Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ghosts of the GIW!

The data should've been impossible. It should've been lying.

But looking over the data being sent in on a daily basis, Captain Gundam knew it was not impossible. The data did not lie.

... Ghosts were real...

Yes, the afterlife was indeed confirmed to be real.

Due to the data being discovered by the field team in Amity Park, the head of the Neotopian branch of the Sol Defensive Guard, Chief Haro, had requested the Gundam Force members start reviewing anything that pertained to the research of ghosts.

It was only when Madnug had started to delve into the research from years past that it became clear the 'research' was anything but.

Most of the data collected over the years up until a few months ago was completely unbiased and unscientific, which had said disturbing things about the 'research' done. It made Madnug's scientist side squirm uncomfortably as he stood before his superior, with Captain reading over the data he was reviewing now.

"So you have confirmed this data is useless then?" Captain asked as he eyed his brother unit.

"Yes, Captain." Madnug replied, his characteristic stutter not present. "The data is completely irreplicable. If we were to try it, we would be crossing so many unethical lines, it isn't worth even trying."

Captain looked down at the data again. The fact the data was irreplicable...

"Does this experimental process involve live humans?" Captain asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

"Not this one, no." Madnug confirmed, giving Captain some relief before a sinking feeling hit the Gundam Force leader in the Soul Drive.

"'Not this one'?" Captain asked, his processors starting to ache slightly. "Does this mean...?"

Madnug looked down, shifting one of his feet slowly. "There is a high possibility, 87.69%, that some of the data may come from live human experimentation."

Captain groaned as he set the data tablet down and reached up to rub at his aching processors. "And just where did you find this data?"

Madnug looked at Captain. "Some group calling themselves the Ghost Investigation Ward. They seemed legitimate at the time, but... well... after reading the d-data... I've come to the conclusion that they a-aren't."

Captain noted Madnugs stutter was emerging again. It always seemed to emerge when he got nervous, and if he was getting nervous, then that meant what had been found wasn't good.

"Have you compared this with the data gathered by the Amity Park team?" Captain asked as he removed his hands from his helm and picked up the tablet again.

"Yes, sir." Madnug replied. "Looking over the data from the field team, and comparing it to this data I found o-online, it stands to reason the group who gathered this data is w-wildly u-unscientific in their processes."

Captain felt another processor ache coming on. It was bad enough there were ghosts that were real, but now there was some group that was studying these entities in a completely unethical manner? He found himself wishing he hadn't been assigned to this task, but given who he was the superior of, it made sense he would be assigned to make sure the data was... 'up to snuff', as his Soul Drive partner would say.

"Okay, good work, Madnug." Captain finally said after a few moments of tense silence. "Keep an eye out for any other data on ghosts we can find to compare this field team data to."

Madnug saluted before grabbing the data tablet Captain had been looking over and leaving.

Captain sighed heavily through his vents as he rubbed at his aching helm. 'Some days I find myself missing the simple metrics of combat against the Dark Axis...'

Walking down the halls of Blanc Base II, Madnug couldn't help but feel bad for Captain. His brother unit had not exactly been thrilled to read the data he had found, but then again, Madnug hadn't been thrilled to read the data either.

And to make matters worse, there had been implied evidence of human experimentation done by this Ghost Investigation Ward, or GIW for short. Madnug stopped walking as that thought entered his processors. The GIW, or Ghoul Interception Wardens, had been mentioned by the journals Sazabi had found during that Sewer Creep incident. And yet nothing came up when the GIW had been searched for. Even Guneagle, the resident prankster, had been recruited to help search because he was skilled at hacking into places he shouldn't be. And yet even Guneagle's hacking had yielded little info. Oh sure, some info had been found, but it had been scant, only mentioning the GIW being reformed from looking into ghouls and ways to exterminate them. It even mentioned the date the group was reformed, but after that... all data had been scrubbed.

Madnug frowned to himself beneath his faceplate. He had to do a bit more investigation into this Ghost Investigation Ward. Something seemed... too coincidental with this group and their name having the same letters as the former Ghoul Interception Wardens.

Reaching up to his helm, Madnug contacted Guneagle. "Guneagle? It's me."

"Yeah? What is it, Madnug?" Guneagle asked over the com-line.

"I need you to pick up my research into the Soul Drives." Madnug explained. "I have a bit of an investigation of my own I want to conduct. Besides, if anyone can find anything on the Soul Drives, it's you."

"Sure thing, bro." Guneagle replied. "You'd better tell me what it is you're looking into later though if it takes priority over the Soul Drive research."

"I can't say for sure if I can." Madnug admitted. "But I will certainly try to tell you what I can if there is sufficient evidence to support some of my theories on this subject."

"Okay, good luck then!" Guneagle replied before he shut off his own com-link.

Madnug gave a nod to himself before resuming his trek back to his own quarters. With his Soul Drive research being covered by Guneagle, that meant he could now do his own research into this mysterious Ghost Investigation Ward...

Chapter Text

Running around, the shadowed forms worked like ants.

They had to work on the resurrection of the once deadly Sewer Creep, as it was known by now. The agents and operatives running around were working like clockwork. They were ripping apart the two mechanical forms before them.

In accordance with Protocol Delta-D-86-5A-Alpha, anything to be used to fight the ghosts was on the table, figuratively and literally. Screams were heard, but to the operatives, the screams were just part of the mundane and normal. They just continued their work while the wails of pain echoed throughout the chamber.

"Run Delta-5-C through Bravo-1-D." An operative ordered another. The second operative nodded, throwing a lever into position. More screams were heard, only to be drowned out by the screaming of a buzzsaw that lowered down from above. The second operative grabbed the moving buzzsaw and slowly, cruelly, sinisterly, sliced the arm of one of the mechanical forms off of the torso. The mechanical form wailed at the top of its vocalizer, but the sounds of the buzzsaw only drowned out the screams of pain. 

