All right, this is the first part of the two part series of the Siege. It's sort of like getting prepared for the big time battle. But it's just a warm up for what's ahead on the next chapter.

Chapter Notes

This part is like from Revolutions, where Captain Mifune orders Kid around. And of course Captain Mifune makes another appearance.

Narrative: Italics

Disclaimer: I don't own the Matrix.

Chapter 22: The Siege, part 1

LM: For some time, everyone in Zion, me included, was worried about what's going to happen. Commander Lock gave an order to all ships to make a counter attack at one of the access tunnels the machines were going to, by firing all their EMPs at the same time. It was suppose to be a good plan, but somehow it went terribly wrong. News got round that one of the ship's EMP went off too early before anyone was positioned for the attack. Just as soon as the machines arrived, they destroyed all the ships and killed everyone in it, a major slaughter. Everyone was upset about it, but I wasn't. The reason why, is because I was sure that Neo and the Nebuchadnezar wasn't in that mess. I was lucky about it. But the bad news is that the sentinels are almost digging their way into the Zion's docks. Lock then decided that in order to protect Zion, he has to stop the tunneling machines, or Diggers as they call them, so that the Machines won't enter Zion. In order for that to happen, he has to use all known defenses from APUs to multiple Sentry guns to hold the swarm of Sentinels. While at the same time, two people will fire the diggers legs by firing rocket launchers at them. Another thing is that he needs volunteers to help out on the siege by carry ammunition for the APUs guns and being part of the rocket launching team, which consist of two people per team. My team thought that they would help out in order to save the underground city. Me, I want to help out because I know that Neo would come back after this war is over. He made a promise he will never break it. And that's where we are, at the beginning of what will be the toughest fight of our lives.

At the Zion docks, everyone was going all over the place preparing for the encounter the machines. They were checking on the operating systems of the APUs, making checkups on the gun torrents that are all around main command center at the center of the docks, and look up on the ammunition of the APUs machine guns in the storage facilities. LM and his team, Last Hope, were hanging out, sitting on the steel crates. They were already assigned to their positions. LM, Kid, and Connecter were going carry the APUs ammunition while Silent Night, Kill Switch, Night Owl, and Max Speed are going to be rocket-launching brigade. LM was talking to his team about their jobs.

LM: Alright, you guys know what your tasks you have during this battle, right?

Silent Night: Yeah, me, Night Owl, Max Speed, and Kill Switch will work together taking out the Diggers legs. We need to work in two, so Max Speed will be with me loading the rockets while I fire.

Kill Switch: Same with us. Night Owl will load my rocket, and then I'll start blasting on the legs. This is going to be easy.

Night Owl: Hey LM, I can't believe you going to help carry ammo belts around. Why won't you join us blowing shit up?

LM: Because, they need more people here to help out. And since the soldiers around here are the only ones that can carry around the EMP rifles, this is the only job for recruits to handle.

Kill Switch: Or maybe the real reason that you want to stay here is because you want to see Neo again.

LM: Now don't start there Kill Switch, I don't want to bring that up. Besides, I'm not the only one that's going to be pushing carts around. Connecter and Kid are going to help me out on this as well.

Connecter: Speaking of Kid, where is that annoying son of a bitch?

Max Speed: He's moving ammo belt boxes to a couple of APUs; he kind of made a couple of slip offs.

Kill Switch: Yeah, that guy is such a cluts, operator or not.

LM: Take it easy team. We all have our mistakes these days, that's why we have erasers on pencils. I'm pretty sure he'll learn from his mistakes.

Just then, they heard a clank coming from the other end. The team turned around and saw Kid with piles of ammunition boxes that have exposed belts sticking out of one of the boxes.

LM: Then again…

Kid tried to get everything back up to the cart when Captain Mifune saw what happened and approached Kid, giving him an explanation. (Sound familiar?)

Night Owl: Oh boy, looks like he's going to have an earful from one of Lock's top generals.

Kill Switch: Yeah. If I were Kid, I would quit while he's ahead.

