OH MY GOD THIS TOOK SO FREAKING LONG-

*cough cough* Sorry about that. But it has been too long since an update. Sorry. School, sickness, writer's block, and other things made this a real challenge, not to mention that it ended up being one of the longest chapters I've written - AFTER I split off the last part into what will be the next chapter. So, hopefully, the next part won't take quite so long.

Anyway, enjoy!

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Chapter 52: Fall Of The Weapon

"THEY'RE WHAT?"

"I-i-i-inside the Weapon, sir!" the Snowgoburimon squealed, cowering in terror at the wrathful Havocravenmon. "Th-th-they're nearing the reactor panels! And one is almost to the Libertius captives!"

"How did they get inside the Weapon? What were the guards doing?"

"Augh! S-sir, I d-don't know! The guards, the guards weren't, they weren't where they were s-supposed to be! The, the Generals went looking for them, I-I think anyway-"

"Sir, I'm sorry, I didn't see the guards!" the Snowgoburimon squealed in near terror, cowering from the raging birdling. "I looked all over, but I don't know where they went!"

"Blinding incompetence!" Havocravenmon slammed a fist into the wall. "Idiots! What are they thinking? The defense systems aren't going to just turn inwards and fire!" He rounded on the Snowgoburimon, who looked like he was about to pass out. "Don't just sit there like a frickin' baby! Raise the alarms! Get anyone we can spare to the control panels! Don't let them get to the reactor!"

The white goblin was out of the room in nary a moment, too freaked out to try to ask for any more specific direction than what he got. Havocravemon, beside himself with rage, paced furiously around the room, trying to get a handle on his emotions. "Damnation! I can't believe this...inexcusable, I've told them time and time again what we have to be wary of, how could they have fallen down on the job so badly? Now the tainted ones are inside, if they knew how to get in they probably know how to stop the Weapon...grah! Everything was going so well!"

"You reap what you sow, hm?" Havocravenmon whirled around to see d'Arcmon enter the room. "Incompetence breeds incompetence, and we all suffer as a result."

"Would you shut up just once? I've got my hands full enough without you adding to it!"

"Of course. I'm made sure that would be the case."

"You...what?"

"I figured even a catastrophe liked our revelation might not be enough proof for some of the diehards in Emperius, so to make extra sure everyone saw you for what you are, I made hash of the guard assignments. Just to make extra sure everything that could go wrong would."

Havocravenmon's fists clenched almost to the point of rupture. "You...you bitch! Of course! I should have known you orchestrated all this!"

"Oh, I wasn't behind everything. I have no clue what happened to the Illusion Generator, or more accurately, who happened to it. I just happened to take advantage of the opportunity. Perhaps you should have learned a little something about that, you might have been only a colossal failure instead of a complete failure."

"I've done more for Emperius than you ever have! You've no right to start accusing me of falling behind when all you ever did was try to stir up trouble and set us back! And for what?"

"For what? You even have to ask? You're a terrible leader. You don't have the mindset for this kind of role. We have victory in our grasp, we are destined for glory and nothing can change that. Yet you insist on sidetracking us, putting us through all these 'plans' of yours that are pointless wastes of time. This whole project of yours...founded on some absurd notion that we could ever be defeated. That alone demonstrates your failure as a leader. It's a betrayal of everything we stand for."

"It's a concession to reality! It's an acknowledgement that you can't just coast and expect everything to work out in your favor! How can you cling to such an idiotic notion of your own infallibility when we've been waylaid time and time again by our opponents?"

"We'd never have been stopped even once if you hadn't become the leader!"

"Do you even pay attention to the past? We were within a couple of battles of being overpowered by Libertius!"

"Lunacy! We were on the verge of overpowering them and silencing them once and for all! Everything would have just been fine if it hadn't been for you! It should be ME leading Emperius to glory, and I'm doing what's necessary to ensure that happens!"

"By sabotaging it?"

"It's only a minor setback! We're destined for success, there's no need to waste time worrying about irrelevant details! Which is all you have ever done, and all you ever intended to do! You don't seem to understand that this is destiny! We cannot fail, our victory is already written for us! Your stubborn refusal to accept that is the only thing standing in our way! Every single thing you have done is irrelevant and pointless, and that is the ultimate testament of your failure!"

"Oh, really? And who the hell was it that took down Libertius? Who was it who salvaged morale after our leader was killed in battle? Who was it that bought us the time to avoid an all-out assault from not just our detractors, but the Kaiser himself? It sure as hell wasn't you, a useless piece of refuse without the brains to fill a Gekomon's nutsack!" d'Arcmon recoiled as if she'd been slapped, but Havocravenmon plowed on through. "You've never been worth the trouble of keeping around! You're not strong, you're not bright, you're not useful in any way, and all you've ever done is cause trouble and hold us back! You'd rather ignore the bomb about to go off in your face than accept that there even is a bomb! Emperius would have crumbled in minutes under you, and only you are delusional enough to think it wouldn't! Craniummon never considered you for a moment, you know that? There had never been even a remote chance of him making you the deputy commander! Because he knew you couldn't do it! And everyone here knows it! You think they're going to listen to you, especially knowing you're the one who made everything worse here?"

"You...you..." d'Arcmon fumed, then stiffened up. "I don't care what you say! Everyone is going to see this as your fault, and they'll make me the leader like I deserve to be! You just watch!" She turned on her heel to leave, then cried out sharply as something sliced through her from behind. She hit the floor, her body disintegrating into data particles. Phantomon revealed himself as she disappeared, scythe at his side.

"You have been deemed guilty of the crime of treason against Emperius. The punishment is death, and has been carried out."

"Phantomon..."

"Disregard her words entirely, Commander. They are nothing but lies, fueled by jealousy and ignorance. You had the truth at your back, and that is all that you needed."

Havocravenmon nodded dismally, a hand on his head. "Yes. She was an idiot...my only mistake with her was allowing her to stay with us this long."

"Quite right. Hers were the words of failure. You have always tried to guide us to the path of success. We all trust you to continue to do so."

"I just hope there's anyone left to trust that after this. They're inside the Weapon, Phantomon. Can anyone stop them now? Where are my Generals? Don't tell me they tried to go after them..."

"It is likely that they did. They were scrambling to ensure that everything was secure...it's likely they found out about the guard assignments being played with. They may have decided to act on their own, but perhaps there is still time to rally them and organize a better attack. I can try to find them, if they are still to be found."

"Please do that, Phantomon. We're going to need all the help we can get...these are the most powerful opponents we've ever faced."

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In front of Thundergarudamon, the hallway forked into two branches, one left and one right. One of the branches led to the brig where the forces from Libertius were being held; the other led somewhere else, the details being rather immaterial to her because it wasn't where she was going.

She just wished she could remember which way was the correct way.

I can't believe this...how could I have forgotten? I told myself about a hundred times yesterday, and now I can't think of it for the life of me!

It wouldn't have bothered her quite so much if she hadn't been so worried about the seconds ticking away, not knowing where the rest of the crew was in their respective missions. She didn't think she had the time to explore both, especially if breaking them out was going to be more difficult than just finding them and opening a door.

Unless...unless I take both at the same time...

It wasn't the most desirable of options, but with time being of the essence, she went through with it anyway. Quite soon, Iris and Shockavimon stood apart again, facing down the fork with a goal in mind.

"You right, me left?" Shockavimon proposed.

"I don't see any reason to argue," Iris agreed. "Hopefully we won't run across anything we can't handle."

"Right. Get in touch the moment you see anything, and I'll do the same."

"Gotcha." With that, they split off, Iris taking the right side path. She moved quickly yet cautiously, trying to keep an eye out for danger or a sign of the brig. Neither one was particularly easy, as the lighting wasn't getting any better.

You'd think they'd be more worried about being able to see. If they wanted to keep us out, you'd think they'd try to make it so that we could be spotted at a moment's notice. That's what I'd do.

After a minute she reached an intersection, the hall continuing forward and also breaking to the right. She continued forward, then slowed to a stop, looking back at the second path. Wait...I don't think there were any other branches on the way there...were there? If I couldn't remember which way to go before, I'm not sure I trust myself now...

A thump from nearby jarred her to attention. A figure was coming towards her from the first path, and it seemed to have spotted her. "HEY! Yer not supposed to be here! Take this!" The creature ran at her and slammed a club into the ground just after she scrambled out of the way. Iris made to backtrack, but another digimon shot out from the intersecting path, a Boogeymon. "Intruder? I'll get them good!"

Great...well, I guess I'm not going anywhere until I deal with these guys.

The first creature, which she could see now was an Ogremon, was the more imminent threat, as he was charging at her again. She slipped deftly around him as he tried to club her again, and sent a surge of electricity into her hand. As Orgemon turned to get an eye on her again, she punched him, catching his thigh and delivering a considerable jolt that left him howling in pain and staggering around, avoiding putting weight on the affected leg.

