Junior year is already turning into a living heck. Please review, go eat chocolate, listen to remixed MegaMan music at www (dot) ocremix (dot) org, and be happier than I am!

IIIIIIIIII Armory

Issen slinked along the armored building, searching for an opening. So far, the only way into the Armory was a locked door. His better judgment told him to search for other openings, but none were apparent on the ground floor. The roof however was a different matter. Using his double jump ability, Issen silently landed on the armory's roof and began his search for an alternate entrance. Clouds were gathering over the base, blocking out the moonlight and warning of the coming storm. Issen ignored this omen and, finding an open vent, made his way into the armory. The vent was extremely cramped, so much that his armored form would never fit inside.

'My designers were smart. They knew that infiltration would be a main part of my job, so they made my armor retractable. If I knew where they were I would probably thank them... But then again, they'd probably try to kill me.' Issen smirked. 'Too bad they'll never get a chance to do so.'

He stopped above a grating and looked into the room below. Apparently, a soldier was skipping out on guard duty and reading a book instead. Unfortunately, he had his back turned when Issen dropped through the ventilation shaft. All the guard was able to do was let out a muffled scream as Issen clamped his hand over his mouth and drained his energy. A nearby locker became the guard's new home.

The room Issen was in appeared to be a changing room for off-duty guards. Several AK-47s were lined up against the wall, along with a few winter coats and boots. Nothing of value however. Deciding to expand his search, Issen slowly opened the door, only to find a guard coming in. Once again, this guard was drained and placed in a locker.

'Okay, let's try this one more time.'

Issen turned the doorknob and pulled the door open again. Luckily, there wasn't a guard outside this time. Considering that he was on the second floor, it would only be reasonable to assume that more guards would be around eventually. Issen soon spotted a container of weapon energy capsules, or W.E.C.'s for short. He snagged a few and recharged his Plasma Shot before moving on.

He decided to move onto the main storage area, which was on the lower level of the Armory. Before he got far a guard was spotted on his sonar, and he was closing fast. Deciding to let this one stay awake, Issen cloaked himself and walked on. The guard didn't even bat an eye as the two passed. The stealth robot smirked as he entered the elevator, switching off his cloak as he punched the "1" button. There was a soft 'bing' noise as the doors closed.

There was another soft 'bing' as the elevator stopped. The first floor was more open, with fewer hallways than the second floor. In fact, there was enough room for six tanks on the first floor. There were only two at the time, as the rest of the Armory was covered in supplies. Several energy tanks were present, along with a large assortment of other weapons. He grabbed the energy tanks and left the arms where they were. He was getting tired of carrying the poncho under his arm, but rather than tossing it he grabbed a small backpack and packed it neatly inside. Several adjustments and the application of bullet proof body armor later the bag didn't make a single sound when Issen moved. He also grabbed two Chaff Grenades as an afterthought. Deciding that he had enough supplies, Issen slipped out the front door, unlocking it incase he had to return.

IIIIIIIIII

It had started snowing now. The wind was blowing even harder than before, taking visibility to almost nil. Issen switched to his thermal optics and pushed through the storm, making his way slowly, yet stealthily, toward the main command center. Several guards passed him, never even knowing he was there amidst the darkness and snow. Within a few minutes, Issen was inside the command center and finding a place to dry off in peace. The most accommodating place he could find was a broom closet, which could barely be called that. After a few minutes of drip drying, Issen used his sonar to check for guards and stepped out. He walked quietly down the halls, avoiding several security cameras by slipping underneath them.

Issen eventually reached the main control area, where two soldiers were stationed as sentries. Deciding to take the direct approach for once, Issen simply stepped out into the hall and blasted them in the face, knocking them out for at least an hour. He once again picked their pockets for loose change and stashed the currency in his backpack. Seeing that there wasn't a suitable place to hide the bodies in the immediate vicinity, Issen had to leave them in the open. Not that he really had a choice. Both guards wouldn't fit into the broom closet, and carrying them around would make WAY too much noise. He sighed quietly as he pushed onward. Leaving bodies lying around in the open was almost an invitation to take your head off and give it to your enemies.

