Medabots: Open Ring
Chapter X : Armaggedon's Birth
=====
"For the sky will rain fire
and sulphur, and the world will tremble in great fear and agony on the
day that the Apocalypse comes."
- Sermon of the Third Latent
=====
"Ragnarok? What's Ragnarok?"
The group had reconvened the next morning at the breakfast table after a long night of listening to Siden's story and comparing the information they had gathered. The breakfast of eggs and rice was being served up cheerfully by Ashton, who had been overjoyed to see that his medafighter had returned. Luminoustag, who was standing nearby hooked up to a computer monitor, explained the matter to Kasumi as he simultaneously flashed several pictures of a strange-looking, gigantic black medabot.
"Ragnarok is an APO, or Apocalypse-type medabot that MACHINA has built for the sole purpose of threatening the existence of densely-populated cities like Tokyo and New York," the KWG-type medabot explained. "When I managed to hack into MACHINA's server, I leeched several files from his critical databanks, and uncovered Ragnarok's technical files. The specifications call for several weapons of extremely high magnitude and black-market origin, including a pair of full-size nuclear ICBMs. Judging from the last week's progress reports on the project, the medapart system has been finished and thoroughly tested, rendering it ready for use."
Kaito shook his head. "So what's preventing him from trying it out now?"
"Only one thing," replied Luminoustag. "A medal... Or, to be more specific," he added, "two medals."
"Why two?" asked Kasumi.
"The design that MACHINA had created is arranged in a very unorthodox structure," explained Siden. "Judging from the circuit connections, the design essentially consists of two separate medabots interlocked into a single unit, which is also capable of splitting at will in order to work as a team."
Kaito stared at the data for a moment, then suddenly turned to Makoru. "Wait a minute... Didn't your RubberRobo bosses want you to get two medals from the HEX Corp. storage facility?"
Makoru nodded as she thought back to that unpleasant event. "That's right... Two medals."
Siden was about to say something
when the sounds of gunfire and cursing from a certain KBT-type medabot
greeted the ears of those present at the dining table. Kasumi sprang
up from his seat. "Sounds like Granbeetle! He may be in trouble!"
=====
The group scrambled up the stairs, only to have a grim sight meet their eyes as they walked into the guest room that Kaito and Makoru were using. Craters and pick-pock marks dotted the walls, signs of a battle having passed only moments before. Granbeetle was collaring a battered TIR-type medabot by its neck as Skyelder stared out the window. Helixbeetle and Blazer-Multi were busy trying to straighten out the room's contents.
"What happened here?" asked Kasumi in amazement and consternation.
"We were all in the next room watching some television when we heard somebody climbing in through this window," answered Granbeetle angrily as he continued to shake the medabot he'd captured by the scruff of its neck. "We walked in to investigate and found a group of RubberRobos making off with the case containing the medal that Makoru had gotten from the HEX Corp. facility. When they saw us, they reacted by beaming in several of their medabots to keep us at bay. We beat their little wind-up toys, but those goons managed to get away scot-free with the medal," Granbeetle finished as he turned back to the battered medabot he was throttling. "All right, you creep! Spill! Who's the guy who sent you!?"
"Take it easy, Granbeetle," remarked Kasumi as he motioned for his KBT-type medabot to put his victim down.
Luminoustag walked into the room, staring at the medabot for a moment. "I do believe I've seen you before... Cloudskimmer."
Kaito looked at the PTL-type medabot with a hard eye before turning to the blue KWG-type. "You know this character?" The PTL-type medabot was plated in red armor, and bore a strong resemblance to those prehistoric flying reptiles, the pterodactyls, that it was modeled on.
The medabot that Granbeetle had been collaring only a moment before began to nervously scramble up against the wall behind him, as if trying to dig his way out of the mansion. "I... I don't know what you're talking about!!"
"On the contrary," murmured Luminoustag, "you were with that STARLEAF agent about an year ago on CLUSTER-001... Right before your medafighter killed my custodian. Does that ring a bell?"
The PTL-type trembled somewhat, but shook his head as he vehemently answered. "No! I don't know what you're talking about!!"
