Wild ARMs: Last Ignition
Chapter 2 The ARMs Ranger
"OK Doctor Dyson…so let me run over this one more time" the young woman said "You want me to go to this old lab. To get you the data on the Gull Wing Class Plane. And the records of their research with the Aguelite and Germatron energy crystals and make it back out past the monsters. Is that right?"
"Yes Miss Quatermane" Dr. Miles Dyson replied "But the monsters shouldn't be too hard to handle"
Alexandria Quartermane. Or Alex as she preferred, stood at five foot six, her chestnut brown hair was tied in a loose ponytail, with grey eyes. She wore a pair of loose blue pants, a white T-shirt which showed her stomach, a black denim jean jacket with the sleeves rolled up, a pair of black leather walking boots, beneath her jacket Alex had a pair of shoulder holsters for her ARMs. And on her waist hung a two and a half foot long Gladius with a white leather bound hilt and a silver cross guard, with a silver disc at the base of the hilt. And around her waist she hung a bandoleer of bullets.
Alex frowned as she nodded "Alright Doc. As we agreed I'll take that Motor Cycle your working on" then she shouldered her pack and walked out of the lab "But the other half of my payment…I'll discuss that when I get back"
"That guy is weird Alex" a voice from inside the pack hanging down by her right waist said.
Alex brushed a strand of her chestnut brown hair out of her grey eyes as she nodded "I know Shiro. But money's money" then she checked her Revolver ARM in the holster under her left arm, the Bantorain 357R Peacemaker.
(A\N The ARM Virginia used in her right hand, only with a little more punch, and the gun is black instead of silver)
And holstered the weapon under her loose denim jacket. Then she tightened the straps of her black fingerless gloves. And started towards the lab Dr. Dyson had shown her on the map.
The facility was less than two hours walk from Dr Dyson's lab a half days travel from the Mining Town of White Rock.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was dark, musty, and it reeked.
"Yuck" Shiro yelled as the grey furred Wind Mouse, with a white belly and white fur at the tip of his tail hopped out of Alex's pack and onto her left shoulder "It smells like something died in here"
"Yeah…from what I heard in the bar back in White Rock" Alex said "somebody did"
"I don't like the sound of that Alex" Shiro said
"Neither did I" Alex said "But I have to kill the time till the excavation in Blue Ridge starts. And I may as well do it getting some money in the process"
Shiro nodded silently as he hopped back into Alex's pack.
Alex smiled as she reached into her back and brushed her hand along Shiro's belly as she grabbed her torch and attached it to a loop on her shoulder holster.
The shaft of light cast by the torch didn't help much. But it was enough.
Enough for her to see the bulbous form of an Ascomid monster floating towards her at high speed.
Alex drew her sword and rolled forwards under the creature, slashing it across the back as she came to her feet.
The attack caused a gash along the creatures back. But had little effect.
Alex glared at the creature as it came back around in an arc. In an instant she dropped her sword, drew the Peacemaker, and took aim.
The world around Alex seemed to slow down as she tracked the Ascomid.
And when she was sure of the shot. She fired.
The round struck the Ascomid dead centre and the creature dropped like a stone before disintegrating.
Alex sighed as she holstered her ARM and picked up her sword.
At the back of the chamber there was a sealed door. And next to it was a console.
As Alex approached the console she patted the side of her bag "Up and at'em Shiro. We got work to do"
Without a word Shiro climbed out of Alex's bag and hopped up to her shoulder. The console was still active. That puzzled Alex
As if feeling her confusion Shiro hopped down onto the console and said as he read the screen "It must be the EMMA Generator"
"EMMA Generator?" Alex asked
"Yeah" Shiro said "It uses the energy of the Aguelite and Germatron and forms an electromagnetic daisy chain that creates a stable energy field through perpetual motion"
"Oh" was Alex's simple reply. She didn't pretend to understand what her partner was talking about. ARMs and computers were one thing. But energy theorems were another matter entirely.
Alex sighed as she sheathed her sword and examined the console.
"We'll need to bypass the security protocols to get in" Shiro said as Alex ran her eyes over the console, Alex nodded silently as she began to type.
The computer system was old no doubt about it, but it was still a good system.
"Good but not uncrackable" she thought with a smirk as the console beeped and the door opened with a hydraulic hiss
Her smirk became a grin as Alex walked towards the door, a sword in her right hand as Shiro jumped into her bag a moment later.
The chamber beyond was a short passageway. Devoid of life.
As soon as she stepped into it the lights in the tunnel came on.
And a bolt of electricity shot out at her from a spot a short way down the path.
