Disclaimer:

Rockman/Megaman X and all it's characters do not belong to me. All original characters used in this fic; however, do. Please don't steal them.

Important:

This chapter is rated PG and MSPX8 because I say so. Mild cursing, sporadic use of violence, blood (sort of).

I'd like to thank Bobcat Moran for inspiration for this chapter. You know what for. Let's all hope Zero is never put in charge of her class. (I think they'd probably take over the world.)

I'd also like to thank Ginrei for asking for some scenes where X is just happy and relaxed. The first scene is for you, Ginrei. :D

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Reploid Anatomy 101 – Teleportation System

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Fast as a speeding teleport beam, more powerful than 65 rampaging Mavericks. It's…

…Particle man, particle man. Doing the things a particle can. Is he a dot, or is he a speck? When he's underwater, does he get wet? Or does the water get him instead?

A satellite network of teleportation transponders controls and directs teleportations. The network of satellites works together to coordinate and accommodate all incoming and outgoing teleportations. Each satellite covers a grid segment of territory on the Earth's surface. Teleportation coordinates consist of the specific grid designation and location coordinates in the x, y, and z vectors. Underground, and basement coordinates, assuming they are not so deep as to obstruct or corrupt the teleportation signal, are achieved through use of negative coordinates.

Living complex organics such as humans and animals cannot yet be safely translated into teleportation signals. The bio-chemical and bioelectric brain waves and signals cannot maintain cohesion during the matter-energy conversion process. Any living organism sent through a teleportation signal re-materializes as dead or with severe permanent brain damage. So far, only reploids and non-living items can be safely sent through teleportation.

When a reploid, or equipment teleportation takes place, the teleportation matter-energy converter translates the reploid, as well as anything within the specified range of the teleportation generator's field, into an energy data stream. The stream is made up of the matter-energy data that composes the reploid or items being teleported, the destination coordinates, the origin coordinates, and any number of additional data codes that instruct the satellites to perform various actions when dealing with the teleport signal.

This stream gives off energy in the visible light spectrum in the first and last stages of the teleportation process. The energy beam rapidly modulates into the invisible spectrum of light as it's sent to the satellite corresponding to the grid of origin. Because the beam is made out of slightly phased energy, it is capable of passing through solid objects of reasonable density and size, much like a radio signal can pass through walls, unless they are made of especially thick or non-conductive material.

The teleportation signal is sent to the satellite in charge of the grid the teleportation originated from. The satellite then relays the signal along to the desired grid satellite, which then sends the signal to the designated coordinates for re-materialization. If the reploid is teleporting to another location in the same grid, the satellite will send the signal to the designated coordinates without sending it along to any other satellites.

Every satellite has a large data buffer to temporarily store incoming teleportation signals should it already be dealing with another signal. If the memory buffer is at capacity, any incoming teleportation signals will be bounced immediately to the main teleportation terminal for the overbooked satellite grid. Signals are dealt with in order of arrival, unless a priority code is added to the teleportation beam signal. There are a multitude of various priority levels. Most civilian or private teleports do not use priority codes.

If one of the network satellites malfunctions or is destroyed, the rest of the network will detect its absence through the data network the satellites share. Signals that would have routed through the offline satellite will be redirected around the gap in the network, unless the unresponsive satellite was the destination of the signal. In that case, the first satellite, which borders the downed grid that the signal reaches, will redirect the signal to the main teleportation terminal for its grid. An unavailable destination code will be added to the signal that the terminal will recognize and direct the incoming teleport to one of the unused teleport pads reserved for such interrupted teleportations. Because initializing a teleport requires a direct data link to the teleportation satellite in charge of the grid of origin, if that satellite is offline, the teleportation system delivers an 'unable to establish connection' message to its operator.

Safe teleportation requires multiple calculations and prior knowledge of available space and locations for re-materialization. Should the signal materialize in a space already occupied by another object, the results would be devastating. Most teleportation generator units must be programmed to acknowledge and identify locations that are available for re-materialization and maintain a running list in their memory banks. Only the most sophisticated and expensive personal teleporter units are equipped to interface with and use real time satellite targeting to locate available materialization locations.

Most civilian reploids, and companies that use teleporters for shipping, prefer to rely on stationary teleportation terminals rather than personal units. Every grid has public teleportation terminals. The main terminal is usually the largest and serves as the bounce-in point for interrupted teleport signals. These public terminals often serve the same purpose for reploids as an airport serves for humans. The teleportation terminals have also taken on most of the public, non-organic shipping services. Companies, and organizations, wealthy enough can afford to have their own teleportation terminals installed for company use. These are protected from intrusion with teleportation shield generators.

Teleportation shield generators create a field effect that can scatter or bounce the incoming teleportation signals. Shield generators come in varying power levels. The weakest generators can only bounce the incoming signals to the central grid terminal while adding a code to the signal that the central terminal will recognize. The terminal control will direct the signal to one of the holding room teleport pads. From there, the terminal security forces can alert the proper authorities about the attempted break in and take the reploids into custody. Unauthorized outgoing signals, originating from within a shield, are bounced back to the originating coordinates.

These bounce field generators are available for private purchase with the proper documents and permits from the government. However, they will not protect against all teleportation intrusions. A signal from a particularly strong teleportation generator can breach these weaker fields. The stronger the teleporter unit's generator, the stronger and more cohesive the teleportation signal is.

The scattering field generators are much more powerful and effective in preventing unwanted teleportation intrusions. However, these fields cause the teleportation signal to destabilize and result in the destruction of whatever was attempting to teleport through the shielding field. Therefore, these are only available to government and government-sanctioned organizations such as the Maverick Hunters. The more powerful the field generator, the more powerful the shield is.

For a teleportation signal to safely pass through a field scrambler or bounce shield, a pass code must be attached to the signal. Every shield generator can be programmed to accept pass codes once activated. Only authorized personnel, that the shield generator is programmed to recognize and accept, can change these passwords. Without the proper pass code attached to the teleportation signal, nothing can teleport in or out of the shield.

Teleportation signals cannot reach every location on the planet. There are many locations that are either shielded or blocked from teleportation signals and others that are off limits due to safety issues. Places with high public traffic are off limits due to safety issues except in cases of emergency. Only the most sophisticated teleportation units would be able to interface with satellite targeting systems to accurately and safely calculate re-materialization coordinates in a place with lots of people or vehicles. Such advanced units are normally only available to the military. Any teleportation attempt into a busy location such as a city street or mall would be tantamount to suicide without the accuracy of a powerful teleportation unit. Even then, the calculations could be off, or an unexpected variable of pedestrian or vehicle movement could throw off the calculations.

Teleportation signal blocks usually occur due to the locations being far underground or in a location where satellite signals are especially weakened or blocked. However, it is possible to teleport into water, provided the location is not so deep as to degrade or block the teleportation signal. The re-materialization field energy vaporizes the water at the target location, creating a pocket of empty air for the teleporting reploid or item to safely materialize within. Teleporting out from an underwater location is also possible, though likely to bring a quantity of the surrounding water along with the reploid.

Highly sophisticated and powerful stationary teleportation terminals are capable of long-distance teleportations. These are used for emergency evacuation teleports, normally of military reploid units. The stationary unit uses the real time satellite targeting system to locate the coordinates of the object or reploid to be teleported. The terminal generates a boomerang-type teleportation signal. The signal travels to the designated coordinates and then re-materializes as a teleportation field. This field then converts the contents of the coordinate location into a teleportation beam and sends itself and its contents back to the stationary terminal of origin. These emergency teleportation terminals are very expensive and are only issued to the military and government sanctioned organizations for medical and emergency evacuation use.

