By Dustin "Zvel-Haj" Herbert
Fenix, Zeratul, and other StarCraft related characters
are copyright of Blizzard Entertainment.
X, Zero, and other Mega Man X related characters
are copyright of Capcom.
Paul Wells and Red belong to Red Draco. If you
don't know who she is, then what are you doing reading this? Go read Bass
is Not a Fish RIGHT NOW!
For those who don't know much about StarCraft,
Zerg are buglike aliens, Protoss are psychic intelligent alies, and Terran
is another name for human.
Chapter 1: I'm a Mechanical Man
Fenix looked at his surroundings for a moment.
Large windows, 1,021st story living quarters in Aiur Square, everything
in the room plated with klaxxanite, and him, in his life support chamber.
No longer able to fight for the cause of Aiur after the battles on Shakuras,
he sits alone in his chambers reviewing all the old holotapes that he had
bought last month. I must find a way to get back in the battle.
He decided to read the daily information broadcast.
The first article would have brought a huge smile to his face if he had
had a mouth. The broadcast read:
Scientist Finds Way to Turn
Veterans Into Walking Machines
Researchers at the Shakuras
central laboratories have discovered a way to make an artificial shell
for severely wounded protoss war veterans. The shell is of a rather human
form, and only allows certain parts of the brain and body to be inserted.
Praetor Artanis thoughts on the subject were "This may or may not be used
in the war against the Zerg. While it may be of great value to the defense
forces, it is too costly a process to be mass-produced for long. We will
keep this project in mind if we see a need for it, but for now it will
only be used if volunteers are present." If you are interested in volunteering,
(Continued on page
A-10 under VETERANS)
He hit the auto-dial button on his videophone.
"Hello,
this is Executor Fenix speaking. May I have a word with the Praetor please?"
Artanis sat in his office reading various reports
on the situation with the Zerg. Things weren't looking good, especially
the report by Zeratul about the Hybrids that the Xel'Naga were creating
on several worlds through U.E.D. incompetence. I wish somebody would
call me about something besides the Zerg…
A far too familiar voice came over the videophone.
"Sir,
Executor Fenix is on line 60."
He must be practicing his telepathy in his
free time. "Thank you Rashalla." He clicked the tiny button
labeled "60" on the keypad to his right. Fenix appeared on the screen on
the opposite wall of the office.
Fenix bowed his head. "Greetings, Praetor."
"No need for the formalities, you are more
of a hero than I. How are you doing, old friend?"
Fenix slumped back in his hover chair. "Bored.
I long for combat as always. That is why I've called you."
"I'm sorry, but we've already discussed this.
You are in to unstable a condition to be in a Dragoon anymore."
"I remember that, but I have another option
to discuss with you. I read the DIB this morning."
"Are you really interested in going through
that process?"
"Yes sir."
"You do understand that the process may be
fatal…"
"Dying for the cause of the war, even for the
cause of science, is better than dying of old age."
Artanis thought to himself for a moment. I
should be careful of what I wish for. I think hearing that I may lose a
friend is worse than studying the Zerg attack plans. I do not, however,
want to see him die an unhappy old veteran. "Alright then. Meet me at the
Aiur Intergalactic Stargate at 5:00. I shall take you to Shakuras. I'll
see to it personally that you get the best service possible."
"Thank you sir. I'll see you there."
"Now relax, Fenix. You will hopefully awake
in a few days. Do you have any preferences for your new body?" Zeratul
said to his friend for the last time he would ever see him the same again.
"Hmmm…" Fenix hadn't thought of this. He
came up with something to his liking. "How about, black armor with a
helmet like that of the Ara. Do you have a weapon chosen for my new body?"
After taking a few short notes a scientist announced
"you
will have a miniature rapid-fire proton cannon on one arm."
"Very well. I will see you with again through
new eyes, my friends."
Fenix awoke with a strange beeping noise ringing
through his head. ??? He could not remember any languages. His mind
seemed to be completely blank. That soon changed. All of the sudden, billions
of thoughts went through his mind like a tennis ball launcher set on overdrive
pelting him with everything it had. Then, about 30 seconds afterwards,
it stopped abruptly. Who am I? Why am I here? What are these things
around me? Like clockwork, a voice in his head answered all of his
questions.
"You will remember who you are shortly. You
are in these laboratories as an experiment to turn a war veteran into a
war machine again. We are the Protoss. You were one of us, but now you
are more our creation than your old self. Do you have any recollection
of your past?"
"I have no past. I was just brought to life.
Why are the lights so bright?"
Zeratul turned around menacingly. He stared into
the eyes of a scientist standing at a computer typing furiously. "Would
you care to explain these last few words, Reiax?"
"Well, sir…" Reiax stuttered, "His memory
cells weren't exactly…compatible with his new self. Also, we screwed up
his fiber optic cables, so his brightness is turned way up. He can only
see with his psychic link, which won't last very long."
"WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!!? You mean to say he has
no memory at all of who he was?"
"Well, in a word, yes. He will lose his psychic
link soon, so we will need some Terrans in here momentarily." While
Zeratul turned around to stare at his former friend, Reiax decided to 'go
get a few Terran translators'.
Artanis burst in at that moment. "Good morning!
How are you feeling?" He saw Zeratul's glum eyes and new something
was wrong. "He did make it through the process, didn't he?"
"Yes, but he has no memory of his former self.
His eyes are screwed up to top it off."
"What will we do now?"
"Get some Terran translators. His psychic link
is fading fast."
Suddenly two scientists and a zealot burst in.
