Book 9: Blasting Through the Stars

Chapter 4: Planet Montoj

Jason's Narration: This is Jason Frudnick, pilot of Metal Attacker G-SOPHIA with Eve as my co-pilot and partner, along with Fred the frog drone. Two hours later, Samus brought the EDF to Immigration Ship L-229 that was once owned by the people from Planet Sophia for interstellar travel until they were killed by the mutants. With the EDF's arrival, the liberation of the ship is going smoothly since the mutant guardians were eliminated. The liberation should be done in around an hour. After that, the two Access Keys our team have discovered on the ship will be put to use as we explore more planets in the other space sectors to deal with the mutant threat, forge alliances with the planets' inhabitants, and to locate Lynx and Serval Landau and bring them back to the ship safely. This is going to be a very long mission, but after what Team XDR has been through so far, we will succeed.

Immigration Ship L-229, Command Bridge

At the Command Bridge of L-229, Prairie was watching the large monitors with Kohaku and Pela at the ship's controls.

"Pela, status report on the ship's recovery." Prairie requested.

"It should be done in five minutes." Pela informed while checking her monitor. "After that, we can finally explore the other planets using the Access Keys we've found on this ship."

"As for the liberation progress against the mutants, it'll also be done in five minutes." Kohaku also informed while checking on her monitor. "After that, the EDF engineers can begin construction of the Trans-Servers in several areas of the ship for fast-travel, along with rebuilding the automated defences."

"That's good." Prairie nodded. "Though I never expected that we'd be taking over a ship made from Planet Sophia."

"To be fair, everyone on this ship were killed by the mutants. Not a single survivor remains." Pela pointed out. "Besides, it would be a waste to leave something like this alone in space."

"That's true." Prairie noted, until she heard Jason, Gaius with his helmet off, and the others arriving which garnered her attention. "Oh, you're all here. Everything okay so far?"

"Yup." Jason replied as he and the others nodded. "Though Samus had to explore the planetoid near this ship for a while which happens to be the same planetoid as that map data Cecilia and I found; 'C-2'."

"Who would've thought we went into hyperdrive and arrived on this ship in Sector C." Eve remarked.

"I've just came back from the planetoid and after clearing out some mutants there, I found another LIFE-UP for the MAs and Jason's suit." Samus informed in her Zero Suit. "It's already been installed."

"You know, I feel like we went out of order since we skipped the letter 'B', so how about we go there next?" Gaius suggested.

"Very well then." Prairie nodded. "Just give it a few minutes and we can get started. Did you all have a good rest though?"

"Sure did." Vent replied. "Felt good to take a break once the EDF showed up."

"Any progress on Ichika's recovery?" Prairie asked the IS girls.

"25%, as long as no one disturbs him." Laura answered.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure no one will interrupt the recovery process until it's finished." Prairie assured. "He'll do just fine."

"You have our thanks, ma'am." Charlotte bowed.

"In the meantime, we'll go back in the field instead of waiting in this ship for Ichika to wake up." Cecilia said.

"Are you okay taking over the ship's navigation, Pela?" Bronya asked.

"It may be different from Belobog's computers, but I can manage. I think I'll stay here for the time being." Pela replied.

"Understandable. The Bronya will continue her field missions then, and we'll make sure to find and bring Lynx and Serval back safely."

"Best of luck then." Pela smiled.

"I'll also stay here to keep this ship up and running smoothly." Kohaku said.

"Go right ahead." Copen nodded.

"Still, you did a pretty good job as our navigator and driver for the MA. Thanks for the help!" Lola said.

"Anytime, Lola, Ix." Kohaku smiled.

"By the way…" Aile turned to Jason. "I was not expecting Edge, Az and Mayvy to come to this ship. Although the latter was expected considering she's interested in researching new discoveries."

"Yeah, you're right about the latter. But as for the Sainklaus siblings, I figured they'd get a chance to go to outer space, especially Az." Jason replied. "In fact, I think they're ready to go on a field mission with us."

"Eh?" Eve gasped. "Are you sure about this, Jason?"

"I'm sure. And don't worry about their gear, they're also equipped with G-Rifles and wearing the previous version of my battlesuit. They'll be fine."

"By previous version, you mean the one without the mutant fibres?" Copen guessed.

"Mhm." Jason nodded. "Any objections, Gaius?"

"Well I didn't get to see how they fight, so let's give 'em a shot." Gaius answered. "Just need to figure out which vehicle they'll be assigned to."

"Let's recap on our current roster." Gunvolt said. "Gaius, Bronya and Laura are on board the Time Mazine; myself, Joule, Vent and Aile for G-Rairyu; Jason, Eve and Cecilia for G-SOPHIA; and lastly Copen, Lola and Charlotte for G-Byakko."

"As for where, Grey, Volnutt and I were assigned, that'll be up to you guys." Ashe said to the group.

"Hmm… gonna be a tough choice considering how you three are versatile with your abilities." Joule remarked.

"Actually, I'll assign Edge aboard G-SOPHIA." Jason said. "Each vehicle will be a team of four, with the exception of Joule and Lola since they're mostly inside the relic pendants, and Fred considering how small he is."

"Ribbit." Fred croaked aboard Jason's shoulder.

"Sounds fair." Volnutt agreed. "In that case, I'll go with Copen."

"I'll be going with Copen as well." Grey said.

"Then I'll be going with GV to balance things out." Ashe said.

"I think I'll be taking Az." Gaius said.

"Then it's decided." Samus nodded. "Also, Adam and I will stay on this ship, but don't hesitate to call us for assistance."

"No problem, Samus." Gaius replied with a thumbs up.

"Okay, ship recovery and liberation process complete." Kohaku informed. "You can start using the Access Keys."

"May I have the keys please?" Prairie requested.

"Here you go, ma'am." Laura replied as she and Charlotte gave the two Access Keys to Prairie.

"Thank you." Prairie replied before heading to the captain's console and pushed a button to reveal several keyholes on it. "Let's start with this one." She inserted the key onto the first keyhole on the far left and turned it, causing the large monitor to show a space sector labeled 'B' with a planet that's similar to Saturn but in green color, and a planetoid showing 'B-4'.

"A green version of Saturn?" Gaius remarked. "Huh, will wonders never cease."

"Apparently this one is called Planet Montoj, a jungle planet." Pela informed after examining the planet on her monitor.

"Planet Montoj…" Gunvolt mused.

"Not only that, there's a planetoid showing the same label as the data chip we found back in Flosante." Joule said.

"What about the other key?" Jason asked.

"Let's find out." Prairie replied, inserting the second key onto the keyhole next to the first one and turned it, revealing another space sector labeled 'E' on a horizontal split screen on the large monitor that showed another planet with a purple one at the center, large blue liquid around it, and green clouds.

"...What the heck am I looking at?" Grey questioned.

"Planet Stranga." Pela answered after examining the planet.

"Why do I get the feeling that this planet is going to look and feel strange the moment we go in there?" Ashe questioned.

"Who knows." Copen shrugged. "If so, then it's better to stay inside the vehicle for safety."

"Gotcha."

"Wait, Sector E?" Bronya blinked after checking the space sector label on the large monitor. "The Bronya was expecting Sector D. Did we skip another letter?"

"Probably." Lola replied. "Maybe we'll find another Access Key in those planets that'll lead us to Sector D."

"Anyway…" Prairie spoke to the team. "Do all of you want to go to one planet first, or split into teams of two to explore both of them?"

"Well, four vehicles are definitely too much of a crowd considering how skilled our teammates are inside, so we'll take the second option. Plus, it'll save us plenty of time and resources." Jason answered. "And I'll take my team to Planet Montoj."

"Mind if my team goes with you, Jason?" Gunvolt asked.

"Sure thing, GV." Jason smiled as he and Gunvolt shared a fist-bump.

"Guess that means mine and Ix's team will head for Planet Stranga." Gaius deduced.

"Yeah, I'll take the jungle planet over… whatever the heck is on Stranga." Ashe said.

"It can't be that weird…" Charlotte said. "...can it?"

"We'll find out when we get there, Charl." Laura replied.

"Alright, I'm gonna go explore the ship and give any of our EDF personnel my help. Best of luck, guys." Samus said before leaving the room.

"As for the rest of you, head for the Hangar Bay and prepare for deployment while we get the dimensional tunnels ready." Prairie said before swiping her hand forward. "Move out!"

"Yes, ma'am!" The team saluted before leaving the room with Jason and Gaius putting on their helmets on the way out.

"Kohaku, Pela, prepare the creation of the dimensional tunnels, starting with Space Sector B." Prairie ordered as she sat on the captain's chair.

"Yes, ma'am!" The two operators complied and got right to work.

Immigration Ship L-229, Hangar Bay

Upon arriving at the Hangar Bay, they saw Edge and Az in their battlesuits similar to Jason's previous suit observing the maintenance of the vehicles. "Edge! Az!" Jason called out which earned their attention.

"Hey, Jason!" Az waved while Edge nodded. "Looks like you're ready to head out."

"We are, but not without adding a couple more people to the team."

"And who are those people?" Edge answered, to which Jason answered by pointing at the Sainklaus siblings. "Wait, us?!"

"Jason thinks you're ready for a field mission on another planet." Eve explained. "Edge will be assigned with Jason's team while Az will go with Geiz's team."

"Are you serious?!" Az gasped.

"It's Jason's choice." Geiz stated. "But if you two don't want to go, that's understandable. So what's your decision?"

The Sainklaus siblings shared looks at each other and pondered for a moment before they answered the team with a nod. "Alright, we're in." Az accepted.

"Though you better take care of my sister if we're splitting up." Edge said to Geiz.

"Don't worry, I know a thing or two about taking care of siblings." Geiz replied. "My close friends, Zeo and Akira Naotora are those examples."

