Chapter 5: Unveiling

"I assume you've found something important?" the Director stated.

"Yes ma'am. It is confirmed that 452 is planning to escape, ma'am," Alec reported.

"Explain."

"Ma'am, she has managed to find a way out of her cell by cutting through two bricks under her cot. I believe she has found an entrance to the basement of Manticore."

Renfro nodded. "How long do you think it will be before she attempts to leave?"

"Unsure, ma'am. However, I was under the impression that she was still in the planning stages. I caught her sneaking back into the cell a few minutes before our one-hour time slot together. I arrived a few minutes early. I informed her that I did not set off the alarm yet, and it would be beneficial for the completion of my mission if it remained that way," he suggested.

"Agreed. She needs to trust you. Besides, my plans with 452 do not revolve around keeping her in. I want her to want to be here, otherwise she will not stop attempting escape."

494 did not saying anything, but he had no understanding of what she meant. If psy-ops couldn't make someone want to be here, what would? The Director was far from achieving that goal anyway while Max maintained her old identity.

"Ma'am, there's something else," Alec began, unsure if he really wanted to tell her. He didn't know why, but subconsciously, he knew it was because it felt like a betrayal. Yet, the soldier in him took over and wrestled the feeling away. "452 introduced herself to me as Max last night."

Renfro nodded again and sighed. "Very well. I won't do anything to interfere right now. We still need that information on her boyfriend, but I want you with her every night for the next week. Do not let her escape, even if that means using force."

"Ma'am, she won't allow me in her cell the whole night."

"Because she's not showing any signs of a pregnancy, you are to increase the number of times you copulate," she ordered for his cover story. "I've authorized you to use all night to complete the assignment. I will inform 452 later today."

"Yes ma'am."

"Your reports will still be short and simple," the Director reminded.

"Yes ma'am."

"If anything changes, let me know. Dismissed."

Alec saluted and left.

Whether psy-ops had any effect on 452, Renfro would not know. 452 did well in playing along. She kept her emotions in tact and well guarded, but she still remembered exactly who she was, and that was dangerous.

Conference Room, Manticore

Renfro paged a soldier to call together the instructors and trainers. They were entering the last week of the allotted month; she needed 452 ready. She would reveal to them the plan so that they would teach her what she would need to know. Hopefully 452 won't attempt an escape before then, otherwise her plan would not be possible.

Renfro waited until everyone had gathered in the conference room before beginning.

"As you all are now aware, X5-452 was placed in Class Alpha under my orders. Based on the reports you have given me, 452 seems capable of performing the exercises required. I know many of you are wondering why I did this, and today, I have called you here for your opinions.

"As you all know, 452 is still considered a flight risk, and I know she is planning an escape. It will only be a matter of time before she attempts one. In addition to bringing her up to speed, I was hoping her placement in Class Alpha would keep her too busy to plan an escape. I was also hoping it would prepare her for the position of a commanding officer."

A look of surprise, shock, and outrage filled the room.

"Director, 452 is seen by the general population as a traitor. None of them are willingly going to follow her orders," a TAC Leader pointed out.

"She does have a challenge ahead of her."

"Ma'am, this upsets the balance in the system. You're rewarding 452 with a highly respected position for escaping and getting captured, not to mention blowing up the DNA lab," the same leader continued. He was one of the few willing to stand up to the Director.

"452 will not view it as a reward, and if I play things right, her unit will view it as a chance for revenge."

"Ma'am, why not simply assign 452 to another unit? She's been isolating herself from the rest of the community. Everyone is uneasy around her," another trainer suggested.

"Because then there is nothing keeping her from running. I recognize your concerns, but may I remind you that some of you have pointed out that 452 has shown leadership potential? 452 will not want this assignment. She will hate me for it. She is isolating herself because she does not want to form any attachments, but that is the purpose of this assignment – for her to form attachments. She wants to leave Manticore. We need her to stay, but not just stay by force, but by will as well. As CO, she will bear the burden of making sure her unit performs. She will be the one to make the decisions for her members. She will decide whether they succeed or fail. With that burden on her shoulders, she won't be able to simply leave them behind."

