Megaman X2: Eternal War

Chapter 21:Endgame

By Genoscythe

Two more disclaimers! At this point I'm not even really writing a disclaimer so much as announcing how many chapters I have left to go! Yay! Free love! Go America! Down with Communism!( At this point the Russian army is knocking at my door with a slew of T-90 tanks demanding my immediate surrender and conversion to communism... Oh well, Heil Hitler! Oh, sorry, wrong country.)

Through the entire trip back to HQ, no one had said a word. They decided it best to leave their commander to his sorrow as he clutched the lifeless hand of his love. At several points during the trip, Drake opened his mouth to say something, thought better of it, and closed it again. VR was looking distractedly at a list of data scrolling down his transparent visor, and Mobius's gaze darted about the small personnel bay of the evac shuttle. The pilot of the shuttle made an attempt at conversation, however.

" Things aren't going well for us in the city. We've been working overtime trying to get injured hunters out of the major battle zones. Mavericks are storming the major population areas and have already slaughtered hundreds of humans. There are siege tanks constantly rolling through the street, and nobody can tell if they're friend of foe until it's too late," He said grimly. " I wouldn't be surprised if they sent you back out immediately, even with your friend's condition," The hunters seemed to have paid him little heed.

As a small hangar door opened on the side of the large HQ looming ahead of them, X's spirits began to rise slightly. The Lifesaver units would take her immediately out of the shuttle and plug her into an energy tank, and she would be fine. Her brain would have enough energy to keep itself from crashing while the repairs on her body were being done. In a day, she would be near to full strength, and she and X would end the war together and move away from the city into the forest west of the HQ where the violence of the mavericks and humans and reploids could not touch them.

X told himself all of these things as the shuttle was locked into the small hangar and the side door slid up, allowing the Lifesaver units to wheel a cart into the shuttle. They knew immediately who needed attention, and the copilot had already told them of her condition. They sped her away, leaving X, the rest of his small team, and the two pilots sitting inside the stationary hover shuttle.

A small, mono-lens mechaniloid wheeled itself up to them via the ramp connecting the shuttle and the HQ. Mechaniloids were rare at the Maverick Hunter Headquarters, since they were far more susceptible to becoming a maverick than average reploids. This puzzled many scientists, since mechaniloids were mindless machines, and could not 'choose' a destiny as reploids could. This lead to the popular conclusion that mavericks were really reploids or mechaniloids infected by an airborne computer virus.

Some scientists rejected the theory, but it certainly seemed possible. The small mechaniloid's lens clicked and focused in and out. Maverick Hunters, and crew of the Mjolnir, you are ordered to exit the craft at this time. The tinny voice came from a voice box on a panel near the mechaniloid's right wheel. To the crew, your ship will be docked appropriately. To the Hunters, you are ordered to report to a general council meeting in Dr. Cain's office. The crew of the Mjolnir may wait in one of the lounges for further instructions, but is not limited to such activity.

X and the hunters rose simultaneously with the two pilots. The little droid wheeled off elsewhere. The light hunter was surprised that Drake did not yell at it; he hated mechaniloids. But then again, no one was in a very decent mood. Sure, they were all still alive, but how long would that last? Even the pilots of the Mjolnir seemed dejected. The pilot slowly wandered off toward one of the lounges.

Before the copilot left, X turned to him. " What's your name?" He asked him. The copilot seemed surprised at the question, but he responded.

" My name is Raydon,"

" Raydon? Thank you for your efforts in aiding our friend," X said. Raydon flipped his black helmet visor up and extended his hand. X took it and they engaged in a brief handshake.

" It's an honor to finally meet the famous Megaman X in person. I'm just glad I could help out somehow," He solemnly said, for he knew just as well as X did that whatever help he had given may not be enough. Even as the copilot descended the ramp and walked off through the bustling medical ward, none of the hunters made a move to leave. They were all stricken with their loss, X most of all.

