Briefing

**Briefing** is the seventh chapter of Mega Man X: Unit 49's Season 1.

The chapter happens in the following day of Nightly Torments, with the Maverick Hunters reunited in the Main Hall, when Nora and Alia are ready to show the results of their researches and analysis of the data gathered in Parade and afterwards.
Alia says she was searching for info about those Mavericks while Nora was being the Hunters' main navigator, and she discovered that three of them (excluding Saturn) apparently weren't made to be combat reploids.
On the screen, an image of Baronel and Shad is shown, both Mavericks are specialized in assassinations and stealing operations. Baronel's body was heavily modified, turning him into an actual combat reploid, but with the appearance of a civilian with equipments. It is also revealed that Shad was originally named as SWM 01 S, a reploid created at the same time of his sibling SWM 01 K by Saturn in the early 2180's. Zero wonders if Shad kidnapped Axl by accident or it was his mission, Blue Knight answers saying that Shad's actions are usually unpredictable if he isn't ordered, and he should fear what are Saturn plans for Axl.

The next one is Kran, another modified reploid with unknown past and data recorded only after he was an outlaw. He's been developing dangerous combat technologies such as storing DNA reploid inside special mirrors, and applied it to his own body, as seen in Parade. Snacman can't recognize who's the last reploid, Nora replies that he came only after he was retrieved from the battlefield, in other words, the "Raijin". His serial number is NH2183 KER-bkr05, nicknamed as Kerbekeros.

   Between him, Kran and Baronel, he's the only one who didn't erased any information about his past. Kerbekeros is a civilian reploid, the only modifications in his body are the apparatus for his **Raijin Armor**, the huge armor composed by several devices and technologies coming from the black market, so heavy he can't move properly. Enraged, Captain Elika doesn't accept that the entire unit was defeated by a civilian reploid, and realizes why Saturn wants to control the entire crime network with the Neo Maverick Army.

Then, Nora explains why Elika put in risk his own life just to force Kran to retreat - as already mentioned in The 49th Unit, Nora is an expertise in trackings -, Elika had to stay in that chaotic situation until Nora could track discover the location Kran ran to, and luckly he teleported back to "his post". Apparently Kran and his men took over a deactivated reploid factory and resumed the production, destroyed all but one entrances and reinforced the security. There are jamming devices - very similar to the ones used in the 17th Unit in Operation Doomsday - preventing any safe transference to inside the castle, the Hunters will have to go by that only entrance, which is probably a trap.

Elika says he can't send everyone there, since he's still contacting the other Maverick Hunter units and the base can't be left unprotected, so Platina and himself will be staying. X and Zero go first and try to find the jamming device, if they succeed, BK and Snacman will be sent directly inside the factory to assist them. The chapter ends with the teleporter activating.