.oOo~Douglas~oOo.
The explosion had been massive. Hundreds of Reploids killed, hundreds of humans slaughtered. Blood and servical fluid stained the walls and floors, even the ceilings. Jenna hated violence, carnage... but for once, for the sake that for some reason, she did not trust Signas to do a thorough sweep for survivors, she forced herself to tolerate, stalking through the bodies of humans and Reploid mechanics. Zero stood to her right, X to her left, moving along with her. On occasion, one would catch Jenna should she feel a wave of dizziness or the beginnings of a blackout coming on.
Signas had been right after all. No survivors could be seen in this desolate factory. The Mavericks had attacked and left barely a trace of what should have been there. All those people, those Reploids...
She choked as bile rose in her throat at a particularly gruesome scene. A female Reploid, attempting to protect her human friend, had made a desperate attempt to shield the human from the flying debris in the explosion... however, the blast had been too great, and both of them had been flung into the wall, killing the Reploid and crushing the human. Most of the body was still stuck to the wall, blood seeping off, but some of the parts were littering the Reploid that had tried so desperately to save him.
Zero instantly pulled her over to him, covering her eyes as she trembled violently, her legs starting to give way as if she was about to faint. X moved his eyes from the horrid scene, walking next to Zero as they moved to the next room.
Once there, Zero gently released his friend from his firm grip, and Jenna took a few deep breaths to calm herself. She never was able to handle violence well...
Suddenly, a shift of movement caught her attention. A greenish-colored Reploid mechanic was laying on the ground several feet away, and he was making a valiant attempt to move, despite his severe injuries. Jenna was at his side in an instant. "Shh, calm down, love... you're hurt..."
Black eyes shifted to Jenna through ruby-colored infrared glasses. A hint of fear was on that young face. He couldn't be a very old Reploid, probably one of the new models. Gently, she ran her finger down the side of his face. "Don't you worry, love, we're here to help you."
A slight nod. She clicked a vile onto his chest, and the black eyes closed. Zero swallowed hard, watching Jenna work. "Is he dead?"
"No. I just injected him with a sedative." Her eyes narrowed as she glanced again at the face of the unconscious young Reploid. "I'll have to talk to Signas about this later..."
X nodded, watching quietly as well. "Why would he leave another Reploid in a place like this? That's just cruel... this guy wasn't going to die anytime soon... he would've died in the burning."
Once more, Jenna frowned, then sat back on her heels. "We need a medical transport for this fellow. I want him back at the base immediately."
"The base?" Zero was surprised. "Why there?"
"There's some things I want to ask him when he's ready," Jenna replied calmly, "like how he designed all the upgrades he's obviously had."
Silence, until X looked at the girl with shock registering in his eyes. "He upgraded *himself*?"
"From what I can see... we've much to talk about with our new friend."
*****
The casualties of the Maverick attack on the machine tool factory were broadcast all over the news that night. 350 humans and 519 Reploids dead, one survivor, a unit numbered 810003, service mechanic. Jenna groaned as she listened to each report brought into her by each field group. Signas stood nearby, his face solemn. The Reploid '81', as everyone had come to call him in excited discussions about the base, had seemed very dead when the Hunters had first arrived. The tall commander had apologized vehemently for his actions, assuring Jenna that he wouldn't be so sorely mistaken again. Seeing as how it was never like Signas to lie, Jenna only sighed and nodded.
So now, she simply stood there, looking over the new droid with a slight twinge of regret in her eyes. Also killed in the explosion, her cousin Douglas Moore. She'd been very close to him, and learning of his death had been somewhat of a shock to the poor girl. So she sat there, waiting for '81' to wake up, eyes running briefly over the army-green color the young bioroid sported. Such a horrid color for such a lively looking fellow.
At long last, the girl sighed. "Well... let's see what we've got."
A slender hand hit the power-up switch, and in a whirr of motors and energy, soft black eyes opened behind infra-red goggles. For a moment, he seemed very calm, before that natural fear kicked in and eyes flew wide. "Wh--where am I...?!"
"Maverick Hunter HQ," Signas replied, his voice quiet and calm as he regarded the frightened borg. "Don't be frightened. You're in safe hands here. The young lady you see before you is Dr. Jenna Ann Light, a robotics engineer. I am Signas, Reploid General."
Jenna gave a slight smile, patting '81' on the arm. "You're reploid unit 810003, aren't you? Do you have a name?"
