Chapter 15: hearing the tale of the ones who rose
into legends
Coruscant, Nighttime
The Jedi were astonished and perplexed by the words of this young man; a "monster"
capable of killing thousands of warriors to the point of being called a god?
It was a laughable concept, truly. Yet the scowl on the young man's face was anything but a
joke, and the masters could feel through the Force that his emotions were truthful to his
words. So could it be that he was speaking the truth?
"hmm… truth in your words I can sense" Yoda began "of no lie you speak of. but possible,
this is not. no living being is able to be as a god. gods, much like the stories they come from,
they are. stories, fantastic works of fantasy and wondrous imagination. not in reality, they are
grounded"
X calmed himself, but didn't allow them to belittle or ignore his warning "Mister. *sigh*
believing or not my words, you HAVE to be wary of the danger. no machine you galaxy can
compare to the power a Reploid of that caliber"
"Reploid?" Windu asked not understanding the word "What is that? a type of droid?"
"no. not a 'droid' as you speak, since your droids are rather akin to robots, but reploids are,
in layman's terms, androids"
Master Luminara raised a brow at those words "you believe these 'Reploids' are more
advanced than any droid in the galaxy and this 'god of destruction' is a much more powerful
type of them?"
"You can say that... it's more of a matter of perspective when you know much about your
kind" X said solemnly and seriously, looking directly at Luminara. that declaration made
many at the room shocked, was he implying that-
"You are saying" Windu started slowly, his voice borderlining anger "that YOU are one of
these… reploids?"
"not one of us" Cerveau interjected, taking a step forward " X, he" looking at the legendary
hero, the engineer asked silently if it was alright; receiving a nod, he went on "he is THE
Android, the one from whom all of reploid kind was created from. The Original"
Yet again, the surprises did not stop. This blue clad boy, is a droid, and the original model of
an entire line of them? Wait, did he?
"You said "reploid kind" as in…" Kit Fisto asked unsure if he heard it right
"Ever since the first reploid, build by myself and the researcher that had found me, all
reploids are the same as humans, or in the case of this galaxy, the same as every sentient
species" X explained "Dr. Cain, the researcher, had created the first to try and replicate me
and as all three of us co-existed, Cain, myself and … *chuckles* Dom, we always were
reading and talking about the good doctor's research on prehistoric plant- *giggles* most of
the time arguing over if something or another was REALLY that as the books said. I still
remember the day Dom actually made Dr. Cain snapped with that comment about how it
was not possible for corpse flowers to be eaten despite the archeologists affirming that some
dinosaurs actually ate the disgusting flower." X couldn't hold himself as he laughed a little as
the memories played themselves in his head
"when he presented his findings and research about me and what was studied with Dom to
The Council of Science of Arcadia, the idea and existence of reploids was spread across our
world, with many reploids actually becoming more common than robots or humans" but as
the memories reached 'that moment' his smile disappeared "that is… until it all started…"
"The Virus… the Mavericks…" Cerveau said, his voice laced with anger and frustration
X breathed to calm himself, this was going to be hard
Planet Christophsis, back at Anakin and Zero's diplomatic talk
"One day.. Reploids across the world started going crazy, attacking people, reploid, human, it
made no difference to these crazy reploids they attacked all who came in their path." Zero
explained about the Maverick's origin
"No one understood what was going on nor why were those reploids becoming murders, but
they needed a task force specialized to dealing with these crazy Reploids, which came to be
called 'Mavericks' and the ones to hunt them became known as-
"Maverick Hunters. They became the primary guardians of my world. Having several
specialized units for every sort of combat situation. The 13th Air Unit, the 6th Reinforced
Armored unit, the 8th marine unit, just to name a few and of course the 17th Elite unit,
commanded directly by the Maverick Hunters commander, Sigma." X spat the name out of
his mouth like it was a foul food
"Who?" Anakin asked, confused, who the heck is this 'Sigma' guy?
