Disclaimer: I don't own Megaman X. Capcom owns Megaman X.
Chapter 5: New Beginnings
Maverick Outpost Orion
Time:
-10:57-
A battered Scar arrived at Maverick Outpost Orion, a large base in the shape of a semi sphere, composed of black steel. Although not nearly as big as MHHQ, the Mavericks had four bases of equal size; Orion, Delta, Omega, and Sigma. And these four bases contained the twenty maverick divisions, Scar belonging to the 13th. He made his trek to the entrance, limping the way there. Heh, Zero had certainly developed ill feelings towards him. But in the back of his mind, he terribly regrets ever doing that in the first place. He was about three yards from the entrance, but was stopped by two rookies on duty. Unexpectantly, a shot grazed the snow, right by his foot. Scar snapped his head up in reaction with a deadly glare in his eyes.
"Halt! Who goes there?!" One of the rookies shouted out, his weapon aimed at Scar. The other rookie's trigger hand was trembling slightly; this greatly worried Scar as he thought about how his life could end by a couple of dumb rookies that shot up their commanding officer. Scar took a short breath, and shouted back at the inexperienced guards.
"Commander Scar of the 13th Maverick Sting Corps!!"
"There is no Commander Scarf on this base!!"
Scar nearly faceplanted, but his shoulder would punish him if he chose to do so. Instead, he fished out his P.I.D. (Personal Information Device), and got ready to toss it at the guards, but decided against it, as he didn't feel like becoming Swiss cheese from shots by the shaking newbie. He told one of the guards to come check his P.I.D. The lowest ranking of the two stepped forward nervously towards Scar, his legs quivering as he did so. Scar urged not to make a move, since the rookie would probably shoot anything that moved right about now. The slow, frightened maverick checked the picture of the P.I.D. and a pit formed in his stomach. He gave the device back to Scar, who was staring holes through the rookie, and turned around to tell the other uptight sentry to let their commander pass.
"Well, boys, have fun out here for the next week." Scar said, miffed that his own unit didn't recognize him. The rookies gasped at this, and began to whine while the outpost doors closed behind Scar.
Scar headed down to the elevator to reach the main hall of the elaborate outpost. The interior of the entire hall gave off an emerald hue. The main hall was lined with luscious vegetation. Different species of flowers and many varieties of green leaved plants grew around the walls. Even a few hybrids were beginning to bloom amongst the many plants. One would never expect this exotic wonder to be a hall in a maverick outpost. Scar walked past the many reploids that littered the massive hall, most of who that were either conversing, or hurriedly pushing past the enormous flood of mavericks. Scar was one of the latter, as he turned and shifted his body to avoid banging his throbbing shoulder. The elevator was in reach, but the closer he got to his goal, the greater the flood and commotion increased. In his condition, he compared this situation as being in a vast ocean, with buoys and debris everywhere, while trying to swim to the elevator, his lifeboat. He made it to the elevator, only bumping his agonized shoulder twice. Punching in the numbers to the floor his room was on, he closed his eyes and thought about what had happened in the past few hours.
Okay. Let's go over the details:
1.) Infiltration of MHHQ- Accomplished.
2.) Special prototype rifle field tested- Accomplished.
3.) Substance deployed upon targets- Inconclusive.
4.) Minimize casualties and capture of commanding officers- Failed (Echo...)
5.) Overall mission status- Complete.
"Echo. Wonder how she's holding up..." Scar was a little worried about his missing comrade. "She's a strong girl, she'll be alright." He dismissed this thought as the lift stopped at the third floor, where the 11th through 15th Maverick Corps where roomed. The heavy doors slid open. As Scar stepped out of the lift, he was bum rushed by the entire 13th. Nearly knocking him down, he twisted his upper body, trying to avoid further damage to his aching injury. They bombarded him with questions like, "Commander! Was the mission a success?!" "Commander, are you ok?!?!" "Commander, where's Lt. Commander Echo?" Scar shrugged them off, as he pushed past the seemingly increasing crowd. Rookies. Can't live with them, can't.... live with them. Scar finally made it to his room, now he had to punch in his room code. He reached a finger out and made contact. '3' '6' '7' He had to fight off a couple of questioners to press the last two digits. '4' '2'. The door slid open, and he nearly dove into the room. He quickly closed the door. With a sigh, he started to remove the damaged armor. The crowd outside had gone away, and Scar was thankful for that. He didn't need anymore stress right now. He gingerly removed the shoulder guards. He had a puncture in his shoulder, as he expected, but the blood had clotted it up. He took off the boots, helmet and gauntlets and sighed as his appendages finally got air to them. He walked over to the capsule sitting in the corner and started it up. He typed in a few things.
