Dread sat in his throne room, waiting. The alert went out. He heard it on his own radio. The torch was lit. The leaders should be on their way. Then why didn't Larabee report in? She was to make contact with him as soon as Power and his team were sent off to get the leaders.

So did that mean they didn't go get the leaders?

Or did that mean that she wasn't alone and couldn't report in?

If everything worked according to plan, she should be at the communications hub. He could wait.

He read through the latest Intelligence reports. The Resistance was causing havoc with his forces as usual. His forces were striking back. Casualty lists were...

Wait.

Gundar had been killed in an attack?

He double-checked the source of the Intel. One of his observation drones had sent the report. It had trailed along behind a recon troop that tracked down one of Gundar's satellite bases. The biomechs were destroyed, but Gundar was killed. This might pose a problem with the timing of the plan Larabee was putting into place.

Dread read through the rest of the intel. The facial recognition program indicated that the second-in-command was Elzer Polarski, a former 'guest' of one of Dread's interrogation rooms. He pulled up the datafile on Polarski and read through what little was known about him...

He needed to contact Larabee immediately.

~0~0~0~0~0~

Something wasn't right. Christine could sense it.

She already knew of the effect she had on males in the Wastelands. It was one of the aspects of her appearance that she had been warned about when she was training for the mission. Wastelanders gave in to their baser instincts. They didn't hold them in check the way the Dread Youth were taught to do, and men would find her attractive. It was a weakness she would use repeatedly to survive in the Wastelands, and it had proven successful. Observing organic behavior had become very informative. Males reacted one way to her, females in another way. Sometimes positive, sometimes negative, sometimes in ways she had no way of understanding.

But she had an effect on Power. A positive one. She saw his responses to her slight overtures. She followed Dread's advice to be strong and straightforward but not too overt. He seemed, what was a good word - intrigued? He had smiled at her when she called him innocent. Or was he smiling at the idea of anyone calling him an innocent? Despite her training and the behaviors she'd witnessed since she'd been away from Volcania, Wastelander behavior was still strange. And Power? He was confusing. She'd heard of his reputation over the months. If they were true, then he wasn't an innocent in any sense of the word, but he was an obscure individual. There were stories about him, but few truths were known. No one had known if his name was actually Power or if that was a code name. No one knew where his base was. No one knew how he recruited his team. It was mostly rumor and speculation and folklore that Christine had had to unweave to try to get a better understanding of Captain Jonathan Power.

When logic failed to give her answers, she trusted her instincts.

He was an idealist, that much was obvious. His thought processes were not linear, they seemed more collective and inductive. He could see the entire problem in a mere moment and all the avenues leading to and from any decision. That was the key. She had to keep him from 'seeing' all the different contingencies of a plan. He had to see her plan as the only plan. That meant moving fast and not giving him time to analyze the various aspects of the plan.

Initially, her plan of splitting up the Power Team was to get Power alone and lessen their capabilities. It would also allow her to get all the pieces of the trap in place one at a time without interference and without anyone questioning her. She could slowly seduce Power, but he hadn't responded quite the way she had expected him to, the way she needed him to in order for the trap to work. So what wasn't right?

Wait… had any of them men responded to her in the way she'd become accustomed to? They did seem somewhat… was reticent the correct word? They didn't behave as if they trusted her.

And Chase? The moment Christine saw the traitor, she wanted to execute her for treason. How could anyone turn their back on the Machine? Chase had grown up and trained in Volcania. She knew the truth of the Body Electric. She was the epitome of the Dread soldier. She was immortalized in memory as a martyr. Youth Leader Jennifer Chase was an inspiration to the cadets.

A brief thought flashed through Christine's mind. Although she was older than Chase, she had always seen the younger woman as a role model. A mentor.

A hero.

