MEGA MAN X: DEMONS OF THE PAST
By Erico
CHAPTER TEN: THE BELL TOLLS FOR SORROW
"Oh, yum." Doan mumbled as he looked at the selection for breakfast. "Slop, burned toast, or sausages more shriveled than Emilius Cristoph's dick. And he's dead." Sighing in defeat, he put his tray back with the others and went back to the line, lifting his hand up for the robotic, non-sentient server. "I'll pass on the entrée. How about a cup of coffee that'd make a pony piss for miles?"
"That order does not compute." Came the grating reply. Doan had to roll his eyes for a moment. God damn these stupid robotic servers that the Hunters had hired. Why didn't they just have some reploids come by and do the job…then Doan remembered why. Reploids couldn't take the abuse that some of the more verbose Hunters would offer in protest.
"Coffee. Black. Jumbo." Doan stated flatly for the benefit of the droid's low intelligence level.
"As you wish." Came the instant reply, moments before Doan was handed a one gallon sized thermal mug, capped off and billowing steam from the hot liquid within.
"Hey watch it there with that!" Came the guffaw from behind. Doan registered the voice as that of Jad, the joking jester of Bastion's Trio.
"He'd have to. I just wonder if he'll drink it all or not…" Mused Kol.
"Do you two ever shut up…" Doan growled under his breath.
"No, they don't." Came a third voice. Gavin. The second in command of Bastion's Unit stepped beside Doan and lifted his hand. "Waiter, I'll have the same as him."
"Order up." The robot replied humorlessly, passing over another giant sized mug of coffee. Jad and Kol promptly shut up as their third group member gave them both a wary stare. I'm drinking the same thing, Gavin's stare implied. Care to make fun of me?
"Aah, we'll go sit over there." Kol finally muttered in defeat.
Gavin and Doan trotted over to a vacant circular table in the cafeteria, the windows by their position thankfully darkened to negate the blasted early morning effects of sunlight.
"They're weird." Doan said flatly, taking a large sip of his coffee. Gavin smirked a bit before staring at Doan, completely unaware of his long and bloody past, knowing only that he was a Hunter who had come in shortly after the Fifth Uprising.
"And you, Doan, are morose." The silvery armored Hunter didn't look up across the table to Gavin, he merely took another giant sip of his own drink and let the conversation die. Let Gavin talk all he wanted…Doan wasn't in the state of mind to put up with it. Come to think of it, he almost never was in any other mood aside from subdued, cold and morose. So Gavin was correct in that respect.
Doan stared down into the depths of his coffee cup…Watching its reflective surface stare straight back at him, with its concentric rings of slight waves traveling outwards from the center. If Gavin kept speaking, Doan didn't know…he was too engrossed in his own thoughts, brought forth by the lulling illusion of the coffee shifting inside the cup.
The world in a coffee cup…all of them little more than droplets.
"You God-Damn reploids." Doan felt the long-time memory wash over him, of the bigoted human who had spoken that back during the early period of his life.
Some things had changed since then. Some things hadn't. The anti-reploid prejudice still existed, just no longer in polite society. In a way, it resembled the South after the Civil War. There was no slavery, but blacks were still treated like slaves. Unlike their human predecessors however, the reploids had both the means and motivation to defend themselves against hostile forces.
And Doan had seen it all…from the reploid's earliest days to where they stood now. And he had no doubt, that like some sort of aging guardian, he would still be around years from now, still watching.
"Doan??" Gavin said again, his voice slightly concerned. "Hey, buddy, you awake??" Doan blinked twice in reply before sipping some more of his coffee.
"Just thinking." Doan offered emotionlessly. With great effort, he lifted the massive jug of coffee up and swigged it all in one massive gulp. Slamming the container back onto the cafeteria table, he stood up and blinked a few more times.
"You God-Damn reploids."
Sigma was the greatest reason that reploids were both scorned and feared. It wasn't easy to get along with a group of overtly powerful individuals who almost put your species beyond usefulness when one of their own was scampering about, slaughtering your own kind for the great cause of reploid freedom. Humans. Part of their views, Doan could see. Others, he couldn't.
In any case, he was done here. There was more to be done yet today, including a briefing with Cleo on his Flight Armor's progress.
"I'll be seeing you around." Doan said flatly to Gavin.
He left on that note, walking out of the cafeteria and towards wherever the Hell he felt like going.
Gavin shook his head back and forth quietly before taking another sip of his coffee.
"He blows in, and he blows out…and wherever he goes, he leaves behind the chill of black wind."
Gavin was also completely clueless about the accuracy of his statement. He didn't know that before he was a Hunter, he was a rogue killer of Mavericks known only as the Ghost Wind.
But then, that really didn't matter much anymore.
Sigma had spent all of the night before with Iris, answering her questions, helping her to learn how to walk, to stand and such.
Now in the next day, she was sitting at the conference table with all of the other Mavericks.
Kazok Gravor was looking at Sigma for the most part, but he occasionally snuck a glance Iris's way.
The others were about the room, some like Dash Blade calmly sitting down, others like Dolph Reach and Shell Butane either too jumpy or too large to sit down in the chairs designed primarily for humanoid class sentients.
"We're going to be attempting our first mission in two hours." Kazok Gravor said calmly, staring at Sigma with all the emotionless power he could muster. "It'll be a test run…nothing more, nothing less."
"Yes, I recall you telling me about this last night before I brought Iris into the world." Sigma said with his raspy basso voice, blinking once and turning to look at Iris.
For all she had learned in the past hours, she was still somewhat dazed and confused…aloof from her surroundings.
"Why are we Mavericks??" She asked suddenly.
The question had the unforseen effect of causing every jaw in the room to drop…as all the Mavericks began to wonder it as well, like a seed that had dropped into the crack of concrete and now began to grow.
