Rating:R
Zane dug his head into the dirt as grenade went off about 8 feet from
where he was positioned. He retaliated with a prolonged burst from his M16A2, watched
as one of the enemy was hit and the rest were forced to take cover behind nearby rocks
and trees. Brin was to the right of him, exchanging fire with a squad that had started to
approach them from 2 o'clock. Somebody threw a grenade towards her location that
landed about 6 inches away from her foot. She snatched it up and returned it to it's owner
in a quick and furtive movement—but not quick enough to keep a bullet from gracing the
upper portion of her arm. Small blotches of blood splattered across her uniform, followed
by a small stream of the inky red substance slithering down the length of her arm, towards
the hand. It hurt. |Superficial damage, nothing to worry about| she thought, but motioned
towards Zane that they should move back.
He complied after attaching one of his grenades to a trip wire, something
to slow them down with. He followed Brin as she sprang deeper into the woods, her shape
a indistinct blur of motion. He stopped at a area with a rock outcropping and an adjacent
oak, a 2 foot long opening between them. Split second analysis of the tightly clustered
trees around him indicated that they would probably come through this way. He set up
another tripwire with one of his grenades. They could only hold the bastards off for so
long, but he intended to do so for as long as he could... and make the fuckers pay while he
was at it.
|Dammit, Max, where the hell are you?|
Max stared at the pistol in front of her. Then into Eva's eyes. Icy, cold,
ruthless. Just like they were all taught to be. "Don't think I won't do it" the woman before
her stated firmly. "Family or not. Now back away." Max hesitated. Then she heard the
cocking of a rifle aimed at a covered form 4 beds down. The wielder of the gun was a X7
clone. Zack's X7 clone. All the features were of shocking likeness to the 10 year old boy
she once knew. Her mind flashed back to the adult Zack, chisled face so unlike that of the
young soldier pulling off the blankets hiding the figure who she now saw was an
unconscious Krit, hooked up to IV tubes and a heart monitor, unrestrained but never the
less unable to do anything to save himself should the little freak decide to pull the trigger.
The cocking of another rifle behind her prompted her to turn her head in order to witness
her younger self taking aim at the back of her head. |Ah. Her again.| "You know, Maxie,
I'm a little disappointed in you. The soldier I knew would never be so pitifully stupid. If
you'd just taken the time to properly scan the area before rushing in, you'd never be in this
situation. But I guess that's what life on the outside will do to you, huh?
She took a tentative step backwards. "Take her down" Eva ordered. The
X7 max clone reached for the tazer dart pistol located on the belt she wore on her side.
Noticing the motion, max lunged foward, grabbed Eva's hand, and deflected the gun
upwards just as it went off. Her young clone had the tazer pistol out and fired it in one
incredibly fast movement, just as Max twisted Eva's arm behind her shoulder and stepped
to the side. The darts streaked towards where she had once been, barely missing her by a
quarter of an inch, and nailed Eva in the stomach. As the electric spasms of pain streaked
through Eva's body, Max dived for cover across the adjacent bed while her clone opened
up with the rifle, jacketed lead punching holes across the wall and into the electronic
devices that filled the room. Sparks of electricity flew wildly into the nearby bed sheets,
whispers of smoke growing quickly into several small conflagrations. The Zack clone
shifted his own gun up to his shoulder and drew a bead on her. His finger tensed on the
trigger, ready to punch her full of holes.
Just as the zack clone was about to pull the trigger, Krit's hand suddenly
lashed out and grabbed the pistol in the X7's belt holster. Realizing too late what had
happened, the X7 zack desperately tried to knock the gun away as it was being pointed at
his head. Krit slipped his gun hand underneath the rifle as it tried to knock his gun away,
and rose it back up, relocating it past the X7's shoulder and with the muzzle pressed hard
against his head. The X7 must have known his time was up, Krit could see the sudden fear
spark within the eyes of the young soldier. He pulled the trigger, spewing a crimson spray
of dark blood and brains across his shirt and face. The X7 stood stock still for what
seemed as an eternity but was nothing more than just half a second, than toppled
backwards, away from transparent smoke the seeped from the barrel of the weapon that
had killed him.
X7 Max shrieked with rage and pointed her gun at him. Krit tried to aim
the pistol at her, but his reflexes were no match for hers. Neither were Max's as she
lunged from behind the bed, going for the rifle now directed at her brother. Fully
automatic fire raked across his stomach and chest, the force of the rounds juggling his
body relentlessly and causing the pistol to fall out of his grip as they tore chunks of flesh
from his torso. Inky red gore splattered the covers and the bed as well as the wall behind
him. His eyes seemed to daze and fill with shock and confusion, as if he could not
understand or accept what had just happened. "NO!" Max must have screamed or made
some kind of noise, but it was lost in the din as her brother's body fell back into the bed
now soaked by his blood and shattered bits of tissue. She got to her X7 clone just as her
younger counterpart started to turn the weapon on her. The gun sprayed bullets
uncontrollably into the ceiling and wall behind them as max wrenched it away from her
face. The X7, though startled by her sudden grasp on the weapon, slammed her knee into
Max's stomach and grabbed her by the head, throwing her with sudden force over her
shoulder and slamming her into the floor behind her. Stunned by the sudden blows, Max
had the gun wrenched away from her weakened grip.
