OFF: So... why did it take over a year to update this story? A lot of things, actually. I've worked on this chapter, bit by bit but I admit that some things really got in the way. One of which being Honor The Past, one of my other stories, which soaked up all of my time.
Well, inspiration finally returned and I forced myself to finally complete this chapter. It's a bit shorter than the previous one but I hope it will be worth it.
Note that technically, this chapter take place at the same time as the previous one (basically, it reveal why Zero left and what he's been doing while Aile was at the power plant).
Now for some comments and responses.
To Fanfictionlover4444: Chapters are divided in the equivalent of stages in the original games. Basically, the events of what would be a single level is a chapter in this story. Since I added scene breaks, you can always pause at them if you think individual chapters are too long. There is also the fact that not every chapter is the same in length and overall content ; the previous chapter was the biggest one in the story yet, for example.
To RTNknight: The story is not discontinued, as you can see. I simply had to deal with real life and other things on the internet. And yes, this is a point I noticed in the MMZ serie as a whole ; Zero struggles with the meaning of his existence. His promise turn out to be a crutch (as MMZ2 and especially MMZ4 drive home). It also create a rather eerie contrast between earlier games and MMZ4 ; in MMZ1 to 3, he do risky and crazy things but he's determined. In MMZ4, he do blatantly suicidal things and doesn't seem to care anymore if he'll return or not. His dialogue with Craft at the end of the first Ragnarok stage pretty much shows that he lost all faith in his own ability to make a difference.
I hope you will find this chapter to be worth the wait.
Megaman ZX
The Lady and the Maverick
As the last door slid open, Zero was greeted by a strong gust of wind that pushed a flurry of snowflakes straight into his frame. The temperature drop had been felt through the airlock-like hall that separated the outer area from the perimeter of the Ragnarok crash site and briefly, he wondered why people had chosen to make the weather systems for this area cover it in snow rather than in vegetation if they truly hated this place so much and what it represented.
Still, it wasn't too important. It was just a routine check and once that's done, he'll be back to Area X to check on Vent's and Aile's progress.
As he stepped out of the hall and stepped into the crash site proper, the red Reploid almost slipped, his eyes widening as his boot moved past its intended spot and kept moving, threatening to make him lose his balance. He quickly rebalanced himself and then cursed himself internally. He should have known that the area's floor would be a metallic cover hidden under meters of ice rather than a proper ground covered with snow. After all, why would Legion waste time creating a proper environment for a place they wanted to forget?
Still, he couldn't help but sigh. Looking around, the area was just as desolate as it always had been. In the distance, covered in snow and ice was a structure that made the crimson Reploid shudder from the mere sight. Little of the research center was recognizable now, only one of the small skyscraper-like towers being left intact by the brutal, incessant blizzards that had swept through the area through the years in an attempt to cover the proofs of the past.
The memory of his failure to contain the threat of Serpent still burnt into his mind even after all those years. If he hadn't overworked himself to the point of collapsing and let him rampage around the site, maybe he wouldn't have a Maverick label today and Ciel would be able to lead the Guardians openly like before...
He sighed to himself internally. Such thoughts are useless. The past cannot be changed and he must focus on making a difference right now. They did what they thought was best and he had no idea that Serpent would break out of his restraints so quickly let alone cause so much destruction. It was pretty meaningless blaming himself for that, especially that it has been years since.
Zero quickly activated his transmission systems.
"This is Zero, are you receiving Ciel?"
"Apart from the wind covering much of your voice, it's loud and clear." Her voice broke the Reploid's grim mood, making him smile and nod to himself in satisfaction.
The communicator had been reconfigured to function perfectly despite the blizzards and radiations of the crash site and judging from how clear Ciel's voice had been, it worked perfectly. The signal was strong and consistent too.
With that said, he looked around, focusing on the research center in the distance while Ciel analyzed the data his systems were receiving from her side. He could not see any barricades or Galleons forming up to stop him but then, it would be foolish to assume too quickly. If Serpent has tried to take control of the area then the place will surely be infested with foxholes and bunkers.
"I'm not detecting any signals coming from anywhere in the area. The entire area seems inactive from preliminary scans. If there's anything out there, it's not emitting any signals."
Didn't necessarily meant there was nothing. He's not exactly a walking area scanner but at least, it meant that there was nothing with an active scanning or transmission system. Galleons usually had appalling radio discipline and tended to give away their presence by abusing transmission systems all the time so this was a good thing he guessed.
"Wait... there's a signal, very weak, coming from the research center."
Okay, maybe he spoke too quickly. Murphy must have heard that last one.
"It's a distress signal!"
And that was completely unexpected. A distress signal? Here, at this time? No one came to this place, not even Raiders. And Raiders, being illegal smugglers of lost technology and artifacts, didn't announce their failures with distress signals usually. This was most confusing to say the least...
"Could be one of Serpent's goons who ran into trouble, trying to break through the security systems of the vault, he said, thinking up of the most likely scenario.
There was a pause and then, Ciel's voice came to him again. "Impossible to say, the signal's too weak. I'm worried about what this could mean. Could you please investigate, Zero?"
"I came here to do exactly that, he said, cracking his knuckles and adjusting his pose.
On one hand, it was true that navigating through a snow-covered landscape with the wind constantly howling in your face was difficult but Zero had seen much worse blizzards in the past. Compared to the storms that he had seen at the south and north poles, the blizzards that swept through the Ragnarok crash site were comparatively tame. He had lost his footing earlier simply because he hadn't paid attention. And anyway, he already knew all too well this area although he wished he didn't.
So making his way forward, following the signal, was relatively easy. He walked his way through the uneven terrain, making sure not to step on any sharp slopes, slipping between debris to shield himself partially from the blizzards. His progress was relatively quick and he was pleasantly surprised to not find any spots with weakened ice on the way. Soon enough, he was in front of the complex's primary doors...
The red Reploid brought his hands to his hair and quickly brushed it with his fingers, taking off the copious amount of snow that had got stuck in it before shaking off a bit of the ice that had formed on his gloves and boots. He then examined the door and instantly, his smile faded. Well, whoever was emitting that signal had obviously done the smart thing as the front doors were just as badly broken as he last remembered, the doors broken down and yet still stuck in the frame, the control panel half-broken on the wall just next to it.
Of course, whoever would come here would have removed or repaired the doors but broken them again after getting in to hide the incursion and make it hard for mundane threats to follow in. Zero approached the control panel, wondering if it was busted. The panel itself seemed good enough but as he grabbed it, he looked behind it to see most of the cords severed. He then looked at the hole where the cords' remains hanged from...
"You think the control panel's salvageable?" asked Zero, activating his communicator device.
There was a short pause as he assumed, correctly, that Ciel thought about it and assembled her data. "I'm sorry Zero but it's too badly damaged and even if you had to correct tools, there does not seem to be any power."
The crimson Reploid sighed and then approached the doors, again, his hands glowing as he activated the Z-Knuckle systems. He knew perfectly that those doors were made of armored alloy; they were designed to resist even orbital cannon bombardment. He had no illusion as to his chances of destroying them. But then, he didn't need to. All he needed was to tear them off of the frame using the Z-Knuckle.
Zero took a deep breath in and then lashed forward, grabbing into the left door. He pulled with all of his strength, using the Z-Knuckle to increase his physical strength to an incredible level. The Z-Knuckle had already been impressive in its ability to tear off stuff but the crimson Reploid was internally shocked at the upgraded weapon's strength. Yet despite the sheer amount of pressure he put into pulling into the door, it was only moving slowly, the door half-embedded and frozen in place, the two doors and frame forming a solid amalgam of broken metal. The metallic noise was grating and the doors almost seemed as if they would be torn off... but a very unpleasant sound came to Zero.
CRACK!
The spots where he had grabbed the left door gave away throwing him backward with great force. The crimson Reploid performed a very graceful backward flight that ended with a large frozen metallic pillar, Zero hitting it head first. The world spun for half a minute, the blizzard blowing snow all over his face and hair once again before he finally got a hold of himself and got up, dropping the useless pieces of metal and putting a hand on his temple.
"Zero! Are you alright? Zero!"
"Er... yeah. I'm alright... I think, replied Zero, finally answering to Ciel's calls.
"What happened? There was some sound and your signal went out for half a minute! I thought it was a trap."
"I failed to open the doors and the amount of pressure I put into the door turned into air time. I guess I must have knocked myself out. Sorry to have worried you."
There was a short pause... "Are you alright Zero?"
"Just a bit dizzy but no real damage otherwise. Anyway, I'll try a different route. The laboratory's sewers should do, right?"
"Yes but I had placed many security systems inside. There may still be some functional ones inside."
"Right, I'll be careful. Zero out."
With that done, he sighed to himself. He guessed it was his life's lot that no mission he took ever went the way he wished it would. Ha well, it kept things interesting at least.
Taking care not to slip, Zero slowly walked toward the sewer's surface exit. He knew all too well where it was located. Although logically they should have not been made large enough to allow people to wander inside, the research station had been made with the idea that if something went wrong, multiple evacuation routes had to be available to the research team. As such, the sewers had been made large enough for people to get through but had been packed with security systems to prevent Maverick intrusion. With some luck, the systems should still be active; their destruction or inactivity would mean a worse alternative than having to find a way to neutralize them...
And as the crimson Reploid made it to the side of the research station, he couldn't help but stop. Just from the entrance, it was obvious that his fears had been confirmed.
Instead of the hidden surface access that should be there, there was a massive hole leading down into the sewers. Judging that the hole was shaped like one gigantic crater, the Reploid guessed that high explosives had been used... which meant that this wasn't the work of a mundane Maverick. Mundane Mavericks would have simply slipped in or forced it open with multiple attacks, not blown it up with a single discharge.
It didn't take long for him to reach the edge and then, he slowly peeked in, making sure not to expose his head to any potential snipers that might await him inside.
