Chapter 14 – Military Train (II) – Full Speed Raid
"Keep up the good work, Double."
"Yes sir, the pleasure is mine."
The scales had been balanced, and the bald man was laughing maniacally again in his delight.
The room was dark, the only thing that can be vaguely seen were the teal tint on his eyes, as well as faint purple glow from Double's limbs. Double's voice was much different than usual, it sounded sinister and crazy, even his chuckle was full of sadistic pleasure.
Everything was well within his calculations, he was holding a traditional balancing scale, equipped with two plates on both sides connected with a fine string to the center, he added and removed chess pieces of white and black, separated on either sides based on their color, and came to the perfect balance.
"Now… who shall be the first to fall? Hee hee hee…"
It was 1045 in the morning, the military train of the Repliforce was notably old and outdated. It was initially a freight train, its purpose remained unchanged, but to be prepared for this war, it was modified and upgraded to have numerous cannons and other defense mounted on it, there were several infantries littered around as well, most of them were Knot Berets and Metalls.
At current point, it was moving from City Z to the headquarters of Repliforce. This route had the longest distance, and hence became the prime target for the Maverick Hunters to intercept.
To ensure absolute success, Zero had proposed to deploy the entire Shinobi Unit to raid the military train. The stakes were far too high at this point of the war, and failure would further escalate their defeat. Anytime they had men outside attacking the Repliforce, the defense of the H.Q. will be thinner, and who knows when the Repliforce would strike at their home base?
Furthermore, Iris was not part of this operation. Her mental circuits were still unstable since her brother showed up at the H.Q., and someone else had to take the reins as the navigator.
Zero was especially upset about this, feeling Iris was beginning to distant herself from him, and he did not know what to do about her, despite the fact that they were a couple.
"Zeroth unit, you copy?"
"Affirmative." Zero spoke as his unit had just landed.
"You are now located at an abandoned station where the train will be passing by any minute. You are to intercept it by boarding it forcefully, removing any obstacle that may hinder your progress to sabotage the train and prevent it from reaching its destination."
"How far are we from the Repliforce H.Q.? How fast is the train?"
"You are 86 unimiles away from their destination, the train is moving at the speed of 150 unimiles per hour."
"Pretty fast for an outdated train, we only have around 30 minutes to stop it." Quartz mentioned.
"Well, you just have to jump up when it shows up!" Ruby exclaimed, still her cheerful side.
"Then? Blow everything up?" Dia questioned, keeping up with the pun.
"If so then I am out of this, see ya," said Lapis sarcastically.
They shared few giggles, but Zero did not have any of it, he heard none of their voices, except the approaching noise from the train wheel scraping against the rails, as well as his inner voice.
I have to end this war quickly, so that everyone will be saved… Iris will be saved.
All he had in his mind, right now, was Iris.
"Train approaching! Prepare to jump!" Zero cried out, when he saw the train's head sticking out from the junction. His other comrades readied themselves, but Zero was the one to make the first and impatient jump, hastily landing on the ongoing train's roof and opened his account on the nearest infantry stationed on top of the train, slicing the poor Knot Beret's torso into half. He did not stop there, continuing his way to hack the remaining defenses on the roof of the first car, making his way to the door where he would be able to hijack the train and stop it on its tracks.
"Hurry! Follow the commander!" Onyx, one of the Shinobi Unit members whose color scheme was mostly black, was the most alert of all and quickly signaled his other lagging teammates to catch up. They leaped and shuffled on the roof, taking down any incoming Bat Bones that were stationed along the path the train passed.
They were all equipped with grip boots, providing better stability whilst navigating on top of a moving train. Not to mention this unit was famous for their unrivaled mobility, capable of running circles around the enemies before delivering them to their demise.
Just as Zero made his way to the control room, he noticed how one of the Knot Berets smirked from the other car just opposite of him, throwing a grenade which effectively destroyed the metal connector between the first car and the second car, which the latter performed an emergency stop and began heading the opposite direction.
They had another control car in the other end!? Zero was quick to realize this and made a long leap of faith to reach the other side. Some of his other teammates made it as well, but half of them were a fraction too late and the distance had become too great for them.
