Disclaimer:
Toei and Bandai own Digimon. Bandai owns Digimon World 2 and Digimon World 3. This story was not written for profit.





Guard Tamer: Associates of Anarchy
By: RB3





Chapter 14: Orbital Weapon Gunslinger, part 1






The next day after the capture of Xuanwu, Akira and Darkfryer sat on the sofa in the lounge of the Central Office. "Hey Akira, watching the news?" asked Lillith.

"Yeah," replied Akira. "Would you like to watch too?"

"Sure!" replied Lillith as she jumped onto Akira's lap, surprising him.

The news moved to a female reporter covering the events in Xuanwu. "Violence gripped the streets of Xuanwu yesterday as Hypnos insurgents made its move for the Central Office. Fierce fighting resulted in the deaths of 50 AoA servicemen and 120 insurgents."

The scene on TV turned to a video of a wrecked humvee in the middle of the streets. "Cool, that's your bomb they're showing!" commented Darkfryer. Akira nodded in response.

Lillith chuckled. "Looks like you're a star, Akira!" She saw several of her dark nails hitting a humvee off to the side. "They even caught my nails hitting the humvee!"

"The AoA are massing in the North Sector to pacify the revolt in Xuanwu," continued the reporter. "We'll have more as the story breaks."

With their victory over the AoA, the Megadeath Faction had gained a strategic foothold in Amaterasu Server. The Faction began to beef up defences in preparation for further expansion. The Faction discussed their next move and had two places they could attack next; Amaterasu and Qinglong City of the East Sector. Qinglong was closer and hence easier to get to. On the other hand they could attack Amaterasu, and end the war instantly.

"Amaterasu would be too risky," said Nassor. "We'll need more troops before we can take over that place."

"So it's Qinglong then?" asked Shibumi.

"I guess," replied Nassor.

"How about this," began Akira. "While we take Qinglong, why don't we have someone get Baihu City too?"

"Hmmm," mumbled Nassor. "I see! You want to flank Amaterasu, right?"

"Exactly," replied Akira. "If we get both cities, it will deny the AoA places to run to once we start pounding them. We've got the North Sector and our land forces will block the Central Park and take the city."

"What about Zhuqiao City?" asked Sven. "What are you going to do if they attack us while we're busy with Amaterasu?"

"We'll have some people lurking in the ocean just for that," replied Akira. "Don't forget, Baihu City needs to cross the sea to get to Amaterasu. We'll just have some of their marine troops block Zhuqiao City's forces."

"Sounds like a plan," replied Megadeath. "Who's going to after the cities?"

"I was thinking I would go to Qinglong with Suzie, Shibumi, and Seiko. For Baihu, I want Takato, Rika, Henry, Jeri, and Esmeralda. Once we get there, don't attack the cities. Instead, set up a beachhead so we can operate there more freely."

"Wait a minute," said Takato. "Even though we've been in Asuka's West Sector, it will be different in Amaterasu. There might not be a Mirage Resistance for us to befriend."

"I know that," replied Akira. "...But you are the ones who know that area the best. You know where everything is. You five are the best ones for the job."

"YES!" cried Rika mentally, happy to be partnered with Takato.

"Lopmon, you heard that?" asked Suzie. "We're going to help Akiwa again!" Suzie hugged her partner out of joy, crushing Lopmon painfully in her arms.

"What will we do?" asked Kenta.

"Don't tell me we're on guard duty again..." moaned Kazu.

"Unfortunately yes, but this time, I think you'll get a little more action," replied Akira.

"Yeah, the AoA's not going to like the fact that we have one of their cities," added Shibumi. "They're going to want to get it back."

"You guys want to fight?" asked Nassor. Kazu and Kenta nodded affirmatively. "Well then, why don't you go help the border patrol? You're more likely to bump into the AoA out there instead of here in the city."

Kazu sighed. "If you put it that way..."

The next day, the teams began to equip themselves for their mission. Akira's team waved goodbye to Kazu's group as they boarded a helicopter bound for the East Sector. Soon after, Kazu's group saw Takato's group off as they entered a train departing for the Legendary Gym. Kazu's group boarded a helicopter which transferred them to a camp somewhere near the southern border of the North Sector.

