Digimon Story: Rainbow Traverse -- Chp 24

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As he sat up again, Al caught the glint of something in the far distance. Between his and Kyubimon's keen eyes, the tamer could make out the shape of... a plane? It had a metallic, dragon-like mask where the cockpit should be, flanked by twin propellers as the aircraft flew between the satellite nodes.

("A digimon?") thought Kyubi. ("Looks like some sort of cargo plane...")

Al narrowed his eyes and he brought up his digidex to scan the figure “Huh. Who wants to bet that this is some sort of CODE digimon and we just stumbled into the main nest.?”

Gammy and Kei paused in their merriment, oblivious to the telepathic discussion up till now. As they processed Al's words, a holographic image appeared on the athlete's digivice. Sure enough, it was an airplane, but the dragon mask betrayed its digimon nature, as behind the six-eyeholes were streetlamp-yellow eyes. A combat knife thrusted out from behind its chin, while the cylindrical barrel of a machine gun poked from the base of the ship's fuselage. White, metal protrusions on either side of the main body gave off the impression of a ribcage, whilst metal spikes formed a spinal crest like that of a reptile.

//Cargodramon
++//Level: Ultimate
++//Type: Machine
++//Attribute: Virus
++//Family: Metal Empire
++//Attacks: Evasive Action, Slaughter Blade, Suppression Strike

"Cargodramon?" said Kyubimon. "Wonder if it's carrying any passengers."

“Hmm.. that’s a good question. Do you think we should try to find out?” He asked, softly stroking her ear in a calming manner. While it could be a coincidence, military-ish digimon made him suspicious. Lavogaritamon made sense due to the volcanos.. but a cargo plane not so much.

"We can use the smaller nodes as cover," reasoned Kyubi. "Though if these really are observatory-based, we might get spotted."

"And there's no telling which nodes are CODE-operated," said Kei. "We did just come from a newly made hyperlink. Chances are one of the node's is keeping tabs on it."

A distant sound like rolling thunder drew everyone's attention back to the pseudo-orrery. From the central node, a visible shockwave rippled outward, and in its wake, lightning bolts of red and black formed angular lines like that of a circuit board. It was only when one such bolt shot past a nearby node that the group saw not lightning... but flowing rivers of lava.

"WOAH!!" cried Gammamon.

"What the hell?!" said Keilani. "That thing nearly crashed into the node over there!"

"Couldn't be a security feature then," said Kyubi, though she couldn't hide the anxiety in her chest from Al. "Wait, what happened to the Cargodramon?"

Glancing away from the cooling lavaflow, neither Kyubi nor Al could spot any sign of the digimon... that is, until they saw the trail of molten slag. Glittering from the volcanic glow, what remained of the ship was flying towards the nearby satellite node, the same one that had almost been obliterated by the firebolt.

Al would watch as this happened and would squeeze the sacred ropes as they watched the bolt of.. lava?! Quickly looking for the Cargodramon.. and feeling a genuine  pang of remorse that Kyubimon could feel. While that digimon Might’ve turned out to be an enemy.. it didn’t deserve to get obliterated. “Let’s just figure out where we need to go, and find out who’s in charge of this place.”

Kyubimon nodded, the great fox racing towards the nearest node. She couldn't hide the heavy sigh she released when she put the node between the group and the central node, though as they drew close, her eyes narrowed. The satellite was indeed an observatory, set with a chrome sheen and built into a barren rock. The observatory, however, was surrounded by interconnecting substations and bunkers, almost seeming a fortress despite its lack of visible war machines.

"Let's land as close to the main building as possible," said Keilani. "I don't see any digimon around. If they don't know we're coming, we'll have plenty of time to escape if things get too hot."

Looking over the collection of bunkers and substations around the observatory he would nod at Keilani’s suggestion “Okay, take us in Kyubi.”

A stillness hung over the scene as the group landed. It was almost a surprise that there was normal gravity in the node, given the alien sky overhead. Walkways between buildings were illuminated by the smallest of lights, and not a single window or door was to be found.

"I get the feeling this whole place is interconnected underground," said Kei as she climbed off Kyubimon. "Even so, it feels weird that there aren't any manholes or exit hatches."

"Why's that?" asked Kyubi.

"If you needed to repair or fine tune anything outside, you wouldn't be able to get out here. Not in a hurry, at least."

"It's possible the entrance and exits are all camouflaged. I doubt any digimon would like being sealed away in a node forever."

"Let's knock on the walls!" said Gammy.

“Well whatever the case is.. let’s see if we can find a way in that hopefully doesn’t mark us as ‘kill on sight’.” He said as he then softly scratch along Kyubimon’s jaw. When Gammy suggested knocking on the walls he would rub his chin in thought “Let’s keep that option open.. but later, okay Gammy?”

The great fox leaned into the scratching hand, smiling with her eyes closed.

"Aww," said Gammy, though the ceratops was now busy watching his feet as he wandered off to the side. He paused, however, he a flickering red line reflected off his foot-claws. Looking up, he saw light emanating from a tiny gap in the observatory's wall... he then screamed as a hologram blinked into existence. A hologram Al recognized as Hagurumon.

"++Alert!++" said the three-fold gear. "++Environmental hazard detected! All personnel: please mobilize to your designated shelters! Repeat: please mobilize to your designated shelters!++"

Al was about to say something when Gammamon screamed, almost jumping as he then listened to what the hologram was saying “Hazardous environment? What- oh fuck oh fuck—“ he then began sweating as her realized what it could be meaning

“Okay, Kay lets get the hell in there!”

"Gammy! Knock!"

"Breaclaw!" cried the ceratops, his claws glowing a brilliant gold as he swiped them across the wall. The attack carved jagged grooves in the metal, yet the barrier remained standing.

Suddenly, a thunderous noise roared and the ground quaked, forcing Gammy to take flight while everyone else struggled on their feet.

"Back up!" said Kyubimon, and an instant later, she about-faced and kicked with her hind legs against the scarred wall. The sheer force behind her strike was all it took to finish what Gammamon had started, the section of wall caving in to reveal an interior hallway... and a pair of Hagurumon.

"ACK!!" one of them cried, covering their mouth with their gears. "What've you DONE?!!"

The sky turned a baleful orange.

"Everyone inside!" barked Keilani, the group stampeding over the cog-digimon.

"The breach, you fools!" cried the other Hagurumon. "Seal the breach!"

Wincing at the sudden implosion, and then the panicked little gears he would then look at the Hagurumon “Metal, get us some metal!” He then looked down at Kyubimon

“Do you think you can weld with your fire, Kyubi?”

The literal gearheads scrambled to comply as Kyubimon conjured the elemental twins Kirsten and Jennifer. "Where there's a will, there's a flame," she said. Alongside Gammamon, the vulpines assisted in lifting the turn segment of wall back into position. Al and Keilani traded positions with the foxwives just in time to see the Hagurumon at work. The levitating machines' eyes were firing red lasers into the interior wall, carving out perfect rectangles of scrap metal that then floated inches in front of them. Al could hear, then feel a shift in the air as the digimon approached; whatever the Hagurumon were doing affecting the pressure of space. Once the metal was set, the twins snapped their fingers, turning their index fingers into blowtorches. Between them and the gearheads' own laser eyes, the welding process became quick work.

"Hohhoh--that was close," said one of the machines, both of them floating to the floor, exhausted. "Too, too close...!"

Another quake shook the ground, causing the Hagurumon to grab onto each other.

"Just what is going on?!" asked Keilani. "Is this normal for you guys?!"

"You mean you don't know?!" asked a cog.

"I knew they weren't authorized to be here!" said the other.