~~~TEN DAYS EARLIER~~~

With RedBindi and Fenshire both jacked in, Vaala took the opportunity to grab a quiet meal in the mess hall. She wasn't especially hungry, but she knew that she had to eat, and she also knew that if RedBindi thought she wasn't eating, she'd definitely hear about it at some point. As she stared into the bowl of goop, she sighed heavily, thinking about the mess she'd gotten herself into. Deciding she'd rather deal with Bindi than choke down the cold “food” in front of her, she pushed the bowl away and stared into space, lost in her own thoughts.

A small knock came from just outside the hall as a barely familiar face came from around the corner. "Hey..." Maeby said. They had never met outside of the matrix before. And there was always that second of pause it seemed, seeing someone in the flesh for the first time. The woman stepped into the hallway a little, hands in her pockets. "Mind if I sit down?"

Vaala shrugged. "Go ahead," she told the doctor indifferently. She remembered Maeby's reaction when she'd told the truth, and watched her warily, wondering what it was that she wanted now.

Maeby first went to the counter and poured herself a bowl of goop. "Figured you could stand to look at someone besides the honeymooners and the smartmouth operator." Looking back over her shoulder at Vaala she smiled just slightly and crossed the room to join her.

"Yeah." She watched Maeby carefully, trying not to let the other woman see that she was a little apprehensive about her presence. "It does kinda get old, seeing the same people all the time, but I guess that's the price you pay, right?"

The doctor gave the girl a long hard look before she turned her gaze to her goop in all seriousness. "I imagine you feel a sort of right to righteous anger, being confined to your quarters like this and having people fret over you so much."

Vaala sighed wearily. "No, not really. I screwed up - badly. If having a constant babysitter makes everyone feel better - safer - then I guess it's just something I'll have to live with until I prove myself. If I could go back and do it over, I would, but I made bad choices. Now I have to live with it, you know?"

The doctor gave a knowing smile and there was little pleasant about it. "But it's still a b*tch."

Vaala returned the smile weakly. "Yeah, it is," she shrugged. "Bindi says it's for my protection, but..." she let the thought trail off. Maeby was RedBindi's crewman on the Titan, so she was not quite sure about discussing her own thoughts about whose protection all this was really for with the young doctor.

"Yeah..." Maeby took a spoonful of goop and brought it to her lips. Taking time to swallow the dreadful stuff, she pointed her spoon in Vaala's general direction and started again, "On that note...there are rumors."

"Rumors?" It was more a statement than a question. Vaala narrowed her eyes a bit as she looked Maeby in the eyes and asked, "What kinds of rumors?"

The doctor tried to read the girl's reaction for a second. With her eyebrows knit together and a look of concern on her face, she stated her opinion in the most direct terms possible. "Bindi can't go with you if you go after Thorne."

"I know that. I've tried telling her that - more than once, even. But she won't listen. Neither will Fen," she said, her frustration readily apparent in both her expression and her tone of voice. "What do you expect me to do? It's not like anyone can change her mind once she's made a decision." Looking at the floor, she added, "The woman is so goddamned stubborn she makes a mule seem agreeable."

Maeby paused a second and looked back over her shoulder. Lowering her voice only slightly, she looked back to Vaala with a pointed look. "I'm not asking you to change her mind..."

Vaala looked at the doctor, trying to decide if she was baiting her or not. Noting the serious expression in Maeby's eyes, she nodded. She thought she knew what the other woman was getting at. She listened closely for a moment as her gaze went past Maeby into the corridor. Satisfied that neither Fen nor Bindi was close enough to hear, she lowered her voice and clarified: "You're saying I should--" She opted not to finish the thought, deciding Maeby was smart enough to finish it on her own.

The doctor shook her head a second, "I'm not in full support of whatever it is you plan to do." The girl thought a second before she turned back to her, "Mostly because I suspect the plan part of whatever it is you intend to do to be lacking. But I know this. She can't be a part of it." The girl sat up a little straighter and looked around the mess hall, collecting another spoonful of goop. "By any means..."

Vaala bristled slightly at the blunt assessment. Still, she agreed with Maeby regarding Bindi. She was willing to do whatever it took to get rid of Thorne, but she wasn't willing to put anyone else in danger. Yet again, though, her temper began to get the better of her and anger flashed in her eyes as she retorted, "and how the hell would you know what it is I plan to do?"

Maeby simply smiled a little and raised an eyebrow. "I don't know what you plan to do. Do you?"

"I, uh...I have some ideas. The Commander shot them all down because," she dropped her eyes and mumbled something that sounded like "because she doesn't trust me." She brought her gaze back up to Maeby's. "But, yeah, I know I can handle Thorne a hell of a lot better if she'd let me go alone than I'll be able to with her there."

Maeby seemed unconvinced but she gave a solemn nod. "And we circle back to the point that we both agree on. She stirred her goop with her spoon and said in a tone completely different from the one she had been using earlier, "Well I should get back to our handful of coppertops. I'll be seeing you later."

"Yeah." Vaala paused for a second and looked back at Maeby. "Uh, Maeby?"

Maeby stopped for a second, empty bowl in hand and looked back, "Yeah?"

Vaala hesitated, unsure if she really wanted to ask the question, lest she get another brutally honest assessment from the doctor. "You agree with her...Bindi...don't you? That I shouldn't be trusted and that I can't - or won't - get this done?"

Maeby dropped her bowl in the sink as her eyes seemed to study the small countertop. Looking back to Vaala, she delivered her verdict, "Strictly speaking, nobody can be trusted. But we have to give people chances..."

"Have to?" Vaala raised her eyebrows. She got the feeling that the other woman's words meant much more than she was saying. "And you didn't answer my question..."

Maeby sighed impatiently and brought a hand up to rub her temple, "I trust you to do whatever strikes you as the right thing... Sleep well, Vaala." And with a quick turn of the corner, the medic was gone.

Vaala put her own bowl in the sink, thinking about what Maeby had just said. 'Whatever strikes you as the right thing...' she thought, a little angrily. She couldn't blame anyone for their doubts, but it still troubled her that no one seemed to believe that to her, the right thing to do was to stop everyone else - anyone else - from getting hurt. She made her way back to her cabin after checking on Fen and Bindi, who were still jacked in, and closed the door quietly behind her. Laying on her bunk, she stared at the ceiling and closed her eyes, trying to think of a way to accomplish the task ahead of her without getting anyone else hurt in the process.



