Chapter 4: Alex
The effects of battle on The Crimson Hunter were self-evident as Zero warped back to Maverick Hunter HQ, exhausted in body and mind. Zero hardly noticed the slaps on the back from his fellow Maverick Hunters as he headed to his room. However, someone caught his eye. A new guy, who bore a striking resemblance to X… I'll look into that later thought Zero, but not now. No, now, sleep was the only thing on the battle-weary Hunter. Zero lay down on his bunk and sleep closed its warm blanket around him.
"Who's the new kid?" asked Zero out of the corner of his mouth as he beat yet another training program. He'd done them all before but practice makes perfect. However, it did not occur to him that he was already perfect at these simulations. "Noticed him did you?" remarked Cain as he watched Zero, "not surprising really. His name's Alex. He's based on X's design, only smaller, That's probably why you noticed him. He's dying to meet you. Wanna go meet him?" "Sure, why not?" said Zero as he deactivated the training program. "This is boring anyway. Let's go!"
Sitting alone at the base's bar, Alex looked anything but cheerful. After all, tops of any class's are alienated on principle and Alex was at the top of them all. When Zero sat down before the despairing trainee, Alex almost fell out of his seat in shock. Cain watched from a distance with poorly concealed amusement. "Z-z-z-z-z-zer-o!" stammered the dumbstruck trainee as he tried desperately to regain his composure. Which, in his case, was almost impossible. "It's an honor!" The trainee's enthusiasm was catching and Zero smiled despite himself. "You look bored," said the amused veteran, "wanna go run some training programs with me?" The speechless trainee could only dumbly nod his head yes as he followed Zero out of the bar and into the training room.
"Training level 5" said Alex to the computer as he walked into the training room. Zero raised his eyebrows. Level 5 was the hardest level and Zero didn't think Alex would be able to handle it. However, he did not stop him. But it was Zero who was to be proved wrong by the eager trainee as he went through the greater part of the program himself. It was obvious to anyone watching that he could do it by himself anyway. Why does he remind me of X thought Zero as he watched Alex battle, probably because he shows so much potential. Like X, he is cheerful in battle, and like all trainees he does not know the atrocities of war. Let's hope he can deal with it when the time comes.
Indeed, Alex showed great promise. He was skilled with both the X-Buster and the Beam Sabre, like Zero, and he used both regularly, as did Zero. However, it soon became apparent that he was skilled in the X-Buster department, as he repeatedly picked off distant targets with charge shots. His accuracy was incredibly close to X's record, as Alex had only missed three times.
Up in his perch above the training field, Cain mused over the trainees' potential as he monitored the equipment. This is indeed a gifted individual thought Cain, he has far surpassed anything the training programs might be able to teach him. Perhaps under Zero's tutelage… Cain mused over this some more as Alex's training continued. In fact, watching Alex, Zero was thinking along the same lines as the good doctor, watching from on high. The kid shows promise, thought Zero, these programs won't teach him anything new. Maybe that's why he reminds me of X show much. Perhaps if I take him under my wing, I can teach him something new. Yes, I will do that, I can use all the help I can get against Sigma.
The training program ended as Zero walked over to Alex, still brimming with energy. "Well done!" exclaimed Zero as Alex glowed from the praise he was receiving. None of his classmates ever said well done to him. This was a completely new concept to him. "If you're interested," continued Zero, "I'll need some help in the next mission. Don't get me wrong. It'll be incredibly hard but if you want the position, it's yours for the taking." Alex was once again struck speechless with this great honor, and could only manage to nod as his brain valiantly tried to process this data. "Excellent!" Zero exclaimed as he clasped Alex's hand in his. "Always glad to have help. Make preparations to leave and bring a Sub-Tank with you if you can find one." Alex again nodded as he followed The Crimson Hunter out of the training room. "We leave at 04:00 hours" said Zero as they parted ways, "we'll meet in the control room." With that, Zero went off to talk to Cain and Alex went to prepare himself for his first mission.
War is a harsh mistress, and Zero hoped it wouldn't decide to bring the full reality of itself too hard on the new trainee.