Chapter Thirty-Six: Red Winter Rising

            "General Kuwangner, sir, I have the report."

            Boomer Kuwangner didn't turn to face the Maverick giving him the information. Rather, the lanky beetle continued to stare out at the Maverick Hunter Headquarters from his position on the Megacity 5 Highway, about three fourths of a mile away and on much higher ground. He wondered what was going on in there. Were things going to plan? They damn well better be, the leader of Frontline thought, because he would be one upset bug if all this planning and preparation came to naught. But, that was probably what this recruit was here to yap about, so…

            "I don't have till Christmas, you know."

            "Y-yessir," the Maverick stammered. "Commander Gredam reports that Gallagher is on the way, and has already launched an attack on the Hunter forces at Seraph Castle." Were it any other Maverick Boss, they would have cackled at the news and inserted some fiendish remark, but the quiet Kuwangner just stood static and waited during the awkward pause. Feeling foolish, the recruit went on. "The ship should be here within ten or fifteen minutes. We just have to keep the Hunters trapped that long, and—"

            "I know what we have to do," Kuwangner said in an even lower rasp than usual. "Give me the report, not a lecture."

            "Yes…yessir," the Maverick stammered again, hating the bug but terrified of him at the same time. Boomer noted it and chuckled inwardly. He did have that effect on people. "The Hunter Headquarters is still without power. It's estimated that it'll be at least ten minutes before they can activate any kind of backup—which we still don't know for sure that they have."

            "It'll be enough time," Kuwangner observed. "Even if the power comes back on before the ship arrives, they'll be in too much a state of confusion to do anything productive. Go on."

            "When the ship moves into position, they'll fire a Buzzbomb at the Headquarters. Immediately afterwards, they'll close in and deposit their soldiers. Commander Gredam—"

            "'Commander'?" Kuwangner scoffed. "Don't give that overzealous failure any more credit than he deserves. We serve only one 'Commander'. Sigma."

            "R…right…" The Maverick took a breath and tried again. God, he hated this! "General Gredam will still remain onboard while Generals Gravity Beetle and Storm Eagle rendezvous their troops with our Frontline division. Gredam and Revolver plan on firing a second Buzzbomb, but they haven't said at what yet."

            "Well goddamn," Kuwangner observed. Now wasn't exactly the time to be keeping secrets from one's allies, was it? "If that asshole hits any of our men in the process, I'll pin him to some ceiling spikes with a Dead Lift before he can say 'frine laven'."

            "Yessir," the Maverick agreed, or thought he did.

            "Oh," Kuwangner blinked, as though remembering that the troop was still there. "Go on. Get back to your unit."

            "Yessir," the Maverick said one final time, and walked as briskly as possible away from the big creepy bug.

            For his part, Kuwangner let out a low laugh while still facing the hated Hunter HQ. He recalled his own days spent inside, back when he was on the side of peace and harmony…but that wasn't right, was it? No, he'd been there to kill people, and Sigma's unit had provided him with that opportunity. When Sigma revolted it only made sense for Kuwangner to follow. So long as Sigma kept providing him with things to kill, Kuwangner would follow the man anywhere, even to repeated deaths, which wasn't farfetched at all.

            "Trapped like rats," Boomer observed coldly, twitching his mandibles in a freakish grin. It was such a change, being the one in power, knowing what was to come and how terrible it would be while one's victims remained unaware and helpless. While he couldn't be entirely certain how things would end up, the Maverick Boss knew at least one thing for sure was going to happen on this newly dawning morning.

            "…I'm going to have SO much fun."

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            The hacker knew what was going to happen, too, and as such he was getting very worried about the fact that a guard was standing near the door to the computer chamber. Probably some intelligent sod had pieced together the fact that whoever fudged up the Hunter computer networks had to have access to—gasp!—a computer, and posted a guard to make sure no one escaped. However the guard wasn't doing things that were…well, guardish. It was a male human of large build carrying a very nasty looking energy saber, but it wasn't activated at the moment, and he was talking with several technicians and—the hacker could not believe this—he seemed to be looking at the individual computers to see who was responsible, as though he had some incredible technical prowess that would allow him to discern that particular detail. Humans…what idiots!

            Even if the Idiot decided to search his computer, though, the hacker knew well that nothing incriminating would come up. Kujacker's program was just too good for that. Even so, it had already been what, ten or fifteen whole minutes? In ten or fifteen MORE minutes, this building might not exist anymore, and the hacker did not want to be a part of that carnage. He was to rendezvous with Boomer Kuwangner's Frontline, but how could he do that if he was trapped in here?

            The Idiot would make a fuss if anyone tried to leave…but the hacker had no choice but to leave. Too bad for the Idiot, the hacker decided, checking for his weapon. Reassured at its presence even though he'd always known deep down that he still had it, the hacker began to form a very quick evacuation plan. There was a hallway leading from the computer chamber to the garages, which were still open. After all, the last of Zegmann's unit had just departed. He could rush out there and teleport…and he was a fast runner, if he was nothing else.

            Satisfied with his odds, the hacker relaxed and waited. He still had time. What sense was there in rushing things?

