Chapter 14: The Intangible Maiden
One of the intruders activated its four sabers and rushed the petite Reploid that stood between it and the Supra-Force Metal. Cinnamon's hands had retracted into her arms, making room for two, large, steel drills to appear in their stead. She had already destroyed one of the attackers using her deceptively powerful weapons, and she wasn't about to be outdone by the other mindless drone. Aggressively, the Mechaniloid slashed low, hoping to sever one or both of her legs. The nimble blonde leaped back a split second before the streams of slicing energy could connect.
"Cinnamon! Be careful!" Gaudile's shout echoed through the room from the console he had taken cover behind. He was rubbing his hands together nervously at the sight of the close call.
The young Reploid landed with a soft thud and, while her foe was recovering from its sweeping attack, she activated her boots and dashed forward. With the Mechaniloid unable to defend itself, Cinnamon was effortlessly able to press her unconventional weaponry into its chest and abdomen. The drills penetrated the armor with ease and shredded vital, internal circuitry as if it was made out of nothing more than paper. The drone stumbled back for a few seconds, trying to recover from a lethal injury, before finally losing power and collapsing. The resulting explosion sent debris flying and added yet another scorch mark to the professor's previously spotless lab.
The cheerful medic looked back at her 'father' with a bright smile. "Professor, are you alright?" Despite her violent means of attack, she still managed to keep that cute air of innocence about her. The strange contrast was enough to send chills up Gaudile's mechanical spine.
"Yes, I'm fine," the scientist appeared from cover and used the console he had been hiding behind to start a scan of the facility. "I need to check the monitors and run all internal sensors for any more of these drones. And we've got to check up on Nana!" Gaudile knew those two most likely hadn't come alone. As lethal as they were, they didn't appear to be the most intelligent of foes. Surely their owners would make up for that with quantity? Or maybe there was a Reploid intruder as well? Someone sent along to direct them? His theory was confirmed even before the scan of the facility finished, as a female voice stopped him from completing the process.
"My, my, professor. You sure know how to make them. So cute... Yet so strong," an elegant Reploid had descended through the ceiling of the dome. No explosion or sizzling of an energy saber making a cutout had preempted her appearance. She had effortlessly phased through the roof of the chamber and continued to lower until she hovered a mere few inches over the ground.
She was tall and slender with the silver, white, gold and dark blue colors giving her an exotic and enchanting appearance. Her hair was long enough to reach her backside, with the tips of the strands curling luxuriously. A steel headband covered her ears and crossed the top of her head. Spiky bangs of silver partially hid a blue-gemmed circlet on her forehead. Two, dark blue, thunder-shaped streaks ran down pale skin and across her eyes, with their tips ending at either side of her thin lips. Her body was nimble and lightly armored, with the plated segments kept small and only protecting vital systems and joints in her chest. The armor on her forearms and legs resembled gloves and knee-high boots instead of the clunkier appearance Vile's had. Stiff, reinforced cloth resembling an open, long, sleeveless trench coat covered much more of her body. The coat ended in four, sharp tails at the height of her ankles while it featured an open, ornate, high collar around her neck. Everything had gold and silver trimmings adding some contrast to the white hue of much of her body. Grey eyes surrounded by pools of black were fixed on Gaudile.
"Who are you? What do you want?!" the professor's eyes nervously glanced from the intruder to Cinnamon, who stood poised to defend him. He was worried for her safety. This wasn't your average enemy, not when she was equipped with something that allowed her to phase through solid material.
"Not important," the silver-haired Reploid leaned to the side enough to be able to point at the Supra-Force Metal that radiated a soft, blue light in the machine in the center of the dome-shaped room. A vicious grin tugged at her lips as she seemed to have found exactly what she was looking for.
"I won't let you take anything from us. That's stealing, and it's wrong. Please, leave!" Cinnamon's warning was delivered in a calm and defiant manner, as she moved to bar the woman's path to the machine.
