CHAPTER 12

MH WHQ - Mess Hall, NY, NY; United States of America

16:34 March 11th, 2151

"So, what's the plan?" Midnight asked. He, Lafteroth, and Shandor sat at a round table in the Hunter base's cafeteria. However, they weren't alone; sitting across from them were the Eternal brothers Taggs, Coal, and Tome. Steaming mugs of coffee had been provided, as well as tactical printouts of all the data the Hunters had gathered: troop strength, base layouts, and even electronic "blueprints" of the computer systems built into the caverns.

"Hell if I know," growled Coal, sipping his coffee. He was in his armor, sans his helmet, and silently grumbling to himself about having to work with the people who had kidnapped them. The grey-armored Reploid could still feel the base of his skull tingle every time he thought about the stun blast the girl had hit him with.

Tome wasn't paying the group any mind. His helmet was off too, revealing matted-down, dark blue hair, and he was using the ready access to his mouth to chug his mug of coffee. The blast geared towards him had seemed worse than the one Coal received, though no one but Lafter knew why. And, when asked, she refused to explain.

Taggs merely sat there, his mug untouched, his eyes scanning over the blueprints and layouts. He knew Chance, and knew where he would set up most of his defenses... but he didn't know how much his brother had learned since he had gone Maverick. The gold-clad Reploid closed his eyes, recalling a time long before any of this Maverick nonsense, before the Hunters...

Even before Zero.


Cain Labs - "Combat Caverns" Eternal Training Facility, Michigan; United States of America

11:13 August 29th, 2107

Taggs couldn't help but let a mirthful laugh rise out of his lungs and he couldn't resist opening his mouth to let it out. It was hot, it was sticky, but none of the brothers would give it any mind. They were too busy enjoying a late-morning combat exercise. Well, seven of them were enjoying it; Taggs was unfortunately confined to the observation deck. The injuries he had sustained two days ago during a simulation prevented him from being able to participate: both his wrists had been accidentally and critically damaged by one of his brothers while raging. While Nox couldn't stop apologizing for the incident, the damage had been done, and Taggs could no longer use his arm busters. Dr. Cain had said something about coming up with an alternative solution, but until then, he was stuck just observing.

All the Eternals liked a good fight, but that wasn't what had elicited the laugh from the gold-and-blue armored Reploid; rather, it was the as-usual zany plan that one of his brothers had come up with to combat their hard-light holographic opponents. What was funny was the fact that it was working. Their not-really-there opponents were set to the highest intelligence level, but only mid-to-high difficulty. Dr. Cain had quickly found out that, while the Eternals were still technically maturing in their abilities, they were not hard pressed to outwit opponents of less-than-worthy intelligence and subsequently defeat them in interesting ways.

"How the hell did you manage to get all of your opponents to delete themselves?!" had been one of Cain's more notable outbursts during their earlier exercises.

Now, however, Taggs was in the perfect position to observe all his brothers in combat... and there was a lot to observe. The caverns were huge; no one knew exactly what caused them to form there, but few people knew about them, and even fewer cared. Within the massive air pocket in the earth was an "open-air" training facility that had been developed for the Eternals themselves; they were combat models, built to be soldiers just in case the need ever came up. The good doctor was sure that there wouldn't be a need for them; that the world was at peace and would remain that way for a good long time, but he also knew it couldn't hurt to have a few lying around. Looking over the facility, it was obvious that Cain intended for the eight of them to be the perfect enforcers of peace: there were battlegrounds for all occasions, including indoor, outdoor, little cover, excess cover, close-quarters, long-range, and even an aerial combat area. The Eternals lacked the equipment necessary to try aerial combat, but Dr. Cain had assured them that it would be arriving within the next month or so. There was also a small building that had been constructed to act as a classroom for the eight brothers, where they would watch videos that demonstrated small unit tactics, firearms practice, and even the proper way to negotiate for peace instead of acting physically. While these old holo-vids often caused the Eternals to laugh and joke about how silly and aged the demonstrations were, the point always found its way across.

The Eternals themselves were becoming specialized as well, and Dr. Cain believed it to be because of their unique personalities developing and presenting their own methods of problem-solving. Taggs just chalked it up to each of them having their own experiences in combat: himself, Bane, and Coal had proven themselves to be good at mostly every exercise, from hand-to-hand, to medium range, to extreme-range, to even commanding squads; Nox and Reaper had proven themselves to excel at stealth and close-range combat, but not so much at anything ranged further than the reach of their melee weapons; Rook was a powerhouse, no denying that; Tome was a speed demon without equal among his brothers or any of the other Reploids that stopped by, with the exception of "smart" vehicles; and Chance was the brilliant tactician. The perfect quirky family, all working together as one well-disciplined unit... it almost brought a tear to the gold-and-blue armored Reploid's eye.

The door behind him swished open, and Dr. Cain walked in muttering something and looking a bit distraught. Taggs glanced over his shoulder, gave a friendly wave hello, and returned to observing his brothers. He was almost content to just sit there and observe the careful ballet that was urban combat... but he would have much rather been down there, trashing the simulations of massive enemy construction robots.

