Forewords
Two updates to Metal Slug Defense have gone by (Ver1.43 came just hours after I uploaded the previous chapter), and I can easily describe Ver1.44 in a short sentence...
We're still having the Co-Op Event... And F**K ROOTMARS!
Holy jeez! Rootmars in Event Stage 6! Pretty much everyone agrees that son of a bitch is the hardest boss to have ever appeared in MSD! It's already very problematic when the map is so short enemies can start attacking your base as soon as they spawn (even shorter than Berserk Sol Dae Rokker's stage from back in Ver1.37 and Ver1.38). But the idiots at SNK decided to top it off by making Rootmars an aerial living base! As with the original boss battle with him in Metal Slug 3, Rootmars can only be harmed by shooting the glass dome that housed his brain, problem is that said glass dome is considered an aerial unit, so most units won't bother attacking it unless you activate their special. I retired Slug Gigant from my deck to replace it with Kraken, but was forced to put it back to deal with Rootmars.
You know what's even crazier about the battle? There's actually two Rootmars stacked on top of each other! Pay close attention to the mini-map at the top of the screen, and you'll see that there's a big pink rectangle overlapping the pink star that represented Rootmars' status as a living base. Damn, SNK, you must've smoked even more weed than when you did the Battle Cats collaboration event...
And the reward for completing the tasks of said stage? The long awaited, but extremely lousy Regular Army Truck. It spawns the seven protagonists of the main series randomly, all of whom at this point in the game are completely useless. Not only that, the protagonists spawned will always be Level one even if you upgrade the Truck to Level 40.
Incredibly unfair boss battle plus incredibly lousy reward equals NOT WORTH IT! So I suggest you to just go back to PVP after you've obtained all the other units the event has to offer (even the Super Devils, they at least still have some uses)...
Chapter 13: The RAPs' Master Plan, part 2
Time: 1545 Hour; 31st of December, 2040.
Location: RAP Joint Force Headquarters; outskirts of Santa Cruz, Bolivia.
"And... Falcon PUNCH!"
With a swift swing of the Slug Gigant's fists, the bulkhead that sealed the main entrance of the RAP Joint Force Headquarters crumpled inwards, with metal wires and rebar hanging out of the hole.
"Again!"
The bulkhead finally falls apart as the Slug Gigant delivers a powerful forward punch, sending debris flying every direction.
"And unfortunately, this is where we have to leave the Slug Gigant behind." Jason said as he hopped over what is left of the bulkhead. "Thing's too big to fit in here."
"No worries, because we still have our guns." Jenny said while dismounting from the Slug Gigant. "We can't use massive firepower here, but neither can they."
"We'll hit them with what we've got!" Ash boasted while brandishing his chainsaw.
"Yes, we are going to win!" Mina cheered.
Flynn pulverizes a particularly large chunk of concrete with a Berserk Punch. "Guns or not, the RAPs are going down!"
Leon gave Flynn a pat on the shoulder and said, "Just don't get too cocky..."
...
Mission Briefing
Good work on taking out RAP forces outside the Headquarters, Red Eagles. Now with the lack of enemy troops out there, Regular Army forces will have an easier time moving in to the Headquarters.
However, as it may take a while for reinforcements to arrive at Santa Cruz, you people are still on your own as of now.
Your mission remains the same: destroy as much of the Headquarters as you possibly can. This will deal a massive blow to the RAP's advantageous firepower and resource coffers. SPARROWS believe that Morden and Amadeus may be hiding somewhere in the Headquarters, so bring them down if possible.
We have also noted the fact that the Ptolemaic Army is completely absent from the vicinity of the Headquarters other than their mechanized units. As such, we will attempt to track them down and find out if they have anything else planned, considering what they pulled off last time they were active. Until then, you are to focus your attention on the Rebel Army and Amadeus Syndicate forces in the Headquarters.
Regular Command has picked up an energy reading that is not too different than what is emitted by the Cabrakan from the time when the Regular Army's recruits were sent on an island that later turned out to be a Rebel base. As the original Cabrakan is meant to be a reusable weapon of mass destruction, you must use caution and do all you can to take down the possibly upgraded version in the Headquarters.
That is all. Godspeed...
...
MISSION ELEVEN START!
Unlike their previous missions, the Red Eagles and Marines were not met with any resistance when they entered the RAP Joint Force's Headquarters. Instead, the only thing to greet them from within the Headquarters is a normal gust of wind, not a single enemy soldier, vehicle or mechanized unit can be seen.
"Just... where is everyone?" Flynn wondered out loud as he looked around the Headquarters.
"Probably all bunched up in the deeper portions of the base, waiting to get the jump on us." Ash said. "Wouldn't be much of a trouble anyway, thanks to the Ammo Boxes they conveniently left behind. The grey-clad Red Eagle then points at the bunch of Ammo Boxes that are laid in front.
The Mercenaries all looked a the Ammo Boxes, then at each other, and then back at the Ammo Boxes.
"You guys thinking what I'm thinking?" Jenny asked the others.
"Of course!" Everyone answered in unison.
...
After getting everything they need from the Ammo Boxes, the Mercenaries proceeds to blast their way through the next door they come across, making their presence known to the entire RAP Joint Force Headquarters.
"Bring it!" Jason called out with a taunt.
The first group of enemies to respond to that taunt is a pair of Rebel Shield Soldiers backed by several Rebel Riflemen and Mortar Soldiers, whom wasted no time in setting up their formation before beginning their attack.
