X warped into the viewing room in a flash of dichromatic blue. Kimiko was
already there, intently examining Arnie, who looked rather uncomfortable.
Zero and Dr. Cain were amusedly watching her investigate the gray reploid.
"C'mon, Sheila, stop with th' hairy eyeball olready." Complained Arnie, fidgeting.
Kimiko blinked. "My name is Kimiko, not Sheila."
X chuckled. "You'll have to excuse Arnie there, he's got a few Australian language habits. 'Sheila' is the Australian word for 'lady'."
Kimiko nodded, still looking at Arnie. "I see." She turned to ask X what, exactly, Arnie was, when she caught sight of Zero. She froze, then slowly edged away from him.
Zero, Cain, Arnie, and X performed a unified blink.
Sidling up behind X, Kimiko peeked out at Zero from behind the New Blue Bomber.
"Ecksu-san…" She whispered, keeping her eyes on Zero at all times as she peeked over X's shoulder, half-crouched. "Who is that?"
X turned his head so he could see her out of the corner of his eye. "That's Zero. He's the other Commander of the Maverick Hunters. Why are you acting like that?"
Kimiko shook her head. "I don't know… something just tells me I should be wary of him…"
X shot Zero a look, and the Crimson Hunter shrugged in return. Zero turned to Kimiko.
"Hey, I'm not gonna hurt you. Well, not unless you get me real, real mad, or maybe start attacking me, but that's not likely to happen, is it?" The tone was almost, but not entirely joking.
Kimiko seemed to relax some at hearing Zero speak, straightening up a bit. She stayed behind X, though.
Cain chuckled. "Too bad, Zero, she's going to be wary of you in the classes now. You're not going to catch her off-guard like the normal new recruits."
Zero shook his head. "For crying out loud, here…" He shot a 'why me?' look up at the ceiling.
Kimiko winced, and stepped out from behind X. She stood, feet together, and placed her hands on the fronts of her thighs, bowing low to Zero.
"Gomen kudasai, Zero-san…. I'm sorry." She did not come up from the bow, back parallel to the floor.
Zero looked at the top of her head for a moment, then sighed. "It's alright, Kimiko." As she stood from the bow, Zero turned to Cain and X. "I've got a class to start teaching in a few minutes. If you'll excuse me…"
Zero turned and left the room, shaking his head as he walked.
Cain looked surprised for a moment, then recovered. "Ah, where were we?"
X looked over at him. "Well, we weren't anywhere, but I might as well introduce Kimiko to you."
Kimiko, still looking at the door, turned to X and Dr. Cain.
X gestured to Cain. "Kimiko, meet Dr. Cain. The man who discovered me, created reploids, and the current general of the Maverick Hunters, though he doesn't ever use the title."
Kimiko bowed to Cain, much as she had to Zero, though she didn't stay down this time.
"It is an honor to met you, Cain-sama. Are you feeling well?"
Cain took a few seconds to be perplexed. "I… er, oh. Um, I'm fine. How are you doing, Kimiko?"
"I am well. Thank you."
X shook his head. "No need to be so formal, Kimiko. This isn't like the military."
Kimiko looked confused. "Military? What do you mean?"
Cain smiled. "What X is saying is that you can just call me Cain, or Doc, or something like that. You don't need to be formal with anyone here. It's more like a really big extended family than a workplace."\
The brown-haired robot nodded. "I see. In that case, what do most people call you?"
"Usually, Doc."
Kimiko smiled. "Okay, 'Doc'. I believe I can do that." She turned to X. "So what would you prefer I called you, Ecksu-san?"
"X is just fine, Kimiko. Now that we're done with that, we'll need to get you started here in the Maverick Hunters Headquarters. First order of business- a place to switch off at night."
"Nan da?"
"A room, Kimiko, a room."
It was an empty room.
Okay, okay, it wasn't TOTALLY empty. But it came close. There was a bed, a table, two chairs, a few doorways. One led to a closet, the other to a smaller, secondary room. There was a single halogen light in the ceiling, and it provided adequate lighting. There was a TV on a stand in one corner, and a bookcase along one wall.
And that was it.
It was almost as empty as the room she'd come here from.
Even so, Kimiko mused, it was infinitely better. Because this room was hers.