The reploid stared at her for a minute as if deciphering how he should answer, his expression quiet and thoughtful. He then shook his head. "No. I only have a call number. All factory droids do..."
Signas and Jenna exchanged glances, both of them thoughtful, until Jenna's eyes turned back. "Well... why don't we get to know one another, and I'll give you a suitable name when I think of one. It'd be nice to have another robotics engineer on duty. If you'd like to stay here, that is..."
'81' looked at Jenna, then at Signas, his voice quiet and nervous. "...You wouldn't mind?"
"You'd be welcome here in the Hunter base, '81'. We need all the help we can get, after all." Signas was smiling for the first time in a long time since Jenna had been observing his actions, and she smiled as well as he continued. "You seem to be a pretty tough droid, in any case."
At long last, the young droid caught the 'bug', and started smiling as well, lightening up his rounded face. "Thank you... thank you very much."
*****
X couldn't help but steal a peek into the science lab where Jenna had been spending most of her time recently. She was bent over her latest project, something she was calling 'human-side', with her newest assistant at her side, helping her with menial tasks a human could not perform. He raised a brow, trying to get a look at what the two were working on, but instead, a hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back so that he was leaning, looking -- upside-down -- at the grinning, pixie-ish face of Zero. "No peeking, boy blue."
"Stop that," X grumped, jerking his shoulder away and turning to face his friend. "What's gotten into you lately? Did you and Allegro hook up or something?"
Zero took on a hurt look, almost genuine, but that mischievious glint remained in his eyes. "Fuck no." He grabbed X's neck, pulling him close, leaning in next to his earpiece and speaking lowly, in a voice that made X's whole form shudder. "Besides... there's someone else I want more..."
Startled and embarassed by the feelings evoked, X jumped back, glaring at his friend with a mix of emotions written on his slim face. "Hidoi! You shouldn't tease people like that, Zero!"
"Me? A tease?" Zero grinned. "Hardly, X. By the way, have you talked to '81'?"
A shrug. "Once or twice. He's a real lively guy. Jenna hasn't thought of a name for 'im yet, though."
"Are you two evesdropping again?"
Both white and blue and crimson and gold reploid jumped, startled by the chipper British accent that suddenly spoke up behind them. Both turned, glaring at Jenna, who only grinned at them, '81' behind her, still looking a tad sheepish in the eyes of his superiors. X straightened his back. "No. We were just coming to check on '81'."
Jenna's grin grew wider as she patted her new companion on the arm. "His name isn't '81' anymore, boys. Why don't you introduce yourself, dear?"
'81' cleared his throat slightly, still looking quite sheepish, before he clasped his hands behind his back. "Douglas. I am Reploid Unit 'Douglas'."
"Douglas, huh?" Zero smiled and held out his hand to shake. "Nice to meet ya, Douglas. Welcome to Hunter HQ."
*****
Alarms blaring, Hunters running about, yet another Maverick attack. Zero and X were taking the forefront, units 17 and 00 finally getting back into their old places as unit leaders. The two didn't make eye contact as they spoke, both of them bent over the handlebars on their hoverbikes, completely focused on their mission.
Up ahead, the city portion that had been attacked. Very little actually remained of it. X's hands tightened on the steering, eyes narrowed. Zero did not seem to budge, his face as determined as it always looked. The smaller droid huffed slightly at Zero's quiet, calm attitude towards the situation, though he knew it was just like Zero to be like this.
He sighed and turned back to the task at hand as the units, on hoverbikes and in the jeeps comissioned by the IBRS, started arriving. Zero took the opportunity and jumped up onto a particularly tall piece of rubble, cupping his hands around his mouth. "LISTEN UP, ALL HUNTER UNITS! I want this place scoured from top to bottom! Any survivors are to be reported to Commander X or to me! If you find any Maverick activity, do not proceed until you have contacted another Unit as backup!" He looked around, all the Hunters' eyes focused on him and him alone. "We'll have no mess-ups on this one. Proceed!"
Quietly he watched as unit after unit split up to go various directions, X moving up beside him. "I have a bad feeling about this, Zero."
"You and me both, kid," muttered the crimson and gold reploid in return. "C'mon. Units 17 and 00, fall in!"