The scientists started to fasten something to Fenix's helmet. The soldier
bowed towards Artanis and handed him a holotape. "Message for you from
the R&D branch, sir."
"Thank you. Dismissed." Artanis turned
the tape on. It said the following:
Research and Development
crews at the Deriskolia Arbiter Tribunal have discovered an inter-dimensional
teleportation rift. Scouts into this new dimension have reported life forms
much like that of the Terrans. They are at war with a race called
reploids. Estimates say that this may be prevented if we limit the number
of humans produced, The chances would be decreased that these "reploids"
would ever be invented. We are very close to having another rift that opens
farther into the past of this dimension. We need your word on whether or
not this goes public and if so we need to interview you. The rift was in
the black hole charted as Cygnus X-1.
"Hmmmm, I think I may have an idea of what
to do with our amnesia struck friend…"
"Um, What is my name anyway?" Fenix called
out abruptly.
"Your name is Cygnus" Said Artanis in a
distant tone.
Zero was walking around the mountains and ridges
nearby the city. The upcoming battle was going to be extremely stressful,
so he decided to clear his mind by getting some fresh air. Suddenly, he
saw a shower of sparks come from mid air. Shortly after that, an orb of
swirling energy surrounded by a net of electricity ballooned out of nowhere.
A sleek, black form began to materialize in the center of this strange
sphere.
Cygnus came out of the rift, which closed behind
him. He had a lot of conflict in himself right now. He was full of hatred
from how his creators had stopped talking to him and cast him away from
them. Yet he had this urge inside him to fight for his home world, to which
he would never return.
This new world was magnificent. It was not as
dark as Aiur, whose skies had been corrupted by the Zerg attacks. Tall
buildings of all colors loomed over the streets, unlike the maze of yellow
in the remaining cities of Aiur. Children played merrily in the various
parks. This world did not at all seem to be in the middle of a war. Needless
to say, Cygnus kind of liked this place.
"That's one freaky teleporter you got there, Mack.
Where you from?" A voice called out behind him. "You look new. What's your
name, stranger?"
"I'm Cygnus. I am new to this world. Would you
mind telling me the common knowledge around here?" He said nervously.
The reploid blinked. "Ok… you are definitely not
from around here. First off, my name's Zero." Where have I heard that story
before? Is he another of the first generation reploids? Where DID he get
that teleporter? All these thoughts swam in Zero's mind until Cygnus broke
the silence.
"Uh, you wanna go to a bar or something?"
Chapter 2: You're Not on Aiur, Toto
"… Then, some of the reploids decided 'you know
what? I don't like humans. I think we should get rid of them.' And so started
the Maverick War." Zero said.
"So, there's civilians, Mavericks, Maverick Hunters…
anyone else? Are there any neutral militias, military police, bounty hunters,
…or stuff like that?"
Zero thought for a moment. "I honestly have no
idea. I tell you, if there were any bounty hunter groups when I was told
this stuff, I would've joined them. Not that I had a choice…" Zero looked
at Cygnus, who had an inquisitive look on his face. "Oh no. No. That's
a long story that I'm not going to get into. All I'll tell you is that
I've always had a thing for fighting and killing, but I was forced to join
the Hunters, and now I kinda like it.
"Hmmmm, I think I'll see what I can find on the
neutral armies. If I can't find anything, I'll probably come to you guys.
Thanks for the info though."
Zero smiled. "No problem. Hope I see you around,
Cyg."
Cygnus got up and left the bar. He decided the
best place to find out about underground organizations was dark alleys,
so he started searching for the abandoned district.
Zeratul was in the process of purposely getting
on the nerves of one of his subordinates, namely the one that was in charge
of the scouting into the new world. Everyone was wondering what had happened
to Fenix, since he had not returned from his trip into the new world. Communication
was impossible since he had lost his psychic link and he was in an alternate
dimension. "Is he back yet?"
"Not yet sir."
"Is he back yet?"
"No sign of him, sir."
"Is he back yet?"
"Not yet, sir."
"Is he back yet?"
"NOT YET, SIR!!!"
"Is he back yet?"
"SIR, NO, SIR!!!"
"Is he back yet?"
"NO YOU FREAKIN' RETARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"HEY!! You are required to say 'sir' to your
superiors. That's 5 demerits."
The soldier simply banged his head on his desk
once. Zeratul smiled. He really wouldn't take notice of the demerits. He
really did wonder what had happened, though.
Artanis had somehow found a way to get a day off
of his duties to relax and surf the holonet. He had every access code out
there, so he was completely unrestricted in his browsing. He was just poking
around through the current top-secret project pages when he encountered
one with a different code than "blizzard", which was the code for all known
top-secret files. He ran a code cracking prog that he had found on a human
site and was soon in. He read in anger the following words:
Project Eden
CODENAME: CROWDCONTROL
The elite covert
operations division on Shakuras has organized project Eden to prevent a
war in the future of the newfound universe that was discovered by the warp
rift technology engineers at the Deriskolia Arbiter Tribunal recently.
The time zone that we originally found was in a war between a race of super
beings and their creators: a race of human-like organisms. This new race,
known as the reploids, has superior strength, plug-and-play weapons modules,
and intelligence superior to that of the engineers who designed them. These
factors have been added together and we believe that the outcome looks
grim for these poor technology crazed creatures. That is where we come
in.
We have assembled
a strike team of several robots and Reploid-like units of our own. We have
sent them a few million years into the past of this realm. We found the
primary reploid manufacturing plant in their world, and have established
a base there. Our goal is to use a weapons satellite that we have named
Eden to wipe out the population of the surrounding territories every few
thousand years. We will also attempt to flood the world in order to overpopulate
the lands, causing mass confusion that might keep them either locked in
the dark ages or cause them to create interstellar technology. In the second
case, that will cause the humans and reploids to be somewhat separated.
