It was one day prior to Twinkle Park…
Richard was in combat with an old ally. His dark wolf blade swung wildly, trying it's best to hit it's target, the figure in question, easily dodged every move Richard tried, even when he used his new claws to form twelve weapons of the same battlechip, say the Hi-cannons, it amounted to nothing, as the figure rapidly, at inhuman speeds, moved out of the shots paths.
It was upon Earth X. Richard had returned to the Hero Base there, along with his Zerg forces, to try and take over the place for his own benefit, to make a stand…instead, on his arrival, the old ally who was pretty much dominating, was waiting for him, and demanded he quietly, 'hand himself over for the next plan he has. Or at least surrender a decent sample of his blood'. as if he knew full well Richard had now Zerg DNA in him.
The Zerg-Human responded with combat. His Zerg stayed back. The sense they got from this figure intimidated them, even made them move well away from the main room, as Richard decided to go for the person in there.
Richard was smashed right across the face by a powerful blow from the figures left, leather covered fist, knocking him back, making him stumble on his feet, trying to stay upright, before he notice the figure was before him again, and simply used the palm of his hand to smack Richard right in the middle of the face, sending him backwards, hitting the floor and sliding slightly.
"I would suggest you reconsider the situation you've brought yourself into, Mr Richard Wily, but in actual fact, you've come to the right place, for me anyway, and for someone else."
Richard shook his head, dazed by the attack, and jumped back on his feet, only to find the figure was already on him, smashing him several times in the stomach with his fists. These, with Zerg DNA implanted into Richard, shouldn't be effecting him badly, but this enemy, this foe, had more strength then he ever let on, each blow pushing harder into the guts, before he finally uppercutted Richard right on the chin, making Richard backflip in the air from the sheer force, and slam face first into the metal floor with a sickening thud.
Who was this enemy that made Richard seem like child's play? He stood there, smirking, calm and collected, readjusting his sunglasses…Chaos. The enemy to Chad, after the time of Darkmega, had finally showed himself once more, to Richard's displeasure.
The Overmind hybrid felt his Zerg blood get to work, numbing the pain, and trying to fix whatever the hell he just broke with that impact…he felt his jaw click and crack a little, as if being forced and repaired back in place. Zerg DNA, especially that of an Overmind, was complete with a decent self-regeneration ability.
Richard got on his hands and knees to stand up, his nose, oozing out dark, dark red blood, and he was looking ahead…only to see Chaos already crouching near him, looking right into his eyes, those sunglasses refusing Richard to see into the eyes of his opponent. "Don't bother. You can't win." with that, he head butted Richard square on the forehead, with such a force, it knocked the Human Overmind right out, with him laid out on the floor, not moving anymore.
Chaos stood up afterwards, looking down at Richard. He heard the Zerg fleeing in sheer panic, but ignored them. They weren't what he wanted. "Zerg. Some go berserk with no control, others go and cower in fear…seems Richard had the latter. Now, let's get you delivered to someone who can eventually begin grabbing the attention of the new 'emperor.'"
With that, he picked up the Dark Wolf, putting it back into it's casing on it's masters body, before picking up the said body, and begin to leave the Hero Base…
Returning to present times, Two Months after Twinkle Park…
'Was this the right thing to do?'
'Was attacking those close to the once GF the correct action to push the empire forward?'
'To turn your weapon against those that stood by you…'
'Was it right to expand in such a brutal and harsh manner?'
The one that was thinking these questions in his mind, was Master Chief.
He was on one of the, once, Protoss worlds, and was within a landing bay area, roughly made in a quick way, for the Transport ships and such to land and deploy the troops and supplies as needed. It had lighting to signal to the ships where to go, and a few small energy turrets set up to fire on any nearby Protoss. He was standing there, watching a Mech come out of a transport vessel, it's driver being informed of where to go by some nearby troopers, before he marched off.
The rain was still continuing, blurring his vision ever so slightly. It had been going on since the first blood was spilled, Protoss blood at that, as the warships bombarded most of the unshielded areas of the planet prior to the invasion.
He was told to keep an eye on this area for the time being, untill the Protoss were driven back to a distance that would guarantee the safety of this location. The request was by Rufus himself. He knew Master Chief would question this action against a race that had been long accepted to the empire prior.
Casualties on their side were small. Rufus called it right when he said the Protoss wouldn't know what hit them. The aliens had suffered major losses, to the point, Chief guessed it would hit in the billions with the initial bombardments, and not just of this world.
Several of the Protoss worlds were hit simultaneously. The warships had moved in organized assaults, and blasted many of the cities controlled by this race into nothing more then rubble, taking out their radar stations, communication arrays, even their spaceship docks, denying them a chance of escape.
Soon, he heard the voice of Cortana. She was stationed on one of the Warships above, monitoring the entire situation. "Chief. Their being pushed back to one of their last few escape ships and city, it's shielded are severely damaged. I suggest you begin getting on a transport and move in for the final assault. There are minimal forces left in the area you're in now, the remaining mechs and troopers should be able to commence the clean up without difficulty."
"…With no prisoners." he responded, slightly bitter.
"It's the only way Rufus wants it to be…I'm sorry."
The last defensive city on this planet was nothing more then a senseless massacre. Their escape ships were mostly gunned down before they could escape. When Master Chief arrived, he found himself just going with the flow, finding himself at every turn, as Zealots of the Protoss army came at him, to choose between sparing those simply trying to protect what's theirs and losing his life, or killing them, and every time, he chose self preservation.
He heard the sickening cheers of victory, as eventually, the last of the Protoss were driven off the world, unable to make any more defensive moves, losing every single location they could hold out. Victory…is this how it should be? A deadly surprise attack with no mercy?
Around them were the bodies of the enemy, and the troops gladly stepping on them while celebrating in what was seen as success. Master Chief called Cortana, and informed her of the news, before he got back on a transport ship, and returned to the warship she was on.
When he returned, he walked to the bridge, and saw Cortana, now as tall as a human, but still a hologram, standing near the windows, as he walked up to her. "Cortana."
She turned towards him, saddened a little. "…The other worlds are beginning a retreat to other locations outside the new border. They know they can't win for now. The battles shouldn't take no more then a few days to be declared over, according to my calculations…"
"I want to talk to the Emperor."
Cortana nodded, and a hologram screen appeared near her and Master Chief, showing Rufus, still in his white suit attire as he wished to keep. He was on board the SF Frigion, a vessel he now called his capital ship of the Shinra Federation. He was on the bridge. "Master Chief. Speak."
"We need to talk about this."
Rufus sighed deeply, knowing this was coming, and crossed his arms. "I was wondering when you would speak up."
"Rufus, this isn't what I wanted. I wanted the fighting to end, not start anew. Attacking the Protoss, especially like this. It's not right. Why even do this? I know they refused to fold into your force but-"
Rufus chuckled. "Master Chief. We have to set an example, that we will expand, be a force to be reckoned with to all those around us."
Master Chief was about to talk, but Rufus motioned with his hand to suggest Master Chief to wait a moment. "The Galactic Federation was a wounded and starved being, by the time it finally was put to rest. The forces around it watched, waiting, as it continued it's useless struggle with it's fellow creatures, just as large and more dangerous then it."
"Now we've calmed those giants, reformed and reborn anew, and must prove that we can stand up, fulfill the needs of our body. Our body requires the resources we surrendered to smaller beings. They were leeching onto us, draining us without hardly giving anything back, because the old beast before allowed them to, not wishing to attempt to engulf them while fighting other, more evenly matched enemies."
"We must make them give up, becoming a part of us, or suffer and be eaten violently, like the Protoss. The Five outsider Ministers chose to say no to us, three, were quite unsure, two, were firm, calling us inhuman, one of them we've just mauled. With this example in play, that we do not tolerate such answers, will make the others rethink their choice."
Master Chief was silenced for a time, before Rufus spoke again. "Don't worry, I'm betting on this will be all we have to do, to allow my ambitions to show fruit. If the remaining four submit, then this has been worth it."
Chief shook his head. "Sir, but the Protoss will respond with attacks, try to get revenge for what you did."
"Let them try. I won't allow them to have any of these planets back. These belong to the SF, and it will remain this way. These planets, along with those I have declared ours from the Wisdom Sayians, will be our stepping stones, to the great beyond…trust me." with that, he disconnected the call.