____________________

            Krysta of Unit 5 and Ninja Xu of Zegmann's brigade had turned back from the outside teleportation point when they'd seen the lights go out in the building behind them. Now that they were inside the dark garage, it was time for them to formulate a plan of their own.

            "Look, maybe it was a computer glitch," the more experienced Xu reasoned. "Does your personal communicator still work?"

            "Yeah," Krysta replied after paging the Huntress in front of her as a test. "Guess that means we don't owe this to EMG."

            "That's not good," Xu observed. "Well we'd better get to the control room."

            "Doesn't Signas have a communicator?"

            "Sure. Pity us commoners don't have access to the frequency." Xu sighed. "Look, go check out the computer room and radio me with what's going on. Then head for the control room, all right? Move fast."

            "Got it," Krysta agreed, arming herself with her axe instinctively and sprinting in the direction of the computer room she'd just left. It was somewhat disappointing, she thought. She'd been hoping to see some action tonight.

____________________

            Scythe had similar feelings. He had spent too much time in the computer room. He knew that, and he also knew that it wasn't safe here anymore. No one else seemed to share his opinion, though. They were all bustling about, talking loudly, and trying to get the poor excuse for a guard to clear them of the crime, as though the guard knew how to check for a hacker's deeds.

            The general sentiment in the computer room was mistrust. Scythe could understand that. The way they had to figure it, whoever or whatever caused the blackout had to be in this room. No one was innocent. However, the Hunters didn't seem to act on their reservations, talking as freely as they ever had and looking at people with more curiosity than mistrust. "Was it you?" their eyes asked, and not "what was the purpose, and am I in danger?" like they should have.

            Correction. There was one person who seemed to share Scythe's outlook on the moment, and it was Nightchaser. The surly Reploid was on his feet, standing stiffly with a blank face but with eyes that were very alive. He was searching each individual face as though summing up threats, and unless Scythe was dreaming his "comrade" seemed to be glancing at the doorway an awful lot. Perhaps he felt the same sense of danger Scythe did?

            The golden Hunter felt suddenly awkward in his sitting position and joined everyone else in standing up. Everyone who had weapons—precious few, perhaps two or three—was armed with them, and no one thought twice when Scythe raised his deactivated beam scythe and hoisted it over his shoulder. He, too, glanced at the door, and then back at the crowds around him. There, he blended in now. It wouldn't do to be accused of anything, would it? The way they were now, they may lynch him without proof, and Scythe wasn't planning on dying in such a foolish way.

____________________

            Nightchaser, unlike the other Hunters in the computer room, was not holding his weapon—a beam saber—and instead leaned with his fists on the computer desk, staring at people with an expression that was part annoyance and part suspicion. There weren't that many of them, which would make a forced escape easy, he thought with a half grin. It may come to that. The atmosphere was just too thick and stifling for him. Plus, he had a gut feeling that he didn't have much time before…something happened.

            The power had gone out for a reason. These Hunters had to realize that, but the dumb fools didn't act afraid. If they had brains, they'd all be filing out the door over the guard's protests and heading to the control room for real information and orders, not waiting around in uselessness. This was why Nightchaser hated these people. There was nothing but incompetence in their ranks…he had to get away from them before it got to his mind.

            Then there was that Scythe character…a dangerous one, Chase noted. He was up and active, and he, too, looked like he wanted out. A scuffle in the doorway wouldn't be any good, Chase knew…but maybe if Scythe went first he could back him up and make that idiot guard back off. That would be great. Then he could start getting things accomplished.

____________________

            The air force hangar behind the Hunter HQ had its own independent power supply, and so it was no trouble for Alec Tremont's team to reload and refuel. It was also no problem for Tremont and one of his comrades, a Reploid pilot named Bale, to wander inside the hangar and turn on the radio link to the main HQ building.

            "It's chaos in there," Tremont reported after sending the message that they were there and able to patrol the area if necessary.

            "What are we supposed to do?" the humanoid Bale asked.

            "Once we beef up, we start a continual patrol of the area around Headquarters." Alec shivered off the remaining chill in his bones. "What about Alden Base and the Megacity Base?"

            "I can't raise either," Bale responded grimly. "I'd say we have something major going on."

            "Recon flights, too, then."

            "Yeah. I wonder what we'll find?"

            Before Alec could speculate the radio went off again. "Yeah?"

            "Tremont!"

            "Boss?" Alec and Bale said at once.

            "We've got trouble," Commander Taggart reported. "Can you get through to Signas?"

            "Roger that," Alec said as he set up the radio to connect his boss to the Big Boss. He was quite surprised when no one answered. "…The hell?"

            "'The hell'?! Whaddya mean, 'the hell'?!"

            "No one's answering?" Bale asked in disbelief.

            "Hold on!" Alec held up his hand and listened carefully. "Can you make that out?"

            "…Yeah," said a more sedate Taggart. "Jesus, sounds like a mosh pit in there. What's going on?"

            "Hell if I know," Alec responded. "It was chaos already in there…something big must have happened."

            "All right, look," Taggart said suddenly, all business now. "Keep trying to get through. Tell Signas to be advised: there is an airship approaching your position."

