Humanity's Stand

Our Base Are Belong to Us

Automatic doors opened wide to allow admittance of a large group of people, four of them pushed along roughly by the men behind them. Captain Gondo, whose arms were tied with double the amount of rope as his squad, glared daggers at the woman leading them to the elevator. Pat, Sarah, and Amada were more subdued, though each was constantly searching for any possible opening to get free from their bonds. Sadly, their enemy knew what they were doing quite well, and even had they not be restrained the guns that were trained on them would be just as effective at keeping them in line. In seemingly no time at all they arrived at the elevator and Gondo was shoved forward to the control pad. "Active the console," the black haired woman who seemed to be in charge ordered.

"How do you suggest I do that?" Gondo asked as he strained against the ropes holding his arms down. He silently willed the terrorist to release him so that he could take her gun and hold her hostage with it, maybe get her cronies to surrender.

The woman glared at him deeply, almost as if she could see what he was thinking. "And I suppose you want to be untied to do it, hmm? Do you take me for a fool?"

"I was personally thinking more along the lines of bitch," Amanda snarled.

"I don't know, Am," Pat added. "I don't think bitch is a harsh enough word for this cu…" A rifle butt slammed into the back of his head while a heavy fist impacted Amanda's stomach.

"Your insolence is impressive but pointless," the woman hissed. "Speak again and those words will be your last." She turned back to Gondo then pointed to one of her soldiers and said, "You will inform him how to control the elevator."

She gestured to the soldier, who whispered, "Hai Taiyou," and took up position next Gondo with a glare directed at the larger man.

After another death glare directed at the woman, apparently named Taiyou, he said to the soldier, "Alright, here's how this works. You take your hand, put it on your gun, point it at your face and shoot yourself."

The soldier growled and moved to strike while Gondo prepared to counter him but both were stopped by a harsh voice yelling, "Halt!" Taiyou pulled the soldier away from Gondo and pointed her pistol at the Captain's face. "Do not let your anger get the best of you. These roaches will get their proper punishment soon enough." She redirected her words to Gondo, "Now tell me how to control the console…" Her pistol shifted to point at Gondo's squad. "Or else my trigger finger might unfortunately slip."

Gondo sighed and said, "Fine. You press the large gray button to activate the console then type in the level number of where you want to go and the command code to access it."

"And the numbers?" the woman asked with a gesture of her weapon.

"Dimension Tide's command center is in the R & D level, fifth floor below ground." The soldier at the console shrugged in annoyance, to which Gondo rolled his eyes and said, "That's B-5 if that's too hard for you to figure out." The man's arms trembled in controlled fury until his leader's gun cocked threateningly. Gondo took the hint and continued stoically, "The code is 48-27-36-59."

Sarah's eyes widened as she recognized the meaning of the code and glanced at her teammates, who both nodded minimally in confirmation. The soldier quickly punched in both the level number and code, opening the elevator and letting the group enter. The four captives were shoved into the corner while the terrorists huddled around them, rifles trained in their direction threateningly. The doors slid shut and the lift started down. Very, very slowly.

Taiyou growled angrily and demanded, "Make this worthless trash heap move faster!"

"Can't," Gondo said proudly. "This is as fast as they go."

"Yeah, maintaining the elevators costs money yah know," Pat added. "Command has better things to do than waste time and effort fixing these things."

Sarah caught on and said, "Most of them prefer to take the stairs anyway. Only exercise most of them ever do."

Taiyou snarled in annoyance and the rest of the enemy squad were glaring around the car to show their displeasure. Gondo breathed a mental sigh of relief as he realized that their enemy's intelligence on Shatterdome's inner workings was limited, which meant his plan was that much more likely to succeed. The next twenty minutes were spent alternatively twiddling thumbs or tapping feet on the floor, the four GDF soldiers trying their best to get comfortable with tied up arms and no personal space afforded. By the time the elevator finally arrived at B-5, Taiyou was visibly grinding her teeth and squeezing her pistol very tightly. "Out," she stated harshly. "Now!"

