reithedragonboy
December 13th, 2008, 03:21 AM
This story was a result of me talking to myself and acting out my imagination. Tell me what you think of it. Sorry if it's a bit long. Except for the names of the characters, everything is from my own imagination.
Megaman X: The Alpha Chronicles
Characters
Megaman X: A Reploid who has no recollection of his past
Zero: A high spirited Reploid swordsman with a fiery personality
Axl: An over-confidant and childish young Reploid from Red Alert
Alia: A female Reploid who serves as a navigator for the Maverick Hunters
Commander Signas: A highly respected Reploid commander for M.M.H.Q.
Lan Hikari: A 15-year-old computer and mechanical genius from Red Alert
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Chapters
Prologue pg. 1
1. The Beginning pg. 5
2. The First Mission pg. 10
3. Gearing Up pg. 17
4. The Tundra Mines pg. 23
5. Tundra Blizzard pg.
6. Battle For Tundra Mines pg.
7. Another Maverick Hunter Base pg.
8. Red Alert Base pg.
9. Red Alert Survivor pg.
10. Self-destruction of Red Alert pg.
11. The Murderous Swordsman pg.
12. Last Chance To Escape pg.
13. Back To Headquarters pg.
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Prologue
What I’m about to tell you is a story. A recording of great importance about me and my friends on a perilous, yet heroic, adventure. An adventure that has seen its share of death, sadness, and despair. So much has happened since my life-threatening journey began; it’s hard to tell where to start first. Well, I suppose it’s best to start at the very beginning.
This all started in the early years of 20XX, the 21st century, when man-made mechanical beings were at its height in global popularity. They were dubbed “Reploids” because they were able to think, act, and talk like a normal Human. They were also able to feel a certain amount of pain and experience various Human emotions like happiness and sadness. Some wanted to live peacefully with Humans; others took on jobs to help protect cities and their citizens. Thus, the Reploid race was born and introduced to the Human society.
Even though most Reploids could flawlessly pass themselves on as a Human, they were still just a computer. As with every other types of computers, they were prone to virus attacks. If infected, they would turn against the Humans and attempt to kill them. In an effort to counteract the contagious and destructive virus, the Human scientists created a defensive program. The program would help cure the Reploids by effectively negating the effects of the virus.
After several years of extensive research and experimentation, the scientists managed to successfully create a defensive program against the virus. Excited at the completion of their project, they decided to test it out on an infected Reploid. It wasn’t easy, but they managed to find one and installed the program into it. A few days later, the results were in and it showed that the Reploid was cured from the virus. Feeling the satisfaction of their great accomplishment, they decided to take their experiment to the next level.
The scientists decided to try installing the new defensive program into Reploids that were in the process of being created. After another several years of testing their new idea, they revealed satisfying results. It seemed that the program was also able to prevent the virus from entering the Reploids if it was installed into them at the moment of their construction. Because of these new and promising results, the humans began to regularly install the new defensive program into all Reploids at the time of their creation to avoid any more problems with viral killers. Over time, it seemed as though they had finally solved the virus problem.
To all of the Humans’ surprise, however, one of the Reploids actually found a way to bypass the program. By his own will, he began to act like one of the infected Reploids and began attacking the Humans. No one knew how the Reploid became one of the
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infected without a virus invading his system, but some had a faint idea of how it happened. Many of them thought that he had overused his ability to think for himself and decided to go against the Humans.
Seeing that they were confused as to why he would do something like this, the crazed Reploid decided to explain to them his reason for doing it. He told them that he felt that the Humans were lesser beings and the Reploids should be ruling the world. Soon after his revealing and shocking explanation, he started appealing his ideas to other Reploids. Some actually believed his twisted ideas and followed him blindly. Thus, the term “Maverick” was born.
A Maverick is a corrupt Reploid who has turned his or her back from the Human race and fought against them. They would kill any and all Humans who dared to stand in their way of accomplishing their goal of total Human genocide. They would also destroy other Reploids who chose to side with the Humans. However, those who swore their allegiance to the Mavericks and their cause were spared. Soon, their numbers grew and they began to make their move.
In an effort to instill hopelessness on the Humans and Reploids that sided with them, the Mavericks committed various acts of terrorism. Sometimes, they would attack famous landmarks or historical areas so they can cause fear and confusion onto the Humans. They would also attempt to kidnap powerful and persuasive leaders who stepped up against them and try to announce their extraordinary plans on how to stop them from causing anymore meaningless destruction. Many of those fearless leaders who were about to announce their plans or had vowed to put an end to this harrowing nightmare turned into a reality would usually disappear without a trace. They would never be seen or heard from again.
Through these violent and murderous acts of terrorism, the Mavericks have managed to scare off everybody who had thought about resisting them, including all of the publicly fearless leaders who have never known fear before all this started. The leader of the Mavericks then took this chance to state what their ultimate goal was. He wanted all of the Reploids to be the rulers of the planet and wanted the entire Human race to be wiped off the face of the earth. In other words, the Mavericks were rebels fighting for a corrupt society; a society where the Humans are extinct and only Reploids and Mavericks roam the land as the dominant race.
A couple of years after the start of the Mavericks, which is now known in history as “The Maverick Insurrection”, a group of highly brave Humans and unfazed Reploids came together from all over the world. Together, they decided to take matters into their own hands and formed a resistance army. Their mission: to stop the Mavericks’ plans of world domination and destroy them.
The first thing the small army group had to do was find a suitable location to build their base. Some of them felt that it should be in one of the heavily Maverick occupied cities so they can easily eradicate them from within. Others felt that that it was safer away from the towns to avoid detection from the Mavericks, but close enough to keep a watchful eye over their every move. After much debate, the group decided to form an underground base within the desert because of the many sand dunes that could provide
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adequate protection against enemy surveillance.
The next and more crucial thing the small group had to do now was find more people who would willingly join their cause to recruit. Over a time span of a year, they were able to successfully recruit over two thousand beings, both Humans and Reploids alike from all over the world. The new recruits consisted of gunmen, swordsmen, instructors, cooks, technicians, common folk and a whole lot of other professions. Most of them began to undergo extensive training exercises in various battle styles and terrain adaptation from different instructors. Soon, two elite soldiers who have shown exceptionally great production in field battle, efficient battle strategy planning, and leadership qualities were chosen amongst the entire organization to be the new commanders of their base. Together, the two of them later gave each major army man the title of Maverick Hunter. Then, they later named their base “Maverick Hunter Headquarters”, or “M.M.H.Q.” for short.
As time passed, the commanders were beginning to notice a growing problem. Too many people were signing up to become Maverick Hunters. They felt that it would be easy for the Mavericks to find their base since they were overly crowded. To rectify the problem, one of the commanders volunteered to take half of the men and create a new base. Feeling that was most reasonable thing to do, they began to make preparations for a new base. To ensure maximum safety and security, the M.M.H.Q. commander said to not disclose the location of the new base, but to always stay in touch though the old, outdated postal system.
It is now the year 21XX; the start of the 22nd century. A little over a hundred years have passed since the M.H.H.Q. was formed. The war against Humans and Mavericks is still ongoing with no signs of either side giving up anytime soon. It’s also about the same amount of time that I have been locked away in a hibernation capsule by my creator. I, of course, am one of the Reploid race and was miraculously undamaged and recovered by a Maverick Hunter excavation team in the ruins of an old lab. Once I was taken out of the capsule and reactivated, the Maverick Hunters immediately brought back to their base for a through examination to see if I was able to operate normally and if I wasn’t created as a Maverick. Once I checked out, they took me to their commander’s office for a little private one-on-one talk with each other.
Instead of talking with the commander directly, they had me talk with his designated spokesman. While I was talking privately with the spokesman, he filled me in on all the things that had happened during my long hibernation period. He told me about The Maverick Uprising and how it contributed to the creation of the M.H.H.Q.. He also told me how dangerous the world was now than from a century ago. Minor skirmishes were occurring all over the world and most of the major cities were prime targets for the Mavericks. Basically, he filled me in on everything that every modern-day Human and Reploid should know.
After he finished explaining everything to me, the spokesman gave me a moment to let all of the information I’ve just heard to sink in. Once I had recovered from the big information bomb, he asked me a simple, yet complicated, question. He asked if I was interested in becoming a part of the Maverick Hunters. Again, he gave me a few minutes
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to consider my answer.
Of course, I was quite shocked to have a question like that thrown at me so suddenly. Still, I considered all of my possible options at the time. I could either say no and just sit back and relax while they do all the dirty work, or I could lend them any strength that I had and help them eradicate the Mavericks. Since I am not the type to just sit back and relax while trouble is brewing all around me, I decided to join up with the Maverick Hunters.
I also had another reason for joining up with them, though. I had figured that by accepting the position, it would help answer some of the unanswered questions that were still in my head. I thought that I might gain some information about myself and my creator while traveling to certain places for a mission. However, accepting the position also held another purpose unbeknownst to me at the time. It was the decision that forever changed my life and sealed my fate with its unwanted approval.
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Chapter One
“The Beginning”
Clang! Bang! Thump!
The sound of people practicing hard and well were clearly heard throughout the training room. Many had signed up with the Maverick Hunters recently and are now undergoing battle training. Sounds of clashing swords and the firing of guns were constantly heard every second. The sound of pain and disappointment were also heard coming from many of the trainees.
However, there was one person who seemed to have been handling himself quite well against his trainer. This person started around the same time as the other new recruits, but his skills and reflexes seemed to have said otherwise. Even his trainer was having a hard time defending himself against the onslaught of attacks that were being delivered by his student.
This seemingly amazing person was called Megaman X, or just X for short. He was a Reploid who had just recently signed up to be one of the Maverick Hunters a couple of days ago. The brand new blue battle armor he currently had on seemed to reflect his usually calm and cool nature. The ruby red gemstone that was embedded onto the front part of his helmet seemed to reflect his current determination. He was currently using his personalized gun-arm, which was on training mode and was his favorite weapon, against his trainer. His emerald green eyes were shining with determination and concentration and were trained on his opponent.
As the battle simulation droned on, the two of them began to get tired. Because of that, the trainer hesitated on his strike and lost his balance. Seeing this, X took advantage of it and made his move. He ran up to his trainer and balled up his fists, readying himself for a punch. However, at the last second, he crouched down and leg-swept him off the floor and onto his back. Then, in less than a second, he got up, brought up his left arm, which was now his gun, in front of the trainer, and kept his aim onto his head. For a brief moment that seemed like hours, it felt as though time itself had completely stopped in the training room.
“Stop,” the trainer calmly commanded, breaking the time-warped silence. “That is enough training for today.”
After he said that, an applause broke out from the crowd that had gathered during their battle simulation. The trainer ignored it completely and got back onto his feet.
“You’re pretty good,“ he complimented X. “You show a lot of promise for a new recruit. Not many at your level can manage to defeat or even touch their trainers on their first sparring session. At this pace, you’re sure to become a high ranking and well respected Maverick Hunter in no time.”
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“Thank you for the compliment, sir,” X calmly replied with a small smile etched onto his face. “However, I think I’ll be needing a lot more training before I can even begin rising up to that level.”
“Now those are the words of a truly dedicated person,” his trainer said. “It’s true that you’ll be needing some more training. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if the commander decided to make you into a Maverick Hunter and put you on a mission as soon as tomorrow.”
“Do you really think I’m that good,” he inquired.
“Of course I do. Once I show the commander the video I took of our training session, even he would probably feel the same way. But that’s enough talk for today. You must be tired, so why don’t you go to your room to rest and take the rest of the night off? Just head towards the exit and ask the person behind the counter for the directions to your room.”
“Thank you, sir. I’ll go do that right away.”
X waved goodbye to his trainer and headed towards the exit. When he got there, he went towards the counter and saw somebody sitting on a chair behind it with their back towards him.
“Hello, sir,” he greeted the man.
“Hmm,” the man grunted as he turned around to see who spoke to him. “Ah, hello there. Your name’s X, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, that’s right,” he answered.