Christine was angry at herself for every idolizing Chase. The Dread Youth weren't supposed to have individual heroes. They were to put their trust in Dread and the Body Electric, but Christine had to admit that she had admired Chase for her accomplishments. Top of all her classes, youngest youth leader, then on to become the youngest overunit…

Everything Christine had wanted as a loyal Dread soldier had been patterned on Chase's military path. Then she met her "hero," and Chase was nothing more than a traitor. Joining the Empire's greatest enemy, fighting Lord Dread, she deserved a traitor's death, and with a little luck, Christine would get the privilege of dealing with her.

She entered the monitor room with those thoughts running through her mind. She needed to know when the pawns would be appearing in her trap.

She charged the monitor as a familiar voice sounded through the small room.

"Good evening, Freedom One."

What was he doing?

She couldn't keep the anger from her voice. "Contacting me here like this threatens everything. In an hour, we will have them all in our hands. The five leaders, Power and his group. All of them! I have spent months building up my reputation and my credibility, and now -"

"You question my judgment, Overunit?"

What was SHE doing? She didn't dare raise her voice to Lord Dread! He was her leader. Her behavior was more Wastelander than Dread Soldier. She suddenly realized she was behaving like the person she was pretending to be in order to do Dread's will. She quickly backtracked. "Forgive me, my lord. It was only my dedication to your divine plan."

The hologram nodded. "Such devotion to the Machine is commendable; however, it was necessary that I speak with you. There is a new development, and I could not risk a message while you were with Power. I had to wait until the sensors indicated you were alone." He pointed toward the console's screen. "Do you recognize this man?

Did she recognize him? Of course, she did. "Elzer Polarski. He was captured a few years ago, and I took part in his interrogation. I didn't realize he had survived it." He shouldn't have survived it. Few could survive that type of intense questioning. "Did he escape?"

"Escaped or was rescued. What is known is that Gundar was killed. Elzer Polarski is now in command of his Resistance team."

What? "Then he'll be coming in Gundar's place? The minute he sees me-"

"An unfortunate coincidence, but one that we will deal with," Dread's voice sounded calm, sure and not worried. "Which of Power's team is flying him in?"

Perhaps they could deal with two situations at once. What was the Wastelander saying? Kill two birds with one stone? "The woman called Pilot. The one who deserted the Dread Youth and betrayed the will of the Machine."

Was that a smile on Dread's face? "For which she will die. That is the fate of all traitors and rebels."

Ah. It was a smile of satisfaction. "Then I will act accordingly," she promised.

"Time it well, Overunit," Dread cautioned her. "Blastarr will be there very soon with a squadron of biomechs. I will have him intercept her first at the coordinates you choose. We do not want any surprises."

"I understand, my lord. Praise the Machine. Glory to Lord Dread."

~0~0~0~0~0~

Dread sat down on his throne, actually pleased. The traitor would be traveling with Elzer Polarski. Both would be dealt with, the traitor would be punished. He was still in contact with Larabee, waiting to see events transpire as he wanted.

He pressed a button on the nearby console. The observation drone that had transmitted the information about Gundar was still at the Resistance base. It was not functioning at 100%. A quick diagnostic showed that it had been damaged in a firefight. Perhaps the one that killed Gundar? Regardless, it was still able to fly and track. The program ordering the drone to follow the leader would still be in force since Elzer was now the de facto leader of that particular group.

Soon, Polarski would be stopped, and the traitor Chase would be dead.

Unless she had more value as his prisoner...

~0~0~0~0~0~

One by one, each member of the Power Team retrieved the individuals they were sent after.

Tank landed his skybike outside Cypher's East Coast base. It had once been a county jail that had been almost demolished by bombing runs. The basement was more like a well-shielded bomb shelter that Cypher had refitted for his own purposes.

A flashlight was shining in his eyes. "Cypher? It's me."

The light suddenly stopped shining in his eyes and Cypher was there, smiling at him.

"Still big as a warbug and twice as ugly," Cypher said, happy to see Tank.

Tank smiled. "Good to see you too, beanpole," he said as Cypher climbed on his skybike.

Cypher gave his team the 'okay' sign and they slid back into the shadows. As much as Tank wanted to know who it was that he had lost rescuing Freedom One earlier, that moment wasn't the time to ask. It might distract Cypher, and it might be a better idea to keep a focus on the upcoming meeting. He pressed the switch to let Freedom One know that his part of the mission had been obtained and watched as the coordinates appeared on the screen. He flew back towards the Boston area.

