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Before you is a new model machine minion nearly twice your size. Some sort of armored fighter, this time clad in large, bulky metal plates. Instead of the slow, lumbering gait, you might have expected, it quickly rushed forwards, keeping pace with its common brethren. You don't have time for this. Every second spent here is another second the machines can use against you. Fortunately, when speed is the game, Kamen Rider is invincible.

Giving a quick hand sign to Beta, you share a nod together, then you take the lead for this dance. When it comes to speed, what else can a Rider do but call for his cycle? Snapping your fingers, you hear it before you see it, the grinding of the Hopper's engine closes behind you as it swoops down from where it was holding. Timing it perfectly, you perform a backflip, seamlessly landing in the seat as the Hopper hurtles past, extending your arm for Beta to latch onto as well.

Accelerating with all the power it can muster, the Hopper dashes forward, then you catapult Beta forwards. With a flying spin-kick he descends upon the armored machine combatant, only to crash into its armor. Just as you thought, it's faster than it looks. It quickly regains its footing and tries to bring down a large laser-axe onto Beta's head. Displaying an impressive show of acrobatics, Beta manages to get out of the way, opening it up for you. As you descend upon it, you shoot your leg out, aiming for the head.

Disappointingly, you don't do much damage. Some sort of energy fed through the armor provides added resistance, seemingly repelling your fist. Your attack merely scratched the armor. Recoiling from the attack it readies its weapon, a large forearm-mounted laser-axe, buzzes through the air as the large energy blade passes through your shadow. The next few moments proceed more or less the same as you burn energized trails into the air driving back and forth, hitting it at blinding speeds.

While its attention is on you, Beta flips high into the air, twisting himself at the peak, landing right behind the armored minion. The sound of metal pounding on metal echoes out as Beta unleashes a flurry of kicks, into the backs of its knees, forcing it into place and staggering it. You can't afford to waste time here, if it has to come down to a speedy finish, then you have the perfect move.

"Rider Slash!"

Holding your palm straight out, you charge it with a radiant aura of energy, etching a trail of light in your wake as you cleave into the armored machine. Your hand hangs for a moment, with one last burst of force from you, your hand pushes through, bisecting the large figure in half. As your hand emerges you blaze past, leaving behind a burning wreck behind as its core explodes.

"Your newest model? Next time, don't bother, Zero!" You shout triumphantly into the air. You're all but certain that Ark-Zero is watching from somewhere. The sooner it realizes its efforts are for nothing, the better.

The machine minions are still active though. Clearly not the commanding machine. Things seemed to be going good, you and Beta are effortlessly repelling the machine combatants, and you'd taken care of the armored minion fairly fast. At the cost of some energy, hardly serious. Soon enough this pointless assault would be over. Unfortunately, you'd begin to regret those thoughts. Over the radio, and even with your own eyes, you're alarmed as the situation quickly changes.

The air is shattered by an explosion from the vehicle storage, multiple smaller explosions follow soon after, flinging debris across the outpost. Fortunately, you manage to evade most of the flying fragments. Though many machine minions are less so as you spot several being smashed to bits.

"Requesting assistance! Medical team A7 was just hit hard!" An urgent voice over the radio grabs your attention.

"Another blast?"

"No! We-" Harsh static cuts the line, letting an ominous mood wash over you. You can hear some back and forth over the communicator as Akira attempts to rally his men, trying to coordinate a tighter defense, but they're taking a lot of damage. This sudden bombardment might tip this fight the wrong way. It's hard to say if they can pull it back from here.

"Alpha," Beta leaps to your side, "those guys are the ones watching over Amane."

As you mull over what to do, Beta claps you on your back.

"I've got the armor back. I can handle this much!" Beta said. Before you can reply, a machine combatant tries to rush the both of you, only to be put down swiftly by the back of Beta's elbow.

>Go to Amane's defense. She and her medics are defenseless.

>Another wall breaking means whatever is there is the one in charge of the machines. The best defense is a good offense. Take it out.

>Get help from the others. It was just an outpost, but there are dozens of soldiers here. Get some men, and redirect them to a target of your choosing.

>[Write-in]

Post planned (hopefully) tomorrow. If all goes well, I should keep a more rapid pace over thanksgiving.

>>5838746
>Go to Amane's defense. She and her medics are defenseless.

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With a nod, you shift your attention elsewhere. Just as you prepare to leave, a sudden flash of light catches your attention.

"Dodge!" You shout as you quickly swerve away, unfortunately, Beta is unable to move as quickly. Taking the brunt of the blast, he staggers slightly, but manages to right himself. Beta offers you a shaky thumbs-up, doubtlessly trying to reassure you, but his posture, along with that scorched armor, tell a different story. That artillery is getting worse. For now, though, you prioritized helping Amane.

The blast from earlier scattered dust and debris into the air. Driving the Hopper upwards would just surround yourself in it. In the air you would no doubt become a target for the machine minions, dodging fire, as well as navigating would no doubt prove to be a challenge. Keeping the Hopper in 'drive' mode forces you on the ground, where you end up having to dodge fire anyways, but at least like this you can see and navigate much easier. Any machine combatants that do get in your way are quickly run over by the Hopper, or blown away with your feet.

Driving through the smoke you ascend over a damaged freight container, leaping through a large breach in a building. Inside, the few soldiers already here are busy fighting their hardest. To one side, you can see one of Akira's officers firing at a group of machine minions taking cover. While a few more are fighting at the front entrance of the building managing to fight off most of the enemies from that direction.

Nearby you spot several soldiers lay strewn across the area. Medics and soldiers alike rush about, attending to the injured, trying to reinforce what areas they could. Some dutifully applied medical aid, doing just enough to keep things from getting worse, while others desperately worked at free comrades trapped beneath fallen rubble.

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Then your eyes lock onto a certain prone figure. She wasn't awake enough to say anything, let alone acknowledge you. Amane, helpless on a hoverbed, her attending medic buried beneath debris. It pains you to see her like this, you'd met her in perfectly fine condition days ago, but since your mistake you hadn't been able to so much as converse with her. Outside of one particular instance.

As damage to the building escalates, another piece of the ceiling shudders from an explosion, and is then blown off, completely separating from the rest of the structure. Straight over Amane. You brace yourself to jump in, only to hold back as the debris is intercepted by a rapid stream of laser bolts vaporizing the damaged metal, reducing it into nothing more than hot vapor and dust. A little further off is Henry, wielding a large under-slung rotary canon. His armor is covered in scorch marks and impact craters.

"You owe me one, Rider." Is all he said. Despite the damage to his armor, Henry seemed to be managing fine, taking down another straggler that made it through. From the other side, you hear a large section of the wall smash, what's left of it is pushed aside.

Standing in the new entrance is an armored figure holding a large quad-barreled canon. Smoking swirls around the front of the barrel, and you quickly gather that he has been the one shelling the outpost. Upon seeing you, he drops the large gun like it was only baggage.

"It's about time. The humans at this outpost weren't going to last much longer."

If you had any doubts about his identity before, you don't anymore. You recognize his voice. It's your brother. Kamen Rider Delta has reappeared. Everything is going to hell, if you fight him here... well, you can't afford to wait around. It's just not the Rider style.

>Kamen Rider Delta is leading this raid. Taking him out now will route any remaining combatants.

>You had a hard time with Delta before. Reunite with Beta and take on Delta together.

>Talk to Delta. Persuade him to join your side.

>[Write-in]

Broadcast continues tomorrow. Happy thanksgiving you guys. if you celebrate, i mean

>>5839898
>You had a hard time with Delta before. Reunite with Beta and take on Delta together.

>>5839898
>Try to persuade Delta to stop the assault. In the meantime, tell Beta we found the leader, and that we need his backup.
Talking with him might stall him long enough so Beta can back us up... And we might glean more insight regarding his motivations, perhaps?
Either way, welcome back QM!

Rolled 1 (1d2)

(for later when i can write)

>>5840230
Actually, we want to pull beta into this so this vote is actually a 1.5 on option (B) hmm

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"W-who are you?" A soldier near the wall stammered, eyes darting between the imposing figure and yourself in similar armor, desperately seeking answers, until the figure finally gives it to him.

"Call me.. Kamen Rider Delta." Delta then surges forward, grabbing the soldier by his arm, and flings him out of sight.

"Stop it!" Your voice cut through the chaos as you rushed forward, leaping off the Hopper to deliver a drop kick to Delta. This wasn't the first fight you'd ever had with him; you've had countless fights when you were younger, the problem are your fights as Riders, with him trying to kill you. If mother could see you two now she might cry. You narrowly dodged Delta's retaliatory strike, disengaging just in time to evade his heel crashing down, pulverizing the metal foundation beneath.

"Stop? Do you really care, you hardly know them." His voice was so cold now. Just what did the Ark do to him?

"Delta, listen," you pleaded, raising your voice to be heard over the nearby gunfire. "This isn't the way. Kamen Rider is meant to save humanity, not destroy it. Look around you. These are our people."

"They aren't my 'people'. Never have been. Humanity is to be controlled or exterminated accordingly."

If Delta really is the one orchestrating this attack. Then you must bring him down. To do that, you'll need help, you know that much at least. Using the communicator assimilated into your helmet, you called Beta.

"Beta?"

"What?" Beta answers with a strained voice.

"I need back-up. It's Delta again, our brother."

"..." The other line is silent for a moment. "I'll see if I can call up some guys to take my place. But Alpha, they really want to keep me here, there's a lot of them."

"Do your best."

For now, you return your attention back to Delta. You hardly needed to charge ahead, he is already coming towards you, reading a fist extended outwards to you.

"Three-hundred years! That's how old your internal parts are. You couldn't beat me before; you can't beat me now! Little-bro." He taunts you, and the way he said that last part unnerved you, but you refuse to be shaken.

"The only one getting beat, is you!"

As the both of you send fists towards each other, after a fierce contest of technique, you find yourself having to immediately switch to a defensive posture. A cold chill crawls up your spine as you recall those same hands plunging through Amane's chest, imagining those same hands going through yours. Worst of all, you see the face behind the helmet, it's getting harder and harder to fight against him. You'll need to stall for time, to gather your courage, and maybe buy some time too.

"What are you doing here? What value is there in attacking this outpost?"

"You. You give this outpost value." Delta replied with the same mechanical tone, almost devoid of emotion, even as he unleashed another flurry of strikes. "Then again. I should probably take care of her too."

Delta disengages this time, leaping away, clearly setting his sights onto Amane. Without a doubt, Delta is faster than you, but not so fast that you can't keep up. At this distance at least. With your own somersault, you twist up into the air, nearly touching the ceiling at the peak of your arc, planting yourself just a few feet in front of Delta. Gritting your teeth, you attract his attention with a quick shoulder lunge. The attack is a clean miss, fortunately, it's enough to force him away from Amane, and back onto you.

"It's been three-hundred years? How can you be alive?"

"Same as you, brother, suspended animation. Ark-Zero gave me the same power as you. Only better!"

Three hundred years under the care of the greatest villain your world has ever known. He's not the same brother you remember, you know that, it's obvious the Ark has done something to his mind. Is it even possible to save him?

The two of you clash again. The both of you are a blur of fists and feet flying towards each other, trying every move you know to trip one another up, only for Delta to turn you away each time. You manage to score one hit, unfortunately, he returns it to you ten-fold by turning one of your own moves against you. With the damage from the Arch you took earlier, you know this isn't a fight you can keep up for much longer. As Delta delivered a powerful kick into the center of your chest, you stumbled backward. Instinctively, your hand reached for your injury, discovering your armor cracked and cratered.


>No half measures. Take this seriously and focus entirely on Delta.

>This is your brother, you grew up with him, surely there's something left inside!

>Get on the radio. Call up some help from anyone nearby.

>[Write-in]

>>5840741
>No half measures. Take this seriously and focus entirely on Delta.
Time to die, lol

>>5840175
Always good to see a returning player. Just wanted to make sure you didn't think i was overlooking you or anything

>>5840746
The viewers are so violent lol

>>5840741
>Tell him to take this fight outside the outpost. If it's us he wants, then there's no need to involve other humans, and he should call off the MLFO attack. If they're so weak as he claims, then surely he can wait until he's dealt with us before taking care of them.
The situation is looking extremely dire for us... Hopefully by stalling some more, something can come out of it. (For voting purposes, I do wish to continue the fight, but also trying to keep others safe.)

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"If it's me you really want, then prove it! Call off the combatants and fight me outside the outpost!" You declare, and for a one long minute, Delta is still. It's a welcome break for you, your chest is heaving up and down as you try to recover, but you're still burning with the will to fight. Abruptly, Delta's laughter breaks the silence, followed by a pained grunt. Gripping the side of his helmet, he gives a strained chuckle.

"If I want them, I have to go through you, is that it?" Delta brings up his arms, slipping back into a fighting stance. "Dear brother, going easy on the humans? Only you care about that."

