"Ouch! What the hell are you doing,
putting more bullets in the wound?" Andrea said as Robert probed for the
bullets, and fragments in her arm and shoulder wounds.
"If you're going to bitch this much, I
could just let Jon take over, he removed a bullet from himself with his teeth
once." Robert said as he found the first bullet, but cursed, the bullet was
fragmented.
"You took a bullet out with your teeth?
What the hell were you thinking?" Andrea asked as Jon poured her another
shot of whiskey to help combat the pain.
"It was a big round, 7.56 mm, it pierced
my flak jacket, I didn't want that thing bouncing around in me, so I took it out
with my teeth." Jon said
"Got it, but we've got fragments,
probably 3 or 4, this is going to hurt, a lot." Robert said as he picked
the first bullet out with the tweezers, and set it in a small dish that he had
set out for the fragments.
"That asshole must have been using frag
rounds, those things fragment like crazy on impact." Jon said as Robert
probed, and Andrea bit her lip while he worked.
"I hate those things, remember when we
had something like 19 fragments in us from four rounds?" Robert said as he
picked out the first fragment, remembering the short-term distribution of
bullets that fragmented considerably upon impact, ripping through one�s
insides.
"That was not fun."
Jon remarked grimacing of old times before they had ever become
superhuman as Max came in.
"What the hell happened?" Max asked
accusingly, wondering why Robert was picking bullets out of her sister.
"Andrea was out for a run, she ran into
an X5, he decided he wanted to get credit for bringing you all in, she gave him
a broken arm and concussion for his trouble, but he repaid her with two .45
rounds." Robert said as he plucked out a fragment.
"You couldn't dodge them?" Max asked
as Andrea winced as Robert plucked out a third fragment.
"He emptied the entire clip, plus that
revved-up Manticore reflexes helped him shoot, I made it back here, though, how
do the wounds look?" Andrea asked as she winced with pain yet again as
Robert picked the last fragment out of her shoulder.
"Not bad, I just checked your arm, you're
quite lucky, the bullet didn't fragment, then we stitch it up, Manticore
genetics should guarantee fast recovery, I don't expect to see a scar
either." Robert said as he probed the wound on her arm.
"That's good, OW! Dammit, what the hell
are you doing?" Andrea said as Robert plunged the tweezers into her arm.
"Picking the damn bullet out, it's stuck
in a muscle, it's tricky, but� Got it!" Robert said as he triumphantly
picked the bullet out, and set it in a small dish.
"Does anyone around here know how to
stitch up a wound like this, the last time I stitched myself up, I ripped the
stitching five minutes later." Robert said as he set the tweezers down, and
looked around.
"Tell me that you aren't going to try and
stitch me up if no one else can, I don't need the extra damage to my body."
Andrea said grimacing as a fresh wave of pain ripped through her.
"I'm getting better at it, it's not like
that your own body wouldn�t heal up quickly anyways, X5�s don�t heal like
Jon and I do, but its still far faster than standard human recovery rates."
Robert said as he casually observed her got shot up and still looks pretty
damn good.
"I'll do it, I found something
interesting in the Manticore files, why don't you two check it out while I
finish up here?" Logan said as he got out the needle and surgical thread
from the first aid kit.
"We'll do that, just make sure you do a
tight stitching, those are some nasty wounds." Robert said as he walked
with Jon into Logan's temporary computer shop.
"I will, just make sure you shut down
Lydecker soon, so we don't have to this again." Logan said as he started
stitching Andrea's shoulder.
"We will, just patch Andrea up, we'll be
done with all of this soon enough." Robert said as he walked into the
temporary computer lab.
"Holy shit, they got another X5, they'll
be making a stopover here before they go to Fort Xavier, we can bag the convoy
there." Robert said as he read the screen.
"Isn't it convenient that this convoy is
in such a prime position to get blasted by us, come on, they are fucking tossing
this one at us, it's a trap." Jon said, doubtful.
"Even if they have fifty men, we've got
more than enough guns and explosives to take care of things, I say go for it, at
worst, we're gone two hours." Robert said, dismissing Jon's doubts.
"I guess, Lydecker may just want to move
the kid to a place where he can keep an eye on him, I guess we should check it,
but let's break out the heavy stuff." Jon said as they got up, making the
decision to go, and heading towards his stack of guns.
"We're going to check that apparent X5
transfer out, we'll pack heavy, we're expecting heavy resistance, and a
trap." Jon said as he picked up two long cases and opened them.
"I saved these just in case, H&K
PSG-1's, they are roughly 8 kilos in weight, twenty-round 7.56 mm magazines,
range of 600 meters, should do well, we can ambush them with these things."
Jon said as he picked one up and handed it to Robert.
"Good, we could use long-range firepower
for something like this, are you done with the UMP .45's yet?" Robert said
as he replaced it back in the weapons case.
"Done, eight mags for each of us, plus
the one in the gun, fifty rounds apiece, we'll need our coats and flak jackets
though." Jon said as he put his rifle back in the box as well, and put it
in the back of the BMW X5.
"Flak jackets, I thought you two were
invincible?" Said Max as she sat there with Andrea, her shoulder and arm
were now stitched and bandaged.
"It's still nice not to be hit at all, we
have a heavy layer behind the front to stop the rounds, the outer part and sides
are to hold magazines and other equipment. It's still quite a good flak jacket,
we just use it more for equipment then saving our asses, but they are big, so we
can hold lot's of equipment, this would be a elephant skin on a small dog for
you." Robert said as he shucked on and clipped the flak jacket on, and
loaded clips for his pistols and magazines for his shotgun into the pockets, and
four napalm devices.
"You two are going to attack a military
convoy that may or may not be handling one of our siblings, all alone?"
Zack said, wondering if they were planning at all.
