(AN: I don't own jack. Jack's a free man, darn you!!! Anyway, the Megaman
crew are Capcom's and my characters are free to use, if you tell me first.
Now, with no further ado(since I wasted a good chunk of time as it is)
Chapter 11: Revelations, Resolutions
Night warped into the Maverick Hunter Headquarters. He didn't warp into a cell, as planned. He landed in the training area, surrounded by charged busters and lit plasma swords. Directly in front of him was Alia, a plasma rifle in her steady hand. With a shrug, he walked straight up to her. "You guys went through all the trouble of a welcoming committee? Thanks."
"Night, what're you-" Alia started to ask.
"Put this baby in the fridge. Daddy gone fishin' and got himself a whopper!" Night tossed the still-unconscious Maverick towards Alia, who barely caught it, a stupefied expression on her face.
"Man, I need a nap. First time I didn't come home unconscious, and now I know why...Whew!" he muttered, walking out of the door, leaving several very confused Hunters.
Just as they were starting to come out of their trances, another bolt of light flashed into their trap. "Ugh...what's with the bloody crowd?" Serrael said. She was rubbing her eyes as if she just woke up. She made a quick turn and shrugged. "Hmm...I'll be damned. G'Night." She started to push through the stunned crowd, headed for the open door.
Alia was the first to find her voice. "Wait a minute! Who the hell ARE you and what where you doing on that base?!"
"Guh...check your roster. I was there for the view." She didn't look back, still dragging herself through the Hunters, finally reaching the door. "Oh, yeah. We won." She stumbled through, intent on finding a bed.
Alia stood there, one hand on her hip, the Maverick dropped on the floor. The other hand was fingering the safety on her gun between on and off too quickly to be seen. Her techs knew better and quickly made their exit, but the field Hunters just stood there, silent. "Okay...What the hell just happened?" she asked, her eyes a silent blaze.
Silence, then the reply was unanimous. "WE WON!!!" The defense team turned in an instant into one big victory dance, Alia stuck somewhere in the middle of it.
"WE ARE THE DRAGONS!!! WE ARE THE DRAGONS!!! NO TIME FOR LOSERS, 'CUZ WE ARE THE DRAGONS!!!"
"SHUT UP!!!!" Alia screamed, trying to maintain some semblance of order. "And speaking of dragons, where's the guy I SENT to the base?" The silence returned, and as if on cue, a green flash of light landed in the room.
"Boss!" they yelled, clearing a circle for him. He was on his knees, sparking and struggling to stay awake. His helmet visor was cracked and Buster wounds peppered his armor. With a deep grunt, he pulled himself up and fought through his unit, nearly crawling to Alia.
"Did we win?" he asked, his voice faint and cracking.
"Yeah. We won. How're you feeling?" she asked.
"Great." he said, then fell to the floor, in emergency stasis.
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The MMHQ was one big party after that, with the exception of a few areas. Alia's private quarters were avoided like the plague. Lifesavor was ready to use his worst weapon on anyone trying to disturb Slate's repairs: a conversation. Night was asleep in his quarters, the world gone to him. Little did he know, Serrael was in his quarters as well, sleeping in his brother's old bed. His brother and he had always refused to use stasis pods and after a day like that, Night finally knew why.
Everywhere else, the 14th Unit was yelling their theme song at the top of their lungs. They were as drunk as reploids could get (which seemed to be pretty darn drunk) and had a serious mission. They must inebriate every Hunter on base. This was their first big mission without someone on their deathbed, and they were dying to celebrate.
Douglas was an easy enough target. He was tinkering into the night as usual. Oblivious to the stifled cackles from outside, he gladly accepted the 'bottle of water' one of the Hunters handed him. Soon after, he was riding around in an old Mech, following the drinker's party with a huge crate of bottles and snacks.
Their next target was Alia. They were confident after their first success, but still strode as quietly as possible, which wasn't very considering the whispered theme song and the un-oiled hydraulics of the Mech. The Commander stood at her door, pistol aimed at the procession as they arrived. After a tense moment, she grabbed three bottles and more snacks than should fit in her body and slammed the door. After a straight five minutes of applause, they continued on their quest.
Their mission to the hero's chambers was met with failure, as neither would wake up. After a few carefully posed photos, they were returned to their beds and the procession headed for their final location. The most dangerous mission of all: Get Slate Drunk.
They burst into the Medical Bay, ready for battle. They knew that Doc Talk would serve as the ultimate buzzkill and came prepared. Recruiting Douglas proved useful as they ran into the room, one of them wearing a shoulder-mounted cannon. The Doc rose to stop them, only to be knocked out by a precision shot from Douglas's replicate of Vile's famous weapon. Slate was sitting up in a cot, staring at a news report on the vid.