If, by chance, we cannot prevent the creation of reploids, we have a plan
B. We will be assembling reploids and robots at our bases and outposts.
When the aforementioned war arises, we will be prepared to fight for the
humans.
The classes of
reploids and robots that we will be sending in can be found here.
For more information on the new realm, go to here.
Artanis clicked a button on his desk's keypad.
"Rashalla,
find me any telephone numbers on Shakuras containing 'Eden' in them. I
have found something quite objectionable…"
Chapter 3: Take Me to Your Steenkan Leeder!
Cygnus walked down the dark alley. One thing that
he noticed the cities had a small lack of was variety. Every dark alley
he had been attacked in so far looked the same. He had few scratches from
the various human and maverick attacks that had befallen him. It seemed
this new world underestimated him. He would soon find that this rigorous
procedure had a meaning to it as a huge shadow dropped down upon him.
"Nice. I've never seen a weapon like that. It
could use some adjusting, though," a low, gruff, and imposing voice rumbled
from behind him.
Cygnus decided that this was probably who he was
looking for. "Thanks. You might say I'm from way out of town. I just found
out about the war half an hour ago."
As Cygnus turned around he examined the huge figure
that stood before him. It was a reploid that stood at about 10 feet tall.
He had thick, heavy legs, a boxy torso, and his arms were muscular. On
one of these arms was a huge gun that had a barrel as long as Cygnus was
tall. He had a flat-topped haircut that was an understatement compared
to how battle-ready the rest of him looked. "Well, if you aren't in the
war and you don't have the cops chasing you, then you must be looking for
us. I'm Draconis, founder of the MRM. Mercenary Reploid Militia."
"Say no more, that's what I've come to this part
of town to hear. I'll join."
Draconis looked stunned. Either this guy is REALLY
from out of town, or he's hiding something. Then again, everyone's hiding
something. "Well, I guess you're in. Come with me, and I'll show you the
definitive vision of a bar.
Well, Draconis kept his promise. THIS is a bar!
Cygnus looked around at the various sights in this "Bar and Acquisitions
Center" that Draconis had brought him to. There were fights everywhere
and drunkards aplenty. Techno music was playing in the background, and
there was a small dance floor where a few people were busting a groove.
The bartender, Cyg was told, was a converted programming reploid from the
P.E. Nobody had told him yet what that stood for. The reploid was a floating
torso with multiple eye enhancements. He had makeshift arms added to him
and on each hand were tubes for filling drinks. Holovids were scattered
throughout the bar displaying either a sport or the news. One holovid in
a corner of the room was surrounded mostly by programming reploids and
was tuned into the Sci-Fi Channel.
Cyg kept scanning the room until his eyes set
upon a young reploid woman sitting alone at the bar. An occasional male
would attempt to flirt with her, but soon had an imprint of a wrench upon
his face. Wonder what she's doing here… Cygnus got up and walked
over to her.
"Hi, I'm Cygnus. What do you do around here? I
just joined up and am looking for people to help me out. I'm new to this
place and need someone to show me the ropes. I didn't even know about the
war until an hour ago." Cyg said this making a point not to seem like he
was catcalling her. The last thing he needed as an initiation into this
realm was a new facial feature.
"Tracy. What do you mean when you say 'this place'?"
Cygnus thought of how to put it. "It's a long
story, but I was basically born yesterday and had no memory implants. That's
the best way to prevent further questions."
"Ok… I am a mechanic and I recently got fired
from the Hunters for making certain 'adjustments' to their stuff. I didn't
wanna be with the Mavericks when it all goes down, so I found this place.
My brother Colonel and my sister Iris are gonna join the Hunters when they
get out of college, so I'll have some intelligence about the Hunter's plans
if I'm looking for a job. Having info is the best way to be recruited if
there's no jobs available."
"Cool. I'll have to remember that. So, you wanna
join my crew? I could use someone to fix me when I screw up." Cygnus noticed
the word "wanna" and instantly put it in his vocabulary. There were so
many words in this language! He thought that he'd never learn them all.
Sometime he had to sit down and read a slang dictionary.
"Hmm, I just got fired and now I've got the option
to join some newbie in a mercenary squad that will often be chased by my
former employees and one day my brother and sister… sure I'll join!" She
smiled and chugged the rest of her vodka. "What's the payment?"
Cygnus drew a blank. "Uhh… let's see… how about
all work expenses paid with 25% of the group's income? I don't know anything
about this stuff, so I'm just guessing."
Tracy was tempted to give this guy a run for his
money, but she had a feeling that she should play nice just this once.
"Yeah… that's pretty good actually… deal. Any sign up payment?"
"Umm… I don't have any money."
"WHAT?!?!?!"
"I told you, I'm new to this place!"
"Man, they don't give you any entry credits into
life anymore? I thought all factories did that."
"Like I said I'm not from around here."
"What, are you made in another universe or something?"
"You couldn't guess any closer."
At this she stared at him for a while. This will
be an interesting job. I have to fix up some alien reploid from another
universe. I hope he brought his schematics from Zircon. "Then I guess I
can't blame you. Where do you live?"
He only needed to look at her for a while.
Tracy smacked her forehead. "Oy vey! This is gonna
be a very interesting experience."
Zero typed furiously. Zero Hunter: Colonel,
stop the coup now!
