Author's Notes: I just realized that my first few chapters were kinda messed up. I just spent a lot of time getting everything reorganized, but I don't see why I should do this when it seems no one is bothering to read this. So please, if you're reading this, leave a review, remember, it takes me a lot longer to write this than it takes for you to read it J.
Chapter 14
"Wow, it looks like they've got half of a command fleet here!"
"No kidding, this is no small operation. What do you think, boss?"
Hidden in the shadows of the moon Phobos, Duo, Kael, Trace, and Grid were overlooking the contingent of large space structures orbiting the third planet of the system. Duo wasn't sure what to make of it.
"I can't really tell. It indeed looks like an invasion force; there's one Command class Starbase, two orbital assembly factories, twelve containment satellites and at least one Worldscreen class station, as well as several smaller picket vessels. Judging by the position of their ships, the enemy is still in the initial stages of invasion.
"How do you figure that, sir?" Kael asked, puzzled.
"Simple deduction," Grid piped in. "The orbital factories are still in high orbit, being protected by the other structures, which means they aren't being used yet. On the other hand, the Worldscreen station has a lower orbit than even the satellites, which means that they don't want this world to know what exactly is assaulting them, and what kind of force is being used. Worldscreen class stations are known to generate a field around a planet that can effectively block most known means of observation, but the field can only be established directly from the station itself, which means that the lower the orbit of the craft, the closer the cloakshield covers the planet. Also, if you notice the debris surrounding the planet, it seems that they've already destroyed what appear to be several communications satellites and possibly even a few primitive stations.
Kael was still puzzled. "But they must have had plenty of time to mount an offensive before now, why would they still be in preparations stages, they should have attacked by now. It doesn't make sense."
"Their delayed attack could be for any number of reasons," Grid explained, "but four such reasons come most readily to mind. First, that the planet in question is in such a primitive state as to have not yet developed even basic mechanical and electrical technology. Second, the planet in question is a rare case of a race that has mastered organic technology. Third, the planet in question has extremely advanced protective software, with enough strength to amount a successful ground defense. Four, the planet in question is advanced to a state far beyond our own, but the enemy still thinks it is possible to overcome, so they are awaiting reinforcement."
"Which would you think is the most probable, Grid?" Duo asked.
"I believe sir, that the first reason can be ruled out by the mere presence of the Worldscreen. Also, if you look closely enough at the debris orbiting the planet from the destroyed indigenous structures, you can note that it is definitely metallic in nature, which more than likely eliminates the second explanation. Furthermore, the remains do seem fairly advanced, but they are nowhere near our own. I would suggest the third reason as being the most probable."
Trace and Kael stared at Grid incredulously. "You can tell all that just by glancing at a few charred remains from this distance?"
"Hey, it's a specialized field," Grid shrugged. "Anyway, what do you think, sir?"
"I agree," Duo said, "Which means the enemy is still attempting to break through this world's protective software, or they are waiting for reinforcements that will take a bit longer than they think."
"Courtesy of us." Trace put in.
"Well, it looks like they finished waiting just a few moments ago." Grid said. "Look sir, two C-Class troop shuttles appear to be returning to that picket ship, which means two assault divisions have just been deposited on the planet's surface."
"What should be our course of action, sir?" Trace asked, itching to get into the fray.
Duo once again looked over the scene. "They seem to be following their standard invasion procedure. They're using the Worldscreen station to hide their numbers while they systematically disrupt the orbital communication platforms. If they can't infect the world's technology, then they'll attempt to send the local forces into chaos by disabling global communication. As the orbital satellites are already gone, we can only assume that those teams have been sent to eliminate any ground based global communication facilities, to effectively keep the race from mounting an organized defense." Duo paused for another moment. "The enemy obviously doesn't know we're here, so by going straight to the planet, we lose the element of surprise. The natives will have to defend their own planet for the moment, but we can, at the very least, let them know what they're up against. We'll attack the Worldscreen station."