Master Chief looked at Cortana, expecting her to say something about all this, against it all no doubt. Instead, she said "Perhaps, his got a good idea. Maybe this is the right direction to take…no matter how bloody it gets."
The green armored trooper looked outside, to the void of space, past Cortana, looking down at the yellow colored planet they just took over. "I hope so then…because they'll want payback. The Protoss don't forgive easily.."
The beginning of a new civil war of the Federation.
Mere days after Twinkle Park, Rufus declared his new map of the Federation, what he declared as theirs.
It not only included planets from the outside Ministers, but also certain worlds on the boarders of both the United Federation of Planets and the Galactic Empire, claiming they were once in the control of the GF prior to Keaton's little war.
Unwilling to spark a second war, the United Federation of Planets agreed to submit those planets as long as their people were also allowed to stay if they refused to abandon their homes for Starfleet controlled territory. Rufus agreed to it.
The Galactic Empire wanted a fair compromise for the loss of four worlds in total. They suggested that in exchange for the worlds, they be given the blueprints for more advanced shield technology then what they had already, knowing the Shinra Federation had better. Rufus agreed to pass over the blueprints, and in exchange, the worlds were given, the people on them that weren't a citizen of the GF prior to the war, were taken off them by the brute force of the Galactic Empire.
The Hero Ministry, Mickey's Force and the Evil Ministry noticed they were in a tight spot now, as the new map included their territory entirely. fully folded into the Shinra Federation. They declared they required time to think this over, rather than just fold, as they waited on what the other two forces would say.
The Wisdom Sayians and the Protoss, with several of their worlds each being claimed by the SF, told Rufus pretty much where he could stuff it. The reason was, at first, they expected he would allow their people to stay and just wanted them to stop calling themselves a unique force.
Rufus told them about 60% of their people would be sent off the worlds to make way for actual Shinra Citizens, and all the resources and supplies of each world would only go to the Shinra Federation worlds. NO supplies or trades would be sent to the other worlds of the Protoss and Wisdom Sayians.
For both forces, this an unacceptable and wrong and demanded Rufus rethink the deal if he even wants them to continue any trades with him. He thought about it for the coming month, and while doing so, he prepared the systematic bombardment with his warships, making sure they were all set up on the worlds nearby the Protoss, choosing them out of the two as the example setter.
The Protoss did take notice of the fleet forming, and asked the Galactic Empire for support, to monitor the situation as a neutral force, hoping this would put off any ideas Rufus had, if he had any.
Unfortunately the leader of the Galactic Empire, Emperor Palpatine, was in favor of Rufus's idea of aggressive expansion if required, and went as far as to fool the Protoss, lying to them about the fleet, saying they were simply ready for training on the outer rim, away from their territory once they were prepared.
Palpatine managed to gain the locations of all the communication arrays, space stations. and radar locations around and on every Protoss world, and informed Rufus of them. In Exchange, Rufus gathered what Palpatine was after, and agreed that once the Protoss were driven off the worlds within the SF, the SF would take a defensive stance, keeping to its borders, and allow the Empire to strike at the weakened Protoss to claim their other worlds in the outer rim.
The little deceptive friendship by the Galactic Empire led to the Protoss lowering their guard, and then, it struck. The bombardment hit, and the Protoss were devastated.
Starfleet was horrified by the news of a sudden attack on the Protoss, but once again, in fear of respite and War, decided against sending aid or even demanding Rufus to stop. The Klingon Empire urged Starfleet to get in on the action, but they flatly said no to the idea.
Once the worlds were claimed by the SF, the Wisdom Sayians took note of the move, and contacted Rufus to submit to the terms, agreeing that they didn't wish to suffer the same loss, and instead of leaving any of their kind behind, they fully left the planets, choosing to attempt and expand on the outer rim.
The Hero Ministry and Mickeys Forces folded. Allowing themselves to be fully integrated into the Shinra Federation. The Evil Ministry still remained unsure of what to do, but Rufus knew, with the others already dealt with, Maleficent would see his point of view eventually.
During all this, there was a sixth force Rufus had looked into, the Drakon Empire, but after reviewing the previous battles and such against their single world, chose to class them as fully independent and off limits to all of SF, knowing that with their current technology, they just can't seem to win.
It was just one world though, and a race like them can only get so far with its technology before it tries to look out to other world for advances, that's when the off limits will come into play, as no one will trade with them. Rufus didn't know how effective the Drakon Empire was with its technology, but at least he was trying to break them.
The civil war was declared when, in response to the attack on the Protoss, as Rufus expected, loyalists of the Galactic Federation tried to rise up and take him on, all small, minor factions that weren't any real danger, and could be picked off at leisure.
This was pretty much Rufus's business though.
The Hero Base 'Faction', now called as by those of the Federation, simply returned to its Zebes base a few days after Twinkle Park, with plenty of fresh funding off Rufus to make improvements to their now 5 bases. Three which were already being improved by the Shinra Federation, as agreed by Rufus. They were the Hero Base on Earth X, being repaired and restored after Darkmega used it, the Wily Fortress, being upgraded and improved, and of course, Zebes base was being sorted out, but not just for the people.
Zebes has a grand amount of minerals that could be harvested from every few inches of dirt and rock of this planet, hence why the Pirates loved it. Wily and Light allowed Rufus's men to dig and create lower levels for the base, in exchange, any and all minerals that were found will be handed over to the Shinra Federation for processing and use, unless it was classed as unknown, then Rufus expects the docs to, and quote "Make the unknown, known."
The funds that Wily and Light had were mostly going, along with money out of Yuan Shao's funding to the old bases. On Gaia X and Mute. The science and military bases they had gained as gifts from Rufus. Wily strictly told the engineers that were hired to stay on the top level of the base on Mute, and NEVER to go any lower, lest they wanted to be fired with no pay. He even demanded his son Regal to go and check on a day to day basis on how they were doing.
The Hero Base Faction had got themselves pulled into the civil war slightly, but only by sending the likes of Sima Yi and Zhou Yu, a tactician of Wu to assist in the bombardment and assaults of the worlds. It was a voluntary choice by both of the men, wanting to pay Rufus back for what he was doing for them.
The Hero Base Faction also had five newcomers to their group. Captain Falcon, the previous owner of the said base on Mute. He was accepted into the group as he needed to get away from the reforming Federation for the time being, as sponsors for his racing were, at the moment, paying a lot less than normal. This normally happens on reform, as they can avoid certain rules, so it's better to jump out of working with them, then return when things settled…that, and he got a little tired of hanging around in a luxury apartment in Mute City being constantly annoyed by fans. It's all good for a time until you just want some peace and quiet…besides Roll now and then chatting to him a lot about F-Zero, no one else in the base bugged him. He liked that.
Next, was Dong Zhuo, an obese man who liked money, food and women, and was rather rude to most, his tactician Li Ru, a scrawny weasel like fella who is more than happy to lick the boots of people, and Dong Zhuos, pretty much bodyguard Hua Xiong, a strong, muscled man who could take on 50 men and easily topple them. All three decided to get join the Hero Base Faction after attempting a small takeover on Earth V once the likes of Liu Bei, Cao Cao, Sun Jian and Yuan Shao left. It didn't end well. It was only recently that these three heard of where they went, and decided to join the band wagon.
Finally, there was another from Earth V. and was, by far, the odd one out of them all. Zhang Jiao. He was, to frankly put it, a hippie. He was the leader of a force called once the Yellow scarves, or as now most of the universe calls them, the Yellow Turbans. Yellow Scarves had been used in a force way back in 200AP, when there was an empire under such a name. brutal and ruled by a tyrant, Zhang Jiao was more than happy to allow the renaming to occur to avoid relation to that group.
They were a religious sect, a force that was designed for the people, as they liked to be known for, problem was most of their efforts back in the day led to mass slaughter…of their own side thanks to lack of training. Zhang Jiao didn't like the repressive attitude of the Galactic Federation, and as soon as it was officially replaced, he chose to go to the hero base faction for a more freedom alliance. Meaning he wanted them to say they back the Yellow Turbans so they can do a little more then what they could under the Federation, aka, actually be allowed to spread their teachings instead of being ignored for the sake of the Blind Lo and it's rival belief, the temples of Azrael.