The arm of the mechanical form was removed, just as the mechanical form shuddered.

The lopped off arm was then moved to another table, on which lay a form that was huge, ten feet tall, with leathery wings lacking the membrane, and three arms.

As the operatives continued their work, a leg was chopped off of a second mechanical form. This form wailed as loudly as it could, but the wails and screams were actually music to the ears of the operatives.

The newly cut off leg was grabbed and moved to the table that held the lopped off mechanical arm.

It was just as well that the work was progressing smoothly. No one had any issues with what they were doing.

Soon, the beast would be reborn, and be able to handle the famed, or now infamous, Red Comet!

In her cell, she could hear, feel, the pain of her two comrades, the ones who had served under her loyally all those years ago.

She couldn't do anything though; she couldn't protect them, couldn't spare them from this vile fate...

She was worthless, useless... No wonder her superiors had given up on her. If she couldn't make it back with Commander Bawoo...

Her spark hitched in her chest compartment. She had failed... She wasn't worthy of being a Commander... Not if she couldn't even protect her closest comrades.

A familiar form came the forefront of her processors, one she had hidden away in her deepest and oldest memory files. It was of a small green mech, with one optical sensor that was pink in color, but with a gold inlay on his abdomen.

Her spark twinged at the memory of that small mech. He had been so small, smaller than the standard Zako soldier...

Just remembering how he had struggled, watching him make more of an effort than he had to in order to hold his own... It made her whine slightly with guilt. She would never be able to help him reach his full potential, not anymore... Little Stalemate...

The femme Commander coughed violently as soon as the whine escaped her. She curled in on herself, wondering if anyone could rescue her from this fate, from her final fate...

Recharge never came easy to her anymore. The few times she did get to recharge were far and few between. Still, she had to try. Dimming her optical sensor, the femme Commander entered a power-down state to try and conserve as much energy as she could...

Lights flashed in the dark, dank, dingy hallway that led to her cell, white emergency lights that rotated slowly.

An alarm blared as the White Masked ran around, aiming their guns at whatever was intruding in their space.

The White Masked all assembled in a line in front of the hallway to her cell, halfway between it and the elevator door.

Waving their hand, the leader of the White Masked barked an order as the elevator doors opened. Flashes of green lit up the hallway and she could hear only the whine of the weapons firing over and over again.

Eventually, the firing stopped. Smoke cleared slowly, only to reveal a singed elevator cab and destroyed doors. The controls of the cab were sparking.

Words reached her hearing, but they didn't make any sense to her at that time...

A loud explosion rocked the hallway, causing cries of terror to erupt from the White Masked as the ceiling seemed to cave in behind them. A massive crimson and gold armored form landed in front of her cell.

She couldn't see much other than the form's back in the rotating emergency lights. The White Masked looked terrified as the form raised up an extensive thruster array and deployed small weapons she could barely acknowledge.

The sounds of laser fire hit her audios, as did the screams of the White Masked. In a matter of seconds, it was over...

Heavy footsteps were heard, but she didn't acknowledge them even though they were coming her way. Slowly, she looked up, just in time to hear her cell door being blown off the hinges.

A hand, accented by crimson armor with gold inlays, reached out towards her...

She jolted awake as a loud clang resonated in her cell area. Looking up, she saw one of the White Masked holding her usual ration; a container of critically used oil.

The sneer told her to drink it down. She took it and downed the almost completely filthy oil. The White Masked took the container and left, leaving her in darkness once more.

The femme Commander curled in on herself, her memory files bringing up the dream files she had managed to save to her processors. That crimson and gold mech... She wondered if it was just a dream... After all... no one knew she was here, so no mech or feme was coming to help her...

In the fading sunlight streaming into the condo from the sunny outdoors, Commander Stalemate Sazabi's helm shot up as he perked up, something pinging on the very edges of the Newtype Network. But what was odd was that there was no one, aside from himself, on the Network in the area. He could sense, and hear mentally, the buzz of the Newtype Network in Neotopia, but that was far away, far enough that he couldn't get a very strong signal for it. At the edges of the Network though, he could've sworn he heard something like a plea, or pleas, for help, to be saved, for mercy.

And yet... in those two pleas he swore he picked up, a third one went unheard... Or was it...?

Chapter Text

Dash Baxter

He was the King of Casper High. He ruled the football field, the school halls... He wasn't scared of anything! So then why was he shaking like an earthquake was hitting him?! It was because of the broadcast... The Broadcast, as everyone was calling it.

The Broadcast about the Red Comet, the darling 'hero' of Amity Park and the Sol Defensive Guard. The crimson and gold armored mecha wasn't everything good and pure. No, because apparently the Red Comet had been a conqueror, sent to take over the world. Only to be stopped by the Gundam Force.

No one knew much about the elite combat mecha of the SDG, but if the Red Comet's power was any indication, if they could stop him, then Dash had never felt so grateful to the SDG's elite combat units. It showed how strong the SDG was, but it also showed how powerful the Red Comet was.

Dash couldn't stop shaking. Why? Because of the fact, in their cozy city, no one who could stop the Red Comet existed. The Gundam Force would have to come from the closest city, Neotopia, but that was a distance away.

No, Dash was now beginning to realize that, although he was the King of Casper High, there were other, bigger fish in the world around him. He may have been the King, but he was nothing when compared to the combatants on the screen before him... He may have been the King, but he wasn't... a Commander...

Mikey

The nerdiest nerd in Casper High was nothing when it came to the King of Casper High. Mikey couldn't hold a candle to even Dash Baxter in the physical strength department, even when he outpaced Dash in the academic life. But when it came to what the nerd was watching on the screen before him?