"Take control of the train and drive it towards us!" Zero launched a quick directive, and Lapis, one of the members stuck in the solitary train, returned the affirmative and begun hijacking the train. The remaining Shinobi Unit members had no choice but to go on for now without half of their members, they still have around 5, but Zero did not bother with that.
If anything, probably he alone could take down this whole thing.
The raid continued, there were some crates placed strategically to impede the invaders' progress, but with his newly developed Ryuuenjin, Zero made short work of them, melting the wooden and metal compartments of the crates in an instant.
There were plasma cannons located around vital spots of the train, they took a second to charge, releasing a loud hum as blue colored energy began gathering at its nozzle, which it then fired a moderately large blue laser forward.
"Duck!" Zero yelled as he immediately followed his own orders, his other comrades, gladly also followed suit, managing to catch up to him despite how fast he was going.
After finish its first assault, the plasma cannon proceeded to release rocket projectiles while waiting for its plasma engine to cool down for a second barrage. It was during this brief interval that Zero leaped above those incoming rockets and slammed a powerful Hyouretsuzan onto the core of the cannon, causing it to explode seconds after.
"Commander! Ahead of you!" Zero quickly lifted his head after Dia called out to him, again, another of those Knot Berets throwing a grenade to sever the metal connector and separating the trains.
"Damn it!" With utmost haste, he got back up onto his feet and charged towards the next train. The same Knot Beret noticed this and quickly grabbed another bomb and toss it towards Zero's path, but it was brought down by an accurate shot of Ruby's energy rifle.
No time to say thanks, Zero leaped with all his might and immediately cut down the enemy with a horizontal slash from his Z-Saber the moment contact was made. This time, everyone managed to board this car, the same tactic failed the second time, a sense of relief and a boost of morale befell the Shinobi Unit.
Why are they abandoning car after car? What about the supplies?
Zero's woes were not for long, the navigator followed up soon after, "Head's up! It looks like the train is taking a detour through J City! Keep on the move to the other end of the train to stop it before it reaches the Repliforce headquarters!"
Quite an elaborate backup plan, Zero imagined, found himself impressed by the tactical brilliance of Repliforce for a moment. It has to be Colonel… he thought, quickly brushing it off and returned his focus onto the enemies ahead.
As they advanced further, the defense became tighter, they were quickly caught in surprise by opposing Raidens riding the Ride Armors and charging at them with full force. Their defense stubborn to crack, their speed vicious from the jet packs equipped on the armors, and a powerful forward thrust from a hypercharged plasma sword was truly a force to be reckoned with. On many occasions the zeroth unit were almost caught by the devastating onslaughts of multiple Raidens, requiring a meticulous maneuver and hard-pressed teamwork to get past them. Zero would often be the first one to run into them, creating a diversion by dodging them all with his prideful speed, while the others would launch a full assault to destroy the distracted Raidens. This strategy worked well with enemies less than two, when there's three together, Zero would be left with no space to zip through them, and another plan had to be laid out.
Ruby would toss out a flash bomb which hindered the movements of the three Raidens, Zero would then run in and cast Ryuuenjin on the closest one and sending it to the air, leaving the remaining two to be picked off by the powerful energy cannons and swords possessed by Dia, Onyx and Sapphire, not wasting time and aiming directly at the vital cores to vanquish the foes with utmost accuracy.
It won't be long enough before the train entered a tunnel hardly illuminated, darkness befell them as they quickly switched to night vision glasses.
"Above you!" Sapphire yelled out just after she spotted a swarm of Bat Bones stationed in the tunnel, charging at them in huge numbers. Just as the first Bat Bone approached them, Zero pulled himself as high up onto the air, twirling his Z-Saber around to catch it as well as many nearby he could. Onyx quickly provide cover by blasting off the big batch just behind, else Zero would had been torn to shreds midair. The move was reckless, but the initiative was still decent enough that all the Shinobi Unit members were able to follow up easily by connecting one attack after another to take down the enemies one group at a time. Not long after they were safe from the threat of mechanized bats.
But there were still enemies ahead, almost caught by surprise by a sudden plasma laser fired off from a cannon unsighted from the team, the zeroth unit found themselves dodging the laser just underneath it, being at the mercy of the cannon situated at a heightened location.
