Invading Mission... Part 2...
... Ban: " why is Kaiser here?"
Jin narrowed his eyes at the additional parts on the LBX's armor. They were similar to those of the Killer Droid's.
Jin: " they even upgraded it. This will be a tough time."
He said whipping out his CCM almost automatically. Ban frowned his brows as he looked back at his friends.
Ban: " Jin and I are going to fight it. You move forward and head to the server room."
Eva nodded as she grabbed Elie by the arm.
Evangeline : " let's go."
The brunette seemed like if she wanted to protest, but decided against that and nodded.
Lilyan gave Ban a meaningful look and he smiled at her.
Ban: " I'll be fine."
Finding no sign of deceit in his voice, she nodded. Elie turned one last time as if wishing them good luck before they all ran forward.
Zenon and Odin Mk2 landed on the ground, each taking out his weapon while holding a fighting stance.
Ban: " how should we move?"
Jin squinted his eyes at the LBX.
Jin: " most likely that it has the same trick from before. Let's try to finish it quickly before it can analyse our fighting pattern."
Ban nodded as he held up his CCM. Both LBXs kicked the ground and pushed their weights forward to attack...
Gouda: " where the hell did it go?"
He grunted when the white and pink LBX faded. Hakai-O Ouga, like his partner, lost his patience and started swinging his sow sward around aimlessly, almost knocking down the other LBXs.
Nightmare: " watch out!"
He yelled out.
Sendou: " just like Ban and the others who infiltrated the Innovators LAB said. Then..."
He tried to look around for a shadow. Before he even knew it, Achilles D9 jumped and slashed at the air behind Nightmare, which suddenly emitted sparks before it revealed the said LBX.
Sendou: " it was there! So..."
Gouda: " tsk! They must have come up with some trick for the shadow thing!"
Kirito narrowed his eyes before looking at Hiro.
Kirito: " Achilles' moves just now, he was following your orders. How did you figure out the whereabout of Fairy?"
Hiro narrowed his eyes like if he was trying to figure out the same thing as well.
Hiro: " I'm not sure. It felt similar to my future visions."
Asuka: " it's disappearing again!"
Fenrir: " stay close!"
The LBXs looked around them, trying to grasp a glimpse of the white small robot.
Hiro had his eyes wide as he looked above his head.
Hiro: " there!"
The Fairy robot appeared as she fired at the humans. Fenrir quickly jumped off and blocked with his shield.
Cobra: " it aimed for us!"
Kirito : " of course it will. It's the easiest way to win. ' Shoot down the humans they're defenseless '. That's what the enemies exactly think."
Ran: " they don't care if people die. I can't forgive them!"
Kirito had to quickly think of something. As long as they're all there, their large number will be a disadvantage for them. At that rate, someone surely will get hurt. Something that Kirito wouldn't like to happen. He looked at the blunette next to him and they both exchanged nods.
Kirito: " Hiro and I will hold this thing back. You should go forward."
Gouda: " what!"
Cobra : " I agree!"
He said while ducking down and covering his head avoiding a shot.
Hiro: " I agree with Kirito-san too. We can't afford losing time here."
Sendou: " you have a point."
He grunted.
Ran: " but..."
Hiro: " I will be fine, Ran-san."
The red head looked at the confident look those brown eyes were giving her and sighed. She wasn't going to change his mind easily.
Ran: " alright! Everyone! Let's head forward!"
Minerva Kai flew ahead of them in case Fairy was willing to attack them.
Kirito and Hiro stayed back, trying to lock out the white robot.
Kirito: " Hiro, I'm betting everything on your ability now."
The blunette had his eyes narrowed, but they reflected no fear or worry. On the contrary, they flashed with confidence and determination.
Hiro: " Hai!"...
Kazu was leading the way towards the hanger, he was shifting his look between his CCM and the path in front of them. While making their way through, they had already ran into a few LBXs, but they were pushovers to them. Their number and power wasn't enough to hold them back.
Lilyan: " I have a bad feeling."
She said when they stopped, waiting for Achilles Deed to scan over the next corridor.
Jeanne D: " what do you mean?"
Ami had to agree with the blonde girl. In fact, she was as well worried.
