errorYou must be logged in to review this story.
No rest for the wicked
folder
1 through F › Dark Angel
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
6
Views:
8,031
Reviews:
1
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
1 through F › Dark Angel
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
6
Views:
8,031
Reviews:
1
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Dark Angel, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
A cunning plan
Chapter 1: A Cunning Plan
Alec’s quarter the next morning
The first thing Max thought when she awoke was “Fuck”. Not only she hadn’t been able to resist her heat, she also had slept with Alec. Her two strongest impulses battled each other: Should she beat him up or leave and pretend it never happened? On the one hand it was Alec’s fault that the whole thing happened (he could have said “no”) on the other hand if she would beat him up the whole thing could get public, which would be very embarrassing. So she decided to leave quietly and kick his ass another time. Fortunately Alec was still asleep so she could leave the room without one of his typical smart-Alec remarks.
Sighing she went to Command Center to check the situation and to distract herself.
* * * * *
Command Center
Although it was quite early there was a buzz of activity in the Command Center. Max immediately had the impression that something bad had happened.
“What’s going on?” she asked Logan, who was once again bending over plans of Terminal City.
“Jake and Sam disappeared last night when they were on guard duty!” Logan echoed, “They aren’t the type of transgenic who would leave Terminal City as soon as possible without telling anyone!”
“You mean something or someone out there is hunting X-series?” Max asked, worried.
“That’s what I have in mind; take a look at this map!” Logan answered, “I jotted down the position where the transgenics probably disappeared.”
Max bent over the Terminal City map: Several black circle marked the positions where the transgenics where seen for the last time. She couldn’t belief her eyes: the circles formed an almost complete circle around Terminal City. One more disappearance and the circle would be finished.
“What to hell?” Max said, “This can’t be a coincidence! Something is happening out there and I’ll find out what it is. That night we’ll be where the last circle should be!”
“Sounds like a plan,” Logan said, “By the way: what about your twice a year problem? You act normal again.”
“Well it didn’t last long this time,” Max lied,”I’m completely normal again. I better blaze, got to organize a team for tonight!”
When Max left the room Logan wondered if he had said something wrong.
* * * * *
Max hoped to clear her mind before beginning to gather a team for the night. Unfortunately she met exactly the person she wanted to avoid: Alec.
“Hey Maxie,” he said, smirking, “I was quite surprised that you didn’t beat me up in the morning. Did you like it that much?”
“I didn’t want to attract attention,” Max replied, looking daggers at him,”but I think I’ll do it later. After all the whole thing was your fault!”
“My fault?” Alec asked, laughing, “If I remember correctly you started the whole thing and commanded me to satisfy you. Can you blame me for being a loyal soldier?”
Suddenly Alec found himself slammed into the wall by a really livid Max.
“Whoa, Max!” he said, not smirking any more. ”Don’t overreact, after all no one was hurt.”
“SHUT UP!” Max roared;”And listen because I’m saying this only once: “If you tell anyone about this, castration will only be the beginning (Alec turned very pale). I’ll kick your ass so hard that no one will be able to patch you up again. Did I make my point clear, sugar?
Alec only nodded, so Max left the room without a further word, feeling quite pleased with herself.
* * * * *
Somewhere in Seattle
Ertai was preparing for the mission that night. As usual there shouldn’t be a problem due to his extraordinary abilities. The strategy was simple, elegant and cunning, quite fitting for such a brilliant being like him. Volrath, of course, would use a much more complex method, in his arrogance believing to be a tactical genius.
Ertai disliked having to develop a strategy; it was far below his level. Usually Volrath would take care of this but he was far too busy plotting against Horne. He was fed up with being commanded by Horne and longed for more power. Ertai know that she was also planning some intrigues to get more influence in the Cabal and to stop Volrath from toppling her.
Intrigues were quite common in the ranks of the Cabal but nowadays everyone fought for a good position after their mission was completed. The Council, an assembly of the twelve highest members of the Cabal, didn’t care if you betrayed of even killed (Ertai doubted that Volrath or Horne would go so far) your superior if you do it without drawing attention to the Cabal and if you’re more effective than your predecessor.
