O.K., I finally got around to writing this, the sequel to Either Learn from History. This fic takes place between Z3 and Z4.
I apologize for the delay in getting this posted, but as more and more info on Z4 became availible, I wound up rewriting this fic no less than three times. But I think I've got a way to do this now without completely destroying the continuity of the series, not that it matters anyway since that got shot to pieces in ELfH, but who cares? On with the fic!
Disclaimer: If I owned the RockMan Zero/MegaMan Zero series, would I really be posting this here?
Begin Chapter!
The red warrior silently dropped to the roof of the structure, his golden hair falling into place behind his back. The figure stood to his full height, and looked back up at the sky he had came from.
"Right on target, Hess." The red-clad figure muttered into his com-link.
"Roger that." A voice replied over his headset. "Be careful Zero, if you get into trouble there's no way we can get you out… unless you get outside of the perimeter. We'll be back here in exactly thirty minutes to extract you, so be on time."
"Acknowledged." Zero bit off the conversation and turned to examine his surroundings. There wasn't much else on the roof, and nothing that even resembled security or tracking cameras. So far, so good.
Zero…
The crimson warrior turned slightly, to find the miniature form of Original X hovering behind him.
Zero, once again, I thank you for taking this risk.
"Don't mention it." Zero replied, slightly more warmly than usual. "But any further conversation should wait until I get her out of here."
Original X nodded once, and then vanished.
"All right, let's get started." The swordsman turned on his heel and sprinted across the roof towards the entrance to the building. A quick slash of his saber took care of the lock, and a swift kick snapped the door to the stairwell open.
Without another word, Zero plunged into the stairwell. The Hunter's right hand lashed out and latched onto the stairwell railing, and a quick vault over the handrail sent him plummeting down between the rows of stairs in free flight.
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Pantheon 123 wasn't that thrilled with his job. True, as a Neo Arcadian trooper he didn't have much by the way of feelings in the first place, but what little emotions he did have hated his job. Day in, day out, it was the same thing: trot around the complex and make sure that all of the prisoners were still in their cells.
And since a breakout in Prison 12-03 was unheard of, there wasn't much by way of job variety. The prisoners were safely locked away, he would report back to the warden and begin another round of inspections.
The sheer monotonicity of it was enough to make Pantheon 123 want to stick his head down a blaster cannon and pull the trigger just to liven his life up. But since his loyalty and obedience to the Neo Arcadian empire was hardwired into his life, he went about his job without a complaint- which wouldn't have changed even if he had the ability to complain verbally.
And so Pantheon 123 was going about his job with the usual vim and not so vigor. He had just finished checking the Alpha Corridor and stepped out onto the B Stairwell when he got the shock of his life.
Something big and red plummeted down the stairwell before his eyes.
A hesitant thrill surged through his being. At last, something unusual was happening. The pantheon rushed over to the handrail and peered over the edge, trying to discover just what it was that had dropped past him.
As Pantheon 123 looked over the handrail he was rewarded for his initiative- with a blaster shot to the face.
Pantheon 123 fell backward from the force of the blow, and stopped functioning even before he hit the floor.
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Zero reached the bottom of the stairwell, hit the ground, and slid his Buster back into his belt.
Without a thought over his kill, the crimson warrior marched over to the door and made quick work of the lock.
The Hunter's foot snapped forward, sending the door flying open- and crashing into the two Pantheons on the other side. The force of the impact sent the two robots tumbling to the ground in a daze.
Zero's blade was on them instantly and in seconds it was over.
"Nice work, Merge." The crimson warrior looked over at the blue cyber elf hovering over his shoulder.
"Merge does the best Merge can." The elf shrugged. "Merge just glad that Merge finally learned to detect Pantheons, which Merge couldn't do before now."
"It does make the job easier." The swordsman nodded. During his previous adventure, Zero had come across the unique cyber elf known as Merge. The little blue elf had the ability to detect and locate beings with which he was fairly familiar, no matter where they were. After extensive work on the elf's part, the blue sprite had finally learned to detect the generic foot soldiers used by Neo Arcadia.
Zero turned back to the task at hand, examining the hallway in which he found himself. As he had been told there would be, he found the corridor lined on both sides with occupied holding cells for Reploids.