Looking inside, he had the confirmation that the sewers had been compromised. The water had been drained and the snow at the bottom formed only a thin layer, countless foot prints still visible. A single machine was moving back and forth inside silently. The blue and green shield-bearing spike-shaped machine was a classic design, a mass-produced and very weak version of an ancient Neo Arcadian design and a characteristic Slither Inc. adaptation of the old design. However, its color scheme and the fact that the Slither Inc. emblem had been scrubbed off its sides was suspicious. Mavericks usually didn't retain the intelligence or foresight to remove their emblems which implied that this was a deliberate covert operation.
Zero put two fingers on his helmet, making extra sure that his sensors were getting everything. The machine was no threat but if he was spotted, this would alert whoever was inside and make them panic. Thankfully, his Time Stopper EX Skill would be useful in this situation. Most Mechaniloid-class machines and low level Mavericks tended to consider a Time Stopper surge as having been only a temporary malfunction. Given he was long gone by the time it went off, he'd have no problem sneaking by it.
He felt the familiar feeling go through him as he took out his Buster handgun and began charging it. Sneaking around was admittedly not a skill expected of a bright crimson Reploid with an infamous reputation but he had learnt, especially during the Neo Arcadia era, the value of not attracting every single enemy in a city-wide radius to him with huge explosions. Despite his tendency to be able to beat off ambushes, it was always best to avoid and spoof them altogether.
He waited until the Mechaniloid was facing away from the direction leading deeper into the sewers and then shot at it with the Buster. The shot slammed straight into the Mechaniloid and delivered its viral charge, paralyzing it. With as much as speed as he could muster, Zero jumped down the edge of the wall, making sure to keep a hand and a boot on the wall to slow down his descent, and then dashed past the Mechaniloid before it could recover. By the time the Mechaniloid noted its sudden, inexplicable shutdown, the red Reploid was already gone.
Of course, Zero was not foolish enough to think that this lone, weak Mechaniloid could possibly be the only defense system put in place to keep undesirables out. It had been only a perimeter watchdog, a sacrificial lamb whose purpose had been to sound the alarm before being destroyed in case of an attack. This also left Zero to wonder if the original security systems installed by Ciel had been completely overcome.
He got his answer as he began to make his way toward the research station. The wind was dying down and he could see the lights from the emergency system barely lighting the insides of the sewers. The floor was damp yet didn't have the water it should have. Judging from the lack of shots and the various marks on the walls, he could already guess that much fighting had occurred. The systems had obviously been very effective as his boots couldn't stop hitting the bodies of mangled Galleons all over the floor but the remains of blasted turrets on the ceiling and walls also shown that it hadn't been enough.
It was then that he noticed the trio of large blue face-like turrets. Those were a definitive 'keep out' sign and the proof that the research station had indeed been compromised. Thankfully, this type of turret was mostly blind and designed to fend off mundane Mavericks. He could blow them up one by one with charge shots without the remaining ones ever noticing they were being destroyed one by one. And considering the cheap armor given to these, he wouldn't need to use any of his heavier weapons or EX Skills either.
Of course, the main problem here was that the Mechaniloid at the other end of the sewer was not quite as blind as those three turrets and none of his weapons are particularly stealthy. The least noisy method of defeating those turrets would be to use the Z-Saber to split them in two and even then, this was given he used just the right amount of power. Even then, most machines tended to self-destruct violently when compromised, making most methods pointless. And of course, going back to destroy the Mechaniloid wouldn't do; they would notice that the signal with it was gone and whoever he was trying to sneak upon would thus notice his presence.
Unless...
Well, that might work.
The silence inside of the tunnel was suddenly broken as the sewers shook violently. The ceiling began to crack at some spots and the Mechaniloid at the end of the tunnel found itself on its side as the floor moved underneath its wheels. The three turrets perceived movement and quickly turned, removing their shields making them look like faces opening their mouth. As their spheres of freezing liquid impacted the perceived threat, the floor slowly stopped shaking, revealing their target as having been a piece of the ceiling that had crumbled from the violent and short shake.
The threat having been a false alarm, the three turets deactivated while the lone Mechaniloid used its shield to push itself back on its wheels before turning to identify the intruder. Identifying it as merely loose rocks from an earthquake caused by the blizzard outside, the Mechaniloid transmitted the data and then resumed its patrol.
Zero was smirking to himself as he walked through the service door leading out of the sewers and into the research station proper. It had been a gamble to climb one of the vertical shafts and cause an earthquake in hopes of causing a false alarm, allowing him to dash past the turrets while they were focusing on rocks. He knew that if those turrets had been of any decent quality, with better AIs or the ability to track multiple targets, his ruse wouldn't have worked. Still, it had paid off and he kept the advantage of surprise over whoever was inside of this place.
He had cut off his transmitter for now and had reduced his scanner and emitters to passive mode only. Radio silence was essential to make sure that they wouldn't be able to guess his presence by detecting the transmissions between him and Ciel. On one hand, he always felt a bit nervous as some of the worst moments in his life were moments during missions where his radio had gone out. On another hand, he had gone on countless missions all over Innerpeace without radio support and nothing bad had happened.
He looked around as the service door closed behind him. The research station was just as he had expected. The structure, although well-designed, had decayed due to the extreme cold affecting the metal structure. The walls, ceiling, and floor were mostly stable but most of the equipment was long damaged and rusted beyond repair. The presence of the intruders was very noticeable through the serie of lamps that had been installed everywhere on the walls and ceilings, the alternate electrical system they had installed clashing with the original internal cables. He had no doubt that the halls would be infected with Galleons who unlike the Mechaniloids he had just fooled, had the intelligence necessary to see through his tricks. The crimson Reploid was, after all, not created for subtlety and was very much aware of it.
Thankfully, he knew the layout of the research station and water had a tendency to thoroughly wreck computer systems and machinery. Being that most of the location had been flooded, it meant that half of the station couldn't be accessed by the mundane Reploid. Thankfully, Zero had been designed so that he was able to make his way through underwater areas with very little problems. The temperature was not getting any better but it was still something his systems could easily shrug off.
So rather than head through the well-lit halls and follow the trail of lamps, he found the nearby stairwell and walked down it, feeling the freezing water as he walked down it until his head was submerged.
As the crimson Reploid made his way down, he couldn't help but notice that he couldn't see the floor on the lower level, confirming that the enemy had not infesting the area. With a quick command to his own systems, micro-lamps on his helmet activated themselves, lighting up the way ahead.
Apart from some fish that the light scared off, the red Reploid was pleasantly surprised by the lack of enemies down there. With his knowledge of the research station's layout and the fact that the lower area was still flooded, he was now sure to take his opponents by surprise. But first of all, he needs to discover what they're here for...
Many theories were going through his mind and then there was the distress signal too. His scanners could still detect it and with the better signal he had received in the sewers and now the even better signal here, he could start to guess what was its exact source.
Quietly and swiftly, Zero began to run through the flooded area. Most ruins tended to have Mavericks in them but the research station was almost completely empty except for animals. The silence inside of the station was almost eerie compared to the constant noise everywhere else. In a way, it reminded the red Reploid of the days before the Ciel System had been spread, before the environment had been revived. Ruins of cities that stretched for miles with only the dried, decayed remains of Reploids and humans as proof that anyone had once lived there. Massive underground vaults filled with the starved or gutted remains of humanity's last stands, a grim and yet depressing reminder that before Omega's rampage the world had once been a beautiful place.
It made Zero uneasy. It was something that had always haunted his mind as the memories of his former life trickled back into his mind. His mind was still fuzzy but he had learnt from his past memories that Weil hadn't been the first to try and destroy the planet with a space station. In fact, the original impact, at Area Zero ironically, had been far more destructive. The details of it were still fuzzy but he knew that the world had been damaged, reduced to deserts and that Reploids and humanity had moved on and repaired the world... only for Omega to tear it down so much that it was reduced to what he had seen during his days in the Resistance.
It was almost unbelievable. Humanity and Reploids had numbered in the billions, their cities stretching for miles, their glory seemingly invincible. Human and Reploid had stood proud, ready to head to space to begin a glorious civilization that would last forever.
Because of Sigma and Omega, that dream was torn down so completely...
Zero's mind tended to wander through long missions. He had existed for so long and he knew that he had been at the source of so much destruction. He didn't remember it yet but Sigma's fall from grace made the red Reploid guess that it probably was him, not Sigma, that had been the true source of the original Maverick Virus. He had guessed it from his knowledge of Omega. But still, something didn't fit in now that he thought about it all.
He was not going to blame himself for the destruction. He remembered having felt guilt for it all for an awfully long time but it was something he had never regained. Even before losing his memory, he had rejected the ways of the Mavericks and had tried his best to help those he cared for. That he hadn't made miracles was not something he could blame himself for.
No...
The real thing that bothered him was the pattern. Omega and Sigma... and then that strange person that he had glimpsed after the Ragnarok crash... He had that uneasy feeling that there was a hand moving them all, a hidden enemy that had steered things all along. He couldn't shake the feeling. The nightmares had come back. They were only once in a while and they passed so quickly but the sheer horror he felt from them...
As he passed near one of the stairwells, his attention shifted back to what he was doing. His mind had always tended to wander a tiny bit during missions and he cursed himself for losing attention. Sure, there wasn't much urgency right now but he was here for a reason after all!
So he stopped and listened...
A few voices, one of them feminine. This was significant as mass-produced Mechaniloid units were not given a gender identity. This meant that whoever was talking was an actual Reploid or human, probably an officer of the force walking in here. He was too far to really hear anything but the girly voice was angry enough that he could guess it probably had to do with his stunt earlier.