Sigma knew that this question would come…
And he knew that telling Iris the truth…That he, the greatest Maverick, was Maverick because a damnable Virus created by a madman in the final days of his life had been transferred from the demon Zero to himself during a climactic battle countless years ago…That all their struggling might have begun with a noble purpose, but had long since slipped away into just endless fighting, because it was what he lived for…would not be wise.
"Reploids have been in existence on this planet since the first one was created in the final months of 2117." Sigma said quietly, pulling on a plausible, yet incorrect linking of events for Iris's questioning mind. It was a half-truth, and half-truths often worked the best.
"Iris, we're all reploids. And humans hate us…humans despise us. They torture us, they attack us, they kill us. If we act in self-defense, they kill us for resisting.
What is a Maverick, you ask my dear?? I am a Maverick. They are Mavericks. Mavericks act so that our kind, reploid kind might be freed from humanity's tyrannical rule. We have been treated as slaves for far too long, and now we seek equality. And yet there are those of our kind who act against us…brainwashed by the humans, they seek our deaths so that the humans will remain in their position of power. They are called Maverick Hunters."
"How horrible…" Iris whispered, her eyes growing wide. Sigma nodded.
"The boat we sail on is unsteady, and always weak to the possibility of destruction. But we fight on. We serve a noble purpose, and we won't be stopped. Not by the humans, not by our traitorous brothers and sisters, and not by time. The Mavericks will prevail…our race shall see its day in the sun!!" Sigma held his fist aloft, shouting the last part with a cry of victory.
At that, all of the Mavericks in the room hurled their own hands up in a similar gesture, roaring in approval. Iris blinked a few times, enthralled and amazed by Sigma's will…his noble purpose…never once even thinking that he might be lying through his teeth.
Sigma was grinning from ear to ear as he turned to Kazok.
"I assumed your upgrade hunt was successful??"
"Enough for now." Kazok said with a similar grin. "We've picked our target, it's all set up. We just need your signal and we're off." Sigma folded his burly arms, still grinning with intensity that set his eyes aflame.
"Go, Kazok. Our destiny awaits us."
The six Maverick Generals took a long look at each other, all grinning ear to ear.
Part of that came from the influence of the Virus…the realization of death approaching. But another part came from Sigma's speech…
They could truly believe they were working for a better goal. Like Iris did.
And it was all lies…
Cain had taken the time, considering his circumstances, to write out a will…
He handed the tape to Hazil as the doctor gave him another checkup. Another checkup that was completely useless…the aneurysm had only gotten worse, and no amount of drugs was helping the endless pain. It even prevented sleep now.
"I'm dying, Hazil." Cain said wearily. The medical reploid didn't have the heart anymore to refute that statement, he merely accepted the tape with a raised eyebrow.
"What's this??"
"My will." James Cain said raggedly. "My time is fast drawing to a close, Hazil. That piece of data says that all my finances go to the Maverick Hunters. I'll be damned if I let the GDC tear this organization and Cain Labs to pieces."
Cain Labs was the 'Research and Development' department of the Maverick Hunters. Connected, yet separate. Cain was Commander of the Maverick Hunters by respect only. It was at Cain Labs that his true power lay…although the last official documentation he'd released from that department was a statement that led to the Fourth Maverick Uprising, and the utter destruction of the Repliforce. The once proud reploid-only army run by the GDC was now little more than piecemeal, what ragged sections of it that still existed nothing more than candy for the sixty second news shots proclaiming the 'glorious age of human/reploid peace.' And all because of a sinister plot engineered by Sigma himself…one that wrongly cast blame on the Repliforce.
Yes, it hadn't been as good as the Maverick Hunters at preventing Maverick disturbances. There was a reason for that…the Repliforce was run by the GDC, an organization fast becoming corrupt, more concerned with arguing in closed sessions than seeing that peace came to the planet.
Cain didn't know who the true enemy was anymore…
Perhaps that was why he was so tired, so worn out. He had spent the last 13 years of his life in the most harrowing job on the planet. Dealing not only with the menace of Sigma, his disowned son who was now the bitter enemy of all the Maverick Hunters, but the Global Defense Council and its stupid bureaucratic webs.
Hazil had been with Cain since the beginning. His face showed the creases of the years, the torment, the strain…
And when Cain died, would the world mourn?? Hardly. In that respect, Hazil actually had a reason to be as bitter as he always was.
"I'd offer you more drugs, but I've got you so doped out already that anymore might well set that timebomb off." Hazil said quietly. Cain put a hand on Hazil's shoulder, his face in pain, but also smiling.
"Hazil, you've been with the Maverick Hunters since its founding. You've done so much for all of us. I could ask no more of you."
"I could ask a lot more of myself." Hazil grumbled, pulling Cain's hand off. "I'm a Goddamn DOCTOR…I make a living out of saving lives. And I can't even save yours." Hazil looked Cain in the eyes. "I'll be straight with ya, doc. You're one of the few humans I give an actual damn about. I don't want to lose you."
"Hazil, I was old when the Maverick Hunters were formed. I'm much older now. Even if you could save me from this aneurysm, it would be a wasted effort. Humans die, Hazil. We're not like reploids…We grow sick from disease, we grow weak from lack of food or water, we have a short lifespan. You, on the other hand, barring major injury or a fluke in your circuits, are destined to live for years…"
"What good is a long life if we can't enjoy it??" Hazil queried back sadly. "I really don't want to get into this discussion, so I'm gonna curb it for now. I've done as much as I can for you."
"I never asked for anything more than that, friend." Cain said, echoing his earlier statement. He clutched onto his cane and headed back towards the door. "Just promise me that whatever happens, you'll make the choice that's right for YOU."
