HunterZeo

Prologue:
At the end of the most recent episode of the Mega Man X series, X fought defeated Sigma, who claimed that there was somebody who hated X even more and built Sigma's new and final body. Before he died, his explosion severely damaged Zero. Then, with his last bit of energy, Sigma fired a blast that severely damaged X and Zero, who destroyed the last vestige of Sigma. X was severely damaged, but a mysterious figure repaired him. He continued to live out his life relatively peacefully, preparing his plans for Elysium and using Zero's saber and memory to maintain peace. What nobody realized was that Zero's body was repaired, and overhauled into a more evolved form.

20 years later...
X's dream of Elysium, a paradise for Humans and Reploids has become a reality. It is a massive floating citadel geosynchronously floating above western North America. It is fully self-contained and has a harmonious balance of humans and Reploids, and the Maverick Virus is but a small memory. As a result, the few remaining Maverick Hunters have been relieved of duty, especially since X has Zero's Z-Saber and is powerful enough to take care of any problems with the few leftover Mavericks. All is peaceful in Elysium.
Then one day, X mysteriously disappears. Nobody knows where he went, but shortly afterwards, news breaks out of a Maverick uprising on the North American continent. Elysium is safe for now, but without X, fear quickly grows that the citadel will be attacked by the Mavericks. nobody knows the true nature or motive of these Mavericks, but they do know that these evil Reploids are much stronger than any of the previous Mavericks, possibly more powerful than even Sigma himself!
As a result, all the previous Hunters have been reenlisted, Repliforce has been reinstated with new officers, and new Hunters are being recruited and refitted for battle around the clock in an effort to help quell the NeoMaverick outbreak. Many NeoMavericks have been defeated, but just as many, if not more, of the new Hunters have been destroyed as well. The continent has been reduced to a war-torn battlefield, covered in carnage and waste. Elysium has had massively powerful force fields enables, and it remains a safe haven for Reploids, and humans especially, but who knows how long it will stay that way? Something must be done. Either X must be found, or...

Chapter 1: The Becoming
In the former state of Kansas, a long, hard battle has left many Hunters a few NeoMavericks little more than pile of scrap metal. A lone, gray Reploid with large wings stands on a robotic corpse, overlooking the mess. He scans the area and mutters to himself. Turning to leave, he spots movement, a single hand clawing its way out of the rubble. Raising his arm cannon in preparation, the gray Reploid moves toward the sole survivor of the battle. He grabs the hand and pulls up an armored, female Hunter, judging by her insignia.
"Are you ok?" he asks.
"You...are...Zero, aren't...you?" she struggles to reply.
"I was Zero, now I am the Fallen Angel. I will help you. Just relax."
She passes out just before he teleports her away from the wreckage. Just before she loses consciousness, she hears him say something about the prophet.

"Ah, you're awake. I was afraid the transfer didn't work."
She opens her eyes to see the gray Reploid. "Huh? Where am I?"
"You're in my base of operations. Take a look at yourself," he responds, turning a mirror so she can look and see her new body.
"What the heck happened?!" She yells, wide-eyed in alarm at seeing her reflection. "I thought we won the battle?"
"Well, you did. However, while you all cheered your victory, you were surprise-attacked by a small contingent of NeoMavericks. They hit your group with a Solar Flare. It wiped out everyone but you, and you were only holding on by a thread. If I hadn't been following them, I wouldn't have found you, and you wouldn't have made it. It took 6 sub-tanks just to keep you alive long enough to transfer your consciousness into this new body. What do you think?"
She takes another, longer look in the mirror. Her new body is mostly blue, with yellow and gray trim. It's slightly bulkier than her previous armor, but is much stronger. Mentally, she checks her system properties. "I see you gave me some more abilities?"
"Yeah, I looked through your data file and checked out what you could do. I added a sonic blast attack, figuring you could use another offensive tactic. Also, I enhanced your energy claws significantly. I boosted your energy whip's power level as best I could, but I'm still limited on resources, being your secondary weapon. So you're name is Naia, right?"
"Yeah, yeah it is. And you're...?"
My official title is Zero the Fallen Angel, but I go by Zero, it's much shorter."
"Not to mention cooler sounding, being named after the legendary Zero. So are those NeoMavericks that wasted my unit still alive?"
"Yeah, they booked after a short fight. I've got their energy signals in my computer system, so we can track them down. But you need some training first, so they won't waste you."
"Alright, when can we start?"
"I knew when I found you still alive that you would be a good choice."
"For what?"
"I'm forming an elite Hunting Unit called HunterZeo. Congratulations, you just made my right hand Hunter. Of course, we'll need to recruit and upgrade more hunters, but you and I will make a good start."
"Cool, sounds like a romp."
"You're joking, right?"
Naia just laughed. "Let's get started."

