X's Agenda
On the forward battle lines, Nemesis stood next to a group of cloaked warriors, who resembled Ninjas. There was only one of the group that would acknowledge him while the others bowed on one knee. The lone warrior appeared to be very close to Nemesis and as she unveiled herself from underneath the hood, Nemesis finally acknowledged her.
"I'm glad you took that damned hood off," Nemesis shook his head trying not to laugh, "how are things on the battle front Oracle?"
"Things are progressing as foreseen," Oracle nodded, "We are pushing the remaining Hunters into the base so we can incinerate them all with one blast."
"Very good," Nemesis' face lit up, "You aren't my first in command for nothing! Once the Hunters are pushed back into the base, have all your forces fall back."
"As you command," Oracle hymned as her and her warriors vanished. A moment later, Oracle and her minions appeared before the legions engaging the Hunters. Blasts and battle cries resounded over the area as Reploids breathed their last here... Yet she continued to direct the forces in the hopes of forcing them in a corner...
Across the lines and on the Hunter side, they were mounting their last attack as they were being pushed back into the headquarters. The losses were too great on the Hunters side as everything started to slow down... Everyone turned to look at their commanding officer as everything depended on this last call....
"FALL BACK! RETREAT" a Reploid clad in black and red called out, "We must fall back to the headquarters. There is no other way!"
The impending stampede of Hunters rushed the lines as they retreated to the headquarters. The whirling noises of plasma blasts whizzed past their heads as it filled the voids left by the retreating Hunters... One by one, they fell back to the base and further sealed their fates. Time continued to slow down as the sounds of feet resounded over everything...
Shutting the door as soon as the last Reploid entered, Douglas' face lit up with joy as he got to test one of his gadgets. With a loud click, the doors and exits snapped shut and the base began to lower into the ground as a large series of blast doors closed behind it. With a loud click, the base hit bottom and the defense shield activated.... The Neo Hunter Headquarters was now sealed off from the battle and all contact from the outside world... Damning all those souls that were locked inside of this tomb forever more...
Not too far from the battlefield, the Ziggurat was making ready its firing position over the blast shield. On the bridge, Xephyr smiled at how everything was coming together and watched as the Ziggurat eclipsed the smoldering craters below. Slinking forward across the field, the Ziggurat made slow progress towards its prey, but it did not matter how fast it was for their fates were already sealed...
"Yes... Yes," Xephyr clasped his hands together in impeding victory, "Just a little more... Gotta be sure there aren't any survivors of this... Hit them with everything we have! Full power! It's time to retire this traitorous scum! To hell with you... ALL!!"
A small stream of energy powered up underneath the Ziggurat as it froze in position over the base. A loud hum radiated over the battlefield as a small stream of energy rained down onto the shield. A few moments went by as a series of small explosions were heard as a tower of energy engulfed the shield and carved a hole into it. A couple more minutes passed as a pulsating sound was heard underneath the Ziggurat as the full power of the titan was unleashed. Parting everything in its path, the blast ripped through the defense shield... The resulting explosion emitted from this blast engulfed everything for a ten mile radius. Even more time passed as an energy dome encompassed the area at which left the Ziggurat unscathed... As the dome of energy swirled under its own weight, it dissipated and left a pile of dust where the base was.... Everything had been lost... The future forever more darkened by these acts...
After the kill shot was unleashed, the Ziggurat slowly left the area as black smoke trailed into the sky. Coming to the call of Alia, X, Zero and Zenith rushed to the grizzly scene where nothing remained of the once proud structure. Climbing down where the base used to stand, they sifted through the rubble as their hopes dropped and gave into despair... When all hope seemed to have faded, they picked up a life sign, a very faint one, and proceeded to find it. Underneath several control consoles at which the torn and singed picture of X remained, there laid Alia underneath a pool of her own blood... Looking up to X, Alia held out a hand as she placed it upon his face and coughed up a bit of blood onto the ground as she forced herself to talk...
"X..." Alia smiled faintly, "I'm glad you are here... The Assassins Guild did this... Their Ziggurat conceals a cannon of unfathomable power... They tore through our shield as if it was nothing."