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Alia wandered leisurely between the tall trees that rose to either side. Bright afternoon sunlight streamed through the leaf filled branches high above, casting scattered dapples of light that shifted across the shaded ground and over Alia's body. A cool, early summer breeze sent the leaves rustling in counterpoint to her nearly silent footsteps as she strolled through the grass. Alia reached up to brush the loose strands of her hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear where the wind couldn't play with it.

Alia smiled to herself as she continued her walk through the small forest. It was a gorgeous day to be out here. She had no destination in mind, and no where to be for hours. The afternoon was hers.

Alia had left the path some time ago to wander through the less frequented forested and grassy areas. It always amazed her how tranquil and secluded much of the Maverick Hunter HQ Compound Gardens were, despite being located mere minutes from the constant bustle of the city.

The Hunter Gardens sprawled across the compound, between the building complexes, parking lots, and training fields. Various landscapes were designed throughout the compound, from small forests to a Zen rock garden, and even a rose garden in the center of a hedge maze. Aside from being designed to provide natural beauty regardless of the season, the gardens were a source of pride and relaxation for the Hunters. The gardens were open to all Hunter personnel and any guests cleared and permitted beyond the base gates. It was often a lot easier to have a picnic or get a soccer game together in the base gardens than at one of the city parks.

Every now and then, Alia felt the need to slip away from the crowds and indulge in the tranquility of the more secluded sections of the gardens. Today was one such time, especially considering that Zero had somehow managed to get temporary command of the latest new recruit unit for combat training. Usually, the smartest thing to do was to put some distance between oneself and that particular disaster-in-the-making.

The ground began gently sloping down as Alia came upon the end of the forested area. The forest edge curved in a half-moon arc in this location, following the upper curve of a grassy hillside that sloped down and away from the woods to a small brook. The far bank of the stream rose up into another grass-covered hill. This hill was shorter than the one Alia stood on, and she could see down onto the crown of the hill as she stepped out from between two trees.

As the light breeze teased Alia's hair out from behind her ear, she noticed that there was someone else already enjoying the solitude here. Lying stretched out on the side of the grassy hill across the stream was a slender male form. His right side profile was to Alia; however, from that angle, the grass obscured his features.

Alia hesitated and then turned to leave. She didn't want to disturb the other person, especially since it looked like he was taking a nap. However, before she did so, she paused and glanced back, a small frown furrowing her brow. The man was wearing blue jeans and a black t-shirt, but it was the dark blue and white sneakers that caught her attention.

She knew those sneakers. Not surprisingly, considering she had bought them for him as a joke. Yet, he insisted on wearing them, even though she knew he had been horribly embarrassed about the entire endorsement deal. Alia smiled to herself. Honestly, though, how could she have resisted the opportunity to get Rockman X a pair of X Sneakers. As far as Alia knew, no one else on base had a pair with that particular color combination.

Alia extended her sensor range out in front of her and had her suspicions confirmed as she easily picked up and identified X's unique energy signature. Alia grinned slightly. Looks like she wasn't the only one hiding from the combined terror of Zero and the entire horde of rookies.

With a small smile, Alia started down the hill. She leapt agilely over the small stream and climbed to the crest of the hill. When she looked down at X lying near the top of the slope, she realized that he was not napping as she had assumed. X was stretched languidly out on the grass, arms folded behind his head. His eyes were open, but half-lidded, as he gazed up into the sky. A small smile lingered lightly on his lips.

Alia followed his gaze, but there was nothing out of the ordinary to see. Fluffy white clouds drifted lazily across the blue expanse above. Alia couldn't even spot any birds above them.

A slightly stronger gust of wind sent the grass rippling in waves as the trees beyond the stream rustled in time with the ripples. Alia's blond hair was blown forward across her face as the wind caught X's black hair and tousled it even worse than it usually was. Alia stepped down from the crown of the hill to stand beside X's left shoulder. She crouched down and sat on the hillside beside him, stretching her legs out down slope as she tucked her hair back behind her ears.

Alia glanced over at X. He was still gazing skyward. She leaned back and braced herself with her arms behind her as she joined him in gazing at the heavens. After a short while of easy, companionable silence, Alia sat up slightly and ventured the question.

"So, what are we looking at?"

"Mmm. The clouds." X smiled.

"Really?" Alia leaned back and looked up at the white clouds that drifted slowly by high above.

"Mmm."

Alia laughed lightly. "You know, if I ever told anyone, who didn't know you, that Rockman X spent his afternoons watching the clouds sail by, I'd be laughed out of the district."

X chuckled. "Well, it's true. You caught me." X grinned. "I confess. I like to try to make out shapes in the clouds."

"Really?" Alia leaned back her head and looked up into the sky.

X turned his head to look at Alia sitting beside him and smiled. "Yeah."

"So, do you see anything that you like?" Alia asked, still looking up to the clouds above.

"Yeah…" X smiled secretly.

"… So… What do you see up there?" Alia turned to regard him in curiosity.

"Huh?" X snapped his gaze up to Alia's face. "Oh, uh… all kinds of things."

"Really? Like what?" Alia turned back to look up at the clouds. "Point some out to me."

"Oh, you know, different things… Everyone seems to see something different, anyway." X shrugged his shoulders lightly against the grassy ground.

"I know… But I want to know what you see." Alia turned and smiled down at him.

X smiled and raised an eyebrow. "Don't you want to find your own pictures?"

Alia laughed and shook her head. "You know I've never been all that great with this kind of thing."

"Sure you have. You've got a great imagination, Alia."

"No, I don't. I'm terrible with imagining things." Alia shook her head. "I'm always more confident when I've got definite facts to work with."

"Oh, don't be that way, Alia. Your imagination is wonderful. You just don't let yourself listen to it enough. Come on. Hmm? Just relax and lay back. Stretch your wings a bit. I'll bet you can fly." X grinned up at her.

Alia laughed as she scooted down and lay back against the grassy hill beside him. "Silly, I don't have wings, you know."

"It's a figure of speech. Silly." X grinned back.

"You'll see. I'm awful at this."

"No you aren't. It's easy. Just let out the first thing that comes to mind." X smiled and turned his face back to the sky. "So, what do you see?"

Alia turned her head to regard his profile. She smiled. "Something nice."

X chuckled. "It is. But try for something more specific." X turned his head to regard her and blinked to find her looking at him.

Alia flushed slightly and turned back to the sky. "Right. Um…" Alia pointed. "That one sort of looks like a marshmallow…"

"Aw, come on. You're not even trying." X laughed and unfolded his arms to nudge her side lightly with his elbow.

"All right. All right. But you have to tell me what you see up there too. Okay?"

"Deal. You go first though."

"Okay. Let's see…"

"Just let your thoughts wander. Pick whatever comes into your mind."

"Hmm… Oh! That one… No, never mind…"

"No, go on. What did you see?"

"Well… Um… It's silly, really. It doesn't look anything like him at all…"

"Oh come on, give."

"No. No. He'd kill me if he found out." Alia shook her head adamantly.

"Oh? Now you've got my curiosity up." X grinned and turned, propping himself onto his elbow to regard her. "Come on, spill. I'm sure it's not as bad as you think."

"Well… See that one over there? With the sort of streak and the round bulge on top."

"Yeah?" X turned slightly to regard the cloud.

"Um… I kind of… thought it looked something kind of like… Zero…" Alia shrugged sheepishly.

X rolled back over fully onto his back to get a better look. He twisted his head to the side and even squinted. "Has it changed much since you thought that?"

"No. Why?"

"I'm not sure I see Zero in that cloud… It doesn't really look all that much like him."

"See, I told you I stunk at this." Alia hmphed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Ah! No. I didn't mean it that way. It's just that I see something different."