"That is assuming she cares for her unit members."

"She will care – after the first exercise she is responsible for ends in disaster, she will care. The guilt of what she did or did not do will be on her shoulders, and she will do better next time. I expect that you all make sure she feels guilty for anything that goes wrong during her first month as CO. Punish those she steered wrong rather than her. Form those attachments."

Finally accepting the situation and seeing the wisdom behind it, another trainer asked, "And the unit?"

"A new unit will be formed to accommodate this situation. I examined the units with over 14 members and moved some of them to the new unit. Most of them are the outcasts of the units anyway. Unit 8 has also been broken down due to the failed mission a few weeks ago. Most of the soldiers are in recovery or have been redeployed on another mission. The few remaining soldiers with no assignments will be moved. 452's unit will be smaller than the standard size, as only a limited number can be moved without affecting the unit's ability to work together as a team, but it will have to do. Most of the units will average around 13 members after the move. Her unit will hold 11, including herself."

"Her unit will be at a disadvantage in exercises against other units," a trainer noted.

Renfro smiled. "Well, I wasn't going to make things easy for her. Besides, if any other soldiers are moved, it would upset the camaraderie in the units. We can't afford that."

The trainers all looked at one another. They knew in the end it wasn't their decision, and that the Director had already planned everything out. They could only follow along and make the best of it. Although it wasn't the worst plan, it wasn't the best either. There were many risks involved – risks many were uneasy in taking with transgenics. But when the Director asked for their opinion, she was waiting to hear that it would work.

"How long do we have?" an instructor finally asked.

"I was going to give her a month to catch up on training. This is the fourth week. She will be moved four days from now. I expect her to be ready by then."

"When will she be informed?"

"The day before. I will be meeting with her and her unit separately to inform them of the change in leadership. Can I expect that she be ready by then?"

"Yes ma'am," they all chorused.

"Good. This meeting is adjourned," she said as she left, leaving her staff lost in their own assessments of the trouble ahead.

Training Grounds, Manticore

Max had just finished throwing 561 on the mat during hand-to-hand combat when a soldier summoned her.

"452! Director wants to see you."

Max had certainly improved over the past few weeks and was now defeating 561 with ease. 561 was furious and always fought back in fury, but that usually ended up hindering his performance.

Max stood at attention in front of Renfro, thinking about how to wipe the smug look of the Director's face.

"State your designation," Renfro simply began.

"X5-452!"

"For the past three weeks, you and 494 have reported successful copulation. I was even informed you went into heat and 494 was present to take advantage of the situation. You should have been impregnated by now. So tell me, 452, is there a reason as to why you are not? I may spare you if you have anything important to report."

Of course, Renfro knew the answer, but she had to make 452 believe this was really the reason 494 would remain overnight with her. It would also be interesting to see if 452 would reveal the truth. Of course if she did, then she would have to "punish" 494, but she was willing to bet that their relationship had progressed far enough that 452 would consider him an acquaintance.

"No, ma'am."

Renfro smiled to herself. 452 was already covering up for 494. The two had become, at the very least, acquaintances, as 494 reported in his report a day ago, before he was aware of her escape plans.

"Well, we need results 452. You are authorized to use the full night to complete this mission. I expect this will give you more opportunities for success."

"Yes ma'am," Max replied, her face emotionless. But her heart had sunk as her escape plans were washed away. With Alec in her cell all night, there was no way she could leave, at least not without him knowing. Perhaps she could convince him to come with her.

"Dismissed."

Max saluted and left, sulking. Would Alec agree to go with her, or would he try to stop her? He had said that whatever she did was her own business, but in the end, she knew he was loyal to Manticore. For all she knew, he already told, but considering nothing had happened yet, she assumed she was still safe. She would have to wait until this breeding program ended.

Max could not believe her luck. She was so close to getting out. She had been planning on leaving tomorrow, right after her time with Alec. So much for an escape. Over the past few weeks, more and more of her memories trickled back, and she was starting to remember more of who she was before Manticore. With the motivation to leave, she sped up working on an escape plan.