"Leave this to me~" Mina said as she uses the Zantetsu Sword obtained from earlier to deflect the rifle bullets and mortar shells out of the air. The razor wind produced by the slash also reaches just far enough to take out the first Rebel Shield Soldier, with the razor wind penetrating the shield like hot knife through butter.
"Not fast enough, dear!" Ash told the Japanese girl before moving in and taking out the remaining Rebels with three shots from his Grenade Launcher, the first shot for the second Rebel Shield Soldier, and the second and third for the Riflemen and Mortars.
Having her kills stolen, Mina turned around and threw a light punch at Ash's direction, which he hardly flinches from. "Baka! You've ruined my glorious moment!"
Ash scratches his head and said, "Is that really something to complain about?"
Another group of enemies soon comes to take the place of the original ones. This time, a Girida-O sandwiched between two Melty Honeys.
"You know what to do, Ash..." Jason said.
"Of course!" Ash responded as he fires his Grenade Launcher at the first Melty Honey, blowing it and its driver to smithereens.
The Girida-O and second Melty Honey interrupts the Mercenaries by firing tank shells and missiles at them.
The tank shells are easily avoided due to the Girida-O overestimating its aiming angle, and thus overshot the Mercenaries. The missiles were dealt with by Mina's Zantetsu Sword.
"Now it's time to let the marines shine, kids!" Flynn announced hammily to the Red Eagles, before he unleashes a puff of his Flame Shot on the Girida-O.
Tanks by their nature don't handle fire-based weapons too well, and the Girida-O is one such case, in which the flame set off its remaining ammo prematurely and blew it up on the spot.
The second Melty Honey was about to fire off another set of missiles, but was then stopped by Leon firing his Shotgun at it. The Shotgun didn't do enough damage to destroy the open-cockpit tank, but it did take out the Rebel Soldier driving it.
"And that is why open-cockpit vehicles are very risky to operate in a war zone..." The Chinese-American Marine quipped.
...
The Mercenaries moved on to the next room afterwards. There, they encountered an upward slope that has a Sarubia parked at the very top of it.
"I know this tactic..." Jenny told the others. "A Sarubia will often park at the top of a slope, wherein they will let gravity accelerate their rolling bombs down to make them much harder to dodge."
A mini-blimp with a platform soon descended into the room, and hovered several feet above the slope. Two Rebel Bazooka Soldiers are perched on the small platform.
"And they will always send in reinforcements to support the Sarubia in question, for good measure." Jenny finishes her analysis.
Ash just starts off the fight by firing his Grenade Launcher at the Bazooka Soldiers, blowing both of them up. "Now that Sarubia is alone!"
The Sarubia then starts dropping rolling mines onto the slope, which then rolls down toward the Mercenaries faster than if they had been dropped on flat ground. The Mercenaries stayed at the bottom of the slope, firing their weapons at the Sarubia while timing their jumps to dodge the rolling mines.
After taking enough hits, the Sarubia fell apart before exploding in a large fireball.
"Now that's what I wanted to see!" Jason said.
No sooner than a second later that another Sarubia came to replace the one before it. This one is accompanied by several Amadeus Syndicalist fast-roping down from above.
Flynn rushed himself to the top of the slope and quickly delivered a Berserk Punch to the new Sarubia, which nocked the tall tank over, essentially mission-killing it. "Denied, you bitch!"
The other Mercenaries quickly finishes the Amadeus Syndicalist with their melee weapons.
After that, a Future Sarubia appeared on the top of the slope, followed by several Future Jetpack Soldiers.
Flynn attempts another Berserk Punch on the Future Sarubia, but the futuristic tall tank weathered it quite well...
...And was able to retaliate by deploying an explosive drone that wastes no time making a mad dash toward the American Marine.
"Yikes!" Flynn exclaimed in surprise, dodging the explosive drone at the last minute and watching it crawling down toward the others.
The explosive drone was only then stopped by Mina's Zantetsu Sword.
"We've had problems with our first Future Sarubia too, buddy." Jason told Flynn, while firing his Heavy Machine Gun at the Future Jetpack Soldiers. "The tip is to stay as far away from it as possible, especially when you deliver the killing blow, because this thing's like a piƱata full of bombs."
Upon finishing his explanation, Jason took a step back to avoid a Future Jetpack Soldier who was shot down by Leon's Shotgun.
"Basically, just be careful around these bastards." The Red Eagles leader finishes as he jumps up into the air to slash at a Future Jetpack Soldier with his Machete.
Acknowledging what Jason just told him, Flynn took several steps back as he notices the Future Sarubia about to deploy another explosive drone.
Then, as soon as the Future Sarubia deploys an explosive drone, Flynn aimed and fired his Flame Shot at the explosive drone, burning it hot enough that it went off in a big explosion prematurely. The same explosion also took out the Future Sarubia by tearing a large chunk of its hull off.
"Watch out for the bugs!" Jenny shouted at Flynn, pointing at the cluster of explosive drones that hopped out of the wrecked Future Sarubia.
Flynn manages to avoid being blown up by firing his Flame Shot at the explosive drones while running backwards... and now the American Marine found himself backing straight into the business end of a Future Jetpack Soldier's Laser Cannon.
The Future Jetpack Soldier was able to fire a shot at Flynn before being gunned down by Jason.
"Ow!" Flynn yelped in pain as the Laser Cannon shot grazed his shoulder. Luckily for him, its only a slight graze that didn't hurt him very much. "First time in a decade that I've got hurt."