She had been amazed by how much of a walk it was from The Room, as the Maverick Hunters apparently called it, to the living areas. All the way, she had seen many, many reploids, the majority of whom were animalian in nature, although most of those were at least vaguely humanoid. What surprised her most was the little attention they paid her. Everyone took a moment to check her feet, seeing the Dash Boots, and then paid as much attention to her as to anyone else they didn't know. Which wasn't much. It had probably helped her be left alone that she was following X through the hallways.
This place was amazing. One large hallway with numerous tiny offshoots, reploids and the occasional human either moving purposefully along, or just hanging around, staying out of the way of those who were obviously in the middle of working. She'd only half-listened to X's explanation about the non-human reploids.
She turned back to X, who was looking around the room as well. He looked mildly wistful.
"Just like my room was when I first got it." He said thoughtfully. Then he looked to Kimiko. "This will be your home so long as you work in the Maverick Hunters. As I said, you'll get a certain amount of pay, which you can use however you like. Most likely, you'll want to decorate your room a little first, personalize it some."
Kimiko nodded. "Thank you, Ecksu." She said, bowing moderately.
X nodded in return. "Second point of order is going to be your armor. You had some when you came here- we just need to see if Turk's done fixing it. He's our resident techie." X said, heading out the door.
"Techie?" Echoed Kimiko, as she too stepped out.
"It's a slang word. Means someone who likes or is good at technical-" X's voice was cut off as the door closed behind them. The light in the middle of the room flickered off automatically.
X and Kimiko continued down the halls of the MHHQ, on their way to the equipment/repair bays.
"There are a few things you should know about armor. Yours seems to be standard, so there shouldn't be any problems. Here's how it works. Your armor can be stored as data and mass in a properly prepared computer system, like the main computer at MHHQ. It can also be stored as a material object or set of objects anywhere with enough space. You and I, unlike many reploids, can remove our armor."
"This isn't usual?"
X shook his head, and continued. "No. Many people are unreasonably afraid of reploids. Therefore, they only construct reploids with built in armor. These reploids are stuck in their armor forever. It makes quite a few things inconvenient, such as trying to use a bed, or certain kinds of computers, etcetera. However, we can remove our armor. Whenever you need it, you can activate the Armor Warp command internally, and it will warp into place on your body. Whatever you were wearing is warped back, stored as data and matter, or physically stored, just like your armor. Incidentally, don't warp your armor until we've made sure it's repaired."
Kimiko nodded, peering through a window at a room full of armored reploids as she walked past. Zero was standing in front of them, and looked like he was yelling at the top of his lungs. Two of the reploids in the front, holding bent plastic sabers, were looking rather sheepish. She passed the window, then, and lost her view of the class.
X continued talking after stopping for a moment so Kimiko could catch up.
"Now, your armor, like most others, consists of a few basic things. There's the helmet, to begin with. That, obviously, protects your head. More importantly, it protects the Control Chip in your forehead. The Control Chip is basically not only your brain, but your soul. As long as your Control Chip is intact, it's possible to rebuild you. Most helmets have a small crystal covering in the center of the forehead. This protects your Control Chip, while allowing heat generated by quick functioning to escape. If the crystal Control Chip cover is ever destroyed, you're in real trouble."
Kimiko nodded, absently noting that the floor had begun to shake slightly.
"The next part is the leg pieces. You'll notice that you're still wearing yours."
Kimiko nodded again, wondering where the source of the growing vibrations was. It was beginning to get a bit difficult to walk.
"Hold up a moment here, Kimiko. One of the big guys is coming through. See?"
X pointed forward, and Kimiko gaped.
There, maybe fifteen yards down the curving hallway, was the largest reploid she had ever seen. He was easily half as broad as the hallway, and colored a deep tan with forest-green highlights. He had a long, graceful neck, that was bent far over, as his shoulders almost reached the ceiling anyways. Each of his arms was as thick as a treetrunk, and his legs were maybe half again that wide. A long, thin tail trailed behind him. Each of his heavy, earthshaking steps carried him another yard and a half down the hall. As the massive reploid neared, he slowly ground to a halt. His neck bent further, bringing his head down to a conversational distance with X, the snoud giving him an almost ostritch-like appearance.
"Afternoon, Commander." He stated, in a surprisingly high voice.
