CURRENT DATE: July 27, 2299. 13:00 hours.

"Be careful with that, Traxx! I've been working on it for months and I just finally finished it," Tech yelled worriedly.

"It's fine. I didn't damage your precious little experiment."

"It wasn't fine last week when you did break it!"

"Well I'm sorry! How was I supposed to know that it wasn't meant to channel that much electricity?"

Tech was furious. "Because I told you how much power you were to give it!"

"No you didn't!"

"Yes I did! I knew I should've asked Surefire or Metal Storm to help me instead of you!"

"Well fine then! I'm leaving." Traxx turned around and stormed out of the science lab.

"Good riddance," Tech muttered to himself just as he heard Ace's voice on the intercom.

"Tech, come to the main control room immediately. I have a mission for you."

"Oh good. Now I'll have a chance to test this... before Traxx breaks it." Tech walked out of the science lab and into the main control room. Skids was monitoring the sensor displays and communications systems at the main computer as usual, and Ace was talking with Surefire. "You called, Ace?"

"Yes. Surefire's finished building the new gun turret. I want you and Aura to go with him to help set it up."

"Sure. Now I can test my new invention."

"What is it?" Ace queried.

"It's a new communications chip I've been working on. It will allow free range communication outside the base. That way, we can report anything without having to come back to the base, just in case there is a problem. It's installed right into your arm and has a 100 kilometre radius. The chip is on a very high, and isolated, frequency. This high frequency allows it to function even with strong interference around us, and having it isolated prevents any Dark Shadow members from listening in on our conversations." Tech stopped for a second to make sure Ace had heard everything, then continued. "It will only take a minute to install the chip. If it works, it will only be a simple matter to replicate copies of it for everyone."

"Didn't the humans invent something like this 400 years ago? I believe it was called a telephone," Skids said sarcastically, still looking at the computer screen.

Tech glared at Skids. "In case you haven't noticed, there aren't exactly any telephone lines outside of Last Haven. Plus, this is built right into your arm and has a much stronger signal than an ordinary telephone."

Ace ignored Skids' comment. "That's great, Tech. This mission will be a perfect test." He paused for a moment. "As soon as Aura gets back you can leave. She already knows about the assignment."

"Where is Aura anyway?"

"She and Maxim went for a walk a couple of hours ago. They should be back soon." Ace had barely finished his sentence when Aura and Maxim appeared in the main entranceway, both smiling. "There's your answer, Tech."

Skids looked up from his work. "What have you two been doing that has you so happy?"

"Oh, nothing," they said together.

"Come on. You don't really expect me to believe that you were doing nothing for the past two hours?"

Aura and Maxim looked at each other, then back at Skids. "Just walking," Maxim answered, as innocently as he could. Aura was glowing pink.

A look of confusion followed by silence swept across the room. After a couple of seconds Skids suddenly realized what Maxim was talking about, promptly turned around, and went back to his work.

"If you three are finished," Ace said, breaking the silence.

"We're finished," Aura replied quickly, her glow disappearing.

"Then you'd best be going. Maxim, I want to talk to you in my office about the latest intelligence report."

Maxim nodded and followed Ace out of the room while Surefire, Tech, and Aura exited the base. "The turret's already outside and loaded onto the cart."

"I know. I saw it when I came in," Aura responded.

Surefire and Aura took a hold of the cart and began to pull it behind them as they started out on their trek. "I hope there are no giant robots along the way," Tech said jokingly.

Surefire and Aura both gave him a dark look. "That's not funny," Aura growled.

"Sorry," Tech apologized, remembering what happened the last time someone was sent on a mission that had to do with the gun turrets. "Hey, Aura. You don't know about my new communications chip yet, do you?" Tech asked, changing the subject.

"Communications chip?"

Tech quickly installed the chip in his arm and then proceeded to explain its function to Aura. After Tech had finished the three of them spent the next 45 minutes talking about the advantages it would have over Dark Shadow. The trio had already passed through the area that had been incinerated when the giant robot exploded and had almost arrived at their destination when something caught Tech's eye. "What is that?" Tech asked softly.

Everybody stopped moving. "What is what?" Aura questioned.

"There's something shining over at the base of that mountain," Tech stated, pointing toward a large hill about a kilometre away. "I'm going to check it out."

"We should set up the turret first, Tech," Surefire protested, but Tech had already left.

