Sorry about this chapter taking so long, but I have never been satisfied with it (I'm still not, but...). It was fairly obvious from my reviews that my characterization of a couple of characters was way off, and so I attempted to set that right here. I also had a lot of wrinkles to iron out of Ariel's character since I didn't want him to be the standard 'I-do-evil-because-it's-evil' villian.
Begin Chapter!
"Are you sure that you're up to this?" Ciel studied the rebuilt Reploid standing before her.
"I am." Alia replied with conviction. "Cerveau's almost completely refurbished me, and if you're going to the South Continent then you'll need someone who can speak their language since it's different from Basic. I used to be a Navigator, and as such I'm fluent in all of the world's dialects."
"I just don't want you to push yourself too hard too fast." The blond woman replied. "You've been through a lot in the past few years… No one would blame you if you spent some time recuperating."
"Don't worry, I'll be fine." The Reploid countered. "And you'll need me."
Ciel sighed in defeat. "All right. We'll be leaving in about two hours…"
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To say that Ariel was skilled in the art of Ride Armor combat was an understatement. The truth of the matter was that the guy was the best of the best, and he knew it. When he was wasn't rubbing that fact into everyone's faces, or writing short fictional works that stank worse than the unknown goop that had been in the fridge for who knows how long, he could be found working on his Ride Armor. The guy was fanatical about keeping it in prime condition.
That was were Ariel was now, flat on his back in the Delta Ride Armor Core East Hanger, tweaking the jet thrusters on his Armor.
He could almost taste the thrill of the fight again. Until their little attack on the city of Neo Arcadia, he'd forgotten just how good the thrill of combat felt.
It irked him slightly that he'd been ordered to retreat when the Guardians had discovered their only weak point, but he could live with it. It would make the thrill of revenge that much greater.
A sound grabbed Ariel's attention. Turning his head, the orange Reploid's green eyes spotted one of the limited-AI robots scurrying across the floor towards him. The tank-like messenger chugged to a stop beside the Ride Armor, and proceeded to speak in a mechanical, poorly synthesized voice.
"The Master wants to know how long until you will be ready to launch the assault." The robot said.
"You'd think that 'The Master' would understand that I just lost four-fifths of my assault team." Ariel growled. "I'm the only one left, it's going to take me a while to make sure I've got the needed firepower for this mission."
"Time is not something that we have in abundance."
"I know that." The orange Reploid hissed. "I'll be ready to launch by nightfall. The target isn't that far away, I'll make it there in plenty of time."
"If you fail-"
"When have I ever failed?" Ariel grabbed a nearby screwdriver and momentarily considered hurling it at the annoying robot. "I won't disappoint your precious Master. Not again. And you can tell him that odds are I'll be bringing back a couple of bonuses for his pleasure…"
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"They're on course and on their way." Burgan turned from his screen to face Clio. "This is it, the point of no return…"
"We passed that point weeks ago." Clio muttered as she sat down in the chair beside her companion. "I just hope that we're doing the right thing."
"That we are," The man replied. "Going to the Resistance is the only thing we can do."
"Here's hoping." The woman stood and headed towards the doorway. "How long until they arrive?"
"Approximately two hours."
"Glad to hear that."
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A smirk danced across Ariel's lips as he slid into his Ride Armor and closed the hatch. With a flick of a few switches, the beast he was in came to life and rose off of the ground.
Ah, yes, combat… fighting, the power one had on the battlefield… soon he would be enjoying all of that again.
Fingering the com switch, Ariel spoke into his mike. "I'm ready, report."
The Operator's voice came back over the link. "Put simply: Search and Destroy. Anything you come across is a target of opportunity. Nothing is to be left standing."
"That's all I needed to hear." The Reploid muttered. Relying on Artificial Intelligence units to pilot his Armor was unreliable, and no one knew just how effective that they really were until they were put to the test. Therefore, Ariel spent several moments triple checking the guidance and propulsion systems.
At last, everything was in readiness.
