Mega Man X: Command Mission

Mega Man X: Command Mission, known as Rockman X Command Mission (ロックマンXコマンドミッション) in Japan, is a spin-off game in the Mega Man X series. It was released in 2004 on both the PlayStation 2 and the Nintendo GameCube, making it the second-to-last game in the Mega Man X series to be released. Unique to the series, it is an RPG featuring turn-based combat and an extensive story. It plays quite similarly to Capcom's signature Breath of Fire series in a number of ways, due to the shared development team. Chronologically, it is currently the Mega Man X game set furthest in the future, taking place sometime in the twenty-third century (22XX time period); however, it is also set in an alternate timeline outside of the main storyline of the Mega Man series.

Prologue
In the year 22XX AD, a mysterious mineral known as Force Metal was extracted from the fragments of a meteor that landed in the Pacific Ocean. Technology based on the metal revolutionized the field of Reploid engineering. The Federation built Giga City, an artificial island, near the meteor site for the explicit purpose of mining and smelting Force Metal.

Everything seemed to go well, until a band of renegade Reploids armed themselves and launched a rebellion on the island. They banished all humans and demanded that the government recognize Giga City as an independent Reploid state. This new Rebellion Army and its leader, Epsilon, were all branded Mavericks for this deed.

After the first team of Maverick Hunters was annihilated or otherwise subdued by the Rebellion Army, Colonel Redips sent in a special team composed of X, Zero, and Shadow. If they failed their mission - arrest Epsilon and quell the Reploid insurrection - the Federation would have no choice but to declare all-out war on Giga City and the Rebellion Army.

Chapter 1: Infiltrate Giga City!
X, Zero, and Shadow teleport to the outskirts of Giga City to investigate an energy reading in the Lagrano Ruins. The trio are separated by a mysterious explosion, but they continue towards the top of the structure. X and Zero meet up near the top when they are suddenly attacked by Hippopressor, which they destroy. Upon making it to the roof, X and Zero find Shadow faced with Epsilon. They begin to arrest Epsilon, but Shadow turns on them, revealing his true allegiance to the Rebellion Army. The Rebellion cadres - Scarface, Botos, and Ferham - also reveal themselves, and the Hunters realize that they've been led into an ambush. Zero attempts to strike Epsilon, but is overpowered and sent flying by the cadres attacks. Now alone, X finds himself with no other choice but to flee, leaping off the roof and into a chasm below. Ferham begins to give chase, but Epsilon stops her, well-aware that X will return.

Chapter 2: Recapture Central Tower!
X awakens in a place called New Hope. A Reploid explains that it's a hideout for the Resistance, a small movement fighting the Rebellion Army's control of Giga City. X learns that the Resistance's leader, Chief R, is being held hostage in the Central Tower above them. X contacts Colonel Redips and informs him of Shadow's betrayal, but the transmission cuts out before he can receive further instruction, so he decides to go free Chief R.

On his way to Central Tower, X is attacked by a rowdy Reploid who wants the Rebellion's bounty on X. However, the Reploid is suddenly destroyed by stranger named Spider. He clarifies that he is a bounty hunter who also wants to turn X in to the Rebellion. After a short scuffle, sirens go off and guards begin encroaching, so both X and Spider part ways and flee.

X enters Central Tower and meets Aile, a member of the Resistance. Aile gives X his ID lens to allow entry to the Governor's Precinct, where Chief R is being held. Rebellion forces then arrive, and Aile sacrifices himself in an explosion to let X escape. X resolves to honor Aile's sacrifice. Meanwhile, the leader of the Rebellion operations in Central Tower, Wild Jango, meets with Spider to discuss payment for X's defeat. Spider then ambushes X and quickly gains the upper hand, but knocks Aile's ID loose in the process. After listening to him explain Aile's sacrifice, Spider is touched and decides to help X instead, running off to keep some guards busy. X uses Spider's sudden cooperation to reach Chief R, freeing him.



However, Wild Jango contacts Chief R and X, showing them he has beaten Spider and set the Central Tower to explode in a time bomb. X rushes to the Command Room and successfully defuses the bomb, then heads for the helipad to stop Jango's escape. X is overpowered by Jango, but fortunately Spider arrives to give backup. Together, X and Spider destroy Jango, freeing Central Tower from Rebellion control. Spider explains that he is a former friend of Aile's, and that he couldn't help but aid the Resistance upon learning his friend gave his life for it.

