Chapter 12: Assault on the Fortress

June 8th
Outside Japan

Wildfire pushed the jetboat faster across the waters. The engine was designed to be quiet, which allowed him to travel the ocean at top speeds without being heard. All the data he had been collecting had pointing to this location: Japan.

Looking ahead at the waters, the sun glittering over the ocean, causing it to look a strange orange as it started to set on the horizon. Over in Mega City the sun would just be coming up, just beginning the eighth of June for the Hunters. Perhaps the difference in time would give Wildfire an advantage to find Sigma before the Hunters became impatient.

The boat bounced across the waves, shaking Wildfire about as he traveled on. His data had pointed him to Japan after examining the layout of the bases around the world. The eight Maverick bases were set up to take over the world in key positions, yet none of them was set up in Japan, even though Boomer Kuwanger's was close, being in China of Asia.

But it wasn't just blind, random luck that had pointed out Japan as the key to this all. Wildfire noticed that a large sum of energy was being generated from the island nation that hadn't been there previous. However, most of that energy began to appear after the first four Mavericks died at the hands of X. That led Wildfire to believe that had helped cloaked the base until their destructions, thus revealing the fortress even more.

Traveling to Japan had brought some interesting results for Wildfire. He had arrived in Tokyo, Japan to ask around. The city hadn't much for him, so he went to one of the smaller waterport towns on the coast, where many fishermen were. While this wasn't a big trade anymore in the larger areas, like Tokyo, where they could just have machines skim the waters for fish or have some other type of food, the smaller villages depended on the fishing for survival.

That was what had brought Wildfire out here. The fishermen's tales.

Wildfire sat down at the bar where many of the fishermen were nestling some beers after a long day of work. He glanced at one of the older men who had no drink and leaned over. "Mind if I buy you a beer?"

The man glanced at him suspiciously, then shrugged. "Sure," he said in Japanese. Wildfire ordered them both a beer and they began to drink it down. The old man glanced back at Wildfire, still speaking in Japanese, which was the only language he knew. "You're a reploid, aren't you?"

Wildfire nodded. "Yes I am."

The man glared. "Aren't reploids starting up wars?"

"Some of us are. I'm part of a team to stop the few that are trying this. Their small group will be crushed. The majority of us truly want peace. That is why I'm here. I'm searching for anything strange around Japan," Wildfire told him in Japanese.

The man scowled. "Something strange, eh? I've heard the others talking about seeing some strange. Hizaki, come here," the old man shouted out to one of the younger fishermen. He walked over and sat down. "Tell this reploid that strange thing you saw today."

The man looked at Wildfire, sizing him up. "Well," Hizaki began, "I saw the damnest thing in the fog this morning. I was going to my normal fishing area when I saw one of the islands, floating."

Wildfire blinked. "A floating island?"

The man nodded. "Yeah, it was floating near another island. On that island on the ground was a bunch of machines and buildings. I couldn't tell what was on the island, but I figured it was a bad omen, so I left," Hizaki told him. He proceeded to tell him the location.

Wildfire stood up. "Thank you both. I'll get to the bottom of this and see if it's truly the evil reploids' hideout. Then, perhaps, the planet can return to peace." He started to go when Hizaki stood up.

"Here, take one of my boats. You might get into trouble out there, stranger," Hizaki told him, throwing him a set of keys. Wildfire caught them and nodded. With that he went out the door and worked his way to the docks, borrowing the boat given to him. He rode out immediately, traveling to the area Hizaki had described.

Wildfire adjusted the controls some, slowing down as he reached area Hizaki had described to him. "And here I am..." he muttered to himself. As the boat floated forward, Wildfire noticed it was night now, totally pitch black. At least it would provide him some cover.

As the boat floated forward, Wildfire could hear sounds of machinery. Looking out he saw a bunch of lights on a nearby island. Piloting the boat over to the area, he stopped it and hopped onto the beach of the island, working his way toward the center. He turned on his night vision and looked out, surprised at how large the military installment was here. And it was definitely maverick, too.

