***NA***

"I'm sure all of you are aware of the stakes that are on hold." Copy X hummed, his back turned to his top troops, who all stood at attention, facing him. "As leader, I am charged with the safekeeping and wellbeing of my subjects. The humans have everything they could ever dream of…" His eyes narrowed very slightly. "...however...with this Resistance growing…and the power they have turning against me…it is of utmost importance to obtain that power."

The Four Guardians watched him intently, their Lieutenants standing at an angle behind them...well...most of the Lieutenants.

It had been two weeks since their last encounter with Zero and the Raven that had destroyed one of their main weapons facilities. Copy X had been...unhappy...and yet at the same time seemed very interested in the fact that this 'Raven' character was showing up more and more.

The tyrant heard the door open and close, glancing over his shoulder very slightly to see who had come in. Copy X smiled very slightly. "Ah...Lieutenant Foxfire." he hummed as the Cutting Shadow Squad Lieutenant quickly took her place by Phantom's side. "How nice to have you join us for once…"

Foxfire kept her eyes on the ground, standing at parade rest and refusing to look upwards. Though Copy X didn't seem bothered by this in the least. If anything, he looked back to the front. "As I was saying...Considering the Rebels have the holder of the Sky Aurore Fire in their mists….it is imperative that we apprehend her."

Foxfire looked up slightly, a wince on her face, before Sobek made a motion with his hand. "Master X. Allow me to speak, my lord."

Copy X turned to face his soldiers and gazed at Sobek. "What is on your mind, Lieutenant?"

Sobek took a step up, earning the attention in the room. "The rebels apparently have had this particular soldier in their ranks since a short time after they had awakened the legendary Zero. The fact that they have withheld her until now could very well suggest that they are gaining intelligence to locate the Aubade fire as well in order to use them both against us."

Foxfire winced at the statement. "...actually Sobek, that's-"

"That is entirely possible, Lieutenant." Copy X replied, ignoring Foxfire's protests. "And what would your plan be to acquire what knowledge the outdated ones currently possess?"

Sobek made a small bowing motion. "I motion that we lay out a trap for the rebels. Make them think we have information that they don't have." the Lieutenant looked up, a wide grin plastered on his face. "Considering the rebels already have the Aurore in their possession, no doubt they are aware of our striving to get both to protect the humans."

"Sobek?" Foxfire put up a hand, before Copy X chuckled very slightly.

"A fascinating idea, Lieutenant Sobek" Copy X looked thoughtful for a moment, before making a motion towards him. "But what do you plan to do, should the Aurore not appear in this mission?"

"She'll appear, Master." Sobek looked up lightly. "When it's an important mission, she's there."

"As is Zero," Shadow spoke up, glancing towards Sobek. "And those two together have proven to be a problem."

"If we are to apprehend these abilities, we must find a way to separate this 'Raven' character from Zero." Copy X narrowed his eyes slightly. "Considering he has been highly tainted to side with the rebellious Mavericks; I wouldn't put it past him to jeopardize my plans to obtain both solar and lunar powers together."

At this statement, Foxfire froze, her eyes wide in shock.
...Master X...was trying to get….BOTH of those abilities….TOGETHER?! Didn't he know that would cause massive chaos?

"Guardians. Lieutenants. See to it that this plan of Sobek's is carried out. Obtain the information that the rebels have, by luring them with our own information." Copy X narrowed his eyes. "If the rebels believe they can stop me with what rightfully belongs in Neo Arcadia with me….they will know true wrath."

"At once, Master X." Echoed all in the room except for one.

***RB***

"From the signal we received coming from the eastern air base that Sage Harpuia runs, we're getting reports that Copy X is gathering information in an attempt to gather two dangerous powers." Ciel stood in front of a small group of rebels that were watching her presentation. As she spoke, Raven casually walked in, letting off a yawn as she did so.

Ciel looked from Raven, towards the other soldiers. "These powers are known as the Aurore and Aubade fires….or the solar flares and lunar sky fires."

