Mega Man X: The Beast Within
Summary: My very first Mega Man X fic. An ancient reploid is uncovered on a dig site. When the Maverick forces find out, chaos ensues. But who, or what, is the enigmatic warrior in black combat armor?
Disclaimer: I do not own Mega Man X. I think Capcom does. I'm just fiddling around with the setting and the characters. Don't sue!
The year is 21XX. Humankind has developed a new, artificial race known as 'Reploids', beings like robots but with the ability to feel human emotions and to make their own decisions with their advanced AI. They live alongside humans as more or less equal beings. They go to work, pay taxes, live and die, love and hate, mourn and joy just like humans. However, with Reploids, a new threat to the survival of humanity has been created. The Mavericks.
With the ability to make independent decisions comes the ability to kill. Mavericks are Reploids who have decided that humans are a threat to the Reploid race, and must be eliminated. Some Reploids have 'gone maverick' because of glitches in their physical and emotional makeup. Some have simply come to the conclusion that humans must be destroyed because of bad treatment from humans. And some.. some have been infected with the Maverick Virus, a nanotech computer virus designed to turn normal Reploids into bloodthirsty berserker Mavericks.
After some first incidents with the Mavericks, humanity created a defensive unit against the Mavericks. The Maverick Hunters, brave humans and Reploids who opposed the Mavericks. They functioned like a police force dedicated to fight against the Maverick Hordes.
The first elite unit of the Hunters was lead by the Reploid Sigma, an elite warrior designed solely for combat. His unit, the First Unit or Unit #01, consisted of Sigma, an enigmatic Reploid warrior called Vile and eight Reploid commanders designed after various animals, including Frost Penguin, Storm Eagle, Spark Mandrill, Armored Armadillo, Launch Octopus, Flame Mammoth, Sting Chameleon and Boomer Kuwanger. With the Hunters lead by Sigma, some kind of peace returned to the world. The Mavericks subsided and things looked well for humanity.
- Then, something dreadful happened. Sigma was infected with the Maverick Virus. The virus spread through his systems and mutated, turning into the dreaded Sigma Virus, an even more powerful, sentient version of the Maverick Virus. Sigma became one with the Virus. The infection spread to the other warriors of the unit #01, turning the elite defenders of humanity against us. In one swift strike the MHHQ, or the Maverick Hunter Headquarters, was nearly obliterated. Only a handful of Hunters survived. Sigma and the Maverick Commanders were given almost free hands.
Then, two lone warriors rose from the smoldering ashes. Zero, the enigmatic crimson-armored reploid warrior, leader of the Elite Unit #00, and X. X, a noble reploid in azure blue armor. A pacifistic Reploid who was discovered by Doctor Cain in an archaeological dig. X, or Mega Man X, had been built by Doctor Light in 200X, thirty years before. Cain had discovered him, sleeping in a capsule in suspended animation, examined his systems and based off the first Reploids off X's design. X was the first reploid ever built, the 'father' of all reploids.
Before the 'Maverick Uprising', as the catastrophe was called, X had never fought, having chosen to live a peaceful life. However, in the Uprising, X had lost several dear friends, seen too much death to let things roll on on their own. Endowed with the ability to 'scan' and acquire the weapon of a destroyed Maverick Commander, X fought alongside Zero against the onslaught. Only with the dormant upgrade capsules built by Doctor Light was X able to defeat the Commanders, Vile and finally Sigma.
Now the world has faced five Maverick Incursions, or Uprisings, X and Zero being the two elite Hunters leading the reformed Maverick Hunters. Here and now our story begins to unfold.. The Realm Walker gives you:
Mega Man X: The Beast Within
(--*--) Chapter One (--*--)
A/N: That was probably the best piece of beginning I've ever written. God-flippin'-damn, where'd that come from?
*--*--*
Breennnnnggg!
X turned on his side in his bed, trying to ignore the noisy alarm clock.
Breennnnnggg! "Damnit, X, wake up already! It's eleven a'clock!"
X darted suddenly completely awake. What he had thought to be the alarm clock had been his internal commlink. And at the other end of the link..
"Morning, sunshine. Get your blue ass out of the bed before I come and personally drag you out here. Cain wants to see us in briefing room 1, thirty minutes. Am I clear, or do I have to poke you with my saber?"
