Disclaimer: I do not own Megaman Battle Network or any related properties. Capcom does. All other characters are the heroic property of the Chaos Coalition.
Author's Note: I certainly hope that last week's installment didn't surprise anyone too badly. If so, I feel that I should warn you now that more plot twists are coming, some sooner than you think. In addition, over the course of this chapter and the next, time will pass much more quickly, to allow for a reasonable delay between crisises. Enjoy!
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Matthias sighed as he unlocked the door to his apartment. Shroud's appeal was going quite badly, and it looked as though he and the others would not be able to overturn his prior conviction for the murder of Dr. Hikari. Unlike his previous trial, they were attempting to work alone, rather than through a lawyer. They hadn't been allowed to mention certain aspects of the Chaos Union to someone who didn't work for the government, but speaking of it directly to the judges and the Attorney General was permitted. It wasn't helping, but it was permitted. At any rate, it would soon be over, either way, and then the only remnant of the Chaos Union would be his wife, Alysse.
He and Alysse had gotten married shortly after the Chaos Union had disbanded, and it was one of the last times a majority of the group had been together. The only members who hadn't been in attendance were Pavo, who was in Mexico and unreachable, Shade and Chris, who were studying at some place in Nation Z, and Shroud, who was on the run from the law, of course. When the time had come to choose their bridesmaids and groomsmen for the ceremony, Matthias had unorthodoxly refused to pick a best man, choosing only Link, Brian, and SH for groomsmen. His reasoning was that as he had been the best man at Shroud's wedding, he planned on returning the favor. With Shroud a fugitive, however, there was no one to take his place, so Matthias had simply chosen not to have anyone in that place for the service. Alysse had been a bit annoyed, but the wedding had gone smoothly nonetheless. Matthias did not learn until much later in his life that his best man truly had been in attendance.
As he opened the door, he began to hear the cries of his newborn son Luke, the byproduct of a happy honeymoon. He threw his coat onto the couch and slipped into the makeshift nursery that they had made for him; originally a storage room. They were moving to Electown soon, however, so they had just decided to simply pack up everything in the room and store it in the garage, so that there was a separate place for Luke to sleep. Their bedroom was across the hall, so they could hear his cries in the night, but having the other room was nice because it meant that they weren't always stepping on discarded rattles in the middle of the night.
He looked over the edge of the crib at his son of almost 3 months. It was still hard to believe that something so small would eventually become a person; his son. Luke was sleeping as Matthias watched him, breathing peacefully. As he watched him, Alysse came to the doorway and saw him. "I thought I heard someone at the door," she said softly.
Matthias moved to greet her, and kissed her lightly on the lips. "How was he today?" he asked.
"Better," she said, moving to check on the pot simmering on the stove. Matthias' nose detected the scent of basil as she sprinkled something into the pot, and he moved automatically to begin setting the table for the two of them. "He seemed very sleepy, but since he was fussy last night, I'd expect that. How was your day? Any new developments with the case?"
"No," Matthias said, pouring himself a glass of water. "But I'm not really expecting much. Dr. Hikari was one of the world's brightest scientists, and the world needs a scapegoat. It seems that Shroud's their best option, and they're sticking with it. At any rate, we'll be moving to Electown in a couple of weeks, so we'll be able to put it all behind us."
"I feel sorry for his family though. His wife...what was her name again?"
"Irine." He turned away from Alysse so that he could not see the raw emotion in his eyes. "And their daughter. Seija."
"That's right," she said, shutting off the stove as she finished the stew she was making. "You know, if it wasn't for this murder allegation, maybe our children would be playmates. Wouldn't that be cute? The girl must be nearly a year old now."
"Yes," Matthias said, still looking away from his wife. "But now they'll never meet. Shroud's lost to us now, him and his family. I don't suppose that I'll ever see any of them again."
Fate always had a way of doing the opposite of what you thought it would.
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Chaotic We Stand
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Chapter 13: Frustramen Fatifer
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-- Friday, April 11, 8: 44 AM, Tau Complex, Neo Arcadia --
It was a bittersweet homecoming.
