Present to Past
By: Kyrial
"Double or nothing" X growled.
He and Axl had decided to take the same day off and just hang around Headquarters. It had seemed a decent enough idea at the time, though X re-thought it after the incident with Zero's hair earlier that morning. After the 10-minute chase through the floors of HQ, they hid in a hangar bay and began to play cards with the technicians and mechanics. X, as it seemed, was losing tremendous amounts of credits to none other than his pistol-wielding partner, Axl.
"X, buddy, calm down" Axl chuckled half-heartedly. "It's not like you're going broke or anything. You've got more credits saved than our slightly-fearless leader, Signas, for Creator's sake!"
"That's not the point, Axl. I've got an issue with losing, and this is just getting to me now. I don't think I've ever done this poorly at cards."
After the comment, X took of his helmet and sat it on the chair next to him. His spiky black hair jutted upward the moment it left his head. He eyeballed the crew he was playing with. Axl, the black and red armored hunter that served in the 17th unit with him, Douglas, the mechanic that developed most, if not all of X's new weapons and armor, and a few of the technicians that worked with Douglas. This crowd could have torn down and rebuilt the entire HQ within hours if they'd felt the need, and X was proud to have them on his side. At the moment, however, he only wanted them to drop over from sickness, and fold their hands.
"Hope this hand works out better than the rest of them have" he muttered to himself.
Douglas, his semi-round form slumped into the chair he had gotten, looked at him and smiled. "Commander, I don't think anyone here has ever had the kind of bad luck you got today."
A laugh came from everyone present, and even X smirked. It did seem odd that his luck would take a nosedive like this, considering the war they'd, yet again, brought to a halt.
"First off, knock off the 'Commander' stuff. But thanks for the enthusiasm."
"No prob' Commander."
"Didn't I tell you to stop calling me that?"
"Yea, but we do it anyway" Axl let fly. As soon as the words eeked out of his mouth, he held the hand of cards in front of his face, as though studying them intently.
"I didn't ask you, Axl. I know you won't stop doing it, most likely because you enjoy seeing it annoy me" X shook his head at the hunter.
"You're a perceptive one today, aren't you X?" came a voice from behind him. He knew who it was, and running wouldn't help. Axl looked up, his eyes went wide, and he went back to staring death into the cards.
As he turned his head, he wished he hadn't. Zero stood not more than 6 inches from X's arm, and he had a glare in his eyes that even the mighty Colonel would have backed away from.
"H-Hey, Zero. How's it going, buddy?" X asked with a child-like innocence. The smirks from the others came and went in a breath as Zero's gaze swept the crowd.
"Well, let me put it this way….." the leader of Special Unit 0 had a sharp edge in his voice that sounded unhealthy to anyone who knew him, but he maintained his cool as he spoke, "I got up this morning, had me a nice Power Drink, and went to get fixed up. As I stepped in front of the mirror to re-do my hair, I had to gasp. Why, you ask?" A tint of rage had begun to creep into his voice, and everyone in the room tensed. Before he spoke again, he thrust a handful of his long hair into X's face. "THIS IS WHY!" The gorgeous blond hair that had been known throughout all of the Maverick Hunter Headquarters, even in the ranks of most Mavericks, was now a chrome-tinted white.
X had to really suppress the laughter he wanted to unleash, but he feared for his life if he did so. The rest of the hunters, save for Axl, began to spew reasons for their sudden departure, and soon the room was silent, a fuming Zero waiting for a response.
"Well, with all due respect to the lov- I mean, uh, great hair you had, this color isn't too bad on you, Z."
"Yea, man, you gotta let it go. It's not like you can't just change it back, ya know?" Axl spoke for the first time since Zero had arrived. Now he wished he hadn't.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, JUST CHANGE IT BACK? THIS IS YOUR FAULT, AND THE COLOR IS LOCKED IN, THANKS TO YOU!"
"I didn't do it on purpose, geez! I just wanted to see if you'd flip or not, and apparently, you have. I'll change it back as soon as Alia gives me the codes!" Axl slunk back into his chair, crossing his arms. His pistol rested in it's holster, but the end clanked off the seat of the chair. He looked down at it, and un-holstered it to sit it on the table.
Zero was about to start throwing a string of obscenities toward Axl, when something came to mind. His face went back to his normal care-free one, and he almost smiled as he spoke.
"Alia was in on this? That makes things different. If you'd have told me that from the start, I might not have freaked about it."
"Wait, Axl, you didn't even tell me she was involved!" X croaked, looking surprised that his "girlfriend", as the two hunters with him chose to call her, would have thought of something like this.
"I didn't think she wanted me to say anything, why?"
