Chapter 14: Making Ends Meet
"Mission accomplished, team," Max declared with a wide grin. "Great teamwork everyone!"
Everyone cheered as they all headed back to base. Unfortunately, they didn't get very far when a voice stopped them in their tracks.
"Hand it over," 813 demanded. It was Unit 2's CO.
Max turned to face him. "We got it fair and square. It's your loss."
"You cheated."
"We don't cheat."
"We would have gotten to it first had you not given us false data."
Max smiled slightly. "We had to ensure other enemy units wouldn't have access to it – a simple safety precaution. You should know that. Surely you did the same when you discovered the coordinates."
813 scowled. "We're not losing to a traitor's unit. Hand it over or we'll make you," he said threateningly. Two X5s stood nearby him, with one of them holding the loaded dart rifle they never had a chance to use.
"You think you can take us in a fight?"
"Why not? We outnumber you."
"We may have less people, but we're more than capable of handling a bunch of flunkies," Max retorted. As if on cue, everyone in Unit 9 dropped into a fighting stance, ready for combat.
"I guess we'll see about that," 813 said as he gestured for the X5 on his right to fire.
Unit 9 scattered as soon as the first shot was fired, but some of the darts hit their targets. Three of them went down and a fight ensued. Thirteen to eight – Unit 9 would be lucky if they won, but at least Max taught them a few things about fighting multiple attackers. Now would be a chance to prove what they learned.
Max headed straight for 813 as the rest of Unit 9 found their own opponents from Unit 2. Ten minutes passed and neither side yielded. With the exception of Kev and Max, the remaining members of Unit 9 fought in pairs, covering each other as each group took on three to four X5s.
Ammo and Dart were struggling with three bulky X5s while Tri and Gai fought off four of Unit 2's field meds and engineers. Viper and Nic were dealing with three of Unit 2's demolitions and stealth experts while Kev took on the CO's right and left hand men.
"Why won't they go down?!" Ammo muttered in frustration as they kicked their opponents away for the tenth time.
"They're very persistant," Dart agreed.
"And they're still not tired," Tri muttered.
"I'm getting tired," Gai admitted.
"Me too..." Tri agreed.
"Tell your unit to back off!" Max demanded as she kicked 813 in the chest.
"We're not the ones losing! Hand over the hard drive!" 813 demanded as he blurred and flipped Max on to her back.
"Never!" she replied, kicking up and punching him in the face.
Kev jumped off the side of a tree to avoid an attack but another came out of nowhere from the other X5, knocking her onto the ground. She kicked up and ducked as they aimed a kick at her head to knock her out. She was getting tired as well though, and her attackers were not showing any signs of giving up.
"You should have saved a few darts for these guys, Nic," Viper yelled as she flipped her opponent.
"Sorry. Maybe I'll remember to next time," Nic called back.
"Yeah, well, remember that next time. I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to last..." she mumbled.
"Viper, watch out!" Nic warned, blurring just in time to push Viper over.
Viper kicked the attacker away as Nic fell beside her, a knife in his side. She cursed as she examined the wound. "Those cheaters!" she cried angrily. She blurred in rage and attacked Nic's attacker, breaking the girl's arm to disable her from fighting.
Viper turned as she heard two coming up from behind her.
Lydecker's Office, Manticore
"Sir, you'll want to see this," a TAC Leader said as he entered the colonel's office.
He was brought to the security monitoring room and shown the live footage of Sector B Forest. "What's going on?" he asked as he watched the fight.
"Unit 2 and Unit 9 are on a field exercise."
"So?"
"Sir, they're not supposed to be fighting. It was a simple data retrieval."
"Then why isn't a team down there?"
"Sir, I've sent a team. They're already on their way. I just thought you would want to know, sir."
Lydecker sighed and looked at the footage again. "Do we know the cause?"
"Not yet sir, but we believe Unit 2 was trying to retrieve the mission objective from Unit 9. They intercepted Unit 9 when Unit 9 was heading back to base and fired the first shots."
"Just great," Lydecker muttered. "Thank you. I'll be heading there now."
Sector B Forest, Manticore
Things were not looking good for Unit 9. Dart and Ammo had disabled two of their attackers, but two more came after them when Gai and Tri fell. Viper had disabled one of the two, but she was still fending off the other one. Kev had managed to disable one of her attackers, but more attacks were getting through from her remaining attacker as she grew tired. Max and 813 were still at it – neither of them seemed tired yet, but they had only been fighting each other.
