Mega Man Zero: For Endless Fight

by Captain L

Chapter 2: Siren General

Zero was standing at an outer wall of the shabby hideout the ponies fighting back were forced to call a base. Located directly next to a desert, it didn't provide much protection against nature, and the harsh conditions the hot and dry climate would create. Coupled with how close they were to an enemy base, it hardly seemed like a good location.

He also had to question what he was given for the mission. It was a suit of armor, with a dark undercoat, a similar color of red to his coat, and plenty of white outlines and highlights. It had horns on the helmet that accentuated his ears, and thick boots. He subconsciously hated armor, reminding him of something from his past, but he didn't know what. He asked Posey through the communicator he was given. “Is there a reason you needed to give me this armor?”

On the other end of the receiver, a voice came through, but definitely not Posey's. This one was a stallion, entering the conversation uninvited. “That's a specially designed armor I invented, based on legends and subsequent drawings of Zero in the Changeling Wars. Not only does it provide extra defense, but it gives you the ability to dash, climb walls, double jump, and charge your weapons. I just never thought the real Zero would be the one using it.”

Zero asked a question back to the stallion talking to him. “Who are you, and what are you doing on the communicator?”

“That was Cerveau, the Resistance's mechanic. He's incredibly skilled at making armor and weapons. If it wasn't for his expertise, we never would have survived as long as we have.”

“Posey, can you just tell me what my mission is already?”

“The hidden base is somewhere in this desert. Your job is to find it, infiltrate the prison, and free the Resistance members trapped inside. But we don't know where it is, and we don't have any idea on what kind of security will be inside. Everything's resting on you. Just...come back safely, Zero. We just found you, please don't strain yourself too hard.”

“Understood. Beginning the mission now.” He looked out at the vast wastes before him, completely empty to the horizon in every direction. Finding a hidden base in this would be almost impossible. So, that left Zero with hunting down clues in the sand. He knelt down close to the ground, searching for any sort of visible prints, but the harsh winds shifted the sands, washing away life's marks, reverting the landscape to an untouched state.

In these conditions, it would be impossible to find anything without combing the entire desert, a task that could take weeks with the sand stretching beyond sight. All that could be seen was a swarm of vultures flying in a circle, nothing very...wait, vultures. “Posey, I haven't found anything, but there's vultures flying above, and I have the feeling that means something.”

“I wouldn't get your hopes up, Zero. There's not much life out there, but there's still some, the vultures would just be picking at something that died. Death happens, just an inevitable fact of life.”

Zero didn't listen to her advice and turned off the communicator, dashing to the birds' location to investigate whatever they were pecking at. Once he approached, the vultures flew away in different directions, leaving their body behind. Close enough to make it out amidst the sands, Zero could see what they were eating.

Half-buried was a camel's dead body, some of its skin pecked off, the hot sun decomposing the flesh faster. He was about to dismiss this as a false lead, but then he noticed a small giveaway. Right before the body sunk below sight, a ring of blood had stained the animal's coat. It could be quickly explained as the work of the vultures, but Zero could tell it was too evenly distributed. So something else killed this thing. Probably cut straight down the middle if it bled all around. Perhaps there's answers at the bisecting point.

Kneeling down as close as he could get without lying down, Zero began digging down, pushing the piles of sand off to his sides, working his ways down for over a foot, the blood on the camel getting thicker and seeping into the sand, dyeing it darker and damper. Once it was fully bloodstained, Zero hit something hard. Curious, he dug out more to the sides to reveal what he had found, and while it was red, he could very clearly tell it was metal. Excavating closer to the body, the cause of death was apparent; it had somehow gotten caught between the closing metal doors and was crushed.

And that means the door is still jammed open. “Posey, I've got it. There's a hidden door under the sand here. I'll try and pry it open and see where it leads.”

“If your Z-Saber has the same power the legends say, you should be able to just slash it open. See if that works and it lives up to the stories.”

