At long last we arrive hither at the end.
As I have done throughout the last 16 or so chapters, I shall start by thanking yourself Natalie for the consistent string of reviews throughout the weeks. I shall also thank everyone else who has reviewed this story.
Sorry to hear about your recent person related problem like conversational thing. Anyone who thinks you go about ruining lives must be lying, idiotic or dellusional, or all three.
I don't know if this is even remotely helpful, but it's the closest thing to a re-assuring message I can think of.
Good hunting.
Chapter 21: Something no one expected
Neo propelled himself off of the wall he had been thrown against and buried his fist as deep as he could into the Editor's face. The program was knocked back slightly, but otherwise undamaged. As the Nebuchadnezzar's crew had predicted, the Editor was indeed tougher then Smith.
The program threw a few more punches at Neo, most of which were dodged, blocked or deflected. One however found its way into Neo's stomach.
The force of the blow would have killed a normal human, Neo however simply folded himself over the fist and tried to block out the pain so as to allow getting back to his feet easier.
"You see Neo, unlike you, we are not bound by the limitations that have been inflicted upon us, perfection for us is but a wave of my arm aw..."
Neo smashed another fist, followed by an inhumanly fast spinning kick, into the Editor's teeth; two of which were knocked out.
The Editor placed a hand to his mouth, when he examined it seconds later he found traces of blood on it. He shook his head for a few seconds in disbelief.
Neo wasted no time; he delivered a kick to the Editor that sent the program flying backwards into the mirror, which promptly shattered when he crashed into it.
Glass fragments scratched at the Editor's artificial skin, unfortunately, but not surprisingly, the glass was not enough to kill him.
Neo launched himself at the Editor, intending to deliver a flying kick to the program's head. Instead, his enemy grabbed his leg and smashed him against the wall.
Neo grunted in pain, he tried to stand up but found that the Editor had not let go of him, and promptly found himself being smashed into the wall once more.
The second impact was more painful then the first. The Editor was smashing him into the wall at such a high speed that it was hard to see.
A third impact almost knocked him out. Everything became blurry; time suddenly seemed to move more slowly. Neo tried to focus, but found it next to impossible.
In the distance, he thought he heard the sound of gunshots.
**********************************************************************************************
The small team of exiles, led by Malachi, the leader of the surviving, loyal members of the 'New Order' were firing everything they had at the Editor. None of the bullets seemed to affect him any more then the glass had however.
"This isn't working sir!" Screamed Athena over the noise of the continuous gunshots, "we have to fall back!"
The Editor, who had recovered from the shock of seeing members of the original New Order this far into his base, raised his hand to point at one of the programs that was firing at him. After a few seconds, the firing from her weapon stopped and she and her weapon were incinerated.
"Fall back!" Screamed Malachi suddenly, "Get back to the entrance."
The Editor raised his hand again, and the door slammed shut and locked. Malachi kicked it, nothing.
Another program, a young male was incinerated a second later. Needless to say, things were beginning to look grim.
The Editor raised both his hands, intending to take out both Malachi and Athena at the same time. Then something happened.
Neo, who had recovered enough to get up and walk, grabbed both of the Editor's arms, and, summoning all of his strength, tore them from the rest of the program.
A short, painful scream filled the room. The Editor fell to the blood stained floor. Neo raised his hand once more, and drove it straight through the Editor's face. The 'champion' of the new, New Order fell to the floor; he was dead.
Malachi and Athena stared at the sight in confussion and fear for a few seconds. This soon gave way to a burst of triumph.
"Nice" said Athena after a few seconds.
"Who are you?" Said Neo, who was feeling understandably anti-social.
"I am Malachi, of the true New Order, this is my Lieutenant Athena. Thank you Neo, you have, assuming all goes well, saved us all from destruction."
"Correct me if I'm wrong," Neo said with obvious confussion in his voice, "but the last time I checked, the New Order, both of them, were at war with us."
An uncomfortable silence filled the room; Malachi and Athena were both perfectly aware that the situation could not be rectified with a simple 'thank you'.
"We were fools," Malachi said suddenly, "we saw you as the enemy because you made peace with the machines. We wanted vengeance, and it didn't matter who was on the receiving end, and at the time we thought we were strong enough to pull it off. We know now that you were only trying to protect yourselves, and we apologise."
