Alright guys! I don't own anything Capcom owns. Plain and simple. Let's get on with the story.
A/N: This chapter and probably the rest are going to be plot-heavy, meaning that the main story is basically starting to mold.
Chapter 8: Apocalyptic Nightmare
MHHQ
Time:
-16:05-
Echo dashed around the blazing city, looking for her foe. She ducked under the slab of digicrete that was seemingly thrown at her. She abruptly stopped and unsheathed her new plasma daggers. She took a defensive stance as she listened attentively. She heard the roar of the scorching flames, the groans of the collapsing buildings and the ambience of the lucid city. The smoke that filled area she was in obscured her vision somewhat. Footsteps. Echo whisked herself around to face them. Nothing. The crackling sound of a plasma blade igniting was heard to her left. All that was left was a trail of lavender plasma. She waited for a few seconds. A trail of plasma came slicing through the smoke ahead of her. She held up her daggers to neutralize the strike. The lavender and deep sapphire hue of the blades illuminated the face of the enemy. It was a Shinobi imitation reploid, complete with mask and scarf. He back-flipped away as Echo broke the blade grapple and lunged at him with a stab. She immediately gave chase and tossed her right dagger at him. He sidestepped and countered with an energy shuriken. She hopped over it, as its trajectory was aimed at her legs. She held out her right hand and made a fist. Something blue in the distance came hurtling back towards the Shinobi, who was charging at her. Echo nodded towards the returning dagger, and the Shinobi looked behind his back. He did an aerial flip to the side in order to dodge the blade. Echo caught her dagger and smirked. The Shinobi winced in pain as his left arm clattered noisily to the ground. He then rushed at Echo, ignoring his injury. Echo barely had enough time to react to the blow by blocking. The Shinobi dished out slash after slice after swipe. Echo was barely able to block each one. Then the ninja reploid switched out of sword swinging and spun around to kick Echo in the stomach. Expecting a sword strike, she took the forceful kick and went flying several feet into a pile of rubble. She climbed out of the debris just as the Shinobi was falling on top of her for an overhead strike. Echo raised her daggers to hopefully absorb stop the rapidly falling blow. Instead, her daggers were knocked away from her. The Shinobi flipped his blade around, and thrust his blade into Echo's heart, or where it would be. She felt a strange coolness and tingling sensation as the blade passed through her chest. Then, she heard a voice.
"Ok, Echo. That's enough." The voice of Leyna came over the intercom. The city Echo was in began to digitize and became pixilated. Soon it disappeared, along with the Shinobi hologram, revealing a light blue tiled room. Leyna slid open a door and stepped in to give her the results.
"Well?" Echo asked with an eager voice.
"You destroyed nine out of ten targets, sustained two-hundred out of two-hundred points of damage and broke the record for quickest time through the run." Leyna read off of the sheet. She sounded surprised as she read the last part.
"Well, I guess that's why my name is Echo!" Echo said, resuming her cocky posture.
"Wow, a minute seventeen. That's faster than Zero and X!"
"(Which reminds me... Just how the hell did X defeat me the other day? I must be losing my edge.)"
"Well, that's it for training; you're free to do what you please for the rest of the day." Leyna said as she escorted Echo out of the training hall. Echo eventually made it to her room. She took off her armor and dressed in comfortable clothes. She decided that she would hang out in the Main Hall, see if there was anymore info, or dirt, she could pick up. She closed the door and walked down the hall towards the MH. Her thoughts soon wandered to Scar and Rayne.
"(Wonder if the guys are worried about me...? I know Scar is. I just hope they start the second part of the plan soon. I need to find out when these guys are going to attack. The sooner they do, the sooner I can return to my own unit.)"
-Flashback-
"So, they plan to use a bio weapon chemical on us?! In a week's time?!"
"Not just on the Hunters, but on every reploid in a three-thousand mile radius. You know the way that girl, Locke, reacted when she received a small dosage of Weapon Alpha? Imagine that happening to the entire continent of Neo Asia. I don't really agree with what's happening, but we somehow have to prove that we're not Mavericks!"
"Great Light. Is that what all this is about?"
"Well, to be blunt, yeah. But there is a way to stop it. If a large amount of high energy, such as super condensed plasma, were to interact with the main power core of the cannon, it would disrupt the rail waves needed to launch the chemical. The implosion of the power core would also neutralize the chemical agents in Weapon Alpha."
