CHAPTER 21: MAN AND MACHINE
Alpha opened fire on Ukai and his men without another word. Ukai managed to jump up and grab onto the large cables on the roof and crawled away as if he was in his natural habitat. As for his men, not so lucky as Alpha's lasers tore right through them without effort, ending the small group of troops. Ukai jumped down and ran back out into the hall with a roar to rally the rest of his men.
"Mission started: drive Ukai and his men out of the base." Alpha said in affirmative tone.
"Sounds like a damn good plan to me." Knulgen said with a crazed smile.
"Guys it's me Jeremie, Alpha and me will fight Ukai's men away. He will be more then enough to handle them now that this new program is unlocked, Alpha has more access to his abilities." Jeremie's disembodied voice said.
"Alright then guys, let's help drive out his men." Z said as he cocked his borrowed assault rifle.
Alpha walked out the room with his laser guns ready with the gang behind them. They walked up to the fourteenth floor to continue looking for Ukai and his men. There was an eerie calm as they all slowly walked the halls of the abandoned base. They turned a corner into a much larger hallway.
"There they are! Open fire!" One of Ukai's troops shouted as the hall was filled with bullets. Thankfully Alpha was in front of them and the gangs quick reaction managed to make them take cover back in the halls and out of the enemies bullets. The bullets clinked off Alpha's armor without even making a scratch as he charged both his laser guns and blasted two big long lasers at the rows of enemy troops causing a huge explosion, killing or injuring them all.
"Wonderful, fifteen down, less then three hundred to go." Leadonus said. Suddenly three men with combat machetes jumped out but Lea thankfully struck them down with his scythe without effort before the rest could even take notice. "Three more down." He said without a change in his tone.
"Ukai and his men will loose moral if we keep at this pace." Ralfaius said as he twirled his sais.
"Sensors show that more of his men are up through out the levels. I have hacked into their radio frequency, they are now pulling out the big guns and Ukai even authorized deadly force on you all except Aelita." Alpha said to them.
"Xana must really want you bad Aelita, and I doubt it's because he likes you." Sam said to her.
"That's pretty much half the story of my life since I left Lyoko." Aelita replied.
"We can tell stories about Lyoko later. Right now I need to get my fight on!" Knulgen shouted as he ran out from the hall they were hiding in and away from the gang on his own as he jumped over the corpses of Alpha's targets.
"No Knulgen! We need to fight them together!" Kairaree shouted to him, but he was already gone.
"That lunatic is going to get himself killed one day. Or worst, all of us." Bel'la said, shaking her head in shame at him.
"My echo scans show that he is running towards a large group of enemy troops. If we hurry, we might catch up to him." Alpha said as he began to lead them.
"He's right guy's, let's move." Jeremie's voice said as they all began to follow.
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Knulgen ran down the halls with a wide grin as he looked for Ukai's men. He then found five with dual combat machetes. They spotted him and went after him. Knulgen blocked the first ones blade before kicking him away and slashing him across the chest killing him. The other two tried to get him from behind, but Knulgen ducked down and rolled, then kicked their blades out of their hands in a break dance style as he jumped back up and sliced them down. The other one came from behind him but he turned his blade backwards and got him in the chest without even turning around as the enemy troop fell back dead.
"Now just one more." Knulgen said to himself as he turned and saw him, but the troop ran away. "Hey come back here and die like the rest of your buddies." Knulgen shouted as he ran after him.
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The gang caught up and saw Knulgen's handy work of the dead men at their feet. "Well we know that Knulgen was here. So he can't be too far." Eli'ton said as he looked around.
"Yyyeeehhhhaaaa!" The gang heard Knulgen shouting down the hall.
"Found him..." The gang said at once.
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Knulgen was gaining on the enemy troop as they got further down the hall. He finally got close enough as he jumped and sliced the man across his back and fell to the ground dead. Knulgen stood over his kill before turning to see twenty more troops aiming at him. They opened fire as Knulgen quickly jumped back into the hall, but he knew that they we're going to come after him.
The gang heard the gunshots and went to investigate. They soon found Knulgen and a hail of bullets coming in his direction. They took cover in the many connecting halls as Ukai's troops began to make their way to them while still firing.
"Hey there Knulgen, made some new friends I see." Yumi said with a sarcastic tone.
Odd and Sam were in one part of a hallway alone as the enemy troops continued to fire down the halls. Unknown to the two, a troop came out from the dark and grabbed Sam from behind, holding her in his arms in a very strong grip.
"Odd, help!" Sam called out to him.
Odd turned and instinctively took his purple bow and draw it with an arrow, aiming right at the tall mans head. "Let her go now!" Odd demanded as a small growl came from his throat.
"Dammit..." The man said through his helmet, waiting for Odd's arrow. But Odd just stood there with his arms shaking as the arrow began to slip from it's position. "Are you kidding me? What good is carrying around a weapon if your not going to use it kitty? Well that's your mistake, you can watch your little friend die." He shouted as Odd accidentally dropped the arrow and it hit the floor.
Sam then managed to free her arm and grab her blunt tonfa and hold it by the handle and hit him in the stomach with the long part and made him drop her. As he let her go and grip his stomach in pain, Sam then turned and hit him upside the head with the other end of her tonfa as the man fell to the ground unconscious.
