The New Maverick War
The heroes stood in front of the computer representation of Dr Cossack and alone they stood baring the weight of the world. X started pacing around nervously about the revelations that would come.... while Zero stood with his arms crossed looking at the ground awaiting the final news. Dr Cossack looked around slowly and nodded to Ciel as she looked at her Father silently nodding... Scrambling to a file cabinet, Ciel pulled out a computer disc and inserted it into the main computer system. A moment of silence drifted into the lab as all attention turned back to Dr Cossack... Dr Cossack's young bearded face darkened as his expression shifted under the weight of the news... Swallowing hard and looking swiftly right to left, one last time, he took a deep breath and began.
"I know this has been the longest few moments of your life," Dr Cossack fixed his black rimmed glasses and continued, "but this is important for you to understand. Listen closely because no matter how many times you say that the Sigmus Virus will not infect your systems... it will overwhelm you and change you... The Hellspawn armor, that X unlocked during the battle with Black Talon, and the Nightshade armor, that Zero unlocked during the Sigma Wars, are the true natures of the virus. The Sigmus Virus feeds off of the darkest desires and most evil intentions of its host. In essence, strong emotions, like hate, feed the Virus for the worst and can alter everything forever more," Dr Cossack shook his head and continued, "It took Ciel the better part of a hundred years to rid the last traces of its influences from her system. Be ready for it because the influences are already taking over..."
"No they're not," Zero chimed, "I feel fine! I couldn't feel better if I was assembled yesterday!"
"Zero," Dr Cossack's face further sullied, "That armor is your infected form... The only reason why it is red instead of black... is because you control it... or so you believe... Your true form has not been awakened yet Zero... You are your Father's legacy and I hate to say this but you don't have long before it consumes you Zero... X's body still has quite some time before it succumbs to it... I wish I had better news for you guys but it gets worse... Turn your attention to the screen in front of you." The screen came to life as a flash of images appeared before the heroes. A microscopically enhanced image of a series of viral particles shown on the screen. "What you see here is the Sigmus Virus magnified one hundred times. This was Ciel's systems at one time and she was a terrible mess to work with. Now please... X and Zero allow me a sample of your blood?"
"No problem Doc," X smiled and turned to Zero, who held out a hand. A few tentacles shot out of a port in the ceiling and prodded both Zero's and X's hands. A series of digits and data surged through Dr Cossack's mind as he looked at the two standing ever so impatiently in front of him.
"Oh my..." Dr Cossack gasped, "It was far worse than I expected... Zero and X have more viral particles than Ciel ever did and she handled the virus first hand... From what I have seen right here, you both should be succumbing to the virus' dark nature! It's remarkable how both of you can even remain sane at this level..."
"How bad is it?" Zero asked.
"Well..." Dr Cossack shifted onto his left foot and tapped his forehead with his index finger, "Ciel had three hundred particles in her system... whereas both of you have three hundred thousand particles in your systems... It's simply remarkable... Er... Right... Just one word of warning before I leave you to your work... you must control your emotions... They are your worst enemy at this level of contamination..."
Deep inside of the security room, Typhus eyed Sigma up in a monitor eagerly awaiting the moment when Sigma would betray their trust. Staring blankly into the screen, a smile stretched across Typhus' face as he thought of the glory he would get if he showed how Sigma was a traitor. Aiming with his index finger and thumb extended, Typhus made a gun gesture towards Sigma as he sighed and followed the long corridors to his quarters, where he fell asleep... While Typhus slept, Sigma continued to work on the integration of the three viruses... Something that would have gone quicker if only Sigma had the proper equipment to deal with. The technology that he had to use was far outdated compared to that he had used when he was making mischief for the Hunters. Further tinkering with the machines, Sigma magnified the viruses under a microscope and added a nanomachine to the culture. Using the nanomachine to extract the base RNA segments from each of the specimens, he cut them down to their bare bones and started to design a fourth virus to sustain the other three. Grinning at his own brilliance, Sigma wiped the sweat off of his brow and took a break from his work. Despite his setbacks, he was way ahead of his schedule. He had thought it would take ten hours to integrate the three but by the time Typhus had gone to sleep, six hours had elapsed. Looking up from his thoughts, he caught the glimpse of something gold in the corner of his eye. He turned his head to meet up with Xephyr looking in on him.
"How're things going Sigma?" Xephyr inquired.
"Better than I had hoped," Sigma yawned, "I found a way around them not wanting to combine... I'm designing a base virus to alter them all so that they'd work together. I'm so brilliant sometimes. It's amazing how much work I can do in such little time."
"Will this work?" Xephyr looked at the computer screen full of genetic sequences, "Are you perfectly sure that this won't infect Reploids? It's vital for the operation that Reploids are immune..."
