Chapter 11.6: Role Models
Point of View: Orion
The X-33-I is the most experimental craft in existence, it tends to break, isn't at all simple to repair, goes too fast for anything else to catch, and just saved our asses…
Orion wake up, you idiot!
"Shut up Triggon." I moaned, rubbing my forehead, that seemed about to explode.
Shish! All I do is wake you up, and you're already at insult.
My head continued to throb, sorry, I'm not with it right now. Then I looked out the window. I saw the black of space and stars streaking across it. I grabbed and pulled the throttle back and reversed the X-33-I's engine thrust.
"X-33-I Engines in standby mode." A computerized voice said. "Anomaly detected in Temporal Isolation Drive."
"How has the Isolation drive been offline?"
"Unknown."
"How far have we traveled?" I said, checking Riaka's pulse.
"One, zero, point three, five thousand."
"Define."
"Ten-thousand light-years."
"Calculate Earth position."
"Calculating…" A hologram of where we were appeared with a red line back toward earth. The earth moved as the computer thought, "Accurate in event of near complete failure of TID."
"Is the TID repairable?"
"TID current status is within expectable limits, in theory TID is operational."
"Plot corse to earth, now."
"Engine restart," the engines whirled to life, "TID check, Reverse Gravitational Well Generator check, Inertial Dampener check, StarDrive check… All systems are green."
"Execute."
"Ten-seconds to energy dump to StarDrive." A pinprick of light appeared in front of the X-33-I. "Gravitational tunnel forming, StarDrive firing." There was a loud boom from the back of the X-33-I.
Riaka jolted in reaction to the sound. "What the hell!"
"Relax, we were all knocked out. The X-33 is taking us home."
"From where?"
A feeling of movement was apparent for a moment, then dissipated quickly. "From a place very far from earth."
"Destination reached."
"Confirm our location."
"Location is not Earth, earth-like planet is nearby."
"Take us down to its surface."
"Touchdown in roughly 28 minutes"
"Now all we can do is wait."
Time change 28:30
There was a jolt as we touched down. On the way down I had seen two large pieces of something.
I looked at my hand to see that it was gloved. I almost ignored a banging on the outer hull as I puzzled over why my Navi system was showing. I went to see what was banging on my ship, "Is the atmosphere earth compatible?"
"Yes, there is a unusually high concentration of dust, likely caused by an impact, no unusual biologicals detected. I infer that you wish to leave the craft." The X-33's onboard computer said.
"He does." Riaka said from in the front.
"Notify me if any of the others wake up. OK Riaka?"
"Will do."
I opened the Inner hatch on the airlock used to separate the interior and space. It closed behind me and the outer hatch opened on its own. A large volume of sand and dirt surged in as I walked out. I could not see more than three feet in front of me and could hear only the deafening roar of the wind around me. I was thankful that the X-33 was tested to withstand the impact of armor piercing bullets howitzer , it needed it in that maelstrom. I felt a hand on my right shoulder, I turned around and saw a boy in a cloak with his mouth covered by some of it and had goggles protecting his eyes from the harsh sandstorm. I felt pressure, and I blacked out.
When I woke up I was in a bed. I bolted upright and looked around. There was a large double door to my right, I got out of the bed and walked over to the doors. They opened before I ever got to them and two men walked in.
"You're Orion, right?" The tallest one asked.
"I am." I eyed them, "Why am I here?"
"Grey mistook you for one of the other MegaMen." The short one with three eyes said. "Sorry about that."
The large one cleared his throat, "About that, Grey sends his apologies."
"Where are my friends and my ship?"
"We don't know where they are, that Riaka fellow followed a beacon to Legion and explained who you were, when he went back on to get the others your ship took off the instant he was inside it."
"It must have found a way home, but someone had to activate the return protocol for it to leave."
"So one of your 'friends' decided to leave you here." The short one said.
"It only takes one person to do it, so not all of them wanted to leave me behind."
"If that is the case you need to find an occupation. I have an idea."
He handed me a card, "What's this for?"
"It's a hunters card. We made it just incase you would need it."
"Thank you." I looked a the card.
"I'm sure that Grey isn't out of the city yet, he'd willingly give you a rundown on everything you'll need to know." The large one said. "I think he'd be in the Plaza."
The short one handed me a map, "You'll need that to find him."
"Thanks again."
"No problem, go down the hall hang a left and ride the elevator down to the ground floor."
"And be sure to use that map."
They motioned toward the doors and allowed me to walk past them. The started to talk to one another quietly.
I took the elevator down at least fifty stories to the ground floor. I walked across a suspended walkway to get to what looked like a mall. I pulled the map the men had given me and looked for the plaza. I figured that I was at what was labeled as The Mall on the map, that put me at around a half hour walk to the Plaza that was marked on the map. I looked up from the map and all I saw were a pair of green eyes. I jumped back in surprise. The eyes belonged to a girl as tall as me in a blue outfit.
"You must be the new hunter that Grey brought in." She said smiling, "My name is Aile, Grey asked me to come and find you."
"Oh, thanks." I said looking at her. She looked familiar somehow…
"Don't mention it, Oriom."
"It's Orion."
"Oops… Sorry."
"Not the first time someone's done it."
"You were going to look for Grey in the Plaza right?"
"That's where they told me to look."
"He's not in the Legion Plaza anymore, he went back to Hunter Camp." She began to walk away, "Come on we don't want to keep anyone waiting."
I ran to catch up with her.
Chapter 11.6.05: Meeting People and Enemies
Point of View Orion
I finally realized who Aile looks like: my mother... Just… Younger...
"We're almost to Hunter Camp" Aile said walking past me coming from a car in front of the one I had been in the whole trip. "Get up, Grey'll be waiting for us at the station, along with Vent and Ashe."
"Vent and Ashe?"
"Friends of mine." Her cheeks became pink as she said this.
"You're more than friends with Vent aren't you?"
"Am I blushing?" Her cheeks reddened more than I thought was possible. "You could say that I kinda like him…"
"Now that's a flat lie." I said looking at her as if I was looking over a pair of glasses.
"OK I really like him, but I'm not sure if he likes me…" if her face became any redder she would have looked like apple.
"I'm not one to give any hints in that department, I learned that the girl I love loves me when I was nearly on my death bed. Only way I could help you is to beat him up enough to… I think I'll shut up now."
"Final stop Hunter Camp!" The conductor boomed over the intercom.
The train began to slow as we approached our stop. I got up and walked to the nearest door. Right before it opened. We both stepped off the train.
"Aile! Over here!" Someone yelled over the crowd.
Aile grabbed my arm and pulled me through the crowd, forcefully. I stumbled along behind her keeping up, barely. When we got through the thick crowd Aile bee-lined to a group of three people standing by a door. "Orion I'd like to introduce you to," she pointed at a boy with what looked like red power cords coming from the base of his neck, "Grey."
He rubbed the back of his head, "Sorry about earlier."
Aile pointed to the girl with long grey hair and two guns at her side, "Ashe."
"Welcome to Hunter Camp." She said cheerily.
Aile pointed to the last person in the group, "And Vent."
"Good to meet you." He said bowing. They all had green eyes.
Ashe looked at me for a moment then threw one of her guns at me, "Take this, you can't be a very good hunter without some form of weapon."
"You really don't need to give me this…"
"Don't sweat about it, you can pay me back for it later."
I sweat-dropped at that comment.
Ashe touched a small device on her ear, "Sorry guys I've got to go and finish off some of the Mavericks left over from the crash." She turned and began to walk away.
"I'm coming with you!" Grey said catching up with her and walking out of the room with her.
Vent looked at me, "Looks like we'll have to show you the ropes around here then…"
"Lead on."
