Uploaded December 7, 2014. Merry Christmas all!
With the wall blasted apart Omega took a quick peek into it, grumbling to himself. The red demon was part-way through his mission, an unlikely adventure where the objectives were vague and the methodology even moreso. Infiltrate Legion through pipes with unknown checkpoints, get some intel he had no clue about, and get out on his own. Nothing he couldn't handle of course.
The pipe he had just broken into appeared to function as a ventilation shaft, likely designed to aerate rooms on multiple levels while all connected to a central cooling system. With any luck, Omega pondered, he could hit up the central cooling room and sabotage it, drawing attention away from him and whatever place had the computers he'd undoubtedly need to hack.
That, unfortunately, was where his plan had a few holes. He didn't know which computer room to enter. He rummaged through his gear (thankfully he'd had enough of a mind to drag his goo-sodden pants along with him after transing into the agnathian pseudoroid), fishing out his communicator. It dripped slowly, the thick slime stuck fast. Omega sighed, cleaned it up as best as he could, and tested the device to see if he had a communication line. Hopefully the raiders had managed to bypass the earlier attempts at having their frequency detected, but you never knew.
Much to his delight and relief, it took very little time for his call to be returned. "Control, we have received your signal, over."
"Right. Control, mission is progressing smoothly, I am at the desired location where the pipes intersect. Can you tell me where the intel is that you need so that I can plan a route? Over."
"We copy you, just give us a moment..." Omega grunted, but his patience was not tested for long. "Alright, we have the required information. The ventilation pipe seems to lead to either a large series of vents or a cooling station; we suggest you head there first."
"That was the plan."
"Ah, understood. Anyways, that location is highly likely to be guarded, but if you can... bypass security, the computer room should be up about two floors, directly above room... TK-31, I believe. You could blow up straight through the two floors, but do it quietly. Most of the rooms in the area seem to be long-term projects, so with any luck there won't be many scientists around to raise the alarm. You know what to do if there are some there, though. Once inside the room just connect the server to the communicator and we'll take over the hacking from our end. Over."
"Roger that, objectives confirmed. Returning to mission."
Omega turned the communicator off, deciding to take better care of it in the meantime. He poked his head back into the ventilation pipe, grumbling. It looked like it might be a bit too convoluted for him to navigate properly in his humanoid form. He had to muse a bit, but in the end he settled on trying out a form he knew would be flexible enough to pull it off.
Only after he'd transformed into Ejen the snake did he realize just how... odd her design was. The, well, 'assets' on the seductress' front were wreaking havoc with his natural balance, which was already pretty off-kilter since he had no legs. There was another problem. Without legs, he couldn't put on the pants, and without pants, there were no pockets for his communicator.
Here was pause.
"Huh."
And then he'd tied the pants around his chest and stuck the communicator between what were now dubbed the 'portable shelving units' on the front. He'd be damned if he wasn't going to make them useful for something.
As unfamiliar and thus uncomfortable as the form was, though, he did indeed make good use of it, sinuously bending backwards and forwards and every other which way though the shaft. Likely it had been designed that way so only the cleaning mechaniloids could navigate it, rather than any intruders, but it seemed they really hadn't counted on a giant snake getting in there. Oh well, score another point for his EX combos being useful.
After a decent amount of navigation through the convoluted system, with more than one outright vertical segment causing him no end of frustration, the transformed red reploid managed to finally hit the section of the system where vents were common. The station must have been elsewhere then, but hey, it was workable. He ignored the random chatter below as it drifted upwards from Legion employees below, although he did have to suppress a small fit of laughter when one complained about a sewer-like smell. He'd clearly need a wash later.
It took a while, but eventually he found the right room. Peering around cautiously, Omega shifted the grate off of the vent and dropped to the ground. For now, the space was unoccupied, but he didn't count on his luck holding for long. For that, he had a backup plan.
