Rockman Evolution (Far-Off Sequel To Megaman Legends)

[bond4154]

Oh, BTW, this is the first fanfic thread here. Whoopee.

*****

Rockman Evolution
By Eric Chen

Prologue

Death. When humans attempt to associate death with setting and weather, they imagine dark, damp days, where the moon fails to glow, the sun refuses to shine, the clouds blanket the earth, and the fog takes the air. But as the fires burned in the town of Chiron, death came in the clear daylight, with sunny weather, under the blue sky and above the green grass. What the inhabitants of Chiron failed to understand was that death could come to them at any time and any place, without mercy, without ambiguity, without warning. There was no omen in the sky, no ill signs, nothing. What came just came, and was finished with their work as fast as they had arrived.

They paid for their mistakes with their lives.

Chiron was not by any means a large human settlement. Merely created by those who wished a peaceful way of living, many of them had abandoned the idea of commerce, and used a method of control that could almost be called communism, except that idea had died out years ago. That idea brought no sympathy from the attackers, however, as they stood in a circle, among the wastes of Chiron, and around a single, unharmed, female individual.

Most of them stood in arrogant forms, undisturbed by the bodies around them. They gathered with an air of overconfidence. The victims had been killed in different ways. While slashes covered the majority of the victims, there were also various bullet wounds, even bodies that had been burnt. While most were blessed with swift deaths, other wounds indicated that the victim had suffered greatly before being put out of their misery.

The predators of the day, the Rockmen, looked over their captive as she knelt subconsciously, with Rockman Reaper grasping a hand over her neck, using what telekinetic power he had to attempt to analyze her. Reaper’s form was like the god of death, with a black cloak around his equally dark armor. His bloodlust eyes shined a brilliant crimson, like the eternal fires of hell. A scythe was perched on his back, and a particle beam gun was holstered at his side. He was one cruel Rockman formed piece-by-piece. Second in command of the group, he was placed in the position not because of his ability to lead, but his ability to fight.

Reaper’s telekinetic ability was not usually used for tasks as this, but rather, to possess the bodies of the victims he had slain, and to use them for his own combat purposes. As he often said, “Hey, the dead don’t die again.” Reaper wasn’t necessarily reading her mind, but rather, attempting to analyze and break down her metabolism, her genetic structuring, blood type, and match it with the information they were given for this mission.

“Matched,” Reaper nodded as his hand extracted from the human. She fell into a short trance, in which Reaper took this opportunity to push her downwards, and she fell face flat into the ground. She probably wouldn’t have realized it, in her subconscious state. Reaper scowled in disgust, signifying his extreme dislike for humans. The human was another village girl, dressed scarcely. The weather in Chiron was usually hot and humid, and the other townsfolk had also worn skimpy clothing. Her eyes didn’t focus after Reaper let her go, an aftereffect of the trance Reaper forced onto her mind.

“What do we do now, Eclipse?” Rockman Axis asked. Third in command, Axis was usually reserved, thoughtful, cunning, brooding. He tended not to get into arguments, and not to start conversations. Although he seemed to be a decent Rockman by nature, many have said that his plotting nature is the birth of his plotting to undermine the leadership of his superiors. He carried a double-bladed gunblade at his side, which could easily be used as a weapon for both close-range and long-range.

Mistress Eclipse, as she was called, was indeed a Rockman, but of the female nature. The commanding officer of the group, she was intelligent, demanding, and levelheaded. Her talent to lead and to fight allowed her to be handpicked by the Rockmen Directory to be the leader of the elite caste of Rockmen. While she is widely respected and feared, many loathe her, although none ever make it evident enough for her to know and to have their throats slit. Eclipse rarely fought, although she carried twin pistols and an army knife at her side.

“Well,” Eclipse shrugged, “we have orders to bring her back unharmed. If we had to lay waste to Chiron just to get her, we might as well stick to it. She must be important to the Directory. They don’t send pros like us out on blue milk runs.”

“I certainly hope so,” Rockman Magnum muttered. Known for being a cowboy and a lone wolf, he was aloof, arrogant, flaunting, and dangerous. He seemed much older than any of the other Rockmen, with white hair and black eyes. He even dressed his role as a cowboy, with a tipped hat and a trenchcoat. Two energy revolvers lay at his side, never seen away from his side. Despite the obvious annoyance that it brings to his comrades, he enjoyed to twirl them around once before holstering the revolvers again on an occasional basis.

“Afterburner,” Eclipse ordered, “We had explicit orders to ensure the settlement has no survivors. Obtain a visual confirmation of the deaths of every human in the area, then report back here. If you are to encounter any human living in the area, you are to kill on sight.”

“You know,” Rockman Afterburner chuckled, “Had it not been for the last order, I probably would’ve bitched about it.” He leapt into the air once before wings erupted from his back, and he took off with a loud bang of his rockets, soaring into the sky. Coated with green armor, Afterburner was the fastest of all the Rockmen, and his demeanor matched his abilities. He talked fast, and was known for his foul mouth. While he was arrogant and cocky, he wasn’t necessary vile. Two gattling guns were hooked to his arms, allowing him to dish out rapid damage to all units in his line of sight.

“Nataku,” Eclipse resumed giving orders, “Attempt to scout the outside of the region, and see if there are any signs of approaching reinforcements.”

“In Chiron?” Reaper scoffed, “Come on. Chiron has no importance to the rest of the humans. It’s just a little town that wouldn’t help during the war.”

“The humans rely on emotional deceit, Reaper,” Eclipse explained slowly, as if she was concealing impatience, doing so without looking at her subordinate, “If the other humans come and try to save Chiron in their moment of need, the inhabitants of Chiron may be coerced to supporting them.”

“You’ve certainly thought about this a lot,” Reaper chuckled, crossing his arms.

“It’s called early intuition,” Eclipse pressed her lips in a flat line, “Nataku? Don’t mind Reaper. Go on ahead.”

“Understood,” Rockman Nataku nodded, and closed his eyes. His entire body seemed to shimmer, until he suddenly disappeared. Then, there was a shimmer in the air, as what seemed like a figure made of glass was moving across the area. Nataku had the ability to use an adaptive camouflage, allowing himself to become invisible to the enemy.

