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Chapter 12: A Bold Strike

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'' Ma'am, you have an incoming message.''

Kassandra sighed and hit the reply button on her desk's intercom. '' I'll take it. No one is to disturb me while I'm taking it.''

She sat back in her chair as the hologram projector that was built into her desk activated. A two dimensional screen popped up, displaying a man and a girl. It took a second for recognition, but when it kicked in, Kassandra adopted the appropriate look of annoyance.

'' Kurohige, Chirol,'' she said coolly. '' Why have you called me, much less used my private line?''

'' Forgive us ma'am.'' Kurohige said, not daring to object at her not addressing him as 'Captain.' '' It's just that…''

'' We've received some new information about that rebel group!'' Chirol cut in.

'' Really.'' Kassandra said, looking skeptic. '' From whom?''

'' Um, the informant…'' Kurohige answered, looking nervous.

Kassandra instantly knew who he was referring to. '' And what did he say?''

'' He said that they would be leaving for Ironsould, on the southwest supply line.'' Chirol explained. '' We would like to ask for a second chance to fight them. He said that he was telling us this incase you wished for us to take action, as he won't have anything to do with us.''

What she really meant, thought Kassandra, was that they were desperate to improve their image after their last defeat, and had bugged the informant into giving them the info.

'' They soundly defeated you last time.'' she said, narrowing her eyes. '' How will this time be different?''

'' Well, this time…'' Kurohige began, searching for an answer.

'' This time we'll know what to expect!'' Chirol finished.

'' Fine.'' Kassandra said, eager to finish this conversation. '' But this time you'll be on your own. I'll instruct Lieutenant Dullaq not to help you in any way. If you fail again, I'll personally see you two transferred to the Sharo Enforcers Unit. There are plenty of low level rebel groups up there for you to fight, if you can stand the cold, that is!''

She hit the END TRANSMISSION button, and the screen vanished,

'' Kassy.''

Kassandra took out her PET. '' What is it Lunare?''

'' Why don't you send me to defeat those rebels? I can move freely throughout cyberspace, I could have it done in a matter of hours.''

Kassandra shook her head. '' We have more important things to work on. And besides, the informant would be livid if we interfered.''

'' Anyway, I have a new job for you. Go to the Archives and retrieve file A-03951. It is the same file that Yamoto gave me about the viruses the other day. I want to take another look at it.''

'' Very well Kassy.''

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Most of the Archives were open to the general public, but a large section of it was government access only. This particular file was deep within this restricted area, so Lunare was more than a little surprised to find two Heelnavis rummaging through the shelves of data disks.

'' Find anything we can sell for some quick cash?'' the first one asked his companion.

'' Hey! What are you doing here!''

The two purple navis jumped in alarm and whirled their saucer like heads around. '' Who are you lady!''

'' You should know who I am. I am Lunare.exe.'' Lunare said, giving the navis a piercing stare.

'' You're Lunare!'' one of them said in disbelief.

The other one leaned forward. '' I've never seen you before, but now that I have…''

'' I think you're kinda hot.'' he concluded.

Lunare could not believe that he would try to hit on her after being caught red handed doing something illegal. '' You dare to try to flatter me after trying to carry out high treason! You fools!''

The navis morphed their hands into cannons. '' Just try us Lunare! I don't like havin' ta delete women, but I've got no choice!''

They fired and their shots hit their marks, but when the explosion faded, Lunare was still standing there, completely unharmed.

'' What the hell?'' the first navi cried in disbelief, while the lovestruck one exclaimed,

'' Wow! Not only hot, but strong too!''

'' Lunare couldn't believe these two. '' You are pathetic. Consider it an honor to be deleted by myself.''

She held out her hand and a long, white spear appeared. At it's tip was a nasty looking blade, perfect for slashing or stabbing. She quickly dashed forward, cutting the two navis as she went, deleting them instantly. She didn't even have to use a special attack.

Immediately, the sound of running footsteps could be heard and a squad of Security Navis appeared from the end of the shelf row. The leader, who had the face of a male human, stopped dead when he saw Lunare. '' Uh, wh-what happened here Lunare-sama?'' he asked nervously. If he was human, he would've been sweating like a pig.

'' It seems that I have to speak to your supervisor about the security here.''

'' Umm, yes ma'am…''

Lunare turned to leave, but one of the navis screamed and was deleted. She turned to see white Dreambits advancing on the navis.

'' What the! How could viruses get into the Archives!'' The navi leader cried, opening fire as more Dreambits materialized.

Lunare quickly slashed through two of the nearest viri, but another one unleashed a volley of green lasers at her. Two of them made contact, both on her left side. One on her shoulder, the other beneath her breast. She noticed that the two lasers had left behind scorch marks, and were both stinging slightly.

That's odd… Viruses shouldn't be able to inflict damage on me… I'm too strong…

Another navi was deleted, jolting her back to reality. She sliced through another Dreambit, then raised her spear. '' Icicle Shower!''

Dagger like shards of ice rained down on the viri, pinning them to the floor and deleting them.

'' Th-thank you Lunare-sama.'' the leader navi said, looking visibly relieved.

'' How did viruses get in here?'' Lunare asked him, rubbing her shoulder more for effect as it didn't hurt anymore.

'' Uh… uh… I d-don't know Lunare-sama…''

'' Hmph. Looks like some changes will have to be made.'' Lunare told him with as much coolness that she could, as the battle rush was still going through her.

She turned and left the bewildered navis behind her. She passed by massive rows of data shelves until she reached row A. She walked down it until she found the file that she had been originally searching for. After pulling it from the shelf, she logged out.

But the virus crisis had only gotten worse. They had now managed to infiltrate the Archives, at the very heart of T-Corp. If something wasn't done, and soon, there would be no telling as to what could happen.

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Heelnavis were the generic evil navis from EXE3-5. I think they appeared in an episode of Stream.

Dreambit is the Japanese name for the Scuttler viruses in EXE2-3. They were spawned from the Dreamvirus. The Omega version in EXE3 was white, had a 200hp aura, and shot a green laser down one row.

Oh, and the Enforcers are T-Corp's version of Net Saviors. The Enforcers are a bit more harsh with their methods though.