Part 13: In the Wind
Aile was the first of the landing deck team to notice the yellow-orange balls of energy launching from the Legion attack ship as they came straight for the Guardian Base. At the speed they were approaching it was painfully obvious that the ship wouldn't have time to evade them. She dashed over to her brother's side and grabbed him by the arm. "Come on Vent, we have to go!" she yelled.
Vent began to protest, but stopped once he saw the incoming barrage of cannon fire. If they were out in the open when those blasts hit they'd be dead at worst, blown off the ship at best. He quickly nodded and followed Aile as they pulled back to the cover of the elevator, covering their retreat from the remaining mavericks with his X-Busters.
Having realized what was happening, Zero was waiting for the two siblings on the elevator and closed it as soon as they were inside. "That's one hell of a bombardment," he said. "With any luck they'll take out some of their own forces for us."
Before Vent or Aile could respond the ship rocked with impacts as the Legion cannons hit their marks. The screech of twisting metal and the roar of exploding plasma reached them even enclosed in the elevator, especially when one of the attacks impacted the landing deck. Aile screamed and clapped her hands over her ears as the blast sent a screeching noise tearing through the air, followed shortly after by a deafening silence - she couldn't even hear the sounds of mavericks outside anymore.
"I never thought the shaking would stop," Vent said as he released his death-grip on the elevator railing. "I think I counted eight hits."
"Ten," Model L corrected. "Two of them weren't too bad, I can see how you would miss them with everything else that was going on."
"Twelve, actually," Zero informed them. "Eight direct hits, four minor. I'd say we just lost a few of our starboard cannons, as well as some of the hull. I doubt we'll be able to stay in the air if we take another beating like that."
"At least they took out most of the remaining mavericks," Vent said, trying to look on the bright side of things. "I can't hear anything out there."
"Yeah, but that ship is still sitting right in front of us getting ready to fire again and we don't have anything to shoot it down with!" Aile yelled frantically.
"No, there's still the Sword of Hope," Zero pointed out.
"No way!" Aile protested, making a cutting motion with her hands for emphasis. "Prairie was completely against installing that thing and swore she'd never use it except as a last resort."
"This is looking like a time for 'last resorts' to me," Model L said, just before Tulip's voice came over the comm speaker.
"Attention, we are preparing to fire the Sword of Hope. All crew, evacuate the engine room and landing deck," came the warning.
"See? Prairie agrees with me," Model L said haughtily as they all braced themselves.
It started as a low humming sound coming from somewhere deep within the Guardian Base, an ominous warning of the destructive power that was about to be unleashed. Within seconds the hum transformed into a whine, which then became a hiss as the entire frame of the ship shook from massive power flow between the ship's reactor and the Sword of Hope's firing mechanism. Just before the completion of the final firing procedures there was an eerie, expectant silence - the calm before the storm.
Then, with an ear-splitting screech that could be heard for miles around, the deadly beam cannon fired a pure white lance of death and destruction into the side of the Legion vessel. The beam cut through the center of the Legion vessel from top to bottom, neatly slicing it in two.
Seven seconds after firing the Sword of Hope disengaged itself before the barrel overheated. As the ray of energy dissipated the two halves of the Legion ship began to fall to earth, rocked by explosions as its various systems overloaded.
Prairie was flung from her Commander's chair as the recoil from the Sword of Hope ripped through the Guardian Base with a force greater than any cannon impact. As she tumbled through the air she saw the wall of the command room approaching far more quickly than she'd have liked and threw her arms over her head to cushion the incoming blow. Much to her surprise, instead of colliding hard with the wall, Prairie instead felt her head slam into something soft with before she tumbled to the ground in a heap. Confused, she quickly gathered her wits and looked up.
In her left hand was the stuffed doll that her Sis had given her, the one in which she'd hidden the firing key for the Hope. In the confusion of the moment Prairie had forgotten that she'd still been holding it. Somehow the toy had managed to slip behind her and prevent her head from smashing into the wall during her tumble. In that instant, all of Prairie's doubts about firing the Sword of Hope disappeared.
