Mala 'Skyscream' McFey carefully watched the hallway ahead of the small group she was in the center of. Guards behind her. Guards in front of her. A guard on each side of her. It was cramped but she was surrounded by a wall of muscle. The cuffs were deemed unnecessary and she walked freely. The man who had greeted her, Mark, when she first walked onto the docks of Zion for the first time in years led the small group. The back halls were their route but eventually they had to go to the very public docks. There was only one way out of New Zion and it was just ahead. Mark glanced back at Skyscream before leading them all out of the hallway and into the big open spaces of the docks. A group was waiting for them. A large group of very rough looking men.
"You're not setting her free." The largest of the group spoke with menace in his voice. "Machine wants her. Machine is gonna get her. We ain't going back to war."
"It's not up to you John." Mark spoke clearly and distinctly. "The council has made it's decision. Captain Skyscream is leaving New Zion. If the machine wants her they can track her down themselves."
"Screw that." The big man named John suddenly reached out and punched Mark square in the nose.
***********************************************
Tyndal rushed into the commanders office.
"Riot on the docks during the mission to remove Skyscream from Zion." She barked quickly before departing just as suddenly.
"Of course." Roland frowned and stood up. "Nothing ever goes smoothly. Why would it?"
Roland rushed out of his office to begin issuing orders to the security teams.
************************************
Niobe stood looking at the destruction that followed the riot on the docks. It wasn't nearly as bad as she first thought when she began to review the damage to both people and equipment. A lot of bloody noses. Missing teeth. A few cracked skulls. No fatalities.
"Okay. Tell me again what happened." She said to the man standing beside her. The dock supervisor on duty at the time.
"Well. When the security team arrived one of my off duty men, John Nebular, appeared out of nowhere with a bunch of goons and pretty much just attacked the squad leader. Mark I think his name was. After that it was like some signal had been given and everything went to hell." The man shrugged. "It happened so fast there was nothing anyone could do."
"Wait. Did you say John Nebular?" Niobe frowned.
"Yes Ma'am." The man nodded.
"And the man leading the security team was named Mark you think?" Niobe stared at him. "Are they both freeborn? No Jacks?"
"Yes Ma'am." The man nodded again. "Well. John anyway. I have no idea about that other fella."
"Son of a ..." Niobe stood tight lipped for a long moment. "Where are they now? And where is Captain Skyscream?"
"No idea ma'am." The man shrugged. "She disappeared during the mess."
"Let me guess. Your man disappeared too." Niobe sighed.
"Yes Ma'am." He stated simply.
"And I have no doubt that Mark is gone too. I should have seen that coming. I know how sneaky she is. The damn crew of the Hydra. I should have known." Niobe punched a crate in frustration before immediately regretting it. Displays like that are not something people in charge should be doing. Only two people got under her skin the same way Skyscream did. Morpheus and Lock. "I'm sorry about that. I'm under a lot of pressure."
"Yes ma'am." The man looked a bit nervous in the face of an upset Niobe but seemed to accept the reasons.
"Where the hell is the Tiger?" Niobe pointed at an empty bay across the dock.
"Left sometime before the riot." The man shrugged again.
"And you let them leave?" Niobe gritted her teeth.
"It's the Tiger, Ma'am. Of course I did. My orders say they come and go as they please but why is classified." The man stepped back a little, uncertain of Niobe's mood. "Uh.. I need to go do .. um stuff. You know where to find me."
**************************************
Skyscream smiled as she scurried along the tunnel in darkness with two men. One large and muscular and the other remarkably average looking.
"What the hell John?" Mark complained as he felt his nose. "Ever heard of pulling your punches?"
"That was a pulled punch Mark." John laughed a little, his baritone voice carrying in the tunnel.
"Guys. Quiet please. I need to hear." Skyscream said over her shoulder before listening intently. A long moment passed before she spoke again. "Okay. Quickly. They should be just ahead."
"Who?" Mark asked in a whisper. "I thought Format was coming to get us, Captain."
"That was the original vision. Yes." Skyscream ran quickly and silently up the tunnel. "But we changed that. I'm not sure where Format is actually."