The X7 again took aim at Max's forehead as she lay on the ground.
Acting in the nick of time, Max grabbed the barrel with both hands and shoved upwards
with all her might, causing the subsequent burst to thud into the floor inches from her
forehead. Possesing strength and speed supercharged with adrenaline from her rage over
Krit's sudden death and her own will to survive, she ripped the rifle completely free from
the X7's grasp and slammed the opposite end into the girl's face HARD, knocking her
down and back 5 feet. She then sprang up using her back and took aim at the X7 lying on
the floor, still conscious despite the nose that had just been broken in at least 3 different
places. She stared back up at Max in a ferocious display of defiance and rage that
resembled the same expression on max's own face. The girl lifted the upper half of her
body, keeping her eyes wide open, waiting for the 5.56mm rounds to tear her apart.
Max stood there for a moment, pointing the gun, finger pressing down
the trigger halfway. Her eyes were full of hate and malice at the being she saw sprawled
out on the floor before her, it's own countenance glaring back at her with an seemingly
equal fury. Suddenly, she loosened her finger from the trigger, and then took it off
entirely. She slowly took the gun from her shoulder, ejected the mag, opened the door,
threw the magazine out into the hallway, and set the rifle against the wall next to the door.
Puzzlement and disbelief filled the X7's face as she did this, and she made moved not an
inch from the floor where she lay. It made no sense, the enemy had a perfect opportunity
to take her out, all she had to do was point and shoot--- "Sorry. I don't do guns. Looks
like you and me will have to settle this the old fashioned way." The X7 smiled in
understanding, took a step back, and put up a fighting stance.
"Max? Max!" He checked the frequency and the status of Max's comm on
the display of his laptop, and then tried again. "Max! This is Logan! Come in! What the
hell's going on? You read me? Come in!" No answer, not in the form of a voice anyway,
but he did hear the sound of gunfire echoing in the room, the sound of Max's body
tumbling across the floor, then the sound of a scream or cry of some sort, that sounded it
had come from a young child. Then came more gunfire punctuated by the loud cry of a
voice he knew all too well. More sound came through the speakers after that, but none
managed to fall on his numb ears. Sweat flowed like water down his face. |Max. Oh god,
not again. I can't lose her again.| He didn't come this far just to lose her, perhaps
permanently this time. He remembered the last time something like this had happened.
When Lydecker caught Max right before they made the assault on manticore. His thoughts
paralyzed by fear, he sat there numbly for a few seconds, muscles not responding to the
unintelligible screams of his mind.
|Max is in trouble, gotta do something, gotta do something....shit!| He
radioed to Brin and Zane. "Guys, where are you?" "Guys?" No response. He tried Syl.
"Syl, you have visual of Max or Krit?" Her voice indicated that she was as scared and
worried as he was. "N—No. No sign of them. They're still inside. Dammit, something's
up! They should be out by now?" He sat there, thoughts racing through his mind as to the
intelligent course of action. If there were better circumstances under which to think, if he
had time to analyze each possible choice, if, if, if....
He turned his head to rest his feverish gaze to the shotgun he tucked at the
corner of the table. He couldn't just sit there, he had to do something, now! If he stalled
any longer it could be too late for the two of them. Yet charging in there could be
incredibly stupid, risky. He wasn't a X5 or even a soldier, and although the exoskeleton let
him walk, and to a certain extent move quickly if he needed to, it still offered a limited
degree of movement, so he couldn't go very fast or exercise any true agility. |And there's
no telling if it'll give out on me in a sticky situation. But I can't just sit here!| Thought
processes frozen, his brain teetered in indecision. The whole world seemed to stand frozen
still for that one moment time that was excruciatingly slow in passing.
And then the decision was made for him as a powerful blast of light tore
the door of the van off it's hinges and threw both him and his equipment to the far side of
the vehicle. His vision temporarily blinded by the force with which he was struck with,
Logan's eyes refocused upon the sight of black clad humanoid shapes pouring into the
van. He sprang across the room for the gun, but was stopped in mid air as something hot
and sharp stung him in the stomach sending ripples of intense pain across his body just
before his head slammed soundlessly into the table and everything faded to a black
stillness.
Brin ran through the maze of trees in front of her, her superhuman speed
keeping her well ahead of her pursuers. She ran without panting or feeling true exertion,
legs striding ahead, one after the other, in a remarkable display of swiftness and efficiency.
Branches whipped against her face, leaves and pointy stems slapping roughly against her
cheeks. Now and then the sharp ends of the branches scraped sharply against her whitish
face, drawing blood once, but she didn't even feel the pain or notice the tiny trickle
wriggling down the side of her forehead. Behind them, another boom and flash of light
accompanied by short lived screams echoed through the wood. Zane who was matching
her pace 30 feet away at horizontal direction, smiled slightly as he effortlessly navigated
his feet through the rocks of a stream. Both of their breathing patterns were steady and
relaxed, rhythms timed perfectly to keep their stamina up as long as possible, as opposed
to the norms chasing them.
