X appeared in the X-Hunter bunker rather abruptly. He didn't speak first, neither did Pyrostrike try to beyond a faint nod of greeting. He watched as Dr. Cain and Tripwire worked with painstaking care on Cadis' rent body. As he stood there, X's mind coiled in on itself, flashing his senses through all of his worst memories. The human woman bleeding out in his arms, the blood on his hands, Zero's death against Vile, Alia's cries of pain, her lost arm, and his own crimes when over the line of his own rage.

/...Alia, any problems at HQ?/

/No. Convinced most people you're in medical after we rushed back. Looks like the Repliforce fleet might be up to something, we'll sound the alarm if so./

/Thank you... Security footage from Cadis' attack?/

Spikesaw's voice joined the conversation, /Damned blind spot in the sensors. All we can really see are Cadis' legs. She knew something was on her, but whatever it was... not sure even Quickman could've dodged it./

Quickman's unusually grim voice added, /I can confirm that. She did everything right in the moment.../

X's eyes half-lidded as he watched the surgery. Dark thoughts swirled in his head all the more. Pyrostrike glanced to him with quiet concern as he watched X's face slowly twist and contort, his hands coil into fists. It was like watching water boil over in a sealed pot.

His dark reverie was interrupted by Dr. Cain raising a staying hand to Tripwire, and they both eased upright. Dr. Cain had to crack his back loudly.

"We have to make sure if those connections will function properly. I'll get her onto monitoring cycles," Dr. Cain explained, clearly exhausted, but still focused.

Tripwire tipped his head. "I owe you more than I can say, Doctor..."

Dr. Cain shook his head. "Cadis is a kind creature, she deserves my best efforts. ...If you wish to help further, can you apply two more holding plates across the wound? He just need to make sure it doesn't shift while we wait."

Tripwire immediately got started. "Of course."

Dr. Cain rubbed his back, and shifted over to take out a few small devices, and carefully placed them on key parts of Cadis' upper body. Signals clearly started on one of the screen nearby, and he checked them over, nodding to himself. "Stable so far. Excellent." And only then did he speak to X, without turning around. "So, X, what the blazes am I involved with now?"

Pyrostrike raised an eyebrow, but X just stepped inside the room fully at last, and moved to stand beside Dr. Cain, watching Cadis' vitals. Tripwire didn't even glance up, his focus was entirely on Cadis.

"This is my secret you've been so worried about," X started simply. "I knew about the virus almost from day one. I think it was a special sense Dr. Light installed in my systems to protect me against Wily's project."

Dr. Cain stared in open shock at X as all of that sunk into his mind.

X continued after a brief pause. "Because it was a virus, I didn't actually kill the Mavericks I fought... mostly." His face twitched. "I took their personality drives and system buffers here," he gestured around them. "Once it was confirmed the personality drives were clean, and that the virus kept itself to the system buffer, possibly on purpose just to torture the host, I reintegrated the drives into Reploid production as my allies."

Dr. Cain angled his head slowly. "...How...?"

X focused on Dr. Cain fully at last. "Dr. Light gave me one of the most advanced neural networks the planet has ever seen, Dr. Cain. I can manipulate data quite freely, if I need to."

"Why didn't you tell us about the virus?"

X gestured up. "Because of exactly what happened. Repliforce is the result of humanity's panic. It was the perfect pawn for Wily's virus to manipulate. The virus doesn't even have to do all the work anymore. Most of Repliforce aren't infected at all. And the few I've engaged that are infected don't seem to actually be part of their forces."

Dr. Cain clenched his jaw, bowing his head for a moment. He wasn't sure he actually agreed with X's choice, but he couldn't argue the point very well with the current disaster on their hands. "...The reintegrated Mavericks... Reploids, where are they?"

X considered that answer more carefully. "Their identities, in this case, are their own to reveal. No one had time to communicate about this particular conversation we're having, Dr. Cain, and I'm obviously exposing anyone tied to me to recrimination for my actions. The last time we did this, they had a chance to confirm if they were involved or not."

Dr. Cain frowned, but didn't explode. He glanced to Pyrostrike and Tripwire, who clearly knew about the bunker at least.

Pyrostrike ended the specific curiosity in Dr. Cain's mind. "I was Flame Stag."

Dr. Cain full-stopped again, gaping at Pyrostrike's simple statement. "The... Maverick that tore Alia's arm off?"

Pyrostrike nodded, though it was clear the memory pained him.

Dr. Cain twisted to X. "Does she know?"

"I can't answer that yet."

