Megaman X: Elysium Rising

Mission 3: Defend MHHQ

Chapter 10: Blitz, part 1

By Genoscythe

Mission 3: Defend MHHQ

Maverick Leaders: Unknown

Main Objective: Minimize damage to Maverick Hunter Headquarters

Secondary Objective: Disable the Thunder Cannon

Note: Units 9, 17, and 0 are unavailable for base defense

Commence Operation

Thunder Raven's head swiveled about, watching his team breathe cackling life into the titanic cannon filling the cavern before him. The Thunderhead was almost to firing capacity, but he was certain the Maverick Hunters had noticed it by now. It was one thing to hollow out a mountain and steal parts from the ruins of Dopplertown while the Hunters were preoccupied with affairs in the city, but once the cannon was activated, the magnitude of its energy signature broadcast their presence across the entire island. Thus, the jet black bird had placed his most trusted soldiers on guard at the mouth of the cave, and his most diligent workers in the bowels of the machine.

"If you don't need me anymore, I'm gonna return to my post," a strong, clear voice said behind him. Thunder Raven's feathers stood on end, and his head swiveled around to see who had managed to sneak up on him.

"Oh, it's you," Raven said. Stealth Claw was resting against the cavern wall, but it appeared as though the lithe snow leopard would pounce at any moment. Raven could practically see the youthful energy rippling beneath his ash-gray fur. "Did I say we didn't need you anymore? I never said that."

"I gave you the message. Stinger and Di are counting on you."

"On us, cur. The Maverick Hunters are likely to be coming down on us at any moment, and you want to leave?"

"I'm a cat," Claw pointed out.

"I noticed," Raven seethed. "What of it?"

"Dogs are curs, not cats. Y'know, just FYI."

"Do you think, by trying my patience, I'll let you go?" the Maverick leader scoffed.

"Oh, I'll go whether you want to let me or not," Claw told him with a fanged grin. "It just seemed polite to tell you first."

Thunder Raven raised his spear and slammed it back into the bedrock, discharging a miniature electric storm at its base. His gloved hands kneaded the handle, and he felt himself slipping out of control while something red and murderous took his place.

"No," he said, and it took Claw a moment to realize Raven wasn't talking to him. "I've worked too hard for too long. I will not put my revenge in jeopardy for a petty squabble." He relaxed his hold on the spear and drew himself up to his full nine and a half foot height. "You may leave, coward."

"I'm not a coward," Claw protested. "I've got someplace to be."

"Where? Your entire unit has been mobilized against the Maverick Hunters."

"It's none of your business," he said. "But hey, thanks for making this easier on me. See you around, yeah?" Just as Stealth Claw uttered his last syllable, a piercing whine broke out over the symphony of toiling reploids, and several workers screamed while a wave of heat washed over Thunder Raven's body. His head swiveled back, burning beneath his feathers for having been surprised twice in such quick succession. It had to be the Hunters making their move.

However, when he saw the scene before him, he couldn't tell what had happened or who was responsible. Clouds of smoke and dust obscured the cannon and the surrounding work area, but as he watched, several Mavericks stumbled, charred, out of the debris. Was there an accident? Did the cannon backfire? He trusted his engineers, but they were working with scavenged parts, and there was only so much they could do with Dr. Doppler's ancient equipment. One of the workers collapsed at Thunder Raven's feet, clutching a hole burned through his chest. Raven grabbed him by the shoulder and hoisted him up until they were at eye level.

"What happened? Is the cannon still operational?" he asked brusquely.

"I don't know!" the Maverick whimpered. "There's someone in there. Got a beam cannon..."

"A Hunter?" Raven cawed. "Is it Megaman X?"

"I didn't get a good look! Ugh...let me down, sir, I can't feel my legs..."

"Intruder alert!" the Maverick leader bellowed, dropping the worker and nudging him aside. "All hands to zone three!"

