Wow, bout time... The last update for this fic was December 17th of... 2012?! And now it's September 1st of 2014. Huh. Holy cow, pigs are flying! And I swear it wasn't me flinging them about with a catapult! I blame a severe case of writer's block.

Anyways, without further ado, thank you all so much for being patient! Enjoy!

Being awoken by someone knocking on your door was quickly becoming one of Omega's least favourite ways of waking up.

An incessant clanking sound reverberated through his room, his eyes shooting open even as his nerves spiked. He hadn't slept well last night, and being forced to deal with someone immediately upon waking up was not exactly helping matters. Nonetheless he roused himself from wrinkled sheets and hollered at the door, demanding a moment to get himself ready. Clothes were quickly snatched and put on, his hair being flattened and brushed down in a few short seconds. Omega opened the door soon afterwards, glaring down at the helmeted raider. He'd found over the years, much to his delight, that most regular people were shorter than him. It was a fact he was taking advantage of ruthlessly.

The raider grunt quailed under his gaze, but managed to gather enough courage to deliver his message. "B-boss Scimitar would see you in the bridge, please."

Omega stared for a moment longer, snorted, then entered the hall and closed the door behind him. "Very well, I'll go."

The raider pattered off, Omega following sedately behind. He made a mental note of the time, deciding that he might as well get used to early wake up calls and setting his unofficial internal alarm clock to wake him up a little earlier each morning. It would hopefully give him a bit more time to prepare himself better...

The God of Destruction meandered sedately into the bridge a few minutes later, on guard and investing only mild interest in the activity below the main platform. Scimitar turned around in his chair, smiling benignly, "Ah, good morning! Nice seeing you up. Sorry to wake you, but we've got to get a few things sorted out today, a new mission for you and all that."

Any remains of sleep dispelled immediately at the news. Omega stood stiffly, regarding Scimitar intently, "I'm listening."

A few raiders in the background seemed almost to wince, perhaps from Omega's lack of honorifics. This was a fairly military group, the red reploid agreed with that much, but he was not getting into the habit of calling anyone 'sir' or whatever the others thought he should. He's been permanently disgusted at the idea of ever addressing someone as a superior after the whole Lord Weil thing. Widely regarded titles (such as 'Master' for Thomas or Mikhail) was one thing, personal ego-boosting stick-ons like 'sir' or 'boss' were another entirely.

"Okay, good, good! First off, we're going to give you a proper codename. It's rather difficult trying to address you sometimes, you know. Imagine if we had to call you over the PA! 'Oh, attention please, would that guy with the silver hair, whatsisface, please come to the bridge?' Yeah, that wouldn't be good for either of us. So! We are going to get you a codename or a name, whatever you'd like, hmm?" Scimitar had been gesturing comically throughout parts of his speech, grinning and managing to get a few giggles from his staff in the meantime. Omega did have to admit that the raider had a point.

"Fair enough," he smirked, "I guess I'd better get a name." That would be rather embarrassing to get paged like that, he admitted mentally.

"Just like I thought! Hmm, me and Alfredo were thinking of a few names for a bit, but we finally managed to settle on a few particular I think. You're quite an enigma, no one knows much about you, a 'zero' if you will," he spoke, again gesturing grandly, but not as wildly as before.

Omega's eyebrow raised. A 'zero'? They had no idea how close to the truth that was he chuckled mentally.

Scimitar continued heedless of the silver mercenary, "So, once we settled on that 'zero' theme, we started thinking about things related to that, and so on. And since older languages are often interesting to use, and since we already have the whole Greek thing going on because of Alpha, we decided on a few different codenames. But, well, we weren't really sure which one you'd like specifically, so... Well, here's a few. Nulla, Omicron, Zero, Outheis, and so on. Any one of 'em take your fancy?"

Omega hummed to himself, considering the options. It was a big decision to make. 'Zero' was definitely out, and he told the raiders as such. Omicron seemed a bit unlikely too. But after that, he was stumped. He squinted in thought, but Scimitar just grinned.

"Hey, no worries, we don't have to figure it out right away. If you come up with any ideas on your own just give us a shout. In the meantime, you have a mission." Scimitar swivelled around in his chair, tapping away at the control console. An image of Legion's headquarters popped up with a chime on a nearby monitor before he turned back around, waving his hand at the screen as Omega watched.

"Long story short, Legion has some information that we'd like to get our hands on. The problem is that their security is tighter than a jar from my ole' grandma's cupboard. However, as you can see from these schematics we managed to get from an insider," said the raider, pointing, "there are a couple of breakages in the defences. A few options are available for infiltrating the main computer room, there, but preferably we'd like to stick to the most undetectable option. As you can see, there's a long line of pipeworks designed to deal with servicing, repairs and water transportation. They all but connect at this point here."

Alfredo leaned over a console, typing some commands that caused the main image to zoom in on a particular point. Although the schematics were overall very intricate and constantly criss-crossing in a random pattern, the location to which Scimitar was now pointing indeed showed what looked like two large pipes all but connecting straight to one another, separated only by the barrier of their respective walls.

