Ok, I know this one took me quite a while and I'm sorry for that but RL sucks at the moment.
I will try to update more regularly but I really can't promise anything right now.
Hope you're still out there!
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c00kieMonster: Glad you liked it. So here's the next one!
JOUNOUCHI sama: To be honest I'm not sure yet if I will bring up the Conclave, but yes, it is a possibility. Thanks.
Alan Grey: I hope you still have your job. As much fun reading ff's can be getting fired would be a little bit too much for my liking. First of all: Glad your back. Then: You'll see what Max is going to do now Logan has become a direct thread to Manticore, she isn't completely brainwashed like we've seen it with Brin. I like the suggestions you made about Max's behaviour and the possibilities between Lydecker and Logan and also about the attackers from the previous chapter. Lots of ideas floating around in my head again but I will need some time to decide where exactly this will go. About the different medical problems that still exist throughout the X-series; I thought about bringing it up but until now there hasn't been a good occasion but I won't forget about it. Thanks again for your review and I hope you're still out there.
Divine Fighter: Like I said before, it will not be M/L, so your chances for M/A are still intact *gg* glad you liked the scene between Wolf and Kyla, I wasn't sure if I got it well enough.
452max: Well, I know you had to wait a little bit for this update but here it is. Have fun!
Anoni: Thanks to you, too. As for the pairing...well, you know it already ;)
roseyangel: You're mean! Can't just put them in PsyOps now, can I? ;) just kidding, you'll see what happens to them later.
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Thank you very much! I know I made you wait longer than usual but I hope you're all still out there!
Read and enjoy!
char list
X5-154 aka Nova The blond transgenic is the medic of unit two. She's one of the smallest X5 but nevertheless can take care of herself just fine. Other than that she's one of the X5 with the most experience in missions outside Manticore. Has no shark DNA.
X5-194 aka Blade Member of unit two. The Asian woman is one of the few that could actually beat her CO or her 2IC in a hand-to-hand combat. She is almost obsessed with any sort of blades and usually tries not to use firearms. Has no shark but snake DNA.
X5-210 aka Jondy As children Max and Jondy had been in unit one and escaped together in '09. Jondy got caught by Lydecker months before Max and has joined unit two. She is loyal to Manticore and her unit but this doesn't mean she likes everybody around the base. Eventually she even refers to Lydecker that he 'can be an asshole sometimes'. Nevertheless she chose to stay out of her free will and hopes Max will be in her unit for she deeply cares about her younger sister.
X5-258 aka Nitro Member of unit two. The young blond man adores every sort of vehicle. He's one of the more unsettled X5. KIA
X5-301 aka Kyla 2IC of unit two. Usually paired with Wolf during their missions. The two of them have the most experience throughout the X-series when it comes to combat missions and search and destroy and both of them are very well trained in close quarter combat and hand-to-hand fights.
X5-367 aka Havoc Member of unit two. The black haired and tanned transgenic is the unit's expert when it comes to explosives. He is almost as calm as 439 and is known for his subtle sense of humor. Has no shark DNA.
X5-439 aka Artemis Member of unit two. She's the sniper of her unit. Her rather calm and controlled self helps the others from getting out of hand too much. Like Wolf and Kyla she keeps her brown hair very short as she thinks it would hinder her otherwise.
X5-451 aka Wolf CO of unit two and Max's genetic brother. His intense grey eyes and very short black hair clearly let him look like the soldier he is. His knowlegde about almost every sort of combat make him an enemy to be feared. He deeply cares about those under his command although he hardly ever shows it.
X5-494 aka Alec Member of unit two and third in the chain of command. He has become sort the unit's unofficial leader as Wolf and Kyla often are on outside missions. He can be sort of a smart ass sometimes but he usually knows when to stop. Has no shark DNA.
X5-526 aka Bear Member of unit two. He's the biggest and strongest X5 in the unit and prefers heavy weapons. Nevertheless he's very gentle and almost never gets angry. Has no shark DNA.
X5-734 aka Brin After her return to Manticore she underwent a very brutal reindoctrination which left her brainwashed and only partly able to make independent decisions. She has been under Director Renfro's command until Renfro had to leave the Wyoming facility. Currently Brin's not part of a unit but assigned to where she's needed.
X5-798 aka Jace She was the only one staying behind during the '09 escape out of her free will. She's currently a member of unit five.
"As most of you know" Lydecker said looking at the assembled X5 units "this facility has been attacked today. What you don't know yet is that the attacker was one of the X5 who escaped in '09; X5-599."
