Mega Man Zero Five: Part III - Five Stones, One Legend

Nebula sighed. "It's... complicated." I know I never went into the field with... whoever I'm thinking of, so they must've been a Navigator. Besides, I remember Duon just fine, and I remember that he's not the one I'm thinking of. Bah, this is pointless.

"...X2 should be fine. I bet he just had to take shelter when he couldn't get back to the ship in time. He's a Reploid, not a human, so radiation won't kill him the second he leaves the place he probably holed up in."

With a noncommittal shrug, the White Reploid dropped the subject. "So, uh... did you happen to know Kosa back in the day all that well? You mistook me for him when we first met."

"Yeah, we knew each other. We worked together for a good while with the Maverick Hunters, and while I know I've got skills, he's got me outshone by a parsec and a half. He, Quarsar and I? We were pretty much unstoppable together. ...too bad ol' chome dome ain't with us no more. Blasted Sigma and his doomsday device took him out." There was a moment of remorseful silence, but it passed soon enough.

"That's done and done though, so no point in dwelling on it. Quarsar's gone, Kosa's flipped his lid for whatever reason, X and Zero went and turned into bloody HUMANS of all things, Axl went poof, and me?" Shaking his head, Burnout wiped his black visor with one bulky arm. "I'm surprised I still exist after all this, even if it is with a few screws loose."

"It seems like everything's upside-down these days." Nebula muttered. "I should've figured everything would go pear-shaped when I found out that a parasite could eat humans and turn Reploids into zombie slaves. Everything is getting weird. Heck, we're chasing after a magical rock from ancient mythology in hopes of taking out a madman who may actually be an entity from ages past."

"If there's any doubt that this is messed-up, just try to summarize the situation. There's no real way of doing it without sounding just a little crazy. Even after we succeed, I dunno how the world will recover from all this..."

"...well, only thing we can do is press on, right? Sure, it's like all of endtimes is coming, and all eras are starting to converge or whatever, but what will be, will be, right?" Burnout offered, not having much else of an option. Despite his insistence on the fact he was the one to bring this calamity to an end, even he knew that he wasn't an endless well of wisdom.

Over the intercom, a familiar voice rang out. "This is X; everyone, head on up to the bridge for a meeting. We need to plan our next move."

"It's about time." Nebula turned towards the bridge, crossing his arms. He ran through the subjects he intended on bringing up, but decided against a number of them. It was best not to bother everybody with speculation that might have nothing to do with this. "Well, let's go, Burnout."

A mere two minutes later and everyone that was fit to stand was doing so, crowding the bridge of Fefnir's cruiser. One of the few that was absent was Leviathan who, at the insistence of her brothers, had retired to the ship's repair bay. Another who was missing - the red-headed Operator Rouge - was busy making adjustments to various parts of the ship's interior systems, all of the ones of her choice happening to be at a distance from a certain X-era, philandering Maverick Hunter.

X himself was sitting in one of the Captain Aide's chairs, his face quite worn and almost pained. Somehow, whatever uncomfortableness he was experiencing was completely absent from his voice as he addressed the group of ragtag Reploids, humans and Biometals. "Well, seems like everyone's here. ...normally, I'd be saying that it seems like it's almost over, but with that shadow figure Nebula ran into - Kathros, I think it was - I think that we'll still have a fight ahead of us AFTER taking down Copy Elpizo."

From several figures there arose the sound of annoyed griping, as well as a line of barely muffled expletives from a certain Predator Reploid. Even Dracoex gave a sigh of disappointment at the Blue Bomber's words. "And I had dared to raise my hopes..."

"Believe me guys, I'm possibly even more annoyed than you all at this. Not to beat on the dead Mechaniloid, but after all of Sigma's returns and the resulting chaos, I think I've had my fill of world saving by now." Standing up, X approached a console in the center of the Command Well, projecting a holograph into the air. Instead of being the Innerpeace HQ in one sector, there now existed a large red blotch, marked with the words GROUND ZERO in slowly pulsating orange.

"We may have escaped with the refugees, but the price was high. We've lost our only fallback position on the ground here, and by the time we dock with the fleet in orbit to drop off the humans, Copy Elpizo will more than likely have regrouped his forces." The display presented a horde of red blips moving towards the center of Hive controlled territory, covering almost a fourth of the entire map's surface with their numbers.

"I don't think any number of us could completely stop this retreat. Impede it? Maybe. But outright stopping it in it's tracks seems to be out of the question. As usual, I'm open to any suggestions you all might have." Unconsciously, X's eyes turned to the White Reploid, expecting some form of answer.

His eyes went wide at the sight of the remains - or rather, lack thereof - of Innerpeace. Th-they said that it was designed to take a near-miss from a ten-thousand Gigaton blast! How did one warhead turn it into a crater!? Damn it! I'm going to have a little talk with any of our weapon engineers if they're still alive...!

Nebula sighed as he bit his tongue on that one. "...I think the best option is to send in two teams: one to sabotage their defenses, and one to go straight for Copy Elpizo. Once the defenses are down, we could move the ship closer and bombard them from where they can't touch us. About a month ago, I might have suggested using our soldiers to distract them... but I don't want to see any more unnecessary death."

