Brav: What the HELL, Sypher?
Me: What?
Brav: After what I did out there, you had Zero mop me up like THAT? I call bullshit.
Roto: (points at Brav, laughing)You got knocked the fuck out!
Me: Well, maybe you should reconsider being such a dick to me in the future.
Brav: (grumbles) I do as I'm designed and THIS is the thanks I get...
Roto: Maybe you should just 'Retire', Brav. Might be safer for ya. (Continues laughing at Brav)
Me: Easy, Roto. I did have Zero kill his lady friend, so I get where he's coming from. Who's hittin' the Disclaimer?
Cordelia: Ohh, may I?
Me: Go for it Cordelia.
Cordelia: Thanks! SypherZero owns nothing from MegaMan X or any other Capcom related items that may appear. The story and OC's, however, are all his creations. Roto! Stop picking on the poor Maverick! He's having a hard enough time!
Me: OH! Before I forget again... I made a mistake earlier when I thanked 'Nikki' for the review. That thanks actually goes out to Nina. I'm a bit spacey of mind sometimes. Hope I didn't offend. And, good thought about Colonel Gainis. Although not the Colonel we knew, he was designed with the same aesthetic. Without further ado, on with the story!
Chapter 8- Memories in Sand
Zero's head was buzzing from his impact against a wall. The concussion burst, which he hadn't expected at all, had thrown him far into one of the excavation site's tunnels and ended abruptly against solid stone. Pulling himself into a standing position, Zero had to right himself against the wall as his head still swam from the desperation attack. 'Anyone get the ID of that hovertank...?' he thought as he slowly recovered and started his way back to HQ. A shout of 'Zero!' over his comm helped clear the haze away.
"I'm alright, Iris. Just took a nasty shot. Returning to base now."
"Zero, respond!" Iris' voice came back over the comm, a note of rising panic evident.
Attempting several more times to respond to Iris, Zero huffed and cut his comm. 'Must've shorted when I took that shockwave. Better get back before she loses it.' Distracted as he was by the communications issue, Zero didn't notice the Buster aimed his way until he heard the familiar high-pitched hum of it charging. 'I'm REALLY starting to slip in my old age...' Zero lowered his arms to his sides and slowly began to turn towards the humming Buster.
"Don't move!" shouted a very nervous voice. Zero stopped his motion, but turned his head to get a look. He was almost shocked to see a teenaged Reploid in green-blue armor standing just off to his side, his 'steady' hand shaking more than the charging Buster. Zero shook his head slightly thinking if the Imperium allowed recruits this young, their situation in this war was much worse off than he'd thought. Completing his turn to face the solider, Zero could see the fear in the young man's eyes.
"Easy, solider. I'm not your enemy." Zero said calmly.
"Who are you? This is a Restricted Area. O-Only Authorized Imperium personnel are permitted here." replied the nervous fighter.
"Like I said, I'm not your enemy here, you have my word. Uncharge the Buster and let's talk."
Zero could see the thoughts ticking behind the young Reploid's eyes, and after a moment he finally lowered his weapon, slumped against the nearby wall and buried his face in his hands, no longer able to keep his composure. Zero felt sorry for him, the young solider was the sole survivor of a vicious onslaught and had no idea what he was doing fighting in a war that had started long before he'd been built. Moving closer to him, Zero extended his hand to help him off the floor.
"What's you're name, kid?"
"Avery. PFC(Private 1st Class) Avery." he said taking Zero's hand and rising from the ground. "Who are you?" he asked, wiping the years from his face.
"Former Maverick Hunter. Can't tell you much else right now. Classified." Zero responded.
Avery tilted his head, confusion evident on his face.
"But... The Hunters were wiped out back in 30XX..."
"Yeah... So I keep hearing. Let's just say I've been laying low for a while and circumstances have forced me back into the world."
Before Avery could respond, Iris came dashing around a corner clad in purple, silver and sky-blue armor similar to Zero's. She was armed with a Beam Saber and Hard-Light Buckler that matched the purple of her armor. She stared at the pair, a hard look in her normally soft and friendly eyes. Seeing Zero in one piece, she deactivated her Saber and Buckler and moved to stand at his side, swatting his shoulder as soon as she got close enough.
"Why didn't you-?" She started.
"Comm's down. Impact must've shorted it."
"Well, next time steal one and let me know you're ok." she said before leaning up to kiss his cheek. "Who's your friend?"