Matthias waited anxiously beside the others, hoping that everyone had made it out safely. He cursed his crippled legs; but for them, he would have been a member of that team as well. Instead, he was in this chair, beside the others left behind, praying for the safety of the Chaos Union.
They had all known that there had been trouble from the start when a news bulletin had come over the television at four o'clock, a little after the Chaos Union would have docked. There was an unidentified object approaching Neo Arcadia, and citizens had been advised to remain in their homes. This, of course, meant that everyone in the city began to panic. Luckily, most of the women left behind had been at Irine's house, so very few of their number actually had to confront the riots. Alistor had, however, sporting a black eye today, and Mikoto had actually started attacking the people rioting outside her hotel, only her expert skills allowing her to escape arrest.
Now, however, order had been restored. The bright flash that signified the destruction of their doom started to restore order, and for those who still tried to cause havoc, X sent out his Pantheon, a police force that was comprised of humans with robotic augmentations. The Pantheon was possibly the most powerful police force in the world, save the ONB, but they were only useful in Neo Arcadia, since most other nations had made human augmentation illegal. So the ONB still had their monopoly, or at least, that was how most of the world saw it. Most people who actually paid attention to the specifications of augments, as they were called outside of military duty, could see that they could easily pass for human, and many presumably did.
Today, the world was at peace. But sometimes war is very good at pretending to be peaceful. One of the first acts in the war that would soon consume the world was coming to its close, and Matthias Terre was watching it unfold.
The first person out of the ship was Shroud, walking a bit unsteadily for some reason. However, that didn't stop him from hurrying over to Irine and greeting her with a kiss, his joy apparent, but his sorrow as well. He then scooped a giggling Saishi into his arms, and gave Seija a hug with one arm before sitting in the chair next to Matthias, letting his eldest son out of his arms to go back to what he had been doing before their arrival: annoying Seija.
"Are you all…okay?" Matthias asked hesitantly. "We all saw the doctor going in first and we didn't know what to think."
"No, the doctor's just treating some of our wounds. Raymond first, probably; he's got a bad burn but it should just need a new healing bandage. SH took a bit more grievous of a wound."
"How grievous?" Matthias began to ask, but the sight of the doctor wheeling SH himself off the shuttle partially answered his question. SH was unconscious, and there was a bloodless bandage around his right arm, and his clothing was equally bloodless. Matthias had worked with technology enough to know what caused a bloodless wound. "Laser?"
Shroud nodded. "The doctor doesn't think that it'll cause any permanent damage, but he'll be dictating his emails for a while." Link and Jules had gotten off shortly after SH, and their wives had rushed into their arms. Zelda gently wept for joy, the salty stains of her tears dripping upon Link's shirt, while Mikoto only squeezed Jules tightly, as if she was trying to pop his head off. Jules seemed to be taking it stoically, but after a few moments, he muttered something to her, and she seemed to notice her death-grip, laughing slightly and bringing tears into her eyes instead, tears that she refused to allow to fall as she kissed him, and allowed him to wrap his arm protectively around her.
Matthias remembered a time when his own wife had been squeezing him tightly, remembered a time when her tears had adorned his clothing, a time when his children had been the ones scooped into his arms upon his return to his home. Another memory flashed before his eyes, taunting him with its bitterness; a time when he had loved a forbidden woman from afar. He rested his hands on the arms of his wheelchair and interlocked his fingers, making a place for his head to rest wearily, trying to forget what he had vowed to remember forever. Damn these memories, damn them all. He had loved two women once, and they were both lost to him, one to the greedy clutches of death, and one to a friend. He'd never been able to tell which betrayal was worse.
Pavo approached while his mind was lost in its reverie, addressing Shroud. Matthias had never heard him until he spoke up. His injury was making him sloppy. Even for someone who wasn't a covert ops agent anymore, that wasn't good. After all, they weren't out of the woods just yet. Irine said that it might be over a month before his treatment was complete, and he couldn't leave Neo Arcadia until Shroud and the others did, a two-week delay. Unless X just fired him early.
"Shroud," he heard Pavo say, only half-listening. "I'm going home. I know that you and some of the others are still going to talk with X, but I'm tired. I haven't seen my son in two weeks. And after what Brian did…I'm done with this, Shroud. You and the others will always be friends, but don't contact me again. Not for something like this."
