Megaman X: Elysium Rising
Final Mission: Delete the Maverick Virus
Chapter 41: Countdown to Genocide
By Genoscythe
AN: Hey Maiorem, it's great to hear from you again. It's readers like you and Dragon Man that keep me coming back to fanfiction, even though I mentally moved on a long time ago (although it seems like I've mentally moved back in, if my recent activity is any indicator). To answer your question about the Zero series, I will definitely not be connecting Zero to X and Legends. I realize it's a very popular series, and Capcom has wedged it into the canon right where I intended to place the events of this story, but I've been kicking this idea around ever since I saw the X/Legends teaser moment in one of the endings in X5, which was two years before Zero came out. I had played Zero before starting this 'fic, but the convoluted plot and weird visuals turned me off to the series, and I decided to stick with my original idea. Oddly, the convoluted plot and weird visuals are what turn some people off to the Legends series, but I suppose it all depends on what brand of convoluted and weird you prefer.
Speaking of which, just in case any of you have missed this epic bit of news, I'll let you know right here: Megaman Legends 3 Has Officially Been Announced By Keiji Inafune. After ten years, Capcom is finally making another sequel for my favorite Mega Man franchise. Before I heard this, I was all ready to go on a rant at the start of this chapter about how Capcom churns out sequels by the truckload for series' I don't care about, but leaves the series with the best plot, characters, and immersion high and dry with only two games. Now I don't have to. Thank you, Mr. Inafune. That is all.
Megaman X had lived long enough to know when he was being watched, and now the sensation struck him with tangible force. He was navigating the marble gardens and empty temples of Elysium's crust, and he knew that, at any moment, something would try to kill him. He did not owe this knowledge to any special sensory abilities or warrior wisdom, but to the plain fact that something was always trying to kill him.
Dr. Light had fallen silent again, but X was comforted by the thought that his father permanently resided in him as an AI program. Whether he spoke or not, he would always be there to watch over X. Even though he did not communicate it directly, he was gently influencing X toward a small cylindrical spire in the distance. He knew, instinctively, that there was an elevator inside that would take him to his team. Despite Dr. Light's assurances, X was worried about Alia, and he quickened his pace with the hope of seeing her face again slightly sooner.
X's desire for Alia saved his life, as a green arc of plasma slashed through the wall just as he started to run. The azure reploid skidded to a halt and brought up his buster arm to the rising whine of gathering energy. Whatever had attacked him on the other side of the wall chose not to make a second attempt, but X knew it had to be nearby. He vaulted over the wall just as his buster reached full charge, but he found himself unable to fire even as his assailant's fist smashed him in the jaw.
It's Zero... X realized as he was thrown back over the wall, landing heavily on a fallen marble column. He squinted up into the blazing orange sky, and the silhouette balancing on the wall couldn't have been anyone else. His old friend wore a blue robe loosely around his shoulders, and his eyes had turned a piercing red, but he was otherwise unchanged.
"Zero!" X cried, pushing himself to his feet and backing up over the column after he had regained his footing. "What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing," Zero said, though the cadence of his voice was deeper, smoother. It was almost another voice entirely. "For the first time in a long time, nothing is wrong with me."
"You've been fighting this virus all your life, Zero. Giving in now is definitely a sign that something's wrong."
"That's been my problem, X," he told him, hopping down from the wall. X took several more cautious steps backward. "I've been fighting it, and you have no idea how miserable that's made me over the last century."
"That's because you weren't miserable. I was by your side the whole time. I know."
"But you don't!" Zero suddenly yelled. "I didn't tell you everything. How could I?"
"I was there for you," X said. As Zero became louder, X's voice became proportionately softer.
"But you weren't Iris," he pointed out.
"Is that what this is all about?" X asked plaintively.
"You know, I've killed both of our lovers," Zero said, abruptly turning conversational again. "Do you ever think about that?"
X was silent for a moment. Calliope and Iris flashed before him, side by side, both cleaved open by a green beam saber. "I try not to."
