Chapter 10: Colonel

Having departed from the Maverick Hunter HQ, Zero warped straight down into the middle of the space port where Colonel had been sighted. The scuffle between Storm Owl and the Hunter's fleets was underway above him, and as he looked up Zero had hoped to find some signs of X somewhere above.

"Tough it out X…We can't let Repliforce get to the Final Weapon."

He then looked ahead and drew his blade. The port was vast and contained many large vessels that were constructed to breech and survive past Earth's atmosphere. Some were still in development, while others had already been destroyed by bombardments above. Storm Owl's brigade were avoiding this part of the port because of Colonel's presence, however.

Not that they would need to provide support. As Zero ran ahead past the supports and barricades, he found the bodies of Reploids cleaved with precise strokes through their abdomens. These valiant defenders had their lives cut too soon, victims of Colonel's drive. At one point, Zero looked at a pile of five dead Reploids and grit his teeth, mumbling in anger towards his former comrade "Colonel, how is ANY of this going to bring freedom to Repliforce?!"

As he entered the main building, he tapped the side of his head and remarked "Iris, I need a lock on Colonel's location." There was no response, and without breaking out of his sprint he climbed the tiers of the building and exclaimed "Iris! Pick up! This isn't the time to hesitate!"

At the very top, Zero paused and hung his head a little bit. He felt that, if Iris was actually at her post, he would have heard a mumble, perhaps even a sigh of distress. Instead, she had run off, the stress of this situation forcing her to abandon her post.

Face trembling in a bitter rage, Zero lowered his hand and clenched it into a fist beside his hip and grumbled "D-Damn it!" He wished he could do something at this very moment to relieve Iris' worries, but duty called for him to take action and the crux of her fears ultimately lied in Colonel's insane behavior.

Charging forward through the door ahead, Zero ended up on a walkway connecting the building to a station containing many one-man space shuttles. The very second he was through the door, he bore witness to a Reploid being sliced through with a violent, diagonal cut. On the other side of the falling Reploid was Colonel, his eyes projecting a cold, brooding glare until Zero entered his line of sight. Then, his brows lowered, making his glare one of scorn.

"Zero…" Colonel dryly remarked as he held his sword at the hip, pointing it at the Hunter before him in a lofty manner. Zero stepped forward, looking around the grated bridge. Colonel hadn't left just one corpse in his wake. There were a few others littered about, all of them wearing the same uniform and helmet, but none of them the same as the guards that Zero had seen beforehand.

"These are…members of that Shadow Corps Iris mentioned…"

Zero examined them their bodies with a horrified stutter. Their bodies had been dismantled and spread across the bridge, some of the wires dangling the upper halves of their bodies like they were puppets. Colonel had been merciless in taking them down, and he looked no worse for the wear.

Recognizing the inquiring nature of Zero's gaze, Colonel swung his left hand out towards the corpses and remarked "So, now you've come to kill me as well…" Contrasting to his untouched appearance, his voice was tired, rugged, as though with just a few more steps he'd fall into a deep slumber out of exhaustion.

Zero kept his eyes in a widened stare for a few seconds, then narrowed it into a heated glare as he raised his sword at Colonel and said "Don't do anything else you'll regret Colonel. Hand over the 'Bassnium' and come with me quietly."

Colonel blinked a couple times then lowered his head, chuckling out an echo of Zero's words "Quietly, huh?" The Hunter pointed his sword a little further and exclaimed "What's so funny?!"

Colonel raised his head back up and gestured his hand towards Zero, brandishing a loathsome pointer finger while explaining "We're far past the point of doing things quietly, Zero. Had this confrontation happened in the beginning, I may have been willing to hear you out. Besides, look at me…" He held his hand out and pivoted his body left and right, nothing on him save for the armor composing his body.

"There is not a trace of 'Bassnium' on me."

"That's impossible. You're the one who had it last!"

"And then I handed it over to General, who by now has breeched the planet's atmosphere and boarded the Final Weapon with a platoon of his finest soldiers, waiting for the rest of us to join him."

"What?!" Zero blurted in shock, stammering out a moment after composing himself "You're just bluffing! We would've detected-"

A pause occurred from a recollection of what had happened before. The words of Frost Walrus rung true in his mind "Harumph, not anymore. Cleared the ol' place out-" The old Reploid didn't finish, but he had been hiding a secret that Zero hadn't been able to deduce until now. Feeling a bit of rage at not taking such info into consideration sooner, he bit his teeth together and growled out "Of course, you had Frost Walrus send cloaking technology to General!"

