The Tekunin were certainly an ambitious group, with designs not even Raiden, who they had sworn themselves to, was enough of. However, they were not the only cyborgs working to reestablish a new technological revolution for a new clan.
The trek to the old Lin Kuei temple had been a long one. The internal chronometer on the HUD display within Sektor's mechanical eyes said it had been days since he parted ways with Kuai Liang's Lin Kuei. He was fortunate that all Lin Kuei cyborgs had been designed to resist extreme temperatures, else the cold would have done him in by now.
He could see the temple now, in the distance and gradually growing closer with each step.
"[Relief] Finally…"
Sektor kept walking until he eventually reached the temple. It had been left exactly as it was when the clan migrated to the now-destroyed Cyber Lin Kuei base. Abandoned, but standing. Sektor thought it would be a suitable base of operations, and if nothing else, a home.
Home.
How sentimental. How very Kuai Liang of him. He was amused by the fact that the thought of a "home" had even crossed his mind.
That amusement quickly turned into anger as Sektor thought back to his time with Kuai Liang's Lin Kuei. Everything was so sentimental with them. Home, family. They even called him their guest. How pathetic.
He didn't need such things. They would make him weak. At the same time, as he stood here now, as he walked right into the temple he knew so well, everything felt so… empty.
He felt… alone.
Dammit.
He tried to stop the sequence of words "Frost was right" from coming into his mind, but to no avail. The young Cryomancer had made a point. He was alone, and as he examined himself, the anger she had cited was very much present as well.
But maybe this was what Sektor needed. Some time alone, time to himself. To reflect on his thoughts, and on his life.
He almost couldn't believe it. That he was letting the words of a traitor like Kuai Liang and his imputent protege, a child, get to him. That anything they had said had even fallen under his consideration. Why did anything they had said mattered to him?
Sektor found the answer. They… they actually cared. They wanted to help him. They had shown him compassion, and kindness, and all those feelings he thought had been cut out of him by the cyberization process.
NO! That could not be true! It had to be a lie! Yes… a great treachery orchestrated by Kuai Liang, so that he could try to bring Sektor over to his side and gain access to the resources of the Cyber Lin Kuei. He may have deceived Cyrax, but Sektor was no fool.
If he truly cared, why Sektor? Why not any of the other Cyborgs? The answer was obvious. His fat- Oniro's grand plan. The Overmind System. The program that stripped the other Cyborgs of their minds and made them completely subservient to Sektor. If Kuai Liang was to have any chance of reviving the Cyber Lin Kuei, he would have needed Sektor.
But the thought of his father, and the scars in this temple brought his rage to a different target. Oniro… Even after all these years, and the countless times he had repeated killing that utter wretch, his rage had not diminished by even a fraction of a percent!
Running a hand over the scorch marks in one of the walls, where two pairs of Pulse Blades had clashed over the future of the Lin Kuei, he once more began to replay the battle in his mind.
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Sektor kicked down the ornate wooden doors inlaid with golden dragon patterns that lead to the Grandmaster's Throne Room. Two Cyborgs immediately moved to restrain him, but he disabled them with well placed punches that disorientated them and disconnected the CPUs. A design flaw to be rectified soon, since it had cost himself and the other units victory in a number of battles during the Outworld Invasion.
"What have you done!" Sektor looked at his father, hidden in the shadows of the two torches lit behind his throne, and how he didn't even flinch at his anger.
"My son, oh my blessed son, what is it that troubles you so?" He hated when his father spoke like this. He only spoke like this when he was about to operate on Sektor, and they both knew that hearing that tone would have a detrimental impact on his combat abilities.
"The slaving protocols! They aren't the temporary measure we agreed upon. What have you done to our clan?" Leaning back into his chair his father only laughed in amusement at the question.
"Yes, we agreed upon that. But, then I realised a clan directed entirely by one focused mind would be more efficient. Far less dissenting voices to clog up the gears." Sektor's blood boiled with a heat to match his flame throwers when he heard his father's response.
"We agreed that the protocols would be used until everyone who doubted understood why we were right. Now? Now even those who supported us lack their minds! How could you betray the clan like this! How dare you!"
Things were silent for a moment, the tension a near physical presence weighing down on them. Before Oniro faked a yawn, and chuckled again.
