Authors Notes: The timeline is that of Megaman X Command Mission. I hope that I haven't gotten too many things wrong. And I must warn you people. This story contains major spoilers of the game, mainly from the beginning, but it isn't necessary to be familiar with the game's storyline to follow the fic. I didn't see it as a good idea to repeat the game's story so I'm changing quite the few things. And no worries about not being familiar with some of the characters; I'm going to be putting all the introduced new characters' bios in the beginning of the chapters they are seen in. Unfortunately this means longer author's notes, but they can also be skipped if you feel that you don't need the reminder.
Megaman Armada
Chapter 1
The Beginning
Year 22XX
Location: Outer Space 8.00 AM
A space ship flew across the emptiness of space. It was clearly headed towards a small planet nearby. But why would it come here where is no life or any other planets near it?
"Doctor Cain, we have located the energy source", informed one of the research reploids. The said man nodded his head in response.
"Give the coordinates to the pilots. We want to take care of this as fast as possible."
"Got that." The research reploid turned back to his computer.
9.00 AM
The space ship landed on the surface of the planet. The ground was covered in sand, and it did not seem likely that there was any life on the planet, or at least on the area they landed in.
"What are the readings?" Cain asked. One of the research reploids came to him with a paper. Cain read through the paper quickly, examining the numbers. He then nodded his head. According to the results, the planets air was breathable and the gravity was only slightly weaker than on planet earth.
Cain turned to the research reploids and pointed at ten reploids.
"You all come with me and investigate the energy readings we got", he said. The reploids nodded and started to gather necessary equipment.
9.30 AM
Doctor Cain was leading the group. He was standing on a small hovering platform that speared him the trouble of struggling in the sand. All of the heavy research equipment had also been put on similar platforms. The journey to the place of the reading was short, but it would have still been troublesome to travel with the heavy equipment.
Cain looked at the small hand computer he was holding. According to the readings he was getting, the energy source was close-by.
Cain lifted his gaze from his computer.
"Just behind that small hill", he notified to a reploid next to him. The reploid nodded and passed the message to the other members of the team.
Cain could now barely hold his curiosity. The small hill before them did not even go up one metre. What could it possible hide? Cain licked his lips that had become dry in the slightly warm weather. He almost jumped off his platform when he peeked over the hill. He had not really expected much, but this was unbelievable.
When the reploids got next to the stunned doctor, each of them let out a loud gasp.
"What are they?" one of the reploids asked from Cain. Cain turned his face to the reploid.
"Those", he said. "Are gigantic robots."
Behind the small hill was a deep crater of some sort. The crater was many metres in depth and about a mile wide. On the bottom of the crater seemed to be the remains of a battlefield. There were gigantic robots resting on the bottom. There were at least two hundred of them.
"Are they still operational?" a repliod asked. It was the same reploid who had asked the earlier question as well. Cain remembered his name was Fane.
"Well", Cain started. "They do emit an energy reading."
"But they're not moving", Fane pointed out.
"I assume it's some kind of a stasis lock", Cain said and his platform started to descend the side of the crater. "Lets go investigate."
Location: Planet Earth: Maverick Hunter HQ 11.00 AM
"Hey Zero!" Axl yelled after his older friend. "Have you heard the latest?" Zero turned to face the excited Hunter.
"About the new reploid being built? Yeah." Axl's face fell.
"I thought you didn't know yet..." he muttered.
"How couldn't I know? I'm the Commander of the 0th Unit. All the Commanders have been notified."
Axl let out a dreamy sigh.
"If only..." he said quietly but loud enough for Zero to hear him.
"Don't worry", he said. "I'm sure you'll be promoted sometime soon. It's not like Signas hasn't noticed your potential." Axl's face brightened immediately.
"You mean he really thinks I have potential?!"
"Sure. You wouldn't be rated a Class S Hunter if he didn't."
"But to lead my own unit... Do you think I could do it?"
"With a bit more experience, I'm sure there's nothing you couldn't do!" Zero said.
"Really?!"
"Definitely!" Zero completed his assurance with a wide grin. Axl answered it with one of his own.
"Thanks, Zero", he said.
"Zero!" Zero turned around on the shout of his name. He noticed a familiar blue form running down the hall.
"Hi X!" Axl greeted from behind him.
"Hi Axl, Zero", X said when he finally reached the two. "I've been looking all over for you, Zero. Signas wants to see us A.S.A.P."
"What ever for?" Zero asked.