"DOES SHE KNOW you're keeping the Maverick who tore her heart apart!?" Dr. Cain finally roared.

X exhaled rather than being jolted by the shout. He closed his optics for a moment. /Alia... can I tell Dr. Cain you're involved, or no?/

/We're in this together, X. I think he's earned his part of the truth at this point./

/Agreed. There's really no point being secretive with him now,/ Signas chimed in.

The channel quickly filled with the other X-Hunters agreeing.

X nodded to himself, and looked to Dr. Cain again. "Alia knows. We recruited her fully after her recovery from that very attack."

Pyrostrike added, "She's too good to me, forgave me."

Dr. Cain pinched the bridge of his nose. "How many people do you have working double-lives for you?"

"Units 14, 32, 53, 61, 76, and 27 are almost entirely my allies. They opted to refer to themselves as 'X-Hunters' for... various reasons."

Dr. Cain twisted to look at Cadis.

Tripwire answered, mostly because he was done affixing the plates, "She doesn't know. Yet."

X nodded. "She's taken hits for us before, but not like this. If she recovers, we're telling her."

Tripwire nodded, grim, clearly certain she would hate him once she realized who he was.

"Also Signas," X added abruptly, looking to Dr. Cain.

Dr. Cain rolled his eyes. "So you were practically in control of the Maverick Hunters anyway."

"Signas was Sigma."

Dr. Cain stopped at that, twisting to X.

X nodded. "Sigma was just another victim, but because he was the new primary vector for the virus, it adopted his persona."

Dr. Cain's jaw clenched. "...New primary..."

X slowly looked to Dr. Cain, sidelong. "After Zero."

Pyrostrike and Tripwire paused at that particular response, staring at X in confusion.

Dr. Cain groaned, slowly bowing his head. "...When we... recovered Zero after Sigma defeated... it, I thought it was proof that I could fix the maverick problem. Zero didn't just recover, he excelled."

X nodded. "He has, and he's a good person. The virus is it's own evil. It's just also why the infected tried to bring Zero back for themselves. Wily was partial to his... 'son.'"

Dr. Cain seemed so haggard in that moment, weighed down and... old. "...You've known for so long, and I just didn't know how to tell you. Zero was a mentor to you, until..."

"I watched him die," X stated clearly. "Once we got him back, I could see that his way of seeking justice was... not exactly suited to our work. He would either turn us in, or try to stop us... or just try to beat us to the Mavericks so he could be sure their threat was ended."

"Which one was Vile? And did he revert?"

"I killed Vile," X stated flatly. "Wily's forces found a way to rebuild his personality drive, or clone him to unusually high detail. That is the prisoner we currently have. He was also never infected."

Dr. Cain blinked rapidly. "...You... aren't proud of killing him." It wasn't a question.

"I'm not supposed to kill, Dr. Cain. Every time I do, it means I'm less and less different from the monster I'm trying to stop."

X then focused out to Cadis' unconscious form. "I'm going to look into what did this."

Tripwire came around, rushing up to X. "I want in."

X focused on Tripwire gravely, Dr. Cain easing back to watch the interaction between the two.

"Tripwire, I understand the rage you're feeling. That's why I need you here, with Cadis, when she needs you most."

Tripwire wanted to snarl something, it was clear, but that phrasing halted him. He shivered, and bowed his head. "...I should have been with her..."

"You can't change the past, Tripwire, but you can be here, for her, right now, while she's still fighting for her life." X rested a hand on his shoulder. "Please... I promise you, I will stop the one who did this."

Tripwire did slowly sink from his rage. "...You had better. Once she knows the truth, when she wakes up, I'm probably never going to be able to look her in the eye again."

X glanced to Cadis, smiling faintly, then back to Tripwire. "Cadis is very good at being even better than we expect of her. Wait until you know for sure."

Tripwire cycled his respirator. "...Permission to go on leave for... a family issue?"

"Granted," X offered softly, and then he looked back to Dr. Cain as Tripwire returned to Cadis' bedside.

"Is there anything else you need, Dr. Cain?"

"Confirmation that Shimmer isn't running into trouble with the cyborg patients, and probably a bed and food. This will take some days if we're trying to keep it all secret."

X glanced off briefly. He seemed to nod, and then offered Dr. Cain a little earbud comm device. Dr. Cain raised an eyebrow, but took it, placing it in his ear.

