Megaman X (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
usosmall) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
zeros_expanding_chest2023-05-21 11:43 pm
usosmall) wrote in zeros_expanding_chest2023-05-21 11:43 pm
zero forgets the babyleash [X/zero]
Though Doppler and his forces seemed to have been taken care of just a few months ago, the rise of Maverick activity continuing made X anxious. It was why he wanted to investigate this old lab in the middle of a snowfield like this, only taking a small squadron with him to be on the safe side.
He isn’t sure if Sigma is still out there somewhere, or if the rise in incidents were just the remnants of those still loyal to Doppler trying to continue his work.
X adjusts the thick, tarp-like poncho around himself as he enters the lab, keeping his footsteps quiet and instructing the other Maverick Hunters he’d brought with him to do the same. Zero was away on another mission for the time being, though he’d assured him that he would keep his line open just in case anything went awry. Zero usually didn’t break protocol like this for anyone other than X, and vise versa.
It made X feel wanted, and he appreciated that.
Dr. Cain had even insisted to join X on this mission, but X had refused. The Maverick Hunters and X could take care of themselves, but Dr. Cain was getting on in years, and even X had noticed his mobility declining in the past year alone. On the other hand, X understood the need to help, and feeling powerless to contribute. He would relay anything he found to the doctor, allowing him to work as a Navigator for the time being.
For now, however, radio silence. X noticed himself getting lost in his own thoughts too easily as well, and forced himself to focus on the mission at hand.
The lab was dark, and his threat detection wasn’t as sophisticated as Zero’s was, but X had some of the best hearing of any of the Reploids at HQ. He listened for shuffling, doors shutting, footsteps – anything that wasn’t him or his own squad.
Silence.
Had this been a red herring? No… he can see lab equipment, and remnants of Limited experiments on a few of the tables. Someone was definitely here. Or, they had been.
X shuddered at the thought of the Limited coming back, or being reinfected by one of those things. It wasn’t a pleasant experience, and the world didn’t need more evil copies of himself running amuk. X and his squad kept to the shadows, keeping a sharp eye out for anything suspicious. It was easier the deeper they traveled into the lab, the scant blotches of daylight peeking out of the fogged-up windows fading behind them.
Reconnaissance isn’t something he’s particularly attuned to – that was more Zero’s specialty. The few Hunters he’d brought with him were also only B-rank or lower. X had a responsibility to make sure they all got out of here safe and alive, and he would put himself in harm's way if it meant everyone else could escape their their lives and limbs.
X tapped a light on his tarp, and instructed the other Hunters to do the same. They would go a little further, and if they encountered anything major to report, they would retreat and return with an actual combat unit.
It isn’t long before he hears an echoing thump behind him, and one of the Hunters scrambles back, panicking.
“Commander!!”
X spins around, barely having a chance to react before something lands on the ground behind them, the horrible glow of a green, acidic core illuminating the small hallway. The form twitches and frothes at the mouth before more beings drop down all around them, the glow illuminating their forms better and revealing them to be horrible, reanimated corpses of civilian Reploids.
X is quick to form his Buster, but the enemy has them in an awkward pincer in this small hallway. One of the creatures lunges forward at a Hunter, and X immediately fires back, struggling to keep them all in his vision and also look for an escape route.
“Stay close to me!” X calls out, already beginning to radio for backup. “We’ll hold them off until--”
His eyes lock onto one of the zombified creatures, sensitive hearing picking up the familiar whir of a core overloading. The other creatures follow suit, and X and none of the other Hunters have a moment to react before they all detonate at once.
…
………
He isn’t sure how long he’d been laying here, but it was long enough for his joints to have frozen stiff. A thin layer of snow and ice covers what’s left of his armor, the tarp having crystallized and frozen in an awkward lump. Everything around him is a blur of white, black lumps, and static. And X feels…
Very, very cold.
He wheezes once. Twice. Each breath is a struggle as X attempts to dislodge the ice that had built up in his exhaust fans, broken body convulsing a bit with the effort. The Reploid manages to turn his head slightly in the rubble, a horrendous wet wheeze shuddering out of him as he realizes that it wasn’t just ice that had clogged up his vents.
Black, shimmering in the setting sun. Oil. His oil.
Was… was he hurt? What had happened? Where was his squad? He came here with other Reploids, didn’t he…?
X struggles against the pain and the cold to focus, but he can already feel his consciousness escaping him once more. Can't move. Felt like something was pinning his limbs into the snow. Weakness, or ice. Or both. Had to… alert someone what happened. Distress signal. Someone to come help.
Zero.
At first, he calls out, a strained, static-filled whisper that immediately gets overpowered by the howling wind. ...right. He's not gonna hear that.
A message? He can't pull up his own console long enough to compose anything. This is... really bad. He didn't want to die here. He wasn't supposed to.
