Disclaimer: Wait. You're tellin' me you know this stuff? And that I don't need to write it? Cool! But to be safe, I don't own the Megaman Series. I just add on to the chaos that is already in existence. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 9: Operation: Hunter Storm

MHHQ-17th Hallway
Time:
18:05-

X ran down the hall from his room, donned in full Ultimate Armor. He couldn't believe it. The Erasers were planning to fire a death cannon. This, they knew. But, the Erasers firing the cannon a week early? This was going to be a bit tough. Had Echo been telling the real truth? She had to be, otherwise, the Hunters would have never known about the cannon. Plus, she was held here for a while, so she couldn't have possibly known that they were going to fire earlier. X saw a few figures in the distance, running in the same direction.

"Hey!" X called out, his voice slightly elongated from his sprint. The figures up ahead slowed down and looked over their shoulders.

"X! There you are!" Locke exhaled. She seemed cheerful, even though the situation they were in was critical.

"Hey! Those damn Erasers! Why now!" Stryke whined.

"Alright guys, this is the big one. We cannot fail this mission, or, well, you know what'll happen." X reminded the two. They responded with a nod, and picked up their sprint. X thought back to the end of the interrogation.

Flashback-

"So, they fire in a week, huh?"

"Yes. -Sigh- I really wish it didn't have to come to this. It's bad enough that we were forced into..."

"Hmm? What was that?"

"Damn it. X can you keep a secret?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Well, a few years ago, sometime after the Sixth Uprising, my sister, Rayne and I were forced into the Outpost Corps. They wiped certain parts of our memories, too. For instance, I can remember up to an hour before we were captured, but as far as my creator, no dice. Then, they put us through tests."

"What kind of tests?"

"Well, for me, they tested me on my logical aptitude, combat skills, and physical strength. And that's when I found out that I'm an apt Nuclear Engineer."

"I'm sorry..."

"Don't be. It's Orion's fault. I'll get that bastard."
End Flashback-

"Echo..." X thought about the troubled girl. His thoughts soon became scattered, as the group came to the large doors of the Assembly Hall. The humungous doors slid open to reveal the many ranks and squads that made up the Maverick Hunters. The 1st, 4th, 11th, 17th, 23rd and 0th Units were all fell in and at attention. To the left, X saw Douglass, Karbon and Cogs, lined up around what looked like a prototype something. It sort of resembled a Ride Armor, though the size had been scaled down a bit, making it look more like an extra set of armor. It had a rotating triple-barreled rail gun mounted on its left shoulder. The right arm was a huge particle displacement cannon, capable of taking down at least three or four tanks.

To the right, X saw the Navigation team, which consisted of Pak, Shila, Alia, and many other spotters X didn't recognize. He also caught a glimpse of a purple haired intern he saw looming around the Navi room earlier this week. X found his unit and promptly fell in. Across from his unit stood the 0th, which consisted of Zero, Axl, Leyna, Echo and Siege. The Medical staff stood a little ways to the left of them. Everybody was assembled. Signas looked around and started the briefing.

"Alright, Hunters. This is it, Operation Hunter Storm." He nodded towards Yao, who typed on his keyboard and activated a large holoscreen, showing the large crowd a map of Outpost Orion, along with estimated security positions, the location the cannon was positioned and a countdown timer until the cannon was fired. Timer read "5:53:06:87 remaining".

"This is the layout of Outpost Orion's main base. Intel shows that the cannon is located...here." Signas made another gesture to Yao, and the screen refreshed, showing a large, green energy signature. A whistle of amazement was heard from a squad in the 0th.

"Yes Zero, that is quite the sight." Signas said, looking in the direction of the 0th unit. Zero's jaw dropped in astonishment. Axl was about to crackup with laughter, but held his bearing and made a few odd sounds instead. Echo showed no strong emotion, but smirked a little bit due to Axl's childish behavior.

"It wasn't me!" Zero cried out. Signas ignored him and turned back to face the screen.

"Ok, this is the plan of attack: The 4th Stealth Unit will pair up with the 17th Assault Unit. These two units will assault the Outpost's front lines by Ride Chaser. The 4th will dismount 300 meters from the main assault, while the 17th will continue towards the battlefront to draw attention from the 4th.

The screen refreshed to show the main route of the 17th and 4th, along with the drop off point for the 4th. Signas continued the battle plan.