Finally, Mobius made a move to leave. They all looked to him, and followed his example. Almost in a daze, the hunters walked through the pure white halls of the intensive care center, following their orders to attend a general council meeting. X could not help but notice how many injured hunters there were. The pilot of the Mjolnir had told them that things were not going well in the city, but he did not expect so many wounded. X hoped he would see Calliope, but they never passed by her. She must have been taken into a special care room.

They exited the white walled corridors into the normal, soft blue hue of the rest of HQ. A general council meeting was held in Dr. Cain's office, where all or most of the division leaders gathered to discuss important decisions and the like. The four hunters were surprised that they werebeing called to the meeting, but X guessed it was because of the mission to the Central Control.

Through the normal medical center, there were far fewer hunters on the mechanical regeneration pads. X knew that meant that more hunters were seriously injured than minor injuries. He sighed. Now, he was being confronted with memories of the first Maverick War. Open fighting throughout the city streets, the intensive care ward filled with mangled reploids. It was not a reassuring thought.

As they exited into the main lobby of Maverick Hunter Headquarters, they noticed a severe lack of reploids in the normally bustling room lined with stairways. Most, if not all of the Maverick Hunters were in the city battling the mavericks. After ascending the stairs, they went immediately to Dr. Cain's office. As soon as the four hunters opened the door, they could tell something was wrong. The only ones in the room were Dr. Cain himself, Dragoon of the 14th division, Fathom of the 6th, Corsair of the 7th, Zen of the 8th Armored Division, and Dire Wolf of the 9th Ranger Division . Havoc, leader of the 4th Overland Division had not been seen in well over a week, and there were virtually no clues as to his disappearance or present location.

X wondered where Magus, leader of Special Unit 0 was, but Dr. Cain answered the question for him when they all were ready to begin.

" I'm sure many of you are wondering where the commander of Unit 0 is, and why he isn't at this meeting. Some of you may already know, but for those of you who don't, Magus was killed in action earlier this morning. Supposedly he was killed by one of the maverick leaders, but we do not have confirmation yet. What this means is that now 0 is without a commander, which greatly reduces their combat effectiveness,"

" Are you asking one of us to lead Special Unit 0?" Fathom asked, making sure his tone wasn't rude or accusatory.

" No. We will soon have someone to fill that role, and I think his appearance will greatly boost our troops' morale," The old man said with a smile.

" You don't mean...Zero? It couldn't be..." Dire Wolf spoke, in his deep gray armor, his equally dark, wild hair which was his namesake swaying as he shook his head in disbelief.

" Yes. We don't know how, but Zero's final component appeared earlier this morning, and I have already begun to assemble him back together,"

" Serges..." X muttered under his breath. If he wasn't sure of the maverick's intentions before, he was now. The thought of his friend coming back thrilled him, however, and dispelled all thoughts of the maverick.

" Of course, this is not the focus of the meeting. I believe you had something to say to these brave hunters, Dragoon?"

" Yes, I did," The vicious looking dragon stepped forward, clenching his neo-titanium claws. Then, he pointed accusingly at the four Maverick Hunters by the door. " You failed your mission to the Central Control! You were ordered to secure the main computer, but you pulled out too quickly-"

" Our teammate was injured! She wouldn't have lived if we had followed your ridiculous orders!" Dragoon was caught by surprise when X interjected him, but it did not stop his rampage.

" Your entire purpose of going there was to eliminate the threat that Magnas presented and keep the location secure until a larger team of hunters could arrive and secure it!"

" Magnas is dead and gone, and the grand cannons have been disabled. How else do you think the evac shuttle was able to rescue us!? All you have to do is send another team right now, and the Central Control will be secure,"

" That doesn't dismiss your behavior! You're a commander of an entire division now, X, and if these are the kind of decisions you will be making in the future, then I doubt the 17th will last much longer,"

" On the contrary, Dragoon," Dr. Cain put in, holding up a withered hand to silence any rebuttal. " X obviously has more care for his own hunters than for the missions at hand, so I expect the survival rates to increase, if anything," The commander of the 14th Melee Division struggled for a reply, but none came. Instead, he backed up.