Conveniently, as a Reploid, he had the ability to increase the effectiveness of his senses. Normally, this could backfire as an explosion at close range when audio sensors were set to be sensitive could make a Reploid deaf but since he was undetected so far, he guessed it was safe to increase his systems' sensitivity. A few mental adjustments, a bit of compensation for the distortion due to being underwater and... ha! There we go!
"-tigated? You are all incompetent!"
"Lady Lurerre, we have followed our orders to the letter."
"And it has not come to your mind that the chances of a Mechaniloid shutting down randomly followed by a convenient cave in right above a structurally sound part of the ceiling are close to zero?"
"It is probably due to a minor malfunction. And rocks fall all the time in this station. Our algorithms..."
"Your algorithms are worthy of a two weeks-old Mechaniloid! You will check the sewer access pass at once! IT'S AN ORDER!"
Footsteps of something large and heavy. Stomping off angrily from the looks of it. Zero adjusted his systems back to normal sensitivity and nodded to himself. Seems that although his stunt did delay the enemy detecting him, the smarter ones are guessing that they're no longer alone. Still, it suited him. Now that he's in the complex, he has the advantage and with his mobility and knowledge of the area, he can use this to keep his foes off-balance.
Still... Lady Lurerre...
He had heard about her. One of the big names in the Slither Inc., Lady Lurerre was a very small aquatic Pseudoroid, unfit for combat, physically weak. She was however renowned for her cunning and was one of the most respected officers among the Slither Inc. due to many daring and successful rescue operations. It dawned upon him that one of the more intelligent officers being dispatched for a covert operation made perfect sense. Given she had seen straight through his little distraction, it seemed the rumors were true, which did not please him. Well, on the bright side, if he can get through her bodyguards he should be home free.
Lady Lurerre couldn't help but shake her head at the sheer stupidity of her minions... well, temporary minions. Useless, all of them. For a moment she found herself wishing she had brought her actual employees with her on this operation but then, she knew this was wishful thinking. If she actually brought her employees they might start asking uncomfortable questions about the mission and if any of them was found or bribed Legion or even worse Serpent might be able to trace the operation back to her.
No... it was required for her to use an independent security force made up of political Mavericks kept in the dark regarding her goals and kept happy with generous paychecks. Of course, right now, she found herself questioning her choice of Mavericks to hire.
"Boss, this kind of strange thing happen all the time. This isn't one of your precious Legion-controlled zones. Things like this happen all the time. You stop asking questions and keep on trucking after a while. Those who look for trouble definitely find it and never return to tell about it. So relax and be thankful whatever Maverick got in is just knocking people out."
Yeah, she was definitely regretting this. It did not help that she was looking up to the Galleon command unit currently talking back to her. Most of the other Pseudoroids looked down on their minions which made it easy to intimidate them. She had no such luxury and right now, it was making her wish her Biometal fragment gave her proper armor instead of that monstrous fish drone. Sure, it was powerful and did a lot of good to her Buster but at the moment? What she wouldn't give for a few more feet to her height...
"Look, I don't care if this happens all the time outside of Legion territory! I think we're having a mole and I pay you to keep them out!"
"Boss, you wanted the perimeter secured, well it's secured. If you want us to compromise our security network and run the risk of having any actual Reploids or humans walk in just to have my men run after some worthless Maverick, then it's your decision. But those men are under my command and I'm not compromising security on a simple hunch."
'Incompetent moron' was all Lurerre could think at the moment. Did he seriously think that a random mindless viral Maverick or wild Mechaniloid could cause the type of distraction she had seen earlier? For a moment, she found herself wishing she had hired the Maverick Hunters instead. Sure, they were a bunch of trigger-happy has-beens hanging in ruins who jumped at the opportunity to loot, plunder, and generally mess things up but at least, they had actual military training, discipline, and tactics. Her current men were total buffoons. Needless to say, she'll be strongly suggesting to all of her fellow officers to never hire from that group ever again.
Though, on second thought, given the Maverick Hunters' tendency to wreck everything wherever they go and the fact that this was a covert operation revolving around the recovery of old, fragile, damaged technology, she guessed it wouldn't have been a good idea. Sure, they would have caught that Maverick sneaking around but they'd have wrecked everything and made her entire operation meaningless.
On third thought... given what this research center was, the Maverick Hunters would have probably asked uncomfortable questions based on the place alone and on the radiations.
"Alright but if I learn of a Maverick touching even a single circuit off the computer vault, I'll pay you with peanuts!"
With that said, she turned around and began to walk her way back toward the outer halls of the research station. She knew perfectly what was at the core of the research center and why the vault was as solidly locked as it was. Given that radiation leaked from it despite the monstrously hardened bunker walls, it was best if she remained as far from the core as possible. After all... she had seen firsthand what the effects of those radiations had on the brain of people.
It was the whole reason why she was in this place, after all.
Of course, Zero should have known better.
Sure, he managed to lose the guards and all that but as he finally emerged and reached the central area, the signal's strength indicated he was approaching the source of it... and well, it was back out of the water, in the complex proper, beyond the door just above him. In short, it was through the door leading to the central construction and storage wing of the research center.
It was an open area, right next to the vault housing the Biometal W Core, with the sewer network stopping before it. In short, he'd have to stop his whole subtlety approach and make a frontal assault.
Well, it was not a total loss he thought to himself as he finally pulled himself out of the frigid water and approached the heavy door. His whole sneaking stunt meant that he was beyond the perimeter established by the Slither Inc. forces. Once he'll trigger the alarm, it will take time for the forces on the perimeter to break off of their patrol routes to intercept him.
Still, some things were not adding up. This was just too easy, especially now that he knew who he was up against; Lady Lurerre was infamous for being a very weak Reploid but for compensating by being a brilliant leader leading elite forces. The clowns he had outwitted were not elites by far and from her rant earlier, she shared his opinion. Why would Lurerre not come here with her regulars if this was a Slither Inc. operation?
Anyway, with subtlety now irrelevant, he guessed he could now break radio silence. Ciel would probably have her input to this entire situation.
He turned on the communicator.
"Ciel, I'm inside."
There was a brief moment of static and then, the reply came. "Receiving you perfectly. How is it going so far?"
"I'm within enemy territory but I'm detecting the signal coming from an enemy-controlled area. I judged secrecy irrelevant."
"You're sure everything is alright?" Zero couldn't help but smile a bit as she asked him the obvious.
"No one's around and it will take many minutes for them to home in to my position. I know it's a shock but my communicator still works when I'm not being shot at."
Zero knew that by communicating with Ciel like this, the enemy would detect the radio waves and know where he is. Still, he indeed knew that it would take time for the closest patrol to reach his position and this helped relieve a bit of the tension.
"Trying to break old habits? Anyway, I'm on stand-by. Send your progress on the mission when ready."
He nodded to himself and then compiled all of the visual and audio data he gathered after establishing radio silence and transmitted it to Ciel. It would take quite some time for Ciel to process the data; she lacked extensive cybernetic implants and would have to view the data the old-fashioned way. However, since the trade-off was complete immunity to Model W's influence, it was more than acceptable. Besides, Zero knew what to do next already.
"Got the data. What can you tell me quickly about the mission so far?"
"Lady Lurerre is leading a covert operation of some kind, sniffing around the crash site research center. I got no idea what she's here for but her men are sloppy, unprofessional. She's aware of it, too. Something don't add up."
"I'll look into it. Please be careful."
The transmission ended, Zero knew it was only a matter of time before Lurerre's goons would come to him and start shooting at him. Well, too bad for them; they won't get to shoot at him if he shoot at them first.
Approaching the door, he saw that Lurerre's men had installed cables all over the places, connecting to the door. Power coursed through its systems and upon detecting Zero's presence, the door slid open revealing a bunch of startled Galleons who had not expected someone to come at all.
"Darn, said the Galleons as Zero took out his Buster handgun and pointed it at them.
A few explosions later, Zero walked into the central room to the noise of alarm sirens. The view that greeted him was somewhat familiar. The area was one giant room that stretched vertically into the ruins of one of the center's towers. Large, jagged rusted cables ran through the walls, the remnants of elevators that had been installed back then to ferry personnel and equipment through the complex. The place was just as ruined as it was back when Serpent had rampaged through it though some makeshift support columns and bridges could seen all over the place, undoubtedly installed by the various Slither Inc. goons.
What was however new was the capsules in the corners, the crates, the containers for chemicals. Apparently the Slither Inc. had been conducting experiments here, judging from the lab equipment and judging from the signal coming from the computer room at the top of this area, he had a strong feeling that he'd find their lab and probably all of their files in that particular room.
Even as he watched, doors on the higher floors opened as patrol squads began to march in to intercept him.
"IT'S THE RED DEMON! GET HIM!"
How cute. Well, if they want to try to stop him, they are welcome to try. He didn't bother shooting at them; considering that soon every single Slither Inc. soldier in the area would be barging in there, it would be pointless trying to kill them all anyway. Sure, he could probably kill a lot of them but he was on ground level with enemies coming from literally every side. That's bad odds, even for him.
So instead, he activated his dash system and went straight for the nearest ramp. The remnants of the Galleons who had been in the room first raised their Busters and fired them. Zero didn't bother to dodge and felt pain flare through his body as the energy blasts slammed into his armor. Surprisingly, he didn't feel as much pain or suffered as much damage as he thought he would; those weapons were better than civilian-grade weapons but were not up to the level of Slither Inc.'s regular weapons.
This, more than anything else, confirmed that although led by Lurerre, those were probably not her regulars. Why she didn't bring her true security force was a question he pushed out of his mind as he focused on the task at hand.
As he dashed past the squad of Galleons, he unsheathed the Z-Saber and then kicked into the floor, sending himself into a rolling motion and turning himself into a giant buzzsaw for a moment. For a moment, he effectively became a man-sized meatgrinder, sending copious amount of gore and body parts flying around as he literally tore apart the squad.
