Chapter 2: Field testing
06:36 AM (Mongolia Time), Saturday January the 17th…
"… Good, good… Like that… Place that over there…"
"Roger."
The sun was beginning to rise above the horizon in the Gobi Desert: normally deserted at this time of the year, today it was very activity-filled.
"All preparations are over 90% completed."
Unmarked and unmanned military jeeps were circling around an esplanade area filled with several pieces of machinery bearing no logo and no serial number.
"Keep a safety distance from that."
Some military Jeeps were parked making a circle around a tall structure: it had eight support steel "legs" which were connected to a broad spheroid colored metallic black.
It had nine circular openings on the underside, which seemed to be designed to project something.
The whole thing was about five meters tall and had several cables connected to it coming from a command console.
A man was standing in front of the console: they seemed to be over a meter and eighty tall.
He wore a helmet with black shades and looked clean-shaven: he seemed to be on his late twenties given the shape of his face.
He sported a white lab coat and some kind of purple bodysuit underneath it with the lowercase "gamma" letter painted bronze and set against a purple background.
He also sported military-like boots.
"Well, well… All is ready." The man in the lab coat announced through a radio link.
"Do proceed with the test, Herr Doktor." A familiar soft and German-accented voice replied.
"Roger. All personnel: evacuate to the required safety distance."
The man climbed into one of the Jeeps and they all moved ten meters away from the machine: the man in the lab coat picked a set of binoculars from the glove compartment and looked at the machin, which seemed to be inactive for the time being; he then glanced at a chronometer he carried on his right wrist next and smiled.
"Heating up is complete. We are ready to fire anytime." The man in the lab coat reported.
"Go ahead." The voice commanded.
"Roger."
The man in the lab coat took out a remote from the coat's right pocket and pressed a set of buttons: the machine began to hum and vibrate.
"As scheduled…"
Purple light formed on the holes beneath the spheroid and they projected thin purple-colored energy beams, which hit the ground and began to draw a circle with a complicated pattern on it.
"Heh, heh, heh… Beautiful. Truly."
All the lines drawn on the ground were colored blue and looked cybernetic: the drawing was complete soon enough: the whole circle vanished to give way to a deep and apparently endless shaft the walls of which were made up of cybernetic data.
"… It is a success. We should be able to call for the Phase 2 components."
"Excellent. Go ahead."
"Hello? "G"? I'm looking at the footage you're providing. Lending you guys a hi-quality copy of the "Wily Program" was worth it, eh?"
"Obviously, Mr. Twilight."
The man in the lab coat picked a laptop placed on the passenger's seat and booted it up: he opened several programs and typed several commands into them.
"There they come."
"Excellent. The automated Navis I lent which worked 24/7 on these speeded everything up A LOT."
The shaft shone with a pale blue halo and some kind of fighting craft emerged.
These craft had a round metallic spheroid set at the center and two hexagon-like wings: the front of the spheroid had a "face" drawn into it instead of having a cockpit.
This face consisted in two reddish eyes, no nose, and a mouth filled with sharp shark-like teeth with three holes inside of it; the eyes moved around as if to scan the terrain.
"… There has been a slight change of plans, Herr Doktor. Instead of using simulated data, Herr Generalwould rather desire battle data. There is a Choina Army secret airfield base ten kilometers NNW. They are conducting a series of training exercises so we can try them out."
"That shall be no problem, Herr Präsident. Please leave it to me."
"Perfect."
The man in the lab coat typed several more commands and the dozen crafts aligned themselves towards the direction of the base; they ignited a plasma engine and shot forward towards the endless horizon at very high speeds; in only a few seconds, they were no longer trackable by unaided eyesight; the man in the lab coat rubbed his hands, exicted.
"Heh, heh, heh. This is the future, gentlemen. Let us sit and watch. It is going to be a fun show." The man in the lab coat smirked.
"Truly! Star Wars is gonna haunt 'em!" Twilight chuckled over the radio.
"Indeed, Mr. Twilight. They will be left stunned."
06:58 AM (Mongolia Time)…
"… They could've arranged for the drill to be in an hour's time, really…"
"I don't complain. It gives you training to be ready to deploy at any hour: it's not like an enemy would wait for us to have breakfast before attacking us, right?"
"Guess that."
Two combat jet pilots were chatting as they maneuvered their jet over the base's grounds and tested their aim with simulated fire aiming for some targets of different sizes on the ground.