            Alec and Bale felt their stomachs sink at the same time. "Roger that," Tremont acknowledged quietly.

            "This ship has already devastated our ranks," Taggart went on, "but we've licked our wounds and we're coming home. Repeat, you will have reinforcements! But in the meantime, get your asses in the air and stop that ship!!!"

            "Yeah…yes sir!" the pilots said at once. Communication broke, and the two just stared at the radio for a good minute.

            "All right," Bale said at last. "I have this feeling that if we keep staring at the radio forever…"

            "…We'll become radioactive soot," Tremont finished. "All right, I'll go get the others mobilized. Keep trying to raise Signas or…hell, raise ANYBODY."

            "Fine, but don't even think about leaving without me."

            "Not a chance, pal," Tremont assured him, putting his gloves back on. "I have a feeling we're gonna need all the firepower we can get."

____________________

            There was simply no more time to waste. The hacker had to move, and it had to be now. He made sure his weapon was accessible and started for the door, shaking his head and making quite a show about being disgusted, bored, and annoyed. He saw several others meet his eyes and reflect similar feelings, and he almost had a little revolution going before the Idiot guard stepped up in front of the doorway.

            "No one leaves, pal," the Idiot said flatly.

            The hacker looked the human dead on and tilted his head with a roll of his eyes. "This is stupid."

            "No one leaves," the Idiot repeated, waving his still deactivated beam saber. "I have my orders."

            "Hey, we're all Hunters here!" the hacker lied. "Somethin's going on, and I ain't no good to anybody in here, so lemme go to the control room and get some REAL orders!" It would be so much easier if he didn't have to fight, the hacker knew. Maybe he could talk his way out of this.

            The Idiot narrowed his eyes. "Lemme see your computer."

            The hacker blinked. "Oh come on. Just because I—"

            "You got something to hide?" the Idiot said loudly.

            Immediately the hacker knew he'd made a mistake. The other people in the room—there really wasn't more than six or seven—were now looking at him with increased suspicion. He should have let the Idiot look at his computer…what would he find, after all, but nothing at all?

            Before anything else could happen there came the sounds of shouting in the hallways…panicked shouting. Everyone now looked around with a new sense of confusion and nervousness, and more than one voiced the question "What's going on?"

            "Let's find out!" the hacker said, seizing control of the situation and moving for the door.

            It was at this point that the Idiot destroyed all hope for a peaceful escape. He shoved the hacker back, succeeding only because the Maverick wasn't expecting the move. The human then ignited his saber and pointed it at his new adversary.

            "The hell do you want out there?"

            And that did it. The sight of a live weapon pointed at someone gave people a target, and these frantic Hunters were keen to take it. When the hacker heard the sound of another beam saber activating, he knew it was time for some drastic action. He wasn't worried in the least. The saboteur shook his head at the human guard and stepped back with raised hands as though he were backing off, using the gesture to lift his weapon with supposed casualness…

            …And then a sharp laugh escaped the hacker's lips and a bright flash of light turned the lives of the computer room Hunters upside down.

____________________

            Krysta had her axe ready, but she had no expectations of using it. In her mind, she was to pop in the room and pop out, not really sure what she was looking for but knowing she had to check anyway.

            She was about ten feet away from the computer room door when the incident began and it stopped her in her tracks. The sound of energy weapons was barely audible through the walls, but more audible was a loud laugh that could really have belonged to anyone. Then there came shouts of fear and the sound of energy weapons returned. Mild explosions rocked the room and the sounds of shredding metal were audible.

            Krysta's first conscious action, when conscious thought returned, was to page Xu.

            "What's up?"

            "Get someone down here!" the Huntress whispered sharply and frantically.

            "What's going on…?"

            "Just get down here! There's a battle or something in the computer room!"

            "Jesus…Krysta, are you all right? Are you…?"

            But she wasn't listening anymore. She stared hard at the still-closed door, and thought she could make out a little human blood coming through the cracks between the door bottom and the floor. Her synthetic heart began to beat more rapidly and, just doing and not really thinking, she pressed herself against the wall near the door and held her axe at the ready. She wasn't about to go in there herself, but she'd let the assholes come out to face her. Later the rookie Huntress would realize that this was what the more experienced fighters called "letting the training take over".

            While she did this she became aware of other sounds—energy blades that were actually colliding. The battle was brief, and marked by grunts and finally by a pained cry and the sound of someone heavy clanking to the ground…a Reploid was down. Probably a lot of them were, Krysta thought, and at least one human. What was going on?

            Someone was going to the door, and it sounded like they were limping. Krysta held her breath and tightened her grip on her axe. The door opened and a wounded Reploid stepped out…

            It was Scythe. The Reploid's gold armor was marred with much blood, which Krysta assumed originated from the deep gash in his chest. It was a beam saber wound…it could be nothing else. Her friend's ignited energy scythe dragged on the floor behind him as he turned his head and met her gaze. His eyes widened in recognition and he staggered towards her. "Krysta…"

            She let out her breath immediately, rushing to help him. She wrapped an arm around his waist and supported him as they moved away from the door, into what Krysta imagined was safety. "What happened?"