"I'll show you what good my weapon is when I use it on you, you bastard!" Sam shouted with tears in her eyes as she flipped him over and pulled out her bladed tonfa and held it over his neck and began to bring it down.
"Sam! No!" Odd shouted, but Sam thankfully stopped just in time as a few of her tears hit the ground.
"I- I can't do it." She said as she removed her blade and put it back in her back sheath.
"It's alright Sam, I couldn't do it either, but you're safe now." Odd said as he ran over to where she was and helped her up.
"Thank you Odd. Now let's help our friends." Sam replied with a smile. The others didn't even notice what happened with Sam and Odd since they were farther from the others and in their own hallways and the sound of gunfire from the enemy troops drowned out their struggle.
Odd stood there looking at the unconscious man as he picked up his arrow and looked at his claw gauntlets. "Would I have really done it if I could?" He said to himself before joining the rest.
Z was behind a crate and firing from cover before he loaded a fresh clip from his belt. He ejected the old one onto a small pile of empty clips and shells. Ha managed to kill a few but the troops military armor did what it did, and protected them from his gun. "Damn, I'm not use to fighting in small halls, we need to change tactics." Z said after another round of cover fire.
"I concur. Initiate full battle mode." Alpha said as he came out from his hallway cover. He began to fire away and mow down the enemy troops, some managed to get away just in time before being killed. Suddenly a door not far from them was blown off as two men with miniguns came out and charged up they're guns. They fired at Alpha at the same time, but the large robot didn't even seemed to be bothered by the storm of bullets.
"Time to acquire those weapons." Alpha said as he charged towards them with the sound of his heavy footsteps stomping. Alpha reached the freaked out guards and grabbed both of them by the heads, making them stop firing and bashed their helmeted heads together, knocking them out cold. Alpha then took off the bullet container packs and slung them onto his back, then picked up both guns by the trigger handles without even have to hold the other handles. "Weapons acquired."
"Good idea, Alpha, those guns have over five thousand rounds. It will defiantly keep them back." Z said as he took some ammo from the fallen enemies.
"How many more do we need to take out before Ukai and his men retreat?" Miodelus asked.
"We'll kill them all if we have to." Aracane answered with his ax ready.
"More enemy targets in route, I will clear a path." Alpha said. He then lead them the way again until they approached a sealed door. Alpha opened fire with his miniguns on the door. The bullets tore into the sealed door where the enemies were behind. The door was torn to pieces by the bullets until Alpha charged and rammed right through it and opened fire on the enemy troops as they fell victim to the guns. Finally the guns were out and Alpha threw them aside and began to attack the remaining enemies in the large room with his laser guns.
"Don't hog all the fun Alpha, save some for us." Knulgen shouted as he ran into the large room and swung away with his sword at the enemies.
"I see no fun going on right now. And what does a hog have to do with this?" Alpha asked as he held an enemy troop by the neck.
"We really got a lot to teach you, Al." Kairaree said as she threw two of her daggers and then used her chain weapon to entangle a few in her chain then used the sickle like part to finish them off.
The rest came in ready for battle. Aracane was fighting several with combat issued hand axes, but the musclebound Unracanid fought them without effort as his battle axe was way to strong. The four Aquariora brothers charged in with their own group of enemies as Leadonus and Deotalus attacked with their scythe and trident while Ralfaius and Miodelus took out their targets at close range with their sais and bladed nunchakus.
The twins as usual work hand in hand as Bel'la practically danced with her glaive as her really long light blue hair flew with her movements. Eli'ton blocked and countered with his arm blades and delivered fatal blows to the enemies since his full body armor was far too strong against their armor.
The way how Z fought was straight out of an action movie as he used one of his main handgun and a long combat knife to both disarm and kill as more and more troops tried to gang up on him. But thanks to his highly tuned reflexes, he finished them off with deadly and precise shots.
After the enemies he was fighting were dead, he lowered his guard for only a moment before another jumped at him with a long combat machete that has a big body and no point, and struck at Z. But Z quickly turned just in time and blocked with his left arm, making a loud clink noise and confusing the troop as Z quickly reacted and took the big machete out of his hands and struck a killing blow. "Looks like I got a new weapon." Z said to himself as he twirled the handle in his hand a few times.
Jack did fine on his own and with the power of the Excalion and Bishop's great training, Jack made short work of them as his massive sword cut them down with ease.
The Earth born members stayed close and fought the enemy troops off by hitting them in very painful places and even inflicted a few cuts on them to chase them off. More men came into the large room and the last few had rocket launchers. "Take the robot down first!" One of them shouted as they aimed at Alpha and fired.
Alpha's sensors locked on the rockets trajectory by creating a timed path from his point of view and intercepted the rocket by catching it by the long end. The rocket continued to expel it's rocket fuel until it was out, barely making Alpha's arm move. The troops panicked and fired again but Alpha managed to intercept again with his other hand. Alpha then threw both rockets with enough force to make the heads detonate right next to the enemy troops, blowing them all away.
"I'm really glad we have you on our side Alpha, if we we're fighting you, we might not have stood a chance." Jeremie said to him as he observed Alpha's fighting through his robotic eyes.
"Even though I don't have a full analysis on all of your friends fighting abilities. My sensors show that your armed friends would only have a 5.8% of being able to defeat me with the current weapons you all wield." Alpha said as he looked over his analysis. "Although, scans also show that your armed friends ability to defeat the enemy troops, despite their military level weapons and training, your friends have a 96.3% of defeating them without my help." Alpha said, finishing his analysis.