Ami: " why there was only one strong LBX send to stop us?"
Kazu narrowed his eyes.
Kazu: " why only Kaiser, huh? They should have anticipated our arrival, they should have more strong LBXs blocking us, even more Kaisers if they were able to reproduce it."
Evangeline : " even a Killer Droid could have done the job."
Beargguy : " you have a point."
Elie: " just what are they up to?"...
With Hiro and Kirito, the white LBX's movements started lagging and sparks flew out of it as its limbs received that much of a damage. It was all thanks to Hiro's directions that allowed them to hit it directly each time it would appear from thin air.
Achilles D9: " it seems it can't hide itself anymore."
He pointed out, holding both swords as he readier himself to attack again.
Fenrir: " still, we should not let our guard down, it may have some tricks left up its sleeve."
The wolf shaped LBX had his shield up.
Hiro: " what should we do?"
Kirito narrowed his eyes as he pondered about the right choice. Should they attack right then?
His eyes widened when he saw the LBX's visors were blinking faster.
Kirito: " this is bad! Get back!"
Both humans and LBXs ran back and ducked down just as the LBX was blown off.
The explosion left a scorched mark on the grey colored floor, but no much of leftovers of the white LBX.
Achilles D9: " what..."
Kirito blinked in confusion while his mind tried to figure out what had just happened. When it was about to lose, it destroyed itself.
Hiro: " do you think they initially thought that our LBXs will get closer and will be caught in the explosion?"
Kirito : " very unlikely..."
Fenrir: " then why?"
Achilles D9: " ... Does it have secrets that they didn't want us to discover?"
Kirito frowned as the gears of his mind started spinning. What could it be that they didn't want them to discover?
He finally shook his head at the many possibilities that went over his mind and finally decided to better move forward.
Exchanging a nod with Hiro and the other robots, they made a run for the hanger...
Unfortunately for them, Kaiser's moves had gotten better by the time, easily dodging their attack and finding opening in their defense. As the time went by, Kaiser was slowly but steadily having the upper hand in their battle. The brunette gritted his teeth as their attacks weren't landing anymore.
Jin: " Ban-kun."
He looked at his partner who, on the contrary, seemed very calm.
While the LBXs tried vainly all sorts of combo attacks, Ban finally nodded at Jin as he got his plan.
Kaiser moved on to the attack soon after it made sure no more blows would fall on it. Both Zenon and Odin backed as the purple robot corned them with its fast slices.
Zenon clutched his hammer firmly as to defend them but the slashes kept coming as his speed was no match to the other robot.
Jin: " Now!"
Ban: " Armor Change!"
Odin's Armor emitted an orange light as it shape shifted to that of IKaros Zero.
The purple and orange LBX jumped above Zenon and kicked Kaiser in the face, sending it flying backwards.
Jin: " now it all depends on you both, Ban-kun."
The brunette nodded. Ikaros Zero's boosters activated as he picked up speed and dashed to Kaiser, slashing at its side.
It soon skid to a halt and quickly bolted back with a swift move and cut at its back.
Jin breathed out as he saw his friend's LBX had cornered Kaiser.
Jin: ' the armor change means a change in the LBX's spec. Now Kaiser can't anticipate Ikaros Zero's moves. Which mean if we had already lowered it's Hp gage by a half already, the rest is up to them now to finish it off."
Ban: " Hissatsu Function!"
" Attack Function: Flame Raid!"
Ikaros' lance was set on fire as he plunged it in the ground, an eruption of flame rose from underneath Kaiser, blasting it back on the floor. It didn't come up again, electricity sparling out of it due to the fatal damage it got.
Ikaros Zero: " that will do it."
Kaiser's eyes then strated blinking fastly. Sensing the danger, they had all pulled back as to avoid a possible injury.
The LBX exploded, leaving behind nothing as well but a charred spot.
As the smoke cleared, Ban and Jin can be seen with preplexed faces. The LBXs were safe but bewildered as well.
Zenon: " what just..."
Ban, driven by his worry for his sister and friends, quickly snapped out of his surprise.
Ban: " Jin! Let's go!"
The black and white haired man nodded at his friend as they ran down the corridor, passing by the remains of the LBXs that their friends destroyed while making their way through.
