Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters. I am writing this purely for non-profit amusement.
A/N: As this is my first serial, I would really appreciate it if you could review! Thanks!
Chapter 2: Retrieval Operation
"X5-494 reporting, Sir!" 494 snapped a salute, standing at perfect attention.
"At ease, soldier" Lydecker turned to 494. The thirteen year old boy was standing with eyes fixed to the front. The soldier's posture relaxed slightly at his words. 494's uniform was immaculate. Lydecker noted that like all other soldiers since they turned 12, 494 had been letting his hair grow. It helped them to blend in when deployed on away missions.
"494, I have an assignment for you."
494 waited. He knew that he was not expected to say anything.
"I am sure you were aware of the incident in '09? Manticore had since been keen to find these AWOL soldiers. We have received intelligence indicating that one of them may be in Seattle. You will be sent there to extract the rogue soldier. X5-480 will accompany you on this mission as your back-up. You will brief him as necessary."
Lydecker handed a folder to 494, "You will find all the information you need here. Keep in mind that the picture was taken more than 2 years ago, hence there may be some changes in her appearance. A picture of her twin, X5-453, is included. They should bear close resemblance to each other in appearance."
494 took the folder wordlessly.
"Any questions?"
"Sir, when will I be deployed?"
"Immediately."
494 leaned against the lamp post, monitoring the area discreetly, patiently. People in all form, shape, size and ages were bustling across the street. 480 was positioned not too far from him, eyes also canvassing the area around them. They were both implanted with hidden communication devices behind their ears so they could alert each other when required.
This was not 494's first mission. He had been on a few missions, and had achieved all the required mission objectives. When he had been given the brief on this mission, he had been surprised. Somewhat pleasantly surprised, even. Now he could get back at one of the '09 rogues who made his life a living nightmare few years ago.
"494. You there?" The voice in 494's ear almost made him jump.
"Yeah. Anything to report?" 494 asked his unit member.
"Sightings of a female matching the description of our objective. 4 o'clock from your position."
494 shuffled inconspicuously such that he faced in the direction indicated by 480. A small, thin girl with dark hair was crossing the road. She was dressed in loose, ill-fitting clothes. And she was shivering. Probably because of the cold, 494 thought. He could feel the chill in the air, even though he was well-wrapped in a woollen jumper.
494's pupils dilated as he tried to detect the presence of a barcode behind her neck. It was obscured by her hair, he noted in frustration.
"480, we need to confirm the identity of the subject. I will make contact. Follow me and be prepared to provide back-up."
494 started off following the girl at a safe distance. He knew that he needed to get to the girl in a less crowded location. She was walking towards a shop. He was almost behind her when the crowd began to thin out.
He waited until she was passing an alley.
A quick blur, too quick to be noticed by human eyes, and he pushed her into the deserted alley and grabbed her from behind.
"Hey! What's your problem!" she yelled in surprise, struggling to get free. He was holding her arms down tight against her side. She tried to twist free of his hold.
494 did not answer. As he held her small struggling body facing away from him, a thought crossed his mind, This was no transgenic. Any transgenic would have fought a lot harder than this and would be much more difficult to subdue. Must have gotten the wrong girl.
He loosened his grip, letting her collapse on her knees to the ground. She was shaking.
Just as he turned to walk away, she stopped shaking. She pushed herself up and took off at a run without a backward glance. He paused and turned around at the sound of her feet rapidly increasing the distance between them. His eyes narrowed. With his enhanced eyesight, he could see her hair swishing up her neck while she ran.
There was a barcode behind her neck.
Without a moment's hesitation, 494 went after her.
"480, we have visual on the subject. Follow me and apprehend" 494 calmly said while he chased after the girl.
A minute later, she turned around the corner. 494 followed in her steps not far behind her. Reaching the corner, he looked around to find that she had vanished. 480 caught up with him a few moments later.
"Where is she?" 480 asked, barely breathing hard after the chase.
"She is still in this vicinity. Couldn't have gone too far. She would be hiding" 494 said as his sharp eyes swept the area.
494 berated himself inwardly. He had her. And he had let her go. He wanted this mission to go well not only for Manticore, but also for himself. He needed to do this for his own satisfaction. Those '09-ers would pay for all the time he spent in psy-ops.
"480, we will spread out to cover more ground."
Max squatted behind a dumpster, occasionally shaking. She looked out furtively along the alley to the street. There was no one around.
That was way too close, she thought. She had been feeling tired all day because of the seizures. Dani was out, so she had to go find some milk which she knew sometimes helped with the seizures.