The big screen behind him jumped to live showing Zack's attack on the checkpoint earlier that day. None of the present X5 moved or showed a sign of surprise, they just watched the security camera footage analyzing the attack on the four guards. After Zack had left the scene the screen went black again.
"X5-599 tried to get access to the security computer system but failed. According to our analysis this wasn't an unplanned attack, never mind how much it looks just like that" Lydecker went on with his explanations. "We believe 599 or whoever is behind this will most probably be back and whatever it is they're planning we must be ready. The X7 perimeter patrols have been doubled and the X5 and X6 units will further reinforce them. We are planning to send out several recon teams to try and locate 599 or any other hostile force. I want you all ready to leave tomorrow at 0500. The units' COs are to assure the armament and equipment of their teams. Units 2 to 4 will be out on recon while units 5 and 6 will reinforce the perimeter guard. The rest of you will stay here as your backup. All of you will get further information from your drill instructors. Any questions?"
Lydecker stopped and looked around but none of his X5 spoke up. They just kept looking at him attentively.
"Good. Now I want everybody to be clear about this. X5-599 was one of the best unit commanders before he escaped in '09. He was able to escape Manticore black ops at the age of nine so don't underestimate him or whoever is with him. If you find something you contact command and the backup units will be with you shortly. This is a search and destroy mission but if possible bring every hostile you find back here alive, understood?"
"SIR, YES SIR!" a chorus of voices answered him.
"Excellent. Unit commanders, prepare your teams! You will leave tomorrow at 0500! Dismissed!"
Lydecker watched them leave and felt more than confident that they would be able to locate and neutralize Zack but he also knew they were in trouble. Despite the fact the '09 escapees seemingly were out there the men that had attacked unit two in Joliet still were not identified and from what he had read in the reports they hadn't been the usual sort of mercenaries. Somebody was after him and his kids and until now he didn't have a clue who it was.
While her unit made the way back to their barracks Max's thoughts were racing. She knew Zack better than the members of her team and while Lydecker only suspected that his first appearance was just the beginning of an oncoming attack she was absolutely sure about it; he was here to free her and Jondy, maybe he even thought he could get Brin out, too.
And she couldn't let it happen.
She knew the defensive capabilities of the facility better than Zack and from whatever point of view she analyzed the situation every possible attack would end in a disaster. The most promising possibility was that he would try to lure them out again to their defensive positions like he had done today and try to get her and Jondy out but this would mean he would have to attack her unit.
Even if he wasn't alone she doubted he would be able to succeed; Wolf and Kyla were extraordinary soldiers and their combat experience exceeded his many times over and the others of her unit were better trained than he was, too; after all it had been a long time since he'd left Manticore and she knew from her own experience that being on the outside for so long softened even an X5 no matter how hard they tried to train themselves.
And even if he would succeed, it would mean he would have to neutralize the rest of her unit and knowing Zack she was afraid he would use whatever force necessary to do so and she couldn't let that happen either. She'd grown to like her fellow X5; they accepted her and after all the time she'd spent with them they'd become friends.
Family.
It was the first time she really thought about them like about her old unit; The calm Artemis and Kyla, the fierce Blade, the amicable Nova and of course her brother Wolf and all the others. They'd become her new family and she would do everything possible to keep her family from harm.
Twisted thing was she thought the same about Zack and the others. Thinking about it intensely enough it became clear that after the incident at the Docks in Seattle he'd most probably contacted the others – Tinga, Krit, perhaps even Syl – for his next step. Regroup, so to speak. If he'd done what he'd been trained to do they were spread out all around the base now watching the facility they'd escaped a decade ago waiting for their chance to strike.
And most likely Logan was somewhere around; she knew he wouldn't forget about her and to a mission like the one Zack was probably about to pull off a communications expert was indispensable.
Despite all the time she had spent in PsyOps she still thought of Logan as a very good friend and Zack, Krit and the others she'd been with during her first years of life would always be her siblings but glancing around at her team members when they entered the barracks she decided she wouldn't let anything happen to them if there was a possibility to prevent it.
While the others, first of all those without shark DNA, got to their cells and started to undress to get some hours of sleep before they had to report to their instructor Max put on a black combat uniform and grabbed a few things from her locker she would need outside.
Suddenly she felt like she was being watched. She turned around and got aware of Jondy standing in her door looking at her with a mixture of apprehension and understanding. The two women stared at each other before Jondy smiled almost invisibly and nodded slightly. No words were spoken but they understood each other just like they had all those years ago. Judging from the look in her eyes Jondy had the same thoughts like her and seeing her sister preparing to leave was all it took the brown haired transgenic to make her decision. Max looked at her and felt relief; she wouldn't have to go alone.