Once she was able to squeeze through the hole, she had a chance to explore Manticore's basement. She had met Joshua, a dog-man who lurked in the basement and took care of other basement inhabitants. She had seen the X7s guarding the perimeter fence. By now, she had memorized their patrol routes and was working on a escape route that would leave her unseen by X7s. Joshua had agreed to help her as she worked on sawing away at the bars that would allow her access to ground level. She had become fond of Joshua, and really enjoyed talking to him. He often would talk about his Father, a guy whom he called Sandeman. He wanted to go with her, but she told him he couldn't, because he was different, and people would be scared of things that are different. Joshua had whined sadly, but understood.

Sector B Forest, Manticore

In a surprising turn of events, the trainers informed Units 4 and 6 that they would be divided into randomly selected groups for the next few days with randomly selected leaders. The purpose was to give the COs a 'break', as well as the SICs so that the DIs could gauge the leadership abilities of various soldiers. There was a possibility that they would group X6 soldiers with an X5 as the commanding officer, and they wanted to screen out possible applicants.

At least that's what the soldiers were told. Perhaps what was more surprising, however, was when 452 was called to lead a group, earning her many surprised and curious glances.

"In the third group will be 561, 809, 729, 536, 392, 452, and 288, with 452 as the group leader," a sergeant informed.

Max's face revealed nothing as she took her place at the head of her group, but her stomach was filled with butterflies as the one question played over and over in her head: will they even listen to me?

The exercise was simple. It was a free for all battle – the last team standing wins. Each team had five minutes to plan their attack and scatter. Max was sure to waste no time.

"We'll go in pairs so that you can cover each other. 561 with 809, 536 with 729, and 392 with 288. I know you guys probably hate me, so I'll go by myself." Max didn't bother to see if anyone would object. She just continued dividing them up. "561 and 809, you'll cover the east side. 536 and 729, you'll cover the west. 392 and 288, you'll cover the north side. I'll head south. Considering there are four teams, it may be to your advantage if you let the others fight it out. Don't give away your positions unless you need to. Stay alert and good luck. Let's move out."

Max turned around and headed south, watching from the corner of her eye to see if the others would do the same. Fortunately, they did, and Max allowed a small smile. That wasn't so bad.

As the five minute count down ended, she decided to take her own advice. She was by herself, which meant she would have no one to cover her. So she kept moving, escaping and evading. It was what she did best, and there was no need to engage the enemy prematurely.

She paused when she heard another set of footsteps, keeping her breathing even. As she realized who it was, she grinned. Alec was all by himself...

Alec might as well been whistling – his footsteps were rather loud, but it was from moving quickly. That was his way of avoiding enemies. He had heard someone ahead of him, but when he listened again, it seemed that what he heard might have just been a figment of his imagination, or maybe the person stopped moving. He shrugged and moved on, ducking behind a bush to take cover a few seconds later. He would ambush whoever would come looking for him.

"Boo!" Max whispered as she threw him down from behind, taking his weapon from him in the process.

Alec quickly jumped up and sent an attack her way, grinning when he realized who it was. "You almost had me Max," he quipped.

"You might want to...duck," she warned with a smirk before dashing away.

Alec frowned but ducked just in time to avoid a line of bullets coming his way sent by another pair of soldiers. By the time he was clear, Max had disappeared. He cursed and continued on without a weapon, realizing Max had taken his.

Max used the distraction to go around and take out the soldiers who were aiming at Alec only seconds earlier. As soon as they were down, she kept moving, knowing the shots would have given away her position to anyone else nearby. Once she was a good distance away, she went back to her escaping and evading ways, letting the other soldiers take it out on each other first.

As the hour came to an end, an announcement was made revealing that only four remained. One group had been completely eliminated while a pair from the fourth group remained. One from the first and third groups also remained.

Alec sighed, knowing he was the only one remaining from his group. It would be unlikely that he would win in this situation. Although he was borrowing another soldier's weapon after eliminating him, the odds were still against him. He grinned when he spotted Max in the distance and aimed his weapon. She was one of the few remaining...but wouldn't be for long, he thought.