"Huh? Don't you hear a loud whine sound?"
"Yeah… Huh! Look there!"
The mysterious crafts suddenly arrived without making any sound and opened fire with laser machineguns mounted on their mouths.
"T-they're shooting laser?"
"I thought that was sci-fi stuff!"
"Heck. Zong and Chang had to eject!"
"Damn. Another plane's engine got busted… Lo and Maro ejected too!"
"I don't think those are part of the program!"
"I think the same thing, too! Shoot at 'em!"
"I'm trying! Every time I lock into it, though… It suddenly jumps out of range! It's as if it knew I'm targeting it! And it's no surprise: even our planes know where we've been locked on!"
"It's coming from behind!" The second pilot gasped.
Neither of them hesitated: they punched the emergency eject buttons and shot out of the craft just as the engine was blown by the laser fire and the craft crashed into the ground.
"What the hell were those?"
07:09 AM (Mongolia Time)…
"… Here they come back… Using the TIE as basis made things easier!"
"Heh! I got inspired by the Dark Empire saga set post Battle of Endor: Palpatine came up with new fighter craft which had the electronic brains of strategic pilots built into them and had a terrific level of accuracy!"
The crafts returned to the spot where they had come from and returned into the cybernetic shaft: the large machine that had created it had been almost totally dismantled and its components stored into military trucks.
"Herr Präsident. The tests are a success. The onboard AIs equipped on the Bifrosts work splendidly." The man in the lab coat reported.
"Excellent. Herr General is deeply satisfied. He is now utterly convinced of our company's efficacy. We must put the finishing touches to the Phase 3 components once you return to the R&D lab."
"Well, G… I'll start up some ruckus in Japan to make them believe I'm the one pulling the strings… The more I can get their attention the best and I've got the means to do that… Heh, heh, heh… Kyoudai… Star Wars has come back to haunt you lowlife's dreams… And evolve them into nightmares… Unending nightmares courtesy of Darkrai…"
"And Stove Man!"
"Cloud Man. Not again."
"Too bad, Swallow Man!"
"Yamato Man… Do we hit the fool?"
"I agree, Cosmo Man! Let's teach them yet!"
"Don't overdo it either!"
"Don't worry, Commander Freeze Man!"
"Uo~h! Tactical withdrawal! Sound the trumpet! I'm outta here~!"
"Huff. Really. That guy can be so brat-like… Zoan Gate Man won't steep so low! I'm off to commanding Legion 64 to gather data. Heh, heh, heh."
09:49 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Not again!"
"The coffee machine strikes back! Eh, Enzan?"
Ijuuin Enzan cursed upon seeing that the coffee vending machine in one of the Net Police's HQ corridors had broken down: he turned to his right to see Laika smirking at him.
"Why do these things only happen to me? You wouldn't have been boycotting me, would you?" Enzan questioned Laika while looking rather sleepy and sounding annoyed.
"Come on… Enzan. You're working too much at IPC. You don't sleep enough and that's bad for the health. Try drinking water instead."
"Grftx… Go your own something-way thing, Laika…" Enzan let out a large yawn.
"Are you up to something, Blues?" Search Man asked him.
"Maybe I am." Blues smirked.
"Maybe you're about to be visited by the kiritengu." A deep voice with obvious amusement announced behind Enzan.
Enzan turned around to meet a kiritengu mask.
"YEA~RGH!" He uttered.
The person removed the mask, revealing Dark Miyabi with a broad smile on his face.
"What the…! Miyabi! That was cheap!" Enzan cursed.
"It was gallant. And it was a good system to get you to full alert mode and wake you up." Miyabi drily shot back.
"I'd rather say it was Sneaky Snake." Shadow Man chuckled.
"Jeez. That joke's overrated."
"Totally." Search Man sighed.
"I quote! "Wanderer of the sands: the Sand Spirit shall guide you to safety once thy pledge alliance to them and help them spread confusion so that they can eat it up and fill up."… Well?" Shadow Man chuckled.
"That sounds like some RPG parody." Enzan groaned.
"Totally… Dragon Hell… He needs to be psychoanalyzed."
"By the way! Speaking of behavior and such… Has Laser Man behaved insofar?"
"I think so. He's still under 24/7 surveillance but insofar he obeys and doesn't protest. It's not on his code to protest when given an order by Regal so…" Laika shrugged.
"Anyway… Why the heck did you tell me to come here, Laika? Has something happened?" Enzan asked.
