Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.
A/N: Great... another whole month without updates...
Sorry guys. Anyways, I managed to (finally) get the "Little Latios' Holidays" set up, which I still have to finish up the Easter chapter, and celestezodiac also uploaded the first chapter of our crossover, "Stars Astray," so go check that our if you want.
Also, I have some art up on my deviantart profile (by the same name as my fanfiction profile...) with some concept drawings of Sigma. I'll try getting Alpha up there soon enough. (I wonder what the drawings will reveal...) I also plan on adding a side story on there too, but that may/ may not happen.
Enough with the updates. Here's the next chapter!
"Speech"
'Telepathy'
Chapter 29- Sigma
Location: Testing facility- Many years ago- 1 week before escape…
Sigma crossed his legs as he meditated on the floor again. One by one, each part of his suit of armor floated up and began rotating around him. His eyes squeezed even tighter. Increase airspeed, check for obstacles, identify targets…
Radio chatter was heard. Typical.
"Target locked," the monotone voice of Retrieval Delta C sounded. "All units, open fire." There was a crackle as the signal ended as different calibers of machine guns all shot at Sigma.
The unit simply counted to himself. He knew that he was unarmored. He knew the risks. He knew the plan. He knew… the time as it began to slow.
3… The first of the light machine gun barrage started from the barrels and towards him.
2… The rocket launchers from the rangers on various teams blasted their heat seeking projectiles.
1… The commanders each ordered an individual satellite laser strike.
0…
Nothing. Sigma looked around him. Everyone and everything had stopped just in their spot. He psychically pushed his satchel to him and pulled out a time gear, the most sacred treasure he had been allowed to keep. He turned away, disgusted. He didn't need such as item to save his life in this scenario. He put the time gear back in its place and time began moving again.
A large blast of dust emerged as all the weapons of destruction destroyed the area Sigma was in. Silence dawned over the teams. "Did we get him?" asked the ranger from retrieval team Bravo.
A voice was heard over their radios. "Too late," it said.
Sigma looked up from his position. He had withstood 6 satellite beam strikes, 24 rockets, and at least a hundred bullets. The part he was the proudest of was that he didn't even budge an inch and had managed to equip his armor in under a second.
"Now," he told the teams, his voice growing deeper and more sinister with each word. "It's my turn."
…
"He's to your left! He'-"
"Bravo! Get back you lit- argh!"
"Beep…" the sign of a life signal going offline.
"Keep shooting! We wil-"
"…"
"I-Is anyone there? Does anyone copy? Hello?" Silence once more. Elsewhere, the Commander looked up from his schematics.
"These are some very impressive tactics," he commented as he watched Sigma dispatch of the last soldier on a monitor.
"I'm glad to hear of that," replied the Director. "He's made significant progress ever since he was… born."
"I think the correct term is created," the Councilman interrupted. The Director shot an angry glare at him. He pushed himself off the wall he was leaning on. "What about the other units?"
"They're still in the chambers in deep sleep mode," a new voice stepped in. Everyone turned around to notice that Epsilon had entered the room. He was wearing the full armor suit, although his was in the same design as Sigma's, Delta's, and Beta's than compared to the regular retrieval team unit combat armor.
The Commander looked at the unit. The suit had been specially designed to withstand anything, even if the design itself looked simple and plain. It was composed of a simple military shirt and pants. Jackboots covered the feet while thick, armored gloves covered the hands. A flak jacket was worn over the shirt and offered a wide variety of pockets to carry utilities. Shoulder and knee pads were provided, along with one, pentagon shaped elbow pad attached on the left side of the arm. The helmet was custom designed for each unit to fit their needs best, but Sigma's, Delta's, and Beta's all followed the same design of a pentagon shaped visor and two Eon ears printed on side. A hollow triangle of their color was also marked just above the visor.
Epsilon's helmet also followed the pentagon shaped visor but omitted the Latios/ Latias ears along with the hollow triangle. Instead, he had a small horn printed that curved around one side of the helmet. His entire suit color, however, was so dark in color that it was hard to make out any features.
"They will be brought out tomorrow and will have a one week test," Epsilon continued. "I expect full reports on everything, understood?" The trio nodded and then the unit walked out. The tense atmosphere was quickly dropped and everyone sighed.
"What is with that guy? It feels like he's choking on my neck every time he gets near me," the Councilman complained.
"Do mind him," the Commander stated. "He's had quite a rough past." The Director, however, had her own theories.