" Please forgive me, Commander X," Dragoon said dejectedly.

" Apology accepted, Commander Dragoon," X's voice was stone cold.

" I'm sorry, gentlemen, but we have yet more pressing matters. Our hunters have suffered horrifying losses inside the city, and the mavericks have not even unleashed their ace of spades yet,"

" You mean the dinosaur tank?" Corsair stated more as a fact than a question. " That piece of moving scrap is merely another target for my bombers," he said confidently, ruffling the smooth feathers about his neck.

" That 'moving scrap' may be more dangerous than you will admit, Commander Corsair," Dire Wolf said.

" Ha! Anything that is bound to the earth is not a match for my squadron," His hooked beak twisted almost into a half-smile, but clearly even reploid peregrine falcons were not meant to smile.

" That attitude is more dangerous to your division than any ace the mavericks could create," Dire Wolf sternly scolded. Corsair shook his head, ready to offer a sting to Wolf's own pride. Cain again silenced them.

" This is not the way Neo Tokyo's best defense against the maverick threat should act. This is why our hunters are being killed. We have forgotten our unity that we shared in the First Maverick War. Statistically, the number of mavericks we are fighting today is over 30% less than what we fought in the first war, and yet we are receiving more casualty reports than ever!"

" To be fair, Dr. Cain, there were far fewer hunters during the first war, so casualties would logically be lower,"

" Not necessarily. If our numbers were so low, and theirs were so much higher, then how did we even survive at all? It was a sense of unity, a sense that Maverick Hunters could rely on each other. The will to survive against such an overwhelming force was also motivation, but that alone would not be enough," Slowly, the assembly began to nod in agreement. " We cannot win through weapons and numbers alone, my comrades,"

" Do you want us to dispatch back to the city?" Dire Wolf asked. Dr. Cain nodded.

" Every one of you will move into the city and help defend your division's position. X, tactical data has been added to your armor mainframe to show you the location of the 17th barricade. Are there any questions?" Undoubtedly, there were many questions that had not been voiced, but everyone was too anxious to speak. Zen hadn't spoken a word the entire meeting, and X guessed it was an effect of the hunter's battle psyche.

" Dismissed. And the best of luck to you all," Dr. Cain said in closing. All too slowly, the hunters filed out of the room. There was a grim atmosphere in the room that was almost palpable, and it sunk into X's synthetic skin and chilled his already tormented heart. He turned to leave, as the other three hunters had already left. Breathing a sigh, he looked back at Dr. Cain.

" Grandpa, you know this is getting desperate,"

" I know, X. The situation is getting desperate, but we aren't quite there yet. Despite all the injuries and fatalities, we still outnumber the maverick force," Cain said quietly.

" But they haven't deployed the dinosaur tank yet,"

" Yes, but their major edge was that we didn't know about it. Now that we know, we are prepared for its arrival, when and wherever that may be,"

Max Sutherland cursed his luck as he ran through the streets of Neo Tokyo City. He was knocked unconscious by a maverick when the general warning had gone out in the city, and when he had come to, the streets were a war zone! He ran, his head ducked low, behind wrecked cars as reploids exchanged fire with other reploids holed up in the office buildings above.

As he ran, Max cursed the entire reploid race. They were created to serve mankind, not destroy it! He didn't see why the government wouldn't just pull the plug on every damned reploid in the city. These attacks weren't worth their existence, and Max didn't believe all that crap about 'reploids have feelings too!'. They were machines, tools of creation and destruction.

Mr. Sutherland stopped when he heard a screeching noise. He looked over the burning sedan he was hiding behind to see a Ride Armor, a mechanical suit designed for reploids to increase their power, skidding around a street corner and boosting down the road. As it went, the Maverick Hunter aboard the machine yelled something to his companions on the street, and they all got frightened looks on their faces.