The camp was snow covered compound with shelters for people to stay in. The camp had been constructed a short distance away from the mountains. One of the buildings had an antenna built on its roof which indicated it was a radio station. Another building housed the vehicles the inhabitants needed for their duties. The border guard compound changed ownership after the Faction captured Xuanwu City and the North Sector.

The helicopter touched down on a pad on the northeast area of the building and a German man greeted them. "Hello Nassor, what brings you out here?"

"I'm here to bring some new people to help out," replied Nassor. The leader of the Xuanwu resistance introduced the Tamers to the compound owner, Johan.

"Thanks Nassor, we really appreciate the help," said Johan.

"Okay kids, you're working for Johan now. I'm returning to Xuanwu now. Take care," said Nassor as he returned to his helicopter.

"Bye!" said the Tamers in unison.

Johan guided the Tamers on a tour of the camp's facilities and people. They were eventually shown to the rooms where they would be staying as part of the border guard. It wasn't long before they were asked to go on their first patrol along the border. Ryo drove a jeep-like snowmobile across the frozen wastes of the North Sector in search of any intruders. Kenta peered from out at the wastes from the rear of the snowmobile with his binoculars.

"Do you see anything Kenta?" asked Kazu.

"No, just ice and snow," replied Kenta.

The jeep continued along the ice and snow until they reached the mountains that separated the North Sector from the Central Sector. The mountains were beautiful sight to see and were the perfect place to set up a ski resort. Through his binoculars, Mako could see several people having fun while skiing down the slopes of the alps. He wanted to ski like the tourists were, but sadly, he had a job to do and he couldn't disappoint Johan. Mako continued to watch the skiers go down the hill until he heard a loud rumble coming from the mountain's top.

An avalanche of snow and rocks came sliding down the mountain side and terrified the skiers. Mako alerted the others, prompting Ryo to turn their vehicle around to the mountains. Cyberdramon, Guardromon, and Marine Angemon went out ahead to pull skiers out of harm's way. The skiers made a desperate attempt to escape but the mass of snow caught up and swallowed some of them whole. A young boy and his mother were about to be run over when Cyberdramon swooped in and snatched them out of harm's way.

The boy was crying, but his mother was grateful to have survived. "Thank you so much! You saved our lives!"

"No problem," replied Cyberdramon as he set the two aside in a safe location.

Guardromon landed beside Cyberdramon as he set a young couple he had saved gently on the ground. "Thanks a lot!" said the man.

"I'm glad I could be of service," replied Guardromon.

A heart-shaped blue bubble descended near them and popped, releasing the ski instructor inside. "You okay?" asked Marine Angemon as he flew up to the man.

"Yeah, I'm fine thanks to you," replied the ski instructor.

The avalanche had come and gone, but some people were still buried under the snow. The Tamers helped the other authorities search the missing people. They swept the mountain from bottom to top, calling for anyone who was trapped to respond. Ai and Mako heard a young woman calling to her who had been trapped within the snow. Impmon created a set of fireballs and melted the woman out.

After a thorough search, Ai and Mako discovered a group of mountain climbers trapped near the top of where the avalanche had deposited the snow. Impmon melted them out with his fireballs. Some of the climbers had suffered broken bones as a result of the avalanche. They needed medics to remove them by stretchers. The rest only had minor cuts and bruises which the medics treated on the spot with bandages. Ai decided to ask the leader, a Caucasian man with a black beard, about the avalanche.

"Do you know what made the snow come down?" asked Ai.

"Yeah," replied the leader. "I was climbing the mountain at the time. I drove my hook into the stone and then the next thing I knew, it cracked. I heard rumbling and then snow and rocks were coming down on us. I think I hit some kind of weak spot."

"Hey kids, great work!" called a familiar voice. It was Johan.

"Hi Johan, when did you get here?" asked Ryo.

"I heard about the avalanche and came to investigate," replied Johan. "I'm proud of you kids. It's your first day on the job and you've handled this emergency like pros."

