Across the Threshold: Cold War Prelude 07
Verdtrus walked along with Black Hermit down the halls of the Persolus. "So this Kaiser, is he part of your special project." "Yes and no, he's supposed to be the successor to Darkoni" "Darkoni?" "Yes, he was a fighter who was one of the most powerful of the Dragon's Fang Division. White Karbox's best soldier in fact." "A soldier..." Verdtrus said, "That's all you want." "His mind is a near perfect copy of the original," Black Hermit explained, "this was supposed to make him more focused. However, it made him more reckless as a result. Now he believes he is Darkoni, desiring to avenge an old ally of Darkoni, Enkiru was his code name I think. Derived from the character Enkidu from the story of Gilgamesh, a story of brotherhood and friendship." "Really, but why technology from my universe?" "An experiment nothing more." Eithine said emerging from around the corner, closing a book with a resounding snap. "Missions navigator Eithine, Kaiser has returned I hope?" Black Hermit asked. "Yes, though Jekk chewed us out for it though." Eithine stated "Since the prototype is still in the testing phase, our scientist thought it was appropriate to find a way to properly test it. I merely suggested we use it to help the Requiem Knights of course." So it's in the testing phase, Verdtrus pondered, this is worse than I thought. "Well, I suggest that next time you report to me directly newxt time you pull a stunt like that!" Black Hermit stated "It's bad enough that the CPDF is on our tail, we need to be more careful about where we make our next move. And on the the subject of knights..." The Numian turned to Verdtrus, "I've decided to extend the deadline and allow you and your friend to regroup with your knights on the condition that you take the Bloodhound squad with you." "Bloodhound Squad?" Verdtrus asked. "Jekk's personal guard and the ones responsible for your detainment." Verdtrus eyes widened, saying "Are you telling me that I have to take those three- " "Yes." Black Hermit said plainly, "And I have the next artifact for you." "Wait!" Verdtrus interrupted, "You have sent me and my knights on a fetch-quest all around this world, what is this all for?" "If I were to tell you in full, you would try to undermind it, hence the Bloodhound Squad. But I will tell you this, we will link all worlds under our wings!" "So an empire?" Verdtrus asked now suspicious. "No," Black hermit said plainly "our organization itself is merely a means to an end." Verdtrus glared at the nummian and demanded "What end are you talking about?" "To bring everything together." Black Hermit stated smiling eerily, "Also, if you think you can trick us twice, think again. We know where your troops are and we can either shut them down or if that doesn't work, we can take them out in an instant. So I suggest you stay in line." Black Hermit walked into the bridge as Eithine approached the telurian. "How about I bring you to your friend." She offered with a hand out, "I have a proposal that you both want to hear." Shaking it, Verdtrus said "Take me to Chromdraco first, then we'll talk."
"You look like (censored)!" Chromdraco said weakly as he sat beside Verdtrus, who stood solemnly. "You were right." He said "I ju(censored) up! I knew should have listened to you and I wish to apologize." "Ok?" Chromdraco said getting up, "Where are we?" "We're on the Persolus." "WHAT? Hermit's ship!?" "Yes and Black Hermit's allowing us to live as long as we finish our end of the bargain." "Why? You just tried to-" "I know but if I don't he'll bombard the humonculi from orbit." "So you have no choice but to help them then?" Chromdraco said looking down. "I wouldn't say that." Eithine said emerging from the doorway, "I apologize for the way my superiors acted." Chromdraco turned to Verdtrus with a puzzled look. "My name is Eithine," Eithine said putting out an open hand towards the draken, "I was the one who convinced Black Hermit to spare you." "Thanks?" Chromdraco said shaking the numian's hand before Verdtrus asked, "What do you want?" "An alliance. You see thanks to you, we managed to develop a way to improve project DX, Kaiser, I mean and I'm willing to help you if you help us." "The Red Dragon Army?" Verdtrus asked unsurprised "No," Eithine said, "A smaller group focused on making peace with the CPDF, What do you say?" "I'll have to think about it." Verdtus said eyeing the numian suspiciously. "I'll leave you two to it" Eithine said as she leaves the two to look at each other in worry.
