Chapter 3, Mysterious message.
Resistance base.
It had been 4 years since Ciel had fled from Neo Arcadia.
In this time the Resistance had used the data that she had stolen to perform several successful missions against Neo Arcadia, they had stolen supplies and rescued prisoners.
However it seemed that whatever advantage that the data had given to them had long since run out, Neo Arcadia's armies had adapted, they had built more powerful solders and altered their tactics.
The Resistance was quickly being destroyed, they lost more of their numbers every day, they was running out of supplies and soon they wouldn't even be able to keep the power on in the base.
Ciel stared at her computer screen, her work had yet again reached a dead end, sometimes Ciel wondered if she was just wasting her time with this.
During the passed 4 years Ciel had had quite the impact on the Resistance, she was now second in command next to Milan, Ciel was now wearing basic armour that was coloured pink, she also had a pink helmet that resembled the ones worn by Reploids.
"Ciel are you OK" asked a Cyber elf name Passy who looked a little like Ciel, "I'm fine, don't worry" said Ciel with a forced smile, Ciel and Passy had meet 4 years ago when Ciel had first came to the Resistance base and the two had been friends ever.
"But you look so tired" said Passy sounding concerned, it was true Ciel hadn't gotten any sleep last night she was too busy working "I know" sighed Ciel quietly.
Ciel decided that she wasn't going to get anywhere with this project today so she turned off her computer "Passy would you watch Alouette for me" she asked, "Sure" said Passy, "Thanks" said Ciel as she left her room to see if there was anything that she could help with around the base.
As Ciel walked through the base she couldn't help but think about how shabby it look, the walls, floor and even ceiling was all cracked, all of their equipment was falling apart and was only being held together by patch jobs, and everyone that Ciel passed look ready to give up.
Ciel would like to say that the Resistance was holding it's self together, but the truth was that they was on their last legs, Ciel knew that soon the Resistance would fall and everything that they had been fighting for would be lost.
Ciel entered the command room and found Milan talking with their engineer Cerveau, Ciel could tell just by looking that whatever the two was talking about wasn't good.
"What's wrong" asked Ciel, neither Milan or Cerveau seemed to know how to break this news to their friend, finally Milan spoke, "Cerveau has just finished calculating how much longer our power will last" he said sadly.
Ciel felt her heart drop, she knew that this day was coming but she still dreaded it, "How long do we have" she asked, "Two weeks, maybe even less" said Cerveau his voice filled with despair.
Ciel sank into a chair, "So this is it then" she said, "Hey, don't talk like that, maybe we could raid one of the factories and get more supplies" suggested Cerveau, "We can't, Neo Arcadia had boosted their defences, we don't have the fire power to do anything to them" said Milan stating what they all knew deep down.
The three was silent for a moment until Cerveau spoke, "How are we going to tell everyone" he asked, no one said anything, no one wanted to be the one to break the news to the rest of the Resistance, "I'll tell everyone in the morning, let them have one more night thinking that things will be OK, Ciel you should go and get some sleep, you look like you could use it" said Milan.
The three agreed and left the command room, however what they was unaware of was that they was being watched by a small robotic bug that was hiding in one of the crakes of the walls.
That night the little bug flew out of it's hiding place and plugged itself into the command room's computer, the bug uploaded something into the system and then flew away and out of the base.
The next day.
Ciel woke up but she wasn't feeling refreshed, she knew that Milan would be telling everyone about their situation today, she knew that today everyone's hope would die.
Ciel left her room and made her way over to the command room, it was still very early so most of the Resistance was yet to wake.
Milan was already in the command room when Ciel arrived and he looked about as bad as Ciel felt, "Have you told them yet" asked Ciel, "No, I thought it would be better if I waited for everyone to get up first" said Milan, despite what he said Ciel knew that he was only staling.
"I should probably check that there wasn't any of Neo Arcadia's troops near the base last night" thought Ciel as she sat down at the computer and turned it on intending to check the outside cameras.
As soon as the computer was on a set of files immediately popped up named DWN-∞ ZERO, Ciel was confused she knew that she hadn't put these file on the computer, "Milan did you put these files on here" asked Ciel, Milan walked over "No, I've never seen they before" he said sounding worried.
The two was filled with concern, how did these files get there, could this be the work of Neo Arcadia, if so then their data could be in danger, though there wasn't much worth stealing at this point anyway.
Ciel cautiously clicked on the files and was even more confused at what she saw, "Is that the legendary Reploid Zero" asked Milan, "I think so" said Ciel, the files showed Zero on his various missions and detailed his achievements.
However what caught Ciel's attention the most was the last file, Ciel opened the file and saw that it contained quadrants to a unknown location, it contained details on a hidden lab, and at the bottom was the words, Zero is here, awaken him.
Ciel stared at the computer screen the location was not too far from the Resistance base they could probably be there in a day "Milan do you think that Zero really is" she said with the first signs of hope in her voice for months.
Milan didn't want the destroy Ciel's hope but he had to be realistic"That's impossible, he was destroyed over 100 years ago" he said, it was true everyone knew about the death of Zero, it was taught in every school, and yet Ciel couldn't help but gain a little hope when she looked at the files.
"But if it is true, then Zero could be our only hope of surviving Neo Arcadia" said Ciel, "Ciel, even if it is true, we don't have the resources to go out there" said Milan trying to be as gentle as possible.
"We don't have the resources to do anything" said Ciel, "Milan this could be our last chance" she said with determination, Milan thought about this and about their other options, "Well, I guess it's better to fail then to not try at all" he said.
Ciel jumped up and hugged Milan, "I'll start to gather a team together" said Milan, "What, we're going now" asked Ciel a little surprised, "Like you said, we don't have the resources to wait around" he said.
Milan had quickly put a team together, the team would consist of about a dozen Reploids plus Milan, Ciel and Passy, Milan had tried to convince Ciel to stay behind but she had insisted on going.
The base was filled with activity, no one had expected Milan's sudden orders and many was confused about all of this, there was a couple of Reploids loading the Resistance's only transport, they would soon be setting off.
While everyone was busy Ciel left to find Cerveau, there was something very important that she needed to ask him before she left.
Ciel found Cerveau in the lab (the lab was really just the base's generator room that had a few tables put in it), Cerveau was working on the base's generator likely trying to keep the lights on for another day.
"Cerveau could you do me a huge favour" asked Ciel, "Sure what do you need" asked Cerveau as he turned away from the generator, "Could you keep an eye on Alouette while I'm gone" said Ciel, "Of course, I'll make sure that she's OK" said Cerveau with a kind smile.
"Thank you, just be sure that she's in bed by 9:00pm, and make sure that she cleans up her toys after she's done playing with them, and don't" said Ciel, Cerveau couldn't help but smile, "Ciel if you don't hurry they'll leave without you" he said.
Ciel remembered what she was supposed to be doing right now, "Oh right, thanks again bye" said Ciel as she left the lab to join up with the team.