And that was exactly what was happening in the hours following the attack on Mega City. The city was a ghost town, completely deserted. The Council was containing the world governments from reacting to the eight maverick bases around the planet. And CorSec and the Hunters were busy containing random Maverick attacks throughout the earth.
As for the Hunters themselves, they were in an even bigger predicament....
Death Star sighed and rubbed his eyes, glancing at Zero. "Have you gone completely crazy, oh glorious leader?" he asked.
Zero coughed. "Look...I know you don't think it was wise to have X go tackle the eight Maverick Masters' bases around the planet, but we can't really spare our main fighters to go take out single bases like that when we have to contain all of Vile's attacks against us. And to try and find Sigma's fortress."
"But sending X to take out a heavily fortified base is just plain stupid. I watched him try to kill a fly one day. It was really sad. Lets just say...the fly won!" Death Star snarled.
Zero waved his hand at Cain's office. "Doctor Cain is in full confidence of X's ability to stop them." The door to the office opened and Dr. Cain stumbled out, drunk.
"It's the end of the world as we know it and *hic* I'm just fine..." he said, wobbling into the bathroom, slamming the door shut. They heard him falling and trying desperately to scramble back up with the aid of his cane inside.
"...full confidence, eh?" Death Star remarked.
Zero shrugged. "He's just showing it differently?"
Death Star nodded. "Oh, certainly, I say getting drunk is a new twist to showing you believe someone can do it. That 'end of the world' line was a nice touch too."
Zero sighed. "Hey, X1 has FULL trust in X's ability to take out eight powerful Mavericks, dontcha X1?"
"...If I said 'No comment', would that have any indication as to my views on the subject?" X1 asked.
Zero muttered. "Hey, you're NAMED after the kid, aren't you in the least bit a fan of his?"
Sliding his 'Go X!' hat off and removing his homemade t-shirt of X propaganda, he looked solemnly at Zero. "...I came first, dammit! Me me me! Not him, me! Bite me, Goldilocks! No, wait, don't! Aiieeee!!!!"
Zero and Death Star exchanged long looks. Finally Death Star spoke up. "....uh, number one, where did he get that stuff. Two, is he on drugs?"
Zero shrugged. "No telling with him."
Death Star studied X1 for a moment. "And why the hell is he a doctor? I think he's bribing Cain..." There was a crash in the bathroom. "Or he was just drunk and passed X1 through without a second thought...."
"He wasn't drunk, he was just a little tipsy!"
Death Star crossed his arms. "Are you even licensed to evaluate people?"
"Yes. Are you licensed to dress up like THAT?"
"... am I licensed to wear armor that I was designed with...?"
"No, are you licensed to wear something that UGLY? Gah, it's hideous! Fire your wardrobe assistant, he sucks!"
Death Star cracked his knuckles. "You're about to need a doctor yourself, buddy."
"Hey, good thing I am one. Would you likes fries with that?"
Zero waved his hands. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, guys, we uh have a little thing like a WAR over MASS GENOCIDE going on here. Does anyone care?!"
X1 reeled back as he flailed his arms and rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Oh bitch bitch bitch...Mass genocide this, hundreds dead there...What ever happened to good ol' fashioned chess? Or sleeping with your enemy's sister?"
Death Star smirked. "Would you like me to go call up Sigma's sister 'Bertha' and see if she'll play chess with you, then have sex? I'm quite sure it'll be an experience you'll never forgot, 'One."
"Hey, you'd know all about that, wouldn't ya, Deathy?"
"Listen here, you screw bolt, I'm gonna---" Death Star began when Zero waved his hands in front of them.
"Whoa, whoa, chill you two. Down boys. Go have a pissing contest somewhere else...if that's what you're doing. You two are just confusing the hell out of me. Look, we have more important things to attend to here."
"Like gopher bopping?"
"Go back into your corner, X1. Go. Shoo," Death Star urged.
"Nah, Doc Cain told me to stay out of corners...Something about making a mess when alone.."
Death Star glanced at Doctor Cain in the corner. "Alright, we'll skip that idea for now." He turned back to Zero. "Anyway, where were we?" X1 quickly took out his paint set and started doodling on the wall. Coughing and ignoring X1, Zero pointed at a holovid map.
"Well, all the Hunters 'cept for X will be tackling the Maverick forces that strike whatever city. They'll probably want to take Mega City still, since that's a big symbol that they are a mighty force. However, The Fin won't be used for now. It was given to Storm Eagle and he's using it now it seems," Zero told Death Star.
Death Star sighed. "So, X will be trying to take out The Fin while the rest of us place footsoldier and stop the main forces. Aren't I just honored."
Zero frowned, looking very serious. "Death Star, we only have a few days window before Sigma pulls out whatever he has planned. And if we can't stop him before then, this entire planet could belong to the Mavericks, and we'll all be dead. We have to strike hard and furious."
Death Star nodded. "You can count on me. Lets get ready, Commander."
X continued to slosh through the snow and ended up tripping, landing face first into the snow and sinking beneath sight. Off some distance, a robot shoot his head and watched the reploid, his visor fogging up a bit from the cold. He then turned and vanished, a little whistle playing as he did so. X would find what he had left behind, if he was good enough. If X couldn't make it that far, then there was no chance for the world.
Struggling to pull himself back up, X stood straight and tall and began to run faster, blasting a Maverick rabbit to bits and flipping over another snowy obstacles on his way to the cave. He refused to give up so easily. Zero had trusted him with the job of taking out the eight Maverick masters. It wasn't an easy task, and he remembered the conversation well.
