Evacuation ((Open RP))

[Lovable]

She twirled the knife between her fingers, almost dropping it the first few seconds into it. Lovable had yet to add style to the skills she had learned in the simulation, but she lacked any sense of doubt that she could put it to actual use. She kept the firm belief that if a movement can be made in the simulation, it could be at least somewhat duplicated in the Real.

She had just received word that the saboteur had been incapacitated by Lawliet, and as she made her report to RedBindi an odd urge overcame her, almost fazing her. Hauk would still be alive if it weren’t for them, and she wanted nothing more for them to see just how big of a mistake it was to take the life of her family. True, the Cypherite that actually committed the crime was on another ship, yet by this point they were all the same to her. She no longer cared what RedBindi and Fenshire had done to the moron on the Devildog – in fact Lovable now felt willing to do anything to make her point understood.

The water purification room lay near the engines; the door was bolted shut from the outside and it was guarded by two Outpost sentries and Lawliet. As Lovable approached she slid the knife down the side of her pants before anyone could notice. One of the guards moved aside and opened the door for her; as she passed under the metal frame she caught Lawliet’s gaze. He shook his hand a little, obviously trying to recover from whatever pain he inflicted on the scumbag.

“Are you going to be okay in on your own?” he asked.

The strange aura still floating around her she slowly raised her eyes to meet his, she smiled oddly. “I’ve been through worse…”

Before he could answer back she had already strode through the doorway completely and shut the door behind her. She peered through the small window and signaled the others to lock the door. They appeared to protest, but the glare she shot them changed their mind as the lock clicked into the cradle. The Cypherite was tied to one of the metal frames on the floor, his head torn and bleeding and his body crumpled against the wall. He was gasping for air in shameful attempts at breathing.

Damn, Law did a good job fuckin’ him up.

Her boots echoed throughout the confine, bringing the captive’s attention up to her. He spit a little and laughed at her through his shuddered breathing. Lovable cocked her head at him curiously and coolly grinned back. She knew what he was thinking – he thought he was getting off easy by sending in some short, featherweight woman. At 5’4” tall and still decently underweight from her ordeal, she was hardly intimidating at first glance.

Wishful thinking, pal. Nothing more than wishful thinking.

He finally spoke up. “Man, this was an easier job than I thought.” He puckered and smacked his lips at her in a pathetic attempt to get on her good side. “So you lettin’ me outta here, sweet thing?”

She smirked at him and kneeled down. “Depends on how good you are.”

His laughter rose even more in his delirium. “Oh, this is great. Please tell me you were on the inside too, this is too good to be true.”

“Isn’t it?” She reached to her side and brandished the knife in front of his eye. His grin faded immediately. “That’s what I’ve been told too.”

Without moving his head he looked around the room, shutting his mouth. Lovable raised one of her brows in what appeared to be curiosity. Her lips peeling into a grin, she slid the tip of the blade lightly along his cheek; he squinted his eyes in reflex, trying to pull his head back from her.

“How ‘bout we make this real simple-like and you just let me know what you were planning on doing down here, hmm?” Lovable always cut right to the point.

He sneered at her. “I got nothin’ to say. I was just here to do my job.”

She inched closer to his face, still holding the weapon. “What job was that?”

“Like I said, I’m keeping my trap shut!”

“You’re unwise, little man,” she said in a patronizing tone, rotating the knife in her hand. “I’ll give you a few seconds to change your answer.”

The Cypherite stared at her for about five seconds before speaking. “Fuck you, I’m not—“

In a flash of movement, Lovable interrupted the Cypherite’s retort and plunged the blade into his bound forearm, the cut similar in size to the scar on her own arm. His face contorted in terror and he let out a piercing shriek, trying to pull away from her. She held the knife in place and flashed a sultry smile at him, the blood now soaking the sleeve of his shirt.

“You feel like changing your mind?” she asked quietly.

His breathing still hampered by his previous battering, his voice cracked as he spoke. “Get off me!”

Lovable gripped the handle with her right hand and moved her face closer. “You know… I have a nervous twitch in this hand. Any sudden movements and I might just accidentally sever your nerves. Trust me – it’s not a pleasant experience.”

His eyes widened in shock, staring at her in disbelief and a slight of fear. “I… I got an order to poison the water systems. I wasn’t supposed to be seen.”

Hmm, he fell for it. Now let’s see if he knows more.

“Who gave you the order?” she demanded, already knowing the real answer.

“The… the head of the group…”

“Give me a name.”

“I don’t know what the name was.”

She clicked her tongue a few times in disapproval. “That’s not very organized, now is it? Not knowing the name of your squad chief? No wonder you masked freaks have failed at just about everything you’ve tried.” She pulled the blade out slowly and the Cypherite appeared to be somewhat relieved; until she brought up her left hand and dug her thumb into his fresh wound. He tensed and screamed as her face remained solid. She held the knife to his throat and inched even closer to his face.

“You’re losing this game… you better give me something good.”

He clenched his teeth in pain. “Just… just get it over with. Finish me.”

“Aw, but that wouldn’t be any fun… besides, dead men can’t spill their guts…” She half-grinned and moved the blade to his abdomen. “…Or can they?” She pressed it into his flesh slowly – another inch and she would begin to tear the skin.

“No, no stop… he’s... on the Devildog…” he finally said, his voice becoming lower and more apathetic.

“That so? Is this guy the one running the show?”

“No, he gets his orders from someone else…” he trailed off.

Lovable began to grow impatient. “Well, you gonna finish that sentence?”

He shook his head. “Fuck it, it doesn’t matter anymore… I’m gonna wind up dead anyway either by her… or your crazy ass.”

She shoved the knife harder against him. “Now that’s a sorry attitude. I was at least hoping you’d put up a fight. So who is this ‘her’ you speak of?”

Taking in a breath through his nose he turned away from her without saying a word. Simultaneously she pressed her thumb harder into the cut and gave the knife a quick shove into his body. His head arched back and he let out a deafening scream as she kept her gaze at him, barely feeling his blood drip over her hand.

“Ahh! Just fucking kill me!” he pleaded, tears coming out of his eyes.

“Give me a name already!” she yelled at him.

Suddenly the door behind her flew open and Lovable felt someone yank on the back of her shirt, but all she could think about was making sure the Cypherite felt pain. She was only robotically repeating things she’d heard in other interrogations. Keeping her position, she fought against the opposing force.

The Cypherite looked up behind her almost in relief. “Oh god, get her away from me!”

“What is the name?!” She let go of the knife which was still embedded in his body, but she kept her fingers in the other cut digging them further in.

“Ebola! It was her! Now get off me!” he screamed. But she didn’t let go of him.

“Enough! Stop it Lov!” Lawliet barked, finally getting a hold of her arm and pulling her up and away from him.

Lovable, still in a trance, didn’t recognize his voice. “No, he’s gonna suffer for this. Him and anyone he’s connected to!” She tried to jerk herself away from her new opponent, but failed to escape his grip.

