Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Ruin ❯ When the Past Returns ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

General Skot Homidon gave Taichi, Agumon, and Sora a grand tour of RAM headquarters. It was a very large underground complex, but the aging man was concise. "Here's the Armory and hanger." He said as the elevator doors opened. We keep all the weapons and armor here, along with ships. We don't have a whole lot of ships, but we're strong on land." The doors closed, and then they went down a level. "Here's the training center. We have nearly every simulation for any situation on any difficulty." Down another level. "This is mainly the dorm level. We have rooms, a cafeteria, and an infirmary."
The elevator went down once more. "Machinery room. Gives us lights and power." The elevator stopped at the bottommost floor. "And finally, the shelter. Haven't had to use it yet, hope we never do. Been so long, I can't even imagine what lives down there."
Taichi nodded, absorbing all of the information. "If you don't mind, I'd like to return to the surface and bring my ship."
"Very well. Computer, ground level." With a jerk, the elevator rose upward. "So, you're a pilot?"
"Yeah."
"Good. Perhaps you'd like to meet my engineers. I'm sure you'll be fast friends after several missions." A half smile creeped up the General's face.


The next day was full of meeting people and learning RAM headquarters inside and out.
"So, what're the specs on these, Powerarmor things?" Taichi asked as he slipped on the large, armor-plated helmet.
"One 28mm machine gun, dual shoulder mounted Anti Infantry Missile Launchers, LXV-18 medium to long range laser, a six-pack of Jeron-Lasky B-40 grenades, a variety of tools, Titanium-Steel alloy body protection, a fold out shield, infrared and ultraviolet vision, voice activated computer, and a small jet pack." Wex, the enormous technician went through his memorized list.
"Cool. Does it have a CD player?"
"Nah. These are the cheaper models."
"Ah well, I'll get around it." Taichi moved around a bit in the Powerarmor. It felt surprisingly smooth and light. He opened the large visor. "Hey, got any training grounds or something? I'd love to take this baby for a spin."
Wex adjusted the red bandana covering his hair. "You could try the simulation."
"Yeah, good idea." Taichi fumbled to remove the armor. When he was done, the little pager General Homidon had given him began beeping. Taichi read that he was to report to training center. "Speak of the devil… I gotta go for something, see you around Wex."
Wex waved a pudgy hand. "Later."
Taichi boarded a free elevator and got off at the training center level.
A dark skinned man was waiting for him. "You are Taichi Kamaiya?"
Taichi nodded.
"Follow me." The man turned and led him to the gun range. "It's an unwritten law that all RAM members know the functions of a laser gun."
"I know how to use `em."
"Yes, well, even so, we'd just like to make sure of that." They arrived at the long hallway. Only a few of the dozen spaces were occupied.
Taichi sped through the test, reloading, shooting, knowing what to do if it jammed; it was all just basic functions. He decided to stay a few more minuets to fine-tune his aiming. He slapped in another clip, aimed, and fired. The bright green laser hit a little outside the bulls-eye area and left a smoking hole.
"Not a bad shot." A scratchy voice complimented him. Taichi turned and saw a lizard-man like Digimon behind him. His green skin was rough and covered with scales, and his big, cat-like yellow eyes sent a chill down Taichi's spine.
"Thanks."
"Whaddya say to a contest? One shot, better score wins?"
"Sure, I guess."
"Great." The lizard Digimon pulled out his own weapon. "Computer, two player, one-shot game. Target, 30 meters."
The targets adjusted to the selected range. "You first." The lizard man motioned his clawed hand to Taichi's target. Carefully, he lined up the crosshairs to the bull's eye then fired. It hit in almost the exact same spot as last time, a little down and to the left. The five-foot tall lizard aimed and fired rather hastily, hitting an inch or so farther away from the red dot than Taichi.
"Winner, player one." The computer announced.
"Ah, lucky shot." The Lizard man banged his gun against the metal wall making a loud clang. "I'll beat ya` next time. By the way, name's Lizarddramon."
"Taichi, Taichi Kamaiya."
Lizarddramon nodded. "Say, you heard the latest news? They say there's been a lot of big blips on radar recently. The General's been on his toes, triple checkin` everything. If you ask me, I think Morhin's goons are out lookin` for us. Better prepare to wake up in the middle of the night with the alarm blarin`." He heavily slapped Taichi's soldier than chuckled like some old war veteran.
Taichi decided Lizarddramon was the exact opposite, some headstrong rookie looking for a thrill. He said bye to the Digimon, then decided to go to the cafeteria for lunch.