Gondo's squad filed out, followed swiftly by their guards separating them in the corridor, one pair of terrorists for each of them. Taiyou, flanked by her own two soldiers, gestured to Gondo and said, "You will be at the front. The others will follow one at a time. If any of you attempt to interfere…" Her voice trailed off menacingly, the implication clear in her words.

They started off, each trio separated by at least ten feet. Numerous doors to a myriad of science labs and conference rooms lined the corridor as they walked past, each clearly labeled as to what went on within. Normally Gondo would be worried about unauthorized eyes seeing so much classified information, but he was going to make sure these intruders would not be a security threat. He guaranteed it.

Several minutes of silence passed as they walked, when suddenly Taiyou asked in a suspicious tone, "Where are the scientists? The engineers? Why is this area deserted?"

Gondo's mind raced as he tried to cobble together an explanation, but Amanda beat him to the punch. "They're off for the day. Maintenance was worried about some of the electrical connections and had the place cleared out to check it out. They must have finished but not told the higher ups."

"Lazy bastards," Sarah complained.

Taiyou sniffed disdainfully, accepting the excuse and falling back into silence. One of her adjutants, a huge man with a European complexion, leaned over and whispered in her ear, a look of worry on his brick-like face. She appeared to think for a moment than whispered something back, to which his face hardened again and he stepped back into place. Gondo let out a silent breath of relief at the lack of suspicion, surprised that the terrorist's willingness to see the worst in mankind had actually helped them in this case.

A few minutes later they finally arrived at the Dimension Tide labs at the far end of the level. Given the potential for disaster the black hole generator carried, it had seemed prudent to place it as far from the entrance as possible. Hostages being taken was something that could counter that safeguard, but counters to that had been developed. Now it was time to see if they worked.

The doors to the lab slid open with a hiss as overhead lights lit up upon sensing the entering occupants. The line of trios entered a room that would not look out of place in a NASA movie. The typical massive view screen dominated the center of the room, lines of control consoles rising in rows in front of it with a pair of glass walled offices on either side of the room. Everything was tinged a light, hazy blue from the overhead fluorescents, giving the room an almost dream-like feel. It was supposed to ease the eyes of the console operators, reducing the harsh glare of their displays, but Gondo liked to think it was to help separate the people in the room from the reality of what they were doing. Just what power they had at their fingertips.

Taiyo and the Red Dawn soldiers didn't spare their surroundings more than a cursory glance to check for any unexpected guards, then turned back to their hostages. "Tell me how to activate the weapon," Taiyou commanded.

"Look lady," Gondo responded harshly, "I'm just the security chief. I have no idea how the Dimension Tide works, let alone how to control it."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "And where might we find someone who could do so?"

"Residential level," Amanda answered. "The level number is B-2. There's no access code requirement."

Taiyou mulled over the information for a moment before saying, "Very well. You," Taiyou pointed to Amanda, "will go with Dredger to find a suitable candidate and bring them here immediately."

Amanda looked at the large Frenchman with no small degree of trepidation. He stepped forward and pulled her away from the others, then ripped apart the ropes tying her arms with his bare hands.

"The rest of us will remain here as insurance. Dredger will send me a signal every two minutes to assure me that you are cooperating. If he does not send me that signal, then we will kill your compatriots. Is that understood?"

Amanda gulped loudly and nodded, following the huge man out into the corridor. Gondo watched her go, mentally trying to reassure his subordinate – hell, his friend – that everything would be alright. The plan he had helped develop required exactly this to happen, so that the enemy would split up their forces and divide their attention, giving the security forces time to prepare. Be careful, Amanda. Don't do anything rash.

Quiet reigned for several moments after they left when Pat asked, "So… anyone got a pack of cards?"

---

Amanda walked down the hall, keeping her eyes facing forward and trying not to think about the mountain of a man carefully watching her every move. Now Amanda was no slouch in her role as a guard. She was the best shot in her squad with either a rifle or a pistol, and was more than able to hold her own in hand-to-hand against most competitors. She had built up a reputation as a bad woman to cross and worked hard to keep it that way, even as she met the rest of the world with a bright smile and ready ear. But right now, she knew there was nothing she could do to best this man and it grated on her fiercely.

