A/N: Well, had a bit of a change in plans... I had another chapter planned, but I'm going to skip it. It's not very relevant and was turning out to be pretty boring.... So... On with the finale!


************* *************

Chapter 12: White Knight/Black Queen


Manticore Base:

Outside Perimeter Fences

9:21 PM


Zane peered through the binoculars, watching the movement of the guards. Evidently their warning had been taken into consideration. Equipment was being rapidly deployed to protect the base. The troops who normally patrolled the perimeter had been withdrawn and were now stationed much closer to the compound, "We've got lots of activity down there..."

"Good," Lydecker, "We don't have much time before Roarche shows up with the big guns." Studying the floor plans, he pointed to a few rooms, "Mostly likely, they'll be keeping X5... Max somewhere in here... Krit and Syl can take sector C, while Warren and Zane take sector G..."

"What about me?" Logan asked. All eyes turned to stare at him, "I'm not going to be much use here. We don't have the computer equipment to hack into the system this time. Lydecker's going to be coordinating..."

Zane looked thoughtfully at the blue eyed man, "We might need you in there anyway... Since we can't hack the security from out here, we'll probably need to do it in there."

Syl nodded, "I can handle simple stuff, but Manticore's locks are a hell of a lot more sophisticated than what I'm used to."

"All right... You go with Zane and Warren," Lydecker eyed the latest addition to their group skeptically, "It's probably better that way. We don't need any surprises from our own people, now do we?" Warren stiffened, but remained silent, "I want this to be fast. No delays. Get in and out, understood?" Everyone nodded solemnly.

"Looks like we've got company," Zane observed, swiveling the binoculars to take in the approaching vehicles, "Damn... That's a LOT of artillery..."

Lydecker made an affirmative noise, "Wouldn't expect anything less... Everyone clear on the mission? Good. Now, move out!"


************ *************


Sirens blared as stealthy shadows slipped onto the compounds grounds. Soldiers ran towards their posts and there was the distant sound of gun fire. Syl casually disabled the two guards near the entrance before signaling to the others that it was safe.

"Looks like it's locked up tight," she murmured.

"You weren't kidding when you said this stuff was sophisticated..." Logan studied the complex locking mechanism for the doors. Using a screwdriver, he tried to pry the cover off the panel, "Doesn't seem to want to..."

"Here..." with a quick jerk, Zane pulled the stubborn metal from it's place, "That should do it."

"Um... Thanks..." Logan shook his head and began tugging out some of the wires. He clipped a few with the wire cutter he had salvaged from the van and began to neatly recombine them with the other ends. A moment later, the doors shuddered and opened.

"Nice..." Krit gave him a thumbs up, "Let's move."


************** ****************


"Ma'am... We've engaged the enemy, but they're gaining ground..." Leaman stood at attention in front of the Director.

"Damn it! Who are these people?!" Renfro hissed, "Have you deployed the X7's?"

"Yes ma'am... But..."

"But what?!"

"They aren't doing as well as we'd hoped..."

She spun to face him, "What does that mean?!"

Leaman flinched, "They seem to have some... comparable technology, ma'am..."

Her eyes widened in surprise. This was obviously not what she expected to hear, "That's impossible..." Renfro stared at her desk for a moment, desperation beginning to crack her composure, "We'll use contingency plan 5-A..."

"Ma'am...?" Leaman gave her an incredulous look, "We'd have to abandon the base..."

"I know that!" She snapped, "We don't have any choice! If we're going to salvage anything, we have to move... NOW!"


******** ** ************


"State your position, Team one," Krit heard Lydecker's gruff voice in his ear.

"We're entering Sector B..." he responded softly. Syl cautiously looked around a corner and signaled for him to follow, "So far so good... We haven't encountered much resistance. Looks like they've concentrated their forces downside where Roarche is."

"Good..." Lydecker murmured, "Just don't let your guard down."

"Copy..." Krit said. Syl was moving ahead of him, her back against the smooth metallic wall of the corridor. The sector was nearly empty, which wasn't surprising. It was mostly used to house clerical offices and some storage rooms - hardly vital.

They paused when they reached the door to Sector C. Motioning with his chin, Krit indicated that Syl should take the opposite side of the doorway, "Ready, sis?"

"Aren't I always?" She shot him a predatory grin.

"Good..." He flung open the door and pressed forward.


