Author's note: You know the drill-most characters belong to Capcom, others the product of my overworked mind. This has gotta be my longest chapter yet, so please be kind!

Megaman Legends: The Lariozan Connection
Chapter Eight: Secrets of Zona 25

"The dinner's delicious, Roll, who cooked this?" asked Megaman as he was carving up a roast chicken leg.

"Actually, I had some help cooking it from Gramps-he helped me install the rotisserie we bought a few days back. We marinated it in some sauce and set the timer for 45 minutes," answered the blonde technophile.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. "Quién hay? (Who's there?)" said Barrell over the PA system connecting the dining room to the front door upstairs. "Estamos buscando un seguro Jordan O'Reilly y Cedric Burnley. Usted sabe dónde pueden ser encontrados? (We're looking for a certain Jordan O'Reilly and Cedric Burnley. Do you know where they are to be found?)" asked a gruff voice. "Gadzooks, those were the guards from the airport awhile back!" shouted the journalist. "They must be angry!" "You used an alias for him, Burnley?" Barrell angrily said. "What do we do?" Megaman said to him. "There's only one answer," Burnley said. "Confront them." He then took hold of the mike for the PA and said, "Yo soy Cedric Burnley, ALPRA. What do you want?" "Let us in, señor," the voice at the other end answered. "Get yourself and your nephew to come out of this ship if you don't want." "Fine, Capitan, you and your men can come in," Barrell said. "But please be civil." After they got in, the captain and his two escorts introduced themselves, and... "Señores Burnley and uh, Volnutt, while both of you can go to prison for entering off-limits areas like this place by deceiving authority, (Great, Burnley thought, 15 years in the hole in a country of human rights violations fame) you did fight off them rebels. Our government thanks you. What can we do in return?" Megaman then cleared his throat and replied, "How far is Zona 25 from here?" The captain replied, "About a kilometer or two, I reckon." "Do we have a chance of going through the checkpoint there, I'm a Class A Digger." "You're no loco en la cabeza, are you, señor? The place is filled with booby traps and Reaverbots, and even Class A Diggers can't push through that area! Please reconsider." "Sorry, Capitan," Megaman calmly said, a hint of fatalism, a characteristic of many famous Diggers. "Made up my mind." "Well then, I can't force you to stop anymore," said an exasperated captain. "But don't come crying to us if you get hurt."

Meanwhile, the rebels and their allies were also in the drawing board, brainstorming. They too, know about Zona 25's importance to unlocking the secrets of El Cono, and the possible wealth to be uncovered in it. "There are four caves in this island, each located in sporadic parts of the country," Comandante Azul explained We have control of two of them, but we have a hard time getting through them. The rest are in the puppet government's territory, and we must get them from the bastards." "Who do we send to defend the ruins we have, anyway?" Teisel said. "Why that's ours for the taking, Señor Teisel," answered the rebel leader as Glyde, who was slumped on a corner in the room, was examining an aerial photograph of one of the ruins. "What is this Zona 25 anyways?" asked the blond racketeer. "The ruins are designated by multiples of 5, for easy identification," he replied, "while the area around them is divided into 4, which makes it easy to monitor illegal digging. El Cono's Zona 5." "And who's defending them?" asked Bola, stroking his chin. "Who else? Some Army and Air Force units. Zona 10 is situated on an offshore island, and so there are 2 corvettes and a Marine detachment. The main reason we took so long to take the ruins is the tough fortifications the fascists built around the ruins, and we haven't cleared out the areas around them." "Hmm, I do believe we have to take all four of them to at least take the chance to get into them," Tron explained in a hard-faced mood. "I found out that there are key cards to each of the ruins, and it seemed like our blue friend got one of them. We'll have to use him as a sort of Trojan horse to get into Zona 25." Suddenly Teisel beamed up. "Eureka! Very clever of you, sis! That way, what we only have to do is take those keys away from him!" He then looked around and said, "Azul, we'll take it from here." Glyde then stood up, with a sly grin on his face, and said, "Sorry, Teisel, but it's my folks' turn." "Your folks? You bastards are going to Zona 25? I doubt that you can reach it alive-you, Glyde, may have fooled these reds over here, but you certainly-" "Ohhhh, look who's talking but the hypocrite!" "Hypocrite, huh? That was just some fluke that Megaman had-" BANG! Comandante Azul fired a pistol into the air, and angrily said, "Enough of this foolishness, señores! We are all allies in our war against those puppets in San Gabriel, at least for now, aren't we? We do not wish our gains to amount to nothing just because there is infighting amongst us comrades, no?" "Azul's got a point, Teisel," Tron added. "If we're going to get a legitimate factory for our weapons and a base for our ships, it would come when we win, don't we? And to do that, we need to stand in this together, while it lasts." "Yeah, you're right, sis," agreed the older Bonne. "Glyde, you win. Zona 25 is yours. We'll have, hmm, Zona 10, we'll use some Draches to bomb those corvettes to smithereens, no problem with that. So levy-guy and tin can's in charge of 20, and your boys are in charge of 20, right?" Comandante Azul smiled. "Si. And we'll put some men under Señor Klaymoor's command, if he wants it that way. What do you think?" Klaymoor nodded. "Sure, but they stay outside. They'll keep a lookout for that Digger." "Everything's fine then?" Five hands raised, with red cards, showing agreement. "Well then," Teisel exclaimed, as he had done so often, "LET'S DO IT!"