A beep sounded from behind her and she snuck a glance out of the corner of her eye, just catching the last movements of Dredger's arm as he lowered it back to his side. Her gaze flicked down to his wrist where she spotted a radio-watch similar to the ones used by most militaries for short-range comms. Now better informed, she continued walking as if nothing had occurred. They turned a corner to continue to the elevator when she noticed something that might upset both their plans. "Um, your uniform doesn't look like mine."

Dredger glanced down at her a raised an eyebrow. "And?" he inquired in an ocean deep baritone.

"Well, won't that make people suspicious? I mean my uniform is mostly blue and gray. Yours is all black. Someone is going to notice."

He did not answer directly, instead lifting his hand and pressing several buttons on his wrist-comm. Suddenly his clothes shimmered and shifted in color, becoming lighter and adding a digital pattern to match her own. In just a few moments his clothes looked almost identical to hers, save several small details that would pass cursory inspection. That's that problem taken care of I guess, she thought before a wave of panic set in. "How… how do you have Visual Repattern Gear? That stuff isn't even available to the military, let alone commercially!"

Dredger simply smirked and said, "Good backers." He then lapsed back into silence, leaving Amanda even more worried than before. The only people who should have had access to those hyper advanced nano-tech weave clothes were GDF's hybrid soldiers, and then only a trial basis. The fact that these terrorists had it suggested a very serious leak in their R & D department and possibly even higher. And that was very bad.

"What about a weapon?" Amanda asked, trying to focus on the here and now. "You have your gun there but I'm all dressed up and don't have anything. That might seem a little weird to someone."

This time Dredger's look was much more fierce and Amanda nearly broke underneath it, but she stood firm and glared right back at him, daring him to argue. It seemed he did not wish to though, so he grabbed a pistol from his belt and ejected the magazine, catching the falling box in his other hand. Then he pulled the slide, ejecting the prepared round within and, in the same motion, grabbed the bullet before it could fall. Amanda froze in horror at the sight as she recognized the speed he'd moved at to be faster than humanly possible. Oh shit! This guy is a hybrid!

The massive hybrid's grin returned as he handed the pistol, butt first, to Amanda, who reflexively grabbed the weapon and turned away as fast as she could. Dredger's wrist comm beeped and he held it up to his face to answer. "Oui Tayoi? Non mademoiselle, all is well. I contact you if there is problem. Oui." He then gestured for Amanda to continue down the hall, grin still etched in the marble of his face.

Amanda shakily nodded and walked on, trying to calm her fast beating heart. It's fine. Really, it's totally fine. So what if the biggest member of their team is also a fricken hybrid. No big deal. The plan will still work. She sighed nearly silently as calm reasserted itself. It has to.

Several more minutes passed as they made their way to the elevator. Once they'd entered Amanda entered the code for the residential level and leaned against the wall for the long wait up three levels. Dredger stood with his back to her facing the door, saying without words just how little of a threat she presented to him.

The GDF guard ground her teeth in frustration. She had trained for months to learn how to help protect others, but here she was, absolutely helpless to defend herself from this monster of a man. And he didn't even seem to care. "Why are you working for them?

Dredger turned his head to face her, his eyebrow raised in curiosity. Amanda was just as surprised as he was that she'd blurted that out but controlled her shock and left her face a blank mask, wanting to hear the reason for his betrayal of the human race.

The hybrid stared at her for quite a while before he answered. "Money," he said simply.

Amanda sputtered, enraged. "Money! That's it! What good is money going to be if you end the world, huh?"

Dredger's gaze became stern as he turned away again, but his ending of the conversation said plenty to the GDF soldier. He expects to survive this, which means they must have plans to leave. She allowed her lips to quirk upward at the thought. Not that we're going to let that happen.

After an eternity the elevator finally reached its destination and the two enemies walked out into an empty service hallway. The quiet was gone though as they could both hear voices ahead. They soon emerged in a much larger hallway, a bank of wide elevators sitting along the far wall. Dredger glared at Amanda after seeing them and asked, "Why ours so small?"

