Hacker's first act of war. Brief Matt/Inez moment. An update on Cyberspace's side of things. Hacker's prisoner from the end of "Devil's Advocate" appears. That scene isn't entirely necessary, but I wanted to get the prisoner in this fanfic sooner rather than later. Enjoy!
4.
Acts of War
The Grim Wreaker cruised along, coming ever nearer to the Real World city Hacker knew withheld his long-time enemies, the Cybersquad. To be perfectly honest, he was a bit surprised. Granted, he only knew so much about the Real World, but he had presumed he would have been confronted by someone by now.
Clearly not.
"Fifteen kilometers to the city and counting, boss." Buzz reported from his station. "Should take another hour to get there at present speed."
"I'm in no hurry." Hacker said, looking determinedly out the viewscreen before him at his intended destination, gripping the controls tightly. "Any sign of trouble yet, Delete?"
"None, boss." the robot replied, looking up from the sensor screen. "Maybe they don't know we're here yet."
Hacker snorted. "Hardly." he said. "They know. I know it. I know that they know."
"Um, right boss." Buzz agreed hesitantly.
"But then again, if they didn't I wouldn't complain." Hacker admitted, leaning back to think for a moment. "Either way, it isn't going to do them much good. I will get my revenge on those Earth brats."
"But why the kids, boss?" Delete asked, still unsure he liked this plan. "Isn't there another way?"
"I've already tried every other way, Delete!" Hacker exclaimed. "This is the only way to be rid of them, once and for all! They've conspired against me for long enough! Once they are out of the way, Cyberspace will be free to conquer, and nothing can stop me! Not Motherboard, not Dr. Marbles, not the illegal selling of Kryoxide on the Black Market..."
"What does that have to do with this?" Buzz asked without thinking.
"Idiot!" Hacker exclaimed. "Clearly, it takes a genius to see the connection!"
"Clearly." Buzz repeated, and glanced at Delete. He pointed at the Hacker's back with one finger, and spun another around his ear, indicating that Hacker was crazy. Not that they didn't already know this, but it was only until recently that they started to speak about it in secret.
Suddenly, a beeping rang out. "A whole bunch of blinky dots just appeared on my screen, boss!" Delete exclaimed, alarmed.
And sure enough, a whole wing of American fighter jets surrounded the Wreaker, swooping down low to the ground to match the Wreaker's abnormally low altitude.
"About time!" Hacker grumbled.
"We're getting a transmission, boss!" Buzz announced.
"On speakers!" Hacker ordered.
"...and we will fire." the transmission began, halfway through. "Repeat, this is wing leader alpha to unidentified craft. You are approaching civilized territory. Please land immediately and state your intentions. Make any hostile actions, and we will fire. I say again, this is wing leader alpha to unidentified craft. Please respond. We know you are not of Earth origin. We are here on peaceful terms, but we have orders to fire upon your vessel at the first sign of hostile actions. Repeat, this is wing leader alpha to unidentified craft. Please respond to our transmission. We represent the United States of America, and we do not wish to cause harm..."
"Lower laser cannon!" Hacker ordered. "They dare tell me that they wish to do no harm..."
The green dome on the underside of the Wreaker slid open, and the menacing laser cannon slid out.
The aircraft surrounding the Wreaker reacted immediately, seeing the cannon for what it truly was. They opened fire, most of them attacking with machine guns, but one or two fired a low-power missile. Clearly, they intended to only warn the Wreaker to not fire the cannon.
But Hacker had other plans.
"Minor damage to the hull." Buzz reported, unconcerned.
"Probably only scratched the paint." Delete remarked, also unconcerned. They all knew how superior Cyberspace armor was to armor in the Real World.
"Target the closest craft, and fire!" Hacker exclaimed angrily.
The laser cannon adjusted it's aim to point at the closest jet and fired. The green bolt of energy sliced right through the plane's middle, igniting it's fuel to erupt into a fireball before crashing to the Earth. At this point, the jets stopped holding back and unleashed their full firepower.