SYSTEM START
TYPE OF MAINTENANCE?
1.RECHARGE
2.REPAIR
3.REPAIR & RECHARGE
'3'
OPTION 3 COMPLETE IN 4:00 HOURS. DO YOU ACCEPT?
1. YES
2. NO
'1'
PLEASE WAIT...
Scar pulled off his sword, hip and chest armor, which had a crack in it from Zero's earlier shoulder charge. He winced in pain as the armor dislodged from his body and fell to the floor with a clatter. He unzipped the upper half of his stormy gray jumpsuit and lightly touched his aching sternum. His chest had a dark blue bruise, and rose up a little bit. He zipped the suit back up and glanced at the control board on the capsule.
ACTIVATION SUCCESSFUL. PLEASE STEP INSIDE THE CAPSULE.
He looked at the clock on the capsule: 11:14. Okay. He shut off the lights, and the room drowned in the blue light that emitted from the capsule. He lazily climbed into the cushioned bed of the capsule and strapped the air mask on to his face. The lid slowly closed and locked in place, as the capsule shifted and rearranged itself upright, at an angle of 60 degrees from the floor. A tank full of warm recharging fluid emptied, and filled the capsule, starting from the bottom. Soon, Scar was submerged in the clear liquid. He closed his eyes and shutdown his systems.
His eyes snapped open and he was confronted by Orion, the 2nd Supreme Commander of the Maverick Forces. Rayne was locked up in the corner next to him. Scar tried to get up, but was unable to move from underneath an imaginary force pinning him down. Orion knelt down in front of Scar and placed an electronic device in front of him. Scar gasped. This was the object he was supposed to get from Orion after the mission. It was within reach, but he could do naught but watch, as Orion crushed it under his heel. Scar cried out in horror as Orion twisted his heel, making sure he destroyed the object. Scar turned his head to Rayne, who was looking at him with distraught eyes, filled with deep emotion. An eerie energy sphere appeared around her as she opened her mouth to say something, but nothing but air escaped from her mouth. Tears began to stream down her face as the sphere around her glowed red. She shut her eyes and Scar tried to scream her name, but only a whisper escaped. A blue explosion occurred in the sphere, and Scar could hear her scream out in pain for a moment. When the smoke cleared, she remained there, but her eyes were dark, and lifeless. Scar couldn't believe it. She was gone. Her soul, destroyed.
"SCAR!!" A voice on the outside shouted. Scar snapped his eyes open again. This time, he was in his quarters, inside the capsule. Staring in at him, Rayne stared at him with a quivering lip. The fluid had already drained, so he wasted no time opening the door to see what was wrong with her. He snatched the mask off and climbed out in a hurry.
"What wrong?!" Scar said hurriedly. Rayne burst into laughter at her friend, as he stood there, dripping wet, his jet black hair sopping in his eyes. He was confused at her laughter as questioned her why he being laughed at.
"You...shoulda....seen the.....look.....on your face!!" Rayne fell over on the floor, laughing out loud. Scar faceplanted, he did so this time because he was devoid of shoulder pain. When he got up, he grabbed a towel, and dried himself off. Rayne was about 5'6", and had nearly all the same features that Echo had, except that Rayne had silver hair with black streaks. They were twins, after all.
"So, Rayne, what did you want?" He asked coolly. He would have bitten anybody else's head off if they had pulled that stunt, but Rayne and Echo were his best friends, maybe his only friends, and that's why they were able to get away with things that others couldn't. She recomposed herself and cleared her throat.