Location: Pokécenter- present time
"Do you think he'll be fine?" Rei murmured.
Lorenzo nodded. "I'm sure it's nothing too serious," he reassured, but inside, he was truly worried for Blu.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, four invisible entities were talking, or arguing, with each other.
'What is your problem!?' Alpha shouted at the guardians of Alto Mare. 'We were on the verge of healing him when you interrupted!'
'Well,' Latias replied staunchly as she turned her back. 'I'm not taking any chances with anyone's life if they're in danger.'
Alpha shook his head back and forth. 'May I remind you that NO ONE KNOWS THAT THEY EXIST!?'
Latios stepped in. He wasn't the one to just let people yell at his sister. 'How about I remind you that no one knows about us?' he retorted. 'Yet even better, we don't know about you two?'
Alpha turned to his partner. 'Come on, Omega,' he told to him. 'What do you think?' The green soldier's attention, however, was immersed in something else. He kept rubbing his finger over the mysterious blade. 'Omega?' Alpha asked. 'You there?'
Omega was silent for a moment before he spoke to the two Eon Pokémon. 'There's a reason why I don't like you two,'he simply told them. The sentence hung in the air for a moment before Latios broke the silence.
'What is that supposed to mean?'he asked incredulously. So far, the only incidents he membered that they had ever made anyone mad were either interfering with the race or pulling pranks off on Bianca or Lorenzo.
'You still don't remember, do you…'Omega spoke ominously. Alpha's eyes narrowed. He was hiding something… something that had a dark aura to it. Wait, there was something else… another presence that was resonating an even more shadowy aura.
Suddenly, he felt alarm in his body go off. 'Rei!'he shouted. 'Whatever you do, don-'
The time gear stopped ticking…
…
And the time gear started moving once more…
Rei barely had any time to put her arms up in protection as the door suddenly came swinging at her. The impact shot her from her chair and onto the ground. Next thing she knew, Blu had appeared on the ground in the waiting room and Nurse Joy was frantically looking around for him. It was as if everything had happened all at once.
Yet somehow, she knew what had happened.
Location: Testing facility- Many years ago- 1 week before escape...
"Epsilon wants another combat simulation?" Sigma asked the Director as they walked down the dark hall. He shot a glance over at the retrieval teams, who, even after being killed in the simulation, had only minor injuries. Everything in the simulation was real. You could be killed and you could suffocate, but that wouldn't actually happen.
Hunter J nodded. "He's prepared a special batch of targets this time," she explained.
Sigma stopped in his tracks. "Let me guess," he started. "They're the ones that my mission is required to… kill, right?"
The Director nodded. "Yes," she confirmed. "It's your final mission. What you've been made for."
Sigma looked away. "Then let's do it now."
…
The black and green unit entered the giant white chamber. Everything could be simulated from holograms while everything could be controlled from an observation deck that hanging from the wall. The computer started speaking as it was turned on.
Simulation start up- combat mode.
Location: Secret Garden, Alto Mare.
Targets: Legendary Pokémon Latios and Latias.
Primary Objective: Eliminate all targets.
Secondary Objective: None.
Restrictions: None.
A flash of light was emitted from somewhere in the room and light particles were spread everywhere. Suddenly, Sigma found himself riding on a cloaked speedboat towards the city. No restrictions… so many options.
In the next moment, the speed boat landed, time stopped, and he was running down a pathway. His helmet beeped, signaling him that he was there. The next instant, time moved again and a massive explosion was made in the wall that revealed the Secret Garden. Both of the Legendary Pokémon were blasted back into the other side. Many civilians were either knocked back by the sudden explosion or looked on with surprise. Sigma didn't have time for them. He had a mission.
Suddenly, two gunship helicopters uncloaked and retrieval teams Delta and Bravo were lowered down next to him. He and the teams raised their rifles at the two targets, who were still frozen in shock. They tried to flee, but the teams kept their aim true.
The firing squad opened fire.
The computer beeped again. Simulation end.
…
In the observation deck, the Council along with the Director were reviewing Sigma's battle statistics. "Epsilon," the Commander asked. "How long has it been since the Secret Garden battle ground has been updated?"
"Our most recent update was twenty five years ago on the mission to attack and retrieve units Omega-1 and Theta," Epsilon reported. "Counting all dates, the only other time any team has been inside the city or garden was around one hundred and fifty years ago." The surprised Director and Councilman both looked at each other. Something was very off.
