A/N: Hey guys, your friendly neighborhood DrPhill is back and giving you guys a new chapter today... and I'm by myself today because I've given the gang the day off today. You'll see what I mean when you guys actually get into this chapter. So, let's not waste any more time today shall we? Enjoy :D
To say things hadn't gone according to the plan would be an understatement. There were some things that Nova could still hang his now broken helmet on from last night's events. The acquisition of nearly forty new candidates for the Shadow Pokémon Project, including a number of eggs made for a respectable haul. If Nova remembered right, the researchers had never tested the project on eggs or recently hatched Pokémon. Perhaps they would respond better to the treatment than their older and more attached counterparts? Also, his Shadow Darmanitan and Aster's Shadow Weavile were both able to hold their own against the likes of Mega-Evolved Pokémon, at least until the numbers game overwhelmed them. And then there was their most recent test run of BK-03 going blow for blow with three Mega Pokémon simultaneously… at least until its inhibitor mask broke and they lost control of it… again.
But that wasn't why Nova considered the raid last night a failure. Two of their grunts managed to be defeated and captured by Pokémon Rangers. An annoyance for certain, but not nearly as bothersome as that red-haired guy magically knowing that Darmanitan and Weavile were Shadow Pokémon. Plus, there was the part where he was chased by the two Dragon riders; that lunatic with the Salamence and the goddamn Commander of the Sinnohan Rangers as well. Thankfully the Salamence's rider had an accident and prevented their base from being discovered as a result, but still, too close a call.
No, the real reason he considered last night a failure was lying prone on a cot with a thick layer of bandages covering the left half of his face. It was his partner Aster, having taken a grizzly Psycho Cut to the face from that goddamn Commander's Gallade with no time to defend himself. They got greedy, wanted one more Pokémon to score the slightest bit more favor with the higher-ups, and Aster was in all likelihood about to lose his eye because of that.
This was supposed to be the easier option, it was all planned out! Sunnyshore City was a major success for Eclipse, hauling in almost 200 Pokémon for testing in the Shadow Pokémon Project. Naturally, though, that meant every other Pokémon Center in Sinnoh was now actively stationing either rangers or police officers at their facility to prevent a second Sunnyshore. So, they needed to find an alternative way to bolster their ranks. Contest Halls were considered a good target, but the next contest wasn't for another two months. And as lucrative as it might be to raid a Gym, there was way too much risk to make an assault worthwhile.
So, they settled for a smaller scale raid on the Solaceon daycare, the one that was supposed to be the easy option. And in choosing this supposedly easier option: they only captured half their intended targets, their Shadow Pokémon were ultimately defeated by a bunch of nobodies, BK-03 went on another rampage, and Aster may have lost the use of his left eye. All because of the perfect storm of bullshit improbabilities that just so happened to occur in rapid succession.
"Like a fucking fanfiction…" Nova spat bitterly, head held in his hands as he looked over at the motionless Aster. The bandages around his face looked like they needed changing, all the sweat and blood soaking into them had made splotches of runny reds and watery greys. Those colors didn't suit Aster, red in particular. That was Nova's motif, not Aster's. Nova was red-hot fire to Aster's calculative icy demeanor. This blood red color was unbecoming of Nova's partner. He couldn't see him like this anymore, he had to leave.
"Ah, admin Nova, we've been looking for you." One of the lesser peons in the uniformed white and gray looked at him.
"Who's looking for me?" Nova frowned, not in the mood for a worthless conversation if he could avoid it.
"Well, with admin Aster still… incapacitated, it is up to you to provide a briefing for the chiefs as to what happened last night in Solaceon Town."
"I'm not talking to any of them." Nova brushed off the peon's request and tried to walk past the grunt, only for him to step in the way.
"But who is supposed to brief them on what-"
"I don't fucking care who!" Nova lashed out immediately and the grunt recoiled in fear. "You can do it for all I goddamn care! All I know is that it ain't gonna be me, so piss off!"
"Buh – but admin Nova, they-"
"I said, piss off!" Nova shoved the grunt aside and he stormed out of the room and down the adjacent hallway.