"You look like (censored)!" Chromdraco said weakly as he sat beside Verdtrus, who stood solemnly. "You were right." He said "I ju(censored) up! I knew should have listened to you and I wish to apologize." "Ok?" Chromdraco said getting up, "Where are we?" "We're on the Persolus." "WHAT? Hermit's ship!?" "Yes and Black Hermit's allowing us to live as long as we finish our end of the bargain." "Why? You just tried to-" "I know but if I don't he'll bombard the humonculi from orbit." "So you have no choice but to help them then?" Chromdraco said looking down. "I wouldn't say that." Eithine said emerging from the doorway, "I apologize for the way my superiors acted." Chromdraco turned to Verdtrus with a puzzled look. "My name is Eithine," Eithine said putting out an open hand towards the draken, "I was the one who convinced Black Hermit to spare you." "Thanks?" Chromdraco said shaking the numian's hand before Verdtrus asked, "What do you want?" "An alliance. You see thanks to you, we managed to develop a way to improve project DX, Kaiser, I mean and I'm willing to help you if you help us." "The Red Dragon Army?" Verdtrus asked unsurprised "No," Eithine said, "A smaller group focused on making peace with the CPDF, What do you say?" "I'll have to think about it." Verdtus said eyeing the numian suspiciously. "I'll leave you two to it" Eithine said as she leaves the two to look at each other in worry.
In the Sub head quarters..
Chase walked in the break room, coffee in hand. "Geez what's this world coming to?" He then pulls out a card, "If you were here, you would probably be geeking out about this." Behind him a voice asked, "Who are you talking to?" Jumping and turning around, he saw Hoot entering the break room. "Oh, just thinking out loud." Chase responded awkwardly, putting the card away. "Uh-huh." Hoot said "Our friend Beowulf is in the interrogation room, apparently he saying that the NULL Units can grow their own organic parts, can you believe that?" "Strange, so like those replicated humans from that sci-fi cop movie?" "Yeah. And they can even use the process to simulate gender early in their life cycle." Chase nearly spit out his coffee through his beak upon hearing that. "You're not saying that they use it to- err you know know." It took Hoot a few seconds to firmly grasp at what Chase was saying, his eyes widened upon realization "Oh. Oh! OH GOSH! NO! Oh eternity no! what in the Father's name would you think that!?" "Sorry," Chase said putting a taloned hand to his face, "Forget I asked that, gosh Quentin's going to have field day with this." "So on another note," Hoot said, "How are thing doing on your end?" "A lot surprisingly." Chase said after taking another sip, "Just that the attacks on Dirsh, Caleum city, the Red Parting Dig Site and Piecus* had several things in common, and it turns out that we weren't the only ones who faced these guys. Just a month ago, the capital city Cheleoo had been attacked by a giant warrior made of sand and some large golden dragon. In the commotion an artifact called the Mask of the mists was stolen." "So these a lot of these guys can transform into giant monsters just like that crazed red fire-spitter?" "Yeah." Chase said as the two garuda left the room, "As soon as Chipp and the others come back, I'm going to have speak with Bartch about the artifacts."
"So these Humonculi are made to be soldiers?" Katie asked, sitting across Beo in the interregation room, "Yeah but my superiors had decided to focus on cyborg projects until we get G Zero's plans back." Beo answered leaning back, "When Verdian stole the plans and the F.U.Z.O.R., I was assigned to bring him in and eliminate the NULL Units if necessary." "But they seem to be autonomous, are you suggesting they are just robots?" "Precisely," Beo said leaning forward, and then he pointed to his brain, "Sure they have organic parts, but they are like machines. Remove the AI processor and plug it into a new body." Matt came in with Chase and sat by Katie. "But the brain is still organic isn't it." Matt pressed, "I've studied the blueprints and what we found is that after generating organic components, the AI becomes the base for humonculi's personality, making them their sentient, and removing the processor will kill them!" Beo raised an eyeridge and asked "Killing them? I was told that they are like sythetic androids, the tissue formed around a metal skeleton should be for reconnaissance purposes." Katie and Matt looked at each other and turned back, "So you seriously didn't know that they're alive?" "Of course!" Beo said glancing at the catira and ursan back and forth. "They're just robots aren't they?"
