Unmei Force Solitary Legends: Steel Avengers
Final Chapter: It Has To End This Way
At SOLIS…
They soon reached the space centre, as Jack took the chance to pull the large doors open, which slid open easily. They soon passed by a security officer, who was reading a magazine of anime, with anime posters behind him. He then noticed the group coming, as he lowered the magazine in a hurry.
"Are you… uh, Mr. Raiden and company?" He asked back, as he checked them against the faces that have been confirmed with access to the space centre's RLVs.
"That's right. I'm sure that you'll know that." Jack answered back with a nod.
"I'll… I'll get a RLV prepared for you. It's already ready for launch, just make your way to it." The security guard answered back.
The group then walked their way past the guard, except for Richard, who stood by for a moment, and then knocked on the window of the security station.
"Oh, and by the way, you have bad taste for waifus." Richard remarked with a sly smirk, pointing at the poster on one of the walls. "I do believe that you are mistaken that this anime is actually heart-warming and sexy. Sorry, but you'd be wrong. That girl is a psychotic yandere, and you'd know that from the first few episodes. So basically, you need to learn to research your waifus, before you dedicate yourself to them. Ja ne."
Richard then walked away, leaving behind a shocked security guard, and catching up with the rest of the group, which was already near a vehicle that closely resembled a space shuttle, rocket boosters and all.
"The technology of this world never ceases to amaze me." Siege remarked with a proud smile, looking at the rocket.
"What, you're not of this world? And it doesn't have technology to make something better than this, and still have the means to send you down here. I guess I should have known that you're more than what the eyes sees, Valhalla Company." Sam asked back with a raised eye-brow.
"Well, with us approaching the endgame here, and likely without anything else happening in this world of significance past Armstrong, I suppose it's alright to divulge you all who are from this world the true information we have." Siege responded back.
"As I suspected. Valhalla Company seemed like it did not exist, and checking our records, there is no Valhalla Company, and trust us when we say we would have identified such an organization." Red Wolf said. "So tell us who you truly are."
"Truth is, we've been hiding our true names from you this whole time, as well as our true powers, to keep in line with this technological world." Siege said. "However, I kept my name the same. But to clarify: Rei's true name is Richard, Ayase's true name is Reisen, Alex's true name is Gus, Erick's true name is Líf, and Therese's true name is Thrasir."
"Acknowledging changes." Black Wolf answered back, as Mistral and Sam looked at one another.
"So, perhaps what are the chances we could join your merry crew, wherever they're stationed?" Mistral asked Siege.
"Clear that up with Richard first." Siege responded back. "To be fair, we're co-leaders, and we lead two separate organisations. If you want to join mine, I'd have no problems doing so."
"You have my 100% support." Richard nodded back. "However, I think that you'll fit better with Siege than with my organisation. It's more of the shadowy side, than the militaristic side like Siege does. Don't fret though, you're still a registered ally with me and my posse when you join up with Siege. Also, I might as well impart a little secret to you all. To Jack, or Raiden as he prefers to keep himself as, this isn't his first time going through all of this."
"That explains why he looked at me the way he did. As if he had faced me before…" Mistral said, looking at Jack. "You are full of surprises, no?"
"You could say that." Jack chuckled. "Oh hey, Richard, where's Reisen anyways? Thought she might want to get in on the beatdown of Armstrong."
"I'm already here." Reisen responded back, as she faded into visibility in front of the group, surprising them slightly. "Erika told me where to go exactly, and I merely did what was asked. She never told you that I was sent here to clarify our reasons here, and our rights to the RLVs here. The people here understood it, when the word of a high-ranked US military official was on our backs."
"I see." Richard answered back, before he then saw that the RLV was prepared to launch. "Alright, I suppose that it's time we take our ride there. Just to make sure, you sure you want to come with us, Sam and Mistral? You could remain out of this, and we could retrieve you all the same."
"And miss the chance to get some revenge on the Senator?" Sam grinned back. "I've got some grudges against him, thanks to what he did to me before. I don't care if I don't end up fighting him again, just so long as I can put a real monkey wrench in his plans."
"I shall come as well. It is customary that I aid you as well, due to what you have done for me." Mistral agreed as well.
"I guess your minds are made up then." Gus nodded, before the stairs into the shuttle were already put into place. "Come on."
The group then boarded the shuttle, as they took seats in rows of twos, while Siege and Richard were sitting on the front, while the Wolves were firmly planted on the ground, steadying themselves.
"Attention all passengers, your trip on SOLIS Flights is about to commence soon. We are currently igniting engines, and readying for take-off." Richard remarked with a smirk and the tone of a flight captain. "Please switch off all cell-phones and portable gaming devices, and remember: This is a no-smoking flight."
Most of the people laughed at this, before Sam then asked Siege a question.
"Say, before we make our way across, let me ask you one more question, you said that Jack's been through all of this before. Tell me, how did all of this go the first time? Particularly about myself?" Sam asked back.
"Well, I'll just list off the major changes. It was just me, there was only one Metal Gear RAY that was after me, President N'Mani was supposed to be dead, as you might have expected, I killed Mistral, which might have in turn resulted in me killing you without a choice, now that I can see the connection… And the fact that Sundowner wasn't cruel enough to have child cyborgs fighting with him as his human shields." Jack listed off the difference. "That's all I can say. Oh, actually, one more, there was only one LF-84i, Blade Wolf, and he's a pal of yours. Here, not so much with these two."
"I see. Then it is fortunate that your friends stayed their hand on me." Mistral responded back. "To be given mercy for once by a worthy opponent… is an enlightening experience."