Chapter 3: The Paper Hero
Chief R orders X and Spider to infiltrate a Force Metal mine that the Rebellion has converted into a POW camp. There they can rescue some Resistance soldiers, especially the skilled navigator Nana. X and Spider head to Tianna Camp, where they stumble upon the supposed hero Steel Massimo. He hesitates, but agrees to help them free the POWs. Meanwhile, the Rebellion general Silver Horn sadistically taunts Nana.

While freeing the POWs, the team rescues Nana as well. Massimo asks her about any record of a "Steel Massimo" at the camp, and she reveals that one was registered ten days ago and recently executed. Spider assumes it was a mistake in the system, but after continuing through the camp, X notices Massimo has disappeared. Nana calls and explains that he is likely not really Steel Massimo. Elsewhere, Massimo meets with the real Steel Massimo, who is chained to a wall and heavily mutilated. He explains that he gave Massimo his armor and identity out of trust, before passing away.



X and Spider meet back up with Massimo. Before they can talk to him about his identity, they suddenly hear Nana's scream down a nearby hall, and rush to find her. The party finds Nana at the mercy of Silver Horn, who is punishing her for defiance. Silver Horn notices Massimo and begins describing how he mutilated the old Massimo in excruciating detail. The new Massimo is infuriated by his remarks and punches him to the ground. After the trio destroys Silver Horn, Massimo tries to reveal his true identity, but X and Spider shrug it off and encourage him to join the Resistance.

Chapter 4: Gaudile Laboratory
Chief R and Nana explain that they require the aid of a scientist called Prof. Gaudile. However, Gaudile has holed himself up in a heavily-fortified laboratory and will not be easy to convince. They decide to infiltrate the lab in order to get to him before the Rebellion does. Upon arrival, X, Spider, and Massimo immediately find themselves under attack by Gaudile's guards. They destroy them and continue - however, with the guards now gone, another intruder named Marino sneaks in too.



X's party then stumbles upon Dr. Psyche, who has come to recruit Gaudile to the Rebellion. Dr. Psyche sends soldiers at them while he escapes deeper into the lab. Meanwhile, Marino breaks into a room where she finds a Reploid named Cinnamon. She asks Cinnamon where the "Force Metal Generator" is, planning to steal the device, and Cinnamon naively agrees to show her.

Elsewhere, Gaudile continues to refuse to join Dr. Psyche. Psyche threatens to steal the Force Metal Generator if he does not cooperate, opening up a camera feed to Cinnamon's room. Upon seeing Marino, however, he begins to panic that someone else got to her first. Cinnamon reveals the Force Metal Generator hidden in her body to Marino, who smirks and explains that she is going to steal her.

X's party finds Gaudile, who explains that Dr. Psyche plans to kidnap Cinnamon. They head to Cinnamon's room, but find it empty. Meanwhile, Marino is violently defeated by Dr. Psyche and his guards, shocking Cinnamon. She rushes to Marino's aid and heals her using the Force Metal Generator, impressing Psyche. He then takes her away.

X and the others make their way through the Eternal Forest and find Marino. They wake her up and tell her they're going after Psyche, which is all she needs to hear. With Marino now on their side, the party finally confronts Dr. Psyche. He fights them himself, even taking on an advanced form called Mad Nautilus, but is ultimately defeated. Gaudile thanks X for saving Cinnamon but still refuses to help the Resistance. However, Cinnamon expresses her desire to join the Resistance, which convinces Gaudile to join after all. Marino is encouraged to join them as well.

Chapter 5: Maverick Hunters Join Forces
Gaudile reconfigures the Central Tower's transmitter, allowing X to contact Colonel Redips again. Redips tells X that they found Zero's signal at Point A6 before the message cuts out again. Nana pinpoints the location as Ulfat Factory, and Chief R orders the team to find Zero.

When the party arrives at the factory; Marino notes that security will be tight due to the presence of another intruder, likely Zero. After searching the factory for a while, a mysterious Reploid calls out to X. He reveals himself to be Axl in disguise, impressing Spider with his copy ability. Axl explains that he came to Giga City looking for clues about his past, having heard that similar Reploids originated from the island. He agrees to help find Zero.