In Dirsh
In Shiros' office, the agents (excluding Scott) waited as Shiro was on the phone. "Chiros will live," Shiro explained after putting down the phone, "He'll recover in a few days." "Sorry for losing the breastplate." Bartch stated "If we've moved it sooner, the knights wouldn't have taken it." "Don't worry, we've heard about the breastplate's power and had it's source removed,." He revealed a small blue glowing panel, "I was going to reveal this sooner but the attacks came up. Archaeologists have theorized that the great power that the legends may have originated from Chemical X." "Chemical X? Wait!" Batch said making connections, "The bracelet from Piecus had Chemical X as well." "Indeed they believed that these panels are what makes these artifacts work but we don't know how it happens." "They look like computer programs." Wisey commented, causing everyone to look at him, "I took a web class in high school." "Well to know that for certain, we need to find a way to identify what language so we can understand it better. Look I know you're here for Dr Karka as well and I'll try my best to get in touch with him." "Thank you." Chipp said "Q mentioned a guy similar to Kafe being the escorts for one of the fake breastplates." "He's another of the infected that works with us on maters of noid infection." "What, your hiring people with this disease, now?" Chipp asked. "No, when Kafe, Chiros's father and I helped people with noid parasites, several individuals came to us in order return the favor. Eventually we formed the Blackwings, a group of Dirsh citizens who mobilize at the first sign of Noid activity. We have about 207 civilians and 34 noids to assist us in this endeavor, even the police are with us." "So why haven't we heard about this?" Wisey asked. "We kept it hidden so we won't have an international incident. Not all Noids have gone berserk." Shiro said, "Some want to live their normal lives, so they try to suppress it to prevent themselves from hurting others." "So they're like lycanthrophs, basically." Chipp said, "We'll have to report this to our superiors but we'll try our best to assist you in dealing with the noids." Shiro appeared uneasy but he nodded, saying, "Fine, but on the subject of Karka, I'll try to contact him to see if he can talk with you." "Thank you." Chipp said pulling out Bakore's metamorpher. "And you're sure that the knight we have is secured." "Yes," Shiro said pointing to the metamorpher "I told the police that as long as our friend does not have that device, they should be safe."
Later, Bartch was looking over the documents of studies and books about the artifacts on a desk in Shiro's study. As he comed through the book, Turning the page, he noticed an image of two dragons fighting. Above above one of them were 7 stars. "Odd. Bartch said as he began to look at the text underneath. It reads 'As seven stars fall, the twelve keys will become one and the dragons will fight, shaking Marsdoran earth. Gateways will open as the forbidden power awakens.' "Truly odd." Suddenly the door opened, revealing Q. "Oh hello," Bartch said, "I was looking over the studies, did Chipp wanted something?" "(I was kind of bored, really,)" Q said shrugging "(There's only so much hourglass pueblos a garuda can take before ripping his feathers out." "Oh really?" Bartch said, "Look I'm sure you can find something around here, so please don't bother me." Q then sat down and said "(Say Bartch, since the Genesis Incident, Chipp has been so focused on that Darkoni guy.)" "Well you would if you met someone who had almost ruined your life." "(True.)" Q said shrugging "(But it is weird that Dad had us cover it up from the public.)" "Your father had good reasons to do so, and you know it." Bartch then showed Q the picture "Take a look of this. I was trying to find the secret of these artifacts and I have learned that they go by the name of the Requiem items?" "(King of Games fans are they?)" Q said smirking. "Quiet, I'm not done yet." Bartch said unamused, "They seem to be made similar to the Gate key. However these items seem to be based around the manipulation of realty rather than connecting other realities together." "(Why are you telling me this?)" Q asked, confused. "Because you said you were bored." Bartch said, "plus I needed a way to help form my theories as well." "(On our way we saw a strange pillar. I can bring you there if you want.)" "Oh yes I appreciate like that," Bartch said getting up, "just let me collect my things and we can go."
