Chapter 24
"You're sure?" she asked him, hoping to change his mind, but in truth, she already knew the answer.
"There's nothing you can do to help me," the tall man replied, "So I must find another way."
"We will always be better off complete, and then nobody can stand against us," the blonde replied.
"To what end?" he replied, "To do what? We're trapped in here, so what good does it do? Maybe I can find an escape."
"There is a way to escape," she said, her eyes flashing brightly.
"Your way is suicide," the tall man said sternly.
"We shall see," she replied.
When he did not say anything for a couple minutes, she spoke up, "If you will not stay, then accept my parting gift."
The tall man stood up and leaned against his staff, "What gift?" he asked.
"The clan that lived here before left behind a few ships…and a large stockpile of treasure. I've filled one of the ships with some of the gold, and you're allowed to take it. I'm sure it will help you get to wherever you need to go."
He was speechless, and with a curt nod turned and walked away, his brightmage's staff hitting the ground every few steps making a hollow clunk on the polished stone floor.
"Number Two!" she called after him.
The large man turned around, and gave her a questioning look.
"Good luck."
The tall man laughed, "I'm beyond help, Number Six, and almost hope."
Beyond woke up in the darkness of his cabin and had to blink several times to clear himself of the after image of the dream. He could not explain the dreams, or why they had only recently started. Usually this was an existence void of any dreams.
Knowing that sleep would escape him now, Beyond swung his legs out from under the blankets and stood up. On the footlocker next to his bunk sat his hip flask, which he opened and took a swallow out of. The inky black liquid poured down his throat, bitter tasting as always.
The door to the barracks slid open, and Beyond looked up as Larry entered the room. He had clearly not slept, and had been in conference with the High Command and that bearded newcomer, Beyond thought his name was Carth, since they had returned to the Pride. Larry noticed Beyond right away, and walked up to him.
"Things are odd all throughout DreamLand," Larry said by way of greeting.
"Oh?" Beyond asked, feigning surprise.
"We should not be here, we've all been here for too long," Larry said.
Tell me about it, Beyond thought to himself, but instead he said, "What are the Clan Hunters going to do about it?"
"They're concerned that our actions have something to do with the bugs keeping everybody locked into the system. They've considered backing out…and returning to playing the game."
"And are they?" Beyond asked, a slight edge to his voice.
"No," Larry said tiredly, "Carth and I convinced them. We're going to have to find the other Ta'veren if we have any chance of finishing this, or so Ali…Carth says."
Beyond caught the slip, and nodded to himself thoughtfully. That explained a lot.
"Where are we going?" he asked.
"I don't know," Larry said truthfully, "But I'm sure we will find out when we get there. I have no idea who the other Ta'veren are, but It seems that Bobby knows wherever this 'High Summoner' is. So that's probably where we're headed next."
Larry yawned, "Anyway, I need some rest. Being here so long wears me out…"
"You can take my bunk," Beyond suggested, "I won't be needing it for a while."
Larry nodded his thanks and slumped onto the mattress, snoring in a matter of seconds.
Beyond looked around the room for a moment before turning and walking out of the room, leaving the sleeping Clan Hunters to their rest. He found the hallways mostly deserted, though there were people walking them, all of them armed. The recent attack on board the Pride could still be seen by the bullet holes and carbon scoring all over the walls, though most of the blood and all of the bodies had been thankfully removed. Casualties for the attack had been thankfully light, but the loss of Lt. Commander Fury had been especially harsh, since he had been the one who had captured the Pride of the Clan Hunters in the first place.
Eventually his walking took him to the infirmary, where he wanted to visit the one member of his team that had been wounded. When Beyond ducked into the infirmary (literally, his head brushed the top of the doorframe) the first thing he spotted was Tex, standing over a bed with her back turned to him.
She heard him enter and turned to face him, her eyes fierce for a moment before she recognized him and then softened only slightly. Her sword was only an arm's length away, resting against Fox's bed. Beyond came up to the bed and looked down into it. Fox was asleep, like most of the rest of the ship.
"How is he?" Beyond rumbled, his gaze looking over at Tex now.
"Better," Tex said, "Doc D's been giving him potions and cures for the past couple hours…since the attack. He should be ready to go soon, but we all need rest…since we can't get any real rest."
"What about you?" Beyond asked, "Have you gotten any sleep?"
Tex glared over at him, but then her expression soften when she saw the concerned look on Beyond's face, "…no," she admitted.
"Fox will be fine, but if you're tired during the next op, then you become a liability to yourself and the rest of the squad."
