Megaman X: Final Prologue

By: SylentStryke

Rated: M

Disclaimer: I would write something about how I don't own Megaman X and how Capcom owns him and his crew, but I forgot how to do that. :)

A/N: Archaon brought to my attention that the date for the X series isn't quite set in stone, so the date is 22XX. Thanks to Archaon and sorry to all of those I have confused. Again.

Chapter 5: First Impressions

MMHQ- 0th Quarters
Time: 7:01 A.M.
Date: 6-18-22XX

An alarm clock blared ruthlessly throughout the room in a monotonous manner, causing a sleepy reploid to stir. She groaned as she reached an arm out to turn the noisy clock off. She banged her fingers against the edge of the dresser and let out what could be interpreted as a growl. She sat up quickly and glared at the devious noisemaker. She proceeded to rip it out of the wall, tearing the cord while doing so. With a huff, she made her way to the bathroom on the other side of the room.

After showering and completing her other morning tasks, she found herself in front of her closet, wearing a comfortable looking pair underwear and lace bra. She rummaged through the packets of clothes and found her uniform. She slipped into it and headed lifelessly out the door.

The walk to the 0th Unit's HQ proved to be a quiet one. Leyna had entered a state of being that was new to her. It was pain, but not physical, mental, or even emotional trauma. She felt like she was dead. Like a mechaniloid. Her eyes lost their jubilant glow. She walked into the room marked '0th HQ', with the following text underneath: 'the worldz finest'.

She mentally sighed as she stared at the words Zero had scribed onto the wall with a jumbo Sharpie. She remembered watching him do it. That was just one of the many things about Zero flooding her mind. Even though she knew him well, something just didn't feel right. It was the way he looked when he plummeted toward the sea of war. She shook her head, trying to clear it of the frightening images.

Upon walking in, she took a seat and waited for the rest of the unit to show up. She couldn't help but spot Zero's seat at the edge of the long table. Within minutes, the rest of the unit showed up along with Vice, the temporary unit commander.

"Well, you're early, Leyna. Never thought it'd happen." He smiled as he walked by. Leyna seemed to pay him no mind as he attempted to mock her. He realized this and strode past his chair. He grabbed Zero's seat and cast a glance at Leyna, who was now following his movement with cold eyes. He smirked at her reaction and sat down. Leyna growled as the cocky 'leader' squirmed about in Zero's chair.

"Well, this chair certainly is comfortable. But enough fun. This is what we will be doing at 1600 hours." Vice then went into a lengthy discussion over their unit's objective in Arcadia, all of which Leyna ignored. She hated the way Vice tried to run things. The way he tried to add in bits of humor the way Zero did so flawlessly. No one laughed; they didn't even smirk. He was making an even bigger ass of himself. But that's not why she didn't pay attention. She had other plans in Arcadia.

"Okay, team. That's the rundown, any questions?" He finished up. They all declined silently. "Alrighty, then. Dismissed!" And with that, the 0th dispersed, getting things ready for their operation. Leyna made her way to the Main Hall in an attempt to distance herself from Vice, who in turn chucked at the thought of getting under her skin.

Stryke plopped down on the chair, not believing what Kicker had just told him. Still, he thought he should prod for an alternate solution.

"Kicker, are you absolutely sure that I won't be able to get a replacement by four in the afternoon? You know that I have to go shoot a rifle at the enemy right?" Stryke said undeterred. Kicker sighed heavily and turned to face Stryke. He developed a pulsing anger vein on his forehead.

"Stryke, I already told you: your injury is rare, and because of that we have to order a spare eye from the company that manufactures your frame type since we don't have a one on hand. Do you know how rare you are?" Kicker said, his voice steadily rising with anger.

"But-"

"Even if we had an eye on hand, it would take a while to gouge out your damaged one and implant the replacement. That alone takes at least two very delicate hours. That's not even considering the time it would take for your systems to readjust for the new eye. You'd be blind for a quarter of the day." His anger seemed to diminish. Stryke sat there in the Thinker's position.

"Hmm...wait! I don't need toes to shoot a rifle, so do ya think you could turn a few into an eye..." He fell out of the chair quickly, looking over his shoulder to spot the sharp surgical instrument still vibrating from being thrown into the chair. He smile at the fuming doctor but dashed out of his office when he picked a large pair of scissors.

Outside the crazed surgeon's room, Stryke found himself looking at Locke, who had a box in her hand. He stood up and greeted her.

"Stryke, it's not wise to annoy the one who helps you. You might just find yourself needing more just an eye." He blew air through his lips.

"Nah, he'll be fine. Though you may be on to something...what's that?" He inquired upon spotting the box. Locke glanced down at it.

"Oh this? It's from Douglass." She handed him the box, unexpectantly. "He said it should help out with your depth perception. Stryke nearly yelped at 'depth perception' as he took the box from her. She smiled as she watched him open the box with eagerness. After pulling out a wad of soft padding, Stryke held up an eyepatch. His expression fell from cloud nine.

"An eyepatch? What the hell? Does he think I'm a pirate?" Stryke said as he got ready to chuck it down the hallway. Locke grabbed his arm before he could throw it.