"But sir, it does have the lowest orbit, doesn't that mean having to go through the rest of the fleet to get to it?" Kael asked.
"Grid, what do you suggest?" Duo asked his engineer and tactician.
"Well, what Kael said is true, but because it has the lowest orbit, that also means it has the fastest orbit, which puts it out of synch of the rest of the fleet." Grid pulled out a small cube from one of his chest compartments, and produced a small holographic image of the planet and the surrounding fleet. "Soon though, that orbit will put the planet between the station and the rest of the fleet. If we go in passively, we may be able to get onto the station without being noticed. Of course, once we get on the station, we'll be announcing our presence rather loudly."
"That can't be helped. All right, let's get ready, we don't have much time.
***
The scene that stood before them was surprisingly dull. It was as if they had dropped right into the middle of a hospital hallway on a slow day, that is, until you saw the big hole in the wall, and more stars than you could count on the other side. Protoman glanced around the hallway. So far they had gone unchallenged. Most of the cyborgs that had been in the hall had been sucked out into space when they had created the hole, due to the rapid change in pressure. The hole now seemed sealed by some sort of energy membrane, but the group had managed to get inside. Protoman couldn't hear any alarms going off, but that doesn't mean that they aren't there, he thought to himself.
The group discarded their thruster packs, as well as the sealed suit that Dr. Light had given to Leelann, which they had then promptly destroyed, the items were no longer necessary. Protoman turned to his troops to address them.
"OK, boys. At this point we can only hope that the beacon the good scientists at home sent up to declare our arrival is working properly. Still, just because the rest of the fleet doesn't know what's going on, you can bet that this ship knows we're here. Our best bet for the moment is to find a terminal, hopefully we'll be able to get the technical blueprints for the ship, and figure out what to do from there." Protoman pulled out his shield. "I'll take point. Pharaoh Man, you bring up the rear." He turned to Leelann. "Any idea which direction we should go?"
She could only shake her head. "No, the hallways are too generic. I would need to find a more unique room to understand my position on the ship."
"Fine, we'll go in this direction," Protoman said, gesturing down the right side of the hallway. "Leelann, you're up front, with me." The group proceeded down the hall, and were able to go through several other hallways without opposition. They soon entered a large, seemingly deserted room that was filled with various wires and pipelines. Protoman threw a questioning glance at Leelann. "Anything here that we might be able to tap into?" He asked.
The girl studied the room carefully, "No, these are only power conduits for non-essential functions. The vital areas of the station each have their own power source."
Protoman began to think that something was amiss. "Leelann, what is standard procedure for your people in case they are boarded?"
"I'm no longer positive when it comes to my people anymore, but I seem to remember that most of the station's troops are sent to the vital areas of the ship, in order to make sure that the function of the vessel remains undisturbed for as long as possible. If the boarders become too much of a nuisance, then several small patrols will be dispatched to engage the intruders, if only to slow them down and lessen their strength if possible."
"Hmm… so if we want to find anything important, we'll just have to wander around until we find a big group of bad guys, I see." Protoman paused for a moment, rolling an idea around in his head. "Or maybe, would could get them to lead us in the right direction. Pharaoh Man!" Protoman turned to the seven robot masters, "Start charging your Pharaoh Shot, and stand over there. Bright Man, go stand in the middle of the room and ready your Flash Stopper. Ring Man, you guard that door over there, stand about thirty feet to the side of it, up against the wall. Dust Man, same position for that door on the other wall. Leelann and I will guard this one here. If anything enters the room, Bright Man'll flash 'em, and Pharaoh Man will let 'em have it with a charged up Pharaoh Shot. If more than one group comes in, you are to guard your respective doors and hold them off until we join in to help. Drill Man, Missile Man, and Gun Man, if they attack, help fight 'em off, but for the moment," Protoman gestured to the myriad of wires and conduits, "Have a field day."
