Commentary on the Battle of Elysia

Chapter One: In which the reader is introduced to a new Greek letter among the Mavericks

Chill Penguin stroked his beak in thought, "do you have…an ace?"
"Go fish," Storm Eagle replied wearily.

He watched in frustration as the flightless Maverick rummaged through the pile of cards in deep concentration. Am I so desperate for entertainment that I’d play Go Fish with dense old Chilly?

"All right! A pair of aces!" Chill Penguin exclaimed.
The eagle sighed and threw his cards onto the table, "know what Chilly? You’re so good I’m just gonna give up now."
"Aww, com’on…it was just gettin’ excitin’…" the other reploid whined.

Storm Eagle ignored him and turned his attention to the others. Flame Mammoth was channel-surfing for the best talk-shows and Toxic Seahorse had his snout between the covers of the latest juicy lingerie catalogue. Wheel Gator burst through the door with his huge jaws spread in a semi-intimidating smile.

"Guess what guys? Spring is here!"
This attracted little attention from the other reploids except for Chill Penguin. "Great! No more shovellin’ ‘round the electric fence!" For a penguin, he was not all too fond of winter.
Wheel Gator, however, was not content with this minimal response. "Hey guys, wake up! It doesn’t look like it, but it’s the official start of spring! Is everybody happy?"

This attracted a few non-committal murmurs and nods. Storm Eagle held his head in his hands and rocked it back and forth. I can’t believe we’re excited by changes in seasons. He sighed. A few defeats from X and his loyal sidekick and we’re content to sit around and knit.

Just then, the door attempted to burst open again, but since Gator forgot to close it after bursting in, it failed. In strode a purple reploid rather sour at not having a grand entrance. Toxic Seahorse promptly closed his catalogue and tried to hide it behind the chair. Storm Eagle stood up to his full impressive height, "Vile, sir, what could possibly demand your attention here?"

Vile’s unseen eyes glanced up from his dark helmet, "take your seat. Mammoth, drop that remote." Flame Mammoth released the remote as though it were an asp.

When he had finally gained the attention of the reploids in the room, Vile began, "as you are all aware, Sigma has not returned since our last defeat by X. No doubt your spirits are low," he glanced pointedly at each reploid in turn. "However, I have planned an attack on Elysia. For tomorrow." This last comment met with groans and whines from the formerly blood-thirsty Mavericks. Vile held up his hand for silence. "The security there is lax, and if we are quick, we will have gained some ground close to our goal. AND…" Vile added with as much drama as his invisible face allowed, "we have a new member to help us…"

From behind Vile stepped a dark figure. The reploids strained forward to make it out from the shadows. Vile stepped aside to let the newcomer through, "allow me to introduce our latest Maverick, Theta."

The stranger seemed almost human, and the Mavericks wondered at this. She, however, simply glanced coldly at each of them. "Hello."

X whistled an irritating tune as he perkily bounced along the street. It was a shame the humans were still in bed. The moon was just setting, the snow was melting, what could be a better day? His partner, Zero, was able to think of many alternatives. He had got bored of their daily rounds and had somehow perched himself on the roof of a building. He sat there with his chin in his hands, wearily watching X walk by. Snatches of his tuneless whistling drifted up to Zero’s position, just enough bits of it to completely annoy him.

"Enough already! Go get some music lessons, X!"
"Lovely day, ain’t it, Zero?" X happily addressed his partner.
"There are those who would argue it is not even day yet, and even if it were, it is not lovely!" Zero exclaimed. He dropped the full three stories to the ground and landed with perfect ease, "this place is so dead. We might as well be guarding a hunk of rock."
"Yeah," X sighed dreamily, "I wish these days would never end."

Zero gave up on his chipper friend and stalked gloomily beside him. Things were so boring since they had last defeated Sigma. It almost been a month since he had fought a Maverick, and the lack of violence and destruction was getting to him.

Suddenly, the radio transmitter beeped, snapping X out of his trance-like state, "X, this is Dr. Cain. Are you there, X?"
"X here, Dr. Cain."
"Hurry back to Headquarters. There’s some Maverick activity near Elysia."
"I’ll be there, Doc."
X sighed. "And I thought this would be a good day. Let’s go, Zero."

Zero’s eyes lit up at the mention of Mavericks. So it might be a little immoral to be so happy when people could be suffering, but hey, it’s sure gonna be fun. He set up the co-ordinates for the transporters and in a second, the two of them were gone.


Zero dashed ahead of X through the corridors of MHHQ. X dragged himself behind his eager partner. A streak of red and gold burst through the meeting room door and halted directly in front of Dr. Cain.

"Trouble with the Mavericks, Doc?"
"Yes, but there’s something more worrying this time," Dr. Cain started to pace the room. X gloomily walked through the door. "Thank you for coming, X. I’m afraid this isn’t just another random Maverick attack. They seem to have some kind of plan." A large map flashed up on a screen, "as you can see, they have set up camp near Elysia. I fear that they plan to capture the city or hold it hostage. Reports so far state that they are merely occupying the area, but in their position, they could easily block the only road to the island. Attempts to infiltrate their camp has failed because of a strong forcefield they had set up. Somehow, the Mavericks have gained a lot of technology, and have probably grown a lot stronger."

Zero listened attentively. Sounds like they had some real trouble on their hands, and he couldn’t wait to squash it into a pulp. X, however, was worried. He remembered how hard the fight with Sigma was. If the Mavericks had advanced their technology, there was no way to tell how strong they were now. Dr. Cain finished his briefing.

Onwards to Chapter Two
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