Accessing archived data...

Despite parting on bad terms...

...The Renegade got to his feet, clutching his arm as Paige charged at him. She swung her fist at him, but stopped just before she struck his helmet...

"I'm fighting for you, too," said the Renegade quietly.

"Then you've already lost!" Paige snapped as she turned and walked away...

...Beck and Paige are able to patch up their relationship.

...Paige grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and pulled him towards her and planted her lips on his. Beck's eyes widened as she grabbed him and pulled, but he quickly relaxed into the kiss...

..."I was still wrong, though. I... I'm sorry," said Beck.

"It's okay," said Paige, leaning over and resting her head on his shoulder. "I forgive you."...

The Uprising makes a plan...

...Tron turned his head and nodded at Yori. She activated the holographic display, and an image of a large domed building with a glowing red band that was wrapped around the side.

"The Coliseum, and the Games held inside, are the biggest symbol of Clu's rule," said Yori. "Today, you're going to destroy that symbol."

"We'll be splitting into two teams," said Beck. "I'll be leading the first team, and Paige will lead the second team."...

...And walks right into Dyson's trap.

...There was an explosion from above, and chunks of the ceiling rained down on the programs below. As debris fell from above, a squad of Black Guards dropped down through the hole, using their wing chutes to glide down to the ground safely...

...A disc slammed into Beck's face, smashing a hole in his face-plate... Another Black Guard approached from behind and tackled Beck, slamming him into the ground. Black Guards piled on top of Beck once he was down, trapping his arms and legs...

...Tron looked down at the white disc he was still holding. His grip on the disc tightened in anger...

..."Tron, where's Beck?" Mara asked.


Paige powered up her prosthetic arms, causing the weapons to glow brightly, lighting up the dark corridor around her. Paige thrust her right arm out, and her right hand shot forward, and she grabbed a Black Guard by the helmet. Paige retracted her arm, pulling the Black Guard towards her. When she had finished pulling the Black Guard in, she used her left fist to hit the Black Guard with an uppercut. The Black Guard was sent flying, and slammed into the ground, unconscious.

Paige heard footsteps behind her and turned around, drawing her disc.

"Whoa, hey," said Ram as he came to a stop and held his hands up in surrender. "It's me."

"Sorry," said Paige, shutting off her disc and powering down her prosthetic. "I sent the Bismuth Rebels ahead to secure transport. How many programs did you rescue?"

"Only six Conscripts," said Ram with a grimace. "After I left, most of the programs here were slaughtered in the Games."

"Users," said Paige quietly.

"Yeah, that was my reaction," said Ram. "There were also a few Sirens who wanted to join the Uprising, so I told them to come with us."

"Are you sure we can trust them?" Paige asked.

Ram shrugged. "We need all the help we can get," he said.

"Fair point," said Paige, as she looked over Ram's shoulder at the programs he'd recruited. She frowned as she recognised two of the programs behind him.

"Hopper? Bartik?" Paige asked as she collapsed her helmet. "What are you two doing here?"

"Oh! Commander," said Hopper, straightening to attention.

"She's not a Commander anymore, remember?" said Bartik, nudging Hopper with his elbow.

"You know these two?" Ram asked.

"Programs I hired as local contacts, long story," said Paige. "Why were you in the Games?"

"After you joined the Uprising, Pavel had us arrested," said Hopper. "He thought we might know something about where you were."

"We didn't, so he just left us here to die," said Bartik. "If this is the thanks we get for helping the Occupation, then we want nothing to do with them any more."

"Alright," said Paige, nodding. "The others should have found us a way out. Follow me."

Paige turned and ran towards the other end of the corridor, and Ram and his recruits followed her. Paige stopped in front of an open door and looked inside. She spotted a landed recognizer with white circuit-lines and saw Ada standing at the foot of the boarding stairs.

"Paige, over here!" Ada said, waving Paige over. Paige nodded and entered the hangar, with the rest of the programs following her.

"Is that our way out?" Paige asked.

"Yes, Melissa's warming up the engines now," said Ada. "Everyone's aboard, we're just waiting for you."

"Then let's go," said Paige. She quickly walked up the stairs, and Ada, Ram, and the rescued programs followed her in. Once they were all aboard, the boarding hatch closed and the recognizer took off through the open door in the roof. Once the recognizer was in the air, Paige and Ram made their way to the cockpit, where they found Melissa at the controls.

