Chapter 2
"Still able to throw that frag, Ocagire?" Austrian asked, over the roar of submachine gun and rifle fire pouring into the wall before him, referring to the fragmentation grenade that his First Mate still clutched in one hand. It would make things easier if the grenade could be thrown into the room. It would certainly silence this incessant cacaphony of gun fire.
Ocagire glanced at the door, which had been partially blown off it's hinges and reduced to pulp in a few parts, and then shook his head. The angle at which the door had been knocked by the Zionite's weapons fire was one which could reflect Ocagire's grenade back at them or endanger him in the process of throwing it. Austrian would have to come up with a better plan.
He motioned to the cocking handle of his weapon, then to his ears, and then held up a clenched fist beside his head. This, according to the tactical programs hard-wired into him at The Merovingian's elite school known as "The Tower", meant that his crewmates were to wait and listen for the sound of the enemy reloading and then make their attack. The way the Zionites were firing, they would no doubt run out of ammunition in their currently loaded magazines fairly soon. When they did and they stopped to reload, The Hapsburg would teach them the value of fire discipline.
The sound of magazines being haphazardly ejected from weapons and the fumble of hands trying to drive fresh clips of ammunition into over-heated firearms quickly wafted through the destroyed wall and into the smoke-filled hall where Austrian and his friends waited.
"Jetzt!" he yelled, propping himself up so he could fire his Steyr AUG into a slot that the Zionites had carved into his section of wall. It was a perfect hole to shoot from, like a firing port on the side of an APC or an archer's peek-hole in the wall of a castle turret.
The hallway filled with the deafening drum of automatic weapons firing again as Austrian, Ocagire and NingenAkuma fired madly into the room, trying to kill all of the Zionites before they had a chance to reload and return fire. Austrian saw two collapse under the 5.56mm rounds of his Steyr AUG as he fired into the room from his hole. The stability that the wall offered helped his aim immensely and his rounds struck precisely where he wanted them to. The fact that the Zionites were too busy fiddling with the fire ejection ports on the sides of their weapons and what not, rather than dodging and taking cover, certainly helped as well.
"Enough." Austrian called out and both of his operatives ceased fire with him. It seemed like the Zionites had been killed, the gravity of their error only realized in death. Well, not exactly death. The Zionites had been killed but their Operator would reconstruct them all. He'd no doubt be quite displeased by the act of taking apart and putting back together the complex codes of his entire crew and then having to nurse them all back to full mental competence and awareness onboard their Hovercraft. Dying in the Matrix wasn't as light a thing as some thought it to be. Die too many times in the Matrix and no amount of reconstruction would save a person from severe mental retardation or a permanent vegetative state. The mind could only deal with it's mortality so much before it reached a breaking point that technology could not mend.
Ocagire looked expectantly in Austrian's direction. He mouthed the words, "Let's go!" But Austrian shook his head and gestured for him to hold his position by the door. The Zionites could have survived their fusilade and were waiting for their enemy to reveal themselves before striking. He would wait and listen for sounds of breathing or movement in the room before he would allow Ocagire to rush in and clear the place.
The seconds ticked by. He'd heard what sounded like upholstery collapsing and shreaded carpets blowing in the coded air, but nothing that would suggest someone was waiting for Austrian and his team to make a move. Austrian gestured for Ocagire to execute a room clearing as per Triluminary's standard operating procedures. The techniques involved were a smattering of ideas from British Special Air Service FIBUA (Fighting in Built Up Areas) training from the 21st Century and the American Army's later versions of MOUT (Military Operations in Urban Terrain) training that had been created after the lessons learned from the counter-insurgency campaigns in Iraq and Iran that had taken place in 2021. The techniques were quite useful and well thought out. That was why every Triluminarian had extensive training in them during their induction process. Austrian emphasized the training even more with his crew as he understood the intrinsic value of teamwork. People who fought as individuals, died as individuals. Those who fought as a team, lived as a team. It was simple as that.
Ocagire advanced into the room, covering the room with his M4A1 submachine gun at high ready. NingenAkuma came in behind him, clutching her FN P90 anxiously. After a moment's pause, Austrian heard Ocagire call out "Room clear. OpFor eliminated." This told Austrian that the room was no longer dangerous territory and that the "Opposing Force", or enemies, were all dead or incapacitated.
