Chapter Seven

I caught up to the girls a minute or so later, finding them around one of the
briefing rooms. Apparently, they were interested in rejoining the units for awhile to
take out Wraith...and now that I was commanding both, they could help me out.
They had experience on both sides of this war, just like me. They could help me
manage the newbies, along with Chakra.
"Dragonness," I addressed the officer as she strode through the hall, "could
you do me a favor?"
"Most certainly, sir," she said. "What is it?"
"I need you to get in touch with Skyler and tell him to formally assign Iris
and Roll to Unit 0."
"Not to sound insubordinate, sir, but...can't you do that yourself?" she asked.
"I could," I said, "but I've been scheduled to train with a few of the newbies
and haven't ever had a chance to get around to it."
"Doing a little field-testing, sir?"
I nodded. "Indeed. Just inform Skyler of the change to the roster of the unit,
if you don't mind."
"You're still commanding...Chakra's the head tech engineer and advisor,
and...where would that put the two girls, sir?"
"Secondary advisory," I said. "Chakra's had a tad more experience than the
girls."
"Noted, sir. I'll be sure to tell Skyler for you."
"Duly noted, Dragonness. I'll see you again."
"Indeed you will, sir," she said. "I was transferred to Unit 17 shortly before
your return."
"So you're with the big group now..." I said. "Glad to have you working
with me this time around."
She smiled. "Sir, thank you sir."
"Oh, and Dragonness...?"
"Sir?"
"When you said Chakra's name...it sounded like there was a wistful twinge
of nostalgia in your voice...anything I should be curious about? ...You know, if it's
any of my business."
"It's nothing, sir. Just had something caught in the back of my throat."
"Uh-huh," I nodded, winking. "Can't fool the head fool, Dragonness. I
know attraction when I see it."
"Think what you like, sir. I suppose you're entitled to that. For now, I'll run
that request to Skyler."
She dashed off as I smirked to myself. "She likes him, but she's trying to
hide it," I said aloud. "I've been around this group too long to not know the early
signs of it.
With a smile and a reassuring nod to myself, I dashed away to the conference
room where the newbies were supposed to be gathering so I could lead then all
away to the training grounds--my meadow.