Vent turned around and walked to the door that was nearest us. I followed him through the rest of the station and out to an area that had been overran by vegetation. We passed a group of people as we walked toward a number of modular buildings and hangars. Vent stopped and looked at me as he talked, "The building with the big zero on it contains a transceiver. The next building is the store room for everyones stuff. Third is the infirmary, the fourth building is temporarily an air traffic control and has access to the air field."
He began to walk away again, so, I started to follow him. Aile put her hand on my shoulder and stopped me, "Just leave him alone for a wile, he's been acting a little depressed lately." She said in a soft voice.
Vent was engulfed in a white light.
/Unknown technology found
/Attempting to integrate
The light dimmed and Vent stood in a green armor. He jumped and began to fly out of Hunter Camp.
"He's using model HX." She sighed. "What's gotten into him?" She started to run toward the airfield when she yelled at me, "Just wait here!"
I sighed and sat down. About three minutes later I heard something take off. I looked at it and stood up and took a few steps back as a large ship began to rise above the surrounding buildings. It began to accelerate in the direction Vent had flown in.
/Technology integrated into V3
/Booting V3…
I felt my entire body pulse
/V3 has successfully activated, booting Model systems…
A screen appeared in my vision with three items on it, X, H, and OMEGA.
/Please select Model(s)
I thought about HX and a small green figure appeared on the screen with text next to it: Model HX; capabilities: Hover, Air Dash, and limited flight. I thought about the third option I had on the screen and the figure gained larger wings that almost looked like they belonged to green bats, the text changed as well: Model HXO; capabilities: Hover, Air Dash, and subsonic flight. I did nothing for a few moments and felt something wash over me, not like changing into a style that ripped my body apart, this was simply adding on to what was already there.
/Model setup complete
/Activating neural interface of Model H capabilities
I felt a siting at the base of my neck.
/Interface setup complete
I jumped and felt the pack on my back accelerate quickly and pull me long with it. I flew toward the speck in the distance that was the airship chasing Vent. As I approached it I saw smoke coming out of a hole on the top of it that I knew hadn't been there earlier when it took off. I went to the top of the airship and landed in time to see Aile fly out of the hole, landing hard on the solid steel. She flashed and was clad in a red armor holding a blue sword that she held at arms length toward the figure that jumped out of the hole, Vent
/New Model added; Z
Aile charged at him and slammed the sword through his stomach. He didn't flinch as he swung a sword at her. She dodged it by millimeters pulling her sword out of him, not red with blood but black. He kicked her back and put his foot on her chest, and she began to look pale.
But when she began to lose size Triggon yelled Terravon! Triggon jumped forward and took control of my body lunging us at the fake Vent, screaming in vengeance. He pulled a sword from my side and slammed it into the fake Vent's throat, who in turn splashed into a black pool surrounding Aile and me.
He helped Aile up off the ground, "Why did you help me."
"I wasn't helping you I was quenching my taste for revenge, for now. Now Orion would have helped you out of kindness." She looked at us strangely, "I'm not Orion, I'm Triggon, I share his body."
"So Orion suffers from Multiple Personality Disorder..."
"No, I used to be a separate entity, now if you'll excuse me I'm going to give him control again."
Triggon released his control over me and went into a corner of my mind. I took control and groaned at the pain the resulted from the floor seeming to jump up to meet me. "God, I hate it when he does that."
"What just happened?"
"Well, if I saw correctly, the Vent that was here was really a Terravon, Triggon has been holding a grudge against the Terravons for thousands of years so when he saw that he took control to exact the vengeance he's wanted for so many years."
Aile sweat-dropped at this summary of the events she had seen. "So that wasn't Vent…"
"No it wasn't."
Aile collapsed…
I had carried Aile to the infirmary on the air ship, while I was in there I heard a conversation about the attack on the airship.
"I cant believe Vent would attack his friends, he hit the engines hard there leaking energy all over the place, if I don't get down there soon we'll be falling out of the sky."
"Oh no you don't! You're not leaving till I get you bandaged up!"
"How does the engine work?" I asked the man
"It uses an Energy conversion system to dray power from a large energy crystal." He looked at me, "Why?"
"I can fix it, or at least keep it running long enough to land." I said as I stood up.
"Wait! I'm the only one who can fix that engine!"
"I can do it too." I said as the door closed behind me.
There was a computer linked to a platform nearby, when I touched it I downloaded the ships designs and was shuttled to the lowest floor, the one with smoke as thick as an ocean. I slowly moved through the smoke and found another door that was half open. When I walked in the smoke cleared and I was able to see a large crystal that was glowing faintly. I walked toward the crystal and it cracked. I felt the entire airship begin to pick up speed toward the ground, I heard screams, and my mind kicked into overdrive. I leaped forward and pulled the crystal from it's place and put my hand where it had been, I felt energy being drained from my body. The ship began to slow and the man from the infirmary walked in.
"What are you doing?" He asked just looking at me.
"Get them to land this thing! NOW!!!"
He ran back toward the front of the ship. And I felt us descend once again slowly. The man came in again.
"We're landing. Now will you tell me what you're doing?"
"I'm supplying the ship with energy! What does it look like I'm doing?"
The ship shuttered as we set down. I fell, pulling my hand out of the core, the entire ship went silent as I lost conciseness
Chapter 11.6.1: Trickery
Point of View Orion
Something seems wrong…
I woke up floating in a tank of blue liquid. I could only see the blurry outline of people moving around outside of the tube. Someone pressed a button that made the tube drain and open. They were standing in front of the tube.
"Come on we need to go now."
"Where am I?"
"Aile sent you here, you're in Reploid Laboratories, we've been trying t revive you for the past week. Our cover has been blown and we needed to move you. How's your memory?"
"A little fuzzy, but I'll be fine."
"Good then we need to leave now." They began to run out of the room. I followed them as closely as I could. There was a large boom behind us. "Their here!" I looked behind me and saw Vent charging toward me. "He's a Terravon!" With that little bit of information I grabbed Vent by the head and threw him back down the hallway. I turned back and continued to run with the scientists, "Thanks for that." we rounded the corner and continued to run, "Just a little farther."
Vent blasted through the wall ten meters in front of us, "You're not getting any farther!"
"Just get out of our way!" I yelled as I dashed toward him with a sword drawn. I stabbed Vent hard enough that I could see the other side of my blade come out his back, it was red with blood I lowered him to the ground slowly.
"We need to keep moving."
I held the sword at the man's neck, "This is the real Vent, you lied to me didn't you."
The man snickered, "You're right we did lie to you. Too bad it had to end this way, he would be so enthused to meet you."
I wasn't listening to the man I was trying to seal the wound I had given Vent. Doing the equivalent of sewing him back together. When I was done Vent looked like nothing had happened on the outside and the inside. The man was gone when I turned to look at him. I set my sword down next to the unconscious Vent and sprinted off.
I stopped once I was outside to see the Airship hovering above me. Flew away from it and the laboratory. I only stopped when I was literally an ocean away. I sat in a crater, sulking.
"Orion..." a voice called out of nowhere.
"Whose there?"
"My name is Albert. Please come this way…"
I followed Albert's voice, "Where are you?"
"You'll see soon." A mist began to come out of nowhere, just like his voice.
"What do you want?" I yelled.
"There's no need to yell, I mearly require your help." I looked and saw a large, white, monolith in front of me. "I'm trapped inside I need your help to get out."
"Sure I'll help you out." I said as I walked into the object.
"Thank you Orion, you're the first to show any regard for me in a long time." He said.
"I went through the same kind of thing a little wile ago."