Nataku is the Japanese name given to a Chinese artificial god. It was said that the god was created from flesh, but a soul refused to reside in it; therefore, Nataku had no emotion. Likewise, Rockman Nataku had no emotions, and it was an advantage in a sense; he could easily put his feelings beside him, if he had any feelings at all, and continue to do his job. Although Nataku had no emotions, he did understand the concept of friendship, brotherhood, courage, vendetta, and the like. With white hair and purple eyes, he seemed almost unnatural, playing his role as an “artificial god” to the fullest. He also wielded a katana that could easily halve his enemies.

The last and youngest member of the crew was Rockman Freedom. Although he was among the elite caste of Rockmen, he was commonly known as a defect. He was naïve, emotional, and childish. He often had problems with his own body as they initiated painful convulsions. Although he had a large amount of notable potential, he had a major lack in experience. However, he shared a special bond with Nataku, whom he looks up to as an older brother, guardian, and mentor. Nataku looked toward Freedom as an emotional guide, often asking questions about certain emotions that are reflected. Two daggers were sported at his side, which almost seemed underpowered…but a weapon was a weapon, and they could kill as efficiently as Freedom could ever want it to.

“Okay, okay,” Reaper gave a grin, “My favorite part of each mission. The kill count.”

“Damn,” Axis muttered, “Not this again.”

“The Directory deemed it necessary this time,” Eclipse explained, “I don’t like to compete as to who made the most kills, but it’s for the record this time.”

“Well, that wouldn’t be very fair,” Magnum scowled, “You sent Afterburner and Nataku out to scout. He would get an unfair advantage if he spots anyone.”

“Wouldn’t that indicate your lack of ability to terminate your targets?” Eclipse gave only the slightest hint of a smirk. Magnum scowled again, but did not complain. Eclipse had jabbed his sore spots, and Magnum could only submit.

“I did one hundred seventy-one,” Eclipse nodded, “Reaper?”

“Ha!” Reaper clapped his gloved hands together, “I beat you! Two hundred fifty-eight.”

“It isn’t anything to be proud about,” Freedom frowned, placing a finger to his brow.

“Yeah,” Reaper laughed cruelly, “This is coming from the kid who can’t make a kill.”

Freedom opened his mouth as to argue, but Axis silenced him with a wave of the hand. “Don’t mess with him, Reaper,” Axis warned, “If Freedom decided to rip you apart for that, I’d stop him…only before he beats you an inch from death.”

“Oh,” Reaper said in a mocking voice, one that imitated fright, “I’m so scared. Freedom’s going to come and jack my ass.”

“Enough,” Eclipse snapped, then in a far more reasonable voice, “Axis, what about you?”

“One hundred sixty-nine. Came a bit short today.”

Eclipse nodded, turned to Magnum. “Magnum?”

“Two hundred seventeen,” Magnum said as he drew his revolved and gave them a twirl, “Afterburner said he nailed two hundred sixty-seven of them…it’ll be more if he finds anyone.”

“Damn!” Reaper spat, “I swear, that guy only wins because of his gattling guns. He has absolutely no skill at all.”

“Are you finished complaining?” Axis muttered, “You’re just not fast enough.”

“I’m not the one who has the lowest kill count so far, Axis,” Reaper turned on Axis.

“Remind me to change team members when we return,” Eclipse cut their argument short, beginning to feel impatient, “I’m sick of even listening to you. Freedom, how many did you terminate?”

“One hundred twenty-two, Mistress,” Freedom replied, “Nataku told me he terminated two hundred three.”

Reaper laughed. “Look who’s last place, Axis. As if Freedom is going to own me anytime soon.” Axis rolled his eyes, didn’t bother to reply. Eclipse showed slight relief to that, giving a nod in Axis’ direction, although only Freedom saw the motion.

“Make a grand total of one thousand four hundred seven,” Axis calculated quickly in his head, “That is seven more than what intelligence had reported. Under the circumstances, I think we have a full kill count.”

Afterburner returned as he landed in the midst of their group, disappointment evident on his face. He didn’t need to say anything for the others to understand that there were no survivors. As always, the Rockmen did their job efficiently.

“Well, then,” Eclipse nodded, satisfied with what she saw, “Our work here is wrapped up. Now, we simply have to return to the Directory.”

“Air transport won’t be able to pick us up on the return trip,” Axis informed, “We’ll have to go on foot, or hijack vehicles along the way.”

“Or I can decide to take the air and get there way before you guys do,” Afterburner laughed, “Air superiority ahoy!”

“Try that,” Reaper said sourly, his face grim, “And I’ll shoot you out of the air.” It was commonly known that Reaper enjoyed taking vehicles out for a spin…and crashing them when he was done with them.

Nataku suddenly materialized in the midst of the group as he deactivated his stealth camouflage, causing several to flinch for a moment. His emotionless face turned toward Eclipse. “There were no reinforcements in the vicinity, Mistress,” Nataku reported, “However, there were two merchants in the vicinity…” Nataku paused, then added, “…I eliminated them just in case.”

“Lucky bastard,” Afterburner muttered.

“Thank you,” Eclipse nodded, ignoring Afterburner’s remark, “Then our orders are simple. We will return to the Directory with our captive…”

“Anyone wonder why the hell the Directory would want a human captive?” Reaper asked, looking around and crossing his arms.

Eclipse opened her mouth to speak, but Reaper had brought something into momentum, so Magnum got there first. “And it wasn’t just any human. We had to watch what we were shooting. We were briefed about exactly which human to get. We had pictures, biological readings, everything. Hell, it’s taking up a quarter of my computer back home.”

Freedom looked confused. “I wasn’t aware that the briefing would take up so much space. The briefing only takes up a…”

Magnum scowled as he closed his eyes in disgust. “I was being sarcastic, moron.”

