Utopia (7)
Final chapter:
Chapter 13: The Hand of Fate
Zero returned to the command room keeping his cool, calm demeanor. Signas turned to him and summarized what he had missed.
“Zero, we have found out a way to try and stop the Eurasia Colony before it hits the earth. We have an old, but powerful laser cannon called the Enigma. It’s in the storage hanger. Now is the time to use it.”
“Yes sir.” Zero nodded.
“That’s not all. I want you and X to obtain these parts.” Signas gave Zero a piece of paper with the pictures and explanations of the parts needed for the Enigma “These orders take into affect immediately. Please leave now.”
“Yes sir” X nodded leaning over Zeros shoulder to look at the schematics.
“X let’s go prepare for a minute.” Zero nudged. He walked towards the door motioning for X to follow him promptly. X looked at Zero puzzled, but he still followed his trusted friend.
“What is it Zero? This is unlike you… You are usually the first one off to the mission site!” X exclaimed.
“Things are bad X! Really bad”
“Huh?”
“The shelter is being attacked as we speak. They’ve taken the escape route, but I worry how safe they really are at the meet-up point.”
“No… Along with the Eurasia disaster… what do we do?”
“We have to think of something…”
“I’ll go. Zero I’ll need to ask you to take on my portion of the Enigma assignments. You go find the parts we need and I’ll go help the shelter members.”
“X you can’t just abort your missions!”
“What other choice do we have? We’ll be lucky if they’re not dead by now!”
“We have no choice. We need to let Signas know what’s going on!”
“No, we promised!”
“It doesn’t matter now!”
“Damnit Zero it always matters!”
“X think! It’s too risky, especially if Signas finds out I was lying for you just now. I have a bad feeling about this plan. We need to figure out something. Let’s ask Alia and at least fill her in. She’s our navigator after all. It won’t hurt to confide in her X you should know.”
“I suppose you’re right…”
“Let’s go to our destinations. The three of us can contact one another once we arrive.”
“Ok.”
X and Zero arrived at their missions points. X turned on his comm. Radio “Zero, Alia can you hear me?”
“Yes.” Zero answered.
“X is everything ok?” Alia asked.
X paused unsure of what to say. He sighed heavily ‘Please forgive me for this…’
“Are you still there?” Zero questioned.
“Yeah…” He answered in hesitation “Listen Alia there is something I have to tell you that’s really important.”
“Sure. General Signas stepped out for the moment so now is a good time for chatting.”
“Then let’s make this quick!” Zero rushed.
“A few years ago Zero and I ran into some people who organized a shelter for humans and reploids to escape the cruelty of our society. They asked us for our help against certain political organizations who are against our cause and want to see the sanctuary the shelter members built and worked so hard to keep peaceful destroyed. They urged us to keep it a secret because our base is so well known that they didn’t want to risk dangerous reploids like Sigma finding them through us. We have known them and been helping them ever since, but now they are in danger. That’s why Zero stepped out of the room. They called him to report the attack because my communicator was shut off since last night. Now with the Eurasia crisis on our hands we can’t get away to help them or meet them at their safety location. They could be dead for all we know. We don’t know what to do next and we need your help to figure it out.”
“Alia, I know it’s a lot to take in right now, but we need get there somehow without jeopardizing our missions or ignoring our orders.” Zero added.
“Hmm… I think I have an idea, but you might not like it… Try contacting one of the shelter members now to get a status report. Continue your assigned missions and complete them. In the meantime I think we should tell Commander Signas the situation and we’ll organize a rescue team to bring them here for safety. I understand they don’t want us involved, but this is a matter of life and death! We have to do all we can. These are innocent lives remember?”
“You’re right Alia. Ok, pass the message to Signas and have him send a search and rescue party to the forest area behind Beat Village.” X ordered.
“Ask Signas to contact me if you have any problems getting him to agree or if you need the coordinates.” Zero jumped in.
“I will. Good luck both of you…”
The transmission ended. Zero and X completed their missions in approximately 5 hours. Once they gathered all the parts for the Enigma they returned to base for another briefing.
