Disclaimer: I don't own the character of Jinx Travirez. It would be nice if I did, but I don't. She belongs to Insane Pineapple, from the excellent piece of writing known as "Constrained Tribulation." Please go read it. It's worth your time.
Chapter Four: [Anvil]
"Breach!"
Captain Mifune lifted the arms of his Armored Personal Unit towards the distant hole and opened fire. The nearby APUs copied his movement, and a massive cloud of bullets flew towards the oncoming Sentinels.
"Don't let them through!" Mifune yelled, shredding another Sentinel between his two guns. The hole above seemed to explode in a shower of metal as Sentinels came streaming out of the breach in every direction.
Zee ran along the top streets of the docks, glancing down to the battling forces. She grabbed an EMP grenade from her belt and crouched down, waiting.
With a loud crashing sound, the digger below began to lift itself onto its feet. She took careful aim and dropped her weapon.
The Sentinel army split into two arms, coming for the APU Corp in a deadly pincer movement. Mifune shifted fire, keeping one gun on each arm of the attack. Sentinels fell before the onslaught, but there were much more available.
There were always more.
The missile fell with deadly accuracy and hit the digger, exploding on contact. The EMP wave spread out over the machine, which went dark. The nearby Sentinels dropped to the ground. Zee saw small figures running away from the digger, and it suddenly exploded. Cheers sounded across the radio.
"Quiet!" Locke snapped. "It's not over yet. Second entry point detected."
Zee switched the radio off. From the hole above, three shapes emerged. They were similar to Sentinels, but were colored pitch-black, and they had two long metal arms underneath their "head."
They were Hunters. Zee turned and ran towards the center guns, the three Hunters sailing after her.
"Hunters in the docks!" Mifune cried. The APU beside him pointed both guns straight up and fired. A Hunter came on, weaving around the bullets and slammed straight into the APU. The massive machine teetered and fell into the city below.
The Hunter turned its attention to Mifune. He whirled one cannon towards the machine and opened fire, his bullets barley chipping the machine's titanium armor. Mifune brought his other cannon to bear and slowly backed towards the central gun tower.
"Sir," Locke's lieutenant cried, "The second digger has entered the docks! It's fallen near the entrance to the temple and is beginning to dig."
Locke nodded. "Send her to destroy it."
Zee crossed an invisible line, and the one of the gun towers swiveled towards her. It opened fire on the lead Hunter, pouring lead into the armor. The machine swerved out of the way and shot forward, grabbing Zee with one of its tentacles and pulling her back. She screamed as the thing raised itself up to kill her.
The gunner's tower tracked the target and fired again, the bullets slamming into the Hunter's weak spot: the external cooling unit. The Hunter wavered for a moment and then seemed to disintegrate. Fire replaced where it had been and spread out, driving the nearby Hunters away. Zee felt the heat wash over her and looked down.
She was on fire.
Two of the towers turned towards Mifune and opened fire on the Hunter tracking him. The beast lunged forward and slammed into Mifune's APU, knocking it over. Mifune rolled out of his seat as the Hunter struck down where he had just been. He grabbed hold of the APU's controls and the APU lifted its arm and slammed it through the Hunter's head. The Hunter's eyes flickered dimly and cut off, both machines collapsing on top of Mifune. Everything went black.
"Mifune!" Locke shouted into the radio. "Mifune!"
No answer. With a curse, Locke hurled the radio against the far wall.
Zee struggled against the fire, putting it out with much effort. On her hands and knees, she crawled towards the medical bay. Reaching it, she collapsed by the door with a gasp.
Snake ran across the bridge towards the center of the docks. Behind him the buzzing increased as the Hunter gained on him. It passed him quickly, and he felt a strong metal bar slam him onto the floor. He pushed himself back up as the Hunter turned around again.
The Hunter grabbed his shoulders with its strong arms and lifted him into the air. He kicked wildly as he was suspended over space. The Hunter opened its claws and let him drop.
"Sir! The second digger has been destroyed!"
Locke activated the backup radio. "Travirez?"
"What?" came the soft voice across the radio.
"Wait there for the next one, and then take it out."
He quickly severed the connection before she could reply.
"Sir?"
"What?" he snapped, whirling around.
"The Hammer is two minutes away and requesting an open gate."