"Save your breath Alia," X's face saddened as a stream of tears streaked down his face, "We can still save you... Just hang in there..."
"X..." Alia reached over and held his hand, "X... Don't worry... I'm too far gone... Just leave m..."
Before she could even finish her sentence, Alia's hand went limp as X rose his hands into the air letting out his tears... His body trembled over hers as he held her in his arms... His tears streaking down his face and hitting hers... Zero and Zenith's eyes also filled with tears about the loss of such a heroine... The hurt and the heartache from everyone there seemed to be getting the better of all of them... A moment passed and Zero stepped forth putting a hand on his shoulder...
"X," Zero forced out, "Come on... There's nothing else we can do... We have to search out for more survivors... We can resurrect Alia... I promise..."
"Alright Zero," X choked as he got onto his feet and laid her body in a corner, "I'll be back for you, my love..."
"X! ZERO!" Zenith called back, "We have another life sign!"
"Where is it?" X dried his eyes.
"You won't believe where..." Zenith shook his head, "Ten meters down."
"You mean Signas' quarters?" Zero's face lit up, "Maybe there's hope afterall!"
Taking up their blasters, all three of them carved a hole into the ground and jumped down towards the collapsed section where Signas was... Standing right over the section where his room was, the three heroes started to cart debris from the area where they found the room in complete disarray... Their eyes adjusted to the absence of light as they went around the room.... A blood smeared hand print laid on his desk as they found Signas' body crumpled next to the desk... A moment went by as he opened his eyes and spoke with a squeaky metallic hum.
"X," Signas forced a smile, "We tried to hold out without you... They were too much... I didn't even get to see anything of this world... All I've ever seen is pain and torment... never any of this Earth's beauty..."
"It's ok, sir," Zero and Zenith yammered in unison.
"Save your energy Signas," X sighed, "We'll get you out of here... Just hang on!"
X and Zero helped Signas to his feet as a tremor rocked the base... Signas' room started to cave in as Signas shoved all three of them out of the room. Rock and debris buried the room as visibility was totally lost... As the dust slowly vanished, the room was totally gone... buried with tons of rubble, rock, and stone....
"SIGNAS!!!!" X called out with his hand outreached.
"He's gone X," Zenith looked sullied, "There's no more need to be in this tomb... Let's get out of here... That was the last signature here... Everyone else is gone..."
"IRIS!" X shot out, "Where's Iris? Was she here?"
"No," Zero chimed, "Iris is safe. I hid her really well!"
"At least there will be two Hunters to live through the day," Zenith sighed.
"You mean three?" Zero corrected.
"No," Zenith uttered, "Two... X isn't a Hunter anymore... He resigned his position at this place. Let's get out of here... Don't know when it'll collapse..."
Jumping through the hole in the floor that they had made, the heroic threesome backtracked to where Alia's body laid... and left the area carrying her lifeless corpse away from the scene... X's teeth were gritted together as they walked through the dust that was once a lush forest... His fists clenched as tears continued to stream down his face and black demonic wings started to uncoil from his back... X's body started to twitch as Hellspawn X regained control of his body... Dropping Alia onto the ground, X leapt into the air and went flying towards the Ziggurat...
"X!!" Zero and Zenith yelled out, "STOP!!!"
"Well now this is just great," Zenith jinxed, "Now we have him to deal with... I thought we had him under control..."
"I understand what he's going through but," Zero rationalized, "the line he will cross in that armor is just insane... That Hellspawn armor is his infected form... Each time it takes control, X loses more of himself.... I just hope we can get him back this time... From what Dr. Cossack says, we both have so many Sigma Virus particles that we should be Mavericks."
"You mean after you told me I shouldn't worry... I have to worry about the Sigma Virus too!?" Zenith sounded infuriated.
"I didn't think there was any worries at the time, but now I'm having doubts about it all..." Zero looked down and continued, "Afterall, we're all original models... We don't know how long it will take before the virus succumbs our systems... The best we can do is make good with the time that we have left..."