"Ah, it was nothing," said Ryo.







The Baihu team made their way to south in their buggies to the target, Baihu City. They had entered the mountainous region that separated the North Sector from the West Sector. It would be a long trip, but the Xuanwu resistance had reduced their travel time by taking the Tamers most of the way west in helicopters. They couldn't go any further south for fear of being detected by AoA radar outposts. Once spotted, they'd be shot down instantly like the Tamers were in Asuka Server.

Though the dirt roads were wide enough for two lanes of traffic, the closeness of the mountains to each other was still inductive to claustrophobia. The buggies began to scale up the side of mountain and onto the roads that ran along the side. It was a very dangerous trip since the edge of the road had nothing to protect it. If they drove too fast, they would run right off the cliff. Fortunately, the rebels had trained the Tamers to drive safely, so they kept their speed to a manageable minimum.

It began to grow dark. "We need to find somewhere to stay for the night," remarked Rika.

Guilmon yawned. "Yeah, I'm tired Takato."

"How about that motel up ahead?" asked Renamon.

"Alright guys, we're going to stay in there for the night," said Takato as he drove the buggy. "We'll continue on our way the next day, okay?"

"Fine by me," replied Rika. Everyone else in Takato's buggy agreed.

Takato and Esmeralda's buggies pulled into the parking lot. Takato went up to the owner to rent out rooms for the night. Esmeralda opened up the buggies and began to perform some routine maintenance on them. Both vehicles had exhausted more than half of the energy in their power cells. She promptly proceeded to replace the cylindrical old cells with spares. The Tamers ate a nice dinner and went their separate ways for the night.

Takato leaned on the handrail to his room and looked out at the distant road. His thoughts were on how he became a Tamer and the events that happened after that fateful day. His life had changed in ways he couldn't even dream of before. As a Tamer, he had made epic journeys that were normally the stuff of myths and legends. He had fought many powerful foes with Guilmon and even thwarted the ambitions of a berserk computer program in the form of the D-Reaper.

Rika found the Red Tamer and began a conversation. "Hi Takato."

"Oh, hi Rika," replied Takato.

"What were you doing?"

"Oh, I was just thinking about how I became a Tamer," replied Takato. "Things have changed so much since that day."

"Uh huh," agreed Rika. "Whenever I look back, I can't believe that I was the same person now as I was then. I don't even recognize myself back then."

Takato stopped leaning on the rail and straightened himself. "Yeah, being a Tamer has changed every one of us."

"I know," replied Rika. "Uh Takato, I want talk to you about our 'date' at the pizzeria."

At this moment, Jeri walked up on the two without them noticing. Upon hearing about Rika mentioning a date at a pizzeria, she froze and eavesdropped on them. "Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful you invited me, but I'm still not sure what I feel," admitted Takato. "I feel like I'm cheating on Jeri by being with you..."

"Jeri told me there was nothing between the two of you. She said the two of you were just friends. It's not like she's your girlfriend..."

"I know but..."

Rika grew frustrated. "Forget about her! I'm the one for you Takato! Can't you see that? I've been there since the beginning. I've been there all the time. I was there when you first became a Tamer. Don't you remember?"

"I know. I haven't forgotten. You sicced Renamon on Guilmon and we got into this big argument over Digimon."

Rika chuckled. "Yeah, here I was, thinking Digimon were nothing but data. Meeting you really opened my eyes. I'd never thought I could care for something or anything like I do now."

Takato began to chuckle. "Man, Renamon nailed him good. You were a really good Tamer to have helped her get so strong."

"I was good then and I still am today," boasted Rika. "I'm even better today than I was back then!" Takato smiled as the old Rika was still inside of her. "Yeah, I'm still the Digimon Queen, but it's lonely being the Queen. I want a Digimon King and I want you to be that king, Takato..."

Rika clasped Takato's hand and pulled him in for a hug, making his face turn beet red. Oddly, even though she only thought of Takato as a friend, Jeri couldn't help but feel resentment towards him and Rika. "Jeri, did you check the power cells yet?" asked a distant voice, which turned out to be from Esmeralda.