            Scythe shook his head. "It's over." He pushed away from her and leaned against the wall, apparently preferring to support himself. "Jesus, it's horrible in there…"

            "What happened?" Krysta asked again, her voice full of worry. "Who did this to you?"

            Scythe's eyes were wide yet weary. "I don't rightly know…one minute he was trying to get out of the room, and the other…" He shook his head again and coughed up a bit of blood. "But I got him." He grinned weakly and brushed at the saber wound in his chest. It wasn't all that deep, but it appeared to have done a number on him. "He won't be bothering us anymore."

            "Who?" Krysta asked again. "Was it the same person who shut off the power?"

            Before Scythe could answer his eyes went wide again with something other than shock. Krysta recognized it as…fear, and spun sharply away from him to behold…

            …Nightchaser, standing in the open doorway, every bit as bloody as Scythe and with his own fair share of energy weapon wounds. His saber was out and activated, and his face had somewhat of a crazed look. He also seemed very interested in the two Reploids in front of him.

            "You!" Krysta seethed, stepping forward and starting to lift her axe and glaring at him in a very accusatory manner. "How could you?!"

            Nightchaser didn't respond. Instead his eyes came to life with fear like what Krysta had seen in Scythe, only this fear was different—it wasn't for personal safety. He was worried about someone else.

            Krysta found out who that person was when a blinding, burning pain erupted throughout her right side. By some miracle she had her weight on her left leg and fell that way, and so the weapon didn't pass all the way through her. She fell hard, bleeding and in agony, and her axe clattered to the ground next to her. Curiosity overcame the shock, however, and she turned her head around with eyes full of disbelief.

            A laugh escaped Scythe's lips that was identical to the one he'd uttered in the computer room before killing the Idiot human and launching into a lightning fast attack on the remaining occupants. Only Nightchaser had given him a problem, but he'd been sure he'd eliminated him in the room. Time to remedy that. Immediately after felling Krysta he continued forward and swung his scythe at Nightchaser, but the bigger Reploid somehow managed to parry the attack with his own blade.

            "Damn you!" Nightchaser bellowed as he regained his balance, looking down at Krysta and then back up at Scythe. "I knew there was a reason I hated you!"

            "It's cause I spilled hot coffee all over you that one time," Scythe hissed. "But I'll give you a better reason."

            Chase found himself confronted with a madman, and while wounded enough that his own senses weren't functioning perfectly he still knew it would be a very good idea to take this fight away from the Huntress that lay bleeding on the floor in front of them. He leapt backward away from her, praying that the Maverick hacker would take the bait…

            He did. Scythe sprang over Krysta's body and raced after his prey, swinging his weapon out in front of him. The nature of the scythe gave it a broad range, and even as far back as he was Chase had to work hard to make sure he didn't get sliced in two. Chase brought his saber up and slashed at the scythe just as it passed him to mess up Scythe's balance, and then stepped forward to close the gap between them, bringing his fist forward as he did so. Scythe took it full in the face. His head snapped back and he crumpled, but he sprang forward into Chase's lower body, throwing the Hunter's own balance off. Chase used the backwards momentum to carry him far enough away from his enemy, and then regained his balance. He again closed the gap, swinging his saber out for the kill. Scythe, however, had also regrouped and had his weapon swinging to meet Chase's. The two bodies of energy flared as they connected, and the two combatants leaned hard into each other, hoping to be the one to break the stalemate. However, since they were both weakened by their wounds neither could establish dominance, and they mutually backed off to prepare for another strike.

            "You never saw it coming," Scythe boasted in his new, sadistic tone. He was nothing like the quiet, reserved Hunter Chase had known thus far. The Maverick Scythe had cruel, sharp eyes that seemed to delight in murder and an almost musical voice that conveyed loathing and mocking superiority. "I played every last one of you for fools." Chase answered by closing again and swinging his saber in a variety of nimble slashes that Scythe was only barely able to counter. The gold Reploid lashed out with his boot, catching Chase in the gut, where he'd been wounded earlier. Chase doubled over and a hiss of pain escaped his lips, and Scythe lashed out again, kicking him in the chin. Nightchaser staggered backwards, but though disoriented he remembered to bring his saber up to counter the coming scythe slice. This time he managed to seriously upset Scythe's balance, but he didn't realize it and instead chose the moment to reestablish equilibrium.

            "You're a fool," Scythe taunted, getting his bearings back and wincing from the pain of his chest wound. "You're going to die here, whether I kill you or not. You'll all burn in Red Winter…yes, that's the REAL Red Climate." He laughed a bit maniacally as he charged in for another attack. Everything was going his way. No way would it change now! "I'd much rather kill you myself, though."

            "Then why waste time talking?" Chase finally said, standing tall and snapping to a battle stance. "Let's just FIGHT!" And at that he sprang forward at the Maverick, hacking away with artful swings and cuts. Scythe blocked or parried them, but his weapon was heavier, and so while he could block he could not find the time to launch a strike of his own. The end result was that he was pushed slowly backward towards the computer lab they'd just left from, though he was holding his ground quite nicely.