Deep within the Ziggurat, Sigma lurked inside of the lab trying to understand what was wrong with his virus... Sitting there a few moments, he went through it all and came to the conclusion that he would not be able to fix it without extra help... Getting up and looking around, Sigma teleported with the samples of each virus down to his secret lab... Engaging his own computer systems, Sigma started to work with everything again... Dissecting the Sigma Virus with his own equipment, he found the problem almost immediately. Code by code, Sigma fixed the virus so that it would properly bind with the other three... Everything was going extremely well despite the setbacks and with Sigma's new equipment, he rectified this problem almost immediately. Taking his newly purified virus, Sigma took up the remaining three and added them to his own at which the substance grew black.... The now black substance was suspended in a skull form with an eerie glow emanating from it... Massively reproducing the toxin, Sigma made enough virus to coat the Earth three times over and kept two of the batches for himself... Teleporting it into the lab, Sigma's face lit up with a nefarious grin as Typhus walked in and was instantly knocked back by the sight...
"Tell Xephyr I was able to get this in less time than I thought," Sigma bowed, "I am done here and without a doubt the Hunters are done for?"
"Yes they are," Typhus eyed up Sigma, who was standing close to him, awaiting his deceit, "Xephyr would like to see you anyway. He wants to talk to you in private."
"That's no problem," Sigma yawned as he injected a substance into Typhus' neck, "You people are too wound up in honor and virtue to see the stuff that happens behind your backs... For that, you have been given a dose of the Epsilon. You will help with my war against my archrivals, X and Zero!"
"Now if only that would work on me," Typhus smiled, "I had some Matriarch Genus transferred up here."
"News flash!" Sigma cackled evilly, "The Matriarch Genus is done for! They no longer have any stock piles of the substance. What they gave you was probably something else designed by the government for Reploid testing. You fools haven't realized anything yet but you will... You will join me in ruining this world Typhus and soon your whole clan will be my pawns!"
"I would die before that," Typhus hesitated as his eyes emptied of all emotion, "I... I serve my lord and master Sigma... What do you beseech of me?"
"Start giving people this new Epsilon," Sigma laughed, "I will control them one way or another. Either by my sheer will or by brain washing them! Now go my mind slave and distribute it to all the denizens of the Assassins Guild!"
"Yes my liege," Typhus spoke in monotone and vanished.
"Ahhh," Sigma's face twisted with delight, "I love the sound of deceit in the morning... Now there's not a single stopper left to hold me back... Soon the Assassins Guild will be mine to control! Then I will unleash the Mother Virus onto the world and wipe the pathetic slate clean so that my race alone can rule! We are the only race worthy of ruling this rock! We will be victorious!"
Shaking his head clean, Sigma left the area and presented Xephyr with the container of the Mother Virus. While Sigma was off doing this, Typhus, Sigma's mind servant, went off dispensing the newly updated Epsilon Factor to the crew of the Ziggurat. Without the Hunters to stand in his way, there was nothing left to resist him nor cause any problems in his plans... Meanwhile, Xephyr looked happily at his Mother Virus and took Sigma aside to congratulate him.
"For a moment there," Xephyr gossiped, "I thought you wouldn't get it done within the time frame but now looking at how much you've done... I say nice job! You've done the Assassins Guild a favor and we are forever indebted to you. Whatever it is you wish I shall grant it to you once we erase humanity from the planet."
"I do have one request," Sigma plastered a fake smile on his face to hide his intentions, "I request that you give me a contingent of your warriors so that I may start to build my utopia."
"All in good time," Xephyr added, "My hands are tied at the moment. I have way too many things going on to stop them and heed your demands. I will meet them and that's a promise."
"Oh... Good," Sigma cut in, "I forgot to say something else. You should have listened to Typhus. He's been right about me from the start." Sigma's grin stretched across his face as a secondary compartment opened in the container of Mother Virus leaking out the updated Epsilon. The cloud flooded the chamber and overwhelmed everything inside of the Ziggurat. This left Sigma with a new army of warriors, who would do anything for their new Lord and Master... Something he had missed for a long time...
