Chapter 7: Pushing the Limits
Tron's circuitry gleamed against the darkness of the hallway, several floors below his quarters, where Radia and her advisors keep residence. He had not felt this awkward since the day he came on Grid, in TC01, when he left Yori. There had been no real spark, just hanging out together on what Yori referred to as "dates". But to Tron, they were just attempts to get together that were fruitless.
But with Radia, everything was different. There was a spark, but there could never the fire, burning brightly in their virtual hearts. She was a political leader, and he was a commander of an armed Rebellion. He just wished she would see his side of the fight. Nothing would work in politics. This was the point of no return. CLU was willing to send programs to the Game Grids just for helping each other. Beck was a good fighter, able to escape the onslaught of the Game Grids in Argon with every limb still on his body. Anon was able to wipe the floor with every competitor in the Game Grids, only to escape with the Bostrumite, Gibson.
Every city that held no strategic value, held ISOs, or CLU held little interest in was pummeled to ground zero with Light Tanks or Recognizers. CLU was a terrorist, supposedly saving the programs with his campaigns, but was destroying everything they held dear right under their gullible noses. But Tron was not gullible. He never was. He was going to make sure Radia had no tricks or lies up her sleeves. But there was an ulterior objective: to see if Radia had stray feelings for him. To see if he could put those feelings together, into one big piece.
Surprisingly, he saw Radia walking alone in the dimly lit hallway. No ISO Evo Troopers, no security guards, just Radia and him. Tron waved and walked over to the ISO leader.
"Hey, Radia," Tron said sheepishly, his feet brushing against the soft velvet carpet that encased the floor. "I was wondering..." His sentence was cut short by the utterly cued entrance of five- not three, not four, but five- ISO Evo Troopers. Seemed like security was tightening. Pretty soon, there would probably by hundreds of ISO Evo Troopers pointing guns at whoever went near their political leader. Tron stuttered his last few words "... if it was okay for my strike team to take a hit on Argon now. I'll take the Evo Troopers as a yes. Gotta go, bye!" Tron sprinted out of the hallway, into the lift that would take him to the bottom of the building.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Tron muttered, banging his head on the wall of the elevator as it stopped to deliver him at their room. "How could I not see through that?! Wherever there's Radia, there's always at least one Evo Trooper." Walking out, the Light Guard helped Tron and Anon strap on Wing Chutes, to which Tron tuned and spoke.
"I want to tell you that we've been through so much together," the System Monitor lamented, "And this may very well be our last cycle together. If nothing goes right, any one of us could be captured." Holding out his hand, the Light Guards placed their disks into his hand. Tron took the Recoder that Beck loaned him, scraping together the circuitry on their ID disks.
"This is the greatest milestone the Rebellion has taken so far," Tron said, handing the Light Guard back their ID discs. A flicker went into their eyes, the code remaining the same, a "T" in four squares in the same place as their leader. The Light Guard stared from Tron to their circuitry, then back at Tron."If I don't make it, I want to say I'm so proud of you."
"Sir," A Sentry called from a control panel, "Two Black Guard have been spotted flying in Light Jets." Dyson strolled over, grabbing the Sentry by his neck.
"So?" Dyson seemed unfazed by the appearance of the infamous Black Guard. At CLU's command, more Black Guard were created, up to ninety for his newest project. This would only be temporary, and the extras would be derezzed."We see Black Guard all the time. What's so different about these?" The Black Guard gulped, then pulled up a feed of the Guard.
"These Guards... have white lines..." the Sentry whimpered. Dyson, in a rage, grabbed the Sentry's disk and slammed it into the back of the Sentry. Orange pixels scattered everywhere, another mook Sentry taking his place.
"Send five recognizers to deal with those things," Dyson snarled, "If they fail, I want them as far away from the ship as possible. CLU's pet project is located on this ship, and if they reach it before the repurposing is complete..." Dyson walked off, arms flaunting behind his hands, with the Sentry's disk still in his clutches, to find the items necessary to combat the rebelling Black Guards.
"I think we got their attention!" Flad shouted over the howling of their Light Jet engines, liquid energy smashing into their helmets. The moisture in the air was affecting visibility, but the laser wiper that Tron installed was making things much easier. Five recognizers were activating their engines, pushing themselves against the force of gravity. And apparently had speed boosts equipped, if one noted the increased boost of their engines.
"I noticed!" Japter laughed, "We'll pull them down the coastal run. Light Cycles, now!" The two Light Guards rezzed into their batons, then pulled out a different one to activate their Light Cycles. The Wing Chutes on their backs softened the fall, but not by much. Flad's baton clicked, but no Light Cycle emanated.
"Users, this is bad!" Flad yelped, Japter watching as the baton failed to operate, "I think my baton is jammed." Japter's helmeted face jerked in shock, the Wing Chute the only thing keeping alive the partner Light Guard. Japter's 5th Generation Light Cycle rezzed out, Flad grabbing on Japter's back.