The X5s were halted from their fighting when a special gas targeted specifically for transgenics was fired into the fields, rendering them all unconscious. When Lydecker arrived, he ordered the soldiers to take those who were unharmed to isolation, and those who were injured to the infirmary. He was not in the mood to sort this out on his first week back, so he decided to wait a week.
Training Grounds, Manticore
A week and a half later, after those injured in Unit 2 and Unit 9 had been released from the infirmary and spent a decent amount of time in solitary, they returned to training. Both units stood at attention as Lydecker prepared to reprimand them for their actions.
"What happened during that exercise is inexcusable, soldiers. Unit 2, I expected more from you. You should be ashamed of yourselves. Even if Unit 9 had willingly handed over the mission objective, did you really think we would not have known what happened? Your attempt to salvage your loss was pathetic. Not only did you engage your opponent with unfair odds, but you even used weapons to take them out. Unit 9, you should have contacted base immediately and avoided confrontation at all costs. I am very disappointed in all of you. From now on, Unit 2 and Unit 9 will train separately. No more field exercises will occur until I believe you are capable of handling things maturely. Is that understood?"
"SIR, YES, SIR!!!" both units yelled.
The colonel nodded and dismissed them, walking back to his office. After reviewing the footage of the fight, he couldn't help but watch with interest. He had read the reports of Unit 9's success, but he had not seen them in action until then – granted it wasn't under the best circumstances, but their struggle to survive against the odds was impressive. They certainly showed promise, and he would make sure they received the training they needed to advance, which was actually one of the reasons he separated the units.
Rec Room, Manticore
"Why do we always have to get punished for something that's not our fault?" Nic complained.
"Because they're Manticore," Ammo explained. "They like feeling they've got power. Lydecker knows there's no way we could have contacted base before they would have attacked us. Hell, we had no way of contacting base to begin with."
"Yeah, talk about unfair," Tri agreed.
"How did you guys do against them anyway?" Joy questioned, having been knocked out by a dart at the time of the scuffle.
"They were kicking our asses," Dart offered. "We sucked."
"Stop being so negative Dart," Ammo said. "We were outnumbered eight to thirteen. Of course they were kicking our asses."
Dart shrugged. "It didn't stop Max from kicking your butts when you guys outnumbered her one to six."
Ammo winced as Dart reminded them of that time when they first met Max and thought of her as a traitor. "Well, not all of us can kick ass like Max."
"Well, it's a good thing she finally did teach us a few tricks about engaging multiple attackers. I never thought it would come in handy so soon," Viper said.
They all agreed. "Is Max with Alec again?" Cody pondered.
"Most likely," Fin replied. "They're always together during free time."
"Those two are totally together and don't even know it," Tri quipped.
Everyone laughed. "Speaking of which...how are you feeling, Nic, after getting stabbed by that girl?" Ammo teased.
They all waited expectantly for Viper to say something in his defense, and she did. "She could have stabbed any of us," she replied, not realizing the trap she had fallen into.
The rest of the group snickered, leaving her confused.
Ever since Nic had saved her, Viper had been a bit nicer to Nic, no longer shoving him away. Although she didn't really notice the change in attitude she had towards Nic, everyone else did.
"Guys, that's not cool," Nic yelled, clearly not happy. "I'm feeling fine. Stop asking," he muttered.
Everyone just laughed again.
Gym, Manticore
"Did ya miss me?" Max quipped.
"I have to say...I was starting to get worried when I didn't see you for a few days," Alec said as he threw a punch.
"Was?"
"Well...yeah...then I heard you got into a fight," Alec explained dismissively. "Figured someone wasn't going to be happy."
Max quickly blocked it and returned a punch, which was immediately blocked, "Lydecker got a bit pissed when we decided to fight Unit 2 instead of walk away. Spent a few days in solitary," she explained as she attempted to kick him.
Alec easily blocked and returned his own kick. "Tough. How'd you guys do?" he asked, curious.
Max caught his kick and attempted to flip him. "Well, they took out three of us with some darts they never used. It was eight against thirteen by the time the fight actually began. All in all, we eliminated six of their people; they eliminated six of ours before Manticore came and smoked us."
"Hmm. Not bad," Alec replied with a small grin. "But you'll have to do better than that against us." Alec was thrown to the mat just as he said that.
Max smirked. "Had we a full team, I think we would have kicked their asses, and we can do the same to you. Just don't be cheap like them, OK?"