"Huh??" Hazil muttered, lifting an eyebrow and folding his arms. "Whutcha talkin' 'bout, doc??" Cain paused, then turned over his shoulder with an easygoing smile.
"Don't base your decisions on your loyalties. You're your own person. Live without that stupid compulsion to stick around here just because you always have."
"What kind of…Cain, are you in your right mind?" Hazil said worriedly. Cain nodded his head slowly.
"I am…Perhaps now, more than ever, everything seems to be locking into place." Cain shook his head. "I've had a long life, Hazil. I've had happy moments, I've had sad moments. I have my memories. Your life is far from over. Whatever comes your way, do what's right for yourself. Be true to your own dreams, your own goals. Only then, I believe, you'll truly live."
"And I haven't been alive so far??" The Medical Reploid said sardonically. Cain put a hand to his head, bracing himself against the pain.
"I'm saying you haven't been at peace. When was the last time you were happy??"
"When I did that pet project for Cossack's bunch." Hazil answered quickly, shaking his head. "Few times before that, never after."
"Hazil, there are others out there in the world who are capable of being doctors, of saving lives. You were happy when you WEREN'T with the Maverick Hunters, when you didn't have death staring you in the face almost every day. Cherish that…find it again."
"What about the others…Zero, and X, and…"
"Hazil, you've learned nothing…" Cain sighed. "They can all take care of themselves. They've managed before. They'll manage now. I just want you to be HAPPY."
Cain shook his head for another moment, walking out of the Medical Bay and into the circular hallways of the MHHQ.
And once more, Hazil was alone. Clicking his tongue, the sour-faced reploid turned back to his medical reports, the untold piles of them.
"Cain…I don't think you knew what you were saying just then." He whispered to himself.
But why then did it make Hazil feel so hollow??
.
Cossack was still bedridden…And he was only getting worse.
The elderly Sergei had asked his daughter to stop giving him the pain medication, despite the adverse effects that arose from its missing presence.
And so here he lay, his breathing slow and wheezy, his blurry but sharp with the presence of his mind…
And Kalinka and his robots at his bedside. Kalinka was predictably misty eyed…Pharaoh Man looked on with dull jealousy. SHE could cry, she could express her emotions…
"Father…Father…" She cried out sadly. Cossack lay still, save for his head and the gray hair atop of it. If the sickness hadn't hit him, he would have still been full of vivacity…
But his weakened immune system and an overpowering influenza virus changed everything.
"Kalinka…my daughter…" Sergei rasped. He looked up at her, his eyes sad and watery. "You weep for me…but I weep for you."
"Why??" Kalinka asked tearily.
"You have spent your life in this Citadel…you never married, you never had children…and now you're so old that your body has become barren. All because of me…I'm such a fool…" Kalinka extended her own graying hand towards his, shaking her head.
"There are times I am sad for that as well." She said. "But I do not regret my choice. You are the most important figure in my life, father. Now more than ever."
"Kalinka…" Her father replied wearily. "If only things had been different."
At long last, he turned his head in another direction…towards Pharaoh Man.
"Phare…"
"Yes, doctor?" Pharaoh Man replied, lilting his head to peer down at his creator.
He had seen Sergei in his prime…and he had lived beyond it, now to his death…
And he would still be alive…A mere pseudo-human with a cursed existence.
"You…must not become a recluse because of my passing. The years have given you and your brothers so much…and now I see glimmers of intelligence I never could have dreamed possible. What Mega Man had by fluke, you now begin to gain by countless ages of experience, and your interactions with X and his friends. Grow, Pharaoh. GROW. You can do so much for this world…and for yourself."
"You're talking about the Foregone Five…" Pharaoh Man muttered quietly. There was more than a hint of sadness in his voice, but there was little else. No quivering, no tears, no cracked voice or shattered reasoning processes. "It was our decision…To turn ourselves into something more than what we were. To finally emerge into the world and work against the dangers that would threaten it."
"And every time I think of what you have accomplished, what you have yet to accomplish, my heart sings." Cossack sighs. "You are all my children…you and your brothers, Pharaoh Man, and you, my only daughter Kalinka…I want only what is best for you. My life is over, I have done what I could, and my stories are finished. Yours are yet to begin." Even through the pain, his voice remained steady…he had a purpose, and he needed to complete it.
"I…I'm afraid for you, doctor." Pharaoh Man said sadly. "When you're here, you're with us. We can take care of you, you're with family…you're someplace comfortable."
"And when I die, it shall be the same." Sergei said quietly, his eyes beginning to doze shut, his breaths growing slower. "I shall go to a family I have missed for many years…With Tom Light, with his sons Blues and Mega, his daughter Roll, and all the rest of their group that died countless years ago. And when your time comes…I shall be waiting for you as well. We all will…"
"Father!!" Kalinka cried out, crouching down and giving him a hug.
With strength that seemed impossible for his weakened state, Cossack shrugged her off.
"Do not fret for me, Kalinka…Death is only temporary." He sighed for a long moment, then turned to Pharaoh Man. "My son…Take care of our family…"
"Doctor…" Pharaoh Man began, his emotion levels rising dangerously high. Sergei's eyes were watery now, and through his pain, he found the strength to smile.
"Phare, I mean it…and I'll be waiting for you…When your time comes…"
"Master…" Pharaoh Man stuttered, a surprising hiccough in his voice, and his optics suddenly beginning to blur.
"I love you…always." The smile closed itself, his lips drawing shut, yet retaining the look of peaceful contentment.
The robotologist Sergei Cossack took one final breath, and then exhaled it, his eyelids drooping shut…
And he never breathed again.
Kalinka choked a few times on her tears before she buried her head into his chest, letting all the grief and sadness she had stored within her at last seek an exit.
