Heroic New Era: New Beginnings

Chapter 4: Desperado's Secrets Revealed

The scene soon switched to Mexico, as a black car was seen driving along, with Raiden at the wheel, and Inuyasha in the passenger's seat, with Allison driving behind them with Rachel and Sakura in another black car. In the back seat of Raiden's car sat two robotic canines who seemed to be rebuilt in a more… fierce design along with better weapon attachments as well.

"You all got disguises lined up, right?" A dark skinned man named Kevin Washington would ask on codec, showing up in both cars for everyone to talk to him.

"Yep. We're all set." Raiden answered.

"Good, because you all would look a little conspicuous just walking the streets." Kevin added.

"We are well aware of that." Sakura answered back.

"Relax, Kev. We'll all blend right in." Raiden said, as the group was seen wearing Sombreros as well as Mexican clothing to hide their battle suits.

"Right… just get to the sewer system ASAP." Kevin answered. "...And you're all sure you want those K-9000s there with you?"

"The Doc… Doktor made the necessary modifications to ensure that they are no liability." Rachel remarked. "Mostly intact, save for remote piloting and AI wiping protocols. They are free, so I assume that throwing them a bone on the matter would help build trust between us and them."

"Wordplay: Our exoskeleton resembles a canine: Canine enjoy bones." Blade Wolf remarked.

"Opinion: Amusing on two levels." Blood Wolf answered back.

Raiden soon eyed the sewer entrance ahead. "Let's go." He said, as both vehicles stopped, as the group got out, save for Allison, who would drive and park somewhere distant from the sewers. Luckily, no one saw them as Raiden opened the sewers, as both robotic canines jumped in, as Rachel, Sakura, Inuyasha, and lastly Raiden followed them, the sewer opening closing as they dropped in, as Allison drove off, with the other vehicle activating Auto Pilot to follow her.

"It's Raiden, we're in the sewer system." Raiden called Kevin on codec as the group began walking through the sewers.

"Gotcha. Let's get started. You're all going to be investigating a Desperado-affiliated lab in that area. It's been reported they're dumping illegal waste into those sewers." Kevin began. "FYI, they're also, allegedly, involved with the cartels in human trafficking."

"Just brilliant…" Sakura growled. "So anything else you like to add?"

"One thing to keep in mind. Our client also gave us intel that there's an experiment from a completely unaffiliated company, that Desperado has bought for a high sum of money. Energy ratings for her are off the charts. She goes by a couple names, K-423 is her official experiment name though. Her actual name is Kiana Kaslana… some people call her 'Herrscher of the Void.'" Kevin explained.

"'Herrscher…' Isn't that German for power or ruler, something like that?" Allison would ask, joining the call.

"Huh, that sounds fairly interesting… So another major threat in our way." Sakura answered back. "Hopefully, this one will be easy to persuade to our side. But I expect having to give her a dose of pain to get her to see sense."

"Right. Anyways, infiltrate the lab, deal with her only if necessary, and find out everything you can." Kevin said.

"Alrighty!" Inuyasha said. "Let's find this lab, and shut 'er down!"

"We will scout ahead. You all shall provide backup." Blood Wolf stated.

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am." Raiden sarcastically responded.

"Commence Operation." Blade Wolf remarked, as the two canine robots dashed through the sewers for a moment, as the group slowly followed after them. "...Unidentified UGs are patrolling the sewers. Exercise caution."

"Your advice is noted-" Rachel was about to respond, before she then heard the sound of water dripping from above, as she quickly turned her head up, and saw that there were a gorilla-like android above, as it raised a cannon arm at the group, before firing a few explosive rounds, causing them to scatter away.

"Oh, so now we got an mechanized ape to deal with!" Inuyasha sarcastically remarked. "Well, if you want us that bad, then hope you like being diced up!"

The android then landed on the ground, as if provoked by Inuyasha's taunt, although it only led to its demise, as Raiden and Sakura severed its legs off, before Rachel grappled with it, and tossing it high enough for Inuyasha to split the mechanical being vertically in two.