Running, it only took three minutes to traverse the distance. Tech nearly jumped in surprise when he found the object that was gleaming. A small metal doorway was almost completely buried in the ground, covered by what looked like numerous rock slides. "This wasn't there the last time we were out here," Tech thought to himself. Written on the top of the doorway was an inscription. Tech simply stared in amazement as he read the message. "I don't believe it."

Aura and Surefire caught up with Tech. "What did you find?" Aura asked.

"It's a doorway buried in the mountain," Tech answered.

"Where does it lead?"

Tech pointed to the inscription. "See for yourself."

Aura and Surefire looked down at the writing on the doorway and read it aloud. "Sandhill Data Storage Library."

Skids was still working at the main computer when a beeping noise sounded from the speaker beside him. "Yes?" he answered, after pushing the respond button.

"Skids? This is Tech. I need to talk to Ace immediately."

"Tech! Your communicator works!"

"Of course it works! Now I need to talk to Ace."

"He's still in his office with Maxim and doesn't want to be disturbed."

"I don't care. This is important."

"Fine," Skids sighed as he pressed another button. "Ace..."

"I told you I didn't want to be disturbed!" Ace said angrily, cutting Skids off. "What do you want?"

"We're busy in here," Maxim added.

"Tech's on the intercom and wants to talk to you. Says it's important."

Ace's tone changed. "The communicator works?"

"Of course it works!" Skids responded, mimicking Tech's voice as best he could.

"All right. Put him through."

Skids pushed another button and diverted the communique to Ace's office. "Ace here. Why are you disturbing me, Tech?"

"I found something. A building buried in a mountain near the site where the turret is supposed to go. An inscription on the doorway reads `Sandhill Data Storage Library`."

Maxim, who was leaning against the wall impatiently with his arms crossed, looked up with interest. "That's the name of the file you said you found in the giant robot, isn't it?"

"Yes it is. I was doing some research on it. During the war, three data storage libraries were built. Each of them contained every bit of data concerning the war, Earth history, weapons and other technology, new and experimental ideas for technology, as well as information on every robot ever built. Discovering one of the libraries still standing is an extremely valuable find. Should we investigate it further?"

Ace thought for a moment. "Not yet. Continue with your assignment and set up the gun turret. Then report back to the base and we can make plans for a proper mission."

"Ace..." Tech started to say.

"Forget it, Tech. We'll check it out once you're finished the assignment."

"Understood," Tech growled.

Tech shut off his communicator and relayed the conversation to Aura and Surefire. "We're supposed to set up the turret and then go back to the base."

"Then let's go. The sooner the better," replied Surefire.

The three resumed their trip and had arrived at the site within fifteen minutes. Surefire and Aura unloaded the turret and set it into place.

"How long is this going to take?" Aura asked.

"It should only take a few minutes. We just have to make sure that it is secured in the ground and then calibrate the computer targeting system," Tech answered.

Surefire and Aura made sure the turret was fixed in place while Tech worked with the computer. Five minutes later, they had finished. "That was easy. Let's return to the base," Surefire said, as he grabbed hold of the cart that had carried the turret and started to walk back to their headquarters.

After fifteen minutes, when they had returned to the place where they had made the discovery, Tech stopped. "I don't care what Ace said, I'm going to check out that building right now." Aura and Surefire just stood there and stared as Tech ran towards the data storage library.

Aura sighed. I guess we should follow him." She and Surefire started running after Tech.

"Aura. You do know we're going to live to regret this."

"I'm sure of it."

By the time Aura and Surefire had caught up, Tech had already dug out half the entranceway. "Enthusiastic, aren't we, Tech?" Aura commented.

"Do you realize what this discovery means? Every piece of information about the war and the construction of robots ever recorded. We could use it to defeat Dark Shadow once and for all."

"Unless, of course, Dark Shadow has already found it."

"Does it look like they've already found it? The entrance is buried in the ground."

"Maybe there's another way in."

"Don't be so negative." Tech finished clearing away enough material to fit through the door and jumped inside. Aura and Surefire quickly followed. He turned to face the others. "It's too dark. Aura, do you think you could light the way?"

"Oh sure. The instant you need a flashlight you turn to the one who glows all the time. As I keep telling everyone, I am not a light bulb!"

"Well..."

"Don't even think about saying it, Surefire."