"Well, I'd have told you not to. You really don't know, do you?" X questioned, the newer member of their team staring at him as though he were speaking Greek.
"Well, if I knew, would I have done it for her?" Axl asked after a moment. He glared back and forth between the two older Maverick Hunters, the two oldest that he knew of. From all that he had been told by the HW, these two had been around since before the first Maverick War. His creation had only been a decade or two back, but what they had said was that X and Zero had to have been at least 150 years old. It intrigued him, and thus, he had joined up with them.
Zero glanced at X, who gave him the same "do you think we should tell him?" look. Zero nodded, and looked back to Axl.
"The thing is, Alia and Zero have a thing going back and forth. Ever since he found out about my liking her, and her returning that feeling, he's been messing with her. He's pulled so many pranks on her that she though someone was out to get her. Truth is, he just wanted to see her stress. Well, I guess she finally figured out who was doing it, and this is how she planned on getting back at him" X spoke, with Axl beginning to smirk wildly. He continued, "The first prank he pulled was just a shock pad on her seat. He had it set to go off every time a Hunter called base. It was actually pretty funny."
Axl had to restrain his laughter, though he knew the rest would be worse.
X finished telling him of the pranks Zero had pulled, from the shock seat to a less-than-wonderful message on her answering machine from a movie rental place asking for their adult film back. He'd even gone far enough to switch her wardrobe while she was gone for a day, leaving her with only a short, see-through green skirt, and a tube top that made her breasts look as though they were falling out. She'd been angrier than Zero had been a short time ago, and hadn't let go of it for weeks.
"So she just neglected to mention why she made so quick a suggestion, and just happened to have her hair-color kit with her?" Axl inquired, a smile spread across his face.
"That sounds about right" Zero replied, a smirk starting to creep across his face. He shook his head, and finally smiled. He pulled a handful of hair around to look at it.
"Well, I guess it really isn't that bad, but I hadn't expected it. Since she thinks it'll get to me, I guess letting it would just make her happier" the crimson hunter spoke to no one in particular.
"You're right, Z, 'cause you know how she is" X chimed in.
"Well, time to think up a new prank. Hey, Axl, you want a part of this one? X never helps out, what with Alia being his woman and all."
Axl glanced at X, who was now staring daggers at Zero. "Yea, I'll help. Just let me know when you've though of something to do."
Zero punched X playfully in the arm, and the three of them let out a long laugh. As Zero found a seat, the mechanic crew waddled back into the room, looking to see if the argument had died out. Since no one was dead, and they seemed to be laughing, the crew decided it was time to try to take the Commander for some more of his credits. Everyone took their seats, and Douglas brought out another for Zero. Special Unit 0's leader sat and pulled himself to the table, asking to be dealt in, and what game they were playing. Little did he know what the game was about to become.
………………………………………………..
A loud shattering sound echoed through the control center for the training room, and a purple-tinted red reploid rocked in his seat, eyeing the monitors. As the sound dies out, he picks up a microphone and hits the comm. button on it.
"Salvo, keep the explosions to a minimum this time, would ya?" the deep crimson reploid asked.
"Yea, as soon as you let me know the specs on that shot, Magnet. I need to know how to tweak it, or I may end up blowing your face off next battle, and not the Mav's" Salvo replied.
"Look, man, you should know I have no idea what this crap means. You shoulda waited 'til Shift got down here, she's the only one who gets this stuff" replied Magnet.
"Alright, I'll be out in a minute. Try to get Shift on the comm. and bring her in, if ya don't mind."
"Not at all, my trigger-happy partner" Magnet snapped back with a smile. He hit his internal communications and began turning through channels until he got Shift on the frequency.
"Hey, our nuclear friend is in the chamber again. He always asks the same thing, and I'll be damned if I'm learning to understand what these readouts mean. That's your field, Shift."
"Yes. I approximated that the neanderthal had begun testing his newest play-thing. I was trying to locate the Maverick Hunter Headquarters, once again. We need to leave today, you know that?" Shift replied. Her figure was slender, showing almost no signs that she was a reploid and not fully human. The only thing that gave her away was the glowing green hair that fell perfectly upon her shoulders. She stood close to 5'6", and her slightly tan skin shown through her pink tank top. Her hazel eyes gazed at the monitor she sat in front of, only a floor above the training room that had just been through another of Salvo's tests. It amazed everyone that he had never blown a hole in one of the walls.
"Yea, I know we do. You really think this X character is going to come back with us?" Magnet replied.
"It eludes me as to whether he will choose to or not, but with the information we have, I suspect he'll have more than enough reason to."
"Good point, Shift. Well, can you at least get down here and let him know what's going on with his new toy, so I don't have him breathing down my neck all day?"