Zero did as he was told and fiercely cut across the door and the body sticking out of it. He held the sword high, in momentum from the attack, as it appeared nothing happened, both objects remained intact. That is, until a few seconds later, when the divide inexplicably appeared, slicing whatever it touched clean open, sending both metal and flesh tumbling down the hole below. Without hesitation, he followed.

The drop was dark, the only illumination the small area of vision his saber's glow could provide. It was only enough to alert him to the approaching floor moments before collision, and while his new armor would allow him to take gravity with no adverse effects, he didn't know that. There was something inside reminding him of something, a maneuver that he could use, but he had no idea what the source was. Nevertheless, he grabbed onto the nearby wall with one front leg and both back legs, slowing his descent. He softly landed at the bottom, readjusting his body from the impact.

“You did it, Zero! The hidden base has to be beyond here! The scanners on your armor say there's an invisible barrier in front of you, give me a minute to disable them.”

“Wait a minute, scanners? Why are there scanners on my armor?”

“They collect environmental and combat data, as well as biometric readings, which provides us with important information on your condition, what sorts of soldiers Twilight is using, and dangers around you. And the barrier is disabled.”

“Yeah, well I didn't agree to it. How do I know that you're not doing anything more that you're not telling me?” No response. He grumbled in frustration at his personal wishes being ignored. These ponies don't deserve to be trusted. They have to be hiding something else, everything is too suspicious. Should I even listen to what they have to say or what they want me to do? He considered the options before him, before looking down the path that Posey had opened up for him. If anything, this hidden enemy base might have more information I could use. He dashed into the darkness, looking for any answers that his mission would provide for him.

Once again, the limited green glow of his sword was all the vision he was given. Now even deeper below the surface, Zero could barely see one foot in front of his eyes. Because of this, he obliviously stepped forward into yet another pit, his hooves slipping into the hole as the rest of his body tumbled down with no grace. He was turning and spinning in midair, making him unable to grab the walls again.

Zero fell in silence as he tumbled downwards, not fazed by the drop. The only interruption was him crashing against the surface of water below, the armor protecting him from the hard splash. The armor's weight also began pulling him down, and no amount of paddling could keep him afloat. He gasped for one final breath before the coldness fully surrounded him.

Falling to the bottom of the pond, where the pressure should have been increasing, Zero was giving up chances of surviving this ordeal. He was under, unable to ascend, and was going to drown soon. He closed his eyes, though it meant nothing in the complete darkness he had been in ever since he dropped below the sands. “D-damn, not here...”

“Z....Zero...Zero! Do y.......e in? Ca......he....e? Da........veau, inc............gnal! Can you hear me, Zero!? You're not drowning, the armor has systems and protocols built in for conditions impossible for ponies to survive! You can survive underwater just fine, the armor's got a complete facemask!”

He opened his eyes again and, against his better judgement, took another breath. Sure enough, Posey was telling the truth, and air filled his lungs again. While most ponies would be happy they had survived a fatal situation, Zero was hostile. “And why wasn't I told about this?! You'd think it'd be important to tell the pony you're sending out to fight for you what they're capable of!”

“...I-I'm sorry. Y-you're right, I should have told you up front what your new capabilities were before you went out. I would have told you if I knew you were going somewhere it would be needed, but I wasn't expecting deep water when you were sent into the desert. But for climates, the only other things the armor provides is better resistance to extreme temperatures on both ends of the scale.”

“Ooh hoo hoo! What kind of a stallion do we have here?”

Zero turned to face the speaker, hard to do when there was nothing but pitch blackness. The voice giggled, a light and bouncy feminine voice. “Oh, can you not see? Hold on, let me fix that.” There was a snap, distorted by passing through water, and a series of bright lights turned on in a contrast that would be blinding if his facemask didn't compensate.

Now fully visible, Zero could see who was talking to him. Only a few feet tall, it was a blue pony-like creature, but the bottom half of its body merged into one appendage, a fin. It also had two smaller fins where a pony's front legs would be, and one of them held a trident almost as long as its wielder.

“Well well well, aren't you a handsome one? So what's a cute colt like you doing way down here,” she asked, her voice not distorted by the water.

