Hi, guys! =) See, told you I'd slow things down a little. Profoundest thanks aimed squarely at Whirl Girl, Bow Echo and Tikatu, for helping me along the way... and, Hi there, Rebelgirl 01! Edited.

9

Ross Island, near the icy northern face of Mount Erebus-

Ablaze with the power of vengeance and hatred, the Hood decided to thin out the crowd, a bit. Four of his helpless captives, he would not immediately kill, for they deserved his close, undivided attention, for as long as he was able to draw out their suffering. Highest on that list was the Mechanic, together with the small child who'd done the cyborg's bidding, and controlled the Hood, himself. (Though she remained at large, for the moment.) Next were Jeff, Scott and John Tracy, who'd once dared to defy, beat and humiliate him. All of the rest were mere diversions, including his niece, and the other Kyranos.

His head was splitting, and his skin seemed to crawl with feverish, prickling energy, but the Hood held firm; twisting the minds in his grasp until they were helpless to resist him. Smiling thinly, the slight, bald man focused his will upon Jeff Tracy, and forced him to rise from his knees. Then, puppet-like, he made the astronaut reach down and pick up his discarded rifle.

There was still a great deal of fight in that trapped mind; horror and refusal in the anguished brown eyes of his oldest foe… but that only made things sweeter. Jeff fought him, hard. But the outcome was never in doubt. The Hood's green eyes glowed, turning almost cat-yellow as he stared at the other man and snarled,

"Kill them, beginning with that one!"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

On wind-swept Mt. Erebus, former stronghold of the Kyranos-

Kayo had reached an anguished decision. Weeping silently, she'd kissed Nikorr's bandaged forehead, and murmured,

"I'm sorry…"

Then, she'd stumbled her way to the ice-slide, half blind and despairing. Still cradled his fading mind with her own, trying to prop him up for as long as she could, regardless. Was about to step off, meaning to aid the innocent family she'd dragged into this hell-storm, when something moved at the edge of her vision. Almost, Tanusha ignored it, but… Something drew her eye northward, made her focus on a cloud of swirling drones that had just burst out of the hovering hive ship.

Dashing at tears with the sleeve of one shaking arm, the girl stared harder. Those hornet-mechs were behaving oddly; forming what looked like a shifting bubble around something that kept trying to break free. A small, jet-packing figure, clutching something still smaller.

She watched, confused, as the little flier made repeated attempts to reach the disaster, below, only to be cut off, corralled and redirected, every time. Just so, had she seen herd dogs control a flock of milling sheep… except without laser-stings and snapping, razor-sharp pincers.

Startled, Kayo gasped and took a few steps back toward her cousin's stretcher, for that swarm was headed their way. Might have dived for the ice-slide, but hesitated, torn by pain and doubt. Then, it was too late.

The roar of wings and clattering jaws surrounded them, darkening the sky above like a laser-lit, fiery cloud. Kayo was zapped and slashed by the beastly mechanical nightmares, a hundred times over. Not badly enough to kill or incapacitate the girl, only harass her. Hurt her. Nikorr, they left strictly alone. Kayo stretched out with her mind, trying to force the dive-bombing mechas away. She could not compel or highjack them, though, for their tiny brains were electronic, and shielded by something very angry and terribly strong.

Then, someone collided with Kayo, hard. Two someones. She hit the rocky ground, rolled, and came up in a ready stance, only just not toppling from the tunnel's brief outer ledge.

Found herself face to face with a skinny young boy… blond, six, maybe seven years old… and a very small, yellow-haired girl. Scratch that; a tiny female cyborg, with at least one robot limb and lightning-like, branching circuitry lancing her flesh. Took her a moment, but, at the first quick brush of their minds, Kayo recognized the infant horror who'd kicked her arse, back in Jakarta.

Only, the child seemed more frantic than combative, now. Time and again, her exposed circuitry flared, as though something was preventing the child from lashing out with her mind. Meanwhile, those big-jawed, ruby-eyed mechanical hornets had settled to the ground and rock walls around them all; forming a shifting metallic fence. Pretty clearly, no one was going anywhere for the time being.

The boy had a rifle bigger than he was slung at his back (though he was more entangled in its strap, than anything else). Almost sobbing with frustration, he tried to leap up and get himself sorted, but tripped and fell flat. Meanwhile, the little girl's lower lip was thrust out, and she was breathing in a huffy, almost panting way; yellow curls in her eyes, face turning red. Like her older companion, she wore a loose, brown bodysuit with small metal plates woven in. Hmmm…

Slowly, keeping a tight shield over Niko, Tanusha straightened from her aggressive ready-stance. Virgil had said something in debrief about the Mechanic holding a couple of child hostages. Could these be them? Had they escaped the hive ship, and been pursued here by a swarm of vengeful drones? Possibly… except that the mechs weren't acting the way they should have been. They weren't re-taking their "prisoners".

Confused, Kayo raked her abused bottom lip with her teeth. Already cold, she now had shredded clothing to contend with, as well. Not the worst of her problems, though. Sniffling, she adjusted her bodysuit, got herself together and said,

"Um… hullo. My name is Tanusha. I'm w… with International Rescue, and… and you're safe, now… sort of."