Less than a minute later the sprightly form of Grey meandered out of the room, casually striding through the halls. He passed several guards on the way to his destination, that TK-whatever room, and merely smiled and waved as he walked by, deflecting their confused look at the overlarge pants (and little else) he wore. Security in the cooling area was clearly lax.
Within the room, that smile quickly disappeared. A swift surveillance on the room revealed a single camera that was quickly destroyed. A bookcase, bolted to the ground, was torn off and quietly placed in front on the door alongside anything else relatively movable to form a thick barricade. Precious moments were given to considering the next move before he'd suddenly swapped back into his wyvern form, barely fitting into the small space. Nonetheless, he wasn't here to fly.
Strong claws made quick work of the ceiling, boring a hole into the next floor up. In the above room a pair of mechaniloid guards swerved to face him. One maverick mayhem EX skill later and they were no longer a problem, the robots disappearing through the door to bother someone else. Thankfully no civilians were around to raise the alarm on him as he continued to bash his way higher. Water began to trickle through cracks part-way through the endeavour, making Omega very glad he'd barricaded the room as more and more liquid seeped through and filled his own room.
Once he was finished pummelling through the infrastructure, Omega poked his head up and found himself in a large room with thick, blinking consoles and towering servers. The room was large and vaguely square-shaped. Tall barriers surrounded the lower levels of computers, reaching up almost endlessly in the surprisingly tall room. He could not see much further than a few stories though as darkness loomed and concealed anything else. The numerous lights were surprisingly dull compared to the dark corners that seemed to surround each layer of circuits and thick metal. Omega cautiously transformed back to his humanoid form, pattering into the facility from his hole in the ground and glancing around for any signs of life. It was hard to spot anything different, however, due to the constant blinking of lights and subtle hum of cooling systems and motors.
Seeing no immediate threat, the devil reploid pulled himself through the (slightly wet?) floor and continued into the room, immediately finding an oddly waterproof looking console nearby. He rifled through his pocket for the communicator, attaching it to the console. The screen brightened and bleeped as the communicator connected with the server.
A noisy bang resounded.
Omega whirled behind himself, tensing for a fight. His escape route had been blocked by a large, crudely constructed metal block. Greyish water swirled around his feet as it rose. More blocks crashed to the ground on either side, framing a small area with him inside it.
"LEAK DETECTED. SEALING REGION."
With an almighty groan a monstrous shape plummeted from the sky and crashed to the floor, sending a small wave of water flying through the air.
Omega huffed, summoning a blade and kicking at the water, now up to his ankles. "Water in a computer room? Seems silly to me."
Even as he said that, the humoungous shape began to light up, a small, sharp face glaring down at him from a towering thick neck and gigantic body. Engines, or turbines, hummed to life as the beast swivelled its neck to stare down at the small intruder. "LIQUID COOLING SYSTEMS WILL NOT WORK WITH DAMAGE TO FLOOR. INTRUDER DETECTED. SHOW CLEARANCE OR PROTECTIVE MEASURES WILL BE TAKEN," it roared.
Cracking his knuckles and readying his sword, Omega growled, "And who dares boss me around, huh?"
"I AM PLESIOCOAL THE SAUROPTEROID. IT IS MY DUTY TO MAINTAIN THE COOLING SYSTEMS FOR THE MAIN SERVERS OF LEGION. YOU HAVE FAILED TO COMPLY WITH THE ORDER TO SHOW CLEARANCE. YOU SHALL NOW BE ELIMINATED!"
With a screeching roar, the battle began. The room filled with water, showing why so many of the systems were either waterproof or protected. At least he knew how the cooling system worked now. Omega wasted no time taking evasive action and putting as much room as possible between himself and the hulking behemoth of a pseudoroid in front of him. It was at least several times his height when fully stretched. Not to mention the thick neck and durable armour would make it a pain when hit, literally.
The water slowed him down slightly, so he transformed into Oceatar again. A quick dash around his opponent revealed few weaknesses however, and gave the heavily plated Plesiocoal plenty of time to charge up an attack. The next thing he knew, Omega was getting assaulted by fiery explosives.