“The reasons of the Directory are beyond us,” Nataku said simply, noting frustration forming on Eclipse’s face, and anger forming in Freedom’s expression, “Their reasons are for our salvation. Understanding of our objectives is not necessary. What is necessary is our performance and attitude, and our abilities to achieve these objectives efficiently. We are here to carry out the wishes of the Rockman Directory and ensure the salvation of our kind…” he turned to Eclipse, “…Is this what you wished to say, Mistress?”

“Couldn’t have put it better myself,” Eclipse gave a wry smile at Nataku. Nataku just nodded.

“We should leave now,” Axis said, “We have a schedule to keep up with, and humans may come soon.” He looked around warily, as if he expected humans to show up as he said this.

“I concur,” Freedom nodded, “We should get out of this place as soon as possible.”

“We should form two groups,” Eclipse said, “One will be decoy, and the other will return to the Rockman Directory first…” she activated the holographic projector on her helmet, and a map of the region bounced into view in the middle of their group, right above their human captive, who was beginning to come to, “Axis, Nataku, Freedom, you three will take this route…” a blue arrow stretched its way from a red dot labeled Chiron the map and went through a valley, a plain, and then to a red dot labeled Orion, “…You will be taking the prisoner through this route. Reaper, Magnum, Afterburner, and I will take this route…” a red arrow stretched its way from Chiron and headed away from the valley, but then curved, and met with the blue arrow at the exit of the valley in the plains, “…We should be able to cover your tracks when we reach the plains. Any questions?”

“Yeah,” Afterburner said, “Why did you give the captive to Mr. Senile, Emotionless, and Crybaby? Shouldn’t we get the prisoner? We’re far better in terms of combat.” Freedom tensed and glared again, but Axis and Nataku kept their cool.

Eclipse gave a terse laugh. “Because I think Axis, Nataku, and Freedom should have a chance to prove themselves, that they are effective in their level-headed judgment, instead of blasting everything away. Besides, I have a feeling that if we had the captive, she wouldn’t last long in our company…” she paused, then added with a smile, “…If anyone wishes to contradict me, please speak up now.”

Everyone seemed satisfied with the answer, despite several disgruntled expressions from Reaper, Magnum, and Afterburner.

“Axis will have tactical command of blue team,” Eclipse said, “I’ll have command of red team. Stay off the COM channels. Try to run as quiet as possible. We’ll be dispersing random COM signals as to attract attention our way. If everything turns out to be successful, you should be able to return to Orion without firing a shot, and the prisoner completely intact. I assume you are capable of doing this?”

“You can count on us!” Freedom said enthusiastically, eager to prove his skills. Afterburner tried to stifle a laugh, but Reaper didn’t bother with tact as he just laughed. Nataku placed a hand on Freedom’s shoulder before Freedom could do anything, which cooled him down relatively.

“We should leave now,” Eclipse nodded as the girl finally came to, and she looked around for a second, dazed. Then, realizing that she was in the company of Rockmen, she screamed as she tried to run away from the general direction of Reaper, but Axis quickly grabbed her before she could run away, and nudged her into a gentle arm-lock. It wouldn’t hurt unless she tried to squirm her way out of it.

“We don’t mean you any harm,” Axis said smoothly, “We are here to escort you to Orion. Please refrain from resisting, and we will not harm you in anyway.” The girl stopped struggling, but raw fear was still evident on her face. Human bodies were littered all of Chiron, and Orion, the city of Rockmen in which they were to bring her to, was definitely listed as the last place a human like her would want to visit. Nataku formed a rope out of thin air, a rope that looked quite magnificent, as if it was created out of silk. He proceeded to bind the girl’s wrists behind her back with it.

“We’ll see you all back in Orion,” Eclipse nodded, and the two teams quickly left in different directions out of the town of Chiron. When the human vultures came to pick the loot of the devastated town, the sight of the bodies kept the message in their minds that the next victims could be them.

[bond4154]

Chapter One

The transparent shimmer moved slightly in the air, near invisible, but the outlines of a humanoid figure still existent in three-dimensional space. An observer from far range or perhaps a person who did not notice such things with vigilance would miss this shimmer, as the shimmer passed through the valley, pausing every once and a while. Finally, after several minutes, Nataku reappeared in the air, and nodded.

“It’s safe to come out,” Nataku reported as he took a final look around, absorbing all the details. From behind, Axis and Freedom appeared from the tall flocks of grass that had kept them hidden in the plains that also qualified as a valley. Grass flowed beautifully through the area, creating an entire lake of green. Axis and Freedom waddled through the tall grass, probably envious that Nataku, light on his feet, was able to skim across the blades on grass with no troubles.

With one hand, Freedom tugged on the elegant piece of white rope that Nataku had created out of thin air to restrain the human they had captured from Chiron. Her wrists were bound around her back, and her upper arms were also tied close to her sides. Her mouth was gagged as to silence her, and she looked utterly terrified and exhausted. She was forced into a state where she could only obey her captors, where she was completely helpless and unable to resist anything they did to her, and where the smallest act of rebellion will bring the harshest of punishments.

“We should camp here for the night,” Axis, in command of blue team, stated as he looked around and surveyed the area, “I’ve brought enough food for us to go through the night. We should sleep in shifts. One person will watch over the prisoner, the other will scout the area, and the other will sleep. The time now is twenty-three hundred hours. We need to leave tomorrow at zero-eight hundred hours. That means each of us will cycle by three-hour shifts. Is that understood?”

Freedom eagerly stepped up to Axis, wishing to demonstrate his abilities before his superior. “I’ll volunteer for the scouting, sir.”

Axis assessed Freedom for a moment, crossed his arms on his chest, then shook his head. “No, Freedom. You should rest first; Nataku will take the first scouting shift. I will do the next scouting shift, then you.”

Freedom wanted to argue, but decided better against it. He knew that Axis was hesitant about Freedom’s abilities, and chose him for the third shift because it was when dawn set in, and Freedom would be able to survey the area better. He nodded and motioned for the prisoner to sit down. She did, promptly, probably not primarily because she was tired, but rather, was afraid punishment would be inflicted upon her if she didn’t obey.