"BOSS!!!" they yelled, swarming him. He raised a hand, not looking in their direction.
"I thought I taught you jackasses some discipline. Guess not. Go to the training room. I want you to run through the Third Sigma Fortress, then the Second, then the Third again. Do it until you're all in stasis. And leave a bottle." he said, then proceeded to ignore them. The Unit left the medical bay in a march. When they reached the hall, one of them spoke up.
"Hey, guys...if he kept the bottle, doesn't that mean-"
"WE WON!!! WE ARE THE DRAGONS! WE ARE-" They marched into the training facility, turning on the holographic projector, singing as they went.
Slate watched the report unfold, lost to the world.
"-band of Mavericks attacked the Global Defense Air Force base today, damaging several buildings and destroying several planes. The majority of reploids on base were destroyed by some form of sustained plasma weapons or by being literally ripped apart. Rumors of illegal Animal-based reploids being involved are unconfirmed. Fortunately, there was no loss of life. GDC Head Councilman Julian Garamond is expected to give a statement-"
He turned off the monitor, reaching for the bottle of alcohol.
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"Geez...why'd you wake me up this early...?" Night said. It was 0800 and he was stuck in the Briefing Room. It was obvious it hadn't been used in a long time. The entire room was spotless, barely lived in, if at all. On outside of the curved center table, Night, Serrael, and Slate were sitting in varying degrees of consciousness. In the center, Alia was typing away at her laptop, grumbling under her breath.
"You're here because I still don't have a damn clue what went on this week," she said. "First things first, how are you, Slate?"
"Fine." That said, he put his head in his arms and dozed off.
"Okay...Now, who the hell ARE you, lady?" Alia's voice took a harsh drop as she leaned to the side, glaring straight at her target.
Serrael yawned, stretched her arms, then after a few moments, she answered. "Serrael Ashton. I'm the tactical officer replacement for Nighty- "
"I didn't request any new officers! Where do you come from?!"
Serrael yawned again, waving her arm as if to dismiss the question. "Nowhere, really. I'm registered, if you've got any more stupid queries."
"Stupid qu-! Now, you listen here, you little-"
"Boss!" Night groaned. "Let it go. It's too early for this. Now, can we get this over with?"
The two women stared daggers at each other, then finally relented. Alia started typing again. "Hmm...it all checks out." Alia grunted, lowering the computer screen. "Now...from the top, the VERY top. The ERF, what happened in there with that fire guy, Night?"
"I got in, made it to the R&D area, fought Ignis...He almost had me, but some sort of override went off, and I knocked him into a power cord." Night had a far-off look in his eyes as he spoke. Unconsciously, Serrael put a hand on his shoulder.
"You said something about an override? What do you mean, override?"
"I dunno, the same thing happened the day Sol got kidnapped. All of sudden, I had dash boots and plasma blades. It seems to happen whenever I need it...Some sort of nanotech."
"Hmm...I guess X picked up on the family trend of stupid heroics...Okay, now, how about NTN?"
"After the transmission, after she...well, I stole the last Chaser we had and took off. I bumped into Serrael on the way, and she insisted on going. I fought Aqueous, while Ser helped the GDC free the hostages. I...I...well, the override happened again, and I used one of Ignis's attacks. Blew up her gun arm."
"And what in God's name were you doing there, 'Ser'?" Alia asked. "Last time I checked, technicians stay in the CC with me."
"Yeah, well, I knew Nadia. I thought I could stop her...she always hated violence."
"Wait a minute, you KNEW her?! How?!"
"Old job." Ser didn't miss a beat, but it was obvious that Alia didn't believe that answer. Regardless, she let it slide.
"Fine, fine. Now...what happened at GDAir? Slate?" Alia asked.
Slate grunted, giving half of a shrug. "Ask the broad."
Serrael was averting her eyes. "Why, whatever do you mean? He's the Mega Man."
"There's too much damn attitude in this damn room...Night, what happened?"
Night took a quick look around the room, a guilty look on his face. "Ser heard me shut you down. She went, so I had to follow her. Apparently, the Angel was stealing planes. She went AWOL on me, and Slate saved my ass a couple of times. Every reploid on base was under Aerin's control-"
"Wait, Aerin?" Alia said. Her laptop was back up and her hands were working at a furious pace.
"Goldilocks in the Brig. Slate held them off so I could get in and beat Aerin. I took her-"
Serrael cleared her throat rather loudly, and since she was a reploid, the noise was obviously no accident.
"We took her down, and Ser landed the base."
