Chapter 6: Upgrades
Starr traversed the interior of The Chambers' gunship vigilantly, firing energy blasts occasionally for dramatic effect. As she advanced, her magenta shield absorbed a dozen bullets from behind, aimed for her head, so she turned to engage the threat.
"Whose stepping up to the plate?" She asked while scanning the hall.
She caught a glimpse of a tall man running along the tops of metal cabinets, firing an automatic rifle down at the elemental. His red/black camouflage fatigues, along with the 12 gauge shotgun slung on his back told Starr this thug was most likely a trained killer, but she wasn't intimidated. She was impressed, however, with how agile he was for his size as he evaded her countermeasures with flashy acrobatic moves.
"You're better than those stormtroopers outside, pal. Makes me wonder why you've been hiding out in here instead of fighting alongside your buddies."
"They're not my friends," The mercenary responded. "And you walked right into the rat trap."
Starr shield-bashed her adversary hard enough to knock him off his feet and down the hall. He pushed off the floor but an energy blast to the helmet kept him from firing his weapon. Two more blasts disarmed him of both guns and then she telekinetically tossed him at a steel beam, denting it upon impact.
She put her glowing palm on the back of his helmet to show who was in charge. "I could disintegrate you with enough concentrated energy, so you just settle down and take this L like a man."
"That's a good line, does your boyfriend use it often-"
Starr wasted no time tearing off his visor and walloping the mercenary with a straight right. He spit blood on the floor as he laid on his back, unable to move as a cabinet was lifted and dropped on his chest.
"Keep it up, loser, see where it gets you."
"...you are all kinds of fun, Stargirl. I'd love to meet the rest of the squad."
"What'd you call me?"
It took a moment, but Starr realized The Chambers knew about the team Warwick put together, names and all.
"I hope you shared a final moment with Falke before coming aboard."
"You and I both know there's more of us than there are of you on the ground. Nobody is getting near Falke."
"Of course not. The plan was to get one of you in here and stall until she shows up."
Starr raised a glowing fist. "Who are you talking about?"
Their attention was brought to the window; not only had the helicarrier reached the atmosphere, a red blur teleported to a nearby satellite and a laser was shot at the elemental. Starr's shield absorbed most of the blast but she was burned slightly by the portion that got through.
Redd teleported inside and stood across from Starr, each waited on the other to make a move.
"Are those Shadow's power rings?"
Slayton's general chuckled. "They look infinitely better around my wrists than they did his."
Given Starr's past with android Shadow and their failed plan to find true Shadow, this comment didn't sit well with the elemental. She stepped forward to face the only opponent who could match her abilities and roared angrily.
The mercenary picked at her right ankle to knock her off balance so Redd could take advantage, which she did with ferocity. Her glowing fists pounded against the magenta shield, each strike caused it to crack more every time until it was finally shattered. Starr skillfully dodged the first barrage of lasers but fighting two opponents at once proved too much.
Redd back spin kicked Starr across the corridor and smirked. "Aww, does it hurt? Thousand bucks says she doesn't last a minute 1-on-1. I've got this, Al."
The mercenary stepped back and set a timer on the touchscreen of his gauntlet. "Let's see it."
"You had me thinking you were afraid of a fair fight, bitch." Starr said while getting back to her feet.
She hopped over a low laser beam, fired a burst in return which Redd deflected with the power rings and both grabbed ahold of each other's hair. Starr received two lightning-quick knees to the ribcage before retaliating with a foot sweep followed by two massive strikes to her downed opponent. As she loaded up for the third, Alastair grabbed her wrist to apply an armlock and proceeded to toss the elemental further down the corridor. Redd fired a laser that burned a hole in Starr's thigh, causing her to scream out, but she had enough strength to combat-roll out of harms way. Her next two thoughts were 'neither of them were going to fight fair' and 'they're going for the kill.'
Grudgingly, Starr blasted the closest window and dove out just as Alastair and Redd fired upon her. They watched the elemental disappear back into the atmosphere to escape the helicarrier, now in orbit. A metal airlock sealed the window so both could breathe easier, and soon they were joined by one of the few crewmen aboard.
"She's not a fighter." A deep voiced man said.
"I almost had her, Willie." Redd retorted.
Alastair holstered his pistol. "Kid was smart, knew when to run. Warwick taught her that much."
"The both of you failed to kill her, which means he still has pieces on the board."
The crimson hedgehog frowned as the man in black walked past her and the elite gun. He could sense their displeasure at his comment, but clearly was unafraid of either. This man was high up in Slayton's syndicate and off limits to everyone else, including the boss's daughter.
"I'll be your eyes, as usual, and inform you of her landing site so you can redeem yourselves. I imagine you'd be rewarded with another shiny gem for your success, youngling-"
"So what exactly is jammed up your ass, old man?" Redd interrupted. "I could take a look at it, if that's what you need."
He found this amusing. "You have responsibilities to worry about, my well being shouldn't be one of them..."
Alastair stopped Redd from speaking out further and the man in black turned his back to them.
"I believe you have somewhere to be. The rest of us will rendezvous at the Hydro City post."
"I can't wait for the day you're no longer on daddy's nice list, Willie."
Redd winked at Alastair before teleporting out of the gunship, leaving the tall mercenary with their superior.
"Ensure the 'princess' addresses me by my title going forward, Alastair, since you two seem to be getting along famously."
"She's a means to our end. Nothing more."
"Splendid, solider. Now rest up, we have another slice of the wild west to tame."
"Roger that, Willful Murder."