X's voice came through the earbud, not his mouth. /Everyone, Dr. Cain is on the line./

/Rehabiliation is going well, Doctor,/ Shimmer immediately responded. /Your work is exemplary, even the patients are surprised how well it's all working already./

Dr. Cain found himself smiling a bit. "Transceiver?" he checked with X, who nodded. He went on, /Thank you, Shimmer. Can I ask who you were? It doesn't really matter, I'm just curious who is so empathetic to their plight./

/Sting Chameleon./

Dr. Cain raised his eyebrows. /Fair enough./ He looked to X afterward, his manner greatly softened. "...He's just that empathetic?"

X smiled finally. "They're very good people, Dr. Cain. I hope you'll trust them as I do."

Dr. Cain took a breath, and then nodded. "Unless I see something more troubling, I'm... on board for now."

Pyrostrike tipped his head in welcome, and X smiled again.

"I need to go tend to some things before we tackle Repliforce's armada. I'm on comms," X affirmed before twisting to jog out of the bunker.


She stumbled, shouting in frustration as her new knees clicked off the ground. Shimmer appeared beside her, offering a hand, but not actually gripping her yet.

"You've made great progress for the same day, please don't forget that."

The cyborg woman, now looking more human again, simply with clearly prosthetic parts to most of her body, eyed Shimmer sidelong, still frustrated. She calmed as she looked at the oblong-optics of this all-but-stranger who was helping them all so much. She exhaled, glanced back toward the others, and thought for a moment.

Everyone else was still using bars to walk or doing slow lifting exercises with Warp Turtle's assistance. He was a very patient, 'old' caretaker, and kept them calm through their frustrations. She was the first to try walking unaided. Maybe she was pushing it too hard. With a softer exhale, she looked back to Shimmer, and raised a staying hand. "No help this time."

Shimmer nodded, easing back and standing.

She focused, and started to slowly rise up. First, one leg was crooked up, giving her a base to try to stand from. Her new body parts whirred softly, clicked, and hummed. It was alien, still, but not truly unpleasant. However, just as she started to get to the point where she could lift her other leg to flatten the foot, she lost coordination and balance, pitching at her waist to try to steady. She almost recovered, and then barked as she started to fall toward the still-bent leg.

Shimmer was there, catching her before her head to could slam to the floor. She instinctively grabbed onto whatever caught her, and then slowly looked up to his optics.

"...This must look pretty pathetic to a Reploid," she rasped softly.

Shimmer shook his head. "I'd probably have a harder time if you put my neural network in an organic body. But, don't worry. We know humans can adapt to this kind of thing. Just takes practice, effort, and time."

She let him help her upright this time, and then softly pushed on his shoulder. He eased back with her push, just being cautious. She kept her balance.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

She met his optics, now with one of her own. "Why didn't you kill us in that lab?"

Shimmer turned more grave, considering his answer. At last, he said, "I know what it's like to not be in control of your own body. And be used for violence."

That surprised her, her head straightening a bit. She glanced down for a beat, then back to Shimmer. "...Thank you for getting us out of there, helping us now..."

Shimmer smiled softly. "Nowhere I'd rather be, Victoria."

"...Call me Vi, I think you've earned it."

He chuckled softly. "Vi it is, then."


"Double! For the love of—Just... stop!" One of the head mechanics was controlling himself from snapping too hard at the inept Reploid.

Double awkwardly chuckled, rubbing the back of his helmet, still holding a crate of parts. "Sorry, sir..."

"J-just go—Go double check the stock room counts, please? We've done a bunch of repair work today, we need to know it's all still good."

Double saluted... dropping the crate in his arm. The team of mechanics visibly twitched, but when he moved to pick it all up, they shouted to stop him in unison, and just begged him to go back to the stock room.

Double trundled along, and disappeared inside the dimly lit stock room. Most of its resources went into atmosphere control and armored walls to protect the goods from deterioration and combat, respectively, so the lighting was left to Reploids to rely on their on-person flashlights.

Double got to work, scanning and checking counts on the first shelf, bobbing his head to a little ditty he was imagining. Once he was on the second aisle, he turned to reach for another box of basic parts, and jumped with fright as his light cast across X himself, standing just there, smiling calmly.

Moreover, X's helmet was different. It had multiple radials angling back off of it, and seemed to match to the more robust, complex, and yet more streamlined structure of his legs.

"M-my liege! A new crown?"

X chuckled, shaking his head. "Just a recovery from the network hub that we finally secured. I wanted to check in on you, Double. I see your repairs took well?"

Double rubbed at the side of his face where the cut had scorched it previously. "Y-yes, sir. Thank you, sir."

X tipped his head, and then pulled something from his storage unit on his back, offering it to Double.

It resembled a small handle-grip, with an activation switch, and an LED, little else.

