A/N Nothing like writing a saga - posting half of it while editing the rest and watching it all fall apart when you have not one, but two catastrophic hardware failures - the good news: I had just backed up before the crash - the bad news - the backup software didn't recognize my writing files (Scrivener) as documents that need to be backed up.
The long/short of it... we're back on line - I've lost my edits so I'm re-proofing now and I have some clean-up to do. But... we're back on board.
Standard Disclaimers apply.
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
As one the three deckers held their breath. Jensen wasn't sure if it was a joint experience or just the reaction they were all having. Either way, all three of them were totally focused on the scene before them. There were so many places this could go wrong, and so many ways it could break, that none of them wanted to miss any of the warning signs.
As the bot picked up its second packet Jensen began chanting 'this is not the droid you're looking for...' much to Tracker's chagrin.
Duck's attention was focused on the sentries and the shredder and as the bot moved closer the guard routines moved in.
Jensen shifted ready to move but waiting for Tracker's cue. As Duck had pointed out, Tracker was the best at not being seen and part of that was the fact that he knew when to move and when to remain perfectly still.
The tension was almost palpable as the guard routines descend on the hapless bot. Tracker didn't even bother telling them to wait for it; he knew they all were waiting for his signal.
As they moved in and assaulted the bot, the guards shifted into a hydra, a dragon and a giant pit bull , Tracker nodded: it was time to go.
'Jay,' he thought. 'Hit the button.'
#
Cougar watched tensely as Tracker's heart rate monitor slowed to a steady pace and Jensen's hand reached for the button Duck had told him not to press. Behind him Duck began to kick before calming down again.
He started to move forward, but suddenly thought better of it, choosing rather to pick up a book and start 'reading' to his unconscious friends.
He had just started the second paragraph when three men dressed as Masters-At-Arms moved in on the curtained off area he and Jensen shared. Finding it empty they began a search of the ward. When they began checking the electronic charts at the foot of each bed, he smiled. That was what Duck had warned him about.
When they made it to Tracker and the others the lead man looked at him. "Soldier, identify yourself."
Cougar nodded slowly, the motions of an injured man recovering from his alleged shrapnel wounds. "Sir, Sergeant Green, Company B, sir, this here's my friend Corporal James... is everything all right?"
When they muttered something and kept going, he picked up where he left off on the book, all the while watching the men as they searched for him and Jensen.
That had been too close and he knew they'd be back, and next time they would be more thorough in their searching and they were bound to notice that the wires didn't connect the patients to the medical monitors, but rather to each other.
#
Clay waited until the others had joined him. He smiled at the way Roque and Pooch flanked Casey, enveloping her in a protective 'pocket'. He gave her what he hoped was an encouraging smile then turned back towards the clearing, focusing on the prisoner there.
"Roque... I need you to take a look around... something doesn't feel right..."
He nodded when Roque gave him a serious look and quickly took the mage's place next to Casey, allowing Roque to focus on the matter at hand. He knew all too well that his 'feelings' were no match for Roque's vision.
#
As always, Roque gauged his surroundings using his team as a baseline. He wasn't surprised that Pooch's aura had again picked up the orange tinges of anger and vengeance. He thought for a moment and realized that Pooch was reacting to Casey's current state.
He wasn't entirely surprised when he noticed Clay's aura held not only the vengeful oranges but a bluish green he'd learned to associate with Clay about to get himself into trouble, usually with a woman.
As he turned his attention to Casey, Roque froze. He watched as her aura shifted, reflecting a combination of the people around her and the shades of the jungle itself.
'Not awakened my hoop,' he thought to himself. Someone had really failed when they were testing out recruits. It was something for him to worry about later, but for now he would simply watch. What was happening was in no way a threat to him or his team. He was beginning to think that if it had been anything, it had been helping them.
As he tuned out the others as 'background noise,' he focused on the clearing. His attention drawn to the prisoner in the middle.
The man showed no sign of having been punished by the equipment. Either the man had done nothing but follow his captor's instructions or it was a trap. He wasn't sure which. There was no sign of deceit in the man's bearing but something was very wrong.
#
Shaking his head, he refocused on Clay. "Something is definitely going on."
'Man hasn't done a damn thing in there and that just doesn't sit right,' he added over the secure channel and he studied Casey.
He smiled slightly when he noticed the woman had armed herself and was ready to use the pistol. If anyone would have just sat there in the center of the clearing doing nothing to free themselves, it would have been the medic, not a soldier. No, nothing was as it appeared that much was clear.
#
Jensen froze for a moment amazed by the amount of sheer chaos Duck created as the data packet cover they were using dissolved and she launched herself at the sentries. He felt his heart in his throat even though he'd seen footage of her doing this at the conference. He smiled as her sudden attack burst into a collection of cartoon weapons, puppets, retrievers, a protester, and one very serious looking cannon that was aimed at the dragon.