"No sign of any pursuit," said Melissa. "In fact, there's no Occupation air traffic at all."

"That's odd," said Paige. "There should be routine patrols in the air, at least."

"Not only that, but the Coliseum isn't exploding," said Ram. "Beck's team should've overloaded the generators by now."

"I have a bad feeling about this," said Paige. "Get us back to the hideout as soon as possible," she said to Melissa.

"On it," Melissa said, pulling back on the controls, causing the recognizer to speed up.

Paige's unease only grew as they made their way back to the hideout without any pursuit whatsoever. Melissa guided the recognizer into the hangar at the base of Tron's hideout, and landed it next to the first recognizer the Uprising had successfully stolen. As they came in for a landing, Paige saw four light-cycles pulling to a stop as the programs riding them collapsed their light-cycles back into their batons.

Paige was the first program to leave the recognizer, running down the stairs as soon as they had rezzed in. She made her way over to the light-cycles, and caught up with Tron as he reached the elevator.

"Tron!" Paige called out. "What happened?"

At first, Tron didn't answer. Then, he yelled angrily and punched the wall next to the elevator door. His fist hit the wall hard enough to cause cracks to appear at the impact site. With his fist still pressed into the wall, Tron slumped in defeat, hanging his head low.

"Tron? What's wrong?" Paige looked over at the other three programs that had arrived with Tron. She saw Mara, Zed and Hawkeye. No sign of Kix, Tup... or of Beck. She turned back to Tron, and saw he was holding a white disc in his left hand... and his own disc was docked on his back.

"Where's Beck?" Paige asked as panic started to set in.

"It... it should've been me..." Tron said quietly. "I should've stayed..."

"What are you talking about?" Paige asked.

Tron took a deep breath to steady himself. "We were ambushed, and couldn't destroy the generators," he said slowly. "Beck... he gave me his disc. He stayed behind so I could escape."

Paige gasped. "He... he's dead?" she said as tears welled up in her eyes.

"Worse," said Tron. He finally lifted his head to look at her, and Paige saw tears in the corners of his eyes.

"He was captured by Dyson. Beck is a prisoner of the Occupation."


TRON: Uprising

Liberation


Dyson had his hands folded behind his back as he walked through the corridors of his flagship. Behind him, four Black Guards were escorting his prisoner with their discs drawn and ready. Beck was silent as he was forced to follow Dyson with his hands cuffed behind his back.

The door at the end of the corridor opened, and Dyson walked into the flagship's throne room, followed by Beck and his guards.

"What's the situation?" Dyson asked as he entered the throne room.

"The Uprising sent two teams to the Coliseum instead of one, sir," said Pavel. "I don't know how they got in, but they managed to free the remaining Conscripts. Four of the Sirens working at the Coliseum have also gone missing."

"More defective programs," said Dyson. "I assume this second team got away?"

"I'm afraid so, sir," said Pavel. "When the alarms sounded, I sent all our reinforcements to your position, and due to our recent losses, I had to ground our air patrols to provide you with your task force."

"I'm already aware of that," said Dyson. "I thought they wouldn't be necessary if the Uprising only came up through the Argon Tunnels." Dyson paused for a brief moment as he collected his thoughts. "I assume you're trying to find out how this second team got inside?"

"Yes, sir," said Pavel. "I've also sent a team in to reactivate the generators." Pavel looked past Dyson, and saw Beck, surrounded by Black Guards. Beck was silent as he glared at Dyson and Pavel. "It seems you've had some success."

Dyson grimaced. "Not as much as I'd like," he said. "The Renegade has decided that he'd rather be a Stray then give up any information about the Uprising."

"You mean he doesn't have his disc?" Pavel asked.

"Yes, and without his disc, we can't find out what he knows," said Dyson. "Beck hasn't said a word since we took him out of the Coliseum."

"I'm sure I can find a way to extract the information from him," said Pavel.

"Torture won't be as effective as you think," said Dyson. "Without his disc, we can't properly heal his injuries between torture sessions, and I doubt he'd talk even with the torture. All he'd have to do is wait until his memory glitches out, and we're out of luck."

"Hmm," said Pavel. "Can we repurpose him?"

"We could, but we'd have to give him a new disc," said Dyson. "That would basically reset all his memories to what he was like when he was first installed, which doesn't help us get any information about the Uprising."

"Then what can we do?" Pavel asked, glancing at the silent program.