X nodded back. "How are you doing, Stamp?"
"Well enough. Who's the lady?"
X smiled. "Stamp Apatasaurus, meet Kimiko. She's going to be starting training here tomorrow, hopefully joining my unit out on the field."
Stamp swung his head lower for a moment, giving an approximation of a bow. "Nice to meet you, Kimiko."
Kimiko bowed in return. "It is good to meet you as well, Stamp."
Stamp turned his head to face X. "Shows potential, does she?"
X chuckled. "You could say that. We've got to be going, though, if you don't mind…"
Stamp smiled. "Ah. No problem at all. Good to see you still around, X." His head raised back up to its previous lofty height, and he resumed his trek down the hall, picking up speed at a surprising rate.
Kimiko noted that as he continued, the hunters in the area cleared out of his way without hardly even looking up. Everyone stopped moving while he was in the area, though, so as not to knock themselves onto their own keisters.
X watched Stamp continue as well. "Impressive, isn't he? He's one of our independents." He turned and continued on his own journey, now that the floor had stopped vibrating.
"Independents?" Kimiko curiously queried, following X down the halls.
X nodded. "Yes. They work alone, or maybe in teams of two or three. Most of the independents work alone or in small groups because, like Stamp, they can cause problems for those working with them without intending to. A few others just work better alone. Most of the independents are either really big, like Stamp, or are particularly small. Assault or infiltration- oriented reploids. Although more of the former than the latter."
Kimiko looked thoughtful for a moment. "I can see why."
"Anyways, as I was saying, you've probably noticed that you're still wearing your Dash Boots. That's because of the way the design works. The jets that grant dash capabilities are too bulky to put in as anything but an integral part of your leg. So, reploids with dash jets are stuck wearing their Dash Boots all the time, even if they can remove the rest of their armor. Some of us have holograph emitters installed so we can make our legs look more 'normal'."
X turned, and headed up a flight of stairs, followed by Kimiko, and they quickly emerged into a hallway that was a near duplicate of the one below, although maybe half as tall. Probably, Kimiko assumed, because the really big guys couldn't go upstairs anyways.
X resumed walking and talking. " Next up is the pelvic armor. Pretty simple. It's armor for your waist and hip area, to protect the joints. Straightforward and simple. Then there's the armbands. This is a little more complex, because they contain your busters. A buster, by the way, is a plasma cannon that mounts on your arm. The way that works is that the armbands of your armor have a 'glove' part that attatches to the outsides of your hands. In the forearms of a typical reploid are special seams where the arm can be temporarily severed without damaging anything. When you activate a buster, it pulls your hand and arm into itself, and puts out a barrel-end, and can then fire plasma shots at targets. It's actually a lot more complicated than that, but we'll leave that for the classes. Just a warning, never charge both busters at once- the fields used to contain the plasma will interfere with each other, and then with the busters, and you'll likely blow your own arms off."
X stopped at a large door, and pressed a button to one side of it. The door opened, revealing a huge room, full of workbenches, mechanical things in all stages of assembly and disassembly, tools, random parts strewn here and there, and the constant sounds of technical officers and builders muttering, using power tools, and, occasionally, dropping things.
"OW!!" Cried out a voice from the far side of the room. "THAT HIT MY FOOT, YOU NITWIT!!"
X shook his head. "Don't mind her. Kei's always a little touchy when she's working on her guns."
"YEAH, I'M TALKING TO YOU!"
Kimiko nodded. "Okay."
"COME BACK HERE! I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU, YURI!"
The yelling subsided into a growled lecture, allowing conversation to continue.
"Last of all is your chestplate. This includes the shoulder armor that's attatched to it. The most interesting thing about a chestplate, usually, is that it often contains doors that allow you to access your Chest Compartment. This is just what it sounds like, a place to hold things in your torso. The Chest Compartment also includes hookups for things like Heart Tanks, Subtanks, and Weapons Tanks."
X stopped in front of a rather large door, that was plastered with signs reading "Main Projects", "Great Repairs: It's Fast Or It's Free", and "Keep Out, This Means You." He reached up and pressed the door buzzer.
The small intercom on the door buzzed. "Yeah?" Asked a slightly staticked, basso-profundo voice. "Who is it?"
X pressed the intercom button. "Pizza delivery. Someone ordered the Flintstones Special?"