Dr Wily was VERY unsure about being related to cloud cuckoolanders that have a leader that shouts "THE HEEEAAAVEEENSS" , and Dr Light was shaking his head at the idea. But Yuan Shao was the one who suggested they just welcome him and his group into the fold, as most of Earth V's forces were on the side of the Hero Base Faction anyway, thanks to the likes of, Yuan Shao, Cao Cao and that being present.
They agreed that was a fair point, and let him join, on the agreement that someone to represent the Yellow Turbans must stay with them…Zhang Jiao willingly voted himself to stay, much to the unhappiness of Dr Wily.
Other then the newcomers, things were almost getting back to normality, whatever that was in the Hero Base, was up for debate, but right now, things were calm. Dr Light and Wily got the Chaos Emeralds as expected, and for now, as they were in actual fact the property of them instead of Shadow and co, put each one into use.
With the help of Keira and assistance of Regal and Yuichiro, after some small little test runs on converting chaos energy to useable all round energy, they managed to create slots on the Zebes base power generator for two of the emeralds. With them installed, they had no longer a need to actually use the generator power itself, what with the emeralds having infinite energy and all. The remaining four emeralds were to be sent to the Wily Fortress, Mute City Base, Gaia X base and Earth X base respectively, and installed once Keira had the time to head to each one. Shadow seemed perfectly fine with this. Rouge…well, she was annoyed, but so long as they can have the emeralds back by the end of their agreed year, she accepted it.
Chad and Anna were on the stage of hugs and kisses during these two months, quite happy about being together, although, granted, Chad would be more relaxed if Anna would kiss him when there wasn't so many people around, aka, Darkmega, who would now stare on purpose to put Chad right off.
Darkmega and Medi were much closer, and Medi was trying to ready him for the next step, often flirting with him in public, trying to touch him when she could, suggest to him to come to her room, the lot. He just wasn't sure about what to do, and picked on Chad for answers. Chad demanded he just go and talk to the docs, or let Medi take command in the bedroom if Darkmega wasn't man enough.
It was during one evening now, that Anna decided the time was right, and suggested to Chad, to come back to her room, as she wanted to…give, him something. Once Anna left him alone, he quickly finished a drink of Dr Pepper, told Darkmega to stop annoying him, said to the docs he'll have his com-link off for the night, and was heading right to her room…
Sex.
Fuck yes.
Chad was finally going to see Anna's beautiful body, he was finally going to touch it in ways his always wanted, to do her and make her feel pleasure. His felt his heart race, making his chest tighten, as he quickly was walking down the corridors, heading towards her room.
Was she gonna be naked on arrival? Maybe wear something incredibly kinky? See through nightwear or something? Oh man, the thoughts alone made a certain area already rise to the occasion, he just wanted to finally go to this stage with her.
He had to admit though, he was also nervous. Was she gonna like the look of his body? Was he gonna be…well…adequate, for her? He tried to ignore the worry, knowing she liked him already enough to give off this level of hints to him, so why get worked up?
He soon saw her door, and standing guard in front of it, was Zhang He, who had his arms crossed, watching Chad walk this way. He boldly walked towards it, expecting Anna to have let Zhang He know of what was going on, and he'll let the worried lad past…
Nope.
Chad bumped right into Zhang He, taking a step back in surprise at the guys not moving aside-ness. "…Um, Hey Zhang He."
Zhang He looked at him with suspicion. "Yes, Mr Oswald?"
"W-well, I, I was wondering if you could, ya know, get outta my way?"
The bodyguard to Chad's girl gave a huff. "And why would I allow you to pass?"
"Well, Anna said to, um, come back to her room because she wanted to give, me something?"
"And what did you think it implied hm? Miss Anna is enjoying a rest on her bed right now."
"Yeah, because, you know, she's expecting me to JOIN her?"
Zhang He glared at Chad a little. "You horny little man."
"Excuse me?"
"Anna has said you were coming to see her EARLIER, but since she is resting, I do not want you to get the wrong idea of what she wants to give you."
Chad was now getting really annoyed. "Look you idiot she asked me here alright! Only a good 10 minutes ago!"
"…Have you taken the male pill? The sperm nullifying one?"
"Of course I have! I ain't ready to have a kid!"
"Then you're expecting sex. I'm sorry, but I won't let you pass. Anna needs her beauty sleep." with that, he turned his head away from Chad.
"Listen you, you goddamn cock-blocker! Anna gave me the hints all day today, and finally asked me!"
"I'm not listening. Anna would inform me if she was expecting someone to take her virginity."
Chad was dumbstruck. "What the hell! Why would she tell you that! So you let the guy who's gonna take it to pass?"
Zhang He nodded.
"…You're bullshitting me."
"That's the rules I have I'm afraid. If you're so horny, just return to your room and…work it out."
Chad was glaring angrily now. "Just, sod off will you! She knows I'm coming!"
Zhang He shook his head. "Please leave before I demand Dr Light send others to remove you from this area."
"What? Just because I want to shag my girlfriend!? We've gone out long enough and like each other enough!"
Zhang He stayed put. "Yes. because of that, I would."
"UGHH!" with that, Chad stormed off, sick and tired of this. He was gonna be having words with Anna tomorrow over this, that's for damn sure.
Anna had been actually having a shower during all this, and had just got out, deciding to keep just a large grey towel wrapped around her, sitting on the bed, drying and combing her hair, getting herself ready for Chad. 'This is it, this the night.' she thought to herself.
She had taken the female addition of the pill to stop any eggs from coming for the next week, and once her hair was done, she at first was unsure if she should remain just in a slightly wet towel, but decided it would be a little treat to Chad to see more of her this way, before seeing everything.
A few hours passed. Anna chose to just get into the bed, naked. She didn't like sleeping naked, but none the less, she wanted to surprise him somehow. Soon, she heard Zhang He knock. "Anna? I'm going to bed now sweetie. Have a good sleep."
Sleep isn't on her menu tonight, so she was hoping. "Yeah I will Zhang He. Goodnight."
Soon she found herself, head on the pillow, out like a light, snoozing her head off. And no Chad in sight…well, unless you count in her dreams, him touching her in the right places and everything, but in reality, no.
The next morning, at around 8am, Chad was seen in his normal gear, sitting in the main room of the Base, looking like a black storm was overhead. He saw the drillers and such walk by, heading off to the areas they were allowed into, then Charlie arrived, wearing his specs, looking at Chad, slightly amused. "…And what's got you in a foul mood this fine morning? It's not the rain season anymore if you want to go out."
Chad mumbled loudly "Goddamn Cock-Blocking Zhang He…"
Charlie raised his eyebrow slightly, and eventually, sat down next to Chad. "And what has Anna's bodyguard done? Try to touch you up?"
"Denied me some fun with Anna last night."
The blond muscled guy chuckled. "I take it his defensive attitude with Anna is now showing the negative sides of having a bodyguard. Does Anna know about this?"
"Planning to tell her soon enough."
In time, others came, such as Pang Tong, Xiahou Dun, Zhang Jiao, who was busy mumbling to himself by the looks of it, holding his staff and watching the others, Laserman, Dr Yuichiro, looking quite happy, carrying a clipboard with several sheets of paper, looking like charts of something, and finally, Anna came in, with no Zhang He in sight…for now.
She saw Chad, and she was ready to question why he was a no show, but with his stormy looking face, she had a feeling something didn't go too well. "…Chad?"
He looked at her, stood up, went towards her, and told her straight. "Your bodyguard is a cock-blocker."
"What?"
Oswald was now looking at her, with a matter of fact written all over his face. "Yep. His a cock-blocker. I wanted to see you last night, he denied me entry to your bedroom. Saying you had to inform him of when you were going to, lose, your virginity. He threatened to call Dr Light to have me taken away for trying to get in. yet you even told him I was due to come and see you."
"Well I said it was gonna be a relaxing night to him and you'll be coming round…maybe he felt I was hinting to wanting to be alone or something. He can't help it Chad."
Charlie quipped in "By the way, is Cock-blocker his nickname now?"
"Yes." "No." the 'No' coming from Anna, the 'Yes' was pretty obvious as to who said that. Anna frowned at Chad right away. "Chad!"
"What? He pissed me off!"
