Ciel's Remorse

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Zero and Axel carried their unconscious leader into a remote military base that was filled with Lode Runner, CRIT, Hunter Alliance and various other resistance resistance factions, keeping an ever watchful eye for any enemy movement even remotely close to the perimeter. Ciel walked over to them, wearing the uniform of the long destroyed Global Alliance Defense Force unit she had long ago retired from. The majority of the forces on the base were from the GADF, and they were the ones that informed the defects the base was filled with to rejoin the efforts to fight the Mavericks.

She examined the unconscious Rock and turned to the two Hunters angrily. “Who dosed him?” She demanded. Axel and Zero quickly pointed at each other with a stupid expression on their faces. She walked over to Axel and gave him a frame jarring blow to the face, yelling, “That's for Lying!!!” She then turned to Zero and smiled. This, however, filled him with more fear than her rage. She wound back and punched him hard enough to knock a piece of his “borrowed” frame from his face.

“HEY!!!” He yelled. “Why the hell did you hit ME?!?” Ciel shrugged and said, “Just felt like it. Now bring him to the lab.” As the two Hybrids carried their leader, Axel muttered, “She hits harder than Gutsman.” Zero nodded. “She scares me more than Bass.” Ciel said behind them, a now looming shadow, and said, “You wouldn't be talking about little old me, would you?” Both Hunters Muttered in fear, “Slag...”

The soldiers all over the base stopped and looked in fear at the brutal beating she was giving the duo. After several minutes of relentless assaulting, she turned and looked at the spectators and let out a content sighed. In a cheerful voice and a broad smile, she said “Okay everyone. Let's get those supplies unloaded.” The Soldiers quickly got back to work with great speed. As the two warriors lay there In tears Zero said, “She's more dangerous than the Mavericks.” Axel, in severe pain, whimpered, “I think I'm starting to rust.”

Several hours later, she finished the repairs and modifications to Rock. Turning to the hunters, she said, “There. The limiters are installed and fully operational. But Are you sure you guys want to do this? There's no telling what it will do to your systems, or if I'll be able to fix the damage after.” Zero shook his head and said, “It doesn't matter either way. Our power cores were severely damaged beyond repair by our final attacks. We're as good as terminated either way we look at it. The best that we can do is get him as far as the gates. After that, our systems will shut down permanently from the use. Ciel looked at him and replied, “I might be able to do something about that. But if I trigger a simulated copy function in rock to make your plan work could remove that possibility.”

Zero looked up and said, “That's okay with me. I have someone waiting for me on the other side, and she never was one for patience.” The young scientist looked at him and said, “you're talking about his sister, aren't you?” Axel sighed. “Good guess.” She shook her head. “I'm a woman. I can pick up on these things. To be honest, I have someone waiting for me as well, but I'm in no real rush to meet him. I knew Professor Light. She taught me everything I know about Reploid mechanics. That's why it breaks my heart to see you three so willing to self-terminate like this.”

Zero didn't answer. Axel turned to her and said, “If it can save Rock as well as defeat Bass, I'd say that it's worth the sacrifice. This isn't just our war anymore. Everyone is caught up in our mess, and it's about time that we made our stand.” Ciel nodded. “You're right,” she said remorsefully. “We have more than ourselves to think about now. I need to get ready. Wait for me outside. I'll call for you when it's time.” Zero and Axel nodded and left the room.

After a half hour of waiting, Axel couldn't stand the silence anymore. “What the Programmer is taking her? There's no way that it can take this long to figure out a copy ability protocol!”
“Sit down,” The swordsman muttered. “You're making me uneasy.” Axel turned to him and demanded, “Calm down? Why the Slag should I calm down? She's probable up to something! She said there were only ten people loyal to us when I caught up to you, and this base has way more than ten people in it!!!” Zero grabbed his angst ridden teammate and pulled him into a seated position.

“I know Ciel,” He said. “She wouldn't do anything that would compromise us or the mission. She's almost like family to me, and I know that she can be trusted. A sure as I know that I can trust you.” After a moment, he said to press his point, “I can trust you, right?” Axle looked at him for several long  moments and finally said in surrender, “Yeah. You know better than ask a question like that. You can trust me till the end.” Zero's face took on a comforted expression. “Good. Because if this doesn't work, the end wont be a long way off.” One of the soldiers came out of the lab and said, “Ciel's ready for you two.” The duo nodded and went to follow through with the plan.

Bass looked at the monitor, viewing the city that tho one lone Reploid had wreaked havoc upon. With a content expression on his face, he mused, “Well done, Rock. Even I could never have done a better job destroying in destroying so many cattle. This ability, this Chaos Command. It holds so much power. Power that can't be matched. It was able to destroy my finest General, Protoman, and it gave you the power to annihilate an entire city of my pawns. I will, have this power, Hunter. And it will be you who shall give it to me!”

Back at the base, Ciel looked at the two Reploids lying on a medical table on either side of Rock. Finishing running a series of tests, she said in an uncertain voice, “Are you sure you two want to go through with this?” Axel replied, “For crying out loud, lady! Mow many times are you going to ask that question?” The complaint was valid. This was the eighth time she had asked that question. Zero said calmly, “Ciel, I know this goes against what you were taught, as well as your ideals. The truth is that if you don't do this, we're not going to stand a chance against Bass. The choice as to whether this is done or not could make or break this war at this point.”

Ciel nodded somberly and said, “You're right. I can't put this off. Okay. I'm going to start the procedure now.” She powered down the two warriors and said remorsefully, “May god forgive me for this...”