~~~ABOARD THE INFINITY~~~

Even rest was elusive for Vaala right now. Her thoughts wandered back to the conversation she'd had with Maeby about a week and a half ago, and she remembered the young doctor's strong opinion regarding RedBind's involvement in all this. She is gonna kill me when we get back, she thought to herself. I told her I was going to keep Bindi out of it, and here I am, planning on dragging her right into the middle of everything...leading her right back to that bastard Marks, probably.

Giving up even on trying to rest, she sat up. I really wish there was another way, Maeby... The thought was interrupted by a knock at the door.

“Hey...Lieutenant,” a woman's voice said from the other side of the door. “Agent Thorne said to tell you to meet her at the ramp. We're landing.”

“Understood,” Vaala acknowledged as she opened the door and stepped out into the corridor. I guess this is it, she thought. I just hope like hell I'm doing the right thing...

Maeby, Vaala

RedBindi initiated the automatic jack out sequence and opened her eyes to the operations room of the Diluculo. Fenshire was in his chair beside her, still jacked in. She was still worried about Wheeler... it just wasn't like him to be out of contact for this long. Sitting up she noticed the red communications light blinking, indicating a message had been received and stored for viewing while she'd been jacked in.

Standing to her feet she stretched and walked over to the auxilliary comm center located near the rows of monitors her operator would normally be watching and hit the play back button. To her surprise, Wheeler's voice greeted her. “Bindi...Val's gone. Something happened....dunno what. She left her ring and pic. Contact again with more info later...” The pain in his voice was obvious, as was the thump of a large body hitting the ground just prior to the transmission cutting out.

"Christ..." Quickly she pulled up the time stamp on the message. "D*mn... three hours ago..." As she sat in the Operator's chair she grabbed the headset and slammed it on her head, opening the connection to a still jacked in Fenshire. "Fen... something's happened to Val and Wheeler."

Fenshire was in an office building, his foot cocked up and pressed against a lupine's chest, holding the exile against a wall. "One moment, Fluffy. I've got a call." With one hand pointing his H&K MP5 at the lupine's head, Fenshire pulled out his cellphone and listened to his wife on the other end.

"What happened...?"

"We got this about three hours ago." Hitting the playback button once again she replayed the message from Wheeler. "Nothing since."

"Sh*t... okay, get me an exit."

Fenshire sighed, and turned back to the lupine. "We'll have to continue this later."

The lupine snarled and growled at the Zion captain, then fell limp as Fenshire unloaded a 9mm round into it's face. Fenshire backed up, letting the lupine hit the ground.

"Or not."

"Head outside and go North two blocks, you should see a phone booth. I've got it prepped and ready for you."

One motorcycle ride, a surprise lupine attack, and two cigars later, Fenshire made it to the phone booth. He picked up the ringing phone, and within a few moments, woke up in the operations deck of the Diluculo.

As soon as he opened his eyes Redbindi reached behind him and removed his jack. "I'm going to contact Lovable and see if she can find out what's going on. Can you start us back to New Zion while I do that?"

"Absolutely." Fenshire ran full speed to the cockpit. He was barely strapped in when the ship already started to pick up off the ground.

RedBindi reached down and flipped a switch opening the relay to the Trust frequency. "Hovercraft Diluculo to Hovercraft Izanami. Please respond."

Lovable was keying into her tracking program when she suddenly heard RedBindi's voice over the intercom. Daven was sitting in her comm station; sensing the urgency in Bindi's voice she practically shoved the much taller operator out of the way. "Izanami responding. What's going on, Bindi?"