"Yeah. We must talk it with Commissioner Kifune." Laika turned serious.
"Where are the twins and Nelaus at, anyway? I don't see them around."
"It's only us three for the time being. This is delicate information."
"…"Delicate information"… What… It's about something which isn't supposed to exist?" Enzan tried to guess.
"You could say so." Laika admitted.
The three of them reached Commissioner Kifune's office and sat down in chairs: he, Superintendent Manabe and Misaki were present.
"Good. We can start. Disclose what you know if you may, Laika – kun."
"Yes, sir. Approximately one hour ago… A Top – Secret training facility of the Choina Army in the Gobi Desert was attacked by unidentified craft coming from the desert. The crafts were described as "unmanned, intelligent, and deadly". All pilots were able to evacuate their crafts but were unable to even harm any of them. Every time they locked on them they'd perform an evasive maneuver and show up behind the craft."
"What became of those attackers?" Commissioner Kifune asked.
"They retreated into the desert. And they were built with anti-radar material thus explaining why it caught all of them off-guard. There was no manner of trying to pursue them because all of the crafts had been shot down. My superiors got a hold of the information because we of Sharo possess a training facility five kilos west of the attacked one. We heard the scandal and deployed some aid vehicles and troops there so they told us what had happened. This will not be made public by either Choina or Sharo." Laika concluded.
"… What… It's a new Cold War? Where the heck did those things pop out from? As far as I know, none of the countries bordering the Gobi desert has the capacity to produce such things… How many of them were there, anyway?" Enzan muttered before asking.
"A dozen craft took part in the attack."
"This reeks. It sounds like a very bold and all-too-daring move, in my opinion. But it looks like Twilight's style." Miyabi commented.
"That's right! Twilight! He was involved in the programming of the FOD and showed his hide around but he's hidden again somewhere in Melbourne… Maybe they're programs to begin with!"
"Then it wouldn't be hard to produce them… They'd have limitless range, speed and firepower because they don't use physical means yet it must demand some energy expenditure from them… Maybe they have a limit of how much firepower and range they can travel… It's pure speculation, though, don't take it for granted." Misaki muttered.
"It sounds logical, sir." Prism Man agreed on that.
"Yes, but as you said, this is but speculation and we've got no factual evidence. Keep this quiet as much as you can. You're authorized to tell other Net Saviors but ask them to keep it discrete." Kifune ordered.
"Roger, sir. Let's go, Search Man. The sooner we start the better."
"Let's go brief Nelaus and the twins, Blues."
"I'll dive into the underground and see if anyone has info…"
10:13 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Oh! I can see it! A veil of mystery and dread… It is coming closer with every passing day…"
Two persons were sitting at opposite ends of a round wooden table covered by a green mantelpiece inside of a store decorated with various weird pictures, symbols and portraits of magicians: various Tarot cards had been placed in different positions on top of it.
The person sitting behind the table was a woman on her 30s.
She could be about a meter and seventy or maybe slightly taller.
She sported a reddish jumper and a knee-long gray wool skirt along with black shoes.
Her hair was dyed green over her natural brown color.
She had reading glasses on.
"Is that so, ma'am?" Tamashita asked.
She was the customer and looked engrossed into what she was told.
Tamashita sported a brown leather raincoat, jeans and black heeled shoes.
"However… The light will always pierce through the veil and expose the truth… You should be careful… Powerful people are playing a game, and it has already begun… You must not get involved, dear… It would be fatal for you…" The lady warned.
Tamashita gulped and quickly nodded in agreement.
"… Sorry. I tend to freak out from time to time, my dear… No. If you do not try to "snoop" into other people's affairs, then you have nothing to fear…"
Tamashita nodded again and looked slightly relieved.
"Ahem! Regarding THE topic… You have made progress… However… There is something… hidden behind several layers of deceit… which is a cruel fact! Which could have grave consequences!"
"Yikes! Grave consequences, ma'am?"
"I do not know if it will ever surface, but… You must be ready for it… And understand why it's a topic they would rather keep a secret from anyone else… Society is not ready to know it…"
"That huge? I'm sorry, ma'am, but I think you're exaggerating a bit… That rather sounds like it's come out of a spy movie, ma'am."
"… You're right. I got trailed off. Sorry." She admitted.
"It's nothing, ma'am. But nevertheless… I'd like to know more about him since he has some kind of aura that attracts me…"
"If you follow my advice then there's nothing to be worried about… Have a good time, my dear."