Shift gave a half-hearted chuckle. Salvo had always been impatient when it came to his weapons, and no one put him off long enough for him to start guessing about them. Bad things happened when he guessed about things.
"I'll be right down. I found the MHHQ, so we'll leave as soon as I'm done with you two. Let Arturo know that we'll be leaving at 1200 hours."
………………………………………………..
"Alia, the situation has been compromised. The virus hit the ventilation system, so we're going to have to… retire… all of the reploids here" X whispered into his comm. unit.
"Drat. I'll send Axl in to help you, if you need it."
"No dice. There's too many of them near the entrance, he'd be overrun before he got in. I'm going to use Douglas' new weapon system, and see if I can knock them all out."
"Let me know how it works out, he'll want to know."
"No problem."
X cut the comm. link and backed up against the wall. He'd hoped for a peaceful day, opting to go out and spend time at the shopping center. Of course, his hopes had been dashed upon the rocks when a Maverick showed up and sent the Sigma Virus into the ventilation system, then left the scene. It had been a new Maverick that X had never seen before, but it was fast. Lightning fast. He'd only caught a glimpse of it as it ran straight past him and out the front door. Now, he had to find a way to gather all of the infected reploids together to use his new system.
"It figures. My second day off couldn't go as well as I want, or even as well as the first. Well, back to work. Now where to do this…."
The idea came quicker than he'd anticipated. He dashed out around the corner of the clothing store he'd ducked beside, and started shouting at the reploids tearing apart the center. They lifted their heads, eyeballs blazing red with the virus, and began to run after him. He continued on, yelling and leading a growing group of reploids behind him. As he found what appeared to be the last of them, he headed for the fountain that served as the focal point of the mall. Thundering footsteps echoed behind him, keeping his mind sharp. Though he was good, this many would be able to tear him limb from limb if they got close enough.
"Well, here goes nothing!"
X stopped dead, and spun on his boot. He aimed his buster upward, making a quick judgment in the distance and arc of his shot, then let loose. A small black sphere lobbed forth from his arm, dropping into the middle of the mass of reploids bent on tearing him apart. As the ball shattered upon the floor, it let loose a torrent of electricity. It seemed as though lightning arced from body to body, branching off after every hit. Within a 20-foot radius, every reploid began to spasm violently, the sound of metal joints and bones snapping and cracking. X stood dumbfounded, looking at the mass of bodies piled upon each other. He couldn't believe one shot had taken all of them down. He thoughtlessly hit the button to his comm. link and began speaking.
"Alia…Situation handled. We need a cleanup crew down here, and maybe a repair team."
"A repair team? What for?"
"Just send them. I'm coming back to base. Have Douglas somewhere I can find him, will you?"
"Sure, X, but what should I tell him?"
"I don't care, but make sure he doesn't go anywhere."
"Yes sir."
With that, X punched a few buttons on his left arm pad, and teleported back to Hunter Headquarters.
………………………………………………..
"Arturo, is it?" Signas questioned the reploid in front of him. The hunter he spoke to stood Signas' height, and looked almost exactly like him, save for the deep-water purple look to his armor. He and three others had teleported into HQ and begun to question where Commander X was. It was evident that they were themselves hunters, but he didn't know from where.
"Yes, sir. I am the commanding officer of the Lost Island Research Facility. I suspect you do not know of our predicament, or even our base, for that matter, so please, let me explain."
Signas motioned for him to sit down, taking up his chair as a sign of faith. Arturo sat, and continued speaking.
"We at the facility are, for the most part, hunters like yourself. We, on the other hand, focus mainly upon the research behind the Sigma Virus and the Mavericks that have been encountered. Our predicament, as I mentioned, is one of importance that we feel needs immediate attention. We have decided to convert our facility into a new Maverick Hunter Headquarters, due to the recent upward fluctuation of Maverick incidents in our area."
Signas took in the information with a profound interest, and nodded approvingly.
"I take it you want Commander X to help out with the construction and oversight of the renovation?"
"On the contrary," Arturo spoke, "we only need him to confirm some of the information we've recently come across."
Signas' eyes widened a bit, then snapped back to they way they were.
"Information? Such as?"
"I'm sorry to inform you that we cannot reveal that. Commander X may at a later date reveal that if he so wishes, but we feel it pertinent that he be the only one to know at this time."
"I can respect that. You do realize that I will not, nay, cannot, entrust X to you with only that to go upon?"
"Yes, we do. I brought along three of my finest officers to find X and inform him of the situation. If he chooses to go with us, would you stop him?"