"Exactly. You've finally pieced together the whole puzzle, haven't you Zero?"

Zero looked at Colonel's stern stare and tried to keep his cool in detailing Repliforce's entire plan "First, you divided our forces to ensure that I would go to Frost Walrus' place after the cloaking technology had been sent away. Then, you used that time to have Jet Stingray set up bombs in the power plant connected to the storage facility that held the supply of 'Bassnium' you needed. Then, you split X and I up so we wouldn't be able to stop you from obtaining it. Finally, you went into hiding to prepare General's vessel for space travel and get Storm Owl's fleet ready to provide one last distraction while YOU snuck into the Space Port to join General at the Final Weapon."

Colonel closed his eyes, and with a scathing scowl Zero inquired "That's the whole story, isn't it?" The Reploid muttered with a little pride towards Zero "Almost…You've almost figured it out…"

He opened his eyes and looked Zero straight-on, telling him honestly "Storm Owl is not using his fleet as a distraction. We are all trying our hardest to join General at the Final Weapon…And once we do, that place shall be refitted into a Reploid Sanctuary."

"Sanctuary?!" Zero was flabbergasted, outright OFFENDED by Colonel's choice of words. Swinging his head back and forth, the Hunter gripped his sword even tighter and exclaimed "Only a madman would call a weapon of mass destruction something like that! The only Reploids it'll protect are you traitors!"

Colonel's eyes widened, while his lips stiffened into a melancholy frown. He shut his eyelids and murmured "How quick you are to give up on me Zero, when you haven't even heard the full story. How do you think Iris would feel hearing that coming from you?"

"Don't you DARE bring her into this!" Zero exclaimed with a fury unseen. Pulling his head back with a deep-grit scowl, the Hunter swung his sword aside and remarked "You want to know how she feels?! Ever since YOU went Maverick, she's been crying, BEGGING for you to come back, for everything to go back to the way it was before! And now you're just going to ignore all that to point a doomsday weapon at the planet!"

Colonel got a tad more aggressive as he stabbed his sword into the ground and exclaimed "It's far, FAR too late to return to the way things were before! Ever since the attack on Sky Lagoon, Repliforce, nay, ALL Reploids are under the threat of genocide."

"What? That's nonsense!"

"Is it really Zero? Face the facts, we're the only 'species' in the world that can be infected by the Sigma Virus, and nobody knows if it's even possible to put an end to it! At any given moment, a human could lose a friend, a worker could lose a partner, all because one Reploid went insane without their own say in the matter. The government has every right to fear us, but they've done us no favors by coordinating events to perpetuate that fear in the eyes of the populace!"

For a moment, Zero could understand Colonel's frustration, and his blade lowered while he remarked "You're right. It's not even your fault that Sky Lagoon was destroyed. It…it was Magma Dragoon, possessed by the Sigma Virus…"

"Hmph, and yet again a Maverick Hunter is to blame." Colonel whispered scornfully under a sigh. Zero then returned to a more angered, defiant tone as he told the man he once respected "But this isn't the way to go Colonel! What is there to gain from using the Final Weapon?!"

Colonel calmly explained "Have you ever heard of a deterrent? For countless years, humans have used deterrents to halt the possibility of calamity born from nuclear weaponry. The fear of an all-out nuclear war is enough to deter it from happening. As far as the Final Weapon goes, by being in possession of it, we'll ensure the governments of this world will never dare make another strike against us. Those who wield great power such as themselves will only respond to an equal or greater show of power, but they would dare not strike back if it meant their world was damaged in the process."

The Reploid laid both his hands atop the handle of his sword and closed his eyes, remarking with the utmost honesty "I wish there was some other way. Some way that didn't resort to harnessing fear as a weapon…But I've been left with no other choice. This is the ONLY way to secure the future of Reploid kind!"

Zero growled out "Fear huh? I guess you've become a real Maverick now, haven't you Colonel?" The Reploid slowly shook his head and replied "My mind is clear, my thoughts are my own…" before he pulled his sword from the ground and leaned forward, gripping it tightly in his right hand beside his hip.