“Man, you were great out there,” the man began excitedly. “I was watching you fight your trainer from here the entire time. Those were some great moves you pulled on him. I can’t wait to see you participate in more battle simulations again.”
“Uh, thanks, I think,” X dumbly replied. He didn’t think that he was going to be praised this much, especially on his first day here. “Anyway, I was just wondering if you could tell me where my room is located.”
“Alright. Just hold on for a minute while I go and take a quick look in the computer.”
The man then turned his swivel chair around and began skimming through the various files on the computer. A few seconds later, he turned back towards X with a smile on his face.
“Okay, I figured out where your room is,” he said triumphantly. “Your room number is 2ZX. Here are the directions. Once you exit the training hall, take a left and follow the hallway all the down way to the end. When you get there, make another left onto the next hall. From there, just count four doors down from the right side and you’re there.”
“Alright, thanks for the directions,” X thanked the man.
“Oh, it was no big deal,” the man said with a smile. “I’m just doing my job. You know what? If you have any spare time on your hands or if you’re just bored, you should come back here and commit yourself to some more training. I would really like to see you in action again. As a Human, I hardly get a chance to see any excitement beyond this building nowadays.”
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“I’ll try to come as often as I can,” he replied with a smile. “Thanks again for the directions.”
X gave a small wave to the man and exited the training room. Following the directions that were given to him, he walked towards his room. A few minutes later, he arrived at his destination.
“It seems like this is the place,” X thought. “Let me go see what it looks like from in there.”
When he reached for the door handle, he tried to turn it, but found that it was locked. Then, he saw a panel with numbers on it to the side and figured that it was a numerical lock.
“Oh, great,” he sighed in frustration. “That guy didn’t tell me that a password was required to enter your own room. Now how am I supposed to open the door? They would probably kick me out in a heartbeat if I tried to break it down.”
As he was trying to figure out how to open the door, he noticed somebody walking past him. Figuring that he needed somebody to help him with the door, he decided to call out to the person.
“Excuse me, sir,” X called out to the person. “Can you please help me open this door?”
Instead of acknowledging X’s presence and answering him, the person just kept on walking without looking back at who called him. Then, he turned the corner and disappeared from X’s view. When X ran to the corner so he could follow the person, he didn’t see him anywhere.
“Well, that was interesting,” he said to himself. “That guy just disappeared from the hallway without a trace. He probably went into one the rooms before I made it to the corner. What a snobby person, though. He acted like he didn’t even hear me calling him. I wonder who he was. One of the Maverick Hunters, perhaps? If so, then a stuck-up one at that.”
As X was walking back to his door, he was trying to figure out how to get into his room. When he turned the corner, he almost ran into another person. He was lucky enough to regain his balance, but the other person fell backwards and dropped a few folders filled with papers.
The person he bumped into looked like a young woman who had just entered her early twenties. She had blonde hair that was tied into a pigtail and went down to her shoulders and had chocolate brown eyes. She was wearing a bright reddish pink upper body armor that seemed to be pretty light on her and black casual pants with red stripes on the sides.
“Oh, I’m sorry, miss,” X apologized to the woman while extending an arm out to her. “Are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m fine, thank you,” the woman answered politely while accepting his outstretched hand. “Sorry about that. I wasn’t really paying attention to where I was going.”
“That’s okay,” he replied. “I wasn’t really looking, either. Would you like some help with those folders?”
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“That would be great. Thank you, umm… I don’t believe I caught your name, sir.”
“My name’s Megaman X, but most people normally just call me by my nickname, X,” he introduced himself. “Also, there’s no need to call me ‘sir’. I’m still a pretty young Reploid.”
“I’ll take a note of that next time,” the woman chuckled softly. “My name is Alia. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Thank you so much for helping me pick up these folders, X.”
“You’re welcome, Alia. It’s also nice to meet you, too. Say, do you think you could help me with something important?”
“It depends on what that something is.”
“Well, I can’t seem to open my door because it requires a code. The person behind the counter in the training room forgot to tell me about it. Do you think you can help me figure it out?”
“I’m guessing that you’re a new recruit since you don’t know your room’s password, right,” Alia evaluated as her eyes studied X in his new battle armor. “Well, don’t worry about it. I’ll just go ahead and call the one in charge of the security for these rooms and you’ll have the code in no time.”
“Thanks a lot, Alia,” X said as he saw her pull out a headset from her pants pocket and put it on her left ear.
A few seconds later, she was talking to the person in charge of security through the headset. X didn’t bother trying to eavesdrop on their conversation and spaced off for a couple of minutes.
Once she was done talking, she placed her hand on her headset and quickly retracted it back to her stack of folders.
“Well, X,” she started with a smile on her face. “I’ve managed to figure out your password. It’s 1-9-8-7.”
“That’s great, Alia,” X happily replied. “Thanks for going through all that trouble for me.”
“Oh, it was no trouble at all. In fact, it’s better than the regular work I do around here.”
“What kind of work do you do here?”
“I’m a field navigator,” she began explaining to him. “I navigate the Maverick Hunters while they’re out on their missions. Basically, I guide them through the rough terrain and warn them about any oncoming enemy units. In other words, I’m the Hunters’ extra set of eyes on the battlefield.”
“Jeez, that sounds like a lot of work, Alia,” X said when she was done explaining. “You have to keep track of both the terrain and the oncoming enemy units at the same time. It must be hard.”
“It’s not really that difficult. Once you learn how to not get stressed out, it’s actually pretty easy. Anyway, I better get going. I have to go and file these mission reports before I get in trouble with the commander.”
“Whoops. Sorry for holding you up all this time.”
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“Oh, it’s alright. I’ll do anything to help a fellow Maverick Hunter. Well, I’ll see you around, X.”
“See you later, Alia.”
After they said their goodbyes, Alia turned at the corner where they bumped into each other earlier and left.
“Nice person,” X thought. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that she’s a Reploid. Not many Humans these days would be able to handle the pressure of being a navigator. Most of them end up dying of a heart attack due to the intense stress during missions, or so I’ve heard. Oh well, I better go and unlock my room before I forget the password.”
When X entered the password and successfully unlocked his room, he opened the door and went inside.
Once he was inside, he took the chance to scan his new living space. The walls in the room were painted in both sapphire blue and ruby red. Two of the walls were painted blue while the others were red. The overall size of the room was about double that of a standard college dorm room for two people. The room contained two wooden desks with a computer, a black table lamp, and a chair with wheels on both of them. It also had a big closet that was separated into two different sections, an image converter that served as a television and a video player, a single large bathroom that was fully equipped with everything a bathroom needs and a lot of other optional stuff, a ceiling fan that had five lights on it, and two comfortable beds with bedside drawers next to them. The room was also neat and clean for the most part. One of the beds, however, had some clothing scattered around it and the bedding was messed up. Obviously, somebody’s already living here and was probably in a rush to get somewhere earlier.
“Seems like I’m sharing this room with a roommate,” X speculated. “A messy one at that, too. Either that’s the way the person is or he was in a big hurry to get somewhere this morning.”
Just then, he heard a wall clock in the room softly chiming in the time. When he turned his head to look at it, he saw that it was eleven o’clock.
“Oh, wow,” he thought as he looked at the clock and yawned. “Is it really that late already? I better go get myself ready for bed so I can get up early and do some more training tomorrow.”
With the intent of early morning training on his mind, X got himself ready for bed. He changed into his casual night clothes, put his armor to rest in the neat side of the closet where all of his clothing and other belongings were, went to his bed and almost instantly fell asleep.
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Chapter Two
“The First Mission”
Chime. Chime. Chime.
The clock in the room softly chimed in at three in the morning. X was sound asleep in his new room on his comfortable new bed.
Suddenly, the image converter was activated and was showing a fuzzy screen. Then, a voice was heard through the converter.
“Megaman X,” the voice said. “It’s time to get up. I want you to meet me at the debriefing room in about fifteen minutes. Did you hear that?”
At that moment, X awoke from his slumber with a start. He fell off of his bed and onto the floor on his back. When he sat up, he had a look of astonishment plastered onto his face.
“Mom, is that you,” he asked, obviously still half asleep. “What is it? What do you want?”
This was followed by a few seconds of silence, both sides waiting for a response from the other. The person on the image converter was the one who broke the awkward silence.
“This isn’t your mother speaking to you, X,” the person said. “It’s your commander. If you are fully awake now, please come down to the debriefing room in fifteen minutes. I’ll tell you what you’ll be doing once you get here. Make sure you have you battle armor on.”
With a soft click, the converter stopped showing the fuzzy image went back to a blank screen.
“Jeez, what time is it,” X yawned as he turned to look at the wall clock. “Three o’clock in the morning?! Man, talk about your early wake-up calls. What in the world do they need me for so early in the morning? I guess I better hurry up and get dressed so I can figure it out.”
A few minutes later, he was wide awake and had changed into his blue battle armor. As he was busy checking his gun-arm for any malfunctions, he heard someone softly knocking on his door. Changing the gun back into his regular hand, he went to see who was visiting him at this hour. When he opened the door, he saw Alia standing on the other side with her light armor on. She also had a headset resting on her left ear and a blue clipboard with papers on it in one of her hands.
“Hello, Alia,” X greeted her. “What are you doing up so early today? Are you getting ready to go somewhere?”
“Well, I am, in a sense,” Alia replied. “I’m actually here to escort you to the debriefing room, X,”
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“You are,” he asked with curiosity. “But why are you going out of your way to take me there?”
“Because it just so happened that the commander also asked for me to be there,” she explained.
“The both of us? What for?”
“If I told you that now, then what’s the point in taking you to the debriefing room? Now, come on. Lets hurry before we become late.”
In one swift motion, Alia grabbed onto X’s wrist with her free hand and dragged him towards the debriefing room.
A few minutes later, they reached the double doors that led to the debriefing room. Alia then raised a fist and gently knocked on one of the doors.
“Come in,” a strong and deep voice brimming with confidence called from within the room.
The door swung open from the inside and Alia gestured for X to go in first.
When he entered the room, he saw a long rectangular table that stretched all the way from one side of the room to the other with swivel chairs surrounding it. There were countless pictures depicting peaceful sceneries and beautiful landscapes strewn across the white walls. Across the room, an image projector and a big white screen was being set up by a man who was wearing a dark green coat with countless medals on it and had an air of high authority around him.
“Good morning, commander Signas, sir,” Alia greeted the man from across the room in a cheery voice.
The man, who X presumed to be Commander Signas, looked up from his work to see who had called him.
“Ah, Alia,” the commander said and began walking towards her and X. “Good morning. Thank you for coming here so early in the morning on such short notice. I really appreciate it.”
“It’s alright, sir,” she answered. “I’m happy to be of service to you.”
“That’s good to hear. It’s nice to know that I can always count on you when I need you, even if it’s on short notice.”
When the commander finally reached their side of the room, his eyes became fixed on X.
“Ah, you must be the new recruit that everyone is speaking so highly of,” he said while stretching out his hand towards him. “I’m Commander Signas. I’m the head of the Maverick Hunter Headquarters.”
“M-my name’s X,” he introduced himself with nervousness etched in his voice and accepted the handshake. “It’s a p-pleasure to meet you, Commander Signas.”
“A pleasure to meet you, too, X,” the commander replied while smiling at X’s nervousness and stuttering. “I’ve heard about you besting one of my most experienced trainers in the training room last night. And on your first try, too. That’s quite an amazing feat for someone of your ranking.”
“T-thank you, Commander Signas, sir. I just tried my best to read his movements and used whatever techniques I knew that fitted the situation.”
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“I can see that on the tape I was provided with documenting your entire training session. You had such a determined look on your face from start to finish. Even when things got really rough, you still kept fighting back. It takes a lot of determination to keep on fighting like that. I’m guessing you didn’t know that your trainer was actually a Human, right?”
“What,” X exclaimed. “He’s a Human?! Not a Reploid?!”