The sight of the carnage caused a pause in the Galleons' fire. It was only a few seconds but it was enough of an opening for the crimson Reploid who wasted no time in sending himself jumping up the nearest ramp. He had to keep moving or else he'd be hit by all the Galleons streaming into the room.
"Don't just stand there! Shoot him!" yelled out a Galleon to the side of one of the doors.
That officer had the right idea and got the security forces to focus their fire. He also acted unwisely by revealing himself to Zero as an officer. Midway through a jump to another ramp, the red Reploid sheathed his Z-Saber and pointed his Buster handgun in the direction of the important sounding unit. A blue fireball-like energy blast tore through the area and reduced the officer's body from the waist up to bloody viscera, silencing him.
The answer was spectacular. Buster shots went flying from every direction, slamming into the bridge. Zero's narrowed as he tried to go as fast as he could, shots whistling by as they barely missed, some brushing against his hair and burning some strands, one or two slamming into his shoulders, blackening the armor and drawing blood. Many more shots slammed into the bridge he was using, turning it to swiss cheese, causing the thing to creak dangerously even as he broke his dash to half-leap over many of the holes that were forming even as he attempted to cross.
As he leaped from the bridge, the fire from the units causing it to break in two, sending metallic, blackened, burning splinters everywhere. Zero tried to take cover behind one of the crates on the floor he was now on only for a shot slamming right next to him, indicating that he was literally surrounded and being shot at from everywhere.
Yeah, a frontal assault might not have been the smartest of ideas. Unless he did something, he'd be turned into a wreck not dissimilar to the bridge that just collapsed.
Activating the fire chip, he began to gather power into his Buster handgun even as he leaped over the crate, leaving his cover just in time as a rocket from one of the security forces slammed right where he had been. Shrapnel from the wrecked crate racked into his back and the Galleons laying suppressive fire in front of his former hiding place became more than happy to fire directly into him.
This was not good. Racked by gunfire, he felt his strength leave him and already had to empty a first sub-tank's content into his systems to boost his self-repair systems and keep himself alive. This room was a really, really lousy place from which to do his one-man army trick.
As the charge was completed he turned behind him, accepting the gunfire that was striking him to unleash a charge shot, unleashing the Burst Shot EX Skill. The small fireball was not as impressive as the volley of bright plasma projectiles that the Burning Shot inflicted but as the small fireball slammed into a group of Galleons by one of the doors covering an unit reloading his bazooka, the reason why he had chosen this particular ability became obvious: it burst into a massive explosion, turning most of the squads to carbon dust and causing the ones on the edge of the formation to be engulfed in flame.
One of the Galleons simply tipped over and fell off the platform toward the floor down below, half of its frame missing while two others, complete but completely blackened and covered in flames, went down literally screaming before splattering on the ground floor.
Zero had paid no attention to this though as he turned around and dashed as fast as he could. The Galleons obediently switched their aim, trying to direct their fire in front of the crimson Reploid so that he might dash straight into their weapon fire. To their frustration, the Red Demon reacted by kicking into the floor, climbing over the next bridge, kicking into it to somehow and against all reason cling to the wall, and then send himself into the next floor right in the middle of one of the formations of Galleons.
A few screams and Z-Saber slashes later, Zero resumed his breakneck rush through the door.
"We require reinforcements! I repeat, we require reinforcements! Our forces are ineffective!" yelled one of the officers over his communication device.
"What do you mean ineffective? Deploy the Moths!"
As the doors on each floor slid open, what seemed to be metallic wasps the size of a human's torso buzzed in. Although Moths were not exactly the most fearsome air support one could possibly get, they were extremely common, especially in cold weather like this area, and could be easily controlled by the emitters that Lurerre had given to the various Galleons.
Zero swore under his breath as the weapon fire intensified, the Moths falling upon him as a cloud, unleashing a hail of electric sparks. Although the sparks were not anywhere as lethal as Buster shots, his systems still told him about the damage they did even through his armor and even if he ignored that, his nerves certainly told him.
As yet another bridge collapse just as he leaped from it, he gathered his strength and sent himself upward, Z-Saber unleashed, performing a rising strike that sliced many of the nearby Moths... but that only dented the cloud surrounded him and distracted as he was, he did not see the rocket flying straight toward him.
The explosion was deafening, especially given the projectile had slammed straight into his sides. Alarms blared and the world became a blur, all sound ceasing as he was deafened, sent skidding to the left. Eerie silence filled his mind as pain gripped his entire frame, his entire body feeling stiff, numb, unable to stop his roll despite trying to muster his strength.
He felt wet and freezing, his systems telling him that this last hit had torn off a large part off of his side armor, exposing the fleshy parts within, blood covering the platform... his own. He felt weakness and cold, the pain becoming a distant stiffness as he was forced to consume a second helping of sub-tank energy. As the precious energy was forcefully injected into his circuits, his hearing returned and the pain flared again as he once more felt the weapon fire raking at him.
This was seriously growing tiresome.
This time, he took out the Shield Boomerang and ducked, angling it up. The sheer volume of fire made him buckle, the advanced defensive weapon struggling under the strain. He was being shot at from so many angles that many still hit him. He also knew that it was only a matter of seconds before a new rocket would come in toward him...
He waited and then, feeling the power reach its limit, he hurled the Shield Boomerang will all of his strength before taking out his Buster handgun again and beginning to fire wildly.
The Galleons did not think much of a primitive-looking weapon type such as a boomerang. Who used boomerangs nowadays? Besides, as many Buster shots pierced through the helmets of units and floored them, they never guessed what the Red Demon had truly done until it was too late.
The room was already not in a good shape even with the emergency repairs that Lurerre's men had performed and there were many pieces of loose metal all over the place. The green circular buzzsaw-like energy weapon flew around as per Zero's aim, colliding with the great tubes and wires all over the place, circling around the room. The ancient, rusted parts of the room were barely holding as is and with the weapon slamming into them, their structural integrity finally gave out.
One of the pieces of the top floor collapsed under the strain, sending Galleons screaming down as they and their floor turned into kinetic projectiles that crushed the squad right underneath. The boomerang continue, passing through the location of a second squad of hapless Galleons, beheading their officer and the unit in charge of handling their bazooka, sliding through the bazooka's ammo chamber and causing it to detonate. Shrapnel floored the other units, causing them to scream as the lethal metallic bits tore out their arms and torsos open. The boomerang went on its merry way, causing more havoc and causing the various Galleons to pause.
Even as the Galleons saw most of their footing be destroyed and turned into crushing projectiles for most of their forces, the few whose spot was protected from the Red Demon's fury saw him point his Buster handgun and begin to fire it at the Moths... but instead of singular shots, spreads of multiple shots flew forth from its barrel, turning a large part of the cloud of Mechaniloids into burning wrecks that plummeted all over the place.
Smoke and fire filled the great room and they seemed no closer to destroying the Red Demon. They had never really believed the rumors before, thinking that the news reports had just been typical Legion propaganda but as they saw the notorious Maverick shrug off multiple rocket blasts and who knows how many Buster shots while tearing apart a small army all by himself, they began to believe them.
"Back-up! We need back-up! Red Demon is tearing us apart! Situation is in doubt!" screamed one of the officers in his communications device, panicked.
"What do you mean by 'situation is in doubt'?! It's just a single Maverick! Do your job or the boss will have our heads!"
The officer definitely figured he wasn't paid enough for this. Thankfully for his morale, it was then that the doors on the top floor, the ones that still had floors connected to them, opened. They were bringing Face-model turrets with them, the new ice-elemental variant produced by the Slither Inc. and gifted to them by Lady Lurerre for this operation. Perfect, that will stop that infernal red thing in its tracks.
Meanwhile, the crimson Reploid grabbed the Shield Boomerang as it returned and then, while the weapon fire from the Galleons had paused due to shock, took the opportunity to make it to the top of the great room. Kicking into a nearby wall and sending himself on the top floor at last, he came face to face with a fresh squad only to see the characteristic shape of a Face turret in-between him and them.
The turret split in two, revealing its cannon, firing a large chunk of freezing energy straight toward the Reploid. He easily leaped over it but was unpleasantly surprised as the energy exploded behind him into ice blade-like shrapnel. He reacted with lightning speed; he dashed toward the turret, leaning forward, Z-Knuckle glowing. Before the Galleons' shocked gaze, the Red Demon grabbed and lifted the massive blue turret and then threw it in the center of the formation, crushing the officer and sending the heavy weapons unit right off the edge to his doom.
The robotic grunts pointed their Busters at the Maverick... only for the closest one to watch the Red Demon get in close. For a fraction of a second, he saw the cruel Maverick's baleful gaze bore through him before he grabbed and crushed his arm like a tin can, splattering himself with red liquid before smashing his fist into his helmet, ending him.
The Galleons opened fire. Panic messed with their aim, not that it did any good as with blinding speed, the Red Demon reached out and grabbed into the next closest Galleon's chest, tearing out his energy core right out of his body as if his armor just didn't exist before absorbing its contents and then throwing it away. The squad found themselves hearing screams of terror as they fired wildly, as fast as they could, trying to eliminate the insane Maverick killing them. As Zero tore out the last one's energy core, replenishing his energy reserves and refilling a tiny bit of one of his sub-tanks, the Galleon figured that the screams of terror he had heard was his own.
Blasts of freezing energy, more weapon fire, and rockets streaked toward the crimson Reploid. It seemed to do nothing; he dashed and dodged and moved as lightning. Within minutes, it had reached the top of the room without an elevator, slaughtering the better part of their security force all by itself. The turrets' fire was ineffective and even now, it was not even using a weapon anymore, simply tearing them apart with its bare hands.
This was a total joke. They were going to be butchered by the Red Demon helping a Legion-affiliated idiot dig in some ruin.
Their nerve broke.