"How dare I? Boy, I dare because I am the Grandmaster. These tinmen, they are as subservient to me as they were before, but now they won't be even slightly doubtful. I dare, because they were my property to work on as I please. As are you, boy. Now go out there and enact my will."
"No." Only now did Oniro stop laughing. Now, he glared at Sektor with the same anger as his son.
"No? No? NO! HOW DARE YOU REFUSE ME!" He rose from his throne, and began walking down towards the red Cyborg, his furious eyes illuminated by the torches as he walked through their light. Sektor simply opened a compartment in both of his upper legs and drew the hilts of his two Pulse Blades.
"I am Sektor of the Lin Kuei, and I formally challenge you for the position of Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei clan." This finally gave the old fiend pause, before he reached into his robes.
"So… it's treason then." He threw off his robes, revealing the numerous surgical scars across his body, and the impeccable physical form that had been preserved through the mystical power of the Dragon Medallion. He then revealed what he had hidden in his robes, activating a pair of orange Pulse Blades.
As Sektor activated his own red Blades, they both stared with only hate in their eyes, their fury manifesting in their blades as they illuminated the room.
The calm passed like it was never there, as Oniro roared with an animalistic fury and leapt through the air as he swung his blades down at Sektor. Sektor retaliated and brought his own up, an X guard catching the blades and leaving Oniro vulnerable to a heavy kick that sent him flying back into the steps of his throne.
"Stand down father, or I will not hesitate to strike you down." Oniro simply looked at him, before getting to his feet as he screamed with fury. He immediately swung his blades into the stone floor, glaring at his son through bloodshot eyes.
"I created you boy. Every piece of technology shoved into that pathetic body of yours for all these years, it was all me. I know how strong you are, and you are no match for me, and the power of the Dragon Medallion." Temper was inherited in this family, as Sektor rushed at Oniro. A failed attempt to block his blades knocked his blades wide and left him vulnerable to Sektor lifting him in a tackle and smashing through the thin walls of the throne room.
Oniro kicked him away in the air, Sektor crashing hard into a stone pillar that gave way to his bulk, with the pillar collapsing onto him after he fell to the ground. He pushed the rubble off of his dented chassis, and saw Oniro rise up from the graceful stance he had taken as he landed softly in the snow, mask lost in the fall and revealing his cruel sneer.
"Is this what you wanted, boy? To be a broken tool and a traitor?" Waving away the diagnostic report of the damage to the circuits' integrity, he glared through the LED lenses.
"I only ever wanted to rule by your side. To prove that I was your worthy successor." Oniro merely spat on the ground in disgust.
"You were a failed experiment. Nothing more than that. Bi-Han was more of a son to me than you." Oniro then began to swing his blades, a cloud of steam forming as the snow was instantly evaporated. Sektor could only vaguely see the outline of orange light. Running at them, their blades colliding as sparks rained from the contact.
"Don't worry LK-9T9, I'm not going to kill you." Oniro twisted and their blades carved into the wall as he made a quick slash across Sektor's chest. "Your punishment will be far worse."
Sektor began trying to smash through his father's guard, wanting to end this now, tired of hearing all of this. He began hitting into Oniro's swords over and over again, relentlessly trying to silence the painful words. Oniro however was waiting for this, and waited for Sektor to over extend on an overhead swing, bringing his left arm too high, before a quick slash relieved him of the limb from beneath the shoulder.
Sektor was stunned for a moment, allowing Oniro to send him flying into another pillar with a jump kick to his chest. As he stumbled away, clutching his arm, he couldn't defend as one Pulse Blade was thrown and impaled him in the stomach, trapping him against the pillar, while Oniro approached with the other, holding it to Sektor's chin.
"Let me be rid of that mask. I want to see the fear in your eyes as I discipline you, LK-9T9." A quick swing, and the red metal of his face plate was sent flying in two charred and melted halves of metal. Sektor screamed as he felt the cold air touching his face, and the open wound across it that had robbed him of his left eye, leaving behind a burnt crater across the skin.
"Now you will learn LK-9T9, that all a machine needs for encouragement, is to know the price of failure." Deactivating his Pulse blade, Oniro returned it to his belt and placed both hands on Sektor's shoulders. He then began to push down, grinning madly while Sektor screamed as the Pulse blade in his stomach slowly moved it's way upwards.