As they approached on to the hanger, Ban slowed his pace, Jin did the same and looked back at the brunette.
Jin: " what's the matter?"
Ban gazed at his friend closely before finally voicing out.
Ban: " Jin, is something bothering you?"
The red eyes narrowed at those green ones staring into them. Jin finally shook his head.
Jin: " no, nothing."
He answered tersely before walking down their path. Zenon on the other hand kept quiet. Though he knew that Ban didn't buy that, though both him and Jin knew that very well. Still, they continued on without a word with Ban and Ikaros Zero in tow.
They finally reached the hanger where they found everyone else waiting for them there. Kirito finally pushed himself off the wall and made his way to Ban.
Kirito: " we have a dilemma."
He looked at the direction the railing continued on, only for the newcomers to have their eyes wide open as they saw it was destroyed.
Ikaros Zero: " what should we do now?"
Kazu: " we can't continue from here."
He muttered under his breath. Ban looked at both Kirito and Cobra, hoping for a solution.
Ban: " isn't there any other way besides this?"
Cobra and Kirito exchanged looks and the latter sighed and squeezed his eyes shut.
Kirito: " there is."
Cobra: " but you won't like it."
Ban had a brow risen at that when Kirito pointed down.
Zenon: " down?"
He dared to ask.
Cobra: " there is a ladder going down from here to the bottom. The only other way down to the server room is climbing down."
Ban walked off to the edge of the hanger and casted a look down at what was waiting for them. It was going to be a long journey if they were to take it.
The ladder cobra mentioned was right next to the ledge. It was consisted of metallic rodes attacked to he wall.
Elie: " Onii-chan?"
She was wondering whether her brother would take that risk. It was obvious that if they climbed down, they would be widely exposed to enemy's attacks.
Ban took a breath as his hand stretched to the nearest rode and swung his weight to the side taking his place on the ladder.
Elie had wide eyes at her brother who simply answered.
Ban: " if the only way down is this then we don't have another choice. We didn't come this far to back off now."
Elie was hesitant as she looked down and a strong wind blew her hair off. Before that she had even known, her brother had already started climbing down.
Jin walked past her, much to her surprise, following Ban and climbing down as well.
Elie took a deep breath as she carefully moved on next. She reached to the rode and carefully swayed her body to not slip and fall before going after her brother and Jin.
Lilyan was the next to go down and eventually, everyone moved ahead and followed their example. Only Cobra was shifting his weight uneasily on his legs until he was left alone. He then gritted his teeth and climbed down...
Being initially in a canyon didn't help them much. They had to stop whenever a strong wind would pick up and cling tightly to the ladder. They had already crossed half the way and the rocky ground was now visible.
Ikaros Zero jerked his head suddenly, catching Ban's attention. LBXs were hovering, heading their way.
Gouda: " great! That's exactly what we need right now!"
He groaned at the thought of dealing with them while being hanged in the air like that.
Minerva Kai, Achilles D9, Achilles Deed, Unicorn, Ikaros Zero, Twilight and Beargguy flew off to intercept their attackers while their players quickened their pace to get down.
The flying LBXs had their gatling rifles pointed at the humans but soon shifted their aim to the robots that scooted at them. They engaged in a fight with them, trying to keep their attention of the humans.
With Ban and the others, they were hurrying to get to the ground. While they were like that, strong wind picked up, they held on the rodes tightly to escape a possible fatal fall. Unfortunately, Elie slipped just at that moment and the gravity pulled her down. Ban had his eyes wide the instant she lost balance and started falling backwards. Everyone held a breath at that.
As she passed by him, Jin quickly grabbed her wrist, stopping her from going further down. It took Elie a few seconds to snap out of her shock and so everyone else.
Jin swayed her carefully until she grasped a rode and held on tightly again, slightly shaken.
The wind soon died and they continued their journey down until their feet finally reached the ground.
Cobra fell down on all four, kissing the floor multiple times.
Cobra : " ground is the best."
Everyone had to suppress a laugh at his actions.
Jessica: " are you a kid."
Ban: " you alright?"
After that close call, Elie somehow managed to calm both herself and her racing heart before smiling at her brother.