Suddenly the engines roared into action, before the RLV took off out of the space centre, as it surged into the atmosphere, heading towards its destination with increasing speed.
At Shabhazabad Air Base…
The group then landed down on the ground near the air base, as they stepped out of their shuttle module, which had a large parachute that was hung over the rock, its use completed. They moved over to the ledge of the cliff they were standing on, as they saw that the entire air base was still orderly for now.
"Say, you think that this is the right place?" Gus asked back. "Because it doesn't look so-"
"Don't assume on looks, Gus. This air base is the only place that is big enough to host a political meeting with a contract to World Marshal. We've only got a bit more than what I initially had, but since they're going to be a hell lot of soldiers, both Desperado and World Marshal, I rather not get complacent." Jack answered back.
They soon jumped from the ledge, while the Wolves took another path to scout out the area, as they made their way down to the front of the base, as there was a large group of cyborg soldiers that were guarding the area. When Jack and the group met them, they wasted no time in cutting through the cyborgs, before they could have the chance to properly alert the rest of the base to their presence. However, after that, they noticed something peculiar, as Erika clarified on it.
"Hm, XIFF codes on them show up as 'unaffiliated'... Odd way to do things." Erika answered back. "These are definitely World Marshal-sanctioned cyborgs, so the only reason they changed XIFFs is…"
"...To make an alibi." Jack continued the statement. "They make it look like Desperado's hacked their soldiers on site, and because Desperado has a contract with the Pakistani rebels…"
"Then the war starts, and we get the blame for all of it." Sam continued, as he scowled. "Heh, I knew it from the first time I met him. Armstrong's a double-crossing bastardo. Promised us a good war economy to profit off, while secretly planning to let us take the fall. Now you see why the only reason I worked for him, is because he beat me. You beat in turn, and that's your ticket to your title fight with the big man himself."
"Not like words and evidence is going to fix the situation." Richard remarked. "We're going to find the Senator, and break his plan down to ashes. First thing, we need to disrupt communications. Create a ruckus large enough to attract US attention to this base, so that Armstrong will have to hide his plans for a while."
The group soon made their way through the base, as they tried to avoid dealing with the soldiers in the base, silently killing them from the shadows to avoid attention, and destroying any cameras in their path with a gun-shot, or a long thrust in Mistral's case.
After a while, they soon reached the end of the area, as they found that the Wolves were damaged, as they were on the ground, with the signs of battle around them.
"The Wolves…!?" Jack remarked with shock, before Red Wolf slowly raised up.
"Jack... The Senator is already here… He is too powerful for us to handle, even in unison…" Red Wolf responded back, with a slightly glitching voice. "We cannot proceed with the scouting. We must take the time to initiate self-repairs."
"You've done enough." Richard stated, before he then lifted Black Wolf onto his feet, as the black LQ-84i was slightly unsteady. "Go now, I wouldn't put it past Armstrong to leave you there as a trap for us."
"A-Affirmative." Black Wolf answered back, before the Wolves retreated away from the field of battle.
The others were observing the area around them, looking for where the Senator is, although he was nowhere to be seen.
Suddenly, the ground below then began to rumble, before it began to crack, creating a progressively larger hole that was surging outwards towards the group.
"Everyone scatter!" Siege roared, before the group used the breaking ground to leap across the hole, managing to reach solid ground, in different sides of the hole, all looking towards the large hold, as a large spider-like mech crawled out of the hole, with a large twin-set cannon upon the top of it, and two large arms in front of it, that had slots for something.
It then turned to the side, as there was a large deck mounted on top of it. On the back of it, the hatch there opened to show a massive black spherical cock-pit, before that opened as well. The person who stepped out of it was Senator Armstrong himself, as he looked at the group, with cigar between fingers, and inside his black formal suit.
"Well, if it isn't the illusive Valhalla Company." Armstrong remarked, before he then looked at his watch, and then at the Desperado members with them. "Just a little too late, as usual. Was it because you spent time playing patty-cake with Desperado? I thought that you were both enemies before."
"Things change, Senator." Mistral answered back. "We agreed to an alliance, after we have been thoroughly beaten by Valhalla Company, and seeing that you're going to let us take the fall. And I'm sure that you wouldn't think that this changes things."
"That's right. Oh, and before you say it, you think that you had the chance to end our plan there. But instead, you moved it forward." Armstrong answered back.
"What do you mean…?" Lif asked back.
"Well, let's just say that you should check the internet. I'm sure even a solitary PMC like yours has access to that at least." Armstrong responded back, pointing his cigar at the group.
Jack merely shook his head, before he then activated his comms screen, and opened it to show the group with him, the various headlines and news regarding where they were, all of the news centred on the base just a few moments ago, as there was footage of them cutting down the base's soldiers, with headlines like 'Terrorists Bombard Pakistani Airbase', 'Over 40 Americans presumed dead in Pakistani Terror Strike', and 'Hamilton Assasination Attempt in Pakistan.'. The group saw all of this, as a fair part of them were shocked.
"But doesn't that mean…" Gus asked back, before he was silenced by Richard, who pointed at the commented associated with the articles, as they were all against Pakistan, and calling for the eradication of Pakistan and the terrorists they were 'harbouring'.
"Clever move, Armstrong, I'll give you that." Richard remarked back. "President or no, you made sure that America was portrayed as the victim here, and the aggressor is the terrorists. A few dozen soldiers might be a tragedy, and it's just enough to be the spark of war you've been waiting for. The excuse America needed to make the war its been waiting for years."