The lull in the fight lasted only a minute, and already, both of you are back in the thick of it. You wanted a fight? This was it. Lunging forward again, you lead with a familiar attack, then you mix it up by feinting out of it. Delta knows all your moves? Big deal, so do you. Managing to catch him off guard, you land a solid chop onto his shoulder. Trying to follow up with a normal strike proves fruitless as he parries your attack away. As a fellow martial artist, and his brother, you mentally applaud him for his defense. Descending into one leg you make a show of sweeping at his feet, only for him to jump up, to which you punish by launching into a flying kick right there. Shooting straight up like a bullet, you nail him square on the head. Knocking him onto his back.

Normally, not an attack any human could reliably execute. Fortunately, your armor comes equipped with short-range jets. This isn't like last time. Before, Delta had caught you off guard, striking both mentally and physically. Here, you're calm, serene. Lessons from long ago guide your movements. Delta's retaliatory strikes come swiftly, but focusing entirely on defense, you manage to dodge all but one, chipping away at the armor on your arm.

The fight seems to be shifting, slipping away from Delta. You start to wonder if it's because of a change within you, or if it's just him. Taking advantage of this feeling you decide to pressure him again. Unfortunately, you couldn't keep it up for long. Changing up your moves only works so much, especially when you haven't had the time or ability to change your fundamental movements. Delta easily reads you this time, blocking with his palms or shins, effectively pushing you back.

"Rider Punch," he declares. Your eyes widen. If this were anywhere but the medical building, you might have tried to negate it with another move, or dodging away. But if he goes right past you and uses his punch on anything, or anyone else...

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"Rider Punch!" You shout, deciding to fight fire with fire. The same energy surges into both your arms, flowing towards your hands, surrounding them with a powerful aura. Your fists collide, unleashing a powerful shockwave that shakes nearby soldiers down to their legs, knocking them, along with any common minions, right over. Your power couldn't overpower him, though, as Delta manages to stay standing. Only a few soldiers are still battle ready, including Henry, all of whom had taken shelter behind what cover they could find. After probably having heard your move activate. The shockwave from your clash sends you flying backwards.

You were a mistake. One we will correct here," Delta approaches you, lifting you by your neck. It's then you notice from behind him, a second armored minion has picked up the cannon from earlier. Turning you around, Delta positions your back toward it, then clamps his fingers around your neck.

"Fire!"

"Rider Slash!"

Even before the shout escapes your lips, your hand swipes down onto Delta's head. You're not sure if you hit or not. It was simply all you could do. Powerful energies collide directly with your body. The attack is devastating, threatening to burn you away. The blast sends a powerful charge through your body, making it feel like all your parts are about to melt down, burning your insides.

You find it hard to move, and you're clenching your teeth so hard you think they might shatter. When you open your eyes, you find yourself face down on the ground. Delta's back is turned, already making his way somewhere else, as if you were finished, as if you are done for. Whether it's protecting humanity, fighting monsters, or sticking your nose where it shouldn’t be, there's one thing Kamen Rider doesn't do, and that's give up.

Struggling onto your back, you fire up the armors' jets, and shoot towards his ankles. With a swift turn of your arm, you position yourself, aiming your legs forward.

"Rider... Kick!"

You hit, that's all you know though, as you slowly black out.

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...

It's up to you, Kamen Rider Beta!

On your way here you practically had to run over any minions in your path, fortunately, there weren't that many. With you and Rider One running around bringing the fight to multiple fronts, the MLFOs have been stretched thin. Had they only faced the dozen or so soldiers stationed here, it would have been a different story. But with two Kamen Riders in the mix, they never stood a chance. Giving the humans stationed here a chance at turning the tide.

Well, the story takes a dark turn as you approach the one-floor medical building. The structure is in shambles, missing several chunks from its walls. Closing in on Rider One's coordinates, the sight that greets you is disheartening; he's sprawled on the floor, along with a few soldiers near you. Lending a helping hand to one of them, you barely catch a confused mumble from him.

"Th-thanks, but..."

There's no time to check in with him further, you spot the one you came here to fight in the first place. Delta is staggered, kneeling on one leg, while one hand cradles his head. That guy... he went this far, with his own brother even. Is he that far gone?

>Try to revive Number One. He's still in his armor, that's a good sign.

>Ambush Delta. Whatever Number One did, it had some effect. Take over from here.

>Appeal to Delta. You're not sure if One tried to, but should you make the effort?

>[Write-in]

>>5842216
>Ambush Delta. Whatever Number One did, it had some effect. Take over from here.
V I O L E N C E

>>5842216
>and for a one long minute, Delta is still [...] Abruptly, Delta's laughter breaks the silence, followed by a pained grunt. Gripping the side of his helmet, he gives a strained chuckle.

Seems like our words had an effect, somehow. This isn't the reaction of someone who only wants to kill. Is the elder brother within fighting the MLFO's programming? Delta's clutching his head still, so maybe we can get him to win this fight inside of him...

>Appeal to Delta. You're not sure if One tried to, but should you make the effort?
We can always take over the fight if he refuses, right?

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>5842695
(You) are already taking over the fight. Just have to decide what you do next.

>Is the brother fighting the programming
I don't wanna blindside you guys or anything. I know there's a lot of time in between threads and even posts. But uh, things are exactly as they appear, most times.

Not for another few hours sorry

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Steeling yourself, mentally preparing yourself, you then cautiously approach Delta. He's ripe for an ambush, it would be the perfect time to hit him with a Rider special, but...

In your old life, your parents heaped praise onto your older brother. He was always picking up things faster, your parents had always mentioned how he had taken up talking and walking earlier than you. Of course, being the young boy you were, this made you intensely jealous. So jealous, in fact, that you'd run away from home and gotten lost. You remember it clearly, it had just turned dark, you were practically on the verge of tears. Right when you were on the edge of panic, would you guess who showed up looking for you?

Yeah, it was big bro, reaching out a hand to you, and he carried you home on his back. Patiently listening to your problems and your worries. All the while, telling you it would be alright, never judging or admonishing you. He was reliable, wasn't he, Alpha?

Lost in the memory, you hadn't noticed just how close you had gotten, until you were already behind him. Delta is now within attack range. For a brief moment you hesitate. Just whose memory was that, anyways? Do you really need to get involved? Logically, destroying this minion of the Ark now would be the strategic move. Forcefully shaking off your negative thoughts, you persist. Offering your hand out to him, just like back then, you gently call out to him.

"Brother. Let's go home, okay?"

Delta swiftly turns around, his helmet bears a visible crack stretches top to bottom, dividing one of the compound visors, revealing one of his eyes. The pupils oscillate wildly, he clearly recognizes you, but there's something else too. Something you can't identify.

Slapping your hand away, Delta swiftly rolls back, assuming another fighting stance. In hindsight, it seems that you should have fought after all. Just as he readies a fist towards you, he stumbles once more.

"Y-you, you're... that voice.. since when were you, Kamen Rider?"

It's hard to remember sometimes, but before you, or he, or whomever was forced into cryostasis, you did live something of a double life. Your family, they must not have known? A mix of shame and regret weighs heavily on you. You really do wish he had the foresight to tell the folks, back when he could. If you're doing this now, you may as well go all out. Reaching for the latches on the side of your helmet, you get ready to show him your face, until you're suddenly reminded of just where you are.

"Idiot, get out of the way!"

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A familiar voice shouts a warning at you, when you quickly look towards your side, you see Henry pointing to the opposite end of the building. Rather than warning you about Delta, like might have assumed, he was pointing towards another of the armored minions. It's holding some sort of large canon. Quickly, you grab Number One's body, then leap for the sky, narrowly escaping the impending fireball. Grasping onto one of the remaining neo-titanium beams embedded in the roof, you watch as the explosion consumes the spot where you stood moments ago.

Henry and the remaining soldiers swiftly respond, unleashing a barrage of laser bolts on the armored MLFO, even before it fires, most of which hit it dead on. Despite the onslaught, the robust armor withstands the assault, steadfastly holding its ground. However, you note that its position puts it far out of cover, as well as away from any supporting allies. The armored MLFO committed itself entirely to that shot. Between the relentless fire from Henry's rotary auto-laser and a high-power shot, this minion was doomed. Its armor melted away soon after, offering up its power core, which then subsequently exploded under merciless barrage.

Fortunately, you were able to rescue Rider One. That stupid twin of yours was foolish enough to get taken out. Bad news, Delta is gone, he must have retreated while you went to save One. Dropping back down, you gently place One onto the ground. Not long after that, you and the soldiers are able to regain complete control over the outpost, with any stragglers being completely routed.

After the chaos settles, you join another group of soldiers in combing through the wreckage of the medical building. While assisting in transferring Amane onto a hover-bed, a flash of gleaming of metal catches your eye. Upon closer inspection, you realize you're holding a watch. Inside, the first picture that loads is a startling familiar one. A picture of you, or rather, Alpha, alongside your mother, father, and brother.

It's his, Delta must have dropped it. You're not sure how he managed to keep it for so long. Maybe you'll have the chance to give this back later? As you contemplate this, heavy footsteps approach from behind, prompting you to quickly close the watch.

"So which one are you?" Henry asks, his under-slung gun still in hand, not quite aimed at you but not away either.

"Hm?"

"Which Kamen Rider are you? The clone, or the original?"

>"Kamen Rider. Nothing more, nothing less."

>"The clone."

>"The original."

>[Write-in]

I wonder if I was ever this consistent in the past. Was it good? Well, it can't last, we go back to normal broadcast after a short break. Rejoin Kamen Rider on monday!

>>5843716
>"Kamen Rider. Nothing more, nothing less."
>"I suppose I was the second one you met, still."
It was very good, indeed!

>>5843716
>"The clone."

Kamen Rider is the kind of guy that never tells a lie, right? You have every intention of telling them your true nature, even so, the word 'clone' doesn't quite sit right with you.

"Kamen Rider. Nothing more, nothing less," you assert, Henry continues to give you a contemplative look so you continue. "The double, that is, his 'brother'. I suppose I was the second one you met, still..."

You shouldn't be surprised at what happens next, you'd pretty much been getting this the entire trip. Even through the helmet you can tell Henry has become irrationally upset. Backing away from you, he edges the gun barrel towards you.

"Get out of here. If you have any sense in that head of yours, you'll go find something else to do!"

The injured and able men and women around you two are staring now, definitely curious as to what the shouting is about. Henry doesn’t pay them much mind, neither do you, wounded pride was no reason to start trouble. Your gaze settles on a man with bandages around the side of his head, clutching his chest painfully. This wasn’t the time or place to be offended. There wasn't much here you could do anyways, whether it was Amane or Rider One, you'd have to rely on others for their help. Several hours pass while you discretely make yourself useful. Disengaging the Rider armor, you picked up a spare helmet from the outpost armory. Next, you make yourself busy.

Under the fading light of the evening sun, the outpost personnel apply themselves to the clean-up with a fair amount of enthusiasm; eagerly gunning, or cutting up any stragglers they find, as well as ensuring the downed ones stay down. The machine combatants hardly put up a fight, with their commander having fled, along with losing their greater numbers, they have nothing but their basic programming, and are subsequently no match.

Others, officers and such, are performing more widespread tasks such as, aiding the wounded, helping to move any impeding debris, and moving MLFO wrecks. Nearer one of the edges lies the outpost landing pad, where a large group is gathering, by order of the ranking outpost officer.

"Gather up, everyone! Outpost meeting or whatever." Akira orchestrates sweeping gestures with his arms, beckoning more people closer like some sort of showman. Despite the fact that he had already ordered everyone to join his briefing over the PA. Already nearby you spot Rider One, Henry, and Tyri. You had kind of forgotten she was here. Poor girl doesn't have much of a presence sometimes.

"Excellent work on defending the outpost everyone! We made it through with only moderate casualties." Akira addressed the nearby crowd with his arms folded, nodding all the while, even as a man is wheeled out behind him, "now then. Our next piece of business: We need to check on the castle, and if necessary. Reclaim it."

The assembled soldiers are quick to whisper amongst each other, speculating, growing rumors, they quickly become quiet as Akira speaks up again.

"With the command console rebooted, we now have preliminary recon of the surrounding area now. Everything seems clear, for now. Therefore, I want volunteers to saddle up with Kamen Rider, and set out for the castle. Squad leaders, talk to each other, and your men. I want a team in thirty minutes."

The gunship sitting nearby had several scorch marks as well as impact scars, all in all, it was still in pretty good condition. Lucky for your side, not being the priority target probably saved it. After Akira's briefing, most of the crowd stays in place, debating with their friends and squad leaders on whom amongst them gets to go. This singular gunship simply isn't big enough to ferry everyone over. There's also one problem, none of you really know what's going on with the castle. For all any of you know, they're completely fine, and if they are then there wouldn't be a point to all this.

Noticing Rider One off to the side, chatting with an officer, you note that he had changed his outfit. The both of you had been through the thick of it recently, it only made sense that he'd decided to change, with him putting on some type of officer's jacket, to replace the strange civilian garb from earlier. While you're still wearing the armor you were given on your first day.

