As they made their way toward the testing hall, gasps and murmurs rumbled in Zero's wake. X didn't think Zero would be too unusual compared to the other commanding officers walking about, but the other hunters reacted to him as though he were another species. X wished he could conceal Zero in a box or hide him with a shroud. The less attention the better.
However, X knew he could not hide Zero forever, and the attention Zero received could not be avoided. Zero's name would be on the lips of every Hunter, especially if he did in fact test well. X tried not to think about it, and focused ahead as the Hunters they passed by began to crowd behind them and gaze in wonderment.
"Who-what-...is that?" X heard.
"Where is he from?"
"He looks dangerous."
X hoped Zero remembered what Sigma said about the reorganization, and that there would be a lot of strangers who did not recognize him.
Zero held his head high at first, seeming to revel in the attention. However, the constant chatter only swelled as they traveled, and soon the commotion grated on X's last nerve. He moved to turn around.
Zero beat him to it. He whipped around and shouted at the gawkers, "You wanna know who I am? My name is Zero! I am the best Maverick Hunter there is, and I am going to prove it! Any questions?" Zero thumbed at himself for emphasis. The noise died out immediately.
X tugged on Zero's arm and said, "Let's keep going." Why he thought things would be easy after all, X did not know.
"Quite a boast," a steady, low voice called out. The other soldiers leapt aside to reveal a tall, imposing Reploid of obvious rank. X sensed Zero's awe at the Reploid's expansive, purple wings, with thin violet plates for feathers, which made him appear enormous in comparison with the foot soldiers around him. Contrasted with his purple coloring, bright gold highlighted the vent of his chest, the talons on his feet, and the frame of his face, as well as a sharp, curved beak he had for a mouth. Blood red coloring feathered out and around his eyes, and an emerald orb was embedded on his forehead.
"Storm Eagle," X said quietly to Zero. He then saluted and greeted the officer, "Sir!"
"X," Storm Eagle acknowledged, but his sight did not leave Zero.
Zero swallowed hard, but soon straightened himself and replied, "No boast, sir. Your problem if you don't believe me."
The purple Reploid stepped forward. He looked Zero once over and asked, "And just where are you from, Zero?"
Zero hesitated, unsure of how to reply. X cut in and said, "He's new. From an out-of-town precinct you probably never heard of. I'm showing him where he is to take his performance rank test."
"I see. With that attitude, I'm surprised I haven't heard of you before. Well, at least you appear to have some guts. That's unusual around here, much like your general appearance," Eagle said, scanning Zero.
"You probably know what that's like," Zero replied, and X tensed at his friend's blatantly disrespectful tone.
Storm Eagle seemed to pay no mind as he chuckled and said, "Indeed. I appear the way I do because I was built for a higher purpose. Storm Eagle, Class A," he emphasized himself with a flex of his wings. "I wish you luck, rookie. Before you get too far ahead of yourself, I recommend learning who your new superiors are around here." Storm Eagle then spread his wings and flapped them once. X and Zero instinctively braced themselves as the force of the gust ripped through the hallway nearly swept them off their feet. A few unlucky soldiers caught in the gale lost their balance and tumbled several feet.
"Wow," Zero said as the wind abated. Storm Eagle then said, "Not all of them are as affable as I am." The officer then turned and took his leave.
After Storm Eagle left their sight, X said, "He was originally built to defend the air base just outside Abel City. He's one of the military grade Reploids. All the Class A officers are powerful like him, although compared to the other generals, I respect him the most. I'll tell you about the rest after your test in case you run into any more of them."
"If he doesn't scare me, then I doubt the others will," Zero said. "Let's go. I'm dying to get this over with now."
X nodded, and they continued on.
At the testing facility, X and Zero were met by a receiving officer seated behind a booth. X gave the customary salute and stated, "I am here with Hunter candidate Zero, who will be running the test today."
The receiving officer nodded as his fingers swiftly tapped his console. The officer's eyes widened and he said, "Zero, huh? Looks like the Commander registered you himself. Do you know him personally or something?"
"I know him well enough," a voice called out.
The receiving officer then straighted, saluted, and said "Commander, sir!"
Surprised, X and Zero turned to watch Sigma walk past them and up to the receiving booth. X, however, felt somewhat relieved at the intervention.
Sigma looked at the receiving officer and said, "If you have any interest in furthering your career beyond cleaning ride armor parts until you break down, you won't ask too many questions. Understood?" The officer, still saluting, nodded vigorously. "At ease. Come on, rookie," Sigma demanded over his shoulder.
"Sir," Zero said. He took a deep breath and began to follow the Commander. X stayed behind, silent, but stared at Zero as he proceeded toward the chamber door. He desperately wanted to warn Zero that the Commander's involvement in a routine aptitude test was highly unusual.