"Yes! Scream! Scream you worthless pile of scrap! This is the price of defiance! Beg for mercy you worthless waste of materials!" Sektor only screamed harder, as he felt it moving through his diaphragm, suffocating him from within.
Oniro then removed the sword. "I tire of your screams. Too little begging. If you are too proud to speak a word, then you have no need for a voice, LK-9T9." He placed the blade to Sektor's throat, and slowly pushed it in, as his choked screams turned to quiet gasps for air through the hole in his airway. Sektor slumped to the ground, with Oniro kneeling to stare him in the eyes.
"Now, are you willing to serve, or must I waste more time repairing you after this?" Gripping his jaw, he forced his disobedient creation to look at him, eye to eye. He looked at Sektor's natural blue eyes, a beautiful sapphire like his late wife, and found himself struck with hesitation for a moment. A moment too long.
Sektor reached for Oniro's belt and snatched the Pulse blade from it, activating it as the orange blade shot through the Grandmaster. Oniro dropped the other blade, and stumbled back. Sektor pushed himself to stand, and limped at Oniro.
"Y-you… traitorous cur…" Sektor cut him off with a wide slash that cut deep. As he felt himself slipping away, snow drifting into and cooling the burned flesh of his torso, he cursed his failed experiment one last time. "I should have strangled you in the crib."
And just like that, Grandmaster Oniro of the Lin Kuei Clan, was no more.
Sektor summoned Cyrax to him, the yellow Cyborg watching as Sektor grabbed the Dragon Medallion and held it high. He then had his old friend send a message through to all of the Cyber Lin Kuei.
"The Grandmaster is dead. Long live the Grandmaster."
As he came back to the present, he wished he could let out a sigh. "[Regret] I should have inquired with Kuai Liang about the status of the Pulse Blades. [Curiosity] I do wonder what he did with them?"
The sound of rushing air echoed around him as a raspy, metallic chuckle came from behind a pillar. "Oh believe me when I say, that is the least of your concerns, traitor."
"[Startlement] Who's there?" Sektor demanded. "[Command] Show yourself!"
Out of the shadows, stepped a Cyborg of similar design to the Lin Kuei models. But there was something off about him. He was covered in black metal plates, eyes illuminated by deep purple LED, but the overall design was far more advanced than Sektor was familiar with. The armour plates were far more streamlined, with more segments allowing a greater range of movement. Dark grey smoke billowed from various vents located on the cyborg's frame.
"[Observation] Whoever has been here in my absence has clearly been making advancements to our technology," Sektor noted. "[Request] Identify yourself, fellow cyborg."
"Oh, you cannot recognise me? I'm hurt." said the cyborg.
"[Query] Should I?" Sektor asked.
"Why, of course you should!" proclaimed the cyborg. "Any son should be able to recognize his father."
"[Shock] F-Father…? [Hate] No. Oniro." Sektor realized. "[Confusion] But how?!"
"The wonders of modern technology," he explained, before becoming enveloped in a cloud of smoke and accelerating at terrifying speeds, grabbing Sektor by the throat. "And please, don't call me 'Oniro'. That was the name of a weak, pathetic, human."
He picked up Sektor and threw him into the nearest wall, before blasting him with hot steam to keep him at bay.
"I am the ultimate evolution of the Cyber Lin Kuei," the former Grandmaster continued to rant. "But alas, the name 'Lin Kuei' has been tainted by traitors like you and LK-52O. Now my vision shall be known as the Tekunin, and I their Grandmaster. Designation LK-360. But I prefer another name..."
Sektor slowly climbed to his feet. "You're just as long-winded as ever, 'father'."
Again, "LK-360" took on the form of a cloud of smoke and rushed at Sektor, punching him repeatedly at incredible speed before finally launching him into another wall with an uppercut.
"I...am Triborg."
As Sektor growled, he rose and looked with a fury long cooled.
"[Hate] I don't care what you call yourself, old fool. [Hate] What you are is a dead man!" Triborg once more released that same raspy, mechanical laugh.
"We shall see how inferior a model you are LK-9T9. I look forward to dismantling you, seeing what pathetic additions you've made since we last met."
Sektor roared with a metallic anger as he blasted Triborg with his flamethrowers.
Triborg's purple eyes changed to a light blue, as a similarly colored light overtook his entire body. His plating changed colors to a steely blue, as he raised his arms and fired blasts of liquid nitrogen, a facsimile of Cryomancy. The cold and heat clashed with one another as Triborg continued to mock Sektor.