"No, I would not," Signas replied. He meant it, too. There really wasn't anything that he could do if the Commander chose to go with them. As big a friend as X was to him, and even though he ranked higher than him, he couldn't tell him no. He doubted anyone in the HQ could.
"Very well. I will wait here with you, then, if you don't mind."
"Of course not. It gives me time to find out about your operations on Lost Island."
………………………………………………..
"Commander, I really don't see why this poses a problem."
"Douglas, reploids had to be taken in and repaired for broken bones, and shorted-out circuits!" X almost screamed. "What in the world do you think I do out there?"
"My sincerest apologies, Commander. I hadn't realized the output the weapon carried would have that kind of effect. Please, let me have the program chip back, and I will fix it immediately." Douglas' apology had been sincere, and he really hadn't known it would do that. Still, X had the urge to let loose with another outburst, but kept his anger in check.
"Douglas, I know you meant no harm by it, but you should really test these programs before I have to use them in actual combat." X tapped his buster's panel, popping it open. He pulled a chip from the inside of it, and handed it to Douglas, closing the panel once again.
"Take care of that immediately, got it?"
"Yes, sir!" Douglas snapped off a picture-perfect salute, and hauled off the other direction. X wouldn't be seeing him again for a few days.
Shaking his head, X turned and headed for the elevator. Passing rooms along the way, he couldn't help but think 'what next?'. He reached the elevator, and hit the down button. He needed rest. The silver doors slid open, and he stepped in, almost bumping into Zero.
"Oh, hey Z. How was your day?"
"Hey X. My day? Slow, but interesting. Axl and I had been looking through new recruit papers, seeing if any of them would be qualified to rank either 17th unit or Unit 0. None."
"Really? Wow. Usually we have at least one or two."
"I know. There's something going on down in the conference room, I hear. Some hunters from another facility, apparently looking for you."
Confusion set in on X's face. "Me? Why me, or didn't you find out?"
"Nope. Nothing came my way for information."
X punched the floor button for the second floor, where the conference room was. He'd needed rest, but it would have to wait. If he let this go, he'd wonder about it all night, and not get any sleep. He really needed to recharge, but he liked sleeping more.
"Thanks. I wanted to find out what was going on anyway." Zero replied to X's non-existent statement.
"Let's see what's up."
………………………………………………..
Shift sat at the end of the long table, looking back and forth from Signas to Arturo. The two looked too identical to not have the same creator. She'd have to investigate that at a later date. Right now, she was focused on meeting Commander X. The information she had for him was too valuable for her to not be impatient.
Salvo sat across from Shift, and could see her eyes bounce from individual to individual in the room. He shook his head slightly, and went back to polishing the cannon on his left shoulder. He had to pull the chair back from the table another foot, for his bulk kept him from pulling tight against it. His neon green armor shone brightly in the HQ lighting. Unlike normal Hunters, his armor was more flat-surfaced, with polygonal shapes instead of the round, circular armor they wore. Beneath most of the plating that made up his armor, however, was what gained him his name. Magnet, who now sat next to him, had always said that he bore too many guns. He ran a systems check often, and only counted upwards of 20 guns. That, however, didn't count the dual plasma cannons his shoulders carried, nor the medium range missile launchers they doubled as. It also didn't include his, what he liked to call, 'safety measure'. He'd have to show off to Commander X if he came with. Salvo stood from his seat, stretching his limbs out. He stood a head shorter than Signas, averaging 5'5", and had always caught it from both his partners for being the shortest. He rubbed the top of his helmet, which bore the greek symbol for 'Alpha'. He'd never told anyone why.
Signas' comm. unit beeped, and he raised it to his ear. After a short statement, he clicked it off and looked to the group.
"Commander X is headed our way. He should be here momentarily."
"Very good. We need to be on our way as soon as possible. No offense intended, but we really must get back to governing our facility." Arturo stated.
"I understand. This bunch of Hunters isn't the best to leave alone, either."
Signas and Arturo let out a small laugh, and the door to the conference room swung open. X stood in the doorway, with an intrigued Zero standing behind him. Zero tapped him forward, and he stumbled into the room, bowing quickly to Signas, and taking a seat in between Arturo and Magnet, who had sat bolt upright in his seat when the door opened, afraid he may miss something.
"I was told I was being looked for. I take it these are the people looking?" X asked, a blank look on his face.
"Yes, this would be them," Signas replied, "and they have something to propose to you." He looked over at Zero, who still stood in the doorway. "Zero, I see no reason why you shouldn't be here. Have a seat."
Unit 0's leader nodded and took a seat close to Shift, who he'd been eyeballing since he saw her. She, on the other hand, hadn't given him as much as a glance. Instead, her attention had been focused on X. Zero did not let this go unnoticed.
