The mood was solemn when Jennie stepped into the meeting room. She tensed slightly as she saw the others there… X, Zero and Signas. It was pretty clear they were coming in on the tail end of an important discussion… and it had something to do with her. Signas stepped forward as she entered the room.

"Jennie, we have some bad news." He said matter of factly. "Your creator has been kidnapped." Jennie stared at him, her face turning white. Axl put an arm around her… he knew the truth of how much this would frighten her.

My brother? Kidnapped? Jennie wet her dry lips, and managed to speak. "Who did…?" She had trouble imagining who could have kidnapped her brother. Humans could have done it for money, but in that case, why would the Maverick Hunters be involved? And Mavericks would kill, not kidnap.

But it seemed she was wrong.

"It was a group of Mavericks." Signas said grimly, looking at her very directly. "We called you here to ask if you know of any projects he was working on that the Mavericks would want badly."

Jennie hesitated, thinking about that. She knew several projects he had been working on…

"Maybe… he had one project, but he wasn't going to implement it." She said softly, looking down. "It was a nanite virus. If the Mavericks found out about it and thought he was going to use it, that might…" Then she stopped, hesitating. "No, they would have just killed him. That doesn't make sense."

"A nanite virus? What would that do?" X asked with a frown. He knew about nanites… they were the basis for Reploid auto-repair systems, tiny machines that were invisible to the naked eye. They could also be used in human medical care, but he'd never heard of a nanite virus.

"It would be a Reploid plague." Jennie glanced up at X. "He came up with the idea after his family was destroyed, but… even then he wasn't angry enough to do it. And he never found a way to immunize anyone against it." Signas blinked, and X looked rather horrified at the idea. Zero just lifted an eyebrow, slightly skeptical.

"You're right, the Mavericks would have just killed him if they'd heard about that…. Anything else?" X asked, and Jennie tried to think.

"I don't…" She suddenly stopped, horrified, as something occurred to her. "Oh no, they couldn't mean to do that! Could they?"

"Do what, Jennie?" Axl asked, gently touching her shoulder to catch her attention.

"Turn him into a Reploid and infect him with the virus…!" The Hunters in the room blanched at the thought. But when they considered it, it seemed horribly plausible. David Herkowitz had created the system to transfer a human to a Reploid body, and created so many new inventions and innovations in Reploid technology. Exactly the kind of thing the Mavericks hated in a human… and desperately wanted in a recruit.

If they were willing to overlook his original humanity, transferring him into a Reploid made him recruitable. Or rather… infectable.

"That must be it. Damn!" Zero swore feelingly. "We can't afford that!" Signas nodded solemnly as X looked troubled. The inventor was a great donator to the Maverick Hunters in terms of money and materials. And loosing his designs to the Mavericks would be a tremendous blow to everyone.

"What can we do?" Jennie hated the quaver in her own voice, but she couldn't help it. X stepped forward, patting her on the shoulder with a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, Jennie. We're already searching for him. As soon as we find him, you can be in the assault team to get him back." X smiled warmly. "Just don't let your feelings get away from you." Jennie nodded, understanding his warning. Her rage and fear could be useful if she kept it under control, but a liability otherwise.

"Yes sir. Thank you." Jennie saluted, and they all left to return to their quarters.

There was nothing to do now but wait.

Elsewhere…

Alia checked her communications panels diligently. Coordinating the efforts of the Hunters was a very important task, and she excelled at it. Of course, she often suffered from the communicators' bane… lack of information. Satellites did well to locate massive Maverick outposts but couldn't locate more discreet locations. And as the Hunters developed more measures to detect the Mavericks, they were always working to defeat those measures.

"Demodand, you're entering an area of occupation. Be careful." She advised a Hunter from the 5'th. A cheery voice answered him.

Thumbs up, Alia, thanks! She smiled slightly at that reply, and went to check something else.

Hunter, Alia started as an unfamiliar voice spoke in her ear. The internal network was supposed to be impenetrable! If you want to find the inventor, try Death Valley. You might find something interesting.

"What? Who are you?" she said, stunned. The voice did not reply. "Hello?"

Alia checked her network, trying to find an intrusion but could only detect traces of it. She scowled… she would check that to find out how it had been done, but for now, there was something more urgent to be done.