As the sounds of the enemy drifted farther and farther away, the two of
them slowed their pace to a sudden stop. Zane motioned to Brin that it was time to split
up. She gave a quick nod in understanding and began to weave her way in the opposite
direction. Zane started to move as well, making his way 2 o'clock. They would create a
looping trail and leave the enemy traveling in circles, which should buy time for them to
slip past their pursuers and head back towards the main complex to help out Max.
Suddenly instinct took over as he neared the base of a large tree. He perceived the strange
feeling that he was being watched. He slowed his pace and enhanced his senses slightly.
Looking. Listening. Sensing. He always had a good nose for ambushes. |Up there, in that
tree ahead.| There was a faint rustling and shifting of the leaves, and something black and
slightly shiny poked through the dark green foilage. His legs were moving before his mind
had registered the fact, and at the same time the arm muscles were pulling up his weapon
to shred the occupant to pieces. The gun was 3 quarters of the way up to his shoulder
when something burning hot and traveling at a great velocity impacted with his right arm,
tearing through his skin ripping a ragged hole through his flesh.
Small shapes surrounded him as he fell, weapons aimed at every point of
his body. Fucking X7's. He groaned through the fierce burning agony originating from his
struck limb. His eyes focused on a familiar face as it grew closer towards him. It was the
face of a ten year old boy. His own. He watched with a growing sense of horror as his
hands were yanked behind his back and cold metal cuffs snapped shut around them.
|Punch, block, kick, block......| Hand to hand combat drills they went
through countless times at this place flowed through Max's head. All synchronized
perfectly, each movement she made in rhythm with that of her partner and the movements
of all the other young soldiers training in the middle of a vast, mat covered space. She had
spared with the best of them, Zack, Eva, Brin..... and proved herself capable of defeating
any one of them, given the right technique and approach to each opponent. Not that they
were pushovers, but the most important key to beating your opponent lay in studying their
movements and individual styles, looking for weaknesses or openings of any sort,
searching for some flaw or idiosyncracy to exploit against them.
She just had to find a way to beat herself, that's all.
Though younger and smaller, having a body that was in no way as fully
developed as her own, her own clone seemed to be a more formidable opponent than any
of the X5's she had ever faced in sparring matches. For one thing, Lydecker was right
when he said the X7's were physically superior. Only ten years old and her opponent
somewhat more than matched her in strength, even more so with speed. She managed to
remain alive so far, successfully blocking, dodging, and parrying most of her younger
counterpart's blows. They had both received the same training, so each knew the
repertoire of moves the other had. But as the seconds passed, the X7's speed and well
practiced skills began to tell. She lashed out with a viscous kick at Max's undefended leg,
nearly crushing the joint and sending searing throbs of pain through her knee. Max knew a
heavy bruise would be forming there, in addition to the broken nose and abundant number
of more minor injuries she had already received. The fire on 2 or 3 of the cots had not
spread, thankfully, but the X7's ferocious attack was pushing her back towards the door.
Once max was pushed through the doorway, the X7 snatched up the
unloaded rifle and began to use it as a club. Max grabbed her after dodging a swing, tried
to throw her, but ended up getting flipped onto the floor herself. She received a swift
punch that caused blood to spill from her newly split lip, but was able to shift her head in
order to dodge the next blow aimed directly at crushing her throat. She rolled as fast as
she could, pressing with both hands on the floor to propel herself into the air and back on
her feet, only to receive another punch to the chest that cracked her ribs and propelled her
backwards. Coughing up blood, she pondered her next move while desperately evading
the clone's next series of attacks. Suddenly an idea grasped her. All along she had been
using the moves and style that Manticore had taught them, which the clone seemed far
more familiar with. What if she tried something else? As the clone launched into another
attack, this one intended to bring her to her knees and finish her off for good.
The little bitch got a nasty surprise.
The strange maneuver that Max pulled was completely unfamiliar, and the
confused clone was unable to counter or evade it as max slammed her head into the X7's,
followed by a powerful knee to the stomach. Properly stunned, the clone could do little as
Mas flipped her on her back and closed her arms around the clone's throat. The X7
slammed her elbow as hard as she could into Max's kneecap, the one that had been
previously damaged. The bone shattered like glass and brought Max's legs buckling
beneath her, dropping her to one knee. The X7's arms wrapped around the injured Max's
head, ready to snap her neck in two.
Only to find a 6 inch blade embedded into her rib cage.
Max shoved the knife in deeper, twisting ruthlessly, tearing up the young
soldier's insides, shifting it to and fro, before shoving violently upwards, towards the
heart.
She pulled her blood soaked hand free as the clone released her grip and
fell in the rapidly widening pool of red forming at her feet. Relief filled her as she dropped
the knife she had equipped before the trip, it's blade now a shining ivory crimson. Her
muscles relaxed, languid tiredness flooding her at the conclusion of the battle.
The whispery echo of a gun being cocked came from behind her.