“I will scout the area now and return at zero-two hundred hours, Axis,” Nataku said, and his image shimmered once in the air before disappearing completely, and his shimmer moved through the night sky. Nataku was barely detectable, which was why Axis enjoyed having Nataku act as a scout-assassin. His skills with a katana was also extremely notable.

What really bothered Axis was Freedom. Axis could not find a certain area in which Freedom was good at. True, he was balanced, but his abilities were somewhat low. Axis, and Eclipse as well, could not find a special use for Freedom. He was among the elite caste of Rockmen, but he was perhaps at the bottom of this special group.

Axis sighed as he settled down against the tall grass. He leaned against them, and there were enough blades to soften his descent. He flattened part of the grass to give them some room to stay for the night. The tall grass also provided cover for them. It was an ideal place to hide and rest. He rubbed his eyes. He had been thinking to the limits of his capacity for this mission. Eclipse didn’t allow Axis to lead a team often; mostly, Reaper took that part.

“Are you okay?” Freedom asked Axis, which caught Axis somewhat out of the blue.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Axis nodded, “Why did you ask?”

“You seem tired,” Freedom replied, “I think I should take the first shift of watching over the captive. You should get some rest.”

“I’m fine,” Axis assured, “Really.”

“I know,” Freedom insisted, “But I don’t feel like sleeping either. I can sleep on the second shift, if you want. You really should get some rest first. You had been leading us through the valley for the better part of the day.”

Axis studied Freedom for a moment, then nodded with approval. “Very well, Freedom,” he smiled, “I’ll allow you to watch over the captive for the first shift.”

Freedom seemed to be filled with renewed energy. “Yes, sir! I won’t let you down.”

“She may be hungry,” Axis told Freedom as he lay back slightly and closed his eyes to catch some rest, “You may want to allocate some food to her; humans tend to digest quickly, and I’ve brought more than necessary anyways.”

“Yes, sir,” Freedom nodded, and watched as Axis went to sleep. Freedom knew that Axis wasn’t shunting responsibility on Freedom; if things had been arranged this way, it meant that they would all get a fair share of everything, and they might as well make the best out of it.

Freedom quickly noted that Axis had unlocked the time-space compression subroutines, and he quickly accessed the TS-C subroutines as his body allowed a merge between two dimensions, conducted by the energy known as aurora. Quickly, there was something like a ripple in space as what seem like a hole in the middle of nowhere appeared, and Freedom reached into it and pulled a small sack out. TS-C subroutines were obtainable through evolution, in which a certain Rockman can compress time and space to an extent where matter could be stored in another dimension, and follow the certain Rockman. It is belief that dimensions, although unlike each other in terms of properties, were merged with each other in a synthesis. Therefore, in a sense, the matter stored through the TS-C subroutines would be able to follow a Rockman in a certain property that was anything but matter, until it was called upon. The energy that a certain Rockman had to tap into was known as aurora, which is an energy reading that originates from the planet.

Freedom could not yet conjure his own TS-C subroutines to create a hole through the two dimensions, but he could tap into someone else’s TS-C subroutines and extract something from there, should any other Rockman allow it. TS-C subroutines were also the basis of a new form of evolution for the Rockmen, which was why Freedom was still relatively weak; he could not yet evolve, because he had not reached a certain potential factor with the strange game of the time-space compression anomaly.

The TS-C effect collapsed as the hole quickly disappeared, and the two different dimensions released hold of each other. Freedom quickly opened the sack to find foodstuffs. While both Rockmen and humans had need for food, Rockmen mostly need food for nutrition, and for Rockmen, hunger was only an indicator that they needed additional nutrients, not that their stomachs, or whatever passed for their stomachs, needed something to fill it. Meanwhile, humans were extremely reliant on food. Hunger would bring upon lack of nutrition, and hunger itself was defined altogether differently for a human being. It indicated pain, anguish, and, after a certain time, death.

Inside the sack were nutrition packs. They provided enough nutrients for both Rockmen and humans, and, in theory, subdued human hunger. This should be enough. Freedom moved in the direction of their captive, who, at the moment, was attempting to confine herself to the very corner of what passed for their camp. Freedom quickly moved next to her and untied the gag that had been sealing her speech. The girl flexed her mouth, being restrained for the last few hours. She looked up at Freedom, as if about to express her gratitude, but either fear of the Rockman or the realization that his group had tied her in the first place prevented her from saying it. She looked away.

It was then Freedom deigned to study this certain individual. She had shoulder length brown hair that should’ve been combed close and neatly, but the journey had rumpled her hair into a mess. Her features would have made her seem high-spirited, but being in close proximity to you captors, especially captors that were not human, did not make anyone feel high-spirited as a rule. She wore a white skirt as well as thin knee high stockings and black boots.

“Here,” Freedom said as he removed what almost looked like a cylindrical cookie from the aluminum wrapper, “You can eat this.” He held it close to her mouth so she could take it from his hand with her teeth. The girl looked at it uncertainly for a moment, as if it may be poison or something unsavory, but hunger took over, and she took a careful nibble before wolfing the entire thing down her mouth. It was far from delicious, but food was food, and it helped fill her stomach.

Freedom smiled, seemingly fascinated by the behavior of this human. Truth be told, he had never gotten close to a human unless the human was a target to be eliminated. Freedom was beyond interested as to how a particular human behaved. Eclipse would’ve disapproved of it, and the others probably would’ve laughed themselves wet, but they weren’t here now, so Freedom hardly cared.

“What is your given name?” Freedom asked as soon as the human wolfed down the chunk of nutrients. The girl flinched, surprised that such a question would be directed at her. Distrust was reflected in her expression, but fear paved the way, and she did as Freedom instructed.

“Ariena,” she replied very simply in a quiet, quavering. Freedom took this in and nodded, committing it to his data subroutines. It was a mere formality; Freedom, despite his young and naïve nature, knew of the enmity between Rockmen and humans, and he probably would not see this human after they turned her in to the Directory. She would most likely be dead after she had served whatever purpose the Directory intended for her.