For his part, Scout landed a skybike outside what looked like a fire station. The nearby remains of a 21st century fire engine were still recognizable. The rest of the buildings were still somewhat intact. Obviously, that area had not been as hard hit during the Wars as other places had been.

"Blaze?" he called out.

Immediately, a familiar face came from the shadows. "Must be a member of Power's team. No one else has these kinds of toys."

He walked up to Scout and shook his hand. "Skybike," Scout told him. "Gets about five hundred miles to the gallon in a fight," he joked.

Blaze smiled and climbed on the bike. Without another word, Scout flew them toward the coordinates Freedom One sent them.

Hawk had no trouble finding Evanier. He ran his Resistance cell from a hydroponics lab near the Pennsylvania border. Before the Wars, he had worked as a chef in several five-star restaurants in New York. He loved to tell the story of how he had been preparing a wedding feast that included beef bourguignon and beef wellington when the first bomb fell outside the restaurant, shaking the walls and making a soufflé he had in the oven fall. Resistance units needed cooks, and there was safety in numbers so he joined up with one of the many cells cropping up around New York City. One by one, the senior members of the group were killed and eventually, he was the most senior member alive, and he was forced to take command. The truth was that he was good at it, and his group became one of the preeminent Resistance groups in the Northeast.

Still, to find Evanier, Hawk only had to follow his nose. The smell of something baking was in the air. Was that... chocolate cake? Where did someone get chocolate?

"Still need hobbies," a voice echoed behind him. Hawk turned on the bike and saw Evanier approaching. "It can't be all work and no play."

"Guess not," Hawk agreed. "Name's -"

"Masterson," Evanier finished for him. "Major Matthew Masterson, Air Force, codenamed Hawk." He reached out to shake his hand. "Pleased to meet you. Met your captain once. And that tech specialist of yours. The one that cracks jokes all the time. What's his name, Scout?"

Hawk laughed. "That's him. Glad you could make the meeting."

Evanier climbed on board the bike. "Let's just hope we can get this to work. All the other times we've tried joining forces, it hasn't."

"We didn't have Freedom One before," Hawk told him. He radioed back to Freedom One that he had his charge, and the coordinates of where he had to fly to appeared on the screen. Time to go.

For Pilot, she knew the desolate area she was in pretty well. It was an area Gundar used to train troops. It was a survival course he laid out himself. It was out in the middle of nowhere so it was far away from the usual areas the prying eye-bots patrolled. It was perfect.

Knowing the area she was flying to was relatively safe, she hadn't powered up her suit. She'd have to reactivate it once she picked up Gundar - she had to have all her weaponry available to protect him if they ran into trouble.

Unarmored, she paced by her bike, waiting. It wasn't like Gundar to be late. She checked her chrono again. Where was he?

Something moved in the shadows. People sneaked out of the fog, people Jennifer didn't recognize. The last thing she needed was any misunderstanding at that point. "I'm here for Gundar."

A young man wearing a uniform and a beret walked forward. "Gundar is dead. I'm Elzer, his replacement."

Gundar was dead? Her friend? It must have happened recently, so it wasn't common knowledge. She schooled her features so she didn't show surprise. "I'm sorry. He was a good man."

"He was," Elzer agreed. "He spoke of you often. Talked about your flying skills and how he couldn't recruit you to the team because he didn't have a ship."

Jennifer smiled at the joke. Gundar had never really tried to recruit her from Jon's team. He knew she loved it there, but he had to save face with a little tall tale. She nodded her head toward the bike and Elzer followed her over.

Gazing at the transport, obviously impressed, he did ask, "We're going on this?"

She nodded her head. "That we are." She touched her actibadge, saying "Power on" as her uniform became armor.

Elzer looked her up and down, again, impressed. "Where can I get one of those?"

Jennifer pointed toward the bike. "Whenever you're ready."