"All right. Here's the deal, X" Signas started, "This here is Arturo, the commanding officer." Arturo nodded, and X returned it. "Over here we have Magnet, Salvo, and the female is their intelligence officer, Shift."
"Nice to meet you guys… and gal." X responded.
"Excuse my curtness, Commander, but we have limited time to be here, so may I get skip the formalities, and get straight to the point?" Shift had leaned forward and spoken directly to X, who was now focusing on here intently.
"Honestly, I wanted that from the start. I need to recharge, so forgive me if I seem .. curt, as well." He flashed a slight smile, then returned to his blank stare.
"Very well. We need your help. We've come across a relic that we feel only you can identify. We know for a fact that it dates back to the same time as when the good doctor found you. We believe it is related to that, actually. Unfortunately, we cannot make any further investigations into the relic without your help."
"So you want me to help you figure out what this thing is, because I was the first reploid in this era?" he asked with unblinking forwardness.
"In a manner of speaking, yes. If the Commander allows, I will further explain. I am unsure as to the trustworthiness of some present here, so do forgive me."
It took X a moment to get what she meant. "Oh, yes, explain. Zero is my most trusted friend. Anything spoken here will never reach another's ears due to him."
Zero smiled at Shift's glance toward him. She shook her head so slightly it seemed as though it only vibrated, and looked back to X.
"Very well. The 'relic' I mentioned is actually what we believe to be a workshop of sorts. A laboratory, if you will, that seems similar to the one you were found in. We think, and hope, that we can find something as important as you within it's walls, but we cannot gain access."
X was dumbfounded. Another lab, like the one he was found in? Was that possible? It seemed so, now.
"What's keeping you from gaining access?" Signas spoke up.
"In all honesty, the lock on the entrance is too old for us to open. It's a lock unlike anything we've ever seen. We estimate that since it seemed to be as old as the Commander, his systems might interpret it better than ours. This seems to be our last option, since everything else we've tried has failed."
Silence. Shift and the rest of the room waited for X to speak, and he waited for his processor to sort the information that had just been dumped upon him. A lab that dated back as far as he did, and no one but he could gain access to it. This brought up questions he'd never thought of before. What if there were another reploid like him? What if Dr. Light had other such creations, and left no mention of them in the lab X was found in. He pondered upon it for moments, which led to minutes, and the room stayed silent the entire time. He came to a conclusion.
"Shift… you say you think I can interpret the lock?"
Shift cleared her throat, though she had no reason to. "Yes, I believe so. It seems you would be the only one able to, Commander."
X looked at the table, then glanced around the room. Everyone awaited his decision.
"Alright. I'll go, if Signas allows it."
"Permission granted, X. You have time off from your duties here until you help them with this ordeal." Signas replied quietly.
"Thank you, Signas. Arturo, fellow hunters… I ask you one thing…"
The room went dead silent again.
"…can we leave in the morning? I'm still pretty tired." A smile spread across his lips, and he slumped into the chair as if to emphasize his point.
Everyone laughed and Arturo said it would be fine. The Research Facility crew got lodged in the Hunter sleeping quarters, and X went to his room. His last thoughts before nodding off were of another reploid like himself. Tomorrow would bring answers to his questions.
…………………………………………………
Morning had not come swiftly to X. His dreams, nightmares really, had been of his finding, the first few precious moments after he was released from the capsule. The face that he beheld had been the first he knew, and he wondered to himself if it had been the same for another reploid like him. He would find out soon enough. Waking early, nearly before sunrise, he set out to find someone that would be awake. He knew where to find one.
"Hey Douglas" X called over the comm. link, "you awake?"
Douglas, who'd been working through the night to fix the lightning round he'd developed, looked up from his welder and cut the flame. He pushed the button on his wrist communicator and held it up to his head.
"Yea, I'm awake, Commander. Something you want?"
"Yea. Stop calling me 'Commander', and be ready to give me good news on that weapon. I'm coming down." With that, X cut the link and headed for an elevator. Turning the corner, he ran smack into Salvo, sending him reeling backward. Salvo grabbed his arm and steadied him.
"Sorry about that, Commander X. For my size, I don't make too much noise. I apologize." The green Hunter bowed his head quickly, and stepped to the side to make way for X.
"No worries, Salvo, and please, don't call me 'Commander'… it bothers me. I hate being ranked higher than other Hunters. It make me feel like I'm more important." X shook his head.
"You are, Comm- I mean, uh, X. Say, was that you on the comm. link talking to Douglas?"
The question caught X off-guard. He hadn't thought about anyone else being awake at this time, save for Alia, but she wouldn't have worried about his presence on the comm..