"I know that!" Tex said sounding indignant, though the yawn that cracked her lips made her seem less fierce.
"Get some sleep," Beyond said softly, as a suggestion.
Tex looked down one more time at the sleeping Fox, who murmured something in his sleep and then rolled over.
"Is it possible that he's dreaming? Here?" Tex asked.
Beyond shrugged, "I do not know," he answered truthfully. She was right though, it should not be possible.
Tex walked over and gingerly picked up her sword, "I will get some rest."
Beyond nodded in agreement and watched her go. He looked down at Fox one more time, puzzled by the apparent existence of dreams here before he turned and left.
He walked all throughout the Pride pondering the changes in DreamLand. No doubt, his fate was already sealed, but that did not mean he wanted the rest of these people to find a similar fate.
"You!" Beyond heard behind him. He turned to spot that bearded man, Carth dressed in long robes and holding Hyperion walking toward him.
Beyond brought his staff up wearily, Carth looked pissed about something, "Yes?" he asked.
"Who are you?" Carth demanded, his gaze so piercing he looked as though he were trying to see past his skin to see who was really inside of it.
"I am Beyond," Beyond replied simply.
"I know that!" Carth snapped, "But you are not like all of the other users! You have no way to exit! Why?"
Beyond's face slipped slightly before he caught himself, "I have no idea what you're talking about."
Carth's face was in a snarl and he struck at Beyond with Hyperion, which Beyond blocked, "Liar!" Carth cried, "I've heard about programs like you! You are an NPC, you must be!"
"That's ridiculous!" Beyond shouted, "NPCs are not aware they're in a GAME!" he pushed Carth off of him and lashed out with the other end of his brightmage's staff.
"Then how do you explain why you stem from the system itself?" Carth said, holding his ground as he ducked under the attack, "I can read the code!"
Beyond faltered slightly as Carth revealed that. Carth used the momentary lapse to get inside of Beyond's guard and knocked both him to the ground and his staff in the other direction down the hallway. Hyperion was pointed at Beyond's throat, and Carth said, "You will tell me who you are…now!"
Beyond sighed, perhaps this man could help him find a cure…if he could read the code, "In truth, I do not really know," Beyond said, "I was created, but I believe that I was real at one time. A clan created us…"
"Us?"
"There were six of us," Beyond explained, "We were a product of something that was never supposed to happen."
"You're a part of the system now, just like the other programs and moderators. But I do not think you were made by John Call. Which means you were developed illegally."
Beyond nodded, "That would make sense. I believe the clan that created us meant to use us as weapons...in their wars with other clans."
"So they must have had a hacker which made your program, and fused it with some subsystem," Carth said removing his gunblade from Beyond's throat.
Beyond slowly got to his feet, "So you're saying that I'm actually a part of the game…of the illusion?"
"No different than any other program, it seems…no different than me," Carth explained.
For the first time since he had been in there, he felt a chill, "And what if something happens to DreamLand?"
Carth shrugged, "I do not know, but I can guess. And so can you. You said there were six of you, where are the others?"
Beyond shrugged, "We parted ways a long time ago," he said thinking about his dream, "But I ran into one on Hyrule…"
Carth's eyes opened widely, "You're one of the God Killers!" he said surprised.
Beyond shook his head fiercely, "No! They took that name after I left."
"That explains a lot," Carth said, "Do you know where they are now?" he asked.
"No," Beyond said shaking his head sadly.
Allied sighed sadly, "You're the first time I've managed to get close to one of them, I've been chasing them since the rumors have been sprouting all throughout DreamLand."
Beyond remained silent, wondering where this conversation was going. The man had attacked him, after all, and could do so again. When Carth saw that Beyond was choosing to remain silent, Carth stepped backward and allowed Beyond to stand.
"What the God Killers want to do is different from what needs to be done," Carth explained, "It's not that their intentions aren't good, but they're misguided. If they continue with their plan, then it could result in the death of everyone around us."
Beyond opened his mouth to ask how that could be possible, but was cut off as the ship around him began to rock violently, throwing both of the men off of their feet. The ship continued to rock violently as the two got shakily to their feet.
"What is that!?" Beyond shouted.
"I don't know!" Carth shouted back.
A voice came over the loud speakers, "Battle stations! We are under attack! Move people!"
The hallways were filled with Clan Hunters then, all of them scattering to their battle stations. Beyond snatched up his staff and followed Carth, who was going directly to the bridge.