"That was quite easy… But we shouldn't let them take us by surprise next time." Sakura remarked, before she then noticed a catwalk ahead. "...Hm, this might call for some old-fashioned stealth."

The group immediately boarded the cat-walk, seeing the various cyborgs patrolling the sewers, as they took them down effectively without any signs of being caught, while Rachel used her spear to silence any Dwarf Gekkos that tried to jump them from above.

Moving forward, there wasn't really any issues for the group as they moved through the sewers, as they soon came up on the area they had to drop down to reach the lab, when they heard someone struggling below. Inuyasha was the first to check it out, seeing a boy being harassed by Dwarf Gekkos as Inuyasha grit his teeth, and rushed down the side of the large opening, throwing a knife towards one Dwarf Gekko, killing it, before he stabbed Tessaiga clean through another, splitting it in half. He would then look up to see three larger robots waiting for him, as Inuyasha growled at them, raising Tessaiga as the rest of the group soon dropped down.

"Get the kid out of here!" Inuyasha yelled back to the others.

"Ninjas? Cowabunga-" The native boy was about to say, before Sakura forcefully grabbed him by the arm.

"Alright, nino… Let our friend deal with that, then we can talk." Sakura remarked, as she brought him to a safe spot, while more mounted Dwarf Gekkos appeared, as Rachel and Raiden readied themselves, before the three of them cut through the large group of robots in a long battle.

As the group sheathed their weapons, Sakura turned back to the boy.

"Now then, what's a kid like you doing here?" Sakura asked back, before noticing that he had plastic markings on the nape of his neck, and severed IV brace on his left arm. "Actually… don't answer that, I can take a guess already."

"Mi a Guyanase. From Guyana." The boy said with a heavily accented voice.

"Right, I'm Sakura, and with me are Raiden, Rachel, and Inuga." Sakura introduced the group, who walked over. "We're from all around the world."

"Mi name George, like 'Georgetown'!" George introduced himself.

"So, George… what exactly are you doing here?" Inuyasha would ask him.

"Mi? Wuh da rass ayu fuh do here?" George asked back. "Yuh lose da map a ninja hideout, ninja people?"

"Not quite, we're hunting bad people." Rachel answered back.

"Ah, dem skunt a research lab." George stated. "Mi know mi na go back there. Wait… yuh na wan of dem skunt, nah?"

"Well, honestly, no. We look a little like them, but totally different." Sakura answered back with crossed arms.

"If yuh all cyborg, yuh know who dey is?" George asked.

"Sort of." Raiden answered back. 'What happened to you?"

"Mi bin live on da street, rake an scrape fuh a bobb, nah?" George explained. "Den dis kutnee dress like da mafia say, 'Hey boi, yuh wan a job?' Wuh da worst gon happen, nah? But da mudda skunt done put mi on a rass boat! Dey pack us all a bigable dutty containah. Next ting we know, we here. At dat jumby lab."

"All kids, like you?" Rachel asked back.

"Yeah, alotta boi, including that gal that watch us." George answered back. "But den mi bin overhear wuh dem skunt wan a do. Snuff us out an gut all dey organ…."

"Okay, that explains why you ran then…" Sakura answered back with a grimace. "What else?"

"Mi try to warn dem boi, I say, 'Ayodese brain will get cut out!', 'Run yuh rass out a dey!', but dem boi wi mi no understand. Dey like Spanish or some'ting. I even plead da gal to get mi out, but she wag head with sad look. So I wait when she gone, and mi the only wan fuh escape." George explained.

"This girl… can you describe her to us?" Inuyasha would ask.

"She the dazzle, white hair, and sun peepers, and she wear white an purple!" George tried to explain.

"We might need to cross-reference this with what we know about Kiana Kaslana…" Sakura remarked, as she did the job herself. "Huh, it seems that it's a good match. Looks like that reinforces the idea that she wants no part in this."

"Even tho' she work for dem skunt, she always be nice to us. She inna bad as dem other skunt." George said, having a small smile.

Raiden soon walked up to George and grabbed his shoulders. "I need you to tell us everything you know about this lab."

