Starman crossed his arms, but not haughtily or confidently or even angrily. A pout graced his lips and his shoulders hunched over as he sulked to himself. Granted he loved being in and around the stars but it helped to do so with friends or even a lover. Dr. Wily just had to station Starman in the small space station to help defend the most recent Fortress, which he helped build, from the world governments. Even though he was designed for development in space he didn't appreciate his free time taken up by orders. He'd been stuck out there with hardly any contact with his brothers for days, and to top it off that meddling Rockman was already on the move to stop the 5th Wily War.
That made a shiver crawl down Starman's metal spine. As of yet Rockman stood undefeated since Wily began his scheme for world domination. He doubted his Star Crash would stand up to the Mega Buster for very long, especially since Rockman presently thought his brother Blues was behind everything this time. The umber-colored robot master sighed and resigned himself to his fate: he would be defeated by the famous Blue Bomber, then once he was repaired for the final showdown he'd flee the damned space station and go back to a life he truly enjoyed. Starman certainly didn't want to die, much less die single. He giggled to himself and drew a fake rose he always kept on him, brushing his cheeks with the silk petals and imagining whisking himself and his beloved away into the deep reaches of space, where only peace and happiness would be found among these bright and beautiful stars.
He gasped when the image of an older Robot Master jumped into his fantasy: red and black armor suit, yellow boots and a yellow mask with a lightning bolt that sprouted from the center. Elecman.
"Gah, why am I thinking about him at a time like this?" Starman chided himself, shaking his head. Even so the dashing silhouette of Elecman's well-built figure stuck to his mind like glue. Elecman was considered an enemy nowadays since Dr. Light originally built him, but he and the other five "Original Six" were never met with hostility from the Robot Masters in the following wars. They were left alone to their original jobs. Starman longed for such freedom, and perhaps Elecman beside him.
Suddenly an unknown warp signature landed right behind him. Starman whirled and readied an attack. Why weren't the alarms set off?! A split second later he realized the answer. There, coming straight for him briskly walked Elecman himself! The splendid noble youth could only stare, admiring Elecman's powerful physique as his rose dropped to the floor. Hard logic then screamed that if Elecman, an unimportant player in the game, had managed to find his boss chamber then Rockman wasn't too far behind. He couldn't involve his friend like that.
"You have to get out of here," he blurted, eyes widening when he heard the same thing in Elecman's voice. "W-What?"
"You have to leave," Elecman urged, "My brother is on his way as we speak." Right then the intruder alarms sounded, and Starman activated all automatic defenses to buy himself some time.
"I'm no coward, Elecman," Starman replied.
"You know you can't. Please!"
"Why are you so concerned? I'm one of Wily's." Elecman sighed resignedly.
"All this fighting is quickly becoming meaningless. Wily gets more and more insane and damages accumulate, plus you and your brothers are born knowing only fighting. Rock wants the fighting to stop as well, but he's forced into killing his own kind. Now he's fighting against his own older brother." Starman shrugged. Here and there explosions slightly shook the station as robots and rubble piled up in the lower floors. "This stops now; it should remain just between Rock and Blues. Take my hand, and we'll flee." Starman's eyes flew wide in disbelief. "I'll set you up somewhere safe, then I'll gather the rest."
"I..." His mental image of eloping, of taking freedom for his own, it was being handed to him just like that! Starman silently thanked whatever deities were listening and reached out to take Elecman's outstretched hand. Elecman ignored the enamored look in Starman's eyes and was about to input some warp coordinates when the door opened and in stepped a roughened up Rockman. The Blue Bomber blinked at the sight of his own brother holding a Wily-bot's hand and lowered his buster in confusion.
"What are you doing here, Elecman," the little fighter robot asked. Starman froze, trembling. He should have known it was too good to be true. Now he would die at the hands of a buster-wielding shrimp while Elecman would be scrapped for his betrayal. No, he couldn't let such a thing happen!
Starman jumped in front of Elecman and activated his Star Crash to shield his gallant black knight, declaring, "I won't let you hurt him! He's done nothing wrong!" Both Rock and Elecman gave the smitten Robot Master incredulous looks.
"But ... I only asked what he was doing here," Rockman replied, "I'm not gonna shoot him or anything."
"I wanted to take Starman away from here before you arrived," Elecman confessed, "I can no longer stand the sight of our kind getting killed, for the greater good or not. If we merely freed Wily's robots..."
"They'd just be controlled another way," Rock interjected sadly. "They need to make the choice themselves. I promise I'll try with every one I face." He glanced to Starman, who by reflex took a defensive stance. "Starman, right? Surrender? I'll let Elecman take you to a safe place." Another golden opportunity! If he could Starman thought he would faint! No bloody fight, he can play dead for a while, and be whisked away by Elecman in person! He could go back to what he enjoys!
"Yes! But first, come here and take my weapon. You'll need it in case my brothers need some harder convincing." He deactivated his current barrier and held out his buster arm for Rock to copy. Rockman did as he was told, then nodded to confirm the weapon was successfully copied. Starman then pointed to an important-looking console. "That console controls the station's main functions. Initiate the self-destruct by pushing the big orange button."
"Sure! The more we cover our tracks, the better." Elecman nodded in agreement, then took hold of Starman's waist. Star giggled faintly and wrapped his arms around Elec's neck.
"Take me away, my knight." Elecman decided to ask questions about that later as he warped them back to Earth.