It still wasn't enough. For every mere dent they made in the Wreaker's black hull, another jet was shot down. Two jets surged ahead of the Wreaker and came about again for a frontal attack, but still did little damage, and resulted in one of the two jets in getting destroyed. Finally, their numbers being severely crippled and drawing ever nearer to populated areas where harm to pedestrians was more likely, they broke off on their attack, and fled. The Wreaker ignored them, continuing on it's path.
"Retract laser cannon, boss?" Delete asked.
"No, leave it out." Hacker said. "We just won our first battle, but the war is only just beginning..."
"There, that takes care of it all." Inez said, shutting her SKWAK off. "The only one not safely at home is you Matt."
"I'm not going anywhere." Matt persisted. "I'm already here, so there's no reason for me to leave."
"Matt, we already agreed it was best for us to all split up, so Hacker couldn't go after us all at once." Inez persisted. "Besides, if you're worried about me, don't be. Remember, Lara lives with her foster parents directly under this apartment. She can help if it comes to it."
"Inez, there has to be more we can do." Matt said. "We need to come up with a plan to stop Hacker and quickly. We can't do that very well when we're all separated like this!"
"You were the one who supported that idea immensely!" Inez said.
"Well, I changed my mind!" Matt argued. "A lot has happened, and now that I think about it, staying apart like this seems to me trying to run away from a problem that won't go away on it's own."
"I know that Matt." Inez said. "And we're not. We're just insuring that we can stay safe long enough to solve the problem."
"Doesn't seem like it." Matt muttered.
"Look, I know there's a lot going through your mind that's messing things up." Inez said. "I know because the same thing's happening to me. But we mustn't loose our heads. If we have any intention of stopping a bellicose cyborg like Hacker, we must keep our act together! Now please Matt, go home."
Matt sighed, but nodded. "All right." he said. "I will." he looked at Inez for a moment. "Please stay safe."
"I will, Matt." Inez promised. "You stay safe too."
Matt nodded, then walked out the door and was gone from sight.
"Approaching coordinates, Motherboard." Dr. Marbles reported as his cybercraft loomed closer to the Northern Frontier. "Preparing to scan the area."
"Keep an eye out for Hacker, just in case." Motherboard requested over the radio. "It could be a trap."
"I know." Marbles replied, and brought the craft to a stop. "I have arrived at the coordinates. Beginning scan now."
The cybercraft hummed as it scanned the area of Cyberspace it sat in, covering a full three-hundred and sixty degrees around it.
"Scan complete." Marbles reported after a few moments. "Studying results for any clues."
And he found more than he cared for. And one in particular made his heart sink.
"Motherboard," he said, with a sigh. "I found traces of portal radiation, and a slight tearing in the fabric of Cyberspace, big enough for a ship to slip through."
"Then it is true." Motherboard stated sadly. "Hacker has found a way into the Real World."
The door slid open, and Hacker stepped inside, looking down at his prisoner within the cage that sat, alone, in the middle of the room.
"I believe I sensed the Wreaker traveling through a portal a few hours ago." the prisoner remarked. "I suppose that means the device was a success."
Hacker nodded. "We're already on our way to the first location that you so conveniently provided for me." he said with an evil grin.
"Not because I wanted to." the prisoner remarked. "You forced that knowledge from me."
"Yes, I can be quite persuasive when I want to be." Hacker remarked.
"Too late to talk you out of this, I suppose?" the prisoner asked.
"You even think you could?" Hacker asked rhetorically.
"You know, they will stop you." the prisoner said. "They've done it before, so they can do it again."
"That's what you'd like to think, wouldn't you?" Hacker asked. "But don't set your heart on it. Your friends are as good as dead, or my name isn't The Hacker!"
And with an angry flutter of his cape, he was gone again.