"The plan is to insert an agent who can be versatile enough to navigate through the sewage tunnels, break through that barrier, and continue through the other pipe networks and ventilation systems."

Omega grunted, folding his arms. "I take it this is where I come in, then?"

"You've got it! The only problem is that Legion knows full well about this little issue and has key points set up along the desired route that are unmarked along the map. Luckily for us camera surveillance is fairly minimal due to signal interference, however the aforementioned points are monitored by weapon-grade pseudoroids who also double their functionality as maintenance workers on the system. This is why we need you, because we know for sure that you can handle yourself in a scrap, not to mention your, ahem, variability. You up to the task?"

The red reploid's eyes thinned, but apart from that there was little other sign of emotion. "Of course. Will I need to navigate through these passages myself or will I be given coordinates?"

"We will try to have a navigator to guide you through the system, although contact will be audio-only. The depths of some of the passages may interfere with our signal too, and at times we may or may not have to cut off completely to avoid detection."

"Of course."

"As you could probably guess by now, the less of a fuss you make going through that network of tunnels the better. However, by the time you reach the computer room they'll have probably detected some sort of disturbance and begun sealing things off. At that point, the best option is just to get straight out and we'll find out where to pick you up from there. I heard that someone managed to get their way into Legion once via the rooftops; although they're a little more guarded nowadays from people trying to get in, perhaps they'll serve you well as an escape route."

"Roger that. I'm ready whenever you are," nodded Omega.

"Right then. Mission start!"

x-x-x-x-x

The sun shone cool but bright as the raider transport landed outside the walls of Legion. In the shadow of the great fortifications the low-flying craft opened its hatch, dropping its cargo before speedily flying away, a wail of sirens arising as it left. The wall's defences were activated, but upon seeing the craft retreat they slowly returned to a relaxed state. In the commotion caused by the ship, not a soul noticed that its payload had moved. A violet streak flashed in front of a large round grate. Moments later, a shadow flitted into the new opening, Legion's security none the wiser.

Omega wasted no time, dashing through the service tunnels without a sound. He kept his ears open for trouble, but it was a significant distance into the meandering networks before even a few small mechaniloids appeared. These were easily dealt with using his sword. He went silent after the blasts from the dying robots faded, listening for any alarms.

His communicator vibrated. Assuring himself that no one had heard anything, he activated it. "Hello control, infiltration successful so far, over."

"Roger that, glad to hear it. Attempting to locate you now." Omega waited patiently as the sounds of a keyboard being furiously tapped echoed over the communicator.

"Understood, control. Awaiting orders."

It didn't take long for the tapping to subside. One muted conversation later his operator spoke up again, relaying directions and coordinates for him from his current position. Omega nodded along even though he doubted they could see him. Before long the briefing was brought to an abrupt halt. "Hold on, we're detecting Legion sensors. They're trying to locate and intercept our communications. We'll need to maintain radio silence from now on. Remember, message us back once you're in the clear for a pickup, and watch out for any security drones or cameras we may not know about. Over."

The transmission dropped. After a quick huff to himself, the red reploid turned off the communicator before proceeding to his destination. It was pretty much a long, boring trip with little interference. He slowed down a bit along the way once more mechaniloids and even a camera or two started appearing, but it was clear that most machinery along the way was old or decrepit. It was obvious that the tunnels were not a route that intruders were expected to take.

At one point his path turned into a sewage line. Omega's nose crinkled in disgust at the scene, but he kept moving forwards. The important jobs weren't always the most glamourous ones, it seemed. He followed the line as he knew it would lead him to the appointed spot, taking extra precaution to avoid the foul mess beside him. It was with an audible sigh of relief that Omega finally reached the treatment area. Almost through that mess! He leaped over a few holding tanks filled with chemicals and algae meant to treat the waste, holding his breath as he did so.

Finally in the clear, the God of Destruction relaxed a little once he was on the other side. Here, the water flowed clearly and, more importantly, cleanly and without any smell. He looked around, trying to find the next tunnel he was supposed to take.

A splash caught his attention.

"Oi oi! Restricted zone! Restricted zone!"

Leaping from the water a long, thin silhouette appeared. It landed with a clatter, wide fin segments holding up a thinner body. Large segmented portions were present at the chest and waist parts of its body. A lean, ugly face cocked towards the surprised raider while a tail cracked the air behind it. "You lost little buddy, you lost? Oi oi! No, you shouldn't be here, not at all! Oi oi!"

Omega simply whipped out his saber, holding the glowing blade towards the pseudoroid. "I'm not lost at all, thank you. I know exactly where I am going."

"Oi oi oi! An intruder then, an intruder! Oi oi! This is bad! Bad, bad! Oi!" With surprising agility the mutos flung itself back in the water, reappearing shortly after. However, it brought with it a filmy substance that covered its thinner segments in a thick goo. "Oi oi! You being here is very bad! You look like trouble, bad! I can't let you damage the treatment plant! I'm Goonatha the mixinioid, guardian of the treatment plant! I'll stop you and get security in here, oi oi!"