“My, you seem quite surprised by this fact, X,” the commander calmly replied.
“Shocked is more like it, sir,” he corrected once he calmed down. “Believe me, I have nothing against Humans. It’s just that his strength doesn’t match that of a Human. In fact, his strength greatly exceeds that of a standard Human! It’s more of a Reploid’s level of strength! Is that even possible?”
“It’s possible because he is a modified Human.”
“I’m sorry, sir, but I didn’t quite catch that. He’s a what?”
“I said that he’s a modified Human,” the commander explained. “Actually, the term ‘Humanoid’ sounds better. You see, some of the Humans here at Maverick Hunter Headquarters tend to undergo a body change. They take away parts of themselves that they feel is weaker and they exchange it with mechanical parts that tend to be much stronger. When they have to decide which part they want to modify though, we restrict them to only modifying their arms, legs, or certain parts of their chest or back for safety reasons. We don’t allow them to modify important parts of their body or their internal organs because they could easily result in death.
“Once they decide which parts of their body they want to have modified, our robotics designers and doctors begin to make the artificial parts,” he continued. “The modified parts are usually comprised of a combination of artificial bone and muscle fused together with the recipient’s bone and muscle. In doing so, the Human body will have a higher chance of accepting the new part without any complications. Once the new part is successfully installed, the Human will become stronger to a certain extent. However, their new strength will never match that of a Reploid who has had a lot of experience in battle, no matter how many changes they make on themselves.”
“Wow,” X murmured when Commander Signas was done explaining. “That’s really astounding. I never knew the Humans were able to mechanically strengthen and alter themselves.”
“Well, thanks to the help of advanced modern technology, it’s all been made possible. However, that’s enough talk about Humanoids for today. Allow me to tell you why I called you in here so early.”
“Oh, uh, okay,” he stuttered at the commander’s sudden change of tone.
“I called both you and Alia here because of something very important,” the commander started. “We have been receiving reports for a few hours now about a disturbance up in the northern tundra where a mine is located. The latest one had a video message attached to it and was sent to us via satellite image at two o’clock this morning. It was quite blurry and unplayable when we received it, so we sent it to the data analysis department for repairs. We should be expecting the results of their work any minute now. I imagine that whatever comes up in that video, it’s not going to be good at all.”
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“Umm, Commander Signas, sir,” X interrupted. “I don’t mean to cut you off, but what does this have to do with me? I’m pretty sure you called me here for more than just a possible crisis report. I don’t see how any of this relates to me. Is there something that you would like me to do in regards to this?”
“A bit dense in the early hours, aren’t you, X,” Alia teased him. “Isn’t it obvious by now as to why Commander Signas called you here?”
“Actually, no, it isn’t, to tell you the truth,” he answered. “Would you care to enlighten me as to why the commander summoned me here, Alia?”
“Oh, boy, you really are dense in the early morning, you know that,” she sighed while smacking her forehead. “The commander summoned you here because he has a mission request for you!”
A very awkward silence immediately filled the room when Alia finished her statement. A few seconds later, X was the one to break the very uncomfortable silence surrounding them.
“Uh, I’m sorry, Alia,” X said slowly and quietly in disbelief. “I don’t think I heard you correctly. Could you repeat that for me, please? Why did Commander Signas ask me to come here?”
“As I stated earlier, the commander summoned you here because he has a mission request for you,” she repeated with a small smile on her face.
“Is what she said true, sir,” he asked the commander right after Alia finished repeating herself.
“It is indeed true, X,” Commander Signas verified with a small smile. “I did call you in here with high hopes that you would be willing to accept the mission I have offered you.”
“But why me, sir,” X asked as confusion was heard through his words. “Surely, there are other Maverick Hunters who are more experienced than me that can take on this mission. I’m just a new recruit who’s trying to make my up the rank ladder without getting trampled by the others along the way.”
“It’s true that you’re only a new recruit,” he admitted as his smile grew wider. “However, you have proven to me that you can handle yourself quite well in the battlefield during your battle training last night. You already have the experience and skills that a veteran Maverick Hunter has. The level of your overall strength and skill are also the same as theirs. Surely, you can’t possibly argue about being inexperienced with those statistics saying otherwise.”
As X was about to make a counter argument, a soft beeping noise reached his ears. When he began to look around the room for the source of it, Commander Signas chuckled softly, yet politely, at him.
“There’s no need to search for the beeping, X,” he explained to him. “It’s just my personal communications device, or PCD for short. Others also call it a comm. link device. It’s basically a personal phone that’s built into the Maverick Hunters’ helmets, including yours, too. It allows anyone connected to our system to contact each other whether they are somewhere in the base or out on a mission. This might be important, so please excuse me for a moment.”
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The commander then brought his right hand up to his ear. However, when X took a closer look, he saw that he was actually just pressing a very small button on his helmet just above his ear. A second later, he was talking to the person on the other line.
“Commander Signas here,” he answered in a business-like tone. “What is it?… Really?… It’s finished already?… That’s great! Can you send it here immediately?… Alright. Is there anything unusual about it that I should know about?… No? Well then, thank you very much for your hark work. Keep it up.”
“Who was that you were talking to,” X asked when the commander finished his call.
“It was somebody from the data analysis department,” he answered with a serious look on his face. “It looks like they were able to successfully repair the video message. I told them to send it here so we can finally see what’s on it. Now before you even say anything about accepting or declining the mission, I would like you to at least view the contents of this video message, okay?”
As X was thinking about whether or not to accept the mission, he also thought about the video and its contents. What would the video transmission reveal to him if he chose to take a look at it? There was really only one way for him to figure it out at this point in time.
“I don’t know if I’m going to accept the mission, sir,” X replied. “However, I have decided that I’ll at least take a look at the video.”
“That’s good to hear, X,” Commander Signas said in a semi-happy tone. “Let me just go and finish setting up the projector and then we’ll transfer the…oh. The video data has already been transferred into it. I’ll just press the play button and we shall be able to see the message.”
When he pressed the play button on the projector, a fuzzy image appeared on the white screen and static was heard. Once the screen cleared up and the static went away, the debriefing room was hit with the explosive sound of gunfire and lots of people screaming their heads off. As a result, X, Alia, and the commander flinched at the noise and covered their ears.
After the commander managed to turn down the volume, the group took a sigh of relief and began seeing what the video depicted. It was currently showing a room that was in ruins and filled with frantic people, both Humans and Reploids alike, shuffling themselves through a doorway into another room in the background. Some of them looked like they were injured; others were just plain frightened for their lives and running like crazy.
Within the video’s foreground, a man who seemed to be in his mid-twenties was looking at a keyboard beneath the screen and frantically typing something. When he was done with what he was doing, he brought his head up and faced the screen. His facial expression told of him being scared about what’s going on around him; yet at the same time, it also held determination.
“This is a S.O.S.,” the man in the video frantically exclaimed. “I repeat, this is a S.O.S.! This is coming from the Tundra Mines in the northern polar ice caps! We’re being attacked by the…whoa!”
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Suddenly, the man ducked away from the screen. Less than a second later, a fast moving object, possibly a bullet, streaked across the screen. Another second later, the man came into view of the screen again.
“As you can see, we’re under attack and barely escaping with our lives,” the man continued. “The Mavericks just suddenly appeared at the mines and started shooting at us. I don’t really care who finds this message, but please send it straight to the Maverick Hunters. Please tell them to hurry up. I don’t know how much longer we can hold on against these Mavericks!”
“Connor, hurry up with that blasted S.O.S. message,” a man in the background yelled to the one on the screen. “The blast-proof doors are going to be closing any minute now!”
“Alright, O’Donnell,” he yelled back at the man. “I’m almost done with the message! As you just heard, we’ll be hiding deep within the mines behind designated blast-proof doors. We’ll be hiding in the cave-in shelters. The doors will be locked and will require the override codes in order to open them. I’m sending the override codes to you along with the schematics of the mines in its current state. Please get over here as quickly as you can, Maverick Hunters. I don’t how much longer we can keep on running away from these Mavericks!”
“Come on, Connor,” O’Donnell yelled at the messenger again. “The doors are starting to close now!”
“Okay,” Connor yelled back. “Just give me a second to send this message away from here!”
“You don’t have any more time to spare on that blasted message, buddy! The blast-proof doors are going to close any second now! You better get your butt through this doorway and into this room immediately before you get locked out and killed by those crazy Mavericks!”
“Alright, I’m coming, O’Donnell! Remember guys: The Tundra Mines, blast-proof door, cave-in shelter!”
At the sound of a soft beep, the message was officially sent to cyber-space. Since Connor was in a rush to get to the next room, though, he didn’t turn off the camera and they were able to see what had happened next.
As soon as Connor sent the S.O.S., he began to run at full speed towards the blast-proof door that was already starting to close. The door first started closing from the corners of the doorway. At the last second, he leapt through the gap in the center and made it just before it closed completely. Then, the screen was shot by a stray bullet and everything went fuzzy and became a blank screen.
“Apparently, that’s when the transmission was brutally cut off,” Commander Signas said as he turned off the projector. “The message was sent to us approximately forty-five minutes ago by an anonymous person, so there’s a good chance that the miners are still alive. Is your heart still intent on not accepting the mission after the chaotic scene you just witnessed, X?”
As X was still contemplating on what he just saw, he found the strength to answer in a short, yet truthful, way.
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“I accept the mission, Commander Signas,” he quietly replied.
“That’s good to hear,” the commander replied with a smile. “Now let me explain what’s going to happen on this mission. Alia is going to be your designated navigator for the duration of this mission. She will be able to guide you safely through the mines, despite the bad reception you’re bound to get inside the tunnels. Since it’ll be a two hour drive from here to there, a couple of motorcycles will be assigned to you, which will also be for the duration of the mission. They’ll be ready and waiting for you in the garage. Also, since it would probably be suicide to let you go alone, I’ve taken the liberty of assigning you a partner for this mission. He’s been with the Maverick Hunters for a while now, so he has some battle experience under his belt. He should be arriving any minute now.”
As if on cue to his words, the debriefing doors opened and an armored person entered. He had on a set of bright red battle armor with a blue gemstone on the front of his helmet and had long, blond hair that reached his lower back with a red hair band keeping it together at the neck area. He also had an energy saber attached to his brown leather waist belt that was right now showing only its grey hilt, but turned into a full length sword when drawn.
“Ah, Zero,” Commander Signas called to the person who had just entered. “I’m glad you were able to make it. I would like you to introduce to you our newest addition to the Maverick Hunter group. He’ll also be your partner for the mission I explained to you earlier this morning.”
“Alright,” the red armored person said as he walked calmly towards X. “So you’re the new recruit that everyone’s been raving on about last night. You must have some great skills and reflexes to have best such a great trainer.”
“Uh, thanks, I think,” X replied, startled at the person’s directness and at how fast word had spread about his victory last night.
“Anyway, my name’s Zero,” he said as he stuck out his thumb and pointed it at himself. “I’m one of the top Maverick Hunters here at the base. I’m also one of the few soldiers who knows how to handle an energy saber properly and efficiently. Plus, I’m also a Reploid like you.”
“Wow, that’s great. My name is X. As you already know, I became a Maverick Hunter very recently. I also know how to use close combat skills while using my built-in blaster gun at close range.”
“Cool. It’s a pleasure to meet you, X,” Zero said with a smile while extending an arm towards him.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, too, Zero,” X replied as he accepted his outstretched arm and shook it in a gentle and friendly way.
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Chapter Three
“Gearing Up”
After the mission debriefing was over, X, Zero, and Alia picked up their belongings and left the room while the commander stayed behind. Then, they started to walk to their designated posts.
“Well, X,” Alia started while they were walking to their posts. “You’re going to be starting your first mission in just a few minutes. How do you feel about it? Are you nervous?”
“To be honest, I’m more scared than nervous right now,” X answered. “I mean, what if I mess up badly on the battlefield? What if I get shot by the enemy or crushed by some unforeseen act of nature?”