"Wrong call, buster," muttered Granbeetle as he picked the PTL-type up again and this time shoved a gun barrel into its face. "Now talk, before I pop that medal out of your bracket by blasting your Tin-Pet's faceplate to kingdom come!"
The PTL-type raised its arms in panic and gesticulated wildly. "All right! All right! I'll talk! Just don't shoot!"
Granbeetle dropped Cloudskimmer roughly onto the carpeted floor while still keeping his revolver trained on the Pterodactyl-type's faceplate. "No funny stuff now! Just the facts!"
The PTL-type gave an electronic gulp, and started to speak. "Yes, my medafighter was with STARLEAF for about two years until he killed the CLUSTER-001 developer. I wasn't even aware that he'd done it until he told me later while on the shuttle. He was caught, arrested, and court-martialed out of STARLEAF for causing such a scandal, and afterwards joined the RubberRobos."
"What do the RubberRobos want with that medal they stole?" interrogated Helixbeetle.
Cloudskimmer scrabbled frantically back against the bullet-riddled wall. "I-I don't know! All they said to my boss was that if he and his group were unable to get back the medal they wanted, they would answer for their failure to some guy called MACHINA-"
"Wait a minute!" interrupted Siden. "You said MACHINA?"
The PTL-type nodded vigorously.
Makoru abruptly spat in contempt. "As I suspected. They've been working with MACHINA's organization... But why? What would convince them to drop their old enmities and join forces?"
Kaito turned to the ex-RubberRobo. "Are you saying that the RubberRobos and MACHINA's group have been at odds?"
Makoru nodded. "They've been enemies ever since MACHINA first made his presence known in the city's underground. MACHINA was nothing more than competition for their special assignments, smuggling runs and black-market auctions."
Siden rubbed his chin. "I think the others should know about this... By the way, Makoru, what did this stolen medal have on its front?"
Makoru thought hard for a moment. "There was a picture of some sort of cherub or small angel carved into it, as well as the letter 'I' on the top of its outside border."
Siden nodded as the information confirmed one of his suspicions. "Just as I thought. It's the other piece of MACHINA's gambit."
"Uhm, pardon?" muttered Kasumi as he scratched his head in bewilderment.
Siden turned to Kasumi. "Remember, Kasumi, MACHINA intended to use two specific medals in Ragnarok. One of them matches the description of the medal Makoru absconded at the HEX Corp. facility."
"So where's the other one?" asked Hiyori.
"It... it's with them," muttered Makoru in sudden realization as she remembered what had happened that day. "I left the other one I stole with one of my teammates the day we stole those medals from the facility."
"So the RubberRobos now have both medals," said Kasumi in a crestfallen manner. "And by connection, MACHINA has them as well."
Siden turned to Ashton. "Ashton, get me Ikki Tenryou and the others. Tell them to meet me here as soon as possible. Ragnarok has come."
Luminoustag turned and stared out the shattered window that the RubberRobos had escaped through as he suddenly muttered out loud a single line of soliloquy that had instantaneously popped into his head.
"Ragnarok comes... Mortals
beware, for death has come to your world."
=====
MACHINA silently stood on the metal deck, overlooking the final culmination of all his dreams, efforts, struggles, and battles... Ragnarok. He allowed himself a small, wan smile of self-satisfaction as he thought back to the final dealings between him and the RubberRobos.
Those fools had played right into his hand, now becoming little more than useless pawns in his game. His game and his game only.
He nodded to himself in quiet approval as he observed the final medal programming, check-through and systems check of the Ragnarok's hulking black mass, and then stepped down to the lower level where the APO-type medabot stood.
One of the lackeys standing nearby immediately gave a salute and indicated a clipboard he was holding. "Ragnarok weapons and logic systems are okayed for go time. Awaiting your orders, sir."
MACHINA nodded in reply. "Acknowledged. Begin Armaggedon's Path." As the final system countdown began to engage, a small, tickling thought wormed its way through his brain with a bit of bemused irony.
So, Tensuo... It now
appears that it is my game. Checkmate.
=====
Ikki, Metabee, Erika, and Brass were heading in the direction of Siden's home. While on the way, Erika turned to Ikki. "Ikki, what exactly does Siden want with us?"