Amanda actually had to resist the urge to laugh at the almost petulant tone of his voice. "It was an elevator for the command staff. Nowhere near as many people using it." With that she strode forward, eager to be close to other people and out of danger for the moment. Several times as they walked a person would call out to Amanda and she would wave back, wanting to avoid attracting undue attention to herself and the man following her. Thankfully no one thought anything of the mountain of a man in hybrid gear so they were able to make good time to their destination.

"Where we go?" Dredger asked as they turned right and entered a stream of people heading down the hall.

"The cafeteria," Amanda answered. "Everyone's having a general lunch break right now so this is the most likely place to find one of the DT's crew."

No sooner had they crossed the threshold and began to step towards the food line did someone call out to them. "Hello Amanda. How have you been?" Amanda turned to see Miki Saegusa walking over to her. "It's been too long since we've seen each other."

Amanda smiled back at the shorter woman and answered, "Way too long. Come here." She then pulled Miki into a hug, patting her back in a particular pattern that told the physic to read her mind.

What is wrong Amanda? Miki asked. There was some kind of alert and then Stacker sent me down here.

Terrorists. They captured my squad and are holding the others hostage. They're after the Dimension Tide.

The two women pulled out of the hug, still smiling at each other to hide the communication. Miki giggled a bit and said out loud, "Oh you Americans. Always so affectionate. Would you like to grab some lunch and catch up?"

"Sorry, can't. Actually I need your help downstairs. The Marshall wants to test the Dimension Tide now that the repairs are complete so he's been having us guards round up the crew." She snorted and added, "Not that they really need anyone other than you right?"

Miki held a finger to her lips and shhhed her friend. "Don't say that out loud. One of the bridge bunnies might be listening." They both laughed and forgot for a moment the danger standing just a few feet from them. "So if you really don't need anything to eat," Amanda shook her head no, "then let's get going. Goodness knows the elevator ride down will take long enough." They laughed again and walked out of the large room, Dredger following like a massive unhappy wolf pup.

Walking back to the elevator went quickly enough, Miki and Amanda trading various inane comments back and forth as the telepath gathered information from the guard.

But what I don't understand is why they are after Dimension Tide. The satellite has been down for repairs since that series of hacked shots. It would be completely useless for them right now.

Maybe they don't know, Amanda speculated. We were able to convince them the elevators are slower than a glacier, so maybe their intel isn't very good.

Still, they were able to steal one of our transports somehow and sneak in undetected, Miki argued. We should not underestimate them.

Amanda nodded, pretending to be answering to a question about dinner together later. Is the trap set?

Miki smiled coyly. Just waiting for me to spring it.

The rest of the trip down was relatively quiet, Miki and Amanda having run out of small talk and Dredger just glaring straight ahead the whole way. As they exited the elevator after yet another long ride Amanda started flicking quick glances at the hybrid, trying to see any sign of suspicion. Thankfully he seemed to be oblivious to the women's plans. By the time the trio was approaching the DT control room Amanda had steeled her nerves, ready to assist her friend in bringing down the terrorists and save her friends. Are they here? She asked Miki.

The telepath swept a physic tendril through the walls on either side of them and detected the security teams that had gathered within. They are. The assault will begin when I give the signal.

They approached the door and stepped through as it hissed open, revealing the terrorists standing in a circle around her team, who were sitting on the ground and… playing poker?

"Come on Cap," Sarah said, "you know you can't fool me with that smirk of yours. You ain't got jack, do you?"

Gondo glared at Sarah then grumbled to himself about insubordinate soldiers.

"Aw don't feel bad sir," Pat reassured the older man. "She not going to be winning either."

Sarah growled and said, "Oh you just try and beat me Patty. I'm the one who taught you how to play this game in the first place."

Pat just smiled at her smugly and replied, "True, true. But I'm pretty sure the student has surpassed the teacher at this point."

"Enough of your inane nonsense!" Taiyou shouted. She turned to face the returning party and ordered, "You, girl! You will activate the Dimension Tide and place it under my command."

Miki did her best to appear shocked and alarmed, making sure to shiver at the gun slinging woman. "Wha… what's going on? Amanda?"

The guard winced at her friends tone and shrugged helplessly. "Sorry Miki."

"How touching," Taiyou drawled. "Now quit wasting my time and get over there." She lifted her pistol a hair to enhance the order.