"Say what?" he replied innocently.

Aura glared at him for a moment then shrugged her shoulders. "Fine. You want light? Here's some light." She turned on her Light Halo at low intensity and began to glow a white colour.

"Hey! Are trying to blind us?!" Surefire yelled.

"This is as dim as my Light Halo can go. It wasn't exactly meant to light passageways."

The three walked down the corridor for about 150 metres when the hall abruptly ended and opened into a large room. The room was dark like the hallway, and everything was covered with dirt, rocks and other debris. The left and far walls were lined with computer terminals and a table in the centre of the room contained another computer. Slightly outward from the near wall were several large stacks of boxes, all of which were labelled `Files`. The right wall was clear except for a large doorway at the far end and a small panel to the right, which was lit up.

"Look at this place!" Tech said in awe.

"Yeah, real nice," Aura said sarcastically.

"You just can't appreciate the value of this find."

"Well excuse me. We flashlights don't have much use for computers."

Without warning, an array of dim lights lined around the ceiling turned on. "Is that better Aura?" Surefire asked, his hand on the control panel by the door.

"Much," she replied, turning off her Light Halo.

Surefire began reading the words on the control panel. "Tech, why is this on? Doesn't it seem rather strange?"

"Auxiliary power system. Must still be functional. What does the panel say, anyway?"

"`Number of files: 1,364,243. Memory: 42,567 terrabytes. Maximum storage capacity: 75,000 terrabytes`. Underneath the readout are two buttons, labelled `Lights` and `Door`."

"That must be the computer readout monitor. It keeps track of what is stored in the computer archive. It has a lot more memory than I would have thought, though."

"What's in the boxes?" Aura asked, looking closely at one of them.

"Backup files. Stored on diskettes. That's why there are so many of them."

Surefire pressed the button marked `Door` and waited as it slid open. "I'm going to see what's in here. You coming, Aura?"

"Might as well. Computer-head here seems a little busy." Tech had wiped the dirt off of one of the computer screens and was busy working at getting the machine operational. Surefire and Aura walked through the doorway and into a short, narrow passageway with another door at the end. They headed down the hall and Surefire opened the second door.

Surefire looked around in amazement. "Wow," was the only thing that came to mind as he struggled to find the right words.

"That's an understatement," Aura managed to say. The two robots had just entered a massive circular room that was at least 400 metres across and almost as high. Aura and Surefire were standing on a walkway that travelled around the entire room. An elevator, located a short distance away, extended 50 metres down to the bottom, where there were various construction devices randomly scattered about. The walls and floor were completely covered with metal sheets and three doors were located at the other end of the room.

Surefire moved over to the edge of the walkway and looked down. "Half the mountain is hollow!" he exclaimed.

Aura joined him on the edge of the walkway. "Well, not quite half. The mountain's a little bigger than this. But this is still pretty incredible."

"This is why we never knew about that giant robot. Dark Shadow built it inside the mountain. There is probably some huge door that opens up around here."

Aura suddenly realized something. "If Dark Shadow built the giant robot in here, then they do already know about this place..."

"And they might still be here!" Surefire said, finishing Aura's sentence.

"We had better warn Tech." Aura ran back towards the door with Surefire in tow. "Tech! Tech!" she yelled as she reached the computer room.

"What? I think this is fixed now." Tech connected one last wire and all the computers lit up. "Yes!" he whispered to himself.

"Tech. I think Dark Shadow is here somewhere." Aura replied quickly. All three robots failed to notice that in addition to the computers activating, a tile in the roof had slid back and something was emerging from inside the ceiling.

"What do you mean Dark... What the... A pulse laser! Look out!"

The warning came too late. The weapon fired and hit Aura in the arm, knocking her backwards. As she tried to regain her balance the weapon fired again, and the blast hit her squarely in the midsection. Aura screamed and collapsed.

"Aura!" Surefire cried.

Tech dove behind the boxes as the weapon turned around and fired, hitting him in the leg. "Surefire! Get out of the way!"

Surefire picked up Aura and ran to the boxes as another blast discharged from the weapon and hit him in the shoulder. "Tech! What did you do?!"

"I didn't do anything! What kind of idiot puts a weapon like that in a control room, anyway? It could've hit one of the computers."

Surefire looked at his shoulder, turned to Tech, then glanced down at Aura. "I don't think that gun's going to hit the computers. It never missed once. It must target by movement."