"Umm,that's good to know, I guess." Jeremie replied.
"If you are done going over each others notes, we need to keep moving." Knulgen said as he walked up to them.
"And we also don't need to charge into enemy lines without thinking either Knulgen!" Ulrich almost yelled at him.
"We can yell at Knulgen for being a reckless bastard later. I'm sure more are coming our way." Aracane said as he wiped the blood off his axes heads.
"Good, my sais don't get used this much."Ralfaius added as he twirled his sais by the rings under the prong side of his weapons.
"There are more on the third level. My scans also show that the one called Ukai is up there. We need to end this now if we are going to continue looking for Xana." Alpha said.
"We will lead the charge, you guys just stay close and Alpha and me will do the heavy lifting." Jeremie said to them.
"I don't think I'm ever going to get use to your voice coming out of nowhere Jeremie." Ulrich said.
"Jeremie's voice is not coming out of nowhere. His voice is transmitting from my speech synthesizer, but I don't need to move my mouth when he talks." Alpha corrected.
"Do you have to correct us on everything?" Sam asked, but Alpha simply tilted his head.
The gang began to make their way back up through the many levels until they were on the third level, knowing that Ukai and his men were waiting for them all. Alpha stood in front of the others since his sensors detected that the troops had they're assault rifles ready as they all made their way to the large room where the enemies stood ready for them.
"So what's the plan guys? There's way too many of them to fight head on." Eli'ton said as he peeked over from the hall that they were in. The room Ukai and his men were in was very large, it seemed to be some kind of main room with an open top that goes all the way up to the second level with more troops ready to fight.
"I will attack first, their weapons are not strong enough to damage my armor anyway. So it only makes sense that I attack first." Alpha said as he began to walk out into the room.
"But Alpha, you don't need to do this just because-" Aelita tried to say but.
"I know what your thinking Aelita, but I am doing this because I want to, not because it's the logical choice. I make my own decisions." Alpha replied as he looked over to her before heading into the room.
Alpha stormed in without even giving the enemy troops a chance to react as he the eight foot red robot blasted away with his lasers guns and blasted down the rows of enemies. Just then, Alpha's large shoulders opened at the top as two turret like laser guns came out and started blasting at the same pace to the enemies at the top which either fell from the third level to the fourth, or just fell back dead.
About a few dozen were taken down before the rest of the gang charged in as Z fired away with his assault rifle at the distracted troops. Aracane and Knulgen were once again competing on how many the other could take down as they attacked a group with combat machetes while the Surfane brothers fought at their own pace against another group.
Kairaree fought with grace as her chain flew and her dagger sliced away, hitting in the most deadliest locations. Jack was surrounded as he held his sword up, ready to swing as they got closer until Jack summoned some of his power and the blade of the Excalion glowed white and Jack did a powerful spin around swing and killed all the men that surrounded him as they fell to the floor with blood pouring out of their wounds.
Bel'la and Eli'ton still were unmatched as they fought together as if they were one, as troop after troop fell to their weapons. The Earth born gang stayed at the doorway as they kept watch over the others.
"Retreat! Retreat now!" A higher ranking solider shouted as the rest that was still alive began to run out.
"No! Stay and fight you cowards! Do not let a bunch of teens and a rusty robot scare you off!" Ukai shouted to his men from the third level rails, but they didn't even listen as more then half their numbers were taken out, they have lost the will to fight.
"It's over Ukai. It is meaningless to continue fighting. Retreat with whatever amount of men you have left." Alpha said to him as he retracted his guns. Ukai growled with pure rage as he jump down and landed on his three clawed feet without a problem and ran after Alpha.
"I'll show you a meaningless fight when I kill all your friends!" Ukai roared as he got in his four legged position and charged. Ukai leaped and was about to claw away, but Alpha caught him and locked their fingers as Ukai landed on the ground. They stood there with their hands locked, their palms held up as they stared at each other. Ukai with pure hate in his eyes while Alpha's lenses even slanted to show frustration at him.
Alpha then knew it was time to end this battle as he increased his strength and bend Ukai's hands back and made Ukai kneel with a pained groan as he tightened his grip on the beast. Alpha then pushed away Ukai's right hand and a gray blade with a red glow all around the double bladed high tech melee weapon came out of Alpha's top part of his wrist and slashed a huge gash across Ukai's chest, leaving a burning cut as Ukai roared in pain. Alpha then released Ukai's other hand and made a new weapon come out. The barrel was shorter but had a larger opening. The weapon charged and fired a big blast of laser like a shotgun and made Ukai fly back all the way to the end of the room, hitting and indenting the wall and fell to the floor unconscious.
Ukai had a huge burn on top of the large cut and wasn't even moving as six troops came and lifted him up. Two of them took an arm each and two more got under his chest and the final two picked up his legs and ran off slowly with Ukai still unconscious. The rest of the enemy troops finally abandoned the old base. The gang gave chase and followed them all the way up the last two levels and all the way out the large door to make sure the troops were all gone as most of the gang stood outside and watched as the troops jump into the moving trucks, leaving only one since their numbers were cut down to less then half. The gang and their new warrior have won the day.
