-
The plan was simple. They would stay close together. Those in the back would make certain to alert everyone else that enemy soldiers might be running up behind them, or about to come across them and those in the front would see how many enemies were in every new room or hallway they were about to enter.
Tron would step inside first, or rather duck his head inside and see what was going on. Most of the rooms and hallways would have a few guards and they were easily derezzed when Tron and the other’s threw their disks.
They had to be efficient and fast with their weapons. They could not allow the sentries to have any time to signal to Kruz or Nyrii or any other higher-ranking soldier that they had escaped. As long as they were using stealth the better it was for them.
Tron had also tried using his old tracking abilities to feel for the enemies. Back in Flynn’s grid and even before when he lived in the ENCOM system, he could sense his perimeters, or place a hand on the ground and feel. He would know how many were coming and if he had spoken with someone, or engaged in combat he would know if that particular person was in that room. Things seem to be different here, even though he was back in the system where he had originated. He could no longer feel as he had done in the past. It couldn’t be because of his reprogramming. When he was Rinzler he still had the same tracking abilities. He was able to use them to find Flynn’s hideout in the Outlands.
None of the others seemed to notice what was wrong. Dean had no idea about this skill and he wasn’t sure if the angel knew. The other programs might have known what Tron once was able to do since they knew about his past, but if they did then they didn’t show or say anything.
The only one who did notice was Yori. When Tron first kneeled down and placed his hand on the floor to feel for the enemies she watched him with earnest and after a few nanos of nothing she raised an eyebrow. After the third time of not feeling she gave him a look of sympathy.
Yori had changed since he left. She had become a competent fighter. She seemed braver and a bit more aggressive. He was both shocked and impressed with the insults she flung on Nyrii and wondered where she learned that and if it was something she learned or was that written into her in some of the several upgrades that she had received over the megacycles. He was not one to complain.
“I think we are close to the hanger,” Lia said. “Or at least the one that has our Recognizer.”
“How many hangers does a ship like this have?” Dean asked. He had mimicked Tron’s tracking procedure before by kneeling down and grabbing the floor, but he did not know what he should be looking for, or what Tron was looking for. He had been staring at his hands a few times and Tron guessed it was because of him now being aware of his abilities. Tron felt like kicking himself for not informing Dean of this earlier.
“There are two,” Jolt said. “An upper and a lower hanger. I got a good look as we were being captured.”
“I don’t remember seeing anything else when we were brought out,” Tron said and stole a glance of the so called hangar. There were no other signs of air craft. He saw several soldiers swarming over their Recognizer, tapping at it with various tools and taking down large pieces. “We can’t escape this way.”
“Why not?” Dean asked. “Too many of their guards?”
“Too many guards who have started to disassemble the Recognizer,” Tron explained. “We need to find another way.”
“I can try and secure us an aircraft,” Lia said.
“Are you sure?” Jolt asked. “It would be dangerous if you go alone.”
“We split up,” Tron said. “Jolt you and Gabriel go with her. The rest will follow me.”
“Could be full of guards,” Gabriel said. “And they will notice us.”
“You do have a point,” Tron said. He straightened his back when he heard sounds coming from the hangar. “Against the walls. “We’ll knock them out but do not derezz.” He flattened himself against the outside wall.
Six of the soldiers marched out. As soon as the last one had emerged Tron struck him in the back of the head with his fist. Out the corner of the eye he could see several guards being pulled back and heard the sound of fists striking against something solid.
“Why did we do that?” Lia asked. “Surely more of the others heard.”
“I have a theory,” Tron said and grabbed onto Dean’s hand. “Dean, I need you to grab on one of the guards and transfer their energy to yourself and to me.”
“This is one of the perks about being a User?” Dean asked.
“One of many.”
“I dunno what I’m doing, but here it goes.” He stared at the guard as his circuitry fluxed with energy and changed from blue to red-orange.
Tron stared at his own minimal amount of circuits and watched as they changed color, both satisfying and alarming him. The last time he was that color he was Rinzler.
“Huh,” Dean said when he looked down at himself. “Don’t know why we didn’t try this before.” He grabbed onto Lia’s hand and changed her color. “Hey Gabe, you think-“
“Already ahead of you,” Gabriel had already altered the color of Jolt’s circuitry.
“We didn’t try it earlier because I didn’t think of it,” Tron said. He kept his alerts up, ready to take action in case someone else came across them.
“Are you all right?” Yori asked him. “You seem a little off.”
Tron shrugged. “I’m not sure what is wrong with me, but it is not of import. After we destroy this demon I’ll have diagnostics run on me.” Maybe Dean can speak with Alan-one and he would be able to fix his code. He smiled at the idea of having his original User look at him and speak with him again.
“Maybe you are still adjusting to our system,” Yori said softly. “You have been away for a while.”
“Could be.” He doubted that was the case. It wouldn’t have taken him this long to adjust. “We will talk about this later.”
“Lets focus on finding that psycho chick so we can de-borg her,” Dean said as he stood back up. He and Gabriel had finished transferring all the energy. The only one who didn’t have any red glowing circuits was Gabriel and that was because he never had any to begin with.