"You nitwit! She's just a human girl, you can't be that pathetic!" Boogeymon snapped at Ogremon. "Bah, I'll show you!" He dove at Iris, trying to spear her with his trident, and whiffing by a mile as Iris jumped out of the way, leaping at the wall and jumping back off as Boogeymon was trying to turn back her way. Quickly she formed an electrical ball and shot it at Boogeymon, frying him pretty good.

A thump from behind her told her Ogremon was back in action. She turned and engaged him again, the brute not really doing anything she hadn't seen him try already. Not exactly the crispest fry in the batch, she thought with a grin as she slipped right by him again. This time, as soon as she had her opening, she jumped and delivered a kick right into the small of Ogremon's back. Once again Ogremon yowled, and this time went to the ground as he developed a very bad case of jelly-legs.

From behind him, Iris could see that Boogeymon was trying to get back up and into the fray. I don't have time for this. Let's see how he likes this one. The demon digimon hadn't even gotten all the way to his feet before he was wrapped in a ball of electricity, then raised up off the ground. A second later, his body was wracked with thunderbolts from various angles, buffeting him a good half-dozen times before he was released, thumping the ground hard, unconscious.

"So much for 'just a human girl,' huh?" she muttered at the rather pitiful sight in front of her.

Iris! Iris! Hey, I've got a hit! Shockavimon's telepathic message was clearly tinged with excitement. Come on back my way, I've found the captives!

All right! I'm on my way! She considered shocking the two attackers once more to keep them from following her, but decided after looking at them that they didn't seem to be ready to get back up any time soon. Not worth drawing the extra attention. Best to just leave now.

Getting back to the original split wasn't difficult, and finding Shockavimon from there was even easier, as the left-hand split was pretty much a straight shot. Soon she found herself in a much better-lit area, with Shockavimon standing in front of an opening in the hallway. She waved Iris over eagerly. "C'mon, no danger as far as I can tell! They're just past here!"

Iris walked over and saw, to her surprise, an short open hall with strange markings that connected to what appeared to be a rather gargantuan space. Within that space was a large number of digimon, some of which induced stirrings of recognition in her from her dreams of Shockavimon over the years.

"So this is the human you were talking about..." A feminine knight digimon with a shake-like arm said, her voice bespeaking a quiet grandness. "I can sense the power within her...she is certainly more than initial appearances would seem to suggest."

"Yeah, I think a certain Ogremon and Boogeymon just found that out for themselves," Iris replied. "You're Mervamon, right?"

"My...you know who I am?"

"It's a long story. Yeah, and that's Assaultmon," she added, pointing to a four-legged cyborg with a veritable arsenal of guns on its body, "and that's Pandamon," pointing to a smaller creature that looked like a panda-colored teddy bear. "You were all part of that Elite Guard group that Shockavimon was with."

"She's good," Assaultmon said with more than a hint of awe. "If she can hold her own against two at once, no wonder Emperius is so scared of her."

"Hmph...how pitiful can they be?" Pandamon huffed aloofly. "They of all people should be aware of what kind of power can hide in inconspicuous packages. Why, I myself have given them enough hell over the course of this whole debacle..."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. I'd really like to figure out how you knew about us, though!"

"Uh, well, it's kind of a connection I have with Shockavimon...just kind of seeing into her world every now and then during my life. I'm actually wondering how you knew about us, if you've been locked up this whole time."

"Well, some in Emperius were trying to keep it quiet, but there were enough of them who were pretty careless that we got the whole story over time. You're infamous among them...the 'tainted ones' who managed to get in their way in the human world! Humans and digimon combining together...I'd never have imagined that could happen!"

"Neither would I before it happened. I'm glad it did, though. How are they keeping you locked up in there? There's gotta be some way to get you out."

Pandamon pointed to the ground in front of the cell, a portion of which was clearly colored differently from the rest. "Anyone who crosses into that area suffers a terrible shock from the machines hidden in the wall. It's electric, but it's not just as simple as that...Raidenlupimon attempted to cross and was nearly killed by it within a few seconds. It not only hurts, but it keeps you from moving. It doesn't matter how fast you go, the machines are out and active instantly."

Shockavimon nodded, looking over the walls in the danger zone. "Hm...that is a problem. But I wonder, they sealed your abilities, so they probably didn't think there was any danger of you actually attacking the machines...maybe if we can find a way to get to them, we can disable them and get you out of there safely."

"It's worth a shot," Iris said. "But we'll have to hurry...the others are probably getting close to the control panels, and we have to be well out of here by then."

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A small room near the reactor had been appropriated as a guard quarters, and there were several digimon within scrambling around, trying to get as much ready for the dangerous situation as they could. None of them, however, could be prepared for the door being blasted into the room, revealing only a fiery human who looked about ready to destroy everything in his path.

"Knock knock, bitches!"

An intense blast of heat rushed from his body, flaring out into the entire room and causing a cacophony of pained yells and howls. Within moments, the digimon were scrambling, not to attack but to escape. Reyn gave chase, closely followed by Salmandmon, who was cackling like a madman at the scene. He didn't waste time trying to kill them, instead just driving them away as fast as they could go, ensuring that they wouldn't be a threat.

Their path was soon clear, and eagerly the pair ran towards the gate room. It was unguarded, nothing but a couple control consoles and the massive steel doors guarding access to the reactor. Reyn laughed giddily as he leaned back against the wall. "I can't believe that actually worked."

Salmandmon smirked. "Toldja. Doesn't matter what size you are, make it sound like you're about to kick all sorts of ass and you'll be intimidating. That easy."

"Heh...that just doesn't sound right."

"Well, maybe it's because size isn't necessarily the same as strength in our world. But I think it'd still work with humans."

"Maybe we'll have to try it sometime. Whoo...well, that was fun, but now what?"

"Now we wait, I guess." Salmandmon's eyes settled on the gates barring their access to the reactor. "And hope that the others can do what they set out to do."

"Don't tell me you're starting to second-guess them now, of all times."

"Second-guess would be putting it too strongly. I'm just hoping they don't have a harder time of it than we just did."

"They'll be fine. They've all been able to handle themselves as well as us. If the worst they have to face is another one of those so-called Generals, it'll be easy as pie."

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The anxiety felt like it was going to burst out the back of Havocravenmon's skull. Not only waiting for any word on the status of his Generals, not only the threat of the Weapon going to pieces, he had the added fear that one of the five would suddenly burst in on him, and engage him before he could get any assistance at all. As much as he'd tried to prepare himself for combat with any level of opponent, they had been so deadly dangerous to threats seemingly beyond their level that he had no idea what to expect.

Why did this have to happen now? If we'd had just a couple of days to get settled, get everything organized and operating smoothly...we should have done this differently, but how could we have known? It's too much, if we lose the Weapon, what do we have left? There hasn't been enough time for our next best option to have been completed, we might have nothing left to-

The door slammed open, nearly giving Havocravenmon a heart attack. He wheeled around, about to unleash a powerful desperate attack, and barely restrained himself in time when he saw that it was Blackwargreymon. "Don't scare me like that!"

If Blackwargreymon even realized what Havocravenmon had said, he didn't show it. "That friggin' lizard! He's a menace!"

With his heart slowing back down, Havocravenmon finally took notice of his General's disheveled state. His chest armor was badly cracked, and even the dark scales of his body couldn't mask the numerous burns all over him. "Good gods, what happened?"

"What do you think happened? I shoulda had that firebug splattered against the wall, and he still screwed me over! If I'da had room to work with, he'd've seen what was coming to him!"

"Oh, thank goodness, Commander, you're unharmed!" Duftmon was next to make his way in, and looking much the worse for wear himself, though perhaps in slightly better shape than Blackwargreymon.

"You faced down one of them?"

Duftmon nodded. "The canine. He was...unquestionably skilled, and I'm sure he had some kind of enhancement as well. He was just too fast...I'm sorry, Commander, I failed you..."

"You came back alive, that alone is worth forgiveness. They allow few to escape who do not submit to them...did Phantomon tell you if he found the others?"

"Phantomon? I didn't see him...I came straight here after escaping, I wanted to make sure one of them hadn't found you and put you in danger. The others went to try to stop the rest, but I don't know what became of them."

"They are on their way." Phantomon glided in through the wall behind Havocravenomon. "They are all alive, Commander, but I regret to inform you they have also already engaged and been repelled. Their ability to mount an attack is minimal at this point in time."

As if anything could ever go right for us... Havocravenmon shook his head. "I suppose it was too much to hope...at least they're not dead. But that's going to make it very difficult to plan a course of action."

"We've got to do something, Commander!" Kuzuhamon burst out as she entered the room, barely standing with support from her staff. "They...they can't win! We can't lose everything, not after coming this far!"

"Kuzuhamon!" Duftmon cried out. "Are you all right?"