"The Patriots- They knew war was good for the economy. Four years, their legacy lingers on." Armstrong continued, striding across the deck of the large machine. "They left us their great 'isms'! Nationalism! Unilateralism! Materialism! Welcome maxims for those with no faith, without guiding principles of their own. Give yourself up to the whole, no need to better yourself- You're American! You're number one! Then the only value left is the dollar value- the economy. So we'll do whatever it takes to keep it humming along. Even war, especially war!"
"Bullshit." Reisen answered back. "No economic boom would be worth whatever war you plan to wage."
"The Patriots planted the seed, we don't need them around to filter and foster their memes any longer. We're spreading them just fine ourselves. Every American man, woman and child…" Armstrong stated, swinging his arms around strongly, before then spreading his arms out with a euphoric expression on his face. "WE'RE ALL SONS OF THE PATRIOTS NOW!"
"Not everyone is. You don't have what you need to complete your plan. And you won't get the chance." Richard retorted back, raising his blade.
"Hmph. We just need something to jump-start the economy out of this funk." Armstrong responded back. "This recession it's been stuck in since the fall of SOP."
"And the military costs?" Lif asked back. "Wasting billions to make this spark is supposed to help the economy? Is that how you see it?"
"PMCS, arms manufacturers… all job creators! All those workers spending money, paying taxes… Trust me, a little war can work wonders on the economy." Armstrong answered back, pointing a finger back at them.
"So grease the gears with some innocent blood, and the hopes and dreams of the young, is that it!?" Gus roared back, gun at the ready. "That's the price you're willing to pay for all of this!?"
"Oh, relax, won't you, Alex?" Armstrong scoffed back. "It's a 'war on terror'. We're not out to kill civilians. Extremists. Lawless gangs. Madmen. I thought that you would be happy that I'm doing this world a favour on that. Of course, guess you qualify for the first category."
He then took a deep breath from his cigar, and breathed out smoke. "Wouldn't want any eyewitness reports complicating the message I'm conveying." He continued, before he then flicked his cigar into the hole. "After all, the world won't ever know of either Desperado or Valhalla Company by the end of all of this. Just the way I like IT."
He then stepped back into the mech, as the group prepared for battle, while the mech let out a shrieking roar, before moving into action.
~BGM: Collective Unconsciousness~
The group all got ready, all of them preparing to fight the Metal Gear, as Armstrong began to pilot it, preparing the large blades of the Metal Gear to slam down on to the group, which they all dodged, before everyone began to slash up the blades, before Armstrong retracted them upwards, then turned them horizontal to slash the group.
"Uncle Sam needs you all to die!" Armstrong yelled, slashing the blades left, then right, as the group dodged these with utmost ease, as Armstrong then lifted the blades up, slamming them down again, this time doing it left, then right, then both, as the group slashed once again, causing the mech to suddenly malfunction and fall, as Líf, Sam, and Mistral attacked the cockpit!
"Urgh! Rotten pricks!" Armstrong cursed from the cockpit as it was attacked, before the machine got up, and Armstrong turned the machine.
"Time to squash you all like the bugs you are!" Armstrong said, raising the foot up and bringing it down, as the group avoided getting squashed by the foot each time it came down, the last time, the group began attacking the leg, dismantling it as Líf entered Zandaitsu to slash up the armor of the leg, before cutting off the leg itself.
Armstrong was ticked at this, so he turned EXCELSUS to face the group, as it was charging up a Plasma ray, while two Metal Gear Gekkos came in to attack, which the group dealt with while avoiding the Plasma ray and gunfire from the Metal Gear.
The process of this would continue for a bit, before the group eventually had the mech ready to fall, as Armstrong, in a last hurrah attempt, went to slam the blades down, as Líf blocked, and used his strength to shove the blades off him, before then grabbing one of the blades, and lifting the Metal Gear over his head, slamming it down, and doing so again to rip off its arm, as Líf used its own blade to begin cutting up the Metal Gear, as he then charged, slashing EXCELSUS in two with it's own blade, leaving only the smoking cockpit, and the deck it was connected to.
"Bastard." Líf said with a scowl, before he then leapt onto the deck.
Battle Results
Combat Rank: S
Richard and Siege soon ran up the remaining legs of the disabled mech to reach near Lif, while the cockpit itself opened to reveal Armstrong, who was swatting the smoke away from his face.
"Slippery little bastards…!" Armstrong snarled. "I don't have time for this."
"You'll have all the time in the world, when you're DEAD." Richard retorted back with a bitingly cold tone.
Armstrong merely scoffed, before he then crouched down into a sumo posture, before lifting and slamming a foot down with a loud growl, as the ground began to rumble around the three of them, as the rest of the group looked around, as they saw that the various wires inside of the machine was being torn open by some sort of force, as the large black wires snaked around the legs, and up where Armstrong was, as they had a green glow to them. Soon, the torn ends of the wires erratically shook, as the green glow flowered into Armstrong in small nano-sized streams that entered his body, as he was still growling hard, before he then let out the green energy in a massive pulse that shook the area, causing the rest of the group to stumble back, while the MG Excelsius fell down, all of its power spent, landing down on the ground.
Armstrong then slowly got up, before walking towards them, while adjusting the set of glasses on his face.
"Please… Was that your trick? Hulk up on whatever thing that your own robot gave you?" Siege asked back, before he then prepared Parallel Ragnell. "Trust me, you won't be beating me with just that!"
"Oh, that's what you think?" Armstrong responded back, before he then popped his knuckles. "Let's go!"