At the mention of those names, Raven suddenly looked interested, narrowing her eyes seriously.

The rest of the rebels on the other hand, seemed to be muttering amongst themselves, before one soldier slowly put up a hand. "Miss Ciel...I don't want to be rude...but isn't that just a legend that the humans invented to tell their children before bed?"

Ciel smiled at him kindly to ease him. "I assure you, Colbor, it is a real legend. Though it was much more prominent during the roman era, when there was war amongst humans more frequently."

"So, wait...this supposed legend is over thousands of years old?" Cerveau looked skeptical. "You're suggesting that Copy X is after deities? I hate to sound disrespectful, but-"

"Not deities. Though it would sound like it, the two powers do have a habit of showing up by being reborn in new hosts constantly." Ciel put a hand up when the group looked confused. "I'm not sure how it started, but some time in the distant past, when war went on constantly; the two fires appeared in separate entities and lended their powers to whoever needed it the most."

She pulled up a very old painting that depicted a picture of a man in armor, holding a blazing ball of fire in his hand, which looked like the sun. Behind him was fields of green, blazing torches of fire, as well as a symbol of life. Parallel to him, was a woman clothed in dark clothings, holding a white orb in her own hand, which looked strikingly like the moon. Behind her was a starry night, a long strip of the northern lights, as well as a symbol of death and destruction.

The reploids in the room studied the painting for a moment, before Colbor quickly put up a hand. "So, naturally Copy X will be after the woman, since she's the bad guy, right?"

"It's not that simple Colbor." Ciel replied. "Neither the sun, nor the moon are good, nor bad."

"HA!"

The soldiers in the room looked towards Raven, who was leaning against the wall casually. She looked up and made a motion with her hand. "The moon isn't bad, she's just a little brat who doesn't listen to reason and thinks she's right at everything." She scoffed, a grin on her face. "If anything, she's a little goody who's blind to the events around her."

Zero looked over from where he stood and crossed his arms. "Sounds an awful lot like YOU, Raven." he muttered.

This only made Raven laugh and fling her hand at him dismissively. "Comparing me to the Moon? I don't know whether I should be flattered or insulted!"

"Needless to say," Cerveau pipped up, looking towards Ciel. "All of this sounds far fetched and illogical. Why should we be out searching for legends, when Copy X is still ending the lives of so many of our reploid brethren?"

"We're not looking for legends, Cerveau" Ciel assured. "We are gathering information on what Copy X is trying to gain from gathering the legends. I assure you...they are real, and one of them is already against him."

"One of them?" Zero looked interested. "So you're already aware of where these two individuals are, Ciel?"

Ciel was silent for a moment, before she glanced very slightly towards Raven.

Raven narrowed her eyes and shook her head subtly.

"Yes Zero." Ciel looked back towards him. "Let's just say one of them is for our cause."

"How can you be certain?"

"Trust me, Zero." Ciel made a motion with her hand. "I am very certain. As for how to keep these two from Copy X's hands...As long as we get this information, we'll be able to figure that out. Now...the teleporter is down from the power surge we had yesterday...you're going to have to take one of our ships-"

"WELP, if you're only going on an information gathering mission, then I guess my presence here isn't needed-" Raven started to say, heading for the door with intentions of going STRAIGHT to the training room, before Ciel spoke up. "Raven, I'm going to need you to go with Zero."

Raven stopped walking and her eye twitched...before she looked back towards Ciel, eyes blazing. A solid chunk of reploids suddenly looked away and took a few steps back, not wanting to spike Raven's...personality any more than it needed to.

"Ciel." Raven turned and marched over towards Ciel, who didn't seem too bothered of the impending 'Raven lecture' coming her way. "I am NOT going on another mission with blonde-brian." She pointed at Zero accusingly.
"The LAST time we went on a mission together-"

"SHE blew up a building." Zero retorted, arms crossed and an unamused look on his face.