Miki gulped audibly and complied, walking over to the central console Taiyou hovered over. As she did she watched with her sixth sense and mentally smiled as she saw that everyone's focus was on her, including the enemies who were supposed to being guarding the security team. It was time to spring the trap. She concentrated a beam of physic energy behind her shouting, Now, before gathering together every scrap of power she could.

But before she could even release the attack Taiyou's eyes widened in realization and the black haired woman shouted, "TELEPATH!" The terrorists all jumped at the shout and attempted to train their guns on Miki. At the last instant the telepath was forced to change her attack from a wave of physic energy to a telekinetic blast to throw off the barrage of bullets soon to come her way. The security team recognized what Miki was going to do and dove to cover as best they could. The loud reports of automatic fire had just begun when a bubble of air exploded out from around the telepath, knocking the gunmen off their feet and sending their projectiles flying off in all directions. One such bullet passed just a few inches over Gondo's head while another glanced off the body armor Amanda was wearing. One of the terrorists was not so lucky, his head snapping back forcefully as a tiny piece of lead embedded itself in his brain. The rest were blown all across the room, with even the titanic Dredger being knocked into a far wall.

Just to add to the chaos that was already ensuing a large team of security personnel streamed through the door, guns blazing at anyone carrying a weapon. The terrorists recovered quickly, returning fire from behind the consoles they'd been thrown over. As both sides continued shoot at each other, destroying thousands of dollars' worth of computer equipment every moment, Gondo crawled over to the dead terrorist and maneuvered himself so that his tied hands could grab the man's knife. After a moments slicing he managed to free himself, then snatched up the man's rifle and crawled back to his team, who were hiding behind a console struggling to free themselves. A few quick slashes of the stolen knife freed his team. "You guys alright?" Pat and Sarah both nodded. "Great," he said, pulling the charging handle on his stolen rifle. "Cause now it's our turn."

With that he leaned up over their covering console and joined the gun battle, firing at any rifle flashes he could see. His two squad mates were stuck for several seconds wondering what to do when they saw Amanda race over in a crouch, clutching an armful of guns. "Curtsey of our friends from Bravo squad," she said by way of explanation. "Are you all alright?"

"Yeah we're fine," Pat answered, taking up his gun and flicking off the safety. "Had plenty of time to work in a game or two. I almost wish you'd taken a bit longer. The royal flush I had would have earned me quite a few more lunch tokens off the Cap."

Sarah, who had already emptied off a magazine at the enemy's commander and was pausing to reload, rolled her eyes at her friend. "Royal flush my ass. I know you were bluffing."

"You always think I'm bluffing," Pat retorted.

"Less talk, more shoot!" Gondo ordered.

The next several minutes were a haze of gunfire and shouting as both sides did their level best to kill each other. Unfortunately for the terrorists they were both outnumbered and outgunned, and they were losing men quickly. But just as the last of the regular troops collapsed from a trio of shots to the shoulder a tiny black ball came hurtling towards the door. Someone noticed and shouted loud enough to drown out the gunfire. "GRENADE!" Everyone ducked behind whatever cover they could find, praying that they wouldn't be hit by hypersonic fragments. Instead of an explosion however there was just a single loud bang and a flash of light brighter than the Sun.

No sooner had the flashbang gone off then a huge bluish blur rushed up the center of the room and smashed through the sliding glass doors before they could fully open. It was several seconds before anyone even noticed that there was no one firing at them anymore and several more seconds before they realized where they had gone. "They're going for the exit," Gondo called out. "Alpha squad, get Miss Saegusa and follow me. Bravo squad stay here and secure the room."

Amanda nodded at the order and rushed over to her friend. Miki was still huddled against the wall where she had been since the fight started, he hands rubbing at her temples and a small stream of blood leaking out her nose. "Are you okay?" Amanda asked, worry evident in her tone.

Miki shuddered slightly but nodded. "Yes," she answered weakly. "I just needed to rest. It's not often I need to use that much energy at once."

The guard grabbed her friend's arm gently but firmly and heaved her to her feet. "Can you walk?"