His computer blipped in response. Colonel72:
Never. The two of them were in a 30-way StarCraft3 battle. Colonel
was massing forces to attack one of Zero's allies, Red. Colonel was also
allied with Zero, and Red was in control of a huge mineral deposit.
Zero Hunter: If that's your decision… Zero
selected 12 drop ships filled with reavers and right before he unloaded
them into Colonel's main base, he typed Zero Hunter: PREPARE YOURSELF!!!!!
"What are you doing? We have a war to prepare
for in two days and your fooling around?!!?!?!?!?!?"
Zero turned around. Paul was standing in the doorway.
"Oh, I'm playing over the holonet. So's Red. You ever played StarCraft3?"
"I had StarCraft when I was a little kid. I was
the next best in tournaments besides this old man named WarAxeChosen. I
wonder if he chose to live in a reploid or something…"
"They do that?"
"Oh yeah. Hey, there's a nuke strike over your
reavers…"
Zero whipped around. He tried to get them out
of range, but those reavers were to damn slow. Colonel simply Yamato gunned
every reaver once the strike had done its dirty work. Right as Zero was
halfway through the process of slamming his head on the table, he heard
the lovely sound of "Ion Satellite charged!"
Chapter 4: Baby Steps
"I know that the loss of the primary relay station
on Marionville Island is a sad day for all of us, but we must concentrate
if we are to avenge our comrades." This speech was being held in the great
hall of the Project Eden Headquarters – which was a maze of underground
palaces. "Tomorrow the Hunters will be engaged in a war with the Mavericks.
This will be our time to strike. The Hunters are sending every man they
have into the fray and their HQ will be undefended. It shall be crushed
into oblivion." Slowly a few robots started smiling. There were two humanoid
reploid brothers (one of which was giving the speech), and a few scattered
Juno and Zeus model bots. Two Trigger model bots were guarding each exit
and there were Prog reploids at the 5 computer ports along the walls. "The
loss of the Hunter HQ combined with the losses at the battle with Sigma
will ensure our long term goal, the eradication of all humans to save the
planet's resources from total annihilation and a peaceful world for reploids
to thrive in. Earth shall become Eden incarnate."
At this everyone cheered, except Deneb. This was
not Eden's objective! Eden was meant to protect humans and prevent overpopulation,
not to wipe out the humans. How could Sirius say that we were going to
kill all humans? Humans were officially expendable yet important. It finally
hit him. They had all gone Maverick. It is imperative for me to evacuate
the vicinity.
"Sup, bartender?" Cygnus was getting used to this
new language.
"Whaddya want youngin?"
"Do you wanna join a mercenary company?"
"Uh, I own a bar. I have more moola then you'll
ever get, newbie. Try my boy, in the back. He doesn't do anything except
screw around on the Holonet anyway." The floating torso pointed to a door
behind the counter and opened the tiny little door thingy that prevents
customers from stealing stuff. Cyg hopped over the counter before he noticed
the old reploid's generosity. "Kids these days…"
Cygnus looked around in the dark room to find
another floating torso thing jacked into a computer. Empty 10-W-40 cans
littered the floor, and the place smelled worse than it looked. "Uh… hey
there… you doing anything important?"
The reploid turned around. "Would I be in
a bar if I was?"
"You've got a point. Do you wanna join a mercenary
company?"
The reploid sat there like it was stoned for a
second, and then replied "yeah, sure. I'm not doing anything better. You
don't need to pay me, all I require is a computer with Holonet access."
Cygnus stood stunned. Getting a computer is gonna
be hard enough! "Uh, deal. First thing, find me a mission."
"Ok."
They sat in silence for a moment. "Well, anything
yet?"
"What, you mean now?"
"YES I MEAN NOW."
"Oh, ok."
"Hey, Zero!" Paul called as he ran down the hallway.
"What did I do now?"
"I've got bad news."
"All of our best men went maverick, morale is
extremely low, we have an all out war with the Mavericks tomorrow, and
YOU HAVE BAD NEWS!?!?!?!?!?"
"Outside sources indicate that an underground
terrorist group is going to attack the HQ tomorrow."
Zero's eyes grew wide. "WHAT? We can't leave anyone
behind! Not only would they feel left out, but we need all the help we
can get!"
An officer approached them. "Sirs, sorry to interrupt,
but I may have an answer to your problem."
Zero glanced at him. "By all means, tell us."
"Mercenaries, sir."
The floating reploid faced the computer once more.
"Ok, what do you want me to find?"
"A mission."
"What kind, crack head?"
"Um… an easy one that pays a little bit."
"Alright. Any particular side?"
"No."
"Ok… how about… assassinate mayor of Kapcom."
"Um… I don't want fed or civilians after us."
"Who would 'us' be anyway?"
"You, me, and this mechanic I found."
"That's it?"
"Yeah."
"Ok… easier mission." The reploid was now regretful
of his decision. "How about… police duty, prevent potential riots in downtown."
"Yeah, like we're gonna get money from the government.
Try something military. You know, Hunter or Maverick missions."
"Oh, right… Hunters want their HQ defended while
they do major offensive."
"Sounds like fun to me. Oh yeah, I'm Cygnus."
"Eridani. I take that as a yes to the offer."
Deneb sighed. He had made it out and had contacted
the Hunters. Unfortunately, he had nowhere to go. Just then, he saw something
from the corner of his eye. Three reploids were walking out of a bar. One
of them happened to be a PE programming reploid. He ran over to them. "Greetings,
I notice you bear the markings of the Project Eden. I recently escaped
and was wondering if you have any advice on my future course of action."
Eridani just floated there acting stoned as ever,
Tracy was still trying to figure out what he just said, but Cygnus realized
that this was his opportunity. "Do you wanna join my mercenary company?
