I'm sorry if this chapter is depressing, but if you would like to know the truth, I tried. Thanks for reading, guys!
The three got out of the warthog and made their way over to another base. They climbed up to the top, still in silence. They came out of the doorway and were met with a sight. North and Chukcha lay still by each other, blood oozing out of their bodies. South and Pongo lay nearby, also still.
Noca let out a cry and darted forward, pressing her nose into Chukcha's fur and nudging him, demanding that he get up. Wash and Fira walked forward, the latter confused. As they neared, Noca's pain filled their minds.
*Get up! Come on, Chuk, up! North, make him get up! Chukcha, please.* She pleaded.
Wash placed his hand on her back. *Noca, he's not getting up.* He told her.
She flinched away from him and nosed Chukcha's body harder. *Chukcha, come on! You can't be…come on! Please! For me! Chukcha, please…* Her thoughts trailed off and she sank down beside him, nose still lost in his fur.
Wash looked to Fira and gave a small twitch of his hand towards Noca. The younger jaguar nodded and moved closer slowly, eventually standing near enough to the other to be noticed, but still giving her room. Wash watched them for a moment before taking a deep breath and shutting out both his own emotions and Noca's. He walked over to North's body and stood over it. Kneeling down, he searched for signs of life from North and Chukcha before checking for an AI. The slot was empty.
He rose and walked over to South and Pongo. Checking their vitals, he found them both alive. He reached down and shook South, "South, wake up. South, come on." Soon he heard her groaning and he turned back to the two jaguars. "Fira, go check the area and establish a perimeter. We don't want a repeat of last time."
The jaguar bobbed her head and ran to the edge of the platform, jumping down and trotting off. Wash turned back to South as the agent slowly sat up. "What happened? Why is there blood- North!" South Dakota struggled to her feet and Wash grabbed her.
"Steady, South. Are you all right? North and Chukcha are dead." He told her.
"Wha-what? Dead?" She whispered, suddenly quiet.
"Yes, I'm sorry." Wash replied.
South stared for a moment before turning to Pongo and gently waking the orangutan. They walked over to North's body and stared down at it.
"What I don't get is the motion tracker. No one can get by one of those when they're active. You sure you don't have anything in your logs? South. You with me? South!" He repeated.
She looked up. "What?" Her voice was hoarse.
"I need you to concentrate South, okay? I know he's your brother but the sooner I can piece together what happened, the sooner we can track this guy." Wash replied.
"Right, uh, sorry." She answered.
"Don't sweat it. Now, your logs. Nothing?"
"No. Not even a ping."
"And you didn't hear anything?"
"I heard him… I heard him scream. I came around the corner, and then…nothing."
"You mean you didn't see the attacker."
"No. I mean nothing. I heard him scream, I came over, and then suddenly you're standing over me, asking me if I'm all right, telling me my brother is dead."
"Yeah. You were out about eight hours. North's armor started a level one distress and they got me here stat."
"Yeah…"
"Level one, South. Something you want to tell me?"
"I'm sure you already know."
"I need you to confirm it."
"He still had Theta."
"Well I didn't find Theta on him, South. Did you take it?"
"No. I don't have it."
"Do you still have yours?"
South's voice became heated. "No, Wash. I never had one. I was in the implant group behind you, remember? And after what happened to you, nobody got anymore."
"Don't sound so bitter." He replied dryly.
"Of course not. Bitter wouldn't win the war, right?"
There was a pause. "I have to take care of your brother now, South. You might not want to watch this part."
"Can I… have a few minutes alone with him first?" South asked.
Wash turned around. "You can have one minute."
"I guess I should say thank you." She sounded slightly angry.
"I guess you should get busy. Your minute's already started." He walked away and began a radio conversation.
"Recovery One, this is Command responding secure." The other said.
"Command, this is Recovery One."
"Hello Wash, we have you secure, go ahead."
"I'm on the scene."
"What's the status of the twins?"
"North is KIA. South is still functioning."
"What is the status of North's AI?"
"You guys knew he had Theta?"
"Recovery One, please respond to the previous inquiry, what is the status of the art-"
"It's not here, okay? It's gone. This one's gone too."
"Understood…please wait for directive… Find out what you can, clean up the agent, and report back."
"Already on it."
"Whereabouts of Theta are top priority, Recovery One, you of all people do not need to be reminded of it."
"No. You're right. I don't need to be reminded of anything."