You have some free time. Things aren't quite the same for you as One, for one, both Henry and Tyri take great pains to avoid you. But you aren't exactly hopeless either. It's a little sad, but you can talk to Rider One about your plans for the castle, as well as what happened today. You aren't being bullied or anything, but this is the kind of thing for family, isn't it? One might also help out around the outpost, just to help, maybe make some small talk with some of the guys.

>Talk to Rider One

>Help out around the Outpost

>[Write-in]

Or maybe...

>Switch Riders

>[Write-in]

>>5846092
>Help out around the Outpost
>Check up on Amane
Let's make some friends of our own! Poor Beta's been getting the short end of the stick. Also, I've been wondering whether Beta feels anything towards Amane, and whether she'll have any reaction towards him...

>>5846120
Support

To pass the time you decide to give a hand to anybody who needed it. What can you say? Old habits die hard. Thanks to sharing the same brain as that other guy, you can't help but want to help. Even though the number of troopers in this merry band was outnumbered almost ten to one earlier, you found the number of casualties were low, resulting in a generally high level of morale throughout. Especially since they were cut-off from the castle, no reinforcements, and no resupply for the foreseeable future. Well, you plan to fix that eventually.

Walking the length of the outpost, dispensing congratulations, as well as sharing the occasional word with random soldiers. Eventually, you find yourself back at the old convoy you'd been traveling alongside recently. The carriages themselves are smoked, burnt out husks, it doesn't seem as if they were targeted specifically, they were simply in the way or found themselves the victim of stray shots. Fortunately, the inhabitants had already left, you remembered seeing most of the disembark when you first arrived, as well as spotting a few holding rifles alongside the outpost soldiers. Actually, you happen across one of the villagers and a female soldier, together they were looking through the wreckage.

"How is it?" You ask, startling the both of them.

"Ah! Oh? Rider?" The male villager jumped slightly, then visibly relaxed. Despite putting on a spare helmet, it seems you were easily recognized, maybe it was the armor? Yours is quite unique in the same way everyone else’s' is. "I thought you were talking to... or are you the brother? I guess it hardly matters. This lass was just helping me sort through our things. A few of us had heirlooms and the like we left inside. Alas.."

"The clankies did a number on this thing," the woman added, crossing her arms. "Mind giving us a hand?"

"That's why I'm here." You nod your agreement. Sifting through the wreckage, you have some quiet to yourself, and you're forced to deal with the same thoughts you've been plagued with this entire time. Just who is Kamen Rider Beta? There were all those exercises teachers put you, or rather, him through when he was a young child, all of which resurfaced in your mind. Questions such as: Who do you want to be? Who do you think you are? What would your friends say about you? Where will you be in five years?

If you took those same quizzes, would you just churn out the same answers as that guy? Are you really your own person, or do you exist simply to be a 'plus one'? An inferior copy made to make the first one look good.

Nah. Thinking like that will turn you into the Moody Rider. Meanwhile, you're witness to a conversation between the two alongside you.

"I was certainly in for a shock today. I can understand the concept of your weapons." The male villager suddenly said.

"Can you?" The woman replies.

"No and yes. Regardless, I thought your enemies today were men in armor, but to think, they were made of metal. How strange, I would not know what to call them.."

"Hmm. At a guess, for you, I'd say they're more like dolls?"

"Dolls?"

"Right. The clankies, machines, are told what to do by their boss, and that's all they know. They move only when directed, like a doll, or a puppet. We call that programming."

"Po-gamning?"

Hmm. Intrestingly, the humans of this era don't refer to them as 'machine lifeforms', instead choosing to opt out that last part. Even the guerillas you'd travelled with did this, though you figured they were simply being derogatory. When you ask why that is, the woman gives you a fairly normal answer, and yet, for some reason it bothered you.

"Why would we call them lifeforms? They're just machines, toasters, clankers, NPCs. Nothing alive to them."

After that you share a short chat with them, simple stuff, you manage to dig out a small doll all covered in soot. It was kind of sewn together in a creepy way, but you can tell it was homemade for sure, that's how it was in those days huh.

"A doll, eh." You absently said, catching the attention of the other two.

"Whoa, good find."

"Ah, I think I recognize that doll! Would you come with me?"

It's not a long walk, just to the medical building. You were worried Henry was still in the area, that you'd rile him up again, luckily for you though he's nowhere to be seen. Despite its ruined walls and superstructure, it was still being used to house the injured, likely because of all the heavy medical machinery. One of which catches your eye. A large tube filled with a strange liquid, large rings rotate about the container, as a certain body sits motionless inside.

It's hard to say that you care about her over anyone else, but you do feel some sort of loyalty now, either because of his reaction, or her injury, you find yourself drawn to her again. Making a slight detour away from your goal, you hesitantly approach the machines' operator.

"How is she?" You ask, he simply shrugs, not bothering to turn towards you.

"Nothing's changed in the last few minutes. We have no idea what to do about her preexisting cyberparts, but she's stable. She's nearly had it though, you certainly took your time getting her here." He sounds annoyed so you leave him to it. So much for bedside manner. As you walk away you hear him mutter something under his breath.

"We don't have the equipment for this here..."

“Did you know her?” The female soldier asks. You weren’t sure what answer to give, Rider One remembers her, but you have no memory whatsoever.

“Kind of,” you replied half-heartedly.

Turning away, you let yourself be led off again, towards your original goal.

The villager leads you to a young girl kneeling beside a woman, the girl's eyes are wet as she watched over what must be her mother. Your eyes catch a large bloody splotch over her shoulder.

"What do you two look so worried for?" A passing woman in white armor stops at your side, "she must have fainted instantly. No trauma. One shot, easy fix, she's fine. Just wish they were all that easy." The woman quickly brushes past you, into another part of the building.

"Hey, isn't that great, kiddo?" You said as reassuringly as you could, the kid doesn't budge though, instead she buries her head into her knees. It seems she doesn't understand still. Well, that's kids for you.

"Poor girl, she must still be in shock." The female soldier accompanying you folds her arms up and took a rigid stance, staring down with a fierce gaze. Was that supposed to be her deep in thought?

"Come on, your mother will be just fine." The man tried to cheer her up too, still nothing. Just how can you reach these kids? She didn't look to be any older than ten, so stuff like logic might not parse yet.

>Play with the doll in front of her.

>Make a funny noise

>Throw the doll at her

>[Write-in]

"Back to normal broadcast" he said. Well. I think I should have given some heads up that i meant friday. Anyways, we continue tomorrow!

also, the formatting always looks so attrocious when i paste it onto the site. i'll just have to get better, sorry.

>>5851025
>Play with the doll in front of her.
I was tempted to throw the doll at her, as the image is extremely funny... But I doubt it's a very good idea.

Wouldn't it be easy if you could make kids happy with a special move. Maybe a 'Rider Sparkle Beam' or something. Actually, that sounds kind of scary, the power to force people to be happy? Not that you needed to worry, there isn't a single Rider like that as far as you know. Kneeling beside the young girl, you present the doll you'd found. Covering your mouth with your other hand, you make your best attempt at ventriloquism, adjusting your voice to sound higher.

"Hey, look at me, its..." you suddenly trail off, realizing you wanted to give her a name, but what if she already had one? The doll, that is. Nearby adults are giving you a weird stare now, so you had to keep this going now. "Er, hey let's play a game!" Trying to recover you move to a different topic, and you start playing with the doll in front of her. Making it look as if it's jumping up and down, causing the arms to flop around in the process.

"..."

Could it be, you're actually really bad with kids? Is that the difference between you and number One? If so, that's pretty sad.

"Wow, a lot of stuff happened today, but I’m just fine! See!" Being careful with your grip, you spin the doll around, letting its dress flutter slightly. "Your mom is going to be fine too; she just needs some rest!" Giving one last effort, you move the doll's arm and pat the girl on the head. Using this strange high-pitched voice is started to wear on your, more specifically, your nerves. More adults are giving you stares, and you're going to have to run away if this keeps up. Maybe change your identity. There's room for a Kamen Rider Three, right? Before you're forced to flee, however, the girl finally responds to you.

"You are... pretty bad..." She says softly.

"Well..." You try to defend yourself, only for her to interrupt you.

"Thank you, mister."

"No problem, kiddo." Depositing the doll into her open hands, she gives you a small smile, and you wave when you depart. The male villager says his goodbyes to you and the female soldier accompanying you, finding another reason to stay behind. While the latter gives you an approving grunt.

"That really worked. I can't believe it."

"You can't? I was panicking inside, if that didn't work, I would have been in a very awkward position."

Laughing at your embarrassment, you try to play it off, but it's no use, now she's laughing too. Anyone nearby gave off a soft chuckle at your expense too. Walking off to find something else to do, you're hit by another 'attack'. Suddenly feeling heavy, your vision blurs, and you find yourself falling again. Fortunately, your partner for today catches you before you fall completely, grabbing you by the arm.

"Whoa! Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah, just need a sec."

"Of course. If you're exhausted you should take a rest, you know."

"For sure. Thanks."

You stick around for a little longer before you find an excuse to leave too. Taking a moment to reflect, you recall your first meeting with the that guy, the day you reunited with Rider One. When Amane was nearly killed. Miraculously, her previous cyberparts managed to keep her alive long enough to reach the outpost, with some help from the outside. You worked so hard to save her, the problem is, will you be there when she wakes up? A powerful urge builds up in the back of your throat. Lifting your helmet slightly, you discretely cough into your arm plating. You're alarmed at what you see. Blood ejects from your mouth, splattering your armor, only for it to 'dissolve' into microscopic residue. You know what it is. The nanites are breaking down. Eventually, you are going to return to your base state.

"Attention. If you have been selected for the castle reconnaissance mission, report now to the landing pad. Repeat-" The outpost PA announcement interrupts your thoughts, signaling everyone involved to assemble. Of course, you did not actually get 'selected', you'll just kind of sneak in, somehow.

Gathered around the gunship is of course, Rider One, with a group of soldiers you don't recognize, along with Henry and Tyri. The latter two spot you approach and react to you in a variety of ways. Tyri simply looks uncomfortable, looking around, maybe trying to decide how she should react, while Henry, true to form, is immediately confrontational.

"There's no more room. You'll just have to stay. Better yet, get lost."

Standing on the loading ramp, Rider One offers you his hand, giving you a nod. Ah yes, Kamen Rider's strongest power, nepotism. Some nearby soldiers exchange puzzled glances, likely wondering why you weren't part of an earlier discussion. Henry, ever persistent, directs his frustration toward Akira, who is standing nearby.

"You can't let that one stay here! He's a-"

"My plus one! That's the guy I'm waiting for!" Rider One overpowers Henry's voice, which isn't hard to do between the shouting, background chatter, and the gunship's engines powering on. Akira intervenes, dismissing Henry's concerns.

"Whatever your problem, soldier, I don't care! If Kamen Rider has a double, so what? Rider says he's clear, he's clear, that guy helped me and most of the people on this base out. He gets a pass." Akira gives a reply to Henry, then walks towards the side of the gunship's opening, and pounds his hand on the side. Signaling the pilot to take off. "Just be sure about that one, Rider, there's a reason why we think the way we do."

Rider One pulls you inside, much to Henry's annoyance, and you take a seat at the opposite end. Falling back into a thinly cushioned seat, behind the cockpit, next to your 'brother'. Of whom is the first to talk to you, keeping his voice low in a hushed whisper.

The hum of the gunship's engines fills the air as it lifts off, leaving the outpost behind. Inside, the atmosphere is tense, punctuated by the occasional clatter as the soldiers adjust their gear. You sit back, wondering what you should do to pass the time, until Rider One turns to you. His expression is painted with concern.

"Does that happen a lot?"

"Not really." You shrug. "I'm good though."

"Ahem, well, I was looking for you earlier." Rider One said, you reply with a shrug at first.

"I do things too, you know. I knew I would probably make it into the mission anyways."

"I thought you would try to just casually walk in."

"And I did."

"... Are we easy to read?"

"Probably." You said with another casual shrug.

"Hey. There's something we need to talk about."

"What about? Is it a girl?" You teased, attempting to lighten the mood.

"Nah, it's serious, it's about your-" Rider One's sentence hung in the air, interrupted by an abrupt wash of light flooding the loading area, overwhelming the cockpit window. The pilot gives a loud curse. Immediately, a group comprised of yourself, One, and Henry are huddling around behind her. You see what she sees. In between cursing from the pilot, Henry, the nearby soldiers, you watch as a strange pulse of light shoot out from a distant point, gradually giving birth to an aurora.

"What just happened?" One is gracious enough to ask for the both of you.

"Mana reaction. Remember when you heard about weird weather 'phenomena'? This is one of them. What you're seeing is what you get when powerful mana sources, or rather, powerful aether is gathered together and is released in close proximity to another source. We're going to get an aura storm soon."

"Powerful aether is released? What do you mean?"

"What I mean is..." Henry gets a complicated look on his face, to which the pilot fills in for him.