“More likely to find her in the top and brow of the ship,” Tron said as he looked up.
-
They made their way through the ship with little effort. Tron had ordered them to rezz in their helmets if they were able to, luckily for his plan they all had them, even Dean had something similar to a helmet although it did little to cover his ears. They did not have to use their disks against anyone unless they got to curious.
They entered one large section of the ship that had many levels with steel girded platforms, scaffolds and catwalks. Tron and the others came through the entrance at the top of the room. He was not certain if they should keep going or if they should climb down to the first floor or not.
“Hey.” Dean’s urgent tone snapped him from his thoughts. “That guy has my sword.” He pointed to a soldier that was carrying the same weapon baton that Dean had earlier. “They have our stuff, even Gabe’s backpack.”
Tron nodded when he saw the bright red pack that Gabriel carried on his back. He could also see the various batons that the rest of his companions had.
“Halt program,” Tron instructed one of the soldiers. “We have been given instructions to take those.”
One of the guards was about to hand over Dean’s baton but another grabbed his wrist.
“On whose authority?”
“Lieutenant Nyrii,” Tron answered.
“Is that correct?” the program asked in a skeptical tone. “She is on the first floor. I can go down and ask her personally.” That was the information Tron needed to know.
“Is that what you wish to risk?” Tron asked. “Are you certain Lieutenant Nyrii is in that state of temperament where she could be bombarded with inane questions. If you are confident she can be approached for you to ask such a simple question then we shall remain here and wait.”
“I…I think…that we s-“ He didn’t get a chance to finish. One of the other guards handed over Dean’s baton and a few other batons.
“I thought so,” Tron said as he passed the weapons down to the others.
“Now look here,” the soldier that seemed to be in charge said and stood between Tron and the rest of his men. “We can’t just hand it over either.”
“Ah but you just did,” Tron said as he slammed his disk into his neck and used his other disk to slice into the chest of another.
Dean shoved his sword into the gut of another and Yori used her disk to drezz the fourth. Not a single one of them had seemed to call for others to back them up and hopefully no one else knows about the rogue members of their squadron.
“Sounds like we go down,” Dean said as he pointed to the nearest staircase.
They had scaled down several sets of stairs and scaffolds until they had reached the second level that was just above the floor. Tron was about to lead them down when he heard Kruz speaking.
“Lieutenant I believe I have some news you would like to hear,” Kruz said.
Tron moved closer to the edge and looked down. He could see Kruz, flanked by two sentries speaking with Nyrii who had several behind her.
“Is it the subject of the prisoners?” Nyrii asked. “I’m all ears.”
“Master Control wants us to personally deliver Tron, the game sprite and the elf. The rest are all yours.”
Nyrii’s mouth turned up into a cold smile that unnerved Tron. “I want to derezz each one myself and I will save Yori for last. I want to kill her slowly and painfully and I want to do it in front of Tron.”
Tron’s grip on the rail increased as he glared at her. He had to keep telling himself that this wasn’t the true spirit of the User, but the one Master Control had written into her.
“You little energy spike,” Kruz said in an amused tone. “I believe you deserve such an honor, but try not to have it too messy.”
“I will make sure everything will be clean.” She gave him a salute.
Kruz saluted her in return and walked out of the room with a third of the soldiers following him.
“Wait for it,” Tron said. He looked up at Yori who had anger flashing in her eyes that was as burning hot as her circuitry. “This is not the real person doing the speaking.” He glanced down again and waited for right time. He wanted to make sure Kruz was gone. He was willing to fight Kruz but the focus was on Nyrii and getting her out of there.
“Now,” Tron said as he threw his disk at one of the soldiers and when it had met its mark he threw the second one.
“What the?” Nyrii asked as she looked up.
Tron jumped down as he threw his disks again. He angled himself to avoid getting hit and landed on his feet. Upon landing he caught both of his disks.
Several soldiers were running up to him. He dove down to avoid their attack and when two jumped at him at the same time he stood up with a disk in each hand and struck them in the stomachs.
Dean had slid forward on his knees between two more of the soldiers and stood up, brining his disk into the throat of one and slicing the other with his sword. Another soldier came running up to him. The User chopped off his head with a single swing.
The other programs were fighting just has hard and as skilled. They were able to dodge the attacks from the soldiers while they inflicted enough damage with their own disks. The only question was, where was Nyrii?
The repurposed User was going head to head with Yori. Tron watched with mixed emotions of fear and admiration as Yori used her disk to block Nyrii’s strikes while she used her fist to attack. Tron was somewhat relieved to see Yori trying to keep from killing Nyrii when there was an apparent history between the two of them.
“Need some help?” Dean asked as he tackled Nyrii to the floor. “We got most of the others.”
“Don’t be so smug,” Nyrii said as Dean forced her wrists behind her back. “You only delayed the inevitable, Elf.”
“That’s why we are getting out of here.” He scooped her up in his arms.
“And you don’t think I will yell?” Nyrii asked.
“Yell all you want, Patty Hearst, but we are still getting you out of here. There is blood coming out of your nose. We’ll get you cleaned up once were safe.”