"PFC Avery, allow me to introduce my Operator, and much better half-" Zero began but was cut off by the almost reverent tone of Avery finishing his sentence.
"Iris Callister... You're Iris Callister..."
Iris moved from Zero's side and positioned herself to evade or counter an attack.
"How do you know me?" she asked, suspicion beginning to wash over her. But Avery was now looking between the pair dumbstruck. He backed up a bit and looked them over as though it was his first second meeting them.
"But... If you're Iris, that means... Oh... Holy shit... You're Zero. You're Iris and Zero... This is insane! I was saved by the Legendary Zero AND met the Lady Iris... No one back at Command is gonna believe this."
"Private, compose yourself." Zero said firmly, bringing Avery back to the present. Iris glanced at Zero then to Avery.
"How do you know who I am, Avery?" she asked again, a calmer tone in her voice.
"EVERYONE know who you are. The Tale of Legendary Love is a classic." Avery said plainly, slightly confused by the question.
"The Tale of What?" Zero asked, his confusion more blatant than Avery's
"The Tale of Legendary Love. Back in the middle years of 25XX, an unknown author wrote the story of The Crimson Knight, Zero and The Lady of Flowers, Iris Callister. It was a retelling of the Repliforce story, with an emphasis on you two and how not even a war could keep you apart. Against the wishes of The Colonel, Iris ran away with Zero, trying desperately to live in peace.
When they were discovered, Colonel forces a duel to the death and is cut down by the Crimson Knight. Shattered by this, Iris turns to the Dark Man for powers to defeat Zero but is defeated by him. As she lay in his arms dying, Iris confesses her actions to her love and makes him vow to leave War behind.
With her final breath she tells Zero that, even in her rage, she loved him and not even Death could change that. Swearing that he would honor her wishes when the battle was over, Zero confronts the Dark Man and allows himself to be killed so that he can join his beloved forever."
As Avery finished his story, Iris and Zero exchanged a glance of knowing, of how close to the truth that was. Without thought, Zero's arm snaked around Iris' waist and he pulled her close, an overwhelming need to keep her near resonating through him. They lingered in silence for several moments before Zero spoke again, having bad news for the young Reploid.
"I'm sorry to say this, Private, but you can't leave here."
"What? But, I have to report back to Command. They need to know what happened to..."
Avery stopped. He'd been so focused on meeting the legendary duo that he forgot about the carnage he barely survived. Iris gently pulled away from Zero, seeing the pain in Avery's face as it all flooded back, and placed a hand on his shoulder. As he met her gaze, tears had once again welled up in his eyes.
"I'm so sorry for the loss of your friends, but we must keep ourselves a secret, at least for now. Only two others know we are still alive, and in order for us to be able to help it needs to remain that way. Zero will go and collect their remains, and I'll send an encrypted message to your commanders via your superior's transponder." Iris smiled at Avery, a sad and understanding smile. "We could use an extra hand, anyway, to help get the HQ in functional order again. What do you say, Private?"
Avery nodded. Iris pulled the boy into a comforting hug before looking back to Zero, wordlessly telling him to begin the macabre task of collecting the dead. He tossed her a melancholy grin and Booster-Dashed away while Iris lead Avery into the base.
Although he'd been ready for a bloody scene, Zero hadn't been prepared for the level of destruction and brutality the single Maverick fighter had caused. The broken bodies of eight soldiers lay in various states of death. Of that, Zero noticed, only 2 had died quickly, precise blaster wounds to the head and 'heart'. "I should've killed him..." Zero said to the fallen. Slowly, and respectfully, he began his task. The early morning sun shone bright and hot on Zero, again in his human form, as he finished and he started back to the base. A chime from his comm, which looked like a wireless Bluetooth headset when he was in the human form, caught his attention and he tapped the side of the unit hoping his self-repair had fixed the battle damage.
"Zero here."
"Hey Red!" Roto's voice came over the airwaves surprising Zero but brining a slight grin to his face at the friendly inflective from the unshakably cheerful Reploid.
"Good morning, Roto. What's the situation?"
"Jeez man, always so serious. Anyway, me and the Doc are in transit with gear and plus 1. No worries though, she's confirmed 'All Good'." Roto informed Zero, who just shook his head and sighed. 'More people? Nothing to be done about it now...', he thought before responding.