Max knew that was a bad thing, but he didn't know how bad until the ground beneath him suddenly ripped apart and something massive and green surged through the broken street and engulfed the hunters and the unlucky human.

It's here!!! The commlink screamed at Megaman X as he sat in the hover shuttle, looking down at the ravaged city. The dinosaur tank!!! It...it came out of the ground! Sector 27! All hunters to sector 27! X turned to the pilot.

" We've got a new destination," He said.

" I heard. Sector twenty seven," The pilot replied. Even without knowing the coordinates, they could see where the dinosaur tank had risen. Looking out the open door, X and the other three hunters saw the long, massive green tank rolling through the streets; barely fitting between the rows of buildings. It was bristling with cannons, and they were all firing liberally at Corsair's 7th Aerial Division.

Corsair's bombers, in return, let loose hull-penetrating bombs on the monster that seemed to have a pitifully small effect. They did, however, successfully knock out the anti-air guns. There were far more guns than there were bombers, and the bombers' numbers dwindled by the second. Smoke and shrapnel from the guns filled the air, and the horizon was alight with fire, creating a very apocalyptic feel in the city.

The hover shuttle grew ever closer to the tank, and he nodded to VR, Drake and Mobius. As planned, the shuttled slowed down and swooped just above the rooftop of a building near the tank's firing path. The three hunters stood, and with a cocky smirk at X, Drake ran and jumped out the open door, followed by the other two. X looked to see if they had landed safely, but the shuttle sped up again.

X applauded the pilot's bravery at flying toward the monstrous dinosaur tank, even as he readied himself to jump. The shuttle zoomed just above the anti-air guns bristling the sides of the tank, getting jolted by a stray shot, but not severely damaged. The airship swayed, but stayed aloft. The white hunter readied himself for the drop. They were nearing a flat section of the tank at the base of the tail where X would be dropped off.

The ship rocked violently, and began to swerve. " We've been hit!" The pilot called back to X. " I'll get her as close as I can. Get ready to jump." X nodded. The ship picked up speed involuntarily; probably an engine malfunction. They zoomed over the drop off point, and X tried to time his jump as best he could.

As soon as X hit the metal, he turned to see what had happened to the airship. However, the air was so filled with smoke, fire and debris that he could barely see the tip of the dinosaur tank's tail. Turning around, he was confronted by a metal door at the base of the tail. It appeared unlocked, so X pressed a button next to it. The door slid open with a hiss, and as soon as it did a plasma ball flew out from the corridor and almost hit X in the head. He dove and pressed his back against the wall next to the door.

Leaning out, he fired blindly down the corridor until he heard a cry of pain. He stepped out, his blaster held out in front of him. A reploid in Maverick Hunter armor lay on the floor, propping up his torso with his hand and placing the other against his ruined chest. All at once X felt a gut wrenching feeling inside him, realizing that he had shot one of his own comrades. However, his fears were put to rest when the hunter picked up his rifle again and attempted to shoot X, but all of his energy was bleeding out his torso and he only ended up dropping the gun again.

" Why...do you protect the humans?" The infected hunter choked.

" Because they are our ancestors. They created us, and we owe it to them to protect their lives,"

" But...they can be so...cruel..." X began to feel sympathy for the dying maverick.

" Not all humans are cruel. There are at least as many wicked reploids as there are humans," As urgent as the situation was, X was compelled to answer the dying reploid's questions.

" So then...I died...for nothing?" X said nothing. His words rang true; he did die for nothing. He died because of an ideal that was forced upon him, an action that a virus compelled him to do. He had no control over his fate, and now he would just be another nameless victim of the maverick virus.