"Hardly, we intend to eliminate them from
a distance, hence the H&K PSG-1's, if it does get close in, I have my
H&K CAWs, Jon has his USAS-12, and the UMP .45s. We are quite accomplished
in hand-to-hand combat, don't worry about us, just make sure you stay safe while
we're gone, Lydecker would be quite daring about attacking without us around.
We're leaving you some guns, some H&K USP Tacticals, some MP5ks, and a
Mossberg 590, stay safe, we'll be back soon enough." Jon said, as he loaded
a drum into his USAS-12, the weapon had been called unreliable by some, but he
had modified it enough for him to trust it in combat.
"Why don't we come with you, it's our
sibling at stake, why should we trust you two not to get our own brother or
sister killed during your attack?" Zack said accusingly.
"Because we're better shots, we can
survive large amounts of damage, and you two should keep an eye on Andrea, we'll
be back soon enough." Robert said as he loaded magazines for his UMP .45
into pockets in his coat, they flapped down, so they would not fall out in
combat.
"I see, but if you get our brother, or
sister, whoever they are, hurt or killed, it will be on your heads." Zack
said.
"Don't lecture me on my responsibilities,
I've been in much worse situations than this, I will get your sibling, get out,
and be back here soon, Lydecker will have his message soon enough." Robert
said as he strapped on his weapons holsters, and checked his weapons.
"Fine, just make sure you get back here
fast, Lydecker is turning the entire fucking city upside-down to find us."
Andrea said as she brought herself up to a sitting position on the table, but
winced with pain stay alive out there, so we can have a chance one day.
"Trust me, this will all be over soon
enough, than you three can get back to your lives, some more exciting than
others." Jon said, nodding to Max and Logan as he put on his silver
mirrored glasses, he noticed a bit of rage coming from Zack, thanks to his amped-up
nose, horny little bastard he thought.
"We're going now, we'll see you later,
but be prepared for anything, Lydecker may be on the verge of finding this
place." Robert said as he and Jon got into the BMW X5 and rode off.
"Take care of yourself out there."
Andrea said to herself, hoping Robert was not just doing this for his
all-consuming crusade, but to just help some kids.
"Great, just fucking great, our main
attack group is out, Andrea's injured, if Lydecker storms this place, it's up to
Max and I to stop them." Zack says as he muses to himself.
"Quit thinking about it, you're not a CO,
you're a 22-year old genetically enhanced prototype who thinks like a soldier,
you're not one." Andrea replied.
"Great, now you're being corrupted by
outside sources, Max has already taken some of that phoney sentimentality
bullshit, what's next?" Zack snaps back.
"That would be me telling you to fuck
off, if you ever find love, let me know, maybe then you won't find it as phoney
sentimentality." Max replies, cutting him from berating Andrea any further.
"I can't believe you two, Lydecker's out
to can our asses and you two are trying to score boyfriends!" Zack yelled
out.
"Fuck off, you can leave Seattle right
now if you want, but you want to make sure whoever Robert and Jon pickup is
okay, then haul them off to Canada." Andrea said, glaring at him.
"I'll be practising some fighting skills,
and Max, if I were you, I'd give up that fear of guns before it gets you
killed." Zack said as he walked off to the sparring area.
"Little problem with your CO?" Logan
said walking in with Bling.
"A bit, he's stressing over the whole
situation, we tell him to cool it, he blows up, the regular." Max said.
"You may want to think about what he may
do, he may just have the balls to try and steer any vehicle the three of you are
in to the Canadian border." Logan said.
"That's why we're not letting him drive,
you need something?" Max said, giving him a devilish smile.
"As tempting as the offer is, a friend of
mine has some information on the base where Lydecker is working out of, I have
to go meet him." Logan replied.
"What if it's a trap by Lydecker to grab
you and pump you for our location, it sounds quite suspicious to me, and I've
grown rather attached to you." Max said as he gave her a quick kiss.
"I use keywords that sound 100% innocent
and easily insertable into any conversation, if they were being pressured, I
know, and I call in help for them. He used none of the keywords, it's safe, but
I'm being prepared nonetheless." Logan said, drawing back his leather
jacket, revealing a holstered FN Five-seveN.
"Just make sure it takes care of you, I
intend for you to come back in one piece, and to infuriate Kendra with a new
record." Max said as she slipped a hand under his shirt and stroked his
chest.
"I'm sure, I'll be back soon, just stay
safe, Lydecker's people could be anywhere." Logan replied as he pried her
hand out from his shirt and then kissed her palm.
"Hey Logan, are we going today or
what?" Bling said from the other side of the Aztek.
Sheepishly, Logan smiled and gave Max one last
kiss before they got in and rode off as well, leaving the X5's to fend for
themselves.
*********
"Repeat, that is confirmed, both vehicles
have left the building, Trackers and other people have been identified, but
targets remain, green-light on operation snare." Reported one observer into
his Tac radio.
"Excellent, my kids are on their way,
maintain observation, inform if either vehicle returns." Lydecker's voice
crackled through the Tac radio.
"Yes sir, we will continue watch."
The agent reported back.
********
"We have them, go now, bring them back,
we have two armoured prisoner transports to carry the targets and yourselves,
get in and out in thirty minutes, no less." Lydecker told his kids.
"Is it confirmed that the Trackers are
away, and are at a safe distance for us to execute this operation?" Asked
Emily.
"It is, they took the bait, we will pin
them down long enough for you to complete this operation." Lydecker
replied.
"Control weapons, lethal weapons, or
hand-to-hand?" Asked Sam.
"Control, and hand-to-hand, use
tranquillisers we've issued to you, and restraining harnesses we will issue you,
they'll break out of anything standard" Lydecker said as he pointed to a
rack of equipment at the back of the room.
"Now go, before those two realise we
scammed them, and they just lost the X5's under their protection." Lydecker
said as the kids grabbed the equipment and filed out of the room.
It's
time to come home, you've been away to long, you need help, we can
train
you again, make you what you were. Lydecker thought as paced back and forth through the
briefing room.