"We execute him, as soon as possible," said Dyson, causing Beck to narrow his eyes angrily. "The Uprising won't sit back and let one of their symbols be destroyed, so they'll try to rescue him during the execution."

"Yes, and we can ambush the Uprising during their rescue attempt, and finish them off once and for all," said Pavel.

"Exactly," said Dyson. "Once the Uprising is publicly humiliated by their failure to rescue the Renegade, seeing him be executed will send a message to the programs of Argon: no program is above the law of Clu."


Beck turned and ran towards the Black Guards, drawing his baton and pulling it apart into a pair of shock rods. As he ran, Tron noticed that Beck's disc wasn't docked on his back. He looked down at the disc in his hands, and as he pushed the disc, he realised he was holding both Kix's disc, as well as Beck's own disc.

"Beck, no!" Tron yelled as Beck began fighting the Black Guards.

"Go!" Beck yelled back. "Tron—!" he began, but he was forced to stop and dodge a swing from a Black Guard.

"Tron Lives!" Beck yelled, striking a Black Guard with his shock rods.

"Watching that again won't change anything," said Yori, as she walked up to Tron. He was holding Beck's disc in front of him, and was replaying the final memory stored on the disc.

Tron sighed. "I should've done something. I should've stayed and fought with him, then maybe—"

"Tron, stop," said Yori, reaching out and cupping his cheek in her hand. "Look at me."

Reluctantly, Tron tore his eyes away from the recording, and turned his head to look at Yori.

"Beck saved your life, and the lives of his friends," said Yori. "If you'd stayed, Dyson would've captured you both, and Beck's sacrifice would've been for nothing."

"I know, but..." Tron's voice trailed off, and his gaze dropped shamefully.

"Standing here moping isn't going to help Beck," said Yori. "Paige, Mara and Zed are hurting, too. They care for Beck as much as you do, remember?"

Tron was silent, his eyes fixed firmly on the floor.

"Look at me, Tron," said Yori again.

Slowly, Tron raised his eyes from the floor, and met her gaze.

"We will rescue Beck," she said. "But we can't do that without you. We still need you."

Tron closed his eyes, then slowly nodded.

"Okay," he said quietly, opening his eyes. "Okay," he said again, stronger this time.

Yori smiled. "Good," she said, then her smile faded. "We need to move fast. Dyson just broadcast a message to every program in Argon. You'll want to see it."


Hundreds of recognizers filled the skies above Argon, with a holographic image appearing between the pylons of each recognizer.

"Greetings, programs of Argon," said Dyson, his hands folded behind his back.

"For too long, this city has been haunted by the terrorist, the self-styled vigilante, that calls himself the Renegade. His actions have inspired other programs to lash out against the order and protection offered by our great leader, Clu. But now, finally, the nightmare is over."

Dyson stepped to one side, and the image panned over to a pair of Black Guards, each holding a staff pointed at the program standing between them. Beck glared silently at the camera, still wearing the white suit bearing Tron's emblem.

"At long last, the Renegade, or, to use his real name, Beck, is in our custody," said Dyson as the image panned back to him. "For his crimes against the Occupation, and against the citizens of Argon, Beck has been sentenced to death. His public deresolution will be carried out in Argon Square at the end of this cycle, and I expect to see everyone there for this momentous occasion."

A smug smirk spread across Dyson's face. "That will be all."


In the command centre of Tron's hideout, every member of the Uprising had gathered, and was watching Dyson's message to the public. Paige, standing next to Tron and Yori, felt her hands tightening into fists as energy pulsed through her prosthetics, causing the circuit-lines on her arms to glow brightly.

"We don't have much time," said Tron. "Dyson will be moving troops to secure Argon Square before the execution."

"The flagship's prison will be too heavily guarded for us to make any rescue attempts, even if we try to go in covertly," said Yori. "After our data raid, Dyson increased the flagship's security forces."

"We don't have a choice," said Paige. "We have to rescue him. I won't let him die, not if I can help it."

"We need to get programs into Argon Square before Dyson's troops arrive," said Ram. "Maybe have a few programs blend in and enter with the crowd."

"Good idea," said Yori. "We'll need as many programs as possible if we want to rescue Beck."

"We'll need a distraction," said Mara. "I know a couple of programs who might be able to help."

"What did you have in mind?" Paige asked.

"Remember the programs that were spreading Tron Lives free code a while back?" Mara asked.

