Part X: Mission Impossible Made Possible
Cirrus looked over the 17th unit's scanty quota of Hunters. This particular squad was on reserve, and had only been sent out twice before. In fact, most of them had never even seen a full-powered Maverick.
"We're going out to the ruins. There's been an attack, and we suspect it's aimed at the restoration teams. To get there in time, we'll be using the bikes. Once we arrive, just try to stay alive and blast as many Mavericks as you can."
The Speed Chaser bikes that had been used during the first wave Irregular Wars had been preserved, and were now property of the Police Force. The unit hopped onto them and jetted out as soon as the launch bay doors were opened, led by Cirrus.
Echo landed at the bottom of the shaft-hard. Blitz hit the ground beside her a few seconds later.
"I think we found it," she said, standing up wearily. That shaft was at least fifteen stories deep, and the room they had fallen into was still in working condition, except for the lack of lighting.
Using her light cannon, Echo ejected a massive plasma ball into the room. It instantly illuminated their surroundings fluorescently. Blitz got up and walked into the center of the room. There were several sealed capsules here, and from the terminal readout nearby, the contents of them were finished being checked by the diagnostics programs.
"What is it, Blitz?" Echo asked, going over to her brother.
"I think these capsules were emitting the transistor pulses."
"Well, let's open 'em!" Echo exclaimed, pushing a button on the nearest one.
The seal on the machine squealed as it broke, letting a lot of smoke and steam out from inside. The door began to move out, and slid back slowly, revealing the robot inside, saved by suspended animation all these years.
It had been awhile since he'd felt the air. The last thing he remembered before being put in the capsule was Zero, adorned in some weird armor, helping him get in. He slowly climbed out, and saw two reploids, a female and another whom he would assume was her brother, waiting there in amazement.
"What's going on? Who are you?"
The female stammered. "I'm Echo. This is my brother, Blitz. We were picking up a transistor signal and followed it here. We've been trying for months to restore the old city to the way it was, and Mavericks have been trying to stop the progress."
X's eyes went wide. "Mavericks!? I thought I'd taken care of them all."
"We thought so too, but they started popping up recently, just as humans began returning to Neo-Arcadia."
"Neo-Arcadia? Don't ever say that name around me. Too many bad memories. Anyway, we need to equalize this Maverick imbalance."
Walking over to another capsule, X punched in more authorization codes, causing the container to open in much the same fashion his had. A red robot stepped out, evoking much of the same reaction they had to X.
"What's with them?" Zero asked, then looking down at his armor, continued, "Hey, I'm back to normal!"
"Yeah, apparently they haven't seen Hunters like us before. The capsule must have returned your armor back to the way it was when we were fighting Sigma before he infected me."
X turned to Echo. "Now, why did you release us?"
"Well, we thought there'd be no harm in it since the transistor signal was saying that there was something out here, and besides, we need some help fighting the Mavericks."
"Alright," Zero said, punching his fist. "Where are they?"
Cirrus and the other Hunters arrived in time to see Enigma blast down several buildings onto a group of the restoration crew, but they didn't expect the amount of power which they had been matched with.
Enigma laughed, pointing his cannon at Cirrus. "See what happens? The old leader leaves, a new one takes his place, and then the old one destroys his replacement. See how things go full circle?"
Cirrus blasted Enigma in the face, throwing the Maverick back. "You won't destroy me, Enigma. You're the one that insists on fighting."
"I do what my master says!" he retorted, leaping forward and slashing Cirrus with his energy saber. Cirrus jumped backward, firing blasts into the crowd of Mavericks, felling many of them, but not diminishing the fact that the 17th unit was outnumbered.
Enigma sneered. "You see, Cirrus, the goody-two-shoes bit only lasts a while. And then the ones who have all the fun take over. What I've gained is pure understanding of life. Now don't tell me you don't want that."
"It's not understanding at all. It's deceit. You've been tricked into thinking you can rule, but there will always be those to bring you down. Can't you grasp that?"
The Maverick didn't care, little less appear to. He simply pointed his blaster at Cirrus and fired.
"See you around, Cirrus. In pieces."
The blast connected with Cirrus' chest, causing his energy generator to explode. The force of the discharge flung the reploid back into a building, debris collapsed on top of him. The eyes slowly lost their glow, and his circuitry gradually shut down. His memory was wiped clean, and the leader of the Police Force passed on.
"Now, to deal with the rest of you," Enigma said, smiling maliciously at the rest of the 17th. The only problem was, he began noticing a strange energy signal coming from below the street, almost where the elevator shaft Echo and Blitz had caved in was.