********
"What do you have in the CD player?"
Robert asked as they drove on.
"Metallica, Master of Puppets." Jon
replied as he drove the vehicle at top speed.
"Put it on, I need to hear that."
Robert said as they drove.
"It's the right music, I'll skip to an
appropriate track." Jon said as he hit the player, striking up the tune
Disposable Heroes.
Bodies fill the fields I see, hungry heroes end
No one to play soldier now, no to pretend
Running blind through killing fields, bred to kill
them all
Victim of what should not be
A servant 'til I fall
Soldier boy, made of clay
Now an empty shell
Twenty one, only son
But he served us well
Bred to kill, not to care
Do just as we say
Finished here, greetings death
He's yours to take away
Back to the front
You will do what I say, when I say
Back to the front
You will die when I say, you must die
Back to the front
You coward
You servant
You blindman
Barking of machinegun fire, does nothing to me now
Sounding of the clock that ticks, get used to it
Somehow
More of a man, more stripes you bare, glory seeker
Trends
Bodies fill the fields I see
The slaughter never ends
Soldier boy, made of clay
Now an empty shell
Twenty one, only son
But he served us well
Bred to kill, not to care
Do just as we say
Finished here, greetings death
He's yours to take away
Back to the front
You will do what I say, when I say
Back to the front
You will die when I say, you must die
Back to the front
You coward
You servant
You blindman
Why am I dying?
Kill, have no fear
Lie, live of lying
Hell, hell is here
I was born for dying
Life planned out before my birth, nothing could I say
Had no chance to see myself, moulded day by day
Looking back I realise, nothing have I done
Left to die with only friend
Alone I clenched my gun
Soldier boy, made of clay
Now an empty shell
Twenty one, only son
But he served us well
Bred to kill, not to care
Do just as we say
Finished here, greetings death
He's yours to take away
Back to the front
You will do what I say, when I say
Back to the front
You will die when I say, you must die
Back to the front
You coward
You servant
You blindman
Back to the front
Ah
yes, what an appropriate tune for Jon and I, we're soldiers, and we died
countless times in a sense, but that's hardly the way to plan for an operation. Robert
thought as they continued to ride along, as they neared their objective. It took
them another ten minutes to reach their destination, they arrived 400 meters
from where the convoy had stopped, a small area, heavily wooded.
Robert and Jon removed the H&K PSG-1's
from the back, and moved to take aim, finding an ideal sniper location in the
area, with an unobstructed view. They sighted in on two of the guards, and
pulled the trigger. Both guards never saw it coming as a 7.62 mm NATO round
buried itself right into their brains, killing them. Their companions were
shocked, looking for the source of the fire, but Robert and Jon simply sighted
in two more times each, blasting four more men down. The remaining Tac members
got behind cover, making it hard for Robert and Jon to acquire targets, three
men made the mistake of looking above, they all lost the ability to do anything
else, permanently. Sick of waiting for their shots, the two of them charged the
line, sixteen men were there, and blasted away with their guns, mostly MP5's,
but the blast of Mossberg 590's were heard over the gunfire as well.
"Try and hit something dumbass!" Jon
said as he lifted his FN FNC out of his jacket and fired, dropping two men with
controlled bursts.
Robert spun behind a nearby tree, shots carved
it, but he came around and using his incredible aim, dropped three men with
precise three-round bursts from his H&K UMP .45. He moved fast now, dodging
between trees and closed with the main group, leaping over the Hummer they had
used as cover previously, and landed in the midst of six men. He kicked back
immediately, nailing one man in the chest, sending him flying. A quick blow from
his elbow knocked down another guard, with missing teeth. The third and fourth
Tac officers tried to bring their guns to bear, but a quick roundhouse kick
nailed them both. The fifth man was about to bring the shotgun into line with
his opponent when a flash of metal appeared, and a knife was buried in his neck.
The sixth man was equally unlucky, as he fired off nearly his entire magazine
into Robert, but Robert let it run off like rain as he blasted him back with two
solid blows to the head that knocked him out cold.
Jon had moved to close quarters with a knot of
five men, shooting two of them before engaging in his deadly hand to hand combat
moves. He moved fast, slicing one man's neck open with a swipe of a long blade,
then quickly delivered a high kick that knocked the second man out. The third
man picked up a rifle and tried to hit Jon's head with the butt of it, Jon
dodged the blow with ease as he spun and snapped his arm around to blast the
soldier in the head with a single blow that knocked him out.
"Shit, can you smell that?" Robert
said as he sniffed the air, but got nothing but blood and the scent of a normal
human.
"No, no I can't, what the fuck�"
Jon said, he was sniffing, but he could not get the familiar smell of an X5.
"Fucking son of a bitch! They tricked us,
this was to buy time for the X5's to grab Max, Andrea and Zack, shit, let's go,
now!" Robert said, and the two burst off to the BMW X5, got in, and
torture-tested the vehicle at maximum speed, heading back to their base.
"It's too late, but we can sure as hell
try, maybe the Deckster got sloppy." Jon said as they rode.
"There is always that hope, but it is a
slim one, let's just hope they didn't blow the fucking place up while they were
at it." Robert said, berating himself for falling for such a cheap con.
They rode like hell, despite the fact that
they knew it was far to late.
********
"Did you hear that?" Max asked
Andrea, they were having tea, sitting, talking, until a scuttle was heard.
"Yes, it sounded like footsteps, on metal
stairs, but Zack was in the weight room, did he move?" Andrea asked,
wondering where the sound was coming from, and who it was coming from.
"I don't know" Max heard it again,
her worst fears were realised as she saw two black forms drop down from the
ceiling to the floor.
"Holy shit, Zack! They're here!" Max
yelled, but she knew it was too late for warnings, she heard a grunt, then a
slump, and knew Zack was gone.
"You might as well surrender now, you're
coming back to Manticore and there is nothing you can do about it." It was
the red-haired man, the one who had never identified himself the other night.