Well trained and loyal, the units did as they were told, following their commanders quietly as the two older Hunters turned over rocks, rubble, and debris, searching for survivors. A blip on X's radar caught his attention, and he turned to Zero, his face serious. "I'm taking my unit West to check out this disturbance I picked up..."
"Yeah... I picked it up, too. I'll back you up shortly. And X..."
"Huh?"
"Please... be careful."
*****
The whole area where the disturbance had been picked up was far too quiet for X's tastes, and the blip on his radar was huge. The enemy was all around, surrounding them, and... beneath them? He frowned. "Keep your eyes open, team!"
They continued trudging along, all of them tense with the anticipation of battle. None of them could've anticipated...
It started as a low rumble. A sound that was more felt than heard, passing beneath them, causing all of the Hunters in Unit 17 to look around in surprise, pondering the source. The rumble grew louder, its intensity now like an earthquake beneath them. X's mind raced, and suddenly, all plausible thought stopped as his breath caught in his throat. "FALL OUT! AMBUSH!"
The mighty form burst out of the ground beneath them, throwing Hunters this way and that. A giant, Maverick snake! Never one to ask first and shoot later, X instantly pulled up his blaster and began firing, no time to charge. But not one shot seemed to even scathe the hide of the beast. Instead, it hissed viciously, its huge body shooting out to coil around X's frame, squeezing as tightly as it could.
He choked, a harsh sound, feeling his external armor start to give way. Another choke, then a weak cry as the armor crushed slightly, servical fluids rushing. He coughed, spitting up the vile tasting liquid as he did, eyes squeezing shut against the horrid pain rushing through his body.
Another crack. His internal skeleton was giving. He coughed again, more and more servical fluids rising in his throat as he attempted to move, attempted to free himself, attempted to *escape*.
He could hear his unit, Violin taking command, shouting orders, all of Unit 17 working together to free their commander from death's inevitable grip...
But it seemed too late... and he felt so cold, so... detached...
A cry in the darkness almost startled him from his delusional state, blue eyes weakly opening, gazing upon an incandescent flash of green, mirroring the feral hysteria of anger in the green eyes of the blond-haired demon that weilded it. X wanted to look at his friend as he heard the majestic blade slice through cold metal, the tight grip on his form slacking almost instantly, but instead, he felt himself falling... falling, metaphysically, into the icy grip of the unknown...
*****
Zero had never felt so much rage burning in him in his entire life. He had stood, frozen, for a long moment, his eyes fixated on the sight of the 17th unit as they tried to free X from a rather large and rather deadly Maverick snake.
Something snapped, boiling up inside of him, and he drew his beam saber, rushing foreward, screaming like a madman at his friend's assailant. The green blade of his saber gleamed brilliantly in his anger, slicing through the beast's metal hide like a hot knife through butter.
He'd all but dropped his sword when he saw X's form start to fall, moving so that he was beneath the falling ploid, catching him in a careful grip, gazing down over the damage. What he saw made his insides twist repeatedly.
X's external armor had been trashed, collapsed in upon itself, and parts of his internal skeleton had snapped free, metallic shards sticking through the armor in places, servical fluid leaking through, matching the trickle from his lip. From that gentle face, you couldn't have told he was dying...
Rapidly, Zero shook his head. He wouldn't let himself believe something like that! X wasn't going to die! "Violin, Flute!" The second-in-commands of Unit 17 and Unit 00 jogged over to Zero instantly. "Get one of the jeeps over here. I'll take X back to base. You two are in command until the end of this mission, but I want a full report when you get back!"
"Affirmative, Commander!" Flute took up with a salute.
"You can count on us!" seconded Violin.
Zero watched quietly as the two girls darted off to take command of respective units, one of them ordering a jeep to be brought for the immediate transport of Commander X back to HQ...
Sighing, he glanced at the burden in his arms. "Hold on, X, please... don't leave me like this!"
*****
It was never wise to startle Jenna when she was in the middle of cyber surfing for glitches in new programs, but of course, Douglas didn't know that yet. Almost as if falling out of a trance-like state, Jenna cried out and fell out of her chair, goggles falling off as she hit the floor. Douglas cringed, giving the girl a sheepish grin as she looked up at him with a confused and dazed expression. "Hi, Jenna."
"Oh! Douglas, don't give me that look, goodness. You'd think you'd knocked over a nuclear bomb the way you're acting." Grinning, the girl sat up and dusted herself off. "What's going on?"