Anna and Chad started to get into a heated debate about Zhang He's restrictions while as a bodyguard, when on one of the large tv monitors in the main room, the, now named Shinra Federation news came on. Laserman told them both to quieten down for a moment, which both did so, albeit it took a moment.
On the Screen was a lady with brown, tied back hair, light make-up on, tanned skin and a brown office suit on. The title of the breaking news was "Protoss under siege! Civil War is ignited across the Federation!"
Dr Wily and Dr Light walked out of the labs, knowing it was news time, and watched with the others.
The newswoman spoke, as a video of a bombardment of one of the major cities on a Protoss world was being shown, blue proton type weapons flaring down to the city, blasting the yellow, golden like buildings into clouds of smoke and ash, Protoss defense turrets, unleashing a flurry of small green energy rounds, trying to fire at the ship that had recorded this.
"Today, over seven of the Protoss worlds within the Shinra Federation had been attacked by our military force. The act of aggression was confirmed to go ahead by the Emperor, who had during the reform, placed the worlds of our allies as our own and demanded that they submit them. The initial attacks had been noted for crippling the Protoss communications, radar stations and space docks on the planets, leaving the Protoss with very little for escape."
"It has been reported that many had demanded a rapid ceasefire, but our forces continued to push against them. It's believed the death toll for the Protoss race has reached over 11 million. In the report that we have gained this morning, all seven worlds that were under attack had now been fully taken over. The battles against the space stations of the Protoss within Shinra Federation Space, is still continuing as far as we know. More on this as it develops."
"Continuing on." Then the video footage disappears, now showing two flags on separate poles, crossed over. One, the Shinra Federation, the other, the Galactic Federation. "Galactic Federation loyalists continue to rise in numbers. Many of them claim the attack on the Protoss is 'unjust' and 'cruel'. they believe that Emperor Rufus is nothing more than a tyrant, who has 'chosen to attack the very allies we sought to protect and work with'. With the loyalists came rumors that the deceased Grand Commander Keaton Al'Keriff, believed to have died during the danger of Unicron at the age of 55 is leading the rise against the new Federation. Many officials of the Shinra have heard the rumors and deny them, claiming that the rebels are just all small factions who soon will disappear into old memories."
Dr Wily was heard scoffing when Keaton was mentioned. "Hah, the very notion that moron is alive…those loyalists really must be desperate."
Dr Light agreed with that. "The desperation comes from the fact that everything is changing. Some people just can't accept it." he then changed the news channel, looking for a more local one for where Earth X was located. "Now let's see what's happening around our home."
It now had a Guy, bald, with a blue office suit on, and on a screen nearby him, was a red question mark. "-And there has been no conclusion to the mystery attacks in northern areas across Netopia. Local Security force have sent out search teams to try and find what's been killing wild animals and humans alike, but even they, have not avoided the mystery attacks. Recently, a group of 5 men vanished suddenly during one search, and very, very little of them remain. What was left according to the report, had 'fang bites, and claw marks. An unknown animal that certainly isn't a creature of this world'. some of the remains have been sent to research stations for traces of DNA."
Laserman crossed his arms looking towards the docs. "Northern Netopia hm? The Hero Base is around there. Did any of you leave something unchecked when we had to abandon it way back when?"
Dr Light shook his head. "All that was left behind was some of the peoples gear, a few data programs we failed to grab on the way out, and a few giant mantises that Wily made to pass the time in one of the supply rooms. I'm sure Rufus said about the builders that have been sent to the base have already had to wipe them out."
Albert then had himself an idea. "Well, we can't just allow this to continue in that area. If the things attack the base, with those builders and engineers, Rufus might get a little unhappy about having to pay their families for their deaths. I propose we send our own little team to investigate into this matter."
Chad chuckled. "Doc, I doubt very much we need to send our own. Let Rufus handle it. Besides, all we'll do is kill whatever it is when we find it. We're not the best research assistants you could want Wily."
"Oh I have no intention of us having to look into what it is. I just want it dead."
"Even…though it could be a new species of life? Perhaps it's genes can, cure an illness within the Federation? Save thousands? Millions perhaps?"
Dr Wily laughed. "Oh heavens no! none of that matters. Screw if it's wrong to just kill them, I just want the little fuckers out of our range. If you can make them stay away and never go near the base, I'm game. If you can't, wipe 'em out. And since you seem to be interested in this-"
"-No no. I'm goo-" Chad quickly tried to reply.
"-I'm going to have you be the first person on this little mission of ours. Relax Oswald, it's the great outdoors, forests in abundance, and of course the lovely wide open grassland near the base! You can run around so long as the others I'll send with you don't mind."
Zhang Jiao thought for a moment, hearing what Dr Wily had said, before he looked to those around him, and spoke. "My brothers, I must ask you, what, is truly right and wrong? Are those that bring justice really in the right? To force laws, repression? Or is it those that fight for freedom, to break the chains of that repression in the right? This are the questions that every man, woman and child, be it an innocent mobian, or an angry Wisdom Sayian, or even a humble Klingon, have been thinking for many generations, and those questions have yet to have a real answer to them."
"I feel that what is right, is what we believe. We cannot fully agree to those around us, a sad fate for mankind and others, but it is one we must accept, move on with. We are bound to this eternal struggle of self understanding, between us, and our own flesh and blood. A fate of war and suffering, of battles and bloodshed, which may continue, untill the very end of time itself. What a horrible thought, many of you are thinking…"
"But how far must we go before we feel we are in the wrong? That our proud morals had fallen from their once good grace? How much must you do before you see that your actions have done nothing but to hurt people with no reward to yourself or those you want to protect? You must decide, my brothers. decide when to stop, and always be watchful. If you take a step too far, stray from the path you have made, those that were once wrong to you, may certainly prove to be right in the end, and bring the heavens wrath back to your people. We have all done this before, and will do it again, but with this thought in mind, perhaps, we will be able to make a slight difference to the universe around us."
"The universe is such a precious thing, and wonderful soul, a giant mother nature that watches us and feeds us well, but in return, we bicker and fight between ourselves, making the mother saddened, by her children striking eachother down with anger and hatred as their swords, and self understanding as their shields, claiming to do what is right for everyone else. To force the free soul to undergo change, make it become shackled by chains of despair. A horrible end indeed, but it has happened many times, and sometimes, it has been sorted out, people have seen the evil and wrongdoing they have done, and helped those that suffered, regain that freedom!"
…There was silence, as Zhang Jiao just stood there, before Xiahou Dun spoke up. "…What's that got to do with anything right now?"
Zhang Jiao then noticed, that everyone was giving him a strange look, the one that pretty much said just by look alone. "Well, nothing, just thought it might be some good advice to you all..."
Dr Wily couldn't believe it, looking away for a moment, then looking at Zhang Jiao once again, before starting to walk back to the labs, mumbling "Right and bloody wrong, and bloomin' understanding… Seriously, I need to speak to Thomas again about who we allow to stay in this goddamn place…clearly someone thinks no one knows of that boring shit already…" Dr Light and Dr Yuichiro quickly followed suit.
This of course, left Chad still with no choice but to go to Earth X. Zhang Jiao did nothing to change that. "Goddamnit Wily…" Chad cursed.
Four hours later…
Chad took a deep breath. The air was clean and crisp today, the sun shining, clear blue skies…and it only took them a few seconds to get from Zebes to Earth X. he was thankful Wily got teleporters first installed in the Zebes base as soon as they returned to it. Chad was dreading the idea of going around in a transport ship just to look for, what could amount to a killer rabbit, on Earth.
Wily had agreed with Rufus that teleporters were required in all of the Hero Faction controlled buildings, for the sake of rapid response instead of waiting around for a hired transport ship, or buying a few and getting the goddamn insurance for them, which was a bitch in some areas of the Federation. Teleporters are most certainly expensive, yes, but Rufus was more than happy to pay for them…it was in the deal with the minerals from Zebes, so eventually Rufus will get his money back for it.
Chad stood there, in the grassland near the Hero base of Earth, with Link, Xiahou Yuan, Sun Shang Xiang, much to the despair of Sun Jian when she wanted to go and help, Mr T, Zhang Liao, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Soundwave, who was brought in to help detect any unusual sounds that aren't related to any species on Earth X. Wily got him installed with all the known sounds that come from all the species so far known on the world.