"This will work," Sigma cackled, "The computer is working on the base virus right now and should be done pretty soon. You shouldn't worry about anything. The virus will only go after humans. I promise you that you have nothing more to worry about. The end of all wars and the rise of Reploidom is soon at hand."
"That sounds great!" Xephyr lightened up, "Why not go to sleep? You're way ahead of schedule, even Reploids of your caliber need rest."
"Right," Sigma nodded as he stood up, "Where's my room at?"
"I'll show you," Xephyr smiled cheerfully, "After you." Together Sigma and Xephyr walked the corridors toward Sigma's quarters. Coming to a cross roads, Sigma left Xephyr to his duties and entered his quarters, where he went to sleep dreaming sweet dreams of conquest.
Around the same time, Signas had called a huge meeting within the Neo Hunters Headquarters. Everyone, from as far as Russia, gathered around a podium at which sat a large screen fixed to the wall. A large clad Reploid came up to the podium and nodded to the crowd ,whom hushed, as Signas took his place and fixed his papers onto the podium. Swiftly looking around the room a couple times to make sure everyone who needed to be there was there, Signas cleared his voice and started the meeting.
"Welcome one and all," Signas gestured, "On your screens in front of you, you should see the Ziggurat. The Ziggurat was a secret experimental flying fortress that was built after the Black Talon Wars. It used alien technology and our own united to show the ingenious of man and Reploid. It was stolen by a group of Reploids called the Assassins Guild. It has also come to our attention that they have in their possession the Epsilon Factor. If that substance gets into the air, Reploidom will be doomed. We are going to stop them here and now! We are going to assail their fortress and take the Epsilon back before it is unleashed. This is an open declaration of war against the Assassins Guild," Signas shut his eyes thinking of the horrors that would soon come and continued, "I want cooperation from everyone here. I have assurances that everyone around the world is backing us... so let's do this with the most extreme precision. We don't want any incidents nor do we want the Epsilon released. Good luck out in the field and may we all be forgiven for the destruction caused if it ever gets out..."
The uproar of chatter from Signas' declaration of war on the Assassins Guild filled the room. As Signas shut his eyes, he could only think of the slaughter that would soon come, for peace had been won but the price to maintain it would be too high for anyone to pay... The new Maverick War had been started and forever silenced the fate of millions....
The heroes stood in front of the computer representation of Dr Cossack and alone they stood baring the weight of the world. X started pacing around nervously about the revelations that would come.... while Zero stood with his arms crossed looking at the ground awaiting the final news. Dr Cossack looked around slowly and nodded to Ciel as she looked at her Father silently nodding... Scrambling to a file cabinet, Ciel pulled out a computer disc and inserted it into the main computer system. A moment of silence drifted into the lab as all attention turned back to Dr Cossack... Dr Cossack's young bearded face darkened as his expression shifted under the weight of the news... Swallowing hard and looking swiftly right to left, one last time, he took a deep breath and began.
"I know this has been the longest few moments of your life," Dr Cossack fixed his black rimmed glasses and continued, "but this is important for you to understand. Listen closely because no matter how many times you say that the Sigmus Virus will not infect your systems... it will overwhelm you and change you... The Hellspawn armor, that X unlocked during the battle with Black Talon, and the Nightshade armor, that Zero unlocked during the Sigma Wars, are the true natures of the virus. The Sigmus Virus feeds off of the darkest desires and most evil intentions of its host. In essence, strong emotions, like hate, feed the Virus for the worst and can alter everything forever more," Dr Cossack shook his head and continued, "It took Ciel the better part of a hundred years to rid the last traces of its influences from her system. Be ready for it because the influences are already taking over..."
"No they're not," Zero chimed, "I feel fine! I couldn't feel better if I was assembled yesterday!"
"Zero," Dr Cossack's face further sullied, "That armor is your infected form... The only reason why it is red instead of black... is because you control it... or so you believe... Your true form has not been awakened yet Zero... You are your Father's legacy and I hate to say this but you don't have long before it consumes you Zero... X's body still has quite some time before it succumbs to it... I wish I had better news for you guys but it gets worse... Turn your attention to the screen in front of you." The screen came to life as a flash of images appeared before the heroes. A microscopically enhanced image of a series of viral particles shown on the screen. "What you see here is the Sigmus Virus magnified one hundred times. This was Ciel's systems at one time and she was a terrible mess to work with. Now please... X and Zero allow me a sample of your blood?"
"No problem Doc," X smiled and turned to Zero, who held out a hand. A few tentacles shot out of a port in the ceiling and prodded both Zero's and X's hands. A series of digits and data surged through Dr Cossack's mind as he looked at the two standing ever so impatiently in front of him.