As the party moves through the factory, they find bodies with slash marks. They deduce it to be Zero's doing. Meanwhile, Zero breaks into a control room, confronting the Rebellion member Mach Jentra. X's party continues to follow the trail of destruction, eventually finding Zero being overpowered by Mach Jentra. X and Axl rush to Zero's aid, forcing Jentra to retreat. X and Zero then share a heartfelt reunion. However, soon after, an alert goes off announcing the activation of something called Duboar. The group finds Mach Jentra in front of a large structure. Jentra reveals that it is Duboar, a machine built for mass-production of soldiers for the Rebellion. He then attacks the heroes alongside Duboar's creations, but is defeated. Before his death, Jentra reveals that Duboar will go berserk without his control, and it starts constantly spewing dangerous Rebellion soldiers. After fighting waves of soldiers, Axl gets the idea to copy Mach Jentra's form and use it to order Duboar to stop. Axl's plan succeeds, allowing X and Zero to destroy the machine. Zero is excited that the Maverick Hunter dream-team of himself, X, and Axl is reunited. However, he is irked when X offers to introduce him to the Resistance.

Chapter 6: The Meaning of Friendship
Zero is not impressed with the Resistance, deeming them "the dregs of Giga City." Still raw over Shadow's betrayal, Zero refuses to trust them and storms out to work alone. Colonel Redips contacts X, delivering a photograph of a secret Rebellion research facility. Nana begins to decode the image, but says it will take some time before she can pinpoint its location. As X steps out of the Command Room, he notices a strange light around the corner. He turns to find Spider, who brushes it off.

Nana finishes decoding the image, discerning its location in Gimialla Mine. The party teleports to Gimialla Mine to investigate the Rebellion's research projects. Eventually, they come across Shadow. He assumes they came to steal the Rebellion's Supra-Force Metal. Shadow then attacks using a fragment of Supra-Force Metal, surprising them with his strength. He moves to finish X, but is interrupted by the sudden arrival of Zero, who fights alongside X and his friends to defeat Shadow.

With Shadow beaten, Zero turns to speak with X. However, Shadow fires one last-ditch attack at him from behind - surprisingly, Spider jumps in the way before counter-attacking to destroy Shadow for good. Zero is touched by Spider's selfless act and says he's gained his respect. X tells Spider to wait behind due to his injury, but Spider insists on coming with them to learn more about Supra-Force Metal.



X's party enters a control room, where they find the Rebellion member Incentas. He is surprised but not disappointed that they destroyed Shadow. He then announces they've fallen right into a trap, as he locks the room and explains there is no Supra-Force Metal left in the mine. A battle breaks out, but Incentas is beaten. Unwilling to accept defeat, Incentas sets the room to self-destruct to take the heroes with him. Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Spider tackles Incentas and drags him in front of the locked door, deciding to detonate himself along with Incentas to blow open an escape. His sacrifice pays off, and the group manages to escape to safety. X and the others are touched by Spider's sacrifice, especially Zero, who pleads for forgiveness and asks to officially join the Resistance.

Chapter 7: Block Transmissions!
X attempts to report to Colonel Redips about the Supra-Force Metal, but finds the signals are still jammed. Nana finds a way to eliminate the Rebellion's interference: going to the Vanallia Desert and manually disabling the jamming equipment. X's party heads to the Vanallia Desert, where they find the main unit hidden in the sandstorm. However, they are intercepted by the Rebellion cadre Ferham, who knocks X into quicksand to stop them. Zero grabs onto X and Massimo, stopping them from sinking, and is whipped by Ferham. X urges Zero to let go and to fight Ferham, but he refuses to abandon them, and they all sink under. Luckily, the group hits solid ground below and is able to find their way into an underground facility. They begin to explore the caverns, searching for a way to disable the jamming equipment above. Rebellion cadre Botos notices X's presence and is contacted by Scarface, who orders him to finish off X's team where Ferham failed.

X and the party find the controls to the jamming device, successfully disabling it. In response, Botos issues them a challenge to meet him in battle upstairs. The team confronts Botos, who shows them his fragment of Supra-Force Metal and attacks using it. Despite the power-up, the team is still able to defeat him, and he drops his Supra-Force Metal as a result. Botos then flees, allowing X to finally retrieve a fragment of Supra-Force Metal.