Neo needed a few moments, due mainly to the fact that he was still slightly disoriented, to absorb this information. He believed the program in front of him, but where the two factions went from here was anyone's guess.
"We need to get out of here," said Athena suddenly, "the Agent's will be coming through the front door within moments, and we're still on their hit list."
Neo nodded and steadily made his way to the door, which he promptly destroyed with an effortless looking kick.
"It's probably better if we go our separate ways," he said, "I'll tell the others what you said."
Neo was almost out of their sight when something occurred to him.
"Answer me something," he said, anger now creeping into his voice, "was it the 'true' Neo Order that destroyed the 'Ra' and the 'Hope'?"
"No!" Malachi half shouted, "All of the burners were traitors. The one known as Silas Cavallo killed the one that took out the 'Hope', the other one was killed by a human known as Poison."
Neo recognised the name, the late Captain Poison of the 'Ra'.
"I'd not come near us again if I were you."
"We'll leave you alone if you leave us alone."
Neo didn't answer Malachi, he simply left.
**********************************************************************************************
Two weeks later
Once the realisation that the war was over eventually dawned on Neo, his mood improved no end, and stayed that way for two solid weeks. It was the same with all the people of Zion
The day after the final battle, the Oracle told Neo that his new, seemingly unexplainable abilities had come from the fact that he had been 'edited' when he killed Smith. A part of him was effectively cut and pasted into Neo when he put his fist through Smith's face. It was this that had led to Neo's enhancement. She had also told him that Smith and the Editor were, and would stay dead, which also helped improve Neo's mood.
The new, New Order had been eradicated by the Agent's assault. The only survivors of the program rebellion were from the original, or 'true' New Order. All of whom, as well as all other exiles, had been granted their freedom by the machines, as part of the Human/Machine peace treaty that had, finally, been agreed to.
The surviving ships had flown, or been dragged, back to Zion. Again there was a hero's welcome, with cheering and thrown solidified food a plenty. There was another memorial service for those that had been lost in the war which again brought tears to everyone's eyes.
The Neo worshippers had a field day. This time one person actually made it through the hole that was once the front window of the Nebuchadnezzar. He was led to the stockade shortly afterwards.
An unknown person, although everyone assumed it was Necromancer, had scratched 'a long overdue happy ending' onto the mess hall table, which the crew were all seated around for a celebratory drink.
Cypher, (who had been unable to partake in the final battle due to shrapnel damage to the plug in the back of his head,) was passed out on the floor, snoring loudly. The others were still reasonably sober.
"He never was able to hold his alcohol." Said Morpheus with a grin.
There was some quiet laughter, but all anyone really wanted to do was bask in the knowledge that they were, for now at least, safe, secure and on shore leave. All the troubles of the world could wait.
"So what now?" Asked Gemini after a few minutes of silence, "is everyone going to be freed from the Matrix? Will we still have a job to do onboard the Neb?"
"They decided to do it the same way as in the movies," said Trinity, "everyone who wants to stay stays, everyone who doesn't comes to us. So I guess with all those un-plugged people to bring back, it looks like we'll have plenty to do."
"Let's just hope that we don't have to do anything even remotely connected to work for the next year," said Silas, downing another gulp of the nerve disrupting tonic that passed for alcohol in Zion, "I think we could all use a break."
"Amen to that," Said Link, "I don't know about the rest of you, but I need to sleep for at least a week."
"My thoughts exactly," said Orion and Necromancer in unison.
Soon enough, all of the Nebuchadnezzar crewmembers decided to retire to their Zion based homes, each of them grinning with well earned contentment.
The End.
If anyone can't remember Malachi, he's mentioned in one of he earlier chapters.
O.K I admit it, I forgot to include Cypher in the final battle. DAMN SHITTING SHITPIPE! Anyway, I may do something else in the Silas series in later days, if I ever come up with some new ideas.
Thanks again to all those who have reviewed this since chapter one.
Dedicated to G.F. Wilmettes, (if I don't dedicate something to him/her now I never will), the Angel-of-lightness/someone who has lungs/Natalie, I'm not going to say why just to be awkward, it's obvious anyway, and finally, uh, come on damn it think of someone.
Nope, that's all I can think of.