***
Bass kicked at the nearest cyborg body on the floor. Hmph… so much for the welcoming party. I can't believe I'm doing this. Running chores for Wily so he can help save the world. There's irony for you. The other robot masters gathered behind him as he mulled his thoughts. Finally, after a few moments, he turned to them.
"What are you still doing here? Go finish the mission."
The robot masters glanced at each other. "I thought the plan was to stay together," Metal Man said.
"Yeah? Well I've got my own plans, and they don't involve you. So go ahead and rescue the world, I've got a score to settle." Bass dashed off, leaving the hapless robot masters behind. Every group has a leader, He thought, I'm just going to have to find him and blow his head off.
***
Shadow Man watched as Bass sped away from the group. If he were human, he would have given a sigh of exasperation. "Sometimes I wonder why Wily even bothered to make him."
"Yeah, we should have taken him out when we had the chance," Slash Man spoke up from behind. "So what do we do now?"
"Finish the mission, I suppose. We have our instructions, so let's get on with it. Currently, the local Guard Joes won't fire on us, but we don't have the authority to command them, we'll just have to convince the team leaders that we're on their side for once."
"Oh… yeah, that's gonna be easy. I doubt we'll run into any in the first place, so let's go."
The team of robot masters moved down the nearest hallway. They knew where they were headed, and what they had to do, and they carried out their orders in the manner of a professional SWAT Team. Even though they fought as individuals on a regular basis, they still had the programming to work with each other under any circumstances. Shadow Man darted ahead, peeking around corners and through doorways to make sure the way was clear. Slash Man took the high road, leaping up to the ceiling and using his claws to crawl around nearly as easily as he would on the ground, looking to surprise any potential ambushers. Freeze Man covered their tracks, erasing their heat signatures to make sure that no heat sensors could detect their numbers. Occasionally he would seal the entire hallway or any doorway they passed through with ice, to keep anyone that may be following them from being able to sneak up. They would have to smash the ice, and that would instantly alert the team. Tomahawk Man was a master tracker, able to tell if anything had walked by recently on a concrete floor. He led them down the least trailed paths, to avoid unnecessary combat. Crash Man, Metal Man and Crystal Man followed along, waiting until they were needed.
They were able to get more than halfway to the Communications center without incident when they heard the sounds of battle. Proceeding carefully, they moved towards the sound. They came upon a catwalk overlooking a large room. In the room below, a firefight was taking place, as several Guard Joes, one Sniper Joe and two humans engaged a group of cyborgs. The Guard Joes and humans had taken cover behind anything they could find. Tables, desks, chairs, everything had been dumped over. The cyborgs mimicked the group, covering behind various objects on the other side of the room, and the groups exchanged fire at any opportunistic moment. The Sniper Joe hid behind his shield, his visor flashing every time he locked onto a target. His weapon shot with lethal precision, but the cyborgs were not to be taken down easily. The guards concentrated their fire, apparently choosing one target and firing at it collectively until it was eliminated. The humans fired randomly, brandishing projectile rifles that didn't seem to have much of an affect, unless they found an unarmored joint, in which case they tore through the organic tissue with ease.
The robot masters watched as the concentrated fire of the guards shot a newcomer to pieces before he could find cover, but one of them was in turn destroyed by a blue beam that went straight through its chest cavity. The Sniper had given up going for one shot kills, and was now targeting the cyborgs' individual weapon systems. One human abandoned his rifle, apparently having run out of ammo, and pulled a small metallic object from his belt, hurling the grenade at the opposing group. The cyborgs had apparently seen this weapon before, as most of them tried to get out of the blast range, but some weren't fast enough. The grenade worked much better than the rifles, and the explosion tore into unarmored backs and joints, eliminating or injuring four of the opposition. The guards instantly got to work shooting at the cyborgs who had just left their cover, taking down another two in the process.
The small band seemed to be handling things well, but more cyborgs were entering the room with a steady flow, and Shadow Man knew they wouldn't be able to hold off forever. "Well boys, what do you think? Should we crash the party?"