"That's good to know." Edge nodded before looking at his sister. "Stay out of trouble, okay Az?"

"Got it. Same to you too, Edge." Az replied as the two siblings shared a fist-bump.

"Alright, everyone in the vehicles! We're about to be deployed soon!" Copen declared as everyone went in their respective vehicles. Afterwards, G-SOPHIA and G-Rairyu set themselves onto the launchers, preparing to blast off.

"I've just got a report from the mechanics at the Hangar Bay, G-SOPHIA and G-Rairyu are ready to be launched." Kohaku informed.

"Aim the ship straight ahead and prepare the creation of the dimensional tunnel for Sector B!" Prairie ordered.

"Target locked on and energy charge complete. Ready to fire on your command." Pela replied, looking at the reticle on her monitor.

"...Fire!" With a swipe of Prairie's hand, the ship fired a laser that materialised a dimensional tunnel.

"That's our cue, Jason!" Eve informed.

"Roger!" Jason replied. "Jason Frudnick, G-SOPHIA, blasting off!"

"G-Rairyu, Azure Striker Gunvolt, surging ahead!" Gunvolt shouted as the red and blue MAs were launched out of the ship and boosted right into the dimensional tunnel.

"Okay, we're up next, so get ready!" Geiz informed as the Time Mazine and G-Byakko set themselves onto the launchers next.

"Turn the ship 45 degrees to the right and prepare to create the dimensional tunnel for Sector E!" Prairie ordered.

"Shifting the aim now." Pela replied as the ship turned to the right before stopping.

"Fire!" Prairie ordered as the ship fired another laser that created another dimensional tunnel.

"And here we go!" Geiz declared after noticing the dimensional tunnel appearing. "Kamen Rider Geiz, Time Mazine, Let's Ragna-Rock and Roll!"

"Copen Kamizono, G-Byakko, blazing through!" Copen shouted as the two vehicles were launched out of the ship and boosted straight into the dimensional tunnel.

"All vehicles have successfully entered the dimensional tunnels." Kohaku informed.

"Good." Prairie noted. "All we can do now is wait. Hopefully there's still life on those planets."

"Lynx, Serval, if you two are hiding somewhere on those planets, please be safe. The Rebellion is on their way." Pela mentally prayed.

Space Sector B

Upon leaving the dimensional tunnel, G-SOPHIA and G-Rairyu arrived at Space Sector B where Planet Montoj is located and in their sights. "There it is, Planet Montoj." Jason said.

"I also see Planetoid 'B-4' nearby." Gunvolt noticed the planetoid on the right side of Planet Montoj. "I think my team will take a quick look there. You guys go to Montoj. We'll come right over when we're done."

"Copy that. See you there!" Jason replied as G-SOPHIA flew towards Planet Montoj while G-Rairyu head for Planetoid 'B-4'.

Planet Montoj

(Play BGM: Montoj: Bamboo Bladed Mountains - Blaster Master Zero 2 OST)

Once the red MA reached the planet's atmosphere, they made a hard landing near a Launch Point, absorbing the Gaia particles on impact.

"Okay, we've successfully touched down on Planet Montoj." Jason informed.

"Geez… was this kind of landing necessary?" Edge questioned.

"Sorry, trying to save resources on the MA."

"This planet has plenty of bamboo trees and water. A tad too much bamboo." Cecilia observed what's on the MA's screen showing puddles of water and numerous bamboo trees.

"Any new readings, Eve?" Jason asked.

"Just a sec…" Eve checked the MA's sensors. "As expected, there's a lot of mutants roaming around this planet. I'm not sure how many mutant guardians there are until we find this planet's map data."

"So even the mutants run rampant in a planet like this." Edge said. "Anything else?"

"Actually, yes. But this signal's different. Something… non-mutant."

"Non-mutant?" Jason repeated. "Could it be this planet's inhabitants?"

"Maybe, but I can't get an exact location. But I can say that the signal's nearby, so we'd better check it out before the mutants do. It should be on your left."

"Okay, then that's where we'll start our mission. Time to head out!" Jason declared, driving the MA to the left and across the water… until sharp bamboo sprung our from the ground which surprised them. "Gh! What the?!"

"The heck did those come from?!" Cecilia exclaimed.

"Great… there's traps like this we need to be weary of." Edge groaned. "Better thread carefully, Jason."

"Copy, gonna go nice and slow." Jason replied, hovering the MA over the bamboo spikes and moved on.

When the MA's about to enter a new area, brown bamboo spikes rose up and blocked the entryway. "Oh come on!" Edge muttered. "How are we supposed to go in now?!"

"Let me see what I can figure out…" Eve checked the MA's sensors. "There's a switch right above us that can get rid of those bamboo. Cecilia?"

"Understood." Cecilia complied, leaving the MA and donned Blue Tears before looking up. "But you may need to clear those blocks first."

"Copy." Jason complied, firing a charged Laser Shot on the blocks above to clear an opening.

"Thank you." Cecilia replied, flying up the open hole and noticed a pressure switch nearby. "Hmm… could this be it?" She then pushed the switch, causing the brown bamboo to burrow back into the ground. Once she returned to the MA, she noticed that the path is open since the bamboo is gone.

"Good job hitting the switch." Eve said. "Stay outside for a while longer in case something like this happens along the way."

"Roger." Cecilia replied as they went onto the next area.

From there, they avoided more green bamboo spikes appearing from the terrain as they traversed, until they noticed two familiar mutants in their path. "Mother Brains?!" Jason exclaimed. "Man, Samus is not gonna be happy if she finds out about this."

"Only this time, we're in the MA instead of on foot, so don't hold back!" Eve said.

"Then this won't take long!" Jason replied as the MA fired charged Laser Shots and Hexa Missiles with support beam fire from Cecilia and her drones.

Moments later, the brains were dead. "And I thought we're done with those disgusting brains…" Cecilia muttered until she noticed a domain entrance above her. "Hey guys, there's a domain up here! Mind if I take a look?"

"Sure thing, we'll wait here!" Jason replied.

But as Cecilia was about to fly up, more brown bamboo spikes appeared and blocked the entryway. "Oh come on!" She exclaimed.

"Are you okay?" Edge asked.

"I'm alright, but geez these things continue to give me a fright." Cecilia replied, rejoining the MA. "Guess we'll have to find another way."

"No choice." Eve replied back as they continued to traverse through the area with more hovering and mutant extermination while avoiding more erupting bamboo spikes.

Eventually, they arrived at the next area where there's another domain entrance at the far end and bamboo spikes that's blocking the upper path. "Heads up, guys. That non-mutant reading is coming from inside that domain." Eve informed. "Hopefully it's this planet's inhabitants so try not to provoke them."

"Got it." Jason noted. "Ready to go, Cecilia?"

"I think I'll stay here and watch over Eve." Cecilia answered. "You and Edge go instead."

"An on foot mission with Jason, huh?" Edge mused. "Let's see if your skills aren't too rusty."

"Funny, I was gonna ask the same thing to you." Jason replied as the two left the MA with their helmets on and G-Rifles armed. "We'll be back soon, Cecilia."

"Good luck, boys." Cecilia replied back as Jason and Edge entered the domain. "Shame Houki's not here, she'd no doubt slice those bamboos in half."

"True." Eve agreed.

(BGM End)

(Play BGM: Montoj: Flow with the Wind - Blaster Master Zero 2 OST)

Once inside, the duo find themselves in an area with wooden boxes, and a locked wooden door along with two keyholes. "Well this is different. I never had to find keys for a door in a domain." Jason remarked.

"Looks like things are changing up in your case." Edge said, looking at the boxes around the area. "And I'm gonna bet those keys are hiding in those boxes, so I think we should start breaking them."

"Copy." Jason replied as the two prepared their G-Rifles. "You take the left while I go right."

"Mm." Edge nodded as the two went their separate directions to break the boxes. Moments later, the duo found the keys, approached the door, inserted the keys into the keyholes and turned them which opened the door.

When they entered the next area, they saw crops full of vegetables and fruits, a small river with a wooden bridge to cross, thorny vines and patrolling diamond-shaped drones. "This domain is actually a farm?" Jason observed.

"Not only that, I see crops growing. Must be this planet's inhabitants that did those, so we'd better be careful not to step on those crops." Edge added before noticing a few keys ahead. "But we're not going anywhere until we get those keys to open another door."

"Time to split up again." Jason deduced." You go straight while I search the right."

"No problem." Edge replied as the two went their separate ways.

As Edge was about to reach the first key, the drones attacked him. He tried to land a hit, but their movements were too fast. "Tch…! Damn these things!" He muttered until the drones stopped moving to fire their projectiles. He quickly performed a side dodge roll and countered with a Striker Shot as the lightning struck all of them at once when the shot landed on a drone, causing all of them to explode. "Phew…" He sighed with relief as he stood up and looked at his rifle. "This rifle packs more of a punch than the normal ones. I think I'm gonna like using this more." He smirked before going after the key and retrieved it. "Okay, let's find another one."

Meanwhile with Jason, he had to walk through the river in order to find the other keys. He also fought the fast-moving drones, but thanks to his Blast Counter, he easily evades the projectiles before countering with a Striker Shot. Then he noticed another type of defence drone that looked like stone torches that are found in gardens. But Jason quickly destroyed them with another Striker Shot.

A few minutes later, all six keys were found as the duo regrouped near the door and used the keys to open it. After going inside, they noticed a recharge terminal and a grassy entryway.

"A recharge terminal. That means a mutant guardian is up ahead." Jason observed.

"Alright, let's get this over with." Edge replied as the duo went inside after using the terminal. "You didn't step on any crops, did you?"

"Nope." Jason shook his head. "You?" He got his answer when Edge shook his head. "Good."

Once the duo were inside, they find themselves in an arena with large bushes around it. "Huh, nobody home?" Edge questioned as they looked around.