"Yea, it was me. Why do you want to know?" he asked inquisitively.
"I want to meet him. I think I may have some things he'd like to check out. Plus, I've got an idea I could use help with. He seems to be the one to talk to."
"I'm headed there now, so just tag along."
"Thanks, Commander. Sorry, X."
X just sighed and shook his head, starting toward the elevator again. He hit the down button and waited, Salvo standing silent behind him like a bodyguard. He looked back at the reploid, his large frame almost intimidating, if not for the permanent smile on his face. The doors slid open, and X stepped in. He turned around to see Salvo only peeking in through the door.
"Something wrong?"
"Umm… yea. This elevator won't hold me and you together. I weigh a lot more than the limit it says." Salvo looked almost embarrassed. X wondered how he could possibly weigh that much.
"Alright, we'll take the stairs then."
"No sir. Take the elevator, I'll meet you down there. It's the Basement floor, right?"
X nodded. Salvo returned it, and headed toward the stairs at a trot. The doors to the elevator slid shut as the green hunter escaped view, and X sighed. That was a heavy reploid, if he couldn't take an elevator for fear of something happening. As the lift descended, he heard footsteps from somewhere, keeping pace with the descent he was in.
"What in the world?"
The doors came open again, leading into the mechanic's hangar, and X ducked out quickly. He jogged over to where Douglas was sitting, a smile on the designer's face.
"Hey Commander. I have the specs on the downgraded version of my lightning round. You want the data, or you want the 'prints?"
"The data will suffice, Douglas." X popped his buster panel open, and slid in a chip that Douglas handed him. He knew instantly that the weapon design had been modified drastically. It now produced a much lower voltage, with a longer lasting effect on whatever it hit. This would keep innocent reploids gone maverick from having to foot repair bills.
"Good job, Douglas. Oh, one of the new hunters from the Research Facility on Lost Island is on his way down here. I'll wait 'til he gets here, but I think he wants to talk with you."
"Well, is he green, big, and looks to have more weapons than our defense force?" Douglas replied, almost staring through X.
"Yea. How'd you know that?" X replied, dumfounded.
"He's standing behind you."
X snapped around on his heels to come face-to-throat with Salvo. The large hunter grinned sheepishly, and stepped around X, shaking hands with Douglas and introducing himself.
"Douglas, nice to meet you. I'm Salvo" the emerald warrior stated.
"As you know, I'm Douglas. What can I do you for?" Douglas replied.
"Actually, a few things. I have a few new weapon ideas that just won't seem to work out, no matter how I plan them. I was wondering…"
The conversation began to get extremely technical, so X stepped out. Back in the elevator, he decided to go find Arturo and Signas. It was about time they left for Lost Island.
……………………………
"He shouldn't be long. Alia says the motion detector in the elevator went off again, and I'm the only one other than Douglas that would be up at this time." Signas announced. He sat in his chair, looking across the table to the commanding officer of his visitors.
Arturo nodded respectfully. "Would that be because you take the minimum rest you need, or because you are so dedicated to your work?"
"In all actuality, it's because I made a promise a long time ago to see all the sunrises I could, because any one could be my last."
A silent agreement came from Arturo, who set his hand upon the table, leaning back in his chair. He sat quiet now, waiting for the Commander to grace them with his presence. He needed not to wait long. The door opened, and X stepped through, closing it behind him.
"Signas, Arturo. I expected the two of you would be here" the azure hunter stated.
"You know I'm not one to miss the sunrise, X" Signas replied coolly. "If you expected otherwise, I'd worry for you."
The sentence brought a laugh from both X and Arturo. X seated himself across from the Lost Island officer. He looked intently at the navy-purple reploid.
"Assuming Shift meant what she said, we should be going, shouldn't we?"
"Yes, we should. I apologize for the rush of things, but you can imagine how our facility is without its leaders there." He smiled lightly.
"If it's anything like this place, you're right, I can imagine." X shuddered. He knew what went on between hunters when no commanding officer was present for a period of time. He only hoped it wouldn't happen again. Sitting back in his chair, he nodded to Arturo, who in turn depressed the comm. button.
"Alright, Salvo, Shift, Magnet, it's Arturo. Get back to the conference room. We're leaving. Commander X will be joining us."
A duo of "Yes, sir!" 's came back across the link from Shift and Magnet. Arturo knew what that meant.
"You too, Salvo. I want you here immediately. Stop bothering their mechanic with your inventions."
"But, sir-" the heavy reploid answered, his voice stopping as Arturo cut the communiqué. Both he and X shook their heads lightly. It took mere minutes for the trio of hunters to get to the conference room, and even less time for them to leave coordinates to the facility. Signas sent the information to Alia, who fed it into the HQ computer system. X could now teleport himself back and forth between the bases. He felt a little relieved at hearing that.
