Mission 2: Maverick Hunt

"Unit X!" the Leader screamed.

The wyvern's mouth opened wide to release its fireball. The person hung there trembling between the canyon walls, an open target for the mechaniloid. The wyvern gave a feral cry flames leaking out the sides of its mouth.

"I'm dead." Unit X thought. Fear prevented action even against a wounded opponent. However before the maverick could fire, a single piercing shot pierced its skull. The wyvern's head fell low, the fireball launched towards the ground away from Unit X. On impact, the fireball exploded into a flaming pillar of death. The light of the flames died along with the mechaniloid.

"Hey boss, what were you thinking giving such an important job to the rookie?" said a voice. There was a figure standing on the cliff holding a large rifle. Unit X still trembling from fright lowered himself slowly to the ground. He collapsed onto his knees shaking.

"X, are you alright?" Leader asked. Unit X gave a slight nod. The man with the large rifle made his way down the cliff. He frowned and kicked Unit X across the ground. Dust flew as the body slid along the barren land.

"You useless piece of shit! Your actions almost cost us the bounty and endangered Units C and D who were the bait." the man shouted angrily.

He was just about the kick Unit X one more time until Leader intervened. "Unit S you may be my second in command, but I don't recall ever letting you abuse our subordinates."

"You're getting soft Leader. Ever since you found the kid you've changed. Don't forget our goal." said Unit S.

"I have not forgotten. Unit X, you are to undergo 48 hours of the usual. This is your punishment." declared Leader.

5 Hours Later at another Location

Unit X continued to run laps around a field his breathing heavy and skin hot.

"He's been going for three hours already. Running that long is hard enough not to mention doing it in all his gear." said Unit A.

Unit B replied, "Well this is how things roll around here. If he can't handle it, he's out of here."

"Surviving out there? Living on his own? That's suicide." Unit A remarked. "I really do feel that he is going to die from this. It's his 5th time."

"So be it. We don't have enough to provide for a liability." Unit B left, leaving Unit A to watch Unit X.

The exhausted Unit X continued at his pace. "I….I'm so tired. Every part of my body is telling me to stop." he thought. "I'm useless. I was too afraid to even shoot down one maverick. Even so I found it. I have found it, a place where I belong…..A place…..where….I belong." Unit X collapsed.

The fresh aroma permeates the air. Its color its texture all compliment each other perfectly. The cup, not too big and not too small contains everything perfectly without spilling a single drop. Raito slowly lifts the cup and takes a sip. A smooth blend of flavors swirled in his mouth and went down his throat. He gave a carefree smile.

"Yo, barkeep this stuff is really good." Raito complimented. He was about to get his second sip when the door opened. A small chime showed that a customer walked in or out. David, Raito's companion walked in and sat on the counter next to Raito. He looked over at what Raito was drinking.

"Coffee? You're sober for once. But you've still got that retarded smile every time something good enters your mouth." said David.

Raito quipped, "Well since you're feeling mighty dandy would you like a spot of tea sire?"

"No thanks, I'll have a cold one." David ordered. The barkeeper immediately filled up a glass mug of beer from the tap and gave it to David.

"I don't always mean alcohol when I say drinks David." said Raito.

Raito continued to sip his coffee. "Don't let it get to you." he said a bit more seriously. David's depressed look slowly evened out as the two of them drank quietly. Afterwards they both left 5 Energy Crystals (EC) on the counter and went outside.

"So what are you going to do now?" David asked. "The train is down and who knows when they'll fix it."

Raito pondered a bit, "Aren't there other trains?"

"Anywhere outside of Legion City is potentially unsafe good luck finding a train that won't charge you to go outside." replied David.

Raito counted how much money he had left. "Tsk.. 195 EC. Guess I'll find a job to kill time."

"This is why you should learn to manage your money." said David disapprovingly.

Raito was annoyed, "Mom…. shut up."

David went off into the market while Raito checked the mission board. Mission boards are terminals that publicly display available jobs from various employers. The Legion Government makes a lot of its revenue from advertisement. Raito scrolled through the work available searching for one that he liked.

"Trash collector: boring, Poster Boy: degrading, Waiter: low pay,…" Raito continued searching for satisfying work.

Maverick Hunting

"Now this is interesting." Raito read the job description.

Maverick Hunting

Employer: The Guardians

Difficulty: A Rank

Description: You shall be hunting mavericks in an area outside of Legion influence. Secondary objective involves searching for clues regarding maverick outbreaks. We are currently low on staff for this mission so Hunters are welcome.

Raito was familiar with the Guardians; they're a well known group that fights mavericks. They also have very selective recruitment. Raito accepted the mission. The offer disappeared from the mission board and left a message.

Prepare yourself in any way possible. Downloading encrypted transfer coordinates.

"Now all I gotta do is head for a transerver." said Raito. Fortunately he didn't have to walk far as mission boards are generally near transervers. In his case it was right next to it. Raito inputted the coordinates and pressed enter. The cylindrical device raised a hand rail indicating it is being used. Green light circled him as his body teleported to another location.

