Children of the Shadows: Blaze of Glory
By Kara
Disclaimer: Alas, poor X-5s, I loved them well, but Mr. Cameron owns them, and he treats them like hell. If he'd like to loan them to me on a weekly basis though…
Rating: Pgish
Spoilers: None, Pre-series fic
A/N: Part of the Children of the Shadows series (http://www.roswellunderground.com/shadows/childrenoftheshadows.html). This will probably be a weird one, and a longer one. I'll keep you posted.
1 And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on a carousel of time
We can't return, we can only look
Behind from where we came
And go round and round and round on a circle game.
--Circle Game, author unknown
2
3 February, 2009
The remaining X-5s were slowly being brought back to the base. Thirteen were still unaccounted for, and as Colonel Lydecker examined the list of barcodes yet to be found, he found it harder and harder to keep calm. It wasn't enough that thirteen made it to the perimeter fence and beyond. Those thirteen included the best and most promising of the X-5 class, at this facility, or the Seattle facility.
"Colonel Lydecker, we found another one." Turning towards the soldier, Lydecker noticed the limp body of one more X-5. Twelve made it out, then. Pulling up the neck of the scrubs the X-5 wore, he recognized the face of 599, Zack. The C.O. had sacrificed himself so that his soldiers might make it out alive. That meant that 452 and 210 were definitely among the ones who escaped. Knowing Zack and all his idiosyncrasies, the entire escape might've been staged to save 452's life.
"Thank you, soldier. Put him in solitary and let me know as soon as he wakes up." More X-5s were being brought in now, all in various stages of struggle. "How many casualties now?"
"Four, sir." The soldier in front of him swallowed, looking at the bound X- 5 he carried with fear and distaste. "And three of ours." As was to be expected.
"They aren't children, Private. It isn't as if you were never told." Out of the twenty-three alive at the beginning of the evening, twelve were AWOL and four dead. That left seven remaining, half of whom were injured in some way. Maybe it was time to relocated these X-5s to the Seattle facility and reintroduce the groups. It would be interesting to see how the different training tactics affected the seven from Gillette. It would also be interesting, considering that the Seattle series contained 494, twin of his own 493. Reindoctrination would have to be a delicate operation to ensure that the seven Gillette X-5s didn't attack 494. It was enough that Renfro's group were trained for solo missions and solidarity. Competition was so fierce that the Seattle X-5s were already separated two to a barrack cell. It could prove interesting…
The last X-5 was dragged in, kicking and shrieking with all the soldier's might. Lydecker recognized the soldier as 391, one of the second year X- 5s. She wasn't a brilliant soldier, and he was still questioning the geneticists decision to give the soldier what would be flaming red hair once it grew out. She usually followed at the heels of 493 like a dog. The soldier had potential, but 599 had never paid her much attention. It happened to some of the smaller, less brilliant ones. Puck was what one of the nurses had named her, one of the two that didn't have to name themselves. Tawny's name was obvious enough. Flack in the wards was that 632's surrogate had actually named him, the only time she saw him. 632 was also the last X-5 to be left with his surrogate for the first night.
"Private Johnson. Let me take this one." The private dropped the bound X- 5 in the snow, saluting and running off so quickly that Lydecker was almost tempted to send 391 after the man. 391 only glared at him from where she lay in the snow, still struggling to free herself. This soldier had the same fierceness that 210 often exhibited. She'd faced solitary three times already for disobeying orders, and she had a tendency to take the blame for 493's failings. She was good at hunting and tracking, and had excelled at E&E almost as much as 452 and 210. Properly cultivated, he could make use of these talents…
"Puck."
The girl stopped struggling, her gray eyes widening in fear. Lydecker knew how hard the kids tried to keep their names a secret, but they became too trusting at night. They regarded their barracks as a safe haven. He knew about their antics, and even about their trips to the roof. But every guard and Watcher was under strict orders not to make any move on the X-5s while they were in their barracks. It was a fascinating way to study the culture they had developed among themselves, even though repeated mention of a blue lady still had Psy-Ops mystified.
Lydecker knelt in the snow, careful to keep his hands visible at all times as he picked 391 up and set her on her feet. "Puck," he said again, careful to keep his voice pitched low. "They left you behind, didn't they?"
391 nodded slowly, eyes still distrusting. She had always been one of the X-5s operating on the fringe of the squadron, never quite fitting into the tightly-bound network the soldiers formed.
"493 left without saying goodbye, didn't he?" Again, the slow nod. 391 was small for her almost eleven years. She never seemed to have the emotional maturity that some of the others had, like 656. Puberty hadn't yet set in, but there were enough hormonal surges running through her body that Lydecker knew her emotions were still unstable. If he played this just right… "I have a special job for you, Puck. You're going to be my aide now." Given the right training and the right resources, and 391 might be the answer to the Council's questions about recapturing the rogue X-5s.
