The guard droids rounded a corner, their scanners streaming across radially into the air. After the last remnants of red specks pixelated away, Zero dashed to the other side of the corridor. He was quick and silent, his energy signature being concealed with a program the doctor had made for covert missions such as this. The fact that they were still recovering from a previous Maverick war meant there weren't enough hunters to spare and Zero much preferred working on his own anyway. Especially if it meant whatever unit X was leading had enough support for the Blue Bomber.
Zero went still when the hum of machinery suddenly shut off. The lights went out and his optics took a moment to adjust to their night setting. He was surprised it took them this long to notice an intruder, it didn't matter much anymore. He was deep enough inside that he was only a few doors away from his goal. He had downloaded one set of data from a server a few levels below, he just needed to hook up to the one on this floor and he would have what they were looking for. It was only a mild irritant having the guard droids now on high alert, not enough to set off the alarm but they were moving quicker with their scans. They must not have thought it was a major breach yet.
Once inside the computer room, he crouched down to conceal himself and pulled out a wire from behind his aural cone to connect himself to the drive. The stream of data flowed into him and was promptly sent over to Cain’s Lab for analysis. It gave him a moment to check the open-line he left for X while his friend was out on his mission.
It was mixed feelings at first when he came back to life and found out that X was now leading their hunters. He was proud hearing that his friend had grown so much, no longer needing to rely on Zero as much for support, but there was still that part of him that would always worry when the two weren’t working together. No news should be good news, though he had to remind his hardware to cool off when checked again within seconds. He finished uploading the data to Dr. Cain, then opened his message log promptly after. What he thought might have been from X at first was instead a message sent from the doctor.
‘It’s hard to say if this won’t lead to a dead-end, but I’ll see what we can do. Good work, Zero. Have you heard from X?’
Zero teleported out of the base. He would respond to the message at a safe distance.
“No. Are you sure he went with enough back-up?”
‘...He’s not alone…’ But Zero could tell already his worry had been infectious. It wasn’t his intention to make Dr. Cain paranoid, too.
He would have asked the doctor about what he could make out of the data he sent over to change the subject but another energy reading was picked up and Zero halted all communication. Without thinking, his buster was out and firing towards his peripheral.
“...Doppler?” Zero tensed as the cloud from the impact dissipated. He thought it was the evil scientist for a moment until he double checked his scanners. The remnants of Limited confirmed his suspicions. “Tackione.” He fired again but a barrier prevented his shot from doing any damage. He would have to use his saber.
Tackione saw his dash coming and moved. “You’re not surprised to see me? But of course…you wouldn’t.”
“Never say ‘die’.” Zero growled when his slashes kept missing. “I see you got yourself a new powered up body from your mutant boss. Too bad you’re going to lose it so soon!” He was sure his next attack would hit until Tackione was speaking again.
“Should you really be worried about me? Someone needs you.”
Zero froze. His processors had a hard time registering the implication.
“Or you could keep fighting me. I’m sure whatever you found and killing me is more important than your friend’s life.”
He was already teleporting back to H.Q. He needed X’s coordinates.
no subject
Zero went still when the hum of machinery suddenly shut off. The lights went out and his optics took a moment to adjust to their night setting. He was surprised it took them this long to notice an intruder, it didn't matter much anymore. He was deep enough inside that he was only a few doors away from his goal. He had downloaded one set of data from a server a few levels below, he just needed to hook up to the one on this floor and he would have what they were looking for. It was only a mild irritant having the guard droids now on high alert, not enough to set off the alarm but they were moving quicker with their scans. They must not have thought it was a major breach yet.
Once inside the computer room, he crouched down to conceal himself and pulled out a wire from behind his aural cone to connect himself to the drive. The stream of data flowed into him and was promptly sent over to Cain’s Lab for analysis. It gave him a moment to check the open-line he left for X while his friend was out on his mission.
It was mixed feelings at first when he came back to life and found out that X was now leading their hunters. He was proud hearing that his friend had grown so much, no longer needing to rely on Zero as much for support, but there was still that part of him that would always worry when the two weren’t working together. No news should be good news, though he had to remind his hardware to cool off when checked again within seconds. He finished uploading the data to Dr. Cain, then opened his message log promptly after. What he thought might have been from X at first was instead a message sent from the doctor.
‘It’s hard to say if this won’t lead to a dead-end, but I’ll see what we can do. Good work, Zero. Have you heard from X?’
Zero teleported out of the base. He would respond to the message at a safe distance.
“No. Are you sure he went with enough back-up?”
‘...He’s not alone…’ But Zero could tell already his worry had been infectious. It wasn’t his intention to make Dr. Cain paranoid, too.
He would have asked the doctor about what he could make out of the data he sent over to change the subject but another energy reading was picked up and Zero halted all communication. Without thinking, his buster was out and firing towards his peripheral.
“...Doppler?” Zero tensed as the cloud from the impact dissipated. He thought it was the evil scientist for a moment until he double checked his scanners. The remnants of Limited confirmed his suspicions. “Tackione.” He fired again but a barrier prevented his shot from doing any damage. He would have to use his saber.
Tackione saw his dash coming and moved. “You’re not surprised to see me? But of course…you wouldn’t.”
“Never say ‘die’.” Zero growled when his slashes kept missing. “I see you got yourself a new powered up body from your mutant boss. Too bad you’re going to lose it so soon!” He was sure his next attack would hit until Tackione was speaking again.
“Should you really be worried about me? Someone needs you.”
Zero froze. His processors had a hard time registering the implication.
“Or you could keep fighting me. I’m sure whatever you found and killing me is more important than your friend’s life.”
He was already teleporting back to H.Q. He needed X’s coordinates.
Now.
.