Tamashita smiled and gave her the agreed payment.
"Good-bye, ma'am."
"Good-bye, my dears."
She exited the store and looked at the banner on top of the entrance:
"ELIZABETH GLASSY'S FORTUNE – TELLING SHOP"
"Aura – chan! Ms. Glassy's predictions have a lovely sound to them! Do you think we have found something precious?" Felicia asked her.
"I don't doubt it, Felicia! Let's go see our individual…"
Both of them were unaware that Ms. Glassy had been looking at them while pretending to be cleaning a case containing a magician's wand; she smirked and continued on cleansing while Tamashita walked away.
"Say, Aura – chan… It was a good idea to follow Ms. Glassy's advice and move here, right?"
"Totally. That all-girls'-academy… They were too snob and bossy. Too many spoiled CEO girls and such… I didn't fit there and they looked at me like I was a parasite to begin with: especially the seniors… Nah! I did well on quitting and coming to live here with Aunt Sarami! Heh, heh, heh!"
18:35 PM (Utah Time), Friday January the 16th…
"… I do see. Those crafts were actually cybernetic and were brought out of the Cyber World by creating a permanent fusion of both worlds… This technology report will surely interest my makers."
A mysterious Net Navi was floating in the middle of what could be considered outer space and his design was quite unique.
He looked about a meter and eighty tall and bronze was the main color of his body with some white spots.
The drawing of a planet was engraved on his helmet's forehead.
His eyes' irises were purple and looked calm.
He had two triangular wings (currently folded) with grooves drawn on it and colored bronze.
These same grooves repeated on the rest of his body.
He didn't have any emblems on his chest or in the helmet's ear pads
"… Those scientists are putting the final changes to their "Time-Space Tower"… As long as they do not enter my craft, then… I have no orders to oppose them. I, Xon' Edos, realizing the will of my makers, have spoken."
He opened a screen showing a map of the Solar System and a purplish dot, which was past the Asteroid Belt on the opposite side of the Sun and close to the orbit of Jupiter but the planet itself was 90º to the left on the orbit, which meant that the dot wouldn't actually encounter the planet.
"It has been slightly over a month and a half according to the local calendar yet their "months" have a variable length… My makers will surely have exited "this" Solar System by the time this hemisphere's "spring" comes… They shall plunge into sleep and they shall not wake up until they reach Alpha Centauri… My reports shall reach them nevertheless as they continue the exploration of this "Orion Arm" of our galaxy… According to my estimates Duo is over 23.457 light-years from this planet so…"
He shall not interfere and maybe shall never reach this world…
10:45 AM (Japan Time)…
"… We're all set."
"Let's go."
Netto and Saito had finished cleansing their bedroom and prepared to depart.
Netto was sporting his traditional sleeveless orange vest over a white shirt and jeans and he'd also picked up his classical bandana.
Saito's outfit was almost identical to Netto's, with the main difference being his sleeveless vest, which was colored sea blue.
He'd combed his hair to make it look like nicer.
"Netto, Saito! Dears! It's Enzan – kun!" Haruka announced as the entrance bell rang.
"Enzan? What does he want now?" Netto wondered.
"Dunno. Let's go talk with him." Saito shrugged.
Both climbed downstairs and entered the living room: Enzan was sitting in front of the table.
"Hey, Enzan! What's up?" Netto asked him.
"What's up, Blues?" Saito asked Blues.
"Sit down and I'll explain." Enzan replied.
"It's serious stuff." Blues added.
Both twins sat in front of Enzan and waited to hear his explanation.
"It goes like this: some unidentified craft showed up of nowhere in the Gobi Desert, hit the Choina Army Base and ran away."
"Unidentified craft attacked a Choina Army base…? Who'd do that?" He wondered.
"Hmmm…" Saito looked thoughtful.
"Dunno. All we know is what I just told you. We're going to have to look further into this. Tell Nelaus about this stuff as well. But don't spread it too much. It's classified." Enzan told them.
"It's "delicate information"." Blues added.
"I get the point."
"That's all. See you soon." Enzan waved good-bye.
The twins departed home and headed towards Nelaus' house: they rang the bell.
"Coming!"
Nelaus opened the door; he was sporting a black wool jumper, jeans and white sneakers.
"Hello, guys. Come in." Nelaus greeted.
Both of them entered without spotting Tamashita heading there.
"Chance!" She grinned.