"Fufufu, you certainly are a hothead, aren't you new guy? I wonder if it is because of your red hair? It certainly looks like a raging fire alright." Though Nova only managed to take a few steps down the hallway before a condescending laugh put him in his tracks. He knew who's laugh it was, but Nova wasn't in the mood to play any of her games today, especially not today. He wasn't going to give her the satisfaction.
"Then again, Mars has red hair too, but it's not quite as bright as yours is. That and she doesn't get nearly as angry as you." The voice continued and Nova clenched his teeth. "Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Mars is smart enough to quit when she's ahead and not risk the entirety of her operations for the sake of padding her stats." Now Nova's fists clenched too.
"No? Well, maybe it's because she's experienced enough to not let her emotions get the better of her in the heat of the moment." Nova couldn't completely stifle the growl that bubbled up from his chest.
"Still no? Well, maybe it's a simple matter of her not being weighed down by an overzealous partner and his delusions of grandiose success."
"Do you have a problem with me, Jupiter? Because it sounds like you're trying to pick a fight, and I'm in just the mood for it." Despite his desire not to, Nova couldn't let that last jab slide as he turned to face the taunting purple-haired harpy behind him. Jupiter, a former admin of Team Galactic during the Red Chain Saga seven years ago stood with her arms folded and a leg propped up against the wall behind her. Every inch of her was stepped in this holier-than-thou smugness from the tips of the bulb-like buns atop her hair, to the pointed toes of her high-heels.
"Goodness no, I would never dream of crushing your already wounded pride beneath my heels and watching you squirm for my amusement." Jupiter's purple eyes flashed with excitement, plainly contradicting her words. It was almost predatory how she sneered at him, adding to Nova's frustration with every drop of venom that dripped from her lips.
"Well, it sounds like that's exactly what you're doing." Nova shot a fiery glare at her. He knew she was baiting him, stringing him along as her personal play toy. But he couldn't help himself.
"I'm simply making an observation." Jupiter's stance shifted, her hand slid down to her now cocked hip. "And it's my observation that you and your partner Aster failed in your mission last night, quite spectacularly I might add." She threw an extra jab as she looked in the direction of Aster's bunk.
"You keep him out of this!" Nova lunged forward and grabbed Jupiter by the scruff of her collar, pinning her to the wall with a firm shove. "This is between you and me."
"Oh-ho-ho, you really are such a hothead, admin Nova." The last two words were bathed in her most toxic venom yet, easily getting under Nova's thin skin and forcing a growl of burning hate to bubble up inside.
"Listen here Commander Jupiter," Nova returned her venom with some of his own though she seemed completely unfazed, which only pissed him off even more. "I don't care if you used to be some bigshot back during the Red Chain Saga. It's been seven years since then, seven years since you and the rest of your fabled Team Galactic collapsed and fell apart. Your chickenshit leader was so humiliated in his defeat by a pair of 11-year old kids that he ran away and hid in his own pocket dimension. But I don't blame him, because at least while he's safe in his personal bitch bubble, he doesn't have to see the legacy of failure left behind by his so-called commanders."
"Oh?" Jupiter continued to sneer, still unfazed by any of Nova's remarks.
"After your defeat on Mt. Coronet, the only one of you with a spine still left was Charon. Your boss' supposed right-hand man Saturn turned into a sniveling coward and secluded himself in your former headquarters. While you and Mars both got bored and abandoned Charon after, what was it again? Things weren't as fun as they were before? Why might that be? Was it because the two of you couldn't cut it by yourselves now that you were thrust into the position of leading Galactic and actually having to do work for a change? Seems to me like Charon was the only one of you four worth investing in. Except he got arrested by Interpol and is in some facility only Arceus knows where."
"Is that right?"