"No. I think they're hiding." Jason replied as they prepared themselves. "Be ready for anything."

The duo then saw a shadow below their feet growing slowly, prompting them to jump away as a figure revealed himself with a spear plunge from above. It was a man with short blue hair, black eyes, wears a white headband along with a modified feudal samurai armor with plates that cover most of his pectorals except his exposed abdomen. He also wears an overcoat with fuzzy fur rimming the edges, and an ornate green pauldron on his right shoulder with a golden crown sticking out of it. In addition, he's also wielding a light green spear with a long bamboo handle.

"A human?!" Edge gasped.

"So it's not a mutant guardian, it's an inhabitant of this planet." Jason deduced.

"Who are you?!" The samurai pointed his spear at the duo. "Are you with that mutant Zavira?"

"Zavira?" The duo repeated.

"The one who leads the mutant army and slaughtered my people. Because if you're with them…" The samurai prepared a combat stance. "You're gonna get the beatin' of your life!"

"Hey, hold on! We're not here to fight!" Jason protested.

"No point convincing him, Jason." Edge said. "The look on his determined eyes says it all. Looks like we're gonna have to knock him out and take away his weapons before he could listen."

"Weapons?" Jason repeated.

"Something tells me that he's holding more than just a spear. Get ready!" Edge replied as they prepared themselves.

=WARNING=

THE HOSTILITY OF

"THE LEGENDARY TAKEYAKI MASTER"

=GONBEI=

(Play BGM: Opening Stage Boss - MegaMan 8 OST)

The samurai named Gonbei immediately attacked by throwing his sickles at them, prompting them to dodge.

"Eve, we've got a situation here!" Jason contacted using his helmet's comm line. "We encountered an inhabitant of this planet, and he's attacking us without giving us a chance to explain!"

"What?!" Eve gasped.

"Edge and I will try to knock him out and take away his weapons so that we can talk peacefully, but this is gonna take a while!" Jason said while dodging more sickles.

"Okay! I'll try to find another way from my end! Maybe he has an accomplice nearby, so I'll try to make radio contact!"

"Copy that!" Jason replied and ended the call before firing non-lethal shots at the flying sickles before they could reach him and Edge.

"Tch…!" Gonbei muttered before throwing an energy grenade that caused an energy field to appear to block the oncoming shots.

"Tch…! Those aren't the usual energy grenades if it can block our shots!" Edge muttered after his shots failed to reach Gonbei who quickly followed up with more throwing sickles, forcing the duo to evade and countered by shooting down the sickles.

Gonbei was about to throw more sickles… until he realised that he ran out of those weapons. "Drat, I'm out of sickles!" He thought. "Guess I'll have to try somethin' else!" He then blinded the duo with a flash bomb before retreating into the bushes.

"Grr…! Stupid flashbang!" Edge muttered as their sights returned, only to see that Gonbei vanished. "Where'd he go?!"

"Hm?" Jason then noticed the rustling bushes. "So that's where he's hiding."

"Not for long." Edge smirked, setting his rifle to Flame Shot. "A little fire won't hurt."

"Whoa, hold on!" Jason interrupted. "If you do that, you'll torch the whole farm by accident, including the grassy arena we're currently in!"

"Damn it…" Edge muttered. "Any other ideas then?"

"We'll let him strike first before retaliating. Use your ears instead of your eyes." Jason advised.

"... Alright, I'll follow your lead." Edge replied as the duo took a cautious stance at the center of the arena.

Moments later, Gonbei revealed himself from behind the duo with a spear thrust, causing Edge to side-dodge roll while Jason performed a Blast Counter as the two fired counter shots at the samurai, dealing some damage.

"Gh…! They're able to dodge my attack and countered?! These guys are good… but…!" Gonbei thought before blinding them again with another flash bomb and retreated into the bushes.

"This tactic again, huh?" Edge remarked after the duo regained their sight. "How long is he going to keep doing this? We gotta end this fight now."

"You're right. And I think I know how." Jason replied, pulling out a Proximity Mine from his back and dropping it to the ground after arming it. "Get ready to dodge, I'll handle the rest."

"Gotcha." Edge nodded as the two prepared themselves again, waiting for a chance to strike.

Moments later, Gonbei performed another sneak attack with his spear but from the side. The duo dodged the thrust again but without counterattacking which confused Gonbei, until he triggered Jason's mine to explode when he got close without noticing it, sending him flying upward in shock.

"I'll take that!" Jason switched his rifle to the energy whip, latched onto Gonbei's spear with a swing and pulled it to Jason who caught it while Gonbei crashed to the ground face first.

"Ugh…" Gonbei groaned as he slowly stood up… only to stop halfway when his eyes met with Edge's G-Rifle.

"Don't even try, buddy. Fight's over." Edge stated.

(BGM End)

Gonbei sighed in defeat. "So this is how it ends, huh…?"

Edge sighed in annoyance. "Would you please cut it out and let us say something first? If we were mutants, we'd kill you without a second thought, but we're not. We're humans, just like you."

"Humans…?" Gonbei blinked.

"Here, let me show you." Edge responded by removing his helmet while Jason did the same thing. "See? Humans. Not mutants. I'm Edge Sainklaus and he's Jason Frudnick along with his support frog drone Fred."

"The two of us are from Planet Earth, though Fred is made from Planet Sophia." Jason added.

"Ribbit." Fred croaked.

"You guys… from other planets…?" Gonbei questioned.

"Mhm." Jason nodded… until his Zikan Phone started ringing. "Ah, hold on a sec." He then answered the phone. "What's up?"

"Excuse me, are you Jason Frudnick?"

"Wait, you're not Eve or Cecilia. Who is this?" Jason asked upon hearing a new female voice.

"Oh, sorry. I'm sharin' a comms link with your android partner since she's the one who called me. The name's Tae. Are you currently with Gonbei right now?"

"You mean the guy in the samurai armor?" Jason stared at Gonbei.

"Yup, that's him. May I talk to him for a sec?"

"Uh, sure." Jason replied as he approached Gonbei and offered his phone to him. "It's for you."

"Hm?" Gonbei responded with confusion and answered the call. "Hello?"

"Gonbei… YOU BAKA!"

"Gh?!" Gonbei stuttered in shock. "T-Tae?! How did you get his number?!"

"Because his partner Eve called for help. When she mentioned an inhabitant from this planet, then I know it's you. Also, did ya forget to bring your communicator earpiece again?!"

"Uhh… oops?" Gonbei sweatdropped.

"Ugh… no wonder I couldn't get a call from you. Listen, these people here from other planets might be able to help us vanquish Zavira. They're from the EDF and they've also got themselves a Metal Attacker like us. Heck, they might be able to fix Kuebiko since Eve's also a mechanic!"

"Are you serious?!" Gonbei gasped.

"Yes, so please stop attacking them! Open the way to our hideout and we'll explain our situation to 'em. And remember to wear your dang earpiece, got it?!"

"...Yes, Tae." Gonbei replied as the call ended and returned the phone to Jason before putting it away.

"I take it that misunderstanding is taken care of?" Edge guessed, holstering his rifle and offered a hand.

"Yeah, pretty much." Gonbei replied, taking his hand to pull himself up. "Sorry about attacking without giving ya guys a chance to talk."

"At least you learned your lesson." Jason replied. "Oh, and don't worry about your crops. They're alright."

"That's good to know. Anyway, lemme properly introduce myself. The name's Gonbei, I'm a farmer of this planet and a Metal Attacker pilot for Kuebiko."

"You're an MA pilot?!" Jason gasped.

"Yep." Gonbei nodded. "Though it's in bad shape after fightin' against that boss mutant Zavira. Though Tae did mention that your partner Eve is a mechanic for MAs, right?"

"So you need her help to fix up your MA?" Jason guessed, earning a nod from Gonbei. "Sure, we can help with that."

"Thanks." Gonbei grinned. "By the way, can I have my spear back? I'll give ya somethin' else instead."

"No problem." Jason replied, returning the spear to Gonbei in exchange for something unexpected. "...A green data chip?"

Gonbei shrugged. "It ain't workin' for my suit for some reason, so maybe yours can."

"Okay then." Jason replied, inserting the data chip on his suit.

=SHIFT-UP ATTACKER UNLOCKED=

A high-speed dash counter that closes in and attacks enemies from point-blank range with a powerful thrust.

"So it really is compatible with my suit." Jason mused. "A thrust attack with my rifle, huh? Neat."

"I'll open the way to our hideout. You can get there by scaling up the cliff outside of the village. See ya there!" Gonbei waved before leaping away.

"Huh. He's not such a bad guy once he calms down." Edge remarked. "Zavira, huh?"

"Looks like we've found another mutant boss to exterminate." Jason replied before creating a wormhole nearby using his Zikan Phone in Blaster Mode. "Alright, let's get back to the MA before we head for Gonbei's hideout."

"...That wormhole is safe, right?" Edge pointed at said wormhole.

"It's safe, just ask Fred." Jason assured as he walked inside before Edge shrugged and followed suit.

Once the duo rejoined with the MA, they saw that the bamboos opened up and acted as scalable platforms. In addition, they also saw G-Rairyu arriving.

"Hey Jason! Everyone!" Ashe greeted from aboard G-Rairyu. "What did we miss?"

"We met another MA pilot named Gonbei who's an inhabitant of Planet Montoj." Jason replied.

"Though he kinda attacked us without giving us a chance to talk." Edge added. "Don't worry, that misunderstanding is taken care of."

"Well that's a relief." Vent said.

"Anyway, we need to go to Gonbei's hideout so he and his android partner Tae can explain the situation." Jason said. "Though Gonbei did mention a boss mutant named Zavira terrorizing this planet."