When they insisted on having that...thing installed, I hated it...how could such weapon cause anything but pain to the world? I swore I'd never use it, that nothing would ever be worth the destruction it would cause...but when I saw that Legion ship in front of us, about to wipe everything and everyone I cared about off the face of the planet, I just...
I was angry. Angry at Legion for hurting my ship, angry at the mavericks for hurting my friends, and angry at myself for putting everyone in danger. I gave the order to fire out of hate, because I wanted them to die. I hated them for trying to take everything away from me. But is it right for me to sacrifice everyone on that ship just to save the people on this one? Who gave me the right to decide who lives and who dies?
Prairie stared at the doll in her hands, its red face smiling up at her, frozen in the same smile it always had. I wasn't sure at the time, but...after I gave the order, Sis protected me. She knew I had to do it. Sometimes we have to do what we must to protect the things important to us, even if it's something we hate...Sis taught me that. I still wish I hadn't used that abominable weapon, but...I have no regrets.
"Status report!" Prairie called to her operators as she returned to her Commander's chair.
"Enemy ship destroyed, remaining fragments are falling to earth as we speak," Marguerite said, relief clear in her voice. Tulip, however, sounded far more worried as she gave her report.
"That shot overloaded large portions of the power distribution systems. Reactor output is down to eighteen percent, relays to most of our weapons and propulsion systems are malfunctioning - they're probably melted. It'll take time to replace them. We have barely enough power to sustain our current altitude. I think we can get about ten percent thrust out of engines one and four, which means we'll enter friendly airspace in approximately...twenty minutes."
"I'm not detecting any other signs of pursuit," Gardenia chimed in. "Even at that speed we should make it there easily."
"Good. Inform the crew to begin repairs," Prairie ordered just as Marguerite's screen flashed a warning.
"Incoming object from the falling Legion ship! It's coming in fast!" the operator announced as she tapped a few keys on her console to begin a scan. "I'm picking up a biometal signature...it's Model H! He's heading for the landing deck!"
"What?!" Prairie exclaimed, then pushed the button on her comm panel for the landing deck loudspeaker. "Everyone watch out! Aeolus is heading your way!"
"Are you sure this is the right way?" Model A asked.
"Of course I'm sure!" Ashe replied, still A-Trans'd into Atlas. "I remember that map like the back of my hand, and I'm sure the launcher is right behind this door!" She powered up one of her Knuckle Busters and slammed it into the aforementioned door, blasting it off its hinges. To her dismay, the room did not contain the boarding arm launcher - instead it was simply another empty room.
"I told you we were lost!" Model A whined.
"Damnit, I must have gotten off the elevator at the wrong floor. I know the launcher is here, it's just either one floor above or below us."
"A lot of good that does us now! We definitely don't have time to run back across the entire ship, especially if you you missed any mavericks on the way here."
"Relax, Model A. Remember, this is me you're dealing with." Ashe charged her Busters again and aimed at the ceiling. "If I can't find the path, I'll make a new one!"
Several Megaton Crushes later, there was a significant dent in the metal plate ceiling of the room. "There! That should be enough. A-Trans!" Ashe said, then burst through the damaged ceiling with a Rockit attack from Buckfire. Taking a quick look around her new surroundings, Ashe was proud to note that she had been correct - she was now in the boarding arm launch room...along with four Galleons and two turret mechaniloids. They had been milling about in confusion until Ashe appeared, at which point they all took aim and fired at their newly acquired target.
Unable to move Buckfire's body in time, Ashe winced as she took a few direct hits from plasma rifles. She then immediately took action, punching the nearest Galleon within arm's reach with one of her powerful fists, shattering its head. She turned her other first towards the remaining Galleons and fired a triplet of Burning Arrows, all of which hit their targets - the three remaining Galleons burst into flames, then crumpled into piles of smoldering wreckage.