"Luckily, it was no big deal for you." Leon told Flynn. "But for anyone else, they will be forced to abandon the mission because getting hit with a laser weapon is never a joke."
"Yeah, yeah, I get it, buddy..." Flynn deadpans as he recuperates. "Now that we're done here, can we please move on?"
...
The Red Eagles and Marines moved on to the next room. One that has an unusually large amount of Supervisory Cameras hanging off the ceiling.
"Wouldn't be much of a problem here..." Ash commented.
Several Patrol Robots appeared from behind a cargo container situated at the opposite end of the room.
"Still not much of a problem." Jason added in.
A Ptolemaic MG Unit jumped out from behind the cargo container and positioned itself on top of it.
"Now that's a bit of a problem..." Jenny pointed out.
The Patrol Robots and Supervisory Cameras were easily dealt with, the former by shooting them in their camera lenses, the latter were fragile to begin with.
The MG Unit, on the other hand, proved to be a problem, as it was continuously keeping the Mercenaries at bay with suppressive fires.
Mina ran toward the MG Unit, using her Zantetsu Sword to deflect the bullets as she approaches it. By the time she gets close enough to the MG Unit to chop it up, which she did, the Zantetsu Sword broke immediately afterwards.
"You don't see melee weapons very much in those Bullet Hell games. Right, Ash-kun?" Mina turns around and asked.
"I don't play anyone of those games, but I'm pretty sure they don't..." Ash replies.
Flynn and Leon quickly overtakes the Red Eagles.
"Leave your dates until after we put the RAP's leaders behind bars, or in hell, whichever comes first." Flynn told the Red Eagles.
An Armored Unit suddenly appeared from behind the Mercenaries and charged toward them like a bulldozer.
The Armored Unit barreled through the Red Eagles like bowling pins, knocking them all over the room. The same would've happened to the Marines, were it not for Flynn stopping the Armored Unit with a well-timed Berserk Punch (which also knocked the spiked mask loose), followed by Leon unloading two Shotgun shells into it point blank, finishing it off.
"Oh, that hurts!" Jason exclaimed while picking himself up from the metallic floor.
"Should've seen that dirty trick coming!" Jenny complained, while also picking herself up.
"All those running and shooting in Left 4 Dead 2, only to fall for the very same attack in reality..." "Ash sulked, pushing himself out of the dent that was created on the wall when he got barreled through by the Armored Unit.
Mina wasn't knocked over, but getting bulldozed by the Armored Unit still hurts a lot, although all that the Japanese girl said in response is an unhappy "Ite..." [Ouch...]
After that is done, the Mercenaries looked around the room to make sure there are no other enemies waiting in ambush. They then proceed toward the next room with no further adieu.
...
The next room turned out to be a barely lit one, and as soon as the Mercenaries stepped into it, the bulkhead closed behind them, ridding the already dim room of the tiny amount of lights shone into it.
"I've been in barely lit rooms before..." Flynn said. "But never to the point of being unable to see shit..."
That being said, the pitch black room is immediately lit up by several bright light sources dotted all over it.
Now the Mercenaries can see that they are in a room that's taller than it is long. The bulkhead on the opposite end of the room is also sealed shut...
...And hanging off the ceiling is the Rebel Army's earthquake-spawning doomsday machine - the Cabrakan. It is idle at the moment, though.
"Well, guys. Looks like we just stumbled upon one of the RAPs' trump cards..." Jason deadpanned.
The Mercenaries looked around the room.
"I was expecting someone to come try and gloat at us anytime now..." Leon said, cocking his Shotgun as he gets ready for a fight.
Sure enough, someone did come to gloat at the Mercenaries. Well, not physically, but no doubt that is what the holographic projection in front of them plan to.
"Geez, its Colonel Gyllendal from the Everest Outpost..." Ash deadpanned.
"Colonel who?" Flynn became confused, as he and Leon have yet to join the Red Eagles back at the Everest Outpost mission.
The holographic projection of Gyllendal let out an evil chuckle. "You remember me like elephants, Red Eagles. I have to say, I am quite impressed by how you bunch easily wrecked the Wall Crawler. Allen Overlord wants you to know that he is... not happy about it..."
"Yeah, shut your trap, you bunch of human-shaped light particles..." Jenny attempts to interrupt Gyllendal by thrusting her Taser at him, despite knowing that the Rebel commander is just a hologram at the moment.
"Allen Overlord?" Jason noted the name mentioned. "You mean that guy who was seen jumping out of the Wall Crawler when we wrecked it?"
"Yes..." Gyllendal retains his calmness as he answers. "But more precisely, the Ptolemaic Army created him in the image of the Devil's Sergeant. Perhaps a full introduction should be arranged..."
As Gyllendal finishes his sentence, another hologram appeared next to the Rebel commander's. The person depicted in this new hologram wears what looked like a high-tech suit of armor, complete with a Robocop-esque helmet (including the single visor) crossed with a gas mask, but stands in a stance similar to Allen O'Neil, and even has a similar laugh (although its hard to tell whether that voice is real or synthesized due to the gas mask).
"Him?" Jenny notes. "Looks like an imitation of Allen to me..."
"But he is stronger, tougher, faster, smarter..." Gyllendal continues...
...Only to be indirectly interrupted by Allen Overlord declaring to the Mercenaries, "GO HOME TO MOMMY!"
"...And might I add... Louder, and hammier..." Gyllendal goes on with his sentence.
Allen Overlord gave the Mercenaries the pointer finger and declares loudly, "I'LL BE WAITING FOR YOU KIDS!" before his holographic projection disappears.