"ETA?" Zero asked.
"Ummmmm, at the rate this rig is goin', about an hour."
"Understood. Prepare for a briefing when you all get here. Things were interesting while you were gone. Zero out." he said and closed the transmission with Roto and opened one to Iris, who answered promptly.
"What's going on Zero?" she answered brightly.
"Doctor Mavris and two of his assistants are inbound. Estimated arrival in an hour."
" 'Two'? I thought...?" Iris started evidently perplexed. Zero quickly filled in the blanks. "Okay. That's not a bad thing, Zero. Besides, we could use the extra hands. Doctor Mavris seems trustworthy enough that he wouldn't compromise us. And, the base is too quiet, you know."
"Yeah. I fully agree. I'm heading in. Give Avery something to do that'll keep him away from Maintenance and B2 while I bring the remains in. I'll get Douglas' workshop running, I know his passcodes, and start the salvage process. When the doctor gets here, have him send Roto down to me. As an Infiltrator Unit, he should be able to handle what we need with his mods."
"Right. According to Avery we have approximately 6 hours before his Unit is due to report. We should have the transponder signal code by they. Any ideas on what your message will be?"
"A few, but I'll decide on the best course of action after the retrieval and decryption."
With that, Zero ended the transmission and began pulling the make-shift sled he's rigged up towards the cave. The grim task of collecting the remains of the fallen Imperium soldiers had brought memories rushing back to Zero. The faces of comrades and friends flashed through his mind's eye. Their expressions frozen in time at the moment of their death had plagued him for as long as he could remember. During his time as a Maverick Hunter, Zero had seen many fall in service and still he felt the powerlessness and rage that came with surviving. As he trudged back to the cave that led to the entrance of the base, he couldn't help but wonder where the world had gone so wrong while he and Iris had been in stasis. As quickly as the thoughts came to him Zero pushed them aside knowing that only more questions than answers would present themselves, as was usually the case with him.
As he approached the hole in the wall that lead down into the base, Zero noticed that a lift had been placed there. Although he was more than capable of getting the sled down to the ground level of the Maintenance bay, Zero was grateful for not having to do any unnecessary heavy lifting. 'The little things.' he thought with a small mental grin as he boarded the lift and descended to the floor making his way to the Service elevator that led directly to Douglas' workshop.
Exiting the elevator, Zero began to move the sled forward towards the workshop triggering more memories from the past, of the bustle that had once occupied this floor. Even after a thousand years he could still smell oil and hydraulic fluid, hear the sounds of the clanking machinery that Douglas used to repair other Reploids and felt the old humidity that had permeated this area when it was in use. Zero sighed, the nostalgic thoughts dampening his already down mood, and got to work reactivating the shop.
Finding Douglas' private terminal and activating it, Zero smiled as the password prompt immediately appeared on screen. Because of the time he, and X, had spent on the mechanic's bench Zero had heard a dozen-dozen times from the grizzled grease jock that 'Passwords are fallible. Pass-PHRASES, however, are where smart minds hide there secrets.' If only Douglas knew that Zero had memorized his. Leaning over the keyboard he typed 'X is the variable Z is the equation D solves the problem'. The screen flashed the message 'Access Granted' and the old Tesla generator that independently powered most of the floor roared to life after its long slumber. Overhead lights, terminals and machinery also, grudgingly, came alive as well and Zero gave an approving huff and commed Iris.
"Zero to Iris. B2 coming back online. Gonna take some work, but we should have it fully functional in no time."
"Excellent, Zero! That'll be a big help later on. We also just received a short-wave burst transmission from Dr. Mavris stating he and his crew are a little over a mile away and should arrive in minutes."
"Wait... We have external communications back?" Zero said with more surprise then he intended and heard Iris giggle.
"Of course we do. One of the first fixes I implemented was getting communications back up. I had Avery set up a multi-purpose transceiver unit and holo-transmissions array. Now, say it."
"You're the best, Iris." Zero replied, not as the joke she'd intended but as a matter of fact. She giggled anyway.
"I know. Now go greet our guests, then you can get back to work, Mister Maverick Hunter."
Making his way back to the Maintenance bay, Zero arrived in time to see Samuel and Roto boarding the lift with a large tarp covered hoversled. Roto noticed Zero before the doctor and shouted "BIG RED!" waving with purposeful over-enthusiasm. Samuel just shook his head and offered an apologetic nod to the Maverick Hunter. Zero, however, was still looking to the cave waiting for the third member of their party to arrive. After a moment when no one appeared, Zero turned to Samuel with a questioning look and the doctor walked over to him.