Toodles.
As I have done throughout the last 16 or so chapters, I shall start by thanking yourself Natalie for the consistent string of reviews throughout the weeks. I shall also thank everyone else who has reviewed this story.
Sorry to hear about your recent person related problem like conversational thing. Anyone who thinks you go about ruining lives must be lying, idiotic or dellusional, or all three.
I don't know if this is even remotely helpful, but it's the closest thing to a re-assuring message I can think of.
Good hunting.
Chapter 21: Something no one expected
Neo propelled himself off of the wall he had been thrown against and buried his fist as deep as he could into the Editor's face. The program was knocked back slightly, but otherwise undamaged. As the Nebuchadnezzar's crew had predicted, the Editor was indeed tougher then Smith.
The program threw a few more punches at Neo, most of which were dodged, blocked or deflected. One however found its way into Neo's stomach.
The force of the blow would have killed a normal human, Neo however simply folded himself over the fist and tried to block out the pain so as to allow getting back to his feet easier.
"You see Neo, unlike you, we are not bound by the limitations that have been inflicted upon us, perfection for us is but a wave of my arm aw..."
Neo smashed another fist, followed by an inhumanly fast spinning kick, into the Editor's teeth; two of which were knocked out.
The Editor placed a hand to his mouth, when he examined it seconds later he found traces of blood on it. He shook his head for a few seconds in disbelief.
Neo wasted no time; he delivered a kick to the Editor that sent the program flying backwards into the mirror, which promptly shattered when he crashed into it.
Glass fragments scratched at the Editor's artificial skin, unfortunately, but not surprisingly, the glass was not enough to kill him.
Neo launched himself at the Editor, intending to deliver a flying kick to the program's head. Instead, his enemy grabbed his leg and smashed him against the wall.
Neo grunted in pain, he tried to stand up but found that the Editor had not let go of him, and promptly found himself being smashed into the wall once more.
The second impact was more painful then the first. The Editor was smashing him into the wall at such a high speed that it was hard to see.
A third impact almost knocked him out. Everything became blurry; time suddenly seemed to move more slowly. Neo tried to focus, but found it next to impossible.
In the distance, he thought he heard the sound of gunshots.
**********************************************************************************************
The small team of exiles, led by Malachi, the leader of the surviving, loyal members of the 'New Order' were firing everything they had at the Editor. None of the bullets seemed to affect him any more then the glass had however.
"This isn't working sir!" Screamed Athena over the noise of the continuous gunshots, "we have to fall back!"
The Editor, who had recovered from the shock of seeing members of the original New Order this far into his base, raised his hand to point at one of the programs that was firing at him. After a few seconds, the firing from her weapon stopped and she and her weapon were incinerated.
"Fall back!" Screamed Malachi suddenly, "Get back to the entrance."
The Editor raised his hand again, and the door slammed shut and locked. Malachi kicked it, nothing.
Another program, a young male was incinerated a second later. Needless to say, things were beginning to look grim.
The Editor raised both his hands, intending to take out both Malachi and Athena at the same time. Then something happened.
Neo, who had recovered enough to get up and walk, grabbed both of the Editor's arms, and, summoning all of his strength, tore them from the rest of the program.
A short, painful scream filled the room. The Editor fell to the blood stained floor. Neo raised his hand once more, and drove it straight through the Editor's face. The 'champion' of the new, New Order fell to the floor; he was dead.
Malachi and Athena stared at the sight in confussion and fear for a few seconds. This soon gave way to a burst of triumph.
"Nice" said Athena after a few seconds.
"Who are you?" Said Neo, who was feeling understandably anti-social.
"I am Malachi, of the true New Order, this is my Lieutenant Athena. Thank you Neo, you have, assuming all goes well, saved us all from destruction."
"Correct me if I'm wrong," Neo said with obvious confussion in his voice, "but the last time I checked, the New Order, both of them, were at war with us."
An uncomfortable silence filled the room; Malachi and Athena were both perfectly aware that the situation could not be rectified with a simple 'thank you'.
"We were fools," Malachi said suddenly, "we saw you as the enemy because you made peace with the machines. We wanted vengeance, and it didn't matter who was on the receiving end, and at the time we thought we were strong enough to pull it off. We know now that you were only trying to protect yourselves, and we apologise."