After a brief sigh of relief, the team gathered themselves and continued their attack. They regained their aggressiveness with Zero torching the plasma cannon with Ryuuenjin which also lit up the tunnel temporarily.
Several Raidens and Knot Berets resumed their defense of the train, the zeroth unit broke apart to dodge any collective attacks, then returned together to bring down their foes in a collective attack.
Just as they were nearing the end of the tunnel, the light from outside seen as a small speck, gradually enlarging as they approached it, a growl was heard, a beastly growl.
What was that…?
"Warning! Powerful readings detected ahead!"
None of them were given any time to ponder about what the navigator had warned them as the source of the beastly growl quickly evolved to a menacing roar, a golden brown figure charged in and caught Dia, pinning and slamming him to the edge of the car they were on.
F… fast! None of them witnessed what happened, except for Zero, who gritted his teeth, sent an order for Dia to retreat before charging towards the lightning-speed beast that took down one of his valuable comrades. His Z-Saber was met with mightily hard claws, suspected to be Adamantium.
It should be expected, such an important military train should had a high ranking Repliforce officer to take charge of it. Someone had to be the one to bark out the orders such as blasting away car after car and taking the detour.
As they passed through the train and back into the illuminated outside, Zero could finally see the true face of his opponent, Slash Beast.
He was modeled after a lion, his mane as well as his four limbs were equipped with sharpened Adamantium, with the rest of his body fortified with it. His color scheme was mostly yellow and orange, the powerful alloy illuminating under the sunlight gave an impression of a golden sparkle, if anything, he was a sophisticated Reploid, totally worthy to lead a unit of the Repliforce.
And he also seemed to be hungry for battle.
"So it was you who attacked my unit!" Slash Beast roared. His howl released powerful gusts of wind that threw Zero and co. off balance, seizing the opportunity he quickly leaped high using his mighty feet and slammed down on his unnerved foes underneath. The remainder of the Shinobi Unit did just enough to tumble away from the devastating impact, as Slash Beast went right through the roof and landed into the car.
Such power!
It did not take long for Slash Beast to recharge himself as he again tucked down his knee for a second attack, using his incredibly sturdy head he slammed through the roof again, catching Onyx in the process and sending the Maverick Hunter flying away heavily damaged.
"Dammit!" Zero was not amused. Within such a short time Slash Beast had already taken out two of his men.
"It was foolish and reckless of you to challenge my unit!" Slash Beast proclaimed, letting out another growl as he turned to face the leader of the Shinobi Unit.
Zero did not gave his opponent the privilege to fully prepare, opting to rush in right off the bat. Their eyes were locked on as Beast smirked a little from excitement. Their weapons clashed, with Zero able to push Beast back a little due to the extra distance he had from the charge, but Beast steadied his ground using his strong feet to claw the ground, tearing the roof of the already damaged car, sending horrible metallic screeches.
Ruby and Sapphire, the only ones left to backup their commander, had their hands full with the oncoming Bat Bones and Knot Berets which may come from anywhere, as well as some Raidens which proved very difficult to take down without Zero. Both of the female Reploids were more specialized in ranged combat, whereas Dia and Onyx proved themselves proficient up close. It was still an ideal combination, until Beast removed them out of the picture. They had to rely on the quick-firing weaponries for now, but those had limited ammo, and when that's over…
"Ruby!"
Ruby gasped, her commander's voice from behind called for her in the midst of all that chaos, numerous Bat Bones still swarming all around her. A flash of green quickly zoomed in on her, when she turned around…
It was already too late.
Distraught struck Zero and Sapphire as they witnessed Ruby's body being split into two by Beast's Twin Slasher, brutally spiraling and pierced through Ruby's metallic body as if it was butter, slicing her into half from her right shoulder to her left waist. The damage was too severe, seconds later she had vanished in the form of a small explosion, leaving no traces of her behind.
You moron…!
Sapphire, who witnessed the entire tragedy of seeing one of her best buddies being obliterated in an instant, collapsed and lost the will to fight any longer.
"Commander Zero! It would be wise to retreat for now!" The navigator said with utmost urgency.