"I think you're right." Tech looked at Aura. "How is she?"

"Not good. If we don't get her back to the base soon, she won't survive. Unfortunately, there's no way in hell either of us could ever shoot faster than a pulse laser, so we can't take it out. We can't make a break for the door either. That gun would destroy us in an instant. We're trapped."

Tech suddenly had an idea. "We're not trapped yet, I still have the new communicator."

Surefire couldn't believe he had forgotten. "Of course!"

Tech turned on the communicator and spoke hurriedly. "Tech to base. This is an emergency!"

A message came blaring from the intercom. "Tech to base. This is an emergency!"

Ace had finished his meeting with Maxim some time ago and the two were working at a table in the middle of the main computer room when they heard the distress call. Ace jumped up and ran to the intercom, shoved Skids out of the way, and hurriedly pressed the respond button.

"Hey, watch it Ace!" Skids snapped.

"Sorry," Ace said quickly. "What's wrong, Tech? What's the emergency?"

"We went to explore the data library and..."

Ace cut him off. "What?! I told you to report back first!"

"I know. We can talk about that later. Right now, we have more serious problems. Some sort of security device has been activated and we're trapped inside the library by a pulse laser that targets by movement. Aura's badly damaged and we need to get her back to the base right away."

Maxim shot up at the mention of Aura's name. "Aura?! He shouted in panic, running for the main entranceway. "I'm leaving immediately!"

"Maxim! Wait! You're not going alone. Take Lockjaw and Metal Storm with you." Ace called the two robots on the intercom. They promptly responded, and a few seconds later, entered the room.

"What's up?" they asked together.

Maxim ran out the door and called back to them. "Rescue mission. I'll explain on the way."

"Maxim! You don't even know where it is!" Ace yelled out the door.

"I'll find it," came Maxim's distant reply, as Metal Storm and Lockjaw followed him outside.

Surefire turned to Tech with a worried look on his face. "Aura's getting worse. Her power system will be permanently off-line in less than an hour."

"I should've known there would be a security system in a place like this," Tech muttered to himself. He heard a noise and looked up just as three ion beams blazed overhead, followed by an explosion. Moments later, Maxim, Metal Storm and Lockjaw charged into the room.

"Aura!" Maxim cried, rushing towards her.

Surefire and Tech stood up. "I have to get her back to the base as soon as possible," Surefire said, rushing out of the room, carrying Aura. Metal Storm and Maxim followed.

Tech looked at the pieces of the pulse cannon on the floor. "Well, Aura's safe and the weapon's destroyed so I'm going to stay here."

"No, you're not," Lockjaw said, grabbing Tech by the arm and dragging him out the door.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!"

"Taking you back to the base. Ace is going to want to have a little talk with you. So is Maxim, for that matter."

Tech sighed. "I'm in for it now," he thought to himself.

Tech and Lockjaw arrived back at the base and found Maxim standing in the doorway, his arms crossed and an infuriated look on his face. "Tech! Just what the hell did you think you were doing? You were given explicit orders to return to the base after setting up the gun turret. Thanks to you, Aura was almost destroyed!"

Tech looked at Maxim. "I was trying to retrieve some extremely valuable data! We made it back in time! Aura will be fine."

"You little..." Maxim raised his fist.

"Hold it, Maxim!" Lockjaw said, restraining his commander. "As much as you would like to..." He glared at Tech. "And as much as I would like to help you..." Lockjaw turned back to Maxim. "Tech's in enough trouble as it is. Let Ace deal with him."

Tech walked into the base where Metal Storm was explaining to Skids what had happened. Maxim and Lockjaw walked in after him and both immediately went into the repair lab. Lockjaw came out of the lab a few seconds later, this time led by Ace. "Tech, in my office, now!" Ace said as he walked by and into his office.

Metal Storm whispered something to Skids, causing both of them to laugh lightly.

Lockjaw turned to the pair. "You think something's funny?"

"No," Skids responded, trying unsuccessfully to stop laughing.

The laughing abruptly stopped when sounds of shouting and screaming started coming through the door to Ace's office. The yelling had been going on for fifteen minutes when Maxim reentered the room, greeted by a string of profanities and other words he could have done without hearing. "How long have they been at it?"

"Fifteen minutes," Skids responded. "How's Aura?"

