"Sigma's true form is that of a computer virus." Doctor Dopplar

"I can't believe this whole time you we're hiding such a secret!" Zero shouted. "Do you know what that guy is capable of!?"

"Calm down; it's not like he is awake." Cerveau said.

"You better have a good explanation for this." Zero shouted, reaching for the Z-Saber.

"Zero, enough!" Lelouch shouted. "I may not know all that it is you are talking about, but yelling at someone for doing something does us no good right now!"

Zero looked at Lelouch for a few seconds before letting go of the Z-Saber.

"Sorry." Zero said. "Lost my cool there."

"Cerveau, continue." Lelouch said.

"Thank you…eh…Zero." Cerveau said, becoming slightly confused realizing that there was now two Zero's to talk to at one time. "You see, when we first woke up, our base and everyone was all warped from where it was originally to where it is now. We moved out of the base to start moving around. We eventually found Phantom and Fenfir in Reploid capsules, scattered across the land. At first they acted hostile towards us, but they realized what was going on, they lost sight of what they needed to do and began to tag along with us. We eventually allowed them into the resistance. We couldn't help it; they we're lost and confused."

"Get to the point." Leviathan said.

"Some weeks ago," Cerveau began. "We found another capsule in the underground. At first we believed it might have been another one our brothers. But then we found the capsule. It was heavily, heavily, encrypted. We moved it back to our base. Sooner or later after we performed further scans, we found traces of the Sigma Virus all over the inside. Our later CAT scan of the whole capsule showed that it was indeed Sigma. The Reploid's body matched that of him as well as any other relevant data we had to show."

"All on the inside?" Zero asked surprised.

"Yeah." Cerveau said. "The capsule is to heavily encrypted. Sigma has infected the inside of it, but he's unable to escape. The outer layer of the encryption is beyond Sigma's capability or any Reploid capability to escape. Anyone in that capsule can't get out unless someone from the outside lets them out for them."

"So why haven't you destroyed it?" Zero asked.

"We don't have the weapons necessary to destroy the capsule and Sigma all at once." Cerveau said.

"Even with Fenfir's weapon?" Leviathan asked.

"I am afraid so." Cerveau said.

Leviathan flicked up her hair and made a small giggle.

"He's getting soft." She said.

"You should know better than anyone about Sigma Zero." Cerveau said. "Sigma's true form is that of a computer virus. The capsule is acting as an Anti-Virus quarantine folder."

"What's that?" Tamaki asked.

"Well in computer terms," Cerveau explained. "Every Anti-Virus suite that I know has a quarantine folder in its system. Some Viruses can't be deleted even after they have become scanned. They however can be moved into a folder where they cannot escape or override. That's what the quarantine folder is. A folder that can't be overridden by viral code. They are trapped there and cannot escape back into the FAT. When the folder is deleted however, then the viruses are free to roam around the system uninhibited; if they survived the deletion process that is. Most of them are deleted when that happens, but sometimes one or two can escape the deletion. Then the infection continues to grow."

"You're trying to destroy the capsule all at once taking out Sigma and the Virus in one shot without fail right?" Ciel said.

"Yes." Cerveau said. "But whoever made this capsule made it difficult to destroy. We can't identify the metal on the Periodic Table of Elements. Most of our weapons are proving ineffective. Not to mention that with this capsule, we have to be careful with it too. If we make too slight of a rupture, we may accidently allow the virus to leave. Then we'll all be in a whole mess of trouble. In addition to powering the base, we hoped that if installed enough receivers, we could provide Fefnir with enough energy to destroy the capsule and the virus."

"And now X found all of you." Zero said.

"He doesn't know too much." Cerveau said. "He found our base and has sent word for the military. Britannia knows there's a highly advanced reploid capsule in there and that we're drawing power from the whole city. That or they just think some elevens are stealing power."

"And you're really going to fight the people?" Ciel said.

"We have no choice." Cerveau said. "We are surveying the whole area. Britannia is lusting for more Reploids similar to that of Mega Man X. Their greed will blind them to what's really in there. And once Sigma is released, we're all going to die. Britannia has too much technology and will be too relies on it too much. The virus will infect the whole system of life and then that's it."

Zero sat down and allowed all that was heard go into his head.