Raito appeared within another transerver. The rail lowered and the device turned off. He stepped off the transerver and felt the floor moving. "Are we on a ship?" he asked.

"Yes this is the Grand Nuage, the flying airship that is our headquarters." answered a Guardian.

"Really and are you sure it's safe to just let anyone transfer in here?" said Raito.

The Guardian responded, "Well we actually set precautions so that we can check your bio signatures before you arrive. Anyways since you're here I'll escort you to the bridge."

Raito was led along a hallway into the bridge. Inside he saw a spectacular view of the clouds passing by.

"Wow." Raito said in astonishment but he quickly shook that off to not appear incompetent. "Hello I'm here about your mission request."

"Ah yes, that's correct." a female voice responded. The large armchair in the center turned around revealing a young woman. She had clear blue eyes, orange-ish yellow hair that went down to her back and tied at the end. The pink long coat matched her hat which had a green gem in the center. She also wore white gloves and black stockings all which made her look feminine yet commanding.

"She's younger than I thought. Is this the leader?" those thoughts ran through Raito's head.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Prairie and I am the commander of the Guardians." said the woman eloquently.

Raito returned the greeting, "I'm Raito, pleasure to meet you."

"Regarding the mission request, I am afraid to let you take it because it's very dangerous." said Prairie.

Raito look a quick glance around the bridge, he does not see anyone other than Guardian members. "So I assume this is why I am in the only guy here." He said in a slightly sarcastic tone.

"I had thought more Hunters would apply, but it seems you are the only one." Prairie quickly started briefing Raito on his mission. "You are to go with Aile into Area N where there are strong concentrations of mavericks. Clear and secure a path so that our research teams can safely investigate."

"The job said maverick hunting but I don't mind watching over your team for a little bonus." Raito suggested.

Prairie tried her best to keep herself from sighing, "Fine, since it's not a part of the job description." The typical greedy hunter, she's dealt with plenty of them before.

"We shall be above Area M shortly." an operator called out.

Prairie grabbed a microphone and spoke over the PA system, "All members prepare for the operation. You shall be accompanied by the Hunter, Raito. Everyone taking part are on standby in the hangar."

"Here, I'll lead the way." said the Guardian.

Raito was led down a few floors to the bottom of the ship. The Grand Nuage's hangar contained various vehicles for different missions. Several people were waiting in the hangar with hi tech gear and weapons. Although there was a girl who was unarmed, she doesn't seem to be a part of the research team.

She had short brown hair that went out in a long thin pony tail down to her back. She wore her blue jacket (which was similar in design as Raito's red jacket) open. The black body suit outlined her slim figure with a pair of white shorts covering the most important places.

"You must be Aile." said Raito.

The girl turned around, "Hm, yes I am and you must be Raito."

Aile is pretty well known among the Hunters and Legion officials as the chosen one for Model X as well as ZX along with her twin brother, Vent.

"If the Guardians have two Chosen Ones, I hardly see the need to hire a hunter like myself." Raito commented.

Aile responded, "Well Vent is out doing field work so I'll need some people to cover the rear while I push forward."

"Well I've always wanted to see what a Mega Man can do." Raito said playfully.

Mission Starting in 3….2….1….

"That's our cue!" Aile ran out the hangar door and jumped. Raito grabbed a parachute and followed after Aile.

"Wait did she have a parachute on?" Raito thought. He was freefalling from the sky, the wind blowing in his face as he looks upon the landscape below. Ruins of the past lay ominously as death traps to the unprepared hunter. Beyond what he saw below, there was barren wasteland bordering forests and cities. It was like a patchwork quilt made from the land itself.

"This feeling, it's… familiar." Raito pondered. Soon enough he caught up to Aile who went earlier. He was right, Aile didn't have a parachute.

"Hey where's your parachute?" Raito shouted loudly over the wind.

Aile cocked a smile, "Don't need one!" She began diving down faster and faster. The two of them were nearly approaching the ground. Raito had reached the safe height to release his parachute. A large white cloth quickly deployed from his backpack slowing his descent. Aile on the other hand continued falling.

There was 200 feet left before she would hit the ground. A blue blocky object floated out of her pocket. Aile quickly grabbed it and shouted, "Megamerge!" Blue armor enveloped her body with a distinct buster arm on her left. Energy charged in the buster and before plummeting to her doom she fired a blast towards the ground softening the impact.

Raito couldn't see anything from the smoking rising, but he started coughing madly when he breathed it. When he landed near Aile he saw that she was perfectly fine, standing in a smoldering crater but fine overall.

"Let's go." Aile signaled a command to move. The two of them ran into the ruins. The ground was rocky and there were crystals sticking out from several places all sharp and pointy. Raito observed his surroundings. To the distance there were the remains of giant dead trees. Who knows how old they were.