“Well, I don’t know about the ‘act of nature’ part, but I’m pretty sure you won’t get shot,” Zero assured him. “After all, you have an ace hunter as your partner on this mission. You also have one of the best navigators in the entire Maverick Hunter force guiding us. With a superb Maverick Hunter at your side and the greatest navigator guiding you through all the dangers, what could possibly go wrong?”
“I wouldn’t be too sure about that if I were you, Zero,” Alia warned him. “Remember what happened to you during your last mission? You decided to play the role of lone wolf hero and went into the danger zone by yourself while abandoning your entire group. Your entire squad tried to stop you, but you just completely ignored their calls and warnings and ran straight into the tower. If the bomb and computer experts hadn’t followed you inside the building, you would have…”
“Alia,” he rudely interrupted her. “That was from the last mission. There’s no need to talk about it now because it’s already been done and over with. We’re right now talking about the current mission. There’s a bit of a difference between the two of them if you haven’t noticed.”
“You have got to be kidding me,” she sighed as she slapped her forehead with her free hand. “What difference is there? They are both dangerous missions! Besides, the point I’m trying to make here is that no single group of people is perfect. Every group has a certain weakness that they try to strengthen over time. That includes the people in the group.”
“Oh, wow. Thanks a lot, Alia, for seriously dejecting X’s confidence before he even starts his first mission with us. Don’t tell him those things like having weaknesses in people and groups.”
“The same can be said for you, Zero; trying to raise his hopes up with facts that you have blown completely out of proportion. At least I’m being more truthful to him than you are.”
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“Guys, guys,” X butted in, trying to stop the two of them from arguing any further. “I get the picture, alright? The both of you are just trying your best to help me relax before I go on my first big mission. That’s great. I thank you both very much for words of encouragement. However, you don’t need to start arguing over who’s being more truthful or supportive.”
“Oh, we’re not arguing over anything, X,” Zero explained. “I’m just making sure that someone here has their facts straight.”
“Well, I’m certainly not trying to start anything,” Alia defended. “I’m just trying to get through somebody’s thick skull and teach him to accept and learn from his past mistakes better.”
“Uh, hey, Zero,” X quickly said, desperately trying to change the subject to avoid further conflict. “Are there going to be any reinforcements assigned to us during the mission?”
“Nope,” Zero answered casually. “It’s just going to be you and me out there with Alia in the background trying to guide us.”
“Isn’t that dangerous, though, to send only two people into the enemy’s territory,” he inquired.
“In a manner of speaking, yes,” Alia explained. “However, we try to minimize the casualties by sending scouts or top ranking Maverick Hunters to dangerous areas first. In this case, we’re trying to avoid deaths caused by man-made cave-ins. Plus, since we already have a map of the mines’ current state, we don’t need to send any scouts in advance.”
“As long as we’re aware of our surroundings and work together, we’ll be alright,” Zero added. “Just make sure that we don’t get surrounded by the Mavericks. It would be very bad if they manage to back us into a corner. If we do happen to get ambushed by them though, then we’ll just shoot them down and cut our way through until we get to their leader.”
“A brash technique that’s borderline suicidal,” she evaluated thoughtfully. “However, when you’re ambushed by the enemy at an area like the Tundra Mines, it’s surprisingly effective.”
“Wow, I never thought that I would hear the day when you would actually agree with me on something.”
“Well, it just so happens that that technique would work quite well under those circumstances.”
“Uh, guys,” X interrupted them before they entered another argument. “Where exactly are we supposed to be going?”
“Both you and Zero are headed for the garage,” Alia answered. “I’m just following you two because my post just happens to be along the same route. Why do you ask that, X?”
“I asked because we just passed by the garage doorway,” he said while pointing at a door behind them that had the words “garage” on it.
“Whoops,” Alia and Zero both exclaimed at the same time as they made their way back to the door.
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Chuckling at the mistake his two new friends made, X made his way through the door first. Once inside, he was able to see everything in the garage.
Inside the garage, there were many types of vehicles, from speedy motorcycles to big supply vans. There was also another room visible on the second floor surrounded with glass that seemed to serve as a security station. Underneath the station were two doors with bold lettering on them. The one on the right had the words “security station” on it while the other one had the words “armory”.
“Isn’t this place the greatest, X,” Zero asked as he walked in. “This garage is one of my favorite places in the entire base. It’s filled with the latest model and style of every vehicle that you could possibly think of. Whether it’s for a casual drive in the city or out on the battlefield, you name the vehicle you want and they’ll more or less likely have it in stock. Plus, there’s also easy access to the armory from here.”
“What do they have in the armory, Zero,” X asked while trying to keep his excitement from getting the best of him.
“The armory holds a bunch of the base’s weapons,” he explained. “The weapons in there mainly consist of various firearms and swords. Almost every type of gun that you can possibly think of lie in wait behind those doors for someone to use them. The room also holds both metallic and energy generated swords for close combat. It’s basically the best place where you would go to get your secondary weapons and any other battle supplies that you might need.”
“But I already have a weapon with me. Surely, I don’t need to carry another one with me, right?”
“It would be a really bad idea to not have a secondary weapon with you on a mission, X,” Alia said as she entered the garage and joined them in their conversation. “What if your primary weapon somehow broke down or malfunctioned during a critical point in a battle? You’re basically asking the enemy to shoot you dead if you don’t have a secondary weapon with you.”
“That makes perfect sense,” X responded. “So, my secondary weapon would be my insurance on the battlefield in case my primary weapon somehow breaks down. Is that right, Alia?”
“Hey, you catch on pretty quickly, X,” she commented as she looked at a clock that was on the wall on the other side of the garage. “Oh my, look at the time. I have to go and report to my post now before I get in trouble for being late. I’ll hear from the two of you later.”
“Alright, I’ll be keeping an ear out for you on the battlefield,” he said as Alia exited the garage and headed for her assigned post.
“Hey, X,” Zero continued the conversation as they went into the armory after she left. “Do you know how to wield an energy saber?”
“Not really,” X answered. “I barely even know how to handle one. Why are you asking me that, Zero?”
“Hmm, no reason whatsoever,” he replied casually. “I was just going to suggest that you take one of the energy sabers with you for more efficient close combat against the Mavericks. Since you just said that you barely even know how to handle them, would
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you like me to teach you some basic swordsman skills after we finish and return from our mission?”
“That would be great, Zero. However, wouldn’t it be better if I was taught by the sword instructor himself?”
“Don’t worry about it, X. You’re going to get the same results either way. After all, I am the one and only sword instructor at this base.”
“You’re this place’s sword instructor,” X exclaimed in bewilderment. “Wow! I never would have guessed it if you or somebody else haven’t told me.”
“Well, now that you know what I do here at the base, would you like me to teach you how to handle a sword and learn some basic techniques while you’re at it,” Zero asked as he extended an arm towards X.
“That would be alright with me,” he replied and shook Zero’s hand without any hesitation.
“Great. Now that that’s settled, lets go and get our secondary weapons in the armory and wait in the garage for our transportation.”
After spending a couple of minutes skimming through the countless shelves of weapons, X decided to take a pair of guns as his secondary weapon. They were both magnums made from the purest silver metal and coated with a non-rust solution. The sides of the handles on the guns had brown hand grips made of dark bronze metal bolted on. Both were able to hold one cartridge of eight bullets at a time and came with six cartridges each. The overall strength of the magnums wasn’t as powerful as his gun-arm when completely charged, but he found it acceptable nonetheless.
Once X was done choosing his weapons, he decided to go see what Zero was going to choose. When he managed to find him amongst the maze of shelves, he noticed that his partner was also choosing a pair of guns. However, the two he chose were pistols that were made of silver melted and mixed together with black coloring. They also came with a semi-automatic feature built into them. Because of this special feature, they were both made to carry fifty bullets per cartridge! Since this type of gun was able to expel more bullets than a standard pistol could at a faster rate, each set came with ten spare cartridges per gun.
“You’re going to take a pair of semi-automatic pistols with you,” X asked as he walked towards Zero. “I thought you were going to choose another saber as your secondary weapon.”
“Don’t tell me you forgotten one of the basic rules of fighting, X,” Zero sighed as he checked his weapons of choice.
“What rule am I forgetting,” he questioned him.
“Balance. It’s important to have a balance between your long-range and close-range weapons on the battlefield. Besides, these custom-made semi-automatic pistols just happen to be my favorite set of guns.”
“Why were they custom-made?”
“Because they were made based on the original designs of a regular pistol,” he explained as he showed X the pistol. “Do you see how the gun’s bullet chamber is bigger than the magnum’s? This extension allows it to carry more bullets than the standard six
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on a regular pistol. Plus, there’s something near the trigger that allows it to shoot five bullets at one time.”
“Uh, I kind of already knew all that,” X replied with a sigh. “Is there any other reason why there pistols were custom-made?”
“Actually, there is another reason,” Zero admitted. “These are the same guns that I had when I started my job as a Maverick Hunter. They were kind of outdated in style so I decided to give them a little makeover. However, the people who remodeled it had a different idea and gave it the semi-automatic system along with a new look. I must admit, however, that it was the best misunderstanding I’ve ever had.”
“That’s actually kind of funny,” he responded when Zero finished talking. “You go in and expect them to make your pair of guns look better than before. Instead, you get a new system installed into them along with a new look. You got a pretty good deal if you ask me.”
“Yeah, I know. Now come on, lets hurry up here and her back to the garage before they start wondering where we are.”
When they were done equipping themselves with their chosen secondary weapons, they made their way back to the garage. As they entered, however, X noticed that there was a change from when they first entered. All of the vehicles, except for the motorcycles, seemed to have disappeared from the garage.
“The other vehicles were put away because we’re not planning to use them,” Zero said before X even asked a question. “Our navigators will be taking a look at the route we’ll be traveling. They then decide what vehicle we should use. If we were to choose a vehicle that doesn’t fit the terrain, we might accidentally break it or be forced to abandon it. Nowadays, they’re not exactly easy to replace, so we try to prevent them from being unnecessarily destroyed.”
“Well, that answers my unspoken question,” X said.
“Good. Now come on, we got to get to the Tundra Mines before all of the miners there get killed.”
“Right,” X replied as he and Zero got onto their respective motorcycle and started the engines.
Once both of their engines had started, the garage doors that led to the outside opened. For the first time since he came here, X was able to see where the M.M.H.Q. was located at. There was sand that sprawled out in every direction as far as the eye can see. Cacti could be seen scarcely spread out throughout the entire desert with the occasional sight of other desert-dwelling plants.
“What a convenient place to build the base at,” he wondered as he remembered how he first got here. “This would probably be the last place the Mavericks would be looking for us.”
When X was first discovered by one of the Maverick Hunter recruiters, he was activated only a few days ago. He remembered being escorted by the recruiting officer into an abandoned building. Then, he was led into a room that resembled an office with no windows. When the requiting officer came in and closed the door behind him, he activated a button on his wrist brace and a hidden entrance on the wall opposite the door
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made itself known to them.
As the recruiter escorted him down the dimly lit hidden hallway, the entrance closed and once again became a regular, inconspicuous wall. He was then led to an underground train station that was at the end of the hall. The both of them entered the awaiting train and made it to the M.M.H.Q. a few minutes later.
“Hey, X,” Zero yelled over the roar of the motorcycle’s engines. “Are you ready to go, yet?”
“Yeah, I’m ready,” he yelled back as he was pulled away from his thoughts. “I’ll be with you in a sec!”
After acknowledging that X was ready, Zero revved up his motorcycle and rook off into the desert. A couple of seconds later, X did the same thing and began catching up to Zero.
As they were driving off to the mines, X’s mind wandered back to the meeting earlier with Commander Signas. He thought about the S.O.S. message sent by the miners and its contents. The images that were shown by it were so vivid, he couldn’t get them out of his mind no matter how hard he tried. Figuring that they were forever burned into his memory, he decided to let them help him prepare for the upcoming scene at the Tundra Mines.