"Zero, Raven, please." Ciel put her hands up. "The only reason I need both of you is it is imperative that this information is brought back safely. Since it's extremely rare for Copy X to send out all of his commanders together, this should be much different than your last encounter." She looked concerned. "And my intelligence agent I'm sending with you will need all the protection he can get."

"Intelligence agent?" Raven and Zero both looked towards Ciel inquisitively.

Ciel motioned behind the two, where a short reploid with thick goggle-like spectors was looking at them.

Raven put her hands on her hips and scoffed. "Great...a nerd bot…"

***SW***

"Mr. Zero, I can't tell you what an honor it is for you to work with m- wait I mean, It's an honor having you beside me in such a- that was worse." Colbor flailed his arms while he followed Zero into the building. "What I'm trying to say is-"

"Oh boy, we got a fanboy on our hands." Raven grumbled, a smirk on her face and a roll in her eyes. "Just what Blonde needs...a pat on the back."

"Thank you, Colbor." Zero replied flatly, getting out his saber and peering down the halls. "But I'm not a hero."

"Oh-Oh but you are!" Colbor insisted, putting up a hand. "You fought side-by-side with the original X! You protected Reploids and humankind alike against the traitor Sigma! You-"
Colbor was suddenly shut up when Raven put her hand over his mouth.

"Ya wanna start up a blonde-boy fanclub, or ya wanna help strip this lab of it's information?" Raven asked sarcastically, giving the young soldier a side glare. "Because if it's the fanclub option, I'm going to disable your voicebox."

Colbor looked up at Raven with wide eyes and swallowed lightly at the look she was giving him.
"Uh-...I'm here to work….definitely here to work," He squeaked lightly.

Raven walked past Colbor and patted him lightly on the head almost in a demeaning manor. "Good boy." She replied, as though she was talking to a pet dog or something, before she slowly made her way past Zero. The mech watched her pass him and frowned lightly.

"Raven...you might want to activate your-" He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence, because as he spoke, Raven took out her Naginata and STABBED a control panel on the wall.

Almost immediately, the lights flickered off, only a few lights leaving very minor rays of light in the halls. After a moment, Zero stood up fully and frowned over at Raven.
"Why do you always have to do things your own way, Raven?" he growled under his breath. "You could have alerted the security of the building!"

"Exactly. I alerted the building's security." Raven looked over towards Zero and Colbor; who were both looking at her as though she were completely insane. Raven put up a hand and motioned towards a specific hallway. "And SINCE security will be heading in this direction in about 30 seconds, we should be heading south since their soldiers ALWAYS come from the north."

Colbor blinked and put up a hand. "H-How do you know that?"

Raven looked back at the two, a sarcastic look on her face. "Uh. I was apart of Copy X's troop? Duh."

"R-Right...Right." Colbor looked towards Zero who quickly bolted down the hall that Raven pointed out. Colbor was at Zero's heels, while Raven brought up the rear…

...as they passed the corridor, Shadow stepped out from the corner he had been hiding in, narrowing his eyes.
"Lieutenant Shadow to Commander Harpuia. The rebels have taken our bait."
"Very good. Proceed with the cornering."
"Yes sir."

After a few halls of running, the trio managed to get to a room that had computers...and windows...LOTS of windows.

Colbor looked around the room, taking note of how BRIGHT it was in there. Well the GOOD news was they could see what they were after...the bad news was if they were discovered, they had little to NO place to hide or take cover.

Raven looked around in the room to ensure the security of the area.

….there WAS none...which was weird. She slowly made her way to the windows and looked around. They had made their way to the third story of the building...but the terrain around them was somewhat barren. Outside, there was nothing but rocky plains, maybe a few plants here and there...it wasn't Neo Arcadia, that was for sure.

One thing that couldn't be mistaken was the gorge below that housed a fast glacier-fed river that was making its way towards a nearby sea.
Why was Neo Arcadia such a paradise, but all of the weapons facilities and info bases were in such off-putting areas?

