Disclaimer: I. OWN. NOTHIN'!! My original characters, I DO own them.

Chapter 5: To be Betrayed

Day 2
MHHQ, Main Entrance
Time:
-07:43-

Echo dashed outside and around the corner, eying the dead Hunter sentries again with hidden remorse. The price of being a mercenary is high; you can have either friends or a paycheck, not both. But her situation was quite different. If she had a choice, she would be doing something useful with her talents other than working for a client, only to blow their brains out a week later for another client. But money wasn't the object this time around. It's different when you're forced to kill. Her life was on the line.

She signaled her squad to invade the parking lot, knowing that she was sending them to their deaths. She hated the fact that she had to stand behind other reploids and watch them get slaughtered. Veteran fighters as well as rookies. She was used to working with her usual group, not commanding a small attack force. Leadership wasn't one of her top qualities, but she really didn't have the option to choose who was in charge. She watched as the group of reploids battled for unknown reasons. She pondered on that thought.

"Come to think of it, what the hell are we fighting for?" She inquired. She then shrugged. "Eh. Didn't matter before, doesn't matter now."

She jumped into the fray, looking around with confusion. Their objective was to disturb the Hunters and eliminate their leaders. So why weren't any of Scar's troops doing that? Just when she questioned their objective, something buzzed in her ear.

"Attention squad 13. Prototype Alpha has been launched. Pull back immediately."

Echo's eyes went wide at the message. A dreadful thought crossed her mind. She hoped for everything she considered holy that she was wrong. She threw her arms back and dashed forward at top speed toward X's location, dodging the soldiers from Scar's squad that started to turn-tail. She hopped over a table, looking down to see a purple haired Hunter duck beneath her. She bounded across the floor, losing track of X. A shot flew dangerously close to her face, jarring her concentration a bit. She locked on to the frantic Hunter trying to kill her and lifted him by the collar. She asked him for X, but found the reploid in question behind her with a buster aimed at her. She tried telling him to pull his troops out, but why should he listen to her? After all, they did tear down their front door and swarm their home. Then a bright flash illuminated the area, confirming her worse fears: the prototype was launched. The next few moments were a blur as she tried to grasp at what their true objective was all along. Her head was overflowing with painful and haunting memories of the development of the Weapon. She knew they were going to test it, but didn't know the after effects or when they were going to test it.

"Commander!" Someone shouted behind X. Echo looked behind him and saw the rookie from her squad dashing at full pelt with a knife at X. She tried to scream for him to stop, but it was too late. X whipped around and fired the cannon at point blank. She watched with a bruised soul as the rookie looked at her before slumping back down. She couldn't take this anymore. She hated the fact that a rookie gave his life for a false objective. She now knew that X or Zero weren't their true objectives, but that didn't matter anymore. She rose up and brandished her blades, ready to carry out her original plan, or die trying.

"He was just a kid! His first mission!" Echo screamed as her eyes burned a golden hue. She dashed at X with tremendous speed, almost scoring a hit. The Hunter rolled to the side and fired off a few shots, all of them hitting their target. Echo didn't do so much as flinch as the pain dissipated quickly. She let out multiple war cries as she swung her blades violently at X, connecting a few times against his armor. He managed to grab one of her arms and toss her onto her back, only to have her bound off of the floor and throttle him once more. He let loose a string of shots that she either parried or took to the body as she dashed around behind him. He winced as she drove her foot into the back of his leg causing him to lose balance. As he fell to his knees, he fell forward in order to avoid a deadly haircut. He rolled onto his back and pointed his feet at the furious Maverick just before he activated a quick dash. The propulsion jets in his armored boots scorched Echo's armor and blinded her as he barreled backwards. He planted his hands on the ground and sent himself into a series of backward flips. He landed several feet away from the still recovering Echo with a painful thud. His right knee was killing him, but he managed to stand up and start charging his buster anyway. He would have to end this, now.