"Oh? What do you see?"

"Er… It looks kind of like a duck…"

"A duck?"

"…With a sword…"

Alia burst out laughing and rolled over to face him, clutching her belly. "A duck with a sword!"

"What? You saw Zero. Your imagination is just as wild as mine. I don't see how it looks anything like him." X countered.

"Well… Um… I didn't want to say it earlier… I thought it was too silly… But after that duck…" Alia grinned and shook her head slightly.

"Oh? What do you mean?"

"Well… It only really looks like Zero… if he was bald."

X blinked and turned to regard the cloud. Then he blinked again. X suddenly burst out laughing. "Oh my god! You're right! It does look like Zero!" They both dissolved into laughter at that.

"Oh! Oh. He'd kill us if he knew." Alia snickered, clutching her belly as her laughter died down to giggles.

"Then let's not tell him." X grinned.

Alia laughed. "Deal, but I think I'm going to record the image in my long term memory. Just in case, you know." She winked at X.

X tossed back his head and laughed. "See. I told you, you have a great imagination." X grinned as he wiped tears of mirth from the corners of his eyes.

Alia chuckled as they settled back onto the grassy hillside, their shoulders just touching. She tilted her head slightly toward X's shoulder and smiled. "This is fun. I like it."

"I know." X smiled as he tipped his head to catch her eye with his. "We should do this more often."

"Mmm." Alia smiled and shifted slightly closer, her rose-pink, blouse sleeve brushing lightly against his arm.

"Alia…"

"Hmm?"

Anything else that might have been said or done was a moot point, considering it was just about then that the base-wide alarm klaxon shattered the tranquility of the afternoon.

Alia sat bolt upright in shock, just as a flock of sparrows was startled into the air from the forest to their right. X scrambled to a defensive crouch, all his scanners activating and stretching to the limits of his sensor range as he went into full battle alert, a grim look on his face.

Alia turned to him, her eyes wide in shock as she recognized the alarm frequency and pattern. "X, that's th-the…"

"Invasion alert. I know."

"B-but that's impossible! The shields, the security systems, the perimeter surveillance and defenses, a maverick attack force couldn't possibly get into the base to warrant this alarm sequence unless it was an entire army! And we'd have had plenty of advance warning if there was a maverick army on the move!"

X nodded grimly. "Agreed. But someone set off the alarm for a reason."

"You don't suppose it's a drill?" Alia started to get to her feet to take a better look around.

X reached out and caught her hand, pulling her back down beside him. "Stay low. We can't take that chance. Even if it's just a surprise drill, let's give a good showing, shall we?" He smiled reassuringly at her.

Alia nodded hesitantly back, and then took a steadying breath before nodding firmly. "You're right." She activated her personal teleportation unit and summoned her armor in a crackle of energies. "Let's."

X nodded and was clad in his own standard blue X-armor a second later. "I'm not picking anything up in our immediate vicinity. Can you patch into the central base computers?"

Alia nodded as she activated the computer data-link headset she wore in place of a helmet. In seconds she had established a link with the main computer system and began pinpointing the current base alert.

While she worked to isolate the location the alarm was triggered from, as well as any security information on the nature and number of the intruders, X activated his comm. system and opened a direct channel to Signas.

"Signas, this is X. What's going on?"

"Wish I knew, X. I just arrived at the Command Center a moment ago, but from the Intel I've received, no one seems to know anything beyond the alarm going off. The data techs are working on locating where the alarm was triggered. The techs are still running analysis on the compound perimeter shielding. However, diagnostics indicate that the main complex shields are still fully functional. If the hostiles managed to bypass the perimeter shields and teleport onto the base, they didn't jump straight into the main complex. We've got four combat-ready units stationed on base at the moment, not including the 17th. The rest are out on assignment or off-duty. The 14th is already moving to secure the sub levels of the main complex. The 7th just got into the air and are securing the perimeter, as well as searching for the hostiles. The 1st is securing the secondary buildings and assisting security at the base gates. I just finished dispatching the 9th to search and secure the grounds. The 23rd and the 15th have been recalled, but I want the 17th to secure the above ground main complex. Anyone trying to get in or out of the building will have to go through your people. Stay in touch. I'll inform you once we know more."

"Roger. I'm on it."

X signed off Signas' communications channel and turned to Alia. Her eyes were narrowed in concentration, but slightly unfocused, as she searched the main computer system for any information regarding the invasion forces. X's scanners still showed no sign of danger in their vicinity. He switched comm. frequencies and established contact with his unit.

"17th, this is X, all squads report."

"Mara here, squads 1 through 5, present and accounted for. We're in the main complex, Training Room 18."

"Echo here, squad 8 present and accounted for. We're in the main Mech garage."

"Radian here, squad 6 present and accounted for. We're in the main complex in Data Tech."

"This is Meridian. 7th here. We're on patrol over South Sector, grid R26. What's going on?"

"Amber here, squad 10 present and accounted for, except for Hassen and Drey. They left an hour ago to visit the commissary. The rest of us are in our rec room."

"Todd. The 9th's on leave this weekend. I think Dillan, Trekker, and Ikaterina are still on base though. What's up? Wait a second. Is that…? No way! Is that the Invasion alarm? What the hell is going on back there?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out. It just went off a moment ago. Amber, locate Hassen and Drey and rendezvous with Radian. Radian, secure Data Tech. If this is some sort of theft, we need to make sure they don't get what they came for. Echo, assist Douglas in securing the garage complex until the 1st arrives to relieve you and then meet up with Mara. Meridian, teleport back, but just outside the perimeter shielding range. If it's been tampered with… I don't want anyone teleporting through it till we know for sure. I want you to do a fly-over then secure the main complex roof. Report back. Snake, take squad 4 and assist security in guarding the Command Center. Report on the situation when you get there. Mara, take the others and secure the central complex main entrances. Todd, contact your people. Have any still on base rendezvous with Snake. Anyone off-base that you can get a hold of; find out what the situation is off base. If this is some sort of diversion, we need to know what for."

"Roger."

"Okay."

"Got it."

"On our way."

"Yes sir."

"Be careful, everyone." X signed off of the 17th's channel and glanced over to meet Alia's eyes. "Find anything?"

Alia shook her head. "No. No sign of the hostiles. I'm also having trouble pinpointing the origin of the alarm. The records indicate the alert was triggered from inside the main complex, but there's no indication of any intruders inside the building. If the invading force were already inside the main building, more than just one person would have encountered them and triggered the alert."

X frowned. "Unless the force is strong enough to take out any witnesses before they can activate the signal."

"If that were so, surely people inside the building would have heard the weapons fire by now?"

X scowled. "Good point. This makes no sense. We need to know exactly where in the building the origin point is."

Alia nodded. "The system is still working on isolating the signal point. It's been narrowed down to inside the main complex. However, if a hacker is involved with the invasion, the tracing system could have been tampered with to buy time."

"Agreed. Either way, we can't afford to assume the invading hostiles are still at the origin point. I've contacted Signas and the 17th. They're having similar difficulties locating the hostiles from the Command Center. The 17th has been ordered to secure the aboveground main complex."

"Then you need to join them. I'm not much good when it comes to combat, anyway. I'll keep in touch with you from here and update you on the situation as soon as I learn anything from the base systems."

"But-" X started when Alia cut him off.

"I should be safe enough out here, so long as I keep my head down." Alia smiled slightly. "Go. I'll be fine. There's nothing in this area that would bring attention to it."

"You're here." X replied softly. "I wouldn't call that 'nothing.'"

Alia blinked in surprise and felt her cheeks heat up slightly.

