Apologies in advance for the screwy formatting.
-- Chapter 6: Lull --
A few months passed.
We, the Maverick Hunters, trained day and night for the war that we knew would be upon us soon.
Meanwhile, the rest of the world remained blissfully unaware of the approaching crisis. They hadn't been told anything.
Panicking people were the last thing we needed now...
"Come on! Fight harder!!"
I looked over at Zero. We were in the training grounds and Zero was sparring with the rest of his unit again.
"You'll never beat anyone like that!"
I looked at the sky. Accel still hadn't been found... he was officially MIA, presumed dead. I hoped that that was not the case... as it were, he was one of our stronger Hunters, and especially now that Axl wasn't here... Axl may not have been a Hunter, but he had proven himself especially useful in combat. The most skilled Hunters were Accel and Zero, and if Axl were a Hunter, he'd rank up there with them too. Now all but Zero were out...
I looked over at Zero again. I understand the pressure he must feel, having an entire war and possibly the fate of mankind hinging on his decisions and actions... after all, I'd been in similiar situations before.
But that's only if he has to face it ALONE, I thought.
What if he had someone to help him?
Later, when I was in my room at night, I opened a long neglected trunk in the bottom of my closet. I threw open the cover and picked up the object inside. I concentrated, and it warped onto my arm. It still fit like a charm... as I blew the last traces of dust off my long unused X-Buster, memories of the Maverick Uprisings came rushing back to me. But this wasn't the Mavericks now... it was a whole new enemy, one that we knew disturbingly little of.
The next day, Signas sent for Zero. He wanted Zero to go on a scouting mission to the Crimson Palace.
Time to make my move.
I strode into the room and saluted.
"Maverick Hunter Unit 17 Leader X, reporting for duty."
The look on Signas' face was priceless. He quickly recovered, though, and shook my hand.
"Good to have you back, X."
Of course, I was allowed to go with Zero on his mission.
As we strode into the courtyard of the Crimson Palace, we were confronted by the black-armoured, wolf-helmeted Reploid - Kardina, Zero had called him - and what was apparently half of Diablos' army, which looked more like around a dozen armies or so.
We left. It was all we needed to know.
We stepped up training, and asked Signas if we could request the military's help, though all of us knew it was useless. They "never did anything right", according to Signas, and after losing Repliforce, the situation had gotten worse. When Red Alert was eliminated, too, we stood as the sole major peacekeeping force in the world... so we were effectively fighting this war alone.
Day and night, we trained.
At the Crimson Palace, Kardina prostrated himself before his master, bringing reports of the latest batch of soldiers to have been built, as Diablos' laugh echoed through the halls.
The stage had been set.
Now all we needed was someone to make the first move...
Please review! It will be much appreciated!
