Radiant Falcon Fan Works #9

Well that happened. I am so sorry it took this long for me to come up with another chapter for this story but, you know how it is with computer crashes… this is the third time something like this has happened to my story. But the show must go on.

Eternity Cross (finally) continues…


Soundtest 1B: previously on… (gamma ver.) – Briefing (Ace Combat 2)

-=message from [unknown source]=-

"My name is unimportant. What you must know is that in the last episode of Eternity Cross, Strider Takeshi HIryu and his companions fended off a trio of Robot Masters, after which they received information regarding the whereabouts of the rogue strider Hien. Having made their way to his last known location; the Mikhail Cossack Institute, they must now deal with an even greater threat than anticipated…"

=Stage 9 Part 3=

Time Twisted

[-READY-]

FRAME: INSIDE COSSACK INSTITUTE, HALL 4-R

Soundtest 1C: Pursuit (Hiryu ver.) – Burning Road ~chikadou no teema (Night Striker)

Takeshi Hiryu, Special-A Class Strider, had learned that an image of his greatest foe, the alien overlord known as Mei-oh, was stored on a computer in a server somewhere in the Cossack Institute, a school of technology and astronomy. While alien beings stored on computers were nothing new to Roll, having firsthand experience of the beings known as Stardroids; they were to her friend Kalinka and Hiryu's former enemy Tong Pooh, one of the daughters of this Mei-oh and typically not one to be taken lightly. "wait, you're telling me that Mei-oh was some kind of all powerful alien god?", Kalinka asked the ninja. "Yeah. It was one of the toughest fights I've ever been in. if Mei-oh gets resurrected somehow, it could very well spell doom for the human race. I know that Roll isn't a human, but it would still affect her. If my hunch is correct, the result would affect the timeline adversely, if Quint's suggestions are anything to go by. Enslavement of humans by a god I've already defeated is not my kind of fun."

It was Tong Pooh's response that caught Hiryu off guard "Though I am a daughter of Mei-oh; and have carried out a number of actions in the Grandmaster's name, I will not ally myself with him this time."

"A rebellious phase already?"((1))

"do not let my appearances fool you into thinking I am any younger than you are. 332 is a young age for one such as myself. Though I always was no fan of how he used militaristic tactics to gain power. Guerrilla warfare seemed to work in your favor, Hiryu."

"okay, make a right here." Kalinka directed the group towards a hall that said "computer and server" in Cyrillic. this wasn't merely a hall, it was a corridor of supercomputers, what appeared to be room sized workstations lining the walls. "go to where it says server."

"Right, so our mission is to disrupt Hien's connection to the server; prevent any sort of Mei-oh program from running; and terminate the rogue. Anyone have any questions?"

"Yeah, terminate?"

Roll answered: "Hiryu-sama's a Strider. Terminate means kill in his profession." Her America-accented Russian friend said "what? You plan on murdering him?"

"Not me. I don't have it in me to kill anyone. Hiryu-sama on the other hand… well, it's his job."

FRAME: OUTSIDE COSSACK INSTITUTE, PARKING LOT

Colonel Kyle Thorne and Quincy "Quint" Sairasu, they of the Repliforce and Time Masters respectively, had reached the parking lot of the Mikhail Cossack Institute of Astronomy and Technology. "We are here. Their signatures, as well as the lifesigns of Sir Hiryu, are registering on my radar. However, I do not detect my sister anywhere in this building." Colonel remarked.

"We'll keep looking for Iris. In the meantime we need to lay low. Whatever those three were doing here, it almost certainly tip-…" Quint's phrase was cut short by the ringing of his own comms device, the Chrono Codec ((2)). "Yes?"

"It's VAVA. Get you and your friends away from there!"

"What, is a space meteor going to hit?"

"This is a chronoscopic malfunction hotspot! Worse, Kujacker is detecting a large energy spike coming from the server room. If this keeps up, your friends could be could end up in another century or maybe even Legend Era!"

"They're trying to find Hien in this university."

"That's another thing I need to tell you. Hien isn't here! They're running after a decoy!"

"A decoy? Don't tell me we've been chasing a wild goose."