He wouldn’t interfere in this struggle unless there is a clear winner whom he could join. But now it was time to get going with the mission.
Ertai rose form his chair, took a sip out of a bottle filled with a blue liquid, and left the room to start his mission.
* * * * *
Terminal City after nightfall
Max and her team waited patiently in the shadows for whomever or whatever attacked the transgenics at night. She had tried to keep the whole operation secret (spies in Terminal City could have warned the mysterious enemy) so she had only a small team: Joshua, Mole and Alec.
Max disliked to have Alec near her right now, she was still livid because he hadn’t tried to stop her the night before (he could have just said “no”, after all she had been the one in heat) but he was one of the few transgenics in Terminal City she trusted enough to tell them about the mission. Not even the guards they monitored had been informed about the mission.
Max and her team watched them from the roof of a deserted building, high enough to have a good overview but not too high to jump down and interfere if someone attacked them. She wondered if White was behind these disappearances, it was definitively his style.
But one the other hand he wouldn’t be stupid enough to make his operation that obvious. Another possibility was that one failed Manticore experiment had developed a taste for the X-series. Max hoped that this was not the case; she had met more than enough lunatic transgenics.
Shivering in the cold wind she tried to make herself more comfortable and continued waiting.
* * * * *
In the meantime Ertai and his team were stalking in the shadows nearby. Like Max and her team they stood on a roof scanning the area. Ertai glimpsed the two X5 guards and signaled the rest of his team to halt.
“OK”, he said, “there is our target, give me a moment to prepare myself, attack at my signal!”
Not even bothering to wait for a response, he concentrated and extended his conscious to the unsuspecting guards below.
Then he gave the signal to attack.
* * * * *
Raynor, one of the two watched guards, was bored. He knew his job was necessary, but nevertheless it was as exciting as watching the grass grow. Never had anything happened during his duties, he just stood there in the cold while others slept. Suddenly a strange feeling overcame him: memories bubbled up and filled his whole conscious. Lost in his memories he didn’t notice the four shadows which were sneaking towards him.
* * * * *
“Max look at this!” Alec yelled, yanking her out of her thoughts. Four dark shapes had appeared stalking towards the guards, who didn’t seem to notice them.
“OK guys!” Max replied, “Let’s kick some butt!” With these words she jumped form the roof and landed in front of one of the attackers.
The dark figure immediately responded with a right hook, which hit Max in the face, causing her to stagger backwards. When the attacker tried to hit her again, she evaded the blow and swept his legs away. Her opponent was obviously transgenic (an X5 she guessed) so she wasted no time and attacked him with a flurry of blows and kicks.
The X5 simply sidestepped, grasped her leg and hurled her through the air into a pile of rubble nearby, kicking the wind out of her. When she had risen out of the pile he was already gone, sprinting towards his comrades, who fought against Alec, Joshua and Mole.
Max chased him, using the brief time to get an overview of the situation: The two guards had been knocked out by the mysterious attackers, who were in fierce hand-to-hand combat with the rest of her team. Alec fared quite well but Joshua and Mole were just to slow to be a real match for these excellently trained X5s.
And now the tide turned even more in favor to the attackers when Max’s former opponent joined the others and started to beat her team up. Joining the fight, Max hoped that other residents of Terminal City heard the noise and came to investigate because she doubted their chances to win.
* * * * *
Ertai was shocked: How did they know he was going to attack here? Who had spoiled his cunning plan? Maybe the rest of his team had been clumsy enough to become spotted on their way here. But now it was more important to manage an ordered retreat. Although his team seemed to fare quite well, Ertai heard other transgenics approaching and he doubted that Volrath had sent additional troops. Time to get away!
