Taking the advice Celm had given me to heart, I began deploying more scout units into Illuminate territory, trying to find out anything I could about them. If/when we were forced to come to blows, I did not want to be caught flat footed. I also made a point of hacking into their computer systems, which was not as easy as before. I guess that she had lowered her security programs so that she could attempt contact with me. Still, the security systems weren't anything I couldn't handle. I wonder if Celm had set an upper limit for the level of cyber-warfare systems she could use. If so, he must have made that limit rather low.
Slowly, a picture began to form of my temporary ally. It seemed there were five major figures leading the Illuminate, discounting Cassidy, though I assumed that, if her mom was incapacitated, she would probably take her place as the head of the Illuminate. Also, was Melissa intentionally trying to make a Five-Bad Band, the universe trying to give me a trope overdosed adventure, or just coincidence? Back on topic - while Melissa was head of the Illuminate, she had four major subordinates who helped her with running her empire. Mortarax, from what I had managed to pick out of the Illuminate's internet equivalent, was apparently Head of the Military, while the other three...why couldn't I find any information on them?
...Nothing else is showing up on them, other than that they exist?
Somehow, I know a ROB is to blame for this.
A silver lining did exist, though - I may not have been able to determine who these figures were, but I could determine where they were. While two of them were currently at the 'origin zone', which is presumed to be Melissa's hub universe, the third unknown leader was busy fighting against the Drengin, helping Melissa defeat the Last pockets of resistance on one of the worlds she had conquered. I quickly sent some nearby scouts to the planet to find out what they looked like.
When I got visuals of the world, I found myself staring at a massive battle between several tanks and some very advanced mechs. The fight wouldn't be out of place in a mecha anime, and I wasn't willing to discount the idea that the mechs I was observing were derived from ones found in a series I had already watched - for all I knew, they could have Ahab reactors in them, and I had no way of knowing. Pondering the origins of the mechs was pointless right now, though - better to watch the action and see how they fought.
The battle was pretty one-sided, which wasn't really a surprise. The mechs practically danced around the Drengin tanks, alternatively destroying them either with guns, rockets, or swords. The mech that I assumed to be the leader based on its gold and white pattern used a polearm instead of a sword, and was able to carve through three tanks in one swing. It was only a matter of minutes before the fight was over.
With their opposition eliminated, the mechs returned to base, where, to my surprise, the metal around their chests retracted and opened up, allowing the pilots to exit their machines. I guess Melissa favored mechs with the pilot's seat inside the chest instead of the head.
One by one, the pilots exited their machines, until only the Commander remained. When their time came to leave, the chest cavity opened up just like the others and...wait, that's the boy I met when Melissa first visited me.
Suddenly, I noticed that I was getting a lot more intel from my hacking software in the Illuminate's database. All of it was related to the boy I was looking at. His name was Wlling, last name was redacted, and he was about sixteen years old. He had apparently been piloting those mechs since he was around thirteen, he had extensively modified his own mech (called a golem, model designation Talos) to maximize its fighting power and - WHY DID EVERYTHING I JUST PUKKED UP ON HIM BECOME REDACTED?!
Okay, now I was sure that Celm was involved. On this, though, he proved to be silent. I guess he enjoyed trolling people.
Also, why was Melissa letting someone so young fight for her? I had begin to assume that she was a different cut from ALL of the ROBs I had read about, but now I was just confused? Maybe he was too skilled to hold back? Had Celm has ordered her to let him fight? So many possible answers.
Well, that train of thought was going nowhere. Worse still, I didn't have any idea about what the strengths and weaknesses of her forces were. Without that, I would be at a massive disadvantage when/if we came to blows, and would likely be unable to best them in combat. I was starting to doubt I'd be able to kill Melissa, not just for lack of power, but also lack of motivation - after all the kindness she had shown me, killing her just felt wrong. Still, I couldn't just forgive her yet for tearing me from all I knew and loved. What is would do to her once I defeated, though, was still up in the air.
Just when I was about to give up on finding anything else of value scanning her computer systems, however, I hit pay-dirt. A series of communications I intercepted revealed that Melissa's four main subordinates were preparing for something big that was to happen in about one month's time, which would be...October 11. Idly, I wondered if people still remembered what had happened this day in 2001. Hopefully they did, but I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't. Just to be sure, I made a point of downloading everything I could find on the Internet (now called the extranet) relating to 9/11, then downloaded everything else on the extranet so that I'd have something to do when I was bored besides make new stuff and play video games - and I am getting side tracked. Back to the plans: it looked like ROB's subordinates were looking for something (or some things) to present to their master, though why was unfortunately not mentioned. Still, I now had a lead to follow on.
Carefully, I set up spy forces to tail these four individuals and their entourages when they made their move - why are four of my units streaming data that I just downloaded from the Extranet?
...Oh, you have got to be KIDDING ME!
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AN: Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!