The Mercenaries just stood there, silently snarking at the loudmouth that is Allen Overlord.
"You are right." Mina broke the silence and told Gyllendal. "He is louder and hammier."
Gyllendal can be seen looking over his shoulder, but since the hologram only showed him, there's no way to tell what he was looking at just now.
"Anyway, that is all I have to say to you for now..." The Rebel commander continues. "I have but one word for you before I leave: balance."
After finishing his sentence, Gyllendal's holographic projection disappeared into the ethers.
"Balance?" Jason took note of that word. "I think I know what he's talking about..."
The Red Eagles and Marines looked up, and finds that the Cabrakan has been activated. The red core that served as its Achilles' Heel is glowing, and the doomsday weapon has also started moving on its own.
"That was to be expected, since we're told to destroy it..." Jenny deadpanned. "And that's exactly what we'll do."
BOSS BATTLE: Cabrakan.
The Cabrakan starts off the battle by deploying a dozen One-Eye Drones, which then flies all over the room while firing energy pellets at the Mercenaries.
In such a narrow room, avoiding being hit is easier said than done, even if the One-Eye Drones are not very accurate with their shots.
"Take this!" Flynn then fires his Flame Shot at the One-Eye Drones multiple times, taking out most of them.
The remaining two One-Eye Drones made the mistake of closing their distance with the Mercenaries, and got torn to shreds by Jason's Vulcan Chop.
"Now, go for its core!"
The Red Eagles and Marines trained their weapons on the Cabrakan's glowing red core, and unload their weapons on it. But hitting the core is not so easy, especially when the rest of the machine it sits on is immune to damage. Even after the Mercenaries have fully exhausted the ammunitions of their weapons, the Cabrakan has hardly taken any significant damage overall.
The doomsday weapon's red core then begins to glow brightly, before firing off a series of laser beams that bounced all over the room.
"Yikes! Now this is what I hated!" Ash exclaimed as he and the others tries to avoid the bouncing lasers. "Projectiles all over the place and very little room for evasive maneuvers!"
The Mercenaries managed to avoid the bouncing lasers until they expire and fades away. They seized the opportunity to fire their handguns at the red core, this time landing quite an amount of hit but still nowhere near significant enough.
The Cabrakan's red core stopped glowing as it open the same compartment that deploys One-Eye Drones, but this time, the opening appear to emit a faint glow of its own along with an indescribable humming.
"You guys might want to hug yourself against the walls for this next attack..." Jenny told the others, as she presses herself against the bulkhead where everyone entered the room from.
The other Mercenaries did the same, just as the Cabrakan fires a large laser beam directly downwards. Said laser beam can only hit the center of the room due to the Cabrakan being incapable of moving sideways, but makes that up by triggering a localized earthquake that almost shook the Mercenaries off their feet. Unlike the original Cabrakan, the earthquake beam fired by this upgraded version is intense enough to cause girders and all sorts of debris to rain down from the ceiling.
Luckily for the Mercenaries, none of the debris landed anywhere near them. So all they did was standing still and waiting out the earthquake beam.
After it is done with the earthquake beam, the Cabrakan took so long to reset that it was just enough for the Mercenaries to pelt its red core with bullets after bullets.
All those hits have dealt enough damage to the red core to spawn a noticeable crack over its surface.
"I think its working!" Flynn announces.
"And if I remember the recruits' after-mission reports correctly, this is also when the thing starts acting more aggressively." Leon pointed out.
Sure enough, the Cabrakan starts off its second phase by deploying a dozen One-Eye Drones, while accompanying it with a barrage of bouncing lasers.
"Oh, come on!" Ash complained furiously.
Taking out the One-Eye Drones became extremely difficult because the Mercenaries now have to avoid the bouncing lasers at the same time. But they manage to do so anyway.
"We need to take it out before things become too difficult for us!" Jason told the others.
The Mercenaries then continues firing their handguns at the Cabrakan's red core.
The doomsday weapon once again readies its earthquake beam, but this time it fired bouncing lasers all over the room as suppressive fire while the earthquake beam is getting ready.
"Give he a hand." Mina said to Ash as she hatches a plan in her mind.
Ash quickly figures out what Mina is planning. "You want me to help you get up close and personal with the thing's weak spot?"
"Of course!" The Japanese girl confirms, while narrowly dodging two bouncing lasers that came her way. "I need to do it before we all die!"
"Okay!" Ash acknowledges. "But I hope it works!"
As that is said, the grey-clad Red Eagle grabbed Mina, and with all the strength he could muster, tossed her upwards toward the Cabrakan's red core.
Although that still isn't high enough, as Mina found herself reaching just short of the doomsday weapon's Achilles' Heel before she starts falling back toward the floor.
Good thing Leon noticed Mina and jumped up to catch her in time. "I'll help you!" The Chinese-American Marine then does an extremely weaken version of his Faux Argentine Backbreaker to help Mina get closer to the Cabrakan's red core.
This time, she gets close enough to her target to stab it with her katana.
"Bye bye~"
Mina drives her katana all the way into the Cabrakan's red core, which is then followed by an intense amount of sparks being emitted from it before the glass part of the core shatters. After that, the doomsday weapon exploded from within, with enough force to tear away a large chunk of its supposedly indestructible hull.
Cabrakan defeated.
Mina then swiftly lands on the floor on her two feet, before sheathing her katana gracefully.
"Way to go, Mina!" Ash congratulated.
Before anything else can be said, Mina dropped face-first on the floor.
