Chapter six: Let the game begin. (Manticore tips their hand.)
Max rubbed at her sore neck but dared not move from her crouching position in the branches of the big Redwood. Thankfully the tree had not been given a decent pruning for some years so she was able to hide amongst some of the deadwood at it's center.
She held her breath as Brin again scanned the area and prayed that she was hidden well enough to escape Manticore eyes. //Damn it!// She thought to herself. //Why didn't I just grab Logan and run? Why didn't I tell Bling to get him the hell outta there?// She chastised herself. Finally Brin's gaze left her area and she allowed herself to breathe again.
Max watched as Brin pulled her radio to her ear. She strained to listen but she was too far away. //One of the drawbacks of going up against other X5's.// She mentally grumbled to herself. //Can't get close enough to hear what they're up to.//
Her heart lurched into her throat as the team prepared to move out and head towards the hospital. //Oh God! They're going in for Logan.// In all the time that she'd been sitting there watching she still hadn't come up with a plan. So she just did what came naturally for her she made it up as she went along.
Krit sat on a convenient rooftop watching feed from a number of surveillance cameras that they had planted in the area. It was all Eyes Only equipment, even down to the laptop in his hands, thanks to the growing relationship between Logan and the rogue X5's.
Krit sighed as he remembered his first encounter with the wheelchair-bound vigilante. He hadn't really meant to call that much attention to himself but it wasn't really his fault that he'd fallen for a drug-lord's woman. He'd fallen hard too. Krit had thought that it had been mutual but he'd been wrong. It turned out that they'd just wanted to sell him to the highest bidder. He'd been devastated, and since Zack had brought him back to Logan's so that Bling could deal with his injuries, he'd ended up staying at Logan's for a few weeks while he pulled himself together. The two had developed quite a kinship over that time.
Suddenly movement pulled Krit out of his reflections. "Zack, they're moving." He reported over the coms.
Zack grunted in affirmation. "Hold position. Syl?"
"Everything's going to be just fine, Mr. Cale." Syl said calmly. She was directing all of her responses to Logan in case somebody was listening.
"What's Maxie doing?" Zack questioned Krit. Manticore might not have noticed her but the Eyes Only surveillance devices that they had put in place had spotted her.
"She's keeping her distance." Krit replied. He frowned as he watched the small figure pursue the team approaching the hospital. He continued to relay to Zack and Syl what Brin's team and Max were doing. "They've just pulled up to the Ambo bay. They're preparing for entry. They're entering. Max has just taken out the last soldier in the line, it was a smooth takedown, nobody seems to have noticed. She's taken his suit and facemask, I think she's gonna try and pass for one of them. She's inside the building now."
"Continue to hold position." Zack ordered. "Let's just see what Max does, we don't want to compromise her and we don't want her to compromise us either."
Both Zack and Krit flinched from their various positions as a mechanical screeching sound came over the com system. They had both known that Syl would remove and destroy her com when the enemy approached, but she could have given them some warning.
"I guess Syl's just gone silent." Krit muttered.
"Move towards pursuit vehicle." Zack commanded. //And send a prayer up to the Blue Lady that this actually works.// He added silently.
"Affirmative." Krit replied. //Blue Lady, please let this work.//
TBC...