Together -- Chapter 22

Disclaimer: All of the characters that appeared on the TV show Dark Angel (Max, Zack, Logan, etc.) belong to their respective owners, not to me. No money is being made off of this fic. I only own the original characters (Becky/X6-405, etc.).

“Update,” Zack said the second he walked through Logan’s front door about two hours later.

“Not much has changed right now from our perspective,” Max said. “White has pretty much stayed where he is. The only people going in and out of the warehouse since they brought Zane, Jondy, and Becky’s sisters and brother in are just agents that went on a food run. Becky went out about an hour-and-a-half ago to do some recon and to pick some things up from her apartment that we might need. She should be back soon.”

“Good,” Zack said. He walked over to where Logan was again sitting at the computer. “Is that the footage?”

“Yeah,” Logan said. He clicked on a button and replayed it for Zack.

“How far is that warehouse from here?” Zack asked.

“Not too far,” Logan said. “It’s in sector 2, right next to a mostly abandoned industrial park.”

The door slammed. Logan jumped a little, but Max and Zack barely reacted. “Cale, you were actually right,” Becky said. “White is setting up a trap for Max. He wants to turn her into a lab rat. The good part is that means he won’t be going for the kill on Max. Get blueprints for the warehouse and print them out so we can plan this thing.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Logan muttered, unaware of the death looks that both Zack and Becky gave him at that moment. He typed in silence for a few moments. “Got them. Printing them out now.”

“Good,” Becky said. She grabbed the paper and she and Max and Zack looked it over intently.

“It looks like a fairly simple layout,” Max said. “One big room with a loft-type situation where the offices are located. I’m willing to bet that Zane and Jondy and the others aren’t being held in the offices.”

Becky nodded. “White’s posted a few men over here.” She pointed to where the front door was marked on the printout. “There’s an office over here on the west side of the building. It’s got a window that you can use to get into the building and a drainpipe along that wall on the outside that you can use to climb to get to the window. That’s where White wants you to enter. He’s probably figuring that you’d just go rushing in to save your brother and sister.”

“And then he’d have his men in the main area of the warehouse ready to catch me,” Max concluded.

“Right,” Becky said. “There are two offices along the back, or south, side of the building, plus one office along the east side of the building. White’s only left one agent in each of those offices. Naturally, he’s got most of his men in the main area of the warehouse, near our respective siblings.”

“How many men do they have total?” Zack asked.

“I’m not sure of an exact total, but it’s a lot,” Becky said. “We’re looking at a minimum of ten agents not counting White himself, though from what I was able to hear, I think there’s at least fifteen or sixteen agents total, possibly as many as twenty. From what I was able to tell, they’re all armed. This isn’t going to be easy.”

Max nodded. “What about Zane and Jondy and 392, 691, and 773? Do you know how they’re doing?”

Becky nodded, her expression softening a little. “They’re fine. White hasn’t done anything to them yet, other than smacking 773 across the mouth and splitting his lip when 773 made a smart remark.” She sighed. “He’s got them sitting next to each other, shackled to their chairs. It kind of looks like a whole row of electric chairs, except without the electricity. I’ve seen that setup before three years ago when me, Kyle, 367, and 144 went with some X5s on a mission to ambush a guerrilla terrorist group down in the Philippines.  Those sadistic jerks actually had the electricity hooked up to their chair setup.  That particular apparatus is popular in other countries that have both a very high crime rate and very overcrowded death rows.  I triple-checked to see if there was any way that White could have hooked up juice to the chairs, but luckily, he doesn’t have the power available for that.”

“There’s a mechanism or a button to release she shackles?” Zack guessed.

“I think so,” Becky said. “I couldn’t see it from where I was, but I’d assume that there is. There was one on that mission I went on.”

“Looks like the best way to do this is pretty simple,” Zack said. “Max goes in first the way White’s going to expect her to go. Becky, you and I will enter through the office windows on the south side of the building and take out the agents in those offices.”

“...and while Max is distracting White and everyone else, we jump over the railing and take them by surprise,” Becky concluded. “I think the easiest way of getting out of the warehouse will just be going through the front door. They’ll be so many agents there that if we try going out the way we came in, it’s only gonna give them more time and make us clearer targets for them to shoot at.”

“That’s insane,” Logan interrupted. “There’s no way the three of you will be able to get out of there.”

Zack and Becky glared at him. Even Max looked pissed. “Going out, we’ll be four X5s and four X6s,” Becky said coolly. “Based on my personal experience, that should give us at absolute worst a fighting chance in that space. Why don’t you just let the professionals do their job and you do yours, okay?”

“What did you bring in the bag, Becky?” Max said quickly. As annoyed as she was at Logan at that moment, she didn’t want to see either Zack or Becky start a fight with him.

“Plenty of toys,” Becky said. She walked over to where she had left the trash bag she had brought with her from her apartment and dumped its contents onto Logan’s coffee table. “My personal guns, of course, plus a gun each for Jondy, Zane, 773, 392, and 691 for when we spring them loose. This is probably a dumb question, but I got a gun for you too, Max, if you want it.”

“You already know the answer to that question,” Max said.

Becky nodded. “I know, but I had to ask anyway.”

“I’ll take the extra,” Zack said.

“Good,” Becky said. “I’ve got holsters so we can carry not only our own guns but the ones for the others as well. Max, would you at least arm yourself with something so that Zack doesn’t go completely nuts?” She ignored the look Zack gave her.

“I’ve got my new switchblade on me,” Max said. “But if it makes you guys feel any better, I’ll take a knife if you’ve got one.”

“Here you go,” Becky said, handing her the sheathed blade.

Max took it out and looked at it. “Nice.”

“Thanks,” Becky said. She pointed to a few small cases. “Got some grenades and putty if we need it.” She shook her head. “I wish 144 was with us. He’s an artist with anything explosive. I’m pretty good with it myself, but he’s phenomenal with it.”

“Zane is our explosives man,” Max said. “If we need to use them, he’ll be the one to do it.”

“Good,” Becky said.

“I picked up a van on my way into Seattle,” Zack said. “Logan, can you drive a regular van with your exoskeleton? We’re going to need a driver.”

Logan nodded. “Yes.”

“Excellent,” Zack said. “Let’s get set. We’ll move out in an hour. White’s going to be getting a rude surprise.”

TBC