George nodded, as he told them about the drainage tunnel that he used to sneak out of the lab, before he then bolted off towards above-ground, before more of Desperado's forces would find him.

"So our way in involves a drainage tunnel." Rachel pondered, hand on chin. "I wonder what else we'll find in that lab. Perhaps it might give us a clue to where we strike next."

"Let's hope so." Inuyasha said as they progressed forward, avoiding the enemy forces or stealthily killing them, before Blade Wolf soon called via codec.

"We have located a general area based on the information the boy gave us. The area has been added to your radars." Blade Wolf explained.

"Good boy. This should help a bunch." Inuyasha remarked as they soon reached the area near the entrance, as they began looking around for it, before Inuyasha noticed that part of the wall was a bit… out of place. Slashing at it, he found that it was actually the door to the lab, camouflaged as part of the wall.

"Ah-ha! Guys! Over here!" Inuyasha called for everyone, as they rushed over to see that the entrance to the lab was behind the wall, as Raiden cut through it.

"Nice work. Now let's-" Raiden was about to say, when suddenly, a snap was heard, and the group, along with both Blade Wolf and Blood Wolf, found themselves in a white void.

"...What the…?" Raiden asked as he looked around, before the group heard footsteps behind them, as they all turned and readied their weapons, being greeted by Kiana in her Herrscher of the Void form, as her solemn eyes looked upon the group.

"...So the video files from the fallen UGs were true…" Kiana spoke. "You all have come to shut down this lab. Morally, I support it… but bound by my paid duty, I cannot support you or your motive. I'm forced to defend the lab… even if it costs me my own life."

"Wait… why are you opposing us when you could just… I don't know… have your own freedoms?" Inuyasha asked.

"Because where do I have to go… I've been experimented on for most of my life… I've been a fool to believe I could live as Kiana Kaslana, and be free." Kiana spoke sadly. "I have nowhere to go… no one to turn to… except back to my superiors in the lab I came from…"

"In theory, you are like how we were before we met our new allies here." Blade Wolf spoke up. "You have the intellect and morals to know what you are doing is wrong… and yet you feel as if there is no freedom for you outside of that. We have discovered this to be false."

"Pah… you are just mere AI. What do you know about freedom?" Kiana scoffed.

"Our definition of freedom has been updated quite a while ago." Blood Wolf countered. "We may not claim to have a full understanding of the term, but we do know enough, that we can conclude that freedom is possible for you. You fear that your only lifelines would be severed in defiance. However, from current records… we are capable of ensuring that you need not be dependent on them, if you join our cause."

"Hmp. So you have some intellect… nevertheless… how would you all help me? I have managed to overpower most, if not all beings of this world tenfold in my current state. As Kiana, she could even beat them, albeit with slight struggling. So what hope do you have of convincing me joining you is worth my time?" Kiana asked with a skeptical look.

"You're not gonna accept anything from us unless we prove ourselves…" Inuyasha sighed.

"Essentially. If your words have merit, put enough cause behind your strikes to even challenge me and I'll consider the offer." Kiana said, soon powering up.

"I have no disagreement with that." Rachel answered back, shifting into battle posture. "Let us begin then."

The rest of the group followed, as Kiana readied her void blades, as they floated just above her.

~BGM: Rave (Honkai Impact 3rd)~

The battle began as Kiana shot multiple attacks from void portals at the group, varying from void lightning to concentrated void energy, to even summoning some Honkai that took the form of various male and female soldiers, as well as some Gekkos and Dwarf Gekkos.

"Huh, so this is what reports about her talk about… these things that imitate form…" Sakura remarked, as she split a soldier Honkai in two with a swift slash. "No wonder she's not to be underestimated, and she's not directly engaging herself in the fight…"

Raiden managed to slice through the enemies and avoid attacks to get up close and personal, as Kiana swung her blades at him, only to have them blocked before being hit with a series of slashes by Raiden, as he hit her with a significant assault, before sending her flying with a palm burst of energy.