Chapter Two: Max
BWOOP BWOOP BWOOP BWOOP BWOOP BWOOP BWOOP
"Crud, just as I was finally getting to sit down." Naia mutters.
"Cram it. This isn't training anymore, this is the real thing. NeoMaverick activity in the Northeast zone. Let's go." Zero responds curtly. Naia jumps up and they run to the teleporter room. Zero punches in the coordinates and they disappear as beams of energy.
The two arrive at the outskirts of a small city and begin to scout around.
"They're to the north." Naia says briefly after landing.
"How do you know that?" Zero asks.
"I attuned my EM scanners to the NeoMaverick signal, just like the main computer."
"Works for me." They run off to the north.
After a few minutes, they arrive at the area where Naia scanners indicated the NeoMavericks were. They scout around the area, and soon spot a single young male Reploid fending off three NeoMavericks with an orange-bladed energy saber. His left arm is severely damaged, hanging on by a single, thin wire, and it is clear that he is losing energy quickly. The two Hunters give each other a quick glance, and bolt to assist the boy.
"You help the kid, I'll take out the scumbags." Zero yells as he runs to confront the NeoMavericks. He fires a shot from his Angel Buster, knocking one NeoMaverick back. He then whips out his Energy Lance and quickly dispatches the injured foe. He reverses his stroke and slashes through the two remaining, very surprised robots.
Meanwhile, Naia runs to help the young Reploid to his feet. He stands up slowly, clutching his arm, then gives her a blank stare, and falls back to the ground, going offline.

"Where am I?" the Reploid asks as he wakes up, looking around.
"You're at HunterZeo base" Naia says as she looks to Zero and then back to the young boy.
"Whoa! You're... Zero?!" the boy yells, almost in fright, "I thought you were dead!"
Zero sighs, and looks to him, "It's a long story..." He says.
"Oh, ok. Oh yeah, I'm Max." he says and holds out his hand. Zero takes his hand and they shake.
"Max, this Naia." Zero says, introducing her. They shake hands as well.
Suddenly, Max realizes that his left arm works perfectly. "You fixed me?" he asks.
"Yeah, we couldn't just leave you there..." Naia says and smiles, patting Max's shoulder, "You did pretty well for a kid..."
Turning slightly red, he exclaims, "I am not a KID! And I can thrash any Maverick!"
"Not so fast, kid. You did fine, and that may be, but you still have a long way to go."
Max blushes with embarrassment, then recovers and blinks a few times, "Where's my family?" he asks.
Zero and Naia don't answer, just look at each other for a while. They look back to Max and Zero answers, "We found your family Max...but they were too damaged to be repaired..."
Max hangs his head low, "Oh...ok...hey wait, what's HunterZeo?"
"HunterZeo is a new Hunter Organization. Right now, it's just Naia and me" Zero says, "We work together to fight the NeoMavericks-"
Max quickly interrupts, "Let me join HunterZeo! I want to fight the NeoMavericks!"
"No, Max, you're too young..." Naia says.
"I didn't ask, I told you, I'm joining HunterZeo!"
Zero laughs, "Well, its settled then, welcome to HunterZeo, Max!"
Max smiles enthusiastically, "When do we start fighting?!"
Naia and Zero laugh aloud. "Wow, you sure have a spark! Well, you've got a lot of training to do first, but Naia and I will help you with that. Let's get to work."