Max crouched just in time to examine a set of tracks. Hearing the bullets burst by, she knew someone was after her and instantly took off, searching for the direction in which the bullets had come. Max groaned as she realized Alec had sent those bullets at her. She was so going to kick his ass.

Alec cursed as Max suddenly ducked when he fired his shots. He blurred away from his position, knowing Max would now be after him. Neither of them noticed two other soldiers watching them from afar, ready to take aim on the unsuspecting targets.

Max blurred out of nowhere, aiming an attack at Alec. Alec caught her in mid punch and threw her to the ground. Max kicked the gun out of his hand just as he was about to fire. She had no idea why she didn't just use the gun to take him out, but then again, where's the fun in that?

Once the gun was on the ground, she sent a kick to his chest. He caught her foot and threw her, but she maneuvered herself in the middle of the throw so that she would land into a roll.

"You want to fight, huh?" Alec observed as he threw a punch at her.

Max sidestepped and tried to punch him in the face, but he also dodged it, aiming a kick to her stomach. Max caught his foot just in him and ducked as he sent a few punches, causing her to release his leg.

He tried to put her into an arm lock, but she easily wriggled out of it and kneed him in the gut, sending him back a few feet.

"Is that all you got?" Max taunted as she watched him recover.

Alec smirked, "Just getting a bit warmed up, that's all."

Max returned the smirk as the two blurred again to start another fight.

A distance away, two soldiers watched in amusement as the fight continued.

"Isn't that 494 and 452?" 343 asked.

"That's definitely our CO with the '09er," 511 confirmed with a grin.

"They seem to be getting along quite well," 343 noted. "I mean, when we're not in these exercises."

"Yep..." 511 had noticed the way 494 eyed 452. He had never seen his CO act the way he did around anyone else before. There was definitely something going on, and the two were technically breeding partners...Of course, by 'getting along quite well' that meant every time they were together, they seemed to be bicker about something. 494 would say something, and 452 would always take it the wrong way, leading into an argument.

"When do you suppose we should end their fun?" 343 inquired.

"Hmm...I wanna see 452 kick his butt a bit more, so maybe a little bit later. That girl sure knows how to fight. I can barely land a punch on 494, but she's got in quite a few already."

"Maybe 494 is being easy on her."

"Doubtful. Even if he liked the girl, which is a given, he wouldn't risk his reputation for her. He's got too big of an ego. I've known him my whole life, and never has he let anyone stop him from reaching the top. Besides, he really looks like he's fighting, not just faking it. Oo...that's gotta hurt."

"Yeah, I'm glad she's not my sparring partner...I'm not sure I'd be able to walk for a while after that, much less breathe."

"She's certainly something. If only she didn't shut everyone else out. I think she'd be a cool person to get to know."

343 rolled his eyes. "You just love hitting on every girl, don't you?"

"What?" 511 asked innocently. "I'm just saying she seems pretty cool."

"Sure...but she is hot, don't get me wrong. Maybe if I had been chosen to be her breeding partner, I'd be getting beat up right now."

511 snorted. "You wouldn't stand a chance against her."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," 343 retorted.

"Anytime, bud. Hmm...looks like they're nearly done. Let's get them now?"

"Guess the show is getting a bit boring now. Ready whenever you are."

The two transgenics aimed a few careful shots and finished the game. Alec and Max had no idea what hit them, as they were too engaged in their own battle.

Cell 306

Later that night, Max made her way out of the crawlspace only to come face to face with Alec. "Do you always come this early?" she asked, irritated.

Alec grinned. "Well, I figured since we have all night, we could try for a really romantic evening." But he had really come early just to make sure she didn't slip away. He didn't know why he really cared. She wanted out of Manticore, and who was he to really stop her? He had his orders, but they didn't require him going out of his way to do it.

Max rolled her eyes and went back to reading her books. The instructors had assigned her more reading assignments, but these assignments seemed completely random. Before, at least the assignments were in some sensible order.

Alec had brought a nice fluffy pillow with him this time and made himself a spot on the floor. Max glanced over occasionally as he napped, or pretended to nap.

"Where'd you get the pillow?" she finally asked, breaking the silence.