"Three hours ago we received a message from Wheeler, it's obvious he was in pain and he was reporting that Val's gone. He said he would contact us later with more info, but we haven't heard a word since."

Lovable sighed in worry. "Sh*t..." She yelled across the broadcast deck. "Daven! Have we heard anything from Control yet on Wheeler?"

"Yeah, apparently he's at the med center, he's recovering from a head injury."

Lovable arched her eyebrow. "What?! When did you find this out?"

"About 20 minutes ago."

"And you're telling me this NOW?!"

Lovable's voice was laced with anger. "Bindi, you're going to need to stop me from killing this man later." Taking a breath she continued. "I guess that's all I know. But wait... you said that message was 3 hours ago?"

RedBindi sighed. "Yeah... it came in while Fen and I were both jacked in, so it was stored until I jacked out and played it." Flipping over to the ships comm she relayed the information to Fenshire. "Fen, Wheeler's in the med center recovering from a head injury."

"What? A head injury?" Fenshire had to practically yell over the sound of the engines as he piloted the small hovercraft through the many tunnels of the Real. "What about Vaala?"

"I don't know. I'm talking to Lovable now." Switching back to the Trust frequency she spoke to Lovable again. "Any word on Val?"

Something clicked with Lovable. "I haven't heard anything on Val. But, um, that's really strange because... about three and a half, maybe four hours ago a ship was pulled up through the dead drop... crew seemed to be moving around in a hurry. Think it's connected?"

"Hm... could be. Can you contact Command and get the name and transponder of that ship?"

"Roger, give me a moment." She flipped to a second comm relay and opened the channel. "Command, this is Lovable of the Izanami. I need to get a transponder and identity of the ship that was pulled through about four hours ago. RedBindi is requesting this information immediately, we think it had to do with what happened to Wheeler."

A female voice answered. "Yes, one moment." She heard a couple keys tap, and shortly afterward she spoke again. "Lov, the name of the ship is the 'Infinity," and I'm forwarding you the transponder data."

"Infinity, eh..." RedBindi shook her head. "They could be anywhere with a four hour headstart. I'll have Fen do a radar sweep of our area and see if we get lucky." Reaching down she flipped over to the ships comm again. "Fen, do a radar sweep and see if you pick up any other ships in the area. A ship called Infinity left New Zion in a hurry about four hours ago."

"You got it." Fenshire, continuing to concentrate on piloting the ship, switched on the radar with one hand. "It'll take a sec for it to initialize. Any word on Val, though? God... I hope she didn't do this to Wheeler..."

"Thank you, Lov out." She closed the channel and soon noticed the transponder data displayed on her comm screen. She reviewed it briefly and downloaded a copy to her own system. She got back on the Diluculo's channel. "Bindi, I'm sending you the transponder data right now. I'll see what I can do on tracking it down."

"No... no word on Val. Wheeler said she left her ring and picture... I think he was trying to say she may not have gone willingly. She wouldn't have left those behind otherwise."

"True..."

RedBindi switched back to the Trust frequency to answer Lovable. "Alright, we'll be waiting for it. Thanks."

--RedBindi, Fenshire, Lovable

Cameryn and Vaala were monitoring the relays coming in and out of the station. Cameryn, though she didn't display her thoughts and feelings, seemed unusually dispersed. "Lieutenant, please check the other monitoring stations, ensure the other operatives are on point. We cannot afford any mistakes at this crucial junction."

Vaala raised her eyebrows. "Uh..." she said, looking around, "which way? I haven't had time to familiarize myself with this installation yet, Agent."

Cameryn pointed down the set of stairs to their left. "Down that direction one level, first door on your right. The monitoring stations will be in there."

Vaala followed the directions. Once inside the room, she closed the door and looked back over her shoulder to make sure Thorne hadn't followed. She checked their progress and then headed to the comm unit, making some excuse about checking to ensure that they hadn't been followed to the comm tower. Once she was certain that all the Machinists were busy with their duties, she put on the headset. Man, I hope they get this, she thought as she began trying to send a message out to Fen and Bindi on the Diluculo's comm frequency.

She's taking too long... Cameryn let out a sigh and made her way down to the monitoring station, approaching the door. She knocked to alert the workers inside to her presence then opened the door, seeing Vaala at one of the stations.

Vaala ripped the headset off and tried to put it down before Thorne entered and slowly, carefully, moved her hand from the headset to the keyboard, hoping Thorne hadn't noticed.

The Agent froze in place, eyeing the other controllers in the room, who were abruptly made aware of her entering. She looked over to Vaala, noticing her hand resting on the headset...

Thorne, her eyes burning, glared at Vaala. In a harsh voice she barked. "Ms. Redwinter, remain where you are. The rest of you out. NOW." The other handful of workers rushed their way out of the room, one of them stumbling out of his chair. Once they were out, Cameryn closed the door. "Lieutenant... you took a bit too long to just check on these men... what were you just doing?"