The reploid's eyes became milky white, and he faded into death. Without another moment's pause, X turned the corner and continued on through the corridor, dispatching mavericks as he went. All the while the image of the dead maverick burned in his mind, as if he were still laying in front of him. His milky white, dead eyes threatened to engulf him and drive him mad. He tried not to think about all the other mavericks like that one, who were humane only minutes before their retirement, but the image of the dead maverick prompted him to.

It was during the turmoil of the smoky corridors and falling bodies that X realized what a horrible crime he was committing. The only thing killing would solve would be more work for the coroners and junkyard owners. War could not bring peace; the two ideas were so different in nature that the very idea was ridiculous. As X mechanically dispatched mavericks and continued through the tank, he realized all these things. In the middle of a firefight, he suddenly stopped firing. He didn't know if he had done it on his own or if his body had done it for him.

He rolled behind a box to avoid getting shot. His life's work was completely false; he fought to bring peace, yet fighting doesn't bring peace. Fighting can only bring more fighting. Killing the mavericks from the first uprising only gave way to this...hell. Suddenly X knew what to do, though it sounded completely insane. He stood up from behind the box and retracted his arm cannon. Holding his arms up like a Da Vinci sketch, he spoke to the maverick shooting at him.

" What are you fighting for?" He called out to it. The maverick ignored him and fired a metal rifle slug into his chest. X staggered back, but stood again. " Answer me!" He said. Once again, the maverick fired, but he dodged it this time. X opened his mouth to speak again, but the words caught in his throat. A flash of green light separated the maverick's torso from its legs, and the two halves fell to the floor in a gout of blood. Before his eyes, a ghost appeared.

" Jesus Christ X! What happened to you?" Genoscythe, red eyes glowing fervently, stood behind the remains of the maverick. His scythe deactivated and he slid it into the slot on his back. " The Megaman X I knew wouldn't hesitate to return fire when fired upon," He said, shaking his head.

" It's...good to see you too, Commander," X said in mild bewilderment. " How are you-"

" Alive? Heh, you should know by now I'm made of tougher stuff than most people think," He turned to look down the corridor. " Follow me,"

" But-"

" We might have time for explanations later. Right now, we have more important tasks to deal with," Shaking his head, X followed Genoscythe down the corridor.

" Wait, it's not in position yet," Drake whispered onto his commlink. The Dinosaur Tank was moving slowly through the streets, tearing through the neocrete with rough treads. The 7th bomber unit was more or less destroyed, and only a few hunters hovered listlessly above the tank, firing bombs at the impossibly large tank. The slow vehicle was moving, inching ever closer to the target area...

" NOW!!!" Drake screamed. Suddenly, missiles exploded out of windows all around the tank's head. Hundreds of small explosives hurtled into the cockpit of the deadly machine, blasting apart orange-tinted glass and green armor plating. The tank lurched and slowed to a halt. Drake heard cheers erupt from floors above and below him as he leaned against the window sill and breathed a sigh of relief. That wasn't nearly as hard as he thought it would be.

However, when he heard cheers turn to screams, he turned around to look out the window again. The tank was still moving, and now it was turning its cannons on Drake's building. He bolted to his feet and began running for the open elevator across the hall. As he rushed inside, he slammed his fist down on the number 1 button. The moment the bloodstained doors closed, cannon fire tore the building to shreds.

" I don't believe it..." VR muttered to Mobius. The building next to them, Drake's building, crashed to the ground in a giant cloud of dust and debris.

" You don't think...not him too..." Mobius said to himself. The sounds of battle awoke them from their stupor.

" How is that thing still moving!? We blew apart its control center,"

" It could have a secondary control center,"

" Well, where the hell is that?"

" Probably in the core of the tank, where it's well protected,"

" That's where X is headed, isn't it?"

" Yes, but I think he may need some extra support,"

" Well, then what are we waiting for?" Mobius hooked a clawed hand through VR's backpack and began to beat his wings furiously. They began to rise slowly of the ground. Then, Mobius fired his leg thrusters and they rocketed into the air. In a moment, his thrusters stopped and they began to plummet toward the ground. At what seemed like the last possible second, Mobius pulled up and they flew toward the belly of the tank, where a large platform filled with mavericks hung from thick metallic cables.

