The Emperor's Jubilee II

[Proto Man]

“That kid is bugged,” the mortified voice squeaked through the microphone. “We’ve got numerous Imperial forces closing in on this location.”

If he had a heart, Proto Man figured it would have stopped beating upon hearing that exchange of dialogue. Instead, he found his system frantically running diagnostics as the members of the Copper Eye attempted to mount a defense. The man at the speaker, his eyes now boring holes through Proto Man, depressed the communication button. “Why the hell didn’t you know that the second he walked in?”

“B-because it’s literally buried in the center his body...the security scans only analyze so many centimeters beneath the skin. It wouldn’t have picked up a thing if that device hadn’t have transmitted a signal.”

“How long to do we have?” The man screamed as everyone became aware of the chorus of approaching anti-grav engines.

“We don’t. They’r--a” Wherever the security guy was stationed, it took a direct hit from something very large. The line immediately went dead and the entire building shuddered beneath the force of the impact. A beat later, another explosion rang out, this much much closer to their location. Screams could be heard leaking in from adjacent hallways, and somewhere behind the shouts and gunshots, the sound of heavy metal boots could be heard marching through the crumbling installation.

Turning to face Proto Man and Samus, their interrogator lifted his rifle and pointed it at the preteen’s helmeted skull. “Why did you lead them straight to us? You duped us!”

“I didn’t!” The robot pleaded as a scan of his thoracic cavity revealed an anomaly tucked in next to the machinery that regulated the cardiovascular functions of his organic layer. A specific scan showed that the device was a low-profile, one-way transmitter that was encrypted in such a manner to numb his normal systems to its presence. A probe into the encryptions revealed traces of code he recognized from analyzing Imperial firewalls. How… how did they do this to me? Proto Man began to shiver as the first energy bolts began to punch through the thin interior walls of the structure. Men and woman let out screams before they were forever silenced by the Imperial war machine grinding its way through the Copper Eye’s bastion. They’re all going to die, and it’s my fault…

“I-I swear I wasn’t aware of this! Please, you have to believe me, ” He added, turning his head to Samus. While she couldn’t see his eyes through the visor, the armored woman could easily read the boy’s trembling lower lip and the wet stains on his lower cheeks.

The Copper Eye spokesperson drew a knife and rushed him. Horror at the situation and his role in it kept Proto Man locked in place as the man came at him, but the knife never found its mark. With a swiftness one wouldn’t normally expect from someone in such a suit, Samus casually disarmed the man and pinned him to the floor. “The kid’s telling the truth.”

“Bullshit!” The defeated man rasped as he writhed under the woman’s overpowering grip. “They’re deaths are all on you!” He added, this time his venomous words were aimed at the preteen robot, who was still trembling uncontrollably.

“Oh god, it’s all over!” Someone shrieked before some sort of round punched through the wall, sunk into their body, and blew them into pieces of bloody confetti. A beat later, a section of that same wall was leveled, and through the debris stepped Judge Dredd and four of the Empire’s Elite Space Marines. In just a matter of minutes, the five soldiers had slaughtered all of the factory’s defenders, and not a single one of them seemed to bear any scuff marks.

After surveying the scene and putting a bullet through someone still groaning on the ground, Dredd walked over to the three people still standing around near the side entrance. The Judge looked at the two Primes before tilting his head to see the man that Samus still held to the ground.

“You bastard! We will not be fo--” A well-aimed shot zipped passed Samus’ shoulder and blew apart the man’s skull, splattering the woman’s suit with blood. Perhaps out of shock at the suddenness of the execution, she kept her hands on the corpse for a few moments longer.

“You two did good leading us right to them.”

“This was your plan all along? To use us as bait?” Samus demanded as she rose to her full frame and turned her focus to the imperial military officer.

Half a smirk spread across the visible half of Dredd’s grizzled visage as he looked down at Proto Man. “I wouldn’t say that, but with this kid and the brunette along for the ride, Gero and I didn’t want to take any chances.”

“How did you do it?” Proto Man screamed as his grief and sorrow subsided, momentarily overwhelmed by how much he loathed and abhorred the judge. The boy lunged, his hand finding the knife on the way, but Samus quickly stuck a hand out to stop him, with elicited a faint laugh from Dredd.

“Don’t take it personally,” he replied, his gruff voice devoid of any malice, which only served to infuriate Proto Man further. “Gero’s built countless androids, so it wasn’t hard for him to plant that device on you when he uploaded you to the Dataverse. His exact language was ‘I could do that blindfolded’. You shouldn’t take it personally, it was just a contingency in the event that you were captured, which is obviously what happened,” the faint traces of a smile on the man’s face told Proto Man that Dredd knew exactly what the robot had attempted to do here.

“You’re a soulless bastard,” the adolescent android screamed as he turned the knife and plunged it into his chest. Both Samus and the usually stoic Dredd seemed taken off guard by the display, and the latter was certainly amused when the robot ripped the blade out to reveal a small metal device on its tip. Throwing the knife-impaled bug at the judge’s foot, Proto Man lifted his arm cannon and leveled it with his visored nemesis.

“Threatening a Judge on Imperial territory is punishable by summary execution, and given that this factory is still on our ledgers, you may want to rethink your decision.”

A small part of Proto Man wanted to take the shot, regardless of the consequences, but in the end, rational thought prevailed. His hand cannon fell to his side, and by the time it brushed his hip, it had reverted to a hand. “I won’t forget this.”

Another almost-smile flashed across Dredd’s face. “Neither will I. I’m certain that the Emperor will give you both medals for your duty to him and the state.”