Chapter Fourteen: Avenging Their Own

His four 'siblings' turned to look their leader in the eye, this ironically being the only time, that Krit, Syl, Max, and Ty were willing to listen to what it was that he had to say. In missions that had been orchestrated by Lydecker, they simply listened to him, because it was their duty to do so. However, in the real world, more than one of them had told him to fuck off on more than one occasion. He knew for the longest time, that they hated being told what to do; they all claimed that he was trying to control them, to wreck the lives that they had built for themselves. As they stood in front of him today, Zack sensed a change among those of his siblings who had never heeded his orders, or his warnings. Possibly because this would be the singly most important mission of their entire existence, they were willing to listen, and they weren't going to treat him as though he was just full of bullshit. His siblings however, as they stood in front of their big brother, realized something different. They realized that they had been wrong about Zack; he wasn't as full of shit as they had first thought. Max, in particular, had decided to look at it this way; they were all entitled to their own lives, they were all entitled to enjoy their freedom, Zack couldn't deny them that. But, the one thing she knew for certain was that if you didn't listen to Zack, you got into shit for it. Look at Brin, who didn't get out of L.A., when Zack told her to. She ended up getting caught just outside of Seattle and sent back to Manticore for her progeria. Look at Krit and Syl, who would never separate, even when threatened to. Zack ended up being packaged off to Manticore at least twice. Look at Jondy, who told Zack to fuck off at least a hundred times in the last two years, she got caught and sent back to Manticore five times, if not more. Luckily, she had a strong enough will not to turn each time. Then Max took a good look at herself. Every time she had wanted to stay in Seattle, for her friends, and for Logan, she was taking unnecessary risks. Not only was she selfishly putting them all in danger, she was also putting herself in danger as well. If it wasn't for Zack, she'd be at Manticore right now, undergoing reindoctorination. He was the one who bailed her out, countless times. It was then that Max decided that Zack had been right, the next time he told her to leave she would. But that didn't mean that she was never coming back. Seattle was home for her, and always would be, but she would leave if Zack told her to the next time. She didn't want to end up like Brin, twisted into something that no one recognized, where she wasn't even aware of her own actions. Brin was just a pawn now; in the twisted game of cat and mouse that Renfro had planned for them. As hard as it may seem to believe, Max was even more afraid of death. She didn't want death to take her in the way it had taken Tinga, or in the painful way she had given it to Ben. So, she concluded to herself that the next time Zack asked her to leave, she would go willingly. But that didn't mean that she was going to stay gone.

Zack cleared his throat, and glared over at where Lydecker and Logan were sitting. He couldn't believe that the fucking bastard who had chasing them all these years was actually trying to help them. When Max showed up with Lydecker in tow, Zack felt like he was going to hurl. Either that, or continuing pound Lydecker into the Goddamn wall, until he was nothing but a bloody smear. Still, as he had quietly conferred with Risika in the corner, he realized that they needed Lydecker to get into the facility. But one wrong move and Zack knew that he'd be the first one to put a hole into the back of Lydecker's head. And he didn't like having Logan around either, having him around distracted Max, and that could mean fatalities for their entire squadron. But now, more than ever, Zack was actually willing to admit that he needed all the help that he could possibly get to complete this mission.

Zack motioned all of his siblings to stand around the table where a map of Manticore's interior, that Logan obtained, had been spread out. He pointed to the blueprint of the left wing on the map. "Krit, Syl, you two are going to take the left wing. Secure the perimeter, take out any and all security personnel, and blow up the torture classroom." At Krit and Syl's simultaneous nods, Zack turned to Ty and Risika. "Risa, you and Ty take the right wing, secure all escape hatches, take out any security personnel, and set charges on the auxiliary and backup generators." Risika nodded, preferring to work with Zack, but she knew that he didn't trust Max with Ty, and would rather be there himself to keep her in line. "Max," Zack ordered, looking over at his baby sister, "you're with me. We're heading straight to the center, and taking out the DNA lab." Max just nodded, telling herself, that for now, listening to Zack would be the best thing to do. "The mission starts at 2200 tonight we'll meet back at the van at 2220, if all goes well." Then Zack turned and glared at Lydecker and Logan. "I suppose you know what you have to do," he said, barely repressing the scowl that he usually wore when addressing Logan. Logan just grinned, knowing that his being here was pissing Zack off, and that just made this job a little more entertaining. "You," Zack snarled, turning his attention to Lydecker, "you make one wrong move, and you're a dead man, is that understood??" Lydecker nodded resolutely, "it's understood."

The siblings lined up on the hill as they faced the enemy that had created them, and killed some of their family, seemingly in all one breath. Max glanced over at her oldest brother, awaiting the signal. Zack raised his right hand, and slowly dropped it, telling his siblings to go ahead. "This is for Tinga," Max said quietly. The other five nodded their agreement. This wasn't just for Tinga though, this was for Eva, for Jack, and in his own way, for Ben. This was for turning Brin against them, and all the pain and suffering that all of them had endured. Zack motioned for Max to wait for him, as he pulled Risika into the shadows, wanting to have a private moment with her, before it all went down.

Risa looked quizzically at her lover, but Zack motioned for her to be quiet until all their siblings were in position. Risika smiles at Zack, relaxing her defensive stance. "Risa, I want you to be prepared. If something happens to me, I need you to be able to take command, to lead the others into safety. I need you to be able to protect them. You were born ready for this Risa, and I need you to be bale to do your job, if the time comes that I'm not around anymore to do mine." Risika grabbed Zack into a frantic hug, not willing to accept that Zack wouldn't be here someday. "Bullshit Zack, you're going to be fine. Ain't nothin' gonna happen, and nothin' ever will. You'll be fine." Zack just smiled at her, marveling at her stubbornness, not unlike his own. "There something else that I need to tell you Risa. I know we haven't really been together long, but, I do love you Risa, I do, and I want to keep you safe. Please Risa, be careful tonight okay, just stay safe." Risika stared at Zack, with tears shining in her eyes. She couldn't believe that such a bold statement, that left him emotionally naked, could come from Zack She guessed that maybe loving Jessica before her did him some good. She wrapped Zack into a tighter hug, inhaling his unique scent of leather mixed with cologne and aftershave. Zack wrapped his arms around her just as tight, wishing that he didn't have to let her go. "I love you too Zack, please, just remember that. I love you, and we're going to get through this together." Zack nodded once, before releasing her. "Fenos' Tol, Risa, I love you, stay safe." "Fenos' Tol, Zack, I love you too, please just be careful." The lovers rejoined their respective partners for the mission; both well aware of the other's worried gaze burning into the sides of their heads.

Risa and Ty entered the right wing quickly, taking out all the security personnel in the blink of an eye. Risika ran into the room containing the generators, picking up some files that the security guard she had just killed at been carrying. What she saw made her eyes widen in shock, horror, and anger.

Please God, no, Blue Lady, no, no, no…………………………………

tbc……………………………

(A/N: I wasn't sure what to call the room that Zack was tortured in is called, so I called it the torture classroom. And the X5's were taught to speak Latin in Manticore by Lydecker, so what you see them speaking is what they learned, it has nothing to do with White.)