Honestly, whoever could entertain the thought of berserk Reploids? Taggs thought to himself with a light chuckle...


MH WHQ - Mess Hall, NY, NY; United States of America

16:35 March 11th, 2151

"Hey! Earth to Taggs!" The golden jumpsuit-wearing Eternal was brought out of his pleasant memories by a swift kick to his knee, awarded to him by his brother Tome.

"Huh?" Taggs said, almost sleepily, before realizing where he was. Immediately, he sat up straight and shook his head to dispel the thoughts of the past; that time was gone now, never to return. Trying to force himself to return to the present situation, he picked up the printouts and began to scan over them again. As he was about to open his mouth to suggest a course of action, there was a crash and the sounds of a commotion coming from the Hunter HQ main lobby.

"...the hell was that?" Shandor asked, though it was obviously rhetorical; Tome looked about ready to answer with the possibilities, though.

"I dunno, but it sounds like we should go see what's going on," Coal commented. All six of them stood up as one and rushed out of the mess hall, meeting up with a contingent of Hunters that were also on their way to investigate the sudden explosion of noise. The group rounded the corner and met with quite a sight: a large hole had been punched in the wall, the debris scattered everywhere, and none other than Artemis Cain in a Goliath Ride Armor towering over a frightened secretary, glaring daggers.

"Umm, s-sir," the secretary stammered, "I-I-I'm afraid that I don't kn-know where this Reploid of yours is... we get a luh-lot of people coming through here every day..."

"BULLSHIT!" Artemis screamed, using the massive fists of the armor to crush the desk flat. The secretary let out an "eep!" and jumped back, flattening herself against a wall. "The Reploid I'm looking for came through here as a prisoner! Now, say his name with me: Taggs. Eternal. TAGGS FUCKING ETERNAL! You had--"

Suddenly, a loud voice boomed over the murmuring crowd of Hunters and non-combatants that had gathered to watch the spectacle: "ARTEMIS!" The man in the Ride Armor turned and saw a blue-armored Reploid standing out from the crowd, a look of deep anger on his face. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"You had a squad of Hunters kidnap three of my father's Reploids off my company's premises!" Artemis Cain snarled. "That was unacceptable. They came to me for help! You had no right to capture them!"

"They were wanted criminals," X said calmly, though it was obvious to all the Hunters present that he was trying to keep his rage down. "Your security cameras recorded them scaling the side of the building, and as you know, we keep track of surveillance in your company. We wanted them, so we sent a retrieval team to get them." The Hunter commander paused for a moment, suddenly thinking of something. "...they weren't supposed to be detected..."

At this, Artemis just smiled. "Well, your female Hunter that infiltrated the complex was obviously too caught up in her objective to check for all the security devices. I caught her on camera knocking out Taggs and taking him out of the building." As suddenly as it had appeared, the smirk vanished, replaced with a sneer. "Now, bring me Taggs, or I'll keep tearing up your headquarters."

X couldn't hold back anymore. "You're such a spoiled bastard! This is not how your father operated--" The commander was cut off as Artemis swung the massive fist of the Goliath armor, smashing a walnut panel on the wall into splinters. The Blue Bomber gritted his teeth: he was such a pain in the ass! "You can't just come in, smash up our lobby, and expect to get whatever you want!" At this, Artemis picked up a potted plant and hurled it into a wall, where it shattered and left a good-sized dent in the side of the lobby. X winced visibly. "...you're paying for these damages..."

"Fine," Artemis spat. "I came here to make good on a promise. Just get Taggs for me, and I won't tear up your precious base."

X, while looking like he was debating if he should shoot the son of Xavier Cain, nodded towards the secretary. Just as she was about ready to tell X that the intercom wouldn't work with her desk smashed, the Reploid in question walked out of the crowd, barely able to suppress a smile.

"I'm right here," Taggs said. "What's up, Artemis?"

"Ah, Taggs!" Suddenly, another smile was on Artemis's lips. But this one was a genuine friendly smile. "Good to see you! I have your armor ready for you; I couldn't make all the changes that you wanted, but I'm pretty sure this should be head and shoulders over your old stuff..." The golden-clad Reploid cracked a smile. Was this guy crazy, or just bi-polar? Hell, was there even a difference?

"Excellent! So, where is it?"

Artemis patted the Ride Armor's rear supply compartment. "Right in here. Now, is there a fitting room or something? I've got to make sure everything checks out." Taggs motioned towards a hallway leading off. Artemis, in an acrobatic feat, leaped out of the Ride Armor, undid the magnetic lock on the armor's rear compartment, and hauled it off with Taggs help. The rest of the Eternals and Lockes followed, and the crowd dispersed, leaving X and the secretary alone in the lobby.

The blue-clad Hunter commander sighed and shook his head. Looking back over his shoulder, he said simply to the secretary: "Call maintenance to come fix this mess... and maybe a designer, too. Something tells me that walnut panels are going out of style." With that, he turned and walked back to his office, intending on finding some stress relief in a brown bottle hidden in his desk drawer...