Ashe quickly deactivated her A-Trans and dodged sideways as the two remaining turrets fired another volley at her, this time missing the mark completely. The nimble Hunter fired a Reflect Laser at the closest turret which pierced straight through it, then ricocheted off the wall and bounced back through the second turret. Both mechaniloids instantaneously exploded into scrap, leaving Ashe alone in the room.
"Well, now that I've taken care of that, let's get the hell out of here!" She ran over to the boarding arm control panel and tapped a few keys. "Looks like you have to close the hatch first, then launch it from out here...that shouldn't be a problem."
Suddenly, a thunderous boom echoed through the room, following immediately by the loudest, shrillest ear-splitting screech Ashe had ever heard. She reflexively threw her hands over her ears to try and block the sound, but it didn't do any good. Just as she thought for sure that her ears were bleeding, the noise stopped as abruptly as it had started, leaving a silence even more deafening.
While Ashe had absolutely no idea what could have caused such a horrendous sound, she could only spare a moment to think on it. Every second she remained on this ship it was getting further and further away from the Guardian Base - she had to act quickly.
Ashe A-Trans'd into Argoyle and used her power to summon Urgoyle. She then rolled herself into the container of the boarding arm while directing the Urgoyle ghost over to the control panel. After a bit of trial and error she managed to get the shutter to close, then successfully launched the arm. It was hard to tell where she'd fired it though - she'd never really gotten the hang of controlling two bodies at once, and sometimes it was very confusing.
Well, only one way to find out. I'll just go out and take a look.
Shifting once again into the form of Atlas, Ashe blew the shutter off of the boarding arm with one smash from a Knuckle Buster, then swung herself up onto the top of the container to get a good look at where she was heading.
Ashe discovered that she was, in fact, heading towards the Guardian Base. Unfortunately, the Base was a lot farther away than she'd thought it would be.
"I don't think this thing can reach that far!" Model A said, echoing her own thoughts.
"At least they aren't getting any farther away," Ashe pointed out, noting that only two engines were active, and then only just. "Looks like they got a few new holes punched in them too. Maybe it's got something to do with that weird sound we heard earlier?" "Let's worry about that later, right now we need to figure out how to get an extra hundred feet of distance out of this bucket of metal!"
"Right." Ashe turned and fired several shots from her Knuckle Busters at the long chain of metal balls that tethered the boarding arm to the ship, breaking it apart and severing the container from the rest of the arm. They were now freely launching through the sky towards the starboard side of the Guardian Base.
"There. Now that we aren't being dragged back by that cable we should be able to get at least a little closer - we'll just have to fly ourselves the rest of the way. If the Base keeps going that slowly we should be able to catch up, right?"
"I sure hope so," Model A prayed.
"There he is!" Vent yelled as he spotted the rapidly approaching figure of Aeolus. He immediately charged his X-Busters and unleashed several blasts, but Aeolus had plenty of time to lazily dodge them as he sped towards the ship.
"It's no use Vent," Zero told him. "Just hold your fire and get ready to attack when he lands. We should be able to take him out quickly if we coordinate ourselves."
Aeolus landed with a crash on the deck in front of them, his two short blades drawn and ready, his face an unreadable, emotionless mask. Immediately Vent opened fire with two X-Buster shots while Aile dashed forward to engage him in melee combat. Aeolus stood his ground until the last second before both attacks reached him, then dashed forward in an incredible burst of speed and evaded them both.
"Get back here!" Aile yelled as she used her hoverjets to make an abrupt change of direction to chase after her opponent, while Vent began charging another pair of buster shots. Neither of them noticed the energy Aeolus was storing up - but Zero did.
"Watch out!" he tried to warn, but it was too late. As Aeolus sped towards him Zero saw a look of contempt on his face as the green Mega Man spun around and swung both blades, releasing his stored energy as a swarm of Plasma Cyclones. Caught off guard, neither of the siblings were able to evade the entire attack and were struck by the debilitating tornadoes, momentarily stunned as their sensory systems overloaded.