"If disagreements are all it takes to qualify me as a Maverick, then we're both in the same boat, aren't we Zero?"

Zero arched his brows, grabbing his sword in both hands and swinging it beside his face. The glow of the blade cast a fierce shadow upon his face, which crumpled into a gritty scowl.

"I'm not going to let you do this Colonel. I'll destroy both you AND the Final Weapon."

"I'm sorry you feel that way Zero. Honestly, deep down a part of me hoped that you would have reconsidered, that you would join me and Iris in our new Sanctuary, and break free yourself from this self-destructive cycle. But it appears, in the end, that you can only find purpose in battle…While I actually care for the safety of our species."

Colonel briefly closed his eyes, his mind deep in thought. Then, he thrust his eyelids open and with a battle ready glare declared to his opponent "You're the last obstacle in my way Zero. I'm sorry that we must cross blades, but I cannot lose! Not when there's an ideal worth fighting for!"

They were two warriors, standing alone on a bridge in the middle of a night. There was not a single other soul around to disturb them. It was a battle between two ideals, and what was considered virtuous would be decided by the very blades they wielded.

Neither moved, they were so still it was like a picture painted upon a grand canvas. Their eyes were focused on one another, both waiting for the other to make the first move. When their feet moved even one step, they would never be allowed to take it back. Words had betrayed them, their thoughts until this moment had been rendered pointless. Only in this moment, the twilight of this rebellion, would the fate of Repliforce be decided.

Zero gripped his hands tightly around the handle of his blade, the metal twisting between his fingers. His legs nudged a little bit ahead, then broke into a valiant sprint towards Colonel. He let out a cry of anger as she parted the left hand from the blade and swung down with his right, aiming straight for Colonel's chest.

The man parried the blow with a swift and equal show of force, their collision sending a flash of light outward that reflect the tint of their blades. Zero stamped his feet on the ground and swung his blade up swift as lightning. Colonel sealed his lips with a grunt and stepped back, the sword inches away from leaving a fatal scar on the abdomen of his armor.

To achieve the speed necessary for such a slash, Zero left his body wide-open to a counterattack, and even he was aware of this as he grit his teeth and watched as Colonel wasted no time pulling his sword back and stabbing it straight towards his chest. Bringing his left hand down against the side of the blade, Zero pressed against it with all his might to slow it's momentum, even though in doing so the material in his glove broke down and exposed the wiring underneath.

It was a minor sacrifice though, given how it allowed him enough time to leap out of the range of Colonel's blade. Colonel raised his brows, gave an impressed hum, and then spun his blade around to point it towards the air. The energy projected a radiant sheen and broke through the darkness like a prismatic streetlamp, blinding Zero for but a moment.

Then, as Zero was left grimacing with a hand before his face, Colonel swung his sword over his left shoulder and sliced it forward with all he had, releasing three ever larger crescents of energy in a horizontal manner. Zero drew his blade up, but each crescent struck harder than the last and in seconds had him colliding with the door he came through. The force of the last attack struck so hard that it dislodged the blade from Zero's hand and sent it rolling towards the edge of the bridge.

Zero swung his body down the moment he could and plucked the sword up, right in time to swing it beside his face to block Colonel's swift, diagonal slice. The two's blades stayed locked as Zero pushed himself upright, neither budging any more than a few centimeters apart. Zero held his right hand against his wrist to better support his blade, and with one hard push he repelled Colonel's sword and made him stumble back a couple feet.

Leaning forward just a bit, Colonel took pause when his left foot crushed down on the arm of one of the Reploids he had slain. Taking a moment to use said foot to nudge the corpse off the bridge, Colonel then hopped right back to the center of the bridge when Zero leapt at him and spun himself forward like a pinwheel, his sword acting as the blades.

Colonel crossed his sword before his chest and sparks flew as Zero's blade connected with it, some of them burning into the delicate metal fencing around them. The only way for Colonel to stop the attack was to draw his blade away from his body with all his strength, in doing so managing to slice the very air itself and kick up a powerful gale that blew Zero three feet back.

But the force required to perform that technique gave Zero the opening he needed to charge forth the very moment he landed and slice Colonel with all he had. Colonel bit his lower lip and grabbed his sword tighter than what was necessary, forcing his arm to swing back against the force of his prior momentum even as his elbow let loose a rigid creak.