The energy built more and more, and Enigma could see the plasma shining from between the loose rocks covering the hole, beams of light erupting from the shaft as it melted the concrete away. Suddenly, the slab was blown away and the shaft was left smoking.
"What the...?" he said to himself, wondering exactly the significance of this was.
Slowly, a pair of reploids emerged from the opening. Blitz and Echo jumped back to street level.
"We're gonna take you down, Enigma," Echo shot.
"Don't kid yourself. There's no way that the two of you can take us down."
"That's true, Enigma. That's very true. The two of us can't."
"What? You're talking crazy. In any case, you can't destroy me."
"But I can!" a shout came from the shaft as a red blur rocketed from the opening and sped past Enigma. Moments later, a similar blue streak erupted from the street and dismembered the Mavericks behind him. Enigma looked down to see that his chest had been opened. The red and blue flashes slowed and materialized in front of him.
"You...but you're."
"Dead? Hardly," Zero said, latching his saber to his back. X blew the smoke from his smoldering blaster.
"Just look at yourself, man."
Enigma felt his generator deactivate as his pieces came apart, falling to the ground.
"That was easy enough," X said. "The Mavericks should be taken care of here."
"Let's get back to the HQ," Echo said, turning to the 17th. The Speed Chasers were still parked outside the city, and the group started off to get back to Neo-Arcadia.
A purple cloud rose from Enigma's parts, floating past the ruins of the other Mavericks. Searching between the pieces of concrete in the impact crater Cirrus had made, the cloud found the body of the fallen Maverick Hunter.
"Now, to use you to my advantage," it hissed, flowing into the robot's circuitry, reactivating every synapse, every connector, every weapons plasmatic. It's memory circuits were rewritten with the memories of a different reploid commander, one that lived four hundred years before, and had been thought extinguished. Cirrus' eyes reanimated, followed by the robot managing to get back to his feet.
Sigma looked around. The body needed some repairs, but for the time being was good enough. The Hunters had not left for Neo-Arcadia yet. For right now, he would have to pretend to be the leader of the Maverick Hunters, while he constructed his masterpiece. Once that was finished, he could reveal himself, but it would already be too late for X and Zero.
Cirrus looked over the 17th unit's scanty quota of Hunters. This particular squad was on reserve, and had only been sent out twice before. In fact, most of them had never even seen a full-powered Maverick.
"We're going out to the ruins. There's been an attack, and we suspect it's aimed at the restoration teams. To get there in time, we'll be using the bikes. Once we arrive, just try to stay alive and blast as many Mavericks as you can."
The Speed Chaser bikes that had been used during the first wave Irregular Wars had been preserved, and were now property of the Police Force. The unit hopped onto them and jetted out as soon as the launch bay doors were opened, led by Cirrus.
Echo landed at the bottom of the shaft-hard. Blitz hit the ground beside her a few seconds later.
"I think we found it," she said, standing up wearily. That shaft was at least fifteen stories deep, and the room they had fallen into was still in working condition, except for the lack of lighting.
Using her light cannon, Echo ejected a massive plasma ball into the room. It instantly illuminated their surroundings fluorescently. Blitz got up and walked into the center of the room. There were several sealed capsules here, and from the terminal readout nearby, the contents of them were finished being checked by the diagnostics programs.
"What is it, Blitz?" Echo asked, going over to her brother.
"I think these capsules were emitting the transistor pulses."
"Well, let's open 'em!" Echo exclaimed, pushing a button on the nearest one.
The seal on the machine squealed as it broke, letting a lot of smoke and steam out from inside. The door began to move out, and slid back slowly, revealing the robot inside, saved by suspended animation all these years.
It had been awhile since he'd felt the air. The last thing he remembered before being put in the capsule was Zero, adorned in some weird armor, helping him get in. He slowly climbed out, and saw two reploids, a female and another whom he would assume was her brother, waiting there in amazement.
"What's going on? Who are you?"
The female stammered. "I'm Echo. This is my brother, Blitz. We were picking up a transistor signal and followed it here. We've been trying for months to restore the old city to the way it was, and Mavericks have been trying to stop the progress."
X's eyes went wide. "Mavericks!? I thought I'd taken care of them all."
"We thought so too, but they started popping up recently, just as humans began returning to Neo-Arcadia."
"Neo-Arcadia? Don't ever say that name around me. Too many bad memories. Anyway, we need to equalize this Maverick imbalance."