LM looked at Kid, knowing that he's doing his damndest to help out. He decided to walk over to Kid.

Max Speed: Captain, what the hell are you doing?

LM: (turn to look at his team) Helping Kid out.

He then continued walking to the argument. Kid, on the other hand, was trying to keep his cool from Mifune's discussion.

Kid: Give me a chance sir. I won't let you down.

Captain Mifune: You do, and you find me and the machines got something in common.

Mifune walked away from Kid, since he has other business to attend to. Kid, bowed and shook his head, knowing that he's going to make another mistake.

LM: You've got guts Kid, good thing you didn't get kicked out.

Kid turned around and sees LM looking at him with a concerned face.

Kid: Captain.

LM: Just call me LM, we are in a war now guess it's best you use just my code name till then. Here, let me help you.

Both LM and Kid got down and placed all the ammunition boxes back on the tray.

Kid: Thanks, this is the forth time I goofed up today.

LM: Don't mention it Kid. Still I can't believe that you sucked up to Mifune. Any person that would be face to face with him would of coward and start crying.

Kid: I know, it's just that I want to do my best at helping out, but sometimes I always make a mess of things. I don't know what I'm doing right.

LM: What do you mean? You are a great operator, and help us through every mission. You're not that clumsy.

Kid: Oh really? Before Neo found me, I never do anything right for my family, I get bad grades in high school, and I always get into big trouble. I'm not even good on the APU simulation. I'm just useless.

LM understood how it feels, since everyone has their ups and downs in their lives. He decided to comfort him with a few words of advice.

LM: No your not Kid, you're just doing what's right. Sure you screw up on a few things, but that doesn't mean you're not useless. You should understand that I myself have had my problems in my time, but I don't give up on what I'm doing. All you have to do is to believe in yourself, no matter what happens. Then you will prove to yourself that you are not as clumsy or useless then you think.

Kid look at LM and knew what he said was true.

Kid: Thanks LM.

LM: No problem. Now let's get all this ready for the war ahead.

Both LM and Kid returned to the team as they continued helping out the soldiers. An hour later, the machines were about to breach into the docks in five minutes. Soldiers were in their APUs ready for battle. Some of the volunteers were finishing up loading the ammo belt boxes into the main slots. Once everything's in place, all volunteers hurried back into the garage, which are packed with more ammo belt boxes incase an APU needs a reload. Half of Last Hope, LM, Kid, and Connecter, were in the garage with two more boxes of ammo belts, while the rest of the team were in the lower levels ready to take out the diggers.

Connecter: Damn, this is going to be extreme. Do you know that once we pass through the gate, we'll be in the middle of a battlefield?

Kid: Yeah, I'm getting nervous about this too. This is going to be tough. I don't know if we'll be able to get back in one piece.

LM: Tell me about it. This is the real world, not the Matrix. I don't know if we will stay alive from all this. And I'm pretty damn sure that the rest of the team handling the Diggers knows what they're doing.

Just then, a soldier carrying an EMP rifle approached the three, noticing their worried faces.

Zion Soldier: Are you three scared?

The three volunteers looked at the soldier and nodded.

Zion Soldier: We're all scared. You have to be crazy not to be scared. Don't worry about it, us soldiers will watch your back.

LM: (sarcastic) Thanks, we feel much better.

Suddenly, a crash was heard and then an explosion coming from the lower levels.

LM: Sounds like they're here.

At the docks, all the APUs were at their positions looking up at the big hole one of the Diggers made. They then heard a buzzing noise, which could only mean one thing, the sentinels are coming down.

Captain Mifune: BUCKLE UP!

All the APUs grabbed their huge SMG's from their back and aimed them at the hole. The buzzing sound just got louder and louder as the sentinels making their way into the docks. Captain Mifune then said the two words that would be the starting point of the final battle.

Captain Mifune: FOR ZION!

And that's the first part of the Siege, or to be more précised, the cliffhanger for the next chapter. Stay tune for part two, it's going to take some time, but I'll get through it. Please Review.