"Let's get this party started!" The Reploid activated the booster units on the back of his Ride Armor, and savored the moment of lift-off. Soon he was rocketing through the air towards his target...
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Alia glanced over her shoulder, studying the figure known as Zero. For the past few days, as well as most of the shuttle flight, Zero had kept his distance from her. That in itself wasn't unusual, even back before he vanished the crimson warrior had been distant from and cold towards most people.
But the fact that he hadn't approached her about his past was unnerving. It had been a running joke back at the old HQ about Zero's lack of emotion- but could that joke actually have a grain of true? Did he even care about, or want to know his past? If not, what kind of creature was he?
The gently thump of the shuttled touching down on the runway brought Alia out of her reverie.
"We're here." Dande hauled himself out of the cockpit and worked his way back to the shuttle's stomach. Upon his arrival he immediately opened the side doorway and extended the stairway ramps.
Ciel and Alia removed their individual seat-belts, while Zero just let go of his handhold on the wall. Together the quartet of allies made their way down the boarding ramps and to the ground below and took in their new surroundings.
The island was completely barren- no growth of vegetation, no houses or buildings. It was just a drop of desert in a bucket of water. The only thing even remotely resembling civilization was the large black house-like structure a few feet away from them.
A door broke away from the rest of the warehouse's frame, and dropped down to form a bridge between the ground and the building.
Subconsciously, Zero's hand moved to rest on the hilt of his Saber as he watched two figures appear in the doorway.
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Passy hovered in her usual place, just over and behind Ciel's shoulder, as she watched the events of the meeting unfold. Two humans, one male and one female were stepping out of the hovercraft and heading down the stairs towards the group of Resistance members.
The female, Clio, if Passy remembered right, approached Ciel and spoke to them in Basic. "Welcome, you're Ciel, I presume."
"Yes." The blond scientist nodded.
"I'm Clio, and this is my partner, Burgan." The woman gestured to her partner. "We're glad that you decided to take us up on your offer, we believe in your cause."
"We can always use peaceful support." Ciel replied diplomatically.
"Which we are happy to provide." Clio in turn replied. "I apologize for asking you to come all this way by shuttle, but it was necessary for security reasons."
"We understand." The blonde replied, although there was just a hint of bewilderment in her voice.
"If you'll join us, we'll show you where the supplies are." Burgan spoke up for the first time. While he was speaking, he started moving back up the steps as if certain that they would accept the offer- truth be told, they didn't have much choice, if they didn't accept then they'd lose the offer of supplies.
Passy watched Ciel and the others share a look, before turning and heading for the boarding ramp. The pink sprite shot a look at Merge, who just shrugged and continued to tag along after Zero.''
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A wicked grin danced over Ariel's mouth. He was almost there.
The pilot checked his instruments, so far he was on course and on time. In a few minutes he would be ready to go.
With a flick of his favorite red switch. The Reploid dropped the Ride Armor's main weapons into their combat positions.
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"Computer equipment, cybernetics, spare parts, even foodstuffs…" Dande trailed behind Zero, glancing about in amazement. "Is there anything you don't have here?"
"This is just the tip of the iceberg…" Burgan smiled coyly as he headed deeper into the building. "There's much more ahead."
"I really didn't expect this much." Ciel, positioned right beside Dande, looked about in awe. "How are we going to get this all back to the base?"
"We'll find a way." Clio replied, hastening her steps to catch up to her partner. "We always find a way to do what we want."
Ciel and Alia traded a nervous look at those words.
"Maybe we should start loading these supplies into the shuttle." Burgan muttered, "That way we'll have a fair idea of just how much of this stuff we'll have to arrange other means of transportation for."
"Sounds good to me." The man's partner nodded.
Without waiting for a reply, Burgan snatched up a fair sized crate and began hauling it towards the exit door.
Dande shrugged in a bewildered fashion, and then selected a crate. Easily heaving the large container over his head, the Reploid carried it out the door.
