4: Dropping the Balls
Octavia glanced up as she saw Zero returning to HQ happily. "Second date went well?" she asked pleasantly.
"Sure did, Tavi!" Zero replied happily. "Iris and I had a wonderful time."
"Well, I hope things continue to go so well for both of you," X spoke up as he entered, going over a few reports. "You've been a lot more chipper since she came around. It'd be terrible if anything went wrong."
"Geeze, X, don't jinx it!" Zero complained.
"Zero, there's no such thing as jinxes," X chided. "Me bringing up the possibility of something bad isn't going to make bad things happen."
"Emergency!" Alia shouted over the intercom. "Mavericks emerged at point 5567! They've occupied the Sky Lagoon! Repliforce soldiers are in the area!"
"Repliforce?" Zero gasped out, shocked.
Octavia, meanwhile, gave X a look.
"...coincidence," X growled.
Given how many people and reploids lived in the floating city Sky Lagoon, X, Zero, and Octavia were immediately dispatched to engage the threat. The Lagoon had been constructed so that, unless you were near the edge, you couldn't actually tell you were in a floating city. As such, the height wasn't an issue, whether for residents or - as of now - Maverick Hunters sent to deal with the threat.
As the trio made their way towards the focal point of the attack, they saw that there weren't any civilians present. They had apparently all managed to evacuate or - in the case of some civilian reploids - were involved in the attack itself. "Well, that confirms one thing," X grumbled. "We've got a Sigma scenario on our hands. Viral Maverick behavior confirmed."
"So Sigma's come back?" Octavia asked, surprised.
"Either that or someone else is using viral weapons to cover their tracks," Zero corrected. "Either way...anyone still here has to be classified as a threat."
"...roger..." Octavia agreed sadly.
Thankfully, there weren't that many mechanaloid or Maverick enemies in their path, save for a large one that tried to attack them from the sky. Given the urgency of the situation, the trio ignored it and raced on ahead of it, using charged busters and Zero's saber to carve their way through some sealed doors.
As they reached the power generator for the Sky Lagoon, explosions started happening all over. As they entered, they saw one of their own waiting for them. "Magma Dragoon?" X demanded. "What are you doing here? You and the rest of the 14th are supposed to be helping with the evacuation?"
Octavia carefully examined this Hunter she'd heard about, but hadn't met yet. An upright humanoid, his body was a mix of red, silver, and blue, and his facial structure was a stylized draconic.
"This isn't good!" Magma Dragoon replied. "That Maverick took out the main power core! We need to evacuate before the chain reaction takes us out!"
"But the Sky Lagoon's going to fall!" Zero shouted.
"It's too late for that-"
"No it's not!" Octavia shouted, racing to a control panel. "Dragoon, your design enables you to manipulate heat energy. I need you to focus as much of the heat from these explosions you can due west!"
"What?" Magma Dragoon asked. "But-"
"Just do it!" X ordered. "Octavia, what are you planning?"
"Sky Lagoon's already falling!" Octavia explained as her hooves raced over the keyboard. "We can't do anything about that. But it was positioned for an ocean view today on the Eastern shores of the Americas! If we can get it out over the ocean and slow its fall enough, we can minimize casualties and collateral damage!" After a time, she slammed her hooves onto the keyboard. "Dammit! We're falling too fast-Dragoon! Why aren't you making the heat thrust I asked for?"
"But you said-"
"A Tsunami's better than a fallen city for the land below!" Octavia snapped.
Turning, Magma Dragoon got to work, though he seemed reluctant.
"Any other ideas on how to slow the fall?" X asked.
"...two," Octavia murmured. "I don't really want to use the first, though..."
"Why?" Zero asked. "What is it?"
"It involves the three of us using our Adapters to try and carry the Lagoon to the ocean," Octavia replied.
X and Zero fell silent for a time. "...and Plan B?" X asked hopefully.