Echo recovered, her eyes fading back to their original color. She cringed greatly as she felt the pain from every bullet that collided with her earlier. The effects of the A-Drive were a double edged sword: it allowed the combatant to shrug off any and all pain for a set amount of time as well as increase their natural abilities, but when it wore off, all of the pain that was stopped hit at once, and drained half of their energy. She recovered just in time to spot X charging his cannon. She dashed at him (with half the speed she had earlier) in an attempt to stop him. She watched as his cannon split apart in the same way as before. He activated the faceguard as Echo stopped in front of him. She drew back her arm in an attempt to drive it into his cannon. X waited for split second then deactivated the charge just as the lavender warrior dug her blade into the buster. This caused her tonfa hand to become jammed in the cannon, trapping her. X then grabbed the Z-Saber hilt from his back and sliced through her extended arm, lopping it off just above the elbow. She fell backwards from the extreme pain and shrieked loudly. X opened the cannon vents and let her limb fall out to the ground. He grunted painfully as he inspected his hand, which was bloody from being impaled by the blade. He limped over to the squirming Echo and grimaced. It was over.

"Ah…damn it all!" Echo yelled out, finally feeling her anesthesia system run its course. She slowly removed her hand from her stubbed arm and looked up at X, who was looking down at her with a curious expression. "What are you waiting for? Aren't you going to…finish me off?" She questioned. X shook his head.

"No, I'm not. You said some things that caught my attention." X replied sorely flexing his left hand. He pressed his good hand to his helmet and called for a recovery team. "You know something, and we need to find out what it is." Echo sighed, half out of relief, and the other half from exasperation. The recovery team had arrived and observed the situation.

"So, you plan to take me prisoner?"

"In a sense."

"Perfect. Just great…" She muttered as she pulled out her remaining blade. She flipped it around with the grip pointing towards X. "I won't be needing this then. Take it." X looked down at the blade and grabbed it from her. The recovery team shouted for X to look towards a hole in the wall. There stood Scar, gravely injured, eyeing the scene. Echo turned her head to see him and growled. She immediately took her blade back from X and heaved it at her 'friend'. It fell short and slid, stopping when it hit his foot. Scar looked at her with a quizzical expression. She then took off her headset and tossed it to the ground, causing it to break.

"Are you insane?!" Scar half screamed. Echo glared blades at him. She gave him the middle finger before standing up to be carted off by the Hunters. Scar shook his head as he warped off in a dark light. Zero dashed through the hole seconds later, just missing Scar.

"X, you heard from Stryke?" Zero inquired. X shook his head as he remembered the communication. Without a moments notice, he followed Zero and dashed out of the ruined cafeteria.

MHHQ, Main Entrance
Time:
-07:44-

Zero dashed at Scar with ferocity that he has never felt before. He swung his saber at the ninja's head, attempting to chop it off. Scar dodged this move and countered with his blade. Zero parried the blow and threw a punch that smashed against Scar's face, jarring his mask loose. He followed up with a barrage of punches that punished the Maverick's face even more. After a few seconds of that, Scar managed to catch both of Zero's wrists and toss him into a small statue, shattering the old stone structure. Zero stood up and brandished his saber once more before dashing full throttle at Scar. The black clad warrior drew his own katana and activated the plasma edge, blocking the multitude of strikes. Plasma particles leaped from the contact of their weapons, creating a bright light. They jumped back, each daring the other to move. Scar deactivated his mask, spitting a small amount of blood to the ground.

"Zero! I don't expect you to forgive me, so I won't waste my time apologizing! But, we're not the enemy!" Scar tried to reach him, knowing it was near impossible.

"You killed my unit. That makes you my enemy. Enough said." Zero retorted coldly. He snarled at the horrid memories of being paralyzed and having to watch as his unit was sliced to ribbons in front of him. Scar grimaced as he put a hand up to his ear and yelled at whoever was on the other end of the line. Then, he turned to face the red devil.

"I know you won't listen, but I'm not doing this on my own accord. Just like I didn't have a choice between your unit or my unit." He alluded bitterly. Zero had enough. He rushed forward and power punched Scar, who was slow to react, in the chest, cracking his armor as he did so. Scar flew back into a bench, breaking it as he did so. He tried to get up, but a Z-Saber imbedded itself into his right shoulder, preventing that action. Zero marched up to Scar while activating his buster.

