The group's laughter was eventually interrupted by an alarm going off, followed by an announcement from the PA system. "Warning! Warning! Attention all personnel! Now initializing Duboar! Repeat, now initializing Duboar! Be advised that some subsystems may be temporarily shut down in order to secure initialization sequence energy."
"Duboar?" X demanded in confusion. "What's that?"
"The automated factory at the heart of this facility," Axl explained quickly. "Once activated, it will churn out Preon soldiers in uncontrolled, endless waves for as long as resources are available. If we don't stop it, it'll become an unstoppable army simply from sheer force of numbers."
"Can't we just destroy this Duboar?" Zero asked sharply.
"The systems are protected by a special alloy based off X's Ultimate Armor," Axl explained. "Near indestructible by normal means, and completely immune to your sonic-based weapons."
"How the heck did they get ahold of tech like that?" X demanded in shock.
"Umm..." Axl mumbled worriedly. "Well...it's who they commissioned to design the system..."
"Who could they commission to design something like that?" Spider asked curiously.
"...Maka..." Axl finally admitted.
X switched his buster to an open hand just so he could bring both palms to his face, a motion mirrored by Zero. "That girl..." they grumbled together.
"Well...that just means we need to keep it from being activated, or find a way to deactivate it, right?" Massimo suggested hopefully.
"Well, the announcement said some systems are shut down," Zero pointed out. "Now's probably our only chance."
"There was a sealed door along the path here," Marino pointed out. "It might be unlocked now."
"Then let's go!" Octavia snapped out, and the entire group dashed off.
It wasn't long before the group made their way into a large chamber with a rather compact engine core at the opposite end with the ends of two assembly lines to either side of it. Mach Jentra stood before it. "So, you've come!" he proclaimed as he took to the air. "But now you're too late! Duboar is active, and-"
Axl instantly changed form into Wind Crowrang, taking to the sky after Mach Jentra. "And you're going to shut him off!" he snapped out.
Briefly activating her own Ultimate Armor, Octavia shot up along with Axl. "Mach Jentra," she greeted coldly. "The forces arrayed against you outmatch you. Axl and I can easily knock you out of the sky, at which point all those on the ground could tear into you. Even if you managed to put Duboar into overdrive, Axl's A-Trans would allow him to mimic you to shut down Duboar. Your mission here has failed, this facility is lost to the Rebellion, and there is nothing you can do to change that. There is no dishonor in surrender at this point, and if you accept that, our terms can be reasonable."
Mach Jentra glanced from Axl to Octavia, from the group gathered on the ground to Duboar...and sighed. "Epsilon does not want to lose his followers if that can be avoided," he stated finally. "If there was a chance to succeed and grant him an advantage here, I would gladly throw my life away to achieve it...but it is plain that is not an option. What are your terms?"
"To start, order Duboar to go into standby, and to accept no other orders from your level of command code and below," Octavia stated clearly.
"If I do that, Epsilon won't be able to reactivate it remotely!" Jentra exclaimed.
"Also, give Axl your staff," Octavia insisted, pointing to the green tipped cane Jentra clutched.
"...if I do all that, will you let me withdraw to Epsilon's base to report?" Jentra demanded.
"That seems acceptable," Octavia allowed. "We've already established you're no threat to us, and without Duboar your threat to Giga City is minimal."
Jentra nodded. "Duboar! Cease all functions! Accept no further restart command!"
"Alert!" Duboar intoned in a deep voice. "If carried out, O-E Binary Command Code will be required to reactivate Duboar facility. Continue?"
"Order confirmed!" Jentra barked out. Duboar audibly shut down. "Here!" he snapped, tossing the cane to Axl before flying out of the facility.
As Axl and Octavia returned to the ground, Axl resumed his own form. "Why the cane?" he asked curiously.
"It's the focus for all his fire based abilities," Octavia explained. "He doesn't have a buster. He uses the crystal to trigger heat reactions in and around his targets. Without it, he has no combat capabilities beyond the physical. I insisted he give it to you so you could use it to copy his RDNA profile for your A-Trans. Once you have that...give it to Spider. It fits his look."
"I like your style, Miss Melody," Spider praised with a wide grin on his face.
"So as long as that's dealt with," Zero spoke up, his voice somewhat harsh, "perhaps some introductions are in order?" He glanced around at those gathered. "There sure seem to be a lot of new faces here..."
Octavia frowned as she shifted out of her Ultimate Armor. "Zero, are you really going to be this stubborn about our choice in allies?"
"Look, Tavi, I'm sure you and X have your reasons for trusting these people," Zero began, "and Axl will go along with you, but if you expect me to trust his 'girlfriends' and these strangers just because you say so-"
Octavia sighed theatrically, rolling her eyes heavenward.
Zero scooted back, raising his arms defensively. "Alright, alright! I'll give 'em a chance! Just none of that, please!"
As X and Axl cracked up, Marino ducked down beside Octavia. "Okay, I have to know...how did you pull that off?"
"Back at HQ, I have something of a reputation for getting my own way with carefully thought out, highly accurate guilt trips that strike all the right buttons," Octavia explained in a whisper. "I always started by doing that."
Marino chuckled wickedly, rubbing her hands together as X, Zero, and Axl started commiserating. "Alright, spill. What'd you have on him this time?"
"A very good poker face," Octavia responded with a cryptic smile.