"Zavira, huh?" Gunvolt mused. "So that mutant's our next target."

"By the way, what did you guys find on that planetoid you've visited?" Edge asked.

"A new weapon for the MAs; the Impact Wave." Joule answered. "It unleashes a powerful ultrasonic wave around the MA that damages enemies, including the ones below it. Plus, it also blocks projectiles. Pretty cool, right?"

"It sure is!" Eve agreed. "Is it already installed in G-Rairyu?"

"Yup, I did that part." Aile confirmed. "I'm sending a copy of that chip to you so that G-SOPHIA can also use it. I'll send another copy to Copen's G-Byakko later."

"Thanks, Aile. Okay, got the data chip and installing it onto G-SOPHIA now. Jason, Edge, come back inside the MA so we can head for Gonbei's hideout while I do my job."

"Roger." Jason and Edge replied as the two boarded the red MA before the vehicles used their hovering to leap above the bamboo platforms without touching the sharp edges.

Once they reached the top, they entered a tunnel where they were suddenly attacked by mutants, but they were quickly disposed of with Hexa Missiles and charged Laser Shots. They also saw another domain entrance and were about to drive in close… until it was blocked by more appearing bamboo spikes.

"Oh for the love of…!" Cecilia muttered. "How can that farmer and his partner live on this planet full of appearing sharp bamboo?!"

"Trust me, I hate those things too." Ashe agreed. "To think there's something more to hate than those damn spike pits…"

"Well it's because they've been living here for a very long time and were used to it." Jason assumed. "Anyway, we'll have to go around to reach the domain while avoiding the bamboos."

After carefully navigating around the area with more hovering while avoiding the appearing bamboo spikes, they've arrived at the domain entrance. "I'm going in this domain as well. I want to test out that gift Gonbei gave to me earlier." Jason said. "Ashe, wanna come with and help me search for some keys to open some doors?"

"Item hunting, huh? Alright, I'm game!" Ashe replied as she and Jason left the vehicles and entered the domain while everyone else waited outside.

Once inside, they noticed small rivers of water along with more roving mutants, drones including a cross turret made of bamboo, and several locked doors that needed keys to open.

"This is a big area so we're gonna have to split up and search." Jason said.

"Gotcha." Ashe replied, twirling her hand cannons. "You search the north while I go south."

"Sound off if you find a door leading to a data chip. Hopefully a map for this planet."

"Copy that." Ashe noted as the two split up and searched for the keys.

A few moments later while destroying the drones and mutants, they used the collected keys to open the locked doors, but all they've found is wooden boxes that contained nothing. Eventually they regrouped when they reached another locked door at the far end and opened it using the discovered keys. But once they touched the river, a large shadow appeared on the river and approached the duo.

Ashe gulped. "I don't like where this is going."

"Neither do I." Model A spoke to Ashe.

"Then get ready to dodge and counter at the precise moment." Jason advised as the duo prepared themselves.

Once the shadow reached them, they immediately jumped away when they saw the bubbling as a large mutant with sharp mandibles appeared from the water to eat them. Fortunately, they dodged in time and immediately destroyed it with charged shots along with Ashe's lightning shots.

"Thank god I've watched movies when stuff like this happens so I can prepare myself." Ashe said.

"Good for you." Jason noted. "Now to look for that key…" When he turned right, he saw cracked walls at a distance. Once the duo reached the walls, one grenade throw from Jason was enough to blow them open, revealing another key. "There we go." He picked up the key. "I think I saw a door near the entrance up north that needed three keys to open it."

"Fortunately, we got three keys with us. So let's grab what's inside that door and get out of here." Ashe replied as the two made their way back. "Good thing the entrance is nearby so we won't be needing that wormhole."

Once the two reached the locked door near the entrance, they used the three keys to open it, revealing the map data chip inside. "Jackpot!" Ashe grinned, picking up the key. "Now we can see the entirety of Planet Montoj."

"And hopefully Zavira's location, along with the mutant guardians." Jason said as the two made their way back to the entrance.

Once the duo returned to the vehicles, Jason gave the map data to Eve who copied and sent it to Gunvolt. When the data was downloaded onto the MAs, Eve took a look at Montoj's map on G-SOPHIA's navigation screen. "Okay, I don't see any mutant guardians on the map. Only the mutant icon on the far right which I assume is where Zavira is." She looked at the far right of the map where the mutant icon is located. "Not only that, there's also some items we need to get. One that's near the Launch Point…" She looked at the blue dot near the Launch Point icon. "And one… in our current location?" She then looked at the blue dot to the right of the MA's location.

"Huh, well that was unexpected." Gunvolt remarked from a smaller screen. "In that case, let's grab it before we pay Gonbei a visit."

Once the vehicles head right, the item sensor started to ring rapidly. "So it's hidden in those breakable blocks. In that case…" Jason said, firing the MA's G-Crusher Shots at the blocks, revealing a planetoid map data. "Another planetoid map data." The MA drove over the map data for Jason to retrieve… and narrowly avoided another appearing bamboo spike from above that nearly touched the MA.

"Once again, really hated those things popping up when we least expected." Jason muttered before briefly coming out of the MA to retrieved the map data and used his helmet's Scan Visor. "'B-1'. The letter's the same as the sector we're currently in."

"...Why am I tempted to go Model HX and slice those gacking bamboo spikes?" Vent muttered in annoyance while Jason returned to his MA.

"...You know what? Go for it. The Sonic Blades are strong enough to slice through them anyway." Aile insisted.

Vent left the MA as he donned Model HX, went airborne and sliced through the appearing bamboo spikes, clearing the way to the cliff above them. After the MAs reached the top with some hovering, they went to the next area with Model HX Vent following behind. From there, they saw a bridge made of bamboo spikes and a large tree house made of bamboo on the other side.

"This must be the place." Edge observed the house as the MAs crossed the bridge to reach there while Vent landed near the MAs and reverted back to Model X.

Gonbei's Hideout

When they reached the tree house, they saw Gonbei waving at them along with a flying green dragonfly drone on his left. And on his right is a mostly green and brown Metal Attacker called Kuebiko. It looked like a tank that's fused with a tractor due to its shape and the pair of mufflers, large tractor wheels with green rims, and a tri-barreled rotary autocannon.

"Hey, you guys made it!" Gonbei greeted as the team disembarked from the vehicles with some of them helmetless. "Wait, who are those people? Are they also from Earth?"

"Yup." Jason nodded. "Except for Eve and Fred, they're from Planet Sophia."

"Ribbit." Fred croaked… while staring at the dragonfly.

"Don't eat that, that's probably Gonbei's support drone." Edge said to the frog drone.

"Mhm." Gonbei nodded and gestured to the dragonfly. "Its name's Tappy."

"Nice to meet you both." Eve bowed. "I'm Eve, and this is Cecilia, Gunvolt, Vent, Aile and Ashe."

"Feel free to call me GV." Gunvolt said. "The blue MA's mine while Jason's red MA is his."

"Wow, they looked pretty cool. And similar, too." Gonbei remarked while gazing at the two MAs.

"By the way, where's Tae?" Eve asked, staring at Kuebiko. "Is she fixing up your green MA over there?"

"Actually she's inside the hideout tending someone." Gonbei gestured his thumb behind him. "Apparently she found two more humans while she was fixing up Kuebiko earlier when I'm on my way back. And they're both siblings."

"More humans?" Vent repeated. "Are they from Earth?"

"Actually from what Tae heard from the older sibling, they're from Jarilo-IV."

"?!" The team's eyes widened in shock upon hearing a familiar planet.

"Uh… why are you guys feelin' spooked?" Gonbei questioned.

"Because a friend of ours back at the immigration ship in space happens to live on that same planet. Her name is Pela." Jason answered.

"Did you just say Pela?!"

The team heard a female voice coming from the back of the green MA before revealing herself and approached them. It was a tall, blue-eyed woman with blond hair that has dark blue streaks and light blue tips at the ends, a single hoop earring, a black choker, black nail polish, and a purple lightning bolt tattoo on her waist.

She wears what appears to be a black tube top stitched together with half of a white lab coat that trails down to her ankle, and has a burn hole near the bottom. She wears detached sleeves that match the color of each side of her top with two belts wrapped around her black sleeve, a blue feather pin on her white sleeve, mismatched fingerless gloves with a black leather glove on her right hand and a pink cloth glove on her left, a royal blue miniskirt with a cutout over a pair of navy blue shorts, fastened with a black leather belt, a set of pantyhose with a black thigh-high stocking on her right leg, and black ankle boots with gold lining.

"Um… yes." Jason replied. "And you are?"

"Serval Landau, I'm a friend of hers."

Serval Landau

Electro Element

Path of Erudition

"?!" That earned another state of shock from the team when the woman revealed her name.

"Those looks on your faces says that you know where Pela is, don't you?" Serval guessed.

"Actually, yes." Gunvolt answered. "She showed up at the immigration ship crawling with mutants. But we're able to rescue her in time and liberated the ship from those mutants."

"And now we're using it for space travel with the help from the EDF, so you can rest easy. She's safe with them." Aile added.

"Thank goodness…" Serval said with relief. "I thought I'd lost her when we're separated from that strange quake. I was fortunate that my younger sister Lynx was with me after that warp, but she suddenly started to feel unusually ill. It's a good thing Tae found us for assistance. In return, she asked me to help fix up the battetank after she told me the problem this planet is facing."

"Your younger sister is ill?!" Eve gasped.

"Oh, that can't be good." Cecilia said with worry.

"I've tried asking Tae if there's any medicine she could use, but to no avail. So maybe you guys can help?" Serval asked.

"I can take Lynx back to the immigration ship since it has a Medical Bay. There should be something that can cure your sister." Gunvolt offered.

"Please do." Serval replied. "I don't want my brother Gepard to worry about Lynx's illness."

