"Where is he?" Sub-Zero demanded the second he walked through the door.
"I'm sorry, Colonel Briggs, he just-"
"That's alright, Hoffman," Jax assured his secretary as she followed the ice-wielding ninja into the room. "Go about your duties." The young woman saluted uneasily before leaving and closing the door behind her. "Sub-Zero."
"Colonel Briggs." Though they had fought together three times now, Jax and Sub-Zero's relationship remained entirely professional. "The Lin Kuei continue to hound me. I have little time for pleasantries."
"All business, huh? You and Sonya should get together for coffee some time. He's this way." Jax led Sub-Zero down a number of halls. The salutes he received by proxy as they advanced reminded Kuai Liang of the days he would walk through the Lin Kuei compound with his brother, receiving many bows as a sign of respect towards Bi-Han.
Eventually, Jax pushed open a pair of double doors and stepped aside for Sub-Zero to see. The room was filled with all sorts of machinery, quite reminiscent of the Lin Kuei cyberisation lab. From the metallic arms on display in a nearby cabinet, this was where Jax had his implants installed. Off to the side, a gurney was cluttered with random pieces of distinctive yellow and black armour. A pair of wrist consoles, a yellow breastplate, and that haunting yellow mask with dreadlock-like razor-sharp cables.
A door off to the side opened up, and in walked Sonya Blade. Sonya had recently received a promotion, according to Jax's small-talk on the way. Major Blade took one look at Sub-Zero and said, "He's through here." Efficient as ever. Sub-Zero liked that.
The next room was an infirmary for those recovering from, or awaiting, their operations. While it seemed unwise to keep them so close to the operating room and risking it triggering some sort of trauma, it was vital that the patients have quick access to the operating room in the event something went wrong with their augments. Bodily rejection was common, after all; and a slightly misaligned mechanical nerve receptor could damage the subject's brain permanently. The room currently had only one patient.
"Cyrax."
The dark-skinned man turned his head in the direction of Sub-Zero's voice. It had been over two years since Sub-Zero had seen Cyrax's face. Or any part of his original form, for that matter.
"Bi-Han?" His voice was weak, strained. Sub-Zero stepped closer and was stunned to see just how little of the man remained. The cyberisation process had been thorough, and most of the alterations would be impossible to remove without risk of death. Sub-Zero shuddered to think what Smoke was going through - wherever he was. Despite the mix-up and the unpleasant memories seeing Cyrax stirred up within him, Kuai Liang felt a sense of relief upon hearing his natural, non-robotic voice again.
"I'm afraid not, Cyrax," Sub-Zero responded, taking a seat by his old comrade's side and lifting his brother's mask from his face. Cyrax had been of the same class as Bi-Han and Sektor, above Kuai Liang and Tomas. Kuai Liang didn't even know Cyrax's personal name, but he had always been respectful and friendly towards his juniors - even moreso than Bi-Han, Kuai Liang had to admit.
"You've taken up your brother's mask."
"I keep his memory alive as I fight to defend Earthrealm."
Cyrax nodded in understanding, before his expression turned sour. "Kuai Liang, I-"
"Your actions were not you own, Cyrax. No more than Smoke's are his. Only Sektor can be held accountable for his actions. And I swear, upon the memory of my brother, that he will be held accountable."
"You plan to challenge him."
"I do. And I will restore the Lin Kuei's honour as a force for the betterment of Earthrealm."
Cyrax smiled weakly. "You honour your brother's memory, Kuai Liang. Wherever his soul found itself after his death, I'm sure he's proud of you."
Kuai Liang smiled in turn. "Thank you, Cyrax." The two continued to catch up for around an hour, Kuai Liang filling his bedridden comrade in on many of the finer details that had transpired in the previous two years, filling in the gaps left by his saviour's explanations. It was refreshing for both men to have a Lin Kuei comrade to speak to again, after two long years. Kuai Liang even learned Cyrax's real name - an honour reserved only for the closest of comrades in the Lin Kuei. Eventually, though, Kuai Liang had to bring the subject back around to Sektor.