The humanoid mobian was thankful the group he was with wasn't that bad, and it did, at least, give him time away from Anna to let her sort things out with Zhang He. He just hoped Zhang He wouldn't get her around to his sort of thinking, because knowing Zhang He, that means Chad won't be allowed anywhere near her when the word sex pops up.
Sonic was just eager to get a move on once they arrived. "Come on! Let's just race around the forests in the distance! Maybe we'll easily spot whatever it is that way!"
Soundwave decided to answer this. "Negative. Unknown mass and width of the being. You do not know what to look for, the attempt to 'race around' will only waste time. I shall begin sensory mode, and alert once unknown sounds have been detected."
"Good idea big ol' bot. if we just hang around the base and the land here, waiting for him to detect where the monster is, things would be a helluva lot easier on us." Mr T said. Once he saw the slight disappointed look of Sonic though.. "But that don't mean you can't go and have a little free run. Just be careful, is all I'm sayin'."
Sonic was gone, off in an instant. Chad decided to flex his own legs a little, changing into his mobian form and heading off. Tails rushed off to follow Sonic, and the others all decided to stick together, waiting for Soundwave, who's gone silent, to alert them of anything strange or unknown.
For over six hours, nothing happened, much to the annoyance of a few of 'em. It was evening now, the sun just setting, Soundwave still stood there, listening out carefully. Mr T, Knuckles and Zhang Liao had taken the time to see the old Base, ask the engineers working on it how things were, and even had a few rounds in the hologram rooms.
Sun Shang Xiang, Xiahou Yuan and Link had taken the time to test each other's skill out with the bow. All of them had their own, and were known for their abilities, so Xiahou Yuan felt it would be a good idea to see who can get a bulleye on an X they made on a tree that they decided to use, depending on the distance. The last one to miss getting a bulleye would win. Sun Shang managed to beat them on all five rounds they did. They were right now sitting close together on the ground, near Soundwave.
"You know I would've beaten you on the last round we had if Xiahou Yuan wasn't going on about me looking like I was aiming a little off to the right. If he noticed, I missed to the left because of him." Link grumbled.
"Oh don't be so sore, I had the same thing off him ya know, just I chose to ignore him, block him out of my head while I was focusing. You gain that kind've ability when you hang around my dad all the time and he goes on about your husband. Years of practice." The daughter of Sun Jian answered.
Xiahou Yuan was just laying on the ground, rubbing the back of his head a little. "Gotta say it's pretty damn impressive what you can do with a bow though Link. Your one seems to be quite flexible compared to mine. What's it called and what planet did you get it from?"
"Oh this?" Link pulled his bow out, letting Xiahou Yuan look at it properly. "It's called the Hero Bow. It's from my world, Hylian."
"Ah Damnit. that's a shame." Xiahou Yuan smiled at him in a joking manner. "Looks like I won't be able to get myself one anytime soon eh? Ya know, thanks to Unicron eating it and all, heh…"
There was nothing but silence from Link. As he turned away from Xiahou Yuan and Sun Shang, the woman glaring at Xiahou Yuan for what he said. That was Link's homeworld afterall, of course it would be a sensitive subject that shouldn't be taken lightly, after it was confirmed by the news. Zelda had took it to heart herself, crying for a few nights…Xiahou Yuan soon realized. "Oh, Link, s-sorry man. I didn't mean that in any disrespectful way…"
Link didn't answer.
The others, Mr T, Knuckles, Zhang Liao, Sonic and such all were nearby Soundwave themselves. Sonic was laying on the ground, waiting and humming to himself. Zhang Liao was cleaning his two halberds, keeping them all sharp and set, and Mr T and Chad were seen, really, the only ones watching carefully of the forests in the distance.
Chad couldn't shake a feeling right now, like he knew something was out there. Something he knew…
Soundwave then suddenly came to life. "Detecting unknown sounds. It does not match any known species on the planet. Activating recording."
All it was, to all of them but Chad, was a series of rapid clicking. At first some of them felt Soundwave just picked up just something small hitting its little claws on eachother, but then he did say it didn't match any species…
Chad was hearing words from it. Faint, but he understood it. It was saying "Find us Overmind, Find us. We are lost. We are lost." it was repeating, as if just hoping something will answer, like it was a distress signal. Chad now knew all too well what it was. "Zerg…"
Mr T looked at him strangely. "How'd you know that 'hog? It could be anything. Granted that I even heard this from them before but why would they be on this planet?"
The lad knew explaining he understood it was pointless, last time this occurred they couldn't understand he can hear words compared to them. Why he can and they can't, he doesn't know or care. "Does that matter as to why they're here right now? We need to catch them! Soundwave, where is this coming from?"
He pointed to the south, towards one small batch of the pine forests surrounding the base. "Sound is continuing to emit from that location. Estimate, 700 meters from our current location."
Chad was gone, in his mobian form, running off into the pine. Sonic saw him and quickly rushed after him, as eventually, so did the others but Soundwave, who Mr T motioned to, to stay put and wait for them.
The red Mobian found himself just jumping over whatever small rocks embedded in his path, dodging trees with ease, listening out carefully for the Zerg. He begun hearing their call soon enough, just like the one Soundwave got. They were still making the call, and when he got closer, it suddenly stopped, making him come to a standstill, in the middle of a thick part of the pine tree forest..
Had they detected him? Were they just preparing to move on? He was unsure, and slowly put his hand on the hilt of the Blade of Darkness, very cautiously, bringing the blade out of its casing. All he could hear now, was the chirps and calls of the birds, even the odd hoot of an owl…
Then he got his answer.
He heard it suddenly behind him, screeching just as it launched itself into the air to him, claws ready on its hands. Chad had spun round just in time, swinging his trusted blade, and slicing the creature in half, it's legs going one way, it's body and head another, green blood flowing out across the forest dirt.
Then he heard a few others, and saw them in the distance a little…already running towards him, their red skin darkened to try and hide them in the dark night. To others, it would be like ghosts coming, to Chad, his eyes picked them up, as one got in range, and he plunged his blade right through its head, then kicking its dead body away, before swinging his sword once more, dicing another Zergs head clean off its torso, the blood leaking out of the neck as the body stumbled to the floor. He had to quickly roll to the side, next to a tree to avoid a third Zerg, as it took a swing with its hand.
It looked right at him, and tried again, sending it's hand forward, the sharp steel looking claws embedded to the top of its hand coming to his face, when he fell back, leaning on the tree and slid down to almost sit, ducking the attack pretty much, allowing the creature to stab it's claw hand into the tree behind Chad, before he blasted the creature apart with a Chaos beam, it's red light glowing through the thick area as it ripped the Zerg to pieces.
He had a second to rest like this, before he heard the snarl of another Zerg, looking up, and seeing it on the tree, looking right down at him, and about to jump, when something blue and round had smashed into its side, cracking several of its ribs and making it fly off, crashing to the ground. Landing near it, on his feet, ready to attack again, was Sonic.
It had got up, despite the damage, and prepared to attack, and with help, as Sonic noticed four more were coming towards him and Chad. "Alright then! Come on!" was all the Blue Hedgehog answered the incoming challenge with, as he leapt up into the air, and used his homing ability on the one he hit before, smashing into its head with an alarming speed, shattering it's skull and the fragments stabbing into its brain, killing it, before doing the same to the next one that had just got close enough. The remaining three were getting close, when Chad first Chaos beamed one right through it's stomach, Sonic smashed into the head of another to make it a triple combo wipe out his done, and Chad finally getting up, and launching himself at the last one, bringing his sword down vertically as he landed, slicing it almost in perfect halves.
Chad lifted his blade up once more, ready for others, when he heard the faint sound of arrows, followed by screeches of pain, before several Zerg, no doubt hiding in the trees, fell to the forest floor, some with an arrow in the chest, others in the head, even one, as it landed right next to Chad, had an arrow right inbetween the slits of its eyes. Link, Xiahou Yuan and Sun Shang arrived on the scene, with Xiahou Yuan quickly claiming the one with the arrow between the eyes was his.
Mr T showed up, as did Knuckles, Zhang Liao and Tails, when, around them all as they gathered, at least another 30 to 35 Zerg were spotted running to them, now they all knew the location thanks to the chaos beams and screeches of their fallen. "The enemy appears to be rather numerous." Zhang Liao commented, preparing his weapons. "We must be careful and work together!"