"So, I see you have managed to overcome the limitations that LK-52O and LK-4D4 placed on you," he observed. "Your coding skills always were decently impressive."
"[Hate] And with full access to my weapons, I will destroy yo-"
Suddenly, a large scythe blade on a chain flew out and embedded itself into Sektor's arm. He screamed out in pain as one of his flamethrowers deactivated due to the damage. He cut off the other in order to try and pull out the blade, only to be forcefully dragged by the chain.
Sektor looked behind him to see who had launched the weapon.
Another black cyborg, albeit one with orange accents. Its mechanical face was silver by contras, with white glowing eyes, and clearly built to resemble the mask of…
"[Surprise] Wu Lae?"
"Yes, I'm glad you remember the former Tengu Grandmaster," said Triborg as he placed his arms behind his back like a war general, shifting to his default state, his eyes becoming a slightly darker blue as his armor became silver. "You see, Wu Lae and his clan were taken in to... supplement my forces after their little encounter with LK-52O's Lin Kuei. Believe it or not, he actually told me that supposedly, the Tengu and Lin Kuei were no longer enemies. According to one of my scouts, LK-52O's protege actually healed his wounds after you nearly killed him."
"[Frustration] I knew her compassion was a weakness…" Sektor said annoyedly.
"Yes, and one I look forward to exploiting for all of LK-52O's Lin Kuei when I eventually crush them," Triborg agreed. "You on the other hand, I have more urgent plans for."
"[Rage] Like what?!"
Wu Lae pulled the scythe blade out of Sektor's arm and retracted it so that it came off of his own arm somewhat like a Tarkatan blade. Now freed, Sektor lunged to attack Triborg, propelled by his rocket boosters. In response Triborg transformed again, his eyes becoming green and his plating yellow. He opened his chest compartment and fired a bomb, which knocked Sektor back into a wall.
Sektor was dazed and his visual systems now malfunctioning, but he could see well enough to witness Wu Lae picking him by the neck, and then stabbing his scythe blade into his abdomen.
"How does it feel?" the former Tengu leader asked.
"[C-Confusion] Y-Your m-mind is free?" Sektor questioned through his immense pain.
Wu Lae pulled the blade out and dropped Sektor to the ground, stepping back and allowing Triborg to stand over him, as the Tekunin Grandmaster returned to his default form.
"Do you like my modifications to the Slaving Protocols, LK-9T9? It retains the individual's personality, giving them the illusion of freedom as they are entirely subservient to my well, and their pathetic emotions able to be manipulated as I please. For Unit TG-WU143, or 'Wu Lae' as you call him, I decided to heighten his hatred for you." Triborg let out that disgustingly mechanical laugh once again. "And you say that I never take your input on these things."
"You left me to die…" Wu Lae said disdainfully.
"Patience, TG-WU143," instructed Triborg. "LK-9T9 must indeed be punished for his failures, but what I have in mind is far more severe than the sweet embrace oblivion."
"[R-Resentment] I-I'd… pre-efer… tha-at..." Sektor managed to get out through his damaged vocal processor. "[G-Grief] Then… I-I can see… m-mother ag-gain…"
"You are unworthy of invoking her memory!" Triborg shouted before his armor changed to red and his eyes a navy color. He raised his arms and blasted Sektor with replicas of his own flamethrowers.
When the flames subsided, Sektor was just barely conscious.
"[Ob-Ob-Observation] S-So, you have re-re-replicated the abilities of my-myself, C-Cyrax, a-and even Kuai Li-Liang."
"Many of my armaments were originally intended for LK-7T2," Triborg clarified as he returned to his default form. "Yours and LK-4D4's weapons and skills being added to my databanks is what gave me the idea for the name 'Triborg'. After a recent trip to the Netherrealm, I have assimilated LK-52O's armaments as well."
"[Re-Re-Realization] You u-used Sm-Smoke's intended cyber-cybernetic upgrades-grades."
"Affirmative," Triborg confirmed. "The shell of what would have been LK-7T2 was used as the basis for my new form, obviously with several enhancements made in the process to accommodate what I am now capable of. I have become the ultimate evolution of the Cyber Initiative, rendering you, LK-9T9, as well as your former compatriots, obsolete."
