Small authors note. For those of you who don't know, Sniper Joe is the enemy that carries a shield, grenades, and a buster in MegaMan 8 and 9 (AKA MegaMan and Bass). Since they're sort of military in nature, one would assume that the military has a lot on hand and uses them as cannon fodder. Also, anything in bold is Issen's data log. I'll try and keep that to a minimum. I only own Issen. MegaMan belongs to Capcom.
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Issen slashed another Sniper Joe in half, making his way closer to the door. More and more of the green robots seemed to be pouring in, each determined to destroy Issen. Many had scored hits on him, draining his energy to almost critical levels. Another Sniper Joe tried to attack him from behind, but Issen dropped to one knee and destroyed it with his hand-busters. Something else threw a computer at him, which was sliced in half before impact. The gorilla like robot that had tossed the computer at Issen bellowed and grabbed another, but Issen rushed it. Before it could even lift the computer, Issen's blades had made several slashes through it.
"Someone alert the Ride Armor team!!" Finally, some of the staff had gotten enough of their brains together to come up with a plan. One of the human guards looked down and reached for his radio, but a pair of dark green and silver boots distracted him.
"What the?! HE--!" Issen's hand wrapped around the guard's throat. In under a second he was out cold.
POWER DRAW SYSTEM TEST COMPLETE. ADDING ENERGY TO ARMOR. NOTE: CAN ONLY DRAW LIMITED AMOUTS FROM HUMANS BECAUSE OF ETHICS MODULE.
Issen smirked as his energy meter went up by a tiny bit. He began charging his busters as he returned his attention to the Sniper Joe's that were gathering around him. Just as his busters reached a full charge, he shunted it into his boost system.
'Here goes nothing...' Issen felt a rush of energy course through his systems. Using the added energy, Issen jumped against a wall and clung to it for a few seconds before starting to slide down. Realizing that he was descending, Issen kicked off the wall and flew over the gathering of Sniper Joes below him. He landed on the far side of the lab, near the very entrance he was trying to reach. He grinned as he dashed out the doorway. "Freedom."
Unfortunately for Issen, a Ride Armor was waiting outside. Its fist smashed down on him, leaving Issen in an imprint of himself. He tried to get up, but the ride armor took him into its hand and began crushing him.
WARNING! ARMOR ENERGY AT CRITICAL LEVELS! WARNING!
"As if I didn't already know that..." Issen ground his teeth as he felt several armor plates crack. The human guiding the Ride Armor grinned.
"Hah! Got ya now Issen! Say goodnight!"
The armor's grip tightened even further, and Issen's armor began to give...
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ProtoMan heard the sound of concrete being crushed from down the hall. The last Sniper Joe in his path was giving him trouble, but his charged buster put an end to it. Knowing that more would arrive soon, he quickly hurried on. He stopped at a corner and listened for enemies. He heard a human gloating over his success.
"Great, somebody already got their hands on the energy source. Guess I'll just have to stop him."
His buster fully charged again, ProtoMan stepped into the open and created a hole in the Ride Armor. The startled pilot struggled with the controls as it began to fall. Its hand opened, releasing Issen.
SYSTEMS CRITICAL. SHUTING DOWN... REBOOT IN T-20 HOURS.
The pilot of the armor jumped out to inspect the damage. Noticing a giant hole in the armor's gut, his face became one of extreme anger."My precious Ride Armor!! Who the heck fired that shot?!"
ProtoMan smirked. "I did. If you don't like it, why don't you come over here and do something about it?"
The pilot took a good look at ProtoMan before answering. "Oh... Crap. Umm... I'll just be going now..." He edged away slowly, and then broke into a full out run.
"Coward." ProtoMan suddenly noticed that the power signature he had been monitoring was extremely faint now. And extremely close as well. He jogged over to where Issen was napping. "Well-well, what do we have here?"
ProtoMan kicked him softly to make sure he was out. After waiting for a few seconds, ProtoMan made his decision.
"Dr. Cossack isn't going to be happy about this. Ah, but what do I care? Time to head back." ProtoMan hefted Issen onto his shoulder and teleported out of the bunker. Just after he left, several Ride Armors came pounding around the corner.
"General, it looks like we're too late. Issen and ProtoMan have escaped, and Wilson's RA is down."
"Find it! Find it now you idiots! If anyone outside our governments learns about it, the media will have an even bigger field day than when King attacked the Robotics Museum! You have three days to get Issen's location!"
"Yes sir! I'll order the deployment of every tactical team available!"
The general closed the link. "Our benefactor will NOT be happy about this..."
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Issen slowly opened his eyes. It was dark, but his eyes easily adapted to the lack of light.
SYSTEM DIAGNOSTIC COMPLETE.
ENERGY – 60%
ARMOR – 100%
WEAPON SYSTEMS – 100%
STEALTH SYSTEMS – 100%
His energy levels were not at maximum, but Issen knew it would suffice for the time being. He also noticed that his armor had been repaired. 'Where am I? Who repaired me? I require information again.'
It was snowing. His internal clock told him that only 18 of the 20 hours had passed. Someone had helped him. As he rose to his feet, a note fell off of his chest. "What the..." Issen kneeled and picked up the piece of paper. He read it in the hopes of gather information.
Issen, be careful. Dr. Wily and the governments that made you are trying to capture you. There's a good chance that when you wake up they'll be nearby. You'll find a poncho in a tree nearby that should protect you from the elements. It gets pretty cold in Russia so be careful, as the cold could damage your systems. Also, there's a Codec program on a disk inside the poncho. If you need to contact me, my frequency is 128.21 on your Codec.
--ProtoMan, AKA Blues.
PS: You have Dr. Cossack to thank for the repairs. Trust him, Dr. Light, MegaMan and Roll. Be suspicious of everyone else.
True to ProtoMan's words, the poncho and disk were only a few feet away. After uploading the Codec program, he decided to try on the poncho. Unfortunately, his blades and helmet spikes wouldn't allow him to wear it.
"Great. Plan B, deactivate armor."
Issen's blades folded up and merged with his arms, while the rest of his armor disappeared, leaving only the green-black suit underneath. His helmet disappeared entirely however, leaving a mess of red hair. This allowed him to wear the poncho now, but his defenses were severely weakened.
"Now what should I do?" Issen looked at his surrounding. According to his sensors, nothing was in the immediate area, but a group of robots were approaching from the south. "I could sneak past them, but who knows what's behind them? No, I'm better off going west."
With a set plan, Issen turned west and began his trek through the snow covered wastes. Slowly, a thought crossed his mind.
'I have no objectives other than escaping. After that, what do I do?'
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Issen is free, but how long will he remain so? Why is Dr. Wily after Issen and where is our wandering hero going? I might answer these questions if you review! Chocolate for all!
(Jounetsu Setsuna, the Japanese intro for RockMan X- Command Mission, plays as Windwingxs rides off on his make-believe horse. He is followed by an angry looking Issen, who is banging two coconut halves together.)