A stormtrooper lost in the Digiworld Chapter 13: Never retreat, never surrender
A stormtrooper lost in the Digiworld Chapter 13: Never retreat, never surrender.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This will probably be the last chapter.
… The group was finally home, or, at least, this planet could be called "home" for the majority of the group. They were now at the office of Mr. Yamaki, the director of the organization known as Hypnos, the one that was in close touch with the tamers, and this organization's soul purpose was the defense of the Earth against the threads coming from the Digital world. And there, in the office, where almost everything was of black color, a fierce discussion took place.
…"What do you mean they can't stay? They were our friends and allies for a long time and proved their loyalty and dedication at numerous occasions! They must stay!" Takato screamed at Yamaki, who was sitting at the table with his sun glasses on, as usual.
"Calm down, Takato, there's no need to scream right now. I have a terrible headache because of this problem and your screams make it worse. Let me explain the situation. Believe me, if it would be my decision alone, I would approved it in a second. I believe you that these people are trustworthy. The problem is in the government. Because the human came from another part of the galaxy, the little girl is half – digimon, and the wraith is considered dangerous, they will consider taking the first two for medical and scientific experiments, and give an order of the destruction of the last one, because he might be considered a thread. I can pull some strings to change that, but I need time to do that."
"We understand." replied NZ without any sorrow in his voice.
"I haven't finished yet. I might have a proposition for you three. Because of the aggressive digimon coming out the four gates that lead from the Digiworld to our city, we have built 4 forts in the Digiworld to preserve them. Unfortunately, we are lacking volunteers to preserve our world there. People and even soldiers are not willing to go there. I propose you to inhabit the fort №4 and stay there for the time I'm doing my best to resolve your problem."
"We thank you, we will gladly accept your generous offer, but I can say "Yes" only for me and Ulairimon. Susan, what is your choice? I mean, it could be dangerous." NZ asked.
"I want to go with you in this exile! I won't abandon you two! And besides, Ulairimon will never let anything bad happen to me, right, Ulairimon?" she said cheerfully and grabbed Ulairimon's hand.
"Um… of course." he replied.
"Then, it is settled. One more thing remains though. What do you all need in your trip?"
"I need new battle equipment, and, well, a new arm." NZ said and removed the parts of armor that concealed his missing right arm. Everyone who hasn't noticed that earlier had their jaws dropped.
"I need nothing." Ulairimon hissed.
"Well, I believe that Susan might need some toys. She is still only a child, you know." NZ added.
"Very well, you will have these things at your disposal in short time. I'm glad we understood each other." Yamaki ended this. Then he went into another room to arrange everything, and called the "exiles" to follow him. The other tamers were dismissed. This was pretty depressing for them too. They have first encountered the heavy artillery of the state bureaucracy. As they were slowly going to their homes, Henry nodded:
"Susan said "in exile". I could not have described it better myself."
"Shut it, Henry, we are feeling horrible already, don't make it worse." Rika replied. "Exiled… Abandoned… so true…" Renamon thought while going… The next day Yamaki called everyone to the Hypnos to say goodbye to their friends, who were going to preserve the border between human world and the digital world. As the tamers went to the Hypnos, they remembered the talk between them and Yamaki they had yesterday.
"If that Yamaki won't keep his promise, he will be in big trouble." Takato said angrily.
"Calm yourself down, Gogglehead, there is no need to be infuriated now. Let's just hope for the best." Rika answered. In 30 minutes they were at the doors of Hypnos main building. Yamaki was waiting for them.
"Greetings, glad you could make it here. You came to say goodbyes, no?"
"That's correct. I have a feeling we won't see them for a while." Henry replied.
"You're right. Anyway, let's go. We don't have any time to lose." Yamaki replied, as they went inside the big structure of Hypnos facility. While going through a maze of corridors, Yamaki mentioned:
"NZ-13 has received new equipment. He is now a sergeant in Hypnos defensive force."
"Hypnos has a defensive force?" everyone asked in amazement.
"Yes, and it was my idea too. Taking in consideration NZ's battle experience, I have decided that he would be most suitable for the job. He is now commanding a platoon of troopers. I believe you will see them right about now." he replied and opened the door leading somewhere. The tamers quickly followed him in. The door appeared to lead to the departure bay. Yamaki pressed on the radio button and said:
"Platoon №13, get to the departure bay immediately."
