Mega Man Fan Fiction ❯ Warmachine ❯ Prologue ( Prologue )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
Prologue

The overhead lights slowly hummed to life as the sound of a light switch being flipped echoed through the high ceiling, dome-shaped room. The room was filled with research material, huge, expensive terminals, simulators, lab equipment, tools and blueprints scattered across a cold, steel desk. In the center of the room stood the large energy generator. A steel, soft blue pylon that reached up to the ceiling of the dome. Four pods were connected to the machine, powered by the generator, working overtime to keep the silhouettes inside active while a last minute analysis of their systems was being executed. The room bathed in the strange light blue glow of the generator, most objects in the room casting multiple shadows. The view screens hanging over each pod showed the schematics of the Reploid inside and a mass of data and information constantly scrolled across the canvas before being saved on the large server in back of the room.

The nervous shuffling of a pair of booted feet could now be heard as a short; slightly hunching Reploid entered the room. His hands constantly clenched into fists before releasing again tensely.
“They want to take you from me… They want to shut us down.” The Reploid jerked his head back to look over his shoulder awkwardly, jumping at shadows that moved slightly because of the flickering of the view screens.
“The bastards.” The Reploid added with a weird, high pitched voice. The humanoid robot was a scientist, which was obvious by the look of his dirty, smudge-ridden lab coat, his oddly positioned synthetic hair and basic body frame. His eyes were blood red, filled with the insanity and paranoia that also filled his mind.
“But they won’t get you, oh no no no no… No!” he yelled out erratically, talking to himself more than his creations in the pods.
His hand reached out and tenderly caressed the Plexiglas cover of the pod closest to him. It was labeled V-002 in golden lettering on the metal strip connecting the glass with the steel confines of the pod.
“They wanted you. They needed you. Warmachines. Humph! The fools!” frantically the man turned away from the pods and returned to his main terminal, quickly pressing several keys on the oversized dashboard, some data automatically printing only to be ripped out of the slot and discarded into a small waste bin.

“They’ve come to kill us you know. Murder us, destroy us, lock us away. They’re already up there. They shot her you know.” He spoke, suddenly nodding half a dozen times as if the pod behind him silently agreed.
“Right in front of me, with a buster, square in the eyes. She was dead before she hit the ground.” He continued as he skimmed through the plethora of research folders saved on the computer’s hard drive, until he found what he needed.
“But they won’t get us, oh no. They don’t know of your strength. They knew what one of you could do…” he stated, his mind moving from one memory, one subject, to the other as the scientist was completely overcome by emotional stress, the loss of a loved one. He looked over his shoulder again at the empty pod labeled V-004.
“I let him down… But not again! No! NO!” the scientist slammed his fist into the terminal, gripping his eyes with the palm of his hand, clenching his face as he suppressed his grief, as he suppressed the nervous breakdown that was a mere seconds away from overcoming him.
“You’ll be safe…” he finished as he found what he needed and quickly downloaded the information into one of the pods behind him before lowering them slowly to a secure floor below.

An explosion ripped through the silence in the room and was soon followed by a blackout, the backup generator kicking in on time to continue the process the scientist had started. The lights dimmed and become blood red as the alarms sounded. A loud banging noise on the blast door echoed through the dome.
The scientist reached for a device the terminal spat out, a power source, one that was quickly reaching critical energy levels. The man took out a buster pistol he had stolen from an injured Hunter.
“Those Maverick Hunters are finished. They’ll all die… You’ll see to it won’t you? My lovelies?” he spoke as he approached the lower pods, looking down at the V-003 unit as it descended. The scientist quickly became a dark silhouette and when the blast doors closed there was only darkness.

The doors bend outward, completely destroyed by an explosive charged placed outside to breach the secure confines of the lab. Three hunters stormed in, two of them instantly shooting down the two defense turrets that descended from the ceiling.
“There he is! Take him down!” The officer of the small unit exclaimed as he pointed to the other side of the room.
The scientist’s insane laughter echoed even down through the many layers of concrete, steel and powerful alloys that made up the bunker that now kept his creations safe.
“Never! Never!” He barely managed to utter one more word as when he raised the pistol to open fire he was mortally injured by a buster shot to his chest plate. The scientist fell back, hitting the ground hard, the power cell clutched in his hand.
The hunters slowly approached, their weapons still raised until one of them noticed the humming device so obviously out of control.
“It… It’s going to blow!!” the youngest cried out in fear.
“Goodbye my children…” were the last words the Reploid scientist uttered before the device reached critical energy levels and exploded.
The blast was gigantic, taking the entire facility with it in a column of flame, smoke and debris, leaving nothing more than rubble in its wake.

~~*~*~~

“Sir… There’s something here. Sir!” the gentle voice of a Maverick Hunter grunt attempted to get the attention of his superior. The large Reploid Commander approached the much smaller Reploid and placed his hands in his sides.
“It looks like… a pod. Shall we retrieve it Commander Sigma?” the Hunter requested as he looked up at the green and black colored commander of the Maverick Hunters. The bald Reploid’s eyes narrowed before a large white hand reached for his chin.
“Yes… Take him to Dr.Cain for the necessary maintenance. He could serve a purpose.” Sigma replied before turning around and returning to his officers to continue with the coordination of the cleanup operation. The explosion in the lab had attracted press and politicians and it was hard to decide which was worse.
The hunter turned his eyes back to the pod, his hand wiping away dust, ash and little bits of debris from the Plexiglas cover to reveal a helmet.
A purple Helmet with a T-shaped visor and one letter on its forehead: V…
Vile.