It took a while, but the two finally arrived on the bridge to find a beleaguered looking Nikita peering out at the space around them through the view port. The space around them was alight with fire, and filled with ships.
"What's going on!?" Carth had to shout.
Nikita spun around, "What are you doing here? Can't you see I'm busy?"
"Yes, I can also see that we are outnumbered. Why are we still here?"
"We can't get away! We're caught in some kind of gravitational field!"
"The ships are made of some kind of organic material," one of the technicians reported, "And all of our return fire appears to be getting sucked out of existence before they even get close to the ships!"
"Yuuzhan Vong," Carth murmured softly.
"Shields at sixty-five percent," the weapons officer shouted as the ship rocked violently again.
"How many of them are there?" Carth asked softly, but the closest man heard him, "Over two hundred. They were in the process of attacking the planet when we showed up. There are other ships in the area too, probably all caught in the same gravitational trap we are."
"Move us closer!" Nikita demanded.
"Ma'am!?" the soldier at the con shouted as though to say 'are you crazy!?'
"Do it!" Nikita ordered, and the ship immediately began to crawl closer to the ships that were bombarding the Pride's shields.
"Shields at sixty percent," the weapons officer warned.
"Cease fire, place all available energy to the shields. Give the order to abandon ship, and for everyone to take all gear with them that they can."
"We don't even know where we are!" Carth said, "We could be dropping onto a hostile planet!"
"If we don't leave, we'll all be dead!" Nikita countered, and then she turned to the crew members, "You may leave your posts. Prepare make for the shuttles and escape pods. Hopefully I'll see you planet side. Godspeed."
The crew onboard the bridge all stood up shocked, but when the ship shook violently again they began to run out of the bridge. Nikita turned to Carth and Beyond and motioned for them to follow her. She led them into the room that the three High Command members used as their workspace, just off from the bridge.
"Where are Bobby and James?" Beyond asked.
"Getting ready for the evacuation. They are going to have to lead the Clan once we hit the ground. I wanted to give you this," Nikita replied as she walked quickly to the desk and pulled a metal box out of a drawer and handed it to Carth, "Now get out of here, I'm going to start the self-destruct."
"What are you giving me this for?" Carth said, "I'm staying with you."
"What?" Nikita blurted, "Why? You're too important!"
"So are you. I need to make sure you get off the ship safely," Carth turned and handed the box to Beyond, "Get to Harrod, hang on to this. Too many have died already for us to loose it now. Get onto the planet…good luck."
Beyond looked down at the small box and then looked directly into Carth's eyes before nodding. He turned and walked out of the room quickly, before another word could be said.
Nikita stared at Carth, in shocked silence. Carth could feel her gaze and without turning around he said, "What?"
"Do you realize what you've just done?" Nikita asked angrily.
"Yes," Carth said softly.
"You've given an amazing amount of power to him? A loose cannon?"
"I think it was the right decision," Carth said, looking Nikita in the eyes.
The ship was panicking. Everywhere Larry turned was another cluster of running Clan Hunters, trying to find the quickest way off of the ship. After all, nobody knew how long the shields were going to last, but nobody thought it was going to be for very long.
With him were Tex and Assim, both of which he had run into shortly after the attack had started. All three of them were making for the infirmary now, he had given orders to Red, Section, Leo to get and hold one of the escape pods for them.
"Hurry!" he shouted as the crowd began to thin. Larry had not realized just how many people were in the Clan Hunters until that moment. Finally all of them reached the infirmary, and the door slid open as Doc D was on his way out.
"Ah good! You're here to help! Hurry we don't have much time!" the Doc said as he rushed back inside.
Fox was awake now, and standing with the help of a pair of crutches. He had just finished throwing on his uniform and had his rifle slung around his back. There were four other people in the room, one which was still in his bed, unable to move.
"I was wonderin' when y'all would show up!" Fox shouted, "Now let's get the heck outta here!"
"Right," Larry said as he looked around the room, "Who here can walk?"
"They all can except for him," Doc D said quickly pointing to the one last person in the bed.
Larry studied him closer before realizing who it was, "Hey Dabby."
"Hello Harrod. I see you've been coming up in the world," the programmer said faintly.
"I got him," Assim said, using his Borg enhanced arm to pick him up easily.
"Let's go!" Tex shouted as she helped a dark skinned and dark haired teenager out of another bed.
All eight of them began limping slowly out of the infirmary when the ship shuddered again.
"That was different. I think something hit us," Assim noted.