"X, I'm entrusting you to take out Sigma's eight generals. If those bases attack key locations around the world, Sigma can literally bring everything to a stand still," Zero told him after X had received some medical attention from the wounds inflicted by Vile.
X blinked in surprise. "Isn't that kind of important? Shouldn't you trust Death Star or North Star with that kind of assignment?" he asked.
Zero pointed at X. "I think you have what it takes. Besides, if you keep fighting, you'll unlock all the powers you were designed with. If you can increase your power level to something like the rest of us, we'll be able to push Sigma back in his tracks. And taking out those eight Mavericks should do it."
"But isn't that like sending a kitten to go beat a lion?" X pointed out.
Zero rested his hand on X's shoulder. "I wouldn't give you the job if I didn't trust you, blueberry boy."
The cold, bitter wind blew again and X's eyes narrowed with determination. He might have lost on his first mission in this war but he wasn't able to lose again. He would take out Chill Penguin and make sure the base turned into scrap. With new vigor, X continued his run for the cave, his strides become steadier and faster, no longer tripping in the snow. He easily dispatched with the reploid rabbits and continued to work his way up the hill toward the cave.
Arriving at the entrance of the cave, X glanced inside into the darkness. Taking a deep breath, he leaped into the cave, sliding down an icy hill. "AAAAAAH!" he shouted out in surprise as he slid down the hill at a extremely fast rate, hitting the bottom and spinning around in circles. But he didn't fall. He refused it. Taking deep steady strides forward, he allowed himself a smug grin. He could do this. That was, until five bats flew at him. Ducking under their attacks, X raised his blaster and fired a blast, blowing one to bits, but the icy walkway sent him spinning around.
Trying to regain his balance, X was to slow to kill the next bat that rammed into him, sending him onto his back and sliding further into the cave. Before he could even begin to pull himself up, a spiked wheel came rolling at him. He knew if he couldn't pull himself up in the next few seconds, that wheel would crash him and that would be the end of it. His reactor would be damaged and explode, blowing his entire body up. Placing his blaster against the ice, he began to charge it up, hoping his little idea worked. As the spiked wheel rolled closer, X fired off a level 2 blast directly into the blast, which he impact send him into the air, right above the spiked wheel, and crashing back down after it had passed. However, as an added bonus, the spiked wheel hit the hole he made and spun out of control away into a wall, where it crashed and remained. X pushed himself up and stood, aiming at the incoming bats that hit him and opened fire, taking all of them out in one shot. Grinning, X turned around and saw that base went up now, in an ice slant way.
X ran up the slant way and hopscotched up the wall, bouncing off onto a higher level. A spinning spike wheel came flying at him and he leaped over it, letting it explode behind him. He ricocheted off the wall and up onto the next slant way and blasted the incoming tire spiked wheel, blowing it up, stumbling back some. Grinning, X climbed up that wall and bounced up to the next level and looked ahead, seeing that it would lead out of the cave. Sliding along the platform, X heard a rumbling and a huge capsule popped up, knocking him back onto his butt. The capsule blinked and slid down, a hologram AI of Doctor Light appearing.
"So, you've come... X, I gave you the ability to choose your own path in life and I hoped the world would allow you to choose a peaceful one. But now it seems that you are destined to fight. Because I thought you the world might need a new champion, I have had someone hide capsules like this one. If you find and use them you will be able to to increase your powers beyond anything the world has ever known." The AI form of Dr. Light looked at X for a moment, his eyes almost tearing up. "I know that I'm just an AI program and the real Dr. Light died a long time ago, but it's good to see you X. I wish I could talk to you more and learn more from you, but the capsules do not have much energy to power you up and allow talking. Good luck, X...." it said and vanished.
X held out his hand. "Dr. Light, wait! Don't go!!! Come back! Please...don't leave me alone...tell me...why I was created..." X called out, his voice growing weaker as he knew it was no use anymore. He hung his head sadly, refusing to allow himself to get sad. The real Dr. Light had died ages ago. This was just some AI designed to think like him. But if there were capsules like this one, perhaps he could find one someday that would talk to him without having to worry about running out of power. And who had hidden these capsules for Dr. Light?
Stepping into the capsule, X watched lights glow around him and felt a burning sensation on his legs. He glanced down and saw this bright light forming, almost blinding his eyes. To his amazement, X watched new armor form around his leg, a new leg enhancement system in it. Once the light faded, X stepped off, almost falling, unused to the new boots, but quickly saw that helped him maintain easier balance. Dashing forward using the leg enhancement system, X saw to his amazement his speed was increased by double and he leaped forward, flying past tons of traps left behind by Chill Penguin, landing outside in the snow easily, not even needing to roll as he came to a stop without falling.
"Wow! These things are incredible! I feel so much faster! If I can get more of these capsules, I can certainly take on Sigma without a problem! I'll be unstoppable! Thank you, Dr. Light, wherever you are...you must have thought ahead. I just wish I could remember my past..." X whispered into the air. But he didn't have time to reflect on life, he dashed forward, leaping over a small nest of Mavericks and worked his way up the hill toward Chill Penguin's domain, a grin on his face.