To be continued
Later, Bartch was looking over the documents of studies and books about the artifacts on a desk in Shiro's study. As he comed through the book, Turning the page, he noticed an image of two dragons fighting. Above above one of them were 7 stars. "Odd. Bartch said as he began to look at the text underneath. It reads 'As seven stars fall, the twelve keys will become one and the dragons will fight, shaking Marsdoran earth. Gateways will open as the forbidden power awakens.' "Truly odd." Suddenly the door opened, revealing Q. "Oh hello," Bartch said, "I was looking over the studies, did Chipp wanted something?" "(I was kind of bored, really,)" Q said shrugging "(There's only so much hourglass pueblos a garuda can take before ripping his feathers out." "Oh really?" Bartch said, "Look I'm sure you can find something around here, so please don't bother me." Q then sat down and said "(Say Bartch, since the Genesis Incident, Chipp has been so focused on that Darkoni guy.)" "Well you would if you met someone who had almost ruined your life." "(True.)" Q said shrugging "(But it is weird that Dad had us cover it up from the public.)" "Your father had good reasons to do so, and you know it." Bartch then showed Q the picture "Take a look of this. I was trying to find the secret of these artifacts and I have learned that they go by the name of the Requiem items?" "(King of Games fans are they?)" Q said smirking. "Quiet, I'm not done yet." Bartch said unamused, "They seem to be made similar to the Gate key. However these items seem to be based around the manipulation of realty rather than connecting other realities together." "(Why are you telling me this?)" Q asked, confused. "Because you said you were bored." Bartch said, "plus I needed a way to help form my theories as well." "(On our way we saw a strange pillar. I can bring you there if you want.)" "Oh yes I appreciate like that," Bartch said getting up, "just let me collect my things and we can go."
At Caleum city
On Mordecai's table, several of the blue plates lay on the table. "So is this from the artifacts?" Mordecai asked. "Yeah," Omnidec said as he turned toward the now gutted blue gauntlet. Flaron leaning on the wall, asked, clearly troubled, "So where's Twin Drake exactly?" "He's with the new guy." Tarrot answered sitting on a chair nearby, "Though they are taking too long." "New guy?" Flaron asked. "The interloper Tameron and Twin Drake brought in. He calling himself Voidmond Cold for some reason, but something about that guy feels off." "I agree, he might be from Lightbringers themselves to spy on us." "I doubt that," Mordecai said looking up from his work, "His design's is not as advanced as yours, as if someone had took a NULL Unit reversed engineered it with inferior parts." "That is odd," Omnidec stated, "I would like to speak with Voidmond when he returns." "What about Bakore?" Flaron asked, "You left him behind when you warped us towards this apartment." "It was woman's idea, you know," Tarrot said after drinking out of a glass of water, "the one you threatened." Flaron widened her eyes only furrowed her brow and look away, saying, "I just asked her to help, nothing more." "You told her to say all that garbage about tearing her apart?" "What!? She told you that!? " Laughing, Tarrot stated "You just told her to say something didn't you?" "FINE! YES!" Flaron said. "Easy, easy!" Tarrot said chuckling before getting putting on a straight face, "Now, what of Black Hermit?" "We'll tell him we just got the artifact and we give give it to Black Hermit along with the other artifacts as well. We'll wait until tomorrow to search for Bakore in Gash, sounds good?" The knights all nodded in the room nodded in agreement as Omnidec pulls out a communicator. {HELLO? HELLO? TESTING, IS THIS THING ON?} Omnidec jumped almost dropping the com as the other humonculi recovered immediately {UM HELLO WHO IS THIS?} Omnidec asked mentally. {OH IT'S VOIDMOND, I WANT TO REPORT THAT NU RHO IS NOT IN THE CPDF'S HOME BASE.} "How did he know about-" Flaron asked when Voidmond continued, {I BROKE IN AND MANAGED TO GET MYSELF A NEW FORM, TWIN DRAKE HELPED WITH THE SELECTION, NOT THE BREAK IN.} {OMNIDEC, I'M SORRY, HE JUST WALKED IN THEIR MAIN BASE AND I HAD TO PULL HIM OUT!} Mordecai dropped one of the tools and looked at Omnidec with eyes wide open. "Um, just go back to work." Omnidec said to as he turned around before putting a hand on his head, "Oh man it's going to be a long night!"
To be continued
Comments
Post a Comment