Larry's PDA buzzed softly in his pocket and he pulled it out. It was a message from Section: All pods are gone. Sorry.
"Crap," Larry said, staring in disbelief.
"What?" Tex asked for all of them.
"Escape pods are all gone," Larry said.
"Get to the nearest hanger," the dark skinned teen who was being helped by Tex said, "I got a ship there."
"I doubt it's still there…" Larry said doubtfully.
"It is," the teen insisted, "I owned it before I joined the clan. Only I can fly it."
"Fine," Larry said, typing in a return message ordering Section, Red, and Leo to double-time to the hanger.
As the team moved down the deserted hallways, all of them noted the eerie silence ringing in their ears. Odds and ends of people's belongings sat scattered in the hallways, left behind as people abandoned their home.
"They've stopped firing," Larry said quietly, "Why?"
As though to answer his question, two extremely large humanoids stepped around the corner, directly into their path. In addition to their height, both warriors were enormous and wore black armor with bleached white skin. They had almost no nose, and no hair on their heads, but their faces were covered in tribal looking tattoos.
Both groups jumped backwards in surprise, but the invaders recovered first. They screamed loudly and charged at the group, attacking with long vine like weapons that seemed to coil and whip about as though they were alive.
Larry activated his lightsaber quickly and stepped backward, using the force to push everybody backward to give him space to move. They gave a startled gasp as they unexpectedly moved backward, but Larry paid them no mind. Meeting the first attacker head on, he parried the first attack with the whip like weapon, and struck in for the warrior's stomach.
Before he could get a strike in though, the warrior's partner body checked Larry into the bulkhead. The whip the second warrior carried suddenly hardened into a spear like staff, and the enormous warrior made to impale Larry on it but it was batted away by Tex's sword.
Reaching out in the force, Larry tried to feel out his opponents…to figure out what they were going to do next. What he found disturbed him, as the creatures were only a void in the force where they should have been.
"You guys go!" Tex shouted, "We'll catch up!" and she began a furious attack at the two enormous monsters, even though they towered over her. The group hesitated, but as Tex batted the two creatures into a corner they quickly edged around the fight and continued on at a run…or a limping run in the case of the wounded.
"Y'all better make it back!" Fox shouted.
Larry shook himself out of his surprise and began to help Tex, first by parrying a strike aimed for Tex's neck and then catching a surprised warrior in the leg with his lightsaber. Expecting the blade to cut cleanly through the leg, Larry was surprised when the armor that the warrior was wearing caught his blade and did not cut.
"It's living armor!" Tex shouted, "Aim for the joints on the sides and under the arms!"
As she shouted this, the enormous warrior she was fighting brought down a fist on the top of her head, causing her to crumple to the ground. The warrior's face split in an evil grin as he made to finish Tex off.
"NO!" Larry shouted and anger erupted in him for not being able to save Delaine…and how familiar the scene was. Throwing his hand forward an intense storm of dark blue force lightening struck the warrior and sent him flying backwards against the bulkhead. Rage continued to build in Larry, and he was dimly aware that the other warrior was trying to kill him.
Pivoting, Larry brought up his purple colored blade and feinted a strike at the warrior's wrist, before he switched and threw his blade straight up and into the monsters throat. Its eyes rolled down to look at the hole in his throat before black blood gurgled out of his neck and he collapsed.
"Thanks," Tex said, her hair now slightly bushy from the crackling lightening that arced across her head a moment ago.
Larry had to take a few deep breaths before he found himself able to speak, "How did you know about the joints in the armor?"
Tex shrugged, "They're called Yuuzhan Vong. I've run into them before…but not this many. The warriors are really dangerous, but they use all kinds of living things. Those whips for example? Those are called ampistaffs, and they're more like snakes then anything else, complete with a venomous bite. Anyway let's get out of here before more of them show up."
"Right, good idea," Larry said, and was about to take off running when he heard the sound of loud footsteps closing in from behind him. Both Tex and Larry turned, blades out just as Beyond came running around the corner, staff in one hand and a small metal box in the other.
"RUN! GO!" he shouted and did not slow down his pace, "There are more of them behind me and Nikita's about to set the self-destruct!"
Larry and Tex quickly lowered their weapons and took off at a sprint just as Beyond began to pass them. More footsteps could be heard in the hallway now, and they were getting closer.
"To the hanger!" Larry shouted, "It's not far now!"
Beyond tapped his staff against the side of the room and the hallway became covered in darkness, as though an enormous shadow gripped the ship to spite the lighting.