"So I assume the plan is to sneak into your base, find the capsule, move it and evacuate all the people in the facility to a safe location, and then destroy the capsule at a safer, more unknown area?" Zero asked.

"Whoa…" Cerveau said. "You think you can just waltz on in there? I managed to sneak out of the cavern before the military arrived. I watched them drive in. It's too massive for you to just walk on through. How do you plan on going through?"

"Simple!" Lelouch said. "If we cannot go through the force, we will go around it!"

"What?" Cerveau said.

"It means he's going to use my old armor weapon systems to penetrate a hole through the ground." Zero said, has hand changing into the Z-Buster. "We'll move through from there, suppress the Britannian forces to allow the Reploids to escape. Then we will move the capsule from its spot and get out before Britannia has a chance to track us down."

"You make it sound so much easier than it's going to be." Leviathan said.

"It will be." Zero said, walking around the Black Knight's complex. "Britannia is going to have limited mobility and will be unable to avoid that many attacks. Fefnir is already powerful enough as it is. And those blasts will be easy for him to hit the Knightmares. They'll be underground so no hope for air support. Tanks are two slow and the rocky terrain will be difficult for them to move around. Don't even start me on the infantry. Assuming that Cerveau's base has both cover and defensive weapons, they will have the advantage. Our only real concern will be Mega Man X and Harpuia."

"Harpy…" Leviathan said.

"I need you to stay at the top of your game Leviathan." Zero said. "The only way we are going to be able to beat X is if you and me tackle him together."

"Even then, it won't be an easy fight." Ciel said.

"In war, one must risk one's life to take another." Lelouch said as he got up. "Cerveau, the Black Knights are with you."

There we're some cheers, but voices of confusion among the members were the most common thing heard around the room. The Black Knights knew that Cerveau was in trouble. But they didn't think it was any of their concern yet. In fact it really wasn't. Lelouch knew that; but he was more concerned on obtaining more Reploid based technology.

"Zero, what's with you?" Tamaki said. "What are we helping these guys for? We're going to fight for a bunch of power tools. Not to mention, Britannian power tools."

Ciel got up from using her laptop. Even though Tamaki was taller than her, she forced up enough strength to jump in the air high enough and smacked Tamaki in the face.

"Don't you dare call them that!" Ciel shouted angrily.

"Why you little…" Tamaki began.

"Tamaki; enough!" Ohgi said. "Zero, why are you doing this?"

"For what would be the purpose of the Black Knights if we did not help?" Lelouch said. "I publically stated that the Black Knights would help all of those without weapons. And that is a promise to those people that I intend to keep."

"Besides, the last thing we want is Sigma breaking out." Zero said.

"Then we must act now, while we have time." Lelouch said.

"I fear it will run out by the time we get there." Leviathan said.

The base was the exact same base as the resistance base back on their dimension. It was underground in a massive cave. Big enough to have eight lines of Knightmares move in side by side. The base held the appearance of a massive wall along the cave wall. The rest of the base was embed into the rock, making any noticeable designs, illegible. The wall itself was made with Titanium, holding many windows and sections where artillery would be stored. Each one of the soldiers stood on the windows, watching, waiting. They had already broken the Britannian transmissions from the surface so they knew Britannia was coming. Hundreds of Reploids and human survivors hung around the walls of the base as each one waited. They had to protect Britannia from their own greed. Sigma was not something they could hope to use. They all stood there, each one willing and ready to violate the first law of robotics. They did not want to do it. Not a single Reploid would have said yes to it. But at no cost could any of the Britannian soldiers go though the facility. They knew it was coming. It wasn't far away now. Fefnir and Phantom stood on the main platform where a large gun was positioned at the center. Phantom was busy wiping and cleaning his gear, while sharpening his sword. Fefnir was checking the power levels on his weapon. The two both waited for what was going to happen in a matter of minutes.

"I was given the calling to protect all of humanity." Phantom said. "And now I find myself on the opposite side of the conflict."

"To think, we'd become the resistance." Fefnir said as he cocked his oversized energy rifle into place. "Irony much?"

"It is not my will to do this." Phantom said as he sheathed his sword back into his back. "I don't even know if what I do is right or wrong. I'm simply following what I believe. Who's to say that we are making a mistake by doing this?"