“X, Zero, Alia told me about the shelter situation. I sent a search party 4 hours ago and no one has returned yet. I am starting to get worried about our troops and the shelter members you spoke of. We have been trying to contact them, but we can’t get through.”
“I request permission to go check it out sir!” X offered.
“Yes, you and Zero should go find out what is happening, but first did you retrieved all the parts for our Enigma Cannon?” He watched Zero and X both put the mechanical parts on the table “Good work! I will have our mechanic and tech supports do the rest. Go search for our comrades.”
“Yes sir!” X and Zero confirmed in unison transporting closest to their destination.
They teleported to Mettool Town and walked a far ways to the Yashichi mountains.
“Zero, let’s check the base first for any stragglers and to see what has happened there.”
“Good idea.” Zero agreed. Both reploids using their speed thrusters to hurry to the attack point. What they saw was a sight that would stay within their CPUs forever…
“NO!” X yelled running towards the complete destruction ahead. The base was completely in ruins with the entrance caved in. The ground was a dead zone covered in land mines and dead corpses both human and reploid. Many were so badly burned or destroyed that you couldn’t even tell the difference anymore.
“Holy crap…” Zero whispered slowly walking behind X “There is no way humans alone could have done this kind of damage… X, watch the land mines!” Zero cautioned.
“W-what happened here?” X stuttered in intense horror.
“I don’t know. Let’s find out and keep moving.”
X and Zero secured the area looking for any signs of survivors from the remaining corpses that were still in tact, however none were found. They continued down the escape route that was arranged looking for survivors or clues to what had happened. The smell of burnt flesh, blood, oil, and metal blew through the air as they walked making them feel sick to their stomachs.
More carnage and destruction awaited them at the meeting spot by the stream. The rescue party was all dead along with the majority of the shelter members and many of the ARRM soldiers.
“This has turned into an all out blood bath!” Zero exclaimed “Are Kate and Jade among these people?”
“No we have to keep looking!” X protested calling there names.
Zero maneuvered through dead corpses, tall grass, and shrubbery until he found Jade lying beside a nearby tree. She was wounded badly and several broken limbs.
“X come here quick!” Zero yelled. He ran towards Zero finding Jade resting beside him.
“X, Zero…”
“Jade I’m so sorry! Where are the others? Are there any survivors at all?”
“ungh… T-they’re all dead… Everyone… I tried… There were too many of them…”
“Please rest. Don’t talk” X whispered soothingly.
“No… the leader of the ARRM is my father… I know he arranged the whole thing… He came along on the ambush… He told me to stand down and I refused… We fought and I killed him… All of our members fought… Despite the casualties on both sides we still managed to escape… Then your rescue team arrived… Soon after Sigma came he said he followed your recovery team… He wiped them out… I ran… We all ran… I couldn’t do it… I couldn’t save anyone…” Jade closed her eyes and tears started to form down her face.
“Jade please hang on. I’m so sorry!” X apologized.
“Shit… It’s our fault…” Zero commented softly.
“No… It’s not your fault… Don’t blame yourselves. You had your duty to fulfill and you still wanted to help us, so you sent out soldiers to save us as a last resort… Thank you…”
“But…” X hesitated.
“We need to contact a medic!” Zero suggested trying to snap X back into reality.
“No, it’s too late now… Please stay…”
X held her hand gently as Jades eyes began to slowly close “X, Zero… No matter what protect humans and reploids… Do whatever you need to achieve peace whether it’s by fighting or peaceful means… Whatever it is just do what’s in your heart and do your part to keep the world safe… I want our base to be a symbol of the utopia that we work hard to achieve every waking moment… I…” Her eyes closed as she lay still into her eternal sleep.
X closed his eyes and bowed his head in sorrow until he saw a bright flash of light cover the sky. A large explosion followed along with falling lights that almost resembled a fireworks display.