Xantos flew low over the city, taking his time to weave through the buildings. Taichi was near; he could feel it in his few intact bones. The radar beeped several times to show there was someone or something approaching. Quietly, he landed his ship, and scanned the area with his red cybernetic eye. The telltale sign of pebbles bouncing on the pavement indicated it was something big.
"Good, the bigger the better." Xantos thought to himself and half-smiled.
A mighty roar rang out from less then 50 meters away. A menacing Tyrannomon stomped down the street, a tasty treat sighted in its enormous red eyes. Again it roared, eager to satisfy the hunger.
Xantos watched calmly as it charged. The dinosaur Digimon's mouth was wide and gaping, saliva flying out. At the last moment, the daring android-person leaped out of the way and nimbly landed in a crouching position while the Tyrannomon's jaws closed around air. Confused, it stumbled over itself trying to regain balance, making it even more enraged. It's mighty tail swung around, coming within inches of Xantos as he flattened himself on the ground.
Again, the Tyrannomon lunged, and again Xantos narrowly dodged the enormous teeth, this time, leaping impossibly high and landing on the Tyrannomon's neck. Furiously, the dinosaur tried to crush its tormentor by ramming into buildings. Each time, Xantos swung out of harm's way. Finally, tired out and frustrated, the Tyrannomon gave up and tried to escape.
"Coward." Xantos muttered as his foot long stiletto blade sprung up from his right forearm. Viciously, he stabbed it through the tough scales. Blood seeped out of the wound
The Tyrannomon went insane with rage, swinging, bucking, even falling backwards on the ground to relive himself of the thing it thought would be its lunch. Twice more, Xantos slashed the enormous reptile's back. Roaring in pain, Tyrannomon began feeling woozy from blood loss. Its movements became sloppy; it's roars less powerful.
Finally, with one last roar, the enormous Digimon fell to the ground; defeated by something a fifth it's size. Xantos wiped his stained blade on his mass of robes and cloaks then slid it back into his forearm. Xantos, the half-human, half-android person who took down a Tyrannomon. He moved to the open mouth of the defeated Digimon, and with some effort, ripped out its largest fang, a healthy six inch one, as a small memento of his accomplishments.
"Taichi, I'm coming. Watch out." He thought to himself, and laughed his haunting mechanical laugh.


Taichi was exhilarated after a two-hour session at the training center. Granted, he'd been blown up in the simulator the first few times, but he got the hang of it and was soon blowing away computer enemies.
"Whew, I need something to eat, want to come with me Agumon?"
"No, I have to beat Sora at least once!" He was concentrating on some sort of sniper game. Sora was indeed, beating him, by a lot.
"I don't know what it is, but I'm good at this." Sora fired and hit a virtual target dead center from nearly 50 meters away. "Really good."
"Maybe you should try as a sniper."
"No way, I couldn't handle the pressure."
"You never know…"
"Aw, I lost again." Agumon moaned as the words 'Game Over' flashed on the screen.
Sora continued playing, hitting every target in the bulls-eye range. Her breathing was light, her hands calm and not a drop of sweat rolled down her face. When she came to the Speed shooting, she hit every target in the center. Her score was nearly perfect after each simulation.
"How about something a bit harder?" Taichi set the difficulty to it's highest. Sora was put in crazy angles as she tried to snipe at tiny targets. There was even a hostage simulation that required her to shoot the gun out of the kidnapper's hand from 100 meters. Still, she dominated the game, completing each level with incredible skill.
Sora decided she'd had enough and turned off the game. "Doing this for an hour is making my eyes cross. Want to get something to eat?"
Without warning, a loud alarm blared out. Simulators darkened but were replaced by flashing red lights. "All soldiers, report to armory! Repeat all soldiers report to armory! Medics, engineers, report there as well."
"Shit…" Taichi mumbled under his breath as he bolted for the busy elevators.
"C'mon Sora, maybe they have a sniper gun or something!" Agumon followed Taichi to the armory level.
"What? I can't…" Sora knew she couldn't bring herself to kill people. But there had to be something she could do.


