Here\'s the first chapter of my new fic. It deals with the X5 ending from the perspectives of different characters in the game.

This first Chapter is X\'s POV.
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X5: Facing Death

X

I’ve certainly had better days . . .

In the last 24 hours a colony almost crashed into the planet, almost every reploid in the world has been infected by the Sigma virus, my best friend fell under suspicion of being Maverick, and I got into a battle with Zero, my aforementioned friend, that left us both almost too exhausted to fight Sigma. Then after Sigma’s new body blew up, I found Zero blown in half, I got shot in the back by a half-dead Sigma, and now I’m dying. I’ve definitely had better days.

I still can’t believe how Sigma used Zero and me to spread the virus like that. He lost to us on purpose, knowing that when he died the virus would spread all over the world. The only consolation is that we kept the Eurasia colony from falling to Earth and killing everyone. Sigma said the whole reason he went this far was to awaken Zero’s true self . . . What did he mean by that? Could my best friend, someone I’ve known and trusted for over 20 years, not be who I thought he was? Is his true self a Maverick? Is that why the new form of the Maverick virus has the same power readings as Zero?

No . . . It has to be Sigma just playing with my mind. Like that crack about a former ally of mine making him that insanely strong body and who hated me as much as he did . . . I don’t know anyone who could make something like that. Well, maybe Alia could, but she would never willingly help somebody like Sigma.

What if Sigma was telling the truth about Zero though? No, nobody is their true self once they’ve been infected by the virus. It’s like their very souls are warped by the virus and they become someone else entirely . . . at least that’s what it did to Sigma . . .

I suppose I should be thinking about how unfair it is that I’m dying. Oddly enough even though I don’t want to die, the fact that I am doesn’t bother me. I’ve had a good run. Most reploids don’t usually live to be 24; many lose their life in an uprising or get infected by the virus and are destroyed before they can live that long. Hunters usually have a life expectancy of five to seven years; the fact that I’ve survived doing this job for over two decades is nothing short of phenomenal.

What does bother me is leaving behind my friends when they are about to face one of their most daunting tasks, rebuilding the planet. My other regret is that I couldn’t save Zero’s life. I could go to my grave a lot easier knowing he was still around to carry on the fight against Sigma and the Mavericks . . . as it is I must simply accept that in the end I couldn’t even help my closest friend escape death the way he saved me years ago.

So, if I’ve accepted that I’m going to die then why do I still desperately cling to life? A few reasons come to mind. First, I don’t want to cause my friends to suffer anymore than they already have during this rebellion. They’ve had to watch the planet come to the edge of oblivion and as well as have many of their comrades become enemies. That’s part of why I’m still holding on . . . in some vain hope that my friends can help me so that they won’t have to lose another friend because of today’s tragic events. Another reason that I’m still clinging to life is that, somehow, I know Sigma will be back and I’m not sure if the Hunters can handle him without Zero or me around to fight. There’s also one other reason, aside from the fact I don’t really want to die. It’s not so much a reason as it is a feeling that I’ve left something undone . . . that there is still something I must do, but I can’t figure out what that is just now.

I remember asking Zero once what felt like to die. He simply said “Dying hurts like hell.” Well Zero, you were right, dying does really hurt. I can’t remember ever being in this much pain before . . .

Zero . . . You must be in worse shape than me right now. You were already dying when I found you and the shot that Sigma hit us with couldn’t have helped your condition any. You’re my best friend and I couldn’t save you. I’m sorry we wound up fighting each other. Maybe things would have been different if I had just tried a little harder to avoid a fight. I just hope you understand that I was worried about you . . . I just wanted you to go back to the base and show everyone you weren’t a Maverick, that Lifesavor’s fears were unjustified. Why didn’t you trust me enough do that and to let me handle the rest of this on my own? Zero, why were you so determined to not to go back to the base even if it meant fighting me? Were you afraid of something? You even accused me of being a Maverick before we fought. Did really think that I was Maverick?

Regardless of what happened here today Zero, I still consider you my best friend. How could I not? You’ve been like a brother to me and you even risked your life to protect me from Sigma today after our fight. I hope that means you still consider me to be your friend.

It’s almost funny. After taking so much damage my helmet’s communicator still works. I can hear everyone in the control room, but I’m too damaged and tired to send a reply . . .

Signas my friend, I know you just took over as the Supreme Commander of the Hunters not that long ago but it looks like you’ll have to hold things together without me and Zero there to help. I know this will leave you in a bind, but nothing can be done about it. It shouldn’t be any problem for you though; you handled yourself pretty well considering this was the first major crisis to occur on your watch. Most of the other commanders I’ve known would have needed a few more years of experience before being able to handle something like this. You’ll be fine. I know the Hunters will survive and rebuild the Earth as long as your there.

Douglas, take care. Your skills are going to be needed more than ever soon. Undoing the damage form the colony debris that’s impacting the planet is no small task. Not to mention you still need to repair the damage to the base caused by the virus. At least you won’t have to worry about me wrecking anymore of your landchasers.

Since I can hear Alia better than the rest, the feed must be coming from her headset. I’ve never heard her like this before. She’s pleading for me to respond, she sounds so desperate. Now Alia’s trying to get an emergency medical team teleported out here . . . I can hear Signas replying that they can’t send anyone till this area is confirmed safe. He’s worried about any remaining Mavericks and that new virus that appeared here. Alia’s pissed now. She’s yelling at them to either send someone or she’ll go by herself. She sounds angry, but I can hear the fear lurking beneath the anger in her voice . . . the fear that it’s already too late to help me and Zero, that she’s about to lose two of her friends . . .

Alia . . . You’re one of the few people who understand and share my feelings about fighting. I suppose that’s part of the reason why we got along so well, we both wanted an end to this stupid war and to finally live in peace. I know you’ve always been a little protective of me and how you worry about me when I go on a mission . . . it must really be hard to sometimes not be able to do more than sit and listen as your friends fight for their lives. I’m sorry for the pain my death will put you and the others through.

I guess I should have listened when you asked me not to come here, that you had a bad feeling about this place. That should have been a warning right there. You almost never make a judgment about a situation based solely on a feeling like you did today. I know I told you that everything would be okay and that I’d be back with Zero in no time. I’m sorry that I couldn’t keep my promise. Maybe you were right and I should have let Zero handle this place by himself. I just hope you understand why I did what I did. I couldn’t just turn my back on Zero when he might have needed my help.

Besides, I had to prove that Lifesavor was wrong about Zero being a Maverick. The only way to do that was to try and bring Zero back. If he had turned out to be a Maverick, then it would have been for the best that we fought here. If we had waited and Lifesavor had been right, Zero could have attacked the base and put everyone in danger. I couldn’t risk that Allie. That’s why I had to go and see Zero for myself. I thought that if he was okay then he would return to base and put everyone’s fears to rest . . . I never imagined that he wouldn’t willingly leave this place or that we would actually fight each other.

I can feel myself slipping away . . . My vision is gone . . . My memory module is malfunctioning, picking and showing memories at random . . . My communicator just went dead . . . or did my audio sensors go offline? It doesn’t matter . . . The last of my power is fading fast . . . I guess this is it then . . .

Not yet . . .

What was that?! Who are you?! What do you want?!

Actually, I want you to rest and relax for now . . . Hold on, X . . . Just for a few more moments.

Wait! Who are you?!

Calm down X. Everything is going to be okay, I just need you to go to sleep for a moment. You’ll feel better when you wake up, I promise.

That voice . . . it’s so familiar . . . it can’t be . . .

I’m sorry this had to be your path in life my son. Please let me help you, it’s the least I can do.

Okay. I’ll let you help me . . . Thank you, father . . .

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Zero


“I\'m sorry, X . . . But . . . I think . . . I have to die . . . to restore the peace . . .”

Well that’s not going to be a problem. I’m almost dead already . . . I could barely croak out those words in the hopes that my best friend will hear them and understand their meaning. It’s not that I want to die, who in their right mind does? It’s just that I know that if continue to live my friends will never be safe . . . not from me at least.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve fought the Mavericks. Now I know that the reason there are so many is partly my own fault . . . I was the original carrier for the virus. I gave it to Sigma, and then he started these wars, spreading the virus to reploids all over the Earth in the process. It’s odd, but a part of me hates Sigma for taking the virus from me. As much as I hate to admit it, the damned virus is a part of me. Whenever I come into contact with it . . . I feel as though I’ve found a missing piece of myself, like I’m one step closer to being completed . . .

It’s ironic that a person who has spent his whole life fighting against something is the one who actually helped bring it about.

I came here looking for answers. To find out what that dream about the old man meant. I wanted answers about my past. Who made me? Why was I made? Am I really destined to kill my best friend or is it my destiny to be killed by X? Who am I really? Am I Zero the Maverick Hunter or am I Zero the Maverick, the Red Demon? I have found a few of the answers, but at what cost? X and I are dying. Were these answers really worth it? Can one put a price on the truth of his existence?