"So tiring~" She said in fatigue.
"Oh well, at least we're safe... for now." Jason said as he sits down on the floor. "Let's rest here for a few minutes. Then we get back to our mission, okay?"
...
After spending five minutes having a rest, the Mercenaries continued their trek deeper into the RAP Joint Force Headquarters. After Flynn smashes through the bulkhead with several rounds of his Berserk Punch, of course.
Almost immediately, they are attacked by a large mob of Rebel Fanatic Soldiers coming from the opposite end of the room, lunging at the Mercenaries with their knives raised.
"Leave this to me, guys!" Jason told the others, as he moves in and chopped through the mob of Rebel Fanatic Soldiers with a series of Vulcan Chops.
Jenny quickly notices that there's something else hiding within the mob of Rebel Fanatic Soldiers. "Be careful!" She called out as she fired a single shot from her handgun into the mob.
A Rebel's death cry can be heard coming from within the mob, followed by a rifle being tossed into he air that then falls back down.
"There are Rebel Riflemen hiding in the mob!" Jenny told Jason.
"Got it! I'll be careful of them!" Jason replied, as he continues to Vulcan Chop through the relentless mob of Rebel Fanatic Soldiers.
More Rebel Riflemen had snuck themselves into the mob, but unfortunately for them, the Mercenaries still noticed them and took them out from a distance.
After about a hundred Rebel Fanatic Soldiers and Riflemen in total (and the Mercenaries wondering how on earth did Morden recruit so many soldiers), they noticed that they are nearing the end of the relentless mob, and that there's a LV Armor at the end of it.
As soon as the Mercenaries are done with the mob, the LV Armor made itself noticeable by firing an explosive shell at them.
The Mercenaries dodged the shell by simply stepping sideways, and then retaliates by pelting the LV Armor's pilot with handgun bullets. There is no questioning that the LV Armor is out of commission with its pilot dead.
...
On to the next room, which isn't that big in itself, the Mercenaries are immediately attacked by two Melty Honeys - one of which somehow appeared from behind them - that are backed by several Amadeus Syndicalist fast-roping down from above.
"Okay, where did this guy come from?" Ash lampshaded as he offs the driver of the Melty Honey behind everyone with a head shot.
"That's the strange part of military operations, so don't think about it much, buddy..." Jason told him, as he attacks the group of Amadeus Syndicalist with his Machete.
The second Melty Honey was able to fire a few missiles, but those were quickly shot out of the air by the Mercenaries. The driver of that Melty Honey is also killed via headshot just seconds later.
The Amadeus Syndicalist are easily dealt with soon after.
"You idiots are useless!" Flynn mocked the pile of Amadeus Syndicalist corpses.
...
The first thing the Mercenaries encounter in the next room is a Future Bradley, which got the jump on them as it fires its propellant-lacking missiles right away.
The Mercenaries notices it in time, and dodges the barrage by standing as far away from it as possible.
"Whew, that was a close one..." Jenny said.
Flynn flexed his knuckles as he takes a step forward. "Stand back, kids. I'll take this one!"
Taking the window of opportunity from when the Future Bradley is adjusting its aim, the American Marine charged forward, ready to deliver a Berserk Punch to the futuristic missile tank... when something made him stop just short of it.
A Rebel Walker, with its knife fully extended, had suddenly appeared in between him and the Future Bradley. The knife has penetrated Flynn's body armor, but did not go all the way through it.
"Tough luck, little guy..." Flynn said before he continues delivering his Berserk Punch, taking out both the Rebel Walker and the Future Bradley.
More Rebel Walkers soon entered the room in a flood, so much that Flynn had no room to act, and is forced to rejoin the other Mercenaries.
"I just hate it when they sent out large numbers of very tough enemies..." Jason complained. "Even more so when we only have handguns and melee weapons with us, and when Grenades are a luxury..."
The Mercenaries proceeds to unload their handguns at the flood of Rebel Walkers, while at the same time avoiding the shots coming from the Rebel Walkers' mini-satellites. The Rebel Walkers that closes in to the Mercenaries are smashed apart by their melee weapons, albeit with some difficulty due to the attack robots' tough armor and large numbers.
It took the Mercenaries five whole minutes to deal with the flood of Rebel Walkers. At some point in the fight, they had to use a few Grenades to be able to take out the Rebel Walkers that are about to successfully shoot them. By the end of it, Mina is the only one with a single Grenade left, and everyone else had fully exhausted their supply of it.
"Maybe we should save this one... for emergency?" Mina wondered while looking at the team's very last Grenade which she held in her hand.
"Do save it for emergencies, dear..." Ash told her. "With this many tough enemies just now, my video gaming instinct tells me that a boss battle is coming right up..."
...
Location: Chrono Embarkation Room, RAP Joint Force Headquarters.
Ash was sort of right, the next room the Mercenaries stepped foot in housed the Chrono Gate, which is how the Future Rebels and their equipment arrived in the present day in the first place. For the moment, only a few Future Rebel Soldiers are in the room.
Those few Future Rebel Soldiers hardly pose any threat due to their small numbers. The Mercenaries plowed through them as they approached the base of the Chrono Gate.
A Morden Robot can be seen operating the computer that controlled the Chrono Gate. As soon as it sees the Mercenaries, the Morden Robot raised its bazooka and started firing at them from behind it.
