The man by the name of Wraith lay in the tall grass surrounding him, keeping his right eye clinched shut, and his left looking through the depths of a sniper scope lens to a view of a hundred yards away. He inhaled his breath halfway, and fired off a single shot freely. The bullet soared silently through the air to hit perfectly home. The target, a small but strong looking man, rocked forward and backward with the bullet through his brain, then fell over and died, soaking the grass under his face with blood and spittle.
He reached up and wiped his brow. He was a lucky man. If the terrorist he had just shot had turned another 45 degrees, he would have seen the group of would-be commandoes and raised an alarm. The team could not allow that.
"Let's go, team," Wraith spoke in his calm, yet powerful, voice. The microphone he wore on his head sent the message to the others. The entire team of seven people rose from the ground and rushed forward through the tall grasses of the Taiwan forest they were in. Being in the middle of the group, Wraith was impressed by the team's efficiency. The entire team was spread around him ten yards away at exact points on the clock, and their army brown and green clothing provided them excellent cover in the heavy underbrush of the region.
Both Flash and Ice Fox were most forward in the group, at one and eleven O'clock, respectively. Wraith had put them there willingly, as they were the best near-range gunners the entire crew of the Prophetic Vision. Both men carried M4A1 rifles that were silenced, so as not to attract too much attention if shots had to be fired before the insertion point. Ice Fox, forward and to Wraith's right, was a very large man, easily the largest of the Freemind Commandoes, as Cosine had jokingly called them. Ice Fox's huge form still was hidden well by his camouflage paint, and he charged forward with his gun always aimed at areas he suspected a terrorist foe might be hiding. Fox's thoughts were always concentrated on his paranoia, which sometimes would make him crack under pressure. The other man, forward and to Wraith's left, was known as Flash. Before he was released from the Matrix, Flash was a born and bred Texan, complete with the accent. Upon entering the real world, the area outside the Matrix, he still had his accent and wily, happy-go-lucky attitude. Though he did receive the mind-peace training that allowed all other Freeminds to keep a straight face, Flash ignored his training and kept acting like an old fashioned cowboy.
The team reached their destination, a large, black gate built into some old ruins, without a hitch. Wraith turned to examine his team, whilst pulling out a cell phone. He brought the out of place technology up to his hear.
"Operator?" came the beautiful voice of his sister, Cosine. She was the operator onboard the ship Prophetic Vision, the ship to which Wraith was the captain, and the rest of the team were either gunners or operatives. Cosine was much a beautiful woman, and many of the men who served onboard the Vision would have likely made a move on her, but the fact that the Captain was her brother and would likely beat them to within an inch of their life should his sister become impregnated, stopped the men from doing anything.
"Alright, sis, I need to know how many programs there are in here, and where the hell the Agent is." Wraith spoke his words into the cell phone, and all the other Freemind Commandoes could, because of the microphone on Wraith's head, hear the conversation.
"Well, Wraith, I can tell you that there are at least twenty programs in there, and the Agent though…"
"What?" Wraith asked forcefully. By his tone, his sister knew he did not want to be met with trouble, so she was slow to answer him.
"I can't fully detect the Agent," Cosine said, still managing to sound somewhat happy. "He's managed to set up some bubble-like shape around him, and I can't detect precisely where he is inside of it."
This information wasn't in itself all that disturbing to Wraith, but knowing his sister, she was going to leave the worst part for last. "…And?"
"And the bubble is has a radius of over 500 yards, Wraith." These words hit Wraith hard. That meant that within the catacombs that were after the courtyard behind the black gate, the Agent was hiding, waiting for them, and they had no way of knowing where he was, or if he had more program aids in his bubble with him.
"DAMMIT! How much crap can this bastard make?" Wraith shouted loudly, and a pair of birds flew out of a tree overhead, rushing away from the loud activity. Wraith scolded himself inwardly for his outburst, and shunted aside his anger by closing his eyes and focusing on the situation.
The team on the Vision was after the Agent that had killed Warlock three weeks ago. They discovered, though, that the Agent they were after had the strange ability to create objects in the Matrix of his own accord. They learned through observation that this practice took time to do, though. They eventually tracked the Agent down to this location in Thailand, where he had set up a small base in a remote location to serve as a hub. They also assumed that the Agent created guards and the bubble cover for purposes to hide something that he was creating, even from other Agents, and it must have been something powerful if he had need to take this much time.