Questions started to enter her mind. Who's that boy? Why is he chasing me? Is he Manticore? Another X-series? Now that she had thought through it, she realised that her assailant could not possibly be a normal human. Even in her weakened state, she could feel the superhuman strength in his arms when he had grabbed her. She had never been chased by another X-series before, and she was not sure she liked the situation she was in now.
Seizure. No milk. And a persistent X-series after her.
"Could this day suck any worse?" she groaned silently.
Yes it can, she thought as her body was wracked with stronger seizures. She tried to stand up, wobbled on her feet, and sat back down. Black and red spots were swimming in front of her.
She passed out.
480 approached the alley carefully, not wanting to alert anyone with his presence. With his enhanced hearing, he had heard a soft thud from across the street. Pressing his back against the wall, he silently rounded the corner into the alley.
In the alley, he spotted a dumpster. He approached the dumpster. The girl was lying on her side, and she appeared to be unconscious.
480 treaded softly so that he did not wake her. As he got closer, her eyes snapped open revealing large brown eyes.
Before she could run, 480 pounced and grabbed her.
"Let me go!" she shrieked, struggling unsuccessfully trying to detach his arms from around her.
"Stop struggling!" he hissed, tightening his grip and covering her mouth with his hand, not wanting her screams to attract any unwanted attention.
494 heard the commotion over his comms and came running into the alley. He saw the girl subdued by 480. He walked over to them. He was greeted by 480's grim expression and the girl's startled and confused gaze. She stopped struggling as she saw his face for the first time. Her eyes widened, seemingly in recognition.
"Ben?" she whispered hopefully.
"What?" 494 frowned in confusion.
"You look like someone I used to know," she said, as she obviously realised that he was not the person she thought he was.
"Well, my designation's 494," he informed her.
"His was 493. You must be twinned," she mused.
494 nodded, curling his lips in disgust. "493...Your fellow traitor. Shame he's not with you, otherwise you could have some company when you are back in Manticore. 493, like the rest of you rogues is a traitor."
"Shut up!" Max yelled. It was hard to hear those words coming from someone who looked so much like Ben.
494 moved his face closer to hers. "What? Can't take a bit of truth? Traitor! Rat! Deserter! Coward!" he taunted, glaring into her eyes.
Max jerked forward, trying to get at 494. 480 held her back easily, staring at his CO with a frown. It was not necessary to antagonise the subject, 480 thought.
494 mentally shook his head. He had her before and she had tried to get away, but she was weak. He wondered…could a few years on the outside weaken them that much? 480 only had his arms around her and she could not escape?
He crouched beside 480 and the now struggling girl. He reached out a hand and pushed aside her hair to reveal her neck.
332960073452.
"It's her," 494 smirked in satisfaction.
End Flashback
THUMP! Max landed on the mat, startled out of her reverie. I am going to get 494 for this, she vowed.
"Get up, soldier. That's enough for you today." Hales said.
Max stood at attention with the rest of the X-series. She did not know any of them. There were three units of X-5s and the rest were other X-series. She was not in any of their units. The Drill Sergeant, Hales, stood in front of them, giving them their assignments for the day.
"Unit 1 to the assault course with Sergeant Rhys, Unit 3 to rifle range with Sergeant Miller and Unit 4 to the lecture hall 1 for intel and surveillance. Unit 5 and 6 to Seek and Destroy exercise with Sergeant Wade. Unit 7 to Med Bay and Unit 8 to Comms room. Fall-out,"
The units marched smartly to their assignments, leaving Max standing alone with Hales.
"452, return to Solitude."
"Sir, yes, sir!"
Max saluted smartly and turned heading towards the building housing the facility for psy-ops reindoctrination and the cell which had been her home for the last 6 months.
She shivered inwardly. It had been a nightmare. It was only recently that she was allowed out, to help out with demonstration; another form of Manticore's more lenient punishment. Probably also to prepare her for reintroduction to her new unit. She had been in psy-ops for almost whole of the first 3 months, and when she was not in psy-ops for reindoctrination, she was in the discipline room, the tank, med bay or solitude.
DISCIPLINE - MANTICORE
DUTY - MANTICORE
TEAMWORK - MANTICORE
ENEMY – '09-ers
TRAITOR – '09-ers
REBELS – '09-ers
BETRAYER – '09-ers
All the words flash in Max's eyes as she recalled her time in psy-ops. Strange, she had felt awful at first, but later she just felt numb. She remembered the pain when the laser entered her eyes, her little body jerking against the wrist and ankle restraints.