"Hey; don't talk like that!" Fefnir said. "Winning is all that matters. We can't afford to lose this. If we lose this and humanity has Sigma running around on the world again."

"I wish Cerveau would come back with help." Phantom said.

"What help!?" Fefnir said. "There's not a soul left alive here that'll help us. Everyone back at home is dead for all we know. Hell, Neo Arcadia doesn't even exist anymore here. If I'm going out, I am going out in style."

"I know." Phantom said. "This was probably a suicide mission to begin with. He is already captured as far as we know. I just wanted to hope."

"Some good it did." Fefnir said.

As the two sat and prepared their weapons, loud noises like that of wheels grinding against the thick stones and boulders began to be heard down the end of the cave. The hour was late. The time for battle had come. Fefnir sat up along with Phantom as down below, Reploids and humans took positions outside the wall for the battle against the country they never knew.

"Humans come for the Reploid that will cost them their own lives." Phantom said. "If I must violate the law of robotics in order to protect humanity, then so be it!"

"So you made your decision then?" Fefnir asked.

The Britannian Mobile Command Center rolled up first in line. Slowly as time progressed, Knightmares, Marines, and tanks all flooded the stone canyon. They all established a line of offensive, while the Reploids all established a line of defense.

"These machines called Reploids…" Gilford began as the tactical screen came up. "Have been harboring a powerful machine somewhere deep inside the base. The machine has been drawing power in from the whole city, causing brownouts and blackouts in certain sections. And these Reploids have been making sabotaging efforts on all the Power plants in the whole settlement. We are only yo assume that they are using the power construct a powerful war machine."

"What is the estimated number of enemy strength?" Cornelia asked.

"Our scanners are picking up currently over a hundred Reploids along the area." Dolton said. "The problem is this: the weapons on their main wall far our range that of our Slash Harkens. And the openings where the cannons are too small to hit with artillery. They have also have a complete natural terrain and height advantage than our troops."

"Our forces outnumber and outmatch anything these machines have to stand against us." Cornelia shouted.

"Milady." X said. "They're just Reploids. I do not see how this attack will prove anything."

"X." Cornelia said. "When we left the Shinjuku district alone, Zero rose out of the ashes. From his appearance came a resistance. I am not going to leave a place with technology that far exceeds us alone just so another rebel can pop out of the iron blue. If they constructing a powerful Reploid as Dolton says, then I won't take the risk."

"It just doesn't seem to make much sense to me...you would be throwing away powerful technology which you don't have." X asked.

"If the Reploids wish to survive, they should release to us the capsule and then surrender." Cornelia said. "No harm will come to end. I would not like to destroy them as they are too valuable not to. But I cannot afford another resistance leader appearing form the shadows. Nor can I risk Zero forming an alliance with these machines. They will either surrender here, or we will make them surrender."

"Well...I'll follow you through this." X said. "There's a large virus reading coming from them.

X sighed. Cornelia was sticking to her resolve for this battle. She was right on a couple things. But not everything. X simply sighed and ran downstairs. If Harpuia's bloody arm hadn't blown off by that mysterious sniper, he would have been here too. But sadly, repairs we're still continuing and X had to fight this by himself.

Still, X did not have as much qualms about it. The Reploids had a large virus reading. For all he knew, these were mavericks.

Cornelia had granted X the honor of leading her troops into battle. X had already proved himself an efficient leader in the past as well as a soldier. "The key to winning this fight will be the capture of the people who organize this little getup." Dolton said. "Cornelia has show interest for Reploids and would like as little damage inflicted as possible to the computers and databases. We need to find out why they we're hiding themselves like this and operated so secretly. Eliminate all personal who attack us."

X reached behind his back and pulled out the X-Saber. Truth be told, the X-Saber was actually Zero's saber that X took after Zero died at the Space colony incident. For the longest time, he had treasured it; despite his lack of skill. But he had been getting better. It was now twice that Zero and he had a full one-on-one fight.

Because of Zero's maverickism, X decided to try and eliminate anything that reminded me of him; and decided to rebuild the saber to suit him more personally. X had removed the gold metal outer coverings of the saber and replaced them with fine silver. He had also the bottom spike removed and replaced it with a cylinder instead. He had also adjusted the beam itself with modifications he made with the hardware on the inside. Instead of an emerald green, the saber now emitted a Sapphire blue. X gripped the saber in his hand and stretched it out towards the Reploids. The blue beam activated. X stood there for a few minutes as he watched as all the Reploids stood there…waiting.

