Chapter Six
The Past – Part One

Zero walked through the deserted wasteland, his cloak held over his mouth for protection against the dust of the desert. His cloak whipped around slowly with the wind, leaving footsteps deep in the sand with each step. His hair was saturated with sand, whipping wildly with the wind's soft nudging. He kept thinking back to the time when he was separated from the Resistance Forces. That whole year…he hated to think of how it had happened…

Back, a month before he arrived back with the Resistance…What really happened back then?

Zero walked slowly through the desert, covering his face with his arm with each step. Hair flowing wildly behind him, he tried to squint through the sand that was blowing at him. His body was badly damaged as of late, from months of battle, non-stop. He couldn't stop cycling everything through his mind.

All the enemies he had left dead behind him, the miles he had traveled… Everything he had been unable to do and see…He missed the people of the Resistance, those he had to leave behind. He led the Neo Arcadian troops away from them…If only he had been able to find them again…

There was nothing to really fight for, he was alone after all. He had to face it and show no fear, no regrets. He was always able to function fine alone, he needed no one else. They would just cause problems for him…however…

There was one person that he wanted to see so much…The one person that seemed to make it all worth fighting for…

Ciel…

Suddenly, the loud sound of metal clashing onto metal was heard, as Zero yelled out in surprise and pain, collapsing to one knee as blood shot from the new wound in his arm. The sand which lay under him started to stain red with his blood, as he glanced back. Ten Neo Arcadian drones stood there, the one in the front of the group had its arm held forward, the cannon on it smoking from its previous shot. Zero held his left hand over his right, clenching his teeth as he spoke, "Damn…" Zero stood, reaching slowly for his Z-Saber.

Before he could grab it, he started to feel light-headed. He slumped down in the sand, too tired to move. This is…the end… were his thoughts as he blacked out, the last thing he could see was the group of drones advancing toward him. Then all went to darkness…

Am I going to die?

"Hm…Just a little more…"

Is this truly the end?

"There, all fixed!"

Will I ever…see her again?

"…He's not moving."

Ciel…

"He just needs a jump start, I bet! I'll get 'im up!"

I'm sorry…

CLANG

"Ow!" Zero sat up instantly, rubbing his head.

"Told you that would wake him up!" A tall mechanic reploid laughed heartily, throwing a wrench over his shoulder and into a tool box. Zero took a moment to glance around at his surroundings. He was on a large repair table, of course. There were approximately five mechanics around him, who seemed to be quite worn out. From fighting possibly?

Zero stayed silent for a moment, then spoke up, "Where am I?" A shorter, though well-built mechanic stepped from the group, speaking out in a deep voice, "You're in our battleground. We've been fighting for months against the Neo Arcadian branch in this area…We're running out of supplies, really. I don't think we can last much longer at this rate."

Zero sighed lightly, and spoke to himself, "More with Neo Arcadia. Even after I finished X off, it still continues…" The mechanics instantly were looking straight at Zero. A female mechanic spoke in disbelief, "Finished off X? My god…Don't tell me that you're the legendary reploid Zero?" Zero glanced to the woman, and nodded. The smaller mechanic then spoke up. "I can't believe it! The reploid we found in the desert was Zero! We're saved after all!"

Zero glanced down toward the man, then shook his head. "No. I'm sorry, but this isn't my fight anymore…I'm just a wanderer now, I don't want anything to do with your battles." Zero swung his legs off to the side of the table and hopped down. The ragged tent, a makeshift laboratory for reploid repairs, had quite a lot of old equipment built up. Zero walked away slowly, happening to grab his badly weathered weapons from a table. Pushing aside the entrance flap, Zero exited the tent.

Glancing around, he saw twenty or so more tents, fairly small for a war operation. Zero walked through the makeshift base, noticing all the under-armed reploids around him. The women and children were even in battle gear, as it was apparent that they were strained for fighters. Sighing, Zero shook his head as he walked out into the harsh desert storm that was building. He covered his face as best he could with his right arm, struggling against the sand with each step, the base behind him disappearing further and further away.