Taichi was in a Powerarmor suit within five minuets and one of the first to board the elevator going directly to the surface. As daylight appeared, Taichi saw a mass of figures approaching. From the radio, General Homidon gave all the RAM troops a quick briefing. "Radar shows about fifty Peacekeeper droids and a dozen Tankmons. We shouldn't have a problem, this is a scout force, but watch your backs!"
Choosing the laser, Taichi ran with several other bold RAM fighters. Adrenaline pumping through his veins, Taichi took a single shot at the closest robot. They were ugly creations, a wiry, misshapen humanoid torso sat upon four flexible, spider-like legs. The arms were a pair of machine guns, and the rectangular head had a pair of blood red eyes. They looked like walking junk heaps, but they were tough. Taichi's laser scored a hit right in its shoulder but it only flinched and continued walking.
"They can take a lot of punishment, don't waste your power." Lizarddramon ran up from behind him. He launched a pair of rockets, hitting right in front of the same Peacekeeper. It blew off an arm and a leg. It continued onward, limping awkwardly. Switching to the arm-mounted machine gun, Lizarddramon emptied several rounds of bullets. The robot twisted hideously, bullets ripped through its body. After the onslaught, it still had an arm left, which it used to slowly crawl. It approached Taichi and the Digimon, and weakly tried to raise its remaining arm. Shaking his head in pity, Taichi crushed its head with his boot.
"Programmed not to feel fear. They never retreat unless directly ordered to. C'mon, there's more coming!" Lizarddramon leaped into action, his machine gun roaring as it fired dozens of bullets.
Taking one of his grenades, Taichi headed for another droid and hurled the bomb to it. In a fiery explosion, the Peacekeeper was blown to bits, and shrapnel briefly rained down. Taichi turned in time to see another Peacekeeper behind him, using his arm as a club. Using his laser, the young pilot cut straight through the chassis and hitting the power core. The thick armor protected Taichi from the burst of heat, although the polished metal was bit scorched.
A sudden pain in his shoulder brought Taichi out of his brief feeling of victory. Another droid had sneaked up from behind. Several bullets breached the armor, hitting flesh and bone. Groaning with pain, Taichi faced the Peacekeeper, a gun barrel pointed right at his face.
Preparing for death, Taichi winced, hoping it'd be quick. Suddenly, a laser ripped right through the robot's head. For a moment, the Peacekeeper comically stood above it's surprised target, headless, and then fell upon Taichi. Darkness formed around his eyes from blood loss. The last thing he remembered was hearing the words, "Get a medic! He's hurt!" and seeing a face that seemed familiar, short brown hair, dark eyes, and a radiant smile as she said, "You'll be OK."


For the second time in his life, a sharp pain awoke Taichi, this time in his shoulder. A single female doctor was at a table, doing something with test tubes. A groan from her patient got her attention. "Oh, you're awake, good. How are you feeling?"
"Have you seen my dignity lying around?" Taichi covered his face with his hand. "Can't believe I got sneaked up on like that."
"Oh don't worry, happens to all the rookies. Ever met that youngster, Lizarddramon? He once came in here crying like a baby when his arm was just burnt a bit."
Taichi managed to chuckle, despite his bruised ego. The doctor approached him, carefully taking off the large gauze bandage. She used some rubbing alcohol to kill any infections, then reapplied a fresh bandage. "You should be able to walk around in a few hours, and that bandage can come off in a week or so."
The injured man nodded slowly. He couldn't help but stare at the doctor, for she set off some old spark in his memory. "You know, you remind me of someone, I can't think of who though."
Slowly, the young woman put down the old gauze. "Actually, you do to. What's your name?"
"Taichi Kamaiya."
The woman's eyes opened wide with disbelief. Shock crossed her face. "Oh my God, Taichi, I'm your sister, Hikari!"
Then it was Taichi's turn to be shocked. "No... no, you can't be, that's impossible!"
"Really, it's me! You see, when I was at the hospital… and I... then…" Hikari tried to explain everything at once.
It was too much for Taichi's aching head. "Wait, we'll talk about it over lunch."
"Lunch?" Actually it's five PM."
"Right, just let me get some more sleep before anything. I'm dead tired."
"OK, I'll leave you be. Have a good rest." She quickly left the room.
Taichi shook his head. Hikari was still her sweet, caring, unselfish self.


