Chain 028: Mega Man Zero

Chain 028: Mega Man Zero
Location: Neo Arcadian desert
Age: 20
Identity: Wanderer
Drawbacks: [+200] Mercy Invulnerability
(Abilities: Savant; Hyperkinesis; Regeneration; Achron; To Truly Live; Setup Wizard; Wandless Magic; Waveform Anatomy; Hybrid; AT Field Mastery; Secondary Field; Boundless Drive; Cybernetic Knowledge; Light of the Orokin)
[Free]      Opportunist
[200/1200]  Cyber Competencies
[600/1200]  Paragon
[Free]      Warning
[Free]      MMZ Collection
[800/1200]  Pantheon Blueprint
[1200/1200] Transerver Plans

Initially, ending up in this setting makes things rather difficult. But quite honestly, stumbling across the resistance was a fortunate thing, even if I had to go through a desert of derelict-seeming robots with nothing but the .45 longslide at my side. Of course, this apparently being the far future, bullets are of limited use. Unless you're me, anyway, and using timeline-manipulating abilities to make things look like you're just speedrunning through it all with little care.

(Of note: my wanderer's cloak has been turned white, and the biometric cut-outs are now gold-lensed glasses. They're fantastic for the desert glare, and while it does give me quite the distinctive appearance when paired with the cloak, they certainly don't do much for helping me blend in. Thanks so much, Warframe.)

(Note to self: throw the .45 longslide into the void relic refiner when I get the chance.)

In any event... the resistance's situation seemed pretty dire, to be totally honest. I accompanied them, as they were on a mission, and when they found Zero I did my best to keep the Pantheon troops off of them and keep the casualties at none. Zero, once awakened, handily finished the job and carved us all a path to freedom. At that point we established a base of operations, and I saw to it that Ciel had anything she needed - there were more supplies than people expected (thanks to some sleight of hand and the Pixelator) and thus the energy shortage wasn't quite so bad as it otherwise might have been expected to be, at least for us.

I aided Zero in field operations, helped him get up to snuff, and worked on a few upgrades for him - being able to draw on the Light of the Orikin was remarkably effective when it came to reploid tech, it seemed - as well as helping the other Resistance upgrade what would otherwise have been low-power weapons and weaker armor. Granted, it also meant that the result was a Resistance whose uniforms were primarily gold and ivory rather than black and green, but... it seemed to do a bit for morale, honestly.

Zero did quite a number on Neo Arcadia and assassinated X before wandering into the desert to cut down on the Pantheon threat. While he was busy spending all of his time doing that, I decided it was worthwhile to abuse my resources - the planet was seeded with plant life according to the Triumvirate's design while Neo Arcadia scrambled to hold onto control.

During all of that, Elpizo usurped my command and would have led a disastrous assault had I not called him out onto the carpet for insurrection. Oh, it would all be worth the losses of life as long as the Dark Elf was obtained, he said. That was the most idiotic thing ever; goaded into attacking me outright, he found himself bisected by a progressive sword. Not the happiest thing I have ever done, admittedly, but... it got the point across.

"You all saw what happened. I killed this soldier, Elpizo. Why? Because he was going to lead you to your death. Did he have a good idea? Yes. But marching in with no plan means failure, and failure is death. You probably all lost some respect for me - and that's fine. I'd rather have you all here, alive, to be angry with me than dead in Neo Arcadia," I told them. Further operations did indeed take place once Zero returned to the Resistance, incidentally, and when we had a good plan. And eventually the Dark Elf and her two offspring were liberated... very carefully. Captured intact. Not freed. But they were the key to Ciel figuring out the solution to the energy crisis. Meanwhile, Neo Arcadia hadn't just written everyone off... but they had lightened the pressure while Ciel had been negotiating with them, to give them the Ciel System and end the energy crisis.

Of course, this was the point that an energy signature appeared, similar to the Dark Elf - and Zero charged in, as did the three remaining Guardians of Neo Arcadia. Leviathan, Fefnir, and Harpuia. I joined the fight as well.

The battle that would have been the beginning of Mega Man Zero 3 went far differently than it otherwise might have. I used my Achron abilities to their full potential - the Guardians were warned that we were coming. They were warned that Dr. Weil was going to return, with a subverted Copy X under his control. When Zero attacked, the five of us attacked as one. The Guardians didn't expect to see a human keeping up with them, let alone a human who moved as quickly as them. Keeping the pressure on the massive reploid known as Omega instead of letting up was effective. He regenerated damage, but not fast enough. His shell shattered just as Weil appeared with Copy X, as anticipated.

The four of them took on Zero's original body in a fight that raged across the wasteland. I couldn't participate in that, sadly - instead, I lunged for X and Weil and generated a portal to the Warehouse directly underneath the three of us; charging in, parrying the attack with an AT field while flinging them out of the other Warehouse portal with my secondary field, in the distant desert.

"I know your plans, so spare me your lies," I told Weil as I charged in. Copy X attempted to protect Weil, but it was rather futile - he did not have a chance to engage his secondary mode before being split in the same way Elpizo was. As for Weil... even a prog-sword wasn't enough to overcome plot-based regeneration. Telekinesis and AT field attacks were marginally more effective. And then it occurred to me, of course - the most important lesson I never learned from Professor Quirrel.

The standard counter-Charm for the final boss is, of course, Fiendfyre.