Aeolus swiftly spun back around and sped towards Zero again, leading his attack with a hard downward slash. "He said I should eliminate you first," the Chosen One said without emotion, like he were simply stating a fact, as his blades began to cut and slice in a deadly dance of death.
Zero tried to defend himself against the flurry of blows, but with only one arm and his energy reserves running out it only took a few seconds for Aeolus to get past his guard. He felt the first hit as a burning in his chest as he failed to move back fast enough, allowing one of the two short energy blades to make a shallow cut. Shortly afterward he received an elbow to the face, which dazed him enough that he left Aeolus the opening he needed to drive his knee hard into the already painful wound in his middle. As Zero crumpled to the ground he felt something hard hit him in the back of the head before the world went completely black.
Aile watched helplessly as Zero fell limply to the ground after Aeolus' merciless assault.
"Zero!" Vent yelled angrily beside her as the effects of the Plasma Tornadoes dissipated.
"Calm yourself!" Model X said to his biomatch. "Model Z's biolink is still active. Zero will be fine, but not if you lose control and do something reckless! Now concentrate and work together!"
"Model X is right!" Aile said as she dashed towards Aeolus. "I'll keep him busy up close while you back me up!"
"That wasn't quite what I meant," Model X remarked quietly to himself, then the battle was joined.
Aile opened with a forward thrust at Aeolus' feet. When he dodged sideways she quickly reversed her hold on her trident and slashed across at his chest, an attack witch he easily parried with one sword while bringing the other around to slash at Aile's head. The attack sliced through empty air as the blue Mega Man quickly fired the jets on her feet and shot backwards, the blade zipping by only a hair's breadth from her nose. She readied her weapon to meet Aeolus as he charged after her, but he was forced to retreat when Vent fired his X-Busters through the air between them.
"Aile, if you can hit him with my trident in Overdrive form it might slow him down a little," Model L advised.
"I know, but easier said than done," Aile replied.
"Annoying worm!" Aeolus spat, then sped towards Vent. "Do not interfere!"
Aile fired her maneuvering jets sideways and clashed with the green Mega Man before he was halfway to Vent. "You aren't getting away from me!"
Aeolus' face remained void of emotion as he began another series of swift sword attacks. Hissing sounds and flashes of light filled the air as his two short swords connected with the ends of Aile's trident repeatedly in a deadly test of strength and speed. Vent looked on, frustrated that he couldn't get a clear shot at Aeolus without endangering his sister.
The two Mega Men fought intensely until Aile parried an extremely fierce attack from Aeolus, the recoil from the blow forcing a distance between the two. Seeing an opportunity, Vent fired his charged Buster shots at Aeolus, who barely noticed them in time to leap into the air. He hovered there for a moment as he glared over at Vent.
"I tire of you!" he yelled with a hint of annoyance in his voice. He turned back to Aile and rushed down at her, the jets on his back firing at full power, one sword held out in front of him and the other held back.
Not willing to test her brute strength against Aeolus' momentum, Aile hopped backward as the green Mega Man slammed his first blade into the deck right where she had just been standing. He brought his second blade down only a split second later, missing Aile completely.
Seeing her chance, Aile activated her Overdrive and dashed forward, raising her trident over her head for a powerful downward slash. She was caught completely off guard when Aeolus's blades flashed upward in a cross, sending a Sonic Boom straight into her chest. The girl gasped in pain and staggered backward, falling to one knee as the Overdrive system backfired and disabled her defenses for a moment. Knowing she was vulnerable, Aile instinctively threw her trident up in front of her to defend against Aeolus' follow-up attack...
...but it never came.
