Author: Magus
(Collaboration of Magus and Laserkid)
Repliforce Floating Military Science Research Station - 2300 hrs
The night air was furious and filled with an icy wrath as it wound its way amongst the high, foreboding dark clouds. The clouds rose in the air like standing towers, massive in their dominance above the earth at such high altitude. In the glowing black sky only their frightening linings like the foot of a giant contrasted enough to be seen.
Amongst these titans of dark fluff hung in the sky another massive black figure, nestled into the clouds like they were mountains. A huge mechanical fortress, floating stolidly without waver or sign of weakness, so high above the ground. It blended into the night sky under the scattered stars perfectly, aside from a window or a flashing light here and there. This wonder of machinery kept its levitated position without falter; it refused to give up, to give in the great force that even then was pulling it, calling for it to fall.
This flying fortress, a designated classified military research station, was one of the few remaining will and testaments to what once had stood as the most powerful army to ever grace the earth: the Repliforce. The titans who had once fought for great freedom, who had become corrupted by the insidious Maverick Virus. A few fleeting Air force and Navy divisions were all that remained of the mighty super power now. They were distant and bleak reminders to the world, scars left forever so that no one could forget. To Reploids and Humans alike it was reminder of the great destructive power of the Maverick Virus, the pure carnage which it causes. It was a remaining testament how even the grand and noble Repliforce had been felled by it. It was a reminder to how real its threat was. To Maverick Hunters, it was a reminder of what they fight for, and why they must never fail.
It was a lonely night, but even then scientists tinkered away at their research and experiments. For the station's size it was very lightly manned. A few security Reploids and some occasional Repliforce soldiers manned it besides the scientists. For the most part the floating station was entirely automated, so very few people had to be there in order to maintain it.
Off in the main security room two security reploids were chatting away about frivolous topics and concerns. For the most part they took their job pretty lightly. To them it never seemed a reality that any of the station security could be compromised. While they were fully prepared for such an event, in their minds it was impossible. No one would try and assault a remaining Repliforce station.
"Yeah, that was a hell of a fight last night," spoke the first security Reploid. "I tell ya, those are some tough metal asses they threw in there."
The second security Reploid gave a gesture of agreement. "Yeah. Grizzly's one mean one, ain't he? It's too bad he doesn't go into the open circuits. He could wipe up a lot of money fighting."
"Nah, Hunters would kill him first! Too strong to be an ordinary Reploid! And BOOM, he's gone." The security guard had meant it more as a mockery then a serious statement, but it was perceived as one just the same.
"Ha! I'd like to see them try! I bet only the General himself could of stopped that ruffian! Rest in piece," replied the second guard.
There was a short blip on one of the many monitors that surrounded them in the room and covered them with a green glow. The first guard turned his head to the screen with a look of confusion. "Say, did you see that?"
"See what?" inquired the second guard.
The first guard turned around uneasily and just shrugged it off. "Nothing. Just I could have sworn I saw something across that monitor."
The second guard smirked. "Sounds to me like a malfunction, you're not going to go Maverick are you? I'd hate to have to call the Hunters and tell them what you say about them!"
"Shut up!" shouted the first guard. The mocking tone suddenly became very serious and the second guard realized he had crossed the line. "Don't you ever even kid about that! Say something like that around the soldiers why don't you? See how long it takes for them to put you back together."
The second guard retreated some. "A, alright. I'm sorry, it just slipped…"
"Yeah, well it slip again and I'm bolting those lips of yours shut, hear me?"
The blip appeared again suddenly and vanished just as quickly. The first guard turned to the monitor again. "What the…there it was again! A blip, I swear it!"
"I didn't see or hear anything," spoke the second guard accusingly. "Probably just a sensor glitch anyway. Nothing would be in this air around now."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. I'll have those mechanics run a check on the sensors in the morning. Nothing would be stupid enough to be in this air space at this time of night."
Suddenly the entire room shook violently and tossed the second guard out of his chair while the other one grasped for something to hold to. Alarms sounded and many of the monitors began to go entirely fritzed.
The second guard pulled himself up as the room began to flash red. "What the HELL was that!?" he cried.
The first guard looked across the screens and began to hit buttons and switches rapidly back and forth. His face was frozen in fear. "I, I have no idea! Something hit the station, systems are down and malfunctioning, I've detected a foreign entry before sensor went down, but everything is complete chaos!"
The fear soon hit the second guard. "W, what are you saying!? How can everything go down so fast! What hit us!?"
