Mega Man X 1.5
by Tremor3258
Disclaimer: I don't own MMX. Capcom does.
Epilogue. The dance is over. Clean up has begun, and the party has ended. Woe be to those who stay too long.
This will have a little different setup. I'm going to visit each of the various groups in their situation at the beginning of the planned MMX 2.5 with a series of vingettes. One year has passed since the Hunters were broken at Tokyo. Many have been hunted down ... and changed. Others are dead, fighting with the various forces opposing Reploids and humankind. The Hunter name seems to have been changed to simply the Guardians, and they operate in a much more commando style. Their goals are the same: the fight for peace. Not everything that's important will be explained here, but I thought a few teasers would keep you interested while I finish plotting out the next arc.
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"Don't you get it, you fool?" yelled the human holding the laser rifle at the simple working Reploid. They were near the edge of the dome which blocked the Olympus Mons mines off from the hostile Martian environment. "The Hunters never came to Mars. We've had to deal with Mavericks our own way! And I decide! You stupid Reploids thought you could trick us, huh, but soon you'll all get what's coming to you." The Reploid stumbled backwards. He had been going to his new job a bit too quickly and had gotten lost. He hadn't meant to stumble on a mob.
Things had been getting uglier. The Hunters had vanished, and many hadn't survived the next few days as Mavericks launched attacks. Dopplertown, where the Hunter wounded were being stored, had apparently been attacked, and that's when Hunters started to vanish. So many rumors swirled around, and the remnants of the Hunter leadership had been afraid or unable to step forward. Still, very few Reploids ever went off-world, due to fear of the colonies of a Maverick outbreak, and it wasn't likely anyone would dispute that fact.
"No!" said a female voice from overhead. The bigot looked up only to be lightly zapped by some sort of electrical weapon. Slumping down due to the loss of conscious muscle control, the Reploid tore away and vanished. After a moment, the frightened human went the other way.
"That was dangerous, Alia," warned a deep voice coming up next to her on the roof. She wore her armor, the last remnants of Yammark, but despite the necessity for haste in their work, she wanted to just fall into the protection that voice offered her. However, Alia tried to school herself away. Wolf and she would have time later. But right now, they needed to get outside the locks and disappear into the Martian surface. They had a minute before all hell broke loose.
Quickly cycling through the little used lock, using one of Gate's little programs to jimmy what the camera saw, the two bounded out in the lower gravity. Alia didn't use her flight due to the lower atmospheric pressure and the possibility of being picked up on radar. Instead the two ran, and didn't even stare at the quick plume of flame before a small, nondescript robotic parts factory collapsed in on itself. Even Wolf allowed himself a quick grin. The systems being made their were high-preformance antigrav units, something only military machines would need. Not even Gate, the third member of their band, could tell why production had quadrupled in the last month on Mars, and that had been an obvious enough target for the Shadows to go after, as many of the Martian authorities called them.
Still, those authorities would be surprised that with the massive Hunter losses suffered After the Dome, only three had been permanently detailed to go to Mars and keep an eye on the growing Reploid population there. Still, with Gate's ability to hack networks, though Alia was a fair designer herself, as X had mentioned following the crisis that got them stationed here. Mars was cold and far away from friends and comrades, so she and Wolf made do as best they could together, as long as both could manage it. Another small blow had been struck against their enemy, and Alia was ready to think far more constructive thoughts for the next few days of lying low as they struck out for their base.
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"Welcome to Eurasia!" said the cheerful female Reploid with long brown hair. She had been employed as a customs official on the space colony since approaching a few months ago, and her cheerful attitude had gotten even the most hard-bitten people to feel guilty about lying on their claims. Still, there was steel behind that gaze, and smuggling incidents had dropped to a quarter. She called herself Hera, and the mother goddess's name seemed almost appropriate.
Part of it was her partner, a silent Reploid in orange battle armor. He literally radiated menace, and the officials had been surprised, but he did have all the proper permits for the deadly beam saber. The reploid had to only draw it once against a nasty gang leader, and the mere threat implicit in the blade had gotten the fight to stop. He called himself Omega, and no one doubted it.