"RETREAT! RETREAT!" It wasn't actually an officer that screamed that. None of the grunts in the room cared for many of the officers immediately repeated that call as they scrambled out of the doors, simply abandoning their turrets and what little was left of their air cover behind.
As Zero saw the security force dissolve into a panicked mob, he finally allowed himself to relax. Unfortunately, it meant that all of the pain he had been pushing to the back of his mind slammed into him as a single, solid block. He winced, bringing a hand to his side, looking down at himself and noticing the cracks and bullet hots where Buster shots and shrapnel had damaged his armor.
"Well, so much for Ciel taking the time to repair it..." he mumbled to himself.
She was definitely going to be upset. Restoring that armor had taken weeks and now it was back to the good old cracked and junk heap style it had been back during the days of the Resistance complete with the copious amounts of blood, mostly his own, staining the thing.
The workers and scientists working to decipher the secrets of the large computer in the back room had gathered, quietly discussing as the sounds of gunfire had died out. The combat elements of their force was gone, the Red Demon had broken through. What to do? Surely, the Maverick would go rampage randomly and if they remained quiet, maybe it would go away?
No, it was not that simple. The pattern was very obvious; the noises had been getting steadily closer and what little transmissions reached the laboratory shown that it was working its way up, toward them. The Red Demon is coming and there is nothing they can do about it.
What to do? How to fend it off? Some advocating hiding or playing dead but given the behaviors of Mavericks, it might not work and nobody seemed eager to test it out. Maybe fight it off? They only have civilian-grade Busters and most of them were baseline, human-like Reploids and Humanoids with no combat training and abilities. Many had seen on television what the Red Demon could do; the imagery of how the notorious Maverick had torn apart massive military Mechaniloids had been very vivid.
Their only real solution seemed to somehow fight it off.
How would they stand up to the Red Demon's weapons? Considering how ineffective military-grade armor had been, it made them very uncomfortable. The fact that their only potential bit of heavy weaponry was a loader Mechaniloid while the Red Demon was known to tear through dedicated war machines only served to make them nervous further.
The loader machine was modified, hastily but modified nonetheless. The main loading mechanism was modified with spikes and blades while the front projector was turned into a makeshift laser cannon. It was unknown if the modifications were even functional but they would have to do.
So... here he was, a plain civilian human model Reploid, sitting in the cockpit of a glorified loader with makeshift weapons, staring at the front door of the hall. He had personally unplugged the wires connected to the door's systems, hoping that it would slow down the Red Demon. Maybe he'd just assume the door couldn't be opened and give up?
No. He knew far too well that it wouldn't work. Still, he had done everything he could do.
There was a sudden jolt of yellow energy coursing the door. He leaned forward, staring through the glass of his cockpit. The door slid open, the energy having given it sufficient power to function. Then, as a figure stepped forward, the door ran out of power and slammed shut in a deafening metallic noise. He had seen this figure in the news before, when the team had hijacked signals from a Legion TV station. The pointy helmet, the red and white colors, the cold eyes, the yellow hair kept in an absurdly long ponytail... it was the Red Demon alright.
It occurred to him that reinforced glass would not stop the Red Demon's monstrously powerful Buster gun from blasting his head right off his shoulders and pulled on one of the levers, causing the loading mechanism, now an improvised crushing weapon, to rise in a defensive position, exposing the laser cannon on his machine. Maybe... he could intimidate the thing into leaving?
Fat chance, really. Still, as it occurred to him that this was most probably the last minute of his life, he might as well try it. He pulled and pushed into the lever, slamming the mechanism into the floor as fast and loudly as he could and then activated the communicator on the machine.
"Stay back, Maverick! I will not hesitate to crush you if you make even one more step!"
Apparently, he had failed to hide the intense fear that was gripping his voice since the infamous crimson butcher stared flatly at him. With the intense clarity that preceded imminent death, he realized that it wouldn't have been intimidated even if he hadn't sounded scared and that it probably felt borderline insulted to see the last line of defense being little more than an oversized civilian machine.
The Maverick just stood straight, staring with his piercing glare. The silence was troubled only by the hum of machinery. How long did the Red Demon stare at him? He didn't know. He did not dare attack or even touch any of the buttons on his console. His nerves felt as if they had just made knots within his entire body, freezing it utterly. Any movement he might make could be his last... and he knew that at any moment, the infamous butcher could move to attack and at this moment, he would fail to stop it.
"This is just a sick joke." The Maverick's voice ended the silence. "You know who I am, what I am. You really think you can stop me with this?"
"I-I will not allow you to harm any of my colleagues!"
"I'm not interested in you or your colleagues. All I want is to get to the computer room."
It was just as they had suspected. The pattern had been correct. For a moment, he thought of leaping out of this stupid machine, take his colleagues with him, and just run for it. But then, the one who had hired him and his group as a whole was Lady Lurerre of the Slither Inc. If he deserted, he would probably never get a contract in any of the Legion-controlled zones ever again.
"This is your last warning! Please leave!"
"Seriously? You do realize I just retired almost all of your colleagues without breaking a sweat, correct? You really think a civilian loader Mechaniloid will do better than all of your Galleons?"
He saw the crimson Reploid take out his characteristic weapon. According to the news reports and the various rumors, that strange energy blade of his could turn even the toughest known alloys to nothing but wafer-thin slices. It then occurred to him that the sight of the Maverick preparing to strike caused his left hand to glitch up and shake uncontrollably.
"Well, fine. Have it your way."
As the Maverick hunched over, taking on a combat stance, he came to the conclusion that no paycheck was worth dying in this ruin and that he'd rather live in exile than be butchered. Not like he wasn't already legally a Maverick as far as Legion was concerned anyway. He slammed his hand into the communicator's activation button so hard and fast he almost broke it.
"WAIT! I-I'll let you pass. J-just let me and my colleagues live..."
The crimson Reploid stared at him... and then, to his immense relief, straightened himself out of his combat stance.
"Step out of the vehicle."
The cockpit opened. He slowly stepped out, raising his arms so that the Maverick would see he was clearly unarmed. He watched as the butcher walked closer and prayed he wouldn't decide to have fun...
"Now shoo, you and all your colleagues, before I change my mind."
He didn't even have to tell his colleagues in the next room. The door slid open and they joined him as they broke into a run for the door, reconnected the wires as fast as they could, and began to evacuate. They should have never taken this job...
Zero couldn't help but wonder if he had done the right thing. After all, it wouldn't have been the first time he'd kill enemy civilians for standing in the way and he was painfully aware of collateral damage and how war in general brought such horrors.
But those weren't obstructive enemies who would have lured him into a trap or anything else. The better part of Lady Lurerre's goons were now bloody smears all over the central area, with their best equipment having failed them. With the damage he had inflicted to the structure during the fight, any Galleons trying to charge in to ambush him would be running into a death trap.
He had recognized them when he had stepped into the hall anyway. Human beings, beleaguered Humanoids, a bunch of civilian model Reploids with armor that wouldn't stop even a low tech kinetic bullet... they were just workers, basic engineers and scientists that you could find and hire by wandering out of Innerpeace for a few hours and then tossing zenny randomly. He knew their kind and they were harmless as harmless was.
He also knew that it was typical to hire this kind of person when you worked on illegal operations. Living outside of Legion's protected zones and with no access to most modern conveniences, they were willing to work for anyone who gave them money and would keep the Mavericks at bay without asking questions, almost no matter the conditions. In short, perfect for black ops operations where you wanted expendable minions okay with being kept in the dark.
They probably knew nothing at all.
As he stepped into the computer room, Zero couldn't help but feel the memories flood his mind. Thankfully, the workers had left their equipment behind, including chairs so he sat down and took the time to assess the damage to his systems. He brought a hand to his side and gripped the open wound, cringing. Most of the wound had closed thanks to the sub-tanks pumping him full of energy but he knew that he'd definitely need repairs once back at Ciel's side.
Sure, that had been bad odds and all with him having been in the open... but for a moment, he found himself realizing just how dangerous his lifestyle was. It had never occurred to him back in the days of the Resistance but after being a simple history teacher for decades, it finally hit him that he could have died back there. Sure, he didn't and he guessed it was par for him... but as he felt the crimson liquid trickle in-between his fingers, it finally hit him why Ciel was so worried whenever he went on missions.
It was such a strange realization and for a moment, he wondered why he didn't get it earlier. But then, it was probably he had never really thought about it before. He had been so focused...
Ironically, his wandering thoughts about Ciel's feelings reminded him of the task at end. So he activated the communicator.
"Ciel, come in."
"I'm receiving you clearly. Are you alright, Zero?"
For a moment, he was tempted to say that he was alright as usual but due to his earlier thoughts, decided to be frank. "Could have went better. Took heavy damage but still good to go. Armor's damaged."
Then, after a pause... "I'm sorry, Ciel."
"You're... sorry?"
"Yeah, for damaging the armor."
"Zero, I can always repair your armor or even remake it from scratch if push comes to shove. You, on another hand, if anything was to happen to you..." she fell silent for a moment, not knowing how to continue. She decides to just carry on before the situation becomes too awkward. "I'm just glad you made it, don't worry about the armor. I can always repair it when you get back. Don't push yourself too hard, alright?"
"Don't worry. The enemy is in full retreat. Now, I've reached the computer room. Visual data is coming in correctly?"
"Yes, go ahead Zero."
Satisfied, the crimson Reploid looked over the room. Crates, small power generators, wires, chairs, a table, Ciel's old computer with basic emergency repairs to keep it functioning and currently broadcasting the distress signal he'd been detecting all along and...
Zero blinked once and then got off his chair. He approached the corner of the room and removed the electrodes. The small table was covered in blood and he could see the stained knives, drills, and other instruments on the other side.
"Zero, is the visual data correct? This looks like..."
"Childre Inarabitta, yes, confirmed Zero.