The first guard was frozen. "Systems are rapidly becoming contaminated…."
The second guard knew what he meant. "Awww hell…."
Sirens blared and flashes of red penetrated the darkness in the Maverick Hunter base. Both Rock and Blade awoke quickly as their regenerative capsules opened, each opening their eyes and jumping out at the sound of the sirens and the electronic voice calling out over the speakers.
"What's this?" asked Rock as he hastily gathered himself together.
The electronic voice boomed over the loud sirens. "Emergency! Emergency! All available Hunters to stations immediately!"
"Steele?" suggested Rock quickly.
"Come on," said Blade, already running out the door and down the flashing hallways.
Rock stood a moment and pursued after him.
In HQ Command it was hectic with reploids manning all the computer stations and giving orders and reports as rapidly as they could across all channels. A few Hunters ran through in a panic back and forth to get to their particular positions within the complex. In the middle of it stood Zero, as calm as ever, coordinating the chaos.
He turned around and gazed over his shoulder as he heard the metallic ching sound of Blade and Rock approaching.
"What's going on here?" questioned Blade respectfully. "Not Steele again so soon, is it?"
Zero had a firm look on his face and it remained unchanged. "No, we have an emergency situation. Mavericks have attacked a Repliforce Scientific Floating Research Base."
"What? So where is everyone?" asked Rock.
"We have most of our Hunters dispatched on a clean up mission in the ruins of Doppler at the moment. X, unfortunately, is there leading the operation. We're seriously undermanned here and the situation at the research center is Code Yellow. Sensors are getting a Maverick signature from there amazingly strong, any stronger and it would have to be Sigma himself."
"Damn, looks like they knew just when to strike," commented Blade just above his breath.
"The science crew aboard the station are regarded as civilians, and the station itself is being over run by the virus. Blade, Rock, I know you are already on an assignment, but I need you two on this. You're the best we got in the absence of everyone else."
"You're staying here?" asked Blade.
"I have to. We have two major operations going on simultaneously, and until that navigator we recruited shows up, I'm going to be needed here to supervise them both." Blade nodded in response.
"Don't worry about it, we'll clear the station of any and all Maverick presence!" stated Rock confidently.
Zero grinned. "Good, I'm counting on you."
"So what's the situation?" asked Blade.
"We've picked up Maverick air forces outside the station, so we're using armed flight transport to land in. The area is too beat up to teleport in from anywhere further way then a hundred twenty meters. The station is completely contaminated with the virus, and it's only a matter of time before it falls from the sky. Luckily it's above an unpopulated area, but there are civilian lives within the station."
Blade stepped forward. "Guess we better leave right away then. We won't let you down Zero."
Zero nodded in confirmation then Blade and Rock headed to the main air hanger.
"Zero! We have a situation in Doppler! X has reported back with casualties, there were more Mavericks then they had originally thought and they need a new sweep of the area from Satellite VIDs!" shouted one of the reploids stationed in a chair before the row of devices.
Zero's determination reentered his face. "Let's get on it then!"
Take off was swift, and it didn't take very long for the armed shuttle to reach the location of the floating station. So time was short for Blade and Rock to converse about their sudden mission. It wasn't anything they weren't use to or prepared for. The life of a Maverick Hunter was far from luxurious. It was their duty to always be ready at any time and place. However, their thoughts went back and forth between their mission and X's operation in the Doppler ruins. They wondered briefly what was going on Doppler with X's operation, but eventually their thoughts synchronized and fell between the two. How could the Mavericks become so well organized to start pulling stunts like this? Oh well, no one ever said being a Maverick Hunter was easy.
The shuttle began to shake violently with the sounds of energy cannon fire and a few grazes. The inside of the transport was small, made to hold a max of six people, and even then not very comfortably, but fortunately Blade and Rock were strapped to the walls so the shaking didn't do them much harm. It didn't so as much to unnerve then. They were Hunters, perhaps the single most dangerous job in the modern world. A little quaking wasn't about to shake them, not on a mission.
The shuttle quaked again, this time even harder then before. The pilot called back from the cockpit. "We have enemy air fire coming in strong, and the defense grid on the station is completely haywire, shooting at everything in the air!"
Blade turned to the cockpit. He couldn't see much through the narrow doorway and outside the window, but he could make out distant and not so distant flashed of light. "Can you get us in close enough?"
