Chapter 6, The Elf wars.
Wasteland.
Zero wasn't sure what he had expected to see when he left the lab but it wasn't this, everything was dead and in ruin, Zero performed a quick scan of the area and his scanners didn't pick up any lifeforms at all nearby other than Ciel.
"Is everywhere like this" asked Zero, Ciel nodded sadly "Yes, the whole world looks like this now" she said, "What happened here, what happened to the world" asked Zero, "The Elf wars happened" said Ciel bitterly.
"The what" asked Zero, he had never heard of the Elf wars before and he was beginning to wonder just how long he had been in that lab for, "It's a very long story, but I promise that I'll tell you everything once we get back to the base" said Ciel.
Zero accepted this for now, but she'd better keep her word if she really did want Zero's help.
"So how do we get to this base of yours" asked Zero, "I'm not too sure, the Pantheons shot down our transport and we don't have a way to contact anyone" said Ciel sounding unsure.
Zero sighed he should have know that this wouldn't be easy, "Maybe I can get the transport working again" suggested Ciel although Zero could tell just from the tone of her voice that this was unlikely.
The two set off and soon found the transport that was still on it's side, Ciel winced as she looked at the damage "It looks worst than I remember" she said, Zero's attention however wasn't on the transport, he'd just seen something else that might be useful.
"Why don't we just take those" said Zero as he pointed to the Pantheons ride chasers that was still sitting not too far away, Ciel's face lit up instantly, "Great idea, it's not like the Pantheons need them any more" she said.
Zero climbed onto one of the ride chasers like he had done it a million times before, which if his returning memories was correct he had done, however when Zero looked at Ciel he saw that she was having a lot more trouble.
Not only was Ciel not sitting on the bike right she was also having trouble even starting it up, "Have you ever ridden one of these before" asked Zero, "No" said Ciel as she pressed a button that she thought was the starter but instead it turned the bike's headlight on.
"Maybe it will be better if you just ride with me" suggested Zero fearing for the girls safety, "Maybe your right" said Ciel after accidentally setting off the bike's horn.
Ciel climbed onto the back of Zero's bike and wrapped her arms around him as tightly as she could, "So where exactly is this base" asked Zero, Ciel told Zero the global quadrants of the base and they was off.
It was a long way to the Resistance base and although the ride chaser was much faster than the Resistance's transport was it would still take them hours to get there.
Zero didn't mind the long journey, it gave his systems time to fully reboot, with every passing minute Zero remembered more and more of his past.
Zero remembered the horrors of the Maverick wars, he remembered the battles against Sigma, he remembered his time with Iris, and he remembered his friendship with X.
As Zero's memories returned more question came to his mind, how could this have happened to the world, surely X would have stopped something like this, was X even still alive.
After about 5 hours Zero and Ciel reached their destitution, the two got off of the ride chaser and Zero took in his surroundings, this place didn't look any different from the rest of the wasteland, he couldn't see anything that looked like a base.
"Ciel are you sure this is the right area" asked Zero, "Yes, just give me a second" said Ciel as she knelt down to the ground, Ciel brushed off some sand from the ground and revealed a small control panel.
Ciel pressed a code into the control panel and the floor opened up revealing a lift, "We have to stay underground, it's the only place where we're safe from Neo Arcadia" explained Ciel, Zero nodded as he and Ciel boarded the lift.
Resistance base.
Zero was surprised to see the state of the Resistance base, it was clear to see that the Resistance was on it's last legs, he wondered just how much longer they could survive.
When the two exited the lift they was greeted be a few Reploids who's faces all brightened when they saw Ciel, "Ms Ciel, it's so good to see you again" said one, "It's good to see you as well Dande" said Ciel with a smile.
"Where's Milan and the others" asked another of the Reploids, Ciel's smile disappeared "They didn't make it" she said sadly, everyone's expressions became grim, "Milan's dead" said one, "Who's going to lead us now" said another.
Dande turned to Ciel "Was your mission at least a success" he asked, a light of hope instantly appeared in Ciel's eyes, "It was, everyone I'd like you to meet the legendary Zero who fought in the Maverick wars" she said.
Zero was a little embarrassed at being refereed to so highly though he was careful not to show this, however the looks on everyone's faces was unmistakable, some looked amazed, others looked to be in disbelief, there was even one who looked like he was about to bow down in respect.
"Everyone I know that your all exited to meet Zero but I promised him that I would explain everything to him when we got back" said Ciel stopping one Reploid who looked like he was about to ask Zero for his autograph, "Of course Ms Ciel, we'll give you some time" said Dande as he and the others stepped aside so that the two could pass.
"Sorry about that, your kind of a big deal to everyone" said Ciel as she led Zero through the base, "Why does everyone here think so highly of me" asked Zero, "Why wouldn't we, everyone's heard about the things that you've done" said Ciel as if it was obvious.