"That's difficult to do, isn't it, X?"
"Yes."
"Wrong!" Zero shouted again. "It was impossible."
"Don't do this because of them," X said, near-whispering.
"I know, they wouldn't want this," Zero said, burning X with the mockery in his tone. He was about to tell him exactly that. "Well, I don't know about Iris. She went mad, before I killed her. She might approve of my decision."
"Zero, stop." X was no longer speaking softly.
"And Calliope might, for that matter. Maverick Virus. Tends to make people favor genocide."
X swung up and fired his buster so quickly that a semi-charged bolt caught Zero squarely on the shoulder, spinning him around and tearing the robe from his armor. When he came back around, his beam saber was in the process of hissing to life.
"Ah, I remember the last time we did this little tango of death," Zero said as he killed his momentum by crouching in a combat stance. "Looks like you've gotten used to the idea of fighting me."
"I just wanted to knock some sense into you, my friend," X replied. "This won't help you with the guilt. Come back to us."
"It really does help, though," Zero said with a crooked smile. "I don't care anymore. Zero's crimes are his own. I am the Master now."
"You're Genoscythe's puppet!"
"Still better than being Zero."
X started charging his buster again, aiming it at his old comrade and daring him to make a move. However, before he could finish the charge, a massive gray object crashed into the courtyard between them. The object, a thick cylinder, unfolded spider-like legs and laser cannon arms before training its weapons on X.
"Master!" Mistress Yuna called from a hidden vantage point in the garden. "Your presence is requested at the tower! Let us deal with Megaman X!"
"We have unfinished business, Yuna!" Zero barked, slashing off one of the giant Reaverbot's legs with his saber. It swiveled back and forth in apparent alarm.
"I was afraid of this," Yuna said. "Gatz!"
Out of nowhere, a silver Reaverbot dove out of the sky on thick, triple-jointed wings and caught Zero on one of the beam cannons hanging from its underside. X watched the Reaverbot named Gatz carry his friend away, until the bigger Reaverbot in the courtyard reminded him of its existence by firing two bolts of kaleidoscopic energy over his head.
X dove forward, rolling to his feet right in front of one of the Reaverbot's giant legs. The war machine reared up and slammed back into the grassy square, but X clung fast to its leg. Now an expert with Alia's modifications, he pulled himself up the side of the Reaverbot's appendage and kicked off at the zenith, boosting up to catch the lip of its torso. He swung over the edge and stood in front of the Reaverbot's conical head, jutting from the middle of its cylinder body. X was eclipsed by the diameter of its eye, so that all it could see was a closeup of the azure reploid as he charged his buster once more.
The full power of X's arm cannon caved in the Reaverbot's eye, and a moment later, a blue-tinted explosion gushed from its head and enveloped the Maverick Hunter. Mistress Yuna did not wait to see if this had damaged the reploid – she was sure it had not – and she leapt off the roof of the nearby temple. She hit the ground running, hoping she had bought enough time for her Servitor to escort the Master safely to the tower. The Reaverbots in the southeastern quarter were quickly falling under the influence of one of the rogue Mother Units, and Yuna was unable to sense any backup near their location. Save for throwing rocks at him, there was nothing Yuna could do to stall X any longer.
Dropping from the wreckage of the huge machine, X watched the short-haired Elysian slip away into the labyrinth. He would gain nothing from catching her, and he was still shell-shocked from the revelation that Zero had, finally, succumbed to the Maverick Virus.
It had been twelve years since they last fought, deep in Sigma's underground fortress where he had orchestrated the Eurasia Crisis. Calliope's death was still fresh in X's mind, and his pent-up angst had found a violent outlet in retiring Sigma's latest batch of Maverick leaders. Even his old friend Mobius, abducted and rebuilt by Sigma into Dark Dizzy, didn't give him a moment's hesitation. It wasn't enough, though. The remnants of X's fury caused him to turn on Zero as they chased Sigma through his fortress, and the fight that ensued nearly cost both of them their lives.