Fortunately, the control area had no one in it and only one camera. The only problem with the camera was that it was positioned in such a way that Issen couldn't sneak past it. And as fate would have it, the base Commanders office was on the other side of the room.

'Well, this sucks. Wait, I grabbed some Chaff grenades back at the Armory. Problem solved.'

He smiled slightly as he pulled the pin on one of the grenades and tossed it near the camera. There was a thick booming sound that permeated the room as the grenade went off. With a small window of opportunity, Issen made a mad run for the other side of the room, foregoing any stealth tactics and simply using all the speed he could muster without using the boost technique. It worked, and the camera came back online just as Issen reached the Commanders office. Issen did a quick scan for alarms before picking the lock and entering the room. The office was Spartan in its furnishings, a desk and three chairs were the only real furniture. While Issen was by no means a judge of character, he decided that the Commander probably wasn't the greatest person to serve simply because of the intimidating office he kept.

The state of the Commanders office aside, Issen slid into his chair and turned on his computer. Several minutes of hacking later and Issen had full access to the Russian's plan to attack Egypt.

'So Egypt has been creating a new robot as well, and Russia wants to use GrenadeMan to destroy it. Sounds like a decent plan on paper, but they don't even really know how powerful this "MirageMan" really is. Besides, if Russia goes through with this it will start a war between the two countries. War means death for the people involved...'

Issen thought this over. His main programming was to spare as many humans as possible during his mission, but most of the related programming had been lost. Stuck in a moral dilemma for the very first time in his life, Issen decided that saving as many lives as possible should be his goal in every situation he found himself in. That settled, he searched for the date set to implement the plan. He gasped in surprise when he found the date.

'It's happening tonight! They're probably loading GrenadeMan right now. Screw stealth, I've got to hurry!'

Disregarding the bases advanced sensors, Issen powered up his busters and shunted the power to his boost system. There was a loud crash as he dash jumped through the door and into the control area. Several alarms were set off immediately, but Issen ignored them and continued on his high-speed journey out of the command center. With only ten minutes remaining until take-off, Issen used every speed skill he knew to get out of the building as fast as he could...

IIIIIIIIII

"Sir! We've got a hostile inside of the compound!" The soldier snapped to attention as the old general turned to him. "We've activated the robot regiment, but they won't be able to intercept it before it reaches the tarmac!"

The gruff man merely smirked as he pulled out a cigarette. "Well, we have two tanks sitting out here, don't we?"

"Yes sir! Those were scheduled to aid GrenadeMan in his fight, but we can use them to hold off the intruder! They don't have anti-beam armor however, Sir!"

"Oh well. All we need to do is hold him off, correct?"

"Yes sir!"

"Then get moving! I want those tanks primed and ready as of a minute ago!" The soldier didn't even wait to be dismissed. He had learned the hard way that you didn't wait when the general wanted speed.

IIIIIIIIII

Issen blazed through the ice storm, catching a lot of snow in the crevices of his body. It didn't matter however, as the snow buildup didn't slow him down in the least. His boost shut off just as he reached the flight-line, allowing him to deploy his armor and blades while surveying the aircraft being used for transport.

'A type 53-D long range "Jumper". Typically used to move supplies through extreme weather conditions, but it could easily be retrofitted to lift several tanks or a regiment of robots. There should be some light resistance here, but I can't... Holy--!!'

Issen dodged to the side as two tank shells pounded the spot where he had been standing. The blast knocked him to the side, causing him to land face first in the fresh snow. He quickly stood up, letting his blades swing into place and switching to his Plasma Shot settings. His final thought before charging into battle was a simple one.

'I hate Tanks.'

IIIIIIIIII

Just a quick little note, Chaff Grenades are used to momentarily disable electronics. While this affects most robots as well, Issen has special shielding built into this body to block such interference. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the little stealth/espionage action chapter. There will probably be a few more like this one later on, but don't expect this to turn into Metal Gear Solid (Even though I partially based Issen off of said games hero, Solid Snake). Well, that's it for now. Review please!