"Affirmative, commander Yamaki. Platoon will arrive in 5 minutes." a familiar voice replied. And indeed, in exactly five minutes 10 troopers, one sergeant and one digimon arrived at the docking bay… The "show" managed to scare the guts out of Henry and Takato too. Ten soldiers in full body armor of black color, with black masks on their faces, which looked like a combination of a gas mask and a stormtrooper helmet, only a lot scarier. The lenses of the masks were glowing yellow, like the headlights of the vehicles. Also they were carrying huge Gatling machinegun – type weapons, grenades and also everyone had a sword. They were walking in unison, like a mechanism. Their commander had a red symbol on his right shoulder. The others had yellow symbols – the scull and letters D and T. Ulairimon was also with them, only now he was only left with a hood, without his typical cloak, and he also had a red symbol on his right shoulder, with letters D and C. Finally, Susan also managed to come to the bay. She was the only one left unchanged. The tamers, as well as their digimon, were amazed by this…
"Heavens, what are those?" Rika asked quietly, while looking at the platoon.
"Impressive, isn't it? The elite force created to fight digimon. My pride, the Death trooper corps. That's what the letters D and T mean. Ulairimon in the part of other forces – the Digimon corps." Yamaki said with pride in his voice.
"That's … most impressive." Renamon confirmed.
"Yes, they are armed with our last inventions in anti – digimon weaponry. The armor is also created to sustain hits of great power and speed. Actually, the other soldiers are droids, robots, but with high artificial intellect and which are capable of learning. Have superior strength, reaction and are not as fragile as humans." he continued.
"They … are … killer droids… oh my, I'm going to faint…" Takato said.
"Don't worry, they cannot harm a human, and their programming cannot be overwritten by anyone." Yamaki calmed Takato down, as well as the others. One of the troopers approached the group and said with a mechanical voice:
"Commander Yamaki, my platoon is ready for departure."
"Excellent, sergeant NZ-13, your friends came to say goodbye. After all, you will not see them for a few months. I believe that in this time I will manage to get you out of there."
"Thank you, commander Yamaki." NZ replied, and took of his new helmet. He looked at the others, and there was a bit of sorrow in his glare.
"I'm afraid I will have to go for a few months, I'm sorry."
"No need to be sorry, NZ, we know it's not your fault, good luck on the new place!" Takato replied cheerfully.
"Yeah, we won't go anywhere for these months anyway, nothing will change when you and the others will arrive back." Henry added.
"You got a job, so consider yourself lucky. Farewell." Rika nodded.
"Good bye, we will return some day." Ulairimon hissed. Their transport was about to leave, and so they have left, to the gates, to the Digiworld…
…One week has passed since the D-Reaper and his multiple minions, known as agents, attacked the town of Shinjuku. The local army and the death troopers of Yamaki, along with the tamers and the digimon, who escaped from the Digiworld, were fighting fearlessly to defend the city, but they were slowly losing ground. D-Reapers forces were strong, and overwhelmed the defenders with sheer numbers. Almost all of Shinjuku was under the D-Reaper, but the Hypnos facility still was the last line of defense. The situation was critical, as the enemy slowly advanced forward to the citadel, and Yamaki called the tamers Rika, Takato and Henry along with their digimon to his office for an emergency meeting. The structure was not as clean as before, the windows were broken, and the whole complex was heavily fortified. It was the last plot of the defenders. As the tamers got to the meeting room, they saw Yamaki. He was looking tired, but still wore sun glasses, and had a gun on his table. He was the commander of the resistance now.
He looked at the tamers with a tired glance, and said:
"We have managed to stop the enemy for some time, and he has suffered heavy casualties. Now he is regrouping his forces. So we have some time to do the mission I have for you. Confirming to our scout droids, the enemy forces are coming to this world through the three gates. Do you understand what that means?" he asked.
"No, we don't commander Yamaki. Explain us." asked Rika Nonaka, who already was a lieutenant of the Hypnos Digimon corps.