Mr T simply cracked his knuckles and got to work. As the first lot got close, he unleashed a flurry of blows, each one seemingly making an actual hole in the creatures, shedding them into small chunks. Zhang Liao swung his blades and craved through them like butter, and the few that managed to dodge him and try to make an attack, Knuckles intercepted and smashed their faces in with his spiked gloves.
Tails managed to punch one a few times, and using his tails to quickly fly out of range as it tried to swipe him, and then it received a fresh steel arrow straight through its forehead, fired by Link. Xiahou Yuan had stopped using his bow and pulled out his battering rod, the iron spiked pole crushing the organs and bones of the Zerg that tried to come to him, and Chad, as he was busy slashing a few down while not noticing one was coming up just out of his eyesight, aiming to stab its claw into his back. It found it's brain suddenly turned to mush by Xiahou Yuan's rod, landing right on top of its head with force.
Sonic was raking up the kills with the homing attack, becoming a blur to a bunch of the Zerg, none of them managing to hit the mobian as he landed on them, killing them with speed. Sun Shang Xiang kept her bow out, firing arrows at anything that had the dark red skin, and eventually, she aimed and fired two final arrows at a Zerg, hitting it right in the lower waist, and one right in its left shoulder, making it screech and stumble back, hitting a tree, and sliding down it to the floor, still alive, but bleeding out slowly, it's precious green fluid oozing from the wound. She was about to finish it off, noticing every other Zerg was dead, when Chad quickly stopped her, raising his hand. "Wait!"
"Chad?" Mr T was quite surprised with Chads sudden demand for them to stop.
"It's the final one around here! There must be a reason why it was calling for its Overmind! I want to know!" Chad knew they don't understand, all looking at him weirdly, but they listened none the less, lowering their weapons and fists, as Chad focused on the wounded Zerg….there was a reason why he wanted to ask…
The Zerg looked at him, knowing it was not long for this realm. "You understand our language…"
"Yes. Find us Overmind…We are lost…Who is your Overmind, Zerg?"
It looked down to the floor for a moment, then at Chad, as if looking carefully for something. "…You were he that was wounded by the Overmind. Overmind Richard."
The others were just baffled and shocked, as they saw Chad look surprised and answered with "Richard? Where is he? What happened to him after Junon? Why are you all here?"
The Zerg went silent for a moment, before it's voice became slightly quieter, to those near Chad, it sounded like the clicking had slowed. "Overmind was taken from us, a creature called, Chaos, Stole him. Defeated him in combat before our eyes. We wait, for his return…our entire brood wait for him…"
The others then noticed, as they quickly got ready for a fight….over two hundred Zerg, all of them seemingly coming from the trees, close to the wounded one, snarling and ready to attack as well, all noticing Chad and his allies as enemies. So much for Chad's claim that the wounded Zerg was the final one around.
Chad kept his cool about it, now knowing that his sworn enemy, Chaos, is back in the mess. "Listen, you're not our enemy. And we're not yours for that matter. Richard was…once a friend that's been twisted to be your Overmind. I want him back on our side, as you want him back too."
The Zerg stayed ready, as the wounded one spoke. "Why should we believe you? Your smell carries the blood of an enemy to us.."
Chad chose to just ignore that. "Please. His an ally of mine. You want him back like I do, that's our common ground, along with Chaos being our enemy. Leave this part of the land, go much deeper south, attack only the wildlife, not humans or mobians. Richard wouldn't want his….people, I suppose, to be killed off before he returns. Go, and I promise to you, I'll get him back to your kind."
The wounded Zerg looked to his allies, who slowly begun backing away, snarling a little, but eventually, the darkness of the forest hid them all from view, and slowly, silence followed, all but the weak breathing of the dying Zerg. "We…Will…Wait for his…Return…" and with that, it slumped over. It's last breath came and went.
Chad went silent for a time, in his head, his mind was racing. Chaos was active again after he forced Chad to miss two years of his life. Why now? Why after Unicron? Why not during Unicron, why didn't he help the planet eater have his way? Or even assist Darkmega during their battle on Zebes?
And why Richard? He boiled that down to either because of Richard being a human Overmind, and thus his DNA, or the fact Chaos was trying to grab Chad's attention by taking a friend of his and knowing this would happen. With other villains the latter would be stupid, but this was Chaos. His intelligence was dangerously high, and he could read Chad like a book. He knows fate seems to have it in for Chad.
Chad looked to the others, and Mr T spoke up. "…Hog? What the hell was all that about? What was that about Richard and 'Chaos'?"
"…We gotta head back to the base. I need to talk to Wily and Darkmega."
A dome shaped ceiling and walls, metal, grey, dull. Several small cameras on the walls, monitoring whatever was inside this dome. There was a dozen or so white lights, giving plenty of light so none of the room was dark, for the cameras to record everything.
The floor was the same dull appearance, only difference was it had, in massive, yellow paint "X-10 CHAMBER". two doors led out of this place, both covered in yellow and black stripes of paint, both hard steel doors, locked tight untill whoever was monitoring found it fit to unlock them.
There was blood on the floor. Red, thick blood, splashed across the floor in several small puddles and streaks, as if someone just threw a bottle of it on the metal ground, shattering on impact.
In one puddle, there was a body. It was a tall humanoid, pale skinned where blood didn't cover it, medium brown hair, grey eyes, a rather muscled, wearing steel breastplate armor, leggings, gauntlets and boots…all which had been stabbed into and damaged, blood marking them. It had once carried a giant Iron spear, which weighed at least a ton, easily carried by this guy. The spear now on the floor, it's tip shattered off the top of the pole, across the floor. The pole, laid next to the figure, who had his face blasted off. Shot by an energy gun, leaving burnt and charred flesh, with only one eye visible. That shot was the last thing the being saw before it perished.
Over at a nearby wall, the dome had been penetrated. A sword had managed to stab through the thick wall…on the wall in question, what led to the blade going in, was a body, with the blade plunged right through the head of it and into the wall, it's face sliced apart, and blood freshly flowing, dripping to the floor.
All what could be said about this average height human, was that he had long brown hair, was skinny and pale, and wore a thin, tight fitting grey suit all over its body, and had been carrying a samurai sword, which now just laid on the floor, it's handle covered in the red fluid of its owner.
The figure who committed these two kills, the one who still held onto the sword in the wall tightly, as he savored the moment of this second kill he made? He was about 6 feet tall, very close to 7, thin and lightly muscled, his skin a tanned peachy colour, his hair was brown and medium in length, just all allowed to flow freely, so it had this windswept effect to it at all times. He was stark naked, all but an black leather eye patch that covered over his right eye, as he had chosen to be for this, his…personal treasure to put it as, was a decent size, covered at the base lightly in brown hair. He lacked any other hair on his body, from his chest to legs. The only thing on his body right now, was drips of blood from both his targets, and his two weapons, one in each hand.
One as we know was in the head and wall, a vibrosword. A blade equipped on the hilt with a compact ultrasonic generator, causing the sword to vibrate at an incredible speed, making even the slightest glancing blow become a gaping wound. It was technology that the Galactic Empire had pretty much cut the use of over thousands of years, whereas the Galactic Federation and SCI before it had only recently brought them into production.
In his other hand, a simple GF advanced issue energy pistol. The difference between a standard issue, which was known for being pretty much useful for defending your own home, just, and the advanced issue is that the advanced had a charge up add on, so with a little time, you could fire a round that packed a much larger punch…though randomly thanks to the pistol still being cheaply made, this could, after the shot is fired, overheat the gun and fry the poor thing, making it completely useless.
The person slowly pulled the sword out of the wall and the victim, and held it close, as the body of his target slid to the floor. A male voice came through into the dome, from a few speakers hidden close to the cameras. "Oh for the LOVE of AZRAEL! Must you do some actual damage to this place during this?! They were the first two! The more stupid ones! You didn't need to go overboard with them!"
