A/N: Okay, this is my last chapter, and it's a bit longer than the others. After this, there'll be three from Yuri, and THEN we'll start alternating each chapter. Sorry for any confusion. Everybody with us so far? Anybody had any complaints? Well, you might after this, there's a bit of jumpin' around. Stick through it? For Zero? For X? For me? OH! There's a reference to the end of X4, so if you haven't gotten to FinalWeapon stage yet, skip the first paragraph.
Zero got close enough to see Theta's eyes, before he veered off his attack. There was real emotion in her eyes. Not just hatred, or jealousy, or anger- the normal things he saw in mavericks- but pain. Real, deep, pain was showing there. Those eyes... they reminded him so much of Iris, before she'd died. When she'd attacked him, on behalf of her brother...
Just as Zero dropped his sword and dodged away, there was a sound behind him. The sound of a blaster hitting armour, and dirt... Zero whirled in alarm, in time to see a blood-red blur fall to the ground. He jumped for his sword, and raised it in alarm, looking for the source of this attack, fully expecting a new maverick. He saw a small blue form, and quickly put his sword away rushing for it.
"X! Y- You're okay!" Zero yelled; almost happy, definitely relieved. The weak blue form nodded, stumbling slowly, unevenly, towards his closest friend. Limping badly, and cradling his blaster arm, he smiled. Zero was okay. His eyes closed and he collapsed with a sigh, only to be caught up in a swirl of blonde hair as Zero rushed to catch him.
"Don't kill them- they may have answers." X whispered, before falling to backup systems. Zero nodded in agreement. He'd changed his mind about the 'mavericks'. Maybe they could be reformed, as he had... It was worth a shot. Well worth the shot- and definitely worth the risk, if they could get that power and speed on their side. And having new information to go with it? That was a bonus.
"Sigma, sir, they've been defeated. They were taken by the hunters. The plan has failed."
"No, you idiot, it's not failed!! It is merely beginning..." A crackling voice came through the link in a maverick's helmet. "Do not lose faith in me, Yul. I have my ways."
Yul bowed his head submissively out of instinct. "Yes sir. I meant no disrespect. How may I help the plan along, then?" He stood from his hidden crouch, and walked to where the doors had been. There was no immediate answer, so Yul took the chance to assess the damage done to the base's entrance. Not as much as he'd expected, but still enough to keep the lowlies busy for days.
The dark purple and black armour on his mechanical body seemed to repel the dust that was blowing in the evening breeze. Second in Command at the base, he had already ordered his men to end evacuation and the reconstuction had begum. He only hoped they would finish before the Hunters sent another team to investigate, or worse a whole unit.
The helmet link buzzed back on, and Yul snapped to attention. "You will not interfere with the happenings as of yet. Just keep watch on the two of them, and keep me posted on their... progression in the force. Surely YOU can handle that."
Before Yul could further inquire or object, the link shut off with a certain finality to it. Yul sighed in defeat. So he was being sent on an almost useless mission... but his orders were from the head of everything he worked for. They came directly from his idol- his hero. He wouldn't dream of denying them.
A deep, rich voice yelled last minute instructions to the men, and Yul ran swiftly and silently off towards the Hunters' main base, where hey would most likely be taken to be examined, interrogated, and 'controlled'. Yul would be most surprised if even the strongest would be able to control the maverick power house, or the fastest to track their red demon.
But hunters did have a way of surprising even Master Sigma...
There had been debate upon the mavericks arrival as to where in the base they should be contained in. They were both injured and needed to be investigated, but they were too strong to be left unguarded in the lesser security areas. There was more call to send them to the repair/investigation ward, but X was at severe unease with that idea. He didn't want to risk those two running unchecked around the base.
"You saw what he did to me and my armour- and the wall, and the door at their base! Can you imagine that around here on an upscale? There's not much inner protection- defenses are centered around the outside of the base." X worried to Zero after being repaired. Zero cut him off before he could continue, waving his hand dismissively.
"Don't worry so much. We can order the strongest men we have to guard the doors at all times. They'll be sure to call us if anything- ANYthing- arises to be out of order. That is, of course, unless you'd rather be on guard duty." Zero teased. Neither of them particularly enjoyed low jobs like that- though they did tend to keep the duo out of deeper trouble. For the most part.
X sighed and shot a glare at the drigged up mavericks- now known as cyborgs to the Hunters, not reploids as first believed. He still didn't trust them, but if Zero wasn't worried... "Alright. But I'm to be notified the moment- immediately- when the first one wakes. No exceptions."
Zero grinned and slapped his friend. That should work out fine. He wasn't expecting any trouble to rise up again- they were on home turf, now. Even if the mavericks woke up, it would be easier to handle them. They had backup, and they were ready. It was perfectly safe- he was in control now.
The two of them ambled of to report to Signas. It wasn't just orders, it was custom now. They always went to talk to Signas after a mission. They had to tell him, Alia, and Douglas all they'd seen and noticed about the base, the maverick duo, the trip to the base... basically anything they'd learned on the trip. That, and they wanted to convince the leader to allow a reformation attempt on the two. Zero knew what he'd seen in the girl's eyes, even if he couldn't explain it. And X had felt something strange about her as well. He wanted to get closer to her.
They left the 'doctors' in charge of the mavericks, with six guards total. As zero had said, they were the strongest the base had to offer, but not necessarily the best... It was decided that the two would be seperated into rooms at opposite ends of the corridor, with three guards in front of each. Even so, they were all nervous. Even if the two were apart, they could still cause damage. And none of the investigators wanted to be in the scrapyard.