Takato and Rika turned around to see Esmeralda. Unfortunately, they discovered that Jeri was there as well. "Jeri!" gasped Rika.

Takato went into paroxysms of shock, as though he had been caught red-handed while committing a crime. "How long have you been there?"

"Jeri, did you check the power... Oh!" remarked Esmeralda as she came upstairs to find Takato, Rika, and Jeri confronting each other.

Without saying a word, Jeri stormed off to her room. "Jeri, wait!" called Takato as he followed. The Orange Tamer slammed the door in Takato's face and locked it behind her.

"What was that about?" asked Esmeralda.

"Uh, very complicated..." replied Rika.

"Jeri, please open this door!" cried Takato. Jeri did not respond.

"So Rika, it seems like you snagged Takato after all, hmmm? From what I saw, it seems that you two were seeing each other behind Jeri's back."

"Wait a minute, it's not like that at all!" objected Rika. "It's not like Takato's cheating on Jeri with me. She told me she was just Takato's friend. They weren't going out so I saw no harm in trying to get closer to him."

"I see," muttered Esmeralda. "I guess she's just jealous that you made a move on him instead of her."

"So what do we do?" asked Takato. "I never had to deal with a jealous girl before."

"I'm don't know, Takato. I'm beginning to trying to hook you guys up at the party."

"You tried to hook us up at the party?" asked Takato.

"Yeah," replied Esmeralda. "Remember, the one in the Real World at Rika's house? I tried to get you to talk to her. I never expected that someone else would get jealous by you two getting together."

Takato began to puzzle out what had happened. "Are you saying you knew Rika loved me back then?" Esmeralda simply nodded. "Why am I always the last to know?"

"It's not your fault," said Rika. "This would have happened even if you didn't do anything. I don't think we could have avoided it even if wanted."

"Let Jeri have some time alone to think about it," advised Esmeralda. "Get some rest. We've still got some ways to go before we reach the West Sector."

"Yeah, maybe..." mumbled Rika. "Good night, Esmeralda."

"Good night to you too."

The Tamers turned in for the night and woke up early the next morning. They packed their belongings and resumed their journey to the West Sector. For the rest of the trip, Jeri remained largely quiet and distant, especially towards Rika and Takato. The buggies sped through the mountainous region until they came upon the Amaterasu version of the Dum Dum Factory. It looked like a good place to use as a base of operations for their mission in the West Sector.

The Dum Dum Factory was a massive automated complex built for the creation of munitions. The Tamers could see no one in the area nor hear anything that implied activity. The Dum Dum Factory seemed to be long abandoned as there were cobwebs on the windows. On its front courtyard was a prominent statue of a gear-like Digimon, Solarmon; a cousin of the Hagurumon species. Some of the teeth on the gears had been broken off and laid forgotten on the ground.

The Tamers turned on their exoskeletons and went inside. The factory's interior itself was sterile and ridden with cobwebs and rusted metal. Only the sunlight from the windows kept the factory lit. The Tamers chanced upon a conveyor belt that formed part of an assembly line. The engines for the conveyor belt were rusted beyond repair. They also posed a fire hazard as they were leaking gasoline onto the floor. The Tamers eventually made their way back to a control room.

The control room was very dark, so the Tamers switched to night vision in order to see. This room would have been a hi-tech centre for operating the factory if there weren't cobwebs and the screens weren't shattered. Esmeralda began to fiddle with the controls in an attempt to reactivate the power to the Dum Dum Factory. After much trial and error, she managed to restart auxiliary power, which was good enough to power the lights.

The Tamers switched off the night vision mode and proceeded deeper until a foul stench filled their noses. "Oh, pyuuuuu! What is that? It smells like something that came out of a toilet!" remarked Terriermon as he plugged his nose.

"Now I wish I couldn't smell things so good!" commented Guilmon.

"If we're going to use this place as a base, we'd better check that place out to make sure it's safe," said Henry.

The stench actually came from a sewer system underneath the Dum Dum Factory. The walkways were relatively thin, so it was too cumbersome to move about as a group. The Tamers decided to split up to move about more freely. Esmeralda and Amar explored the sewers for several minutes of found nothing of importance. As they passed by a drainage pipe, something disgusting struck Esmeralda in the back of the head!