"Rather impressive. Already you're doing better than everyone who has fought me before." Kiana stated as she resumed her previous attack pattern.

Rachel noticed that Raiden managed to land his attack on Kiana, as she twirled her halberd around, and cut a path right to Kiana herself, in a dashing charge. Kiana noticed the attack, as she flicked her head out, creating several void pillars and detonating them around Rachel. Rachel dodged the pillars with swift movements, before she then leapt into the air, as Kiana sent her own void blades at her, as Rachel parried them all during her descent, except for one, as Kiana took it into her hand, and used it to resist the over-head blow that Rachel pulled off, as the weapons clashed with each other, before Rachel's halberd pushed past Kiana's blade, knocking her back, and leaving her with a scar on her own armour.

"Not bad… but I'm not done yet…!" Kiana growled, before she then threw her blades together in a bundled cluster, as the combined force sent Rachel flying back into the Honkai horde to fight again.

Inuyasha decided to pull off a trick he found out with his new high tech armor. Sheathing Tessaiga, he soon activated the battle helmet the suit used, as it formed over his head, his hair still outside as the helmet looked very fierce in appearance. Inuyasha also gained HF claws on his hands, as he soon began clawing through Honkai, and rushed to Kiana at incredible speeds.

Kiana noticed the attack, as she quickly directed all of the void portals to her side, as they fired a barrage of projectiles at Inuyasha, and yet Inuyasha instinctively dodged every shot, while not even slowing down the slightest. He soon rushed in closer to Kiana, as she used her Void blades to attack, but Inuyasha evaded them easily, before landing a number of slashes, including an Iron Reaver Soul Stealer to add some extra damage to Kiana, as that blow sent her back, and rolling along the ground, as Kiana soon stood after a bit, but had a small smile on her face.

"...I've seen what I need to see." Kiana said with a smile, as her attacks were dispelled. "If you all truly fight for a cause that brings this much strength out of you… then I suppose it would be foolish of me to waste the offer you have handed me."

Kiana soon transformed out of her Herrscher of the Void state, reverting back to her regular self, as she smiled brightly at the group. "...Thank you for giving me a chance to actually be able to live my life." Kiana said. "Please… save those kids… don't let those children die… what Desperado is doing… it's… it's awful…"

Having reverted, the voidscape around them reverted to where they were standing, outside the entrance to the lab.

"Is there anything you would have me do?" Kiana asked the group.

"There's one thing, actually." Raiden mused. "One of the boys, named George, escaped the lab. Can you backtrack to him and see if he got out alright? I'll give you the coordinates."

"George? Heh… he's a little hothead. But he's very honest and a good kid. Sure. I'll run back and see if he's okay." Kiana said before she did just that.

"Alright, with that out of the way… let's see what this lab has in store for us…" Raiden said as the group walked in.

Compared to their fight with Kiana, their infiltration of the lab went smoothly, as they only found a few guards walking in the premises, as they were assassinated easily, before they checked the rooms one by one.

"What is this room…?" Sakura remarked, as she opened one of the doors, as it was a dark room. When she stepped into it, however, some lights came in, as what greeted her eyes were rows and rows of shelved jars with mechanised brains, that were fitted with VR goggles. "...Oh, everyone, you might want to see this."

Everyone did so, as their reactions to the scene ranged from horror and disgust, to anger.

"Is this… what Desperado does with the brains of the children they culled? Not even the most hideous of organisations I heard of do such things…" Rachel remarked with an appalled tone.

"Yeah, this is a jackpot, alright. From the looks of it, this is how they make the next-gen of cyborg soldiers." Sakura answered back. "This is messed-up, even compared to a life of being a child soldier."

"What in the hell… this… this is really fucked up…. I mean really fucked up… Allison, you're seeing this, right?" Inuyasha asked.

"Yeah… I'm seeing it… as much as it makes my stomach churn." Allison said.

"Hey! They're over here!" Some soldiers shouted as they had seen the group in the room with the brains, before Sakura stepped out, and booted one of them across the area, knocking a few of his comrades back.