A Neo Arcadian Reploid that had lived centuries ago and had been brainwashed by Weil in the days of the Resistance. Zero would recognize the small, rabbit-like frame anywhere. It was bloodied, with its chest opened and electrodes left piercing through one respiratory system. From the blood on the table and the missing organs, it was obvious that he was dead. Of course, Childre Inarabitta should not be here at all; Zero had killed him back in the days of the Resistance, in a far-off sea. Even if the damage to his systems hadn't been overwhelming, enough time had passed that the wreck would never be this intact.
Besides, the presence of blood seemed to indicate that he had been killed recently... which meant that this was a clone. And well, he knew of no one except for Ciel who had the data necessary to create a copy of him and he knew for certain that she would not create one...
"It seems that someone was experimenting on him. From the looks of the equipment, they were trying to figure out the effects of something and took samples. They did not expect him to survive the experiment... probably terminated him if he survived it at all, Ciel said.
But what had they been experimenting on him for? He looked over to the nearby computer and moved a chair up to it. It was a typical computer model as Ciel made them, one of the many computers that had been installed near the central vault and that their team had used when studying Model W. Judging from the lack of any other computer, he guessed they must have been using it for their experiments.
He activated the interface and what he saw...
"Security report number 504-11. Mer's unit was wiped out by Serpent. It seems that the worst has happened, he has contracted Maverick symptoms from extended exposure to Biometal Model W. Agent Zero has restrained him and we are preparing to apply treatments but I'm afraid that we're not too hopeful. Zero is right, if we remain here, we run the risk of all turning Mavericks. What little progress we have done will have to do."
"This is..." Ciel's voice was genuinely surprised. Zero nodded, even though he knew she would not see him do so.
"I know..."
It was her voice, her own record from their research on the Biometal Model W Core.
"I will now attempt to record what little is known about the cause of his insanity below. Hopefully, should anything happen to us, it will allow to prevent any other Guardians or civilians from turning Mavericks because of its power..."
What proceeded next, he already knew; Ciel had told him about that report after all. But this raised some very important questions, the most important one being...
"Why would Serpent wants this data? He was one of the Guardians once, he know all this already. Considering his cover as head of his own security force, one would think he'd make sure that all of his minions steer clear of here unless he is able to secure the Biometal Model W Core..."
Zero thought about what Ciel said. It was indeed as he thought. And well, the experiments they were doing...
"Well, I guess we now know what this was all about. I'm returning to base."
Zero turned around and walked back the way he came. Sure, he could have Ciel transport him back but he knew that with him deep in enemy territory the enemy would be able to get a lock on Ciel's signal. Radio signals simply exposed his own location. Trans-server signals however could be placed to their origin and would expose her location. Although he knew that they'd have to move to a new base in a few months, it still wouldn't be a good idea to give Serpent their location.
Sure, with all of those people on the run and the security force in shock, it was probable they'd be on full retreat. Then, it was probable that they'd probably try to re-arrange their formations and try to ambush him again. After all, he had yet to run into Lady Lurerre herself and frankly, he hoped to sneak out of there before her minions could get another shot at him... though he knew that due to his luck, she'd probably get in his way sooner or later.
As he made his way back to the central area, he stepped near the edge of the crumbled top floor and thought for a second before coming to a decision. Coming back the way he came was too risky; Lurerre was not dumb and probably would have her troops waiting for him there. But then, he knew that there were multiple access routes to the complex and with the carnage earlier, he knew they probably didn't have the numbers left to reinforce them all. Especially given he had stepped back into the main room and was not greeted by gunfire.
It was a simple thing to work his way down from the top floor, leaping and sliding down the ruined floors and tubes, until he reached the access to the inner reservoir. An emergency exit route was located in it and he knew it was probable that the enemy would not guard it given it was underwater and that the exit there was unlabeled on any map.
As he entered the small hall and then dove into the frigid water, no guards had been there to intercept him. Now, all he had to do was walk through the access tube, cross the main reservoir, and...
...as he stepped into the cavernous water reservoir, he saw a particular Reploid. Small in shape, hiding near the northern wall of the container, her small, petite form staring at her with red eyes. On one hand, the blue color scheme did remind him of Leviathan somewhat... but then, Leviathan had been a full human-shaped Reploid, while Lurerre was barely half his size.
"Oh my my... What do we have here?" a smirk formed on the Slither Inc. officer's face as she massaged the wrist of her left wrist with her other hand, as if in anticipation. "If it isn't the Red Demon?"
Then, instantly, her smile vanished and was replaced with a very, very upset frown, her glare piercing through the crimson Reploid. "That's the last time I leave anything of importance to Mavericks! They got themselves slaughtered and failed to stop a single, measly wild Maverick! What a bunch of idiots!"
She rolled her eyes, letting out a loud sigh, letting out a stream of bubbles through the cold water. "Pay peanuts, get monkeys, she mumbled to herself. But as she stared at the Reploid in question, she found herself crossing her arms. "Say... now that I look at you like this... you look just like Zero, that Reploid that used to work with Lord Serpent. Perhaps you might be the Reploid upon whose abilities the Model Z Mega Man was based?"
"So you were after the data on our database. Since you know who I am, I assume you know what I am capable of. I recommend you start talking." Zero straightened himself, glaring menacingly at the blue Reploid.
She returned his glare in kind, her eyes narrowing as she uncrossed her arms. "It wasn't a coincidence that you were on that highway the other day or that you were sighted sniffing around poor, poor Lord Serpent's bases lately, isn't it? Well I'm not telling you anything so beat it!"
She thrown her arms to her sides, taking on a battle stance. "I am the lovely Mega Man Model L, Lurerre of Slither Inc., defender of Innerpeace! By the authority imbued to me by the Slither Inc. and by Legion, prepare yourself to be retired vile Maverick!"
Zero hunched over, taking on his usual combat stance, fingers twitching and stretching as he prepared himself mentally and physically. If it was to be this way, then so be it. Still... this was Lady Lurerre, one of the officers of the Slither Inc. You didn't climb the ranks of a company like that one by being a calculator on legs, especially not if you were on the front lines like Lurerre was right now. And well, he couldn't help but notice how brightly she glowed and how dark the reservoir was; even with his enhanced Reploid senses and the light that Lurerre was emitting, there were very, very large shadows all over the place.
Lurerre brought a hand up, her hand soon becoming encased in a bright sphere of blue colored light. Then, with a swipe, the energy was fired into a trio of ice blades that flew in a spread shot-like manner. The shot went wide, aimed so that it would sail right over the crimson Reploid's head and head straight for the back of the room... but just as the blades flew, she repeated the motion.
Very clever, though Zero. A partially charged ice-elemental Buster cannon shot fired in such a way that by releasing the energy in increments, Lurerre ended up firing multiple shots using a single short-worth of energy. An advanced technique, extremely tricky and the mark of an expert. Just from that alone, he knew he was facing a foe more skillful than the mercenaries he had been shooting and slicing apart so far.
The crimson Reploid took out his Buster handgun and began to move forward, firing at the blue Reploid repeatedly but saw her obediently sway through the water, dodging his shots just as easily as he was dodging hers. For a moment, there seemed to be a stalemate as both Reploids kept firing shots that went wide at one another, the blue Reploid moving up and down while the crimson one went back and forth.
Both realized that they were not going anywhere and as Lurerre positioned herself high, she stopped firing and brought both hands together, gathering energy.
Seeing it as his opportunity, Zero activated the fire chip and unsheathed the Z-Saber, charging forward. Judging from the blue color and the copious use of ice, he guessed that Lurerre would probably not fire-elemental attacks...
Then, Lurerre let go of the energy sphere and after gesticulating widely, thrusted her left hand into the sphere yelling: "GREAT ARCTIC STAR!"
Zero kicked into the floor as hard as he could, stopped his dash as the sphere exploded into a large icicle that flew... right above him?
It was then that he noticed the blue energy that leaked from the great ice projectile and dropped everything, exploding into a small explosions that then solidified into very sharp-looking ice blades, covering the floor of the reservoir.
"Well, isn't that just gre-" his complaint wqas interrupted as Lurerre lowered herself to ground level and again gesticulated before yelling again.
"Take this, Maverick scum! LEVIATHAN LASER!"
PSHWOOOOOOOM!
Zero saw the monstrous beam of freezing energy heading toward him and for a moment, he had a funny-looking frown on his face. Did Lurerre think she's some kind of cheesy magical girl show character or something yelling her attacks like that? This is ridiculous!
Regardless of Lurerre's actions, that beam was massive and probably as lethal as it looked. But the more worrying point was that it was flash-freezing the water in the reservoir, causing the beam to be pushing a block of ice and lowering the temperature near it to levels where it could probably turn him into a snowman if he got anywhere close to the thing. It also occurred to Zero that because of those ice blades all over the floor, he kind of didn't have the room to dodge.
She was good. She was VERY good.
He had to act fast or he'd be turned into an ice statue. Judging by how the front of the beam was solid and how he figured he might as well use the energy he gathered in his weapon, he grasped the hilt of the Z-Saber with all of his strength, waited until the beam was getting closer, and then let out a war cry as he smashed the weapon with all of his strength forward.
A fully charged Z-Saber slash was an impressive sight and now was no exception. The Z-Saber didn't as much generate a blade as it triggered a blade-shaped explosion, super-heated plasma smashing into the reservoir's floor with enough strength that it sent parts of hardened plating flying all over the place and instantly turned the concrete underneath to glass while a large part of the energy bounced off the floor into a large flare of white and yellow energy.
The sheer power of the attack cause the mass of ice to crack but most importantly, pushed it back with such strength that for a moment, the beam stopped dead in its tracks.
That, Zero thought, was very interesting.
"What?" Lurerre's quiet but clearly shocked gasp galvanized the crimson Reploid.