Zero. The blonde, feisty warrior some called the 'Crimson Devil'. A good friend of X, they had had to rely on each other in more then once. X was ready to count his life on Zero. Zero was a good, reliable warrior with a great sense of humor and a notoriously short temper. More then once Zero had used his Z-sabre, a kind of a lime-green beam sword, to get his point across.
X sighed deeply and opened the link. "OK, OK, I'm awake. Put the saber down, I'm coming. Any idea what Cain wants from us?"
"Whatever it is, it's hot. Cain said to come in your full combat gear. Better hurry, X- twenty-eight minutes left. Ciao. Zero out."
X sighed once more and got up. His hair was, as always, a short, black mess of permanent 'helmet hair'. A pair of tired, emerald green eyes looked back from his mirror. Couple that with his height of roughly 170 centimeters and he looked like a kid in his teens. Sometimes it was hard to believe that he was the commander of the Maverick Hunter Elite Unit #07.
Full combat gear? I wonder what's going on. Armor on-line.
X's T-shirt and shorts were suddenly replaced with a suit of Titanium-X body armor. Most of the plates were deep azure blue. Around the joints there were some parts where the metal was colored more like cerulean. His helmet had a crimson red triangular gem right in the middle of the forehead. The helmet did not cover his face- it reached far enough to cover his cheeks, but it left his face entirely visible.
Energy levels 100%. All systems green. I wonder what Cain's up to..
(--¤¤--) *** (--¤¤--)
Twenty-two minutes later X stood at the doors to the MHHQ briefing room 1. Zero was waiting for him there, leaning on the wall while tossing his unignited saber handle up in the air and catching it again. Zero was dressed in his full combat armor, colored mostly red with white details, a blue gem in his helmet and two green orbs set into his chest plate. A cascade of a blonde ponytail flowed from the back of his helmet, hanging behind his back like a cloak.
"Morning, X. Cain should be here any minute.."
X stifled a persistent yawn. "Morning, Zero. What's this all about?"
Zero caught his saber once more and set it in its holder on his shoulder. "No idea. Cain was going on about something in the new energen mines.. Not Mavericks this time, anyway."
"If it's not Mavericks, then what?"
"I know just as much as you do, X. Wait up.. Wassup, Doc?"
(--¤¤--) *** (--¤¤--)- "Good morning, gentlemen. One hour ago we received a message from the northern energen mines. During a routine survey they detected an energy signature we have never seen before. I want you two to go check it out."
X was the first to speak. "Um, why us? We're Hunters, not archaeologists or miners."
Cain sighed. "We have never picked up a signature like this before. You are best prepared for anything. Besides, it appears that the Mavericks have also found out of the signature- several unknown transports have been sighted in the area. Things could get ugly fast, X."
Before X could reply Zero chimed in. "You want us to go there, kick Maverick ass and see what the signature is about? Why not. I don't have anything better to do, anyways. When do we go?"
"Now. Alia will brief you en-route. Use your landchasers."
(--¤¤--) *** (--¤¤--)"God-damn, it's dark in here. Which way do we go?" It was dark in the deep caves of the mines. The only lights visible came from the gems X and Zero had in their helmets. "Alia? You read me? Which way?"
A bright female voice chimed over the commlink. "Alia here. I read you. Head due north until you reach an intersection. Turn left there. Careful- those walls don't look too stable."
As if on cue a small piece of stone fell from the ceiling and bounced off X's helmet. "You tell me. Wait up.. I'm picking up a high-intensity energy signal coming from northeast. Looks like some kind of a beacon.. Patching it through to you. See if you can translate it, Alia."
An impressed whistle was heard over the commlink. "Wow.. this is heavily encrypted data. It looks like it's a roughly ten-second message repeating over and over, with what looks like telemetry data on the background. It's a homing beacon, alright."
"Can you decrypt it?"
A moment's pause. "Negative on that. Whatever code this uses, it's nothing I've seen before. You are getting close- turn left there."