"Shit" Alex yelled as she jumped out of the way a split second before the bolt struck the floor where she was standing
With her sword in one hand and her revolver in the other, Alex inched her head out into the opening of the door.
And came back in just as quickly when a second bolt shot out
"Motion sensors" Shiro said as he came out of the bag
Alex nodded as an idea occurred to her and she moved to her knees and picked up a piece of discarded metal on the ground and threw it out into the tunnel and watched it to see where the electrical discharge was coming from.
A split second later she spotted it. A panel in the left wall slid down to reveal the offending machine. Just as it fired she aimed put a round into the mechanism. Blowing it up.
Alex smiled as the machine sizzled briefly before shutting down.
She holstered her ARM and moved towards the opening.
When Shiro stopped her.
"Hold on a sec Alex" the Wind Mouse said as he leapt onto her shoulder.
"What is it?" she asked
"Send something else down the passage first" Shiro said
Alex nodded as she picked up a rock next to her left boot and tossed it down the passage and waited.
"Nothing" Shiro said as he slid into Alex's pack
Alex nodded silently as she reloaded the spent rounds in her revolver and started slowly down the path.
Her eyes scanned the passage. Ready to turn back at the first sign of a trap.
"It looks clean so far Shiro" Alex said as she reached the door at the end.
Shiro remained silent as Alex pressed a button and the door slid open.
The room beyond was full of junk and rubble.
But at the back of the room she found her target. A computer terminal.
"Jackpot" she whispered as she sat down in front of the terminal and started it up.
As Alex waited for the system to boot up Shiro hopped out of her bag and onto the table next to the computer.
When the system was up Shiro began reciting the file directories Alex needed.
And within a few minutes the files were printed out and backed up on a disk.
Which Alex put in a side pack of her bag before leaving.
Alex smiled slightly as she stepped back into the sunlight. She felt as if the dirt and grime of the Lab was washed away by the cool breeze.
Shiro smiled as he hopped onto her shoulder and said "Let's go Alex. I wanna get the Quack his info and leave"
But before Alex could reply something above her roared.
She turned around to see a large golden scaled Dragon take off from the roof of the labs entrance.
"It's a Goldrake Alex" Shiro yelled as he dropped into her bag.
Alex nodded as she sheathed her sword knowing that she would never get close enough to hit the Dragon. And drew her ARMs.
She ducked quickly as the Goldrake swooped overhead then snapped her ARM up and fired two rounds.
But the creature dodged the shots and came back down for another run.
Alex cursed as she rolled under the attack and came up on her feet.
But before she could shoot Shiro yelled from the bag "Use the Lock On technique Alex"
Alex nodded as she stood her ground and took a deep breath. After a few moments a green glow surrounded her as she roared "LOCK ON" and a green crosshair appeared over her right eye and locked onto the Goldrake.
The world around her seemed to slow down as Alex's ARM tracked the Goldrakes path through the air.
As she tracked the creature crosshair the in her eye got smaller. First covering her iris, then her cornea. And then. She fired. The remaining four rounds in from gun flew towards the Goldrake. And hit it dead centre in the heart.
The creature convulsed briefly before dropping dead and dissolving.
Alex just stood for a moment. Her empty ARM aimed at the spot the Goldrake occupied a moment before.
"Alex?" Shiro asked
Alex blinked a few times before looking down at her partner.
"I'm OK Shiro" she said "Just a little disorientated, I'll be alright in a minute"
Shiro nodded as Alex reloaded her ARM and holstered it, then started back to Dyson's lab. All the while muttering darkly about what she was going to do to him.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SMACK
Dr. Dyson went flying back against the wall of his lab after Alex punched him.
"What the hell was that for?" he yelled as he held his jaw
Alex stalked towards the doctor. Trying to resist the urge to draw her sword and slash the old man to ribbons.
"That" she growled "Was for neglecting to mention that there was a damn Goldrake nesting in this area"
The doctor didn't say anything as he stood up.
But Alex did "3500 gella and the bike"
"2,500" Dyson countered "And I'll fix the bike whenever it needs fixing"
Alex glared at him and said "3,000 and you've got a deal"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A few hours later, after Doctor Dyson explained how the Bike worked and that it was powered by a crystal similar to Aguelite and Germatron. Alex took her money and rode out of the lab and into the evening light.
"Where are we going now Alex?" Shiro asked over the roar of the Motor Cycle's engine
"We'll head for White Rock for the night Shiro" Alex replied "Then tomorrow we'll head for Blue Ridge"
Shiro nodded as he looked up from inside the bag. To see a star shoot overhead.
"A good omen" he thought as he drifted off to sleep
Authors Notes: Not bad. Next time we meet the Pillar of the Guardians.