"What he means is: Reaction explosion. As in, a Landing castle's aether reactor." She said with an almost remorseful voice. Now you understood why they all looked so troubled. Because your face is the same.

"Everyone, brace!" The pilot shouted, manipulating the controls as powerful winds buffeted the gunship, rocking you all hard. The ship seemed to flip completely over at some point, but the pilot expertly righted it. "I'm taking us down!" she declared. Fortunately, the pilot is skilled enough to do that without losing the craft, everyone makes it down safely. Disregarding a few bumps and bruises.

Gazing at the night sky from the rocky outcropping where the gunship had landed, you observed the rippling aurora slowly covering the sky with its strange energy. You watch for a few more moments until you're pulled back towards the others. Everyone is currently having a discussion about what to do.

"If t-the castle is gone, it's game over man! Game over!" A distraught soldier exclaimed.

Henry silenced him with a stern knock on the head, the metallic sound resonated through the area, followed by an equally resonating grunt of pain.

"Get a grip!" Henry shouts.

"He's right though. What do we do now? Especially if the castle is really gone.." Another soldier hesitantly said, prompting a similar moody look from the others.

"Don't give up now! It's possible the castle is fine!" Rider One interjected, his optimism met with skeptical looks. "The mission hasn't changed, has it? We absolutely need to see what's happening." He gets a few nods, especially from Henry.

"Worst case scenario. The Russian and Asia castle are the nearest mainland options. We could send a signal and coordinate with them from now on." Henry suggested, offering a pragmatic approach, despite his idea the group still seemed uncertain. Looking at your 'brother' you can see his breathing has gotten somewhat heavier, not in a way that showed exhaustion, but maybe he was thinking about something. Ah that's right, you've met a few people back on the castle. It's been a while, but you hoped Dr. Cain was fine. How would she react if she found out that you were...

"The gunship can't make it any further. The turbulence from the mana disturbance is too powerful. We'll have to turn around, maybe see if one of the ground attack cars made it," the pilot said, bringing another unfortunate factor into the equation.

"Then I'll go on a head. I have my own vehicle." Rider One said, casting you a sidelong glance, communicating an unsaid message. Something like: 'Obviously you're coming too.'

"We can all go! If the gunship stays low enough, atmosphere turbulence will be reduced by almost 80%" Henry adds on, apparently having done some math on his gauntlet mounted computer.

"Hey, come on man, the pilot just said she couldn't do it..." Another soldier protested. Though the pilot in question seems to be seriously considering it, it's possible it could be done. Henry might be quick to anger around you but he is supposed to be some sort of specialist, what he specialized in has yet to become apparent to you, but the skills are real.

In the end, what did the group decide to do?

>Kamen Riders will investigate alone

>The entire group persists inside the gunship

>[Write-in]


That sure was a long one, huh? Update monday! Some of that I wanted to tack on last night, but then it wouldn't really leave you a choice for anything right? Also I too, thought throwing the doll at the girl was funny. Writing that last one up past midnight put me in a funny place. Joke options sometimes turn into real ones, what's up with that right?

>>5852017
>Send in Kamen Rider ahead as a scout, and if the mana interferance isn't too bad, call in the others.
I usually don't love to be "a little bit of column a, a little bit of column b" in quest votes, but here that doesn't seem like too bad an idea... Henry's been coming in clutch quite a while lately, so it'd be nice to have him around.

>>5852120
I'm not sure how other qms do it. But I take the "A and B" options as a half/half of both, as in the option tries to do both but is literally half as effective as both options. I'm a little lenient though, this isn't some try hard experience or anything.

"We'll go in ahead of everyone. Then we can call the rest of you in." Rider One said, nodding. He then walked off a few steps further to call the Hopper. "Come, Ride Hopper!"

"If you think the rest of us are going to just wait around and-" Henry argued, tensing his fists, only for the pilot to suddenly cut him off.

"If you want to fly the gunship that's fine by me. I'll wait here for pick up." The pilot crossed her arms over her chest, blocking some kind of stylized patch. Despite wearing a flight-type variant of the soldier helmets, you could just barely make out her eyes squinting. Henry slumped his shoulders, then stepped back, accepting the situation.

"This isn't going to work. The mana interference will be too heavy for our short-range transmitters. We'll stand by in case... well.." Henry let his words hang. Lots of things could happen, regardless, you're sure you and One are both thinking positively. Following after your 'brother' you make your way to his side just as the Hopper floats downwards, landing on its wheels as they extend outward. From what you remember, the poor girl got shot up a fair bit in your last few battles. Most of the damage was still there, you do note that there were some minor repairs here and there, patched armor and replaced parts stand out. Rider One quickly mounts it in one smooth move, swinging his leg clear over the seat, then saddles it, while you hang hesitantly around the rear.

"Maybe I could drive this time around?" You asked, knowing full well 'you' would never agree.

"No thanks, bro." One answers just as you thought, to your dismay. "Just get on. I'm not getting any younger."

Securing yourself onto the Hopper, not too tightly though, you try to mentally prepare yourself for what's next. There's a slight thump from somewhere inside as the wheels shift, then retract, as the Hopper hovers off the gravelly ground. You're about to comment on it, before One slides the throttle and blasts the Hopper forward. The engine roars to life, the chassis creaked with stress, and you're forced to hold onto One as you accelerate.

From your vantage point, you can see the strange aurora expanding across the night sky. The atmospheric disturbance seems to intensify, creating an otherworldly display of lights. Pulling ahead, rounding the top of some rocky terrain, you arced back towards the castle's location. It felt like dozens of rocks were pelting you. As the Hopper gets closer to the epicenter of the strange aurora, the turbulence increases, causing the cycle to jolt violently at times. Despite avoiding most of the turbulence, you were still facing this strange phenomenon on a motorcycle.

There's also the fact that you're armored, you hate to image what One is going through, even with his padded vest. But you're men, manly men, neither of you would have complained about such conditions. Out loud anyways.

You ride silently for a minute or two before you see it. Before you lay a burned and cratered landscape. A smoldering expanse of debris -metal, stone, burnt fauna, and everything that had once been a castle. Catching your eye are the burnt husks of military structures still attached to foundation pieces, ruined and shattered civilian structures, along with destroyed technological parts you couldn't even begin to identify off-hand. Riding the way, you are, you sense One tense up, his hand curls into a fist. You're actually surprised at how detached you feel.

"We'll do a pass." One said, his voice was shaking.

"There's nothing." You replied. Not even their computer core would have survived.

"We'll do a pass," he repeated.

"If we don't find someone, anyone..." His voice was shaking. "So, we look, as hard as we can." He continued, doing his best to calm his emotions down. Over his shoulder you can see the Hopper scanner window dimming, returning nothing.

"There can't be nothing! The EDF had contingencies, emergency plans, they could have evacuated!"

A thought occurs to you and you raise your brow, acting on it, you reach your hand over to key up the communication circuit. Just harsh static at first. Nothing that could be understood by either of you, but it does indeed, sound like a person. Likely being distorted by the distortion. Doing your best to narrow down the signal source, you lead the both of you on. You know both your eyes go wide. As you get closer you receive an IFF signal.

EDF-LC-J-2

The landing castle the both of you were familiar with! For some reason, there were two here, and one had exploded. Your castle was now resting at an angle at the base of a cliff. From what you can tell there is damage, clearly, they were in close proximity to the other castle when it exploded. You also note that it has been converted to flight mode, its caterpillar tracts had been retracted, allowing the float rings to extend. Without another word, One is maneuvering closer to it, straight down.

Suddenly energy begins to surge through exposed paneling, the weapon rings begin to swivel, rotating up vertically, placing you within their sights. Like a predator's hungry eyes in the dark. Light sparkled along the length of the rings as it prepared to fire. Lances of bright red plasma shot out towards you and raced in your direction.

"Dodg-" you started to blurt out. One banks the Hopper hard to the right, left, then hits the booster and pulls up. Streaks of fire brush close to you, near enough to make One sweat, as well as set off heat warnings in your borrowed armor. Returning back towards the open crater on the other side of the cliff, above the smoldering wreckage of the other castle, you find that at some point you began holding tighter onto One. He was in a similar state, exhaling, he eased back slightly.

In the distance you note that the castle is still firing in random patterns. It's possible the Hopper wasn't the target, but... it's impossible to be sure without getting inside.

"What was that?" One said more so than he asked.

"You think I know?"

Talking it over, the both of you realize you must get inside, so then the two of you come up with a few options...

>Push the Hopper to its limits. Get in close and fast. Maximum evasion.

>Distract it with the Hopper while the other infiltrates the castle.

>Backtrack. Return to the others and brainstorm.

>[Write-in]


Okay here's a better middle of the road. What if we just didn't commit completely.

>>5854461
>Push the Hopper to its limits. Get in close and fast. Maximum evasion.
Surely the people inside need help

File: BIKE-GO-BOOM.jpg (171 KB, 1280x720)

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"Beta?"

"Yeah?"

"We're going in." One nods, leans forwards, and throttles the engine as hard as it would go. Truthfully, it was unexpectedly exhilarating, as well as equally worrying. Being a passenger, completely incapable of influencing events, gave you a flutter of trepidation as you registered the castle growing larger as the two of you approach.

"Better change while we can." One suggests and you agree. Swinging one of his arms out to the side, you do the same, stretching out the opposite arm.

""Rider..

Change!""

The both of you say in unison, then bring your arms about -carefully- and trigger the belts. A shimmering in the air marks when the both of you donned your armor. Just in time too. The turbulence is the first indicator you were back in weapons range. Exactly like last time, it seemed as if your very presence triggered the defensive systems, drawing out a response in the weapons once again. Every bit as skillfully as you would have, Alpha steers, leans, and loops his way around the nearby terrain, all to avoid as much weapons fire as he can.

The high-pitched wining of the beams screeches past you two as Alpha deftly maneuvers away from the beams. For some reason, it feels as if the patterns aren't random; several of the beams look as if they're trying to divert you, if not strike you completely. If you could sweat, you just might. Even one of those beams would swallow you whole if they hit.

"It's starting to not feel so random..." You find yourself mutter, and Alpha simply grunts in acknowledgement. Obviously, he's too busy for chit-chat right now.

Fortunately, the both of you are two small to be hit and you manage to close in fairly close to the castle, and you're able to finally make out the different sections. Unfortunately, you were now close enough for the anti-air lasers to power up. While the large heavy guns were still firing off, only vaguely aiming in your direction at times, the lasers were a much bigger threat. At first, they fired all at once, randomly, even tracking the shadow of their own shots at times. Then, in the last moments of your approach they began tracking with lethal accuracy.

The Ride-Hopper was always meant to be just a personal machine, you're not sure if Hongo, or even yourselves, would have classified it as an agile fighter. She also took some bad hits earlier, despite being patched up, it seems as if you weren't up to the challenge. Despite his best efforts at evasive maneuvers, Alpha couldn't dodge all the lasers. Several crash into the rear of the Hopper, destroying the rear thruster, taking some of the engine with it.

"Hang on!" Alpha shouted as he tried to pull on the handlebars, desperately trying to maintain any stability he could get.

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A barrage of lasers whizzed past harmlessly, narrowly missing you, as the Hopper continues to spiral out of control. The flames below you trailed out in wild spirals, growing hotter, threatening to swallow the both of you. Suddenly, the engine compartment below the both of you shudders, the entire cycle rumbles violently, then explodes into a fiery plume. The both of you are sent flying through the air in different directions. You know you started shouting, but between the constantly firing guns and the howling winds, your voice is easily lost amidst the chaos.

The explosion sends you whirling through the air like a doll, your limps flung around wildly. In desperation you fire up your jets in an effort to control your fall. They merely slow you down. It's not like they were ever made for true flight, so you tuck yourself into a ball, and brace yourself for the fall. You know what they say though, "it's not the fall, it's the stop."

In short, the crash was brutal; you bounced off a rock, ricocheting off it, you hit the water and skip across like a rock some kid tossed, before you finally come to a rest, lodged into the side of another boulder. A large part of you wished you were a true robot that could turn off his pain receptors at the flick of a switch. No such dice. If One is going to create a third rider, maybe he could give the next guy some upgrades. Letting out a pained groan, you relax your body. It's not for several more minutes that you feel like moving again, at least, it feels like minutes.

Good news though, you made it down in one piece! The explosion probably helped you evade the lasers last minute. Hopefully, One made it down too. No point worrying, that guy is fairly strong. Rest in peace, Ride Hopper, the two of you will need to find a way to revive it later.

Managing to shakily stand yourself up, you hobble yourself over to the castle. The anti-air guns are still firing into the air randomly, dutifully shooting down any clouds in the way. The mana disturbance doesn't bother you this far down, the slowly fading aurora cast an otherworldly glow over you and the immediate surroundings.

You are outside the castle now, staring up at its lopsided structure, you briefly wonder how the people inside are doing. You'll find out soon enough though, hopefully, anyways. How are you going to get in?