"Um, oh yea! Orion summoned a meeting, something about a secret project that would end the war once and for all. It starts at 16:00 in the Assembly Hall." He glanced at the clock: 15:03. He sighed, and went for an energy drink from his mini fridge. "Alright, I'll be there!" He said with a grin. He only really smiles twice in his life: when he's against an enemy, and when he's around Echo and Rayne. She flashed him a smile, and went out the door. He continued staring at her, even though the door was long shut. He snapped out of the daze when the cold energy drink spilled onto his bare feet. He sighed and headed to the bathroom to take a shower.
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Assembly Hall
Time:
-15:55-
Scar walked into the bustling assembly hall. The place was crawling with mavericks, conversing about various things. He looked around for his unit, but got distracted when he heard the 11th Strike Corps talking about the search. He halted his search and listened.
"Hey, did you hear about the attack today?" 'Here we go...'
"Yeah, the strike that led the attack against the Hunters? I heard that the mission failed." 'We didn't fail, stupid rookie...'
"I dunno, they completed their main objectives, but I heard that they lost Lt. Echo." '...'
"She's probably dead, ya know those damn hunters." 'She's not dead! ....she can't be dead...'
"Hey! Scar! Over here!"
Scar looked up at where the voice was coming from. He spotted Rayne, waving her hand over her head. He rushed over to his seat, where the 13th sat. There was Scar, Rayne, Echo's seat was empty, Storm, and Blue. Blue was mysterious, partly because had just joined the mavericks recently, partly because he almost never speaks. Still, his most recognizable feature was the silver eyepatch that he wore. A booming sound was heard over the room from the front. The room silenced. Orion now had the floor. Orion was a menacing looking reploid. He stood at around 7'3", deep blue, almost black, armor with a silver crest on his chest. The stature of this maverick was massive; some say that he isn't a reploid or an android, more like a steroid. For weapons, he carried a large energy cannon. This particular weapon drew energy from S.E.T.'s (Satellite Energy Transmitter) in orbit around Earth. When activated, they draw in planetary waves and send them to the cannon's energy banks. It is a slow process, but the result is devastating. The large maverick started with a speech.
"Fellow reploids! I thank you for being able to break away from your busy tasks: office work, field duty, chow time. You know as well as I do, when the late Commander Sigma was retired, so was the Maverick Virus. Even though we have made many attempts to make peace with the Hunters, they continue to label us Mavericks! Today's strike, led by Captain Scar, was but one of many that will occur as we continue our struggle for peace!!" Orion gestured towards Scar and the 13th. Scar stood up and his unit followed suit. The reploids raised fists in the air and cheered loudly. "YAH! HOOWAHH!!" The stimulated reploids shouted. Rayne and Storm wore grins about as big as their heads swelled. Blue showed a smirk, while Scar showed no emotion, as his arms were crossed. Orion motioned them to they their seats, and the roaring crowd became docile. He continued.
"Thanks to the 13th, we have tested the prototype sniper rifle, along with a new chemical agent that will be developed and ready for Project Scramble. Yes, the rumors are true: a new prototype weapon is currently under development that will aid us in our fight against the Hunters! With this newfound technology, I am certain that we will be victorious!"
Another uproar of adrenaline pulsed through the room, some of the reploids' eyes were glowing faint blue. They hushed up and Orion concluded the meeting.
"That concludes this assembly. From now on, we will now call ourselves 'Hunter Erasers!' Take the day off. Rest up, unwind. Dismissed!"
"AYE, SIR!" The crowd of pumped Erasers shouted, as they left the assembly hall. Scar got up and gave a small yawn, still feeling the effects from the recharging capsule. Rayne stood up and stretched out, groaning while doing so. Blue was already gone, and Storm was conversing with other Erasers. Scar waited for her, and they prepared to walk out. A voice popped up in his conscience.
'Scar, step into my office, if you would. I would like to discuss some matters with you.'
"...Is it about the deal?"