Later that night, Taichi and his sister sat with Sora and Agumon at a cafeteria table. The food was meager, but they all managed to keep it down.
"So, you're Taichi's sister? And you haven't seen him in how many years?"
"Eight years." Hikari replied. "Where'd they all go?"
Taichi wanted to get straight to the point. "What happened after that day, eight years ago?"
"I still remember it clearly, after all I went through." Hikari began. "I really was sick with pneumonia, but it wasn't life-threatening. Our parents couldn't pay the hospital bill though, so the only thing they could do was put me up for adoption. Almost immediately, a response came from halfway around the world, in the U.S. I was sent there a day later, with nothing but the clothes I was wearing. As it turned out, the place was a labor camp." Hikari paused, gathering up her will. "I saw a lot of people die under the slave driver's whip. Fortunately, he took a liking to me and I got be a house servant. Two years later, a rebellion group against Morhin, and they took over the place and made it a town. Life wasn't too bad; some nice old people brought me in. For years afterward, I heard stories about the outside world, how Morhin was a tyrant, how resistance factions were everywhere. I wanted to join one, because I'd learned healing skills from when I was a house servant, so I thought I could put them to good use. I ran away with a band of travelers and I ended up here at RAM. They taught me a lot about medicine and curing injuries. A year leader, I'm a field medic and one of the best doctors here." Hikari finished.
"Wow, that's quite a tale." Agumon said. "What a coincidence you two would meet up again."
"Yeah, it's amazing." Sora agreed though not with as much enthusiasm.
"So how did you get here?" Hikari asked.
Taichi went through his own eight-year history, talking about Peregrine, his small trading business, and meeting with Agumon and Sora. How he worked for Zubla and ended up here.
Hikari nodded slowly throughout her brother's words. "Well, looks like we've both had it rough." All four occupants of the table had cleared their tray and put them in a huge sink.
They agreed to turn in for the night, and said good night to each other.
Taichi could barely sleep at all after all the events that happened, but eventually he drifted off.


"Hah, you think you can beat me with that wimpy tin can?"
"Tin can? At least mine has a stick that works right."
"I got it repaired weeks ago. And I'll take that as a challenge. Last one past that mountain has dinner on them"
"You're on!"
Both Peregrine and Windrider's engines roared to full power.
"I'll be having the Grand Sushi Platter, thank you." Peregrine lurched ahead of it's opponent.
Windrider's pilot snickered into the comlink. "I have not yet begun to race!" With a great explosion of power, Windrider's afterburners sent it hurtling forward at nearly 500 kilometers per hour.
Peregrine's pilot slammed his left fist on the wall. "Hey! You didn't tell me you had afterburners!"
"Hahaha, I'll see you at the Konesha Restaurant!"
"You loser! That's the most expensive place in town!"
"Hey, something's wrong with my controls, the stick is unresponsive."
The other pilot took it seriously. "Slow down, forget this race."
"No, no, I got it."
"Yamato, pull out!"
"I can make it, don't worry…" Yamato's voice was quavering.
Taichi immediately hit the brakes. This race was getting dangerous.
"Taichi, there's a huge tree coming up, I can't maneuver! Help!
"Get out of there!"
"No, I'm not losing Windrider!"
"Eject you dumbass! Your life is more important than any ship!"
"Oh, God! I can't stop! Everything's gone dead!"
"Yamato!"
"Taichi! Aughhh!"
A horrendous explosion followed after the heart-racking scream.


Taichi awoke completely matted with sweat and gasping for breath. "Another dream, dammit, why does this happen so often?" Taichi stood up out of bed wiping perspiration from his eyes. "5 AM, what a time to wake up." Slowly walking to the bathroom, Taichi looked in the mirror. A red eyed lost and lonely young man peered back. "Gotta put this all behind me." The nightmare plagued teen mumbled. "Gotta look at the future, that's all that I can do."