"What?" John whispered in his deep voice. "I thought we were following the visions all these years. Wasn't that the point of all this, Captain? I mean, I believe, but I gave up a lot for this Mala. We had a plan."
"Have you ever considered that perhaps they were a lie?" Skyscream whispered back over her shoulder. "That it wasn't from Neo? I have. For years. Ever since we lost everyone on the Hydra. I've also wondered why they change sometimes. When things in the world change the visions seem to adapt."
"So are they, Mala?" Mark asked quietly after a long moment. "From Neo?"
"Hell if I know." Skyscream frowned as she stopped, crouched down, and listened to the sounds of the tunnel for moment before speaking quietly again. "Maybe? Maybe not? We'll find out eventually. Either way ... what we are doing is the right thing. It has to be done."
Mark looked at John. They both shrugged in the shadowy tunnel.
"Agreed." Both men said in unison.
"Ah, there they are. The sounds gave them away." Skyscream stood up straight from where she crouched.
"Who?" John asked as he peered into the darkness ahead.
"The Tiger." Skyscream smiled as the hovercraft Tiger seemed to appear out of thin air and blinding light flooded the tunnel.
**************************
Xanthian stood staring at the hardline before him. He had been standing there for some time trying to think of a way out of this. He had wandered the white hallways. Trying doors. Some were locked. Some not. They all seemed to lead to places in the Matrix. He eventually sighed and stepped back into the digital world outside the white halls to where he was standing now. In front of a hardline on the streets of Sai Kung. The only way out of here was through a hardline. He knew that. Only a few people have done it without and survived. He certainly wasn't 'The Kid'.
His eyes were still blankly on the hardline, lost in thought, when his phone suddenly beeped. The sound nearly made him jump out of his skin. It was a text message oddly. It simply said "Answer the phone and be still as stone after."
Then the hardline rang. Xanthian frowned. This whole situation was all wrong.
He reached out and picked up the receiver.
The world slipped away and reality crashed in on him as he could feel the Jack being removed from the socket in the back of his neck.
"Don't move." A familiar voice from long ago was below him. He kept his eyes closed and didn't move. "We're being watched. The ship is wired with explosives. There is no timer so I'm guessing a remote detonator and I couldn't find the receiver on the way in. Floors in here are really dirty by the way."
"Telemancer? Is that you?" Xanthian did his best to be a ventriloquist and not move his lips in his surprise.
"Yeah. Whoever did this sure didn't like your operator." Telemancer quietly set the Jack down on the deck near where he was laying. "Did a real number on the kid."
"Fuck." Xanthian could feel the rage building deep in his soul. But now was not the time. "So now what?"
"On the count of three you roll to the floor and I replace your body with your operators. Hopefully whoever is watching blinks at that moment or something. Then we crawl out of this ship praying the whole way and then run like the wind back to Format?" Telemancer took a deep breath. "Actually. Faster than the wind would be good."
"How did you know I was here?" Xanthian asked the obvious question.
"Format saw you just standing around looking lost in the code. So he tracked your butt down." Telemancer grunted as he levered the young operators body into place. "Sorry about this kid. You deserve better. Okay. On the count of three Xan.. we switch and start praying."
"Roger that." Xanthian began praying early.
"One ... two ... three!" Telemancer grunted as Xanth rolled off the chair and he levered the operators body into place.
They waited. Both holding their breath.
The world did not end.
"Let's go." Telemancer began crawling out of the room to the rear of the ship where he entered.
"Format isn't far away."
"What's going on around here, Telemancer?" Xanthian crawled quickly and quietly after him.
"End of the world. We're going to save it." Telemancer chuckled a little to himself. "The usual."
**************************
"What is SHE doing here?" Ocelet asked her Captain as she stared out the windscreen of the Cockpit. "Does she even know we're here?"
"Look at her." Valaro nodded to the three figures on the tunnel floor ahead of where the Tiger was hiding. "She's listening for us. Clever."
"So what do we do?" Ocelet looked genuinely curious about the answer.
"Invite them aboard." Valaro smiled a bit. "Maybe we'll get some answers finally."
"Maybe ..." Ocelet fired up the floodlights and turned off the Eichdee Cloaking System, as some had begun to call it. "That's kind of optimistic."