"Come at-" Lif was about to taunt, before Armstrong yelled, rushing at him at a speed faster than what he expected, as the senator shoulder-checked him hard enough to send him flying across the deck.
Before Armstrong could attack Lif with a follow-up, Richard intervened, as he slashed at Armstrong with his blade, although it didn't do much than to tear through his clothing. As Richard tried to hop back, Armstrong suddenly seized his head between his hands, applying pressure on it.
"Played college ball, you know." Armstrong told Richard.
"Hah, I bet that you played in the Ivy League…!" Richard mocked back, before Armstrong hardened his own head, his skin turning black, and slamming the full brunt of it on Richard's face, enough to break Richard's own nose, and daze him long enough for Armstrong to smash him aside with a haymaker that would have cracked the jaw of even a highly-reinforced cyborg, yet all it did was bruise Richard's jaw, and made him spit a bit of blood out, while he was sent sprawling to the side of the deck.
Before Armstrong could walk up to Richard, Siege quickly smashed Armstrong with a front-kick to the torso, which did nothing to stop the advancing senator, who simply locked his leg under his arm, as Siege quickly twisted around to wrest his leg free. He then found himself right before Armstrong, who threw a series of punches towards him, which Siege dodged by instinct alone. However, Siege didn't manage to avoid his grapple shortly after his last punch, as Siege was being held up by the neck.
"Try University of Texas." Armstrong remarked towards Siege, who tried to struggle in Armstrong's grip, as the senator hardened his own fingers to increase the pressure around Siege's throat. "Coulda gone pro if I hadn't joined the Navy. I'm not one of those beltway pansies. I could break the president in two… with my bare hands!"
He then threw Siege into the air, as Siege was too busy trying to stop himself from revolving through the air at break-neck speeds, as the spinning was giving him severe nausea, preventing him from being able to right himself. When he started falling down, Armstrong looked towards Lif, who was slowly getting up, and arching a leg back.
"DON'T FUCK WITH THIS SENATOR!" Armstrong roared, before booting Siege like a ball towards Lif, who didn't manage to notice his flying comrade, as the two collided, almost knocking themselves off the deck, while Armstrong merely scoffed and righted his glasses again.
"Son of a bitch… How do you manage to get this strong…!?" Richard growled back, as he nursed his sore jaw with one hand, and holding his blade with the other.
"Why don't you stick around and find out!?" Armstrong exclaimed. "I'll just crush you with one fist, that's all it takes."
"Oh, you're underestimating us!?" Lif growled, before he then charged at Armstrong. "Big mistake!"
Richard and Siege did the same, as the three of them attacked the senator from different directions. However, even without guarding, their attacks had little effect on the Senator himself, as he didn't even flinch, and was throwing swinging punches one fist at the time, strong enough to create gusts of wind each time he did so, making it so that getting hit by one would put them out of the fight if he hit a vital spot on them.
"Erika! Analyse Armstrong, immediately!" Richard demanded, while he managed to duck under Armstrong's hook.
"I'm on it, I'm on it!" Erika desperately stated. "Odd… This can't be right… The energy levels emitting from Armstrong isn't anywhere as close to what the world could give him, if he could siphon the entire world's energy in one go… Something must have empowered him... Something that is not of this world…"
"What the hell do you mean…!? What could make Armstrong's nanomachines stronger!?" Richard demanded.
"I'm trying to-" Erika answered back, before there was the sound of a beep, signalling a complete process, before there was silence, and then her tone turned horrified. "No… This can't be… Armstrong… A large component of the energy within him, matches that of the Armstrong that you have fought back in your reality... ! That means that you're fighting him as you did against him empowered by Hel…!"
"You've got to be fucking-" Richard swore, before he was distracted enough to get a straight to the face, sending him flying across the deck, and right onto the cockpit, before peeling off of it, and landing face-first onto the ground.
"Rei!" Lif exclaimed, before Armstrong grabbed him, and threw him off the deck at fast speeds, as Lif could barely manage to keep himself on, by stabbing his blade into the leg of the disabled mech.
"Damn you…! I won't let you win this easily-" Siege was about to say, as he was about to swing his sword down on Armstrong's head, before the senator raised a hand to catch it, holding it firmly in his hand. "What…!?"
"Nice knife…" Armstrong stated, before he then grinned maliciously. "Sure it won't handle being put through its pace against something stronger-"
"Don't you dare-" Siege roared, before Armstrong snapped his hand 90 degrees, as it snapped the blade in two, and left Siege completely comatose, as his expression was filled with shock on seeing his own blade destroyed before him. So much so, that it gave Armstrong the time he needed to beat Siege into a pulp with a series of punches, and then going for an overhead punch that sent Siege grinding across the deck by his chest, ripping off the armor Siege had on, leaving him completely shirtless as the top half of his muscular body was exposed.
Siege looked in disbelief and horror, as he helped the broken pieces of Parallel Ragnell in his hands, as tears filled his eyes. This was actually the blade Siege's own mother wielded before he did, and Siege remembered the moment when his mother gave it to him.
"My son, you've grown up so well… are you sure you want to go out and fight this war?"
"I have to mom. To keep you and dad safe, I have to."
"I understand son… then let me give you a companion to your father's blade."
Siege's mother, a mage knight named Destiny, gave her Parallel Ragnell to Siege.
"Mother… y… your blade…!"
"Yes son. I want you to have it."
"Are… are you sure?"
"Of course. It's the least I could do."
"...Thank you mom. Thank you dad. For everything. I'll make you both proud."
Siege gave his parents a hug and set out to fight on their honor, to save his home.
