Chapter 10
"So, commander, what happens now?"
The four light warriors sat in space. Having dealt with the remains of their comrades as best they could, they were now without direction nor mission, and none of them quite knew what to do about it.
"Well, I guess logic would suggest to return to High Command for debriefing and new orders,' Kael gave his commander a sidelong glance. The others also looked to their commander for new orders, surely they would return to their superiors.
Duo was silent for a while, gazing upon the vast area of space that was the grave of so many of his warriors. His very instincts screamed at him to return to high command and report, but something in the back of his mind said otherwise. There was no doubt about it, something was going on, and part of him wanted to know what it was. Why had such a vast enemy force been sent, with not one, not even two, but three energy masters!? Why was the enemy so eager to get them out of the way? Something was not right, and while Duo knew he was going to pay for it later, he had to find out. After pondering for several minutes, Duo turned to his tech unit, Grid, who had managed to survive the confrontation. "Did you manage to get the navigation data out of the system?"
"Yes sir. It appears that they are headed for a system that they call the 'Sol System'. It is currently not on any of our charts, as it is far behind enemy territory. In fact, I don't even think that they knew it was there until recently, which might explain the sudden increase in activity in this region, as we are right in the middle of the main route to this particular system."
"Hmm… that explains the convoy that we ran into. So there is a high possibility that those supplies were for the establishment of a base camp? Now, why would they need another camp there, could you find out anything else from the system, Grid?"
"Negative, sir. It was pretty locked down to start with, and your boys tearing the system to shreds didn't really help either. I'm afraid I have nothing else to report."
"Well, the only possible explanation is that this system is either a large junction point to more unexplored systems, or it is very high in mineral capacity. Needless to say, this must be reported as soon as possible."
"So, it's back to High Command then?" Trace asked.
"For you three, yes." Duo's comment took a moment to register in the minds of the others.
Kael stood in shock. "Wait, you mean you're not coming with us? Commander, that's suicide! If the enemy doesn't get you, High Command with flail you alive when you get back! Besides, if this camp is as important as you say it is, then there's a high chance that this place won't be undefended. You'll need some guards."
"Sir, if what you are saying is true," Grid spoke up, "and that is all very possible, the odds of you surviving such a mission alone are greatly against your favor. Besides, every mission needs a techie." Grid grinned.
"I think that I can be perfectly capable on my own, thank you."
Trace decided to step in. "Aw, c'mon commander, what kind of subordinate runs home while his commander is out doing service projects? You never know when we might actually come in handy, and besides, if we get back to High Command and tell them that you've run off on some crusade, they're gonna want to take their anger out on somebody, and that'd probably be us!"
Duo gave his Lieutenant an incredulous glance. "Trace, you know very well that High Command never punishes anyone except those responsible."
Trace gave a wry grin and shrugged, "Well, it was worth a shot."
Duo gave a sigh, "Look, I'm going alone, and that's final. Don't make me start issuing orders, you need to get back to High Command and tell them what happened."
"Not to dishonor you or anything Commander, but it wouldn't be the first time we've disobeyed orders. No matter what you say, we are going to follow you. I don't care if you ARE faster, Grid here knows the coordinates, we'll get there sooner or later."
Duo sighed. "You three are really dead set on this, aren't you?" All three of them gave their commander wide grins and nodded their heads vigorously. Duo continued, "Alright, but we leave immediately, we've got to put a stop to whatever is going on."
"I wouldn't have it any other way," Trace said. The others gave curt nods. Moments later, four blue streaks shot off into space, mentally preparing themselves for anything.
***
"But Dr. Light, this doesn't make sense. I mean, if they wanted something, why did they show up just to start blowing away Dr. Wily's fortresses. Could it be that they aren't that bad after all?" Cut Man looked up at his creator with quizzical eyes, the others sat around as well, waiting for their creator to answer.
"You must trust me friends, nothing good can come of this evil. It will consume your world without a second thought if given the chance." The pale girl, now known as Leelann, spoke before Dr. Light could reply. The five robot masters, now joined with Wily's own six, all turned toward her. Shadow Man spoke up first.
"But why haven't they just infected our machines already, I mean, you did say that their initial form was that of a virus didn't you?"
"Yes, but though you may not be as technologically advanced as many of the races that my masters have conquered, your machines have a unusually strong anti-virus protection. My masters estimated that is could take nearly two and a half cycles to get through this world's systems."
Guts Man smiled, "Well, you can credit that to Dr. Light."
"Actually," Dr. Light interrupted, "You can credit that to Dr. Wily. If he didn't spend so much time trying to reprogram the world's robots, I wouldn't have spent so much time developing counter-programs to stop him. Every time he's come back, he had found a way to get through my counter-program, and I've had to develop another one. By the way, just exactly how long is one cycle?"
"If I have interpreted your world's meaning of time correctly, one cycle would be nearly point-eight-six-five standard Earth 'years'."