The pilot howled at the transport and cursed it for not being agile enough then answered Blade in a yell. "It sure as hell won't be easy! We're almost there, just hold on. It's going to be getting a lot rougher then this…"
Rock suddenly looked to Blade with worry on his face. "So what are we going to do?"
The shuttle began to shake very violently, harder and longer then anytime before. Blade just grimaced in annoyance and answered Rock, "We just sit tight till we get there. First thing we do when we get in is find any evidence of the science team, then we see if the station is repairable, if not we clear out Maverick presence as much as possible, try to take out as many of them as possible before we leave."
Rock tried to diminish his nervousness. "What if we're still in the station when it falls?"
"Then we're scrap," answered Blade calmly, but Rock didn't seem to take too well to his partner's comment. Blade saw it in his reaction and went on. "Don't worry, we'll be out in plenty of time before then. The science team comes first."
Rock nodded. The transport took another hard hit and the pilot cursed profusely at the open air. "Blazin hell! What is that bloody thing!?" he cried.
Blade and Rock turned quickly and tried to view out the cockpit window as best they could. It was hard to see, everything was near pitch black and the laser fire didn't do much to shed a whole lot of light. However they were able to quickly identify the object to which the pilot had referred.
A giant green reploid that looked like a dragon was flying around the station with a gattling gun breath that fired plasma spheres each with ability of a devastating blow to the station. The station was much larger then the dragon, so it didn't seem like even its most destructive blows were doing much. Often it glided into the station and tore at it with its bare hands. Rock recognized it immediately.
"That's a D.R.A.G.O.N. air assault unit! An assimilated Maverick design. But X destroyed the last one at Sky Lagoon!"
"Looks like there's one more," said Blade. "That thing is destroying the station. We don't have much time."
Rock turned his head to Blade. "What are we going to do? We can't possibly fight that thing!"
"No," said Blade, "Our goal isn't to fight it. It may be strong, but the station's hull is stronger. We still got some time to infiltrate and rescue the science team, and we're not leaving till we do that."
Rock paused a moment, as if started by Blade's commands until he had finished his own thoughts in his head and gave a nod of confirmation.
The pilot called back. "Look, we're in range and I'm bailing out of here. If that DRAGON notices this transport I'm as good as dead. Sorry, this is as close as you get."
Blade nodded. "It's alright, we'll take it from here." Blade turned to Rock. "Ready?"
Rock just smirked. He was ready to take on the world if he had to. "Let's do this."
They both systematically unbuckled themselves from the wall and teleported out in a flash of light. The transport shook again just after as the pilot turned around to head out. That was as close as he'd ever want to come again.
The whole station shook like an earthquake. Sirens blared and red lights flashed in every corridor. Pipes broke, wall fixtures exploded. Coldly and cruelly the ship systems had turned on the occupants and became chaotic, powerful, and destructive. The soldiers and officers fought for their lives, but amidst the sudden chaos there was too much panic and anarchy to think clearly. Scientists, soldiers, and workers all alike were either killed or became highly erratic and soon became Mavericks themselves, turning on their former comrades with the strength of a blind bulldozer.
When the chaos hit, the soldier had no idea what to do, it all happened in such a blur. One second he was patrolling with his friends, then the station took a great tilt and alarms went off. He rushed with his fellow soldiers who picked up their arms. They searched throughout the station only to find carnage. People they knew, good and decent reploids, and some not so good and decent. Inoperative, destroyed, sprawled throughout the station. It didn't take the soldiers to find out long what had happened when their friends began to fall, attacked from behind by simple robotic devices, having gone haywire and now attacking them. They knew then that they were doomed. The virus had come for them.
The soldier had hesitated, it cost him a dear friend's life who now laid lifeless corridors and corridors away. He ran, ran for his life when the Mavericks started appearing. Why did he do that? HOW did he do that? He was a soldier Reploid! He was designed to fight no matter what the circumstance! But his feet did not lie. He was alive, shaken, but alive. They're all dead, he thought. The Mavericks got them all. They'll come for me, next.
It was too much confusion, it had all happened so quickly. The soldier gripped his plasma rifle close as he began to rise his courage. He was going to die, no doubt about it now. Might as well take as many of those Maverick bastards with me.
Footsteps. He could hear the metal ching of reploids off. He heard battle sounds, explosions and the sound of metal pounding and slicing through metal. They're coming for me. I'll get them first. He quickly ducked behind a piece of rubble and sat there with his back against it.
The soldier waited a little bit longer. He would not disgrace the Repliforce, no matter how little of it was left. Then he heard them approach. Now!