Elie: " I'm all fine, Onii-chan."
For a moment her eyes flicked back to the black and white haired man a few feet away from her.
Soon, Unicorn and the others caught up with their players.
Unicorn: " we've finished off the enemies' units."
Ran: " well done everyone."
Ban: " so now, how to get to the server room?"
Kirito took the lead from there as they walked on the way around the circuler building.
Elie walked next to Jin rubbing her arm.
Elie: " thanks a lot, for saving me back then."
Jin merely shook his head.
Jin: " it was nothing at all, you would have done the same thing if you were in my place."
Elie: " right. "
She took one last glance at him and she speeded up to catch with her brother. Jin merely looked after her and Evangeline shifted her gaze between both of them silently.
Finally reaching in front of a door, Cobra and Kirito pulled out their tablets as each of them plugged their wires into one of the multiple panels on the wall.
Cobra : " I will open the door. You shut down the security inside. We don't want to be shot down or cut by Lazers."
Kirito: " don't tell me what to do."
He said in an annoyed tone. While waiting for them to pry the door open, Jessica made her way to Elie and whispered.
Jessica: " what was that right now?"
Elie: " what?"
Jessica: " Jin had saved your life, I thought you would make up again after that!"
Elie: " hold on Jessica. Jin saved my life and I'm grateful for that. And what do you mean we would make up? We're friends, we were always friends."
Jessica: " come on! You-"
She was cut off when the door snapped open, startling everyone into looking at it.
Kirito pointed inside.
Kirito: " Master command should be inside, and probably with a bunch of strong LBXs to guard it. Proceed slowly and carefully because for all we know, they may have set traps inside."
Everyone nodded their heads as they walked inside after both Kirito and Cobra.
Unlike the other corridors they had been through, this one was quite dark, making it hard for them to see.
Kazu: " ouch!"
He winced in pain as someone stepped on his foot from behind.
Ami: " Oops, sorry."
Kazu: " is that how you pay attention?"
Ami: " excuse me for having a bad sight!"
She huffed at that.
They didn't walk for so long until they reached a huge room with mainframes forming eccentric cercles.
Everyone split up as they tried to find out where Master Command was, unfortunately for them, red eyes peeked at them through the ducts above their heads. Soon, each group of them was taken back by an Inbit that landed in front of them from above.
The LBXs started shooting randomly, whether it hit the humans or the robots wasn't a difference.
Kazu quickly pulled Ami as he, Kirito and Yuuya hid behind one of the huge black machines there.
Achilles Deed shielded himself and Pandora while they all backed to put on a good distance between them and their enemy.
When they were a few meters away, the LBX stopped its attack.
Pandora: " it stopped."
Ami: "... can it be?... "
Kazu: " sensors, if we get close it will attack."
Asuka: " and if we don't, we won't be able to move forward!"
She pointed out through a video call.
Ami: " we have to take down their sensors, just like we did before."
Ran: " I never did something like that before!"
She complained.
Ban : " calm down. You see those camera like things fixed on their shoulders, they're their sensors. You have to destroy them to paralyze them."
Kazu: " but if you're too slow, they will get closed off by a thick layer of metal that's hard to break through."
Hakai-O : " can't we just destroy all of them."
Sendou: " show us what you're able to do, the destructive God of hell."
Gouda: " you're asking for it! Senodu!"
Ban: " can't you both stop fighting and focus!"
Ban finally snapped.
Elie had her eyes narrowed as she gave Beargguy his instructions.
The boosters activated, pushing the LBX forward with an incredible speed.
Inbit shot, but unfortunately his shots couldn't do anything due to Beargguy's heavy armor.
The bear like robot stepped in front of Inbit. Holding out his hand from which a beam sword manifested.
He quickly slashed down and the other LBX was sliced to two then was blown off in an explosion.
Ban: " well done, Elie."
She smirked triumphantly.
Elie: " nothing can get through my Beargguy's armor."
Ami: " Ban ! Since you're the first to finish off, head over to the center of the server room! It's mostly where Master Command is."
Asuka: " we will catch up with you soon."
Ban nodded his head in agreement as he and Elie ran off to the center...