"The mission is now level zero."
"What?"
"We need a full recovery of the incident."
"You serious?"
"Recovery One, please confirm the previous directives."
Wash turned around.
"Recovery One, please confirm, you are now level zero, you are ordered-"
"Yeah, I got it." He walked back over to South. "Time's up. I'm sorry."
"I always thought being a twin was a hard thing. Everyone always finds a way to put you together. It's like you're not considered two people. Even when we were kids, our parents dressed us alike, and when we joined up and got sent to the program, they stuck us together. People thought we were special somehow, I suppose. I used to hate that. All I ever wanted was to have my own life. And here I am now, just wondering how I'm going to live without him.
Wash slowly raised his pistol. "Yeah, I wouldn't go worrying about that if I were you." He pulled the trigger.
Noca jumped at the sound and looked up.
Pongo screeched and flung himself at Wash.
Noca leapt forward, snarling ferociously and grabbed the orangutan and flung him away.
Wash stopped her before she could go any further, and South climbed to her feet, unharmed. "You're dead now. Remember that." He told her.
"I don't understand any of this. And my ears are still ringing from that shot you fired." She replied testily.
"It had to sound good for the radio. One second, I need to talk to somebody." He turned and Delta appeared, as did Fira. Noca halted her with a raised tail.
"Hello. How may I be of assistance?" The green AI asked.
"What? Is that your AI? I thought it kill-" South questioned incredulously.
"Quiet down. We don't have time for explanations." Wash replied swiftly. "Delta, have you been monitoring the situation?"
"I have."
"Are we set here? Is she clean?"
"Can I interpret that to mean is South now off of Command's active register?"
"Yes."
"Affirmative."
"Wha- what register?" South cut in.
"Instruction: Give me thirty on North's clock. Hold on the log."
"Complying. Completed."
"Now, log to Command and include a similar description of South's termination."
"That would be dishonest."
"Yes. It would."
"Executing. Completed."
"Wait a minute!" South demanded. "How did you get him to lie?"
"There's a lot you don't know. We're moving. Delta, storage."
"Compliable."
"Go."
"No." South refused.
"Excuse me?"
"I am not moving an inch until you tell me what the hell is going on."
"Fine. Stay here with your brother than. Everyone thinks you're dead anyway. And in fifteen seconds, that will be true."
"Ten seconds." Delta corrected.
"No sweat off my back. Just one less lie for me to live." Wash began moving again.
"Well… shit." South followed him, Pongo leaping onto her shoulder and the two jaguars meeting them at the jeep.
They went next to a different base. This one was by a large body of water. South was shooting at a wall. Pongo was climbing around, keeping the nearby area secure, and Noca had taken Fira to guard the entry ways to be aware if anyone entered.
"I have been monitoring the com channels." Delta said to Wash.
"Try again. I need you as accurate as possible if you are going to cover me." Wash replied. *Noca?*
*Nothing here.* She replied. There were still undertones of sadness, but the jaguar had set that aside in the face of the job they had.
"Still no activity to indicate that Command suspects that South is still alive." The AI responded.
"Good. That means we're clear."
"As much as you can be. And I would prefer that you did not use the word, 'we'."
"Yeah, okay Delta." Wash was amused. "I promise to take the fall if we get caught."
Delta stared at him.
"Right, sorry." Wash amended. "If I get caught."
"Thank you." Delta replied.
"Now, South. I need you to test something." Wash's words made South stop firing.
"I have concerns about our next action. Agent South never rated for something like this." Delta interrupted.
"Rated for what? What have you gotten me involved with?" South demanded.
"I haven't gotten you involved in anything. It did when it came after your brother." Wash replied.
"Agent Washington believes that something is hunting the freelancers one by one." Delta supplied.
"In the last month, I have been ordered to the site of five different freelancers in an effort to recover their intelligence programs." Wash further explained.
"Why you?" South questioned.
"Agent Washington's experience with the Epsilon unit makes him a prime candidate for the recovery program." Delta said.
"Epsilon? Epsilon went insane and killed itself inside his head. And what I heard from the other recruits, he went nuts himself. Weren't you certified article twelve after that? Unfit for duty." Wash could feel the jaguars' anger at her words. He felt as though the skin on his own back was rising too.
"The same people that certified me were the same people that uncertified me." He spoke as much to them as to South. "Which, once they needed me, they did. Funny how the system works."
