Chapter 6: Empty Space Out of Control
Planet Ragol: Mines: Razorback Mines Level 1
Danielle looked around, Vulcans in hand. She was in a small room with a computer, which she walked over to. Being an expert hacker, she could easily enter even a military computer and call up whatever information she desired. In a few seconds, she had a map of the entire mine, both levels. She uploaded it to her BEE system and exited the room. She walked into the next room and headed for the door. There was a capsule near it, and the RAmarl played the message.
"Is this… Is this where the missing material from Pioneer 1 was used…? Why did they dig a tunnel all the way down here? And why didn't they say anything about it to the citizens…"
Danielle looked at her map, trying to find the shortest route to the next level. If memory served correct, there should be an AI or two somewhere in the mines. If she could find one of them, then she would be able to find out what had happened here. The Ranger walked into the next room and encountered the first enemy of the mines.
It was a robot originally used for mining. But weapons had been added to them, such as energy cannons. The Gillchic class robots that attacked were armed with the cannons, making it dangerous to attack them at any range. A purple beam flew past her head while she was shooting at one of the Gillchics. Shaken up by the near miss, the RAmarl turned around and sent a Foie blast at the robot. The metal was melted, and the circuits ignited. The Gillchic became a burning wreck, as another took its place.
"Really, this is already getting aggravating," Danielle muttered. Four more Gillchics arrived, but they were demolished by the hail of bullets. The room's door unlocked, and a capsule activated. Interested in what Rico had discovered, the Ranger jogged over to it and played the message.
"I'm attacked by robots this time… What are they?! They were customized robots originally for industrial use. …Who did this? I can understand animals being metamorphosed by a crustacean into mutants, but… These are robots. Somebody modified them. Was it done by someone from Pioneer 1?"
Someone was watching Danielle, but every time she would turn around, no one would be there. "Probably another hunter from Pioneer 2 playing little games with me," she mumbled. She pressed on deeper into the Razorback Mines, searching for the control room. Canadines, small robots that floated in the air and could attack with bolts of electricity, would occasionally appear in formations, led by a Canune. The red versions of the Canadine were more powerful, and they controlled the actions of the Canadines in formation around it. Once, when she had destroyed a Canune, the Canadines did a suicide run. They spun around, alarms blaring, and tried to catch Danielle in their self-destruct explosions.
By far the most powerful of all the machines were the Sinow Beat and Sinow Gold class robots. They would drop from the ceiling, landing silently on the floor, and leap at the RAmarl with their Photon blades extended. When a Sinow Beat had not been able to hit Danielle, it leapt backwards and split into six different machines. Only one of them had the red lights on its shoulder like a Sinow Beat did, so the Ranger suspected that particular machine was the real one. A bullet from the Laser penetrated its neck and cut the main power wires. The Sinow Beat toppled over, and the other clones disappeared.
Keeping her rifle held at ready, Danielle walked past the fallen machine to another capsule. With the luck she was having, an enemy would probably end up attacking her while she was listening to the message. "Don't jinx yourself," she whispered. Taking another look around, the Ranger played the message.
"I heard a rumor that the government was building a secret underground factory. Were the robots manufactured in that secret factory? Or was that factory a decoy? The government was developing another project behind it… Information is always controlled by the government. We don't know the truth at all. We hunters are always used by the government. We're just tools to them."
As much as Danielle hated to admit it, Rico was right. Hunters were just tools. Always being sent on quests, never being told the details. It made the RAmarl wonder what was really going on. Fighting monsters to solve a mystery was one thing. But government conspiracies? That was something she would rather not deal with. She didn't want to become the government's enemy, along with Black Paper's. The thought of that organization's name made her blood boil. They were responsible for the death of her mother, and had almost killed her. If she ever got her hands on one of those monsters, she would make them pay dearly.
The sound of something metallic landing on the floor made Danielle spin around. A Sinow Gold, a more powerful variant of the Sinow Beat, was charging forward, its blade extended. Instincts kicked in, and the Ranger ducked under its blade. Mad at herself for committing such an error as not paying attention to her surroundings, the Ranger drew the Agito and impaled it through the Sinow Gold's lower back. Oil spilled from the hole onto Danielle's hands. Still functional, the Sinow Gold backhanded Danielle and sent her flying backwards. The machine crossed its arms, and the damage was instantly repaired.
"No way! That thing can use Resta?" The machine charged forward again, pouncing on the downed Ranger. Its blade nearly touched her throat, and it would have, unless Danielle had been struggling to hold back its arm. She stared into its red eyes, remembering her training. The metal on the Sinow Gold's arm heated up, and the Sinow looked at its arm with interest. Wincing in pain from the heated metal, Danielle focused her power on melting her enemy's arm. By the time the Sinow Gold found out what she was doing, it was too late. Its arm was immobile, and there was no way to repair it. Danielle took out her Vulcans and blasted the machine with a trio of bullets into the face. She took a deep breath, and walked through the door. Before her was a teleporter to the next level of the mines.