Megaman X: The Alpha Chronicles
Characters
Megaman X: A Reploid who has no recollection of his past
Zero: A high spirited Reploid swordsman with a fiery personality
Axl: An over-confidant and childish young Reploid from Red Alert
Alia: A female Reploid who serves as a navigator for the Maverick Hunters
Commander Signas: A highly respected Reploid commander for M.M.H.Q.
Lan Hikari: A 15-year-old computer and mechanical genius from Red Alert
i
Chapters
Prologue pg. 1
1. The Beginning pg. 5
2. The First Mission pg. 10
3. Gearing Up pg. 17
4. The Tundra Mines pg. 23
5. Tundra Blizzard pg.
6. Battle For Tundra Mines pg.
7. Another Maverick Hunter Base pg.
8. Red Alert Base pg.
9. Red Alert Survivor pg.
10. Self-destruction of Red Alert pg.
11. The Murderous Swordsman pg.
12. Last Chance To Escape pg.
13. Back To Headquarters pg.
ii
Prologue
What I’m about to tell you is a story. A recording of great importance about me and my friends on a perilous, yet heroic, adventure. An adventure that has seen its share of death, sadness, and despair. So much has happened since my life-threatening journey began; it’s hard to tell where to start first. Well, I suppose it’s best to start at the very beginning.
This all started in the early years of 20XX, the 21st century, when man-made mechanical beings were at its height in global popularity. They were dubbed “Reploids” because they were able to think, act, and talk like a normal Human. They were also able to feel a certain amount of pain and experience various Human emotions like happiness and sadness. Some wanted to live peacefully with Humans; others took on jobs to help protect cities and their citizens. Thus, the Reploid race was born and introduced to the Human society.
Even though most Reploids could flawlessly pass themselves on as a Human, they were still just a computer. As with every other types of computers, they were prone to virus attacks. If infected, they would turn against the Humans and attempt to kill them. In an effort to counteract the contagious and destructive virus, the Human scientists created a defensive program. The program would help cure the Reploids by effectively negating the effects of the virus.
After several years of extensive research and experimentation, the scientists managed to successfully create a defensive program against the virus. Excited at the completion of their project, they decided to test it out on an infected Reploid. It wasn’t easy, but they managed to find one and installed the program into it. A few days later, the results were in and it showed that the Reploid was cured from the virus. Feeling the satisfaction of their great accomplishment, they decided to take their experiment to the next level.
The scientists decided to try installing the new defensive program into Reploids that were in the process of being created. After another several years of testing their new idea, they revealed satisfying results. It seemed that the program was also able to prevent the virus from entering the Reploids if it was installed into them at the moment of their construction. Because of these new and promising results, the humans began to regularly install the new defensive program into all Reploids at the time of their creation to avoid any more problems with viral killers. Over time, it seemed as though they had finally solved the virus problem.
To all of the Humans’ surprise, however, one of the Reploids actually found a way to bypass the program. By his own will, he began to act like one of the infected Reploids and began attacking the Humans. No one knew how the Reploid became one of the
1
infected without a virus invading his system, but some had a faint idea of how it happened. Many of them thought that he had overused his ability to think for himself and decided to go against the Humans.
Seeing that they were confused as to why he would do something like this, the crazed Reploid decided to explain to them his reason for doing it. He told them that he felt that the Humans were lesser beings and the Reploids should be ruling the world. Soon after his revealing and shocking explanation, he started appealing his ideas to other Reploids. Some actually believed his twisted ideas and followed him blindly. Thus, the term “Maverick” was born.
A Maverick is a corrupt Reploid who has turned his or her back from the Human race and fought against them. They would kill any and all Humans who dared to stand in their way of accomplishing their goal of total Human genocide. They would also destroy other Reploids who chose to side with the Humans. However, those who swore their allegiance to the Mavericks and their cause were spared. Soon, their numbers grew and they began to make their move.
In an effort to instill hopelessness on the Humans and Reploids that sided with them, the Mavericks committed various acts of terrorism. Sometimes, they would attack famous landmarks or historical areas so they can cause fear and confusion onto the Humans. They would also attempt to kidnap powerful and persuasive leaders who stepped up against them and try to announce their extraordinary plans on how to stop them from causing anymore meaningless destruction. Many of those fearless leaders who were about to announce their plans or had vowed to put an end to this harrowing nightmare turned into a reality would usually disappear without a trace. They would never be seen or heard from again.
Through these violent and murderous acts of terrorism, the Mavericks have managed to scare off everybody who had thought about resisting them, including all of the publicly fearless leaders who have never known fear before all this started. The leader of the Mavericks then took this chance to state what their ultimate goal was. He wanted all of the Reploids to be the rulers of the planet and wanted the entire Human race to be wiped off the face of the earth. In other words, the Mavericks were rebels fighting for a corrupt society; a society where the Humans are extinct and only Reploids and Mavericks roam the land as the dominant race.
A couple of years after the start of the Mavericks, which is now known in history as “The Maverick Insurrection”, a group of highly brave Humans and unfazed Reploids came together from all over the world. Together, they decided to take matters into their own hands and formed a resistance army. Their mission: to stop the Mavericks’ plans of world domination and destroy them.
The first thing the small army group had to do was find a suitable location to build their base. Some of them felt that it should be in one of the heavily Maverick occupied cities so they can easily eradicate them from within. Others felt that that it was safer away from the towns to avoid detection from the Mavericks, but close enough to keep a watchful eye over their every move. After much debate, the group decided to form an underground base within the desert because of the many sand dunes that could provide
2
adequate protection against enemy surveillance.
The next and more crucial thing the small group had to do now was find more people who would willingly join their cause to recruit. Over a time span of a year, they were able to successfully recruit over two thousand beings, both Humans and Reploids alike from all over the world. The new recruits consisted of gunmen, swordsmen, instructors, cooks, technicians, common folk and a whole lot of other professions. Most of them began to undergo extensive training exercises in various battle styles and terrain adaptation from different instructors. Soon, two elite soldiers who have shown exceptionally great production in field battle, efficient battle strategy planning, and leadership qualities were chosen amongst the entire organization to be the new commanders of their base. Together, the two of them later gave each major army man the title of Maverick Hunter. Then, they later named their base “Maverick Hunter Headquarters”, or “M.M.H.Q.” for short.
As time passed, the commanders were beginning to notice a growing problem. Too many people were signing up to become Maverick Hunters. They felt that it would be easy for the Mavericks to find their base since they were overly crowded. To rectify the problem, one of the commanders volunteered to take half of the men and create a new base. Feeling that was most reasonable thing to do, they began to make preparations for a new base. To ensure maximum safety and security, the M.M.H.Q. commander said to not disclose the location of the new base, but to always stay in touch though the old, outdated postal system.
It is now the year 21XX; the start of the 22nd century. A little over a hundred years have passed since the M.H.H.Q. was formed. The war against Humans and Mavericks is still ongoing with no signs of either side giving up anytime soon. It’s also about the same amount of time that I have been locked away in a hibernation capsule by my creator. I, of course, am one of the Reploid race and was miraculously undamaged and recovered by a Maverick Hunter excavation team in the ruins of an old lab. Once I was taken out of the capsule and reactivated, the Maverick Hunters immediately brought back to their base for a through examination to see if I was able to operate normally and if I wasn’t created as a Maverick. Once I checked out, they took me to their commander’s office for a little private one-on-one talk with each other.
Instead of talking with the commander directly, they had me talk with his designated spokesman. While I was talking privately with the spokesman, he filled me in on all the things that had happened during my long hibernation period. He told me about The Maverick Uprising and how it contributed to the creation of the M.H.H.Q.. He also told me how dangerous the world was now than from a century ago. Minor skirmishes were occurring all over the world and most of the major cities were prime targets for the Mavericks. Basically, he filled me in on everything that every modern-day Human and Reploid should know.
After he finished explaining everything to me, the spokesman gave me a moment to let all of the information I’ve just heard to sink in. Once I had recovered from the big information bomb, he asked me a simple, yet complicated, question. He asked if I was interested in becoming a part of the Maverick Hunters. Again, he gave me a few minutes
3
to consider my answer.
Of course, I was quite shocked to have a question like that thrown at me so suddenly. Still, I considered all of my possible options at the time. I could either say no and just sit back and relax while they do all the dirty work, or I could lend them any strength that I had and help them eradicate the Mavericks. Since I am not the type to just sit back and relax while trouble is brewing all around me, I decided to join up with the Maverick Hunters.
I also had another reason for joining up with them, though. I had figured that by accepting the position, it would help answer some of the unanswered questions that were still in my head. I thought that I might gain some information about myself and my creator while traveling to certain places for a mission. However, accepting the position also held another purpose unbeknownst to me at the time. It was the decision that forever changed my life and sealed my fate with its unwanted approval.
4
Chapter One
“The Beginning”
Clang! Bang! Thump!
The sound of people practicing hard and well were clearly heard throughout the training room. Many had signed up with the Maverick Hunters recently and are now undergoing battle training. Sounds of clashing swords and the firing of guns were constantly heard every second. The sound of pain and disappointment were also heard coming from many of the trainees.
However, there was one person who seemed to have been handling himself quite well against his trainer. This person started around the same time as the other new recruits, but his skills and reflexes seemed to have said otherwise. Even his trainer was having a hard time defending himself against the onslaught of attacks that were being delivered by his student.
This seemingly amazing person was called Megaman X, or just X for short. He was a Reploid who had just recently signed up to be one of the Maverick Hunters a couple of days ago. The brand new blue battle armor he currently had on seemed to reflect his usually calm and cool nature. The ruby red gemstone that was embedded onto the front part of his helmet seemed to reflect his current determination. He was currently using his personalized gun-arm, which was on training mode and was his favorite weapon, against his trainer. His emerald green eyes were shining with determination and concentration and were trained on his opponent.
As the battle simulation droned on, the two of them began to get tired. Because of that, the trainer hesitated on his strike and lost his balance. Seeing this, X took advantage of it and made his move. He ran up to his trainer and balled up his fists, readying himself for a punch. However, at the last second, he crouched down and leg-swept him off the floor and onto his back. Then, in less than a second, he got up, brought up his left arm, which was now his gun, in front of the trainer, and kept his aim onto his head. For a brief moment that seemed like hours, it felt as though time itself had completely stopped in the training room.
“Stop,” the trainer calmly commanded, breaking the time-warped silence. “That is enough training for today.”
After he said that, an applause broke out from the crowd that had gathered during their battle simulation. The trainer ignored it completely and got back onto his feet.
“You’re pretty good,“ he complimented X. “You show a lot of promise for a new recruit. Not many at your level can manage to defeat or even touch their trainers on their first sparring session. At this pace, you’re sure to become a high ranking and well respected Maverick Hunter in no time.”
5
“Thank you for the compliment, sir,” X calmly replied with a small smile etched onto his face. “However, I think I’ll be needing a lot more training before I can even begin rising up to that level.”
“Now those are the words of a truly dedicated person,” his trainer said. “It’s true that you’ll be needing some more training. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if the commander decided to make you into a Maverick Hunter and put you on a mission as soon as tomorrow.”
“Do you really think I’m that good,” he inquired.
“Of course I do. Once I show the commander the video I took of our training session, even he would probably feel the same way. But that’s enough talk for today. You must be tired, so why don’t you go to your room to rest and take the rest of the night off? Just head towards the exit and ask the person behind the counter for the directions to your room.”
“Thank you, sir. I’ll go do that right away.”
X waved goodbye to his trainer and headed towards the exit. When he got there, he went towards the counter and saw somebody sitting on a chair behind it with their back towards him.
“Hello, sir,” he greeted the man.
“Hmm,” the man grunted as he turned around to see who spoke to him. “Ah, hello there. Your name’s X, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, that’s right,” he answered.