At first the team supposed that the Agent's uncanny ability to randomly create objects was a purposeful ability provided to him by the Matrix, but then they guessed that it was not, and assumed that this was a glitch in the program. Glitches were rare in the Matrix, but appeared every so often. Things such as a flag failing to wave in the wind, or a fish with one too many fins were bound to happen. Even physics itself were a major glitch, especially the fact that a round ball and a round bat can connect solidly to make a powerful force. The chances of an Agent being a glitch though, were highly unlikely.
The Freemind Commandoes were now here in the Matrix to stop the Agent from whatever he was doing, and get revenge on the Agent for killing Warlock. When Wraith had heard Cosine's screaming three weeks ago onboard the Vision in the real world, his heart had dropped out his stomach and he rushed to the front of the ship where the jack-in ports were to find his sister sobbing with her head faced away from Wraith on Warlock's chest. Warlock had blood leaking out the corners of his mouth, and Wraith had known that he was dead. He dropped his head and closed his eyes from the tears that came to them, and heard many footsteps come from behind him, then slowly walk away accompanying the occasional weeping sob.
Now, though, back in the Matrix, the sadness of Warlock's death had disappeared, and only anger and frustration and the lust for revenge remained in Wraith's head.
And revenge we will have, thought Wraith.
He turned back to his team and nodded at them. Both Flash and Ice Fox waited on each side of the door, preparing to jump in once it was open. One more people rushed forward to the door to stand beside Wraith, and the final three teammates remained away from the door, and were destined to stay behind until the gunfighting slowed down a bit, so that they could enter and lop off some heads with their close combat skills.
The light man who rushed forward was known as Lost Hope, the name which was derived as a play on words of his former name in the Matrix, Lest Hurnpoff. This man was smaller than most, and skinny as well. He was mostly suited to ranged weaponry, but could hold his own in a close combat situation. He was light and lanky, and skilled in flips and dodging, provided him excellent skill in firefights, where he could shoot, then dodge opponent's bullets, then shoot more.
Lost Hope came forward and removed the satchel from his back, and brought a detonator into his hand to show Wraith. Wraith nodded and turned away from him to concentrate on his conversation with his sister.
"Alright then, sis, I'll call you once we clear the courtyard." Wraith spoke his words with finality, and Cosine knew by this that there was no need to respond. Wraith snapped the phone closed and tucked it into his bulletproof vest.
"Okay, boys, let's blow this sucker!" he said happily to assure the teams morality was high when they entered the courtyard to begin battling. He also stripped off the satchel from his back, and placed it next to the other, in front of the door. Both bags carried high-powered bombs, and Wraith definitely wanted to be shielded from the blast, so he jumped behind a rock away from the door and drew the detonator from his pocket.
"Ready when you are sir," came the anxious voice of Lost Hope.
Wraith swallowed hard one more time and prepared himself, then began a countdown into his mike. "3…2…1…NOW!" At the final word, both he and Lost Hope pressed their detonators, igniting the two explosives and sending the still locked together doors flying through the courtyard.
The initial four who were entering the courtyard charged inside, muscles tense, guns blazing.
Deep inside the catacombs of the ruins, Agent Malcolm stood stock still, his eyes closed, and he could feel the blast of the courtyard gates from over six hundred yards away. This shook him from his reverie and he angrily grunted, looking around at the personal guards he had assembled around him.
He reached out with his mind, sensing the gates, sensing the individuals entering them. It was a large amount of Freeminds, and they had heavy weaponry.
He looked to the personal, souped up guards around him. "Go. Get them. Show no mercy. I have not yet completed it. They cannot find me here. I have to get out. Go and keep them busy, I'll need at least twenty minutes."
Malcolm then went back into his deranged statue-esque stance, and in his mind he could feel the gash inside, the hole in his programming that allowed him access to the very elements of the Matrix itself. At first, many weeks ago when he realized his ability, he had for the first time ever, felt surprise. The fact that he could feel such strong emotions was amazing in itself, and he expanded on it, tearing the hole in his mind ever wider, ever deeper.
His access to the Matrix's core became relevant, and he attained the ability to conjure things from his mind. It drained much out of him, and complex things, such as living beings, took him an insanely long amount of time and energy to create.
Realizing that over twenty of his creations were about to perish, Agent Malcolm felt anger, and regret. The anger about the situation was obvious. The Freeminds were trying to get to him, to end his life.