"Agent," Vaala nodded, keeping her tone as even as she could despite her growing dread. "I was just ensuring that no one had tried to follow us..."

Cameryn was seething; very rarely she let her emotion escape her but this plan had just gone too far off the rails of what she'd wanted. She approached quickly, her gait communicating a very real threat. "Now how do you plan on keeping your location secure..." She snatched the headset from the counter where she'd seen Vaala place it just a moment ago, her voice laced with hate. "... if you're telling them where you are..?"

"I did no such thing. I was simply...oh hell," she said as she reached out and grabbed the agent and slammed her head into the station. Guess my cover's broken now, she thought as Thorne's head started bleeding.

RedBindi sat in the seat, buckling herself in one handed, while flying at top speed through the tunnels, coaxing every last ounce of speed from the Diluculo. "Come on girl, I know you can give me more."

Fenshire got to the operator deck, then began unplugging the ecto chairs and shutting down the operator's equipment. "Sh*t... this is going to be a total hack job..." he muttered, stuffing the cables he disconnected under his arm. Moving as fast as he could, he pulled the cables towards the engine room.

RedBindi keyed the comm. "How's it coming?"

"Good..." Fenshire panted. "I've taken the operator's station and ecto chairs off-line. We won't be able to jack in, or monitor the Matrix right now."

"Whatever it takes..." RedBindi gripped the piloting controls even tighter as the Diluculo continued at breakneck pace through the tunnels.

Fenshire arrived at the engine room, setting the cables on the floor. Wiping his brow, he looked around. Along the ceiling were four hatches, another four along the floor. Grabbing one of the cables, he moved to the upper front left hatch and started climbing the ladder leading to it. "Alright... diverting power to pad one. Be careful with your left turns... I'm going to be outside..."

"What?!" RedBindi nearly lost control of the Diluculo as the shock of Fenshire's statement hit her. "Fen... are you sure about this...?"

"Yes." He shouldered open the hatch, feeling the cold air blowing in as the hovercraft sped down the line. "We need to move as fast as we can... more power to the pads will help with that."

"Dammit, Fen..." She sighed. "Just be careful..."

"Just keep the ship steady, and warn me when you have to do any dangerous maneuvers." He moved outside, one hand holding the cable, the other held tight around a handhold on the side of the hovercraft. Over the comms, Fenshire was barely audible over the sound of the rushing air.

Thorne's head bounced back from the impact, and she felt blood drip down from her forehead. She winced in pain but got up very quickly, regaining her equilibrium. Her eyes narrowed and she glared at her former Lieutenant, speaking in a newly darkened tone. "You're quite a lying tart, aren't you, Ms. Redwinter...?"

Vaala simply smiled back at Thorne as she waited for the inevitable attack. "That all depends on who you're talking to...Agent."

For the first time since Cameryn began working with Vaala, her face crunched in growing hate and anger. "You've misplaced your alliance, you backstabber..." Within a second's time. Cameryn leapt through the air at Vaala, pinning her against the console and slamming the Zionite's head into the surface.

Vaala saw stars as her head hit the console. She shook it off as best she could and focused on putting a little distance between her and Thorne. As she finally broke free of the Machinist's grip, she started to feel a bit woozy. Forcing herself to hold on, she looked at Thorne, her expression equally hateful. "Backstabber? Maybe you should ask your friend 'Gray' about that..."

Thorne kept her footing as Vaala shoved her off; regaining her stance she grabbed Vaala by the collar of her shirt and hoisted her a few inches into the air. "Gray would have you terminated for your insubordination and deceitfulness." She coiled back her fist and sent it flying dead in the center of Vaala's face.

Well, this is a little unexpected, Vaala thought as she hung a few inches above the floor. She flew backwards a few feet as Thorne's fist connected. Picking herself up off the floor as quickly as possible, she felt a trickle of blood run down to her lip from her nose. "You b*tch," she said and she lunged at Thorne and tackled her to the ground. "Your 'Gray' doesn't have the authority to have me terminated," she said through gritted teeth, punctuating each word with solid punches. "He's a f*cking exile, you idiot."

Thorne lurched to her side, knocking Vaala off of her. She shook her head, her mind reeling a bit from the blows. Catching her breath, she began to taste blood filling her mouth; she raised a hand to her mouth and discovered the source of the injury. She spat at Vaala, "I must've assaulted you a bit too forcefully, you appear to be suffering dementia..." she said, her green eyes glimmering with her rising emotion as she pulled herself up to her feet, wiping the blood from her mouth and forehead.

"Dementia? Really, Agent, one would think someone as...efficient as you would have discovered the truth by now." She took a second to watch Thorne, noting the way her eyes showed the emotion her face never did, enjoying this little moment of having the upper hand on the Machine. "Your 'Gray' isn't Gray at all," she laughed. "He's Marks. Why do you think your 'mission' was the Trust...and RedBindi? Are you really that ignorant?" She laughed again. "Maybe you're the one who should have been terminated long ago."