Well, that gives us nearly two years to stop this invasion force. I only hope it's enough time. Dr. Light's thoughts were interrupted by his comm system, he reached over and pressed the button. The face of a wildly red-haired scientist appeared on his main screen. A blond girl stood beside him.
"Hello, Dr. Light."
"Hello Dr. Cossak, hello dear Kalinka, how are you both?"
"We are well. The power-up procedure came out wonderfully, and my own robots are responding as programmed. Their new AI seems perfectly functional, and my two new units are working as well."
"Uh… new units?"
Dr. Cossack nodded his head, "Yes, I had recently added two new units to my arsenal. They haven't been tested yet, but unless the enemy begins an underwater campaign, I deemed them necessary to replace Toad Man and Dive Man. You will meet them soon enough. Was Mega Man's venture a success?"
"I don't quite know yet. He has yet to return. The task force was interrupted as they teleported out, and we haven't yet received word on their condition. Most of the robot masters made it through, but I'm afraid that Mega Man and Wily are still in the fortress."
"Hmm, very well, we will arrive shortly, and then we must begin planning the defense of our planet."
"Indeed…" Dr. Light trailed off as he saw Dr. Cossack turn around to address his daughter, who was earnestly tugging at his lab coat. After a moment, Dr. Cossack turned to face the screen once more, a slightly annoyed, yet amused look on his face.
"My daughter wishes to speak with Protoman, is he near?"
Dr. Light smiled inside. His little red creation probably didn't even know what he was getting into when he rescued the young girl from Wily's fortress. "Unfortunately, Protoman had his own business to attend moments ago, and is not here at the moment," Dr. Light smiled outwardly this time, "Shall I leave him a message?"
"No, that's quite all right, she'll be coming with me. I don't wish to leave my daughter alone in this fortress, should they decide to attack it."
Dr. Light nodded. "It's understandable. I will see you in a few moments then. Light out." As Dr. Light turned around, several of his creations were snickering, he looked at them questioningly. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing, Dr. Light," Fire Man said, stifling a laugh.
Dr. Light decided to ignore it, and turned to Leelann. "When Dr. Cossack gets here, we're going to need every ounce of information that you can give us, this is very important."
The girl silently nodded her head, and they all waited for the arrival of their Russian comrade.
***
Great, juuuuuuust great. What else can go wrong today?! Mega Man stood in the doorway, flanked by Crystal Man and Bomb Man. Inside was a myriad of cyborgs with their guns trained… on a battered Spark Man, and an armor-less Dr. Wily. He didn't appear too harmed, unfortunately, Mega Man added. Mega Man also noticed yellow blobs of goo spread throughout the hangar, but there were nearly as many lifeless cyborg bodies as well, which meant that the yellow devil hadn't gone out easily. One of the cyborgs stepped forward. He looked a bit different. He was larger, bulkier than the others, but carried himself with a pose that suggested he had more intelligence than the rest. He had four eyes, and three arms, one of which came out from the middle of his chest cavity. This suggested that he was of a different race and planet than the others, but Mega Man wasn't going to bother asking which. The cyborg addressed the newcomers in almost perfect English.
"You three, give up now, or the Human dies."
Immediately, Bomb Man and Crystal Man walked over to the captives, hands raised in surrender. They are bound by the life of Wily. I however, am not. Mega Man turned to his addresser. "Go ahead, kill him. When that happens you'll just have to deal with a very angry me without restraint. I assure you, you don't want that to happen." Wily's mouth had dropped to the floor, and Mega Man allowed himself a small smile for alarming him so much.
"Unfortunately, I have orders to bring him in alive, so you win this bluff. However, I have orders to deal with you as deemed necessary, and at the moment, I find it necessary to get you out of the way," the cyborg's arm readied into a menacing looking weapon, "…permanently."
Mega Man shrugged and readied his own weapon, "Well, if that's the way you feel about it, I'm ready."
"Very well, shall I start?" The cyborg didn't even wait for an answer, but his central arm let loose a large green blob of energy. The blob was instantly met with a comet shaped ball of plasma and the two forces exploded on impact, sending a few cyborgs that were too close flying backwards. "Yes, you will be a worthy opponent, I look forward to a good fight." The cyborg said, and fired off another blob.
Mega Man sidestepped the blob and let loose with another power shot. The cyborg, proving that he was far more agile than his lesser companions, easily dodged the shot and let loose with a barrage of smaller blue blobs. Each blob was met with a small plasma bolt from Mega Man's own cannon. "You're certainly going to have to be better than that to beat me, I'm barely getting warmed up," Mega Man spoke to his adversary.
The cyborg's outer arms began to glow. The light from the glow ran down his arms and collected until two balls of more blue energy were in his hands. "How's this for warming up?" he said as he tossed the balls at Mega Man.