Paige nodded. "Yeah, I was at ground zero for one of their free code bombs." Paige paused. "You were one of the programs behind that?"

Mara nodded. "I was working with two other programs, Moog and Rasket," she said. "Beck helped me save their lives. I just hope they're willing to return the favour."

"Beck saved a lot of programs," said Zed softly. "Including me, even though I was against the Renegade from the start." He laughed bitterly. "I can't believe I told the Renegade I hated him, to his face, and I didn't even know it."

"Hey, we'll save him," said Mara, resting a hand on Zed's shoulder. "I promise."

"We're going to need everything we have to pull this off," said Ada. "We'll have to send in our stolen vehicles to cover us."

"Agreed," said Yori. "Ram and I will take the light tank. Melissa, Ada, I want you two to fly the recognizers. Paige, you'll take the light-copter. Zed, you'll take the truck."

Paige, Zed, Ada and Melissa nodded.

"I want those vehicles loaded with as many programs as possible," said Yori. "We need to be able to send in as many programs as possible to handle Dyson's forces."

"This will be one of the most dangerous things the Uprising has ever done," said Tron. "To be completely honest, this will be a suicide mission. As such, we'll be sending in volunteers only."

"I'm in," said Paige, stepping forward instantly.

"So am I," said Ram, raising his hand.

"I'm going too," said Mara.

"Me too," said Zed.

One by one, programs stepped forward, or raised their hands, stating their support for Beck. Every single program present, regardless of how skilled they were in battle, volunteered to assist.

"Thank you, all of you," said Tron, swallowing the lump in his throat. "With your help, I know we can do this. We will rescue the Renegade, and prove to Clu that the Uprising will not be stopped."


Hawkeye stepped out of the elevator and into the hangar. There was constant movement as the Uprising's stolen vehicles were prepared for battle. She saw Yori and Ram over by the stolen light tank, talking to Link, one of the mechanics from Able's Garage. Melissa and Ada were standing over by the two recognizers, and the two ISOs seemed to be deep in discussion. Zed had climbed into the cockpit of the truck, and the Simula, Alick and Backus, the three surviving members of the Bismuth Rebels, were climbing into the back of the truck, and helping a few other programs into the truck. Hawkeye made her way over to Paige, who was standing near the light-copter Yori, Mara and Zed had stolen after their data raid on Dyson's flagship. She was speaking to Hopper and Bartik, two of the programs that had been rescued from the Coliseum earlier.

"We weren't really loyal to the Occupation," Bartik was saying as she walked up to them. "We were loyal to you."

"Yeah, we'd kind of hoped you'd put in a good word with your boss, keep the Occupation of our backs, that sort of thing," said Hopper. "You can see how well that worked."

"Guess it never really sank in how bad things really were," said Bartik. "Not until we were the ones being sent to the Games."

"I understand," said Paige, nodding. "Believe it or not, I was the same. I didn't realise how bad the Occupation really was until I learned that Tesler killed my friends and lied to my face about it."

"So that's why you turned Traitor?" Hopper asked.

"Yeah, it is," said Paige.

"And now we're rescuing the Renegade," said Bartik. "Didn't you hire us to help you track down the Renegade?"

"I did," said Paige. "But a lot of things have changed since then."

"No kidding," said Hopper.

"Anyway, we've wasted enough time," said Paige. "Get aboard the chopper. I'll be with you soon."

Bartik nodded, and he and Hopper walked over to the light-copter and climbed on.

"Are you sure we can trust them?" Hawkeye asked quietly.

"Yes," said Paige. "They might just be looking out for themselves, but right now, that means that joining us is their best bet."

"If you say so," said Hawkeye, opening and closing her right hand.

Paige noticed Hawkeye's nervous tic, and her gaze dropped to Hawkeye's hand.

"How's the hand?" she asked.

"It's fine," said Hawkeye. "Still haven't really had a chance to use it, though."

"I'm sure you'll get a chance soon," said Paige. "You're with me, in the chopper."

"Understood, sir," said Hawkeye. "Is it just the four of us?"

"No, there's one more program I want with us," said Paige, looking over Hawkeye's shoulder. Hawkeye turned around, and saw Tron walking up to them, still carrying Beck's disc.

"Mara and the programs who are planning to infiltrate the crowd have already left," Paige said as Tron approached. "Are you ready?"

Tron nodded, not bothering to slow down. "I'm ready," he said as his helmet formed. He walked past them, and climbed into the light-copter.