The regret, though, made him more surprised as ever, as this was a compassionate emotion, one that he, as an Agent, should not experience. The good side of him was uneasy, and he tried to shunt the compassionate emotions for his creations from his mind, while trying to enhance the anger, to rip the hole further. He felt, strangely, that the stronger emotion needed to take precedence. The simple wrongness in having a compassionate emotion tore him even further from his original programming.
He began to focus on his regret, his sorrow, and tore further away from his core programming as he searched through the Matrix for the thing he desired.
And with every rip he made, he came closer to being human.
Wraith ran into the courtyard, blasting his M4A1 around, and hitting a program terrorist square in the chest, sending him falling over backwards to die, and stain the pale brown coloured ground a dark maroon. He ducked under a stream of bullets from another terrorist, and rolled to the side, then kicked himself ten feet into the air, concentrating. In the air he spotted the surprised program that was firing at him, and focused in on the Matrix, defying gravity still, and concentrating hard, he pumped a single bullet into the programs head, making it explode in a shower of blood and brain juices.
He landed softly, and looked around quickly to see how the others were fairing.
Ice Fox had, like Wraith, been belching bullets into terrorists. He had downed three in a neat line, and was approaching a fourth. The program dropped his guns and threw his hands up to recklessly shield his face. For this stupidity Fox ran up to the man who was more than a foot shorter than he, and delivered a powerful smash on the side of his head with his gun, sending the small program flying into and cratering the nearby wall. Fox pumped a few bullets into him just to be sure he was dead, and continued on his rampage.
Both Flash and Lost Hope were nearing the catacombs, shooting a path through. Wraith counted seven dead bodies on the ground, and noted that both young men were quick on their feet, and even quicker with their aiming.
Wraith felt himself lucky when a bullet raced past him, narrowly missing his leg, and angrily turned to the source of the attack, riddling the body of the program with lead. Another program behind that which he most recently killed was apparently very skilled in sharpshooting, and was knelt down. He fired a single bullet towards Wraith, which would have killed him, aside from the fact that he could utilize the Matrix to his whims to slow down time itself.
He ran at first towards the bullet, which he could now clearly see in the slow motion world he was in. The sounds of other guns bellowing off became clearer to him, as did his vision and all of his skills. He leapt up into the air, and shot his limbs out like a star, while making his body parallel to the ground, and the bullet that had killing power passed harmlessly half a foot beneath his body. He landed into a slow forward roll, and came up twenty feet from the sniper. Wraith smiled and brought his gun forward, then fired a single shot, which sliced forward through the air, and soared right into the barrel of the sniper rifle held by the rogue program. The program, at that time, fired again, and the resulting effect sent the programs body parts caressing through the air at odd angles, accompanied by a somewhat large explosion.
Wraith dropped back into real-time, and noticed that there were no more programs nearby himself, so he looked back to the gate, to see the other three members of the team rushing forward to clean up. The three were Pike, Webb, and RAM, the first of which was Wraith's younger brother by three years.
Pike was an enigmatic person of sorts, and for many reasons. Firstly, he preferred to carry dual katanas to guns, long swords with which he had a skill that was matched by no other. Secondly, he was happy and immature. That wasn't all to bad, and showed how Pike and Cosine were related with their similar attitudes, but the strange part was that he seemed to cast off an aura of age and experience, which was ironic, given that he was twenty nine years old and, as was stated before, immature. The final thing that made him awkward was the fact that he had much deeper abilities in the Matrix than any other member in the crew, and any other person Wraith had ever met, for that matter. With this insane skill to slow down the Matrix with twice as much slowdown as any other crewmember, Pike could deflect nearly a hundred bullets with his two katanas, rendering him nearly invincible.
It was likely for his strangeness that Wraith shunned and oppressed his younger sibling, but deep down inside of himself, Wraith knew the real reason was because he feared his brother's abilities and the fact that his experience and age seemed timeless, though he had spent three years less in the Matrix than Wraith had.
Pike, as he rushed into the Thai ruins, held a high-caliber pistol in his hands, though his signature katanas were strapped to his back in individual scabbards, with each hilt being easily accessible above his shoulders. Pike fired off his Model 18 pistol, which was one of the few pistols in the Matrix that could fire many bullets automatically by simply holding down the trigger. The few bullets he fired off missed a terrorist wide, and Pike's clip emptied, so he decided to employ the powers of the Matrix.
