Author's Note: Congratulations if you figure out the Boomer Kuwanger reference.
Civic Tower, Abel City
Boomer Kuwanger returned to his magnificent view of Abel City after a conversation with Storm Eagle, relieved. So there was a chance Sigma could restore them completely. Like his friend, Kuwanger hadn't joined Sigma's ranks completely out of choice. Assigned temporarily to be a bodyguard for top city officials, he'd concluded that humanity didn't deserve to be wiped out completely during that time and joined Sigma's side partially to ensure the hostages that the rebels took were treated fairly and spared whenever possible. Though he hadn't warranted the Maverick leader's direct attention, Kuwanger thought he was effectively sabotaging Sigma's movement from the inside. That is, until Sigma reassigned him to lead an army on the most populated target of the eight: the Civic Tower that served as the center for the city bureaucracy and his station just before the outbreak of war. That was a turning point for Kuwanger: his faith in Sigma had dropped sharply when the latter had expressed his anger at hearing Kuwanger issue an advanced notice of his attack. Kuwanger's troops had taken heavy losses during the fighting as a result, but no civilians had been killed; they had listened to his warning and fled beforehand, however the defenders of the tower had not. Thus Kuwanger's forces had been forced to set several floors on fire to clear out stubbornly-entrenched security guards, marring the immaculate exterior of the tower with burns and holes. It wasn't coincidence that Sigma had given him this target: unlike Storm Eagle or X, Kuwanger was not of any special significance and thus Sigma was punishing him for thinking that way, a sign of arrogance if he'd every shown any.
For the first time since joining the rebellion, Kuwanger felt relieved. He had always tried to avoid unnecessary casualties and believed there were other ways to exploit Reploid potential besides racial war, and the fact that Sigma refused to debate with him over it only seemed to confirm the former's opinion that his commander was bent on purging humanity. Kuwanger knew enough to deduce that humanity's value, especially to Reploids, was too great to see them purged and was willing to fight for that opinion. Now, he would have several others by his side. He just had to put up a believable show without killing X. Given that Sigma knew the full extent of his combat abilities, that would be difficult to pull off. Kuwanger had heard about X's increasing power, but that was something he couldn't trust to anything but his own eyes. Even so, if he wanted to complete his mission he would have to endure it. But Sigma's words had given him pause in his determination...His thoughts were interrupted as several Sine Fallers whizzed past his window with a loud buzzing sound. He hated those drones, but they were available to replace his worn-down forces.
As he watched the sun set over Abel City from 120 stories up, Kuwanger quashed the doubts in his mind and left the once-lavish office that served as his command center. If he wanted to complete his mission he would have to help X wherever he could. Thinking about where he could place a teleport beacon, he picked an area with a number of balconies that his army had fortified with Slide Cannons that popped out to attack intruders. However, a familiar purple teleport signal appeared just as he was considering it. "Vile. How pleasant of you to join me."
"I hope you don't mind if I use your pretty little tower as X's grave." Without another word Vile seized Kuwanger's head-mounted Boomerange Cutter and began adapting it. Kuwanger sighed and walked on without his weapon. Vile watched him suspiciously as Kuwanger descended down a spike-fortified elevator, its top and sides cut off. Kuwanger got off and descended several more floors until he reached the gutted 99th floor. The elevators below here were left alone but couldn't continue any further, and they required security access to use. "It would be a shame to see X be killed by someone dropping a rock from the top of the tower as he scales it," Kuwanger mused as he found an empty area and dropped the beacon. As he walked out, Kuwanger programmed the remote activator and hoped this behavior wasn't so out of character to arouse Sigma's attention. As he reached the elevator, his cutter returned to his head. Vile must've finished his adaptations. Sometimes Kuwanger doubted the "potential" Sigma spoke of, but now was not one of those times; if anything he fervently agreed with Sigma, if not the means that the Maverick leader was using to unleash it. Regardless of his beliefs with regard to Reploid potential however, he wouldn't join Sigma willingly so long as there were humans swept up in the conflict.
Throne Room, Sigma Palace
Sigma was enjoying a brief respite from monitoring his armies. Though this consisted of nothing more than reclining his "throne" back and reading reprints of an ancient philosopher's works, he needed it almost as much as X needed to rest after the continuous combat. Keeping together an army of thousands of Reploids, not to mention millions of smaller minions and his unorganized Maverick Militia allies, was a strenuous task, one that even a Reploid designed for leadership couldn't handle without some form of intermission.