Alia typed on for a second, then froze. "L-landed?! The base was flying?!"
Slate pulled himself up. "Yup. It was headed straight for Elysium, which narrows down where their base could be to there or Neo Tokyo. Somewhere on that path."
After a few more seconds of frenzied work, Alia slowly closed her laptop. "Okay...someone's lying. According to the official reports, a bunch of Mavs killed every reploid on base and stole a handful of old jets. We're being blamed for not answering an alarm we never got."
Both Night and Serrael slammed their fist on the table. Slate merely bowed his head.
"This is a load of crap!"
"That's bloody bullshit! Why'd they spare the humans, then?!"
Night grabbed Alia's laptop and read the report for himself. "This...this can't be right! Old jets, my ass! Those were state-of-the-art GDAir AutoJets. And no one got killed, human or reploid!!! Slate made sure not to hurt anyone. He was deflecting their shots with his spear! You saw how busted up he got!"
Alia nodded, then sighed. "This doesn't make any sense. None of you could have done the damage in the reports, anyway. Reploids were torn to pieces. Fatal bites, shredding, and some serious sustained plasma wounds. That much is real, but I don't know how..."
"Plasma? You mean, like a Buster?"
Slate cut in. "A flamethrower. A Buster will blast you. That thing melted those guys. More than that, they got turned to ashes."
Alia had retrieved her laptop and was quickly running her findings throguh the registry when Slate's word made her pause again. "You say that like you're familiar with the weapon. Any info?"
"I ran into similar weapons in my pre-Hunter days. Let's just say you won't get many survivor reports..." His voice seemed hollow as his eyes lost focus, looking at something far away.
"Did any of you see anything like this on the attackers?"
All three shook their heads. Night rose to his feet, Serrael quick to follow.
"I'll see what Aerin knows, maybe see if Aqueous might be a little more helpful. Come on, Ser. You in, bunny boy?"
The expected retort never came. "I'm still out of it from the fight. I'll see if I can help Alia here."
Night gave him a curious look, then shrugged and left the room. Serrael hesitated a moment longer, as if she wanted to say something, but seemed to decide against it and ran to catch up. Now alone, Alia and Slate watched the door, then slowly turned to each other.
"Alia-" Alia raised a hand, silencing him.
"Slate, this has nothing to do with your dreams. I'd have nightmares too, if I did what you had to do."
"Alia, this isn't just a nightmare. I have gaps in my mind. I remember blocking shots, then I was here, almost offline. Something happened, and it has nothing to do with my past. No assassin would use a SP."
"Look...you're the best Hunter we've got right now. With Sol gone, and with Night so inexperienced, you're our best chance. I don't care what you did before, and neither should you. You took a bad hit, that's all."
"Alia, don't be so blind! My dreams! I was-"
"That's all, Unit Commander. Now, get some rest. Maybe even look into some sort of meditation. It could help you." Alia's voice was hard, carrying a tone of authority, but her face was full of concern. She placed her hand on his shoulder. "It helped my temper immensely."
A smile made it's way into Slate's serious expression as he rose to leave. "Then how were you before?!"
"No one's left to say. Now, get out! I've got work to do!!! The GDC wants to crucify me, and I'm not about to be their whipping boy..."
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There was a new inmate in the Hunter Brig, and no one seemed to like the new arrangement, least of all the current resident. Nadia had quickly come out of herself upon seeing Aerin unceremoniously dumped into the cell, disarmed, and proceeded to try to force the door. "You can't do this! You've got a whole block of cells, damn you!" Her cries fell upon deaf ears and she soon slumped to the floor. "Why me..."
Aerin was unconscious for several hours, in which a battle raged in Nadia's mind. "She looks so innocent in her sleep...no, it's jsut my imagination! Should I kill her?? No...I'll never survive this if they think I'm still a Maverick...Am I? What, what's happening to me?"
A soft groan silenced her muttering. "Mmm...this isn't my room. Wonder where..."
"You're not home, Rena." Nadia said, staring off into the distance. It had begun.
"Oh, it's Ice Bitch...Heard you went ballistic, kill a bunch of fleshbags. There a TV here? Jintaromon is on!"
"It's a steel box. There's no TV here, so sit quietly!"
"Ooh! Brrrrr..." Her giggle sent a shiver through Nadia's spine. "You've been so mean to me...baby mad cuz widdle Jawan got bawbecued?"
"Fuck you." Nadia faced away from her, a tear trailing down her face.
"Whatever. Leaky bitch." Rena turned her back as well, humming to herself.
"Stop that!"