Scanning the area, he determined this wasn't the main setup, but just supplied something else. Looking around for the floating island Hizaki described, Wildfire blinked in surprise when he finally did see it. The huge floating island was just to the west of the island, with platforms rising up and down, connecting the two. That was definitely Sigma's fortress.

Throwing down a teleporter responder, Wildfire backed away. He just had to make it back to Japan and send out a transmission to the Hunters back home. Running back, he jumped onto his boat, flipped it on, and rode away.

In just a few hours, this place would mark the final battle of the Maverick War.

Maverick Hunter HQ

After battling so much, the Hunters had finally reached the eye of the storm. All was quiet on the front, nothing seemed to be happening. Zero was growing impatient. X sat at the conference table, watching him pace back and forth. "You're going to wear the floor out."

Zero stopped, scowled at him, then resumed his pacing. "We're running out of time, I just know it, X. Sigma's going to attack the earth any time now, I'm just sure of it."

"Or maybe he's waiting to see what our next move is," X suggested.

"I got it! He's waiting to see what our next move is!" Zero exclaimed, faltered, then went back to pacing. "No way in hell. He's up to something. If he's waiting for anything, it's just the right moment to pull the string to his trap."

X sighed. "You're too paranoid."

Zero kept on pacing. "Paranoid is good. Paranoid keeps you alive. Being paranoid might save your life some day, 'Rocky'."

X groaned. "Is that getting out already?" he asked in despair.

"You betcha. X1's passing on the news you decided to try and be a man by blocking attacks with your face. By the way," Zero told him, stepping up and twinking X's nose, "how's the nose? Still sore?"

X screeched in pain. "LEGGO!" Zero stepped back, grinned evilly, then went back to pacing. X rubbed his nose, annoyed. "You could have just told me to shut up."

"But that's not as fun."

Suddenly a reploid ran in. "Sir, we have a transmission coming on a secure line. It's Wildfire." Zero spun around and literally ran out of the room before either X or the newcomer could respond. Both looked at each other, shrugged, then went to follow Zero in the other room.

Wildfire's image was on the HoloVid, cutting in and out. "Ah, General Zero, I'm glad to have gotten this through."

"Yeah, yeah, spill it, Wildfire," Zero rushed him on.

"Sheesh, fine, how's your day too. Anyway, I found Sigma's Fortress," Wildfire told him.

"And? And? Where is it?"

"...just telling you won't do any good! I'm downloading the location to your computers now!" Wildfire shouted.

Zero sulked. "Fine. Could have given me a general idea."

"Japan. Happy?"

"Extremely. Lets bomb all of Japan, guys," Zero told the crew in the room.

X sighed. "...Zero...down boy."

"Aww, I don't get to pull out the nuclear toys," Zero remarked and waited, impatiently, for the data to download. A few minutes later, one of the Hunters turned around.

"We have the location, sir. Wildfire has set up a teleportation line directly to the island next to the Fortress. We can start sending troops within the hour," he said.

Zero clapped his hands together. "Excellent. Finally, we're doing something other than sitting on our asses."

Wildfire's image blinked in and out again. "One thing I should warn you guys about, though..."

"What's that?" X asked.

"Sigma's Fortress is literally a floating island. I'm afraid this is going to be one helluva battle, seeing as the place I've set up the link to teleport is on the island next to it. You're going to have to fight your way up into the Fortress where who knows what will wait for you."

Zero's face twitched. "A floating...island? Where the hell does Sigma get these toys?"

X shrugged. "At your local 7-11?"

* * * * *

Death Star sat next to North Star's bed, his face in his hands. He hadn't left the room since North Star had been brought in. He had finally tired out of begging, pleading, cursing, demanding, and ordering his friend to awaken. The tired reploid had just decided to sit down and wallow in his sorrow.

"Ughh..." Death Star looked up and saw North Star moving ever so slightly. He hopped out of the chair and ran over to his friend's side.