Boy, these guys must have faced a lot of enemies if they're already throwing wise cracks at me. Oh well, don't have time to think about that now. Mega Man jumped over the balls and they attached themselves to the wall behind him. "Ha, missed, smart aaaAAAAAAAAA!" His insult was cut short as the two balls exploded behind him, sending him sprawling face-first onto the floor. Mega Man pushed himself into a back-flip just after several more blue blobs of plasma drilled themselves into the floor. Forming both arms into cannons, Mega Man let loose with his rapid fire cannons in the general direction of his opponent, but his opponent was no longer there. This was proven when Mega Man was hoisted off the floor upside down as the central arm of the cyborg grabbed his leg and held him up to eye level.
"You are quite formidable, I now see how you were able to take Cirius down so quickly, quite strange for such a small machine. However, by defeating you, I can now prove to my masters how much better I can serve them as a member of their personal guard. Farewell, ancient machine."
"I wouldn't bet on it." Mega Man replied, kicking into the arm that held him with his free foot. The cyborg, not realizing the true strength of his target, was surprised at the force of the kick and dropped the blue bomber. Not even bothering to right himself, Mega Man planted both hands onto the floor as he fell and kicked upwards at his assailant with both feet in a mighty hand-stand kick, which sent the cyborg flying thirty feet into the air. Mega Man quickly stood up and let loose with a massive punch as the cyborg fell back to the ground, resulting in a new hole in the wall. Mega Man calmly folded his arms. "You know, too many of my enemies underestimate me because of my size, and let me tell you, when you're holding up half of the foundation of a collapsing fortress, I don't care how 'big' you are, you have to be pretty dang strong!"
The cyborg walked back through the hole that his body had made in the wall and once again looked over this strangely powerful, yet small machine. "You are an enigma. My masters would be greatly intrigued by a design such as yours, but this has gone on long enough."
"For once, you're on the right track. Rush! Super Adapter!" Before he had even finished speaking the small red robot had warped in and transformed Mega Man into an all new force to be reckoned with. "It's time I ended this." Mega Man thrust out his arm and his fist detached, jetting towards the cyborg, who's own left arm sprouted a shield which he used to block the fist headed his way. The force of the fist on the shield pushed the cyborg back several feet, but he was otherwise unhurt.
"I realize my mistake now, I will not underestimate you again." The cyborg's central arm elongated while its fist became encased in a strange purple energy. The arm stretched out towards Mega Man, slamming itself into the ground he had just vacated with enough force to put a good sized hole in the concrete. The arm quickly tore itself free of the concrete and swung towards Mega Man like a whip. The bioroid jumped over the arm and used his jet pack to hurl himself towards his foe, ready to deliver another punch. The cyborg brought the shield up and again blocked the attack. Mega Man jetted back as the cyborg retracted his arm, and they faced each other as they both pondered what to do next.
"Hmm… That shield of yours is quite durable. It can block even my Super Adapter attack, but…" the armor disengaged itself briefly to form into the more powerful Power Adapter, "Can it stop this attack?" Mega Man charged towards the cyborg and let loose with his strongest attack, but the cyborg's shield held true, and though he was again sent through the wall, he was relatively undamaged. Seemingly admiring the shield, Mega Man gave a shrill whistle.
"You realize now that all your attacks are futile. It would be wise to give up now. I would hate to have to send you to my masters too damaged to study."
"That's the way it's gonna be then. I never give up so easily. If I remember correctly, you're backs are quite unprotected. I'll just have to hit you there."
"Very well, if you persist, then good luck to you."
"Well, it might actually be easier than you think."
The cyborg barely had time to register this before a sudden impact and a good shock coursed through his systems, knocking him to the floor. With a snarl, the cyborg rose to face whatever it was that had dared to hit him. For a moment, he saw nothing, but then a small blue bird fluttered into view. The cyborg raised his central arm at the creature. "Pest, you die…"
"Thanks, Beat."
Realizing the danger he had just placed himself in, the cyborg turned around just in time to see Mega Man place a massive red fist into his face. Mega Man didn't even wait for the results, but followed up with several jabs that spun the cyborg around, then finished with a charged, fully powered uppercut into the cyborg's unprotected back. The cyborg smashed into the celing, and fell heavily again to the floor. Mega Man disengaged from Rush and gave the dog a pat on his head. Rush then teleported out of the hangar, and Beat left as well. "Do you yield yet? Or should I try something else?"
"I never thought I'd have to use my main weapon, but you are formidable indeed." The cyborg slowly stood up, and Mega Man happily noted that he was severely damaged. Still he tensed, ready for anything more that his opponent could throw at him. The cyborg sneered, "Little do you know of the power that I possess! Feel it now, as it enfolds you! HEAT CANNON!" All three hands glowed briefly, then an immense beam of superheated energy leapt from them. There was no time to get out of the way, the beam was too big to dodge. Mega Man could only scream as he saw a flash of red, and then the beam engulfed him.