“Man, you were great out there,” the man began excitedly. “I was watching you fight your trainer from here the entire time. Those were some great moves you pulled on him. I can’t wait to see you participate in more battle simulations again.”
“Uh, thanks, I think,” X dumbly replied. He didn’t think that he was going to be praised this much, especially on his first day here. “Anyway, I was just wondering if you could tell me where my room is located.”
“Alright. Just hold on for a minute while I go and take a quick look in the computer.”
The man then turned his swivel chair around and began skimming through the various files on the computer. A few seconds later, he turned back towards X with a smile on his face.
“Okay, I figured out where your room is,” he said triumphantly. “Your room number is 2ZX. Here are the directions. Once you exit the training hall, take a left and follow the hallway all the down way to the end. When you get there, make another left onto the next hall. From there, just count four doors down from the right side and you’re there.”
“Alright, thanks for the directions,” X thanked the man.
“Oh, it was no big deal,” the man said with a smile. “I’m just doing my job. You know what? If you have any spare time on your hands or if you’re just bored, you should come back here and commit yourself to some more training. I would really like to see you in action again. As a Human, I hardly get a chance to see any excitement beyond this building nowadays.”
6
“I’ll try to come as often as I can,” he replied with a smile. “Thanks again for the directions.”
X gave a small wave to the man and exited the training room. Following the directions that were given to him, he walked towards his room. A few minutes later, he arrived at his destination.
“It seems like this is the place,” X thought. “Let me go see what it looks like from in there.”
When he reached for the door handle, he tried to turn it, but found that it was locked. Then, he saw a panel with numbers on it to the side and figured that it was a numerical lock.
“Oh, great,” he sighed in frustration. “That guy didn’t tell me that a password was required to enter your own room. Now how am I supposed to open the door? They would probably kick me out in a heartbeat if I tried to break it down.”
As he was trying to figure out how to open the door, he noticed somebody walking past him. Figuring that he needed somebody to help him with the door, he decided to call out to the person.
“Excuse me, sir,” X called out to the person. “Can you please help me open this door?”
Instead of acknowledging X’s presence and answering him, the person just kept on walking without looking back at who called him. Then, he turned the corner and disappeared from X’s view. When X ran to the corner so he could follow the person, he didn’t see him anywhere.
“Well, that was interesting,” he said to himself. “That guy just disappeared from the hallway without a trace. He probably went into one the rooms before I made it to the corner. What a snobby person, though. He acted like he didn’t even hear me calling him. I wonder who he was. One of the Maverick Hunters, perhaps? If so, then a stuck-up one at that.”
As X was walking back to his door, he was trying to figure out how to get into his room. When he turned the corner, he almost ran into another person. He was lucky enough to regain his balance, but the other person fell backwards and dropped a few folders filled with papers.
The person he bumped into looked like a young woman who had just entered her early twenties. She had blonde hair that was tied into a pigtail and went down to her shoulders and had chocolate brown eyes. She was wearing a bright reddish pink upper body armor that seemed to be pretty light on her and black casual pants with red stripes on the sides.
“Oh, I’m sorry, miss,” X apologized to the woman while extending an arm out to her. “Are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m fine, thank you,” the woman answered politely while accepting his outstretched hand. “Sorry about that. I wasn’t really paying attention to where I was going.”
“That’s okay,” he replied. “I wasn’t really looking, either. Would you like some help with those folders?”
7
“That would be great. Thank you, umm… I don’t believe I caught your name, sir.”
“My name’s Megaman X, but most people normally just call me by my nickname, X,” he introduced himself. “Also, there’s no need to call me ‘sir’. I’m still a pretty young Reploid.”
“I’ll take a note of that next time,” the woman chuckled softly. “My name is Alia. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Thank you so much for helping me pick up these folders, X.”
“You’re welcome, Alia. It’s also nice to meet you, too. Say, do you think you could help me with something important?”
“It depends on what that something is.”
“Well, I can’t seem to open my door because it requires a code. The person behind the counter in the training room forgot to tell me about it. Do you think you can help me figure it out?”
“I’m guessing that you’re a new recruit since you don’t know your room’s password, right,” Alia evaluated as her eyes studied X in his new battle armor. “Well, don’t worry about it. I’ll just go ahead and call the one in charge of the security for these rooms and you’ll have the code in no time.”
“Thanks a lot, Alia,” X said as he saw her pull out a headset from her pants pocket and put it on her left ear.
A few seconds later, she was talking to the person in charge of security through the headset. X didn’t bother trying to eavesdrop on their conversation and spaced off for a couple of minutes.
Once she was done talking, she placed her hand on her headset and quickly retracted it back to her stack of folders.
“Well, X,” she started with a smile on her face. “I’ve managed to figure out your password. It’s 1-9-8-7.”
“That’s great, Alia,” X happily replied. “Thanks for going through all that trouble for me.”
“Oh, it was no trouble at all. In fact, it’s better than the regular work I do around here.”
“What kind of work do you do here?”
“I’m a field navigator,” she began explaining to him. “I navigate the Maverick Hunters while they’re out on their missions. Basically, I guide them through the rough terrain and warn them about any oncoming enemy units. In other words, I’m the Hunters’ extra set of eyes on the battlefield.”
“Jeez, that sounds like a lot of work, Alia,” X said when she was done explaining. “You have to keep track of both the terrain and the oncoming enemy units at the same time. It must be hard.”
“It’s not really that difficult. Once you learn how to not get stressed out, it’s actually pretty easy. Anyway, I better get going. I have to go and file these mission reports before I get in trouble with the commander.”
“Whoops. Sorry for holding you up all this time.”
8
“Oh, it’s alright. I’ll do anything to help a fellow Maverick Hunter. Well, I’ll see you around, X.”
“See you later, Alia.”
After they said their goodbyes, Alia turned at the corner where they bumped into each other earlier and left.
“Nice person,” X thought. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that she’s a Reploid. Not many Humans these days would be able to handle the pressure of being a navigator. Most of them end up dying of a heart attack due to the intense stress during missions, or so I’ve heard. Oh well, I better go and unlock my room before I forget the password.”
When X entered the password and successfully unlocked his room, he opened the door and went inside.
Once he was inside, he took the chance to scan his new living space. The walls in the room were painted in both sapphire blue and ruby red. Two of the walls were painted blue while the others were red. The overall size of the room was about double that of a standard college dorm room for two people. The room contained two wooden desks with a computer, a black table lamp, and a chair with wheels on both of them. It also had a big closet that was separated into two different sections, an image converter that served as a television and a video player, a single large bathroom that was fully equipped with everything a bathroom needs and a lot of other optional stuff, a ceiling fan that had five lights on it, and two comfortable beds with bedside drawers next to them. The room was also neat and clean for the most part. One of the beds, however, had some clothing scattered around it and the bedding was messed up. Obviously, somebody’s already living here and was probably in a rush to get somewhere earlier.
“Seems like I’m sharing this room with a roommate,” X speculated. “A messy one at that, too. Either that’s the way the person is or he was in a big hurry to get somewhere this morning.”
Just then, he heard a wall clock in the room softly chiming in the time. When he turned his head to look at it, he saw that it was eleven o’clock.
“Oh, wow,” he thought as he looked at the clock and yawned. “Is it really that late already? I better go get myself ready for bed so I can get up early and do some more training tomorrow.”
With the intent of early morning training on his mind, X got himself ready for bed. He changed into his casual night clothes, put his armor to rest in the neat side of the closet where all of his clothing and other belongings were, went to his bed and almost instantly fell asleep.
9
Chapter Two
“The First Mission”
Chime. Chime. Chime.
The clock in the room softly chimed in at three in the morning. X was sound asleep in his new room on his comfortable new bed.
Suddenly, the image converter was activated and was showing a fuzzy screen. Then, a voice was heard through the converter.
“Megaman X,” the voice said. “It’s time to get up. I want you to meet me at the debriefing room in about fifteen minutes. Did you hear that?”
At that moment, X awoke from his slumber with a start. He fell off of his bed and onto the floor on his back. When he sat up, he had a look of astonishment plastered onto his face.
“Mom, is that you,” he asked, obviously still half asleep. “What is it? What do you want?”
This was followed by a few seconds of silence, both sides waiting for a response from the other. The person on the image converter was the one who broke the awkward silence.
“This isn’t your mother speaking to you, X,” the person said. “It’s your commander. If you are fully awake now, please come down to the debriefing room in fifteen minutes. I’ll tell you what you’ll be doing once you get here. Make sure you have you battle armor on.”
With a soft click, the converter stopped showing the fuzzy image went back to a blank screen.
“Jeez, what time is it,” X yawned as he turned to look at the wall clock. “Three o’clock in the morning?! Man, talk about your early wake-up calls. What in the world do they need me for so early in the morning? I guess I better hurry up and get dressed so I can figure it out.”
A few minutes later, he was wide awake and had changed into his blue battle armor. As he was busy checking his gun-arm for any malfunctions, he heard someone softly knocking on his door. Changing the gun back into his regular hand, he went to see who was visiting him at this hour. When he opened the door, he saw Alia standing on the other side with her light armor on. She also had a headset resting on her left ear and a blue clipboard with papers on it in one of her hands.
“Hello, Alia,” X greeted her. “What are you doing up so early today? Are you getting ready to go somewhere?”
“Well, I am, in a sense,” Alia replied. “I’m actually here to escort you to the debriefing room, X,”
10
“You are,” he asked with curiosity. “But why are you going out of your way to take me there?”
“Because it just so happened that the commander also asked for me to be there,” she explained.
“The both of us? What for?”
“If I told you that now, then what’s the point in taking you to the debriefing room? Now, come on. Lets hurry before we become late.”
In one swift motion, Alia grabbed onto X’s wrist with her free hand and dragged him towards the debriefing room.
A few minutes later, they reached the double doors that led to the debriefing room. Alia then raised a fist and gently knocked on one of the doors.
“Come in,” a strong and deep voice brimming with confidence called from within the room.
The door swung open from the inside and Alia gestured for X to go in first.
When he entered the room, he saw a long rectangular table that stretched all the way from one side of the room to the other with swivel chairs surrounding it. There were countless pictures depicting peaceful sceneries and beautiful landscapes strewn across the white walls. Across the room, an image projector and a big white screen was being set up by a man who was wearing a dark green coat with countless medals on it and had an air of high authority around him.
“Good morning, commander Signas, sir,” Alia greeted the man from across the room in a cheery voice.
The man, who X presumed to be Commander Signas, looked up from his work to see who had called him.
“Ah, Alia,” the commander said and began walking towards her and X. “Good morning. Thank you for coming here so early in the morning on such short notice. I really appreciate it.”
“It’s alright, sir,” she answered. “I’m happy to be of service to you.”
“That’s good to hear. It’s nice to know that I can always count on you when I need you, even if it’s on short notice.”
When the commander finally reached their side of the room, his eyes became fixed on X.
“Ah, you must be the new recruit that everyone is speaking so highly of,” he said while stretching out his hand towards him. “I’m Commander Signas. I’m the head of the Maverick Hunter Headquarters.”
“M-my name’s X,” he introduced himself with nervousness etched in his voice and accepted the handshake. “It’s a p-pleasure to meet you, Commander Signas.”
“A pleasure to meet you, too, X,” the commander replied while smiling at X’s nervousness and stuttering. “I’ve heard about you besting one of my most experienced trainers in the training room last night. And on your first try, too. That’s quite an amazing feat for someone of your ranking.”
“T-thank you, Commander Signas, sir. I just tried my best to read his movements and used whatever techniques I knew that fitted the situation.”
11
“I can see that on the tape I was provided with documenting your entire training session. You had such a determined look on your face from start to finish. Even when things got really rough, you still kept fighting back. It takes a lot of determination to keep on fighting like that. I’m guessing you didn’t know that your trainer was actually a Human, right?”
“What,” X exclaimed. “He’s a Human?! Not a Reploid?!”
“My, you seem quite surprised by this fact, X,” the commander calmly replied.
