Megaman X: Astar Island Astar Island, home to some of the most sophisticated laboratories of the age, has taken up the formidable task of an in-depth study on the Sigma Virus. Ever since the defeat of Dr. Doppler, the island has been devoted to the research of the Maverick Virus and it was felt that study of the essence of Sigma was necessary to further the cure. Maverick Hunter HQ handed over what remains they had collected of the Sigma Virus from the Doppler Incident, and research began. ~Two weeks ago, on Astar Island~ Before sunrise, when the facilities were still dark, six figures stood on a boat heading for the island's port. The one in front was holding a thick datapad, and spoke first. "Soon, it will be time to preach the good word to the reploids on this island." "They will understand the true way soon enough," another reploid spoke. "Everything will fall into place," spoke a large one. The female in the group grinned. "Heh heh... and soon, the hunters will come." The leader waved his hand, unconcerned. "Their response time is lax. All the reploids here will know the good word soon enough." The last two, identical and well-armored, spoke one after the other. "Let them come. They won't..." "... bother you with us around." "Those who know the good word walk on the righteous path", the leader spoke, "And the hunters will not push them astray. This island will understand." As the sun began to rise above sea level, light shone upon the side of the datapad the leader held to his body. A single letter was boldly engraved on it in shining silver. ~sigma~ ~Two Days Ago, Maverick Hunter HQ~ In his private quarters, Signas, cheif of the Maverick Hunters, sat behind his desk. Alia, Zero, and Megaman X stood at attention before him. "I'm sure you've all heard," Signas spoke, "of what's happened to Astar Island as of late." "S-somewhat..." replied Zero. He and X had been awfully busy until recently, and Zero was too busy practicing sword techniques since then to know any news at all. X spoke up. He'd been following the issue well, since he was concerned about the labs that decided to use Sigma's remains. "Roughly nine days ago, all long-range communications with Astar Island ceased. Six days ago, an envoy was sent to the island. Reploid residents claimed they had recently been 'enlightened', both as statement of fact and as explanation for the failure to communicate. The envoy was offered to join the cult that the islanders were apparently part of, lead by a reploid named Bishop Gran. Gran's headquarters was identified to be the Sigma Research Lab, which was still well-protected. Gran was questioned about the lack of humans present on the island, to which he explained that they were locked up for the good of both themselves and the reploids. When accused of his following being a maverick movement, Gran did not seem to take offense, but asked them to leave. Two more envoys have been made since then, and the cult appears to be friendly, but very suspicious." Signas raised an eyebrow and was silent. He was impressed X knew so much about the situation. "Q-quite correct, X. Though what has yet to be publically released is that the envoys also confirmed that the cult was using the defensive facilities of the island to their own means, to potentially repell invaders and restructure the order of the island. Additionally, all research outside of Gran's little sanctum has ceased. This means they have their hands on the Sigma Virus." Alia quickly gave her two cents. "And they're no doubt mavericks... It doesn't bode well at all." "Right," Signas said. Alia was stating the obvious as usual, but it was important for the severity to be expressed to the hunters. "Finally, there have been reports of Gran talking to another maverick in secret. He could very well not be the real mastermind to this operation. X, Zero, you two will go to the island and assess the situation. Get to the bottom of this cult, ensure the safety of the humans, do what you can to purify the island's reploids, and take out Bishop Gran and his boss. Two hunter-worthy reploids were assigned to defend the island from threats, and they are confirmed to be with the cult. Rayzvario and Speraan. If the situation calls for it, you have permission to take them down." Alia cleared her throat noisly. "Alia will be joining you on this mission," Signas added. "Since transportation to the island has been forcibly limited to boat, your travel accomidations will be equipped with a miniature base, which will act as the command center for this mission. Alia is fully capable of manning the facilites there, and has also requested to join you in island exploration. Don't let