Freedom Fighters
Part One: The Hideaway
Takato Matsuda jumped as the door slammed behind him. No one should know he was here. Slowly turning around he saw a dark outline in the shadows, which rasped, "Don't interfere. You will be Confined if you attempt further disruption. You are an inferior creature, you cannot be allowed Freedom. Just give in… Confinement is so wonderful… you shall never need fear if you simply come to our side… just come with me." Takato spat on the shape contemptuously and out lunged a young man with a heavy build bearing a knife. Takato dodged to the side and the man's momentum carried him forward into the derelict library wall. It had fallen into disrepair since the Mika'Tursien, nicknamed Wraiths by free humans, had come to Earth. The bulky man charged again and this time knocked Takato off his feet, but only grazed him with the knife. Winded, Takato stumbled to his feet before the much larger man. The man attempted pinning Takato to a wall with his shoulder, but the Tamer deftly sidestepped and grabbed the knife from the man's loose grip. He stabbed the knife through the man's head right behind the jaw, and it came out the other side covered in blood. Takato pulled out the knife and slipped it his pocket, ready for later use, and stepped outside the New York City library hulk. He advanced to the center of an old, dying streetlight the Wraiths had missed in their great turn-off of the lowest levels. By then he realized more men in their early 20s had surrounded him, just outside the lightbulb's circle of light. Takato drew the knife, preparing for another onslaught of weak-minded fools. The Wraiths never did realize these flunkies were insufficient. He thought. Then, startling enough, a Wraith stepped out of the darkness and into a shadow that originated in it. It spoke softly and silkily, "Takato Matsuda, the famous rebel hero, I always wanted to meet you. You cannot escape. We can do this the hard way or the easy way. Join us, and you'll go through no pain. But if you refuse, I assure you, you shall not survive the torture if you persist with this stubborn foolishness. Can't you join everyone else? Do you think you're somehow better than these people? They chose this of the own accord, and they're fine."
"Liar!" Takato yelled, "You tricked them! All of them!"
"Calm yourself, please Takato. Such emotion, hate, loathing, fury, rage… They are obsolete with us. Gone forever. It's perfect this way."
"But what about camaraderie, friendship, hope, courage?! You take those too." The alien made an approximation of a shrug despite its lack of solid form.
"A minor inconvenience. Its better to feel nothing at all than such despicable emotions."
"You won't find the others. Know that, and that as I go to my grave I bring my secrets with me!" Takato jumped an unsuspecting member of the mob around him. He stabbed the knife, moved on. More and more men died until finally they moved back into the circle, and the Wraith came forward, its darkness putting out the streetlight. None saw Takato Matsuda screaming in that dark alley that night. Certainly none save the Wraiths thought he would ever scream again.
"Whaddya mean Takato didn't come back last night? He had to have!" Jeri screeched.
"I'm sorry Jeri. Neither Tai nor I saw him come back last night, and we were up on guard duty all night." Izzy Izuma, now in his late teens, explained patiently.
"He probably just had to hide out for the night and is on his way here now," Sora Takenouchi consoled the younger girl.
"Well… I guess that makes sense. Lets pack up, and if he's not here by the time we're ready to leave, he'll just have to find us at the next stop on our route." Jeri conceded. The DigiDestined and Tamers, minus Takato, packed their meager belongings-Digivice variants, D-terminals, card packs, et cetera-and rations. They left, bound for a small, secluded area in the north side of New York City. The crept along the lowest levels of the city, the only portion still looking like it did before the Wraiths came. Always watching for the "Long Patrols" performed by the Wraiths slaves, they snuck and hid, checking around every corner. At the very center of downtown, they were waylaid suddenly by a long patrol-with a Wraith commander! The 18 free DigiDestined backed together into a circle. Drawing knives and grabbing any large, blunt objects that came to hand, they prepared for yet another scuffle. Roughly two score young men and women, all fighting fit, closed in on the resistance fighters. They fought with wild abandon against the fighters, the desperation of one with nothing to lose aiding them greatly. Unfortunately, the numbers and added strength of the Wraith backed them into a corner in front of a sporting goods store. Out of breath Tai grinned insanely at his compatriots and said, "Well this is it, Custer's last stand. Been nice knowing you all." He winked at Matt and Davis quickly. Suddenly the three of them hurled skateboards they had hidden in the small crowd (and which Jeri, one of the smallest, had snuck inside to get), bowling over many of the advancing opponents and giving the team a chance to a make a break down the alley to the side of the shop. Seeing an open window at the top of a basement, they slipped down quietly. The chasing enemies rounded the corner when only Cody was still in the alley. Knowing going down would do no good and only compromise his friends' safety, he dashed farther down the alley, huffing and puffing to stay ahead of the onrushing killers. Eventually he reached a high stone wall, which slowed him down enough that the fastest of the group, the Wraith, could "grab" him with its dark tendrils of mist and shadow. Cody cried out and, knowing he did not have the mental fortitude to keep the location of the others from the Wraiths throughout the torture, stabbed himself repeatedly, hoping to hit his heart and other vital organs. Blood gushed from his arteries as he died quickly. The DigiDestined, watching the gruesome scene from the relative safety of the basement wished they could help him, but they knew that they too would die or be captured in the effort. They shut the window once the hunters were out of earshot and considered what to do next.