He was reading the works of Thomas Malthus. Though many would consider this an odd choice, Sigma wanted to take his mind completely off of the war for a while. That, unfortunately, included the works of many other Enlightenment thinkers as he often used their verses on the potential of the human mind to argue the case of Reploids.
A knock at the door interrupted his reading. Sigma carefully replaced his holobook before going over to see who was disturbing him, not even bothering to put his cape back on. He wasn't surprised to find Storm Eagle standing there.
"I'm sorry for disturbing you, Sigma."
"Spare me the formalities this one time and just get to the point, Storm Eagle."
"I...I was wondering if you would let me venture outside the palace for a while? You remember how much the open sky means to me."
"...If you had joined me willingly, Storm Eagle, I wouldn't refuse. But, as you did not, this will take some convincing on your part."
"I just wanted to take Teal to see the sun for a little bit and get some fresh air. You remember you gave her free roam around the palace. I won't leave; I'll just go outside." Storm Eagle wasn't pleading with Sigma, but he didn't need to; the palace's security cameras could capture any departure made with or without a teleporter anyhow.
"Very well, Storm Eagle. I will honor your request. Be warned, however, that should you exploit my trust, you will feel the full consequences."
Storm Eagle nodded and bowed slightly before leaving to join Teal, who was waiting outside the entrance to the throne room. Sigma watched as the two of them walked away, hand-in-hand. They were an interesting sideshow to his plan to test X, though it looked as though that show was now at its end. The Maverick leader withdrew again to the interior of the throne room.
As they walked through the halls of the palace, Reploids smiled at the passing duo. Teal almost felt as if she were among humans again. As they walked outside, Storm Eagle stopped by his quarters within the palace and withdrew a small device from a hidden storage area. Teal positioned herself subtly to cover some of the device but left enough exposed to determine its function. The two then walked to one of the massive viewports at the front of the palace. Storm Eagle entered several commands into a nearby terminal and the glass slid into the ceiling and a small balcony extended. For a moment, the two stood there, watching the afternoon sun shine over Abel City from the comfort of each other's arms. After a while, Teal slid the rings off both of their hands and brought them together. A section of her ring suddnely hinged inwards and linked the two while Storm Eagle was busy with the device he brought. When he looked up, he saw what doubtlessly qualified as the most subtle proposal in history. Without hesitating, he nodded and smiled. Teal unlinked the two rings and gave Storm Eagle his back before turning her attention to the device.
It was a counter-scrambler to the jamming field that cut Sigma Palace off from the rest of the world unless necessary. With the ECCM functioning, Storm Eagle proceeded to make a call. Their relationship couldn't truly progress until Teal was free, and Storm Eagle knew that his death had deeply wounded the one he believed could save them both. Now it was time to help mend those wounds.
Hunter Base
X groggily awoke and found he had slept several hours more than he planned. Great. Just what he needed to boost his self-confidence. He suddenly detected an incoming transmission on a Hunter frequency, directed specifically towards him and not through the Hunter forwarding system.
"X, how are you holding up?" X was speechless as he recognized the voice at the other end.
"Storm Eagle?! But..."
"We'll have time for catch-up later. I can't stay for long. I just wanted to let you know that Dr. Cain pulled through. I'm myself again."
X sighed, though he knew full well that "self" implied without the Sigma Virus. It seemed almost a mockery to hear his friend call for only a brief moment, but he knew Sigma might be listening in. "Alright, take care of yourself, you hear? Teal too." For the benefit of any eavesdroppers, X added, "And...we'll figure out the rematch when we get there." X disconnected without another word. He knew Storm Eagle would be smart enough to recognize the ploy, but if any unwanted listener also figured out then everything could go awry. From what X could deduce Storm Eagle wouldn't fight him again if he had the choice. But if someone figured out and put the Sigma Virus back into him...
X shook off the thoughts and climbed out of his pod before going up to the dispatch center. Zero was waiting, determinedly not looking as X entered.
"Zero...I'm sorry about what happened. It's just...this is the first time I've felt these kind of things. It's overwhelming."
"So, are you ready to go back into combat by yourself?" Zero grumbled. He had at least partially accepted the apology.
"Yeah, I figured I'll go after Kuwanger." Zero's face remained blank at this, much to X's surprise. "You aren't concerned?"