Fenshire slowly moved his way back to the hatch and swung himself back down inside the engine room. He grabbed the cable and moved it into a little niche on the side of the hatch door, enabling him to close the hatch. "Whew..." Fenshire sighed. "Okay, pad one's got more juice... moving to pad two..." He knelt down and opened up the bottom front left hatch. "This time, I'll be below the ship."

"Christ..." RedBindi took in several deep breaths and relaxed her grip on the controls. Her training for these situations taking over, she forced herself to remain calm and keep the hovercraft steady.

Feshire slowly made his way to the hoverpad, finally reaching its base. Nervously, he glanced up at the electricity blasting out of the pad and hitting the walls of the maintenance line. Fortunately, the push of the pad's repulsors helped to keep Fenshire against the hull of the ship as he connected the cable to one of the pad's power sockets.

He hooked his feet on one of the shelving units for the engine's tools, then lowered his upper body through the hatch. Again, he grabbed onto a handhold and with his other hand adn brought the cable closer to the hoverpad's base. "Well... this'll be easier." He looked up nervously to see the ground rushing past him, a mere several feet away. "Relatively."

Knowing her husband's position, RedBindi skimmed as close to the top of the tunnel as possible, giving him as much room under the ship as possible. "We're speeding up. Should be to the Comm station in no time."

After he connected the cable, he pulled himself back up into the engine room, moving the cable into it's niche, and closing the hatch. "Alright. Pad two's good to go." He grabbed another cable, and moved over to the front upper right hatch. "Going to plug up seven and eight now."

"Alright." RedBindi again compensated for the increase in power and moved the Diluculo lower in the tunnel, again giving Fenshire the room he needed to work.

After a few minutes, Fenshire announced the success of connecting pad seven. Afterwards, he made his way below the ship again, connecting up pad eight. He wiped his forehead, which even with the blasts of cold outdoor air, was drenched in sweat. He moved his way to the upper back left hatch. "Okay... working on three and four now."

"We've got a substantial boost in power. It won't be long until we reach the Station." RedBindi continued to control her emotions, knowing they were just impediments to her for now.

Just a few minutes later, Fenshire announced his success with pads three and four. "Almost finished... doing five and six now..." He moved to the upper back right hatch, opening it, and lifted himself ouside with one of the reactor's cables.

The Diluculo hurtled through the tunnels, Redbindi taking tunnels most other pilots would blanch at ever considering, all the while coming closer to her goal. "Forget about the other pads, Fen. We're approaching our destination."

He had already connected pad five, and was currently dangling through the bottom hatch, moving to hook up pod six. "Alright... I've almost got the last pod."

RedBindi checked her navigation charts, finding a small niche just perfect to hide the Diluculo in, close to her target. "Alright. Landing in two minutes. Grab a couple guns when you get done in there."

Fenshire lifted himself out of the hatch, closing it behind him. "Okay, we're good!" he shouted into the comm. He ran to one of the Diluculo's weapons' closests, pulled out two lightning rifles, and ran back to the cockpit.

Less than two minutes later, RedBindi came upon the niche she'd identified on the Navigation charts. Swinging the Diluculo around, she excuted a stop and drop maneuver that left the Diluculo on the ground facing back the way they came. "Alright, let me grab a couple bags and we'll be good to go." RedBindi said as she stood and grabbed the gun Fenshire was holding out to her before taking off down the corridors to the weapons room and grabbing her knives and a backpack. Slamming the knives into their sheaths, she placed them around her forearms and ankles before heading out at a run towards the ramp at the back of the Diluculo, Fenshire close on her heels.

Cameryn, RedBindi, Fenshire, Vaala

Thorne began to laugh for a moment; she couldn't comprehend what Vaala was talking about. She took a moment to think... Wait... that certainly would explain Gray's erratic behavior... no, it's not possible.. Her eyes squinted closer together, staring Vaala dead in the eyes. In a flash, she reached down and removed a knife from the sheath attached to her boot and flung it square at Vaala's calf.

"Gnnh!" Vaala grunted in pain. Where the hell did that come from?! she wondered. Seeing she was definitely outclassed, not to mention unarmed, she backed towards the door. I need to get out of here...Fen and Bindi will be here any second. I can hop on the ship, get away, and deal with this b*tch later. Reaching the door, she carefully moved her hand behind her back until it rested on the doorknob. "I see you have doubts. Maybe you should check the code signature for yourself..." She opened the door and tried to duck through it before Thorne pulled another knife. Rushing through the door quickly, Vaala closed it behind her. She ran down a corridor towards the nearest exit, only stopping long enough to pull the knife out of her leg. This might come in handy, she thought as she looked over her shoulder and saw Thorne advancing.

Instead of running after her target, Thorne had merely observed her for a moment, then walked quickly after her. She followed Vaala to the outside ledge where the craft had initially dropped them off, noticing she was losing a considerable amount of blood. Keeping an eye on Vaala, she moved to the outside, her stance more stealthy and catlike due to her training; she mostly just observed her, knowing full well the loss of blood would slow her down.