Zero stood still for a moment, something about this entire situation was bothering him. There was an undercurrent of… secrecy behind the two humans, but he couldn't quite put his finger on concrete evidence to back his uneasiness.
While the crimson hunter was lost in his thoughts, Alia had also pulled out a crate and had begun taking it to the shuttle.
Deciding that it was best to get done and get out of here, Zero grabbed the largest container he could find and carried it out the door, just a Burgan reentered the warehouse.
The trio of Resistance Allies were completely unprepared for what happened next.
The instant that Zero had stepped outside of the building, Burgan spun around and sent his left palm flying into the switch that rested beside the door. Instantly the doorway retracted from the ground and snapped back up into place- sealing Zero, Dande, and Alia outside of the building and Burgan, Clio, and Ciel inside.
Ciel's breath stopped in her throat as she realized that she was trapped inside of a foreign building with two complete strangers. Two complete strangers that had apparently planned to separate her from her friends from the very beginning.
"What- Why did you do that?"
"We're sorry, we really are." Clio circled around to place herself directly behind the blond researcher, trapping Ciel between herself and Burgan. "We don't want to do this, but we don't have any choice in the matter."
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"What-?" Alia stared up at the closed doorway in bewilderment. "Zero, Dande, we might have a problem."
Dande hastily set his crate on the ground, then rushed over to the female Reploid to assess the situation.
Zero just tossed his box aside, not caring that it shattered upon contact with the ground, and dashed over to the other two, mentally berating himself over leaving Ciel alone.
"Why'd they lock us out? We've got to get in there!" Dande reached out and ran his hands over the doorway in an effort to find some way to open the portal. Pushing and pulling on any available outcropping in the wall produced no result. In desperation, he even tried to ram his right hand through the door.
The Reploid jerked his hand away from the wall and cradled it with his left hand. Dande's entire body was shaking from the pain racing through his limb. "Ow…. Ow… Ow!"
Trying to hide her disbelief over Dande's incredibly stupid stunt, Alia put her hands on the Reploid's shoulders to comfort him. "Be careful, Dande, you might have damaged that hand more than you think."
"That's the second time I've done this…" The green-clad Reploid admitted sheepishly.
A sharp roar filled the air.
Zero's head snapped around, tracing the sound of the noise. Off in the distance, but closing in fast, was a dark spot in the sky. The Hunter strained his visual sensors, trying to find out what the thing was. In a few minutes, he had his answer. A single Ride Armor was approaching the warehouse. And that could only mean one thing: trouble.
A split second later the approaching Ride Armor had swooped in and crashed straight through the warehouse wall, and disappeared inside.
"Get back in the shuttle." The crimson warrior's voice left no room for Alia or Dande to argue. "Have it ready to go, I'm going after Ciel."
Dande and Alia nodded in agreement, not having any better ideas, and rushed off to carry out the order.
"All right, Cerveau," Zero turned back to the closed doorway. "Let's put these Knuckles to the test…"
Zero exploded into motion, racing towards the closed door. With a battle cry, he sent his right hand slamming into the door's metal surface.
For a long moment, nothing happened. The Hunter just stood there with his right hand braced against the doorway.
And then the metal door screamed as it tore free from it's hinges and dropped backward into the warehouse.
"Oh, sure," Dande groaned, disbelief filling his voice. " the door opens for him."
Without another word, the Hunter plunged into the building.
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"What are you two going to do?" Ciel swept her gaze from Burgan to Clio.
"Ciel, listen to me." With that statement, Clio seemed to become less… eccentric… and more of a human being. "We have to talk to you- and you only."
"There are human lives on the line," Burgan spoke up, also dropping his strange persona. "And you're the only one that can save them."
"If you needed to tell me about this, why not send a transmission?" The blond scientist leveled her gaze at the other two. "Why separate me and the others and then trap me here?"
"Because transmissions can be intercepted, but there's another factor you have to consider." Burgan muttered, uneasily, "We couldn't risk involving the Reploids, there was a very likely chance that they would have sided with the others."
