Sorry guys for the lack of updating, but you have no idea how much time school is taking up! And we're at the dumb area from 8 to 6, so all my day is busy with wirking, not to mention the huge amount of tests the school keeps tossing us.
I want to thank PixelJam for being so patient with my writing, so THANK YOU! And for all exo-force fans, she is currently writing her own fanfiction on Exo-Force. AND IT'S TOTALLY AWESOME! YOU GUYS GOTTA READ IT!
I also need to finish a chapter for War of Weyard. So I'll take even more time to write, since I've got more stuff to do.
ON WITH THE STORY
An iron drone entered a dark room. After reaching the center of the room, it stopped and knelt down low. "Master, the Shikara Outpost has been taken by the humans. We were forced to retreat due to an ambush by the inferior race." it said in its metallic and scrappy voice.
A figure, humanoid, cloaked in black, marched silently and majestically towards the robot. The robot allowed itself to look up; for this was the first time he got to see his new leader.
The leader was huge, larger than Meca One. It may not have a rough cover, but its authority, short temper, and intelligence highly over passed the golden robot.
The iron drone's red eyes scanned up to look at the head. It was impossible for it to identify its features, for a white and black mask covered them.
Finally, the leader moved: an arm was raised and pointed at the robot. "Take a group of Dark Panthers to the Girghana Fortress. Then, send three squadrons to the remains of the Sentai Fortress. We will hold our ground there."
"Finally, send three Thunder Furies and Fire Vultures to destroy the village of Kikena. There will be no survivors. Now go."
The iron drone bowed low again, its circuits whirring, classifying the orders in most to least important in its memory banks. "Understood." it said. It marched out of the room, leaving the leader alone in the room.
The leader backed back safely into the darkness of the room. It looked out the large window and glared at the northern side of the mountain, illuminated by the sun. The leader hissed. "Everything is going as planned. Three more weeks and the Exo-Force teams will fall." the figure promised itself. "And soon, me and him…together we will rule over humanity together. Just as it was meant to be."
Takashi slammed the door so hard it cracked on its hinges. "RYO!" the pilot yelled, running madly towards a certain bed. He met up with Hitomi and Ha-Ya-To who were sitting in front of a large glass.
"How is he?" Takashi asked. He stared through the window too see the sleeping techie and a medic speaking to Keiken.
Ha-Ya-To shrugged. "He's alive and his injuries are far from deadly. That much I know."
In the room, the two adults finished talking and left the room. When they closed the door to Ryo's room, did the three pilots dive on them.
"Sensei, what's going on?"
"Will he be ok?"
"What are his injuries?"
Keiken pushed them gently away. "I'll explain in a moment." he turned to the medic. "Keep a close watch on him. Try to heal him as efficiently and as fast as possible." the medic nodded, before walking briskly away. The old man turned back to the trio. "Ryo is covered with second degree burns. His mind has not been damaged and his memories are also in one piece. Hitomi saved him in time and the acid had not yet been able to penetrate the skin and attack the muscles either. He'll recover with rest."
The trio all had different reactions. Takashi leaned back against the wall, sighing in relief, Hitomi collapsed in a chair, covering her face with her hands, trying to calm herself down, while Ha-Ya-To threw his arms in the air and cheered.
"Well that's good to know." Ha-Ya-To said. "I'll take the first watch. You two, go do something useful"
Hikaru sighed. The Outpost was finally under their control. He had taken over as leader and was busy clearing the area of all the robots they could find.
He pressed a button on the Sky Guardian's controls. The blue and white battle machine hummed, showing that then energy was being properly compensated.
"Ready everyone?" he asked to the Grand Titan and the two Uplinks who were with him. He was acknowledged with a chorus of 'yes'. "All rockets fired."
The four battle machines fired all their missiles at the entrance of the cave where a small group of robots had hidden in.
The cave exploded in a cloud of complete destruction. Boulders collapsed, and the metal grinders that have been installed fell over like dead trees, before adding to the explosions.
Hikaru heard the electronic scream and the barking of orders from the robots in the inside. He stared at the computer. The scopes went black.
He nodded. The place was cleared. "Everyone, return to the Outpost."
Ever since he heard that Ryo was found, injured and unconscious, the aerial pilot had only one wanting: to go and check on his friend. But his duty to destroy and deactivate all the robots in the area was much more important.
The four pilots walked back to the Shikara Outpost, which was now buzzing with activity, as the engineers and pilots tried to fix the damage and drain the computers of their data before the robots could attempt to destroy or retrieve them.