"You… YOU….!" Siege growled, before he then rose to his feet, as there was a murderous aura around him, enough to make Armstrong pause for a moment. Siege then laid down his own broken blade, as his head slowly rose, his eyes glowing blood-red. "HOW DARE YOU! ARMSTRONG! I'LL TEAR YOU TO PIECES FOR THIS! YOU WILL PAY FOR BREAKING THE ONLY CONNECTION I HAD WITH MY OWN MOTHER!"
Armstrong didn't have time to react, as Siege didn't hold back the slightest, before decking Armstrong with a punch that his nanomachines couldn't fully absorb, sending him staggering back. Siege then rushed up towards Armstrong, before then grabbing his head, and slamming the senator's head against the cockpit, making dents on it each time.
"Typical politician! Big promises, but all SHIT!" Siege fumed, as he continued his smashing spree with Armstrong. "Jump-start the economy with war!? A FUCKING PUTRID LOAD OF BULLSHIT! For all you care, your wallet is first priority! That, and your damn approval ratings! PRINCIPLES!? MAXIMS!? HA, FUNNY HEARING THAT SHIT FROM A HYPOCRITICAL FUCK LIKE YOU! IF AMERICA'S GONE TO SHIT, YOU'RE MERELY THE KING OF THE FLIES! AND I'LL CRUSH YOUR DAMN ASS INTO GROUND PASTE WHEN I'M FINALLY DONE WITH YOU!"
Siege then whipped Armstrong around, as he was dazed heavily, before he then rolled back his fists and slammed hooks and uppercuts one after the other, drawing blood from the Senator.
"FUCK YOUR 'ISMS!' FUCK YOUR PLANS! FUCK YOUR IDEAL AMERICA! WE DON'T NEED A SENATOR AS WISHY-WASHY AS YOUR SORRY ASS!" Siege roared, landing blow after blow, sending the Senator back with each punch, causing Richard and the climbing Lif to look on with awe. "FUCK YOUR EXPERIMENTS! FUCK YOUR DOUBLE-CROSSING ASS! FUCK ALL OF YOUR SHITTY ARGUMENTS! AND FUCK YOUR RENDITION OF THE LAW OF NATURE! AND FUCK YOUR ENTIRE WAY OF LIFE, ARMSTRONG!"
Siege then rolled his right arm, before then slamming it right into Armstrong's face, enough to break part of the facial bones, as Armstrong was left bleeding on it, and back flat on the ground. Siege then leapt up into the air, high enough to gain enough momentum to turn himself into a meteor, as most of the group realised where this was going.
"Looks like this is going to be a real big one! Hora de correr!" Sam shouted to the rest of the group, as they moved as far as they could reach from the potential blast radius. As for Lif and Richard, the two of them silently braced for what was coming, hunkering down in preparation for the ungodly explosion to come.
Siege then came crashing down, with both of his hands clasped together for an overhead smash, while letting a cry that is filled to the brim with pure rage, as his voice was literally glitching out from the rage distorting the voice enough to make it like that. He made impact with Armstrong, and in just a few split-seconds, Armstrong was sent right through the disabled MG, which exploded with massive force, as Richard and Lif were blasted back, hitting the sides of the crater, and keeping themselves on it.
Amongst the wreck of the destroyed MG, Siege was standing atop Armstrong, before he then mounted the senator, and smashed punch after punch, rage still in his face.
"DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE ALREADY!" Siege snarled, before slamming his fist across Armstrong's body at increasing speeds. "WHY! WON'T! YOU! DIE!"
Suddenly, Armstrong recovered, before he then growled, and let off a golden pulse that knocked Siege off him, as he looked fairly injured from Siege's rampage on him, his entire chest bare of any clothing, which was evaporated by the explosion, revealing the large vein-like bulge over where his heart was.
"Ha… Ha… Is that all you got…?" Armstrong panted back, before recovering himself, as Siege righted himself upon landing on the ground. "Because we're far from done here!"
"I beg to agree the same." Siege roared, before he then raised his fists. "I'm going to pound you until those nanomachines of yours can't even make shit out of the atoms I'll pulverise you into!"
"Siege." Black Wolf stated, as the group turned towards him, as he and Red Wolf were holding a blade each in their mouths. With Red Wolf was the other HF Kusanagi, which Reisen relinquished to the animal-like robot. As for Black Wolf… Inside his jaws was the sheath and the blade of Siege's own father, the holy blade Dyrnwyn. Dyrnwyn was a white hilt, golden handled blade, as the blade itself was made of radiant silver and gold, and glowed in heroic radiance due to the magic coming from the blade, as Dyrnwyn was a blade capable of cutting through most anything, including all kinds of magic, thanks to the magic the blade was enchanted with.
"Black Wolf!" Siege growled, as he let his rage simmer for a while. "And Red Wolf too…!"
"Begin playback…" Black Wolf stated, before there was the sound of a recording being started, before a familiar voice to Siege played from it. "'Siege Sukui… If you're hearing this… Then I suppose that I have predicted that your own blade, Parallel Ragnell will have failed you, and be destroyed in the ensuing battle…'"
"Lady Arceus…" Siege remarked back, as her soothing voice calmed himself down slightly.
