STC: Just Add Water 3
Sky Marshal Redwing was staring at the screen in front of her showing Intel in a panic. They should be panicking. Even a blind person would feel squirmish with the scowl the Sky Marshal had on her face. "I do not like the odds of my troopers vs CHAS systems. You better explain to me why those things aren't responding to my override command" She yelled pounding a fist on the console.
The officer on screen winced slightly. "Well, there was really only a small chance that the override would work since the Cyborgs have ... strayed themselves from the system." The officer explained weakly.
The Sky Marshal's frown deepened. "Strayed themselves from the system." She repeated unamused. The Intel officer couldn't help but flinch, a reaction that wasn't lost to the Federation head. She knew questioning the officer was futile. INTEL was just as lost as her. "I hope for your sake you know what the current situation is." She ordered as she heard an explosion and felt the building sway slightly.
The officer took a deep breath. "Emergency power is at it's limit. There are three CHAS systems that are still active. There is one engaged by troopers in the south wing." He paused looking down at another screen to re check his details. Another explosion rocked the Sky Marshal's building. The officer looked up to the Sky Marshal paler and more frightened than he had ever been.
"What? Where's the other two?" She demanded.
The man snapped back to reality. "Security cameras have spotted them chasing after troopers. They're heading right for you ma'am." He answered slowly as if he was trying to understand what he had just said himself.
"WHAT?" She exclaimed. She rushed to slide the door open. She leaned on the door frame for balance as the explosions started to rock the building harder. Machine fire started to get louder as the seconds ticked by. Figures emerged from the corner of the corridor. But the faint voices arguing through the noise suddenly made her feel slightly better.
"I want a normal stalker!" A boy had screamed out in frustration as the machine fire stopped for a brief second.
"Brutto. This isn't the time to reveal your fantasies." Answered a familiar lieutenant.
"There isn't ever a time for this conversation period!" An even more familiar stern voice boomed over the renewed machine fire.
The Sky Marshal almost smiled. She would've laughed out loud if the situation were different and they weren't being chased by two cyborgs that had a squad's worth of ammunition each. She shook her head knowing that getting the troopers out of the CHASs' firing range would mean endangering her as well. But she had no choice when lives were at stake. "Roughnecks!" She yelled out hoping they would follow her voice and head to the relative safety of the room.
The doors shut once again before the CHASs could stop the sliding mechanisms. Sky Marshal Redwing watched as the troopers were all on the floor trying to catch their breath. She saw the gashes and wounds they had gotten from being within the firing range even with the dim lighting. She hoped that their injuries were not life threatening. The door was starting to glow a reddish color.
She watched Dizzy Flores slowly get up to a sitting position. "Now we know why they were cheaper." She said still slightly out of breath.
Carl chuckled. "I guess we get what we pay for." He replied.
Sgt. Zim got to his feet and stood in front of the Sky Marshal. The troopers groaned when they saw him salute remembering that they had just thrown protocol out the window. Even the Sky Marshal was surprised by his actions but returned the formal greeting. Sgt. Zim turned his head slightly to glare at Rico who was still lying on the ground-- this was after all his job-- before returning his attention back to the Sky Marshal.
"You apes alright?" The Sky Marshal asked with concern watching the troopers on the floor stay on the floor.
The Sky Marshal received a collective unenthusiastic response from the troopers who were still trying to recuperate from their marathon. "Ma'am yes ma'am." They barely mumbled out.
Sgt. Zim sighed. "They'll live." He answered beside his old friend. "But right now, we need to put those things out of commission. We'll need your override code." He explained.
The Sky Marshal shook her head. "Intel has tried that. The system won't shut down through the override." She said.
Lt. Rico sat up automatically at that statement. "What?" He turned automatically to the resident tech. "I thought Andy said that..."
"It probably learned that weakness with the stunt Andy pulled earlier." Gossard offered the explanation before Rico could finish his explanation. "No same two tricks twice." He reminded everyone.
Brutto was on his feet looking around the room. "Great. Anybody else have any bright ideas?"
"Try the door." Higgins pointed out the brightly glowing red door. The doors' demise wouldn't be long now. The cyborgs only need it to be soft enough for them to pull apart.