The fight with the Morden Robot was pretty anti-climatic: the Red Eagles and Marines just surrounded it from all direction, and unloaded handgun bullets into it. After the Morden Robot's bazooka bloated comically and exploded right in its face, Ash charged forward and drove his Chainsaw into its body. As the Morden Robot detaches its head in response, Ash grabbed it from the air and threw it straight into the Chrono Gate, before he steps back to let the headless body explode in a shower of android debris.
"I ain't gonna let another Morden Robot's detached head laugh at me!" Ash shouted loudly in a taunting manner.
"So I guess we're supposed to shut down this portal, do we?" Flynn asked.
"I think so, and I think destroying that computer will contribute to it." Leon answered.
Without saying anything else, the Mercenaries all ganged up on the computer with their melee weapons, and destroys it in exactly one second.
Although destroying the computer doesn't seem to do anything notable to the Chrono Gate. It was still open.
Before the Mercenaries can make any comments on the matter, a dark-shaded Rebel Di-Cokka entered the Chrono Embarkation Room. The Di-Cokka stopped next to what is left of the computer, and the hatch popped open from within to reveal Donald Morden - the real deal - himself.
"Ha Ha Ha Ha!" Morden laughed at what the Mercenaries just did. "You bunch did the exact same thing that Marco Rossi and his bunch did!"
The Mercenaries looked at what is left of the computer, then back at the Devil Rebirth himself.
"The same thing the Regular Commandos did?" Leon wondered.
"Oh, damn! Now I remember!" Jenny suddenly exclaims. "When the Regular Commandos encountered the Chrono Gate back at Garbage Island, destroying the controlling computer actually disabled its safety mode, allowing it to start defending itself!"
That led to the other Red Eagles face-palming.
Morden laughed in a taunting manner before continuing. "That's right! I was expecting you Mercenaries to repeat what Marco Rossi and his bunch did the first time, and you did!"
Flynn charged himself toward Morden and his dark-shaded Di-Cokka, intent on taking out the Devil Rebirth with a Berserk Punch. The American Marine does deliver his attack, only to find that although Morden and his tank isn't a hologram, the punch phased right through him harmlessly.
"What...?! But how?!" Flynn became confused.
"All thanks to some advanced future technology that I don't understand myself!" Morden taunted again. "But enough talk! Let us make this fun, shall we?"
BOSS BATTLE: Chrono Gate.
As soon as Morden finishes his sentence, the Chrono Gate emitted an empowering whirr, followed by about five large glowing orbs forming at the top of the Gate's event horizon.
"These are what the men from the future refer to as Neutron Cannonballs!" Morden said, as he waves his right hand in a commanding manner. "Take this!"
Morden's gesture command sent the Neutron Cannonballs hurling toward the Mercenaries.
The Mercenaries quickly rolled out of the way, knowing that touching anyone of these dense energy particles are a guaranteed death for any human being. The one that was sent hurling toward Flynn was avoided by the American Marine, and like his Berserk Punch, the Neutron Cannonball just phased through Morden harmlessly.
"We have to fight this thing?!" Flynn exclaimed while pointing a finger at the Chrono Gate.
"What choice do we have?" Jason answered. "The Regular Commandos also whaled on its previous incarnation with all they've got."
That said, the Red Eagles begin shooting the frame of the Chrono Gate with their handguns.
"Knock knock." Morden decided to chip in by firing a shell from his Di-Cokka at the Red Eagles.
The Red Eagles notice the shot in time, and dodges it by crouching.
"Damn you, Morden!" Ash shouted at the Devil Rebirth. "I'm gonna kick your ass!"
"I'll like to see you try!" Morden responded with a taunt, before giving another commanding gesture to the Chrono Gate.
Several smaller orbs emerged from the center of the event horizon and landed over the room, before forming into Future Rebel Soldiers.
One of the Future Rebel Soldiers was quickly taken out by Leon via a Faux Argentine Backbreaker before he could do anything.
"You Eagles focus on the Gate, we the Marines will deal with possible reinforcements!" The Chinese-American Marine called out.
As the Red Eagles focused their fire on the Chrono Gate, the Marines covered them by distracting the Future Rebel Soldiers away from them.
A Future Rebel Soldier fires a ball lightning from his Tesla helmet at Flynn, who easily dodges it before retaliating with a Berserk Punch. Another Future Rebel Soldier deployed a bouncing bomb from his backpack, which Leon evades by sliding under it, before shooting him in the face with his handgun.
The last Future Rebel Soldier lunged at Leon and hit the Chinese-American Marine in the back with his electrified gloves. But as the Marines' body armor are made to insulate the wearer from electricity as well, it didn't do anything to Leon, who quickly turns around and tossed him into the air via Faux Argentine Backbreaker.
The Chrono Gate released another two orbs, which formed into Future Girida-Os upon landing.
Flynn rushes up to the closest one and delivers a Berserk Punch to it. But since the futuristic mini-tank is much more heavily armored than its present day counterpart, it took the American Marine several Berserk Punches to take it out.
Leon fired his handgun at the second Future Girida-O to draw its attention. He succeed, as the futuristic mini-tank turn its plasma cannon toward him and fires. Leon slid under the plasma cannon rounds to close his distance with the Future Girida-O as well as getting himself into its blind spot. Unable to shoot at Leon as he's in its blind spot, the Future Girida-O moved in reverse to try and get the Chinese-American Marine back in its aiming visor, which was just enough time for Flynn to move in and flip it over with a Berserk Punch directed at the bottom of its chassis.
At about the same time, the Red Eagles had made some progress on attacking the Chrono Gate, in which a small portion of the frame started emitting sparks endlessly due to the damages sustained.