Taking his trusty Buster handgun, Zero switched the electric chip on and then began to pull the trigger as fast as he could. With the V-Shot EX Skill active, this caused Zero's Buster to double its firing rate, unleashing a stream of energy that outright pushed back against Lurerre's own beam.
Her beam had a lot more raw power than Zero's barrage but due to its nature and the liquid environment in which the two fought, it meant that the beam was losing a lot of power as it moved through the water while Zero's shots were cutting through, pushing the ice mass far more effectively.
"N-not fair!" complained Lurerre as she complained, feeling her beam being pushed back steadily.
But despite sinking as much power as she could in her beam, Zero had the upper hand and as the energy was forced back into Lurerre's body, her eyes widened in a mix of shock and pain from the feedback from her attack. Then, with a half-muted scream, her body overloaded, turning white as her power was channeled directly into her own body with nowhere to go. With no way to exit her body, the energy created its own exits; her entire body fragmented before blowing up spectacularly, sending white freezing energy everywhere.
Zero stopped, taking the opportunity to cool down a bit as he watched the cable that had been connected to her head previously glow. For some reason, that felt a bit too easy... not just that but he thought on the amount of shadows in the area. Besides, sure, that had been Biometal-enhanced attacks clearly but he had seen no part of her body that seemed to indicate that she was covered in Biometal armor. Then there was her name...
Lurerre... like a lure. Surely, she must be named that way for a reason.
It was a good thing he had been suspicious and didn't assume he had already won for suddenly, a gargantuan fish-shaped Mechaniloid rocketed out of the shadows, jaws wide open. Zero kicked into the floor, using his dashing to send himself flying away from the fish in a panic, the jaws missing by so little he swore the thing had scrapped the paint off his boots.
Lurerre, fragile Reploid, no traces of Biometal... of course! She used a drone made of Biometal to fight!
As if on cue, two things happened. One was that he landed on a ice spike, piercing right through his right foot and coloring the water nearby red. The second was that the cable, connected to the Biometal drone, unleashed a large amount of energy and before his very eyes, he saw Lurerre's body reform.
"Tsk tsk. As if it would be so easy. You Mavericks are so overconfident." Lurerre was wagging her finger as Zero as he reached out and grabbed his own boot, trying to get himself unstuck. "I know how you Mavericks think. I'm working for one after all."
The crimson Reploid couldn't help but feel himself a bit annoyed by that last turn of events. She had played him so completely. But then, he was also good. Since she seemed back in a talkative mood, he took the opportunity to distract her a bit...
"That's kind of obvious. Considering his plan, the data here is kind of superfluous. Or maybe he's finally taking a break from being a mad psychopath in order to cover his tracks, ten years late? What am I saying, he isn't since he sent you to clean up."
It had the effect he hoped he would... though it didn't cause her to say what he expected. "Why you! It's not Lord Serpent's fault! He got good intentions, he just needs to have his priorities... straightened out a bit. And you dirty Maverick scum is interfering!"
Wait. What she said, the data she gathered, the fact that it's an independent security force she hired instead of Slither Inc. regulars...
"You're trying to find a cure to Serpent's Maverick symptoms?"
"It's that dumb Biometal Model W thing! He's not a psychopath, he's just sick!"
And all of a sudden, the obvious hit him. Serpent is a Maverick but he is socially functional enough that he managed to make a living for himself as an independent defense contractor. By culling Maverick attacks and making Innerpeace safe, he effectively made himself beloved to the people... which logically means that people would flock to the Slither Inc. to help them. Logic dictate that not every single person who join with Serpent would be aware of his true plans and would approve of them should he knew.
Ciel had theorized that for Serpent's plans to go without a hitch, he'd need a level of manpower that couldn't be obtained from his inner circle and their personal minions alone. He'd need to attract a number of employees, officers, and general volunteers who would be unaware of his true goals... and who would probably try to stop him if they knew.
No wonder Lurerre's operation was so covert. Given how advanced was Serpent's Maverick symptoms, he was probably corrupted enough that if he learnt of her attempts to cure him, he'd probably fire him or more probably retire her.
With a solid yank, Zero finally unstuck his boot from the ice spike, shattering it. Pain coursed his circuits but as he regained his mobility, he took back on his battle stance, hunching over.
"Look what you did! You got me talking! That's it, I'm tearing you apart piece by piece you filthy Maverick!"
That made him smirk. Took her long enough to notice. And with that said, she began to fire more of her icicles all over the place. He knew that he could try to shoot her but he would just miss and trying to get closer would be hazardous. He didn't even try. Z-Saber in hand, he rolled as he dashed, turning himself into a mobile buzzsaw, tearing through the ice blades that Lurerre had placed all over the area.
With each dodge, he slashed into another set of ice blades, the energy blade of his weapon easily cleaving through the blades and shattering them. Lurerre blinked even as she continued to fire only to notice that there was now a great clearing in her field of blades and that if this continued, none would remain.
Oh no he won't! Not if she have something to say about it! Once more, she conjured power from the Model L Biometal and gathered it into her hands, forming a second sphere. "GREAT ARCTIC STAR!" she yelled out as she unleashed the gathered power.
Zero was prepared for the attack this time. He sheathed the Z-Saber and watched as the giant star-shaped ice projectile floated forward, showering the reservoir with more blades. Then, as he felt the energy sufficiently gathered in his body, he took out the Buster handgun and fired it straight at the star. The energy rushed out of the gun, taking the form of a large, fat blue fireball that thundered through the air before passing right through the ice projectile, turning it into a flurry of broken, useless shards that quickly dissolved into the water.
That was not good, thought Lurerre to herself. For a moment, a rather obvious frown was seen on her face as her attack completely failed. It occurred to her that she was in a precarious position strategically; her ice shots flew too slowly to hit the Maverick, her Leviathan Laser had a rather high chance of being reflected into her body again, and her Great Arctic Star was no longer working. She could always try to strike him with the Model L drone but there was a reason she used her own body as a lure. The drone is very slow and unwieldy meaning that as opponent as agile as Zero would evade its bites with ease and although it did have weaponry of its own, it was in the form of torpedoes meant to be used against large, slow targets.
Zero saw the eyes of the Slither Inc. officer narrows, her frown turning from an upset one into an angered one. With him having figured out her tricks, she either would have to come up with new ones or stop hanging back and attack aggressively. From the looks on her face, he guessed what she was going to do and switched his fire-elemental chip back online while he holstered his handgun, sheathing the Z-Saber and allowing the gauntlet of the Z-Knuckle to form on his arm.
With a war cry, Lurerre charged forward, dragging her massive drone with her. The crimson Reploid prepared himself to leap out of the way but instead saw a flurry of ice blades flying toward him. At point blank range, dodging the spread of ice-elemental energy shots wasn't quite nearly as easy and as he dashed to the left, he felt one of the blades slice through his right shoulder, damaging the armor and sending a freezing feeling through his entire body.
He cringed but simply kicked into the floor, sending himself jumping high into the water, causing Lurerre's next shot to slam into the floor uselessly, missing entirely. At that moment, the great anglerfish-like drone opened its mouth and slowly, a massive orange torpedo, almost twice as big as the crimson Reploid, began to propel itself forward.
Zero landed and ducked as Lurerre barely missed and he saw the torpedo heading straight for him. Yep, he was doing exactly what he thought she did. However, he also saw that the drone was not designed for hitting a small target. That torpedo... he saw this type before. Those kind of large projectiles are used to destroy ships, not hit individual Reploids and Mechaniloids. This meant that the detonation fuse on the thing was probably timed and that it wasn't designed to trigger nearly as quickly as an anti-personnel rocket. Zero's one weakness was that his Reploid copy-body was not exactly the powerhouse that Omega had been and even with Ciel's upgrades to his armor, he doubted he'd be able to win a slugging match with a combat model Reploid, especially one augmented with Biometal and capable of regeneration. So instead, he dashed straight toward the torpedo.
The sight of her foe actually heading straight for her projectile instead of trying to avoid it made Lurerre pause from how ridiculous and absurd the sight was. This was an anti-ship projectile, a weapon designed to punch through huge targets and a Maverick of Zero's experience would certainly know better than to try his luck surviving a hit from it. Yet here he was, dashing toward it. But then, something even more absurd happened. Zero lashed out with that silly gauntlet of his and... stopped the torpedo cold in its tracks? Her eyes widened in shock and disbelief as the Maverick somehow grabbed the massive torpedo with both hands and then lifted it above his head. It didn't occur to her that he was going to throw it at her so she just floated there, jaw hanging open like a fish, as he hurled the thing as her.
CLUNG!
The turret sent Lurerre spinning, keeping her from being rocketed around the room out of control only because of her connection to the Model L drone. Even then, the world spun out of control, with her suddenly unable to determine where she was. In her disorientation, it occurred to her that she was in grave, mortal danger and she desperately reached out, trying to grab into her own connection cable.
She saw a blinding flash of yellow then-PAIN!
Lurerre screamed in anguish as the Flame Fang EX Skill hit its mark. A favorite of his, which he had perfected during the days of the Resistance and which he remembered had been one of his mainstays even back in the days from before the Elf Wars. It was simple but lethal; a leaping vertical slash, going upward simultaneously with his body, the Z-Saber's blade flaring out into a corona of super-heated plasma. The monstrous heat from the attack was the most physically damaging fire-elemental move he had access to.
On Lurerre, whose body was petite, weak against this element, and dependent on the regenerative abilities of the drone to survive massive hits, the effect was spectacular.
Despite the fact that they were fighting underwater, the blue-colored Reploid still burst into flames and began to burn. What little thoughts of fighting were left in her mind were washed away by a mix of excruciating pain and terror as she screamed in anguish, flailing her arms as if to try and put out the flames that were consuming her. The drone behind her twitched, its eyes flashing as its power was taxed far, far beyond its acceptable parameters.