"Leave it to us, Serval." Vent replied back. "Sorry Jason, Gonbei, but we need to return to the ship ASAP with Lynx."

"It's okay, my team can handle things here." Jason noted. "While you're at it, bring Samus to meet up with Gonbei so she can give him a hand. Plus there's also that item near the Launch Point so go and search for it before leaving the planet."

"You got it." Aile nodded as Vent went inside the tree house to retrieve Lynx while Gunvolt, Aile and Ashe head for G-Rairyu.

"Hold on! I need to give ya guys somethin' to access the shortcut!" Gonbei interrupted as he pulled out a blue data chip. "Install this onto the MA, it'll help ya out."

"Let me see it." Eve took the data chip and used her Zikan Phone to examine it.

RECOIL JUMP:

Allows the MA to perform a wall jump.

"An ability to wall jump? Looks like an extension to the Wall Climb. I'll copy the chip and install them onto the MAs, so gimme a moment." Eve went back to the red MA and installed it onto the MA after sending a copy of the chip to Aile's Zikan Phone.

"Thanks, Gonbei. We'll make use of this." Aile said.

"No problem." Gonbei replied. "Oh, one other thing I need your help with. Gatherin' eight gold coins my ancestors buried on this planet long ago. Once you've found all of 'em, give 'em to Tae. They're needed to install a Dive Module on Kuebiko in case more mutants show up after Zavira's gone."

"We'll keep that in mind and inform Samus about it." Ashe noted. "Hopefully we'll have time to join the beatdown we're giving to the boss mutant."

"You'd better!" Gonbei grinned.

"Okay, I've got Lynx with me." Vent came out of the tree house bridal carrying a sleeping young girl with short blonde hair. Her headwear is a hood with animal ears of a lynx, wears a white and aqua-colored jacket having a fur trimming, a pair of black elbow gloves, a blue scarf with snowflake design, sky-blue leggings and a pair of boots with fur trim.

Lynx Landau

Quantum Element

Path of Abundance

"So this is Serval's younger sister. Poor girl…" Cecilia said with worry.

"Please take good care of my sister. And tell Pela I'm alright." Serval said to Gunvolt's team.

"You're not going with us?" Vent questioned.

"Well someone needs to give Tae a hand with the green MA, but sadly I don't have the parts needed to properly repair it."

"Don't worry, I can give you a hand with that since I'm also a mechanic." Eve offered, approaching Serval while holding several spare MA parts.

"Thanks, Eve." Serval smiled before giving a kiss to Lynx's forehead. "Be well, my dear little sister."

"She'll be alright, we promise." Vent assured as he and Gunvolt's team boarded G-Rairyu and left the hideout.

"Phew… thank goodness there's a solution to that problem." A new female voice was heard as she came out of the tree house. It was a woman with short silver hair with red 'X' hairclips on her bangs, a pair of white angled headgear, wears a traditional feudal Japan yellow and dark red outfit with a white bow tied behind her waist, white and black sandals with dark red, yellow and black leggings, and five white fox tails with yellow beads near the ends.

"You must be Gonbei's partner. Tae right?" Edge guessed.

"Yep, that's me." Tae nodded. "An android partner, to be exact."

"Fox tails?" Cecilia thought while staring at Tae's tails. "Is she like Yae Sakura by any chance?"

"You're Eve, right?" Tae spoke to Jason's partner. "Could ya give me and Serval a hand with Kuebiko?"

"Not a problem." Eve replied as she, Tae and Serval got to work repairing the green MA.

"Now then, could you tell us about Zavira considering that mutant's a huge problem to this planet?" Jason asked the samurai.

"Yes." Gonbei nodded. "All of this started when our farm taxes started soarin' out of the blue. Our crops had been havin' bad year after bad year, and what's more, youkai we'd never been seen before had been rampaging in our fields."

"Youkai…" Cecilia repeated. "I think my friend Houki mentioned these supernatural creatures before in the forms of ghosts, monsters or demons."

"Yep, those kinds. But like I said, those youkai my people faced are different from the usual ones. Though it turns out those 'youkai' are actually mutants the whole time. Anyway, we couldn't just hand over all of our crops like that, we'd starve to death! So, we went to see the governor about lightening the tax load on our farmers. "How dare you!" was all we got for all our trouble. Feh, stubborn as a mule. We wouldn't take that lying down, 'course. No one's gonna quietly starve to death for someone like that."

"So you started a farmer's rebellion?" Jason guessed.

"Well to us, it's known as 'Ikki'. In our society, it's not uncommon. We're just farmers, after all. It's the only way to fight for our rights. So we fight all the way to the governor's office and get inside. But the governor… he's no longer human."

"No longer human?" Edge repeated. "Are you saying that the governor of yours was actually a mutant?"

"More like it took over the governor's body." Gonbei clarified. "And that mutant is the one we call Zavira. Zavira takes over a human, consumes their soul, and reproduces. They get bigger, grow stronger, then do it all over again."

"That mutant Zavira…" Jason thought. "It reminded me of the mutant overlord me and Team XDR fought back on Earth months ago. A mutant with intelligence, and control over other mutants. There must be something special about these ones…"

"Many died that day…" Gonbei continued with a sad look. "Villagers… loved ones… we had no way of fightin' the mutants back then… until Tae and her support dragonfly Tae came in with Kuebiko, and we've put up a good fight… barely… But our fightin' force still dwindled… until it's just me, Tae and Tappy. Even with just the three of us, our 'ikki' will continue…" His face changed to a serious look. "And I won't let it end, no matter what."

"Gonbei…" Jason whispered.

"Zavira…" Cecilia growled. "That bloody mutant will pay for what it and the mutants did to the people of this planet…!"

"Damn right." Edge also growled. "That bastard needs to die!"

"And now you know the other reason why I wanted to help them out." Serval added while continuing her work. "These mutants are just as bad as the Antimatter Legion."

"Antimatter Legion?" Jason repeated.

"A massive intergalactic army of hostile malevolent monsters led by the Aeon of Destruction Nanook with their goal of destroying all life and civilization in the universe. And from the universe I'm from, they've already destroyed plenty of planets."

"My god…" Cecilia gasped.

"Wait, which universe are you from, Serval?" Edge asked.

"The Amber Universe." Serval answered.

"The Amber Universe…" Jason repeated. "So that's where you, Lynx, Gepard and Pela are from."

"Mhm."

"The others need to know about this new threat so we can prepare ourselves." Cecilia stated.

"Agreed." Jason replied as he and Edge nodded.

"More help is appreciated, so thanks." Serval said.

"Anytime." Jason replied.

"Okay, I've done my part." Eve said to Tae and Serval, finishing her work. "You two can handle the rest from here. I gotta go back with Jason's team to hunt down Zavira."

"Appreciate it, Eve." Tae smiled. "Once we're done with the final adjustments, we're comin' along to help."

"And I'm joining in for the ride." Serval also smiled.

"No problem." Eve smiled back before facing her teammates. "Alright, let's go.*

"See ya later, guys!" Jason waved as he and his team boarded G-SOPHIA and left the hideout.

"Be careful out there!" Gonbei waved back as he watched the red MA leave.

When the MA got outside, they saw the switch above had already been pressed which caused the brown bamboo bridge to open up.

"Looks like GV's team already did their job of testing out the Recoil Jump." Eve observed. "Now we don't have to stay stationary if we need to climb up walls. We can just jump onto them instead and leap to another wall as well."

"Mhm. Gonbei had a really useful upgrade for his MA, and we'll make sure to use his gift well during our mutant extermination journey." Jason replied.

"At least GV's team will search for that item near the Launch Point before they leave, and if it involves a press switch on the wall, they have the Recoil Jump to reach it." Cecilia added.

"True, in addition to searching for Gonbei's coins to upgrade Kuebiko." Eve agreed. "That leaves us to go straight towards Zavira on the far right of the map."

"As for how to reach that mutant…" Cecilia looked at the map again and saw a tunnel icon on the right. "Let's try that tunnel over there."

"Alright, time to take the shortcut. Going down!" Jason said as the red MA leaped into the hole until he saw a tunnel to their right near the bottom, activating the hover at the last moment and went inside.

From there, they saw the brown bamboo had vanished since the switch was pressed by Gunvolt's team on the way back. "Oh, it's actually the tunnel I tried to reach before until those bamboo blocked the opening." Cecilia recalled.

"So it's basically a shortcut. Anyway, let's move on." Jason said as the MA went back to the location of the Launch Point.

After passing through the Launch Point and hovered up another cliff, they went to another area where they saw a blocked path that was opened due to the switch on the wall above being pressed.

"Looks like GV's team activated that switch too." Eve observed before they continued on.

After clearing more mutants, they reached their destination after leaping above more platforms. After entering the tunnel, the MA used the Recoil Jump to leap between the walls above until they reached the top where they encountered more mutants and hostile drones they need to destroy, plus more press switches to get rid of the appearing brown bamboo. In the next area, they also navigated through even more green bamboo without getting skewered.

Eventually, they finally reached their destination in the form of a domain entrance with a Recharge Point nearby. "We're here." Eve informed. "Zavira's definitely hiding in there."

"Would be nice if Gonbei and the others were here to assist us." Cecilia said.

"There's no point waiting for them. We need to strike while the iron's hot." Edge stated. "All set, Jason?"

"Yeah, let's do this. For the 'Ikki'." Jason replied as he and Edge left the MA and went inside the domain.

"Be careful, you two." Eve said.

Once inside the domain, they saw a cracked wall in front of them. One grenade throw from Edge and the wall was broken with an explosion, revealing a new path. Jason used his Zikan Phone to check the map of the domain. "There's our boss mutant." He pointed at the mutant icon on the top of the map before looking at a blue dot near the Recharge Point. "Plus there's also an item we need to grab. Can't leave that behind."