Pharaoh Man stood there stricken, his jaw open, his eyes blurrier yet…With a trembling hand, he reached up and brushed at his eyes.
Tears. He looked at the clear fluid on his gloved fingers through the dull ache inside of him…I'm crying…Tears…
And then it all finally hit home.
Pharaoh Man had at last seen every emotion he thought he could have never experienced. Rage. Determination. Fear. Surprise. And now…grief…
"Father…" Pharaoh Man began, noting with robotic accuracy through his grief that his voice synthesizer had built up resistance because of the overwhelming emotional strain, and now warbled. But even father didn't seem right…
"Dad…" The robot croaked. His body began to shake…His tears grew worse. And if that soft choking noise his voice synthesizer was putting out was sobs…
Pharaoh Man collapsed against the wall and lowered his head between his knees, lost in his own world of sorrow as for the first time in his more than 45 years of life…
He at last realized the ultimate boundary between a mere robot…and something far more.
In the death of Sergei Cossack came the true birth of Pharaoh Man…
I love you…always.
And then Pharaoh's cries joined with Kalinka's.
All in that room grieved for the loss.
The death knell had tolled on the final 'doctor' of the age of Mega Man.
Cain found his way back to the MHHQ's 'War Room' with the same ease he had for 13 previous years. A few faces turned up to look at him, Mega Man X most noticeably, but also a few other faces he'd become used to seeing more recently since the Fifth Uprising. Bastion was there also.
Cain had seen many Maverick Hunters in his life. Some he would never see again. But that was his lot in life. To see friends and associates perish.
Things were quieter than usual, for a change…Which gave his aching head a much needed break. X gave his long-time ally, and 'father' as it were a big wave.
"Come on, Cain! We saved you the command chair!!"
"Oh, goody." The leader of the Maverick Hunters mused drily, hobbling towards it with all the speed his old body could muster. The faces turned away from Cain, and back to their work. Save for X, who looked after Cain only as he could.
Cain sighed as he leaned back into the padded seat, his hands resting lightly on the control pads on the armrests.
"Anything new, troops?" He asked to everyone in the room.
"It's all quiet for a change, doc." X said cheerily, giving Cain a pat on the shoulder. "No Maverick disturbances reported…Sigma or otherwise. The world seems to be doing fine for itself for a change."
Cain nodded slowly.
"All right then." He looked at X, a warm smile coming to his face. "X, these sort of days are the ones I live for."
"That's good to know, doc. How are you doing?"
"As good as I'm going to get, X." Cain said, a wry grin on his face.
"Hey, hey now." Bastion chided from his far corner as he ran over the latest training status reports. "Let's not get into that, doc. You're alive, and that's what's important."
"So it is, so it is…" Cain mused, an edge of sadness sinking into his voice.
So many things he wanted to tell them all…things covered in his will, of course, but…
X is a different matter. Cain looked about the room for a moment, then motioned to the door.
"X, could you go ask Hazil if he's got some of my spinach artichoke dip stashed away in his minifridge?"
"Aaw, doc, that'll take forever!" X protested lightly.
"Please, X?" Cain asked again, his eyes wide and his grin obvious. X sighed.
"Yeah, I suppose so." The Blue Bomber of 21XX finally left his side, wandering off to points unknown in search of the fabled snack food of the reploid race's creator.
Cain sighed for a moment longer, then turned back to the flatscreen at his chair.
Now, more than ever I must do this. For myself, and for him.
Cain brought up his E-Mail program and deliberately typed in the address…then began on the painstaking message, exact in its nature and message, yet wild in its form.
And ten minutes later, he finished it…and punched 'SEND'.
X arrived back only seconds later, spinach artichoke dip in hand along with a platter of crackers.
"No, Hazil didn't have any…I made the cafeteria's replicators spout up a batch for ya." Cain grimaced slightly.
"Replicated dip…Oh, well, it's the effort that counts." He accepted the foodstuffs from X and smiled at the prototype. "Thank you, X."
"You're welcome." X said calmly. "Just stick around a bit longer, all right?"
"X, the day I die will be the day fate has decided I can do no more." Cain said reassuringly. "I am still alive."
But if that day does come…I have made all preparations…
Cain's smile faded away as he chewed on his food, once more lost in the sea of thoughts that he could barely keep focused through his pain.
When I leave…I leave matters in your hands…
X…
Zero…
It is the two of you who must lead the Hunters after I am gone. But I know you can…
I know it now.
The guard at the 27th AmeriCanadian Armory Depot was more than bored, she was downright aloof. Things were quiet, out here on the fringe environment of Montana's open landscape. Even in 2131, it remained vastly unpopulated, having kept its ranching mystique. Which made for a boring job, no question about it.
"Unbelievable." She muttered, glancing down at her nametag (A piece of plastic melded against a paper printout with a photo ID and the name 'Ervy') which lay discarded beside her magpistol firearm. It had never been fired outside the practice range, something that left her aggravated.
Oh, sure, there were countless others who would LOVE having this fringe job…just living out in the middle of nowhere, based at an armory where countless 'Mechs and transport envoys, along with their various small arms weaponry were based.
Ervy turned back to the electronic screens, tapping on them for a moment in aggravation. She'd been created as another one of the Alliance's all purpose reploids, whose attributes were developed on their own, and who were then shuffled off into active duty, bookkeeping, tactics, or wherever they shone. Ervy was highly skilled as a warrior…if she had not been born into the contract with the AmeriCanadian Alliance that forced her to work for them for another 3 years, she'd already be with the Maverick Hunters. She despised the Mavericks, for what they did that gave all reploids their image of suspicion.