Until a snowball came rolling down the hallway at him. Blinking in surprise, X threw himself into the snow and let it roll harmlessly over. Standing back up and spitting out snow, X saw the robot responsible for it was a simply designed robot that just scooped up snow and rolled it down the cliff side, letting it gain snow as it rolled along. Leaping over a small ravine, X worked his way up the cliff/hill side, dodging more of the snowballs the robot threw at him. "If that's the best you can do, buddy, then you're in SERIOUS trouble. Take...THIS!" X shouted out, charging his blaster and firing, nailing the robot and blowing it to bits. Stepping past the remains, X had arrived at the gate lock into Chill Peguin's command center. Taking a deep breath, he stepped up to it, the door unlocking from pressure sensors of his standing there, and he walked through. Walking slowly down the hallway, X came to another pressurized door and stepped up, it opening up and dropping him into the room.
Chill Penguin stood there, arms crossed. "So they sent you to take me out, X? I'm insulted they did not think I was worthy enough of a real opponet!" he taunted.
X balled his hands into fists. "Well, Chill, if you want a challenge, then you got it spades. Because I'm going to take you and your base out!"
Chill Penguin laughed. "You, X? What are you going to do, hit me with a book? Well, fine, lets see what you got!"
The two stood there, facing off with each other, until Penguin leaped out and landed on his stomach, sliding toward X. X jumped over him, firing rapid shots out, only to have them bounce off harmlessly. Penguin stood back up, turned around, and was nailed by a rapid shot. X landed, realizing Penguin somehow became invincible to all attacks when he was sliding on his stomach. But even with this new knowledge on hand, X had little time to put to use before Chill fired off a stream of ice, freezing X's blaster arm. Stepping back in surprise, X looked down and realized his only weapon had been neutralized.
"Looks like you've been iced, X." Chill Penguin leaped at him, sliding along the ground on his stomach. X leaped onto the wall, using his repulsors to bounce up on it. Activating his new leg enhancements, he propelled himself off the wall and sailed far over Penguin's head, landing on the other side of the room. He began to charge his blaster, glancing back at the reploid penguin. The menacing Maverick turned around and grinned, leaping up onto the roof and pulling a lever. Suddenly the entire room was snowing, slowing X down. As he tried to fight the blizzard, the Maverick ran towards him, preparing to ice X over once and for all. Aiming his frozen arm at the incoming enemy, X prayed he was strong enough to pull this off and fired off of a level 2 blast from his frozen blaster. Momentarily the ice glowed but showed no sign of weakening, until it shattered, throwing ice shards every which way. However, by that time, Chill had tackled X into a snow pile.
X pushed his legs against the Maverick and shoved him back, watching him stumble backwards in surprise. Leaping up, X charged his blaster and fired off another level 2 blast, nailing the Maverick in the chest area, throwing him back. Before Chill could recover, he was blasted by rapid firing shots that kept pushing him back. Roaring in rage, X charged forward and tackled Chill back onto the floor and stuck his blaster right into the Maverick's face. "You've been hunted, Maverick." He fired off another charged blast that tore half of Chill's head away, only leaving the insides to spark. The body twitched once and then powered down, completely lifeless.
Stepping back, X watched Chill Penguin explode into a brilliant light and after it was finished there was no remains left. He panted and suddenly what he had just done dawned on him. A wave of guilt washed over him as he realized he killed another fellow reploid and that nothing he did could take that back. And then his next thought sickened him more. He had to take out seven more too.
Death Star watched in the incoming Maverick army, which formed a huge line. He turned to Wildfire. "Your intellegence reports says this is only a small fraction of what Sigma has managed to build?"
Wildfire nodded. "Yes. Sigma's somehow manufacturing this things by the dozens. If he keeps up production at this rate, there will be a army of machines big enough to wipe out the entire planet."
Brian crossed his arms. "But there's one small detail. THAT small platoon's enough to wipe out the remaining Hunters. Ten fold."
Zero grimaced. "Well, Delta, we'll just have to prove we can hold out against impossible odds. Everyone, get ready. Don't fire until you are sure they are in range to be hit. Those who use sabers, stay back and wait for the close quarter combat to come to you. Understood?"
North Star grinned. "Perfectly." Zero took that moment to survey the remaining Hunter army. There was less than twenty of them standing there and more than a hundred of those machines, plus a dozen reploids mixed in there. While the machines were easily destroyed and weren't much of a opposition, their great numbers was their advantage. He figured that judging by a Hunter's skill, they would take out fifteen to twenty before dying. They might stop this platoon, but they certainly wouldn't be around for the next one. Not unless someone in the miracles department did something.
Everything was quiet, that eerie silence before a battle. Zero realized he was holding his breath and slowly let it out and began to survey everything more calmly. The only real sound was the marching of the machines, or their flying. Wildfire tensed next to him, only here to fight because they were so low on numbers and couldn't spare a single soul. Zero even would have sent X1 out here to fight, but he feared that would be an advantage...for the enemy.
Death Star rubbed his saber with his fingers, seemingly calm, but deep down full of fear and turmoil at the advancing numbers. He wanted to hightail it out of there at the mere sight of the army, but he wasn't a coward and he didn't plan on starting that career path now. North Star stood there, motionless, a grin on his face, loving the thought of battling.
Brian Carter's face revealed a slight smirk. He was ready to battle and fight for a destiny in which he believed had moved him here. And somehow he knew he wouldn't die this day. His motivation was from a higher source, perhaps.
Zero began to charge his blaster, the sound causing some to jump around him. It's whirling sound soon began to comfort the warriors around him and they began to relax. Once his blaster reached a level 3, Zero lifted it up and aimed it at the nearest machine. "On my mark, fire." Those using blasters tensed up, their charging beginning. The humans aimed their rifles and clicked them into firing mode.