********

Meanwhile, in a pub in New York City...
A dark-clothed Reploid in a brown trech coat sits down at a booth table in the darkest corner of the smokey room. Soon, three large Reploids sit down at the table. One of them, wearing a billowing, maroon cloak that conceals him completely, sits directly across from the trench coat-wearing man, and the two henchmen sit on the outside seats of the two benches, keeping both the trench coat man and the cloaked man from going anywhere.
"You are Gauge, correct? Can we buy you a drink, good man? Maybe 10W-30?" the man in the cloak asks.
"That's ok, I don't drink when I'm making deals. Maybe after we negotiate." Gauge replies.
"Very well, then. Here is the dossier for the job. Take your time and look it over." The cloaked man hands Gauge a manila folder.
"Not much to look over, really," he says, giving the paperwork inside a quick glance. "You want me to kill them. I knew that from the e-mail. So what's in it for me? Their deaths are quite important to you, right?"
"Yes, that is why we came to you. Word is, you're the best."
"Yup, that I am. So then, what's my cut?"
"We will pay you ten million credits and two weapons of your choice from our cache. We have some very impressive longbows that you would probably be interested in."
Gauge leans forward, his eyes gleaming. "Show me."
The foursome get up and leave the pub, and walk to a black sedan parked next to a large moving van. The cloaked man motions to the van, and after a quick perimeter scan, one of the large Reploids hoists open the back door. The other guard escorts Gauge into the van, which is filled with weapons. The cloaked man climbs into the van and opens a long, nondescript box to reveal a simple-looking black longbow. "Here, check this out," he says, tossing the bow to Gauge.
"Looks impressive," Gauge replies, examining the titanium bow. He jumps out of the van and looks down the street for a good target. He takes aim at a car several blocks down, draws the fiber optic drawstirng back, and lets loose a laser arrow. Less than a second later, the car explodes. "I'll take the job." "We knew you would. Our leader will be most pleased."