The gang cheered and celebrated except for, Z, who just stood there with a quiet demeanor. "We did it guys! Fuck those bastards!" Knulgen cheered and flipped his middle finger in the direction of the fleeing enemies.
"We did it guys. We drove them off, and we did it as a team." Kairaree said as she sheathed her dagger and put the chain weapon back in her satchel.
"We have made our ancestors proud guys." Jack added as he 'sheathed' his sword on his back which just seemed to stick to his back.
"Okay guys, now we may have won, but since it's getting late, we might as well sleep in here tonight and get started in the morning. So some of us need to try and clean out the bodies while some of us go get our packs in the forest before nightfall." Z said to keep them focused.
"My brothers and I will go get the backpacks while the rest of you get started." Leadonus said as he and his brothers silently agreed and began to head back to the forest.
"I'll give them a hand guys, that base was getting stuffy for me anyway." Odd said as he followed the Aquariora brothers.
"Then let's get back inside and begin the tedious work of body handling." Aracane said.
"Wait a minute. Have you guys forgotten? Jeremie is still inside Alpha. How are we gonna-" Sam said, pointing to their new robot friend before he interrupted.
"I will let him out of my system now." Alpha said as his chest plates opened and the core in his chest glowed and in a flash, Jeremie was materialized right in front of them. He wobbled a little as Yumi and Ulrich came to help him keep his balance.
"It's going to take me some time to get used to that." Jeremie said as he rubbed his head to shake off the dizziness.
"You will be fine, the materialize interface program has no long or short term effects, and I will continue to monitor your vitals as a precaution." Alpha assured him.
"Then let's get going before the bodies start stinking up the joint." Eli'ton said as he flipped his helmet opened and off since he doesn't need it anymore right now.
Before Aelita and Jeremie got back in, she stopped him to ask him a question. "Jeremie, I know your still not really feeling good, but what does this gesture that Knulgen made mean?" Aelita asked as she held out her middle finger the same way Knulgen did.
"I'll...tell you later Aelita, just please don't go around doing that in public." Jeremie said as he quickly went inside.
As the gang went inside and headed to the third level to begin the clean up, something suddenly caught their attention. "My sensors are picking up a sudden increase in heat in various places." Alpha alerted them.
"You can sense the heat, but I smell something burning." William said as he pinched his nose.
"It smells like...it smells like burning flesh." Aracane said as everyone picked up the pace and ran into the big double level room and what they saw shocked them all.
"Hey guys, what's going on?" Miodelus said as he and his brothers and Odd came in with the backpacks.
"What is going on?!" Leadonus shouted.
In the room with the dead enemy troops bodies were burning with a deep red that didn't even spread anywhere else. The bodies continued to burn until the bodies were nothing but a pile of ashes in the shape the dead troops where they laid. The fire died down and all evidence of them destroyed.
Deotalus put down a few of the backpacks he was carrying and walked over to a nearby body and grabbed his trident. He slowly poked the body and it crumbled a little as the ashes gently scattered.
"Son of a bitch. I've heard of this, but I never thought it was actually real." Z said as he took a closer look.
"You've heard of this? What is it? What caused their bodies to burn?" Ralfaius asked.
"These guys are wearing a Thermite Detonation Suit, or T.D.S. It's a layer of clothing that's like a vest, but they wear it under their military clothes. It has a devise that is either linked up to their heartbeats or a remote trigger, and when they die it must go off after awhile." Z explained to them.
"And what's the point of it? Why burn the bodies like this?" Miodelus asked.
"It's because it's made with thermite and mixed with several other oxides to have it burn at a high temperature, but not burst out of control in a blaze of fire. And as for why, it's to destroy any trace of both the person and anything they would have that would lead back to where ever they came from." Deotalus jumped in since he heard of the T.D.S too.
"In other words, leading back to Xana and where ever he's hiding." Aelita said as she looked in disgust at the ashed bodies.
"Well look at it this way guys. We don't need to clean up after all." Bel'la said, knowing there was no point in talking about it anymore.
"Then in that case, let's head back to the cafeteria so we can dig around for any leftover canned food." Odd said as he began to head that way.
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The gang found the cafeteria again after passing a few ash piles of bodies and went into the cafeteria. As expected, the room was just as beat up and worn out with the tables either turned over or broken and the trays were all over the place or smashed, and the silverware all rusted and old. They then began to search the canned food which it's labels were long since worn and rotted away so they pretty much had to take a chance with what they could eat.
Alpha took the liberty to scan the food inside to make sure if it really was safe to eat since it was sitting there for over sixty years. "Hey guys, what do you think is in this room?" Odd asked as he walked over to a large fridge door.
"Wait Odd, don't open that door!" Z shouted, but it was too late as Odd opened it and the many decades old smell of long rotted away meat and vegetables came wafting out after being trapped for over six decades before Odd slammed it shut and almost threw-up from the smell.
"That's twice in one day that I got blasted by a horrible stink." Odd said as he locked the door as a precaution against the smell.
"Well you know what they say Odd. Curiosity killed the cat." Yumi joked.
"Odd is not a cat. He is a sentient species known as Catashires." Alpha corrected, not understanding Yumi's joke.
"Sentient may be too strong of a word for Odd." Ulrich teased and Odd turned to him and made a small growl at him.
