't we get to that Quarry, we are on a time limit.'

Ashe slowly nodded her head as she rushed to the original door and ran out of it. Hoping to put as much distance between herself and the machine locked behind the door.

Area-05: Den of the Snake

Running past the mechaniloids in her way, and destroying the ones she couldn't easily avoid Ashe made her way closer to the wreckage of the Slipstream. Reaching the top of the closest dune she could see the airship, at least half of it.

"Almost there, now hopefully they have a working Transerver so I can get the parts back faster."

'Ashe before you do, could you look out that way?'

Following Totten's suggestion she turned her head and looked in the direction that the Elf was pointing. Laying in the sand, almost a mile away, was a massive metal husk. Activating her visor and zooming onto the machine, she couldn't help but let out a laugh at what she saw.

Sitting, half buried in the sand, was the remains of the giant Mechaniloid that had attacked her several weeks ago.

"Serves it right for messing with me."

'Yes, but aside from your petty justification, we could possibly use what is left of its parts to repair the train. I mean it could have some undamaged hovering systems that would work for the train's engine.'

That is good thinking Totten, but could we save that until after we investigate the Airship?

Smiling Ashe jumped up and proceeded down the dune. She reached the bottom and took one step when the ground suddenly collapsed. Sand and rocks exploded into the air as Ashe fell, landing in the center of the newly formed pit.

Pulling her face out of the sand Ashe coughed up the sand that had gotten into her mouth. Getting up she looked around her, noting that she was now in a cone shaped pit.

"Great. Now what?"

Totten and A seemed to have wanted to speak up, but they were cut off by another explosion of sand at the rim of the pit.

Looking up Ashe was met with the gaze of a large snake-like Mechaniloid. The setting sun illuminated its maroon plating. Its blue eyes gave off an evil glow as it watched her.

"Uh, Totten? What is that?"

'Designation: Desert Apis. It is an upgrade of the original Giga variety. It is also easier to mass produce because of its smaller size. Its weapon systems include-'

So long story short, its a big snake. Let's get to skinning it already!

The snake hissed as Ashe raised her guns, targets locking onto several points on the snake's body. The Desert Apis opened its mouth and launched a volley of flaming orbs. Ashe jumped over them and fired.

The bolt of lightning hit the snake's armor and was seemingly absorbed by it. This caused Ashe to raise an eyebrow as she landed.

"That was weird."

'Of course it was. If you had let me finish I would have told you that this thing's armor absorbs energy. It is possibly made this way to be able to operate for longer periods of time, even after the core is depleted.'

"Okay, you are going to have to explain how exactly that works later, but now is there any way to damage it?"

The Apis suddenly jumped out of the sand and slammed down onto Ashe, she was then run over as the snake slid back into the sand. When the tail came over her it smacked her aside. Totten continued as she landed.

'Its head is made of a less dense alloy. So your attacks should be able to damage it there. Now it is a good thing that this isn't the 'Hades' variant, because that thing grew its head back.'

Shaking herself off Ashe stood and began charging her guns, waiting for the snake to emerge once more.

The ground behind her then exploded as the snake emerged, its fangs bared. Ashe spun around and fired her shot into the open maw of the snake. There was a brilliant explosion of red sparks as the snake suddenly altered its course, ending up colliding with the wall of the pit beside her.

Laughing she shook her fist at the receeding tail of the Mechaniloid.

"Ha! Serves you right for being such a jerk!"

As soon as that last word was uttered, Ashe then found herself flying through the air, with the snake flying alongside her. The Mechaniloid landed and burrowed into the sand, while Ashe landed in the bottom of the pit with a dull thud.

"Ow..."

Ashe winced as she pushed herself up, her guns gathering a charge while she activated her SubTank. She had just managed to get back to standing upright as the snake emerged from the sand.

Throwing both guns she fired, the shots flew forth with deadly accuracy. The snake lowered its head and hissed as its eyes flashed with a blue light.

The shots impacted the snake's head and detonated, the snake began writhing in pain. Ashe tried to shift her gun's aim, but she found that she couldn't move. Blue electricity crackled over her armor as she tried to move. Her armor slowly began losing its color and turning grey.

"M-Model A, what is going on here?"

It would seem that that last attack was something of a jamming signal. The armor is not responding to your movements.

'How can you say that with a straight face?'