He claimed in his report that he provoked the fight because he believed Zero was going Maverick. He still had trouble admitting to himself that he was merely looking for an excuse to take his sorrow out on the one he believed to be the cause of it in the first place. Sigma attacked them in their weakened state, and Zero sacrificed himself to save X. Zero hadn't gone Maverick then. X thought he would never get the chance to apologize to Zero, but the crimson Hunter had returned a year later to stop Gate and the Nightmare machines. He had forgiven X immediately, and X had taken his forgiveness even though he felt he didn't deserve it.
This was the moment X had been dreading ever since. He had apologized, he had accepted Zero's forgiveness, but he hadn't truly abandoned his suspicions. Just because he expected Zero to go Maverick didn't make the reality any less difficult to bear, though. Wearily, X trudged on toward the spire in the distance. He now wanted to lose himself in Alia's embrace more than ever.
The repairs to Eden's chamber were nearly complete, and only a manhole-sized gap in the wall remained to shine an orange spotlight across the room. The unit formerly known as Purifier Delta was just finishing his integration with the chamber's vocal amplification systems when Zero strode in, followed immediately by a scrawny male Elysian with a tattoo of a Reaverbot's eye on his forehead.
Gatz? Eden said, not bothering to waste an introduction on a Servitor. His voice rolled in echoing waves out of the very walls of the chamber, inundating the room's three occupants in a sonic sea. Only Sigma, waiting impatiently in the corner, was visibly ruffled by Eden's authoritative tone. Why have you left your Mother Unit?
"Mistress Yuna commandeered a Gandryhar in order to prevent Megaman X from pursuing the Master. This unit was ordered to escort him to safety. It will return to her presently."
X? Eden echoed. Why were Yuna and our new friend engaged with X in the first place?
"Because I wanted to," Zero said, before Gatz could attempt an explanation. "We have unfinished business."
But you have submitted to your original programming, Eden pointed out. You are no longer Zero. Not really. You have absolutely no business with Megaman X.
"Not true," Zero replied. "Whether I'm Zero or the Master – it's been a rough transition, I'm still not sure which it is myself – I have an obligation to kill that hypocritical fool before he brings the whole System down."
What makes you think X has a chance at destroying the System? Or that it is your job to stop him? As Eden spoke, Gatz wordlessly slipped past Zero and walked to the hole in the wall. He wormed his slight frame through the space, past the tiny maintenance machines, and dropped away into empty air.
"I know what he's capable of," Zero said, ignoring the Servitor. After killing the previous Master and absorbing his programming, Zero was flooded with memories and information about the workings of Elysium. Seeing a young man casually drop out of a tower thousands of feet high was just business as usual, at least if the young man had a Reaverbot eye tattooed to his forehead.
I created him, Eden rebuked. I groomed him during his adolescence. I know him better than he knows himself.
"No, you don't," Zero chuckled, showing Eden a razor-edged smile. "You're doing the same thing everyone does to X. It's happened to him his whole life. Something about that innocent face, I guess. Or the soothing blue armor. He does seem rather weak, doesn't he?"
Get on with it, Eden snapped. He was afraid Zero would still be trouble, even after succumbing to the virus.
"You're badly underestimating him," the crimson reploid finished. "Ask Sigma. He's done it...what, seven times now?"
Sigma responded with an inarticulate growl.
"How did that work out for you, big guy?"
You misunderstand me, Master, Eden said, working to keep himself calm. Though Zero was still in a reploid body, he could not be treated with derision like the others. He was an integral part of the System now. I am confident that X cannot stop us because I am not underestimating him. All our forces are massing as we speak to eliminate the remaining Maverick Hunters.
"The fact that you won't even consider the possibility that X might win is a pretty good indicator. It doesn't matter what you throw at him or how much, if you don't think he can beat them all, you're underestimating him. X will find a way."
Then why are you more suited to the task?