I know the truth now . . . I was created to be an old man’s final attempt to win a losing war against his rival. I was meant to bring death and destruction to wherever I ventured. While I may not be under the virus’s influence like I was when Sigma first found me, I still have brought death and destruction to this world. I bear a responsibility for Sigma going to war against the humans, I’ve killed countless numbers of reploids in the course of my battles, and even those closest to me aren’t safe . . .

Colonel, you were the fellow soldier that my friend X could never be. He finds nothing desirable about warfare; he doesn’t understand the thrill of battle . . . To him it is a necessary evil to stop people like Sigma. You understood what it meant to be a warrior and to take pride in being one, Colonel. You were my friend and I killed you. It was that pride we had in being warriors that wouldn’t let us back down from fighting each other. That pride we shared is what made you challenge me in the first place . . . It was the pride of being a warrior that made you refuse to come to the Hunter HQ and clear up the Sky Lagoon disaster.

I keep asking myself if the Repliforce war even had to be fought. Was it really even necessary for the two of us to fight each other? I know that when I defeated you, you said that you died happy. You thought that you had succeeded in buying the time for the Repliforce to escape to the Final Weapon . . . If you had known how the war would end could you have still died happily? Or was it that you could die happy knowing that you had lost to someone you considered a friend and equal?

I know you told me to let Iris know that you died happily and had no regrets . . . did you really think that would comfort her? That it would ease her pain in some way? I’m afraid telling her that did not comfort her at all. Then again she wasn’t like us. She didn’t understand what drove us to fight each other. We forced her to stand by and watch as the people she cared for the most tried to kill one another. The only thing that mattered to us was having our duel . . .

Iris . . . I’m sorry. I suppose sorry doesn’t even begin to cover it. I keep wishing that the Repliforce war was just a bad dream. That I’d wake up and find you still here with me. I know they say what killed you wasn’t my attacks but your attempt to use your brother’s power source to fight me. They say the energy from it fried your circuits before I even managed to defeat you . . . It doesn’t matter what they say, I’m still responsible for your death. The battle between your brother and me pushed you to the breaking point and Colonel’s death at my hands was too much for you to bear. You sided with the Hunters during the war and effectively made yourself traitor in the eyes of the Repliforce. You gave up everything to help me stop the war Colonel and General were starting and in the end I killed you . . .

You’ve always been on my mind since that fateful day Iris. I still remember holding you as you died. The physical pain I feel now is nothing compared to how I felt watching you slip away. I’ve never felt that helpless before. Even now, in death, my thoughts still turn towards you.

There are so many things I wish I had done differently Iris. I wish that I had told you how I felt. I never did because I thought we had all the time in the world to figure out what we meant to each other, I thought that you would always be safe and far away from all the fighting. I wish that I could have prevented our battle from occurring. I wish I could have at least gotten your body off of the Final Weapon, Cain probably could have revived you . . . I wish that we could have been together the way we wanted to be . . . I wish I could just reach into myself and yank out that part of me that yearns for the virus; The part of me that actually enjoyed our battle and its end results. But just wishing for those things doesn’t change anything and is ultimately a futile exercise.

Once I’m dead, maybe I’ll be reunited with you Iris, or maybe I’ll go to hell to pay for my sins. Of course, if we are just little more than machines deceived into believing that they are alive, I guess then I will simply cease to exist when I die.

X, you’ve been like the brother I never had. You’ve always trusted me unconditionally and been there when I needed help but was too stubborn to ask for it. You risked your own life to retrieve my parts from the X-Hunters, even though you knew that the battles were meant to be a trap. You were one of the few people who I could completely trust. I never imagined when I first met you that we would become friends or just how strong that friendship would be.

I still can’t remember why it is that we fought each other today. What was the purpose of that battle? Was it just another meaningless fight? Was this Sigma’s goal all along, to make his two worst enemies destroy each other? You came after me concerned about the effects the virus was having on me. All you wanted was for me to return home and show everyone that I was still the same old Zero, not a Maverick. You asked me to trust you to handle the rest of the battle by yourself. All you wanted was for me to trust you the way you trusted me. But the fact that you had apparently considered the possibility that I had gone Maverick hurt, I felt as though you had betrayed me somehow. My pride kicked in and I felt anger start to build over how you could even entertain the possibility that I might be a threat to people. I dismissed your concern for my well being and safety as a ploy to lure me back to the HQ. There, once Lifesavor confirmed the presence of the virus in me, you would have no choice but to kill me before it was too late. I still can’t believe I actually accused you of being a Maverick . . . I don’t know why I did that . . . I guess I just wanted to hurt you the way it had hurt me to hear that you thought that I couldn’t handle the situation, that there was something unusual and dangerous about my virus reaction.

I thought if I called your bluff about making me come back to base that you would back down, unable to bring yourself to follow through on the promise that you would fight me if necessary. It never occurred to me that you were worried enough that you didn’t want to risk me being exposed further to a virus that was having a strange effect on me and no apparent effect on you. I just wanted you to leave because I wasn’t sure I could trust myself around you with so much of the virus present.

There was no point in our battle today . . . it probably could have been avoided entirely. There’s no point in dwelling on it though . . . what happens, happens and there’s no point in wishing things had been different. I only hope that when all this is over, you still think of me as your friend.

It’s odd though X . . . I always knew that we would fight one day, a part of me has always wanted that and looked forward to it. The stronger you became, the more I wanted to fight you. But I always believed that if we battled, I would kill you. I never once thought that you could possibly beat me. I was making the same mistake as Sigma and everyone else who has fought you . . . I underestimated you. I arrogantly thought that this battle would be over quickly. I knew all of your moves, the capabilities of your armors, the weapons you had acquired, and I had figured out which of my attacks to use to counter anything you tried. At first I held back, I didn’t want to kill you or give in to the part of me that would enjoy the fight the way it had enjoyed the battle with Iris. I could tell that you were holding back too, you didn’t really want to fight me. But neither of us gained an advantage over the other and then I started coming at you with everything I had, giving into that part of me that wanted to fight you . . . even then you fought to me a standstill. Then you really put your heart into the fight . . . proving to me that no victory over you could be easily achieved and putting me on the defensive. In the end our fight was a draw . . . even with the extra energy the virus gave me.

You’re much stronger now than you were when we first met. Then you couldn’t even take on Vile by yourself, now you can easily fight on the same level as me. You aren’t just physically tougher either. Over the years your naiveté has faded only a little, enough to make you question what’s going on but not so much that it’s hard for you to trust others.

X, you must survive. The world still needs you and of the two of us, you deserve the chance to live the most.

If you do make it out of this somehow . . . then I hope you and Alia pull your acts together. I’m really getting tired of watching you two ignoring how you feel about each other. I missed my chance with Iris, X . . . don’t you dare make the same mistake I did or I swear I’ll come back to just to kick your butt for being so hardheaded.

Now for your sake, X, and that of our friends, I will end the threat of what I may become by letting go of life. Who knows? Maybe someday I can be repaired and freed of the virus that has plagued my existence from birth to death. X, I hope one day you can understand why this was necessary.

“But now . . . Everything will come to an end . . . Good bye . . . X . . .”

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That’s not it folks, there’s still a few chapters left. I hope to get the next one done soon. Please read and review.

Wow! That was really good. I can\'t wait for the next chapter.

*a entire dead thing of skelatons clap*
AMAZING! Crono thats the best ive heard. How long did it take to type?

It took me about an hour and half to type each part of the story. Then I went back and spent a few more hours rereading and tweaking the each part.

I’d like to thank everyone who has reviewed my story. I really appreciate the feedback. I hope you all continue to enjoy my story.

This time the POV belongs to the Maverick everyone loves to hate . . . Mr. Clean himself, Sigma.

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Sigma

That hurt . . . actually it’s amazing that I survived that stunt. Unfortunately it looks like they’ve survived as well.

X and Zero the twin banes of my existence . . . I was certain that when I self-destructed that those two would be dead. I’m too badly damaged and can barely see . . . I can make out a red blur on the ground in front of me, it must be Zero. I can sense that he’s still alive but barely . . . and I can sense another person still alive. That could only be X. His presence is stronger than Zero’s, so he must have weathered the blast better.

I don’t get it. Everything was going according to the plan that the old man and I cooked up. The virus was spread all over the planet. The new virus on the colony merged with the strain of the virus that has become my very essence and transformed it into the purest form of the Maverick virus, the only thing capable of restoring Zero to his senses. Regrettably the amount proved insufficient to bring out Zero’s true nature, but even so Zero was still drawn to this place. He was walking right into my clutches; the old man had even started planning on how to finish the process of making Zero Maverick once more. I even had the most powerful battle body ever created at my disposal. So how did it go all wrong?

X . . . this is his fault. I would have had Zero were it not for him interfering.