Each one of the captives wasgaping at him in astonishment. If they had a say in the matter, they would have broken out, rather than in.
The warrior didn't even spare them a nod of acknowledgement, he merely moved on down the hallway, his eyes flicking about in search of…
Two Pantheons entered the hallway from the other side. Instantly each one had their blasters out and locking onto Zero, at the same time they began tosend signals out overtheir own com-links. It didn't take a rocket scientist to realize that they were reporting an intruder.
Zero growled slightly over the fact that his cover was blown. Instantly his hand whipped out his Boomerang Shield and activated the barrier, the Pantheon's shots 'pinged' off of his defense and ricocheted away. Not wanting to prolong the battle for fear of an innocent Reploid getting caught in the cross-fire, the crimson warrior snapped his arm forward, discharging his shield. The weapon rocketed down the hall and cleaved through the two soldiers.
The Hunter's disk circled around and came back to it's master. Zero plucked it out of the air just as the Pantheons shattered and fell to the floor in pieces.
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Prisoner Alpha Twenty Twenty-four sat with her back against the wall. Another sigh escaping from her lips, memories of days gone by spilling through her mind.
It wasn't as if she could do much else besides remember the past since she didn't have any future. She'd learned the news this morning, the government had finally decided that she had suffered enough and had destined her for 'retirement'.
In about an hour she would be dead.
The back of Alpha Twenty Twenty-four's mind wondered just how they would terminate her existence. Over the course of her long life she had seen many ways of retiring Reploids, some humane, others downright barbaric.
It was strange, Alpha Twenty Twenty-four had always thought that the end of her life would be filled with anxiety, fear, and nervousness over dying. But all she felt was this strange sense of… disappointment and regret over the things left unsaid, undone, and unknown.
A creak sounded throughout the cell.
She looked up to find four Pantheons entering her cell, each one had a blaster leveled at her chest.
"Prisoner Alpha Twenty Twenty-four," The lead drone barked. "You have been scheduled for termination. Comply with us and we guarantee you a painless end."
"No." The prisoner's eyes narrowed. "I was a Navigator, I was a Hunter, I won't go down quietly. If I go, I'm going in battle… just like my love did!"
With a snarl befitting a beast, Alpha Twenty Twenty-four leapt forward to the drone nearest her. Amazingly, she reached the Pantheon before the guard pulled the trigger. Latching onto the Pantheon's arm, she wrestled it to the side just as the robot fired his weapon. His shot went wild and slammed into the drone beside him.
The drone bucked as a nice-sized hole appeared in its chest.
Alpha Twenty Twenty-four dropped to the floor, her right leg snapping about to catch the guard's ankles.
And then a stun bolt hit her in the back of the head, startling Alpha Twenty Twenty-Four and knocking the feeling out of her body. With a soft moan she dropped to the ground, unmoving.
"How humane…" Alpha Twenty Twenty-Four thought bitterly. "They can't kill me here, they have to keep me alive for my retirement."
"Hands off the lady, fellows."
The prisoner blinked in surprise as the Pantheons that were supposed to escort her to her demise went to pieces and their parts collapsed to the floor beside her.
A face slid into her field of view, a hardened detached face, one that had seen more than its share of sorrow and heartbreak. A face with blue eyes framed golden hair.
"Are you all right?" The newcomer stretched out his hand to help the prisoner to her feet.
"I'm a friend." The crimson warrior explained. "A friend of a friend actually. We need to get you out of here."
"That's the best suggestion I've heard in years." The prisoner managed to stand upright with her saviour's help. "My name's Alia."
"Zero."
Alia's mouth dropped open in amazement. There was no way that this red clad Reploid could be the legendary Zero, the A Class Maverick Hunter, her ally, her friend… He had to be a reproduction, a copy, he couldn't be the original…
"Don't worry about the other prisoners." Zero didn't appear to recognize her shock. "Before I came I introduced a computer virus into the system, in about ten minutes the all of the doors to this compound will 'accidentally' unlock. That'll give them a chance at freedom."
The female Reploid nodded slightly, and followed the Hunter out of her cell and down the hallway.
"Mr. Zero! MR. ZERO!" Merge exploded into existence behind the Hunter's shoulder.