Vaala looked up, hoping Fen and Bindi would get there soon. She was nearly overjoyed to see the glimmer of light from the ship's hoverpads as it quickly approached. D*mn, that ship is fast, she thought, trying not to grin at the thought of the Diluculo's arrival.

Thorne glared at her, disgusted with the Zionite's behavior. "It's over for you poddie. There is no escaping the price you pay for betrayal." Immediately after the statement, she let off a small chuckle.

Vaala simply smiled at the other woman. "Oh, I don't think so..." she said, knowing that RedBindi was probably on the ground and approaching the station at a dead run. She turned and looked over the ledge, judging whether or not she could safely jump. Deciding she could probably make it, even with her injured leg, Vaala leapt off the ledge, landing in a heap as her injured leg crumpled beneath her.

"You and 'Gray'...er, Marks...have a good time!" she called out from the ground. "You certainly deserve each other..."

Thorne shook her head, pegging the Zionite as ultimately stupid. She called after her, before crouching down. "Since we seem to be wrapping up business here.. there's something else I should tell you..." Cameryn leapt down after her in a springlike motion.

"No need. If it's about your mental instability, I already know you're psychotic," Vaala told her as she set off at as fast a run as she could manage.

Once off the ramp, RedBindi immediately scanned the surrounding area looking for threats in her vicinity. Seeing none she continued forward after spying Vaala leap from a ledge several hundred yards in front of her.

"Thorne, too! We need to get to them!" Fenshire pressed his legs into moving as fast as he possibly could, bringing up his lightning gun.

"I see her." RedBindi immediately changed her course, heading not for Vaala, but for the greater threat to Vaala's survival - Thorne. "Get Vaala." RedBindi sprinted forward, her long strides allowing her to cover the distance quickly and almost effortlessly, in spite of the heavy bag and energy rifle she carried.

"Alright." Fenshire moved towards Vaala's direction, but kept his gun towards Thorne's direction.

Thorne landed perfectly in a roll, and without losing her momentum she sprinted after Vaala and finally grabbed her shirt from behind, yanking her backward. "You really need to hear this," she said, almost gleefully.

Vaala stumbled a bit as Thorne pulled - hard - on her shirt. Swinging around to fact Thorne, she struck out at the Agent, knife in hand, aiming for her chest.

Thorne noticed from the corner of her eye the rapidly approaching RedBindi and Fenshire, and almost laughed out loud to herself. She saw that Vaala's arm was poised, ready for a strike. Faster and better trained, Cameryn removed a knife hidden in a sheath in the back of her belt. Before Vaala could move any further, Cameryn plunged the second knife into Vaala's chest, deeply between the rib bones. Immediately upon impact, Cameryn made her final statement. "You never had a brother...."

Seconds later RedBindi slammed into Cameryn, realizing even then she was probably too late, while Fenshire ran to Vaala, catching her as she fell back.

Astonished at the knife that was now sticking out of her and the speed and force with which it had been put there, Vaala dropped to her knees. "Wait!" she yelled at RedBindi. Looking back at Thorne she asked, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Thorne!" she said a few moments later when the Machine hadn't answered, "Answer me!" She coughed and the metallic taste of blood filled her mouth.

RedBindi grabbed Thorne, her calm demeanor gone, and forced her to her feet. "Answer her," she told the Machinist as Fenshire ripped off his sleeve, balled it up and pressed it against the wound around the knife.

Vaala pushed Fenshire away and struggled to her feet, still gripping the knife she'd pulled out of her leg. Darkness blurred the edges of her vision, but she gritted her teeth and tried to force herself to remain conscious.

"Stop moving, God dammit..." Fenshire gritted his teeth, helping to steady Vaala. "I need to keep pressure on that wound."

With a twist of her arm, Cameryn escaped RedBindi's grip and ran a few steps backward toward the open entryway door; she reached inside and pressed a button on a nearby console and retreating into the corridor, an alarm sounding off.

"D*mn," RedBindi said. Quickly drawing a knife from her sheath she threw it at the retreating woman, striking her in the side - though not quite where she'd intended. RedBindi knew the knife would cause pain and nothing more in its current location.

Thorne called out to Vaala, a smirk growing on her face. "The man Lamont killed was not your brother. You never had one... those memories were fabricated." Her smile grew wider and she headed to her right to retreat to the opposing corridor. As she ran, the knife RedBindi had thrown struck her in the side. She lurched forward, grunting in pain, but it hardly slowed her down ans she continued her run.

Again, Vaala broke free of Fenshire's grasp and started after Thorne. She stumbled forward slowly, the loss of blood weakening her with each passing second. F*ck...need...to...stay...awake, she thought. "Goddamn it...f*cking...toaster..." she said as loud as she could.

"Vaala, no!" RedBindi repositioned herself to grab onto Vaala. "Fen, we need to get her out of here. Can you carry her?"