Inside a darkened room filled with over 30 different computer monitors, some on the walls, on table tops, and a few hanging on the ceiling, was two figures. One was sitting at several of the monitors and had a microphone near him. He was rather small, aged at around 47, close to bald apart from three patches of hair, two to the sides of his head, and one small one just protruding from the top, all dark blue and frazzled. He had a goatee to go with it. He wore a white, short sleeved scientist coat, a black underlay suit, dark brown leather gloves and boots, and black trousers. His most distinguishable feature wasn't his pigment of skin, for a human, a greenish yellow, but the silver embedded 'N' on his forehead. This was to make him stand out of the coat just a little more, if anything.
With him was a tall, slim build woman. She was 25 years of age. She wore a long sleeve white scientist overcoat, black trousers, black shoes and white gloves. She was…quite busty, in chest size, and her rear was ample. She had long straight blond hair, and deep blue eyes, with light pink skin and red lips.
The one at the table with the monitors was Dr Neo Cortex. With him was a fellow scientist named Kei Yuki, the daughter to the once High Minister, Dante Yuki. They were both watching what had been going on inside the dome arena. Neo Cortex was not impressed with the subject inside. "Seriously, you might as well got a nuke and tossed it to the floor in there!"
The figure inside was silent, looking at one of the cameras. Kei looked to Cortex, and spoke with a kind, gentle voice. "They were his brothers in creation. Perhaps he felt it was right to deal with them at the best of his ability."
Cortex slid the microphone away, across the table a little so the figure inside couldn't hear them. "Yes, but according to what we expected, he shouldn't of even needed to move from the spot when they came in. he should be thinking with efficiency, not about who his targets are!"
"But he defeated them regardless." Kei responded. She looked at a few of the monitors, which were showing the life readings of the three present subjects. Subject called "Warrior" was deceased. That was the giant of a man with the spear. Subject "War" was deceased, the samurai sword holder, who got his skull destroyed. Then, there was subject "Dark", who had no damage whatsoever, his heart keeping a decent pace, and no sign of stress or panic, during and after the battle, was noted.
"Well now these next two should make him wish he didn't waste so much energy on those previous idiots…" Cortex said, before he returned the microphone close to him. "Alright Dark. The next two are ready to enter the arena. Do what you do best and destroy them. Failure means death, as you already know."
He turned away from the monitors, looking at Kei. " I still wonder why his allowed to terminate these four failures. I mean, sure, they can't communicate and are gone in the mind, mad wise, but they're still useful to toss at enemy lines, right? And why him out of the three that were successful? Personally I think the 5th project would've been more suited to be tested, we already know the 7th is a successful beyond doubt. The 6th, well, his just…him."
Kei nodded in agreement with the whole testing part. "I understand where your coming from Cortex, but Dark wanted to put his brothers to rest, and our commander accepted it. Subject 5, Unholy, and subject 6, Light, are fine to him."
That's when they hear the door into the room slide open, and Chaos, wearing his sunglasses, even in this dim light, walked in. With him, was an old, bald man, with thin eyebrows and a curled, silver goatee, his eyes are a golden colour, and his skin is heavily tanned and he had ears which were pointed like an elf. He wore a white and black coat with a red inner lining, over a white shirt with two thin black belts, as well as white gloves and knee high black boots. He wore, on the left side of his coat, a small silver medal, which was that of the wings of an eagle, with a human skull inbetween. This was Xehanort, head of Shadowlaw.
Shadowlaw is a shadow organization of the Federation. Designed to keep certain things hidden from the public eye, and commit acts which would undermine the Federation rule, such as brutal murders, science experiments which were dangerous, and manufacturing illegal weapons, selling them or stealing them from certain inside groups. All this, Shadowlaw once was. Now it was but a crippled body of the Federation, damaged throughout the years thanks to people within the Federation itself.
The most notable group that brought Shadowlaw into the light from it's attempted mission to not be known, was Group 666, led by General Grievous, who became Xehanorts number one enemy over time, always hindering their plans. The commanders they both worked for, Armstrong Houston, and even Keaton, knew of who they were and the conflicts they were getting into, but allowed it nonetheless, to keep testing Shadowlaw, and to prove to the public that group 666 was a team to be feared.
This all pretty much became decided and finished, when Keaton openly declared Armstrong as insane, taking a weapon which was founded and watched over by Shadowlaw, and wanted to use it against the Universe. Grievous and Xehanort met one last time within the fortress that Armstrong declared his last stand, and both fought, untill the news of Armstrong Houston's death reached them. From that day, Shadowlaw was damaged beyond repair, as Keaton decided to terminate most of it's operations for their siding with Houston's mad ideas.
Xehanort smiled a little at Kei, then at Cortex. "Ah, both of you. How is subject 7 doing?"
"It's doing fine. A little overconfident with it's abilities and can't seem to restrain itself, but fine. It's killed Subjects 1 and 2, Warrior and War, and is now in combat with Subjects 3 and 4, Death and Speed." Cortex answered flatly, before focusing on the monitors, seeing the subject now in combat, easily deflecting and knocking away two new targets. One was human…ish. He had no skin on his skull, only flesh, his eyes glowing red and screeching at subject 7, carrying two short swords, and wearing full Galactic Federation armor, minus the helmet. This was Subject 3, Death.
Subject 4, Speed, was a thin man, carrying two small daggers, wearing a tight skin outfit over his body and face, with only a thing mouth piece to breath through, and eyes slits to see. The suit was equipped with a stealth camouflage device, making him almost invisible to the naked eye, and true to the name his labelled, his incredibly fast, on level with that of Sonic.
Chaos walked over to the monitors that showed the footage of what was happening, as did Xehanort. Chaos was amused by something. "…Why is he naked? And why has he got an eye patch over his right eye?"
Kei gave an answer. "Oh well, he asked to be such, sir. He felt it was only fair to them if he didn't have any armor to protect himself, and covered one of his eyes to give them a little more of an advantage. He feels he can defeat anyone with just one eye instead of two."
"Overconfident, just as you said Cortex…still, his proving his worth so far.." Xehanort responded, watching closely. "That reminds me, Subject 6. I heard the commander wants him left in the cyro chamber untill otherwise stated, is that correct?"
Cortex nodded. "His just a mistake in the processing. He gained abilities and a personality which the commander just doesn't want, but at the same time, his fully capable and able to perform any tasks which we require. I guess the commander feels he might be needed at a later time. This leaves us with 7 and 5..." he shudders. "5.…Unholy….ugh, just thinking of him gives me the chills. What a freak.."
Chaos chuckled a little. "Unholy is simply a distorted result of the cloning. His all that is mad within the mind of an Overmind-Human hybrid. I personally enjoy his company."
Xehanort smirked a little. "That Overmind boy you brought here. His certainly produced some powerful results with these clones coming from him. With rapid cell growth acceleration up to a certain age, and changing which are dormant genes and what are not…the commander is sure to be impressed with what we've gained."
Cortex looked at the bald man, a little worried. "Not….really. You see, the only one who can even do what we want, that is, to control the Zerg, is subject 5. 7 hasn't gained any hints to that gift, and nor has 6. 1, 2, 3 and 4 showed the same results as 5, meaning we somehow lost it with the final two. It's the same with 5's ability to phase from matter to energy, and into liquid…7 and 6 cannot transform like that. It's like we gained the more humane sides towards the end of this."
The leader of Shadowlaw put his hands behind his back, thinking for a moment. "So you're saying that they also lost the abilities of a Dark Soul? The ability to change comes from that."
"Well, yes, kind of. You see, their blood still produces the dark soul cells in their bodies, and they have Zerg genes like the others, it's just, both are more dormant and disabled, then the 5 previous ones. Subject 5 is really the best result we've had, and most insane…"
Chaos had begun to not listen to them now. He was looking at Kei, as if ready to say something, but didn't, or couldn't , while looking at her, and in return, her looking at him.
This had been the third time he met this young scientist. There was something about her that was deadly familiar, as if he knew her from somewhere before. But long, long ago…it was in her eyes, it told him that he was meant to know those eyes, but his mind wouldn't allow him to remember. Kei was almost in the same boat, but unlike him, only had the sense of him being familiar, her mind was utterly baffled as to why he is familiar…
That's when the door again, slid open, and another two people entered. One was General Grievous, his metal face, and green cloak covering his body, glowing slightly in the monitor light, and with him…
was Keaton Al'Keriff, looking at them all, as Cortex quickly got off his seat, standing to attention, as was Kei Yuki. Xehanort and Chaos just watched him, as he entered the room.