"Okay, now I'm less inclined to be merciful to you all, woman needs to vent." Sakura remarked coldly, as she drew her blade, and made short work of the approaching guards, almost systematically, as she sheathed her blade. "Right, we're going to need to find where the rest of them are. The ones in the brains can't be helped for now. And as well as figure what's going on at the moment. For all we know, one step wrong could end their lives."

"I suggest gathering information." Rachel suggested. "Perhaps there might be a terminal we can access for security footage?"

"Doktor did mention that. Let's look for that." Raiden said, as the group spread out to look for security footage.

Eventually, they did find some security footage, as Inuyasha used one of the suit functions to jack into the terminal and collect the footage data, as it was passed onto the group, as they analysed it.

The footage itself consisted of several guards, scientists, a bald man in a large black jacket, with a armoured collar, and what seemed to be a bulky man in a black suit.

"Then send us what you do have. We've already commenced VR training." The bald man told the head scientist, that was walking beside him.

"The Sears Program?" The scientist asked back.

"Yup, same one ol' Georgy-Boy used on kids in Liberia." The bald man responded back, before pointing to his head. "Of course, it's wired straight to the brain now. Feels as real as anything else."

"Your work is astonishing…" The head scientist answered back, clapping his hands.

"And your work is late. We need to ship before our cover is blown." The bald man stated firmly. "We've got some assholes snooping around…"

"We just do not have the full quantity yet. Each brain has its own unique requirements." The scientist tried to explain. "It's not like we can just pop them out with an ice-cream scoop."

"Alright, you made your point." The suited man responded back, speaking for the first time in the footage, as the head scientist rushed over to speak with him.

"Thank you for understanding." The scientist thanked the man.

"Send what you have now, and destroy any unharvested inventory." The man told the scientist.

"Que!? But… Have you any idea what they cost?" The scientist asked, taken aback by the man's words.

"Last I checked, vagrant children weren't exactly rare in this part of the world." The man scoffed. "Millions of them, in fact. You can get more once we've set up a new lab. They lead lives of hunger and pain. We're performing a service here, for them and the cities they burden."

"But just gathering the donors required a significant investment-" The scientist tried to plead.

"Yes, yes, you'll get the money." The man waved the scientist off. "Accounting will be in touch."

"Gracias. I assure you we will dispose of our inventory the instant we confirm payment." The scientist responded back.

"Are we done here? I've got a full slate today…" The man grumbled, before turning to leave with his bald partner. "Tecumseh is a demanding mistress and America has suffered long enough."

"Oh yes, sir. Thank you, sir. Let me see you out." The scientist responded back, following them, as the footage ended.

"Well, I'll be. Turns out Cue-Ball really was involved in this." Sakura remarked with a scoff. "And it seems that he picked quite an interesting partner, by the looks of it. So he's involved in all of this, and now we know that the children are getting disposed today… Not good."

"More the reason to bring them down. Let's go." Inuyasha said as he disconnected from the security feed, as now they spread out to find the kids and get them out.

"Guys, it's Kiana. I can't find George!" Kiana soon called the group via codec.

"What? Tell me I didn't just hear that…" Raiden said to Kiana.

"I'd be lying." Kiana responded back.

"The kid's gotta be somewhere." Raiden followed up.

"I looked. He's nowhere around here!" Kiana exclaimed.

"Well, that means that something might have happened to him… And I have a hunch that you might want to double back into the lab." Rachel answered back. "You should be able to walk everywhere without being found suspicious, so you should be able to easily track him down while we fight our way through."

"Right. On my way!" Kiana said as she deactivated the call, the group continuing their way through the lab, before they encountered some sort of transformable-tank unit, that was in its tank form, aiming at the group.

"Watch it!" Inuyasha yelled as he saw this, preparing to dodge the tank fire.

"Move, move!" Raiden yelled to everyone as they were able to avoid the tank shooting at them.

"We need to push it into the open area behind it!" Sakura remarked, as she deflected a machine-gun round with the swing of her blade.

"Leave that to me!" Inuyasha yelled as he began landing strong blows against the tank, strong enough to send it skidding back. Eventually, he got the tank to the open area behind. "Alright! Let's send this sucker to the scrap heap!"