"You're the Senior Technical Spotter and Head of Communications Dispatch for the Hunters. Despite the fact that you weren't designed with combat in mind, you're also a Hunter, Alia. That's all the reason most mavericks need."

"R-right." Alia forced her mind back onto the situation at hand. "But, if I came with you, I'd probably only get in the way. I've had combat training, yes, but I'm nowhere near the skill level of even the newest member of your unit. If we encountered the enemy, you'd probably spend half your efforts trying to make sure I was safe, instead of neutralizing the invaders. I don't want to be a distraction that gets you hurt." Alia shook her head.

"I'm not leaving you on your own out here, Alia." X replied. "The 9th is searching the grounds, but until they reached this position, you'd be on your own. I'll be far more reassured if I knew you were somewhere safe, than if I'd left you here."

"But-"

"I'm not going to leave you alone, Alia." X replied firmly, reaching out and resting his hand on her shoulder. "Listen. The closest building complex is the Mech garage. Echo and squad 8 are already there with Douglas and his security force. The 1st Unit should have a squad or two arriving there shortly, to take over defense. We'll go there and rendezvous with squad 8. The garage is fortified and blast shielded, easily defensible. You'll be a lot safer there than you would be here. You'll also have direct terminal access to the mainframe from there. Once the 1st arrives, I'll take squad 8 and head to the main complex to join the rest of the 17th in securing the building. Okay?"

Alia nodded. "All right." She smiled slightly. "Sounds like a plan."

"Right." X nodded. "Stay close." X uncurled from his defensive crouch as he activated his X-buster. Alia nodded and activated her own weapons system as she moved to guard his back. Her red and pink armor gauntlet split apart and shifted forward to reform into her own Alia Buster cannon.

While her armor was certainly effective and had passed all Hunter regulations, it was lightweight and had not been designed with active combat in mind. This had not deterred her from upgrading her buster gauntlets. While she was unable to achieve the same plasma energy levels that X could sustain with his X-buster, her buster cannon was certainly nothing to sneeze at.

X took point as Alia followed closely, their busters set to charge as their sensor systems scoured the surroundings for any indication of the enemy.

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A space of a few minutes later found the two crouched at the base of a tree, behind a low wall covered in hanging flower vines. Ahead of them stretched the gently rising grass slope that rose to the front entrance of the Mech garage.

An area of open space surrounded the garage itself. The lawn slopes fronted two sides where pathways led to the doors, and a tarmac lot extended from the opposite two sides. The tarmac lot stretched from the deployment doors, which allowed the various vehicles entry and exit, to the vehicle driveway that intersected the network of base roads. The base roadway network eventually linked up with the visitor and main parking areas before arriving at the gates.

The stretch of open ground between X and Alia and their goal lacked any potential cover for defensive purposes. They had paused here in order to assess the situation at the garage before attempting entry. Neither of them was picking up any sign of hostiles in the area, and there was no sign of disturbance in the garage complex, aside from the rhythmic pulse of the alarm sequence.

X was crouched on one knee, facing the garage, while Alia crouched behind him, watching the trees and brush around them. X activated his communications system and opened a link on squad 8's channel. "Echo, do you read?"

"I'm here, sir."

"What's your status?"

"Still in the Mech garage. No one from the 1st has arrived yet. We've taken up position at the entrances, reinforcing the security team. No hostiles detected."

"Alia and I are on the west side of the building. We're coming to join you. I'd greatly appreciate not getting any extra holes, so let whoever's in charge of the west door know not to shoot the short guy in blue or the lady in pink."

"Won't be a problem, sir. I've got the west. Come on in, the door's open." Echo chuckled.

"On our way." X signed off and turned to Alia. "We've got our invite. Let's go."

Alia nodded and followed X up and over the three-foot wall and across the lawn to the pathway that led to the door. As they approached the door, it opened, four armed and armored members of squad 8 stepping quickly out and taking up positions to either side to provide cover-fire, if necessary. X dropped back to take rear-guard behind Alia, and the four other Hunters fell in around them as they backed through the doorway into the building.

As soon as they were safely inside, the door was shut and secured once more as their escort resumed their defensive positions along the hallway. Echo slipped out of the opening at the end of the short hall that widened out into the mechanic personnel offices that took up this corner of the complex. The head of the security team assigned to the garage complex accompanied her. Both were decked in full battle gear, though their weapons were not drawn.

Echo in full combat gear was a study in contrast. For such a slender, delicate-seeming female, with her slight build, silver hair, and pale blue eyes, she could tote weapons of mass destruction with an ease that surprised most. Mounted on the shoulder of her silver armor was a very large, triple-revolving barrel, plasma cannon. Currently, it was swiveled back and down to rest across her back, barrels pointed safely upward. Despite her small stature, she could easily keep up with even the biggest member of her squad when it came to mass destruction with heavy artillery.

The reploid accompanying her was a male dog-type, styled to resemble a Doberman. He towered over Echo as he paced alongside her down the hall toward them. The insignia of the HQ security force and the bars of a squad leader were emblazoned on his shoulder armor epaulette. X led Alia down the hallway to meet them.

As soon as they came into easy speaking range, Echo saluted even as her gaze tracked over the both of them, searching for any signs of injury or combat. "Sir."

X nodded briskly back and released her from formality as she and the security team leader fell into step alongside him and Alia. "What's the status here?"

"Not much to say, sir." The security officer spoke up. "We've secured the building and Douglas has locked down the conveyer lifts to secure the mechs in the lower level berths. Most of the mechanics and engineers have been evacuated to the lower level crisis shelter rooms. The only ones who remained aboveground are the handful piloting Ride armors in the main garage bay, and Douglas. There's no sign of any hostiles anywhere in the garage complex or the surrounding area."

"Have you heard anything from the Command Center, Doburick?" Alia queried from X's other side.

"No ma'am. Nothing beyond the initial alert." He shook his head and laid his ears flat against his skull, "To think… Mavericks on base…" He growled, lips pulling back from his sharp teeth reflexively, "The nerve…"

X nodded briskly. "Agreed. But there's no sense in snapping at shadows. Stay on alert, but make sure no one gets trigger-happy. The 1st is sending people here, and the 9th is going to be searching the grounds. We don't want any friendly-fire incidents."

Doburick's ears flicked forward and then down in sheepishness. "Of course not, sir. I didn't mean…"

X smiled reassuringly, "I know. You and your team are doing well. Just don't get carried away, and keep your heads. We want the invaders alive, if at all possible. If there's a breach in our defenses, we need to know where and what. Scrap metal can't tell us that."

"Yes sir." Doburick's ears perked up.

"Be sure all your people know."

Doburick nodded and saluted before turning down a cross hallway to deliver the caution.

X nodded before turning to Echo. "Do you know where Douglas is?"

"Of course. I'll take you to him. He's in his office." Echo nodded and picked up the pace slightly, leading the way.

Within moments they had passed beyond the bureaucratic front offices and halls and entered into areas the actual mechanical engineers frequented. The atmosphere and décor was far less formal and more casual in this area. It was also geared more toward the techno-geek. Obscure technical posters, and notes filled with inside jokes and running gags, understandable only to those also in-the-know, dotted the walls and covered the occasional bulletin board. The hall shortly opened out into a workspace that was lined on either side with offices for the more senior mechanics and engineers. The far end of the wide room opened out through enormous open bay doors into the main garage hall.

Tables, counters, and assorted spaces scattered around the workshop were devoted to an assortment of mainly unrecognizable constructs of mechanical and technical gizmos and devices in various stages of repair (and disrepair). What might, or might not, have been an entire, though disassembled, ride chaser was suspended from the ceiling by a mechanical scaffolding harness.

