Ninetalesuk:
Yep, I've read your story and wrote a review for it too.







Guard Tamer: Associates of Anarchy
By: RB3



Chapter 12: The Megadeath Faction is Born







The next day, the Tamers held a meeting at the Hypnos Towers to plan their next move. "So what do we do now?" asked Kazu.

"We go after another Server," replied Akira. "The AoA would not be limited to just Asuka Server."

"Yeah, but which one should we go after?" asked Takato. "There are like five of them, well four now, since we won in Asuka."

"Amaterasu was the first Server my company created for Digimon Online," noted Shibumi. "Because of that, the AoA would have invaded it first."

"That would also mean the AoA would be heavily entrenched there," noted Darkfryer. "All their attack would be based from Amaterasu."

"The problem is, how do we get to Amaterasu?" asked Esmeralda. "They've got that shield, remember?"

The AoA shield over each Server was a major obstacle that stumped the Tamers. "How did the AoA get into Asuka using Bulbmon despite it being shielded?" asked Henry.

Shibumi thought hard until he suddenly made a great revelation. "Of course! How could I have forgotten 'that!'"

"Tell us, what is it?" asked Yamaki.

"Each of the Servers are connected by a network of tunnels that lead to the others. That's how they got in! They bypassed the shields by going through the emergency tunnels!" exclaimed Shibumi.

"So, can we use these tunnels to get into Amaterasu ourselves?" asked Seiko.

"Yeah, but first we need to find a hole. Once we do, we'll need to find some way of digging into the ground, a map to guide us, and a destination. I can get the map from Asuka's archives."

"I can dig," offered Guilmon. "I'm good at digging. Just tell me how deep!"

"Oh please, no more guard duty! It's so boring!" lamented Kazu.

Kenta supported Kazu's sentiments. "Yeah, we were bored to tears until Destromon showed up!"

"Okay, okay... I was intending to bring along anyways," said Akira. Kazu and Kenta cheered upon hearing that.

The Tamer troupe looked at maps of Amaterasu Server from the Hypnos computers. Akira decided that the best place to set up would be a fairly remote region in the world. The team agreed to emerge in the North Sector, which was a mountainous arctic region. The Tamers went their separate ways to prepare for the extended stay in Amaterasu. Jeri was left without a partner after Leomon's passing, so she turned to Palmon, her game partner, instead. With their preparations complete, the Tamer troupe departed for Amaterasu's North Sector.

The Guard Tamer convoy gathered in front of a small hole to the southeast of Asuka City. "Okay Guilmon, dig a nice big hole for us!" requested Takato.

"Okeydokey!" replied Guilmon.

The fiery dinosaur began to shovel dirt out of the ground, widening the hole large enough for the convoy to enter. The Bulbmon, trucks, and Digibeetles rolled into the ground and began their journey to Amaterasu. Though thee tunnels were relatively tight, they were still big enough for the large girth of the Bulbmon. It was dark underground, even with head lights illuminating their way. In such dark, confined quarters, the risk of an enemy ambush was extremely high. Fortunately, the trip proved to be uneventful.

The convoy travelled along until it emerged in a most bizarre realm. Emerald spectral zeros and ones floated in space, forming a lengthy cylindrical corridor. A tightly bound group of these zeroes and ones, or bits, formed a translucent, crimson strip across the length of this corridor. It was like going through the tubes of a water slide. The crimson strip was fairly wide and large enough to fit two lanes of traffic. Being extra wide, the Bulbmon had to occupy both lanes as they rolled onto the strip.

"I'm getting multiple unidentified contacts on my radar! They're coming from behind!" cried Esmeralda.

The Tamer troupe glanced at their rear to see a horde of Digimon flooding into the corridor. Each of these Digimon looked like a purple insect cocoon with a ring of spikes around its neck. They also had a prominent crimson horn on their forehead, and a stinger on their abdomen. Though cocoons normally shouldn't have limbs, these ones had a set of six stringy tendrils that functioned as such. Each was tipped with a sharp spearhead. These creatures floated into the corridor endlessly, and opened fire on the convoy.