"Word from the field," Douglas explained calmly. "There's been some serious damage, but there was too much static to pick up who it was. All I know is that Zero is bringing the injured back to base now."
"Must be one of the Woodwinds," Jenna stated quietly, standing and looking to Douglas. "Go get the med lab ready, dear. I'll meet Zero at the drop point."
Watching Douglas head off after a nod, Jenna felt uneasy. Zero wouldn't bring one of his own team in for repairs unless it was very, very serious... The girl stood for a moment longer, gnawing on her lip, before running off down the hall towards the vehicle area. No sooner had she arrived than Zero followed. He was a total mess, his hair sticking in all directions (a true oddity for Zero, who -- even after battles -- somehow managed to keep his hair in perfect condition). As he stepped out of the jeep, Jenna saw the reason, held protectively in Zero's arms.
"Jenna! X, he...!"
"Get him to the med bay immediately, Zero, no time for talking! You can explain it once we have him stablized, right now, there's no time to waste! Go!" She watched quietly now as Zero, who looked on the verge of tears despite himself, rushed off towards the med bay as carefully as he could, every once in a while glancing down at the precious burden in his arms. "This isn't good..."
*****
Douglas had only just finished prepping the med lab when Zero ran in, startling the young Reploid mechanic into nearly falling over in shock. "Zero! What happened?!"
"A Reploid snake..." grumbled Zero as he laid X down on the table. "The ones *normally* used for mining. One went Maverick. That's what attacked the city, and it ambushed Unit 17. It was crushing X when I arrived on the scene." Gently, he ran the back of his fingertips across X's face. "I did everything I could."
"Okay, step aside." Jenna's voice was demanding as she finally stepped into the medlab, pushing past Zero and starting to examine X almost instantly, as professional as anyone in her field. "Douglas, get me the support machine over here, stat! Zero, I'd like you to leave the room..."
The tall Reploid looked hurt. "But, Jenna...!"
"No buts, Zero! Out! Now!"
Zero took one last look at his companion before finally listening to Jenna and leaving the room, head hanging. Jenna was already engrossed in her work again, cutting open wounds and forcefully shoving broken sections of skeletal structure back into place. "This is horrible..." Carefully, she forced his breastplate armor off, using a screwdriver to push some wires around as she examined the damage there. "...Shit! Douglas, welder! There's a crack in his servical pump! If I don't close this immediately...!"
Douglas was already on the task. "Got it, Jenna!"
Jenna drew a hand across her forehead before she got to work on repairing the crack, a look of blank determination crossing her face. "There's not too much else I can do... the rest of the damage will have to be repaired after I can get the proper parts... parts I haven't gotten yet." She closed her eyes as she hooked X to the previously requested support machine. "Bring Zero in, Douglas..."
The girl's voice was quiet and detached... it was obvious the situation was grim.
After being told, Zero walked in quietly. He had removed his helmet, his long blond hair out from its ponytail. "Well...? How is he...?"
The mechanic and the scientist both looked at Zero, but Jenna sighed. "It doesn't look good, Zero... I'll tell you that. He was lucky to be alive when you broght him here. There was a rather nasty crack in his core servical pump, and the internal damage extends into parts I don't yet have. Our inventory is anorexically low, given the time that's passed. I either have to develop the new parts, or have them brought in from machine tool factories, of which few remain." She paused to take a breath as Zero bit his lip. "I have to rebuild parts of his external armor... and some parts of his internal skeletal structure must be replaced. Two rib structures punctured his oxygen tanks, so I have him on a support system. Like I said... it doesn't look good."
Zero stood for a long moment, fixated in a look between total shock and horror. His jaw worked, but no sound came, looking as if he was going to burst into tears at any moment. Suddenly, he turned to the wall and punched it as hard as he could, shouting an obscenity that -- due to his frustrated rage -- was barely discernable. The wall now bore a dent from the Reploid's action, and he stood there with his fist resting in the mark, his whole body shaking. "This can't be happening! First Iris, and now X?! Why does this keep happening to the people *closest* to me?!"
A cry of anguished dispair, and Zero ran from room. Douglas went to follow, but Jenna grabbed his arm. "Let him go... I actually have an idea that might save X. The human-side upgrade... the CPU transplant is a risky proceedure, and I'll need Lifesaver on call to do it... but we have no time to lose. This has to be done... or we won't just be losing X. We'll lose Zero as well..."