And somehow, the bureaucracy of it all had decided that such a firebrand as herself, with blazing red armor and short white hair she did not keep hidden by a helmet was best suited not for the frontlines, where she could put her close range combat abilities, which bordered on 'feral' according to the initial reports, but rather as a security guard. Thus, why she was here and not ending the life of some miserable ruffian somewhere else.
Her hand instinctively dropped down to the metallic cylinder with its flip switch and rounded pommel. Her beam saber, basic enough in design and used all too frequently these days. She had actually made the adjustments to it herself…changing the blade's tint from the pathetic pink to a deep blood red.
"Erzy, the security guard." She muttered. "Just feckin' perfect."
About the only struggle she saw in her position was the never-ending battle with the countless piles of paperwork, filed in triplicate in accordance with the mucked up way that the Alliance ran its military and government. And the occasional slugout with some of the males on this base because of their ignoble habit of coming onto her and mispronouncing her name 'Easy', reploid only of course. There were also humans on this base who pulled the same crap…but she couldn't dispose of their interests as forcefully as her own race's. Firm shouts and nos, and her ability to run and file harassment reports.
So things had been worse. But they were far from perfect. "And things are boring." She said, glancing away from the various closed circuit camera monitors.
That was, at least until things got interesting.
A strangely shaped projectile explosive made its presence known by a loud snap and roar of its miniature engine. Erzy's head swiveled about in surprise as she found herself gazing out to the road that led towards civilization some countless miles away. There was a group of figures on that road…none of whom looked to be part of the military.
And one of them stood in front of all the rest, a strange beetle-like creature with what appeared to be a highly advanced explosives launcher clutched in his hands.
And the projectile was inbound…FAST.
"Oh, SHIT!!!" Erzy stammered, dashing out the back door…but not before clasping a hand around her maglev pistol as she threw herself free.
The explosive shot broke through the transparisteel window and caused the lightly designed guardhouse structure to explode in a mess of cement, metal, and processed materials. Erzy winced against the shards of what had been her 'office' threw themselves against her. Thankfully, the armor did a fantastic job of allowing nothing but minor scratches to develop on her exposed neck.
Stunned, Erzy clambered to a low crouching position and hid behind the remains of the guardhouse. Another shot came echoing by, destroying the main gate to the armory.
"My God…" She whispered, her eyes going wide at the sight. The things approaching at a somewhat lackluster pace were far from human, and thus were reploids.
"MAVERICKS…"
Burst Scarab lowered the exterior bazooka and snorted.
"Well, that solves the problem of how to get in." He turned to Kazok. "Still, you sure it was the right thing to do just blowing our way in?" Kazok offered the narrowest of smiles, more like a curling sneer of victory as he brushed back his short hair.
"Oh, trust me, it was." He motioned forward and they all charged towards the gates. Using his comm system, Kazok continued to talk to all of them. "This is a weapons depot for the AmeriCanadian Alliance. Being this far out, they don't have much in the way of security or defense. We'll be in and out within minutes…long before any Maverick Hunters can show up."
"I get it." Dash Blade hissed excitedly. "Maximum shock value, and we get some goodies to boot."
"Like raiding the candy store." Kazok affirmed, grinning at the metaphor from his ally. He turned to Cumulus Bull. "Hey stormy, could you give us some cover fire?"
The massive bull Maverick snorted hot air from his snout and voiced an affirmative, a slight halo charging about his horns as they focused energy.
That energy was beamed high up into the air, and the wispy clouds above. Shrinking into an electrical disturbance, it unbalanced the charges…In a manner that Cumulus Bull could control where the inevitable lightning bolts from the heavens above would go by his whims.
Cumulus Bull opted to fry what little of the main gate Burst Scarab hadn't already neutralized.
Kazok stared around him as they charged on, a sense of pride flowing through him. They were all his Mavericks…this was his team.
Cumulus ran, and Dolph Reach used a rather bizarre utilization of dash thrusters and hopping. Shell Butane had tucked himself away into his protective barrier, and was rolling along the ground like some sort of wheel. Strangely enough, it allowed him a great deal of speed. Burst Scarab was of course, in the air, using the wings he'd been given to push himself along. After their initial test runs, the Maverick had improved the RPM rate of his wing motors, upping his speed substantially.
Dash Blade ran like the cat she had been designed as, her claws sheathed as her pawlike hands slammed time and time again against the roadways. And Kazok Gravor himself was using his gravicrystals, pushing himself forward by relying on the crystal's ability of suspension.
"Oh, this is so going to work…" He chuckled darkly. Shifting his right arm into a Buster, he pointed it at the Armory. "CHAARGE!!"
Well, Erzy girl, you always wanted to show those damned Mavericks what you thought of them…And now's your friggin' chance!!
"Get up…" She hissed to herself, the angered part of her mind seeking to force her unwilling and frightened body into action.
Those damned position finders…Said I'd be a better security guard…LIKE HELL!!
She accessed her comm, tapping into the emergency frequency.
"This is Erzy at guardpost 01!!" She said firmly. "We have hostiles inbound, looks to be Mavericks. I repeat, we have MAVERICKS INBOUND."
"Erzy, this is control. You pulling one over on us??" Came the joking reply of the operator on call…what was the stupid ass's name, Floyd??
"GODDAMNIT, TURN YOUR CAMERAS ON THE MAIN GATE!!" The voice on the other end of the line sighed.
"Erzy, this is so gonna cost you in…" The voice stopped in midsentence.
"What do you see…" Erzy hissed.
"Ma…Mav…"
"Mavericks, you dumb shit. Now sound the alarm, grab your gun and HAUL ASS. We're being attacked, and do you know what we do when we're attacked??"