"She's fine. It'll take a couple of days before she's fully functional though."

The shouting finally stopped and Tech and Ace came back into the room. Tech walked right past and down the hall to his quarters, while Ace stayed to explain. "We're going to the data storage library tomorrow. Surefire and Traxx will stay here to look after Aura while the rest of us, including Tech..." Ace looked at Maxim. "Will go and try to retrieve the information from the library's computer. Tech thinks he knows how to write a program that would disable any other security system there might be."

"He picked a great time to start thinking," Maxim snarled.

"Maxim! I don't want any of that on this trip. What's done is done. Now I suggest we make like the humans and get a little rest until tomorrow. That way we will be fully charged in case something else goes wrong."

The next day, everyone had had a rest and were completely recharged. Everyone, that is, except Tech. He had been up the entire night working on a special disk that could hold 10,000 terrabytes of information. After successfully developing the disk, he had replicated four more of them, then added a program to each that would disable any active security systems.

It was early in the morning and Tech was the last one to enter the main control room. As soon as he arrived the six members set out for the data storage library. Tech led the way with Maxim as far behind the group as possible, not wanting to be near Tech. "Maxim," Ace called behind him. "You've got to let this go. There's nothing more you can do."

"I'll let this go as soon as Aura's completely repaired and this mission is over."

Ace sighed. "Whatever."

An hour later they had arrived at the library. Tech hopped off the shallow ledge that still blocked part of the doorway and landed inside. He was quickly joined by Ace, followed by Metal Storm, Lockjaw, Skids, and finally, Maxim. Tech ran down the hall and into the main room. "What's your hurry, Tech?" Ace said, following Tech down the corridor along with everybody else.

"Surefire and Aura mentioned something about Dark Shadow before we were attacked. I want to get this done as soon as possible."

"What?!" Maxim screamed. "You didn't think to tell us this earlier?"

Tech went over to the computer and put in the first disk. "It slipped my mind."

"Slipped your mind?! We could be walking right into a trap!"

"Brilliant observation, Maxim."

Everyone spun around to face the doorway to the large room, where a familiar dark blue form was standing, weapon raised and ready to fire. "Magma!" they all said in unison and reached for their guns. But, before anyone could do anything, Cyclone stepped out from behind Magma and fired his Wind Ribbon, knocking everyone's weapons to the floor.

Ace cursed to himself, not believing he had fallen for the same trick again.

"You really should be more careful," Magma sneered.

Cyclone looked at Magma, who nodded, then walked over to Skids, raised his arm, and punched him in the face. Skids fell over in pain. "Now we're even."

Maxim helped Skids stand up while Magma starting talking again. "Now that that is over with, I'll invite you to come with me. Well, invite is the wrong word; order you to come with me is more like it. " Magma turned around and said something to someone behind him. Terrapin, Diamond and Slash emerged from the doorway, weapons raised, and quickly surrounded the Shadow Force team. "Come."

Magma walked down the short corridor with Cyclone behind him, followed by Ace and his group, and lastly by Terrapin, Diamond and Slash. A few moments later they entered the massive room, where the rest of the Dark Shadow members were. To the left were Shroud, Volt, and Thunder, hovering over a small device on the walkway. On the other side of the room was another figure, too far away to be clearly seen. However, from the process of elimination, and the distinctive fluorescent green colour, everyone knew that it was Aero.

Ace looked the room over. "I see everybody is here, Magma. Are you sure it's wise to leave your base unguarded?"

"It's certainly in no danger from you." Magma responded. "Now, stand over by the edge of the walkway."

"What now, Ace?" Skids queried, obeying Magma's orders.

Maxim stared angrily at Tech. "Tech got us into this mess, maybe he should be the one to get us out."

"Do I sense some tension? Actually, I would like to thank you, Tech. Because of you, we can now access the entire database in the library. When we first found this place, Cyclone tried to fix the main computer, but couldn't. We had to settle for one of the other computers in the rooms over there, which don't have access to all the files." Magma pointed to the three doorways across the room. "You were even kind enough to discover the security system for us. While you were gone we downloaded all the files and are just about ready to blow this entire place up. Who would have ever thought that I could bury all of you with it?" Magma let out an evil laugh. "In a few moments, the explosives will be set up and we'll blow out the supports to the metal walls..."

"And bring the roof down like a house of cards," Metal Storm finished.