Paige looked around quickly, and saw that the other vehicles had been loaded with programs, and were ready to take off.

"Then let's go," said Paige, and Hawkeye followed her into the light-copter.

Paige stepped up into the light-copter, then took a seat at the controls. She flicked a switch, and the rotors began spinning. The light-copter lifted up from the ground, and flew out of the hangar. The two recognizers were next, with Ada and Melissa piloting a recognizer each, flanking the light-copter. Below them, Yori drove the light tank across the snow of the Outlands, with Ram sitting in the gunner's seat, while Zed drove the light truck, staying behind the tank.


Mara walked into the warehouse alone, with her disc drawn but not active. She had her Jolly Trickster helmet on, which had a blank face-plate decorated with a sharp-toothed smile.

"It's been a while since you contacted us," said a familiar voice from behind her.

Mara turned, and collapsed her helmet as she did so, seeing two programs walking up to her. On the left was a male program with teal highlights on his grid-suit, and on the right was a program with light blue highlights, and his right hand was translucent, having been damaged when he was tortured by Pavel. "Moog? Rasket?"

"Hey, Mara," said Moog, nodding at her. "How you been?"

Mara sighed. "I won't lie, it's been rough."

"No kidding," said Rasket. "Ever since you and your friends at the Garage joined the Uprising, the Occupation's been cracking down hard."

"And with that new guy in charge, Dyson, it's getting even harder to sneak around like this," said Moog.

"So, why did you call us here?" Rasket asked. "Is it because the Renegade was captured?"

"Yes," said Mara. "I need your help creating a distraction, so my friends in the Uprising can rescue him before he's executed."

"No, no way," said Moog, shaking his head. "We almost died last time we tried to help the Renegade. We're not cut out for that kind of thing."

"I don't believe this," said Mara. "Beck saved your lives before! Don't you want to help him?"

"Of course we do," said Rasket. "But the only reason the Renegade had to rescue us was because we were idiots and didn't stick to the plan!"

"Look, I don't need much," said Mara. "All I want is a free code bomb, and your help getting me into Argon Square before the execution."

Moog and Rasket briefly looked at each other, then back at Mara.

"I suppose we could do that much," said Rasket.

"Y'know, for old times sake," said Moog.

Mara sighed in relief. "Thank you so much. You don't know how much this means to me." She walked over to one of the windows of the warehouse, and looked out over Argon City.

"We don't have much time," said Mara. "We need everything ready before the end of the cycle."

"Don't worry, we'll be ready," said Moog.


Beck clenched his jaw shut as the pain in his head faded, and his shaking vision returned to normal. He'd just been hit by his first memory glitch. He'd suffered from them before, when a program named Galt had stolen his disc. The last time he'd lost his disc, he'd nearly become a Stray completely, but Tron had managed to get Beck his disc in time. However, he doubted he'd be so lucky this time.

He was kneeling on the bottom floor of a recognizer, with his hands held in cuffs behind his back. Four Black Guards were standing nearby, with staffs drawn and aimed at his head. Heavily armoured Guards lined the walls, ready to act if Beck tried to escape.

Beck's hand reached for his hip, and closed around his multi-tool. He'd managed to grab it before being captured below the Coliseum, and the Black Guards hadn't found it when they were searching him for weapons. While he knew how to pick the lock on cuffs with his multi-tool, even if he did escape, there was no way he could fight his way out of this.

There was a jolt as the recognizer came to a stop, and Beck swallowed the lump in his throat. They had arrived in Argon Square. He turned his gaze over to the elevator, and saw Dyson stepping out.

"Well, Beck?" Dyson asked. "Are you ready for the big event?"

Beck didn't speak. He just glared at Dyson angrily.

"I see you've picked up your mentor's stubbornness," said Dyson. The Supreme Commander turned his attention to the Black Guards surrounding him. "Follow me with the prisoner," said Dyson, turning and walking to the boarding hatch.

"Yes, sir," the four Black Guards said in unison. One of them jabbed him with his staff, and Beck stood up and followed Dyson to the boarding hatch. The hatch opened, and a set of stairs rezzed in. Dyson walked down the stairs, and Beck was forced down the stairs, surrounded by the Black Guards. As he walked down the stairs, he saw that Guards had cleared a square area around them, and that programs had gathered as close as they could to the Guards. As he scanned the crowd, he thought he saw a familiar face or two, programs he'd rescued at some time or another. As he reached the bottom of the stairs, the recognizer's stairs disappeared, and the boarding ramp closed. The body of the recognizer rose up on the pylons, and the recognizer took off.