He looked at each and every one of them, before saying in his stern voice. "Report. I want to know how subject 7 is doing. Now."
Cortex quickly got back in his seat, looking at the monitors and checking how the three fighting subjects were. Xehanort was seen smirking at Grievous, and spoke to him, in a mocking, greeting manner. "Machine. I see your still function as a device for others to use."
"Meatsack. I see your fleshy worthless body has yet to succumb to death." Grievous responded with, glaring at him. He was not happy with the idea of being allied with Xehanort and Shadowlaw, but the Galactic Federation, in its current condition, needed all those that were willing to support it, at its beck and call.
They were all upon the space station RE886, a military fortress of a station, in one of the least populated sectors of the now Shinra Federation, it was in orbit of the dangerous red planet called Devil II, a giant planet that was impossible to live on, and emitting a high level of sonic jamming, making it impossible for the Federation to tell if anyone is hiding around the planet or not. The fortress station was built to make sure no one does…ironic that know it's being used to hide something from the new Federation.
Keaton and Grievous managed to make it here from the battle of Unicron, and had since, been rallying the loyalists of the Galactic Federation, once he heard that bastard Rufus had taken not only his seat of power, but also done what he wanted to do, and disband the High Ministers…thus making himself Emperor.
Keaton knew he needed to gain support in order to rise up once more, and eventually found friends with Shadowlaw, and Chaos, who had brought him a present as well…an Overmind-Human hybrid called Richard Wily. Not only was this the grandson of Albert Wily, a promising bargaining chip with the old fool should he need to use it, but also something that can control the Zerg, which, with planning, he could easily use for meatsheilds for his troops.
Problem was, as Chaos noted to him right away, Richard won't agree with the likes of Keaton, and would rather kill him, especially since he was brought here by force. Chaos suggested that cloning him was the best bet, and knew that Xehanorts organization had some advanced cloning technology which was illegal across the Federation, available. Thanks to it, what should've taken years to even get off the ground, was in full flow by a month's end, and the seven clones were produced. Four with brain damage and Zerg genes gone crazy on them, and three successful ones.
The last two brain damaged ones, had finally met their end.
Death, the fleshy skull being, had his head decapitated once he got a tad too close, his forever screeching silenced. Speed had been keeping on level with subject 7, Dark. Dark had been able to block every single dagger swing given by Speed, who couldn't lay a finger on his younger 'brother' as to put it. He begun whizzing around the arena, trying to get blows in at every direction, but was met by the vibrosword each and every time.
It was as Speed begun racing around the arena once again, Dark was getting tired of him, and begun charging up an energy shot with his pistol. Once fully charged, and shaking from beginning to go over the safety limit, and after blocking several dagger strikes from Speed, who once again, went off running, Dark threw his vibrosword into the air, aimed the pistol, and fired the charged shot at the sword, the gun shutting off right after, fried and useless now.
The energy shot flew and collided with the sword, as it's ultrasonic generator was still switched on, which he had aimed for, as the weapon was in the air. His aim was precise, as the energy blast hit the generator, causing an blue electric explosion that shattered the sword, the fragments flying all over the arena. One fragment came back towards its owner, who just stood there, the fragment flying past his face, cutting just the upper left side of his nose slightly, and across that cheek, causing blood to leak out, his only wound in all this.
The other fragments, most of them simply hit the floor, some, got another target. Speed was hit by three of them, two small pieces embedded themselves into his right leg and hip, and one lodged itself right into his stomach, bursting the organs as it plunged in, making him scream in agony and stumble down to one knee, holding his stomach and trying to stop himself from shouting out anymore, his blood just oozing rapidly from the wounds.
But then he saw the shadow of a figure, and looked up, seeing Dark standing up, holding another fragment of the blade, looking down at his older brother…and stabbing it right into the top of the skull and mind of Speed, killing him. There was a moment of silence, before Speed toppled over, letting go of his daggers, joining the other three in the realm of death.
Dark looked at the body, then begun to head for the exit of the arena. Cortex quickly looked to Kei. "Miss Yuki, I suggest you go down and greet him, then get him a pair of boxers or something before bringing him up here to meet with Keaton."
Kei nodded, and departed from the room. Keaton watched her leave, before turning to the others. "The daughter of my once enemy…now an ally to our cause. She really believes I held her father in high regard…Now I take it the 7th subject is a complete success then with what you just said Cortex?"
"Oh it certainly killed the other 4 Commander Keaton. In that sense it's a success…but I need to tell you something before it arrives to see you."
He explained the issue with its Zerg abilities, that it was, in a sense, a failure.
Keaton wasn't too impressed, but unlike when his normally annoyed, he seemed to think on the positive side to this. "But his certainly highly effective in combat…a perfect officer for my force then. Unlike number 6. 5 will have to do on the Zerg commanding business."
Cortex was kinda relieved he wasn't going to be scolded for somehow failing with Dark, hell, he only assisted with the creation of the last 2, the others he was the head of making. Xehanort and Kei were both working together on the last two.
Soon, Kei returned, and with her, was Dark. He was now wearing a black overall over his body. The wound on his face was slowly healing, but as Kei suggested to use a battlechip to quickly patch it up, he refused, demanding it remain to scar over, wanting it to remind him that he had slain his brothers to put them at rest. Kei introduced him to Keaton. "Commander Keaton Al'Keriff. This is Dark Rich." That was his given name by her. All of them at the surname 'Rich' after who they came from, as suggested by Kei.
Keaton put his hand out for the clone to shake, but he just stood there, looking right at Keaton with his uncovered eye. "…You know it's wise to shake hands with the man you'll be working with from now on." Keaton suggested to him.
Dark Rich spoke in a rough, uncaring manner, crossing his arms. "I'm only working with you because she is. As far as I'm concerned, you're just another being."
Now Keaton was angry. Cortex quickly had to diffuse the situation, as Kei was looking worried at what Keaton might do. "Sir, it is because he has a defunct gene of the Zerg active inside of him. When he was created, we accidentally triggered that gene and made it function once more. It's one that makes whoever the Zerg sees and gets in contact with, it's 'master' of sorts."
Cortex looked at Dark Rich, then Kei, who knew already what he was going on about. "You see, in the old Zerg, once genetic contact was made, by bare skin touching it, that Zerg would blindly obey and follow whatever it was told by that person or being. This gene is now active inside a fully sentient being, who just simply…favors the person who made contact with him first much more than anyone else."
Xehanort nodded. "That person was Kei Yuki. She had helped the clone leave his resting chamber once we woke him. She's essentially his master, so as long as you have her, you have him."
Keaton looked to Kei, and she nodded as well, in agreement to this. "And you know I'll stand by you Keaton. For my father, I want to help the Galactic Federation."
Keaton calmed down, now understanding things a little better. "Alright then, as long as he does listen to you Kei…Clone, I expect great things from you."
"It's Dark Rich." the Clone responded, slightly angered. "Remember it."
Keaton just turned his nose up to him, then turned and looked at Chaos. "I suggest you wake subject 5 and let these two get to know each other a little better for a while before we begin our moves against the Shinra Federation."
Chaos nodded, and was about to leave, when, as he passed Keaton, Keaton spoke to him in a mumbled voice. "And I hope you have no plans in turning against me Chaos. I allowed you on my side for a reason…you helped inform me about Dark Megamans plans, and you were a powerful enemy to the people on Mobius."
Chaos readjusted his sunglasses slightly. "Don't worry, I have no plans like that in mind…so long as we prove useful to each other…" with that, he left.
Keaton then turned to the others, as the door closed behind. "Everyone, we're close to making our move. To bring back the Galactic Federation from the jaws of destruction. The upstart, Rufus Shinra, thinks to bury it…but I won't let him, we, won't let him. In the name of Armstrong Houston, your father Kei, Dante Yuki and the other fallen High Ministers, we will take back the Federation!"
Cortex, Kei and Grievous gave him a proud salute, as he saluted them. Xehanort simply smiled at Keaton, and Dark Rich kept his arms where they were, watching Keaton carefully…
The Galactic Federation was a dying beast alright…and now it was trapped in a corner, by the Shinra Federation…and they say a cornered mouse can easily kill the cat…