"Snuck it out of the infirmary. You wanna try it out?" he asked, gesturing to the floor space right next to him.

Max scoffed. "I'm fine."

"Suit yourself," Alec said with a shrug.

Max went back to her books. She was reading about various strategies military leaders used in the past to defeat their opponents. There seemed to be a strong emphasis on leadership skills.

An hour later, Alec awoke again from his nap. He wasn't completely asleep; he had kept his ears open to see if Max would try and leave, but he still was able to rest some.

"Anything interesting?" Alec asked, as he stretched.

"Not really," Max muttered. "Unless you find Adolf Hitler interesting, with Machiavelli's philosophy of how leaders should be feared as opposed to loved as the underlying reasoning behind his tyranny."

Alec's interest perked up. "Somewhat. What have they got you reading?" he suddenly asked.

Max held up the textbook. Alec's eyes almost widened in surprise as he recognized the textbook from leadership curriculum only commanding officers went through.

"You've got to be kidding me if you're telling me you like these 'military geniuses'," Max retorted.

"They're OK. I mean, some of them do remind me a little of myself there," Alec finished lamely to cover up his surprise. "Did whoever assign that give any reason as to why you're reading about them?"

Max stopped her reading and looked at him curiously. "Why are you suddenly so interested? You've always found my studies a bore. You're the brawns, remember?"

"Can't I just try and make some friendly conversation?" he asked, pretending to be offended. "We've got a few more hours to kill. Just thought I'd help pass time."

Max rolled her eyes and picked up the next book in the sequence. Before she began reading, however, she decided to answer him, "No reason was given. This week's assignment actually seems a bit random. The lessons before at least had some relevance to the previous lessons. Got anymore questions?"

Hearing the irritation in his voice, Alec held up his hands, indicating he wasn't planning on interfering anymore. He watched her carefully as she absorbed herself into the new textbook. Was that what Renfro had in mind - making Max a CO?! It would explain why she was reading those textbooks, her leadership position in the field exercises, and why she had been training with Class Alpha. Obviously Max wasn't aware of what she was reading, or what possibly awaited her, and he didn't plan on telling her. He wasn't one hundred percent sure anyway, so he'd hate to tell her the wrong thing.

Still, the idea of it was mind blowing. Why would Renfro make her a CO?! No one would follow orders after the way she's been treating them. Hell, no one would follow orders just because she was an escapee. It didn't matter how she had treated them. It won't help that she's been ignoring everyone around her. Yet...she did lead a group during field exercises...and they did follow instructions, didn't they? Perhaps it wasn't as far fetched as it sounded. Max had proven herself in Class Alpha though, but the other X5s don't know that. They would still give her problems.

But Max as CO. Alec grinned, it would be interesting. He would have another unit to defeat to add to his resume. He could live with that, and at least she'd stay here. Wait, why do I care if she stays here or not?

Max noticed the smile on Alec's lips. "What are you smiling about?" she asked, her voice having the usual irritated tone.

Alec turned his grin to her. "Nothing," he answered meekly.

Max shook her head disbelievingly, but said nothing more. She had been thinking about the escape, and whether or not she could still carry it out. Despite her earlier decision to wait until the breeding program ended, she knew there was no way to determine how long that would take. With her training in Class Alpha still not ending, she was starting to get the impression things were going to stay like this, and she did not want to be around for it.

She sighed as she came to a decision to ask what had been on her mind. She trusted him not to report her, at the least. "Alec."

Alec looked up. "Hmm?"

"...if I wanted to leave...would you come with me?"


A/N: Well, I hope you liked this chapter. I've managed to merge a lot of the chapters I wrote (26 chapters down to 17), so now, with each update, you'll get a longer chapter. It will also mean that I'm going to space out my updates a bit more so everyone has more time to read it - well, that is my intention, but we'll see how that goes... I know people are reading, just not reviewing (I have around the same number of story alerts as I do reviews... -sighs-), but reviews make me happy. Please review and let me know how I did, what you want to see in the future, predictions, anything!!! I respond to all reviews...

-sighs- I see my begging for reviews does little anyway, so I'll stop now. Enjoy this chapter and thanks for reading!