"You can handle it, X. You're much stronger than you were the last time you considered facing him. Besides, the intel we've collected on the Maverick Militia indicates they're preparing a full-scale assault soon, and independent of your schedule of dealing with the Maverick generals. As thinly stretched as we are, the Hunters are going to need a high-ranked Reploid."
"Alright, just don't get yourself killed." Both of them cracked a smile, but Zero still didn't turn around. X sighed and headed for the teleporter array.
Civic Tower, Abel City
As X teleported to the tower, his signal was diverted away from the gorund floor to Boomer Kuwanger's teleport beacon. X came out of his teleport, surprised to find himself almost a hundred stories up rather than at ground level. The fire-scorched walls and ceiling tiles had been removed, showing the neatly-arrayed piping and machinery hidden behind them. Silently thanking whoever had gotten him this far, X looked around for the elevator, but upon seeing the shafts exposed realized would be a sitting duck and began searching for another way up.
A loud buzzing noise caught his attention. Several Sine Fallers whizzed by the tower's exterior, but they didn't seem to have noticed him. X hastened to find another way up before more of them arrived. The gutted floor was too exposed to risk a confrontation in which he would clearly be outnumbered. By one of the corners, X found a ladder leading up. It didn't lead all the way to the next story, but rather into the space between the ceiling of one and the floor of the next. X had emerged in a clearing in the machinery of the ceiling so there was enough room for him to stand as he searched for a way up.
When he found another ladder he groaned inwardly. "At this rate Sigma's going to surrender before I get to the top."
However, nobody besides a Hoganmer was waiting for him when he climbed the next ladder. A Spiral Crush made quick work of it and X ascended a hole in the ceiling to find another one waiting for him. Several Dodge Blasters were loitering on the nearby walls, waiting for X to come within range. X dispatched the Hoganmer easily, but to his irritation the Dodge Blasters were rocketing across the walls, dodging his shots with their thrusters. They had clearly sacrificed firepower for maneuverability, however, as their shots fizzled out before they reached X. He decided to ignore them and move on.
Climbing another ladder, he found himself on what had once been an observation deck for tourists. Kuwanger's forces hadn't bothered removing the wall partitions here, and had installed a series of sensor beams along with high-energy security lasers. X didn't need to scan the walls to know that Kuwanger had hidden energy-charged spikes in them. He would have to navigate the gauntlet.
Boomer Kuwanger watched incredulously as X wall-climbed, dashed, and wove his way through his security gauntlet, using the turrets as footholds to avoid being caught in the sensor beams. Kuwanger's eyes widened as he saw X accidently trigger several of the turrets and dodge every single shot before leaping out of the gauntlet without a scratch on his armor.
Power was one thing, and Kuwanger could acknowledge that X had grown stronger. However, this was skill. Even though Kuwanger wanted X to reach him, seeing the Hunter emerge completely unscathed shocked him. He had badly underestimated X. Kuwanger recalled the Sine Faller patrols and pulled his Jammingers out of the area X was advancing into. He'd have to up the ante for the blue bomber assuming Vile didn't get him first...
"Vile...you just never give up, do you?"
"I only exist to defeat you, X. I will haunt you until the day you die!" With that Vile cocked his cannon and fired. X jumped over the Fatboy's massive energy blast and fired back. Vile unleashed a Necro Burst and the massive shockwave flattened X against the ceiling. While he was pinnned, Vile fired his rocket fist and launched an imprisoning electric blast. X fell to the floor as soon as the fist struck him the first time and the imprisonment field encased him.
"And here I was thinking you had gotten stronger!" Vile mocked. After striking X a third time the fist returned to him. Suddenly X burst out of his prison and hit Vile's cannon with a charged shot. The weapon overloaded and exploded, throwing Vile off his feet.
"How quickly the tables have turned." X pressed his buster against Vile's helmet. "Now please come quietly; I don't want to kill you."
Immediately a Jamminger whizzed in and crashed into X. The drone's explosion stunned them both, but Vile recovered first, unleashing his Burning Drive. "I don't need my cannon to deal with a pussy like you!" X was hurled backward by a massive blast of napalm and flames, and teleported out of the building to use a repair kit before the afterburn melted him completely.
When he returned, Vile had already left. X sighed with relief at not having to have a rematch and pressed on, where he found a spike-lined elevator shaft waiting for him.