She also remembered the tasers and the guards. And Lydecker.
Flashback
"State your designation" Lydecker had said.
"My name is Max!"
The taser caused a flash of piercing pain in her side.
"State your designation"
"MAX!"
And on and on it went. She had only seen Lydecker for the first week, and then someone else took over - Ronalds.
"State your designation!"
"My NAME is MAX"
Flash of pain hit her as the taser came into contact with her. Ear ringing from a smack by Ronalds, Max began to be dizzy. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Hmm…I didn't know that rebellion is frowned upon in Manticore? Oops! Of come on, just a bit of rebellion is good for the soul, she thought Keeps everyone on their toes! She grinned.
"What are you smiling at? State your designation!"
"State your designation!"
"State your designation!"
So on and on it continued for weeks. Sometimes it was the taser, sometimes red hot lasers in the eyes; sometimes it was the tank, sometimes scalpel blades, finger clamps, compression box, sensory deprivation, sensory overload and starvation. The list of torture Manticore came up in the name of reindoctrination was endless. She took everything they threw at her. She did not give in.
She could not see and she could not walk. After one particularly bad session, they had dragged her off and left her in a pitch black box. She sat, leaning against the wall, bleeding from the tasers and from the smacks from Ronalds.
1 day…
No food and water. Just sleep.
2 days…
Still no food and water. Sleep. Don't think!
3 days...
I will not give in! Max thought weakly. Licking her cracked and parched lips.
4 days…
Okay, Max. What good will you be to anyone if you are dead? She thought to herself. Pull yourself together and THINK!
5 days…
Survival instinct kicked in. Right. So be it, she decided.
6 days…
The door clanked open. She blinked against the sudden glare of light. The guards took her, each holding one of her arms. They brought her to Ronalds.
"Attention, soldier!"
Max pulled herself up as straight as she could, ignoring the screaming pain in her limbs from days of not moving. She stared forward.
"Sir!"
Ronalds took in the sight in front of him. The shoulder length hair, caramel skin with a pale tinge, the dried blood caking her lips and nose, the dusty hospital gown, the expressionless eyes. He was amazed that she could stand at attention after all that time without food and water. Part of him felt regret for what she had to go through. But she was a soldier who represents millions of dollars in research and development, and she needed to be taught a lesson.
"State your designation"
"X5-452, Sir!"
Stunned silence. Ronalds was not sure whether to believe her or not. He searched her eyes for any sign of defiance.
None.
"Let's try that again. State your designation!"
"X5-452, Sir!"
"Is your name Max?"
"No sir!"
Ronalds sighed. He was glad that she had finally decided to conform. Re-training and further reindoctrination would take care of the rest.
"452, for the next 6 month, you will be undergoing a programme for reindoctrination and re-training to ensure that you are on par with your fellow soldiers. Until the completion of the programme, you will be in isolation. If the programme is successful, you will be reassigned to a unit. Dismissed."
She saluted.
"Guards, bring her to the basement cell"
Max almost collapsed then. The basement was where the Nomlies live. Ben told them that they are monsters. Stop it, Max! A voice in her head said. Manticore cannot re-train you if you are dead! The Nomlies may be monsters, but you can deal with it when you have to. This is just to scare you. She sighed in resignation to the voice in her head as she tried to banish her childhood monsters.
End Flashback
Max grinned when she thought back to the first night shehad spentin the basement cell.
When they had left her, she had been scared out of her mind. She had heard the Nomlies screaming in pain and for food. It had been downright frightening. She had sat and wrapped her arms around her legs, trying to comfort herself.
Then a hairy head had appeared at the grill on her door, peering curiously at her. She had choked her scream down her throat. The hairy head had grunted, and sniffed.
"Cat" it had said.
Max had jumped to her feet, and backed further into her cell. She had backed right into the wall.
"Y-you can speak? Who are you?" she had stammered nervously.
The creature had sniffed in the air again.
"You - cat. I – Joshua. Father called me Joshua"
Max had then inched slowly to the door, her curiosity getting the better of her.
"Father? Lydecker?"
The creature had snorted in disgust, "No, father – Sandeman"
"Okay" Max had been able see his features then. He looked and smelled like a dog. "I guess they put too much canine DNA in your cocktail, huh!"
Joshua had given her a crooked smile, "Cocktail – cat in your cocktail"
So she that had been how she had found her first friend in Manticore.
t.b.c