The soldier jumped from his position and cried out as he held the trigger on the plasma rifle down and aimed at the approaching reploids. He fired a rapid machine gun volley of plasma fire, not caring what he hit, not caring if he hit, just that he was doing something before he died.
"Get down!" cried one of the reploids. The two of them jumped out of the way. The soldier didn't care e kept on shooting them. Die Mavericks!
There was a quick ching and a sharp pain in the soldiers left arm as he threw the gun to the ground and grabbed it. He cried out from the pain, but before he knew what had hit him a black Reploid had leaped ver the rubble and pinned him to the ground.
Blade shot out his left blade and held it point just in front of the soldier's throat. "We're not Mavericks!!" he called.
Rock jumped over the rubble and ran just behind Blade. He gazed at Blade with his sword at the soldier's throat. He acts really fast, Rock thought. I need to acquire that.
The soldier looked Blade over once then turned to look at Rock. He could see from how calm they were they couldn't be Mavericks. "I, I'm sorry. This station has been completely infested! Who are you and what are you doing here!?"
Blade let up his pin and stepped back, his blade retracting back into his arm. "We're Blade and Rock, Maverick Hunters. We came as soon as we heard of the distress. What happened here?"
The soldier stood up. Hunters, of course. He never thought he'd love a Hunter after what they did to Repliforce, but at the moment he could've kissed the two. "I have no idea. I was with my comrades when the alarms went off, then Mavericks started appearing everywhere and taking us out quickly." He hesitated. "H, how is everyone else? What's going on here?"
"I think that's obvious," spoke Rock. "You're station has been contaminated with the Maverick virus. All the systems are near completely contaminated."
"Then, the others?" asked the soldier.
"We're not sure yet," said Blade stolidly. "We saw a lot of casualties on our way here, but we haven't seen any sign to verify or deny survivors. What we need to know is where the science team might be. Do you have any idea?"
"The science team? Oh, I see, they're civilians in the eyes of you Hunters. I understand." The soldier paused and picked up his rifle off the floor. Still warm. "If the soldiers have survived, the scientists should be located on deck 6. There's an emergency escape launch bay there. The labs are right above it a deck. If they're not there, then they're already dead."
Blade nodded. "Thank you."
Blade then turned to leave. Rock called to the soldier, "Hey! Come with us, all personnel need to evacuate this hunk of junk immediately."
The soldier lowered his head in silence a moment. Blade stopped and turned back to watch. "No," spoke the soldier. "I am Repliforce soldier. There are not many of us left, and I will not disgrace that name. I cannot leave my post until I am either dead or the Maverick threat is gone.
Rock gestated with his hands in surprise. "Are you crazy? Didn't you just hear what we said? This entire station is contaminated HEAVILY with the Maverick virus! You'll be dead for sure!"
"I am a soldier of Repliforce!" shouted the soldier. "I can die no other way."
Rock knew what the soldier was saying, but still he could not let him sacrifice himself. He was prepared to go on till Blade put his hand on Rock's shoulder. "Rock, come on. He has made his choice," he said calmly.
Rock gave up. He could sense Blade's connection to the individual and realized that in the same circumstance that's exactly what Blade would say too. With a look of acceptation Rock turned his back to the soldier and began to walk away with Blade.
Suddenly the station shook and titled as Blade and Rock hit the far wall until the station realigned itself. "What was that!?" cried Rock.
The soldier stood up. "The anti-grav chambers are deactivating…that marks the fifth one."
"How many are there?" asked Rock.
"Twelve. The station is designed so that it can stay up even with only two. It's only a matter of time now…"
Rock thought hard again about the soldier's commitment, then he heard Blade's voice behind him. "Come on Rock, we don't have much time."
The level of Maverick infestation in the station was unbelievable. Never before in their careers had Rock or Blade witnessed such a high level of Maverick corruption concentrated in a single point. Nearly all the station's systems were malfunctioning or completely shot from the wide spread contamination, which all too often led to them fighting with even simple robotic station equipment. Through the corridors was an assortment of rubble, flying sparks, malfunctioning doors and lights, and scrap heaps that were once active reploids. The destruction was horrible.
They soon found out communication with headquarters was completely obsolete, they would be own their own. Two lone hunters in a station full of Mavericks, growing even more infested by the seconds. It was hardly a dream vacation, but they had seen worse. Blade retained his colder exterior, he didn't let any of the sights around the station touch him in anyway. Rock, however, was still cooping with the level of chaos within the station. What hit him the most were the remnants of the soldiers aboard the station. How had they died? How had the Maverick virus so ruthlessly slain them in their tracks? Did they go out fighting? Fighting, like that soldier they had met?