"Don't know exactly," Ikki answered. "Siden told me that 'Ragnarok had come'. I tried to ask him for more details, but he cut me off and told me that he'd explain everything once we got there."
"By the way, uhm, Metabee, you look very... nice," added Brass as she turned to the KBT-type medabot that was walking next to her. The Sailor-type was commenting on the new set of KBT-type medaparts that Metabee had gotten, courtesy of Dr. Aki.
Metabee's faceplate turned bright red as he chuckled a bit. "Uh, yeah, yeah... It fits me, doesn't it..."
The new set of medaparts that Metabee had gained from Dr. Aki were somewhat different than the original parts that Metabee had possessed, including structure and color. The entire armor was a brighter yellow-orange, the missile pods had red tips instead of holes, and the shoulder pods were black with yellow tips, instead of being uniformly black. Metabee's torso and legs were slightly different in structure as well.
Ikki also added his own comment to Metabee's new set of parts with a mischievous grin. "Yeah, it does fit you. For one thing, it doesn't make you look like a dork so much..."
Metabee's missile pods began to steam and whistle as he angrily snapped at his medafighter. "DORK!? WHY I'LL...!!"
Ikki waved in apology. "Just kidding Metabee, just kidding..."
"Hmph," Metabee muttered.
Ikki slowly turned his glance back to Erika as his expression became a little serious. "By the way, Erika, when we get back home, can we talk... you know, someplace where we're alone?"
Erika looked at Ikki a little curiously as she nodded slowly. "Uhm, yeah, I guess..."
"Thanks. I was s-" Ikki's eyes suddenly caught a brilliant flare of light gleaming out from a group of high-rise buildings. As Ikki abruptly stopped to watch the phenomenon, Erika and Brass similarly halted as they noticed Ikki's lack of movement and the flare of light as they tried to get Ikki's attention.
Brass was the first to speak. "Wh-what is that thing?"
Ikki shielded his eyes as he noticed that the flare of light was slowly traveling up into the sky. "I... I don't know. Erika? Do you know?"
Erika shook her head as she copied
Ikki's action. "No."
=====
Siden rubbed his eyes as he tried to readjust them from the shock he'd just gotten. Kasumi and the others were similarly struggling to get their eyes and optics sensors to normal sensitivity.
The group had been standing in Siden's room when the flash had hit them through the large window overlooking Siden's desk, sending everyone reeling as they instinctively shut their eyes closed a moment too late.
Hiyori groaned as she continued to squint. "Did someone get the serial number of the flashlight that blinded me?"
Siden blinked several times to make sure that his eyes were still working, and turned to Ashton. "Ashton, get me a geo-scan of that location, and give a wide-area sweep! I want to know what happened there!"
Ashton nodded as he plugged himself into Siden's computer. "Acknowledged. Scanning now..."
Blazer-Multi turned to Granbeetle, who was still trying to recalibrate his optics from the shock he'd received. "What was that? A supernova?"
Granbeetle shook his head. "Nah... can't be. There isn't a single star for several million kilometers around capable of delivering such a phenomenon. Kasumi showed me his star charts and data maps several months ago, and not one of them were even close to the size necessary for such a thing."
Ashton abruptly disconnected himself and turned to Siden. "Master, I've got several data and media files relating to what happened just a few minutes before. Data ranges from message board activity to chatline conversations, as well as several realtime media feedback footage."
Siden rubbed his chin as he indicated his choice to Ashton. "Bring up the feedback footage. Set for maximum bandwidth."
Ashton nodded again as he plugged himself back into the computer and opened a new viewing window onto the monitor screen. "Satellite feedback initiated. Realtime footage now downloading..."
"Satellite footage?" asked Kaito. "Does that mean-"
"Download completed. Now running," Ashton interrupted as he began to play back the media file. Everyone suddenly began to cluster around Siden's chair as they all stared at what they saw on the screen.
Makoru was the first to find enough voice to speak. "By the gods... This is utter madness," she managed to murmur in a hushed tone.
On the screen was a piece of surveillance
footage showing a monstrous, black medabot flying upwards into the clear
blue sky, carrying an ICBM on a huge mounting bracket... and a nuclear-hazard
symbol stamped onto its warhead payload.
