Part 1: Prisoner
The train hummed quietly along the tracks.
The only door on the armoured car opened, the orange light of the setting sun outlining the figure of a heavyset man, his orange and black combat armour gleaming with polish, a rifle the size of a small dog slung over his shoulder. The four blue Pantheon guards regarded him coldly with their single red eye, and after registering his identity, raised their hands in salute instead of their guns. Something about their raptor-like, unblinking gaze always made the captain uneasy; he stiffly returned the salute as he suppressed the urge to shudder.
"Commander ordered a visual inspection." He gestured toward the solemn red reploid chained to the wall. The inspection was more procedure than necessity; every reploid prisoner was given a viral program which, when triggered, would set them into a permanent "sleep" mode until the program was terminated externally. It was highly unlikely that the prisoner would cause any trouble while under the effects of the virus, but orders were orders, and with a prisoner like this, they couldn't be too careful.
"So this is the living legend himself," the captain said as he looked Zero up and down, his voice filled with contempt. He had never actually seen Zero before, only heard stories from fellow soldiers; stories had a tendency to be greatly exaggerated. Some said he was over ten feet tall, clad in blood red battle armour, wielding a great glowing sword that could cut through eight men in a single swipe; others claimed he didn't even exist, that it was all just a cover-up for the Neo Arcadian army's blunders. Personally, the captain didn't put too much faith in any of them. He was the kind of man who would rather wait for a chance to see things for himself before deciding whether Zero was someone to be afraid of or not.
He certainly didn't look very impressive at the moment, chained to the side of the car, slumped against the wall like a common prisoner. Zero had put up quite the fight before he was captured, and it was reflected in his appearance. The bright crimson of his armour barely showed through the layers of dirt, while several pieces were chipped or broken off, and he was covered in scratches and bruises. At first the captain had taken the stories of Zero's fighting abilities as mere exaggerations, but after seeing him in action, he thought there may have been a grain of truth to them after all. Zero fought like a demon possessed on the battlefield, cutting through the Arcadian forces like a tornado. He wouldn't have believed it either if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes – it was easy to understand why Zero had been considered a hero in ages past.
But here he was now, bound to the wall, awaiting his execution like any other Maverick. It was only a matter of time before he was retired; not even legends could escape the might of Neo Arcadia and the venerable Three Guardians.
"It's too bad you won't be awake for the end." The captain stood over Zero and grinned maliciously, giving him a little kick. "I'd love to hear a legend beg for mercy, but I guess just watching you die will have to suffice."
Much to the captain's surprise, Zero's head rose and looked him straight in the eye.
"Sorry to disappoint on both accounts."
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Zero closed his eyes as he slid a small flash bomb from his hidden arm panel into his hand and activated it. A bright flash filled the room, momentarily blinding the captain and overloading the optic sensors of the four Pantheons. The captain stumbled backward toward the door, grabbing hold of the frame to keep from stumbling off the side of the car.
"What the bloody hell?" The captain yelled, rubbing his eyes with one hand and readying his rifle with the other. "You're supposed to be turned off!"
The virus program they'd injected him with had been quite nasty, but it had only taken Zero a few moments to figure out how it worked and neutralize it. Since he was designed such a long time ago, the program didn't affect his systems the way it would have those of a modern reploid. After disarming it, he used it to make himself appear deactivated while, in truth, he still had full control over his systems.
Zero activated the little beam saber he'd stashed in his other arm panel and cut through his chains where they met the wall, then lunged at the closest guard, thrusting his saber through its chest. He spun around and cleaved through another Pantheon in a shower of sparks before the captain recovered and the Pantheons could recalibrate their optics.
"Shoot him, SHOOT HIM!" The captain bellowed, firing his plasma rifle. The remaining two guards quickly followed suit.
Zero moved like a lightning bolt, bouncing off the walls and ceiling as he dodged and weaved around the incoming fire. After easily evading the initial rounds, Zero activated his dash thrusters and shoulder charged the closest guard, sending it sprawling. Before he and the Pantheon hit the ground, Zero grabbed the guard's blaster with his free hand and pushed off the floor with the other, spinning through the air, extended saber still drawn. Firing only a few quick shots, he blew away the midsection of the guard he'd tackled and the head of the one who remained standing. He landed neatly on the ground opposite the shaking captain.
"What kind of reploid are you?!" The captain screamed as his rifle fired another volley of plasma.
Zero's saber spun through the air, deflecting the captain's onslaught with incredible precision and accuracy. He reflected one blast back at the captain, hitting him square in the chest. The captain's combat armour absorbed the energy, but the impact stunned him for a moment.