So one by one, each member of the Power Team retrieved the leaders they had been assigned. All was going according to both of Dread's plans.

The observation drone that had been present when Gundar was killed initiated the new protocol and followed Elzer as well as keeping a bead on Chase, but it was cloaked. No one saw it. No one saw that there was damage done to it in the firefight against the biomechs and Gundar's people. No one saw the frayed wires sticking out of its chassis, sparking as the power began to discharge. It could no longer transmit internal status reports to Dread.

Yet the order was there... the new program Dread wrote...

The new program that was now scrambled into new orders in the drone's database thanks to the damage inflicted on it.

'Follow the Resistance leader with Power Team transport. Priority: Chase the Youth Leader Jennifer to ground once leader is delivered. No other Machine to intercept."

It searched its database, scrambled though it was, and noticed that there was 'Overunit' Jennifer Chase listed in the directory, and the organic in question matched the facial recognition database, but who was Youth Leader Jennifer?

Despite its confusion, the observation drone followed the skybike in order to complete its mission.

~0~0~0~0~0~

"We are receiving Pilot's signal, my lord," Larabee announced to Dread's hologram. "She has Elzer Polarski."

"Good. Send her the new instructions, and I will have Blastarr there to intercept them."

Immediately, Larabee contacted Jennifer. "Pilot, this is Freedom One. I'm transmitting your rendezvous coordinates now. Please acknowledge."

Over the speaker, Larabee heard, "Acknowledged. New coordinates received and locked in. We'll see you soon."

Larbee turned around and saw the Dread hologram accessing a reader. Where had that come from? "I've sent her to a location less than a quarter mile from here. She will be there soon. You must act quickly, my lord."

"I have contacted Blastarr. He will deal with the treacherous Youth Leader Chase and Polarski and make his way to your location. There will be no time for the Resistance leaders to react. Be ready to signal his troops the moment our rebel flies are within your web to coordinate."

"Understood, my lord."

~0~0~0~0~0~

Jon didn't hear anything coming from the monitoring station where Christine was. What was going on?

His communicator dinged for his attention. "Hawk reporting. Come in, Jon."

Jon quickly answered. "How far out are you?"

"We just landed. We're using one of Dread's abandoned stations?"

"It's got all the comforts of home, sort of."

"I know that tone. What's wrong?"

"Not sure. Get in here quick. Something's just not right."

There was a pause, then Hawk said, "Scout and Tank are only minutes away as well. Should we come in together?"

Should they? "No. Any sign of Jennifer?"

"Not yet. Why?"

"She said she'd probably be the first one back, and she's not here yet."

"She's friends with Gundar. They might be catching up."

"Maybe."

Within a few moments, Hawk entered the building with Evanier close behind.

"Evanier," Jon greeted him with a handshake. "Good to see you here."

"You too, Captain." Then he spotted the thermos on the table. "Coffee?"

Jon shrugged his shoulders. "No idea. I've been on guard so I haven't checked."

"Think I will," Evanier mumbled as he walked off.

Jon pulled Hawk aside and said in a low voice, "I can't put my finger on it, but something's wrong here."

Hawk looked around. At first, he didn't seem to notice anything, then - "This place is incredibly clean, that's for sure. I wouldn't expect that out of an abandoned base."

"Christine's been using it as a temporary shelter for a while now."

"Christine?" Hawk asked.

"That's Freedom One's name," Jon answered. "Christine Larabee. And this place is clean. It's almost -"

"Military," Hawk finished for him. "You don't see something like this these days outside of a Dread troop barracks."

That was it! That was what was bothering him! When Jennifer had first joined them, her quarters were always impeccably clean. It was a leftover condition from her time in the Dread Youth. Even now, everything was always orderly, but she could occasionally be counted on to toss her jacket on a chair or her shoes across the room. A Dread soldier was told that orderliness was next to Machineliness, that to clutter a room meant cluttering of the mind, something that was not allowed in forced orderly, logical world Dread had created.

"Stay close to Evanier. I think things just took a turn for the worse."