"Oh My God…"
"WE FIGHT BACK!!" Erzy screamed, clicking her comm off. She could crush one of those Maverick's skulls in right now, she was so angry…
And they were approaching. She was in no way armed to deal with the sucker that was flying in the air with an insectlike droning sound, and that big rolling thing and the bull and the dolphin like dude, forget it…All she had was a measly magpistol and her red beam saber. No, she would best be left to narrow the odds by ONE Maverick, and leave the rest of this defunct base to handle the remaining threat. Sure, there were robotic sentries along with the regular troops on base that they'd send out…but were the rest of the Alliance's 'rent-a-cops' really ready for this sort of overwhelming challenge??
Erzy didn't have the heart to believe so. So her options for attack were left to the other two...
The human-class reploid like herself, who was hovering in the air with a strange array of diamond black gems arranged about him, and that feraloid who was making long strides…
She drew her magpistol to bear and squeezed off three shots…her target had been picked.
Dash Blade wasn't expecting any sort of limited attack…if anything, she, like the rest of the Mavericks was on the lookout for some sort of big anti-aircraft cannon swerved groundwards to obliterate them in one sweep.
But when those three depleted slugs, their velocity dramatically increased by the electromagnetic forces of the magpistol, burrowed their way into her left arm, shoulder, and sliced a chunk off of her ear, she definitely found another threat…
Rearing back with an loud yowl of pain, she brought her other arm to bear and snapped out her plasma claws, feeling their seething power come to life.
"DAMNIT!!" She hissed. Kazok was on his guard now as well, but his concern lay in the feraloid.
"Dash, you all right?" Kazok demanded worriedly. The feraloid's eyes were glaring murder as she stared across the horizon of the base.
"I'll be fine…" She said through clenched teeth…That had been MAGPISTOL rounds she'd been hit with. Not nearly as bad as a plasma cannon, but those damned slugs hurt…and they remained after the shot, unlike the supercharged gas. Her left arm mobility had been partially degraded, and her shoulder was aching…
Whoever had fired had been good. Really good.
"I SEE 'EM!" Burst Scarab called over the comm from above. He launched an explosive in the air behind him, causing the flare to explode over the position of the attack.
Wincing from the bright light, Erzy finally stumbled into plain view. Kazok's eyes went dark.
"A security guard…Burst, you missed her."
"Sorry, boss." The beetle Maverick mumbled ashamedly. "Want me to take care of her now?"
"NO." Dash Blade snapped tersely. The other voices on the comm went silent. "She's mine…" Dash said through her gritted teeth, a gentle wheezing now in place.
"But your wounds…"
"Minor. But I'm not going to let that little BITCH get away with having the opening shot." The Feraloid snapped. "Besides, we don't have time for this one…You all go on ahead and finish the mission. This is my vendetta now."
"But…" Dolph began.
"Quiet, Dolph." Kazok interrupted firmly, staring back at his comrade who was now more enraged that wounded. The wind picked up, brushing his short hair away from his face. "If Dash says she'll take care of it, she will. And she's right. There's a mission to finish up here."
"Right, boss." Dolph replied mutedly. Kazok shut off his comm as the four other Mavericks charged on ahead, then turned to Dash Blade.
"Are you absolutely sure you can handle this?" He asked quietly. The female feraloid stared him back in the face, baring her fangs.
"Trust me on this, Kazok. I'm not going to let some Hunter wannabe get the best of me." Kazok hesitated for a while longer, wanting to say more, but something holding him back.
In the end, he opted for silence. He shrugged his shoulders and flew on ahead, opening up his comm channel so that all the Mavericks could hear.
"Give 'er Hell, Blade. Give 'er Hell."
Erzy watched in despair as four of the Mavericks kept on charging through, giving her the barest of glances of scorn before plowing ahead. The one with the crystals surrounding his floating body flew by as well, too fast for her to track with the magpistol.
But the feraloid didn't run. Erzy watched with anticipation and fear and rage all the same as her opponent took slow deliberate steps.
Their eyes met when they stood at ten meters apart. The feraloid raised her angry right hand, a blistering triad of plasma claws prominent across the paw.
"You'll pay for that, you drone." The Maverick growled. Erzy stared back with all the ice she could muster, then threw her magpistol aside…it would be of no use here now.
With an exacting tempo, her hand crawled down to her hip and brought the silvery cylinder forth. Her thumb triggered the switch, and its blood red blade snapped forth. It stood out straight and true, even curved and shaped to resemble more of a training sword than a real one. But its power was no less deadly, and that was what she needed.
"You Mavericks just don't quit, do you?" Erzy said, baring her teeth. "And you never learn…no matter what you do, you'll always lose."
"Always could be tomorrow, or it could be years from now." Dash Blade echoed back, baring her teeth and snapping her left hand's plasma claws on. She moved her body to a low crouch, like a tiger who circled its prey before leaping in. "Who's to say when that loss will occur?"
"My superiors never thought I was good enough to be a frontline warrior…Stuck me back here with guard duty at Club Fed. I never thought I'd get my chance to eviscerate one of your bastard coalition…" Erzy's face twisted up into a smirk. "Fate has an odd way of shining sun out its ass. I'll enjoy ripping you apart, you whore."
And that final retort was all that Dash Blade needed to whip into an enraged frenzy…
The fight between the two females who sought to prove themselves began.
And the assault on the Armory continued.
The resistance inside the armory was weak…some of the reploid troops had Busters, but for the most part the resistance put up was only found in magpistols and magrifles…Nothing too serious, especially for a group of all too capable Mavericks.
The adjoining hallway was filled with crossfire, the Mavericks ducking behind the stockily built information desk as the oncoming Alliance suppression forces made their march from the interior.
"Aah, no good…Dolph, gimme a hand!" Kazok grumbled. The dolphin Maverick chittered amusedly from his long toothy snout.