"Exactly. But I haven't played my trump card yet. After I'm finished using you for target practice, I'm going to send you all on a little trip down to the bottom of this room. It's 50 metres down, so there's no way you'll be able to escape before the bomb goes off. And I think I'll start with you, Ace." Magma pointed his gun at the Shadow Force leader.

Metal Storm couldn't resist. "Trump card? Sound more like your `Ace in the hole`." Everyone gave him a sour look. "Sorry."

"You're quite the joker, Metal Storm."

"You're not so bad yourself, Magma."

"Why, thank you. But, that's enough talk." Magma glanced to the side. "Is the explosive set up?"

"Yes," Thunder confirmed.

Magma's quick look was all the distraction Lockjaw needed. He jumped forward, taking him completely by surprise. Lockjaw swung his tail around, hit Magma's hand and sent the gun skittering across the floor. "I think we should go!"

"No need to tell me twice!" Ace yelled, running for the door.

Magma quickly recovered and grabbed his gun off the floor. "Get them!"

A barrage of weapon fire strafed across the side of the door just as the last of them ran through. When they entered the computer room, Ace took a second to pick up their weapons, then continued running. "We can't fight in here. It's too confined!"

Tech started to go for the computer instead of the exit. "What about the data?"

Maxim shoved Tech towards the door. "Are you insane?! We'll be lucky if we make it out of here in one piece!"

Another barrage of fire streaked down the hallway as Maxim continued to push Tech towards the exit. Tech protested the entire way when more shots came from the computer room. Magma stopped firing and smiled slightly. "They'll be back."

"Ace! You can't be serious! Don't you know how important that data is?"

"I realize its importance, Tech. But we can't go back. There's no way we can fight Dark Shadow inside the data storage library effectively. They know the place inside and out and we've only been there twice."

"They're going to destroy the archive though! We have to go back!"

"No! We can't go back. The data is lost. We'll have to do without it."

"Dark Shadow has the data though. The plans for that giant robot were in there, probably along with numerous other technologically advanced weapons and special devices. We don't have a chance of ever defeating them if we don't get the data!"

"We'll make do. I'm not about to lead a hopeless mission and get everyone destroyed! Now the matter is closed."

"I don't think so. I'll go alone then."

"No, you will not. No one is going anywhere."

Tech stormed out of Ace's office muttering to himself. "Tech!" Ace bolted out of his chair after him. "I never thought it would come to this. Tech, you are to stay in your quarters until further notice. Metal Storm, I want you to stand guard and make sure Tech does not leave."

Metal Storm looked surprised. "Understood, Ace." He took hold of Tech's arm and led him down the hall to his room. "I'm sorry, Tech."

Tech sat at his desk working at his personal computer, and thinking about his situation. "Forget Ace. I'm going to get that data one way or the other." He turned off the computer and stood up. "First I have to get out of here without getting caught. My best bet is to wait until night; that's only a few hours from now. Then at least most of the team will be in their quarters. I think I know how to deal with Metal Storm, too."

As soon as nightfall hit, Tech began to carry out his plan. He walked over to the door and took off the cover to the control panel. Tech reached inside, pulled out a bunch of wires as far as they would go, and then separated out two of them. He split the wires, causing sparks to fly everywhere, and opened the door.

Metal Storm turned around. "You're not allowed to leave your room, Tech."

"I hate to do this, Metal Storm."

"Do wh..." he started to say, when Tech touched Metal Storm's arm with the end of the wires, causing a jolt of electricity to shoot through him and short out his systems.

Tech ran down the hall towards the main computer room. However, the room was not quite as deserted as he thought it would be.

"Tech!" Skids exclaimed. "What are you doing? You're not supposed to leave your room. And what happened to Metal Storm?"

"I'm going to get that data. As for Metal Storm, he's, uh, taking a little rest."

"You're not allowed to! You're just going to get yourself destroyed!"

"If my plan works, Dark Shadow won't even know I'm there. Now, get out of my way, Skids!"

Skids thought for a moment. "Then I'm going with you. There's something I need to see."

"All the information will be on the disks. You can look at it when I come back."

"And if you don't come back? Then I'll never see it. Besides, two of us have a better chance of succeeding than one."

"No! I'm going alone."

"I'm coming, Tech. That is, unless you want me to tell Ace what you're doing."

Tech finally relented. "Fine, then! Come on."

