3500 A.D.
Lion grimaced as his feet slammed into the ground, but he instantly dropped into a roll which, combined with his power, saved any bones from being broken. He was on his feet again in a second, charging toward the west wall of the city, which was out of sight over ten miles away. However, as his yellow glow concentrated in his legs, he was soon racing through the city at over one hundred miles per hour. He smiled dangerously as the wall came into sight. 'Oh Habeeb, have I got a surprise for you... You're going to regret ever messing with me!' Then, his thoughts drifted back to the wailing infant he'd seen behind Habeeb. 'Hang tough, little guy. Shi Chi Hokodan, I'm coming.'
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Something had been nagging at the back of Tempo's mind on the elevator ride down. Looking up at the digital numbers flashing across the elevator's display, he realized what it was. "Hold on a second!" He cried out as they neared the halfway point of the building.
Tess hit the stop button. "What is it?"
"There's no way we can beat Habeeb and Moogoo if we go at them like this."
"We don't know that Moogoo is there." Silva pointed out.
"Well, to be on the safe side, let's assume that he is." Tempo frowned, then turned to Schala. "When we fought Moogoo before, we saw that he was very powerful, both magically and in hand to hand combat."
"Right..."
"But what happened when Silva got him with that grenade?"
"He didn't see it coming at all." She chimed in.
"Right, it knocked him on his ass. Which leads me to believe we would benefit by stocking up with some long range weapons." He turned to Tess now. "In my time, Soultech troops always carried handguns and electric tasers everywhere, with larger weapons for tough missions. Do you have anything like that here?"
"What are you looking for, precisely?"
He shrugged. "Anything. Bullets, laser blasts, grenades, rockets... Whatever you've got. Some armor would be good too..."
She entered a new floor as their destination, then pressed the stop button again, and the elevator began climbing back up. "I think I know what you have in mind..."
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Lion charged through the open wasteland outside of the city, oblivious to the blowing dust whipping in his face. His yellow glow continued to increase as he raced over the dunes, until he finally spotted what he was looking for. After he had first fled Lohkiarn, he had found a large grotto of caves underneath the cliffs on one side of a large lake. He cut his speed boost and jumped into the air, eventually floating to the ground in front of one of the cave entrances. He stepped inside as quietly as he could, and forced himself to go slowly, even as the light from the outside diminished behind him, and there was no sign of light within.
A few hundred feet later, he was enveloped in darkness, and wondered if he had been right after all. He was just about to bring his powerful glow back up again, when he spotted a faint light flickering in the distance in front of him. He paused, then frowned as the light continued to draw closer. As it neared, he could see it was actually many torches, and he heard the thud of many feet running. Gritting his teeth, he stepped out into the center of the cave and powered up as much as he dared. As he had suspected, a legion of Soultech troops were running straight at him, decked in heavy combat armor. Every single one of them was capable of taking him out one on one, in his current state. As they drew close enough for him to make out individual faces, Lion just adopted an aggressive fighting stance, and a fierce grin. "Bring it on, you bastards." He said quietly. "No force on Tejran can possibly stop me now."
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Tempo whistled appreciatively as the fancy ship lifted off the top of the Soultech building. "Man, this thing is deluxe!" He ran his hand over the smooth seats that felt like leather, but were probably something much more rare. "The Skyshroud Ranger is nothing compared to this!"
"The Skyshroud Ranger is a lot faster." Tess said from the pilot's seat. "This one is my dad's, which makes the fact that we'll probably wreck it on this trip even worse." She pointed the nose westward, then accelerated. "Then again, he hasn't spoken to me since I 'dared to have a bastard prototype', so I don't see how it can get much worse."
"What is this material?" Tempo ran his hands over the seat again, appreciatively.
"Komodaera hide." Tess frowned.
Tempo jerked his hands up. "That's sick."
"You're telling me."
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Lion felt a rib snap as he went hurtling back into the cave wall, rocks raining down around him. As he had suspected, these troops were unarmed, and didn't seem to be trying to kill him. "I don't understand why you're resisting." One of the many troops told him. "We're just here to take you to Habeeb."
"I'll take myself to Habeeb, thank you very much." Lion was instantly on his feet again, fists swinging. His fist glanced off the armor of the soldier he swung at, and the trooper took that opportunity to knee him in the gut, then kick him into the opposite wall of the cave. He groaned and rubbed the new gash on his forehead, then slowly stood up again. 'That's it, you bastards. Just keep sinking in your own ignorance...' He charged forward again, only to be beaten down once more.
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"Do you know where he's going?" Tempo leaned forward from the back seat.
"Not exactly, but this is my dad's ship. There's a 'synth tracker here." She flicked a switch on the box between her seat and Schala's, and a screen on it came to life. "I always thought he was just being really paranoid, but this is going to come in handy." She studied it for a minute, then it started beeping, and she turned the ship slightly. A red dot was a little way from the shore of a lake. "Great. I know exactly where this is. We'll be there in thirty seconds." She pushed the controls forward. As they rushed through the air, the tracker began beeping more intensely.