Envy... Envy, fear, and idolism were in Mikey's eyes as he saw the Red Comet on the screen. Yes, Mikey was in awe of the Red Comet. Why? Because the mech was so powerful. The crimson and gold armored mecha was so strong, not even the Sewer Creep could defeat the Red Comet.

Yet, there was that little voice that told Mikey not to idolize a conqueror, and just that alone scared Mikey. The cruelty shown from the Red Comet on The Broadcast was what kept Mikey from trying to even talk to the SDG mecha. Or was the Red Comet just using the SDG for a more nefarious plot? To think such a mecha could take over the SDG...

Mikey shivered. He hated being so weak, and envied the Red Comet for being so strong. Yet that strength he idolized was being used for evil, and he was a mere weak human...

Wes Weston

Wes Weston was laughing as soon as The Broadcast ended. He had known it! He had known it! The Red Comet wasn't the hero the press made the mecha out to be! The Red Comet was just using the SDG for an evil plot to take over the world! The SDG wasn't a defensive group anymore! They were the enemy, under the rule of The Conqueror!

The 'truth seeker' was overjoyed. His plans to reveal the SDG as the bad guys was going to go so well with this revelation!

Wes looked at an image of the Red Comet on his bulletin board. He picked up a dart, throwing it at the picture on the board. The dart hit right in the helm, but at the bottom. Wes snorted at the throw. He had already hit the Red Comet's image on the optical sensor, the eagle on the hat, etc.

Yes, soon the truth would be revealed, and he would be hailed as a hero...

Star Thunder

Star Thunder knew the Red Comet was a hero. He had saved her several times now. Why would a conqueror risk his life to save hers? No, he couldn't be a conqueror! It didn't fit with his actions. And yet... The Red Comet hadn't denied it. So if he had been a conqueror, what had changed? Had his defeat by the Gundam Force made him see things from a different perspective?

It made sense to Star at least. The Red Comet's defeat by the Sol Defensive Guard had led to him seeing things from a new point of view, made him change his ways. Plus, the Red Comet was always around that dark-skinned SDG member who was on station in Amity Park.

No, the Red Comet wasn't a bad guy. Yes, he had done some stuff that was considered terrible, horrific, etc., but didn't everyone deserve some kind of chance? Now, Star wasn't idealistic or naive, but she felt the former conqueror still deserved a chance. Yes, it was in part because Star couldn't help Valerie stay in the A-List, had been forbidden from talking to her friend. Star hadn't been able to sway Paulina or get the Latina girl to change her mind on interacting with Valerie.

At the same time though, Star wanted to be there for someone whom needed it, to make up for not helping Valerie when the other girl had needed it most.

There was no way the Red Comet was going to be alone, she would find a way to make sure of it...

Valerie Gray

She had known the Red Comet was trouble the very moment he refused to fire on the vile ghost that had ruined her life. Valerie Gray had just known it. But this?! This only confirmed what she had known. But for it to be so bad that the Sol Defensive Guard would hide his past? It felt like a betrayal to her personally.

Her hands clenched into fists tightly enough to draw blood from her palms. Yes, people tended to look at the SDG favorably, and she had been one of them, despite the interference of the Red Comet. But to hear the organization had taken a dimensional conqueror on as a member? She had felt a pang through her heart, the pang of betrayal.

How could the SDG do this?! How could they have taken on a dimensional conqueror as a member of their organization?! Of course it all made sense now, why the Red Comet was helping the vile ghost who had ruined her life! The two were in league with each other, and the SDG was giving this... conqueror protection from being persecuted!

Valerie's eyes became hard as glass as she glared at the images shown on The Broadcast.

It was clear now why she had been chosen to be a ghost hunter. Only she, as the Scarlet Huntress, could save Amity Park from the clutches of the Red Comet and the evil ghost known as Invisio-Bill. No one else could. As soon as she got the chance, she would capture the ghost and give it to the Fentons, or even a rumored to exist government agency that was supposed to be dedicated to researching ghosts; she had found this agency during her research into ghosts.

Yes, Invisio-Bill would be removed, and if the ghost was removed from the city, then the Red Comet would lose an ally, and possibly have to be recalled by the SDG to go through a full Wipe. Valerie was going to make sure neither of them got to conquer Amity Park. She swore it...

Edward Lancer

He was not someone who tended to sympathize with the few mecha who lived and worked in Amity Park. Edward Lancer tended to think of himself as a Renaissance man, someone who enjoyed the classics and simple things in life.

Yet The Broadcast had thrown his life into disarray, because it had revealed that other dimensions could exist, as well as the fact that dimensional conquerors existed; the Red Comet had apparently been one such being. Yet his defeat at the hands of the Gundam Force of the Sol Defensive Guard's Neotopia branch had shown a side of the SDG that had been apparently kept under wraps; the SDG had been studying, and possibly preparing for an invasion from, other dimensions.

While everyone else focused on the fact the Red Comet had been a conqueror, Mr. Lancer instead had paid close attention to the video that had been shown and had compared it to how the Red Comet acted now. It was so obvious, he couldn't believe no one could see it; the poor mech had been brainwashed, only knowing violence and fear. Mr. Lancer had seen it once or twice before with mecha in Amity Park, most notably when two GMs had tried to rebel against one of the families that had employed them.

That last one had been a fiasco, before this whole issue with the Red Comet anyway. Mr. Lancer could easily compare such situations to some of the best dystopian fiction novels, but it could only tell him so much.

Mr. Lancer decided to wait and see what happened. Only time would tell if the Red Comet being in Amity Park was a good or bad thing it seemed...