"As far as I'm concerned, all of you former Galactic failures lost any and all clout you used to have in this region, especially you once Galactic fell apart. Eclipse represents the beginning of a new age resurrected from the ashes of your failures. We will achieve and surpass the ideals that you failed to achieve seven years ago. And frankly, if it weren't for Saturn finding his spine again and specifically requesting yours and Mars' sorry asses be a part of this operation, both of you would still be rotting in a prison cell. We don't need the stench of your past failures tarnishing the name of Eclipse!"
"Well, then you certainly fit in well with the rest of us, Admin." Jupiter finally brushed Aster's grip off her and turned down the hallway. "After all, whose operation can be added to this legacy of failure that you just mentioned? Mine? Or yours?"
Fuck! Nova played right into her hand again! Even if he'd managed to vent some of his anger at her expense, she'd replaced it just as quickly as he burned it off. He clawed at his fiery red hair and flailed about the hall.
No, screw Jupiter! Fuck her! Fuck Mars! And fuck Team Galactic! Nova wasn't a part of their failure; he was in Eclipse. And he wasn't about to let the same pratfalls that claimed Galactic's spirit shackle him to their legacy of failure. That was the problem with Galactic, they got knocked down and quit. Eclipse gets knocked down, they rebuild and try again. Eclipse was better than Galactic ever could dream to be and would only get stronger in spite of last night's setbacks.
Determined to cleanse himself of his failure, Nova brushed through the facility and made his way deeper towards the communications array. Not a single word was said to any of the grunts he walked past in the halls, nor did he acknowledge the salutes of the few that stopped and stood aside for him. He didn't deserve them, not yet; once they addressed and improved on what went wrong last night, then he could return the praise given to him by his subordinates. Nova eventually made his way to the deepest part of the base and stepped into an elevator. He pressed a button and began a swift ascent to the top of the building.
The door opened up into a massive circular room and Nova stepped onto the platform that lead into the room. His footsteps echoed throughout the room as he walked closer to the raised kiosk at its center. Nova scanned the room, looking at the numerous video monitors that he'd soon be using to communicate with his superiors and the other admins. He didn't know much about the other admins besides Aster; his partner being the better of the two when it came to diplomacy and putting up with the other admin's… eccentric personalities. He had to have a lot of experience in putting up with Nova's own eccentricities after all.
Having reached the raised kiosk in the center of the room, Nova placed his bare palm on a circular scanner and the room began to light up with activity. Monitors all over the room began to turn on with a faint hum and a dim blue light shown. Maps of the Sinnoh region and its various towns and cities lit up and repositioned themselves around the room. Four main monitors in front of Nova turned on with each one having a different colored border light around them. The two innermost monitors glowed with two different hues of blue, the lighter one on the left next to a bright green monitor, and the darker of the blues next to one glowing bright pink. Nova's own platform around him became underlit with an orange hue.
"Admin Nova? This is a surprise." The light-blue monitor lit up with each spoken word as its speaker addressed Nova. "We normally see Aster when it comes to debriefing the two of your missions."
"Yeah, well, Aster's not… he's not doing so hot right now, so I'll be taking his place today." Nova beat around the bush.
"Yes, well, we'll be cutting straight to the chase if you don't mind," This time the bright green monitor spoke with a more abrasive and authoritarian sounding voice. "I heard that during your mission last night, you two were forced to use my precious Zero-Three. Is that correct?"
"Yes, we did have to use Type: Shad-"
"How effective were the latest adjustments to the Neo_RKS system? Was he still difficult to control? What kind of Pokémon did Zero-Three battle against? As you were there at the last field test before this one, was this time more or less successful than-" Green's barrage of questions was cut off as a mute icon was displayed on his monitor.
"Thank Arceus. I was starting to get a headache." The pink voice, a high-pitched feminine voice spoke up. Nova had to agree; that green guy had a bad habit of unloading questions on you like a shotgun blast all at once. Coupled with his obscene desire for control and order in his projects, it made him almost impossible to work with. If it weren't for the fact that he was the one responsible for bringing Zero-Three into Eclipse, Nova would have kicked his ass to the curb months ago.
"We will hear of the successes of Type: Shadow's latest field tests in due time." Light-blue agreed, a tinge of annoyance in his voice as well. "I for one would like to hear about the mission in the fullest detail, not just the high points. So, if you don't mind Admin, the floor is yours."