* * *

"Knock-knock," I said, rapping on the door that led into the meeting room.
"You guys in here?"
I heard a strong-sounding male Reploid's voice echo from the insides of the
room: "If you're looking for the trainees, you have indeed come to the right place,
sir."
I looked for the source of the voice and found a newby Hunter outfitted in
heavy dark blue armor, outlined in a mix of gold and some grey tones. He spoke
again: "Commander Zero Omega, I presume," he said, offering a hand.
"Well met," I said. "Indeed I am Zero, sir. And you are--?"
"They call me Kyte, sir."
"Ah, I heard of you from my advisor. He said you seem promising to the
unit."
The young Reploid's chest swelled with enthusiasm. "It's been my desire
ever since I was created to work with the Maverick Hunters," he said. "I'm glad
some are finally beginning to understand my commitment to our people and the
protection of the humans."
"Reploids are looked down on in society somewhat, I suppose, because of
their susceptibility to the Maverick virus," I agreed. "I can't blame the humans for
that myself...I was a Maverick."
"Yes sir," he said. "I've read your file."
"Oh have you?" I asked. "A prepared soldier. Good. We know there are a
few left, at least."
"I've heard the Hunters can be somewhat off-the-cuff, sir."
"Yes, but we need a mind in there every now and then that can do some
serious planning. You may very well be it, Kyte. It was nice to meet you."
"Oh, sir...you have to meet someone else."
"Do I?" I asked. "Very well, lead me."
Showing me over to a corner of the room, he pointed out a female Reploid,
perhaps half a head taller than himself. She wore a suit of delicate pink armor,
traced with light blue. A tad blocky as well, not unlike mine. "Chrysalis, this is
Commander Omega," he said to her, while gesturing toward me.
"How do you do," I greeted, taking the hand she gladly extended and kissed
it gently. She smiled sweetly. "So you're Chrysalis..."
"Chrys to my friends, sir," she corrected.
"Well, may I call myself your friend?"
"Indeed, sir. I'd be honored."
"Oh, stop it," I said in mock protest. "I'm blushing...no wait, my armor's
always that color..."
She giggled with genuine amusement. "Well, for me to be friends with a
legendary Special-Class A Commander...it certainly would be an honor, sir."
"Oh, I'm legendary now?" I spotted Chakra across the room. "Chakra, I
went legendary and no one told me?"
He shrugged his shoulders with a grin. "No one told me sir, I thought you
were still an old has-been."
"No, that was you, buddy, right before you did all that stuff for the unit
during our last fight with Sigma."
"How could I forget?" he said. "I think that's how I finally got noticed."
"And we have a friend that your advisor there seemed to like," Kyte said.
"We've all met each other and bonded a bit in the past few days."
"Let me guess--Hale?"
"Very good, sir...you checked with Chakra before you talked to us, didn't
you?"
"I cannot tell a lie--I'm psychic. Yes, I did talk to Chakra last night about
you four when I got in from my, uh...train ride."
"Yes, we heard about that, sir...did everything turn out okay?"
"Everyone was fine, save for the conductor. The Maverick that attacked the
train got to him before I knew anything was going on."
"But we hear you got your girlfriend back from the incident, at least," Chrys
said, raising her eyebrows in a "you sly dog" look.
"Talk does move quickly through Hunter HQ, I see," I said with a chuckle.
"Hale's waiting in the midst of all these recruits somewhere," Kyte motioned
with his hand.
I nodded. "I won't bother with it right now. I'll find him at the training
grounds for sure--I wanted to check out his energy gauntlet, and perhaps spar with
him."
"I'm sure he'd enjoy it, sir," Kyte remarked. "He likes showing off his
mastery with the glove. It's a relatively new weapon, and he has a good grasp of
the brands of attacks he can perform, its weaknesses, strengths, everything you need
to know it battle."
"Everyone's very confident of this guy," I said. "Chakra said he was tech
engineer material...but a fighter, too? That's a lucky mix for us, isn't it?"
"Indeed sir. He's a good find, no matter which way you look at it."
My radio beeped at me, and I tapped my ear to answer. "Yes?"
"Project Sigma 2.0's nearly complete, Zero," came Dr. Cain's voice. "I'll
have him done in a matter of hours."
I smiled widely. "Glad to hear it, sir. Keep me updated."
"Count on it," he said. "Cain out."
With a small nod, I cleared my throat and addressed the room: "Ahem! All
trainees, may I have your attention, please?"
"No," I heard a voice to the side murmur. Drex. I ignored it as one of his
friends elbowed him to quiet him.
"I am Commander Zero Omega. Most of you guys are going to get to know
me really well because you're going to be joining up with my unit. Right now, I've
taken on the responsibility of commanding two joined units...so chances are we'll
get to know each other over the next few weeks. We have one member who's
going to be joining us later. All of you remember Sigma, I'm sure.
"He was one of the greatest Hunters ever to ride a Raiden armor," I said.
"And he was my friend. I know some of you have already read my files, and I'm
certainly not talking about the virus. The Reploid Sigma was as much a casualty of
this war as Gohmer or Colonel Kenissa," I said. "He had friends. He had
relationships...and he had enemies, I'm sure. He was one of us. And now, due to
some stewing by myself and a favor by Dr. Cain, a resurrected version of the
Reploid Sigma will be joining us in the near future.
"Until then, I want to see some hustle...Everyone in white armor, grab a crate
of weapons, over by the back door...if you've got black armor, start forming groups
of trainees to spar with later on. If you've got decent piloting skill, see me and
we'll try not to get ourselves killed on the way to the training grounds. Clear? Then
move!"