“Let’s go,” Tron commanded as he led them up the stairs. It would be easier to retrace their steps.
“Blood?” Nyrii asked.
“You know that red stuff that leaks out when you get hurt,” Dean told her as they ran up the different levels. “When Users get hurt.”
“Users?” Nyrii’s voice shrank. “Users don’t exist.”
“They do and you are one of them, so am I.”
Tron anticipated either screaming or laughter to come from the lieutenant, but he didn’t expect the small gasps followed by silence and her eyes widening. He hoped she was still okay as they headed towards the direction of the bottom hangar.
-
Tron was pleased and a little worried that Nyrii had been quiet this whole time as they ran down to the lower hanger. He had hoped that Lia, Gabriel and Jolt had come through for them and secured some form of aircraft so they could escape.
“Aiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeee,” Nyrii screamed the second they stepped into the hangar.
“Oh no,” Dean said as he adjusted her in his arms and placed his hand over her mouth. “Now is not a time to freak out.”
Tron looked around him to see if anyone was coming to attack them, but all he could see were unconscious bodies and piles of glass. He suddenly felt fear for his other companions. Have Lia and Jolt been derezzed? What happened to the angel?
“Over here,” Gabriel shouted and waved his hands and arms about. He pointed to one of the light jet carriers that were in the hanger. “We got the ride.”
“Can we all fit in there?” One of the programs asked.
“No sweat,” the angel said. “Lia scored us some of the smaller jets in a stick.” He had to be referring to the light jet batons.
“Ow damn it,” Dean grunted as he wrenched his hand away from Nyrii’s mouth. “You just bit me.”
“Not a User,” Nyrii gasped. “I can’t be. You can’t be. They don’t exist. I’m not a User. I can’t be. You can’t be.” She glared. “Because they don’t exist. Unhand me elf.” She tried to wriggle out of his arms.
“Uh Gabe,” Dean glanced over to the angel. “Could you poke her?” He blinked. “On the forehead.”
“I know what you mean.” Gabriel ran up to them. “Not everyone has a filthy mind like you.” He jumped up and touched Nyrii in the forehead causing the User to close her eyes and her body to go slack. “You need a little of the touch yourself?”
“Can’t,” Dean said as he shook his head. “Someone has to stay with her to make sure she doesn’t try anything when she wakes up.”
Gabriel nodded. “You and Xena will be in the middle, Yori will pilot and I’ll take the gunner.”
“The rest of us will have these,” Lia said as she held up a light jet baton. “Here’s one for you.” She tossed a second baton to Tron.
“Lets move before they catch up,” Tron said as he ran to the opening. He jumped and his light jet activated around him. He flew away from the ship and spun around to watch as four more light jets and the carrier flew out of the large ship. He waited until his friends caught up before he flew after them.
“Can you all hear me?” Yori’s voice came in through the speaker.
“I can hear you loud and clear,” Tron responded.
“We were close to an open port before we were caught,” Yori said. “Just follow me.”
Tron watched as Yori took the lead. He followed close behind but not too close. Their escape was too easy and he did not like that.
He heard the sound of gunfire before he moved his jet out of the way at the last minute. Someone or something was firing at them. He spun around and fired at the enemy jets. He has great aim and did not miss.
More enemy jets were flying in close. It wouldn’t just be up to firepower but skilled flying. It was a good thing that Tron was that as well. He swerved his jet down and then spun it back before he darted around the enemy jets. The stream of light that followed his jet cut off the enemies and derezzed several of their fighters.
Tron was not alone in his defense. Lia and the others were also making good use of their flying and fighting skills. They were able to take down several of the enemy jets. Gabriel also had great aim as he fired the guns from the larger jet.
Tron flew his jet away from the others and three of the enemies followed. He kept his path steady before he darted to the right, dove down, swerved back and then flew up. His strategy had managed to get rid of two of the enemies. He swerved around again and darted from right to left to left again then up then right and then down. His opponent was good and he had to be focused on avoiding the streams in the air. Tron took a few more sharp angles before he spun his jet around and fired. The enemy jet exploded.
There were no more jets to fight. Tron turned back to the others when he saw another enemy jet fly up to Yori’s jet. There was no way he was going to make it on time, but he had to try.
“Don’t fire,” Tron begged. “Just please don’t fire. Gabe if you can see it then fire back.” He felt something inside him sink when he saw the guns of the enemy carrier light up.
The enemy carrier became illuminated as the sound of several gunshots were fired. As it derezzed into glowing wisps of light and shattered pixels from the programs inside it, another carrier flew through it, one that had light blue glowing circuitry.
Tron flew in closer to see who came to their aid and felt his mouth stretch out into a full grin when he saw the ISO girl was piloting the aircraft, and next to her was Sam Winchester. Behind the two of them he could see Castiel and he guessed that Sam Flynn was manning the guns again.
“Yori,” Tron tried to contact her over the radio. “Tell Dean his brother has arrived.”
“Already made contact with them,” Yori said. “They also know where the port is.”
“Let’s get to safety,” Tron said as he flew back to formation.
-
A/N: The title of the chapter is the same as song by Slaughter.