By Kara
Disclaimer: Alas, poor X-5s, I loved them well, but Mr. Cameron owns them, and he treats them like hell. If he'd like to loan them to me on a weekly basis though…
Rating: Pgish
Spoilers: None, Pre-series fic
A/N: Part of the Children of the Shadows series (http://www.roswellunderground.com/shadows/childrenoftheshadows.html). This will probably be a weird one, and a longer one. I'll keep you posted.
1 And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on a carousel of time
We can't return, we can only look
Behind from where we came
And go round and round and round on a circle game.
--Circle Game, author unknown
2
3 February, 2009
The remaining X-5s were slowly being brought back to the base. Thirteen were still unaccounted for, and as Colonel Lydecker examined the list of barcodes yet to be found, he found it harder and harder to keep calm. It wasn't enough that thirteen made it to the perimeter fence and beyond. Those thirteen included the best and most promising of the X-5 class, at this facility, or the Seattle facility.
"Colonel Lydecker, we found another one." Turning towards the soldier, Lydecker noticed the limp body of one more X-5. Twelve made it out, then. Pulling up the neck of the scrubs the X-5 wore, he recognized the face of 599, Zack. The C.O. had sacrificed himself so that his soldiers might make it out alive. That meant that 452 and 210 were definitely among the ones who escaped. Knowing Zack and all his idiosyncrasies, the entire escape might've been staged to save 452's life.
"Thank you, soldier. Put him in solitary and let me know as soon as he wakes up." More X-5s were being brought in now, all in various stages of struggle. "How many casualties now?"
"Four, sir." The soldier in front of him swallowed, looking at the bound X- 5 he carried with fear and distaste. "And three of ours." As was to be expected.
"They aren't children, Private. It isn't as if you were never told." Out of the twenty-three alive at the beginning of the evening, twelve were AWOL and four dead. That left seven remaining, half of whom were injured in some way. Maybe it was time to relocated these X-5s to the Seattle facility and reintroduce the groups. It would be interesting to see how the different training tactics affected the seven from Gillette. It would also be interesting, considering that the Seattle series contained 494, twin of his own 493. Reindoctrination would have to be a delicate operation to ensure that the seven Gillette X-5s didn't attack 494. It was enough that Renfro's group were trained for solo missions and solidarity. Competition was so fierce that the Seattle X-5s were already separated two to a barrack cell. It could prove interesting…
The last X-5 was dragged in, kicking and shrieking with all the soldier's might. Lydecker recognized the soldier as 391, one of the second year X- 5s. She wasn't a brilliant soldier, and he was still questioning the geneticists decision to give the soldier what would be flaming red hair once it grew out. She usually followed at the heels of 493 like a dog. The soldier had potential, but 599 had never paid her much attention. It happened to some of the smaller, less brilliant ones. Puck was what one of the nurses had named her, one of the two that didn't have to name themselves. Tawny's name was obvious enough. Flack in the wards was that 632's surrogate had actually named him, the only time she saw him. 632 was also the last X-5 to be left with his surrogate for the first night.
"Private Johnson. Let me take this one." The private dropped the bound X- 5 in the snow, saluting and running off so quickly that Lydecker was almost tempted to send 391 after the man. 391 only glared at him from where she lay in the snow, still struggling to free herself. This soldier had the same fierceness that 210 often exhibited. She'd faced solitary three times already for disobeying orders, and she had a tendency to take the blame for 493's failings. She was good at hunting and tracking, and had excelled at E&E almost as much as 452 and 210. Properly cultivated, he could make use of these talents…
"Puck."
The girl stopped struggling, her gray eyes widening in fear. Lydecker knew how hard the kids tried to keep their names a secret, but they became too trusting at night. They regarded their barracks as a safe haven. He knew about their antics, and even about their trips to the roof. But every guard and Watcher was under strict orders not to make any move on the X-5s while they were in their barracks. It was a fascinating way to study the culture they had developed among themselves, even though repeated mention of a blue lady still had Psy-Ops mystified.
Lydecker knelt in the snow, careful to keep his hands visible at all times as he picked 391 up and set her on her feet. "Puck," he said again, careful to keep his voice pitched low. "They left you behind, didn't they?"
391 nodded slowly, eyes still distrusting. She had always been one of the X-5s operating on the fringe of the squadron, never quite fitting into the tightly-bound network the soldiers formed.
"493 left without saying goodbye, didn't he?" Again, the slow nod. 391 was small for her almost eleven years. She never seemed to have the emotional maturity that some of the others had, like 656. Puberty hadn't yet set in, but there were enough hormonal surges running through her body that Lydecker knew her emotions were still unstable. If he played this just right… "I have a special job for you, Puck. You're going to be my aide now." Given the right training and the right resources, and 391 might be the answer to the Council's questions about recapturing the rogue X-5s.