"Ok, we have to assume Takato is dead or captured, judging by what just happened," Jeri wailed at Tai's statement.
"Calm down, Jeri." Kari shushed her.
"Furthermore," Matt continued in Tai's vein of thought, "if he is captured, we must assume they can and will torture him to discover our routes, henceforth their ambush back there. So, where will we stay?"
"Why not here?" Joes voice carried from much farther down into the basement, where he was inspecting their surroundings. The basement was huge, extending underneath the entire block, with stairs to the other several floors of abandoned city. It was sparsely furnished but comfortable.
"It would make a good base of operations against the Wraiths," Izzy murmured.
"All in favor say 'Aye'!" Davis crowed. Shouts of "aye" echoed 'round the basement. This brought the groups of people, usually quite young, out of the dimly lit corners and nooks they had hid in.
"Who're you?" A gruff female voice asked them. The DigiDestined turned to face a woman in ragged clothes little older than they. She had dark hair and eyes, light skin, and was slender but obviously strong and quick.
"The DigiDestined. We're sorry to intrude upon your homes, we were just running from the Wraiths." T.K. apologized.
"Whatever. You're against the Wraiths, you're welcome here. I'm Crystal Ledor, elected leader of these peoples, all of whom are fugitives from the Wraiths. Welcome to the Hideaway."
"Uhh… thanks," Yolie shook her hand, "We really appreciate that."
"Not a problem. What'd you do, other than refusal to let them into your heads, to get them on your tail? We saw they had a Wraith on your tail. You must be pretty important."
"Forceful resistance. We nearly blew one of their camps for those they haven't broken yet, but the operative that went in got captured." Ryo explained.
"Forceful resistance?" Crystal stared incredulously, "That's crazy! Although I was thinking of trying it, few here are fighters. We'd be slaughtered, just like your friend in the alley."
"We could always try to whip them into shape," Davis suggested, "We do have experience fighting those things."
"Not a bad idea… Council Call! Council Call!" She yelled out to the bedraggled survivors who came to her call. All in all there were about 500 from all floors of the Hideaway crowded into the basement.
"These warriors are the DigiDestined and they have been fighting the Wraiths all the time we've hidden down here. Its time to fight back, and these folks are going to show you how. Oldsters, go on about your business, you'll be briefed on how you can contribute later. If you're too young to fight don't worry, you can help by scouting. All able bodied 'recruits' form up into 18 ranks, on the double! You are now members of the Digital Resistance Fighters of New York!" Crystal belted out orders. The men and women there that day worked harder than ever before. The twenty-score of them trained all that day, took an hour-long rest period to eat and sleep, and then worked all the next. The DigiDestined were good teachers, and the DRF were in top condition from surviving the Wraiths under-level searches, so things went smoothly. After a week of such rigors, the DRF's Commanders (the DigiDestined, Crystal, and Crystal's two lieutenants, Sarlin and Kigan) judged them ready for a first mission: A supply raid.
Armed with knives and the such, the DRF ventured in squads of twenty to a Wraith supply depot in the Bronx. Each group snuck in a different way, on a different floor of the chrome skyscraper, and with a different destination. The target supplies were foodstuffs in mass quantities, simple firearms, shelters, hover-transports, communication units, data from Wraith computers, and PPCs (Pocket Personal Computers, handheld supercomputers). Flawlessly executed, they suffered no casualties while the Wraith's guards were all killed without an alarm going off, allowing the DRF to make several trips in and out for added supplies. Leaving jubilantly, they returned 'home' to the Hideaway. Enough PPCs and comm. units had been taken to distribute one to every soldier and still have some left over, allowing for an effective encrypted battle network, referred to as the Warnet. They used the data from the Wraith computers and their own reconnaissance endeavors to create an accurate map of all levels of the city. They used other previously unknown abandoned blocks and buildings as forward bases, while keeping the Hideaway as their base of operations. Throughout those first two weeks, Henry, Rika, Kazu, Kenta, Ryo, and most of all Jeri grew agitated with waiting to try to save Takato. So late at night they crept out without even the PPC/comm. units to the camp where Takato was believed to be held…
To Be Continued in Part Two: Search and Rescue…