Maxim came out of his quarters to investigate the noise. He looked around for a second, then saw Metal Storm on the floor. Maxim rushed over to him. "Metal Storm, what happened?"

"T...Tech. He left for... for the data storage library. I... think Skids went with him."

"What?!" Maxim slammed his fist into the wall. "That's it. I've had it with him. He's not going to do any more damage." Maxim grabbed his gun from his room and ran out the door. As soon as he got outside he activated his jetpack and flew as fast as he could in pursuit of Tech and Skids.

Ace walked out of his office. "What's with all the noise?" He then noticed Metal Storm, who was now standing. "What is going on here? Where the hell is Tech?"

"He did something to the door and shocked me, then ran off for the data storage library."

"I don't believe this." Ace saw that the control room was empty, and the door to Maxim's quarters was open. "Where is Skids? And Maxim?"

"Skids went with Tech. And as soon Maxim heard that Tech was gone, he took off after him."

"I don't believe this," Ace repeated. "My entire team is deserting me." He walked to the intercom. "Traxx, Lockjaw, report to the main computer room."

"You're going after them?"

"I don't think I have much of a choice. I want you to report to Surefire to make sure you're all right."

Traxx and Lockjaw entered the room. "What's going on?" Traxx asked.

"Tech went to get the data from the library. Maxim and Skids are gone too. I thought we might as well go after them so we can all get ourselves destroyed."

"Sounds like fun."

The lights from the data storage library were still on so Tech and Skids had no problem locating it even though it was now night. "Tech, I thought Dark Shadow said they were going to destroy this place. So why is it still here?"

"I don't know," Tech lied, just realizing he had made another mistake. He thought to himself, "Dark Shadow hasn't destroyed the place yet because they knew we'd be coming back. They're just waiting until we return so they can destroy it while we're inside. We'll just have to be extra quiet so they won't know we've come."

"Doesn't it seem suspicious?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. We'll just have to be really quiet." Tech turned on his communicator so that the base would record everything that happened. "Just in case."

The two entered the library and silently, but quickly, walked down the hall. Tech immediately put the first of the special disks into the computer and began downloading the information. "Most of this information is encrypted. It's going to take a while to decipher it. But, I can do that at the base. Right now I'll just worry about getting it copied to the disks."

Skids walked over to a side computer and accessed some files. "The history files aren't encrypted. Good thing, because that's what I want." After a few minutes he had found what he was looking for. "I thought as much. Wishful thinking," he said sadly.

Tech pulled out the second disk and entered the third. "What's the matter, Skids?"

"Nothing, it's personal."

"Whatever. The downloading is really fast, I'm almost finished." Tech put in the fifth and final disk, when he heard a noise. "Dark Shadow?" he said slowly.

"You wish," a familiar voice said as Maxim walked into the room, his weapon aimed at Tech. "First you disobey orders and almost get Aura destroyed. Then you neglect to tell us about Dark Shadow already being here. After that, you disobey orders again and attack Metal Storm. Now you drag Skids into it! What next, Tech?"

"I came here of my own choice, Maxim," Skids said defensively.

"Shut up Skids! This is between Tech and myself!"

"Maxim?" Skids couldn't believe what he had just heard. He had known Maxim for almost 30 years and had never seen him this angry.

Tech pulled out the final disk and set it down. "This is not between you and me, Maxim. This is about Aura. You lost it when she got injured. Now quiet down before someone hears you!"

"I care about Aura. I care about the team as well, and I am not going to let you single-handedly destroy everyone!"

"I said quiet! We're going..."

"To get caught?" Magma sneered. Everyone turned to face the door. Magma was standing in the entranceway to the large room with the rest of the Dark Shadow team behind him. "I suggest you put your gun away, Maxim. You don't really think you have a chance when it's three against ten, do you?"

"Unfortunately, no."

"Wise decision. Now, come this way, again." Magma led the three robots down the hall and into the large room, followed by Slash and Diamond. The other Dark Shadow members stayed in the computer room. "Over there!" Magma waved his gun towards the edge of the walkway. "I knew you'd be back. So I decided to wait before I blew this place up. Opportunities like this don't come along every day, you know."

A second noise came from the hallway they had just left. Magma turned around, making sure that Slash and Diamond still had their weapons aimed at Tech and the others. Ace, Traxx and Lockjaw walked through the door, with the other seven Dark Shadow members behind them. "Look who dropped in," Volt said.