"Argh, you meddling...!" Morden became angered. He performs another commanding gesture, and more Neutron Cannonballs formed over the event horizon and are hurled toward the Mercenaries.
As some of those Neutron Cannonballs are hurled toward the Red Eagles, they had to break formation to get out of the way and avoid being hit.
More Neutron Cannonballs emerged from the event horizon and are hurled toward the Mercenaries, who manages to dodge them.
"Missed us!" Jenny took her opportunity to taunt Morden.
"Why you...!" Morden went from angry to furious, and responds to the taunt by firing another shell from his Di-Cokka, which is still easily dodged by crouching.
The Chrono Gate then releases two new orbs, which didn't land anywhere in the Chrono Embarkation Room, but rather formed into Future Masknells in mid-air.
"Leave the birds to us Marines, kids!" Flynn told the Red Eagles. "Although you still want to watch out for stray shots."
"We will!"
With that said, the Red Eagles resumed firing at the part of the Chrono Gate that is endlessly emitting sparks.
The two Future Masknells started with an attempt to fire at the Red Eagles. But one had its tail rotor shot by the Marines to the point that the entire futuristic helicopter started auto-rotating, before crashing into the back side of the room. The second Future Masknell did manage to fire several rounds of energy pellets at the Red Eagles, only for them to quickly move out of the way, before it too has its tail rotor shot up and promptly crash into the Chrono Gate.
The Chrono Gate released a single orb this time, which formed into a Future R-Shobu in midair.
"Aw, shit, this one can't be good..." Jason noted the fact that the latest reinforcement is a Future R-Shobu.
The Future R-Shobu actually went and dropped plasma bombs on the Red Eagles, forcing them to disperse to avoid being hit.
"Man, this one is smart!" Jenny exclaimed.
The Future R-Shobu continued to drop plasma bombs on the Red Eagles, and isn't budging even as the Marines are shooting it with their handguns.
"Yeah, I know!" Ash responded to Jenny's exclamation. "It's trying to stop us from attacking the Gate!"
With no other choice, all six Mercenaries focused their fire on the Future R-Shobu while avoiding its plasma bombs and missiles. It took over a hundred rounds to finally bring down that futuristic attack chopper.
"Damn..." Flynn pointed out. "I expected many things to be as resilient, if not more than, a heavy tank, but a helicopter was not one of them..."
"I've had enough of you government-hired pigs!" Morden shouted at the Mercenaries to grab their attention. "Taste the best of the Future Rebel Army!"
Two more orbs emerged from the Chrono Gate. These two landed on the opposite ends of the room, and respectively formed into a Future Bradley and Future Sarubia.
Mina did not say anything, but one can still see that the Japanese girl is trembling in fear at the notion of having to face these two futuristic war machines at the same time.
An encounter with a Future Bradley or Future Sarubia is already problematic enough for the Mercenaries, and having to face both at the same time is most definitely worse. Firstly, the Future Bradley firing large amounts of propellant-lacking missiles at a high rate with no firing preparations needed makes jumping a risky move; secondly, the Future Sarubia is problematic in that its projectiles literally crawls on the ground and are only avoidable by jumping, the option of which is taken away by the aforementioned Future Bradley; lastly, the two firing at the same time would absolutely prevent anyone from closing in on either war machines.
"Oh, shit..." Even Leon cursed at the situation.
Sure enough, the AI housed within the Future Sarubia and Future Bradley decided to both attack at the same time, severely limiting if not completely annihilating the Mercenaries' chances of getting through this situation.
The Mercenaries had to get as close to the Future Bradley as they can to avoid its propellant-lacking missile barrage, while focusing their firepower to take out any explosive drones that comes their way from the Future Sarubia.
"Uh, I think its about time we make our emergency weapon useful..." Ash told the others, trying his best to not let Morden hear him.
"Emergency weapon?" Mina was the one to respond, and a confused one at that. But the Japanese girl quickly catches on to the main point. "Oh, that emergency weapon!"
Mina grabbed hold of the last Grenade in the Mercenaries' arsenal, and was about to throw it at the Future Sarubia before being stopped by Flynn.
"No, these stick bombs won't make a dent in that thing, considering that one of them weathered my Berserk Punch quite well." Flynn told her, before pointing at the Chrono Gate...
...Specifically, the part that is emitting sparks endlessly.
"That is a better target for it." Flynn continued. "Now do it quick before we're toast!"
Taking the opportunity of when the Future Bradley adjusts its aim, Mina quickly stood up, and with all the arm strength she has, tossed the last Grenade at the Chrono Gate.
Morden instantly knows what is about to happen. "NOOOOOOO!" He cried out when he sees the Grenade being hurled toward the damaged part of the Chrono Gate.
BOOM! The Grenade exploded upon contact with the damaged part of the Chrono Gate. The explosion tore a chunk of the Gate's frame right off, causing the portal to start to destabilize.
The destabilization of the Chrono Gate sent out huge bolts of electricity that flew all over the Chrono Embarkation Room, two of which disintegrated the Future Bradley and Future Sarubia on contact.
Chrono Gate defeated.
The other bolts of electricity flew all over the room and tore up a large chunk of it, enough that the ceiling has started to crumble.
Morden watched hopelessly as the Chrono Embarkation Room and the Chrono Gate itself begins to fall apart. "Curse you, Red Eagles and Marines! This isn't over yet! The Regular Army and President Balthazar Drippiek's administration are still going to pay for the death of my son, even if I have to do it FROM HELL!"