Obviously I was right to be concerned when X followed Zero here; he had single-handedly stopped my plans in the past and killed me at least a half dozen times. I should have known he would do so again, but I never believed he would come to a place with such a high virus concentration. So, I decided to keep a close eye on him as he tracked Zero down.

I wonder what X and Zero would have thought if they knew how easy it was for me to keep tabs on them. I could follow them through the whole base and they would be totally unaware of my presence. They never knew just easily I could have attacked them at any time I chose or how I was sometimes only standing a few feet away from them. That’s the beauty of this realm the old man calls Zero Space. The virus is so heavily concentrated that it can bend reality, that’s how I was able to follow them without their knowing it. The virus even created manifestations of enemies they had battled before and assumed the forms of the guardians known as the Shadow Devil and Rangda Bangda. I used these creations to delay X and Zero while my body was completed. That’s the only reason I didn’t attack them, I wanted my other body as close as possible to completion before I risked taking on either one of them. Besides if I had attacked too early, I might have had to fight both of them at once while they were still at full strength. I also wondered why they had arrived separately. X and Zero normally either work as a team or alone. If they work as a team, both always arrive at the same time. If they are working alone, then only one of them shows up. My curiosity got the better of me, so I decided to wait and see what they were up to. Then something I had always hoped for but never expected happened, my two worst foes turned on each other.

This fortuitous event warmed my heart. Maybe Zero was closer to his real self than I had anticipated! He was willing to fight and risk killing X in order to reach the center of Zero Space, where I was waiting for him, all in the vain hope of finding answers he should already have known. I stood there, watching them try to rip each other apart and they didn’t know I was there! It was a glorious fight . . . it was more evenly matched than I had expected. I’m still amazed at how long the battle lasted and that neither of them died. In all honesty I expected X to be the last one standing. I know how powerful Zero is, but I doubted his chances because of all the times I had witnessed X’s power up close and personal.

X’s power . . . a power that should be mine! I will never forgive Zero for his interference at Doppler’s lab. I was in my viral form and had X trapped like a rat. He would have been my new host were it not for Zero. I know X has only begun to discover his true strength, but I know that using the virus and my tactical genius I could take that power further than even Dr. Light had dared to dream! I would have been able to capture Zero and crush the Hunters. I could have completed my plans for eliminating the humans once I seized X’s body for my own. I would have been invincible! But that idiotic fool had to use Doppler’s anti-virus on me, forcing me to retreat or face deletion. That was probably one of my best opportunities to rid myself of X and increase my own power at the same time.

Of course revenge is sweet . . . I made Zero suffer for his actions that day. It wasn’t too long after the Third Uprising that the Repliforce was formed and I managed to gain influence there. Although the primary goal of the Fourth Uprising was making the Repliforce and Hunters wipe one another off the face of the Earth, it gave me the perfect chance to take revenge on Zero and show him what he really is. I set things up so that the Colonel would inevitably fight Zero. I could have used that prideful fool to attack X instead, but the psychological effects on Zero would be greater if he were the one to fight Colonel. Iris was just a bonus. She and the Colonel had a type of mental link and feeling her brother’s death through that link drove her to the brink of madness. I had learned that originally the two had been meant to be a single, ultimate reploid but were made as separate units because Iris’s compassionate, peace-loving nature conflicted with the Colonel’s more aggressive, war-like personality. I had Double recover Colonel’s memory chip and power source and bring them to the Final Weapon. It wasn’t long before Iris showed up, distraught over the loss of her brother who in some ways was quite literally a part of her. It was easy to manipulate her into fighting Zero at this point, without Colonel’s sacrifice she never would have listened to me. I gave her Colonel’s chip and power source and assisted her in installing them. Once Iris installed those components, the programming conflict they created pushed her over the edge and madness took control of her. Since her programming was not compatible with her brother’s fighting protocols she would eventually been destroyed by the conflicting programs. Not that I cared anyways, I never expected her to beat Zero. I just wanted her to fight him. If he lost, I could recover his parts and rebuild him. If Iris was defeated, then it was no big loss and Zero would have to deal with the psychological scars while he fought me next. I was only concerned about whether she would live long enough to fight Zero. Fortunately, she survived long enough to attack Zero and force him to kill her. The pain he suffered from killing those two deluded pawns of mine was almost enough to make us even for the events in Doppler Town.

Really, Zero should be thanking me for that. I showed him the answers to the questions he had about himself. That day he should have realized who he was and what his purpose in life was, all because of me. I showed him the truth that those close to him will never be safe from him . . . it is Zero’s destiny to destroy X and help the Mavericks bring about a new era of peace and prosperity, free of human corruption and bigotry.

As disappointed as I am at Zero’s stubbornness in embracing his true nature, I eagerly await the day where we will once again fight side by side. Eventually he will see the light and join me. If he remains obstinate however . . . well, sometimes you must force salvation upon someone . . .

X is moving up and moving towards Zero now. He doesn’t realize that I’m still alive. I’ve rerouted some power to my optics so I can see clearer than before. If I wait just a moment longer X will be in a perfect position for me to launch one last attack at him. The blue bastard won’t know what hit him. No, I want him to know not just who killed him but that he’s about to die and there’s nothing he can do to save him or Zero. Just a little longer and he’ll have reached Zero. He no doubt hopes to save his friend just like Zero did for him today.

Another opportunity to kill X wasted because of that Zero’s meddling. After the battle with Zero, X was defenseless and I chose to end him then and there. But Zero cancelled out my attack with a shot from his buster.

He may have saved X but the fool still followed me here. I never expected to beat Zero without the body the old man built for me. Zero crushed my first body, but was unprepared for my ultimate battle body. He was too weak to resist for long. I enjoyed taunting him about his dreams of the old man and how I intended to kill X once I defeated him. Then X had to show up and attack me. He did better than Zero since he didn’t have to fight my first form and it looked like he might do me in. Then I started attacking Zero again and my nemesis threw himself in front of my attacks to protect his friend. X was laying on the ground, beaten, yelling at me to “stop using Zero as a shield” when I told him that I would send the both of them into oblivion together. An ironic statement considering X was the one acting like a shield for Zero.

I was so focused on X as the main threat that I ignored Zero. The next thing I know Zero is leaping to attack the jewel in my forehead with one of his Twin Dream duplicates. By the time I knew what was happening, my former protégé was about to land the killing blow and I couldn’t stop him. So, I did the only logical thing and self-destructed in the hopes of killing both of them.

Now here I am . . . barely alive and with a perfect shot at X. The fool believes I am dead and has turned his back on me. He he he he, this is too perfect. At long last I will have my revenge! Let’s see how much you enjoy being killed X!

“D . . . dro . . . drop dead!”

I watch as the last of my energy is channeled into a beam of purple light that will finally kill X. Oh, how I wish I could see the look on his face! I wish I could see his expression as he realizes that he has failed and is going to die. I want to see the look of pure agony on his face when my attack hits.

There! It went straight through his back and chest, just below his generator. I can’t believe it! His body exploded! Oh, how I’ve waited for this day! The only thing left of him is his now armless upper body and his head. Too bad my shot didn\'t hit his reactor and destroy him completely . . . my targeting sensors must be off. Not that it matters. I’ve won. I finally won!

“How persistent . . . you are . . . Die . . . Sigma!”

ARRGGHH! No! Zero . . . how . . . he shot me . . . I’m dying . . . again. He must have used every last bit of energy he had left . . . the shot still couldn’t have been that strong. Then again in my current state . . . it wouldn’t take much to finish me off, especially with after using most of my remaining strength to kill X.

It’s interesting . . . you’d think after all the times I’ve died, that I’d be used to it. Apparently dying is not something one gets used to . . .

I do not fear death though. It does not hold the terror for me that it does for others. For me death is only a temporary setback. I don’t know how, but the virus always brings me back to life. Therefore I am immortal. My foes will never be rid of me. I will simply outlive them if that is what it takes to bring my dream to life. But I’ll be back. No matter how many times I am defeated, I always come back. Even with the virus no longer concentrated enough in any one spot to revive me now, I know I will return. The old man may even speed up my revival or find some patsy to do it for him. I know Zero will be back as well. That old man won’t allow him to die until he fulfils his function . . . to destroy the Light’s legacy, those reploids who are not infected by the virus and who would create a world where their race is subservient to the humans. Zero and I are born of a different legacy . . . we will end Light’s dream and create a true utopia, with me as its benevolent ruler of course. One day Zero will return to who he once was, that is when everything I have envisioned will come to pass.

I can feel myself reverting back to my viral form again . . . I can feel that form beginning to dissipate since infecting so many reploids at once has weakened its ability to keep my consciousness intact. No, I must hold together now or be lost forever . . . I will survive and return stronger than before. At least X will no longer be a problem. If I do die for good by some chance, at least I can do so happy in the knowledge that X also shares my fate.

When I do come back that is something to look forward to though, no more X. He he he, wish I could say it was nice knowing you X, but I’m just glad to have you out of my hair once and for all . . . Don’t worry too much though, many of your Hunter friends will be joining you in death as soon as I am reborn into a new body.