It had taken them awhile, dealing with faulty lifts and security systems gone haywire, but they had made their way through the rubble. With new scratches and chips off their shoulders they had approached the hallway the earlier Repliforce soldier had directed them too. The station security to the lab area was less then cooperative in their entry and thus they had quite a difficult run having to completely dismantle it. The stench of battle reeked from them, and both were more then ready to leave the station now. But their objective in mind, they pressed on. How could they? They were Maverick Hunters, and their failure could mean total catastrophe. So they pushed on, determined as professionals, determined as Reploids, determined as Hunters.
The hallway was no different then the rest of the station, it too was now filled with debris and flashing lights. It was wide, with a double door at the end that would take them both to the lab entry where the scientist team should be located. A quick look at the area showed no signs of Maverick presence, so they walked towards the door.
Behind them was a narrow lift shaft they had the rigorous task of climbing while fending themselves from renegade systems, and the hall was perfectly straight to the door in front of them with no detours of any kind. The alarm systems were still going, but they were beginning to die, the sirens becoming slower and deeper until they could no longer be heard.
The hallway shook and tilted to one side again, this time Blade and Rock balanced themselves in a near wall to avoid falling to the floor. They waited till the station realigned itself to continue moving.
Blade looked around him with a grin of resolve. "Another one, that leaves only four generators left," He thought to himself. They would need to hurry, perhaps evacuate along with the science team. It had taken them far longer then expected to reach them, and time was running thinner then before. They continued towards the door at the end of the hallway.
Blade pushed a button to the side, not truly expecting the door to respond, and indeed it didn't budge.
"Door's jammed," said Blade, "Rock, do you mind?"
Blade stepped aside as Rock approached the door, cracking his robotic knuckles. "Sure thing! I'll break 'er open."
Rock thrust his hands into the crack between the doors and with his strength tore them apart with only a small amount of minor, stuttering resistance. Rock dropped his arms from their fully outright stance between the doors and cautiously wandered into the darkness of the room before them. Blade stood in the doorway moment after him with is eyes darting back and forth scanning the room.
The room was abandoned that much was sure. The lights had gone completely off, and aside from a few minor sources of light the room was opaquely dark. The tables had been thrown aside, broken glass and various debri littered the floor. There were no signs of the science team.
Blade followed Rock into the darkness of the room. It felt eerie, more so then the empty hallways, even those with signs of significant struggle.
"Blade?" begun Rock, still eyeing the devoid room, "where is the science team?"
Blade knelt to the ground to look over some of the rubble. Contently he raised his head and gazed at Rock. "I have no idea. Even if they had been able to evacuate immediately, there should still be some left, and we didn't see any science reploids in the corridors either."
It stung Rock a bit how calmly Blade could refer to those ravaged Reploid corpses, as if he didn't truly care how they had once been active and alive. He had come to learn much of his companion over the time they had been assigned to each other, and he knew that Blade really did care, but how could he be so cold about it like that? Even now Rock was still struggling to understand how even Mavericks could bring themselves to commit such unspeakable acts.
Blade stood up. "Something's off here. An entire science team just can't disappear. Either there'd be remains of some sort or they'd still be here."
Above Rock, into the bleak shadows of the ceiling a large object suddenly moved. In the darkness a red light shimmered, a covert disturbance in the darkness. Neither seemed to take any notice of it.
"Maybe they all have evacuated? You could be wrong, they may have all got out in time."
"I'm not wrong." Blade paused a moment and looked around the room. It just didn't FEEL right. "In any case, we should check the escape pods a deck down. I do not want to abandon this station until we have at least some evidence as to what happened to the entire science team."
Suddenly the doors behind them slammed shut, locking out the last bit of pure light they had. Rock ran to the doors and attempted to pry them open again. "What the? The doors are locked!"
Blade looked rapidly around the room and took a battle ready stance, both of his blades now protruding from his arms with a quick shimmer of light. "Something's here, Rock!"