The telepath lightly shrugged her friend off and straightened. "Better," she said, her strength returning. "I can fight."

"Come on Amanda. Hurry up!" Sarah shouted from the entrance, her boots cracking some fallen glass as she ran out the door. Miki and Amanda followed as fast as they could, the telepath lagging a bit as her energy was still recovering.

"Captain Gondo, wait for a moment!" Miki said as she saw him upon turning the corner.

"What is it Miki?" he asked as he came to a halt, Sarah and Pat stopping beside him.

"Their leader, the woman. I believe she is a telepath."

The whole squad gasped at the news while Gondo narrowed his eyes in concern. "What makes you think that?" Gondo questioned.

Miki paused to take a breath and stood as tall as she could. "Somehow she was able to tell that I was about to attack them telepathically. The only way she could know that is if she was a telepath herself."

"But if that's the case then why didn't she just mind control us into doing her bidding?" Pat asked.

"From what little I could feel of her in the battle she didn't seem very experienced. She may not have had much in the way of training. It took me years to learn how to do what I do now, and that was with a dedicated teacher. Without that, there's no way to know just what she is capable of."

"So she might be next to harmless then?" Sarah asked.

"Or she could be hiding her skills for the last possible moment," Gondo retorted. "What have I told you all about uncertainties?"

"Hope for the best, plan for the worst," Pat said in an instant deadpan.

"Exactly. Therefore we treat her as an extreme threat until proven otherwise. Which means we could use a little help." Gondo pulled out a portable radio he had 'borrowed' from a member of Bravo squad and switched the frequency to that of the command room's. "Marshall Pentecost are you there?"

"We're here Captain," a deep baritone voice answered over the crackling of the radio. "What's happening down there?"

"The Dimension Tide control room is secured and the hostages rescued without harm. Most of the terrorists are down but two got past us and are attempting to escape. One is a guaranteed hybrid and the other is a possible telepath."

"What's your plan on dealing with them?"

A smirk appeared on Gondo's lips. "I think Ozaki would be a better fit for asking that question sir."

There was a pause on the other end as several muffled voices could be heard speaking over each other. Eventually another voice came on the radio, this one higher in tone but carrying a powerful weight to it. "Where are the terrorists headed?"

Gondo looked to Miki, who nodded at him and reached out with her mental probe. At first she aimed at the elevator but quickly expanded her search when she found it still at its station on their floor. She found them very quickly after that, the bright blip of Taiyou's telepathic mind standing out in the sea of ordinary people that inhabited the Shatterdome. "They are climbing the auxiliary staircase, currently at the Recreation level." Taking great care to keep her presence unknown she lightly probed at Taiyou's mind to discover their intentions. "They are trying to get back to their stolen transport on the Command launch pad."

"I'll beat them there," the voice said, then Stacker came back on the line.

"Get up there to support him, Alpha squad. I want this woman brought in for questioning." A vocal growl entered his tone. "No one attacks my Shatterdome without consequences."

"You've got it sir," Gondo answered as he replaced the radio in an open pocket. "Let's go squad. We're taking this bitch down."

"Oorah," Pat muttered. They all ran full tilt towards the elevator, ready to end this assault on their homes once and for all.

---

Loud, echoing clangs rang up and down the enclosed stairwell as Dredger raced up the metallic steps as fast as his enhanced legs would carry him and his passenger. Said passenger was currently busy swearing as harshly as her exceedingly dark mind could allow.

How? How could it all go so wrong so quickly? This was supposed to be easy! Break in, take a few hostages and take control of the weapon system, then contact our base for the targets. Why didn't they tell us the damn thing was being fixed! And then that telepath showed up. Taiyou suppressed a shudder at the memory of that woman's power. She had been experimenting with own her power for years herself, but the level of control that other woman had shown was beyond anything Taiyou had ever achieved. And because of her my team has failed and we are forced to flee for our lives. Another string of curses followed that morbid thought.

Enough! She finally told herself. I must focus on getting us out right now. The rest… this time she openly shuddered at the thought of what her failure would mean if she made it back. The rest can wait for later, assuming we survive. On that note… "Dredger, faster would be better."