The machines continued their advancement, emotionless. Seconds ticked away, nobody daring to twitch. Zero's eyes stayed straight ahead at his target, watching it. "3." Everybody began to focus on their targets now. The machines continued to come forward, almost within range of opening fire with their own attacks. "2." Behind then, Mega City loomed up in the sky, a deserted city. Cran's forces were waiting at the city gates, preparing to take out the forces once the Hunters were destroyed. Cran saw this as a tactical advantage, of course. "1." Death Star thumbed his saber to life, it emitting a strange glow, even in the daylight. "Fire."
Zero's blast roared out and smashed into it's target, causing it to explode in a firey show. The blast continued to fly on, hitting two more machines, blowing them both up together. Wildfire's shot sailed into the wheels of a tank, causing it to flip over and smash into another machine, blowing it up. The tank itself came to a rest, useless for now. North Star's blast rammed into the wings of a flying machine, bending them back and causing it to fall out of the sky like a rock, landing on top of a rabbit. Brian Carter stood up and fired, his shots smashing into the sides of a tank, blowing out the windows and killing the mechanical computer inside. The tank swerved around and ran over four other machines and then smashed into a tree, exploding.
Brian leaped onto a hill and continued to fire off accurate targets, blowing up key parts of the machines, making them fly into others with ease. The others stared in shock at Carter's accuracy. "Delta!" Zero managed to say. Grinning, Brian knew he was exactly where he was suppose to be. "Alright, guys, follow Delta's example here. Take them out!" Zero ordered. Zero charged his blaster and fired at a reploid, blowing off his leg and causing him to fall to the ground, legless now.
However, despite the team's efforts, the Mavericks kept coming in, their numbers never wavering. Death Star slashed one in half as they began to come within hand to hand combat range. "It looks like they're going to swarm us if we can't do something quickly." Brian pulled out his saber and flicked it to life, slashing a flying machine in half. Each part went spinning out of control and smashed into the ground, making two craters.
"Perhaps if we can get someone to place a bomb in the middle we can wipe them out in a large mass radius explosion," Brian suggested.
Death Star stepped back and slashed another rabbit in half. "Yeah, nice idea. But how the hell are we going to get that far? Anyone who tries is going to get toasted."
Brian mused. "I can place the bomb if someone can clear a path for me," he said.
Zero nodded. "Me and Wildfire will take out the Maverick Commander here. That'll cause some confusion. However, you'll need someone to cut you more of a trail. And that'll be very dangerous."
Death Star grinned. "Leave THAT one up to me."
North Star looked skeptic. "You think you can handle that?"
"You betcha I can." Inside, Death Star wasn't so sure about that. But he couldn't let Brian carry the bomb alone. Twirling his saber, Death Star grinned. "And not only will I do it, I'll come back alive."
Zero nodded. "Lets do it then!"
Taking a deep breath, X began to run along the lane, reaching a sudden drop off. Little platforms rode by, heading upwards toward the top of a control tower up above. Stepping back, X dashed off the edged and jumped at the last moment across, landing on the platform. Gathering his balance, X made sure he didn't totter off the edge and calmly stood there as the platform rose higher up.
Seeing that it was about to reach the end of it's section and that a new series of platforms were starting up, X jumped off the one he was on and landed on the next one. Gathering his balance once more, he kneeled down as it rose higher into the air, making everything below seem really small. For a brief flicker of a moment, X wondered if he was afraid of heights, but the feeling quickly passed. Standing up, X saw that he was reaching the glass windows of the control tower.
Charging his blaster, X jumped off the platform and sailed through the air and hit the side of the glass window, cracking. He fired the blast into the window, shattering it, and rolled into the room. The robots inside immediately opened fire, but X jumped over their attacks and fired off rapid shots into, taking them out with ease. Running past their remains, he grabbed an energy tank setting there and added it to his inventory. Reaching the other side, he dived out the tower and landed on the roof of another part of the building.
Running along the building, X was faced with a strange robot he had met with on the highway. These things walked on two legs and the only part you could damage was their head, which was immediately attached to their legs. There was no real body to speak of. Charging his blaster, he jumped up and shot the head, the blast ripping through one of them and hitting another, taking both out in one show. Landing, X rolled under the legs of another one and jumped over the last one before diving out onto some more flying platforms.
Jumping from platform to platform, X slowly worked his way across to the next building section, refusing to look down at his immediate doom if he fell just then. He refuses to think about that right now. Leaping out onto the next building's roof, he ran along, firing at any opposition that was given to him. Reaching a metal tower, he began to repulse his way up the top and flipped over and landed in a small hidden clove. Blinking in surprise, X glanced around and noticed a stack of explosives. Shrugging, he began to open fire, causing them to explode.
The shockwave caught him by surprise and he stumbled back as the explosives blew out a wall section, revealing a hidden hallway into the building. Dusting himself off, X leaped up there and looked into the hallway, wondering if he should investigate it or not. "Aw, hell, X, if you're scared of something like this, Sigma's going to eat you alive." He ran into the hallway and suddenly another capsule emerged from the ground. It was another of Dr. Light's capsules!
"My time is short, X. Step into this capsule to receive an upgrade to your helmet. It will allow you to smash things open with your head and help reduce damage to your skull when you bash it against things," Dr. Light told him. He vanished. X blinked in surprise at the lame ass upgrade, but shrugged and stepped into the capsule. The experience was very much like the last capsule, the burning glow surrounding his head this time. He can feel it and when it was done, he knew his new helmet was in place. Stepping out of the capsule, X jumped up and smashed part of the ceiling with his head.