Rock raised his fists and looked around the room. Then his eyes gazed up directly above Blade, caught by the red glow of a single eye gazing down at the two. A massive object clung to the ceiling. Rock begun to call to Blade, but it was too late, the giant spider like creature leaped from the ceiling and spun around. Blade turned around as the giant spider like robot with all eight arms in sharp blades dropped on top of him. Blade thrust his left sword into the spider-bot, but the strength of it forced him to the ground. The robotic mandibles of the machine opened up and jammed themselves into Blade's chest. Blade tremored and became engulfed by a chaotic red glow. He cried out as he felt the pain surge throughout his body.
"It, it's some kind of cyber-venom!" cried Blade. He couldn't move any longer as the virus continued to eat away at his systems.
"Blade!" shouted Rock, taking a step towards the creature. The spider-bot turned around on its sharp, blade like spindly legs and faced Rock. It had eight eyes lined in two columns. One of the bottom two was larger and glowing red while the other looked like a normal eye, rather then a bug's eye. It raised its two mandibles up, aiming at Rock. Rock stood ready in a fighting stance. "You're going to regret that, Maverick."
The spider-bot advanced upon Rock much quicker then he expected it could, making a large metallic clunking sound as its blade like legs stabbed into the floor. Rock leaped out of the way as the spider-bot rushed into the wall, denting it and causing various debree to fly out from it. Rock recovered to his feet quickly enough, but the spider-bot had already spun around raised its mandibles again. Rock looked up and leaped out of the way as two, odd, thin lasers were shot out of the mandibles and laid on the floor a moment before dissipating, more like the silk of a spider's web.
This time rock rushed forward to the spider-bot. Before it reacted Blade grabbed both of the bot's mandibles and used them as leverage to start swinging the spider-bot about him. After awhile the mandibles just tore out and sent the spider flying into a nearby wall, hitting it at full speed. Again the spider recovered quickly, but before Rock could do anything it had already climbed the wall and returned to ceiling above Rock, rather hard to see in the shadows.
"Get back down here!" he shouted to the eight-legged Maverick.
Sparks were pouring from the removed mandibles on the spider-bot. It opened its mouth and let out a terrible hiss as its large red eye began to glow again. A part of its abdomen section opened up and launched eight small spider drones that rained down upon Rock.
Rock looked around him as the small spider-drones, just larger then his foot, came alive and started charging towards him as a miniscule swarm. He raised his foot to kick the first way, but found out how dangerous each drone was as the first let off a strong electrostatic charge that forced Rock's foot to retreat. Then they began to surround him, each discharging shocks that grew increasingly stronger. Rock kicked one away, but two of them jumped onto him, one on his arm and another on his back, continuing to shock him. Rock tore off the first one and threw it to the wall, and then retreated from the rest while failing to grasp the one lodged on his back.
Rock tossed himself into the wall as hard as he could, smashing the drone behind him, but more continued to come. Before he knew what hit him the spider-bot dropped from the ceiling landing dead on top of him, smacking him the floor beneath its massive body. The spider-bot then began to raise its first two blade legs to descend upon the helpless Rock.
There was a large, light blue whir that went flying through the first left, slicing it off neatly and sharply. A second whirl removed the other raised leg. The decrepit spider-bot screeched as two more sliced throw it, one taking off all three remaining legs on the other side, and another through its main body. This was all followed by a white figure leaping into the air and coming crashing down on the spider-bot's head, piercing it with a laser sword. The Reploid leaped back as the spider-bot gave one last screech and collapsed the ground, deactivating for good.
Rock scuttled out from under it and picked himself back up. He quickly turned to Blade, who was just now on his knees, still wit ha fading glow. "Blade!" he cried, "are you alright?"
"I'm, fine, Rock. My systems have shut out the virus, it will now, ugh, hardly be terminal."
"That was reckless!" shouted Rock's savior. At the moment, Rock had forgotten about him with Blade's condition, but abruptly turned to face him. This Reploid was a rather striking one, with the figure of a wolf standing upright. His head was entirely canine, with a very short go-tee forming off the end of his lower jaw. He had a sleek, muscular build and noble, unmoving eyes. He had a wolf's tail, which seemed to move by a mind of its own. In all he seemed to make the dashing figure if a white knight. Even his voice had been strong, noble, and commanding. His laser saber deactivated, leaving only a diamond shaped hilt and handle, which he locked just behind his right shoulder. He then raised both his arms as from the spider-bot and around it more of the deactivated sabers started levitating and slowly floating back to him and locking into various parts of him. There were two on each side of his hips, criss-crossed, one each under each of his arms, the hilt stopping just before each hand, and one behind each shoulder. "You could have been killed! What are you two doing here anyway? I don't recognize either of you from the Repliforce!"