The tall Reploid turned her attention to Cinnamon, with a blank expression revealing she was mostly just amused by the threats levied towards her. "Spare me, girl. But fine. You die first, then," the last few inches between her and the floor vanished as she landed and crouched. A blue glow enveloped her body once again, as she seemed to activate whatever technology allowed her to phase. Her hand dipped beneath the floor panels and grabbed hold of something. When she raised her arm again, she pulled a large hammer out from below them. The weapon's shaft was nearly as long as she was tall. Tipped with a spike on one end, and a hefty, clawed head on the other, it seemed improbable that a slender Reploid like that would wield such a weapon. And yet, its weight did not seem troublesome in the slightest.
Cinnamon didn't wait a moment longer, having learned the value of striking before your opponent was prepared for it. She dashed forward and attempted to run her foe through like she had the Mechaniloids earlier. But, with the glow still persisting, she passed through the intruder harmlessly. It caused her to stumble from her own momentum.
"How-?" she wasn't able to finish her sentence as the much taller Reploid appeared above her, hovering upside-down to smirk sadistically down at her. Before Cinnamon could react, the hammer was brought down onto her chest, sending her flying back to where she had been standing earlier. With a loud cry of pain, she crashed into the sides of one of the tables by the center column with her lower back. She was almost folded around the furniture, but instead, the metal buckled to accommodate her. Despite her best attempts to stay upright, she collapsed onto her backside, a look of disbelief on her face.
"Cinnamon!" Gaudile rushed to her side as fast as his tiny legs could hobble him. The girl was in bad shape as the direct hit had cracked her chest, while the crash had caused severe damage to her spine. She had lost most of the use of her right arm and was struggling to stay awake.
"P-Professor... Stay... Away..." her whispers were weak and strained.
"How precious," the floating intruder raised her free hand, her palm opening to reveal the barrel of a weapon of some sort. Electricity began crackling from within, with sparks flying out occasionally. "Time to perish," there was no emotion evident in the woman's cold voice as she prepared to fire. But, before the volatile projectile could be discharged, the fight was interrupted by a new pair of Reploids charging into the room from a door off to the side.
"Cinnamon?!" Nana cried out as she saw her friend surrounded by rubble. She took note of the culprit, but still rushed towards the medic to help her.
Vile, on the other hand, started to circle around the hammer-wielder until he stood between her and his three allies. "You're another Revenant, aren't ya?"
"Ah. Vile, yes? My darling spoke highly of you. But, I'll be honest, you look like little more than an eyesore to me," she lowered her arm as the projectile weapon temporarily powered down. "You're correct, though. My name is Morrigan," she whipped her long, silver hair back slightly as another cocky grin crossed her features.
Vile tilted his head up slightly, as if he were looking down his nose at her, before scoffing at her words.
"I'm here for the Supra-Force Metal. This time, you're not my target. Back down," despite her request, she wasn't lowering her weapon as she most likely knew the renegade wasn't going to comply.
"Over my dead body, lady. Ya might be a woman, but I don't discriminate. You'll just make for better-looking scrap metal than your friends," Vile's threat was punctuated by the activation of his shoulder cannon, which immediately oriented itself to aim directly for Morrigan. He wasn't going to allow her to utter anymore words, instead opening fire.
His attack was less than effective, as all three projectiles passed right through the intangible Reploid harmlessly. Once again, her body had become semi-opaque and radiated a light blue aura. Whatever technology she was using to accomplish this didn't appear to require a lot of time to charge or recharge, instead activating in the blink of an eye.
After solidifying again, she dashed straight for Vile, even hovering low to the ground so that she could once again use her strange ability to phase right through a few pieces of furniture that were in the way of her approach. It caught Vile completely off-guard and by the time she had closed to distance, he hadn't so much as even thrown up his arms or attempted to preemptively fire.
Still, a flare of his boots allowed him to dash back and away from the hammer as it came down and threatened to crush his head into the ground. Even as the weapon missed, it still connected to the floor, with the many engraved lines running along the surface of the hammerhead lightning up with a glow similar to the one produced by Morrigan's phasing. It appeared to be a feature of the weapon as no sooner did it hit the ground and a shockwave of energy erupted from the cracks in the ground.