Zero turned to face the bright light “Looks like the Enigma was a success”
“Maybe, but you’re going to join your friends within the fiery depths of hell!” A voice came from behind X. They both turned to face their opponent.
“Sigma… You bastard! How could you do this?” X snarled angrily.
“It’s simple. You’re all idiots with extremist ideals! My new world doesn’t need idiots and fools in it, so best to be rid of you!”
“You monster…!” Zero screamed running and performing an upper-cut with his saber in front of Sigma. It just barely missed his face.
“Almost, Zero, but too slow!” Sigma sang dashing towards them and shooting a large charged shot. X and Zero jumped out of the way and squared off in separate directions surrounding Sigma on both sides.
“I won’t let you get away with this!” X said sternly holding up his X-buster.
“My, my, it seems to me that you are just looking for someone to blame, but shouldn’t you be blaming yourselves for all of this? You took a long time to get here. Did even do your best to save them in the end? How does that feel on your conscience X and Zero?”
“Shut up!!” Zero shouted shooting a slice beam from his Z-saber hitting Sigmas forehead. The small crystal on his forehead broke causing him to grab his head screaming in pain.
X decided to strike while the iron was hot. He shot a charged blast from his buster cannon causing him to fall backwards into the water. He shot his weapon Tri-Thunder electrocuting Simga as the attack mixed with the water. He exploded suffering severe bodily damage, but before X and Zero could finish him off he used his teleportation system to get away.
“We… I failed!” X stated emotionally as he fell to his knees.
Zero put his hand on Xs shoulder “Come on let’s head back to base now. It’s no good for us to stick around here anymore.”
“You’re right Zero… Let’s go.”
Back at Maverick Hunter Headquarters Zero reported the horrific results of the mission and suggested that unaffected crew members be sent to clean up the area. Signas agreed and dismissed him.
Zero was concerned about how distraught his best friend was about last mission. He had never seen X so depressed before. He decided to visit X in his room to try and make him feel better.
“X? Can I come in?”
“Sure…” X said quietly sitting on his bed. Zero opened the door and sat beside him. No words were spoken for at least 5 minutes.
“Zero… I can’t believe we failed… Everyone… Worst of all it’s MY fault!” X cupped his hands over his face and buried them in his lap.
“It’s not your fault X…”
“Don’t Zero! If I had kept my promise none of this would have happened! The rescue crew wouldn’t have gone, Sigma wouldn’t have followed them, and they might still be alive right now!”
“X, no one could foresee this happening. We didn’t know. We just did what we thought was best! We didn’t know this would happen!”
“If only I had gone with my original plan!”
“Yeah…? What if Signas found out you were playing hooky on your missions. Would you rather get fired?” Zero looked up when he heard a knock at the door. It was Alia. She sat on the opposite side of X.
“X, are you ok? Please talk to me…”
“I don’t know what to do anymore… It seems like whenever there is a glimpse of peace somewhere it eventually becomes ruined… The shelter…Doppler Town… Even Repliforce… It all ends in ruins. I don’t know if peace is worth physically fighting for anymore…”
“Please don’t blame yourself. You did the best you could do! We all did.”
“I know… but obviously our best wasn’t enough…”
“So… What are you going to do now?” Alia asked. Zero nodded wondering the same thing.
“I… I think I’m going to stop fighting until further notice. I think it’s time I take my beliefs and start practicing them… I owe it to Jade, Kate, and the shelter members… And to myself…”
“If that’s what you want X. Go ahead.”
“Yes, whenever you are ready go talk to Signas I’m sure he can find you plenty of jobs to do inside the base that doesn’t involve fighting.” Alia said giving her man a hug.
Zero put his arm around them and guided them up off the bed “How about we all take the night off and go do something fun even if it’s low key like some movies and popcorn?”
“Good idea!” Alia said cheerfully.
X gave a small smile. He knew that he was lucky to have such wonderful people in his life. He knew that he would never once regret knowing the people he had met through out his journey and the people he will continue to meet.
