Protector of Men Ch 69
Though the odds were still against them, the machines were almost gone. Thankfully, Stotte had begun to help them, and their resistance was beginning to yield.
"No!" Kemp screamed, unleashing another blast from her miniature sceptre. Little had the Stotte realized that once they came, the machines would flee towards Purgatory. In the past few minutes they had come fast and thick; Kemp barely had enough time to stop those that had latched onto Purgatory's hull. They just keep coming, she quietly mourned, they never stop…
Another sentinel clamped onto Purgatory's hull and immediately began blasting its laser, breaking through the thick layers of protection and into the rooms beneath. Kemp aimed quickly and fired, but had missed again. She was beginning to miss more often… the battle was making her weary… keep going!
She aimed again at the sentinel, but it had stopped attempting to enter Purgatory and had turned to her, its red eyes glowing with hatred. Kemp's breath stopped in her chest – was it looking at her? Everything else in the pipeways suddenly faded to black – it was just she and the sentinel in the universe, it's red eyes…. Staring…
It got off of the ship and advanced in her direction. Kemp was paralyzed – it was coming towards her, arms outstretched like an angry Medusa… shoot?
"Shoot!" She yelled at herself, but found it hard to move. She fumbled with the controls as the sentinel wavered closer on its winding path to her doom. Once she had finally aimed her weapon at the coming machine, it would be too late. The sentinel fired at her small body, the shots echoing ominously across the metal walls of the pipeways. For Kemp, everything was quiet. The world became dark, and she was finished.
Trim had to watch it from the cockpit. He couldn't stop himself from crying out loud when it happened, when the sentinel had destroyed her… Kemp fell to he ground in a heap, her EMP gun on top of her. Trim knew she was gone.
He could faintly hear Kesia talking in the background, but he couldn't speak. He couldn't take his eyes off of Kemp's unmoving body, now so graceful in the chaos of war. All she wanted was the truth. She just wanted something real, he mourned, is that so much? The sentinel hovered by her for a moment, gloating over its victory. But Kemp would not go unavenged.
Trim volleyed another round of ammunition into the already explosive air.
"Bastards," he was able to choke, "Bastards…"
But the sentinel was too quick, and it escaped back into the mass of machinery in the pipeways around them. Stotte wouldn't be far off now, but it was too late. Kemp had already lost, and now it would be only a little while before the rest of Purgatory lost as well.
The true fight had finally started. Zandra was a killing machine – already eight of the Merovingian's lackeys had been terminated. But there were always more. And now the Smiths seemed so much more prevalent in the room around them – Zandra had not yet realized that the reason they seemed more prevalent was because they were just that: more. They didn't see the strange chain of battles that was going on in the room where one Smith would go in, and two would come out.
Zandra looked up from the ground and saw Neo flying through the air towards the large chandelier in the center of the room. Soon two Smiths were in the air behind him, and Neo was clinging to the chandelier precariously, looking behind him to see if they would follow.
Someone behind you.
Zandra instantly turned around, swinging her swords as she went. The program doubled over, blood erupting onto his hands. Zandra turned back to the scene in front of her. Too much of Smith.
She didn't realize that it had all been a part of Smith's plan. He would first eradicate all of their resistance so that they wouldn't get too worn down. And then he would win: he would defeat Neo all by himself. No help.
Door.
Zandra turned to the right – a door was opening, and that never meant something good. She held her breath as it opened, it took forever, and watched as the program entered. He sneered, and pulled out his gun.
His Desert Eagle.
And then three other doors opened; Zandra registered each addition with growing anticipation. She knew that she could handle the agents if she had to, but could Cover? Could Shade? Time was wearing thin. Where was this supposed talisman of a door?
Instantly the agents went for Smith, and pockets of intense confrontations developed at the corners of the ballroom. Zandra had a moment to think as she terminated another lackey. She looked over to Shade. He was running at another, and after a moment there were only ten left for them to get rid of. Bullets seared through the air. He seemed to read her mind, and was soon at her side. His chains clanged against his legs, his breathing was labored. But he was okay. Now to find Cover.
But Smith got in the way of her plans. Neo had suddenly dropped from the sky weaponless, and looked to Zandra. In the split second they had, she threw one of the swords she carried to him, he caught it and was instantly engaged by a Smith. Another Smith dropped in front of Zandra; his time had come. Shade had momentarily retreated to the side, was attempting to find Cover. Now was the moment of truth.
Zandra was pulling her sword to eye level when he thrust his hand into her body. But she had seen this all before – only minutes ago Neo himself had done the same thing. Only when the oil began spreading across her body did she worry. This hadn't happened when Neo did it… what was he trying to do?
The oil was spreading further across her body, beginning to take over her arms – stop this! A part of her said, this isn't the same!
An overwhelming feeling of haste made her snap to attention again. Realizing her problem, she tried to stop the flow – only how? But the Smith only sneered and held his grip further. The oil began going down her arms, only a little to go…
No!, she told herself, he's not doing this! Zandra focused on the feeling she had gotten – however brief – when Neo had stopped before. Focus!