...Probably because these bases were inhabited by Reploids and not humans...typical of Copy-butt...
Raven gazed out the window for a while longer, before she glanced over her shoulder towards Colbor and Zero. "You done yet?"

"S-Sorry Miss Raven, but I'm having difficulties hacking into the computer." Colbor reported, placing a chip into one of the computers and typing into the keyboard. He set his datapad to the side and looked up at the main computer screen. "The Cutting Shadow Squadron has difficult security programs, as well as firewalls that are very good at tracking enemy activity."

The Reploid soldier gritted his teeth. "I have to do everything I possibly can to make the system think I'm an ally."

"You used to be a soldier of Neo Arcadia." Zero glanced in Raven's direction, making a motion towards Colbor. "Maybe you should be helping him instead of sightseeing."

Raven crossed her arms and smirked towards Zero. "Please. I don't do fancy technology stuff. That's something someone else was better at, while I was the better fighter."

"And this someone else would be?" Colbor asked, glancing over.

"A Brat. Nothing more." Raven replied flatly, making a 'shooing' motion with her hand. "Now be a good little fanboy and keep getting the information for Ciel."

Colbor winced and continued to type, Though Zero was looking around the room, trying to take in the details around him. For a room filled with technology, it was...extremely empty.
Zero slowly studied the area. Was it normal for an information room to only have two computers?...for that matter...what was with all the stacked chairs?

"...Raven…" Zero glanced towards her, who looked towards him, her visor hiding the true expression on her face. "What are the general standards for security in a room full of technology?"

Raven was silent for a moment, looking like she was trying to understand his question. Slowly her eyes began to narrow at what Zero was suggesting. "The Cutting Shadow Squad is responsible for intelligence...and they protect their tech like bees on a hive…"
She paused and slowly reached for her weapon.
"...and most of them…tend to be-"

Something dropped behind the three, making them turn. Behind them was Shadow and Phantom, both with katana in their hands.

"Tend to be freaking NINJAS." Raven finished.

"It's a trap!" Zero quickly took out his saber, right when Phantom and Shadow rose their swords in unison…
...causing the entire room to be shrouded in darkness.

Raven winced sharply and quickly activated her cloaking suit. "Zero! Look out! There's TWO of them to keep an eye out for!"

"Yeah I kinda noticed that!" Zero replied, gripping his sword tightly. He glanced behind himself, only able to see the outline of the panicking Colbor. "Keep working! Raven and I will handle these two!"

"Y-y-yes sir!" Colbor stammered, quickly turning back to the computer and typing frantically.

Zero on the other hand went right into the darkness and looked around quickly. From his side, a pair of kunai blades came at him. Zero dodged them and tried to swing in the direction that the blades had come from, but the thrower had already dodged.
Cursing slightly, Zero dodged another throw of kunai, before he KICKED to his right. Shadow fell to the ground for a moment, his cloaking glitching from the blow, before he quickly disappeared again.

Zero narrowed his eyes. "Raven, you doing any better over there?"

Raven dodged a kunai throw and backflipped. "HA! This is too easy! I mean even in darkness they can't see me, so the odds are pretty even!"

She dodged to the side, away from more kunai throws, before she heard a wind behind her. Quickly turning, she saw Phantom in front of her, his eyes glowing a red tint. Smirking, Raven slowly started to slide to the side, before she rose her hand to strike him-

-Except...Phantom swiftly snatched her wrist and glared at her.

Raven's face fell and her eyes widened.

"You can not disappear from a ninja." Phantom droned dryly.

"...Uh...Zero?"
"What?"
"He can SEE me."

Zero glanced behind himself, before he was TACKLED to the ground. Growling Zero attempted to swing behind himself, expecting Shadow to be the one pinning him down-...wait- there was Shadow in front of him-
SO-WHO-

"Hi there!"

Zero paused and glanced behind himself, finding himself in a stranglehold to a blue armored bot, who was grinning.
"I'm Lieutenant Sobek! I'll be your destruction this afternoon!"