her get into anything she can't handle." Alia rolled her eyes. Zero sighed and nodded, and X nodded with little hesitation. "You have eight hours to make preparations before departure. That will be all." Signas waved them out. He was met in turn with salutes and exits. Neither hunter seemed thrilled about Alia's request to join, but for some reason she had practically begged him. She gave a multitude of good reasons to join that Signas was sure weren't the real reason, so eventually he caved. At the very least, he knew that X had the judgement to keep her out of harm's way when necessary. ~Present day~ The inconspicuously-painted Maverick Hunter boat, driven by Alia, docked in Astar Island's port. Maverick Hunter Units: Megaman X - Sniper Armor (multi-weaponed ranged attacker) On the way to Astar Island, rough weather forced the hunters to dock at an island for the night. While Alia and Zero spent the night in hibernation, X's sensors faintly picked up a very familiar signal. Exploring the island, he reached a cave containing a capsule left by the late Dr. Light. The AI in it had sensed that locally there was a great crisis in the works, and had activated itself so X might sense its presence. Contained in the capsule was the Sniper Armor, which would have severely hightening effects on X's ranged combat potential. This was essentially, the Light hologram put it, the opposing counter to the Blade Armor. X had already brought an armor or two for the sake of this mission, but he knew this would be a valuable trump card in the coming mission. He graciously accepted the armor, and returned to the boat. From there, while the others were sleeping, he placed the armor in his safebox, so that not even Alia would know about it until the proper time. Megaman X - Shinobi Armor (ultimate in stealth) Zero - Air Master Armor (flight, high-mobility armor) Alia - All Range Assist Armor (support ally, still formidable) The All Range Assist Armor was Alia's own technological masterpiece, created in secret. She had spent enough time modifying and updating X's armors to understand the essentials of summoned armor. Unlike the armors Dr. Light had built for X, this armor was focused around tactical support and a deep understanding in the flaws of today's weapon systems. This strong tool was Alia's reason for requesting to join the Astar Island Hunter Team. She wanted to prove to Commander X and to everyone how useful she could be on the field, using this armor. Octet Maverick Units: Thunder Chimera Jet Pheonix Geomantic Bison Drill Cheetah Enforce Dober Golden Tyranno Blizzard Dragon Typhoon Lion Boss Maverick Units: Speraan After four of the facilities guardians were felled by X and his allies, one of the two reploids assigned to guard the island, Speraan, approaches the hunters. He, too, was with the cult, and offered X the chance to atone for his actions instead of be killed by him. X attempted to reason with Speraan, but to Zero it was clear that Speraan was just a maverick. Since Zero was so eager to fight, Speraan challenged him to a duel, so Zero would be the first to die. X, Alia, and Vixen stayed on the sidelines as Zero took on the mighty reploid. Rayzvario Once all eight guardians were destroyed, Rayzvario struck the hunters as they were approaching the entrance to the main lab compound. Swiftly and suddenly, he dealt an attack that put Scarlet Vixen out of comission for most of the fight, and Zero to his knees. After this, he introduced himself, and swore that he would rid the island of X and his allies. To him, they were troublemakers, disturbing the peaceful way of life here, and must be eliminated. X took a moment to lament how skilled a warrior Rayzvario, who was once being considered to join the Maverick Hunters, fell victim to the cult. Rayzvario used this as an oportunity to strike at Alia, which X blocked against. X proceeded to engage Rayzvario in combat, and he ultimately won. ??? Units: Scarlet Vixen The rouge-clad reploid, Scarlet Vixen, met up with the hunters not long after they reached the main town of the island. She desperately clung to the great hunter X and asked for his help upon meeting him. She claimed to have been hiding from the cult for some time now. Her transport plane crash-landed nearby, and at the time she had no idea of the state of the island. Alia was far from impressed, and didn't view her as an upstanding reploid at all. However, she kept her complaints to herself, as X and Zero were quickly drawn to chivalry by how easy Vixen was on the eyes. Vixen didn't seem fond of Alia either, but both followed the hunters around often, since Vixen was quite helpful, and very adept at self-defense.