"Huh. Whadda know..." he muttered in amazement. Dashing out of the hallway, X began to bounce up the wire tower once more and propelled himself up onto a higher level and began to work his way to the right again. Coming to the edge of the building, X looked out and saw The Fin hovering there. However, there was no path to it whatsoever. "Oh NO!" X moaned. It looked like this was over before it even began. Pacing back and forth on the building's edge, the Hunter wondered what he could possibly do to get over there. That's when he noticed a few weak platforms leading to The Fin. They were used incase of an emergency and would probably collapse under heavy weight.
X, without a second thought, jumped out and landed on the platform. Much to what he predicted, the platform's gravity systems shut off and it began to fall. Decided not to stick around for it's smashing hit, he jumped off onto the next one. Quickly moving from one to another, each collapsing within seconds of landing on it, X jumped out and landed on the tail end of The Fin. Rolling to a stop, X grinned victoriously. He had landed on the ship. Now to bring this thing in for the big catch.
Working his way along the roof of the ship, X felt a rumbling that knocked him back onto his back. The Fin shot forward, flying through the air. It seemed Storm Eagle was going to give him a little tour. Standing back up, X struggled against the force of the wind blowing and grabbed a ladder, climbing down it. The wind pressure wasn't so bad here and X moved with ease down the next ladder, arriving at the door into the cockpit. Walking up to it, the door unlocked itself and he entered. Standing in the cockpit was Storm Eagle, his arms crossed.
"Well, well, X, you're the one they sent here. I heard what you did to Chill Penguin. Most impressive," Storm told him.
"I'm glad you approve. Now, surrender or be destroyed!" X commanded.
Storm Eagle chuckled then burst out laughing. "I don't think so, X. This ship is going for a one way course straight to Tokyo, Japan, and opening fire on the city. Won't that be a lot of fun?"
X raised his blaster and shot the controls, blowing away a few of the computers. "Not if I can help it. I'll bring this ship down with both of us in it if I have to!" Storm Eagle glared furiously and began to run at X, who quickly rolled a thermal nuclear grenade Zero had given him to take out the hard core machines and weapons. It rolled and exploded, the blast catching both X and Storm. They were engulfed in a bright white light as the entire cockpit of The Fin lit up like a lighthouse and the roof exploded, wiping out the majority of the top of the ship and blowing everything but the skeleton remains of the fin on top of it.
Standing on top of the remains of the roof, X glanced around, wondering where Storm had gotten to. "Hrm...maybe he flew away scared." Suddenly a blow in his back sent X smashing face first into the roof. A deep gash had been torn through the back of his armor and precious battery fluid was oozing out of it. Forcing him to roll over into a sitting position, he noticed Storm Eagle was flying in the air, looking down at him most smugly. "Is that the best you have, X? This is going to be easier than I had previously thought!"
X began to charge his blaster as Storm Eagle flew higher into the air, did a loop in the sky, and began to fly straight down at X at a high velocity. Gulping, the frightened Hunter began to edge backwards along the roof of The Fin, continuing to charge his blaster. It was the only thing that could protect him now... Storm Eagle amazingly picked up speed and was heading at X, about to slam the reploid through the roof and to his death. Counting in his head, X watched the Maverick loom bigger and bigger before him. Finally he lifted up his blaster and fired off a level 2 shot right at the surprised Maverick. Then he dived to the side, ignoring the pain arching through his back to his head. The blast hit Storm Eagle right in the face, blinding and wounding the Maverick, and causing him to slam straight into the roof with a sickening thud. The bird reploid bounced along the roof and slid toward the edge, dazed and confused.
Standing up, X ran towards him, knowing this would probably be his only chance to defeat the Maverick. Once Storm Eagle recovered, he would not make the same stupid mistake twice. And X wouldn't get a lucky chance again. As the Maverick pushed himself up with his heads, shaking his head and glancing around, X threw himself into him, tackling the reploid. Grunting in surprise, Storm Eagle fell over and went into a roll towards the edge, followed by X. Both reploids went over the edge of The Fin and stalled in the air for a moment. As gravity claimed X, he forced himself to stretch out and grab the side of the roof with all his might. Amazingly, he held on and slammed into the side, sending more pains shooting through the wound in his back. Glancing to his right he saw a dazed Storm Eagle falling from sight.
Grinning victoriously, X pulled himself up onto the roof and panted. He forced himself to stand up and raised his fist into the air, shouting out a glee of triumph. Until he heard the flapping of wings. He turned around and saw a pissed Storm Eagle flying there, glaring down at him. "I can fly, stupid..."
X's face fell. "Oh."
Storm Eagle sucked in a lot of air, his chest bulging, and he threw out an egg which exploded into four robotic birds. X leaped back in surprised and opened fire, blowing the birds up in three shots, amazingly. However, he wasn't ready for Storm Eagle's second attack, a gust of wind that sent him flying across the roof towards the edge. His feet barely touching the ground, X used his speed enhancement to try to speed against the wind. Just as he was making progress, Storm Eagle growing tired from using the attack, X no longer felt the ground under his feet. He fell from sight.
Landing on the roof, the bird reploid panted in triumph. "Showed that little bug who was the reploid! Hah! To think he thought he could rival me." Turning his back to where X had fallen, he crowed in the air in victory until he heard the sound of a charging blaster. Turning around, he caught X's level two blast straight in the chest. It threw him back, seriously denting and smoking his armor. Gaping in shock, he looked at X standing there, grinning.