"Okay break it up before we have another fight." Aelita said as she walked over to Alpha. "So Alpha, want to try to join us again now that Ukai and his men are gone?" Aelita asked as she held up the amulet to him.
"Yes I would like to try again. I think I have much more clarity now." Alpha took the amulet and held it up to him. "I am Alpha, and I swear to join my friends to destroy Xana." Alpha said as he held the amulet. The amulets orb began to glow and then flash very bright until the gems on it all glowed and in a flash, the arrow was gone and the orb only gave off a faint glow.
"So now that all the warriors have been found, what do we do from here on?" William asked.
"I guess we will have to wait for Guardian Warrior and see what he has to say." Jeremie said as he sat down on a old table.
"Well while we're waiting for him, I'm going up to check out that truck. We can get around much better for awhile and avoid any trouble. Alpha, come with me and use your scanners to check for any tracking devices or worst, a self-destruct system." Z said as began to walk to the surface.
"Affirmative, the truck would be a great means of transportation until we can find Xana." Alpha replied as he began to follow Z.
"So guys, now that we have a big bad, and totally awesome battle robot. How are we gonna get around with him? It's not like he could just walk into public like the rest of us. The people are used to seeing wondering warriors, but I doubt eight foot robots." Odd asked the group in hopes of an answer.
"You know Odd, I've actually thought of that and I think I might have a solution. I just need to find a workshop and use a bench." Deotalus said as he was coming up with a plan.
"You mean like the crafting tables in my games Deo? What do you got in mind?" Miodelus asked with excitement.
"Me and Deo will go to the workshop, I think I know what he's up to. But we're gonna need a lot of tarp or some other kind of thick cloth or leather." Jeremie said as both the smart members of the group headed to a nearby workshop.
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"I have completed my scans. And I have come to the conclusion that the truck is completely safe to use and has no dangerous devices in it, or any form of tracking devices as well." Alpha said as the blue scanning light that covered the truck projected from a device that came from the side of his head fade away.
"Good, and those idiots even left the keys in the dashboard." Z said as he twirled the keys in his fingers. "It even has a battery cell at almost full power. We can find a fueling station after we get out of these woods some time in the morning." He continued as he locked the door and shut it.
"Z, if I may ask? When I did a scan on you all, I couldn't help but notice that both your-"Alpha tried to say.
"I would appreciate it if you keep it to yourself and not tell the others." Z interrupted Alpha. "I know I can't keep it a secret from them forever. But the thing is, people aren't really comfortable around people in my condition. I thought my cover would have been blown when that guy tried to attack me with that big machete, but thankfully I finished him off before anybody noticed." Z said as he pulled out his new weapon and gave a few swings before putting the big but short weapon back in the sheath.
"I understand. I won't even tell Jeremie. Anyway, now that the truck has been shown to be safe, let's head back in and as you say, call it a night." Alpha said as they began to head back inside.
The two found the others not long after getting back in with Ulrich to greet them. "Hey Alpha, Deo and Jeremie are in the workshop down the hall. They have nice surprise for you." Ulrich said to him. Alpha simply tilted his head in curiosity as he then walked down the hall.
His audio sensors picked up a loud hammering noise as he walked into the room with the word, 'workshop' over the entrance that was faded off, but could still make out the inlet words. He saw Deo hammering on a bench with a pile of scrap metal next to him and Jeremie standing right next to him with a long thick cloth like item that was a very dark sand color and he seemed to be sewing it with a very large needle and steel cable.
"I can't believe we found all this stuff lying around. We could practically rebuild the base with this stuff." Jeremie said to Deo.
"Indeed, they really must have abandoned this place in a hurry and only took the research stuff and left the other things to rot." Deotalus replied as he stopped hammering and put his goggles over his eyes and picked up a hand-held blowtorch and turned it on.
"Jeremie, Deotalus. Is there something you two wanted to give me?" Alpha asked as he walked closer to them.
"Just wait a few more minutes, we're almost finished Alpha." Deo said as he began to use the blowtorch on whatever the two were working on. Sparks flew up in the air as Deo wielded whatever it was the two were working on. After a few minutes Deo turned it off and him and Jeremie began to work together as Jeremie brought the long thick cloth closer and Deo began to combine what they were making.
Jeremie and Deotalus turned around and both gave him a small smile and Alpha simply tilt his head to the unfamiliar gestures. "Alpha, we figured you won't be able to just walk around in towns and city's. And we also figured it wouldn't be fair for you to just stay out of site." Deotalus started.
"So we made you something that would allow you to go around without drawing much attention." Jeremie finished as the two walked aside and revealed what they were making for the big bot.
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"Where the hell are those three? It's been over half an hour." Knulgen said to the group. The gang had found a rec room to sleep in for the night with enough couches to go around, and they even found a few cots and a pool table with a few cues and even all the balls. Ulrich and Odd were playing and Ulrich was beating Odd without effort as he pocketed another one of his solids while Odd twitched his tail in anger.
"What I want to know is, what are those two working on anyway?" Aracane asked as he finished cleaning his ax on the couch he was sitting on.
"Why don't we show you guys." Deotalus said as him and Jeremie came into the room with the others.
"Where's Alpha? I thought he was with you two?" Aelita asked.
"He's right in the hall. Come on in Alpha." Jeremie said as Alpha walked in and surprised the gang.