The hybrid grunted and pumped his legs even harder, fairly leaping up the steps four or five at a time. Taiyou's ride became consequentially bumpier but that was a price she was willing to pay. "We will have to move fast once we arrive. Can you cover Aero as she readies the plane?" Dredger nodded, the motion barely noticeable amongst all the bouncing his was already doing. "I will guard you from the telepath if she shows up. The rest will be up to you."

She couldn't see it but Taiyou could feel a smile etch itself on Dredger's face. "No problem mademoiselle. I will take care of it."

You always do, Taiyou thought with her own grin. His confidence brought back some of her own self-assurance. At this rate they just might make it there ahead of any security team, hopefully with enough time to lift off. After that they would make their way to the city and hide there until their allies could rescue them.

They would make it out of this. Her gods would protect their servant, regardless of her failure. They had promised their protection. He had promised it.

Taiyou keyed up her radio mike and called out, "Aero, we've been beaten. Ready the transport immediately."

"Understood," a terse voice answered. "How many made it out?"

"Two."

Aero did not immediately respond, the only sound being that of the plane's engines whirling up. "Ready in two minutes. Be here."

"We will." Taiyou cut off the mike, doing her best to ignore the empty feeling in her gut that had been growing ever since the gun battle started. The minutes passed tensely, the only sound coming from Dredger's endless mad dash upwards. But end it finally did as they passed up the last flight and came upon a locked door. Time being of the essence Dredger ignored the lock and simply kicked the door down, the steel bending easily under the weight of his attack. Taiyou sighed in silent relief. They had made it.

But just as they left the door behind and began to make their way out onto the pad they spotted a man standing between them and their escape. He was tall with spiked black hair and dark, focused eyes that glared at the two of them mercilessly. Hybrid armor panels were attached to his uniform on the chest and along his limbs but he carried no weapons anywhere on his person. One look at his mind though and Taiyou could tell he needed no weapons to be deadly. She cursed herself for losing her gun during their mad scramble to escape, even if she doubted it would have been of use against this opponent. "He's yours Dredger," Taiyou told her companion in French.

"Oui," the large man agreed, stepping forward with a look of grim determination. Taiyou let the two hybrids face each other on, skirting around them to try and reach the transport. Suddenly the main doors to the facility opened and the very same team she had taken prisoner at the start of this mess ran out with their guns trained on her.

"Freeze!" their commander bellowed. "Don't make a fucking move!"

Taiyou did as the man said and held in place. She was too far from the transport to make a break for it and Dredger was busy facing down the other hybrid. Neither had budged an inch in the moments after the security team arrived, both busy measuring their opponent, analyzing them through looks alone.

"Sarah, Pat, go around and cuff her. Amanda and I will cover you. Miki, watch her." The squad rapidly followed his orders, two of them approaching Taiyou from either side while the other three stared at her unblinkingly.

Taiyou knew she would have only one chance to escape and that she could not do it alone. She needed a distraction, one which only her friend could provide. She watched in silence as the two guards came closer, willing her eyes to convey as much hatred as she could for these heathens. They dare to defend humanity in spite of everything we have done to this planet. Claim it is ours to control. Such hypocrisy. She shrugged off these thoughts, reminding herself that focus was needed.

She waited patiently, searching for her opening while trying to disguise her plans from the other telepath. Then, just as the two guards were reaching for her arms to secure her she sent her message to Dredger. Now!

With a tremendous roar of rage Dredger surged towards the smaller man like a freight train, crossing the distance between the two of them in an instant. The noise drew away the attention of the others for the barest of moments, long enough for Taiyou to act. She gathered all of the energy she could muster in those instants into her core, then thrust out her arms and pushed. All three of the people who had been watching her were knocked on their asses, their weapons blown from their hands. As soon as the energy was released Taiyou whirled around, smacking the male guard in the face then twirling behind the woman and grabbing her arms. The two wrested for several seconds before Taiyou managed to grasp the woman's pistol on her belt and smack it against her head. Now dazed the guard couldn't resist Taiyou grabbing her with one arm and sticking the other against her head.