"Ok, one more question. How do you know all of this? I know that you're a mav... an enemy, but it only seems like weapon developers and scientists would know that about that kind of inside info. Not a frontline officer."
"Heh. Let's just say that looks can be deceiving. Sure, I'm an accomplished fighter, hell, I'm badass. But I double as a nuclear engineer. And besides, I'm the only person in the entire corps that knows of Weapon Alpha's glitch. But if you guys decide to raid the place, please, please don't kill Rayne. Or Scar."
"Ok, I'll try to make that happen. Dunno about Zero, though. We appreciate your cooperation. Now, we'll need you to direct us to the cannon when we do attack. So, you still want to join the Hunters?"
"Hell yeah. I actually want to stop this action they're taking myself. But, treason was not an option. Plus, I didn't want to drag Scar and Rayne into the mess I would've created."
"You seem...close...to those two?"
"Yeah, Rayne's my twin, and Scar's a close friend."
"Hmm, I see. Ok, you're dismissed."
-End Flashback-
"(Wow. Heh, I wonder if I can really pull this off. Commander Orion sure put a lot of trust in me. The Hunters put a lot of trust in me.)"
She was surprised when she bumped into something soft, and fell down. She looked up at the looming figure. He held out a hand, offering to help her up.
"Sorry bout that, you all right?"
She took his hand and he lifted her up with great strength. As she scuffled to her feet, she looked up at who she accidentally rammed into. He had sharp, but soft green eyes. His smile comforted her. Even though she didn't know who he was, she felt like she had known him for years. His reddish orange hair sat messily on top of his head, as a few bangs stood out from the rest. He had a scar on his face. He wore a loose green T-shirt and baggy blue jeans. She was lost in his eyes. They seemed to make her forget about anything and everything that happened in the past few days.
"Hmm? Hey, miss? You alright?" Axl tried reaching the dumbfounded girl.
"Oh, yeah. Umm... fine I am...sorryforbumpingintoyou!" Echo stammered out as she stepped around Axl and briskly walked down the hall trying to conceal a blush. Axl turned and stared at her while she nearly bumped into many other people. He sighed and continued to his destination. Echo found Leyna on a bench by a fountain in the MH. She sighed and sat next to her.
"Hey, what's up?" Leyna said as she looked up from her book at the red Echo. She looked down the hall and saw Axl walking down it.
"Who's that guy?" Echo said timidly. She was fidgeting around on the bench. Leyna cocked an eyebrow.
"Oh, him? That's Axl. You know, he the new generation reploid prototype. Cute, huh?" Leyna toyed with Echo.
"Axl, huh...? Thanks!" Echo finally suppressed her blush. She stood up and went over towards a group of people.
"You're welcome?" Leyna was confused now. Oh well, she thought.
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Downtown Arcadia
Time:
-17:21-
Zero walked dubiously around the streets, looking for nothing. This sucked. Never again would he tell an investigation team to suck it up. Damn snow. It only served to make the search harder. He looked over at his unit. Everybody looked bored; they were either waltzing around, throwing snowballs, or dodging them. They had already found the source of the attack, Icestorm Konga. X and Axl did a pretty good job busting him up. Zero thought back to the last transmission he got from HQ.
-Flashback-
Beep. "This is Zero. We've finished searching the city...again. Should we report back to HQ?"
"Good job, Zero. Go ahead and wrap things u...hold on."
Voices heard in background. ".........one more round......outta my hair....."
"Zero, Signas says to make one more round. Then you guys can come back. Over and out."
"......" Beep.
-End Flashback-
"That was the fourth report, too. I don't think Signas is very fond of us." Zero said dryly to himself as he leaned up against a light pole.
"Hey, Zero!!"
Zero reacted to the booming voice of Siege, a gruff Hunter in his unit. He was running towards Zero with an urgent look on his face. Zero perked up and cleared all thoughts of pranks on Signas out of his mind.
"Siege, what's up?" Zero asked eagerly.
"Come back to the base, now! The mavericks are about to make an announcement on channel 111!"
"Alright, will do. Tell the others to head back as well."
"Ok. Man, shit's about to get heavy, I can feel it."
"Got that right. See ya at HQ." Siege nodded and ran off towards the frolicking hunters. Moments later, light flashes and warp beams signaled that the hunters got the word. Zero struck his usual pose as he was engulfed in a crimson light.