"Do I look all right? I'm not going to die on you, if that's what you're asking...we have to come up with something, and fast, before they take down the Weapon!"

Havocravenmon nodded. "I've ordered as much back-up as we can to the control panels, but these ones...they seem almost like demons. I don't know if even this will be enough..."

"Give me five minutes, I'll rip 'em all apart!" Blackwargreymon roared.

"Not in that state, you won't," Kuzuhamon shot back. "If just one did that to you, the whole bunch of them would have you deleted in no time."

"They were powered up somehow! If they weren't, we'd've wiped the floor with them, no question!"

"Do not take it as personal judgment that I do not believe that." The stiff response was from Zeedramon, who entered carrying Carcharomon in his arms. He seemed physically to be in the best shape, but the tone of his voice suggested that his mood was perhaps even more dour than the others.

Blackwargreymon glared hatefully at the dragon. "The hell're you trying to say?"

"Quiet!" snapped Carcharomon weakly, trying to squirm out of Zeedramon's arms. "I swear, last thing I need to hear right now is you yelling about stupid crap..."

"You should not push yourself."

"I swear, you are going to pay for embarrassing me like this..."

"How should you have entered, when even standing could not be accomplished by you?"

"I can friggin' stand!"

"You can barely even talk," Duftmon said. "What did that dinosaur do to you?"

"Tch...some stupid ability seal or something that made my whole body feel like it turned to slime. Just like a metalhead to use cheap tricks against someone who's actually strong..."

"If you got your ass handed to you by 'cheap tricks' you screwed up in the first place," Kuzuhamon said icily, knowing full well what Carcharomon was referring to. "Maybe if you used your brain instead of going mad at the drop of a pin-"

"Enough," Havocravenmon said sternly. "We've got enough problems without fighting between us. Whatever the case, you all came back. Under the circumstances, that's all I could've asked any of you."

Only silence greeted him in response; none of the Generals was looking at him directly. He didn't need to be a mind reader to know what they were thinking. Just coming back isn't good enough for them...they weren't victorious, and that's failure in their minds. I have to do something... "Listen, I know you're not happy with how things have turned out. Neither am I...it's not enough that we've had these unforeseen opponents, we've also had a lot of sabotage from within our own ranks. We've been put at every disadvantage...things aren't going to go well in cases like that. But we can turn this around. You all came back, which means you can fight again...and we'll find some way to make sure it turns out in our favor. Understood?"

This seemed to help, as nods came from Blackwargreymon, Kuzuhamon, and Duftmon, their expressions regaining some of that determination. Carcharomon still resolutely averted Havocravenmon's gaze, but he thought he understood why; being seen in a state like that had to be hard on the sharkman's pride in his strength and resilience. Zeedramon, on the other hand, he had no clue what was with him, but something was definitely off.

"What can we do, Commander?" Duftmon's question brought his focus back to the matter at hand. "If we couldn't stop them, our depleted forces are likely to fall, too. What can we do if the Weapon falls?"

"If I may..." All eyes turned to Phantomon. "It is true that the Weapon may be on the course of destruction. However, I believe we have a single fallback option remaining. The Dreadnaught is currently functional to a satisfactory degree, and we should be able to make our escape in it."

"It is?" Havocravenmon exclaimed. "How? I thought it was still weeks away!"

"I diverted extra resources towards its construction and rearranged the priorities in order to allow it to be useful as soon as possible. It is still only partly functional...it is not the fully armed airship that you envisioned, but it can take to the skies and the divergence barriers are at the ready."

"So we can safely escape the Weapon with our strongest forces and have time to regroup!" Kuzuhamon exclaimed.

"Then that's what we'll do," Havocravenmon concluded. "We need to gather as many of our most powerful fighters as we can. And gather up the spatial compression tanks that haven't been released, our larger firepower is going to be absolutely necessary. Anyone who isn't engaged in any defensive, if they're highly capable bring them with. We can't just bring anyone who wants to come, there's not enough space...but if they survive this, then we can retrieve them later. Right now, the most important thing is to salvage our best fighters so that we can take the battle to them again!"

(==========)

The sounds of terrified yells and shouts echoed through the corridor, as several digimon desperately tried to escape the whirling dervish of death that was careening towards them, knocking away all the fire directed at it. Most of the digimon were caught up within it, and sliced to ribbons; the few that managed to escape just tore out of there, abandoning their station in favor of saving their skins.

At the end of the hallway, the dervish slowed down, and Stormdramon landed deftly on the ground, halberd in hand and a wicked grin on his face. "Whoo! Too much fun! Can't even touch me!"

He surveyed the room in front of him. It was surprisingly complex, an area clearly designed to make it difficult to reach the access console. He noticed the two separate paths, each one lined with numerous obstacles, all mechanical and all looking quite dangerous. The paths were completely separate, but there were clear walls on the insides which would clearly allow them to see each other's progress. Hm...if I remember right, and I'm pretty sure I do, I'm gonna have to split here and do the rest of this as two people! Should be a piece of cake!

Without further delay, he separated himself back into Skylar and Breezedramon. "All right, which side do you want?" Skylar asked.

"The side that's easier, of course!"

"Har har. Won't know until we get in there, so pick one."

Breezedramon laughed. "Yeah, I know, I just always wanted to say that! I'll do left!"

"Then I have the right. Let's get moving, we can't afford to waste more time than we already had to with Zeedramon."

"Right! You be careful, Sky!"

Skylar nodded and ran towards the right-hand door, Breezedramon swooping over to the left. As soon as they were both in, the doors slammed shut behind them, and the machinery in each room came to life.

Skylar carefully regarded the gauntlet in front of him. Though there were no clear divisions, he could see the equipment had been segmented into a series of modules, each one acting as its own cohesive unit. Challenging, but not impossible to get through...whoever designed these wanted to make sure it wasn't easy to take over this thing, but that it could be done if necessary...I have to admit, it's kind of impressive foresight. The first module was a series of rotating flamethrowers, with a straight shot through them to a safe spot between them and the next section. They seemed to go on and off at random intervals, making timing them almost impossible.

Still, he wasn't fazed in the slightest. Focusing, he created swirling wind barriers in front of the flamethrowers, causing the flames to be pushed back towards the machinery. This game him a very safe path to walk through, easily getting him past the first obstacle and allowing him to get to the safe area to figure out the next one. A quick look confirmed that that one would not be quite as easy to get through; again his path was impeded, this time by electrical surges that sizzled in the air across the lone path through. Hm...wind isn't gonna do it this time...maybe there's something around that'll turn them off…

Meanwhile, Breezedramon in the other path found himself almost hypnotized by a set of quickly-whirling blades. Whoo...those are fast! I'm gonna have to be careful going through them! Spreading his wings, he swooped up and down and around, slipping deftly through the dangerous blades without so much as a scrape on his scales. He shot forward as soon as he was through, and yelped as he heard something slam behind him just as he passed; a pair of blades had tried to bisect him as he crossed, narrowly missing catching him.

"Gah...too close!" Breezedramon shook off the nerves and looked ahead. There were several circular platforms in the floor of a chamber in front of him, with circular impressions at the top of the chamber. Gee, I wonder what this is? Let's see how fast they move… He swung a hand over the edge of the first platform, and had to scramble back as it shot up like lightning. "Waugh!" He picked himself back up as the pistoning platform returned to its original position. That's too fast for me to fly across! But there's no way around…

He looked around, and his eyes settled on a switch on the floor near the chamber. Cautiously, wary of a trap, he walked over and pushed it down slowly, watching and listening for anything threatening, and hearing a loud clacking as it went down. Nothing dangerous came, but when he released it he heard the clacking again. So it probably has to be down to work...but there's nothing here to hold it down. Crap! Now what do I do? He tried pressing it again, and releasing it again, with the same result.

On Skylar's side, he had just about exhausted any hope of finding anything to help him cross the electrical barriers. He was just about to try heading back through the flamethrowers to see if he had missed something at the outset when he heard a strange sparking sound, and turned back to see the electrical barricades now flickering on and off in a pattern. Huh...maybe I just had to wait. I'd better hurry and get through before they decide to change back!

He broke out into a sprint, and had only gotten to the first one when they all returned to the on position. A powerful jolt caught him, and he was only barely able to get out with his wits intact. He stumbled back to safety, feeling woozy but not seriously out of it. His attention went back to the electrical barriers as soon as he could focus again, and the pattern of behavior seemed to have become very erratic; they were sometimes all on, and sometimes in that on/off pattern, and Skylar could see nothing that was causing them to change. What in blue blazes…

He didn't know what possessed him to look over at Breezedramon's side, but as soon as he did he was glad for it. The blue dragon was playing with something before some kind of enclosed chamber, and whatever it was, it seemed to be having an effect on how the barriers were behaving. Breezedramon!

He saw the dragon jump in alarm on the other side. Gyahah! Don't scare me like that, Sky!