"We'll see about that." Max said as
she charged him, but all she felt was a pain in her side, then saw the
tranquilliser needle, and another X5 standing there, smiling.
"You'll
never �win �I won't �give in." Max said as she collapsed.
"You bastards!" Andrea yelled as she
charged him, but another X5 leapt and kicked her, disabling her, and shot her
with a tranquilliser. "You'll �never make me a �soldier �not
ever." Andrea said as she slumped.
"This was easier than I thought, get the
harnesses on them, before they recover from the darts, then let's go, no idea
when those two may be back." Anthony said as he looked at the crumpled
bodies of Max and Andrea, and smiled.
"Found this one too, seems we've scored a
hat trick, Lydecker will reward us well for this good a bounty." Reported
Emily, as Evan dragged in the sleeping and restrained form of Zack.
"Get them in the trucks, and chain them
in, and go like hell, we're not taking any chances here." Anthony said as
he tied Max into a harness, which was simply a group of titanium chains that
manacled all four limbs at the small of one's back , with a metal collar to hold
the neck back from lunging, preventing any mobility at all.
They moved all three of them into the trucks
and drove off, they had accomplished their objective, with ease and excellent
results.
***********
Robert and Jon arrived less than two minutes
later, they burst out of the SUV, sniffed, but knew the X5's had come and gone,
and it was all their fault, they knew it.
"Fucking Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the 12
Apostles and Buddha for fuck's sake, we just bought a dirt-level scam, and that
fuck Lydecker scores a fucking hat trick!" Robert yelled out, releasing his
anger.
"You think I'm not fucking pissed about
this, if we don't act in the next 48 hours, those three are fucked!" Jon
replied.
"I know, I failed them, I failed
everyone, now I've got to assault a heavily fortified military base, or those
three enjoy 'reconditioning' at Manticore." I'm sorry Andrea, I had to be a hero, now I've fucked you over forever,
if I ever get you out of this, I'll try it, just to make it up to you. Robert
thought as he pulled out his H&K UMP .45, sniffed the air for danger, but
everyone had left, no bombs, no bugs,
we're in the clear he thought.
"You're not the only one who fell for
that, if we do this, we do it together, remember my friend, as Maximus said in
the movie Gladiator "Strength and Honor", we need both, and each
other." Jon said as he laid an arm on Robert' shoulder.
"Great, now we're in really deep
shit." Robert said, Logan's Aztek was pulling in.
"What's going on?" Logan said, he
was looking quite curious.
"It was a fucking trap, they played us
for fucking fools, they grabbed Max, Andrea and Zack, they're probably at
Lydecker's forward base right now. We're going to attack them, it's time we put
ourselves truly to the limit, it's the only way they'll get free, it's our fault
they are there now, we will get them out, or die in the attempt." Robert
said as he berated himself again for falling for such a cheap trick.
"My god, Max, Andrea, Zack, they're gone,
Lydecker has them?" Logan said, aghast, he collapsed into his seat, the
woman he was in love with had finally been caught, and he could do nothing about
it.
"We missed them by minutes, Jon, get the
M-249's out, we need heavy firepower, it's not like we can knock on the front
door." Robert said as he started loading the magazine he had emptied for
his H&K UMP .45 back up.
"You're going to go in, guns blazing, and
expect to get them back out?"
Logan asked.
"If you've got a better idea I'd love to
hear it." Robert said as Jon loaded belt feeds into the M-249 machine guns.
"I can use the Eyes Only network to alter
your military records and generate new ID's for you, you two could pose as
inspectors, much quieter, you could be in and out in twenty minutes." Logan
said, fomenting a plan in his head that would save Max, his desperate mind found
a solution at last.
"If you can do that, good, the sooner the
better, Jon, keep loading up all those weapons, we may still need them, Logan
get to work now, we need to move fast here." Robert said, as he and Jon
continued to work.
Robert picked out more weapons, adding a pair
of H&K USP Tacticals, just in case he needed more guns in a hurry, two more
magazines for his H&K UMP .45. Jon suspected Combat would be indoor, so he
dropped the FN FNC and took the UMP .45 and USAS-12 instead, with a pair of Mk.
23 SOCOM's as backups. They clipped silencers onto their weapons to make sure
their attack was quiet, but if they were forced to use shotguns, it would not
stay quiet for long.
"I have your ID's, your birthdays has
been altered to match physical age, you are now members of the Green Berets,
with your original Captain's ranks." Logan said as he burst out of his
office with their new ID's.
"Good, that should shift enough suspicion
to get us in, we need you to cut power to the base, can you do it, because we're
screwed if you don't." Robert said as he handled his new ID.
"I'll see what I can do, temporary power
down at best, but how will you signal me to cut the power?" Logan said.
"We work on exact time here, I estimate a
fifteen minute drive to the base, a couple minutes to get in, cut the power
exactly 17 minutes after we leave." Jon said as he loaded a drum magazine
into his USAS-12.
"I see, are you two sure you want to
this, I want Max back here, but you two dying out there won't help her. can't
you just wait for a convoy to move them, then hit them,?" Logan asked.
"If Lydecker moves them in a convoy,
he'll have over a hundred men with him, we can't take them all on, this is the
only way, fast and hard." Robert said as he put all the guns into their
holsters and straps, the weight would have worn any normal man, but he was no
ordinary man.
"I guess, I'm going to call some friends
up, arrange to have the stuff moved out of here, do you have a pager or
something to leave the address?" Logan asked.
"We have a voice mailbox set up with our
weapons contacts, the number is 56819245891003, leave a location, we'll be
there, with everyone." Jon said as he holstered all of his weapons.
"Is there any other way you can do this,
any favours you can call in, more people, I feel like I'm sending you to your
deaths." Logan said, as they put on their mirrored sunglasses, their
trademark.