"Go to the right you'll see a door, if you can pry it open." I did as he said and pried the door open, the room had a single large tube in it. A figure inside the tube pointed to a panel across the room. I walked over and pressed the button labeled OPEN. The tube drained and I could see the figure inside was mechanical. When the tube opened the figure stepped out, "Thank you Orion. Could I ask you to…not talk about me for a wile, some people really don't like me."
"Sure, may I ask what this place is?"
"This used to be a ship called Ouroboros"
"Symbolizing infinity?"
"Very good it does, but I did something wrong last time I tried to use this ship." Albert walked deeper into the ship, "You'll be seeing me soon, my friend."
/Model W added
I left the ship and...
Chapter 11.6.15: It's Our Fight Now!
Point of View Grey
I wish that I could understand what is going on, but I don't have time to ponder…
"Then Orion attacked me, that's all I remember." Vent said sitting up.
"They did have him for over a week Vent, he may not have been in control." Aile said.
"Or he may not have known better."
"What?" The two said looking at me.
"Didn't one of them say you were something?"
"One of the scientists said that I was a Terravon…"
Aile looked at Vent, "That's why he attacked you! The Terravons are something that part of Orion has a grudge with. One that looked like you almost killed me, so what they said reenforced what he was thinking."
"But, why am I fine then?"
A man walked into the room, "I think I can offer a reason Vent."
"OK, just don't listen in on our talks again."
"When we were sinking before they came and got him, he was what was powering the ship, maybe his powers run deeper than that, much deeper."
"So Orion's some kind of overpowered MegaMan, we need to find him soon, before our mystery man finds him and convinces us we're the bad guys."
Ashe burst into the room, "We have other problems, Ouroboros is moving again."
"But we killed Albert." I said gaping
"The bad guy never dies." Vent sighed.
Aile walked out of the room. About a minute later her voice echoed through the base, "Guardians prepare to engage the Ouroboros again, we have a little house cleaning to do."
The ship began to move again. I ran out the door and started toward the bridge I arrived to see a number of small specks converging on the same ring shaped snake we had blown up almost a year ago.
"Ma'am the Ouroboros is pinging us."
"Let's listen to what its saying."
"To the Guardians, this is Albert, I call a truce for now."
"Why should we trust you, Albert?"
"Because if you don't you'll regret it very soon. You've already crippled Ouroboros's weapons beyond repair and I have no power left to fight, but the threat isn't me it's your friend Orion."
"Orion you know him?"
"He's the one who freed me, but in doing that he has condemned himself to Model W's will, he copied it and added it to himself, knowingly or not."
"Go on."
"His power was already great but now that he has Model W, what I was going to do looks like a broken finger to what he could do."
"What you're saying is that you need our help to stop Orion."
"No, I'm saying you need my help to stop him."
"I'm afraid I'm not buying it Albert."
"Take a look at Zarana, or more exactly what's left of it."
"What's it look like?"
"You'll have to look for yourself."
The line dropped dead. "Get us to Zarana."
Point of View change to Orion
I opened my eyes to see a face looming over me; mine, and I was smiling back, "You didn't even put up a fight when I took you over, and you're so powerful. It's a pity power is wasted on the weak." He was walking away, "I don't need you."
/Omegastyle intact
/Energy state transfer complete
/90 power lost in transfer
/Booting recovery systems
He was gone leaving only me in this dark place. I looked around and realized that I was in a crater.
"This is on your head remember that."
I heard the engine of an Airship above me…
Point of View change to Grey
"There was a city here, now it's a crater."
"Ma'am the Ouroboros is pinging us again."
"Let him through."
"Well."
"I believe you, but I'm not going to trust you."
"I didn't ask for that."
I looked out over the crater and saw a small figure running away from the airship. "Aile, look there."
She looked, "Take a glider down. Pick that person up."
"Got it." I said walking off the bridge.
Time change?
The figure had ran into the forest on the outskirts of what used to be a town. I followed it in yelling at the person, "Wait I'm here to help!"
The figure stopped in a clearing. It was Orion, "It's too late to help me…" He vanished.
"Orion wait!" I ran to where he had been.
"When I return, I'll be what you call a God."
I searched for him, but Model A stopped me, "That wasn't a person, that's what you call a Soul, Orion lost that when he merged with Model W. I feel sorry for the boy."
I walked back to the glider and rode it back to the Guardian Base in silence. When I got there Vent was waiting for me, "What ever Orion does from this point isn't on his shoulders, it's on Model W's." I said as I shoved past him.
"What?"
"Orion's Soul is dead, all that's left is a body that Model W can use." I yelled.
"What's gotten into you?"
I looked back at Vent, "I don't know, I feel like… well, when I was called a defective for the first time, angry and useless."
"I guess I don't understand, but I'll drop it for now."
I walked to the flight deck to set my mind back in order. As I stood there Ashe walked out and stood next to me, "You're taking this hard, why?"
"I don't really know, but its like someone pulled something the wrong way. Orion felt like family to me when he stepped off the Train with Aile." I sighed.
"T' tell the truth that's how I felt too."
"He said he'd be back."
"I hope you're right, there's so much to ask him."
We stood in silence and watched the sun set and the stars appear
Chapter 11.6.2: Armageddon's Wraith
Point of View Grey
One white beam means another ten-thousand are dead…
I still stood on the flight deck and watched the sun rise. Aile walked out and stood next to me, "Have you been out here all night?"
"Yes, I have been, it's relaxing to just look at the stars." I said as the sun peeked over the horizon.
"You should really get some sleep."
"Ashe told me that when she left. Right now this is all that's keeping me sane."
"How long was she out here with you?"
"Almost four hours, we just talked." I said putting my hands in my pockets.
"You all right?"
"I'm not sure, really." I walked past her, "I'm not sure."
Model A asked, "How's a little trip sound to you, Grey?"
"Not now. Maybe later, but not now."
"All guardians, there has been another attack by Model W, this time it was Hunter Camp. We are on-rout."
I turned around and looked toward Hunter Camp. There was smote rising from it. I felt a rage build up inside me. "Model A, we're going down."
"How? We're almost a mile above the ground,"
"You still got Model H in A-Trans?"
"Ya… wait you're not thinking about."
"Exactly!"
I A-Transed onto Model H and took off toward the smoke."
Time change 5.73 minutes
I ran into the camp changing back into Model A to see one figure standing over a mass of bodies, Orion, no, Model W. It looked at me with its glowing red eyes, I froze as it looked at me. "You no good ass, give Orion his body back!"
"I can't do that, not till I've killed everything on this pitiful rock. In Armageddon's wraith, my wraith!"
He ran at me pulling a sword out from his side, I frantically searched for a way to escape.
"Over here." A voice called from my right. I jumped out of the way.
"I don't have time for this. You'll go up with everything else here." I turned around to see him jump out of sight. Then moments later I heard him faintly yell, "Armageddon Blast!"
A fine black line hit where he had been. I figured that it was not good for anyones health and ran away from it. The very air around be began to roar past me back toward the beam. I ran as hard as I could but never got more than ten feet from it. I began to lose ground and was dragged back toward the thing. Then the noise stopped, I turned around and saw a sphere of light, I took a step toward it. Then I turned around and ran as fast as I could away from it. A low rumble came from the white sphere as it enlarged, engulfing everything in its way. I ran faster than I ever had, but when I felt heat on my back I knew that I was dead.