Chapter 8: The Ultimate Weapon
Gaudile analyzes the Supra-Force Metal, deducing that it was made by combining many pieces of Force Metal, and the one place with that much Force Metal available is the Melda Ore Plant. The team decides to head there next. Scarface and Ferham are then seen in the Melda Ore Plant, discussing Ferham's failed attempt to kill X's party in Vanallia Desert. He offers to fight them for her, but she insists that she'll do it right this time.

X finds a large structure of some kind within the plant, but can't tell what it is due to how small the window is. Gaudile tells them to take some photos to parse together what it is. After doing so, Gaudile comes to the conclusion that it must be a giant Supra-Force Metal-powered warhead. He claims that its explosion could spread interference so potent it would drive all Reploids in the northern hemisphere Maverick.

As the party explores the plant, they run into Botos again. He explains that the warhead's Supra-Force Metal payload is locked, and that only the Rebellion cadres carry the two keys. They fight Botos for his key, but he flees before they can beat him, so X decides to go look for the other key instead. X's group comes across Ferham in the missile silo, who challenges them to a battle. They defeat her, but she falls down to the bottom of the silo, forcing the team to run down several floors to get the key. While Ferham lays defeated at the bottom, she is approached by Botos. He lies, telling her he has orders from Epsilon to take the missile's Supra-Force Metal, and steals her key before leaving her to die. X finds Ferham, badly damaged, and she explains that Botos stole her key. Meanwhile, Botos has already made it to the payload to steal the Supra-Force Metal for himself. However, he is ambushed by a mysterious individual, who appears to be Spider. When X's party returns to the top of the silo, they find Botos dead and the Supra-Force Metal missing from the warhead. Confused, they head back to base empty-handed.

Chapter 9: When Giants Duel
X contacts Colonel Redips, having come to the conclusion that the Rebellion must have relocated the missile's Supra-Force Metal. Redips offers to lead a unit into Giga City himself to help find it, but his message is interrupted by an alarm. The party heads outside to find Scarface, who has brazenly come to their front door to challenge them to a duel, believing that they stole the warhead's Supra-Force Metal. They defeat Scarface, and he retreats.

Upon returning to the Command Room, X learns that Nana managed to trace Scarface's escape route. By doing this, she uncovered the location of the Rebellion Army's hideout, situated in the Grave Ruins Base. The team teleports after Scarface to finish the civil war once and for all. After traversing the harsh security protocols, X and the others confront Epsilon in his throne room. Epsilon reveals that he still has Supra-Force Metal within his own body. X fires a shot at Epsilon, but Scarface leaps in the way. Scarface tries to convince Epsilon to flee and let the Rebellion live another day, taking on the party himself. However, he is defeated and destroyed. Epsilon admires Scarface's sacrifice, but refuses to run, claiming that a fight is inevitable. Epsilon then battles X and his party, but he too is defeated. Epsilon attempts to get one last attack in, but X destroys him with a well-placed charge shot.

As if on cue, Colonel Redips enters the room to congratulate them. X gives him the Supra-Force Metal from Epsilon's body, and Redips orders the Maverick Hunters to return to Central Tower to be picked up by aircraft.

Chapter 10: In the Name of JUSTICE
The Resistance heads to the Central Tower helipad, where they see a Federation aircraft coming to retrieve the Maverick Hunters. Chief R waves to the craft, but is suddenly gunned down by its turret. Drones begin to rain down, opening fire on the rest of the Resistance who have no choice but to fight back. Meanwhile, Colonel Redips makes a broadcast about the mission in Giga City. He claims that X and the Resistance conspired with the Rebellion Army to gain Supra-Force Metal, and that they have all been swiftly dealt with.

X and the team make it to Far East HQ, where Redips is stationed. They are confused and hurt by this sudden betrayal, and resolve to personally confront him on the matter by infiltrating the headquarters. Upon entering, the party encounters what appears to be Wild Jango. They defeat him, and Axl deduces that Jango was actually another Reploid using a copy ability. The party fights their way through the headquarters, battling copied Rebellion members and Federation troops alike. As a final challenge, they are confronted with Depth Dragoon, a fellow Maverick Hunter loyal to Redips. He fights to test X, Zero, and Axl's "Class S" status, and they destroy him and move on.