Even as the flames began to die down quickly enough, Lurerre saw the exit to the reservoir at the other side of the area. She had to get out of there, she had to get away from that crazy Maverick, she had to-
She saw Zero close to her, far too close. He had leaped on her, his boots on her hips. She saw his gauntlet-clad hand go for her head. She could not take her eyes off his face as he grabbed into the connective cable between her and the Model L Biometal drone.
He effortlessly tore out the cable.
Hollow, she felt hollow. She tried to draw upon power to repair her body, to keep fighting but all she felt was emptiness. Her entire body felt weak, so heavy, so stiff. Her vision swam as the sudden break of the connection threatened to make her go unconscious. Without the drone's ability to repair her, the sheer overwhelming damage that Zero had inflicted upon her finally registered. Instinctively, from the pain and the terror that suddenly gripped her body, she tried to cry out for help.
She found herself unable to call out or even scream. Instead came out a pathetic whimper, muffled by sobs and thick crimson liquids that leaked out of her mouth. It occurred to her that she was seriously damaged, bleeding to the point where it just flowed out of her mouth as she tried to talk.
With a soft thud, she crashed into the floor. The world was spinning all around her, the reservoir so dark. She saw the shadow of the Red Demon hanging over her. He looked so tall and in the dark, he looked like a monster, with his malevolent glowing eyes and his gauntlet, gripping a blood-soaked cable that had once made her one of Slither Inc.'s finest.
For a moment, the terror and the pain mixed and she was tempted to burst into tears and beg for mercy. But then, she was an officer of Slither Inc. and she had dedicated her life to fighting Mavericks, to defending the people. She knew how the career of a combat Reploid always ended, what the logical end was. So instead, she spat at him, cleared her throat of the blood that filled it.
"Do your worst, Maverick scum!" she spat, despite the weakness that gripped her.
Zero watched his defeated opponent lay down on the floor. She had been so confident and skillful. Now, she was broken, pathetic, weak. Her life was at his mercy. Should he wish for it, he would be able to easily end her life at any moment, to thrust his blade into her core and end her. Or maybe squeeze it out of her with the Z-Knuckle. For a moment, he even had thoughts of using the Shield Boomerang as a makeshift buzzsaw and slowly saw off each of her limbs before cutting her chest open and slowly crushing her heart.
No. Especially not that last one. He'd never do any of this. She was broken, defeated. Besides, she was just trying to cure Serpent. Their battle had been pointless, useless. Well, she wielded one of Ciel's Biometals and he's bringing it back but frankly?
As the tension from the battle finally died down, images began to stream into his mind. The way Lurette had fought, the way she had fought icicles all over the place, her position during the fight, the way she used the power of Model L... it had seemed familiar.
No, not familiar in the way that he saw it before but for some reason, he found himself remembering something. A great base covered in ice, ruined like this one. What was he doing there? It was long ago, he knew for he felt heavier in that memory, like he was covered in that bulky armor he had back before the Elf Wars.
But he remembered something... something about how Lurette could release energy from her Buster arm in a controlled manner. He knew he could do this, that once he could do this. How was it that he could do it?
... he... he used the Z-Saber. He used it for everything back then. But for the moment, he realized he knew something. He remembered.
Turning on the ice-elemental chip, he unsheathed the Z-Saber but did not charge it. Instead, he ducked, gathered his strength, and then sent himself straight to the ceiling. He reached out as he leaped and as he reached the ceiling of the reservoir, he gripped it with all of his strength. Despite gravity beckoning, he simply dug in his boots into the metal and hanged on. Then, he swung his Z-Saber downward.
The water froze from the swing and he controlled the flow from the Z-Saber's blade carefully. The effect was familiar. A single ice blade, large and fat but otherwise like the ones Lurette fired before.
He had used this before. He finally recalled it. An ancient EX Skill, from back when he had been in Omega's body.
The Ice Wolf Fang...
A Z-Saber version of the Blizzard Arrow. Harder to use but a lot more raw power to it. Interesting, actually! Might come in handy!
... why do he remember the foe he learnt it from sounding like he had a name out of an amateur rock and roll band?
Must be a memory glitch.
With that done, he let go and gently allowed himself to land back on the floor.
He walked past her. He walked up to the now inactive drone and as if sensing him, its top opened, revealing a familiar sight. Well, mostly. He could recognize the shape of the Model L Biometal that housed Leviathan's mind but for some reason, it seemed kind of... incomplete?
"I know I wondered aloud why Ciel didn't just recreate my original body but well, when I said I wanted a body, that wasn't quite what I had in mind!"
For some reason, he couldn't help but smile a bit. If only to let himself cool down from the whole fight. The former X Guardian carried on without a care. "Anyway, thank you for freeing me from that awful body."
"It's nice to see you again, Leviathan."
There was a short pause. Zero guessed that his former foe was probably grinning from inside the Biometal.
"Hundreds of years and yet, some things never change. We still end up fighting and I still end up losing though this time, it really wasn't my fault."
"That we fought or that you lost?"
"Both! And since when do you have a sense of humor?" That really made him smile.
"So Leviathan... anything you can tell me about Serpent and his plans?"
"That's more like it! Anyway, apart from the fact that he's a dangerous Maverick, old meaning of the word, is trying to wake up the Model W Core or that he split me in two and left my personality in one half and most of my actual abilities in the other half? Not much. You're going to do your thing and tear through them, aren't you?"
Zero nodded. So the Biometals were divided in two... made sense, in a way. Probably, they would be too difficult to control if they were whole. He knew that the X Guardians would never allow themselves to be turned into Serpent's goons, that he knew for sure. They were too dedicated to their duties, too stubborn.
"How does Master X fare, by the way? I heard he's been lending power to some kid."
"How about you ask him yourself when we get back? I'm not sure if Lady Lurerre will receive reinforcements or when they'll come and the faster I'm out of here, the better it will be."
The Biometal floated away from the drone and came within grabbing distance. Discarding his Z-Knuckle, he grabbed into the Model L Biometal and nodded to his onetime foe. Hopefully, they will be on the same side longer than before.
"You... you're just going to leave me there?"
Lady Lurerre. He had basically forgotten about her. He turned back to her.
"You're... not going to finish me off?"
He stared at her for a moment. It was true that he could do that but then, now that he thought about it... he had let Leviathan live back then. Okay, sure, the first time he had truly tried to kill her but she had proven too tough and had just assumed he was going easy on her. But he had genuinely let her live and although they had fought so many times, she had repaid her debt to him when the time had come to face Omega. Now, he stood before a mirror of that old situation.
Lurerre is loyal to Serpent... yet, she came here to find a cure for him and obviously isn't too fond of his plan. It would be foolish to trust her but it was an opportunity and well, it made him think. He had killed so many people and with his thoughts and those civilians earlier...
Sure, if an enemy rises, he will not hesitate to destroy it. But is she an enemy anymore, right now? She's broken in pieces, obviously terrified, not being a threat to anyone in particular at the very moment. She wasn't even trying to give disapproving glares at him.
"I knew Serpent. Once, he said. "The data in that computer did reveal that but it couldn't explain the truth about that point."
"And the truth was?"
"That he was my friend." He could see the change in her expression. "Serpent was once the best among us. Dedicated, passionate, gentle, full of compassion. I saw the Biometal Model W twist him into a mockery of his former self, destroy all of the ideals that he once held dear. I saw him turn his weapon against me, against his former friends. I oppose him not because I hate him... but because he doesn't deserve to become the monster that his plan would turn him into."
It had been the truth too, which helped. In a way, it was still unreal, even after all those years. It was just so hard to reconcile the image of that Reploid who had given everything to try and help others with the psychotic conspirator who now led the Slither Inc. And for a moment, he wondered... if Lurerre could glimpse for a moment traces of Serpent's old self in him, could he be perhaps saved?
It was probably a fool's hope. Serpent was exposed to Biometal Model W for years. Such long-term exposure means that the damage is almost certainly irreversible. But still, Serpent had once been his friend and he remembered the name of Sigma. Serpent did not deserve to go down in history as a second coming of Sigma.
"What... what reasons do I have to believe you?"
"None. As I have none to believe you weren't trying to play upon my past with Serpent either. But if either of us were truthful, then we will need help."
He turned away from Lurerre and activated his communicator. He reduced the volume of his voice so only Ciel would be able to hear him.
"You saw and heard everything?"
"Yes. I am a bit uneasy about this but if it can allow us to save lives, I will set up something."
"Do you think she might have been on to something?"
"Regarding a cure? I would really hope so but it's only our data and you know I barely could come to a decent understanding of Biometal. If your flashbacks are any indication, it took a better half of my ancestor's lifetime to create a cure to the Sigma Virus and even then, the virus was understood for decades before she even began her work. I had only but a few months to study the Biometal Model W."
He guessed as much. After a short pause, the scientist carried on. "Still, a contact within the Slither Inc. may allow us to track Serpent's activities better and maybe even help to keep innocents out of it as much as possible. I'm not that surprised that there would be at least one person in the company not agreeing with Serpent. After all, I myself used to be part of Neo Arcadia before I joined the Resistance back in the day. Still, we'll keep her at arm length for now. I will get a contact scenario set up but outside of that, we cannot do much more."
"Understood. Coming back to base now. Zero, out."
He glanced back to Lurerre after deactivating his communicator. "We will be in contact. Look for signs."
And then, with that said, he made his way into the shadows, to the back of the reservoir. He knew already where the emergency exit was. He pressed his hands against the bare metal on the wall and felt the indentations. A push there, a pull there and the wall shifted slowly. Moving inside, the secret door slid back behind him, revealing an old Trans Server. He moved up to it and then was satisfied when he heard the humming indicating it was still functional. Good.
It was time to go back home. He knows that the Guardians had been performing a mission of their own while he was out there checking on the research center and the vault. Guess it's time to see if they're done and how their mission have went while he was busy...
(TO BE CONTINUED)