Don't you dare think that way! A voice growled
I picked up speed, a lot of it, and out paced the sphere. Until I stumbled and fell, I watched as the sphere continued to expand. I closed my eyes just before it reached me. When I did not feel the searing pain I was expecting I opened my eyes. Orion was holding a bubble around a small bit of the sphere, glowing, and almost growling in pain. His head was pointing down and I could easily see his teeth, he opened his eyes and yelled at me, "Run!" the bubble began to crack
I shook out of my trance as I stood up and ran as hard as I could. Once the rumbling stopped I looked at the camp again. The sphere was collapsing leaving only charred ground behind, then the sphere reached its smallest point, it blew outwards in a mushroom cloud that destroyed anything the sphere didn't, it tossed me like a rag doll. I hit my leg hard, heard a snap, and watched the world go dark as I continued to tumble…
Chapter 11.6.5: Hope for the Future
Point of View Grey
Orion's giving us hints…
I bolted up and looked around. When I realized that I was in the Guardian Base infirmary I tried to get up. When I did a pain shot up my leg causing me to fall onto the floor in pain, the door opened and Ashe walked in to see me on the floor in a heap.
"Grey!" She half yelled as she jumped over to me and helped me back onto the bed. "Your legs broken you twit!"
I looked at her and retorted with, "It didn't hurt when I woke up!"
She looked at me for a moment longer, then looked away, "I really do need to keep an eye on you…"
"Hey! What do you mean by that?!"
She looked at me, "Aile asked me to look after you." Her expression changed from near-rage to a friendlier one, "Said something about you being reckless." She smiled.
"Thanks for helping me up." I said smiling back. "What happened while I was out?
Ashe's face became very solemn, "Model W attacked another settlement, this time it was Darlje [pronounced dArl-J], and then said his name was Armageddon."
"Darlje… in Far Reach?"
"Yes."
"My God, five-hundred thousand people lived there…"
"There were three survivors, all of them in the center of the blast zone, and all of them with a similar story."
"And that was?"
"'A figure that seemed to be glowing held a world of death back with a bubble of light,' sound familiar?"
"You have no idea. The figure must Orion. But, he said that when he came back he would have the power of a God."
"And I do have it, it's just not fully developed yet, it won't be for some time," A voice said out of the blue.
"Orion?" Ashe and I said looking around.
"Look closely, I can't become fully visible without using up energy."
"What do you have a lack of it?" Ashe said looking around.
"In fact, yes I do have a lack of it right now." I saw a faint outline standing by the door, "Listen Armageddon will be attacking Legion soon, not tonight, he'll attack another city larger than the last one he's trying to get people to become panicked. After he destroys Legion he's going to…" Orion's voice faded away and the outline I saw dissipated.
"Orion wait!" Ashe yelled at the dissipating voice.
"Don't bother he's not even able to stay in one place."
"I've got to go tell Aile and Vent about this." She said as she walked out the door.
"Grey, when Orion was there I felt a really weird dip in my energy." Model A said.
"Why did he do that?"
"He said that he was low on energy, maybe his body is pulling energy from his surroundings."
I sighed and tried to get up again. The instant I put pressure on my leg I felt a huge amount of pain shoot up my back strait to my brain, "Model A could you help with this at all?"
"Nope, I can't do anything."
"Great, so I'm stuck here to do nothing."
"Looks like it."
I lifted my leg so it was resting flat on the bed and waited in silence.
The next person who walked in was Vent, "Where's Ashe?"
"She was here a few minutes ago, she went to tell Aile something Orion said to us."
"Orion was here?"
"He's gaining energy to fight Armageddon." Vent began to leave. "Could you help me get out of here?"
Vent stopped, "Right, sorry…" He turned around and grabbed a wheelchair in the corner that had been out of my sight. "You're going to have to use this for a wile till that leg heals."
"OK." I pulled Model A out of my pocket, "Give Model A to Ashe, I know she can use it."
"Grey, what are you saying?" Model A asked as I handed her to Vent.
"If I'm confined to a wheelchair I won't be able to do anything, you'll be better off with Ashe."
"But Grey."
"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."
"OK." Model A said solemnly.
"Don't worry I'll be better before you know it." Vent helped me into the chair and pushed me out of the room and to the bridge. We saw Ashe as we walked into the bridge. Vent silently handed Model A back to me as Ashe walked over. "Ashe, listen, I'm gonna be out of it for a while so I want you to use Model A."
She looked at me, "Are you sure Grey?"
"Absolutely, we know you can use it, so I think it'll be best for everyone."
"OK… I'll do my best."
"I believe you will, and more." I said smiling.
I held Model A out and she took it from my hand very carefully, with veneration. (Veneration, Derivative of venerate, noun, to regard with great respect)
"Do you want to leave Grey behind Model A?"
"No, but he convinced me it was the best choice."
Ashe looked at me, "You really should be thinking this over. For A's sake."
"I know it's the best choice. For Model A, me, you, and everyone else."
Ashe sighed and shook her head.
"We're going to Legion to help the evacuations." Aile said walking from the Comm. Station on the lower deck.
"Not going fast enough?"
"You could say that Mechanaliods are holding it up. Personally, I need to get something in Legion as well."
"A little shopping to do," Vent teased.
"You could say that." She said sternly. "And I'll be using your credits." She added jokingly.
Vent twitched.
Time change +60:00
Point of View change to Orion
I floated over crowds that were flooding out of Legion, wishing that I could help the Guardians. However, I knew I could not, I would need all the power I could muster to even pray at having a chance at defeating Armageddon.
I heard a child cry. I floated over to see a woman trying to get to a girl standing on a ledge reaching for the woman. The woman was pushed farther away from the child, who was now crying even harder than before. I felt a rush of energy as the woman cried as she was pushed farther from her daughter. That rush of energy was enough to push me into the visible world. People looked up at me before continuing. I looked over at the girl and felt another rush of energy as I felt that I could help her, I floated over to the girl and lightly picked her up and floated to the mother. I gently lowered the girl down to her mother.
"Thank you." The woman said in tears.
I only nodded as the energy burst wore of and I again dropped out of visibility. The energy I was saving had gone up a bit, I could help speed the evacuation along.
I saw the Guardian Base fly overhead. Things would be getting interesting soon…
Chapter 11.6.6: Alpha and Armageddon
Point of View Orion
Even though I was lacking a physical body my spirit was ready to help, the machines that were chasing after the evacuating people were obviously not friendly as they mercilessly killed anyone they marauded onwards. I knew that the Guardians would have to fight their way to where the heart of the storm was, so I was either going to watch the evacuees get slaughtered or help them. I knew I wouldn't let them be slaughtered, so I used the lowest energy attack I had, the EMA Cannon.
I had never seen the EMA Cannon before, so the first time I pulled the trigger I was startled to see the robot I was aiming at collapse, completely inert, and the sudden rush of energy I got from it. After I recovered from the heart attack, I began to return fire for the defenseless people, the best part was that I was completely invulnerable to their counter attacks as I became increasingly visible from the energy rushes. By the time the Guardians arrived on the scene I had already taken a sizable chunk out of the robotic army, not a large fraction, but quite a few nonetheless. Above the heads of the guardians I saw a patch of grey hair moving toward the force, it looked like Ashe's hair.
"I thought you said you couldn't materialize." I heard Ashe say.
"I found a little trick. Whatever Armageddon does, I can retaliate against him." I said as I shot another robot.
/Energy within acceptable levels__
/Rebooting Alphasys__
A stream of ones and zeros streamed across my vision as I continued to fight:
0110101100100101010001010100100101100110010001001011111011011001000101010101000101001000110101011
Then twos and threes began to appear in the stream:
101001000230103033200100302100310203011030012203310023210123023010030102302113312302010103020103
The stream began to increase in complexity rapidly:
0102310230102330491574103925316795478649836018947310256ACDB174832BD1991ABD8918BA817410D092
My vision was completely blotted out by the stream, then it disappeared. Nothing else happened. I continued to fire at the robots. I shot one robot, but three seemingly appeared to replace it, "For crying out loud, where are these all coming from?!?"