Blade tried to stand up, but couldn't, and remained on his knees. "We're Blade, and Rock of the Maverick Hunters. We responded to the disaster here as soon as we heard about it." Blade paused a moment to contain himself. "Wh, who are you? You don't appear to be from Repliforce either!"
The wolf's face remained stern, his voice noble. "I am Saber Wolf, head of RAC exterior operations! So, this is how the Hunter's respond?" He put an emphasis of pride in his first sentence and an emphasis of disgust in his last. "Reckless fools, don't even care about your own lives…"
Rock was growing angry with his attitude towards Hunters. He had encountered it all too often. For the risks and peril he put himself in everyday for these people, the way they'd just spit at you was appalling. "Hey! We came here on a mission to rescue the science team!"
"Well then you're too late!" responded Saber Wolf.
"What?" asked Rock, confused.
"The RAC relief teams have already been here for awhile, and we managed to successfully secure and rescue the entire science team, not to mention many other Reploids aboard this station. You see OUR objective is not destruction, Hunters, we're here to save, while you are off fighting with everything this station has to offer. You disgust me."
Rock stepped forward. "Take that back! We put our lives on the line everyday for all life on this planet!"
Saber Wolf did not seem effected. "Hmmph, what little good it did the brave soldiers and scientists aboard this station."
Blade was now standing, but the pain from the venom lingered on. One of his eyes remained half-open, flinching from the pain. "Under what jurisdiction did the Reploid Advancement Coalition enter this area? We were not informed of having given permission to your channels to enter this area."
"Had we waited for authorization, lives would have been lost. You Hunters seem to fail to grasp a concept so simple as that."
Rock would of continued, but Blade interjected, still writhing a little from the pain. "Look, Saber Wolf, we are very grateful for RAC's assistance in this case, but your presence here is unauthorized, so I'm going to have to ask you to come down to headquarters with us."
Saber Wolf then grinned, with his arms crossed. "I like you, Hunter, but now is not the time for such formalities. I don't know if you noticed in that fight of yours, but we are now down to two generators. This station is hanging by the thread, and I suggest you evacuate immediately. Unless of course you want to see if you can live the ride down as well."
Saber Wolf spun around and began pacing out of the room. Blade was still leaning over, an arm holding his chest. He reached out for Saber Wolf and shouted, "Hey! Wait! You need to come down to HQ with us! Or…"
Saber Wolf stopped in his tracks but didn't turn around. "Or what? You'll call us Mavericks!? Haven't you learned from your mistake with Repliforce? Take it up with us later, I'm securing the rest of the station and leaving. I suggest you take the pods down one level, there should still be plenty left." He then left them without giving them a chance to continue.
"W, wait!" called Blade, trying to get to his feet, but he only fell back to the ground.
Rock rushed to his friend's side. "Blade, we need to get you out of here."
"Didn't you hear me? My systems have quarantined the virus, I'll be fine! We need to follow Saber Wolf!"
Rock looked his friend over. He may have been telling the truth about his systems having locked away the virus, but it was more then obvious he was still suffering, beyond what even his ability to withstand pain was. "No, we don't even have time Blade. There's only two generators left, and I'm sure you don't want to be here when the next one goes offline. Come on, I'm getting you out of here."
Blade turned his head to look Rock in the face. He knew better then to continue his argument, and gave in as his friend helped him and they began their way out the doors and towards the lower deck.
Back at Maverick Hunter HQ it had begun to settle down. Both missions had ended and many wounded Hunters were coming in and in need of repair and aid. Zero was still at the HQ Command, overseeing all of the operations. Command was still overly crowded as many Reploids passed through, some leaning off the shoulder of another on their way to be repaired. Zero watched observantly as they all wandered on. Then he noticed coming towards him two Hunters he recognized immediately.
Blade and Rock approached him slowly, with Blade leaning on top of Rock. They booth looked pretty beat up from their mission, but it was a relief just to see them come back alive. "Rock! Blade!" shouted Zero as he ran to them. He stopped before them as Blade raised his head to look at him. "Are you guys ok?"
Rock grinned. "Yeah, nothing we couldn't handle!"
Zero smiled. "Great. How did the mission go? Where's the science team."
"We don't know," answered Blade quietly.
Zero seemed confused. "What?"
"Well, you see, we had some complications," said Rock, trying to explain the situation.
"What kind of complications?" inquired Zero.