"I'll explain. The enemy receives reinforcements from the three gates. But there are four gates leading to our town. The forth gate is left untouched. I haven't received any radio transmissions yet, but I have a hunch that the fort №4 is still holding ground. I am sending you all to find out if this hunch is correct or not, and if it is, I want you to escort the survivors here. We need every soldier we can get to defend the city. You have one week for the task. Dismissed." he ended the meeting. The tamers went out of the meeting room to the docking bay, Rika said:
"Fort №4… Fort №4… Oh my god… How could we have forgotten so fast! That's the fort where Ulairimon, NZ and Susan were sent!"
"That means … that they are alive! We must rescue them as soon as possible!" Takato said happily. Even such drastic position on the front was not able to break his optimism.
"But I don't understand one thing… if we, the army and Yamaki's elite division lost 2/3 of the city in 3 weeks, how could one stormtrooper, one digimon and 10 droid soldiers hold against the ¼ of the D-Reaper invasion force?" Henry asked.
"I don't know exactly, but I hope they have survived." Rika replied.
"Me too…" Renamon added. The whole group forgot about their friends away as soon as the attack over Shinjuku has begun. But now the light of hope was in their hearts, as everyone hoped for a miracle they their friends still live, and fight, and that they must help them. The transport was prepared in an hour, and the squad was sent to get their friends back, dead or alive. In two days, they were at the gates.
"Well, that's it guys, good luck, we will be here every day waiting for you to arrive from the Digiworld for a whole week. We want to see the heroes who held against the enemy for that long…" said the driver of the armored vehicle.
"Thanks. I hope you will see them soon." Rika replied as they went in…
When they first went through that gate to the Digiworld, they have landed on the green grass, and near was the forest, the beautiful lake, sunshine etc. That was heaven on Earth, well, on Digiworld. Now the meadow welcomed them the other way than before. The ground was burned. It was severely burned, and not with the regular fire, it was burned with the fire which melted the ground like sugar, the dark fire. The forest was no more, only few burned trees lifelessly stood on the place of a beautiful forest – the home of many digimon. The lake was filled not with water, but with something rotten and slimy of green color. The stench of burning organic corpses was in the air. The sun was eclipsed with the clouds of fumes, and it was almost as dark as when the night came over. Only now there were no stars, no sun, no grass, no life, no nothing. The picture of a complete misery and death was under their eyes.
"What have they done to the place? It's horrible…" Takato whispered.
"I don't know, but we will make the D-Reaper pay…" Henry said, as his hand formed a fist. And in the center of this destruction stood the remains of the bunker complex, the fort. The 2/3 of it were turned to rubble, but what was left of it was still standing. When they approached the fort, the terrain became more rugged. There were funnels from explosions everywhere on the ground, and the ground was covered with some burned slime.
"The remains of the agents…They have met quite a resistance here. Our friends really held on…" Renamon nodded sorrowfully.
"Yeah, no joke. It's like there was a great battle over here…" Rika added. When they came to the remains of the fort, they saw more burned marks on the ground, and also two bodies of the death troopers, which were torn asunder.
"That's where Ulairimon fought. I will recognize these marks of his dark vortex anywhere." Renamon stated confidently.
"I sense … death within this place. Creepy…" Terriermon added. Guilmon was shaking like a leaf, yet he tried to comprehend his fear, but the whole place was like a necropolis. Finally, they came to the remaining structure standing. The door was torn away with the piece of the wall, and also two droids were found dead near the door. They were resisting in this fortified position, and got destroyed.
"If our friends are alive, this is the only place where could they be." Guilmon said quietly. They have approached the structure with caution. There were no lights inside, and the building looked abandoned.
"I'll go check it out." Renamon said.
"Just be careful, Rena, I don't want to lose you." Rika said.
"Don't worry, Rika, I will." she said and entered the dark building… And ran outside even quicker than she entered, evading the dozen of bullets flying in their direction. After that there was a scream from inside the building:
"DIE, ENEMY! WE WILL NEVER SURRENDER, YOU HEAR! NEVER!!" After that there was silence. The scream was full of pain and hatred, it almost made everyone pee their pants. But this tortured voice was … familiar.
"That's NZ, I have recognized him…" Renamon reported.