            The turning point came when one of Chase's cuts broke past the scythe and hit its owner in the shoulder, cleaving down into the torso. It wasn't deep enough to kill, but Scythe recoiled back with a howl. Then bad luck interfered for Chase as a jet stream of coolant erupted from the Maverick's shoulder wound and traveled directly into his optics. Uttering a sharp cry, Chase furiously rubbed at his face to try and restore vision, but he would be too late. Scythe did not take time to recover from his injury, and instead surged forward and felled Nightchaser with a scythe slash that traveled clear down his chest and merged with the stomach wound. Chase crumpled on the floor with an even greater cry and pressed his hands against the furiously burning wound, trying to stem the loss of fluids while slowly raising his head to face his opponent.

            Scythe was grinning like a kid at Christmas. He'd won and he knew it. Now it was just a short dash out of the garages—he could handle that, couldn't he? Yeah, then he could link with Frontline and meet with a medic. He'd done his job. Now it was time to escape. First, though, he figured he owed this jackass a final parting gift.

            "Pathetic way to die," Scythe said, spitting at the Reploid before him. "How does it feel, to know your entire organization is gonna come apart today, and you missed your chance to take out the man who caused it all?"

            "What are you bullshitting about…?" Chase managed, spitting a mouthful of blood out. He was leaning on his saber for support now, but the wound wasn't all that bad. He could hold out, he thought, and maybe even muster enough energy for one last defiant strike that might take Scythe down with him. That was, if he could keep the son of a bitch talking.

            "Lemme tell you something, Hunter," Scythe lectured, hissing the last word. "I input the virus to destroy your power networks. I dunno when your brain trust will find a backup supply, but by the time they do it'll be too late. There's an airship coming this way with nukes…yeah, nuclear weapons! Your base is first on the target list." He laughed at Chase's reaction to that one. "See? You die, one way or another. And you know what the best part was?" He raised his menacing weapon high, and delivered the final verbal blow that preceded the final physical blow. "They all thought it was you."

            Chase's eyes blazed and he lunged forward—but no, he didn't…he couldn't. His right leg gave out, and he tumbled to the floor, helpless. Scythe let out a triumphant cry and brought the weapon down.

            …But not before the axe bit through both of his legs, chopping off the lower halves and letting the rest of his body fall onto the bloody stumps.

            Scythe's balance was shot to hell and the weight of the scythe plus the new situation made it too awkward to complete the attack. He actually wound up dropping his weapon blade-up into the floor, and the forward momentum plus his sudden lack of legs carried him face-first onto the same floor, impaling himself on his own weapon. Seconds later, the shock wore off and his ear splitting screech resonated throughout the halls of Maverick Hunter Headquarters. It was the last noise he ever made.

            Chase, dazed, pulled himself to his feet in a great exertion of effort and glanced down to behold Krysta, half kneeling and half laying on the floor, her axe blade bloodied and clutched in her now limp right hand. She supported herself on her left arm, and she slowly took her head up away from the sight of Scythe's bloody corpse to Nightchaser's stunned face.

            The Hunter put aside his own wounds and deactivated his weapon. He stepped over the dead Maverick and knelt down beside the Huntress. He helped her sit up against a wall and examined the wound to her side. It was bad, he noted, but probably not immediately lethal. Her body had shut off blood flow to the wounded area, must as his own had, but they both still needed fast medical attention.

            "That was great," Nightchaser finally said. "I didn't even see you moving up behind him."

            "I couldn't let him get away with it," she explained weakly. "He'd have killed me too, afterwards…" She looked up at him. "I'm…sorry."

            He sighed. "Don't even start with…"

            "No," she asserted. "What he said…he was right, I did think…and without any proof…"

            "I'm a certified asshole and I'll be the first to admit it," Nightchaser said, somewhat blandly. "I'd have suspected me too."

            She shook her head but didn't say any more. Seconds later footsteps were heard, and by the blessing of some god they belonged to Xu and some reinforcements, one of which included a medic.

            "Jesus CHRIST!" Xu exclaimed, looking at the sight. "Krysta, what HAPPENED?"

            "Scythe," both wounded Hunters explained at once, though vaguely.

            Xu, who had never met Scythe, looked at the maimed body on the ground and raised an eyebrow. She got a nod from another Hunter, who happened to have participated in the Weapons Match Scythe had won almost a month earlier.

            "I'll be damned," the Hunter observed. "That was the traitor? I never woulda guessed it."

            "No one really knew him," Krysta said, her voice weakening. "But some of us thought we did."

            "This is horrible," the human medic said, coming out of the computer room. "We've got six casualties in there, two humans and four Reploids. Add the two wounded out here, and my God…" He wiped some sweat off his brow. "I'll handle them for now. Someone run to Tiberius and get all the help we have. We gotta get them to the medical bay."

            "I'll go to Signas and Cain," Xu stated. "They need to know about this."

            "Wait!" Nightchaser coughed, getting Xu's attention. "Look, Scythe said something about an airship heading this way."

            "An airship?" Xu said. "Why in the world would an airship be coming here?"

            "He talked about nukes," Nightchaser added. These Hunters hadn't been briefed on the nuclear threat, and the thought of it…well, it was chilling because it made sense, especially given the blackout.

            "Shit," Xu observed.