"Ah, Commander X. You brought the armor's owner, then?"
"Yep. Can we come in now?"
sigh"I suppose. Hold on a moment."
There was a buzzing sound, and the door, which looked to be mounted on side- hinges, slowly ground down into the floor, until it's top left a small raised stair to the dimly-lit room behind it. A large, hulking figure was hunched over a workbench.
"You're just in time." Stated the figure. "I'm doing the finishing touches now."
Ah, so now things begin to go at speed. But what about the Mavericks?
What's the whole of the evil plan?
Wouldn't you like to know.
Next chapter, Kimiko gets her armor, and then it's time for Basic Training!
But X and Zero have a few missions during this time, since everything else won't come to a complete and total stop while they train Kimiko!
By the way, it occurs to me that I forgot to put a disclaimer in so far. Oopsie. Okay, here it is.
I don't own X, Zero, Cain, Sigma, Signas, Alia, Douglas, Lifesavor, or any of the other characters from the Capcom MMX games who will be appearing in this fic. Neither do I own anyone from the MM series who shows up. All the other characters, like Stamp Apatasaurus, Turk, Arnie, Turtlava, and most importantly Kimiko, are mine, and you can't have them. At least, not unless you ask me first. Oh, and I have to say it's okay when you ask me, too.
Alright, that's taken care of now.
Why did I put in Stamp? Well, look at all of the HUGE Mavericks in the MMX games. They have to come from somewhere, right?
And as good of Mavericks as some of them make, there are probably at least a few Maverick Hunters that big, right?
Right. Hence, large hallways in the MHHQ, and a few big guys like Stamp.
Till next time. Ja ne!
"This is a special watch. It tells the time, the date, the year, and the altitude. Wonderful watch. I simply cannot be without it. I have been, though. But not very well. Of course, it only has one hand.
And with one hand missing, how can you tell if it's the big one or the little one?
Which is probably why today is Tuesday the 84th of February.
Ash Tuesday.
1612.
B.C.
British Colombia? What is that doing in there?
Last Friday, it was Easter Sunday on this watch. And after dinner, my neighbor came in and distributed Christmas gifts.
Because he ALSO has one of these.
He got the OTHER hand."
-Victor Borge
"C'mon, Sheila, stop with th' hairy eyeball olready." Complained Arnie, fidgeting.
Kimiko blinked. "My name is Kimiko, not Sheila."
X chuckled. "You'll have to excuse Arnie there, he's got a few Australian language habits. 'Sheila' is the Australian word for 'lady'."
Kimiko nodded, still looking at Arnie. "I see." She turned to ask X what, exactly, Arnie was, when she caught sight of Zero. She froze, then slowly edged away from him.
Zero, Cain, Arnie, and X performed a unified blink.
Sidling up behind X, Kimiko peeked out at Zero from behind the New Blue Bomber.
"Ecksu-san…" She whispered, keeping her eyes on Zero at all times as she peeked over X's shoulder, half-crouched. "Who is that?"
X turned his head so he could see her out of the corner of his eye. "That's Zero. He's the other Commander of the Maverick Hunters. Why are you acting like that?"
Kimiko shook her head. "I don't know… something just tells me I should be wary of him…"
X shot Zero a look, and the Crimson Hunter shrugged in return. Zero turned to Kimiko.
"Hey, I'm not gonna hurt you. Well, not unless you get me real, real mad, or maybe start attacking me, but that's not likely to happen, is it?" The tone was almost, but not entirely joking.
Kimiko seemed to relax some at hearing Zero speak, straightening up a bit. She stayed behind X, though.
Cain chuckled. "Too bad, Zero, she's going to be wary of you in the classes now. You're not going to catch her off-guard like the normal new recruits."
Zero shook his head. "For crying out loud, here…" He shot a 'why me?' look up at the ceiling.
Kimiko winced, and stepped out from behind X. She stood, feet together, and placed her hands on the fronts of her thighs, bowing low to Zero.
"Gomen kudasai, Zero-san…. I'm sorry." She did not come up from the bow, back parallel to the floor.
Zero looked at the top of her head for a moment, then sighed. "It's alright, Kimiko." As she stood from the bow, Zero turned to Cain and X. "I've got a class to start teaching in a few minutes. If you'll excuse me…"
Zero turned and left the room, shaking his head as he walked.