Octavia activated the Lagoon's communicators. "This is Maverick Hunter Octavia Melody Light, S rank provisional, calling any friendly unit in the vicinity of Sky Lagoon! Any friendly unit, please respond!"
"This is Colonel of Repliforce!" the comms scratched out almost immediately. "Octavia, what's happening?"
"Colonel?" Zero demanded. "What are you doing near Sky Lagoon-"
"Later!" Octavia snapped. "Colonel, how many units do you have available?"
"One land legion, three sea platoons, and seven aerial brigades!" Colonel responded immediately. "What do you need?"
"What's he doing with-"
"LATER!" Octavia interrupted X. "Colonel, have your aerial brigades anchor to the Sky Lagoon and try to slow its fall. Have your sea platoons get ready to mitigate the disturbance of an aquatic crash. Position your land legion due west of Sky Lagoon in a steady march after it, firing upward at the western underside, hand busters and kinetic blasters only!"
"Understood!" Colonel responded immediately.
A great deal of shaking could be heard as Sky Lagoon started to break apart from the barrage. "Colonel!" Octavia called out. "About the pieces-"
"We're getting as many as we can with those not armed with hand busters or kinetic weapons," Colonel responded, "but a few are getting through. I've got the medical teams evacuating the area, just in case!"
Octavia cut the comms. "Alright, the eastern thrust is enough now. Time to get out of here!"
"About time," Magma Dragoon grumbled as the group beamed out.
As the group beamed down into the city below, they found that the damage wasn't all that bad. Other than one particular area - which looked more like Maverick attack damage than falling debris damage - everything seemed more or less normal. Off in the distance, they could see Sky Lagoon gently lowering into the ocean, where it was stabilized for retrieval. X smiled. "Good job, Octavia," he praised, petting her head. "This might just get you off that provisional status."
"You mean I'll be able to go on missions solo?" she gasped happily.
"No."
Octavia promptly pouted.
Heading for the damaged area, the trio was shocked to find Iris, coughing and pushing herself out of a pile of debris. "Iris?" Zero gasped, shocked. "What are you doing here?"
"I...I was taking a detour on the way home to pick up some things I remembered we needed," she explained. "But...I saw a platoon I didn't recognize bearing the Repliforce insignia heading for Sky Lagoon. I...got caught in some crossfire when a large Maverick was dropped into the city..."
As she spoke, a huge Maverick mechanaloid burst out of a nearby building. Most of its body was green, with a reptilian head, massive white wings, and a primary generator perched just behind its head. It and the building debris fell towards Iris.
Zero seemed to blur out of vision, only to appear behind the Maverick merged with Timbre. Shredding its power generator, he dove down beneath it, grabbing hold of Iris before zipping past X and Octavia. As he came to a halt, Timbre immediately disengaged, and Zero put his hand to his chest.
"Zero!" X snapped. "Lifesaver told you that the Timbre Adapter isn't completely compatible with your system's present output levels! You strain your power cores using it!"
"Saved Iris..." Zero gasped out as he caught his breath. "...worth it..."
After the mechanaloid finished exploding, Colonel arrived. "Iris!" he called out worriedly. "Are you alright?"
"Thanks to Zero I am," Iris replied.
"It's later," Octavia spoke up.
"Right," X agreed. "Colonel, what is Repliforce doing here in such force?"
"The aerial brigades were pursuing a rogue soldier who was exhibiting viral Maverick symptoms," Colonel explained. "The aquatic platoons and land legion were here because Iris was late coming home from her beach date with Zero, and I was worried about her."
"...I buy that," Octavia admitted ruefully.
"And I'm here to kill Zero for bringing Iris home late," Colonel explained reasonably.
"Bring it Rusty!" Zero snapped, drawing his beam saber despite his damage.
"Not this again..." X grumbled. "Look, can this wait? We have a major incident here, and it looks like Repliforce is involved. Colonel, I need you to disarm and return to HQ with us for questioning-"
"Never!" Colonel proclaimed angrily. "I will not dishonor myself or my unit by doing so! We had no involvement in this!"