Dyson came to a stop, and the four Black Guards halted, leaving Beck to stand trapped between them. Beck looked over the crowd again, and his eyes went wide with shock. He could see Mara, standing at the very front of the crowd. She nodded at him, and Beck smiled slightly and nodded back. He managed to move his hand to reach his waist, and he grabbed his multi-tool and connected it to the handcuffs.

"Greetings, programs," said Dyson. The screens around the Square lit up, broadcasting his face and words down to the programs gathered in Argon Square.

"At long last, the nightmare is over," Dyson said. "The terrorist who has been disrupting the Occupation's benevolent rule has finally been brought to heel. Now, the Renegade will face justice for his crimes!"

As Dyson spoke, Beck began using his multi-tool to pick the lock on his cuffs. He moved fast, not knowing how long Dyson's speech would last.

"Without their leader, the programs who have joined this program on his destructive path will be helpless before the Occupation, and we will hunt them down and bring them all to justice for their crimes!" Dyson yelled. "Once this pathetic Uprising is finally eliminated, Argon City will be at peace!"

The crowd roared, but to Beck's ears, it didn't sound like they approved of Dyson's speech. Dyson paid them no heed as he turned away from the crowd and walked towards Beck, drawing his disc.

"Any last words, Renegade?" Dyson asked with a sadistic smirk.

"Yeah," said Beck as he finished picking the lock. "Tron Lives!"

"What?!" Dyson snarled, raising his disc.

"You heard him! Tron Lives!" Mara yelled, catching the attention of Dyson and the Guards. Mara raised her hand, and threw a spherical object at Dyson. Dyson's eyes went wide as he saw a number appear on the side of the sphere, which soon ticked down from 5 to 4.

"Bomb!" Dyson yelled, forming his helmet. "Get down!"

Dyson, the Guards and the Black Guards all dropped to the floor as the free code bomb landed near Beck. As his escorts threw themselves to the ground, Beck freed his hands and tossed his cuffs aside, and began running towards Mara. When it hit the ground, the free code bomb went off, sending out coloured pixels in all directions, covering Dyson and the Black Guards that had been near Beck. Lines of colour soon began to spread from the pixels, covering the ground, the walls, Dyson and his guards with the words Tron Lives, repeated over and over in a multitude of colours.

As Beck ran towards Mara, she drew her disc and slashed at one of the Guards, derezzing him. Beck also saw one of the Sirens standing at the front of the crowd draw her own disc and stab a Guard, derezzing him as well. Beck heard noise from above, and looked up to see a pair of recognizers and a light-copter, all with white circuit-lines, flying above Argon Square. There was an explosion off to his left, and Beck saw a recognizer bursting into flames. The recognizer next to it was hit by a blast of energy, and Beck traced the blast back to a light tank with white circuit-lines, clearing a path for the truck behind it. Programs began to pour out of the truck, and Beck saw more programs jumping out of the recognizer, floating down to the ground on their wing-chutes.

"Stop them!" Dyson yelled, and the Guards and Black Guards moved to attack.

"Beck!" a voice from above him yelled, and he looked up to see a female program, wearing a white grid-suit with a dark blue triangle and half-circle design on her chest.

"Your disc!" Paige yelled as she opened her wing-chute and threw the white disc in her hand.

Beck's Identity Disc flew through the air, and Beck raised a hand and grabbed it. Once he had it, he returned it to the dock on his back, and his eyes flashed as his disc re-synced with him. He formed his helmet, and moved into a combat stance as Paige dropped down to the ground beside him and powered up her prosthetic arm weapons.

"I could kiss you right now," said Beck as Paige tossed him a baton.

"I'll hold you to that later," said Paige as she reached her arm out, stretching to grab a Guard that was about to attack one of the Sirens that had attacked with Mara. Paige grabbed the Guard and pulled him toward her, and reached behind her back with her free hand. She drew her disc and slashed the Guard once she had brought him to her, derezzing him instantly.