"Worry about what the fuck I'm going to
anyone who gets in the way of my objective." And Andrea, Lydecker, you are a dead man. Robert thought as he and
Jon got in the SUV once again and rode off for what could be the deadliest
assault they ever embarked upon.
********
Max woke up slowly, coming to awareness, she
felt something across her eyes, and discovered she was blindfolded. Blindfolded
and restrained, she was in a chair, with heavy metal cuffs holding her arms
against the armrests and feet against the chair legs.
"It's about time you came home Max, why
did you stay away for so long, you know you could never survive in the outside
world." It was Lydecker's voice, he was starting the entire interrogation
process before he even hauled her to Manticore, she thought.
"I beg to differ, I'm not in Manticore
yet, I've been doing fine for the past ten years, Robert and Jon will be coming
for us, or did you forgot?" Max snapped back.
"Those two are unthinking brutes too
caught up in their own invincibility to be of any consequence, they'll never get
anywhere near you." Lydecker replied.
"They're smarter than you think, and
better, even if they don't get through, they'll take enough of your men that I
could walk out of here blindfolded." Max replied, she could not see him,
but she knew he was looking at her.
"We'll see, you are a soldier, you were
trained as one, you've been on the outside a long time, but you'll turn, like
all the other's, you will realise your roots." Lydecker said, Max heard him
pace around the room.
"Not fucking lightly, I'll move to escape
the first chance I get, you know that." Max replied.
"Try it, security is ten times more
efficient than since you left, you'll never escape, you will give in, like all
your brothers and sisters will." Lydecker replied.
"You son of a bitch, you turn children
into killers, you track people down you used as your lab rats, how the fuck do
you sleep at night." Max lunged, but she never moved two inches, as the
restraints held her back.
"You can't win, your friends will never
get you out and you have no chance of escape, unless you are considering
suicide." Lydecker said hacking away at her argument.
"Remember this moment Lydecker, I will
escape, and you will pay for all your sins, that day is coming." Max said
through gritted teeth.
"I sincerely doubt that, I know what you
can do, but it's no matter, once I've collected the rest of you kids, the X6
will be born, and they will be unstoppable." Lydecker replied.
"If you manage to engineer past the
thousands of flaws that could happen with recombinant DNA techniques, you will
have hundreds of stillbirths before you ever have one X6." Max said,
working against the restraints, but they held her fast.
"Manticore technology has progressed
considerably over the past eleven years, there will be a handful of dead X6's at
best, you can't do anything to stop this from happening." Lydecker said,
smug with his results.
"Don�t think I won't try, you can't
control us, we will escape." Max said through clenched teeth.
"The eight that we recaptured during the
escape said the same thing, but they picked the three of you up quite easily,
they have no qualms against taking their siblings on." Lydecker replied,
voicing his control over the X5's.
"You may have turned them, but they were
children, how do intend to break us down, you trained us to survive
anything." Max replied.
"I did, but so were they, you won't hold
out forever, maybe for a few months, but then you will break down, and you will
realise that you belong at Manticore. It is of no matter, I still have to take
Andrea and Zack to task on staying together like that, I'll see you soon enough,
as a soldier" Lydecker said, walking out of the interrogation room.
He came over to the next cell, which Sam and
Emily were guarding, and came in, Andrea was bound in the same fashion as Max,
but still struggled against the restraints.
"Don't even bother, four of you could not
break those bonds, you're wasting your time and energy." Lydecker said.
"They're coming, and when they get here,
they'll kill you." Andrea snapped, hoping it was true.
"They will never get anywhere near this
place, those two are nothing but unthinking killing machines, but they have
their limits." Lydecker replied.
"Robert and Jon are much better than you
think, they have a mission to save the X5, not let you walk away with a hat
trick." Andrea replied.
"It is of no matter, only three of your
siblings are on the outside, they will be caught soon enough, those two cannot
change the outcome." Lydecker said as he came up to her, she could feel his
breath cascading on her.
"Robert will not give up, he is
dedicated, he can survive anything you can throw at him, you'll have a pile of
dead bodies, he knows how to fight, he's heavily armed, you can't stop
him." Andrea said come on Robert, I
know you're coming, hurry up before he takes me back there.
"I think I can, his strength and ability
to soak up damage is phenomenal, but his limits can be pushed, he will die, I
have far too many men on the perimeter and base, he can't get in." Lydecker
said, dissecting her claims.
"I'll remember that when you're on the
floor with a knife in your neck and the X5's are free." Andrea replied.
"This is pointless, in two days you, Max
and Zack will be taken in a heavily armed convoy back to Manticore, you will be
retrained, and will become what you were meant to be." Lydecker said, as he
paced around the room, diffusing her arguments and hopes.
"I'll never give in." Andrea spat
back.
"You will, they always do, the Trackers
can't help you, neither can your brothers and sisters, you may as well face
reality, it's time you came home." Lydecker said.
"Never, they will come, they'll get us
out of here, and you'll be left with a mountain of dead bodies for trying to
stop them." Come on Robert, you're
coming for us, I know it, but where are you? Andrea said as she thought,
where was Robert and Jon.
"You might as well give in, my kids
outnumber you, and their genes have been corrected, you cannot beat them."
Lydecker said reinforcing the hopelessness of her position.
"Never, I would rather die than go back
there, you can't stop me from escaping, you'll make a mistake, and I'll be
free." Andrea replied hatefully and spat in Lydecker�s direction.
"Your faint hopes serve you well if this
was a fantasy world, but it's not, nothing can prevent this from happening. You
will come back to Manticore, you will relearn your roots, and become a soldier
again, you cannot stop that from happening." Lydecker said as he walked out
of the room.
"Awfully cocky when the two deadliest men
alive have you on their hit list." Andrea mused to herself, and renewed her
efforts at breaking from the restraints.
********
"Sirs, this is a restricted area, this
base is closed to all civilians." Said the private to Jon as he pulled up
to the gate.