~Tsuzukeru~
The explosion had been massive. Hundreds of Reploids killed, hundreds of humans slaughtered. Blood and servical fluid stained the walls and floors, even the ceilings. Jenna hated violence, carnage... but for once, for the sake that for some reason, she did not trust Signas to do a thorough sweep for survivors, she forced herself to tolerate, stalking through the bodies of humans and Reploid mechanics. Zero stood to her right, X to her left, moving along with her. On occasion, one would catch Jenna should she feel a wave of dizziness or the beginnings of a blackout coming on.
Signas had been right after all. No survivors could be seen in this desolate factory. The Mavericks had attacked and left barely a trace of what should have been there. All those people, those Reploids...
She choked as bile rose in her throat at a particularly gruesome scene. A female Reploid, attempting to protect her human friend, had made a desperate attempt to shield the human from the flying debris in the explosion... however, the blast had been too great, and both of them had been flung into the wall, killing the Reploid and crushing the human. Most of the body was still stuck to the wall, blood seeping off, but some of the parts were littering the Reploid that had tried so desperately to save him.
Zero instantly pulled her over to him, covering her eyes as she trembled violently, her legs starting to give way as if she was about to faint. X moved his eyes from the horrid scene, walking next to Zero as they moved to the next room.
Once there, Zero gently released his friend from his firm grip, and Jenna took a few deep breaths to calm herself. She never was able to handle violence well...
Suddenly, a shift of movement caught her attention. A greenish-colored Reploid mechanic was laying on the ground several feet away, and he was making a valiant attempt to move, despite his severe injuries. Jenna was at his side in an instant. "Shh, calm down, love... you're hurt..."
Black eyes shifted to Jenna through ruby-colored infrared glasses. A hint of fear was on that young face. He couldn't be a very old Reploid, probably one of the new models. Gently, she ran her finger down the side of his face. "Don't you worry, love, we're here to help you."
A slight nod. She clicked a vile onto his chest, and the black eyes closed. Zero swallowed hard, watching Jenna work. "Is he dead?"
"No. I just injected him with a sedative." Her eyes narrowed as she glanced again at the face of the unconscious young Reploid. "I'll have to talk to Signas about this later..."
X nodded, watching quietly as well. "Why would he leave another Reploid in a place like this? That's just cruel... this guy wasn't going to die anytime soon... he would've died in the burning."
Once more, Jenna frowned, then sat back on her heels. "We need a medical transport for this fellow. I want him back at the base immediately."
"The base?" Zero was surprised. "Why there?"
"There's some things I want to ask him when he's ready," Jenna replied calmly, "like how he designed all the upgrades he's obviously had."
Silence, until X looked at the girl with shock registering in his eyes. "He upgraded *himself*?"
"From what I can see... we've much to talk about with our new friend."
*****
The casualties of the Maverick attack on the machine tool factory were broadcast all over the news that night. 350 humans and 519 Reploids dead, one survivor, a unit numbered 810003, service mechanic. Jenna groaned as she listened to each report brought into her by each field group. Signas stood nearby, his face solemn. The Reploid '81', as everyone had come to call him in excited discussions about the base, had seemed very dead when the Hunters had first arrived. The tall commander had apologized vehemently for his actions, assuring Jenna that he wouldn't be so sorely mistaken again. Seeing as how it was never like Signas to lie, Jenna only sighed and nodded.
So now, she simply stood there, looking over the new droid with a slight twinge of regret in her eyes. Also killed in the explosion, her cousin Douglas Moore. She'd been very close to him, and learning of his death had been somewhat of a shock to the poor girl. So she sat there, waiting for '81' to wake up, eyes running briefly over the army-green color the young bioroid sported. Such a horrid color for such a lively looking fellow.
At long last, the girl sighed. "Well... let's see what we've got."
A slender hand hit the power-up switch, and in a whirr of motors and energy, soft black eyes opened behind infra-red goggles. For a moment, he seemed very calm, before that natural fear kicked in and eyes flew wide. "Wh--where am I...?!"
"Maverick Hunter HQ," Signas replied, his voice quiet and calm as he regarded the frightened borg. "Don't be frightened. You're in safe hands here. The young lady you see before you is Dr. Jenna Ann Light, a robotics engineer. I am Signas, Reploid General."
Jenna gave a slight smile, patting '81' on the arm. "You're reploid unit 810003, aren't you? Do you have a name?"