Ashe shouted, "I have a hunch, but I hope it's wrong."
"What is it?"
"I think their coming from the Ouroboros. But, if they are that means that Albert fixed most of it." she sliced another robot, "And he won't make the same mistake again."
"What mistake?"
"Last time we got onboard with an airship, the Guardian Base, actually."
A robot with a bazooka fired at me, Ashe jumped at me trying to push me out of the way but, passed through me just before the rocket did the same thing. "I'm not physical, don't worry about me."
She struggled to get on her feet again, "You could have told me that earlier." She said in an annoyed tone glaring at me.
I looked around and quickly said, "I'm going to scout ahead and see what the enemy formation looks like." Then I dashed into the hoard of robots. They seemed to be concentrating around the building that looked like a bid sword. I got to their center and began to fight my way out and sure enough every one I killed was replaced by three more. Then I saw where they were coming from, a large, white, snake eating its tail, the Ouroboros. It was directly above the city… 'How could I have missed something that big?' I asked myself. 'I couldn't have missed it, unless it arrived while we were fighting. Surely something that big isn't that fast, unless…'
I turned toward the tower and began to run strait up it. I stopped running two floors from the top, and heard voices talking like nothing was going on outside, "So you'll keep the Mavericks attacking the town till tomorrow evening, when I get back and finish off what ever is left of the town."
"Yes and don't worry about the Guardians, they'll be pacified by that time, my army is only going to grow and nothing they can do can stop it."
A third, younger voice rang out, "So what do you want me to do?"
"Nothing for now, just stay with me."
"Awwww… I wanted to kill a few Guardians. Please Uncle Albert?"
"Very well, Wilfred."
The child giggled with glee. "Yay!"
"I'll see you later, I've got about three million to kill in Fieldburg." there was a flash above me as Armageddon flew away from the building.
"Orion's a piece of work, who knew what Model W could do."
"Uncle Albert, can I go now?"
"Go on Wilfred, have a little fun."
That's all I could listen to, I jumped off the tower and flew in the direction Armageddon had gone off in. As I chased Armageddon I wondered why Albert thought he was me. I was interrupted when I saw a city about half as large as Legion. Even from miles away I saw people running from the center of the city, this must be Fieldburg. I soared toward the city as fast as I could.
/Alphasys reboot complete__
/Booting AlphaStyle__
I fell from the sky like a rock as I was hit by wave after wave of pure agony. I hit the ground and made a thirty foot crater. I was paralyzed by pain, then it suddenly stopped. I slowly stood up and looked at my hands. They were pure white, my entire body was pure white. I ignored my change in attire and continued toward the city. When I was on the outer limits of the city I saw a small speck shoot up from the skyline. I flew as fast as I could to the center of the Fieldburg, I saw the black beam touch the ground.
I ran toward the beam and yelled "Omega Aura"
/Alpha Aura active__
A pure white sphere surrounded a thirty foot section of street and contained the Armageddon Blast almost completely. Until Armageddon pile-drove me into the ground, the blast that resulted from my sudden lack of concentration was only the equivalent of three tons of TNT, not the three hundred megatons that had been unleashed else where. I shoved the monster off of me and quickly got to my feet. "It's time for you to die Armageddon!"
"It's not my time, it's yours!" He said leaping at me in a mad rage.
"Too slow." I shoved my buster into his gut and fired three times. He died to easily. There was a ticking at my feet, "You have got to be joking!" the bomb at my feet went off throwing me back. I got up and saw a small child looking at me from an ally. I gave him a thumbs up just before the ground met my face.
Chapter 11.6.7: The Flash Suit
Point of View Orion
I jolted up and looked around, my mind still active.
"Settle down, you took quite the beating." A woman said from behind me.
"How long was I out for?" I demanded.
"Only a little, we just got you in here." The woman put a hand on my shoulder, "You need some more rest."
"I need to get to Legion, my friends need me." I said getting up
"The next transport from Legion is five hours away."
I looked at my hands, there were no gloves on them, a long sleeved dark red shirt was covering my upper body and baggy red pants covering my lower body. These clothes were the ones I had been wearing when I entered Omegastyle, these were my clothes.
"Thank you for what you did earlier." A British voice said from the doorway to the room. A man about Dr. Hikari's age was standing in the doorway. "If your so ready to get up and at 'em why don't you come with me, you uncovered something interesting in that fancy light show earlier."
"Sure, I'll come." I said as I walked toward the man.
"Alright, let's get started." He walked out the door with me following close behind. I wondered what he had been talking about. We walked out of a building only about fifty yards from the crater that was caused by the Armageddon Blast. "What's your name chap?"
"I'm Orion."
We walked to the edge of the crater, "Watch your step." he said as we worked our way down the bottom of the crater, where there was a hole. On the other side of the hole was pitch black.
I threw a nearby rock into the hole, it hit the bottom about a second later. "It's deep. Stay here." I jumped into the hole. When I hit the bottom I felt my legs bend, but they did not break. The cavern was too dark to see in, but the ground was made of metal and the air was stale, like no one had been in here for years. The hole above me was just a small blob, I wasn't getting out that way, I took a step, my shoe thudded against the metal floor, ten seconds later I heard the echo, I redefined the term I was using for the room, this was a hangar. "Hello." I yelled
"Backup lights active." A computerized voice said as dim red lights hummed to life. I looked around again, the room was a hangar, one jet was in here with me. I looked to my right and saw a door.
I walked over to it and opened it, inside was banks of computers, hundreds of them. As I walked through the room I had the unsettling feeling that someone, or something, was watching me. I looked around and dashed behind one of the compute banks. A large green dog like beast walked past. I held my breath, 'that thing! I barley survived last time when I had Omegastyle, how am I going to survive without it?' I thought in a panic. I had to find a weapon if I had a prayer of living. I slowly moved back toward the hangar door. I hid as the beast prowled back toward me. It moved back toward the hangar door, blocking my only escape. I moved away from it as quietly as I could looking around for a way out of the room, there was a blast door that was bent in. I moved toward that door silently and stepped over the piece of the door that was still in place. There was a large machine in the room that was connected to a full body suit by cords and wires. I was about to leave the room when the suit hissed open in the region that went from the groin to the neck, loudly. The beast growled. 'Damn' I cursed mentally as I hurried over to the suit and stepped into it. I saw the beasts snout as the suit closed around me, the faceplate closed and blocked my vision with total darkness. I held my breath as I heard the beast move around, after a few moments the sound died way and the faceplate began a presentation.
A figure appeared on the faceplate, "Hello new pilot, you are one of the few that were lucky enough to be selected for the Flight Suit program." The figures voice frightened me, it was my voice. "This Flight Suit is a work of technological art, it will directly connect with your nervous system, allowing you to control one of the fighters you will be assigned with your mind, to take the suit off simply think about it opening in a similar fashion to how it opened when you got in." The image blurred and disappeared.
It was replaced by the image the room the suit was in and a man with beads of sweat on his face, "Listen, if you're watching this you're probably in the same predicament as I am." There was a slam on the door behind the man, who looked back at it, then back at the camera he was using. "The suit you're wearing is called the Flash Suit, I modified one of Mr. Crossac's Flight Suits with a temporal isolation device," there was another slam, "in short this suit is capable of making the user removed from the time-stream." He shook his head, "You can now remove yourself from time as much as you like, you now control how fast things around you move, but only slower." There was another bang. "The suit will be connecting to your neural net now, it'll hurt for a few moments." I felt spikes shove through my skin and into my spinal cord, it took all my being from screaming. "The modifications I made make the suit almost impossible to completely take off, but it's either that or death." the door behind him creaked as the beast slammed against it again. "There is one fighter in the hangar that can use the Flight Suit capabilities." He went off camera for a moment, "I've added a temporal jump drive, I don't know if it'll work, but if it does it won't for a wile after the suit disconnects from the containment unit. There's another file in the computer in the suit about the beast. All I know about it is that it's called Geiger." The video ended in static. The faceplate became transparent just in time for me to see the beast's tail leave the room. Blue text scrolled across the faceplate:
Disconnecting from containment unit__
The cords attached to the suit fell off, clanking on the ground. The beast roared in the next room, the room I had to get through to get to the hangar.