"Brian?" Matthias said suddenly, the conversation catching up with his memory stricken mind. "What happened to Brian?"
There was an uncomfortable silence in the room, and Matthias realized that he had almost been shouting. Looking around the room, he saw that every member of the Chaos Union had grown solemn, Link and Jules stepping away from their wives, and Raymond pulling himself away from the doctor attempting to tend to his wounds. As Chris and Golex came out of the ship, the latter with bandages wrapped around his chest, Matthias realized that the count of Chaos Union members in this room was only ten. "Shroud," he said, looking at him intently. "What happened to Brian?"
Shroud sighed, getting to his feet and walking away from Matthias and the others, staring out the large glass window into the dawning sun. "Matthias…the only reason that I'm still talking to you is because Brian gave his life on that station. He gave up his life so that I wouldn't have to. If Brian hadn't been there…you'd be talking to Link about how the mission went right now."
He had that look on his face, the one where you could see that he needed to be somewhere else, somewhere where he could let his emotions run free, somewhere that he didn't need to be Chaos Alpha. He needed a chance to be Shroud Taruka, just a man like anybody else. Unfortunately, Shroud Taruka was about to be hit with another blow. "Shroud, I know that you need time to mourn Brian. We all do. But there's something else you need to know." Shroud turned back to look at him silently, awaiting this last bit of news. How he wished they didn't have to tell him.
"Your brother's in the hospital," Matthias finally said. Shroud's face shifted instantly, his mask shattered. Disbelief was visible on the revealed visage, but it was soon replaced by anger.
"What happened to him? Why was he here, anyways?"
"We don't know," Irine said, walking closer to him. "He was still unconscious when we left the hospital last night. But the doctors think…the doctors think that he's been poisoned."
"Take me to him," Shroud said, directing the request to both no one and everyone, the Chaos Union forgotten. Irine nodded and took his arm, muttering more details to him as they began to walk away. Link gathered the group of space travelers together and spoke to them a moment, before allowing them to break off and leave. Seija managed to get Saishi to listen to her, and came to stand beside Matthias.
"We'd better get going, Mr. Terre. My parents are our ride home."
"Of course," he said, turning his accursed chair away from the others and wheeling away with the slightest motion of his wrist upon its joystick. Sometimes, death was just another way to look at life, simply the last great act one performed before departing this mortal plane. But something told Matthias that Brian's widow and son might not see it that way. He certainly didn't.
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-- 9: 01 AM, Hikari Hospital, Rho Complex, Neo Arcadia --
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"We normally don't take cases as simple as this," the doctor was saying as they walked (or in Matthias' case, rolled) through the halls of the third floor. "But when you find someone halfway between death and a coma holding your automatic doors open, you don't ship him anywhere else. After his stint in the emergency room, we decided that the best place for him was the Millions Toxigenic Ward, even though that's generally used for poisons."
"Wait," Shroud said. "I was under the impression that he was poisoned. Are you telling me that he wasn't?" Chris could understand why Shroud was worried about his brother, but if Shade was the same as he remembered, he could easily guess why his symptoms would resemble a poisoning, and the doctor soon confirmed his suspicions.
"Your brother only appeared to be poisoned because he had an adverse reaction to a drug that entered his system through an injection of some sort, if the small puncture in his neck is the source, as we believe. It's hard to tell, but it seems that the drug itself wasn't the problem, but it combined with another drug in his system already, one that we haven't isolated yet. Neither your wife or your friend here could inform us of what it was."
Chris could. "It was adthevitalite," he said, startling all eight of his companions, although Shroud's son seemed only vaguely so. "It means near-god-life-product, or perhaps a more fluent translation would be near-divine supplement. Its street name is demi, as in demigod, but--"
"Get to the point, Chris," Shroud said, looking sharply at him. Obviously, he didn't like learning that he had known less about Shade than he'd thought.