Thunder Raven watched the cloud of dust ceaselessly, even as Maverick groups lined up on either side of him, readying busters and handheld weapons. It would clear away eventually, and then the Hunter would have nowhere to hide. Raven would have opened fire already, if not for the almost certain chance that he would damage the Thunderhead in the process.

As visibility improved, Raven held up a hand. "Prime your weapons, brothers. He won't have long to hide before – "

Suddenly, a gray form clad in geometrically-perfect armor shot out of the dust cloud, soaring over the cluster of Mavericks. They raised their weapons, but before they could fire, it held out one of its cylindrical arms and a brilliant beam of blue energy slashed through their line, tearing reploids apart and kicking up more dust into the dim cavern. Since they were now facing away from the Thunderhead, the remaining Mavericks opened fire and didn't stop until the dust was blown away.

There was no body, or any other sign that a reploid had been there besides the countless holes blasted into the wall. Fortunately, Stealth Claw had already taken his leave, or Raven would have to explain to Vulcan Stinger how one of his most promising soldiers had been blown to pieces by his own men.

"Find him!" Raven shrieked, glancing at the deep groove carved into the ground that marked the path of the reploid's beam cannon. It had missed him by a few scant inches. "And check the Thunderhead. Repair any damage he may have caused. I will not let this slow us down!"

The wasteland gaped at the 9th Ranger Division, wreckage of Pre-Eurasia Earth jutting like rusty teeth out of the scorched sand. They were split into teams of two, each scouring the pale ruby dunes for signs of Maverick activity. Commander Hector wasn't hopeful. The base would have been hard enough to find if it were above ground, what with the burnt-out skyscrapers and pieces of the fallen space colony providing a veritable forest of hiding places, but searching through the endless fields of irradiated sand would be next to impossible.

Roy and Pris, the Hunters designated Team One, were on point, scanning the dunes as they approached a shattered, blackened wall that once belonged to a high-rise tower. It, like the fragments of the Eurasia colony, had been left to rust while the population of Earth was forced to spend all their efforts terraforming their own planet. Even though their efforts were paying off, the wasteland west of Neo Tokyo City was deemed a low priority area, and recovery operations weren't scheduled to begin until after the turn of the century.

Team One leapt from the mottled sand and began scaling the wall; as soon as their hands touched the surface, the reddish hue of their armor washed over with gray and flecks of rust. The Rangers, who were all but invisible on the sand and were now all but invisible against the side of the wall, scrambled up the ruin until Roy found a protruding support beam to perch himself on. His partner kept her opaque fishbowl helmet behind the wall while he scanned the horizon with a non-reflective visor.

Pris knew something was wrong when it took her partner so long to respond. When he finally did, it was in a small, strained voice, managing only a single word.

"Go."

Pris kicked off the wall, diving for the sand below, but a massive ball of plasma collided with the wreckage, flaring out and engulfing both Hunters. At the back of the group, Hector could see the green explosion, and he threw himself against the side of a dune. His smooth armor shifted to match the pattern of the ground beneath him, and he yelled for his spotter to do the same.

"Did we set off a defense network?" Hector asked the other Hunter.

"No, sir," the spotter replied. "I saw the trajectory. That was artillery."

"Artillery? Why the hell would the Mavericks be..." Hector trailed off as a series of plasma blasts echoed out over the wasteland, followed shortly by small arms fire. The comm channels in his head were quickly falling silent as his Hunters were cut down.

"I can't recall! We're being jammed!"

"Break for the colony, we'll lose 'em in there."

"Shit!"

Hector growled and readied his elongated buster arm. "The Mavericks are equipped with artillery and IT jamming tech. Where was any of that in our intel?"

"Commander, we're taking shelter in the ruins," his captain, Deckard, told him via comm link. "There's a whole damn army between us, so you'd better head south and find cover."

Hector was about to take his advice, but he noticed something unusual in his comm display. "Captain, where's Malakai?"

"I don't know, sir, I think they got him."

"He's not dead," Hector said, crawling with his spotter toward more burnt-out skyscrapers to the south. "He's still on the comm network, but he's out of range."