Temporal Isolation Device active and ready for use__
The beast rounded the corner and charged into the room. I braced for the impact that I thought was to come, but it never came. When I opened my eyes I saw the beast suspended midair. I moved around it slowly and dashed toward the hangar door. I opened the door quickly and ran toward the jet in the middle of the hangar. The top opened up for me as I climbed the latter beside it. I got in and realized first that there were no controls what so ever.
Jet controls active__
Opening hangar roof for vertical take off__
The beast landed in front of me causing me to panic.
Charging fuselage__
Visible electricity ran through the beast, causing it to fall off the plane.
Hangar roof blocked, detonating charges__
The hole that I had fallen through got a lot bigger when the roof above me disappeared raining dirt and hot slag down on the ground around me, covering the beast in several tons of material.
Tachron Fighter ready for takeoff__
The jet lifted off the ground and into the sunlight. I didn't look to see if anyone was around as the jet soared off toward Legion…
Chapter 11.6.8: The Tachron Fighter
Point of view Orion
I was only twenty minutes from Legion at whatever speed the jet was going. When I arrived I saw millions of people streaming out of the city, and into an army of robots. I saw the army open fire, killing thousands of innocents.
I mentally controlled the jet and placed myself over the crowd of humans. The jet fired a fine green beam from the wing tips. The beam was directed toward the marauding robots. The instant it hit nothing happened, but a few moments later the ground heaved upward and blasted outwards, taking the robots with it in a decently large explosion. I began to carve a path for the civilians through the army of robots with the laser. Then it occurred to me, how were they going to get through the opening safely?
The radio switched on at this thought. "There's a jet out there!"
"Is it a friendly?" a panicked voice asked quickly.
"Everyone quiet! This frequency has been compromised!" after that there was silence over the radio.
"Is anyone there?" I asked. Suddenly a missile lock alarm went off. I did a barrel roll tot he right and then a loop to lose the missile. "I'm asking for help getting the civilians to safety!"
Aile's voice came over the radio, "Continue."
"I'm asking for a blitzkrieg maneuver. I can cut a hole through the robots line, but I can't keep it open and safely allow the civilians to pass through it. I'll blow a hole in their defense and thin them out before they get to you, but you have to keep the hole open."
"… so you want us to risk our lives…"
I cut her off, "To save millions of innocent ones!"
There was silence for a moment, "All right, we need a few minutes to regroup for this insane plan of yours." The line went dead. About ten minutes later the radio crackled to life again, "We're ready."
"O.K. I'm going to open fire in thirty-seconds." I said as I swooped over the city to the side that the Guardians were gathered around. The missile lock alarm sounded as I passed under the Ouroboros. "I'm going to gun and run. I'll get back once I shake this missile." I said over the radio as I aimed toward the center of the army. I fired and pushed the thrusters to about 35% full power. The alarm didn't shut off, I pushed the thruster to 40% power, then to 50%, and I finally to 90% power. The missile fell behind and ran out of fuel a few moments later.
The Ouroboros was going to be a tough bug to swat to the ground. I needed a bigger gun than the laser I'd been using. The jets weapon load-out appeared on the Flash Suits visor.
/Micro Fusion Laser [selected]
/AAMS [35]
/Nano De-constructor Bomb [1]
/ATMS [10]
/AMCM [200]
/Heavy Reaper Cannon [500]
/Tachron Cannon
/Antimatter Bomb[0]
/QMS[0]
Bombs won't work because the Ouroboros was so close to a city, the Heavy Reaper Cannon wouldn't be powerful enough, same went for the missiles, that only left the Tachron Cannon.
I shrugged and selected it as I turned around.
"I'm coming in for a pass soon, is Legion evacuated?"
"Almost the final freighter is taking off now…" There was an explosion in the background, "Good god! The Ouroboros just shot down the transport!" There were a few seconds of silence, "We're moving out now." Aile's voice was filled with remorse.
"O.K. I'll be there in a few minutes." I engaged the afterburner on the fighter and shot off like a rocket toward Legion.
I was a few miles away when Aile said, "We're clear of the city, we'll mount an attack against the Ouroboros as soon as we can."
I saw the Ouroboros in the distance. I test fired the Tachron Cannon. A thin green laser shot toward the Ouroboros
/Target painted, initiating charge_
A large green sphere began to grow in front of the fighter. When it was three meters wide it stopped increasing in size.
"To the fighter approaching the Ouroboros, my name is Albert. I admire your bravery, but all attempts to stop me are pointless, I have an accomplices that will be arriving shortly. Even if you can shoot me down, he'll shoot you down and destroy the city."
"Armageddon isn't coming Albert."
"Orion?"
"It's me Albert, good bye."
The Tachron Cannon fired a ten meter wide beam that blasted through the Ouroboros. "What are you doing Orion!"
"I'm ending the destruction you wanted. You betrayed me, so I'm taking my revenge." I said mercilessly.
"But you agreed with me! You agreed that this world needed a new start!"
"That was Armageddon, not me. I would never agree to harm anyone."
"All you're saving is a world doomed to fight! Your cause to save people is hopeless! People will kill one another, in the name of peace! Your crusade is pointless!"
Then I said something that startled me, "I know, but I don't care. Some people will fight, others won't. Your crusade to make a new world that's free of fighting is just as futile as mine, but I care about the world that exists now, that's the difference between us Alfred, that's all."
The beam intensified, and a ripple ran through the Ouroboros, it exploded in a violent burst that sent me hurtling toward the ground. The jet pulled up at the last moment and gracefully slammed into the ground, still in one piece. I was in similar shape. The canopy popped open and I pulled myself out of the fighter. I fell out and heard a loud snap. My left arm suddenly hurt like h e double hockey sticks, it was broken. I dragged myself to the lip of the small crater that was caused by the jet's gracefully hard landing. I heard a vehicle drive up.
"Help!" I yelled.
"Where are you?" Aile's voice asked.
"I'm over here!" I yelled again, barely handling the pain from my left arm.
Aile popped into my view and rushed over to me, "Get a medic here ASAP!" She yelled.
"My left arm's broken."
"What about your right?"
"It's in better shape than the rest of me." I joked as I almost lost consciousness. "It's artificial, I lost the real thing a wile ago."
Another woman ran up to me, "I'm going to have to take that suit off mister."
"Don't," I said weakly, "it's fused to my spinal cord."
"It's what!?!" The woman yelled.
"Just cut the left arms fabric and patch it up there." Aile said calmly to the medic.
"O.K." the medic said as she took a small knife out of her pocket and grabbed the arms fabric. She cut the fabric and pulled the sleeve off. "This'll only be a temporary fix, when we get you to Guardian Base we'll patch you up like new."
"Thanks." I muttered. My helmet hissed open, folding up behind my neck.
"Orion?" After that I saw Aile's lips moving, but I heard no sound coming from them. Then the world went black.
Chapter 11.6.5: Nothing
Point of View Orion
I bolted up in a bed, I looked around and was startled by the hissing of the door's opening system, "Oh! Mr. Orion, you're up! At last, we were all getting worried about you." A plump woman said when she looked at me, quite enthusiastically.