"I believe he has a mission for us", X replied. "Signas has been in contact with Colonel Redips a lot lately."
"Colonel Redips is the commander-in-chief of the government's international reploid base, right?" Axl pointed out.
"Exactly", X said. "There's been talk that there has been some problems in Giga City Island."
"What kind of problems?" Axl asked.
"There has been no information released on that matter." X replied and grabbed Zero by the arm. "But we have to go to Signas' office now. See you around, Axl." Axl waved when the two left.
"Good luck guys!" he cheered after them.
Location: Maverick Hunter HQ: Signas' Office 11.35 AM
Signas stood up from his chair as soon as Zero and X walked into his office.
"Thank you for finding Zero, X", he said and picked up a file from the top of his desk. "You probably have already figured that I have a mission for you. This mission holds high importance, since it's come straight from Colonel Redips. It seems that the situation on Giga City Island has gone out of hand."
"What do you mean, sir?" X asked. "What could have gone so horribly wrong that they need Maverick Hunters?"
"A reploid by the name of Epsilon is what went wrong", Signas answered. "He was one of the reploids formatted there and he's been causing trouble for months now. I just got a declaration of him being a Maverick." At the last part Signas handed the file for X and Zero to read.
"This Epsilon sure has impressive stats", Zero pointed out when he had read the print. X nodded in agreement.
"And his frame design also makes him a tough opponent", he added.
"So you must understand why you were chosen for this mission", Signas said.
"Sure sure", Zero said. "When are we leaving?"
"Tonight."
"Tonight?! How on earth are we supposed to go through all the information we need in that time?"
"You don't need to", Signas said. "Colonel Redips will provide you with a reploid who knows the area to accompany you."
"Ok", X said. "I guess that's settled then. We better start getting ready Zero."
Location: Government's International Reploid Base: The meeting room 8.30 PM
"Wow, this place sure is huge", Zero muttered when he and X walked through the doors.
"Well, this is the main base", X answered. He then turned his gaze to the two reploids in the room. One was mainly green, large in size and looked important while the other was black, slightly smaller and in the place of his right hand was a blue energy sword. X walked to the two reploids and saluted the green one.
"Colonel Redips", he said formally. By his side Zero also saluted.
"Welcome X and Zero", Colonel Redips said to the two. "This here is Shadow. He's going to be accompanying you on your mission. He's one of the few warriors we have that know the structure of Giga City." The black reploid saluted the two Maverick Hunters.
"It is an honour working with the two legends of the reploid kind", he said.
"Thank you, Shadow", X replied. "We are happy to have you with us."
"Now", Redips started. "Your mission is to infiltrate Giga City and stop Epsilon and his followers at all costs. First we need to acquire data on Epsilon's exact plans."
"So this is going to be a reconnaissance mission?" Zero asked.
"Yes, for now", was Redips' answer. "Lagrano Ruins would probably make the best choice for a makeshift base. We need you to go there and secure the area."
"Understood, Colonel Redips", X said.
"What kind of conditions are we facing?"
"That weather at Lagrano Ruins is bad so you will most likely be facing pouring rain, but there hasn't been any sign of a storm coming. But I believe the weather is going to be the least of your problems."
"What do you mean, Colonel?"
"We have tried to send a team there earlier but never heard from them again", Redips explained. "That's why it would be good if you'd find out what happened to them as well."
"Of course, Colonel", X said. "We'll be on the lookout."
Location: Giga City Island: Lagrano Ruins 9.00 PM
Water and mud was spattered everywhere under the heavy footsteps of three reploids. X, Zero and Shadow ran towards the colossal lighthouse-like building known as Lagrano Ruins. They stopped in front of a pair of high, heavy metal doors. The doors were soon opened after a little persuasion from Zero's Z-sabre.
The trio stepped inside a dark main hall of the almost collapsed building.
"I wonder what keeps this piece of junk up", Zero muttered to himself. X ignored his comment and brought his left wrist to eyelevel. He pressed a button and a small green screen appeared. He examined it a bit, trying to ignore the droplets of water running down his face. X could not remember when he had last felt so soaked.
Finally he came to a conclusion about his hand transmitter and turned it off and put his hand down.
"Just as I suspected", he muttered, barely loud enough for the others to hear. "The radio is useless."
"Well, that had to be expected", Zero said. "Radios never work in dark and dangerous ruins." X decided that ignoring the sarcastic remark would be the best course of action.
"I may not be an experienced fighter", Shadow started. "…but I know this island's layout." X nodded to him.