In the main garage hall, X could just see three of the six locked down elevator lift conveyors that led down into the lower garage berth levels where the assorted vehicles, chasers, and Ride Armors were parked when not in use. The massive exit bay doors were shut and secured. Three manned Ride Armors were positioned facing each of the massive doors as a line of heavy defense in case hostiles made it into the building. Several small teams of Hunters were stationed at strategic defensive points around the massive chamber. While X could only see the teams positioned at ground level, he knew there were others higher up, positioned in upper-level rooms that overlooked the garage and in the scaffolding close to the high ceiling.

Echo led them across the workshop to the office that fronted the main garage bay on the left side of the room. Windows in the room would have looked out into the workshop, if it weren't for the back of a large sheet of blueprints that blocked out the entire window from inside the office. The door beside the covered window was open, showing a glimpse into a haphazardly cluttered room.

As they reached the door, Echo rapped on the frame. "Hey in there."

"Oh, Echo! Come on in." Douglas glanced up from the blueprints he had splayed across his desktop. "I was just about to…" Douglas cut himself off as he spotted the other two. "X! Alia! What in the world are you two doing here? I was sure you'd be in the main building by now." Douglas set down the sheaf of papers he was holding and came around the desk.

"Well, you know X." Alia smiled as she and X followed Echo into the office. "Always has to make sure everyone else is okay first."

"Heh. Should have guessed. Well, come in, the both of you. Sorry about the mess." Douglas moved to clear a stack of diagrams and circuit boards from the least cluttered of the chairs. He paused mid-gather and glanced at the doorway. "Isn't Doburick with you?"

"No. He went to continue the rounds to each checkpoint, and make sure everyone knows to take prisoners, if possible." Echo replied as she leaned up against the desk.

"Leave that there, Douglas. No need to move all this stuff. I'm sure you've got enough trouble trying to find anything in here. You don't need everything shifted around. I'm sure we won't be long." Alia waved Douglas back from the cluttered chairs.

"I'm sure Douglas knows where everything is," Echo grinned, "You know the best tech engineers always have their own personalized 'filing' system."

Douglas chuckled, "If you say so. Though I really should make more of an effort to keep at least a few chairs free. Especially if this becomes routine. I've had more visitors in here today since the alarm started than I usually have in an entire day." Douglas shook his head.

"What were you saying as we came in?" Echo asked as Douglas returned to his original position behind the desk.

"Oh, right. I was just about to contact you and Doburick. I know you said we wouldn't need any more Ride armors on defense, but what about mechs? Sprocket's overhauled a number of mech guard hounds that we've got on sublevel six. Upgraded the armor and added laser weapons. They're small enough to take into any of the rooms, and are highly maneuverable, while still being able to handle a good deal of punishment and give as good as they get. I'm pretty sure he's managed to finish the upgrades for at least a dozen of them. They won't need handlers and can really bolster the defenses. They were going to be turned over to the base security force once Sprocket finished, anyway. What do you say we give them a test run?"

"Sounds good." Echo nodded, "We're going to be spread pretty thin until the 1st arrives to reinforce the garage. Doburick and his security team are doing well as is, especially considering he was just recently promoted to team leader, but they can still use the help."

Douglas nodded. "Good. I'll have Sprocket and Jazzeira bring up whatever they have operational and turn them over to Doburick." Douglas shifted the stack of project report papers to the side to get a better look at the garage floor plan blueprints spread out across his desk. "The mech hounds will probably work best in the smaller rooms and hallways. Any enemies will be hard pressed to put distance between them and the dogs to take them out from a distance."

X nodded. "The security team uses mainly distance weapons. The mech hounds will make good close combat shock troops to buy the security team time to pick them off, or to avoid being cornered in close quarters."

"Precisely." Douglas grinned. "That's why security wanted them. I'm just sorry we didn't have them finished before this happened."

"I'm sure the teams in other buildings would have welcomed them." Alia smiled, "But for now, we need to concentrate on the situation at hand. Have you received any news from the Command Center, Douglas?"

Douglas shook his head. "I haven't heard back from the Command Center beyond the initial alert. Though I've been too busy trying to herd engineers and techs into the safe rooms on the sublevels, while making sure no one was missing, to check the main system. Have you heard anything on the location?"

"Nothing conclusive yet." Alia shook her head. "The system was still tracing the signal origin, last I checked. But it's been tentatively narrowed down to somewhere in the main complex."

X nodded. "The 1st unit should have some people here to reinforce you soon. When they get here, I'll need to take the 8th squad to the main complex and rendezvous with the majority of the 17th."

"Of course, especially if the alarm was set off inside the building." Douglas nodded. "Are you going to head to the Command Center, Alia?"

Alia shook her head. "No. I don't want the 17th to feel they need to baby-sit me. I'll be staying here, at least until the hostiles have been located."

"I could use the help coordinating all of this, and keeping track of the situation through the main computer system." Douglas nodded. "Do you need access to my terminal?" Douglas gestured to his computer terminal set to the side of his crescent curved desk.

Alia nodded. "Thanks. That'll be a great help." She maneuvered around the desk, slipping between two stacks of boxes filled with tools and circuitry, and slid into the offered chair. A moment later and she was immersed in the security system.

"Is there any new information?" X asked as he leaned slightly on the desk to get a better look at the screen.

"Nothing yet. Wait… All the units on base have been accounted for, except for the new recruit squads."

"The new recruits? Isn't Zero in charge of them today?" X blinked.

"Yeah. That's odd though. Why wouldn't Zero have reported in?" Alia frowned.

"I don't know." X's brow furrowed in concern.

Douglas frowned slightly. "The rookies? I thought they had been released from training early today. I saw a bunch of them running around the main garage earlier. Looked like they were goofing off with teleport hopping. Although… That's pretty advanced stuff. You don't suppose Zero was teaching them that? Do you?"

"I don't think so… He had them for combat training…" Alia frowned slightly.

The brief silence was broken by the soft click of a connecting communicator. "Zero, come in. This is X. Where are you?"

The silence of an empty communications channel filled the room.

"Zero, come in. Answer me. Where are you?" X's voice was laced with increasing worry.

"Try his personal frequency." Alia suggested.

X scowled. "This is his channel. The 0th is off duty today."

Alia bit her lower lip slightly then turned quickly back to the computer terminal. In seconds she had patched a secure link through to the Command Center. A small vid-link window opened up on the screen showing the upper body of her fellow navigator.

"Layer, do you read me?"

The slightly distracted looking woman turned in surprise to look down at her own screen through her purple bangs. "Alia? I hear you. What do you need?"

"Layer, do you know where Zero is?"

"Zero?" Layer ducked her head slightly, hiding her features behind her hair. "I-er… don't keep track of him."

"Layer, this is important. He's not responding to his communicator frequency. Do you know where he is, or his last known position?"

Layer looked up in surprise; worry clear in her eyes as her bangs parted for an instant. "He's not? He was training the new recruits today… H-hang on." She turned slightly from the vid-link window and began rapidly working on her keyboard. After a moment she paused and turned back. "He should still be on base, the system indicates he hasn't checked out at any of the gates. I-I don't know why he wouldn't respond to his channel, but have you tried the rookie unit frequency?"

"No. What is it?"

"I'll send it. Just a second." Layer turned back to her keyboard. A second later, Alia received the frequency in another data window.

"Got it." X spoke up from just behind Alia, making her jump slightly in surprise. She hadn't heard him come around the desk. X switched his communicator to the new frequency and opened a channel. "Zero, come in. Do you read me?"

There was another moment of dead air. "Try again." Alia spoke up softly.

X nodded. "Anyone on this channel, do you read me? Someone respond."