Sorry. Hey, keep holding down on that whatever-it-is you're fiddling with over there! It's the only way I'm gonna get through this stuff over here!

Wha...really? There's a switch here that affects stuff on your side? Hey, see if there's one over there, I'm kinda stuck here right now!

There isn't one where I am right now, but there might be across this thing. So keep holding it down!

Okay, okay! I'm on it! Skylar heard the crackling once more, and this time the beams stayed in the patterned mode. Carefully, he made his way through, having no trouble figuring out the activation pattern and getting past without further incident. Once he was in the next area of safety, sure enough he found a switch on the floor.

Hey, Breezedramon, I see something. You think this might work on what's on your side?

Press it down and I'll find out!

All right, no need to be pushy. Skylar stepped down on the switch and held it down. He heard a thunk when it went down, and looked over towards Breezedramon to see if he could see anything.

Breezedramon stood in front of the pistoning platforms again, and once again waved a hand over them. It shot up once more, but unquestionably slower than it had before. So I should be able to fly through this time. I'd better make it quick, though. With a flourish, he swung up into the air, looped a couple times to build his speed, and went careening through the chamber, the pistons slamming rapidly into the top of the chamber as he passed. He had to slow down dramatically as he emerged, in order to not get himself into more danger than he was ready for.

You all right, Breezedramon? Skylar's telepathic message came through.

Yeah, I'm good.

Good, because I might need your help again. Skylar was facing down what looked to be the last series of obstacles in his path, and these ones were doozies. In front of him was a pit with some kind of unknown substance in the bottom, one that Skylar was fairly sure he didn't want to find out about firsthand. Above the pit, blocks appeared in a pattern, which he was sure was the way he was supposed to cross. However, the blocks rotated at top speed, which he knew would make it very difficult to get his footing and be able to move to the next one, and after a short time, a large beam fired out from the ceiling above the block, disintegrating it temporarily.

I think I see a switch over here again. Let me know if it does anything!

All right, I'll let you know. Skylar watched intently, looking for any sign of improvement from the switch. Soon, he did notice that the beams took at least twice as long to fire as they had before, which was at least a benefit to some degree. Even so, he still didn't think it would be enough to get him across. It helps, but these blocks are spinning at like a hundred RPMs. I doubt I could even land on them, much less time a jump to the next one.

Weird. How are they spinning?

I'm not even sure. They don't look like they're attached to anything. Maybe there's something inside them that does it.

Not attached to anything? Hit them with a twister! You can probably slow them down or even stop them!

It was such a simple idea that Skylar had to smack himself for not thinking of it on his own. Of course! If it's already freely-moving, that should at least counteract the effect! When the nearest block rose up again, he surrounded it with a quick-moving whirlwind. It slowed down to a practical stop, allowing Skylar to jump on and act on the next one. With each one, he felt the beams bearing down on him just a little more, and picked up the pace in order to ensure he got through safely. The jumps from block to block weren't too much easier themselves, and he found himself using his wind abilities to assist his leaps as well. Finally, after a dozen jumps, he made it across to the other side, panting heavily and feeling very tired.

Breezedramon saw his partner get all the way across, and jumped off the switch in order to survey his own final test. There was another chamber, wider this time and diamond-shaped, with three white surfaces that looked all but identical, and the fourth on the upper left colored blue and lined with wicked-looking spikes. Breezedramon looked it over suspiciously; he had the feeling there was some additional trick to the thing, but it wasn't obvious from anything he could see. Hey, Sky, if you see a switch over there, can you push it down?

It took Skylar a moment to respond. Yeah, there's one over here. Give me one second.

Breezedramon didn't have to have him respond to know it had been pressed; he could tell as the upper left surface turned white and spike-free, while the lower left surface now took on the blue color and the dangerous spikes. Hm, but that still can't be all...if that was it, it could still be easily crossed without anyone using the switch, and they definitely had them there for a reason!

Did anything happen? Skylar asked.

Yeah, I still need to figure something out though. You can let back up for now.

Huh? I already did.

Wait, you did? But it didn't go back to the way it was before like the others...try hitting it again!

Okay… Breezedramon watched as the surfaces changed again, the lower left returning to its benign state and the upper right shifting to the danger surface. Breezedramon had Skylar press over and over again, eventually determining that the change was apparently random.

Still, something was bothering him. Just that change itself wasn't enough to make the switch necessary; he felt there still had to be another trick to it, one that had to make the shifting floors necessary somehow. There's gotta be a way other than flying in to figure out what it is...I wonder if it'll respond to anything flying in? Maybe…

He formed a Twister Orb in his hands, and launched it into the chamber. Finally, his suspicions were confirmed when the orb took a sudden, sharp detour towards the current blue surface on the upper right. So it draws you in as well...probably harder than I can easily push against…

Hey, are we done yet?

Not yet! Be patient! I'm gonna need your help for this one! You're gonna have to hit the switch whenever I tell you to, and you'll have to hit it fast because this is gonna be hard for me to get through!

Ugh...this is taking so long. All right, I'm ready, just make sure you give me a little bit of time, I don't have instantaneous reflexes.

You just be ready, I'll do my part! Once again Breezedramon took off, flying into the chamber as far as he could from the spiked surface. It pulled on him almost instantly, and he corrected hard but still found himself being drawn down towards them despite his best efforts. When he was close, he pathed out to Skylar to hit the switch. It was exceptionally difficult to prepare for the change, with it being essentially random, and he had a harder time adjusting to the next pull. It didn't get easier, as each time he had to adjust enough so that he wasn't too close to any of the other surfaces, or else he wouldn't have enough time to change gears. It got very frantic towards the end as he felt himself scrape lightly against the spikes before they retracted, but with one final push, he shot through out of the chamber and fell in a heap on the ground, heaving like he'd just flown around the world.

You all right, Breezedramon?

Ugh...yeah, but damn, that was too close...man, I'm exhausted. Never flown with that kind of drag on me…

Pick yourself up, buddy, we're at the end. We gotta hit that switch.

Groaning, Breezedramon pulled himself up and took off once more, slowly making his way towards the exit. No more surprises lay in wait for him, and as he emerged he saw his partner doing the same from the other side. The room they were in was sparse, only the console with one large button breaking the monotony.

"Well, that was not a lot of fun, but we got through without too much damage," Skylar said tiredly. "Hope the others didn't have to go through anything worse."

"Hear hear," Breezedramon mumbled, fluttering towards the console. "Be glad to be done with this whole thi-whoop!" As he got to the console, he suddenly dropped out of the air and face-planted on top of it, thumping the button with his stomach. The light on the access console flickered off as he picked himself up. "Um, okay, I guess that works."

Skylar couldn't resist a chuckle. "Breezedramon, you just had to press the button, not dive-bomb it."

"Yeahyeahyeahyeahyeah. I just flew against friggin' dragon magnets, gimme a break. Let's just get our butts outta here before we get caught in a megasplosion, okay?"

(==========)

You okay down there, Ike?

I'm fine. Just don't move around too much, it's easiest if you're weight's just about right there. The metal dinosaur was sitting on Isaac's shoulders, keeping a tight grip around his head and neck. It wasn't the most comfortable position, but after the beating they had taken from Carcharomon, the decision had been made to split up early in order to refrain from drawing extra attention to themselves and minimize the damage they might take. Datacarnomon had still proven too noisy for comfort, however, which had prompted the current arrangement.

It had worked out to their favor in one way, though: they had managed to make a mental connection to each other's eyes, allowing them to each get extra feedback from the new input. And the experience was quite intriguing for both of them as well.

Dude, that's what the world looks like through your eyes? Man, you gotta teach me how to get to see like that, that's awesome! You get like all sorts of data and numbers, it's like a video game almost, I've always wanted to have that kind of thing!

I can't believe you humans get so LITTLE information...I guess it never occurred to me that that wouldn't happen. I dunno how you do it...though, it's pretty awesome that it's so clear and uncluttered.

The hallway in front of them was devoid of life, though both remained wary for any sudden intrusions. They had scanned the hallways thoroughly to ensure that there were no machines that might get in the way, but digimon were always less predictable.

I'm still not seeing anything, and we're almost there. You don't think they bailed on us?

Kinda hoping they did, it makes our lives that much easier. Or maybe we just drew them all towards us before.

We're pretty far away from where we were then, though. I expected more in the way of defenses...maybe they just aren't organized.

Another heavy door was all that stood in the way of them and their destination. With considerable effort, Isaac pulled it open, the hinges screeching loudly as if they hadn't been oiled in ages. "Gah! How do those things get so bad so frickin' quickly?"

"Isaac, quiet!" Datacarnomon hissed. "We don't need to add to it! Come on, get in and close that thing!"