X knew that he had to keep that hope for peace alive and with his best friend and wife by his side supporting him. He knew he could do anything…
~The End~
Chapter 13: The Hand of Fate
Zero returned to the command room keeping his cool, calm demeanor. Signas turned to him and summarized what he had missed.
“Zero, we have found out a way to try and stop the Eurasia Colony before it hits the earth. We have an old, but powerful laser cannon called the Enigma. It’s in the storage hanger. Now is the time to use it.”
“Yes sir.” Zero nodded.
“That’s not all. I want you and X to obtain these parts.” Signas gave Zero a piece of paper with the pictures and explanations of the parts needed for the Enigma “These orders take into affect immediately. Please leave now.”
“Yes sir” X nodded leaning over Zeros shoulder to look at the schematics.
“X let’s go prepare for a minute.” Zero nudged. He walked towards the door motioning for X to follow him promptly. X looked at Zero puzzled, but he still followed his trusted friend.
“What is it Zero? This is unlike you… You are usually the first one off to the mission site!” X exclaimed.
“Things are bad X! Really bad”
“Huh?”
“The shelter is being attacked as we speak. They’ve taken the escape route, but I worry how safe they really are at the meet-up point.”
“No… Along with the Eurasia disaster… what do we do?”
“We have to think of something…”
“I’ll go. Zero I’ll need to ask you to take on my portion of the Enigma assignments. You go find the parts we need and I’ll go help the shelter members.”
“X you can’t just abort your missions!”
“What other choice do we have? We’ll be lucky if they’re not dead by now!”
“We have no choice. We need to let Signas know what’s going on!”
“No, we promised!”
“It doesn’t matter now!”
“Damnit Zero it always matters!”
“X think! It’s too risky, especially if Signas finds out I was lying for you just now. I have a bad feeling about this plan. We need to figure out something. Let’s ask Alia and at least fill her in. She’s our navigator after all. It won’t hurt to confide in her X you should know.”
“I suppose you’re right…”
“Let’s go to our destinations. The three of us can contact one another once we arrive.”
“Ok.”
X and Zero arrived at their missions points. X turned on his comm. Radio “Zero, Alia can you hear me?”
“Yes.” Zero answered.
“X is everything ok?” Alia asked.
X paused unsure of what to say. He sighed heavily ‘Please forgive me for this…’
“Are you still there?” Zero questioned.
“Yeah…” He answered in hesitation “Listen Alia there is something I have to tell you that’s really important.”
“Sure. General Signas stepped out for the moment so now is a good time for chatting.”
“Then let’s make this quick!” Zero rushed.
“A few years ago Zero and I ran into some people who organized a shelter for humans and reploids to escape the cruelty of our society. They asked us for our help against certain political organizations who are against our cause and want to see the sanctuary the shelter members built and worked so hard to keep peaceful destroyed. They urged us to keep it a secret because our base is so well known that they didn’t want to risk dangerous reploids like Sigma finding them through us. We have known them and been helping them ever since, but now they are in danger. That’s why Zero stepped out of the room. They called him to report the attack because my communicator was shut off since last night. Now with the Eurasia crisis on our hands we can’t get away to help them or meet them at their safety location. They could be dead for all we know. We don’t know what to do next and we need your help to figure it out.”
“Alia, I know it’s a lot to take in right now, but we need get there somehow without jeopardizing our missions or ignoring our orders.” Zero added.
“Hmm… I think I have an idea, but you might not like it… Try contacting one of the shelter members now to get a status report. Continue your assigned missions and complete them. In the meantime I think we should tell Commander Signas the situation and we’ll organize a rescue team to bring them here for safety. I understand they don’t want us involved, but this is a matter of life and death! We have to do all we can. These are innocent lives remember?”
“You’re right Alia. Ok, pass the message to Signas and have him send a search and rescue party to the forest area behind Beat Village.” X ordered.
“Ask Signas to contact me if you have any problems getting him to agree or if you need the coordinates.” Zero jumped in.
“I will. Good luck both of you…”
The transmission ended. Zero and X completed their missions in approximately 5 hours. Once they gathered all the parts for the Enigma they returned to base for another briefing.
