Okay, took too long to write this, but better late than never, right?
Chapter 25:Desert Base Assault
They never saw us coming. Then again, they never do.
A tall electric fence surrounded the medium-sized building, but really, how can that keep out a guy who can control lightning (and every other element, for that matter) like putty? I grabbed the netting of the front gate, unbothered by the electric jolt I had received, (Raikou and Zapdos had hit me with worse) then ripped it off it's hinges and threw it to the side, allowing the others to storm in, attacks blazing as klaxons went off.
Our mission here was simple:Destroy everything.
Anubis, Psyche, and I had searched the base with our special senses, and found that there weren't any prisoner pokemon here, so we were free to annihilate the place without restraint.
Before I continue, let me tell you a bit about Chrome Syndicate bases. They're typically in three different types. There were prison bases, where, as the name suggests, they kept pokemon prisoners for torture. Yyyeah, the members of the Chrome Syndicate mostly consists of sadists. Next, there were drone production bases, where they made dozens of drones, who were also the main defense force of said bases. Finally, there were research labs, where they did twisted experiments on pokemon for...some reason. We're not entirely sure what they're trying to figure out, because they always made absolutely sure we could never take any of their research papers or interrogate them, going so far as to set their own labs on fire and even kill themselves, the stupid zealots. There were a few other kinds of bases, but I'll tell you about those some other time, cause I'm rambling way too much as is. So much for 'a bit.'
"Nice welcome,"Anubis remarked as human soldiers filed out of the base, forming a defensive line between us and the building, then aiming their guns at us. A man walked in front of them as I walked in front of the team.
"Element Knight, you are trespassing on Chrome Syndicate property,"the man said."Evacuate your creatures from the premises immediately."
I rolled my eyes."Okay, two things, nimrod,"I said. I held up a finger."One:They're called pokemon."I held up another finger."And two:I've destroyed Chrome Syndicate property. Do you honestly think I give a damn about trespassing?"
"Oh, we know all about your destructive behavior towards us,"the man said, sounding irritated. His eyes narrowed."You're a disgrace to human beings everywhere. Aiding those...things in trying to destroy us all, and infecting yourself with their unholy energy."
"I'm a disgrace?"I asked rhetorically."I'll admit, I'm not the first one to vouch for humankind, but I've got no intention of destroying it."
"The dozens of soldiers and hundreds of robots you and you're evil friends destroyed beg to differ,"the man said coldly."You still say you're not trying to destroy all of humankind?"
"Yes,"I said flatly."The only reason we're offing your soldiers and robots is because you and your idiotic Syndicate attacked first!"
"We are carrying out God's will by wiping these creatures off the face of the Earth!"the man shot back.
"What, do you live in a cave?"I asked incredulously."Arceus is our god, you moron. Y'know, Arceus the Alpha Pokemon?"
"Blasphemy!"the man said angrily. I heard an array of clicking from the line of guns, but the man held up an arm, still glaring at me."Arceus is nothing but an unholy myth. The Devil in disguise."He snorted."Besides, even if you were speaking the truth, why would this Arceus allow us humans to roam the planet? It would have destroyed us ages ago."
"Then, by that same logic, you're 'god' would have destroyed all pokemon ages ago, too,"I retorted calmly."Mind explaining that?"
"That's the difference between humans and pokemon,"the man said."Our god is merciful, unlike the creatures you work with."
''You just said you're carrying out your god's will to destroy all pokemon!"I said irritably, slowly beginning to gather energy."And apparently, that will includes taking innocent pokemon from their homes just to torture them for your own twisted pleasure. You call that merciful?"
"Hmph, I wouldn't expect a fool like you to understand,"he said snidely.
I shook my head, my energy peaking."You're right, I don't understand,"I said with deceptive calm."And I don't want to!"I suddenly stomped my foot into the ground, causing a wall of sand to erupt from in between us and them. Then I quickly thrust my arms forward, sending the wall toppling into them. I looked over my shoulder at the others.
"Let's wipe 'em out."
We charged forward.
XXXX
I groaned as I opened my eyes, only to have a bright light stinging at them. Once my eyes adjusted to the harsh lights, I looked around, but I didn't know where I was. There were some strange wires on me connected to some beeping machines. Where was Ken? What happened?
I was about to start panicking when a familiar looking human walked into the room. It was Nurse Joy, much to my relief. Though it always confused me that they all looked exactly the same. I had thought only pokemon were like that.
"Hello, there,"she said sweetly. "You're in a Pokemon Center. Do you know what that is?"To be honest, I figured that out the moment she walked in the room. I nodded at her, giving her a questioning look."If you're wondering where your trainer is, he just said that he's dealing with the 'CS.' He said you would know what that means."
CS? Oh, that must mean the Chrome Syndicate. So, they have a base here? I hope Ken and the others are alright.
I nodded at her again, and she smiled.
"You should be healed up completely in a little bit,"the nurse told me. I blinked. Healed? Oh, right. We had been in the desert. The last thing I remembered was Ken scaring away those Skarmory. I guess I had passed out. I nodded at her one last time, then she walked out of the room.
XXXX
I quickly ducked and weaved through the laser blasts as I ran forward, the others' attacks blazing past me as I gathered the desert's rather abundant heat around me to become a giant, raging fire ball as I kept charging forward. The few lasers that managed to hit me were absorbed into the flames, only making it bigger. Once I was close enough, I leapt forward and curled myself into a ball. I landed in the middle of them and sent the fire outwards in a flaming explosion.