A moment was all the opening Zero needed. He leapt over the captain's head, landed directly behind him, and smashed him in the head with the hilt of his saber. The captain fell to his knees, dropping his weapon as he clutched his head with a pained cry. He tried to get up, but instead received another punishing blow in the back that knocked him across the room, where he slammed into the far wall. Before he could move, the green blade of light was at his throat, and Zero's face only a hand's breadth from his nose.
Moments passed as Zero stood motionless over the captain. He could see the fear and terror in the man's eyes as he waited for the end to come.
For a moment, Zero began to doubt himself. This man didn't need to die for his mission to be successful. Why should he have to die if there was no reason for it? What did he do to deserve death?
He watched and did nothing as innocent reploids were declared Mavericks without proof or reason and sent to be retired. He deserves no more mercy than he gave them. That is the reason he deserves to die.
"I do not beg for mercy," Zero said with hardened resolve, though there was a touch of regret in his voice. "I beg for forgiveness, for what I must do."
The captain died without a sound.
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Zero stood ready, his saber drawn, as the door of the command car slid open. Glancing inside, he saw three Pantheon guards and one human, who he assumed was the commander. Dressed in a standard issue blue and white military uniform, the commander stood a head taller than the Pantheons and had a small pistol slung in his belt. Zero supposed that, to most people, the man might seem rather intimidating. To Zero, he was just another enemy.
The commander seemed to be looking at one of the various monitors of the computer bank along the far wall. From where Zero was standing he could see some text on the screen, but he couldn't make out what it said. Probably orders for my execution, Zero thought grimly. Before he could examine the room further, the commander turned around.
"What took you so long? I didn't…" The unfinished sentence hung in the air as the commander saw Zero standing in the doorway, not the captain he'd undoubtedly been expecting. Fear tinged his voice as he yelled, "You're supposed to be deactivated! Stop him! STOP HIM!"
The commander whipped out his pistol and started firing wildly at the door. The three Pantheons quickly complied with their commander's orders, pointing their machine guns at the doorway and letting loose with a deadly barrage of plasma bullets.
Zero kept his calm as he leapt sideways off of the catwalk and swung his saber, burying the weapon up to the hilt in the side of the command car. Bringing his free arm around to grasp the hilt as he swung in the open air, he hung on tightly as his feet dangling a mere few feet over the ground. If he were to lose his grip on his improvised handhold, he would meet a quick death as he hit the rails below and every car in the train ran him over.
Not even Cerveau would be able to repair me after that, Zero remarked to himself, picturing the old Resistance mechanic in his mind. Cerveau had fixed up Zero's systems more times than he could count, but the old reploid wasn't a miracle worker. I guess I could have planned this out a bit better.
Zero quickly pulled himself up the side of the car and over the top, pulling the saber out of the wall below him. Stepping lightly, he moved to the center of the car, trying his best not to give away his position to the four Arcadians below. Zero pulled out the blaster he'd taken from the Pantheon in his prison car, charged it in his hand, and fired at the center of the car's steel roof. The weapon unleashed a blast powerful enough to blow a hole through the top of the car; unfortunately, the blaster hadn't been designed to discharge such a large amount of energy and it shorted out with a fizzle. Zero glanced briefly at the melted barrel of the useless weapon before he tossed it aside, drew his beam saber, then dropped into the car below.
The three guards and the commander were lying prone about the room, knocked back by the force of the exploding ceiling and not yet recovered. Zero used his moment of surprise to land safely and, not wasting his precious moments of time, rush up to one of the pantheons and impale the unlucky drone. He then turned to face his remaining opponents, weapon ready.
The commander had regained his feet and started to raise his pistol, barking panicked orders. "Friggin' hells! Kill him! Kill hi-" the commander's voice cut off as Zero threw his extended saber like a dart, piercing the man's neck. It stuck out the other side and pinned the gurgling captain to the wall for a few moments before the saber shorted out with a crackle. The commander's body went limp and slid to the floor, a red stain trailing down the wall after it as it fell.
Before the Pantheons could unload again, Zero threw himself at the one on his left, rolling into a ball as he tumbled between its legs. The other Pantheon turned and fired, but succeeded only in riddling its partner with bullet holes. Zero grabbed onto the injured Pantheon's gun and, with a swift kick in the back, sent the drone flying across the room into its comrade, knocking them both to the ground. A few rounds from the Pantheon's weapon put the two drones out of commission for good.
Having dispatched the enemy, Zero went to the computer bank the commander had been using and, after finding the communications panel, keyed in a special frequency. "This is Zero. Mission proceeding on schedule. Prepare for phase three and evacuation."