Lawliet glanced down at the Cypherite and called out the open door, “This man needs medical attention. Please bring Zell here immediately.” He pulled her out of the room as a few security guards rushed inside to the battered man. She was still fighting against him as he took her around the corner away from everyone’s eyes. “Lov, he’s provided us with enough information, you can stop now.”

She grunted in anger still trying to get away. Lawliet kept firm and managed to turn her around to face him. “Listen to me Lov. It's Lawliet... Snap out of it. You have done your job, we now know who is behind all of this so there is no need to continue.”

The veil from her eyes lifted. Her face softened a little and she blinked a few times; she opened her mouth to speak, but could only manage a few stutters.

“Lov, it’s okay, it’s okay now. Do you understand me?” He kept his voice calm.

Lovable stared at him for a moment then looked down at her hands – they dripped in the Cypherite’s blood, and her shirt had suffered its share of splatters. Her gaze delved into a blurred tunnel-vision and she collapsed to the floor at Lawliet’s feet, curling herself up. He knelt down beside her and tried to pull her back up.

“Come on Lov, it’s over now,” he said reassuringly.

She couldn’t believe what she had done; she nearly took a life at the hands of her own delusions. Lovable wasn’t interrogating him, she was frightening him; instilling the very same fear she had grown accustomed to in her own hell. Tears welled in her eyes as she glimpsed at her hands again.

“Oh god… what’s wrong with me…” she whispered to herself.

Lawliet pulled her close, trying to comfort her. “Lov, you will be ok. I am here to help you but I need you to focus and stay strong for now. You need to inform Redbindi of what he has told you."

Deal with your insanity later, Lov – you have a job to do.

Lovable glanced up at him and attempted to smile. “I know…” She allowed him to help her get to her feet; she absentmindedly wiped the blood off her hands on to her shirt, deciding she’d change later. “Walk with me to the comm station.”

[RedBindi]

The Titan, Saltpillar, Shadrach, Neptune, and Diluculo had all reported in, the Cypherite spies aboard those ships either captured or dead. The last spy had yet to make his appearance aboard the Eudai. RedBindi sat at the comms station aboard the Devildog, taking a shift at the station to relieve one of the other exhausted crew. Since she had served on the Devildog previously it was easy for her to take shifts where needed and keep herself busy while she awaited word from the Eudai. An hour ago she had gone down to the engineering section to check on Fenshire and the repairs he was making on the Dog’s engines and also to send a second message on the device taken from the Cypherite spy on the Devildog. She was hoping another message would flush the bastard out so the Trust fleet, Deffdog, and Covenant could continue on to New Zion.

The beep of the comm unit brought her out of her musings as she leaned forward and keyed the comm. “This is the Devildog, go ahead Eudai.”

“Red, its Luminarium…” The shakiness in Luminarium’s voice caused RedBindi to sit up in her chair and signal to Symmetric to contact Fenshire and get him to the bridge. “I… we… got the spy. I found him using the device and surprised him and we fought… I guess my training paid off. He’s in our brig now…”

RedBindi heaved a sigh of relief as she heard Luminarium’s words. “That’s great news, Lumi. Really great news… you weren’t hurt were you?”

“Just a few cuts and bruises is all, nothing major.” Luminarium’s voice grew steadily stronger as the two women talked.

RedBindi closed her eyes for a moment and silently thanked God her friend wasn’t hurt badly. “Good. Go ahead and let Alphy know to prepare for departure, we’ll head out again as soon as I get back to the Titan. Tell her to set a course for New Zion…”

RedBindi could almost hear Luminarium’s smile in her response. “Sure thing, Red. It’ll be good to finally get there.”

“That it will. Red out.”

“Luminarium out.”

RedBindi quickly contacted the Titan to alert Lovable to her impending return then removed the headset and stood turning towards Symmetric. She was about to ask that he get another crewmen to take the remainder of her shift when she caught sight of Fenshire leaning against the bulkhead near the door, a look of apprehension on his face. “Heading back to the Titan…?”

She nodded as she turned and began walking towards him. “Its time to run the final set of tunnels into New Zion, Lumi just reported the capture of the last spy.”

Fenshire sighed and nodded at her then turned, following her out of the bridge and walked beside her as she made her way to the rear loading ramp. “I really wish you’d reconsider…”

RedBindi stopped and looked at him for a moment before wrapping her arms around his neck. “I know you do, but I need you here. Not with me on the Titan. Please… we’ve already gone over this…”

Fenshire wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his forehead against hers. “I know, love…” He couldn’t lose her, the loss of his best friend Hauk had hit him very hard and made him realize exactly how vulnerable they all were. He couldn’t imagine losing her now, but that fear haunted him giving him nightmares and caused his nearly uncontrollable urge to remain close by her… just in case.

**********

Disseminated watched as his captain wrapped his arms around the commander, nodding to himself he slipped back down the hall towards the makeshift brig and unlocked the door. His captain was taking care of his business; it was time for Disseminated to take care of some of his own. Locking the door behind him, he looked down at the prisoner as he calmly started rolling up his sleeves and advancing towards him. “I’ve come to bring you peace.”

The prisoners eyes widened at the sight of the wall of muscle in front of him, Disseminated wasn’t freeborn but with his muscle mass he might as well have been. Reaching down he grabbed the Cypherite by the shirt and lifted him to his feet before calmly preceding to beat the life out of him

**********

Fenshire pulled RedBindi into a long embrace before finally letting her go and watching as she walked down the ramp and across debris-strewn tunnel to the Titan. One hand hovered over the lift switch as he waited until she reached the Titan, the other was balled into a fist as he tried to control the nearly overwhelming feeling he was about to lose her. He waited until he saw her wave to him from the back of the Titan as its ramp began to rise before flipping the switch and raising the Devildog’s ramp.

Turning around he headed towards his quarters, he needed a moment to himself before they took off for New Zion.

**********

Disseminated watched as the body of the Cypherite slide down the wall and hit the ground with a dull thump before falling lifelessly to the side. Reaching into his back pocket he pulled out a rag and wiped most of the blood off his hands, forearms, and face. Satisfied for the moment he wouldn’t track the blood all over the ship and onto his ammunition he unlocked and opened the door, pausing only briefly to look back at the dead Cypherite. “The only Peace is Death.”

Fenshire looked up as he walked down the gangway to see Disseminated exit the makeshift brig, the front of his shirt covered in spatters of blood. His eyes widened slightly he glanced into room and saw the pummeled body of what used to be a Cypherite spy. “Diss… what the hell…?” A part of him was slightly appalled at the sight, but another part of him nearly leapt for joy at the sight of the son of a b*tch that had killed Hauk and nearly succeeded in killing everyone aboard the Devildog.

Disseminated closed the door behind him and looked calmly upon his captain. “You were wasting your time with him. His information is useful at best and lies at worst. You need to focus on the ship, Captain.”

**********

RedBindi met a very relieved and somewhat distant Lovable as she crested the top of the Titans ramp. “Glad your back Bindi, everything is mostly how you left it.”