Mobius let go of his passenger, and VR slammed his armored shoulder into one of the mavericks, knocking him and another reploid behind him off of the platform. Immediately, the mavericks around him trained their guns on him. Before they could fire, however, Mobius swooped in and began tearing apart their ranks with his claws. In a moment, VR whipped out a magnum in one hand and a portable beam rifle in the other. He was taking plenty of hits from the mavericks that Mobius couldn't distract, but his thick armor held up well. He crouched defensively, firing his two weapons in tandem. Light energy tore through armor, bullets chewed through flesh, and claws ripped apart limbs.

In minutes, the mavericks were cleared from that immediate area of the platform. Mobius ran along the suspended platform with his wings folded like a cape around him until he found a ladder leading up into the tank. Hoisting himself up, he found himself in a ride armor hangar. Mechanical hulks lined the bays on either side of him. Many of them had already been taken, but as he stood there, one hummed to life with a maverick at its controls. It skidded out of the holding bay and turned to Mobius.

It dashed forward, pulling back a fist made of spikes to slam into the reploid bat. As the fist flew forward, Mobius ducked under the machine and rammed his sharp claws into the belly of the machine. The maverick operator cried out, and he assumed that his claws had hit home. To his surprise, the armor was still moving, and it swung its other fist around. Mobius took the hit on his shoulder, slamming him into a deactivated ride armor in the wall.

The bat regained his senses enough to see the ride armor turn away from him, then saw a beam of light scorch the armor's left leg. Another beam blasted an arm out of its socket. Trying to escape, the maverick sent the ride armor into a backward slide. This worked until the armor slammed into a large generator imbedded partway in the wall. Four energy beams ripped at the machine until it exploded into a great ball of flame, igniting the generator and creating an even larger explosion.

Mobius pressed his back to the wall of the ride armor bay as red and blue flames blew past him. Even from outside the tank, the fighting Maverick Hunters could see a blossoming flower of burning gas and energy erupt from the side of the behemoth. Layers of metal plating flew in all directions, and suddenly the anti-air cannons and ordinance bristling the tank stopped firing. The hunters stopped in awe only for a moment before they continued pouring fire on the tank; the mavericks on the back of the machine and the ones on the platform were still plenty active.

When the explosion ceased, Mobius left his safe haven and looked for VR. He saw nothing but ruined ride armor and a gaping hole in the side of the hangar. Then, he looked to the ladder he had climbed to reach the hangar. VR hoisted himself up from the lip of the opening in the floor with a grim smile on his face. " That must have hurt it," he said.

" One may only hope," Mobius said dryly. " Let's go, we need to find X,"

X steadied himself as the tank began to rock. " Well, seems like they're dealing some damage after all," Genoscythe said, standing calmly amid the rocking tank. He could somehow keep his balance while the tank rocked violently; X chocked that up to another of the many mysteries of his commander.

" The Maverick Hunter battle network says they took out the control center. If that's true, then why is this thing still active?"

" This tank has a secondary power center. I know where it is, so if you'll hurry, we can avoid more needless deaths and destroy this thing quickly," Genoscythe said. X nodded. Within moments, the elevator they were waiting for had arrived, and they stepped inside. The navy blue commander pressed a button and the elevator jolted to life. As the platform descended, X's commlink began to play static. Then, the static faded out and he could hear frantic voices in the background

What's she doing?

Wait, don't touch her! Just keep monitoring her vitals and make sure she remains stable!

She's turned on her commlink

Who's she contacting?

It's Commander X The voices in the back slowly faded out for X as he realized what was going on. A new voice, louder than the others, began speaking into the commlink.

Rock... Once again, X felt his heart stop.

End