Morning. Burnley had finished his report, and had submitted them to headquarters for distribution. Now, he was talking to Don Mathers of NBS Evening News. (Note: Althiria is in a different time zone-it's 6:30 p.m. there.)
"As a brand new sun shines its first rays on this ruined city," he said in his best baritone voice, "many are still wondering when the elusive peace they have sought for long will finally come to their war-torn country. Cedric Burnley, ALPRA, for NBS News, San Gabriel."
"And cut!" Esteban shouted. Roll, who was up early for her routine ship check-up, was in the van helping Tacio with the controls, having finished her morning chores. She had also been with the Professor and Burnley, who helped in chartering a van for use as a spotting station. Megaman, who had just awakened, saw Burnley, dressed in a gray polo shirt and khaki pants, approach him.
"Good morning, Mr. Burnley," he yawned. "What's Roll doing here?"
"She helped us with the camera set-up awhile ago. I think she's still crying about the images on the report I filed, sport. Best not to bother her."
"How abot the van for the dig?"
"No problem with that, sport. We've set up the spotting controls already, and it's both spruced up and bulletproof. After a few adjustments, we're ready to go."
"Where's Gramps?"
"Cooking breakfast, I presume. Spanish omelet and some ham. Roll ate already, and you'd better too."
After a hearty meal, Roll, now feeling better after the broadcast, called out, "Megaman! We're ready now!"
"OK! I'm coming!" he said as he fitted the last of his blue armor, his backpack and his helmet and got down to the Aerodrome, right to the waiting van.
"Thanks for the refit of this missile launcher, Roll. Gets me ready to go there," remarked Megaman as they passed the streets of San Gabriel.
"Anything for you, Megaman," she replied. "Guess this civil war won't end soon, don't you think? I guess we have a lot to be thankful for."
"Sure agree with you, Roll. Mr Burnley, are we..."
"No. We've still two hours. And if ever you get out of that place, you need to get to my office first. I'll have to file an update, just in case."
And sure enough, two hours, later, they approached a tall gate with a patrol in front. After asking for his Digger's license, he was allowed entry ("It really takes that long, fellers," Burnley said) and soon, the rugged roads lead them into a semicircular structure.
"This is it. Zona 25. Now, there's a chance that those rebels may attack, so we're being guarded by three T-78 tanks just over there," pointing to three tanks parked near an abandoned house being used as a temporary headquarters, "as well as about a hundred and fifty soldiers. They're here to ensure we're safe and to monitor us. The batallion commander's assured me this is a safe place." Suddenly, they heard a boom. "Well, almost."
Megaman then ran up to the gate, put the topaz card in the slot nearby, and entered when the doors opened. He entered a vast atrium, dimly lit, its green walls appearing like they have been suffering from mildew.
"Megaman, this is a bit dangerous," Roll nervously said. Kind of spooky. Anyway, there's an elevator heading underground. See it?"
"Sure, Roll. I'm going in. But there are some Reaverbots whose butts I'd like to kick." And sure enough, four Reaverbots appeared, and began to converge on him. These were the conventional Reaverbots he usually faced, but these fired acidic gas on him. Thank goodness he had made himself immune to them. He fired some shots at them, and with minor damage was able to blow the Reaverbots up, gatering one hundred zenny.
"I'm headed for the elevator now, Roll. Wish me luck!"
And entering the lift he headed for floor B1.

What's up for our friend? And how exactly is Glyde going to get the key? Find out on Chapter 9: Secrets Revealed! P.S. I already have some ideas, but if you have better, send them to ceig13@yahoo.com. Better ideas will be adapted by me and will be credited. Till next time!