Chapter 20 …Blood for Blood

AN: I'm back! I know that there has been a terrible delay and I apologize for that. I have been so busy I can barely see straight. Anyway back to the story. Things are getting pretty heated and this next couple of chapters will be kind of back and forth as all of the pieces fit together.

It was happening too fast! A simple snatch and run that's all it was supposed to be.

Get in and get out!

Alicia panned her scope to cover the entrance of the facility. Everything had been going smoothly. She had taken her position with no problem and sighted in her rifle on the various patrols that walked the small compound. Then something had happened and all hell broke loose. There was unintelligible yelling on the radios and what she could only describe as a loud…well a roar. It had taken every ounce of self control not to rush into the small cluster of buildings and start putting the enemy down. Now there was just silence on the airwaves.

"Echo one; echo one status report." Silence answered the frantic woman.

"Echo One bloody status report. You fucking bastards; answer me!"

They should have never done this crazy job. If it hadn't been for Matthew she would have never been here.

Damn you Matt.

Three Days Earlier

The crowd was nearly unbearable. Hundreds of people bustled from the terminals and in the shops. Some leaving, others waiting for their flights, children ran amongst the seats and stalls squealing and laughing. Adults jostled others as they made their way through the crowded walkways. Alicia was in hell as far as she was concerned.

Her cell phone vibrated and startled her from her dour observations. Her mood darkened when she read the text message.

Café across the street from the airport. When you get there, will be to the left, act surprised to bump into me.

Alicia quickly deleted the message and made her way to baggage pick up. She didn't like this at all. The whole thing smelled wrong. Her imagination ran wild with whatever this could be about as she gathered her small duffle and her backpack. Marcus hadn't been very forthcoming on the details when he had contacted her; only to say that her help was needed in a serious way. So she had packed and flew nearly twenty hours to only get cryptic messages and secret meeting places.

Bloody jerk off better have an explanation!

The following morning

Marcus couldn't remember the last time he was this nervous. He had been sitting in his car for nearly an hour and still couldn't talk himself into getting out. He wasn't sure if any of them would show up and the meeting with Alicia had been….well not pleasant.

Marcus knew that Yutani was watching him; he had already spotted the SUV that always seemed to be right around the corner. He would have to be careful and keep a low profile.

If this gets out we are so screwed.

"All right…let's get this over with." He muttered.

He left the car and began to walk towards the cabin. Marcus could feel his stomach lurch with each step. He had rented the largest cabin he could find, as far away from the city that he could get.

A round of booming laughter echoed from the other side of the door and Marcus couldn't help but smile at the familiar sound. With a final breath he opened the door and stepped into his past.

"….and the little prick had that stupid tattoo; you know the wonky one on his shoulder. The damn thing was so screwed up!"

Marcus grinned as he made his way into the living room of the rental. He knew that story well and could pinpoint the owner of that tattoo, a squirrelly little sergeant that had been in the unit years ago. If memory served he wasn't well liked and had a terrible habit of getting you shot at.

"You tell the same damn stories over and over. You really need to get out more Derrick." A female voice replied.

Marcus stood in the shadowed hallway listening to his friends chatter and nearly wept. It had been many long years since he had seen any of them. Life had, of course, gotten in the way of staying in touch; aside for the occasional phone call.

'You going to stand here crying like a big wank off?"

Marcus jumped at the sudden question and turned to find Alicia stranding behind him. He had never heard her move down the dark hallway; but that was what she was good at he remembered.

"Just….remembering." he answered huskily.

The tall woman smiled softly and nodded towards the room filled with their comrades.

"Well come on and maybe you can explain all of this James Bond shit."

Marcus stepped aside to let her lead him into the living room. He still couldn't believe they were all here. When he had sent the letters, via snail mail to reduce the risk of tracking, he honestly wasn't sure if any of them would answer…..but here they all were.

The source of the foghorn voice was Derrick Rinnaudo, whom they all called boomer for his love of blowing crap up, and Conor Marrs "high beam", a man that could hotwire, maintain and drive anything with an engine. Sitting to his left was Sarah Hopkins; the unit's old medic and finally Alicia the resident sneak and sniper.

The whole lot of them had been criminals in their past lives, before the military, with various degrees of troubles.

"Well there you are ya big jerk off." Boomer barked.

After a few minutes of hugs and backslaps and cursing at each other, the group settled back in their seats.

"Now what the hell is all of this about?...and where the hell is Mat?"

Marcus ran his hands across his face and began to pace the middle of the space.