Thousands of feet below and many miles away, Starr was able to slow her decent enough as to not take much damage upon her landing. Re-entering the atmosphere disorientated her so it was near impossible to tell where exactly she was with blurred vision. A quick barrel roll into a forest wetland and Starr was back to her feet, though it took a moment to regain her balance. It was night time here and only her glowing hands were lighting the path. That was, until three red search lights converged on the elemental's location.
When Starr looked up to find where the lights were beaming from, she saw a massive castle in front of her.
O'nux and Manic joined Rouge in the recovery room to watch Espio try his new combat suit on. The metal case it arrived in was laid out on his bed and the ninja stood in the washroom.
"What's it look like? C'mon, we need answers, buddy!" Manic jokingly called out.
"...I don't know how I feel about wearing this much leather and kevlar."
"You look good in anything." Rouge assured before adding, "Well, almost everything."
Espio stepped back into the recovery room and his friends laid eyes on his battle suit. His slick black steel toed boots were lined with impenetrable ceramic plates up to his knees, yet they felt lighter than a feather. Matching knee pads covered the leather/kevlar bodysuit underneath, and the torso piece had air vents along the shoulder blades to prevent overheating. His gauntlets fit between the forearm slots and the black grip gloves completed the stealth aesthetic. He was even given three new fingers, courtesy of the nanotech used to put the suit together.
Rouge looked him up and down multiple times while approaching. "Wow...that's definitely a glow up."
"You're like Ryu Hayabusa and Metroid put in one." Manic said. "They told me the suit was indestructible, dude. But, where's the helmet?"
Espio tilted his head up to allow an advanced nanorobotic helmet to generate and perfectly shape around his head. Inside, he was given a HUD (heads up display) to help survey his environment as well as keep stats. Outside, Rouge gazed into the tinted visor, seemingly searching for something but not saying a word.
"You've seen this technology before?" The ninja asked.
Suddenly it came to her. Velocita, a murderous lieutenant in The Nexus. He wore a suit scarily reminiscent of this one, and was corrupted by it's invulnerability. He was an evil Sonic's group barely contained in the orbiting slaughterhouse, but now Espio was in possession of suit.
The bat turned to Manic. "Where did your guys get it from?"
"I raided an Eggman compound a couple years back, stole a bunch of tech. I let the team mess around with it while I was on the run."
"Your guys built this from scratch? They didn't take it from The Nexus?"
"I know what you're thinking and no, it's not the same."
"What's wrong?" Espio inquired while lowering the visor.
"This punker Velocita had a suit just like this one," Manic explained. "Took awhile to bring him down but we..."
"You think I'll be corrupted just as he was."
"Espio-"
Him breaking eye contact was his response, choosing to look down at the tile floor.
"The same thing ain't gonna happen to you." Manic said to break the silence. "You're stronger than that. I mean we all are, but you're different."
He raised his head once more. "How so?"
"Because you've got hero status, brother. I can't see you turning Darth Vader after all the good you've done up 'til this point. And I've got a feeling Warwick's gonna need you on his side against The Chambers."
"So you're aware of them."
"Sure am. We've been running into each other ever since G.U.N's breakup. Trust me, we hate them just as much as you guys."
Espio nodded. "Well, I'm still regaining my senses, so - you got a training facility in this place?"
Manic grinned. "Wait 'til you see it, you'll never wanna leave."
As the green hedgehog guided Espio to the elevator, Rouge noticed O'nux was preoccupied with a book.
"Whatcha reading?" She asked.
"A tale of how reckless you can become with enough pent up fury."
"Deep."
"Truly."
The echidna elected to stay in the lounge so he could read more of Knuckles' story, while his friends went down to see Manic's facility, which he called The Kiln. After changing into her athletic wear, Rouge joined in on the impromptu training session.
Espio hopped around structural beams to avoid simulated gunfire, while Rouge flew around the map doing much the same. They were surprised at how Manic could simulate different battlegrounds, enemies and atmospheres. One minute, they're in the foggy rainforest combating venomous serpents, next they were battling axe-wielding vikings going uphill of a grassy mountain. The ninja was surprised when a grappling hook shot out of his left gauntlet and pulled him across the map, unfortunately he was unable to stick the landing and crashed into the retaining wall.
"Alright, I think it's break time." Manic called out.
Espio sat up. "Good call, boss..."
As the simulation ended, an intercom sounded. "Manny, I've got a Mr. Jetson on the line looking to ascertain an audience."
"God damnit, Jaime, you know I hate it when you hit me up with that ghetto babble, boy! (sigh) Well, it appears I'm needed on the poop deck, guys. Play around as long as you like, just remember to log out when you're done."
The ninja waved to Manic as he left The Kiln, then Rouge flew over to him. He got to his feet and looked over the grappling hook, oblivious to the fact he was being looked over, himself.
"You okay?" She asked.
"Yeah. I'm going to need some practice with this thing." He said.
"Well, that's what we're here for. And I'm told I'm a great dance partner."
After opening his mouth but failing to speak, Rouge surprised Espio with a kiss, something he didn't react to. She pulled away just as fast which only left them in awkward silence.
"You kissed me?"
"Yeah."
"Uh-"
"Perhaps it's not the right situation."
"Maybe not. I enjoyed it, though."
"Coulda fooled me, Lurch."
Espio chuckled at this, then put his helmet up to hide how red in the face he was.
"Loosen up, honey, we're not done yet. Square up if you won't pucker up."
She set the next simulation and Espio readied himself. "Yes, ma'am."