RedBindi raised an eyebrow as she looked down at her first mate. “Mostly…” The contrast between the two women was striking. One towered over the other her red hair plaited in a neat braid that hung down the center of her back with a few stray hairs neatly tucked behind her ears and green eyes that seemed to glow from an inner fire. The other barely reached her captain’s chin, somewhat tousled raven black hair that barely brushed her shoulders, and brown eyes that alternately glowed bright with life or glazed over to a dull brown.

Lovable straightened up and looked up at her captain. “Ya, mostly. We’re not in the same position and we did fight some sentinels to get here.”

Grinning just slightly RedBindi chuckled. “I see you still have your quick wit. I’m going to stop by my quarters and pick something up then I’ll head up to the bridge and we can get out of here. Go ahead and alert the other captains we will be leaving in fifteen minutes.” Reaching down she gave Lovable’s shoulder a squeeze and watched as her first mate nodded, then turned and walked towards the bridge never quite meeting her captain’s eyes. “I’ll let the other ships know myself, Bindi.”

“Thank you. After we get to New Zion, we should sit and have a talk...”

Lovable nodded again and continued down the hall towards the bridge. RedBindi followed her a short distance before heading down one level to her quarters.

**********

Fenshire sighed again, he seemed to be doing that all too much lately, and looked at Disseminated. The damage was already done, the prisoner was dead and nothing could be done to fix that Fenshire knew the bastard would most likely have been executed as a traitor when they reached New Zion anyway. “Get cleaned up and get to your station, Diss. We’re about to head out. We will talk about this more once we are within New Zion herself.” Brushing past the stoic man Fenshire walked straight to his quarters and sat down upon his bed, elbows on his knees, his head resting against his thumb and forefinger.

**********

RedBindi entered her quarters intending only to quickly stash a couple of her knives then head back to the bridge and assist the in preparations for their final run into New Zion. Three steps into the room her attention was drawn to two of her dresser drawers, they were open and looked as if they had been rifled through. Behind her the door to her quarters shut and as she whipped around the lock slid into place. Her eyes first widened in surprise, then narrowed in anger as she looked upon the man standing between her and the door. “Lieutenant Porter, just what in the bloody hell do you think you are doing in MY quarters.”

Porter sighed as he looked at the commander and took a step forward and slightly to the side, blocking her path to the door and the comm unit on the wall. “You should have stayed on the Devildog, Red.”

It wasn’t hard to feel the threat Porter presented, she was trapped unless she could maneuver him away from the door long enough to get it unlocked. As she stepped back with one foot and dropped down into a fighting stance, leaning forward just slightly to remain on the balls of her feet, she looked around the room for anything else that might assist her in the fight sure to come. Her eyes paused briefly on the two open drawers, one contained what looked like a bandana half shoved towards the bottom, the other a device just like the ones found on the Cypherite spies. The chair from her desk had been hastily pushed back and on the computer screen she saw what appeared to be a list of names, Trust and allied ships, and vulnerable areas on each ship. Her eyes finally alighted on what looked like just a small box placed on the nightstand near the bed. As she repositioned her feet, she stumbled and took several steps backwards only regaining her balance as she caught herself on the nightstand. Her hand lingered on the black box for only a moment before returning to its defensive position. “You son of a b*tch...”

Porter watched as she stumbled back away from him he hated what he was about to do, but her interruption was going to cost her life. “As I said, you should have stayed aboard the Devildog. You would have only been arrested that way. It would have taken a few days to clear everything up, then you would be free again and I would have done what I needed to do.” Shaking his head he advanced towards her. “You were one of the few I wanted to see live.”

**********
Fenshire nearly jumped as the private comm near his bed came to life. “You son of a b*tch...” Startled and wondering what in the hell he could have done wrong in such a short period of time he was about to respond when he heard another man’s voice come through the comm. His breath quickened at the words as the feeling of impending loss he had been attempting to control roared forth. Jumping up from his bed he made it to the ships comm in two strides and keyed it with such force he almost broke the button. “Sym! Call the Titan! Tell Lov to get a security team to Bindi’s room! NOW!” Not even pausing to hear Symmetric’s reply he tore out of the room and straight for the nearest exit off the Devildog.

**********

RedBindi could only hope Fenshire was near his room or would notice soon his comm unit was active, until then she needed to stall and try to get her door unlocked. Porter was closing in on her, well built and muscled from years of living in the real, she really needed room to maneuver and stay out of his grasp however the rooms on hovercrafts didn’t tend to afford that luxury. “Porter, you don’t have to do this. You have been with us for a long time, you know we only try to do what’s best for all involved.”

Porter suddenly lunged forward, wrapping one arm around her and placing his hand over her mouth. “You all might, but Zion doesn’t and unfortunately you’ve become a means to an end.” RedBindi reared her head back and struck forward with all the force she could muster, hitting Porter across the bridge of his nose with her forehead. The pain of her blow caused him to loosen his grip enough for her to push away and again get some distance between them. As she backed away she drew her knee towards her chest and struck downwards hitting the side of his knee with her heel. Porter lurched to the side with a grunt and made another grab at her as she sidestepped out of his reach.

Seeing her chance she jumped on her bed and ran around him, careful to avoid his grasping hands. All Porter could see was red all his plans and months of hard work were going to be undone by this woman, he couldn’t let it happen. Turning on his still good knee he lunged for her as she neared the door and pushed her head first into the wall. Stunned and now bleeding from a gash on her forehead, RedBindi’s movements were slowed enough for Porter to grab her again. She felt herself spun around to face him, her back pushed hard against the wall, and a hand close around her throat as he slammed her head against the wall again. Beside her the wheel lock moved slightly as someone attempted to open the door and Lovable’s voice drifted into the room. “Bindi! Open this door!”

Porter glared down at the woman caught in his grasp and tightened the hand around her throat, his only thought to crush the life out of her. He barely felt her attempt to knee him in the side and ducked his head as she tried to get at his eyes, if nothing else came out of this at least the Trust would lose both its commanders before it ever reached New Zion.

“Bindi! What the hell is going on!? Bindi! Answer me!”

Lovable’s voice reached Bindi through a haze as the world continued to darken at the edges of her vision, soon the only thing she could see was Porters face. She could barely move as he used his greater weight to his advantage, his body pinning hers to the wall. Her lungs were screaming for air by the time her thoughts turned to the knives strapped to her forearms. Weakly she wrapped her arms around his head and withdrew the knives from their sheathes. As she drew back to strike Fenshire’s voice seemed to drift into the room. “Bindi! Come on... just unlock the door. Porter, just let her go...”

Raising the knives above her head, she brought them down with as much force as she could muster and into the muscular portion of his neck and shoulders; in front of the scapula, but behind the clavicle. The grip around her throat loosened almost immediately and the weight pressing against her seemed to lessen as he involuntarily jerked away from her, the knives remaining imbedded in him as the handles were torn from her grasp. Running only on instinct and the one thought foremost in her mind, she lunged to the left grabbing hold of the locking mechanism and jerking it towards her. Falling against the wall she slumped to the floor gasping for breath as the door burst open and Fenshire, followed by Lovable and the security team, raced through the doorway towards Porter.