Jondy signaled her to wait and disappeared. Max finished her preparations and closed the locker. Looking around she took in all the little belongings she had. It wasn't much; in fact it was much less than she'd had in Seattle but it was all she needed and she knew she put everything on the line she had achieved since she'd come home.
But she had to do this. She couldn't allow Zack and her siblings to go on a suicide mission, couldn't allow Logan to risk his life for it and she certainly couldn't allow them to attack her unit.
And all of that because they wanted to get her out of Manticore although she didn't want to. When she realized what she had been thinking she froze. Was that really her or was it PsyOps messing with her head again?
'No!' she decided after endless seconds, this was not PsyOps. She knew it would be hard to explain it to them, perhaps even impossible but she had to try.
Suddenly Jondy appeared again wearing the same sort of uniform Max did. She looked just as anxious as her little sister felt but both of them knew what they were planning had to be done.
"Ready?" she asked in a quiet voice. Max nodded and together they left her cell. They didn't get far.
"What are you doing?" Max cringed at hearing his voice. He stood in the middle of the corridor blocking their way.
"We're gonna neutralize the thread" Jondy answered simply.
"We will leave tomorrow morning" he replied and his voice sounded strained. He tried to look relaxed but both women could see he wasn't at all. "Go back to your cells!"
"No!" Max replied calmly.
"No?"
"What's going on here?" a tired Blade asked appearing behind Wolf.
"I don't know" he answered without looking away from the two X5 in their black uniforms. "Ask them!"
Blade looked at her two team members a little bit surprised.
"We're leaving tonight" Max started to explain. "We will find X5-599 and neutralize the thread."
"I can't let you go." Now his voice had an almost threatening undertone.
"Can somebody please tell me what is going on?" Kyla had left her cell, too, and joined Wolf and Blade. Slowly the rest of the team appeared as well and all of them looked at the strange scene taking place in confusion. Without really thinking about it they formed a circle around Wolf and the two female X5.
"I will not let you go!" Wolf insisted. "Go back to your cells and we'll forget all of this ever took place."
"It's the only way!" Jondy answered.
"The only way to do what?" he snapped and Max felt her sister flinch slightly. "Insubordination never is the right way, both of you should know that!"
"It's not insubordination" Max objected. "Lydecker wants us to make sure Zack won't attack this facility and we know a way how to do so."
"Then tell me and we'll do it together!"
"It will only be possible for the two of us. If he sees only one of you with us it won't work."
"What are you talking about?" Kyla looked at her and Max could clearly see her 2IC was interested yet still suspicious.
"Jondy and I will leave the base and move to the nearest town." Max didn't fully where all the details of her plan came from but being an X5 she had always been able to think very quickly, sometimes without even noticing it. "From there we will call Logan Cale's old apartment and you can be sure he will notice the call. I wouldn't be surprised if he's even listening to the wireless talk on the base right now. We will wait until they come to us. And then we will make sure they'll leave us alone."
She looked at Jondy and her sister nodded. It had been almost exactly the same thing she'd been thinking except for calling at Logan's place.
"How?" Wolf almost seemed interested, too.
"We will convince them."
His eyes darkened. "And how the hell do you think you can 'convince' them? You ask them nicely to leave?"
"They're here because of us" Jondy explained without hesitation although she could see her CO was about to explode. "They think we want to get out of here. If we can make them understand we don't maybe they'll leave."
"Are you two out of your mind?" he hissed through clenched teeth. "Do you have any idea what they will do to you in PsyOps when they find out? And apart from that this idiotic plan of yours will never work. As soon as they got you they'll take you with them by force!"
"You don't know them as well as we do" Max sounded more confident than she felt. She could sense the nervousness of the others around her and she understood all too well. What they were trying to do resembled the '09 escape.
"And you do? Are we talking about the same people? Because you know, as I remember it 599 tried to sell us to the reds!"
"He was desperate at that time. He isn't anymore, trust me."
"Trust you?" Now he sounded almost surprised. "Trust you? You want to leave this base without an order – which is, if I remember correctly, called desertion – and you tell me to trust you?"
"Yes, I do!" Max replied suddenly feeling angry herself. "I could have disappeared in Joliet before even one of you would have noticed I was gone and Jondy has been on a deep covert ops already and she came back!"