"If you insist, although I would have thought you would have known about it. It's never been well known outside of Nation Z, but its primary components; the ruby orchid, the bark of a live willow, and the blood of a viper, amongst other things; they are all found nearby Setan Academy, and it is used there as the spice needed for the Final Cup." Shroud blanched, as he'd expected. At Setan, one of the final tests was to drink from the Final Cup, containing a potent brew of tea, with the drug mixed in. If you drank it, you either died, or graduated, allowed to learn the method of brewing the drug and proceeding into the higher mysteries. If you refused, you were cast out. Shade had told him long before that Shroud had refuse, and he himself had later learned that the leaders of the time had subtly encouraged Shroud to refuse, for he would have died had he taken that lethal sip.
"If it's as unknown as you say," the doctor said, almost as curious as he seemed disapproving, "then how do you know of it, and that Mr. Taruka would be taking such an unpleasant sounding drug?"
"Because I've tasted it myself," Chris said, somewhat blithely despite the shock his words held, "and given Shade's business, I can't see him not taking it, given its rather useful side-effects. He has stabilized, correct?" The doctor nodded, so Chris continued, saying, "In that case, introduce whatever you'd use to treat a snakebite, and keep an eye on him to make sure whatever else he has in his system doesn't react with it. He should be awake in about a half hour." The doctor nodded hurriedly and rushed ahead of them, leaving the others to stare at Chris.
They were soon seated in the hospital's waiting room, and the focus was on Chris again. "All right, Chris," Shroud was saying, flanked by Matthias and Mikoto on his left and right. "Now, tell us what you know about this 'demi', and how you know so much more about Shade than we thought."
"Well," he began, his mind beginning to bring back the memories of the years long past, "as you know, Shade and I were close friends in the latter years of the Chaos Union. After we'd gotten ONB clearance, he and I were the only ones not to accept honorary ONB-status, even though we would remain rogues afterwards, like Matthias and Golex did. He refused because he knew they'd be able to reclaim the Synchro Chip he'd stolen. I refused because Shade suggested to several of us that we do so, and I was the only one who decided to follow his lead. After that, we just ended up befriending each other, if only because of that shared bond. Turned out that not claiming that status helped out later in life; Nation Z refused to let anyone with ties to the ONB into the country on non-government business after we blew their military bases to pieces, so if we'd formally joined, we'd never had been able to join Setan after the incident that disbanded the group."
"At Setan, we trained together, and eventually managed to graduate, drinking from the Final Cup and receiving the tattoo that marked us as having completed our education there. Then, we received the choice of staying at the Academy to learn more of their art, or simply returning to the outside world. Very few people in our class realized that there was more, as it was not publicized. Shade and I knew from spying on our instructors, however, and had already made our decisions. Shade would leave, to become a bounty hunter alongside his netnavis, Vincent, Auron, and Amarant, and I would remain to study further at the academy, learning the skills that I could later teach him. Turned out that I'd end up sworn to secrecy about most everything, but one of the things that I wasn't forbidden to divulge was the recipe for Demi, and Shade began a regimen of the stimulant. Its side-effects are relatively mild, and it's only illegal because most law enforcement agencies don't know enough about it to legalize it. Neo Arcadia's one of the few nations where it is legal, but something tells me it's merely an oversight."
"So, do you use this…demi, Chris?" Matthias said, crossing his arms in his lap.
"No," he replied. "I try to keep foreign substances out of my body, despite their possible benefits." That wasn't the reason, of course, but they couldn't know that. Too much demi made one incapable of utilizing the Artifacts, and Chris needed the ability to use his. "But Shade would, and it would be among the most useful aids in his bounty hunting. Demi enhances all your senses phenomenally, your hearing and sight most prominently, but your feelings of touch are changed as well, allowing you to feel the displacement of air from a door swinging closed, and one's scent is great enough to scent a poison within a steak fifteen feet away. Some drugs give the illusion that your senses are enhanced. Demi gives you true sensory enhancement."
The others sat and looked at him. Shroud's face showed enlightenment, as if Chris had just revealed some deep secret to him. Given Shade, it probably had been. Matthias seemed only surprised, but Mikoto seemed…interested, for some reason. "So you know how to make it?" she said, an odd look in her eyes.
"Yes," he said hesitantly. "But the process takes more time than I have to spend. Perhaps you could discuss it with Shade when he's awakened." She seemed disappointed, and Chris surreptitiously looked over at Jules to see his reaction. He wasn't really paying attention to the conversation, being distracted by his 'nephew' Saishi. Chris wondered if he realized what a viper he had married.