"Geez...if I can't watch Jintaromon, then I'm gonna pretend, so there! Nya!" She stuck out her tongue and turned back to her corner, lost in her dream world.
Nadia zoned her out, preferring to return to her own memories. She had found the ability to be the only thing keeping her sane. For hours at a time, she would relive her times with Jaran, consciously avoiding their last week, the week Master came to them. "It all went wrong from there..."
Rena stopped her humming, cursing under her breath. "Do you KNOW how annoying it is to think aloud? Keep it stowed, Leaky." Then, as if nothing had happened, she went back to fantasy land.
Night's arrival interrupted any response. He stepped in, frowning at both of them, his armor at the ready. Nadia stepped back and fell onto a cot upon his entrance. The door closed after him, and he crossed his arms, watching the two women for a moment before speaking.
"All right...let's start from the beginning. Where's Sol?"
Rena spun around, jumping closer to Night. "He's at our house! He plays with me, and, and, I RIPPED OUT HIS REACTOR!!!"
"You little-" Night raised his fist, but Nadia held him back with her remaining arm.
"Don't let her get to you. She's...playing. Sol's fine. He's being treated well, and he'll leave when he's ready to."
Night pushed her away, shaking his head. "That doesn't make sense! Why would he stay with Mavericks?!"
"Like, DUH, cuz we're not!" Rena laughed, then jumped into Nadia's lap, hugging her. "We'w not bad, aw we, Nadia?" Stifling a groan, she stroked the girl's hair, staring at the ceiling.
"She's right. We're not Mavs, we're Christians. We wanted to start a church, under Father William Ashton. Humans have denied that to us for too long. We were going to bring peace to our people, give them hope..."
Night pondered this for a moment, leaning back on the wall. "Then why were you stealing planes and killing reporters? Not very Christlike."
Tears began to form in Nadia's eyes. "I...I don't know why I did it!" Her sadness quickly shifted as he looked at him. "Why did you kill Jaran?!"
Night sighed. He knew this would come. "It was an accident. He was...something happened to him. He tried to kill me, and I, I just pushed him off me. I didn't see the..." He voice trailed off. The scene played back in his head. He did see it. Part of him knew, part of him planned on it.
"BUG ZAPPER! BZZZZZZZZZZZZ-AAARGHHHH!!!!" Rena laughed again, nuzzling her cheek on Nadia's shoulder. Night frowned, but Nadia gave a sad smile.
"She wasn't always like this...But, the modifications changed her. Changed Jaran. We all lost part of our minds, I think. We all changed when Master came, even William."
Night jumped at the name. "Master? Who is this Master, a Maverick?"
Nadia shook her head. "Something else. Something...something evil. The devil himself, if I've ever seen him. He's the one that convinced William, convinced all of us that fighting was the solution. He did something. We'd all come so far, but he..." The tears in her eyes were falling freely. Rena touched her face, a big smile on her face.
"Aww, sis! Don't cry...The old man gives us fun games to play! I got to play dollies, and robbers, and, and-" Nadia shushed her, slowly rocking the girl to sleep.
"She's lost. Her mind was child-like, but the changes made her a warrior. She couldn't cope...she split. When we became Angels, we lost ourselves. All I could feel was vengeance against humans. Even my love...I couldn't hold on to it. Jaran was always wild, reckless. But he became violent. He made him a murderer!!!"
Night couldn't think of anything to say. He just stood there for a moment, watching Nadia cry, still holding the resting Aerin. His own eyes were wet as the last few days came into focus. A hand touched his shoulder, waking him from his reverie. He stood, calling for the door to be opened. "I'll be back. I can't ask your forgiveness, but I want you to know I never wanted to hurt Jaran."
"It's alright. The Jaran I loved died weeks ago." A smile return to her face, her eyes losing focus as she returned to her past.
"I'll stop him. I'll stop Master, I swear it." He walked through the door. He stood outside, his fists clenched, staring at the floor. Next to him, Serrael became visible and wrapped her arms around him. He stared out of a window, looking into the morning sky. Slowly, he put an arm around her, holding her closer. "I'll bring your father back, I swear."
For a long moment, neither spoke. Night's comm broke the silence, beeping as loud as ever.
"Night here."
Alia's voice on the other side "Night! Meet Slate's unit in the Armory, now! An Angel's coming straight here, and he's coming down Main Street with a whole damned army!"
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(AN: What can I say? I guess without Imp's bubbling enthusiasm, I just couldn't push myself. I need you, Imp! Did you finally piss Zero off that much?! Well, anyways...the next chapter should be a lot faster. This G-PG13 preset on the site is crap, though, ain't it? Makes my story hard to find...