"What's that?" Double asked simply, confused by the item.

X kept his calm smile. "It's a direct communication device. Straight to me. After what happened to poor Cadis, we need to make sure you can report whatever odd orders you think you've received quickly and quietly. Keep it on you at all times, Double, that's an order, understood?" X dipped his head to emphasize the order gently.

Double seemed to be treating it as a hallowed object as he slowly took it in both of his hands. "Y-yes, master! I shall keep it next to my core at all times!"

X widened his smile. "That's a huge relief to me, Double, thank you."

Double nodded rapidly, putting the comm device into his chest compartment that moment. "Is Cadis alright, sir? I checked medbay afterward, but..."

X turned his expression grave. "She's not, no." He said no more, turning to simply move out the room.

It left Double blinking in confusion.


X arrived in the command center to several blinking stares at his head. Alia had to softly point toward it, showing her quizzical expression openly. X smiled a bit as he arrived at the holotable with Signas and Zero.

"Found another upgrade," he mumbled, then cleared his throat. "What's the status of the Repliforce fleet?"

Iris and Dex joined Alia in turning their chairs to face the holotable in the center. Dex offered, "They're moving into escort formation for atmospheric trajectory."

Iris added, "My brother was sighted leading a large force into the starport below the fleet, and there's no confirmation of him departing on a ship yet. Also, no telefield signatures."

Alia simply confirmed, "If we want this to stay on-planet, we have to stop that fleet today."

X nodded seriously, now focusing down onto the holodisplay approximating the fleet locations above a model of the starport. "And where are we with our own fleet?"

Signas spoke up here. "Not ideal. Our fleet had yet to recover from the Doppler conflict, and most of the funding that would've gone to us for it, went into Repliforce instead."

Zero clarified, "We have six cruisers, and a fleet of lightly armed troop transports."

X exhaled heavily, "Against carriers, cruisers, and fightercraft."

A pall fell over the room, but Alia was the first to break it. "Airstrike had some ideas."

"Patch him through."

A hologram of Airstrike's sleek head flickered into life a moment later.

"Commander and company, with the formation Storm Owl is leading his forces into, we could devastate it with a pin-point blitz at four locations around his position. Losses would probably be total, regarding our ships, but the Repliforce fleet would be crippled."

X frowned. "Do we have any information on Storm Owl himself?"

Zero squinted at how X seemed to expect this from Airstrike himself, rather than one of the operators.

Airstrike did respond. "He's a good leader, and the discipline in the flight pathing would confirm he's got a loyal set of captains under him. That can be made into a weakness. If we cut the head off this snake..."

X nodded. "Without his direct leadership, they may scatter too much to mount a proper defense."

Alia added, "And if we're lucky, he has the codes to bypass the weapon systems of the entire fleet, stall them in the air."

X leaned onto the holotable. "Alright, here's the agenda."

Everyone stiffened a bit to attention.

"Airstrike's plan is given the green light, with a caveat. I need priority given to assisting a telefield lock onto Storm Owl's ship. I'll go for the head of the snake, while you cause chaos in their formation. Hopefully, I can neutralize Storm Owl before our own losses grow too vast."

Iris and Alia both twisted back to their consoles instantly. They then twisted back, and shared an awkward glance before Iris deferred to her commanding operator. Alia chuckled, and gestured back to Iris. She blushed, and then quickly explained, "If we can get one of our own ships within a quarter-mile of Storm Owl's flagship, we can piggy-back a telefield strong enough for Commander X."

Zero fixed his eyes on X after that, openly challenging, "Alone. Again. Really?"

X gave him a similarly droll stare. "Do you really want to join me on a ship that may start crashing out of the air while we're still on it?"

Alia deadpanned at him, and he tried not to notice.

Zero shook his head, tossing his hands up casually. Apparently he was letting it go for now as he leaned back against a console with folded arms.

Signas chuckled faintly. "And ground side, Commander?"

X looked back down at the hologram. "Ground side? ...Make sure Repliforce never leaves that starport until we have the situation contained."

Iris looked over with worry. "Never, sir?"

Zero gave X a look with her.

X blinked. "Poor choice of phrase, Iris, I'm sorry. Emphasis on containment. We're not going to start slaughtering anyone."

Iris eased, but Zero straightened, "I'll lead containment efforts. Make sure nothing gets too out of hand."

Iris was gently surprised, but then smiled softly at him. X raised an eyebrow, but simply nodded. "Do it."

Zero gave a little salute, winked at Iris, and dashed off, leaving Iris with a little blush as she quickly hid in her work.