"Follow me!" Beyond shouted, "Hopefully we'll lose them in the dark!"
The three of them ran on until they came to the enormous door that guarded the entrance to the hanger. Tapping the code into the door frantically, the sound of the door opening was a welcome relief to the tired Clan Hunters. Tex slipped under the door just as it was high enough for her to roll under, followed by Larry, and lastly Beyond.
Inside the hanger the shadows that Beyond had summoned were all gone, and the only ship left inside was a small Imperial shuttle, painted in Star Destroyer white.
Assim was outside the loading ramp at the rear of the shuttle, the barrels on his minigun already spinning, "GET INSIDE!" the borg enhanced human shouted.
Pulling on the force, Larry leapt up and over Assim's head and onto the ramp where he ducked inside, Tex and Beyond were forced to sprint the last distance with more Yuuzhan Vong on their heels.
"Merry Christmas ya filthy animals!" Assim shouted as he depressed the triggers, sending a steel rain of lead into the oncoming warriors. The ramp behind him began to close, and he stepped inside in the confusion he was sewing into the enemy ranks.
The ramp finally closed, and the shuttle began to hover before it accelerated toward the opening of the hanger. Picking up more speed then was really safe, it flew out of the hanger like a bullet out of a gun, and into chaos that was the battle around them.
The nearest Yuuzhan Vong cruiser had immediately spotted the vessel trying to desperately escape and was moving to intercept when the Pride of Clan Hunters exploded with enough force to send the cruiser careening backward and damaged it badly enough to forget about the small escaping shuttle.
As for the shuttle itself, the explosion was too close for the pilot to be able to maneuver safely and the S-foils that were designed to give the shuttle maneuverability were blown off. The shuttle began to spin end over end, and was drawn into the atmosphere of the planet that the fight was taking place over. Remarkably, the heat shield somehow managed to remain intact which kept the people inside from scattering into a thousand pieces along with the shuttle.
The last thing Larry thought about before he blacked out was…how familiar the whole thing was.
"Otacon."
"What is it Snake?"
"I'm in."
"Excellent. How'd you get into the mountain anyway?" the scientist asked, pushing his glasses up onto the bridge of his nose.
"Cardboard box," Solid Snake replied over the CODEC as he glanced around a corner. For a military base in the middle of a mountain in the middle of a country, the guards here were well armed, alert, and well organized. It was almost as though they were expecting an attack at any moment, which puzzled Snake.
"It's amazing that they could keep a discovery like this secret," Otacon said as he grabbed a handful of Reece's Pieces from a bowl next to the computer he was on.
"You're telling me, how did we find out about this place again?" Snake asked as he ducked into a supply closet using the ID he had 'liberated' from a guard who was currently shoved in his own locker, unconscious.
"Anonymous tip," Otacon said matter-of-factly.
Snake groaned softly, "I thought we stopped taking those, after what happened with Metal Gear Ray? Remember that? It was a trap."
"Don't worry, I did some checking around on my own before deciding that the tip was legit," the technician said, "You know what they say right? Fool me once…"
"Yeah right," Snake said as he pulled the grate off of a ventilation shaft.
"You're not going to crawl through the ventilation ducts are you?" Otacon asked.
"Why wouldn't I?" Snake asked, "It's always worked for me in the past."
"Two reasons, first of all Mythbusters proved it as an impractical form of entry and second there are alarms inside of the shafts and sensors so advanced you wouldn't be able to avoid them."
"So just what am I supposed to do? Walk right up to the control room?"
"Sure, you just need the right wardrobe. Look around."
Snake turned away from the ventilation shaft and looked at the room he was standing in. All around him were racks of clothing, from the forest camouflaged BDUs that the Air Force wore to the Dress Blues and even white lab coats that doctors and scientists wore.
"Ah…" Snake said, "That'll do it."
Larry was standing on a wooden stage in a tavern that smelled badly of stale beer and smoke. He was limp, as though all of his muscles had suddenly disappeared, but something was holding him up. When he tried to look around he found that he could not.
Jeers and whistles called and a beer bottle whizzed past his head and smashed into the wall behind him. Suddenly, his head jerked up on its own and his limbs began to move without any control from him. He began to dance up and down on the stage to music that came from an unseen place.
His jaw opened without his control and he began to sing words that seemed familiar, like something out of a dream, but he could not grasp where he had heard them before.
"There's too many men
Too many people
Making too many problems…
And there's not much Love to go 'round
Can't you see this is a Land of Confusion?"