"Holy …, what happened here? I have never heard him in such rage." Henry asked.
"Maybe that's because of the sleepless nights they were fighting… And of the thought that they are stranded." Renamon proposed, and suddenly something fell out of her glove. It was a commlink NZ gave her long ago. The others stared at it for next three minutes.
"I wonder if he keeps his old commlink, we might contact him if he kept it…"
"Great idea, I think he won't believe it's us if we say it to him now… He will think we are enemies who are trying to fool him… I wonder if he didn't go crazy…" Rika replied sorrowfully. Renamon turned on her commlink, and said in it:
"NZ! NZ-13! Respond! NZ, do you copy? This is Renamon!" for the next few minutes there was no answer, but then a weak, yet recognizable voice came out of the commlink:
"Renamon? Commander Renamon, is that you, or it's just a trick of my sick mind?"
"It's me, lieutenant Renamon of the Hypnos Digimon corps, your friend. Rika, Henry, Takato and their digimon are here also. We came to rescue you."
"It's you… It's finally you… I always believed you all will come to get us out some day…" the weakened voice came out of the commlink. The group was horrified how weak the voice of the unbending soldier they always knew. The group has entered the building with caution again, only this time they were not shot by friendly fire. Suddenly they have heard a sad song. It was Susan singing, she was still in her white clothing, glowing like a ghoul in the darkness.
"We've held on too long just to let it go now
Will my inner strength get me through it somehow
Defying the death that has taken hold
Never surrender… Never surrender…"
Susan didn't notice the tamers yet. NZ was standing near the fortified mounted machinegun, and Ulairimon was standing next to him. Rika turned on her flashlight to see everything. And they saw it… NZ was barely standing, holding on to some sort of a crutch, with large holes on his armor, and the whole thing looked like it was run over by a tank. The glass of his visor on the helmet was broken, and through it the red light came out, but it was very weak. Ulairimon was pretty beat also, he had more gaps and holes in his armor, and the remains of his cloak were burned. But the most … shocking picture was Susan … holding a sniper rifle. The tamers stood frozen still, as the trio of survivors made their way towards them. Renamon was the first to come out of shock.
"What are you guys waiting for? Let's go help them!" she shouted to get the others out of shock, and then helped NZ to walk out of their shelter. The others snapped out of shock too and started helping out. On the way to the exit NZ whispered to Renamon:
"Thank you for help…"
"It is we who should be thanking you all. You have managed to hold off and destroy ¼ of the enemy attack force. If it was not for you all, we could have never held the city… and besides, you helped me far more times…" she replied, as they have got out of the building and made their way back to the gates…
When they got out, the drivers were already waiting for them at their armored vehicle.
"So these are our heroes, who held for 2 weeks against the enemy and stayed alive! I am truly amazed. Anyway, I have news for you! You don't know what you have missed!" the driver said very happily.
"And what have we missed?" Rika asked with suspicion.
"Everything! We have won! The war is over! The D – Reaper and its forces are no more!"
"NO WAY! YOU MUST BE JOKING! HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?" everyone asked in amazement. The driver gave him a clever smirk and said:
"Just look in the skies!" and everyone looked up. The sky was filled with triangle-shaped ships, and in the center was flying the biggest triangle ship.
"WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THIS?" everyone asked. But NZ, when he saw this, smiled like he never did before, and rose up from the ground without any assistance. His remaining human eye was glowing like a flashlight.
"I will recognize this ship anywhere. It is the pride and might of the Imperial star fleet, the flag ship of Lord Vader himself, the all-mighty star destroyer named Executor." NZ said proudly.
"That's right, buddy. Planet Earth is now officially a part of the Galactic Empire. Imperial stormtroopers have landed and destroyed the forces of the D – Reaper, and after that Lord Vader destroyed the D – Reaper itself." the driver replied, while going back to the town of Shinjuku…
When they have arrived to the city, it was totally under control of the Imperial ground forces. Columns of white-clad troopers marched everywhere in the city, patrolling. At the Hypnos Yamaki was already waiting. Everyone was surprised that now Yamaki was wearing the uniform of the imperial officer, and had a shiny medal on his chest.