He jumped down the roof and moved towards the way his team had entered Terminal City. A huge pile of metal tubes, old barrels and other junk lay at the side of the way. That might come in handy, Ertai mused, but first he should tell these idiots to retreat. Once again his consciousness extended this time towards his team, carrying the message “Retreat immediately, same way we came, leave the guards, I’ll take care of pursuers, MOVE!!!!!!!”
Then he concentrated on the pile of rubble next to him, waiting for his team to arrive.
“That’s going to be fun” he chuckled.
* * * * *
Max was surprised to find her opponent gone. She had aimed a kick on his chest to knock the wind out of him but had hit only air. Her target and the rest of the attackers had broken into a run moving into the dark passage they had come from, leaving the unconscious X5 guards behind.
Immediately Max and her team chased them, determined not to let them escape. Max and Alec were getting closer and closer while Mole and Joshua were falling back due to their lack of speed. Max knew the path the attackers were taking, it led to a very badly damaged part of Terminal City (ok whole Terminal City was a terrible mess but in this area there wasn’t one building intact enough to live in it). It confused her that they were retreating in this direction because there wasn’t a way to the outside nearby.
Suddenly a pile of rubble ahead of them collapsed, spraying old pipes and barrels all over the path, forming a ten feet high barrier which blocked their way.
Max jumped, hoping to have enough momentum to be carried above the newly formed wall. At first it seemed like she would make but then something very peculiar happed: Something hit her into the stomach, knocking the wind out of her and sending her back to the ground.
During the fall she saw Alec who also tried to jump over the wall but she couldn’t see if he had made it. When she had recovered Mole and Joshua had closed up to her.
“Quick!” Max said, “We have to get to the other side and help Alec!” Without further hesitation she jumped again. This time she made it safely over the wall but the only thing on the other side was rubble.
Alec and the attackers had vanished.
* * * * *
A dark room somewhere in Seattle
Volrath was waiting impatiently for Ertai to arrive. “What takes him so long?” He wondered
“He should be here an hour ago”
In this moment the door opened and Ertai entered. Volrath grunted as light hit his very light sensitive eyes, he had a very sharp sight but was easily blinded, resulting in his preferences of dark rooms. Being blinded didn’t lighten up his bad mood.
“What took you so long?” he asked, “Horne was already complaining about me, being unable to supervise my subordinates!”
“Sorry, sir” Ertai replied, “but there was a problem: somehow the rouge transgenics knew where we were going to attack and set a trap.”
“WHAT?” Volrath bellowed, “Did anyone of your team get captured?”
“No, sir” Ertai echoed, “Although these incompetent fools would have deserved it. I’m convinced that they were clumsy enough to get spotted on our way to the area. That’s the reason why the rouges were able to set a trap!”
Volrath was fuming: This arrogant, useless fool really thought that it wasn’t his idiotic plan which ruined the operation. If Horne told the Council about his made-up incompetence he would never be able to topple her. He would have to gloss over Ertai’s failure. But first he should make clear that further failures wouldn’t be tolerated. In a fluid movement he stepped towards Ertai, pinning the psy-ops at a wall by his throat.
“Now listen, you worthless excuse of a soldier!” he hissed, “If anyone tells Horne about your failure she will have my ass for lunch. But first I’ll have your ass for breakfast. If you ever fail me again you’ll wish that you had died when Manticore burned down. Did I make my point clear, Ertai?
Ertai nodded, “Yes sir, it won’t happen again.”
“Good,” Volrath said, “and now you get back out there and find me some transgenics so I can present them to Horne and gloss over your incompetence. And by the way it wasn’t your team which messed things up; it was your “plan”. Did it ever occur to you that operating in a circle around Terminal City is too obvious? Incredible! Have you missed all hidden operations classes in Manticore?
“Sir, we captured one of our attackers,” Ertai replied,” an X5. I think his barcode ended with the numbers 494.”
“494,” Volrath sounded a lot more cheerful now, “he’s one of the leaders in Terminal City. That’s great news. I’ll tell Horne and you start interrogate him. Ask him about X5-452, the leader of the rouges. His capture will be more than a compensation for your failure, you are dismissed. The Cabal is here!”