I'm new to this world too, so we could figure out everything together!"
Eridani muttered to Tracy "he sounds like a frickin'
kids show. 'Let's share and be friends!'" Tracy chuckled slightly.
Deneb seemed pleased with this offer. "That appears
to be an acceptable request. I have no other directives, so that could
prove to be a pleasant experience." He gave a huge smile that was accented
by the natural happy face state that he was modeled to have. "My name is
Deneb, PE combat and diplomatic reploid model no. 02. I am pleased to make
your acquaintance."
Cygnus replied "My name's Cygnus, experimental
veteran replification model no. 04. It's nice to meet you too."
"I'm Eridani. You know my model and I forgot my
number. Sup?"
"I'm Tracy, Tyrell female custom model no. 15."
Cygnus looked around at his new unit. This is
starting out good.
Zero stared at this tiny mercenary unit. He pondered
the reason he got only a bunch of newbies as the defense of the HQ. "Ok,
here's the deal. These Project Eden guys are gonna attack today. You need
to defend the base at all costs. I'm guessing this programmer guy and miss
Tracy here aren't gonna be fighting, so you two will be controlling some
of the automated defenses. Our insider friend here should know a little
bit about the enemy's weaknesses and attack patterns, so he's gonna do
some of the fighting. Cygnus, of course is gonna do the main part of fighting.
No one is gonna be here once the attack on the Mavericks has started except
for a few of the laborers and our scouts (we don't need them on the terrain
we're fighting. It is all badlands and a few craters), so if you need help
I hope you have some other merc friends. Any questions?"
Everyone was quiet. Deneb was especially attentive.
He didn't know that they had accepted the very operation he had let out
of the bag. He was now going to have to fight his brother and all of his
friends. Yet again, they are no longer their former selves.
"Good. Happy hunting." Zero turned to a screen
on the wall. "Commander Zero Omega reporting. Send Lieutenant Mega Man
X up to briefing room 06." With that Zero turned to leave the room and
muttered something along the lines of "Damn newbies."
Eridani finally broke the silence. "Well WHOOPDY
FRICKIN' DOO!!! I get to be the happy TURRET MAN!!! Damn, this job sucks
already."
Tracy leaned towards him. "At least you don't
get to die like the other two. Plus, you're stuck alone in a room with
me for a long time." She gave him a fake lustful smile. Eridani and her
just laughed at each other.
Cygnus turned around and glared at them. "Ya mind
shutting up for a little? Our friend Deneb isn't doing too well." He nodded
towards Deneb, who was pale as a ghost, which matched well and looked very
nice with his white body armor.
For once, X interrupted Zero instead of the other
way around by walking through the door at just the right time to make a
crimson bump on the head of our crimson hero. After a brief pause to assess
the situation, X notices the unfamiliar faces in the room. "Hey, new recruits!
WHOOHOO!"
Zero shook his head in disorientation and correction.
"Sorry, X. They are mercenaries. The HQ is gonna be attacked tomorrow by
some terrorists or something."
X sulked. "So, why do I have to be here?"
"You have to show them around the outside so they
can find defensive positions and strategies. We have automated defenses,
right?"
"ZERO!!! You're the leader of all the attack forces,
but you don't know about the floor plan of the HQ grounds?"
"So sue me. I've only been here like four months."
X sighed and turned to the mercs. "So what, are
you defensive strategy experts or something?"
Cygnus gave a weak smile and said, "Uhh, this
is our first mission."
Chapter 5: Let's Get On With the Killin'
The mercs gathered in the MHHQ cafeteria, since
the hangar was full with all the real Hunters. Cygnus decided to chat it
up with the scouts, since it appeared that the Joe-average-merc didn't
like him. He sat down with the reploids who had the symbol that he had
recently found to represent the Night Vipers. He then started to eavesdrop
on their conversation.
"Watch Paul get fragged today."
"Yeah. That would be great for our upstanding
morale."
"What morale?"
"Yeah, really."
"It's that negative a'itude that got you 'ere
in the first place."
The one who appeared to be the leader of this
unit raised his head slowly with a smile. "That negative attitude is why
we like it here. That anti-cynical remark just got you scanning duty for
today, Niles."
Niles banged his head on the table. "I 'ate you
all. I'm gonna get back at all a' you someday, and you better hope that
there's someone to avenge you besides all those dumb asses that are getting
'emselves killed out there today."
The leader grinned and patted Niles on the back.
"That's the spirit! There might not be any hope for you after all!" He
then noticed the intruder at their table. "What, no friends? Poor little
newbie mercenary! I'm Theta Factor, the leader of the front-line scout
unit. Call me TF, it allows more time to dodge fire. Who are you?"
Cygnus didn't notice for a full 2 seconds after
the last quote that TF was actually talking to him. "Oh, uhh… I'm Cygnus.
I own my own merc company, and, as you guessed, this is our first mission.
My colleagues are either talking to other mercs they know or contemplating
the meaning of life. You guys wouldn't like me though; I'm too cheerful
for all you Goth wannabes."
The entire scout unit was staring at him. Niles
stretched out a hand. "Pleased to meet you! I'm Niles." He was a teal reploid
with neon red trim and a British accent.
A black reploid with gold trim started talking
in Spanish until the guy next to him whapped his head. "Sorry, I'm Rico.
How you doing?"
A gray reploid with brown skin pulled his cigar
out of his mouth and said, "Sup G? The name's Deke. Don't mess with me
or I'll bust your cap, ya dig?"
