A red blur followed by a golden streak arched over the top of the wall at the Maverick factory complex. Zero's movements were so quick, a human would struggle to spot him. Even the Mavericks, who were hauling boxes around, were much less likely to detect him in the short period of time from when he emerged from cover to when he took refuge in another dark corner. The several buildings in the complex and the various piles of scrap and parts provided ample opportunities for concealment. The evening's cover of darkness filled the areas between the sparse spot lighting. The conditions were ideal for Zero to move about covertly.
Around the next corner, a Maverick was approaching. The humanoid shaped robot carried only a weapon and was undoubtedly assigned to security. With one swift motion, Zero dashed around the corner, past the Maverick, dispatching his plasma sabre and re-holstering it in an instant with a sharp buzz. Before this hostile reploid realized what was happening, he had already been halved into pieces that Zero gently collected before they could noisily clatter to the ground. Zero waited patiently in the blackness of the next corner to listen for any signs that his attack drew any attention. The night remained calm save for the low humming coming from inside some of the buildings and the light buzzing from some of the overhead spotlights.
Although Zero was annoyed by X's appeal to minimize casualties, he found this stealthy mission exhilarating. Zero decided to respect X's request to approach covertly as opposed to a general attack. Maybe it was his long standing friendship with X, or maybe he was worried that X would cut him off from more critical intelligence.
Zero identified the building that matched the coordinates X provided. He dashed over to the base of the nearest wall and began to scale it with a series of wall kicks. The final wall kick propelled him over the edge of the roof landing neatly on top.
To Zero's surprise, there were already two other reploids standing there on the roof. One was a humanoid reploid, brandishing a double sided scythe. He was a full head taller than Zero, with red and purple armour. The other was a large reploid with a design that seemed to be based on some kind of dog-like creature. Zero wondered how he had missed them on his approach to the factory building. The two reploids were not facing directly towards Zero, but they noticed him and seemed somewhat surprised by his arrival.
Springing into action, Zero quickly dashed towards them in order to take advantage of the element of surprise. Zero lashed out with his sabre towards the humanoid reploid, but he had the reflexes to side step the attack. Zero followed up with three more slashes in quick succession, but his opponent stepped out of the way of the first two and bent over backwards to dodge the third strike.
Without a moment to lose, Zero swung around and swiped at the dog-like reploid with a sequence of strokes of his sabre. This opponent also stepped back to avoid the attacks. Zero's final swing of his sabre was an upwards stroke towards the head of the reploid. This dog-like robot was somewhat clumsier than his partner. As he leaned back to dodge the incoming plasma sabre, he fell backwards, his large upper body landing awkwardly on the roof.
Zero pounced on the fallen reploid and prepared to inflict a finishing blow, but he hesitated for a moment.
"There's no need for that." The humanoid reploid spoke quietly, but confidently, somewhat unbefitting the urgency of the situation.
Something didn't add up here for Zero. Although these reploids were able to evade his advances, they had made no effort to counter attack. The reploid with the scythe did not use it. He was lean with wide boots and wrists like many reploids, but had large pointed shoulders and upturned points on the ends of his boots. His short blonde hair was swept back and a large scratch crossed the front of his red headband, face, and missing eye.
The large dog-like reploid's armour had an alternating red and yellow pattern resembling flames. Much of his body was covered in stainless steel plates covered with nozzles. His hands and feet were clawed.
In his confusion, Zero remained motionless atop the flame patterned reploid with one arm still raised as he processed this. Perhaps these were not Mavericks he was dealing with. Maybe he failed to spot them because they too were hiding from the Mavericks. But how did they find this place? Zero slowly and carefully dismounted the fallen reploid. "What are you two doing here?"
"Red Alert is here to do your job, Maverick Hunter." It was the reploid with the double sided scythe who spoke. "Hyenard and I will make sure you don't mess up another mission."
Zero was outraged. Who does this Red Alert guy think he is? "You're interfering with a Maverick Hunter operation! What is 'Red Alert'?"
"The name of our organization, 'Red Alert', is a wake up call, a state of emergency." Red spoke arrogantly, but with passion. "We cannot allow the Maverick Hunters to continue to casually and half heartedly fight this war. The defeat of Sigma should have marked the end of this war. Instead, you've made no progress and your unacceptable failures are becoming routine. It's time for you to step aside and let us handle things our way."
Zero found this criticism to be severely irritating. The worst part was that he knew it was true. How did these vigilantes even find this location? This operation just became much more complicated. Should he arrest these reploids? They likely won't go quietly and the noise would surely compromise his mission.
Zero struggled to get out a response as he was interrupted by a nearby roof hatch opening. Another reploid was emerging through the roof of the building. He was slightly shorter than Zero with dark blue and gray armour. A large, circular gem on the front of his helmet covered much of his human-like adolescent face. Spikey orange hair jutted out the back of his helmet.
"Easy money!" The reploid's youthful appearance was matched by an equally young sounding voice. As he reached the top of the ladder and stepped up onto the roof, he focused on Zero. His eyes widened and his face lit up.
"Woah, it's Zero!" The reploid had a huge smile on his face. "You're a legend! You've beat some of the toughest Mavericks! Nobody moves like you! I'd love to have your speed. Hey, show me some of your moves!"
"That's enough, Axl!" Red's cool and confident demeanour was now showing signs of irritation. "His glory days are behind him. Now he represents only failure."
"I always wanted to be a Maverick Hunter." Axl seemed somewhat embarrassed after the admonishment he received. "Red Alert is where it's at now."
Zero's irritation turned to disillusionment. What was going on? How many more of these members of Red Alert were here? What was Axl doing in the factory building?
"How did you pass through that Maverick facility by yourself?" Zero had to get a handle on the situation.
"It's super easy really." Axl spoke animatedly. "I didn't even have to fight a single Maverick. I just…"
"Axl has his ways," Red interrupted, sounding ever more annoyed.
"…which reminds me, would you look at the time," Axl spoke at a blistering pace. "We'd better all split. This place is going sky high!"
Red ran towards the opposite side of the building and leapt from the edge, with Hyenard and Axl following behind closely. Zero contemplated pursuing them, however, in the end, without knowing what Axl was up to inside the factory, he resolved to leave the scene immediately. He bolted from the roof of the factory with a leaping dash. His jump would have placed him at ground level inside the complex, but a massive explosion from behind propelled him forward. The otherwise dark and quiet night came to life with the earth shattering roar of the blast as well as the accompanying blinding flash. Zero hurtled through the air, no longer in control of his trajectory. He bounced after the first impact on the ground with a clattering of metal on cement as he continued to roll. The noise continued as debris from the destroyed building fell to the ground.
Lying prone, Zero lifted his head to take in the destruction. The huge flames illuminated his face with a red glow. The blast had pushed him well past his intended landing site, outside the boundary of the complex. The border walls were flattened by the force of the explosion. There was very little left of the factory or even some of the neighbouring buildings. Metal structural beams were still bending as they settled. Several fires were raging on several parts of the wreckage as well as some other buildings.
Exhausted from the ordeal, Zero stayed on the ground. "X is not going to be happy about this," he mused.