>Break in through a maintenance duct

>Try the nearest hangar door

>Call them

>[Write-in]

>>5859478
>Break in through a maintenance duct
The tried and true method of infiltration. We still don't know what's happening inside, so we'd best be sneaky, eh?

>>5860020
Sneaky beaky-like, eh?

Staring up at the castle, you wonder how you'll get in. Calling them is probably out of the question. Aside from being ground zero for a powerful mana disturbance, still on-going by the way, you also suspect something wrong with the computer system. Regardless, the castle is a large object. The most modern human battleship design, purpose built to be a first responder, as well as mobile military base, it made sense for it to be large. That, along with the fact that you don't have any schematics, prove to be a little troublesome. Yes, you learned about landing castles as a civilian from official sources, but you've never been on one.

After what felt like half an hour, you managed to find a small hatch on the side, with a few metal rungs surrounding it. They don't reach all the way down or anything, obviously they weren't for invaders to use. If you were just a normal human you would probably be forced to give up and just go home. Fortunately..

"Rider Jump!"

Propelling yourself upwards, you just barely catch onto a rung, holding yourself up by a hand, until you pull the rest of yourself up and plant yourself more firmly. Thanks to the castle being on its side somewhat, you do have some leeway. The access hatch is sealed tight. As it should be. But there is a manual access lever, pulling it, you find yourself nearly twisting yourself over from the strain.

"Phew.." You give an exhausted sigh. Locked down tight, probably because of the combat status alert.

Normally, this hatch would be used by an engineer, who most definitely would have a set of tools on him, tools including a mag-grip. You don't have that. Giving it another go, you shout as you push it, finally overcoming the lock by force. Good timing too, in another moment you would have been forced to go all out, and use a Rider Special. On a door of all things.

The ducts were meant for engineers to access various parts of the castle for maintenance or repair. Those same people probably had maps. You? You have the power of 'best guess.' It got you through two grade levels. Crawling through the ducts, for an untold number of minutes, you started feeling like a certain 'hard ‘core action hero. As you get deeper in though, you start to hear things, far off echoes of other things. You must still be in the furthest edges of the walls, not quite within any particular structure yet.

Eventually, you come across some kind of an opening, the room connects to other maintenance ducts. Probably an access junction. At first you didn't notice, but there's somebody in here. They were curled up into a ball. A somewhat pitiful sight.

"H-hey," you hesitantly call out, upon hearing you, they jerk in place. In that instant they excitedly look at you, drinking in your image with hungry eyes. It's a man with blonde, fringe-cut hair, and he looks ecstatic upon seeing you. Or rather, your armor.

"You!" He shouts aggressively.

Tears quickly form at the edge of his eyes, then he quickly rushes towards you, and you debate internally whether you need to fight him or not. Before you know it, he's grappling you, putting you in a deadly bear hug, ready to rip you in half! Or not. Actually, he's crying into your shoulder, literally.

"A-are you alright?" You gingerly pat him on the back, and he nods.

"I've been trapped out here... for four-days!"

"Sounds rough..."

"You ARE real right? Please tell me I haven't started hallucinating yet!"

"Y-yeah! I'm real, calm down, alright? What's happening?" You patiently answer him, trying to gently pry him off proves ineffective, as he merely grips you harder. Poor guy seems to have had it rough. Pressing him again, he begins to tell you what's been happening to the castle recently. He's just a soldier so he doesn't know the top-down situation. What he does know is that the castle began experiencing minor malfunctions nearly a week ago, in which they later met up with a second landing-castle. Presumably the one outside. Just a day after you left. At first, they were minor inconveniences, eventually evolving into actual noticeable malfunctions, then disasters. Systems began misbehaving all over the castle, communications were scrambling themselves, throwing them even further off balance. After following a strange signal, he became lost within the extravagant, and vast network of maintenance ducts.

"I knew it was fake! I shouldn't have come to investigate! Oh Rider, I never thought I'd be so glad to see a man!"

"Er, well, who are you again?"

"Hah?" The man disconnects himself from you, to point at his face, violently. "You don't recognize me? It's me, Blaine! I stopped by sometimes to check on your kids, you know? Don't tell me you forgot?"

Well, it kind of rings a bell? You're vaguely aware he was one of the soldiers you'd first encountered. Though he did get a haircut in the meantime. Any memories after Tokyo belong only to the other guy.

"I have to get going, so.."

"Don't leave me, take me with you!" Blaine is suddenly testing his luck at wrestling you again.

"Alright! I get it, come with me!" You weren't going to argue in the first place. It seemed like he really didn't do well in isolation. With an eager nod, he falls into formation right beside you. Fortunately, the inner ducts are labeled, so you do have a general gist of where you're going. When you ask how Blaine got lost, you get your answer from the castle itself. The maintenance ducts are all locked down from the combat alert, only it hasn't been lifted in days. Meaning, it takes a specialist, or a Rider to break in. Coming across another junction, you find some sort of map displayed on the wall. It's flashing all sorts of warnings across the monitor, most of them don't make sense. For example, a couple times it told you the room was being flooded in lava. Obviously, not true, must be one of the malfunctions Blaine was talking about.

You do have a better idea of how to get out though. While several parts of the monitor repeatedly blink on and off, you are able to trace your finger over several paths. You could try to get closer to the command tower by proceeding down a certain pathway, emerging directly into the command center. You could also leave as soon as possible and return to the 'outside' streets, get a feel for how the castle is doing in general before deciding where to go. Suddenly, you remember Rider One and Blaine mentioning that guy becoming the guardian of an orphanage? You could try to come out closer to the residential district and make your way to them? Or anyone and everywhere really.

>Command Tower

>Streets

>"Home"

>[Write-in]

Probably won't need this. But as always, an option.

>>5860665
>Streets
Let's try to gather up some more allies and check the overall situation before heading for the command center.

You want allies? Lonely are you? Sorry, no dice

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Travelling to the command tower or the residential area seems like it would take too long. Climbing through the maintenance tubes would slow you down significantly. You'd also like to see the state of the castle for yourself. So, there it is, you want to leave as soon as possible, and return to the surface.

Thick metal grates line the floors and ceilings, allowing sporadic strips of luminescent panels to shine through, illuminating just enough of the shaft to let you see where you're going. The rhythmic hum of machinery and Blaine's own breathing keep you company as you make your way through narrow ducts and up simple runged ladders.

You passed through a couple more junctions, all with flickering holographic displays, showing incorrect information, or just flat out non-functional. It didn't take long for Blaine to try to start up some conversation. At first, he just asks what you were up to, so you reply easily enough, your trip outside was a little more complicated than you thought. Of course, you speak in vague terms, phrases and situations that would be true enough for the both of you; especially when you move into recent events.

"That is so crazy. A third one?"

"Yeah."

The conversation eventually moves into recent events for him as well as those on the castle, a slightly more personal take compared to his desperate debriefing from earlier. Unfortunately, you sort of zone out, simply placing yourself into a mental autopilot. Eventually, you do find yourself ascending one last set of ladders. Like most of the hatches separating each compartment and accessway through the ducts, this last hatch is reluctant to move, when you finally force it open a brief shower of ice shards shatter from around the edges. The metal creaked as you forced it open. Then something starts flowing down, smothering you almost completely.

"Umph." Something cold and wet starts filling your vision, coating your armor in whatever it is.

"Snow?" Blaine said from below you.

"I'll take care of it," you said. "Stand back."

"Gotcha."

Pouring some energy into your body, you encompass yourself in an aura of aether, if you had to put a name to it you could call it the 'Rider Wave'? Using your body as a makeshift plow and snow-melter, you slowly melt a human-shaped hole into the snow and ice above you as you ascend. Soon, rays of light punch through the surface as the ice begins to give way. Finally managing to slip through the ice, you carefully look around, making sure nothing was in danger of falling into the maintenance duct. Then you grip Blaine by his offered arm and hoist him up as well.

"It's freezing. Was it like this earlier?" You ask, and he shakes his head.

"The weather system was just fine a few days ago. But that was days ago, and, you see..."

High above you see some kind of emergency vehicle speeding by, other than that, nothing. It looks like you've come up in a marketplace of some kind. Except, there's nobody here. Shopfronts are completely abandoned, from what you can see. A layer of ice and frost had formed over several of the buildings. Various abandoned vehicles, standalone signs, as well as various other structures bore several small dimples or impact marks. You don't think it was from combat, rather, hail? In the distance you can see a thick storm of rain pelting some other part of the castle. For a moment, it reminded you of a cartoon raincloud following someone around.

"Aren't there safeties to stop hazardous weather?"

"Sure. Tell that to the castle! I was trapped in a hole in the ground for days, remember?" Blaine snaps at you loudly. His face looks at you remorsefully immediately after, but you shake your head, you get it.

"Any idea where your squad is? I'd like to travel in company."

"No idea. Don't try to call anyone though."

"Why?"

"You noticed those displays back down in the junctions? Imagine that but in your ear. The comms are flooded by white noise, random traffic, or gibberish. Still, someone's always trying to get a call out, at least last time I checked."

"How long ago was that?"

"Probably a few minutes before you found me and a few minutes before that." Blaine shrugs, you aren't sure what face you're making, but even through your helmet your gaze sets him off. "Hey! I was desperate, okay?"

The situation in the castle seems chaotic. Things must be bad if the malfunctions are affecting even the weather system, a normally passive and automatic function. Though, the malfunctions getting to the weapons, as well as the defensive systems was also pretty bad. The people might have evacuated closer towards the center, or the escape pods, if they could even get to them. Soldiers are probably busy doing what they can to manage the crisis, or are running around sending messages to and from the command tower, and therefore would be closer in, or holding around the military areas.

Suddenly, the castle PA system powers up, and starts spouting... something? Blaine was right. It's complete gibberish. A moment later, the castle suddenly shudders, not enough to knock you down though. In the distance, covered by a quickly forming fog, you can see the command tower. You can't see into it, of course, but it’s still standing and presumably still operating. Now that you're on the 'streets' you can traverse the castle much faster. It you'd like you can keep trying to reach other allies on the ground.

>Command Tower

>Barracks

>[Write-in]

>>5862852
>Barracks
We might be able to get Blaine to safety even if no one comes with. No offense, but I feel like he may be kind of dead weight in a fight, considering his situation...

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Are you guy(s)? getting busier as the holidays get nearer? I think i am. I'm exhausted right now, but i'll finish up tomorrow. For sure coming throughout the weekend.

>>5866610
So far, I've been busy with exams. Make sure to rest up, QM!

"Phew. Sure is cold out here.." Blaine mutters behind you. Huffing warm air into his palms, he then rubs them against his face, all in an effort to warm up. His gaunt face and poor posture tell you he's in no shape for an investigation. You don't want to say this out loud, but the term 'dead weight' absolutely applies here.

"We're going to visit the barracks. I'll drop you off while we're there." You say while you start to lead the way.

"Whoa!" Blaine protested, almost causing you to slip. "If you make me go back, they'll definitely put me to work."

"Well, I can leave you here..." As you said that, a chilly wind swept past, prompting an immediate shiver from your companion.

"No, no, it's totally crash."

"I thought so." His comment made you blink in confusion for a moment. You just gather that it's some kind of future slang. You used to do that, you used to be very in with the lingo, so in. Anyways, the two of you continue. Trying to maintain your balance on a lopsided structure was hard enough, doing it while moving on ice didn't help matters either. A few minutes into your walk, when you think you're just about to leave the market area, the castle shifts. It's hard to describe, but it was something like a powerful elevator accelerating upwards, then to the side. Indicating the castle has moved. Unfortunately, even the slightest movements at these steep angles would have powerful repercussions for those inside, such as yourself. The sudden change in forces causes you to lose grip.

"Uwaah!" Blain yelps as he slips and falls behind you. You know you have magnetic clamps in your boots to keep you stable for just an occasion...

Except, with all this ice, you can't get a good connection to any metal. Not to mention it's hard to tell what is metal. On the way down, or rather sideways, you manage to clamp your hands around a lamp-post.

"I-I'm falling!" Blaine cries out. "Help!"

"I'm coming!" You spot Blaine sliding towards you. Unfortunately, he hits a bump somewhere and starts to spin wildly, away from you. He desperately tries to claw at any passing objects and even the ground, much to his dismay though, all his efforts are fruitless. Looking around, you try to decide what to do, all while ignoring his constant screaming. He certainly had plenty of energy in his lungs. Pivoting yourself around, you use the lamp as your center of focus, and start 'swinging' back and forth. Letting go at what you thought was the right moment, you step off, catching him in your arms, barely landing on the side of a frozen over building.

"Whew." Blaine visible relaxes in your arms, giving a loud sigh. "My hero." He said teasingly. You suddenly drop him. With a loud yelp, he lands safely onto the side of the building, and before he can slide off you pull him up to his feet.

"So what now? The barracks are probably, down there?" Blaine gestures vaguely below you. It lines up with your vague memory.

"We jump."

"Hah?"