"I'm here, North Star. Are you okay? Can you hear me? Should I get X1?"

North Star groaned and opened his eyes weakly. "You could...shut...the...hell up...you're...hurting ...my head...with those...questions..."

Death Star grinned. "Good to have you back."

"...how...long...have I been...out?" North Star asked.

"I'm not sure...seems like forever. Two days, max. Probably less."

"Has...Sigma...?"

"He's still alive. We haven't found him yet," Death Star told him.

North Star slumped back some at that. "You kill Terran?"

"He's dead. I took his saber as a souvenir," Death Star informed him.

"Heh...that's my boy. Seems you've some a long way from what I first remember you..." North Star said.

"Oh? What was I like?"

"You were too much of a intellect, like X. However, you had a strange sense of humor to you, like you almost enjoyed being a bit of a jackass. But deep down, you loved life, hated violence, and was basically a sissy in the best form of the word. But now...look at you. You're killing Maverick commanders, fighting a war against all odds, and still going strong..."

"...North Star...I'm...not strong..." Death Star began.

"You are too. You just don't know it yet. But when you get your crack at Sigma, you'll see. Now, I'm in no shape to fight, but I want you to finish up this war before I get well, so I can go around kicking all the dead Maverick's bodies," North Star ordered.

"But---"

"No buts. Soon it'll be me and you again, fighting side by side. But for now...it's up to you, alone, to go and do this. You don't need me to baby you and protect you. What you need is a good ass kicking in which you both get the shit beat out of you and you beat the shit out of that person. Perhaps it'll knock some sense into you. You'll find your own way in this."

Death Star nodded. "Hey, I'm a soldier, after all."

"That's the spirit. Now, get out of here and see what Zero's up to. I don't want you to miss anything."

"Good bye, North Star."

"Later, Death Star."

Death Star turned, smiled sadly, and walked through the door. When he was sure his friend was gone, North Star grimaced in pain and grabbed his shoulder, trying not to scream out. "It's...over...for me... I can't handle...anymore...fighting..."

* * * * *

Brian Carter propped his feet up on the table in the conference room while all the Hunters gathered in. Zero paced back and forth, impatiently waiting for all the remaining Hunters to gather. Leaning back in his seat, Brian amused himself in watching Zero pace when he noticed Death Star walk in and sit down, looking more determined than before.

"Okay, is that everyone?" Zero asked and glanced around. "Yes? Good." He clapped his hands together. "This is the moment we've all been waiting for." Brian glanced around at he fifteen nodding faces. Even X was among them now, having finished his assignments, much to everyone's surprise, and looked even stronger than before.

"Wildfire has found Sigma and opened up a teleportation link to the island next to Sigma's fortress. This island has a building facility for mavericks, not reploids per say, but the drones and other strange creations we've been fighting. The only known way up to the fortress, which is actually a floating island," Zero went on, muttering starting up at that last bit of info, "is through a series of platforms that raise up to it. It's probably tricky to maneuver."

Zero looked at them all. "Sigma and Vile are in here, no doubt. We take those two out and their followers will soon begin to crumble. Sure, we'll have factions splitting up and proclaiming leaders of their own, but the main threat will be gone. We take out those two, we get the pressure off our backs, reploids being produced won't be criticized as bad, and Cain won't be such a drunk anymore. Sounds good, right?" Everyone nodded.

"But I'm not going to kid you guys. This is probably going to be the toughest battle we've ever faced. You thought that Terran incident was bad? This is going to be much worse, trust me. Sigma's going to throw everything he has against us, including himself, and we're going to have to stand strong against it. Not all of us going to make it out of this alive, but those who die will die for a cause. And we WILL win if we put everything WE have into this. I know a lot of you guys are tired, or hurting, but I ask you this, please, give it your all, one more time," Zero finished.