Guarded by a whole platoon of Stealth Hunters and Golden Guardians the base was completely under the human control. But their position was still vulnerable. And the humans wanted to grab as much resources as they could in case the robots returned.
"Hikaru?"
The pilot turned to see the Blade Titan walking towards him. "Takashi? Shouldn't you be at the GoldenCity?"
"I know you're dying to see Ryo. Go on ahead. I'll take over." The ground-born pilot gestured at the beam of light being emanated by the GoldenTower with his head. "Go. Ryo's sleeping and apparently he'll be all right."
Hikaru hesitated. "Who told you that you could take over my job? Did Sensei say so?" He asked uncertainly.
Takashi deadpanned at him. "I'm the leader of the expedition. Screw Sensei and his rules. Go before I blast you to the city."
Hikaru grinned, his bad mood disappearing quickly. "Thanks buddy." He piloted the Sky Guardian upwards, and flew to the city
Light.
Blinding white light.
It came from everywhere and yet from nowhere.
Ryo stood still in this huge area, where even the horizon was blinded in the light. "Where am I…?"
There was a ripple in the light. A thin line of darkness coming his way…
Suddenly, pain exploded through his body. Ryo screamed and doubled over in agony. What was happening? What was this? Where was here?
"Come…" a voice whispered.
Ryo looked up. He saw something. In this whiteness, he saw a tiny black figure in the distance. He tried to stand, only to collapsed back on his knees in pain. He opened his mouth, but the voice spoke to him again.
"Live as it was meant to be…"
Ryo felt fear surge through him amplifying his pain. Fear blinded his mind. "NO!"
"Then fall…" the figure began to move closer. Ryo squinted to see what it was.
Its movements were accelerated. It was coming faster. Waving its limbs in all directions, it ran faster. So fast that Ryo knew that if he didn't move NOW he wouldn't make it.
He tried moving, but his body felt like zaylium-reinforced steel.
The figure was only a few feet away. It ran faster.
And faster.
It was only a few feet away. Ryo braced himself.
Then the figure opened its mouth.
It gave the most painful and loudest blood thirstiest shriek ever.
Ryo screamed as the figure rammed into him just as everything went dark.
Ryo gave a huge gasp, and his eyes snapped open.
"You're awake!" he heard someone say in relief.
Two gloved hands reached over him and took off what seemed to be an oxygen mask. Ryo turned and stared weakly at the smiling face of Hitomi. He opened his mouth, but no words came out.
Panicking slightly, he tried to speak again, this time succeeding to make a sound. "I…robots…"
Hitomi placed a hand on his forehead. "Sssh." She said. "Calm down. Everything's fine."
Ryo nodded before lying back down again. He tried to speak again, but there was a loud banging.
"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING?" Rika yelled as she stormed towards the bed.
Ryo's mind went wild as his sense of paranoia shot skywards as he began to think of all the horrors his sister was about to do to him.
However, she did something he clearly did not expect. She grabbed him, forced him to sit until he was at the same height as her, and gave a bone-crushing hug. "You idiot…you have no idea how worried I was…" she whispered. She then dumped him right back into the bed. "You are not getting out of this unscathed kid." She whispered coldly, her brown eyes piercing his. She turned to Hitomi. "Make sure he doesn't leave the place." She ordered, before turning and storming right out of the room.
Ryo stared at the doorway, before turning back to face the ceiling. He opened his mouth, to say something, but exhaustion began to grip him harder than before.
Hitomi must've noticed it, since she carefully placed the oxygen mask back over his face, and said something, which Ryo failed to catch.
He closed his eyes, and went back to sleep.
Ha-Ya-To entered the medical bay. He found Hitomi strapping the oxygen mask on Ryo's face. "How is he?" he asked. "I ran into Rika. She was kinda pissed off. Did something happen?"
Hitomi smiled at the red-head. "You just missed him. He woke up for a moment there."
Ha-Ya-To placed his hand over his heart, feigning hurt. "He falls right back to sleep when I arrive…does really no one care for me in this world?" he said dramatically.
Hitomi rolled her eyes. "What did Rika say when she walked past you?" she asked, feeling slightly concerned for the older twin.
"Oh just the usual, get-out-of-the-way-before-I-castrate-you. Why?"
The girl sighed. She got up. "Keep an eye on him for me please. If just before he wakes up, take off his oxygen mask. Or else it could damage his lungs."
"And how do I know when he'll wake up?"
"When the blood pressure begins to rise, take it off." Hitomi got up and walked away.