"Why bother?" Crash Man said. "They'll probably start shooting at us next."
"Well, if they do, we'll just have to take them out too, but I don't think so, besides, who knows if they might actually be of help." Shadow Man turned to Freeze Man, "Why don't you start the ball. Give 'em the slip."
"You got it," Freeze Man replied, generating a small ball of concentrated ice in his hands, which he then hurled at the cyborgs below him.
The ball hit the ground and spread, coating the floor with a sheet of ice. The cyborgs on the ground found them selves stuck to it, while those who had been jumping or evading found them selves landing on a much less stable environment. As they attempted to regain their balance, another ball of concentrated ice flew unnoticed up to the ceiling. Unnoticed, that is, until the resulting icicles rained down on the cyborgs, most of which had been hunched over, attempting to free them selves from the floor. The icicles pierced into the unarmored backs of the cyborgs, killing more than half the group instantly. With the numbers greatly reduced, the robot masters jumped freely into the fray, punching, kicking, shooting, throwing, slashing, freezing, and generally blowing the rest of the enemy to kingdom come. When the dust settled, there were no more cyborgs left standing.
"Hmmm… these guys don't seem as durable as the ones that we fought before," Tomahawk Man said to Crash Man.
"They probably weren't expecting to deal with our caliber of an opponent. Anyway, we've got something else to worry about at the moment," Crash Man gestured to the Guard Joes, which, along with the Sniper, were now forming a protective wall between the Robot Masters and the humans.
"Relax folks, we're not here to kill you all and take over the world for the moment," Shadow Man said.
The two humans looked at each other. "Prove it," one said.
"If we were here to take over the world, we would have killed you first, being the easier targets to dispose of."
"Uh, Shadow Man… That's not exactly smooth diplomacy," Metal Man whispered, earning a sharp blow to the head by Freeze Man.
The human's weren't convinced. "Well, if you're not here to take over the world, then why are you here?"
"Well, there's no point in sitting on the sidelines while someone else tries to do something that you've been attempting for years. So, roughly put, Wily's sent us in to save the world so that he can take it later."
"Wait a minute, if those things weren't Wily's creations, then what the heck were they?"
"Oh, just a bunch of aliens invaders from outer space intent on conquering the world and enslaving the human race by turning them into mindless cyborg zombies."
The humans stared at Shadow Man, eyebrows at half-mast.
"Fine, believe what you want, but the way I see it you've got three choices. You can try to find your way out of the building, you can stay here and be shot at again sometime soon, or you can come with us and help us regain control of this station so that we can make sure the world has some sort of global communications network. What'll it be?"
Once again, the humans didn't quite know what to do. One of them decided to try a different approach. "What's keeping us from blowing you away right now?"
"Let me put it this way," Shadow Man said, gesturing to the group behind him. "Do you really want to piss us off?"
***
Bass didn't have to run very far before he found his first victims. A group of four cyborgs and what appeared to be two spider drones. He vaguely recalled that these must have been what had initially attacked Wily's first fortress. They had their backs turned toward him. Wrong way to be facing… he thought.
The first cyborg went down as a large ball of plasma that resembled a crude skull slammed into its back. A second didn't turn around quite fast enough as several cyan beams lanced into his back as well, sending him to the floor. The other two turned around only long enough to register a big black object screaming towards them like a rocket. Bass clotheslined the cyborgs as he dashed between them, knocking them on their backs. The spider drones, a little slower to turn than their humanoid counterparts, didn't even realize the thing that had attacked them was now on the other side. One spider took another level three plasma blast into its abdomen and promptly exploded, knocking the other spider off balance. Bass took a few potshots at the drone, but had to divert his attention as the two cyborgs on the floor began to recover from his initial charge.