"Why is everyone worried?" I asked hesitantly.
"You've been asleep for almost a full week." She said smiling, "But, the last test I ran shows that something happened because of all that rest. Your arm is much farther along than it should be, not healed totally yet, but getting close."
I stood up, and was stunned by a sudden pulse of pain from my arm. I fell back onto the bed.
"I need to put a cast on you! Sorry I didn't think of it before." She said as she rushed to the bed side and began to assemble a cast. "After the crash we brought you up here, and you've been in this bed for the whole time, we placed your arm and didn't put it in a cast."
"That's a little unusual..." I said still a little distracted by the pain.
"Yes it is, I don't know why we did it that way, we just did..... All done!" She said as she finished the cast. "Aile wanted you to come to the bridge the instant you were awake, I'll lead you there."
I pushed myself up out of the bed with my right arm. "O.K."
"And when she's done with you I want to see you back here getting some more rest." She said authoritatively.
"Yes ma'm" I said as I followed her out of the room. She led me to an elevator, we went down to the middle deck, and from there she led me to a large door that said Bridge on it. The door hissed open and I walked in.
Aile turned around to see who it was, "Orion! You're awake!"
"So I've been told." I said simply, smiling.
"Now the only thing we need to do is get you back to Legion."
"Wait, weren't we right outside Legion?" I asked.
"Yes, we were, but we needed to evacuate because of heightened radiation levels. Right now the best guess is that it came from that attack you used."
"What about the jet?"
"We didn't have time to recover it, it's at what we're calling ground zero."
I sighed, "What about me, I was really close to the Tachron beam, I must be radioactively hot."
"Oddly enough you have had no traces of radiation." She said, "Do you have any ideas about that?"
I had no idea what so ever, unless...
"It's fine, we'll figure it out in a wile." she turned around, "Now I'm sure..."
She looked deep in recolection. I left the bridge without another word.
I walked back to the room the nurse had put me in earlier, when I got to the door I looked at my right arm, I shut the hologram emitters on it off and walked into the room…
Chapter 11.6.75: A New Start
Point of View: Orion
I bolted upright in bed. I was drenched in sweat, but I didn't know why.
/Adrenaline levels are above normal_
I swung my legs off the bed to get up. I figured I wouldn't get back to sleep for a wile. I stood up and walked to the door, down the hall, and out onto the deck. Air whistled by as I walked to the railing to look at the stars.
There was a figure on the deck with me, "Are you the one called Orion?"
"Yes. Why?"
"I was sent by someone." The figure said taking a step toward me.
I took a step back, "Who?"
"You wouldn't know him, he's no where near as old as you are, Mr. Cossack."
I took another step back, "How do you know my last name?"
"I know more about you than you think possible, you are from this planet, but not this universe, your father was a renowned physicist in your home universe, and the first to create a true artificial life form in this universe. You built the StarTower that even to this day still cannot be explained." He dashed close enough that I could see his face. "I know so much about you that you never told anyone, he sent me to meet you face to face, he's even more fascinated with you than I am." He laughed, "I'll be seeing you again, soon enough." He disappeared.
I was slightly confused. "What's the StarTower?" I muttered to myself.
The door into the airship opened, "Oh, hi Orion, what're you doing up here?" Ashe asked.
"N... Nothing, just trying to get some peace and quiet." I said not turning around.
"I can understand that, even at this point at night this is one of the more peaceful parts of the ship." she walked over to the railing.
"Tell me about it..." I said quietly.
"Ummm... Orion, could I ask you a question?"
"Sure."
"Well, you see there's this guy, nice, kind, everything a girl would ever want, but I can't tell him how much I like him, I'm just to big of a coward."
I chuckled, "That's usually the problems we guys have."
"I really want to tell him before he falls for someone else. I just can't." She said.
I looked at her, "Who is it?"
"Promise you won't tell?"
"Promise." I said smiling.
"It's Grey, I know he's a Reploid and all, but I like him, a lot..." She blushed.
"Just talk to him, he seems to like you too, haven't you noticed how he follows you around a lot?"
Ashe was silent for a moment, "You're right!" She hugged me, "Thanks!"
"No problem."
She let go, "I'll tell him first thing tomorow!" She looked at me, "You're like a big brother, you know that, you'll make a girl very happy one day."
I froze, my dream hit me like a ton of bricks, "Emerald... She's in trouble."
Chapter 11.7: Secrets
Point of View: Orion
Ashe looked at me, "Emerald? Who's that?"
"She's... a very close friend." I said looking away, "I know somethings wrong with her, I need to find a way to get back to her."
"Didn't you arrive on an airship, I'm sure Aile would be willing to take you to where ever you came from, we have an almost unlimited range." She said.
"Trust me, this airship could never get to where I came from. The X... My airship wasn't just an airship... Never mind, my point is that I have almost no way to get home right now, and I need to as quickly as possible." I thought for a moment, "I need to get back to Fieldburg. There may be a way for me to get back there."
Ashe was silent for a moment, "We can't do that Orion... I know no one's told you, but something happened while you were in that coma. Someone put a hefty bounty on your head, about ten million EC."
"What? Are you guys taking me in to collect it!?!" I yelled.
"No, we wouldn't do that to a friend, we're getting you as far away from Legion as possible."
"But Aile said we were going to Legion." I growled, not convinced.
"We're... no, I promise." She pleaded. "Everyone here knows that you're one of the best people out there, and all that you've done. We're heading to the StarTower. It's a relic, Aile found a way inside it a few years ago, but it's one of the safest places on earth."
"I can't wait." I mumbled.
Ashe opened her mouth to say something, but closed it before she said anything. She stepped back and looked away, "I'm sorry we didn't tell you."
I looked away, "Just leave me alone..." I felt betrayed.
"We'll be at the Tower in less than two hours. I'm sorry, I really am Orion."
I looked away, and remained silent. I saw the rising sun. Then I saw it.
A huge spike like structure that stretched upwards farther than I could see. It was wider than all of Legion. on it's outside it was jet black, with pinpoints of white speckled about.
I completely zoned out...
PoV change to Aile
I looked out the door to the ships deck, Orion was standing and starring at the StarTower. "It's amazing the first time you look at it, isn't it?" I asked him.
"Yea..." He said only half paying attention.
"Ashe told me that you were really mad, but I don't see that in you now."
"I seem to calm down when I'm looking at amazing things, this is no exception."
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you before... I thought it would be better not to..."
"Don't worry about it, I'm over it, after all this must be the StarTower, so you can't be taking me to Legion."
"Want to come inside, it's a little chilly out here." I said shivering.
"I can't tell, my suit must have some kind of internal heating unit." He shrugged, "But I'd like to come in." He smiled.
I let him in first, then followed. "I'm sure you'll find a way home soon, the StarTower's the best place to look too, we've only explored a tiny fraction of the place."
"O.K." he said solemnly, "I just want to get home soon."
"We'll stay there for a few days, but after that, you're on you're own if you stay."
Orion smiled weakly, "Thanks."
Chapter 11.8: Entering the StarTower
Point of View: Orion
I was in one of the lower hallways when Aile's voice boomed over the intercom system, "I want every one to be ready for ultra-low pressure conditions."
My suit closed it's helmet unit.
/Sealing_
/Suit repair at 95%
/Suit repair matrix offline_
/Checking seal integrity_
/Seal integrity 79%_
I heard the airship moan
/Deploying Nano-repair system_
I waited several minutes with the ship moaning around me.
/Nano-repair complete_
/Seal integrity 99.99%
"Prepare for decompression in..." I heard a pop from one of the outer doors, it transformed into a roar as air rushed through a hole in one of the exterior doors.