Practice. Anyway, it isn't a permanent problem, but it will still take a few seconds for me to get the system up and running again.

Ashe then gritted her teeth as she saw the snake rear up for another attack. The Mechaniloid rose from the sand and then proceeded to fall. Ashee was all but helpless as it struck her.

The beast then repeated one of its previous attacks, starting off with it dragging itself over Ashe. As soon as the tail launched her into the air she thought that she would at least be able to roll away from the snake, this however was not the case.

Ashe was then struck again by the snake as it launched itself from the sand. She was then launched further into the air as the snake repeated this attack several times.

Peices of armor and flecks of blood flew around Ashe as the snake continued its assault.

'Ashe! Your shields and armor have been reduced to 25%, you need to do something!'

Gritting her teeth Ashe felt her rage building as she was again tossed by the Mechaniloid. She then clenched her fist, the color returning to the limb, and her gun materialized.

Energy began to swirl infront of the barrel as the weapon began to charge. Unknown to Ashe, the metal dial on her helmet slid open and began glowing.

The snake exploded from the sand as she began descending, its mouth open, ready to swallow her. Ashe waited for the split second that the snake was right infront of her gun, and she pulled the trigger.

The blast tore through the air between the two. It collided with the snake's open mouth and detonated. The shockwave launched Ashe towards the ground and the snake plummeted.

Quickly trying to get back onto her feet as her armor began responding to her again, she dashed back as the snake slammed into the ground. The dial's light slowly faded as it locked shut, Ashe breathed a sigh of relief as she looked to her now slightly melted weapon.

"Uh, A? What did I do?"

Ashe did not get a response right away, she only heard a beeping come from the Livemetal. When she did get an answer, it was oddly metallic and lifeless.

Model A Protocol O-34: Terminated. Returning to basic personality settings and function.

'A? You alright?'

...Yeah, why do you ask?

"Well we are just worried since you were kind of-"

Ashe was interrupted as the Desert Apis again exploded out of the sand. Its body badly damaged and melting from the previous attack. It lunged at her, trying to crush her again. Ashe quickly materialized her gun and fired a medium charge shot. The attack hit the exposed circuts and exploded. This caused the snake to recoil, its body began to let out beams of light.

The Mechaniloid then exploded, it gave out a dying hiss before it fully vaporized. Ashe just chuckled as the dust began to settle.

"Well, that was more trouble than it was worth, but we killed it. How much SubTank energy do I have left?"

'30%.'

"Good," Ashe smiled as she pulled out the tank, "just enough to help repair the majorly damaged areas."

Downing the rest of the SubTank's contents, she smiled at how refreshed she felt. Putting it away she proceeded to climb out of the pit as her armor pieced itself back together and her wounds vanished.

"That took a bit longer than I hoped, but it can't be helped I suppose."

Ashe you are still a rookie when it comes to fighting with me. I would think you to be inhuman if you mastered my capabilities that fast.

Ashe reached the top and pulled herself over the edge of the pit, looking up she was met with the sight of the wreckage of the Slipstream.

"Huh, seems a lot closer than before."

Totten and A shrugged as she stood, she began to examine the airship, looking for a way in. She jogged over to the ship and began climbing as a plan formed.

What are you doing?

"Well, the shutter that Prometheus stood in front of should probably be open. Why not try there?"

Area-05: Slipstream Command

Atlas didn't even flinch when the ship was rocked by the Apis' explosion. She simply stood looking out of the front windows, contemplating what she would have to do. Lifting her F-w she narrowed her eyes when looking into its fanged faceplate. Its one eye let out an orange glow, it too knew what was going to happen.

And it was hungry.

Her grip tightened around the Livemetal as she imagined the upcoming fight.

"You and I are the same, each of us hoping that this Chosen can deliver a good fight."

Dropping her hand she again looked out the massive windows. She suddenly found herself contemplating the problems that would arise while fighting the Chosen.

"If I am defeated, then the woman will get her wish. If I am victorious the Chosen will die. That is a problem is it not?"

Frowning she looked down to the hole that her Galleons had opened up earlier. The Galleons had reported that there were several life signatures below, and had asked her to investigate. She had wondered what to do with them. Atlas then smiled slightly when she felt the ship reverberate from another explosion.

"Well, come little Chosen, let's see what you've got."