A water type that could use fire based attacks? Suddenly his ice typing was at a major disadvantage.
Another quick trans and he was in his regular form sans his characteristic red armour. He slashed at the sauropteroid with three quick strikes. Alas, the armour proved too thick to be damage, simply ringing as his blade skittered over its surface. The pseudoroid replied in kind, the gigantic engines on its back whirring to life as it turned around, smashing its thick neck into the pest attacking it. A growl erupted from both of them. Omega was durable to be sure, but even he sure felt it when that much sheer mass smashed into him.
Omega turned into Goonatha again, increasing the water's viscosity as he retreated to a safer distance. The huge blocks hemming them in didn't provide much room to manoeuvre with the dinosaur bot smack dab in the middle, but a little room was better than none. Turning around he saw the sauropteroid following him, but then the great turbines made a frustrated, deep whine when the slimy water began gumming them up. Regardless, Omega barely dodged the hulking shape due to the momentum already built up.
A resounding crash shook the room, small electronics falling into the arena. One such piece nicked Omega in the face, but the cut soon healed. Plesiocoal, on the other hand, was somewhat stunned by the impact.
Omega took advantage of this fact ruthlessly. He rushed back into the fray, placing bombs throughout the water by the sensitive engines and ever a few by the wall too, hoping to cause some drainage. He barely avoided his enemy's jaws snapping at him a few times once the beastly mutos had recovered, but the bombs went off shortly afterwards, distracting him. Damage was evident in the way the turbines shrieked with a metallic scraping, and the blocks composing the walls cracked enough that much of the water leaked out.
Omega had just enough time to return to his original form before the dinosaur belched a flamethrower at him, clearly angered and roaring in pain and frustration. Plesiocoal's small head swung through the air, his eyes practically slits as he glared down at the devil reploid. Omega, for his part, splashed some water on his face to lessen the damage from the flaethrower. He jumped out of the way of another round of burning explosives before he slashed his sword through the waist-deep water and sent a shockwave of electricity speeding towards the Sauropteroid. It hit head on as Plesiocoal was too large to move in the shallower water. After a few more waves of electricity and one round of bombs to try defending himself, the great dinosaur reploid groaned in defeat. The heavy neck and damaged chassis fell with a boom, never to rise again.
Omega walked over, placing a hand on the body to absorb the DNA, then sauntered leisurely over to the terminal with his communicator on it.
He activated it. "Mission control, requesting information on your progress? Over."
"Progress complete. Feel free to remove the communicator and make your way to a safe pickup-!"
Red lights blared. Alarms wailed as the sound of heavy mechanics locking down began to ring through the aisles of computers.
Something shifted. Omega whirled around, communicator in hand, to view the not-quite-dead-yet form of the mutos reploid. "SELF... DESTRUCT... ACTIVATED. RUN, MAVERICK SCUM. RUN."
Omega didn't need to be told twice. With the pseudoroid already beginning to overheat and explode behind him, the God of Destruction raced through the halls of computers, firing off random shots and aiming towards the nearest wall-like structure. He broke through with ease, but that was only the beginning.
He was smack dab in the middle of Legion, now on high alert, and had no idea where to go from here. To add to his problems, the ventilation systems were now having a serious problem, hot steamy air being expelled rapidly because of his destruction of the pseudoroid meant to monitor them. Having no other choice, he simply picked a direction and ran.
XoXoXoXoX
Atlas didn't even flinch when the alarms went off. Her and Siarnaq dropped everything and ran, ducking under hissing hot air as it escaped the vents. Aeolus showed up next as they barged unceremoniously into the room where the Masters, as well as another dignitary from somewhere, were looking around the room cautiously.
"We have an intruder, it seems." Thomas frowned.
Thetis flailed into the room, already megamerged and panting, "What's going on!?"