"So nice of you to come back, Ace. Now you can join your friends."

The three joined Tech, Skids, and Maxim on the ledge. "I can't seem to shake the feeling that we've done this before," Skids joked.

"Yes, but this time there won't be any tricks. Shroud, activate the bomb. Set it for two minutes. That should be enough time for us to escape."

"Two minutes? Isn't that cutting it a little close?" she questioned.

"You had just better run fast, Shroud. Now, do as I say!" Shroud nodded reluctantly, then walked over to the bomb and set it.

Skids glanced at Ace for a second. "A good leader always has another ace up his sleeve, Magma."

Ace looked at Skids. "Enough with the card jokes, you're as bad as Metal Storm. And I don't have another `ace up my sleeve`."

"That's because this time I hold all the cards," Magma cut in.

"Too bad you're not dealing with a full deck, Magma!" a familiar voice echoed through the room, accompanied by a bright light and several ion beams.

"Aura?!" Maxim shouted, trying to find the source of the voice.

"Run now. Talk later. That bomb is going to explode any second!"

They all took off running in the direction of the door and managed to find it despite the blinding light. Aura, Surefire, and Metal Storm were standing in the doorway, waiting. "Hurry up!" Surefire urged.

Sounds of the Dark Shadow members running in the other direction, presumably for the other exit, could be heard behind them. Skids was the last one to reach the door and passed through into the corridor just as the bomb exploded. Pieces of metal and rock began raining from the ceiling as everyone continued to run for the outside. Tech grabbed the disks as he ran by the computer, which earned him a dirty look from Maxim. "Not this time, Maxim."

"The whole place is coming down!" Ace yelled. He jumped through the opening to the outside and was quickly joined by everybody else. After pausing a moment he looked back at the data storage library. The entrance had completely collapsed. Sandhill Data Storage Library no longer existed.

Maxim took a hold of Aura's hand. "How did you know we were in trouble?"

"You're always in trouble."

"Very funny. Really, how did you know?"

"Tech left his communicator on. We heard everything back at the base."

"Well, I guess Tech finally did something right."

"Ace, what was that crack about Skids being as bad as me?" Metal Storm asked.

"Nothing," Ace replied. "I've just had enough of the card jokes." Metal Storm grinned. "If you even think about it, I'll..."

"You'll what?"

Ace raised his fist mockingly "I'll deal you more than just a bad hand."

"Fair enough."

Ace scanned the group. "We had better get back to the base." Everyone nodded in agreement and headed back home.

"You've been in my office a lot lately, Tech. Hopefully, this will be the last time you are in here for awhile. In case you haven't already figured it out, I called you here to discuss your actions of late."

Tech nodded solemnly. "Yes."

"In the last couple of days, not only have you disobeyed my orders twice, but you attacked one of your own members and put the entire team in danger. In the end you did manage to retrieve the data, but that does not condone your actions."

Tech nodded again. "I know."

Ace leaned back in his chair. "After thinking about this for a long time I have come to a decision. You are confined to the base indefinitely and I am demoting you to the rank of RD4. Dismissed."

Tech turned around and quietly left the office. He walked down the hall, passed through the main computer room and continued on to his quarters. Suddenly there was a blue flash of light and the sound of something exploding. Tech rushed back to the main computer room to see Metal Storm lying on the ground. Traxx was standing over him and smoke was coming from the computer. "What happened?"

"I was downloading the data you retrieved from the data storage library yesterday and there was some sort of power surge."

"Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." Metal Storm smiled. "I'm getting used to being shocked."

Tech did not want to be reminded of what he had done. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Traxx can help me fix the computer."

"Okay." Tech resumed walking to his quarters. "I can't believe what I've done. Getting that information was the only thing that mattered to me. I didn't care what happened to anybody else, as long as I got the data. Since Aura's okay, Maxim will probably get over his anger. But what I did to Metal Storm, my friend, can never be undone." Tech entered his room at sat down at his personal computer. "Now to begin translating that data." He paused for a moment. "No. I think I'll work on finding the cause of the power surge. We can't fight Dark Shadow if the computer's not working, and I owe it to Metal Storm to at least find out why the computer overloaded." Tech typed in a few commands, which brought up the computer diagnostic screen, and began searching for the cause of the problem.