A rage built in Sektor as he opened his chest compartment and fired a missile at Triborg, knocking back both him and Wu Lae.
Sektor climbed to his feet and tried to adjust to the smoke that now filled the room.
"Ironic, isn't it?"
"[C-Command] Where are y-you!" Sektor shouted.
Triborg, now again in his Cyber-Smoke form, rushed out of the smoke like a phantom and grabbed Sektor, slamming him into a wall.
"Where once, I was your past, your progenitor." Triborg continued as he shifted to his Cyber Sub-Zero form and began freezing up Sektor's systems at close range, before throwing him to the ground.
"Now…" Triborg shifted to, ironically enough, his Sektor form, just as the true Sektor managed to get to his feet.
Triborg teleported under the ground and reappeared seconds later, uppercutting Sektor and knocking him into the next wall.
"I am your future!"
Sektor ran up and tried to punch Triborg, only for him to change into his Cyrax form and fire an energy net, ensarning and electrocuting Sektor, until eventually his systems failed and he was rendered unconscious, clanging to the ground.
"What do we do now?" asked Wu Lae as his new Grandmaster returned to his default form.
"Now, TG-WU143," Triborg said before another mechanical cackle, summoning two more former Tengu to grab Sektor by the arms and start dragging him through the snow. "We bring him to the dissection table…"
"I did say his punishment would be far worse."
A few minutes later, Sektor had been placed on an operating table, his arms and legs restrained. There were four steely grey cyborgs standing guard within the room. When Sektor awoke, he immediately attempted to escape, struggling against the restraints only to find that despite his augmented strength as a cyborg, he could not break through.
"It's no use, LK-9T9," Triborg said as he walked into the room. "Those restraints are made from pure titanium. And with the damages to you and your weapons systems, you will not be breaking through them. Perhaps you could have, if you had elected to use these."
Triborg held up two deactivated Pulse Blades. Sektor's Pulse Blades.
Triborg turned on one of them, the crimson red energy blade illuminating the somewhat dark room.
"Quite the weapons, these are," Triborg boasted. "I'm glad I invented them."
"[Pride] I...refined the design…." Sektor reminded him.
"Yes, I admit the original prototype, the… 'Sabre of Light', I think I called it, was hardly a completed version of what we have here today," Triborg conceded. "I've been meaning to ask, LK-9T9. What did you do with my Pulse Blades?"
"[Recollection] Kept them as trophies," Sektor revealed. "[Hate] After I killed you."
Triborg once again let out that mechanical laugh that Sektor was only beginning to hate.
"If you had 'killed' me, we would not be having this conversation, now would we, LK-9T9?"
"[Pride] My name is-"
"Irrelevant. You are unit designation LK-9T9. And a traitor."
"[Hate] You were the one who betrayed the ideals of the Lin Kuei." Sektor argued.
"If that were true, you were my accomplice," Triborg countered. "And it isn't, I was simply the one who dared to look into the future. An act that many in the clan agreed with."
"[Realization] Your followers recovered you after our battle…"
Triborg nodded. "Yes, after you, their new 'Grandmaster', ordered them to 'clean me up'. Not much of a Grandmaster, were you? That is, if you could not see insurrection right under your nose. My brain and other relevant organic components were implanted in the body intended for unit LK-7T2, with several necessary mechanical implants to supplement the damage you did in your childish rebellion. From there, I made improvements over the decades, and worked to build my vision. My Tekunin."
"[Amusement] You boast of my inability to anticipate treachery, when you yourself did not think I would dare to take command from you until I was already in your throne room."
"A mistake I will not repeat again," Triborg said with absolute certainty. "And the reason behind my new updated Slaving Protocols."
"[Mocking] By the way, if you're looking for the Dragon Medallion, it's useless to you once the cyberization process is undergone, I have learned that first hand," Sektor informed. "[Mocking] Kuai Liang has it, and he has bestowed it unto his Cryomancer protege. [Recollection] He also recovered the armor of his grandfather. The one you sent on a suicide mission to Outworld, old man."
Triborg stabbed the red Pulse Blade into Sektor's chest, causing him to emit a roboticized scream of pain.
"Insolent child…" Triborg said disdainfully. "I did not intend for the first Sub-Zero to meet his end. Upon reflection, perhaps that is what motivated his daughter and her husband to flee to America. Fools. It was a good thing we were able to track them down, eliminate the deserters, and make use of the new assets they had birthed for us. I do find it interesting however, that now, you, LK-9T9, appear to be putting faith in the man who usurped your position as Grandmaster, and in his mockery of a clan."