Instead, Aile watched in dismay as Aeolus sped towards Vent. The blue Mega Man fired off his charged shots at the approaching enemy, but Aeolus nimbly dodged them both without even slowing down. He looked like a green blur as he reached Vent and opened with a quick flurry of sword attacks. Vent tried to defend himself, but without a beam weapon to parry with he was forced to rely on his dodging skills. He fired a few shots from his X-Buster as a distraction, but since they weren't charged Aeolus simply took them without even flinching as he continued his assault.
Just as Aile was getting back on her feet to go aid her brother, Vent managed to get enough power stored to fire one charged shot at Aeolus' head. Aeolus ducked under the shot, then brought one of his swords up in a vicious slice. Vent hopped backwards to avoid it, but before he could touch the ground Aeolus kicked him fiercely in the chest. As Vent staggered to regain his balance, Aeolus unleashed the energy he'd been storing up in his other blade into another Plasma Tornado. Vent was too close to have any hope of dodging and took the attack head-on. With his sensory systems overloading, Vent was helpless to save himself as the force of the tornado gust knocked him over the starboard railing of the ship, sending him flying into the sky beyond.
"VENT!" Aile screamed as her brother disappeared from view, plummeting towards the ground thousands of feet below.
Zero opened his eyes and saw nothing but a bleak, featurelessly white landscape stretching out before him. Feeling odd, he looked down at himself and discovered he was back in his old body once again.
"I guess this means I'm back inside the biometal..."
"Correct," his own voice said from behind him. Zero turned around and saw something he hadn't expected - the other Zero, the one who represented Model Z.
"Model Z? How are you here? And why am I here? The last thing I remember is getting my butt handed to me by that Aeolus kid..." Zero trailed off, puzzled.
"Slow down, one thing at a time," Model Z said with a light chuckle. "First off, I'm not really Model Z. I am merely a fragment of Model Z that still exists within you, struggling to maintain its sense of self. Given time I will slowly integrate with your thoughts completely and fade away, at which point the being you refer to as Model Z really will cease to exist.
"Second, you're here because you passed out. Normally, when the host body of a biometal loses consciousness the biolink with the host is broken and the biometal reverts to its natural state. However, in your case it is the consciousness of the biometal that is driving the body - so when the body is incapacitated, so is the biometal.
"This is what it's like to be inside a biometal as it lays dormant - cold, empty, and lifeless. The only thing here is your own mind, your own thoughts, your own perceptions. You only appear here in that form because that is the form you perceive to be the real you - it has no real physical meaning.
"In short, you're here because you lost."
"I see," Zero said, slumping his shoulders. "Then it's all up to those kids, now. When I wake up again I'll just be another biometal fragment, and my body will have reverted back to a pile of Galleon scraps." He sighed in defeat, but Other-Zero shook his head, a small smile on his lips.
"Not quite. I am currently using what little of my own abilities I still possess to maintain the biometal's link with the body you're using."
Zero returned Other-Zero's smile when he heard this news. "I guess I owe you one, then. I'll try not to screw up like that again."
"I didn't do this just for you," Other-Zero said, abruptdly adopted a more serious tone. "I promised a very brave, very courageous man that, so long as I existed, I would use my power to protect the two people who were worth more to him than life itself. However, as we lie unconscious on the sidelines those two people fight for their lives right in front of me, and I am in danger of breaking that promise.
"Now that I've given my life to aid you, I no longer have the strength necessary to protect anyone. The responsibility now falls to you, as the one who inhabits this biometal, to uphold my vow. We both owe it to Giro to protect that which he gave his life for.
"Zero, I've used the last of my strength to maintain this biolink so that you can fulfill the promise I made. So long as there is breath left in this body, you will protect Vent and Aile, no matter the cost to yourself. How can you expect to defeat any great evils if you can't even defend the people right in front of you? The people that you swore to protect?
"So wake up and fight, Zero. The enemy stands before you - rise up and defeat it, as you always have."
After staring over the side of the ship for a few moments with an anguished look on her face, Aile's features contorted with rage as she lifted her trident and charged with a wordless scream.
"Aile, calm down!" Model L yelled at her. "Control yourself!"