The reploid stared at her for a minute as if deciphering how he should answer, his expression quiet and thoughtful. He then shook his head. "No. I only have a call number. All factory droids do..."
Signas and Jenna exchanged glances, both of them thoughtful, until Jenna's eyes turned back. "Well... why don't we get to know one another, and I'll give you a suitable name when I think of one. It'd be nice to have another robotics engineer on duty. If you'd like to stay here, that is..."
'81' looked at Jenna, then at Signas, his voice quiet and nervous. "...You wouldn't mind?"
"You'd be welcome here in the Hunter base, '81'. We need all the help we can get, after all." Signas was smiling for the first time in a long time since Jenna had been observing his actions, and she smiled as well as he continued. "You seem to be a pretty tough droid, in any case."
At long last, the young droid caught the 'bug', and started smiling as well, lightening up his rounded face. "Thank you... thank you very much."
*****
X couldn't help but steal a peek into the science lab where Jenna had been spending most of her time recently. She was bent over her latest project, something she was calling 'human-side', with her newest assistant at her side, helping her with menial tasks a human could not perform. He raised a brow, trying to get a look at what the two were working on, but instead, a hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back so that he was leaning, looking -- upside-down -- at the grinning, pixie-ish face of Zero. "No peeking, boy blue."
"Stop that," X grumped, jerking his shoulder away and turning to face his friend. "What's gotten into you lately? Did you and Allegro hook up or something?"
Zero took on a hurt look, almost genuine, but that mischievious glint remained in his eyes. "Fuck no." He grabbed X's neck, pulling him close, leaning in next to his earpiece and speaking lowly, in a voice that made X's whole form shudder. "Besides... there's someone else I want more..."
Startled and embarassed by the feelings evoked, X jumped back, glaring at his friend with a mix of emotions written on his slim face. "Hidoi! You shouldn't tease people like that, Zero!"
"Me? A tease?" Zero grinned. "Hardly, X. By the way, have you talked to '81'?"
A shrug. "Once or twice. He's a real lively guy. Jenna hasn't thought of a name for 'im yet, though."
"Are you two evesdropping again?"
Both white and blue and crimson and gold reploid jumped, startled by the chipper British accent that suddenly spoke up behind them. Both turned, glaring at Jenna, who only grinned at them, '81' behind her, still looking a tad sheepish in the eyes of his superiors. X straightened his back. "No. We were just coming to check on '81'."
Jenna's grin grew wider as she patted her new companion on the arm. "His name isn't '81' anymore, boys. Why don't you introduce yourself, dear?"
'81' cleared his throat slightly, still looking quite sheepish, before he clasped his hands behind his back. "Douglas. I am Reploid Unit 'Douglas'."
"Douglas, huh?" Zero smiled and held out his hand to shake. "Nice to meet ya, Douglas. Welcome to Hunter HQ."
*****
Alarms blaring, Hunters running about, yet another Maverick attack. Zero and X were taking the forefront, units 17 and 00 finally getting back into their old places as unit leaders. The two didn't make eye contact as they spoke, both of them bent over the handlebars on their hoverbikes, completely focused on their mission.
Up ahead, the city portion that had been attacked. Very little actually remained of it. X's hands tightened on the steering, eyes narrowed. Zero did not seem to budge, his face as determined as it always looked. The smaller droid huffed slightly at Zero's quiet, calm attitude towards the situation, though he knew it was just like Zero to be like this.
He sighed and turned back to the task at hand as the units, on hoverbikes and in the jeeps comissioned by the IBRS, started arriving. Zero took the opportunity and jumped up onto a particularly tall piece of rubble, cupping his hands around his mouth. "LISTEN UP, ALL HUNTER UNITS! I want this place scoured from top to bottom! Any survivors are to be reported to Commander X or to me! If you find any Maverick activity, do not proceed until you have contacted another Unit as backup!" He looked around, all the Hunters' eyes focused on him and him alone. "We'll have no mess-ups on this one. Proceed!"
Quietly he watched as unit after unit split up to go various directions, X moving up beside him. "I have a bad feeling about this, Zero."
"You and me both, kid," muttered the crimson and gold reploid in return. "C'mon. Units 17 and 00, fall in!"
Well trained and loyal, the units did as they were told, following their commanders quietly as the two older Hunters turned over rocks, rubble, and debris, searching for survivors. A blip on X's radar caught his attention, and he turned to Zero, his face serious. "I'm taking my unit West to check out this disturbance I picked up..."