"That's...not..." Vaala paused, trying to steady herself. "Let go!" Vaala said, struggling as hard as she could against RedBindi. "Going...to...kill..." she said as the siren continued to blare and the Comm Station hummed to life.

"Yeah. Let's go." Fenshire grabbed Vaala, picking her up gently. "No, we need to get you out of here. You're no match for her like this. You need medical attention!"

Vaala looked at Fenshire, her eyes becoming glossy as she tried - weakly - to get down. "Fen...no..." she said, her voice barely a whisper. "Thorne..."

Thorne finally made it to the communication console where they had been previously, and put on her headset. She flipped a switch and barked into the mic. "Attention all units, we have a breach in the station! Converge toward the entrance!"

RedBindi nodded to Fenshire. "I'll cover our retreat. Just get her to the ship." Without another word she dropped her gun to the ground and reached into the sack, pulling out two premade remote charges. "Go Fen." Sticking them to either side of the entranceway she began to back away, towards the Infinity, gripping her rifle as she did. Once Fenshire cleared the blast radius, RedBindi waited patiently, crouched down behind one of the Infinity's hoverpads, for the backup to arrive.

"We'll get her, don't worry. But we need to keep you alive." Fenshire started rushing back to the hovercraft. "That cloth, I need to you to press that down against your chest. Can you do that for me, Vaala?"

Vaala nodded and tried to put as much pressure as she could on her bleeding chest. "Fen...not gonna...make it. Just...get...out..." she said, resting her head against his chest.

"You're going to make it. Just focus on my voice, and keep pressing down on your chest, okay?"

Several Machine troops on foot converged near the entryway, a few passing by it as they began to inspect the premises. Thorne, still in pain, yanked the knife from her side and pressed her hand against it. "It's Lamont... apprehend her at all costs.."

Vaala heard Fen's voice, but couldn't make out the words. "Tired..." she told him as she closed her eyes.

Fenshire kept running towards the hovercraft. "Hey, don't go to sleep on me, soldier! This ain't the time to be slacking off! I need you awake. Bindi needs you to stay awake."

Vaala forced her eyes open, but couldn't seem to focus on anything. She shook her head and leaned back against Fenshire. She just wanted to sleep...

As the first troops cleared the door, RedBindi pressed the detonator button, causing the entranceway to erupt in flame and debris. Taking another several charges from her backpack she used the diversion the explosion caused to place the charges at strategic places along the hovercrafts pads. Satisified with her work, she quickly began making her way around to the Diluculo, making sure not to be seen leaving the vicinity of the other hovercraft. Fenshire grinned. "Hear that? That was Bindi nuking Thorne. You don't have to worry about her anymore."

Rocked by the explosion, Cameryn lost her footing for a moment, then threw the headset at the console, certain the squad was now dead. "F*ck!" She continued to curse as she traveled through the tower, towards a docked hovercraft on the other side.

"Keep holding onto that cloth for me. I need you to focus on that task, alright?"

"...Bindi...Maeby...be pissed"

"Maeby?" Fenshire reached the Diluculo rushing up the hovercraft's ramp and charging towards the medical bay. "Tell me why Maeby would be pissed."

Vaala tried to concentrate on keeping pressure on the cloth like Fen told her, but she could feel her strength ebbing. "...Bindi...she's...worried..." Vaala told him as her vision got darker.

Fenshire got to the medical bay, laying Vaala gently down onto one of the beds, tilting the bed up slightly to keep Vaala's chest elevated. "Keep talking to me. Why is Maeby worried about Bindi?" He rushed over to one of the cabinets, pulling out several bits of gauze and a roll of bandages.

"...need...sleep..."

"No, you can't sleep. We need you to stay awake. Keep telling me about Maeby." He pressed the gauze down onto the wound, looking over Vaala.

"Maeby..." Vaala tried to focus her thoughts, but everything was confused. "...worried...Bindi..." She laid her head back and closed her eyes. Her eyelids were getting so heavy...

"What was Maeby worried about?" Fenshire leaned over, listening to Vaala's breathing.

RedBindi appeared a short time later at the ramp of the Diluculo and charged into the ship, hitting the button to close the ramp as she continued at a dead run towards the medical bay.

Arriving at the medical bay, she threw the gun and backpack down as she entered. "Vaala..." The amount of blood covering the other woman's chest was immense, the gauze Fenshire had wrapped around her already soaking through with blood.

Fenshire's voice startled her awake again, briefly. She tried to push him away, but her strength was completely gone and her arms fell back to her sides before she'd even moved them an inch. Hearing the Commander's voice, Vaala tried to open her eyes, but couldn't. "...Bindi...sorry..."

"Hey! Open your eyes. Don't go to sleep. You need to tell me why Maeby was worried!"  He turned to see Bindi. "I don't know what else to do..."

"Vaala, stay with us..." RedBindi said as she strode over to Vaala's side.

"Get us outta here." RedBindi looked to Fenshire. "I'll do what I can, but she needs a team of doctors. Get us back to New Zion..."