"And considering what we're supposed to do for this kind of domain, we gotta start looking for keys to open the locked doors as we go along." Edge recalled as Jason put away his phone.

"Right then, let's get started." Jason declared as the duo ventured deeper into the domain. A few moments of mutant extermination and box breaking along with making more shortcuts by blowing up cracked walls with grenades, they were able to find five keys before heading to the next area up north after opening the locked doors and crossing a wooden bridge.

When they entered a new area, they encountered faster versions of the diamond-shaped drones in red color, and spinning star mutants locked behind several locked doors to which the duo wisely chose to never unlock those doors. Jason was able to evade the projectiles and destroy the drones using the Shift-Up Attacker Blast Counter that Gonbei gave to him while Edge was able to find two more keys hidden behind more locked doors, bringing the total key count to seven.

When Edge opened the locked door that needed seven keys, he found a planetoid map data inside. "Hm, this must be another planetoid map data. Better give this to Jason." He retrieved the map and gave it to Jason as he was finishing off the last hostile drone.

"Thanks." Jason took the map data from Edge and used his helmet's Scan Visor to examine it. "Planetoid Map 'C-1'. So it's near the immigration ship. We'll have a look later." After pocketing the chip, the duo head north and use all seven keys to open the final door, revealing a Recharge Point and the room behind it.

And once they got inside the next room, they saw a floating large humanoid head with yellow skin with blue eyes.

"There's the bastard we're looking for." Edge scowled as the duo prepared their G-Rifles. "You're gonna pay for what you did to the people of this planet!"

"Your tyranny ends here, Zavira! Time for you to go!" Jason declared.

=WARNING=

THE LAIR OF

=ZAVIRA=

(Play BGM: The Mutant Pandemic - Blaster Master Zero 2 OST)

Zavira immediately made its first move by firing projectiles in a spread shot, causing the duo to evade with Jason performing a Blast Counter as the duo fired back with Stinger Shots that damaged the mutant. Zavira then moved around them in a circle, prompting the duo to fire at it, but the boss mutant was too fast.

"Slippery little…!" Edge growled.

"Try the Seeker Shot!" Jason suggested as the duo fired homing shots that chased down the speeding Zavira, taking even more damage as the shots connected.

Zavira roared in anger as it began teleporting all over the arena, making it hard for the Seeker Shots to chase down the mutant as the shots faded overtime.

"Okay, did not expect this mutant to pull of this trick." Jason admitted.

"How about we try the same tactic against Gonbei?" Edge suggested. "Wait for it to strike and then counter it?"

"Sounds like a plan." Jason replied as the duo took a cautious stance, waiting for Zavira to make its move.

Moments later, the mutant appeared behind the duo and fired spread projectiles, only for them to quickly evade and threw grenades at the mutant's eyes, crippling its sight. Then they switched to Splasher Shot and fired rapidly at the boss mutant until it exploded, leaving behind an Access Key dropping near their feet.

(BGM End)

"Wait… that's it?" Edge questioned as he holstered his rifle while Jason retrieved the key and used his helmet's Scan Visor on it.

"An Access Key to Space Sector D. Looks like we can finally go there now." Jason said, pocketing the key. "Though what's wrong, Edge? We defeated Zavira, right?"

"Yeah I know… but why do I get the feeling that this is way too easy? Shouldn't boss mutants be more difficult than this?"

"Hmm…" Jason hummed with his hand on the bottom of his helmet. "Come to think of it, you do have a point considering the boss mutants I've fought on Earth last time were tougher than this one. Let's head back and chat with Eve to see what she thinks."

"Right." Edge nodded as Jason created a wormhole nearby with his Zikan Phone before the two went inside.

"Welcome back, you two." Eve greeted the duo appearing from the wormhole. "Did you defeat Zavira?"

"We did beat it and got the Access Key to Sector D… but that boss mutant was not as hard as we thought. At least, that's what Edge thinks." Jason replied.

"Wait, a boss mutant that's not difficult to defeat?" Cecilia questioned. "Then how did Gonbei and his 'Ikki' lose to it?"

"I dunno, you tell me." Edge shrugged.

Before the conversation could continue, G-SOPHIA's comms began to ring.

"Hold on, I'm getting a call from the Receiver, and it looks like it's from Gonbei. Come inside, you two." Eve informed.

The duo nodded before entering the MA. Once inside, they saw Gonbei, Tae and Serval on the smaller screen.

"Uh… hello? Is this thing on? Can you guys see us right now?" Gonbei called out while poking the screen.

"Oi, don't do that! You don't want that to be broken, too!" Tae scolded.

"It's fine, I can see them, so it works." Serval assured. "Sorry it took a while, but Kuebiko's repaired and raring to go. Thanks for the spare parts, Eve."

"Anytime, Serval." Eve smiled.

"Anyway, we've found Zavira's location and defeated it… but it felt a little too easy." Jason said to Gonbei.

"Yeah… about that…" Gonbei rubbed the back of his head. "I wouldn't let your guard down just yet."

"Huh?" The team blinked.

"This is where the real fight starts!" Tae said as the team felt the ground shaking.

"What the heck's going on?!" Edge questioned.

"Hm?" Eve then noticed a signal on the MA's screen. "Guys, G-SOPHIA's detecting a large mutant signal! And it radiates the same aura as a boss mutant!"

"The one you guys defeated was just one part of Zavira!" Gonbei informed. "Zavira's real form is about to show up! So hang tight, we're on our way!"

"Please hurry!" Jason replied as Gonbei's screen vanished.

"Uh… guys?" Cecilia spoke up as she saw something massive on the main screen. "You might want to look to the left."

When the red MA turned left, the team gasped in shock at the boss mutant… that's basically a massive living purple stone golem with trees adorning its body, rock-like spikes on the bottom of its feet, four door-like blocked entrances around the larger hole on the mountainous mutant, one on each hand, one on top, and one located under its eyes, and a large crystal on the top of its head. In addition, the larger hole contains multiple eyes varying in size, including a large one.

"Oh… My… God…" The team muttered in shock.

"The one time we don't have Geiz and his Time Mazine." Cecilia muttered. "That Battle Mode would be really useful considering it fought Titans in Starfall Islands."

"I'm sorry, what?" Edge blinked.

"Long story."

"How are we supposed to beat something this massive?" Jason questioned. "I know we've defeated a large corrupted defence robot back at the immigration ship… but this is way different."

"Let me try to find some kind of weak spot." Eve checked the massive golem on the main screen. "Hmm… maybe try aiming at that crystal on its head."

"It's worth a try." Cecilia noted. "I'm heading out, so cover me while I shoot down that crystal."

"Alright, watch yourself!" Jason replied as Cecilia left the MA, donned her blue IS and took to the skies.

"To think, this is the boss mutant's true form." Cecilia gazed at the stone. "It'll take a while for reinforcements to arrive, so we'll have to work with what we've got for now." She prepared her beam sniper rifle and pointed it at the golem while her four drones split into eight. "Come then, defeat us if you can! Your sheer size will not scare us!" She shouted at the golem letting out a defiant roar.

=WARNING=

THE LAIR OF

"THE MOUNTAIN OF CHAOS"

=GATHERVIRA=

(Play BGM: Hanmuru Doll Appears! - MegaMan Legends OST)

Gathervira immediately fired laser beams from its large eye at Cecilia, but due to the speed of her IS, it was difficult to land a hit as she and her drones retaliated with beam shots at the crystal on its head. The MA also provided support fire with Hexa Missiles and charged Laser Shots to the crystal. Eventually, the golem roared in pain as the entrance on the top area of its body opened up, to which Cecilia took notice.

"An entrance… I wonder if there's another weak spot I need to attack inside…" Cecilia pondered before shouting at the others. "Guys! I think there's another weak spot inside the golem's body! I'm going in to destroy it, so keep attacking the crystal to make sure it stays put!"

"Copy that! Be careful in there!" Jason replied as the MA continued to attack the crystal while Cecilia and her drones flew inside one of the golem's opened entrances.

Once inside, Cecilia saw another clone of Zavira waiting to strike. "So this is how you operate. Well…" She materialized another beam sniper rifle on her free hand and took aim at the mutant head. "Let's see how you handle an IS pilot!"

Zavira fired spreading projectiles, but they were easily evaded by Cecilia's speed of her IS before countering with lasers from her rifles and drones. The mutant took so much damage on contact that it began teleporting around the area.

"Teleportation won't save you!" Cecilia retaliated by sending her drones above the area in a circle formation, aimed downwards and fired spread lasers that not even the teleporting mutant can avoid as it took heavy damage on contact. "Originally, my IS never had that feature when I first met the Rebellion." She thought while fusing her rifles into a twin buster rifle and took aim at the mutant being pelted by lasers without giving it a chance to recover. "But now, I've grown a lot stronger than before. Not only for Blue Tears, but also for myself as a person. And I'm not going to let Phantom Task, the Neo Time Jackers, and especially this boss mutant that made Planet Montoj nearly extinct, stand in the way of my friends, Team XDR, and the Xross-Verse!" With her weapon fully charged, she finished off the mutant with one powerful blast, causing it to explode. Afterwards, she and her drones escaped the room that's about to collapse.

Once she flew out of the room and turned around, she saw that the room collapsed, leaving only three blocked entryways to left. "I've taken out a Zavira clone in that room!" Cecilia shouted to the others as they stopped firing. "Only three more rooms left!"

"Good work!" Eve noted. " While you're inside earlier, I've just got a call from Samus! She should be arriving soon in her gunship! In addition, GV's team is also en route to our position!"

"That's reassuring to hear! At least I won't have to go inside all of those rooms myself!" Cecilia noted, before dodging more of the golem's eye lasers and retaliated by firing at the crystal after splitting her buster rifle into two.

