Disclaimer: I do not own Mega Man® Zero or any other things related to that franchise. Though I wouldn't mind owning, I don't exactly see myself owning.
Mega Man Zero: The Beginning
By Rorhen Cast
Based on the game Mega Man Zero
"……" – vocal '……' – thought
Prologue: Awakening a Legend
The jungle area would serve as the battlefield for this mission. And the darkened night sky all but helped the Resistance troops in their recon mission for an underground laboratory. There was little reason to enter this place. Hardly any energy could be found here and no weapons were available for excavation. The data was miniscule in information and nothing highly valuable worth sacrificing an entire platoon for. Yet something motivated the Resistance into a recon mission to risk their lives from the Neo Arcadian oppressive.
Running at the head of the platoon consisting of a dozen or so young men was the leader of the Resistance, Ciel. The human leader ran side-by-side to her Cyber Elf companion, Passy. A handful of soldiers broke away from the platoon group to fight off the enemy of the Resistance: the Pantheons. The representation of the Neo Arcadia oppressive was closely behind in the darkness of the forest.
The cycloptic drones were mindless hunters at best. They did as they were ordered and executed with no feeling or remorse. This was essential after the Reploids began their rebellion against a far overpowering government. Without thought on what they were doing, this would allow Neo Arcadia fairly easy control over their army and would provide better results for them in battles.
The Resistance stood little a chance against the Pantheons. Their primitive weaponry was a joke to their superior, more technologically advanced, oppressors. Their sub-machine guns hardly dented the Pantheons' blue armored exterior body. But the Resistance persisted and to the drones' operations system, that was all the reason to eliminate their target. The gunarm of the drones fired off the plasma bullets to their rebel enemies. The return-fire killed the soldiers with ease. The Reploid blood drenched the forest's replicant grass and dirt. The Pantheons moved on to the rest of the evading troops.
The platoon kept running with no stop. They were coming close on the lab.
Another handful of soldiers stood their ground against the ever closer oppression. They fired blindly into the forests with no stop. Their bullets were all they could muster up against the enemy. But their enemy would soon prove greater than they thought. Each soldier stopped fire at the sound of a hum. It was getting closer and louder. Their fear was what caused them to tremble but their loyalties in the Resistance kept them where they stand. Their doom came to them not on swift feet but hovering through the trees. A monstrous structure, armored with a metal strong enough to halt even the bullets of a plasma shot. The fortress-like mechaniloid had hovered through the darkness into clear view. The Resistance looked on at the Golem, who had now finalized their fate. The upper armor covered a portion of where a normal being's mouth would be, but in such cases with this enforcer of the Neo Arcadia army, it hid the main robot's weaponry: a high class laser that would shear anything pieces. It would make quick work of the soldiers.
"What kind of monster is this?"
His last words came with no answer. The stony robot illustrated its beam holster and charged the laser. The target bee-line was already pre-determined. The laser followed its coordinates and ripped through the Reploids inner workings. The Golem continued its pursuit of the Resistance.
The Resistance was now deep in the lab. The lights had managed to work, most likely from an old power generator somewhere. The lab had most definitely seen the affects of time and erosion. Most of the computers didn't work and all the door locks had been disabled. All except for one. The giant glass door that Ciel and the others stood in front of was sealed shut and the keypad was very much dead. Ciel's optimism was dampened.
"A dead end?"
"No," said Ciel's tiny elf companion, floating beside her. "I can feel it inside. He's there, I know it."
The last of the soldiers, next to Milan, perked up from the back.
"Leave this to me. I got it already handled."
The soldier placed one plastic explosive he was carrying in the center of the glass door. It was set to go off.
"Get back!"
The door shattered open. Through the smoke, Ciel, Milan, and Passy proceeded. With no sight of the other soldiers, the recruit stood guard, blasting away with his gun. Ciel stopped and looked back with concern.
"Go, now before more Pantheons come!"
They took no hesitation and kept going.
In the center of the lab was an ancient red Reploid. It lye there, connected to wires further connected to a power respirator and generator that most likely was meant to keep the Reploid alive while in hibernation. Its arms were barely connected to its body. Wires were visible through its broken crimson armor. His long golden hair formed behind his two horned-pointed helmet lay spread out around the body. He lay inactive. Milan and Ciel looked in awe at the sight of what they had found.
"This must be…"
"…Zero…"
"We've found him at last!"
Ciel stood quiet, overwhelmed with joy. A sparkle of hope shinned in the darkness now. The war would soon be getting brighter.