"Yeah! Go!" Felicia rallied.
She carefully circled around the house and crouched between some bushes close to the living room's window; she could see Nelaus sitting on an armchair and talking with both Netto and Saito.
"… What? Are you serious?" Nelaus was asking.
"Yeah, Enzan told us. And I don't doubt Laika's bosses to be correct 'bout this stuff." Netto was saying.
Ah! Ijuuin Enzan and Laika… They are Net Saviors just like them… I know Laika – san is from Sharo, so they must mean his military superiors…
"We dunno where did those things come from and who made them."
"Do you think this has something to do with the FOD's goal? You know: they wanted to collect combat data on us Net Saviors… Maybe they're making new weapons which can fight us?" Netto suggested.
"It makes sense." Nelaus nodded in agreement.
"Just who'd bother to do such a complicated thing, anyway?"
"Dunno. One thing is for sure: it ain't Uncle Sam." Sigma chuckled.
"Of course it can't be. Be realistic, Sigma." Blood Shadow grumbled.
The FOD… The Filibusters of Death, those bad guys that Rainon – kun and the Net Saviors were fighting against around the time I transferred…
"Twilight's involved but it'd seem there's more to it."
"Ex-senpai… Always calling for trouble... Trouble Man's incarnation..."
"Come on, Nelaus… Don't overdo it either."
Ex-senpai…? I think I heard some talk about that… Someone named "Twilight", one of the masterminds of the summer DNN Studios Hijack Incident… They're supposedly hiding somewhere overseas…
"How about we head to the HQ to train a bit? Let's ring our chauffeur up ASAP." Nelaus suggested with a smile.
"Nelaus… Denpa – san ain't a chauffeur… You can apply that to Agent On Air, but that's it." Saito grumbled.
"Sorry! I just wanted to try out a joke!" Nelaus chuckled.
Who are "Denpa – san" and "Agent On Air"? I've never heard of them…
She heard a car's engine approaching and spotted a black Honda FRV model slowing down until it parked in front of Nelaus' house; he and the twins came out, locking the house, and headed for the car; they climbed in and the car drove away while Tamashita came out of hiding and rubbed her chin with the right hand.
"Guess they're Net Police officers and they're heading to some meeting or mission… Well. I might be able to ask more when he comes back."
"Yeah. But if he doesn't want to talk about it, don't force it!"
"You're right. We're a couple, and I don't want to worse our bond!"
11:47 AM (Japan Time)…
"… Okay! Here it is."
The twins and Nelaus had been walking down a curved metallic corridor, which had arches every a hundred meters approximately and was illuminated by fluorescent lights placed on the ceiling.
Various labeled armored metallic doors were placed at either sides of the corridor.
They had stopped before a door whose label read "VR ROOM #4".
"Inside we go!"
They opened it and stepped into a vast cubical room made of metal: there was one wooden chair set to the left of the door, which was placed in the south wall.
"That's my VIP seat."
Saito sat into it while Netto stood in front of him: a laser came out of his right eye and entered Netto's Link PET: Saito's eyes closed and his body seemed to enter a sleep-like state.
"Are we gonna rock?" Rock Man asked as he projected with the Link PET's hologram.
"Let's rock, niisan." Netto grinned.
A "Dimensional Area" engaged and filled the whole room's surfaces.
"Good timing!"
Netto quickly took out his special – version Synchro Chip.
This "Synchro Chip" included a central brownish dome with an emerald edge and eight straight spokes radiating from it in all eight directions: the purple "V" logo was set on place of the Hikari family crest, which had been displaced to the body just before the contacts.
Nelaus' Synchro Chip was just the ordinary model issued by the Science Labs.
"Synchro Chip, Slot In! CROSS FUSION!"
"CF" Nelaus' helmet kept the blue coloring yet it had gained three square dots on the ear-pads and on the middle of the forehead which were colored golden, crystal and silver from left to right: a black matrix filled the rest of the helmet's surface.
His eyes were unchanged: some blonde hair came out behind the helmet.
The emblem remained unchanged and so did the armor protecting the base of his neck: yet, on the space below the emblem and before the waist belt (unchanged) the alphabet letters "N" and "S" colored in a platinum color had been drawn: the "N" was on the left and the "S" to the right of the vertical line splitting the body in two.
The shoulder design hadn't changed and the arms' patterns remained the same yet his forearms armor was different: the armor over the wrist was transparent purple in color and the Alphabet "N" letter colored green was set over it: the space over the palm had a black circle which contained a small red dot in the middle surrounded by different scales of red from dull red to crimson red.