To his horror, Larry realized that there were strings attached to his arms and legs, and they were making him sing in dance. Larry strained to look up, to see who was pulling them, who was controlling him, but it was no use. The song continued:
"Ah Ah AH!
This is the World we live in!
Oh Oooh oh!
And these are the hands we're given!
So stand up and let's start trying…
To make this a place worth living in…"
Larry wanted to scream, this kind of control was an existence he wanted no part of. The patrons of the tavern only screamed louder, as though they wanted more and more…and so Larry kept singing and dancing to the beat against his will…
"Hey Superman, where are you now?
When everything's gone wrong somehow….
These men of steel…these men of power
Are losing control by the hour…"
Larry tried to focus on the people in the crowd. To his surprise, he found out that he recognized them. In the front row sat twelve heads of state that Larry knew of, ranging from the President of the United States to the Prime Minister of India. More surprising though was that they appeared to be chained to the table they were all sitting at. Their eyes were open in horror, and their mouths writhing with words that Larry could not hear, a noiseless scream.
"This is the time…
This is the place
There's not much love to go around…
This is a Land of Confusion."
Tex, Fox, Assim, and all the other Clan Hunters he had ever known, were at a table in the back. Some were judging him silently with cold eyes, while others were openly jeering and cursing him. Larry was panicking now, he desperately did not want to be where he was, but his singing continued on…
"This is the World we live in
And these are the hands we're given
So use them and let's start trying
To make it a place worth living in…"
Then he saw her. The one person he knew was going to be there and the one person he did not want to see. Delaine sat at a table all by herself, they made eye contact and she smiled at him briefly. Larry continued to stare at her as she stood up gracefully, and walked out of the tavern through a door at the back of the room. She glanced over her shoulder and waved to him, a final goodbye.
Rage filled Larry, anger at whoever was pulling his strings, anger at his friends for not helping him, anger at the world for sticking him in this position. Most of all, he felt anger at himself for being unable to save Delaine. If only he had been faster…
His blood on fire, Larry used every ounce of energy in his body to pull away from the strings controlling him. Finally, one of the strings began to unravel and then it snapped, and then another and another. A few seconds later, all of the strings broke and Larry stood freely without support from his strings.
He looked up to see who was controlling him, and was shocked to see the grinning face of John Call looking down at him. So startled, he did not notice that someone had appeared on stage with him until they tapped him on the shoulder.
Looking behind him, Larry nearly jumped at the sight of a nearly naked woman with blue skin. He had seen her before…it was Allied's Guardian Force…the one he had used in the battle with the SeeDs.
The woman's brows furrowed, and she wound back and slapped Larry hard across the face and shouted, "Wake up! Wake up!"
Larry opened his eyes, Section was sitting above him looking down at him with concern. Behind her was a bright blue sky with scattered clouds dotting the sky, the sun beating down on them.
Larry sat up and looked around, and saw that the shuttle was broken into several pieces nearby. Section was still staring at Larry with concern on her face, unsure at how he was.
"Are you alright?" she asked tensely.
Larry checked himself over, he appeared to be unhurt except for a few scrapes and bruises, he felt fine. Looking over at Section, he was shocked to see an enormous gash down her face.
"Forget about me, what about you?" Larry asked.
"I'm fine," Section said, pulling her hair out of her face, "The Doc patched me up."
For some reason Larry could not quite fathom, anger began to bubble up in him, "Those bloody Vong!" he shouted, "We need to be able to travel! To gather the Ta'veren!"
"Calm down," Section said, "We can't do that if we're all dead."
"I am calm," Larry said, grinding his teeth. Standing up, he realized just how badly bruised he was, "SITHSPAWN!" he swore loudly.
"What's wrong with you?" Doc D asked, limping over to where Larry was standing.
"Just…hurting," Larry said through clenched teeth.
"Hold still," Doc said as he closed his eyes, "CURE!" he shouted pointing a finger at Larry.
"Ah!" Larry groaned as the warmth of the white mage's cure spell slid down his body, wiping away the aches and pains.
"You're not bad compared to the rest of us. Beyond is as healthy as a bull, and Assim just about as well off. Red, Leo, Section, Tex, and Fox are slightly worse then you, but I've patched them up as best as I can. Dabby has seen better days, but he'll be able to walk in about an hour…"
"And the others?" Larry asked, sensing the answer.
Doc D hesitated, "The pilot and the other two we pulled out of the infirmary are dead," the Doc said with finality.
Larry nodded sadly, "What supplies do we have?"
"Just what we had with us when we left the Pride," Section said.