The dignitary squeaked, but a reassuring look from Mikhail seemed to settle him. "We're not sure. Technicians are just looking into it."
Not a moment later an alert rang from Mikhail's handheld computer, usually used for viewing scheduling, but now an insider's look at the proceedings. Mikhail spared it a quick glance that shifted to a deep glare, "I've just been messaged. It seems we had a hacker into our computer systems. We've just sent a warning to all stations, Neither the water treatment plant or the main server area have returned any findings. From this I can assume we've had an infiltrator of some sort take them out. Mega men!"
Pandora and Prometheus, standing guard nearby, perked up along with the rest of the group.
"Listen up, I won't tell you twice! Whomever is behind the attacks, we can be sure they're going to have to make a break for it. All security checkpoints are being sealed as we speak, but knowing some of our enemies that may not be enough. We need you to spread out and cover the rooftops and other key points! No more dawdling, Mega Men! Off you go!"
The four elemental Mega Men were off in an instant. Sadly the Model A and ZX biomatches were not around to help. Pandora and Prometheus gave the Masters a questioning look; Thomas nodded them off, "You too. We'll be fine here, get searching!"
The duo didn't need to be told twice. They turned and raced out of the room even as more guards filed in behind them.
"So, what do you think? Got any ideas who it might be?"
Pandora didn't say anything in response to her brother, instead shaking her head. However, her hand went to her chest, clutching an object dangling there. The omega symbol they'd found in the room of their traitorous comrade.
Prometheus smirked, his hand also straying to something he'd recently acquired concerning the red demon, "Well, maybe our fortunes will change for the better? If not... best of luck sis!" The pair broke apart and dashed in the opposite directions without another word.
The hunt was on.
XoXoXoXoX
Meanwhile, the red reploid responsible for the chaos was having his own issues. His communicator wasn't working in the proximity of Legion headquarters, and slowly but surely guards and defensive mechaniloids were piling up onto his position no matter how much he moved around. Even for him it was hard to keep the rapidly rising numbers at bay. More often than not he was taking a time-consuming detour on his way out of the city, blasting through windows and leaping between buildings. The streets below were swarming with Legionnaires and other armed troops, it would be beyond futile for him to go down there and have to waste precious minutes clearing them out of his way, not to mention the innumerable transport vehicles clogging up the roads. Once or twice he even had to stop dead as a group passed by, hoping they wouldn't notice him if he didn't move. Some of those vehicles had some nasty looking cannons attached.
Because of this, Omega was forced to take the high and slow road even as flying mechaniloids converged on his location. But the further he got away from the HQ the better his communicator's signal seemed to be becoming. It wasn't long until he finally managed a shifty signal halfway between the HQ and the walls of the city.
"Damnit it's not-! There! There you are! Thank heavens we managed to contact you. Mission report?" The Raider navigator seemed both startled and relieved at hearing his voice.
"Currently escaping Legion, not having an easy time of it," he relayed, describing his coordinates even as he continued moving closer and closer to the great city's walls. Thankfully there was more than plenty of room for him to manoeuvre among the skyscrapers and various other tall buildings.
"Right. We can't seem to hack the teleport servers so we're going to have to do this the old fashioned way again. We'll send a ship in to pick you up; keep the communicator on standby and we'll do what we can to hone in on the signal!"
"Roger. Over and out."
Omega pocketed the device, glancing around at his surroundings to try and find the best location to be picked up at. He saw a particularly tall skyscraper with a flat roof and headed there, once again making far slower progress than he would have liked. He scaled the side of it with his haroid form's rapid pace, but occasionally a shot would knock him down a ways. Finally reaching the top, he transformed back into his humanoid form to wait.
He hadn't reached the top unnoticed.
"AHAH!"
The devil reploid didn't think twice,throwing himself to the side as a blast of flame scorched him in passing. He watched it continue on for a ways across the rooftop.
Omega turned.
"Yo."
Prometheus, red eyes glowing, grinned.
Cliffhangar. HAVE FUN!