Ignoring the terrified look on his face, you hoist him up onto your shoulder, then leap forwards. You can bet a man can scream; this one certainly can. Of course, you don't just straight down, that would be like leaping off a skyscraper, and even you have never done that. Or rather, him? Regardless, your next few minutes consist of you carefully planning your jumps, going from building to building, occasionally street fixtures. It certainly cuts down on time.

During your journey, the castle's automated PA starts up several times in between, speaking over the already loud and ongoing klaxon alarm. Most of the time it was intelligible garbage, making only one sentence heard, though it still made no sense.

"As long as you have underwear, you have tomorrow."

Eventually, you left the frozen areas. Passing through a series of buildings you didn't recognize; you briefly noted their condition. Hazardous weather, uncontrolled shifting and landing, as well as other disasters you weren't witness to, had left small amounts of debris scattered around the area. From what you could see through various windows, the insides of these buildings had fared about as well, looking like the insides went through a particularly rough spin wash cycle.

Did they still have those?

Overhead, the castle PA starts again, spouting random gibberish. This time complete words, just not in any sensible order, or pattern. One sentence manages to make it through though.

"Self destruct: Initiated. Countdown is-"

The automated PA tries to give some kind of countdown, but it then returns to nonsensible utterings. You really hope that one was a malfunction. Or this reunion is going to be very short. Arriving in the military district, you spot a series of buildings you recognize as barracks. The once-organized barracks now lay in disarray, tools, equipment, and even men lay scattered about, bearing signs of the castle’s latest adjustment. You were right to assume the soldiers would be as busy as ever. Soldiers are constantly rushing back and forth, carrying tools, injured, or whatever they needed to be useful. Most only spare you a glance or two before continuing on their way.

"Hey, I've got injured!" You shout as you lay Blaine down. Someone is quickly at your side, approaching you from behind, where you quickly inform them of what you know. Spending so long in the previously frozen area, you'd noticed his face had gotten somewhat paler, on top of his gaunt cheeks. He might actually have been doing worse than you thought. Feverishly shivering, Blaine merely nods as the man attending to him speaks.

With Blaine taken care of, you quickly depart, feeling an ominous tension in the air, you put an extra ‘umph’ into your steps. Passing by several groups of soldiers, you try to overhear more about the castle's situation, maybe even get someone in rank. Luckily, you get just that. Just a snippet reaches your ears, apparently Commander Ordovis is assembling a team. Something is going down and they're trying to deploy right now. You remember him. Second in command of the castle, a high-ranking officer, as well as a soldier.

A fog moves in just as you find your way towards one of the armories where Ordovis is speaking to a group of soldiers. Giving a explanation of what will be expected of them in the next few hours. You can't really think of a special way of approaching this so you just go for it.

"Commander Ordovis? What's your situation and how can I help?"

"We ain't taking volunteers." Another man buts in, but Ordovis tells him to stay quiet, harshly.

"Not good. You heard that announcement? It's real. Just like we talked about. We're going to raid the reactor room, shut it all down, flatline it." Ordovis said. He seems to be referring to another conversation you've had, so you assume he had it with the other guy. One must have made it to the command tower earlier, so where is he?

"Wait, Boss, take us with you! This is our home too!" Another soldier nearby pleads, only for the commander to shake his head.

"We're meeting up with Mao on the way and that's it. The smaller the team the better. Castle defenses will react harshly if we enter with a large force." Ordovis said matter-of-factly, he then turns back towards you.

"If you're here, you're ready to go right?"

>"Yeah." Go on ahead. Let Alpha join later, he can handle it.

>"Wait." Give Alpha a chance to rejoin.

>[Write-in]

>>5866957
Thanks for your concern. But unfortunately i'm very skilled at not resting.

Broadcast continues in 20ish hours?

>>"Yeah." Go on ahead. Let Alpha join later, he can handle it.
We don't know where exactly Alpha is, and if he even would have made his way to the barracks first thing. Either he's headed for the Command Tower, or if he gets here, the remaining soldiers can guide him on our way.
Best not tarry any further!

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"Yeah. I'm ready." You nod at Ordovis.

"Excellent," Ordovis finished strapping on the final piece of his gear onto his red-brown armor, then gives you a firm pat on the arm. Giving you, as well as those nearby a wink and a nod, he gestures for you to come closer. "Follow me."

Descending into the depths of the landing castle, the mood seemed to grow thicker with tension as you followed behind the commander, punctuated by the occasional destruct warning. Just barely audible underneath another wave of incoherent utterings from the auto-PA.

Dim emergency lights flickered, casting long, ominous shadows across the metallic corridors as you descended down narrow hallways. Accompanied by the soft hum of distant machinery, creating an ominous mood to your journey. Led by the commander, you're privy to areas of the castle previously unavailable to you. The tight corners and narrow corridors reminded you of the maintenance ducts, the way you'd entered the castle, feeling much more military than the cushy and civilian environs you'd gotten used to. Those same labyrinthine passageways are nowhere near as troublesome with the commander guiding you.

"Glad to see you made it though. Your little trip was only supposed to last a few days, right?" Ordovis suddenly asks, looking over his shoulder to give you, his attention. "Normally, I would have pronounced you KIA, but we know better. Right?"

"So, I could have been an Undead Rider, huh? Somehow, I don't think that's fitting."

"Maybe not. But I'd take a so called 'Undead Rider'. Without you, kiddo, those Saurian Arches would be a lot nastier."

"I'll bet."

Ordovis seemed to be a little more sociable than you'd expect a commander to be. Then again, he was pretty lenient with you ever since you'd come aboard, or rather, he was for the other guy. Your smooth journey is interrupted when the both of you are forced to stop in front of a door. It seemed that you were passing through common military areas, this door marks the beginning of the engineering department, stopping those without business from casually entering. You'd think the commander would have access. Seemingly reading your thoughts, Ordovis gives you a limp shrug.

"Normally, my card would give me free reign. The computer malfunctions are rampant though."

"Which is why you have me." A woman's voice approaches you from behind. Advancing past you, towards the door, the same figure effortlessly plugs a wired connection from her gauntlet, and right into a port in the door's control panel. Her suit was noticeably less armored, as well as darker in hue compared to Ordovis' set. Seemingly making up for it with a more advanced visor, currently lowered over her eyes, as well that arm-mounted computer she was currently working on.

"Mao! Finally, made it?"

"Finally? I've been behind you ever since you left the surface."

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"What do you think then. None of the automated turrets have activated yet, but.."

"The computer is unstable. It's highly possible that the turrets will power up once we pass a high-security sensor," Mao explained, "sensors like the one just past this door."

"That's not good."

"From here on, I'll be connected wirelessly, the doors won't be giving us any more trouble."

Ordovis seemed to be mulling something over, his contemplation was cut short as the light over the door switched from red, to green. Mao unplugged her wire and took up a position to the side of the door, nodding to the both of you.

"Mao, give me your terminal. You're second line. Rider, you're our front liner, follow my directions and I'll lead us further in."

Wordlessly obeying his orders, Mao positions herself behind you, while the Commander himself readies his rifle. After connecting the arm-mounted tablet to his own gauntlet. With a proper formation set, you resumed your journey into the depths of the castle. It was simple enough. At first you weren't sure what to think. If the turrets were too high, what would you do?

Well, the ones at ground height were simple enough. When they emerged from the floor, the two-feet mounted guns were immediately heavily armored. They could probably survive a punch if you weren't careful. Their design made them look like trashcans with guns on top, it also came with various support functions. Able to deploy additional armor, explosive drones, and sometimes they could even move. Functioning in tandem with those same drones. It would certainly be a tough dynamic for any normal soldiers, even the ones with you. They aren't too much of an issue with you though.

Any ceiling mounted drones are sniped by Mao. If it came down to it, you could probably run up the walls to hit the higher ones, but she's already skilled enough to support you. One shot, one kill. Mao's shots skillfully hit the turrets in their optic sensors, dealing critical hits to their inner computers, taking them out instantly. While you quickly do the same, just with your fists, towards the ones on the ground. It felt like you were in one of those old action type VR-sims, the ones where you play as a monster hunter, or a slayer of evil. Rip and tear until it's done. You clearly weren't too nervous about the castle's self-destruct if you could have thoughts like that.

"I should send you out more often. You're just tearing through the turrets, they're not small fry, you know." Ordovis comments. At the rear of the formation, he's in charge of preventing any automated attackers from sneaking up on you, as well as taking out any drones with a special electron powder, rendering them harmless. He hasn't fired a single shot, leaving all the combat to you and Mao.

"Speaking of. I heard you picked up that second Rider, that copy? What's he like?"

>"He's great. Handsome and cool!"

>"Every bit as reliable as me."

>[Write-in]

>>5868429
>"He's great. Handsome and cool!"
Nothing wrong with a little self-flattery. Although we might eventually have to reveal we aren't Alpha if we meet up with him...

>>5868429
"I am he."

I had problems with captcha. I assure you though, i fairly coin flipped to tie break. Trust me.

"He's great! Handsome and cool!" Obviously, you're talking about yourself. But hey, a little flattery never hurt, right?

"Really? So great, is he?" Ordovis takes on a teasing tone, giving you a strange glance, but with a smile.

"If he's so great, maybe you'll retire together." Mao joined in. Perhaps you laid it on a little thick?

"It can't be helped. We're copies, same face and everything."

"Same birthmarks?"

"I wouldn't know."

Moving on, the hallways seemed as long as ever. You wondered how anybody got around in this place. Eventually you come across another defensive line. Rushing forwards, you deflected a beam with the back of your hand, and sent your hand into a downwards chop, bisecting a skidding hover turret. Drawing closer to another of the same unit, you swing your hand down to grab its barrel, only for it to deploy a barrier, throwing you off balance. The barrier shattered, but that costed it nothing, as you were ripe for blasting. This meant that it couldn't use that barrier again. Mao is quick to come to your aid, running up behind you, she kicks off your back, then slices it upon her descent.

"Weren't the defenses supposed to ignore us if we came in a small enough party?" You can't help but complain as you cleanly push your fist through another of the automated turrets.

"Can't be helped. The castle systems are unstable. There are other defenses though, the kind we really don't want to set off, the kind that can't be punched through." Ordovis warned. Looking over your shoulder, you glanced at Mao.

"Guns aren't the only thing the castle can throw at us." She nodded.

Breaking through the next defensive line of turrets and other automated defenses, you started to notice the condition of the hallways around you. Occasionally a wall panel would be hanging ajar, or otherwise blown off, with sparks shooting out from hidden cables. More than likely damage from the earlier castle. Being so close to a reactor exploding was no laughing matter. There are also noticeably damaged light panels and wall-mounted computers that were too damaged to function. Isn't it strange then, that the defenses are all completely fine, even the ones with explosive munitions? Well, you're probably overthinking it, most of them were likely protected within their housing chambers.

Leading from the back, Ordovis directs your party to a nearby cargo lift, from there you descend into the second level of the engineering department. You suddenly hear some metal clanging around further off. It could be loose metal or equipment falling into place, the castle has been somewhat rough on its inhabitants lately.

Speaking of, the castle started deploying another weapon. This time small guns, the size of a water bottle, shooting some sort of webbed material at you. Clearly it was intended to hold you still, or slow you down. Coming straight at you at times, you were able to avoid them all with your compound visor, once again you're thankful to how handy those giant gem eyes are. Even if one did strike, it didn't seem like it would be painful nor much of an inconvenience, as you could just charge the armor and burn your way out.

"Ach, shock it!" The commander grumbled behind you.

"I've got you." Mao said as she flicked open a knife from her belt. While she got to work on quickly hacking through his netting, Ordovis decided to strike up a quick conversation.

"So, what do you think?" He asked you.

"Of?"

"Our castle, Humanity's latest battleship design. Clocking in at about three-hundred years old," Ordovis said, "how does it compare to the stuff you saw, back then?"

"At a glance? More advanced for sure." You said, gesturing to a ruined wreck from one of the hovering turrets. You're suddenly interrupted by the castle PA once again coming alive.

"Visitors are advised to reach destruct in sixty."

"Although, one wonders if that's part of the problem." You continued. Ordovis shrugged, as much as he could anyways, to which he recieved an ice-cold glare from Mao.

"It is annoying, isn't it? I should have had some of the boys start cutting wires. The damn thing is connected to almost everything though."

Ordovis re-equipped his armor panels as soon as Mao freed him, making sure to give them a quick look over for any surprises and directed the two of you again. Apparently, according to him, your group was getting closer to the main reactor complex. Backing up his statement were large pipes, occasionally seen through grates or damaged wall panels, stretching throughout the engineering corridors.

The commander's plan was to have you approach the reactor from one of the catwalks, bypassing reactor room defenses, and forcibly detaching castle connections. This would stop the castle from trying to resist any electronic shutdown methods. Cutting out the middle-man essentially. To be honest, this seemed like going straight for the fire axe in an emergency, but this was his battleship, who are you to judge.