Zero's eyes widened and he ducked down, the blade clipping the tips of his helmet off while he managed to get a more crucial attack in by delivering a hard cut to Colonel's leg. The wound was deep enough to disconnect a couple of the wires in his right leg. Colonel groaned and took a couple steps back, then renewed his focused and leaned forward, reflecting Zero's three slashes with swift, close-ranged swings.

Then in the interim between Zero's attacks, Colonel raised his sword above his head and back leaped to the opposite side of the bridge. With a gleam that cast his scowl in a more ferocious light, he brought his blade down with the force of a guillotine against the air, creating a massive wave of energy once he hit the ground.

With nowhere to run but back, Zero made three swift leaps in that direction and then kicked at the ground with all his strength to get up on the wall. His body ended up a few inches higher than the top of the energy wave, and for a moment the Hunter breathed a sigh of relief before vaulting off the wall and diving straight down at Colonel.

Instead of guarding the attack, Colonel leaned straight forward and his body fizzled out of view , leaving Zero stabbing his sword onto the bare ground. The Hunter let out a short "Huh?" and then heard Colonel's footsteps coming down behind him. Holding his sword in a reverse grip, Zero swung it behind his head and blocked Colonel's blade. Looking over his right shoulder, Zero grit his teeth and glared at his foe with the same ire he was giving him.

The two grinded their blades together, their positions shifting a few millimeters every second as they attempted to overpower each other. Zero spun his right hand back and turned into his buster, jabbing it right into Colonel's chest. In response, Colonel coiled his right hand into a fist and hooked it under Zero's blade, punching him square in the face.

Zero went stumbling sideways while Colonel raised his blade above his head, ready to swing it down with all his might. The moment Zero felt his right elbow bump against the nearby door, he tossed his blade into his other hand and gave two quick, limp slashes to hold back Colonel's attack as best he could. He then used the opening he had to fire a buster shot into Colonel's stomach.

Instead of finishing his attack, Colonel redirected the course of his blade to slice the projectile in two, the tip of the sword then digging into the ground and leaving a glowing scar before his feet. He rose his blade up with all his might, going straight for Zero's arm, but the Hunter pulled his arm out and summoned forth a thick icicle out of the blade to take Colonel's attack.

The ice shattered apart and became a cloud of fine, grainy hail, obscuring Colonel's vision. He widened his eyes and cautiously stepped back, then made one hard diagonal swipe towards the frost to blow it away. Zero was no longer there, so a quick deduction guided his sight upward, where he swung his left arm before his chest as Zero thrust an electric whip at him from his sword handle while sliding down the nearby wall.

Colonel jerked his arm back to tug Zero in, but that was simply playing into his hands. Zero turned his other arm into a buster and jammed it into Colonel's left shoulder. Firing at point-blank, he blew a hole right through it and made his arm go limp.

Colonel grunted in pain and then swung the back of his right hand into Zero's face the moment his feet touched the ground. The whip snapped off from Zero's handle, and after rubbing his bent cheek the Hunter called his sword again. He sliced forward in an arc but Colonel hopped to the center of the bridge, taking his sword into his other hand now that the left had been rendered unusable.

He didn't give in, and swung his sword above his head and seemed able to bend the very laws of nature to aid him in his cause as the clouds started crackling with an intense electricity that rocked the skies above. A bolt of lightning came crashing down upon Colonel's blade and shook the bridge to the point of loosening a couple of it's bolts, and though off-balance at first Zero went straight towards Colonel with sword drawn beside his head.

Colonel stabbed the ground after a moment's pause, and the electricity he grabbed pulsed through the bridge. Zero leaped over, thinking he had the advantage in the air, but was taken by surprise when a streak of lightning erupted from the ground and surged through his body. He was frozen in place, letting out a curling scream before the electricity parted and sent him flying into the wall.

He was magnetized to it for a little bit then dropped to his knees, electricity continuing to circulate throughout his frame every few seconds. Zero rose up, feeling that his body was weaker than before. It would be even easier for Colonel to slice his body to shreds should he so wish. If he made a wrong move, just ONE mistake, then the battle was over. Zero HAD to end this as quickly as he could now, Colonel had forced that hand.