"Who buddied up with Malakai?" Deckard asked the surviving Hunters.

"Leon...but he went down quick," one Hunter answered. "Didn't see any piece of Mal, sir."

"Damn it!" Hector snarled. This was one indignation too many. All his carefully-maintained stoicism and practiced discipline bled out in sharp, panting breaths. "This smells like a trap. Goddamn traitor. He won't get away with this."

The 9th Commander stopped crawling and pulled himself to the lip of the sand dune. His spotter stopped as well, though he remained in place.

"Commander, we have to get out of here!" the Hunter begged. "Deckard said there's an army out there, we can't take on siege tanks by ourselves!"

"Then go!" Hector roared, charging his long-range buster. "This is a matter of honor. I'll get the bastard myself."

His spotter nodded, but he went rigid as a gunmetal claw burst out of the sand beneath him and impaled him through the chest. Hector rolled onto his back and fired a sniper shot at the ground, but the sand suddenly erupted, throwing the spotter's body into the air and masking the attacker's approach. The Maverick landed on him, and as the dirt sloughed off his rough-hewn chassis, Hector could see that it was Vulcan Stinger, the Maverick leader that Commander X had supposedly retired. His paint job had been completely burned away, except for the ill-fitting orange chestplate and heavy green leg he had cannibalized from other reploids. His tail had also been replaced by an industrial crane, which was now slick with the spotter's blood-fuel.

"Nobody can just mind their own business these days," Stinger chittered. "I almost feel sorry for you. Your timing couldn't have been worse."

Hector swung a hefty fist, but Stinger dodged it and pinned his arm to the ground with his tail. In retaliation, the Maverick scorpion began to beat continuously on his head, pummeling Hector until his face was almost submerged in sand.

Cackling madly, Stinger picked up the dazed Hunter and threw him down the slope of the dune, and as Hector tumbled over the sand, Stinger opened fire with his vulcan cannons, bathing the lion reploid in screaming hot lead. By the time Hector lost momentum, he was billowing smoke from an incalculable number of bullet holes.

Vulcan Stinger slapped his four hands together, eliciting small clouds of dust from each before he turned on the Maverick army's general comm channel.

"Leave the jammer. We don't have time to hunt down all of these chameleons, so we'll just have to slow them down. The raven is counting on us, and we have to distract the Hunters for as long as we can."

Marx continued to toil on the Zephyr's outer hull, as Nephtis didn't trust him with anything more delicate than a wrench or a powerdriver. She busied herself at a computer console on the other side of the vehicle, honing the onboard computer's aim assist and navigation systems. Marx had to wonder how such an undisciplined reploid managed to acquire such a diverse skill set, because it was clear that she wasn't ex-military. She wore her brown uniform unzipped to the waist, where she tied off the sleeves at her back, and the only armor on her was her hip guard and her gray boots.

Marx had been explicitly told to wear his armor at all times in the hangar bay, and considering how comfortable reploid armor was designed to be, he saw no reason not to other than simple pigheaded disobedience. Being a fan of pigheaded disobedience, Marx could understand why Nephtis chose to wear a black tank top instead of full armor, and if he weren't still a bit nervous being surrounded by Maverick Hunters, he would have abandoned the dress code himself. At the very least, he wanted to encourage the tank tops, because they afforded him an excellent view of the muscular tapestry along her arms and back.

That thought brought him back to his original question. What kind of civilian reploid would be built like that? And where did she learn how to make a chaser from scratch? Unless her mythology collection was supposed to be taken literally, she was probably not bestowed with these abilities by the god of the underworld. That left very few options remaining. Perhaps she was ex-military, but her attitude got her an early discharge. Or she was commissioned by someone rich, who decided to spend their fortune creating...the perfect cranky mechanic?

His thoughts were interrupted by a faint tremor in the floor, like a distant earthquake. "What did you break now?" Nephtis asked, not turning away from her console.