Area-05: Dead Corridor

Ashe rolled to the side as a Galleon Burner began spraying its Flamethrower. She quickly aimed and shot one of its oil lines. The machine exploded as plasma met with the flammable liquid. Ashe laughed and punched her hand into the air.

"Ha! What do you think of that?"

I'd give you a 4 out of 10.

'Likewise.'

"Oh you guys are just no fun."

Ashe put her guns away and proceeded to traverse the ship. Totten was scanning the area for more Mavericks, and A was seemingly trying to do something. Ashe ignored the Livemetal's antics until a shrill screech came over her helmet's communicator. Ashe gripped her head until the sound stopped, when it did she checked to see if she was still hearing properly.

"What in the heck was that?"

Sorry. I am just trying to open a file, but a heavy cipher is in the way. Why is it that all Livemetals have ciphers that simply make us weaker?

"I have no idea, but please do not do that again. I almost lost my hearing."

A apologized and Ashe continued walking. She came across several rooms, but each of the control panels informed her that they had no power. Following the fourth attempt Ashe groaned in frustration.

"What the heck is up with that?"

'It would seem that the invading force neutralized the power. Either by draining the main batteries, or by simply destroying them I am not sure.'

"Well where are these batteries?"

'One floor up and two doors down. The room should still have some residual power due to it being part of the room that houses the batteries. The elevator doesn't work, so I would advise taking a running start.'

Ashe nodded and activated her Dash Thrusters, rocketing towards the elevator platform. Stopping short of the platform she dropped down and jumped. She made contact with the wall and then proceeded to kick off of it and onto the other wall. She repeated this until she landed onto the landing of the second floor.

Taking a second to catch her breath, she shook her head and proceeded down the hall. Her visor shut over her eyes as several red blips pinged on her radar. She was about to materialize her guns, but she was halted by Totten.

'No Ashe, those aren't enemy reading. They are Human and Repliroid vitals.'

"What? There are actual survivors? How?"

This ship must have been more durable than first thought. There doesn't seem to be enough readings to signify a crew for a ship this big though.

'Whoever is commanding the Mavericks must be clearing out the survivors. Ashe, if I may, go for the power room and ignore them for now.'

"What?! These are people we are talking about! We need to rescue them!"

And lead them right into the waiting jaws of the Mavericks.

"But, I-"

'We know, but it is safer if we deal with the person controlling this unit first.'

Ashe simply stood there, staring at each of the individual reading. She knew that Model A and Totten were right, but that didn't mean she had to think so.

Quickly opening her visor Ashe rushed the rest of the way to the power room. Skidding to a halt she quickly turned and punched the control panel, it hissed as the door slowly opened.

Entering the room Ashe stared at the massive cylindrical batteries that filled thee floor and ceiling. The room was dark, except for the minute amount of light still being emitted from the generators. This bathed the room in an eerie blue light. Walking towards one Ashe began to wonder how she was going to get them started.

Ashe placed her hand onto the generator's shell, she could feel the machine giving off a slight vibration. She stepped back and a panel quickly slid open, she jumped in surprise as a small box popped out of the opening. She poked it, but it did nothing.

"What is that?"

'It would seem to be the battery's power cell. We need to somehow power it again, and then repeat the process on the rest.'

"And how do I do that? I am not a walking charger."

Rosepark could help, I mean his D.N.A. oozes electricity.

'Okay. Well now that that is settled, how about we open all of the power cells?'

Ashe shrugged and walked over to the next battery. Pressing her hand to the surface she was relieved to see that the second cell did open.

"You know, I was hoping that the first wasn't just a fluke."

'The battery could be responding to the energy your armor is giving off.'

"As long as all of them open this easily, I really don't care what opens them."

Ashe continued around the room, popping open each battery as she went. When she had opened them all the stood in the center of them all and shifted into her Bulb mode, which soon gave way to her Rose mode.

She heard several beeps come from her, her visor locked down and it told her that her energy was slowly being drained.

"Man, these things are greedy."

Lifting her hands she began charging her energy. Her spikes began to crackle as bolts of electricity began jumping between them. Several of her thorns grew as they were also charged with energy. When her visor told her that she had a full charge she lifted her hands again and slammed them into the floor.

The room was then filled with a massive bolt of lightning. It arched towards the power cells and struck them. Ashe could of sworn she heard a clap of thunder as she was blinded by a flash of light.