Then golem then initiated a new attack, launching small meteors to the sky from its back before they started raining down.

"Incoming meteors from above!" Jason shouted as the MA and Cecilia fired the falling meteors from the sky while also avoiding the golem's stomps and eye lasers.

But the golem's attacks were interrupted by missiles from the sky blasting onto its crystal… caused by Samus' gunship with the galactic bounty hunter standing on top.

"Samus, you're here!" Cecilia smiled.

"Sorry for the delay!" Samus greeted with a two-finger salute before firing Diffusion Missiles at the golem's crystal. It took too much damage, causing the entrance on the bottom of its body to open.

"Samus, an entrance to the golem's body has been opened. I highly advise you to enter and destroy the source inside to weaken the boss mutant." Adam informed. "Any objections, Lady?"

"None whatsoever." Samus acknowledged, jumping off her ship and landing near the golem's entrance before running inside while everyone else fired at the golem's crystal to keep it at bay.

Once Samus is inside the room, she notices a few spikes around the room. In addition, two more Zavira clones appeared before her. "So these are the boss mutant's source of power, huh?" She aimed her arm cannon at the clones. "Not if I can help it." She fired fully charged Ice Beams at the mutants while dodge rolling the incoming projectiles. The mutants then circled around her, causing her to briefly stop and await movement. Then one of the clones rushed to the bounty hunter from behind, only to be stunned on contact by Samus delivering a powerful counter swing with her arm cannon before being bombarded by Diffusion Ice Missiles to freeze it, then followed up with Super Missiles until it exploded, leaving only one clone left.

In desperation, the remaining clone teleported all over the room to confuse Samus. "Nice trick. Wanna see how I deal with that?" Samus retaliated by turning into her Morph Ball form and deployed a Power Bomb which then exploded seconds later as the explosion covered the entire room, damaging the teleporting mutant which also stunned it. Samus then returned to normal and fired a Diffusion Ice Missile to completely freeze the mutant, then shattered it to pieces with her Screw Attack. With the clones destroyed, she immediately left the room that began shaking.

Once outside, Samus jumped off and landed on top of her gunship before retreating to a safe position as the room she entered earlier collapsed. "Good work. Only two more entrances remain until the boss mutant is defeated." Adam informed. "Also, I've detected that G-Rairyu is nearing our location."

"Then we'd better leave their team to deal with the next entrance." Samus replied as the team continued to fire at the golem's crystal while evading the eye lasers and the meteors.

The golem tried to grab the gunship and Cecilia with its large hands…

"Burning Spark Calibur!"

…until the golem's crystal was struck by a burning spark sword from the sky caused by G-Rairyu driven by the Azure Striker. After the blue MA flew back while leaving behind the burning spark sword, the sword electrocuted the entire golem before it exploded, causing it to slump as the entrance on its right hand opened.

"Took you long enough to show up, GV!" Samus smirked at the blue MA.

"Had to deal with some mutant traffic along the way!" Gunvolt answered.

Cecilia then noticed the opened entrance on the golem's right hand and pointed her rifle at it. "GV, hurry and send someone over to that entrance and deal with the boss mutant clones inside! They're the reason why this large mutant golem is alive!"

"Copy that!" Gunvolt acknowledged. "Vent, Aile, Ashe, get in there and kick some ass!"

"Roger!" The three Chosen MegaMen replied, jumping out of the MA in their battlesuits (Vent and Aile donning Model ZX) and landed in front of the open entrance before running inside while everyone else fired at the golem's crystal once more to hold it down.

Once the trio arrived inside, they saw three Zavira clones hovering before them in a room with a few spike pits around.

"Okay, I was expecting one clone. But three at once?" Ashe questioned.

"Looks like the boss mutant is getting desperate considering how much damage it took before our arrival." Vent stated.

"Still not going to show any mercy considering what it did to this planet." Aile added as they prepared themselves. "This mutant has overstayed its welcome, so it's time for it to go! Ashe, go after one of them! Vent and I will handle the remaining!"

"With pleasure!" Ashe complied, rushing towards a mutant clone and delivered a hard tackle with her hand cannons, sending it crashing to a wall. She then kept up the attack with buster shots while Vent and Aile fought the other two mutant clones. The mutant clone circle around Ashe to confuse her, but it proved ineffective since it was locked on before taking heavy damage from her homing bolts. The mutant then teleported all around Ashe, but she didn't feel fazed in the slightest. "Oh please. Like I didn't have a counter for teleport spammers!" She smirked, unleashing her Giga Crash as she twirled her hand cannons and fired buster shots and homing bolts all around that not even the teleporting mutant could avoid, eventually taking heavy damage and under paralysis due to the bolts. "And now… you're done!" She then fused her hand cannons into a twin buster cannon and fired a decisive full powered blast at the paralysed mutant as it exploded on contact.

"Well, that's one less mutant clone to worry about." Model A concluded as Ashe unfused her cannons and holstered them on her back. "Now we can go and give those twin siblings a hand."

"Nah, I think they've got this." Ashe replied, watching the other two MegaMen fighting the other two mutant clones. "Besides… they're not just limited to Model ZX anymore." She smirked.

Speaking of the twin siblings, Vent and Aile already dealt enough damage to the two mutant clones during their fight, but were now having trouble landing a hit at them due to their teleportation.

"Tch… would be nice to have Model A's homing shots. That would be useful in this situation." Vent muttered as the two stood guard back to back.

"Then we'll have to improvise." Aile replied. "We need to group those two together before we hit them in one strike."

"Then perhaps utilising Model H's tornado to suck them in." Model X suggested.

"Model L's ice power would also work to freeze those mutants." Model X also suggested.

The twins thought about their biometals suggestions for a moment before Vent pulled out Model H while Aile took out Model L. "In that case…" Vent began.

"Let's do both!" Aile finished.

"Model X! Model H!"

"Model X! Model L!

"Double MegaMerge!" Vent and Aile shouted before the biometals glowed.

"Biolink Established! M.E.G.A. System Online!" Model X, H and L (Model L speaking in Leviathan's voice) announced as Vent was enveloped into a green cyclone while Aile turned into a large ice crystal. Soon after, the cyclone vanished and the ice shattered as Vent donned Model HX while Aile donned Model LX.

Aile gained a light blue armour with the helmet having twin dorsal fin engines on either side with an additional one behind the helmet, the boots also has fins on the sides and the greaves have a second lighter color. In addition, she's wielding a light blue energy double halberd.

"To be fair, Model L suits you a lot more than me." Vent commented while staring at Aile's armor.

"What's wrong? Too feminine for you?" Aile answered with a teasing smile.

"Hey." Vent sweatdropped before going serious. "Anyway, I'm gonna make the first move. Get ready to follow up on my signal."

"Gotcha." Aile nodded. "Make it count!"

Vent flew upwards with his arms wide and wielding the Sonic Blades, and spun rapidly until it generated a powerful upward tornado. Then he launched the tornado with one swing with the vacuum force of the tornado interrupting the mutants' teleporting, sending them flying inside to trap them. "Now!"

With Vent's command, Aile twirled her weapon before unleashing an ice dragon with one swing as it flew into the tornado before the entire thing froze over with the mutant clones trapped inside.

"And this…!/…is checkmate!" Vent and Aile shouted, delivering a final charged cross slash with their weapons, shattering the ice and the trapped Zavira clones inside to pieces before exploding.

"So that was the Double MegaMerge version of Model H and L, huh? A lot more powerful than I thought." Ashe mused as she approached the siblings with her hands behind her helmet.

"Yup." Aile smiled. "Good to have these forms back."

"Anyway, our work here is done. We're leaving." Vent said.

"Right!" The girls nodded before the trio left the room as it started crumbling.

Once the trio made it out, they jumped off and landed atop G-Rairyu on the ground before speeding off to avoid getting stomped by the golem.

"Target neutralized, GV!" Ashe informed.

"Nice going!" Gunvolt replied. "That leaves only one entrance remaining, and it's on the golem's other hand!"

"Vent, better stay in Model HX and support Cecilia from the skies." Aile advised.

"Got it." Vent nodded, taking off towards the IS pilot's location.

"Sorry we're late for the party!" Gonbei's voice was heard from the team as Kuebiko the green MA arrived. "Huh, guess I don't need to explain after all considerin' you guys took out those clones in the golem's three entrances."

"Gonbei, you made it!" Jason said.

"Fine work, fellas!" Tae said, speaking from inside Kuebiko. "That means the last of those clones are hidin' in that entrance on the golem's hand!"

"Though it looks like it's closed at the moment. Care to give us a hand so I can go inside and give those clones a piece of my mind?" Serval requested, speaking from inside Kuebiko.

"Consider it done!" Jason replied. "Alright everyone, aim for the golem's crystal once more! Vent, Cecilia, Samus, take out the incoming meteors!"

"Roger!" The team nodded as they fired at the golem's crystal again while Vent, Cecilia and Samus shot down the meteors that the golem launched before they reached the MAs.

Eventually, the golem's crystal took too much damage, causing it to slump as the entrance on the other hand opened.

"Alright, the way is open!" Gonbei spoke as he and Serval got out of the green MA. "Can someone give me and Serval a hand on reaching that entrance?!"

"Allow me!" Cecilia complied, flying towards the duo, grabbed their hands and flew to the open entrance. After dropping them off, the three went inside while everyone else continued to fire at the golem's crystal.

Once Gonbei, Serval and Cecilia were inside the room, they saw the last three Zavira clones waiting for them.

"There you are!" Gonbei pointed his spear at the clones. "You and your mutant army killed most of my 'ikki' that not even Tae and Kuebiko could stop. But now, things are different since allies from other planets are here to help me stop you! You don't look so good since your other clones were destroyed by my new powerful friends, don't you?" Gonbei's taunt made the clones angry.