Chapter Text

Guneagle grumbled as he closed out of the latest web page that had claimed to have information on the Soul Drives; the web page had been a dead end, just being a conspiracy web page claiming the devices were merely alien probes.

He had been searching for information for days now, and yet little new information had been found.

Groaning, Guneagle leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling. "Man! I can't find squat! It's like all the information about the Soul Drives has already been discovered!" He groaned before he sat up and looked down at his chest compartment, where his own Soul Drive sat.

A frown glinting in his green 'eyes', Guneagle found himself unlatching his Soul Drive compartment's seals, which allowed the unit to show itself as his armored chest compartment slowly rotated outwards to expose the Soul Drive. The silver rings, around the sphere which glowed white, rotated easily. The golden flame burned normally, showing the unit was giving off the normal energy readings.

'We know everything about the Soul Drives? That can't be right...' Guneagle thought as he reached up to touch his Soul Drive. It was warm, but not a burning heat.

Sighing, Guneagle closed up his Soul Drive compartment's hatch and felt it latch into place. He turned his attention back to his computer before he smiled at the sight of a game being shown on another monitor. It was the monthly tournament in the Digital Realms Tourney. Several teams had signed up, some of which he recognized. Two names stood out to him on the leaderboards.

Guneagle chuckled as he remembered those two well.

'Hard to believe it's been two years since I met them.' The flying Gundam mused to himself as he looked up at the ceiling again. 'One was causing trouble, the other was just trying to get into the Tourney scene.'

---Flashback---

Guneagle whooped as he saw the VICTORY screen on his main monitor. "Yes! Another win for DeltaBravo!" He joked to no one in particular, using his online screenname.

The chat lit up with praises as well as complaints. Guneagle frowned at the complaints, with most of them being about how he was a glory-hog and a showoff. Some even said they would never be on a team with him because of how good he was at gaming.

It hurt to read the last category of complaints, because he was actually looking for teammates.

Sighing, the aerial combat specialist closed the chat, not wanting to read it anymore. He was about to log out when he saw a random player running around the server lobby. Other players were starting to chase after said player, which surprised Guneagle. Curious, he opened the chat again, only to see one player was typing like crazy.

*ArcherAshe: I'm telling ya', BomberMac is a cheater! I saw it!*

Guneagle blinked as he read that. As far as he knew, the moderator BomberMac was a decent fellow. Hell, the flying Gundam had been approved for the server by the guy!

*HarryHorror: Yeah, right! You're just mad because you got banned from the party room by him!*

*ArcherAshe: But I'm not mad! He's just mad I know he's a hacker!*

*ScientistOne: Get out of here, ya cheat!*

*MadDawgMonica: You're just mad that BomberMac is a good mod!*

*WandaWielder: Go crawl back into your hole, ya pest!*

*ArcherAshe: Really?! You're gonna blame ME for everything?! I might be a mod user, but I'm not a cheater!*

Guneagle frowned. It sounded like this ArcherAshe player had some issues with BomberMac.

*ArcherAshe: Check the rankings! I mean it! BomberMac has always been at the top! Why? Because he cheats!*

*MadDawgMonica: No, it's because he's that good a player! You're just jealous!*

*ArcherAshe: Oh sure! Like I would be jealous of a cheater!*

Guneagle could see this wasn't going well for ArcherAshe. While the flying Gundam was aware he could bring this up to BomberMac, the last thing he wanted was to get involved in player drama.

Still, Guneagle watched as the player ArcherAshe was finally cornered. A few other players were on his case. Guneagle observed, having his own player avatar walk over to see what was going on, only to be stopped by the moderator BomberMac.

*BomberMac: No need to go further, DeltaBravo. ArcherAshe will not be causing anymore trouble on this server soon enough.*

*DeltaBravo: What did he do to warrant such a reaction from the other players?*

*BomberMac: He's just a cheater and hacker. He refuses to accept the rules. That's all.*

Now, for any other player, that would have been acceptable, but Guneagle wasn't just any other player. He was one of the top ten on the server. He had seen other skilled players in matches, and had to admit that even the top five could beat him in campaign matches. There was video of the top five players winning their matches. But something unsettled the aerial combat specialist; of the top five, only four had video of their matches.

Guneagle didn't want to poke around in other people's business. He wasn't going to get banned from the server.

*DeltaBravo: Okay. I'm sorry I got in your way*

As Guneagle had his player avatar walk to the exit circle, he decided to check the waiting list to see who else was in line to be granted admittance to the server.

The list came up, showing some of the waiting players. One was HelldoHelga, who was in the latest batch of players to be let in. Guneagle couldn't help but chuckle at the username. It wasn't often he saw a random pairing of words and a name as such.

Still, he had to log off; he had patrol in ten minutes. So, Guneagle logged off and closed out of the server.

---End Flashback---

'That was my first encounter with Ashe, and boy, did he make a ruckus.' Guneagle thought with amusement before more memories came to mind.

'And then Matti... she sure made a scene with the fact she wasn't getting into the server.'

---Flashback---

"HelldoHelga: Why am I not being allowed into the server?! I've waited for three months now! Most people get in within a week!*

*BomberMac: The list hasn't gotten to you yet. It will, don't worry, sweetcheeks~ <3 *Kissing emoji**

*HelldoHelga: You're sick, you know that?*

Guneagle blinked as he read the thread on the main forums for the Digital Realms MMORPG. He had been checking the admittance list ever since ArcherAshe had been banned a few days after that debacle on the server a few months ago, and from what he had seen, HelldoHelga had been on the list still.

It seemed the player was now getting a bit irritated by the lack of admittance, but something about BomberMac's response made him feel uneasy. It didn't help only the first three posts were visible.