X remained serious, looking down at the holomap intently. He could feel it. Another piece. On one of those ships...


Airstrike stood on the bridge of one of the Hunter armada ships that was still left after the Doppler war. His crew was diligently keeping the ship at peak efficiency as they waited in formation with their sister ships a safe distance from the Repliforce armada over the starport.

"Congratulations on the promotion, though you seem less than thrilled about it, 'Hunter Admiral.'"

Airstrike glanced over his shoulder to Inferno. The hulking Reploid barely fit in the bridge, but he managed.

"...Bad memories," Airstrike muttered softly, and then looked ahead. "Mostly, I'm just focused right now. The timing is tighter than I'd like, and the risk is extremely high to all crews. A failure of leadership here would be catastrophic."

Inferno half-smiled. "They couldn't be in better hands. Which ship is handling the tagging?"

Airstrike lifted his optics a little higher at the distant dots of the Repliforce fleet. "This one. It's the most dangerous task, and I can use the integrated controls if needed."

One of the crewman Reploids twisted in her seat. "Confirming the control cradle is ready to deploy, sir."

Airstrike tipped his head. "Well done, stay ready."

"Sir!"

Comms clicked, and Airstrike touched his audio-receptor. He cycled his respirator, and then looked across his bridge crew. "Operation start! All ships, advance to starting points, and utilize planned vectors as soon as possible! Sound off on obstructions immediately!"

At Hunter Admiral Airstrike's word, all six cruisers blasted to full thrust, and rushed across the sky toward the Repliforce fleet. In didn't take more than a few seconds for the fleet to start to respond. Several fighter flights fanned out and started to close on the Hunter flotilla, able to close the gap much faster than any of the larger ships involved.

"Onslaught being intercepted in 10!"

"Light's Sprocket being intercepted in 7!"

Airstrike tilted his head down. "Maintain..." he trailed off deliberately.

All six ships charged ahead, unwavering. It seemed almost as though they were going to let the fights overtake and swarm them. Their defense cannons weren't even aimed ahead.

Airstrike suddenly barked, "FIRE ALL CANNONS!"

The Repliforce fighters, little more than drones, started to scatter to overtake the Hunter ships, but just as they started to commit to their new courses, the Hunter vessels' cannons unleashed a full volley in dozens of strange directions.

The strangeness was explained in the following three seconds, as every single drone plowed into condensed plasma charges already air-borne.

Only three fighters survived the one-shot-per-cannon obliteration, careening past the Hunter ships in desperate correction paths.

"All ships, full ahead! Rear gunners, track and destroy remaining drones!" Airstrike ordered instantly.

Inferno just smiled a bit to himself as he listened to the distant thumps of the rear guns destroying the drones. "...Told you."

Airstrike grumbled a bit. "We're only just getting started. And that was mostly Iris and Dex's work."

Inferno just rolled his optics mildly.


Storm Owl frowned at the holodisplay on his bridge of what the Hunter ships did to the drone fighters. "They know our drone response algorithms. Technicians, I want modulation on every third parameter for the next wave of drones. Get them in the air as fast as possible."

"Sir!"

The somewhat stocky, crimson Reploid focused his large green optics on the overall holomap of the soon-to-be-battle. "They're not fools, that formation is dangerous, and they just proved they have the coordination for it. Even so..." He squinted, thinking.

The Hunter flotilla couldn't win the fight, but they could seriously cripple his fleet. That didn't mesh with the previous MO the Hunters had demonstrated with Slash Beast, Stingray, and the others.

"...I feel like I've seen that flight pattern before, too."

He twisted, and moved to a more secluded console, pulling up some data files. A document showing information about Storm Eagle displayed prominently. "One of your students, old friend? Well... let's see if he's worthy of it."

Looking back to the rest of the bridge, he shouted, "They'll go for our flanking positions, split the drones to defend!"

"Sir!"


It was almost like watching two trains chug toward collision. Airstrike watched gravely as Storm Owl's fleet started to adjust at full speed for such tight quarters. His optics then tracked the small speckles of drones... not attacking.

"Rush, Skyhammer you're going to be dealing with fighters, and I doubt our trick with the guns will work twice against Storm Owl's own fleet. Have your cannons aimed aft and charge hard as planned. It should buy you time."

"Copy, Hunter Admiral!"

"Copy!"

Airstrike looked down to his bridge crew, "Crew, this is going to be the choppiest ride of your lives. Stay focused. We WILL take damage, it's a question of managing it."

"Yes, sir!" chorused back.

Inferno turned calmly, "I'll get to the engine room. Might need my... expertise, when it gets messy."