Keep it together X. Remember: there will be casualties on our side. They have set it up so they cannot get to cover in time before some of them are gunned down. I doubt even the Knightmares will be able to withstand it. These men know this too. But that is okay. They will sacrifice their lives so that the mission is successful. I have to win this fight.

X's thoughts were cut short after Cornelia announced to all the troops on her tactical com:

"I have contacted the Reploids and they refuse to surrender. Begin the attack!"

X pointed his Saber forward. Slowly but surely, footsteps were heard behind him. X stayed in front long enough for the steps to get with five feet of him. After that, he began his charge, his saber a glowing streak as it approached the Reploids.

"So it begins." Phantom said as the Knightmares from the Britannian side began their charge.

Phantom stood up from his position and held his sword in his hand. If he was going to die, he planned to go as an honorable swordsman would want to go: In style.

X and Britannian Marines were now within four hundred feet of the kill zone. Phantom allowed their forces to close in on the barricade. It was his plan. He knew Britannia could not accurately pin point every man's position on his side. He waited for them to close in and then would begin his assault.

When X's forces made it within a hundred feet of the kill zone, Phantom pointed his sword forward. A massive barrage of energy artillery and plasma rifles launched from the perimeter. The blasts penetrated and carved through. Many Britannians fell in a pile of their own flesh, for the heat seared their body parts right off. The assault happened so fast that even four of the nimble Knightmares we're destroyed instantly.

Many of the Britannians began to search for cover. But they we're in distress for earlier before the fight, Fefnir and Phantom had removed cover by destroying the large rocks around and instead using the rubble to create a maze like canyon of the sorts to confuse Britannian soldiers. Those who searched for cover we're picked off one by one.

But then the Knightmares began their attack. Because of the maze like canyon, hitting targets was difficult. Those caught outside we're quickly demolished by the Knightmares. The Knightmares fired. Many Reploids and humans who we're in the base when Zero was warped fell down instantly dead. Tanks began their barrage. Many Reploids we're blown to pieces from the explosions generated.

At last, X made it to their position. He had been using Guard shell the entire time and had absorbed much of the energy fired at him. When X drew close, he leaped in the air threw the energy sphere at the canyon. A massive explosion of white energy consumed the whole area, blowing much of the cover away. The Tanks continued to fire. Three of the tanks exploded, for plasma rounds had pierced the fuel tanks. They may have been easy targets when exposed, but their danger factor was still (if not; higher) there. It seems for weapons plasma worked far more efficiently than machine gun rounds. Although the exposed Reploids fell one by one from the machine gun rounds, the Britannians fell two by two and sometimes three by three. The Reploid's technological advantage had them winning the grunt fight. Even the Knightmares we're being destroyed as five more fell from the Reploid defenses. Cornelia watched with a surprised but impressed look. She knew Britannia needed these tools.

No. They wanted them.

X landed by a group of Reploids. He fired his X-Buster into one, blasting him off his feet, dead. Two others tried to shoot him. X fired his Buster at those two, killing them instantly. Three other Reploids looked at X with confusion and then looked at their weapons. They all looked at each other and nodded. They dropped all of their guns and drew Beam Sabers. X looked at all three of them and nodded. He did a small bow and then returned to his fighting stance. The Reploids we're confused, but then repeated X's motion and then attacked.

X now fought a three against one beam saber duel. The Reploids swung wildly, but X's swings we're professional; performing a series of sword strokes, martial arts, and gymnastics and dodged all of their attacks. One tried to cut X from behind. X stopped the sword in midair and forced a kick to the Reploid's stomach, knocking him down. Another one tried to stab him, but X moved to the side and sweep kicked him. The next one attempted to strike X. He countered by pushing him back. X began his attack swinging his sword and clashing his blade with the Reploid's. He eliminated his attacker by smacking his face, forcing him to turn around from the force, and then X thrusted his sword into the Reploid's stomach. The next one tried to attack to avenge his fallen comrade. X lowered his head to avoid an attack to the right. He thrusted his sword forward and made a small singe on the Reploid's body. He spun around and swung the sword, cutting the torso clean off its body. The next one charged at X. X simply ducked and cut the legs off the Reploid's body.