The sound of machine parts rumbling echoed through the ruins as Aile and Raito continued forward. "Get ready, mavericks are here." warned Aile.

Raito nodded and crouched down advancing slowly with his plasma pistol drawn. Aile searched the area for more mavericks.

They both tried to advance silently without drawing attention. But suddenly Raito accidentally kicked a rock and stubbed his toe. "Ow!" he shrieked. He quickly tried to silence himself but it was too late. He heard things revving up and something similar to a camera zooming in.

"Darn! We're going to have to blast our way through! Just stay close!" Aile ordered. Raito didn't have time to apologize for his blunder as he found himself running for his life against a mechaniloid horde coming from all directions.

"I'll pick off the ones on the side!" Raito shouted. A bunch of spiked out wheels rolled towards Aile. Raito aimed and shot two of them the rest continued rolling towards Aile.

She pointed her buster at the mechaniloids and fired several times destroying all of them. "Just move forward. We'll make it to Area N soon enough." said Aile. Energy charged in the buster. After a short delay she released a searing ball of plasma larger than her body straight ahead clearing anything stupid enough to get in the way.

They made use of this chance to make a mad dash to the other part of the ruins. The mechaniloids stopped chasing after the door behind them closed. "Why are there… huff huff…. so many .. huff puff… mechaniloids?" Raito asked.

"That's why we're here to investigate." Aile answered. "For some reason this area attracts plenty of mavericks."

Raito looked around, "This place in general just doesn't feel right."

"Setting up a warp point." Aile planted a device on the floor. The machine lifted itself upward and a tube of light appeared on the bottom. "All clear for transfer."

A team of Guardians teleported in shortly after. They began taking notes of the surrounding areas and took several photos.

"All I have to do is guard them?" Raito asked.

"Yep, I'll go on ahead to make sure nothing big comes this way. Small fry should be easy for you to handle." said Aile. She continued deeper into the ruins until Raito could no longer see her.

"A Mega Man could handle herself." Raito thought. In the meantime he found a rock to sit on while the research teams worked. Raito would have guessed everything was going smoothly since the researchers are giving each other satisfied nods.

Suddenly gunfire was heard. Several bolts of energy flew towards the research team barely missing. Raito got up and fired back at the attackers. He identified them as several galleons. Everyone took cover behind some large rocks. Raito returned fire whenever he saw the chance but he was heavily outgunned.

He quickly popped out from his cover to fire again, shooting two of them down. At that moment he also got a quick glance at their numbers. "5…6…7… no 8 left….and more are coming. We're being overwhelmed." Raito quickly retreated before the buster barrage tore him apart.

"Everyone retreat! We're outnumbered!" Raito shouted to the crew. The Guardians slowly backed off to the warp point Aile established.

"Requesting emergency transfer!" a Guardian shouted. He waited a few seconds before he got a response. "Mr. Raito we're ready to go! Hurry back!"

Raito was still engaging the enemy bolts of plasma flew across the storm of buster shots. He started to notice that he has fewer openings to return fire. "Suppressing fire? Shit! I'm pinned down."

"Mr. Raito we don't have much time!" the Guardian shouted.

With nothing to lose, Raito desperately made a charge towards the warp point. A volley of buster shots flew past him as he tumbled from boulder to boulder taking whatever shelter he could find.

"Almost…there!" Raito sprinted towards the group. Just as he was about to make it an extreme piercing pain stuck him. "Argh!" he screamed in pain. Raito was shot in the left shoulder his movements slowed down from the pain.

All of a sudden, the galleons aimed towards the ceiling and unleashed a storm of energy. "They're collapsing the ceiling!" Raito desperately carried himself on as fast as he could. If those boulders fall everyone will be crushed. The rocks were now only a few feet above everyone.

"Mr. Raito, we're sorry!" the Guardian screamed. The entire crew was enveloped in a white light and teleported out.

"Ahhhhh!" Raito screamed. He desperately fired at the rocks above. They weren't destroyed but at least he shifted their courses. Boulders fell beside Raito as for the smaller ones he shielded with his right arm the best he could. Blood dripped down his arm as the rocks continued to rain down upon him.

"I'm going to die here just because?" Raito remembered his talk with David before.

"We've been through this before. I thought you would come to realize this is common."

"It's not unusual for Hunters to die on the job. I guess my view of things change when I'm the one dying." Raito coughed as more dust filled the air. Below Raito's feet the floor started cracking.

"I thought this was solid rock!" Raito shouted as the floor crumbled and gave away. Falling into the crevice, Raito's screams were drowned out by the darkness.

Mission 2: In Progress

To Be Continued

AN: So now Aile and Prairie enter the story. What will happen to Raito? How will he get out of this one?

Thank You: Read and Review Please. As always I appreciate comments and criticism.

Shout out to all Mega Man fans to check out Rockman Ciel. It's a Japanese fan game that is a sequel to Zero 4. Ciel is the main character and they have already published an official art book just like the Zero Complete Works.