"Private, I am captain Jonathan Ryszewski
and this is captain Robert Rice of the U.S. Army Special Forces, we are here on
a surprise inspection of this facility. You will open this gate immediately and
you will not alert any base personnel, for this is a surprise inspection. If you
alert base HQ, you will be found guilty of treason under article 19 subsection
four of the State of Emergency Act of 2009, is that understood?" Jon said
as he and Robert showed the lowly officer their military passes.
"Yes sir!" The private said as he
hit the button to raise the gate.
"Very good private, now resume your
post!" Jon said as he shut the window and drove up to the main building,
which also branched into the prisoner complex.
"Let's rock" Robert said.
"Lets roll" Jon said as they got out
of the BMW X5, put their coats on, checked their weapons, and walked into the
building.
"Sir, would you mind identifying
yourself, this is a restricted area." Said one of the two guards at the
entrance to the building.
Robert and Jon flipped out their passes, and
the lead guard nodded and lowered his weapon.
�Go ahead sirs.� The private nodded as he
stepped back.
"Thank you private." Jon said as
they walked past the two men, then acted.
Robert ripped out a knife and grabbed the
first man and slit his throat, then stabbed into the man�s right lung to make
sure he could not scream for help. Jon moved quickly as well, snapping the
second man�s neck before he could even move his M4A1 one millimetre.
�Too easy.� Robert muttered as they went
through the doors.
�Sirs, we have orders from Colonel Lydecker
that you two are to come see him immediately.� One officer said from behind a
desk.
Robert and Jon nodded, then acted.
"We have orders from Death itself."
Jon said as he and Robert drew their H&K UMP .45's and fired, dropping six
men that were on guard with precise, controlled bursts. The four remaining men
ducked to cover, but two men never made it as Jon cut both of them down with
deadly accurate submachine gun fire. The two remaining guards dove behind a
desk, Robert leapt over the desk and with a flash of metal, he drew the hidden
long sword he kept mated to his shotgun, and sliced their heads off.
"I thought you got rid of that thing,
didn't it keep breaking or something?" Jon asked as Robert slid it back
into the sheath on the top of the shotgun, it was easily concealed by the work
Robert had done on the gun.
"I did, but I found someone who
could craft it from titanium, it's much better than the old one, I save
it for close-quarters." Robert said as they checked the bodies, and sniffed
the air.
"Got them, this way!" Jon said as
they took off, the power cut out, the corridors were plunged into darkness good
work Cale Robert thought as they moved along, cutting down seven men on the
way with their submachine guns, but kept going.
"Hold it right there." Robert
paused, it was Lydecker's voice, he was there, just outside the prisoner
complex, and behind forty men, all armed with MP5's.
"I suspected that you two might come,
which is why I was prepared, you can't win." Lydecker said, but Robert and
Jon had other plans, the Tac soldiers had lights mated to their submachine guns,
but Robert and Jon could see perfectly without lights, they saw their objective.
Moving as fast as they could, they brought up
their UMP .45's, and fired precise bursts, dropping five men, but that was
hardly enough to make a difference. Lydecker ducked out of the way and hit the
door, slamming a massive barrier down, sealing off the prisoner's area from the
fight, and himself.
The return fire was massive as the Tac team's
weapons barked, but Robert and Jon kicked in doors to their sides and leapt it
in, avoiding the deadly fire. Using signals that they had learned in Delta
Force, Robert told Jon to keep them interested, he had an idea. There was most
likely some six walls between him and the rear of the Tac team's group, but he
used his massive strength, and crushed down the first wall. The gunfire helped
mask it, and Jon was holding his own, they focused their fire on his doorway,
but he had a surprise for them.
"Chew on this!" Jon yelled as he
withdrew a flak grenade from his jacket and pulled the pin, and rolled it with
tremendous force towards them.
The weapon went off, spraying flak into the
forward rank, gouging and ripping through the soldiers. Robert had broken
through the last barrier, and a Tac soldier pointed at him as emerged from the
smashed wall. A single slug from his shotgun stopped the man from ever letting
loose a warning again. He fired four more times as the gas-operated pump loaded
the chamber for him, and dropped four men. The group was now distracted, and Jon
charged, firing, dropping five more men with his precise fire, his magazine was
now empty, but he dropped it, withdrew a new one, and slammed it into the feed.
Robert fired the last five rounds from his shotgun, four more men fell, with one
man on death's door.
Jon
was now in the range of close-quarters combat, and he proved how efficient the
Delta Force training regimen was. He moved fast, bringing in two fingers in a
blow to a man's throat that crushed his windpipe, dropping him, he withdrew a
long knife, and with a long slash, slit the throats of two men.
Robert drew his P14-45s and fired one, then
the other, then the other one again, killing eight men with lethal accuracy. Jon
continued his bouts of hand-to-hand combat, as he dropped six men in a flurry of
moves that killed two and crippled the other four. Robert reholstered his
P14-45s and withdrew his long sword once again, and swung it with incredible
control and grace, as he sliced open the guts of two men and decapitated a
third. Targets were running low for the two, four men had managed to bring their
weapons into line with their targets, but their shots either failed to puncture
the thick flak jackets, or simply were absorbed by the two men. The same could
not be said for the Tac soldiers, when Jon fired four precise shots from his
USAS-12, dropping them. Eight men were struggling to get back up, but as boots
met faces, the threat to Robert and Jon ended then and there.
"Get your SUV and meet me round back,
I'll blow a hole, and deal with those kids, it's time I repaid Lydecker."
Robert said as he drew his H&K UMP .45, checked the magazine, and began
placing a heavy charge on the sealed door, six more men came running down the
halls to stop them, but as Jon came back, he dropped them with precise
submachine gun fire, and sliced open the necks of two more men that moved to
stop him with a single slash of his blade.
**********
"Get them out of those chairs and into
the harnesses, they are breaking through, we'll move to the barracks, tranq them
first though." Lydecker said to his kids, they were guarding the cells of
the X5's. One X5 shot the requisite prisoner, and wrapped them back into
restraining harnesses that held them fast, and threw them over their shoulder.
