Chapter XIX – Caught in the Act
Things had been going well. After about a week, Bass had discovered that a fortress was being built for Sigma, and that the attack would take place within the next month. This would mean that Sigma's fortress was either complete or very near to it. Reports from Dragon showed that the other Mavericks knew when the attack was, but had no idea that Sigma was building a stronghold. Most thought that the project was some sort of super cannon, while others thought it was a device that would upload the Sigma Virus to every computer on earth. There were also rumors that Sigma would be replacing Vile with Bass, and Vile did seem more hostile than usual.
Dragon had been promoted from captain of an air unit to commander of the entire air force. Sigma obviously preferred people who could fight well to lead his army than people he knew. That must be the reason that Vile still holds such a high position.
Bass had managed to stay a loner in the eyes of his peers. Every day, he would go to the rec. room with Treble and practice his three-way shot. He was getting pretty good at it. Dragon always seemed to be merged with Nall, though there was no way to know if that would somehow damage his internal systems.
His Buster had been repaired, though it took longer than expected because the repair bots ddid not understand how it worked. After a misfire during repairs, three of the repair bots were nothing more than heaps of slag, and Bass was told to do the repairs himself. Surprisingly, the only thing that needed to be done was to reconnect to coolant tubes and weld on the syncs.
He'd continued playing 'Rockman and Forte' and had become rather good at the game. He still couldn't reach King, though. Stupid tank . . .
He was transmitting the reconnaissance data to Hunter H.Q. when one of the Mavericks came in.
"What are you doing?" asked the robot. Bass turned around from the console he was sitting at. It was a Metic, a Met built for use in the infirmary. What it was doing here was anyone's guess. "Are you authorized to send outside transmissions?" chirped the Metic. "Master Sigma doesn't want anyone to reveal our position!"
"Quiet, Met," said Bass, "unless you want to become cannon fodder."
The Met squealed in surprise, and skittered out of the room. Treble chased after it. Bass quickly finished his message, sent it, and chased after them. By the time he found Treble, the wolf was barking at a door that the Metic must have gone through. A door with ornate carvings on it.
"Is there a particular meaning, Bass," asked Sigma, "that you are sending messages to someone who is not part of our little group?"
"My reasons are my own. I need not explain myself to the likes of you, Baldy," Bass said firmly.
"Oh but you must," Sigma growled, standing up and advancing on Bass. "You see, we traced that little message of yours. And it seemed to be directed at to a certain 'Maverick Hunter X'. Do you think that you could explain that?"
'Dammit, dammit, dammit!' thought Bass. 'I should have locked that door!' It was too late, though. Sigma leaped at Bass, a mace forming in his hand.
"Die, traitor!" screamed Sigma as he brought the mace crashing down. Bass dashed to the side next to his support unit.
"Treble, the disk!" ordered Bass. The CD containing the antidote was ejected from behind Treble's head. Bass grabbed it and ran around behind Sigma while Treble leapt at his face. Sigma grabbed the wolf and threw him against the wall, crushing his back legs. Bass had managed to jump onto Sigma's back during this, and was riding piggy-back as he tried to get the disk into Sigma's system. Sigma jerked his head to throw off Bass, and the disk, which was a third of the way into Sigma's input slot, shattered. Bass was thrown against one of the walls, and stood up in time to see Sigma standing over him, the mace swinging down . . .
"What was that commotion?" asked Vile as he ran into the private chamber.
"Sounded like a battle of some sort," answered Dragon. The two had been playing pool using a table with Met helmets bolted to the side to serve as holes. When they heard Sigma roar, they, and a bunch of other Maverick, ran to see what was going on. The door was open to Sigma's lair, so they didn't bother stopping. Dragon stifled a gasp at what he saw. Laying against one wall, with half of his body crushed, was
Treble. Against another wall was Bass, his upper torso completely severed from his legs. Sigma picked up the two pieces of Bass, on in each hand.
"This is what happens to traitors," said Sigma. "This Reploid was working in secret for the Maverick Hunters, and sent information regarding our invasion to them. We are beginning our attack immediately, before those fools at Maverick Hunters can prepare. You!" Sigma looked at Dragon. "Next to Vile and this lump of slag, you are the most powerful. You will carry these corpses to Maverick Hunter, both as a lesson to them not to send spies, and a lesson to you not to try anything against me."
"Yes, sir," said Dragon as the chunks of Bass and Treble's body were tossed at his feet.
"You won't be able to carry those," said Sigma, "So I will provide you with ride armor."
"Wes, sir," Dragon again replied. A quiet whimpering came from his feet. Dragon glanced down and saw that Treble's eyes were half open. Dragon gently put his foot on Treble's muzzle to stifle the wolf and to keep anyone from hearing it. When Sigma finished his speech to the rest of the Mavericks, Dragon picked up Treble and slung him over his shoulder, while Vile picked up Bass' parts.
"What a pity," said Dragon, "That a creature not smart enough to do anything but follow his master's command receives the same punishment as the his master."
"Yes, it is a pity," said Vile. "But anything loyal to the enemy is an enemy to us, even if they don't know any better."
On the way to the hanger, they came across a room that had been altered to serve as Reploid production. A Metic was having a body attached to it. At the hanger, the ride armor was waiting. This one was designed to haul cargo. The cargo pod could be dropped for increased speed and maneuverability in an emergency. Vile dropped Bass into the cargo pod, and Dragon laid Treble in more gently. Vile tipped his head, then walked off, and Dragon jumped into the cockpit of the ride armor and powered it up. It began to hover, and Dragon directed it out of the hanger, to the place he had only heard of: Maverick Hunter H.Q.