Airstrike glanced back with a chuckle. "Appreciated." Looking forward again, he muttered, "And I have to deal with one of my best rivals from the old days..."

The lopsided battle rushed to confrontation, the Repliforce ships starting to spread out like a flying net, with the Hunter ships lancing out to clearly very specific points, like some kind of scatter shot. Just as Repliforce cannons started to fire, however, the Hunter ships abruptly veered into something entirely different.

The far ships on either side veered hard and low to the left, high to the right, all but barrel-rolling as they shifted to flank from above and below while taking glancing shots from the cannons. The center four abruptly accelerated to maximum speed, normally suicidal in such close quarters between craft.

Three of them all but threw themselves between gaps in the Repliforce formation. Surrounding themselves seemed foolish, but their speed only dipped long enough for them to use the momentum of their swerves to push into the heart of three points of the core flee formation... at which points their own cannons started to fire in myriad directions before they even started to slow down.

The flankers were almost immediately swarmed by drones, but from Airstrike's orders, they just tore ahead at full speed, and just as the drones started to rush past, loop, and chase, their cannons unleashed volleys into their own wakes. A good third of the fighter presence was obliterated instantly.

The flankers then faced the brunt of the counter fire, losing chunks of hull and engines as they tried to keep pressure on those edges of the Repliforce formation.

And the last ship seemed to be veering to disrupt the top center of the fleet... but it abruptly dove sharply down, and then fired its rear facing cannons in a wave from stem to stern. It created a small additional burst of speed, and brought Airstrike's vessel right into the broad-side of Storm Owl's own capital ship.

Both ships opened fire on each other.

Airstrike, now in the command-cradle locked around his arms, shoulders, and linked into the floor around him, barked a quick order. "Teleport X in now!"


It could easily have been confused for a cannon blast between the ships. X's telefield slipped, warped, and dashed through the air, all the way to Storm Owl's flagship. There, it promptly dove, slamming down onto the launch platform for some of its own drones.

X came dashing out of the field, both busters out. Humanoid mechaniloids with plasma blasters started to charge out toward him, and a pair of Repliforce snipers were further back, tracking him immediately.

"Enter this capsule, Megaman X. It will improve your weapon systems in a unique way."

X remembered from acquiring his helmet, his colors starting to shift rapidly between weapon systems.

"The effeciency of any weapon system you've learned from other machines will be raised exponentially. I pray you use it well."

X spun around as he sailed forward, his busters unleashing storms of weaponry. Spin-blades, ray blasts, plasma-cutters, and even two hardlight soul-bodies surged out. They tore through the ranks of mechaniloids, like they were water crashing on a break.

The snipers fired. They were precise, focused shots to X's core in his chest. Three different layers of shielding snapped to life around X, from rolling shield, his armor upgrade from the Doppler war, and even bubble-splash from Bubble Crab. Both shots were eaten up, though the last warmed his chest-plate despite it.

X snapped off twin, empowered grapple-chains. The massive appendages flew forward, crashed through the mechaniloids remaining, and then he whipped them to the sides, sending the bots crashing into the walls just inside the launch hangar he finally reached.

As the two snipers re-tracked, X's colors shifted to ground-hunter weapons from Jet Stingray. His helmet gem began to glow faintly, and just as the snipers fired, he swirled, unleashing a volley of ground hunter drones... that then swirled around him like a tornado, several flawlessly directing themselves into the paths of the two powerful blasts. It took three drones each, but the shots dispersed before harming him.

One of the snipers eased back in growing dread. "...Not even Commander Stingray could do that with his weapons..."

X flickered forward, and appeared between the two snipers, one buster trained on each.

"Weapons on the floor, go into repair mode."

Both Reploids stared hard, but then eased down, their weapons laying flat, and then they slumped to inactivity.

X relaxed his busters, and charged ahead.


The engine room of Airstrike's ship was a hellscape only a few minutes into the battle. Coolant systems were rupturing, power conductors overloaded, with engineers scrambling to manage make-shift repairs and re-routes on the fly.

A pair of engineers shouted as a coolant line burst near them. The reason for the burst was immediately clear as parts of the metal housing started to melt rather than freeze. The engineer Reploids were not combat-rated bodies, and had shell damage immediately themselves.

Before they could announce the problem, Inferno overshadowed them, and just reached through, clamping his large hand over the rupture, greatly reducing the blast of heated particles in an instant. "I've got this, re-route the coolant line if you can!"