A black reploid with blood red trimmings decided
it was his turn after giving an evil crazy-eyed stare towards the guy who
was about to start. "I'm Joey. Get away from me before I kill you."
A silver reploid with sunglasses and wavy blonde
hair began to pose. "Hey there. I'm Johnny, and you can call me whatever
you like but just don't mess with the hair."
A voice came over the intercom and almost before
it said anything, the scout unit got up. "The Maverick Hunter fighting
force has departed. All scouts or internal defense workers should report
to battle stations immediately. All mercenaries must be in the hangar in
less than ten minutes."
About half of the mercenaries left for whatever
reason. Half of those who were left were asking what the announcement was.
Cygnus got up to find Deneb.
I give up. Whatever possessed me to take this
stupid, simple mission? Draconis thought to himself as he overlooked the
swarm of mercs that were below him. At least it will be over with quickly.
Draconis had the pleasure of being in command of the mission quite simply
because no one told him he couldn't be. He suddenly heard a beeping on
his comlink. "Yeah, what do you want?"
TF responded in sarcastic cheerfulness. "Another
round of beer, but what we need is for all of you to get your ass out here.
That terrorist group proves to be quite sizeable enough to level the building."
Oh, great. This will either be very quick for
them or I'm gonna miss the Ancient Mysteries special on North American
civilizations. "Mercs, attack." There was complete silence. "Well, NOW!"
A merc called out, "You kinda have to open the
door for us. You are the only one close enough to lever."
"Damn Hunters! Can't they make anything simple?"
Draconis pulled the lever next to him and the door began to slowly rise.
It opened very slowly, in fact. "MORONS! Those stupid Hunters ALWAYS have
to make everything cliché! Someone help the door open a little bit."
Luckily, many of the heavily built reploids were
in the front and got the door open much quicker. Once this was accomplished,
the mass poured out of the opening and confusion and chaos broke out. Many
of the front-line fighters were destroyed within the first few seconds.
Luckily, the enemy had not reached the gate, so the defenders made use
of the choke point.
Good, we actually got out in time to do something.
Draconis's heavy legs thundered with each step as he regally came down
from his perch. As soon as an enemy was in plain sight, a giant bolt of
accelerated particles leapt from his enormous arm cannon and ripped the
helpless offender into oblivion. There's one, number two coming up,
GOTCHA! Another blue streak of death sent an attacking robot wailing
to his doom. I could do this all day, oh wait, I GET PAID TO DO THIS
ALL DAY!!!! The Project Eden warriors began to fear the unknown thing
in the back, as the dark, cold hands of death touched yet a third oblivious
robot. Another one bites the dust…number three!
Niles was already in the red zone by the time
that old rickety door had opened. He was well away from his comrades, however.
Most of the scout unit was either in a sniper hole or firing down upon
the P.E. ranks from the outer wall. Niles, however, had scanning duty:
Running like a chicken with it's head cut off through the enemy's forces
to locate the enemy generals and other key targets. This was obviously
not a preferred task.
A sigh came over Niles's comlink. "Okay, Niles.
You can come back to the HQ now. I'll send someone to fix you up." Theta
Factor said in a reluctant and apologetic tone.
"OH THANK YOU VERY MUCH SIR! I'll be back at once
sir!" Niles squeaked into his comlink as he dashed back towards the HQ.
Once within the walls and a safe distance from fighting, Johnny came up
to Niles and began to repair him. When the pain became bearable, Niles
set him comlink to all-call. "This is private Niles of the MHSU. The enemy
refuses to break from formation even in combat, although they will change
formation to suit their needs. About two blocks from the gate, the enemy
command unit is changing course to attack the west gate. A large group
of soldier type robots --I think they're called Triggers-- are looping
around to the east. The army is about 300 units total, but there are only
about 10 reploids. That is all the information I have right now."
Theta Factor stood on the roof of the MHHQ and
stared down at the fray. Usually he would do scanning duty, since he was
inconceivably fast. He had enhanced dash jets and was underweight, but
still others insisted there was something different about the way he moved.
However, if one of his unit members was acting up, or if he just felt like
making their life miserable, he would give someone else scanning duty.
Theta Factor would be the lookout sniper atop the HQ. This job was considerably
easier and safe, especially since TF's gauss rifle required ammunition,
easily supplied by the HQ, but rarely found on enemies.
TF noticed an enemy detachment that had broke
into a separate formation to blast a hole in the wall. TF engaged his gauss,
aimed at the head of the leader of the detachment, and fired. He continued
with disposing of the rest of enemies in the same fashion and the reloaded.
He then saw the enemy command unit that Niles was talking about. They were
coming down the street towards the west gate. He set his comlink to all-call.
"This is TF. We need a few people to go to the west gate. We'll need a
lot of really fast guys to run circles around the enemy there, cause that
command unit consists of nothing but big boomer guys." TF was about to
turn the link off when he saw a big blue mass out of the corner of his
eye. "Wait, the Triggers are coming to the east gate! Let's see… I've got
it! We need demolitionists to mine the area, long-range guys to pour explosives
on them, and all the east turrets activated. That is all." With that, TF
deactivated the comlink and attempted to pick off a few of the Triggers.
They were fast, but not fast enough.
Chapter 6: Time For an Ego Overhaul
Cygnus crouched behind a bush as a grenade flew
overhead. He got out his comlink. "Dan, pop-ups 5 and 12, activate now."
"I got it." Eridani called over the comlink from
the turret control room. Cygnus watched as the ground next to him opened
up and a massive autocannon emerged from the hole. The autocannon began
firing at random enemies.