The conversation began to drift to more benign topics, until the doctor reappeared. "Your suggestion proved effective," he said to Chris, obviously surprised. "He is half-awake now, and you may go in and see him. Not any more than five of you, though. Hospital policy."
Shroud looked them over. "Well, I'm going in, of course. Anyone interested in staying behind?"
"I will," Jules said, now holding Saishi in his lap. The young child had met most of his relations only recently, and was latching onto each of them like a new toy. It seemed that Jules was similarly infatuated with the boy. "I can watch Saishi so that Irine and Miko can both go in."
"All right," Irine said, getting up from the floor. "Seija, would you like to come as well?" Her daughter nodded, and got to her feet as well.
"Well, if the four of us are going, then who'd like to join us, Matthias or Chris?"
"Chris knew him better," Matthias said from his chair. "Let him go. I'll be in Neo Arcadia longer anyways."
"Thanks," Chris said as he stood, Shroud and Mikoto following his lead. The doctor led the way down the hall, and a few rooms down the line, they entered Shade's room.
The room was an austere shade of grey that bored the eye, forcing one to focus their attention on either whoever was in the bed, or the bright posters detailing what poisonous snakes dwelt in the Twilight Desert, and how to treat their bites. Since Chris didn't care about the Arcadian cobra, he looked at Shade. His friend was pale and tired looking, but he was alive and awake, and just being able to meet him again after these years brought a smile to his face. Shade smiled as well as he saw the five of them surround his hospital bed, but his smile spoke of illness barely held back.
"Nice to see you again," Shade said softly, looking around at the assembled group. "Even if I don't recognize half of you."
Shroud rolled his eyes. "I should hope I'm one of the half you recognize."
"Yeah," he said, studying them. "You and Chris. You ever decide to mix up some of that demi, buddy?"
"Sorry, Shade. Not yet."
"Too bad. It gives you one heck of a rush." He looked over at Irine and squinted. "And this must be Irine. You picked a good one, Shroud, she certainly aged well. And so if you're Irine," his eyes moved to Seija. "then you must be my niece. You're the spitting image of your mother."
"Thank you," she said shyly; Shade may have been the spitting image of her father, except for a few extra scars, but he was still a stranger to her.
"I don't suppose you'd remember me?" Mikoto asked.
Shade looked at her a moment. "I…I thought…" he shook his head, whatever he'd been thinking lost. "I feel like I've seen you before, but I just can't remember. I can't remember anything."
"It's Mikoto," she said briefly, and Shade's eyes widened in realization. But Shroud cut her off before anyone else could speak.
"What do you mean, you can't remember anything?" Shroud asked.
"The last thing that I remember completely was getting on the plane to Neo Arcadia. After that, it's all a blur. I remember that I wanted to contact you, but I couldn't for some reason."
"So you don't remember who poisoned you then?" Chris asked, considering several options in his mind.
"No," Shade said, "but whoever they were, they didn't do a very good job of it. I'd assume they meant to kill me, but the demi in my system made it go haywire, right?"
"That's what the doctor thinks," Mikoto said. "The sedative that was injected into your system reacted with this 'demi' to put you into a coma. It almost killed you, according to him."
"Is that right?" Shade said faintly, as if talking this long had weakened him somewhat. Chris nodded almost robotically, only half-following the conversation. He knew that it would be very easy to discover who had poisoned Shade. But gaining the knowledge was quite risky, and could very well kill him. It seemed that since Shade hadn't died, finding the person who'd attacked him seemed like a task that wasn't worth the risk.
"All right, all right," the doctor said, moving from his position against the wall towards them, ushering them out of the room. "We'll call you if there's any changes, but he needs to sleep off this, okay?"
"Gotcha," Shroud said, backing away from his brother. "Get well soon, Shade."
"Yep," his brother muttered, beginning to drift off into sleep. The group exited the room and returned to the others, briefly commenting on Shade's condition.
"Well, it was nice of you to allow me to join you," Chris said a few minutes later. "But I really should be heading back to my hotel. Did X say that he wanted to talk to us tomorrow or something?"