"What's that?" Schala's eyebrows rose.
Tess frowned it at. "There are three of them."
"Three 'synths?" Tempo was perplexed.
"Yeah."
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Lion slammed into the rocks headfirst as the troops grew more impatient with him. "Since it seems your brain is already damaged, I doubt that'll affect you much." The condescing voice of the trooper who'd thrown him could dimly be heard in his ringing ears. Lion started to stand up, but just received a kick in the chest, sending him sprawling into the rocks further down the tunnel. To the amazement of everyone he was on his feet again instantly. He dashed forward, planting his fist in the gut of the guy who'd thrown him. The soldier doubled over in pain, and Lion kicked him in the head, sending him flying back against the rocks, where his head made a sickening sound.
The next trooper behind the victim growled and dealt Lion another kick to the ribs, sending him flying even further down the tunnel. He coughed and turned over in the dirt, trying to rub the dust out of his eyes. As he did, he saw 'A light... Hmph, sure took them long enough.' He was on his feet in an instant, running away from the troops as fast as he could.
"Hey!" The leader cried out. "Get back here!" Lion was running straight into Habeeb's clutches, but he deserved some more pounding first.
"I don't think so!" A voice yelled behind them. Whirling around, the Soultech troops were blinded by four high powered beams of light coming from the helmets of four young individuals. The leader was about to tell them off, when he noticed all the firepower they were packing.
"Get him, now!!" The leader gestured toward the troops closest to where Lion had run. Four of them took off. The others turned to face the new threat. "Drop your weapons, now!!" The leader demanded.
"Everyone got your rubber bullet cartridges in?" Tempo whispered to the ladies. There were nods all around. "All right then, open fire!!" He yelled the last two words. Anything the Soultech troops might have yelled was drowned out by the hail of fire. Schala opened up with her shoulder mounted gatling gun, and the troops that weren't immediately knocked out stayed down anyway. Silva was blasting the side of the tunnel Schala wasn't covering with a machine gun. Tempo was carefully placing shots with a handgun, dropping troops before they realized they were in his line of fire. Tess stayed in back, watching for anyone who looked like they could get away.
Ten seconds later, the only sound to be heard was Schala's gatling gun slowly whirring to a stop. Dust filled the cave, but they could still see close to twenty Soultech troops sprawled on the floor, rubber bullets scattered throughout. "I hope we didn't hurt anyone seriously..." Tempo frowned as he holstered his gun. He could see a lot of angry bruises, but little actual blood.
"Me too." Tess nodded. They stepped over the unconscious men, heading after Lion.
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Lion blinked several times as he rounded a corner, and found himself in a room lit by many torches. The ceiling was at least fifty feet above him, but there were no stairs or balconies. In the center of the ornately tiled floor stood- "Jaguarena." Lion stated evenly. "What are you doing here?"
"After Habeeb saw how foolish you were being, he thought it best that I talk to you first."
"I see." Lion assumed a fighting stance. Her eyes widened. "Why are you in league with that second rate magician?"
"He has something I value as well." She said tightly. "What are you doing?"
His glow brightened once again. "I'm smashing anyone who gets in my way into the dirt." He glared at her. "Even you, if that's how it has to be. No one will stand between me and my son."
Her own yellow glow instantly burst into being around her, dwarfing his like a small candle in a dark room compared to sunlight. "I can defeat you ten times over, if you insist on fighting me."
He slowly walked closer to her. "Jaguarena, look into my eyes." She gave him a slightly patronizing look. "Really look. What do you see?" Her glaring gaze bored into him for a couple seconds, then she gasped. "That's right. Step aside, and I won't harm you."
Shivering, she warily backed away from him, doing her best to avoid his gaze. "You can beat him." She finally gasped. "Just be sure you're doing the right thing." She warned.
"That's one thing I'm always sure of." He gave her one last look over his shoulder, then continued toward the door at the opposite end of the room.
Suddenly, the thud of many feet could be heard. Turning back, Lion saw four heavily armed troops rushing at him. He began to glow again, until he realized who they were. "I hope you didn't think you were doing this alone." Tempo walked up to him.
"I was counting on that right from the beginning." Lion told him.
"That's good to hear." Tempo headed for the door. "Let's do this thing!"
"Yes, let's." Lion nodded. They walked through the door at the same time, and emerged into a room very different from where they had just been. The walls were composed of large bricks, as if it was part of a castle. Despite the medeival appearance, incandescent bulbs lit the room, hanging from the ceiling. Banks of computers filled the room around the doorway, but a good portion of the floor space was empty. At the far end of the giant hall, for that's what it looked like, was a raised platform, almost like a stage. And on that stage were two infamous and familiar figures. Moogoo... and Habeeb.
"Welcome, my dear Lionello, the original Syn." Habeeb gestured around the hall. "Welcome to my inner sanctum."
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"It takes a direct threat for people to get off their fat butts and act." - Irving Vold Valeria, Wild ARMs 2
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