Now comes the boring part, waiting in limbo until I can get a new host. That’s a small price to pay for immortality though. Given the current state of the planet however . . . it might take awhile before I find a suitable body. When I do find a new body, and I will find a new body, the world shall tremble at my feet once again. As long as the virus exists, I will continue to return. That is the one and only constant truth in this world that everyone should realize by now . . . no matter what happens, I’ll be back.

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Well what do you guys think? It was kind of hard for me to write this chapter and I’m not really sure how well it came out . . . If I come up with something better for Sigma I’ll probably do a quick rewrite.

I also took a bit of liberty with the how the battle with Sigma went since I figured that in reality it would have gone similar to that.

Anyways, Thank you for reading and please review.

[Edited on 6-9-2003 by CronoT2]

Here\'s the next part
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Signas

This has been one hell of a day. Who would have thought that the Mavericks would take things this far?

I suppose the actions taken by Sigma can be taken as a sign of desperation. After being defeated so many times by X and Zero, he must have come to the conclusion that he could only win by taking such extreme measures as crashing Eurasia into the Earth and seeding the virus all over the world. Even though we stopped the colony from falling, there are so many new Mavericks now that there is no way we can possibly fight them all if Sigma or someone else manages to unite them into a cohesive attack force. If that doesn’t happen we’ll still be hard pressed to handle all of the raids and attacks these new mavericks will eventually launch. Then you also have to take into account that because of so many Hunters falling prey to the Sigma virus today, our forces will be severely undermanned for the foreseeable future. It’s also likely that in addition to our normal duties, the Council will want the Hunters to play a major roll in the cleanup of the colony debris that will be impacting the planet for the next few days. I imagine that there will be severe ecological consequences as a result of the debris . . . we may have to continue evacuating the humans to underground shelters.

In the past Sigma has made no victory over his forces a total one, this time will be no exception. The First Uprising left the Hunter organization in shambles. It was only Sigma’s unexpected defeat at X’s hands that allowed the tide to turn and gave the Hunters a chance to regroup and launch a true counteroffensive against Sigma’s remaining forces. During the third uprising, Sigma may have been defeated but Dr. Doppler, most of his research on the Maverick virus, and the anti-virus program were lost. There was still the anti-virus program in Zero’s saber . . . but even the best scientists have had a hard time trying to duplicate it and their copies have never been as effective as the original vaccine. Sigma used the Fourth Uprising to get rid of the Repliforce and gain access to their space station so he could use the Final Weapon. Again he was foiled, but the Repliforce was no longer a threat to him and the Hunters came under intense political scrutiny for mislabeling the Repliforce as Mavericks. The Repliforce War also set off a new wave of restrictions on reploids meant to discourage us from going Maverick; it’s interesting how such restrictions often cause the exact opposite of their intended effect to happen. The results of Sigma’s actions this time, without him even having an army to back him up, are much worse than any of the previous uprisings. Even if we defeat Sigma this time, the victory will be a hollow one at best.

X and Zero headed off to the site of the strange new virus reading - Alia has dubbed it the Zero virus since it has the same readings as Zero - two hours ago. We lost contact as soon as they went in. We can’t even get any readings from our scanners for that area so we have no way of knowing what’s happening. Alia has been trying to raise X on his communicator ever since he went in and has been unsuccessful, there’s just too much interference for a comm. signal to get through. I don’t like this at all. Now all any of us can do is wait . . .
Waiting is the worst part of this job. No matter what orders I issue or strategies I come up with, in the end I must simply wait to see whether or not things will work out. That’s all I can do now. I really have no other choice but to put all of my faith in X and Zero to get the job done and come back alive.

The problem is that I don’t have the slightest clue what must be done now that we’ve stopped the colony other than defeating Sigma, but that is up to X and Zero. We aren’t even certain where Sigma is . . . there has been no sign of him since this whole mess started. He could be where X and Zero went . . . I’m certain that this massive concentration of the Zero virus at point 11F5646 is not some coincidence, it must be Sigma’s doing. He must have somehow gathered it all there for a reason . . . but why? I just hope Lifesavor is wrong about Zero, otherwise X may wind up having to fight his best friend to the death . . .

I don’t know what got into Zero earlier. He wasn’t even supposed to leave the base for awhile so he could recover from the shuttle mission. X was supposed to be the one to investigate the viral readings at point 11F5646. I know Alia had concerns about the idea, but eventually she conceded that it was necessary to learn the truth about the Zero virus and its sudden appearance. But when Zero found out about the new virus and where it was concentrated . . . he just walked out of the infirmary and went there. We managed to contact him and order him to return to base . . . but Zero just said to leave everything to him and then he turned off his radio.

What was I supposed to do? I couldn’t let Zero just get away with disobeying orders, too many other Hunters look up to him and would probably follow his example. There was also no way for I could stop him from going there if that’s what he wanted to do, other than ordering X to do so and Zero left before we could even consider using that option. I also couldn’t just let Zero walk right into an area full of the Zero virus. We were already concerned about his strange reaction to the Sigma virus and we had less data on this new virus than the old one . . . There just was no telling how a virus with the same power readings as Zero would affect him. The only option left was for me to order X to go after Zero. Unfortunately that meant I had to reveal the truth about Zero’s virus reaction to X so he would understand why he had to bring Zero back.

Lifesavor had brought Zero’s virus reaction to my attention earlier today. Contact with the virus seemed to actually make Zero stronger, a reaction that normally only occurs in reploids that go Maverick after contracting the virus. Other than that, there were no apparent side-effects from his coming into contact with the virus. X also didn’t seem to be affected by the virus except for very minor system damage. Zero’s reaction prompted Lifesavor to ask me to do something about him and X. He said it was too dangerous to have them running loose then since we don’t know a whole lot about how their systems work or how the virus could affect them. He urged me to at least do something about Zero . . . what could I have done? There wasn’t enough data to justify quarantining Zero for the duration of the crisis. Zero showed no signs of Maverick behavior and we needed him out there . . . X and Zero were the only soldiers we had left who could stand up to the reploids with the parts we needed if they chose to not hand them over without a fight. I told Lifesavor that we should just keep an eye on Zero. I knew letting Zero continue to go on missions might be dangerous . . . but I thought Zero was immune to the virus. I still think he may hold the key to defeating it once and for all.

Now X is hunting down Zero in an area saturated with a new, powerful virus. I hope Zero is unaffected by the virus and will come back willingly. I’d hate to think of what would happen if he and X ever fought each other . . . they’d probably both be so badly damaged that there would be no way for us to repair them. I don’t even know if X would be willing to use his full strength to bring Zero in . . . then again would Zero really even consider attacking X? After everything they’ve been through together, I find it hard to believe that Zero would challenge X to a fight. I’m probably just worried about nothing . . . but if Zero has gone Maverick, it’s best for X to fight him there than wait for Zero to come after him here or launch an attack against one of the cities we haven’t evacuated yet.

“What the . . . oh no . . .”

“What is it Alia?”

“I\'m getting a stronger energy reaction from point 11F5646! It’s too strong to get an accurate data sample. I must be reading Sigma . . . I can\'t think of anyone it could be but Sigma! He’s behind all of this . . .”

“Alia, can you get a signal through to X!”

“No Signas, I can’t break through the comm. interference . . . I’m not even picking him up on the sensors. The only reason we even detected Sigma on our scanners through all the interference was because of the massive power spike his appearance generated.”

Damn! This is not good. We can’t warn X about Sigma and we don’t even know what’s happened to Zero. Alia is trying to stay calm, but I know she’s worried about Sigma’s sudden reappearance. Right now she’s frantically trying every last trick she knows to try and reestablish contact with X. Not that it’s probably going to do any good . . . No, I can’t start thinking like that. If anyone can break through the interference, it’s Alia. Besides, X has beaten Sigma numerous times before . . . why would now be any exception? Hopefully our fears about Zero were unfounded and he’s still around to help X.

Maybe it’s wrong for the Hunters to depend so much on two reploids, but for whatever reason it’s always those two who are the only ones who are capable of stopping Sigma. I just hope that this new virus wasn’t just a ruse to lure X and Zero into a trap, though that’s what it’s starting to look like . . . Sigma’s been able to hide his readings from us in the past, so why would we pick him up now? Is he using one of those huge battle bodies that he’s so fond of?

“Signas! There’s been a massive explosion at the Zero virus’s coordinates and the interference is starting to clear up. I think I can . . . Yes! I’m picking up a signal from X’s comm. unit and transponder. . .”

The relief in her voice is obvious. I’ve noticed lately that she seems to get very concerned about X’s safety when he heads out on a mission . . . it’s not unusual for a spotter to react that way when one of their friends goes into battle, but Alia always seems a little more agitated when it’s X that’s out there. It’s probably nothing and there’s no reason to get worried as long as her feelings don’t interfere with her duties.