All the Hunters stood up and cheered. Zero smiled brightly. "I'm going to divide us into two main groups and one sub group. Group A will be led by Death Star. It will consist of everyone except myself, X, and those two," Zero told them, picking out two random Hunters. "Group B will be myself and those two Hunters. Our job will be to take out the main forces while X sneaks inside. X, I'll tell you your job once we get there." X nodded.

"Now, remember, no heroics. Don't rush in there to take out Vile and Sigma. Just get rid of the main defenses, the facility, and help bring the fortress down. Leave Vile and Sigma to me and X. Okay?" Everyone agreed, even Death Star.

"Alright, lets get ready for a trip. Today's the day. Even if we are going to go overseas where it's the 9th," Zero said.

X1 cocked his head. "Wouldn't that make tomorrow the day?"

Zero sighed. "But we're doing it now, today, our time."

"But shouldn't you put off until tomorrow what you can do today?" X1 asked.

"...X1..." Zero growled warningly.

"You know what they say, there's always tomorrow..." X1 continued.

"....X1...." Zero hissed.

"Of course, tomorrow never seems to come, since tomorrow always becomes today, but then today becomes yesterday, and if you look at it, what is today?" X1 went on.

Zero threw back his fist and punched at X1. Cheers went up, only to be turned to disappointed groans as X1 sidestepped it. "Hey, save it for the enemy! I'll have to write you up, Mista!" X1 warned him.

Death Star shook his head. "And you ask why I think we should just teleport him to the enemy."

Zero looked down. "I'm afraid they'd just send him back."

June 9th (Or 8th)
Sigma's Fortress

Sigma stood in his chamber, his eyes closed, feeling his surroundings. Today was the day of destiny. When he would win over all the Hunters, as it was written. He had finally finished having the tablets he found translated. They were tricky, almost not of this world, but they had finally been cracked and dated to be hundred years or so old. Maybe more.

Closing his fists, Sigma slowly powered up, a dark aura surrounding him as he tasted his soon to be victory, playing in his head. The tablets told of a prophecy. In an era of chaos and confusion, a new race will rise toward power. One of them will step out after many years and give balance to to the power, taking over all and bringing an end to all suffering with his ideals. With him, a new age will usher in as a chapter ends.

Of course, it was telling of Sigma's leading his reploid brethren against the injustices of the human race. He would take over the planet and usher in a new era of peace for all reploids, after causing mass genocide to the humans.

That was why Sigma was driven. Driven to take over the planet at any cost. That was why he refused to let anything stop him. It was his destiny to win. To rule all. To lead his reploid brethren from the humans' reigns of injustice. And he would begin the first step, today, by killing the Maverick Hunters.

His comm. link beeped. "My lord, the Maverick Hunters are teleporting in. They think they have been undetected."

He opened his eyes and grinned. "Attack them. Use everything you have to totally destroy all the Hunters. And lead X and Zero inside the base to where Vile awaits. He looks forward to a rematch with them both."

"Understood, my lord."

Nearby a low whine could he heard and Sigma turned to his new pet, a reploid dog. "Don't worry, my pet. Soon, soon your master will be victorious. Before this day ends, the Hunters will take their biggest defeat yet. And I shall step upon their crushed bodies to my throne."

The final battle for all of humanity in the first Maverick War...had begun.

* * * * *

Zero and X teleported down onto the ground, the other Hunters heading in behind them. Zero looked at X seriously. "I want you to sneak in quietly while I take on the main forces and keep them busy. Be careful, X. Don't do anything stupid."

X nodded. "I'll be fine, Zero, really."

Zero smirked. "I'm sure you are. Your job is just to get inside the fortress and find where Sigma is. Clean and simple. If you come across Vile, stay away from him. Don't play hero."

X frowned, a little sad Zero didn't trust X to take on Vile. "Alright."

Suddenly a bunch of teleporation beams surrounded them as the rest of the team arrived. Death Star activated one of his sabers and looked at everyone that would be with him. "Good. Lets go and attack the main forces so the others can sneak in. That's our only objective. Do not go inside the fortress until we get further orders. Understand?" Everyone under his command nodded. "Right, follow me." Group A ran off.