"Our loyalty is to Manticore and to our unit" Jondy added almost pleadingly. "To you. To all of you. We never deceived you and we're not doing it now either. But you have to understand that they're our siblings, too. If we won't make them leave they will attack this unit and you know they'll be losses on both sides and that's something I can't let happen. Max and I can prevent that."
"You know we're not lying" Max said looking around at her fellow X5. "Think about it! If it were one of you out there wouldn't you try and prevent him from attacking this unit? From risking his life and the ones of your teammates at the same time? You'd do the very same thing and you know it! And you know you can trust us, don't you?"
They still looked at her, most of them nervous and confused, but after a moment Nova suddenly nodded. Then Blade and Artemis and then all of them except for Kyla and Wolf. Jondy looked at her CO sadly.
"Don't you trust us?"
"That's not the right question. I can't allow you to…" he suddenly stopped when Kyla put her hand on his shoulder. He shot her a warning glance but she ignored it.
"Sometimes" she spoke slowly carefully choosing each of her words, "a commanding officer has to trust his soldiers although he doesn't know if they're right. He has to trust their judgment and their loyalty even if he can't be sure they'll do the right thing. That's what trust is about."
She looked at the two women before her and Max could see her inner conflict.
"I do trust you" Kyla finally said in a very serious voice, "although I know you were '09 escapees and your plan is anything else than a good one. It's a tactical nightmare and I think your personal feelings prevent you from seeing that. But during the last days I've learned that feelings can be something good and I understand why you want to go."
Almost everybody looked at her in surprise. Like Wolf Kyla had the reputation to be cold and calculating when it came to tactical decisions; the two of them didn't become Manticore's two top soldiers for no reason. But now she looked at Jondy and Max with an almost sad smile and nodded like to confirm her words.
Max looked at her brother who still stood between her and the barrack's exit not moving at all.
"Wolf?"
He didn't answer and Max almost thought he would order the others to take her and Jondy to their cells again and call the guards when he suddenly breathed deeply.
"You're all sure about that? You know the consequences" he asked and looked at his team. After a short pause of hesitation they all nodded. He closed his eyes and shook his head. When he opened them again he looked at the two women sternly. "I don't know why I'm doing this. Go to the town twelve miles east from here; it's where our unit will be deployed for the recon mission. You have thirty-six hours. If I don't hear from you until then I will inform the Colonel and all hell will break lose."
Everybody breathed a sigh of relief. Max looked at her brother almost not believing what she just heard. He let them go? The Manticore top dog let them go?
"Thank you" she sighed and Jondy nodded smiling gratefully.
He only looked at them without showing any emotion. "Get it done! Try to avoid the X7, they'll not hesitate to inform the guards. And the rest of you get some sleep. Now!"
He turned away and disappeared into his cell without another word.
Slowly the rest of the team followed their CO's example some of them wishing their two team members good luck before they went to their respective quarters until only Kyla was still there.
"Good hunting" she said in a formal tone. Max and Jondy nodded and walked past her when Kyla suddenly held Max back. Leaning forward she whispered to her so quietly Jondy couldn't understand what she said: "You'll come back, right?"
"We've been escapees once" Max answered softly. She knew they put the whole team at risk with their actions and she still couldn't believe they actually let them go, "but not anymore. We'll be back."
"I hope so" and Max could hear the concern in her 2IC's voice. "Because if you don't I doubt your brother will ever get over the fact to have failed like that again."
"We were right" Krit stated when all of them had gathered in the small hotel room they'd rented a few days ago. After several hours of surveillance they had left their posts and came back to what was their base at the moment. "Right after the alert they left the base. And the defensive positions are almost the same."
"Yeah, but did you see those guards around the perimeter?" Syl asked him with a weird expression, "those with the black eyes? Creepy!"
"Talk about creepy" Zack growled, "I saw myself today. Only ten years younger."
"You're talking about the X7" Logan guessed. "Sebastian said there would probably be some of them."
"What are they?" Tinga wanted to know.
"Well, the ones Syl has seen, those with black eyes, seemingly are designed for guard duty. The others Zack saw are copies."
"Copies?"
"Of your DNA. Only even more enhanced."
"Great!" Zack snorted. "Now I have a nine year old super-twin of mine out there. Just great!"
"Don't underestimate them!" Logan warned. "From what Sebastian was able to find out they're faster and stronger than you and most of the X7 also have a hive consciousness. They still are children but they're a match even for one of you."
None of them talked and everybody was trying to digest what Logan just had said. After a few seconds it was Zane who spoke up.