"Sorry!" They had to endure the screeching once more, but soon Isaac had the door shut and bolted, and they were alone inside their target room. The access console was within sight, but a suspicious-looking frame stood in front of the path to it. To the left of the frame was some kind of computer, while to the right was a small vent.

"So I'm guessing this is where you get to do the fun part and I have to hang back?" Isaac surmised.

"Yep. You have to work the mechanics, I have to get through the vent to the other side and turn off the barrier. Looks like you won't be able to see me, so you're gonna have to pay attention for when I tell you to do something."

"Great, and I don't know what controls what, either. That's gonna be fun...well, you ready for this?"

"Sure am! You just keep your eyes open and don't let anyone ambush you."

"I will, but I don't think there's gonna be much chance of that. They're gonna have to crash down that gate if they want in, that'll make enough noise to get my attention."

"You can't ever be too careful! There's digimon that can go through solid structures...I remember Emperius having a Phantomon on their side, at the very least. You'll want to make sure you have every tool of awareness active!"

"Oh, uh...wow, I guess that didn't occur to me. Thanks for letting me know."

"No prob. Now let's get to work!" Datacarnomon hopped up into the vent, clanging loudly against the wall before dragging himself up inside. Isaac took position at the computer, trying to see if he could figure out anything about the connections so he could better help his partner.

There weren't any lights inside the vent, forcing Datacarnomon to shift to night vision in order to see anything. He crawled forward a bit, quickly hitting a turn upwards. Looking up, he could tell that there was something impeding his progress. All right, Ike, round one. Keep hitting the buttons until I see something.

Gotcha. Isaac randomly pressed a few different buttons on the computer, hoping that none of them would end up shutting the thing down and leave them in a bind. After about half a dozen attempts, he hit on one that got a rise out of Datacarnomon. Bingo! Looks like they're down...hang on, I'm gonna wait here a moment and see if they plan on turning back on.

Datacarnomon's suspicions were soon confirmed as the barriers restored themselves not long after they went off. All right, looks like that switch only works on them temporarily. So press when I say so only. Hit it once now. As soon as they went back down, he went to work, climbing up slowly, trying to brace himself against both sides of the vent in order to keep himself up. He didn't rush it, only going past one of the barriers each time before waiting for them to turn back on. After passing four of them, he reached the top, where the vent bent back horizontally.

Good! That's a good start...just keep alert to things around you as well as to me.

Yeah, I know, I am. You stay focused on what's in front of you!

Datacarnomon crawled forward slowly, always checking for danger with his sensors as well as feeling around for any unexpected triggers that might have been hiding in the darkness. The only thing he found was when the vent dropped off into another vertical section. Wary of what might lie beneath, he fired a couple shots down at the lower surface, and saw it break away as a trap door; whatever was down there wasn't visible to him, but he was pretty sure he didn't want to find out. Hey, Ike, start hitting buttons again.

After a few moments, the trap door rose back up, but Datacarnomon still wasn't confident it was going to stay up. He didn't want to risk slipping and falling down to whatever was down there, so he had Isaac keep pressing buttons. Another long wait eventually yielded a result; something started buzzing underneath the trap door, and when he fired a shot down it didn't fall away. With some level of safety ensured, he made his way slowly down the shaft, still putting as little of his weight on the trap door as he could manage.

The next few sections were pretty quiet, forcing him to crawl forward, then right, then up, then back, then left. It was somewhat of a maze, except there didn't seem to be any alternate paths to trip him up, or at least, not until he saw an intersection ahead of him, which appeared to be somewhat slanted. Hm, weird...is that a trap, or a path? Or both, perhaps?

He fired a shot experimentally, and once again got a reaction. A loud clang rung out through the vent, followed by the sound of something rolling. He was a large ball, presumably metal, roll quickly down the path, then heard it continue to roll and then drop off, crashing into something unknown but probably not pleasant. Another shot fired yielded the same result. Hm, maybe I can run them out of those balls rather than trying to find a switch for them...but then again, they might be recycled through. Guess I'd better try the safe way first.

He signaled for Isaac to hit buttons again. Isaac picked a random one and hit it, and very quickly there was a loud cascade as the metal balls fell in a free for all, rolling past Datacarnomon in a mad rush, delivering a series of loud crashes into whatever they had fallen into. Quickly Datacarnomon fired another shot and found there was no more response, but he could hear the sounds of clanking underneath and got the impression that his recycling idea was on the mark. He pushed past the trap as fast as he could, getting across just as a ball released, almost clipping his tail as he surged forward the last few inches to safety.

He was feeling pretty sure he was getting close to the end; his internal map was putting him not far from the hallway to the access console. He continued on, twice stumbling across some kind of switch which didn't react at all when he pressed it, making another turn left and then right, and found himself impeded by some kind of invisible barrier. Ike, go for it.

You got it. Datacarnomon waited patiently for a reaction, a sound, any sign that the barrier had gone down, but after a few minutes, it was clear he was getting nothing. Are you still pressing buttons?

Yeah...is nothing happening?

I haven't seen or heard anything...hm, maybe we have to do this a little more carefully. Hang on, I'll shoot, then have you press a button, then shoot again, and so on and so forth. Maybe it's just too quiet to hear.

Datacarnomon raised up his hand and fired a shot at the barrier. The shot hit and reflected right back at him, smacking him square between the eyes. He yelled out, more surprised and irritated than injured, and using some select words that had Isaac wondering what had just happened.

Eventually he calmed down enough to get his partner in on the loop. Gah...okay, mirrored barrier. Apparently I can't shoot at it. Guess it'll have to be manual contact. Hold every button until I tell you to let go, okay?

Got it. Be careful in there!

I'll be as careful as I can be, but that might not be saying much. Datacarnomon placed his hand gently on the barrier, and then signaled Isaac to hit the first one. When there was no reaction, he called for the second, and so on, until after several attempts he felt the resistance on his hand disappear. Bingo! Hold that down, I'm gonna run through quick!

He crawled forward, feeling a prickling of anxiety as he wondered if the barrier was going to stay down or pop back up unexpectedly and do quite a bit of damage. Thankfully he got through without incident, and shortly thereafter, he made a final turn to the left and saw an opening in front of him leading to the ground below. He switched back to normal vision, crawled forward, slipped through the opening, and hit the ground with a loud thud.

"Welcome back!" Isaac said with a grin. "You all in one piece?"

"Far as I can tell. Seems like a lot of work to go through for something like this. You'd think they'd have something a little easier to work with." He located a switch on the wall and pressed it, and the barrier in the frame went down immediately. "And yet I thought I remembered the plans showing something more complicated. Maybe it's not even finished yet...hate to see the final product."

"Well, this thing did just get off the ground recently. Maybe they haven't had time to work on all these emergency things yet. Does seem odd that they'd go to all the trouble, but then again, you don't want just anyone to be able to get at them, right?"

"I guess that's what you get when you're only about power...you get a lot of guys you can't trust." Datacarnomon went up to the console and stood in front of it, connecting to it technopathically rather than paying attention to the button on top. "At least this is simple enough...no gimmicks, just a simple on/off binary. And...bingo!"

There was a click, and the red light on the console went dead. Datacarnomon turned to leave, but didn't even get a step before something shot out from the console and slammed into his back. There was a large shower of sparks and a loud mechanical screech as the he went tumbling forward.

"Data!" Isaac run up to his partner, trying to sort out what happened. Datacarnomon wasn't responding, despite his efforts, and it took him a while to realize why, only clicking when he looked up at the offending object and realized what it was. No...you can't be serious...a Machine Killer Rod? There? Why would they...they can't have been thinking...

He flipped Datacarnomon over and banged on him a bit, trying to get any sort of response. Having no success, he tried listening for any response from the machinery in the robot's body, but the ambient hum was making it hard to discern anything. The panic was starting to set in, and almost without thinking about it, he created his own technopathic bond, trying to get a feeling for his inner systems in order to see if there was any sign of life.

It was almost an explosive relief when he found them. They were very slowly winding back up, and definitely not close to the strength they had been before, but even being there was enough for Isaac. Damn...he must've been WAY lucky, not to have been totally wiped out by that thing...

"Ngh...holy crap...the hell happened?" Data's eyes flickered back on as he spoke, sounding extremely tired and disoriented.

"Ah, man...Data, you gave me a huge scare."

"Yeah...me, too. Was that a Machine Killer Rod?"

"Yeah. I can't believe they would put one of those in there...they can't have been planning for us, could they?"

"Nah...most likely...more for drones. Some things can masquerade as harmless bots, but they can be controlled remotely and do a heck of a lot of damage. Probably what they expected to have to do with this whole thing. Only thing that surprises me...well, you can guess."

"A very happy surprise, in my book."

"Better than finding it." Datacarnomon chuckled wryly. "And here I was yapping at you about being careful, and then I go and almost brick myself because I was too careless to watch for traps. Er, speaking of which, my body doesn't seem to want to respond to my inputs very well..."