"I climbed up the side, stupid..."
Storm Eagle's beak twitched. "Oh."
X raised his blaster again, this time at Storm Eagle's head, and opened fire, completely removing the head from the reploid, free of charge. The limp body of the Maverick boss slumped onto the roof and exploded in a brilliant light. X could fill a new power surging through him and saw he had gained the ability to fire off Storm's wind burst. Allowing himself a small victory in sitting down, X could feel the wound on his back slowly being repaired thanks to some packets of energy he had collected along the way. But suddenly he heard a low explosion sound. Glancing around in shock, he noticed that the ship was going down, not forward. "Dammit, we're going to crash!" he cursed and hopped to his feet, running to the edge and looking down. Below was some type of fortress that his databanks told him was Mandrill's base of operations. "Hoooboy, this is going to suck..." he muttered as he gripped the roof for dear life.
The fish made it's final flop. Straight into the roof of the Maverick base.
Death Star finally turned to look at Brian and grinned, not only to reassure the human but also himself. His gut felt cold inside and just put it off on the fight. Not the feeling that destiny would keep him like this forever... Bringing out his saber, Death Star thumbed it to life and held it up in front of him in the middle, going up and down, like he was posing or something. "Alright, Carter, just want for an opening. This is going to be one helluva run."
Brian nodded and smiled. "See you afterward, DS."
"Same to you, Carter."
Death Star took a deep breath and ran forward toward the Mavericks. Yelling out an enraged yell, he got many to stop fighting and to glance at him in shock. Just what he needed. Pulling the saber back, he leaped into the midst of a few Maverick, their bodies falling over from being split in half by a clean cut. Flipping off a Maverick's head he stabbed another one, kicking it away and then flipping around to slash the one he bounced off in half. Landing on the ground, he watched four Mavericks run at him, firing huge blasts to blow him up. Leaping above the blasts, he landed on the other side and slashed one's head off, letting it land in front of another and trip him. Focusing on the two remaining ones, Death Star leaped forward and stabbed one in the throat, twisted, and popped his head off. Swinging his blade around he slashed the other one in half. By that time, the fallen one stood up and swung at him. Taking the blow in his chest, Death Star stumbled backwards, but threw his saber, letting it land in the Maverick's one eye. Once it shattered, he moved forward, grabbed the handle, and pulled it upward, slashing the head in half as he freed it.
Turning around, he felt himself being tackled by ten humanoid Mavericks. Landing on the ground with a gasp, he drove his saber upward, impaling two of them sitting on him. Slashing wildly, he disemboweled their internal organs as he tried to work his saber through the mass of them. Unfortunately, the other Mavericks began to pound his face into the ground. Burst of pain blinded him, but he kept twisting and slashing, ignoring it as best as he could. He refused to stop and die now. Raising his right hand, he formed it into a blaster and shot upward at those pounding his head into the ground. It succeeded in stopping the pain and he opened one eye, despite the warning of pain from his computer banks. He saw the Mavericks were all charging their weapons to blast him to dust. Grabbing the handle of the saber again, which was still in the other dead Maverick's bodies, he yanked it out and swung it in an arc in the air, cutting off all the Maverick's weapons off. The surprised Maverick fell back in pain, but quickly recovered, beginning to pummel them with fists, legs, or spiked chains. Grinning through the pain, Death Star closed his eyes again and took the pain. His attack run was over, it seemed.
Meanwhile, Brian ran across the open path Death Star had managed to make for him. Flipping over a few dead bodies, he took out his rifle and blasted away a Maverick trying to kill him. The shot went through the Maverick's vital circuitry and blew it up in a pretty display of fire and lights. Working his way toward the center, he glanced around and saw that Death Star was busy battling four Mavericks, with ten more heading for him from behind. Wanting to stop and helping him, Brian knew he had to finish his mission if he wanted to even attempt to help the Lieutenant.
Slamming his rifle into a Maverick's face, Brian body slammed them, letting the Maverick land on his back as he worked his way finally to the middle. Throwing down the bomb, he bent over, entering the codes into it to set the bomb off. However, a blow to his head sent him spinning into blackness as he landed face first into the dirt. Coughing it up, he rolled over, realizing he was bleeding from his head. Above him stood five Mavericks, grinning down at him. "Oh, look, the human plans on blowing us all up. What shall we do with this one?"
The other Maverick sneered. "Lets rip out his insides and show it to him. An anatomy lesson!"
"Ooo, excellent, we can play school!"
The Mavericks snickered with glee and Brian realized it was all over now.
Zero leaped back, avoiding the swing of the Commander's slash. Firing his blaster straight into the commander's gut, he sent the huge Maverick bee machine smashing along the ground. Wildfire next to him fired out a fire shot, igniting the engines on the machine, causing a massive explosion. The dust and wind roared past the two Hunters, whipping Zero's blonde hair in from the black lash. Shielding his eyes, Zero watched the destroyed bee commander twitch and than stand up on two legs. It ran forward, no longer in it's huge shell. Preparing himself for the combat, Zero braced his body, waiting for the Maverick to get closer.
However, Wildfire roared and launched himself forward, tackling the Maverick in midair and they both landed on the ground. Zero blinked in surprise as the two began to tussle about on the ground, trying to beat the snot out of the other. He crossed his arms, amused almost, at the comical fight that ensured. The two slapped each other, growled, tackled, rolled in the dirt screaming about the other's creator, then would hop up, trade shots, then repeat the process. Finally Wildfire threw the bee commander at Zero, who raised his blaster calmly and opened fire with a level 3 blast, engulfing the commander and causing him to explode. He glanced to his right as the Mavericks running toward them to avenge their commander.