After a short silence a female voice crackled over the radio. "Message received, Zero. Proceed with phase three, and be careful. We don't know the defensive capabilities of the facility, nor do we know how many troops they have stationed.
"We had a sympathizer stash the supplies you requested under a floor panel near the command console. T minus twelve minutes, so get moving."
"Acknowledged."
"Good luck, Zero. Transmission over."
It didn't take long to find the floor panel and he quickly pried it away, finding a small backpack below. Tossing the Pantheon gun aside, Zero opened the pack and pulled out his Z-Saber and Z-Buster. They had been too large for him to conceal while he was captured, so he'd had them stashed on the train with the rest of the supplies. "Nothing like your own weapons to do the job right," he said to himself as he tucked them in place.
Reaching farther inside the backpack, Zero pulled out a small metal box. Flipping the top open, he saw that it contained a dozen small black objects no bigger than his thumb. Nodding in approval, he reached into the bottom of the backpack and pulled out a small silver remote with a big red button. Zero smiled as he stashed it away, and then took the final and likely most important item from the backpack: a small grey chip no bigger than a human fingernail, with a single green light blinking on the top the only indication it was active – a portable transponder. Zero attached it near the top of his right arm before standing up.
As Zero turned, his gaze caught on the body of the dead commander. He had made a split second decision to throw his saber, but doubt once again crept into his mind. Had it really been necessary to kill the man in order for his mission to be successful? Did the commander really deserve to die like that?
Who gave me the right to be the ultimate judge, jury, and executioner? What makes me so much better than them that they had to give their lives so that I might continue living?
Zero dismissed the thought with a shake of his head. He would have time to think these things over later; right now he had a job to do, and not much time to do it in.
He opened the metal box and placed one of the black devices on the wall beside him, then headed back down the train to do the same to the other cars.
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Zero knelt on top of the command car - three cars back from the front of the train - and waited, his saber jammed into the roof, acting as an anchor against the winds rushing past as the train accelerated. It would only be a few minutes before the train reached its destination: the Neo Arcadian prison camp and site of the new disposal facility, built into the side of a natural rock face.
After losing control of the disposal center near the Resistance base, the Guardians had wasted no time in ordering a new one built on the other side of Neo Arcadia. Despite the Resistance's best efforts, reploids were still being taken by the Arcadian forces and sent to be retired. Both Zero and Ciel had agreed that the new facility had to be put out of commission, and quickly.
Security around the new building was tight, making intelligence hard to acquire. After several days of watching Ciel try and devise a strategy for its destruction, Zero decided to take his own approach: hit it hard, and hit it fast. With any luck, the facility would be destroyed and Zero would be safely returned to the Resistance base before Neo Arcadia even knew he was there.
"Just let them capture me and I'll work out the details as I go." Zero couldn't help but shake his head at his own arrogance. Seemed like a good idea at the time, but now that I'm actually doing it, it seems incredibly reckless and stupid.
The train sped along the track, and after a few minutes the disposal facility winked into view on the horizon. It wasn't long before Zero could make out the details given by satellite images. First he saw the main gate, the only path into the inner staging yard; a semicircular area of desert about a kilometre in front of the facility. The entire area was closed off by a massive wall, which scans had indicated was capable of withstanding blasts stronger than anything the Resistance could dish up. There were observation posts at various points along the wall, although reports indicated they weren't fully functional yet. There were also several autocannon installations at various points along the walls – they were camouflaged well enough that they hadn't been able to pinpoint them with scans, and Zero couldn't see any as the train approached.
A protective field around the facility prevented the transponder in his helmet from sending or receiving signals – the portable transponder stuck to his arm was his way around that. After a set time, it would send him back to a preset destination – in this case, the Resistance base. Getting into the facility had been another hurtle to overcome, which had resulted in his plan to get captured. What better way to gain access to the prison facility than as a prisoner?
Zero set the timer on the transponder for fifteen minutes – three more minutes to reach his destination, and twelve minutes to demolish it. He figured if he couldn't get the place to go up in twelve minutes he wasn't likely to – and he would undoubtedly be in over his head by then.
Because I'm not in deep enough already…Zero couldn't help but wonder how he always got himself into these situations.
Because you believe in them, and they believe in you, and you'll do everything you can to make sure you don't let them down. When an obstacle comes, you will eliminate it.
Zero cleared his thoughts and concentrated as the front gate of the disposal facility approached at incredible speed. The timing of the next part of his plan was critical; being off by even a microsecond would mean failure, and a very quick death.