"Right, well the operation started out smoothly enough." Nova began in earnest. "We got into the barn without a hitch at all. I believe we managed to make off with almost 40 Pokémon in total."
"Just as we had anticipated." Light-blue sounded impressed.
"And then those two arsonists, with extra emphasis on arse, went overboard and torched the barn to 'send a message' or something." Nova shook his head thinking about those two pyromaniacs from east Sinnoh.
"Ick, not those pyro-moron-iacs again." Pink sounded just as disgusted as Nova.
"Yeah, well, this is the last time they'll ever fuck up an operation. Because the two of them got arrested by the Sinnohan Rangers last night."
"Of course they did." Pink spat another wave of disgust. "I knew from the start those two would be the types to screw the Poochyena so hard that it comes back to bite them in the ass. I'm just surprised it took them this long to do it."
"What exactly happened to the two of them?" Light-blue sighed his own disappointment.
"They wanted to blow up the barn and so they did." Nova let out a heavy sigh. "Stupid idiots, plus Toxicroak venom, plus wooden barn, plus a Flamethrower from a Heatmor equals giant and completely unnecessary explosion."
"Incompetent Neanderthals." Green added his own disgust, now un-muted.
"So, having woken up basically the entirety of Solaceon Town, not to mention the owners of the daycare itself, we scattered. We'd already secured most of the daycare's Pokémon in trucks and were prepared to head back to base. But that's when shit started to hit the fan." Nova shook his head and sighed before continuing.
"Our favorite pyros were chased down by a pair of trainers in the surrounding forest who managed to stall them long enough to be rescued by Pokémon Rangers… Including the regional Commander, Thomas Weiland."
"Weiland!? That old man is still in charge of the Rangers?!" Light-blue blurted out a shocked outburst. "Dammit, I was hoping he'd have retired by now."
"As luck would have it, the owners of the daycare were apparently personal friends of the Commander. He took the attack rather personally."
"Ugh, what an ugly turn of events." Pink added her two cents.
"Indeed, but this would certainly explain the necessity of sending my Zero-Three into battle." Green cut in. "An opponent of the head Ranger's caliber would make for quite a test of Zero-Three's skillset, especially if he were defending his own family."
"Right. But while he was focused on those two, Aster and I decided to make one last run by the daycare itself and ran into some obscene resistance from a trio of trainers that could wield Mega-Evolved Pokémon."
"Mega Evolution you say, and three of them no less. And to think Pinky, you didn't think it was necessary to send my Zero-Three on a small-scale raid such as this." Green threw a jab at his fellow admin.
"And how exactly was I supposed to foresee them running into Pokémon capable of using Mega Evolution?!" Pink snapped back. "I would have thought that you'd be okay with my judgment, given how much you want to protect your precious Zero-Three from unnecessary risk. And besides, after their success in the raid on Sunnyshore City, I had the utmost confidence in Aster and Nova to get the job done. Were you doubting their ability Greeny?"
"Far from it," Green replied calmly. "In fact, deploying the two of them with my Zero-Three was meant as a vote of confidence in the two of them, as I believe they'd shown themselves capable of handling Zero-Three's power. Which I would assume you did if your opponents were using Mega Pokémon."
"Eventually yes, but we felt confident in the use of our own Shadow Pokémon that they might be able to hold their own against their opponents." Nova answered his fellow Admin. "And I might add that my Darmanitan and Aster's Weavile were able to hold their own individually against a single Mega Pokémon each, and we have you to thank for that."
"Oh, you flatterer." Pink's voice sounded charmed. "It may have been a few years since I last worked with Shadow Pokémon, but you never really forget something like that. It's like riding a bike. But when your given such a strong specimen to start with like your Darmanitan and Weavile, it only makes my Shadow Pokémon that much stronger in the end."
"It wasn't until the numbers game caught up with us that we were forced into using BK-03 to take on all three Mega Pokémon. And he himself was able to fight them off by his lonesome."