Zero was abruptly jarred from his thoughts, seeing something lying in the sand. Kneeling down, he dusted the sand away and picked the object up. His eyes widened, recognizing the object almost instantly. "This belonged to her…Kiri..." He held a small hair barrette in his hand, clenching his hand lightly around it as he thought back to his past once more.
"Aiiah!"

The young reploid girl fell to the ground, her cloak singed at the bottom by an energy bullet. Barrette falling from her hair as she hit the ground, the girl flinched in pain from the sudden impact. She held a small cage close to her chest to keep it from getting damaged. She stumbled to her feet, growling as she tried to run once more. Her foot, however, was caught by a robotic wire that burst from the sand, clenching around her leg. She clawed at the thick wire, trying to get it off of her. "Come on, come on!" She looked back to her pursuers, thirty or so Neo Arcadian drones after her, with a few golem types in the mix. A golem from the back moved to the front, and stopped a few feet away from her. The golem charged for an instant, then fired a high powered laser across the ground toward her. She screamed out, curling up into a ball around the small cage as the laser went toward her.

"Grah!"

The wire was severed in a blur, the girl being pulled out of the way of the laser just as it passed. Zero set the girl down, his turning harsh toward the minor force. Zero ran toward the golem first, pulling his saber to his side. The golem, in self defense, fired another laser blast toward Zero. Leaping to the side gracefully, Zero then shot toward the golem upon landing. Swinging out the Z-Saber, he sliced through its main circuits as he flew by. The golem fell in two into the sand, before exploding from the sudden damage.

Without missing a beat, Zero stabbed into the head of one of the drones, swinging his saber out with the drone stuck onto it and sending it flying off of the blade and onto the group. The drones then started to fire madly upon him, and in reaction he jumped out onto one's head. Using his weight to flip the drone, Zero held it up in front of him as a shield.

Then, pulling out the energy pistol he always kept, Zero fired shots out toward the drones. Hitting them dead on in the head for each, most of the drones were forced to cease function. Zero then tossed the drone he used as a shield out toward one of the golems. Activating its self defense program, the golem shot into the lifeless robot, causing it to explode fiercely. Zero flew through the explosion, slicing straight through the middle of the golem unit. Before it exploded, Zero kicked it into the remaining group of the mindless robotic drones. Exploding right as it got near, the golem took out the remaining numbers.

Zero stood in the center of the battlefield, surrounded by broken bits and pieces of the Neo Arcadian robots. His hair flowed slowly behind him as he flicked off the Z-Saber, putting both his weapons away. He glanced back toward the girl, who was staring wide eyed at him. Zero walked over to her quietly, and as he got near she crawled back away, obviously stunned by what just happened.

The girl spoke nervously as Zero stood there, staring at her. "H-How…How did you do that so easily?" Zero closed his eyes and spoke calmly. "We should really get out of here. Knowing the Neo Arcadians, they have tracking devices in their troops. They're probably readying reinforcements to look for you." The girl spoke in reply to his statement, "Of course! Look, I really need to get back to the resistance base…" Zero interrupted her, "Then I'll escort you in case there's trouble. I know where the base is, so we won't get lost."

Zero started to walk ahead, but then the girl called after him. "Wait! Could you at least tell me your name?" Zero stopped walking, and glanced back to her. She walked up next to him as he answered her. "You can call me Zero." The girl was startled at hearing this name, but then quickly answered back, holding the cage up against her hip from under the cloak, "Well then you can call me Kiri. Nice to meet ya!" She held out her hand to shake his. Zero looked away from her, starting to walk out toward the base again. Kiri watched him walk off, thinking to herself, He's the legend that defeated former master X? He probably wasn't known for his manners… Kiri chased after Zero, yelling, "Wait for me!"

Zero kept the barrette in a compartment on his hip, continuing his walk through the desert while clutching his torn and tattered cloak around his neck and face. I will find you soon, Ciel. I won't fail this time. Zero kept walking deeper into the desert, fighting against the winds.

Author Zero: Hah, sorry if I'm going really slow with every one of my stories... I always start projects and never get finished...I'm forcing myself to continue this for all of you. And...I'd just like to dedicate all my work to the girl I love, Stelle. Love ya baby! "