"What is it?" The crimson warrior whirled around to face the elf.
"Many Pantheons are coming Mr. Zero's way!" The elf screeched. "Merge detecting many Pantheons!"
"We don't have time for this." Zero glanced at his chronometer. He had less than seven minutes to get outside of the compound so that the others could pick him up via shuttle. It would be a much simpler matter to just beam out with the Trans Server, but the last thing that the Resistance wanted was to leave an ion trail for Neo Arcadia to follow, hence the tremendously involved restrictions they were operating under.
The Hunter glanced up, and spotted a supposedly shatter-proof window at the far end of the hallway. An almost unperceivable grin passes across Zero's lips. In his experience, anything 'proof' rarely was. And that window just might be his ticket out of here.
Zero!
"Not now, X." The crimson warrior hissed under his breath. Already the Pantheons were swarming into the hallway with guns blazing.
There wasn't any time left, Zero had to act. Grabbing Alia about the waist, the Red Reploid burst into motion, carrying the female Reploid.
"What are you doing?" Alia gasped, "There's nowhere down here to go!"
"There is." The crimson warrior muttered. "That window."
The former captive's eyes went wide. "But we're almost ten stories up!"
"I've survived worse."
"You have, but what about me?"
"I'm sure you'll live." The warrior muttered as he hunched forward, shielding Alia with his shoulder.
Impact.
The Red Reploid slammed into the barred window with amazing force, so much force that the supposed 'shatter-proof' window had shattered. Zero and his captive flew through the now open window and began their long descent to the ground below.
Ignoring Alia's frantic scream, the crimson warrior looked past the Reploid in his arms to the ground flying up to meet them. About a fourth of a story above the terrain, Zero twisted about and kicked his legs out so that his heels dug into the side of the building. Pushing off from the structure, the Hunter turned his downward plunging into a controlled leap which carried him away from the building and in a wide arc to land on the dusty ground safely.
No sooner had Zero deposited his charge on the ground, than the ground exploded open beneath his feet. The crimson warrior hastily pulled himself into a back-flip, evading whatever it was that had come out of the ground. He landed with saber ignited and ready to attack.
Zero had battled many things during his multiple lives, from robots, to mechaloids, to Mavericks resembling everything from rabbits to sunflowers. Never before had he battled a snake-like being. But in this case, that was just what he found himself facing off against.
A red and black serpent-like robot was looming over him. The robot's lower half was still buried below-ground, supporting it's upper body and head.
"I am Night Strike Serpent…" The snake hissed. "And you're dead!"
"That's what they all say." Zero sized up his new opponent. The snake was huge, at least one-fourth as tall as the building behind the crimson warrior, which the last time Zero checked was ten stories high. Top that off with the fact that he had less than four minutes to defeat this guardian and get outside of sensor range, and Zero had a mess on his hands.
"Let's go!" Not wasting an instant, the Hunter leapt at Night Strike's throat, his saber primed and ready.
"It will be a pleasure!" The serpent snapped its head back as four of openings on it's metal-plated hide appeared. Four missiles exploded out of the openings in Night Strike's body and ripped through the air towards Zero.
A grunt slipped from the crimson warrior as he twisted neatly in mid-air and planted his feet against side of the first missile. Zero leapt off of the projectile just seconds before it detonated and flipped over to the second rocket before hopping up to the third. A bound from the third missile to the fourth and a dashing jump later, the Hunter was closing in for the kill.
Zero's blade sliced through the air, scoring a perfect hit on Night Strike's neck.
His jaw dropped in amazement as his blade shattered into a thousand pieces and Night Strike escaped unharmed. The snake's hide was a lot tougher than it looked.
The giant snake turned it's head earthward and rammed into the ground, burrowing down out of sight.
The Hunter twisted in mid-air, beginning his descent to the ground below. As he did so, he switched his blade off and reignited his Saber, resetting the blade back to it's previous unharmed condition.
Two minutes.
Night Strike rocketed out of the ground. His jaws were open wide and his intent was plain- to swallow Zero alive.
A smirk passed over the Hunter's face for afraction of asecond. And then the crimson warrior threw himself forward, straight past the beast's jaws and into it's maw.