Kuwanger began commanding his individual minions to intercept X as the elevator ascended, watching through a temporary battery of security camera screens erected to one side of his command center. To his surprise, X destroyed them all with splitting ice bullets and wind vortecies. Kuwanger hadn't known X could copy abilities; he'd never used that power during his time with the Hunters. Maybe X would put up a bigger fight than he could handle. Only combat could tell. Kuwanger sighed and called off his minions as the elevator accelerated. He shouldn't make it too hard for X to make it to the top; after all, Sigma wanted to see the latter's full potential unleashed as well.
It didn't take the analyst Kuwanger was to know that desire was likely going to backfire on Sigma in some way. With every passing moment, the Hunters were slowly pulling the rebellion apart at its joints, and Kuwanger knew from his historical sense that the victors of war never take kindly to the defeated. His only hope would be to turn against Sigma, but first he had to get the Sigma Virus out of his coding, and that unforutnately meant death and restoration.
Kuwanger suddenly noticed X was close to the top of the balconies he had rigged with Slide Cannons and Ladder Yadders. He pressed a button and a hidden balcony above the top entrance slid out. On it was a Heart Tank. Kuwanger had no idea how it had been hidden away in the building before it was even built, but he had analyzed it and figured out what it did. If this was part of the late Dr. Light's upgrades for X, which it likely was as he couldn't figure out is original build date, then who was he to inhibit the unleashing of X's designed potential?
X studied the Heart Tank's location and surroundings and suddenly knew what to do. Charging a Shotgun Ice, he formed an ice sled and dash-jumped off of it to reach the balcony. Installing the Heart Tank, he sneaked a glance down and almost lost his balance as he realized he was 117 stories up. Steeling himself, he jumped off the balcony and wall-jumped back up to the entrance inside.
When his eyes adjusted to the dim interior of the tower, X saw that the floors had been removed except for small pieces on the sides of the building and the only way up was a series of propeller-driven platforms occupied by Turn Cannons. X saw several Dodge Blasters roaming the walls as well. He cursed. They would be ahuge problem with their ability to scale the walls while he was limited in his mobility and dodging room.
After blasting the first cannon off its ride, X hopped on and began to ascend by leaping between floor fragments and emptied platforms. Noticing several Dodge Blasters moving to cut him off, he switched to Storm Tornado and unleashed a charged attack. The mobile cannons could move in every direction but away from the tempest, and they were ripped apart by the fierce winds. X reached the top floor and opened the door to the office where Kuwanger was waiting.
"So...you managed to make it. You've gotten stronger and better, I'll give you that."
"Boomer Kuwanger...you know I don't want to fight you. The only people I knew better were Zero and Storm Eagle."
"You're a Maverick Hunter, X. And we Hunters are merely Reploids who fight. And once you've unlocked your full potential you'll be stronger in combat than any of us could hope to ever be."
"My potential is better off for peaceful uses, Kuwanger. My emotions..."
"No, X. Not just your emotions. You're adaptive programming works quicker than its equivalent in most humans. You have armor upgrades the rest of us never will have. I don't know exactly what all this will come to, but it doesn't take my analytical skills to know you will be an android of immense power, possibly even more than Sigma."
"I...I don't want that power, Kuwanger. You know I never wanted power. I'm only accepting it because humanity needs me to take it for their sake."
"Interesting. You don't see it, X? Your emotions are driving you to do things that you wouldn't do otherwise. That's something beyond our capability as Reploids..."
"How do you know that? Why did you issue an advance warning of your attack, Kuwanger? I know Sigma didn't approve of that, so it must have been because you thought humans were worth sparing; that's sentiment. Feelings aren't exclusive to me. All of you are imbued with the same ability to feel. You all have as much potential as I do."
"With one exception, X." Kuwanger's tone grew extremely morose. "Those of us under Sigma do not have completely free will. I'm sorry, X. As interested as I am in seeing both the potential of you and Reploids as a race unleashed, I made my own decision about the rebellion and Sigma made sure it was the last completely free thought I would make in my life. I have no choice. If I am destined to die, then let it at least be the result of my own decision rather than the directive of the Sigma Virus."