"[Denial] What are you talking about?!" Sektor asked.
"You would not have disclosed the whereabouts of the Dragon Medallion and the first Sub-Zero's armor to me if you did not somehow foolishly believe that LK-52O and his protege would be able to somehow defeat me," Triborg explained. "As if I have anything to fear from two mere Cryomancers."
"[Argumentation] If you did not fear them, why did you always send Bi-Han, his mother before him, and her grandfather before her, on missions designed to get them as far away from you as possible?"
"Because unlike you, LK-9T9, the Sub-Zero lineage has always proven reliable." Triborg made another stab with the Pulse Blade, this time digging it into Sektor's leg.
"[Amusement] And yet...two of them rebelled and their predecessor was killed on a mission," Sektor recounted. "[Mocking] It's alright, 'father', you don't have to pretend you're not a coward. It's just me."
Triborg roared with mechanical fury and stabbed both of Sektor's Pulse Blades into his chest and stomach.
"And if you DARE speak to me like that again, I will start using these to amputate limbs!" Triborg yelled.
"[Hate] Just get it over with..."
"You expect me to kill you? Oh no, no, no, LK-9T9. I will not be doing that. You are, after all, my creation, my prized experiment. I could never kill you, when you still have data to yield. I will however, be disassembling you. I am curious to see what alterations you've made since you 'killed' me. And I believe this dissection will serve as sufficient punishment for said action. And once I'm finished, I'll send you back to your new friends. As a warning. So that LK-52O and his so-called 'Lin Kuei' know that their end is nigh."
Sektor's torment and agony went on for hours. He felt like he'd been torn apart and reassembled countless times, each time more painful than the last. Triborg clearly took pleasure in the whole affair, laughing maniacally and mocking all of Sektor's enhancements, referring to him as mere antiquated technology.
"There are far, far too many mass produced parts in you. If I had known you would resort to junk without my discipline, I would have beaten you far more as a boy. That would have taught you the importance of maintaining standards, or it would have broken something. Either way, a lesson would be taught."
Every part of Sektor's body, mechanical or organic, quite simply hurt. Every second was agonizing. Never before in his entire life had Sektor quite simply wanted to die. He wanted to cry as he felt his hand be stripped apart piece by piece, watching as the metal plate was cracked open and the wires that connected to the nerve structure around his original bones and their protective Titanium mesh were peeled apart.
"You certainly didn't need intact fingers if you were going to just settle for these inferior substitutes. I am so very glad that you have so little biological material, meaning I no longer must call you my 'flesh and blood'."
He almost couldn't believe it. He had so many dreams. Being Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei, leading the most advanced, accomplished, and deadly assassin clan in all the realms. He had died, been reborn, and now he just wanted to die again. And every time he requested the end, Triborg subjected him to even further pain.
"Such cowardice is more proof that you have become a failure. You never complained this much as a child, regardless of how many experimental implants I tested within you. Ah… those were the days."
And eventually, it stopped. But not because Sektor was finally dead, no. Because Triborg had another plan: the warning he had talked about. He gave Sektor no repairs, had two former Tengu carry him into a room in his Tekunin base, lean his broken, barely functioning form against a wall, standing on a circular teleportation platform, made from the same technology that allowed the cyborgs themselves to teleport.
The cyborgs began pressing the buttons to calibrate the device, as Triborg came into the room, if he still could, he would have smirked at the sight before him.
Sektor had lost much of his body, near all of it in fact. His arms and legs were almost gone completely, laying dismantled on a large table before him and leaving only his bone and metal skeleton behind. His torso had been pried open, and the clear plastic casing that packed his few remaining organs- heart, lungs and liver- tightly together was revealed. He felt the air on his skin and the light on his eyes as it almost blinded him, the only metal left to cover his face being the respirator mask that covered the burns of the pulse blade and kept him breathing.
"Well, that was thoroughly enjoyable, LK-9T9," Triborg said sadistically, striking his fingers against the worn and fragile skin of his cheek.
"I'll be transporting you to LK-52O's little hideout so they can see what I'm capable of. Before my Tekunin tears them apart. LK-52O was a fool to hide from Raiden in one of my old bases."