Unfortunately, this was not to be. As you approached one of the splitting-junctions, looking the same as the many you'd passed through on the way, you found that the doorway had been damaged. The door was bent at an odd angle, barring normal passage, beyond it you could see some debris had fallen down, blocking it even further.

"Should I brute force it?" You asked, one good punch would do it, but Ordovis is quick to warn you off.

"Collateral aside, I don't want you throwing aether around casually with the reactor this close."

Right, if you blew the castle up it would certainly make an awkward reunion with your 'brothers'. You could just imagine them now.

"Thanks for taking care of those pesky humans for me!" Three would say.

"I left you in charge for barely an hour! How are we all dead? Next time I'll just take the bike!" One would angrily shout.

...Maybe.

Pulling you back to reality, Ordovis starts projecting a schematic of your current position within the engineering department. It's certainly bigger than you'd thought, then again, it needs to connect the reactor to all of the castle. Maybe it's actually small. Anyways, it looks like you're pretty close now. Gesturing for you and Mao to come closer, Ordovis begins an impromptu briefing.

"Alright, we're so close that I can smell the engine grease. Only problem is, getting in there. Route 1: We descend a little further, through the lowest deck, into some maintenance ducts, reach from underneath. Only problem is, that section has taken some damage, and reactor coolant is leaking in. It could be flooded by now. Route 2: We run closer to some of the manufacturing workshops. Penetrate through one of the equipment storerooms, and emerge in the reactor room that way." As he said this, he used his finger to highlight the latter. "To be honest, I recommend the first route."

Crossing her arms over her chest, Mao decided to interject.

"It's flooded with coolant. This area has also taken the most damage from the castle flipping around as it has been. There's no telling what might collapse next." Mao explained, using a finger to highlight another area, the route connecting past the fabrication areas. "I've been monitoring general activity. While I can't connect fully, I'm detecting a lot of static near the workshops. I believe the castle has resumed production of defenses."

"We've fought our way through every gun so far. Why would that stop us?"

You're pretty confident that the three of you could brute force whatever is waiting there.

"It's because we have been brute forcing everything. The castle is probably withholding any reinforcements, waiting to spring them on us when we get closer to the reactor, or if we try to assault the manufacturing areas. Waiting to overwhelm us with everything it can muster."

"I see..."

"Not to mention, there are designs we stopped using once the machines started attacking en masse. Whatever is causing these malfunctions could ignore our lockouts."

>Route 1

>Route 2

>[Write-in]

>>5868966
>Route 1
It may not be fully flooded... Right? Perhaps we could block off the flow using debris or something once inside?

"You said it might be flooded? Time for a swim."

With no better preference for any passage, Mao agrees to use the same route as well. Veering off through one of the other hallways to the side, you descended another level. You knew you were getting closer when the commander made some kind of grunt. Apparently there was a strong smell in the air. Smelling, for you anyways, was somewhat complicated. Essentially, you could tell there was an 'scent' in the air, whether it was good or bad was up to a guess.

"Whew. That's strong. Coolant must be leaking."

Sure enough, the next hallway is flooded, gallons of coolant began spilling out of the door you'd opened. The door had to be pried open, even then it could only be opened at an odd angle, the metal itself is bent, refusing to receed further into its normal compartment. Coming up all the way to your hip, the thick and viscous essense could slow you down, not by much though. It wasn't from bad plumbing though. The damage here is worse than you had seen anywhere else in the castle. Several wall-mounted computers or machines have exploded, taking along any nearby walls, or ceiling panels with them. Debris from melted electronics, shrapnel, and damanged internals lay strewn about; all floating down your new, slightly fluorescent, river.

You're forced to slow down, careful not to trip on any exposed circuitry, or damaged flooring. A few times you bump on a floating panel. All pretty harmless. It seemed like this route was going to be pretty uneventful until the commander rushes forwards, sloshing about rapidly, placing a firm hand on your shoulder.

"Watch it. Power surges are going to make this area unstable." As he said that, the entire castle seemed to shake once again, luckily it didn't change angles on you again. The metal around you groaned extra hard this time. Suddenly, in a room farther up ahead, a large part of the floor gives out. Metal is torn free and loose, collapsing down into the maintenaince tunnels bellow. In an extreme case, the armor and structure below that gave way. A gap of about ten-meters reveals itself as a piece of the castle is shredded away.

"We got hit by a full reactor explosion. Nobody comes away from that without a scratch." Mao explains. No kidding? Good news is, the area is no longer flooded, bad news is, you no longer have a floor.

"Hup!" Ordovis grunts as he grips onto some of the groves in the ceiling. "Follow me over, most of the ceiling is still intact." The commander said. Well, you're unlikely to run into any more security now. Mao steps in front of you and you find yourself about ten paces behind her as you follow after them. It was kind of like the monkey bars back in your early school days. When you say as much you get a laugh out of them.

"Monkey bars, huh? I wonder if the school still has one." Mao muses out loud.

"Nope. I had it taken down. Too many kids were hurting themselves on it." Ordovis replies from up ahead. That was kind of a bummer.

"Falling on your butt is like a badge of childhood." You couldn't help but say, drawing a chuckle out of Ordovis this time.

"I'll say. Kids should wear themselves out having fun." Ordovis then took on a false melancholic tone. "It's a shame. I'll miss having all those mamas coming up to talk to little old me."

"Really? If you miss them so much, maybe I should tell the general that's what's on your mind" Mao teased.

"Whoa! No need for that. Just think of this as a nice chat with your commander, it could be your last, you know?"

When Ordovis said that, you couldn't help but feel like looking down at the ground again, and once again realized just what a bad idea that was. You lost so many things on birth, but you still had the ability to feel fear? Below you, was maybe a few miles of air, right over a rocky outcropping along the shoreline. Not a good way to go.

A few minutes pass, and you find yourself curious again. You questioned Blaine about the status of the castle, but he was hardly in a position to know, being stuck in a literal hole for days as he was. If you like, you could try to bring it up now? With the commander and another high-ranking officer here, they would definitely have something to say, right? But, if you say the wrong thing, you might tip them off on you being the double. They seem to be sensitive about that.

>Ask about the general status of the castle

>Ask what could be causing these malfunctions

>Maybe you have insight?[Write-in]

>[Write-in]

I might be having trouble with the pacing. I'm worried it's not fast enough, or it might look like not enough is happening. Any time any of you have a complaint, just say it right? Anyways I plan to try to hurry this along. I have no idea why this turned out to be such an ordeal, i'm insane.

>>5872616
>Ask what could be causing these malfunctions

We already know what the castle's like, I just hope the civilians are safe.
To be fair, I have no clue about what happened.... More MLFO spies that sabotaged the castle? Kamen Rider nanomachines that went haywire? Saurian hackers?

Regarding the pacing, there's no issue with the nature of the obstacles encountered, but it does feel like it's been forever since the last time our protagonists were able to take a break without having to fight for their lives. Once we're done with that castle, it'd be nice to have something a little more relaxed to catch up on the whole situation.

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Sorry for skipping those last few days. You know how it is. I'll try to get a continuation going tomorrow. Anyways, hope you guy(s) had a happy holidays!

Watching the castle gently float high above the ground, you find yourself eager to focus on something else. Such as, the opportunity to tap into the knowledge of some of the most influential people on the castle. Who knows what kinds of gossip they have floating around in their heads? Nah, this isn't the time.

"What do you guys think could be causing all these malfunctions?" You said as casually as you could. Slipping your fingers into a groove in the ceiling, following after Mao, and Ordovis, you felt a sudden shift in the air. Followed by a momentary silence.

"Hah. Forgot already?" Ordovis teased, glancing back with a curious eye. "Even you act your age sometimes, eh? Being around all those crusty farts had you all spaced out. Long story short, we have no clue!"

Even from the rear of the formation, you could see Ordovis peaking back at you with a strange gaze, even though you could only barely see his side profile. What an easy-going guy! No wonder everyone seemed to like him, he was nothing like the drill sergeants from certain movies, constantly yelling at the characters. Still, shouldn't he be a little more professional, especially considering the circumstances?

"To be honest, our worst case scenario is a catastrophic design flaw, brought to the surface by wear and tear." Ordovis explained.

"Seriously?" You can't help but voice your doubt, nearly causing yourself to slip.

"You said that already."

"..."

"Well. It's easy to forget, but this is a three-hundred plus year old ship. We maintain it, sure, but it was never meant to go so long without touching down at a naval yard. Before things got serious, we had found more signs of metal fatigue in places we can't send people." Ordovis continued to explain. Even so, you can't help but feel that's wrong. Surely, this is interference from the Ark. But how? If the other guy had this conversation, no doubt that he's thinking the same thing. You'll just have to put your heads together later. "It could be other castles are going through something very similar."

"It could easily be some form of sabotage. We've been attacked here before, as you recall." Mao adds on, seemingly speaking to you, if her tone is anything to go by. You're not entirely sure what she means though.

You can't see Ordovis' face anymore, but there's something strange in his voice, you can't quite pinpoint it though. The rest of the journey is quiet. It can't be helped, this isn't exactly the time for chit-chat, especially as another destruct warning goes off. This time sounding much more coherent, and much deadlier, giving you around twenty minutes. Punctuating this, a series of conduits and power valves burst across the hallway the three of you had been traversing. No joke.

Eventually, you clear the collapsed part of the flooring and the three of you switch back to walking, quickly accelerating into a light jog. After another minute or so, Ordovis stops you all in front of a large double-door, located within another junction. The door itself is burned, badly scorch marked, and still locked. Nodding to Mao, both you and the commander watch as she gets to work. After another destruct warning, this time giving you ten minutes. In short time, Mao manages to crack the code and the doors part automatically. Granting your party access to a large, dimly lit room, much like the rest of your time here. Inside this large room, connecting to other hallways, you spot a few unmoving bodies. Clearly, not everyone managed to evacuate in time. The three of you kneel beside them.

"Someone you know?" Ordovis inquired, a note of concern in his voice.

"Hard to say." You responded solemnly; your gaze fixed on the fallen engineer. Before you, fallen onto his side, is a somewhat short man, a little thick around the middle. He's wearing additional gear, something like armor, but not quite. There's also some special equipment mounted onto his belt, along with another tool still in-hand, clearly intended for quick repairs.

"He might have been trying to mitigate damage, stop it from spreading to the reactor," Mao comments, "He might be who we have to thank for the reactor being in one piece so far."

There's a large scorch mark on his chest, along with an exit mark on his back. It's possible he'd been shot by one of the security turrets.

>Take his identification

>Examine his body further

>Leave him alone

>>5875412
>Take his identification
No time to check him out further - we have to shut down this reactor.
Let's beware of any turrets around, still.

Hope you also had happy holidays, QM!

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>>5876176
Appreciate it, the same to you! Did you guy(s?) get anything good this year?

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At a glance, you noticed some sort of device hanging loosely out of the vest he was wearing. Simple ID card, something even you used to flash yourself through a door, get food, or otherwise identify yourself. Opening it up reveals a holographic render of the man when he would have been healthy, a short but proud looking man. There are a few details about him, he was a damage control worker as well as engineer, so it made sense that he was down here. Poor guy. His name was listed near the top as Dekku Ichiki.

When you have time later, maybe you could find his friends and family? Or maybe it's best to leave that to someone else, the commander would probably take care of it.

"We should move." Mao whispers, and the rest of you nod.

"We could see more bodies ahead. Make sure you prepare yourselves, both of you." Ordovis seemingly looks the two of you square in the eyes, despite the fact that both of you had your eyes shielded. The journey isn't much further, it's not wrong to say that those bodies had been guarding the reactor room. The door leading inside is made of a different, obviously reinforced, material. After Mao takes a few seconds to connect once again, it hardly mattered.

"This is it. Me and Mao will proceed inside and begin shut down procedure. You'll stay out here." The commander said without turning.

"You brought me along to be a guard dog?" You complained. Although, when you thought about it, you aren't exactly sure what 'you' agreed to.

"Yeah. So be a good doggy and stay out here. If you and your nanites start leaking into the reactor room we might have bigger problems." Mao explained. With a sigh you reluctantly voice your acknowledgement, leaving them to their business. Mentally, you noted that you had let that ‘dog’ comment pass. Kamen Rider doesn’t get mad over a little teasing after all; he is a benevolent and handsome hero with no flaws. Mhm, that’s what all the kiddos say.

Just how long was this going to take, anyways? You start pacing back and forth, wondering if you have enough time. Your helmet's internal communicator still works just fine, at least at this range, so listening in on their conversation isn't hard. It's not long before they start, apparently the commander is doing it himself, with Mao on standby to assist him. From soldier, officer, and now tech support. The commander sure wears a lot of hats, it's probably not a stretch to say that he could do anything. Bet his parents are really proud of him.

You're not allowed to wait around forever. From far off you hear the sounds of combat, metal clashing against metal, even the sounds of gunfire can be made out. It doesn't sound close enough, but you check in with your party just in case.

"Commander, Mao? Are you two alright?"

"We're fine." Mao responds first, "from what I can tell, someone is fighting near the engineering workshops. Lots of activity coming from that location. They're coming closer."