Finally, X and the others encounter Colonel Redips in his office. He reveals his intention to rule the world and engages them in battle. After his defeat, Redips reveals that he possesses a copy ability like Axl's, and that he had secretly been with the group for a large portion of the story as Spider. Redips also reveals that he intends to merge with the Supra-Force Metal he's gathered - the piece stolen from the warhead and the piece taken from Epsilon. He then retreats to the Orbital Elevator Babel to begin the fusion. X's party pursues Redips, and find him hooked up to a large machine with the two Supra-Force Metal pieces. He transforms, becoming a massive monster called Great Redips, who easily overpowers the heroes and appears to be undefeatable. However, Ferham suddenly appears and baits him into attacking his own Supra-Force Metal, knocking one of the pieces loose. With Great Redips weakened, X's party is able to finally defeat him.

Redips reverts to his original form. He berates the heroes for their unwillingness to evolve using Supra-Force Metal before dying. Ferham appears holding the Supra-Force Metal and apologizes to X for all the trouble she caused before leaping off the elevator, planning to self-destruct. The elevator then begins to crumble, forcing them to get inside to survive the fall back to Earth. Meanwhile, Nana watches from the Earth as Ferham destroys the Supra-Force Metal, creating a shower of aurora as it hits the atmosphere. Elsewhere, the heroes exit the fallen elevator, having landed in the middle of the ocean.

In epilogue narration, it is revealed that due to Colonel Redips' treason being unveiled to the public, Epsilon was posthumously cleared of his Maverick status, and peace returned to Giga City.

Main characters
Playable characters:
 * Mega Man X (with New Armor)
 * Zero
 * Axl
 * Spider
 * Steel Massimo
 * Marino
 * Cinnamon

Non-playable characters:
 * Chief R
 * Nana
 * Professor Gaudile
 * Aile

Bosses

 * Hippopressor
 * Shadow

Rebellion Army
 * Wild Jango
 * Silver Horn
 * Dr. Psyche
 * Mach Jentra
 * Incentas

Rebellion Cadres
 * Botos
 * Ferham
 * Scarface
 * Epsilon

Far East HQ
 * Depth Dragoon
 * Colonel Redips

Secret Bosses
 * Rafflesian
 * Duckbill Mole
 * Ninetails

Locations

 * Giga City
 * Lagrano Ruins
 * Central Tower
 * Tianna Camp
 * Gaudile Laboratory
 * Ulfat Factory
 * Gimialla Mine
 * Vanallia Desert
 * Melda Ore Plant
 * Grave Ruins Base
 * Far East HQ
 * Babel

Gallery

 * For this subject's image gallery, see Mega Man X: Command Mission/Gallery

Trivia

 * Redips's name was misspelled as "Rideps" in the instruction manual.


 * In an early version of the game, X had his usual blue armor with bright colors instead of the new exclusive armor from the final version.


 * This is the only game in the Mega Man X series (so far) without Sigma making a major appearance. However, Sigma's previous English voice actor Dave Pettitt performs the role of Epsilon in this game.
 * Sigma shows up alongside "Red" on the green monitors of the opening cutscene, which shows some scenes from the Mega Man X7 ending.
 * This is also the only game in the Mega Man X series (so far) that does not feature any Light Capsules, thus also making this game the only one in the series to lack Dr. Light.


 * While not the first in the franchise to be a role-playing game (MegaMan Battle Network being an action RPG), Mega Man X Command Mission was the first (and only) RPG in the X series and in the continuity altogether (as the Battle Network/Star Force series is set in an entirely separate timeline).


 * The background music used during Lagrano Ruins (where Epsilon and other Rebellion members were created) is a remix of the theme used during one of Axl's cutscenes in Mega Man X7, when he reveals to Zero the reason he left Red Alert is his A-Trans copy ability.


 * This is the only game in the X series (so far) that does not feature X's Variable Weapon System. On a related note, Zero's techniques aren't learned normally by defeating bosses.
 * Ironically, the closest to the Variable Weapon System is Axl's Transformation attack, which lets Axl use boss abilites, even though in past games Axl couldn't transform into bosses.


 * Concept art for the game suggests that Mega Man and Cut Man were at one point planned to appear in the game; however, they were removed or left out of the overall game for unknown reasons.
 * However, having a save file on the memory card from the PlayStation 2 version of Mega Man X: Command Mission allows for Cut Man to be fought as a hidden mini-boss in Mega Man X8.