“Um…” Ariena started, as if she wanted to ask something, but as Freedom turned his eyes on her, Ariena shied away, and looked at the ground hastily. She probably thought her trying to start a conversation would aggravate her captors.

“Yes?” Freedom tilted his head to the side, intrigued at what this human would have to say. His made his voice as friendly as possible, as not to frighten his current conscious companion, or conversationalist.

The girl pursed her lips, looked at Freedom uncertainly out of the corner of her eyes, then asked hesitantly, “Why…why did you take me?”

It was Freedom’s turn to purse his lips as he contemplated this. “I do not know,” Freedom admitted, “Your capture and well-being were the objective of my teammates and I, assigned to us by the Rockman Directory. I am afraid I do not know what they have in mind for you.”

Ariena did not seem any more at ease at his explanation, but accepted this for now, and pretty much figured that this Rockman was much more civilized than some of the others…she had never seen a Rockman with her own eyes until today, but the few who had survived their wrath told of robots built in the image of man who were almost invincible.

“Did…” her voice broke slightly, and Freedom saw a trickle of a tear come out of her eye, “Did you have…to kill…” she sobbed once, “…everyone…in Chiron?”

Freedom thought about this, with no guilt coming into his subroutines. Killing humans, to him, was as easy as stepping on a bug. There was no issue of moral for this. Yet she seemed extremely sad and depressed, so he gave his answer as standard as possible.

“My team and I had orders to eliminate every human in Chiron, and in the nearby vicinity, to capture you, and to ensure your survival and well-being,” Freedom stated plainly. In a sense, he was happy to have someone look up at him and somehow respect him, in which he had a chance to act professional. This experience gave a bolster to his small ego, and such experiences were lacking in Eclipse’s squad. Insults usually came faster.

Ariena sobbed for a moment more and did not pursue the conversation. Freedom studied her, made notes, then isolated himself within his mind. He wondered how red team, led by Mistress Eclipse, was going on. He prayed to the Directory for her safety; she was a leader that Freedom looked up upon with respect. She not only had common sense, but respect to anyone that deserved it.

Freedom was often frustrated by his own lack of abilities. His design was that of a Class S; in a sense, the basic caste system was divided by design of a certain Rockman. Although it was immutable truth that all Rockmen improved through experience and abilities, a Class B Rockman will usually always reach a certain limit before a Class S Rockman. The hardware specification simply does not allow a Class B Rockman to exceed his set parameters, and he or she is always restricted to the Class B caste.

On a rare occasion, a Rockman will be promoted a single caste because of his abilities. However, it’s very rare, and Rockmen could only be promoted by one caste; their limits would never allow them to surpass two castes at once. And some Rockmen tend to avoid promotion, because the members of the caste they ascended to would just look down upon him or her with scorn.

Despite being a Class S Rockman, Freedom had the combat abilities of either a B or A Class. He had yet to evolve properly, and his synchronization with aurora and the TS-C subroutines were not high. He was neither as intelligent as Axis, nor as fast as Afterburner, nor as accurate as Magnum, nor as stealthy as Nataku. He wasn’t quite anything, and that frustrated Freedom beyond belief.

Freedom tried to push those thoughts to the back of his mind. It was hardly any use to think about this now; he had other things to deal with. He looked at Ariena, who finally stopped sobbing and isolated herself in the corner of their encampment, still awake and alert, for all the good that did her. Axis was quietly sleeping in his corner, but Freedom knew that at the smallest sign of wrong, he could wake up instantly. Freedom didn’t even need to guess why he lacked so much sleep.

Freedom sighed as he leaned back against the grass cushion. He just wanted to get this over with, gain some experience, and tap his TS-C subroutines into aurora soon…so he could be of some more use. So he could finally be worth something to someone, rather than just a simple burden.

*****

Nataku skimmed the eastern mountains that overlooked the valley as his shimmer moved quietly through the cliff side. He left no footprints as he agilely skipped across the mountains, as if he was bouncing, as if he was free of all weight, and the only thing pulling him down was gravity. His eyes flickered left and right, looking for the smallest sign of trouble.

As a Class S stealth design Rockman, he was infinitely capable of assassination without detection in broad daylight. However, as Reaper sometimes laughed, Nataku was “infinitely-plus-one capable of assassination without anyone knowing it at night”. As a stealth design, he was more familiar with the night than any of his comrades. His stealth camouflage module was also the aftereffect of his own evolution, and there was a time where he had to creep around without being nearly invisible.

Nataku quickly passed another cliff, jumping across a ravine fifty feet in width. He leapt over it without difficulty, and, as he landed, bounced again, almost as if he was a spring of some sort.

It was then as he jumped that he noticed something. There were several sources of light at the bottom of the mountain. Nataku didn’t have specific orders as to take them out…unless they were a threat. It was something worth checking out.

He stopped and quickly grasped the edge of a cliff as he hung against the wall. He squinted. He made out silhouettes of humans. Of course, they could’ve been Rockmen, merely by shape, but Nataku easily picked out details of human designed armor.

They were soldiers, most likely dispatched from Avion. Were they here for Chiron?

Nataku looked through the formation. There were easily three hundred men here, all of them trained soldiers pitching camp on the other side of the mountain range. If Nataku went blazing through their formation with stealth camouflage on, he could kill them all. But on the second thought, it would be wise if he were to confer with Axis first. His free hand reached for his ear, but he stopped halfway. He remembered that Eclipse had ordered them to keep off the COM channels; the frequency could be easily intercepted by human forces should they not be careful.

A tingle of feeling rushed through Nataku’s mind. Although designed to have mechanical properties, Rockmen were, in an essence, built in the image of their human creators. Therefore, much of them remained organic. Only older models of Rockmen had heads-up displays built into their eyes, or an electronic beeping in their heads, indicating some sort of alert. Nataku was a relatively new model, as were the others in his team. So instead of a rapid beeping, Nataku felt a tinge of unease. But that unease was discernable, and he knew what was causing it.

It was an alert signifying that he was being locked on by an automated heat-seeking missile launcher.