"You're not putting up much of a fight, Scar." Zero stated as he aimed the cannon at his adversary. Scar stared off into the distance as a message was spoken in his headset before glancing at the angry Hunter with a smirk. He deactivated the Z-Saber and crushed the hilt before standing up. Zero growled as he let loose a string of bolts in an attempt to kill Scar, but to no avail. Scar used his speed and good shoulder to ram Zero in the chest, causing the red Hunter to double over. Both warriors stood there, greatly fatigued from their bout.

"I had to stall you. Figured I'd let you vent some frustration as well. Heh." Scar said before warping off. Zero stumbled to his feet, breathing heavily. He thought about the words Scar had just said. Then Alia's voice disrupted his thoughts.

"Come in, Zero!" Her voice frantic. Zero clenched at his chest before answering.

"He ran away."

"…what?"

"But before that, he mentioned something about 'stalling me'."

"Zero, what are you talking about? Didn't you hear Stryke's S.O.S.? He needs assistance, NOW!"

"What's wrong? Never mind, I'm on my way there." Zero cut the link then proceeded to dash off to the parking lot, scooping up the ruined saber on his way.

MHHQ, Southeastern Lot
Time:
-07:47-

The snow was falling heavily as Stryke took cover behind a blockade of junked hovercars. He was no longer donning the Mobius; Locke saw to that. He was sitting there in his lightly armored jumpsuit, trying to patch up his gashed abdomen. But that proved difficult, seeing as how he had only one working hand. Locke saw to that too. He gave up after what seemed to be forever. The Mobius armor took too much damage to be of use. Locke had disabled his weapon system by cutting through the thick plating on his back. That caused the left gauntlet to explode, sending shrapnel deep into his arm as well.

Now he was armorless as well as weaponless, save for the standard issue pistol holstered on his waist. He found himself repeatedly searching his surrounding for the crazed Hunter, feeling nervous. He remembers watching as the camo-armored girl killed the remaining Mavericks, then turned on the few Hunters there. She chased him through the lot for a while, finally disappearing when the Mobius blew up. Stryke pulled out a small energy capsule and swallowed it, feeling his wounds start to numb themselves. If he had to pick a way to die, this sure as hell wasn't it. Taken out by his best friend, who was the only one he had left. Sure, he had others, like X, Zero, Leyna and others, but they all seemed to be on a different level. They were revered as heroes, while he was just starting his own story. He jumped a bit when Alia contacted him.

"Come in, Stryke." She said calmly. He drew in a deep breath before answering.

"Alia…I'm in bad shape..." He whispered, fearful of drawing himself to Locke's attention, wherever she was.

"Stay put, Hunter. Help is on the way." Alia spoke quietly. Stryke heard distant footsteps, followed by an explosion.

"...don't have much of a choice...she's coming for me."

"Stryke, I need you to tell me what exactly happened." Stryke shook his head with panic as he heard laughter and quickening footsteps along with another loud boom.

"Shit! She's coming! Help me!" Stryke hollered as he dropped the communicator and rolled as quickly as he could to avoid a swift death. He somehow ended up on his feet. He cringed as blood seeped from his reopened stomach wound. Locke pushed the two halves of the destroyed hovercar apart with glowing eyes and a sinister laugh. She stepped towards Stryke with a murderous gaze. He stepped back with fear in his blood as he slowly drew his pistol. But he couldn't bring himself to raise it up. Locke gave a quick laugh before dashing at him with a rotating blade. Stryke tried to move, but found his legs were unmoving. He closed his eyes as he waited for death to take him.

Locke wailed out in pain as she suddenly fell down on all fours, gripping her head in pain. She disengaged the blade gauntlets and threw them as far away as possible before another sudden headache attacked her. Stryke opened his eyes to the disturbing sight, not knowing weather to reach out or stay back.

"S...Stryke-ke! Please…stop…stop-op…me. I'm beg-begging you!" She cried as her eyes pulsed back and forth between normal and A-Drive. Stryke slowly reached out to her, extending a hand. She took his hand and stood up, breathing heavily. A moment passed before anything happened.