Cain looked surprised for a moment, then recovered. "Ah, where were we?"
X looked over at him. "Well, we weren't anywhere, but I might as well introduce Kimiko to you."
Kimiko, still looking at the door, turned to X and Dr. Cain.
X gestured to Cain. "Kimiko, meet Dr. Cain. The man who discovered me, created reploids, and the current general of the Maverick Hunters, though he doesn't ever use the title."
Kimiko bowed to Cain, much as she had to Zero, though she didn't stay down this time.
"It is an honor to met you, Cain-sama. Are you feeling well?"
Cain took a few seconds to be perplexed. "I… er, oh. Um, I'm fine. How are you doing, Kimiko?"
"I am well. Thank you."
X shook his head. "No need to be so formal, Kimiko. This isn't like the military."
Kimiko looked confused. "Military? What do you mean?"
Cain smiled. "What X is saying is that you can just call me Cain, or Doc, or something like that. You don't need to be formal with anyone here. It's more like a really big extended family than a workplace."\
The brown-haired robot nodded. "I see. In that case, what do most people call you?"
"Usually, Doc."
Kimiko smiled. "Okay, 'Doc'. I believe I can do that." She turned to X. "So what would you prefer I called you, Ecksu-san?"
"X is just fine, Kimiko. Now that we're done with that, we'll need to get you started here in the Maverick Hunters Headquarters. First order of business- a place to switch off at night."
"Nan da?"
"A room, Kimiko, a room."
It was an empty room.
Okay, okay, it wasn't TOTALLY empty. But it came close. There was a bed, a table, two chairs, a few doorways. One led to a closet, the other to a smaller, secondary room. There was a single halogen light in the ceiling, and it provided adequate lighting. There was a TV on a stand in one corner, and a bookcase along one wall.
And that was it.
It was almost as empty as the room she'd come here from.
Even so, Kimiko mused, it was infinitely better. Because this room was hers.
She had been amazed by how much of a walk it was from The Room, as the Maverick Hunters apparently called it, to the living areas. All the way, she had seen many, many reploids, the majority of whom were animalian in nature, although most of those were at least vaguely humanoid. What surprised her most was the little attention they paid her. Everyone took a moment to check her feet, seeing the Dash Boots, and then paid as much attention to her as to anyone else they didn't know. Which wasn't much. It had probably helped her be left alone that she was following X through the hallways.
This place was amazing. One large hallway with numerous tiny offshoots, reploids and the occasional human either moving purposefully along, or just hanging around, staying out of the way of those who were obviously in the middle of working. She'd only half-listened to X's explanation about the non-human reploids.
She turned back to X, who was looking around the room as well. He looked mildly wistful.
"Just like my room was when I first got it." He said thoughtfully. Then he looked to Kimiko. "This will be your home so long as you work in the Maverick Hunters. As I said, you'll get a certain amount of pay, which you can use however you like. Most likely, you'll want to decorate your room a little first, personalize it some."
Kimiko nodded. "Thank you, Ecksu." She said, bowing moderately.
X nodded in return. "Second point of order is going to be your armor. You had some when you came here- we just need to see if Turk's done fixing it. He's our resident techie." X said, heading out the door.
"Techie?" Echoed Kimiko, as she too stepped out.
"It's a slang word. Means someone who likes or is good at technical-" X's voice was cut off as the door closed behind them. The light in the middle of the room flickered off automatically.
X and Kimiko continued down the halls of the MHHQ, on their way to the equipment/repair bays.
"There are a few things you should know about armor. Yours seems to be standard, so there shouldn't be any problems. Here's how it works. Your armor can be stored as data and mass in a properly prepared computer system, like the main computer at MHHQ. It can also be stored as a material object or set of objects anywhere with enough space. You and I, unlike many reploids, can remove our armor."
"This isn't usual?"
X shook his head, and continued. "No. Many people are unreasonably afraid of reploids. Therefore, they only construct reploids with built in armor. These reploids are stuck in their armor forever. It makes quite a few things inconvenient, such as trying to use a bed, or certain kinds of computers, etcetera. However, we can remove our armor. Whenever you need it, you can activate the Armor Warp command internally, and it will warp into place on your body. Whatever you were wearing is warped back, stored as data and matter, or physically stored, just like your armor. Incidentally, don't warp your armor until we've made sure it's repaired."
