Ach. Sorry this took so long... and that it's shorter than the other two were.
Begin Chapter!
"Let me get this straight." Fefnir shook his head in disbelief. "This Ariel guy snatches your shuttle along with Alia and Ciel. And odds are that this nitwit has ties to the organization that raided Neo Arcadia…"
"But you can track them with this Cyber Elf of yours," Leviathan picked up the recap. "If you can patch into our satellite system."
"Which in turn would allow you to go and rescue Ciel, but also provide us with the location of our current enemies." Harpuia finished.
Zero just nodded the affirmative.
"Sounds like a plan to me." The Fire Guardian looked across at his allies. "We get a chance to show those Senators that we've got things under control and they get Ciel back. Let's go for it."
"Whoa, slow down there, Fighting." Leviathan chuckled nervously. "Things aren't that simple anymore. We can't just say 'this is what we're going to do, let's do it' we have to come up with some way of making this look legal."
"Looking legal won't do anymore." The Thunder Guardian sat down at the table, placed his elbows on the table, and then rested his head in his hands. "We have to come up with some way to make it legal. The Senators won't be fooled by our surface deceptions anymore…"
Fefnir and Leviathan looked at each other and sighed. Harpuia was correct as always.
"This isn't going to be easy." Fairy Leviathan shook her head.
1010101010101010101010101010
"This won't be easy." Alia moaned slightly. "If there are a dozen Mavericks out there, we'd be in big trouble if they found us."
"I know, we've got to do something quick." Ciel thought for a long moment.
Abruptly, the human blonde looked up and eyed her companion. "Have you ever flown a shuttle before?"
"Over one hundred and twenty years ago." The Reploid replied. "And that was your basic training model that all cadets had to learn back in… Hunter Training…"
A tear crept up in Alia's eye, abruptly she blinked it away. There were so many memories. There were so many faces… So many faces that she couldn't put a fate to… It was difficult for her, not knowing what had happened to her friends. People she had lived and fought for… and now she didn't even know how they had died…
She was one of the two lone survivors of a generation…
The blond Reploid shook her head in an effort to clear her mind. This wasn't the time or place to wax nostalgic.
"… is similar to our shuttles…" Ciel was saying. "If we reach the cockpit, I could do most of the flying… That might be our best chance."
"Right, let's go."
"Go where?"
Ceil and Alia froze as that all too familiar voice came through the air… Slowly they looked up to find none other than Ariel and three other goons standing a short distance away from them.
"Looks like I did bring back some bonuses after all." Ariel smirked. "A human and a Reploid… Not bad…"
Ciel leapt to her feet and turned to face their captor.
"You're that girl that was with the others," A smirk crept over the Maverick's face. "The one that that other Reploid saved… fate has a nasty sense of humor doesn't it?"
"It would have to," The blond woman shot back. "If it were to have spawned you."
Ariel merely chuckled as if he had been complimented.
"I take it that these two were with your targets." The tall purple Reploid standing behind Ariel, Vortex, muttered.
"Yes. Although I presently don't know why." The orange mechanical being replied. "But I figure that a few rounds in the Chamber would get her to explain everything."
"That would prove effective." Vortex nodded. "Being human, her resistance is nothing compared to ours…"
"You idiots seem to be forgetting something." Alia stepped forward so that she was standing just in front of Ciel. "Before you can do anything to us, you have to catch us."
Her statement immediately grabbed the attention of the Mavericks, who turned and stepped forward menacingly.
"Seems to me," Ariel snapped, "that we've already caught you. All that's left is to cart you away…"
"I disagree with that assessment." Alia's eyes hardened.
To this day, Ciel still couldn't figure out what had happened. It had occurred too fast for her to fullyfollow the following events.
Alia's right hand glowed for a split second and vanished, replaced instead with an instrument that looked remarkably like a centuries old Buster. Before the Mavericks could react to what was happening, the blonde had raised her weapon and unleashed a titanic burst of energy.
Left with no room to dodge the attack, Ariel and Vortex took the full force of the attack. The two were hurled backward into the rest of their allies.
"Ciel, GO!" Alia grabbed onto her companion and vaulted for the nearest window. Alia's hard metal body easily shattered the window and shielded Ciel from the leftover shards. Together they hit the hard ground outside of the shuttle and rolled over.
They were battered, bruised and weary, but for the moment, they were safe.
An extremely short moment.
Ciel worked her way to her knees and then she tensed as she heard an all-too-familiar sound behind her. The blonde threw herself over onto her back.
A plasma burst sped through the place where her heart had been a mere second ago.
Scrambling upright, Alia grabbed onto Ciel and helped her to her feet. The two glanced around and spotted a patch of forest a short distance away, without exchanging a word, the two turned and ran for the foliage.
"Get them!" Ariel leapt out of the shuttle and hit the ground. The next second he was on his feet and racing after the two fugitives.
He also had a new hole in his chest.
"GET THEM!" The orange Reploid demanded as he continued his chase.
He was soon joined by a flood of plasma bursts, laser fire and buster shots. All of them were aimed at Ciel and Alia.
1010101010101010101010101010101
"I'm sorry, Zero." Harpuia shook his head. "But until we can find some way of justifying this action, there is no affirmative answer that we can give you."
"We'll do everything we can." Leviathan shook her head sadly.
Fefnir just groaned and slammed his fist into the table. Being held underneath some else's control was not something that he particularly enjoyed, and their present situation was just plain torture.
"I understand." Zero stood upright and exchanged a quick handshake with Harpuia and Leviathan. "You know how to reach me when you decide. Until then…"
The Hunter turned and strode out into the corridor.
"Sage…" Fairy Leviathan turned to face her companions. "Isn't there any way we can help them?"