For an instant, there was silence. Then the quiet was broken by a crackle of static noise that abruptly resolved into a male voice. "Ah… This is recruit Orisin. I read you." There was a pause and X opened his mouth to reply but was cut off. "Ack! No, no! Get down!" A muffled whoomp sound filled the channel. X and Echo exchanged alarmed glances before Orisin's voice sounded again. "Er… This isn't such a good time. Maybe you could call back- Get down damnit!- um… later?" Another muffled explosion sounded in the background, followed quickly by the sound of rapid-fire projectile weapons.

"Orisin? Orisin! Come in? Are you all right?" X called urgently.

"Oh gah… Er… Yeah, I mean… yeah. They really need to work on their aim." The sounds of combat and others, shouting in the background, carried across the channel. "Er… Really not a good time to talk, though. Kind of busy. Could you maybe call back later?"

"Call back later?" Douglas blinked in shock.

"Orisin? Where are you? What's your situation? Respond!"

"Uh… Main complex… I think… maybe… I don't know… I lost track…"

Just then another, familiar, voice came faintly across the channel in the background. "Damnit! Pay attention! Will you listen to me already! Don't make me come over there! I'll kick your-"

Zero's shouting was cut off abruptly by Orisin's voice. "Look out!"

Another muffled boom and screaming sounded across the link, closely followed by a yelp that might have belonged to Orisin. Then another panicked voice wailed in the background just before the channel went dead again. "Oh my god! He's been hit! They hit him! Oh god! Zero's down! Zero's down!"

The color drained from X's face. Alia clapped her hand over her mouth to stifle a gasp as the others went pale. Layer, in the vid-link window, slumped in her seat, looking as though she'd just been struck.

"Orisin! Orisin!" Static was the only answer.

X turned stricken, desperate eyes to Alia. He didn't have to say a word. She spun around abruptly in her seat and her hands flew over the keyboard. An instant later and she answered him. "Transmission pinpointed inside the main complex. Floor 16, north stairwell. Diagnostics report an all clear on the perimeter and main complex teleport shields. Go."

X activated his teleport system and established a link with the satellite. Even as he used targeting satellites to cross-reference his mental HQ map database and pinpoint the location of the signal, Echo patched through to Mara.

"Mara, this is Echo. Zero has engaged the hostile force with the rookie unit on floor 16. Get some people up there on the double. X is on his way, and we have reason to believe Zero is down. I repeat, Zero has been reported down. X is on his way to reinforce their position. Send someone to floor 16, north hallway, as soon as possible."

"I read you, Echo. Vixen is already on her way with squad 3 and security team 12."

X filed that information away in the back of his mind, the rest of his thoughts focused on isolating a safe location to teleport into. In seconds he had isolated the hallway and had activated infrared satellite targeting to pinpoint the locations of the combatants. It was impossible to tell who was who, but there were two main clusters of heat signatures in the hallway. One group about halfway down the hall, and the second clustered in the stairwell. X picked an entry point farther down the hall and fed the coordinates to his teleport system. It was possible that some of the combatants could be using cloaking or heat refraction technology to mask their presence. So, to be safe, X added six feet of height onto the z-axis coordinates.

X shifted his hand into his X-buster and began charging, even as he activated his teleportation system. As the crackle of energies arced across his body he saw Alia turn to face him. The last thing he heard before his world dissolved in light was, "Be careful."

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X rematerialized six feet above the ground, crouched to be certain to clear the ceiling and in preparation for the drop to the floor. Even as he uncurled and began falling to the floor, X extended his sensors in all directions, searching for the hostile force.

X took stock of the tactical situation in seconds.

The right side of the hallway was almost entirely windows that looked out onto the HQ grounds. The left wall was dotted with doorways that X knew opened into conference and supply storage rooms. This section of the building was usually fairly deserted because the office personnel that worked up here rarely used the rooms in this hallway unless they needed to send someone for office supplies.

X's proximity sensors indicated that there was no one in the hallway behind him. The only people he was detecting in this hallway were in the passage in front of him and the stairwell at the end of the hall.

A short distance down the hall ahead of him was a small group of slightly panicked rookies. They had taken cover between a planter stand and a padded bench on the left side of the hallway. The four rookies were wearing full battle gear and had weapons primed and at the ready. Beyond them, at the end of the hallway, was the doorway to the north stairwell. X could just make out the forms of several other rookies he recognized from a lecture he'd given earlier that month. The other group of rookies was using the stairwell and open doorway for cover. There was no sign of Zero, but the floor around the doorway and the doorjamb was spattered with thick red liquid.

X felt his throat constrict in fear at the sight of the fresh fluid staining the walls and floor. However, he could detect no presence of a hostile force. As he landed on the floor, his boots hit with a metallic thump. At the sound, the rookie closest to him spun around, nearly dropping her weapon in surprise, closely mimicked by her three companions. The tall, mouse-type rookie closest to him flicked her ears back in horrified dismay as her eyes widened in panic. The deer-type reploid and the short, human-type reploid behind her, fumbled for their weapons even as she reached for hers.

X decided to take an old rule to heart. 'When you can't see the enemy, follow your comrades' lead.'

Since there was no enemy between them, X realized there must have been a cloaked or hidden invader behind him. He spun around, buster cannon leading, to face the threat.

Except, the hallway behind him was empty.

Just as X was trying to figure out what was going on, he heard the unmistakable sound of weapons fire behind him. This was closely accompanied by his proximity sensors screaming in warning. X had just been shot at.

X spun back around, dropping into a crouch to try to duck beneath the firing path. However, this action was too little, too late.

The range of fire was impressive. The spread of projectile bullets filled the hallway, starting from two feet above the floor and extending six feet up and three to either side.

X's eyes went wide as he threw himself back to try to bend backwards under the firing range, but had barely begun his evasive movement when the first bullets impacted against him.

The bullets slammed into X's upper armored torso and several took him full in the face, exploding on impact. X's body was thrown back as a spray of red splattered the wall beside him. The charged X-buster shot was fired in blind reflex as his body fell to the floor. The massive ball of crackling blue-white plasma surged down the hallway at an angle before slamming into the outer wall, vaporizing a huge circular section of the windows and wall as neighboring windows all along the hallway shattered and blew out.

The four rookies screamed in panic. The group in the stairwell echoed the screams, as they dove for cover. The mouse-type reploid girl held a massive modified machine-gun in shaking hands, her face white in horrified shock. The deer-type beside her dropped his modified grenade launcher to the ground and collapsed, covering his head with his arms as his antlers visibly quivered in fear. The female otter-type shrieked and grabbed the short human-type reploid in a crushing hug, wailing that she didn't want to die.

The lift doors at the far end of the hallway opened, spilling armed and battle-ready Hunters into the hall. Vixen, squad 3, and security team 12 had just arrived at this chaotic scene.

The first things that registered to Vixen, and most of the 17th squad members, were the massive hole in the building, and the red stained, limp body of their commanding officer.

"No…" Vixen whispered in shock as she realized who the red soaked form was. "X!" she shouted as she moved forward, high-powered, laser assault rifle at the ready. But there were no hostiles in sight, just hysterical rookies.

From the far end of the hallway, where another group of panicked rookies were taking cover in the stairwell, Zero staggered out into the hallway. He was limping slightly, and his armor was liberally spattered with dripping red and looked slightly battered. He blinked and looked around before his eyes landed on the motionless blue-armored figure, "X?"

The mouse-type rookie squeaked in horror as her enormous machine-gun dropped to the floor with a resounding clatter. "X?" she gasped, staring at the prone figure. Her wide eyes darted from his body, to the hole in the wall, to her commanding officer as he limped down the hallway toward her. By the time Zero reached the group of cowering rookies in the hallway, she was all but hyperventilating.