With that, Goonatha attacked. Omega simply rolled aside as the mutos lobbed some sort of projectile at him. Omega replied in kind with a wave from his saber that travelled along the ground, sparking with electricity. His opponent hopped out of the way. Snorting, the God of Destruction dashed in for some more close combat, eager to finish off an apparently inexperienced foe.

What he wasn't suspecting was to completely lose control, sliding on the goop left over and landing flat on his ass.

"Oi oi, not gonna let you close, oi oi! Nasty looking saber there, oi!"

Omega managed to scramble upwards just in time to get another blob in the face. This time it was laced with an explosive, the blast overbalancing him once more. More of the substance added insult to injury, sticking to him and dragging him down.

Omega grimaced, remembering the slime trap from the Temporoc mission with Legion, "I hate slime! That's it!" Temper rising, the red reploid froze the goop, shattering it with pure force afterwards. Goonatha squeaked with displeasure, but continued his assault by spraying globs everywhere. Omega dodged. Their little dance continued for some time, Goonatha splattering the field and affecting Omega's movement while also slashing at him with his tail whenever the Devil Reploid got too close. Likewise Omega slashed at him at every opportunity, long range waves and short range swordsmanship working together to keep the mutos well on his toes.

"Yeep! This fight is not going so well, oi oi!" Goonatha yelped after a particularly close shave. He leaped back into the water. Omega, bordering on extreme annoyance, made the mistake of chasing after him. He was right about to jump into the water when the mixiniod splashed towards him with a wave of slime in front of him. The red reploid went down, the slime hitting the path like a tidal wave before retreating back into the holding pool.

Now it was Goonatha standing on the edge of the pool, looking down at his enemy struggling, suspended, in the viscous fluid below. "Oi oi! Time to cool down for a bit, oi!"

Their eyes locked. Omega grimaced, then grinned. The next thing the mixinoid knew, a fish-like mutos was rocketing towards him.

"Oi-?!"

Oceatar's lance hit its mark, spearing through the mixiniod's midsection. The pseudoroid went down with a hole torn in its chest, dead in an instant. Omega, meanwhile, flopped uselessly for a moment before reverting to his normal form. He stood up triumphantly.

One second later, he was face-first on the ground again.

"Goddamn slime! Gwah!"

He was not a very happy God of Destruction at the moment. Frowning, the newly recruited raider considered his situation. None of his forms could really handle the slime well, no doubt any fliers would be bogged down and even swimming with Oceatar had taken a lot of effort. Standing was completely out of the question.

Then he looked over at Goonatha's remains. Oh, right.

One minute later he was merrily on his way, surfing along the ground with a slightly altered opinion on the subject of goopy substances. They weren't half as bad as long as they were on your side! The mixinioid's form made quick work of travelling through the water supply tunnels, Omega jumping in or out of the water as the situation demanded. He eventually realized that he was leaving a bit of a trail, but by the time he did he'd already hit the location where the pipes from Legion's ventilation crossed over top of the water routes. He lobbed a few sticky bombs at the required location. Small explosions weakened the walls of the pipes, and a couple more swings from his sabre finished the job silently.

Part one of that job was over with relatively little fuss. Now onto the fun part.

Omega grinned, cracking his knuckle in anticipation of the mindless destruction yet to come.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Grey twitched. Slowly cracking open his eyes, the tanned young reploid stretched out looked around his surroundings. It took a moment for him to un-bury himself from the pile of pillows and stuffed animals he was currently in and still do it quietly. He blinked, then grinned, pulling himself up as he peeked over at the long-haired figure asleep on the bed across the room.

"Night, Vent," Grey mumbled softly before he turned off the lights and left. The door closed with a soft whoosh as he walked gently down the hall towards the command centre of the majestic ship. The sky, a beautiful blazing blue with few clouds in sight, whipped past outside the windows.

Aile looked up as he entered.

"Thank heavens, finally someone gets Vent to go to sleep! I thought I'd never hear the end of his fussing over the ship's new engines this, stabilizers that. Seriously, he way overworks himself," she said, tutting and smirking at the same time.

"You worked a lot too, though!" Grey argued.

"Someone has to stay awake and watch the ship..."

The young mega man frowned determinedly, "You're next, mom."

"Oh dear, I fear I will indeed fall prey to your power to lull people asleep. Seriously though, how did you do it?" she smiled.

"I made him tell me about why you guys had all those stuffed toys in your room, and then made him tell me every single one of their names."

Aile stifled a laugh, "Yup, that would about do it. Oh, Prairie... Ah, never mind." The Model ZX mega man turned around, checking the screens in front of her. Grey came over and leaned on the back of her chair as he peaked over her shoulder.

"So, any luck?"

"I'm afraid not. The systems are operating well as far as I can tell, but no signatures for any mavericks or raiders. Hopefully that's because they aren't there, not because we can't find them. They've been displaying some rather unsettling behaviours and abilities lately, and then there's the issue with that one guy... Nevermind. That's why it's going to be our job to keep an eye on the raiders from now on! But first, would you mind getting Fleuve for me, honey?"

"Okay mom!" Grey ran off.

And so, the first mission for the newly refurbished Grand Nuage continued.