Then if by some random miracle or just sheer dumb luck, the sirens blared and the sensors picked up an object flying straight for them, it was Hellspawn X. Sigma's face lit up with even more glee about an even more powerful foe coming for him. This was his day as he readied preparations to infect X with the Epsilon. Sigma just loved how everything he had dreamt of was coming to fruition but there was one thing that he had not counted on... A resistance cell was growing with the remaining uninfected legions of the Assassins Guild and the two last uninfected commanding officers, Nemesis and Oracle.... For Oracle, using her powers of foresight, had seen Sigma's treachery and saved her love from the fires of damnation under Sigma's rule. For this, Nemesis was eternally grateful and they both showed it in their eyes of how many they looked out for one another and cared... None of this was known to Sigma, who thought the crew was under the influence of the Epsilon, and this proved to be their one greatest achievement so far...
Standing on the observatory deck of the Ziggurat, Sigma awaited the moment when X would make his grand entrance. With sword pulled and rested on his shoulder, Sigma stood with his eyes closed and his back turned to the door... A darkness crept into the ship as Hellspawn X drew himself from the darkest regions of Hell... The shadow of his former self stood staring coldly at Sigma awaiting a moment of weakness so he could strike....
"Welcome," Sigma grimaced, "You are welcomed here Hellspawn. I know we can be best of friends if we tried."
"Why don't I just smash your face against the wall to save myself from your deceit Sigma?" Hellspawn X jostled, "You are a pathetic excuse for Reploid flotsome! You will die first! Then Xephyr!"
"Ahhh," Sigma seemed pleased, "Well there's a problem with your plan. You never guessed that I would be ready for you!"
The doors shut to the observatory as the holographic image of Sigma vanished. A series of flaps unveiled a cloud of Epsilon vapors as it filled the room... Coughing under its nature, Hellspawn X froze and lowered his head as if he was giving up... Touching the opposite wall, the communication line connected with Sigma. X's voice was hollowed and more obedient.... Sigma had won the day....
"All hail Lord Sigma," Hellspawn X droned, "Death to all the Reploid traitors.... Cleanse the world of all the human race.... We are the one true race to inherit the world...."
"Yes," Sigma muttered, "Indeed it is and now the world will become a much better place to live!"
On the forward battle lines, Nemesis stood next to a group of cloaked warriors, who resembled Ninjas. There was only one of the group that would acknowledge him while the others bowed on one knee. The lone warrior appeared to be very close to Nemesis and as she unveiled herself from underneath the hood, Nemesis finally acknowledged her.
"I'm glad you took that damned hood off," Nemesis shook his head trying not to laugh, "how are things on the battle front Oracle?"
"Things are progressing as foreseen," Oracle nodded, "We are pushing the remaining Hunters into the base so we can incinerate them all with one blast."
"Very good," Nemesis' face lit up, "You aren't my first in command for nothing! Once the Hunters are pushed back into the base, have all your forces fall back."
"As you command," Oracle hymned as her and her warriors vanished. A moment later, Oracle and her minions appeared before the legions engaging the Hunters. Blasts and battle cries resounded over the area as Reploids breathed their last here... Yet she continued to direct the forces in the hopes of forcing them in a corner...
Across the lines and on the Hunter side, they were mounting their last attack as they were being pushed back into the headquarters. The losses were too great on the Hunters side as everything started to slow down... Everyone turned to look at their commanding officer as everything depended on this last call....
"FALL BACK! RETREAT" a Reploid clad in black and red called out, "We must fall back to the headquarters. There is no other way!"
The impending stampede of Hunters rushed the lines as they retreated to the headquarters. The whirling noises of plasma blasts whizzed past their heads as it filled the voids left by the retreating Hunters... One by one, they fell back to the base and further sealed their fates. Time continued to slow down as the sounds of feet resounded over everything...
Shutting the door as soon as the last Reploid entered, Douglas' face lit up with joy as he got to test one of his gadgets. With a loud click, the doors and exits snapped shut and the base began to lower into the ground as a large series of blast doors closed behind it. With a loud click, the base hit bottom and the defense shield activated.... The Neo Hunter Headquarters was now sealed off from the battle and all contact from the outside world... Damning all those souls that were locked inside of this tomb forever more...