"From there, the 4th will go ghost, and contact the 11th Sniper Unit and the 0th Special Unit, letting them know how the situation is. The 4th will sneak up to the perimeter and deactivate any anti-air defenses of the Outpost with aid from the 11th's long range fire. The 0th will proceed and break off accordingly to the battle situation. If the 17th is somewhat overwhelmed, the majority of the 0th will aid them. If perimeter security is tight, then the majority will aid the 4th and 11th. Finally, the 1st Airborne Unit and 23rd Heavy Arms Unit will blow a hole through the side of the Outpost, and storm the inside. By then, the 17th should have whittled down the front line opposition, and will join the storming of the building. Any questions?" A hand shot up from the 4th.

"What kind of opposition can we expect to encounter?" The gritty voice of a seasoned hunter questioned.

"From our intel satellites, the Outpost has increased the security of the perimeter defenses since their announcement. That was about thirty minutes ago. Since we deploy in an hour, we can expect them to have at least 80 of their forces on the frontlines, and perimeter defense." Another hand shot up; this time from the 0th. "Yes, Zero." Signas said with an annoyed expression.

"Nevermind. I forgot." Zero said sheepishly as multiple sighs became audible. Signas gave Zero the eye of death and turned back around.

"Ok, if there are no other questions, then I'll wrap this up. Once the 1st, 4th and 17th are in the main complex, they are to search and destroy the weapon. Also, there are two individuals that need to stay alive if you encounter them." Signas made a gesture, and the screen flashed, revealing two reploids, one male, one female.

"The male is Scar Acceleron, and the female, Rayne Zelinger." Eyes in every Unit wandered around looking for Echo, who twitched nervously.

"Yeah, right. If I come across Scar..." Zero scoffed, clenching his fist tightly at the sight of the evil looking Scar. Echo looked nervously over at Zero, who had fire in his eyes.

"Zero..." Echo started.

"Yeah, don't worry, kid. I'll just bust him up till he needs intensive care, but I won't kill him. Yet." Zero said with a smirk. Echo didn't know whether to laugh or cringe.

"All right hunters, you have your orders! We initiate Operation Hunter Storm at 19:00 hours. Until then, you are free to prepare and rest up for the strike. Dismissed!"

"AYE, SIR!" The hunters exclaimed as they snapped to a salute.

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Outpost Orion - Assembly Hall
Time:
18:36-

"Erasers! The time for us to clear our names is almost at hand! Soon, every hunter on Neo Earth will be either destroyed, or will open up their eyes!" Orion exclaimed as he shot a fist up. This caused a massive uproar of noise from the many Eraser ranks. Scar, clad in new, sleeker-looking onyx armor, was leant up against the outside door, listening to Orion forming a plan to lead the entire base to their demise. What fools. How they listen to his load of crap. He shook his head as Orion began another winded speech.

"What to do...?" He closed his eyes and visualized his thoughts. There was no doubt that the Hunters would not respond to the recent threat. If everything went according to plan, then Echo has joined the Hunters. Temporarily. Just then, the doors he was standing next to shot open. Out spilled a little more than one-thousand Hunter Erasers in a steady stream, all pumped and riled up. Many of the Erasers brushed up against him, and his once damaged shoulder. Scar poked his head up over the large crowd, looking for a certain someone. He scanned the stampede of reploids, looking for someone that matched Rayne's DNA signature. Finally, she appeared on the edge of the shifting crowd.

"Rayne!" Scar called out, barely audible due to the amount of commotion filling the hallway. Rayne looked around with a puzzled expression. She saw a familiar arm flailing about above the vast herd. Sighing inwardly, she passed through the crowd, making her way to the body the arm belonged to. In return, she received elbows ribs, stepped on feet, and caused a few people to trip. Finally making it to her destination, she found Scar leaned up against a wall. Rayne rushed over to him.

"Scar! Where were you? You missed the briefing." She said, giving him her best mock scolding voice.

"No I didn't. I was listening outside the door." Scar said coolly. Rayne crossed her arms over her chest, and widened her stance.

"Oh, really?" She cocked an eyebrow.

"Yeah. You can hear that bastard preach through soundproof digisteel." Scar said with a chuckle. Rayne laughed along with him. He stopped laughing abruptly and whispered something into Rayne's ear.

"How soon?" Rayne asked quizzically.