The fingers had transparent red rings set on each one, which glowed with a dull red glow.
His waist belt design hadn't been altered and his legs' drawings and knee guards were still the same.
His boots had slightly changed because they now had red and black matrixes across their whole surface and they included those "eyes" like in the space over the hands and set on both sides of each boot.
Both of them performed "Cross Fusion" sans a flaw.
"Heh. I keep on being Number One Cool Guy."
"Here we go, my comrades!"
"Ikuzo: waga doushitachi yo!" Rock Man automatically translated.
"Comrades? Well! Why not…" He chuckled.
A matrix of green lines and black squares filled the room: the surroundings changed to a cybernetic-like world and they could see a white round "portal" ahead of them: all of the circuitry seemed to head towards its body.
"It's time for some action!"
Both "Cross Fusion" fighters seemed to be propelled inside of it and everything became white.
"Arrival…!"
"And welcoming…!"
Both of them were standing in a ruined building the next moment; various soldiers wearing a brown uniform along with helmets were stationed there; they carried laser machineguns.
"Sires! We Charlie Platoon are ready for duty!" The soldiers saluted at both "Cross Fusion" fighters.
"What is the situation like?" "CF" Netto asked.
"We have been laying siege to the enemy's fortress: its heavy defenses have taken a toll on our heavy weaponry. We know the enemy's High Command members are at the topmost tower but the whole perimeter is overfilled with AAC guns and shield generators. We have managed to take down most of them but the mountain chains at both sides of it impede us of attacking the rear. Command has issued a plan. Deputy Arnold will brief you in." One Lieutenant reported.
A man with the Deputy rank stepped forward and saluted.
"The mission is to be carried out tonight. We are to sneak over the watch posts of the tunnels and secure them. We can circle around them and destroy the rest of defenses. We could then call for an air bombing in order to force the enemy to surrender." The Deputy explained.
"Good. We'll be scouts and clear off the vigilance." "CF" Nelaus nodded.
"Let's go."
Both of them looked outside at the moonless sky: they spotted wreck from several tanks and fighter craft lying around.
"Don't use the radio yet." "CF" Netto hushed.
"I know…"
The enemy fortress was simply a stone tower built inside of a square perimeter: the east and west sides had steep hills flanking them: a pair of tunnels had been built to bypass those but Garuu Viruses were guarding them; they could also spot the wreck of several AAC guns and shield generators.
"Hum… Garuus."
"They'd do nice pets."
"I'll pick the west side." "CF" Netto announced.
"Then east is my stuff, then." "CF" Nelaus chuckled.
Both of them engaged tactical camouflage and crept around the grassy plains: "CF" Netto climbed the hill and looked down on the three Garuu Viruses guarding the tunnel's entrance: they seemed to be sleeping but they were paying attention to any noise.
Let's use "friendly fire", Netto – kun. Saito suggested.
Heh, heh, heh! Here goes "friendly fire"!
"CF" Netto projected a Garuu hologram and made it look like it was coming from the other side: it made some gestures to the other Viruses and they ran away to the other end of the tunnel; "CF" Netto waited until the exited and silently jumped into the fray, having already drawn two Long Sword Battle Chips.
"It's nap time, you lads." He announced.
He quickly sliced the three of them up and in complete silence.
"The west tunnel is secured. How's it going over there, Nelaus?"
"I already secured it, too." "CF" Nelaus replied.
"Let's call in for the tanks to finish the job." "CF" Netto suggested.
Some tanks rolled in across the tunnels and aimed for the remaining AAC guns and shield generators: they quickly blew all of them up thus leaving the HQ exposed.
"Here comes the flying cavalry!"
Four crafts came in from the east and began to bomb the adjacent buildings, which were the ammunitions depot and the weapons storehouse: "CF" Netto and "CF" Nelaus joined the fray by breaking open the main gate and entering the tower.
"Go!"
They climbed the spiral stone stair until they reached the main chamber at the topmost spot: they kicked the door open and found someone there.
"Killer's Beam!"
Both of them dodged and faced Zoanoroid Dark Man of Greiga: he was already on his "Bestialized" form: he looked hostile.
"Element Flare!"
"Program Advance! Sword, Wide Sword, Long Sword!"
"Program Advance! Hi – Cannon, Triple Slot In!"
"Dream… Sword!"