Cygnus then leapt from hiding and ripped apart
a few front-line bots with his arm cannon. He glanced over to see Deneb
torching a few others with his flame-thrower. Other mercs nearby were dropping
like flies.
A reploid caught Cygnus off guard and sliced Cygnus's
arm cannon. Pain throbbed along with the circulatory fluids in the socket.
In what seemed like an eternity, Cygnus had a vision of a warrior like
that of his creators. "Who are you?" Cygnus called out with his
mindspeak abilities.
"I am Fenix, the great veteran warrior and
praetor of the protoss templar forces. I was severely wounded in battle,
so they salvaged my mind and put it in your body. I am you."
"You mean I was once a great warrior?"
"Yes, but you have failed to reach your full
potential, Cygnus. You must believe in yourself, for you were once the
greatest and most renowned templar. You are invincible only when you have
faith in that invincibility."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"I have survived for 409 years, and I will
not become overwhelmed by a mere 300 robots because of doubt. You will
prevail, Cygnus, or I will take this body away from you."
"You can do that?"
"Oh sure! I could summon archons from this
place! Err, never mind. Just go kill 'em all!"
"Uh, ok."
With that the vision faded. Cygnus's chest filled
with pride and he felt like he could destroy the entire universe single
handedly. In fact, he felt like everyone around him was inferior, and that
no one was anywhere near as good as him. He laughed aloud at how foolish
he was to think that this insolent army of robots could defeat him. He
then remembered that he was kinda in the middle of a firefight with only
one arm. Luckily, everyone was distracted when a mercenary riding armor
decided to have a nuclear meltdown. While this fiasco occurred, Cygnus
picked up a grenade launcher from the ground and shot all of the enemies
still turned around. Let's see, 4,5,6,7 8, 10…that makes 15 kills so
far today! Got to keep track.
Once the fighting started up again, Cygnus was
the star of the show. He was dodging balls of energy like it was entertaining.
He put holes in enemy robots almost by accident. Then, as if jealous, Draconis
leapt out into the front lines alongside Cygnus. "Hey there, Draconis!
How ya doin'?"
"You expect me to let you have all the fun? Hah!
You have yet to learn of my power." With that, Draconis swept across the
enemy army with his particle accelerator cannon, knocking out a third of
the frontal assault force. Heaving heavily, he bellowed out more laughter
that would give even Zero Omega nightmares for a week. "SEVENTY-TWO OF
THE LITTLE BASTARDS!!! BAH HAHAHAHA!!! Nothing can take on the Ten-Foot
Terror!!! AHAHAHAA!!! Arr, nice."
Cygnus smiled at the sadistic monster beside him.
"HAHAHA! That's one sexy bitch of a gun, man! My piddly little cannon can
only take ten per swish. That's still good for a newbie, eh?"
Draconis was surprised at the audacity of the
merc to actually gloat alongside the great Draconis. Still, it somehow
impressed him. "Do I know you? Oh yes, Cyrus or something. Yes, yes, good
for a newbie."
The conversation would have continued, had it
not been for Deneb. "I bid you good tidings, Sir Draconis. Cygnus, increase
your efficiency. Enemies are currently assaulting the western entrance
and it is imperative that I provide assistance."
Cygnus thought for a moment and then replied,
"Right, you need to help someplace else. Speak English please, not computer
syntax." Cygnus turned around to see the enemy attempting to sneak towards
defensive positions at the fountain. "Oh yeah, we were kinda in a battle
weren't we? Dan, 3,7, and 9, now! MEDIC!"
Johnny, from the scout unit, ran over to help
Cygnus with his arm. It healed quickly, due to the advanced protoss engineering.
"There you go, lil' fellah. Nice job out there. See ya!" Johnny ran off
to help more wounded mercenaries.
Cygnus stretched out. "Ahh, that feels good. DIE,
STUPID HAPPY ROBOT THINGS!!!" He dashed out into the enemy ranks, or what
was left of them, and began taking out the smiling P.E. robots right and
left.
Deneb charged at one of the reploid commanders
and kicked it in the stomach. While it was doubled over, he severed its
neck with his vibroblade. "You still owe me money, Antares."
Suddenly, two swirling beams of energy leapt out
from the shadows and ripped open Deneb's arm, causing it to hover loosely.
"Sirius! It would appear you were somewhat courageous
and joined your minions in this petty onslaught."
"Quite correct, my sibling. Due to your
insolence and disloyalty, I have been forced to terminate your program."
"I am loyal to Eden's true and original objectives.
The destruction of the human race is irrational and irrelevant. The project
was made to stop the reploids from being created by limiting the growth
of the homo sapient species, therefore protecting them from what you have
become! MAVERICKS!!!" With that Deneb dashed at Sirius, who had began firing
both arms, sending four swirling shining laser beams at Deneb. Sirius was
too late, however, and Deneb gave his brother an uppercut while his blade
was up. Sirius flew back several feet as Deneb slowly waltzed over to where
the 8-foot behemoth landed. Deneb pinned his prey beneath his boot. "My,
my, my, it would appear that you have made the error." Deneb slew the opponent
with his flamethrower. He looked up to find only a few bots remaining,
which were being taken out with ease by the other mercenaries. I shall
return to the Northern Entrance and proceed in providing assistance to
Cygnus.
Enemies surrounded Cygnus and he was quickly running
out of grenades. The opponents had taken out all of the turrets and Draconis
had gone over to help with the Eastern Entrance under the ranting of Theta
Factor. There were only a few bots left, but all the other mercs had left
to assist the other gates, leaving Cygnus outnumbered. Cygnus's eyes met
something beyond the incoming terrorists. "Hew, how much would you guys
pay me to let you in?"