Random Guy: Is that a bad thing? Hey, put down that pizza roller!!!
Good night, everyone. Wanna slice?
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Chapter 11: Revelations, Resolutions
Night warped into the Maverick Hunter Headquarters. He didn't warp into a cell, as planned. He landed in the training area, surrounded by charged busters and lit plasma swords. Directly in front of him was Alia, a plasma rifle in her steady hand. With a shrug, he walked straight up to her. "You guys went through all the trouble of a welcoming committee? Thanks."
"Night, what're you-" Alia started to ask.
"Put this baby in the fridge. Daddy gone fishin' and got himself a whopper!" Night tossed the still-unconscious Maverick towards Alia, who barely caught it, a stupefied expression on her face.
"Man, I need a nap. First time I didn't come home unconscious, and now I know why...Whew!" he muttered, walking out of the door, leaving several very confused Hunters.
Just as they were starting to come out of their trances, another bolt of light flashed into their trap. "Ugh...what's with the bloody crowd?" Serrael said. She was rubbing her eyes as if she just woke up. She made a quick turn and shrugged. "Hmm...I'll be damned. G'Night." She started to push through the stunned crowd, headed for the open door.
Alia was the first to find her voice. "Wait a minute! Who the hell ARE you and what where you doing on that base?!"
"Guh...check your roster. I was there for the view." She didn't look back, still dragging herself through the Hunters, finally reaching the door. "Oh, yeah. We won." She stumbled through, intent on finding a bed.
Alia stood there, one hand on her hip, the Maverick dropped on the floor. The other hand was fingering the safety on her gun between on and off too quickly to be seen. Her techs knew better and quickly made their exit, but the field Hunters just stood there, silent. "Okay...What the hell just happened?" she asked, her eyes a silent blaze.
Silence, then the reply was unanimous. "WE WON!!!" The defense team turned in an instant into one big victory dance, Alia stuck somewhere in the middle of it.
"WE ARE THE DRAGONS!!! WE ARE THE DRAGONS!!! NO TIME FOR LOSERS, 'CUZ WE ARE THE DRAGONS!!!"
"SHUT UP!!!!" Alia screamed, trying to maintain some semblance of order. "And speaking of dragons, where's the guy I SENT to the base?" The silence returned, and as if on cue, a green flash of light landed in the room.
"Boss!" they yelled, clearing a circle for him. He was on his knees, sparking and struggling to stay awake. His helmet visor was cracked and Buster wounds peppered his armor. With a deep grunt, he pulled himself up and fought through his unit, nearly crawling to Alia.
"Did we win?" he asked, his voice faint and cracking.
"Yeah. We won. How're you feeling?" she asked.
"Great." he said, then fell to the floor, in emergency stasis.
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The MMHQ was one big party after that, with the exception of a few areas. Alia's private quarters were avoided like the plague. Lifesavor was ready to use his worst weapon on anyone trying to disturb Slate's repairs: a conversation. Night was asleep in his quarters, the world gone to him. Little did he know, Serrael was in his quarters as well, sleeping in his brother's old bed. His brother and he had always refused to use stasis pods and after a day like that, Night finally knew why.
Everywhere else, the 14th Unit was yelling their theme song at the top of their lungs. They were as drunk as reploids could get (which seemed to be pretty darn drunk) and had a serious mission. They must inebriate every Hunter on base. This was their first big mission without someone on their deathbed, and they were dying to celebrate.
Douglas was an easy enough target. He was tinkering into the night as usual. Oblivious to the stifled cackles from outside, he gladly accepted the 'bottle of water' one of the Hunters handed him. Soon after, he was riding around in an old Mech, following the drinker's party with a huge crate of bottles and snacks.
Their next target was Alia. They were confident after their first success, but still strode as quietly as possible, which wasn't very considering the whispered theme song and the un-oiled hydraulics of the Mech. The Commander stood at her door, pistol aimed at the procession as they arrived. After a tense moment, she grabbed three bottles and more snacks than should fit in her body and slammed the door. After a straight five minutes of applause, they continued on their quest.
Their mission to the hero's chambers was met with failure, as neither would wake up. After a few carefully posed photos, they were returned to their beds and the procession headed for their final location. The most dangerous mission of all: Get Slate Drunk.
They burst into the Medical Bay, ready for battle. They knew that Doc Talk would serve as the ultimate buzzkill and came prepared. Recruiting Douglas proved useful as they ran into the room, one of them wearing a shoulder-mounted cannon. The Doc rose to stop them, only to be knocked out by a precision shot from Douglas's replicate of Vile's famous weapon. Slate was sitting up in a cot, staring at a news report on the vid.