Zero pulled out his blade, also not affected by the liquid, holding it in front of him. “What are you? What are you doing down here?”

The strange creature pouted. “Oh, a rude one! Everypony should know who I am! Well, I can't say I don't like a little naivety in my boys, so allow me to introduce myself.” She swung her trident to the side and took a bow mid-swim. “I am the seapony Wavebreaker, one of the Four Guardians of Master Twilight. Now, I'd like an answer to what a pony with access to technology like your armor is doing all the way down here.”

In a split-second, both of them were pointing their weapons directly at each other, perfectly parallel. “That's interesting, because I'd like an answer to what you're doing with a hidden base underneath the desert! What purpose does it serve, why this location, and what's hiding inside?”

Wavebreaker swung her weapon to her side again. “You're a curious one, aren't you? One that doesn't know where to stop, when to stop asking questions. I'm sure Master Twilight will be pleased to receive the body of a Resistance member who doesn't know his place! Don't go easy on me because I'm a girl!” She gripped the trident in both her fins.

Zero did the same with his Z-Saber. “That was never an intention, Wavebreaker.” He leapt towards her, his armor allowing him natural movement in the water, his sword poised for a hard slash.

But Wavebreaker wouldn't be a seapony general if she couldn't move masterfully in the water, and effortlessly dodged Zero's attack, where his momentum worked against him by forcing him past his intended target, opening his back for a nice, clean attack from Wavebreaker. She grinned as she pulled her trident back, where one solid swing could take out her opponent.

Zero sensed the blow incoming, enhanced by the ripples movement in the water created. Not that it would have mattered, no one could move fast enough to do anything about the attack, forcing them to be aware of their inevitable death before it could even happen. That was something Wavebreaker loved, her target feeling true fear, the kind that could only come from death looming over, and she smiled sinisterly knowing she'd feel it again.

The sound of clashing metal soon echoed through the waves that surrounded them, and Wavebreaker's grin grew wider at her success. Until she could see what caused the sound. In an instant, Zero had somehow ignited his saber behind himself, blocking the trident's edges sharp enough to pierce his armor. The force pushed him away, giving him space to retaliate. He pulled the saber back to his frontside and spun, facing him towards Wavebreaker to see her shocked expression, just as the green glow of Zero's blade slashed across her midsection, just shallow enough to merely cut her.

Zero fell further and landed on the solid ground, keeping a close eye on Wavebreaker. He pointed the tip of his sword, and she did the same like he had done nothing to her.

Wavebreaker stared at Zero menacingly from above, ready for the fight to continue, not that it would last long when her opponent had suddenly ceased his assault. She held her trident behind her and charged forward, before stopping abruptly halfway. Her face suddenly transformed into one of excruciating pain, her eyes widening and bulging, her mouth open and teeth grimacing. Shaking, she put one of her fins over her body, and red began seeping out of the cut, clouding the water around her.

“Gr...grraaghh! I...I told you not to hold back! What kind of a noble warrior are you?!” The blood cloud moved upwards, starting to cover her vision. Without a clear view, she could only see her attacker's silhouette, and her limited sight suddenly made everything fit. A shadow of a stallion, long mane and sword in hoof, skill unmatched. “It...it can't be...,” she whispered.

The water amplified the sound, allowing Zero to hear her nearly silent remark. “Can't be what? What are you talking about?” Wavebreaker used the fin not holding her cut closed to place her trident on her back, and pressed her now-free fin onto her face, activating something. “Hey, where are you going,” Zero called out before Wavebreaker turned to light and teleported out.

“Zero, the energy signature I was picking up suddenly vanished. What happened down there?”

Zero looked around for any sign of Wavebreaker, but when he realized he was indeed completely alone, he sighed and responded. “Nothing you should worry about, Posey. I found the hidden base, and I'm investigating it now.”

The communication went silent, and Zero was left contemplating one thing Wavebreaker had said. Four Guardians...Each of them will be out for my blood to protect Twilight. I guess beating all of them will be necessary if I want to reach her. But what kind of guardians are they?

Author's Note:

Yeah yeah, took 5 months. Not hearing any of that.