Frowning to himself beneath his facemask, Guneagle accessed the forums and logged on. He found the thread in question was a private thread. He frowned before he tapped his top ten status, and watched as BomberMac and HelldoHelga typed again. Being in the top ten players on a server meant he had moderator access on the forums for that server.

*BomberMac: I could expedite your admittance to the server... if you give me some of those items I asked for...*

*HelldoHelga: What?! No way! You're the sicko creep here! I'm not going to do that just to join your dumb server!*

*BomberMac: Then I guess you will have to wait another three months, sweetcakes~ <3 *kissy-face emoji**

*HelldoHelga: Stop calling me that!*

*BomberMac: Oh, come now, sweetcheeks... Don't play so hard to get~ <3 *eyebrow wiggle emoji**

*HelldoHelga: I'm not 'sweetcheeks'! Stop it, ya creep!*

Guneagle scowled as he read the posts in that thread. Private threads were not readable by other players, but to the top ten? It was.

'Geez... I thought BomberMac was a decent guy. I guess I was wrong...' Guneagle thought as he closed out of the thread and thought back on how ArcherAshe had been insistent that the moderator for the server was a cheater and hacker.

'Hmmm... I wonder...' Guneagle thought as he looked over his computer setup. Yes, he had a few mods he could run, and maybe he could use one of them to see what was going on with BomberMac on the server.

His mind made up, Guneagle brought up Discord and began to look for ArcherAshe on there. He found the correct user soon enough, as the username had a little 'Digital Realms MMORPG server mod cheats, bans those who disagree with him' in the status bar.

*DeltaBravo: Are you ArcherAshe?*

There was silence as the small typing icon was shown before a response came up.

*ArcherAshe: What's it to you? I bet you agree with that cheat that I'm the cheater and hacker.*

*DeltaBravo: Nope. In fact, I found something unusual in the forums.*

*ArcherAshe: Oh? What? How BomberMac is a great and swell fellow? *gag emoji*

*DeltaBravo: A player called HelldoHelga has been waiting for admittance for three months. Private thread where she was complaining to him. I'm one of the top ten, so I'm considered a mod on his server forums. I checked the thread... Has he always been a creep?*

*ArcherAshe: ... maybe... I just know he doesn't like me because I saw him cheating.*

*DeltaBravo: Well... I just saw him trying to get some... um... he wants something from HelldoHelga in exchange for 'expediting' her admission to the server, and based on her answers, it sounds like he wants something... um...*

*ArcherAshe: ... you're kidding me... Seriously?*

*DeltaBravo: Nope. I ain't joking.*

*ArcherAshe: Dude... BomberMac's gonna have it out for YOU now if he realizes you were peeking at his private thread!*

Guneagle hesitated when he read that. It had been a possibility he had considered, but, ultimately, he knew checking out that thread had been the right thing to do.

*ArcherAshe: BomberMac's so gonna be on your case for this... He could possibly SWAT you too! I know he did to a close friend of mine once, all because she refused to send him something of her that he wanted.*

Guneagle almost choked as he took in a breath of air, which was impossible because he was a Gundam, not an organic being like a human. He couldn't believe it! This kid had no idea who he was chatting with!

A chuckle escaped Guneagle as he typed up his response.

*DeltaBravo: Well, there's a little secret about me that even BomberMac doesn't know~ ;3

*ArcherAshe: ?*

*DeltaBravo: Let's just say that if he tries to SWAT me, well... I doubt he would be able to get the NPD to even get to where I live. XD*

*ArcherAshe: What do you mean? You some kind of rich boy?*

*DeltaBravo: Nope~ Although I'd wish if I was the same as you.*

*ArcherAshe: Okay, you're freaking me out a bit, DeltaBravo. What do you mean by that?*

*DeltaBravo: I'm not a rich boy. I'm more of a... 'military brat'. :3*

A surprised face ':O' emoji was shown as the response.

*DeltaBravo: If BomberMac wants to SWAT me, he will have to get the NPD to head to the base, which isn't easily accessible to civilians. :3*

*ArcherAshe: He could if he contacts the MPs.*

Guneagle snorted before typing up a response to that.

*DeltaBravo: That's not possible.*

*ArcherAshe: Then please! Explain what you mean! I'm freaking out here because if he sends SWAT, you could die like my friend almost did!*

Guneagle had a glint appear in his green 'eyes'. He knew he would be in big trouble because of what he was about to reveal, but it would calm the kid down.

*DeltaBravo: Okay, here's the lowdown. I said I was military, but I am actually affiliated with the Soul Defensive Guard. Have you heard of them?*

*ArcherAshe: ... ... THE SDG?!*

Guneagle laughed at that reaction before typing up his response.

*DeltaBravo: Yep~! I'm part of the Neotopian Branch to be exact.*

*ArcherAshe: Dude! This is great! No wonder you sound so confident when you say BomberMac can't SWAT you!*

*DeltaBravo: Yep! But... that aside... you said BomberMac went after a friend of yours and tried to SWAT her?*

*ArcherAshe: Yeah. She almost died because one fired bullets into her house, causing life-threatening injuries.*

Guneagle frowned at that. He had heard of the trend of sending SWAT teams to people's houses as a prank, and he didn't like it. In fact, one member of another SDG branch in the US had been SWATted at one point, prompting the organization's national command for America to call out the practice/trend, saying it was a bad trend that needed to stop.

*DeltaBravo: Well, I think I have an idea. You want to expose BomberMac as a hacker and cheat, I want to expose him as a creep. What do you say we team up against him?*

*ArcherAshe: Are you sure?*

*DeltaBravo: Dude, I wouldn't be suggesting it if I wasn't sure.*

The response from ArcherAshe had been all Guneagle had needed to solidify a new friendship.