"Congratulations, Chi Chi, you managed to accomplish something the mavericks have been trying to do for decades. You just fragged Rockman X." Zero spoke levelly as he dropped his hand to the mouse-type reploid's shoulder.

Chi Chi squeaked as her face blanched, right before her eyes rolled up in her head and she collapsed in a dead faint as her emotional processors shut down to avoid overloading.

Zero ignored her and walked past to where X lay, stepping carefully to avoid slipping in the slowly spreading puddle of red fluid. Zero came to a stop and leaned over him. "You okay there, X?"

"Zero? …Funny. Considering all the hype, I always thought the afterlife would be nicer. It looks a lot like HQ, actually. Except… I'm sticky. Why am I sticky, Zero?" X's face, most of the front and top of his helmet, and almost his entire torso were coated in slightly sticky red paint.

"Funny you should mention that." Zero chuckled and rubbed the back of his helmet. "You kind of teleported right into the tail end of my training session. You, maybe, wanna sit up and show the 17th that Chi Chi didn't kill you?"

X slowly sat up, paint dripping slowly off his armor and trickling down his face to drip from his chin. "Your training session?"

"Well, I'm actually trying to wrap things up. But, you know how it is, once they get going…" Zero smiled sheepishly and shrugged.

"Did it perhaps occur to you that continuing a training session, with untrained rookies, during an invasion alert, was maybe not the best idea?" X scowled up at Zero from where he sat.

"Um… About that… Heh… Whoops?"

"Whoops… Whoops? Zero… Explain 'whoops' to me." X growled as he fixed Zero with a penetrating glare.

"Eheh…" Zero shifted his weight slightly and smiled nervously. "Well… It's kind of funny actually, if you think about it… You see… Apparently, someone in personnel didn't get the memo."

X blinked. "Memo? What memo?"

"The one about the training session, of course." Zero nodded. "Which is odd, because I know I forwarded one to everybody." He rubbed his chin and frowned slightly. "So anyway, where was I? Oh yeah… So, um… the guy in personnel… he kind of heard the rookies fighting and uh… yeah… 'Whoops.'" Zero shrugged and smiled disarmingly.

X slowly stood up. "…So… let me get this straight… There are no maverick hostiles invading the base…?"

"Um… yeah." Zero smiled tentatively.

"Zero…" X growled. "Do you have any idea…? Are you trying to see if reploids can have heart attacks!?" he cried as he grabbed Zero by the shoulder epaulettes and shook him. "When I heard you were down… Dammit! I was afraid you were dead! Again!" X hissed softly as he pulled Zero down closer to him.

"Now, X. Calm down. I'm fine. See?" Zero soothed as he pried his friend's sticky red fingers from his own spattered armor.

"Calm down!" X cried. "You just shaved about a century off my lifespan!"

"X? Sir? Are you all right?" Vixen hesitantly interrupted before Zero could say something to escalate the situation.

X sighed and wiped futilely at his face, "Yes, more or less." He shot a glare at Zero, "This had better wash out."

"Don't worry. Of course it washes out. I'd have never gotten approval for the paint-weapons combat session if I'd used oil-based or micro-fiber bond paints." Zero replied matter-of-factly.

"Wait… You got approval for this?" X stared at him in dumbfounded surprise.

"Of course! I sent out memos and everything, didn't you read it?"

"Memos?" Vixen blinked. "You sent out memos?"

"What are you looking at me like that for? I'm not completely inept at bureaucracy, you know." Zero scowled at the both of them.

X sighed and shook his head. "You're certain the alarm was triggered because of your training session?"

"Yeah, I ran into the twitchy secretary who hit the alarm when he tried to run for reinforcements. Unfortunately, I couldn't shut it down once it started, and I was kind of busy trying to get all the rookies to stop the exercise."

X sighed then opened a communications channel to Signas. "Signas, this is X. Come in."

"X, I read you. What is going on up there? We just picked up a massive plasma discharge with your power signature on it. Have you located the disturbance?"

X glared at Zero, "You could say that, sir. Zero has informed me that the alarm was triggered due to mistaken identity and jumping to conclusions."

"A false alarm? You've got to be kidding me."

"No sir. Apparently, someone in personnel didn't get Zero's memo."

"Memo? What memo?"

Zero scowled. "Why does everyone keep saying that? I sent it to everyone in the HQ personnel database."

"Zero, everyone knows you and paperwork don't get along very well." X replied, "It's not like it's a secret."

The sound of another transmission patching into the channel carried clearly into the hallway. "This is Alia. Is everyone all right? Surveillance shows a hole in the outer wall of the building." Her voice was laced with worry.

"There's a hole in the building!" Signas' shock carried clearly across the channel. "X, what happened?" he demanded.

X scowled as he glanced over at the hole where the afternoon breeze filtered into the paint-spattered hallway. "I teleported in ready for a firefight. A full-charge shot was released when one of Zero's rookies, participating in his combat training exercise, shot me with a rapid-fire paintball machine gun."

"Paintball machine gun…?" Alia's voice trailed off in confusion.

Signas' voice cut in abruptly. He sounded rather ticked off. "What the hell were you doing, Zero! How in Light's name did you manage to be responsible for this fiasco?"

"Hey! No! This is not my fault! I am not paying for that!" Zero gestured angrily at the ruined hallway behind him. "I followed all the rules and regulations for this! Hell, I even read them! I had this planned out weeks in advance. I filed all the forms, sent out the memo, posted notice, even got permissions to use modified ammunition! I filed in triplicate, Signas! It is not my fault some guy in personnel didn't bother to read the memo!"

"Memo? What memo?" Alia's confused question broke into Zero's emphatic rant.

"Gah! Didn't anyone read the memo!?" Zero threw up his hands in exasperation.

"Apparently not." Signas replied dryly. "Just what was in this memo?"

"My training exercise plan. Essentially, a notification that I'd be leading the rookie unit in a base-wide, team combat exercise today, involving modified paintball ammunition and liberal use of short-range teleportation practice."

"And you didn't feel the need to inform me of this?" Signas ground out.

"I sent you a memo, same as everyone else. The regulations for submitting a new training plan for approval didn't say a thing about informing the High Commander for direct approval, just lots and lots of paperwork, filling out redundant forms, and getting approval from department heads. I checked. Three times. If all I had to do was go to you, I would have done that instead. Save me a damn lot of time instead of tacking up all those fliers." Zero grumped and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Fliers?" Vixen blinked as her furred ears flicked forward in interest.

"Yeah, didn't you see them? The 0th and I went around and put up a ton of them all over base."

"No. Just what kind of fliers were these?" X asked as he glanced over at Zero.

"Well… Here, I've got one, hang on a sec." Zero pressed the release on a storage compartment in his left boot and rummaged around in the small compartment for a moment before pulling out a much-abused sheet of dark yellow paper. He handed it to X, who took it. It was already smudged with red paint and a few of the patternless fingerprints left by most reploids, X's paint covered hands couldn't do much worse to it.

X unfolded the paper and frowned as he read the short notification splayed in large letters across the page. "Are you serious? This is what you put up to notify people?" X demanded with a scowl.

"That's just the casual notice, to remind people and catch their attention. The detailed explanation I sent in the memo was too long to fit on a single sheet of paper." Zero frowned, "Haven't you seen them posted around base? I had the 0th put one up on every bulletin and message board."

"Yes, I have. But I thought it was some weird joke! You didn't expect people to take this seriously, did you?"

"What's it say?" Vixen leaned in to try to get a better look.