Kimiko nodded, peering through a window at a room full of armored reploids as she walked past. Zero was standing in front of them, and looked like he was yelling at the top of his lungs. Two of the reploids in the front, holding bent plastic sabers, were looking rather sheepish. She passed the window, then, and lost her view of the class.
X continued talking after stopping for a moment so Kimiko could catch up.
"Now, your armor, like most others, consists of a few basic things. There's the helmet, to begin with. That, obviously, protects your head. More importantly, it protects the Control Chip in your forehead. The Control Chip is basically not only your brain, but your soul. As long as your Control Chip is intact, it's possible to rebuild you. Most helmets have a small crystal covering in the center of the forehead. This protects your Control Chip, while allowing heat generated by quick functioning to escape. If the crystal Control Chip cover is ever destroyed, you're in real trouble."
Kimiko nodded, absently noting that the floor had begun to shake slightly.
"The next part is the leg pieces. You'll notice that you're still wearing yours."
Kimiko nodded again, wondering where the source of the growing vibrations was. It was beginning to get a bit difficult to walk.
"Hold up a moment here, Kimiko. One of the big guys is coming through. See?"
X pointed forward, and Kimiko gaped.
There, maybe fifteen yards down the curving hallway, was the largest reploid she had ever seen. He was easily half as broad as the hallway, and colored a deep tan with forest-green highlights. He had a long, graceful neck, that was bent far over, as his shoulders almost reached the ceiling anyways. Each of his arms was as thick as a treetrunk, and his legs were maybe half again that wide. A long, thin tail trailed behind him. Each of his heavy, earthshaking steps carried him another yard and a half down the hall. As the massive reploid neared, he slowly ground to a halt. His neck bent further, bringing his head down to a conversational distance with X, the snoud giving him an almost ostritch-like appearance.
"Afternoon, Commander." He stated, in a surprisingly high voice.
X nodded back. "How are you doing, Stamp?"
"Well enough. Who's the lady?"
X smiled. "Stamp Apatasaurus, meet Kimiko. She's going to be starting training here tomorrow, hopefully joining my unit out on the field."
Stamp swung his head lower for a moment, giving an approximation of a bow. "Nice to meet you, Kimiko."
Kimiko bowed in return. "It is good to meet you as well, Stamp."
Stamp turned his head to face X. "Shows potential, does she?"
X chuckled. "You could say that. We've got to be going, though, if you don't mind…"
Stamp smiled. "Ah. No problem at all. Good to see you still around, X." His head raised back up to its previous lofty height, and he resumed his trek down the hall, picking up speed at a surprising rate.
Kimiko noted that as he continued, the hunters in the area cleared out of his way without hardly even looking up. Everyone stopped moving while he was in the area, though, so as not to knock themselves onto their own keisters.
X watched Stamp continue as well. "Impressive, isn't he? He's one of our independents." He turned and continued on his own journey, now that the floor had stopped vibrating.
"Independents?" Kimiko curiously queried, following X down the halls.
X nodded. "Yes. They work alone, or maybe in teams of two or three. Most of the independents work alone or in small groups because, like Stamp, they can cause problems for those working with them without intending to. A few others just work better alone. Most of the independents are either really big, like Stamp, or are particularly small. Assault or infiltration- oriented reploids. Although more of the former than the latter."
Kimiko looked thoughtful for a moment. "I can see why."
"Anyways, as I was saying, you've probably noticed that you're still wearing your Dash Boots. That's because of the way the design works. The jets that grant dash capabilities are too bulky to put in as anything but an integral part of your leg. So, reploids with dash jets are stuck wearing their Dash Boots all the time, even if they can remove the rest of their armor. Some of us have holograph emitters installed so we can make our legs look more 'normal'."
X turned, and headed up a flight of stairs, followed by Kimiko, and they quickly emerged into a hallway that was a near duplicate of the one below, although maybe half as tall. Probably, Kimiko assumed, because the really big guys couldn't go upstairs anyways.