            "Go," the medic ordered, and the ninja Huntress dashed off with two others in her wake. Another rushed down to the medical bay.

            "I'm sorry," Krysta repeated, feeling like a royal ass. She'd near loathed this man, she'd even accused him of treason based on one other person's word, and then he'd wound up saving her life. It didn't get much more humiliating than that.

            "Shut up," Chase replied, though he delivered it weakly and without any real malice, breaking the subject up while still accepting the apology in his own odd way.

            "Both of you shut up," the medic ordered, observing their wounds. "Jesus, these are gonna leave marks."

            And with that pleasant thought, one brand of chaos died inside Hunter HQ.

____________________

            A new chaos was promptly birthed in its place, however.

            Dr. Cain had been in some frantic scenarios before, but those had taken place many wrinkles and creaky bones ago, and the current situation wasn't one he considered healthy for his physical and/or mental conditions. Tired of being lost in all the hullabaloo of confused voices, the Hunter executive sought out Intel Chief Caligula, whom he figured would probably know the most about the situation.

            "Tell me what's happening," Cain ordered when he'd taken the Reploid aside. "Sum it up, slowly."

            "All right," Caligula responded, taking a deep breath. "Starting with the obvious, the power is out and we're not sure why. We actually are in the process of accessing our reserve generator, so this little setback should be taken care of soon enough. In the meantime, however, we've lost all contact with our troops in the field, and we have no idea what is happening in the city around us."

            "Swell," the tired, haggard former geologist replied as he wiped a bead of sweat from his brow. "Go on."

            "The last bit, too, might change, because some of the Ravens have touched down and contacted us using the hangar radio. They're going to start patrolling the city, and they'll tell us what they see via that same radio." Tragically, Caligula did not point out the radio in question, or he'd have realized that no one was manning the station at the moment to receive Commander Taggart's urgent warning. "Also, judging on speculative reports made shortly before the power died, Alden Base and the Megacity 5 Army Headquarters aren't operational."

            And that was what really scared Cain. Someone had systematically immobilized the three main military branches in the city, and there had to be a reason behind that. He looked Caligula hard in the eye and spoke his greatest fears. "You think they're coming here?"

            "I'd say it's a possibility, sir," the Invisible Man agreed with a solemn nod. "I'd check with Signas first if I were you, but my personal assessment is that we should be ready to evacuate this base quickly. If they get a delivery system for their Buzzbombs close enough, well…"

            "Right," Cain said, paling. Everything had fallen apart rather quickly for them. The doctor had been up all night, which partially explained his grogginess, but all of a sudden he felt a lot more weighted down. At least the Hunters weren't panicking yet, he consoled himself.

            At that precise moment Scythe's death cry reached them even in the control room, and the panicking began. A group of Hunters dashed out to investigate, and shortly after Xu and several others entered the control room.

            "Commander Signas, Dr. Cain," Xu said breathlessly before realizing that she was addressing the most senior members of her organization, which didn't help her composure any. "I need to speak to you."

            "Good Lord, what now?" Signas asked upon joining them.

            "There was a battle at the computer chamber," Xu began without fanfare. "One of our technicians was a Maverick. The whole place is a mess…they count six dead and two wounded."

            "Christ, from one Maverick?!" Signas was incredulous.

            "I guess it was a surprise attack," Xu offered weakly. "I wasn't there, but one of my squad mates was. She and another Hunter managed to defeat the Maverick before he escaped, but they both took serious wounds."

            "That Maverick will be the one responsible for the power outage," Caligula decided on the spot. "Damn."

            "There was something else," Xu went on, blinking at her superiors. "One of the Hunters said that the Maverick was talking about…"

            "NUKES?" four voices barked at once from behind the executives. Each and every Hunter heard it.

            "Shit!" Caligula fairly seethed, pushing past his peers and staring towards the other Hunters. "Shit, shit, shit, shit!"

            "An AIRSHIP?" one Hunter was shouting.

            "We gotta get out of here!" more than one exclaimed.

            It turned out that the Hunters who'd came in with Xu had been less tight lipped about Scythe's threats. A lot of the "grunt" Hunters hadn't been briefed on the nuclear threat, the reasoning being to prevent widespread panic, which was precisely what was taking place now. Caligula's first impulse was to drive his fist through the face of whomever had leaked the information, but instead he let loose orders for quiet in a booming voice that was rather uncharacteristic for him.

            Signas recovered shortly after the Intel Chief, and after Xu filled him in on the remainder of the details his first thought was to help Caligula reestablish control, but something compelled him to look to Cain first.

            "Good God," Cain was repeating to himself, a hand over his heart and his breath coming hard. "They are coming…what the hell are we going to do? Where do we run when all three of our strongholds are taken out?"

            "Doctor," Signas said sharply, cutting the elderly scientist off. "Get a hold of yourself. Look at me…breathe!" He blinked. "Cain, are you alright?"

            Cain just stared for five or so seconds and then slumped forward, using his cane for support for a little while and then crumpling to the ground.

            "Cain!" Signas was more than a little taken aback, but fortunately Xu reacted faster, kneeling down and supporting the old man.

            "I think it's a heart attack," the ninja opined after checking his pulse.