"Hey, not everything's my fault, you know!" Marx yelled back at her, and to accentuate this point, another tremor hit the hangar bay. This time, the entire HQ shook with such force that he was thrown over the Zephyr, while Nephtis had to grab the sides of her console to stay upright. Tools from the shelf behind Marx rained harmlessly on his boxy armor, and he was momentarily glad he'd decided to obey the rules for once. As he righted himself, klaxons blared overhead and the hangar was bathed in scarlet light.

"I guess it really isn't you this time," Nephtis muttered between the howling sirens.

"All Maverick Hunters prepare for combat! Maverick Hunter HQ is under fire! Repeat: All Hunters prepare for combat! HQ is under fire! Maverick legions to the West! Repeat: To the West!"

"What are we supposed to do?" Marx asked. Instead of replying, Nephtis rushed into her office and slammed the door. "Thanks, sounds like a plan."

He noticed other mechanics preparing their equipment for battle, and Hunters were already pouring out of the elevators. All he had was a prototype ride chaser and his combat armor. He glanced down at the Zephyr, and an idea began to take hold that both exhilarated and terrified him.

"Does this thing actually work yet?" he called to Nephtis. Through the window in her office, he could see her silhouette throwing off her tank top and sliding into the sleeves of her uniform. She paused with the uniform still hanging off her shoulders, and Marx saved a still image of that moment to be properly enjoyed when the HQ wasn't coming down around him.

"It has power, but no software. Why? Is somebody asking to use it?" she yelled back.

Something like that, he thought. Without explanation, he unlocked the chaser's stand and keyed it on. The engines at the back hummed to life, and the anti-grav pads on its belly pushed it gently into the air. Considering it had never been tested, the machine's engine rumbled flawlessly, and as it hovered waist-high in front of Marx, it appeared to be perfectly balanced.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Nephtis cried, producing a note of panic he never thought he'd hear from the steely mechanic.

"Something I'm good at!" he replied, mounting the Zephyr and stomping on the accelerator. He missed his old ride chaser, and the feeling of weightless liberation filled him with excitement. He was no longer afraid. Several other Hunters on chasers were speeding along a lane built into the hangar that led to the exit ramp, and he fell in behind them.

Back at the workstation, Nephtis threw open the door and flew down the steps, staring in disbelief at the empty ride chaser stand. She had only managed to get her uniform, chestplate, and one gauntlet on, but if she wanted any hope of catching Marx, she didn't have time to finish arming herself. Nephtis ducked behind the workstation and whipped off the tarp she had hung over the old Adion ride chaser that had inspired the Zephyr, and to her relief, the machine started up immediately despite being a relic of the Repliforce War.

He's braver than he looks, she mused, swinging a leg over the chaser and starting off for the exit. She wasn't sure what was more important to her at the moment – recovering her prototype or preventing Marx from getting himself killed – but she decided to worry about that once she caught up with him. To that end, she pushed down on the dash button, and the red Adion chaser sliced through the air like a thrown dagger, boosting toward the rectangle of auburn sunset at the far end of the hangar. It periodically lit up with green flashes of plasma, and the sounds of battle were becoming clearer the closer she got.

Only then did Nephtis realize she hadn't brought a weapon.

"Zero? Where are you?" X asked.

"We're on the opposite side of the mountain, X. Did you find the energy signature?" Zero asked over the comm link.

"Yes. It's a giant cannon."

"You've gotta be kidding me."

"Sorry Zero, I'm not. Get over here as soon as you can." Without a response from Zero, the link was severed. X looked back at a Hunter behind him. "Still no heat readings?" he asked. The Hunter wore a full helmet, equipped with a visor and a powerful antenna attachment.

"Still nothing, Commander. Shouldn't we move in and try to destroy that cannon?"

"Not yet. We wait until Special Unit 0 gets here," X said calmly. With almost a century of combat behind him, he had learned to control his fear and make the kind of decisions his Hunters expected of him. They didn't always like it, but they knew he was right. Every second they spent waiting for Unit 0 was another second closer to letting the cannon fire, but if they did not attack with sufficient force, they wouldn't make it in time anyway.