"He took him!" Aile screamed as she hacked viciously at Aeolus, who nimbly dodged the attack. "He took him away from me!"
"That pathetic excuse for a Mega Man didn't deserve to be a Chosen One any more than you do, you worthless rat," Aeolus sneered from a short distance away.
"SHUT UP!" Aile recklessly rushed her opponent again, unleashing another powerful series of attacks that forced Aeolus to retreat. "Don't you dare talk about my brother like that!"
"Your brother, was he? Interesting. I wonder, is the entire family as fragile and pathetic as you two?" He sneered. "Hmph, what a waste of life."
Another enraged scream pierced the air as Aile renewed her assault. She and Aeolus danced the length and breadth of the landing deck as the green Mega Man was pressed to the limits of his abilities to defend himself from Aile's twin-bladed onslaught.
"Aile, you need to concentrate!" Model L scolded as Aile's attacks became increasingly more reckless. "He's only trying to anger you further to goad you into making a mistake, then he'll kill you too! Do you want Vent's sacrifice to be vain, Aile? Is that what you want?"
"I want him to DIE!" Rage burned hotly in Aile's voice as she activated her Overdrive and aimed for a killing blow - which was just what Aeolus had been waiting for. He sidestepped Aile's attack and slashed down with both blades, releasing another point-blank flurry of Plasma Tornadoes. Blinded by her anger, Aile was totally unprepared to defend herself and screamed in pain as her Overdrive system backfired. Momentarily stunned by the electricity coursing through her systems, and defenseless due to the overloading Overdrive system, Aile collapsed to her hands and knees, completely helpless.
As a shadow crept across the ground in front of her, Aile could barely find the strength to look up and see Aeolus standing over her, both of his swords held over his head, pointing at her.
"Hmph. If I'd known it would be this easy to get rid of all of you I wouldn't have wasted an entire fleet trying to do what I could alone. Goodbye, worm," he said, then thrust his twin blades downward with all his might.
All Aile saw was a red blur and a flash of light as Zero appeared in front of her, his Z-Saber raised in one hand, blocking Aeolus' deathblow. Zero's arm shook with the force of the green Mega Man's attack, but the two short blades didn't budge the slightest.
"You worthless old relic!" Aeolus yelled, pushing as hard as he could on his swords. "Don't you know when it's your time to give up and die?!"
"I made a promise to protect this girl with my life," Zero said, his voice ringing with determination. As Aile looked up from her place on the ground, she caught a glimpse at Zero's eyes, and had to catch her breath. She could see...something, in them. She couldn't put it into words, but it was powerful. "So long as there is breath in this body, I will not let you hurt her!" He kicked out fiercely with one foot, forcing Aeolus to release his sabers and jump backward. Zero remained poised over the disabled Aile, ready to defend her as she regained control of her body.
Zero allowed a look of disgust to spread across his face. "What happened to you, Harpuia?!" He yelled. "You were once humanity's greatest ally, but now you're treating them like worthless garbage!"
"That's because they are garbage!" Model H yelled back angrily. "Humans are worthless trash, a plague on this world!"
"Model H, you don't mean that," Model L said incredulously.
"I do! We've been fighting for centuries to protect them, to shelter them, to give them equality! And how do they repay us? By throwing it all away, time and time again! Humanity is its own worst enemy, and as long as it exists this planet and every living thing on it will suffer!"
"What are you talking about?" Zero replied, a touch of anger creeping into his voice. "We fought to create a world where reploids and humans could live together peacefully, as equals. And now that we've finally found it, you want to throw it all away? Was everything we fought for worth so little to you?!"
"Yes!" Model H replied vehemently. "It was all worthless! You speak of 'peace' and 'equality'? Stop lying to yourselves and look around! How are humans and reploids made equal in this pathetic little world of yours? Humans are given the strength and durability of reploids, while reploids are forced to give up immortality! Humans only take, while reploids are forced to give. And for what? To make humans feel better about themselves? Why?! Why must reploids always be forced to make sacrifices for the sake of humans?
