Protector of Men Ch 63

Kesia was watching the matrixian screens with dismay when Colombus called up. Too many people in too small of an area – and now Smith was there too? Things were not looking good in the land of dreams. Kesia's heart rate was fast, and she jumped at the blinking light that suddenly appeared. It was Colombus, requesting a line. Kesia sighed inwardly and took a look around her before accepting. Alias was gone, and Kemp was with Trim. Good.

"Hi, Kesia," Colombus said, a small smile on her face. Kesia greeted the captain appropriately, and let her continue with whatever missive she had to deliver.

"Is Cover there?"

"No," Kesia replied, "He's in with Zandra and Shade."

Colombus' eyes grew a little wide, she frowned in thought.

"What are they doing?"

"They're trying to get the informant," she said, "But it's not looking so good."

"Are they allright?"

"For now," she answered honestly, "But there's a lot of crazy stuff going on…"

"Do they need someone to go in there?"

"Well… ah," Kesia stumbled to find the correct and prudent response, "I really can't…"

"Where are they?"
"I can give you coordinates," Kesia finally allowed in a small voice. Colombus took them graciously, then mentioned something about maybe checking in later. Yet, even Kesia could see that she was worried.

"Well I just wanted to let him know that we let go Echo,"

Kesia blinked a few times; the incident was still fresh in her mind.

"But we also-"

"Kesia, we've got problems…!"

It was Trim's voice on the PA system, he sounded afraid. Concerned, she stopped listening to Colombus and connected herself to the cockpit line.

"Trim," she called. Meanwhile Colombus stopped talking and looked at Kesia, wondering what was going on.

"Kesia, we've got 7," he breathed quietly, as if the sentinels would be able to detect his voice from the innards of the ship. Kesia's heart rate immediately went up again.

"What's going on?" Colombus asked

"Uh, hold on…"

"Trim, where are they?"

"Twenty thousand. But they'll eventually find us…"

"Kesia, what's wrong?"

Kesia bit her lip.

"Uh, sorry captain, we've got a bit of a sentinel problem,"

"Sentinels?"

"Yeah, and I can't call Cover, and they're stuck-"

"We'll send someone for you," Colombus replied, but to no avail. Kesia felt helpless suddenly, sentinels with no EMP and three in the matrix? The One stuck in dreamworld while the real fell in heaps around them? Shit, shit…

Colombus ended the line and suddenly Kesia was alone again. The room around her was silent – only the humming of the heater and air could be heard. But that would change soon enough.

Everything suddenly began moving very quickly. Zandra had to snap her mind back to attention, take a mental count of how many people they were fighting. But first, she had to get to Neo. The rebels knew she held the key, and without her, they'd be lost. She fought her way up the stairs and to Neo, who was watching her with alarm on his face. Cover and Shade would be close behind, and even further would be either the Smiths, or the Merovingian's lackeys. She didn't want to be in either of their possessions.

"Key!" Neo shouted, moving towards one of the doors, gesturing for Zandra to throw it to him. She did, and they both watched the shining talisman as it sailed through the air, cleanly landing in Neo's open palm.

"Hold them off," he ordered, pointing his sword behind her and towards the large group of killers. Cover and Shade had now arrived at the top of the stairs, and she knew that the rest would not be far behind. Smith was the first to show himself, he sneered at Neo before making a jump for him.

"Neo!" Zandra immediately shouted, but there wouldn't be enough time. She knew he would be unlocking the door, and wouldn't see him coming – you have to stop him!

Instantly time slowed down as she turned on her heels to stop the soaring Smith in his mid-flight attack. She gripped her sword tighter as she ran in the now close quarters, could see Cover moving slowly to her right, attempting to hold his own against one of the Merovingian's men… but Smith was still going for Neo, a look of pure animosity on his face. It had only been a fraction of a second; Neo hadn't even seen what was going on, he was so wrapped up in getting them out. Zandra was gaining on the Smith, her sword now pointed upwards as she intercepted him from the side, getting ready to knock him down with her sceptre of death. A few more inches forward and she slammed down the sword, knocking the Smith to the floor in a sweep of her arms. The confused Smith looked around for a moment as the world sped back up for Zandra, perhaps looking for the source of injury. But he died before he caught a glance of her, she was already gone and fighting again.

The twins were not happy, not happy at all. Downstairs they gave each other a quick glance and phased into the ground, getting ready for their real debut. Zandra wouldn't know what hit her once they were finished. We will get them.

"Zandra," Shade called, obviously having some trouble fending off his share of attackers.

"Zandra," Neo called in urgency.

Shit.

Zandra didn't have much time to make a decision, but she acted well in the split second that she had. Moving into high gear, she went over to Shade to help him get out. He was soon becoming surrounded by the Merovingian's lackeys, who were fighting with small knives. Luckily, they had no guns on them.

Still, Zandra was pressed for time. Faster, she urged as she joined in the fray, help him out! She held her sword tighter as she advanced upon the lackey in front of her, facing Shade whose visage was now contorted into a look of resignation. Faster! The man almost had him pinned, his knife was getting closer to Shade's exposed abdomen…

With a quick expulsion of breath she swung her gleaming sword across the enemy's side and sent him flying with an arc of blood that hit the floor with a splash. Shade suddenly blinked, and the other two lackeys surrounding him stopped for a moment to size up their new foe.

"Don't hesitate!" The Merovingian screamed from below, the words echoing slowly in Zandra's quickened mind. She was suddenly reminded of her own haste, and grabbed Shade's hand, thrusting him towards Neo without even looking in his direction. Cover's turn.

Cover too was becoming overwhelmed by the resistance – at least ten of their foes were surrounding him, closing in for the kill... Zandra leapt into the fight at the right moment, but just barely.

"Zandra," Neo called again. I'm coming! Faster!

"More!" One of the Smiths suddenly shouted, and plunged an arm into Cover's chest. He screamed and became stiff, and the Merovingian's lackeys backed off slowly, letting Zandra see what was going on.

What?

Cover's body was slowly becoming covered with what looked like oil, spreading like a virus across his unmoving body. The Smith smiled a wide and evil grin.

"Teach him to evade me," he mumbled, continuing to smile. Cover was beginning to make coughing noises at Zandra, but Zandra did nothing. The Smith couldn't even tell she was there.

What?

Zandra could faintly hear Neo calling her name again, it sounded far away, like a plea… meanwhile she still stood transfixed by what was transpiring in front of her.

Time was running out.

A/N – woohoo, back from Davidson. That was really fun – now I only pray that I get in!! Two things: first of all, these few chapters have been really hard to write… for some reason or another. I think because I'm trying to tie everything together, but things just seem…. Weird. I'm not apologizing, I don't think I should, but it's an acknowledgement of something that may or may not be evident. Not sure.

Second thing: thinking about sending in a sample of my writing with my application, do you guys have any favorite chapters or anything? Just a poll… Because of college stuff, my story may be continuing to slow down. I only have one chapter in reserves, another in the makings, so I won't be able to upload every day anymore! Sad. :(

Aqua Phoenix1 – Yeah, the Merovingian to me is a pissy little man, lol. Like a spiky ugly teddy bear. :)

MicroChips – oh, ok – at least it's not me! Lol

Alocin – that's okay to will smith on – he's not ALL bad… *wink wink~*

Zuma – I'm so glad you like Persephone! Everyone seems to hate her. Oh yeah… as far as battles are concerned… just… yeah. I don't want to give anything away yet… but some things may surprise you.

Thank you EVERYONE for reviewing! It really brightens up my day to see that people actually enjoy what falls out of my head! Haha. Seriously though, I really appreciate it. Thank you!