"In either case, he is the logical choice. It is highly unlikely that Wash would attempt to steal an AI for his own purposes." Delta declared.
"Every freelancer I've seen in the last four weeks has had three things in common. Their AI was missing- but, Delta here was left somehow, I think that was a fluke." Wash looked at him.
"My assignee was killed in an unrelated firefight." Delta's voice betrayed no emotion, as usual.
"The agents were also dead, but for some reason, you were left alive. I want to know why." Wash said.
"You said three things. What's the third one?" South pointed out.
"During training, what enhancement did you get?"
"My armor enhancement? I can make a domed energy shield, why?"
"Can you do it now?"
"Sure I- wait a second."
"The third thing they all had in common was that their enhancement was removed." Delta explained.
"Just like yours." Wash added. "The freelancers are being killed, South. And someone or something is stealing their AI and enhancements."
"And now, Agent Washington is escorting us back to headquarters as quickly as possible-"
Wash cut him off. "No. I'm not."
"Excuse me?" Delta turned to him.
"I don't need to. I've been following the trail of this thing for a while now. But once I got you, Delta, that changed. Now we're the ones that are being followed. South being left alive was nothing more than bait to slow me down. Now, this thing has already killed four different freelancers." Wash stated.
"All agents with higher battle ratings than Wash." Delta pointed out.
"Yes, thank you for pointing that out, Delta." He turned back to South. "I'm not going to be able to take this thing out by myself. Someone has to help me, and to protect Delta as well."
"I see now." Delta said. "That is why you want me to implant in South."
"Excuse me." South was dubious. "In who?"
"The only way to properly protect me in combat is to integrate me into armor. Agent Washington will not let me do that." Delta explained.
"And somebody has to." Wash told her.
"I can't, I-I haven't been rated for implantation." South protested.
*Wash, I have visual. I don't know how it got in, neither of us noticed anything.* Noca said suddenly.
"Well, make up your mind quickly. It's here." Wash said. Bangs and ominous noises were heard in the base.
"My motion sensors-" Delta began.
"Are going to be useless." Wash cut in. "South, get Delta in your head now, and flank left. We have to stand against this thing here-" Wash was now cut off by a bullet moving right past him.
"Move!" He shouted. *Noca, get here and tell Fira to remain on guard.*
*On my way.* The jaguar replied.
South ran up to Delta and the AI spoke, "I should warn you, the first implantation can feel a little…odd."
Gunfire rang out behind Noca as she fought the animal of the enemy. She could feel Wash calling for her, but she ignored him. This was personal. Claws scraped, teeth snapped, blood flowed. Wash called, gunfire rang, South stumbled around. The two worlds threw the jaguar off as she struggled against the other.
Eventually, Wash ceased his insistence, probably feeling Noca's wounds as she felt his. So she fought on. Her opponent latched onto her left foreleg and pulled. Noca was jerked forward and she grabbed the other with her teeth even as she moved down.
She could faintly feel Wash's voice in her head, giving some instruction, but she still ignored him. This fight was too important, that these people would do what they had done to everyone. To York, Timber, South, Pongo, North, Chukcha… and to many other freelancers. They were the enemy and she would take them down.
She had to ask though, she had to. *Why? Why did you do this? Why, Crota?*
The hyena only let out that eerie laugh of hers and relinquished her grip on Noca. The jaguar adjusted and clawed at the hyena as she ducked under Noca's claws and grabbed her chest.
A shot rang out, the loudest Noca has ever heard. She felt a fierce pain in her back and it seemed as though half of her mind went completely black.
*Wash!* She wailed and freed herself, roaring for the second time in her life as she crossed the compound in seconds, racing past South and Pongo as they walked out into the field.
Pain lanced through her body and she went down. She stared at where Wash had last been, willing herself to move forward. She smelled the air, desperate for his scent, but all she got was the sharp, tangy smell of blood. She could only hear blood racing through her ears, only taste blood, only feel pain and blood moving across her body. There was so much blood… she began to see a pool of it beneath her head and dully wondered why it was there.
Why did she hurt? Why was she on the ground? Oh… there, the pain is gone. What was she doing again? Something…something important.
Wash! Her world became crystal clear again and she made one last valiant attempt to her feet. She was forced down by sharp claws and she vaguely saw the outline of an animal. A dog, or cat…something like that.
A screeching laugh raked at her ears and her vision dulled as the claws sank in further.
*David…* She breathed out softly, and then the rest of her mind shut off.