"Because I know there's a chance he might win. I know that if I don't put more than everything I've got into beating him, he'll crush me. I know how high he can raise the stakes, and I know how to match him. The others don't."
Perhaps, but I'm taking steps to ensure their success, Eden said warily. One of the reploids has been transplanted into a Kamarahan, and the process has increased its effectiveness dramatically.
"That's not enough."
I've also reawakened Mistress Sera.
Zero now snapped to attention. "Sera the Widow? Are you serious?"
I felt it was appropriate, under the circumstances.
Zero stepped forward, and Sigma watched them curiously. He hated the idea of working together with his arch-nemesis, but the sight of Zero and Eden at each others' throats was soothing enough to placate him for the time being.
"I inherited all of this information, so I could have it wrong," Zero began scathingly. "But it sounds like you've released a Mother Unit so violent and unpredictable that it took both the Alphas and Omegas co-operating to bring her down when she went out of control."
"I may be the outsider here," Sigma said, following in Zero's footsteps and ending up blanketing him with his shadow. "But I have a right to know what you've just done with our plans, Eden. Who is Sera, and why is she a widow?"
I told you before, Sigma. You have no rights, Eden spat. Violence and unpredictability are what we need right now.
"What will we do with her when we don't need her anymore?" Zero asked.
We will take her down again. There are failsafes in place if she does not submit to stasis.
"Wait!" Sigma growled, closing one of his hefty gauntlets over Zero's shoulder. The former Maverick Hunter tensed. "I can help you with this Mother Unit. I have dealt with violent and unpredictable underlings for years."
"If you don't get your claw off my shoulder, you won't be able to help us with anything on account of being cut in half," Zero murmured.
Get back to your corner, Oedipus, Eden chided. We will let you know when you are needed.
Sigma paused for a moment, in which Zero could feel the Maverick's palpable desire to sink his claws into him and rip him to shreds. Then, brusquely, Sigma let go and stepped back. He did not, however, return to the corner.
"Sigma has a point," Zero said. "He's an expert on manipulating crazy and dangerous people. After all..." He cast a look back at the Maverick leader. "He's one of them."
"I see you haven't lost any of your charm in the transformation, Zero," Sigma said.
"Got enough left for you, at least."
Silence. I will allow you a meeting with Mistress Sera, but if she still gives us any difficulty after we're through with her, you will be erased from existence along with the Carbons.
"Someone else can fill you in on the details," Zero told him. "Where might he find the Widow?"
She is gathering our forces in the tower's sublevel. I am sending escorts for you now, Sigma. Please leave us.
"Yeah. We can argue about your decision to reawaken her without my input later. It's time to start the Carbon Reinitialization Program."
"I'll stay, then," Sigma said. "I've been waiting for this moment for..."
There is nothing to see. All of the action is taking place on Terra.
"Right now?" the Maverick leader asked, shocked, excited, and a little disappointed that the time had come so quickly.
Zero's eyes flickered momentarily, then he returned to normal. "No need to drag it out. We're not as big on melodrama as you are, Sigma."
Now go to Mistress Sera. And remember the price of failure.
15:30 October 11, 2173
"How long should we wait, sir, before we declare them MIA?" Blip the unfortunately-but-accurately-named navigator asked Signas. They had watched the giant silver sphere rise out of the Pacific Ocean until it broke from Earth's atmosphere as easily as an egg dropping through a soaked paper towel. Their comm. line remained silent, and their vital sign monitors were still full of static.
"We can't attack the station until we know for sure that X and his team have failed," Signas said.
"Do we even know if attacking it will work?" Blip asked nobody in particular.
"No," Douglas replied, peeking over his shoulder. "But based on what we know so far, it's a safe assumption that any weaponry at our disposal would have been monitored and altered by Elysium to prevent us from successfully using it against them."
"Well, some of X's teammates are obviously still alive," Signas said, and the command room's other occupants turned to him expectantly. "It's just a question of what we can do to help them."
"How do you know they're still alive, sir?" Blip asked.