Since I’m standing near her station, I can see the readouts on Alia’s terminal confirming that X’s communicator is still on. He must have left it that way so we could contact him if the interference cleared up. The transponder in his communicator is sending us information from X’s own diagnostic programs to let us know his physical condition. Alia says that from the readings she’s getting that X has definitely taken a beating, but nothing irreparable. I wonder what happened to Zero though . . . either his communicator is still off or . . . no, Zero’s probably fine too. Once the interference clears up a little more we should be able to find him with our sensors . . .

What? X’s readings just changed drastically . . . he’s dieing?!! How? The explosion we picked up had to be Sigma, so it couldn’t be because of him . . .

“X, come in! X, please respond! X! . . . Lifesavor, we need you to get an emergency med team ready to head out to X’s location, now! He doesn’t have much time!”

There’s an edge of shock and panic to her voice now. She is right that we need a med team out there . . . but we need to make sure it’s safe first. Whoever attacked X could still be there and the new virus is still in the area . . .

“Alia, we need to make sure the area is secure before we send anyone in.”

She’s looking at me with a mixture of surprise and anger. I don’t blame her, I can hardly believe I just said that myself. I have to consider the safety of anybody else who goes there right now though. How could a medical team help X if Sigma is still active and attacks them . . . worse still would be if Zero is the one responsible and he’s waiting for someone to come for X . . . plus if there’s too much of the new virus in the area anyone who goes in would go Maverick before they could help X or even Zero if he needs it.

“What are saying Signas? He’ll be dead before we can confirm whether or not it’s safe! How can you just abandon him like that?! If you aren’t going to send someone, then I’ll just go myself! I stand a better chance of fixing any of the damage to the parts the med team won’t understand so X can live long enough to get back to base anyways!”

Funny, not too many years ago I’d be in agreement with Alia and may have gone there alone myself. But I’m the Supreme Commander of the Hunter forces now, I can’t afford to indulge in such reckless behavior nor can I allow what’s left of my command to take foolish, unnecessary chances. We’ve lost too many comrades today . . . I’d hate to have to add X and Zero to that list as well, but there’s always a chance that they can still be revived even if they’re not functioning when we recover them. Until we know for certain that area is safe, I can’t let anyone go there. I don’t like this decision anymore than Alia does, but I am the one who must decide whether or not to risk lives by sending a team of Hunters in to recover a single, dying Hunter - possibly two if we ever manage to locate Zero - from a dangerous location that may have hostiles just waiting for more Hunters to arrive. I am the one who must make that choice, the one who will have to deal with the consequences of a choice that could mean the life or death of my two most trusted commanders and friends. I know this choice will affect others as well, but the responsibility for what happens afterwards will fall on me . . .

I wonder if X and Zero ever had to make this kind of choice during their terms as Supreme Hunter Commander. Would they really want us to jump blindly into a situation like this just on the off chance we can save them? In all honesty, I don’t know for certain what they would do or would want us to do in this case . . . I can only make the best choice available to me and hope for the best.

Alia’s leaving her station. Damn! She’s serious about going. I manage to grab her arm as she walks by.

“You’re right Alia, you do understand how many of X’s parts work better than Lifesavor does. That’s precisely why you can’t go. We need you here to help when he’s brought back. If you go and something happens to you, then it will make repairing him that much harder. Besides we’ll need at least five minutes before a security detail can be assembled to go with the med team . . . I suggest you figure out a way to punch through the interference and make sure the area is safe before then so that the med team won’t have to wait that long. Then they might be able to reach X a little quicker and we’ll also be able to figure out what’s happened to Zero.”

Alia glared at me pretty hard before returning to her station. She’s angry for several reasons. The first being the most obvious, X is dying and she feels helpless to do anything about it. She desperately wants to do something to help him besides what little she can do from here. The second reason is that I’m not sending anyone right away. The third reason is that she knows I’m right about why she can’t go. It’s hard enough for us to repair minor damage to X and if any of those un-analyzable systems of his are damaged, we need someone with Alia’s expertise in reploid design to either repair those systems or build a suitable substitute for them.

I really do hope she can figure out a way to get the remaining interference and do the scan before the five minutes are up. It would certainly improve the odds of us getting to X in time and figuring out what happened to Zero . . . I don’t really want to go down as the commander who had two living legends die on his watch.

“No . . . he’s gone . . .”

What? Did I hear her right? X . . . he’s dead . . . It feels like a Chimera ride armor just punched me in the stomach. I knew this was a possibility – it’s a risk that every Hunter takes whenever they go on a mission – but knowing something is possible doesn’t always keep you from being shocked when it does happen. I mean this is X we’re talking about . . . a man considered by many to be virtually unstoppable when it comes to fighting. X has survived so much during his career as a Hunter that we’ve just taken it as a given that he’ll complete the mission and come back safely . . . but there’s no mistaking what the tone of Alia’s voice meant . . . he’s dead . . .

She didn’t even say it that loudly, but the Command Center just went completely quiet. I’ve never once been in here when there hasn’t been some kind of noise and activity going on . . . right now it’s almost as still and silent as a graveyard.

As hard as it is to admit, it looks like there was nothing we could have done to help him even if a team had left right away . . . maybe Alia’s wrong and X’s communicator shut off, if not then maybe X can be revived like Zero was during the Second Uprising . . . but I’m not sure that’s possible even if we get Dr. Cain to assist us.

We don’t know even know what Zero’s status is. What if he’s gone too? I know Alia believes Sigma has spread the virus to thin to ever resurrect himself again, but Sigma has a reputation for coming back right when you think he’s gone for good. If Sigma does come back . . . how are we supposed to handle him? X and Zero are the only ones capable of going one-on-one with him and Sigma is always so heavily defended that an assault force would have a hard time getting to him and I’ve heard the stories about how in some of the earlier uprisings where Sigma massacred entire Hunter units by himself.

The threat doesn’t even have to be Sigma . . . just one of his more powerful followers or even another Maverick almost as strong as him could just as easily present us with the same problem. How do you stop a Maverick whose power is greater than all but two of your best fighters if those warriors are dead?

This is possibly the most crippling blow Sigma could have dealt us. Not only are both of our best fighters possibly out of commission for good, but what’s left of the Hunter’s morale is about to get smashed. This whole experience has been a desperate fight against time and with so many of the planet’s reploid population now Maverick . . . morale has really dropped. The success of the shuttle mission gave us hope again, but this . . . this is the worst thing that could have happened to us other than Sigma wiping us out with the colony.

I haven’t even fully accepted what’s just happened, a part of my mind still refuses to believe this is happening . . . I guess I’m still in shock. I can’t afford to let the others see just how shaken up this is making me. I have to at least put on a show of confidence. I’ll have time to deal with what’s happened emotionally later, right now everyone’s going to be looking to me for what we do now. It won’t do them any good if I let myself get paralyzed by all the fear, sadness, anger at what’s happened, and shock that I’m experiencing.

Because of my position, I am ultimately responsible for the lives and well-being of my men. Unless Alia is wrong and we get some good news from the recovery teams that we’ll have to send to the site eventually, I’m going to have to hold things together now. I’ve been lucky enough that no major attacks or uprisings occurred for several years after I took command of the Hunters from my predecessor. That grace period just ended a little over 24 hours ago. I most likely won’t have X and Zero to help me get through whatever the future has in store . . . I guess it’s time to see what I’m really made of. I’ll do everything that I’m capable of to hold this organization together and rebuild it. The Mavericks won’t win . . . I won’t allow X and Zero to have given their lives to stop Sigma just to let the remaining Mavericks finish what he started. I’ll have time later, when I’m off duty, to grieve for my friends . . . I know it sounds cold, but right now I need to focus on what to do next and how to keep things from falling apart any more than they already have. That’s the price I pay for being the leader, I must put those under my command and the good of the Hunter organization as a whole ahead of my own personal feelings and concern.

I should start arranging for recovery teams to go to the site and see if they can find any salvageable remains of our two best Hunters – maybe there will be enough of them left so that they can be brought back to life. I also need to start figuring out a way to break the news to everyone else in the base if that’s not the case. How do you tell everybody that two legends just died?

Most of the Hunters here have heard the stories about X and Zero’s exploits their whole lives. Many of them view those two as invincible; that it’s just not possible for them to be defeated or die . . . I myself am even a little guilty of that. How am I supposed to ease the fears of other Hunters when this news breaks when I’m not sure I can do that for my own fears? There’s not going to be much time to grieve for this loss before we’re back to fighting against the Mavericks either. If they find out about what’s happened, there’s no way they won’t try to take advantage of it.