*********** ************

"Team two, what's your status?"

"Uh... We've run into a problem," Zane fired at the black clad soldiers at the other end of the hall before ducking down behind the protective barrier made by a stack of steel crates, "A whole batch of unfriendlies..."

"Damn..." Lydecker scowled as he ran his finger over the map in front of him, "Can you use the access corridor instead?"

"Negative... They've got us pretty much pinned down here." Zane glanced at Warren and Logan, "We need to get these guys off our backs."

"Too bad we don't have any shrapnel grenades..." Warren groused.

"Wouldn't THAT be nice?" Zane cast him a disparaging glance, "Just think of all the dead bodies..."

"No need to be sarcastic," Warren scowled.

At that moment, something oblong and hard smacked against the ground between the three. It rolled to a stop when it bumped against Zane's boot. They stared for an instant before registering exactly what the item was - a grenade.

"Fuck! They're crazy!" Warren shouted as he and Zane dove into the room to the right. Logan threw himself into the connecting corridor to the left just as it exploded.


**************** ******************



"Have you gotten all the back-up systems loaded?" Renfro demanded.

"Yes, ma'am," a nervous technician replied.

"All of the data disks...?"

"Yes, ma'am..."

"Good," she paused for a moment to watch on the security monitors the heated battle raging outside. Manticore had better soldiers, but their enemies had numbers... and artillery. //Damn it...// "Tell the clearance 4 and 5 staff to evacuate the base.

"Yes, ma'am," Leaman saluted and spun smartly on his heel.

Brooding, Renfro stared at the screens that plastered one of the walls in her office. A good number of them were blank now, the cameras that feed them having been destroyed. //Looks like Lydecker managed to bring the war to us...// She savagely slapped her palm against the smooth wooden surface of her desk. //But this war's not over just yet...// Straightening, she allowed a cool smile to grace her sharp features. It'd be a cold day in hell before she let Lydecker walk off with the prize.

Turning slowly, she casually strolled out of her office.


************ **************


"Team two! Report!" Lydecker ordered.

"We're okay... Er... sort of..." Zane glanced around at the debris in the hallway. The grenade had caused a lot of damage but also had given them the opportunity to wipe out their attackers. It had taken some time, but the cover provided by the storage room had been perfect.

"We lost Cale..." Warren sighed.

Lydecker was silent for a moment, "Lost him?"

"Don't know where the hell he went..." Zane muttered as he speared his slender fingers through his hair, "No body, so he's not dead... At least not yet anyway..."

"Damn it..." Lydecker scowled.

"Have you been able to raise him on the comms?" Warren asked suggestively.

"No. But that doesn't mean much. He could be in one of the dead zones. We can't communicate in those." Lydecker ran his eyes across the map again, calculating the number of places Logan could be.

"Should we go search for him?" Zane asked.

"Negative. We don't have time to be hunting for someone else right now. Just stick to the plan."

************* ***********


Logan peered around another corner before continuing on. The explosion of the grenade had made it easy for him to get away. Unfortunately, he was now separated from Warren and Zane... //Maybe this wasn't such a good idea...//

Cautiously, he pushed open one of a set of swinging doors, gun at the ready. //The infirmary...// Surprisingly, the room was empty. There were no wounded soldiers or doctors to be seen. Several tables had been overturned, which suggested that there had been a fight recently.

Logan relaxed a bit and went in to investigate. //There might be some useful equipment...// He moved to the center of the room and glanced around, feeling rather disappointed. There didn't seem to be much except surgical tools. He pushed a scalpel dejectedly with his foot. //Oh well... Time to move on.//

"Who are you?"

Logan spun and aimed the gun at where the voice had originated from.

"Ah!" Dr. Wedler back pedaled, startled and obviously terrified, "Don't shoot!"

"Who are you...?" Logan looked the man up and down, taking in his white coat which was stained with blood while still keeping his weapon trained on him.

"I'm... I'm a doctor... Please don't kill me..." he begged. This had been the worst two weeks of his life. He'd been used as a hostage by the X5, yelled at by the director, and now shot at by soldiers.

"Don't worry... I'd really rather not have to kill people if I don't have to..."

Wedler didn't seem particularly convinced by his words, "What... what do you want...?"

//He could be useful...// "I'm looking for Max."

The doctor gave him a blank look, "Who?"

Logan sighed, "X5-452... Max. Do you know where she is?"