Walking over to another capsule, X punched in more authorization codes, causing the container to open in much the same fashion his had. A red robot stepped out, evoking much of the same reaction they had to X.
"What's with them?" Zero asked, then looking down at his armor, continued, "Hey, I'm back to normal!"
"Yeah, apparently they haven't seen Hunters like us before. The capsule must have returned your armor back to the way it was when we were fighting Sigma before he infected me."
X turned to Echo. "Now, why did you release us?"
"Well, we thought there'd be no harm in it since the transistor signal was saying that there was something out here, and besides, we need some help fighting the Mavericks."
"Alright," Zero said, punching his fist. "Where are they?"
Cirrus and the other Hunters arrived in time to see Enigma blast down several buildings onto a group of the restoration crew, but they didn't expect the amount of power which they had been matched with.
Enigma laughed, pointing his cannon at Cirrus. "See what happens? The old leader leaves, a new one takes his place, and then the old one destroys his replacement. See how things go full circle?"
Cirrus blasted Enigma in the face, throwing the Maverick back. "You won't destroy me, Enigma. You're the one that insists on fighting."
"I do what my master says!" he retorted, leaping forward and slashing Cirrus with his energy saber. Cirrus jumped backward, firing blasts into the crowd of Mavericks, felling many of them, but not diminishing the fact that the 17th unit was outnumbered.
Enigma sneered. "You see, Cirrus, the goody-two-shoes bit only lasts a while. And then the ones who have all the fun take over. What I've gained is pure understanding of life. Now don't tell me you don't want that."
"It's not understanding at all. It's deceit. You've been tricked into thinking you can rule, but there will always be those to bring you down. Can't you grasp that?"
The Maverick didn't care, little less appear to. He simply pointed his blaster at Cirrus and fired.
"See you around, Cirrus. In pieces."
The blast connected with Cirrus' chest, causing his energy generator to explode. The force of the discharge flung the reploid back into a building, debris collapsed on top of him. The eyes slowly lost their glow, and his circuitry gradually shut down. His memory was wiped clean, and the leader of the Police Force passed on.
"Now, to deal with the rest of you," Enigma said, smiling maliciously at the rest of the 17th. The only problem was, he began noticing a strange energy signal coming from below the street, almost where the elevator shaft Echo and Blitz had caved in was.
The energy built more and more, and Enigma could see the plasma shining from between the loose rocks covering the hole, beams of light erupting from the shaft as it melted the concrete away. Suddenly, the slab was blown away and the shaft was left smoking.
"What the...?" he said to himself, wondering exactly the significance of this was.
Slowly, a pair of reploids emerged from the opening. Blitz and Echo jumped back to street level.
"We're gonna take you down, Enigma," Echo shot.
"Don't kid yourself. There's no way that the two of you can take us down."
"That's true, Enigma. That's very true. The two of us can't."
"What? You're talking crazy. In any case, you can't destroy me."
"But I can!" a shout came from the shaft as a red blur rocketed from the opening and sped past Enigma. Moments later, a similar blue streak erupted from the street and dismembered the Mavericks behind him. Enigma looked down to see that his chest had been opened. The red and blue flashes slowed and materialized in front of him.
"You...but you're."
"Dead? Hardly," Zero said, latching his saber to his back. X blew the smoke from his smoldering blaster.
"Just look at yourself, man."
Enigma felt his generator deactivate as his pieces came apart, falling to the ground.
"That was easy enough," X said. "The Mavericks should be taken care of here."
"Let's get back to the HQ," Echo said, turning to the 17th. The Speed Chasers were still parked outside the city, and the group started off to get back to Neo-Arcadia.
A purple cloud rose from Enigma's parts, floating past the ruins of the other Mavericks. Searching between the pieces of concrete in the impact crater Cirrus had made, the cloud found the body of the fallen Maverick Hunter.
"Now, to use you to my advantage," it hissed, flowing into the robot's circuitry, reactivating every synapse, every connector, every weapons plasmatic. It's memory circuits were rewritten with the memories of a different reploid commander, one that lived four hundred years before, and had been thought extinguished. Cirrus' eyes reanimated, followed by the robot managing to get back to his feet.
Sigma looked around. The body needed some repairs, but for the time being was good enough. The Hunters had not left for Neo-Arcadia yet. For right now, he would have to pretend to be the leader of the Maverick Hunters, while he constructed his masterpiece. Once that was finished, he could reveal himself, but it would already be too late for X and Zero.