* * *

Another newby named Blaine had decided he was something of a pilot, so we
got to the meadow in a dropship at his command. He did pretty well, actually,
better than I thought he would have. He and I'd talk later.
We hopped out, spreading out and stretching for a few minutes, then I
addressed them all: "Remember those boxes of weapons I asked you to bring along?
Find one of whatever weapon you've signed up to use and take it. Play around with
it, get used to it. It's gonna be your best friend in a tight spot."
"Sir--?" Chrys raised a hand.
I raised mine to quiet her. "I know. Some of you are using cannons. In that
case, find some kind of projectile, throw it up in the air a few times, and do some
target practice."
"Sir," she said shortly, and ran off with Kyte to find a target.
I watched some of the quicker newbies begin to twirl their sabers around;
some jabbed at the air with their force staves. It had been a while since I had the
opportunity to train a load of newbies...ages, even. It felt good to be the teacher
again.
Hale strode up to me presently with a smile on his face. "Hale, sir..." he
introduced himself, extending a hand.
I took it, with a smile of my own. "So you're Hale. I've been hearing a lot
about you, both from your friends and your higher-ups."
"Thank you sir," he said, "and I've heard from one of my higher-ups that you
had a yen to spar with me."
I smiled, nodding. "I've never been able to train with an energy gauntlet. I
like close-quarters weapons, and I've been meaning to fool around with one some
time. I want to see what it would be like to fight someone who has one."
"Well, your saber would be a fair match," he said. "Cannon users don't do
wonderfully against gauntlets because they can have their shots reflected back at
them."
"Point taken," I said. "Well, I think this can serve as your training for
today."
"I think that would be adequate," he said. He lowered his right hand to his
belt, where the gauntlet was clipped. Sheathing his hand in the glove, he flexed the
fingers and freed the weapon from his waist. With the contact of his digits, the
glove began giving off its eerie bluish aura. The external circuitry on the gauntlet
glowed a gentle green as he raised it to his chest and closed it into a fist. A curvy
"H" with a silver crest around it, positioned on the back, glowed a lighter shade of
green as he opened his fist, and a polished black claw sprouted from each finger of
the glove, electricity jumping the gaps between them.
I gaped. "I don't know much about gauntlets, but that's certainly not
standard..."
He smiled. "The claws and emblem were options I had added. Add a sort of
darkness to the entire thing, I think...threatening."
I nodded. "It's enchanting. My turn," I said as I pulled my saber from the
scabbard attached to the back of my armor. Tossing it upward and catching it, I
smiled as the green blade of energy shot out of the handle at my command.
"Enough with the flourish, I think," I said. "Let's get to it."
"I agree," he said. "Let's go."
We circled each other, each jabbing our weapons toward the other at random
intervals. I made the first move. Dashing toward him quickly, I slashed with the
blade horizontally in my Shippuuga move again, then ducked and slashed twice at
his feet. He was struck barely by the first attack, and the second he blocked with
the gauntlet.
Hopping back to my original position, I smiled. "You're fast, Hale. That
counts for something."
He smiled back. "My turn!" Rushing at me, he waved the glove across my
line of vision, then dropped suddenly and gave me a sweeping kick. I tripped and
fell on my back, but brought my leg up to counter whatever he tried next. When he
paused, I threw my other leg up as well, using the momentum to flip back up onto
my knees. He expected it, jumped up and over my head, and gave a swift kick to
my back. I flopped down again onto the grass.
Hearing him behind me, I took my saber in my other hand and swept it back
behind me to defend my back as I formulated something else. I got back to my
knees and somersaulted forward this time, avoiding a clawing from his gauntlet.
Standing quickly, I turned with my saber and met his shoulder, slicing
through his armor there. He grabbed it in pain as some of his fluids leaked out.
He'd be okay; it wasn't a bad hit. Nonetheless, he came dashing back at me,
slashing with the gauntlet's claws. I dodged easily enough, got in a hit or two with
the saber, and hopped backward again. Make him keep thinking you're on the
defensive, Zero, I told myself. That's the easiest way to reel them in for a better
hit.
"Could I call myself 'Bloody Hale'?" he asked, then wiped a hand down his
face. "Sorry. Much too corny."
I smiled. "Continue!"
He rushed again, this time sliding underneath my legs. I had expected
something like that, and sat, pinning him to the ground. Grabbing his forearm and
wrestling at it a minute, I managed to get it down to the ground, where I stuck the
saber in its fringe as I held down his other arm.
"I think you're beat," I said with a grin.
He beamed back at me. "You thought that, didn't you?" he asked as I felt
him lunge. His feet came up from behind and made contact with the back of my
head. I fell off of him and rolled forward, finding my legs somewhere and standing
up with a hop.
He smiled now as he jumped away, back to a more comfortable position, I
supposed. "You're very good, sir."
"Thanks, Hale. Auto-repair should take care of your shoulder easily
enough."
He smiled. "Yes sir. That was fun. Thank you."
"You're welcome, Hale. 'Port back to base and get that fixed. Talk with
Chakra a little while. He'll show you around the tech wing of Hunter Base."
"Aye, sir," he said, dissolving into a streak of yellow light.
I sighed heavily. "Class dismissed for Hale."
"I saw that," came a voice from a treetop behind me. I looked, and Drex had
taken a position on one of the branches. "Hale was holding back."
"I sensed it too, vaguely," I said. "He wasn't releasing his full potential with
that gauntlet. Why wouldn't he want to do that? It might've changed the outcome
of the fight."
"He's afraid, sir," he said matter-of-factly.
"And how would you know, Mr. Independence?"
He smiled. "I used to be his best friend."
"Used to be...?"
"We had a squabble over a girl some years ago. It's over between us now.
Neither of us could agree on anything because of that, and when she finally got the
chance...she picked me."
"I won't ask why," I said. "I'm sure that'd be too much for your cold
emotions chip to process."
"I'm not as evil as you think," he said. "I have feelings, sure...I just don't
care to employ them all that often."
"So what happened to this love of yours?" I asked, smiling on the inside.
He sighed. "I'm still not completely sure. She moved, changed her
name...after the fights Hale and I had, she wasn't ready to come back to either of
us."
"Changed her name...hmm..." I thought out loud.
"What was that?"
"Nothing. Just thinking."
"Uh-huh..." he said in a disbelieving voice. "Care to spar?"
"Love to," I said, tapping my saber on again. "Ready when you are."
He ignited the blue blade of his saber as well. "En garde!"