Signas rested his chin in his left hand, apparently relishing the chance to show off his deductive skills. "The mere fact that we can remember Elysium's existence at all means that our opponent is still distracted. If they are as omnipotent as X led us to believe, then if our side has lost, the winning side would have regained control of the planet and erased our knowledge of this whole incident."
"There are a large number of assumptions in that theory," Douglas noted. "And all of them are untestable. Quite frustrating."
"Do you have any ideas, Douglas?" he asked, masking his deflated pride with an impenetrably cool exterior.
"Sir!" Blip interjected. "I'm picking up some strange readings."
"Elysium is making a move?" Signas guessed.
"No, these readings are coming from below us."
"Please try to be more specific when shouting out new developments, navigator. I feel like I've been guessing all day with you."
"Sorry, sir. It appears to be seismic activity, but it's very faint, and very deep."
"Could it be connected to Elysium?" the Hunter leader asked Douglas.
"Certainly," Douglas answered. "This may be the event that Commander X was talking about."
"The Carbon Reinitialization Program."
"Yes."
"Sir, I widened my search, and I'm getting the same readings everywhere." Blip informed them.
Signas paused for a moment, then stood decisively. "We may have to evacuate Neo Tokyo Island. Contact the NTDA and get the ball rolling, we can't take any chances in case this weapon goes off."
"No, sir..." Blip the unfortunately-but-accurately-named navigator began, and Signas could now see the pall that had fallen over the stout face behind the glasses. "I'm getting these readings everywhere. All over the world."
Signas froze in place, and Douglas exchanged glances with Blip. They weren't sure what happened to their commander's highly-advanced CPU, but it appeared to have snapped. Just when they were about to call out to him, Signas fell back heavily on his chair.
"Navigator, what did I tell you about being specific?"
Marx never thought he would be so happy to see Axl again, and he had to refrain from hugging the little reploid as he walked through the door to the Hunters' hideout. He mostly did so for Axl's sake, since it was immediately apparent that neither he nor Selene knew that Nephtis and Marx had survived the battle in the engine room, and the state of paralytic shock that had come over them would not mesh well with a tackle-hug.
"Marx...you two..." Axl muttered dazedly.
"How's the weather out there, Axl?" Marx asked, beaming.
"Shitty," Malakai answered, pushing past the two stunned reploids and plopping down on the stairs leading to the control consoles. "It's raining Purifiers and Reaverbots, and it looks like there's an armageddon brewing in the north."
"So we heard," Nephtis said, resting against Marx's heavy armored body. "And according to the network, we just hit orbit."
"You're still connected to the network?" Malakai asked, bouncing back up and raising his beam rifle arm. "Why aren't you infected?"
"What do you mean?" Marx asked. "How should I know?"
"Give me a good reason, or I'll disconnect you myself. I've had a little practice, so there's nothing to worry about," he said with a sneer, tapping the bare and ruined half of his head for emphasis.
"You can't be serious," Marx muttered, too surprised to consider raising his buster. He heard a click to his left, and he turned to see that Selene had readied one of her pistols as well. It was currently trained on Nephtis's head, and the emptiness in her expression suggested that this was less than a practical joke.
"Selene, what are you doing?" Axl asked her, just as confused as Marx and Nephtis.
"They didn't tell us how they came back," Selene said flatly. "Genoscythe might've rebuilt them."
"Now you're thinkin' like a survivor, kid," Malakai said. "There's a short list of people who could've brought you two back to life, and neither of them are on our side."
"It was...an accident," Marx sputtered. Nephtis merely gave Selene and Malakai a smoldering dark-eyed stare. She was too furious to speak. "We replaced two dead Purifiers by mistake."
"Uh huh," Malakai said. "Even if that did happen, you would've been turned the second Delta took over Eden."
"Does it look like we've been turned to you?"
"Selene, put the gun down," Axl pleaded. "I believe them. Come on. If I can trust them, can't you?"