“X, Zero, Alia told me about the shelter situation. I sent a search party 4 hours ago and no one has returned yet. I am starting to get worried about our troops and the shelter members you spoke of. We have been trying to contact them, but we can’t get through.”
“I request permission to go check it out sir!” X offered.
“Yes, you and Zero should go find out what is happening, but first did you retrieved all the parts for our Enigma Cannon?” He watched Zero and X both put the mechanical parts on the table “Good work! I will have our mechanic and tech supports do the rest. Go search for our comrades.”
“Yes sir!” X and Zero confirmed in unison transporting closest to their destination.
They teleported to Mettool Town and walked a far ways to the Yashichi mountains.
“Zero, let’s check the base first for any stragglers and to see what has happened there.”
“Good idea.” Zero agreed. Both reploids using their speed thrusters to hurry to the attack point. What they saw was a sight that would stay within their CPUs forever…
“NO!” X yelled running towards the complete destruction ahead. The base was completely in ruins with the entrance caved in. The ground was a dead zone covered in land mines and dead corpses both human and reploid. Many were so badly burned or destroyed that you couldn’t even tell the difference anymore.
“Holy crap…” Zero whispered slowly walking behind X “There is no way humans alone could have done this kind of damage… X, watch the land mines!” Zero cautioned.
“W-what happened here?” X stuttered in intense horror.
“I don’t know. Let’s find out and keep moving.”
X and Zero secured the area looking for any signs of survivors from the remaining corpses that were still in tact, however none were found. They continued down the escape route that was arranged looking for survivors or clues to what had happened. The smell of burnt flesh, blood, oil, and metal blew through the air as they walked making them feel sick to their stomachs.
More carnage and destruction awaited them at the meeting spot by the stream. The rescue party was all dead along with the majority of the shelter members and many of the ARRM soldiers.
“This has turned into an all out blood bath!” Zero exclaimed “Are Kate and Jade among these people?”
“No we have to keep looking!” X protested calling there names.
Zero maneuvered through dead corpses, tall grass, and shrubbery until he found Jade lying beside a nearby tree. She was wounded badly and several broken limbs.
“X come here quick!” Zero yelled. He ran towards Zero finding Jade resting beside him.
“X, Zero…”
“Jade I’m so sorry! Where are the others? Are there any survivors at all?”
“ungh… T-they’re all dead… Everyone… I tried… There were too many of them…”
“Please rest. Don’t talk” X whispered soothingly.
“No… the leader of the ARRM is my father… I know he arranged the whole thing… He came along on the ambush… He told me to stand down and I refused… We fought and I killed him… All of our members fought… Despite the casualties on both sides we still managed to escape… Then your rescue team arrived… Soon after Sigma came he said he followed your recovery team… He wiped them out… I ran… We all ran… I couldn’t do it… I couldn’t save anyone…” Jade closed her eyes and tears started to form down her face.
“Jade please hang on. I’m so sorry!” X apologized.
“Shit… It’s our fault…” Zero commented softly.
“No… It’s not your fault… Don’t blame yourselves. You had your duty to fulfill and you still wanted to help us, so you sent out soldiers to save us as a last resort… Thank you…”
“But…” X hesitated.
“We need to contact a medic!” Zero suggested trying to snap X back into reality.
“No, it’s too late now… Please stay…”
X held her hand gently as Jades eyes began to slowly close “X, Zero… No matter what protect humans and reploids… Do whatever you need to achieve peace whether it’s by fighting or peaceful means… Whatever it is just do what’s in your heart and do your part to keep the world safe… I want our base to be a symbol of the utopia that we work hard to achieve every waking moment… I…” Her eyes closed as she lay still into her eternal sleep.
X closed his eyes and bowed his head in sorrow until he saw a bright flash of light cover the sky. A large explosion followed along with falling lights that almost resembled a fireworks display.
Zero turned to face the bright light “Looks like the Enigma was a success”
“Maybe, but you’re going to join your friends within the fiery depths of hell!” A voice came from behind X. They both turned to face their opponent.