Beck pulled apart the baton, forming a pair of shock rods, and he charged at the Black Guards. They raised their staffs to fight him off, but Beck was easily able to toss them aside and take them out with his shock rods. With the Black Guards dealt with, Beck turned back to the crowd, and saw that more programs had surged forward with their discs drawn, joining the Uprising and attacking the Guards. The Guards lashed out with their staffs, derezzing programs left and right, but that only caused the crowd to grow more violent, leading to more programs charging forward to attack. As they did, Beck heard cheers rising up from the crowd, and he had to smile.

"TRON LIVES! RENEGADE! TRON LIVES! RENEGADE!"

Beck heard a disc snapping to life, and ducked to one side instinctively. A disc shot past where his head had been, and curved around to fly back to Dyson. As the disc returned to his hand, an energy cord formed, connecting his disc to his hand. Dyson began swinging the cord, causing his disc to fly through the air towards Beck. Beck dodged the swings, and blocked them using his shock rods.

"TRON LIVES! RENEGADE! TRON LIVES! RENEGADE!"

Dyson swung the cord low, causing his disc to fly towards Beck's legs. Beck jumped over the cord and the disc, and began closing towards Dyson. Dyson pulled on the cord, causing the disc to fly towards Beck's back. Beck stepped to the side, and the disc shot past him and returned to Dyson's hand.

"TRON LIVES! RENEGADE! TRON LIVES! RENEGADE!"

"You hear that, Dyson?!" Beck yelled over the roar of the crowd. "You've failed! We're taking Argon back!"

"TRON LIVES! RENEGADE! TRON LIVES! RENEGADE!"

Beck couldn't see Dyson's face behind the helmet, but Dyson's snarl of rage told Beck everything he needed to know. Dyson lunged with his disc, and Beck blocked the blow with one of his shock rods, then jabbed with the other. Dyson raised his arm to knock Beck's shock rod aside, and swung with his disc again. Beck jumped back, and combined his two shock rods back into a single baton.

"TRON LIVES! RENEGADE! TRON LIVES! RENEGADE!"

Beck quickly changed his baton's subroutine, and activated the staff. Holding the staff in one hand, he reached behind his back with the other, drawing his disc. Dyson hurled his disc at Beck, and Beck batted it aside with his own disc. Dyson raised his foot and stepped on the cord, snapping his disc back to him.

"TRON LIVES! RENEGADE! TRON LIVES! RENEGADE!"

"It's over, Dyson!" Beck yelled. "Surrender!"

"Never!" Dyson snarled, swinging the energy cord around his head, spinning the disc around. He swung the cord, causing the disc to swing in an arc towards Beck, and Beck jumped back, and threw his own disc. Beck's disc cut through the energy cord, causing Dyson's disc to shoot off and embed itself in the ground. Beck's disc rebounded back to him, and he docked it.

"TRON LIVES! RENEGADE! TRON LIVES! RENEGADE!"

Beck charged at Dyson, who was running towards his disc. Beck swung his staff, and Dyson blocked the blow. Dyson punched at Beck, hitting him in the shoulder. Beck swung his staff again, and Dyson stepped to the side, and Beck's swing passed through where Dyson had been standing. Dyson kicked Beck's hands causing him to drop the staff.

"TRON LIVES! RENEGADE! TRON LIVES! RENEGADE!"

Beck ran at Dyson and kicked at him, and Dyson stepped aside, causing Beck to fly past. As he passed Dyson, Beck lashed out with his hand, hitting Dyson's helmet, causing him to stagger back. Dyson responded with a punch of his own, and the two programs traded blows.

"TRON LIVES! RENEGADE! TRON LIVES! RENEGADE!"

Dyson punched at Beck, and Beck ducked down and to the side. As Dyson's hand passed above his shoulder, Beck grabbed Dyson's arm and pulled him over, throwing him over his shoulder. Dyson hit the ground next to his disc with a loud thud, and the impact caused his helmet to automatically collapse. Dyson quickly sat up and pulled his disc out of the ground, then turned to face the Renegade.

"TRON LIVES! RENEGADE! TRON LIVES! RENEGADE!"

"You think you've won?" Dyson asked, his expression hard with rage. "Trust me, you've only made things worse for every program in Argon."

"TRON LIVES! RENEGADE! TRON LIVES! RENEGADE!"

Dyson returned his disc to the dock on his back, then grabbed a baton and pulled it apart. A light-jet formed, and Dyson flew at Beck. Beck dropped to the ground, and Dyson flew overhead, then pulled up, flying into the sky between the light-copter and one of the recognizers.