Before Nataku could move, a plume of smoke rushed from an automated missile launcher, and a cylindrical explosive blasted from the launcher and headed for Nataku at extreme speed.

Nataku quickly leapt into the air as he pulled himself up from the ledge, then drew his katana. As the missile neared him, he did an elaborate flip, having his body miss the missile by mere centimeters, and used his katana to slice the missile in half. Nataku landed on the missile once, then pushed himself off its wreckage in midair. Just a second after Nataku jumped away from the severed missile, it exploded in midair, sending a giant ball of fire and smoke into the air.

Nataku had made it, unscathed, and he landed swiftly behind a boulder that would shield him from another missile impact. However, no one needed to tell him that this was a sign for trouble.

[bond4154]

Chapter Two

The sound of an explosion jolted Axis to his conscious state. His hand darted for his double-bladed gunblade as he quickly opened his eyes and stood up. He looked in the direction of the explosion to see a giant ball of fire rise into the air.

Freedom was also jolted to awareness as he stood and looked at the inferno, which was now slowly disappearing into black smoke, invisible against the night sky. He, like Axis, bolted upright on his feet. Unaware that his hand was holding onto the rope attached to Ariena, he yanked against the tether and forced Ariena up painfully.

“That looks like a missile explosion,” Axis whispered, “I assume that only Avion soldiers have those in inventory. Test firing, perhaps?”

A blur flashed past them and landed softly in the grass as Nataku flipped through the air and deactivated his stealth camouflage at the same time, giving him the appearance of something dropping out of nowhere.

“That’s negative,” Nataku reported as he landed in their midst, surprising Freedom immensely, “I was being tracked, despite my stealth camouflage. Heat-seeking missile. It was launched by a convoy of soldiers, likely from Avion.”

“Are they here for Chiron?” Axis asked.

“That was what I was thinking as well,” Nataku replied, “But perhaps they are here for other reasons. In either case, it would be wise to be cautious. I believe they realize that we are nearby, and will be put to full alert.”

Axis nodded thoughtfully. “Alright, then. We should attempt to destroy the convoy. Nataku, slip among their ranks and attempt to eliminate the leaders; break their morale before the real firefight. I will maintain a hologram and then eliminate them. Freedom, watch over our captive, and head north to Orion; ensure she does not escape.”

Freedom prepared to open his mouth to argue, but Axis squelched his desire to rebel with a glare. Now was not the time to argue. “Let’s go,” Axis nodded to Nataku. Nataku nodded, wrapped his arm around Axis’ shoulder, and quickly jumped with Axis as he practically flew in the air, then arced back down as gravity took hold. Freedom watched Nataku landed on top of the blades of grass as his feet lightly touched upon them, then Nataku sprung up again, flying gracefully into the air, free of weight. Freedom wished he could do that.

Despite Nataku’s versatility and usefulness, everyone knew that Nataku had just about reached his peak of evolution; in a sense, he was so evolved that if he continued to change, he would no longer be truly Rockmen. It was the only contradiction of evolution that tainted Trigger’s theory of evolution, which was later revolutionized by Beta. Even if Nataku wanted to evolve, the Directory probably would not allow it.

Freedom tore his gaze away from Nataku as he quickly looked at Ariena. “I’ve received orders to protect you and escort you to Orion at best speed,” he said hastily, acting as if she had not heard Axis issue those orders to Freedom just seconds ago, “We must move.”

Ariena was not quite eager to move, but she tried, anyways. While she did not wish to follow these Rockmen, there was also no telling what the soldiers of Avion might do to her, and she knew this Rockman, or his teammates, would do something to her should she resist. She gave an attempt to stand, but with her wrists tied behind her, her attempts were hindered by a succession of stumbles.

“Here,” Freedom moved toward Ariena quickly as he drew a dagger. Ariena screamed and close her eyes, wriggling away from Freedom, assuming he was going to stab her. But rather, Freedom swirled her around and cut the bonds on her wrist. Her hands freed from the constraints, Ariena opened her eyes in surprise and looked at Freedom, puzzled. She wanted to rub her hands, allow circulation to run through, but Freedom did not give her that chance. Rather, he quickly grabbed one of her wrists and began to run, pulling Ariena along with him.

“We must hurry,” Freedom said as calmly as he could as he stumbled through the tall patches of grass. He wished he could glide on top of the plains like Nataku could. That would’ve saved so much time and trouble.

Two attack choppers appeared over the mountaintops close to where the two were running. Freedom looked up and scowled. He grabbed Ariena’s body as he strafed left, then right. Machine gun fire tore through the air where he had stood just a moment before. Ariena screamed as the bullets barely missed her, and Freedom quickly sought shelter behind a boulder.

The choppers began to strafe them, but not before one of them exploded; fire and smoke erupted from the fuselage and the blackened wreckage fell to the ground. Freedom ventured a look beyond the boulder and saw that Axis had used his gunblade and fired a shot into the chopper’s fuselage, destroying it.

The pilot had jumped from the wreckage in midair and released a parachute, but that just made him a sitting duck for Nataku. A blade appeared out of nowhere, spinning at extreme speed. It severed through the man’s chest as his lower body dropped to the ground in a bloody mess. The man let out a cry of pain and surprise, then he was dead, as the parachute allowed his upper body to drift slowly to the surface. The katana continued to spin, then arched around like a boomerang, and back at Nataku, who was concealed in the mountaintops.

Freedom whispered his silent thanks to Axis and Nataku. They had his tracks covered.

Axis continued to fire at the second chopper, but the second chopper moved out of Axis’ firing range. Axis’ gunblade was capable of accurate gunfire, but not when the distances were unreasonable. Axis pointed at the chopper, and immediately, Nataku’s shimmer bounded into the air. Heat seeking sensors must have detected Nataku because the chopper attempt to swing about and point its guns at Nataku, but it was too late in any case. Nataku brought his katana down on the chopper, and the cockpit and fuselage was quickly severed into two, leaving the pilot to die in a burning chopper.

Nataku landed gracefully beside Freedom. “Are you alright?” Nataku asked as he turned his head to Freedom and Ariena. Freedom nodded quickly. Nataku looked at Ariena; she was terrified.