He knew Tracker was still there somewhere, and it took him a moment to notice the 'light' bending around the form of a wolf as it slunk to the sidelines, allowing Duck to draw all the attention and fire of the guard routines, while he began working his own special level of destruction.
The thought 'stealthy annihilation,' made him chuckle to himself as he slipped away from the fray. He knew this was what they did best and he knew that by double teaming their opposition, their chances were exponentially increased. Still, he didn't have to like leaving them behind.
He forced himself not to think about the danger they were facing or the reinforcements that were already making their way to the waiting deckers. He had his assignment and they had theirs. If he didn't work his own magic, their risk would be for nothing.
Following Tracker's lead, he shifted his image, becoming a part of the scenery. He quickly blended in and walked away. He had to get a signal out, and the only way to do that was to get outside the ship's node.
#
Cougar slouched a little more in his chair as three more Masters-at-Arms began circulating the floor. He had seen them wheel two beds out, ostensibly for further treatment but he could tell from their body language the Masters-At-Arms were rounding up the perceived threats.
He 'dozed' watching them from beneath the brim of his hat. Now was not the time to react, and sadly the soldiers they were rounding up were not the ones he was charged to protect. He knew their best hope lay firmly in the decks and minds of trio he watched over. He prayed the ones being rounded up would remain safe, that they were needed for whatever would be coming for the dinner bell. If not, they would be avenged.
To his relief they did not come for him or the others. He allowed himself a slight smile. Duck had changed as many records as she dared, leaving the mages on their ward as well as Jensen and himself.
His relief was short lived as he saw one of the Masters-at-arms tilt his head to his shoulder, listening to a transmission on the radio. The man reacted quickly, signaling the others to begin 'evacuating' the entire level.
#
Jensen smiled to himself as the guard routines swarmed the ship's main node: trying to keep the 'bad element' from getting out. If they'd only knew that some of that bad element had built the node, and the rest were currently responsible for its maintenance.
Their 'defense' seemed to include a two pronged attack– one team sent to deal with the obvious threat up close and personal while another contingent focused on building up the defenses around the outbound node.
He watched, his smile growing cold, as he realized that the 'node' had already been sealed by whoever was controlling the ship. That chill was all he needed to get moving. These people were trying to weed out and identify the people who would not only notice the situation but react to it. They wanted to identify the best of the best as a 'tasty morsel' if this Max could be believed.
Jensen growled to himself: this particular trap also meant that there was a physical presence aboard the Serenity and that meant that if any of the three of them were traced, all three of them would be caught.
Not that there was any pressure or anything.
#
While he had no idea how things were going for Jensen and the others in the matrix, Cougar knew things were building up in the physical world.
There were now eight fake, very dangerous looking, Masters-at-Arms actively moving the patients off the floor and it was only a matter of time before they reached the trio he now protected.
He knew from experience with Jensen that the deckers were in a very dangerous spot. Their minds where subject to whatever obstacles, security measures and destructive code they encountered in the virtual world of the construct matrix, and that that danger was just as real and just as tangible as it was in the real world.
Meanwhile their bodies were locked in wherever they were, helpless motionless targets in the real world. A killing shot could come from either direction and no matter how good they were inside the matrix- if someone managed to find their 'meat' them and disconnect them they were defeated. It didn't help that in sniper school they had drilled every one of his classmates until they ate and breathed the axiom "a bullet to the head is easier than pulling the plug on a decker, and just as effective."
Cougar knew he couldn't let it come down to that, and that meant either taking the fake guards out one by one or getting them all in the same place and taking them all on at the same time, but no matter how he looked at it, he was going to have to take them down.
From the way the men were moving it was looking like it was going to have to be all at once and very soon.
#
Jensen thought about the network and the computing needs of a ship at sea. The matrix connection was highly specialized and he realized that the attackers weren't familiar with the tweaks required to make a matrix connection at sea work.
Thinking about their tactics he realized their attack was designed to control the ship as a 'building at sea.'
It was a decent analogy if you didn't think about it too much, but one of the key elements of the system was the fact that this 'building' was designed to move, and move quickly. Something he knew he could use to his advantage if he could find the right system.
He tried very hard not to think about the Naval deckers who should have been maintaining the system and what the invading force had, or may have done to them. All he knew was- if they were able to, these invaders would not have the control over the system they had.
He knew Tracker, being a Navy man himself, would not be happy about this. Then again he was Army and he wasn't happy. You do not mess with the medics or the injured. It was just... wrong.
He was about to restore his standard persona over the generic camouflaged one Duck had supplied in her library, then stopped. These people knew what they were doing and this 'Max' person knew he was here. He knew Jensen and he knew he would try to do something just on general principle.