"It's better than just running in and hoping for the best, but we can't execute the plan if we don't know how to get inside in the first place. It's too risky otherwise..." Until we think of a better plan, we'd better focus on getting Tryton and Kosa aboard. "...Wait a second, shouldn't Tryton know his own fortress? Once we pick him up, we'll have more of an advantage sneaking in."

There was nods of assent all around at Nebula's suggestion, but X frowned when the White Reploid mentioned Tryton. "We don't even know where that Reploid vanished to. Last we saw him was when he and Kosa showed up to fend off those cloned copies of us, and even then they didn't seem to feel like sticking around for long." Harpuia suggested that he could take whatever flight-capable Reploids with him and scour the skies, and while he and X discussed this idea, Falcona shoved her way through the throng towards Nebula.

"Alright Mr. Trigger Happy, I think that you owe me a mission that doesn't involve my traumatic past, especially after not letting me get a chance at that horde back durin' the evac operation," she said, a smirk on her face. "Besides, you 'n I still need to settle some business. I STILL have that bet of a hundred EC with Drac that I can outshoot anyone here!"

Nebula smirked. "Actually, I've got an informant who tipped me off to their recent whereabouts. I'll give Fefnir the coordinates after the meeting."

"...What, you thought I'd leave you behind? Falcona, Dracoex, you two should be on the team for sure. I wasn't even considering letting you guys sit around while Copy Elpizo goes down. Wraith and Phantom should go on the sabotage team. Any of our number who can move quickly and quietly should be taking out the defenses, while our more loud, trouble-making forces should wreck our way to Copy Elpizo and make sure they're not paying attention to anything else. Falcona is perfect for this mission."

Turning to Sola, he frowned. "As much as I'd like to have you on the assault team, your talents are better for the sabotage team. Still, I think I'll let you choose who to go with."

"Fefnir might want to stay here and fly the ship. Somebody needs to operate it while we're inside, and then bring her in to finish things. Harpuia and Leviathan are fast enough that they should probably be with sab- screw it, I'm calling us Team A and Team B. They should be on Team B. X, you need to stay here and issue orders when the defenses go down. ...I think I've said enough for now."

"Actually yes, yes I damn well did," Falcona said with a slight tone of annoyance. However, her displeasure was quickly consumed by a battle-light in her eyes, the idea of getting into a fresh brawl causing a smile to spread underneath her face mask. Dracoex nodded and began rounding up those Nebula described as 'loud and trouble-making,' resisting the slight urge to ask Falcona if she fit the description (though it would have most certainly been amusing, if not painful).

Sola was surprisingly calm with the suggestion. She still had an air of disappointment, but the young Reploid seemed mostly in control of it. "No, you're right, Nebula. I'd rather not get in over my head, and I'm sure everyone here agrees with that. ...thanks though, Nebby," Sola finished, suppressing a giggle at the involuntary nickname she had just given him.

"N... 'Nebby'!?" His composure broke down a little. "Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to live that one down...?"

About a month ago, he would have snapped at anybody who dared give him a name like that. He'd had enough of that as a janitor about two centuries ago. Coming here had done wonders for him.

"A-anyway! Who else is going on either team? Any volunteers?"

Eventually the throng had gathered into two separate groups, each according to the parts in Nebula's plan of attack. The first group - the one doing the smashing - consisted of Falcona, Omega, Craft, Burnout and Dracoex. Meanwhile on the hacker team, there was present Sola, Wraith, Phantom, Harpuia, Leviathan and one face no one expected.

"Erm... Colbur? Are you sure you're up for this?" X asked, wondering how he had missed the former Resistance member in the crowd. Hefting his assault rifle, now equipped with two overdrives on the side brimming with anti-Hive, the Innerpeace commander nodded. "Yes sir, X. And don't worry about me getting infected; I've got backup right here," he finished, patting a pouch on the side of his belt."

"I heard that Colbur did an excellent job evacuating Neo Arcadia." Nebula stated. "I mean, about two-million people still died, and it has little to do with this, but I think he can handle this."

"Fefnir, take down these coordinates: X 7092, Y 3209, Z 1002. It's in the middle of a desert that's accessible by vehicle from where Innerpeace HQ used to be, and I visited it once to grab a few parts. If the circumstances were different, I'd ask X and Zero to have a look around, but we don't have the time to spare for that now. We need Tryton's knowledge of Copy Elpizo's fortress if we're going to get in without a fuss."

One hour long trip up to the fleet, a session of Burnout metaphorically hitting on Leviathan which ended with the X-era Reploid being literally hit upon by the Ice General, and soon enough the massive ship roared down over the desert, it's titanic engines stirring up a good sized sandstorm behind it as it flew. When directly above the coordinates Nebula gave him, Fefnir turned his seat around to face him.

"A'right, we're here Nebula. Dunno what you think is out here, much less a pair of psychotic killers, but do what'cha gotta do. Rouge's already got the grav lift up and runnin'."

Nebula nodded. "Remember to keep those coordinates recorded. X and Zero should definitely see this... and Ciel, too. Once it's all over."