X was about to wish Zero luck when Sigma called, "You, too, X. Come along."
X hesitated. Yes, this was highly unusual.
"That's an order!"
"Yes, sir." With great trepidation, X followed.
The doors of the testing chamber opened to a hallway that receded toward the subject chamber. Another chamber, the observation chamber, was wrapped around the subject chamber, separated with blastproof glass. The appearance was that of a glass box within a bubble. On either side just inside the door began a loop that inclined upward and around in order to allow an observer to ascend to the second level. The design was intended to have the subject centered within an outer layer where the evaluator could observe from all angles. At the top just above the subject chamber floated the evaluator's panel where, in an ordinary test, a technician observed the test. Although most of the data was recorded, measured, graded via computer, only a live evaluator could validate the results and communicate with the subject.
Zero made his way towards the subject's chambers while Sigma and X climbed up the loop to the evaluator's room. Sigma punched in his access code at the console there and the lights dimmed in the observation chamber as the subject chamber whirred to life.
Sigma switched on the microphone. "What you are standing in," Sigma announced with mild static clinging to his words, "is a holographic simulation room. I will be running random scenarios in which your instincts and reflexes will be graded. You see, these innate instincts and reflexes are what separate the B's from the C's in this organization. B's have potential. C's do not. Are you ready?"
"Ready, sir," Zero replied, retracting his right hand into his Z-buster.
The microphone switched off, and Sigma tapped in the start command and initiated the first sequence. Immediately, the subject chamber vanished and Zero suddenly found himself looking at an open blue sky. Just as suddenly, he felt the pull of simulated gravity as he went into a free fall. The lifelike sensations of the rush of air streaming over his face and up through his hair stunned him. He looked down, and his throat tightened as he realized he was falling down over a huge city below.
He had little time to process what was happening before bat-like robots appeared and streamed toward him in a cloud. In a split second, Zero regained his grip on himself and readied his buster and pelted the oncoming wave with energy bullets. The pull of the simulated gravity made it more difficult, yet not one bat could survive the barrage that pierced through each of them as if they were paper.
Zero then sensed a large presence behind him. He spun around and met face to face with an enormous hornet-shaped aircraft, hovering by a massive propeller on its back. Two more bats flanked either side of the hornet. A barrel protruded from the hornet's mandibles, aimed squarely at Zero. Zero looked down again, noting that he rapidly approaching the concrete below.
The hornet fired a burst of energy shots from the barrel while the bats simultaneously swooped in for the kill. He incinerated one bat with a burst from his buster. With the other bat, he used his other hand to grab it by the wing. The bat banked sharply, and Zero rode it until circled back towards the hornet.
With a herculean leap, Zero let go of the bat and launched himself toward one of the hornet's legs. Zero latched on, and the sudden shift in weight caused the hornet to swerve and tilt off-balance, but it was not enough to shake Zero. Zero wasted no time and pressed the barrel of his buster to the hornet's head. Zero charged and fired a shot that melted the hornet's plating and traveled clean through to the other side.
"Wow," X said in the evaluator's booth. Zero's talent for battle mesmerized him. "I don't remember this from my test."
"That's because we tested you as an Anti-Maverick policeman. We had lower standards back then," Sigma said.
X tried not to grumble in the presence of his Commander.
Meanwhile, Zero's assault on the hornet caused it to jerk to the side and fall into a tailspin. Zero protracted his hand from his buster and held on tightly as flames poured out from the hornet's wound. He then looked for an opportunity to abandon his ride as he fell in among the city's skyscrapers.
Zero could feel the hornet's hull heating up and fracturing under his grip. He had little time. Seeing the flat concrete of a building nearby, he vaulted himself and skidded along the side. As he lost his momentum, he dropped and reached out to grip the sill of a window. He then turned to watch the hornet erupt into a fireball and rain charred fragments upon the city streets below.
Zero let out a long breath. He then looked around, realizing that by his estimate, he was hanging at least 800 feet up from the ground. There was another building directly across, but the gap between was too large for him to cross in one jump. However, when he looked at his Z-buster, an idea then came to him. He charged his buster, and while maintaining the charge he used both feet to spring off and toward the opposite building. As he began to fall, he let loose the charged shot. The shot cratered the concrete of the building he had leapt from, but force of the blast gave him just enough propulsion for him reach the other building and slide down, charging another shot as he did so. Repeating this tactic, Zero descended safely to street level.
"Very good!" Zero heard Sigma say over the comm. The image of the gigantic city before Zero then crumbled, and his surroundings then reformed, placing him in a nondescript, abandoned facility. Only emergency lights illuminated the doors and walkways, leaving much of his environment in shadow.
X squinted, looking over the warehouse interior carefully. Then, complete shock hit him. This is Camelback, X realized. What was Sigma doing?
A/N: Z-saber written out this time.