---End Flashback---

'It didn't take long for Ashe to take a liking to me. And them Matti... hoo boy... She was a real firecracker when I contacted her on the forums for her Discord name.' Guneagle thought as he recalled how the girl had reacted.

---Flashback---

Guneagle could see HelldoHelga was still not on the server's lobby a few weeks later. The player was complaining, but she still wasn't being let on. Guneagle had a sneaking suspicion of why too. He wasn't one for causing trouble (except for his pranks), but in this case... he decided to make an exception. But first...

He logged onto the forums, which were separate from the main game server. Even people who weren't on the server could post on the forums as a result.

Poking around the forums, Guneagle decided to see if anyone had been posting stuff about BomberMac, but all of the threads that he found were positive feedback and praises. Guneagle frowned; if what he had read a few weeks ago was any indication, then it was possible that maybe BomberMac was using his vice-admin status to remove any and all negative threads. It certainly seemed possible.

While he could have messaged random members, Guneagle didn't want to seem like a creep who had it out for BomberMac. ArcherAshe was already in that boat; he didn't need anyone else joining him at the moment.

Guneagle could see HelldoHelga was active on the boards, but her protests and complaints weren't being answered by the admin, most likely due to BomberMac removing them. Guneagle watched as a few posts made by her were removed whenever he refreshed the page.

Frowning, Guneagle decided enough was enough. He clicked on HelldoHelga's name and her profile came up. There, he hit the PM button. The PM page came up and the aerial Gundam typed out his message to her.

*DeltaBravo: Hey, so you've been raising a stink around here?*

It didn't take long for a PM to come back.

*HelldoHelga: What's it to you? I just wanted to play DR, but that creep of a vice-admin won't let me in! Not unless I give him photos of myself! *gag emoji* But of course, you're one of the mods, right? I'll bet you won't help me. I've complained to the other mods, but the posts are removed by that creep!*

Guneagle typed up his response.

*DeltaBravo: Why do you think I contacted you over PMs? I saw your threads being removed and even that private thread.*

There was a new message a few seconds later.

*HelldoHelga: You saw that?! Aw man! Now I'm definitely not going to be allowed into the server! DX

Guneagle was quick to reply.

*DeltaBravo: Whoa, whoa! Calm down! I ain't gonna report you to BomberMac. Not after what he did to ArcherAshe and his little SWAT... *gag emoji* prank on one of their friends*

There was another message from HelldoHelga a few seconds later.

*HelldoHelga: Are you kidding me?! WAAAAAH! I don't wanna be SWATTED! DX *cry emoji*

Guneagle quickly typed a reply.

*DeltaBravo: Whoa! Calm down! I said I WASN'T gonna report you! Geez... And I thought he was just a creep...*

HelldoHelga typed a message and sent it.

*HelldoHelga: He's more than a creep! He's a bully and 'pranks' those who he dislikes by sending SWAT to their places of residence. He's even bragged about it to me, but when I try to tell the other mods or the admin? I'm seen as the bad guy trying to smear an 'upstanding' member of the boards here! >:(*

Guneagle typed up his reply.

*DeltaBravo: Well, you're not the only one. ArcherAshe has been gone after too because he saw the guy cheating. I haven't seen it myself, but based on what I'm reading, seeing, and hearing, I think BomberMac may not be the saint he is made out to be*

There was a response a few seconds later.

*HelldoHelga: At least someone on these boards "believes" me...*

Guneagle typed a response and sent it.

*DeltaBravo: Hey, if you want, we could probably talk more over Discord, since I don't trust BomberMac to leave PMs alone for long. The sooner we can get this discussion off the boards, the better*

There was a reply in seconds.

*HelldoHelga: Why? So you can threaten me? I doubt you even believe me. >:(*

Guneagle frowned, but he had to admit, the lack of action from the other mods did give a valid reason for the disbelief.

*DeltaBravo: No, so we can actually talk. I just want to know what the heck he is up to and what his interactions with you have been. Besides, ArcherAshe has been just as much a victim of him as you have been. I think the two of you would probably hit it off.*

The response made Guneagle roll his 'eyes'.

*HelldoHelga: No way! For all I know, you are in league with BomberMac! Everyone I talked to seems to be, so why not you as well?! >:(*

Guneagle replied right away.

*DeltaBravo: Um... I'm rarely on the boards. I'm mostly on the server. Just because I'm one of the top ten doesn't mean I'm on BomberMac's side. But if you're that insistent I'm a bad guy, then I suppose I can leave you to deal with BomberMac alone. Or, you can take a chance with me and ArcherAshe to expose the creep.*

HelldoHelga typed a reply quickly.

*HelldoHelga: I said no! Now leave me alone! I am NOT sending that creep the photos of me he wants, so tell your boss to stop harassing me!*

HelldoHelga then blocked him.

Guneagle groaned; he had been hoping she would see reason, but it appeared it wasn't going to happen.

The aerial Gundam got up and left, seeing that it was time for his patrol. 'Maybe she will respond after a few hours of cooling down...' Guneagle thought to himself as he left his room.

-----

Returning from an uneventful patrol, Guneagle flopped down into his chair and logged in to the game, hoping to see if anything had changed with HelldoHelga's status, but to his dismay, she was still not allowed into the server.

Guneagle, curious, poked onto the forums, only to see a message had popped up into his inbox on the forums. He accessed it, and it was HelldoHelga; she had sent another message after unblocking him.

*HelldoHelga: Okay, look, ya deadbeat mod. If you truly want to help me get onto the server, my Discord name is the same one as here: HelldoHelga. I'm taking the chance of trusting you over trying to reason with that creep-ass vice-admin, so this had better be worth it.*

Guneagle felt a grin cross his concealed face under his facemask.

Bringing up Discord, he saw there was a message waiting for him from HelldoHelga.