The wave hit Vile from his legs up, immediately knocking out his boots. With his stability compromised, he fell back and had to roll to use his momentum to get back up. The HUD inside of his helmet was displaying multiple errors involving malfunctioning parts of his body. All but one seemed to vanish after a few seconds. It seemed his rocket pack on his left shoulder was no longer operating correctly because of the weird energy.
'Dammit... Why can't they ever fight fair?' Vile refused to change tactics and once again primed the Front Runner to lay down a barrage. He was hoping to get a shot in while Morrigan was recovering from her swing. No such luck, as her phasing had reactivated right after her attack had hit, and as she casually raised the hammer again, Vile's shots didn't affect her body at all.
"You seem to be quite pig-headed," Morrigan's voice was swimming in condescension.
"I prefer to call it determined!" The former Hunter was quickly losing his temper, as usual.
Morrigan stretched out her palm like she had before and gathered energy for what appeared to be her ranged weapon. Once the energy had built up enough, she opened fire, releasing a small electric orb that spiraled towards Vile.
Vile had no idea what other weird effects her weaponry might have, so he used his jet boots to propel him up to safety. He stayed in motion, circling around his enemy, while firing both his cannon and releasing uncontrolled volleys of bullets from the machine guns on his arms. But still, every attempt was futile. Morrigan simply hovered in place, waiting for the right opening to become solid again and return fire with electric orbs from the palm of her hand.
His erratic flight patterns were making it difficult for her to score a hit as well, so she opted to use her own speed to dash after him. Almost like a ghost, physical obstacles just weren't a problem for her, which instantly countered any attempt by Vile to try and shake her through fancy flying maneuvers around furniture and the central pillar in the chamber. Before he knew it, she had closed in on him and he was unable to dodge two of her projectiles.
One each connected with his left hand and right leg. As the renegade had feared, the orbs did little damage but immediately made his body go haywire. His hand flexed and released, while also shooting bullets from the attached machine gun, completely at random. His right jet boot deactivated itself, only to reactivate a second later, completely compromising any semblance of stability. The shocks themselves also nearly fried certain pieces of internal hardware, potentially making the loss of control permanent until Vile could be repaired.
"Shit!" Vile groaned in pain as he was forced to cut off all power feed to his legs so that his jets were deactivated entirely for now. Fortunately, he had dipped lower to the ground by that point, so his fall would be brief.
He hadn't counted on his pursuer though. With a vicious grin, she appeared at eye-level with him and swung with her hammer. The impact hit his back hard and sent him crashing into one of Gaudile's messy tables, destroying more lab equipment to the chagrin of the terrified scientist. Vile skidded across the floor for a good 5 feet before coming to a halt, face-down. He firmly planted both his fists on the ground and managed to get back up to his feet. It took a few more seconds for the effects of Morrigan's projectiles to wear off, though the hammer strike that had dented the armor on his back, was now playing havoc with some of his vertebrae, causing his back to seize painfully. But, he could still move, that was what mattered.
Morrigan gave him no quarter. No sooner had he regained his composure, and she had already zigzagged towards him. Her body was like a silver blur and trail.
Vile raised his right hand, still not trusting the left to work properly after having been hit, and opened fire with the rotating machine gun. The spray of bullets failed to do much, as the nimble female dodged the rounds, or allowed them to phase through her as needed. A grunt had turned to outright roaring as Vile refused to back down and continued to shoot until the last, possible moment.
Deactivating her ability, Morrigan rematerialized behind him and swung her hammer at his right shoulder. Vile ducked under the powerful blow and could feel the wind rushing overhead as she missed wildly. Seeing a golden opportunity, Vile turned to his usual brawler's finesse to capitalize. Mid-turn, he hit her across the jaw with his elbow, for once being able to land something cleanly. He immediately followed up with a left-handed uppercut and then a haymaker, the combination of which had her reeling.