~0~0~0~0~0~

The location Freedom One sent Jennifer to was definitely not designed to hold a meeting of any importance. Too much debris, too many fallen buildings, few solid shelters - there were few good defensive positions and too many areas to get boxed in without a way of escape.

Jennifer walked the perimeter as Elzer stood by the skybike. There was no one there. Were they early? "This is a strange place for a meeting," Jennifer muttered to herself.

Elzer kept glancing around, obviously as uneasy as Jennifer. "These are the coordinates Freedom One sent you?"

"I double-checked them when we landed," she assured him. "This is the place."

The coordinates had seemed somewhat... off. Jennifer couldn't say why. Then again, the entire location seemed to be disturbing her for some reason that she couldn't name. Back at the base, the map of Massachusetts sparked some kind of emotion, but she couldn't decipher it. What was it that was bothering her? It was a like a memory she couldn't quite remember.

Elzer nodded. "So where is everyone?"

"Let's find out." Jennifer reached for her communicator -

~0~0~0~0~0~

- Christine watched as the monitor indicated Blastarr was in position.

From Volcania, Dread saw the same intel on his monitor.

The traitor was in their grasp.

And more of the Resistance leaders had arrived in the facility.

Both could feel the anticipation -

~0~0~0~0~0~

FOOTSTEPS!

Jennifer shouted, "It's a trap!" as she drew her blaster and fired at the looming Blastarr. Elzer fired as well, his shots hitting their target but nothing was stopping the biodread. There was a wall behind them, there was no way to escape!

Blastarr kept approaching, each step slamming into the earth. "Foolish organic!" Blastarr could have sneered if he had been in any way alive. He trained his weapon on Elzer and fired in a swooping move, but Jennifer dove in front of her charge, taking the brunt of attack. They fell to the ground, but quickly recovered.

Her suit beeped, alerting her that her power was draining more.

"Stay down," she ordered Elzer as Blastarr aimed both weapons at her and fired. His aim was atrocious, but his shots hit the wall behind them. The bricks imploded inward. Jennifer jumped over Elzer, covering him with her armor to protect him. The bricks and debris fell on them, burying them, rocks and stones and old concrete, the weight pressing them down into the dirt...

Above Blastarr, unknown to him, the observation drone silently watched. Its scrambled orders that said Priority: Chase the Youth Leader Jennifer to ground once leader is delivered. No other Machine to intercept was now its only function. The leader was delivered to the coordinates. Youth Leader Jennifer was now chased to ground. Now the drone had to stop Blastarr from intercepting the organic and taking it to Volcania. It was to remain where it had been chased to ground for Lord Dread to take possession. No Machine could take her from that spot. Its sensors showed that they were still alive under the rubble. The drone emitted a small masking field which hid the lifesigns of the two organics so Blastarr would believe them dead.

Then it registered Blastarr's voice reporting to base. "Blastarr to Lord Dread. Organics terminated."

Good. The biodread believed the ruse.

"Excellent," Dread's voice sounded over the communicator.

"Proceeding to designated target," Blastarr announced as he wheeled away toward the communications hub where the Resistance leaders were now massed. Knowing that its primary mission was fulfilled, the observation drone followed Blastarr. After all, since no machine was to intercept, the drone was a machine so it had no further purpose at that location, and following Blastarr was as good an option as any.

~0~0~0~0~0~

Christine allowed herself a satisfied smile as she watched the visual feed of the wall falling in on them. "Sweet dreams, traitor," she taunted, angry at herself for ever allowing herself to think that Chase was worthy of her admiration. "Confirming the readout from the observation drone…. she's dead, my lord," she announced to the hologram behind her.

"Good. One problem dealt with. Now return to your mission, Overunit, and do not disappoint me."

"Never, my lord," Christine saluted him as the hologram disappeared.

She pulled a timing device from her pocket and pressed a button. The device sent the signal to Blastarr that everything was in place for his attack.

Yes, all glory to Lord Dread and long live the Machine. She was about to deliver the greatest enemies of the Machine Empire to Dread.