"But if you defy Maverick Hunter directives, you'll be termed Maverick!" Zero shouted out.
"Without my honor, I am nothing!" Colonel snapped back.
Before anyone else could speak, Octavia let out a theatrical sigh as she rolled her eyes to the heavens, one hoof going to her brow. X and Zero immediately stepped back to give her room.
"Am I missing something?" Iris asked quietly.
"Epic guilt trip time," Zero whispered back.
Octavia looked up at Colonel. "It's so good to know that your honor is more important than the fate of the Reploid race and your sister, Colonel," she said mildly.
"W...what do you mean?" he asked, confused and worried.
"Let's see what's likely to happen if you go through with this, shall we?" Octavia offered. "You defy Maverick Hunter directives, and are declared Maverick. Of course, you're a charismatic leader, and trusted by General, so all of Repliforce is likely to follow you into it. Which means a war between Repliforce and the Maverick Hunters...with the three of us spearheading the effort. Now, Iris isn't going to support such an endeavor. She'll probably come to HQ to try and support Zero, in hopes of mitigating the conflict between the two of you, since she doesn't want to lose either of you."
"True," Iris agreed calmly.
"But the three of us are incredibly powerful," Octavia explained. "You know this, Colonel. And X is likely to find even more upgrades crafted by Dr. Light, some possibly specifically designed for this conflict. And with each Repliforce leader we take down, the three of us will have yet another weapon to turn against you."
"I've been upgraded with X's VWS," Zero added.
"So Repliforce will fall. That is a given," Octavia concluded. "And Zero respects you too much to let anyone else take you down...so he'll fight you himself. When Iris learns of this, she'll rush to stop the fight. If she makes it in time, she might be able to talk you into surrendering...and you'll then have to live with the deaths of the entirety of Repliforce on your conscience. If not, you won't surrender...Zero will kill you...and the grief will drive Iris mad."
Octavia carefully examined Colonel's face at this point. He was sweating, his eyes wide. He was seeing what she described in his mind's eye. It was time to lay down the big guns. "Of course, she isn't a combat reploid...but there are those experimental new Ride Armors that directly interface with the controller's neural circuitry. That would give her a fighting chance of taking down Zero...if he fought her alone. But she'd lose...and the feedback circuits aren't perfected, so the damage to the Ride Armor would cause a critical failure of her plasma core...and she would die in his arms."
Behind her, Octavia heard both Zero and Iris flinch. A brief glance showed Iris burying her face in Zero's shoulder, crying. Zero wasn't much better. It hurt Octavia to know she was hurting them with this, but she knew she had to do it.
"I..." Colonel began.
"I'm not finished," Octavia interrupted. "After all, such a war would guarantee that reploids were never allowed to form their own military unit again. Organizations like Repliforce would be forbidden, and the Maverick Hunters put under serious limitations. Reploid science itself might be questioned...and Reploid Freedoms limited, just for everyone's safety. And who knows what nutcases might use the conflict as justification for even worse crimes.
"But at least you'll have kept your honor, right?" Octavia concluded, staring Colonel in the eyes. She could see it plainly. She'd broken him down and shown him exactly what his hubris would cause, what it would do to everyone and everything he cared for. Now was the time. "Or you could find a compromise."
"Compromise?" Colonel asked desperately.
"If you voluntarily assisted the Maverick Hunters with their inquiries into this matter, there would be no sinecure," Octavia explained. "And if you ordered your men to hold positions until you return, they wouldn't have to disarm, and any conflict that arose would be against orders. Of course, non-Hunter personnel can't carry active weapons into HQ, but there would be no dishonor in leaving your saber's focus crystal in the hands of a warrior you respect and trust-"
Colonel cut her off by shoving the focus crystal into her mouth. He then grabbed his communicator. "All units! I will be assisting the Maverick Hunters with their inquiries into the Sky Lagoon incident. Hold position until my return. That is a direct order!" He then turned to X. "I am ready to assist you with your investigation."