He knew he would need to keep her from activating her phasing again, so he attempted to tackle the white-framed Reploid to the ground with a leaping takedown. Despite disorientation, Morrigan was still able to return to being intangible in time to have Vile pass through her. The renegade was committed though, so instead of adjusting in mid-air, he allowed himself to pass through, and planted his hands on the surface of a table behind her. Easily, he flipped to land behind the table just as Morrigan swung around and brought her hammer down and crushed the metal surface.
Vile banked on her trying and failing to keep up with him. He just had to find more ways to keep her guessing and pelt her constantly. She wasn't giving him many openings to work with, so he needed to make do with what he had. Before she'd even started lifting her hammer, Vile had grabbed hold of a metal chair and violently hurled it at her. Instinct guided her to shield her head from the impact with her arm, causing the chair to hit her in the shoulder hard. The Revenant hissed as she was knocked down to the ground, but before she could scramble to her feet, she spotted Vile ejecting a grenade from his knee.
"That isn't going to work, you simpleton," she warned as the purple Reploid threw the explosive at her, which detonated by her feet. Despite what should have been a direct hit, she was left unscathed as she had made herself intangible once again.
However, the distraction had worked, as Vile had all the time he needed to bridge the distance between them. The former Hunter vaulted over the broken table between them and used that momentum to execute a dropkick that had his opponent stumbling back. Her grip on the hammer loosened as a result, so Vile eagerly grabbed hold of the weapon and pulled it free. This time, it was his turn to take a swing at her.
The dull, crashing thump of the blunt weapon contrasted sharply with Morrigan's scream as the sheer force involved lifted her off her feet and knocked her back far. In a fluid motion, Vile chucked the hammer after her. She hadn't been able to get her bearings back before her own weapon knocked her into one of the cabinets installed against the wall of Gaudile's laboratory.
"I ain't done yet!" Vile instantly followed up on his threat by opening fire with his remaining weapons, thereby sending a volley of energy shots and machine gun rounds at the downed Revenant. The renegade laughed louder and louder the longer he kept up the barrage.
After a short while, though, he was forced to cease and give his weapons a chance to cool down. He couldn't risk damaging them in the middle of a fight, as he doubted Morrigan would just let him live after this confrontation. He panted slightly as he focused on the screen of smoke and debris that hid his opponent from sight.
"I know that wasn't enough to take ya down! Get up! Don't have anything left to say now?!"
When the veil of smoke lifted, he was proven right as Morrigan – sheathed in that eerie, blue glow of hers – was floating slightly above the remnants of the cabinet he had thrown her into. Her chest armor had been damaged and other chips and bare circuitry across her body hinted at the havoc Vile's ferocity had wrought. Still, any other opponent would have been torn to pieces just now, but her ability to phase continued to make it a slog for the impatient Maverick.
Calmly, she hovered down to the ground to cautiously pick up her hammer. She lifted it with ease and pushed off to float higher once again to glare at Vile.
The standoff was brief but tense. The instant Vile's HUD informed him that the temperature of the Front Runner in particular was back within safe margins, he fired several energy shots. In response, the nimble Reploid dipped low, seemingly crouching to dodge some of the attacks, though she had quickly vanished from sight completely.
'Wh-Where is she?!' Vile braced himself to fire his machine guns as he looked all around and above him.
He failed to notice Morrigan flying up from beneath the ground, hammer in hand. Taken by complete surprise, he couldn't react to the hammer that crashed into his back in what amounted to an upward homerun swing. The hit lifted him up a few feet and had him spinning, but before gravity could bring him back down, the mercenary's weapon crushed him into the floor.
Vile gasped in pain at the heavy weapon resting on his dented chest. Out of pure instinct he grabbed hold of the head and tried to pry it off of him. The idea of taking a shot at her as she stood over him didn't cross his mind fast enough to prevent a sweep of the pole-arm from skidding him across the ground. Morrigan was putting her surprising physical strength on display, as that hit had been strong enough for Vile to crash into several cabinets along the outer wall of the dome-shaped room.
The room was still spinning by the time one of the cabinets he'd been knocked into had slowly begun tilting forwards. With a loud crash, it fell over onto the purple Reploid, who cried out in pain as the steel put pressure on his damaged chest.