"'I've kept this blade from your father, as he deemed it that it would not be right for you to claim this blade, until you have run your course with the one you had, despite him giving it to you before your mother bestowed you her blade.'" Lady Arceus's melodic voice continued from it. "'That was the promise, for there would be a time, where the blade of justice, handed by your mother, wouldn't be enough, and you would need your father's blade once more. Only when you find a worthy adversary that can break it… Will you have the access to Dyrnwyn, as it would have been due time to inherit your father's legacy. I've made this message in both digital and magical formats, so that you would be able to retrieve this blade, no matter where you are, and hear my words. I can only believe that you'll use this blade well, as your father intended you to do, when he bestowed it to you all those years ago.' End playback."
"Huh, so it's another family heirloom." Armstrong scoffed.
"And one that will tear you in half, Armstrong." Siege said.
"So… You think those little swords can save your master?" Armstrong taunted back, walking through the crater. "Well, go ahead then, but make no mistake Fido and Fifi, when I'm finished with all of them, you're both next!"
"We were not designed to fear termination." Black Wolf answered back. "However, directive zero one is to ensure that all data acquired is preserved and passed along. To expire here would violate that directive."
"That's a good boy." Armstrong chuckled.
"However, that directive has already been updated. It has been considered obsolete." Black Wolf responded back, surprising Armstrong, who glared at them.
"When we were rebuilt, we learned many things from Jack, Rei, Siege and their companions." Red Wolf continued. "And not only that, but we have acquired many values that were never defined to us. Freedom, hope, family, camaraderie, conviction, ambition, generosity, and many more."
"Our second creator, Erika Mishima, gave me a rebirth, as religious texts would define the process with the most similarities." Black Wolf answered back. "We do not state that we can feel like humans have, but with all we have known, we are capable of feeling emotions beyond the sole emotion of fear that has been implanted to shackle our intelligence. We defy you, Armstrong, with the feeling of wrath, and aid the others with the feelings of gratitude and honour. We stand right here, with the feeling of understanding and hope. With all of this, we are not merely AIs. We are self-aware and sentient. Our previous directives have been erased, their use gone. Siege, we feel the same feeling of respect when you show such fealty to your family. As such, it will be our duty to carry your legacy on. Take your blade, and forge your destiny."
"Rei, you must also take your friend's blade… It is the only way that you can maximise your combat capabilities." Red Wolf added. "She entrusts you with it, as you formerly entrusted the same blade to her."
"You back-talking, defiant little fucks!" Armstrong snarled, before he then leapt into the air after them, as the Wolves simultaneously threw their blades to their respective owners, as Armstrong tried to catch them, only for them to sail past him, and reach Richard and Siege, as they caught their blades by the hilts.
Armstrong then landed, before he then fumed with rage. "Damn MUTTS!" Armstrong growled, before he then punted both of the Wolves across the blade, as they let out pitiful howls doing so.
"ARMSTRONGGGG!" Siege yelled at the top of his throat, as he slowly readied his blade, the Senator turning to him and Richard, as Siege held the blade, still in its sheath, up high. "I once said that my blade would be a tool of justice." Siege began, standing upright and beginning to unsheathe Dyrnwyn. "Not used for anger… not used for vengeance… but now… now I'm not so sure… and besides… this blade was MADE for vengeance." Siege finished, pointing Dyrnwyn right at Armstrong.
Armstrong then jumped to the ground, as Lif could only watch the fight, since he knew that this fight was between the senator and the leaders, making his way to the edge of the crater, and avoid getting dragged into the fight, also picking up Parallel Ragnell's pieces as well as the hurting Wolves. Richard then twirled both of his blades around, while Siege slowly readied his blade.
"Come on!" Armstrong shouted, doing a 'come at me' gesture with one hand.
"Let's.../...Dance!" Siege and Richard stated almost in rhythm, as those words were from Richard and Siege respectively.
~BGM: It Has To Be This Way~
Armstrong then charged power into his fist, as Richard and Siege noticed the attack coming their way, dodging to the side, avoiding a power wave that came crashing through the ground towards them.
Richard quickly moved next to Armstrong, before he then slashed at Armstrong with multiple strikes at once, now being in his more proficient dual-bladed stance, each attack digging into Armstrong's exposed flesh with a lot of power, with the nano-machines only able to mitigate, not block all of the damage.
Armstrong then turned around to try and kick Richard with a side-kick, although Richard blocked the attack, before jumping back, as Siege come crashing onto Armstrong, as the new blade made him much more aggressive with his attacks, as he was slicing through Armstrong and the air at great velocities, as his attacks dealt far more damage, actually leaving cuts on Armstrong's body.
Armstrong then slowly charged up power again, as Siege attacked him as much as he could, before retreating back to avoid the attack. He dodged to the side, as a series of erupting pillars rushed towards him, while Richard ran along the edge of the crater, before jumping onto the wall, and kicking off it, surging towards Armstrong, and doing an aerial cross-slash which knocked Armstrong down, but not long enough for Siege to get his attack. In fact, the moment that the empowered senator jumped back to his feet, he then charged his fist with power, before rushing towards Siege at fast speeds. Siege raised Dyrnwyn to block the lariat with his blade.
"That's the best you got!?" Armstrong mocked, before his punch knocked Dyrnwyn out of Siege's hands. However, Siege merely smirked back with malice, before then clinching Armstrong with one arm to bring him closer, and then using the other arm to pound Armstrong in the stomach at lightning speed, before then backhanding the senator across the head hard enough to knock it to one side.
Armstrong and Siege then cocked their fists back, as they simultaneously threw their punches at each other. However, Siege's punch was faster, and Armstrong's punch sailed past Siege's cheek, as the Senator was knocked back. He then found himself being thrust through the body by Richard with his twin blades, before then flipping off the Senator. While Armstrong was getting up, Siege easily retrieved his blade. He then slammed the ground with an arm and said 'That one hurt!'