The kids walked down the corridor, but heard an explosion, and then a deep voice
"Drop the kids, drop your weapons, or I
drop your heads." Robert said, after making sure no guards were present, he
had drawn his katana, for nothing more than to inject fear into the kids.
"You can't stop this, we're taking them
home, what are you going to about it." Replied Anthony as he dropped his
load unceremoniously on the floor, Zack rolled to a stop after a couple of
seconds.
"We have fought before X5's, you know you
cannot match my power, give it up." Robert said, and swung this katana into
line.
"We'll see about that." Said the
X5's, the two X5�s that still carried prisoners dropped them on the floor as
if they were rags, and all withdrew MP5ks. They fired, dozens of rounds spat
into Robert, his flak jacket held as the initial bursts hit him, but it gave in,
and his body filled with bullets, shredding his insides, he fell, hoping that
his body could still recover.
************
�Stop!� A Tac soldier yelled at Jon, which earned the heroic Tac soldier a three-round burst from Jon�s submachine gun and dropped him.
�Shit.� Jon cursed as his eyes sighted in
on a twelve-man group heading to reinforce the area that Robert was breaking
through, he shot off a few rounds at them as he got to his SUV, then popped open
the back of it. Jon withdrew an M-249 machine gun and set it down on its bipod,
the Tac soldiers that had been heading to reinforce the main force, now diverted
towards Jon. Jon cut loose almost as soon as the enemy group was within range,
releasing a hail of full auto 5.56-mm rounds that shredded six men in less then
ten seconds. The remainder of the Tac squad tried to find cover but Jon simply
rotated his fire and cut the remainder of the group down in seconds.
Suddenly Jon was attacked from behind as three
men tackled him and wrested him away from the machine gun he had been manning.
Jon kicked out at the first aggressor, snapping three of the man�s ribs and
blasting him ten feet away. The second aggressor never even realised what was
happening as the flat end of Jon�s hand impacted on the man�s esophagus,
crushing it. The third attacker was shot at point-blank as Jon ripped free a
P14-45 and emptied six shots into the man�s torso. Jon leapt to his feet with
his usual excellent control and shot three rounds into the recovering form of
his first attacker.
Jon moved fast, leaping into the driver�s
seat of his BMW X5 and took off for the back of the building where the X5�s
were being housed, got out, flipped all the doors open, and waited, cradling his
H&K UMP .45, and blasted down the occasional soldier that tried to be the
hero and kill the implacable foe.
************
Andrea hit the floor, her blindfold slid off,
her system had quickly fought off the tranquilliser, and as adrenaline flowed as
she realised what was happening. She saw Robert, fall face down onto the ground,
and fought like mad against the harness, but she was stuck, she saw his head
face her way, he smiled as he looked at her.
Payback
time Robert
thought at his body repaired the wounds, his lungs sealed themselves, his organs
closed their wounds, arteries repaired themselves, blood was replenished,
bullets were consumed. System�s burning itself out fixing me up, shit, all
this fighting is catching up with me!
"No one could have survived that, even
with his abilities and flak jacket, no way, grab one of those flame things he
likes so much, and use it on him." Sam
snapped as the magazine dropped from his MP5k, the bullets in it spent, the air
stank of hot lead and the ground was littered with shell casings.
"So this is how you repay a man that
spent his life trying to free you from Manticore? You shoot him dead, and
incinerate his corpse?" Andrea yelled out at them.
"Shut up, didn't you tranq this bitch
already?" Sam said as he looked at Emily.
"You should get better ones, that one
barely did shit." Andrea spat out.
"Just give her another shot, and haul
this bitch out of here, we have a job to do." Anthony said as he fired
another shot into her.
"Is that any way to treat a lady?"
The voice was deep, commanding, they turned around, Robert had silently crept up
on the group whilst they were quarrelling, and sprang into action. He delivered
a fist combination that dropped Anthony immediately, he kicked back, nailing
another X5 in the chest, blasting them down the hall. Emily fired two
tranquilliser darts into him, but they ran off like water as he gave her a
roundhouse kick that knocked her out cold. The remaining three X5's that had
been guarding the area tried to attack, but he absorbed whatever puny blows they
mustered. Moving to end the fight. he leapt up, and brought his foot into line
with one of them, smacking them down, the loudest part was when the X5 hit the
floor like a sack of flesh. The remaining two went to retrieve their weapons,
but were stopped when Robert picked one of them up in each hand, and slammed
their heads together, knocking them out.
"Fucking sons of bitches, think you can
stop me with POS 9-mms?" Robert said as he kicked the form of the
recovering X5 that he had blasted down the corridor, and retrieved his long
sword.
"Hold still." Robert said as he
ripped the harness off of Andrea with little effort, she strained to stay awake
from the second tranquilliser dart that had hit her.
"I knew you'd come, Lydecker said you'd
never make it, but I knew you were coming, if nothing than to just prove you
could complete your mission." Andrea said as she rubbed her hands, sore
from the restraints as Robert pulled her up gently.
"There is a method to my madness, Logan
altered my records so Jon and I could pose as inspectors, of course when the
real inspectors roll around, they'll wonder why a barracks is now a
morgue." Robert said as he reached into one of the pockets on his tattered
flak jacket and removed a patch.
"What is it?" Andrea asked as he
peeled something off of it.
"Adrenaline patch, we use them to get
prisoners out of drug-induced sleep and pump them up, bare your right arm."
Robert said, she obeyed, and he slapped it on, Andrea felt invigorated, and
leapt up with ease.
"I'm getting those two out, cover
me." Robert said as he handed her an H&K USP Tactical, and set to
release Max and Zack, then gave them patches, bringing them out of it.