"As soon as the battle starts." Scar said with a careful glance over his shoulder. Rayne nodded and headed off towards the armory. Scar drew in another inward sigh, and started walking in the opposite direction. He was startled when a hand clasped down on his shoulder. He spun around with great speed and drew his blade. His eyes met the sharp eyes of Orion. Re-sheathing the hardened digisteel blade, he dismissed his combat stance and stood upright.

"Heh heh! That's some reflexes, Scar." Orion said with a snarl.

"Orion... What is it?" Scar asked with annoyance wet in his voice.

"Here." Orion threw an object at Scar, which was caught and examined.

"What is this?"

"It's the control to "end your nightmares". I now trust you enough to the point where I don't need to keep tags on you. Now, you may fight without worries."

"Nightmares?" Scar thought back to the recent dream he had had. He saw himself sprawled out on the floor in front of Orion. With Rayne shackled to a nearby wall.

"Surely you remember?" Orion said with a smirk.

"Yeah." Scar said. It took everything he had to not lash out at Orion. It took great will power not to throttle the reploid that forced him into the military. Orion would pay for this; one way or another...

"And Scar?"

"..."

"Good luck." And with that, Orion turned around and walked off. Scar looked at the small elliptical device. Tossing it over his shoulder, he began to walk towards his continued destination. Before the object hit the ground, it flashed and split into fourths. Scar re-sheathed his katana as the door shut behind him.

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MHHQ-Armory
Time:
18:56-

X hopped onto his customized Ride Chaser T-X. He messed around with the control panel for a bit, then the sleek machine glowed and hummed to life. It lifted off the ground ever so slowly, calculating the weight of its operator. X's Chaser was customized so that it would only operate when the correct weighted person was on it. So he knew what was going on when his Chaser stopped humming and fell to the ground.

"Zero, you can at least tell me next time when you decide to plop down on the seat." X said annoyed as the Crimson Demon de-cloaked himself.

"Sorry bout that! I completely forgot about that weight thing." Zero said with a smirk as X ignored him. X looked around the Launch Bay. The 17th in its entirety was lined up and ready to go. He gave them a reassuring nod as a voice came over his comm link.

"17th, this is Alia. I'll be your navigator for this mission. Do any of you have any questions before the operation?" Alia asked in a cool manner. Almost as soon as she finished, Zero started yelling like a human toddler for attention.

"I do! I have one!" Zero exclaimed eagerly.

"...What is it Zero?" Alia asked in a dreary tone, knowing he was about to ask something completely irrelevant about the mission.

"It's about the mission." He started in a serious tone. A small gasp was heard over the Chaser's comm link. X perked up and stared at Zero, half surprised, half suspicious.

"What?" Alia blurted out in shock.

"It's about the mission." He said again, this time with a more serious tone.

"What is it?"

"When we get back, X wants to know if he can take you out to La Cascada?" Zero said in a childish tone. X sat upright, and motioned to choke his friend as Alia growled over the comm link.

"X, make sure that something happens to Zero before he gets back. Signas orders." Alia said with a slight demonic tone. X smirked and turned back around to grab the controls.

"I'm just joking around, X! Heh heh. X? Um, Alia?" Zero said with a gradient voice going from kidding around to uncertainty. The Bay doors opened as the iridescent light of the setting sun spilled into the large room. A safety restraint held X perfectly still as the gusting kickwind of the once nearby chasers launched with incredible speed. X watched the signal light ahead of him with intensity. Still red. He tightened his grip on the controls.

"X, um. Where's my restraint?" No answer. Still red.

"Are you ready X?" Alia asked in a firm voice.

"Yes. Let's go." X answered as he revved the engine. The light started flickering.

"X, where's my RESTRAINT!" Zero cried desperately.

"Megaman X, launching!"

"Please go slow! SLOW!"

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Oh. My. Goodness. I'm terribly sorry about the long, long update. So sorry. Forgive me! Anyway, that's enough groveling. The reason for the long update is because I have been working with Game Maker, a game designing program, to create a Megaman-esque game, Phantom Paradise. Yep, I plan to have it tie into this story (which after re-reading past chapters, will be re-written) and even write a fic for it for those of you who don't want to play the game. So, I have a lot to do. But I should have plenty of time to do that, since only 4th QTR is left! 9 more weeks! I'll stop now! ... Anyway, I'll keep writing if you keep reading and reviewing! And I can't wait for Megaman X Collection!