"Alright, let's go. No more wasting time." Shift said, leaving a trace amount of annoyance in her voice. "We've been away long enough."
The group disappeared as quickly as Signas waved them off.
……………………………
The Lost Island Research Facility was alive with excitement. All of the hunters, save for the new recruits and medical staff, had rushed to the control room, where Hermes, the operator, welcomed the group of wayward reploids back. A mass of the hunters squeezed through the doorway, only to be shoved back through by Salvo.
"All right, yes, we're back, and Commander X is with us. Give him time to meet you on his own, will ya!" Salvo growled at the anxious hunters. He slammed the door behind him, leaving the others to introductions.
Arturo nodded to Shift, then took his leave. Once out of the room, Shift took it upon herself.
"Commander, this is Hermes, our facility's operator. Hermes, front and center!"
"Yes, ma'am!" Hermes replied, standing and stepping in front of X almost as quick as X looked toward the operator's seat. The reploid, a half head shorter than X, was a slender figure of a reploid. His smile was calming, and the helmet he wore signified his name. It was a light brown, with two white metallic wings jutting up and back from both sides. X smirked at this, and looked him over quickly. He was probably one of the lightest hunters in the group, looking as though he had no armor on.
"Commander X, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am Hermes, as Shift has told you. I'll be your operator." Hermes bowed, one of the things he thought only he did, but smiled wider as X returned it.
"Nice to meet you, Hermes. Forgive me for seeming rude, but I have other things to attend to. Shift, if you don't mind, I should get to know the rest of the hunters I'll be working with."
"Of course, Commander." Shift said, motioning him toward the door. X nodded to Hermes, who took his seat back at the operators desk, and stepped out.
"Shift, how many divisions do you have in this facility?"
"Sir?"
"How many different hunter units do you have? I know Salvo would probably be in an artillery unit, but for the rest, I can't place a one of you. Well, I know you're intelligence, so… recon unit?" X asked intriguingly.
The two walked down corridor after corridor, passing metal doors on both sides. Some were labeled 'Lab', some had the 'Hangar' label on them, but most were without signs. They finally came to an elevator, and stepped in. Shift pushed a button for the third floor, and the doors closed.
"Here's the layout. We have my unit, as you stated, a recon unit. 1st Unit Reconnaissance. Salvo leads the 3rd Unit Artillery, with Magnet and few others. Hermes is on his own, being the operator. Arturo leads the facility, as you know. What you don't, and who you don't, you'll meet in a minute."
She looked directly ahead of her, toward the doors. As they slid open, she stepped out, her pace that of a march. X followed behind her at a comfortable distance, coming around a corner, and stopping abruptly.
"What's up, Shift?" he asked.
"You'll meet most of the unit leaders here. I must see to other matters. I trust you can introduce yourself without being too taken aback by their actions. Good luck, Commander." With that, Shift walked off. He watched her round a corner, and then shook his head. Brought in to help, and dropped off like a sack of bricks. It figured.
As X pushed the doors open, he caught a whiff of something outrageous. It smelled of boot-leather and burnt toast. He quickly shut down his olfactory systems. Loud conversations took place all over the room, tables sparsely occupied by hunters. He'd walked into the mess hall, and had caught the attention of everyone within it.
"Hey, it's the new Commander. That's supposedly the oldest reploid to date" he heard someone in the back say. It took mere moments for the room to turn dead silent as X stood there, surveying the room. This was what he used his rank for.
"Alright, all of you! I'm Commander X, but you can all call me X. Now that you know my name and rank, I want to know yours! All of you, fall in, front and center!" X bellowed through the room, having way too much fun with the situation. Every hunter stared for a split second before catching their thoughts and falling in. It was a jumble, but they managed it effectively quick. Lines of reploids had formed, unit leaders in front, with the unit behind them. X walked to the far right line, leaning toward the commanding officer.
"Name, rank, and unit, now" X stated, simply letting the blank stare do its work. The reploids voice caught for a second before he spoke.
"Sir, Ghost, Captain, 12th Unit Stealth, sir!" Ghost replied, cool-faced. He was the height of X, with a blinding white armor that almost glowed. His eyes were themselves white, and it seemed to X that the armor shimmered in the light.
"Stealth Unit? You look like you'd attract more bullets than a target would."
"Yes, sir. My armor is adaptive, sir. It changes with what I feel, sir, as well as the conditions of my mission." Ending the sentence, his armor slowly faded to a midnight black, his eyes changing with it.
"Very nice, Ghost. You can go back to what you were doing."