“Shocked is more like it, sir,” he corrected once he calmed down. “Believe me, I have nothing against Humans. It’s just that his strength doesn’t match that of a Human. In fact, his strength greatly exceeds that of a standard Human! It’s more of a Reploid’s level of strength! Is that even possible?”
“It’s possible because he is a modified Human.”
“I’m sorry, sir, but I didn’t quite catch that. He’s a what?”
“I said that he’s a modified Human,” the commander explained. “Actually, the term ‘Humanoid’ sounds better. You see, some of the Humans here at Maverick Hunter Headquarters tend to undergo a body change. They take away parts of themselves that they feel is weaker and they exchange it with mechanical parts that tend to be much stronger. When they have to decide which part they want to modify though, we restrict them to only modifying their arms, legs, or certain parts of their chest or back for safety reasons. We don’t allow them to modify important parts of their body or their internal organs because they could easily result in death.
“Once they decide which parts of their body they want to have modified, our robotics designers and doctors begin to make the artificial parts,” he continued. “The modified parts are usually comprised of a combination of artificial bone and muscle fused together with the recipient’s bone and muscle. In doing so, the Human body will have a higher chance of accepting the new part without any complications. Once the new part is successfully installed, the Human will become stronger to a certain extent. However, their new strength will never match that of a Reploid who has had a lot of experience in battle, no matter how many changes they make on themselves.”
“Wow,” X murmured when Commander Signas was done explaining. “That’s really astounding. I never knew the Humans were able to mechanically strengthen and alter themselves.”
“Well, thanks to the help of advanced modern technology, it’s all been made possible. However, that’s enough talk about Humanoids for today. Allow me to tell you why I called you in here so early.”
“Oh, uh, okay,” he stuttered at the commander’s sudden change of tone.
“I called both you and Alia here because of something very important,” the commander started. “We have been receiving reports for a few hours now about a disturbance up in the northern tundra where a mine is located. The latest one had a video message attached to it and was sent to us via satellite image at two o’clock this morning. It was quite blurry and unplayable when we received it, so we sent it to the data analysis department for repairs. We should be expecting the results of their work any minute now. I imagine that whatever comes up in that video, it’s not going to be good at all.”
12
“Umm, Commander Signas, sir,” X interrupted. “I don’t mean to cut you off, but what does this have to do with me? I’m pretty sure you called me here for more than just a possible crisis report. I don’t see how any of this relates to me. Is there something that you would like me to do in regards to this?”
“A bit dense in the early hours, aren’t you, X,” Alia teased him. “Isn’t it obvious by now as to why Commander Signas called you here?”
“Actually, no, it isn’t, to tell you the truth,” he answered. “Would you care to enlighten me as to why the commander summoned me here, Alia?”
“Oh, boy, you really are dense in the early morning, you know that,” she sighed while smacking her forehead. “The commander summoned you here because he has a mission request for you!”
A very awkward silence immediately filled the room when Alia finished her statement. A few seconds later, X was the one to break the very uncomfortable silence surrounding them.
“Uh, I’m sorry, Alia,” X said slowly and quietly in disbelief. “I don’t think I heard you correctly. Could you repeat that for me, please? Why did Commander Signas ask me to come here?”
“As I stated earlier, the commander summoned you here because he has a mission request for you,” she repeated with a small smile on her face.
“Is what she said true, sir,” he asked the commander right after Alia finished repeating herself.
“It is indeed true, X,” Commander Signas verified with a small smile. “I did call you in here with high hopes that you would be willing to accept the mission I have offered you.”
“But why me, sir,” X asked as confusion was heard through his words. “Surely, there are other Maverick Hunters who are more experienced than me that can take on this mission. I’m just a new recruit who’s trying to make my up the rank ladder without getting trampled by the others along the way.”
“It’s true that you’re only a new recruit,” he admitted as his smile grew wider. “However, you have proven to me that you can handle yourself quite well in the battlefield during your battle training last night. You already have the experience and skills that a veteran Maverick Hunter has. The level of your overall strength and skill are also the same as theirs. Surely, you can’t possibly argue about being inexperienced with those statistics saying otherwise.”
As X was about to make a counter argument, a soft beeping noise reached his ears. When he began to look around the room for the source of it, Commander Signas chuckled softly, yet politely, at him.
“There’s no need to search for the beeping, X,” he explained to him. “It’s just my personal communications device, or PCD for short. Others also call it a comm. link device. It’s basically a personal phone that’s built into the Maverick Hunters’ helmets, including yours, too. It allows anyone connected to our system to contact each other whether they are somewhere in the base or out on a mission. This might be important, so please excuse me for a moment.”
13
The commander then brought his right hand up to his ear. However, when X took a closer look, he saw that he was actually just pressing a very small button on his helmet just above his ear. A second later, he was talking to the person on the other line.
“Commander Signas here,” he answered in a business-like tone. “What is it?… Really?… It’s finished already?… That’s great! Can you send it here immediately?… Alright. Is there anything unusual about it that I should know about?… No? Well then, thank you very much for your hark work. Keep it up.”
“Who was that you were talking to,” X asked when the commander finished his call.
“It was somebody from the data analysis department,” he answered with a serious look on his face. “It looks like they were able to successfully repair the video message. I told them to send it here so we can finally see what’s on it. Now before you even say anything about accepting or declining the mission, I would like you to at least view the contents of this video message, okay?”
As X was thinking about whether or not to accept the mission, he also thought about the video and its contents. What would the video transmission reveal to him if he chose to take a look at it? There was really only one way for him to figure it out at this point in time.
“I don’t know if I’m going to accept the mission, sir,” X replied. “However, I have decided that I’ll at least take a look at the video.”
“That’s good to hear, X,” Commander Signas said in a semi-happy tone. “Let me just go and finish setting up the projector and then we’ll transfer the…oh. The video data has already been transferred into it. I’ll just press the play button and we shall be able to see the message.”
When he pressed the play button on the projector, a fuzzy image appeared on the white screen and static was heard. Once the screen cleared up and the static went away, the debriefing room was hit with the explosive sound of gunfire and lots of people screaming their heads off. As a result, X, Alia, and the commander flinched at the noise and covered their ears.
After the commander managed to turn down the volume, the group took a sigh of relief and began seeing what the video depicted. It was currently showing a room that was in ruins and filled with frantic people, both Humans and Reploids alike, shuffling themselves through a doorway into another room in the background. Some of them looked like they were injured; others were just plain frightened for their lives and running like crazy.
Within the video’s foreground, a man who seemed to be in his mid-twenties was looking at a keyboard beneath the screen and frantically typing something. When he was done with what he was doing, he brought his head up and faced the screen. His facial expression told of him being scared about what’s going on around him; yet at the same time, it also held determination.
“This is a S.O.S.,” the man in the video frantically exclaimed. “I repeat, this is a S.O.S.! This is coming from the Tundra Mines in the northern polar ice caps! We’re being attacked by the…whoa!”
14
Suddenly, the man ducked away from the screen. Less than a second later, a fast moving object, possibly a bullet, streaked across the screen. Another second later, the man came into view of the screen again.
“As you can see, we’re under attack and barely escaping with our lives,” the man continued. “The Mavericks just suddenly appeared at the mines and started shooting at us. I don’t really care who finds this message, but please send it straight to the Maverick Hunters. Please tell them to hurry up. I don’t know how much longer we can hold on against these Mavericks!”
“Connor, hurry up with that blasted S.O.S. message,” a man in the background yelled to the one on the screen. “The blast-proof doors are going to be closing any minute now!”
“Alright, O’Donnell,” he yelled back at the man. “I’m almost done with the message! As you just heard, we’ll be hiding deep within the mines behind designated blast-proof doors. We’ll be hiding in the cave-in shelters. The doors will be locked and will require the override codes in order to open them. I’m sending the override codes to you along with the schematics of the mines in its current state. Please get over here as quickly as you can, Maverick Hunters. I don’t how much longer we can keep on running away from these Mavericks!”
“Come on, Connor,” O’Donnell yelled at the messenger again. “The doors are starting to close now!”
“Okay,” Connor yelled back. “Just give me a second to send this message away from here!”
“You don’t have any more time to spare on that blasted message, buddy! The blast-proof doors are going to close any second now! You better get your butt through this doorway and into this room immediately before you get locked out and killed by those crazy Mavericks!”
“Alright, I’m coming, O’Donnell! Remember guys: The Tundra Mines, blast-proof door, cave-in shelter!”
At the sound of a soft beep, the message was officially sent to cyber-space. Since Connor was in a rush to get to the next room, though, he didn’t turn off the camera and they were able to see what had happened next.
As soon as Connor sent the S.O.S., he began to run at full speed towards the blast-proof door that was already starting to close. The door first started closing from the corners of the doorway. At the last second, he leapt through the gap in the center and made it just before it closed completely. Then, the screen was shot by a stray bullet and everything went fuzzy and became a blank screen.
“Apparently, that’s when the transmission was brutally cut off,” Commander Signas said as he turned off the projector. “The message was sent to us approximately forty-five minutes ago by an anonymous person, so there’s a good chance that the miners are still alive. Is your heart still intent on not accepting the mission after the chaotic scene you just witnessed, X?”
As X was still contemplating on what he just saw, he found the strength to answer in a short, yet truthful, way.
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“I accept the mission, Commander Signas,” he quietly replied.
“That’s good to hear,” the commander replied with a smile. “Now let me explain what’s going to happen on this mission. Alia is going to be your designated navigator for the duration of this mission. She will be able to guide you safely through the mines, despite the bad reception you’re bound to get inside the tunnels. Since it’ll be a two hour drive from here to there, a couple of motorcycles will be assigned to you, which will also be for the duration of the mission. They’ll be ready and waiting for you in the garage. Also, since it would probably be suicide to let you go alone, I’ve taken the liberty of assigning you a partner for this mission. He’s been with the Maverick Hunters for a while now, so he has some battle experience under his belt. He should be arriving any minute now.”
As if on cue to his words, the debriefing doors opened and an armored person entered. He had on a set of bright red battle armor with a blue gemstone on the front of his helmet and had long, blond hair that reached his lower back with a red hair band keeping it together at the neck area. He also had an energy saber attached to his brown leather waist belt that was right now showing only its grey hilt, but turned into a full length sword when drawn.
“Ah, Zero,” Commander Signas called to the person who had just entered. “I’m glad you were able to make it. I would like you to introduce to you our newest addition to the Maverick Hunter group. He’ll also be your partner for the mission I explained to you earlier this morning.”
“Alright,” the red armored person said as he walked calmly towards X. “So you’re the new recruit that everyone’s been raving on about last night. You must have some great skills and reflexes to have best such a great trainer.”
“Uh, thanks, I think,” X replied, startled at the person’s directness and at how fast word had spread about his victory last night.
“Anyway, my name’s Zero,” he said as he stuck out his thumb and pointed it at himself. “I’m one of the top Maverick Hunters here at the base. I’m also one of the few soldiers who knows how to handle an energy saber properly and efficiently. Plus, I’m also a Reploid like you.”
“Wow, that’s great. My name is X. As you already know, I became a Maverick Hunter very recently. I also know how to use close combat skills while using my built-in blaster gun at close range.”
“Cool. It’s a pleasure to meet you, X,” Zero said with a smile while extending an arm towards him.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, too, Zero,” X replied as he accepted his outstretched arm and shook it in a gentle and friendly way.
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Chapter Three
“Gearing Up”
After the mission debriefing was over, X, Zero, and Alia picked up their belongings and left the room while the commander stayed behind. Then, they started to walk to their designated posts.
“Well, X,” Alia started while they were walking to their posts. “You’re going to be starting your first mission in just a few minutes. How do you feel about it? Are you nervous?”
“To be honest, I’m more scared than nervous right now,” X answered. “I mean, what if I mess up badly on the battlefield? What if I get shot by the enemy or crushed by some unforeseen act of nature?”