Wildfire smirked. "Looks like our show pissed them off."
Zero nodded. "Yeah, lets hope it buys Brian sometime."
Death Star, meanwhile, laid there, almost accepting his death, as the blows continue to hit him. Suddenly, he began to laugh, hard and wild. The Mavericks stopped their abuse of the Hunter and looked down, startled. They then looked at each other then back at Death Star, edging away from the wild, cruel, uncontrollable laughter. As the Hunter rose to his feet, hunched over, bruised, beaten, and bleeding, but not defeated, he sneered at them. "Is that the best you can do!?!?! I REFUSE TO BE BEATEN!!!" he shouted. The Mavericks looked at each other, grinned, and walked forward, kicking and smashing into him. Death Star swayed and fell down again. "Bastards..." he muttered.
The Mavericks burst out laughing and advanced again. They resumed their beating.
North Star punched the Maverick in front of him, his fist going through the Maverick. Pulling it out, he kicked the dazed Maverick over and continued to beat the crap out of any who dared to near him. He grabbed one Maverick's head and smashed it into jutting rock, smashing it to bits. He glanced around, sensing something happening to Death Star. Like his power was fading away. However..something else was there too. Like an untapped vein.
He stopped fighting, ignoring the chaos of the battle around him, and stared out. "...Death Star?"
Death Star twitched again, but finally reached up and grabbed the leg of the Maverick beating him up. He twisted, breaking the leg, and threw the reploid back. Reaching out slowly, he gripped his saber and flipped it to life, listening to the hum of it. Pulling himself to his knees, he opened his eyes as the surrounding Mavericks and leaped up in a huge circular thrust, slashing all of them in half. As they exploded around him, he grinned to himself, wondering where he got that energy. He could feel his power fading again and his body wanted to stumble into the blackness once more, but he held steady. He had too. For Brian.
Lashing out, he continued his run through the Mavericks.
Brian felt the back of his head throb, the blood crusting. The Mavericks had him in the air, upside down, held by his leg. "Say, shall we remove his private parts for him first?"
The other nodded, smirking. "Yeah, I hear humans are really sensitive there."
"Ooo, perhaps we should smash it first."
"Yeah, yeah!"
The Maverick pulled back his massive fist, only to have a white gloved hand reach out and snag it in mid-air. All three of them, the two mavericks and Brian, turned in surprise to see Death Star standing there, smirking. "Nuh uh. We should smash your ugly mug in first." He began to crush the Maverick's arm, causing him to drop Brian to turn to the new threat. Brian landed on the ground with a groan. "Do your thing, Carter. Save the day."
Brian nodded and scrambled over to the bomb as Death Star pulled out his saber, stabbing the massive reploid repeatedly, trying to get it to fall. The Maverick smirked and pulled back it's fist, smashing Death Star in the gut and sending him flying forward, letting him bounce along the ground. The Hunter let himself lay there, grinning as the two Mavericks charged forward.
Finishing the code, Brian hit the button, the countdown beginning. He began to run from the bomb and dived behind a pile of dead bodies as the explosion went off. The shockwave shot out, destroying all the Mavericks nearby, including the two Mavericks after Death Star. Watching the shockwave head for, Death Star bit his lip and flipped behind a huge rock, feeling it hit the rock as his entire world was engulfed in white. North Star leaped back to safety, watching the magnificent display, grinning. "GO DELTA!" Zero and Wildfire smiled, watching the assault wave of Mavericks go up in the white light.
The surviving Hunters gathered around, patting each other on the back. The sixteen of them, including North Star, Zero, and Wildfire, looked out over the dead bodies, wondering what happened to Carter and Death Star. "Think they made it?" Wildfire asked.
Zero nodded. "Those two? Heh, they probably don't know how to die."
North Star shrugged. "Don't be too sure."
Amidst the blazing fires, two shadows appeared, walking side by side. Zero smirked as he saw they were Death Star and Brian, both grinning. "Well I'll be damned, they did it!"
Death Star grinned and crossed his arms, ignoring his state. "Didn't I say I'd make it?"
Wildfire gave Carter a thumbs up. "Good job, dude. You saved the day."
Brian rubbed the back of his head bashfully, but then felt the pain throb. "Uh, it was nothing, Death Star helped out."
North Star smirked. "Yeah, as a living shield, right?"
Death Star stuck his tongue out. "Pfft."
Zero turned back to look at the sky. "Wonder how X is doing..."
Death Star groaned. "Great, X... I hope he's doing okay..."
Opening both eyes, he looked around and saw he was on the floor, which looked more like a circuit since energy was running through it. The roof was smashed through with pieces of The Fin scattered around the place. The base seemed to have taken some damage from it.
Standing up, X checked around and saw all Mavericks in the area had been flattened or blown up by the incoming rain of debris and pieces. Heck, even one Maverick was impaled by the giant fin of the ship. Saluting the ship's pieces, X grinned. "And here lies The Fin, the strangest damned ship in the world." He turned around and began to run through the maze of the base, grabbing a ladder and climbing up it.
He felt a charged blast strike him, spinning him along the ground. "Ulmph!" he cried out, more in surprise than in pain. Looking up, he saw a Maverick sitting there, charging and firing off sparking blasts. Standing up, X leaped over the next set that ran along the floor and began to rapid fire the Maverick. It seemed to take the blasts quite well, but finally exploded. Running past the smoking remains, X climbed down another ladder.