While you're sure she's nice enough, you can't spend all day listening to her voice. From one of the hallways closer to you, just a little off from your current room, the sound of metal clanking, and some sort of motor are quickly closing in on your position.

"I'm seeing more machinery powering up. They're swarming our area. Don't let them through!"

The hallways are wide, naturally; so as to allow the transport of equipment, machinery, as well as manpower. Approaching you is something strange. They resemble the machine combatants, but far more basic. Looking more like undetailed mannequins or model kits. Could be that they're a very basic model of battle droid, more likely some form of dated security bot. Just as Mao said earlier. But who cares? You're here to stop them. So, you rush ahead, meeting them face on.

Simple. They're mindless, mere fodder. Drawing close to them, you let a flurry of kicks and punches fly, then sweep with a leg. Tearing through a handful of them. Suddenly, you feel a sharp sensation rush your body. Fear suddenly grips your heart, this isn't from combat, this isn't an attack. Your arm is shaking wildly as you try to get control over your body back. Colors begin to blur in your eyes, growing into large distorted spots, completely obscuring your sight. You hear the clanking of metal draw closer until it's upon you. Then something does hit you for real.

"Not. Now." You grunt out through gritted teeth. With a growl, emerging from the depths of your 'gut' you manage to make your body move, crashing into something as your shoulder rams it into a wall. Suddenly, something grips your arms, then wraps around your body, slowly constricting you, while others try to wear you down with steady attacks.

>You can't afford to bite it here. Regain control right now! [Roll 1d20]

>Focus on what you have left. If you can't use sight, use something else!

>[Write-in]

>>5876901
>Focus on what you have left. If you can't use sight, use something else!
They seem fairly loud, and we still have hearing. Let's rely on this over sight.
>>5876883
I got some cool presents indeed! Can't wait for the year to be over.

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You try to blink your 'eyes' a couple more times, just to be sure, though you're not even sure if your eyelids are moving at all. Deciding to ignore those good for nothing things, you shift your focus to your other senses, such as touch and hearing. The compound visor has been useful, but it's not your only tool. For now, the blade antennae and your augmented ears will have to see you through this.

Faint gusts of air and the rapid pattering of feet around you tell you you're completely surrounded, and several of them are closing in on you now. Despite being tied up, you still have free movement of your legs, so you take advantage of it. Ducking swiftly, you hear several 'limbs' pass by overhead, as well as a strange pattern of 'clanks' passing through the air. The movement of that last body shifts you as well. You'll worry about that soon enough, for now you retaliate. Flipping over and around, you kick off a wall, then fly feet first into the crowd of enemies you had just dodged.

With a satisfying metal crunch, you feel your body collide with multiple other entities. In between the loud machinery inherent to the area, as well as the reactor working in the next room, you didn't notice another entity draw closer. Some kind of motorized drone, it keeps its range with you, opting to shoot some sort of cannon instead of getting up close. You're able to dodge one, but another volley hits you in the side of the head when your body is suddenly jerked into it. That's getting annoying.

"Rider Slash!" You shift your working hand close to your chest and slide it upwards, shredding whatever was keeping you held, as well as an unlucky bot daring to come closer. The sound of threads burning followed by a small explosion tell you that couldn't have gone better. Is it bad to think you're a better fighter? There's no way 'bro' could last this long blind.

With a sweep of your legs, you knock over another group of droids, and with a swift follow up with an elbow drop, you end another one on the spot.

"What's your situation?" The commander's voice emerges from your communicator.

"Busy, how about you guys?"

"The same." He replied, the sounds of gunfire and metal tearing could be easily heard over his side.

"They made it through already?" You could swear you've been keeping them occupied until now.

"They attacked us all at the same time." Despite the situation, he seemed to sound as calm as ever. Maybe this is what authority sounded like. "Just keep them from coming through your end. Mao is keeping up, but she can't keep them off me from two fronts."

"Gotcha!"

Well, that's easy enough to say. Using your shoulder, you ram a bot into another. More clanking this time, coming from one of the hallways. The air stirs as something flies towards you, undoubtedly another bot trying to tie you down. Rolling out of the way, you trip up another bot, causing it to take your place, as you resume rampaging in the dark.

Their footsteps were increasing in number by the second, now more and more of them seemed to be coming in armed. Blaster fire, and even bullets, began whizzing by, filling the junction with sounds of various fire arms. Those that missed you burned into the nearby walls, or pinged harmlessly off the metal paneling. Unfortunately, they're starting to get better at keeping you busy. Several of the lasers land into your armor, even the bullets manage to find their mark, blow you over from sheer combined force.

You’re having a lot of trouble keeping track of where all your enemies are, not for lack of trying though. But their attacks come in such frequency, you begin to lose focus, and you find yourself accidentally rolling into a wall. How did that get there? Unable to move quickly enough, you let out a pained grunt as something heavy slams into your chest.

"Hey! Do something, they're burning through your door!" Ordovis shouts over the communicator. True enough, you do hear the sound of a plasma torch burning its way through metal. You even make the effort of aiming your head in that direction, not that it does you any good, at some point the chaotic colors blocking your vision vanished, leaving you in complete blackness. Even as the low-tier bots start dog piling you, your hand reaches out, desperate for something.

"Doing... something!" You shout through gritted teeth.

Suddenly, your hand catches on something thin, but heavy. Good odds it was the body of one of the droids, it hardly matters though, with a good grunt, you swing it forwards towards the door. Interrupting whatever was happening. Shifting your weight upwards, you push yourself free of your captors, making sure to slam your elbow into one of them, earning yourself a good crunch as it smashes into a wall. Another volley of shots nails you in the back, blowing you onto the floor once again. Collapsing onto the ground, you find your strength leaving you. Are you exhausted, or are your legs following your arm? It's impossible to tell.

This time something fast is sprinting down the hall. What is it this time? If you could choose, you would have preferred watching your foes come closer. This would make for a pretty ignoble end in all honesty.

"Rider Kick!" A familiar voice shouts through the air, flying right through the hallway. As glad as you are to hear it, you're even happier to hear all the explosions as this person flies through the air. Rider One grunts as he comes to a landing right beside you.

"My, my, certainly not your best pose, bro."

"You're telling me..."

A hand reaches over and pulls you up, your good arm reaches around to brace yourself on it.

"Your arm, is it..." One's voice seems to waver. You could already imagine his sorry face, full of pity. You don't feel broken though, hopefully this heals up soon, your eyes too.

>"Just sore. I'm good."

>"Not just my arm. Back me up."

>"I'm beat. Take over from here." (Switch)

>[Write-in]

>>5877709
>"I'm beat. Take over from here." (Switch)
We've done more than enough, methinks. Let's not push our tired body too hard and let our brother handle most of it.

And Happy New Year QM!

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Hey, happy new years! Sorry about the last few days but you know how the holidays are. I'll get to work on it tomorrow, swear!

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You've practically working your butt off for a while now, it's about time the original pulled his weight for once. Taking advantage of his kindness, you opt to sit this one out. Besides, with your eyes on the fritz, you just might get in the way. You would hate to be pitied, and you would hate to be dead weight even more.

"Bro, I'm beat. Take over, would you?"

"Sure thing. Sleep it off." One said as confidently as ever. What a reliable guy. The last thing you do is put yourself upright, leaning yourself against the wall as you take a well-deserved breather. Yup! Leave it to big bro, it’s his responsibility anyways.

...

Cracking your knuckles outwards, you swing your neck around, as you face your back towards Kamen Rider Beta. Right now, his armor was scratched and dented all over, more importantly, the lights for his compound visor are out. It's as you expected, he's lost his sight. Beta seems to be having a rough go of it, you're not scared or worried, on the contrary, you have a plan for that. First thing's first though, you need to clean up the rabble.

"Take a load off, from now on, Kamen Rider Alpha is in charge." You declare.

"Aren't you always?" Beta decides to give you some snark, you let it slide though.

Taking a pose that extends your fist outwards, you gesture for the nearest droid to come at you. As if they needed the encouragement, the security forces are already coming for you. Handling the unarmed ones proves easy. Even for the blinded Beta, as you saw, countering their strikes or pummeling them into the floor is as easy as breathing. Without your own gun though, the ranged ones are a little trickier, but you have the tools. Dodging what you can, you employ the bigger bots as shields, blocking occasionally, then you employ any damaged parts or those same 'shields' as a weapon. Flinging whatever you could in the direction of any incoming fire, until you could get yourself up close, and give them a taste of your own 'guns'.

Then you come across what was giving Beta the most trouble. You're not surprised, it's a strange thing. Clanking every which way, it climbs over its comrades, over walls and onto ceilings. To say it's slippery is one thing, what strikes you more is that you don't recognize the design at all. Dozens of robotic looking spiders. Their chassis doesn't hold up any better than the others, but their design's smaller size gives them a low profile, making it tough to make out where they are between the damaged panels, and the stacks of bodies. And they shoot out some sort of sticky netting, a web even.

"Almost done out there. Just buy me a little more time!" Ordovis shouts over the communicator. Now that you're close enough you're also privy to his status updates. Until now, any attempts to reach out to them were met with static, or some garbled transmissions. Well, aside from-

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"Destruct sequence countdown. Five-" Static interrupts the latest castle announcement. Fortunately, you and Beta both run on Aether generators, so you were able to more or less track their progress by following him. Though, you took a longer route.

From the corner of your eye, you spot one of the spiders setting up, peaking just outside one of the damaged walls. Unable to dodge completely, it manages to web your hand. You're hardly helpless though, with one good tug, you yank it out, shredding it on the armored panel it was hiding behind, pulling out nothing but shrapnel as the line goes slack.

Now that you're here, you find yourself facing a similar problem to Beta, the problem of sheer numbers. Aside from rampaging in the castle's engineering department and destroying their workshops, you're faced with fighting a seemingly limitless number of enemies.

"Destruct," static is more prevalent in this warning, "primed. Four-" Worried about the steadily decreasing number, you ring up your communicator.

"How's it going?"

"I'm working, okay!"

Between the gunfire and grunting, Ordovis sure sounds like he's busy in there. All you need is to run down the timer. Nothing else you do would matter anyways. Before you find yourself hopelessly surrounded, you unleash a few Rider specials. You're hesitant to attack the ground or anything, especially with Beta nearby, so you opt for the others.

"Destruct sequence primed. Two minutes until-"

"Rider Flash!" Bringing both your hands towards your buckle, you charge the gyro, sending a powerful flash of energy and Aether. Normally, all this does is blind machine lifeforms, or Riders. Fortunately, you don't have to worry about that last one, and the mechanical nature of these robots makes them vulnerable. Their optics and sensors stunned; you take this opportunity for another special move.

"Rider Punch!" You charge your fist with a radiant aura and send it flying. Sending a powerful wave of force down the hallway you had come, devastating a large number of them, and incinerating the ones touching your fist. Exhaustion grips your chest, knocking the wind out of your sail. Collapsing onto a knee, our eyes meet Beta's, and you notice his visor is flickering. His eyesight is probably returning, a little late though. As another wave approaches, this time with hundreds of the spider-types clanking towards you, leading the way, Beta quickly tries to get up. No doubt to help.

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Only for the lights to suddenly go out, shrouding you in pitch-black darkness. Your ears are met with the satisfying sound of hundreds of metal bodies falling onto the floor, metal banging onto metal. The only thing you can see are Beta's own glowing eyes. For a moment, you imagine them blinking in confusion, before you both realize what's happened. Then the emergency lighting kicks in. Weak, yellow-colored lamps power up, illuminating small parts of the hallway. Just enough for a normal person to see where their going.

"Hey, give me a hand over here!" Ordovis calls out from behind the main reactor doors. Beta is quick to take a step towards him, obviously eager and able to help, but you stop him.

"What are you doing?"

"I want to talk about something." You say, your throat suddenly feeling drier.

"The thing from the gunship?"

Ah, good, so he remembered. Not that you said anything, you were interrupted shortly after that. What you wanted to talk about, was how Beta would be treated as soon as it becomes clear just which one of you was the copy. Something happened between the people of this era and nanomachines. In that data-log from the future, which you chose to bring with you, and subsequently lost when the Hopper went down, it described how Beta was treated. In short, they wanted to know what made him tick, if he was connected to the Saurians or the MLFOs. Before they decided he was an asset, he was destroyed.

Of course, there's every chance that the timeline is completely different now. With your very presence you could vouch for him. At the very least, you might ensure that he's taken good care of. You could also trade places; Alpha becomes Beta and vice versa. That way, you face whatever he would have. Of course, you'd tell him everything you know here, so he wouldn't be in the dark about anything. Then there's an extreme option: having Beta hide out, coming out only to help during missions.

>Offer to vouch for him.

>Switch places. (Switch Riders)

>Tell him to hide away.

>[Write-in]

>>5881779
>Offer to vouch for him
He's been nice and helpful for a while, surely this should be enough, with Ordovis and Mao's word?