*HelldoHelga: Okay, I am sending you pics of all the threads, posts, etc. I have sent to BomberMac, the other admins, etc. This had better be worth all of this trouble.*

Guneagle brought up the message and began his conversation with her.

---End Flashback---

Guneagle couldn't help but chuckle at the memories of what came next. 'Oooh boy, did we cause some chaos on the boards and that server after that. Well... at least Ashe did while Matti posted all the stuff she had on him on the board. And me? ...Eeehh... The less said about that, the better...'

---Flashback---

Guneagle had been waiting for this day. Him, HelldoHelga, and ArcherAshe had been talking long and in depth about what to do and how to handle this. Now, they had a plan and it was time to get to work. Guneagle knew his part of the plan wasn't known of, just that he would be compiling all the stuff HelldoHelga had sent him. But he had another part to his end; and that was where his skills came in handy.

*HelldoHelga: This had better be worth it, DeltaBravo. I'm gonna be blocked from the server if this doesn't work.*

Guneagle typed up his response on Discord.

*DeltaBravo: Don't worry. It's ArcherAshe who's gonna be the menace, not you. He just has to run his part of the plan, and you just expose all of your stuff that went down. I've got my part covered. ;3*

*ArcherAshe: You never said what your part of the plan was though, DeltaBravo.*

*DeltaBravo: Trust me, it's gonna rock his world! XD*

Two impassive emoji faces were shown from the other two.

*DeltaBravo: Alright, let's get started. You two know what to do, so let's do this.*

Guneagle had all five monitors on, with the top left corner showing the server forums website while the bottom right corner was showing the Digital Realms server that was being run. ArcherAshe's little project was going on, relying on a throwaway account to get in there.

HelldoHelga was already getting a thread going, and PMing some of the mods as well as the server admin to read it.

Guneagle smirked to himself as he compiled all of the stuff BomberMac had sent to HelldoHelga. But that wasn't all. On the top right monitor and bottom left monitor were two programs running concurrently, a couple of password and email programs. Guneagle wasn't much of a hacker, but he could do it if he wanted to, and he was very good at it. He just didn't like to because it was frowned upon unless it served a purpose. Guneagle was also running The Onion Router, or TOR, to make sure he wasn't so easily tracked online.

But now? Now there was a reason, and he wasn't going to sit back and let others suffer because of a messed up vice-admin.

Running the two programs, Guneagle found the email address and password to BomberMac's account. Smirking to himself, Guneagle entered the password and email address. He had managed to get into BomberMac's account. The PMs were his destination. When Guneagle brought up the PM page? His 'eyes' shrank a little at what he was seeing.

Immediately, he began to compile screenshots and whatnot into a folder. Guneagle also did a reverse search to expose the IP of BomberMac, which he then added into the folder.

However, Guneagle made sure to also note that this was an SDG employee who was behind this revelation after an investigation had been done independently.

As he was doing this, glancing at the other two monitors with one that showed ArcherAshe was already exposing BomberMac's account on the server as using all sorts of cheats and hacks that were banned by all users and players of Digital Realms, at least on his server. Apparently, ArcherAshe had somehow found gained access to the server's controls and could now see who was using what mods and stuff.

Guneagle snorted to himself. 'Talk about being a hypocrite...' He thought to himself before he saw HelldoHelga's side of the project. It was starting to attract attention from several other users, and it seemed to be blowing up, so to speak.

Guneagle smirked. He expected it to happen, which is why his part was even more vital. He was to capture screenshots of what was going on, both of before and after. And do that he did.

Turning his attention from the forum website for the server, Guneagle went back to his own part of the plan. He continued to compile the PM screenshots between BomberMac and some of the female members of the forum and on the server. Then, he logged off of BomberMac's account.

Checking back at the server lobby, Guneagle couldn't help but laugh as he saw ArcherAshe going to town. He had decided to challenge BomberMac to a match without his cheats and hacks and now the server mod was having a tough time without his precious cheats and hacks.

A quick check and page refresh on the forum website showed the thread started by HelldoHelga was indeed locked and removed quickly, which Guneagle took a picture of and saved as a screenshot.

Guneagle saved it to the folder, making sure the folder was a "zipped" folder. ArcherAshe was no doubt making sure to record his matches against BomberMac that he would then put up on YouTube for exposing the fraud.

Turning away from the matches, Guneagle finally finished his part. He poked a peek at the forum website for the server, only to see BomberMac was going after HelldoHelga with a thread claiming she was causing nothing but trouble and trying to smear his good name.

But other female members were coming back and saying what he had done to them, posting images of their PMs on the thread. Guneagle smirked, taking screenshots of those posts and compiling them into the folder.

Finally, the forum website admin and server owner came on and was trying to restore order.

Guneagle quickly finished his work and began to compose an email to the local police and the FBI, which wasn't really common, considering the Sol Defensive Guard was more of handling space-based and dimensional threats than Earth-based threats.

Still, the two law enforcement groups would no doubt take it seriously if it came from an SDG member.

Finally, Guneagle sent off the email with the folder attached.

Now all he had to do was wait to see how ArcherAshe and HelldoHelga did with their parts.

It didn't take long for the results to show; ArcherAshe not only beat BomberMac in three matches, but the forum website admin and server owner had decided to suspend BomberMac and look into the 'allegations' during that time.

Guneagle chuckled as he watched this go down live before him. 'Oh boy... now just to wait a few weeks to see what happens...'

-----

During the months-long waiting period, Guneagle had decided to hold off on playing DR, just chatting with the two who had helped him with the plan. They were talking on voice chat, planning to do a screen reveal to each other.

"I'm telling ya, BomberMac is gonna be so mad at us!" ArcherAshe laughed from his icon.