It had been a while since both of them had a real challenge, so they agreed to try out some sparring during rec hour that night. While she had been in Class Alpha, the trainers had assigned Alec to help her catch up, so Max knew all the moves he knew, and then a few she picked up outside, but Alec also knew all the moves she knew, as well as the ones he didn't show her yet. When it came down to a free spar, both of them were equally matched, using what they both knew, as well as a few new things here and there.
"I can agree to those terms," Alec replied as he kicked up and pinned Max to the mat.
Max tried to move out of his grip, but he held her tightly. "Give up yet?" he asked with a grin.
"Nope," she replied, still trying to struggle out of his grip but with no luck. She stopped struggling, waiting for him to loosen his grip.
"Oh no. I'm not falling for that trick again," he informed, still grinning and holding her even tighter.
Max scowled. The last time he had loosened his grip, she had swept him to the floor right beside her. "Fine. I give up," she mumbled.
"What's that?" Alec asked. "I can't hear you."
"Get off me, Alec!" she growled.
Alec just smirked as he slowly moved away from Max. As soon as Max could move, she flipped him onto the mat.
"Who's the cheap one now?" Alec muttered as he rubbed his head.
Before Max could flee, Alec had pulled her down beside him. "Oh no, you're not getting away so easily."
"Says who?" Max retorted, ready to get up again, but Alec just pulled her back down.
"Alec!" she whined.
"Can't we just enjoy each other's company for a bit?" he pleaded.
Max sighed and sat back down. "Something on your mind?" she asked.
"Yeah..." Alec answered quietly. "You."
Max was silent, so he continued.
"Max...everyone thinks we're together, and...I've been thinking...I wouldn't mind if it were true," he began. His heart was pumping now as he spoke the words he had been rehearsing over and over. He then quickly rushed, "But if it's too soon, I understand..."
Max looked up into his eyes and saw the sincerity of his words. She smiled and rested her head on his shoulders. "I wouldn't mind either," she quietly replied.
"Alec?"
Alec looked at Max as she took a seat. "Something on your mind?" she asked.
Alec cursed to himself as he realized he had just been imagining it all. "It's nothing," he muttered. "Just thought it'd be nice to hang out without beating each other up, you know."
Max smiled and nodded in agreement. "Yeah..."
Training Grounds, Manticore
After nearly two weeks of reading endless reports, Lydecker had finally caught up with everything Manticore had been up to since he had been...unceremoniously fired. As promised, Renfro forwarded him everything on Unit 9. When Renfro had pulled the misfits from each of the units, it was by sheer luck that she had pulled soldiers with strengths in multiple areas. What Renfro may not have realized was that nearly all of them excelled in three to four areas, where most soldiers excelled in at least two, although there were the pathetic few who could only do one thing well.
Lydecker supposed that being a misfit gave them time or reason to practice more on other things while their peers relaxed. Although outcasts of their former units, the soldiers of Unit 9 were not poor soldiers. They were excellent soldiers under commanders who just didn't know how to use their strengths, which is why none of them had been noticed beforehand. Max knew how to use their talents, and that was what kept the unit from failure. She knew how to make them feel important, and doing that helped her to unite them as one, leading to endless victories.
When it came down to Max, he wouldn't let her escape because it was his job, but because she was one of Manticore's best successes, and to see that all go to waste would be a pity and a failure. He headed down to the training grounds. It was the first time he had a bit of spare time to observe the X Series' training.
The day had barely begun when he arrived. Roll call was over though and Unit 9 was practicing hand-to-hand combat. All of them were aware of his presence, which he noticed threw them a bit off guard. He withheld a smile as he realized his reputation was still intact. They still feared him.
Max watched the colonel curiously from the corner of his eye as he spoke to their trainer. This was the first time she had really seen him observing them since their informal meeting a few weeks back. Although Max no longer feared him like the others in her unit seemed to, she could not act out of line just the same. He would not hesitate to punish her as he had done in the past, and that was something she could not afford. Besides, she was supposed to set a good example for her unit. If Renfro knew Max's line of thought right now, she would certainly be gloating about how Max was finally...home.
Shortly after Lydecker finished speaking to their trainer, the trainer stopped them from their practice and ordered them to line up.
"ATTENTION!"
Unit 9 scrambled into a line and stood at attention, with Max at the head since she was CO. Her soldier mask was intact, but her insides were bouncing off walls. Although she knew this moment would come where she would once again be the perfect soldier under Lydecker's orders, the actuality of it was unnerving, and she despised herself for it.