"Oh shit!" groaned Esmeralda as she rubbed the back of her head. She felt something gooey on her armour and realized it was the pink feces from some animal.

Amar spotted his Tamer's attacker lurking in the drainage pipe and threw a fireball at him. The putrid water splashed as the attacker retreated deeper into the pipe. Amar rushed to the pipe in an attempt to reach in and grab the attacker. However, the annoying prankster was too fast and splashed dirty water onto Amar's face as he fled. As he cleaned his face, Amar was very displeased, but managed to catch a brief glimpse of the attacker before he got away. The attacker looked a green creature that had a gelatinous body.

"Do you know what attacked me?" asked Esmeralda, whose exoskeleton had disintegrated the feces by this point.

"No, but I think it was a Digimon of some kind," replied Amar. "It looked like a pile of green slime."

The other Tamers came in having heard the sound of Amar's fireball. "What happened? We heard the noise," said Takato.

"Something hit me from behind," warned Esmeralda. "Amar thinks it was a Digimon. Whatever it was, we have to find it, but be careful."

The group split up once again. Esmeralda and Amar combed through the hallways to find out what was lurking within the sewers. Minutes into their search, their attacker struck once again, plastering Amar in the side of the head with its pink feces. Amar was disgusted as he cleaned himself off. His disgust soon turned to rage once he spotted his attacker and gave pursuit. As Tamer and Digimon ran down the sewers, they took a good look at the attacker's back.

It was a green mass of living slime or some other type of mucus. On its back were several purple spots and on top was a pair of stalks for the creature's eyes. Esmeralda recognized it as a Numemon, a creature made out of slime. It was a filthy Digimon that lived in areas that were very unclean, such as the sewer she was exploring. It tended to use feces and other types of disgusting sludge as its primary method of attack.

"Don't let him get away!" cried Esmeralda.

Amar rounded the corner only to catch sight of a whole army of Numemon waiting around their corner. With those Digimon were their snail-like counterparts, the Shell Numemon. Their leader was Black King Numemon, a dark grey Shell Numemon with a moustache and a crown for its shell. Before Amar could react, Black King Numemon ordered his followers to attack. Amar was inundated by the flurry of sludge and shell fragments that flew at him. The junk hit him in the face, knocking him onto his back.

Once the fiery god got up, his anger made his body burst into flame. "That's it! No more Mr. Nice Guy!"

Amar promptly tossed a burst of flame at the Numemon, who immediately scattered out of terror. "What are you guys afraid of? There are only two of them!" called Black King Numemon.

The king's troops charged the fiery god, but he pummelled them with a series of haymakers. Others went after Esmeralda, who defended herself by shooting her attackers with her gun. The fallen Numemon kept piling up as Tamer and Digimon mowed them down. More and more Numemon and Shell Numemon charged at Esmeralda and Amar, but were promptly knocked out. The king watched as the last of his troops landed in a pile in front of him.

Black King Numemon became frightened as Amar and Esmeralda shot angry glares at him. "Uh, I surrender?"

"Why did your Numemon attack us?" asked Esmeralda.

"We heard some humans and Digimon had intruded on our home so we acted to protect ourselves."

"We're not here to take over your home, we just want to use in the factory above," said Amar.

"Why?" asked Black King Numemon.

"That depends, what do you think of the AoA?" asked Esmeralda. "Are you friends with them, or foes?"

"AoA? Who is the AoA?"

Esmeralda explained who the AoA were. "We're here to fight the AoA. We want to use the factory as a base from which to explore the area."

"Hmm, these AoA guys sound like trouble, and I don't want any more trouble. Humans have given us more trouble than we need.."

"Trouble?" asked Amar.

Black King Numemon sighed. "Yeah... Before, we could go to Baihu City's sewers and eat the sludge there whenever we want. Then, the humans came and closed off the tunnel that joined the two sewers together."

"Yeah, I can see why. Such a tunnel would be a security risk for Baihu City," observed Esmeralda.