Here goes.

This was his plan! This mismatched group of backwater lunatics! A more dysfunctional group of oomans she had never seen. Kjuthe seethed while she tried to pace a hole in the rocks she stood on. She had waited patiently for the past cycles as Marcus put together his plan. When he had informed her of the groups arrival she had snuck into the shelter they all shared. She couldn't believe that this was the best rescue he could come up with. A giant pauck-de tree of a man, a skinny waif of a female, a twitchy looking male, and another female that seemed to have absolutely have no purpose.

When confronted about it Marcus had staunchly defended the group; telling her not to underestimate them. That they had fought alongside Matthew for many years. That they were some of the best at what they did.

"Best at what?!...eating…telling stupid pauk-de jokes about a horse and a bar!" she growled to no one.

"What would a equine need in a ooman social gathering place?...and who cares how long its face was; it's a horse… they have large heads!"

"Why is my daughter pacing in a forest talking to herself?" a voice rumbled from the shadowy ferns.

Gahn'tha-cte stepped into the opening and settled on an old stump.

"Have you finally broken your mind?"

Kjuthe snorted and sat on the cool stones beneath her.

"Far from it my bearer. I find myself troubled with this turn of events. I do not hold the confidence in this group of oomans that Marcus feels."

"I find that often times you will not have control of things offspring. Sometimes you must adapt and make do with what has been laid in your path." The elder female responded.

"I just hope that it is enough…I can feel him getting worse; he is troublingly ill my bearer."

"Then let us go and retrieve out wayward male then Kjuhte."

"Well so far so good." Marcus mumbled.

The van had passed through the main gates of the facility, a security guard leading them in a black humvee.

"You see these guys Marcus?" Sarah asked nervously from the back of the van. "They aren't rent-a-cops…I'm looking at full tactical gear, H&K UMPs, and they look like they know how to use them."

Marcus grinned. "Did you think they would use Wal-Mart greeters?"

"Don't be an ass Marcus." A voice chirped on his in ear radio.

Alicia's role was to provide over watch and real-time while they were inside. She had spent the entire previous night creeping up to her position overlooking the compound. Now she would be watching everything through her rifle scope.

"Just remember the plan, stay frosty and everything will be okay."

The plan was simple. Marcus's contact had gotten them uniforms and a spot on the tech. detail that would be doing the regular maintenance for the systems in the compound. When the security systems were being updated and maintained they would snoop around and try and find Mat. While the security techs did their thing the system would be down and they could move through the facility. For the most part the Yutani goons would be blind. The only trick was that with the systems down the physical security would be heavy.

The plan was simple but there was no room for error…otherwise they would all be trapped inside.

"Just stay on your toes and we will be fine."

Marcus was having trouble believing his own words.

"Mrs. Yutani the helicopter is ready for depature."

The dry crackling voice on the intercom brought Maemi Yutani from her thoughts. From her spot overlooking the sterile operation room she had been watching the progress of Matthew and his sister….whatever her name was.

For the past week he had begun to show incredible progress physically; that is until the past few days.

"He has begun to deteriorate rapidly Mrs. Yutani. His immune system has begun to fight the foreign material….and it's losing. He maintains a fever and his weight loss is becoming troublesome….Mrs. Yutani I'm not sure he can withstand this much longer."

Her lead researcher's words echoed through her memory.

"Dammn it. We are so close Matthew. Can't you see it?" she whispered.

Placing her hands on the cold surface of the glass she sighed.

"Mrs. Yutani…..it's time for to go." The guard at the door interrupted.

"Good bye Matthew. I doubt I will see you again…pity; I think we would have had something special." She mumbled before turning and walking from the room.

"All right. I'm about to start the diagnostics. I'll download the virus right before. You will have one hour after I begin and then I'll have to reboot." Lewis, Marcus's contact from the security company, whispered.

Marcus nodded and looked around the massive server room.

"Why would they need this big of a system for such a small place?" he asked

The chubby tech just shrugged.

"What's the virus for?" Sarah asked over the taller man's shoulder.

Lewis looked up and pushed his glasses up his sweaty nose and smiled.

"If for any reason an alarm is raised the servers automatically transfer all data to the home office back in New York; if that happens your faces and mine will be all over the security cameras. The virus tricks the system into thinking everything is fine, even if an alarm is set off…..But it will only last until reboot after that it will wipe itself clean from the server and it's back to business as usual. So if your friend is here you have one hour, no more no less, to get him out and disappear."