I didn't see the results first-hand, since I was curled up, but judging from the pained screams, I'd say I did some decent damage. I uncurled myself and stood on all fours, looking around to see many of the soldiers lying on the ground, all with multiple burns across their scattered bodies, and I inwardly cringed. I enjoyed destroying countless drones, but actually killing people was still something I was getting used to. Still, if I didn't kill them, they wouldn't hesitate to kill me, so I really didn't have much choice in the matter.
I heard a whirring noise from behind me, but instead of turning around, I leapt up with a burst of wind just in time to avoid a laser blast, blowing up a cloud of sand in my wake. I quickly brought a hand up and created a sphere of dark type energy in it. I fired it down in a wave of darkness which collided with the guy who I had been arguing with, who was also the one who had shot at me. As I fell back to the ground, I watched the dark energy surge through him, effectively killing him. Kill or be killed, remember?
But...even after all this time, even if they all deserved to die for their crimes, I don't think I would I ever get used to killing. I'm only glad the rest of the team felt the same way I did.
"I think that's all of 'em,"Anubis remarked, eyes closed as he slowly turned his head.
"How do you know? Your eyes are closed,"Zephyr said, confused.
The Lucario paused, then brought a paw to his eyes."Um, duh? Aura sight."
"Oh, yeah. Forgot about that,"Zephyr mumbled. We ignored him, turning our heads to the entrance.
"Well, might as well as go and see what's in there,"I said, walking towards the building."The sooner we're done here, the sooner we can get out of this desert."
"Sounds good to me,"Anubis murmured, he and the others following me inside. After walking through a short hallway, we found a door blocking our way to the next room, but I noticed something rather suspicious.
"Hold on a sec, guys,"I muttered, holding up a hand.
"What is it, Ken?"Wrath asked.
"Do any of you notice anything...off about this door?"I asked, glancing back at them. They all stared at the door in puzzlement, then Psyche blinked in realization.
"Ah, I see. There's no lock,"the Alakazam said."No lock, no keypad, no security measure whatsoever."
"Exactly,"I nodded.
"So, what? The room's booby-trapped or something?"Fang guessed.
"With what, I don't know,"I replied.
Anubis closed his eyes again."Huh, I don't see anyone in there...oop, hold on...yeah, there are sentry guns hanging from the ceiling; 4 of 'em. You're right, Ken, that room's rigged."
"Typical,"Zaps sighed.
"Now we need to figure out what kind of guns they are,"I mused, hand on my chin."Hmm...alright, clear a path."I put my hand on the door's handle as the others moved to the sides of the hall."Three...two...one!"I yanked the door open, moving to the side to avoid possible laser fire, but none came."Well, that rules out motion detection, which leaves..."I trailed off, creating a fire ball in my hand, then I quickly tossed it in, watching as the guns instantly pointed at the projectile and started uselessly firing at it. The fire ball landed in the middle of the room, the guns continuing to fire at it until it eventually burned out, the weapons stopping once it was gone."Check. They're heat-seekers. Alright, I've got an idea."
I created a fire ball in each hand, then levitated them with telekinesis and brought them into the room. Being careful not to get my head shot off by the following laser fire, I maneuvered the fire balls so that the guns were pointing at each other. You can probably piece together what happened after that. Once the guns were destroyed, we advanced through the room to another door, but there was smoke leaking out from it. Noticing this, I was careful about opening it, but it ended up leading to a laboratory...that was on fire...with a few dead bodies littering the floor.
I shook my head."Idiots..."I held my hands, my armor glowing red as I started absorbing the flames.
"What is wrong with these guys?"Anubis asked, sounding more exasperated than disturbed. Not surprising, we had already seen this quite a few times.
"Do they truly believe martyring themselves like this is the right thing to do?"Psyche asked distastefully.
"Sure looks that way,"Zaps muttered as I managed to absorb the last of the fire.
"Start looking around,"I said, my armor returning to normal."Maybe we'll find something about what their planning."
And so, we searched high and low through the ruined lab. After a few moments, ZC called us over.
"What'd you find?"I asked as we approached.
"It appears to be some sort blueprint,"COREM replied, moving to the side and allowing me to look at a blue paper on a table. A good portion of it had been burned away, but I could make out some kind of diagram on it. It looked like some kind of glass tube with a small glass container on its top. There was also some ridiculously complex formula with burn holes gaping through it I couldn't make heads or tails of. Yes, I was a genius, but not exactly a technological one.
"What's that supposed to be?"Fang asked.
"I have no idea,"I admitted, curling up the paper in my hands."I'll give it to Mewtwo or Uxie at our next meeting. They should be able to figure it out. For now, let's just get the hell out of here."They unanimously agreed.
Of course, we did some interior decorating before heading out, if you know what I mean. Heh heh.
XXXX
"Oh, you're back!"Nurse Joy said as I walked in the front door."I take it your 'CS' business is settled?"
I nodded."Done and done. How's Serenity doing?"
She smiled, pointing behind me."Take a look for yourself."I blinked, then whirled around and looked down to see Serenity smiling up at me.
I blinked again."Hey, there you are,"I said, then telepathically added 'How'd you get there without me sensing you?'
"I'm getting better at shielding my mind,"she replied verbally, knowing Joy couldn't understand her anyway. I glanced over my shoulder at the nurse.
"Thanks for fixing her up,"I said.
"My pleasure,"she smiled again."Just make sure you get out of here fast. Did you come from the north entrance to the desert?"I nodded."Then you're in luck. The south exit is less than a mile away."
"Good to know."
XXXX
End of Chapter
And again, that took too long. As any writer will tell you, writer's block is a pain in the ass.