"Because humans are worthless, pathetic beings who can't do anything for themselves! They rely on reploids to take care of them, support them, to give up their very lives so that they can feel better about their pathetic lot in life!
"This is what we fought for, Zero! This is the fruit of our labors! This is what the humans have made of the world we fought and died to create!"
"And you think Thomas' insane plan to unleash the Maverick Virus will make things any better?!" Zero demanded, keeping his voice level. "What good will come of a world full of bloodthirsty, mindless mavericks?"
"It will be an end to everything!" Aeolus cried triumphantly before Model H could respond. "Humans and reploids will turn on each other, destroying themselves until there's nothing left! Then Master Thomas will create a new world from the ashes, a world where there is neither humans nor reploids, but only humanoids! Led by Master Thomas and we, his Mega Men, the new world will prosper as the old one never could!"
Zero narrowed his eyes, studying the young Chosen One as Aile climbed to her feet beside him. "Is that how you feel as well, Harpuia?"
"Yes. He is my Chosen because he feels the same as I, that humanity is a parasite upon this world that needs to be eradicated before paradise can be attained, and that we must be there to guide this new world on the correct path!"
Zero shook his head sadly, his Z-Saber still poised to defend himself. "Someone else spoke words just like those once before. He felt that the world was rotten, that humanity and reploids were like a plague, suffocating themselves with their own faults and mistakes. He thought he was better than everyone else, that he could turn the world into a better place, one that would prosper under his supervision.
"In reality, he was a madman with a crazed lust for power! The suffering endured by everyone else in his world meant nothing to him, as long as he had the power to do anything he wanted! He killed millions of people and reploids whose only crime was to live, just because he decided they needed to die! He caused such an unbearable tragedy that it was wiped from the face of history, lest it ever be repeated again!
"His name was Weil, and you sound exactly like him!"
"Don't compare me to that fool!" Model H hissed. "Weil was a madman out to satisfy his own greed. We are doing this to make the world a better place, to free it from this rotten husk it has become! Using the unlimited power and knowledge of Legion and the Sage Trinity, Thomas will reset this pathetic world and cleanse it of the taint of humanity before creating a new order, free of the bonds of the past!"
"An order that he controls!" Zero shouted defiantly. "He's just using you, Harpuia! Can't you see that? Once he creates his new world, with him as its God, he'll get rid of you like the rest of the 'worthless trash' he considers our society! He's using you, he's using Legion, and he's using the Maverick Virus, just like Weil did!"
"Leave the past behind, Harpuia," Model L said quietly, her tone full of sadness and regret. "Don't try and turn Legion into another Neo Arcadia. Please don't let that terrible chapter of history repeat itself. Please, Harpuia," she pleaded.
Model H was stung into silence. Sensing his biometal's loss of words, Aeolus stepped in. "Enough talk! We've wasted enough time on you, prepare to-augh!" He was forced to break off his threat when a pair of massive plasma bursts hit him in the side. "What was-" he trailed off as all four turned to see the source of the attack. Aile's eyes widened in surprise.
"VENT!" she yelled, relief ringing in her voice as she saw her brother standing on the deck, his X-Buster pointed at Aeolus' back. "You're alive! How did you-"
"I think your brother's falling for me, Aile," came Ashe's voice as the Hunter flipped herself over the deck railing, landing gracefully on the deck. "I was climbing my way up the side of the ship and he fell right into my lap! I mean, I'm flattered you guys were worried, but you didn't have to throw the poor guy overboard to check up on me." She drew her two guns and pointed them at Aeolus. "Now, what do you say we teach this arrogant little brat a thing or two about respect?"
Aeolus grit his teeth and gripped his swords tightly. "I'll teach you to talk to me like that, you little-" he began, but was cut off by the voice of his biometal.
"We're falling back," Model H said emotionlessly.
"What?" Aeolus questioned, sounding confused.