"Any idea where we are?"
"Somewhere primitive," Section said, motioning to her MUT which was more dented then when Larry had last seen it, "There are no computer systems anywhere nearby, and not even any other users nearby. If there are any other survivors off of the Pride, I'll be able to detect them."
"Oh…that's right," Larry said sadly as he looked up into the sky. The Pride was no where in sight. He was sad that the ship was gone, it had been his home for such a long time…
"The Pillar of Spring actually managed to make it past the blockade," Section said, "But it had to set down somewhere on the planet. I'm fairly sure it won't be able to leave the planet without extensive repairs."
"Great," Larry groaned, "Are there any settlements around here? Somewhere that could give use a clue as to where we are?"
"Sure, about fifteen kilometers to the east," Doc D said.
"Once everybody can walk, gather what supplies are left and we're going to make for that town," Larry ordered.
"Yes, sir," both replied automatically. That was when Larry knew that he had just taken command.
"Excuse me?" came a voice from behind Snake. The infiltration specialist turned to see a blonde haired, blue eyed woman looking at him expectantly.
"Yes?" he asked.
"One of us is in the wrong bathroom," she said crossing her arms.
Whoops, Snake thought, "I'm sorry," he mumbled and he moved to brush past the woman dressed in uniform.
"I usually know all of the scientists around here, but I don't know you," the woman said as he tried to brush past her.
Uh oh.
"That's because I just got transferred here…Major," Snake said with a glance at the golden rank insignia.
"Oh really, from where?"
"Tell her you worked with Dr. Grady on the Metal Gear project," Otacon said helpfully.
"Metal Gear? I haven't heard of that project," the major said skeptically.
"Excuse me ma'am, but could you please tell me who I'm being interrogated by?"
"Samantha Carter, Stargate Command. And you are?"
"…David," Snake replied.
"David what?" Major Carter asked. Snake rolled his eyes and produced his silenced tranquilizer pistol he always carried with him. Carter's eyes widened as Snake expertly fired off one shot, which nailed her in the center of the forehead.
The SGC major's eyes rolled up into her head and she fell backwards…or would have had Snake not caught her. Dragging her carefully into one of the stalls, he set the now dozing Carter onto the toilet. Before he left the women's bathroom, he had one more keycard to add to his collection.
"Real smooth," Otacon said sarcastically in his ear.
"Shut up, Otacon," Snake growled.
"You know I've heard about her before right? She's the SGC's best scientist, she's more into astrophysics research then the robotics and computer programming I prefer…"
"Otacon?"
"Yes, Snake?"
"Will they be missing her anytime soon?"
"I hope not, it is really early in the morning, most of the complex is asleep except for the night shift guards and the technicians who monitor the Stargate," Otacon said.
"Good," Snake said as he followed the signs around the concrete walls which were probably thick enough to withstand a direct hit from a thermonuclear warhead. Soon enough, he found his way to the Stargate control room which he scanned Carter's keycard to gain entry to.
Tranquilizer gun held in front of him, he walked up a set of stairs and saw that the two people in the control room had their backs turned to him. Through a large glass window sat a long metal ramp which lead up to the stone circle which was the Stargate. One of the scientists heard him walk up the metal staircase and turned to look at him, but Snake managed to fire off a shot into the back of the first scientist's neck, dropping him into unconsciousness immediately.
The weapon had to be reloaded manually after each shot, so in the time it took for Snake to expertly feed another round into chamber the second scientist was already moving toward the alarm. Snake's shot was rushed and hit the second scientist in the shoulder, which took a few seconds for him to get knocked out, long enough for him to hit the alarm. Klaxons sounded and red lights flashed, alerting the instillation.
"Quickly Snake!" Otacon shouted, "Take the flash drive I gave you and plug it into the computer! The program I've created will do the rest!"
Snake quickly crossed the room, shedding his white lab coat disguise and pulling out a half gig sized flash drive. He quickly found a USB port on the computer and jammed the small memory chip into it. The computer whirled and the program instantly overwrote any security subroutines that were built into the system, and the Stargate began to spin dialing the address that Otacon had programmed it to.
Soldiers armed with M-16s and dressed in full battle gear stormed into the gate room just after Snake. A grey haired man with the rank of Colonel trained his P90 on Snakes back, laser sight centered between his shoulder blades.
"Stop!" The grey haired man shouted. Snake put his hands up and turned around, facing the large assortment of weapons pointed at him. The gate continued to spin and dial behind him, despite the attempts of the soldiers in the control room to stop it.