"Originally he was the Maverick Hunters commander, not only because he was built to be a
maverick hunter, but because he was THE hunter; the strongest, fastest, more skilled of
them. But all that changed with the 'day of Sigma' "
"The Day of Sigma?" Windu asked curiously
"The day the maverick hunter commander took control of the nuclear weaponry of Arcadia,
weapons of mass destruction that can wipe out entire cities; and used them to eradicate
Abel city, the hometown of Dr. Cain, founder of the reploid research. That day, Sigma
declared war on humanity and that he was now the leader of the Reploid race. That day… all
the Maverick Hunters squads were brainwashed into maverick by the Maverick Virus that
was housed inside the Ex-commander"
"Millions died at the beginning of the Endless Maverick Wars that were in full swing by Sigma
that day, and with the maverick hunters compromised… all hope was lost" Cerveau added
smartly
This took the council by surprise, a 'race' of intelligent and sentient machines that could
replicate emotions and form their own opinions… and a war that was brought upon them by
a traitor of their race? What in the name of the Force was this man, Cain, thinking? To
create an entire line of machines like that without any sort of security system to prevent them
from rebelling. this exactly why droid have limited programming and security implants in their
processors, to avoid droids from trying to take over, as it has happened once before in the
past
"well…" X said, taking a deep breath- Oh now they realized that X was breathing despite
being a droid, or 'reploid' as he called himself
Zero opened his eyes, a sharp glare turning into a longing gaze with a bit of hope in them
"Not all hope was lost" his words reached, through the translation, the Jedi's ears and
peaked his interest even more as well as the two clones curiosity
somehow, his memory banks were providing these informations for him, almost as if his
memories were restored; while he had his doubts about this 'miraculous recovery' , he was
sure these memories were the actual thing, despite coming to him just from THAT far behind
in his past
"while the most powerful Hunters were swept under the Ex-commander's wicked influence…
two Maverick Hunters remained unaffected" Zero said, 'tasting' the words in his mouth,
before continuing "they were the Azure Knight-"
" -and the Crimson Warrior" X finished with a smile upon his lips… remembering his old
friend's words at that day "both were the only Hunters not affected by the Maverick Virus,
one a newbie and the other a veteran hunter. together with the Navigators, reploids
specialists in data analysis and information gathering, both began a counter-attack"
"Just the two of them?" Windu asked incredulously; just two measly droids against what he
could only think to be "there were hundreds against them! and why didn't these 'navigators'
join them in the battle?"
"Actually... there were thousands against them and since Navigators were not warrior nor
had they received any battle training before, it was impossible for them to join in the battle
like that'' X corrected the brown Jedi, his words carrying the weight of someone who saw
these things first-hand
"... You were there..." Windu stated, suspiciously of X "You were there when these 'Hunters'
decided to make that suicidal counter-attack" the council master's words shocked all others
present "Why haven't you tried to stop them?"
"It wouldn't work.. the veteran Crimson Warrior was determined to fight back. how could I
stand in his path when I was just a newbie?" X finished with a small chuckle as the
memories of that particular event flowed through his mind "He wasn't going to wait for a
miracle to happen, he was going to make it happen. so I just offered him my services" while
saying that X raised his left arm and with a white glow, his arm became his trusted X-buster
"as a class B Maverick Hunter" he finished with a small smile
Zero branded his trusted Z-saber, despite somewhere deep in his memory telling him that
this was not the weapon he used to battle that war, but it felt short in answering him what
weapon it was then.
Anakin heard the whole translation and was left stunned. this… this was NOT what he was
expecting to hear at all, while he has his doubts about the veracity of this tale, the droid- or
rather, Reploid, was sounding very truthful and genuine about everything he spoke so far
and it all seems legit; despite how this sounds ridiculous, Anakin can feel the Force
enveloping him, making possible to feel the red reploid's EMOTIONS; Yes, this machine.
Have emotions. and it's a MACHINE!
The Jedi Knight didn't know what was more disconcerting, the fact that this machine could
be Force sensed like a person or the fact that even though his story seemed really
far-fetched and fanciful in the long run, it was still a believable story.
Sighing Anakin knew he had to get this whole situation down and by the way he believed this
story was going, he was going to bet "Let me guess… you, The 'Crimson Warrior', and this
'Azure Knight' defeated the whole bunch of traitors and brought the ex-commander of your to
justice, right?" He knew, well not really, but guessed it to be that
"No" Zero said simply "I didn't move a finger against the traitorous Mavericks Hunters turned
Maverick, the Azure Knight did it. I was gathering information about the location of Sigma's
fortress."
"You WHAT?" Windu raised to his feet, astonished, or perhaps you could say he was
perplexed
"... I defeated each and every single one of the ex-Hunters and rendezvous with the Crimson
Warrior when he found Sigma's location." X stated with no amount of pride or arrogance in
his voice or his face "but believe me… killing my old colleagues was as hard and
heartbreaking as it sounds… but it was to be done or lest they would drown the world in fear,
hate and death." X furthered, making sure to make sure this was not misinterpreted
"together, the Crimson Warrior and I stormed the fortress of the maverick General, our battle
was gruesome and when Sigma was finally defeated… I was the only one to escape alive
from the crumbling fortress, one of Sigma's last efforts to kill any who stood against him."
with those words sinking in, the masters finally understood what X was talking about
"the Crimson Warrior died?" Luminara asked, confused to how she was feeling sympathetic
to the blue warrior's tale despite him being a machine
"Y-yes… h-he… sacrificed himself to s-save me from Sigma's most dangerous Maverick…"
X choked the words out as the horrifying visage of his best friend's charred and destroyed
body sprung to life in front of him. tears threatening to fall "I was intending to take his body
back and give him a proper burial, but a group of Sigma's followers got to him first and
disappeared from there during my battle against Sigma."