Ha-Ya-To took her place on the chair. "What an awesome day!" he said cheerfully. "First I get to blast robots, then I get to blow up the remains of a bridge, and now I got to babysit my best friend." He stretched his limbs and relaxed on his chair. He remembered something. "AND I managed to get some awesome blackmail material…yeah; this is the best day ever."
Rika stormed down the hallway, trying to find an effective way to punish Ryo for nearly getting himself killed.
She had almost crashed into Ha-Ya-To earlier as he came to check out on her brother. After pushing him out of the way relatively violently, and giving him the best death glare she could muster, she continued storming down the hallway.
She did feel kind of bad for the pilot, but she didn't want to show it. She was a member of the Exo-Force team, and more importantly a girl. She could not allow herself to act weak, caring and all that. It will only lead to problems. Problems that she might not want to face…
"Rika…"
She has to stay strong for her sake. Besides, her brother needs her to be tough. He's still just a boy. Sure he's capable of defeating hordes of robots, destroying the strongest of battle machines and saving the world.
"Rika?"
But he's still a kid. He's too kind. And if poked in the right area, he can easily break. No matter how hard he fights back, how intelligently he twists situations to his benefit and how strong he may look, he could easily-
"RIKA!"
She suddenly became acutely aware of two hands gripping her shoulders and pulling her backwards. Rika was about to resist, when she noticed that the same person had saved her from walking right into a wall.
So much for trying to keep tough.
Rika turned to face the concerned features of Hikaru. She allowed his hands to pull her backwards and away from the wall. "What are you doing here? I thought you were down at the Shikara Outpost."
"Takashi took my place. Why?"
"Just curious."
An awkward silence fell over them. "Um…thanks for sav-uhhhh-keeping me from running into the wall." Rika muttered.
Hikaru shrugged like it was no big deal. "You okay? You look a bit upset"
Rika sighed. "Anyone who has a brother in the hospital bed would be." She muttered. Hikaru was the only person she dared to open up to. She just felt…comfortable with him. No decent explanation. She just did. "I'm worried…" she mentally berated herself. She wasn't worried. She was TERRIFIED. She didn't want to lose Ryo like she lost her parents. She didn't…
The next thing she knew, Hikaru had gently grabbed her and pulled her in an awkward hug. "He'll be fine. He's stronger than you give him credit for." Hikaru whispered.
The two of them remained in the embrace for a moment, neither of them wanting to break the moment.
"Rika? You there? I wanted to-WOAH!" Hitomi yelped when she saw the two pilots holding one another.
Hikaru and Rika instantly tore apart from one another, both of them beet red.
"I…uh…" Hikaru shot down the corridor like hell, almost knocking Hitomi off her feet in the process.
The female pilot turned back to Rika "D-"
"WE ARE NOT!" Rika screamed so loudly and venomously that Hitomi was almost blown back.
"Okay, okay!" Hitomi squeaked. "My lips are sealed."
Rika managed to get her blush under control. "Why did you follow me anyway?" she asked.
"I wanted to know if you'd be alright. You were a little upset about Ryo. I thought you'd want a bit of girl company."
Rika grinned. "Yeah why not."
Takashi stood in the middle of the bridge that connected the Shikara Outpost to the southern side of the mountain.
The team had managed to create a somewhat decent defensive squad. Normally, with the new recruits in the next few days, the Exo-Force team would be reinforced. Until then, Takashi had gotten the permission to remain at the Outpost to aid the other pilots to repel any robot attacks-if any were to come.
Takashi had chosen to go on patrol alone. There were two things he wanted to do. The first one was to visit the remains of the mine in which he used to work in. It brought him a wave of nostalgia when he thought of the number of people who died in the battle for the mountain, just before it was split.
Now, safely seated in his Blade Titan, he watched the carcass of the Supernova.
The pilot sighed. As much as he saw these things as machines, he did feel a small connection to them. He had been so happy to have such a powerful battle machine, and when he had learnt that it had been blown off the bridge, it hurt him.
Takashi looked back up at the looming southern mountain of metal, smoke and artificial lights. Strange…he remembered the place being much darker, giving him a chill whenever he looked at it.
Takashi sighed. He must've gotten over it. It has been three years since he joined the Exo-Force. He must've gotten used to the sight.
He rolled his shoulders. The Blade Titan whirred as it imitated his movements. Takashi looked at his left arm in surprise. He had forgotten that the movements of the battle machine followed his.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Be-
Takashi pressed a button on the control board, switching the irritating sound off. "Hey." He said in a bored tone. "I'm on the bridge. Nothing to report. I'll be staying for little longer. Don't ask." No need to ask who was calling and why. He was smarter than some pilots gave him credit for.