Suddenly the Smith paused, a look of surprise on his face. He pulled his hand out of Zandra and to his own side, where a trickle of blood now spilled. There was no culprit; the agent who had done the act was now in the fray yet again. The Smith terminated in a flash of painful light, and Zandra had won. She was back, and the Smith had momentarily disappeared. But where were Cover, Shade, and Neo? Again Zandra felt the warning of haste wash over her. Time is of the essence, she reminded herself. Quickly the phrase was becoming hackneyed in her small world.
They had to get out, and the fight could not be won.
Zandra jumped over the group of battlements in front of her and landed at the wide door at the far end of the room. She looked to her comrades who were now engulfed by the battle. It looked like there were about ten Smiths left – and only four agents. Four?
Zandra paused for a moment, but soon abandoned her thinking. Neo was skidding across the side of the wall, fifteen feet above the air. There must have been at least six Smiths against him. Cover was matched against three of the remaining lackeys, and Shade was pitted against another lackey, who was also being occupied by a malevolent Smith. Neo came first.
She ran towards the wall Neo skid by, picking up an unused pistol as she went. Jumping up the platform to her left, she started to unload her clip against the Smiths, hoping that perhaps they would go for her instead. It worked, but not the way she had anticipated.
The Smiths paused, allowing Neo to momentarily get a lead. They changed direction and headed towards Zandra, but there were more. Not ony had she gotten the attention of the Smiths following Neo, but the Smiths attacking the agents. Everyone had her attention. Zandra held her sword and pistol high as they approached slowly, their faces full of anger. This would be the crunch time.
This time Smith was truly angry. This… Zandra… (he was beginning to despise her name almost as much as Mr. Anderson's,) girl was ruining his plans, and now she'd have to be eradicated. She had brought it upon herself. Seven Smiths landed on the platform that she stood on.
But Zandra was waiting; she knew that she'd have to fight more of them at once. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Neo land on the ground and run to Shade. They'd be fine for now. Watch out!
At that moment Zandra blocked a blow from one of the Smiths with her sword – but to her dismay, it did not injure him. He merely attacked again as if she had beaten him with only a club. Instinctively Zandra fired her pistol into the mass of enemies, but they all dodged her missiles easily. At least it had bought her some time. Soon she was blocking more blows, and with each passing second they grew thicker and faster. She was quickly overcome with a feeling of haste again – this fight was getting nowhere, and time was always running out…
A blow to the side brought her back again. Anticipate! She told herself, quickly getting back to the flow. The Smiths were perplexed – she hadn't been as… affected by his attacks as the others had. They bared their teeth in aggression as she continued to fight.
More Smiths landed on the crowded platform, and it was getting hard for Zandra to move. Another blow hit her in the legs, and for a moment, she thought she was going to fall over. But she didn't – and made a quick decision that would save all of their lives.
Zandra leapt up to the ceiling and landed on a high beam, yards above the Smiths. Instantly she broke into a run and leapt back down to one of the tapestries near Neo and Cover. It took the Smiths an extra second to register what she had done.
"Neo!" she screamed above the din of guns and weaponry, "Get out!"
He understood immediately – the only thing that made him linger was seeing her perched precariously on a tapestry above them. She didn't seem fazed. Neo pulled out his key and was soon at a door, but the fight was not over yet. The Smiths wouldn't give up that easily.
In Zandra's moment of speaking, she didn't realize that the Smiths were in the process of following her. Before she knew what was happening, she was soaring again towards the ground, two Smiths already on her back. Bullets seared through the air as the new agents attempted to terminate the rogue. Zandra rolled to the ground in a heap, with Smith following.
Anticipate!
She got up from her roll and ran a few paces ahead, her sword still in hand. Already the Smiths were on her tail, already they were grabbing at her, trying to make her slip up -–a fatal mistake that would cost her Zion, perhaps?
But she had had enough. There was no more time. Zandra gripped her sword tighter than ever and waited until the programs got close enough to think that they had won. Only a little longer… three feet away… a little longer… a few started to reach out for her face… Now!
She held her sword with both hands, abandoning her pistol. Swinging it from right to left in a wide circle, she let out a scream that would have frightened the stoutest of hearts. Even Neo was disconcerted. The Smiths were only able to show their surprise in their momentary expressions before Zandra had sliced them through, leaving a blinding white mess on the floor. She paused for a second, trying to recoup the energy she had just lost. But there were more. Always more.
"Zandra!" Neo called from the door, alarmed. Zandra looked to him as more Smiths approached. The gunfire was slowing – there was only one agent left in the fray. Zandra took his cue, knowing her danger, and dropped her sword. She leapt up into the air, avoiding Smith, and landed next to Neo. He pushed her into the door, and a moment later, they were in another room. Shade and Cover looked at her unsure, as if she had become a different person. She almost had.
And ahead of them was a gray door.
A/N – I like this chapter. Even though I was a little sad to get rid of Kemp – I was beginning to really like her.
I have 100 reviews!?! *Head explodes, then my hands fall off so I can't write anymore.*
Just kidding. But that really does amaze me. Heck, I've got an 85 in AP english! I don't deserve this many reviews. Um, end to monotony coming soon. And yay for powerful chapters! Hopefully, in the future, I'll be able to write a chapter that really gets people's hearts pumping. You know? I've only read a few stories that do that to me. So yeah, that's my goal.