"But of course." Now Green sounded charmed. "My Zero-Three is the pinnacle of Pokémon research. The result of years of arduous, painstaking trial and error to create a Pokémon capable of rivaling Arceus itself. Zero-Three is less of a Pokémon and more of a God. And to be able to fight off three Mega Pokémon simultaneously shows exactly how powerful my Zero-Three can become."
"…at least until he went into Reverse Mode."
"He went into Reverse mode again?" Both Pink and Green spoke in a nearly identical deadpan delivery.
"Yup." Nova shrugged his shoulders in defeat. "Part of his mask broke after taking a combined attack from the Mega Pokémon. That was enough to send Zero-Three into a rage and he attacked anything and everything in sight, including me and Aster."
"Hmph, well I think it's obvious what happened here," Green spoke first. "Pinky, you need to take a hard look at refining your Shadow conversion process because this is starting to become an all too common occurrence with my Zero-Three."
"Excuse me?! Did you just suggest that my Shadow Pokémon project is at fault for your precious Zero-Three going on another Reverse mode rampage?!" Pink shot back.
"Of course it's your fault!" Green roared as he prepared his retaliatory arsenal. "The Beast-Killer Project that created Zero-Three had ironed out all the kinks of unruliness with the implementation of the initial RKS system and the inhibitor mask. And my initial tests with the modified Neo_RKS system were going as expected once I liberated Zero-Three from that petulant blonde-haired boy. But then I let you take Zero-Three to undergo your Shadow conversion project, and suddenly he's as unruly as he was years ago! I thought you'd said in the past that you created a perfect Shadow Pokémon that was incapable of doing this very thing!"
"That's right, we did create a perfect Shadow Pokémon in XD-001, a Shadow Lugia at that!" Pink hissed as she began her counterattack. "And this was five years ago with antiquated technology compared to what we're able to use today. With Aster and Nova's Pokémon for example, we're able to churn out significantly stronger Shadow Pokémon, at a faster rate than we ever could back in the Orre region! And furthermore, not a single one of our Shadow operatives during either uprising ever had a problem with handling their Shadow Pokémon! Now your precious Zero-Three has gone into Reverse mode twice in the past month, even after we programmed in the new inhibitors into its mask AND gave it the Xtra-Dark treatment like we did Lugia. Perhaps if you weren't so damn adamant about keeping your stupid Neo_RKS system in place, we wouldn't be having this issue at all!"
"And neuter the signature power of my Zero-Three? Blasphemy! That would be akin to taking the tires off a race car or asking a samurai to knowingly dull his blade! You would be crippling the signature power of my greatest creation! And I will not stand by and let some former idol washout besmirch the-" Mute icons appeared on both Pink and Green's screen as their argument came to an abrupt end.
"You may proceed Nova." Light-blue spoke softly, sounding just as irritated as Nova was at listening to the bickering.
"Thank you." Nova pinched the bridge of his nose. He'd heard of the disdain between those two admins, each one thinking the other was unnecessary, but he was not prepared for that explosion of anger.
"As I was saying, Zero-Three entered Reverse Mode and went on a rampage. He severely injured one of the Mega Pokémon and its trainer, but then turned fire on Aster and me and incapacitated us briefly. The other two Mega-Pokémon tried fighting Zero-Three but were ultimately defeated as well. It wasn't until that meddlesome Commander showed up that Zero-Three was finally knocked around enough for Aster and me to put it back in its ball."
"So, with your own Pokémon defeated and Zero-Three out of commission, you decided to retreat?"
"Yes, Commander," Nova answered Light-blue. "However, it wasn't without consequence."
"How so?"
"As we were trying to flee, Aster got uncharacteristically greedy and tried to snatch one more Pokémon for our raid, a Glaceon."
"A Glaceon you say. It is fitting, he does have a certain affinity for Ice and Dark-typed Pokémon."
"Well, the Commander wasn't about to let that deed go unpunished." Nova's body shivered as he remembered his partner's blood-curdling scream of failure. "His Gallade teleported the Glaceon and its trainer away and attacked us with a Psycho Cut that… in all likelihood has claimed Aster's eye."