"Roto said you had a third with you."
"Indeed, Cordelia. She's parking our vehicle on the other side of the site where the vehicle storage is." Samuel told Zero as he looked around the bay, noticing that much of the power had been restored with a mildly shocked countenance. "I must say, you work quickly. I didn't expect you two to have so much done before we'd gotten back."
"The base is at 35% functionality, with power restored to all open areas and external communications restored. Which brings me to our briefing agenda. I was hoping I would have your whole party here, but, we had a situation."
Samuel's expression went even more shocked as Zero informed him of the two Armada Mavericks that had shown up and the squad of Imperium soldiers that had fallen. Worry creased Samuel's brow as he took in the information and he began to run his temples. Roto, on the other hand, looked nonchalantly at the doctor and gave Zero a wide smile.
"Aside from our troops, looks like you handled the 'situation' without a hassle. Those dirt-born Mavericks ID themselves?"
"Only one. She called herself Vale. Exotic weapons fighter. I've never encountered Beam Whips before, and she put up a fight. But, no matter the weapon, a Maverick is a Maverick and it's my duty to Retire them. The other one, however, was a real nasty piece of work: composite armor with several weapons compartments, high speed Boost capabilities, Longsword, shields and a kinetic discharge system that surprised me with its effectiveness. But, I think the arm-mounted Plasma Cannon he had was probably the deadliest tool in his arsenal."
Roto's eyes went wide as Zero ran off the Mavericks specs. Samuel and Zero both noticed.
"Roto," Zero said, "You know that guy?"
"Yeah... That's Brav the Berserk. He's a unit destroyer, equipped to fight solo against small-to-medium sized groups. I've seen plenty footage of his 'work'. Closest thing to Vile ever built."
"I noticed." Zero replied, darkly.
"This isn't good, Zero. If the Imperium sent units here, that means they were meant to report on what I was doing. You said that you collected the remains. Where are they?" Samuel asked.
"B2. The service elevator over there will take you directly to the workshop. I need Roto to do some extraction work and get the unit commanders processor and personal transponder codes so Iris can send a text-only report. We have 5 hours before it's due. Also, we have a prisoner in Containment and a single survivor of Brav's attack."
Samuel and Roto now shared an expression of shock at learning that, not only had someone survived, but Zero had captured an Armada solider. Before either could ask another question, however, Cordelia's voice echoed into the bay.
"Should I just jump down?" She asked.
"Remote code for the lift is 918. Add it to your comm setting and it'll respond as you need it to."
Zero said then looked to Samuel again. "Your third, I assume?"
"Yes. That's Cordelia Allon. Used to be a fighter, but grew tired of it and joined S&R. She's Roto's best friend, although they bicker like siblings." Samuel explained to Zero as he watched Roto greet Cordelia at the lift and practically dragged her over. Zero could hear their back-and-forth.
"Stop bein so scared and say 'Hi', Coco, he don't bite."
"Roto, stop pulling me! I'll get there, he's not going back into stasis in the next 5 seconds is he?"
Zero noticed Samuel's small, but sad, smile as Cordelia and Roto went back and forth with each other. He wanted to ask the doctor about his reaction, but decided to wait as he extended his hand to Cordelia. She took it with a firm shake that surprised Zero a bit with its strength.
"It's an honor to meet you, Zero." Cordelia said. "If I may ask, where's Iris? I'd heard she was with you, and I would love to pick her brain a little on some history."
Zero told her she could find Iris in the Command Ops room and Cordelia nodded a thanks as she went off. Roto and Samuel had taken the hoversled to the service elevator and were loading it in. Zero was curious as to what the covered item was on the sled, but as with the other questions he had for the doctor, he decided to wait for a better time to ask. Roto waved him over and Zero, unable to keep a smile from his face whenever confronted by Roto's upbeat nature, joined the pair and headed towards the workshop.
A/N: Sorry about the wait on what's essentially a short chapter of introduction and exposition. As I work outdoors and the weather in NY has sucked, I haven't been able to get anything done for a couple days. I'll be working on the next chapter immediately, so hopefully I will get it up early tomorrow. Thanks for sticking with me.