"Don't worry, I gotcha." Isaac picked Datacarnomon up and maneuvered him so that he was locked in a tight grip hanging off his back. "Just try not to move around so much that you get knocked off. I guess I'll be trying to avoid the fights for now."

"That would be appreciated."

(==========)

The seconds were ticking away, and Iris and Shockavimon had gotten no closer to finding a way to bring out the shocking machines guarding the Libertius cell. "This is getting us nowhere..." Iris finally conceded, folding her arms impatiently. "At this rate we'll be lucky to avoid getting caught in the reactor explosion just on our own. We need another plan."

"Right, but we don't have time to find any sort of control panel or information about these things," Shockavimon responded grimly. "What else can we do?"

"I dunno. Have any of you guys heard anything about this thing?"

Several head shakes from the Libertius captives. "They've never told us anything about how the machines are set up, and we've been unable to find out anything on our own," Assaultmon said. "Just about all we know is what Pandamon told you."

"The only way we know of activating it is by going in there," Mervamon said. "We've tried throwing things in there to get them active, but they get vaporized in just a couple seconds."

"Man, I wish Isaac was here...he'd probably be able to figure out more than I could," Iris said ruefully. "There's gotta be some way..."

"Well, there is, isn't there?" Shockavimon said. "Going in there and activating it."

"...You aren't about to suggest what I think you're about to suggest, are you?"

"If one of us goes in there, they can bring them out and the other one can try to wreck them. We're both highly resistant to electricity, so maybe we can handle it."

"It's not normal electricity, Shockavimon!" Assaultmon exclaimed. "Raidenlupimon couldn't handle it!"

"I've gotten pretty resilient since this whole thing started...maybe I can handle it anyway. Iris, do you trust me?"

Iris sighed. "I guess so...which one of us is going in?"

"I'll do it. I'm the one gambling on it, so I should be the one to take the hit if it doesn't work. Just watch and react quickly, okay?"

"Got it. Everyone else, stay back."

"Shockavimon, please do not do this!" Mervamon pleaded. "We are willing to be sacrificed for the greater good...you have stood so well against Emperius, if you survive it is in our favor no matter what happens to us!"

"We're not going to just leave you behind without trying! Iris, get ready, I'm going in!"

Without further warning, Shockavimon dashed into the danger zone. The effect was as immediate as they had warned; no sooner had she crossed the line than four beams of electricity zapped her body, causing her to squawk loudly and fall to her knees. The machines had appeared almost instantaneously, as if warped into existence, giving her no time to prepare for them.

"Shockavimon!"

"I'm...okay! Just...go, quickly!"

"Right!" Iris launched a blast of electricity at the upper right machine. It faltered momentarily, but there was a quick flash from the other three and it roared back to life. "Damn! I guess that means all of them...Shockavimon, are you okay?"

"F-fine...but I don't think I'm gonna last too much longer! If you can stop it, make it fast!"

"Okay! Here goes nothing..." Iris focused as best she could, aiming as precisely as physically possible in order to not risk having to take a second shot, and unleashed four powerful pulses in the direction of all four of the dangerous machines. The attacks were true, hammering the four machines nearly simultaneously. What came next none of them expected: the machines unleashed a massive blast which knocked Iris and the captives back and nailed Shockavimon full force. She screeched loudly as they impacted her body, and fell motionless onto the ground.

Iris rubbed her head, having banged it against the wall on her way back. "Owww...ah, Shockavimon!" She ran towards her fallen partner, heedless of the potential danger, the captives, anything except Shockavimon. She knelt down next to here and picked her up. "Shockavimon, are you okay? Speak to me!"

"Ngh...I think...I'll make it..." Shockavimon said slowly, tightly, her voice wound with pain. "Having...a bit of trouble...moving, though."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure you get out safe." Iris stood up, and only then realized that she was standing right in the middle of the danger zone and there was nothing coming out at her. "It...it worked! They're not attacking anymore! We can get everyone out of here!"

"My goodness...that was some explosion!" Mervamon said shakily. "I'm amazed she survived that..."

"She's as tough as ever, that bird," Pandamon said stiffly. "I fear for our safety, though...even if we are free, we're as good as moving targets without our ability to attack."

"Hey...don't count out my partner," Shockavimon managed to cough out roughly. "You saw what...she did to...those machines. She'll keep you safe...mark my words."

"Yeah...I'll make sure nothing comes near you guys," Iris said with a nod. "Can one of you hold Shockavimon?"

"I will do it," Mervamon volunteered. She walked over to Iris and gently picked up Shockavimon. "Thank you so much for this. We owe you our lives."

"Let's not set any debts until I get you out of here," Iris said. "We're still not out of the woods yet...even if we manage to overcome any guards, I still have no idea how much time we have before Reyn and Salmandmon take out the reactor. We're gonna have to try to get as far away from the reactor as possible, and then find a way out if we can."

"We'll trust you to lead the way, Iris," Assaultmon said.

"I'm glad you trust me that much. Let's go."

(==========)

The Dreadnaught was impressive even to Havocravenmon, who had had the designs for it in the first place. A couple hundred feet long, well-armored and shielded, armed with powerful jets that could get it moving fairly quickly, with a sleek blue-and-yellow dart-shaped design, it was hard to believe it was only minimally functional.

"What kind of capacity do we have here, Phantomon?"

"We can carry a good few hundred of the tanks, plus a sizable number of warriors not in compression. The navigation systems have been automated to run with little to no crew...however, we will need some non-warriors to finish the construction and activation of the various weapons and other systems."

"We can do without that for now...we'll find someone to take care of that later. Are there any weapons systems online?"

"Only one. It is the most powerful, but activating it requires an immense amount of energy and charge time. In the current state, doing so would require deactivation of the divergence barriers and all propulsion systems save for that which could keep up up in the air. I would only recommend it as a very last resort."

Havocravenmon nodded. "Fair enough. Perhaps it won't come to that...we'll have to see."

"Commander!" They turned to see Duftmon running up. "We've spread the word about the evacuation! We'll have enough of our most powerful fighters to give us a fighting chance! But what should we do about the Weapon?"

"What can we do? It's not going to be saved at this point..." Havocravenmon paused as an idea dawned on him. "But...perhaps we can still use that to our benefit! Order the course of the Weapon changed, set it on a direct line to the Kaiser's palace!"

"A brilliant idea, Commander," Phantomon said approvingly. "If they are delayed long enough, the destruction of the reactor will likely do considerable damage to the palace as well. Perhaps weakening them enough for us to get a chance to swoop in and fill a power vacuum."

Duftmon glanced at him uncertainly. "That's certainly true...but it could be kind of a long shot."

Havocravenmon nodded. "Undoubtedly, but let's make every chance we can. Doing nothing will guarantee us nothing, that's not as good as a chance."

"You're right, Commander! I'll give the order straight away!"

(==========)

Onyxvargmon had almost gotten to his destination when he felt a powerful shudder which knocked him off his feet. Recovering quickly, he dashed forward and thrust his sword into the back of a Betsumon who was slower to recover. Wonder what that was all about...but as long as it helped me, I can't complain.

Nothing else remained in his path, at least as far as he could see; however, the strong smell of digimon still lingered in the air, telling him that they couldn't be far away. As he got into the gate room, the scent got stronger, yet there were still no foes in sight. The room was sparse, a control panel on one side and a large circular metal door straight across from it, and nothing else.

Strange...the schematics seemed to indicate there would be more in this room. Perhaps they simply haven't finished implementing everything yet...

He wandered over to the control panel and looked it over. Unfamiliar as it was, he wasn't entirely sure how he was supposed to work it. This is definitely more Isaac's specialty...well, I can't exactly go calling him, now, can I? Guess I'm just gonna have to play around with it...

He pressed a button tentatively, then yelped as some kind of rod shot out and nearly smacked him in the leg. He backed off quickly, but the machine seemed to be done with its counteroffense. Jeez...close call, that would've hurt like a bitch. What is that thing, though? Seems odd that that's how they'd try to defend something like this.

Now taking much more care, he called back one of his swords and used the extra length to make his next move. A couple of the buttons on the console had no obvious effect, but after a few tries, he landed on one that started the massive metal door opening, starting from the center and pulling outwards. He turned quickly, and the source of the scent became quickly obvious as a battery of enemies laid behind, stationed in a moderately long and large corridor with no other obstacles or defense points. Well, well, last line of defense, huh? This'll be fun.

As he readied himself for the charge, however, the door reversed its action, slamming shut remarkably quickly. Momentarily thrown, he turned back and pushed the button down again. Once again the door opened, until he let up the pressure from the button, whereupon it closed back down rapidly. This time, the enemies beyond attempted to pelt him with some fire during the short window they had, which Onyxvargmon had no trouble avoiding. Still, the new discovery had him very disconcerted.