Milan approached the body slowly. He was amazed and mesmerized by the Reploid they had found. It was a miracle he was still even in the condition he was in. The legend him and Ciel had researched said he had disappeared a century ago after the great hero X claimed victory in the Maverick Wars. He wanted to examine this legend for himself.
"Be careful," came a warning from Passy.
Milan still continued to trek forward. Suddenly he yelped after being shot back by an invisible force. It was soon confirmed that it was encircling and protecting the Reploid.
"A force field."
"What should I do," Milan asked in his utterance of leader ship for the moment. They needed this Reploid alive. Not disabled. How else would he help them win the war? What would they do...?
Their moment in victory though is shattered. The guard at the door screamed his last breath as he was gunned down by the Pantheons. They had caught up to them again. Ciel and Milan looked back to the dead soldier flying back from the force of the shots. Milan took no waste in action. He ran to guard Ciel from the Pantheons that stormed the room. They fired their shots aiming for the Resistance leader. Instead they only brought Milan to a pain and closeness to death. He grimaced in pain. Was Ciel safe though? She screamed at the connection of the drones' bullets to Milan.
"We're cornered… we've got to evacuate, now," he shouted with what voice he had left.
"But," Ciel looked back to Zero. They came all this way and lost so many to find him. Would they have to risk it all again for him? They were so close to what they needed for the war! They can't leave it now! But the oppression has them cornered and with out any problem, they would soon be executed like the rest of the platoon. What to do…
"There's no time to argue!"
Milan's breath is lived in short as the drones fired more shots for the defiant and willful one. What a pest! Rebel scum. Just like all the other ones he would die for nothing. It was a way only seen by Neo Arcadia. It was the only way.
Ciel had dropped to the floor with her friend's body. He was dead. She sobbed as the Pantheons got closer. That was all she could do. She did this; it was her fault he died. That's all she could think of. She blamed herself mostly for this loss to the Resistance. Not just Milan but surely herself with him. The hope she once had now vanished into a dark bleak future.
Passy had come to a final conclusion. She tried to reach Ciel but there was nothing. Again she tried, but all Ciel would do was cry. Eventually the tiny fairy barked the human's name. She finally had a hold of her friend.
The Pantheons were getting closer.
"You should use my power to waken Zero! You have no choice!"
"But then you'll be," Ciel said but faltered at the thought. Not another one. Not another loss. A Cyber Elf's use of ability causes it to fade away in life. Ciel couldn't have that. She didn't want it. But it may be the only way…
The Pantheons were getting closer than before. They were eagerly awaiting the demise of this human traitor of Neo Arcadia. They prepared.
"Don't worry about me. It's you that everyone back at the base is waiting for!"
Ciel had no choice. Passy was right. If she died here, the Resistance would be lost and the Reploids would be lost. It had to be the right thing. At least a shimmer of hope could last. "Okay," she said. "Thank you, Passy…"
"No. I should thank you Ciel… Goodbye…"
Ciel activated the fairy's ability. A light of power encircled the tiny being. Its energy was forming onto the elf. It charged forward into the protected field surrounding Zero. The Elf merged into energy that surrounded the red Reploid. The room was engulfed in a bright renewing light. It surged through the dead Reploid's body, reviving everything old to new. The Pantheons stood dumbfounded by what was going on. It was a drastic change in their protocol. Something new now entered the lab. Something they were unsure about. It was also something that Ciel looked on, unsure about.
The Reploid awoke for the first time in nearly a century. His sensors were numb from not being used along with his muscular system and skeletal body system, but he soon recovered from all that. Everything seemed so new to him all of the sudden. He didn't even know who he was. And the armor seemed like something he was unaware of. Again, something new. Standing there, the Reploid became active again. His vision returned. In front of him, lye a human girl. She had a look of fear, exhaustion, and wonder in her eyes. She was looking at him. Behind her were three blue armored drones, each with a gunarm. He saw something else in the human's eyes: a look of desperation. She soon spoke to him in a language he realized he understood.
'Zero's been resurrected…'
"Zero… Help me…"
He became aware of a Buster gun in a holster on his right leg. He looked down to it then again at the Pantheons. They raised their gunarms to the human. They would come to ignore the anomaly that just happened and stick to their mission: kill the rebel.
The Reploid then took out his Buster gun. In his hand, he looked at it peculiarly. He suddenly realized he knew how to use this. He looked again to the human and again to the Pantheons and came up with a split decision. He fired the Buster.