Not too far from the battlefield, the Ziggurat was making ready its firing position over the blast shield. On the bridge, Xephyr smiled at how everything was coming together and watched as the Ziggurat eclipsed the smoldering craters below. Slinking forward across the field, the Ziggurat made slow progress towards its prey, but it did not matter how fast it was for their fates were already sealed...
"Yes... Yes," Xephyr clasped his hands together in impeding victory, "Just a little more... Gotta be sure there aren't any survivors of this... Hit them with everything we have! Full power! It's time to retire this traitorous scum! To hell with you... ALL!!"
A small stream of energy powered up underneath the Ziggurat as it froze in position over the base. A loud hum radiated over the battlefield as a small stream of energy rained down onto the shield. A few moments went by as a series of small explosions were heard as a tower of energy engulfed the shield and carved a hole into it. A couple more minutes passed as a pulsating sound was heard underneath the Ziggurat as the full power of the titan was unleashed. Parting everything in its path, the blast ripped through the defense shield... The resulting explosion emitted from this blast engulfed everything for a ten mile radius. Even more time passed as an energy dome encompassed the area at which left the Ziggurat unscathed... As the dome of energy swirled under its own weight, it dissipated and left a pile of dust where the base was.... Everything had been lost... The future forever more darkened by these acts...
After the kill shot was unleashed, the Ziggurat slowly left the area as black smoke trailed into the sky. Coming to the call of Alia, X, Zero and Zenith rushed to the grizzly scene where nothing remained of the once proud structure. Climbing down where the base used to stand, they sifted through the rubble as their hopes dropped and gave into despair... When all hope seemed to have faded, they picked up a life sign, a very faint one, and proceeded to find it. Underneath several control consoles at which the torn and singed picture of X remained, there laid Alia underneath a pool of her own blood... Looking up to X, Alia held out a hand as she placed it upon his face and coughed up a bit of blood onto the ground as she forced herself to talk...
"X..." Alia smiled faintly, "I'm glad you are here... The Assassins Guild did this... Their Ziggurat conceals a cannon of unfathomable power... They tore through our shield as if it was nothing."
"Save your breath Alia," X's face saddened as a stream of tears streaked down his face, "We can still save you... Just hang in there..."
"X..." Alia reached over and held his hand, "X... Don't worry... I'm too far gone... Just leave m..."
Before she could even finish her sentence, Alia's hand went limp as X rose his hands into the air letting out his tears... His body trembled over hers as he held her in his arms... His tears streaking down his face and hitting hers... Zero and Zenith's eyes also filled with tears about the loss of such a heroine... The hurt and the heartache from everyone there seemed to be getting the better of all of them... A moment passed and Zero stepped forth putting a hand on his shoulder...
"X," Zero forced out, "Come on... There's nothing else we can do... We have to search out for more survivors... We can resurrect Alia... I promise..."
"Alright Zero," X choked as he got onto his feet and laid her body in a corner, "I'll be back for you, my love..."
"X! ZERO!" Zenith called back, "We have another life sign!"
"Where is it?" X dried his eyes.
"You won't believe where..." Zenith shook his head, "Ten meters down."
"You mean Signas' quarters?" Zero's face lit up, "Maybe there's hope afterall!"
Taking up their blasters, all three of them carved a hole into the ground and jumped down towards the collapsed section where Signas was... Standing right over the section where his room was, the three heroes started to cart debris from the area where they found the room in complete disarray... Their eyes adjusted to the absence of light as they went around the room.... A blood smeared hand print laid on his desk as they found Signas' body crumpled next to the desk... A moment went by as he opened his eyes and spoke with a squeaky metallic hum.
"X," Signas forced a smile, "We tried to hold out without you... They were too much... I didn't even get to see anything of this world... All I've ever seen is pain and torment... never any of this Earth's beauty..."
"It's ok, sir," Zero and Zenith yammered in unison.
"Save your energy Signas," X sighed, "We'll get you out of here... Just hang on!"
X and Zero helped Signas to his feet as a tremor rocked the base... Signas' room started to cave in as Signas shoved all three of them out of the room. Rock and debris buried the room as visibility was totally lost... As the dust slowly vanished, the room was totally gone... buried with tons of rubble, rock, and stone....
