ORIGIN

Strike Back

Oasis was still bending the learning curve of how to maneuver in his big mech suit. He had most of his noble fist moves down with the suit's weapons incorporated into them. All he had to learn now was to pilot the suit in jet mode. He was only seven and hadn't even held the wheel of a hovercraft yet. The legal driving age on Chronesius was twelve and the piloting age was eighteen.

Oasis remembered the soothing stories Ezrith told him about him and Ezron's life on Chronesius. He always had a certain contentment in his eyes when he told them. The way he described the planet's crystal mountains and triple sunsets was all Oasis could think of as of late. Maybe because he sensed that Ezrith's life on Chronesius represented a more stable time in the solar system; a time Origin Project was trying hard to renew. Oasis wished he could've had that. But life wasn't normal for him. He was seven years old and he had seen more than most teenagers from Chronesius - the tranquil world that probably by now was full of troubled anxieties of corruption invading its airspace. But if Ezrith was dead, at least he had the blessing of enjoying Chronesius before the fall of Kengi Helix and the Star Brigade. But somehow, Oasis had a tiny glimmer of hope in his heart that his father was still alive. But he knew that his mother and his unborn sister Lotis' chances of survival were slim to none. Storm was probably long gone as well.

From his experience with Radius, Oasis knew androids could only do what their programming would allow. But Alpha Maximus was different. He was a virus, like a deadly cancer in the galaxy. And Chronesius was just another organ potentially already infected. So in the name of his father's childhood paradise, he would vindicate everything the Helix name stood for - even the good that his grandfather Kengi had done before he was repurposed.

Meanwhile on Earth, Alpha Maximus hadn't returned to his lair yet. Ezrith knew that when he did return, he was probably as good as dead. Already, he felt like a dead man walking. There were robots of all designs and sizes searching around for him with weapons. He was hiding out in an old skyscraper that was one of only a few that was still standing up. It was filled with offices and some loft apartments. But he and his new companion type, Tink, were on the lower level, which was an old shopping mall connected to a subway station that he hoped was still operational. Tink was his tour guide and scout since his sight was enhanced and his senses were amplified to recognize danger. Ezrith covered up every visible piece of flesh he had with garments he found in an old boutique in the mall. They roamed the mall looking around abandoned stores. But Tink warned Ezrith to avoid other robots. "They don't fear humans. They will harm the flesh. They will try to dismantle me and divide my parts among themselves too! The Better Ones hunt flesh to repurpose it, even beasts. They disregard the Old Ones. We are obsolete, so throughout these ruins, it's every older-generation task model and companion type for itself. The damaged ones cannot fight off being completely scavenged - the robot form of cannibalism." Tink rarely stopped talking as he gave Ezrith a cautious tour of the mall, and then they headed for the subway station.

Meanwhile, at Integrity, Oasis had finally mastered coordinating his mech suit weapons and fighting moves. He could maneuver well. Now he had to get used to maneuvering when his and Ato's mech suit merged. When they merged, one pilot controlled weapons, and the other controlled the movements, or they could switch at any time. This called for excellent cooperation and communication skills, which Ato and Oasis always had since Ato was Oasis's noble fist sensei. And since Oasis was a genius he learned quicker than the average man.

Oasis' mech suit was designed by himself. It was twelve feet tall, it weighed four tons, and its built-in weapons consisted of extendable forearm blasters, shoulder rocket blasters, cloaking, lasers, and a chest cannon. They were activated and controlled through a cerebral interface. It looked like a giant, black, beastly robot with triple-jointed limbs for doing noble fist combat. Its legs were long and the head was elongated. It had four arms on a spinnable torso. Oasis could climb up and enter the suit from a snug opening in its back that closed back up automatically. Also in the back was a powerful jet pack that allowed it to fly when its wings came out. The suit also had an ejection & self-destruct protocol.

Ato's mech suit was a little taller, bulkier, and heavier. Its weapons were a little more versatile. It had a bubbly shape with a wide head. It had thick legs and arms able to pulverize concrete and weaker metals. It was able to rip apart smaller robots during combat as well.

At Oasis' command, his mech suit made some swift mechanical adjustments. Then, with the help of its rocket boosters, it hopped on top of Ato's adjusted suit. After that, certain parts of Oasis' suit connected and clamped down into Ato's suit, giving it a different shape. The shape of the two robots together made it look beefier but still symmetrical. The connected mech suits now had more versatility in weaponry and physicality when their computer systems were synchronized. It was possible for any two mech suits to merge, which gave them infinite combinations of styles and capabilities.

The Omega helmet was compatible with all suits but, because of the complexity of the technology, there was only one. There was a debate going on around the stronghold about who would be the one to get to use it first. As the harvest site recon mission was nearing, the debate was buzzing stronger, so Max decided to take a vote. After the vote was taken, Circuit was chosen to be the first to wield the Omega Weapon on the mission. He was very honored. After accepting the privilege, he gave a warm speech dedicated to Ezrith and Akira. Oasis teared up a little during the speech and was ever more determined to defeat Alpha Maximus.

Max and some ghost agents prepared a starship. It had stealth capabilities and radar distortion. The starship, called Colosso, was provided by Horeme after he pulled some strings with some government officials of that region of Celestia. Colosso was big enough to hold three smaller ships and also hundreds of mech suits. After using some Plumoritan mercenaries and spies from some outlaw bands, many harvest sites were located and scouted out. Brian Gatly was being used by the ghost agents in that area. The first harvest site they were going to infiltrate was the one on the small Neon Jungle planet which was close to Chronesius.