"I'll give you a pair, boss." The Maverick slapped his hands together, an aura of energy slowly activating around them.
Four feet in front of them, on the opposite side of the mag-round riddled information desk, a pair of large blue energy hands appeared out of nowhere, focused energy contained by highly advanced electromagnetic fields that could make the hands solid as stone or narrowed enough so that matter could pass through…only to be disintegrated by what was inside of the field.
"What the devil!!" Came a surprised voice on the other side. Kazok harrumphed.
"Figures. Humans. They send humans to face us. Go solid, Dolph and knock 'em out of the way. You might as well save power for later."
"Righto then." Dolph said quickly, holding his hands out flat and pushing them forward in a sudden jerk. The energy hands under his control flew straight ahead, slamming into the attacking bunch and knocking them senseless, crunching them against the wall.
Dolph lifted his head up over the desk's edge and stared at the room…most of the humans who had gone against them were now crumpled against the wall, grasping at their chest. He motioned to the others.
"It's safe…think I cracked a whole lotta ribs."
"Perfect." Shell Butane muttered, picking himself up. He was the only one of the five who wasn't able to crouch behind the oversized desk…of course, considering his bulk, it would have been impossible.
A Magpistol round echoed off of Shell Butane's armored backside, bringing their attention to a barely standing trooper in the middle of the room. Unlike the others, his breathing was ragged but steady…and the torn skin by his wounds showed all too clearly that the brown haired individual wasn't human, but reploid.
"Slag 'im." Kazok ordered quickly. Burst Scarab wasted no time in firing off a round, which careened towards their last foe and exploded in a shower of plasmic fire. The subsequent explosion from his Microfusion Tank broiled a good area of the room, and the Mavericks scrambled back under cover as a much larger explosion than Scarab had planned for washed overhead.
They stood back up a few seconds later, all disgruntled.
"Shit, I wasn't trying to make him go BOOM!" Burst muttered disgustedly.
"THEN WHY THE FECK DID YOU LAUNCH A MISSILE AT HIM?!!" Kazok demanded.
Silence was their only reply, aside from the unending klaxon wails and the flickering red lights in the hallways.
Kazok sighed, then reached a hand down and picked up the reploid's charred magpistol…the hand thankfully, hadn't come along with it.
The sight of all this destruction was a little unsettling at first…but Kazok hardened himself to it. As Mavericks, they had a job to do. Wartime willies couldn't be allowed to stand in the way.
"Well, does anyone know where to go next?" Apparently, none of them did, and stood around scratching their heads for a few seconds. Dolph reach was the most humorous example, as with his normal hands he rubbed his snout…and his plasmic hands imitated the gesture four feet above his head. Kazok rolled his eyes at Dolph, who finally caught on and shut off his weapons system.
"Uhh…What does 'You Are Here' mean??" Cumulus Bull said with a little confusion in his voice. Kazok turned to his comrade.
"Say what?" Cumulus Bull held up a piece of plastic from other shattered shards in the rubble of the explosion. Sure enough, there was a little red dot stuck onto it with an arrow and the words 'You Are Here' marked clearly.
Kazok slapped himself in the face.
"That's a part of a MAP, stormy." Cumulus Bull thought on it for a moment, then set it back down in place and stared thoughtfully at the whole mess, which did indeed form a route map of the entire armory complex.
He turned and pointed down the hallway.
"We go that way, make the first left, and then hang a right." Kazok clapped his hands together.
"That's lovely to know. God, these bureaucrats are dumb, leaving maps of their entire facilities like it was some sorta Goddamn Mall… Now let's get going before anything ELSE happens." The Mavericks voiced an affirmative, and the wild pack of five charged on.
The battle between Erzy of the Alliance and Dash Blade, the Maverick who had once been Felicity Prowl of URFAWP, was fierce and unpredictable.
Every swipe of her blood-red saber that Erzy offered was quickly blocked by one of Dash's saber claws, and each time, the Maverick extended her other fist out, threatening to gash Erzy's armor into useless scraps.
Every charge Dash Blade made towards her opponent with claws raised and ready to defend or attack was blunted by sheer will, the deadly beam saber in her opponent's hand, or a swift kick to the ribs. Neither one was willing to give in, neither was making headway. For all purposes, a stalemate…
Until something snapped within Dash's mind. Her eyes flickered with their bright intensity, and she offered a snarl that bared her sharpened teeth to her opponent.
Erzy drew her blade in closer and snarled back, sharpening her stance.
Dash Blade made another full powered dash at her foe, but as she drew nearer, her plasma claws shut off.
The sudden change in circumstances caught Erzy off guard, and caused her to back up a step…
Dash Blade made a frontwards somersault towards her opponent, another unpredictable move. Confused, Erzy readied her beam saber and waited.
Suddenly, a new pair of claws shot out from Dash's right hand, swinging down towards Erzy. Reacting instinctively, the female humanoid class reploid brought her beam saber up to bear to deflect the swipe…
But the impact was different. It wasn't plasma field against plasma field, it was a stronger resistance that slowed Erzy's swing.
Just enough that Dash Blade was able to finish her flip and plant both soles of her feet solidly against her opponent's chest armor.
It would have been a simple enough kick, had the Maverick feraloid not added in the powerful blast of flames from her dash thrusters at maximum power. That overpowering force was all that was needed to send the determined, but inexperienced Erzy sprawling backwards into the ground with two charred and smoking sections of melted armor now pronounced where Dash's feet had been.
"YOU ARE WEAAAAK!!!!" Dash screamed as she dropped back to the ground from her thrustoff and hurled herself towards her foe.