"I… I'm sorry. I think there was a technical hiccup just now." Light-blue sounded like he was in disbelief. "Did you say he lost an eye."
"I did, his left." Nova's mind flashed back to the sight of his partner lying on the cots in the medical wing of the base not a moment ago. His fists clenched in rage. "I've never known the Commander to be so cruel, so vicious as that."
"That… Nurghhh – Curse that incommodious old man!" The sound of something breaking on the other side of Light-blue's monitor accented his frustration. "Why must he still continue to be a pain in my side even after all these years?!"
"All these years? You've had experience with the Commander in the past then?" Nova clued into Light-Blue's rant.
*sigh* "Yes, I have… I believe I told you and Aster before Nova, but I was a former Commander of Team Galactic when it was under Cyrus' leadership. We were so close to achieving his goal of creating the ideal universe. But Commander Weiland, Cynthia and those two wonder-kids from Twinleaf Town kept standing in our way time and time again. Even during the climax of our saga, the summoning ritual atop Spear Pillar to control Dialga and Palkia with the Red Chain, he was right there with them. And even now that he's an old man he's still not showing any signs of slowing down."
"Even if that's the case, last night was just a fluke chance that he happened to be in the area." Nova countered. "It just wouldn't be realistic to expect him to be involved with every plan we make."
"You're not wrong in your assessment Nova. But with Commander Weiland, it wasn't his personal strength, but his ability as a strategist that made him such a difficult foe to face." Light-blue explained. "The man's like a fine wine, just getting better and better with age."
"Damn. Considering how strong his Gallade was in being able to push back BK-03 so effortlessly, that has to be high praise indeed." Nova's brow furrowed.
"I think you two are giving the Commander too much credit." A voice spoke from behind Nova and he turned towards it, only to gasp aloud what he saw.
"Aster!" Nova's partner was behind him, leaning against one of the guard rails to help him stand. Nova rushed over to help his partner, but Aster held up a hand towards him and shuffled his way towards the platform before the monitors.
"Hey Aster, you can't be serious." Nova reached out and grabbed Aster's wrist. "You shouldn't be up here with your injuries; I can handle the rest of this meeting. Just go back to the infirmary and I'll give you the spark note version later."
"I'm fine enough to take part in a debriefing." Aster pulled free of Nova's grip, staggering back a few steps in the process. "Besides, I need to pass on my side of the story."
"No way dude." Nova grabbed Aster a second time, and his partner's knees buckled, falling to the ground and wincing in pain. "You're no good to us in your current condition. You need to rest."
"I concur with your partner Aster," Light-Blue spoke up and both men turned to the monitor. "As encouraging as it is to hear that you're already capable of moving around, you're only prolonging your recovery at this point by doing so. You are far better suited to bedrest for the time being. Nova can fill you in on the details we've discussed at a later time."
*sigh* "Fine. But before I go, I have one question that needs asking?"
"And what might that be?" Light-Blue asked as Nova helped Aster back to a standing position.
"Are you scared of Commander Weiland?"
"Scared of Comman – I am not scared of-"
"Because it seems to me that you might be." Aster cut off Light-Blue's response immediately. "Based on your past experiences with the man, you seem to have him painted as this God-like figure. Nigh-unstoppable in terms of strength and tactical cunning, a real paragon of virtue for the Sinnoh region to place their faith in. The Commander is neither of those things, he is simply a man; a man whose strength is starting to wither and be replaced with desperation."
"Then how do you explain how his Gallade could knock back Zero-Three so effortlessly last night?" Nova asked his partner.
"Convenient circumstance," Aster replied with a calculated authority. "Zero-Three had already battled three Mega-Evolved Pokémon prior to the Gallade arriving and had gone into Reverse Mode as well. It took those three Pokémon together to damage Zero-Three, and he was still able to fight them off. The Commander merely took advantage of his weakened state and was able to drive him back as a result."