“Here,” Nataku said, and tossed a device at Freedom, “It’s an emergency teleporter. We weren’t supposed to use this as the humans might have tracked our signal, like the COM channels, but I think our situation justifies our cause.”

Freedom snatched the device out of midair. “Thank you, Nataku,” Freedom said. Nataku nodded and pointed north, motioning for Freedom to continue his escape. Freedom quickly tugged at Ariena’s wrist again. Ariena couldn’t move at first; shock and fear prevented that. Freedom had no choice but to grab Ariena’s waist and stumble through the grass.

Nataku watched them comically make their way through the plains, and considered escorting them for just a moment. But gunfire from a human sniper quickly gained Nataku’s attention as he swung his katana around and deflected a shot that had been directed toward him.

On the other side of the mountain, Axis met increasing resistance from the enemy. He noticed that they were armed with much mechanical weapons, as automated turrets and missiles quickly tracked him. He quickly dodged several incoming rockets as they whizzed by him, and prepared a hologram.

A metallic sound right behind him suddenly surprised him, and Axis realized some human soldier had snuck up behind him and was cocking his weapon, most likely an assault rifle. However, there was another metallic slicing sound, a cry, then the sound of blood spraying out from a body, followed by the sound of the body slumping to the floor. Axis looked behind him and saw that Nataku had cut through the enemy soldier.

“Thanks,” Axis smiled. Nataku merely nodded.

Axis concentrated on the hologram. Immediately, around them, more Rockmen suddenly emerged from the mountains, all of them clad in battle armor and all of them at strategic positions. They carried a variety of weapons, from projectile weapons to energy weapons. Some carried swords like Nataku, although many were energy based. The reason for this illusion was because two targets were too likely to attract damage from the automated defenses, and Axis needed to buy some time to draw attention away from them to destroy the turrets. The turrets would not be fooled by such an illusion, but the human infantry would, and they would spare them the gunfire by firing upon other targets. Better yet, their morale would break, and they’d retreat.

Either possibility was viable to Axis as long as those automated defenses were put down.

Nataku quickly dashed ahead to handle the automated defenses. Axis knelt down for a moment, however, and accessed his COM channel. Eclipse had warned him not to use it, for fear the humans may detect the frequency. However, Axis believed that their current situation justified their use of the COM channel. He quickly tuned to red team’s frequency, allowed a moment to verify the COM system was working, then broadcasted his message in the approximate direction of where Eclipse’s red team should be at the moment.

“This is Axis to Eclipse,” Axis said into the receiver built into his helmet, “Repeat, this is Axis to Eclipse. We have met resistance and are under heavy fire. Objective at risk of being harmed. Repeat, we have met resistance and are under heavy fire. Objective at risk of being harmed…” Axis ducked as a rocket whizzed by his head and detonated against the mountains above him, “…Do you copy? Over.”

Axis did not address Eclipse as Mistress or himself as Rockman, in accordance with one of their communications protocol. In the event where a transmission had to be sent, all references to the Rockmen were to be removed from the structure of the transmission. With any luck, the humans may believe that it could be a human transmission, not one broadcasted from a Rockman.

There was no response from the other end. Axis tried again as he sought better cover.

“Axis to Eclipse,” he panted as he rolled under a boulder, just seconds before a missile blasted away the cliff he had been standing on before, “We have met military resistance. We are attempting to subdue the situation, but we need reinforcements. Objective at risk of being harmed. Acknowledge. Over.”

There was still no reply. Axis scowled. Eclipse must’ve turned off her COM system to punctuate the importance of her order. She obviously did not consider the possibility of a large threat presiding over the presence of the objective. If she had done so, she would’ve at least kept her COM system to “receive only-mode” after they left Chiron. Despite being the leader, Eclipse wasn’t as intelligent as Axis, nor as considerate.

Axis noticed that his lack of concentration allowed the holograms to become somewhat distorted. He quickly concentrated on the hologram again, and the illusion became valid again. He quickly made some of the holograms fall to the ground, to allow the soldiers to believe they were hitting something, and some of the Rockmen had been put out of commission. He then rushed toward the bottom of the mountain toward where Nataku had rushed just moments before. Axis was pleased to note that Nataku had already disabled much of the automated defenses by severing them into halves.

The only problem he was concerned about was that the Avion soldiers must’ve called for reinforcements, because the familiar flashing blue lights of Avion attack choppers were coming in from the east.

This was going to complicate matters.

Realizing that the Avion ground troops were below half strength of what they used to be, Axis allowed himself to reset his holographic subroutines, and the Rockmen holograms vanished. However, he concentrated on another set of holograms. Instantly, a formation of Seraph fighter jet holograms soared over the mountains and headed toward the Avion attack choppers. The holograms were not going to damage the choppers, but it would buy Axis and Nataku valuable time to finish up the ground troops, and enough time for Freedom to escape.

Nataku finished with his work, rendering the automated defenses useless. Axis quickly rushed down the mountain as he fired at soldiers with his gunblade, and sliced through those that were close enough. He wasn’t quite as fast as Afterburner or Nataku, but he was good enough. He left most of the damage in his wake as the Avion soldiers fired at him, only managing to strike the phantom double that trailed behind Axis as he dashed.

The phantom double was also an illusion, but not quite a hologram. Almost every Class S Rockman had a dash mechanism that allowed them to achieve great speeds. The extraordinary agility would leave a “shadow” of the figure before the “shadow” caught up to the actual mass. At least, that applied to those with slower reactions. Usually, those with higher reaction speeds were able to see through the phantom double.

Nataku also rushed toward Axis and dealt with the soldiers in his path. The majority of them, especially the non-commissioned officers, were in full retreat, throwing down their weapons and their obligation to fight. Only the officers and the die-hard veterans were left in the fray, attempting to bring Axis and Nataku down, and maintain order among the frenzied soldiers.

The only problem that Axis could find with their combat was that both Axis and Nataku were strictly used to close-up work; both of them were blade specialists, and although Axis’ gunblade could fire bullets, they were strictly for medium-range purposes. Not only that, but Axis also had to concentrate on the holograms of the Seraph fighters in the sky.