Not long after, the White Reploid was walking on the surface, stopping in front of a peculiar sand dune. Punching it and causing the sand to fall away, he revealed the entrance to a place he was familiar with, back home...

"Who'd have thought they'd come to Light Labs?" He asked himself as he stepped inside. "Kosa! Tryton! Are either of you in here!?"

Dr. Light's AI managed to get the message to me that they had been in here once we escaped that weird arctic zone. Still, how did they even know about it? Even if they're not here, maybe I can get the doctor to tell me where they went...

Nebula's voice echoing throughout the lab brought a certain Reploid's attention away from a prototype buster in his hands, and towards the exit from the room. Eyebrows furrowed in annoyance, Tryton snorted, obviously not very amused with the prospect of dealing with Nebula. "Great, the White Pansy's here, too." Turning to Kosa, his voice was laden with ire as he inquired the other Reploid's opinion. "Think we should beat it? I really don't feel up to bantering with this idiot."

Kosa set down the blueprints he was examining. "Yeah, let's not bother with words. Let's just kick the fucker out!"

As the black Reploid armed himself to fight, Nebula crossed his arms. "We're getting ready to attack Copy Elpizo's fortress. I thought you two would rather not be left out of it."

He turned to leave. "Well, I guess I'll just forget about it, then... you two clearly don't want to be bothered by trivial things like the battle to save the world."

Tryton was halfway into engaging Nebula as well, when their own actions were cut off by his taunting reply. "Why you blasted smartass..." Slamming an open palm into the workbench, the Reploid grimaced. He was extremely loathe to admit it, but Nebula was right. There was simply no way on earth he'd be left out of this upcoming fight, even if it meant swallowing his own harsh words. "...look, y'want us to tag along? Fine. I can't speak for Kosa, but if you want me to join you guys that badly, I guess I might as well."

Nebula turned back to them, a strange look on his face. "Well, to tell you the truth... we really need your help. This assault isn't something to take lightly, we need all the information we can gather. You know the fortress better than anyone."

Kosa grimaced. "I'd rather not be left out of the action. There's a chance that Kathros asshat is going to show up right after we complete the mission, and I'll be there to blast his face off when he does."

"Then why the hell didn't you say so?!" Tryton's frustration was quite evident at this point, emphasized by a solid fist slam onto the workbench, this time leaving a considerable dent in it's surface. "Listen, I don't care about saving this wretched world anymore than I care about you, or those annoying maggots you call friends. I'm in this for one thing, and one thing alone - to save Master Elpizo, you got that?"

"I'm glad you don't care about my or my friends enough to hate us." Nebula shrugged. "We need to put aside our differences-"

"HA!"

"-And work together to accomplish all of our goals. If you guys are done tinkering in the lab of a long-dead genius, then why don't you come and join us?"

The verbal exploit gave Tryton a slight eye-twitch, anger barely kept in check. "I've got half a mind to end you where you stand, even after all that tripe about needing me so damn badly." Nevertheless, even he was in full awareness that standing around wouldn't accomplish anything, let alone putting an end to whomever - or whatever - was behind this entire fiasco. "Look, let's just get going, smartass. I'm tired of all this prattling."

Nebula nodded, shooting a toothy grin at Tryton. "I'll take your challenge anytime. Hope you got better since the last time we fough-"

He was interrupted by Kosa clocking him over the head with one of his gauntlets. "Shut the hell up and take us to your idiot allies! If you waste any more of our time, I swear..."

The Maverick grabbed a couple of papers from nearby surfaces, glaring at Nebula, who turned around and started leading them to the ship.

<Cut to onboard?>

<Pro'lly for the best, yeah>

Even as the cruiser began to lift back off, tension aboard began to mount as word spread about Tryton and Kosa's presence. This became especially prevalent as the duo arrived on the bridge, Nebula leading them. Not a word was spoken in their direction, although almost every optical sensor was aimed towards them. X watched as the White Reploid led the two antagonistic individuals aboard, giving him a nod as he arrived. "Alright. Now that you two are here, we can proceed with the planning of-"

"Let's get something straight here," Tryton interrupted, taking a step forward, cape billowing as he brought his armored foot down with a resounding bang. "There is no 'we.' Kosa and I are only working with you maggots to further our own goals. Beyond information, don't expect cooperation out of us, you hear?" Drawing himself up and crossing his arms, the ebony armored Reploid eyed every single person on the bridge, his glare stopping at X directly in front of him. "We do what we'll see fit. Do not cross us."

What tension there was suddenly multiplied itself five times over, and even a few hands met with their weapons, just in case something would boil over. "That... wasn't something I really doubted, Tryton," X replied, keeping surprisingly calm. "Before I continue, does Kosa have anything to add?" he inquired, giving the black armored Reploid an inquisitive look.

"Hm?" He looked up, distracted. "Oh, yeah, uh... don't get your stupid asses killed. I'd really rather enough of you survive to actually be a challenge, after we kill Kathros."

Kosa stole glances at the Operators whenever he thought nobody was looking. Is she on board? Is she even still alive after so long?