Had to…
He can feel his injured form shaking, a generic SOS the first thing his processor can grab in its failing state. 'Unit down', but no location, no specifics. That’ll have to do. He can’t…
...stay…
…
The last thing his hearing registers is the crunch of his helmet against loose ice.
He isn’t sure if Sigma is still out there somewhere, or if the rise in incidents were just the remnants of those still loyal to Doppler trying to continue his work.
X adjusts the thick, tarp-like poncho around himself as he enters the lab, keeping his footsteps quiet and instructing the other Maverick Hunters he’d brought with him to do the same. Zero was away on another mission for the time being, though he’d assured him that he would keep his line open just in case anything went awry. Zero usually didn’t break protocol like this for anyone other than X, and vise versa.
It made X feel wanted, and he appreciated that.
Dr. Cain had even insisted to join X on this mission, but X had refused. The Maverick Hunters and X could take care of themselves, but Dr. Cain was getting on in years, and even X had noticed his mobility declining in the past year alone. On the other hand, X understood the need to help, and feeling powerless to contribute. He would relay anything he found to the doctor, allowing him to work as a Navigator for the time being.
For now, however, radio silence. X noticed himself getting lost in his own thoughts too easily as well, and forced himself to focus on the mission at hand.
The lab was dark, and his threat detection wasn’t as sophisticated as Zero’s was, but X had some of the best hearing of any of the Reploids at HQ. He listened for shuffling, doors shutting, footsteps – anything that wasn’t him or his own squad.
Silence.
Had this been a red herring? No… he can see lab equipment, and remnants of Limited experiments on a few of the tables. Someone was definitely here. Or, they had been.
X shuddered at the thought of the Limited coming back, or being reinfected by one of those things. It wasn’t a pleasant experience, and the world didn’t need more evil copies of himself running amuk. X and his squad kept to the shadows, keeping a sharp eye out for anything suspicious. It was easier the deeper they traveled into the lab, the scant blotches of daylight peeking out of the fogged-up windows fading behind them.
Reconnaissance isn’t something he’s particularly attuned to – that was more Zero’s specialty. The few Hunters he’d brought with him were also only B-rank or lower. X had a responsibility to make sure they all got out of here safe and alive, and he would put himself in harm's way if it meant everyone else could escape their their lives and limbs.
X tapped a light on his tarp, and instructed the other Hunters to do the same. They would go a little further, and if they encountered anything major to report, they would retreat and return with an actual combat unit.
It isn’t long before he hears an echoing thump behind him, and one of the Hunters scrambles back, panicking.
“Commander!!”
X spins around, barely having a chance to react before something lands on the ground behind them, the horrible glow of a green, acidic core illuminating the small hallway. The form twitches and frothes at the mouth before more beings drop down all around them, the glow illuminating their forms better and revealing them to be horrible, reanimated corpses of civilian Reploids.
X is quick to form his Buster, but the enemy has them in an awkward pincer in this small hallway. One of the creatures lunges forward at a Hunter, and X immediately fires back, struggling to keep them all in his vision and also look for an escape route.
“Stay close to me!” X calls out, already beginning to radio for backup. “We’ll hold them off until--”
His eyes lock onto one of the zombified creatures, sensitive hearing picking up the familiar whir of a core overloading. The other creatures follow suit, and X and none of the other Hunters have a moment to react before they all detonate at once.
…
………
He isn’t sure how long he’d been laying here, but it was long enough for his joints to have frozen stiff. A thin layer of snow and ice covers what’s left of his armor, the tarp having crystallized and frozen in an awkward lump. Everything around him is a blur of white, black lumps, and static. And X feels…
Very, very cold.
He wheezes once. Twice. Each breath is a struggle as X attempts to dislodge the ice that had built up in his exhaust fans, broken body convulsing a bit with the effort. The Reploid manages to turn his head slightly in the rubble, a horrendous wet wheeze shuddering out of him as he realizes that it wasn’t just ice that had clogged up his vents.
Black, shimmering in the setting sun. Oil. His oil.
Was… was he hurt? What had happened? Where was his squad? He came here with other Reploids, didn’t he…?
X struggles against the pain and the cold to focus, but he can already feel his consciousness escaping him once more. Can't move. Felt like something was pinning his limbs into the snow. Weakness, or ice. Or both. Had to… alert someone what happened. Distress signal. Someone to come help.
Zero.
At first, he calls out, a strained, static-filled whisper that immediately gets overpowered by the howling wind. ...right. He's not gonna hear that.
A message? He can't pull up his own console long enough to compose anything. This is... really bad. He didn't want to die here. He wasn't supposed to.
Had to…
He can feel his injured form shaking, a generic SOS the first thing his processor can grab in its failing state. 'Unit down', but no location, no specifics. That’ll have to do. He can’t…
...stay…
…
The last thing his hearing registers is the crunch of his helmet against loose ice.
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.
.
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)