Ashe shot up as her armor reverted, rubbing her eyes to try and clear them. Blinking several times before she could see clearly again. A whirring sound filled the room as the generators lifted, the lights in the room blinking on slowly. Ashe smiled as she punched the air.

"Yeah! Now that is how you-"

'Behind you!'

Ashe's expression suddenly got serious as she materialized her guns. Spinning around she threw her guns forward, and was met with another gun pointed at her face. It took her several seconds to register what she was looking at, it was a good thing that the other person was just as confused.

"Ashe?"

Ashe blinked, the gun that was pointed at her was lowered, revealing a familiar face to the Hunter.

"Lazarus? How in the heck are you still alive?"

The man laughed as he holstered his rifle, Ashe could see all of the wear on his body. By how much damage Ashe could see, it was surprising her that he was standing.

"Well, isn't it obvious? I somehow ended up on this part of the ship when it crashed. This half seemed to be more stable."

"Nicol and I thought you had died."

Lazarus chuckled as he patted Ashe on the head. She groaned and he continued to laugh.

"Nope. I am still alive, and there is nothing you can do to change that."

Pushing the man away Ashe got an alert over her communications systems. Her visor locked down and a stream of information scrolled past.

"So, are you going to explain what is up with the getup?"

Ashe shook her head as the visor opened she turned to Lazarus with a worried expression.

"I am sorry Lazarus, but I was just informed by Totten that the commander of this enemy unit is on the bridge. I need you to stay here and hide while I go deal with them."

Lazarus looked as if he were about to ask a question, but he kept his mouth shut. He instead gave a mock salute.

"Alright Captain, but you will owe me a full explanation when we get back."

Ashe chuckled and turned to leave the room Lazarus went back to his hiding place behind one of the rear batteries. Before she left Lazarus asked one more question.

"You said that Nicol and you were worried for me. What of Red?"

"I'm sorry, there is a possibility that he did die when the airship crashed."

The man looked saddened by what Ashe had told him, but he simply returned to smiling as he shrugged.

"Oh well, I guess it can't be helped. Good luck Ashe."

Area-05: Slipstream Command

Atlas waited, staring intently at the door that led into the bridge. Her fists clenched tighter as said door exploded. The girl didn't even flinch as the large metal sheets flew past her. She allowed herself a smile when Ashe walked through the smoke.

"Welcome Chosen of Model A. It is quite a surprise to see you here."

Ashe stopped and stared at the girl. Her look slowly changing from surprise to anger. She materialized her guns and aimed them at the orange clad girl.

"Atlas, what are you doing here?"

Atlas chuckled as she summoned her Livemetal, she held off on transforming though. Looking back to Ashe her expression darkened. She was about to put on an act that would hopefully frighten the girl out of fighting, but it helped to be prepared.

"I am here to kill the survivors of the crash."

"Why kill them? They have done nothing to you."

Atlas chuckled as she began walking towards Ashe, she could clearly see the girl tense up as she drew closer.

"Why? It is simple actually, they are not needed."

Atlas was now so close to Ashe that she had to look down to meet the glare of the Chosen. Ashe's demeanor told Atlas that she was ready to fight, but her eyes told her that she was scared.

"You don't need them?"

"Yes, for you see my Master had hired this specific crew to attempt a retrieval of that Livemetal you carry, but they failed. And now my Master wishes for me to clean up her mistakes."

Atlas then punched Ashe, following it with a kick that sent her in the direction of the hole in the middle of the room. Ashe quickly jumped back to her feet and Atlas again walked towards her.

"Now, I wasn't expecting you to show up, but at least I won't be bored. These people break too easily compared to a Chosen."

"What?"

Atlas could see that the girl was actually becoming angry at her words. This impressed the orange clad girl, but it also saddened her.

Not giving Ashe an answer Atlas began charging forward. Before Ashe could properly act she was tackled and pushed into the hole, Atlas falling with her.

It wasn't a long drop, but it was a rather hard impact for Ashe did feel something break when the two hit the ground. Ashe groaned in pain as Atlas jumped up and away from the downed girl. Resisting every urge to curl up into a ball Ashe picked herself off of the floor and aimed her guns again at her opponent.

"Do you really think that you can win? An inexperienced little girl compared to a battle hardened warrior such as myself?"

"Yeah, I am going to mop the floor with you."

Atlas raised an eyebrow, and she then sighed.

It almost looks like she is disappointed in your answer.