"Stryke! Stop bein' a baby and put it on! It's not an ordinary patch!" She exclaimed as she prepared to wrestle him for the eyewear. He took another glance at the patch and noticed a slit in the center of it. Beneath that was a small orb of glass. He smirked at her before he went to go search for a mirror. About halfway down the hall, the klaxon alarm blared throughout the building.

"THIS IS A CLASS ALPHA ALARM. ALL HUNTERS ARE TO ASSEMBLE IN THEIR DESIGNATED UNIT FOR THE ARCADIA OPERATION. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. I REPEAT: THIS IS NOT..."

Stryke cursed under his breath as he doubled back down the hall. Locke followed him down to the 17th's Armor Depot.

Central Tokyo
Time: 10:13 A.M.

Harold Cain stormed through the door to the meeting room. He was about 5'11", had dark brown hair and seemed to be about twenty-five years of age. He shook his coat and hat free of water before hanging them on the back of his chair.

"It's raining already?" William Gantley asked his colleague.

"Not raining. Pouring." He replied. Looking around, he saw that only he and William were in the room. "Where're the governmental figures?"

"Not on time, as usual. I thought about goin' home before you showed up."

"How long have you been here, Will?"

"About an hour. Figured I didn't want to make the important people wait. But, lo and behold! They didn't even show up at the time they set up."

"Oh, be careful about what you say. You never know when they could just pop-up." He took a seat next to William, and as soon as he did so the door to the room opened, pouring in soggy governmental reps.

After a few moments of exchanging handshakes and names, Harry gave each rep a name of his own, Gov. Rep. 1 through Gov. Rep. 9, for the sake of simplicity. Rep. 1 cleared his throat loudly.

"I would like to thank you both for joining us today. I know it must be tough to tear away from your jobs, especially during wartime. But anyway, we have dire matters to discuss." He gestured to Rep. 3, a woman with brunette hair in her early twenties, who nodded and stood up.

"Yes, as we all know that this war is far different than the previous conflicts. The enemy leader is not reploid, but human. To us, this is just another enemy who threatens humanity, but to the Maverick Hunters, this is an enemy unlike any of which they have faced before."

"So, the rumors were true..." Will said, placing a hand to his chin.

"Yes," Rep. 7 spoke, "quite true indeed. This is the man who started the war," he said while pushing a button on his laptop, bringing a picture up on the holo-monitor. The picture showed a man in about his fifties, clad in a black, white and orange cloak. "This is Sebastian Weil. He goes by 'Dr. Weil'. Harry sighed. He wondered why all the enemies in the world tacked 'Dr.' onto their name.

"He has instigated this conflict by abducting a Cyber-Elf from Cain Laboratories. He apparently has a device that lets him control any reploid within his range. Exactly what that device is, we don't know." Harry twitched nervously in his seat as the company passed down to him by his distant grandfather was mentioned.

"So, what are you planning on doing about this situation?" Harry asked, carefully logging notes into his laptop.

"We were thinking about how to eliminate the threat without forcing the Hunters to kill Weil. If possible, we would like to capture and imprison him."

"Imprisonment?" William retorted.

"Yes. Imprisonment. Weil has committed a heinous crime. He plans to either enslave humanity, or outright destroy it." Rep. 6 said. William gasped with disgust.

"How exactly are we going to go about capturing him? I say we execute him." William thought out loud.

"That idea crossed our minds at first. But...we would just be playing into his game. Why end his life and free him of the torment he should live with? He will feel the guilt of his error and the pain of those he killed."

They sat in silence for a bit while the two non-governmental men pondered.

"Space..." Harry muttered loudly. This got him glances begging for an explanation. "Think about it: If we place him in a facility on Earth, he would find a way to free himself no matter how much heavy security we place on him. Remember how many times Dr. Wily made history repeat itself, and he didn't have control over even a toaster. Imagine how long it would take Weil to get free?"

Harry felt proud as he got the governmental figures thinking. Rep. 2 mumbled something, indicating that he was about to speak. "Do you really think he would be completely isolated up there? And would we retrieve him when he has far passed his life expectancy?" Harry contemplated this for a bit. He realized that the average life expectancy for humans well exceeded eighty, but that didn't mean much with one of the worst wars in history happening right next door.

"Yes, and, we will not have to retrieve him, for he shall not die." Harry answered both questions. He started to elaborate, but William interjected. "Since I doubt that this war will take less than a year, I'll have my company start researching on a life support system." Harry regarded his friend. "(Since when could he read minds...)"

"Yes. And I'll search for a way to make sure Weil stays in captivity." Harry said. The government reps stood and bowed as the meeting drew to a close. William noticed Harry following one of the government reps out the door with his eyes.

"Her name's Cielia Kusanagi." He said smugly. Harry choked on his tongue as he tried to form an excuse. William laughed at his friend as they decided they would discuss matters later over a drink.

To be continued...

Hey! This was a...strange chapter to crank out. It started out even and nicely. Then Christmas comes along and gives me Animal Crossing: Wild World and Mario Kart DS. Now my birthday will be here in a little over a week. Can he get a new chapter out in time? Or will he succumb to the death-grip of becoming an adult? Time will tell. Oh! And...

Till Next Time!