As soon as Porter was subdued, Fenshire knelt down beside RedBindi his face full of worry and fear. “Bindi, Lov’s called for Zell he’ll be here in a minute.”

RedBindi nodded, then reached out and grabbed one of his hands. “I’ll be okay... just need to... catch my ... breath.”

Fenshire winced at the huskiness in her voice and just watched as her chest rose and feel while she took in great gulps of air. “Bindi, I’m staying here until we get New Zion. You’re not going out of my sight again until then.”

RedBindi opened her mouth to protest, but closed it again when she saw the determination in his eyes. Instead she just nodded and continued breathing deeply.

[deffdog]

It has been two days since the spy was caught on the Shadrack. RedBindi's plan worked flawlessly and they subdued the Cypherite spy masquerading as a Trust Engineer, in the water purification room. It was a tad surprising; she gave up immediately when they caught her during her attempted sabotage. She was only recently recruited into the Cypherites, and had no useful information. She now occupies The Shadrack's Brig.

All the spies have been captured except for the one on the Eudai. The waiting was driving the crew and The Trust out of their minds. Just waiting, sentinels could attack at any time. Everyone was getting on edge.

Deffdog is sitting back in his pilot's chair, waiting for word from the Eudai. He needed to be ready in case anything went wrong.

The receiving transmission light begins to blink.

"This is Deffdog, please tell me you have good news to report," says Deffdog

"Yes we do Deff, the final spy has been rounded up on the Eudai. Bindi is on her way back to the Titan as we speak." responds Lovable.

Nodding Deffdog decides to go check on the prisoner one last time.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Deffdog enters the bridge of Shadrack, after checking on the prisoner. Dragonnite was back at the security station monitoring both our prisoner and other trust members. He was under orders from Deffdog to monitor the Trust Passengers if they all met together. Deffdog approaches Dragonnite.

"How's our passengers doing?," Deffdog asks.

"There all in shock, they never expected her at all." Dragonnite responds.

"Well these things are hard to predict...," Deffdog stops after he noticed a light was blinking on the communication panel. Deffdog hurries to the pilot seat and puts transmission on speakers.

"This is Deffdog of The Shadrack," Deffdog answers.

"Deffdog, this is Lov from the Titan... RedBindi has been attacked... ," said Lovable.

"*CENSORED*! Is she alright?!," Deffdog asked with concern in his voice.

"She fine, just a little shook up. We captured the bastard, it was Lieutenant Porter," Lovable replies.

"Dammit, I thought we were passed this," Deffdog responds looking over at Dragonnite who has brought up the Trust Members on the security screen again.

"Oh and Deffdog, well be moving out for the final stretch to New Zion in about 15 minutes," Lovable adds.

"Roger that, Shadrack out," Deffdog answers.

"Drag, keep an eye on our guests, we may not be out of trouble yet. I want to know anything they talk about. Keep the Bridge locked off at all times," Deffdog Orders.

Deffdog gets up from the pilot station and heads back to his Captains Terminal. He pulls up the copies of the Trust Member service records, that Lovable had sent them earlier. Of course the firsts he pulled was Jordan, the Cypherite prisoner. Nothing stuck out to him just that she was a capable engineer, but was not on the Outpost long.

He looked through the rest of the records, nothing really stuck out on any of them. They were all outstanding members of the Trust with Distinguished records. Deffdog was sure he heard the name Porter before. Quite possibly on a Zion Evacuation report.

He decides to check out the Personnel records from the New Zion Mainframe, something might come up.

Username: Deffdog

Password: **********

Authenticating . . . . . . . . . .

Access to New Zion Mainframe Granted...

Zion> Access Service Records

Zion> Accessing . . . . . Complete

Zion> Search Porter

Zion> 2 Service Records Found...

Zion> Lt. Michael Porter

Zion> Jack Porter

Zion> Get Service Record Jack Porter

Name: Jack Porter
Age: 21
Current Occupation: Operative in Training
Extraction Date: - 8-16-1999
Service Record:

This red pill was brought to the realization of the Matrix, after the sudden disappearance of his father. The disappearance of his father really shook up Jack, never having any closure on what had happened to his father, never knowing if he was alive or dead. He was only 6 years old when his father disappeared. When he was 12 he could have sworn he saw his father walking down the street, he followed to see him disappear into hard line. Immediately afterward he was subdued by agents, and awoke in his bed, as if it were all a dream. Ever since then he dreamt about father, seeing him do things that were impossible. These dreams flagged Jack as a potential, and was eventually extracted by an Zion Extraction Team.

Medals: None

Deffdog looks up from his console with a smile.

"Drag, get the Titan on the horn, I have just found something very interesting." Deffdog yells.

[Neoteny]

((Err, finally going to throw the Saltpillar's story into the mix here, since I finally had some time to write it. Huzzah?))

It took time, but finally, the Saltpillar was sprinting through the tunnels of the Real. Repairs had taken longer than anticipated, and the distant positioning of the craft made instantaneous rendezvous impossible. As it was, the burst transmission frequency the ship had been using took several days longer than the normal Zion channels to pick up on the emergency distress broadcast from Outpost One.

When Neoteny and his three-man skeleton crew arrived, it was already gone.

***

He felt so useless, drifting around through the tunnels, slowly waiting, unable to do anything but watch as sentinels swarmed towards the newly destroyed city of Zion, apparently not content with the level of ruin they had inflicted, and eager eviscerate any evidence of its existence.

His eyes burned as he watched the city burned. There were multiple occasions during which his finger was more than merely tempted to push the bright red button on the dash of the craft labeled “EMP.” Why he restrained himself, he wasn’t certain, but he liked to believe that he could make what at that time seemed to be an inevitable sacrifice worth more than a mere 20 squiddies.

For three days the Saltpillar sat silent outside the gates of Zion, not far at all from the ruins of Outpos One. In silence they ate, in silence they drank, in silence they lived, and in silence, they feared they might die. And so it was not hard to understand why his finger was so constantly hovering over that button, the little red button marked “EMP.”

On the fourth day, there was minimal activity on the part of the Machines, and the crew decided that it was now, or never. Microcoulomb took to the top turret while Neoteny powered up the reactor and Wanzer finally switched on the radio and powered up the auxiliary computers.

As they bolted through the first of many tunnels heading towards New Zion, the turret firing only in short bursts, Wanzer found the time to go through the recorded broadcasts and they received a new one.

“When you get a minute, captain, I think you need to hear this,” he told Neoteny, quite sternly.

“It’s when you tell me things like that, that I know I do not want to hear what fresh torment has been prepared for us.”

“All the same…”

“Alright,” he gulped, “Play it.”

***

Cypherites, great. Just what I wanted to hear. Spies on each ship, but… No.

“So then, Captain… What do you propose we do about this?”

“Nothing.”

“What?”

“You heard me. Our crew is in good standing.”

“But sir, what about Cou-“

“We awakened her, remember? She’s only been around a few months now, and you’ve monitored her activities as well as mine within the Matrix. There’s no way she’s a spy. There’s just not enough time, and she’s too…”

“Huh?”