"So is the information reliable?" the Director asked.
"More or less, yes," Epsilon replied. "The two Eon Pokémon still haven't changed much from the past 25 years. However, changes will occur in the next 2 years. One of them will fall to a great evil."
His prediction was correct. Latios sacrificed his life exactly two years after Epsilon said that sentence and three years before the present time.
The Commander cleared his throat. "What I'm more worried about is Sigma's tactics. As of now, he seems to be a support unit. I want his tactics changed to spy and sabotage."
"But we've been working years on his tactics already!" Hunter J protested.
"Time is not of essence," Epsilon spoke. "Neither is life."
There was a silence in the room. "Run the combat simulation once more," he ordered the computer. "Set restrictions 3, 6, and 109 in place and change the objectives to set two."
And it happened over and over again…
Location: Pokécenter- present time
Blu was back on the medical bed with Nurse Joy frantically working to stabilize his condition. She didn't know what had happened, other than the fact that he had somehow walked through the door and into the waiting room in a split second… and fallen unconscious once more.
Rei had recovered and was back in the same position she was in before the door had sent her flying. She crossed her legs on the chair and began meditating on the problem. Lorenzo and Bianca looked over at the direction- or general direction- of the invisible units and dragons.
"What is going on?" Lorenzo whispered.
Alpha shrugged. 'To be fair,' he started. 'I'm not too sure myself.'
'You better find out!' Latias hissed. 'Blu just somehow walked through an entire room in no time!'
Omega ignored both of them. 'I'm more worried about something else. Now that he's here in the pokécenter, the officials will ask for his identification, and possibly Rei's now that she's here. How will we reply?'
Both the humans exchanged glances as they thought. This wasn't too easy, coming up with new identities for two people- or Pokémon- they barely knew of.
Lorenzo frowned. "Didn't both Blu's and Rei's guardians prepare identifications in case of situations like this?" he asked. Alpha snapped his fingers, generating a shushing from the nurse. He cringed a little before replying.
'Yea!' he exclaimed in their minds. 'They have pokédexes! It holds all we need!'
There was a silence. 'Um, that's good and all, but why do they have pokédexes that don't even work?' Latias asked, recalling that one time when Blu and she were both locked up in a cage, and he had tried using the device to scan a Nidoking.
'I don't know,' Alpha shot back. 'But we have what we need for now.' However, inside, he was all excited about getting a chance to inspect the machines.
"There still needs to be an explanation on why they're living with us, though," Bianca said.
Alpha shrugged. 'That part is easy. Just say that they're brother and sister, and that they're your cousins.'
She blinked several times. "That could work… I guess," she said. "But… there's one problem…" Her body began to stiffen. Alpha stepped back a little. He knew that he had said something that went too far. Several tears fell out of Bianca's eyes.
The two Legendary Pokémon looked at each other before trying to comfort her. 'What's wrong, Bianca?' Latias asked in the calmest voice she could. She still wouldn't speak .
Lorenzo sighed. "You see," he explained. "Soon after Bianca was born, her parents left to journey the outside world and left her in my care." Silence. "We never heard from them again."
'Oh…'
Silence once more. Omega began sharpening the glowing dagger with an older, rustier sword. Both were invisible along with himself, and the sound was inaudible to humans. The high pitched noise, however, was affecting the ears of Alpha, Latios, and Latias. 'Argh! Will you quit that!?' Latios shouted while shaking his head.
Omega stayed unaffected by his words and simply looked down at the green, glowing dagger. He tried feeling sorrow and sadness, but was unable to. He looked closer at the blade, hoping that it would give him some comfort, but it didn't. Anger started bubbling inside him. Why couldn't things jus-
'Hey!' Latios shouted one more time. 'Are you there? Hello?' He waved his paws frantically to get his attention. Latias sweat dropped.
'No guardian, parent or of the world, should be that irresponsible,' Omega suddenly spoke. Bianca looked at him (or at least where she thought he was). Alpha looked down before he turned around.
'Remember what you always say?' he asked once more. 'What was in the past is in the past. There's no point in thinking about it.' Omega didn't reply. Alpha sighed. Picking at old wounds wasn't going to help them get anywhere.
…
Rei found herself in front of dozens of portals. Each one of them glowed with a different color and aura. "Well," she mumbled to herself. "This was not what I was expecting when I started meditating."
"Oh… now is it?" a voice asked. She felt shivers go down her spine.
"Who is it? Show yourself!" she demanded.