Fenshire looked down at Vaala sadly. "Just stay awake... think of the party we'll have for taking out Thorne..." He nodded to Bindi, then ran to the cockpit. Moments later, they could feel the vibration of the ship, as it lifted off into the air.

"Relax, Vaala." Redbindi placed her hand over the wound, applying pressure to stop the bleeding. In her mind she already knew it was too late. They were too far from New Zion and the knife's blade had struck in a much too vital place.

"Stay with us, Val... "

As they lifted off, RedBindi reached to her side and detonated the explosives she'd placed on the Infinity. Hopefully that will keep them off our tail for a little longer, she thought.

"...can't..." her voice was barely a whisper - she couldn't get enough air. Her head rolled a little to the side as she finally lost consciousness.

Knowing even then it was a gesture in futility, RedBindi reached down and placed an oxygen mask over the young woman's face and placed a dressing over the wound to stop any other air from entering the Thoracic cavity. Her hands covered in blood, she attached Vaala to the monitor and watched as the heartbeat became slower and slower; her bloodpressure becoming lower and lower. Not yet ready to admit defeat, she grabbed a bag of normal saline and hooked an IV into the port on her right forearm. She watched helplessly as Vaala bled out - the knife had hit her heart, she didn't need any other equipment to tell her that. The fact Vaala had lasted this long was amazing, but it couldn't last and out here, in the current conditions... there was nothing more RedBindi could do except watch her die. Eventually the alarms on the monitor began going off, pulse and blood pressure were too low to support adequate perfusion. In a daze, RedBindi reached up and silenced them. She knew it wouldn't be long now.

"Vaala, I know you probably can't hear this... but you were a great addition to our family. We're all going to miss you terribly. I'm sorry I couldn't bring you back alive... but you'll be honored for what you tried to do."

"We're probably about three hours out of New Zion, at the rate we're flying. Normally it would take a day." Fenshire called over the comms. "How's Vaala?"

Standing, Redbindi walked over to the comm and keyed it. "She's not going to make it, Fen." The information relayed she walked back over to Vaala and took her hands in hers, watching as the woman's life continued to ebb.

"D*mn it... Are you sure, Bindi...?"

--Cameryn, Fenshire, RedBindi, Vaala

RedBindi watched as the woman took one last breath, then faded away.

In a tradition as old as time, some would say, she took a sheet and covered Vaala before turning off the rest of the equipment and washing the blood from her hands. A few minutes after Fenshire's question, RedBindi again keyed up the comm. "Yes. She's gone. I'll be up to join you shortly."

"Gone..." Fenshire narrowed his eyes, then started messing with the controls. RedBindi could feel the ship lurch suddenly, as it changed course.

"What are you doing?"

"Heading back to the comms tower. We're going to wipe it off the map, and Thorne along with it. It's the least I can do for Vaala."

"She wouldn't want us to, Fen. Just take us back to New Zion." RedBindi turned to look at the sheeted figure behind her. "She wanted to protect us.  By returning... we negate her attempt at doing so."

He sighed, knowing that she was right. Slowly, he started to shift the ship back on course for New Zion. "Fine..."

A half an hour later, after cleaning off Vaala's blood, RedBindi finally appeared back on the bridge and slid heavily into the Communications console chair. "RedBindi to the Izanami."

Lovable had been monitoring her jacked in operatives, when suddenly she heard RedBindi's voice over her intercom. Scrambling for her headset, she slipped it on her head and pressed the button. "Izanami responding, what's up, Bindi?"

The tired and worn out voice of RedBindi came back over the comms. "We're on our way back. Let the rest of the Trust know... let the rest of them know... Vaala... Val... didn't make it."

Lovable fell silent, and curses something in her foreign tongue under her breath. "Understood, Bindi... when will you be back?"

"Three hours, luv," he told Bindi.

RedBindi looked over to him and nodded, her eyes unreadable... even to him. "Three hours. We'll be there in three hours. Let New Zion know to get an honor guard ready."

Lovable sniffed a little. She barely knew Vaala, but the loss of family was never easy for her, no matter how distant the member. "Roger Bindi.. I'll have everything prepared, and...I'll see you when you get here..." She keyed off the comm and turned to Daven, her face sullen. "Val's gone... Bindi is bringing her back here..."

Daven nodded slowly. "I'll make the calls."

"Diluculo out."

--RedBindi, Fenshire, Lovable

//Incoming Transmission: Source-Point: HvCft Izanami
//Relay To: Trust Fleet
//Begin Broadcast...


It's Lov... For those of you that don't know...

Vaala is dead. Thorne had gotten into New Zion and taken her to the Machine Communication Tower about 4-5 hours out from here. As Fen and Bindi went after her, Thorne stabbed Vaala in the chest, which pierced her heart. She died en route back, and the Diluculo returned this evening with her body.

Fen and Bindi set off a few explosives to stunt any Machine advances, but it's more than likely that Thorne survived.

Keep your eyes peeled for Thorne; if spotted, take her immediately into custody - no questions asked.


//Broadcast Terminated.

THE END.