“She’s too green. Not their brand, anyway. Rebellious, completely indifferent to the Matrix, she doesn’t fit the profile.”

“Wouldn’t that make her perfect?”

“Too perfect. Unless they somehow overwrote her under our noses, I couldn’t believe it.”

“But you heard the broadcast, it’s believed there’s a spy on each ship.”

Neoteny shrugged, “Maybe that’s what all the fuss was about, you know, the ship that attacked us last month. They couldn’t get a spy on us, so they tried to the more direct approach.”

“That could be, I guess… I just don’t want to wake up dead, you know?”

“Then lock your door when you go to sleep. We’re fine. Trust Coul, she trusts us.”

“If you say so.”

“I do,” he spoke without hesitation, and turned back towards the console. “Now, we just need to get back to the rest of the fleet and make sure everyone gets to New Zion in one piece.”

At that moment bursts of machine gun fire broke out from the turret atop the small reconnaissance-build hovercraft.

“Punch it, Cap.”

Neoteny cranked the throttle back up to the maximum and returned to guiding the Saltpillar through the narrow tunnels of the Real.

After a short time, radar indicated that there were no more hostiles in the immediate vicinity of the craft, and Wanzer handed him the radio.

“S’pose you should make the all-call.”

“Thanks, Wanzer,” he nodded, as Wanzer flipped the switch to activate the Trust channel frequency and he depressed the button on the radio’s microphone.

“Trust fleet, this is Captain Neoteny of the Saltpillar. We apologize that we have been unable to connect with the fleet earlier, however, we encountered a Cypherite attack ship a while back, and took quite some time to recover from damage inflicted during the battle. We later happened upon the ruins of Outpost One and… the city of Zion. During this time we were forced to lay low as sentinels continued to arrive at the city, and we were only able to break out into the tunnels a few days ago.

We received the faction broadcast regarding the Cypherites, and though we are disheartened to hear of it, we pray that you are all safe, and that these spies have been apprehended or killed. We are, however, proud to report that our cozy little ship is without a hint of a spy – we suspect that the attack nearly a month ago was a part of this Cypherite ploy intended to remove the Saltpillar from the mix in lieu of a spy. It’s a little tricky to get one into a skeleton crew, I guess.

We are currently en route to the fleet’s position, and our ETA is currently about a day or two. Coul’s done a pretty damn fine job keeping the squids off of our back, so we should be coming in nice and clean. However, we will be knocking all non-essential electronics online as we pass through a pocket of the tunnels usually populated by a good couple machine squads, in hopes of avoiding conflict. We hope to be through this pocket in a few hours, at which time, we will review any messages received during the blackout.

When we rendezvous with the fleet, we will be happy to offer any aid necessary – be it torture of any captured spies - a specialty of ours, I might add - or repairs and temporary resupply (we’ve got plenty, there, we were initially scheduled to be out in the boonies for another couple months yet).

At this time we will be going silent as per our plans. Godspeed, Trust, and good luck. See you soon. Saltpillar out.”

He took his finger off of the button and handed the radio back to Wanzer.

“Touching, Cap.”

“Isn’t it just?” he flipped the killswitch and the cockpit went dim. “Now, we stay quiet, and move slow, lest we run into more trouble than necessary.”

Wanzer nodded to him, and moved towards the top hatch to notify Microcoulomb of the blackout. Meanwhile, Neoteny’s finger resumed its familiar place, hovering over the little red button...

[RedBindi]

((Posted by Anonplayer on DN1))

Decaying in their long disuse, the tunnels of Man's once-great civilization stood vacant, scrap piled upon itself like some rusted exhibit in a museum not fit for casual observers - or perhaps more like a holocaust monument, the torn and jagged metal and stone - symbolic and sobering to those whose eyes were able to see its history laid out before them, or rather, behind them.

The art of Man's hubris itself was, like much of the world, a twisted mockery of its former self, a dead thing which, bearing as much sentience as a bookend, thought of itself roughly the same way, which is to say that none of it considered itself in the least. In fact, in the sense that inanimate objects and settings only exist when observed by the living, the tunnel came into sudden being when it was splashed by the light of the first hovercraft's flood-lamps. The path to New Zion might have been charted, but the tunnels were always treacherous, not only by the unpredictability of their indeterminable age, but by the fact that every crevice might hide an enemy.

One of the subsequent crafts took a turn in the tunnel a bit too wide, and as it scraped the wall, it dislodged a piece of scrap, which crumbled downward into the darkness...

It fell for some time, clattering off more metal and stone, before resting in a pile of similar fare at the bottom of a long, dark expanse, like a mine-shaft deep into the cavernous earth. Perhaps it had once been an access tunnel to the sewer system further below. Perhaps it had once been the connector to a power station or an underground railway. What it once had been was hardly of consequence, for now it was little more than a grave.

And yet, at the bottom, something stirred in the pitch blackness. A hand which was not a hand snapped out deftly, snatching the scrap metal before it could come to its own final resting place. The talons scraped over it, tapping at it, testing it, feeling it... Other sensors took in the sound of metal on metal as it was squeezed, bent, cracked, crushed. Then, an arm which was not an arm whipped out, tossing it back into the senseless depths, where it echoed once, and twice more, before falling silent forever.

And from that deep darkness, a few lights began to burn a vengeful red...

But not all of them.

[deffdog]

It has been a few weeks now, that we have uncovered the Cypherites Spies within the fleet. The fleet has spent the time interchanging patrols the area, and conducting repairs to their crafts.

Deffdog sits in the pilot chair, moving the craft slowly and quietly through the tunnels. Dragonnite meticulously watches his monitors for any sign of enemy activity.

“How you doing back their Drag?”, asks Deffdog.

“Doing just fine Deff, nothing on my scanners so far,” responds Dragonnite.

Deffdog moves his hand to activate the intercom to the Broadcast Deck, to his operator Jazz.

“Jazz, you still monitoring the Comm. Traffic and the Matrix Feed?” Deffdog asks.

“Aye, sir nothing new to report, except a concern, it’s probably nothing.”

“Jazz, anything can be important, remember our little friend down in the brig. What’s on your mind?”

“Its just that I usually watch for Devoted Rsi Signals, when I monitor the feed. I haven’t seen any in days.” Jazz answers

“I know what you mean”, Deffdog replies, “When I have been jacked in, I haven’t seen anyone from the other crafts. There probably just in New Zion, we will probably see them when we get back.”

Jazz looks down at her hands, thinking Deffdog is probably right, but it doesn’t alleviate her concern.

“Keep up the good work Jazz, I need to check in with the rest of the crew,” Deffdog switches the intercom to the engine room.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Deffdog receives his alls well reports, from the rest of the crew. Even the members of the Trust Crew have shown their valor. Since the Cypherite spy was captured, their doing everything they can to assure the crew and Deffdog that they can be Trusted.

As Deffdog continues his piloting, something catches his eye in the tunnel.

“Dragonnite send scanners to do a detailed search of Grid 5274.”

“Sure.”

As they close onto the object, it becomes very clear that it’s the wreckage of 2 Hover Crafts.