            By some miracle Signas didn't have to look far before he found a medic, as one walked in right at that moment to report that the wounded Hunters were safely in Tiberius's medical ward. The medic, a human named Dr. Ledyard and one of Tiberius's most skilled surgeons, quickly assembled a group to help him safely transport Cain out of the frantic war room.

            It had all happened too fast. Signas found himself standing alone among a crowd of suddenly terrified Hunters. About the only thing coming out of their mouths was talk of evacuation. Caligula and some of the more level headed Hunters were urging them to calm down and listen to what Signas had to say on the matter, but…Signas wasn't saying anything. The general had been preparing for a gradual assumption of power, but now it had all been forced on him at once and he wasn't quite sure what to do first. He'd always been able to confer with Cain, or X or Zero. But Cain was out of the picture now, and X and Zero were miles away. He was all that was left. Somehow that thought did it for Signas, and things became clearer. There could be no more deference for him. He was in full command of the Maverick Hunters now, and he would be forever afterwards though he didn't know it at the time. It was up to him—not Caligula or anyone else—to restore the order here. And so, the youthful yet competent Grand Commander Signas finally took control of the situation with a sudden bark of "Hunters, AT ATTENTION!"

            Every Maverick Hunter in the room had been a part of a unit at one time or another, and they all recognized that command and tone of voice as one that meant business. They straightened and silenced, and Signas started striding around them with full military precision. Not a one of them had seen the usually reserved and mild mannered general like this before, and most were awestruck at his sudden confidence.

            "The situation," Signas began in a voice that was not overly loud but spoke volumes of authority, "is as follows. We are without power. I am informed that that will change shortly. There has also apparently been a battle of some sorts inside our home base. We have taken casualties, but the enemy has been neutralized." He inhaled, deciding to just go ahead and tell them everything. "Prior to the power outage we did receive distress signals from Alden Base and the Megacity Army Base. You know that. This means we're effectively alone this morning. Also, yes, the Mavericks have managed to acquire Self Contained Ballistic Missiles, more commonly labeled 'Buzzbombs'. These are minor warheads with the capability of destroying an area of about a block in radius, or maybe even less…but certainly not more. We have a report, yes, that an airship is headed towards this base to deliver one of those missiles, but that report came from the mouth of a vengeful Maverick and may be intended just to stir up a panic. Nevertheless," he added, noting their worried expressions, "I want those of you who are currently undetained to prepare our manual defenses in case something is coming our way. If this is the case, take heart in the fact that we DO have several Raven jets fully loaded and ready for takeoff that will soon be patrolling the city and defending this base." That reassured them, he saw.

            Caligula found himself gaining a newfound respect for the young general, but didn't get to hear out the remainder of the speech before someone tapped him on the shoulder. It was Alia.

            "Caligula, sir, I need to see you for a minute." They disengaged from the rest of the Hunters and found a more secluded corner of the room, where they could not be overheard. "Kevin Seitz contacted me on my module using one of the radios in the storage chamber. It seems Unit 8 was trying to contact us from the field."

            "Unit 8?" And that caught his interest. "What's their situation?"

            "Seitz talked to Castle, who's acting in Damia's place as the commander. According to Castle, the Hunter troops massed on the plateau in front of Seraph Castle. Unit 8 joined them after destroying the radar bases where Damia was wounded. Shortly afterwards, an airship approached them and opened fire, killing many and ruining a lot of our heavy artillery."

            "So there is an airship," Caligula breathed.

            "It gets worse. The airship hit the whole plateau with an electromagnetic pulse before it left, leaving our pals unable to communicate or teleport from that spot…which they couldn't have done anyway, given the situation here. X sent Unit 8 to find a spot where they could contact us and warn us—the airship is coming this way, and they have reason to believe the Buzzbombs are onboard."

            "Shit," Caligula said again. "Is there any good news?"

            "Well, Unit 8 did meet up with the Investigators." Alia shrugged. "I didn't get much about them from Kevin, but I guess they accomplished their mission in UNDINE. They found a secret entrance to Seraph Castle, too, but that isn't important now."

            "I agree. Are they coming home?"

            "They turned around right after the airship passed," Alia affirmed. "I just don't know what's happened since then."

            "We need to get those Ravens back into the air," Caligula realized, and then glanced at the vacant communication module. "Jesus, who left that unmanned?"

            "I'll get it," the annoyed Huntress volunteered, rushing over to it as Signas was giving people individual orders. As fate would have it she sat down at the same time Bale tried her again from the hangar. She waved to Caligula to come over, and Signas saw the gesture and joined them this time.

            "This is Bale of the Air Unit," the Hunter on the other end spoke. "I have an urgent message from Commander Taggart."

            "Go on," Signas said. Bale recognized the voice and paused for a moment before continuing.

            "Taggart says that there is an airship heading to your position, and the remaining Ravens are speeding home. They think they can beat the airship here, but Taggart had us mobilize to get up into the air to help take the airship down. Also, the Hunter army has regrouped and is rushing home as we speak. We will have reinforcements soon."

            "That's a relief," Signas said with a reassured nod. "Do we know any more about this airship? How much time do we have?"