"I saw Brin today."
"What!" Syl exclaimed. "Where?"
"She was with the team that took position on my side of the base. Didn't look like the Brin I remembered at all."
"What do you mean?" Krit inquired.
"Too much like a soldier, no change in her expression all the time." Despite his calm exterior his siblings felt his inner turmoil. Zane had always been very close to Brin. "She almost acted like a robot."
"Can't say Max and Jondy looked any better" Krit murmured grimly. He had been the one who spotted his two lost sisters first. "They did everything their CO told them to do, like they really were part of the unit.
"PsyOps" Zack said with disgust in his voice. "They've been brainwashed, all of them."
"Which will only make it more difficult for us to get them out" Logan reasoned. The others nodded.
"What about Brin?" Syl suddenly wanted to know. "We can't leave her behind!"
"We have to" Zack's voice was stern but he didn't look at his sister. "We don't have the manpower to get her out, too."
"You can't be serious!" Tinga exclaimed.
"We can't get her out this time" Logan intervened before this turned out to be a major turmoil like he had seen it several times during the last few days. "But we'll be back."
"We won't fool them a second time and besides that…" Syl objected but suddenly stopped when one of Logan's computers started bleep. Everybody gathered around the computer equipment while Logan analyzed the problem. It wasn't much, not like the network he had back in his penthouse but having a bunch of genetically enhanced super-soldiers around you had proved to be more than just handy; within a few days they'd gathered enough equipment to allow Logan to set up a network almost as effective as his old one and surely effective enough for the task that lay before him.
"Somebody is calling my apartment" Logan announced after several seconds, sounding surprised.
"So what?" Zack still didn't like this Cale despite the fact that he had proven himself to be very competent. Hell, after this guy had been done they could listen to what the guards in Manticore were talking about on wireless.
"The call's coming from somewhere around here" Logan explained. "I put it on the speaker."
A second later everybody could hear what the caller was saying and they all gasped in surprise.
"…know you'll hear this, Logan." It was Max! Their Max! "We currently are in a small town twelve miles east from Manticore and we don't have much time. We need to talk! If you still want us, we'll wait here for the next five hours."
"And no hanging behind, if possible, we don't have all day!" another voice added.
"That's Jondy!" Zack exclaimed looking at the screen in disbelief.
"You heard it." That was Max again. "We don't have much time. Hurry!"
The line went dead and they all stared at the screen and the speakers in astonishment.
"Where did this come from?" Krit demanded to know. It took Logan only a few seconds to find the answer.
"The call came from a phone booth. The town five miles north."
"Let's go!" Zack demanded and already reached for his weapons.
"Zack, wait!" After hearing his sisters' voices even the calm Zane was excited but he still remained a calm and cautious soldier. "What if this is a trap? You know better than any of us what happened the last time in Seattle and from what Krit saw today they seemingly have accepted their new unit."
"Even if it is, we have to try" Syl objected.
"Krit and I can observe the perimeter while the rest of you get them and Logan will stay here checking for any radio signals near the location" Tinga proposed. "It is possible."
"Yeah, you're right, Manticore black ops always used a lot of wireless" Zack agreed and looked at Logan. "You can do that?"
"Of course" Logan assured them. "If there's only one TAC team approaching I'll see it."
"Okay, anything else?" Zack looked around but none of his fellow X5 said anything. "Okay, let's get going!"
Without another word the X5 grabbed their arms and left the building while Logan started his surveillance.
Max stood in the shadows of the gas station and watched the road slowly getting nervous. It had been several hours since she'd made the call and until now there hadn't been a sign of her siblings. At her side she felt Jondy shifting slightly.
"You sure they got it?" her sister whispered quietly. Max felt grateful for her sister to be with her.
"Yeah, they got it" Max nodded. "But perhaps they think it's a trap. That's what I would think."
"Sure." Jondy glanced at her little sister. The chances anyone would show up were slim and even if their siblings would come to get them they still had the very difficult task to convince them to finally leave them alone. Yes, that certainly would be difficult if not impossible. She glanced at her watch. "0400. One hour and they'll start the search."
Suddenly they could hear a car approaching and seconds later an old van stopped at the gas station. The driver was Zane. Max hadn't seen him since they'd escaped in '09 but she almost immediately recognized him. The doors opened and Syl and Zack jumped out with weapons in their hands and looking to where the two X5 were hiding. Max drew a deep breath and together she and Jondy left the shadows and cautiously approached their siblings. This was it.