"Fine, I had hoped to avoid this conflict, for I see it as unnecessary, however if you wish to fight."

Atlas then lifted her Livemetal and slammed it into the ground. The column of fire wrapped around her and faded, leaving her in her armor. She stood and opened up her Knuckle Busters, each glowing with orange flames. Lifting one she aimed it towards Ashe.

"Come at me Chosen, see if you can even scratch my armor."

Ashe's visor locked together as a warning blared over her comm. She then dashed back as a massive fireball exploded where she had been standing. Looking up she saw that Atlas was gone, and with a warning from A, she put up her arms fast enough to block a powerful punch.

Atlas followed up her first attack with a flurry of punches. Ashe could see cracks forming on her weapons. The white armored Chosen then leaped back and began firing large plasma bullets. Ashe tried to avoid the attacks, but several hit her and left steaming wounds in her armor.

You know, for a person who seems to be built on power, she sure is fast.

'And very accurate.'

Ashe dashed forward and began opening fire on Atlas. The shots made contact, but they didn't seem to bother the girl.

Dashing closer Ashe continued to fire charge shots into Atlas, she even seemed to be upping her power by also firing charge shots.

When she got into a specific range Ashe was blown back as a wall of flaming plasma crashed into her. She skidded across the floor and hit a wall. Sitting up she grimaced at the pain she felt and the singed skin she could smell.

"How is she able to land that many hits without missing?"

Ashe scanned the girl as she dropped her busters, each smoking from overuse. Data flowed across her visor, but none of it explaining her inhuman accuracy. Atlas's guns stopped smoking and she raised them. There was a pinging sound as Ashe dove to the side to avoid another volley.

Totten raised an eyebrow as the sound came again, this volley hitting Ashe and again sending her to the wall. A quick scan and she got her answer.

'Ashe, I believe I have found out how she is so accurate.'

Sitting up Ashe lifted her guns and fired two charge shots at the ground in front of Atlas, causing the girl to pause and take a step back.

Care to explain?

'Okay. It would seem that her Livemetal is using a really advanced targeting system. Every time you move her Livemetal corrects her aim and leads the shots.

"So, does that mean a gunfight is out of the question?"

'Possibly, but I doubt you could handle a fist fight.'

Standing Ashe smiled as she threw her guns to the floor. Atlas stopped firing as the girl stood.

"What are you doing?"

"Well, as I had just been informed. If I try and fight you the way I am now. I won't win because of your Livemetal. Now I may hold my own in a fist fight. I have some training, so why not?"

Atlas opened her mask as her guns vanished and reappeared closed on her back. She began walking forwards as Ashe lifted her fists.

"I honestly cannot tell if you are courageous, or reckless. Challenging a superior warrior to a method of fighting that you are obviously not accustomed."

"Are you going to fight, or keep talking?"

The girl didn't answer, for she suddenly lashed out with a punch that Ashe had to block. Ashe slid back, but she quickly recovered and returned with a punch to Atlas's face. Atlas just smiled however and spun around to kick Ashe aside.

Ashe pulled herself up and turned around to see Atlas standing over her. Atlas then reached down and gripped the collar of Ashe's chest plate and pulled the girl to her feet.

"You are too weak to attempt fighting me like this. Why even suggest it?"

Yeah, we are kind of getting beat up.

Ashe smiled and Atlas tossed her, she landed and rolled into standing. She began chuckling as she raised her fists again.

"Come one, why keep talking when we can be punching?"

Ashe I really am starting to think that she has knocked you a bit too hard in the head.

'No, she is fine. However I have not seen her act like this since...oh no."

What?

Atlas frowned and began rushing towards Ashe. Copying her movements Ashe rushed forward as well. The two then punched each other in the face, pushing the other back.

Ashe's armor shifted into her Buckfire configuration and charged forward like a ball of fire. Atlas pulled out one of her Busters and lifted her arm. Ashe followed suit and her arm shifted into its launcher form.

The two met when their punches connected. There was a small explosion that threw the two into walls. Model A began wondering aloud as Ashe pried herself out of the wall.

Okay, since when is Ashe this physically strong?

'Because she is trying to impress our opponent.'

Why would she want to do that?

'Just watch.'

Atlas dropped to the floor and smiled, she didn't understand why, but she felt as though she was beginning to have fun. She felt her Livemetal disapprove, but she really didn't care.