Things had been going well. After about a week, Bass had discovered that a fortress was being built for Sigma, and that the attack would take place within the next month. This would mean that Sigma's fortress was either complete or very near to it. Reports from Dragon showed that the other Mavericks knew when the attack was, but had no idea that Sigma was building a stronghold. Most thought that the project was some sort of super cannon, while others thought it was a device that would upload the Sigma Virus to every computer on earth. There were also rumors that Sigma would be replacing Vile with Bass, and Vile did seem more hostile than usual.
Dragon had been promoted from captain of an air unit to commander of the entire air force. Sigma obviously preferred people who could fight well to lead his army than people he knew. That must be the reason that Vile still holds such a high position.
Bass had managed to stay a loner in the eyes of his peers. Every day, he would go to the rec. room with Treble and practice his three-way shot. He was getting pretty good at it. Dragon always seemed to be merged with Nall, though there was no way to know if that would somehow damage his internal systems.
His Buster had been repaired, though it took longer than expected because the repair bots ddid not understand how it worked. After a misfire during repairs, three of the repair bots were nothing more than heaps of slag, and Bass was told to do the repairs himself. Surprisingly, the only thing that needed to be done was to reconnect to coolant tubes and weld on the syncs.
He'd continued playing 'Rockman and Forte' and had become rather good at the game. He still couldn't reach King, though. Stupid tank . . .
He was transmitting the reconnaissance data to Hunter H.Q. when one of the Mavericks came in.
"What are you doing?" asked the robot. Bass turned around from the console he was sitting at. It was a Metic, a Met built for use in the infirmary. What it was doing here was anyone's guess. "Are you authorized to send outside transmissions?" chirped the Metic. "Master Sigma doesn't want anyone to reveal our position!"
"Quiet, Met," said Bass, "unless you want to become cannon fodder."
The Met squealed in surprise, and skittered out of the room. Treble chased after it. Bass quickly finished his message, sent it, and chased after them. By the time he found Treble, the wolf was barking at a door that the Metic must have gone through. A door with ornate carvings on it.
"Is there a particular meaning, Bass," asked Sigma, "that you are sending messages to someone who is not part of our little group?"
"My reasons are my own. I need not explain myself to the likes of you, Baldy," Bass said firmly.
"Oh but you must," Sigma growled, standing up and advancing on Bass. "You see, we traced that little message of yours. And it seemed to be directed at to a certain 'Maverick Hunter X'. Do you think that you could explain that?"
'Dammit, dammit, dammit!' thought Bass. 'I should have locked that door!' It was too late, though. Sigma leaped at Bass, a mace forming in his hand.
"Die, traitor!" screamed Sigma as he brought the mace crashing down. Bass dashed to the side next to his support unit.
"Treble, the disk!" ordered Bass. The CD containing the antidote was ejected from behind Treble's head. Bass grabbed it and ran around behind Sigma while Treble leapt at his face. Sigma grabbed the wolf and threw him against the wall, crushing his back legs. Bass had managed to jump onto Sigma's back during this, and was riding piggy-back as he tried to get the disk into Sigma's system. Sigma jerked his head to throw off Bass, and the disk, which was a third of the way into Sigma's input slot, shattered. Bass was thrown against one of the walls, and stood up in time to see Sigma standing over him, the mace swinging down . . .
"What was that commotion?" asked Vile as he ran into the private chamber.
"Sounded like a battle of some sort," answered Dragon. The two had been playing pool using a table with Met helmets bolted to the side to serve as holes. When they heard Sigma roar, they, and a bunch of other Maverick, ran to see what was going on. The door was open to Sigma's lair, so they didn't bother stopping. Dragon stifled a gasp at what he saw. Laying against one wall, with half of his body crushed, was
Treble. Against another wall was Bass, his upper torso completely severed from his legs. Sigma picked up the two pieces of Bass, on in each hand.
"This is what happens to traitors," said Sigma. "This Reploid was working in secret for the Maverick Hunters, and sent information regarding our invasion to them. We are beginning our attack immediately, before those fools at Maverick Hunters can prepare. You!" Sigma looked at Dragon. "Next to Vile and this lump of slag, you are the most powerful. You will carry these corpses to Maverick Hunter, both as a lesson to them not to send spies, and a lesson to you not to try anything against me."
"Yes, sir," said Dragon as the chunks of Bass and Treble's body were tossed at his feet.
"You won't be able to carry those," said Sigma, "So I will provide you with ride armor."
"Wes, sir," Dragon again replied. A quiet whimpering came from his feet. Dragon glanced down and saw that Treble's eyes were half open. Dragon gently put his foot on Treble's muzzle to stifle the wolf and to keep anyone from hearing it. When Sigma finished his speech to the rest of the Mavericks, Dragon picked up Treble and slung him over his shoulder, while Vile picked up Bass' parts.
"What a pity," said Dragon, "That a creature not smart enough to do anything but follow his master's command receives the same punishment as the his master."
"Yes, it is a pity," said Vile. "But anything loyal to the enemy is an enemy to us, even if they don't know any better."
On the way to the hanger, they came across a room that had been altered to serve as Reploid production. A Metic was having a body attached to it. At the hanger, the ride armor was waiting. This one was designed to haul cargo. The cargo pod could be dropped for increased speed and maneuverability in an emergency. Vile dropped Bass into the cargo pod, and Dragon laid Treble in more gently. Vile tipped his head, then walked off, and Dragon jumped into the cockpit of the ride armor and powered it up. It began to hover, and Dragon directed it out of the hanger, to the place he had only heard of: Maverick Hunter H.Q.