"Giga… Cannon!"
Both of them shot the Program Advances at the enemy and hit him fully, causing a bright light followed by a roar of agony and a brutal explosion, which took out the whole of the north wall.
"Did that do it?" "CF" Netto wondered.
"Don't lower the guard!" "CF" Nelaus warned.
Zoan Dark Man was no more when the smoke cleared, though.
"This is Command. The enemy High Command is no more. Good job."
Both of them stood firm as the whole world dissolved back into a cybernetic world and they flew away from the "portal".
"Heh, heh, heh!"
"Talk about a good heating up!"
"And a good brain boiling…!"
"Return!"
Both of them appeared on the VR Room in the real world: the "Dimensional Area" shut off, so both of them cancelled their "Cross Fusions" and shook hands.
"Good job, Nelaus."
"What did you do to deal with the Garuus, by the way?"
"We left some cyber food in front of them and they started to eat it so we simply sliced them up while they were busy." Isaac smiled.
Netto aimed his Link PET at Saito's inert body: he yawned and stretched.
"Charlie Squad is unbeatable 'cause Ares is pulling the strings behind it!"
"And here you said you hated randomness." Netto grinned.
"Guess I've gotten used to it somehow… Sigma's been badly influencing me along with Shadow Man…"
"They gotta be playing Mario Kart Wii and seeing which one will win more races in 150cc mode." Nelaus chuckled.
"Mwah, hah, hah… Hah, hah, hah… Regna Dog!"
"Another mirroring… Anger God…" Netto groaned.
"By Confucius! Where did I store my prayer beads?"
"He patched us live to Dragon – san and confirms he's TOO superstitious."
"Mwah, hah, hah … The Ninja Idiom Curse has begun! Hah, hah, hah!"
"Shut up, Sigma! Focus on the mission! SHEESH!"
07:24 AM (Berlin Time)…
"… Indeed, Herr General. The testing of Phase 3 could be done just off the coast of California. We have intelligence confirming two promising targets in there."
Schneider was speaking with the enigmatic "General" over the phone on his living room.
He was sitting on a red leather armchair and facing a large wooden rectangular table with chairs around it and a large gallant lamp hanging from the ceiling.
There were balcony doors covered by curtains, which allowed a view of a large garden.
There was a large bookcase containing rows of books placed to the right.
The left side of the room had several portraits of army men of different centuries.
Two large oak doors were placed behind the armchair Schneider was sitting at currently.
"That is excellent, Herr Präsident. I shall be waiting for more news."
Schneider picked a white rose from a vase nearby and looked at it.
"It is a symbol of elegancy. Everything must be done in an elegant manner." He muttered with a smirk.
One of the oak doors opened and a man stepped in.
He looked on his fifties, had some patches of gray hair and his eyes' irises were brown.
He wore butler attire.
"Master Schneider. The bath is ready."
"Excellent, Hans. Soon enough, I shall have achieved what no other company has been able to achieve. My company shall gain many profits thanks to P.W. Heh, heh, heh… I'm fortunate, truly." Schneider muttered.
07:39 AM (Berlin Time)…
"… Ach, so! I understand. Thank you for the information, Herr Doktor. Auf Wiedersehen."
Kount Serbauf finished a phone call made to him while he was sitting behind a desk in an office placed inside of a skyscraper somewhere.
Today he wore simple business attire.
He seemed to be thinking about something related to the phone call.
"… Mysterious weapons which show up of nowhere… Hmmm… Such top-secret projects are hard to conceal nowadays … There's always a leak somewhere… I do think these weapons weren't made by any government but by a private corporation… A government with interests in the area must've hired them… There a lot of candidates…"
He engaged an interphone placed on the top rightmost corner of the polished wooden table.
"Herr Arager? I would like of you to call the Ministry of Industry and request information on which Germany-based companies currently are being employed by a foreign Asia-based government." He ordered.
"Indeed, Herr Kount. It shall be done." A man's voice replied.
Kount Serbauf turned off the interphone and turned his rotating chair around to look out at the panorama of Berlin.
"Ach, so. This doesn't fare well. It could be the prelude to a new type of warfare. Damned Twilight. I suspect his stinky hands on this affair: if only we could catch them at last…"
His laptop pinged and he checked it out.
"What? "Schatten Intrigant", they say? "Shadow Schemer"? Verdamnt! This is that schwein's swine! They're eavesdropping on me and laughing at me. They shall pay for that affront! Once Herr Vadous locates you lowlife then… You're over! Verbrecher! Criminal!"