"With all due respect admin, I believe that attack you took last night may have done some greater damage to your head than you may think it has," Light-Blue growled through his monitor. "An attack that was inflicted by the Commander himself I might add, so you of all people should know where I am coming from when I say that he is not someone to underestimate."
"I don't underestimate the Commander's abilities, but perhaps you overestimate them yourself," Aster smirked with a cocksure grin. "Commander Weiland's strength is still there, but it is fading. Even as he teleported in to save the day like the gallant hero that you and the rest of Sinnoh see him, I saw a man needing a cane to hold himself upright. As he lead the counterattack against our Zero-Three, I saw the doubt in his eyes, felt his uncertainty. If our Zero-Three were still at full strength when the Commander had arrived, even he would have felt the eventual sting of defeat."
"I thought you were smarter than this Aster," Light-blue growled louder. "But I see now that your overconfidence has blinded you in assessing the strength of your opponent. And now you're quite literally blind in the eye because of it! Get out of my sight, go back to the infirmary and-"
"That is quite enough Saturn." The Dark-blue monitor spoke up for the first time in this entire meeting, immediately drawing Aster and Nova's attention to it. "I have heard enough of your praise for Commander Weiland, and I am more interested in Aster's assessment of the man."
"Yes sir…" Saturn went back to a silenced whimper through the monitor.
"Now, Aster, you sound confident that you might be able to defeat the Commander if the circumstances of your fight were on a more neutral plane."
"Correct."
"Interesting… and you say this in spite of the wound you received at his hand."
"The only reason I have this wound is because the Commander gave into his own sense of desperation." Aster stood tall with his statement. "I may have lost the ability to see from this eye as a result. But at that moment, I saw a weakness in the Commander that those who faced him in the past have not."
"How very interesting indeed." Dark-blue chuckled to himself. "Chief Faba."
"Um, yes sir!" The green voice spoke up.
"Head back to the drawing board and revise your Neo_RKS system from the ground up. I am sick of the inconsistencies we are having regarding BK-03's field tests. And I believe your system is the reason behind it."
"Y-yes sir…" Green mumbled his defeat, getting Pinky to start snickering through her mic.
"Lovrina."
"Yes boss!" And in an instant Pink was shut up and attentive.
"I expect you to do the same with the Shadow Conversion Project."
"Right away boss! Consider it done!"
"Saturn, we should expect some sort of retaliation from the Commander within the week. I want you to plan our next move in response to his."
"Understood."
"And as for you two, Aster and Nova, I want you two to meet me at these coordinates in one week's time." One of the maps of the Sinnoh region lit up with a red blip at an island on the western coast. "Until then, I am temporarily relieving you of your duties and ordering you both to rest and recover."
"Thank you, sir." Aster bowed to the monitors and Nova did the same.
"I look forward to finally meeting you in person Aster." Dark-Blue added.
"As do I."
"May the shadow of Eclipse encompass the world. And to all who dare oppose us-" Dark-blue began.
"May they feel the weight of our shadow firsthand." As everyone else in the room finished in unison. The four monitors all turned off in unison, leaving just Aster and Nova in the room with the maps of the Sinnoh region. Both of them turned towards the one with the glowing red blip on it.
"So, Iron Island?" Nova commented on the blip's location. "We get a week's vacation before we're supposed to meet the boss there huh?"
"I heard him, Nova, my ears still work fine." Aster quipped back.
"Yeah yeah, whatever." Nova grabbed his partner's arm and threw it over his shoulder. "Now come on, if your ears are still working, then you should have heard Saturn's order for bed rest too."
"Screw him." Aster spat quite literally on the floor as they walked towards the elevator in the back of the room. "Saturn's still a coward in my book."
"How surprising? The ever-loyal Aster disobeying an order from one of his superiors?" Nova gave a chiding jab.
"He's lucky the boss gave the same order." Aster gave a weak chuckle but Nova actually cut loose a proper laugh as the elevator doors opened and the two of them stepped inside. The lights of the greater room shut off one by one, retreating towards the elevator itself as the doors shut and the two Eclipse admins descended back into their base.