Selene turned to Axl, blinking. He took the opportunity to lay his hand on her gun and slowly push it down. She didn't resist, but she did glance at Marx, whose raised eyebrows and nervous, disarming grin delivered a kick straight to her gut. She gasped, and the tension that had been building up inside her since the discovery of Endymion's corpse escaped in the burst of air that followed.
"I'm sorry," Selene muttered.
"Wrong move, girlie," Malakai hissed. "It might work on you, but the day I listen to advice from Short Bus is the day I'm likely to get a big fat laser bolt in the back."
"We could shoot you in the chest, if you'd like," Marx offered, still light-hearted. Malakai realized that he was alone against two Elysians and two Maverick Hunters.
"Shit," he said, reverting his beam rifle to an arm. "I don't really have a choice, do I?"
"No," Selene said quietly. Axl threw his arm around her shoulder in an effort to brighten her up.
"I can't believe you were actually listening to Malakai," he said.
"Moment of weakness, Axl. Sorry," she repeated.
"It's a good thing you all made up," a new voice broke in from the control console platform. Alia propped herself up on the railing as she waved a hand at the room's periphery. Malakai looked around, and noticed for the first time that all of the Reaverbots in the command center were fixated on him. "I didn't want to interrupt, because I think we can still use your expertise."
"Wow. Not screwing around, are you, momma?" Malakai said. "You reploids are full of surprises."
As he said this, Nephtis broke away from her lover and walked purposefully toward Malakai. He stepped back, but he wasn't expecting the thunderous left-handed cross that collided with his face and knocked him back onto the stairs. He looked up at Nephtis as he rubbed his sore cheek, and the coal fire pits of her eyes forced him to look away again.
She whirled around, walked up to Selene and, to Axl's astonishment, threw a second punch that nearly took her off her feet.
"Don't do that again," Nephtis told both of them, glancing back and forth to make sure the message had sunk in.
"Hey, Nephtis – " Axl began to protest, but Selene held up a hand to stop him.
"No, I needed that," she said. "Thanks."
"Well, I didn't need it," Malakai called from the stairs. "That shit hurt!"
"It would have hurt a lot more if we were going to betray you," Nephtis replied.
"So, if you're still connected to the rest of Elysium and you haven't been turned by Delta, mind telling me what the others are up to?" the black-haired Elysian asked.
"They're gathering beneath the tower," Alia said. "Four Mother Units, twelve Purifiers, three Servitors, and a small army of Reaverbots."
"Against the six of us? Those aren't good odds," Axl pointed out.
"You're forgetting that we have a – " Alia stopped mid-sentence, and her expression grew distant. They all waited for her to return to them, and when she did, she was beaming. "Excuse me for a minute. I'll be right back."
With that, Alia slipped past Malakai down the stairs, and left the room through the back entrance.
"Okay, Momma Alia's bugging out," the lanky Elysian said. "And it sounds like we're about to be crushed by Eden's army anyway, so I can't really blame her."
"Maybe you should stop trying to alienate everyone around you since you're gonna need all the help you can get," Axl said hotly.
"I'd say we're beyond help at this point, Short Bus."
Marx and Nephtis drifted away from the argument, until they hit the line of Reaverbot soldiers and could go no further. Axl and Malakai's argument became a sort of shrill white noise as they held onto each other. Suddenly, Nephtis grabbed Marx by the back of the neck and pushed him into a long, twisting kiss. When she finally released him, he leaned back against the Reaverbot behind him.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm better," she answered.
"That's not the same thing as okay."
Nephtis took a deep breath, apparently debating with herself whether or not to unburden her thoughts on him. It was a losing battle as soon as she gave it consideration, and she kissed him again before continuing.
"That just reminded me how hard it is to trust someone," she said. "And it reminded me why I acted the way I did when we first met. You convinced me to give them the benefit of the doubt, and I tried."
"Wait, you can't blame them for – "
"She pointed a gun at my head, Marx," Nephtis stated. "Did you forget?"
"No, but – "
"You got me to start making friends, and now those friends think we're Elysian spies."