As Iris let out a relieved sigh and X called in the teleport request, Octavia spat out the focus crystal, holding it in one hoof. "I meant Uncle Zero," she grumbled.
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Did... Did you just manage to dodge a bullet with the Repliforce incident? Whew! Then I guess this means we get to miss this little disastroid. But JEEZ, Octavia was a bit too harsh back there... Yet oddly right on the mark.
And this makes the X arc in X4 canon over the Zero arc. Standby for Double having his ass handed to him.
That's my Tavi! Give it to him.
Okay, so Octavia pretty much ponied the hell out of X4, which makes me smile despite myself. I am curious to see where this goes. X4 is one of my favorite Mega Man X games, so I am anxious to see where this goes now that Octavia pretty much stopped Colonel from making the biggest mistake of his life.
6803977 Gotta love Capcom voice acting.
6804050 Gotta love crummy voice-acting period. Like that infamous scene in Devil May Cry.
6804061 Devil May Cry is also a Capcom franchise. As is Resident Evil, in case you were going to bring up "Jill Sandwich" or "Master of Unlocking".
6804066 I'm aware of their infamy, too. Love 'em all for their cheesiness!
6803977
6804033
Perhaps not. Maverick viral activity could still cause the Repliforce commanders to splinter from the main army as rebel cells even without Colonel and General's influence. But this way, the world will view it as an isolated incident/internal conflict and Repliforce itself won't be blamed for the actions.
Okay, Octavia earned this.
img.memecdn.com/im-the-boss_o_363450.webp
This is Tavi.
Thank you, now that Colonel won't be a jack wipe and no one that people actually likes will die(besides Double) then this can continue and we all have fun! Yay!
Keep up the good work my friend
Damn she's good. Wish my younger sister was like her. You got to get her to quote SideSwipe from Transformers 2.
[youtube=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4TeGmGS3H1g]
6804159 The youtube link you're looking for is this : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TeGmGS3H1g&app=desktop
6804227 I'm on a tablet. Not an actual computer. So it is the correct one for me.
Tavi is awesome.
... it's always so fun watching someone get the equivalent of a verbal bitch slap. With the add bonus of most people forgetting that Octavia is older then she looks.
It is highly unlikely that Tavi will ever be allowed to do solo missions, Not because of the danger to herself, but more towards the danger X would be to everyone else.
Hmm, did we ever get around to asking about if Other Bio-metals, Like A would be showing up?
It's just like the Duracell commercials. It just keeps on going, and going, and going...
6803977 Sometimes you need to break someone to so you can help them see the truth and build them up again.
But damn, we just avoided the biggest downer of X 4! Or, at least, I hope we did.
Octavia just stopped what would happened.
Well... Tavi was quite Crystal clear on all the consequences of the Colonel's possible actions and repercussions. But I think the focus should be on the mouthful she had near the end.
Wonder how it tastes like since she didn't gag?
6804357 Nah, Sigma will screw things up, trollface and all.
orig02.deviantart.net/4203/f/2011/008/1/6/sigma_trollface_body_by_master_cehk-d36r6gp.jpg
There can be only ONE way to make Octavia's dramatic reveal better. A cello.
6804298 thats Energizer, not Duracell...
Wow, that's an effective Guilt trip, he had to resort to disarming himself to gag her.
You're just to good at what you do Tavi, and we love you for it.
Oh, and have Piano, Classic, and Timbre dislike Double for some reason, even if they can't figure it out until it's to late.
6804293 At least not without Alia on hand to try to keep X calm. Or have Piano sit on him on Octavia's orders and not let him up.
So not only did Octavia put an overprotective brother and military figure in his place, but also managed to avert a crisis as well. She is officially awesome
6804439
I'm going to go out on a limb and guess it tastes like quartz.
It's official. 'Tavi is the new Sugarcoat.
How's the taste of his rock?
