Something to Protect

"The General is-" the she got cut off. The data required is not within perameters of jurisdiction. Please enter bypass coode or an access code for further detail. Error Code 4355045672." Arrietty blinked. "Curse Encryption!" she snapped angrily.

Chase nearly fell over with laughter, "You don't even know who that lunatic is?! Jeez, it's a wonder you Androids don't end up killing each other."

Query shook his head, "No, it's not that she doesn't know, she just isn't allowed to know. She's just programmed that way. As for me, I don't even know who the General is. All I know for sure right now is that there is a war going on, and that to end the conflict, one side must fall, or both must agree to a unconditional cease-fire. You said Sand Zone, right?"

Chase waved his arms and shook his head, "No! I told you not to go there! Hey, are you even listening to me?!"

Query ignored Chase's protests, and swiftly hopped onto the teleporter, grinning as he waved goodbye to the duo before teleporting away. Chase's eyes widened when he saw that Query already had a Mimiga soldier symbol painted on the back of his vest, and stood there in silence, wondering who Query was, and why he was so different from all the other androids.

"Oi, I better go pull him out of that deathtrap." Arrietty sighed. She booted up the teleporter, setting her destination for the Desert Zone. Before she left though, she turned around and faced the Mimiga for a second. She gave him a half-smile. "You Mimiga aren't really all that bad." she srugged. "Take care of yourself." she added before hopping on the teleporter herself and disappering.

Chase stomped his paws against the ground angrily, his face red with anger as he exclaimed, "Wait, I said don't go to Sand Zone!"

But it was far too late, as both androids were long gone by the time he had finished his warning. He growled, drawing his scythe as he knew all to well about the dangers that lay ahead in the Sand Zone. Questions of why he was charging after these stupid androids popped into his head, but he quickly dismissed them. After all, Query came off as the kind of android who would help the Mimigas. He roared as he charged into the teleporter, vanishing as it transported him to Sand Zone.

- - -

Query emerged from the teleporter, entering what seemed to be a rather massive tunnel with what appeared to be a hole in the ceiling a meter or two ahead. Query held his gun at the ready as he jogged over to the hole in the roof, aiming his gun upward to see a small group of massive, bug like creatures lining the walls, obviously waiting for Query to get within their line of sight before they would try anything.

He could hear some sort of signal, transmitting from far off in the distance, but he couldn't quite decipher it, as it just sounded like a garbled mess of white noise. Curious of the signal's location, he tried to scan the area for the nearest, active transmitter, but sighed in frustration as he was unable to detect exactly where it was coming from.

Arrietty emerged from the teleporter and hit the ground running, attempting to catch up with Query. "Yo, hold up!" she called into the tunnel, attempting to get the other android's attention so that she could possibly catch up with him. "You seriously shouldn't go any further, if you can hear my voice!" she shouted again, ignoring the bug-like creatures completely for a moment.

Query looked over to Arrietty, and heard her warnings, understanding that the road ahead was riddled with danger. But he was an android designed for combat, and this conflict, this place, these creatures, all of them were mysterious and unknown, each with their own hints towards the answer to all of the questions flying through Query's head.

Using his grappler, Query embedded the gun's pointed end into a rocky platform a few feet above him and he swiftly ascended up and into the hole in the roof of the cavern. The bugs that caught the android in their line of sight tried to crash into him, but he moved much to quickly for them, and they would simply latch onto the other wall, lest they risk their carapaces on the drop below.

The grappler's sharp, pointed edge retracted into the gun's muzzle just as Query reached up and grabbed the edge of the platform, the robot struggling somewhat to rise up onto the platform proper.

Arrietty caught sight of Query, but only for a second as he grappled up the rocky wall that stood before him. She stopped at the wall, getting frustrated now.

"UGGH!" she groaned. "Are you SERIOUSLY going to make me chase you......"she muttered as she stood, then realized she had no way to scale the wall safely because she lacked a grappling gun AND a booster. "Wonderful, I guess I'll have to jump." Arrietty huffed as she jumped onto a nearby ledge, then over onto a stone that was jutting out of a wall. After hopping up a few more stones that were jutting out and shooting almost all of the creepy bug-like things, she made it safely under a bridge of sorts. she shot out a soft block with her Solar Flare gun, then proceeded to haul the rest of herself up onto the bridge-thing. "Thank goodness I'm a robot, or that would have been impossible." she sighed as she started off in the direction she thought she had seen Query heading off in.

(OoC: This post was so much easier to do once I played through the Sand Zone in Cave Story 3D XD)