However, inside Zero's head were many thoughts. Worry for how the Hunters ("Guardians" Zero reminded himself. X had made a massive fuss over it) scattered hither and yon over the system were doing. Hope that he and Iris hadn't been barking up the wrong tree for the last few months. Reports indicated Eurasia, an old colony, but one with top-notch manufacturing plats, was linked to something, something big, but they didn't know what. So, the two had gotten themselves identities manufactured at great expense and risk, and now every day risked detection. Even Zero doubted he could take on a whole space colony by himself. So, for now, he waited and glowered.
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"Okay, Team One! You're training is done for the day! Get underground before this cloud cover breaks!" Signas barked. Several Reploids were going through training exercises in the mock urban area put together. Nowhere near their old facilities, but the randomness of weather was something the old holo-simulators had not quite ever been able to match. Still, despite the fact the training up to standard was taking longer, Signas felt very proud. These Reploids had been ones who hadn't been approached by their representatives, but instead had tracked down rumors and stumbled around searching for the base. There had been a few attempts by the new Global Security Force to try and infiltrate, but shady pasts and preforming helicopter landings into areas near where the GSF thought they were hiding had managed to keep them out of their business.
For now, however, the important thing was to keep the army out of sight, and out of mind. Without a clear target, there wasn't much they could do, which is why most of the high-ranking Guardians were gathering information, including a few people Signas didn't quite think they could do without.
Confirming everyone was in the caves, Signas himself followed, and wandered through the twisting passages to get to the revived war room, a cave SOMEWHERE in the passages, and despite having this base for several months, Signas wasn't exactly sure where it was in relation to the entrances. Lifesaver and X were waiting there, going over the latest reports. With the knowledge that Mavericks weren't apparently the only threat, especially with Sigma's actions concerning Isoc, X had changed. The kind of damage some people were evidently willing to do, not because of a twisted ideal, but because the Hunters had been in the way of more power, had struck X's core. He had probably taken the Guardians farther underground than Cain had probably anticipated, and had made plans with additional bases and equipment scavenged from the outposts. Signas was sure X wasn't getting enough sleep, and the fact that X, who normally wore the armor sets only into battle (and avoided it even then if possible), now wore one as a matter of course, made Signas wonder if maybe the dreams for peace had died and turned into a dream of simply a truce and balance between the various forces at work.
Signas kept those thoughts to himself. The fight went on, and they did their best to minimize damage. The last year had been rough, and someday all the losses they'd suffered would find peace in X's heart, or he would die trying.
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"It failed again sir," reported Double. Sigma cursed. Three Mavericks had perished in the latest attempt. Sigma was in a delicate position. Mavericks were not easy to control, and he could not, and would not, merely be content to hide forever. Certain feelers of his had been squashed. Sigma knew direct military activity would still be far too likely to be destroyed. The GSF had said the Viral threat had stopped, a truly bizarre statement that almost no one accepted. It didn't make sense, with whom Sigma figured was pulling their strings.
Besides, if Sigma launched an Uprising, the Hunters (Sigma wasn't calling them by their name change, as Maverick Hunters were what they were) would be forced to come and destroy him. They had done well in the recent Mars campaign, though that had really been a minor operation on both sides. Sigma had long decided the fear of the two rogue groups of Reploids were what was slowing down his former associate's plan. Sigma decided it was best for Reploids to keep it that way. Yes, someday Sigma's order would arrive, of Reploids living happily under his rule, but he could wait. He had been waiting. Plans and new weapons were being constructed that would give Sigma his best chance ever of winning his little game against X. Who knows, perhaps X would come to see Sigma's viewpoint? Far stranger things had happened in the last year.
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Wily rested in his cozy little next in cyberspace and watched the world's networks traffic around him. So much of that data was filtered and delivered to him, and a significant but smaller fraction was under his total control. Soon both fractions would become whole.
It was taking longer than he expected, but the old journals and files of his predecessor had led the program to at least understand what was going on. It was amazing what a few simple mechanicals could do to slow down carefully defined plans. Still, they could really only delay the inevitable. This world was Wily's at least partially in fact, and soon would be in name. Elysium would soon exist.