Alpha was wearing the long heavy cloth worn like a robe that covered his entire body and even had sleeves that went over his fingers with a simply made mask with rectangular eye holes, and the mask was a simple dark gray and didn't draw much attention.
"That's pretty cool guys. With Alpha wearing that, we can get around better." Odd said as Ulrich pocketed the black eight ball and winning the game.
"I calculate that as long as we don't draw attention to us, we will be fine when I wear this." Alpha said as he took the mask and robe off in one motion since it was made to unfurl in various locations.
"At least now we won't have to worry about people freaking out about a eight foot robot stomping around." Yumi added.
The gang then began to settle in for the night after their long battle. They got a fire going in a barrel with scraps of old wood and moldy papers and other burnable stuff and put it under a large vent for the smoke to vent out, and they even found some large water cooler bottles that were surprisingly in perfect condition since it was nice to have some clean drinking water after a heavy fight.
As the night got late, the gang began to tell Alpha and the others some more stories of their life on Earth, and their days at Kadic Academy as they ate from the old canned food. Just then Alpha seemed to perk up and look around the room, catching the others attention.
"Anomaly detected. High levels of unknown energy centered in this room." Alpha alerted with a ready for a fight tone. As Alpha finished, a bright flash of light shined in the room and the familiar ethereal being appeared before the gang and they're new member.
"You did it. You all did it! You have found the last warrior and thus completed the circle. The pieces are in place and soon the battles with Xana draw near." GW said to the group with pride.
"You are the one know as Guardian Warrior. My scans show that you give off a very powerful energy signature like the amulet. You are defiantly not from this universe." Alpha said to him.
"That is true Alpha, my kind do not live within this realm. But that doesn't make me any less of a person like you Alpha. Even now I can sense your soul radiating within you." GW said as he placed a hand on his chest that is over his core.
"It's nice to see you again GW, but we have to ask. How did Alpha even get a soul in him, and better yet, who built him?" Jeremie asked, hoping to get some answers.
"I sorry Jeremie, but even we don't know every little thing that goes on in the universe, it's to keep from spoiling all surprises." GW replied to him.
"We may not know who built me, but I have long since completed my analysis from the mainframe. Most of the data has been copied and removed, but I was able to retrieve the deleted data and came across the person who worked in the lab that I was found in." Alpha said as slot opened on his forehead and a lenses like device poked out and a light shined out, and created an image of a person.
"Help me, Obi-Wan Kanobi, you're my only hope." Odd said in a shrill tone that made some of his Earth born friends glare at him.
The 3D full color image was of a Unracanid with gray eyes and thin features and a slightly lighter blue skin, and short brown hair with a lab coat, but the image only went a little down his shoulders and chest since it was modeled after a picture of the man. "His name is Dargo Tralsfo. According to the mainframe, he was the lead scientist in the base. He specialized in robotics and artificial replacement limbs. In some way, he was one of the people that began the revolution in limb and organ replacements." Alpha said as Mio played with the holographic image by running his hand through it.
"Wait, you mean to tell us that your planet can replace lost limbs and organs with artificial ones?" William asked with amazement.
"Yes. Doesn't your planet?" Z asked.
"Sorta, our planet has made some strides in the artificial limbs and organs, but not so much as to put a artificial organ in someone without any special equipment or limbs that act and move on will by the person." Jeremie said.
"Well our planet has developed artificial organs that are powered the same way real organs are, and limbs that are hooked up to the very nervous system, sinew, bone, muscle, and tendons for optimal performance and can even feel like a real limb, and also have a fake skin that can match the color tone to whoever it's connected to and even has special parts that can allow the surgeons to make the limbs 'grow' in a sense if the artificial limb is on a young person as they get older." Deotalus explained to his Earth born friends since they didn't know about this.
"You know before those realistic limbs came out over two decades ago, there use to be people with all metal limbs that were much more powerful to a degree that they became illegal to have." Ralfaius added.
"Hey yeah, I've heard of those, they were called, Full Metals, and some people even managed to weaponize them with guns and blades inside." Kairaree said.
"Your right Kai. The full metal limbs were very powerful, and making them into deadly weapons was very common when people figured how to work them. Now there very hard to come by and are only found on people in more poorer reigns or people who simply can't afford better. High-grade prosthetic limbs can be a bit expensive." Deotalus informed her.
"So enough with the medical lecture, what does this have to with this guy?" Sam asked, wanting to get back on track.
"Sam is right," Alpha continued. "Dr. Tralsfo was considered ahead of his time with his research and even built some of the first artificial limb model, but most of his files have been removed from the mainframe. Even the data boards that went into the mainframe. I was only able to find a file with his name on it and the file was titled, Protocol Alpha. In other words, my name. Other then that there's nothing else I could find." Alpha said as a sad tone came out.
"But that still doesn't explain you! You are hundreds of years head of our time, if not a millennium or so. There's no way he could have built you with the technology available at the time." Leadonus said.
"Well looks like we got yet another mystery to solve guys. The case of Alpha's origins." Odd said.
"Looks like our time on this planet just got a little longer." Ulrich added.
"The origin of your new friend Alpha is defiantly an interesting case to take on. But I know that as long as you all work together, there is nothing you all can't do." GW assured them.
"Well while we're on the subject of all of us being together. What's are next step in finding Xana?" Z asked the ethereal being.