"Now, now… I don't think you're in any position to make demands," the voice told her. "Especially after I just sent Blu into a critical condition." Rei's eyes shot wide open. Someone had caused that? She set herself in a fighting stance that Red Eyes had taught her as groups of shadows began to clump together to form a figure. When the transformation was complete, she felt every muscle in her body go limp.
"I-Iota…" she stammered. Iota chuckled at her surprise.
"I do believe we have quite a long history together…" he responded. "I'd like to spend some time going over those sweet times."
Location: Testing Facility- 6 days before escape...
All the units had been lined up in full armor in front of Epsilon in the main control room. No one else was in the area. Three of the commanders had been charged in guarding the area to make sure that no one could make it in… or out. They had also been ordered to restrict access from even the Director, Councilman, and Commander.
Surprisingly, each unit had a desk and wore full body armor as they watched Epsilon speak. Omega was paired with Alpha, Delta was paired with Rei, and Sigma… was simply alone. That's how he wanted it to be. Theta and Iota were not present because they were… special.
"I'd like to go over several tactics," Epsilon began lecturing. Holographic images began appearing. "As you know, throughout the past month, each of you has been fighting either with or against the retrieval teams. Does anyone know why?"
Omega raised his hand. Epsilon called on him. "Is it to improve our skills with fighting alongside a team?" he replied, more as a question than an answer. Epsilon nodded.
"That is close. Now, what is the theme to this entire change in battle strategies?"
Sigma raised his hand and was called upon. "To show that it is better to fight as an organized team than to fight against one or fight with an unorganized team that do not share the same and correct ideals, sir," he replied. Epsilon nodded in approval before giving a hard glare at his brother, Delta. He, in turn, felt anger rising in him, but his sister, Beta, held him back. He heard the message and backed down. For now.
"Now, I do believe Alpha has something to share?" Epsilon asked. Alpha nodded and walked up next to Epsilon. He linked up his military computer up to the main holographic projectors. Every now and then, Epsilon gave him time and materials to create something new as either weaponry or technology related that could enhance unit performance. Most of his inventions were infamous for blowing up or destroying something by accident.
He pulled up an interesting model of a cannon. Omega sweat dropped. He had a feeling something would go wrong all too soon. Using his aura, Alpha managed to materialize the holographic image into a real life item.
Epsilon looked at the device carefully. "What is the purpose of this?" he asked.
"I've been studying everyone's statistics from the past simulations," Alpha explained. He turned to Sigma. "One of your major flaws is your weakness, so I've decided that we could try using that weakness as an advantage." Sigma observed the device with curiosity before looking down at his left arm. Could his weakness ever be solved? Blu looked at the weapon with hatred. It was always his brother that was succeeding.
"I'll try using it in the field," he hastily replied. Alpha nodded before turning to Epsilon. The dark unit simply snapped his fingers as part of the room opened up to lead to another testing chamber. The walls were still lined with white panels, just with reinforced plating. Alpha's experiments would usually go out of hand.
Sigma walked into the testing chamber before turning around to see that the door had sealed and the entire wall had become an impenetrable glass. This allowed for everyone else to receive a full view. He looked around and waited for directions.
"Alright," Epsilon spoke through the built-in speaker. "The weapon is located in the middle of the room. You will be tested on speed and accuracy." Sigma followed the directions before picking up the mentioned weapon. It seemed to consist of an entirely metal backpack attached to a long, cylindrical barrel that ran parallel to the shortest side.
Sigma turned around to Alpha, who was also standing behind the window. "How do I use this thing?" he shouted.
"Put it on and the barrel should come over your left shoulder," Alpha instructed. "Place your hand on the barrel and channel your aura to operate the cannon."
"And you're sure that your invention won't blow up this time?" Sigma questioned. Alpha nodded. Sigma sighed before following his instructions. He still had quite a bad feeling about this.
Location: Rei's meditation
"W-what are you doing here?" Rei stammered.
The shadow simply smiled and laughed a bit. "Isn't it obvious? Can't you remember?"
"Remember… what?" she asked back.
Iota stopped laughing. "So, it seems that they've made you forgotten all the time we've had together…" he stated. "What a shame." The shadow figure slipped through one of the portals.
"What? I don't know what you're talking about! I barely even know who you are!" Rei shouted into the air.
"All will come to rest," the voice said as it began to fade. "All will be realized… soon enough…"
"All families will be rejoined… All secrets will be revealed… and all will be destroyed."