The engineers, each cradling one arm, quickly got back to their feet, and issues controls. They had to dance around the other dozen or so re-routes already in place, and then sounded off their confirmations. Inferno only then released his hand, which was lightly melted on the inside grips.

"Guess those combat upgrades are no joke?" one engineer asked, looking at Inferno's hand.

Inferno half-smiled. "I'm built for this kind of work, don't worry about it."


The battle itself wasn't going much better than the engine room. The flanking Hunter ships were belching smoke from several holes in their hull, an engine or two burnt out, and several cannons damaged. The pin-point ships were worse off, barely managing to fire back with a few guns as they tried desperately to maintain their planned course through Storm Owl's fleet.

Various distress and mayday messages were shouted to Airstrike as he tried to guide his own ship close to Storm Owl's, the vessel quaking regularly with impacts or rakes of fighter blasts.

"We're being torn apart, sir! We have to retreat soon, or we're all going down!"

"Rush is near critical, sir! Onslaught and Light's Sprocket aren't far behind!"

Airstrike focused his comms to one place. "Is X on board!?"

"...Just now, yes!" Alia's voice returned at last.

Airstrike suddenly wrenched his controls, whipping his ship away from Storm Owl's own. "All ships, change vectors and push through to the outside of the enemy formation! Then alter vectors to a tangent arc! Coordinate to ensure no collisions amongst ourselves!"

"Yes, sir!" chorused across the crew and comms.

Abruptly, the Hunter ships burst outward like a firework, barrel-rolling or side-drifting at high speed between Repliforce ships. This already seemed to have confused their targeting methods. Just as they were re-training their shots, the Hunter ships breaking into sharp turns and starting to circumnavigate the entire fleet in different directions, while still so tightly close, ruined their targeting all together. Just as one Repliforce ship could take aim, the Hunter vessel in each case would start to cross over another Repliforce ship.

For a few precious seconds, the Hunter ships could take the offensive with near impunity, their damaged or limited cannons opening fire, and finally managing to cripple several Repliforce ships at the engines and weapon systems.

One of Airstrike's crew members looked up to him in confusion. "How did you know that would work?"

Airstrike kept steering hard around the edges of the fleet as he answered. "Storm Owl keeps his ships close to support each other. There's only one way to turn that against him."

"What's next?"

"We hope X can get them to surrender before they scatter their formation."


X's legs bashed out a vent plate, and he flipped tightly to land on his feet in the darkened cargo space of the capital ship. Illuminating the space was one of Dr. Light's capsules, waiting at the far side for him.

X straightened, and snapped both arms into busters. "I see the bait, where's the trap?"

"Not very subtle, I agree."

Storm Owl's voice came from everywhere, clearly through an intercom system.

"Wasn't to my tastes, but we were assured it would get your attention. That seems verified... though you were well aware of the situation."

X shrugged calmly. "I'm pretty sure I know where you got that tip. He doesn't give anyone good information."

"...I've no reason to disagree, however..."

The roof suddenly snapped, split, and started to open amid roaring wind and distant explosions of the sky-battle all around the ship.

Storm Owl dropped in to a neat crouch, and then snapped up rigidly, one arm configured into a turbine-buster. "Your flotilla is impressive, Commander X. I've seen techniques like that only once before."

X flicked a faint smile. "I can't take credit for his talents. ...I need you to stand down and tell your ships to do the same, Storm Owl. Neither of us want loss of life, but I can't let this fleet reach orbit."

Storm Owl snapped his wings open, calm and focused. "To do so would be a betrayal of the trust my men put in me, Commander X. There's only one way to stop this fleet."

Frowning, grim, X started to build energy over his frame. "I was hoping you wouldn't say that."

"Then you're not a soldier."

"No. I'm not."

X dashed forward, Storm Owl ripped skyward. Two mid-charged plasma blasts flew for Storm Owl's wings, but he twisted between them and sent an accelerated orb of shearing wind down at X from his turbine-buster.

Barely flickering out of its path, X watched the wind currents slice into the deck in his wake. The concentrated force and speed in those air currents is insane for how quickly he can fire that. Fair enough...

Storm Owl bolted from point to point, which was more impressive in his case than it would normally appear. He wasn't just flying around, he was compensating for the ship's maneuvers around them with his wings, keeping himself on a reliable path despite the entire 'arena' dancing around him.

It was that maneuverability that X was being surprised by. As he sent bolts after Storm Owl, the Repliforce admiral danced with the ship, evading or only being grazed across armored plating. Meanwhile, he was firing off double-cyclone orbs regularly.