“Well, I don’t know about the ‘act of nature’ part, but I’m pretty sure you won’t get shot,” Zero assured him. “After all, you have an ace hunter as your partner on this mission. You also have one of the best navigators in the entire Maverick Hunter force guiding us. With a superb Maverick Hunter at your side and the greatest navigator guiding you through all the dangers, what could possibly go wrong?”
“I wouldn’t be too sure about that if I were you, Zero,” Alia warned him. “Remember what happened to you during your last mission? You decided to play the role of lone wolf hero and went into the danger zone by yourself while abandoning your entire group. Your entire squad tried to stop you, but you just completely ignored their calls and warnings and ran straight into the tower. If the bomb and computer experts hadn’t followed you inside the building, you would have…”
“Alia,” he rudely interrupted her. “That was from the last mission. There’s no need to talk about it now because it’s already been done and over with. We’re right now talking about the current mission. There’s a bit of a difference between the two of them if you haven’t noticed.”
“You have got to be kidding me,” she sighed as she slapped her forehead with her free hand. “What difference is there? They are both dangerous missions! Besides, the point I’m trying to make here is that no single group of people is perfect. Every group has a certain weakness that they try to strengthen over time. That includes the people in the group.”
“Oh, wow. Thanks a lot, Alia, for seriously dejecting X’s confidence before he even starts his first mission with us. Don’t tell him those things like having weaknesses in people and groups.”
“The same can be said for you, Zero; trying to raise his hopes up with facts that you have blown completely out of proportion. At least I’m being more truthful to him than you are.”
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“Guys, guys,” X butted in, trying to stop the two of them from arguing any further. “I get the picture, alright? The both of you are just trying your best to help me relax before I go on my first big mission. That’s great. I thank you both very much for words of encouragement. However, you don’t need to start arguing over who’s being more truthful or supportive.”
“Oh, we’re not arguing over anything, X,” Zero explained. “I’m just making sure that someone here has their facts straight.”
“Well, I’m certainly not trying to start anything,” Alia defended. “I’m just trying to get through somebody’s thick skull and teach him to accept and learn from his past mistakes better.”
“Uh, hey, Zero,” X quickly said, desperately trying to change the subject to avoid further conflict. “Are there going to be any reinforcements assigned to us during the mission?”
“Nope,” Zero answered casually. “It’s just going to be you and me out there with Alia in the background trying to guide us.”
“Isn’t that dangerous, though, to send only two people into the enemy’s territory,” he inquired.
“In a manner of speaking, yes,” Alia explained. “However, we try to minimize the casualties by sending scouts or top ranking Maverick Hunters to dangerous areas first. In this case, we’re trying to avoid deaths caused by man-made cave-ins. Plus, since we already have a map of the mines’ current state, we don’t need to send any scouts in advance.”
“As long as we’re aware of our surroundings and work together, we’ll be alright,” Zero added. “Just make sure that we don’t get surrounded by the Mavericks. It would be very bad if they manage to back us into a corner. If we do happen to get ambushed by them though, then we’ll just shoot them down and cut our way through until we get to their leader.”
“A brash technique that’s borderline suicidal,” she evaluated thoughtfully. “However, when you’re ambushed by the enemy at an area like the Tundra Mines, it’s surprisingly effective.”
“Wow, I never thought that I would hear the day when you would actually agree with me on something.”
“Well, it just so happens that that technique would work quite well under those circumstances.”
“Uh, guys,” X interrupted them before they entered another argument. “Where exactly are we supposed to be going?”
“Both you and Zero are headed for the garage,” Alia answered. “I’m just following you two because my post just happens to be along the same route. Why do you ask that, X?”
“I asked because we just passed by the garage doorway,” he said while pointing at a door behind them that had the words “garage” on it.
“Whoops,” Alia and Zero both exclaimed at the same time as they made their way back to the door.
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Chuckling at the mistake his two new friends made, X made his way through the door first. Once inside, he was able to see everything in the garage.
Inside the garage, there were many types of vehicles, from speedy motorcycles to big supply vans. There was also another room visible on the second floor surrounded with glass that seemed to serve as a security station. Underneath the station were two doors with bold lettering on them. The one on the right had the words “security station” on it while the other one had the words “armory”.
“Isn’t this place the greatest, X,” Zero asked as he walked in. “This garage is one of my favorite places in the entire base. It’s filled with the latest model and style of every vehicle that you could possibly think of. Whether it’s for a casual drive in the city or out on the battlefield, you name the vehicle you want and they’ll more or less likely have it in stock. Plus, there’s also easy access to the armory from here.”
“What do they have in the armory, Zero,” X asked while trying to keep his excitement from getting the best of him.
“The armory holds a bunch of the base’s weapons,” he explained. “The weapons in there mainly consist of various firearms and swords. Almost every type of gun that you can possibly think of lie in wait behind those doors for someone to use them. The room also holds both metallic and energy generated swords for close combat. It’s basically the best place where you would go to get your secondary weapons and any other battle supplies that you might need.”
“But I already have a weapon with me. Surely, I don’t need to carry another one with me, right?”
“It would be a really bad idea to not have a secondary weapon with you on a mission, X,” Alia said as she entered the garage and joined them in their conversation. “What if your primary weapon somehow broke down or malfunctioned during a critical point in a battle? You’re basically asking the enemy to shoot you dead if you don’t have a secondary weapon with you.”
“That makes perfect sense,” X responded. “So, my secondary weapon would be my insurance on the battlefield in case my primary weapon somehow breaks down. Is that right, Alia?”
“Hey, you catch on pretty quickly, X,” she commented as she looked at a clock that was on the wall on the other side of the garage. “Oh my, look at the time. I have to go and report to my post now before I get in trouble for being late. I’ll hear from the two of you later.”
“Alright, I’ll be keeping an ear out for you on the battlefield,” he said as Alia exited the garage and headed for her assigned post.
“Hey, X,” Zero continued the conversation as they went into the armory after she left. “Do you know how to wield an energy saber?”
“Not really,” X answered. “I barely even know how to handle one. Why are you asking me that, Zero?”
“Hmm, no reason whatsoever,” he replied casually. “I was just going to suggest that you take one of the energy sabers with you for more efficient close combat against the Mavericks. Since you just said that you barely even know how to handle them, would
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you like me to teach you some basic swordsman skills after we finish and return from our mission?”
“That would be great, Zero. However, wouldn’t it be better if I was taught by the sword instructor himself?”
“Don’t worry about it, X. You’re going to get the same results either way. After all, I am the one and only sword instructor at this base.”
“You’re this place’s sword instructor,” X exclaimed in bewilderment. “Wow! I never would have guessed it if you or somebody else haven’t told me.”
“Well, now that you know what I do here at the base, would you like me to teach you how to handle a sword and learn some basic techniques while you’re at it,” Zero asked as he extended an arm towards X.
“That would be alright with me,” he replied and shook Zero’s hand without any hesitation.
“Great. Now that that’s settled, lets go and get our secondary weapons in the armory and wait in the garage for our transportation.”
After spending a couple of minutes skimming through the countless shelves of weapons, X decided to take a pair of guns as his secondary weapon. They were both magnums made from the purest silver metal and coated with a non-rust solution. The sides of the handles on the guns had brown hand grips made of dark bronze metal bolted on. Both were able to hold one cartridge of eight bullets at a time and came with six cartridges each. The overall strength of the magnums wasn’t as powerful as his gun-arm when completely charged, but he found it acceptable nonetheless.
Once X was done choosing his weapons, he decided to go see what Zero was going to choose. When he managed to find him amongst the maze of shelves, he noticed that his partner was also choosing a pair of guns. However, the two he chose were pistols that were made of silver melted and mixed together with black coloring. They also came with a semi-automatic feature built into them. Because of this special feature, they were both made to carry fifty bullets per cartridge! Since this type of gun was able to expel more bullets than a standard pistol could at a faster rate, each set came with ten spare cartridges per gun.
“You’re going to take a pair of semi-automatic pistols with you,” X asked as he walked towards Zero. “I thought you were going to choose another saber as your secondary weapon.”
“Don’t tell me you forgotten one of the basic rules of fighting, X,” Zero sighed as he checked his weapons of choice.
“What rule am I forgetting,” he questioned him.
“Balance. It’s important to have a balance between your long-range and close-range weapons on the battlefield. Besides, these custom-made semi-automatic pistols just happen to be my favorite set of guns.”
“Why were they custom-made?”
“Because they were made based on the original designs of a regular pistol,” he explained as he showed X the pistol. “Do you see how the gun’s bullet chamber is bigger than the magnum’s? This extension allows it to carry more bullets than the standard six
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on a regular pistol. Plus, there’s something near the trigger that allows it to shoot five bullets at one time.”
“Uh, I kind of already knew all that,” X replied with a sigh. “Is there any other reason why there pistols were custom-made?”
“Actually, there is another reason,” Zero admitted. “These are the same guns that I had when I started my job as a Maverick Hunter. They were kind of outdated in style so I decided to give them a little makeover. However, the people who remodeled it had a different idea and gave it the semi-automatic system along with a new look. I must admit, however, that it was the best misunderstanding I’ve ever had.”
“That’s actually kind of funny,” he responded when Zero finished talking. “You go in and expect them to make your pair of guns look better than before. Instead, you get a new system installed into them along with a new look. You got a pretty good deal if you ask me.”
“Yeah, I know. Now come on, lets hurry up here and her back to the garage before they start wondering where we are.”
When they were done equipping themselves with their chosen secondary weapons, they made their way back to the garage. As they entered, however, X noticed that there was a change from when they first entered. All of the vehicles, except for the motorcycles, seemed to have disappeared from the garage.
“The other vehicles were put away because we’re not planning to use them,” Zero said before X even asked a question. “Our navigators will be taking a look at the route we’ll be traveling. They then decide what vehicle we should use. If we were to choose a vehicle that doesn’t fit the terrain, we might accidentally break it or be forced to abandon it. Nowadays, they’re not exactly easy to replace, so we try to prevent them from being unnecessarily destroyed.”
“Well, that answers my unspoken question,” X said.
“Good. Now come on, we got to get to the Tundra Mines before all of the miners there get killed.”
“Right,” X replied as he and Zero got onto their respective motorcycle and started the engines.
Once both of their engines had started, the garage doors that led to the outside opened. For the first time since he came here, X was able to see where the M.M.H.Q. was located at. There was sand that sprawled out in every direction as far as the eye can see. Cacti could be seen scarcely spread out throughout the entire desert with the occasional sight of other desert-dwelling plants.
“What a convenient place to build the base at,” he wondered as he remembered how he first got here. “This would probably be the last place the Mavericks would be looking for us.”
When X was first discovered by one of the Maverick Hunter recruiters, he was activated only a few days ago. He remembered being escorted by the recruiting officer into an abandoned building. Then, he was led into a room that resembled an office with no windows. When the requiting officer came in and closed the door behind him, he activated a button on his wrist brace and a hidden entrance on the wall opposite the door
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made itself known to them.
As the recruiter escorted him down the dimly lit hidden hallway, the entrance closed and once again became a regular, inconspicuous wall. He was then led to an underground train station that was at the end of the hall. The both of them entered the awaiting train and made it to the M.M.H.Q. a few minutes later.
“Hey, X,” Zero yelled over the roar of the motorcycle’s engines. “Are you ready to go, yet?”
“Yeah, I’m ready,” he yelled back as he was pulled away from his thoughts. “I’ll be with you in a sec!”
After acknowledging that X was ready, Zero revved up his motorcycle and rook off into the desert. A couple of seconds later, X did the same thing and began catching up to Zero.
As they were driving off to the mines, X’s mind wandered back to the meeting earlier with Commander Signas. He thought about the S.O.S. message sent by the miners and its contents. The images that were shown by it were so vivid, he couldn’t get them out of his mind no matter how hard he tried. Figuring that they were forever burned into his memory, he decided to let them help him prepare for the upcoming scene at the Tundra Mines.