"Yeah... I picked it up, too. I'll back you up shortly. And X..."
"Huh?"
"Please... be careful."
*****
The whole area where the disturbance had been picked up was far too quiet for X's tastes, and the blip on his radar was huge. The enemy was all around, surrounding them, and... beneath them? He frowned. "Keep your eyes open, team!"
They continued trudging along, all of them tense with the anticipation of battle. None of them could've anticipated...
It started as a low rumble. A sound that was more felt than heard, passing beneath them, causing all of the Hunters in Unit 17 to look around in surprise, pondering the source. The rumble grew louder, its intensity now like an earthquake beneath them. X's mind raced, and suddenly, all plausible thought stopped as his breath caught in his throat. "FALL OUT! AMBUSH!"
The mighty form burst out of the ground beneath them, throwing Hunters this way and that. A giant, Maverick snake! Never one to ask first and shoot later, X instantly pulled up his blaster and began firing, no time to charge. But not one shot seemed to even scathe the hide of the beast. Instead, it hissed viciously, its huge body shooting out to coil around X's frame, squeezing as tightly as it could.
He choked, a harsh sound, feeling his external armor start to give way. Another choke, then a weak cry as the armor crushed slightly, servical fluids rushing. He coughed, spitting up the vile tasting liquid as he did, eyes squeezing shut against the horrid pain rushing through his body.
Another crack. His internal skeleton was giving. He coughed again, more and more servical fluids rising in his throat as he attempted to move, attempted to free himself, attempted to *escape*.
He could hear his unit, Violin taking command, shouting orders, all of Unit 17 working together to free their commander from death's inevitable grip...
But it seemed too late... and he felt so cold, so... detached...
A cry in the darkness almost startled him from his delusional state, blue eyes weakly opening, gazing upon an incandescent flash of green, mirroring the feral hysteria of anger in the green eyes of the blond-haired demon that weilded it. X wanted to look at his friend as he heard the majestic blade slice through cold metal, the tight grip on his form slacking almost instantly, but instead, he felt himself falling... falling, metaphysically, into the icy grip of the unknown...
*****
Zero had never felt so much rage burning in him in his entire life. He had stood, frozen, for a long moment, his eyes fixated on the sight of the 17th unit as they tried to free X from a rather large and rather deadly Maverick snake.
Something snapped, boiling up inside of him, and he drew his beam saber, rushing foreward, screaming like a madman at his friend's assailant. The green blade of his saber gleamed brilliantly in his anger, slicing through the beast's metal hide like a hot knife through butter.
He'd all but dropped his sword when he saw X's form start to fall, moving so that he was beneath the falling ploid, catching him in a careful grip, gazing down over the damage. What he saw made his insides twist repeatedly.
X's external armor had been trashed, collapsed in upon itself, and parts of his internal skeleton had snapped free, metallic shards sticking through the armor in places, servical fluid leaking through, matching the trickle from his lip. From that gentle face, you couldn't have told he was dying...
Rapidly, Zero shook his head. He wouldn't let himself believe something like that! X wasn't going to die! "Violin, Flute!" The second-in-commands of Unit 17 and Unit 00 jogged over to Zero instantly. "Get one of the jeeps over here. I'll take X back to base. You two are in command until the end of this mission, but I want a full report when you get back!"
"Affirmative, Commander!" Flute took up with a salute.
"You can count on us!" seconded Violin.
Zero watched quietly as the two girls darted off to take command of respective units, one of them ordering a jeep to be brought for the immediate transport of Commander X back to HQ...
Sighing, he glanced at the burden in his arms. "Hold on, X, please... don't leave me like this!"
*****
It was never wise to startle Jenna when she was in the middle of cyber surfing for glitches in new programs, but of course, Douglas didn't know that yet. Almost as if falling out of a trance-like state, Jenna cried out and fell out of her chair, goggles falling off as she hit the floor. Douglas cringed, giving the girl a sheepish grin as she looked up at him with a confused and dazed expression. "Hi, Jenna."
"Oh! Douglas, don't give me that look, goodness. You'd think you'd knocked over a nuclear bomb the way you're acting." Grinning, the girl sat up and dusted herself off. "What's going on?"