"Override Sapphire's retreat system and take her away. I will finish this." Zero said slowly, his grief turned into anger, and the anger turned into rage. Never once did Zero lose as many as four of his trusted men, not to mention in such a short time. Zero could feel his circuits brimming with supercharged electricity, his brain circuit overflowing with multitudes of emotions.
"Do it!" Zero let loose his own version of a powerful howl, startling all the lesser minions around. Not having any other option but to obey Zero's reckless decision, the navigator booted Sapphire out of the scene, leaving the commander of the zeroth unit behind.
Beast was increasingly amused, "Come! Come at me!" He taunted, and Zero gladly accepted it.
On top of a train moving at high speeds, the two top ranked commanders of their respective forces had a mighty clash worthy to be written in the history books. Both of them were similar fighters, who loved to rely on brute strength and relentless agility, fighting for their lives in close combat. Their weapons crossed paths countless times, their bodies moved around on the long and narrow fighting arena, already encompassing multiple cars as they maneuvered around, not giving the other any form of advantage.
Now finding themselves onboard a peculiar car, in which it did not had a freight load, merely a low and flat surface which seemed to be built much sturdier than the roofs of the other cars. Beast seemed extremely pleased ever since they landed onto this car.
"It is here we will settle this!" Akin to an arena, the two resumed their battle. Beast preferred to attack from high up, sending himself to the sky and stomped down hoping to crush his foe, whereas Zero opted to be patient and went under him, waited for him to land before delivering a quick attack. It wasn't an easy task, however, as Beast hardly left any opening even after crashing down the ground, he would either immediately perform an acrobatic maneuver, throwing his legs up front and high enough to turn his body around and sent the powerful Twin Slashers that took Ruby's life. Should he be too close, Zero would also suffer the exact same fate.
However, if he waited too far away, either Slash Beast will leap up again, often at a varying height to catch his opponent predictions off, or transition into another attack, morphing his right arm into a drill, he would then charge into Zero with a speed surpassing all his other attacks, so fast that he couldn't stop until he had hit one of the walls built to withstand this attack of his, on the two sides of this car, then he would repeat the attack for two or three times before stopping.
Due to such a relentless combo, Zero found himself with almost no opportunity to land a decent attack. A fatal mistake and the sheer offensive power of Slash Beast would had no doubt put him to place. Despite all the rage boiling inside him, the red Maverick Hunter had no choice but to tread lightly.
The battle went on with Zero completely on defense while Beast did not falter in his attacks. However, Zero began to notice the delay between his attacks started to become more and more prominent.
This could be the chance I am waiting for!
Seizing this as the perfect opportunity, Zero unleashed a quick Raijingeki just after Beast ended one of his jumping attacks, it managed to sever one of Beast's arms, hitting it right above his elbow and separating what's below it with the remaining of his body. Beast roared in pain, but it was ominously brief as Beast quickly collected himself and panting with exhilaration.
"Zerooooo!" He unexpected dived into Zero who was still retracting his lightning infused Z-Saber, grabbing his face and charged towards the furthest end of the car, attempting to slam his head hard and hopefully crushing it into a pulp.
No… no! Zero could not react in time, this attack was just as ridiculously fast as Beast's drilling attack, the speed and the ambush's nature caused Zero to drop his Z-Saber.
Is this the end?
What Zero heard next was a similar howl of pain from Slash Beast he just heard seconds ago, whose sole arm was also detached from his body after being hit by a thin and powerful plasma beam. Together with the severed arm Zero slid underneath the onrushing Beast, who crashed into the wall armless. Instinctively Zero went to pick up his Z-Saber, quickly infused it with Raijingeki again, and shoved it into the core located on Beast's chest, ending his life.
"Commander Zero!" It was Lapis, who held a fired plasma raygun in his right arm, their train which was separated earlier managed to intercept the main train from another route, arriving in the perfect time to save their commander.
Zero fell to his knees in relief, the remaining forces of Repliforce nestled on the train escaped after realizing their commander was defeated, and the military train was successfully seized by the Maverick Hunters.
However, the extent of damage on the train was too great, as if this entire thing was a trap. The way Slash Beast fought was in no way trying to protect the goods, as he tore and smashed around, destroying anything blocking his path.
Nevertheless, this was a hard-earned victory for the Shinobi Unit, as they turned the train to their H.Q.