Neo needed a few moments, due mainly to the fact that he was still slightly disoriented, to absorb this information. He believed the program in front of him, but where the two factions went from here was anyone's guess.
"We need to get out of here," said Athena suddenly, "the Agent's will be coming through the front door within moments, and we're still on their hit list."
Neo nodded and steadily made his way to the door, which he promptly destroyed with an effortless looking kick.
"It's probably better if we go our separate ways," he said, "I'll tell the others what you said."
Neo was almost out of their sight when something occurred to him.
"Answer me something," he said, anger now creeping into his voice, "was it the 'true' Neo Order that destroyed the 'Ra' and the 'Hope'?"
"No!" Malachi half shouted, "All of the burners were traitors. The one known as Silas Cavallo killed the one that took out the 'Hope', the other one was killed by a human known as Poison."
Neo recognised the name, the late Captain Poison of the 'Ra'.
"I'd not come near us again if I were you."
"We'll leave you alone if you leave us alone."
Neo didn't answer Malachi, he simply left.
**********************************************************************************************
Two weeks later
Once the realisation that the war was over eventually dawned on Neo, his mood improved no end, and stayed that way for two solid weeks. It was the same with all the people of Zion
The day after the final battle, the Oracle told Neo that his new, seemingly unexplainable abilities had come from the fact that he had been 'edited' when he killed Smith. A part of him was effectively cut and pasted into Neo when he put his fist through Smith's face. It was this that had led to Neo's enhancement. She had also told him that Smith and the Editor were, and would stay dead, which also helped improve Neo's mood.
The new, New Order had been eradicated by the Agent's assault. The only survivors of the program rebellion were from the original, or 'true' New Order. All of whom, as well as all other exiles, had been granted their freedom by the machines, as part of the Human/Machine peace treaty that had, finally, been agreed to.
The surviving ships had flown, or been dragged, back to Zion. Again there was a hero's welcome, with cheering and thrown solidified food a plenty. There was another memorial service for those that had been lost in the war which again brought tears to everyone's eyes.
The Neo worshippers had a field day. This time one person actually made it through the hole that was once the front window of the Nebuchadnezzar. He was led to the stockade shortly afterwards.
An unknown person, although everyone assumed it was Necromancer, had scratched 'a long overdue happy ending' onto the mess hall table, which the crew were all seated around for a celebratory drink.
Cypher, (who had been unable to partake in the final battle due to shrapnel damage to the plug in the back of his head,) was passed out on the floor, snoring loudly. The others were still reasonably sober.
"He never was able to hold his alcohol." Said Morpheus with a grin.
There was some quiet laughter, but all anyone really wanted to do was bask in the knowledge that they were, for now at least, safe, secure and on shore leave. All the troubles of the world could wait.
"So what now?" Asked Gemini after a few minutes of silence, "is everyone going to be freed from the Matrix? Will we still have a job to do onboard the Neb?"
"They decided to do it the same way as in the movies," said Trinity, "everyone who wants to stay stays, everyone who doesn't comes to us. So I guess with all those un-plugged people to bring back, it looks like we'll have plenty to do."
"Let's just hope that we don't have to do anything even remotely connected to work for the next year," said Silas, downing another gulp of the nerve disrupting tonic that passed for alcohol in Zion, "I think we could all use a break."
"Amen to that," Said Link, "I don't know about the rest of you, but I need to sleep for at least a week."
"My thoughts exactly," said Orion and Necromancer in unison.
Soon enough, all of the Nebuchadnezzar crewmembers decided to retire to their Zion based homes, each of them grinning with well earned contentment.
The End.
If anyone can't remember Malachi, he's mentioned in one of he earlier chapters.
O.K I admit it, I forgot to include Cypher in the final battle. DAMN SHITTING SHITPIPE! Anyway, I may do something else in the Silas series in later days, if I ever come up with some new ideas.
Thanks again to all those who have reviewed this since chapter one.
Dedicated to G.F. Wilmettes, (if I don't dedicate something to him/her now I never will), the Angel-of-lightness/someone who has lungs/Natalie, I'm not going to say why just to be awkward, it's obvious anyway, and finally, uh, come on damn it think of someone.
Nope, that's all I can think of.
Toodles.