They may be fishing for threats, but they already knew he was here.
He was about to move on when he saw a construct appear in his volatile memory. He paused as he saw it pulling a persona construct out of itself: a wolf. He recognized it as Tracker's matrix persona routine. His way of representing himself in the matrix.
He started to ask, but the construct was not designed answer questions, simply to deliver the persona routine and a message.
"You be me for a while, and I'll be you..."
Jensen chuckled and switched his persona to the wolf the construct had delivered. When it remained there he looked at it.
'What, are you expecting a tip?' he asked then remembered the last bit of the message. 'and I'll be you.'
With a sigh he transferred his persona construct to Tracker's deck. Something told him the Naval Decker was not going to like his persona's image.
#
Cougar closed his eyes and set his book down as if he were tired. He watched the masters-at-arms through partially lidded eyes, getting a feel for their movements and locations.
'Eight targets, three close, two mid, one to the far left, two more returning from wheeling their most recent patient into whatever holding area they'd created,' he thought, working the situation as he divorced himself from the fact that these weren't assets he was protecting, but rather friends.
They were running out of people to move and judging by Jensen's state, neither he nor the others had been caught yet. He'd have to make sure they had their chance.
He surged forward: his movements fluid, barely needing a thought to direct them. This was the dance he had learned from a very early age, a dance that had a rhythm all its own, one that he was totally suited to, body, mind and spirit. His heart sang as those aspects of himself moved in perfect concert. The dance called to him.
Sniping was all about remaining calm, picking your target, eliminating them and moving on to the next. Close quarter combat was more about doing as much damage as possible in a short amount of time and moving on before your mark has time to react.
He moved, his body reacting to the adversaries around him, all the time tracking his opposite numbers and changing the dance as they reacted. He took it all in: action and reaction until nothing else existed.
His time with Bear had brought him back in contact with himself and his way of repaying the Shaman would be to protect his woman, his friends and to eliminate any threats that came for them.
The first three fell like wheat to the scythe. He knew the first was dead without having to check. The second was harder and it took him precious seconds to drag the man away from Jensen and the others, finally twisting counter to the man's balance and throwing him to the ground.
He followed the man down and grabbed his gun before the man could retrieve it. Three shots and the man was down, the third was thankfully stunned enough by his actions that he all but asked to be shot.
Three down. Five to go, Cougar smiled as he moved in on the farthest target. He had to keep them jumping and having one so far from the others was just asking for trouble.
#
It felt strange passing through the ship's network in the form of a wolf. It served to remind him that he needed to be stealthy, to move from subroutine to subroutine like a wolf moving between the shadows. Even as he thought it, the area around him shifted to trees.
He quickly reset the routine to its standard appearance. He knew that someone else traveling through the requisition system wouldn't notice, this was just his perception but there were people who could detect the code. It was attention he didn't need. He moved on looking for the maintenance routine for the navigation systems.
Something told him it was time for a diagnostics run.
#
Tracker shook his head as he looked down on the persona routine he was about to don. Something had told him he'd rather have switched with Duck then take on Jensen's persona, and now that he'd seen it he knew that feeling had been dead on.
Shaking his head, he loaded the code and sighed as he switched from wolf to overgrown, cartoon puppy dog, with what had to be the biggest feet Jensen could have coded into it and still have the thing not topple over as it moved.
He looked at the menagerie of predators that had swarmed in to overwhelm Duck and leapt into the fray with a howl, or what would have been a howl if he were in his own persona routine and not Jensen's. Instead of a howl it came out more as a happy yip.
'Fine,' he thought, there was nothing he could do about Jensen's choices of imagery but he could at least take it out on the battlefield with the invading army. He bowled into a pack of Hyenas and as he launched his attack program he found them pinned down with puppy drool.
He closed his eyes. This battle was probably going to drive him insane.
#
Cougar dove under an empty gurney as he felt rather than heard a gun being fired. He could almost sense the body and mind guiding the hand cannon; tracking his motions waiting for the right moment to fire. When that moment came he pushed himself forward and dropped to the ground. As he rolled back to a standing position, he picked up a bed pan. He kept moving knowing that if he stopped now he would be dead. He had already proven he was willing to kill and his enemies couldn't afford to take any chances with him.
He hurled the bedpan back at the man who'd shot at him, hoping it would distract the fake master-at-arms long enough for him to take out his intended target: the man furthest from the fray. Cougar closed the distance before the man could do more than call to his comrades.
Even as he shot, he sensed his other 'dance partners' as they began to circle him, trying to draw him into one big fight he couldn't hope to win. Meanwhile he tried to break the battle into four separate scraps
While having someone to question afterward would be nice, he knew that at this point keeping his people alive had to be his main concern. He knew that as long as he could keep the four focused on him and away from Jensen and the others they had a chance to get a message out.