"Yes," Shroud said, seemingly reluctant. "but don't bother to go. I'll talk to him about everything. Including…" He trailed off. They all knew what he was talking about.
"I'll just fly home tonight then," he said. "There's nothing tying me here, and I have some loose ends to tie up at home. I hope to see you all again sometime."
"Same here," Shroud said. "Feel free to get in touch anytime."
Chris nodded, and walked away from the others. He was alone again, alone as he had always been since the day that the Chain of Argent was draped around his neck. He'd forsaken everything he'd held dear for the piece of silver around his neck, and something told him that it had just ceased to be enough. Perhaps it was time to pass the Chain of Argent to another fool who thought they could bear it.
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-- Sunday, April 20, 5:36 PM, 1580 Iota Complex, Neo Arcadia --
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Seija finished dialing from her computer and then sat on her bed, pulling a knee up and interlocking her hands around it. Within a few moments, the face of Luke Terre appeared on the screen, and Seija found herself smiling. He hadn't noticed that his online phone system had booted up for some reason, perhaps having the sound on his computer off or something, and she could see him sitting in his swivel chair a few feet from his monitor, looking at something in his hands. As he spun slightly, she could see that it was the picture she had sent him a few days ago; a picture of her sitting next to Liberty Fountain in Beta Complex, and she began to blush.
He suddenly noticed her and twitched visibly. "Seija! I…I wasn't expecting you to call this early." He got up and set the picture on his dresser, and Seija was pleased to see that an empty picture frame lay next to it.
"Stop that," she thought to herself as he sat back into his chair and attempted to look more collected. "Stop acting like you're a little girl. You've only met him once before, there's no need for all this drama." Of course, she tuned out the voice in her mind, as always, and looked over at her computer screen.
"I was going to call after dinner, but we got back from the Marketplace late, so I thought that I'd call you now before you have dinner yourself." In the kitchen below, Seija could faintly hear the voices of Mikoto and her mother as they prepared the famous Whiteheart lasagna. The recipe had been in their family for years, although no one who made it would bear its name any longer.
Luke simply nodded. "Jules and Mikoto are the only ones left, correct? And they're returning home tomorrow?"
"Yes. They're over here tonight for dinner, and they'll be flying home tomorrow." A majority of the Chaos Union had left Neo Arcadia quite quickly, some within a day or two of the mission's close. Jules and Mikoto had stayed, however, and so had Link and his family, although they had flown back on Friday. In addition, Brian's wife had flown in, grieving over her husband's death, just to meet X, to talk with him. She had left the meeting enraged, with the mighty leader of Neo Arcadia wiping her spit off of his cheek. Aelita had left the same day. "After that, my dad has another three days left before he's free to leave. Then, it's back to Electopia." Despite the dangers of returning to Electopia, they had decided to return, if only so that Irine could continue to apply Matthias' medication in the comfort of his home.
"All right. How's my dad doing? You said that he had been able to walk a few days ago."
Seija nodded. "He can walk very hesitantly now, and only with a cane, but that should be fixed in a few days. He hasn't gotten any feelings back in the legs though."
But Luke simply shrugged at this piece of news. "Better for him to be walking numb than rolling with feeling, in my opinion. Is that it? Nothing else new?"
"My uncle's up and about again. He still doesn't remember what happened to him, but he's back on that demi of his again, and it's apparently given him enough strength to fly back home to Nation Z. He should be in the air right about now. What's new on your side of the world?"
"Nothing much. John and I are trying to see if we can find a place for us to meet when you get here. We were meeting here at the house, but with my dad coming home soon, we'll need a more permanent location. We'll find something though." Suddenly, he gasped in remembrance, and began to do what looked like opening a new window. "Seija, the Chaos Union made the front page of the Electopian Surge yesterday! I'll send you a copy of the article; you and your father need to see this. I'm surprised that no one else called you already!"
"All right," Seija said, wondering what the Electopian take on recent events was. Their own papers had revealed a majority of the details of what they were now calling the Chaos Conflict, although that name would probably be subject to numerous reediting over the years. Within a few moments, the page had uploaded, and Seija began to read the article.