With that much said, Sobek quickly backflipped with Zero still in hold, SLAMMING him to the ground and attempting to fold Zero's arms behind him. Sobek quickly looked up. "Shadow! NOW!"

Zero gasped and looked over, seeing Shadow running for Colbor. "NO!" Zero yelled, struggling to get Sobek off of himself.
"RAVEN! PROTECT COLBOR!"

Raven was dodging attacks from Phantom and glanced behind herself, taking notice that Shadow was going for Colbor. When she turned, Phantom quickly cloned himself, and now had five clones circling Raven.

The girl gritted her teeth and looked from side to side. Great...THIS technique...she hated this flipping ability. Taking a few steps back, Raven quickly tried to come up with a solution…
...before she glanced towards one of the clones. "...So!...you make a move on your puppy dog of a Lieutenant yet?"

The Phantom clones seemed stunned by the question, before quickly lunging at Raven. The girl quickly dodged and twirled her Naginata. "Oh wait, I forgot. Flying soldiers are not worth your time, right?"

Another quick attack. Raven quickly smirked. Taunting was WORKING!

"RAVEN!"
"I'm kinda surrounded!" she called back, swinging at one of the clones...who quickly disappeared. Almost immediately, Phantom TACKLED Raven to the ground and aimed his blade at her.

"Silence your tongue and surrender, holder of the moon." Phantom snarled. "You're coming with me."
"Oh you want me? What, are you cheating on your little Lieutenant?" Raven smirked. "Don't like girls who can't fight?"

Phantom suddenly scowled, "Shut UP! You will not speak of- GAH!" Distracted by his frustration, Raven was able to swiftly SWING her foot across Phantom's legs, forcing him to the ground.
Scrambling upwards, Raven BOLTED towards Colbor- But Shadow wasn't near him.

Colbor flailed his arms at Raven. "QUICK! STOP HIM! HE'S GOT MY DATAPAD!"

Raven slid to a stop and turned around. Behind her, Shadow had retreated to the back of the room and Sobek quickly joined him.
Sobek gave a mock salute. "Bye Rebels! Thanks for the goodies!" he grinned...before both he and Shadow suddenly teleported from sight…

...but no sooner had they left…

...The other three Guardians suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"Well crap." Raven muttered, quickly twirling her staff and getting into a ready position, Zero backing away from Phantom, who was getting his Shiruken ready.

"Zero." Harpuia aimed his blade at Zero, narrowing his eyes dangerously. "We'll be taking the Aurore and ending your legacy right here and now."

That much said, Fefnir went CHARGING at Zero, making Phantom have to quickly jump out of the way as he SLAMMED the hero into a wall.

Leviathan on the other hand, quickly went for Raven, twirling her own staff and shooting ice crystals at the girl. Raven dodged the attacks and SLAMMED her Naginata against Leviathan's side, sending the guardian back a few feet.

Though, Harpuia quickly slashed for Raven, making her have to quickly dodge from side to side.

"Give it up, moon spirit. You are needed in Neo Arcadia!" Harpuia dashed from side to side, causing Raven to have to continue dodging. "I will be taking you to Master X!"

"Yeah, that's not gonna happen." Raven narrowed her eyes. "This star is staying put." Quickly, she tried to kick at Harpuia, but he grabbed her ankle and CHUCKED her to the other side of the room.

"GAH!" Raven rubbed her helmet as she tried to get up...before she looked up, hearing the frantic cry of Colbor.

"ZERO! RAVEN! HELP!" He yelled, trying to dodge Phantom. The ninja was FAR faster than the rebel intelligence agent, and Colbor was doing EVERYTHING in his power NOT to get caught.
Phantom narrowed his eyes and got his shuriken ready. "The chip, rebel. Hand it over, and I will ensure your end is quick and painless."

"I'd rather not die at ALL" Colbor panicked.

"Colbor!" Zero gritted his teeth, PUNCHING at Fefnir and trying to run for the rebel- only to be CHARGED at by Harpuia. Zero snarled and quickly pressed a button on his comlink. "Ciel...We need the transport up!"