"I heard only some passing of this.. that was also around the time Sigma himself became a
living virus, isn't it?" Cerveau asked, intrigued by the story, but this confused the Jedi a little
"Yes…" X confirmed somberly " six months after Sigma's initial rebellion, the Maverick
discovered that a group of mavericks was working in releasing Sigma's consciousness in the
world's central mainframe of information… When we learned of that, it was already too late;
Sigma digitized himself into a computer virus, giving these mavericks this digital copy of
himself and spreaded across the world… infecting any and every mechaniloid, that are
simpler machines, or unaware reploids… making the mavericks wars truly begin"
"and you fought all of these wars on your own?" Kit Fisto asked, curious and fascinated by
the reploid's tale and diligence to fight for the right cause of peace
"No, I did not fight those wars alone, nor did I take credit for winning them. I was only fighting
to bring it all to a stop, never would I take pride in fighting a war or killing." X said firmly and
continued with a fond smile "the true heroes of that time were maverick hunters that fought,
as the saying goes, tooth and nail to make sure that peace could be achieved."
"But it did not last" Plo-koon stated, rubbing his chin "the war you called the 'elf wars' came
to shortly after the creation of this 'Mother Elf'."
X nodded grimly
"How could such a tragedy happen if those maverick hunters were there to prevent another
war from breaking out?" Ki-adi Mundi asked, now confused as to how those event came to
pass
"We fought the Endless Maverick Wars for a whole century with very little time in between
the wars to rest and repair our world, so much that it went to the point of us actually joining in
the rebuilding efforts after every war and when peace finally was achieved, we were
chock-full in repairs or reconstruction to maintain a ideal security force. That's how the devil's
master managed to pass undetected by us until it was too late to stop him"
The masters could say they understood where X was coming from. After the campaigns on
every planet across the galaxy, the wreckage caused by the battles between the Separatists
and the Republic are all evident and a huge part of the populace of each planet are left with
nothing after the battles are over, while the jedi tried to do what was possible to make sure
people could be helped back into a healthy life
"We are getting side tracked here" Mace Windu said, getting up from his seat "We brought
you here for interrogation on your actions on the middle sector of Coruscant" the brown Jedi
stated with authority, surprising his fellow jedi "And mere hours before you appeared, there
has been NO detection of spaceships been shot down nor any unidentified starships
entering the sector" his words made many masters' eyebrows raise in surprise "and while
your story is… intriguing, to say the least. it does not explain how you entered the planet nor
WHY you have no registered ID- or in case, a serial manufacturing code."
with his words spoken and his point made, Mace crossed his arms and glared openly to X
"Now. This brings us to this very important question: HOW have you come to Coruscant if
you haven't taken a transport to the planet and what's your business here. Speak the truth,
machine" Mace spoke with venom in his voice as he couldn't bear to watch this… He didn't
even know how this machine was even allowed to exist, machines with free will were
dangerous and volatile.
"..." X and Cervaeu didn't answer them, looking at one another in trepidation, after all, how
were they going to explain something they weren't sure either "If we were to tell you, you
would not believe us" the blue bomber said with worry
This made the Jedi masters frown, all for different reasons, but Mace was extremely
displeased. "Try me"
"... We were… somehow… teleported to this world" X Answered hesitantly
both clones were left speechless…or rather CT-5106 was speechless, but-
"You want us to believe in that crap?!" CT-1029 was not going to be silent anytime soon
"Teleported? there's no such thing in the galaxy! nor was it ever-"
"Soldier, stop this nonsense!" Anakin ordered, feeling irritated by the clone's easy to anger
attitude. " *sigh* … seriously we need to understand the situation NOT make accusations!"
turning his gaze back to Zero "you said 'teleport' does your people know how to make such
technology?"
"yes. although not to such extent. the most a teleportation could do was transport us around
the planet and in the most extreme of the cases, teleport us into space stations" Zero said
trufully
As far as his memory could go, the teleporters could get them anywhere, but somewhere
along the maverick wars the teleportation technology started losing its efficiency to now only
be capable of teleporting someone around the planet and not as far as the moon. Not that
these humans should know
Trust him
"!" A voice echoed in Zero's head
He is an ally
"..." Zero looked quietly between the … "Jedi"? What a weird title, and the white clad
soldiers, it seems only he heard that voice… it sounded like a female human… somewhere
along her forties or some…
He means you no harm.
Please. Trust him
'I don't know what this is, but I'll play along… for now' the Crimson Warrior thought as he
composed himself before continuing his tale
"Shortly after" he began as he processed his most recent memories "my last mission, I woke
up in that table with you looking me over." he glared at Anakin with gusto "As you were
preparing to open me"
"Wait, wait, wait, wait" Anakin raised his arms as the protocol droid translate for him "We
weren't going to do that, we were just trying to reactivate you"
Zero raised a skeptical eyebrow at that, but remained silent only nodding to allow the Jedi to
continue. this allowed Anakin to release a breath he didn't know he was holding
"we were looking for a way to access your database to understand what- who you are and
what faction you are allied to" Anakin explained and corrected himself a little there "You see..
we" he gestured between him and the clones "are part of the Galactic Republic Army and
we're at war"
Zero's glare remained "War? against who?" his question held no venom, but he already
could feel he was not going to like it
Sighing Anakin knew this was going to be a LONG story