"Is this my fault now?" he asked, trying not to sound accusatory.
"Not at all," she replied, smiling bitterly. "That's what..." she leaned in for another quick kiss. "...these are for. I can still trust you, and that means everything to me."
"Thanks," he said. "But you've gotta admit, we're pretty suspicious."
"I suppose."
"And I don't know about you, but watching you deck Malakai was the most fun I've had in a long time, so I'd say it was worth it."
"I did enjoy that, a little bit," Nephtis said. "Want me to do it again?"
"If you don't, I think Axl's about to." Marx turned his head at the sound of approaching footsteps, and to his surprise, he could see Alia walking down the hallway back toward the command center. Next to her, clutching her hand, was Megaman X. His holographic scarf whipped like an ancient battle standard behind him, and he bore a trail of superficial scars along his blue and white armor. He nodded as Alia spoke, but his hard-set mouth betrayed no emotion.
As soon as he entered the room, Axl fell silent. Malakai's theory on where Axl should 'stick it' died in his throat, though he didn't bother to turn around.
"I saw him through the perimeter guards," Alia explained. "I've already filled him in on our side of the story."
"I'm sorry to see you all under such conditions," X said immediately. "But Genoscythe is not the only one who has betrayed us. Zero has gone Maverick and taken the Master's place."
"What?" Axl gasped.
"Elysium has all the cards, and very soon, they're going to wipe humankind off the face of the Earth."
"How can you be sure Zero's betrayed us?" Axl asked.
"I'm sorry, Axl. After I escaped from the tower, he attacked me in the gardens. I recognized the look in his eyes. He's gone Maverick."
"Maybe he's faking it," Axl suggested desperately.
"Believe me, I want that to be true more than any of us," X said, and he paused for an unusually long moment before continuing. "Nevertheless, we have to treat him like a Maverick. If you hesitate for even a second, he'll kill you."
"No," Axl muttered. "Not Zero."
"Have you seen what Zero can do when he gets angry?" Marx asked him. "I've known it was there since day one."
"Oh yeah?" Axl sputtered, wheeling on Marx. "What do you know about him? You've never trained with him, you barely worked with him, you – "
"Enough, both of you," X said. They stopped bickering. "We need to get back to the tower. I can replace Genoscythe as Eden, and I can stop the Carbon Reinitialization Program. It won't be easy, and we'll need a solid plan."
"Malakai has a plan," Selene said, surprising everyone. She didn't seem to be paying attention until her interjection.
"That I do, kid. It's gonna help us out with the tower part, at least," the Elysian said. "Originally, I figured we could steal a shuttle pod from one of the hangar bays and launch it at the tower. If we aimed it well and gave it enough boost, it could blow the hell out of Eden's chamber. But if you want to stop the Program, that's not gonna help."
"I need to get to the top of the tower," X reiterated. "In one piece."
"A shuttle pod can get you there in one piece. Probably. We just need to boost less and aim it better."
"What about using a flying Reaverbot to get there?" X asked. "When I...met with Zero, he was taken away by a flying silver Reaverbot. Can't Alia control one of those?"
"Sounds like Gatz. You're not gonna get one of the Servitors. They're half-Elysian, half-Reaverbot. They're not like wild Reaverbots, they're programmed bodyguards. She can't control one unless the Master requisitions her one. Plus, a Servitor wouldn't be fast enough."
"Fast enough?" Alia echoed.
"The tower's covered in guns. Like most of Elysium's subsystems, they were offline during the war, but there's no way Delta's gonna leave 'em that way for long."
"So your plan is to launch us at the tower in a space shuttle while we're being shot at by anti-air cannons?" X asked.
"If we give it enough boost, we won't have to worry about the guns."
"But you said we need to boost less to avoid dying in the crash."
"Right. It's a delicate operation."
"It sounds like suicide," Marx said.
"That's exactly why it'll work," Malakai shot back. "Eden won't be expecting it, and that's the only way we'll make it through."