"Thank you, sir." He saluted, albeit awkwardly, and took his team back to their table.
The next few company leaders had less of an impact on X. He'd met Larc, leader of the 10th Unit Grunts, who reminded him of Magma Dragoon. His armor was scarred, trails of bullets and blades left within it. X knew if he wanted someone to back him up, this would be the person to ask. Next he'd met with Tread, female leader of the 8th Unit Assault. Her armor was a dull pink, with tire marks wrapping itself around her torso and arms, painted on, thankfully. Her figure was average, looking slightly up at X as he asked her the same question he asked them all. She appeared to have no weapons on her person, and he could guess why. She led the unit that used their Ride Armors. He smiled, thankful they had the force to back up whatever attacks came their way. As X came upon the last line, he saw no commanding officer.
"Hunter, where is your Captain?" X asked the soldier in front. As the reploid stepped forward to answer, X heard the doors open to the mess hall.
"That'd be me, X."
X turned to see Salvo step through the door, and walk over to take his place in front of his unit.
"Sir, Salvo, Captain, 3rd Unit Artillery, sir."
"Thanks, Salvo. Alright, all of you, back to what you were doing. Oh, and before you get the wrong idea about me, this was just some fun on my part," X said with a smile, "and it seems you guys are all fit to be great hunters. I hope to work with all of you at some point."
The group laughed, realizing he'd been pulling their leg. As the rest of the group went back to their tables and resumed their conversations, Salvo walked up to him.
"Hey X. Try not to get on these guys bad side, would ya? They don't tend to keep around Commanders that screw with their fun."
"Thanks for the warning, but the first one who thinks he can take me down will be sorely mistaken. Don't get me wrong, they could, but they'd find themselves run through by a saber. Zero is protective beyond belief, Salvo." X smiled, heading for the door. The emerald hunter followed, chuckling.
"I don't doubt that. What I came up here for, though, was to let you know Shift wants you in Lab 2. Down a floor, and the first left from the elevator." Salvo stopped at a door, and hit the button to open it.
"Thanks, man. I'll get over there now."
Salvo nodded, and stepped in the door, closing it behind him. X headed back for the elevator and made his way to the lab.
……………………
………
"Alright everyone, I called you here for a reason, and if you don't shut up, I can't tell you what that is" Zero shouted. The group in the room got quiet, quickly.
"Where's Commander X?" someone in the group asked.
"That's exactly why you're here. X has been given time off to help out some other hunters on the Lost Island Research Facility. He'll be back sporadically until his job is complete, so Signas has given me Commander status for as long as X is gone." Zero smiled, but inwardly cringed. He had no idea what X went through as Commander, but he'd soon find out.
"Axl is my second in command, so if you can't find me, find him. Alright, I have information for all of you…"
The meeting went smoothly, save for the questions about X's 'job' on Lost Island Zero knew would come. He offered no explanation other than he himself didn't know. Quite honestly, he didn't.
……………………………
"Shift, you wanted me?" X questioned.
"Yes, I did. Here's the information about the lab we referred to. Maybe you can make something out." Shift replied, pushing a lap-top across a lab table to him. The picture on the screen showed a giant metal doorway, with rock embedded into the walls around it. It looked almost exactly like the lab he'd come out of. There was a small, rectangular electrical box to the right of the door. He looked intently at it before asking.
"What's that?" He pointed to the box, and Shift leered over his arm to see.
"That's the control panel for the door. The lock I mentioned is contained within it."
"This is what you think I can interface with?"
"Correct. We hope, and some pray, that you can."
"We'll find out tomorrow, then, won't we? I want to go there."
Shift looked at him in astonishment. She had expected his reaction to be different, to be of wonder, and possibly apprehension. He seemed intent on going about his job right away.
"Very well. I'll gather the team, and we'll head out in the morning. Are you sure you want to go first thing? Shouldn't you let us try to figure out more about this lab?"
"If you haven't come up with more by now, you most likely won't." X stated, and raised himself from the table. He began walking toward the door, looking over his shoulder as he came to it.
"What floor's my room on, and what room's mine?"
"Floor 3, and yours is labeled 'Commander's Quarters'." She whispered.
"Thanks. I'll see you and the 'team' in the morning. Be ready for trouble. I have a bad feeling about that lab."
Shift returned to her lap-top, and X resigned to his room. Bad feeling or not, he'd find out what was in that lab in the morning.
XxXxXxXxX XxXxXxXxX XxXxXxXxX XxXxXxXxX XxXxXxXxX
There will be more action, trust me. I'm a little slow as of late, but I did change up things, for those of you who read the story the first time. I'll have Chapter 4 up shortly.