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MHHQ-Grand Hall
Time:
-17:29-
X walked into the Grand Hall, and found Stryke, Locke, and Kicker sitting across from one of the many televisions. He ran over to them.
"Hey X! How ya doin'?" Locke asked with concern.
"I'm fine. So, what's all this about?"
"Dunno yet. Heard rumors that the mavericks making some kind of speech, or somethin'." Stryke perked up.
"Hmm..." X looked around for Alia, but she was nowhere in sight. "You guys seen Alia?"
"Yeah, she's still in the infirmary. Wonder if the word got to her?" Kicker answered.
"Thanks!" X spun around and jetted down the hall towards the infirmary. When he arrived, he asked the desk nurse where her room was. She told him Room 10, and he was off again. Almost out of breath, he knocked on the door.
"Come in!" A sweet voice responded to the soft knock. He opened the door and walked in. Alia was sitting on the edge of her bed, with Ed, the metool, on her lap. Ed popped up and looked over at X. He seemed delighted to see him. X walked over to Alia and sat next to her.
"Hey. How are you feeling?" X asked sympathetically.
"I'm fine. Ed here made sure of that." Alia said with a smile as she looked down at Ed.
"Good. Hey, did you hear about the rumors about the maverick announcement?"
"Yea. I'm changing over to it right now." She flipped the channel from some reality show to channel 111. X sighed, wondering what was to happen after this broadcast. He looked at the time, 17:30.
"X, what's gonna happen?" Alia asked worriedly.
"I don't know. I just hope that it's a harmless announcement. I mean, we have our hands full with Weapon Alpha. I don't know what else they plan to do..." X said with a hint of hopelessness in his voice. Ed warbled in agreement. As promised, the Maverick's insignia popped up on screen, and was replaced with the mug of Orion. X, Alia and Ed all listened intensely.
"Greetings, fellow reploids, humans and Maverick Hunters. As you all know, we have been labeled Mavericks, even though the late Sigma was destroyed months ago, and the "Maverick Virus" disappeared. Yet, the Hunters still continue to beat us down, destroy us, even though the virus does not exist anymore. This is why we must retaliate."
X got a knot in his stomach. He had a feeling whatever was going to happen next would be devastating. He looked at Alia with worried eyes. The usual commotion in the MH was now silent, as the many reploids were intensely watching the broadcast.
"We simply cannot let ourselves be destroyed by a deaf government. The only way to get out from under the crushing weight of the Hunters is to launch Weapon Alpha!"
A massive cannon, which stood at least three stories in height, was shown aimed at the center of Neo Asia.
"NO!" X cried. Alia shook her head in confusion. The hunters in the MH were shocked, pissed, and terrified.
"Weapon Alpha: a chemical agent designed to disrupt the E.X. drive of reploids, causing them to act violently. Once administered, all of the reploids in Neo Asia will become nothing but thrashing animals. We are ready to fire the cannon at midnight. You want a war, Hunters? You can have your war. Not with Mavericks, but with Hunter Erasers!!" The transmission ended with an icy glare from Orion.
"Oh no...no. No. NO!" X whispered to himself loudly. He pressed his face into him palms.
"X, what're we gonna do? That cannon will fire in six and a half hour!!" Alia said, her voice trembling. Ed jumped off of her lap and started walking around in circles. X stood up, clenching his fists.
"Damn it! We have to act now!" Right on cue, the alarm assembling all hunters to the Grand Hall sounded. He started for the door, when Alia stopped him.
"Wait, X!" She said, her voice a bit mellow. "I'll go down to the Navi Room. I'll be your navigator." Alia stood up sorely, with a determined look on her face.
"Alia..."
"X, don't try to stop me. I won't listen, anyway. I'm going to be there with you, whether you like it or not." Alia said, her usual stern voice quivering. X turned around and embraced her tightly. She returned his warm hug with one of her own. Tears began to well up in her eyes.
"Alia. Thank you for always being there for me." X said in a strong voice.
"No problem, Rock. No problem."
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Whoo-hoo! I got this chapter done in two days! Thank you, reviewers, for your support. If the story seems slow, well, things are heating up! Any questions, comments, even flames (although I will ignore them) you have about this story, feel free to e-mail them to me. And I will respond to the best of my ability. Well, that's all for now! Until next update!