"Commander X, I just received an anonymous communication over the secure lines…"

Later…

Kzzt… And I thought Arizona was hot! I'm melting! Seriously, I think my skin is coming off! Jennie smiled weakly at Axl's attempt at comedy, but didn't reply. She was far too worried to be easily amused.

Under any other circumstances she would have been fascinated by the scenery of Death Valley. The heat was just as bad as Axl had said; enough that even Reploids needed to bring some water to refresh their systems. It was the height of summer, and heat waves were radiating from the ground. That was a little confusing to the eye, but the cracked, hard surface was extremely flat and perfect for hovercycles.

She and Axl were part of a six person team. Surreptitious scouting ha discovered the concealed, underground Maverick base in Death Valley. But given the nature of that base and the situation, Signas and X had decided that a frontal assault would be disastrous. A frontal assault could easily cost Jennie's brother his life.

So they had decided to send a small team. X and Zero were leading the way. Jennie had been taken because of her connection to David, and Axl had been picked as one of the best hunters in the 17'th. A crack shooter from the 0'th named Nexus was there, and last was a medic from the 14'th. She was a double specialist in human and Reploid physiology, and was riding behind X, clinging to him with grim intensity. Jennie hoped the girl would be alright. Her double specialties usually made her too valuable to risk in battle, so she had never done this before.

Jeeen-nie Still alive? Axl sounded a little muted now. Jennie winced and keyed her communicator. She hadn't meant to worry him.

"Sorry, just thinking. It is really hot," she said, trying to make conversation. "We'll all need showers when we get back." Usually, Reploids only needed to shower once a week or so. The artificial skin and semi-organic components didn't shed or generate sweat the way human skin did. But things did tend to build up, especially during heavy activity or heat. Usually, that resulted in a smell that mingled plastic with a metallic tang. It was a longstanding joke in Hunter HQ that you could tell when a unit came in from the smell of ozone in the air.

Did you hear that we'll be getting a hot tub? Jennie blinked at that. She hadn't heard it, and the idea managed to distract her momentarily from her worries.

"No. You mean for the whole HQ?"

Yup. We're splitting the next rookie class with the new HQ, so the architects are figuring out how to take out a bunch of rooms and install a pool and a hot tub! Won't that be awesome? Axl sounded enthusiastic, and Jennie grinned. Right now, Hunters who wanted to swim had to take a bus or hoverbike down to the local YMCA. Having on-site pools would be far more enjoyable. The new HQ was built with them, the lucky bastards. Almost makes me wish I was in their units.

We're getting close. X's voice cut across their private chatter. Everyone, park the hoverbikes. They couldn't take them much closer without alerting the Mavericks. Axl skidded to a screeching halt, and Jennie coughed as she took more of his dust.

"Axl, do you always have to kick up dust clouds?" She complained, and he flashed her a grin.

"Afraid so, lovely. It's part of my charm!" he said cheerfully, and Jennie shook her head.

"I think it detracts from your charm." She hopped off her hoverbike, and the other four started setting up a concealment field. Jennie wasn't certain how it worked, but it would screen the hoverbikes from most casual scans. It involved four rods set into the ground in a square, and would be entirely useless against straight eyeball detection. But it was the best they could do.

"Alright, that's it. Let's go!" Zero led the way, dashing towards the base. There was no cover in Death Valley, but the fact that the Maverick Base was so well concealed would work in their favor. The Mavericks couldn't run patrols without risking being found so it was unlikely they would meet anyone.

Of course, finding the entrance was a bit of a challenge. Their cover couldn't last much past then, but they wanted to keep it as long as possible and that meant finding the concealed entrance. Alia's scans could detect the base but no other details.

It took almost half an hour before their scanners finally found it. Jennie was gritting her teeth against her own impatience before they were halfway through, concentrating with grim intensity on her scanner.

Over here! Axl's voice came over the communicator, and Jennie abandoned her search instantly to rush over to him. He was pulling open a hatch that led to… well, who knew? Soon, everyone was there.

"Okay, let's do this by the numbers." X started directing them, putting the medic second last, with Zero bringing up the rear. If something went wrong, the medic would need shielding.

Jennie closer her eyes, taking a deep breath, then started in. She had to do this right…