Zero lunged at Colonel and swung with all he had, grabbing the sword in both hands. Rain began to fall at a steady pace upon the space port, thunder clapping as Colonel and Zero clashed blades. Zero had the advantage in strength, Colonel had the advantage in precision. Whoever was more proficient at using their respective advantage would win this battle.

Colonel stabbed his sword forward twice like he was wielding a rapier, aiming right for Zero's exposed chest. The Hunter let go of his blade by flipping it around, blocking both blows before clasping it in his other hand and swiping straight at Colonel's chest.

Colonel raised his blade, using the top of it to push Zero's up until it nicked the left side of his neck and cut off the spike atop his left shoulder. Zero twisted his wrist to swing the blade back down and slice diagonally across Colonel's chest. The rain pattered into the open scar, a few sparks flying out. Colonel grit his teeth and swung his sword down in one heavy, violent stroke. He struck Zero's blade with enough force to bend his hand inward, splitting the back of his wrist open an inch.

Zero put his sword into the other hand and made three swift slices towards Colonel's open wound. Colonel kept his sword at bay, protecting his chest as though it was the most valuable thing in the world to him. He took a couple steps back, trying to get out of range of Zero's blade, but the Hunter matched him step for step. Their feet made a quiet splash on the now drenched bridge, while the collision of their blades parted the droplets surrounding them and created flashes brighter than the lightning that fell from the heavens.

Colonel raised his sword as far above his head as his joints would allow, while Zero gripped his sword in both hands ready and pulled it back beside his head. He was aiming for the opening in Colonel's chest where his main hard drive was positioned, while Colonel planned to divide Zero in two. Colonel's sword came down first, and he leaned just a little bit to ensure that Zero would not get a chance to evade.

But then there was a crunch. Amidst the lightning and falling rain, it was a sound that could barely be heard save for the person of whom it originated from. Colonel paused and glanced down, the wires exposed from the cut in his right leg pinching together against the slit and leaving him unable to move for one second. That miniscule moment, which would otherwise feel as insignificant as any other, dictated the climax of this mortal duel.

Colonel was stabbed straight through, his glowing purple core stuck to the tip of Zero's blade as it was left exposed past the hole out of his back. The very moment the fatal blow was struck, lightning crashed down ten feet away from the bridge, shaking it with a deafening roar that made Zero's expression squirm and left his hearing temporarily shaken.

Colonel's blade dropped out of his hand and rolled off the side of the bridge, carried by the rain that overflowed it. His body stayed suspended only with the assistance of Zero's blade, but that was only a temporary measure as it slowly cut up towards the shoulder. Colonel looked at Zero, his expression far from bitter. With what little energy he had left he smiled and raised his right hand up, patting down on the victor's shoulder to say his final words.

"Take care of…Iris….ok, Zero?"

Zero gasped. Colonel's final words took him aback, confusing him after all the two had just fought over. Colonel wasn't angry, he didn't roar in agony, he didn't curse the end of his ambitions. He left this world as calm and righteous as the Reploid Zero remembered the most, wishing nothing more than for his sister to be happy.

Zero stood still, pulling his blade out the moment it escaped the expanse of Colonel's shoulder, and letting the core drop onto his back. Words escaped him, and his mind was hollow. His hands shook, and soon they let go of his sword so he could bring before his face. A bit of oil had gotten on them. Was it his, or Colonel's? He could not tell, and slowly the rain washed it all away. Yet for a moment, Zero's mind flashed back in time, showing him looking at his hands as they were drenched with more oil, and dozens of Reploid corpses laid at his feet.

When he snapped back to reality, he wanted to scream. But instead, he lifted his head up, his empty gaze focusing on one who should not have been there. Standing in the rain, her hair drenched as much as her tear-stricken face, was Iris.

"I-Iris…?" Zero's voice was hoarse and confused. He reached out to Iris with his right hand, but she retreated a step back, dropping a device that was grasped in both hands. She cuddled those hands against her chest and her head shook to and fro, each swing going slower than the steps she took back.

Zero took a step over Colonel's body, making an apologetic plea towards the person he cared for "Iris, please, I-" With her back against the door, Iris's body jerked forward and she bit her teeth down. She trembled, her gaze so pale it was like she had seen a monster. All those fears rose within her body and manifested into one heartbroken, bloodcurling scream.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!"