Well, crap...that could be trouble. If I remember right, there's no real exit from that side...even if I opened the door all the way, I could probably just make it in, but I have no idea if there's any way to open the doors from the other side. If they haven't built in all the features over here, who knows what they might be missing? I could be waiting forever to get out...if I even survived the explosion in the first place. Hm, what to do...I suppose phasing through is my best option. Well, better get to it.

Quickly he reverted to Darkwolfmon, and retreated back to the hallway for some shadow to sink into. He reappeared silently on the other side, unnoticed as all the digimon were intently focused on the gate, watching for it to open again. Guess they forgot about what I can do, he thought as he quietly went over to the access console. Just ten feet away, however, he smacked face-first into an invisible wall.

Ten seconds later, he was back on the other side of the gate, panting after a rapid exodus which had him weaving through a cavalcade of fire from the guardians and barely getting out intact. Well, that didn't go so well. Damn them, they had to make this tricky, didn't they? He leaned back against the wall, contemplating his options. I won't be able to phase back in...they're watching that point, and there isn't another suitable shadow in the room...even if there was, they'd probably be watching that, too. And the only way I can open the gate is if someone's holding the button down...probably another button on that control panel lowers the barrier around the access console...I don't think there's any way around it, this is going to require two people. Well, I hope I've learned enough to handle myself in this kind of fight...

With a resigned sigh, he split back into Derek and Blackcanismon. "Well, this is a fine mess," Derek said sourly. "I was hoping not to have to do this. It'd be a lot easier fighting all those guys together."

"Regrettably, we have encountered an unfortunate impediment in that arrangement," Blackcanismon replied. "We simply shall have to adjust accordingly."

"Right...I guess we've got to have one of us at the controls, while the other one fights. And to make sure they don't ice the one at the controls, the gate's probably going to have to close before they get the person who can open them back up again, which means no back-up."

"Then I shall volunteer for the unpleasant role."

"No...I'll do it."

"Derek, perchance, will this devolve into a disagreement about who should end up being the potential sacrifice? I wish to avoid such ridiculousness if possible."

"For someone who doesn't like to beat around the bush, you can take an awful long time to get to your point. No, I'm thinking they're going to underestimate me more, which might give me a better edge. Let's not forget that they know you as one of the Elite Commanders of Libertius, while they think of me as just some silly human along for the ride."

"Somehow I doubt they will conceive of you as such."

"Well, okay, they know I'm capable of something. But I doubt they think I measure up to you. That might just make them overconfident enough to not put in their full effort."

Blackcanismon didn't look very enthusiastic, but he nodded nonetheless. "I suppose I must concede to your reasoning. You must take exceptional care, their numbers are significant and would be no trifle even in the best of situations."

Derek nodded grimly. "Trust me, I'm well aware of that. Let's go."

They split, Derek taking position at the gate while Blackcanismon attended to the console. Propping himself up, he placed a paw on the button, then fixated his attention on the opening gate, waiting to let up the moment Derek got in. For his part, Derek, as nervous as he was, had at least some idea of what he was going to try to do, as a dark cloud enveloped his right hand. It's gonna be chaos in there...maybe I can use that to my benefit.

The onslaught began as soon as they could see him; whether they were taking him more lightly or not, it was clear the foes weren't about to make it especially easy on him. Derek leapt through the moment it was feasible, and just kept moving as the attacks followed him. A cannonball slammed into the wall just behind him, fired from a Hookmon who had his one good eye keenly on him. He ducked under a blast of fire provided by a Boarmon, then deftly spun away from a wild slash from a Tekkamon. The attack left Tekkamon spun around, and Derek took the opportunity to kick it away from him. He then turned and jumped away from a Wind Seeker attack from a Harpymon. Dammit, I'm gonna have to do this on the fly.

He raised his hand at the Hookmon, who was lining up another shot at him. A speedy black jet flashed out and hit him in the head, his eye turning black. He lowered the cannon gun, suddenly lost as his entire world went dark. Derek quickly followed up with the same on the Harpymon and a Gargoylemon, both of whom went fairly wild and crashed into each other. Derek went on the move again, chased by a Minotaurmon and a Centaromon from behind, and Boarmon and a Setmon in front of him trying to get in his way. Derek blinded Boarmon, then formed a pit under Setmon which sent a blast of dark energy up into him, stunning him and leaving clouds of darkness wafting up from his body.

Boarmon desperately tried to fire his Nose Blaster at Derek, but without his sight he couldn't hone in on him, and instead nailed Centaromon, who was driven back by the blow. Minotaurmon backed off to avoid getting caught in the crossfire, giving Derek some breathing room. He leapt over Boarmon and Setmon, then spun and launched a powerful dark shot at the latter, piercing his body and ending his life. One down, eleven to go.

He had to duck and weave as a powerful twister nearly struck him. BlackGaogamon tried to follow him, but Derek was quick, and managed to put himself behind the still sightless Boarmon. From above, a Black ExVeemon set his sights on him, but despite being a dark digimon he still fell victim to the blinding shot as well. An Owlmon dove down towards him, and he scrambled out of the way, almost right into Tekkamon's slash. Derek ducked and countered with a quick swipe of his hand, releasing a precise bolt of energy which cut right into Tekkamon and brought him down.

Gargoylemon launched a blast of frigid air in Derek's general direction, but ended up coming far closer to hitting Owlmon, who was trying to nab Derek with his sharp talons. Somehow Derek slipped through and got a clean shot at Centaromon, blinding him as he was charging his Solar Ray. Unable to stop the attack, Centaromon fired blindly, the beam directly hitting Harpymon and wiping it out. Derek continued his rapid movement, getting away from Minotaurmon again and then almost getting punched in the back by a BomberNanimon. He launched a dark pulse out in an expanding wave from his body, tossing BomberNanimon like a rag doll and catching BlackExVeemon as he was trying to zero in on Derek by sound. BlackExVeemon fell to the ground, nearly hitting Hookmon, who reacted by firing a cannonball which barely missed him and went on to slam into Owlmon's head, instantly killing him.

They're doing more damage to each other than I'm doing to them...just what I was hoping for. Emboldened by his results, he decided to get a little more daring. BlackGaogamon was trying to jump at him to rip him open with his claws; Derek dodged and then jumped onto him, grabbing his fur on his side. "Come and get me, assholes!" The effect was immediate: both Centaromon and Hookmon turned towards the sound and fired their respective attacks, Blackgaogamon not realizing until too late the danger he was in. Derek let go and rolled away as the canid digimon was hit from both sides, and crashed to the ground, disappearing in a flurry of data.

BomberNanimon was trying to come at him from behind again, so Derek took off, running towards Boarmon, who still couldn't see and was trying desperately to figure out what was going on. Derek let out a yell, drawing his attention, and he fired his Nose Blaster again. Derek dove down, letting the attack pass over him and slam into BomberNanimon, who went flying backwards. As soon as he could, he repeated the dark cutter that he'd used on Tekkamon, gutting Boarmon and finishing him. Then he spun around to get back to BomberNanimon, only to see him sitting on the ground, dazed, the fuses on his body active and very short.

The explosion was intense, with only Derek, Gargoylemon, and Hookmon far enough away to escape relatively unscathed. BlackExVeemon and Centaromon both bit the dust, and Minotaurmon took a good shot, being thrown against the wall and laying motionless on the ground. Shaken but not hurt, Derek turned his attention to the other two survivors, both of whom were shaking off the blinding effect. But now it's just two on one...I think I can handle this.

Quickly he let loose a dark shockwave, hitting Gargoylemon and leaving him dizzy and disoriented. Hookmon fired at him, and he dodged and fired back, winging the pirate digimon. Hookmon went for a second shot at him, only narrowly missing this time. Derek focused, and a dark aura appeared around Hookmon, spreading and distorting the space where he was standing. Hookmon found himself unable to move, and the fluxing intensified until it tore him apart where he stood. Derek turned his attention back to Gargoylemon, until loud footsteps from behind suddenly shifted his attention. He had only half a second to realize Minotaurmon had been faking unconsciousness before the bull's metal arm met his stomach.

He wasn't entirely sure what happened in the next few moments, on account of the pain overloading his brain. All he knew was that he was lying on the ground a short time later, his entire body wracked with intense pain, barely able to move. He could hear Minotaurmon and Gargoylemon coming at him still, intent on finishing him off, and only by an intense effort did he get enough focus to unleash another dark pulse, stopping them both cold.

He could barely think, but part of him was reacting on instinct, ignoring his sudden cognitive deficits, the pain, everything. Gargoylemon never saw it coming, an intense black beam that blew right through his body, breaking him apart and finishing him off. Minotaurmon was next, and as he backed away, expecting another deadly beam and hoping to outrun it, he suddenly found himself instead locked in some kind of bubble. Darkness began flying from the sides towards the center, buffeting him and putting an intense pressure on his body. Then the entire interior of the bubble went completely dark, lingering a few seconds before disappearing, leaving absolutely no trace of Minotaurmon whatsoever.