"Hey, you were the one raising a big stink about him being a hacker and a cheat!" HelldoHelga retorted.

"And didn't you raise a stink about not being allowed on the server?" Guneagle pointed out with a smirk of his own. "The server that you are now a part of?"

"Oh, shut it, DeltaBravo!" HelldoHelga snarked back.

"By the way, I don't think we know each other's names, just our screen names." ArcherAshe said. "Shouldn't we... you know... introduce ourselves and show our faces?"

"I don't know..." HelldoHelga grumbled. "I'm not so sure about it."

"Hey, neither of us have anything against you." Guneagle assured her.

"I guess..." HelldoHelga huffed.

"I guess I'm up first then." ArcherAshe said. "Since I started this whole thing, I will be going first. I'm Ashleigh Watson, but everyone calls me Ashe, with an 'e'." His screen icon flickered before it showed a 13 year old with black hair and brown eyes, wearing a cool retro-looking headset and a mic in front of his face.

HelldoHelga's icon disappeared next, showing a girl who was about 12 with red eyes behind glasses and blonde hair. Her gaming headset was white with a blue line down the sides that was glowing, even over the ear coverings. "I'm Matilda Henrys, but call me Matti. If you call me by my full name, you're going to be in for it." She growled out.

Ashe blinked before he busted out laughing. "Your name is Matilda?! Isn't that an old lady's name?!"

"Call me that again and I will beat your butt in a campaign match so fast you will regret it!" Matti snapped.

Guneagle was shaking, both with excitement and nervousness. He was up next.

"Well... I'm last... here it goes." Guneagle said as he activated his computer's built-in camera. He could see both Matti and Ashe's jaws drop as he was shown to them. "I'm Guneagle, and as you can probably tell, yes, I am affiliated with the Sol Defensive Guard." He pointed at his shoulder armor's badges."

"You're DeltaBravo?!" Ashe exclaimed in shock.

Guneagle nodded. "Yep. Quite the surprise huh?"

"So your claims of not being able to be SWATted were true then." Matti noted with interest.

"Hey, BomberMac wouldn't be able to send MPs and SWAT to a base that can't be reached." Guneagle chuckled. "But that aside-"

The three friends were cut off as a beep came from all of their PCs. It was the news update.

Guneagle, curious, opened his news feed first. His 'eyes' shrank a bit before he yelped in excitement! "YES! Haha! Take a look, guys! BomberMac just ate it good!"

Both Ashe and Matti looked as well and sure enough, on their own news feeds, there was an article that had just come out.

Matti gaped before a laugh escaped her. “Are you kidding me?! That’s awesome!” She exclaimed. “He actually tried to be a sleaze to one of the undercover officers?! If that isn’t damning enough, I don’t know what else is!”

“Hey, it also says he’s been charged with abusing police assets when he’s been SWATting others!” Ashe exclaimed. “I can’t believe it! He’s actually been charged with that as a crime! I swear, I’m gonna send this article to Mary!”

“She’s the one whom BomberMac SWATted?” Guneagle asked as Ashe nodded.

“Yeah. And as I said, she almost lost her life to it.” Ashe replied.

“Then this will be good news for her.” Matti grinned.

Ashe laughed as well. “Yeah, it sure will!” He agreed.

Then, Ashe looked at Matti and Guneagle. “You know, if not for you two, I’d still be banned from the server. If not for you, Guneagle, Matti would still be waiting to join the server. And if not for Matti, BomberMac would still be being a creep.”

”Yeah, so?” Guneagle asked, curious about where Ashe was going with this.

Matti also looked interested.

Ashe leaned back n his chair. “We each helped each other. What I’m trying to say is, what if one of us needs help again? What would we do?”

Guneagle ‘grinned’. “That’s simple. We’d just do it again.”

Matti nodded. “Yeah. I won’t lie anyone else go through what I went through this time around.”

Guneagle nodded in agreement. “And I’m the same way. I’d gladly do what I did this time again.”

Ashe blinked in surprise before he smiled softly. “You guys…” He reached up and wiped at his eyes. “That means a lot to me.”

Guneagle leaned back as well. “Well, how about this. If any of us needs help, we promise to help each other out.”

“But… what about DR? We’re not a team.” Matti pointed out. “We can’t exactly do matches together and we need to be on teams if we want to do the tourney scene next month.”

Guneagle and Ashe frowned before Guneagle perked up. “Wait… what if we became a team? I mean, because of how good I am at the game, no one wants to be on a team with me.”

Matti looked down in thought as she considered.

Ashe spoke up next. “Well, I can’t find a team since some people on the server don’t believe what was said about BomberMac, even though the server owner banned him for life.”

Matti snorted. “You’re not the only one. I’m known as ‘the one who smeared his good name’. No one wants me on a team either.”

The three looked at each other before Guneagle spoke up again. “You two…?”

Ashe shrugged. “Why not? None of us can get on a team. We may as well make our own.”

Matti grinned. “Plus, we’d probably make the top five for teams! I mean, if you are able to be in the top ten consistently, that’s a good thing for us!”

Ashe laughed. “And I have some pretty sick mods that make me a real menace!”

The trio laughed, having found new friends in a time of uncertainty for each of them…

—-End Flashbacks—-

‘No matter what, the three of us will never hesitate to help the others.’ Guneagle thought as he watched Ashe and Matti dominate the battle, Matti using her recklessness to lure the other team into Ashe’s trap; the mod Ashe was using had glue grenades that were part of it.

Ashe sprang the trap and the match was a victory for the two of them. Guneagle chuckled. It was too bad he had been knocked out of the last match, meaning the two of it had to go it alone this time around. But Ashe and Matti were holding their own. He had faith they could win this match.

‘No matter what, DR Team Delta will stick together.’ Guneagle thought to himself.