"[Re-Realization] Y-You… knew… where… they w-were…" Sektor managed to get out through laboured breaths.
"I always did," Triborg revealed. "I've merely been waiting for the opportunity to destroy them. I still have to maintain this facade of wanting to share in Raiden's crusade. Can't have him thinking I'm another threat to deal with. But in time, I will kill each and every member of LK-52O's 'Lin Kuei', and finally wipe the slate clean."
"[Ir-Irritation] W-Why...do you think...I-I care..?"
"I don't expect you to," Triborg explained. "I don't really care what you think. You were a failed experiment, and now you're my scarecrow. Understood, LK-9T—"
"Sektor?"
Triborg turned around to see Hydro standing in the room.
"Do it." Triborg ordered.
Another cyborg pressed the final button, and Sektor was transported away, vanishing in a flash of blue light.
"Where did you send him?" Hydro asked.
"Hydro, he is not the Sektor you knew," Triborg lied, hunching over as he leaned over the table of Sektor's parts, appreciating that he could hide his smirk as he looked at the metal and flesh paid as the cost of betrayal. "He was brainwashed by Kuai Liang. My own son, turned into a nearly mindless machine."
"My god…" Hydro said. "How could he do this?"
"The death of Bi-Han drove Kuai Liang mad," Triborg explained, another lie flowing like air from his lips. "The Netherrealm magics that Shinnok utilized to make him into his puppet only worsened matters. He reprogrammed both Sektor and Cyrax to serve him, and has an entire clan of his cult worshippers that he calls his Lin Kuei. That is why our Tekunin must destroy them, my old friend."
Hydro clenched his fists. He wasn't sure if any of it was even true, but if it was, it needed to be stopped.
"Perhaps Kuai Liang has gone insane," Hydro reasoned. "After all, he not only 'made peace' with his brother's killer, the man who maimed me, but allowed my brother, Aqua to join the Shirai Ryu."
"Kuai Liang and Scorpion's corruption knows no end," Triborg agreed, idly peeling away a nerve cluster from copper wiring. "You have my word Hydro, they will be dealt with. Now that my little Knight is under my control, the game is in hand."
At the Lin Kuei base itself, all remained blissfully unaware of what was approaching, that the Tekunin even existed.
Until that is, Sektor suddenly teleported onto the base's central room.
Frost had been conversing with a few other students when it happened. All eyes immediately turned to face Sektor, who was sputtering and sparking and looked like he was about to collapse.
"T-Tri...borg…" he choked out before falling over and clanging to the ground, twitching as his remaining systems continued to malfunction, not having survived the energy of the trip while so exposed.
"Sektor!" Shouted Frost as she rushed over along with two other students, including her training partner Sleet.
"[Hate][Pain][Hate][Pain][Hate][Pain]" Sektor uttered over and over again, either because of his vocal systems failing or because those two things were the only things Sektor was feeling right now.
"What should we do?" Sleet asked.
"Get Sifu and Cyrax," Frost instructed. "They'll be able to help him."
He couldn't vocalize it, but Sektor was wondering why she was even helping him, especially given their last encounter.
A minute or so later, both Kuai Liang and Cyrax came into the room.
"What happened to him?" Cyrax asked.
"I don't know," Frost answered. "He just teleported in."
"[Hate][Pain][Hate][Pain][Hate][Pain]" Sektor continued to drone on.
Kuai and Cyrax knelt down next to him.
"I can put him into stasis," Cyrax offered. "It should help with repairs."
Kuai Liang nodded. Cyrax opened up part of the casing on Sektor's neck, and pressed an internally implemented button. Shortly afterward, Sektor's systems shut down, the lights in his eyes fading and his body going limp.
"There," said Cyrax. "I can get him onto a table and start working."
"Do that," Kuai Liang instructed. "I'll help you carry him."
"Wait," interceded Frost. "Before he started repeating Hate and Pain over and over….can't imagine what he must've gone through to start doing that….he said something else."
"What?" Kuai Liang asked.
"Triborg," Frost answered. "Does that mean anything?"
"I….I don't know…" Kuai Liang responded.
"Even when I was part of the Cyber Lin Kuei, I never heard anything about a 'Triborg'." Cyrax recalled.
"A mystery to discern when Sektor awakens." Kuai Liang decided, a new concern for the future that was now looming overhead.