“Sigma… You bastard! How could you do this?” X snarled angrily.
“It’s simple. You’re all idiots with extremist ideals! My new world doesn’t need idiots and fools in it, so best to be rid of you!”
“You monster…!” Zero screamed running and performing an upper-cut with his saber in front of Sigma. It just barely missed his face.
“Almost, Zero, but too slow!” Sigma sang dashing towards them and shooting a large charged shot. X and Zero jumped out of the way and squared off in separate directions surrounding Sigma on both sides.
“I won’t let you get away with this!” X said sternly holding up his X-buster.
“My, my, it seems to me that you are just looking for someone to blame, but shouldn’t you be blaming yourselves for all of this? You took a long time to get here. Did even do your best to save them in the end? How does that feel on your conscience X and Zero?”
“Shut up!!” Zero shouted shooting a slice beam from his Z-saber hitting Sigmas forehead. The small crystal on his forehead broke causing him to grab his head screaming in pain.
X decided to strike while the iron was hot. He shot a charged blast from his buster cannon causing him to fall backwards into the water. He shot his weapon Tri-Thunder electrocuting Simga as the attack mixed with the water. He exploded suffering severe bodily damage, but before X and Zero could finish him off he used his teleportation system to get away.
“We… I failed!” X stated emotionally as he fell to his knees.
Zero put his hand on Xs shoulder “Come on let’s head back to base now. It’s no good for us to stick around here anymore.”
“You’re right Zero… Let’s go.”
Back at Maverick Hunter Headquarters Zero reported the horrific results of the mission and suggested that unaffected crew members be sent to clean up the area. Signas agreed and dismissed him.
Zero was concerned about how distraught his best friend was about last mission. He had never seen X so depressed before. He decided to visit X in his room to try and make him feel better.
“X? Can I come in?”
“Sure…” X said quietly sitting on his bed. Zero opened the door and sat beside him. No words were spoken for at least 5 minutes.
“Zero… I can’t believe we failed… Everyone… Worst of all it’s MY fault!” X cupped his hands over his face and buried them in his lap.
“It’s not your fault X…”
“Don’t Zero! If I had kept my promise none of this would have happened! The rescue crew wouldn’t have gone, Sigma wouldn’t have followed them, and they might still be alive right now!”
“X, no one could foresee this happening. We didn’t know. We just did what we thought was best! We didn’t know this would happen!”
“If only I had gone with my original plan!”
“Yeah…? What if Signas found out you were playing hooky on your missions. Would you rather get fired?” Zero looked up when he heard a knock at the door. It was Alia. She sat on the opposite side of X.
“X, are you ok? Please talk to me…”
“I don’t know what to do anymore… It seems like whenever there is a glimpse of peace somewhere it eventually becomes ruined… The shelter…Doppler Town… Even Repliforce… It all ends in ruins. I don’t know if peace is worth physically fighting for anymore…”
“Please don’t blame yourself. You did the best you could do! We all did.”
“I know… but obviously our best wasn’t enough…”
“So… What are you going to do now?” Alia asked. Zero nodded wondering the same thing.
“I… I think I’m going to stop fighting until further notice. I think it’s time I take my beliefs and start practicing them… I owe it to Jade, Kate, and the shelter members… And to myself…”
“If that’s what you want X. Go ahead.”
“Yes, whenever you are ready go talk to Signas I’m sure he can find you plenty of jobs to do inside the base that doesn’t involve fighting.” Alia said giving her man a hug.
Zero put his arm around them and guided them up off the bed “How about we all take the night off and go do something fun even if it’s low key like some movies and popcorn?”
“Good idea!” Alia said cheerfully.
X gave a small smile. He knew that he was lucky to have such wonderful people in his life. He knew that he would never once regret knowing the people he had met through out his journey and the people he will continue to meet.
X knew that he had to keep that hope for peace alive and with his best friend and wife by his side supporting him. He knew he could do anything…
~The End~