"Got it!" Flad chirped, "I'm jumping!" Activating his own Light Cycle, the two white- circuited bikes speeding down the deserted coastline. Recognizer engines slowly grew loudes, until Flad's Light Ribbon cut the engines off. Crashing into another of it's kind, the Recognizer's body exploded, sending the two legs into the Sea of Simulation. Instead of attempting what their compaions had failed, the three remaining VTOL craft began firing reticle blasts. Using what Tron taught them, the two shoved their Light Cycles into their batons as they neared a small alleyway.
The recognizer pilots didn't care... at least until they smashed into the wall. It was like a Recognizer sandwich, the first Recognizer crushed by the others. Flad and Japter hid in a tight corridor as a clump of Recognizer parts flew past them.
"Tron!" Flad shouted, joy overcoming his ability to stay calm, "You and the others are clear!"
The battle of Argon had begun.
"Just got the word from Flad," Tron said, his helmet covering his defiant face, "Dyson's let his guard down. Move out." Pulling out their Light Cycles, the two sped their Light Cycles around the massive command ship to an airlock near the engine vents. The engines were still running, fuel fumes burning their radiation. Anon felt that they were hot enough to sear the Light Suit and skin off of a program's skin, judging by the way his helmeted face looked towards the engines in anxiety.
"I don't like the idea either," Tron said, helping Anon through the engines and to the airlocks. "It's the only way to avoid Dyson. According to Beck, every time he came in the hangar, an alarm sounds. Hundreds of guards would come after us. If we use this airlock, Dyson would only think that it's a glitch in the computer system. We'll have to wait for the others to bring the explosives..."
"Tron! Anon!" a feminine voice shouted from the distance. Beck and Paige's Light Cycles disintegrated into code, allowing them to place their batons on their belts.
"We have to get in there!" Beck hissed, pulled by Tron and Anon into the airlock, helping Paige up as well, "We were chased by a group of Sentries, and they almost caught up with us. Thanks for the lift." As if right on cue, the squadron of Sentries drove into the engines, not taking the time to notice that their quarry had escaped into an airlock just meters away from their dereolution point.
"Pavel's guarding a room," Paige growled, pulling out her disc. "I need to find him. He owes me, big time." Beck nodded, the two running off, through her old home. Tron and Anon took off in the other direction. To find out just what Dyson was doing.
Paige's mind was overloaded with scenarios. How Pavel was going to react. Shocked? Pleased? Who knew, now that they were on two completely different sides at this point. Beck's tron suit was only coated in white circuitry, the original Light Suit of his Uprising.
"You okay?" Beck asked, his hands occupied with slicing the door controls. "You seem on edge. Just checking?" Paige nudged him aside, raising her fist. The two front knuckles smashed through the panel, sparks flying as she twisted her wrist. The wires pulled out sparked a reaction, probably the controls to the lock.
"Just cooling up now," Paige sighed, drawing her Disk. "Could be anybody behind that door. The Black Guard, Dyson... even Pavel." Walking in, the door slid open to reveal...
"Hello, Paige," Pavel slyly purred.
"Are you sure that this is the right way to the main reactor?" Tron said, his eyebrows glaring at his friend. Anon shrugged in unknowing. "Oh. Right. First time in this thing. Weren't Beck and Paige the only programs aboard this ship before now?" This time, his companion shook his head in compliance. A massive, hulking door stood in their way. Anon nudged Tron aside, slamming his disc into the door's hinge. A loud snap came from the side of the door as the lock sliced in half from Anon's disk. Pushing the door open, Tron gasped in horror, Anon, presumably at least, with him.
A disc with Tron's data code sat in a pool of energy. In fact, it could've been described as Tron himself. The weird thing... was that it's circular lights were orange. Another minute or so passed before Tron could finally move from sheer shock.
"Why is my disc... doing in Dyson's command ship?" Tron thought aloud. Another second passed before Anon's body pulsed through electric energy. Red sparks moved through the Monitor's code, sending him into a state of unconcious. Tron drew his disc, before a dart dug into the side of his neck. Pulling it out, Tron looked at the syringe's label: Repurposing code. His eyes shrank. Dilated until there was a speck of iris remaining. Everything went dark. Anon was on the floor, helpless. And here was Tron, ready to be disposed of.
Everything was coming to an end.
A/N: Yeah, cliffhanger. There was a shortage of ideas, so I went with Dyson sneaking up the two most powerful programs on Grid. If you have any questions regarding the plot, characters, or anything in the story, please don't be afraid to PM me about it. I'll respond as fast as I can type.
Next: Tron meets his "Destiny", and the plan to free Argon becomes a desperate attempt to escape with the programs inhabiting the ruins. Mara and Zed learn the truth of what happened to their friend.