"Aye, that's what they said when they began work," said Black King Numemon.

Esmeralda saw a great opportunity in the Numemon tunnel. "Why don't we make a deal? We can open the tunnel if, in exchange, you let us use it whenever we want ."

Black King Numemon thought hard about it. "Alright! Anything to be able to go back and taste the delicious sludge of Baihu City. You've got yourself a deal!"







Somewhere in orbit around Amaterasu Server was a great space station belonging to the AoA. It resembled a much larger version of a normal communications satellite. This metallic construct of the highest technology was known as "Gunslinger." Gunslinger functioned as an AoA orbital base as well as a communications satellite. It had a camera mounted on its body which provided a useful global positioning system for the AoA. Several mechanics in jumpsuits walked along the surfaces of Gunslinger to enact routine maintenance procedures.

Unlike in the Real World, the Digital World had different laws of physics. The Digital World's "outer space" was blue rather than black. This was due to the fact that the Digital World didn't actually have a true outer space at all. Since air was omnipresent, the AoA mechanics could work without wearing cumbersome space suits. Gravity was another oddity, as mechanics could walk on Gunslinger's underside and not fall off.

Inside the monolithic Gunslinger, Magami and a Vemmon were overseeing the last diagnostics on the space station. The AoA's engineers had just installed a powerful new weapon to Gunslinger and were finishing the last diagnostics on it. This weapon was known as the "Ragnarok Cannon" and was a product of AoA technical ingenuity. It was a mighty laser weapon meant for orbital bombardment of earthbound targets. The Ragnarok Cannon was a strategic weapon capable of demolishing large portions of an entire city.

It incorporated the Yuggoth program the AoA had stolen from Hypnos. It was the Yuggoth program gave the Ragnarok Cannon its destructive potential. The AoA wanted it ready to deploy as soon as possible after having suffered several military defeats. The fall of Asuka Server and now Xuanwu City proved to be a sore spot for Magami. It had incited many more people to rebel against his rule. Magami had taken enough and it was time for him to regain control of the situation.

"How long until the Ragnarok Cannon becomes fully operational?" asked Magami.

"In two hours," replied the chief technician. "All we need to do is run our last diagnostics and check ups before it becomes fully operational."

"Good," replied Magami.

The two hours elapsed and a faceless soldier came up to receive orders. "Sir, the Ragnarok Cannon is ready to fire. What are your orders?"

"The insurgents have been a thorn in my side for far too long. It's time we show them that their struggle has been in vain. Wipe out Xuanwu City; all of it!" replied Magami. "I want to see nothing of that city except ashes!"

"Yes sir!" said the officer before he went away to radio the bridge. "All hands, commence primary ignition. This is not a drill! I repeat, this is not a drill!"

A red alert sounded to warn the crew, filling the halls of Gunslinger with flashing crimson light. The soldiers initiated the firing procedures for the Ragnarok Cannon with utmost speed and efficiency. The Ragnarok Cannon's energy banks filled as the crew ramped up the output of their power core. Gunslinger's gravity thrusters propelled the space station until it entered synchronous orbit over the arctic city of Xuanwu.

Magami made his way to the bridge to oversee the last steps of the firing procedure. Through the glass window, he could see all of Amaterasu Server. "Sir, we're standing by. We will fire on your command," greeted a faceless officer.

"Fire!" ordered Magami.

Immediately, a huge azure beam of coherent light burst out of the Ragnarok Cannon. The beam cut through the air as it descended onto Amaterasu Server's surface. The energy incinerated an entire neighbourhood in Xuanwu, triggering a massive outburst of panic and chaos. The citizens fled for their lives as the column of light moved across the city, annihilating everything that got into its way. Wherever the light went, it left nothing but fire and charred earth behind.

Nassor and Megadeath looked out the Central Office and quickly fled once they spotted the column heading their way. They and the other Xuanwu resistance members poured out of the building in terror. The column devoured a hapless soldier completely, disintegrating him into nothingness. The Central Office collapsed with a crunch and burst into flame as the column through it. When all was said and done, only a few small fires and blackened earth remained of what was once the Central Office.