Zero looked at the two Hunters with him. "You two, follow me closely. Like Death Star's group, we'll be tackling the main forces, but inside. Be sure to clear a way for X to get inside without much trouble, alright?" The two Hunters nodded. With that, Group B ran off in another direction.

X stood there, alone, a cold wind blowing by. He looked up at the fortress slowly appearing in the morning light. Destiny...destiny awaited.

* * * * *

Brian Carter dived to the right as the gun turrets opened fire. Aiming his rifle, he fired off three plasma blasts and dived behind a rock. "Dammit, how are we suppose to get up to that fortress?" he snarled. Death Star flipped through the air and landed beside him, deflecting an incoming blast with both his sabers.

"Easy. We use those flying platforms to work our way up. Then we can begin to do some serious damage to the main defenses," he responded.

Wildfire fired off a few blasts from his blaster. He decided to join in on this battle since it was going to take everyone they had to save the day this time. "Yeah, sure, only if we can get that high without the main defenses picking us away. They have better distance than us."

Death Star clucked his tongue and glanced around. "Well damn, just find loop holes in my ideas why don't you!?"

* * * * *

Zero flipped through the air, his blaster smashing away at the huge robots that came marching their way. Seemed Sigma had kept quite a few of the maverick robots close to home to slow them down. Landing on his feet, he charged his blaster while the two reploids with him ran on either side of him, firing away at the robots. "We have to reach that fortress up there so we can clear a way for X."

"Yes, Commander."

The three blew the legs off a walking robot armor tank. As they ran past him, three bee robots came swooping down, firing blasts at Zero. He attempted to jump over them, but found himself falling short. Preparing for the blasts to ram him, suddenly one of his two comrades leaped out and took the shots head on. The robot crashed lifelessly onto the ground before exploding. "Da-dammit!" shouted Zero, stepping back.

The two looked as the bees began to swoop in. "This is getting hairy...and fast."

* * * * *

X ran as fast as he could past the main defenses area. By taking this side way, he shouldn't be noticed as easily as if he were with the others. He just hoped no one died depending on him to come through with this little scouting assignment. Up ahead a stationary robot fired missiles at him. Charging his blaster to a level 2, he fired, blowing the missiles up in mid air.

Running past the smoke, X leaped at the robot, landing in front of it. The maverick robot began adjusted it's missiles and fired again, only to have X leap into the air as the missiles exploded where they were, damaging the ground around the robot. It tumbled over and crashed upside, now useless.

Hitting the ground running, X jumped over a couple rocks and other hazardous obstacles that threatened to offset his trek towards the fortress. Glancing up, he saw the only way to reach the fortress was to use the flying platforms. Obviously a trap, but his only chance.

Spotting three more of the previous maverick robots, X narrowed his eyes in determination. Time to prove that he could save the day. As the three mavericks fired nine missiles his way, X leaped head on to meet them.

* * * * *

Brian Carter slammed hard against the rock from the explosion of a crashing bee robot. Wildfire was by his side in a second, picking him up and jumping as more pieces of the bee came crashing down. Setting him down, Wildfire glanced around. "We're down to only 4 of us..."

Brian stood up. "Wha? Dammit, we have no chance of making it up that..."

Death Star shoved some of the bee's parts off of him and stood up, his face stained with blood/battery fluid. "I don't believe in the odds...this is for North Star!" He activated both his sabers and ran straight ahead towards the platforms.

Brian gawked. "You idiot! BAKA! GET BACK HERE!"

Wildfire shrugged. "Oh hell, lets do it." He took off after Brian. Brian grinned and chased after the two. Death Star lead the way by flipping onto a flying platform, barely gaining his balance. Brian, passing Wildfire, flipped up next to him and did a double flip onto the next platform. Wildfire jumped next, joining Death Star as he was jumping up to join Brian.