The tunnel X and Zero were in forked off in three different directions. The Hunters turned left- and met with a dead end. "There's nothing here, Alia" X spoke into the link. "Absolutely nothing. Just a pile of stupid rocks.." Just then Zero's helmet light reflected off something in the pile at the end of the tunnel. Something that shone blue. "We found something. It's buried in the rubble. We'll try and clear it out."
When X reached out a hand to clean off the rubble, the pile of stones suddenly collapsed, issuing a burst of blinding dust. When the dust cleared..
"Holy cr.. Alia, are you getting this? What is that thing?"
- Suspended about thirty centimeters above the tunnel floor there floated a large, blue hexagonal crystal, about three meters high and one meter broad. The crystal shimmered and glowed with its own, dim light, rotating slowly. And inside the crystal, floating within and unaffected by the rotational movement of the crystal.. an armored figure in a standing position.
The figure seemed at first impression like a mechanical warrior straight from combat. It was humanshaped, covered in a suit of bulky-looking black armor. The arms were as thick as X's thighs and the legs were even stronger. The hands of the warrior were clenched in fists, seemingly large enough to crush the head of a human. Long thorns protruded from the knuckles. The suit was mainly black with coppery red details. Long, copper-colored spikes seemed to adorn almost every part of the armor- the chest plate had four rows of long spikes, the largest right in the center of the chest pointing fifteen centimeters straight forward. The shoulder pads had a complex array of hornlike thorns pointing outwards. Even the feet- which were oddly disc-shaped and split so that they looked like large hooves- had some spikes set into them.
The helmet was almost entirely black with two vertical coppery stripes in the sides of the head. The lower half of the face seemed to bulge forward as if to accommodate a hidden breathing mask of some kind. The eyes were two narrow, slitlike openings covered with darkened lenses. Right in the center of the forehead there was a dark red triangular gem with five oddly bladelike coppery appendages pointing radially outwards. The lowest two were just above the eyes, pointing directly to the sides. One pointed straight upwards. The remaining two pointed diagonally up and to the sides, causing the helmet to almost look like a crown of some kind. Three short spikes protruded from the helmet where the mouth should have been.
All in all the figure seemed outright intimidating, with its immense black bulk and thorns colored like dipped in blood.
Stupefied silence was heard from the commlink. "Incredible.. I've never seen anything like that. No matches in profile database- it's not based on any designs we know of. Amazing.."
"Whatever it is, it's obviously designed to fight." Zero said. "Take a look at those gauntlets- I've never seen anything like that, but those look like weapons of some kind."
X zoomed in with his optic sensors. Zero was right- the gauntlets of the armored warrior had both an array of equipment on the top, with ring-shaped discharge ports. They were clearly weapons of some type.
"Scanning target.." Zero said. "Now that's odd. That crystal is playing hell with my sensors- it reflects back everything I try to scan it with."
X reached out slowly and touched the surface of the crystal carefully. The crystal felt oddly warm and hard, but still it gave slightly when X applied pressure to it. A white ripple effect coursed through the surface where his fingers came in contact with the crystal.
"I don't think this is solid matter- it feels more like some kind of a force field. Maybe.."
Alia's voice sounded again over the commlink- but this time she sounded extremely worried. "X, I'm picking up several transports headed towards you. One of them has been identified as a Maverick transport vessel. Get out of there, now!"
- X and Zero turned immediately around and headed for the exit. "What's the ETA, Alia? Alia, do you read me? Alia?"
X's commlink suddenly howled of overload. He immediately shut down the offending system.
"Crap! Zero, they're jamming our frequency! We can't warp out!"
Zero reached behind his shoulder and pulled out his saber handle. A green blade of raw energy over a meter long surged out of the handle.
"If we can't run, we fight. Time to kick some Irregie ass.."
X nodded grimly. X-Buster online.
X's right hand, covered in a white glove, suddenly seemed to disappear off his arm. The stump of his wrist changed shape and became the barrel of a high-powered plasma Buster. Here we go again..
- The first thing X saw when they reached the exit of the caves was twelve high-powered plasma rifles pointing towards him and Zero. The rifles were held by twelve tough-looking humanoid Maverick soldiers. Bot it was not the soldiers, nor the firepower they carried, that startled X. It was the large figure behind the troopers. A three-meter tall piece of armor and weaponry, a large humanoid ride-armor- basically a tank on two legs. And in the cockpit on the top of the mech..
