A few hours later, Mark had managed to salvage enough equiptment to create a homing beacon. "Okay, I can put this thing into orbit without anyone noticing, but it'll take about a day and you'd better be able to make it worthwhile." "We'll be here when you get back." "Oh no you won't, you'll wait at our airbase, where there's no threat of any neighboring city-states 'liberating' you." "We're safe enough, I mean, nobody else knows we're here, and even if they did, we could just-" He was interrupted by a jet making a low level pass over their heads. "Get down and cover your ears!" Mark shouted as he jumped up onto a pile of electronics and aimed his gun. When the jet came around for a second pass, he fired. Later, all the digidestineds could remember was a piercing, extremely loud noise, followed the sound of a mass of metal being ripped apart, then blackness. When they came to, Mark had already dispatched the surviving passengers, and was rooting through the wreckage. "Problem with being too good at my job," he muttered to himself, "ain't nothin good left when I'm done. Ah, I see you've woken up. We should get moving." As the digidestineds groggily got to their feet, one asked, "What was that thing?" "A troop transport coming to get you and find out what you know." "No no, what is that?" she said, pointing to his gun. "Devastator, fires a concentrated pulse of sound that ripped through that ship like the big one through San Fransisco." Guessing at her intention, he added, "A human couldn't use one. Blow out your eardrums and shatter your firing arm." She shrugged, then followed him out.
When they got to the airbase, Mark was let in without a second glance, but the digidestined were set upon by no less than three guards. "Halt! This a restricted area, unauthorized personell are not allowed in." "Leave off, they're with me," the BioGen grumbled. "Yes, sir! Sorry, sir!" They hurridly caught up to him, hoping his prescence would speed them through any other checkpoints. "Well, this is it" he said, pointing to an x-shaped bunch of steel tubes with various tanks and nozzles strapped to it. "You expect us to believe that thing is going into space with you in it? For starters it's not even pressurized. You leave the atmosphere in that, you'll explode." "Why?" "The oxygen, nitrogen and other gasses in your body-" "That's the reason I can. I don't need oxygen, nitrogen, and other gasses in my body, I can expel those gasses and," he caught himself before he gave away one of his greatest secrets, "and survive other ways." "Even if you could survive, there's no way that rustbucket can get into orbit." "You're familiar with Maglev, right?" "Magnetic Levitation, you use powerful electromagnets to suspend a train a few centimeters above the track. They go real fast, but not fast enough to break free of gravity." "Let's just say that your definition of a powerful electromagnet is different than mine. No, if you'll please head over to that bunker over there and stay put 'till I get back."
While the digidestineds waited for their host to get back, they talked about him, quietly so the guard wouldn't hear. "We don't even know the guy's name." "That can easily be fixed. Hey you" he shouted to one of their guards. "Wadda ya want?" "Who the heck is that guy?" "What guy?" "The guy who brought us here." "The Minuteman." "That's a cool title but doesn't he have a name." The guard shrugged, "Everybody's got a name, but noone knows his. I hear," he said, leaning in closer and lowering his voice, "That he tells folks his real name just before he kills 'em. Musta done somethin real bad if he won't tell anyone who he really is. I figure he had to a done a lotta bad stuff using his real name, and now if he says it, he'd probly get sasinated by the other Biogens." (AN: my grammer is not really that bad, but I figure the guard probably wouldn't use good English.) The digidestined moved away from their guards to talk in private again. "I don't trust him." "You don't trust anybody." "I trust you guys." "That," he paused to yawn, "That ain't saying much." "We should end this discussion, we'll all think clearer after we get some rest." "Fine with me, but there's got to be one of us awake at all times, I don't trust these guys and probably won't in the morning, either." "Okay with me. Joe, Mimi, how about you take first watch." "Hey!" "Aw, it won't be so bad. We'll just go to sleep an hour or so later than everyone else." Sometime during the night, Mark landed after placing the beacon in a high enough orbit that it couldn't be knocked out by ground-base missiles. This was a golden opportunity, and he wasn't going to let a Stinger ruin it. The first thing he did was go to the base's comm center. "Well, have you heard anything interesting." "Only that the general consensus is they don't trust us." Mark snorted, "That's okay, I don't trust them, but a hundred pounds of gold could do a lot of good." "Only if they hold true to their word." The Minuteman nodded, "We'll just see what the morning brings."
When they got to the airbase, Mark was let in without a second glance, but the digidestined were set upon by no less than three guards. "Halt! This a restricted area, unauthorized personell are not allowed in." "Leave off, they're with me," the BioGen grumbled. "Yes, sir! Sorry, sir!" They hurridly caught up to him, hoping his prescence would speed them through any other checkpoints. "Well, this is it" he said, pointing to an x-shaped bunch of steel tubes with various tanks and nozzles strapped to it. "You expect us to believe that thing is going into space with you in it? For starters it's not even pressurized. You leave the atmosphere in that, you'll explode." "Why?" "The oxygen, nitrogen and other gasses in your body-" "That's the reason I can. I don't need oxygen, nitrogen, and other gasses in my body, I can expel those gasses and," he caught himself before he gave away one of his greatest secrets, "and survive other ways." "Even if you could survive, there's no way that rustbucket can get into orbit." "You're familiar with Maglev, right?" "Magnetic Levitation, you use powerful electromagnets to suspend a train a few centimeters above the track. They go real fast, but not fast enough to break free of gravity." "Let's just say that your definition of a powerful electromagnet is different than mine. No, if you'll please head over to that bunker over there and stay put 'till I get back."
While the digidestineds waited for their host to get back, they talked about him, quietly so the guard wouldn't hear. "We don't even know the guy's name." "That can easily be fixed. Hey you" he shouted to one of their guards. "Wadda ya want?" "Who the heck is that guy?" "What guy?" "The guy who brought us here." "The Minuteman." "That's a cool title but doesn't he have a name." The guard shrugged, "Everybody's got a name, but noone knows his. I hear," he said, leaning in closer and lowering his voice, "That he tells folks his real name just before he kills 'em. Musta done somethin real bad if he won't tell anyone who he really is. I figure he had to a done a lotta bad stuff using his real name, and now if he says it, he'd probly get sasinated by the other Biogens." (AN: my grammer is not really that bad, but I figure the guard probably wouldn't use good English.) The digidestined moved away from their guards to talk in private again. "I don't trust him." "You don't trust anybody." "I trust you guys." "That," he paused to yawn, "That ain't saying much." "We should end this discussion, we'll all think clearer after we get some rest." "Fine with me, but there's got to be one of us awake at all times, I don't trust these guys and probably won't in the morning, either." "Okay with me. Joe, Mimi, how about you take first watch." "Hey!" "Aw, it won't be so bad. We'll just go to sleep an hour or so later than everyone else." Sometime during the night, Mark landed after placing the beacon in a high enough orbit that it couldn't be knocked out by ground-base missiles. This was a golden opportunity, and he wasn't going to let a Stinger ruin it. The first thing he did was go to the base's comm center. "Well, have you heard anything interesting." "Only that the general consensus is they don't trust us." Mark snorted, "That's okay, I don't trust them, but a hundred pounds of gold could do a lot of good." "Only if they hold true to their word." The Minuteman nodded, "We'll just see what the morning brings."