"What can you tell me about Sektor's location? His defences?"
"Before I shut down in the desert, I noticed that his signal stayed inside the cyber factory for an unusual amount of time. He was still there when I shut down, and again when I reactivated. It's likely he's moved his operations there. It's built into an old quarry about half a mile south of the main compound. Last I checked before my connection to the network was disabled by your comrades, the Cyber Initiative had extended to around 70% of the entire clan roster. A few were away on missions and ambushed on the way back to make the conversion easier to cover up. I know Hydro was away, and he wasn't registered as taken by the time I lost contact. That was two weeks ago, though. If you've not heard from them by then, they've likely been converted or killed."
"And the Grandmaster has allowed this?"
Cyrax shifted uncomfortably in his bed. "The Grandmaster is dead, Kuai Liang."
"What?"
"Sektor killed him about a year ago, according to the network records. He's the Grandmaster now."
"Then, the Lin Kuei truly is a lost cause..."
"The process of automation has sped up considerably since then. And I saw mention of some upgrades he's installed in himself, but I didn't get a chance to learn more before I was disconnected."
"There is no cause for concern. Thank you, Cyrax. You focus on recovering. Leave Sektor to me." With that, Sub-Zero stood and turned to leave.
"You're going after him alone?" Cyrax bolted upright in his bet, hurting his chest in the process. Sonya had to step forward to push him back down.
"I hate to say it, Sub-Zero," she said, "but I think Cyrax is right. You've said the Lin Kuei is big, right? And Sektor's probably conscripted a hell of a lot more people since Cyrax last checked in."
"And even without the decades of training or inherent powers you have," Jax chimed in, "those guys're still augmented." He clenched his own augmented arm - a new design from what Sub-Zero could tell. "You'll need backup."
Sub-Zero held up a hand. "I appreciate the lack of confidence, Colonel Briggs," he said in an almost sardonic tone. "But you've no cause to worry. My brother defeated an Elder God four years ago. And I have long since surpassed him."
"That overconfidence will get you killed, Kuai Liang!" Cyrax exclaimed. "You've never beaten Sektor alone. And with an army at his back-"
"Your first mistake was assuming I meant I had surpassed my brother in power alone. A mistake Sektor has, no doubt, also made. My brother did not defeat Shinnok in a duel. He used stealth and intelligence to overcome his foe. I shall simply do the same."
"Even if you can sneak in there undetected and get the drop on him, you'll need some backup for the actual fight, if it comes."
"While I don't doubt your ability to hold your own in a fight, Colonel, the Lin Kuei have had electromagnetic fields that are targeted towards other forms of technology since long before the Cyber Initiative. Even if their origin is the same, the Lin Kuei will have tweaked the designs enough that they could disable your SF tech without hampering their own. And firearms will only get you so far against their armoured chassis. Ice, on the other hand..." A visible cold emanated from Sub-Zero's clenched fist.
"What about Cage? Or the Shaolin?"
"They have their own duties to attend to. As I have mine."
"If you have a chance, bring us back a sample of this disruptor tech," Sonya requested. "It could be useful against the Black Dragon and anyone else using Doctor Rotwang's designs."
"Once the Lin Kuei is wrested from Sektor's iron grip, you may have everything within the factory. My Lin Kuei will have little use for it."
Sonya nodded in response, a slight curve to her lips that looked uncanny to Sub-Zero.
Again, Sub-Zero turned to leave and, again, was stopped by Cyrax.
"Sub-Zero! If you can, please send the others that were forcibly automated to us so we can help them cope with the change. If not... then you must end their suffering." The determination in Cyrax's brown eyes was something Sub-Zero had not seen in a long time.
"You have my word, Tabansi. The Lin Kuei will start fresh once Sektor's stain on its legacy has been wiped from this Earth. Whatever the means, I will free their souls." And with that, he left, a thick layer of frost coating the metal door handle as a sign of things to come.
A little late for #MortalMay thanks to all the videos I was making, but May's the 5th month, so I get a five day extension for this. Or, at least, that was the case when I released it on DeviantArt a month ago...