It took Derek a couple minutes to realize someone was calling to him. Still enduring intense pain all over, he managed to push himself to a sitting position, and only then realized that the gate was open and Blackcanismon was the one trying to rouse him. "Derek! Thank goodness, I thought you were...what happened?"

"Ngh...I got...careless, I guess..." Very slowly, Derek got to his feet; despite the ridiculous levels of pain, he felt remarkably whole. "Damn...can't believe I...didn't break in half. He hit me good..."

"Can you walk? Come here, let me look at you!"

"Hey...hold on a sec...we gotta deal with that access thing."

"Derek! You can hardly walk!"

"Which means I can still walk..and that means I can still get over there. Find a button that lowers that barrier...once we take care of that...you can check me out. Only then."

Blackcanismon shook his head in frustration. "Grrr...if you go over there and collapse, I'm not gonna be able to come get you!"

"I'm willing to take that chance."

"Argh! Fine! Try not to scare me, okay?" Blackcanismon started hammering different buttons, trying to figure out what would have the effect he was looking for without really knowing what he was doing, just trying to speed things up so his partner wouldn't be in worse trouble.

"Hey! Slow down over there!" Derek's voice caused him to look back anxiously, almost letting up on the gate button. "I think I heard something make some noise...try holding whatever button you just hit!"

Blackcanismon complied, and Derek did his best to quickly get up to the access console; sure enough, the barrier that had impeded them before was down. The console was very simple, with one large button and a red light shining brightly up on the top. A little wary after the earlier close call, Derek made sure he was well off to the side before pressing the large button. The light went off, and mercifully there were no unpleasant surprises waiting for him. With nothing else to do, he slowly made his way back to the control room. As soon as he was past the gate, Blackcanismon rushed over, letting it slam shut, and quickly checked over Derek.

"Jeez, don't overdo it, buddy," Derek mumbled, letting himself be brought to the ground. "I'm still here, aren't I?"

Blackcanismon said nothing until he had spent a full two minutes sniffing and feeling Derek's body for major injuries. Finally, he relaxed and lightened up slightly. "You appear to be without critical injury...thank goodness...how do you feel?"

"Like I just got hit by a mack truck going the speed of sound. But aside from that, surprisingly good."

"That sounds unfortunate enough already. Let's make haste in our exodus from this monstrosity, so that proper attention can be paid to your status!"

(==========)

Down by the gates, with two open and only one to go, Salmandmon was pacing nervously. "Crap! Looks like we've changed direction...and unless I'm completely off, based on the way it was going before, it's shifted to the direction the Kaiser's palace!"

Reyn stared at Salmandmon, completely lost. "You know this...how?"

"Because I know where the Kaiser's palace is and I know which way this thing was going before. Try to keep up, Reyn."

"So why the hell would they want to do that? Sounds like they'd just be putting themselves even further in the line of fire."

"Yeah, unless they get close enough that blowing up the reactor could take them out! And if we don't blow it up, the whole thing might just crash into the palace! And it'd be enough to wreck everything, for sure!"

"Well, it's not like this thing is going to land there in the next few minutes. Won't they just evacuate?"

"They don't know it's coming their direction! By the time word gets to them who knows how close we'll be? We need to get to the reactor and finish it fast!"

A loud thunk, followed by a scraping sound, drew their attention. The last gate was shifting away, slowly revealing the reactor room. "Looks like we'll have our opportunity in a moment," Reyn said.

"Finally!"

"Hey, they weren't exactly up against nothing, you know."

"I know, I know, it's not their fault...let's just get in there and do this thing!"

They ran towards the reactor room, slowing only when they were inside. It was quite a large room, mostly empty space, with the reactor being much smaller than Reyn had anticipated, only a twenty-foot machine towards the rear wall. There were plenty of consoles all around the room, though what purposes they served were a mystery to him. He figured at least one of them had to control the blast shielding, except...

"I don't see any shielding anywhere. You don't think they didn't put it in?"

"That would be even crazier than I could imagine Emperius being. It's probably in the walls."

"In the walls? Wait, you mean, like, the entire room is closed off? Not just the reactor? That sounds like a mistake to me."

"Quantum reactors are supposed to be incredibly powerful and incredibly destructive if they go haywire. It's probably safer to have a larger space containing the blast...it'll have some time to dissipate before it hits the protective barriers, so maybe there'll be less energy and less collateral damage."

"Oh...I guess that makes sense. But that means it's gonna be hard timing the shielding so that it's up before we take the reactor out."

"Well, see if you can find any way to set anything up by the reactor. I'll try to find the controls. If worse comes to worse, I know the console out where we were waiting controls them as well...I'd rather it not come to that, but if it has to, it has to."

Something about Salmandmon's tone of voice didn't sit right with Reyn, but he didn't say anything; instead, he went over to the quantum reactor, examining it and looking for anything that might allow it to go haywire. He and Salmandmon were prepared to work something up using their fire abilities if it came to that, but he was hoping he could find something that would give them more time to make an escape; the shielding would dampen the blast but not contain it fully, and he wanted to be sure they could get as far away from the danger as possible when it hit.

There wasn't much to work with; the reactor didn't have any control consoles on it itself, and there was no big red self-destruct button to be found anywhere either. However, there were a few stray metal rods around, which he figured they could potentially rig up into a delayed mechanism that could set it off. He wasn't sure how it would work yet, but he was hoping Salmandmon had a few ideas. However, when he went to tell the lizard about his thoughts, he was greeted with a very grim demeanor.

"Salmandmon...what's up? Is something wrong?"

Salmandmon sighed, reluctant to say anything but knowing he had to. "...There's no controls for the blast shielding in here."

"Huh?"

"None of these consoles do anything involving the blast shielding. I've checked all of them, and they're all for power routing or system testing or the like."

"But...that doesn't make any sense! There should be something to bring it up automatically! What if there's a problem with the reactor and no one can get down here quickly enough to deal with it?"

"They probably have it routed so that it can be triggered remotely from a few places...but maybe they wanted to avoid anyone locking themselves in. Or maybe they just haven't set it up for in here yet. But that makes things tough for us...someone's gonna have to activate it manually from the other side of the hall."

"Jeez, that'll make things even harder! We're gonna have to be careful setting things up if we want to be able to hightail it outta here-"

"We can't do that." Reyn stopped short and stared at Salmandmon, who was looking very grim. "There's not enough time...and if there's no automatic override that could set it up, anything we try to connive is gonna take too long to set up, and there's no telling how close we are to being unable to safely detonate."

"So what now?"

Another deep sigh from Salmandmon. "It's not what I wanted to do, but we're gonna have to do this the fast and painful way. Reyn, get out there and raise the shields. Once they're closed, I'll blast that thing myself."

The reaction was instant and predictable. "The hell you will! I'm not gonna lock you in with that thing!"

"Don't make this harder than it already is, Reyn! It's not going to work out like we were hoping - we don't have the time, and the way this thing is set up isn't going to give us the ability to finesse anything, at least not safely!"

"But you're gonna be right in the blast! Salmandmon, I can't-"

"Dammit, Reyn, shut up already!" Salmandmon snapped harshly, stunning Reyn into silence. "I'm not any more ready for this than you are, but we don't have another choice! If we screw up here, we kill everyone inside, everyone fighting outside, and who knows how far the blast will spread beyond that! And if we dick around trying to figure something else out we're going to blow the Kaiser's palace to kingdom come, and then we're in even deeper trouble! Hurry up and get out there, before it's too late!"

"Nugh...goddammit, Salmandmon...you'd better not die on me in here, you hear me?"

"I'm not making any promises! Now go!"

After only a brief moment, Reyn complied, sprinting back through the gates to the room they had waited in. The console had clear instructions for how to raise the blast shielding, and as much as he didn't want to, he quickly ran through them. A loud mechanical whirring emerged from the direction of the reactor room, and he could see a strange metal wall closing the reactor room off, cutting off the sight of his partner.

I can't believe I'm doing this.

Only after he heard the whirring stop did he realize he was still in the danger zone. Without any other choice, he ran. He didn't know how long he had, or whether he could even get far enough to keep from meeting an unfortunate fate himself. He just ran, cursing the circumstances and ignoring everything in his way, including a few lingering shocked digimon clueless as to what was going on.

He was only back to the guard room when the blast hit.

(==========)

(==========)

I could say a bunch of things here, but I think I've already spent enough time poring over this chapter. I normally wouldn't leave it on a cliffhanger like this, but again, I ended up cutting it off here because it's probably gonna take me another couple of weeks to finish what would have been the end of the chapter. And it's already been way too long since I put one up.

Let me know if there are any typos, inconsistencies, or artifacts from my preparation. I didn't have much time or energy to fully proofread.