Back at the base, the situation was discussed and a new plan was formed.
"Alright," Ciel stated firmly. "It's plain that Sigma is spearheading this Maverick rebellion. Taking him down has to be our top priority. Vile was supposed to be our way of finding out his location, but with his escape, we're out of options. We still only have three combat ready units we can guarantee Sigma can't influence."
"Which means we're the only ones we can risk facing Sigma," Zero agreed. "So what's the plan?"
"Zero, you're the best we've got at stealth and tracking," Ciel replied. "Your job is to track down Vile and Sigma, but don't engage. We're going to send the three of you in together when the time comes."
"Understood," Zero agreed. "I'll handle it." Turning, he headed out for his mission.
"X, Tavi," Ciel continued, "you two are continue going after the former Hunters. Try and sway them back to our side, but if that fails, termination has been authorized."
"...understood," X replied softly.
"We'll do what we have to do..." Octavia agreed hesitantly. "Any suggestions on who we should go after first?"
"Chill Penguin," Ciel stated firmly. "Out of all of them, Tavi, he's the one you've interacted with most. He'll be the one you're most likely to be able to influence."
"Understood," X and Octavia replied together, heading to the teleporters.
As they warped into the snowy landscape, Octavia shivered a bit. "Varia, can you do anything about this cold?" she asked, her teeth chattering.
"Internal heating systems at maximum," Varia replied as Octavia's teeth stopped chattering, though she still shivered. "Recommend moving in order to counteract the remainder of the cold."
"Right," X agreed. "Let's go."
The pair quickly moved on, coming across robotic rabbits, robotic lumberjacks throwing mechanical tree trunk pieces at them, some Bomb Beens, a couple Spikys, and robotic bats.
After climbing their way upward onto frozen ground, they found a blue capsule with the symbol of Light Labs emblazoned on the top. As they approached, the capsule opened, and a holographic image of Dr. Light appeared.
"So you've come..." the hologram stated softly.
"Father?" X asked, his eyes wide.
The hologram opened its mouth as though to recite a recorded message, but froze. It then smiled. "I never imagined you would come to think of me that way..."
"You're alive?" X asked hopefully.
The hologram shook his head. "No. And even what you see before you is not truly me. When I knew I would not live to see your activation, I copied my brain wave patterns into a self-maintaining computer system, which has continued to work to assist you, should the need arise...and to guide you if you find yourself lost."
"Quite a father, Dad," Octavia said softly.
The Light hologram turned to Octavia. "I see you survived and thrived as well."
"You know me?" Octavia asked in surprise.
"Just before I sealed X inside his capsule, you appeared in my lab," Light replied. "You were tiny and weak, with not enough energy to survive. I was too weak to tend to you, so I acted in desperation. Quickly altering X's capsule to include bio-stasis functions, I placed you in the capsule with him, in the hope that X would choose to care for you when he awoke." He chuckled. "Even in a sleep state, he wrapped his arms protectively around you, as though he already had protective, parental instincts."
"When I was activated, I knew I was supposed to take care of Octavia," X confirmed.
"Oh, is that what you named her?" Light asked. "A lovely name-"
"It was her name," X corrected. "Octavia Melody. I knew it just as I knew I was supposed to take care of her."
The hologram raised an eyebrow. "Truly? Curiouser and curiouser..."
When no more was said, Octavia shifted awkwardly.
"And the armor you wear?" the Hologram asked.
"That would be me!" Varia pointed out. "Bio-Metal Varia. I interact with Tavi's unique energy wavelength to generate power armor with capabilities equivalent to X, whose data programmed me."
"But you're female," Light pointed out.
"So?"
Light chuckled at that.
"So...what's this capsule?" X asked.
"My systems detected that the world has turned to war," Light replied softly. "While I'd hoped you might be able to live in peace, I knew this world might one day need a champion. As such, I created these capsules...with energy and data with which you can upgrade your systems. This particular capsule contains an upgrade for your legs, a dash unit that will allow you to speed across the ground rapidly, and if used properly, increase your jumping and shooting ability."
"Speaking of shooting," X asked, "how come you didn't include shooting at angles other than straight forward in my buster drivers?"
"Because none of the robots of my era could handle the advanced targeting necessary to shoot at angles while moving," Light replied.
"Fair enough," X replied.
"Good luck, X," the hologram said as it faded. "Good luck, Octavia..."
X stepped into the capsule. As the energy flowed into him, the focus crystal at his helmet glowed. The one on Varia glowed in the exact same way. As X's upgrade finished, both his leg unit and Varia's had turned white.
"Upgrade complete!" Varia piped up. "Dash unit added to hind leg armor."