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Despite various attacks by various foes, some human, some mechanical, over the centuries, New York was still huge, having gained a few extra boroughs as it gradually merged with the rest of the Northeast seaboard. Paraphrasing, one humorist had noted, "A pigeon can fly from Boston to Washington D.C. without ever having to not land on a skyscraper."
Still, the very nervous Reploid troop, a member of the GSF but on his 'night job' was surprised by how little aboveground had been built in the area. A commercial development in the area, approximately fifty kilometers from downtown, was built mainly underground. A lot of buildings used similar approaches now days, as it was safer from the occasional Maverick in the area.
Still, the GSF's 'other' superiors had directed him to go to a small restaurant in the area. Catering to both Reploids and humans, it tended to favor Reploids slightly with offering a bed and breakfast as it had recharge and minor repair facilities. He took a deep breath and walked in nervously. It was later in the day, so the restaurant was more of a bar. A group of heavy looking Reploids and a few humans were playing cards, and several other people were watching a soccer game on TV. No one spared the small Reploid more than a glance.
A TINY person, apparently Japanese, was waiting behind the bar, apparently serving a water to a fish-like Reploid. Over-energizing could create a state similar to drunkenness in Reploids, and there were very few ways short of getting hooked directly to a power plant to over-energize faster than heavy water, one of the best fuels possible for on-board fusion plants. The girl, really, put a shot of cherry juice into the glass and passed it over. "Here you go, Surge!" she said cheerfully. The fish-bot nodded and walked over to the card game.
The reploid shrugged. He had heard some old refitted combat models ran the bar, but instead there was a girl. He walked up closer, intending to ask where the management was, and then his eyes narrowed. You can make a Reploid look darn life-like, but all Reploids were a lot denser than humans, and the distinctive heavy footfall shocked him. There were very few human look alikes being made recently, and he actually felt better when he could see felinoid eyes as well as small claws on her hands. So she had been rebuilt into a less threatening form from some other body type, that made sense.
"Excuse me, I'm here for a pod, preferably something with a northern exposure?" the trooper asked, voice cracking slightly. To Jazz, though she wasn't calling herself that recently, it was a sign that made her wonder why X hadn't wiped the planet with these bozos yet. It was amazingly amateurish, and quite a few of the regulars leaned around to wonder what was up. Jazz waved them down. Jazz noted the small record capsule he had deployed too early, rolling it nervously with his hand.
"Come right with me, sir," she said, trying very hard not to sigh. They climbed upstairs, and the trooper was far too shifty. As soon as they climbed down the flight of stairs, Jazz whirled. "All right? Which one are you working for? Probably not X, he's smarter than this."
"Yeah, and I assume the GSF's main command has nothing to do with you being here," said a male voice. Another short Reploid was leaning against a pod, wearing typical early-spring wear and apparently cleaning off a claw. "After all, the existence of the Guardians isn't something they official acknowledge, and they're usually glad for the help, as long as it's on official projects."
The trooper started to make innocent protestations that he wanted to help the old Hunters, but Jazz cut him off with one hand. "I guess we're still safe, old lover," Jazz noted, "He's still sending in idiots." Bebop nodded. Obviously, the rumors of anti-Maverick activity, and some information gathering, hadn't too much substance yet, but this was a reminder to be more careful.
The trooper, finally panicking, started to fire at them with his standard plasma sidearm. Ducking quickly, but still standing basically still, both were quickly covered in their armor. Jazz reached behind her, and took out her beam saber, quickly thrusting it forward. Instead of plasma, a sharp spike of metal, vibrating at a super-high frequency, was issued from the handle and through his torso, causing some major damage. Bebop launched an energy beam through the same spot, aiming carefully at the frozen and terrified trooper, who collapsed.
"Your first mistake was even coming down here. Our advertisement on the Net says the accommodations are upstairs. You should have wondered why we were taking you to our private quarters," Jazz chided, and then slumped. She really hadn't wanted to do it, and hoped the trooper's nerve would have broken, but he was scared enough to make mistakes, but not make the big one of running that would save his life.
Bebop shook his head, "Surge will take the body, I guess. I guess we'll stash the record beads with the others." Jazz nodded. Bebop seemed morose over the necessity, but another piece of possible evidence to trace back would do some good. They were very close, they hoped to putting the pieces together, and there was something in the air that said everything was coming to a head.