“Drag you getting any heat down there?”

“Yes very faint.”

“Begin landing procedures.”

Deffdog switches his head to a full ship intercom, “All hands we have found remains of 2 Hovercrafts, I need 4 members of the Trust Security force, to join us in a searching for Survivors.”

Deffdog shuts off the Intercom, and slowly begins the descent of the craft. After landing, he gestures for Dragonnite to follow. They make a stop in armory to grab their lightning rifles. They make their way to the exit hatch, passing By Jazz on the Broadcast Deck. “Jazz get on the horn to the fleet, let them know what were doing.”

Deffdog and Dragonnite meet up with the Trust Security force, by the hatch. “Alright were going to need to do this fast, the rest of the fleet can’t afford for us to be grounded for too long.”

The men all nod in agreement, and follow Deffdog and Dragonnite out of the craft and make their way to the wreckage.

Deffdog takes time to examine the damage. The damage did not look completely like a sentinel attack. The hull was obviously broken open from sentinels, but was the only trace of an sentinel attack on the craft. They enter the first craft, where immediately Deffdog gains the feeling of DejaVu, but shakes it off for it just being the same model of hovercraft he may have had entered before.

“Anyone in hear?!!! Deffdog yells very nervously. They walk very quietly down the corridor. “Hello!?” The craft definitely looked to have been in a fire fight, scorch marks of rifle fire were all over the walls, and hull damage was apparent through out the corridors. They turn the next corner, to be startled, by a dead freeborn on the ground. Deffdog kneels down at the body, the man’s face very familiar to him, but couldn’t place it with a name.

“Something is not right, I’ve been here before.”

Deffdog looks over to Dragonnite he nods in agreement. “So have I…”

“Let’s get to the command Deck.” The men follow Dragonite and Deffdog up the ladders and down the corridors of the craft till they reach the command deck hatch. It had been sealed it took both Dragonnite and Deffdog full might get the door open. They entered the shattered remains of the command Deck. Deffdogs eyes were immediately drawn toward a plaque that had been knocked to the ground. Deffdog moves toward it brushes it off, as soon as he reads the inscription he drops it to the ground. Deffdog drops to his knees, and leans back onto a wall, tears welling in his eyes. He looks over at the plaque, it read:

HoverCraft Shadow Elite
of the Devoted Fleet
Model No: 9654

Dragonnite picked up the plaque, and threw it across the room. “What the hell were they doing out here, dammit?! He shouts. Deffdog sat on the ground stunned, till he heard a very slight sound, a voice, very low and in pain. Deffdog looked up at Dragonnite and around the room. “I heard it too Deff. Where are you keep talking so we can find you?!, Dragonnite yells.

The voice was coming from a large pile of debris, near the pilot’s seat. All the men began moving the rubble, One rock at a time, slowly revealed a woman. Not just any woman, the Captain of the Shadow Elite, Suezuki.

“Sue!! Sue!! Your safe now, just stay with us,” Defffdog looks up toward the men, “We need to get her back to the Shadrack. Drag, take the rest of the men and go check out the other craft. With any hope it’s not the Altamus.”

Deffdog picks up the battered body of Suezuki, and carries her out of the command deck and out of the wreckage of the Shadow Elite. Deffdog moving carefully and quickly heads toward the Shadrack.

Jazz perks up as she hears the exit hatch to begin to open. She hears Deffdog, yell before he even through the hatch, “Jazz get the doctor now.” He enters holding a woman in his arms. She gets on the intercom and rouses the doctor.

They all head to the Medical Bay, where immediate surgery begins on Suezuki.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Deffdog sits at the bedside of Suezuki, when Dragonnite enters the room.

“Will she be alright?...” Dragonnite asks staring at the Suezuki on the bed.

“The doc said she’ll be fine, she only got a few broken bones, but it was the exposure to the cold that threatened her life. What did you find on the other HoverCraft?”

Dragonite looks down at his shoes. “It was the Altamus…, no survivors.”

“Dammit,… we have lost so many good people …,” Deffdog pounds his hand into the wall. What the hell were they doing out here, we told them to stay away.”

“We were able to access Captain Cydin’s logs. It appears a sentinel and a machine hovercraft was the attackers. The hovercraft was lying in wait, as was the sentinel, the Altamus and the Shadow Elite were downed, then they sentinel opened the holes in the hull so the operatives could board.”

“Deff there’s more to say about the Altamus, we have a problem.” Deffdog looks toward Dragonnite, with a worried expression.

“*CENSORED* we have never seen that kind of tactics before, they must have wanted something, oh *CENSORED* please don’t tell me..” Deffdog responds.

“It only gets worse, Deff. When we got there our mainframe was active on one of the monitors,” Dragonnite answers quietly, “They uploaded something to our system. It’s destabilizing the Devoted Encrypted Communications Channel. We didn’t notice because of the radio silence.”

Deffdog sits back down at the bedside of Suezuki, holding his head in his hands, “Are we ready to get back underway to the Trust Fleet?”

“Yes Deff. Should I contact the fleet and tell them what we found?,” Dragonnite asks.

“Sue needs to get some rest,” says the Doctor, startling both Dragonite and Deffdog. “I need to ask that you both leave.”

“Alright but let me know when she wakes up, Doc.” Deffdog asks.

“Of Course,” responds the doctor.

Deffdog and Dragonnite leave the med bay. “Drag there is one thing I must do. I must… shut down the Devoted Channel, its too dangerous to keep it running.”

Dragonnite looks at Deffdog with sad expression, but nodded in agreement. “It has to be done.”

“Go and contact the Trust, let them know the situation. Well be back with the fleet soon,”

Deffdog nods, turns and makes his way to the Command Deck, and to his Captains only Terminal. He sits down in his seat, and begins entering his access information. He finally pulls up the Faction Communication Controls, reading the hovercraft names and picturing the wreckage of them only a few meters outside.

He enters the command:

Devoted>disband.exe

Deffdog stares at the command, for what seemed like an eternity. Memories of past victories, failures, retired friends, and most importantly those who lost their lives were running through his mind.

Deffdog sighs as he reminds himself, this has to be done, and reluctantly presses the enter key.

Deffdog watches as it displays the destruction of all hidden communication relays on the screen 1 by 1.

Deffdog remembers something the Morpheus once said:

“I’ve dreamed a dream, and now that dream is gone from me.”

[RedBindi]

The ramp of the Titan lowered slowly to the ground as Deffdog approached to escort the final two engineers from the Titan to his ship. Deffdog’s expression was grim, he knew once these two men were on his ship the Titan would be leaving the safety of the Fleet to go after one of her crew members and the Fleet itself would head for the safety of New Zion. It was not a decision he agreed with, but RedBindi wasn’t going to change her mind. He glanced up, as the ramp finally touched the ground, to see four figures silhouetted against the interior of the ship. Three of the four held carry-alls filled with their belongings, two were the engineers reassigned to his ship and one was the captain of the Devildog, Fenshire. The forth person on the ramp was RedBindi, easily distinguished by her feminine form and long red hair. She began speaking as she descended the ramp, Fenshire at her side. “The Shadrack ready to go, Deff?”