"What others? Wait, you mean that Zero wouldn't fight to protect humans as well as Reploids?" Ciel couldn't help herself, she involuntary raised one eyebrow in puzzlement. She knew Zero- in all of his battles he'd never taken a human life. And on more than one occasion he had gone out of his way to protect them. The idea that he wouldn't defend humanity was absurd- he had been a Hunter in his past life, it was his duty to protect mankind.
"There is a chance." Clio nodded. "But if action isn't taken, the attack on Neo Arcadia will look like a picnic by this time next month… And we need your help to stop that from happening."
"What are you talking about?"
"It's like this, Laguz Island- AUGH!"
Ciel screamed and dropped to her knees, shielding her head with her hands as Burgan collapsed to the floor- dead. A round of plasma fire had come out of nowhere and ripped into the man.
"Burgan, BURGAN!" Clio rushed over to her partner and dropped to her knees. Any hope of finding a sign of life was quickly lost when she saw the extent of the damage.
"Humans…" A strange voice shot through the air- followed by several rounds of plasma.
Clio slumped to the floor.
Ciel looked up, tracing the path of her attacker's voice. It lead to a large mechanical contraption, a Ride Armor if she wasn't mistaken.
"I never did like making my kills that way…" The domed section of the Ride Armor parted, allowing a slender orange Reploid to emerge from the mechanical body. "It takes all of the personal satisfaction out of it."
"Who are you?"
"Me?" The Reploid indicated himself by touching his chest. "I'm Ariel, of the Nation Delta. It seems fitting that you should know that."
"And you killed Clio and Burgan… and you feel no remorse over that." Ciel couldn't believe this… thing… in front of her.
"I really don't feel like going into yet another metaphysical discussion over that point." Ariel shrugged. "I've had too many of them in my life as is. But since I'm in a good mood, I'll give you a fighting chance at escaping me."
The blond human blinked, still struggling to accept her present situation as real.
"I never liked easy kills, so I'll give you to the count of five before I come after you." The Reploid produced a small dagger. "That way it gives me a bigger thrill and gives you a chance at freedom."
"You're insane."
"Maybe. One."
To Ciel, it felt like she was in a dream. She had no choice but to run, even though she knew that she'd never get far enough away to escape before the Reploid finished his countdown.
"Two."
She bolted, rushing madly down the hallway.
"Three."
It was hopeless, she just wasn't fast enough...
"Four."
Ciel felt her muscles instinctively tightening, bracing themselves for the fatal blow that was sure to come.
"Five. Pity, this won't be as satisfying as I'd hoped."
Ciel looked over her shoulder, to find Ariel's dagger sailing through the air towards her back. This was it, the end… if she had time to reflect on the situation, she might have found it strangely ironic to have been killed by a Maverick Reploid.
Nothing could save her now…
Nothing except a rotating green shield that whipped past Ciel's shoulder and curved around behind her. The disk easily caught the flying dagger and sent it harmlessly pinging off to one side.
The shield raced back down the hallway, where it was retrieved by a familiar red-clad Reploid.
"Zero!" Ciel couldn't help herself, she screamed the name of her protector as reached the crimson warrior. "Thank you…"
"Don't mention it." The Hunter kept his eyes trained on the orange Reploid just down the hall. "But you should get out of here. This is going to get ugly."
"My, my, maybe this will be interesting after all." Ariel studied the newcomer. "The little blonde didn't mention that she had a bodyguard."
By this time, Zero had already assessed the situation. It was plain to see that this Reploid before him was a killer.
"Shall we?" Ariel reached behind his back, and pulled another dagger from his belt.
"If you want to die." The crimson warrior ignited his Saber. "I have no mercy for the likes of you."
"That's a chance I'm willing to take." The orange Reploid smirked, and then rushed at Zero, his dagger sweeping through the air towards the Hunter's head.