"SIGNAS!!!!" X called out with his hand outreached.
"He's gone X," Zenith looked sullied, "There's no more need to be in this tomb... Let's get out of here... That was the last signature here... Everyone else is gone..."
"IRIS!" X shot out, "Where's Iris? Was she here?"
"No," Zero chimed, "Iris is safe. I hid her really well!"
"At least there will be two Hunters to live through the day," Zenith sighed.
"You mean three?" Zero corrected.
"No," Zenith uttered, "Two... X isn't a Hunter anymore... He resigned his position at this place. Let's get out of here... Don't know when it'll collapse..."
Jumping through the hole in the floor that they had made, the heroic threesome backtracked to where Alia's body laid... and left the area carrying her lifeless corpse away from the scene... X's teeth were gritted together as they walked through the dust that was once a lush forest... His fists clenched as tears continued to stream down his face and black demonic wings started to uncoil from his back... X's body started to twitch as Hellspawn X regained control of his body... Dropping Alia onto the ground, X leapt into the air and went flying towards the Ziggurat...
"X!!" Zero and Zenith yelled out, "STOP!!!"
"Well now this is just great," Zenith jinxed, "Now we have him to deal with... I thought we had him under control..."
"I understand what he's going through but," Zero rationalized, "the line he will cross in that armor is just insane... That Hellspawn armor is his infected form... Each time it takes control, X loses more of himself.... I just hope we can get him back this time... From what Dr. Cossack says, we both have so many Sigma Virus particles that we should be Mavericks."
"You mean after you told me I shouldn't worry... I have to worry about the Sigma Virus too!?" Zenith sounded infuriated.
"I didn't think there was any worries at the time, but now I'm having doubts about it all..." Zero looked down and continued, "Afterall, we're all original models... We don't know how long it will take before the virus succumbs our systems... The best we can do is make good with the time that we have left..."
Deep within the Ziggurat, Sigma lurked inside of the lab trying to understand what was wrong with his virus... Sitting there a few moments, he went through it all and came to the conclusion that he would not be able to fix it without extra help... Getting up and looking around, Sigma teleported with the samples of each virus down to his secret lab... Engaging his own computer systems, Sigma started to work with everything again... Dissecting the Sigma Virus with his own equipment, he found the problem almost immediately. Code by code, Sigma fixed the virus so that it would properly bind with the other three... Everything was going extremely well despite the setbacks and with Sigma's new equipment, he rectified this problem almost immediately. Taking his newly purified virus, Sigma took up the remaining three and added them to his own at which the substance grew black.... The now black substance was suspended in a skull form with an eerie glow emanating from it... Massively reproducing the toxin, Sigma made enough virus to coat the Earth three times over and kept two of the batches for himself... Teleporting it into the lab, Sigma's face lit up with a nefarious grin as Typhus walked in and was instantly knocked back by the sight...
"Tell Xephyr I was able to get this in less time than I thought," Sigma bowed, "I am done here and without a doubt the Hunters are done for?"
"Yes they are," Typhus eyed up Sigma, who was standing close to him, awaiting his deceit, "Xephyr would like to see you anyway. He wants to talk to you in private."
"That's no problem," Sigma yawned as he injected a substance into Typhus' neck, "You people are too wound up in honor and virtue to see the stuff that happens behind your backs... For that, you have been given a dose of the Epsilon. You will help with my war against my archrivals, X and Zero!"
"Now if only that would work on me," Typhus smiled, "I had some Matriarch Genus transferred up here."
"News flash!" Sigma cackled evilly, "The Matriarch Genus is done for! They no longer have any stock piles of the substance. What they gave you was probably something else designed by the government for Reploid testing. You fools haven't realized anything yet but you will... You will join me in ruining this world Typhus and soon your whole clan will be my pawns!"
"I would die before that," Typhus hesitated as his eyes emptied of all emotion, "I... I serve my lord and master Sigma... What do you beseech of me?"
"Start giving people this new Epsilon," Sigma laughed, "I will control them one way or another. Either by my sheer will or by brain washing them! Now go my mind slave and distribute it to all the denizens of the Assassins Guild!"