A short figure in red and black armor, a large cannon set on his shoulder. The helmet of the figure had a narrow T-shaped slit for a visor. X could recognize that figure anywhere. That figure sometimes haunted him in his dreams. He stammered back and stifled a gasp.
"Vile?!" (--¤¤--) *** (--¤¤--)Stasis mode disengaged. Systems powering up.
Running Power-up Self Tests- Self Diagnostic level Alpha
Scanning system…
…
…
Self Diagnostic level Alpha complete. Results:
Internal Systems:
Power:
Primary Pulse Fusion Reactor: Containment Failure- Offline
Secondary Power Cell: 12.3 % Max. Capacity
Tertiary Power Source: Non Applicable
Shield:
Primary Shield Generator: Power Failure- Disabled
Thermal Shielding: Malfunction
Shield Adjuster Systems: Power Failure- Disabled
Stasis Shield: Disabled
Cloaking Shield: Malfunction
Life Support:
Primary Life Support System: 95 % functional
Internal Medkit:
Stim Pack: 50% Max. Capacity
Pain Killer: 23 % Max. Capacity
Buffout: 3 % Max. Capacity
Sensor Systems:
Audial Sensors: 79 % functional
Visual Sensors: 92 % functional
X-Ray Imaging: Malfunction
Thermal Imaging: Power Failure- Disabled
Long-Range Scanner: 15 % functional- Disabled
Communications Systems: Malfunction
External Systems:
Armor Integrity 76 %
Limbic Systems:
Right Arm:
Servo 89 % operational
Actuator 67 % operational
Left Arm:
Servo 100 % operational
Actuator 86 % operational
Right Leg:
Servo 67 % operational
Actuator 95% operational
Left Leg:
Servo 73 % operational
Actuator 69 % operational
Equipment:
Weaponry:
Disruptor Gauntlet, Right Arm: 96 % nominal efficiency
Disruptor Gauntlet, Left Arm: 87 % nominal efficiency
Disruptor Nova Generator: Power Failure- Disabled
Blade Burst, Right Arm: 93 % nominal efficiency- 16 ammo left
Blade Burst, Left Arm: 65 % nominal efficiency- 16 ammo left
Strike Chain, Right Arm: Malfunction
Strike Chain, Left Arm: Malfunction
Special Equipment:
Grappling Hook, Right Arm: 100% nominal efficiency
Grappling Hook, Left Arm: 96% nominal efficiency
Hovjet mk. II Thruster System: Reactor Offline- Disabled
Repair Nanodrone: 56 % Max. Capacity
Overall: 23% nominal efficiency
End Self Diagnostic, Level Alpha
…
Repair Nanodrones released. Estimated Time to Recovery: 78 hours
Warning- Remaining power sufficient to sustain operations for following 8 hours. Immediate recharge recommended.
End Startup Sequence
- Dark. Pure darkness enveloped him, surrounded him, soothed him. He felt weak and tired as if he had been in stasis for months. The only light he saw came from the texts of his HUD.
Image Enhancement- Light Amplification engaged
- In one brilliant flash of light his world turned from pitch black to venomous radioactive green. Finally he could see where he was. He was standing in some kind of a tunnel. It did not appear naturally formed- the walls were too smooth.
"Where am I?" His voice echoed in the dark tunnel, oddly distorted and lifeless. No answer came. I have to get out of here..
He studied the floor around him and saw bootprints in the sand. Two persons had come here and left in a hurry. If he would follow the prints, he would get out of the caverns.
He approached the cavern exits slowly, ready for anything.. well, as ready as he could get, with the damage done to his systems. Before he reached the exit, however, he picked up voices, coming from outside. Hiding in the shadows, he peeked out of the caves. He saw two armored figures standing back to him, the other short with azure blue armor, the other slightly taller with crimson and while armor and a long ponytail. Beyond the two warriors, twelve soldiers were pointing powerful-looking rifles at the two. And beyond the soldiers there was a mech of some kind, piloted by a figure masked with a metallic helmet. Oh, great. I'm running at 23% and I get in the middle of a fight. Just my god-flippin'-damn luck!
- He ducked for cover while trying to listen for the ongoing conversation.