Neo Arcadia: The New Home of Chaos?
Does anyone remember what happened to them on Thursday the 10th? Anyone? A trip to your grandparent's house, perhaps? A long, fun-filled day of shopping, on or offline? Perhaps a romantic rendezvous with your significant other? The citizens of Neo Arcadia had a more important date that afternoon. A date with death.
While Neo Arcadia is a sore subject with many of the world's governments, our own included, it goes without saying that they are an important subject nonetheless. However, at four o'clock Dentech Mean Time, Neo Arcadia burst into a panic, and due to the nature of its inhabitants, exactly 43 of which are actually netnavis, the world knew instantly. The CyberNet visibly lagged at four in the afternoon, just after the sun's apex over that little island that causes so much trouble, and the slow-moving netnavis that escaped to the safety of an electronic realm told the world why they needed to leave our dimension, cross back into the world they used to call home.
Apparently, Neo Arcadia was under attack, a large satellite falling from the sky to crush the entire city beneath its massiveness. The loss of life would be unlike any the world has ever seen. However, the crisis was averted by a group of Neo Arcadian special forces, who boarded the space station and managed to destroy it before it could fully pass through the atmosphere. In Neo Arcadia, this is where the story ends. Lord X makes a thrilling speech the next day extolling the bravery of the soldiers, and of the one that was lost destroying the satellite. Unfortunately, this story has one rather perplexing footnote: the name of this team of soldiers. The Chaos Union.
Perhaps the more idealistic of us will recognize this as the name of the fabled heroes of nearly two decades ago, who were defeated by a deep tragedy that actually caused the creation of Neo Arcadia. The more pragmatic of you will know that the Chaos Union was a real group, an ONB strike force whose main achievements were the toppling of Nation Z's government and various missions to preserve foreign interests in Sharo and Netopia. The fact that they have been reformed under the leadership of Neo Arcadia has worried Electopian officials, although both the ONB and the Electopian Senate have declined to make any comment on the matter. This worry is not merely limited to our own nation, however, and Nation Z has made a public statement, saying that "any actions of the Chaos Union against Nation Z will be seen as an act of war, and we will take whatever actions we feel necessary against Neo Arcadia.
In addition to the Chaos Union's involvement, more problems have begun to plague Neo Arcadia. The satellite destroyed by the Chaos Union belonged to the nation of Sharo, and its destruction has brought a startling truth to light: Neo Arcadia has made no alliance with Sharo, despite the comments of Lord X two weeks prior which implied that he had begun work on a treaty with them, and its signing was impending. However, President Chillski of Sharo has stated that "while we planned on allying ourselves with Neo Arcadia, they have failed to supply us with any terms we feel acceptable. We have no permanent alliance with them, and intend on gaining retribution for our lost space station."
However, even without the problems caused by the destruction of the Sharoan space station, Neo Arcadia may have proven to have bitten off more than they can chew by reforming the Chaos Union. Their leader, Shroud Taruka, is wanted in both Electopia and Netopia for the murder of Yuichirou Hikari, and both Nation Z and Yumfrica have previously stated that they would turn him over to the proper authorities if he was captured within their jurisdiction. Mr. Taruka is currently working as a member of Lord X's staff, having received amnesty upon his arrival there roughly seven years ago. He looks to be a favored member of the staff, and may have even suggested the idea of reforming the Chaos Union to Lord X himself. With the expulsion of all four human members of Neo Arcadia's Elite Eight, Shroud Taruka is among the most probable candidates for promotion.