"No good, Zero! The teleporter is still down!"

Zero cursed and blocked an attack from Harpuia, before sending a signal to their ship to hone in on their signal...it would take a few minutes...if they could JUST hold out that long!

Raven gritted her own teeth and quickly stood up...if Phantom was after the stolen tech...Quickly she dashed for Colbor, SHOVING Leviathan to the side. Grabbing hold of Colbor, she quickly put the rebel soldier in a strangle hold, forcing one of his arms behind him and putting her blaster to his head.

Colbor suddenly panicked. "R-RAVEN! WHAT ARE Y-"

"RAVEN!" Zero screamed. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

At the sudden movement, all in the room suddenly went still. Stunned by the sudden turn of events, the Guardians no longer moved, and Zero was also standing stock still, giving Raven a death glare.

"WHAT...Are you DOING, Raven?" Zero growled through his teeth.

Raven frowned and kept Colbor's arm twisted behind him, taking a small step forward. Zero took a step back, eyes narrowed and teeth gritted.

The Guardians on the other hand, seemed to be unsure of what to do. They didn't need the rebel...but they DID need the Raven alive...was she using him as a shield? Wouldn't it be more logical to use HERSELF as a shield…

Or maybe with her being the skyfire holder, she was aware that they needed her alive…

...what a sneaky witch…

"Raven, Raven, Raven, please. I-I-I-I'm begging you-" Colbor stammered, feeling her slipping something into the palm of his twisted arm. "Think this through. Think-...what the-"
He felt her bring him closer to herself, to where her mouth was right by his ear.

"When I let you go...you run like all the hounds of hell are nipping at your heels...got it?"

Colbor slowly nodded, eyes wide and planted on all in front of him.

Harpuia took a step up, getting his weapons ready. "What exactly do you plan to gain by hiding behind one weaker than yourself, Aurore holder?"

"You're wanting the tech I'm stealing right?" Raven asked, narrowing her eyes and taking another step forward. "It'd be a shame for you to have to find someone to recover those files we've scrambled…"

"I know someone who can recover anything with ease." Phantom replied, still aiming his shuriken at both of them. "It would be better for you to surrender and come quietly."

Raven narrowed her eyes, glancing towards Zero for a split second. "...Sorry." she said, before quickly looked back towards the guardians. "I never was good at following orders."

With all of her strength, she FLUNG Colbor in Zero's direction. The sight of the running rebel caught the attention of all in the room, while Raven quickly took out her blaster and dashed for one of the computers.

At the sudden movement, Fefnir quickly aimed his blaster. Without thinking, he fired.

"FEFNIR, NO!" Harpuia shouted…

...Too late…

The shot went flying for Raven and hit her SQUARE in the shoulder, knocking her clean off the floor, and she went SMASHING through the window. Gravity took over and Raven went tumbling for the river below.

"NO!"
"YOU IDIOT!"

The Guardians quickly ran for the window and looked out, giving Zero a chance to grab Colbor and quickly dash for the other side of the room, where he shot at the other window. Sure enough, the ship he hailed was waiting for them. Swiftly CHUCKING Colbor on board, Zero quickly looked towards the window where the four guardians were gathered and gritted his teeth, trying to decide if he needed to go after Raven.

His choice was made for him when Fefnir suddenly turned and started firing at Zero and Colbor. Quickly, Zero jumped into the ship and slammed on the thruster, the ship quickly taking off into the sky.

Panting, Zero looked back once again, gritting his teeth in frustration. "What the heck did she turn on us for!? What was she thinking!? Wha-"

"Z-Zero?" Colbor panted in his seat and held up the drive. Zero stared at it for a moment, before looking at Colbor, a mix of shock and confusion on his face.

"All of that was a ploy….Raven got the information for us, and got the Guardians away from us...she just saved our lives."

Zero's eyes widened, his mind racing as the ship continued to fly.