"Thanks Lewis. I will owe you for this." Marcus said, patting the man on the shoulder.

Turning to his friends he nodded and the small group made their way out into the halls. Lewis had given them all various tools to make it look they were working on the security systems. Hopefully it would keep the security crews from hassling them for the hour they had.

"Okay one room at a time…and make it look like you have a reason to be there. Meet back here in forty-five minutes. Pop your radio if you find anything."

Derrick had no clue what he was doing nor did he know what the hell he was supposed to be looking for. He wasn't cut out for this smarty pants stuff. Sure he was sneaky despite his size but in the scheme of things he just blew shit up. Now he was walking around some fancy ass R&D center; looking like a caveman in a polo.

The only thing he knew was that Matt was in trouble and he was somewhere in this place.

"'scuse me sir."

Derrick froze for a second before turning. A security guard, heavily armed, walked towards him down the hallway. The big man smiled and waved to the guard.

"You lost?" the guard asked; a suspicious look on his face.

Derrick decided to play his hand….

Maybe I'll get somewhere.

"Actually," he sighed heavily "I am. Lewis told me to go check on the secondary servers and run my tests."

He put on his best embarrassed look "Except I have never been here and now I'm all turned around and lost as hell. And I'm running outta time."

The guard's stance relaxed and a grin split his face.

"No worries. I got lost every day for the first three months I was here. What was it you were looking for?"

Derrick couldn't believe this dumb asshole!

"Uh the secondary servers."

The guard thought for a moment before answering.

"I think I know what you mean buts in down another level near the research labs."

Derrick looked at him surprised. "I didn't know there was another level."

"Oh you have no idea man. This plays sprawls out; come on I have to make my rounds anyway so I'll show you the server room."

Kjuhte grinned behind her mask. The big dumb one and the guard hadn't any idea she was behind them. This was part of her "revised" plan; to follow them into the heart of this place and find Matt if they failed.

She was the only one who knew this but she figured it wouldn't be long before the others discovered her missing from her watch point. She would follow quietly and if needs be she would remove any "obstacles" that might arise.

"Marcus; we're running out of time."

The frustrated man sighed and looked over his shoulder.

He had wondered around for nearly forty minutes when he had come across Sarah. They had covered all of their part of the building and found nothing. They still hadn't heard from Boomer yet.

"I know…let's just check this hallway and well head back."

Sarah sighed and checked another door. "You don't have to snap at me; just would prefer not to lose my career over this."

"I know I'm sorr-" suddenly his their radio began to pop…someone was keying their handset.

"You guys need to get over here now! I found him." Derrick's voice crackled over their headsets. "…and it don't look good."

"Were are you?"

"Follow the red striped hallway to the big ass elevator, tell the guy that you're heading to the secondary servers and he'll key you in….man you won't believe this shit!"

Sha-shui growled to herself quietly as she padded down the long sterile hallway. She should have known better! She wasn't even surprised to find her sister missing from her position overlooking the ooman buildings. That didn't change the fact that she was angry about it, how could she not tell her what she planned? She was placing everyone in danger! This whole mess needed to end and now! Her mei-jadhi had gone too far this time and enough was enough.

As she made her way towards a large guarded portal the whole building suddenly quaked, the lights flickered and dust rained from the ceiling.

What now?

The huntress sprinted to the door just in time to follow the guards as they entered a large lift behind the portal.

The poor fools never completed the journey.

They had him, he was right there and Lisa was nearby. Everything was almost over and then suddenly all hell broke loose. Marcus couldn't even begin to understand what had happened. One moment Sarah was figuring out what to do about Matt's condition and getting him ready to move; the next a thundering roar echoed through the halls and the walls shook with what felt like an explosion.

Screaming and gunfire…the power flickered…more explosions.

…is that water I hear.

"Sarah can we move him?" he asked the panicked medic.

"Yeah but I still don't know what they did to him and I haven't looked at his sister yet; if we move either of them without knowing what the fuck they did….we might kill them both!"

Marcus moved to peek out into the dark hallway, the only light they had was the emergency lighting. But that was all he needed to see the small streams of water flowing through the dented security door.

"Echo one; echo one status report." Alicia's voice crackled on the radio.

Marcus tried to key her up but all he got was static.

Why do all of the villains have to build shit underwater!

"Echo One bloody status report. You fucking bastards; answer me!"

He knew it was no good.

"Sarah we need to move with or without them!"

Sarah looked at him with wide eyes. "I didn't go through all of this bullshit just to walk away with Mat laying right here….Marcus we can do this!"