X sighed, "It says, 'On Sunday, the 21st, Beware of Wet Paint and Falling Rookies'"

"Wait, you mean that's not some rookie hazing plot?" Vixen blinked in surprise.

"Did you even get this flier approved for public posting, Zero?" X asked.

"Of course! I submitted it with the memo and other paperwork for the training session alterations. It was all approved by the necessary department heads according to regulations." Zero nodded assuredly.

"Wait, you got this training change approved by department heads?" X asked in surprise.

"Yeah. I had to get approval from four different heads, and six supervisors just to get the changes to the training program approved. Isn't bureaucracy a pain in the chassis? You'd think they'd have something better to do to spend Hunter funding on."

Signas sighed, "I'm going to have to get the regulations modified… and have a few talks with those supervisors and department heads… Was anyone hurt up there?"

"No. Nothing injured besides my dignity." X scowled at Zero as he wiped paint off his blue chest armor.

Signas sighed. "Then this was 'officially' a surprise alarm drill. Zero, you and the new recruits caused this mess. You get to clean it up. That includes the paint. I do not want to be finding random paint spatters until the next time HQ gets a new coat of paint. Understood?"

"Yes sir." X and Zero replied in tandem.

"And Zero… I sincerely hope none of the recruits were traumatized by your 'training session.' Assuming I decide to give you command over a new recruit unit in the future, I expect you to ground them in the basics before throwing them into advanced training routines. Understand?"

"Yes sir. As for trauma… well… Recruit Chi Chi passed out after realizing she fragged X. I'm sure she'll be okay though." Zero paused thoughtfully, "I'm not sure whether to mark her down for passing out during combat, or give her bonus points for managing to take down X…"

"Oh, hell no! Don't you dare set a precedent with this, Zero! I'll never have any peace around here if you get the rookies thinking they'll win brownie points by paintballing me!" cried X, looking horrified.

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The End

Owari

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I would have had this out a lot sooner, except Douglas did not want to get written. He must be shy.

Everything else flowed easily, but Douglas was just stubborn. I hope I didn't botch his character…

Just to clarify, the italic-line intro bit is in reference to the teleportation data-energy stream. He turns into energy particles when in transit. So… Particle man…

Yeah. I also like the song…

Substitute 'Maverick man' for 'Triangle man' in the next verse, but have Particle win instead… :D

Also, the 65 mavericks:

Eight games times eight maverick bosses plus one Sigma equals 65. Add a few extra like High Max, Vile, and Bit and Byte, etc. etc.

As for the elusive not-noticed memo from Zero… He did send it. It's just that everyone thought it was fake and it ended up in their junk message folders.

Zero's memo was just not feeling the love. :P

So… Did I fool you? Did you go, "Zoh Nos! Zero's been hurt! X is dead!!!"

Poor Chi Chi. Zero traumatized the poor rookies.

Poor X, for that matter. Zero is kind of like a localized disaster, even when he's trying not to be. :P

The 'Falling Rookies' bit is because the rookies would be practicing short-range teleporting, and locating viable re-materialization positions around the base for future use. Because of this, they would generally be picking coordinates well above the ground or floor in order to avoid teleporting in on top of someone else. So they'd rematerialize like X did, in the air, dropping to the floor.

Oh, and if you're wondering, Axl was off-duty that day. And X was out in the garden while his unit was training because he was shirking paperwork. (wink)

Just so you know, I'm not sure whether or not to try to take the Zero – Layer dynamic anywhere. They certainly aren't together at this point, and they may not ever get together in my stories. I'm still trying to figure out if I like the idea of them together or not.

However, I will openly write Layer as seriously crushing on Zero. She isn't the only female to be majorly attracted to Zero, after all. Whether or not he returns the emotions at some point, is yet to be decided.

Time, and my completion of X8 and any future X games, will tell.

Reviewer Replies:

Gizoid1337:

As for Dr. Psyche, well I don't know who that is exactly, but I understand what you're asking… I think…

Anyway, not all reploid's neural networks are located in their heads. They are constructed beings after all, there's no evolutionary precedent to dictate where their brains should be located. For all we know, some reploids could have their neural matrix located in their rear end. Gives an all new meaning to the term 'dumbass.'

Also, some reploids could have secondary minor generators that maintain power for their floating head to avoid a shut-down due to power loss. It would have to be a limited reserve power grid; I doubt any reploids could survive for extended periods as just a head without the main generator. It could also simply run off of an energy reserve for a short time, rather than an active generator. But as long as the neural buffers maintain their charge, the power grid shouldn't suffer and the neural matrix won't be wiped from a power surge when the head re-attaches to the main generator power grid.

dragoonknight1:

I suppose if you want to use some of my characters you can. Though, I'm sure you could come up with your own with a bit of effort.

If you do decide to use my characters though, please send me an email explaining which ones you want to use, and mention somewhere in your story's disclaimer that they were created by me and are borrowed with permission. Also, I'd appreciate it if you mentioned that they're from 'Reploid Anatomy 101.'

It would also be nice if you could send me a link to your story once you start posting it.

I know it's sort of fic advertising, but I lovses the reviews, and the more who read and leave me reviews with constructive feedback, the better my writing will get, and the more motivated I will be to spend time writing rather than playing on my PS2 or on computer games.

Rogue Hunter:

Glad to have you back. I was wondering if you'd gotten bored with 'Anatomy.' Or just couldn't find time.

Heh. Dynamo is kind of doing that. He does want to be acknowledged as one of the greatest, if not the greatest. So he's got to defeat the greatest in combat. But, he currently has a more-or-less clean record at the moment and doesn't want to get on the openly bad side of the law right now. So he can't go pick a fight with Zero or X. But… if one of them should happen to throw the first punch… Why, then it would be self-defense, wouldn't it? (evil grin)

quick edit won't let smiley faces or evil faces show up, so gotta resort to parenthesis words…

Macross-Green:

I hope to hear from you again too, Macross. Here's a new chapter for your enjoyment. At least one more after this, though I need to figure out a story segment that will go with the technical blurb on busters. The technical blurb on its own is three pages long…

Yup, you heard right. I monkey'd around with the mechanics of how the hand goes away when the buster cannon is formed. Not to mention the buster cannon itself. I just need to find a way to feature it in a story.

Keep an eye out for it. :D

spectre:

SPOILERS for Zero series games (assuming my assumptions are accurate…)

Actually, I believe the last I heard, Harpuia was male, only Leviathan was female. Also, from what I understand, Ciel is human. At least, I think that's the general current consensus. I haven't played any of the Zero games so I may be wrong about that.

I thought X's real body was destroyed in Zero2, which is what freed the dark elf.

END SPOILERS

I'm afraid I won't be using Ciel in my story, spectre. Unless some weird freak time travel/interdimensional portal thing happens. Which isn't all that likely considering 'Reploid Anatomy 101' has no actual overall plotline.

'Reploid Anatomy 101' is set in the X series timeline and disregards the events of the Zero series. My story goes AU from wherever Capcom decides to end the X series, and Zero does not seal himself away for hibernation for 102 years, or whatever.

So, sorry, but no Copy X, no Neo Arcadia, no Elpizio, no Leviathan, Harpuia, Fafnir, or Phantom, no dark elf, no cyber elves, and no Ciel.

Erckie:

Not sure what else I can say about the circulatory system that I haven't already mentioned. But I'll consider it.

J:

Nope, never heard of that law. I've heard of Ghost in the Shell though. Must have missed that part, or just forgot.

Don't know if I'll use the zeroth law, but thanks for the information.

Well that's all for now.

Hope to hear from all of you wonderful readers and reviewers.

As always… reviews, comments, opinions, and criticisms welcome. Tell me what you think.

Till next time.