"Um…okay…see ya." The pilot answered awkwardly, clearly not expecting such a response.
Takashi sighed.
He stepped over the Supernova, careful not to touch it, and stared back at the robot's side of the mountain.
God he was bored…
Glimmers of an idea began to form.
Takashi looked back at the Shikara Outpost. No one would mind right? He rarely got to play like this. And the pilots weren't idiots. They knew how to handle themselves.
But what if…
Takashi stared at the southern side of the mountain.
All these beautiful metal plates…all waiting to be busted…surely no one would mind right? Just three shots?
Takashi took a deep breath. "BANZAI TIME!" he yelled at the top of his voice, firing his guns at a random area of the robot base.
The area exploded, sending spieces of melted metal in all directions.
Takashi watched as the debris fell onto the bridge. He suddenly realized in horror that something was wrong.
The robots weren't responding.
Either they were ignoring him, or they were just too stupid to realize that they were being shot at.
An iron drone fell out of the hole he had just caused and hit the ground in front of the red battle machine, resulting in the robot being pulverized in pieces.
Takashi looked up. He noticed another Iron drone peering out of the hole. Takashi swore he heard it say, 'Oh well'.
Anger boiled in him.
They were totally ignoring him.
"HEY YOU BOLT FOR BRAINS! PAY ATTENTION TO ME!" Takashi yelled, firing a number of blasts which hit the side of the mountain, causing similar explosions to the previous one.
"You're welcome to stop. Scopes say that robot activity is higher up the mountain. You're wasting your energy AND your time."
Takashi blinked in surprise at the comm. System. Didn't he turn that thing off?
"Takashi, did you hear me? You're 'Banzai time' is over."
Takashi felt heat grow in his face. "Yes. I'm…uh…coming back in."
"Good." With that, the person on the other side of the line snapped the system off.
Takashi sighed. "Just because I'm out doesn't mean I'm not allowed to know that Sensei has arrived."
And with that, the boy piloted his battle machine back towards the Shikara Outpost.
Ryo rolled over. "Ha-Ya-To, I'm fine. Really, I don't feel any pain and I move. See?" He sat up to prove his point.
The red head grinned at him. "I know. The sole reason why I'm keeping you here is because I don't want to suffer Hitomi's wrath again."
Ro collapsed back down on his pillow. "How long was I out?"
"Well judging that I arrived right after you did, I'd say about ten-fifteen minutes. Why?" Ha-Ya-To asked, grabbing a banana from a bowl of fruit, peeling it and biting in it.
"Because I wanna play with Cyclone Defense and finish Golden Angel."
Ha-Ya-To tilted his head and stopped in mid-chew. "Golden Angel?"
"A new battle machine I'm coming up with. Sister of the Golden Guardian. It shares the same amount of fire power, but instead of having loads of armor, it relies a lot on speed."
"Oh…who will pilot it?"
"Dunno. I surely will. And if I do, I'll make sure to fusion Uplink and Cyclone Defender with it." Ryo said cheerfully. "But to do that, I'll have to take the Power Converter out of the carrial case, and connect the phonic…" he looked at the green-eyed boy who was looking quite lost. Instead of trying to help, he stretched out an arm. "Pass me a notepad and a pen please."
The pilot obliged. "Would-"
There was the sound of the door being yanked open, before swinging back and being slammed again.
The two pilots stared in confusion at the beet-red, scared looking Hikaru. The boy, still in complete shock, didn't, exactly what you can call, noticed them, and slid to the floor, his back still against the door. "Oh…my…god…that…" he fell silent, as though reviewing a moment that just took place, a dreamy look on his face.
Ha-Ya-To coughed awkwardly. "Did the robots throw three Sticking Venoms and a legion of Devastators at us, or did you just clog the toilet?"
That somehow snapped Hikaru out of his trance. The poor boy turned three shades of red and sat bolt upright, before climbing quickly to his feet. "Huh? Wha? How did you two get here?"
"Front door."
Ryo was more concerned about the way his unofficial leader had just acted. "Say Hikaru, what happened?"
Once the first time in his life, Hikaru wished that the robots would attack them. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing."
"Doesn't look like it." Ryo stated. "You never act like this. What are you hiding from us?"
Hikaru realized that he had an opening: he was still strategically placed with the door against his back. Without wasting a minute, he yanked the door open, and bolted down the corridor
"?Ha-Ya-To turned to Ryo, grinning. "I say we look deeper into this. Got any theories that can help
Ryo couldn't help but laugh.