“And everywhere”, Ertai muttered, leaving the room.
* * * * *
A/N: Sorry for the great gap between the chapters, I was tied up at school.
@ pand and honeypot: Thanks, you two motivated me to continue writing this story.
Alec’s quarter the next morning
The first thing Max thought when she awoke was “Fuck”. Not only she hadn’t been able to resist her heat, she also had slept with Alec. Her two strongest impulses battled each other: Should she beat him up or leave and pretend it never happened? On the one hand it was Alec’s fault that the whole thing happened (he could have said “no”) on the other hand if she would beat him up the whole thing could get public, which would be very embarrassing. So she decided to leave quietly and kick his ass another time. Fortunately Alec was still asleep so she could leave the room without one of his typical smart-Alec remarks.
Sighing she went to Command Center to check the situation and to distract herself.
Command Center
Although it was quite early there was a buzz of activity in the Command Center. Max immediately had the impression that something bad had happened.
“What’s going on?” she asked Logan, who was once again bending over plans of Terminal City.
“Jake and Sam disappeared last night when they were on guard duty!” Logan echoed, “They aren’t the type of transgenic who would leave Terminal City as soon as possible without telling anyone!”
“You mean something or someone out there is hunting X-series?” Max asked, worried.
“That’s what I have in mind; take a look at this map!” Logan answered, “I jotted down the position where the transgenics probably disappeared.”
Max bent over the Terminal City map: Several black circle marked the positions where the transgenics where seen for the last time. She couldn’t belief her eyes: the circles formed an almost complete circle around Terminal City. One more disappearance and the circle would be finished.
“What to hell?” Max said, “This can’t be a coincidence! Something is happening out there and I’ll find out what it is. That night we’ll be where the last circle should be!”
“Sounds like a plan,” Logan said, “By the way: what about your twice a year problem? You act normal again.”
“Well it didn’t last long this time,” Max lied,”I’m completely normal again. I better blaze, got to organize a team for tonight!”
When Max left the room Logan wondered if he had said something wrong.
Max hoped to clear her mind before beginning to gather a team for the night. Unfortunately she met exactly the person she wanted to avoid: Alec.
“Hey Maxie,” he said, smirking, “I was quite surprised that you didn’t beat me up in the morning. Did you like it that much?”
“I didn’t want to attract attention,” Max replied, looking daggers at him,”but I think I’ll do it later. After all the whole thing was your fault!”
“My fault?” Alec asked, laughing, “If I remember correctly you started the whole thing and commanded me to satisfy you. Can you blame me for being a loyal soldier?”
Suddenly Alec found himself slammed into the wall by a really livid Max.
“Whoa, Max!” he said, not smirking any more. ”Don’t overreact, after all no one was hurt.”
“SHUT UP!” Max roared;”And listen because I’m saying this only once: “If you tell anyone about this, castration will only be the beginning (Alec turned very pale). I’ll kick your ass so hard that no one will be able to patch you up again. Did I make my point clear, sugar?
Alec only nodded, so Max left the room without a further word, feeling quite pleased with herself.
Somewhere in Seattle
Ertai was preparing for the mission that night. As usual there shouldn’t be a problem due to his extraordinary abilities. The strategy was simple, elegant and cunning, quite fitting for such a brilliant being like him. Volrath, of course, would use a much more complex method, in his arrogance believing to be a tactical genius.
Ertai disliked having to develop a strategy; it was far below his level. Usually Volrath would take care of this but he was far too busy plotting against Horne. He was fed up with being commanded by Horne and longed for more power. Ertai know that she was also planning some intrigues to get more influence in the Cabal and to stop Volrath from toppling her.
Intrigues were quite common in the ranks of the Cabal but nowadays everyone fought for a good position after their mission was completed. The Council, an assembly of the twelve highest members of the Cabal, didn’t care if you betrayed of even killed (Ertai doubted that Volrath or Horne would go so far) your superior if you do it without drawing attention to the Cabal and if you’re more effective than your predecessor.