====================Digimon Analyzer====================
Name: Chrysalimon
Attributes: Virus, Champion level, Dark element

For his Digimon line, Chrysalimon plays a role much like a cocoon would for insects. Though weak for a Champion level Digimon, Chrysalimon become dangerous in great numbers and are often found in swarms.

Special Abilities/Traits:
Hovering, tunnelling

Data Crusher - Chrysalimon can fire bolts of yellow energy in self-defence.

Unconnect Buster - Chrysalimon can lash his wiry tendrils and impale his foes on their points.

"Return fire!" cried Akira.

Akira's Bulbmon turned towards the Chrysalimon and uncurled itself. Akira, released Bulbmon's flamethrower from its body and began to hose the enemy with roaring flames. The intense fires disintegrated those Chrysalimon unfortunate enough to be caught it their path. Missiles swooshed out of the Bulbmon's weapons bays, riddling the corridor with explosions and smoke. The combined attacks barely slowed down the Chrysalimon.

"They're not stopping!" cried Seiko.

"Everybody, keep going!" commanded Akira. "Get us much distance between us and the enemy as possible. Takato, once we're through, fire your missiles on to the roof to seal the tunnel behind us!"

"Okay, I got it," replied Takato.

Akira bobbed Bulbmon's flamethrower in every direction imaginable, making sure not to miss any of the Chrysalimon. Shibumi manoeuvred Bulbmon safely out of the corridor, and Akira gave the word to fire. Several missiles swooshed out of Takato's Bulbmon, striking the roof and initiating a cave-in. Several tons of earth tumbled onto the Chrysalimon, burying them alive and barring the path of those that survived.

After mopping up the ones that had successfully passed through the cave-in, the convoy continued on its way. They found their way to an exit hole and Guilmon dug his way out of the ground. Immediately, he was greeted by a sudden gust of cold air that gave him chills. Being a fire Digimon, Guilmon preferred warmer climates rather than the cold arctic mountains of the North Sector. The group had found themselves at the base of the snow covered Snow Mountain.

The Guard Tamers promptly established their base and Guilmon was thankful to be out of the cold. Soon after, they launched a probe into the sky to survey the area. The probe was like a GPS satellite, but could show only the local area rather than the whole world. The Guard Tamers scanned the area with the probe and gathered tactical information. The Guard Tamers, needing to be acclimatized, began training for battle in the cold rugged terrain of the North Sector.

The Tamers practiced in a special training area set up beside their base. Kazu pulled submachine gun from a nearby rack. "Cool, I get to fire one of these babies!"

"What kind of a weapon is this?" asked Kenta as he gazed at what looked like a shotgun.

"It's an automatic shotgun that fires elemental energy as ammunition," replied Akira. He showed Kenta a cylindrical cartridge that had fiery crimson energy visible within. "These cartridges are like converters that determine what element your gun will fire. This cartridge makes your guns shoot fire based energy."

Akira continued his explanation of the elemental auto-shotgun. He demonstrated how to change elements by removing Kenta's lightning cartridge and replacing it with the fire cartridge. The shotgun also needed ammo, so Akira showed Kenta how to change magazines. Akira instructed Kenta to take some practice shots and get a feel for how it fired. Though Kenta tried his best to hit the targets, much of the damage was spread into empty space.

"You can also change your fire mode by tweaking that switch near your thumb. It allows you to increase the distance when your shell will explode."

Kenta flicked the switch with his thumb and fired again. This time, he got a tighter ammo spread and wasted less of the ammunition. "I don't get it. Why don't you just keep it tight all the time?"

"Well, shotguns tend to be used on closer targets. They work best when you spread the damage more evenly over the target," replied Akira. "You saw that happen yourself. When you shot the targets, they got hit in the chest and face at the same time."