GW closed his eyes and thought for a minute before answering. "The battle with Xana draws near, but I'm afraid that it will take more then just to beat him in battle. You all must have your powers grow within you all to defeat Xana for good. And that can only be done by the journey's you will all travel together." GW said to them.
"And what about the amulet? We don't need it anymore now that we found all the warriors." Aelita said to him as she presented it to him.
GW took the amulet and looked at it. The orb didn't show the arrow anymore and was even a dull dark color. In a sense the amulet was dead. "Hmm. I think it is best you all keep the amulet. It may not be needed to find the warriors anymore, but there's far more to it then that. So take care of it and who knows, it may lead you to other things as well." GW said as he gave it back to Aelita.
Aelita took it back and put the chain back around her neck and tuck it into her top. "So if the battle with Xana is coming, what are we suppose to do then?" Knulgen asked, getting impatient of waiting to fight Xana.
"Prepare yourselves, train, help others in need. You all got the whole world to travel and many things to see and do. I wish I could assist you all in your battles, but if we solved everything, then there would simply be no point in this realms existence. Now I must leave. I will come and check in on you all every now and then." GW said.
"Take care of yourself GW, and don't worry. We managed against Xana back on Earth, and now that we are here on this planet with new friends, he's as good as done for." Ulrich said with a smile.
"Remember warriors, Xana is cruel and will do whatever it takes to stop you all and will most defiantly not hesitate to have you all killed one way or another." GW said with a stern tone.
"Nothing we all haven't handled before. Xana just better be ready for us when we find him." Odd said with a cocky tone.
"I know you all have handled many battles in your lives, and your worlds owe you all a great amount of gratitude. Now take care warriors, we will meet again in time." GW finished as he once again glowed bright and in a flash, faded away.
"So now that we don't need to search for anymore warriors, where should we all go next?" Aracane asked.
"I suggest we use the truck outside to get around for starters. I have a communicator that I use to keep in touch with my order, but I can use it to look up news about anything strange. After what happened in the city where you guys found me, I can use that as a lead." Z said to them.
"And from what you all have told me about your world so far. I can link myself to what you call the internet and use a Wi-Fi signal to look for information and anything that could point to Xana. People don't just go to stores and find the weapons and equipment like those men had." Alpha added.
"Wow Alpha, you seem to be learning how to be more interactive with making conversations already." Odd said to him with a smile.
"Well guys, I don't know about you, but I am tired and ready for bed." Eli'ton said as he picked a couch and got on it and lied down.
"Eli is right, we should call it a night and begin anew in the morning." Bel'la added as she picked a couch herself next to her brother.
The rest of the gang also agreed and took their spots through out the rec room and after some time, they all began to fall asleep with Alpha keeping watch since he didn't need to sleep. As the night went on, and the warriors whole, their adventure was only beginning.
()()()()()()()()()()
It was past midnight as a large black military like plane with propeller blades at the tips of the wings flew above a massive and deep, almost forgotten forest. Inside was a very nervous Ukai and the remaining men as they flew at an incredible speed, deeper into the forest until a massive lone mountain began to come into view. The plane didn't even slow down as they got closer to the mountain. Closer and closer they flew at the middle of the mountain until the plane seemed to phase right into the mountain.
The plane was inside the mountain, but the inside was like a modern base with men and women dressed in similar body armor. Some wore armor that was much more thicker with heavy metal plates and much bigger weapons. The women wore lighter armor but had long blades on their backs and armor designed to climb for more tactical advantages.
But the most significant notice to the place was the one known as Xana had his mark all over the place. On the planes that were in the building as well, on the armor of the troops walking around, on the doors and even walls through out the place.
The planes propellers turned upward and slowly descended to a landing pad and the door to the back of the plane opened and Ukai quickly walked out without even bothering about the remaining men that flew back with him. He walked pass the other troops who didn't even take notice to him as he walked to a special elevator and got on and the elevator and descend down.
After a few minutes the elevator stopped and open to a pitch black room. A light came on in front of him and then a long line of lights started to come on as well until it reached a part in the room and stopped with a much bigger round light at the end. Ukai stood hesitant at first before he began to make his way down the path made of light. Ukai reached the end and got down on one knee with his fist on the ground for support.
After a few minutes Ukai began to hear footsteps until he glanced up and saw Xana's eye seemingly floating around as he slowly paced around. "You've failed again to the same group of foolish teens in only two days. And what's worst, you even loss the very machine that could have strengthened my power of conquest. So explain yourself now Ukai!" Xana yelled and even made the room shake.
"Master please forgive me. I didn't know that the robot was that strong. They're more deadly then I thought. Please Xana, give me another chance to prove myself." Ukai pleaded with his head low.
"I should destroy you. All that strength and you couldn't even take them out and bring Aelita to me. And yet you expect me to give you another chance?" Xana said with disappointment.
"Oh come now Xana, don't you think you're a little hard on the beast? He didn't know that the robot was active and that dangerous." A voice call out to the two.
"I don't recall asking for your opinion. Or even summoning you, Smoketay" Xana said as his symbol burned a little brighter.
Not far from Xana and Ukai, the sound of a lighter opening was heard as a little flame was seen as the sound of a cigar burning and a deep drag before the lighter was snapped closed. A light then came on over the person that was smoking.