X resumed walking and talking. " Next up is the pelvic armor. Pretty simple. It's armor for your waist and hip area, to protect the joints. Straightforward and simple. Then there's the armbands. This is a little more complex, because they contain your busters. A buster, by the way, is a plasma cannon that mounts on your arm. The way that works is that the armbands of your armor have a 'glove' part that attatches to the outsides of your hands. In the forearms of a typical reploid are special seams where the arm can be temporarily severed without damaging anything. When you activate a buster, it pulls your hand and arm into itself, and puts out a barrel-end, and can then fire plasma shots at targets. It's actually a lot more complicated than that, but we'll leave that for the classes. Just a warning, never charge both busters at once- the fields used to contain the plasma will interfere with each other, and then with the busters, and you'll likely blow your own arms off."
X stopped at a large door, and pressed a button to one side of it. The door opened, revealing a huge room, full of workbenches, mechanical things in all stages of assembly and disassembly, tools, random parts strewn here and there, and the constant sounds of technical officers and builders muttering, using power tools, and, occasionally, dropping things.
"OW!!" Cried out a voice from the far side of the room. "THAT HIT MY FOOT, YOU NITWIT!!"
X shook his head. "Don't mind her. Kei's always a little touchy when she's working on her guns."
"YEAH, I'M TALKING TO YOU!"
Kimiko nodded. "Okay."
"COME BACK HERE! I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU, YURI!"
The yelling subsided into a growled lecture, allowing conversation to continue.
"Last of all is your chestplate. This includes the shoulder armor that's attatched to it. The most interesting thing about a chestplate, usually, is that it often contains doors that allow you to access your Chest Compartment. This is just what it sounds like, a place to hold things in your torso. The Chest Compartment also includes hookups for things like Heart Tanks, Subtanks, and Weapons Tanks."
X stopped in front of a rather large door, that was plastered with signs reading "Main Projects", "Great Repairs: It's Fast Or It's Free", and "Keep Out, This Means You." He reached up and pressed the door buzzer.
The small intercom on the door buzzed. "Yeah?" Asked a slightly staticked, basso-profundo voice. "Who is it?"
X pressed the intercom button. "Pizza delivery. Someone ordered the Flintstones Special?"
"Ah, Commander X. You brought the armor's owner, then?"
"Yep. Can we come in now?"
sigh"I suppose. Hold on a moment."
There was a buzzing sound, and the door, which looked to be mounted on side- hinges, slowly ground down into the floor, until it's top left a small raised stair to the dimly-lit room behind it. A large, hulking figure was hunched over a workbench.
"You're just in time." Stated the figure. "I'm doing the finishing touches now."
Ah, so now things begin to go at speed. But what about the Mavericks?
What's the whole of the evil plan?
Wouldn't you like to know.
Next chapter, Kimiko gets her armor, and then it's time for Basic Training!
But X and Zero have a few missions during this time, since everything else won't come to a complete and total stop while they train Kimiko!
By the way, it occurs to me that I forgot to put a disclaimer in so far. Oopsie. Okay, here it is.
I don't own X, Zero, Cain, Sigma, Signas, Alia, Douglas, Lifesavor, or any of the other characters from the Capcom MMX games who will be appearing in this fic. Neither do I own anyone from the MM series who shows up. All the other characters, like Stamp Apatasaurus, Turk, Arnie, Turtlava, and most importantly Kimiko, are mine, and you can't have them. At least, not unless you ask me first. Oh, and I have to say it's okay when you ask me, too.
Alright, that's taken care of now.
Why did I put in Stamp? Well, look at all of the HUGE Mavericks in the MMX games. They have to come from somewhere, right?
And as good of Mavericks as some of them make, there are probably at least a few Maverick Hunters that big, right?
Right. Hence, large hallways in the MHHQ, and a few big guys like Stamp.
Till next time. Ja ne!
"This is a special watch. It tells the time, the date, the year, and the altitude. Wonderful watch. I simply cannot be without it. I have been, though. But not very well. Of course, it only has one hand.
And with one hand missing, how can you tell if it's the big one or the little one?
Which is probably why today is Tuesday the 84th of February.
Ash Tuesday.
1612.
B.C.
British Colombia? What is that doing in there?
Last Friday, it was Easter Sunday on this watch. And after dinner, my neighbor came in and distributed Christmas gifts.
Because he ALSO has one of these.
He got the OTHER hand."
-Victor Borge