"You know, I feel glad that my Master decided to drop me here. I feel somewhat honored to be fighting a Chosen like yourself. You don't stay down."

Ashe returned Atlas's smile as her armor reverted to its basic form.

"Well I am just glad that they sent the cute one for me to fight."

Atlas raised an eyebrow, but stayed in her stance as Ashe rushed forward. Model A sat there with her mouth wide open, Totten just chuckled.

Really?

'Yes.'

My Chosen is acting the way she is now because she has become infatuated with our enemy.

'It is quite obvious.'

I don't understand humans anymore.

The two met again and proceeded unleashing several powerful attacks. Ashe punched Atlas to the ground, while the girl retaliated by kicking her legs out from under her. As Ashe fell Atlas flipped and landed away from her. Opening both Knuckle Busters Atlas then proceeded to open fire on the downed girl.

Ashe looked up and rolled to the side as her guns materialized. A bit surprised Ashe simply shrugged and began returning fire. Shots met and exploded in the air while the others made contact with the opposing shooter.

Model A made a retort about her armor being damaged faster than the system could repair, but she was ignored for Ashe was concentrated on defeating her opponent.

Atlas grunted as a stray shot impacted her in the stomach. F-w's energy fluctuated, informing her that it was getting agitated that she wasn't fighting at full strength. She didn't care, she was having fun, but she also had to make sure that she didn't kill her opponent.

"I know that I am petty enough to do this simply out of spite for that crazy woman."

F-w seemed to fume, but it didn't make another sound as Atlas opened up her guns so that they were firing charge shots only.

Several more moments of nothing but shooting passed, and Atlas had an idea. Lowering one of her hands she activated a secondary launcher function. A small grey orb with glowing red spots slid out and primed itself. Lifting her arm once more she fired the sphere. The ball got inches away from Ashe and detonated. Ashe was halted as the explosion seemed to split off and become multiple explosions.

They all hit Ashe and shoved her to the floor, her armor smoking from the heat.

Atlas lowered her guns and began walking forward as Ashe dropped down to one knee and her head fell. She had gotten close to the downed girl and she raised her arms. The Knuckle Busters opened wider as their pistons began winding up.

Even though she knew it wasn't warranted, Atlas thought to say one more thing to keep up the facade she had of being a comedic warrior.

"Is that all you could do? I am slightly disappointed. Well, it was fun I'll give you that."

There was no response from Ashe, this caused Atlas to frown. When her Megaton Punch finished charging she slammed her arms into Ashe. There was a loud crunch as her busters caused a large explosion.

The smoke cleared and Atlas's eyes widened. Ashe had seemingly blocked Atlas's attack with one of her guns. Said weapon was fractured in several places, looking as though it was about to fall apart.

"How did you-?"

Atlas was cut off by a light that began to glow from behind Ashe's gun. The girl's arm dropped and Atlas saw what the source of the light was.

The dial on Ashe's helmet had once again open and began to let out its light. Atlas jumped back as Ashe pointed her other gun forward and blasted the ground.

Standing Ashe lifted her guns again, each beginning to open into its Burst Mode. Atlas got several warnings that she was being targeted.

"Has she been holding back as well? That is disgraceful."

Atlas once again lifted her busters, and was about to pull the trigger before Ashe fired.

Plasma and bullets hit Atlas, tearing into her armor and damaging her. She was thrown back into the wall, she spat up some blood as more and more damage was inflicted on her.

After minutes of nonstop fire the bullets ceased and Atlas fell to the floor. Her armor glowed white and shattered as she fell to the floor. F-w slid across the floor as a red diamond formed from Atlas's unconscious form.

Ashe's helmet slowly stopped glowing and the dial slid shut. Ashe wobbled and blinked as she seemingly woke up. She shook her head as she placed a hand on it.

"Ugh, what happened?"

Don't ask, I am too hurt to speak properly right now.

'Yet you managed that sentence just fine.'

The two then began bickering as Ashe noticed the floating diamond. She inched closer and reached out her hand, but she was stopped by Totten.

'Ashe what are you doing?'

"What? It is one of those things I absorb for Model A. What could go wrong?"

Ashe then grabbed the diamond despite Totten's warning. As soon as the diamond became absorbed into her armor, she suddenly felt excruciating pain in her head. She gripped it and let out a silent scream as the pain made her feel like her head was about to split open.

"M-Model A, what's h-happening?"