Normally, X would have felt bad about doing such a thing. Truth be told, he still did.

I am sorry. If you had surrendered while I fought you, I would have allowed you as a prisoner of war. But had to keep going. You are not a human therefore I do not fear killing you.

Britannians continued to march up against the Reploid's and pushed them into the canyons. Several Reploid's fell as they retreated back into the canyon. X leaped on the top of the canyons and proceeded towards the base. Several of the turrets on the walls fired at X, but none could hit him. Many of the tanks behind X fired at the walls. Many of the shells missed the first volley. The Reploids unleashed their volley and ten tanks exploded behind them. Knightmares charged and leaped from to the top of the canyon and began to fire. Many Reploids were wiped out. And X continued to charge forward.

Fefnir leaped from the center gun and pointed his high powered energy rifle at the Knightmares charging their position. Fefnir fired several energy rounds, each nailing and destroying Knightmares one by one. The Knightmares began to fall back, but many of them we're routed from the bases massive artillery supply.

"X!" Gilford said in the tactical room. "Those guns are tearing our squads apart. See if you can take them out!"

"Roger!" X said as he leapt towards the base.

X pointed his X-Buster and used his highly accurate targeting systems to locate some of the guns. He fired his X-Buster, but some of the shots didn't go in. He could not hit them. The turrets we're too well covered. In order to take them out, he needed to head inside and destroy them from within.

Fefnir appeared in front of X and used the butt of his gun to hit X. X took the hit, but received almost no damage.

"Fefnir!" X shouted. "You're the leader!?"

"As well with Phantom!" Fefnir said. "Listen X! Turn back immediately! Leave us Reploids alone and no harm will come to you!"

"What are you planning?!" X shouted. "Have you become a Maverick like Zero?!"

"Look it doesn't matter what we're holding back!" Fefnir said. "Stay away!"

Fefnir pointed his rifle and fired his energy blast. X leaped up and pointed his X-Buster. X fired three huge busters in the air towards Fefnir. He tried to dodge, but his armor was way too encumbering. All three busters hit Fefnir and knocked off his feet. Holes in his body were everywhere.

"Shit!" Fefnir shouted. "I forgot how powerful the Original Master X was."

Fefnir built up energy in his hand. Sparks of electricity built up all as a sphere of light appeared in his hand. Fefnir leaped up and smashed it into the ground. An eruption of energy appeared as a trail heading directly towards X. X rolled to the side and dodged the attack. Fefnir took his chance and fired an energy blast at X. The Blast nailed X directly and shrouded him in a massive dust cloud. Fefnir smiled with his success, but quickly looked to see that the blast had did little damage to X. He did receive damage, but nothing significant.

X charged at Fefnir. Fefnir fired at Mega Man X. X weaved in and out from the blasts and leaped up from his shoulder. X fired his Strike chain, attaching to Fefnir. Fefnir received immediately up to twenty-thousand volts of electricity into his body. The pain was so intense that Fefnir was unable to get up after the attack. After X had defeated him, he zoomed off into the base, leaving an unconscious Fefnir to lie on the battlefield while the Britannian units finally pushed the Reploid forces back into their base.

X blew the down the wall of the base easily in one shot. Many Reploid units tried to fight him. But none of them we're able to defeat him. He swung his saber and fired his buster. One by one, the defensives of the base fell to his might. Reploids we're either cut in pieces, blown to bits, or surrendered to Mega Man X and we're carried off by Britannian soldiers. He was careful to his morals and only fought those stood in his way. Time and time he encountered Reploids. Cornelia was amazed with his killing abilities, and became disappointed when she realized he would only do this on non human based targets.

X eventually cut through one of the doors down to the main hallway. Behind him seven Britannian guards we're with him. X cut through the door using his saber and made it through. They charged down the unusually large room. As they we're running, Kunai knifes flew down from the ceiling and nailed each soldier in the throat. X quickly turned to see all of his comrade's fall within a few seconds. X looked up to see Phantom staying up there.

"I cannot let you pass!" He shouted.