Great. Even to herself, that didn't sound very convincing, but it had been a tragically horrible day, starting with the stupid decision to kidnap her adoptive family, instead of just trying to convince them.

The boy was upright, now, too. Kicking a stone at her, he spat,

"Liar! You're one of them! You're a Tracy! I don't know what you did to the mechs to get us over here, but if you don't stop it, I'll kill you in the head with my gun! Let us go! We gotta get down there, and help!"

"I…" Kayo began to respond. Then, in her mind, she saw a fast, whirling light-storm of images; most of them involving the Mechanic… Kane… and none of them bad, or afraid.

"You… wait," she said. "You're not hostages, at all, are you?"

The boy shook his head violently, his expression a mixture of tearful, powerless wrath and disgust.

"He's my friend! He fixed Sissy's leg! Dammit, let me go help!"

"I'm not controlling these drones," said Tanusha, very cautiously. The little girl was still huffing and screwing up her face like a toddler about to explode. True focus seemed to be elsewhere, though. "I don't know who is, or why they brought you here… but maybe they want us to cut some kind of deal?"

Quite gently, Tanusha supplied a few images of her own; showing her wonderful brothers and Nikorr, who needed help from someone with power. In her eagerness, she leaned too close to one of the hornets, who took a fast slice out of Kayo's left shoulder. Biting her lip, she applied pressure to stop the bleeding, but didn't cry out. Nothing like that had happened to the two kids, no matter how close they got to a drone. Quite clearly, whoever was in command of those mechs had no love at all for Tanusha Kyrano Tracy. Seemed to need her, though. So, facing the children, Kayo crouched down and used her best, persuasive charms.

"Right, then… listen. Perhaps we can help each other out, alright? You want to reach the Mechanic, I need to save my family, and the Hood is both our enemy. So… what about this? Gun-boy, you and I jet-pack down to the danger zone, with as many drones as we can field. You shoot, I strike psioni… erm, with my mind. Evil Baby, you stay up here, and… and please… just keep him alive for me? I swear to you both that, even if it gets me tossed out of IR, the Mechanic goes free. Just… just not with Sentinel, or any of my brothers. So...? Deal?"

The boy was clutching his rifle like a holy talisman. Still stubborn and fierce, he tried edging away from her, but one of the hornet mechs buzzed its wings at him, by way of stern reprimand. Then the little one tried to rejoin her brother, only to be herded away by a snapping cordon of drones. Didn't harm her, but would not let her pass.

She folded her arms across her small chest, still breathing hard, but refusing to cry. Stomping her metal foot upon the rocks with a loud, ringing CLANG, she growled,

"Not baby! No more good girl! No more be quiet!" Then, in a totally different voice and manner, "Bubby go. Bad lady go."

Slowly, Tanusha rose from her crouch. A laser shot had hissed out, down below. Echoing among the rocks, that thin, humming whine was almost lost in the wind, and the crackling hum of Sentinel. Kayo winced. Then she said to the scowling little one,

"You'll protect him? You promise?"

The child gave her a filthy look, and trudged on over to Niko's bobbing stretcher.

"Bubby go," she repeated, without looking back. And then, seeming frustrated with useless words, she made more pictures in both of their minds, showing herself watching from above, and ready to act.

Kayo nodded.

"I'll trade you," she whispered. "You keep mine safe, I'll help you free yours."

Now, the drones began lifting into the air once again, leaving only a handful behind with Nikorr, and that tension-wracked, awful little girl. Definitely, the mechs were being manipulated by a third party, but Kayo had no time to speculate further, for the boy had triggered his jet-pack, and offered her a hand. Another shot sounded, making both of them jump. Then,

"Fast and sudden," he snapped, "from above. Bald-guy won't give us two chances, Tracy, so you gotta handle this right. Screw us over, and I'll kill you."

XXXXXXXXXXX

Down below-

Virgil Tracy stared at his father's grim face across the long, shining barrel of a laser rifle. It had been fired twice, already. Dad's jaw muscles stood out like quivering boulders. His hands shook, as he struggled with all of his might not to pull that trigger, again.

Like the others, Virgil had been forced to kneel on the icy rocks beside the field hospital. Like them, he was held fast by the Hood's twisted, dark power, and completely unable to move. His exo-suit still hummed and throbbed, its ready-lights blinking calm green. Without input from its pilot, however, the power-suit offered less protection than a layer of sunscreen. He was going to die, just as soon as his anguished father lost one more battle with the Hood, and his own shaking trigger finger.

Then something... a faint wisp of red energy... drifted into Virgil's suit. All at once, rocks showered in every direction, and Virgil's limbs nearly snapped. The mechanical suit burst to its feet with explosive, hurtling suddenness. The right claw-grip shot out, seized the gun's barrel, and folded it screeching double. Meanwhile, the left grasper hauled Dad off his feet and slammed him at the startled Hood, with all the strength a lone, possessed machine could muster.