I'll see to it that you end up locked up and rendered powerless! Hah!
17:08 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Nothing here…"
"Bad luck, Miyabi…"
"I know, Shadow Man…"
"Dark Miyabi. The Court of Owls has sentenced you to… die."
"Hmpf. I was wondering when you'd show up."
Miyabi came out of a pub somewhere and began to discuss with Shadow Man when a voice rang out as he drew a kunai.
He turned around to see a figure standing atop the inn.
This figure wore black leather clothes, which covered their whole body including a hood with goggles: it design was reminiscent of an owl's face, even.
They carried a belt spanning from the right shoulder to the left flank of the body and which had sheaths for six knives: it included a medallion with the drawing of an owl close to the shoulder.
His equipment also included gauntlets: the right one had metallic armor shaped like an owl's face and the left one had some sheaths for smaller knives.
They carried leather boots as well and two knife sheaths attached to the belt's waist.
The gear included two short swords' sheaths attached to his back.
"I am the Talon. I serve the Court of Owls."
"… Miyabi… A quick IR scan tells me that's a human."
"Hum. Could be some fanatic…"
The "Talon" suddenly leapt into the air and threw 10 knives at Miyabi, which he partly blocked or bounced with his kunai, but others hit him: they drew both short swords and quickly cut across the air.
"Huh? Huh! How clever!"
Miyabi gasped when he blocked their attempt to behead him but it turned out they'd been aiming to make two diagonal cuts on his torso spreading from the edge of them to the shoulders; Miyabi drew some shuriken which he threw at the attacked but they repelled them and silently ran up a wall before spinning and using the inertia to try to attack Miyabi's neck but he quickly stepped back yet the attacker merely landed in a crouched position and crossed their blades as if to signal their guard was up; they suddenly began to spin them on their hands and shot them at Miyabi to get stabbed on his right hip and the left side of his waist: he pulled them out with two strings and quickly sheathed them before running for Miyabi with the 10 knives drawn.
"Hmpf." Miyabi grinned.
The figure seemed to gasp and they then slipped because oil had been scattered on the ground and was a rather frictionless surface so they slid and crashed against an empty drum, which they knocked over: they rudely tossed it away and quickly ran up another wall to get atop another one-storey building and gain an advantage position.
"Miyabi… That wall-climbing thing is "van der Waals force"… Ripped from MGS4… This guy was sent by Twilight, alright."
"Hmpf. It was obvious from the very start. Yet… They only seem to speak English. They must be a foreigner… I'll test them."
He quickly scribbled "Dark Miyabi" in katakana on a sheet of paper and showed it to the guy.
"This is a curse." He tried to intimidate him.
"Mwah, hah, hah. That's what ya would like."
Cloud Man's 3D image formed next to the guy while crossing his arms and looking rather amused.
"It says "Dark Miyabi", Talon! Finish them off! Curses don't exist!"
"Roger."
"Hmpf. Come."
The "Talon" calmly spun into the air and aimed both blades for Miyabi's shoulders but he suddenly pulled a wire having an old-fashioned oil lamp on it: the lamp shattered and the suit was stained with oil.
"Explosion!"
"What!"
Shadow Man materialized all of a sudden and shot a spheroid of flame at the "Talon": the suit caught fire and Cloud Man gasped.
"Damn it! Zoan Gate Man! Remote Gate: NOW! Into some nearby pool: move your ASS!" He commanded.
"R-roger! Remote Gate!"
"I'll remember this!"
"Oboeteyaru!" Shadow Man translated.
The "Talon" jumped inside of the "Remote Gate" and was warped while Cloud Man's 3D image sighed in relief.
"Damn it! You did it in purpose to cut the fight short because you knew that you wouldn't last much longer at that rate!"
"Hmpf. I'll applaud their pro style of being quiet and knowing how to make use of the terrain yet when I found it was a human I knew I could pull an old-fashioned trick no – one expects because it's just that: old – fashioned." Miyabi drily told him.
"The Anger God will reap your soul." Shadow Man taunted.
"Nugru~h! I'll remember this!"
The 3D image vanished too and Miyabi calmly took out bandages to wrap around the wounds, which hadn't bled too much.
"Hmpf. Twilight… You want war with the Miyabi Family? You'll have it!"
"Served in a silver platter along with powder… Heh, heh, heh…"