Brutto shrugged. "Way to point out the obvious." He replied before turning around just to find a trooper still lying on her back unlike everyone else who have already regained their bearings. He nudged the girl's arm slightly with his foot. "Hey Anderson, you still alive?" He asked still nudging the girl's arm. There was no response. "Anderson?" He asked again, this time with less of his normal brash attitude.
Andy finally slapped his foot away her hand. "I'm trying to think but all I really want to do is strangle that man who didn't test the stupid thing."
"I get dibs on the guy who planned the waterproofing." Gossard chuckled wryly.
"I'll make sure to give them the wrong medication when they come in." Doc joined in.
Rico brandished his morita and aimed for the melting door. "Great. If we survive, I'll hold them down." He replied. "These things need a shrink." He asked sarcastically as he watched the troopers get their own weapons and ready for the onslaught that would soon come. "A personality adjustment. A lobotomy. Someone to show it who's boss." Rico continued ranting.
Gossard's eyes widened. "Lobotomy." He repeated after the lieutenant. It was like a light bulb just went on inside his head as he remembered the cyborg specifications. He hurriedly turned to face Andy. "There's a program that links the AI to the mechs." He said knowing she would understand what he was suggesting could be done.
Andy shook her head. "Overrides don't work, Tech. System can't be reached because the AI is blocking us out. Can't reach the system, can't reach that program." She pointed out right away.
Dizzy watched the door. "Aaand there they go." She commented about the ensuing conversation that she doesn't understand.
"Correction. The system OVERALL can't be reached because the AI is blocking SICON." Gossard corrected with a grin. He watched the girl's expression change confirming his suspicion. "Aha! You know I'm right. That'll stop it ." He said.
She automatically stowed her morita and sank to the floor taking out her laptop. "That'll stop it." She grinned as she started typing furiously. "Freaking bunch of geniuses. I hate you." She added.
The Sky Marshal exchanged confused glances with her friend. Sgt. Zim shrugged signaling that he should not be the one she should be asking. "Someone care to translate?" She asked the troopers.
"She has to pretend to be something other than SICON to enter only part of the system and delete the program Gossard was talking about to shut down the CHAS." The lieutenant answered simply. "Cloak and dagger kind of stuff."
The troopers immediately gave their squad leader a look of shock and surprised. "You're not Rico." Carl Jenkins said breaking the relative silence.
"I second that." Gossard agreed with a nod.
The lieutenant grinned smugly at the the older trooper. "You think you people are so hot but you're not." He shot back to the two defectors.
There were fingers now emerging from the softened metal. The CHASs were starting to pry the doors open just like they did in the weapon's hold. The rest of the troopers were remained ready to try to shoot down the cyborgs if the other two failed their little experiment. "Not much time." Andy sighed looking down on her laptop typing even faster.
"Private, I'm taking your weapon." The Sky Marshal said reaching for the morita in Andy's pack. The girl nodded absentmindedly in response. Sgt. Zim lead the Sky Marshal to stay behind the troopers after she had the gun with her.
Doc bit his lower lip as the hole the CHASs' have made started to grow bigger. "Anytime now, Andy." He saw the the girl cringe. "No pressure." He added.
"Open fire if you have a shot. Slow them down." Rico ordered. The troopers started to shoot tentatively. The CHAS that was making the whole stepped back as the bullets hit it. They saw the second CHAS step forward and place one of its arms through.
Dizzy's eyes widened realizing what the CHAS was about to do when its hand dropped revealing the weapon embedded on its wrists. "Flame thrower!" She called out just in time for the the troopers to react. The Roughnecks found themselves sprawled on the floor once again to avoid initial burst of flames. The CHAS's hand retreated to the sides of the hole. With one final tug, the metal door finally gave way enough so that the CHAS systems could come in.
The CHASs started to enter the room. Higgins could feel their cold metallic stare on him as he took several steps backwards like the rest of the troopers still firing at the systems in vain. The CHASs just stood on the spot unmoved as the shots hit them. Soon, a familiar beeping and whirl filled the room signaling that they had all run out of ammunition. Higgins looked around at the other troopers standing. They were all reflecting his panicked expression for once. He saw Sgt. Zim move to stand right in front of the Sky Marshal making sure that she would be protected from whatever the units could do as long as he was standing.