            "I don't know, Taggart left it at that. However I have a report from one of our pilots already in the air. Sir, it looks like there is an entire legion of Mavericks surrounding our position."

            Alia, Signas, and Caligula all felt their hopes die at once. "Elaborate, pilot," Signas said finally.

            "One…no, now two pilots have confirmed that there is a Maverick detail of soldiers, ride armors, and some heavy artillery that has been spread out around our base." Bale paused before offering his personal analysis. "Sir, I think they're trying to box us in."

            "It makes sense," Caligula breathed. "They're trapping us like rats…they're waiting for us to try and evacuate."

            Signas said nothing. He stared at the module for a full thirty seconds, as though it would provide him with some answers. He could probably boast the most advanced CPU of any Reploid in existence, but in the end this didn't require much thinking. "Thank you, Bale. Listen, I need you to stay in that hangar, all right? Revise that, you can prep your jet for combat and for fast takeoff if necessary, but I need someone at that hangar in case I need to convey orders to the pilots. Can you do that?"

            "Of course, boss," Bale replied, wishing he could fly but understanding the importance of his position. "I'll call if anything new comes up. By the way, we also have radar in the hangar. I'm setting it up to monitor the area around the HQ…if all goes well I should be able to confirm the locations of any hostile units."

            "Thank you," Signas said, closing the connection. "All right. So they planned well. It's just a race now."

            "And what happens if we lose?" Caligula asked pointedly.

            "Let's not worry about that now," Signas replied just as pointedly, meaning he had an answer but just didn't want to bring it up. "Alia, man this station. If Bale calls, find me immediately. Cal, you were telling me about…?"

            "Yeah, my second, Seitz, got in touch with Unit 8. Everything that pilot said is true, and the UNDINE site is also secured. The Investigators also found a secret entrance into Seraph Castle, for future reference."

            "Roger that," Signas breathed. "Well at least they're coming back. All right, Cal, I need you to keep busy. Cain is hurting, Tiberius is occupied and I have no idea where Douglas is, so you're the only real staff I've got now."

            "No worries, boss," the spook assured him. "I'll manage things here. You need to get moving around the base. First objective should be getting the power back on. Second objective should be making sure we can defend ourselves."

            Signas nodded and they spread out to accomplish their tasks. The problem of the power was to be solved by activating a reserve generator in the depths of the base. The problem with this was that it was ancient, and was rather bothersome to start. That was probably where Chief Mechanic Douglas was, and Signas decided to make that his first stop.

            He didn't get far, however, before Caligula paged him on their internal radio.

            "Commander," Caligula said, rather tensely. "We've got a situation."

            Signas was back in the control room in a flash, and Caligula called him over to Alia's module. Bale had called again.

            "They've spotted it," Caligula said as soon as he arrived.

            "You mean the airship?"

            Caligula nodded severely, and Signas spoke forcefully into the radio. "Bale! What's going on?"

            "Three of our Ravens have confirmed the spotting of a large airship resembling Death Rogumer from the first war. It's coming in from the direction of Seraph Castle. Sir, it's closing in."

            "Dammit!" Signas said, briefly losing his cool but regaining it just as quickly. "What about the reinforcements?"

            "There's been no sign of Taggart's birds or the ground army," Bale reported dourly.

            "How long before the Mavericks have a shooting solution?" It was Caligula this time.

            "Not long," the pilot replied. "I can't give you the exact time, because I don't know how advanced their targeting system is, but…well, sirs, if we can see them, they sure as hell can see us."

            "What's the situation around the HQ?" Evacuation was now the hot topic on Signas's mind.

            "All Ravens confirm a Maverick army spread out around our borders, each three blocks away from the HQ. However, we have pinpointed the 'weakest link' of sorts…it's a thinly stretched group of troops on the Northeast 50th highway junction."

            "Massing our forces and pushing through that weak link is our only real evacuation strategy," Caligula suggested.

            "Are you sure?" Alia spoke up, surprising herself. "I mean…they're gonna come down on us when they see us running."

            "We don't have a choice," Signas pointed out. "We can take our chances fighting, or be assured of death in here." It would be so much better, Signas thought, if four Hunters including Dr. Cain weren't stuck in the medical ward, but there was nothing he could do about that. "Put out the order to evacuate. Gather at the north gate as soon as possible. Bring weapons, but only if they're currently handy."

            "Yes sir," Caligula acknowledged…just as the lights came back on.

            "Bloody HELL!" the royally annoyed Signas shouted. Then he blinked and rushed for the main public announcement module. "Attention Maverick Hunters," the general said, his voice resonating all throughout the base. "ALL UNITS, report to the north gate immediately. Repeat, every Hunter in the building is to report to the north gate. Bring your weapon if you can get to it. We will be pushing through a Maverick frontline northeast of our position. Also, someone help the medical ward evacuate its patients, but be fast. We will not wait any more than five minutes before setting off. MOVE!"

            That done, the leader of the Maverick Hunters faced his subordinate Caligula grimly. "When was the last time we had to evacuate our headquarters?"

            "Don't think about it," the officer said. "You're doing the right thing. There's no other option. Now, like you said…let's move."