"Soldiers, I've been reviewing your performance over the past few days, from your earliest exercises with the X6s and Unit 2 to your latest progress in your courses. You have an impressive record against the X6 Units – one that few other X5 Units hold. Your victory against Unit 2 was just as impressive, and although I am not condoning fighting among units, you have clearly shown that you can hold your ground against unfair odds. Needless to say, I have high expectations for Unit 9. With the Skills Assessment Period approaching, I expect that all of you work even harder than before. Your trainers and instructors have orders to advance your training as far as they can before that time arrives. It is up to you as to how far that is. Is that understood?"
"SIR, YES, SIR!"
"452, I expect that you make sure that happens."
Max cursed to herself as he addressed her directly, implying she alone would have to respond. She didn't like it, but she said what she must. "YES, SIR!"
Lydecker nodded and walked away as he went to examine the other X Series. He knew without looking at Max that she despised the situation she was in right now. It was all too clear in her response. She may have a unit now, but she still wanted out. He only hoped he wouldn't be the catalyst to motivate her.
Mess Hall, Manticore
Max just finished getting her food when she saw Brin wave to her, gesturing for her to take a seat. Max smiled and did so. It had been a while since they last spoke.
"Max, they found our sister!"
Max's stomach did a flip-flop, as did her smile. That backstabbing lying son-of-a-bitch! Max didn't care what happened to her now, but if Lydecker was going to go after one of her siblings after what he said...he'd definitely be hearing from her.
"Jondy! She's in Los Angeles."
"How do you know this?" Max asked in disbelief.
Brin frowned. "I wasn't supposed to tell anyone. Not even Colonel Lydecker," she guiltily admitted. "Director Renfro's sending me on a deep cover mission to bring our sister home."
Max's eyes widened. "Renfro?!" OK, so maybe Lydecker hadn't lied...yet.
"I'm leaving in a few hours. I didn't want you not knowing where I went..." Brin began. "I'll really miss you and your unit. You all have been great to me."
Max smiled, "Your my sister, Brin."
Brin smiled and squeezed Max's hand. "Thanks...for everything."
Max nodded sadly. "Brin...are you really going to do it? Bring Jondy back?"
Brin turned her attention to Max. For once, she noticed the sadness in her sister's eyes. "I don't have a choice," she finally answered, a strange hint of sadness underlying her voice as well. Perhaps Max had gotten through to her.
"You always have a choice, Brin. Always."
Brin shook her head in disbelief. "Not here."
The next few words that came out of Max's mouth were barely audible, but Brin heard perfectly fine. "...then leave."
Brin looked away immediately. "I have a mission to complete," she replied. Her Manticore mask was back in place, masking not only the sadness she was feeling, but also the confusion that arose from Max's words.
Max sighed. "I'll never forgive you if you succeed," Max informed rather coldly as she left Brin to her thoughts.
Rec Room, Manticore
When Nic had asked Max to join them that night in the Rec Room, Max knew immediately it was because he had something planned. She went along anyway, seeing if this time, he would be able to trick her into falling into his trap. As she joined Unit 9 in the rec room, she shook her head in disappointment as his prank was in clear view.
She took a seat next to Kev, who had started joining Unit 9 during her free time a bit more than before. They were there to watch another pre-Pulse movie chosen by Gai this week. Just as the movie began, Kev whispered a simple phrase to Max, "Things may not be as they seem."
Max looked at Kev, an eyebrow raised but said nothing, taking the hint. She once again examined the prank Nic had set up, or at least the prank she thought he had set up. Upon closer examination, she realized it had been a decoy for a far more complex prank. She had to give Nic credit for that – it might have actually worked, had Kev not tipped her off.
As the movie finished and everyone filed out of the Rec Room, Max lingered behind, ready to confront Nic about the genius in his prank. Nic grinned, thinking Max fell for his decoy.
"So this was your idea of a prank Nic?" she asked as she held up a homemade whoopee cushion.
Nic smiled as he held up his shoulders in surrender. "Guess you caught me," he quipped.
She smiled as she asked, "So what do you want to do this time?" she asked. "More runs? Spar?" she challenged. She moved closer to him, causing him to back up a bit.
"Aww...come on! It's just a whoopee cushion, Max!" he complained. "Can't we be friends?"
Max smiled as she said, "Nope. I think it's a bit more than that," she said as she handed him the whoopee cushion, giving him a little push at that.
Nic flew backward a bit more. Just then, Nic realized where he was and cursed. "How did you know this time?!" he asked in frustration, careful not to move.