To be continued in Mega Man X 2.5
Author's Notes: The rest of chapter 10 and this were difficult to write. I didn't want to screw over my characters, but it makes a better setup. X.5 had a decent ending. X1.5 doesn't. We'll see about 2.5
But it's finished, and thanks to everyone who's reviewed! I really enjoyed writing this section. The first one was a bit more Mary Sueish, but this one set things up more as an AU, where instead of Sigma's alliance with the doctor in X5, things got split up a bit. Jazz and Bebop had no real effect, but they're surviving the simulator is the real divergent point.
Why did Lancer suffer damage, Rock a lot of damage, and X get singed? Easy, Rock's armor wasn't really boosted, and Isoc had a charged shot. Lancer was built for speed, but X was equipped with some of the best defenses ever built into a Reploid on the planet. He's the god-like powerful one here, and I like to keep that fresh in people's minds occasionally. This is X and Zero's story, even if we see it from other viewpoints a lot.
Yes, I said armor SETS in this one. It'll be explained in 2.5, and yes, Jazz's technique use will be explained better next time.
So, to explain these little pieces.
Alia, Gate, and Wolf are operating on Mars, dealing with things apparently related to the GSF. They are the only Guardians stationed there, as most remain on Earth, with most of the population and the center of both Reploid and human civilization.
Zero and Iris are on Eurasia, hunting a rumor. Whether it's related to the Nightmare system or possibly Sigma's Viral research is unknown.
Sigma is hoping that X will see things as he does related to the Reploids, and join forces. At that point, Sigma figures nothing will stop him from eliminating humanity.
Wily may have some control over the GSF (he does have control over small splinters, as Jazz and Bebop noted) in totality. He's working on expanding that, and he's getting the Nightmares ready. Elysium is a dig at the X6 plans for peace, as MMZ seems to indicate they fell through, huh?
Jazz and Bebop are flying solo and under cover in America. They're apparently serving as an information clearinghouse, and are also trying to track down proof of Wily, probably related to the Rock issue. I'll explain why they suspect Wily in 2.5 The named 'extra' Reploid in this scene is the first Reploid Jazz and Bebop met in the present era. He's about chapter 4 from X.5, and mentioned once until now. Let it never be said I forget a character.
I'm promising a lot, aren't I? Anyway, 2.5 takes place one year after the end of Chapter 10. The Hunters and Mavericks are both underground, fighting each other and the new foe. Meanwhile, Elysium moves towards completion, and the world will tremble.
After all that angst, here's some Omake!
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One plan for the end of X1.5
"I am not Sigma," stated the voice.
"Wily," X said bluntly. Everyone looked surprised and he shrugged, "Listen. If it's not Sigma in one of these situations, it's ALWAYS Wily." Everyone nodded in agreement, and Wily cursed.
"Just for that, I'm blowing up you and your little Headquarters too!" raged Wily. Everyone laughed until Cain came on..
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This fits well with the Sigma battle.
"Tell me Zero, how is it you keep rising to bedevil me?" asked Sigma angrily.
"Easy, I just pick up one of these little things shaped like my helmet, and whenever I die, I just teleport back part way through the stage!" Zero said proudly.
"Ah, extra lives. You may be wiser than I thought," Sigma nodded sagely.
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If real life were like the video games....
"I am about to grant you the untested Ultimate Armor, X. It has great power and unlimited Nova Strikes," stated the hologram of his father.
"Um, sorry dad, but I just jumped up and down a few times before I got here and it magically appeared," X said sheepishly.
"Well, bring in Zero!" Light snapped, "I've got some upgraded black armor."
"Got it!" wafted a voice through Skull Fortress.
"!@#%" said Light.
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Noting too many similarities between NGE late-episode angst-fest and X...
"Maverick Hunter Headquarters will explode in four minutes," stated Cain.
"Alia, activate the 666 program," X snapped.
"Hai, sempai!" stated the former researcher, and then gasped, "Dame desu! It's already infected all three computers..."
I'll stop there... Until 2.5!
tremor3258