A bolt of electricity flew out from the destabilizing Chrono Gate and hit Morden's Di-Cokka square on. Whatever piece of future technology that allowed him to phase through attacks must've been shorted out by the bolt, as indicated by the tank erupting in an explosion that catapulted the Devil Rebirth straight toward the destabilizing event horizon of the Chrono Gate.
"YOU WILL REMEMBER THIIIIIISSSSSS!" Morden screamed at the top of his lungs before he plummeted into the event horizon and went right through it, which then fully destabilizes and collapsed into an orb of light that shrinks continuously for the next minute...
...And then explodes in an eye-blinding blast of light.
The Mercenaries turned away from the Chrono Gate to avoid being blinded by the eye-blinding light, but the explosion also sent out a shockwave that while non-fatal, is still strong enough to knock all six Mercenaries down.
After the eye-blinding flash fades away, the Mercenaries picked themselves up from the floor. Looking around the Chrono Embarkation Room, they found it to be in ruins, and that there's no trace of neither the Chrono Gate nor Morden himself.
"Did we... do it?" Jason wondered.
"Kill off General Donald Morden for good?" Jenny enquired.
"No way he's gonna survive being thrown into the Gate, especially when its in the middle of destabilizing!" Ash declared.
"Then he is dead for good~!" Mina joins in on the declaration.
"Finally, that son-of-a-bitch is gone for good!" Flynn cheered in excitement, and celebrates by delivering an ordinary punch to what is left of Morden's dark-shaded Di-Cokka.
Leon slowly approaches the dark-shaded Di-Cokka, looks at it for a while, then takes off his cap in an honoring motion and said, "Amen..."
MISSION COMPLETE!
"So now what?" Jason raised a question. "Now that Morden's dead, and the Future Rebels can't come to the present day anymore... Furthermore, how on earth do we get out of this place?"
Before anyone can answer the Red Eagles leader's question, an explosion coming from above the ceiling blasted a large chunk of concrete out of it, and what appeared to be a spotlight and the sounds of helicopter propellers flooded into the Chrono Embarkation Room from that hole.
"What's going on?!" Ash exclaimed.
"The Regular Army came to fetch us. maybe?" Flynn guessed.
The Regular Hi-Do and another CH-47 Chinook bearing the Regular Army's emblem then descends into the room from that very same hole.
"Yep..." Flynn added.
The side door of the Regular Hi-Do opened, and out came someone none of the Mercenaries were expecting.
"Hey, you all!" Eri Kasamoto called out to the Mercenaries from the Regular Hi-Do. "Thanks for stealing our job!"
Another Regular Commando appeared next to Eri. It was Tarma.
"We've found exactly where the Ptolemaic Army are..." Tarma told the Mercenaries. "And seems that they are up to their occult business again..."
Jenny was the one to step up first. The blue-haired Red Eagle first said to Eri, "That's the respect we get? You spotlight-hogging bi..." And then to Tarma, "But what about Amadeus? We didn't see him anywhere in the base!"
"That guy, Amadeus? He tried to get away in a jet before you bunch came, but our guys at Brazil shot him down and arrested him on the spot." Eri replied to Jenny. "Now get your butts over here, because we still have a devil-worshipping secret society to take down!"
The Mercenaries just sighed as they slowly approached the Chinook and boarded it.
"Like I said, spotlight-hogging bi..." Jenny said to the other Mercenaries.
Afterwords
Oh wow, that took a lot longer than expected. Got into so much details for the boss battles that this chapter ended up taking three weeks to finish.
The Chrono Gate got destroyed, and no Kraken came out of it? Don't worry, the Kraken will appear in a later chapter, even though the Mercenaries have only the Ptolemaic Army left to deal with now...
And you know what? No updates have arrived to Metal Slug Defense in the past three weeks. Metal Slug Attack, on the other hand, got updated a couple of times, and I have only one message to deliver to SNK Playmore...
"Don't care about your plans to earn big bucks by promoting an extremely overpowered Leona. Nobody wants to pay so much real money just to have fun..."
Oh, and Allen Overlord is actually what the developers of the fan game Metal Slug 5 Elite calls the controller of the Wall Crawler, whom they developed as an entire character in said fan game. Special thanks to them for developing Allen Overlord as a character.
Boss buff list:
Cabrakan - It sends out more of those One-Eye Drones at a time, and at a faster rate too. It also fires more of those bouncing lasers at a time, as well as its earthquake beam actually causing a big enough earthquake to shake harmful debris down from the ceiling of the arena. Interesting enough, it also got nerfed in a sense that it never used those slow-firing energy orb things at any point in this battle.
Chrono Gate - It fired those huge orbs - which I call Neutron Cannonballs - at a faster rate, rather than one at a time. It also sent out a Future R-Shobu, Future Bradley, and Future Sarubia, which you won't encounter when fighting it in Metal Slug 7. And Although this one technically isn't a buff to the Gate itself, you can definitely see Morden taking the occasional pot shot at the Mercenaries while they fought the Chrono Gate, and in MS7 he just sits there and laughs at you while you fight it.
Shout-out index:
"...Falcon PUNCH!" - Captain Falcon called, he wants his trademark punch back.
"...Left 4 Dead..." - Looks like Ash agrees that both running and shooting are important in First-Person Shooters. Too bad this is a Platforming Run N Gun...
"...Robocop-esque..." - Blame the MS5 Elite dev team for making Allen Overlord's appearance like that. I got no comment on it otherwise...
That is all. "Dismissed!"