Max just smiled. "Nice try. So pick one – runs, sparring, push ups, I can go on..." she grinned evilly.
Just then, a voice interrupted their conversation.
"452, I need you in my office, now."
Max turned her attention to the door and saw that it was Lydecker. Max gave Nic a look, telling him this conversation wasn't over.
"Yes, sir," she replied to the colonel before heading to the door.
Nic sighed and was about to walk away when he remembered where he was, but it was too late. As soon as he moved, his complex prank went into motion. He knew the whoopee cushion would cause Max to confront him after the movie, so he had set up another trap for her, planning on leading her right into it after the movie, or at least set it off when she was in the right place. Unfortunately, her advances on him had unconsciously led him to back up and walk right into his own trap.
Within seconds, the slight movement on the string had caused a heavy weight to fall on several paints Nic had taken from the supplies closet. They had been angled in such a way that it would hit whoever was standing right where he was. Max turned around as she heard the weight drop and laughed as Nic was covered from the waist up in various colors of the rainbow. Nic blushed in embarrassment and even Lydecker had to try hard to withhold a laugh.
"321, why don't you come to my office as well," he replied.
Nic's heart sank at those words. This was so not how he had intended this prank to end.
"Yes, sir," he mumbled.
A/N: Eep, this is probably the longest break since I've uploaded this story. Sorry for making all of you wait so long! The good news is, I only have one midterm remaining, and so I should not be taking this long to update anymore. Hopefully. It's hard to say since I have plans to redo the last few chapters of this story...starting with the next chapter. Anyway, thank you all for reviewing and I am glad so many of you have continued to read this story. It means a lot to me - especially when you all leave reviews. Special thank to my beta, mars494!
I'm just curious in general as to what you all thought of this chapter - so nothing specific. Your pick - it'd be awesome if you could just leave a word or two!
Thanks for reading, and please review!
If anyone's interested in a short travel journal entry: Hong Kong has been quite an experience. I've mostly been busy with midterms this past month, but I did get a chance to see the fireworks from a boat facing the Hong Kong Harbor on National Day, and that was awesome. They had fireworks in the shape of 10s to represent the 10 year anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to China. Never seen such a unique set of fireworks until I came here (they also had flowers, smiley faces, and other random shapes). I've taken up Judo and Wing Chun to get a feel for the martial arts here, and it's also given me plenty of chances to talk with the locals, which has also provided us with an opportunity for cultural exchanges.
For my anonymous reviewers:
itra: Glad you liked it! Thanks for reading and reviewing! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Austchick: More MA coming soon! Especially after what happened last chapter...and I'm sure this chapter had some foreshadowing as well...Thanks for reading and reviewing! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
rebecca: Heh, not a bad prediction. Unit 9 was certainly not going to let Unit 2 take the mission from them. Hope you liked the MA scene in this chapter...? Thanks for reading and reviewing! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Canaria: heh, it seems like a quick update, but only because you read it and I updated shortly after. In actuality, I think a few weeks already passed since I last updated. Hmm...not sure. Glad you liked the MA scene. How was this chapter's? Oh, I added some stuff about Hong Kong just for you! -wink-
opalshine: Sorry for the long wait, heh. Don't cry! I hope the quality of this chapter makes up for it? -looks up hopefully- Thanks for reading and reviewing! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Shelly: Welcome aboard! I'm glad you decided to start reading this piece - and I'm even happier that you're enjoying it! Max and Alec will eventually be together - I promise! There was actually a teaser in this chapter, I'm sure you noticed, haha. The wait is not that much longer! Thanks for reading and reviewing! Your reviews mean a lot! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
JohnF: You were one of the few that commented on the identical dialogue - I'm glad you liked it! It was something I was hoping more people would notice, haha. So I'm glad you did! Thanks for your constructive criticism. It would seem that by telling Max of her plan, Renfro decreased its chances for success, but I guess for me, as the author, I already had an idea of how much it would succeed, and so I decided to let Renfro gloat about it anyway. -shrugs- But I definitely see your point! As for the Don/Deck thing, it was a hard call for me too, and I admit that I did edit that dialogue a few times before publishing. Even now, I'm a bit uncertain about how their relationship should be written. I finally decided that since Max still wishes to escape Manticore and has not been completely turned, there is going to be some level of 'disrespect' or informality between them, which is how that dialogue came to be, but I do understand your point. Perhaps omitting it would have been the best solution. Thanks for reading and reviewing! I'm glad you enjoy this story.