The Tamers and their Digimon continued to train and adapt to the harsh conditions of the North Sector. After a few days, they were ready for missions and held a meeting at the briefing room of the command centre. This room was much like a small classroom, but with the latest in audio visual equipment such as holographic projectors. Akira was the speaker for this briefing, and their ultimate goal was to liberate Amaterasu Server.

The first step towards this goal was to capture Xuanwu City and use it as a beachhead to attack the rest of Amaterasu Server. At present, the AoA weren't aware of the Guard Tamers' presence in the Servers. Akira wanted to capitalize on this advantage as much as possible and take the city before the AoA could marshal a defence. To do this, they needed to establish find a way into the city.

"Xuanwu City is the most heavily fortified city in this Server, even more so than Amaterasu City," began Akira. "The city is surrounded by mountains and the only way into the city is through the gate at the south." Akira pointed to a wall at the south portion of an overhead map of Xuanwu City. "Instead of going through this heavily guarded gate, I want to use a tunnel so we can bypass this checkpoint entirely."

Akira's tunnel would begin from a cave the Guard Tamers had discovered inside Freeze Mountain and end somewhere in Xuanwu City. Once the tunnel was done, the Guard Tamers could come and go as they pleased. The problem was the danger of being spotted while they created or used the tunnel. If that someone alerted the AoA, the element of surprise would be lost. Therefore, someone would have to get into Xuanwu first and secure the other end.

"I would like Takato and Guilmon to go on this mission. Guilmon can dig from the other end as well and we could finish the tunnel open in half the time," requested Akira. "Do you accept this mission?"

"Well, what do you say boy? You up for it?" asked Takato.

"Yeah, I'll dig a really good tunnel for you, Akira!" replied Guilmon.

"Excellent!" exclaimed Akira. "Now we need a few more volunteers and we're set."

"Let me go," requested Rika.

"I'm coming too so I can keep my eye on you, Rika," requested Seiko.

Akira got a brilliant idea. "Wonderful! You've just given me the perfect cover to sneak you guys in!"

With the composition of Guilmon's team settled, they now needed the items necessary to complete their mission. These items included equipment, a vehicle, money, and passports to enter Xuanwu. A few days later, the Guard Tamers brought in a modest looking grey mini van they stole from a hot springs resort near the volcanic Boot Mountain. They had also created forgeries based on a passport stolen from people on vacation at the hot springs.

"Here are your passports, key, and money," said Akira, as he handed everything over. "Once you get into the city, buy property somewhere out of the way and contact us."

Guilmon's team thanked him and another Guard Tamer showed them how they were refitting the mini van. They watched as the workers sealed guns and other items in special plastic bags. These bags were for smuggling the items past the checkpoint without being discovered by sniffing Digimon or metal detectors. The mechanics pulled out the seats of the mini van and concealed the items within them. Once the preparations were completed, Seiko drove the van to Xuanwu City.

Seiko pulled up to the Xuanwu check point. "Let's see some ID!" called the guard. He scanned the passports and searched the van afterwards. Seeing nothing wrong, the guard let her pass.

The team purchased property at the fringes of Xuanwu that had a dilapidated warehouse on it. "Okay we're in. We're going to start digging the hole," reported Takato over the radio. He transmitted his location to the Guard Tamer base.

"Roger, we'll begin at our end too," replied Akira.

Guilmon began to dig through the ground at the basement of the warehouse. On the other end, a Guard Tamer Drimogemon tunnelled his way towards the warehouse. Using their equipment, the Guard Tamers coordinated Guilmon and Drimogemon's digging. The two tunnels eventually met each other when Guilmon pulled out a piece of dirt and saw the others through the hole. The Guard Tamers immediately widened and strengthened the tunnel. They brought some equipment over and quickly established their second base under the warehouse.