Wraith, being in real-time, watched his brother for less than two seconds as he drew another clip, placed it into the butt of the pistol, reloaded, and drew around the program to shoot him in the back of the head from point blank range. As usual, Wraith was amazed at the speed in which he could perform maneuvers such as these, and every time he just seemed to be getting faster and faster.
The second man into the courtyard to do battle with terrorists was a man of average build and height, though amazing skill. Webb was once a man of peace in the Matrix, when he lived in China. He had mastered calming techniques in his mind and learned how to use a 6-foot staff to the best of his abilities. His martial arts skills were extreme, and he'd flow so cleanly between Matrix powers to real-time that'd his fights would look much like a well-choreographed dance, and he could take on ten people or more in hand to hand combat, with or without his staff. His one major fault though, was his complete inability to use a gun, so at a distance he would have no luck in a battle until he closed to a melee distance.
As Webb ran into the courtyard ruins, he immediately pulled himself into the Matrix and was staff-wielding blur as he quickly rushed right to the entrance of the catacombs, and hopped over Flash and Lost Hope in real-time, then flicked back into his Matrix powers and continued on, stopping momentarily to trip a terrorist program, and stabbed the staff into his abdomen as he was still in the air, sending him caressing through the air to crash onto the ground far away, clearly dead. Webb then continued on his charge towards the catacombs, with Flash and Lost Hope now hot on his heels.
The final man to charge through into the courtyard went by the name of Random Access Memory, or RAM for short. He seemed to be a hybrid of Pike and Webb. He mimicked Wraith in size and build, though Wraith dwarfed him in age by nearly ten years. Before RAM was freed from the Matrix, he was a Russian computer hacker, then turned to Martial Arts when he finally succeeded in conquering the world's hardest computer. He mastered the art of sword and gun simultaneously, and ever since, he has always used both his sword and his famed F57 pistol in perfect unison. He also, through his martial arts training, learned to focus his thoughts and energies into his sword, and he could deflect a single bullet in any direction he wanted, so he could return a bullet back to it's owner's heart. He often boasted this ability in his light Russian accent, and was always ready for a fight, though when it came down to a life and death situation, such as this moment, he was always concentrated and centered.
Unlike either Webb or Pike, though, RAM came sprinting up to Wraith. He stopped easily in front of him, and Wraith, noticing that he had neither drawn his blade or his firearm, raised his eyebrow toward RAM.
"I thought you always wanted to fight, RAM?" Wraith asked matter-of-factly. In answer to this, RAM simply shrugged and shook his head lightly, though Wraith noticed he kept his eyes hungrily on the carnage of battle.
"Vell…I need to prepare my mind for the comingk battle with the Agent." RAM retorted this statement just as matter-of-factly as Wraith had said to him, as if he was insinuating that Wraith was acting dumb by not figuring this out for himself.
Rather than see it as insubordination, Wraith shrugged the comment out of his mind by thinking it a joking comment. He would have to help RAM with his English jokes. He nodded to RAM, and then snapped his neck both left and right, then motioned for RAM to follow him as he began to slowly make his way to the entrance to the catacombs.
He saw Ice Fox charging forward to one of the few remaining programs, on the far side courtyard, shouting an inaudible battle cry which shook the terrorist in his boots. Wraith noticed that his younger brother, Pike, was hot on his heels. Pike charged forward with amazing speed, and then leapt up sideways. Defying all the laws of gravity, he began to run along the wall, bringing his two swords into his hands in a stabbing position. He passed over Ice Fox sideways and jumped off the wall, cartwheeling and landing back into a run on the ground. His feet sped along the ground, and he neared the program, who began firing at him.
Without hearing it, Wraith knew his brother was laughing at the doomed terrorist as the programs oncoming doom sped ever closer. Pike jumped up and over the false terrorist, performing a corkscrew flip which had him land facing the program, whom all the time was firing wildly at him, and turned to face Pike.
That was a big mistake.
Ice Fox neared the false being and jabbed his gun into the small of his back, then smiled heartily and fired, ripping a hole in the program's torso and spewing guts and blood all over the courtyard's hard stone floor.
With only two live terrorists remaining, the courtyard now looked more like an untended graveyard than a once glorious hall of a king. Bodies littered the ground, and Wraith smiled as he noted that not a single member of the Freemind Commandoes had taken an injury. Any time an casualty was avoided was a good time.