'Yes, in ways...'
"........."
'Scar?'
"Okay. I'll be there."
Scar opened his eyes and looked over at Rayne, who was currently daydreaming. He then looked back at Orion, who wasn't there.
"Hey, Rayne."
"Hmm? What's up?"
"I gotta go see what Orion wants. I'll be back in a moment."
"Oh, okay. Guess I'll catch you later, then?"
Scar nodded and gave her a hidden smile, then he ran off to go see what the steroid wanted to discuss. He slowed his jog to a walk and started thinking about his dream. Like, why was Rayne involved?
'Because she's part of the deal, Scar. Collateral, if you will.'
"!"
"Orion, what's the meaning of these nightmares? You must know, since you planted that chip on me..."
'All will be explained very soon, Scar. Oh, and watch out for that wall.'
"Huh?"
Scar looked up, just in time to save himself from a collision with the mentioned wall. He rounded the corner and headed through the door to Orion's office. He took a seat in a comfortable, office like chair. He crossed his arms over his chest, and sighed heavily. Orion turned around in the large chair across from his desk. In his hand, he held a small, square shaped device. He held it up to show Scar, who in return raised a puzzled eyebrow. He then crushed the device. Scar felt a sharp sting in the back of his head. He reached behind his head and caught a similar looking device like the one Orion just destroyed. Confused, he looked up at Orion.
"That, my friend, is the device that allowed me to connect to your brain waves. You know, my voice in your head?"
"....Why did you do that?" Scar asked his daunting commander.
Orion stood up. "Because it is not needed anymore. You completed your mission, and this is part of your reward. Half of it to be exact. Now, to complete this deal, you'll have to complete another mission. Scar scoffed at this. Another mission?! But it was all for a good cause, and he couldn't live with himself if he let this slip through his fingers. He had no choice. Scar snapped his head up when Echo popped up.
"Sir, should I arrange a rescue team to get Lt. Commander Echo out of the Hunter's grip?" Scar asked his CO.
"Hmm, Echo, huh? Negative, we need to conserve our forces."
"(Damn it! Regardless, I'm still gonna go, even if I have to do it alone...)"
"And Scar, don't attempt to go against my command. It could have dire consequences."
"(Damn!)....Understood, sir."
"You are dismissed."
And with that Scar walked out of the office. Moments later, he arrived at his room. He slammed the door with fiery rage. Sounds of objects being broken are heard from within.
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MHHQ Interrogation Room
Time:
-11:33-
Signas was getting pissed. This interrogation was going nowhere. He had tried everything he could think of: asking nicely, demanding with force, threatening; nothing worked. Echo was just too sharp of tongue for Signas. He gave up, and stormed out of the room. He muttered under his breath. Something about 'not being an old, outdated computer'. She snickered to herself as he walked out. But she didn't quite know what to expect next, this was the first time she had ever been detained. She flinched a bit when the doors unexpectedly shot open. X stepped through the doors to try his hand at this interrogation. He sighed as he sat down. He placed his elbows on the table, folded his hands under his chin and began to stare at her. She sat upright from her slouching position and returned his stare.
"Alright, you wanna start by telling me why we were attacked earlier?" X broke the silence.
"Hmm, X. It's probably because we don't like you, ya know? Somewhere 'round that general area." Echo returned coolly.
"I think that there's more to it than that, Echo. One of our hunters had a violent reaction to her own EX drive. You must be connected in some way." X asked accusingly.
"I dunno, maybe it's that time of the month for her?" Echo said with a chuckle in her voice.
"What?! Ugh, stop playin' around! This is NOT a laughing matter!" X spat out at the female reploid.
"But you know what is funny? The way you blush around that chick, what's her name, Alia? Jeez, you act like you've never been around women before. As much as you hang around Zero, you sure don't act like him..." She rued the last sentence that flew out of her mouth and into X's ears. With a grin, he got up and headed towards the door.