Standing on one of the screens surrounding Argon Square, Hawkeye watched the chaos below her. Regular programs were charging into battle alongside the Uprising, battling against Guards and Black Guards throughout Argon Square. Her attention was on two specific programs, and she watched carefully as Dyson and Beck duelled with each other.

Hawkeye watched as Beck threw Dyson over his shoulder, and saw Dyson picking up his disc. Dyson grabbed one of his batons, and rezzed his light-jet, flying towards Beck, then pulling up.

This was her chance. Hawkeye raised her right hand, and the lights on the prosthetic pulsed as a white wire-frame began to form around her hand. Metal quickly filled the wire-frame, forming a massive cannon around her arm. Hawkeye grabbed the cannon's grip with her left hand to stabilise herself, and took aim, calculating where Dyson would be.

Once he cleared the top of the recognizer, Hawkeye fired. The sheer power of the arm cannon, originally designed for Tesler, knocked her off her feet, and the massive energy drain from the cannon caused it to derez immediately after being fired. However, her aim was true, and the blast hit Dyson's light-jet, causing it to explode. Dyson fell through the air, but he simply grabbed a second baton and pulled that apart, forming a second light-jet and flying away. Hawkeye tried to get up, and form the arm cannon to fire a second shot, but she was exhausted by the energy drain. Hawkeye collapsed back onto the ground and passed out.


The light-copter came in for a landing, and Beck saw Tron at the controls. Beck ran up to the light-copter as soon as it set down, and Tron emerged from the cockpit and collapsed his helmet as Beck approached.

"Beck, I..." Tron began, but he was interrupted by Beck.

"Tron, listen to the crowd!" said Beck, grinning as he collapsed his helmet.

"TRON LIVES! RENEGADE! TRON LIVES! RENEGADE!"

"We did it!" said Beck. "We've started the Revolution!"

"No, you started this, Beck," said Tron. "All I did was steer you in the right direction."

"TRON LIVES! RENEGADE! TRON LIVES! RENEGADE!"

"Thank you," said Beck. "For training me. And for rescuing me."

"Don't thank me just yet," said Tron, as a smirk spread across his face. "You are going to pay for that stunt you pulled, young program!"

"Ugh, you sound like Able," said Beck, rolling his eyes. "I wish he could've been here to see this," Beck said softly as his face fell slightly.

"TRON LIVES! RENEGADE! TRON LIVES! RENEGADE!"

"Able would be proud of you," said Tron, resting a hand on Beck's shoulder. "I know I am."

Beck smiled, then formed his helmet. "Come on, this fight isn't over until we've kicked the Occupation out of Argon."

"Right behind you," said Tron, forming his own helmet, and the two programs charged back into battle.

"TRON LIVES! RENEGADE! TRON LIVES! RENEGADE!"


Dyson stormed into the bridge of his flagship with his arms folded behind his back.

"Status report!" he snapped, causing Pavel to jump in shock.

"Riots are starting all over the city, sir," Pavel said. "I've sent every program we have down there, but the fighting just keeps getting worse. We're losing positions faster than we can reinforce them!"

"Then we have no choice," said Dyson calmly. "Order a full-scale retreat. I want all Occupation forces aboard the flagship in ten microcycles."

"Sir?" asked Pavel.

A sadistic smirk appeared on Dyson's face. "Begin preparations for orbital bombardment. We're going to wipe Argon off the face of the Grid."


And so, the Uprising begins to fan the spark of revolution into a fire that could burn the Occupation to the ground... assuming the Occupation doesn't snuff that spark out.

Paige is reunited with Hopper and Bartik, and gets to have a brief conversation with them. Interestingly, both Hopper and Bartik are present at the End of Line Club during TRON: Legacy, which means I needed to come up with a good reason for why they would change sides that still gelled with their appearances in TRON: Uprising. Hence, I gave them... let's call it enlightened self-interest.

We also have the return of Moog and Rasket, as well as their free code. The free code technically reappeared in The Traitor: Part I, but it was off-screen, so it doesn't really count. We also see another free code bomb, similar to the one that went off in the light-rail in Tagged.

Paige's entrance into Beck's rescue was inspired by Lux's entrance in Identity, when she drops in to rescue Beck and Tron from the gang of thugs that attacks them in front of Kobol's shop. Because of that, she was also the one who threw Beck his disc, using the same line Tron did in that episode.

Next episode, the fighting continues, in The Battle of Argon.

-ShortyBoss.