Unbeknownst to the Ranger, a figure was watching her from the shadows, impressed by her fight with the Sinow Gold. "So this is the child Black Paper is so afraid of… Now I see what they are worried about. She will surely disrupt our plans." The figure waited a few minutes after Danielle had stepped into the teleporter before following himself.
Planet Ragol: Mines: Razorback Mines Level 2
A large machine covered in green armor rolled forward, looking for the intruder Vol Opt had warned it about. The Pioneer 1 forces badge painted on its armor, a white claymore against a blue background, was still gleaming under the dim lights. Suddenly, a young girl walked into the room, and the Garanz's targeting computer tracked her. Even if she weren't the target the machine was assigned to eliminate, it would still kill her. All intruders in the mines were to be eliminated. Two of the missile rack doors popped open, and four missiles headed for the girl. She saw them closing in, and shot them out of the air. Annoyed by the human's actions, the Garanz prepared to launch another salvo of missiles. The Ranger charged forward, took out the Agito, and cut through the many layers of armor. Unfortunately, all the attack did was reveal more missile tubes. Over a dozen missiles launched from their tubes and tracked the RAmarl. She ran behind the Garanz, and cringed as the missiles impacted on the armor and sent pieces of metal flying all over the place. The room's door unlocked, and the Ranger breathed a sigh of relief.
Things hadn't been looking so good in the second level of the mines. There was much heavier opposition than before, and the military's Baranz class robots were everywhere. The machines were loaded with heat-seeking missiles, but they could be used against the behemoths. Just run behind a Garanz, and the missiles would hit the machine instead. Danielle sat back against a wall and rubbed her eyes. Normally, she would just drop a telepipe and go back to the city for a little sleep. But something wasn't allowing her to return. Every Telepipe she dropped wouldn't open, meaning she had to continue on deeper. Danielle's eyes began to close, when she heard a strange sound. At first, it was barely audible. But then she was able to hear her name being said. She looked up, eyes searching the room. No one was there but her. The Ranger got to her feet and headed for the unlocked door. She had a feeling that whatever was calling her to the underground was close. When Danielle opened the door, she found another monument with a capsule by it. She walked over and played the message.
"Here, I found the third one. Will it fit together when all the parts are combined? 'Light, darkness, pair, exist, unlimited, rule, seal…' I can make out each word, but I still don't understand the meaning of the whole thing."
Danielle glanced up at the monument, touching it with her hand. It began to glow, activating a computer that was near it. Interested in finding out what the government had discovered about the monument, the RAmarl walked over to the computer. When she entered a command, the screen went blank. An error message appeared, saying that all information on the monument had been destroyed by a virus. Shaking her head, Danielle turned for the second door. The virus had only targeted the files on the monument. Everything else was still intact. She bet that someone had purposely destroyed the files to stop anyone from finding them.
In the next room, a large group of Dubchics appeared. These robots, which resembled Gillchics, could piece themselves back together after taking heavy damage. Unsure if it was possible to defeat the machines, Danielle spotted a small service station floating around some distance behind her. She aimed one of her Vulcans at it and opened fire. The station exploded, and the Dubchics self -destructed. Surprised at how simple it was to kill them, the RAmarl didn't notice the approaching Sinow Beat. She ducked under its massive arms as it tried to slice her in half. Danielle aimed her Vulcans at the Sinow Beat's head and pulled the trigger. Bullets slammed into the machine's head, and it toppled over backwards.
The Ranger looked at her map again. The monitor room shouldn't be too far away now. Vol Opt, one of the military artificial intelligences in the mines, was supposed to reside there. If she could find Vol Opt and question it, then she could find out what happened. Every time she checked a computer, the search would bring up nothing explaining the disappearance of all the people. Danielle smiled when she saw that the entrance to the monitor room wasn't too far away. She walked up to an unlocked door, went through, and sidled up against the wall. Someone was following her, and she wanted to know who. As soon as her follower drew near, Danielle jumped around the corner and aimed her Vulcans at the person. It was a HUmar with white hair, white armor, and a scarred face. He carried a Heat Saber, and had a Kama as a Mag.
"Who are you?" Danielle asked. The HUmar smiled.
"My name is Zechs. I am a hunter exploring these mines."
"If you are exploring, then why are you following me?"
Zechs looked surprised. "I wasn't following you. I was just trying to find my way to the monitor room here."
Even though she still wasn't too sure about this Hunter, Danielle lowered her weapons. "My name is Danielle. I am looking for the monitor room, too."
"Really?" Zechs asked, looking interested. "Why don't we work together? It will be easier for both of us." Danielle took one look at the HUmar's injuries and guessed that he had a lot of trouble fighting the machines.
"Okay, that would be fine. I could always use some company," the RAmarl replied. Zechs grinned, obviously relieved. Great, now I got to baby-sit this newbie, along with trying to find Rico, Danielle though angrily. This just isn't my day. Lucky for Danielle, the entrance to the monitor room was just through the next door. There was a palm scanner next to the security door, and neither of the hunters had clearance for it. The Ranger knelt next to the scanner and got to work. Zechs watched with interest as she managed to make the door open. The hunters stepped through into the monitor room. The door slammed shut behind them, and the lights went out.
"This can't be good," Danielle muttered.