"Be right back." X said with a calm, but firm, voice. She felt disturbed at the tone of his voice, as if X were planning something. As he walked out of the door, Echo got up and pressed her ear to the door, straining to hear some sort of commotion. Nothing. The super dense digisteel door absorbed all sound. She ignored this, as she continued to listen for what didn't seem to exist. The door she was leaning on suddenly slid open, and she fell forward. Expecting to hit the ground, she was quite surprised when she fell into the arms of Zero. She opened her eyes and looked up at him. He looked down at her with an expression that said 'what in the hell are you doing?' She jumped out of his arms and headed over to her seat. He stepped inside the door and leaned on the nearby wall. He crossed his arms and gave her a grin. "So, maverick, how ya been holdin' up?" Zero started smugly, knowing that he would strike a nerve.
"You know I'm not a maverick!" Echo said defensively.
"Heh, if you ain't maverick, then why did you join the maverick forces?"
"They're not mavericks either! We've been trying to tell you bastards that for years! But you'd rather respond with weapons instead of words!"
"You didn't answer my question. Why did you join them, knowing that they are labeled as mavericks?" Zero pulled out a list from his pocket and opened it.
"Because, well. Um...." Echo struggled for the right words.
".....is a maverick, check." He put a check next to an item on the list. "Next question. Why did one of our hunters go berserk today from an E.X. overload, and who is your commanding officer?"
"Wait a minute. Why do you keep calling me a maverick?! You saw the test results! I'm clean, no virus!" Echo told a distant Zero. He smiled at her steamed temper. "HEY! Are you even listening?!"
"Look, maverick, if I don't get some answers, I might just have to destroy this..." Zero said in a singsong type of voice. He held up a gleaming pendant. Echo gasped heavily as she searched her person for the missing jewelry.
"How the hell did you get that?!" She said, pointing a furious finger at him.
"Remember when you fell on me not too long ago? Well, this little thingamajig was just begging me to take it." He said, as he twirled it around, watching Echo as she was hypnotized by it.
"You.dirty.bastard...." Her voice trailed off. She lunged at it, but Zero quickly sidestepped, leaving a foot in her path. She stumbled, and fell on her arms. Zero knelt down and dangled the pendant in front of her face. He activated his saber in 'dagger' mode, and placed it near the shining gem. Her face froze in horror.
"Now, I think you need to do some talkin'!" Zero said with a triumphant voice. Echo was making weird sounds in the back of her throat. Zero inched the dagger closer.
"WAAHHH!! OKAY!! I'LL TALK!!" Echo exasperated woefully. She knew that she would regret this later.
"Alrighty then! Start talkin'." Zero said cheerfully, then switching into a firm voice halfway through.
Echo sighed heavily. "We were testing a new sniper rifle, along with a prototype chemical agent. X was our original target, but as you can see, that other girl proved to be a suitable guinea pig as well." Zero frowned a little. It disturbed him that X was a target, but a prototype chemical agent? This is much more serious than anyone thought.
"Ok, that might explain why she rebelled against her own E.X. drive. Now, who's your CO?"
"Heh, I don't think you really wanna know who that is..." Zero growled as he closed the distance between pendant and plasma.
"Yes, I do." He said with a glare in his eyes.
"....Scar....is my commander." Zero's face remained serious, as if he expected his name to come from her mouth. Maybe he could get Echo to squeal about Scars weak point. He shut off the saber and dropped the pendant, which Echo stretched out to grab. Then a thought ran into her head. Zero stood up and folded up the paper he had written on. Echo snatched it from his hands to see if he had written 'Maverick' all over it. She was confused as the paper was blank, except for a very poorly scribed 'Zero is the best' that ran across the length of it.
"Zero, has anyone ever told you that you write like a little kid?"
"Has anyone ever told you that you're a total loser? Well, what's your plan now? I know you can't go back to the Outpost, cause you told on them, right?" Echo's stomach dropped into the pits of abyss. "You could go back, but then, don't you think that dying would be a better option? Now you don't belong anywhere. They'd either fire you, or lock you up for treason. Think about it."
"Damn..." Echo hung her head, knowing that she defeated herself.