Where had all of this gone so wrong?

Moments Earlier

Kjuhte wasn't sure what she was seeing. After sneaking in with the big idiot and the guard she had struck out to locate Matthew. Her wondering brought the huntress into what looked like several research stations. They were laid out similar to a honeycomb; each area had a specific type of machinery and instruments. Each connected to the other by a short hall going around in a large circle. As she quietly wondered through the space she noticed that there were no oomans here.

Perhaps they are in a rest cycle.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a large door, heavy and imposing, that cycled open as she approached. Checking her cloaking and weapons she slid into the room. Silently she placed her back to the curved wall and scanned….nothing, completely empty.

For whatever reason this place gave her shivers up her spine. A quite thump startled her and she whirled around; ready to face the threat. Only to be mocked by her own reflection in a large port. The female laughed at her own jumpiness and approached the glass; a slight gasp escaped her as she took in the landscape outside.

They whole thing was built under the sea; they were a great distance below its surface! Suddenly it felt as if the walls were squeezing in on the female, she couldn't breathe and large beads of sweat began rolling down her back. She had to get Matthew and get the Pauk out of this death trap!

The frantic creature began to rush towards the opposite side of the chamber, hoping to find another section and Matthew. As she made her way through the workstations she clumsily crashed into tables and equipment, glass shattered and instruments skittered across the floor. At that moment she could care less about how much noise she made, she wanted out of this place.

Rushing through the portal way she nearly collided with a large piece of machinery. It pulsed with a bright light and faintly hummed. She didn't bother to ponder its use as she hurried to the next area. In her frenzied state she didn't bother to pay attention to the path that she took until she slammed full force into a barrier.

The huntress fell back with a grunt and struggled to calm herself. When she looked up from her sprawled position her breath caught in her throat.

The wall she had run into was actually something far worse. Tubes, four large specimen tubes and in each a sight that gripped her hearts with cold fear. Yautja….four of them….four females floated in a thick fluid.

Paya bless us!

Climbing to her feet she slowly approached the cold, sterile glass. Each of the females had been dead for sometime; she could see the flaking of their dead flesh, their eyes open and staring into the void.

How was this possible? Her people had always been extremely careful about going undetected and if any were to fall a cleansing crew was always dispatched. How could the ooman have kept this secret for this long?...how could they keep them locked in this glass prison?

They should have been cremated and sent to the dark halls; their masks on display for their deeds and death. No! This was not right.

Anger boiled in her veins, her throat burned and her muscles tensed. They would suffer for this! She would see them burn, crushed…destroyed! She bellowed with rage, throwing her head back and letting her voice echo from the cold steel walls.

Oomans will learn fear again, they will cower and beg, they will wish that they had never crawled from the ooze in which the they came from.

Everything hazed as Kjuhte made her way back through the doors. The humming machine caught her eye…and she recognized its design.

The oomans were attempting to replicate the yautja plasma power supply. Not only did they kill and imprison her sister's souls they were trying to steal things that did not belong to them! Her people had worked tirelessly to learn how to harness the power; it had cost countless lives and centuries to perfect their technology. And here these oomans simply tried to steal it and copy it for their use!

How could they have so little honor….how could Matthew be here and not do something?! He had to know about this!

Kjuhte had never felt so betrayed by someone .

With reckless abandon she powered her caster. Choosing no particular target pulse after pulse of blue energy spewed from its barrel; until it glowed red hot and her power supply had depleted. Her chest heaved with anger, her blood coursed wit hatred as she ripped into anything her claws could grasp. Her green blood spattered across the floor from sharp edges tearing at her flesh. Water sprayed into the open chamber as glass cracked and chunks of concrete fell from the walls.

She would pull this dark, twisted, honor less place down with her bare hands. Everyone here would die by her will!

As another roar erupted from her guards began to rush into the room.

AN: Really? You fall off of the earth for months and then you leave us with a cliff hanger?! I know I am a bastard. But I wanted desperately to get something to you, instead of leaving you guys wondering if I were still alive. I promise I will get the next chapter soon. And yes if this reads like a confusing mess I wanted it that way. It's kinda how it played out in my head as I wrote it. But I did have an accident at work and broke my hand so I have been a little slow with the typing.

As usual my lovely friends please review and let me know how you all have been.

Side note; Thank you all for the heartfelt congrats and PM's I promise I will get to answering them as soon as I have better mobility in my hand. I might even be taking up an offer from a potential Beta reader. (You know who you are…you wonderful ooman you.)

See you soon!