That was when the CHASs raised their arms and revealed their machine guns. "Execute." They said in unison. There was a click. Higgins closed his eyes and cringed in anticipation of bullets ripping through him. The silence in between felt like forever.
"Execute that! Ha!" Higgins heard someone behind him yell out.
He slowly opened his eyes to see that the CHAS systems have not moved. They were frozen. He was still alive. He was in one piece. He hasn't been riddled to bits. He fell on his knees in relief and turned to face the girl behind him. "You're going to give me a heart attack, Andy." He said weakly.
--
"Suspension." Carl Jenkins said from his bunk.
"Without pay." Higgins added glumly deleting some fuzzy scenes from his camera.
Doc leaned back on his bunk. "Scrubbing the shower tiles with a toothbrush until Zim can see his reflection on it."
Higgins gave the medic a disgusted look. "While he's in the shower? That's just... wrong." He said.
"What century are you people in?" Brutto waved the three off with one hand. "Nothing less than dishonorable discharge." He bent slightly when he passed by Andy's bunk to make sure that she didn't miss the smile on his face. The girl sitting on her bunk hid behind the pillow she was hugging even more in response to the boy's teasing. Everything was relatively back to normal at headquarters although squad deployment has been delayed because of the incident. SICON HQ has been temporarily been hooked to the city's power grid as base technicians try to repair the damage to head quarter's own power system. The medical bay has been just as busy patching up injured troopers right after power was restored. For the base, the main problem of the CHAS attack was over and luckily, there were no fatalities and no major injuries that a few days in the tank won't fix. But for the Roughnecks, there was still one last problem. The fate of a trooper has not yet been decided.
Gossard shook his head in disagreement. "She hacked SICON. It's got to be a fate worse than that." He grinned. "Sky Marshal assigns her to Intel."
Dizzy Flores hit the back of every boy's head while she made her way to the girl's bunk. "Sensitivity. Of. An. Amoeba." She said before taking a seat beside the oddly silent trooper. "Don't listen to them. It'll be fine." She tried to comfort only other girl in the squad.
Andy lifted her head off the pillows. "I've got a lot of blackmail material. You think I can bribe them?" She asked. The troopers erupted in laughter while the girl managed only a small smile. The door to their room silently slid open without any of the troopers noticing. They were too busy laughing at idea of bribing the highest SICON officer.
"Depends." Rico answered from the door. "What do you have on Sarge?" He asked curiously. The girl paled at the sight of the Rico and Zim but stood up with the rest of the troopers to greet the two officers. "At ease." He ordered. The door slid closed. And the tone of the room couldn't be more different than how the lieutenant entered it. Rico and Zim stepped closer to the young girl.
"Here it comes." Gossard whispered to Doc right beside him.
Rico crossed his arms. "I have some good news and some bad news." He said watching the girl nod. "The bad news is..." He paused giving the girl his most serious expression. "You're not being given the luxury to go home." He broke into a grin. "You're not being discharged, Andy."
"WHAT?" Brutto threw his hands up in the air. "Unbelievable. SICON IS psycho." He said returning to his bunk more humoured than annoyed.
Dizzy watched the girl beside her sigh in relief. She crossed her own arms across her chest. Something was still amiss. "So what's the good news?" She asked.
Zim smirked evilly. "As punishment for your misbehavior, the Sky Marshal and the Lieutenant has agreed to have you," he pointed at Andy, "turn him," he pointed at Higgins, "into a credible shooter until he hits 70 consistently from the 40 the greenie has now. I will personally be monitoring his progress so don't even think of cheating. You're in my turf now ape." He warned. Higgins and Andy exchanged shocked expressions much to everyone's amusement.
Rico gave the girl a pat on the shoulder. "That's a fate worse than a discharge. I tried. Believe me." He headed towards his bunk smiling. The Roughnecks have the rest of the day to forget being chased by cyborgs in the middle of the night. The lieutenant leaned back on his pillow and couldn't believe that he was thankful that they would be fighting something more familiar the next day. Tomorrow, they were back to bugs.
-- the end
Note: Somehow, I don't think i make sense anymore by this part. I apologize.