"Good work you two." Austrian said, smiling at his now filthy comrades. "You may have just well saved The Merovingian and countless other Exiles from genocide today. A job well done."
"Yes, a job well done, indeed." a cheerful voice said, from behind Austrian.
Austrian whipped around to see who it was that had spoken to him, bringing his Steyr AUG up to aim at where he believed the newcomer's head would be. As he focused on who it was, he saw that the visitor was The Effectuator, who now scowled down the barrel of Austrian's favoured firearm.
"Really, is that necessary Austrian?" the Exile asked, unimpressed and arching his eyebrow quizzically at Austrian.
"It is, if you sneak up on me in an area that once was populated by enemies." Austrian replied flatly, holding his aim on The Effectuator for a moment longer and then slinging the Steyr AUG over his shoulder.
"The portal is secure then. Excellent!" The Effectuator finally said, cheerful again.
"Yes, it is for the moment." Austrian replied, nodding.
"You and your crew have done an excellent job. You have protected my Constructs from Zionite incursion once again, Austrian. However can I repay you?" The Effectuator went on.
"Just put in a good word with the boss. That's all we need." Austrian answered. The 'boss' was The Merovingian. Despite the fact that Triluminary wasn't always in agreement with The Merovingian and was quite independent of his jurisdiction on most matters, Austrian still considered himself an employee of The Merovingian. He owed The Frenchman a great deal. The self-styled 'King of the Matrix' had not only arranged Austrian's freedom from the Matrix but also helped him free his younger brother, BienTan, from the simulation. Austrian may not have been fanatically loyal to The Merovingian, but he did feel indebted to the Exile. And that was enough reason to call him the 'boss'.
"Are we finished here Aust? We got other stuff to do." Ocagire asked, impatiently. Always a man of action...
Austrian looked expectantly at The Effectuator, signalling to the program that if The Hapsburg's services were no longer needed, they had other places they needed to be at. "I think, Austrian, that there is something very important you need to do- something you want to do and have been trying not to think about for a long time. Do you know what I think that is?" the Exile asked, his sunglass-covered eyes looking deep into Austrian.
Austrian started to say that he had no time for this nonsense and that The Effectuator was trying his patience but the Exile interrupted him with one short comment. "You need a vacation."
Ocagire chuckled. "I think your subroutines have become corrupted or something, Effectuator. The Commodore doesn't need a vacation from anything but this building."
Austrian gave Ocagire a look that silenced the man instantly. It was true that The Effectuator was acting odd but there was no reason to disrespect such a powerful program with such a comment. It would give the crew and the faction a bad reputation with The Merovingian- something undesirable to the completion of Triluminary's long-term objectives. It was probably just that his Commander was getting bored. He needed a steady flow of work to keep his mind focused. And there had been no shortage of that until recently. "What do you mean by 'vacation', Effectuator?" Austrian asked, narrowing his eyes and stepping closer to the Exile, whose RSI was somewhat shorter and more frail in stature than Austrian's.
"You've been away from home for a long time, Austrian. What if I were to tell you that I could send you back- just for a quick peek? Wouldn't that help you relax? Put you back into your element?" The Effectuator asked, grinning.
"You can't be serious!" Ocagire exclaimed.
Austrian gave Ocagire the same look again and then turned back to The Effectuator. "How would you send me back to Austria? They told me it wasn't doable in The Tower. They told me my life was a false history downloaded to my brain by The Machines. Are you refuting that?"
"You'll just have to see it for yourself." The Effectuator answered, shrugging.
"How much will this cost me?" Austrian asked, stepping closer and tensing his muscles, waiting to hear the Exile's doubtless hidden catch.
"Cost? Please, Austrian. It's a token of my gratitude." the Exile chuckled in answer to Austrian's visible tension.
"Take me there." he sighed. It had been too long since he'd been to Austria. There were too many questions that needed answering. And now The Effectuator was offering him the possiblity to remedy that. To heck with the work he had to do. It was time for a... 'vacation', as The Effectuator had put it.