"BOSS!!!" they yelled, swarming him. He raised a hand, not looking in their direction.
"I thought I taught you jackasses some discipline. Guess not. Go to the training room. I want you to run through the Third Sigma Fortress, then the Second, then the Third again. Do it until you're all in stasis. And leave a bottle." he said, then proceeded to ignore them. The Unit left the medical bay in a march. When they reached the hall, one of them spoke up.
"Hey, guys...if he kept the bottle, doesn't that mean-"
"WE WON!!! WE ARE THE DRAGONS! WE ARE-" They marched into the training facility, turning on the holographic projector, singing as they went.
Slate watched the report unfold, lost to the world.
"-band of Mavericks attacked the Global Defense Air Force base today, damaging several buildings and destroying several planes. The majority of reploids on base were destroyed by some form of sustained plasma weapons or by being literally ripped apart. Rumors of illegal Animal-based reploids being involved are unconfirmed. Fortunately, there was no loss of life. GDC Head Councilman Julian Garamond is expected to give a statement-"
He turned off the monitor, reaching for the bottle of alcohol.
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"Geez...why'd you wake me up this early...?" Night said. It was 0800 and he was stuck in the Briefing Room. It was obvious it hadn't been used in a long time. The entire room was spotless, barely lived in, if at all. On outside of the curved center table, Night, Serrael, and Slate were sitting in varying degrees of consciousness. In the center, Alia was typing away at her laptop, grumbling under her breath.
"You're here because I still don't have a damn clue what went on this week," she said. "First things first, how are you, Slate?"
"Fine." That said, he put his head in his arms and dozed off.
"Okay...Now, who the hell ARE you, lady?" Alia's voice took a harsh drop as she leaned to the side, glaring straight at her target.
Serrael yawned, stretched her arms, then after a few moments, she answered. "Serrael Ashton. I'm the tactical officer replacement for Nighty- "
"I didn't request any new officers! Where do you come from?!"
Serrael yawned again, waving her arm as if to dismiss the question. "Nowhere, really. I'm registered, if you've got any more stupid queries."
"Stupid qu-! Now, you listen here, you little-"
"Boss!" Night groaned. "Let it go. It's too early for this. Now, can we get this over with?"
The two women stared daggers at each other, then finally relented. Alia started typing again. "Hmm...it all checks out." Alia grunted, lowering the computer screen. "Now...from the top, the VERY top. The ERF, what happened in there with that fire guy, Night?"
"I got in, made it to the R&D area, fought Ignis...He almost had me, but some sort of override went off, and I knocked him into a power cord." Night had a far-off look in his eyes as he spoke. Unconsciously, Serrael put a hand on his shoulder.
"You said something about an override? What do you mean, override?"
"I dunno, the same thing happened the day Sol got kidnapped. All of sudden, I had dash boots and plasma blades. It seems to happen whenever I need it...Some sort of nanotech."
"Hmm...I guess X picked up on the family trend of stupid heroics...Okay, now, how about NTN?"
"After the transmission, after she...well, I stole the last Chaser we had and took off. I bumped into Serrael on the way, and she insisted on going. I fought Aqueous, while Ser helped the GDC free the hostages. I...I...well, the override happened again, and I used one of Ignis's attacks. Blew up her gun arm."
"And what in God's name were you doing there, 'Ser'?" Alia asked. "Last time I checked, technicians stay in the CC with me."
"Yeah, well, I knew Nadia. I thought I could stop her...she always hated violence."
"Wait a minute, you KNEW her?! How?!"
"Old job." Ser didn't miss a beat, but it was obvious that Alia didn't believe that answer. Regardless, she let it slide.
"Fine, fine. Now...what happened at GDAir? Slate?" Alia asked.
Slate grunted, giving half of a shrug. "Ask the broad."
Serrael was averting her eyes. "Why, whatever do you mean? He's the Mega Man."
"There's too much damn attitude in this damn room...Night, what happened?"
Night took a quick look around the room, a guilty look on his face. "Ser heard me shut you down. She went, so I had to follow her. Apparently, the Angel was stealing planes. She went AWOL on me, and Slate saved my ass a couple of times. Every reploid on base was under Aerin's control-"
"Wait, Aerin?" Alia said. Her laptop was back up and her hands were working at a furious pace.
"Goldilocks in the Brig. Slate held them off so I could get in and beat Aerin. I took her-"
Serrael cleared her throat rather loudly, and since she was a reploid, the noise was obviously no accident.
"We took her down, and Ser landed the base."
Alia typed on for a second, then froze. "L-landed?! The base was flying?!"