"…Locke?" Stryke managed to finally say. The girl's head shot up, revealing golden glowing eyes. She gave him a swift kick to his midsection, jarring his badly wounded gut. He cried out as she swung him into the ground, causing a pile of snow to fly up. He was done. Game over. She stepped over him, raising a heavy boot over his head. He thought about closing his eyes, but didn't have to. The last blow knocked out his ocular systems, rendering him virtually blind. The pain from his gash spread throughout his body. He heard Locke cry out before something fell down next to him. He felt his systems start to fade when a blurry flash of blue light beamed down next to him.

"Ungh!" Locke hollered as she was hit with a minor concussion field, paralyzing her. X bent down and picked the unconscious Stryke up, hoisting him over his shoulder. Electricity danced around his buster arm, still warm from the concussive energy discharge.

"It's going to be okay, Stryke. We will bring Locke back to us." X said to his comrade. Stryke didn't answer, but could hear him, clear as a bell. Locke stood up, shaking off the effects of the paralysis field. She looked up and saw X, standing with his cannon aimed at her chest. Her eyes burned with same golden hue as before.

"This is much more than an A-Drive overload. She must be infected with a virus, but the Sigma virus doesn't have these kinds of effects." X pondered to himself. Locke dashed at the new target with a steady pace. She stopped almost as soon as she started. Her eyes faded into a blank white, signaling that her systems just rebooted. She fell down next to the broken hilt of the thrown Z-Saber. Zero walked up behind her and looked down, shaking his head.

"Well, that was a trip and a half. What the hell happened?" His breathing was shallow as he clenched his chest.

"I'm not sure. Have you seen the cafeteria yet?" X shook his head at the thought. Zero scooped up the unconscious Locke and carried her on his back. He wheezed as he did so, feeling the pain from his chest well up.

"Do I even want to?" He replied, hiding his hidden pain.

"Come in, X or Zero!" Alia's voice chimed in. Zero nodded at X, who in turn answered the call.

"Alia, this is X. The Maverick forces have been driven out. Zero and I have also stopped Locke. Mission…complete." X chanted dully. Alia sighed out of relief and instructed them to report to Kicker. The Hunters then walked back into the building, unaware of the real danger they were all in.

A figure on the cliff over the massive battlefield scoped the area where X and Zero were. He solemnly thought about this mission he was forced to carry out. It cost him a comrade, his pride, and energy that he didn't have to begin with. Rayne walked up next to him. Scar looked down at her with weary eyes.

"To answer your question…no. We most definitely are not doing the right thing." He stated as they warped off into the early morning sky.

MHHQ, Medical Bay
Time:
-08:39-

"So this is the one that broke off from her unit?"

"Yeah. She tried to warn me about what happened. She didn't even want to fight, until I killed him. I killed her rookie."

"X…"

"Don't beat yourself up. He was a Maverick, and you were protecting yourself."

"You don't understand how it feels to lose someone under your watch. It hurts, especially when it's the new guy."

The doors to the Medical Bay slid open with a slight hiss, followed by a few footsteps. Echo couldn't see anything, but heard every word. Her body was held in place by restraints, not that she would try to make a run for it or anything. In fact, she wasn't sure she would even get far, judging by the number of voices that filled the room. She felt something behind her eyes click and winced as her vision came back online. She looked around and saw X, Zero, Leyna and another unfamiliar reploid. He donned the armor of a supreme officer.

"There we go." Kicker whispered to himself as he loosened the restraints, just enough to allow her to be slightly more comfortable. She looked down at her arms and was relieved to find them both attached. She cleared her throat as she spoke.

"Where am I?" Signas stepped forward.

"You are in the custody of the Maverick Hunters. I hear that you have some information about what happened to Locke."

Echo mouthed Locke's name and looked around, not finding her. She spotted a cut up and bruised Stryke lying on the table next to her and gasped.

"Did…did this 'Locke' do that to him?" The Hunters all nodded at her grimly. She felt an overwhelming sense of guilt.

"He got off easy." Leyna stated. She paused before continuing. "She went berserk and killed off her own division." Echo clenched her fists and started shaking as memories started flowing through her mind again. The effects of Weapon Alpha were horrible. She had to stop it before it was too late. But how? Scar had betrayed her; led her to believe what they were doing was just. Not anymore. She was through with him. She didn't have much choice though, seeing as how she was stuck here in MHHQ.

Another one down! Stay tuned for more!

Till Next Time!