Zero was about to question this but was interrupted, "Mummy" called a voice and a second latter a 3 year old girl had run up and hugged Ciel, "Alouette it's so good to see you" said a smiling Ciel as she picked up the girl.
Upon closer inspection Zero realised that this little girl was in fact a Reploid, she had long blonde hair and blue eyes, she was wearing a pink dress and brown boots, she was also carrying a stuffed toy that resembled a cat.
For a moment Zero wondered why somebody would build a Reploid child, what was her practical purpose supposed to be.
"Alouette I'd like you to meet Zero" said Ciel, the little girl smiled "Hello Mr Zero, I'm Alouette" she said innocently, Zero couldn't help but smile a little.
Ciel put Alouette down, "Now sweety I need to talk with Zero in privet for a few minutes, can you go and play until we're done" said Ciel, "OK, but you will came and play with me later right" said Alouette hopefully, "Of course" said Ciel, Alouette smiled and ran off.
Ciel opened a door and led Zero into her room, the room was quite simple, it had a bed and a railing holding Ciel clothes on one side and on the other side there was a work bench and computer, there was also a door with the name Alouette on it leading to another room.
Ciel sat down on her bed, "So, where should we start" she asked, Zero had a lot of questions, but he thought that he should start at the beginning, "How long was I in that lab for" he asked.
"I'm not entirely sure, the last time anyone every saw you was during the Eurasia incident, that was 134 years ago" said Ciel, Zero could hardly believe it, he had been in that lab for 134 years, "Ciel tell me everything that happened after Eurasia, how was the world destroyed" he said.
"Well after Eurasia the Maverick wars continued for years, that was until a team of brilliant scientists finally discovered a solution, they called them Cyber elves, their little computer programs that take on a physical form, Cyber elves could accomplish great things, with their help society made huge leaps in technology" said Ciel.
"The scientists created one Cyber elf who was far more powerful than the others they called her the Mother elf and she had one job to eliminate the Maverick virus, and she did it, in less than 24 hours the virus was completely gone from the world, finally it seemed like the world was finally at peace" continued Ciel.
"But there was one scientist who wasn't happy with the way things had ended, no one knows why he did what he did but he reprogrammed the the Mother elf to take control of Reproids, he then created multiple weaker copies for the Mother elf to take control of more Reploids and soon he had an entire army" said Ciel her tone becoming bitter.
"What followed was the worst war in history, the Elf war, the mad scientist and his army was on one side and X and he rest of the world on the other, things was looking up at first people thought that X would stop this war before any real harm was done, but then he came" said Ciel darkly.
"The mad scientist unleashed his most powerful weapon, a Reploid called Omega, Omega was more powerful than anything that had ever been seen before, he laid waste to everything, not even X seemed capable of stopping him" said Ciel.
"No one knows what exactly happened next, but X was somehow able to stop Omega and the mad scientist was never seen again, some people say that X killed the scientist and Omega but that just doesn't seem to add up to me" said Ciel.
"This marked the end of the Elf war, it should have been a time of celebration but the damage was already done, 75% of all sentient life had been destroyed and the planet was so badly ravaged that in was uninhabitable" said Ciel sadly.
"X came together with what remained of the world government and they built a new city, one that was protected from the wasteland, one where people could live and breath clean oxygen, one where Humans and Reploids could live together in peace, they called this city Neo Arcadia" continued Ciel with just a hint of hope.
"I heard that for a time Neo Arcadia was a utopia, everyone was treated as equals and they lived together happily, but in time problems began to rise, they began to suffer from an energy and food shortage, and to make matters worst the Master of the city was becoming more paranoid that another war could one day start" said Ciel her previous hope disappearing.
"The Master began to judge anyone and everyone that put so much as a toe out of line as a threat to the city's safety, soon people began to disappear with no explanation, Reploids was being called Mavericks and being destroyed for seemingly no reason at all" said Ciel with just a hint of anger in her voice.
"Some people came together and formed resistance groups, but they was quickly labelled as terrorists and they soon had to face the full force of Neo Arcadia's military, we're one of the only resistance groups left now, we came to find you because we don't know who else we can turn to for help" said Ciel as she finished the story, by this point she had tears in her eyes.
Zero could hardly believe all of this, so much had happened while he was gone and by the sound of it barely any of it was good, however there was one thing that didn't make sense to Zero, if things where really this bad then where was X, surly he would do something about Neo Arcadia.
"Ciel why do you need my help, can't you go and ask X to stop this insanity" asked Zero, despair was clear on Ciel's face as she spoke "Zero, we can't ask X to stop the Master, because X is the Master of Neo Arcadia".