"Vile!?" exclaimed the figure in blue armor. "I thought you were dead! I destroyed you twice!"
The helmed figure piloting the mech chuckled dryly. "And yet here I stand, X. You should know that I cannot be destroyed so easily. Tell me now, X, Zero, how does it feel to stare down the pits of death?"
The warrior in red armor – Zero, most likely- raised something that looked like a meter-long lime lightsaber and pointed it at Vile. "Typical for you, Vile, to hide behind your cronies! Get down from that 'bot of yours and we'll stick it up your ass!"
"I think not, Zero. I have a proposition for you two. Come and join us Mavericks, and I shall spare your life. I know the puny humans are not worth of sacrificing your lives for. If you refuse.. you will be destroyed. Sigma will enjoy seeing the heads of you two on a platter."
Puny humans?! This Vile is not human? None of them are? Who is this Sigma?
"You can take that proposition and shove it.." Zero began.
Feisty. I think I like that guy.
"Then so be it." Vile said. "Farewell, Hunters. Take aim!"
23 percent my ass! This will turn to an execution if I do nothing! Combat Mode!
Disruptor Gauntlet online. Entering Combat Mode. Scanning targets.. Targeting.. (--¤¤--) *** (--¤¤--)"Then so be it. Farewell, Hunters. Take aim!"
So, this is it, X thought. Funny how I never thought it would end like this.. What was that?
ShorrrmmmmMMM..
That's like something building a charge..
Vile looked up and behind X and Zero. "What the-"
CHREEOONNN!
The air distorted like something invisible had zoomed from between X and Zero to Vile's ride-armor. The behemoth stumbled backwards and fell heavily. The entire chest portion of the mech looked like something had taken a huge sledge to it- the entire front plate was punched in. The Maverick troopers stared horrified behind the two Hunters.
X spun swiftly around.. and saw the armored figure that had been within the floating crystal. Standing almost two meters tall, covered in thorns that looked like dipped in blood, the warrior was beyond intimidating. Pointing the weapon on its right arm towards the Mavericks, the lenses of its eyes glowing fierce blood red, the figure looked like it had arrived straight from the deepest pits of Hell.
"I am Cheran Torr, Third Knight of the Beast from the Brotherhood of the Flame, serving aboard the Allied Federation giga-cruiser Stormhammer." The voice of the apparition was dark, distorted and lifeless, sending shivers down X's spine.
"Power down your weapons and surrender, Mavericks, or prepare to be destroyed. Utterly." The warrior spoke in a smooth tone. He did not threaten- he stated the facts.
One of the Maverick troopers raised his plasma rifle and aimed it at the black warrior.
PFHRAM!
The trooper simply exploded, spraying components, circuitry and black reploid circulatory fluid everywhere. Only his boots were left intact on the ground- everything from knee upwards had been turned into little bits. A thin wisp of steam flowed out from a small exhaust port at the side of the wrist of the dark warrior.
"I have warned you once. There shall be no second warning. Power down and surrender your weapons- NOW."
The remaining eleven troopers stared at the remains of their fallen comrade- and warped out, vanishing in flashes of brilliant light. The fallen ride-armor- with Vile still in it- followed suit. X faced the black warrior again.
"I am X, Commander of the Seventh unit of the Maverick Hunters. I thank you for your assistance."
The warrior lowered his arm. The red light in his eyes flickered out and he just collapsed where he stood. It was like something had just drained out all power from him.
Zero looked at the remains of the Maverick trooper and whistled. "Wow. I have to get me a gun like that.."
"Never mind the gun, Zero- X to Alia, do you copy? Alia, you there?"
X's commlink crackled back to life. "Alia here. What happened? Are you guys all right? I lost contact to you a while ago.."
"We're file, Alia. Could you dispatch a transport to our location? There's someone here Cain needs to have a look at.."
(--¤¤--) Author's Notes (--¤¤--)Owch. That HAD to hurt. A Blade Burst tends to make a real mess at point-blank range. I wonder how Cain will react when he tries to have a look at the inner workings of our Knight.. I hope there are not any inconsistencies in this chapter- Write me if you find any errors. I'll get back to you with Chapter Two soon.
-The Realm Walker