"Well, looks like I win. Let's get you back to your room!" Zero's expression turned gleeful. He opened the door and gestured for her leave first. The lights clicked off, and the door slammed shut.
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Medical R&D
Time:
-15:47-
A holocom screen with Locke's diagnostics and medical history dominated Kicker's holocom monitor.
SUBJECT: LOCKE NEONITE
RACE: REPLOID
GENDER: FEMALE
HEIGHT: 5'7"
WEIGHT: 190 LBS
ACTIVATION AGE: 5 YEARS
PHYSICAL APPERANCE AGE: 18 YEARS
LAST VIRUS DETECTED: UNKNOWN
"Hmm...." Kicker sat back in his chair and propped his feet on the table. He pondered about the substance found in Locke's E.X. Drive. "It was definitely a manmade bug. The Sigma Virus has been gone for a long time, so it's not connected in any way. It invades the E.X. Drive and takes total control over it, causing a massive uninterrupted flow of E.X. adrenaline to flood the circulatory veins." A distraught looking Locke walked into the Medical R&D Lab. She's been through a lot. Poor girl. Whatever, whoever did this to her, would surely get what was coming to them. She walked without pride; as if lead shackles were chained to her feet. Kicker looked at her with a face of sorrow, and rage. Rage, because he felt as if he was responsible for part of her condition. If he had been quicker, just a second faster, they might have been able to save her E.X. Drive. She would still be able to get another one installed, but it would take some time for her systems to get used to it. It's just like breaking in a new pair of shoes; only thousands of times longer. She made her way over to Kicker.
"Hey there, Locke. How ya feelin'?" Kicker asked concernedly.
"I'm fine." Locke said, her voice cracking a little. She gave him the best smile she could conjure up. "Um, do....you...think that...I'll be.....alright??" She asked him, as the smile started to fade.
Kicker cleared his throat. "Yea, everything is gonna be just fine. We had to remove your E.X. Drive because it was heavily damaged due to the mystery substance. If you want, and only if you want, we can build you a new drive, but it can take a while for it to integrate with your systems. It could take up to seven months. But that's only if you want to go through with it."
"I'll pass on that for now..." Locke said distantly. Thoughts of the blood of the hunters she bathed in earlier haunted her mind. The screams of terror. The corpses. She would never be able to forgive herself. "Hey, I'm gonna go rest up. I'll see ya later, Kicker." He nodded, and she walked out of the door.
Locke was miserable. She could think of nothing but what had happened earlier. She remembered seeing Stryke, and trying to stop herself from pouncing on him. That was it; she had to see how he was doing. Would he disown her as a friend; be terrified of her for the remainder of his life? She couldn't handle that. She walked past her room, down the hall and took a left. Stryke had just turned the lights off and was about to climb into his capsule when a soft knock was heard at his door. He grumbled as he flicked the lights back on and opened his door.
"Hey? What's up?"
She placed a hand over her mouth and gasped. Stryke looked okay; he had a large bandage placed around his mid-section. A few bandages were on his face, covering a few scrapes and cuts. She thought he would be damaged far greater than he is. She thought his face would be cold and empty. Tears started to well up in her eyes.
"Locke? What's wrong?" Stryke asked his miserable partner. Tears started to flow freely from her eyes now.
"Oh, Stryke!" She hugged him tightly, while she buried her head into his shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Locke..." Stryke hugged her close to him.
"Oh my god! Stryke, I'm so sorry! I didn't...I..." She choked out in between sobs. She looked up at him with puffy eyes. Tears were now streaming down her face like a river of sorrow.
"Shh, shh. It's okay, Locke. It's not your fault. Besides, I'm fine." Stryke said trying to console the grief stricken girl. He had never seen her break down like this before. She had quieted down some, but her shoulders still jumped a little.
"T-then, you...forgive me?"
"Yes, of course I do." He said as he led her to her room. He also began to develop watery sadness in his eyes.