"I told you angry, stubborn, little man. Your efforts are futile," Morrigan had retained her mask of confidence throughout the entire encounter, though she had noticeably slowed down since taking somewhat of a beating earlier. With her opponent trapped, she raised the palm of her hand and floated closer in an effort to get a clean hit. "Want to know what happens when one of those orbs – charged – hits you right in that bucket you call a head?" the question oozed cruelty and rhetorical condescension. "All your senses gone. In an instant. How are you going to defend yourself when you're blind, deaf, mute and stupid, hm? Oh! Well... You were already stupid, I suppose."
Vile effectively growled at her words as he struggled to move the cabinet off of him. He got it to budge an inch before the orb Morrigan had been charging was fired at his nearest arm. With the limb instantly disabled, the cabinet came back down on him and prompted another scream of pain. But, he quickly began chuckling, even as his enemy was nearly standing over him by that point.
"You're all talk, bitch. I know your left leg is killing ya. You're not invulnerable. I can kill ya. Just like I can kill anyone else!" his bravado in pointing out the deep gash in Morrigan's left thigh was rewarded by another electric shock coursing through him. This time, his left arm was taken from him, removing all hope of him freeing himself. She didn't stop there. His lack of respect got him shot several more times until nearly all of his systems were coming up with all manner of errors that stopped them from functioning properly. He was effectively helpless and defenseless where he lay.
"Dammit!" Vile yelled in frustration at being paralyzed and even felt a tinge of fear as Morrigan now took to aiming for his head, a sadistic smile tugging at her lips.
"Spectrum was right. You are quite the handful. But, you're just another dumb brute," the tone of her voice changed as it revealed her disdain for Vile and anyone like him. It seemed as though she wasn't going to grant him the release of unconsciousness as a result of a shot to the head. Instead, the projectile weapon deactivated so that hand could also grab hold of her hammer. She raised it up over her head, poised to crush her opponent's skull.
Before the weapon could come down and finish him, however, a bright light emanated from the center of the room, causing a momentary distraction.
"No! Stop it!" Cinnamon had risen from her spot on the floor and her hands reached out for her chest. A soft light surrounded her like an angelic aura and, as she pried apart the two halves of her chest, she unleashed the power of the Force Metal generator that rest within her. For a brief moment, the light became blindingly intense, forcing Morrigan to cover her eyes and lower the hammer to prevent from being blinded.
Vile looked away from the young Reploid and felt a strange sensation fill his body. The electric currents that had been plaguing his body began to dissipate. Sensors, weapons, internal systems and entire body parts began reactivating. Like a miracle, even the dents in his armor repaired themselves. He had been restored to pristine condition, with no outward signs of battle damage remaining.
When the light finally faded away, Morrigan had turned her attention fully to the girl. Her eyes narrowed to angry slits.
Cinnamon stumbled and was barely able to stay upright due to her injuries and exertion. The Force Metal generator was once again safely covered by her chest plating. She had clearly spent what little energy she had had left to spare.
"I should have taken care of you when I had the chance!" Morrigan once again took aim and fired a powerful bolt of energy. In her weakened state, that projectile would be lethal to the medic.
"Cinnamon, watch out!" Nana pushed her young friend out of the way in the nick of time. The navigator screamed as the projectile shocked her body violently. She'd been hit square in the chest, which seemed to cause the currents to travel through much of her body. She fell to the ground, convulsing uncontrollably.
"Should've kept your eyes on me," with menace in his voice, Vile rose up and slammed his knee right into her lower back as hard as he could. His fingers curled around the Revenant's shoulder so he could spin her around into a punch across her jaw. A few more connected in short order, one to her side and an uppercut to her dropped chin. His ferocity caught her off-guard enough to stop her from phasing. The fierce barrage ended when Vile dropped low and fired his shoulder cannon to knock her down.