The Hunter flicked his Saber up and easily deflected the dagger's assault. However, what happened next caught him by surprise. Using the momentum of his forward slash, Ariel leapt upward and went into a high roundhouse kick that connected solidly with Zero's head.
As the crimson warrior's head rocked backward from the force of the attack, the orange Reploid went into another mid-air twist and sent his other foot rocketing into Zero's stomach.
The Hunter went flying backward and slammed into the unyielding floor.
"Interesting." Ariel folded his arms over his chest and studied his opponent.
Zero grunted and then snapped his legs underneath him. Pushing off from the floor, the crimson warrior shot forward, his blade pointed forward to impale his opponent.
"Brute force won't work against me." The Reploid chuckled as he slipped to one side, allowing Zero to explode past him without landing a hit. Instantly, the orange Reploid launched into another devastating kick, timed to strike his opponent in the back of the neck.
Ariel's attack met nothing but empty air. Zero was gone.
"What the-?" For several long moments, the Maverick glanced about, trying to figure out just where his opponent had gone.
Ariel sensed a burst of movement behind him. Instantly he leapt into the air, as a result Zero's blade missed completely.
"Well, well, looks like I underestimated you." The orange Reploid muttered.
"You did." A light grin passed over Zero's lips.
And then a wall of heat, flame, and debris shot through the hallway, and around the two Reploids.
"What?" Ariel instinctively snapped around to brace himself and cover his head with his arms.
"That," Zero hadn't budged from his previous ram-rod straight position. "was your Ride Armor."
Ariel's stared at his opponent for a long moment, as if it was taking an extra moment for his brain to comprehend the meaning of that statement.
"You destroyed… my Ride Armor…"
"I did." The Hunter flicked his blade into existence and rushed forward at his opponent. "And you're next."
"I'll kill you for that." The orange Reploid drew yet another dagger from his belt. "No one messes with my Ride Armor."
With a flick of his wrist, the Maverick sent the dagger flying through the air at Zero. The Hunter merely swiped his blade and cleaved the knife in two, forcing the orange Reploid to perform a high leap to avoid sharing the same fate as his dagger.
"It's your lucky day." Ariel commented, as he landed on the ground. "Very lucky. Delta has just recalled me, and since I have to make other travel arrangements since you destroyed my Ride, your demise will have to wait until another time. But mark my words, Zero, I will kill you for what you've done today."
The crimson warrior didn't reply, he just raced down the hallway after the retreating Maverick.
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"Come on, Zero…" Dande stared out of the shuttle's cockpit at the warehouse, waiting for some sign of the hero's return. He didn't doubt that the Hunter would succeed, ever since Zero had rescued several of his friends from Neo Arcadia, Dande had complete trust in the warrior.
Still, he couldn't help but feel antsy.
"Zero, you can do it."
"I disagree with that assessment."
Dande's eyes widened in disbelief. According to the reflection in the front window, there was a strange orange and yellow Reploid standing just behind him.
Two things tipped Dande off that this new Reploid wasn't friendly. The evil glint in his eyes, and the knife that the newcomer had poised over Dande's throat.
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A wash of heat and exhaust greeted Zero as he exploded out of the warehouse. Shielding his eyes with his free hand, the Hunter tried to find the source of the commotion.
It was coming from the Resistance's shuttle.
The crimson warrior watched as the aircraft leapt off of the ground and shot straight up into the air as the pilot activated the vertical thrusters. A split second later, it was racing off into the horizon with it's passengers.
Puzzled, Zero's eyes flicked about the area- and landed on a severely beaten Dande.
The warrior raced to the Reploid, and knelt to examine the wounds that Dande had suffered. Although he had seen years of bloodshed and killing, he couldn't help but be taken back by the wounds inflicted on Dande.
"Zero-!" Dande's voice was so weak that Zero had to move in close to hear him. "Don't worry… about me… Ciel, Alia, on shuttle… with Ariel!"
End Chapter!
Next: Elemental Allies!