Two seperate teams set to work detatching the weapons and armour from the cyborgs, making it safer, in their minds. They were surprised hwo little of it was actually wired in to interface with the inner systems. It was simple taking it off.
After everything was removed and stowed safely away for further investigation by the head mechanic, Douglas, the two teams converged to investigate the smaller of the two evils. However, before anyone could have imagined, one of the arrival's eyes snapped open. No wires had been attached to him yet, as the investigation was on his partner.
Omega was quickly on his feet, though he staggered a few moments, as his systems filtered out the last of the drugs. His creators had thought the human parts would still be susceptible to drugs, so both of the cyborgs' systems had been modified to quickly filter out any unknown substance from the body.
Omega blinked a few times, taking in the small, almost empty room around him. The surroundings were unfamiliar, and he could hear strng voies coming from outside what seemed to be a door. He cleched his fists, readying to fight, and realized upon trying a system check that he had been disarmed. He was without his armour, or weapon. It felt strange, not being burdened by all the extra weight- he felt stronger, more agile.
More out of place than that, though, was the fact that he had no clue where his partner was. Her absence made him feel weak against sudden attacks. His first concern would be to locate her, and make certain she was okay. Then, with or without their armour, they would find their way back to their home base and report to Sigma what they would learn about this one on their way out.
After assuring himself that he was undamaged, Omega walked tot he door. It appeared to be locked- from the outside. A slight nudge proved this assessment correct. Without a second thought, he put some force into his shoulder, and rammed the door outwards. It was no longer locked, or even closed for that matter.
The guards outside were startled to attention. Two lunged immediately to try to repress the maverick, while the third reached for the intercom on the wall behind him. He notified the base of the maverick's awakening, and turned in time to see his two buddies knocked out by solid faceplants into eachother. Omega looked up at him, and he quickly dropped his weapon and ran.
The maverick stood there, unsure of what to do then. His pale white hair fell to his shoulders, unrestrained by his helmet, and his pale skin was now visible. Light creamy eyes darted down each direction he could go. The hall to his right, his left, or in front? After stooping to pick up two of the dropped weapons, he looked down to his left. That was the direction the guard had run... Maybe he should follow? It would be better than waiting for security to show up.
Luckily for him, he didn't have to make another decision. A shrill shriek echoed down the hall from his right. The voice was familiar- it was Theta, of that he was certain. What wer they doing to her? He set off at a run, clutching the two handles tightly. He would have to learn how to use a sword, and quickly. Theta could use the other one.
The four reploid 'doctors' in the room were against the wall, scared to move. They had just been plugging in the wires, when the girl's eyes had snapped open, and she'd sat up. Theta had realized immediately she was without her armour, and directly after that she'd realized all her attendants wree male. THAT was what the shriek had been about.
She jumped to her feet, and what wires were attatched quickly became loose. The reploids shuddered in turn as her gaze went over each of them slowly. After it had passed the one nearest the door, he had reached out to try and hit the intercom button. In the moment he took his eyes off the maverick to do so, all chaos broke loose. His finger hit the button just as Theta darted and attacked him, knocking his head against the wall rendering him senseless. The other three screamed and bolted for the door, just as it was knocked inwards by Omega's charge.
They screamed again and ran behind him out the door as his glance darted over the girl, making sure she was fine. She recognized the look in his eyes, and assured him she was. He nodded, and threw her one of the 'sheathed' swords. Her face split into a wild grin, and she thanked him for it. He nodded, and motioned her out the door.
Above the screams still echoeing down the hall, they could hear the base alarms going off finally, and calls for all hands to the area. X was already tearing down a corridor on his way there, heading his unit to the attack. Zero was coming from the opposite direction, atthe same speed, heading his own unit. They were hoping to corner the mavericks, and force them into submission with numbers. Another hope was to restrict the damage to as small an area as possible.
When the hunters met the mavericks tearing down the hall, it was obvious the duo had different plans. Omega didn't even wait to see if they had anything to say, he just swung a fist immediately towards the nearest hunter, who happened to be Zero. Noting this, the maverick tried even harder to put all he had into it. Zero manage to dodge in time for it to only graze his shoulder, but the force spun him around, giving Omega way right to the other Hunters. He let fly another punch, right into the crowd of less experienced, slower reploids. A bunch of them went down at once.
Omega decided this was a good enough approach, and dropped the sword. It was affecting his fist. Omega glared at them, and a lot of the weaker Hunters looked at each other and went scrambling. Theta laughed maniacally and took the chance to get out into the crowd and cause mayhem.
"Restrain them! Quickly!" X yelled, his unit joining the fray. "Avoid killing them! We haven't learned anything yet!"
One of the reploids who'd been knocked to the wall by the red blur yelled out in protest. "Why don't you find a way to keep THEM from killing US!!!" More voices piped up, some supporting the leaders, others with the lower Hunter. Amidst the small arguments starting up, the more dedicated hunters began scrambling about trying to catch Theta. Others were swarming on the towering Omega, effectively slowing him, but not very much damaging and nowhere near fully restraining him.
Theta let out a burst of gleeful laughter as every attempt to capture her failed or backfired. Omega, on the other hand, had to stop to attempt to unburden himself from the hunters. Now they were getting annoying, and becoming a major hindrance. Things seemed to be just about even, as one of the hunters grabbed Omega around the neck and yanked. IF they were to bring a well aimed elbow down, he'd would fall like a chopped log.