Over the following days, the Guard Tamers went on various covert missions. They had successfully placed wiretaps on the Xuanwu central office and could hear every message the AoA sent. It came as no surprise when the AoA's communications mentioned a Xuanwu resistance organization. This organization was headed by a fellow who went by the Russian alias of "Comrade Piotr." After some legwork, the Guard Tamers managed to arrange a meeting with Comrade Piotr.

Akira, Shibumi, and their Digimon glanced vigilantly at the night scenery in Xuanwu's city park. Two figures and their Frigimon bodyguards approached the two Tamers in conversation. "So, these are the ones who wanted to meet us?" asked the first, a bald, rugged African man.

"That's right, I'm Goro Mizuno, but you can call me Shibumi," said Shibumi, who extended his hand for a handshake.

The African man shook Shibumi's hand. "Glad to meet you, I'm the man they know as 'Comrade Piotr.' It's just a misnomer to throw people off. My real name is Nassor Ghana and this is Sven. You're a very famous person around these parts, Shibumi."

"Yeah, so I've heard," chuckled Shibumi, mocking the AoA's ridiculous lies and how they portrayed him as a violent terrorist.

"I don't trust him. You're shaking the hand of the guy who bombed the Admin Centre!" objected Nassor's companion, Sven.

"Hey, that's just a load of propagandistic bullshit and everyone knows it," denounced Nassor. "Anyways, it's nice to have you on board. We could really use someone like you on our side. Who is the kid?"

"I'm Commander Akira Violet of the Black Sword Guard Team," replied Akira. "I may just look like a kid, but I'm probably older than you are!"

Nassor was surprised. "A Guard Tamer? Man, politics makes for strange bedfellows..."

"Great, we have a terrorist joining our ranks and now Guard Tamers?" asked Sven with indignation.

"I take it you're not too found of us," commented Akira.

"You bet! You guys are the enemy! You're attacked us back in our home world!" complained Sven.

"It is as much my world as it is yours!" retorted Akira. "Even with GAIA gone, you guys just made it worse by turning on each other! Now, you're causing trouble for Shibumi's world, or at least you were, until you turned against the AoA!"

Nassor was getting annoyed. "Okay, that's enough! Akira, we did NOT come to this place to invade Shibumi's world. We originally came because the Blight forced us to."

"The Blight? What do you mean?" asked Akira.

"The Blight had mutated for some reason," said Nassor. "It became self aware and began to multiply and attack the world. Many of our people died as we fought back, but it was all in vain. We could not drive it back. We feared the worse and so fled here."

Akira understood. "I see... I'll consult the Guard Tamers about this. Maybe they can find a way to help you."

Nassor nodded. "Yeah thanks, but right now, we need to take care of the AoA. Magami can't be allowed to advance his agenda at the people's expense any longer."

"So Magami's the ringleader..." muttered Shibumi.

"That's right," replied Nassor. "He came forward with the plan to create Digimon Online and evacuate here. We viewed him as our saviour, but his power got to his head and he is now urging for a war on the Real World. We now have a common enemy, Magami and his supporters. Consider us allies."

With their alliance formed, the Xuanwu resistance and the Guard Tamers continued their operations in the city in preparation for their eventual coup of the city. They discovered that a prominent AoA soldier, Lord Megadeath had been imprisoned in this city. He was there as punishment for disobeying an order to attack unarmed protestors. The resistance forces believed Megadeath would be favourable to their cause and an icon to incite further opposition against the AoA. They concocted a plan to break him out of his prison and recruit him.



****************************************

In the meantime, Megadeath's captors led him to prison in Xuanwu City. The transport truck pulled up to a checkpoint at the base of a massive defensive metal wall. This wall made Xuanwu City look more like a fort than a city. On this wall were several cannons with the largest being placed predominately at the centre. This central cannon was the city's long range artillery cannon. On the catwalks about, AoA guards and Digimon kept watch for any intruders. This was one prison he would not be escaping from.