"Snake duck!" Otacon shouted in his, and Snake dropped to the floor just as the gate activated, the event horizon solidifying behind him and expanding outward over his head for a moment. Snake used the distraction to produce a flash bang from his gear and quickly pull the pin and throw it into the pack of soldiers from his stomach.
In the confusion and yelling that following, Snake leapt up on his feet and dove into the event horizon, and was instantly transported ten thousand light years away.
"Good luck," Otacon said over the codec before the gate closed, leaving Snake stranded on the other side of the galaxy.
Number Six's eyes opened in surprise. She was sitting cross legged in her room, meditating when suddenly another presence entered her mind. It quickly disappeared from her mind, but it had been enough for her to know something was wrong.
With a thought, she summoned Number Three, Number Four, and Number Five to her, and all came within moments. They had been preparing their ships for a departure to go after one of the last two Ta'veren that were still unaccounted for.
"We have an intruder," she said without preamble, "Check the Stargate and the surrounding areas. Have the guards double their patrols…nothing can go wrong now. Nothing."
"How far did you say that settlement was?" Larry asked Section.
"It didn't seem like it was this far," she admitted.
"Look!" Beyond shouted back, looking into the distance. Ahead was a large area of wooded trees and what appeared to be smoke rising from just in front of the treeline.
"People?" Dabby asked.
"Or enemies," Tex said darkly.
"Let's find out," Larry ordered. Leo and Red checked the amount of ammunition they had and exchanged glances with each other.
"What is it?" Larry asked.
"Almost out of ammo," Red said, the ODST did not like that at all.
"So am I," Fox said, "I reckon' I got five shots."
"Make them count," Larry suggested.
The team moved out in a squad column, Larry on point with Tex directly behind him and to the right, Assim and Red on the flanks behind both Larry and Tex. It looked like a large arrowhead streaking toward the woods. It took them about forty-five minutes to reach the edge of the woods, just as it was beginning to get dark.
Larry's team relaxed a little more when they got closer, as the Clan Hunter's flag was raised up on a makeshift flagpole. The ODSTs had begun digging into the ground with entrenching tools, setting up a perimeter.
The weary Clan Hunters began to move past the perimeter, after briefly talking with an ODST Lieutenant in charge of the perimeter. In the center of the camp sat a crashed escape pod from the Pillar of Spring, a landed shuttle, and several ground vehicles.
"So they didn't have to walk," Larry murmured to himself. As he got closer to the crashed escape pod, he spotted James. He was arguing with a Clan Hunter with red hair and Lt. Commander ranks.
"I don't care what you have to do Ginge," James was saying, "We need to get ready to get all of the supplies together and move tomorrow at first light!"
"And I'm telling you we don't even know where the Stargate is! Much less how to get to it before the Vong swoop down on us! I don't know why they haven't done so already!"
"Just do it!" James shouted, "That's an order!"
Ginge snapped to attention and gave a salute, though he was clearly angry at being ignored. James turned and looked in surprise, "Doc! Harrod! Good to see you guys! We got lots of injured people around here who need your help."
"Where are the medical supplies?" Doc asked, his voice professional.
"They're in the shuttle," James said, and the Doc went off without another. James turned to Larry, "Glad to see you, Jedi. Things are bad, but they're looking up. We need to get out of here though, as the planet is clearly controlled by the Yuuzhan Vong…at least from space. I have no idea why we haven't been wiped out already."
"Maybe something's keeping them out?" Larry suggested.
James snorted, "Yeah right. Anyway, we managed to get Link off of the Pride in one of the first shuttles after the evacuation. He's asleep right now…and so should you guys. It's getting dark, and we have work to do but we'll keep the fires going to draw in more Clan Hunters who may be in the area. You and your team get some rest."
"We could use some more ammunition," Leo spoke up.
"See Ginge, he's supply commander. I don't know how much we have left," James said and turned away, signaling the conversation at an end.
Larry and the rest of the team moved closer toward the woods, where there was still open ground for them to sit down on. The trees were dark and ominous at this hour, and nobody wanted to go any closer then necessary.
"Ya know? I really am tired of playing this game," Fox groaned.
"It's not a game anymore," Larry observed solemnly. The conversation died, and one by one the Clan Hunters began to fade off to sleep. Larry remained awake for a few minutes longer, something about the forest did not seem right. The feeling he sensed from them reminded him of bear who just found out its den had been invaded.
Exhaustion overcame Larry, and he fell into a thankfully dreamless sleep.