X pondered the plan, but it didn't take long. There were no other options, really. All of Elysium stood between them and the top of that tower – even if they had the firepower to fight through it, they didn't have the time. As dangerous as it was, it was still the only possibility with a chance of success.
"Okay, Malakai, lead the way. We need to get to those shuttle pods."
"Sure, but if we want to not die, I suggest we get some help," the Elysian said.
"Help? Where?" Marx scoffed.
"Trigger. He's an unfinished Purifier who glitched and ran loose around Terra for a few months. Delta said he ran into X a few times."
"I saw Trigger," X affirmed. "Why would he help us?"
"Because he's still a mess of conflicting directives and incomplete files. He'll attack pretty much anything, so we just need to sic him on the Omegas when the time comes."
"Where is he now?" Axl asked.
"Glad you asked, Short Bus. Delta didn't have time to fix him, so they just threw him in storage after they got him back. I'll draw up a map to the storage facility, if I can remember it."
"Good. Marx, Nephtis, I want you to follow Malakai's instructions and retrieve Trigger for us," X told them. "As for everyone else, we're moving out as soon as our gear is packed."
While Axl and Selene mutely began throwing their supplies back in their bags, X and Alia came together in a tight embrace.
"You're quick to trust Malakai," she noted.
"Do you think I should?" he asked.
"I don't think we have any alternatives."
"Exactly," X said solemnly. "I've got an eye on him, but that's the best I can do."
"I was worried about you," she whispered.
"I was about to say the same thing," he replied. "I'd give anything to be alone with you right now, but we don't have time."
"We may never have time again," she said.
"Don't worry, we will," X said, without a trace of doubt. He stepped back, grabbing her hands as he went. "Come on, let's help the others. The sooner we stop Genoscythe, the sooner we can be together."
"Yes, sir," she purred, whipping off one of her ironic salutes. X mirrored her with a grin, but he sensed a dire undercurrent to their old playful habit. He could see it in her slightly sagging brow, the hooks of a frown at the corners of her smile, and the glisten in her fathomless blue eyes. She was certain they would never get the chance to perform this little ritual again. X knew that any more reassurance would come out hollow, so he simply broke off the salute and went to join the rest of his team, with Alia following right away at his heels.
Stealth Claw's remaining ear convulsed as an energy spike from his damaged reactor set off every nerve receptor in his body. Pyre Mystic steadied him, but the effects had been getting less drastic as his reactor core drained itself through the hole in his chest. Less energy in his reactor meant less surging through his systems, and Claw tried to focus on the silver lining rather than the cloud. He was, after all, feeling much more optimistic after what he'd heard down the hall.
"They're gonna find a shuttle," he relayed to Mystic. His hearing was still much better than hers, and he was able to pick up most of the Maverick Hunters' conversation from well outside their perimeter of Reaverbot guards. "And they have supplies. Maybe medical."
"What do you think we should do about it?" she asked. "Can I try asking them for help?"
"How about no," Claw said, with agony that was just as mental as physical. "I don't want to be in X's debt any more than I already am."
"Well, you're not in any shape to go stealing their stuff, love." Mystic toyed with a congealed strand of fur on his arm, trying to separate the fused hair and finding it too difficult for her liking. "Besides, you don't owe him anything. X saved my life pro bono. It's how he does everything."
"In that case, I owe it to myself to get us out of this nightmare," he said.
"You said you can't cloak."
"True."
"And you can barely walk."
"But..." Claw began, then tapped his foot soundlessly on the floor. "I can barely walk quietly."
"Alright," she conceded. "We'll follow them. Remember when you said I could blame you for everything?"
"Are you gonna make me regret saying that?"
"No, but if they catch us and shoot us because they think we're trying to ambush them, then I'm adding it to your tab. Since this is your idea."
"That's fair," Claw grunted, shifting his weight from one grinding hip to the other. His ear twitched again, though not because of an energy spike. "They're on the move. Ready, babe?"
"Lead the way, ninja kitty."
End of Chapter 41