"It's doubtful." The Thunder Guardian placed his palms on the table top and stared at it's smooth surface. "Considering the restraints that the Senate has placed on our freedom… And I'm almost certain that the majority of the Senators are in Weil's pocket. The method that they used to circumvent the Limitations Statute and gave him almost dictatorial powers is a powerful argument for that idea... They would be certain to refuse any move that would aid the Resistance, no matter what benefits such a move would provide for us."
"I say we forget them." Fefnir growled. "We've seen that the Senators don't care about the general population. Forget them and do what's got to be done for the good of the people."
"He's got a point." Fairy nodded slowly. "Master X once violated a direct order to save a coastal town way back in the Maverick Wars."
The three Guardians fell silent, each one pondering the dilemma before them.
They never noticed the small spider-like being that turned and skittered across the ceiling and out into the hallway…
101010101010101010101010101010101
To one it was home.
To several it was a necessary evil.
To all it was a place of fear.
This place was the lair of the infamous Dr. Weil, deranged scientist, ex-banished criminal, and the current dictator of Neo Arcadia.
The human turned Reploid studied the flow of information working it's way across the bank of monitors along the southern wall. Each monitor was displaying a video feed of Zero's meeting with the Guardians, all of which had been dutifully recorded by the small 'bug' that Weil kept in constant watch of the Guardians.
"Most interesting…" The shadowy form of Weil muttered as he watched the conversation for the third time. "Almost fascinating. I knew that these cretins had sympathies for the rebellion. But for them to consider out-right defying Neo Arcadian law with no justification? It's almost amusing."
"However," The aged researcher turned and pondered the events of the previous days. "This could prove beneficial to me. And whoever these creatures are that attacked us, they must be fairly well organized- and until their motives are known, they could prove to be some threat…"
The man paused, considering his options and weighing his variables. Finally, he arrived at a single conclusion.
"Zen'an!" Weil turned and stared down the length of the corridor leading up to his room. Moments passed, and then a Reploid appeared in the distance. The Reploid was of medium height, a wiry build, yet obviously contained some measure of strength. He was composed of three colors. His forearms, chest, head and forelegs were gray, while the rest of his body was black. Silver rings marked off his upper arms, lower legs, and the sides of his chest.
"Yes, Master." The Reploid, Zen'an, stepped forward and dropped to his knees.
"Zen'an, I am in need of your particular skills." Weil commented. "I am concerned that as the Guardians might be tempted to provide aid to Resistance. You know as well as I do what this would mean to us."
"I do, Master."
"This cannot be allowed. You are to continually monitor the Guardian's actions and keep me informed on their actions. Do not reveal yourself unless you see something that presents and immediate threat to the Neo Arcadian empire or my power. You are allowed to do anything covert you deem necessary to slow or stop their actions, unless it involves killing them."
"Understood, Master. I will do so." Zen'an stood, then took advantage of his special powers to fade away from sight.
Weil cackled, then turned back to his other business… That peon Kraft was asking for direction again…
1010101010101010101010101010101
"Interesting…" Zen'an thought as he took another bound to stay within sight of his present target: Harpuia. Taking care not to hit the ground too hard since he didn't want the dust to betray his presence, the wiry Reploid touched down on all fours and took another leap.
The moving of the desert dust was the only thing that Zen'an had to worry about giving his position away. He was a stealth model, equipped with the absolute latest in cloaking technology. With his camouflage mode activated, he was completely invisible and undetectable. A fact which made it easy for him to fulfill his duty to follow Harpuia undetected.
Zen'an raised and eyebrow as he realized where the Thunder Guardian was going. He was headed straight for the Resistance base.
This was intriguing. Just what were the Guardians planning?
Zen'an slowed his movements as he pulled up to the side wall of the building. He would have to be much more careful now that there were others about.
The Reploid cocked his head, still following Harpuia's flight. The Thunder Guardian landed in front of the main entrance and waited.
"He's probably certain that the others noticed his arrival…" The wiry Reploid muttered. "And that they'll be certain to roll out the red carpet for him."
A few moments passed, and then Zen'an watched as the front entrance parted and slowly moved aside. Out of this new opening, the one Zen'an knew as Zero and another Reploid appeared and slowly walked towards the green Reploid.
"Zero, Cerveau." Harpuia nodded at the two.
"Harpuia." The Hunter returned the curt greeting. "Have you decided?"
"We decided long ago. But we've been stopped from lending our assistance due to the limitations placed on our official powers" The Thunder Guardian replied.
"So you've found a way around that?" The one known as Cerveau asked.
"Not yet. But we don't have the time to waste trying to discover a loophole. But we have hit upon a solution."
"And that is?"
"Cerveau." Harpuia glanced at the researcher. "What would it take for this Elf of yours to pinpoint Ciel's location?"
The Reploid stopped and pondered that idea for a long moment.
"About five minutes integration with the satellite network. " Cerveau slowly answered. "Five minutes with no restrictions."
"Five minutes, full access. That's all?"
"Yes, I'm fairly positive that he'd be able to lock onto her location after he leaves the system."
"Impressive." Harpuia genuinely looked awed at what they were saying. A moment passed as he regained his composure and continued the conversation. "I'm afraid that we cannot give you official clearance to the Sat Relay. But we've come to the unanimous conclusion that we must help you for the good of the Neo Arcadian citizens."
"You sure you want to do this?" Zero entered the discussion. "If your part in this is discovered, then it could be the end of you."
"We have discussed the matter thoroughly." The Thunder Guardian nodded once again. "We are in agreement."
"Cerveau, if you can create something that would cloak your elf's actions, we can get you access to the Sat Relay."
"I should be able to do that."
"Then it's settled. We're going to do this, for the good of the citizenry."
End Chapter!