//Oh no...// "I... uh... I... might..."

"You... might? You're going to have to be more specific."

"Um... She... She should be over in Sector D-2..." Wedler fidgeted nervously.

"Are you sure?" Logan's expression suggested that it might be a very good thing to BE sure.

"Yes! Yes!" he exclaimed, "I've been ordered to keep her under observation... medical... under medical observation," he stammered out.

"Great," Logan smiled dangerously, "Then you can take me to her."

//Oh dear...//

*************** *****************


Syl turned a body over with her foot, giving it a distasteful look, "This isn't getting us anywhere. We've searched the whole damn sector and haven't found a thing."

Krit stood up from where he had been inspecting another downed soldier, "These guys don't have any clearance passes, either..." He sighed and glanced around, "Now what...?"

"Should we try another sector?" Syl tapped the ear piece, "We're only getting static down here."

"No... Let's backtrack. Maybe we've missed something. At least we'll be able to communicate again."

************ ****************

"Damn it..." Warren muttered, "We haven't found ANYTHING!"

"She's not here," Zane said decisively.

Warren rolled his eyes, "How long did it take you to figure that out?"

"Shut up," Zane glowered, "We need to figure out where to go next."

"Well... we've gone through Sectors G and E... Krit and Syl would have been through B and C... Sector A is strictly for officers... And sector F... well... we don't need to go down there..."

"So what does that leave us?"

"D. But it's a long way from here..." Warren frowned.

"Team two, you need to fall back," Lydecker's voice crackled in the ear pieces, "Roarche's men are heading down your way. It looks like they've cleared things out downside."

"Damn... We haven't found her yet. And we don't know where Logan is either!" Zane protested.

"No time. Cale can fend for himself."

"All right, all right..." Zane jogged back towards the way they had come, "Let's go..."

*************** ******************


Roarche smiled in satisfaction as he watched some of his troops drag a few more unconscious bodies to the truck. //No sense in wasting such advanced technology.// The X-series had put up a serious fight. Most of the ones that they had captured were still quite young - perhaps 11 or 12. It had made no difference in their fighting capabilities, however, and they had nearly turned the tide of the battle.

//Don wasn't kidding...//

He was quite certain that 'someone' had tipped Manticore off. They had already begun to establish a defense strategy by the time he and his men had arrived. If Manticore had any more time to prepare...

"Sir, we haven't been able to locate any of the command staff," a young soldier jogged towards him.

"I expected that... We've got what we wanted anyway."

"Yes, sir..."


************ ***************


"This is it... Down the corridor to the left..." Wedler said, his voice shaking.

Logan looked in the direction the doctor had indicated. The hallway was mostly dark, broken glass suggesting that someone had shot out the lights, "You should get going."

Wedler gaped in confusion, "W... What?"

"You should go," Logan smiled at him, "No sense in us both getting killed, now is there?"

"You... You're letting me go?" he asked hopefully.

"Sure," Logan shrugged, "You did what I asked you to do."

"Really?" Wedler could scarcely believe what he was hearing.

Logan heaved an irritated sigh, "Yes, really. Now go... before I change my mind!"

Wedler spun and dashed in the other direction, bolting around the corner and out of sight.

//Hope he makes it...//

Logan cautiously slipped into the shadowy hall, moving towards the light that shone in the room near the end. He stopped just outside and drew a deep breath, trying to prepare himself for whatever would happen next. Grasping the knob, he turned it slowly. With a smooth motion, he pulled the door open and ducked inside.


//Max!// His breath caught in his throat. She stood facing him, several of Roarche's men lying at her feet. Her dark hair was pulled back from her face in a ponytail and she wore the same black uniform as the other Manticore soldiers, complete with body armor. Strangest of all was the fact that there was a gun in her hand - aimed at him.

"Max...?"

******************* ******************


A/N: Whee! How as that? I had a lot of fun writing that chapter... I kinda like bouncing between the groups... It means I don't have to describe every last thing that happens. :) Yeah, yeah, so I'm lazy. Hope you enjoyed it! I couldn't resist a tiny cliff hanger for the end there... The chapter was getting pretty long and I need some place to leave off, now didn't I? :) I'm sure you all can guess at some of what will happen next, so it's not as if there's a great deal of suspense... And I've got the next chapter nearly done, so if you REALLY want to read it, it'll be up soon. :)