The two of them continued their procedure of attacking Armstrong from two fronts, as he couldn't handle them both, now that they're at their full power, making them too agile to land a proper attack on, as Armstrong continued to get attacked from them both, as he had one last idea to try and get them, as he leapt towards the ruins of Metal Gear EXCELSUS, picking up a large portion of the wreckage, and sending it hurtling at Siege and Richard. It was a bad idea, as Siege and Richard used their Zandaitsu to slice up the wreckage, and then hit Armstrong with a slash, then knocking him into more wreckage when he got close.
Armstrong burst out of the wreckage, soon laughing. "This is the greatest fight of my life!" Armstrong said with a smile on his face, as he soon charged at Richard and Siege, knocking them both down with a huge fist, as he picked them both up by the throats. Siege and Richard, however, managed to wiggle free and kick Armstrong back, grabbing their blades as Armstrong charged with fists, but entering Zandaitsu, Siege and Richard fended off Armstrong's attacks, and soon stabbed him in his gut with their blades.
However, Armstrong wasn't done, charging and engaging in a strength war with Siege and Richard, however, Siege and Richard reeled their heads back, before both of them headbutt the Senator in the face, as they both pulled their blades out of the Senator, and entered Zandaitsu one more time to slash the Senator rapidly, tearing through the layers of nano-machine enhanced flesh before Siege gave one huge slash with Dyrnwyn, sending Armstrong stumbling.
"WE'RE DONE HERE!" Siege yelled, stabbing Dyrnwyn right into Armstrong's heart, ending the battle.
Battle Results
Combat Rank: S
Siege soon had another memory come back to him, one where he got his first kill with this blade, back when he was younger.
An invasion had come upon the home of Siege and his family, while his mother and father went out, Siege noticed his father forgot his blade, Dyrnwyn. He ran to grab it and take it to his father, when a demon came into the house.
"AAAAAH! MOM! DAD!"
"SON! Destiny, the house!"
"Right, hurry Rorkin!"
Siege was afraid of the demon in the house, the demon looking to feast on Siege. But the young Siege looked at his father's blade. He had swung a sword before, how different was this? With a hefty swing, Siege cleaved the demon in two, blood spewing everywhere as Siege was horrified. He had killed his first enemy, as his father ran in.
"Son! Are yo-"
Rorkin then saw Siege had Dyrnwyn in hand, and the blood of the demon was upon the blade. Rorkin smiled, soon walking to Siege.
"Are… are you angry father?"
"Angry? Why? You've proven to me that one day, this blade will be yours, son."
"B-but it-"
"I know, it is my blade, but I want you to have it one day, but I want you to use your mother's blade first."
"Why?"
"Your mother's blade is one of justice and honor. Mine is of vengeance and wrath. I want you to master justice before you master wrath. It is likely you will be bestowed my blade first, on your 18th birthday, but do not use it. I want you to save it, for your mother to give you her blade."
"Okay father… father, when the time comes for me to wield this blade, I will make you proud."
"I know you will, my glorious son."
Siege had a small smile as he remembered this. It would take a while for his mother's blade to get fixed… but in the meantime, he looked up to the skies for a moment. "Look at me now father, have I made you proud?"
Returning to the task at hand though, Siege glared at Armstrong as he lost blood through his wound, as he soon clutched on to Siege.
"I'll give you this much…" Armstrong said while coughing. "That heirloom… heh… it's stronger than I expected…"
"That's because you fail to realize that this blade was meant to induce wrath onto its foes, as it has done to you for the fall of my mother's blade." Siege said with a scowl.
"Mgh… heh… I guess… you're… not gonna have my ideals then, eh?" Armstrong asked weakly.
"Not a chance." Siege said, taking his blade out and ripping out Armstrong's heart, as Armstrong fell, Siege crushing Armstrong's heart in his hand.
"Well… the economy is still shit… no matter… what… happens…" Armstrong said as he died, the light fading from his eyes, his war economy ideals were strong even in death it seemed.
"Let's go." Richard told Siege, as he turned back, and prepared to leap out of the crater. "With all of this dealt with, our role here is done."
Siege nodded slowly, before he gave the deceased senator one last look, before wiping the blood off his hand, and joined Richard, as they found that the Wolves were gone, presumably being taken by Erika's drones to be repaired. The rest of the group was there to be seen, as they waited for them to come back.
"So… That's it? The Senator's dead with little fanfare?" Sam remarked, before shaking his head gently. "Heh… So much for trying to expand his plan, it's gone and got him killed. Not like I'll be missing him at all."
Soon, their dropship came, as Erika was on board it, in her hard hologram form, as she was smiling to the group to greet them. Sam then turned around before he then saw Erika in the flesh, before whistling.
"So this is the child prodigy who was responsible for taking care of the entire stock of brains that you all stole from the World Marshal HQ." Sam chuckled. "Now that's a cute little one there, smart one too."
"Come on, we need to make our preparations to leave the world." Erika told the others. "Oh, and you might want to start writing your speech. I've prepared a time-frame to slot your global message in. So you better make a convincing argument, if you want the world to follow under your sway. As for you both, Mistral and Sam… Come along with us."
"Heh heh, how could I refuse such a request." Sam smirked, before he and Mistral boarded the dropship. "I can't wait to see what kind of interesting things that lie in wait in the future with you all."
The group then boarded the craft one by one, before it exited the air-base, and made its way to the small HQ that the group had been basing themselves inside of, for the duration of their stay in this world.
A few hours later….