"We're in your hands, Shadow."
"There is a vast amount of laboratories on the following floors. We should find something on the database", Shadow told the two Hunters. "We might be able to split up if the radio can still maintain short-distance communications."
"It should be able to keep us connected if we split up", X said. "As long as there isn't too much distance between us."
Zero nodded in response. "Then it's settled. I'll take the western way up and you two can take the eastern path." X nodded in response.
"Sounds good to me. Let's go, Shadow." The rookie nodded.
"Right behind you, X."
But X did not move. He watched as Zero walked to the other side of the hall. At the door Zero turned around and gave X a wave. X waved back. 'As I expected.' When Zero had finally disappeared through the door, X finally turned to the door they were supposed to go through.
X and Shadow stepped into a dark corridor. Various pieces of ceiling and were laying on the floor. X registered this and figured that the breaking of the ceiling was caused by a battle and not the storm.
X and Shadow searched the rooms on the first floor, trying to find anything that would give a hint of what had happened. X carefully went through the computer terminals, but it seemed like none of them worked. It could have been because of a power-shortage caused by the storm, but the terminals could also have been destroyed on purpose.
"We're not going to find anything here", X finally said. "We'd better move on to the second floor." X moved over to the door leading to the next floor. It opened on its own. X stepped through.
As soon as X was through the door he was thrown towards the wall on his left side by an invisible force. X looked up and at the opposite wall only to see nothing but the raging storm. The storm had ripped the other wall off.
"X, are you ok?" Shadow asked. He walked right next to the only wall and grabbed X by the arm. The blue Maverick Hunter nodded.
"Yeah..." he replied. "I'm fine." X let Shadow pull him up and they continued up the staircase, always keeping close to the wall.
Finally the duo made it to the second floor.
"There should be reploid laboratories on this floor", Shadow said. X lifted an eyebrow at that.
"Even the one Epsilon was created in?" Shadow nodded.
"Epsilon was created here", he confirmed.
X looked around there was one set of doors that a lot larger in size than the others.
"I bet it's here..." he said and walked through the door.
X arrived into a completely destroyed laboratory. There were broken desks and shattered computers on the floor. The only things intact were the four reploid capsules. X walked over to the capsules.
"There are labels here..." X muttered and pressed the label button. Bright green letters and numbers started flashing in front of his eyes. Heavy Combat Reploid Unit: Hippopressor. X walked to next capsule. Aerial Combat Reploid Unit: Mach Jentra. The third one. High Intellect Reploid Unit: Psyche. And the last one. Close Combat Reploid Unit: Wild Jango.
Suddenly X's communicator started beeping.
"What is it, Zero?" he asked.
"I found a reploid lab here", came Zero's reply.
"We also found one", X answered. "There are four battle units here. What did you find?"
"Four battle units as well. It's almost like they were creating an army."
"Don't say such things, Zero. Giga City Island is a peaceful research facility."
"You mean it was." X cut Zero off before the red Hunter could continue.
"Lets go, Shadow. I bet the lab Epsilon was created in is on the next floor."
This time the two did not have to watch out for the storm while they rose up the stairs. The staircase was completely intact.
'What a relief', X thought.
There was not much on the third floor. Not much that had not been destroyed that is. X and Shadow easily found the reploid laboratory and noticed that this one had been destroyed even more completely than the one before. There were only two capsules in this laboratory. X walked to the other one and pressed the familiar label button. High Performance Reploid Unit: Epsilon. But then red letters started flashing on the small screen. WARNING: Problem Occurred During Activation. X rose and walked to next one. High Performance Reploid Unit: Scarface. No additional messages. X rubbed his chin thoughtfully but was brought back from his thoughts by the sound of his communicator beeping.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"Another lab. Two high performance reploids."
"Same here. And one of them was Epsilon. It seems that an error occurred during his activation. Do you think it was the Maverick Virus."
"It could be. Keep your eyes open X and be careful. I'll meet you on the next floor."
"Ok, Zero. Take care."
With a sigh X cut the transmission.
"Lets go", he said to Shadow. "Which way?" Shadow silently showed the way. X wondered why the rookie was so quiet. Usually rookies liked to talk during missions as a way to ease their nerves.
"You go and meet Zero. I'll go and scout ahead", Shadow said when the two reached the place where they were supposed to meet Zero.
"Ok", X replied. "Just be careful." Shadow stopped for a moment.
"Yeah..." he finally said. "Sure." At that he was gone.
To be continued...