If X can’t be repaired and Zero’s in the same shape . . . then we have to deal with the issue of what to do with their bodies. It would upset everyone even more if we just tossed the bodies of two of the most revered Hunters in existence into a recycling facility, which is SOP for disposing of reploid bodies . . . there’s no way I’d allow that to happen them anyways. The Council will probably order us to hand them over to the Reploid Research Group or some other scientific organization so that they can dissect X and Zero’s remains to see what they can learn. Naturally most of their efforts would focus on using what they learn to come up with new and better weapons - but I doubt X would be too thrilled with that given his pacifistic nature. If the Council does try something like that, they’d alienate most of the Hunters still willing to fight against the Mavericks and the remaining non-Maverick reploid population . . . we reploids don’t have that many heroes and letting scientists tear apart the remains of two legends definitely wouldn’t go over to well. Many humans would also protest about X and Zero being treated like that . . . the council would have to keep the whole thing under wraps or risk a political backlash, not to mention all the reploids who might decide to sign up for the Maverick cause if they do try to go through with it.

Could I really disobey a direct order from the Council if it came to that? It’s not like they’ll be in too much of a position to demand anything from us after today. They’ll need our help to rebuild the planet and keep them safe. What could they threaten us with if we don’t comply? Most of the human militaries were forced to abandon their heavier weaponry to evacuate to the shelters and it’s not going to be safe on the surface for humans for a long time . . . but I have no intention of causing a rift between the humans and reploids, that goes against everything the Hunters have been fighting for over the past two decades. I also don’t want them to just start chopping up my X and Zero and analyzing them as though they were nothing more than interesting machines! It’d be almost like how a child takes a toy apart just to see how it works and then not being able to put it back together. Reploids have always been treated with much less regard than humans, even though we think in the same manner as them and have the same emotions. That fact alone should be reason enough to view us as more than just some useful machine or tool! But in the end, that’s all we are to some humans. Those same humans would have no problem taking apart their most useful “tools” to see what they can learn from them in death that they couldn’t from examining them when they were alive.

I’ll deal with that situation if the need arises. I’ll do everything I can to resolve it without the Hunters turning on the humans . . . I won’t allow that to happen. I fear however that should that situation arise, I will have no choice but to comply with the Council’s wishes.

Hopefully the Council won’t do anything until after the Hunter computer unlocks X and Zero’s final requests. That will let us know what they want us to do with their bodies and their possessions . . .

What am I thinking? Have I really already given up hope that they’ll be okay? I guess I’m being realistic . . . but until we get word from the recovery teams, I should at least try and have some hope. Still, I must be prepared for the worst case scenario . . .

“Alia, finish your scan of the area and prepare to have recovery teams sweep the area for any remains.”

X, Zero . . . If we’re too late already, I’m sorry we couldn’t help you . . . in that case, goodbye my friends . . . rest in piece.
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What do you think? I may do a rewrite since I had some trouble on this part.

Thanks for reading and please review.

Okay, I guess I’ve made you wait long enough. Here’s Alia’s POV.

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Alia

This isn’t happening. It can’t be happening. He’s dead . . . X is dead . . .

I don’t know why but I knew something bad would happen if he went there . . . it was more of a feeling really . . . a feeling that if he went after Zero, I’d never see him again. I even went so far as to ask him to just let Zero handle the situation at point 11F5646 alone. That’s pretty unusual for me though . . . I’ve never just acted on a feeling like that, I’ve always tried to have some kind of evidence to back up any claim or suggestion I make. I guess always relying on hard evidence was something I picked up from being a scientist.

There’s no denying it though. I heard everything that happened . . . When we first started getting a signal from X’s communicator I was so relieved. I didn’t realize just how worried not knowing what was going on there was making me. I felt euphoric from just hearing his voice again . . . it sounded like he was talking to Zero and from X’s tone and what he was saying it sounded like Zero was badly hurt. I couldn’t tell if Zero was responding since his communicator was still off and the way helmet communicators are rigged you can only hear the person using it unless there’s a very loud noise like shouting or weapons fire nearby. Before I could even let X know that we were getting his signal . . . before I could say anything . . . it happened. I heard a faint buzzing noise, the sound of armor being blown apart, and X’s scream . . . Then the readings from his transceiver indicated that he had just sustained heavy damage and was dying. He must have been shot, that’s the only explanation I can think of. The humming noise I heard had to be some kind of energy beam and a powerful one to do so much damage. It didn’t sound like a buster shot and I don’t think a beam saber would be loud enough for it’s sound to be picked up by a helmet’s comm. unit . . . so hopefully that means Zero wasn’t the one who attacked him. On the other hand that would mean that it was Sigma or one of his henchmen that did it. I heard another shot shortly after X’s scream, a buster this time. So either X retaliated against his attacker or Zero took whoever it was out.

I don’t care if whoever killed X is dead, it won’t bring him back. It’s just not fair! Why did he have to die? X didn’t deserve to die . . .

It’s already been two days since it happened. The recovery crews have been scouring the debris found at point 11F5646 nonstop for the whole 48 hours. They haven’t found any sign of X or Zero, not even a scrap of armor. Signas intends to keep the teams searching the area until some trace of them is found . . . but the odds of that happening seem to be getting slimmer with each passing moment. It’s unusual that there’s no sign of their remains anywhere . . . it’s already caused rumors to start circulating that some surviving Mavericks carted off their bodies.

I don’t even want to think about that possibility. God only knows what Mavericks would do to their remains, it’s not like X and Zero were their most favorite people in the world. I remember hearing stories about what a group of Mavericks did to some Hunter corpses a while back . . . they said that the Mavericks decorated their lair with the dismembered body parts. The Mavs gouged out the eyes of the Hunters and ripped the synthflesh off of their faces. I heard they even hung some of the bodies on the walls and ceilings like they were trophies. At least those Hunters were already dead when all of that was done to them . . . I’ve heard even worse stories about Hunters who were captured by the Mavericks. Many were tortured to death, only to be revived just so they could be tortured again or be infected with the Maverick virus. Occasionally Hunters who were tortured would escape, but usually by then they were on the brink of madness. A few never fully recovered mentally from their experience and had to be discharged or reassigned . . .

I still can’t believe Signas didn’t send help immediately. I thought he was X’s friend. How could he just leave X to die like that? I should have gone out there regardless of what Signas told me to do . . . I could have at least been by X’s side when he died, so he wouldn’t have had to face those final, terrifying moments before death by himself . . . After all X has done for us, the least we could have done was be there to try and comfort or help him in his final moments. Instead we let him die all alone in what turned out to be a Maverick stronghold in the middle of some godforsaken wasteland! No Hunter should have to die like that! Least of all X . . .

I know there’s probably nothing I could have done to help X and that Signas was right . . . it was too dangerous to go out there right away. We didn’t have any clue what had just happened. Still, I was willing to go out there weaponless to try and save him, even if I risked death or infection in the process. None of those things mattered to me; I just wanted to be able to do something for him . . . even if all I could do was be by his side when he passed away.

It’s just not fair . . . Why? Why did it all have to end like this? Why does it feel like I’m being ripped apart from the inside? Since joining the Hunters, I’ve had several friends fall in combat and it always hurts when your friends die . . . but why does losing X seem to hurt so much more?

God, I’m crying now . . . I haven’t cried, or more accurately let myself cry, since the whole mess with Gate and his creations. Gate was my friend, probably the only real friend I had at the RRG, and I betrayed him. I knew that he was breaking a lot of the rules for conducting experiments there; on more than one occasion I even tried to help him cover up his actions. Then another one of my colleagues, Trent, showed me what he claimed was evidence proving that Gate’s creations were too dangerous to let live. It was footage of Wolfang attacking some reploids – I later found out those reploids were actually mavericks who had attacked his team – and of Blaze Heatnix deliberately leading a team of researchers to their deaths in a lava pit. Then some of my other colleagues at the RRG - people I considered friends at the time - told me that if I helped them get rid of Gate’s creations, then Gate wouldn’t be persecuted for their behavior. They also told me that if I didn’t help destroy Gate’s creations, that then there would be no choice but to expose their danger to the public and possibly to destroy Gate along with them. This threat seemed more credible after the attempt on Gate that destroyed Rainy Turtliod. I found out later that everything Trent and my “friends” had told me was a lie.

They lied to me and tricked me into helping them . . . all so they could destroy Gate’s credibility and get their hands on his research. I still remember the look of bitterness and betrayal in Gate’s eyes when he found out about my involvement . . . I had never felt so awful in my life. I couldn’t believe that the whole thing was just a maneuver to rid of Gate because several of the RRG’s higher ups didn’t trust him and some of our colleagues were jealous of him, Gate had been receiving attention and outside funding from many important figures in politics and industry because he could get them results quickly. When I learned the truth . . . I just couldn’t stay there anymore . . . I wanted to get away from that place and from people more concerned about advancing their own careers than actually accomplishing anything good. So when a recruiter approached me about joining the Hunters as a spotter . . . I didn’t even hesitate to take the offer. Before I left though, I vowed that I would never betray a friend like that again or fail them if they needed my help. I also decided to become stronger so that I couldn’t be tricked or manipulated like I was before.