Chapter 3: The Sting
Naia sits in the war room, eyeing the readout on the monitor. After a few minutes, she flips the switch on the intercom. "Max, report to the war room" she says into the speaker. A few minutes later, Max rushes in, excited and out of breath.
"What's up? Do you have a mission for me?"
"Man, you need to chill. Yes, I do have a mission for you. We've been scanning the northwest area for any sign of NeoMaverick activity. We found something else, but we don't know what. Zero and I want you to go check it out, and report what you find. I've prepared a mission brief for you." She hands the young Hunter a data chip. "You leave tonight at 1900 hours."
Max's face lights up, then he gets serious. "Will do, Naia. I'll go get ready." He departs from the war room and heads to his quarters.
When he gets to his room, he puts the data chip into a reader, and Naia's face appears on the screen. "Good afternoon Max. Now that your training is complete, I trust you are excited about your first mission. For the past week, we have been observing an area in the northwest sector, and we have seen unusual energy outputs coming from coordinates 9-2-63. Your mission is to travel to the coordinates and find out what the energy output is coming from. This will be a low-key mission; we want to bring minimal attention to our doings. From what he have seen, there is little to no trace of NeoMaverick activity in the area; however, if you DO run into any problems, you are to call for back-up or retreat immediately, as the situation warrants. Do NOT, under any circumstances, lead the enemy back to headquarters. When you have fully explored the area, return and report your findings. You will be teleported to the location, and when you are done searching, contact headquarters and you will be teleported back. Your equipment will be standard except for one piece of special equi0pment: I am providing you with an optical upgrade that will allow you to see the energy signal we have been observing. Good luck, Max." The picture fades.
A few hours later....
Max enters the teleportation room and hits the button on the intercom. "I'm ready to go," he says into the mic. From the speaker, he here's Zero's voice say, "Okay Max, step onto the platform. We're energizing now." He steps up, and the world dissolves around him.
When the image resolves, Max is standing outside an old, decrepit looking factory. He looks all around him, seeing nothing besides the factory. Switching on the energy detector, he sees residual energy rising up from below the factory. Muttering to himself, he enters the building through a large hole in the wall. Sunlight filters in through holes in the rusted ceiling, illuminating broken down machines covered in cobwebs and carbonates. Max sees a single, small green light shining from the far side of the room, diffused through a plastic computer cover. He walks over to the computer console, hoping it's still functional. He pulls off the cover and hits a button to activate the console. Immediately. The monitor lights up with a logon prompt.
Without any clue as to what a possible logon name could be, Max types in "GUEST" for the username, and enters nothing in for a password. Surprisingly, it works, and a file menu appears onscreen. Max scans the folders, seeing mostly standard operating system folders. However, he notices a few folders of interest: "Project X," "Greens," and "AI CODEC." He begins to download the folders into his memory system.
Suddenly, he hears a whirring noise from behind him. He turns to see dark figure in the shadows with glowing purple eyes. Alarmed, he calls out, "Who the hell are--"
He's cut off by an energy blast. The shot passes by him and hits the computer console, blowing it up and sending Max flying. He crashes into an old, rusted robotic machine, which crumbles beneath his weight. He instantly sends an emergency communication to headquarters, and then is hit by another energy blast. He pulls out his energy sword and staggers to his feet. Looking around, he spies the NeoMaverick by the console remains, looking down at the smoldering computer. Max rushes forward, slashing out with his energy blade. The beam saber cuts through the NeoMaverick's left arm, cleaving it from the body. Angered, his foe whirls, grabbing Max by the throat and throwing him across the room. Max crashes through the wall, and skids several yards on the gravel outside the factory. Through static-filled vision, Max sees the NeoMaverick approaching and raising his energy cannon. Max tries to focus, praying for a quick death.
From behind Man, an energy beam arcs through the air, puncturing the head of the NeoMaverick. Several more follow, punching the evil robot full of holes. The dead robot crumples in a heap. A Reploid, clad in black trench coat and sunglasses, walks up to Max.
"Wow, you took a beating, huh? Need a hand?" The Reploid bends down, half helping Max up, half just picking him up. Max wobbles on his feet for a minute, and then steadies.
"Why the hell does this always happen to me? Do I have a sign on my head inviting NeoMavericks to blindside me?"
"Hard to say, there's too much dirt and oil to tell. I'm Gauge. I'd like to join your outfit."
"Well, I'm not exactly in charge of that kind of stuff, but I can put you in touch with someone who is. I kind of need to talk to them anyway. Give me a sec, ok?"
"Sure. I'm just gonna check out the dead NeoMav."
Once he has a little privacy, Max opens the communications link with Naia and relays the evening's events so far. After hearing his story, she tells him that she and Zero are on the way. A few minutes later, they appear at the same place Max teleported in.
Seeing Gauge right away, Zero heads over to talk to him while, Naia tends to Max.
"So, you're the Reploid who saved Max's life?" Zero says to the black-clad robot.
"That I am. The name's Gauge. I'd like to be a hunter with your organization," Gauge replies. "Let me show you what I can do." He picks up the Maverick corpse and tosses it to the HunterZeo commander.
Zero makes a quick inspection of Gauge's handiwork, and then says, "So, you're a veteran fighter, huh?"
"Sure am, and I have the finest weaponry money can buy. I'm a mercenary by trade, but I'm willing to work more or less for whatever you pay. Though I can handle myself up close, my specialty is sniping and long-range work. As you can probably tell, I've done my share of assassin work, and I'm a no-nonsense type of fighter. Quite frankly, after what I've seen of your younger fighter, I think you need me."
"Well, need is a strong word, but I appreciate your experience and abilities. We don't ordinarily pay a salary, since we provide living quarters, weaponry, body upgrades, and the like. However, I understand your line of work, so we can work something out. In the meantime, we have an abandoned factory to explore.

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