Like Ukai, the person was defiantly not normal. He stood over six feet tall, his face was metal like but an ash gray color with dark almost black eyes. On his head was a metallic round dome like helmet with a point at the lower back part with two prong like points at the side of his helmet like top in front of his forehead in a almost downward crescent. His body was like a full body armor like look with a number of simple gray colors. His chest and ab parts were a darker gray as well as the lower parts of his arms and legs. The rest were a number of gray colors and some black too.
His hands also looked like it a had armor like look and held the cigar in his right hand. He wore a long elegant whitish coat but didn't have his arms through the sleeves. At the collar, and sleeve ends and even the very bottom part of the coat had a thick brownish fur that made the coat look like it was made of the finest skin and fur. The last features he had was that on his shoulders was tall pipes with three stacks pointing backwards and angled to the sides that made them look like a backwards 'E', but the top parts were long and got shorter as each stack went down.
The one known as Smoketay took another drag and blew out the smoke from his mouth with some coming out of his stacks. "I think Ukai made a very important discovery today with that robot, despite the fact that it and those youngsters defeated him and his men with ease." He said with a almost snide tone as Ukai made a small growl at him.
"And what would that be Smoketay? Because the only thing I discovered was Ukai's inability to take out a bunch of teens." Xana said with his anger rising.
"I believe this will answer your question." Smoketay replied as holographic screen appeared in front of them and a video played. On the video was a recorded entry from earlier that day. It was from the helmet of the person that held Sam hostage and Odd hesitating to fire his arrow at the person. "I can tell that our Earth born enemies are unable to kill. I've even heard a similar event with the one called Yumi was faced with that moral dilemma and almost got killed in the process for hesitating." Smoketay said as the floating screen faded away.
"And why should I even bother showing interest with how weak my original enemies are in being unable to kill?" Xana asked.
"Simple, they can't bring themselves to do it, so I've took the liberty in coming up with a plan to divide our other worldly friends from the more 'experienced' members of their group." Smoketay replied with a smile.
"Go on..." Xana said, his curiosity finally caught.
"I have found five mercenary's that just happen to fight and have similar weapons like Ulrich, Yumi, Odd, Sam, and William have. They are cold-blooded, dyed in the wool killers who have been killing and fighting in whatever war or battles they please since they were even younger then your old enemies. We will draw them to a large walled fort that just happens to be over a hundred miles from the place they are now. They took it over some years ago and used it as their base and even recruited a number of assassins." Smoketay explained his plan.
"I see. They do sound like they could be reliable, and more importantly they could get rid of them once and for all." Xana said as his tone changed to a more pleased manner.
"They are some of the best in the world, their skills will be far too much for the fighting members of the Earth group. The plan will be to have them each separated and drawn to the many covered roof decks and have them killed one by one. And don't worry, I'll make sure they don't kill precious little Aelita." Smoketay said in a mocking tone about Aelita.
"Well that sounds like a nice plan Smoketay. But your forgetting one thing. They have a heavily armed battle robot you damn chain-smoking fool!" Ukai said as he got back up and almost shouted at him.
"They're followers have modern weapons as well, and from what I've seen from the video feeds, the robot won't risk hurting it's new friends as long as the assassins keep attacking in large numbers, the robot will have to fight carefully." Smoketay said as he lighted another cigar.
"I will go and assist in taking out the other members while Smoketay's mercenary's battle the Lyoko warriors my lord." Ukai said to Xana.
"No! You will stay here and and watch them finish what you couldn't do. Smoketay will contact them and transfer whatever amount the mercenary's want. By tomorrow this will end and the warriors will fall. I'm glad they have found them all so they can all die together while Aelita watches as what little she has left die at her feet!" Xana said with a manic voice as his symbol burned brighter.
()()()()()()()()()()
DAY 16
The gang awoken to find Alpha still standing guard. They took their time to get ready as Z got the truck started and the gang then loaded up in the covered back with Ulrich in the passenger seat for first shift as Z drove the truck away into the forest on the old forgotten path that was used for the base long ago. Alpha looked out the trucks back window as the base slowly faded away from his optic sensors.
"Is everything all right Alpha?" Aelita asked from her seat.
"I am fine, it's just that I have...mixed feeling, I guess the word would be. I have been in that base for a long time yet I don't have any memory's of that place I was built in." Alpha said as turned and sat back down.
"I felt the same way about Lyoko when I left it. Even though I was in danger from the monsters in Lyoko, it was still home to me for a long time." Aelita replied as she thought of Lyoko.
"Aelita's right Alpha. We've got a long journey together, so you will have plenty of time to make new and great memories together, and even one day find you a new home you can call your own." Jeremie added.
"Look at it this way Al, now you can make new memories with us, and since you're a robot we can even make video's from your memory." Odd said which made Alpha tilt his head.
"Well where ever we're heading, we will handle it together." Jack said to them.
"Hey guys, these woods go deeper then I thought, so we are going to be in here for awhile. So just settle in and take it easy." Z said as to the others in the back.
"Just to let you know, I call shotgun when Ulrich is done sitting up there." Miodelus said.
The gang laughed from Mio's joke as Z continued to drive down the forgotten dirt road while still unaware the trap they will be driving into and more importantly, a life long choice that Ulrich, Yumi, Sam, Odd, and William will soon make in their long journey and battles ahead.
END CHAPTER.