He wouldn’t interfere in this struggle unless there is a clear winner whom he could join. But now it was time to get going with the mission.
Ertai rose form his chair, took a sip out of a bottle filled with a blue liquid, and left the room to start his mission.
Terminal City after nightfall
Max and her team waited patiently in the shadows for whomever or whatever attacked the transgenics at night. She had tried to keep the whole operation secret (spies in Terminal City could have warned the mysterious enemy) so she had only a small team: Joshua, Mole and Alec.
Max disliked to have Alec near her right now, she was still livid because he hadn’t tried to stop her the night before (he could have just said “no”, after all she had been the one in heat) but he was one of the few transgenics in Terminal City she trusted enough to tell them about the mission. Not even the guards they monitored had been informed about the mission.
Max and her team watched them from the roof of a deserted building, high enough to have a good overview but not too high to jump down and interfere if someone attacked them. She wondered if White was behind these disappearances, it was definitively his style.
But one the other hand he wouldn’t be stupid enough to make his operation that obvious. Another possibility was that one failed Manticore experiment had developed a taste for the X-series. Max hoped that this was not the case; she had met more than enough lunatic transgenics.
Shivering in the cold wind she tried to make herself more comfortable and continued waiting.
In the meantime Ertai and his team were stalking in the shadows nearby. Like Max and her team they stood on a roof scanning the area. Ertai glimpsed the two X5 guards and signaled the rest of his team to halt.
“OK”, he said, “there is our target, give me a moment to prepare myself, attack at my signal!”
Not even bothering to wait for a response, he concentrated and extended his conscious to the unsuspecting guards below.
Then he gave the signal to attack.
Raynor, one of the two watched guards, was bored. He knew his job was necessary, but nevertheless it was as exciting as watching the grass grow. Never had anything happened during his duties, he just stood there in the cold while others slept. Suddenly a strange feeling overcame him: memories bubbled up and filled his whole conscious. Lost in his memories he didn’t notice the four shadows which were sneaking towards him.
“Max look at this!” Alec yelled, yanking her out of her thoughts. Four dark shapes had appeared stalking towards the guards, who didn’t seem to notice them.
“OK guys!” Max replied, “Let’s kick some butt!” With these words she jumped form the roof and landed in front of one of the attackers.
The dark figure immediately responded with a right hook, which hit Max in the face, causing her to stagger backwards. When the attacker tried to hit her again, she evaded the blow and swept his legs away. Her opponent was obviously transgenic (an X5 she guessed) so she wasted no time and attacked him with a flurry of blows and kicks.
The X5 simply sidestepped, grasped her leg and hurled her through the air into a pile of rubble nearby, kicking the wind out of her. When she had risen out of the pile he was already gone, sprinting towards his comrades, who fought against Alec, Joshua and Mole.
Max chased him, using the brief time to get an overview of the situation: The two guards had been knocked out by the mysterious attackers, who were in fierce hand-to-hand combat with the rest of her team. Alec fared quite well but Joshua and Mole were just to slow to be a real match for these excellently trained X5s.
And now the tide turned even more in favor to the attackers when Max’s former opponent joined the others and started to beat her team up. Joining the fight, Max hoped that other residents of Terminal City heard the noise and came to investigate because she doubted their chances to win.
Ertai was shocked: How did they know he was going to attack here? Who had spoiled his cunning plan? Maybe the rest of his team had been clumsy enough to become spotted on their way here. But now it was more important to manage an ordered retreat. Although his team seemed to fare quite well, Ertai heard other transgenics approaching and he doubted that Volrath had sent additional troops. Time to get away!
He jumped down the roof and moved towards the way his team had entered Terminal City. A huge pile of metal tubes, old barrels and other junk lay at the side of the way. That might come in handy, Ertai mused, but first he should tell these idiots to retreat. Once again his consciousness extended this time towards his team, carrying the message “Retreat immediately, same way we came, leave the guards, I’ll take care of pursuers, MOVE!!!!!!!”