Zero froze, a dagger struck through the part of his chest his heart would be. He held his hand out in the air and did nothing as the door opened behind Iris and she held her right hand back, cautiously shuffling her feet away before breaking into a run to distance herself from Zero as much as her body would allow her. The door slammed shut, and Zero was left to focus his gaze towards the device she left behind.

It was turned on, and even with his vision blurred by the trickling rain Zero could make out that someone's name was on the device. He walked over and picked it up, turning it around to give it a good, long look. His eyes froze up at it's contents.

"Frost Walrus: Uninfected…Jet Stingray: Uninfected…" It was a list of the Repliforce members X and Zero had taken out until this point. All of them had the same condition listed. By the time Zero was done listing them off, he noticed that there was a scanner at the very top. His 'heart' pounded against his chest as he glanced over at Colonel's rusting corpse, and a moment later he turned around and pointed the device towards him.

A grid-like scanner went over his entire body, then let off a "Beep!" to let Zero know it was done. He was hesitant to look down, and sure enough what he saw was enough to make him drop the device. This time, it broke upon impact, but Zero would never forget what he saw on it. Gripping the sides of his head and dropping to his knees, his whole world was shaken.

"Colonel was…uninfected…?"

Not just him, all of Repliforce was uninfected. That means, in the traditional sense of the world, none of them had gone Maverick. Their own thoughts, their own will, dictated their every move. This rebellion was formed by their ideals, not brought about by madness. But now, only General remained to carry on the will of those ideals, and though he was stricken with a grief he could not explain…Zero knew that he could not just stand idly by while the Final Weapon still existed.

Looking up one more time at Colonel's body, Zero found the strength to stand on his feet, vowing to not let something like this happen again. He then crossed the bridge and went through the door waiting for him on the other side. Upon entering, he boarded the only shuttle, and took off straight for space…

As he did so, he left Iris behind, who huddled herself in a corner of the building and laid her knees on the ground. Her knuckles dug into her 'tear ducts' and she sobbed all by her lonesome…Or so she thought. The sound of footsteps heralded one's approach, and she clasped her hands against the sides of the wall and twisted her body in a terrified manner.

"N-No…Get away from me Zero, get away!" She flailed her right arm out while looking away, but the person approaching her wasn't Zero. It was in fact Double, the last person she had ever expected to see here. He raised his hands up and calmly remarked "Easy there Iris, it's just me! Your good pal Double!"

Iris blabbered out in a melancholy tone "D-Double…?" whilst wiping a tear trickling down the right side of her face. She laid her hand atop her legs as Double approached, wistfully rubbing the back of his head while cracking a sly grin.

"Yeah, I came to find ya after you ran off…But, it seems I came at a really bad time, huh?"

Iris hung her head and Double laid his knuckles against the sides of his hips. With an offended scoff he said "So Zero finally did Colonel in, huh? The nerve of the guy, killing the one you care about the most after you pleaded him not to."

"P-Please just go away…"

"Hey hey, don't be defensive. I'm on your side, honest!" Double approached Iris and bent his stubby body down, patting her on the back to offer comfort. She continued to cry, while Double asked her "You're feeling real down in the dumps, huh? Perhaps even a little angry at Zero for what he did?"

Iris laid her hands atop her chest and with a short hiccup murmured "I-It hurts so much…my heart…I-it burns…"

"Yeah, that's what hatred feels like. It's not very pretty, that's for sure! So you say it hurts…but can you describe the feeling anymore than that?"

Iris shook her head, and Double nudged her with a supportive gesture of his other hand "Does it make you want to hit Zero? Maybe give him a real piece of your mind? Or perhaps…" A fanged grin crossed his face from cheek to chubby cheek, and he whispered grimly into Iris' ear "Perhaps you want to KILL Zero, hmmm?"

Iris' eyes widened and her head jolted up. She crossed her arms against her chest, which beat ever faster, and turned to Double. The pudgy Reploid smiled with the same kindness as before, hiding the eagerness welling inside him as Iris hid her eyes under the shade of her bangs and murmured "M-Maybe I do…"

Double continued rubbing her back, assuring her with a subtle, sinister honest "Well then don't you worry your pretty little head over it…Your old pal Double has a little…" With a sly grin cracked he finished "Plan in mind for our buddy Zero…"

Next Time: The Conspiracy Revealed