As Webb fought the final foes at the entrance to the catacombs and Flash and Lost Hope reached the entrance, the other four began an awkwardly calm walk among bodies that littered the ground to the catacombs.
Webb preformed an amazing maneuver by swinging up his staff to hit a program terrorist in the chin, sending him flying straight up into the air. Webb then turned to the other and jumped up, using his staff for leverage, planted his feet on either side of the program's head, then twisted his heels, snapping his neck. Webb spun, utilizing his powers, and smacked the last terrorist in the gut as he came back down to the earth, sending him cascading along to ground to slide amazingly fast into the courtyard's outer wall headfirst, creating a hole with his primary appendage.
Flash looked downcast that there were no more enemies to kill. His shoulders drooped as he stood at the entrance to the catacombs, and Lost Hope sullenly hooked his gun into place on his back, then leant against the wall, crossing his arms. Both Ice Fox and Pike slowly walked to the others, Fox with his slow, powerful gait and long strides, Pike with his wiry smile and quick steps.
The seven converged at the catacomb entrance as RAM and Wraith approached, and Wraith wasted no time in glaring at his younger brother for no apparent reason aside to scold him for being so happy. Pike simply brought on a look of innocent confusion and shrugged with his arms, which made Wraith frustrated.
Wraith sighed and reached into his vest to pull out his cell phone, while keeping an evil eye on Pike, who retained his look of innocence. Before Wraith could even speak, his sister's voice rang into his ear.
"It's about time!" Wraith's sister said over the portable phone, and Wraith knew by her no-longer cheery tone that something was bad. Very bad.
"The Agent has sent us some friends."
"C'mon, Cosine, I don't have time for this shit! If it's bad, I need to know! Now!" By his sharp tone and harsh words, Cosine noted that because of her own fearful voice, she had struck fear in him. She also realized that she had to tell him all the information. Now.
"Well, I have good news and bad news, and some not so bad news," she stated, and dared to wait for a response from Wraith.
"Good news first," came a voice. But it wasn't Wraiths. It was Pike's. Wraith glared down at his brother, who shrunk back. At that point Wraith realized that discipline was another reason he was harsh with his brother. Pike would assume that because he and Wraith were of the same blood, he had more rights. Wraith had to prove him wrong in the only way he could, and thus he punished and oppressed his brother.
"Well," came the beautiful voice of Cosine, which brought Wraith from his reverie of thoughts. "The Agent dropped his protective bubble. I scanned the catacombs, and I can guide you to him.
"And there are ten more programs on their way to your position."
Wraith spoke next. "That news isn't so bad."
"Well, that was the not so bad news." Wraith heard a small chuckle in his microphone, and glared at the former Texan, Flash, who immediately donned a non-chalant gaze and shut up under the harsh eyes of Wraith.
"What is the bad news then?" Wraith asked his sister through the cell phone. Her voice began to get shaky.
"The Agent tagged them…added a note to them. It says 'Enjoy humans version 2.0. Good luck. You'll need it.'"
Wraith clearly noted fear rippling through a few members of the Freemind Commandoes, though he himself was more intrigued as to why the Agent had opted to tag them in the first place, and add humour to the tag at that. Something strange is going on here. This Agent definitely isn't normal.
Wraith's thoughts were interrupted by his sister's voice again. "Wraith, they're two hundred yards from you. And…and…they're utilizing powers to go at amazing speeds. They…they're going as fast as you do when you harness the Matrix."
At this note fear soon sped down Wraith's spine to numb his entire body. The Agent…he can create Matrix harnessers! His thoughts were once again interrupted, this time from a flurry of footfalls coming from the catacombs, growing nearer every second. The entire team, aside from Wraith set themselves into a fighting stance, either extending their gun or sword forward to point down the dark, descending tunnel.
"G…good luck, Wraith."
"See you soon, sis." Wraith inhaled deeply and closed the cell phone, placing it inside his vest again. He too brought his gun forward.
Then he saw them.
They were seven feet tall. They had arms as wide as an average person's waist. Their size matched that of Ice Fox, their speed like Webb's. Wraith had no doubt that they could fight like Pike either.
As the bestial programs closed on them, and dove towards the Freemind Commandoes, a single thought came to Wraith's mind.
This was going to be one hell of a fight.