As for the other members of the Chaos Union, the Electopian Surge is not legally permitted to disclose the names of any official members of the actual team, save Mr. Taruka, who is a member of Lord X's personal staff and is thereby allowed to be named. However, with the later addition of a half-dozen members that were not added to the roster, and by cross-referencing them with members who are known to be away from Neo Arcadia at the time, discovering the identities of the remaining five member would be easy for any government, and most, if not all, have already begun background checks on the members of the new Union. Members who joined the team later are Steve Hurr, a repossession agent working out of Dentech City; Golex Tjon, whose netnavi Hyperion is a famed net criminal; Chris Winters, a mercenary who is also rumored to be a graduate of the shady Setan Academy; Raymond Merlo, a teacher at Kotobuki Central; Jules Yukamara, a reclusive programmer from the isle of Swampopolis; and Mikoto Yukamara, Jules' wife who is also a cousin of Shroud's. In addition, Shroud's twin brother Shade Taruka recently checked out of Hikari Hospital citing undisclosed health issues with no record of having entered the country or exiting his own, making him a possible member of the Union as well. Former members who are known to not be a part of this incarnation are Lica Ishida, SSS-License ONB, Hikari Takanawa, a reclusive sharpshooter living peacefully in Kotobuki with his family, and James Damon, a vigilante netbattler working for Sharo who has come forward denouncing the actions of his former comrades.
Most of these members have already left Neo Arcadia, and show no signs of returning. However, without a public statement from Neo Arcadia regarding their intentions, governments may fear that these seemingly benign members of society have malicious intentions, and are planning to spy on their countries. Still, no allegations have been leveled against any members of the Chaos Union, and so for now, they remain safe to be discrete about their actions.
In an unrelated note, former Chaos Union member and SS-License ONB Brian Aurion died on Thursday the 10th at approximately 4: 30 PM. He was 36. He is preceded in death by his wife of 17 years, Aelita Aurion, and his 16-year old son Lee Aurion. A memorial service is scheduled for tomorrow, beginning promptly at 6: 30 PM.
Seija finished reading the paper and looked at Luke solemnly. "My father needs to read this," she said.
"Yes, he does," Luke said, obviously not having read through the entire article. "The only members of the team who weren't mentioned were Link, Pavo, Alistor, and my father. Every country in the world will be watching us."
Seija nodded. "I need to go…I'll call you back later." She and Luke said their goodbyes and disconnected. She then printed the entire article and hurried down the steps into the kitchen, where her father was having a conversation with Jules.
"So as I was saying," Jules was saying as she entered the room. "Just because X is designed to be a good ruler of the city doesn't mean that it's right for him to be the only ruler." He appeared to be winning over her father, but Seija suspected that was only because relations between him and Lord X were very strained.
"Dad," she said, approaching him with the article in her hand. "You need to see this." He took the article and read it silently. His eyes widened as he read it, and he passed it to Jules without warning.
"We need to leave this country," he said, now very solemn. "We need to leave before it destroys us."
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-- Wednesday, April 23, 3: 03 PM, Shroud's Office, Core Building, Neo Arcadia --
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Shroud logged out of the Core Server for the last time, and began to shut down his computer. As the machine began to turn itself off, Shroud opened his desk drawer and began rummaging through it, throwing away a majority of its contents, but shoving the occasional item into his briefcase. "Juno, can you call Irine and tell her--" he stopped, suddenly remembering that his netnavi was no longer with him. Omega's attack on the shuttle had proven to be a killing blow, and Shroud had been able to find no traces of his netnavi online, despite having all of Neo Arcadia's resources available to him.
He finished his work and closed the desk drawer. Now he was almost ready to go, except for clearing off the top of his desk. Pictures of Irine, his children, and one of the assembled Chaos Union made their way into his briefcase, with a slight pause to look at Brian in the Chaos Union picture. It had been taken right before he'd left the Union, and it had been the most complete picture of their roster. Now it was obsolete. Truthfully, it had been obsolete for years, but with Brian dead, something had changed about the picture. Before, it had been an image of what he'd managed to accomplish in his life. Now, it was merely a measure of what he had left to lose.
"Getting ready to leave, Mr. Taruka?" Leite was standing in his doorways, and Shroud smiled as he saw him. Despite the fact that the netnavi was clearly in X's pocket, he'd been a good friend to him over the years, and Shroud knew that he would be one of the few things he'd regret leaving behind.
"Please, Leite," he said, closing his briefcase and stepping around his desk. "Call me Shroud. I'm not your boss any longer." As he walked towards the door, Shroud suddenly realized that Leite was completely blocking his way out.
"Oh, no, Mr. Taruka, I never call my targets by their first names," Leite said, pointing a gun that Shroud hadn't seen before towards his heart. "It makes the kill too personal."
Three shots echoed in the small room.