Though many enemy combatants were locked up here, many political prisoners were kept here too. Xuanwu City held the chief prison for the AoA. Megadeath knew that there would be consequences for his actions. His crime was insubordination, or disobedience to your commanding officers, and carried a stiff penalty. It came as no surprise to have been found guilty in a court-martial. So, he was sentenced to the prisons of Xuanwu City.

The soldiers led him to massive penal facility at the far northern section of the city. Though Megadeath wanted to escape, his handcuffs prevented him from fighting his way free. He watched as his Hagurumon partners, trapped in confinement cubes, were carted off to another section of the prison. Megadeath himself was led to a section for human prisoners, and rudely tossed into his cell and sealed in by the guards.

Megadeath got to his feet and found he was not alone. A gruff unshaven man with unkempt brown hair shared the cell with him. "So what are you in for?" he asked.

"They dumped me here because I refused to shoot a crowd of protesters," replied Megadeath.

The man sighed. "Oh, you mean the Amaterasu protests? Man, did that ever turn out ugly... I'm Jack, nice to meet you." The man extended his hand and the two prisoners shook hands.

"I'm Lord Megadeath," replied Megadeath. "...Or rather I was Lord Megadeath until they put me here."

"Lord Megadeath, as in the AI soldier Megadeath? The same Megadeath who killed over a thousand Blight Spawn in a single battle?" asked Jack.

"It seems my reputation precedes me..." replied Megadeath.

"Wow! I'd never thought you'd wind up here... If you of all people are here, then we're really in big trouble!"

"How did you come to be here?"

"I was put in here for similar reasons as you. I was supposed to help quell a revolt in Zhuqiao city, but I refused. I couldn't bring myself to kill my own people, especially since all they wanted was freedom."

"I was there," noted Megadeath. "I helped quell that revolt."

"What made you refuse to attack the protestors?" asked Jack.

"I felt that was wrong. The crowd was protesting the AoA's actions non-violently, yet I was asked to attack them anyways. At that point, something inside me just snapped."

"So it seems like the Amaterasu massacre was the straw that finally broke the camel's back, right?" asked Jack.

Megadeath nodded. "After the Amaterasu massacre, I fear the violence will only get worse. More people are going to choose open, violent revolt and the AoA is going to crack down on dissent even harder."

"I hear you buddy," agreed Jack. "...But as long as we're here, we can't really do anything about it."

The two prisoners remained in jail for almost a week. During their stay, they were forced to work in mines as part of their debt to society. Occasionally, the two would get free time, and Jack would play football with the inmates, while Megadeath acted as referee. As they played, they were unaware that they were being spied upon with binoculars. Days went by uneventfully until the two received gifts from their sympathizers.

"Okay guys, we have gifts for you today," announced the guard as his comrades opened the cell.

Megadeath was handed a strawberry cake and Jack received a letter from his family. Jack read his letter as the two shared their desert. After finishing the cake, Jack was about to toss the foil away when he noted something odd about it. It had been folded over, as though to seal something inside. When he unfolded the foil, Jack found a note inside that was addressed to Megadeath. He picked it up and gave it to his buddy.

"To Megadeath: we are going to bust you out," read Megadeath.

"Who's busting you out?" asked Jack.

"I have no idea. The sender never put his name on it."

"How are they going to do that?" asked Jack. "This place is under heavy lock and guard. There's no way..."

Suddenly, the lights flickered off but moments later, only a few of them came on. From overhearing the guards' conversations over the radio, the prisoners discovered that the power had went out. This emergency caused the prison to switch to back-up power. Everything was fine and under control until an explosion rocked the prison. Megadeath and Jack looked outside to see a guard tower engulfed in flames. A rocket propelled grenade zinged towards a second guard tower and wiped it out.

"What's going?" asked Jack.

"It looks like they're trying to bust me out!" replied Megadeath over the noise and chaos.

"Man, it looks more like an assault rather than a jail break!" commented Jack, noting the immense force the attackers employed on the prison.