Brian flipped through the air and landed on a platform seven feet away. Death Star, grinning, leaped after him, with Wildfire just reaching the platform they were once on. The two Hunters then jumped up toward a higher platform as Wildfire once again lagged behind by one platform. "Having trouble keeping up, Death Star?" Brian asked, smirking.

"You just wait, Carter." Death Star leaped past Brian onto the next platform and flipped straight up, leaping up on another one directly above them. Brian hopped up to the platform and kicked off of it, spinning through the air and landing beside Death Star only to kick off immediately which allowed him to reach the entrance. Death Star leaped up a split second later, scowling, as Wildfire caught up a few seconds later.

"You...*huff*...guys show off...*puff* too much..." Wildfire snarled.

"Enough games. Take out the main defenses. We're up at the fortress now, let our main event begin," Death Star ordered.

* * * * *

Zero blasted the bee robot in the head, sending it crashing down as he leaped back. His remaining Hunter fired a few blasts into another bee's propellers, sending it crashing onto the ground sending a shockwave out. The two tired Hunters panted and glanced up at the fortress. "You stay here and hold off as much as you can. Don't take on too much. Retreat isn't something to be ashamed of."

"S-Sir? Where are you going!?"

"I'm going up there. I have a feeling Vile's waiting on us inside that fortress and X might run into him. I have to help him if I can." Zero sprung up and landed on a platform. He kicked off and grabbed the side of the fortress with both hands, pulling himself up slowly.

"Godspeed, sir..."

* * * * *

X ducked under the flying missiles as they all smashed into the ground behind him. The explosion sent dust and smoke, plus rock, stone, and shards flying into his back, but he was alive. Rolling along the ground, X charged his blaster to a level two and fired straight at the lead robot, blowing a hole in it's missile launcher. When it attempted to fire another round, it caused it explode.

Standing up, X ran past the other two robots and made a wild jump onto a platform rotating around the fortress. Gripping it, he pulled himself up on top of it in time to see some flying mavericks working their way in. Charging his blaster, he fired a blast straight into one of them, blowing the wings off and sending it crashing down into the ocean below.

Hopping up onto the next platform, X spied the entrance above. "Almost there..."

* * * * *

Death Star slashed a gun turret in half, stepping around the side as it exploded. Standing on the outside of the fortress was not a fun thing to attempt, but it was the only way to clear a path for X. Brian, beside him, fired at flying bee robot near him, causing him to crash below.

"This is taking too long," Brian snapped.

"I know. What we need is someone to self-destruct this base," Wildfire said.

Death Star chuckled. "Yeah, but who would be stupid enough to do that?"

Brian blinked, glanced at Wildfire, back at Death Star, then back at Wildfire. "You know..."

Wildfire's jaw dropped. "Nuh uh! I'm not going inside Sigma's house of horrors to find a self-destruct program! It's probably in the room with him!"

Death Star grinned, leaning against the fortress rock wall. "Sounds like he wants to go to me..."

Brian nodded, a similar grin on his face. "Oh yeah. You can hear it in his voice."

Wildfire looked flabbergasted. "Wha? I do NOT! I'm NOT going in there!"

Death Star smirked. "How about if we babysit you?"

Brian snickered. "Sure, we'll protect you."

Wildfire worked his mouth. "But Zero told us not to go in! We're suppose to get X in!"

Death Star nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you're right." Wildfire looked relieved. "However, X just got in the fortress, followed by Zero."

Wildfire's mouth twitched. "They're inside?"

"Oh yeah. No more reason for us to fight turrets, now is there?" Death Star asked.

Brian nodded. "Of course not."

Wildfire scowled. "You stay out of this, Delta."

Death Star smiled even broader. "C'mon. It'll be a walk in the park."

* * * * *

Vile stood at the opening to main corridor of the fortress. He could hear X approaching fast. Soon, soon he would teach that punk reploid a thing or two about attacking the mavericks. And of course the much superior Zero would be following. That would be the main event for him.

For after this fight, one of them wouldn't be walking way alive.