#stagesetting

Part of him still wondered what difference it would have made if he’d acted differently the last time he’d been in this position. He’d sent his second in command to visit Dopple Town, and Blast Hornet had ended up taken down in the ensuing crisis. Would Zero have been able to prevent anything if he’d gone instead? Would he have been turned? Would it have been better to just not send anyone?

Still, he was determined to be there this time. It would be different: Repliforce was purpose built to help handle mavericks by force, instead of being based on some researcher’s lies and dreams.

He ran over the briefing materials on the ride over. It was a large military organization, with a few key central command units leading loosely specialized branches. Similar to the squadron system the Hunters had used, but scaled up.

((This is only a concept for a scene, but in my X4 storyline, Sigma actually approaches General in a different way than he does in canon (mostly because I couldn’t figure out how to get him to do it without immediately setting off a bunch of alarm bells). When Sigma found out about General after his revival, he mistakenly thought that Repliforce was an underlying maverick organization, and wanted to recruit - then assimilate them - into his ranks. He very carefully tested General by masquerading as a weapon designer, and pretended to try to pitch a fake weapon to him. General was pretty interested in his weapon, and was considering sealing the deal.

During a bit of an off-topic discussion, Sigma put out some feelers to see how receptive General would be to the maverick ideology (the reason why I’ve never written this scene is because I’m not really sure how he would accomplish that without being too conspicuous). To Sigma’s surprise, General became both offended and suspicious. He eventually told him to leave, and right before the door closed in his face, he adds: “...And Mr.[alias]? The deal is off.”

Well, if you don’t count friendly competition in the sparring room or training exercises.

But as far as sport or games, he doesn’t have much actual experience. He still has preferences, even if he hasn’t fully explored them as yet. A physical aspect of some sort helps: while able to think strategically, a purely mental or mind/luck based game is going to lose his interest.

Regrettable, but in the circumstances there was nothing else that could be done but to take them down. If anything, those incidents serve as additional motivation, serving as a reminder that if the Maverick threat isn’t stopped for good this will keep happening.

My esteemed and overly cautious fool of a colleague Light has a new project.̧̧̕.̀͡-̷̡́̕-̡-̨̡-͠͝͏̧-̷̡-̨̀͠-̕͟͢͜-̢̡-̢͝-̵̀͝͝-̛͏̸͢͢-̷̨̛-҉͢͡͝-҉̧̛́-̵̨̢̡-́̀͠͝…͢-̡́͢͟-̢̕͢͟-̴͜͠͝͡   While I am forced to admit there is some logic to his approach́̕͜͢-̕͜͝-͟҉̡̧-̛-͏̵̡-͏̴͞͞-̡͢-̡̀̕͞-͞͏-̴̨͝-̶̧̕͟-̶̸́́͘-̨͟-̷̨͘͠-̛̕͞-̨͘͢͝-̶̡-̡̧͘͘͡-̶̧̡͡-̴̀-͢-́͘͢-͘͏̶-̡͜-̴̡̕̕͢-͏́͝͞-̧͡-̶́҉̨̛   new hope for the future. Still he-̢̀-̵̛͜-̀͢͢͝-̢͘͜͠-̴  robots as a tool̛ -̴̶̡͢͝-̵̡͝-̴͘҉-͜-̶̢̨̛-̵͠͞-̵͜ humanity.҉͜͝-̷̛̀͟͞-͏̕̕-̷͏̕͜-̴͢͞͏̵-̕͜-̸͡-̢̧̡̕͟-̸̧́҉-̴̸̢̀͠-҉̸̨͝͏-͏̴̢-҉̕-̡̡͘͠-̶̷̀͘͞-̷̸͘͘͞-́̀̕͜-̸̸̧̛͠

I can do better. -̷̛͜͠͡-͘͡-̧́͜͞-͡͏̛͘-̨̀͟,̸̧͞ Zero, will be able to be better than this new Mega Man.͏̢́-̢̡-̵̶̡̢̡-̧̀́͢͡-͜-̨̀͘͡ ͠͏͏d̶̷̨͝e̵҉s͏̡͢t̶̨̢͟r̀͞͠͡o̸̸͢͠y̴̵̧̛̛ ̢͢͡ Mega Man.

-̵̀-̸̢҉-̢́͜-̴̢̡́-̶͝ like adrenaline in a human body, it will serve as a performance enhancement in times of danger. -̛-̴̛-̸̡͜͞-̕͟-̶̨̧̡-̧̛̀͟͜-̷̀͜-̴̴-̛́-̴̛͢-̨͜͡-̴̡͡-̡̕͠-̀͘͜-̸͟͡͡͏backup systems and weapon functions-҉̧͜-͏́͝͡͡-̵̨̛-̧̡͠-̵͜-́-̴̛͟͞-̀́͟͟-̶̷͜-͏̢-҉-̨̕͠-̛͠-͞-̧̀͠-̸̶͜-̨-̸̵̀̕-́͘-̢́̀͝͞-̀̕-͏̸́́-̷̴̵̛-̸̵ small scale repairs-̀͜-̧̨́̕-̴̛͢͡-̵̡̛̀-̸̵̨͝-̕͘̕͞-͏̶͞-̴̸̢̡̧-̶̢͘͏̨

In the true long grand scheme of things, Zero isn’t really sure about that.

There’s a certain amount of “Always attack the problem that life places right in front of your face” in Zero’s approach. Right now, that problem is the ever-changing Maverick threat.

That has to be eliminated, as reploidkind has to bear the distrust that arises from every new incident.

Long term thoughts mostly center around a certainty that X will develop into a strong enough hunter that he’ll be able to tip the scales. Until that point Zero will keep fighting and pulling his weight.

It is hard for Zero to really picture what things would be like after that point, as his conscious memory doesn’t contain anything before being in Maverick Hunter HQ after being ‘recovered’. The only time he wasn’t actively fighting or dying for that war was the brief period being observed while they weighed if he’d be worth the risk to field.