Deffdog nodded, the grim expression never leaving his face. “Yeah, as I said last night Maatkare and the Trust engineers already on my ship have repaired the majority of the damage. We’re as ready as we’re going to be.”

Reaching the end of the ramp RedBindi extended her hand towards him and grasped his hand, giving him a firm, strong handshake. “Good, get these men aboard and head out then.”

Behind her the two men, carry-alls slung over their shoulder, walked past her and took up positions behind Deffdog. “Bindi, I still don’t think this is a good idea…”

“I know, Deff, and your concerns have been noted, but I’m not leaving one of my crewmen behind… not while there is still a chance he may be alive.”

Deffdog nodded and snapped a salute. “Then I’ll see you when you get back to New Zion.”

Returning his salute, she nodded as well. “That you will.”

Turning around Deffdog signaled for the two men to follow and began his trek back to the safety of the Shadrack.

Waiting until Deffdog was out of earshot, Fenshire gently pulled RedBindi to the side of the ship, out of sight of any crew members that might be lurking near the top of the ramp. “I still don’t like this either, you being out here alone without backup.”

RedBindi sighed and wrapped her arms around him. “I know you don’t, but you have things that have to be taken care of in New Zion and I’m so sorry I can’t be there to help you with them. If I could come back with you I would, but I just can’t let Lovable suffer… she’s in love with Lawliet and it isn’t fair to her for me to just leave him out here.”

Sliding his arms around her waist he pulled her into a tight embrace and spoke softly to her, his voice only reaching her ears. “I’ll head back out as soon as I can and catch up to you. Until then… please… be careful…”

Returning his embrace she held onto him for several moments before finally speaking again softly, making sure only he heard her words. “I’ll be as careful as I can be, love. And I’ll look forward to seeing you again.” Resting her head against his she continued speaking. “I just can’t leave him behind… he’s a part of this crew and I don’t leave crew members behind.”

“I know…” He held her a moment more before pulling her into a kiss he wished he didn’t have to end. “If anything happens to you because of his stupidity…”

Raising a hand to his face she placed two fingers on his lips. “Shh… I’ll be fine and this will be over with before we know it.” Sighing a little she hugged him again and stepped back towards the Titan. “You should get going. The sooner you head out, the sooner you’ll be back.”

Reaching down Fenshire picked up his carry-all and slung it over his shoulder. “See you then…”

Nodding she turned and headed back to the Titan’s ramp, Fenshire’s eyes never leaving her even as the ramp began to close. It took every ounce of will he had to turn and begin walking back to the Devildog as his fear of losing her roared forth once again.

As the ramp locked into place behind her, RedBindi took several deep breaths and composed herself before making her way to the bridge where the rest of the crew awaited orders. On the bridge all eyes were turned towards the front view ports as the remainder of the Trust Fleet rose from the ground one by one and joined the formation headed by the Devildog. As a unit they headed towards the tunnel at the far end of the cavern, finally beginning the last leg of their journey to New Zion. “God speed, Trust… God speed…” The words slipped from her lips as the lights of the last hovercraft faded from view. Stepping fully onto the bridge she waited until the attention of the entire crew was upon her before speaking again. “Lumi and Mica, I need you two to shut down all non-essential systems. We’ve been without a recharge for just a little while now and we need to conserve as much power as possible. Lov, shut down all non-secure comms. From here on out we only communicate when absolutely necessary and only over the most heavily encrypted channels. Vapor, until we get under fire I’ll need you to run navigation. Lov has uploaded the last known position and heading of the Izanami to our nav program. Set us a course to get us to that position as soon as possible. Despond as soon as Vapor sends you the maps take us out of here.” A chorus of “Yes ma’am” followed her orders as the crew of the Titan set to work and a few moments later the behemoth rose from the floor of the cavern to chase her prey.

[pyro]

Pyro sat with a glazed look in his eyes. He was staring at nothing at all. His concious mind empty, but his subconcious was running a mile a minute. As if defragging everything that happened in the past days.

Part way in he passed out from exhaustion. He woke up to the beeping of an EKG. He dat up to the empty room. He pulled the IV out of his arm and felt woozy. He ripped the johnny off and slide on his jeans and shoes. He walked out of the room while he slide his shirt over his head.

As he walked down the corridor to the gunnery turrets where he was last stationed Deffdog ran into him.
"Pyro! What the hell, you need to be in the med bay. You're not cleared for any duties right now."
Pyro locked eyes with Deff and spoke calmly "We are undermanned, out numbered and I have a job to do. I'm fine, I'm going back to the turrets. I will not be stopped."

"Fine Pyro, just take it easy. Hunter will be stationed with you."

[suesuki]

Suesuki watched as the Titan left the Trust fleet and headed out. She new from her encounters with Redbindi that she wouldnt give up until she had found what she was looking for. "Never leave anyone behind" she had said to Sue...

Sue thought about her own crew before the attack...her mind still full of blanks...the faces burned on her brain.

They looked to her for leadership. They looked to her for orders... She had failed them.
Not knowing what was attacking them she had frozen, just for a split second and in that split second the Shadow Elite had gone dark.
As if in slow motion she had seen flashes ..catching faces, voices shouting, weapons fire ...the explosion sending her flying across the deck , hitting the wall.

Silence for what seemed forever but was only a couple of seconds and then the ship crashing to the ground and the ceiling falling, crushing her ribs knocking the air from her lungs. Then, the cold and then darkness...

Familiar voices. Talking. .Then the weight on her chest lifting. Hands picking her up and taking her from her ship.

Deffdog telling her it will be alright. But she new different .

Sitting in her cabin she looked at the remains of her life aboard the Shadow Elite.
The photos of the crew. The logbook. The burnt plaque...

She picked up the ships log and turned to the last page and wrote " this is not over"

She needed to talk to someone.

She needed to talk to her "father"

[RedBindi]

((Posted by Shadow_Watcher on DN1))

The claws scuttled along the ceiling of the cave, blackness-upon-blackness camouflaged against the rotting metal and coarse stone... It had crawled along, following the ion trails of the hovercraft caravan to this spot, and was now carefully dancing out of the range of their scanners, hidden to man and machine alike...

Of course, distance and cover rarely prohibit one from taking in one's own surroundings, and this entity was no exception to that rule. As it found a secure spot nestled in the wreckage of what looked like the undercarriage of an old hovercar - it was still strange to think of such things as 'old' - its non-arms detatched and extended toward the largest gathering of thermal energy, almost like a poor man warming his hands by a fire far too cold to produce adequate heat.

Coincidentally, it was more likely to be the Zionites who might huddle together for warmth in the perpetual night of the caves - their as-yet-silent observer neither felt nor cared for the cold.

"... still don't think this is a good idea..."

Recognition took a moment, as the caves had a terrible echo even in the best conditions - it was the sort of thing that reminded all sides of the passing of the majority of the human race, and the loneliness that all who had survived bore. Or rather, it reminded those capable of caring about its profound sadness. Upon some, the message of the echo was simply an inconvenience.