Slate pulled himself up. "Yup. It was headed straight for Elysium, which narrows down where their base could be to there or Neo Tokyo. Somewhere on that path."
After a few more seconds of frenzied work, Alia slowly closed her laptop. "Okay...someone's lying. According to the official reports, a bunch of Mavs killed every reploid on base and stole a handful of old jets. We're being blamed for not answering an alarm we never got."
Both Night and Serrael slammed their fist on the table. Slate merely bowed his head.
"This is a load of crap!"
"That's bloody bullshit! Why'd they spare the humans, then?!"
Night grabbed Alia's laptop and read the report for himself. "This...this can't be right! Old jets, my ass! Those were state-of-the-art GDAir AutoJets. And no one got killed, human or reploid!!! Slate made sure not to hurt anyone. He was deflecting their shots with his spear! You saw how busted up he got!"
Alia nodded, then sighed. "This doesn't make any sense. None of you could have done the damage in the reports, anyway. Reploids were torn to pieces. Fatal bites, shredding, and some serious sustained plasma wounds. That much is real, but I don't know how..."
"Plasma? You mean, like a Buster?"
Slate cut in. "A flamethrower. A Buster will blast you. That thing melted those guys. More than that, they got turned to ashes."
Alia had retrieved her laptop and was quickly running her findings throguh the registry when Slate's word made her pause again. "You say that like you're familiar with the weapon. Any info?"
"I ran into similar weapons in my pre-Hunter days. Let's just say you won't get many survivor reports..." His voice seemed hollow as his eyes lost focus, looking at something far away.
"Did any of you see anything like this on the attackers?"
All three shook their heads. Night rose to his feet, Serrael quick to follow.
"I'll see what Aerin knows, maybe see if Aqueous might be a little more helpful. Come on, Ser. You in, bunny boy?"
The expected retort never came. "I'm still out of it from the fight. I'll see if I can help Alia here."
Night gave him a curious look, then shrugged and left the room. Serrael hesitated a moment longer, as if she wanted to say something, but seemed to decide against it and ran to catch up. Now alone, Alia and Slate watched the door, then slowly turned to each other.
"Alia-" Alia raised a hand, silencing him.
"Slate, this has nothing to do with your dreams. I'd have nightmares too, if I did what you had to do."
"Alia, this isn't just a nightmare. I have gaps in my mind. I remember blocking shots, then I was here, almost offline. Something happened, and it has nothing to do with my past. No assassin would use a SP."
"Look...you're the best Hunter we've got right now. With Sol gone, and with Night so inexperienced, you're our best chance. I don't care what you did before, and neither should you. You took a bad hit, that's all."
"Alia, don't be so blind! My dreams! I was-"
"That's all, Unit Commander. Now, get some rest. Maybe even look into some sort of meditation. It could help you." Alia's voice was hard, carrying a tone of authority, but her face was full of concern. She placed her hand on his shoulder. "It helped my temper immensely."
A smile made it's way into Slate's serious expression as he rose to leave. "Then how were you before?!"
"No one's left to say. Now, get out! I've got work to do!!! The GDC wants to crucify me, and I'm not about to be their whipping boy..."
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There was a new inmate in the Hunter Brig, and no one seemed to like the new arrangement, least of all the current resident. Nadia had quickly come out of herself upon seeing Aerin unceremoniously dumped into the cell, disarmed, and proceeded to try to force the door. "You can't do this! You've got a whole block of cells, damn you!" Her cries fell upon deaf ears and she soon slumped to the floor. "Why me..."
Aerin was unconscious for several hours, in which a battle raged in Nadia's mind. "She looks so innocent in her sleep...no, it's jsut my imagination! Should I kill her?? No...I'll never survive this if they think I'm still a Maverick...Am I? What, what's happening to me?"
A soft groan silenced her muttering. "Mmm...this isn't my room. Wonder where..."
"You're not home, Rena." Nadia said, staring off into the distance. It had begun.
"Oh, it's Ice Bitch...Heard you went ballistic, kill a bunch of fleshbags. There a TV here? Jintaromon is on!"
"It's a steel box. There's no TV here, so sit quietly!"
"Ooh! Brrrrr..." Her giggle sent a shiver through Nadia's spine. "You've been so mean to me...baby mad cuz widdle Jawan got bawbecued?"
"Fuck you." Nadia faced away from her, a tear trailing down her face.
"Whatever. Leaky bitch." Rena turned her back as well, humming to herself.
"Stop that!"
"Geez...if I can't watch Jintaromon, then I'm gonna pretend, so there! Nya!" She stuck out her tongue and turned back to her corner, lost in her dream world.