"Open gate two."
The massive doors slowly opened to let the hovercraft in. Bane glanced over at AK and laughed.
"Let's not keep them waiting."
The Hammer burst in through the Zion gate. The infantry and APU fighters paused to look on hopefully, and cheered as the blue light of an EMP spread out from the ship.
Sentinels and Hunters collapsed to the ground. The remaining three APUs also jerked and fell, injuring their pilots. The Hammer lost control and spun into the control tower, knocking the guns towers and power out. Darkness quickly fell.
"Where's your captain?" Locke demanded, wiping the smirk from AK's face. "I need to speak with him now."
Bane came up beside AK. "What's the problem, commander? We just saved your precious dock."
Locke glared, struggling for words to express his rage.
"Saved the dock? Saved the dock? You knocked out all the defenses and destroyed the control tower! You didn't save the dock, you just handed it over to the machines."
Bane was silent, nodding. "You're right. And if we've already given them the dock, I think the city of Zion would about even it out right?"
Locke looked confused. His face remained confused as Bane drew a knife and stabbed it deep into the commander's chest.
Bane laughed as Locke collapsed to the ground. The crowd around was stunned, frozen in a state of shock. Bane grabbed another knife from his belt and started towards Locke again, when a cold voice stopped him in his tracks.
"Freeze, Bane."
He turned around to see a woman standing next to Locke's fallen body. Jinx Travirez stood there coolly, head cocked slightly to the side.
Bane laughed. "Miss Travirez. So, they've let you roam free?"
AK and Colt moved up on either side of Bane, advancing towards Jinx. She turned a head over her shoulder and snapped at someone to get Locke to the medical wing.
"I don't know what you think you're doing," Jinx said, turning to face the Agents in disguise, "But I'm giving you one last chance to surrender peacefully."
Bane laughed. "There are three of us, pitiful human. Why would we surrender to you?"
Jinx didn't waste anymore time with words. She darted in, slamming a fist into Colt's throat and crushing his windpipe. AK ran towards Jinx, and she sidestepped and slammed the side of her palm into the base of his neck as he went past her. The man fell flat on the ground.
Bane was more cautious, beginning to circle around Jinx, who stood calmly in one place.
"You must excuse my overeager companions, Miss Travirez. This frail body takes some getting used to."
Jinx studied Bane. Frail body…pathetic humans? What's going on?
Bane suddenly exploded into motion, rushing straight at Jinx. She spun around and planted her feet, meeting Bane's charge. She caught him on her shoulder and threw him over her back. He hit the ground and rolled, coming to a stop a foot from the edge of the walkway.
He climbed to his feet and was hit in the stomach with a powerful kick. He fell, managing to catch himself on the ledge of the walkway. He glared up at Jinx.
"Kill this shell, Miss Travirez, bet it will not delay your doom."
Jinx felt realization dawning on her. "Smith?"
He laughed as her foot came down to crush his hands. He let go, falling and still laughing.
"Third entry point detected!"
The digger bored through the ceiling and fell to the ground below. A nearby lieutenant took charge, yelling for the infantry to fall back to the main city.
The Sentinels and Hunters poured through the hole, heading straight for the door. Two lead machines slammed themselves into the walkway, shattering it at the halfway point.
Jinx glanced around and saw a Hunter heading directly for her. She jumped and rolled, reaching up and grabbing a trailing tentacle as it shot past her. The Sentinel unwillingly carried her over the chasm and deposited her on the safer side of the walkway. She hit the ground running and raced into the elevator shaft to Zion, closing the door behind her with a slam.
Footsteps. He could hear footsteps in the distance, coming towards him. Locke peered into the gloom, searching for the sound's owner.
Jinx appeared before him, holding a single dim lamp. She placed it on the table beside his medical bed and glared down at him.
"Jinx…" he managed to choke out. "…Why?"
"Why did I save you?" Jinx asked. "I've asked myself the same question. For years you've tortured me, but I guess Zion is a little more important than personal revenge. And Zion needs you to survive this."
"How fares Zion?" Locke asked.
"Zion is lost," Jinx said. "And it no longer needs you, commander."
Groaning, Mifune returned to consciousness. He squirmed out from under the downed APU and glanced around him at his beloved city.
Zion was burning.