Those with humor circuits broke out in laughter.
"Why should we pay you? You're screwed already, so we're just gonna dice
you right now!"
"In that case… Deneb, could you show these fine
gentlemen the exit?"
Deneb had found a missile launcher among the wreckage
and promptly obliterated half the enemies with it. Deneb and Cygnus finished
the rest of them with their standard weapons. Once all was eerily silent,
Cygnus cheerfully called out, "Let's see if they left us any goodies!"
Everyone besides Cygnus and Deneb was at the Eastern
Entrance. Unbeknownst to the two newbies, there was a party happening at
the east side, but that would soon change.
Draconis was laughing maniacally over his victory.
"Ahh that was GREAT!!! I feel like I could take on dad… I mean Sigma by
myself!!!" He looked around to see if anyone had heard the information
he had slipped out, but to his luck and dismay, no one was paying attention
to him. Dad, what a moron! He should've known that I wouldn't want to
stay with that puny band of Mavericks. That little blue guy- Z, Y, one
of those letters- probably beat the crap out of Old Poppa Sigma today.
I know I couldn't beat that little bastard. He's way to quick for big boomers
like dad and I.
Suddenly TF appeared right behind Draconis. The
crowd went silent. Theta Factor looked pissed.
"Draconis, why did you not follow my orders?"
Draconis turned around and regained a serious
attitude. "Who put you in charge, might I ask?"
"If I'm not mistaken, mercenaries respect the
wishes and orders of the employer, and I happen to be the highest ranking
Hunter here. I told you stay and finish off the attackers at the Northern
Entrance."
"Oh come on! That little black smart-ass Cygnus
could take them! There was only 20 or so left!"
Cygnus shouted out as Deneb helped him over to
the crowd. "Yeah, but you left me alone, you bastard! Had my partner not
showed up, they'd be inside planting explosives right now!"
Draconis fumed. "Who are you calling a bastard,
little man?"
Theta Factor smirked at Draconis. "Well, your
daddy Sigma doesn't have a wife, if I recall correctly…"
Draconis turned blood red with rage and embarrassment
as he whipped around and shouted, "WHO TOLD YOU THAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?"
TF gave an exasperated look. "You did moron. Kinda
gotta hit the 'off' button on your comlink."
"YOU'RE GONNA DIE NOW!" Draconis brought out his
particle accelerator and attempted to aim at TF. TF was behind Draconis
before the shot was fired and he slashed up the back of the monster in
a flash. "HOLD STILL, CRACKHEAD!!!"
"Crackhead? You're the one who's moving slowly!
I think you need to lay off the stuff, cause you've got delayed responses."
As Draconis turned around, TF dashed around the behemoth's legs and slashed
the two tree trunks that held up the monstrosity.
This cat and mouse game continued until the Hunters
returned from the battle, victorious but glum. Mega Man X decided to find
and pay the mercenaries for their services, only to find the fury between
the giant merc and TF. He began to charge his buster as he approached.
TF was having the greatest of ease taking down
the giant sloth with the audacity to disobey his superiors. He was mercilessly
slashing up Draconis's back as he floated in mid-air when he heard a loud,
squeaky cry of "ENOUGH!" before he was knocked 6 feet to his right. When
he finally got up, all of his armor was gone on his left side and he was
in great pain. He gained enough strength to salute the reploid who had
shot him. "Co-commander X. This muh- ow! – Mercenary disobeyed a direct
order, which nearly resulted in the death of another mercenary."
X held back tears as he spoke. "That is no reason
to attempt to kill him."
"Sir, he's also the son of Sigma."
X finally let a tear roll down his cheek. "That
has no relevance either, because Sigma is dead… and so is general Omega.
Your punishment is to clean up the mess that around the HQ, without your
unit, mind you." X wiped his eyes before he continued. A mercenary in the
audience laughed mockingly, but was promptly beaten by those who were around
him. "All mercenaries report to the main office. Be sure to have your number
of kills ready, because we decided to pay you all on commission."
Draconis smiled. "I KNEW IT! HAHA! Good job, X!
I just knew you would beat the crap out of dad. Dumb old bastard and his
stupid anti-human rampage. Why not make money while you blow things to
kingdom come? Right guys?"
Draconis turned to the mercenaries, who all gave
a collective "RIGHT ON!" They continued the party as X and TF walked off
in different directions. Eridani, Cygnus, Tracy and Deneb met up and sneaked
away from the crowd. Tracy quickly began repairs on a downed riding armor
as the others gathered useful parts and weapons from the wreckage at the
front gate. Once the riding armor was operable, the four loaded it up with
salvage, got in, and rode off.
Cygnus was carrying on about his invincibility,
Eridani and Tracy were laughing their drunken heads off, and Deneb sat
staring off into space with a gigantic smile. All of my long-term objectives
have been accomplished. As one with a less complex vocabulary than I would
say, "PARTY ON!"
Eridani was as close to rolling on the floor as
a floating torso could get with laughter. "We could sell this stuff for
way more than they would pay us!!! Plus we got ourselves a mobile home!
Tracy, you are the smartest broad I've ever met!"
"You better believe it, torso boy!" Tracy managed
to get out between gasps. "Look at Cygnus! He's certainly changed!"
"Yeah, the poor alien boy thinks he's king of
the world! Look at him flexing like he's a pretty boy!"
Cygnus stood on top of the mechanical carriage
and shook his fist at the sky as he bellowed at the top of his lungs.
"I AM INVINCIBLE, THAT'S RIGHT!!!!!"
THE END
Back
to Fanfics