By now the other guards had recovered and were aiming their weapons at her, but they dared not take a shot with their comrade held in the line of fire. Slowly but surely Taiyou was backing up to the transport, keeping her gun close to the woman's head. For a moment she felt some light probes tickle at her mind but she created a mental barrier and locked them out immediately. A frown appeared on the other telepath's face and Taiyou smirked in triumph.

While this was going on Dredger was doing his damnedest to bring down his opponent but it wasn't going well. His initial charge had been dodged with impossible ease, forcing the large Frenchman to skid to a halt from his built up momentum. He had barely turned around when he saw a fist flying towards his face. The impact threw off his balance, allowing the other hybrid to pummel his stomach with a flurry of blows. Even with Dredger's greatly enhanced toughness and armor he could feel each strike smashing into him. He did not falter under the assault and quickly shoved the smaller man away then rushed forward to press the attack. No matter how fast he moved though his enemy kept slipping past him by the slightest margins, not even bothering to fight back, which simply enraged Dredger all the more and prompted looser and more violent assaults.

Across the pad from the duelers Taiyou was almost at the transport. Reaching out with the limit of her fine control she activated her radio and said, "Aero, open the door." The guard in Taiyou's hold struggled a bit at hearing that but soon stopped when she felt the gun press against her ear. A clang came behind the two as the rear hatch of the transport came down. Taiyou took a moment to strengthen her barriers before calling out in French, "Dredger, we're leaving!"

The words had no sooner left her mouth then she felt something metal clang against her head. Though the blow was not enough to knock her out, it was able to utterly destroy her concentration, throwing down her mental walls in an instant. As if from a distance she could feel a foreign presence enter her mind without resistance, knowing that death was imminent. There was now nothing to stop that telepath from simply erasing her mind wholesale, leaving her a useless empty vessel.

Try as she might she could not accept her death with dignity. It was too sudden, too surprising for her to react. So much of her cause was left unfinished. The abusers had not suffered the death blow that had been planned for them and instead had killed her entire team, with herself as the finishing cap of failure. All her training and effort spent over years of hardship and pain… wasted in a single mission. Now, because of her incompetence, security around the abusers' ultimate weapon would be greatly increased, preventing any chance for vengeance against them for the deaths of the planet's true inhabitants, the kaiju. After everything I went through, all I suffered for the betterment of this planet, still I fail. A crushing wave of sadness swept through her at the complete denial of her purpose in life and in the depths of her own mind she broke down entirely.

The probe hesitated upon seeing this pitiful sight but then remembered its goal and did its work. Pushing at a harmless mechanism deep within the woman's brain she knocked her out.

In the physical world outside of the telepath's view mere moments had passed, making Taiyou's falling to the ground look to be entirely due to the bright red fire extinguisher that had smacked the back of her head. Sarah quickly removed herself from the unconscious terrorist's grasp, backing up several feet to give her squad free aim at the falling body.

Across the pad Dredger, who had looked up at the warning of his commander, watched in shock as she fell limply to the ground. Blinding anger drove him to rush towards the unprepared soldiers, only for his movement to be halted by his legs being swept out from under him. The metal deck quickly came up to meet his face, smashing his nose thoroughly upon landing. He had little time to react to the damage before a foot smashed into his skull hard enough to skip past the concussion and go straight to knocking him unconscious.

"Showing off as usual Ozaki," a male voice called out from the transport.

Ozaki and Alpha squad looked up to see four people standing at the back of the open vehicle. To the right stood Kazama and Xavier, the former carrying a smirk and with his arms folded across his chest. All eyes though were drawn to the other pair stepping down from the lowered door. A woman with bright red hair looked back at the security team with a smile on her lips and hoisted her improvised weapon onto her shoulder. "So," Lauren Faust said, "what did we miss?"

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A/N: Flame in: Hello everyone and welcome back to Humanity's Stand. My apologies for the long delay between uploads. This chapter fought me hard than the people in it, and there was another project I was working on (currently at 14,000 words and not even done with the first chapter) that was taking up a fair bit of time. Hopefully I'll be able to get back on schedule now that this one is over with. Hopefully. Anyway, the kaiju violence will soon be on the way, with a secondary plot of figuring out just what the hell is going on behind the scenes. Till next time, Flame out.