"Maybe taunting them might not be the best move." Cecilia admitted as the trio prepared themselves while Serval summoned a silver and Grey mechanical guitar. "...A guitar?" She pointed at said instrument. "Are you a musician, Serval?"

"Yup." Serval smirked. "Besides being a mechanic, I'm also the lead singer of my rock band, Mechanical Fever. If I ever return to Belobog, I'm giving you and your team free VIP tickets to my concert. Sounds good?"

"I'd love that." Cecilia smiled. "And I'm sure my idol friends would love to hear your band's performance."

"Then it's a deal." Serval nodded before they faced the clones. "But first thing's first…"

"Right." Cecilia nodded back. "Time for those mutants to go!"

"I'll handle one clone! You girls take care of the rest!" Gonbei said before rushing towards a mutant clone.

"Let me help you with that!" Cecilia said, sending her drones to push two clones straight onto the wall before she and Serval chased after them, leaving Gonbei to deal with the remaining clone.

While evading the mutant's projectiles, Gonbei was able to get some hits in by throwing his sickles. The mutant then circled around him as Gonbei stopped attacking. "I know this trick all too well, Zavira. Not fallin' for it again." He spoke while taking a defensive stance with his eyes closed. Once the mutant stopped moving, it fired spread projectiles from the side. However, Gonbei quickly took action as he opened his eyes after hearing the oncoming attack and evaded the projectiles before countering with a rapid spear thrust, followed by a triple side swing that pushed the mutant back.

Taking heavy damage, the mutant teleported all around him in an attempt to confuse the samurai. "This trick as well, huh? The last time I tried to fight it, I was reckless and got myself injured in an attempt to attack it. But… after fightin' Jason and Edge as they evaded my attacks… maybe I can pull off the same tactic as theirs. Just need to be patient." Gonbei thought and took a defensive stance again with his eyes closed, letting his instincts take control. Eventually, the mutant stopped teleporting and fired the spread projectiles from behind the samurai. Fortunately, Gonbei was able to sense the oncoming attack with his ears, ducked under the projectiles while turning around with his eyes open and threw a pair of flash bombs right onto the mutant's eyes to blind him. "Here's my chance!" He thought while unleashing a barrage of spear thrusts onto the blinded mutant, followed by several side, upward and downward swings, and finished with one powerful thrust, causing the mutant to explode. He smirked victoriously, twirling his spear and rested it over his shoulder. "Heh, revenge never felt sweeter. I wonder how the girls are doin'?"

Speaking of the girls, they fought well fighting the remaining two Zavira clones, though Cecilia was surprised that Serval can unleash purple lightning with her mechanical guitar. Even more fortunate that Serval's lightning was able to paralyse both clones as they struggled to attack or teleport, but failed to do so.

"I think it's about time we wrap this up." Serval stated. "You first, Cecilia. I'll follow up."

"With pleasure." Cecilia complied, commanding her drones to attack the paralysed mutants in several angles while Serval supported her with lightning bolts while playing her guitar. And after the musician gave one final strum of her guitar, a coordinated lightning storm and charged lasers from Cecilia's drones finished off the mutants, causing them to explode. "Forevermore… adieu." She concluded as her drones returned to her IS.

"Show's over, Zavira." Serval added, resting her guitar over her shoulder.

"Good goin', ladies!" Gonbei praised. "C'mon, we gotta go!"

"Mm!" The girls nodded as Cecilia took Serval and Gonbei's hands, and flew out of the room as it collapsed.

Once they made it out, they regrouped with the others as they watched Gathervira roar in massive pain as all of the Zavira clones were destroyed.

"I think one more strike on the crystal should be enough to finish this golem off!" Gonbei stated. "Any takers?"

"Actually, I have an idea." Cecilia answered. "GV, Vent, plant your electro swords onto that crystal."

"Roger!" Gunvolt and Vent complied and took to the skies until they reached the crystal. After Gunvolt prepared his Luxcalibur, he and Vent with his Sonic Blades thrust them onto the crystal and left them alone as they returned to the others.

"Serval, care to give it one more encore with those swords as lightning rods?" Cecilia requested.

"You know it." Serval smirked, playing her guitar once more which caused massive lightning storms to strike onto the planted swords at the golem's crystal, causing the large mutant to roar in pain.

"Wait, Serval's also a musician?" Joule asked in surprise.

"Mhm." Cecilia nodded. "A lead rock musician of a band, to be exact. We should give it a listen someday."

"Sounds good to me!"

After Serval played for a minute, one final strum of her guitar unleashed a massive lightning strike onto the planted swords, causing lights to erupt all over Gathervira's body before exploding to nothingness. And once the smoke faded, no trace of the large mutant golem was left, signalling the end of the battle.

(BGM End)

"Phew… what a rush." Serval breathed with relief, dispersing her guitar with a smile. "But it was so worth it."

"Yeah, we did it, everyone." Jason agreed. "With the boss mutant defeated, Planet Montoj is safe."

"Still, we need to search around the planet for any mutant survivors remaining for this planet to be fully liberated." Samus stated. "Fortunately, I've already notified the EDF to send some troops here to assist with the search."

"That's good to know." Edge noted.

"Gonbei, Tae, how are you feeling now that Zavira's gone for good?" Eve asked.

Gonbei was silent for a moment as he looked at the peaceful sky. "...It's over… At long last…"

"Gonbei… ya finally did it… Our 'Ikki' has been avenged…" Tae spoke.

"No." Gonbei shook his head and smiled at the group. "We did it. Jason, Eve, everyone. On behalf of Planet Montoj and my 'ikki', I thank y'all for savin' my home. The fallen 'Ikki' can finally rest in peace."

"It's our pleasure, Gonbei. We're just happy to help." Jason replied as he and the team smiled.

"But like Samus said, the fight against the mutants is far from over." Gunvolt stated. "Though we've got a lot of cleaning up to do on this planet."

"So I hope you don't mind if we stay on this planet a little longer." Eve said to Gonbei and Tae.

"Sure thing! You guys are a part of my 'Ikki' now!" Gonbei laughed.

"Oh, Gonbei." Tae sighed and shook her head.

"By the way…" Gunvolt spoke up while pulling out something in his pocket, and approached the samurai and his partner. "I believe you'll be needing these."

"Well I'll be!" Gonbei gasped at what Gunvolt was holding. "Those are my ancestors' gold coins!"

"All eight of 'em, in fact!" Tae added after looking at the amount. "With these, we can finally install the Dive Module for Kuebiko!"

"Well you did tell us to find them, so we did." Ashe pointed out.

"Is that the reason why you guys show up late for the golem fight?" Edge asked Gunvolt's team.

"Something like that." Vent answered.

Gonbei laughed after taking the coins from Gunvolt. "Man, you guys are the best! I gotta give ya somethin' as a token of gratitude." He pondered for a moment, until he pulled out an emblem resembling Kuebiko. "Here, I want y'all to have this."

"An emblem?" Jason blinked while taking a closer look. "And it resembles your green MA."

"Where did you get this?" Eve asked.

"Dunno! Heck, I don't even know what it does either!" Gonbei laughed, making the others sweatdrop.

"And I have NO idea what we're gonna do with this thing." Jason sweatdropped.

"Do you know, Tae?" Eve asked.

"Nuh-uh. Not me either." Tae shrugged and shook her head. "But maybe y'all could figure it out somehow."

"Jason, mind if I have the emblem? I'll try to analyse it."

"No problem, Eve." Jason replied, taking the emblem from Gonbei and gave it to his partner.

"Before I forget Jason, I explored Planetoid 'B-1' earlier and found an orange chip for your suit." Gunvolt pulled out said chip from his pocket.

"Thanks, GV." Jason replied, taking the chip and inserted it onto his suit.

=FLASH SPHERE UNLOCKED=

A landmine that explodes to deploy an energy sphere.

"Flash Sphere, huh?" Jason mused.

"GV, how's my sister doing on the immigration ship?" Serval asked.

"She should be doing okay. The EDF doctors are treating her at the moment with Pela keeping watch." Gunvolt replied.

"Though they're still figuring out how to cure that unknown illness." Aile added.

"I see…" Serval noted. "At least there's some good news."

"As for looking for the cure, I've already sent a message to Geiz's team on the situation. Maybe they'll find a cure on Planet Stranga." Vent informed.

"Good thinking there, Vent." Jason praised. "This should save us some time."

"Anyway, let's all head back to my hideout! I'll treat y'all some food I've grown from the farm! And after that, we'll all go mutant huntin'!" Gonbei declared.

"Ahem." Tae cleared her throat. "Fix up and install the Dive Module onto Kuebiko first, then we go mutant huntin'."

"Oh yeah, that too!" Gonbei laughed while everyone sweatdropped again with Tae facepalming.

"Geiz's team, huh?" Serval thought while looking at the sky. "If they're looking for a cure for my sister's illness on Planet Stranga, then I'm leaving Lynx's fate in their hands. I wish you the best of luck."

Chapter 4: Planet Montoj

End

(Serval Landau has joined Xross Drive Rebellion)

(Formed partnership with Gonbei and Tae)

Author's Note: And thus ends the mission on Planet Montoj, but the team will be staying on the planet to assist Gonbei and Tae with the mutant remnants cleanup since they're not in a hurry. And I had to give Gonbei a chance to fight a Zavira clone for some payback. Plus, Gunvolt's team finished Gonbei's side quest by collecting his ancestors' gold coins so Kuebiko can gain the Dive Module. In addition, Serval and Lynx Landau were found, but the latter gained an unknown illness after being warped by the Dimensional Quake.

So that leaves Geiz and Copen's team to look for the cure of the illness on Planet Stranga while also clearing out the mutants hiding there. Though they'll soon realise why that planet gained its namesake.

Until then, stay safe and see you next chapter!