Alia gasped in horror.
Night Strike's jaw snapped shut, trapping the Hunter. A self-satisfied smirk appeared on the Neo Arcadian's face- and then vanished as Night Strike felt an odd sensation building up in his tail.
Glancing at his posterior, Night Strike was shocked and horrified to find an intense glow building up around his tail. Stray rays of light and energy were radiating through the tiny cracks between his metal scales.
And then Night Strike Serpent's rear half exploded into a mass of flame, smoke, and twisted wreckage. And out of the said explosion came an unharmed Zero.
The crimson warrior dropped back to earth, hit the ground and snapped to his feet. As the mangled form of Night Strike Serpent crashed to the ground behind him, the Hunter grabbed Alia and raced towards the compound's outer perimeter. He had to get outside of their sensor's range so that the others could beam him out.
"How much time, Merge?" Zero continued his mad dash for freedom.
"Thirty seconds!" The small sprite replied. Merge glanced over his shoulder, eyes widening in disbelief. "Mr. Zero! Pantheons behind us!"
"They'll have to wait," Zero maintained his breakneck pace. "We've got to get out of here, fast."
And then a line of Pantheons appeared before him, cutting off the crimson hunter's escape.
"I really don't have time for this." Drawing his saber as he ran, Zero muttered under his breath.
And then a high pitched whine filled the air, a familiar screech that Zero and Alia recognized immediately. A shuttle.
The Hunter's head snapped to his right, spotting the Resistance's aircraft coming in at a low angle. Instantly, Zero realized what the pilot was planning and acted accordingly.
"Hold it!" The Hunter threw out his left arm, stopping Alia in her tracks. Zero's right hand flashed down, pulling his Shield Boomerang off of his belt. The green disk ignited, forming a circle of defense in front of the Hunter and his charge.
The Pantheons opened fire, filling the sky with bolts of raw energy.
Not one pierced through Zero's shield. All he had to do was hold them off for a few more moments… The crimson warrior dug his feet into the ground, steadying himself as the blaster shots increased in intensity and frequency. A few more moments were all that he needed…
And then the Resistance's shuttle arrived. The pilot swooped in so that the aircraft was hovering over the Pantheons attacking Zero- and then cut the power.
The Pantheons behind the Hunter opened fire. Their target was anything that moved.
The shuttle came down, smashing the attacking robots flat with it's underbelly. A split second later, a narrow doorway slid open on the shuttle's side. Ciel and Dande appeared in the opening, beckoning for their allies to join them.
"That's our ride!" Zero snatched Alia's wrist and began racing forward, ducking between the bolts of fury hurled by the Pantheons behind him. Quickly, he raced over and almost literally threw his companion into the aircraft.
The warrior jerked his head to one side, just barely avoiding a stray Pantheon shot. Curbing his desire to turn and wipe the squadron attacking him, the red Reploid braced his hands against the shuttle's doorway and vaulted inside.
A scream pierced the air- a human scream.
Zero's mechanical heart almost stopped as he watched Ciel fall backward into the shuttle, a victim of a random bolt of energy.
A scowl materialized over his features as Zero ripped his Buster out of it's holster and cut loose- blowing his attackers to kingdom come. How dare they…
"GO! GO!" Dande shouted to the pilot above the chaos.
The shuttle's door snapped shut, and a roar filled the cabin as the pilot fired up the thrusters. A few seconds later and they were airborne and fleeing from the Neo Arcadian compound. They had succeeded in their mission.
And the Hunter's eyes drifted back to Ciel, who was propped up against the back wall with Dande and Alia hovering over her. The blond woman's right hand was clasped over her left shoulder, trying to cover the wound she had received. Between her fingers, Zero could see the damage.
"Ciel…"
Ciel's eyes drifted up to meet his. "It's O.K., Zero. I'm fine. The shot just grazed me."
The hunter allowed himself a small sense of relief. But he didn't allow himself to forget that he had failed to protect Ciel, failed in his vow to safe-guard her. Nothing like this would ever happen again. That was a certainty, not a promise.
"Alia," Ciel looked up and smiled wearily at their new companion. "Welcome to Resistance."
End Chapter!
Next: Fire and Ice!