=====
Ikki tentatively lowered his arm as the brilliant glare slowly dissipated, reverting back to the regular brightness of mid-morning. Erika and Brass soon also lowered their arms.
As Ikki was about to remark on something, several Select Corp. squad cars began tearing down the lane they were standing in, forcing the trio to jump backwards onto the concrete sidelanes as the cars continued to wail down the street, their sirens flashing an eerie red and blue tattoo onto the buildings lining the street.
Erika rubbed her eyes one last time and then turned to Ikki again. "What's going on here?"
Ikki was about to reply when a massive explosion suddenly rocked the street, sending the Select Corp. squad cars and the trio tumbling backwards.
Brass was the first to get to her feet as she looked up in horror at what she saw. "Miss Erika! Look!!"
Ikki, Metabee and Erika raised their heads and watched in absolute shock as they witnessed a huge, black medabot seem to literally tear upwards into the sky, bristling with a fearsome variety of weapons.
There was a small beeping sound
as Ikki's IMD(Instant Messaging Device) began to notify its owner that
a message was present. Flipping the IMD's cover open, Ikki pushed
a few keys and abruptly stared at the screen.
RRebel>> I'm assuming
that you saw something out of the ordinary... Am I correct, Ikki?
Ikki frowned as he typed in a
reply.
Ikki-10>> Yeah... Saw something strange. What was it?
RRebel>> Ragnarok.
Ikki-10>> Ragnarok?
RRebel>> A madman's
dream. Of triggering the beginning... of the end.
=====
"Damnit!!!"
Lt. Katoko pounded an armored fist onto his desk, as he angrily regarded the stony, impassive faces of several of his men. Silverthorn stood nearby in the shadows, an eerie yellow eye glowing from his half-masked faceplate.
The lieutenant had not been pleased by the lack of progress concerning the break-in at the Omega-31 sector storage facility. He continued to let his fiery glares bore into the visored faces of his men as he finally flung a clipboard onto his desk and sighed. "Do you know how much trouble this sort of matter gives me!? To think that you, all of you, the best of Select Corp.'s men would fail-!!" Katoko flung his hands up in despair as he regarded the faces of his men with a look that was now more despondent than condemning. After a moment's silence, he continued speaking.
"For fifteen years, I've stood at this post of Lieutenant... I thought I could always determine my own future by being firm, vigilant, immovable... All the qualities encouraged and glorified at the Select Corp. academy. And what did I see the moment I stepped through the doors of this station I'm now situated in? A bribery in progress, being accepted by a high-ranking officer, no less!! The exact sort of thing that the Select Corp. is supposed to prevent and punish!" The lieutenant abruptly fell silent as he glanced back at the clipboard.
There was a small message on the clipboard, signed and designated as having originated from an anonymous sender. Three lines only.
Name: Makoru.
Alias: Sharkscout.
Location: Former HEX
Corp. office complex.
Katoko's face abruptly turned upwards in a smile, as he regarded the information that he'd suddenly received. He slowly looked up, as he regarded the faces of his men with satisfaction.
"Men, it seems that we have a
small lead here... Shall we investigate?"
=====
"So, what's our next action?" asked Ikki.
Siden frowned as he regarded the footage as it continually replayed on the monitor. "I'm not quite sure. The thing that concerns me is that this Ragnarok fellow is apparently heading on a direct trajectory for CLUSTER-001."
"CLUSTER-001?" asked Kasumi. "Why there?"
"It is quite explainable," answered Luminoustag. "CLUSTER-001 is currently in a sustained, continual free-fall orbit despite its inactive status, meaning that it is constantly moving in a stable, circular motion. With the nuclear ICBM payload that Ragnarok is carrying, it would be a simple matter for Ragnarok to target any location or position it would so desire from CLUSTER-001's location."
"So you mean that this sucker's intending to nuke us...?" asked Fubuki. She nervously fiddled with her green beret as she continued to sit on a nearby sofa.
"Not exactly," Siden replied as he closed the movie and pulled up some schematics onto the monitor. Pointing to a small blueprint that looked like the ICBM that Ragnarok had been carrying, Siden continued. "Ragnarok is carrying only two ICBMs, as the rest of its systems space is taken up by its dual-medal system binding array, variable weapons systems and the heavy armor it wears. Each ICBM is only capable of taking down one city apiece."