Erzy looked through pained glassy eyes, watching in horror and abject fear as her Maverick enemy came closer and closer…
Everything seemed to happen so fast after that, both thrusting their dangerous daggers of plasma towards one another.
A pair of shouts…And it was all over.
Erzy's grip on her beam saber went weak…her thumb went off of the trigger and the red hued blade died away, extinguished and never again to be used by her hands…Failing to do more than shudder and echo out pained gasping pants, her eyes began to blur out of focus. But she had partially succeeded…a large gaping hole formed by her blade had been bored clean through Dash Blade's lower stomach, missing the Microfusion Tank but still an all too painful wound…
Her own damage was more…
"Fool…" Dash Blade hissed, her free hand now clutching at the wound that passed clean through her armor and body alike. "You thought you had what it took to stand up against Mavericks…" Dash Blade twisted her plasma claws about inside of Erzy's abdomen, prompting a pained ear shattering yawp and a shudder before Erzy went still again.
"You would have been better off just not getting in our way at all…" Dash continued, her voice now growing ragged by the damage sustained. She retracted her plasma claws and snapped out her TitaniTefloAlloy ones again, skewering Erzy clean through and lifting her limp and broken body off of the ground.
Dash raised Erzy until the two were staring into each other's eyes, the corners of Erzy's mouth quivering as her body realized it couldn't deal with all the damage…and began an auto shutdown sequence that denied her even the benefits of stasis.
"And now…YOU…ARE…"
Erzy's flickering watery optics went dull and her entire body slipped into death just before a wounded, but still alive Dash Blade finished her sentence. "GONE."
Severe damage to lower chest. Seek immediate repair. Auto-stasis imminent in…
"Message off." Dash said wearily. It chirped in reply, and then was no more. She retracted her plasma deflective claws, letting the now empty shell of Erzy, the outpost's lone security guard collapse to the ground like so much disposed garbage.
That final wound had proven to be too much for her…
Weakly, Dash Blade began to stumble towards the interior of the fence about the Armory.
Her own optics now began to glaze over, as power was conserved and transferred to the areas of core importance. Her mobility began to go next shortly afterwards, allowing her only the most sluggish of dragging that nearly caused her to collapse.
Countless beams of warp signatures shot out from the building some distance off…and then Dash was aware of only a big blur, which was the building…
And a smaller blur, coming away from the building and towards her at maximum speed.
Secondary systems now offline.
Dash Blade collapsed to the ground, a victim to her own body's self-defense measures.
Her hearing was sluggish as well…it was a male voice, a worried one that was shouting at her, but it came through like she was underwater.
"W…Wooo…nnnn…" Dash said with the final reserves of extra power.
Auto-stasis in one second.
Dash Blade went limp in Kazok's arms.
"DASH!!!" He screamed at her. He shook her. "DAAASH!!!" But no response…
Still, she was breathing…
Kazok blinked his eyes shut against his anguished tears.
She was alive, at least…
He stared up at the sky, holding her motionless body close to him. His gravicrystals responded, drawing in and latching to their feeding power nodes about his belt.
And then he too, was gone…The Maverick's first great strike after more than 2 weeks was done, and was a success…save for one injury Kazok could not forgive himself for.
Cain stared up at the report in disbelief…And it hadn't come straight from the GDC like it should…but from a global news corporation who had eyes almost everywhere.
"Just twenty minutes ago, the 27th AmeriCanadian Alliance Armory Depot, based in the open spaces of Montana was attacked by what is being described as 'Mavericks'. There were six of them, according to the reports filing in, a humanoid class, a large turtle of sorts, a dolphin-like reploid, a bull, and a beetle…The sixth Maverick never entered the Depot, seeing fit to do battle with a lone reploid security guard on the outside perimeter…"
"Oh my God…" Cain wheezed, his heart beginning to speed up. SIX…not eight, and not widespread across some vast area, each controlling their own little section…
But six, all sent at once, acting at once, with no warning and no mercy…
"Sigma's gotten a new bee in his bonnet…" X hissed angrily. Cain's forehead began to throb painfully, and he put a hand up to it as he spoke up again.
"He's got a new tactic…this is completely new…"
"…They finished whatever their purpose was and left…our sources indicate they made off with several various 'Mechs of different classes, as well as some Landchasers and "other small arms weaponry and ammunition." It looks to be a hit and run mission, something that the Mavericks, who are presumed at the moment to be working for Sigma who made his reappearance almost three weeks ago in his broadcast that stunned the world…"
"Shut it off!" X demanded. The transmission operator at the station responded immediately, flipping the screen to its usual MHHQ insignia.
Cain slumped back in his chair, his head's pounding now growing worse and worse as it all dawned on him once more.
He still keeps coming…No matter what we do to him, Sigma keeps coming…
My creation…
My…Son…
The reploids…their faults, the things I didn't understand about Light's schematics…
Grief washed over Cain anew as he once more dug up the never-ending argument inside his head…
That because of him, all this had happened…That because of his rush, because of his desire to make others like X…
My fault…All my fault…
The world had more people, and yes it had its good moments…
But were those brief moments of joy worth all the ruined lives, all the anguish and pain this planet now trembled from…
It was his own guilt, his own poisonous self-inflicted grief and torture that did James Cain in…
His eyes rolled up into the back of his head, and his head collapsed forward into his lap.
And that was the first indication anyone got that something was amiss with their benevolent leader.
X was at his side immediately…
"Cain!" X said quickly, shaking the doctor's shoulder. No response…
"CAIN!!" X called again. Everyone in the room was silent now, looking at the Commander of the 17th, and the overall Commander with apprehension and silent dread.
X finally looked up to no one in particular, his eyes hollow, his voice subdued.
"He's…dead…"
And the room was silent for many seconds after that.
Because no one could believe it.