Storm Owl made this even worse for X by snapping his wings taut, reversing thrust to let two more bolts fly past him, and then aimed one hand down at X with the fingers spread vertically. The next instant, plasma bolts, smaller and more rapidly fired, streamed out of his hand, spraying across that half of the room.

X had to flicker, grind up walls, leap, twist, and dive to avoid being peppered apart by the volley. It was more predictable than Ray Splasher, but significantly faster. By the time X had finished avoiding the near-hundreds of shots, he had completely lost track of Storm Owl himself, and had to dive aside harshly when he felt the double-cyclone rushing down at his back.

Storm Owl, however, did not look pleased. I'm keeping him on the defensive, but with this onslaught, he should be dead. And he's adapting already, I can see it. So this is the power that saved the humans from themselves thrice over already? I have to end this now!

X backflipped as the ship twisted, causing him to slam flat with redoubled force. It saved him from twin double-cyclone orbs, but he groaned from basically being slammed by a wall at high speed. This worked a lot better in cyberspace, X whined to himself, then his optics widened with realization.

With a thruster-blast sliding him along the floor to avoid the next blasts of razor-sharp wind, X's colors cycled rapidly, and he flipped over his head, both busters reconfiguring as his eyes locked up on Storm Owl himself.

Storm Owl watched in that timeless instant, realizing something had just shifted drastically for his enemy. He started to blast himself backwards to buy time to think, but he watched X's optics glow with his skullgem, snap-flashing onto Storm Owl himself. It was some kind of lock-on system!

Storm Owl dove hard, but X's arms aimed forward to meet him, and twin beams of condensed plasma ripped out, spreading slightly outward as they reached, and continuing to shift sharply through the air to follow Storm Owl live.

With intensified speed, Storm Owl was forced into defense, ripping from one wall to the next, coiling, and back-blasting himself to change his directions, trying to break the lock-on. Yet, X's eyes and arms tracked him flawlessly, blasting through wind and plasma alike with the focused beams.

At last, Storm Owl barked in pain as one of his wings was scorched off. He tumbled through the air, and slammed to the deck. He assumed his death was coming for him, and desperately tried to roll aside... only to look up and see X standing over him, aimed, but not firing.

"Order your people to stand down. Weapons first. No more need to suffer."

Storm Owl grimaced, glancing back to his sundered wing. His optics returned to X. "And what do I say to the Reploids that already died under my command, who didn't have a chance to surrender?"

X didn't twitch. "That you were wrong, and you corrected it by stopping the threat to the REST of your Reploids."

"...So simple for you, is it?"

X's buster hummed with charge. "There's nothing simple about saving lives in a war."

Storm Owl bowed his head, then touched his audio receptor. "...All units, this is Storm Owl. I've been compromised. Stand down."

X narrowed his optics at Storm Owl's addition, but waited even so. It took several seconds, but the sounds of cannon fire slowed, then stopped.

Airstrike's voice sounded over X's comms next. "Commander, all Repliforce ships have ceased combat operations. Status?"

X touched his ear calmly, only then lowering his buster. "Storm Owl's surrender is confirmed. Take Repliforce fleet personnel and ships into Hunter custody."

"Copy!"

Only then did X sag slightly, appearing exhausted. Storm Owl eased back into a sitting position, appraising his adversary anew.

"You fight like a killer, but don't want to take lives?"

X's face contorted, and his eyes slid up to Storm Owl again. "...I try to save lives, yes."

Telefields blopped into form near Storm Owl, and several Hunters appeared to take Storm Owl into custody. They checked with X, who just nodded, and once they had teleported out, he finally turned back to the capsule.

It activated as he approached it this time, likely detecting the battle and his energy signature for some time now.

The hologram of Dr. Light appeared once again, looking grave, and more aged now. Perhaps this had been close to his own death.

"X... I'd hoped you'd never need these capsules. I'd hoped you never need any of them. Did I condemn you to this fate by making these preparations? Or are they the only reason his evil won't prevail? I can't be sure, and if I've been wrong, I can only apologize to you..."

X seemed harrowed, his optics starting to water, but all he could do was listen.

"This capsule will upgrade your X-buster system substantially. The containment mechanisms will be reconfigured to allow you to hold a full charge in your system almost indefinitely, as well as dramatically increase the efficiency of your power charging functions. ...I'm sorry I couldn't be there with you, X. The more of these I make, the more keenly I feel that. I hope you are loved..."

And the hologram faded away.

X closed his eyes, weighed down by everything especially in that moment. "...I am... whether I deserve it or not."

He turned, and stepped into the capsule.


[Author's Note] Merry Christmas!