A proximity alarm went off in X's mind, and as he turned his head, Endymion materialized out of thin air in his sleek silver armor. "Are you with the rest of Unit 0?" X asked him. Endymion shook his head.

"They're struggling with the terrain, but it should only take a minute. Commander Zero told me to scout ahead," the stoic hunter explained. X nodded absent-mindedly. "Permission to enter the cave?" Endymion asked.

He would have denied any other Hunter. He would not have trusted anyone else to begin the assault without giving away their position. "Granted. Just call if you need backup," X said. Endymion scoffed, and disappeared as quickly as he had appeared. Moments later, Special Unit 0 dropped into the group from the rocks above, and they initiated the attack. X led the charge, with Zero and Axl close behind him. When they reached the cave entrance, they found four sentries with their throats cut and several deactivated defense turrets.

As X looked down the massive tunnel, he could feel the charge from the giant cannon next to them. The barrel extended as far back as he could see, until it plunged into darkness at the back of the cavern. Throughout the tunnel, equipment and Mavericks were scattered about, and now they began to take notice of the Hunters. The nearest crowd of Mavericks pulled out beam rifles from holsters on their back, but before they could fire a single shot they were annihilated by a wave of ordnance from the 17th. This, however, caught the attention of the Maverick workers, who began running and calling for assistance.

X and Axl took cover in an alcove while Zero led his unit and the rest of the 17th in slaughtering the Maverick force. "This cannon must have a generator, right?" X asked Axl.

"This baby's pretty primitive, considering it uses electricity for power," the younger hunter noted. X nodded.

"I'm sure it's too big to fit in the cannon," he said. "They've got to be hiding it somewhere."

"Maybe it's in the walls?" Axl offered. X switched his optics to night vision, and in the blink of an eye his muddied vision became sharp and emerald-tinted. He looked around at the alcove they were hiding in, and as he hoped, a door was located behind a rock outcropping that had been completely shrouded in darkness before.

"Axl, switch to night vision. I've found a door," X whispered. Axl complied, and he soon found the door as well. Readying his buster, he kicked the door open and swept the barrel down the hall. Empty. The two reploids ran down the hallway, keeping their weapons at the ready. The hall was cut directly out of the rock, and X didn't think it looked terribly stable. He urged Axl to hurry, and they doubled the pace. The corridor made a turn, and as X turned he ran straight into a Maverick dressed in combat armor.

The two enemies fired at the same instant, but as the Maverick was too startled to move, X deftly hopped to the side as he fired. However, the shot merely burned a hole through his opponent's armor, and it took a bullet from Axl to bring him down completely. X pushed past the staggering Maverick and kept going down the corridor. Though he didn't mention it to Axl, he had no idea where he was going, but he knew the Mavericks had to be hiding something important in this network of corridors.

"X! In here!" Axl called, and X turned around. Axl had stopped to stare into a large hole dug through the wall, which X had missed while trying to work out the cavern's floor plan in his head. He walked in beside Axl to find themselves facing a massive electrical generator built into the rock wall. More importantly, a control console was built on top of it, and X could only guess that it controlled the power flow to the entire cannon.

Something he didn't notice immediately was the small black oval sitting at the control console. The oval suddenly unfurled itself, and the blackness burst outward and morphed into wings sprouting from a tall, bird reploid coated in jet black feathers and elegant silver tribal armor. The bird sprung into the air above the generator, and the errant sparks shooting from the giant cylinder clouded about him and danced off his feathers.

"I was hoping they would send you, Megaman X," the reploid said.

"What do you want with me?" he responded.

"Do you remember Wind Crowrang?" the Maverick asked.

"I remember them all," X said.

"Hey, X. Maybe we should just shoot this guy and stop that huge cannon," Axl suggested hopefully.

"Then you may recognize me," the Maverick continued, ignoring Axl completely. "He was my brother, and he was a far worthier reploid than I. My name is Thunder Raven." Raven fluttered to the ground to face the two Hunters. "And I will be his redemption."

End of chapter 10