"Good day, squad, congratulations on the job well done."
"Yamaki, you are now an imperial officer?"
"Yes, I am. And I was awarded for holding the city. Also the survivors of the fort №4 are awarded with a house in the town of Shinjuku and medals for their heroic efforts. Also I have some news for you, stormtrooper NZ-13 of the Imperial army. Your position in the ranks of the 501st legion was restored. They will depart tomorrow."
"Thank you, sir!" NZ replied in his military manner.
The next day all tamers came to say goodbyes to the stormtrooper, who was going far away again. They were supposed to go on sunset, and it was rather beautiful. The good old white – clad trooper took his helmet away, and said sorrowfully:
"I will never forget you, my friends. Unfortunately, I have to go now. I have my duty to the Empire, to protect peace and order."
"When you will return?" Susan asked.
"In three years I will be too old to be a stormtrooper, and then I will return. Now I have where to return… Susan, I believe I must give you this…" he said and gave her his D – Power and his deck of cards.
"I will be going very far away, so, now you will be Ulairimon's tamer."
"Me? But why? I won't be able to…" she mumbled, but then felt Ulairimon's hand on her shoulder.
"I think you will do fine. I believe in you." Ulairimon said softly. It made Susan blush.
"Farewell, my friends. I will return in 3 years. I promise that. But, as for now, duty calls. Farewell…" NZ said, put his helmet back on, and disappeared in the straight and solid flow of white-clad same – faced troopers, who were coming to their ships.
"Goodbye, NZ, be careful!" Takato and Henry shouted both.
"We will be waiting!" Susan screamed.
In the last beams of the sunset that flow of white armor shining was looking both beautiful and impressive. "Goodbye, stormtrooper NZ-13 of the Imperial army. Since when we have met you, your deeds have changed our life forever. I remember well all the times you helped each and every one of us, even if it was dangerous. You have become our friend, and we will never forget you… NZ, you are special. Maybe some day I will be brave enough to say you that, but when you were around, I have always felt that I have someone by my side. I felt safe and I had no worries for my tamer… And you always were near to help us, to help me… I don't know what that feeling is, and how it is called, but I feel that for me you have become more than just a friend… But for now, I just will wait… Some day…" thought Renamon, as she watched the white column disappear in the last lights of the sunset, and one tear fell to the ground from her ice - blue eye. The last one…
"About what are you thinking, Renamon?" Rika asked quietly.
"I think that these three years will not pass quickly…" she replied, as they went back to their house. The life had to go on…
Epilogue: after three years…
The story about a soldier, a wraith and an orphan girl… Three sorrowful souls, brought together by fate…
It was Friday…The life has returned to normal in the town of Shinjuku since that fateful day. Rika, Takato and Henry were going from school, accompanied by their digimon, and have stopped at Susan's house, which was given to them by the authorities for their valor in the defense of the city. Ulairimon was living in that house also. The tamers now lived peaceful lives, as the D- Reaper was destroyed, and a peace treaty was signed between the Empire and the Digiworld, and they have stopped at Susan's house to have some tea. They were all invited. It was a tradition to come over to Susan's place for a cup of tea every Friday though.
"Hello, Susan! We have arrived!" shouted Rika.
"One moment! The tea is almost ready!" Susan screamed from the kitchen. She has entered the common life perfectly, and was going to school with the rest of the gang. Henry, Rika, Takato, Susan, Renamon, Guilmon, Terriermon. They were about to start the tea ceremony. Ulairimon didn't participated, as usual, for obvious reasons. But suddenly the door bell rang.
"Ulairimon! Can you open the door, please?" Susan asked.
"Sure, what ever." he replied and went to open the door… He returned to the kitchen in a moment and said only this:
"My master … has arrived..." and before anyone managed to react, he came into the kitchen also. He was not wearing his standard white armor, but the black uniform of the imperial officer. The red eye was glowing brighter then usual. NZ came in the kitchen and said quietly:
"The war is over for me now… I'm … home…"
THE END.
Finally, I have finished this thing. Now I'm not afraid of anything. I can only hope that I have managed to satisfy the readers with my story. Sorry for any mistakes, characterization errors, etc. Also hoping to recieve some reviews about my work.