"Word from the field," Douglas explained calmly. "There's been some serious damage, but there was too much static to pick up who it was. All I know is that Zero is bringing the injured back to base now."
"Must be one of the Woodwinds," Jenna stated quietly, standing and looking to Douglas. "Go get the med lab ready, dear. I'll meet Zero at the drop point."
Watching Douglas head off after a nod, Jenna felt uneasy. Zero wouldn't bring one of his own team in for repairs unless it was very, very serious... The girl stood for a moment longer, gnawing on her lip, before running off down the hall towards the vehicle area. No sooner had she arrived than Zero followed. He was a total mess, his hair sticking in all directions (a true oddity for Zero, who -- even after battles -- somehow managed to keep his hair in perfect condition). As he stepped out of the jeep, Jenna saw the reason, held protectively in Zero's arms.
"Jenna! X, he...!"
"Get him to the med bay immediately, Zero, no time for talking! You can explain it once we have him stablized, right now, there's no time to waste! Go!" She watched quietly now as Zero, who looked on the verge of tears despite himself, rushed off towards the med bay as carefully as he could, every once in a while glancing down at the precious burden in his arms. "This isn't good..."
*****
Douglas had only just finished prepping the med lab when Zero ran in, startling the young Reploid mechanic into nearly falling over in shock. "Zero! What happened?!"
"A Reploid snake..." grumbled Zero as he laid X down on the table. "The ones *normally* used for mining. One went Maverick. That's what attacked the city, and it ambushed Unit 17. It was crushing X when I arrived on the scene." Gently, he ran the back of his fingertips across X's face. "I did everything I could."
"Okay, step aside." Jenna's voice was demanding as she finally stepped into the medlab, pushing past Zero and starting to examine X almost instantly, as professional as anyone in her field. "Douglas, get me the support machine over here, stat! Zero, I'd like you to leave the room..."
The tall Reploid looked hurt. "But, Jenna...!"
"No buts, Zero! Out! Now!"
Zero took one last look at his companion before finally listening to Jenna and leaving the room, head hanging. Jenna was already engrossed in her work again, cutting open wounds and forcefully shoving broken sections of skeletal structure back into place. "This is horrible..." Carefully, she forced his breastplate armor off, using a screwdriver to push some wires around as she examined the damage there. "...Shit! Douglas, welder! There's a crack in his servical pump! If I don't close this immediately...!"
Douglas was already on the task. "Got it, Jenna!"
Jenna drew a hand across her forehead before she got to work on repairing the crack, a look of blank determination crossing her face. "There's not too much else I can do... the rest of the damage will have to be repaired after I can get the proper parts... parts I haven't gotten yet." She closed her eyes as she hooked X to the previously requested support machine. "Bring Zero in, Douglas..."
The girl's voice was quiet and detached... it was obvious the situation was grim.
After being told, Zero walked in quietly. He had removed his helmet, his long blond hair out from its ponytail. "Well...? How is he...?"
The mechanic and the scientist both looked at Zero, but Jenna sighed. "It doesn't look good, Zero... I'll tell you that. He was lucky to be alive when you broght him here. There was a rather nasty crack in his core servical pump, and the internal damage extends into parts I don't yet have. Our inventory is anorexically low, given the time that's passed. I either have to develop the new parts, or have them brought in from machine tool factories, of which few remain." She paused to take a breath as Zero bit his lip. "I have to rebuild parts of his external armor... and some parts of his internal skeletal structure must be replaced. Two rib structures punctured his oxygen tanks, so I have him on a support system. Like I said... it doesn't look good."
Zero stood for a long moment, fixated in a look between total shock and horror. His jaw worked, but no sound came, looking as if he was going to burst into tears at any moment. Suddenly, he turned to the wall and punched it as hard as he could, shouting an obscenity that -- due to his frustrated rage -- was barely discernable. The wall now bore a dent from the Reploid's action, and he stood there with his fist resting in the mark, his whole body shaking. "This can't be happening! First Iris, and now X?! Why does this keep happening to the people *closest* to me?!"
A cry of anguished dispair, and Zero ran from room. Douglas went to follow, but Jenna grabbed his arm. "Let him go... I actually have an idea that might save X. The human-side upgrade... the CPU transplant is a risky proceedure, and I'll need Lifesaver on call to do it... but we have no time to lose. This has to be done... or we won't just be losing X. We'll lose Zero as well..."
~Tsuzukeru~