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Navigator/Intel Sector
Time:
-22:44-
Alia yawned with heavy fatigue as she walked into the Navigation room. She spotted X on the far end of the room, furiously scanning the holocom screen full of combat data. She strode over to him and peeked over his shoulder. X didn't even notice her. He continued to search every piece of data on the screen for the reason why the perimeter sentries went down so suddenly. But he did this for about five minutes. Alia placed a hand on his shoulder, not expecting any kind of reaction. "Hey!" X nearly rebooted himself twice in forty-eight hours. He turned around to see a drained looking Alia staring at him.
"Alia! Whew, what'd you do that for??" X out-of-breathly asked the blonde. She smiled as X stood up.
"Do what? Wake you up so you would drool all over my holocom?"
"I wasn't -yawn- sleeping. Just looking for reasons why sentry's disappeared veggie soup detainee..." X said, barely able to keep his eyes open.
"Riight. Anyway, I think you need some sleep X. I'm serious, you're about to shut off automatically if you don't -yawn- get some sleep." Alia said as she fell backwards. She would have collided with the ground if X had not grabbed her flailing arms and pulled her up.
"Nah, you need it more. I'll sleep later." X said nonchalantly.
"Oh no, X. You need it more than I do." Alia retaliated.
"No I don't"
"Yea ya do."
"No I don't"
"Yea ya do."
The other navigators in the room had stopped what they were doing, just to see where this thing was going. They bicker like they're married sometimes. Relief came in to take they're positions, but they wouldn't leave until the quarrelling duo had resolved.
"No I don't"
"Yea ya do."
"I think both of you need some sleep."
"!"
"!"
Signas glared at the two. They looked as if they were ready to collapse at any given moment. "Seriously, you two work yourselves to death. Every day. Tomorrow, I want you to take the day off."
"But, Signas, what about the mav..." X and Alia started but Signas shook his head, cutting them off.
"Don't worry about it. The mavericks don't have enough resources to rebuild their front lines just yet. Besides, you won't be missing out on anything. We want you to take a break. Go out somewhere, have fun. You two need some time together." Signas said the last part of that sentence with a smirk on his face. X and Alia stood there with gaping mouths. Snickering was heard around the perimeter of the room. Alia quickly walked out of the room, followed by X. Commotion filled the room moments later.
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???????
Time:
-00:32-
A dark figure peered around the corner. Clear. It dashed down the pitch black halls of the massive head quarters. Rookies were so easy to fool. "I'm just going to the bathroom, I'll be right back." The figure said to itself with a chuckle. Another corner made its way into view. The shadowed figure stopped and peered around the corner. Someone was coming. She ducked down with her back to the wall to keep a low profile. The tall reploid turned the corner then stopped. She held her breath as the tall figure looked over its shoulder. It shrugged and continued on its path down the dark corridor. She sighed silently and stood up to continue her unknown path. She eventually reached a door of some kind. Looks like it has handprint security. She stood there, pondering what she could do to open this door with a hitch. A hand was pressed on the scanner to the left of her. She froze, for she knew that if this hand belonged to who she thought it did, she would be in a world of shit. She spun around on her heels to face a smug maverick hunter.
"Whatcha doin', buuuuuddy?" Zero asked the shocked Echo. "So, you decided to take a little tour of the base, eh? How nice of you to return to your room!" Echo looked confused as she turned around and looked through the now open doors. There, she saw the panicking rookie flailing around, along with her ever-so-nice holding room. She damned herself for sneaking around in a complete circle. Zero gestured her to her room, and she dragged her feet to it in response. She turned around.
"Zero!"
"Hmm? What's up?"
"......I....I wanna be a hunter."
Zero chuckled a little at this. He looked down at Echo's face. She was dead serious.
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-Big breath- OK! Man, this chapter was WAY longer than I expected it to be. (That's the reason why the update took so long!) Sorry bout that! Anyway, I recently rented Megaman X8(love it by the way) and found out that it has a subtitle called "Paradise Lost" Just to let you know, the two titles are completely coincidental. This story takes place before X8 and after X7. Well, please give me your input, good and bad, as they inspire me to write. Many thanx to those of you who took time to review my fic! 'Till next time!