It was shortly after I had finished training to be a spotter that I was assigned to the 17th Unit because of my high scores. That’s when I met him, X. He was so nice and he had this . . . this way of putting the people around him at ease . . . X was just so easy to get along with. He was nothing like the fierce warrior that the news crews made him out to be, the man who often single-handedly wiped out entire armies. I was surprised to learn that he didn’t like fighting at all. He said he only fought because the alternative was to just stand by and let the Mavericks commit genocide . . . and he couldn’t standby and allow something like that to happen. Still it always amazed me how a person as kind and compassionate as X could transform, during battle, into an unstoppable fighter whose only goal was victory.

In all honesty, I hate fighting as much as X did. I remember how I felt when I helped kill Scaravich and Wolfang . . . the sick, hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach. Is that how X felt every time he had to kill a Maverick? Of course the fact that the two reploids I killed didn’t really deserve it makes what I did worse . . . to my knowledge X has never killed an innocent person.

The first thing they tell you in the spotter classes is that it’s dangerous to form an emotional bond with the people you’re spotting for. It can cause additional stress and put lives in jeopardy if you aren’t careful. The second thing the instructors tell you is that since it’s impossible to not get attached to the Hunters you spot for . . . to just be careful to not let your feelings interfere with your duty or your ability to carry it out. A single mistake on the part of a spotter can endanger an entire Hunter unit. They’re right though . . . it’s just not possible to avoid getting attached to the people you spot for. If a spotter doesn’t screw up on the first mission that involves combat, then the team they’re assigned to learns to trust the spotter with their lives. Also from that point on the unit considers that spotter to be part of their team . . . they treat you no differently than any other member of the unit and even invite you to come with them when they go out to celebrate or to just get away from the base for a while. You feel like your part of a family and that’s a pretty damn good feeling.

Of course sometimes you get closer to a particular Hunter than you do with the others . . . that’s kind of how it was with me and X. I don’t really know when I started to get close to him, but it happened somehow. I know we felt the same way about fighting . . . but that wasn’t the sole basis of our friendship. We enjoyed just hanging out together, talking, and occasionally challenging each other to games of chess or poker – X actually had a pretty good poker face, but I could still figure out when he was bluffing. Sometimes it would just be the two of us sitting alone in the 17th’s common area, reading books or watching TV, and simply enjoying the peace, quiet, and each other’s company. I just liked being around him . . .

I wish Signas hadn’t told me to take a few hours off. I probably do need it; I’ve been up for almost 72 hours straight with no downtime since this whole mess began. Like humans, reploids need a few hours of sleep every so often and going too long without it can adversely affect our mental functions. When reploids sleep our bodies perform standard diagnostic and maintenance functions, we conserve energy, and sometimes we even dream. Most people think that a reploid needs to be in a recharge pod to go to sleep . . . it’s not really necessary, we only do so in order to replenish our energy reserves if needed . . . the only reason we sleep then is because it’s boring to be awake while stuck in recharging pod. But right now, I can’t even fall asleep in my own bed let alone stuck inside some pod . . . I keep thinking about X. My mind keeps playing back everything I heard over the comm. channel before he died and my imagination keeps conjuring up visions of him lying there, dying, his body mangled from the attack . . .

Dammit X! Why couldn’t you keep your promise? You told me that there was nothing to worry about . . . you said you’d be back as soon as you found Zero . . . Why did you have to go off and die?!

As much as I try to accept the fact that you’re gone, there’s still a part of me that believes you’ll be walking through the HQ’s main entrance any minute or that the recovery crews will find you alive under some debris at the site of your last battle. I just can’t let go of the feeling that you aren’t really gone . . . that you’ll come back here . . . to me. I know it’s a stupid, foolish idea to cling to, but I can’t give up that final hope. I don’t want to give up and write you off like everyone else has! Maybe I should listen to that feeling . . . if my earlier unsubstantiated belief that something bad would happen if you went after Zero was on the mark, then maybe this one will be right too. It’s probably just wishful thinking but I hope with everything I am that it’s not and you’ll turn up alive.

But for that to happen it seems like it would take a miracle right now and I don’t believe in miracles. I’m not sure why, I just don’t. I don’t think reploids really believe in miracles or that they happen to us. There’s always a logical explanation for everything. Maybe that’s why I don’t believe in them. I guess that I can’t accept that something can happen and have no real rational or reasonable explanation. Still . . . I find myself hoping for a miracle even though it will never happen and if it did I would probably drive myself nuts trying to figure out some logical explanation for it rather than just accepting that it happened.

The one thing that still bugs me and fuels my hope that you’re still alive is that the readings we got from your transceiver just vanished. The readings never flat lined and they never indicated that your reactor finally hit critical mass; in fact you had at least one minute left before that was going to happen. The transceiver readings simply disappeared as though your communicator was turned off or you were deactivated . . .

It’s probably just wishful thinking again. The communicator most likely just lost power or was damaged. Of course a damaged communicator could broadcast incorrect transceiver data . . . Why am I torturing myself like this?! Why am I clinging to this foolish hope that X is alive when everything indicates otherwise? He’s gone . . . the sooner I deal with it the sooner I can get on with my life. If he were still alive then he would have come back by now or the recovery teams would have found him just sitting there, waiting for somebody to come get him. The same goes for Zero if he were still around . . . but from the way X sounded, Zero may have been dying already when he was attacked.

Zero . . . I’ve been so worked up about X that I nearly forgot about him. Why did he run off to where the virus was like that? What was he looking for? Why did that new virus’s readings match his perfectly? I’ve been hearing rumors lately that Zero has some connection to the Maverick virus . . . the Zero virus’s existence only seems to support this belief. Zero couldn’t have any connection with the virus though; he hates what the Mavericks do as much as everybody else. Why would he fight the Mavericks if he had something to do with the virus? I’ve also heard that Sigma has been trying to recruit Zero to the Maverick’s side for years now . . . maybe that’s what the virus was, some pathetic attempt to make Zero join the Mavericks. Of course Zero was having some kind of weird reaction to the Sigma virus . . . I know he came into contact with it several times during the missions to gather parts for the Enigma and the shuttle, but we had so much difficulty differentiating the virus’s readings from his that there was no way to tell just how much of an effect it really had on him . . . Not that it really matters now since Zero’s probably dead.

Zero couldn’t have been infected with the virus like some people seem to believe, he didn’t show any signs of Maverick behavior. Granted his power levels started increasing about the time the virus was released, but combat reploids like Zero are known to have occasional sudden increases in power. Then again the rate at which Zero’s strength was growing was abnormally high . . . but there’s a lot we didn’t know about his design so that growth could have been normal for him. I find it hard to believe that X or Zero could fall prey to the Maverick virus.

I wasn’t quite as close to Zero as I was X, but he was someone I thought of as a good friend. Like X, I met him when I began spotting. Even though most of the time I spotted for the 17th, I also spotted for Unit 0 on several occasions. He was always so serious during battle or training, but he acted very light-hearted the rest of the time. Zero was almost always up to something . . . organizing a party to celebrate a successful mission, hauling X and various members of both their units off for nights on the town, or usually just relaxing in his quarters or at the small park that’s located on the base. I remember how Zero used to tease me about how much time I spent with X. He’d always get this strange grin on his face whenever he saw us together; it was like he saw or knew something we didn’t.

I always found it odd that no matter how at ease or relaxed Zero appeared to be during the periods of peace that usually followed a Maverick defeat, there were times where it felt as though he was very restless. It was like he was just killing time until his next battle . . .

I remember that on one occasion, I think it was the anniversary of the Repliforce War, Zero got into this horrible mood where almost everyone would be afraid to get anywhere near him. I tried asking Zero what was bothering him and got my head bit off each time I talked to him. Zero was never really one to discus his feelings with others . . . but I’d never seen him react so violently to being asked if anything was wrong before. The way he behaved was just so unusual for him. Eventually I did find out why he behaved like that, I overheard some members from Unit 0 mention that it probably had to do with a girl who died during the Repliforce War, Iris. I asked X about her, but he was hesitant to tell me about what happened between her and Zero back then . . . he felt it was something that should be left up to Zero to decide whether or not I should know about it. Eventually Zero came and apologized to me for the way he behaved after he had calmed down. Zero explained about Iris and why he had been behaving like he had been . . . apparently Zero never really got over Iris’s death or forgave himself for what happened. At the time I couldn’t imagine what Zero must have went through, but since X died . . . I think now I have some inkling.

That was one of the few times Zero opened up to me. Though I’m sure X talked him into it, it still meant a lot to me that he did.

X and Zero were almost inseparable. Sometimes the way they behaved you thought the two of them really were brothers, especially when they’d get into an argument. I haven’t seen many reploids who had a friendship with someone that was strong as the one X and Zero had. Then again it’s probably not too surprising; they knew each other for over two decades, even if they did behave more like teenagers at times than the oldest Hunters in existence.

I do miss Zero . . . but I miss X even more . . . why? Both of them were my friends . . . are my feelings for X really that strong?