"What are you getting at here!?" asked Samantha with some impatience. The Screws' leader as well as Sloan and Spyke were lounging nearby on some armchairs.
"What I'm getting at, Miss Samantha," Siden replied with a slight edge of annoyance in his voice, "is that this medabot is not intending to aim his ICBMs at Earth..."
"So where?" asked Hiyori.
"...It is intending to aim it at the Moon," Siden finished.
Everyone else except Ashton and Luminoustag immediately exclaimed the same statement simultaneously. "THE MOON!!?"
Siden nodded. "Yes, the moon. It makes obvious sense. The moon's much smaller than Earth, and due to its low mass, it is much more fragile than Earth's composition. A direct hit from Ragnarok's ICBMs would be able to completely turn the Moon into a new asteroid field filled with quite a few planetary bodies at least several miles long... And with the close proximity to Earth's gravity, these fragments would inevitably be drawn in towards Earth, causing..." Siden abruptly shrugged as he continued. "Well, you can probably guess the rest."
Kaito pondered for a moment. "So what's our options? We could launch missiles up at CLUSTER-001... I've heard that its automated defense systems are inactive."
Siden shook his head. "Impractical. Ragnarok's only using CLUSTER-001 as an anchor... it's relying on its own weapons systems to protect CLUSTER-001's mass, and due to its weapons array, it could probably shoot down every ICBM we'd send at it.
Makoru suddenly spoke up. "Wait a minute. I was looking over the schematics this morning, and something just occurred to me. Ragnarok was intended to be controlled by a remote relay system by MACHINA's men... if we could trace the source message relay system to wherever it's currently located, couldn't we shut Ragnarok down from there?"
Siden's face brightened. "That just might do the trick. If we can somehow find the location from which MACHINA is sending his orders to Ragnarok, we could be able to incapacitate Ragnarok before it can do any harm." He went back to his workstation and began typing in several commands. "I'll begin a signal-trace relay... With luck, the signal matrices should be able to bring something up soon."
"Well, then, what are we waiting for, guys?" asked Kasumi as he turned to the others. "Let's get going!"
The others nodded as they began walking out the door to various sources they would survey.
Kaito gestured to Makoru, Skyelder and Helixbeetle to follow him as he slipped out a nearby window. "I'll help out with NAVI... With Siden's own resources and everyone else working together, I'm sure that we'll be able to stop this in time."
Siden nodded back in reply.
"Good luck guys! And good hunting!"
=====
Makoru abruptly turned to Kaito as they were walking back to the HEX Corp. facility. "Say, Kaito, you never told me how you ended up here on the streets... Just why are you living by yourself? You have no parents? No close family relations?"
Kaito's face darkened as he shook his head and made his reply. "No... no family. Their absence is the reason for my current situation. They were murdered several months ago. I was then taken to live at an orphanage, but I soon found something that changed the plans I had for my future."
"What?" asked Makoru.
"A last will and testament from my late parents and uncle, Shingawa Tensuo," Kaito answered. "His will led me to finding Helixbeetle in the HEX Corp. buildling," he finished as he gestured to the KBT-type medabot walking nearby.
Makoru nodded. "I see... We're so similar, aren't we, Kaito. We've both lost something that we hold dear, and yet..."
"...We can't let go of our past," Kaito suddenly finished.
Makoru paused for a moment, then slowly nodded. Looking up, she noticed the towers of the HEX Corp. facility looming over the trees in the distance. "Well, we're almost there. I'll go a-"
A deep, menacing voice suddenly spoke out of the shadows. "Don't make another move, Sharkscout. You, and your little friend. Select Corp. has some some accounts to settle with you."
Makoru, Kaito, as well as their two medabots, abruptly spun around as they noticed that they had been completely surrounded by Select Corp. agents and their medabots, the medabots' guns being trained on the quartet standing in the clearing. Two figures strode towards them, the taller one being enveloped in a thick cloak which he wore like a burial shroud.
Makoru spat in disgust as she
recognized the face of the taller figure. "Lt. Katoko..."
To Be Continued...