"Well, you see, we found them, but then we didn't. Well, we went to where they were suppose to be, but then we got attacked and there was this guy, you see…"
"RAC had relief teams there before us, headed by Saber Wolf," interjected Blade, cutting to the point of Rock's explanation.
"The RAC?" said Zero in surprise. He lowered his head in thought. "Since when did the RAC have on sight teams to handle Maverick out breaks?" Zero paused a moment, calculating the information further. "And second, why weren't we informed? That area was under our complete jurisdiction, and we gave no such authorization. What WAS the RAC doing there!?"
"Apparently our job," answered Blade with a hint of pain, "only better. They were there before us, and had already handled the situation, perhaps even better then we could've."
"You saw Saber Wolf?" questioned Zero.
Blade nodded. "He saved us from an assassin spider-bot. I told him to come to HQ, he said take it up with their channels."
"Yes, we'll have to do that very soon. But it doesn't answer my question, why didn't the RAC at least inform us before? And just where did those relief teams come from? They'll certainly have alto of answers to give when we address them for this."
"Right," answered Blade. He cringed a bit more in pain.
"Blade, you need to be repaired immediately. Go to the infirmary and have that problem fixed," suggested Zero mildly.
"It's alright, I'll live," said Blade.
"Nonsense! Look at you! You can barely hold yourself! We just recruited a new Reploid medical there, his name is Lifesaver and supposedly he can work miracles, especially in combating various viri."
"Lifesaver? THE Lifesaver?" said Rock. "He's one of the top leading Reploid scientists, isn't he? The one who's developing multiple vaccines and such with research on the Maverick virus?"
Zero nodded. "The very one. I can see Blade doesn't seem very willing, so please take him down to the infirmary Rock, make sure he takes his medicine." Zero couldn't help but grin while saying it.
Blade just lowered his face in defeat as Rock and him turned around and started to head down to the infirmary.
Zero watched as they left, but his smile faded as his mind wondered over the RAC. "Just what is the RAC up too…."
The room was completely dark with the exception of one concentrated spotlight aimed at the floor. A presence could be felt, perhaps multiple ones, but given the darkness they were and would remain completely concealed.
Saber Wolf suddenly entered the darkness, and approached the spotlight. He entered it and immediately began to kneel, with his head bowed. He did look very chivalrous. "I have returned from the mission, a complete success."
Out of the darkness spoke a voice. It was calm, light, and somehow commanded a sense of power. But not that like a military general. The power this voice commanded seemed deeper, a greater power, a power of soul and spirit, like that of some great philosopher or theologian. "Excellent work, Saber Wolf. Again, your work is much appreciated by the council. Did you find what we were looking for?"
"Yes, everything was there as you said," replied Saber Wolf humbly.
"Great. Piet should be able to use this greatly to his advantage now. You have done us a great service. What of the station?"
"It fell to the ground at 01:00. The science team, and many soldiers were evacuated in time."
"Good."
"However, there is one…problem," spoke Saber Wolf suddenly.
"Problem? What sort of problem?"
"There were two Maverick Hunters aboard the station."
"Maverick Hunters? Did you meet them?"
"Yes. They will be contacting the RAC soon about our involvement."
"That we can handle. How about containment? How much do the Hunter's know?"
"They know nothing."
"Are you positive, Saber Wolf?"
"Yes, sir. They knew nothing of what was really happening."
"Did you happen to get these two Hunter's names?"
"Yes. One of them was what I believe to have been a mining Reploid, only modified. He called himself Rock. Another…I did not recognize. His name was Blade."
There was a pause a moment, and for a second Saber Wolf wondered if he had said something wrong. Then the voice replied, "Did you say, 'Blade'?"
"Yes, sir. Is that a problem?"
"No…no, it's not a problem at all. Thank you again for your services, Saber Wolf. You are dismissed."
Saber Wolf arose to his feet, his hand across his chest. He bowed quickly and soon left the dark room through a door unseen."
Suddenly a voice, a deep, gargantuan voice that caused the ground to shake spoke, "Interesting turn of events, isn't it?"
"Yes," answered the first voice. "I didn't quite expect for it to happen like this."
"We will need to approach this situation carefully…" said a third voice. This one was void of all emotion or influence. It was quiet, and at the same time eerie.
"You are correct. Let us observe this situation for a bit, before we decide to take any actions. We are so close now to our final objective, but yet we must remain patient. The time, is not now."
"And when do you feel the right time will be?" spoke the ominous, heartless voice.
"It will be soon, very soon…."