My suit displayed a pressure gauge it started at 14 PSI but as I watched it it quickly decreased to 3 PSI
Aile's voice was barely audible, "All units switch to radio for communication."
My suit automatically switched to the local frequency. I only heard what the people around me were saying. My pressure gauge read 0.3 PSI at that point, we were on the very fringe of space.
"We are at maximum operational altitude, any higher and the engine system becomes totally useless." Ashe said over the radio as she walked up.
I looked at her, she was in a pressure suit, a big and bulky suit. "You look comfortable." I said, teasingly.
She laughed dryly, "Very funny. I envy you, I have to have this bulky junk on, while you have a decent looking suit. You know where I can get a suit like that?
"Trust me, you don't want one."
"I think Aile and myself want some."
"So how are we going to get inside the Tower?"
"I've never been on it myself, but Aile's told me that there are what look like docking platforms inside it. I think we're going to land on one of them."
"Attention all Guardians, we are now entering the Tower." Aile said, "Prepare for departure, we'll be landing soon."
I walked to one of the nearby hangars, there was easily thirty people inside, none of them with pressure suits on.
"I get it, a Reploid is a robotic entity..." The Guardian Base shook as it hit a hard surface…
Chapter 11.9: The StarTower's Biggest Secret
PoV: Orion
The hangar door swung down and everyone in the room walked onto the platform on the outside, I could tell they had been here before.
"Orion, wait there, I'm on my way down to you." Aile said over the radio.
I walked to the threshold and stopped. I was waiting for no more than three minutes before Aile, in a pressure suit similar to Ashes, walked up. "You wanted me to wait?"
"Yes, follow me." She said walking down the ramp onto the deck below. "There are some rooms that we can't get into, and some that have writing we can't understand."
"And you want me to take a look for you."
"Yes."
We walked to the internal structure, a door being the first thing we saw on the long smooth grey surface. Aile walked up to it, nothing happened. "What's in there?"
"We don't know, one or two other doors on the outside open for anyone, but this one won't open for anyone in the Guardians."
I took a step forward. "Orion Vector Crossac, Access Code Alpha Prometheus Omega."
"Voice analysis complete, match. Confirmation required, what is the gravimetric force at the top of the StarTower if there is a BM-Field in place?"
"Infinite, BM-Fields create a gravity sink of no possible limit."
"And the outcome in this situation is?"
"Total collapse of all matter in 3.4 kilometers, just outside the BM-FG projection range."
"Identity confirmed."
The door hissed open. "What's a BM-Field?"
"I have no clue, it was the first thing that popped into my head..."
I walked into the room, it was small, definitely not the size of the internal pillar. "I thought that there would be more in here."
I looked at the far side of the room, there was an inactive computer monitor, I walked over to it. As I got closer to it it began to hum to life, "I think there's more in this room than you think. With a computer, we can get access to the Tower's internal structure."
"So..."
"I can access blueprints, control systems, energy readouts, you name it." I walked over to the monitor and looked for some kind of interface device.
"Potential User Detected, Activating Input System." Green Slides appeared around me. "Please input desired operation."
My hands fell right onto the slides, I knew how to use them from when I had Omegastyle. "Blueprints, coming right up." I entered a request for the blueprints. A large 3D hologram appeared in the center of the room, as well as on the screen in front of me. Something caught my eye, I zoomed in on it, and laughed.
"What is it?" Aile asked apparently not able to read the text in front of her.
"It's like this place was built for this purpose. I'm trying to get home, on the top of the Tower is a system called the MegaCollider. It's a Time-Space tunneler."
"In simple words Orion!"
"A time machine. Simple as it gets."
Aile was silent.
"It's only been used once before. By me apparently."
"Wait... What?"
"I'll tell you another day, once I've done it."
"Auto Launching TiView System." Another screen appeared in the room. On it was a picture of Cyber City. It looked more like a battle field than a city though. The only building that was untouched was Omega Tech Tower. Apparently it had been finished in my absence. All I saw was small dots with things flying between them. I looked in shock. Then that shock quickly changed to rage as the picture zoomed in on a figure. My dark side, Dark Orion.
"That ass will pay this time!" I roared. Then I looked at Aile, "I'm going to need your help."
"What?"
"That's my other side, my polar opposite. He makes Armageddon look like a child. And he's messing with the past. If he continues, I'm not sure this will ever even exist."
"What do you need?" Aile said with uncalled for determination.
"I need you and the rest of the Guardians to help me fight him, and his apparent army."
"… I'm not sure I can do that..."
"History is at stake! The fabric of this UNIVERSE is at stake!"
Aile blinked a few times before the message sunk in, "Oh God... I really have no choice do I?"
"Not much it's fight, or never exist." I looked at the blueprint again. "There's an armory 1200 feet above us, and a testing range only 100 feet above that."
"We're already at the maximum altitude for the airship. We can't get any higher."
"I have climate control here, I'm going to equalize all of the Tower's atmosphere at 2000 feet." I entered the data for that change. Air hissed into the room, and into the rest of the Tower, at a rate that was fast but not fast enough to cause anyone to get the Bens. "The MegaCollider is almost 100 miles above us, and it must remain in a vacumm." I looked at the blueprint again. "There's a modification hangar for an Airship on the same level as the armory. It's automated."
"Isn't this all a little convenient?"
"It is, but let's take it for granted for now."
I stepped away from the Slides, they disappeared.
"Lets get going"
Time Change +0:10:32
I looked into the armory in awe. "We'll need all of it."
There was a screen near by listing what was in the massive room. The list was extensive, but what interested me the most was a weapon called the g-Sink Cannon, there was only one in the room. I walked past the Guardians that were hauling weapons into the bay a little ways away, to the asile that had the g-Sink in it. It was at the far end of the hall, with caution paint on the floor and a security field around it. The weapon itself was almost six meters long, extremely large, and very heavy looking. It was not a single man weapon by any means, it even had it's own transport sled.
I saw a Guardian pass the aisle. "Hey, you, come here."
He looked at me for a second, "Me, sir?"
"Yes, are you good with cannons?"
"I'm one of the gunners, yes. Why?"
I deactivated the security field. "I want you to connect this to the front cannon mount, it's a... little more powerful than what's there now."
He looked at me, and then at the g-Sink. "Yes, Sir!" He said grinning. I helped him haul it to the currently under-reconstruction Guardian Base. He took it from there.
I returned to the armory to look for a weapon to use personally. I saw Vent along the way with a particularly large gun on his shoulder. I tried to get his attention, but I couldn't. I stopped trying to get his attention and continued toward the armory. Only the very back to the place had yet to be moved out to the airship. I hurried to the back of the room and searched for a weapon for myself. In the back of the armory I found what I was looking for. It was called the t-Sink. It was a handgun, but it had that power of a small bomb.
"All Guardians, the upgrades on the Base are almost complete. I want everyone onboard soon." Aile said over the radio.
I smiled as I walked to the Airship. I was ready for a little taste of revenge.
Time Change +1:13:53
There was no pressure this high up. We came to the very top of the tower.
"Holy crap!" Someone said aloud when we saw the MegaCollider. It was made up of simply three huge rings, none of them were touching anything.
I was shocked at it's sear size.
"It's got to be, atleast thirty kilometers long..."
I didn't care.
/Interface Detected, Handshaking_
/Handshake Accepted._
/Prepairing for Operation_
"Get inside the center ring, that's where we need to be." I said firmly
Aile nodded at the navigator.
"Got it, I'll get us there."
The ship shot forward. The rings began to spin. We got into the center before they finished their first rotation.
/System Online.
The rings span up to the point that they were a mere blur.
/Executing Temporal Shift.
About two hundred meters away from the ship a black pit appeared. It expanded and engulfed the Guardian Base.