Then he concentrated on the pile of rubble next to him, waiting for his team to arrive.
“That’s going to be fun” he chuckled.
Max was surprised to find her opponent gone. She had aimed a kick on his chest to knock the wind out of him but had hit only air. Her target and the rest of the attackers had broken into a run moving into the dark passage they had come from, leaving the unconscious X5 guards behind.
Immediately Max and her team chased them, determined not to let them escape. Max and Alec were getting closer and closer while Mole and Joshua were falling back due to their lack of speed. Max knew the path the attackers were taking, it led to a very badly damaged part of Terminal City (ok whole Terminal City was a terrible mess but in this area there wasn’t one building intact enough to live in it). It confused her that they were retreating in this direction because there wasn’t a way to the outside nearby.
Suddenly a pile of rubble ahead of them collapsed, spraying old pipes and barrels all over the path, forming a ten feet high barrier which blocked their way.
Max jumped, hoping to have enough momentum to be carried above the newly formed wall. At first it seemed like she would make but then something very peculiar happed: Something hit her into the stomach, knocking the wind out of her and sending her back to the ground.
During the fall she saw Alec who also tried to jump over the wall but she couldn’t see if he had made it. When she had recovered Mole and Joshua had closed up to her.
“Quick!” Max said, “We have to get to the other side and help Alec!” Without further hesitation she jumped again. This time she made it safely over the wall but the only thing on the other side was rubble.
Alec and the attackers had vanished.
A dark room somewhere in Seattle
Volrath was waiting impatiently for Ertai to arrive. “What takes him so long?” He wondered
“He should be here an hour ago”
In this moment the door opened and Ertai entered. Volrath grunted as light hit his very light sensitive eyes, he had a very sharp sight but was easily blinded, resulting in his preferences of dark rooms. Being blinded didn’t lighten up his bad mood.
“What took you so long?” he asked, “Horne was already complaining about me, being unable to supervise my subordinates!”
“Sorry, sir” Ertai replied, “but there was a problem: somehow the rouge transgenics knew where we were going to attack and set a trap.”
“WHAT?” Volrath bellowed, “Did anyone of your team get captured?”
“No, sir” Ertai echoed, “Although these incompetent fools would have deserved it. I’m convinced that they were clumsy enough to get spotted on our way to the area. That’s the reason why the rouges were able to set a trap!”
Volrath was fuming: This arrogant, useless fool really thought that it wasn’t his idiotic plan which ruined the operation. If Horne told the Council about his made-up incompetence he would never be able to topple her. He would have to gloss over Ertai’s failure. But first he should make clear that further failures wouldn’t be tolerated. In a fluid movement he stepped towards Ertai, pinning the psy-ops at a wall by his throat.
“Now listen, you worthless excuse of a soldier!” he hissed, “If anyone tells Horne about your failure she will have my ass for lunch. But first I’ll have your ass for breakfast. If you ever fail me again you’ll wish that you had died when Manticore burned down. Did I make my point clear, Ertai?
Ertai nodded, “Yes sir, it won’t happen again.”
“Good,” Volrath said, “and now you get back out there and find me some transgenics so I can present them to Horne and gloss over your incompetence. And by the way it wasn’t your team which messed things up; it was your “plan”. Did it ever occur to you that operating in a circle around Terminal City is too obvious? Incredible! Have you missed all hidden operations classes in Manticore?
“Sir, we captured one of our attackers,” Ertai replied,” an X5. I think his barcode ended with the numbers 494.”
“494,” Volrath sounded a lot more cheerful now, “he’s one of the leaders in Terminal City. That’s great news. I’ll tell Horne and you start interrogate him. Ask him about X5-452, the leader of the rouges. His capture will be more than a compensation for your failure, you are dismissed. The Cabal is here!”
“And everywhere”, Ertai muttered, leaving the room.
A/N: Sorry for the great gap between the chapters, I was tied up at school.
@ pand and honeypot: Thanks, you two motivated me to continue writing this story.