"Yes my liege," Typhus spoke in monotone and vanished.
"Ahhh," Sigma's face twisted with delight, "I love the sound of deceit in the morning... Now there's not a single stopper left to hold me back... Soon the Assassins Guild will be mine to control! Then I will unleash the Mother Virus onto the world and wipe the pathetic slate clean so that my race alone can rule! We are the only race worthy of ruling this rock! We will be victorious!"
Shaking his head clean, Sigma left the area and presented Xephyr with the container of the Mother Virus. While Sigma was off doing this, Typhus, Sigma's mind servant, went off dispensing the newly updated Epsilon Factor to the crew of the Ziggurat. Without the Hunters to stand in his way, there was nothing left to resist him nor cause any problems in his plans... Meanwhile, Xephyr looked happily at his Mother Virus and took Sigma aside to congratulate him.
"For a moment there," Xephyr gossiped, "I thought you wouldn't get it done within the time frame but now looking at how much you've done... I say nice job! You've done the Assassins Guild a favor and we are forever indebted to you. Whatever it is you wish I shall grant it to you once we erase humanity from the planet."
"I do have one request," Sigma plastered a fake smile on his face to hide his intentions, "I request that you give me a contingent of your warriors so that I may start to build my utopia."
"All in good time," Xephyr added, "My hands are tied at the moment. I have way too many things going on to stop them and heed your demands. I will meet them and that's a promise."
"Oh... Good," Sigma cut in, "I forgot to say something else. You should have listened to Typhus. He's been right about me from the start." Sigma's grin stretched across his face as a secondary compartment opened in the container of Mother Virus leaking out the updated Epsilon. The cloud flooded the chamber and overwhelmed everything inside of the Ziggurat. This left Sigma with a new army of warriors, who would do anything for their new Lord and Master... Something he had missed for a long time...
Then if by some random miracle or just sheer dumb luck, the sirens blared and the sensors picked up an object flying straight for them, it was Hellspawn X. Sigma's face lit up with even more glee about an even more powerful foe coming for him. This was his day as he readied preparations to infect X with the Epsilon. Sigma just loved how everything he had dreamt of was coming to fruition but there was one thing that he had not counted on... A resistance cell was growing with the remaining uninfected legions of the Assassins Guild and the two last uninfected commanding officers, Nemesis and Oracle.... For Oracle, using her powers of foresight, had seen Sigma's treachery and saved her love from the fires of damnation under Sigma's rule. For this, Nemesis was eternally grateful and they both showed it in their eyes of how many they looked out for one another and cared... None of this was known to Sigma, who thought the crew was under the influence of the Epsilon, and this proved to be their one greatest achievement so far...
Standing on the observatory deck of the Ziggurat, Sigma awaited the moment when X would make his grand entrance. With sword pulled and rested on his shoulder, Sigma stood with his eyes closed and his back turned to the door... A darkness crept into the ship as Hellspawn X drew himself from the darkest regions of Hell... The shadow of his former self stood staring coldly at Sigma awaiting a moment of weakness so he could strike....
"Welcome," Sigma grimaced, "You are welcomed here Hellspawn. I know we can be best of friends if we tried."
"Why don't I just smash your face against the wall to save myself from your deceit Sigma?" Hellspawn X jostled, "You are a pathetic excuse for Reploid flotsome! You will die first! Then Xephyr!"
"Ahhh," Sigma seemed pleased, "Well there's a problem with your plan. You never guessed that I would be ready for you!"
The doors shut to the observatory as the holographic image of Sigma vanished. A series of flaps unveiled a cloud of Epsilon vapors as it filled the room... Coughing under its nature, Hellspawn X froze and lowered his head as if he was giving up... Touching the opposite wall, the communication line connected with Sigma. X's voice was hollowed and more obedient.... Sigma had won the day....
"All hail Lord Sigma," Hellspawn X droned, "Death to all the Reploid traitors.... Cleanse the world of all the human race.... We are the one true race to inherit the world...."
"Yes," Sigma muttered, "Indeed it is and now the world will become a much better place to live!"