Morrigan coughed and gripped her chest. The short range blast had destroyed much of the already damaged armor there, with vital circuitry and systems now revealed with little in the way of protection. She had been careless and she knew she had to make her escape, now. Intangible again, she bit through the pain and disorientation and got up on one knee, Vile's follow-up spray of bullets passing through her harmlessly. She caught a glimpse of her prize, but she knew that the energy field surrounding the force metal during analysis prohibited her from phasing through and grabbing hold of it. She would need time to deactivate it. Her eyes focused on her opponent, who was walking towards her with the same air of arrogance as always.
With surprising speed, Morrigan rose to her feet and lifted off the floor to take to the air again.
"You think you're getting away? Guess again!" Vile's cannon automatically took aim and fired several shots. He had hoped her damaged state would prevent her from staying phased for prolonged periods of time. But, he learned that wasn't the case just yet, as his plasma orbs failed to connect.
Morrigan's improvised ploy paid off as some of Vile's shots collided with the giant machine in the center of the room. The damage to it was significant enough to cause fluctuations in the shield and slowly, the barrier deactivated.
"I must remember to thank you, Vile. We'll have to continue this some other time," Morrigan's taunt was followed by mocking laughter as she activated her dash boots to give her the extra speed she needed to make for the Supra-Force Metal.
Vile cursed as he tried to lock onto her with his missiles – which had been restored to full functionality by Cinnamon moments earlier – only to find her phasing messed with the lock-on feature of the explosives.
"No! Stop her! She can't be allowed to take the metal back with her! The damage it could do is-!" Gaudile's pleas were ineffectual as the infiltrator swiped the valuable mineral from its container before he even finished speaking.
Vile blasted into the air in an attempt to chase down the nimble Reploid. But, before he could get to a proper height to intercept her, he was forced to dodge an energy saber slashing for his neck. The last two Mechaniloids Morrigan had brought with her revealed themselves. They proved to be all the distraction she needed to vanish through the ceiling. None of Gaudile's defense systems were even likely to pick her up, let alone shoot her down.
"Damn! That bi-" Vile was forced to land to dodge a jumping slash from one of the remaining assailants. He aimed both his arms at the drone, ready to pelt it with machine gun fire, but he had to take a quick step back as the four-armed drone tried to sever his hands with a slash directed at his outstretched wrists.
"Outta my way!" He wasn't going to give them room to swing their lethal weapons, so he dashed forward and ducked under another slash from his target. Before the drone could defend itself, Vile's fist crashed into its face, breaking some of the sensors there and blinding it. With his hand partially embedded in the Mechaniloid's head, Vile once again activated his machine guns and opened fire, aiming down so the drone was torn to shreds from the inside-out. Once the drone went limp, he planted his boot against the husk and pushed it away from him.
The Mechaniloid had been close enough to its ally to cause it to be pushed back when it exploded, disorienting and distracting it. Vile grabbed hold of one of the tables and using his jet boots, Vile rammed the steel furniture into the drone. The momentum was more than enough for him to push the saber-wielder against the wall hard, pinning it. With a boot pressed against the edge of the tabletop to prevent his prey from freeing itself, Vile reduced the drone's upper body to scrap with a well-placed shot from the Front Runner.
He wasn't done yet. He needed to catch up to Morrigan and get their only lead back. If she was allowed to escape, then they'd have lost all means of finding out what they were planning.
"You all stay here and make sure there's no more of those drones around. I'm going after her," Vile began rushing for the nearest door.
"Stop! You'll never catch up to her. With her ability, she could've gone in any direction, unhindered by any obstacle. She's long gone," Gaudile had taken to cradling Nana's upper body in his lap while Cinnamon tried to gather the energy needed to repair the operator.
"Vile... It's okay. I've taken care of everything."
Vile had been about to ignore Gaudile's arguments, but the weakened voice of Nana made him pause. He looked at her from where he stood.
"What do you mean, Nana? Taken care of what?"
"Just trust me. Please," Nana's voice was barely a whisper before she closed her eyes and lost consciousness.
Vile had walked over to Gaudile, the navigator's words enough to convince the hothead to stand down. For now.
"Alright, fine. I'll do things you way. For now," he knelt by her and gently picked her up. Gaudile had better patch her up soon as no matter what Nana had planned, time was still of the essence.