"Oh my..." Dr Cossack gasped, "It was far worse than I expected... Zero and X have more viral particles than Ciel ever did and she handled the virus first hand... From what I have seen right here, you both should be succumbing to the virus' dark nature! It's remarkable how both of you can even remain sane at this level..."
"How bad is it?" Zero asked.
"Well..." Dr Cossack shifted onto his left foot and tapped his forehead with his index finger, "Ciel had three hundred particles in her system... whereas both of you have three hundred thousand particles in your systems... It's simply remarkable... Er... Right... Just one word of warning before I leave you to your work... you must control your emotions... They are your worst enemy at this level of contamination..."
Deep inside of the security room, Typhus eyed Sigma up in a monitor eagerly awaiting the moment when Sigma would betray their trust. Staring blankly into the screen, a smile stretched across Typhus' face as he thought of the glory he would get if he showed how Sigma was a traitor. Aiming with his index finger and thumb extended, Typhus made a gun gesture towards Sigma as he sighed and followed the long corridors to his quarters, where he fell asleep... While Typhus slept, Sigma continued to work on the integration of the three viruses... Something that would have gone quicker if only Sigma had the proper equipment to deal with. The technology that he had to use was far outdated compared to that he had used when he was making mischief for the Hunters. Further tinkering with the machines, Sigma magnified the viruses under a microscope and added a nanomachine to the culture. Using the nanomachine to extract the base RNA segments from each of the specimens, he cut them down to their bare bones and started to design a fourth virus to sustain the other three. Grinning at his own brilliance, Sigma wiped the sweat off of his brow and took a break from his work. Despite his setbacks, he was way ahead of his schedule. He had thought it would take ten hours to integrate the three but by the time Typhus had gone to sleep, six hours had elapsed. Looking up from his thoughts, he caught the glimpse of something gold in the corner of his eye. He turned his head to meet up with Xephyr looking in on him.
"How're things going Sigma?" Xephyr inquired.
"Better than I had hoped," Sigma yawned, "I found a way around them not wanting to combine... I'm designing a base virus to alter them all so that they'd work together. I'm so brilliant sometimes. It's amazing how much work I can do in such little time."
"Will this work?" Xephyr looked at the computer screen full of genetic sequences, "Are you perfectly sure that this won't infect Reploids? It's vital for the operation that Reploids are immune..."
"This will work," Sigma cackled, "The computer is working on the base virus right now and should be done pretty soon. You shouldn't worry about anything. The virus will only go after humans. I promise you that you have nothing more to worry about. The end of all wars and the rise of Reploidom is soon at hand."
"That sounds great!" Xephyr lightened up, "Why not go to sleep? You're way ahead of schedule, even Reploids of your caliber need rest."
"Right," Sigma nodded as he stood up, "Where's my room at?"
"I'll show you," Xephyr smiled cheerfully, "After you." Together Sigma and Xephyr walked the corridors toward Sigma's quarters. Coming to a cross roads, Sigma left Xephyr to his duties and entered his quarters, where he went to sleep dreaming sweet dreams of conquest.
Around the same time, Signas had called a huge meeting within the Neo Hunters Headquarters. Everyone, from as far as Russia, gathered around a podium at which sat a large screen fixed to the wall. A large clad Reploid came up to the podium and nodded to the crowd ,whom hushed, as Signas took his place and fixed his papers onto the podium. Swiftly looking around the room a couple times to make sure everyone who needed to be there was there, Signas cleared his voice and started the meeting.
"Welcome one and all," Signas gestured, "On your screens in front of you, you should see the Ziggurat. The Ziggurat was a secret experimental flying fortress that was built after the Black Talon Wars. It used alien technology and our own united to show the ingenious of man and Reploid. It was stolen by a group of Reploids called the Assassins Guild. It has also come to our attention that they have in their possession the Epsilon Factor. If that substance gets into the air, Reploidom will be doomed. We are going to stop them here and now! We are going to assail their fortress and take the Epsilon back before it is unleashed. This is an open declaration of war against the Assassins Guild," Signas shut his eyes thinking of the horrors that would soon come and continued, "I want cooperation from everyone here. I have assurances that everyone around the world is backing us... so let's do this with the most extreme precision. We don't want any incidents nor do we want the Epsilon released. Good luck out in the field and may we all be forgiven for the destruction caused if it ever gets out..."
The uproar of chatter from Signas' declaration of war on the Assassins Guild filled the room. As Signas shut his eyes, he could only think of the slaughter that would soon come, for peace had been won but the price to maintain it would be too high for anyone to pay... The new Maverick War had been started and forever silenced the fate of millions....