I wish I hadn’t been given this time off. I can’t get any rest. I should be helping coordinate the recovery teams. I should be doing something other than just lying here in my room . . . I don’t want to deal with these feelings right now, it hurts too much. I guess that’s part of why Signas told me to take some time off . . . so I couldn’t just bury myself in my work to avoid dealing with what’s happened. As it is right now, I have no choice but to deal with it.

I don’t want anyone to see me like this. I’m depressed, crying, and all these feelings assault me when I think about X . . . regret, pain, sorrow, a little bit of joy when I happen to remember some of the good times we had, and this void I feel inside of me, it feels like someone ripped out a piece of my heart. What do I have to regret in my relationship with X? That it didn’t get a chance to go further than just being friends? Is that what this pain is? Not just the loss of someone close to me, but the pain of what might have been?

What am I thinking?! I barely knew X that long. Douglas has known X for well over a decade, Signas has known X for almost as long, and Zero knew him for even longer than that. Hell, the only people who have known X for a shorter time than me are the rookies that just finished training! I’ve known him for what? Maybe three years now? Then again that’s about half of my life . . . still, what makes me so much more entitled to take this harder than everyone else seems to be? I mean I liked X, I liked him a lot actually, but it’s not like I was in love with him. I mean just because I like to spend time with a particular guy and happen to like the sound of his voice, the way he smiled, admired how kind and caring he could be . . . and because of how I’d get so scared whenever he entered battle against one of those psychotic Maverick commanders, the way I would worry when we lost his comm. signal or when he would pull some crazy maneuver and nearly get himself killed while doing it . . . that doesn’t mean I was in love with him . . . does it? That’s just great. If I was in love with him, why couldn’t I have figured it out before X died? If something had happened between us, would this pain I feel now be less because of what we would have had or greater? If I wasn’t in love with him, why am I torturing myself with these thoughts? Why does it hurt so much that I’ll never see him again? It hurts more than anything I’ve ever felt before . . .

I’m a wreck. I’m really glad that X can’t see me like this. I’ve worked so hard to become stronger, so nobody could manipulate me like they did back at the RRG. I’ve developed a reputation here for being tough and cool under stress. I don’t know why, but it became important to me that X didn’t see me as weak shortly after I met him. I wanted him to know he could count on me and that I wouldn’t just snap in a high pressure situation. I wanted him to believe that I could handle whatever got thrown at me.

But when I overheard Signas tell X about Zero’s reaction to the virus and that he wanted X to go after him . . . I just got this overwhelming feeling of dread. I felt like I would lose him if he went there. I know I had agreed earlier that X should investigate the virus readings at point 11F5646, but all of a sudden it felt like a very bad idea. It didn’t help that I had misgivings about the initial decision to send X to investigate, but the idea of sending him after Zero just strengthened those feelings. I begged X not to go after Signas had finished talking to him and left, I still can’t believe I actually did that . . . but just then I didn’t care if X thought of me as weak for begging him not to go, to let Zero deal with the situation by himself. I just wanted X to still be around . . . I wanted him to stay here with me, where he’d be safe. I know it was probably selfish of me to ask such a thing of him, but I didn’t care at the time. X, he just looked at me with those beautiful emerald eyes of his and told me not to worry. “Everything will be fine,” he said, “I have to prove to everyone that Zero isn’t the threat they seem to think he is. I promise I’ll find him and the two of us will come back safely, Alia. Don’t worry.”

Once it became clear he wouldn’t change his mind, I went back to my station and he left to go after Zero. I shouldn’t have let him go! I should have tried harder! Maybe he would have stayed. Then he would be alive, Zero would have taken Sigma out himself and come back safely, and things could just go back to the way they were before that awful day.

But I didn’t try harder . . . now both of them are gone . . .

I still remember my last words to X . . . I told him that I wouldn’t try to stop him from fighting . . . that I’d trust him to handle the situation.

It’s not like there was much else I could do. He was intent on going and like always the only thing I can ever do for him in the end is support him in any way I can. It’s horrible . . . feeling so helpless to do anything when your friends are risking their lives in battle. I know my job as a spotter is important, the information I can give to Hunters in the field helps them accomplish their missions and sometimes even saves their lives, but that doesn’t make it any easier to sit at the base safe and sound while people are fighting for their lives. Of course that’s not nearly as bad as the feeling of anxiety when you lose contact with a Hunter completely and can do nothing whatsoever to assist him. I was prevented from helping X in any way once he went to that place . . . I hate not being able to do anything to help the people I care about. Maybe X would have survived if I had just been better at my job. Maybe we could have gotten him out of there before anything happened if I had tried a little harder to break through the interference.

I know I did everything I could from here to try and help him throughout the whole ordeal with the Colony . . . but I can’t help but feel like I failed him . . . like there was something more I should have been able to do . . .

Damn it! I wish I could just stop thinking about all of this and fall asleep. Of course then I’d probably just dream about what happened . . . or who knows maybe I’d have a pleasant dream instead. Actually, I wish that I could just wake up and find out that everything that happened in the last three days was just a nightmare. Then I could just forget about it, go back to work, and see both X and Zero alive and well.

I know everyone says that as long as you remember those who have passed on they aren’t really gone. But that often comes across as sounding empty to one who is grieving; it’s only the compassion behind such words that mean anything. Personally I like the idea of X, Zero, and all the other friends I’ve lost still existing somehow even after the loss of their physical shell, not just as memories either . . . who am I kidding? When you’re dead, that’s it. Then they just ship your body off to a recycling center to be scraped, maybe turn you into soda cans, paper weights, or something like that.

I know X would probably be telling me to not rule something like the afterlife just because there’s no solid proof that there is one . . . he always did believe that reploids were more than just the sum of their programming, even if he didn’t talk about it a whole lot. That’s understandable though, most people and even some reploids wouldn’t take an idea like reploids having souls seriously . . . I guess X must have really felt he could trust me with anything to have even let me know that he believed that.

As much as I would like to believe that we are more than just machines and that somewhere X still exists . . . it’s hard for me to do so since there is really no way of testing that belief. Well, there is one way . . . No! I’m not going to even consider that. X wouldn’t want me to just through my life away! No matter how bad things may look right now, he wouldn’t want me to give up like that . . . He’d want me to live, fulfill my dreams, to be happy, to not let myself or everything that he fought so hard for to fall apart.

That still doesn’t mean I can’t wish X were still here. I’d feel a lot better if he were still alive to help us face whatever will happen next . . . after everything that’s happened today, the future’s not looking too bright and the deaths of X and Zero seem like an ominous omen of what is yet to come.

He’s gone forever . . . no matter how badly I want it to not be true, X is never coming back. So why can’t I let go of this silly notion that he isn’t gone? Why do I have this nagging feeling that all of my sorrow and pain over his death is somehow premature? Why is a part of me secretly hoping for a miracle that will never come to pass? Why do I want so badly to believe that there is more to reploids than just metal, processors, and programming? Why am I examining all of these feelings I apparently had for X now, when it won’t do any good?

I can’t believe how tired I feel. Between not getting any rest, crying myself silly, and driving myself nuts thinking about what’s happened it’s no wonder I’m feeling so exhausted physically and mentally. I’m so tired but I can’t fall asleep . . . I keep thinking about X . . .

I miss him so much . . . maybe I really do . . .

“Alia, respond please.”

Huh? I guess I forgot to turn off my communicator. I may as well respond, it’s not like I’m about to fall asleep anytime soon.

“What is it Lifesavor?”

“Would you please come to the infirmary at once? I may require your assistance shortly.”

Why would Lifesavor need my help? I thought the medical staff didn’t get hit nearly as hard as the field Hunters and other personnel. Maybe having to deal with the recent inflow of refugees has left him more short handed than we thought. That has to be the case. Why else would he tap someone who used to design reploids to help him in the infirmary? Maybe this will distract me long enough to stop thinking about X.

“I’ll be there in a minute Lifesavor.”

“Thank you Alia.”

“I take it things are pretty hectic down there if you’re asking me to help out.”

“Things are still a little crazy down here, but that’s not why I called you. Actually, Douglas and I figured you’d want to be here even if we wound up not needing your help.”

“What do you mean?”

“A new patient is coming in and you’ll never guess who it is. Lifesavor, out.”

What did he mean by that? What’s Douglas doing there? I thought he was overseeing the recovery teams. Why would Lifesavor need my help with an incoming patient? He’s a lot better equipped to handle diagnostics and repairs than I am . . . I mean the only reason he normally consulted me in the past was if . . . could it be?

No! I shouldn’t get my hopes up like that. But that’s the only explanation I can think of for why Lifesavor would be calling me and why Douglas would be there too. Is it possible? Did the part of me that was hoping for a miracle really get its wish?

Well, I’m not going to find out by just sitting here. I better head to the infirmary and see just who this patient of theirs is.

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Whew! This part ended up being longer than I thought it would be. I hope you liked it. I tried really hard because I didn’t want to mess this one up. Thank you for reading! Please review and let me know what you think.