...kill my dirty mouth
I know he is weak, but that fact that Eragon gets his own theme, and a good one at that, is great.
6805236
For some reason, this made my brain wonder about an infant Sugar Coat raised by Dr. Gregory House.
s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/fd/2f/b8/fd2fb8fb657e5a6cb8faf846f6ffcbf7.jpg
You know, it might just be me, but... exactly what's honorable about resisting arrest when your moral allocation comes into question? That's like, the WORST thing a person can do. I can just about see what happens next.
While I'm still weirded out over how the foal just resolved everything just by stating exactly what would happen in-game, but whatever, I've made my peace with it. I still don't get why it was important for Octavia to guilt Ciel's ancestor into not making a Copy X when Copy X was made to be a beacon of hope after the original X was sealed away to prevent a threat, so the absence of the threat would already imply that Copy X wouldn't be made, so that entire scene was only important for character development.
*DING!*
... Actually, that's a good thing. Never mind, then.
*Reverse DING!*
Good luck with the next chapter.
Tat, you genius. ...hold on. Does that mean we skip an X game or are you going to jury rig it like you did with the creation of Vinyl's Wub Masters in place of other robot masters? I mean, "the Octavia Hunters" sound legit.
Welp looks like we are skipping X4 like we skipped Ratchet and Clank 2 in the Sparkle of His Eye.
This is also where it's going to get interesting for me since I never played any of the X games after 4, so everything will be new to me.
6806171 We also skipped a Megaman game (5, I think) after the holiday introduction of Derpy Gyro Man just so Vinyl could torture Megaman.
Another enjoyable chapter. Good job.
6805336
Hells Fire: Would you want the fast and painless way or the the worst way possible?
6806845 Fast and painless.
I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE SHIPPING TO COMMENCE!
Octavia dear you seem to forget that you are the dangerous one here cause you use your cuteness and your skilled tongue with deadly precision, of course he'd see you as the warrior he'd trust to hold his Saber's focusing crystal.
6806477
Really? I'm not going to lie I don't know the original blue bomber as well as X. Thats cool to know though.
6807156 Yeah, Tat sorta flipped the switch. Classic Megaman is a character for children compared to X, but Tat just had to make the light-hearted (Light Cored? heh heh.) Megaman become a depressed bad ass.
He kills holographic versions of himself, curses, rides a Rush motorcycle, permanent Skull Blast, drinks bleach, and has a shut down switch that deactivates him for 8 hours, which he used to try to get out of saving the world for awhile.
When it comes to heroes and villains, it's obvious that Vinyl is evil. Personality-wise... I don't want children around Tat's Megaman unlike Capcom's Megaman... who is dead. Again.
6807053
Hells Fire: -taking a katana out of a sheath- I going for your neck okay, and, no, I going to sink it before it even DEPARTS FROM THE PORT!
6807486 It already depated.
6809746
Hells Fire: West, locate it and nuke it from orbit!
West Cowboy: I have only completed a recon satellite, not the Orbital Cannon, idiot!
Hells Fire: Just Do It!
6809824 Still waiting.
I've never played any of the Megaman games, but those comments about a sad fate for Iris were starting to make me nervous so I'm definitely glad that we've apparently sidestepped that. Especially if that sad fate went basically as Octavia just postulated it might.
6809867
Hells Fire: What? Your death or the orbital nuclear attack?
West Cowboy: The second one will take me at maximum a month of calculations, material gathering, construction and launching the damn thing into space.
6809933 PHILO Has left the building.
Megaman X4, avoided!
Oh wait, I forgot about Double the double agent. Wonder how that will come into play?
Thank you Octavia, for making these reploids make choices that actually make sense.
Well... That's ONE way to completely shoot down the main story of X4 for Zero's side. Do we still get the "WHAT AM I FIGHTING FOR?!?!" scene??
you just killed an entire game in a few short paragraphs....i think octavia is currently the most Overpowered cuteness/shedemon in your entire line up even more so than pinkie and her epic mane of interdimensional holding