"I said we're falling back. Retreat to our remaining ship."
"But I can easily-"
"I said fall back! Do as I say or I'll leave you here and go back myself!"
A brief flash of frustration mixed with rage played across Aeolus' features, then the green Mega Man leapt into the air and activated his hoverjets.
"Don't think this is anywhere close to being over!" He yelled as he sped off towards the only Legion ship that was still in the air, quite some distance away.
"Hmph, what a sissy," Ashe said as she holstered her guns and crossed her arms. "I was looking forward to a dishing out a good whooping."
"You'll get your chance," Zero said solemnly, "we've got a long road ahead of us." He took a step towards the elevator, then collapsed as one of his legs buckled beneath him. Aile barely managed to catch him before he hit the ground.
"Zero, take it easy! You're about to fall apart at the seams," Aile said, worry etched on her face as she examined Zero's beat up body, but still mixed with the relief she felt that her brother was all right. Zero's weight was the only thing preventing her from rushing over to him.
"You're right, Aeolus really did a number on me. I'm afraid I'm not going to be of much use to anyone for a while," Zero said ruefully, then grinned. "Although, I never thought I'd live to see the day when you rushed to catch me, Leviathan."
"You didn't live to see it," the blue and white biometal quipped, not to be caught off guard. "Besides, that was entirely the girl's doing, not mine."
As the four companions headed back to the elevator as a group, Ashe nudged Vent in the side. "You were right," she said.
"About what?" Vent said, puzzled.
Ashe ran one hand through her ponytail. "All this time out on the deck dried my hair out nicely."
Author's Note:
Oh, how I do enjoy writing dialogue for Ashe. Yes, I was planning that line from the second I finished writing the end of part 11. I also got far too much enjoyment out of my "falling for me" pun than I should have any right to.
So I originally had Model H/Harpuia giving a vastly different speech with entirely different reasons why he was going to be a badguy, but then I forgot what it was before I could find a place to write it down :(. Regardless, I need him to be a badguy for a variety of reasons (which shall all be revealed at a much later time!) and I think this is still a pretty decent take on things. It's mostly based on his reaction to meeting Vent in the first ZX game, after you release him from Hivolt.
So now we know where Model F, H, and L stand, how about Model P? Well, interestingly enough, Model P made an appearance in the previous part (part 12). Why didn't I say anything about him? Because he's a ninja. What kind of ninja would let himself be seen, hmm? He'll make his appearance known when he's good and ready, and I guarantee you won't see it coming :D.
So, now that you've seen the Sword in action, maybe you can see why I changed the name - it literally cut the Legion ship in two. Personally, I think "Light" is cooler, while "Sword" is more appropriate. I'm still torn. Reviews seem to indicate that people like "Light" better...anyone want to change their opinion? :)
This installment's title is the music that plays in the Floating Ruins stage of ZXA. Personally, I love this song, the weird woodwind-ish synth that plays the melody in the remastered track is awesome. Anyway, the music fits the chapter rather well, and it's especially fitting since Aeolus is the boss of the stage.
One non-chapter related thing I feel the need to mention is: where the hell is Grey? I've had like six people ask me that in reviews and/or PMs, so I'll just answer it here to set the record straight. Grey's alive and kicking somewhere in the world (in fact, I know exactly where he is right now) but he has nothing to do with the events of this story, so don't expect him to make an appearance. I've got nothing against the poor guy, I just don't have any room for him in my already convoluted plot. I do, however, have plans for him in another story that I may or may not ever get around to writing...see how I feel after I get this one done.
On a note related to that one, I've recently been bitten by a plot bunny that refuses to let go until I get it written out. It's going to be a short (I hope) MMZ oneshot similar in style and tone to the 'Stuffed Animals' piece I did a little while ago, but starring Zero and Ciel instead of Prairie and Giro. There will also be singing. Just a heads up for anyone who might be interested; expect to see it in the next week or two.
Thanks for reading, as always. Until next time!