"My sources indicate that Hien was here, but he left behind some sort of clone to do his work for him. It could be just an afterimage or it could be…"

"A New Gen Reploid? You do realize those things were discontinued after the fall of Sigma, right?"((3))

"Fully aware, Q, but evidently someone didn't get the memo. I'll have Kujacker look in to it, in the meantime get out of there!"

The connection was closed. "We need to abort. Our friends are in deep trouble." Quint finally said. Before Colonel Thorne could have a chance to respond, he was greeted by a mace ball to the face, knocking him to the pavement. "Who goes there?" he growled. Where he looked, was a robot clad in dark armor, resembling that of a medieval cavalryman. "I have been dubbed Knight Man((4))."

"Who's your CO?"

"'tis nary a one of import, merely one who you mayhap have encountered in the past. Or, rather, future. But I shan't let you go any further."

"And you intend to stop us? You do realize we have friends in that building, right?"

"Thy friends are naught more than gnats to milord. And with the power he has bestowed upon me; I, Knight Man, shall smite you!"

Colonel turned to Quint. "Sir Quincy, go find Sir Hiryu. I'll fend off this warrior myself." He said to the Time Master. "So they call you Knight Man, hm? Well, let's see how you handle a swords man such as myself."

"Thy sword cannot hope to pierce thine armour. Thou willst fall and be erased from the history."

"What do you mean?"
"Thou friend should'st told thee. Thou art not from this time. Should ye be killed in the past, as milord spoke thusly, thou willst be erased from existence. Thou will never have been created, nor will thine so-called Repliforce been established. And I have been charged with this duty, to make sure thou cannot exist."

The words stung Colonel Thorne. He knew that he wasn't from this time period, and Quint already told him previously to not change certain events. it simply wasn't his time yet. That said, Quint did not inform him to not die, lest his entire military be wiped out before it had a chance to make waves in the first place. "Who told you this, Sir Knight?"

"As I hath spoke, 'tis no one thou would'st know. But yet, milord Sigma knowst thou indeed."

"Sigma? You work for that… monster?"

"I should've stayed mine tongue. Nevertheless, thou will not survive to tell thine friends. It is time for thy do-" Knight Man suddenly collapsed, silent. Colonel raised an eyebrow beneath his cap. Something was amiss. He never once raised his sword against this robot. And now, this one was pretty much dead. "Hmph, careless Percival. Never once did he realize what that virus could do."

Colonel Thorne had enough of strangers suddenly showing up out of nowhere. "Name yourself and your occupation. I have zero patience left for further talk."

"I am Takuma. But please, call me Tengu Man((5)). I am here to warn you about a grave danger your group will find themselves in. Allow me to explain."

"Did I not just say that I have no patience left for further explanation? I must go find my companions"

"Oh. That reminds me: they're gone."

"What?"

As Colonel activated his Repliforce Sensors ((6)), he noticed that, save for Quint, none of his registered lifesigns were active. HIryu, Roll and Tong Pooh seemed to have completely vanished.

"I tried to get here as fast as I could, but I guess that Percival did his job too well."

"Where are they?"

"I'm not sure, but I guarantee you they're not dead. Roll's not the type of person that would get herself killed easily. I'm sure they're fine."

As if on cue, a triangular object flew toward their location. "Reploid model no. X4-1997-1 'Colonel Kyle Thorne' detected. Robot Master DWN-057 Takuma Wily "Tengu Man' detected. Identification complete."

"Pilot! Where's my companions?"

"Strider Takeshi Hiryu no longer detected. DRN-002 'Roll Light' no longer detected. North Wind Assassin Tong Pooh no longer detected. Time Master Quincy Sairasu no longer detected."

"What happened to them?"

"Locating… error. Location unverified."

Tengu Man asked the so-called Option-D "Does this little thing have an idea?"

"Speculating… Temporally significant incident occurred. Strider Takeshi Hiryu, DRN-002 Roll Light, et al, warped from one temporal period to another."

"That doesn't explain anything."

"Transmission intercepted from Maverick Hunter HQ. Receive? Y/N"

Colonel thought about this. On one hand, he had a deep hatred of Maverick Hunters ever since that fateful day in August ((7)) when they condemned the Repliforce. They probably still thought he was a Maverick. On the other hand, he had nowhere else to turn. "Y." he decided.