Ashe then collapsed, her armor began breaking apart and starting to swirl around her. Amid the pain she heard a voice speak to her.

Extracting Code: F-w to A-00

Cipher: Fefnir X Removed

Beginning Playback 01:

So, it was you who took the Livemetal? Do you know how rude it is to steal something and go off on an adventure with it?

Meh, I really don't mind. I was an adventurer myself once, still am hopefully.

Okay, enough with the crazy talk. You are now have possession of my Model A. Her true power have been locked behind several Ciphers. I apologize for the inconvenience, but I couldn't just let ANYONE who was a match run around with Her.

I am also sorry about the pain you are probably feeling. Could not figure out a way around that.

Anyway, if this Livemetal has been found and is being used then that means Model W still functions. I cannot reveal everything as of now, but everything will be revealed soon enough.

Until next time.

End Playback

Ashe panted as the pain subsided. She pulled herself up and gripped her head. Slowly standing, Ashe had to concentrate to not fall over again. Finally getting stable enough to stand properly, Ashe voiced the first question that came to mind.

"Ugh, what in the world was that?"

Ashe then froze, her voice was different. It sounded harsher and deeper than her actual voice. Rubbing her head she stopped again when she noticed that her helmet's shape had changed. Lowering her hand she saw that her arm was covered in white armor with a dark orange body suit. She quickly looked down to examine the rest of her body.

Realizing that her whole body was now covered in the new armor she allowed herself to be confused again.

"Why am I wearing this? This isn't one of A's transformations."

"Of course it's not yours."

Ashe quickly spun around to see Atlas picking herself up, gripping her bleeding side.

"Oh Atlas, I honestly thought I killed you for a second. Now, what did you mean by that?"

The orange clad girl shook her head as a small smile etched itself onto her face. Ashe was really becoming worried at her actions.

"First, that was nowhere near enough to kill me. Second, if you want that answer, look at that panel over there."

Ashe slowly turned and looked to the panel that Atlas had pointed out. It was seemingly a panel that fell off one of the cable housings during their fight, but that is not what interested Ashe. What interested her was that the panel was reflective, but it wasn't reflecting her.

In the reflection was Atlas, wearing her armor. This both confused and scared Ashe, so much so that she had to test something. She lifted one of her arms, and so did the reflection. She moved and it moved, becoming more and more freaked out Ashe threw her arm forward materializing her gun to blast the panel away.

It did not help her that she summoned and fired the Knuckle Buster. Following the panel's destruction Ashe fell to the floor with wide eyes.

"What is going on here?"

She was somewhat relieved when she felt Model A stir in the back of her mind.

...Ow, oh Ashe, good to see you still conscious, wait what is wrong?

"Model A, have I turned into Atlas?"

Another chapter complete. I hope you enjoyed!

Now this chapter is longer than normal, there are two reasons. The minor reason is that I wanted to make up for being late in posting chapters, and the major one is that I wanted to try a lot of different things with this chapter.

Several parts of this chapter where to set up things for later on in the story, while other bits were just for me to try and be more interesting during fights.

Now it would seem that Ashe kind off gets her butt kicked a lot in this story. I understand why that would probably annoy some people, but there is a reason that I hope to explain next chapter.

It has got nothing to do with her physically I assure you.

Now I don't know why, but Atlas's personality was kind of hard for me to get right. I know that I portrayed her as a harsh person, and in this chapter she seems to have Ashe's personality. This is due to how I imagine Atlas calms down for fights. She essentially lets herself go so she can better concentrate. I hope that is a good explanation.

Lazarus being alive was kind of a last minute thought, but I can change it later if I start to really not like it. he isn't important to the story, but he was kind of one of Ashe's driving forces.

Onto the Atlas battle. I shall start off by apologizing. I was kind of burned out so my brain had so many different ideas going around. I wanted it to be comedic, epic, and descriptive at the same time. I am sure I failed at least two of those.

I enjoy what I wrote, but it could get confusing as I understand. Now the comedic parts were to make up for the other Artificial Chosen battles, those are probably going to be really serious.

Atlas and Ashe is the pairing if you caught Ashe's words. I will fix the character section later.

There is a reason that The Hooded Woman and Atlas do not get along, that shall not be discussed until much later though.

She WAS holding back by the way. She is much stronger than that.

Anyway, I have rambled on enough for today.

Again I hope you enjoyed.

Have a nice day!