The cyborgs hadn't bothered to aim their shots well, and Bass easily dodged them, but it gave them enough time to get back on their feet and face their opponent properly. This is where it gets interesting, Bass thought as the two cyborgs split apart. The spider had turned around and was standing in the middle of the hallway, toting a chain weapon that must have come from its belly. Bass realized that a weapon like that would fill the hallway with deadly rain, and there was little cover to be found.
I'll just have to make my own. Bass shone briefly as his trimmings changed from a golden-yellow to an icy-blue. Just as the chain weapon started to rapidly discharge red lasers into the hall, a large wall of ice appeared to obstruct the energy. Bass knew it wouldn't last long against the weapon, but it'll last long enough. He pushed the wall of ice that nearly filled the entire hallway, and it sped towards the cyborgs, smashing into them and carrying them down the hallway, gaining in momentum despite the resistance of its cargo. There a satisfying crunch as the ice slammed into the opposing wall and Bass knew that the group wouldn't be bothering him anymore. Heh, who knew Cold Man's weapon would actually come in handy?
He turned his attention to the two cyborgs left on the ground, the ones whom he had initially attacked. They had been behind the ice-wall when he had sent it down the hallway. The cyborg who had taken the charged shot in the back was obviously gone completely, but the other, which had only taken a few level one blasts, seemed operational, if just barely.
Bass walked over to the downed cyborg, grabbed its throat, and hoisted it into the air. "You know, considering our roles in this whole thing, what I'm about to say will be rather ironic, but regardless," Bass brought the cyborg down to eye level and stared him right in the face, "Take me to your leader."
The cyborg hesitated for a moment, then seemed to recover a bit. "Your challenge will be welcome. He awaits you in the entry hall to the Communications center. The Elite wishes to dispose of you himself. We will no longer fire upon you, you're doom is already assured."
With a snarl, Bass tossed the cyborg into the air and blasted it like a clay pigeon. Oh, the arrogance of it all. If this guy thought that Bass was going to be a pushover, well, he'll find out soon enough how wrong he is.
***
They entered the room in force, coming in at all entrances to make sure nothing escaped. Most of the nearby sections had gone dark, having lost connection to their power source. It was of no consequence. They had infrared vision, and they were using it now. Initially, they couldn't see much. Sparks were flying everywhere, casting shadows throughout the area. The whole room looked like it had gone through a trash disposal cycle. Then, one of them saw something, something standing in the very center of the room. In an instant every cyborg had their optics trained on the enemy and began warming up their weapon systems. Their orders had been clear.
A shout rang out in the darkness, it seemed to come out of nowhere, and it was only one word.
"Now!"
The large bulb on Bright Man's head went off, filling the room with enough light to have overloaded any optical instrument, bionic or mechanical. For the cyborgs using infrared, it was much, much worse.
Having immediately lost their vision, one group of cyborgs didn't realize that a the large sickle of energy was heading toward them, until it tore into their ranks, vaporizing three of them and seriously damaging the rest. Another group only heard the whoosh of a rocket before their members were flying in all directions. Several more cyborgs fell to the floor, neatly cut in half, while others were blown off their feet by a severe gust of wind. Plasma, Mini-Missiles, and bullets tore into the rest of the their ranks, complimented by the occasional flash of blue energy blasts. Bright Man kept the room lit, lowering his bulbs intensity so as not to blind his allies. With the cyborgs in immediate disarray, they were easily dealt with, despite their numbers.
Protoman rose from his cover, tossing a look over to Leelann. "Small patrols huh?"
She only gave him a quick sideways glance.
"Well, I guess we got their attention," Pharaoh Man spoke up. "Sheesh! We must have taken out half their crew compliment! And despite that, we still don't know which way to go. They came from every direction at the same time."
"They still may have given us a clue. The largest group came from that entrance over there" Bright Man put in.
"You sure?" Protoman asked.
"Yup, had at least five more than the other squads. Probably as good an indication as any."
Protoman thought it over. "Yeah, you're probably right. At least I don't have any other ideas, so, that way it is. Let's get moving, we've got a ship to blow."