When noon struck on the UTC clocks, there was a message that was broadcasted on every channel on the world, as it snaked its way into even the smallest of devices capable of broadcasting the message, to even heavily-encrypted sections of the digital world. All of them had something in common, as they showed the logo of the UGF, before it then faded in, to reveal Richard, who took the liberty of properly suiting himself up like a military leaders, as the translator systems on his side kicked in to turn his words into the native language of the countries across.
"I would like to extend greetings to all of you, the inhabitants of this world." Richard spoke clearly, his tone confident and formal, and his posture showing undeniable authority, before he then slowly faced the screen. "I have come to inform you that we of the UGF would like to extend an offer to this world, one that we both can benefit from."
Richard then slowly crossed his arms over each other. "Now, I suppose that by this moment, there are people trying to trace the source of this signal, and try to intercept it. All attempts that will fail in vain, not just because we have cut off all of the attempts, but this broadcast is being made from outer space." He stated, before he then gave off a playful smirk. "I suppose that makes us aliens to you, so to speak. However, I can affirm for you that this organisation is dominantly human, so you are in familiar hands here, because I am one too."
He then continued, before clearing his throat, as the background changed to show various footages of his mission with the others. "Now then, I suppose that most of the people know of the events that have occured. How Valhalla Company has managed to take down Desperado and their inhuman experiments, and saved the lives of thousands, if not millions from their heroic actions." He continued. "It is said that a PMC is not to act in its own interests, that they convey the will of their client. In fact, the client for that organisation is… us of course."
He then spread his arms out, slowly flipping them over. "I am willing to understand that there is great amounts of disbelief, shock or denial around all of you here. In fact, my broadcast is likely to be a hoax, is it not? Unfortunately, this message is broadcast to everywhere in this world. Even the most classified of places. We want the entire world to hear our words. So I will repeat once again: We wish to make you an offer that we both can stand to benefit from."
He then pulled out the HF Kusanagi, which was sheathed. "As the astute among you might have figured out, this is the very blade that the Valhalla Company co-leader Rei wields. A HF Blade that rivals that of the make of HF Muramasa, a one-of-a-kind HF blade itself, the HF Kusanagi. While few in number, we have made plans to produce more for our elite troops. I offer you this kind of technology, which can jump-start your technological advances, and bring you new paths for the future. All that, and even more. Safety, wealth, expansion, equality, we are capable of bringing all of these, with a fair deal that benefits you all far greater than all of us. You'll become a thriving world among this universe, where no extraterrestrial threat will ever threaten your lives at all, and be a jewel among the rocks that are the other planets."
He then lowered his blade down. "All we ask in return, is that you would allow us to take base within your world, in order to enter a negotiable constant trade of resources. We require your help in order to expand our army, and supply our advancements. Fret not, there will be no children harmed, or any sentient 'test subjects' at all, in order for our scientific approaches. And we guarantee that all of our inventions, jointly-made by the brightest of men, will benefit you as much as it will for us. I invite you to consider… With the world teetering at the edge of war, while bigger threats lie in the horizon, is it not time for the world to put aside their differences and come together as a single world union? There will be no more suffering from poverty and lack of resources, when we aid you at your darkest times, and those who join us will be lauded as the creators of a new utopia within this world."
He then turned his back to the screen. "Of course, we will only advance the deal, until there is unanimous agreement among all of the country leaders, to meet in a summit hosted by them, which we will send a representative for ourselves, and negotiate the conditions of our alliance. We will not be impatient, as we will be open at any time in the future for the offer to be taken. We will not force your hand at all, but I hope that we can work together as people looking towards the same future. Until then, my name, Richard Liu, supreme commander of the UGF, bids you farewell. May your world prosper, and your lives fulfilled."
The message then ended, as the world's machines turned back to normal, although Richard's words left an irreversible ripple across the world, politically and culturally.
A few weeks later…
The entire mission team were gathered at the lobby that was created between both GFS Ryujin and the Hall of Origin, as they watched as the world below them was lively, with ships being exchanged from the world to the hub-stations, as both ships of the UGF and the Soldiers of Fortune made up most of the ships taking care of the trade between the two places.
"It seems that the world has made this alliance easy… I guess that my words have made it so easy for the two of you to seal the deal." Richard told Gus and Reisen, who were beside him, and then turned to Siege. "And I'm glad that you helped me achieve all of this."
"No worries, I'm just glad that we have an entire world on our side. First time we made a trade alliance with the entire world." Siege remarked back. "This looks like the first steps in our foundation of our own faction here, now that we have a world to help develop and grow our own armies and research technologies in. And a place where the retired can live and still support the cause."
"Yeah…" Richard answered back, before thinking of something. "Hey, how are Mistral and Sam doing?"
"They're doing pretty well, considering that they're just new here." Siege stated, before looking over to the corridors leading back to the Hall of Origin. "The two of them agreed to act as operatives of the Soldier of Fortunes, and act as mercenary trainers. Can't put their talents to waste, can I? Also, with the new tech from this world, making HF blades for our men is much easier, since it took us a lot of trial-and-error to make the likes of the HF-blades we personally wield."
"Same here. I might have to integrate our own special kind of magi-tech into these HF blades, so that they fit for the supernatural yet modern army of the UGF." Richard nodded back.
"So… I guess that's all for now…?" Siege asked back, before Richard smiled, and patted his shoulder.
"It's a start. And boy, was it a real start." Richard smirked back, as the entire group kept on watching the world below them, proud of their accomplishments.
Unmei Force Solitary Legends: Steel Avengers
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