"Seems that aspect of Ciel's design works," X replied. "Let's go!"
As they continued onward, they encountered a few Jammingers and what looked like a purple flamingo that threw its hair at them. The pair's firepower was enough to tear through the enemies, and then they found a Ride Armor.
X hopped into the pilot's seat, while Octavia clung to the back. Not long after, they encountered a point where the path split into an upward and downward path.
"I'll go high," Octavia pointed out. "You go low." With that said, she leapt onto the upper platform.
As she crossed, she came across two igloo-like structures with low tunnels through them.
"With the dash unit, you should be able to pass through those tunnels," Varia pointed out.
Nodding, Octavia did so, seizing an armor-energy upgrade item from under the second igloo as she went. Naturally, she installed it in Varia.
At the other side, she met up with X, who had been forced to discard the Ride Armor at some point. "Did something happen up there?" X asked. "My armor energy increased while I was down there."
"Apparently, the upgrade sharing system goes both ways," Octavia replied. "Let's go."
The only robots they faced after that were green ones that threw snowballs at them, or created large snowballs that rolled down the slope towards them. Once past those, they came across Chill Penguin himself.
"X!" Chill Penguin proclaimed as he dropped in. "So you've come! I knew you would-" He paused. "Octavia? You're here too?"
"I am," Octavia replied. "I'm here to talk you into switching back to our side."
Chill Penguin laughed. "And how do you plan on doing that? A guilt trip?"
"I figured I'd crack you open like an egg, extract your power core, persona unit, and hard drive, and then figure out talking you around back at HQ where it's not so fragging cold!"
"Octavia!" X scolded. "Language!"
Chill Penguin burst into laughter. "Watching you two interact is always so much fun!"
"And if you stay on Sigma's side, you'll never see it again," Varia pointed out.
Chill Penguin's jaw dropped. "I...I never thought of that..." He scratched at his chin. "...is it too late to sign me back up?"
"Not at all," X replied. "Let's get back to base." With that, the trio beamed back to HQ.
At Chill Penguin's suggestion, they went after Storm Eagle next, as he was highly honorable, and thus most likely of those remaining to be convinced to change sides. As a result, the pair teleported in to the airport.
While several flying robots tried to grab them, a shot upward or at an upward angle was easily able to destroy them before they got in range. Off in the distance, Octavia spotted another armor-energy upgrade, and leapt to snatch it before racing to catch up with X.
Further on, they encountered gun bots on various platforms, as well as more Gun Volts. Taking one platform up allowed X to acquire a sub tank. A little further on, there was a blocked path down below the main path. At Octavia's insistence, they blasted their way in.
Inside, they found yet another capsule. "X, Octavia," the hologram began as they approached, but paused. "How does Varia have the dash unit?"
"I downloaded the data from X!" Varia replied.
"And I've been getting the armor-energy upgrades she collects," X replied.
"Hmm..." Light murmured. "I wish to try an experiment. Octavia, step into the capsule. I will upload the upgrade into Varia's systems directly, and see if X receives it. This upgrade will strengthen your helmet, allowing it to break through certain blocks...like those currently above you."
As the hologram vanished, Octavia stepped in. As suspected, the systems resonance granted X the same upgrade.
With that done, the pair continued the rest of the way through the airport - dealing with more flying robots and a few Metools - until they found Storm Eagle hovering over an airship.
"Storm Eagle!" X shouted. "We want a word with you!"
In response, Storm Eagle flew down. "I have no desire to fight you, X," he stated firmly. "And certainly no wish to harm your daughter. However, I have no choice but to serve Sigma."
"Why?" X demanded.
"I tried to stop him near the start of this rebellion, but failed," Storm Eagle replied. "He had me at his mercy, and offered me the choice of death or servitude. I...I was a coward, and chose servitude. To turn my back on that now...I would never be able to live with myself."
"What if Dad beats you and offers you the choice of death or neutrality?" Octavia offered. "Would that work? Then you don't have to participate in this war, and after Sigma's defeated you can come back to the Hunters."
Storm Eagle stared down at Octavia for a time. "X, your daughter is brilliant. Now, show me your power!" He dove straight at X.
X leapt to the side, using Chill Penguin's ice weapon to freeze Storm Eagle's wing joints. Kicking off the air ship's fin, he slammed into Storm Eagle's back, smashing him to the ground.
Storm Eagle cried out in pain as the ice breaking snapped his wings off, and then found X braced over him, one foot on the small of his back, the other on his buster arm. X's buster was charged, and pointed at his head. "Choose," X stated simply.
With a smile, Storm Eagle went limp. X and Octavia were beamed back to HQ for their next mission, while Storm Eagle was beamed straight to his temporary holding cell.