Chapter 4 - A Joint Operation?
"But even though Anode is one of the best, he wouldn't be anything at all if we didn't work as a team. Each of us have our strengths and weaknesses, and the rest of the team helps to keep the weaknesses from ever overpowering the strengths."
"I see.. So.. 32, how is the restoration of X and Axl coming along?" Enzan asked, spinning around in the soft chair he had landed upon.
"I see you as a threat, kid, so I don't feel comfortable telling you about my scientific ventures," came the straightforward response from the dark blue Reploid, his back turned away from Enzan, he turned his head slightly, the shades shimmering lightly in the underground lighting, "But since you're an assistant to a scientist, I'm sure whetting your scientific appetite wouldn't hurt."
Enzan smiled slightly, setting his hands on either side of the chair and pushing himself to his feet. His feet making light thudding noises against the titanium flooring, while 32's feet made a slight metal-clinking noise with each step. 32 lead Enzan through a nearby doorway into a sparsely lit containment area, the only light coming from twin pods, both of which glowed with a soft green lighting. The inner bulbs spraying their light through the green liquid filling the tube, sending the jade rays across the walls as well as the two occupants of the room. Within one of the tubes was a fully constructed reploid of historic design; X, and in the other was the renegade Red Alert member turned Maverick Hunter; Axl.
"Since the dawn of the Reploid age, X has been there. But what no one has ever known was that X had been rebuilt after every Sigma encounter. No one wanted to take the chance of X going Maverick, we needed him, he was a necessity to the Maverick Hunter cause. So, after every battle with Sigma, they scrapped X's body, building him a newer model to compensate for the stronger threats. X's memory was transferred from one body to the next. His programming was thoroughly scanned with each transfer. X hasn't been rebuilt as many times as most reploids. His rebuild count, I believe, is on par with Zero's. I might be wrong, of course. It's been a very long time."
"The model you see before you is the version one model of X, the one first designed and constructed by Dr. Light all those many years ago. Since it was the first, I figured that it would be the easiest to reconstruct from scrap."
"I thought they only shut down X at the end of the wars. Did they dismantle him?"
"No, nothing like that. X's current body at the time was placed into a stasis pod, where it still is at this current time. No one knows exactly where that stasis pod is, which is why we have decided to start from the beginning and let him regain all the combat experience he had back then. By slowly advancing through the versions, I just hope I can build each version before he goes and blows them up. The only good thing is that I've had time to go over the initial schematics of each model design and re-calibrate the flaws that were done back then."
"Dr. Light had flaws in his design for X?"
"Sorry to break up the party, but I really don't think the kid needs to know everything that you do, 32. No offense or anything, but what can a weakling human do to destroy Mavericks?" Came AX's voice from the doorway, his body leaning against the frame.
"All he's done so far is force us into running back to save him!" Fidget's voice perked up from the other room, his brown body bobbing up and down behind AX's, trying to see into the reconstruction chamber.
32 sighed softly and set his heavy hand upon Enzan's shoulder at a surprisingly light force, turning him toward the doorway and AX, who stepped out of the way. Enzan walked out of the room, following closely by 32, who tapped the keypad beside the door, the metallic panel sliding closed with a soft swish. Fidget stood beside AX, who was leaning against the door as 32 pushed Enzan down into the same chair he was in prior to the escapade into the other room.
"Tell us why you're here. The quicker we find out, the quicker we can get rid of you." Enzan turned his head to the new voice, seeing Anode's form leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Well.. My employer, Dr. Faern, sent me here to get the schematics for the hunters that were shut down at the end of the Sigma Wars. He-"
"But why? You told us this upstairs.. Why does he want them?" Alpha-X asked loudly, gripping the side of the computer panel tightly within his grasp.
"Another doctor, by the name of Sebastian, is trying to rebuild the entirety of the Repliforce and all the Mavericks that have been destroyed from day one of the Sigma Wars. Dr. Faern wanted the designs so that he could rebuild the Hunters and have them counter his forces!" Enzan said desperately, spreading his arms wide.
"I see.." 32 said thoughtfully, his hand settling lightly on the tip of his chin.
"Faern needs the designs.. We need more Hunters.. It's pretty much a win-win situation," Anode said, closing his eyes beneath his helmet.
"So.. Can you help us? If I can get the designs to Faern, he can help restore the Hunters. Which will help you all fight the Mavericks and Sigma, meaning we could work together!"
"I still don't trust him," Alpha-X let go of the computer panel and walked out of the room, leaving the four alone.
Fidget watched his friend walk out of the room, setting his hand lightly against the side of his head, letting his eyes close shut. He sighed softly and walked out of the room as well, leaving Anode and 32 with Enzan. 32 watched the two of them leaving, stroking his chin slightly.
"Why doesn't he trust me?" Enzan asked slightly, turning his gaze to the floor.
"Alpha-X never was one for trusting humans. When the Hunters were called in for shut down, he refused, straight to X's face. He wouldn't go down like that.. He wanted honor for his services," Anode spoke up from his position on the wall.
Fidget ran to catch up with AX at the end of the long hallway. He set his hand on his friend's shoulder, both of them stopping. Fidget glanced up at his friend, who sighed lightly.
"If we want to combat the Mavs, we need to cooperate with the kid, AX."
"I know, I know.. But I can't bring myself to trust the humans just yet. After everything we went through to help their race from being killed off by the Mavericks and Sigma.. We get shut down! What kind of repayment is that! We saved them.. Over and over.. And all we got was the boot," AX grit his teeth together, shrugging Fidget's hand from his shoulder.
"AX, let the past go! We're in deep shit now. This isn't something we've ever had to deal with before. Sure, we've killed lots of Mavericks, but we didn't take on the Repliforce, Sigma, and all the Mavericks ever built. Help is going to be hard to find. This is something we need. The kid and this Dr. Faern character are going to be great assets to our cau-" Fidget's voice cut off as both of their comm's crackled to life, a feminine voice coming in over the radio, "Anyone! God dammit! Someone better answer this damn comm-line before I slice their ass apart with my axe!"
"Who is this?" AX asked, setting his hand lightly against the right side of his head, tapping the sensory unit.
"This is Lizzy!" The voice crackled back, sounds of gunfire and explosions in the background.
"What's the situation? And where the hell have you been?" Fidget asked, his right hand set to the side of his head.
"My location is A66-F93, lots of gunfire an-Oh.. SHIT!" An exceptionally large explosion roared in from the background and the radio cut out. Fidget's hand fell away from the his sensory unit, his eyes wide as he stared up at AX, who swallowed heavily, looking back at Fidget.
"Oh man.." Was all AX could get out.