Ultimately, the name of the commanding officer meant that this was the proper convoy to have followed. Luck, it seemed, had not deserted the silent watcher, even if it remained inherently less reliable than the calculable odds of the digital world wrought by the Machines in their own... compassion?

Doubtful. Most of their technology was developed for the sole purpose of putting an end to humanity, over and over again. The hand which was not a hand clicked closed once, twice, in remembrance of this fact, as well.

"... anything happens to you because of..."

The listener adjusted the angle a little to account for the sound ricocheting off of the cave walls, noting as it did so that the voice which had just sounded was of intimate familiarity - this time, no cross referencing was needed; no clue was required as to the name of the speaker.

"... this will all be over before we know it."

How true, how true... For someone who knew absolutely nothing of what awaited her, the woman managed to show some talent for prophecy. "The sooner you head out, the sooner you'll be back," she added, confirming her own doomsaying powers, at least in the mind of the observer. As it registered the power surge and heard the engine turbines rev up, it detatched from the ceiling of the cavern, readying its new body to follow after the large craft now confirmed as the HvCft Titan, remaining beyond the scan range of the ship's sensors as it moved along in the darkness, like a spider in the corner of one's vision that always seemed to hide itself when focus was turned to it in full.

Through it all, the watcher didn't smile, but it would have if it could have.

... if only just a little one.

[RedBindi]

She opened her eyes for what felt like the millionth time that night and sighed, the nagging feeling something wasn’t right continued to plague her. Tossing back the covers RedBindi shivered in the cold air before quickly pulling on the standard sweater, pants, and shoes every awakened operative seemed to wear. “May as well get an early start on repairs” She muttered to herself before opening the door and shielding her eyes from the light that poured into the room.

So far the Titan was holding together. It had been in a few fights with sentinel patrols that happened to cross its path, but no major damage as of yet. A few minor systems shorted out, a slight lessening of her hull integrity, and a quickly patched hole or two seemed to be the only damage that came out of those attacks so far. At least those attacks were expected, the sentinels appeared on radar, the Titan prepped for attack, battle ensued, and they went on. What wasn’t expected was the ghost on the radar. It had only happened a couple times since they had left the fleet, but it was enough to put everyone on edge. RedBindi had run every diagnostic possible and still the ghost image appeared. Now on top of everything else her instincts were telling her something major was about to happen, something they weren’t prepared for.

So she prowled the ship looking for something, anything that needed doing all the while hoping the answer would come to her in time.

[RedBindi]

((Another post by Shadow_Watcher on DN1))

As many ways as the Matrix paralleled the world of the Real, so too was it marked by entirely oppositional differences. For example, whereas death and destruction were often marked by a breaking down of systemic rules, and therefore carried out with agonizing slowness, death in the Real was but a moment of action, followed by abrupt and final silence.

So it had been here, as well.

The wreckage of the Titan still sparked and smoked where it lay at the bottom of one of the narrower tunnels. A large furrow had been dug up in the debris at the bottom where it had skidded, losing hoverpads and hull alike during its panicked and sudden crashing.

It had been a gamble, to be certain. Without a sizable force, one could not reduce the probabilities in this world to statistic likelihood, and thus the crash had been totally unpredictable by anyone - the reactor could have gone critical, destroying the ship and all who were aboard in a brilliant flash of blinding blue energy. Likewise, the trauma of the crash could have killed everyone aboard, leaving no one left to tell the tale. Even with the possibility of survivors, it was luck alone that kept the communications gear intact so that a message of distress could be broadcast.

Whether that luck was fortunate, or unfortunate... Well, that remained to be seen. There were many unknowns still present in the overall equation. Even so, some likely and educated conjectures could be made.

The thing perched for a moment over a broken-off piece of the wreckage, all claws and blackened steel, its arms writhing in what could only be construed as satisfaction over its handiwork... Though closer inspection would reveal sensory equipment already in use to take into account the position and quality of body heat within the dying ship, its energy levels falling to the point where individual signals could be pinpointed and analyzed. The thing was ALWAYS analyzing... it was the way of such monsters.

From the agitated and lethargic movements of the survivors, it could be ascertained that they had sustained heavy damage to their ship, injury to some if not all crew members, and lacked their former structure of leadership. Coupled with the method of attack, this meant that if their captain was not dead yet, that she soon would be. Further heat sources revealed a gathering on the bridge, where the attack had taken place - movement was minimal, and the survivors still seemed to be experiencing shock over what had happened.

Later, if they managed to escape all-but-certain termination by hunger or the dangers of the environment, they might tell of how the darkness had opened up, disgorging something familiar, yet horrifyingly wrong onto the ship - something that had all but landed upon them before the sensors had fully registered what it was: a lone Sentinel, and a broken-looking one at that. Although its squid-like form was unmistakable, it seemed to be missing many of its lights, rendering the thing somewhat darker than most of its red-eyed brethren.

It had definitely managed to surprise the ship's crew in closing the distance, moving in past machine-gun range on the tail end of a sensor sweep - clearly, the thing had been watching them for some time, as if it were stalking them specifically. It had also attacked alone - not swarming upon them with others of its kind, nor coordinating any sort of attack with other nearby patrols - for all its visual similarity, the thing's tactics did not match those of the Machines at all. However, the attack had remained brutally efficient.

Dropping on them from the front, the thing had pierced the front of the hull with its claws, climbing over to the window glass that marked the bridge - its sensory equipment was out, and it seemed to be looking for something in particular... Like a spider, it scuttled over the glass, its legs scraping over it, cracking it in places where the sharp steel punched into its surface. For a moment, the crew's collective vision was filled with the image of the Sentinel's underside, where the red lights lining its underbelly were active, and burned with a fierce brightness in contrast to its dark face.

One light had burned brighter than the others, and there was no time for the pilot to escape their fate - their seatbelt held fast, as it was designed to do, and it was all they could do to inhale sharply in preparation for a scream that never had a chance to be heard.

The laser, designed for cutting through a hovercraft's thick hull, was instead applied against the much weaker glass, burning a small hole in it - crossing the distance and punching through the chest of the pilot with the precision of a sniper - or perhaps a surgeon. The smell of burning flesh filled the bridge, and the pilot's hands slackened on the controls, causing the hovercraft to begin to pitch downward... and downward it went...

Death in the Real happened all too quickly.

The Sentinel sat, pondering what thoughts a thoroughly alien psyche might, gathering data a while longer, before its working systems burned once more, lifting the blackened steel carriage of its body up and into the air. Its legs wrapped around behind it as it ascended and made its way to the top of the tunnel, to attach with its sharp claws, and lie still, and wait for the distress call that would bring its true prey out of the safety of New Zion and to this place... where the combined wreckage of two ships might be a grave for both lovers rather than just one for one.

[Lovable]

((Wait... WHAT?!))

[L.Lawliet]

lovable said:

((Wait... WHAT?!))

((Right there with you....))

[Neoteny]

((What the hell? God mods? No offense if this is intended, but it seems abrupt...))