Working his way through the maze of Mavericks and ladders, X soon came to the conclusion that Spark Mandrill's base was more of a maze than anything else. Working his way along the series of going up and down ladders, he walked a weakened floor. For some reason, dispite noting it was weak, possibly due to The Fin's smashing into the base or due to poor maintenance, X bravely walked across it. Of course, it broke and sent him falling down another level. Smashing onto the floor with a gasp of pain, especially from his back, X rolled to his feet and looked around. He was in a lower level and noted an Energy Tank there. Snagging it and adding it to the other one he had collected, X allowed himself a victory pose. Then, looking around to make sure no one was about to side swipe him, he leaped out of the hole he had made and continued on.
Working his way, quietly, through the maze that Mandrill had created, X began to get the feeling whoever designed this place was mad as a hatter, with all the ladders going up and down, up and down. Of course, it's purpose was probably intended to confuse any intruders. X mentally congratulated the person for their genius move. Then made one to personally beat the living shit out of them. Human or not. Grabbing onto another ladder, he swung himself up onto the next level when the lights went out. "Oh, jeeze..." he muttered. Walking blindly forward, he heard a whoosh and a bird flew at him. Leaping over the maverick bird, he saw it left a streak of light behind, cleverly revealing a pit ahead.
".... now who was the idiot that orders a Maverick bird to attack at a dark area with pits, that just lights them up and reveals them?" he muttered out loud, shaking his head, but then remembered he was fighting Spark Mandrill here. "Idiot..." Leaping over the now hidden pit, X was glad when landed safely on the other side. Suddenly the light bird attacked again. Ducking it, X watched it fly off, leaving that nice trail of light again. Climbing up the wall he leapt blindly off of it and over another pit the bird had revealed to him. He continued this process through the entire darkened area until the light came back on. X reminded himself to thank the bird later on, if they ever met again. Working his way down a series of ladders, X entered a small room and heard the door lock behind him.
A huge Maverick machine in a bubble loomed on the roof and X suddenly had a very uneasy feeling. This was backed up by the fact the Maverick was firing bubbles at him. Diving and leaping over the bubbles, X hopped up the wall and fired a level 2 blast straight into the Maverick, slightly damaging, the bubble providing a nice protective cushion from the main blunt of the blast. Growling, X let go of the wall and evaded a few more bubbles from the creature. Leaping up the opposite wall, X began to rapid fire at the bubble surrounding the Maverick, finally getting his blast to go through it and connect against the machine. The machine sparked and the bubble caused the spark to grow into a full blown explosion, which was engulfed inside the bubble. It exploded, sending bubble and pieces flying everywhere.
X leg of the wall and dived for cover from the rain of Maverick pieces, rolling to the side. After it was all over, the door lowered to the next part of the base and X dashed through it. Working his way up a series of platforms and ladders, he arrived in another darkened area. Thanks to the helpful Maverick bird he arrived at the other side and ran through the doors leading into Mandrill's control room. Landing in the room, X ran forward, looking around in the pitch black room. Suddenly a series of light flashed above him and dropped. The room shook with a huge thud. The lights in the room came on and Spark Mandrill stood before him.
Bracing himself, X looked at him. "Well, well, Spark, we meet again."
Spark Mandrill looked at him. "Smash meeting!"
X stopped tensing and looked at him in disbelief. "What?"
Mandrill growled. "SMASH MEETING!"
"...what does that mean?"
"....SMASH MEETING! SMASH X!! SMASH SMASH!"
X nodded in understanding. "Yeah, yeah, Smash smash!" Mandrill grinned in delight at being understood and charged forward, punching X in the head. That threw the stunned Hunter into the wall, denting it from the impact. Sliding down, X shook his head in pain.
Spark Mandrill had grabbed the wires and pipes above on the roof and swung towards X, ranting 'Smash'. Charging his blaster, X dashed beneath Mandrill as he let go and landed on the ground, trying to land on him. Turning around, X opened fire on Spark, hitting him. However, the blast had little effect. In fact, it only enraged the Maverick more. "SMASH X!" he shouted and dashed forward, punching X again. Flying through the air, X slammed into the opposite wall, leaving his impression again.
Dazed, X wondered how he could beat such a monster. He was too weak...his power was fading fast. That's when an idea hit him. Flipping over to his ice weapon he fired, freezing Spark Mandrill in his tracks. The blast weakened the Maverick, even as he broke free of his icy prison. Firing another blast, X once again froze the Maverick. They repeated this process four times until Mandrill's circuits froze up and he slumped forward, looking at X mournfully.
"You know, X, this war will continue forever as long as reploids are looked down upon as stupid and inferior. Our place might not be to rule over the humans like Sigma thinks, but we are certainly not their slaves, X. We deserve to be equals, because we too possess souls. Tell me, X, are you really fighting for the right side in all this?" Spark Mandrill asked him calmly. X's jaw drop as Spark Mandrill actually said something intelligent.
"I...I..."
Mandrill grinned and fell over. "SMASH...LIFE...." he muttered and exploded. X shielded his eyes from the huge Maverick's circuits locking up and overloading, causing his entire body to go up in the bright light. Finally, when it faded, X lowered his head and realized he had a new attack now. Sighing, he looked at where his brethren stood, wondering about his words.
"...yes...I am fighting for the right side. Because until this war ends, neither side can learn to live together peacefully. I must bring Sigma down, if reploids are ever to have a chance to live as equals..." he said into the air and teleported away.