"Now that you're all up and about,
Lydecker will have about seventy men here in four minutes, so if you would all
please get behind cover, I'll deal with the wall." Robert said as he
withdrew a block of homemade plastique from his coat, and set it against the
wall.
"Fire in the hole!" Robert yelled as
they all ducked behind cover as the wall blew out when the plastique detonated.
"Good to see you all, now let's go go
go!" Jon said, he stood there in front of his BMW X5, and seven bodies.
Robert, Andrea, Max and Zack all burst through
the hole in the wall, and got in, Jon shifted the SUV into top gear, and drove
towards the exit. Jon saw the gate was closed, but with his enhanced senses, he
picked out the control for the gate, drew his pistol, rolled down the window,
and nailed it dead on, opening the gate as they rode through.
"And they said The Matrix was
impossible!" Robert said smiling as Jon rode the SUV at its maximum speed
of 128 miles an hour.
"I think you two are being a bit arrogant
about your ability to kick around dozens of soldiers at once." Max
interjected.
"Max, I saw Robert take on six of our own
siblings, these guys are Blade, Neo, Wolverine and Daredevil rolled up in
one." Andrea said, rattling off some pre-pulse superheroes.
"Damn right, that ought to send Lydecker
a message, I had to waste quite a few of those assholes getting to this nice
ride, no one touches my baby." Jon said as they drove, and patted the
steering wheel.
"You remind me of my possessiveness of my
Ninja, except my Ninja can move faster." Max said.
"This bad boy can hit 128 mph, this ain't
no slow-ass Hummer, nothing but the best for my ride, slower than your Ninja,
but I can take this thing anywhere." Jon replied.
"But still no fucking leg room for me, is
the automotive industry have some sort of conspiracy plot against tall
people?" Robert said as he tucked his head low in the SUV.
"Yea, they're tired of you stepping on
them." Jon said smiling.
"Keep it up and my foot will be stepping
on your face smartass." Robert replied as they rode, still burning hard and
fast from the base.
"Aren't you two bothered by the fact that
Lydecker may just try and wreak horrible revenge, you killed how many men in
there?" Max said, voicing her fears.
"I stopped counting after thirty, I
brutally beat down six of your siblings, count out the one with the concussion
and arm, I doubt one will make much of a difference, he'll run back to Manticore,
crying." Robert said as they drove on.
"Are we still going to stay here in
Seattle, despite everything that has happened over the past few days?" Zack
asked.
"Why not, the Red's are dead, Lydecker's
lost more than half of his manpower already, his kids are beaten to a pulp, he's
got nothing to pitch at us." Jon said as he negotiated the roads.
"He's right, Seattle is a safe haven for
a long time to come." Andrea said concurring with Jon.
"What if he just runs pictures of us over
the news and say we perpetrated the attack, every sector policeman and military
grunt will be after us." Zack edged in.
"He won't, because Jon and I will just
hunt him down and cap his ass with a long spray of hot lead, he knows it."
Robert said, cutting off Zack's suspicions.
"I'm checking the voicemail, see where
Logan moved our place of business too." Robert said as he picked up the car
phone and dialled the number.
"You
have two messages, do you wish to hear them, press 1� The recording said as Robert punched in 1.
"Hey Robert, Jon, I've moved us into a
former police station on the east side, apparently it was 'too old' to be
converted for sector police work, should serve us well." Logan's voice
repeated itself through the message.
"Hey Robert, I've done it, we cracked the
last of the gene sequences last night, we have a retrovirus that can repair the
rejecting genes, I've sent it through to the standard holding location. We're
already working on using your DNA to repair the X5 gene problems, I'll report
back tomorrow with news." Alex's voice crackled in.
Robert immediately deleted both messages,
hoping to hide the news from now, but with the current mood, he could crack a
smile without bringing in attention. Crippled
Lydecker's forces, got my gene fix coming in tomorrow most likely, and may have
just scored a girlfriend, not a bad fucking day at all. Robert thought to
himself as they rode back into the city, coming to their newest base of
operations,. Check things out, and in a
few days, we can return to our original places of residence, Lydecker would
never dare stay, he know it's over, or does he have something up his sleeve? Robert
thought as he stole a glance at Andrea, even
a day of torture and interrogation couldn't steal her looks, is
it worth a shot? Maybe, Robert thought as they rode on to their newest base
of operations.
**********
"It seems I've underestimated those two,
I have over 100 of my Tac soldiers dead, the seven of you are out of it for
weeks, we'll have to regroup and recover." Lydecker said as he addressed
his kids, now in the medical wing of the military base he was using. His phone
went off, he lifted it up, and spoke
"Lydecker here." Lydecker said into
the phone.
"We have results, the three test subjects
have survived the process and are fully functional." It was Lydecker's
chief scientist, and Lydecker swelled with pride.
"Are they ready to serve us, track down
the X5's and retrieve them?" Lydecker asked, wondering if his newest
creations were ready to serve.
"Fully capable and willing, we could not
improve their genes over the original successes, but we have three of them, is
that sufficient?" Doctor Spivey replied.
"Enough for now, send them here
immediately, I intend to put them to use soon." Lydecker said, and shut off
his phone.
"We have good news, the Tracker program
finally panned out, we have three more agents coming to aid us, to destroy the
other Trackers, and pick up the X5's. After we retrieve them all, the seven of
you can retire in 18 years, for then we will have grown the X6 batch."
Lydecker said, addressing his kids.
"Those two men are highly capable
fighters, are these new Trackers equally capable sir?" Asked Anthony, who
had a thick bandage on his head, covering the stitches from his concussion.
"Two were Green Berets and third was an
Army Ranger, I'm sure they can handle those two, the game has entered the final
phase now, checkmate is imminent." Lydecker responded, and left his kids to
recover from the vicious wounds Robert had inflicted upon them. It's
all over now, you were untouchable for so long, it's about time you were dragged
back into reality. Lydecker thought as he walked back to his office, and
planned his final victory over the escaped Manticore projects.