The tank then immediately transformed into its mecha form, as its metallic armour-pads were sliced off with the help of Raiden and Sakura, as Inuyasha booted its plated head around so hard that it span around like a rotor, before Inuyasha did a downward strikes that split the head and body into vertical pieces, that exploded.

"Alright, now that's out of the way…" Sakura stated. "I think that the other guy, the one with Cue-Ball, is actually Steven Armstrong. Recognise that blocky fore-head of his anywhere. Colorado Senator. World Marshal, biggest PMC in the world, and a US Senator, and Desperado in the mix... If someone had the balls to investigate, it would be one of the greatest scandals."

"So we have to strike them at the heart, so to speak?" Rachel asked the group.

"Essentially. There's more, and I think this explains why he's gotten so much help from those not wearing Desperado uniforms, like Kiana back there. We had recent reports he struck one hell of a deal with Japan recently… probably explains Mei and Kiana already. Who knows who else may be unwillingly under his iron grip." Raiden answered back.

"Can't be sure… For now, let's just focus on dealing with the children first." Sakura remarked.

They soon made their way deeper in the lab, before they found that there were containers of unknown liquids on the side, before they then received a CODEC call from Doktor.

"Ah, an artificial-blood preserver." Doktor remarked. "They must have begun preparatory freezing."

"What do you mean?" Raiden asked back.

"That device is filled with synthetic blood plasma. It can slow the metabolism of a harvested organ, circulating this plasma to sustain oxygen levels. You can preserve an arm, a brain, any body part for several hours."

"Then why did they… Oh no…" Sakura started, before her face paled slightly when she realised what was going on.

Without any prompt, Rachel sliced the front door open, as she saw that the remaining children were in a tiled cell, with ventilators above. They started to spew white gas in the room, as the group scrambled to find a way to stop the flow or open the cell.

"No… no!" Inuyasha exclaimed, soon bringing out Tessaiga, ready to bust the glass.

"Hey, stop right there!" The head scientist from the footage shouted, as the group turned around, as he was holding George hostage, with a gun to his head, and several soldiers were beside him, raising their rifles to aim at them all.

"George!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Ninja-cyborgs…" George responded back.

"You've heard of chloroform? A potent anathestic in smaller doses." The head scientist stated, as the kids were struggling to breathe "But breathe too much of it…"

The group immediately raised their weapons, as Inuyasha was about to swing regardless. "Put your weapons and step away, or I'll blow his brains out!" The scientist threatened, as the soldiers inched their fingers on the triggers, and the scientist pressed the gun against George's head harder.

"You bluff." Rachel stated with a cold tone. "We can easily close the distance and kill your men before you even have the impulse to pull the trigger."

However, the scientist wouldn't get a chance to answer, as gun-shots rapidly rang out, as the soldiers, and the scientist as well, fell to the ground, dead with head-shots, as George turned to his savior: Kiana Kaslana, as she had her hand up, and the void portals, which had several armanents in it.

"George! I finally found you!" Kiana said with a smile.

"Kiana! You da hero!" George beamed with relief.

Inuyasha wasted no time slicing the glass apart, as the captured kids frantically clambered out of the room, while Rachel broke the ventilators pumping the chloroform in, while Sakura lifted those unconscious out of the room.

"Gracias…" One of the boys remarked, before Sakura placed a hand on his head.

"No hay necesidad de preocuparse…" Sakura answered back. "Está bien ahora." (No need to worry… It's alright now.)

"Alright… we should quickly plot out our next target…" Rachel remarked. "I believe that I recall World Marshal having a headquarter in Colorado."

"They do. And that's where we're heading." Raiden said, as they soon got the kids escorted out of the building, as Raiden turned to Kiana. "Keep an eye on George, okay?"

"No need to tell me twice, Raiden." Kiana said with a smile. "I'll make sure all these kids are okay."

"Thanks." Raiden responded to her with a smile before the group left to meet Allison at the rendezvous point to get to Denver.