Nadia zoned her out, preferring to return to her own memories. She had found the ability to be the only thing keeping her sane. For hours at a time, she would relive her times with Jaran, consciously avoiding their last week, the week Master came to them. "It all went wrong from there..."
Rena stopped her humming, cursing under her breath. "Do you KNOW how annoying it is to think aloud? Keep it stowed, Leaky." Then, as if nothing had happened, she went back to fantasy land.
Night's arrival interrupted any response. He stepped in, frowning at both of them, his armor at the ready. Nadia stepped back and fell onto a cot upon his entrance. The door closed after him, and he crossed his arms, watching the two women for a moment before speaking.
"All right...let's start from the beginning. Where's Sol?"
Rena spun around, jumping closer to Night. "He's at our house! He plays with me, and, and, I RIPPED OUT HIS REACTOR!!!"
"You little-" Night raised his fist, but Nadia held him back with her remaining arm.
"Don't let her get to you. She's...playing. Sol's fine. He's being treated well, and he'll leave when he's ready to."
Night pushed her away, shaking his head. "That doesn't make sense! Why would he stay with Mavericks?!"
"Like, DUH, cuz we're not!" Rena laughed, then jumped into Nadia's lap, hugging her. "We'w not bad, aw we, Nadia?" Stifling a groan, she stroked the girl's hair, staring at the ceiling.
"She's right. We're not Mavs, we're Christians. We wanted to start a church, under Father William Ashton. Humans have denied that to us for too long. We were going to bring peace to our people, give them hope..."
Night pondered this for a moment, leaning back on the wall. "Then why were you stealing planes and killing reporters? Not very Christlike."
Tears began to form in Nadia's eyes. "I...I don't know why I did it!" Her sadness quickly shifted as he looked at him. "Why did you kill Jaran?!"
Night sighed. He knew this would come. "It was an accident. He was...something happened to him. He tried to kill me, and I, I just pushed him off me. I didn't see the..." He voice trailed off. The scene played back in his head. He did see it. Part of him knew, part of him planned on it.
"BUG ZAPPER! BZZZZZZZZZZZZ-AAARGHHHH!!!!" Rena laughed again, nuzzling her cheek on Nadia's shoulder. Night frowned, but Nadia gave a sad smile.
"She wasn't always like this...But, the modifications changed her. Changed Jaran. We all lost part of our minds, I think. We all changed when Master came, even William."
Night jumped at the name. "Master? Who is this Master, a Maverick?"
Nadia shook her head. "Something else. Something...something evil. The devil himself, if I've ever seen him. He's the one that convinced William, convinced all of us that fighting was the solution. He did something. We'd all come so far, but he..." The tears in her eyes were falling freely. Rena touched her face, a big smile on her face.
"Aww, sis! Don't cry...The old man gives us fun games to play! I got to play dollies, and robbers, and, and-" Nadia shushed her, slowly rocking the girl to sleep.
"She's lost. Her mind was child-like, but the changes made her a warrior. She couldn't cope...she split. When we became Angels, we lost ourselves. All I could feel was vengeance against humans. Even my love...I couldn't hold on to it. Jaran was always wild, reckless. But he became violent. He made him a murderer!!!"
Night couldn't think of anything to say. He just stood there for a moment, watching Nadia cry, still holding the resting Aerin. His own eyes were wet as the last few days came into focus. A hand touched his shoulder, waking him from his reverie. He stood, calling for the door to be opened. "I'll be back. I can't ask your forgiveness, but I want you to know I never wanted to hurt Jaran."
"It's alright. The Jaran I loved died weeks ago." A smile return to her face, her eyes losing focus as she returned to her past.
"I'll stop him. I'll stop Master, I swear it." He walked through the door. He stood outside, his fists clenched, staring at the floor. Next to him, Serrael became visible and wrapped her arms around him. He stared out of a window, looking into the morning sky. Slowly, he put an arm around her, holding her closer. "I'll bring your father back, I swear."
For a long moment, neither spoke. Night's comm broke the silence, beeping as loud as ever.
"Night here."
Alia's voice on the other side "Night! Meet Slate's unit in the Armory, now! An Angel's coming straight here, and he's coming down Main Street with a whole damned army!"
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(AN: What can I say? I guess without Imp's bubbling enthusiasm, I just couldn't push myself. I need you, Imp! Did you finally piss Zero off that much?! Well, anyways...the next chapter should be a lot faster. This G-PG13 preset on the site is crap, though, ain't it? Makes my story hard to find...
Random Guy: Is that a bad thing? Hey, put down that pizza roller!!!
Good night, everyone. Wanna slice?
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