An officer had the audacity to attempt to stick a combat knife into Axis’ shoulder; Axis, with his double-bladed gunblade, quickly blocked the blow with one of his blades and pulled the trigger at the same time, and an explosive round shot out of the gunblade, blasting the combat knife out of the officer’s hand. Sensing the officer’s shock, Axis turned the gunblade around and allowed the other end of the blade to swing around and stuck it into the officer’s torso. Axis utilized his double-bladed gunblade like a sparring stick, utilizing both blades on either side. As the second blade stuck itself firmly into the officer’s torso, Axis pulled the trigger of the second blade. A second explosive round completely blew the officer’s midsection apart.

“Problem,” Nataku suddenly dashed beside Axis and pointed. Axis looked up and saw the Avion combat choppers quickly pulling away from the Seraph fighter holograms and coming toward Axis and Nataku. Some of them continued into the valley, perhaps to search for enemy reinforcements.

“Freedom’s going to have some company real fast,” Axis scowled, but his attention was quickly diverted as chain gun fire from the attack choppers came down upon them. Axis and Nataku dashed away deftly; two Avion soldiers who were unlucky enough to stand next to the Rockmen just a second before were riddled with bullets.

Some of the choppers quickly broke formation and went into the valley. Freedom hadn’t gotten far from where Nataku had left him. The choppers quickly strafed him and Ariena and opened fire. Freedom winced at the bullets nearly tore him up, and he attempted to find cover. There was none.

“What a way to die…” Freedom muttered to himself. He had no longer range weapons at hand, and Axis and Nataku were not here to cover him this time. Freedom clenched his jaw; he had prove himself this time.

He kept looking up, attempting to stay on the blind spot of the chopper: directly under it. The chopper had to constantly reposition themselves, only to find that Freedom had found another spot. At best, however, it was a delaying tactic, and Freedom knew it; eventually, the choppers would coordinate themselves, they’d overlap each other’s blind spots, and they’d come in for the kill. All Freedom could hope for was that Axis and Nataku came quickly enough.

There was just one problem; although Freedom nimbly danced around the gunfire, Ariena wasn’t doing so well. Freedom grabbed her and jumped, but it only hindered his movement. The gunfire came closer; Freedom’s time was running out.

A tug on his arm suddenly drew Freedom’s attention to Ariena, who let out a cry and fell into the grass. For a moment, Freedom went cold as he thought Ariena had been hit. But no such thing; Ariena merely tripped.

The problem, however, was that two attack choppers tracker her, and, mistaking the human for a Rockman, fired.

There was no way Freedom could move Ariena in time. He leapt over her.

Before he even landed on the human, he felt two hot slugs bury themselves into his gut. Freedom gasped as the pain lanced through his stomach and chest, and his fluids flew through the air where he was hit. The bullets didn’t penetrate his body, but it dug itself deep into Freedom. Freedom felt the pain, knew the pain, and the pain was the only thing he could concentrate on for the moment.

He toppled over Ariena, completely helpless, as the pain bit into him. The remaining choppers came about and tracked their chain guns on the two bodies in the grass.

“Damn…” Freedom whispered, his voice cracked with pain, and he used all his concentration and endurance to draw the teleportation device Nataku had given him several minutes ago. If he was to die, he could at least ensure the objective was still alive. He pressed the button, and Freedom’s TS-C subroutines began to bend. The teleporter was using Freedom’s own TS-C subroutines to initiate the teleportation sequence.

One of the choppers launched a missile, but it was too late, in any case. A shimmering blue sphere enveloped the two, and it grew brighter as the energy surge prepared to charge and dissipate, sending the two to Orion.

There was, however, one complication.

Freedom’s TS-C subroutines had not fully stabilized yet; in a sense, it was still in a weak condition where it had not built itself into a fully intact program. Therefore, it was prone to outside interference. Freedom and Ariena, who were enveloped inside this barrier, wouldn’t be harmed. However, the missile detonated against the field, and the explosion caused a ripple in the field just at the last second…

Just as Nataku reached the mountaintop, he looked down to see the blue teleportation field shimmer and waver, and instead of seeing a blue beam shoot into the sky, as expected with all teleportation sequences, the entire sphere popped like a bubble. It dissipated into the air, signifying a malfunction with the teleportation sequence.

Nataku merely absorbed the details, did not scowl as Axis would’ve if he had seen that, and threw his katana in an arc. The katana sliced through several of the choppers as they detonated in a showy chain reaction of explosions. The katana returned to the Rockman, and the remaining attack choppers broke formation and fled.

Nataku checked his katana, and, sure that it had not undergone any serious damage, sheathed the blade.

Axis and Nataku had completely stopped an Avion convoy of soldiers, two Rockmen eliminating ground support of approximately two companies. It was something to behold, not something that would buy them some drinks around the table, but it was notable.

However, Axis was concerned with mostly only one thing.

“Freedom,” Axis broadcasted through the COM, “This is Axis. Enemy has been stalled, it’s safe to come out. Where are you? Copy. Over.”

There was no reply.

Axis’ heart missed a beat. If Freedom disappeared, it meant Ariena had disappeared as well.

Axis prepared to broadcast again, but Nataku placed a hand on Axis’ shoulder. “Don’t bother,” Nataku said, “Something went wrong with the teleportation sequence. Outside interference damaged the TS-C field.”

Axis pressed his lips together and swore below his breath. “So…where is he?” Axis asked. He knew better than to ask; if Axis didn’t know, most likely Nataku wouldn’t know either. But Axis just needed to ask.

Suddenly, a crackle came through Axis’ COM. Axis leapt onto the signal. “Freedom?” Axis practically blurted.

“Axis,” Eclipse cool, familiar voice drifted through the headphones, “I found that you have made two attempts to contact me over the COM, especially when I left explicit orders for you not to use it. What the hell is going on?”

Axis pursed his lips, swallowed, then said to Eclipse over the COM, “Mistress, I think we have a problem.”