The alarm rang and guards scrambled for their weapons to repel the invaders. The sound of gunshots and smaller explosions could be heard elsewhere in the prison. In the basement, Guilmon ripped the ground open and a squad of Mekanorimon troops emerged from the hole. They walked on ahead and cleared out any guards that may be lurking in the prison. An unfortunate guard ran afoul of one of these powered armour Digimon. The Mekanorimon raised its Gatling gun and mowed the guard down swiftly.

One of the Mekanorimon eventually made its way to Megadeath's area. The guards hid behind a doorway and opened fire. The prisoners dove to the floor and covered their heads. The two sides alternated exchanging fire, but the Mekanorimon won out. Once the situation calmed down, Megadeath and Jack glanced at the markings on the Mekanorimon. Megadeath was surprised once he discovered who their rescuers were.

"Guard Tamers!" exclaimed Jack.

"Guard Tamers? What are they doing here?" Megadeath wondered.

The two heard a series of repeated beeps indicated that the integrity field around their cell door had gone down. The door popped open and the two came face to face with Nassor and his henchmen. They spirited Megadeath and Jack away from their cell and into the tunnel the Mekanorimon used to break in. As they left, the Xuanwu resistance leader declared their mission a success called a general retreat.

Outside, Kazu bragged about the shot he made on the towers. "Man, did you see that shot? I hit that tower dead in the center!"

"Okay, okay, we know you made a good shot!" said Esmeralda. "They've found Megadeath, so let's get out of here!"

The resistance forces fled the prison and returned to base with Megadeath and Jack in tow. "Why did you break me out of jail?" asked Megadeath.

"You're the one who can give people like us unparalleled legitimacy," replied Nassor. "At least that's in your case. In Jack's case, he pretty much came along for the ride."

"Yeah, forget old me. I'm not important at all!" complained an indignant Jack.

Sven chuckled. "We were under pressure and wanted to finish the mission quickly. As for you, Megadeath, we went to you because you were a high ranking member of the AoA. If you decided to rebel, your clout would send a strong message to the people."

"You're an icon to them," admitted Nassor. "Your defection would show that even those within the military do not agree with AoA policy. The Servers need someone like you on their side. We need you on our side. Please join us."

"Hmmm," mumbled Megadeath. "This is so sudden. I'll need to time to think about this..."

"Okay, we know this is a sudden thing to ask," said Nassor. "...But you can make a big difference. I hope you'll say 'yes.'"

Nassor and Sven left Megadeath and Jack alone in their room. "Well, Jack what are you going to do?"

"Personally, I'm leaning towards joining," admitted Jack. "I have a wife and two kids to think about. If I could make the world a better place for them, I'd do it."

"I don't have a wife and kids to motivate me like you do, Jack," admitted Megadeath.

"Yeah, but I'm sure you have your own reasons for what you do. You said you didn't want to attack the protesters. Why did you refuse? You knew you would be jailed for that. Why did you do it anyways?"

Jack's questions certainly got Megadeath thinking about his reasoning. Megadeath began to reminisce about quelling the Zhuqiao revolt and his objection to attack Amaterasu protestors. Eventually, his thoughts turned to the time he spent talking to Jack about why he refused to shoot the protestors. Megadeath knew that what the AoA did since coming to the Servers was wrong. The AoA's exodus to the Servers was to ensure their survival as a people. It was not meant to be a stepping stone towards Real World conquest.

Megadeath realized that Magami had corrupted the spirit of the AoA's exodus. A rush of patriotism filled him. "I refused because it was wrong. We came here because we wanted to keep our people and our culture alive. Our people have been conquerors for GAIA, and now Magami. Never again!"

"Well said!" exclaimed Jack.

Megadeath, now empowered by feelings of patriotism, called Nassor back and agreed to join. The news spread through the underground of Xuanwu City, starting a wave of patriotism which spread among those resisting the AoA. It served as a great morale booster and more people began to join the struggle. Megadeath came to be viewed as a figurehead for the revitalized movement. This was the dawn of the Megadeath Faction.