Without another word Kuwanger detached his cutter from his head and threw it at X. X dove out of the way and the cutter zoomed over his head before attaching itself back to Kuwanger's head. The Reploid opened the wings on his back and with the roar of rocket boosters Kuwanger rocketed towards X, grabbing X before using the momentum to smash him into the wall and impale the tips of his head cutter deep into X's chest. X yelled in pain as the multi-pronged headress pierced his armor and tore into his body. Kuwanger finished his assault by throwing X up with all his might into the ceiling. X's fortified helmet smashed through the ceiling tiles and left him comically stuck in the ceiling. Pushing himself out with his arms, he fired a Spiral Crush at Kuwanger, but the Reploid's image blurred and suddenly he was behind X. "Come on, X, I know you can do better than that! Where's that adaptive programming?"
Kuwanger's words suddenly made X remember Zero's words before he'd taken on Flame Mammoth. He couldn't hope to keep up with Kuwanger's speed or agility, so he would have to attack with a weapon that could. "Launch Octopus's Homing Torpedoes! I hope they work out of water too!" X instantly switched to the weapon he'd copied from Launch Octopus and his buster discharged a small rocket from his arm. No sooner had it emerged than the rocket's motor fired and it veered around and dove between X's legs, zooming behind him and exploding in front of Boomer Kuwanger, breaking the latter's charge. Though it stunned him, the missile did less damage than X hoped.
"That's more like it! Come on, X, show me what you've got!" Kuwanger raised his right arm and the nacelled opening on his forearm began to glow. Green energy cutters shot from the projector, and X rolled aside as they burned through carpet on the floor and sliced apart pipes and machinery in the ceiling. He responded with three more Homing Torpedoes. Kuwanger teleported, but the missiles veered around and slammed into him. He teleported again behind X just as the latter shot another missile at his previous location. Kuwanger seized X from behind, hoping to use the latter to absorb the missile. X managed to slip out of his grasp at the last minute, and the rocket destroyed Kuwanger's helmet and upper body.
"Well done...X...you're...stronger...than...even I thought..." Kuwanger managed to say before shutting down from his damage. X saluted Kuwanger before copying his weapon and teleporting away. Though the Reploid had never been the social type X had gotten to know him well through several missions together. Kuwanger's agility and quick fighting style perfectly complemented X's hard-hitting buster and reactive armor, and the two had become a powerful team until Kuwanger was reassigned to the position of bodyguard.
Throne Room, Sigma Palace
Sigma sighed as he watched Kuwanger's demise. Though he had never known the latter Reploid to be arrogant during his time as a Hunter, the onset of the rebellion seemed to have changed Kuwanger the most among all of his men. It had bitten him hard.
X's reaction to Kuwanger was unexpected. Again Sigma found himself reminded of his rather distant relation to X outside the chain of Hunter command; despite his interest in X he still knew nothing of the latter's life. A good thing, he supposed, but it made gauging the blue bomber that much harder. He ordered a recovery drone to retrieve his leiutenant's remains and sent the order to withdraw from the Civic Tower.
Though by all outward appearances Sigma's rebellion was falling apart, he wasn't worried. X may be able to break his armies and henchmen, but those battles would be nothing compared to what he would pit against the blue bomber once the Hunters inevitably invaded his fortress. And, of course, there was the matter of Sigma himself. Not even Zero had managed to best Sigma, and when he started his rebellion he had felled both X and Zero with a single thrust of his saber. And should X defeat him, Sigma still had one last trump card that was almost finished.
"No," the Maverick leader thought to himself, "I won't fail. X will make it far enough for me to see his true potential, but he can't defeat me. It won't be a pushover like before, but he still won't have a chance, assuming Vile and the other three generals don't get him first."
Sigma suddenly opened communcations with Vile. "I know you've been out strengthening yourself to fight X, Vile. Now it's time for you to put those new powers to the test. You have new orders: intercept X at any location he appears. Withdraw whenever you've taken critical damage. I still want you as part of the palace defenses once the Hunters invade."
"Guess I can't say no to that -"
"I never gave you a choice, Vile. You will do as you are told. And if it gets you what you want, why do you care?" With that Sigma cut the transmission and monitored Storm Eagle and Teal while they watched the sunset. He wasn't interested in their relationship, but he had to make sure they weren't taking advantage of him.
Author's Note: So if you can't tell by the leadup, the boss rush isn't going to happen the way it does in game. I apologize for the massive block just about Boomer Kuwanger, but I haven't explained his character often like I did with Storm Eagle.