//------------------------------// // 7: Seeing Red // Story: Melody of the Future // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// Octavia sat back as she listened to the reports Signas was reading to her. To say she was bored out of her mind would be an understatement. This was not to say she was uninterested in everything in the reports about Maverick Hunter business, especially since she was the highest rank Maverick Hunter on base now that X and Zero were both off on their honeymoons. It was more that Signas somehow managed to make everything absolutely boring. "And that concludes the report," Signas finished as he set it aside. "Do you have any questions?" "No," Octavia replied, sighing in relief as she started to stand up. "Can I go now?" "Once I'm certain you understood the material," Signas insisted. "What's so hard to understand?" Octavia asked, rolling her eyes. "With Dad and Uncle Zero off the active roster while on their honeymoons, Maverick crime has been on the rise, and we've been having difficulty dealing with all of it on our own. As a result, this has increased business for Bounty Hunters, who take on Mavericks for cash rewards, or as vigilante activity. The most successful group of bounty hunters is Red Alert, led by a mysterious but capable Reploid known only as Red. While Maverick Hunter policy doesn't entirely approve of the group's vigilante behavior, their actions have shown a dramatic decrease in both collateral damage and casualties from Maverick activity, and so they've been allowed to operate without interference from us so long as they don't engage in any Maverick behavior themselves. Since all civilian reports of their activity have been positive with no complaints, there's no reason as of yet to investigate further, at least not until Dad and Uncle are back on the front lines." Signas nodded. "Alright. I got the impression from your expression that you weren't really listening to me." "I wasn't," Octavia replied bluntly. "I'd already read this same report this morning over my breakfast salad." Signas sighed sadly. "I'd like it if you showed me proper respect..." "Are you kidding?" Octavia demanded. "I respect you more than anyone by Mom, Dad, Uncle Zero, and Aunt Iris! You manage to balance data from the entire planet in such a way that you can distribute limited resources to maximum effect without pushing anyone too hard, and keep the entire Maverick Hunters organization functioning more efficiently than ever before!" As Signas managed a smile, Octavia shrugged. "You're just incredibly boring when you read reports." Signas winced slightly. "I suppose I can see your point..." "Alert!" CiCi's voice cut through via the intercom. "Maverick Activity on the Central Highway! Collateral damage reported Level 3! S Rank Hunter to dispatch!" "That's me!" Octavia spoke up, leaping out of the chair as Varia sent extra energy through her circuits in preparation. "Not using the Ultimate Armor?" Signas asked curiously. "It's only Level 3," Octavia replied. "If I need it, I can activate it once I'm out there." Octavia beamed into the Central Highway, the same area where she and X had pursued Vile all those years ago when Sigma had first gone Maverick. Of course, Sigma was no longer an issue, any more than the Virus that had made him so dangerous, leaving Octavia confident that she could handle anything she came across. Even so, as she stared out at the broken road from atop a large pile of debris, she couldn't help but feel nostalgic as she thought of that first adventure. "And how you nearly threw up upon arrival?" Varia teased, being as ever in tune with Octavia's thoughts. "I get your point," Octavia growled. "Enough wool-gathering. Let's go." As Octavia leapt down, she saw several bee shaped dropships flying off. She wasn't sure if they were ally or enemy, but she made a mental note of them as she dashed forward, leaping over several vehicles that had been tipped on their side, blocking the road. As she went, she found Deerballs lining the road, unrolling their long legs to march towards her shooting, though she shot back too quickly for them to counter, destroying them as she dashed past. The terrain proved even more varied then her first visit, as she was forced to climb up and down several broken bits of road before being confronted by one of the dropships. "Talk about deja vu," Octavia grumbled as she dealt with it by leaping atop it before it could activate its sensor beam and divesting it of its propeller blade, dropping it to the road. Beyond it, several more Deerballs attempted to attack her, but were quickly blasted to bits, and a second dropship was dealt with as readily as the first. This time, the falling dropship took a section of the road with it, forcing Octavia to leap down to continue. Moving forward, she was forced to duck under various bits of wreckage as more Deerballs appeared, some with a gold and silver color scheme as opposed to blue and silver, along with a larger gun. Octavia concluded this must be a command model Deerball, though it proved as easy to destroy as the others. A third dropship flew in with its sensor beam already active forcing Octavia to blast it into crashing rather than leaping up to cut off its propeller...though that still didn't take long. This allowed Octavia to follow a path back up to the higher level, though she had to rapidly climb a set of closing walls. As she got back to the road, however, she heard someone behind her shouting, "Look out!" Before she could react further, someone had scooped her up in black armored arms, being carried down the road by a dashing figure. "RRRR!" Octavia growled out as she waved her legs in frustration. "Curse my tiny body! I'm a bloody S Ranked Maverick Hunter and strangers still think I'm some helpless child! I'm almost 200 for crying out loud!" The figure continued to dash, but pulled Octavia away to get a good look at her, consequently letting Octavia get a good look at him. He had a boyish face that was oddly familiar and yet strange, with scars running from the bridge of his nose onto his cheeks. His armor was black with red lines, slim and designed more for speed than defense, and the blue focusing crystal at his forehead was spherical rather than triangular as most were, and brown hair came out the back of his helmet in a spiky style. She also noticed that he carried two pistols, and apparently had no inbuilt weapons...a very unusual detail, as his entire build was otherwise optimized as a combat model. His green eyes lit up as a smile spread across his face as he took in Octavia's appearance. "Oh my gosh, you're Octavia Melody!" he squealed out happily. "I never thought I'd get a chance to meet you-" "Put me down!" Octavia snapped out angrily. At that moment, a giant scorpion shaped mechanaloid dropped to the road, charging after them. "Uh..." the Reploid began, glancing back over his shoulder at the beast. "Classic, merge!" Octavia barked out. Classic immediately beamed in, and the stranger Reploid dropped her as they merged. "So cool..." he breathed excitedly. He quickly shook off the excitement. "I'm Axl!" he introduced himself. "I'll help you deal with this guy!" "You take this side!" Octavia barked out, dashing around the mechanaloid through the air. The mechaloid proved unable to compute a two pronged attack like this, and constantly spun to try and face first one then the other. Before long, the long curving tail exploded, followed by one of its claws, and then the entire Mechanaloid. "That was so cool-" Axl began, only to freeze as Octavia pointed her buster at him. "As per regulations, I need to bring you in for questioning in regards to this incident," Octavia explained flatly. "...less cool..." Axl whimpered. "However," Octavia began carefully, "I can already tell you don't have the weaponry to have caused damage on this scale. Also, despite running for your life from that giant mechanaloid, your first instinct was to rescue someone you thought was in danger, and had me positioned such that my entire body was shielded from fire by yours. That speaks highly of your character, especially since you didn't recognize me on sight and thus it can't be part of some plan." Octavia knew that this could be false, since the surprise recognition could have been pretend...but Axl seemed too genuine for that. And there was that familiarity... "As such, if you willingly surrender your pistols to me now, I will bring you in as a witness, rather than a suspect." Axl immediately pulled out his pistols, disengaged their power cells, and handed it all over to Octavia. "I can't believe I'm going to get to see the inside of Maverick Hunter HQ!" he squealed out happily. "This is the best day of my life!" Octavia rolled her eyes before lifting her hoof to her ear. "CiCi, this is Octavia. Two to return home. I have a witness." "Understood," CiCi agreed, and the pair were beamed out.