"Transmission received. Displaying."

A small holographic screen displayed via Pilot. "this is Zero from Maverick Hunter Base. State your- Colonel? What the hell?"

"I'm surprised as well, Zero. What happened?"

"There's a lot to catch up on, man; but first, I want to know how you ended up over in 20XX. I thought for sure you exploded at the Spaceport."

"Don't remind me."

"Sorry, brings up bad memories for me too. We're going to transfer you here."

"I must decline. I must find my sister."

"Dude. I'm technically not supposed to be telling you this, but I'm sitting right across from her at the navigation desk, so tough luck."

Colonel suddenly dissipated in a bright light, one that temporarily blinded the nearby Tengu Man. "Watch it, dude! I'm right here!" he exclaimed as the transmission ended. "Reploid model number X4-1997-1 'Colonel Kyle Thorne' no longer detected."

"Well now I've just got to find Roll. Ol' Rock's gonna get worried."

[eyecatch]

Notes

( 1 ) ah teenage rebellion. We all know this trope I'm sure.

( 2 ) the Chrono Codec, apart from being a reference to Metal Gear Solid, is the Time Master equivalent to the Skynet phones that 20XX-era denizens use. It is a comms standard that can transmit through temporal frames.

( 3 ) pay attention. This might be very important if/when X9 is released.

( 4 ) Robot Master Bio DWN-044 Percival Vallee "Knight Man": one of eight robot masters designed for the First World Tournament. Originally designed by a European scientist named Daniel Vallee, he was reprogrammed by Dr. Wily (in the guise of Mr. X) to serve his own ends. His Knight Crusher is a mace ball that has been the downfall of one thousand other robots, while his new Phalanx Shield is designed to protect against piercing weapons, his one weakness. Named for Percival, one of the knights of the round table according to a Capcom arcade game called Knights of the Round, and original creator Daniel Vallee.

( 5 ) Robot Master Bio DWN-057 Takuma Wily "Tengu Man" is a flying robot master based on the Japanese bird goblin creature. This is the second version of Tengu Man, as the first was destroyed in a battle with Mega Man two years prior to the events of Eternity Cross. Some say that beneath the mask lies a full head of silver hair. Tengu Man's signature Tornado Hold attack is a shuriken that fires a column of air, while his Tengu Blade and Tengu Frenzy act as close range abilities. Named after Takuma Sakazaki, the Kyokugen sensei of Art of Fighting, who wears a tengu mask when under the alias Mr. Karate.

( 6 ) the Repliforce Sensors act as a sort of scan visor, and are basically standard issue amongst Repliforce soldiers (and Maverick Hunters, though they call them simply Scan Eyes)

( 7 ) August 1, 1997 was when Mega Man X4 was released, at least in North America.

=-character dossier-=

Felix Raia

VAVA, the framework executor of 21XX

THEME A: "The Reformed" – d.i.y (skate.)

THEME B: "Cyborg Justice!" – Opening Stage Vile (Maverick Hunter X)

Victor Allen "Felix" Raia, formerly known as Vile and currently known as VAVA, was at one time allied with Sigma on a number of schemes. However, after being discovered by the Time Masters for his, shall we put it, open perseverance, he has since become a asset to their force. Though he has his own personal mobile mech, the ride armor he calls Bruno, when it calls for battle he's equipped with a machine gun, a shoulder mounted cannon, and a leg weapon, all of which can be modified to suit his needs. This is because VAVA is not a reploid, but rather a cyborg, and to hide this fact he has taken to wearing a replica helmet from one of his favorite films as a child, though under the helmet he has purple hair and white eyes.

*MESSAGE FROM MAVERICK HUNTER ZERO, SA-CLASS BLADEMASTER*

"hey, it's Zero, fresh from locating my former rival Colonel Thorne. There's a storm brewing on the horizon, and I'm not sure we Maverick Hunters can handle it on our own. We'll need all the help we can get if our info is to be believed, which is why we established the Irregular Hunter initiative. You want to know what that is? Well, I can't spoil everything, can I? Next time on Mega Man Eternity Cross: "Irregular Hunters, Assemble!" Don't miss it!"